Himanshu Trivedi has been living in New Zealand for the past six years and on his return from a trip to India was appalled to see that the New Zealand flag at Auckland International Airport was ripped in at least three places. "It hurts to see a national flag of
my country, flying like that, which is one of the first things foreign visitors would see when they come to Auckland. I am neither jingoistic nor fervently nationalistic but I do still belong to that school of people who value the national anthem, national flag and other symbolic icons. I hope someone who can do something will be reading this and will replace it with a new flag. If such a thing had happened in India (where I come from originally), there would have been a spate of petitions and complaints."
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You may have heard "I am Dunedin" is to be dropped as Dunedin's slogan and a nationwide search is on for a new one. Naturally, the local Twitter community has a few ideas. These are some of the best ...
Dunedin: You can afford to buy a house here!
Dunedin: Parents, can you please come and pick up your kids?
Dunedin: A nice place to chill.
Dunedin: I can see Antarctica from my house.
Dunedin: You'll have a rioting good time.
Dunedin: Looking forward to global warming.
Dunedin: More car parks than people.
Dunedin: 98,000 and still shrinking.
Dunedin: Hang a left at the burning couch.
Dunedin: Just the way you left it.
Dunedin: Riviera of the Antarctic.
Dunedin: Down there.
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A reader writes: "On a trip to Cape Reinga we were overwhelmed at the wonderful work that had been done to spruce up the area since our last visit several years ago - it was looking fantastic. We were also very impressed with the DoC initiative where people could purchase a plant, plant it and keep an eye on it through a GPS co-ordinate. So we looked in horror when we saw [someone] parked on top of one of the beautiful replanted gardens. There was space down the road so no excuse."
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Glasgow City Council has ordered that children under 16 must be in sight of their parents anywhere on licensed premises - even if that means being accompanied to the toilet. A 15-year-old boy eating at a cafe with his mother now has to use the ladies as required by the 2005 licensing act. It acknowledged there was a huge difference between a toddler and a teenager, but said there were no legal provisions for making a distinction between ages. (Source: Timesonline.co.uk)
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See today's Herald cartoon
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Today's Webpick: Promoting the TV news in 1982 was all about having an assertive soundtrack... Go here to watch.