New Zealand Listener Issue 30 2019

The proposal to impose fees on new, higher-emission vehicles to subsidise the cost of lower-emission vehicles illustrates the difficulty of finding solutions, even when most people agree on the problems. The Government has two targets with its emissions-related “feebate”. The first is curbing New Zealand’s increasing greenhouse-gas emissions. Statistics show the country’s share of these emissions is small, but our gross emissions per person are high. Blame it on all those hills, but we are once again forced to confront the gap between the perception of ourselves as green and the evidence that we’re heavy users of natural resources, including fossil fuels. Emissions related to agriculture remain the country’s largest source of greenhouse gases, but energy use – including vehicle emissions – is a close second, and it’s growing faster than…

The claim by Jaws authors Sandra Kahn and Paul Ehrlich (“Jaws of life”, July 13) that more than half of Americans now have orthodontic treatment – they assert that 50% to 70% of American children wear braces – is ludicrous. The cost alone would eliminate half the US population from orthodontic treatment. I doubt that half of Americans have seen the inside of a dental surgery in a decade. Having had to remove hundreds of “wisdom” teeth, many impacted, in my time, I found the article very interesting, but sensational claims spoil the value of a serious investigation. Carl Watson(Whakatāne) The “Oral history” sidebar to the July 13 cover story reminded me that army dentistry didn’t totally succeed in preventing tooth decay in either world war. In a letter home during his World War II…

Claudia Freeman, Gisborne FINALISTS Cameron: “Ah! Is that Trump’s Independence Day air force I hear?” — Sorrel Bovett, Kerikeri Cameron: “You were handed a poison chalice?” Theresa May: “That’s why I swapped our drinks.” — Kath Jones, Waikanae Cameron: “May – the farce be with you.” — PM Lynch, Upper Hutt Cameron (praying): “And deliver us a Brexit without Boris.” — Alison Green, Dunedin Woman in back: “He’s wondering if there’s any chance of a knighthood before you go?” — Ted Cornell, Waikanae Cameron (humming Split Enz): “History never repeats …” — Mike Hamblyn, Dunedin May: “As PM, I’m about to be a Leaver, not a Remainer.” — Hans Zindel, Palmerston North…

“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, ‘What! You too? I thought I was the only one.’” – CS Lewis“More power to the people doing Dry July, but there is no bigger sign that NZ has an alcohol problem than how big a deal is made of it. It’s like a whole country going, ‘We’re not addicts, we do No-Meth Mondays.’” – comedian Rhys Matthewson“Offence wins games. Defence wins championships.” – US football player Bear Bryant“Baby boomers did that thing where you leave a single square of toilet paper on the roll and pretend it’s not your turn to change it – but with a whole society.” – writer Dan Sheehan“Fortune knocks but once, but misfortune has much more patience.” – the Peter Principle’s Laurence…

“At the moment there are so many geese they are fowling the water and the track,” he said. Stuff, 2/7/19 22 currently under construction – plans available soon. Waikato Times, 1/6/19 “Well, I had her out in the garden at Premier House the other day and a massive kererū pooed on her, so that was pretty close to nature.” Sunday Star-Times, 19/5/19 Like his father, Theroux is essentially trans-Tasman. He is a British journalist who has worked mostly in the US … Dominion Post, 29/6/19 “On our data over 99 per cent of transactions that go on on our website go off without a hitch.” Press, 26/6/19 He said it appeared the sun had affected the visibility and the powerlines appeared out of nowhere. Nelson Mail, 21/6/19 LIFE IN NEW ZEALAND: Entries must be from news reports. The first sender of those…

1. What kind of vehicle is powered by a Rutherford engine? ❑ Hovercraft ❑ Rocket ❑ Electric car❑ Helicopter 2. On whose gravestone is inscribed “That’s all folks”? ❑ Walt Disney ❑ Mel Blanc❑ William Hanna ❑ Joseph Barbera 3. In which country did the failed 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion occur? ❑ Cuba ❑ El Salvador ❑ North Vietnam ❑ Grenada 4. Which of these is true? ❑ Concrete is an ingredient of cement ❑ Cement is an ingredient of concrete 5. A famous bust of which ancient Egyptian was discovered in a ruined workshop in 1912? ❑ Nefertiti ❑ Ramses II❑ Cleopatra ❑ Tutankhamun 6. Which of these films includes the phrase “Come with me if you want to live”? ❑ Die Hard ❑ The Terminator❑ Raiders of the Lost Ark❑ The Bridges of Madison County 7. In which sport…