The Mike Hosking Breakfast

So what would you rather have: a wall, or the mess they’ve currently got on the border in America?
They’ve tossed $86 million at the problem in the last couple of days - that’s for the motel bills to house the illegal crossers.
This followed the roll out for what passes as border policy: please don’t come. That was it. Biden appealing to people not to come, don’t bring your kids, don’t sneak in.
Now there is no shortage of coverage of this after all you can’t ignore a que of thousands.
But what there isn’t is outrage or at least no coverage of it.
The republicans in places like Texas are trying their best at an “I told you so" argument. But the broader media is amazingly, or perhaps not so amazingly compliant, when it comes to what is a disaster.
Say what you want about Trump, but his wall and its mass mocking was in fact acting in the way it was supposed to.
People weren’t queuing the way they are now. And why are they flooding across? Because they now they can.
Because they know that when a President asks you not to come, that means they don’t have a plan or any means to stop it and so the mess will only get worse.
This mess was of course the mess they had four years ago under Obama.  The mess Trump at least in part addressed with his famed wall.
‘The wall’ never got completed and no what bits did get built weren’t paid for by Mexico and that was always the trouble with Trump. He had the knack of taking a seed of an idea and pimping it up to the point of absurdity, thus leaving him open to ridicule.
But what you can’t argue against is ‘the wall’ or what bits they built along with a bolstered border force actually had an effect. And the basic premise Trump sold it on - that a country must have borders or else it isn’t a country – is in fact sound.
So $86 million and counting and the lies have already started.
Nancy Pelosi says things are under control. Pictures would tell you otherwise, as would the $86 million.
It’s this delusion that gives rise to the likes of Trump and builds their support. It’s this approach that allows the opposition to form.
You would have thought the Democrats might have developed some sort of plan in the four years they spent bagging the previous president.
Barely two months in, it’s like the last four years never happened
 

So what's it like for an international sportsperson in this Covid world?
NZ golf player Ryan Fox's 2020 was obviously heavily disrupted, with many European Tour events, which he is on, cancelled.
But he got back out to the world in the latter half of the year - and ended up playing in 11 events.
So how did he cope? And what does 2021 have in store?
Ryan Fox joins Mike Hosking live in studio.
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Trying to save jobs as the pandemic pummels Vatican revenues, Pope Francis has ordered pay cuts for cardinals and other clerics, as well as nuns, who work at the Holy See.
In a decree published online Wednesday by the Vatican's official newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Francis said that starting in April cardinals' salaries will be reduced 10%. Superiors of the Holy See's various departments, who, with few exceptions, are clerics, will be hit by 8% cuts while lower-ranking priests and nuns will see 3% vanish from their paychecks.
In the decree he signed on Tuesday, the pope noted that the Holy See's finances have been marked by several years of deficit. Worsening those financial woes, the pope wrote, was the COVID-19 pandemic, “which has impacted negatively on all the sources of revenue of the Holy See and Vatican City State.”
The belt-tightening "has the aim of saving current job positions,'' Francis wrote.
Lower-ranking lay-workers at the Vatican aren't affected by the salary reductions, but their pay raises, due every two years, are being temporarily frozen under the austerity measures. The lowest-paid lay workers will still get raise, though.
Bans on tourism by many countries and other pandemic restrictions have severely reduced revenues at the Vatican Museums, which, with its Sistine Chapel, is a perennial money-maker for the Vatican,
The Museums opened for some weeks during the pandemic when the situation in Italy improved. But with tourists from the United States and some other countries banned from entering Italy, the museums' cavernous rooms were eerily uncrowded in the pandemic.
The Museums are currently closed and will stay closed at least through the upcoming Holy Week, which normally is one of Rome's heaviest periods for tourism.
Earlier this month, the Vatican said it has nearly used up its financial reserves from past donations to cover budget deficits over recent years. It has predicted a 50-million-euro ($60 million) deficit for this year.
Pandemic safety measures have seen many churches shuttered or limiting the number of faithful — many of whom leave monetary donations during services — who can enter.
The Vatican's economy minister has said that the dwindled Museums revenue, as well as a drop in what Catholics donate, would contribute to a projected 30% reduction in revenue this year.
The pay cuts also apply to several Vatican basilicas in Rome as well as to the Vicariate, or diocese of Rome, which is under the pope's direction.
Cardinals, other clerics and well as nuns in Rome generally don't have expenses most lay people have, like market-value rents or mortgages, utility and heating bills, since many reside in housing owned by the Vatican or religious orders.
Some cardinals have spacious, well-appointed apartments in historic palazzi in Rome. A cardinal on the Vatican staff could earn close to 5,000 euros (($6,000) monthly, according to those familiar with Holy See hierarchy.
In any case, Francis noted, the salary reductions won't apply to anyone who can document that the cuts will make it “impossible to meet fixed expenses related to their health conditions" or those of close relatives.

A new discovery is being called the most exciting breakthrough on how our universe works in the last 20 years.
Using the large hadron collider in Switzerland, scientists have seen signs of a mystery particle or force interacting with each other that could go towards explaining gravity or why the universe is rapidly expanding.
Professor Richard Easther is the Head of the Department of Physics at Auckland University.
He joined Mike Hosking to break down the exciting new research.
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Kmart is facing a dilemma of environment, versus economics.
Consumer NZ says the retailer should stock replacement parts for products, after a blade broke on a 29 dollar blender broke, after one week.
Kmart could only offer a replacement or refund, meaning the returned item would go to landfill.
First Retail Group managing director Chris Wilkinson told Mike Hosking retailers still have to cater for markets such as students.
He says the place is often swamped with parents looking for cheap sufficient products that will just do the job.
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The European Union moved Wednesday toward stricter export controls for coronavirus vaccines, seeking to make sure its 27 nations have more COVID-19 shots to boost the bloc's flagging vaccine campaign amid a surge in new infections.
The EU’s executive Commission said on the eve of a summit of the EU's leaders that it has a plan to guarantee that more vaccines produced in the bloc are available for its 450 million citizens even if that comes at the cost of helping nations outside the bloc, most notably Britain.
EU officials said trade with the United States should not be affected and assured nations that sought to have an open, transparent relationship with the bloc that they had little to fear.
The EU move is expected to be a blow to Britain, whose speedy vaccination rollout has been eyed with envy by many EU nations, especially since it came as the U.K. formally completed its Brexit divorce from the bloc. The latest figures show that 45% of Britons have had at least one vaccine shot, compared to less than 14% for the bloc.
“I mention specifically the U.K.,” said EU Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis. Since the end of January, “some 10 million doses have been exported from the EU to the U.K. and zero doses have been exported from U.K. to the EU.”
“So it’s clear that we also need to look at those aspects of reciprocity and proportionality,” he said.
In the post-Brexit era, both sides have been fighting over everything from diplomatic representation to border controls and red tape, but they did not want to take the same confrontational tone over live-saving vaccines, especially when the World Health Organization is raising alarms over rising new infections across Europe.
Only hours after the Commission move, both the EU and the U.K. said in a joint statement that “we are all facing the same pandemic and the third wave makes cooperation between the EU and the U.K. even more important.”
“In the end, openness and global cooperation of all countries will be key to finally overcome this pandemic and ensure better preparation for meeting future challenges," the statement said.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said global cooperation over vaccines has been the EU standard. The bloc has approved sending 41 million vaccine doses to 33 countries in the last seven weeks and believes that it stands at the forefront of international vaccine-sharing efforts. The overall total of exported vaccines is bigger still since many more were not covered by the recent export regime.
Some EU member states gearing up for Thursday's summit were fearful, however, that too tough an export stance could amount to a de facto export ban that undermines the EU's reputation as an open trading bloc.
Under a less stringent export control system in force so far, only one vaccine shipment in 381 has been barred. That was heading to Australia, which has a very limited coronavirus outbreak compared to the third surge of infections now facing many EU nations.
“We have secured more than enough doses for the entire population. But we have to ensure timely and sufficient vaccine deliveries to EU citizens,” von der Leyen said. "Every day counts.”
Under the new regime, EU officials would also take into account reciprocity and finding a right balance.
Canada also gets vaccines shipped from Europe and has received assurances "that these measures will not affect vaccine shipments to Canada,” a Canadian government spokesperson said.
The EU has been feuding with AstraZeneca for months over exactly how many vaccine doses would be delivered by certain dates. Several vaccine producers, including Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca, were hit by technical production delays over the winter, just as worldwide demands for coronavirus vaccines soared. AstraZeneca has been producing less than half the doses the EU was counting on.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has sought to...

Hamish Bond and Eric Murray have been named the supreme Halberg Award Decade Champions.
As part of a ceremony in Auckland tonight celebrating outstanding New Zealand sporting achievements from 2010–2019, the rowing pair won supreme honours for their triumphs including winning back-to-back gold medals at the Olympics in 2012 and 2016. Bond and Murray won eight world championships, hold the record for most consecutive wins, and were awarded the Thomas Keller Medal, rowing's highest honour.
Bond and Murray join an illustrious list of sporting legends to claim decade honours, with Dame Yvette Corlett (1950s), Sir Peter Snell (1960s), Sir John Walker (1970s), Sir Richard Hadlee (1980s), Danyon Loader (1990s) and Carolyn Meyer and Georgina Earl (2000s) the previous recipients.
Bond and Murray also claimed the Team of the Decade award in a night that saw nine awards presented.
New Zealand's Hamish Bond and Eric Murray win gold in the mens pair at the 2016 Olympics. Photo / Photosport
Lisa Carrington won the Sportswoman of the Decade over only two other finalists in the category – Dame Valerie Adams and Lydia Ko. The canoe racer is a three-time Olympic medallist having won gold in the K1 200 in London in 2012 and Rio in 2016. Carrington won a bronze medal in the K1 500 Olympic final, becoming the first New Zealand female to win two medals in a single Olympics. She has continued to champion the sport, amassing 10 world titles from 2011 to 2019.
Former All Blacks captain Richie McCaw was named the Sportsman of the Decade after leading the team to two Rugby World Cups in 2011 and 2015. He became the first All Black to reach 100 test caps and captained the team for 110 of his 148 test matches.
Sophie Pascoe was named the Para Athlete of the Decade. The Para swimmer, who won the Para Athlete of the Year Award six times, has dominated the sport over the past decade. Pascoe is a multiple world champion and became New Zealand's most decorated Paralympian after claiming her 15th medal in Rio.
Canoe coach Gordon Walker claimed the Coach of the Decade honour after helping Carrington to her accomplishments in Rio in 2016. Walker also coached four boats to win gold at the 2017 Canoe Sprint World Championships and Carrington to her gold medal in the K1 200 at the same event. He also coached the New Zealand's women's team to five medals at the 2018 Canoe Sprint World Championships in Portugal and Carrington to win the K1 200.
Ko won the Emerging Talent Athlete of the Decade for becoming the youngest person, at 14 years old, to win a professional golf tour event at the NSW Open on the ALPG Tour. She became the youngest player and first New Zealander to win an LPGA Tour event at the Canadian Open at age 15.
Double scullers Nathan Cohen and Joseph Sullivan received the award for New Zealand's Favourite Sporting Moment of the Decade – the only category chosen by the public, for their moment at the 2012 London Olympic Games when they stormed home from behind to win the gold medal.
The Sport New Zealand Leadership Award was presented to the president of New Zealand Football, Johanna Wood.

Joe Biden's push for gun reform could be over before it's even started.
The US President has addressed gun concerns after a mass shooting at a grocery store in Colorado, on Tuesday which claimed 10 lives.
In brief remarks responding to the shooting, Biden urged Congress to move quickly to close the loopholes in the background check system and to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines — an effort that would be even more difficult to achieve politically. 
Democratic strategist Brad Bannon told Mike Hosking Biden doesn't have the ability to get enough of the Senate to agree to this legalisation.
He says the US political system is incapable of dealing with the crisis.
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No jab, no Olympics.
A former Olympian and sports administrator says athletes unwilling to get the Covid-19 vaccine, should give up their place on the team.
Athletes going to Tokyo will be able to join the "national significance" lane,  to be fast-tracked for vaccination before they leave the country.
They'll still have to do two weeks of quarantine when they come back.
Dave Gerrard is now an official with the World Anti-Doping Agency and told Mike Hosking it's a no brainer.
He says if they don't have a vaccination, an Olympian's place on the team should go to someone who's more conscious of the science and what's being done to keep the country safe.
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Westpac's New Zealand arm could end up in public ownership, but that outcome's considered unlikely.
The Australian banking group is weighing up whether to sell off its New Zealand arm, following changes to capital requirements in New Zealand.
It may consider a listing on the New Zealand stock exchange, or a sale to another offshore bank.
KPMG head of banking and finance John Kensington told Mike Hosking some public entities could also be interested.
He says ACC, Kiwibank and the Super Fund are being floated as buyers, but in effect, it would be a large reverse takeover.
Kensington says that's not the only option on the cards.
He says Westpac could launch a partial IPO and retain partial ownership, or it could sell to another bank, either here or offshore.
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