Cultural Norm Remember when Maori Affairs Minister Peter Sharples flew secretly to New York to give a speech to the United Nations and sign New Zealand up to a declaration on indigenous rights? It was April 19, 2010, just over a decade ago. Little did the New Zealand people then
There are no prizes for guessing what would be top of mind on this 17th day of March 2021 for this native Pakeha of proud Irish ancestry. Since I was a small child in Hamilton, St Patrick’s Day has always been one to celebrate, if only to remind myself
As Field Marshal Montgomery noted, all the greatest threats to freedom in the 20th century – Communism, Fascism, Nazism – originated in Europe and were defeated from outside Europe. But, Europe’s track record of embracing authoritarianism didn’t end there. The great European project, the EU, is riding roughshod over its
Breaking Away (1979) was one of those great movies that never really made it beyond Sunday television, only grossing a miserable $17,000 on its opening night. Nevertheless it left the world a better place with a wider, sympathetic and humorous view of Italian culture at a time when the
In a sleepy little town here in Northern Tasmania, tucked away in a quiet corner of a local park, is a grim reminder of a not-so-distant past: the village stocks. They’re now something for tourists to pose for happy snaps in, but once upon a time they
This week, apologies for me opening with an attempt at satire, for which my nature as an inveterate stirrer adversely affects my abilities as a satirist, but this latest piece by Chris Trotter about the banning of Dr Michael Bassett has been my motivation for what follows. First the Attempt
Dear Editor Oh dear. The hoary old NZ Herald, once upon a time the failsafe recorder and respecter of everything ‘All Blacks’, has done it again – this time a classical mistake about the history of one of the game’s greats, former All Black loose forward Ian Kirkpatrick. In a
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 Shooter McGavin Thank you Shooter McGavin for taking the time to craft
Lindsay Mitchell lindsaymitchell.blogspot.com Lindsay Mitchell has been researching and commenting on welfare since 2001. Many of her articles have been published in mainstream media and she has appeared on radio,tv and before select committees discussing issues relating to welfare. Lindsay is also an artist who works under
You can forget climate change or global pandemics. Scientists have unveiled an even more devastating doomsday scenario: We’re all going to suffocate. Nearly everything on Earth. Eventually… like, a billion years eventually. All complex aerobic life on Earth as we know it will eventually die as oxygen levels deplete
Jessica Borge School of Advanced Study Jessica Borge, Digital Collections (Scholarship) Manager at King’s College London Archives and Research Collections; Visiting Fellow in Digital Humanities, School of Advanced Study Around 975 Durex condoms are sold every minute. The global condom market is predicted to grow to over US$11
Nothing sends a shiver up the spine quite like passing the glass display cases at the entrance to my local hospital, filled with antique surgical equipment. They look more like a props supply for the Saw horror movie franchise than a tribute to medical care. And if you’ve ever
Waikanae watcher waikanaewatch.org Readers of the Dominion Post and other Stuff publications will recall that the media organization made a fool of itself last December, shortly after the re-election of the Jacinda government, with a hand-wringing apology for past ‘racist’ articles. It subsequently initiated a series under
Nevin Thompson globalvoices.org Nevin Thompson is Japan Editor and Social Media Manager for Global Voices. He is a translator, writer, and journalist, and has been connected to Japan for more than twenty years. With the social media team, Nevin also provides marketing management support for Global Voices. A noted
Both the NZ Herald and the Northland Age published and then memory-holed the below article. At The BFD we do not support censorship or cancel culture so have obtained permission to re-publish the article so that our audience can make up their own minds. The original headline of
