We are totally bombarded with polls these days.  New forms of communication mean that pollsters have even more ways to extract our opinions.  And I’m not just talking about political opinion polls.  Every time you go on a news website you get asked your opinion.  Often on the most trivial of matters – what do you think of the name of Nicole Kidman’s baby? Who is the best looking celebrity? Should Conrad Smith play centre? I’m sure there are some individuals, who think these matters are important, but I’ll let you in on a little secret – they’re not.  

We are concerned that so much money is being lost or frozen by finance companies in trouble. Many of the investors are elderly and in some cases they have lost everything.  Others have been saving for their retirement and their money is either gone or locked up. High interest rates can be attractive but they are often associated with greater risk.

 What a great day for New Zealand at the Olympics! Five medals in one day. Valerie Vili joined the Evers-Swindell twins in winning gold as New Zealand won five medals in a day for the first time, to go to 14th on the medal table. Cyclist Hayden Roulston won silver at the velodrome while bronze medals went to the sick sculler Mahe Drysdale and pair George Bridgewater and Nathan Twaddle. These athletes have done New Zealand proud.

It’s important in this age of information overload to maintain a direct link of communication.  I welcome your comments, although I should point out that this site is aimed at all of New Zealand not just the (mainly Wellington) blogging community who have nothing better to do than grind their axes. There are plenty of other sites if you want to post uninformed, anonymous comments.

This was a speech given to students in Canterbury last evening.

THAT “VISION” THING

To start my speech tonight I thought I would quote a line from a song from the once highly popular television series called MASH.

You probably watch the back episodes now and then. There was a song attached to MASH and while I don’t agree with the chorus – I like some of the verses.