KEY POINTS:
Steve and a group from his office were talking about what their kids do to end up in detention at school. "My son Brett came home stating that he had detention the next day because a teacher had seen him stand on a praying mantis," he recalls.
"I
immediately dispatched a letter to the school saying that it was good that they had caught him, as I believed he was just a small part in a major insect killing ring and that if the principal goes out into the staff car park and examines the headlights and grille areas of his teachers' cars, he will see that they too are involved in this major organised crime ring. There was no detention the next day for my son."
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A reader has had enough of New Zealand's bad driving. "I have cycled and driven in many countries across the world. Driving standards in New Zealand are easily the lowest I have come across. I've lost count of the number of times my life has been endangered by reckless driving here. It all nearly came to an abrupt end again today when a driver decided that 15cm was a sufficient gap to leave between his truck and my bike as he overtook me on Tamaki Drive, Auckland. If you are going to drive without due care and responsibility, then please be prepared to look my wife and (as yet unborn) child in the eye and explain why they will never see me again. Flouting of road rules by cyclists (which I agree should not occur) is not justification for playing Russian roulette with my life. Think of me as a husband, father and son, rather than somebody who is going to delay your commute to work by 5 seconds."
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Officials will go door-to-door in Britain telling residents how to cook with leftovers, in a government initiative to reduce the amount of food that gets thrown away. Home cooks will also be told what size portions to prepare, taught to understand "best-before" dates and urged to use their freezers more. The officials will be called "food champions" but critics are already calling them "food police" and say the scheme is an example of "excessive government nannying".
(Source: Telegraph.co.uk)
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A company that specialises in selling food past its best-before date has become more popular. According to FT.com, online retailer Approved Food, which sells biscuits and tins of soup past their prime, has noticed turnover has gone up 10-fold since September's banking crisis. The company's founder, Dan Cluderay, offers 750g jars of Nutella hazelnut chocolate spread, best before January 4, for £1 ($2.60), well below the £2.55 charged by supermarkets.
Food past its sell-by date may not be in tip-top condition, but is safe to eat, according to the British Food Standards Agency. "Best-before is an indication of quality rather than safety. Eating food past the best-before date does not necessarily put someone at risk from food poisoning," it said.
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Today's Webpick: The sequel to the internet's most popular viral Evolution of Dance has just been posted, but is it as good as the original? Watch it here.
These are the very best online videos from Ana's online magazine Spare Room.