KEY POINTS:
A reader writes: "Being a bit of a greenie, I'm not a fan of McDonald's. However, I found myself praising it after I went past this sign at its outlet in Nadi, Fiji, advertising Eco-Meals. "Good on McDonald's for creating an environmentally friendly meal deal!" I said to my mates. But one friend had reached a different verdict: "It's not an ecological meal ... it's an ad for an economical meal." It seems concern about climate change hasn't quite reached fever pitch in Fiji like it has in other parts of the world. There are clearly more pragmatic concerns to consider first."
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Waiatarua Volunteer Fire Brigade chief fire officer Ian Ford says the ultimate blame for the proliferation of warning signs on Piha Rd does not lie with Waitakere City Council. "It lies with those drivers who are incapable of driving to the conditions and have not worked out that slowing down on narrow, winding roads is a good idea. As a firefighter who attends many of the crashes on this road, I can verify that the number of incidents we attend has reduced since the signs were introduced."
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British bookmakers wasted no time slashing the odds on aliens being discovered after astronomers announced they had discovered an Earth-like planet. William Hill cut the odds on proving the existence of extra-terrestrial life from 1000-1 to 100-1."We felt we had to react to the news," said spokesman Graham Sharpe. Astronomers reported that they had found a "super-Earth" just 20 light years away, the most intriguing world found in the search for extra-terrestrial life. For bookies to pay out, the Prime Minister would have to officially confirm the existence of intelligent extra-terrestrial life within a year of the bet being placed. (Source: AFP)
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On top of free tertiary education and the Family Benefit pointed out by yesterday's renter from Mt Albert, Gary Stewart reckons the baby-boomers had an easier time getting into their own home. " ... their small (or no) deposit on their house purchase has turned into current equity ownership, not by hard work and diligent no-coffee savings hardship as they like to pretend, but by decades of inflation. Then there was the free healthcare - anyone remember that? Or how about the guaranteed pension paid out of the Government's current account (ie by us) rather than a save-for-the-future-superannuation fund."
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The home ownership issue will put a wedge between generations, says Carol of New Lynn. "You only have to look at television coverage of the issue. Why is it that any story about interest rate rises always makes it to the top of One News, with an overly sympathetic treatment, and stories about the struggle of first home buyers are given the young-people-spend-too-much-on-lattes angle? It's dismissive and patronising. Never mind, in a decade or so the older baby boomers won't be the self-serving decision makers they are now and they will probably bear the brunt of the resulting selfishness from a generation who were financially castrated by the inflated housing market."
