Concert an awesome night of fun and entertainment
What a night of delight at Church Road Winery. Yes, the lines were long (original early bird tickets like ours showed gates opened at 3pm), but upon checking, the time had been changed to 4pm. Fine print did state that could happen. We arrived at 3.30pm and, yes, it was very hot but came prepared with hat, suntan lotion and water. Artists were all amazing. The sound system could have been better but the presence of the live bands was immense. My only complaint is the over-zealous security guards that seemed to escalate, rather than defuse situations that arose where alcohol created a bit of harmless merriment. By the way, to the neighbour complaining about the noise from the winery, well, guess what? That wasn’t just the band, it was all us star-struck fans singing along to Africa. Concert finished at 10pm and everyone was very well behaved. What an awesome night. E Christoffersen
Napier
Off the water hook
Re the Havelock North water crisis. Could I suggest all Hawke’s Bay residents Google “Flint Crisis” and read about the 2014 events in that Michigan city, where polluted water was piped to the citizens. Further reading is a book about how a paediatrician struggled to have the crisis acknowledged by the State government and the Flint City Council. The author is Mona HannaAttisha, title What the Eyes Don’t See publisher, Random House. Interestingly, many of the key players in the Flint disaster are in jail. We all know the key players here got off the hook. Art Hooper
Napier
Hidden threats revealed
According to the Chilcot report, Iraq at the time of its invasion was no immediate threat, but those who have conflict in mind do not announce their intentions. The Vietnam War supposedly ended at the 1973 Paris Peace Talks but the communists failed to announce their re-invasion plan two years later. As with these matters, when the United States is involved, much of the feedback focuses on consequences rather than validity. One wonders what plans were behind the buildup of Mig fighters Saddam had hidden in his desert. What was unleashed on the world following Lenin’s Bolshevik revolution still has not resonated? His war without mercy on religion within two decades reduced 55,000 Russian Orthodox churches to less than 1000. His successor, Stalin, began his counter revolutionist purges against the innocent in 1937. The same year he started the Pacific war by manipulating Japan into attacking China by the Marco Polo Bridge. Thankfully, owing to the timely Japanese surrender, Stalin was unable to gain access to Japanese territory but he did get North Korea, which remains “true to label”. Unfortunately, the cache of weapons Japan placed there for future use against Russia helped Mao win his war against Chiang Kai Shek. Professor Douglas Pratt, after years studying religion and terrorism, says a lack of understanding of the links between the two is New Zealand’s Achilles heel when it comes to countering terrorism. The professor has a point; every day has its predecessor, and tomorrow needs all the help it can get. Lindsay Schroder
Hastings