Search

There was a whiff of Monty Python about the Brexit referendum. In Life of Brian, the People’s Front of Judea asks the famous question: “What have the Romans ever done for us?” As it turns out, very little – apart from providing Judea with sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, public health and peace. Read more

We all know the observer effect: Behaviour changes when someone is watching. Drivers suddenly become law-abiding near speed cameras or at the sight of a police car. Read more

The best cartoon on the Greek crisis just ran in London’s Daily Telegraph. Five identical images depict a sternly looking German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Read more

Nelson’s Medical Officer of Health wants a place at your table. Not in person, of course, but in spirit. Read more

Whether on the sports field or in the boardroom, the adage that ‘if you cannot measure something, you cannot control it’ is well known. It appears Local Government New Zealand has taken this piece of wisdom to heart with the launch of their Excellence Programme. Read more

It is midday New Zealand time, and in Britain they have just started counting the votes of their referendum on EU membership. Polling day surveys show a narrow lead for the Remain camp. Read more

Comments sections are hardly the place to go for well-considered musings on topical issues. They are, however, a repository for the layman’s understanding of complex issues. Read more

Groucho Marx did not want to belong to any club that accepted people like him as members. Next Thursday, the British will have to decide if they feel the same way about the European Union. Read more