KEY POINTS:
Richard Harman writes: "My daughter Ellen was first to spot this sign which the Wellington City Council erected at the end of our street this morning. We live next door to a park which we always thought was named after a member of the British royal family. Plainly
not so. We can only assume it has in fact been named after the International Whaling Commissioner, Sir Geoffrey Palmer. No wonder Wellington is the capital!"
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Jonathan Obelus writes: "A few days ago the President of the United States of America announced his 2009 Budget will be presented to Congress for approval. Nothing unusual in that. The Budget he has prepared totals $3.1 trillion. This is where it gets difficult. How can anyone get their head around one trillion of anything, let alone 3.1 of them. I will try and put it in perspective. If you earned $25,000 a year from your job, that's about $70 a day ... every day of the year. Now imagine if you earned $25,000 a day ... yes every day ... for the rest of your life. You would have to live 109,000 years to have earned one trillion dollars. Give or take a thousand years. But who's counting?"
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In Medford, Massachusetts, an automated telephone system made 2100 calls one morning telling parents their children were not in school. After they discovered what had happened, school officials called again telling parents that first call was in error. (Source: Reason.com)
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A Filipino inventor has come up with a beer mixed with Vitamin B, to replace this essential vitamin lost when excessive amounts of alcohol are consumed. Billy Lalang calls the product a "prophylactic for drinkers" and has won a gold medal at the European Union-sponsored Genius-Europe competition. Lalang, president of the Manila Innovation Development Society, says he has 42 inventions to his name, including a one-a-day lollipop packed with vitamins and other essentials for undernourished children. (Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer)
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Scott Henderson says: "Mark Webster, leave Petra Bagust alone. So she was driving an SUV; big deal. I doubt she's ever claimed to be completely environmentally friendly, and she has to live in the real world like the rest of us, which means compromises. I would imagine that people like you are far more toxic to the planet than a TV presenter picking up her groceries in a Pajero."
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Sideswipe's a sucker for anything to do with babies: A nice bloke named John picked up a beautiful baby's bassinet, lost off a trailer on the north-bound motorway just before the Khyber Pass Rd off-ramp on Waitangi Day about 7pm. It is undamaged and complete with nappies and blanket. If it's yours call John on 0273-666-099 to get it back.
Today's Webpick: Woah! The enthusiastic commentary from an Oceanography Professor makes this amazing footage of a rare 18ft Hexanchus shark all the more exciting. Watch it here. Scroll down.
These are the very best online videos from Ana's online magazine Spare Room.
