My brother brought up the topic of 'Salem Witch Trials' today, and how most folks have no memory or a marginal amount of knowledge over them....when comparing it to the Moore episode in Alabama.
For the twelve years of school that I attended in Alabama....I think the total number of times that the 'Trials' were mentioned were probably twice. If you gleaned the history books used....it usually amounted to eight to twelve lines. The attempt by the teacher to explain this? It would have come across to the group as nuclear science.
After the high school years....I went off and had the luxury of the University of Maryland, Louisiana Tech University, and Pierce Community College. The topic of the Salem Witch Trials likely came up on one solid occasion and the lecture guy actually did spend thirty minutes laying out the basic story. It was better than nuclear science explanations....but really didn't do justice to the story.
So a decade or so later.....I picked up two or three books and read through the entire episode and branched out....because it's more broad than folks think.
You can go back all the way to 451 BC and find locals in Greece who were open to the idea of blaming crop failures on bad spirits and pretender-witches.
You can go to 186 BC in Rome and find regulations already existing on how to handle witches.
After Christianity was introduced throughout the Roman Empire, the idea spread. At some point around the 1100s, in Hungary....the King actually wrote out a regulation to halt witch-hunts because he just plain admitted....witches don't exist. Folks didn't easily buy off on that.
In the mid-1200's, the Pope tried to stop all this business....also saying....witches don't exist. That wasn't easily grasped by the general public. Around two hundred years later, another Pope stood up and said yes.....we need witch trials because they exist.
In the 1500s and 1600s, throughout Europe, the trials took off and were a fairly regular thing. I live around 15 miles from an area (Idstein) where the trials were regularly held in the fall, and some folks had to be killed to make folks happy. In that town, they tended to kill women, about eight to one over men. No one could ever explain why women were often the chosen folks for these episodes.
In the Salem witch episode? Around February of 1692, some accusations started the locals off on a mission with purpose. You can safely say that this was...even before the accusations....a fractured town, with people trying to get into each other's business.
In the year prior, that had been some heated church-talk in the region by Cotton Mather (a Billy Graham-like character who could preach for hours and hours) on potential witchcraft, and this got people all hyped up.
So, two kids (nine and eleven) made the act of this....going into violent fits. I think this was mostly to entertain folks but these locals actually took this serious. This drew out some minister, who viewed the two girls, and he claimed that they were under the influence of the devil. A couple of other young ladies then acted out the same way.
All of this led to three folks being detained and blamed for witchcraft. There's no logic or sense to this.....just that locals needed to bring this quickly to a closure.
A month later, a couple of other young ladies were dragged in and were identified for witch business.
By early summer, court action was now underway and a prosecutor of sorts had to determine the intent of the devil here.
By mid-August, five folks were executed.
In September, around 18 other folks were dragged in and accused. One of them was a guy who they asked him to plea and make an admission....while they put heavy rocks on his chest. He eventually died from the weights on his chest.
By January of 1693, things were on a roll....more convictions. Then, the Governor got involved and started to pardon folks. In a way, he knew they were all unfocused and unable to grasp what was going on.
By early summer of 1693, the last court episode occurred, and everyone got 'sane'.
What you can typically say is that the witch trials were all based on some fake evidence, which got the general public all churned up and hyper. The public at that point....could not grasp the landscape or understand the actual laws. They just wanted a no-witch atmosphere, and were willing to kill to reach that point.
You would think that this would be a five-day detailed review in high school, with things laid out in detail. Yet, no history teacher really wants to spend any time covering the topic.
Saturday, 2 December 2017
Understanding the Flynn Situation
So, when some FBI idiot comes up and requires a statement out of you in the process of an interview, and then has a paper for you to sign at the end (attached to the tape of the interview)....you either don't answer particular questions, or admit all. The third choice of lying? That's precisely what Flynn got into trouble about. If he had declined to answer their question on the contact with a Russian government official (not a lobbyist or plain-vanilla citizen of Russia), he would still be in some minor trouble. But in this case....he just plain lied.
What else? Nothing.
If you remember....there is some type of relationship between Flynn and Turkey's Erdogan. There is a suggestion led by the press that Erdogan asked Flynn to possibly arrange for the kidnapping of Gulan (the arch-nemesis of Erdogan).....residing in the US. This story has not been proven. If true, Flynn....if he had taken steps to plan the kidnapping....would be in bigger trouble. I doubt that the FBI has any evidence of this, and it was all just plain chatter.
Anything leading to trouble of Trump? No....that's the amusing thing. I realize 10,000 journalists and political folks are all hyped up, but there is virtually nothing illegal in folks talking to foreign citizens, Saudis, Russians, etc. If promises were made, prior to the election....maybe this might be viewed in some illegal fashion. But then selling uranium off to Russians, after their donations to the Clinton Fund occurred....would be awful high up on the list of stupid and illegal things.
What else? Nothing.
If you remember....there is some type of relationship between Flynn and Turkey's Erdogan. There is a suggestion led by the press that Erdogan asked Flynn to possibly arrange for the kidnapping of Gulan (the arch-nemesis of Erdogan).....residing in the US. This story has not been proven. If true, Flynn....if he had taken steps to plan the kidnapping....would be in bigger trouble. I doubt that the FBI has any evidence of this, and it was all just plain chatter.
Anything leading to trouble of Trump? No....that's the amusing thing. I realize 10,000 journalists and political folks are all hyped up, but there is virtually nothing illegal in folks talking to foreign citizens, Saudis, Russians, etc. If promises were made, prior to the election....maybe this might be viewed in some illegal fashion. But then selling uranium off to Russians, after their donations to the Clinton Fund occurred....would be awful high up on the list of stupid and illegal things.
Friday, 1 December 2017
The Matt Lauer-New Zealand Problem
There's an odd story following the firing of Matt Lauer of the Today Show (for sexual harassment).
Somewhere early in 2017....a property came up for sale in New Zealand (south isle). It's a 26,000 acre sheep-ranch....referred to as 'Hunter Valley'.
If you go and pull up the map....along the western side of the south isle, are a ton of mountains and in the middle of this range is this lake (Lake Hawea). Highway 6 runs along the western end of the lake, and this ranch basically sits on the whole (emphasize WHOLE) western end of the lake. The dirt road out from Highway 6 to the actual ranch house? It's at least five miles....maybe even going on seven miles.
Based on the newspaper accounts, it'd been run for years by a New Zealand couple and they put it up for sale, and Lauer bought it in March....for around 10-million USD (more or less).
Locals came immediately upon the sale and had negativity. First, it was another foreigner (something that gets discussed alot by New Zealand folks these days). Then came this issue of access. The old owners had allowed some limited access.....mostly for bike races and special events. But for the most part, the dirt road was not a public road. They wanted Lauer to agree on full open access, and that wasn't forthcoming. The dirt road ownership? Well.....it's a private road....not a state road.
As for civilization? Well, that's another funny part of this story. Where this ranch house and property exists....there's nothing else there. Here's the lake on one side and a snow-capped mountain on the other side, and tons of sheep. If you wanted zero stress, limited contact with humans, and solitude? Well....this is the place..
Looking for a gas station? The nearest one to the gate of the property....is twelve miles away. Looking for a grocery? You can figure roughly a 45-minute drive from the house to a real grocery (not a general store). The local 'city'? Wanaka. If you'd gone there thirty years ago, it was purely ranch property, cafe or two, maybe two or three stores, and a few houses. Today, it's near 6,500 residents....with a number of hotels and lodges. Yeah, a lot of tourists come through and stay for a couple of days because of the scenic lakefront and glaciers off in the distance.
What was Lauer's intention here? Unknown. Maybe he was going to retire there. Maybe he would have opened up a lodge of his own.
The problem now? Well....to get residency and thus full ownership....you need to pass a character-test. Yeah, those sneaky New Zealand folks decided that with the foreigners coming in....someone needs to check people out. Well....Lauer was fired for sexual harassment. Apparently, the audit crew in New Zealand thinks this needs to be reviewed. The odds of a purchase being halted? At this point, it's an unknown. The fear factor here is that Lauer might end up losing his the purchase deal and be refused residency.
An odd problem? Well, one might get the idea that he had some retirement plan in his mind for three or four years in the future, and the sheep ranch thing with almost no civilization around? Well...yeah, it's just an odd idea.
Somewhere early in 2017....a property came up for sale in New Zealand (south isle). It's a 26,000 acre sheep-ranch....referred to as 'Hunter Valley'.
If you go and pull up the map....along the western side of the south isle, are a ton of mountains and in the middle of this range is this lake (Lake Hawea). Highway 6 runs along the western end of the lake, and this ranch basically sits on the whole (emphasize WHOLE) western end of the lake. The dirt road out from Highway 6 to the actual ranch house? It's at least five miles....maybe even going on seven miles.
Based on the newspaper accounts, it'd been run for years by a New Zealand couple and they put it up for sale, and Lauer bought it in March....for around 10-million USD (more or less).
Locals came immediately upon the sale and had negativity. First, it was another foreigner (something that gets discussed alot by New Zealand folks these days). Then came this issue of access. The old owners had allowed some limited access.....mostly for bike races and special events. But for the most part, the dirt road was not a public road. They wanted Lauer to agree on full open access, and that wasn't forthcoming. The dirt road ownership? Well.....it's a private road....not a state road.
As for civilization? Well, that's another funny part of this story. Where this ranch house and property exists....there's nothing else there. Here's the lake on one side and a snow-capped mountain on the other side, and tons of sheep. If you wanted zero stress, limited contact with humans, and solitude? Well....this is the place..
Looking for a gas station? The nearest one to the gate of the property....is twelve miles away. Looking for a grocery? You can figure roughly a 45-minute drive from the house to a real grocery (not a general store). The local 'city'? Wanaka. If you'd gone there thirty years ago, it was purely ranch property, cafe or two, maybe two or three stores, and a few houses. Today, it's near 6,500 residents....with a number of hotels and lodges. Yeah, a lot of tourists come through and stay for a couple of days because of the scenic lakefront and glaciers off in the distance.
What was Lauer's intention here? Unknown. Maybe he was going to retire there. Maybe he would have opened up a lodge of his own.
The problem now? Well....to get residency and thus full ownership....you need to pass a character-test. Yeah, those sneaky New Zealand folks decided that with the foreigners coming in....someone needs to check people out. Well....Lauer was fired for sexual harassment. Apparently, the audit crew in New Zealand thinks this needs to be reviewed. The odds of a purchase being halted? At this point, it's an unknown. The fear factor here is that Lauer might end up losing his the purchase deal and be refused residency.
An odd problem? Well, one might get the idea that he had some retirement plan in his mind for three or four years in the future, and the sheep ranch thing with almost no civilization around? Well...yeah, it's just an odd idea.
Wednesday, 22 November 2017
My Week in Christchurch
In some cases, it's all historical stuff, and they'd really like to find a way to stabilize the building, and rescue it.
In the first picture, one structure survived without much damage....the other on the left is in a fragile situation and the cargo containers are there to prevent it from falling down onto cars or people....while they figure out a way of saving the building.In the second picture, this is one of the more famous churches of the city, with about 20-percent of it having fallen, and the rest in some state of trying to be saved. It might be a decade before they reach the stage of stabilizing it.
From the center of town, I would take a guess that almost 90-percent of the structures have been taken down, or fell on their own account.
Oddly, the hotel I stayed in....built in 1909....as a NZ federal government building....had thick concrete walls, and appears to have suffered almost no damage at all from the earthquake. Then you turn on a 360-degree circle and note that there's only one or two other buildings, out of forty nearby buildings.....that survived and in use today. 
The odd thing as well....lots of new buildings have gone up, and various parts of those buildings are up for lease, but unrented. Maybe it's a slow period....maybe they've over-built.....but it's a very noticeable thing.As for an end-point on construction? Unknown. The state government has poured tons of money into roads and parks. Thousands of construction guys can be seen around the city and there is some strange positive optimism that exists in Christchurch. You also get the impression that a lot of folks are somewhat fearful of another quake and sleep in a fragile way.
Tourism? Well, I hate to suggest it, but a fair number folks stand and admire the damage, and the reconstruction. It's not something that you typically see. I stood and watched two Chinese guys admiring some park area and how the new design appeared. You could see it was giving them ideas.
My humble feeling is that in a decade, some folks will say that Christchurch is the most liveable city in the world, and lay the nature of this comment on the rebuilding work.
Ten Things About New Zealand
1. As you stop in any cafe, or restaurant....the mighty fine folks of New Zealand will run up and serve you some of their best tap water....usually chilled. I thought after ten to fifteen occasions....it was an awful kind gesture, and they must have been awful proud of their tap water. On the whole of the idea, I will admit that it was pretty fair water, without any funny taste (as you would expect in most US cities. I should also note that if you ever ran through that bottle that they brought out, they'd rush up to give you a whole second bottle.....free.2. At some point in Auckland, I turned a corner in the morning and here was a cafe that was serving up pancakes smothered with bacon and bananas on top. Being from Alabama, I could not pass up this opportunity.
I will say that it's the best way of mixing everything possible onto one single plate. You probably got enough calories to sustain you for 90-percent of the day. Course, it did end up ranging in the $12 USD range....coffee extra.
You might also note 'The Law" sign above it, which typically laid out the NZ standard that if you even hint or act like you are drunk....they cut you off from further alcohol. They are a bit dedicated on that stance....mostly because folks do enjoy consuming beer.3. Throughout NZ, folks typically have ribs on their menu. So I sat down on the 2nd day in Auckland, and had some of the finest ribs of my life, with a tangy sauce on the side. By the last day of the trip, I had tried at least six different plates of ribs.
I will note this as well....an average menu will have only eight items on it....with two items being fish of some type, then lamb, ribs, and the rest are beef dishes of some type.
4. Generally, NZ folks drink beer to substantial portions. In the one pub that I stopped in, they even offered up a 'beer research fund' jar at the counter, for tips.
The typical food menu would go to two pages max, but the typical drink menu would go to four pages.....which says a good bit over various offerings.Bad beer? Out of the twenty-five-odd beers I tried, I would suggest that the one that mixed in a hefty amount of ginger was the only way that I would disqualify.
5. Virtually, every NZ guy will claim he's an expert on a hundred things. I stopped one evening and stayed in a 'cabin' overlooking a 500-ft cliff. It was a bed and breakfast deal, and the guy had put a ton of effort into the view, the cabin and the semi-rustic nature of the 'cabin'.
The fact that it was barely 20 foot away from the edge of this cliff....did weigh on my mind a good bit. The view? Worth a million. The thing was, all around was brush, and it looked awful snaky. But in NZ, there are no snakes.
So you laid down and could hear the waves hitting the beach below and it put you to sleep awful fast. As for this being a great idea? All it was....was a steel capsule-like container, with some handy-man add-ons, and some plastic covering to prevent the breeze from hitting you.6. No matter where you go on the north isle, there are hundreds of reminders of volcanic activity. Near the center of the isle is the chief volcano.
Naturally, down at the base of the volcano....they put up a fancy four-star hotel back in the late 1920s, and folks come from around the world to hang out there.It's an odd hotel because it's got the old world cinema operation in the basement. There's a fancy ballroom in the middle, and the place looks like something out of the 1930s.
The thing about the volcano and the hotel....it's all in the middle of nowhere. There's one single gas station for about sixty miles. You feel like you are in the middle of some lost civilization.
7. I turned a corner in Queenstown, and here was this interesting bar....called the 'Ice Bar'. They keep the temperature below -5 (Cel). So, yeah, it is awful cold. I didn't venture in (a regret).It would be interesting to ask how long a guy sits there (they provide some kinda parka for the experience). Then I'd be asking about the alcohol affect and the temperature. It's probably not the kind of place you'd want to spend more than two hours.
8. While in NZ, I was introduced to something they call the 'Blueberry Bomb'.
Roughly $7 USD, it's a giant smoothie, and is advertised as all-natural, without extra sugar (it's got enough to start with anyway.Calories? They are careful to make it confusing. After consuming my 5th one.....I got around to figuring out the big container was in the range of 850 calories. I guess it was meant for two or three days. Yeah, I was consuming one every single morning.
If you can take one of these.....toss it into the freezer at your hotel for an hour, and then guzzle it down....the sugar fix hits you and you feel all happy and chilled.
It's probably something that you'd best not get addicted to.....for the calorie reason.
9. At some point in my stay in Queenstown, I took a day-trip out to some remote area of the region, which overlooked the lake.
It was a small town situation, and we stopped at a city park, with a WW I memorial.
There's roughy twenty-five names carved up on the memorial....the guys who didn't come back.When you look over this small village....the population in 1914 probably didn't exceed more than a thousand, and twenty-five lost souls did amount to an awful lot of the local character.
It's one of those things that you look at for a good ten minutes and realize the impact of the war, and the burden on folks after the war. Still today, they likely remember the event.
10. As you travel on public transport (trains and buses), you tend to see various signs....letting you know that destruction is a thing which can get into trouble....to include vandelism and spray-painting.
New Zealand folks are pretty serious about this. Their threat?
You could end up with three months in prison and $2,000 NZD in fines. A hefty deal.The thing is....after a while, you notice that there isn't any graffiti around on trains, like you see in Germany or France. Nor do you see damage on buses.
I'm guessing that after putting a few folks in jail for a month or two.....folks realized the cops were serious and this stupid stuff stopped.
After walking around, you tend to notice a limited number of radicals or criminals. I think the judges are pretty serious about real jail time, and it has a positive influence on society.
Tuesday, 21 November 2017
NZ: North Island versus South Island
After roughly three weeks in New Zealand, you come to notice a number of things about the two islands. Combined, the population is 6.4-million and growing. The south island is the lesser island, with roughly 1.1-million. The north island with 5.3-million.
The basic difference?
The north island has Auckland, which is a magnet now for business and technology start-up operations. I might add that it's also a major magnet for Chinese immigration and business-start-up shops. You can draw a 40-mile circle around Auckland and probably find almost half the population of the island in that metropolitan area.
The connecting force of the north isle is Route One (going from Cape Reinga on northern most tip), to Wellington (the capital) on the far south of the isle. It's safe to say that Route One has intense traffic and always in some stage of renovation.
I had this unique experience traveling north, when the cops closed off Route One because of a truck accident, and put everyone onto a dirt-road situation. It was a 12-mile detour along a road that you'd typically avoid....and find yourself on a cliff-road where you might fall 200 feet easily if you went two feet further to the right.
The landscape? An American would say it looks an awful lot like Washington state (with the Volcanic-like landscape) and Tennessee (with the rolling hills). There's some point where I ventured off Route One onto Route Four....discovering a mostly rural area, cattle ranches, and small towns with just a gas station and general store.
The south isle? It's the mountainous region....more like the Alps of Europe than anything else, which takes up maybe one-third of the south isle. The rest is mostly flat, farming land, and this is the region that typically draws a lot of tourism.
Christchurch, Queenstown, and Invercargill make up the bulk of population in this region.
Why do people want to migrate into New Zealand? I think it adds up to four simple feelings:
1. It's safe. You just don't see crime, drug usage, or crazy folks.
2. The weather isn't that bad. Summers are generally mild....maybe into mid-seventy to mid-eight range. It does rain a fair bit but that gives you the 'green-look'. Winters (especially on the far south), can offer up snow.
3. Low stress. You see a minimal amount of stress in just about everyone.
4. Everyone claims to be an expert craftsman, transmission mechanic, grill cook, carpenter, and animal vet. Once you get beyond Auckland, you kinda notice that things are rigged up in a fixer-up kind of way and folks make due with the limited knowledge that they have. You could call up some neighbor and mention that you had brake issues, and he'd come over with his tool kit, to offer up his vast knowledge (enough for four 3x5 cards) and fix the issue. I think people are impressed with this attitude about getting the job done.
But all of this immigration business is driving up home costs, and it's a shocker to note that homes around Wellington and Auckland will easily run 500,000 to one million NZD (340,000 to 680,000 USD). A decent home with real property? You'd be talking about 800,000 USD easily. All of this is begging for light rail growth and home development forty to sixty miles away from the metropolitan areas.
I stood one day in Queenstown and admired the bank-real estate ads....noting a simple one-bedroom condo could run you in the range of $250,000 USD easily, if you were within the city limits. We took off one day from the airport to fly around the range.....and you could see tons of growth around the airport with forty-odd buildings being constructed (banks, grocery operations, hotels). If you made it into Christchurch and noted the construction efforts from 2011 earthquake episode, there's probably well over 3,000 construction guys at work. There's probably enough work there to guarantee a stable work situation for at least ten more years.
The thing though that gets into your mind after a while.....you are at the edge of the Earth. Getting anywhere with civilization (like Auckland) might take you two hours in the air. Getting to Australia? Maybe 3.5 hours in the air. There are some folks on the extreme north of the north isle....who might only get into a real town or real grocery....maybe four times a year. As much as the landscape begs for you.....the reality is that you need to accept limits on your life.
The basic difference?
The north island has Auckland, which is a magnet now for business and technology start-up operations. I might add that it's also a major magnet for Chinese immigration and business-start-up shops. You can draw a 40-mile circle around Auckland and probably find almost half the population of the island in that metropolitan area.
The connecting force of the north isle is Route One (going from Cape Reinga on northern most tip), to Wellington (the capital) on the far south of the isle. It's safe to say that Route One has intense traffic and always in some stage of renovation.
I had this unique experience traveling north, when the cops closed off Route One because of a truck accident, and put everyone onto a dirt-road situation. It was a 12-mile detour along a road that you'd typically avoid....and find yourself on a cliff-road where you might fall 200 feet easily if you went two feet further to the right.
The landscape? An American would say it looks an awful lot like Washington state (with the Volcanic-like landscape) and Tennessee (with the rolling hills). There's some point where I ventured off Route One onto Route Four....discovering a mostly rural area, cattle ranches, and small towns with just a gas station and general store.
The south isle? It's the mountainous region....more like the Alps of Europe than anything else, which takes up maybe one-third of the south isle. The rest is mostly flat, farming land, and this is the region that typically draws a lot of tourism.
Christchurch, Queenstown, and Invercargill make up the bulk of population in this region.
Why do people want to migrate into New Zealand? I think it adds up to four simple feelings:
1. It's safe. You just don't see crime, drug usage, or crazy folks.
2. The weather isn't that bad. Summers are generally mild....maybe into mid-seventy to mid-eight range. It does rain a fair bit but that gives you the 'green-look'. Winters (especially on the far south), can offer up snow.
3. Low stress. You see a minimal amount of stress in just about everyone.
4. Everyone claims to be an expert craftsman, transmission mechanic, grill cook, carpenter, and animal vet. Once you get beyond Auckland, you kinda notice that things are rigged up in a fixer-up kind of way and folks make due with the limited knowledge that they have. You could call up some neighbor and mention that you had brake issues, and he'd come over with his tool kit, to offer up his vast knowledge (enough for four 3x5 cards) and fix the issue. I think people are impressed with this attitude about getting the job done.
But all of this immigration business is driving up home costs, and it's a shocker to note that homes around Wellington and Auckland will easily run 500,000 to one million NZD (340,000 to 680,000 USD). A decent home with real property? You'd be talking about 800,000 USD easily. All of this is begging for light rail growth and home development forty to sixty miles away from the metropolitan areas.
I stood one day in Queenstown and admired the bank-real estate ads....noting a simple one-bedroom condo could run you in the range of $250,000 USD easily, if you were within the city limits. We took off one day from the airport to fly around the range.....and you could see tons of growth around the airport with forty-odd buildings being constructed (banks, grocery operations, hotels). If you made it into Christchurch and noted the construction efforts from 2011 earthquake episode, there's probably well over 3,000 construction guys at work. There's probably enough work there to guarantee a stable work situation for at least ten more years.
The thing though that gets into your mind after a while.....you are at the edge of the Earth. Getting anywhere with civilization (like Auckland) might take you two hours in the air. Getting to Australia? Maybe 3.5 hours in the air. There are some folks on the extreme north of the north isle....who might only get into a real town or real grocery....maybe four times a year. As much as the landscape begs for you.....the reality is that you need to accept limits on your life.
New Zealand and Spiders
Take a close-up view of the car.
Anything that sits idle for six to eight hours.....likely gets the attention of a spider. I don't know the variety or if it's a killer....but they work their butt off.
This was a car parked along a city park....probably for six hours.
You see this on buildings, trees, and just about every vehicle that rests.
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