Letters, Jul 28
Boo to the cake tin
Westpac does itself no favours by tacitly allowing supporters at the Cake Tin to behave so badly. I know rugby supporters have booed in Canterbury for twenty years – but do we need to be like them? It made me sad and mad to hear the crowd booing during the South African game at our stadium last week. The cacophony when the opposition is trying a conversion there is not only unsportsmanlike, it’s bloody shameful. Go to a game in Cardiff and you won’t hear a pin drop during a conversion. What is wrong with those foolish announcers in Wellington? They could easily discourage local fans’ loutish behaviour by reminding them that it’s unsportsmanlike. We should be encouraging good play, not unsportsmanlike fans.
A Harris, Wadestown.
Light rail
It is great to see Celia Wade Brown advocating light rail for the city. Yes, we already have severe congestion of buses along the Golden Mile. A network model, similar to that in European cities described in a recent NZTA report. We could create a 30 to 40% increase in efficiency along with cheaper concessions, and reducing overall journey time. A simplified integrated fare structure would have no control on doors, just random checks, and most commuters would choose heavily discounted monthly or yearly passes. The broken connection at Wellington Railway station would be fixed by taking a light rail tram train originating from Johnsonville and the Hutt Valley, through the Golden Mile to Newtown. It could then go on in stages to Kilbirnie and the Airport, via a new short tunnel by the zoo, and utilizing the other service route under the airport. The capital cost would be about half that planned for other tunnels and new roads within the city.
Paul Bruce, Greater Wellington Regional Councillor (abridged).
Breastfeeding in public
Enjoying the Wellington central library, my 3-month-old needed a breastfeed. I found a nice couch and away we went. As usual, we received many knowing and loving looks from members of the public and I delighted again in the joy of satisfying the needs of my daughter with care and love anywhere, anytime. Unfortunately a man seated near us took offence, exclaiming, “excuse me, I didn’t realise I was in a buffet bar”. Walking on he continued, “you could have found somewhere better to do that”. How dare he compare breastfeeding to a buffet bar! Would bottle-feeding be ok? Where I wonder would he suggest a better place to do it, the toilet? I could write an essay about the issues raised from his comments, but the guts of it is that my very partially exposed breast offended him. News flash, this is what they are for! I couldn’t find him once we had finished feeding for him to hear me roar, and did think, well it’s his problem not ours – but its more than that, its remains a societal problem. Perhaps that man should come along to the Big Latch On 6/10/10 9:30am, Council Chambers, Wellington Town Hall.
Jessie Moss, Lyall Bay.
Good on you Jessie – Ed.
Boat people
Martin Doyle was not fair to describe Australia as the “selfish pig” nation, for its attitudes to refugees. Proportionally, Australia lets in more refugees than nearly every other nation in the world. There are channels through which refugees can and do apply, and Australia takes more than most nations do. What they object to, is being expected to take, ON TOP OF THIS, anybody at all who can make it by boat. And what if this turns out to be an easy route in for a whole lot of Al Qaeda stooges? I agree about the USA’s history, taking in the “huddled masses yearning to breathe free”. But many immigrants, for decades, were processed via Ellis Island, where they were prepared for assimilation into the US way of life. If you wanted to assert your own culture regarding, say, your daughter’s right to an education, you would be on a boat home pretty smartly. When your own society has lost its own sense of historical self-worth, and large numbers of culturally aggressive immigrants bring the same problems their own culture caused in their homelands, you have a recipe for disaster. This disaster is unfolding in many parts of Europe today.
Philip G Hayward, Naenae.
More turfs
It’s great reading Cr John Morrison’s wanting 5 or 6 more artificial turfs (last week ‘Get Turfed’). Our 10-year budget actually already includes another 5 full sized turfs to be constructed through to 2018. Officers advise we need 10 including the already built Te Whaea and Nairnville. We need them - now - because grass fields simply cannot cope with weather or player numbers. Many pitches are now just muddy wet swamps in which playing football is impossible, and I don’t imagine assist flowing rugby. I completely agree that we should try to maximise external funding to deliver a larger programme. The Football World Cup’s been fantastic. The City has rightly lauded Ricki Herbert and the All Whites. The Rugby Cup World Cup’s “right here next year”, and we eagerly await the Phoenix’ upcoming season. More and more people are inspired to play football and rugby. The two artificial turfs are flat out evening and weekends, but most games (on grass) will be at the weather’s mercy. As I write the rain’s still falling and there will probably be mass cancellations again. What a way to kill off growth of those sports.
Andy Foster, Wellington City Councillor (abridged).
Roller Derby
It’s a shame you didn’t research this burgeoning sport a little deeper. I play as a blocker with Smash Malice. I train for up to 7 hours a week. Women’s Flat Track Roller Derby (the international body) requires we abide by a 40+ page rulebook. The sport is extremely tactical and physical, requiring months of training to even begin to understand how to achieve some of the tactics used in a bout. Few of us are “skimpily clad” or “invoke 1930s drive through roller girls in short skirts”. We *do* however wear helmets, mouth guards, knee and elbow pads, and wrist guards. Roller derby is such an exciting sport, taking off around the world. It’s popular because it is fast-paced and tactical! And it is different, but we work really hard for this - as you will see if you come to see us play tomorrow night!
Rosie aka Rocket Queen, Wellington (abridged).
Barnes dance
You have fallen into a trap in the feature about traffic in the issue of July 21-27!
The correct title is “Barnes Dance” - named after Henry Barnes, a US traffic engineer who introduced the method of crossing, late in the 1940’s in Denver. Later, it went to Baltimore and New York. The crossing method came to Auckland in 1958 - where there is now some argument about its use, according to a recent article in the NZ Herald.
Keep up the good work.
Robin Thomson, Tawa.
Poll
I feel the use of emotive terminology in this week’s poll presupposes a result. If Capital Times is really serious about getting feedback from the public on issues that are of concern then the wording used should reflect this. The use of two main options “Yes - Its purpose is as a bus tunnel, and it is a central route.” and “No - What are they thinking? It will cause more congestion, and be horrible for Pirie St.” would better have been “Yes - the bus tunnel is there for a purpose and it is central” and “No - It will cause more congestion and raises safety issues for the Pirie Street area”. Your “I don’t care option” is frivolous to say the least but will probably be seen as such by the majority of your readers.
Ian Cousins, CBD.
Pokie Trusts
Mr Ron Blair, Te Aro, (letters 21 July 2010) describes the Downtown Community Ministry’s unwillingness to apply for grants from pokie trusts as “sanctimonious”. The people who use our services would disagree with this stance. The reality is far from this - I have repeatedly had [people] addicted to the potent allure of gambling machines commend us for refraining from propping up an industry that causes them pain and distress. Perhaps Mr Blair does not know of the suffering and humiliation experienced by a person who, out of desperation, feeds their entire weekly income into a pokie machine. Mr Blair also claims that DCM “has refused to accept a donation offered in good faith”. This is not the case. Those funded by the proceeds of gambling trusts must make an application to a specific trust – donations are not simply handed out as Mr Blair may assume. At DCM we have instead chosen to put our energy into more rewarding, socially useful and community-wide fundraising activities – most notably our annual Bookfair that will be held at the TSB Bank Arena on 21 and 22 August.
Stephanie McIntyre, Director, Downtown Community Ministry
Money matters
Ron Blair’s letter of July 21 was great. Self-righteous prigs, usually young, give me the guts ache; so when one of them refuses a donation, meant for some worthy cause, as being dirty money, the refuser may very well be a poseur who takes great care that the refusal will get plenty of publicity for him/her and the cause concerned! You should read GB Shaw’s play, Major Barbara and its preface, regarding the neutrality of money. Shaw quoted one of the Sallies - was it the founder William Booth – who said they’d accept money from the hands of the Devil himself, if that meant getting it out of Satan’s hands into God’s; so I doubt that our Wellington Sallies in 2010 would join in our local Downtown Mission’s posturing about the sources of significant sums donated. The Sallies solicit donations, but then quietly do their work without any song and dance about it!
H. Westfold, Miramar (abridged).
Westpac does itself no favours by tacitly allowing supporters at the Cake Tin to behave so badly. I know rugby supporters have booed in Canterbury for twenty years – but do we need to be like them? It made me sad and mad to hear the crowd booing during the South African game at our stadium last week. The cacophony when the opposition is trying a conversion there is not only unsportsmanlike, it’s bloody shameful. Go to a game in Cardiff and you won’t hear a pin drop during a conversion. What is wrong with those foolish announcers in Wellington? They could easily discourage local fans’ loutish behaviour by reminding them that it’s unsportsmanlike. We should be encouraging good play, not unsportsmanlike fans.
A Harris, Wadestown.
Light rail
It is great to see Celia Wade Brown advocating light rail for the city. Yes, we already have severe congestion of buses along the Golden Mile. A network model, similar to that in European cities described in a recent NZTA report. We could create a 30 to 40% increase in efficiency along with cheaper concessions, and reducing overall journey time. A simplified integrated fare structure would have no control on doors, just random checks, and most commuters would choose heavily discounted monthly or yearly passes. The broken connection at Wellington Railway station would be fixed by taking a light rail tram train originating from Johnsonville and the Hutt Valley, through the Golden Mile to Newtown. It could then go on in stages to Kilbirnie and the Airport, via a new short tunnel by the zoo, and utilizing the other service route under the airport. The capital cost would be about half that planned for other tunnels and new roads within the city.
Paul Bruce, Greater Wellington Regional Councillor (abridged).
Breastfeeding in public
Enjoying the Wellington central library, my 3-month-old needed a breastfeed. I found a nice couch and away we went. As usual, we received many knowing and loving looks from members of the public and I delighted again in the joy of satisfying the needs of my daughter with care and love anywhere, anytime. Unfortunately a man seated near us took offence, exclaiming, “excuse me, I didn’t realise I was in a buffet bar”. Walking on he continued, “you could have found somewhere better to do that”. How dare he compare breastfeeding to a buffet bar! Would bottle-feeding be ok? Where I wonder would he suggest a better place to do it, the toilet? I could write an essay about the issues raised from his comments, but the guts of it is that my very partially exposed breast offended him. News flash, this is what they are for! I couldn’t find him once we had finished feeding for him to hear me roar, and did think, well it’s his problem not ours – but its more than that, its remains a societal problem. Perhaps that man should come along to the Big Latch On 6/10/10 9:30am, Council Chambers, Wellington Town Hall.
Jessie Moss, Lyall Bay.
Good on you Jessie – Ed.
Boat people
Martin Doyle was not fair to describe Australia as the “selfish pig” nation, for its attitudes to refugees. Proportionally, Australia lets in more refugees than nearly every other nation in the world. There are channels through which refugees can and do apply, and Australia takes more than most nations do. What they object to, is being expected to take, ON TOP OF THIS, anybody at all who can make it by boat. And what if this turns out to be an easy route in for a whole lot of Al Qaeda stooges? I agree about the USA’s history, taking in the “huddled masses yearning to breathe free”. But many immigrants, for decades, were processed via Ellis Island, where they were prepared for assimilation into the US way of life. If you wanted to assert your own culture regarding, say, your daughter’s right to an education, you would be on a boat home pretty smartly. When your own society has lost its own sense of historical self-worth, and large numbers of culturally aggressive immigrants bring the same problems their own culture caused in their homelands, you have a recipe for disaster. This disaster is unfolding in many parts of Europe today.
Philip G Hayward, Naenae.
More turfs
It’s great reading Cr John Morrison’s wanting 5 or 6 more artificial turfs (last week ‘Get Turfed’). Our 10-year budget actually already includes another 5 full sized turfs to be constructed through to 2018. Officers advise we need 10 including the already built Te Whaea and Nairnville. We need them - now - because grass fields simply cannot cope with weather or player numbers. Many pitches are now just muddy wet swamps in which playing football is impossible, and I don’t imagine assist flowing rugby. I completely agree that we should try to maximise external funding to deliver a larger programme. The Football World Cup’s been fantastic. The City has rightly lauded Ricki Herbert and the All Whites. The Rugby Cup World Cup’s “right here next year”, and we eagerly await the Phoenix’ upcoming season. More and more people are inspired to play football and rugby. The two artificial turfs are flat out evening and weekends, but most games (on grass) will be at the weather’s mercy. As I write the rain’s still falling and there will probably be mass cancellations again. What a way to kill off growth of those sports.
Andy Foster, Wellington City Councillor (abridged).
Roller Derby
It’s a shame you didn’t research this burgeoning sport a little deeper. I play as a blocker with Smash Malice. I train for up to 7 hours a week. Women’s Flat Track Roller Derby (the international body) requires we abide by a 40+ page rulebook. The sport is extremely tactical and physical, requiring months of training to even begin to understand how to achieve some of the tactics used in a bout. Few of us are “skimpily clad” or “invoke 1930s drive through roller girls in short skirts”. We *do* however wear helmets, mouth guards, knee and elbow pads, and wrist guards. Roller derby is such an exciting sport, taking off around the world. It’s popular because it is fast-paced and tactical! And it is different, but we work really hard for this - as you will see if you come to see us play tomorrow night!
Rosie aka Rocket Queen, Wellington (abridged).
Barnes dance
You have fallen into a trap in the feature about traffic in the issue of July 21-27!
The correct title is “Barnes Dance” - named after Henry Barnes, a US traffic engineer who introduced the method of crossing, late in the 1940’s in Denver. Later, it went to Baltimore and New York. The crossing method came to Auckland in 1958 - where there is now some argument about its use, according to a recent article in the NZ Herald.
Keep up the good work.
Robin Thomson, Tawa.
Poll
I feel the use of emotive terminology in this week’s poll presupposes a result. If Capital Times is really serious about getting feedback from the public on issues that are of concern then the wording used should reflect this. The use of two main options “Yes - Its purpose is as a bus tunnel, and it is a central route.” and “No - What are they thinking? It will cause more congestion, and be horrible for Pirie St.” would better have been “Yes - the bus tunnel is there for a purpose and it is central” and “No - It will cause more congestion and raises safety issues for the Pirie Street area”. Your “I don’t care option” is frivolous to say the least but will probably be seen as such by the majority of your readers.
Ian Cousins, CBD.
Pokie Trusts
Mr Ron Blair, Te Aro, (letters 21 July 2010) describes the Downtown Community Ministry’s unwillingness to apply for grants from pokie trusts as “sanctimonious”. The people who use our services would disagree with this stance. The reality is far from this - I have repeatedly had [people] addicted to the potent allure of gambling machines commend us for refraining from propping up an industry that causes them pain and distress. Perhaps Mr Blair does not know of the suffering and humiliation experienced by a person who, out of desperation, feeds their entire weekly income into a pokie machine. Mr Blair also claims that DCM “has refused to accept a donation offered in good faith”. This is not the case. Those funded by the proceeds of gambling trusts must make an application to a specific trust – donations are not simply handed out as Mr Blair may assume. At DCM we have instead chosen to put our energy into more rewarding, socially useful and community-wide fundraising activities – most notably our annual Bookfair that will be held at the TSB Bank Arena on 21 and 22 August.
Stephanie McIntyre, Director, Downtown Community Ministry
Money matters
Ron Blair’s letter of July 21 was great. Self-righteous prigs, usually young, give me the guts ache; so when one of them refuses a donation, meant for some worthy cause, as being dirty money, the refuser may very well be a poseur who takes great care that the refusal will get plenty of publicity for him/her and the cause concerned! You should read GB Shaw’s play, Major Barbara and its preface, regarding the neutrality of money. Shaw quoted one of the Sallies - was it the founder William Booth – who said they’d accept money from the hands of the Devil himself, if that meant getting it out of Satan’s hands into God’s; so I doubt that our Wellington Sallies in 2010 would join in our local Downtown Mission’s posturing about the sources of significant sums donated. The Sallies solicit donations, but then quietly do their work without any song and dance about it!
H. Westfold, Miramar (abridged).
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