Europe has not seen a war like the one in Ukraine since the Spanish Civil War [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Civil_War ] fought from 1936 to 1939. In that brutal and bitter civil war the Nationalists were overtly supported by the fascist military of Italy and Germany, while the Republican side gained pitiful…

This letter by my Great Grandfather David Harvey and is a family taonga (treasure/possession) over which I have no personal claim. John Calloway was the father of Tai Tai aka Elizabeth (David’s wife) and hence my Great Great Grandfather. …

This letter is by my Great Grandfather and is a family taonga (treasure/possession) over which I have no personal claim. Mr. Stephen Harvey of Beekley received a letter from his son David, who, together with his wife and two children, had an exceedingly narrow escape from the terrible volcanic eruption…

The new executive director of the New Zealand Book Council, Jo Cribb, has taken six months to define her advocacy strategy and hone her message. Now she has opened 2018 with a salvo of op/ed’s in a range of media about New Zealand’s declining children’s literacy. January is always a…

How spiderman shows a change of faith in America. — Spiderman was always my favourite superhero. Unlike those other imaginary creatures of insane physiques and childish powers that Stan Lee and friends came up with Spidey was a credible person. He had financial problems, he had romance problems, he had boss problems, and he had moral depth. Spidey was a…

Am I missing something? Is there some huge discussion or debate happening somewhere in secret that I am unaware of? Because I hear a great deal about the housing shortage almost every day, but nobody but nobody seems to be talking about the submarine threat. I know housing is a…

The news that local TV disasters “Dirty Laundry” and “Filthy Rich” have been canned at a cost of $15 million should not come as a surprise. As these previous reports attest the signs that money was being flushed down the toilet were there from the outset. * http://zagzigger.com/tag/ratings/ *…

So the US election is over and in theory at least ‘the people have spoken’. Strangely the people have spoken in the one poll that matters very, very differently to the polls that preceded them. Just like Brexit. At the moment everyone is crapping themselves about the Donald. But what…

Why so Stupid? — The other night I showed my nine year old “The Planet of the Apes”. Not Tim Burton’s 2001 remake, the 1968 original. And I wondered this: when did we collectively decide to become stupid? Because unlike modern films the 1968 film is not an endless series of chases and fist-fights…