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2020 is shaping up to be a blockbuster for all of its 366 days. Photo / 123RF

NEW ZEALAND

Trump, a new world's tallest building and a mission to mars - what's in store for 2020

5 Jan, 2020 5:00am
8 minutes to read

2020 is shaping up to be a blockbuster for all of its 366 days, both here and overseas.

There's a trend to revel in disappointments. Photo / Getty Images

NEW ZEALAND

Paul Little: Expect the worst — and you'll get it

5 Jan, 2020 5:00am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: That life is disappointing is no bad thing.

NEW ZEALAND

Dreaming of a woke Christmas? Here's how to do it

15 Dec, 2019 5:00am
11 minutes to read

Sustainable giving is on the rise.

Fifty-three per cent of New Zealanders knew the Earth takes a year to orbit the Sun. Photo / 123RF

PREMIUM

Paul Little: The difference between knowledge and intelligence

24 Nov, 2019 5:00am
4 minutes to read

We will be more knowledgeable when New Zealand history is on the syllabus.

NEW ZEALAND

Paul Little: We don't need police with guns on our streets

10 Nov, 2019 6:00am
4 minutes to read

COMMENT: The alternative to being tough on crime is being sensible on crime.

NEW ZEALAND

Paul Little: From the heart of Simon Bridges

3 Nov, 2019 5:01am
4 minutes to read

COMMENT: The National Party leader says he is not a "heartless bastard".

Life on Earth is the result of a number of fortunate events. Photo / 123RF

NEW ZEALAND

Paul Little: It's a miracle any of us is alive

27 Oct, 2019 5:00am
4 minutes to read

COMMENT: Life on Earth itself is a matter of dumb luck.

Shane Jones fired an AR-15 while on holiday in Thailand. Photo / Facebook

NEW ZEALAND

Paul Little: Should Cabinet ministers be allowed to play with guns?

20 Oct, 2019 5:00am
3 minutes to read

Shane Jones touted an AR-15 while on holiday in Thailand.

Steven Joyce predicted a fiscal hole. Photo / Mark Mitchell

NEW ZEALAND

Paul Little: Is $7.5b actually a lot of money these days?

13 Oct, 2019 5:05am
4 minutes to read

COMMENT: Imagine what surplus might have been if business folk were looking on sunny side.

Colleen Woodham, 82, with her grandaughter Kate Berich (left) and daughter Kerre McIvor (centre). Photo / Supplied

LIFESTYLE

The secret revealed: How to feel younger

13 Oct, 2019 5:00am
10 minutes to read

Subjective age affects physical health, life satisfaction and depressive symptoms.

You've created a work of art but your washing is still an eyesore for some Hobby Point residents. Photo / 123RF

NEW ZEALAND

Paul Little: Neighbours draw the (clothes)line

6 Oct, 2019 5:00am
4 minutes to read

COMMENT: Hobby Point appears to be suffering from OCD – Obsessive Community Disorder.

Environmental activist Greta Thunberg addresses the Climate Action Summit at the United Nations General Assembly. Photo / AP

NEW ZEALAND

Paul Little: I'm as mad as hell about Greta Thunberg

29 Sep, 2019 5:07am
4 minutes to read

COMMENT: The campaigner has continued to make her eloquent case heard around the world.

Giving cyclists their own little lanes to toddle about in is sensible and humane. Photo / Stephen Parker

NEW ZEALAND

Paul Little: Four wheels bad, two wheels good

22 Sep, 2019 5:05am
4 minutes to read

COMMENT: On yer bike.

Anxiety is everywhere you look and in a lot of places you don't. Photo / 123RF

LIFESTYLE

Am I missing something on Netflix? Things we never worried about 10 years ago

22 Sep, 2019 5:00am
12 minutes to read

Should we really have these modern-day anxieties?

Māori Language Week has come and gone with little fanfare. Photo / 123RF

NEW ZEALAND

Paul Little: Te reo adds to our cultural identity

15 Sep, 2019 5:29am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: There has been no commitment to making our second language compulsory in schools.

By some accounts, 40 per cent of young people who get level 2 NCEA don't meet basic literacy and numeracy standards. Photo / 123RF

PREMIUM

Paul Little: Vaccinating kids against stupidity

8 Sep, 2019 5:05am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: Literacy and numeracy standards are complex subjects.

White men should keep their opinions to themselves. Photo / 123RF

NEW ZEALAND

Paul Little: What do white men know?

1 Sep, 2019 5:00am
4 minutes to read

COMMENT: I probably won't be first person to tell you that being a white guy is awesome.

Humble, innocent-looking teabags. Photo / 123RF

LIFESTYLE

Paul Little: Saving the world, one teabag at a time

25 Aug, 2019 11:00am
4 minutes to read

COMMENT: Who would have thought that the humble teabag hid so much danger?

As flightless avian emblems go, the mighty moa might have been a better choice than the kiwi. Photo / 123RF

NEW ZEALAND

Paul Little: It's time to make 'Kiwi' extinct

18 Aug, 2019 5:00am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: It's time to stop people calling us – and to stop calling ourselves - Kiwi.

Hippies grew up to be barbarians at the buffet. Photo / Getty Images

LIFESTYLE

Paul Little: From free love to free for all

11 Aug, 2019 3:00pm
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: What happened to the Woodstock generation?

A world with no more children in it would be guaranteed unsustainable. Photo / 123RF

LIFESTYLE

Paul Little: The people not having kids to save the environment

4 Aug, 2019 5:00am
4 minutes to read

COMMENT: Many people are deciding not to have children, and they have a good case.

Niksen is the Dutch art of doing nothing. Photo / 123RF

LIFESTYLE

Paul Little: Forget hygge - the Dutch have given us niksen. But does it work?

28 Jul, 2019 5:00am
4 minutes to read

COMMENT: Niksen is the default setting for dealing with international concerns.

Sir Edmund Hillary's greatness was not in what he provided, but in the example he set. Photo / File

NEW ZEALAND

Paul Little: Why Sir Ed stands at the peak

21 Jul, 2019 5:00am
4 minutes to read

COMMENT: Everyone wanted to be on Ed's team. Everyone wanted to please him.

Sir Ed relaxing in the chair which was presented at a civic reception in 1953. Photo / File

NEW ZEALAND

100 reasons the world loved Sir Edmund Hillary

20 Jul, 2019 5:00am
18 minutes to read

The adventurer would have been 100 in July

NEW ZEALAND

Paul Little: Hate can be a force for good

14 Jul, 2019 7:00pm
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: Not all people labelled haters actually meet the criteria.

Little is known about the new series. Will it be filmed at Hobbiton? Photo / @hobbitontours

ENTERTAINMENT

Paul Little: Let us grab for that golden ring

7 Jul, 2019 6:30am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: We're going back to Middle Earth!

Some people might make the choice to live for years with grievous and irremediable conditions - but that's the point. It is their choice. Photo / 123RF

PREMIUM

Paul Little: End of Life Choice bill is alive

30 Jun, 2019 7:00pm
4 minutes to read

COMMENT: A six-month rebate on suffering is better than none.

Brian and Hannah Tamaki. Photo / Brett Phibbs

NEW ZEALAND

Paul Little: The Tamakis are getting increasingly desperate

23 Jun, 2019 6:00am
4 minutes to read

COMMENT: Their deplorable views should be given the widest possible exposure.

What is clear is that the message that consumerism is killing the planet - or at least our souls - continues to go unheard. Photo / 123RF

NEW ZEALAND

Paul Little: Consumerism is killing the planet

16 Jun, 2019 10:55am
4 minutes to read

COMMENT: What is the ultimate limit of human endurance?

NEW ZEALAND

Paul Little: Naivety deserves a chance

9 Jun, 2019 5:00am
4 minutes to read

COMMENT: Move over pessimism and cynicism.

Businesses are competitive rather than co-operative. Photo / 123RF

NEW ZEALAND

Paul Little: The truth about workplace bullying

2 Jun, 2019 5:00am
4 minutes to read

COMMENT: Workplace bullying is a misuse of power.

Does your lexicon use the latest lingo? Photo / Herald Graphic

LIFESTYLE

ROFL, selfie, woke - where do words come from?

26 May, 2019 5:00am
9 minutes to read

The Oxford English Dictionary is about to release its latest online update.

Be cautious about trying to form alliances. Photo / Supplied

ENTERTAINMENT

Paul Little: What the Game of Thrones ending taught us

25 May, 2019 7:00pm
4 minutes to read

COMMENT: People who would struggle to paint a toenail have pulled apart the art direction.

Looking out over Foulden Maar, near Middlemarch. Photo / ODT

NEW ZEALAND

Paul Little: Turning our taonga into pet food

19 May, 2019 5:00am
4 minutes to read

COMMENT: The scandal over Foulden Maar has reached critical mass.

Deforestation has not helped our planet. Photo / 123RF

NEW ZEALAND

Paul Little: Alarming climate change research

12 May, 2019 5:00am
4 minutes to read

COMMENT: Most of us will accept that we've been profligate with our planet.

The philosophy and success of AliExpress highlights a basic human paradox. Photo / 123RF

BUSINESS

So good it's bad - The secrets of AliExpress

5 May, 2019 5:00am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: Chinese-based site proffers knicknacks to a global base of gullible consumers.

Kate Hudson at her baby shower. Photo / Instagram

LIFESTYLE

When did gender reveal parties and other rituals become a thing?

28 Apr, 2019 5:00am
11 minutes to read

We are a society built on rituals, whether we recognise them as such or not.

Notre Dame cathedral in Paris last week. Photo / AP

NEW ZEALAND

Paul Little: We obliterate our own heritage

21 Apr, 2019 5:00am
4 minutes to read

COMMENT: No one has ever been required to replace a building they have destroyed.

LIFESTYLE

Looking for a new diet? Here's what Jesus ate

21 Apr, 2019 5:00am
10 minutes to read

Do we need to look for new diets when we can look at what our forebears consumed?

It’s like Alice in Wonderland ... Photo / 123RF

NEW ZEALAND

Paul Little: The world has turned upside down

14 Apr, 2019 5:00am
4 minutes to read

COMMENT: It's like Alice in Wonderland...

NEW ZEALAND

Paul Little: RSA calls time on support for Muslim community

7 Apr, 2019 5:00am
4 minutes to read

COMMENT: The 50 people shot and killed on March 15 are certainly Kiwis who fell in war.

US President Donald Trump has been completed vindicated, or so you'd think. Photo / AP

WORLD

Paul Little: Spare a thought for Donald Trump

31 Mar, 2019 5:00am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: We all know how much faith we can put in what the US President says.

NEW ZEALAND

Paul Little: Let world see good in action

24 Mar, 2019 5:00am
7 minutes to read

COMMENT: The grief since 50 people were killed has been empowering.

Who knew dishes could spark such offence? Photo / 123RF

TECHNOLOGY

Paul Little: Whining aside, the internet rules

17 Mar, 2019 5:00am
4 minutes to read

COMMENT: Do not listen to nostalgist Luddites who tell you we were better off without it.

The more extreme your beliefs are, the more insecure you will be about them. Photo / 123RF

LIFESTYLE

Paul Little: Meaty issues for vegans

10 Mar, 2019 5:00am
4 minutes to read

COMMENT: People who hold extreme views tend to be a bit judgy.

It's like Les Miserables in reverse. Photo / Supplied

NEW ZEALAND

Paul Little: It's like Les Miserables in reverse

3 Mar, 2019 5:00am
4 minutes to read

COMMENT: Finally, the wealthy are rising up against their proletarian oppressors.

Google isn't fond of paying tax. Photo / 123RF

NEW ZEALAND

Paul Little: Why would Google change now?

24 Feb, 2019 5:00am
4 minutes to read

It has been proposed Facebook and Google should pay tax on the money they earn from NZ.

Judge Lisa Tremewan speaks to a woman appearing before the Alcohol and Drug Treatment Court at the Waitakere District Court in West Auckland.

NEW ZEALAND

Helping addicts help themselves

17 Feb, 2019 6:00am
12 minutes to read

Inside an Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Court.

BUSINESS

Paul Little: NZ Post - a post-modern postal service

10 Feb, 2019 5:00am
4 minutes to read

Comment: NZ Post sent a letter asking people to throw it away.

Visitors to Auschwitz Birkenau, former Nazi concentration and extermination camp. Photo / 123RF

NEW ZEALAND

Comment: NZ Holocaust denial is out there

3 Feb, 2019 5:00am
4 minutes to read

Comment: The 20th century was hardly short of landmark historical events.

Australia’s race relations record is unconscionable. Photo / File

NEW ZEALAND

Paul Little: Is 'special relationship' with Australia worth it?

27 Jan, 2019 5:00am
4 minutes to read

COMMENT:Is special relationship with Australia worth it given their race-relations record?

Are Lime scooters and the perceived risks of riding them really worth all the fuss? Photo / Michael Craig

NEW ZEALAND

Paul Little: Honestly, I don't give a scoot

20 Jan, 2019 5:00am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: Hopefully Lime scooters will be the biggest thing to complain about in 2019.

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex on stage. People are using social media to fake it until they make it. Photo / Getty Images

LIFESTYLE

PR your life like Meghan: Fake it 'til you make it

13 Jan, 2019 5:00am
15 minutes to read

Could individuals benefit from applying the principles of PR to their own lives?

Valkommen to New Zealand, Ikea. Photo / Getty Images

BUSINESS

Paul Little: I furnished a whole house with Ikea

13 Jan, 2019 5:00am
4 minutes to read

COMMENT: There's a goodly portion of cultural cringe in all this.

Why do we do it to ourselves? Photo / George Novak

NEW ZEALAND

Paul Little: Would aliens sit in traffic jams?

6 Jan, 2019 5:00am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: We are humans and we would rather be stubborn than sensible.

Artificial intelligence may spell the end of our race. Photo / 123RF

NEW ZEALAND

Paul Little: Happy new year ... but for how long?

30 Dec, 2018 5:00am
4 minutes to read

COMMENT: The number one threat to humanity's continued existence is human beings.

Minister of Education Chris Hipkins. He said no. Photo / Mark Mitchell

NEW ZEALAND

Paul Little: The game of the name

23 Dec, 2018 5:00am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: Education Minister has declined a request from Victoria University of Wellington.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was emotional when speaking about murdered British tourist Grace Millane during her weekly post-Cabinet press conference last week.

NEW ZEALAND

Paul Little: Grace Millane case highlights a terrible double standard

16 Dec, 2018 5:00am
4 minutes to read

COMMENT: Grace Millane deserves every tribute. But so did those other victims.

NEW ZEALAND

Paul Little: What Santa wants for Christmas

9 Dec, 2018 5:00am
4 minutes to read

COMMENT: Paul Little muses over what Santa wants.

It's easy to dislike feet. Photo / 123RF

NEW ZEALAND

Paul Little: The right to bare feet in public

2 Dec, 2018 5:00am
4 minutes to read

COMMENT: Bare feet are a litmus test for how we feel about ourselves and our society.

NEW ZEALAND

Paul Little: System failed serial drink-driver

25 Nov, 2018 5:00am
4 minutes to read

COMMENT: Gavin Hawthorn's case exemplifies a lot of what is wrong with our justice system.

Are psychometric tests a useful tool, or as enlightening asfortune cookies? Photo / 123RF

BUSINESS

Testing times: Is it possible to measure someone's personality?

18 Nov, 2018 5:00am
10 minutes to read

The business of psychometric testing is big business.