Just before Christmas a British poll surprisingly revealed that the citizens of Edinburgh were the most content people anywhere in Britain. How to reconcile that with the current record Scots support of circa 60% for the Scottish Nationalists?

My reading preference is fiction, particularly authors such as Waugh, Kingsley Amis, Damon Runyan, Alan Bennett etc who wrote humour. Waugh was the all-time master and his 1930s novels are for me, the best fiction ever created.

The above scenario is something I hope I live to see. And if there’s any justice in the world, I will.

The Maori Council has called for the government to intervene against short term rental platforms such as Airbnb, to combat soaring rentals in the rental housing shortage. Putting aside the general undesirability of controls in any activity, would this alleviate the situation?

Last week Chris Hipkins was quoted saying, “The entire population could be vaccinated in as little as six and a half months”. That’s correct, just as it’s equally correct to say, “the entire population could be captured by aliens in as little as six and a half months”. The key word here is “could”.