Magical season
The joy of Christmas in New York
The real Christmas
So it’s Christmas again. But what does that mean in this day and age? Many remember it as a religious (i.e. Christian) festival and very much focused on family. Now it is simply about buy, buy, buy. Spending on things most of us don’t need. Not much thought given to those who are struggling or lonely or are separated from friends and family. What have we done to our society?
Graham Weir, Lower Hutt
Parker’s progress
Congratulations to boxer Joseph Parker on his win in the WBO. It was a good, workmanlike win from a likeable young man. To be a big fish in the small pond that is New Zealand can throw up a problem of perspective. Parker is a very good, tradesman-like boxer, but he is not the reincarnation of Muhammad Ali.
His career must now take him out of New Zealand on to the world stage and possibly under the care of a reorganised management and coaching team.
With time, training and patience he can certainly go on to bigger things, and I wish him all the luck.
Ken Dowling, Manawatu
1080 value
If Scott Murray (‘‘River poison drop ‘tarnishes’ NZ image’’, December 11) was as much of an expert on the effects of 1080 as he claims to be, he would know that one of the advantages of 1080 is that it quickly breaks down in water, so if he was so worried about its safety, why would he have ‘‘fished out about nine pellets from the river’’?. A person would need to drink about 60,000 litres of water containing two parts of 1080 per billion (the Ministry of Health drinking water standard) in one sitting to consume a fatal dose.
Far from tarnishing New Zealand’s clean, green image, getting rid of possums – an introduced pest that chomps around 21,000 tonnes of bush foliage every 24 hours – actually enhances our image by restoring habitat for native birds and other species.
Michael Wood, Porirua
Govt ratings
In response to David Seymour on tax cuts, I disagree that this Government has been a good manager.
I would rate them at B- to aC; a one-trick pony whose only recipe has been to cut jobs, taxes, and spending while essential services like hospitals, police, army, and schools have been on a starvation diet for years. Contributions to the Cullen Fund have stopped, we sold $5 billion worth of the assets to pay for tax cuts which went to people who needed them the least, and now we face the problem of rebuilding the infrastructure which has been underfunded for eight years.
They ignored the housing crisis, thinking that fiddling with the rules would make a difference, while ignoring the elephant in the room; the ridiculous tax advantages of property. National Standards in schools is a shambles, never mind yet another attempt to ram through bulk funding.
On the credit side of the ledger is good disaster management, the social investment policy, and a unified caucus. Now that the economy follows its natural cycle to surplus again, the last thing we need is lower taxes. There is an argument for having a tax-free band at the bottom (say the first $5000) but Seymour’s problem is that he doesn’t seem to see the people at the bottom. It’s the people who cook his food and clean his toilet that I worry about, and he talks as if they are invisible to him.
Alan Harris, Hataitai
Retirement bills
I see Glen Sowry (News, December 11) thinks that we retirees who own our homes should sell up and move to retirement villages to relieve the housing crisis. What planet is the man living on? Does he know how much it costs simply to move into a retirement village, let alone the ongoing costs for maintenance?
In addition, should we follow his advice, we would be unable to leave our unit to our children as in a retirement village all the money we pay gives us only a right to occupy, not outright ownership.
Far better, in my opinion, for older people to consider purchasing a smaller section, or subdividing the large one they already own, and putting a modular house on it. Some of these modular houses, such as ours, cost way less than entry into a retirement village, can be delivered within four months of the deposit being paid, and can also be lived in within a week of delivery.
Kilian V de Lacy, Levin
Rise of the Right
Those who perceive themselves to be enlightened continue to assail president-elect, Donald Trump. True to their liberal elite propensities, journalists of that ilk condemn the millions of Americans who voted for Trump as ignorant because they do not understand the advantages of globalisation (who needs a job anyway?), and in their eyes a Trump supporter is inherently racist because he/she will not accept the inferiority of Anglo-Saxon cultural traditions and worship at the shrine of multiculturalism.
Well, I have some bad news for the journalists who believe in the moral superiority of the Left. The ‘‘movement’’ that Trump alludes to is a reality and gaining impetus.
There can be no doubt we live in interesting times.
Bruce Anderson, Christchurch