Articles from ‘elocal magazine’

Remember the AC Cobra? Yup, the iconic car that pays homage to the iconic Shelby Cobra of the 1960s. It’s set to make its North American debut in the form of the new Swedish-made Cobra GT Roadster, at the ModaMiami auto show later this month. · AC Cars – which is still around – is one of the oldest independent carmakers in the world. But for the past few years, the British brand underwent numerous name changes and liquidations thanks to a…

New Health Minister Simeon Brown pushed back against questionable media coverage of a Public Service Association (PSA) survey on health worker stress. · While Christopher Luxon chuckled in the background, Brown called out the press gallery for reporting partisan distortions designed to embarrass the government. · The survey, led by PSA head Fleur Fitzsimmons—a former Labour candidate who lost Wellington’s Rongotai seat to the Greens—was sent to…

Professor Elizabeth Rata argues that New Zealand’s curriculum has been hijacked by ideology, and Education Minister Erica Stanford is trying to take it back. · For years schools have operated without a standardised curriculum, allowing teachers to push sociocultural beliefs over academic subjects. · Rata says the result has been widening inequality, with some students excelling while others are fed propaganda. · Rata argues that Stanford’s…

Political columnist Damien Grant argues that Christopher Luxon’s decision to sacrifice Bayly shows his obsession with media optics over real governance. · “Luxon could have chastised his minister for being an idiot while recognising the offence was trivial and the media reaction disproportionate. He didn’t,” Grant writes. · “He seems to care more about managing media coverage and TikTok,” he quips. · In contrast, according to Grant, former…

March is named for the Roman god of war, Mars. However, in the northern hemisphere it as the beginning of spring, so March brings the vernal equinox, the Full Worm Moon, and the return of Daylight Saving Time. For us here in the southern, it is the end and the start of Autumn.  · The Month of March · March is named for Mars, the Roman god of war, because this was the time of year to resume military campaigns that had been interrupted by winter.…

March 5th 2013 · New Zealand’s five-yearly census had been scheduled for 8 March 2011. But after Canterbury’s devastating February earthquake (see 22 February), Government Statistician Geoff Bascand and Statistics Minister Maurice Williamson announced that it would not go ahead. Statistics New Zealand’s Christchurch operations had been significantly disrupted, and the exodus of people from the city would have skewed the results. · Cancelling…

Cheese seems to make everything better, doesn’t it? In a recent study, scientists at the University of Oxford looked at the environmental elements that appear to increase, or decrease the risk of early death. It found there was a positive benefit from eating cheese. Hurrah. · From buttery sharp cheddar to gooey ripe Camembert, cheese is delicious in all its guises, whether the molten star of a warming meal, a tangy salad component or a quick…

The world's first "biological computer" that fuses human brain cells with silicon hardware to form fluid neural networks has been commercially launched, ushering in a new age of AI technology. The CL1, from Australian company Cortical Labs, offers a whole new kind of computing intelligence – one that's more dynamic, sustainable and energy efficient than any AI that currently exists – and we will start to see its potential when it's in users'…

On March 4th, 1855, shepherds searching for 1000 missing sheep in the upper reaches of the Waitaki Valley apprehended suspected rustler James Mackenzie, one of New Zealand’s first and most enduring folk heroes. · Caught red-handed, Mackenzie denied the theft, claiming he had been hired to drive the sheep to Otago. After escaping from his captors, he walked 160 km to Lyttelton, where he was recaptured on 15 March. The Supreme Court found…

A new movement aims to connect creators from every country across the world, asking if art could be the ‘one language that unites us all’. · Project 195, launched by art platform 13AM Studio, began on 17 February and will run until 31 August. Creatives from 71 nationalities are already on board. · George Ripton, founder of 13AM Studio, explained: “Art is the purest form of connection – it crosses borders, cultures and languages without…