As part of our drive to keep our comment section the best in New Zealand we showcase each week an example of a top-notch comment that adds value to The BFD. Today’s comment was written by George Thank you George for taking the time to craft such an interesting
Dr Muriel Newman nzcpr.com New Zealanders want to be united by the things that we have in common, not divided by our differences. Next week is the 40th anniversary of the 1981 South African Springbok tour of New Zealand. The anniversary is a poignant reminder of an event that
Few historical crimes have had such enduring fascination as the Ripper murders. The mutilation-killings of five lower-class women in London’s Whitechapel slums in 1888 caused an immediate sensation – one which has barely faded after 133 years. “Jack the Ripper” is the subject of dozens of films and TV shows,
Some time back, The BFD reported on recent archaeological research on Britain’s Cerne Abbas Giant. The Giant is one of the most famous example of a geoglyph, massive figures carved into the chalk hillsides of southern England. As recent studies indicate, the Giant is much older than supposed. Previously,
What was the cost of living like, for an average Roman? This is one of the intriguing kinds of questions of history that are often almost impossible to answer. By and large, historical records are almost exclusively concerned with the doings of kings, queens, generals and the literate upper classes
There are a variety of different pasta sauces that have come out of Italy. Most are products of the twentieth century with wealth being created by industrialisation and the knock-on effect to a burgeoning middle class. Restaurants and eateries exploded and started competing and striving for excellence, offering something more
We’re all familiar with the First Law of the Shed: never throw anything out — it might come in handy, one day. Science is a lot like a shed: you never know when some old, apparently useless thing will come in handy. In forensic science, for instance, evidence collected decades,
Is the “Stolen Generations” the biggest lie in Australian history? No-one seriously disputes the fact that many, many Aboriginal children were removed from their families in the middle decades of the 20th century. But, were they really “stolen”? Was it a deliberate policy of genocide? After all, a generation of
Weather forecaster Philip Duncan has expressed his “disappointment” in New Zealanders who did not like him calling New Zealand “Aotearoa.” Duncan said it is disappointing that many New Zealanders are still showing resistance to embracing te reo Maori. He jokingly suggested that those who had felt compelled to air their
Hobson’s Pledge Trust hobsonspledge.nz The New Zealand Geographic Board is seeking submissions on a proposal to change the name of Maxwell, after pressure from Nga Rauru, members of which fought against the Government during the 1860s conflicts. The Wanganui District Council supports changing the name to Pakaraka. This
Face it, everyone is fascinated by dinosaurs. We’re also fascinated by catastrophes, as anyone who’s ever seen lines of motorists slowing to rubberneck a car-crash knows. Put the two together and we have the prevailing theory that the dinosaurs were wiped out by a cataclysmic asteroid impact. Admittedly
According to Douglas Adams, we humans live “far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western spiral arm of the galaxy”. But, while life is a bit quiet out here in the galactic ‘burbs, there’s plenty of stellar action going on in the galactic inner-city.
I had promised Chicken Arrabiata (angry in Italian) for this week’s column, but July 4th popped up out of nowhere and you have to go with the flow. The chicken can’t get any angrier than he already is and will have to wait to be put in the
Robert Horvath La Trobe University Dr Robert Horvath is a specialist on Russian Politics, Civil Society and International Human Rights. His latest book, Putin’s ‘Preventive Counter-Revolution’ (Routledge, 2013) is a study of the programme of reforms and repression that transformed the face of Russian politics during Vladimir Putin’s
A recent BFD article reported new research suggesting that the first stars may have shone much earlier than we thought. Now we have an insight into how at least one of those first-generation stars died. Spectacularly, in a word. Most of you will be familiar with novae. These occur when
