Sometime around 1972, a tiny group of Vietnam war protesters held a short hunger strike on the steps leading up to Nelson Cathedral.
They were just a minuscule part of the international revulsion over a superpower’s total destruction of a Third World country that had fought for independence for more than half a century against [...]
It is said that if you point a finger at someone, there will be at least three pointing back at you. This is usually a reliable yardstick but the rule does not apply if you are Sarah Barnett, a columnist writing the trendy Ecologic article in the New Zealand Listener about an environmental documentary broadcast [...]
On the face of it, Sue Bradford has dramatically curbed smacking. A Family First survey reveals that only 51 percent of fathers and 49 percent of mothers (or the other way round, depending on which paper you read) now admit to smacking their kids.
But unlike Sue Bradford and her friends, we are mature enough [...]
A sick, 61-year-old former missionary is brutally beaten for no apparent reason at a bus stop in a “safe” area of Auckland, and slowly dies.
An old farmer in a remote part of Hawke’s Bay is shot dead at dawn by a killer with a high-powered rifle. There is only one escape route for the [...]
Forget the Chewing Gum Budget and the Hard Cheese Budget. It’s a waste of time wondering why – when the country was doing well – Michael Cullen found it impossible to cut income taxes, or why – when we’re doing very badly – he dips deep into his bottomless hat and produces one expensive half [...]
Dominion Post, P1, May 20 2008A new study has revealed that if you give a lot of money to a flaky Massey University research project, release the results to a bunch of semi-conscious journalists who are having a slack news night at the Dominion Post, then add a dramatic front-page headline written by a Qantas [...]
Here’s an off-the-wall idea for builders and sheep farmers facing financial ruin.
Become an Artist instead. Under new Labour legislation, you could be set up for life.
It works like this:
If you’re a builder, take a pile of 4 by 2 offcuts, arrange them neatly on the floor, and call your creation “A Picture In Planks Of [...]
Two recent highly-publicised statements earn Gogs’ Nonsense of the Week Awards.
The first came from a financial “expert” who stated in one of our leading newspapers that Dr Alan Bollard’s high-interest rate policy was at last reining in house price inflation.
The second came from the usual suspect, Dr Michael Cullen, who put on his most miserable [...]
Home-owners became used to regular revaluations of their properties, when property prices were rocketing. In many areas, it was an annual event.
But now, Wellington City Council ratepayers have been advised that revaluations will henceforth take place every three years. This is an idea that is guaranteed to catch on in every other local authority in [...]
Arbuckles is exploiting the case of a prisoner who climbed out of jail using knotted sheets. Good luck to them and the advertising agency who used the escape to promote the rock-bottom bargains you can get in Arbuckles’ latest bed linen sale.
On the one hand, you could take it as a bright idea to make [...]
