Meads point was not lost on me

In a past life I despised vegetarians with a vengeance; and animal rights people. Once an animal rights person threw a brick through our butcher’s shop window bearing a cryptic note which questioned the veracity of my parentage and contained other uncomplimentary messages about scumbags who sell meat for a living. I publicly responded that I hoped the brick thrower wasn’t wearing leather shoes or a leather belt, but the perpetrator was...

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The baby and the bathwater

I’m surprised the incumbent government didn’t trumpet the fact that the highly regarded Legatum Prosperity Institute’s index for 2016 placed New Zealand as the world’s most prosperous country. Norway came in second, Finland third, then Switzerland, with Canada and Australia fifth and sixth respectively. The United Kingdom came in tenth, and U.S. of A. was ranked at seventeen with once prosperous Japan at twenty-two. I imagine concern...

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Translating a language in a foreign zone

I have a sensible arrangement with the golf club. I agree to pay a sub as long as they accept that I don’t actually have to play the game. It’s a good deal for both of us. Mark Twain reckoned that golf ruined a good walk and the club saves a small fortune on green-keepers wages by me not despoiling the carefully manicured grass they call fairways, and the tees and the greens.Last week I unthinkingly broke the contract. I agreed to play...

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The cutting edge

Sheikh Isa Bin Sulman Al-Khalifa paid a seven day state visit to New Zealand in September 1985. He was better known as the Emir of Bahrain. He came bearing gifts; he was dishing out gold watches, including Rolex’s, pearl necklaces and money on a scale previously unknown in New Zealand. The two most prized items were for the titular heads of the country at the time, the Governor-General, David Beattie and Prime Minister, David...

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A highly-charged electric revolution

An Australian friend of mine tells me he’s on the cusp of buying a brand new Tesla motor car. The $100,000 plus price tag appears not to faze him. I’m envious of course; we recently bought a more modestly priced state-of-the-art Nissan Qashqai. “State of the Art” includes technology that allows the car to park itself into a parallel parking space. Neither my wife nor I have managed to master this piece of gadgetry so it was a selling...

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A conversation from on high

God: “What’s all that kerfuffle going on down there Frank with all those billboards and stuff in the country they named after me?” St Francis: “You mean Godzone Lord? They’re having a general election in a few weeks.” God: “I know that Frank, but why are they changing the faces on some of the billboards?” St. Francis: “Well your Grace, a couple of the leaders have suddenly pulled out of the race.” God: “Surely you don’t mean that...

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