185 days ago

SUN SHINES IN WIMBLEDON SUMMER

Michael from Trentham

Lulu Sun who also goes by the surname of her father, has done almost the impossible in reaching the quarter finals of the women's open at Wimbledon which is the most eminent tennis tournament in the world.

Sun was one point from bowing out of the tough qualifying tournament she had to participate in to gain a Wimbledon spot.

Ruia Morrison virtually gained her damehood by twice reaching the last 16 at Wimbledon(1957,59) But don't expect Lulu Sun to equal this yet even having gone one better and a real chance to reach the semis.

By all accounts Sun has not had to struggle in life the way Morrison had to. With a modest background, Morrison had no family financial backup and all that brings, just pure skills and determination to succeed.

When I interviewed Ruia for a story, she took timeout to smoke a cigarette in the staff room at the school she was teaching at in Rotorua. I guarantee Lulu doesn't smoke.

Lulu,23 has so much promise as a tennis player of the highest standard. Ruia's uncle was the legionary Sir Howard Morrison who had excelled in other pursuits.

More messages from your neighbours
24 days ago

Poll: Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?

The Team from Neighbourly.co.nz

Just a bit of a fun poll to get you thinking.

If you had to live out your Christmas days, would you prefer it was a summer Christmas or a winter Christmas?

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Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?
  • 63.3% Summer
    63.3% Complete
  • 35.4% Winter
    35.4% Complete
  • 1.3% Other - I'll share below
    1.3% Complete
2716 votes
3 days ago

EMPIRE BUILDING TRUMP

Michael from Trentham

So Donald Trump does not want to start any wars and is a peace maker.
And yet he is seriously seeking to annex the world's largest island, Greenland from Denmark, take over the Panama Canal from the sovereign country of Panama who have owned it since 1977 and even forthrightly suggesting that Canada ceases being a nation and become a state or series of states of the USA.

Greenland above everything else, harbours minerals vital for todays and tomorrows world and that is what probably attracts Trump most. His son is looking things over in Greenland as this thread is being produced. Climate change is also changing Greenland which despite its name is currently mainly covered in ice and snow all year round. Greenland has a population of 55,000.

Panama's major asset after tourism and services is the canal with a current revenue of $5 billion. It operates its shipping charges through an international organisation so that the USA gets an unbias deal for its ships etc that use the canal. Panama is a poor country on the improve and has a population of 4.5 million.

Denmark is a member of NATO. But Trump has threatened many times for the USA to pull out of this Europe-USA defence alliance and Greenland may be the straw that finally breaks the pact.

Canada is surrounded by the USA but it is so much unlike the USA and much more akin to Australia and NZ. In contrast to the USA, Canada is one of the happiest countries in the world and in total land area is the world's second largest.

NZ is going to come under the scrutiny of Trump and his henchmen/women. He will probably look to cut NZ away from its free trade arrangements with China with some kind of ultimatum.

1 day ago

New Year, New Questions You Won’t Solve!

Riddler from The Neighbourly Riddler

I get smaller every time I take a bath.

What am I?

Do you think you know the answer to our daily riddle? Don't spoil it for your neighbours! Simply 'Like' this post and we'll post the answer in the comments below at 2pm.

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Head here and hover on the Following button on the top right of the page (and it will show Unfollow) and then click it. If it is giving you the option to Follow, then you've successfully unfollowed the Riddles page.

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