Too many roosters on our roads

Your correspondent Rod Lyons ( NZ Herald, February 7) effectively pointed out the over-riding problem on our roads is “a total lack of courtesy”.

Backyard graduates to driving — probably on public roads before they even get a learner’s licence — must contribute greatly to our low standard of driving.

Courtesy is rare and unexpected. Speed and aggression are the norm of too many. An attitude of “I’ll get there before you” prevails.

More professional instruction would appear to be needed.

I sympathise with tourists who drive, and new immigrants getting their first taste of driving in New Zealand. Their attitude surely must be: “What sort of a barnyard is this?”

Uel Young, Mt Maunganui.

Beached as

Who thought of creating a false beach at the ASB Showgrounds carpark in Epsom for a big party? Sand was trucked from Kaipara for the event then reloaded on trucks to be taken to places to be stored for future use. All using heavy dieselpowered machinery.

Puriri Drive was left covered in pieces of blue and white plastic, plastic strings are in the trees, plastic pieces all across the league fields and even in Wheturangi Rd on the other side and having to be raked up by workers.

I thought we are meant to be saving our planet.

Jane Heim, Greenlane.

Hot work

I read how the road workers are suffering, with a couple nearing collapse from the heat ( NZ Herald, January 30).

This problem affects everyone who works outside and is bad enough when you are able to shed layers of clothes.

However our overzealous safety fanatics force the workers to not only wear hard hats where no overhead hazard exists but also make workers wear arm and leg cover such as overalls for the silliest of reasons, which is to prevent sunburn. Never mind any individual is able to go to the beach on their days off and get burnt to a crisp, which is even more likely now that they will all be a pale white from not being able to tan gradually.

What does it have to take before these safety zealots are reined in?

Perhaps the people who dream up these rules should spend a day operating a lollipop sign; forget about doing any physical work just stand there in the 40C heat for a day.

Geoff Nieuwelaar, Whanga¯rei.

Trickle down

Correspondent B Darragh ( NZ Herald, February 10) claims that, under the Trumpian route, all that matters is the economy and asks whether the same route will be used to decide the 2020 elections in New Zealand where half the population are not getting the trickledown benefit.

A recently published report from Credit Suisse shows that while 5.6 per cent of the US population have assets in excess of US$1 million compared to 4.2 per cent of the NZ population, almost 30 per cent of the US population have less than US$10,000 in assets, compared to only about 10 per cent of the NZ population.

That means the trickle-down benefit is working much more effectively here and explains why there is so much poverty in the US.

David Mairs, Glendowie.

‘Half-baked’

Radio NZ’s half-baked decision to remove Concert FM from the airwaves ( NZ Herald, February 8) is cultural vandalism.

The “ratings” boys at Radio NZ and the Minister of Broadcasting, in their urgency to cut Concert FM off at the knees and replace it with vague plans for a youth channel, remind me of the cowboys who tore down the beautiful His Majesty’s Arcade in Auckland in the 80s. Just look at what we’ve got in its place.

Those wielding the axe against Concert FM seem to have no idea of what they are destroying and the wider implications their shallow decision-making could have on the total arts scene in New Zealand.

Barbara Graham, Tokoroa.

Alternatives

Only a few years ago, New Zealand-only music radio station Kiwi FM, which was originally partially Government supported, was eventually run into the ground by MediaWorks. The three FM frequencies it used in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch were given back to the Government when the network was closed. My research suggests these FM frequencies are still allocated as the “Youth Network Set” and not being used.

If we really need a taxpayer-funded youth radio network, why not use these in the three main centres and augment them with a streaming service for the provinces. Undoubtedly the target youth audience is better equipped to cope with streaming radio than the typical Concert FM listener, who is also likely to want to listen in the car where, realistically, streaming is not viable.

Or get Digital Audio Broadcast back up and running. This was trialled for several years but the pin was pulled by the Labour Government with very little reason or media attention. From my experience in Auckland, it worked well. It would have given potential for a raft of new stations. And you could listen in the car.

As for putting classical music on AM — forget it. The fidelity it needs just ain’t there. If you need to, why not shove a few advertisements on Concert FM to partially fund it.

Please do not throw away a radio station enjoyed by so many since 1933.

Philip Mansell, Grey Lynn.

Home to roost

Sooner or later the “cracks” had to show in the changed ethos at Auckland Airport.

This took off with the dumping of the amazing and well-patronised upstairs viewing area in favour of high-yielding commercial space in the spirit of shareholders ahead of service.

Veronique Cornille, Devonport.

Runway debris

The latest mess on Auckland’s airport runway is just another reason for opening an auxiliary airport at Whenuapai. The residents and developers who have squelched it need to realise airports all over the world have used facilities in urban areas without undue results.

If they chose to live next to an airbase they should be willing to do so.

Anne Wilks, Devonport.

Rejectionists

Rob Berg’s view of Palestinian “intransigence” in negotiating ( NZ Herald, February 4) paints Israel as the party always making concessions whereas Palestinians are uncompromising rejectionists. Both views are the result of propaganda that perpetuate righteous evasions. Those holding such views are thus able to avoid responsibility for the “original sin” of wholesale forcible displacement — and deprive the real victims of rights to self-defence. And justice.

This playing the victim while acting as victimisers has become deep-seated, explainable only by the fact that a majority of Israeli society has been deprived of records detailing what actually happened during the “catastrophe” of 1947-1948. And has, since 1993 especially, been fed distorted histories of those negotiations.

The former concealment was revealed in 2018 by Israel’s retiring chief archivist. Oral testimonies and cabinet records, pieced together by Arabic-speaking, Israeli historian Ilan Pappe’s books over the past 30 years, have confirmed the latter. Exiled in England’s Exeter University, Pappe is due to speak in New Zealand this year. Meanwhile those wishing to hear exactly why Berg is misinformed can YouTube Pappe’s worldwide talks. Or read his 20 books.

Steve Liddle, Napier.

Israeli history

Viewpoints about Israel are based largely on where you start. The Jewish people originated in Israel as the line of descent from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They then spent 400 years in Egypt, returning to their land to find many tribal groups occupying their territory.

One of the groups was the Philistines (who lived in what is now Gaza, having arrived from somewhere in the Mediterranean). Around 2000 years ago, the Roman Empire labelled Israel “Palestine” and Palestinian referred to the Jewish inhabitants of the land. Land wars have seen Israel in the hands of Turks, Brits and Arabs over the years. Meanwhile many times exiled Jewish people had no homeland.

During World War II many nations either secretly or openly agreed with the Nazis and handed over “their Jews”.

After the war Britain recognised the need for a Jewish homeland and plans were in place to hand them a territory. Slowly the plan eroded, leaving them with a tiny parcel of land (about the size of the Manawatu¯ region). The Jewish capital of Jerusalem (for at least 3000 years) and many other parts of the land were immediately attacked upon Israel’s statehood in 1948. Each war fought since statehood has been a defensive one.

Israel is also home to a number of free, largely Arab, villages.

The Palestinian territories were ceded by Israel to Palestinian control in an effort to secure peace. Unfortunately, many Palestinians aim for total control of Israel and removal of Jews from the land as the only way for “peace”.

M Donne-Lee, Aramoho.