Miraz Jordan

I was shocked to learn it’s legal in NZ for civilians to own automatic weapons. No civilian should have them.

The gunman responsible for the terrorist attacks on mosques …held a standard firearms licence that allowed him to own limited power semi-automatic weapons.

Our Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern speaks the heart of New Zealand:

These [attackers] are people who I would describe as having extremist views that have absolutely no place in New Zealand and in fact have no place in the world. …

Our thoughts and our prayers are with those who have been impacted today. Christchurch was their home. For many, this may not have been the place they were born, in fact for many, New Zealand was their choice.

The place they actively came to, and committed to. The place they were raising their families. Where they were parts of communities that they loved and who loved them in return. It was a place that many came to for its safety. A place where they were free to practice their culture and their religion.

For those of you who are watching at home tonight, and questioning how this could have happened here.

We, New Zealand, we were not a target because we are a safe harbour for those who hate.

We were not chosen for this act of violence because we condone racism, because we are an enclave for extremism.

We were chosen for the very fact that we are none of those things.

Because we represent diversity, kindness, compassion. A home for those who share our values. Refuge for those who needs it. And those values will not and cannot be shaken by this attack.

We are a proud nation of more than 200 ethnicities, 160 languages. And amongst that diversity we share common values. And the one that we place the currency on right now is our compassion and support for the community of those directly affected by this tragedy.

And secondly, the strongest possible condemnation of the ideology of the people who did this.

You may have chosen us — we utterly reject and condemn you.

This was in response to the horrific hate shooting on 15 March 2019 at two mosques in Christchurch. At the time of writing 49 people have died, and another 42 are in hospital.

Our dog Oshi, outside: woof.

Guest Willow: WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF.

Me: Picks up Willow and brings her in. “Hush. No barking.”

Oshi: Heh, why keep a dog and bark yourself?

These beautiful white fungi appeared in the vege garden yesterday. Today they’re past their best.

Ugh.

Police have been dealing with 2 shootings at 2 mosques in Christchurch

We can confirm there have been a number of fatalities. We cannot at this stage confirm the precise number but it is significant.

So far, 4 people, 3 men and a woman, have been taken into custody

This is appalling, wherever in the world it takes place. It’s almost inconceivable that it would happen in New Zealand though.

Armed police have been deployed after shots were fired at a mosque where hundreds of people were praying near Hagley Park in Christchurch.

Well! Space port ‘could be feasible’ in NZ in 10 years

it’s a serious possibility that New Zealand could be the launch site for companies like Space X or Virgin Galactic, should space tourism ideas become a reality.

Wow! Fascinating video: Polishing a Pink Mega Diamond by Periodic Table of Videos. This 13 minute video looks at how diamonds are cut and polished. It’s an amazing process — immensely delicate and time consuming, and sometimes too hard for machines to do.

This year I’m still learning Te Reo Māori, but with much more enjoyment. Instead of a night-class it’s distance learning. Since I habitually wake around 4.30 or 5 am, evenings are my worst brain time. Now I can learn at 6 am! Hooray for Te Wananga o Raukawa ki Ōtaki!

Today’s beach walk netted me several kinds of wildlife. 1] A gang of pukeko who strolled across the road in front of my car. 3 remained by the time I took my iPhone out. 2] A 1.2 metre shark, dead on the beach. 3] A group of 3 horse riders with one horse loose and 3 dogs.

Now, 25 years later, I need two hands to count the number of fictional women who inspire me — the likes of Captain Marvel, Captain Kathryn Janeway, Supergirl, Xena and Gabrielle, Captain Sharon Raydor, President Laura Roslyn, Wonder Woman… Sometime I’ll make a proper list.

In that very first episode of Xena Warrior Princess in 1995 I anxiously held my breath. I was waiting for the inevitable disappointing moment when a man would ‘rescue' her.

But it never came.

And so the modern age of hero women in TV and movies came to be.

As a kid I loved sci-fi and space. I grew up with Star Trek: The Original Series. I followed all the US space missions, including the first landing on the moon. But at some point I watched the movie Logan’s Run and its utter sexism put me off for decades. Now things have changed.

I remain impressed with TV Show Supergirl. S4E14 has real-life politics and personal struggles. Examples: How does Agent Alex do her duty and protect a man whose views she abhors? What do peaceful protestors do when a fringe faction bring violence? Photo source: Autostraddle.

I heard a large plane, looked up and spotted this Royal New Zealand Air Force C130 Hercules aircraft flying very low very nearby. I whipped out my iPhone and asked Siri to take a photo. The plane went behind a tree at that moment. Then it emerged and I grabbed a quick snap.

We live on the south side of where the Waikawa River flows into the sea. We seldom walk on the north side, but today was such a day. The landscape there's a bit different. The map screenshot shows the area north and west of the village where we walked. Dune area. Track to sea.

It was a nice surprise to get a shout-out on Episode 52 of the Micro Monday Podcast.

Quail FTW! Photos: the newest Quail chick, Glee, hatched on 24 February 2019, on Day One and now on Day 16. She’s grown so much! 🐦

From the podcast at around 10 minutes 30 from the start:

I hope we don’t have any really shaky earthquakes between now and mid-winter. I tried a new stacking approach to our 3 cubic metres of firewood. Let’s just say I won’t try that way again.

The Ohakea Air Base is about 60 Km north-ish of us, if you fly a straight line. That would take an NH90 Helicopter about 15 minutes at moderate speed. Also, we’re pretty much on the flight path between Ohakea and Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand. Consequently, we see numerous military aircraft coming and going.

Today though a large helicopter arrived and hovered for several minutes over a spot not far away. It was remarkable flying: it didn’t move at all. After a while it backed up a little and then hovered a whole lot more in a couple of positions. I was trying to determine what it could be doing, but without luck. At one point it did seem to pull something perhaps person-sized aboard through the open door.

It did an awful lot of hovering, in a couple of spots and mainly just behind trees, buildings or sand dunes, though at one point it came and did a low altitude circuit directly overhead. Eventually it flew off towards Wellington.

I can only conclude it was some kind of training exercise, though why it picked our village for that, who knows?

This all was definitely unusual behaviour: generally they just fly past.

I took photos, of course. Zoomed in, I think I can make out the Airforce identification mark.

Handy: 14 Siri Tricks You Can Use Right Now. I frequently use some already, but new to me: retrieve passwords, translate, dictionary, find friends, take a panorama, find photos, turn on flashlight. Some great timesavers here.