New Zealander or Aotearoan?
So far 35,000 people have signed a petition to have NZ change its name to Aotearoa. It might be popular in some areas of NZ but I don't think the Hutt Valley would buy into it.
The National Party (or is that really just Judith Collins and a few others) are calling for a referendum on a name change.
Let's say it happens. What would become of ANZAC Day? Would it become AAAC Day?
What would become of Australasian - would it become Austroan?
Would the letters ANZ become AA which might or might not be appropriate because AA has other meanings and not just Automobile Association.
There are those who say we should double our name to New Zealand-Aotearoa but that really takes up a page in a book and a sentence in a short speech. And would we still be called New Zealanders?
If we do shift to Aotearoa in all fairness we drop the colloquial term for a New Zealander: Kiwi (which is Maori) and replace it with an English name of Paradise Duck or just Paradiser for short. That would be terrific as most of us and the world believe we live in paradise. And those ducks are noisy and slightly bossy.
Another good thing in becoming Aotearoa, in the Olympic Games or Commonwealth Games opening ceremonies not only are we among the first to emerge into the stadium instead of waiting and waiting and waiting, but we are ahead of Australia alphabetically. Why not just take a wee small step and spell our new name Aaotearoa and we will be first at any Games -unless they do the dirty and start in reverse. Hello Zambia.
Poll: Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?
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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63.3% Summer
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35.4% Winter
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1.3% Other - I'll share below
EMPIRE BUILDING TRUMP
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.
New Year, New Questions You Won’t Solve!
I get smaller every time I take a bath.
What am I?
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