A fascinating Listener article by Michael Cooper revealed a huge social change in New Zealand, specifically that our wine consumption has dropped by almost 40% over the last decade. If it was a 1% fall I’d put my hand up as the culprit. For nigh on four decades I averaged at least two bottles of red daily without any detrimental effect but about 18 months back I experienced my first ever hangover. Now I’ve lost the habit and don’t drink wine any more.

The inside word is that Wellington’s Dominion-Post has surpassed its annual leading the field standard 12% circulation drop and last year lost an extraordinary 19% of subscribers.

The above, a small heading in a buried item in the NZ Herald re the New Zealand women’s rugby team.

So the All Blacks are no longer the All Blacks having donned a white top for their last match.

That’s progress, black being the colour of choice by superstition purveyors and fat girls.

They could make another huge step forward with a further change, specifically abandoning the embarrassing infantile threatening war dance at the beginning of the match, now especially ironic given nearly every side beats them.

“I did it for the money”, proclaims a British Telegraph newspaper heading, quoting a fraudster art dealer.

Well, that’s a shock. Who’d have thought it?