Articles in ‘Editors Note’

It’s a song that experts say transcends generations, cultures, even religion. “Silent Night” — first performed in a small Austrian church over 200 years has not only stood the test of time, but found its own place in history. It is structured simply, easy to record, has been translated into over 300 languages and bridges both secular and non-secular Christmas music. But perhaps…

The election is over and New Zealanders got what they wanted. Change. What Change is yet to be determined, as a coalition is yet to be finalised, but it is change never the less. Will it be enough? Again, that all depends on who you talk to. one of the biggest mistakes leaders make is to view change as an event that happens at a single point in time. Accepting and then embracing…

The frosty U.S. and China decoupling talk is getting real as pandas are getting recalled from zoos across the country and across the world. It’s called “panda diplomacy” and it’s thought to have started as early as the Tang Dynasty in the 7th century when Empress Wu Zeitan sent a pair of bears (believed to be pandas) to Japan. This Chinese policy of sending pandas as diplomat…

Don’t Waste Your Vote! If you are thinking about giving your party vote to one of the minor parties at this election, make sure you give some serious thought to if they are actually going to get into parliament. Any political party needs 150,000 votes without an electoral seat win before it gets into Parliament. Every election New Zealanders give their vote to a minor party as a…

Fear Is Ingrained In All Of Us – Just Don’t Let It Take Over! It’s an evolutionary survival tactic known as our fight-or-flight instinct. The purpose of fear is to use adrenaline to tell us to protect ourselves and move out of harm’s way. You’ve probably felt different levels of fear throughout your life — in a dark theater watching a scary movie, dealing with an aggressive…

There is no truth, there is only perception. As I enjoy a new, less crazy-busy season in my life, I’ve taken to switching the TV on early evening. Mostly it’s to give the elderly dog some background noise to distract her from alerting me every time the neighbours come home, but it also reminds me of younger years when the house gathered for the daily 6 o’clock news. Finishing…

“If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.” George Orwell Freedom of speech is one of the most precious and important human rights. A free society depends on the free exchange of ideas. Nearly all ideas are inherently capable of giving offence to someone. Many of the most important, profound ideas in human history, such as…

A friend mentioned to me that other day that if everyone lived by the basics of the Ten Commandments, then we would live in paradise and it got me thinking… Would it really? The 10 Commandments are one of the cornerstones in Christianity having been given to Moses by God to share with all the Israelites after they left captivity in Egypt. Carved in stone, they were confined to…

I recently had the opportunity to question Chris Luxton and included a question about trust and what he intended to do about increasing the dismal survey results from a December 22 poll that showed only 39.6% of the poll respondents trusted the government. His response will be published next month, but in the meantime, just how important is trust in our Government and its…

I’m writing this in the aftermath of the terrible weather event that saw numerous festivals and concerts cancelled, (Elton John again!), homes flooded, landslips, roads made impassible, slips, crops devasted, our city’s airport terminals swimming in water and tragically four lives lost across Auckland. I’ve seen readings of over 200 mms of rain that all fell in one day and it…

By the time you read this, the Christmas season will all be over, and we will be heading into a brand-new year, 2023. That’s 23 years since the world teetered on the brink of a potential disaster as computer programmers grabbled with the Y2KBug, the point at which the world slipped over to the 21st century, and the year 2000 ticked over from 1999. It was thought and hyped up by…

If you have ever delved into the history about the Christmas season, you will know it is both complex and varied. From its origins steeped in pagan and Christian beliefs alike many centuries ago, it has evolved into a holiday that is celebrated by over 159 countries officially and 23 unofficially making it the most celebrated and universally recognized holiday worldwide. The…

It’s been an interesting month, local body elections resulting in many fresh faces at councils across the country and a new Auckland Mayor starting to make some noise (writing to Watercare and council chief executive Jim Stabback telling them to stop all work on the Government's Three Water reforms and asking for entire CCO boards to step down.) Renegade Labour MP Gaurav Sharma…

If you are anything like me, then the death last month and subsequently funeral of the late Queen Elizabeth II has been very much a pointed reminder into the history behind both the Monarchy and its impact on us as a member of the Commonwealth. She was a remarkable woman of service and the funeral if you haven’t already watched at least part of it, is well worth it. It is indeed…

I had an email last month from a reader in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia who wanted to check on the whereabouts of his elocal from his home address in Pukekohe as his sister mentioned she hadn’t received one for a few months and he was disappointed as she would send them to him in Jakarta and he would pass them to the expat kiwis to read and there were thoroughly enjoyed. We…

A farmer named Bob was overseeing his animals in a remote mountainous pasture in Canterbury when suddenly a brand-new 2022 BMW iX, advanced toward him out of a cloud of dust. The driver, a young man in a Brioni®suit, Gucci® shoes, RayBan® sunglasses and YSL® tie, leaned out the window and asked the farmer “If I tell you exactly how many cows and calves you have in your herd, will…

I’m writing this at 1.30am in the waiting area of Middlemore Hospital’s accident and emergency department. We are here because since contracting Covid on May 1, my 18-year-old has endured a cacophony of painful symptoms that are just not resolving. They are not respiratory but are preventing her from returning to work and life in general. We got there at 4pm, in part because…

For many of us, there’s no greater support than what we receive from our Mother, the person who gave birth to us, or who has treated us as if she did. From the time spent with us in fun childhood games and endless snack preparation to sticking by us as moody teenagers and being the occasional shoulder to cry on – they’ve always had our backs. This month, Mother’s Day gives us the…

This year marks the 100th year of Poppy day, and we tell you all about how it came about in our series This month in history this month and while the reason for the poppy day drifts further back into history each year, one thing is for certain. War impacts immensely on thousands of lives, displaces whole communities, and leaves scars deep in nations for many years. New…

I like the above car analogy. The author is unknown, but it reportedly first appeared in print in 1998 uttered by a US youth football coach whose team had had a bad season. It is pretty self-explanatory when driving and can be applied to most of life’s situations. Simply put, it means that where you’re headed is much more important than what you left behind. The past is the…