Isis In Name, Not Nature

Isis has been removed from the official list of future Pacific hurricane names.
As the name of an ancient Egyptian goddess, Isis had been on the UN's World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) list of names for hurricanes for 2016. ISIS is of course also synonymous with the Islamic State terror group, gradually spreading its terrorist tentacles around the world.

The Hurricane Committee removed the name Isis from the rotating list and replaced it with Ivette. Names are knocked off the list (which rotates every six years), if they’re considered inappropriate by virtue of causing too much damage or too much death.
This is however not the case with Isis – the connotations are just too great, and the WMO deemed it inappropriate.
Others too are making name changes away from Isis. An Auckland talent and event management company last year undertook a costly rebrand to save itself. Some of the talent listed with Issis Events said they no longer wanted to work with it because of the association with ISIS. And there're dozens of NZ businesses operating under the name Isis or Issis.
Despite the name, houses in the upper-middle class Isis Street in Earlsfield, South London, are still selling for £1million.
Wonder if the town fathers in Oamaru will be considering a name change for THEIR Isis Street?

Re:Start Mall Is More Than The Sum Of Its Parts

Great news for Re:Start Mall fans.
Christchurch's iconic container mall could run long-term!
Property developer Antony Gough wants to site the Re:Start Mall near his new CBD development The Terrace, for at least 10 years.

The temporary mall was built using colourful shipping containers on the earthquake-damaged City Mall retail space in Oct.2011. Gough: "We should retain the Re:Start in the CBD. It's globally recognised and Christchurch wants it to stay."
Tenants are rapt...not so another CBD developer. Lichfield Holdings' Nick Hunt wants it gone, once his $140m office and retail complex - the BNZ Centre - is completed in Nov.2016: "The whole idea was for the Re:Start to maintain the central city as a retail area on a temporary basis. That was the basis for my decisions."

Gough sees Bigger Picture

Gough points out that "...new shops will be tailor-made, with air conditioning, double-glazing and insulation. The container mall is different - it suits tenants who can't afford higher rents."
Re:Start The Heart Trust chairman John Suckling has not struck any deal with Gough: "The trust's efforts now are to keep Re:Start going until new permanent retail premises are available for tenants to move into. This was it's whole purpose." Once that's done, he says, "...given the trust is a charity, it would be inappropriate to give the containers to one or any developer."
Gough would consider buying the lot, while Suckling says the trust may put the containers up for auction - but the Re:Start brand would not be part of the package.
I believe the Re:Start is such a symbol of Christchurch's recovery, that it would be a waste to lose it completely. The challenge will be to locate it where its vibrancy can benefit all...and ideally for its iconic name to continue too.
Other cities around the world have markets that benefit neighbouring retailers - London's Chelsea Market; Melbourne's Victoria Market; Istanbul's Grand Bazaar. Let's consider Re:Start from a long-term perspective: it's already much more than the sum of its parts.

Anzac Day 2015

This is not glorification of war.
Not salacious lapping at spilt blood.
Not false-sounding honorifics on monument walls.
This is unmeasurable gratitude, respect and thanks...a nation-wide desire to advance and be all we can be, as some way of making the sacrifices worthwhile.

As we live and breathe, you will never be forgotten...