New Zealand Listener Issue 27, 2022

Bowel screening saves lives. One of the hardest things I have to do as a gastroenterologist is to tell a patient diagnosed with bowel cancer that the disease is so advanced the chances of a cure are slim. Sadly, when you work in a country that is something of a global epicentre for bowel cancer, this outcome is all too common. About 3400 New Zealanders are diagnosed with bowel cancer every year and more than 1200 die from it – that’s more deaths than for breast and prostate cancer combined. Bowel cancer is often called a “silent disease” because, in the early stages, it’s typically symptomless and therefore difficult to diagnose. Bowel screening enables us to find cancer early, when it can usually be effectively treated. New Zealand’s National Bowel Screening Programme…

WINNING CAPTION Ellie Henderson, Motueka FINALISTS Prince Louis: “Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? Great-grand mama mia, mama mia, mama mia, let me go …” – Michael Smythe, Auckland The Queen: “We are not amused.” – Sorrel Bovett, Kerikeri Queen: “If that is ringing in your ears, Louis, don’t answer it.” – Chris Bossley, Lower Hutt Louis: “Will no one help me with this earache?” – Hans Zindel, Palmerston North Louis: “I distinctly ordered jets made out of Lego!” – Mike Hamblyn, Dunedin Louis: “Oh no, not that God song again.” – Ralph Sims, Palmerston North Queen: “Stop it, Louis, or I’ll take your devices away.” – Vic Evans, Nelson Caption Competition {listenercaption@aremedia.co.nz} TO ENTER Send your captions for the photo at right to listenercaption@aremedia.co.nz, with “Caption Competition No 467” in the subject line. Alternatively, entries can be posted…

What do I need to know about e-bikes? Well, certainlyasa potential buyer, a lot of the things that Russell Brown’s article (“On your bike”, June 18) covered. But what about the things I should know as someone who probably won’t be a user but will almost certainly be required to support riders via increased taxation and local body charges? For example, how far can I expect the average e-bike to be ridden each year and how far would this need to be to justify the carbon emissions produced in its manufacture? What is the useful lifetime of an e-bike likely to be, and is this enough to justify the argument that their uptake will help cut emissions? Finally, how would this compare with putting the same effort into making walking more attractive and…

“The seed I would like to plant in your heart is a vision of Aotearoa where all our people can live together in harmony … and share the wisdom from each culture.”– Dame Whina Cooper“The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.”– Henry David Thoreau“Many a trip continues long after movement in time and space have ceased.”– John Steinbeck“The smallest deed is better than the greatest intention.”– John Burroughs“Tell all the truth but tell it slant.”– Emily Dickinson“Ko taku reo taku ohooho, ko taku reo taku mapihi mauria: My language is my awakening, my language is the window to my soul.”– Māori proverb“Art is the most intense mode of individualism that the world has known.”– Oscar Wilde“The reconnection of society, economy and ethics is a…

1. Which TV sitcom chronicled the antics of central characters Larry Appleton and Balki Bartokomous? ❑ A Different World❑ One Day at a Time❑ Night Court❑ Perfect Strangers 2. Which of these vintage computer games was created as a teaching aid for school children? ❑ Tetris❑ Microsoft Flight Simulator❑ SimCity❑ The Oregon Trail 3. Which of these planets is not named after an ancient Roman deity? ❑ Neptune❑ Saturn❑ Jupiter❑ Uranus 4. Which musician experienced breakthrough success in 1971 with their third studio album, titled Every Picture Tells a Story? ❑ Rod Stewart ❑ Donna Summer ❑ David Bowie ❑ Diana Ross 5. What is the name for the vertical groove on a person’s face that runs from the upper lip to the nose? ❑ Philtrum❑ Canthus❑ Pinna❑ Hallux 6. Which fictional sailor uses the exclamations “thundering typhoons!” and “blistering…

This column has taken a short break from London, in composition if not content. I’m writing in an idyllic setting, on the terrace of a charming villa surrounded by bougainvillea and perched on a pine-filled Croatian hillside above the translucent waters of the Adriatic. Back home, the news is almost unremittingly of the pessimistic kind – inflation is up, productivity down, transport strikes are everywhere, flights cancelled, with a prime minister so deeply mired in his lies and indulgences that even his own ethics adviser has quit. But here, the big issue is whether to swim in the pool or walk down to the sea. On the surface, there is an obvious disconnect between the cloudless beauty of my family holiday and the darkening reality of life in the UK that, by…