I want to say something about kindness. I've come across a lot of it in the past few weeks, reminding me yet again Taranaki is a kind place. For example, a string of kind people came to my rescue after I buggered up one of our doors. It's a bit of a saga, but bear with. When we did up the house, we left the old door handles on the interior ply panel doors because basically we'd overspent and the handles sort of looked okay. But a point was reached when door handles that are old and need a bit of strength to be turned become a problem for arthritic fingers. We needed levers. READ MORE:Taranaki man takes knighthood mixup for a spin Councillor's journey to the heart of his districtMerrick leaving food bank to concentrate on council role It looked easy. But the holes weren't quite big enough, so I had to deploy one of those barrel drill bits, which go okay on anything new but are impossible to wield accurately on existing holes. It jumped and chewed a hole too big … [Read more...] about Kind Mike deeply missed already
Turnaround how carlos ghosn rescued nissan
Italy: The populist odd couple preparing for government
For two weeks now, the League's Matteo Salvini and Luigi Di Maio from the 5-Star Movement (M5S) have been wrestling their way to a coalition deal, with sticking points including, above all, who would get which posts in a potential government. Both men wanted to be prime minister, so now they have privately agreed on another person to serve as a figurehead to oversee the implementation of the policy program that they finalized last Friday. Di Maio and Salvini didn't want to reveal the name in advance; instead, they made melodramatic statements affirming that it would be an experienced politician who would concentrate exclusively on implementing the contract of government. Italian media have tipped Giuseppe Conte, a professor of public administration law at the University of Florence, as the likely candidate. Superminister Di Maio? Right up until the last minute it remains unclear whether the party leaders will assume ministerial office themselves. Italian media analysts have … [Read more...] about Italy: The populist odd couple preparing for government
The story of the greatest comic you probably never read
2000AD is the one of the most influential comics in the world, but if you grew up in America you've probably never heard of it. It's time to right that wrong, courtesy of a documentary called Future Shock! It's recently been released in the UK, but Amazon will ship you a region 2 copy—and it's well worth the three-week wait if you are a comic fan. It tells 2000AD's back story from the comic's birth during the time of punk, through heights of popularity and lows of corporate neglect. Launched in 1977, the comic was meant to cash in on Star Wars' popularity and then die a little while later. Instead, it became a vehicle for Pat Mills and the team he assembled to warp young minds with subversive, often ultraviolent science fiction. Future Shock! interviews almost all the important figures in 2000AD's history—minus Alan Moore as he's busy being a wizard in Northampton—tracing its influence on wider popular culture. Comics—particularly superhero comics—are … [Read more...] about The story of the greatest comic you probably never read