New Zealand Listener Issue 11 2018

It’s the smallest things that are so often the most telling in our progression as social beings – and they include the simple handshake. An Iranian delegation to Parliament last week refused to shake a female MP’s hand, and two of our male MPs, in solidarity with their colleague, refused to shake the visitors’. For this, the MPs were both congratulated and pilloried. Theirs was an awkward situation, and until recently the interests of diplomacy would automatically have prevailed so as not to risk giving offence to guests. No handshake for her; offence on our side politely swallowed. Let’s not imperil our hard-won meat access by causing a diplomatic incident. But with the liberating currents of the #MeToo movement now swirling around ingrained male dominance of women, even cross-cultural interactions that…

FIND US ONLINE VISIT US ONLINE FOR EXTRA CONTENT AND DAILY UPDATES • noted.co.nz/the-listener • twitter.com/nzlistener • facebook.com/nzlistener It’s good to see the Listener giving space to people like Johann Hari who question the long-term efficacy of antidepressants (“The blues battle”, March 3). But the more serious problem of side effects also needs attention. For many patients, the antidepressants become gateway drugs to lifetime dependency on mood stabilisers and antipsychotics, drugs that are toxic, addictive and likely to cause more side effects. The options to reduce the dose or employ alternative therapies are sidelined and become increasingly risky. Meanwhile, the patient is told that s/he has developed an incurable condition with a label such as “bipolar” or “schizoaffective disorder”, which can at best be managed by further medication. It’s difficult to honour the “do no harm” principle…

“[Opera is when] the tenor and the soprano want to make love and the baritone tries to prevent them.” – George Bernard Shaw “To err is human – and to blame it on a computer is even more so.” – US comedy writer Robert Orben “In a fashion show that took place yesterday, Dolce & Gabbana sent its handbags down the runway on drones instead of models. But first, each drone was forced to lose 10 pounds.” – US comedian Conan O’Brien “When my child hits another child with a stick, I don’t blame the stick, but I still take the stick away.” – Barbra Streisand on Twitter “Be sincere … be brief … be seated.” – James Roosevelt quoting his father on the art of public speaking “There are two sorts of losers –…

The Inland Revenue Commissioner made an application to the High Court to have Waiwera Water liquidated last year. Stuff.co.nz, 2/2/18 Free 1-year-old huntaway … Updated with all vaccines and microchipped and spade. Whakatane Beacon, 17/11/17 Gate Pa Primary School students will taste the fruits of their labour soon. And by soon, we mean in a few years probably. Weekend Sun, 11/8/17 It will take six weeks, and he’ll do it alone with a one-person tent. “It suits me down to the ground …” NZ Listener, 22/2/18 “There’s adequate supply there for those who choose to drink, but any more of it is going to exasperate the situation …” Dominion Post, 31/10/17 “It also gave me confidence. If I can go to Africa and operate on these people, I can survive in Australia.” NZ Listener, 25/11/17 LIFE…

1. What is believed to be the longest-living species of vertebrate? ? Tuatara ❑ Giant tortoise ❑ Blue-headed macaw ❑ Greenland shark 2. Which of these was invented first? ❑ Candle ❑ Oil lamp 3. Whose motto was “Speak softly, and carry a big stick.” ❑ Genghis Khan ❑ Theodore Roosevelt ❑ Margaret Thatcher ❑ Fidel Castro 8. True or false❑ Viagra, when dissolved in water, can perk up wilting flowers. ❑ True ❑ False 4. Which of these comic strips was the basis for a nowdefunct theme park in West Auckland? ❑ Footrot Flats ❑ Garfield ❑ Peanuts ❑ Calvin and Hobbes 5. Which TV sketch comedy show launched the careers of Jim Carrey, Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Lopez? ❑ Mad TV ❑ Saturday Night Live ❑ In Living Colour ❑ The Tracey Ullman Show 6. Which of these best describes the historical occupation of “gong farmer”? ❑ Waste management ❑ Market gardener ❑ Instrument maker ❑ Prison warden 7.…

Anxiety remains in US schools in the wake of the Florida high school tragedy but is tempered by the sense that those 17 deaths may yet prove to be a tipping point in America’s gun debate. Here in Montgomery County, Maryland, just over the Washington DC border, another week has brought another email from the superintendent of schools. This time he reported that a boy had been arrested last week for possession of a loaded handgun at a county high school. The student had made no threat; nor had he indicated that he wished to harm anyone. Perhaps he believed he needed the gun for self-defence. That would be in line with President Donald Trump’s suggestion that some teachers could be armed. Only Trump and perhaps the National Rifle Association seem to…