Andrew Dickens Afternoons

One thing I’ve noticed in long running stories is that people seem to forget that things change. Often that change happens within a week.  What is true at the beginning of the day is not the case by sundown, I thought this as Dr David Nabarro from the WHO appealed to world leaders yesterday, telling them to stop "using lockdowns as your primary control method" of the coronavirus. His main reason is that lockdowns are make the globe’s poor even poorer.  He could have added that it also makes the globe’s sick even sicker as they miss out on ongoing treatment. This is a chilling message as many countries, like the UK and Canada, look to re-enter lockdowns due to a re-emergence of outbreaks It’s also led to many people claiming that the widespread use of lockdowns in the first place was the wrong thing to do.Now, that’s not the right way to look at things. Lockdowns should only ever be used when transmission is high.  A short sharp shock to break the back.What’s changed since the beginning of the year and now is

Taking the bar exam is hard enough, but one Illinois woman took it to the next level by having a baby in the middle of the test.Brianna Hill, a recent graduate of the Loyola University School of Law in Chicago, knew she would be pregnant during her bar exam, but she wasn't expecting a huge curveball in timing due to the Covid-19 pandemic."I thought I would only be 28 weeks pregnant when I took the bar," Hill told CNN. "However, due to the pandemic, the test was pushed to October and I was going to be 38 weeks. I joked about taking the test from my hospital bed. Lesson learned!"The remote version of the test is four 90-minute sections spread out over two days. Hill said the exam is proctored so you have to sit in front of the computer the entire time to make sure you aren't cheating."I thought I felt something about 30 minutes into the test and actually thought, 'I really hope my water didn't just break,'" Hill said. "But I couldn't go check and so I finished the first section. As soon as I stood up when I fin

A seal sanctuary in England made a dating profile for a lonely otter who lost his mate -- and now he's found love again.Harris, a 10-year-old Asian short-clawed otter at the Cornish Seal Sanctuary in Cornwall, England, lost his partner Apricot after she died at age 16, according to a press release from the sanctuary.He was alone for the first time in four years and had appeared to go back to his bachelor ways.The team created Harris an online dating profile for a fake dating site they dubbed "Fishing for Love," in hopes of finding another otter in need of love and affection."I am very attentive, I love a cuddle, and I am a very good listener," the profile said. "I will love you like no otter."Harris came to the sanctuary in 2016 after being rejected from his family at the Welsh Mountain Zoo.Tamara Cooper, curator at the Cornish Seal Sanctuary, said there was something about Harris that checked all the boxes for Apricot."He was a doting partner to Apricot, so when she passed away a few weeks back he was absolu

So Auckland waits to go to Level 1 and a return to the semblance of normality we had for 102 days earlier this year. But are we all ready. A number of scientists and health officials spoke over the weekend saying that they hoped we executed Level 1 better this time than we did last time. Because last time we were hopeless The evidence of this was the size of the Auckland cluster that has left our biggest city in limbo until today. While the virus managed to sneak through in a way that is still not known, the real concern is how it then spread through the community.  Once lockdown 2.0 began the flouting of gathering rules in churches kept the virus fires burning.The Auckland cluster in Lockdown 2.0 was the single biggest outbreak this country has had in the pandemic. And that’s why the doors were shut and why they are only just being opened. So the question is, are we better at Level 1 than we were?No, we are not.  My supermarket is strict and has a door person so mask wearing and app utilisation is strong. Ho

COMMENT:The Mood of the Boardroom issue is out today in The Herald and this issue more than any other is necessary reading.Since the start of the Covid campaign in March and the extraordinary economic impact of the lockdown strategy the call has been loud and clear.What’s the plan?Firstly how are we going to stimulate businesses to make up for the lost income that closed borders and closed cities bring.And secondly how will we pay for the amount of corporate welfare that has been doled out to keep affected businesses operating until they’re strong enough to cope again on their own.With our future so murky the cry has been loud. What is the plan? Where are we going?And the cry has always been to the government. Which I have always found confusing.We rail against nanny state and too much government intrusion into our lives until everything goes wrong and then it’s all the government’s liability.The Mood of the Boardroom is a chance to see what business is really thinking and what they really want.And they seem

We've all experienced the frustration of being stuck on an airplane, so close to the end of the journey, yet forced to wait while some technical problem is sorted out.But while common sense stops most people from opening the doors ourselves, one passenger in Ukraine apparently decided the best course of action was to pop open the emergency exit and take a stroll on the aircraft's wing.Cooling offA minute-long video has emerged of the woman, dressed in a white top and light pink trousers, hanging out on the wing in front of stunned onlookers at Boryspil International Airport in Kiev, before being summoned back on board by the airplane's crew.The unidentified passenger, who was traveling on a Ukraine International Airlines flight from Antalya, Turkey to the Ukranian capital with her husband and children, was reportedly overheard saying she was "too hot" and needed to cool down.Her unauthorized walk on the wing of the Boeing 737 has seen her banned from all future UIA flights.According to a statement from the ai

COMMENT:The closer we get to this election the less able I am to differentiate between the leading parties. They seem to be morphing into one indistinct blob. It started when the issue of opening the border seemed to disappear from National mouths just as Todd Muller disappeared from public life. It continues when Judith Collins started agreeing that the government had done a good job to this point. This was in her early days as Opposition leader where she acknowledged that the steps taken to date were effective. It validated the elimination argument and watered down the flames that had been fanned by Todd Muller that our border control was a shambles. Then she threw out the financial targets that had been suggested by Paul Goldsmith around paying off debt.  Goldsmith said the party would try to reduce net core Crown debt to 30 per cent of GDP in roughly a decade, requiring $80b less borrowing on current GDP projections. Collins didn’t like putting numbers and targets on things which could come back to bite t

So here we are again at yet another crossroad on our Covid path.  A six-month journey that so far that feels more like a year.  A period of time that is but a blip in the timeline of a virus or a pandemic. There always the common perception that tasks grow easier as time goes on.  Not in this one.  This is the hardest part of the battle so far.  The coming weeks will test us as we have never been tested so far and in my opinion, we come into the test underdone. Whatever the real story is behind the official social media call for half of Auckland to get tested this weekend, I believe it’s indicative of underlying tension that many of us are unaware of. I believe that the Ministry would have liked to have tested half of Auckland.  I bet that’s where the messaging first came from.  I believe they would have extended the heightened alert levels.  I believe the Ministry and Ashley believe that this is a risky call and the chances of failure and a situation like Melbourne are not inconsiderable.  In this whole proc

GRAPHIC CONTENT WARNING: THIS STORY CONTAINS DETAILS WHICH READERS MIGHT FIND UPSETTINGA victim of the Christchurch terror attacks saved lives by tackling the rampaging gunman before he was shot dead.Naeem Rashid, 50, ran at Brenton Harrison Tarrant as he methodically murdered people inside Masjid Al Noor mosque on March 15 last year.Rashid's bravery was revealed in the Crown summary of facts – the official narrative of events – on the first day of Tarrant's sentencing at the High Court in Christchurch.As fellow worshippers fell dead and wounded around him, Rashid ran at Tarrant from the southeastern corner of Al Noor's main prayer room where at least 120 people were gathered.Rashid was about 1m from Tarrant when he swung the AR-15 gun around and fired four shots at point blank range with one shot hitting Rashid's left shoulder.Rashid crashed into the gunman, sending him down to one knee.The impact dislodged one of the ammunition magazines from his tactical vest.Rashid lay on his back and in an attempt to shi

Last night I watched the Sunday programme which concentrated on Covid 19 in Australia and New Zealand. I wondered beforehand  whether it was going to be a dramatic scaremongering propaganda piece. It was not by design, but it was by effect. First we saw the tale of two New Zealanders who had been through a Covid infection and the effect it had on them. Jenene Crossan was enlightening.  A 42 year old entrepreneur who returned from overseas.  She was fit and healthy and surprised by the infection and the force of it.  She talked about the debilitating cough and the pain and the exhaustion and the fear of breathlessness.   She also talked about how she continues to be affected by the infection. From becoming allergic to dogs, to being continually tired and having a vicious cough that strikes from nowhere. This is the thing about viruses.  They’re whole body experience.  One of my friends died in his 40s of heart disease caused by damage from a tropical virus he caught in his 20s.  Covid will live on long after t

A pair of spectacles thought to belong to Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi are set to be auctioned for more than $19,000 -- after being left "hanging out" of a letterbox on a busy industrial estate.Around four weeks ago on a Monday morning, auctioneer Andy Stowe headed into work and was checking the letterboxes at his office on an industrial estate in Bristol, southwest England."I saw an envelope hanging out of our letterbox -- really, literally, just hanging out," he told CNN.When a colleague opened the envelope, they discovered the unusual contents -- a pair of gold-rimmed, circular spectacles."They had a little note in there saying 'These belonged to Gandhi, and my uncle was given them,'" he said.Stowe told CNN he called the phone number on the note, and traced the item's seller, who was an elderly man who lived locally.The man told Stowe that the glasses had been passed to him from his uncle, who told him they were given to him by Gandhi while he was employed in South Africa."The uncle [was] work

Well here we are in August already.  Six weeks after the solstice and so apparently we are in the deepest depths of winter We’ve also just past the four month mark in the battle against the great contagion of our time. It is worth re-iterating that.  The battle is still in it’s infancy. It’s only just started. At the beginning we were told it would be two years at least before a return to some sort of normal might happen.  We’re less than a sixth of the way to that point. But the ferocity of the debates and the dominance of Covid in the news has made us all seem as though it has been a lot longer.  That things and time has passed and changed and we can move on.  It’s completely understandable as we’re keen to get out of this slow suffocating hell.  But we do seem to be in an unseemly hurry.  The call to open borders started only 8 weeks after we closed them.  What on earth were people thinking back then? But outside our borders, things have been getting worse and worse and worse.  Victoria is facing a wildfir

COMMENT:I’ve never been a fan of polls.I find them to be very unhelpful for democracy. Actually they’re worse than that.  Tthey deeply undermine democracy.They reduce the competition of ideas and beliefs and principles to a ranking game without analysis or cogent thought.They are lazy journalism which is why they are supported by media outlets.  It’s easier to write about someone’s popularity and how it has plunged or rocketed than it is to investigate the policies that person represents.They have no context and so they mislead.Parties enjoying  a high poll number can see their supporters become complacent. Their opponents can be convinced to give up because what’s the point? Parties riding high can attract votes simply because of a human desire to be on the side of the winners.So as everyone always says.  There’s only 1 poll that matters so let’s just have that one.  Give the world some mystery.  Let’s find out on the night of September the 19th.Meanwhile, last Sunday I had brunch with a respected QC. The co

Judith Collins’ first weekend in charge of the National Party has passed and she has faced the weekend media. And shock horror, the 61-year-old veteran politician handled the questions from Tova O’Brien and others with aplomb causing an outbreak of yahooing that the tide has turned. It shows you how far our expectations of our politicians has fallen over recent times. We’ve got used to the struggles of the David Clarks and the Todd Mullers and the Phil Twyfords of this world to answer straight questions.  We’ve got used to politicians pretending to have convictions and positions and then flannelling when push comes to shove. But it all bounced straight off Judith Collins because she knows what she believes and thinks and what she will hold to. It surprised me how much relief and energy and belief swept through the National Party and its supporters because, to be frank, the policies announced were less than inspired. Collins announced a $31 billion infrastructure spend that even at first look appears to have b

With my new working life I now get to do news and talkback just one day a week on a Monday. This gives me a terrific chance to step back and look at the fuller news cycle rather than just the day by day cascade of stories that dominate the day but not necessarily the week.  It reminds you that a lot of stories that seemed so pressing at the time are often barely remembered past a month.So this time last Monday we were in the midst of a crisis in our quarantining. Escapees, a lack of testing amongst those released under compassionate grounds. The contact tracing app near to useless.  Add to that the appointment of Megan Woods as Minister of Isolation on June 19, and then the resignation of David Clark on July 2, and the weekend papers were full of opining on the SHAMBLES of our border security and primarily of the Government.One week later and a cursory investigation of the weekend’s papers and you’ll see the SHAMBLES now apparently belongs to the opposition.Southland brat Hamish Walker is no more after an ext

Nine Kiwi families are in mourning after a horror weekend on the roads.Hawke's Bay Police have confirmed one person has died, after crashing their vehicle on Springfield Road in Taradale just before midnight.It follows seven other fatal accidents across the country over the weekend, which killed another eight people.A pedestrian was struck while walking on High St, in Masterton, just after 7pm yesterday.Emergency crews were called to the scene at 7.13pm and the victim was taken to Wellington Hospital in a critical condition.Police confirmed that the person had since died.Two of the crashes happened in the Canterbury region within about 10 minutes of each other.About 9.20pm, crews were called to North Parade in Richmond, Christchurch, after a report that a motorcyclist had crashed into a fence.The victim was said to have suffered serious injuries, initially.The road was closed for some time as authorities worked at the scene. A police investigation is said to be ongoing.Another person who died was also initial

Here we are on Day 1 of the July School holidays and, of course, the weather is atrocious in many places and will be all week.  As if we haven’t already been through enough in 2020.But with holiday towns feeling the love from domestic tourism there is a feeling, which may be temporary that a new normal, related to the old normal, has returned.If we’re employed, we’re employed.  The vast majority of us are still working. We congregate in stadiums to watch world-class sport.  We eat and drink together in crowded venues. We’re almost like we used to be, although I wonder if there is some underlying Post Traumatic Stress Disorders waiting to erupt.In our measured calm approach to the global pandemic, kindness was a key motivating concept. But how close are some of us to resorting to the rule of the jungle.I read Greg Bruce’s article in the Herald this weekend about the appalling social media abuse directed at Dr Siouxsie Wiles over the course of the lockdown.Dr Wiles along with others like Michael Baker and Shaun

Arthur Conan Doyle's estate is suing Netflix, among others, over its upcoming film "Enola Holmes" -- arguing that the show's depiction of Sherlock Holmes as kind, caring and respectful of women is a violation of the author's copyright.The film, based on a series of novels by Nancy Springer and set for release on Netflix in September, follows the legendary detective's younger sister, a character created by Springer.But the late author's estate has objected to the way Holmes is portrayed in the series, arguing that the sleuth was only ever kind and emotional in books that are still under the author's copyright. In earlier works, now in the public domain, his aloofness and lack of empathy are crucial aspects of his character and must be respected in any adaptation, the estate claims.Many later Sherlock Holmes titles are still protected under US copyright protection law.The estate has filed a case against Netflix, the US-based producers, Springer, her publisher Penguin Random House, and others in the US District

Is anyone really surprised that Paula Bennett has zipped it sweetie and ridden into the sunset?After all, the horse she tied her cart to is languishing at the bottom of the party list.  The tone of the party she helped create has changed. Muller is a moderate centrist conservative who probably hates her leopard-skin coats. The National Party is no longer an easy fit for an animal like Paula. It’s only humane to let her go free to roam her savannahs looking for fresh meat. But it leaves the National Party weakened.  She was the campaign manager and the campaign has only days to go.  And I worry that National is losing too many of what I call the velociraptors.  The heavy hitters who like the thrill of competition in politics and do not just want a job as an administrator of this country.It’s the Amy, Nikki, Todd and Paul show now and frankly, that’s pretty bland. Meanwhile, over the weekend I saw an opinion piece from Gordon Campbell, the left-leaning former Listener writer.He was questioning why the media was

So if we don’t go to Level 1 at 3 this afternoon, there will be a riot.There are some who are good little scouts who believe in the crushing the virus like a sledgehammer crushes a butterfly, but I think there is a sizable majority who are feeling the pain and need the country to go back to work.And if the government has been listening that’s what they’ll say. There is no need for a transition period.  We all get Level 1. Business as normal. But no tourists, no student and no overseas trips. Wash your hands. We already know and we’re ready.All we need to hear is “It’s 3pm, go back to work and let’s fix up this mess.” And then we have to start talking about recovering rather than just surviving.The interesting thing about National’s policy announcements over the past fortnight is that they were ahead of the curve. They are recovery policies, not survival policies.The GST holiday on capital expenditure for instance.  One business said to me on air that would not help for a while because they are not looking to