Coincidence is a funny thing, in the week that Google released its new communication system called Google Wave, Samoa suffered from a tsunami. My commiseration's and best wishes to the people of Samoa. Of course there was another smaller wave which... Read More

With the sad news coming from Auckland about finding the poor wee girl, my first post today will be about something life affirming, and joyous - Art & Poetry. My children and I visited the Tauranga Art Gallery on Saturday to see the Rembrandt... Read More

Firstly, commiserations to the Otago boys on their exit from the Champions Trophy. From past experience of playing Otago sides I know they would have been beavering away in the Edgar Centre down there in the cold of the Dunedin winter. It is a huge... Read More

Pause for a moment, I am going to praise Gordon Brown. You see he's about to announce a privatisation programme. Yes you read right. Privatisation, eight months out from an election; it is worth about £3 billion of assets in the first phase,... Read More

ACC Blow Out Key said that all aspects of ACC need to be looked at: finances, investments, payouts, level of funding, and a 'pushing out' of the full cover legislation to 2019. It's pretty damn clear what has happened; bureaucrats, bludgers, politicians,... Read More

Going to the movies is one of my favourite things to do. So 'Fashion Month' seemed an appropriate time to see the acclaimed documentary The September Issue. September is the most important month in northern hemisphere couture. The autumn/winter collections... Read More

'What happened to global warming?” asks, guess who - the BBC. What happened to global warming? 'This headline may come as a bit of a surprise says the BBC's climate correspondent Paul Hudson, so too might the fact that the warmest year... Read More

'I can assure you that the government has investigated the evidence on the science of climate change from a number of different sources and I can appreciate that there are many different perspectives on the matter. However, the government is convinced... Read More

I don't think our presence would have altered the outcome of the decision on the proposed new bus terminal, but you never know without hearing the submissions. Procurement, the way council goes about obtaining services, has been a controversial topic... Read More

According to their website the National Party of New Zealand says, 'The National Party was founded on principles of individual responsibility, private enterprise, and reward for individual effort. These principles are the only sure path to a society... Read More

Most people don't know how the official unemployment rate is calculated and most are surprised when they find out. The government, via Statistics New Zealand, conducts a survey called the Household Labour Force Survey. Citizens are recruited into the... Read More

This weekend sees some big local traditional derbies. The Te Puke Mount clash will be a boomer. If Greerton can knock off the top order of Cadets they could be in with a great show of winning. As for the Black Caps it was great to see three of our... Read More