KEY POINTS:
Browsing in a $2 shop in Orewa, Glen was amused to find we have a new super hero on the block.
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A reader who prides himself on being able to string a sentence together was astounded at his son's comprehension of his assignment on "Values". The primary school homework sheet obliged with a suitable definition - "values are beliefs about what is important or desirable". The assignment - "talk to your family about values that you all think are important".
Preferring to charge ahead rather than engage with his parents, our expert concluded the values most important to him were: "toilet, radio, TV, food, water, toilet paper, telephone and cups".
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A United Airlines flight was cancelled because the pilot decided he was "not calmed and focused enough" to fly after a row. The pilot was involved in an angry confrontation with colleagues minutes earlier about whether to wear his hat, and was still angry.
A passenger on the plane said: "The pilot came on the PA and said, 'some of you may have witnessed an incident I was involved in at the gate ... it was an interpersonal confrontation that upset me significantly to the point where I'm not focused enough to fly you to Denver'."
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A Queensland police constable described an indigenous traffic offender as "fat and black" in a court document. Rube Nixon, who weighs more than 100kg, was astounded. "You say you have got a medium, slight or heavy build - I am of a large build. Not fat and black," she said.
Queensland Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson said terms used to describe skin colour and build were for internal use only, but would be reviewed. (Source: Herald Sun)
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David writes: "This morning the bus missed our bus stop. It sailed right on by despite our attempts at madly waving it down. After the swearing died down we called Howick and Eastern Buses. They apologised and sent a special bus to collect us to catch up with the errant driver. We were only 10 minutes late for work. Thanks, H&E, you renewed our faith in the future of public transport."
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Judy Wadsworth writes: "Manukau Matters leaflet ... advises people to leave their old green plastic recycling bins on the kerb after the final collection and they will be collected by Astron Plastics for recycling. Proceeds from the recycling will be donated to primary schools in the area where they are collected. The school with the most crates will be given $3000 of computer equipment."
Today's Webpick:Puke-yellow "smileys" that greet you with Hellooow and the Fart Button are examples of online advertising awfulness, but as this clip warns, the digital advertising geeks have some tricky ways of getting that all important money-generating click. Watch it here. These are the very best online videos from Ana's online magazine Spare Room.
