By Mr Murka 00:28 (11 hours ago) DEADLINE’S Hamilton REPORTER.

“I looked into the street and saw fires burning in the street, as it is through the whole city by the Lord Mayor’s order.” The fires were thought to have a purifying effect on the air quality, and thus many thought they would rid the city of the plague — Plague in London. Samuel Pepy 1665.

Auckland Career Fire Stations Close Due to Lack of Staffing reports “The only conclusion that the Union can come down to is that this is a cost saving exercise, one that has serious implications of safe systems of work and community safety.”

My thoughts have been for some time that mandates etc are exactly this making opportunity out of crisis to shift the blame of crumbling services, health, schools etc.

I’ve banged on before about education hubs and split shift hot desking in schools being cost cutting under the covid banner and my hunch (it’s only that) is that we may see further inroads to this through 2022.  Keep getting the feeling that countries dropping restrictions and Omicron being a non event is possibly partly engineered to set up for the next round of fuckery, this whole last two years just being the pilot scheme.

Obviously I’d much prefer to be proven wrong and see rational decisions restoring the old normal to a large degree. Yet it’s these types of scenarios on the fringes that lead me to suspect there’s plenty of bumpy road to travel upon yet. Gonna be real fricken interesting when some high density builds catch alight..  another great reason to construct with earth, but what do I or King John know about that – keep in mind this edict is older than the Magna Carta, from 1212 after the London Bridge burnt down;

“All shops on the Thames be whitewashed and plastered within and without. All houses which till now are covered with reed and rush, which can be plastered, let them be plastered within eight days and let those which shall not be plastered within that term be demolished by the alderman and lawful men of the venude. Let all houses in which brewing and baking is done be plastered and whitewashed within and without,that they be safe from fire”