FREEDOM, EQUALITY IN SPADES IN NZ
NZ may have somewhat lost many of the features that have made us a great nation worldwide in the past but not that of democracy.
in the latest survey (2023) on the most democratic countries in the world, NZ sits in second place behind Norway.
Interestingly both countries are similar in population and sit at either end of the globe.
Australia ranks ninth, the UK 21st and the USA sliding to 26th.
The USA has never been in the top 10 since these international surveys started which is ironic because Americans think and are told they are the greatest democratic nation the world has ever seen. Land of the free. Yeah right.
So living in a exceedingly democratic country and all that is meant to entail, it seems even more ludicrous that the city of Upper Hutt, has landed in a situation with its water pipes that has gone unresolved and almost unchecked over a lengthy period of years and a blind eye to it has been cast by elected councillors and Mayors and the staff they harbour.
We're talking new year resolutions...
Tidying the house before going to bed each night, meditating upon waking or taking the stairs at work.
What’s something quick, or easy, that you started doing that made a major positive change in your life?
GOODBYE THE POST - NOT QUITE.
Finally joined the large throng of former The Evening Post, The Dominion and DomPost home and office delivery subscribers and cut out a delivered newspaper. Well almost.
This follows in the footsteps of the Upper Hutt Leader being scrapped from weekly delivery.
Now I am among those who receive a digital copy of The Post on a computer and smart phone and a delivered Saturday- only copy of the same. The savings in costs is close to $800 per year. But that is not the real reason for my cancelling delivery.
The delivery wrapped-up newspaper (which can occur as early as 11pm) was being thrown either onto the driveway and skidding onto flowers lining the driveway or direct hits onto the sunflowers.
The Post has become a shell of a major capital city daily newspaper. It is almost not and local regional news - especially sport - is usually non existent.
The name is not good. Google The Post and you get a host of NZ Post sites which are entirely unrelated. The Post is a featureless name. The Dominion (or The Dom for short) had character as a name and a history as a newspaper in Wellington.
Just a thought: The Harvey Norman News Bulletin sounds relevant.
The Evening Post at its zenith and even with the competition of the morning paper (The Dominion) was NZs best selling newspaper with a relative huge home delivered demand.
But where I have lived for the past 4 years or so, I may have been the sole resident receiving The Post in a radius of 300 metres of housing north, south, east and west.