Screenshot The BFD Dr Michael Bassett’s column referred to below has been removed from the Northland Age website. Upon review, its unacceptable views did not meet our standards. We apologise for its publication. Northland Age – NZ Herald Suppression continues apace of historical opinions that do not conform to the
Today in Things That Didn’t Age Well: the great foot-and-mouth scare of ’01, starring a very familiar face. Australia is rushing specialist veterinarians to Britain as countries across the world move to contain the catastrophic outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease that began there. And amid warnings
As part of our drive to keep our comment section the best in New Zealand from this week onwards, we will be showcasing each week an example of a top-notch comment that adds value to The BFD. Today’s comment was written by Brian Dingwall. Thank you Brian for
I’ve written before about my “Lushy’s Laws”: a critical-thinking guide to not being fooled by the media. The first and second laws are: Never believe a headline; and when an article claims, “science says…” or “new study shows…”, assume that it doesn’t, until proven otherwise. So
Across the Mediterranean and Middle East there is a common culinary delicacy: known to all, claimed by some and made possible only by the movement of New World. Foods to the Old World by Spanish Colonialism. The two most important ingredients of this dish, tomato and peppers/paprika, were plundered
As I recently reported, a convicted right-wing terrorist in the UK has provided an example of a literal “Islamo-Nazi”, with his jailhouse conversion to jihadist Islam. But his is far from an isolated case. In fact, rather than just a right-wing pejorative, “Islamo-Nazi” is a disturbing
The flurry of media and social media interest that greeted news of the landing of the Perseverance rover (and, incidentally, Ingenuity, the first helicopter on Mars) shows the enduring fascination that the Red Planet exercises over the popular imagination. The endless fascination with Mars seems strangely contrary to that of
waikanaewatch.org This clipping from the Tasman Times of 18 February was sent to us by a reader. Roger Childs says: “The comments [by the Labour MP] about the capture of Rangiaowhia are shocking lies. General Cameron decide to bypass strongly fortified pa of Paterangi to save casualties on both
Science writer Matt Ridley caused quite the stir when he published The Myth of Basic Science, arguing that the bulk of scientific discovery came from technological innovation – and rarely from government. Naturally, Ridley’s argument sent a million lab-coated troughers into a fit of the screaming mee-mees. But,
Here in Tasmania, professional Aboriginal agitators are going all-in on their latest campaign: to “hand back” “stolen” Aboriginal petroglyphs in Tasmanian museums. Never mind that, as one local Aboriginal man said, the museums actually saved the artworks from almost certain destruction. His preference, he said, was for the artefacts
Today Non- Subscribers get a FREE taste of what they are missing out on. Have a read of this Insight Politics article then decide whether or not you would like to subscribe to a Silver subscription or upgrade your existing Basic or Bronze level Subscription to Silver. The New History
I once had the dubious pleasure of being harangued by an elderly hippy about “Nibiru”, the supposed mysterious planet that was going to collide with the Earth in the next year. That was several years ago, so I can chalk that up to yet another end-of-the-world that
On almost every ‘culture war’ controversy in New Zealand politics, I find myself feeling deeply frustrated. We live in a pseudo-democratic country. The loci of power and information, purportedly in service to the New Zealand public, are dominated by a class of persons who are ideologically invested in a
