The second harbour bridge opened in the weekend with much fanfare and a classic calm, sunny Tauranga day. Depending on whether you like thronging masses or not, it was either a great place to be, or a good part of town to stay away from. Let's hope... Read More

Going before Parliament is the change to the RMA regarding the trimming of trees, not nearly the stake through the heart of the RMA needed, but a start nonetheless. Ecologist Graeme Platt makes a great case, 'The fundamental provocateurs in the conflict... Read More

Why listen to me? - Nobel Prize winner Milton Friedman offers the most devastating slap-downs of the war on drugs ever written. He once told Bill Bennett, Bush Senior's drugs tsar, you are not mistaken in believing that drugs are a scourge that is... Read More

Who knows the story of The Emperors New Clothes? It is a story where everybody knows what is really going on, the Emperor is walking down the street naked, but they pretend they don't notice because it would be in bad taste, or offensive, or detrimental... Read More

Friday night saw one of Australia's great sporting, after dinner speakers, at the Te Puna Tavern. Terry played 9 times for Australia and played 131 first class matches, taking 389 wickets as a leggie. His present fame is probably two-fold. He... Read More

The war on government welfare is becoming more and more difficult to wage. That is because the enemy is becoming less and less distinct. At a glance, government welfare is that provided by Work and Income, which administers social security encompassing... Read More

After months of anticipation, the sixth NZCT AIMS Games kicked off on Sunday with a glittering opening ceremony at Queen Elizabeth 2 Youth Centre. The NZCT AIMS (Association of Intermediate and Middle Schools) Games were established in 2004 to provide... Read More

In two articles today I read that property values across the land were returning to the same levels they were at during 2008, which sounds like pretty good news. The information also noted that values in Tauranga are down 10.6 per cent since the... Read More

The government's inquiry into banking is the sticky-beak news of the week. This is an inquiry launched by political point scorers to placate their envy ridden constituents' hatred of profit. For over a 150 years Australian banks have helped build... Read More

As was expected, in its report on the Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill released on Friday, the special Auckland Governance Legislation Committee did not recommend separate Maori seats for Auckland's new super city council. While there was... Read More

After the Black Caps' magnificent come from behind Twenty20 win in Sri Lanka, and Jacob Oram's hat trick I thought I would try (to some extent) to de bunk the lottery theory of T20. My reasoning is purely mathematical. It is based on sound logic... Read More

So ran the Everly Brothers Song. The ‘HEvans' sent media circus, supplied by Councillor Hayden Evans laying bare his problems for all to see, continued unabated last week. Fellow Pick 6 councillor Murray Guy chimed in from the side line... Read More