New Zealand Listener Issue 10 2020

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s apparent inability to stand up to New Zealand First leader Winston Peters is looking not just embarrassing for her but perhaps costly for the country. Effective action on housing, child poverty and the environment were the standout promises of Labour’s campaign in the last election. The pledge to be “transformational” is now not only a broken promise but an increasingly deep disappointment. On top of the Government’s well-known failure with KiwiBuild, new figures show family poverty to be grudgingly intransigent. Sadly, the Government’s struggle to make headway is now not only in housing and poverty, but also in the environment. With scientists warning the world has just 10 years to avert catastrophic global warming, the urgency for political parties to agree on workable measures is greater than…

The sidebar to your heart disease treatment cover story (“This is a game changer”, February 29) misses the point. The game changer would be if people were seriously informed about lifestyle choices. Type 2 diabetes, unlike type 1, occurs well into a person’s life and the blame can be laid almost entirely on poor eating habits. Why is it that doctors treat the endgame without actively pursuing the reasons for the onset of the disease? Doctors “hope” that new drugs will reduce the risk of heart disease for people with type 2 diabetes, but that’s not good enough. For these people, fewer deaths and a lower incidence of heart and kidney disease require just a few simple lifestyle changes. Willow Alber(Westport) BRING BACK HELEN Helen Clark’s strong and ethical leadership in dealing with Winston Peters…

Samantha Barnes, Wellington FINALISTS Boris Johnson: “I’ve left the coat hanger in my jacket again.” – Paul Kelly, Palmerston North Prince Harry: You’ll never take off with that excess baggage.” – Graeme Bulling, Auckland Johnson: “Carbon emissions, eh. From now on it’s Air Icarus for me.” – John Stribling, Wellington Harry: “Don’t labour it. Just leap and fly.” – Jo Bowler, Auckland Johnson: “Left hand or right hand for an annual stipend?” – Tony Clemow, Kamo Johnson: “Between Brexit and Megxit we’ve been hung out to dry.” – Bruce Eliott, St Heliers, Auckland Johnson: “You may have quit the royal heir force, Sir, but you’ll always be the wind beneath my wings.” – Dean Donoghue, Papamoa Beach Johnson: “Keeping your options wide open?” – Kate Gore, Rotorua Caption Competition {caption@listener.co.nz} TO ENTER Send your captions for the photo above to caption@listener.co.nz,…

“Nothing dates harder and faster, and more strangely, than the future.” – author Neil Gaiman“I’ve never any pity for conceited people, because I think they carry their comfort about with them.” – George Eliot, quoted in Forbes“Reality is nothing but a collective hunch.”– Lily Tomlin“Democracy is like a tambourine – not everyone can be trusted with it.” – Last Week Tonight’s John Oliver“If the crowd are behind you, you’re facing the wrong way.” – English comedian Simon Munnery“We have the Bill of Rights. What we need is a Bill of Responsibilities.” – US comedian Bill Maher“Sundays are like confetti floating in the air in slow motion. In the evening they reach the ground and you hope a bit of wind could blow on them so they could fly a bit…

1. Which of these artists released the 1984 hit song All Through the Night? ❑ Gloria Estefan❑ Madonna❑ Cyndi Lauper❑ Pat Benatar 2. What is the title of Margaret Atwood’s Booker Prizewinning sequel to her novel The Handmaid’s Tale? ❑ Lost Children Archive ❑ The Testaments ❑ Girl, Woman, Other ❑ An Orchestra of Minorities 3. Which of these is considered an aggressively invasive species in the Caribbean and Mediterranean seas? ❑ Moray eel ❑ Bull shark❑ Manta ray ❑ Lionfish 4. Which Johnny Cash song’s lyrics were written by the poet and cartoonist Shel Silverstein? ❑ I Walk the Line ❑ A Boy Named Sue ❑ Folsom Prison Blues❑ Ring of Fire 5. Which of these has a similar meaning to the word “probity”? ❑ Honesty ❑ Antiquity❑ Vicinity ❑ Duplicity 6. Wiener schnitzel is which country’s national dish? ❑…

An outbreak here would probably result in advice to avoid large gatherings, planes, trains and buses. It is the End of Days. Any moment I expect someone to walk down the road outside my place chanting, “Bring out your dead!” The level of Covid-19 hysteria is rising beyond what the current circumstances would justify. Let us look at the situation. As at February 24 in China, which is the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, there were 77,150 confirmed cases with 2592 deaths as a result. South Korea had 833 cases with seven deaths; Italy had more than 200 cases and five deaths, and Iran has reported 61 cases and 12 deaths. Afghanistan announced its first case and promptly announced a state of emergency, which is odd as the country has been a…