Majority Doesn't Matter When It's Maori

The majority of us want the names for New Zealand's two main islands to remain as they've always been – namely 'North Island' and 'South Island'.
So why the move to change the names? And why must the new names necessarily be…MAORI?
Well, it was revealed 'North Island' and 'South Island' were never official names. But does that matter? After all, it's how they're known, worldwide.
Well, it matters to the New Zealand Geographic Board (NZGB) which, to justify its existence, has proposed the islands be known by both their English and Maori names: 'North Island' or 'Te Ika-a-Maui'; and the 'South Island' or 'Te Waipounamu'.
Now, the NZGB will recommend to Maurice Williamson, Minister for Land Information, that NZers be given a choice about whether to use the English or Maori names. So after all the submissions, all the hoo-haa, all the devisive arguments… it's RECOMMENDED we're ALLOWED to call the islands whatever we're comfortable with!!! WTF…???!!!
87% of submissions supported officially calling it North Island; and 88% supported South Island. However NZGB chairman Dr Don Grant says the numbers in support "were not the main consideration"!! No, the board is guided more by the reasons provided by submitters for their support or objection. That's right: come up with a good reason and, even if you're a minority holding that view, you're likely to hold sway!!! In other words, if you can argue succinctly, intelligently, fluently that Stewart Island should be named 'Snagglepuss Mattress Fluff', your wish may well come true! Bizarre.
If that's truly the board's method of determination, then let's just change ALL place names to maori NOW. Then we can save the country millions in submission hearings, and dissolve a board that seems to ignore the majority view! 
I can't WAIT to hear an overseas visitor tell me they've come to enjoy the scenery of Te Ika-a-Maui…

Whale Meat Unwanted

A shipment of 130 tonnes of fin whale meat has been returned to Iceland, as jubilant animal rights activists highlighted the "pointlessness" of the trade.
TV pictures showed the boat returning to its original port of Reykjavik laden with the meat, followed by a boat chartered by the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
The boat carrying the meat from 10 whales originally left the Icelandic capital in June before docking in Rotterdam, then Hamburg. But before its scheduled departure for Japan, the Dutch maritime transporter Samskip announced it had agreed with other carriers not to export the meat, and would instead send it back to Iceland. The company also promised not to carry whale meat in future.
Iceland only resumed the hunting of fin whales - the second largest animal on Earth after the blue whale - this year, after suspending whaling in 2011 and 2012, partly because its largest market, Japan, was suffering from an economic downturn.
The International Whaling Commission has banned commercial whaling, but this is not recognised by Iceland. Japan says it hunts only for scientific purposes: it's currently battling Australia at the International Court in the Hague, over that ridiculous claim.
I can just imagine the cursing coming out of Kristjan Loftsson's mouth right now!!

U-Boat Sinks

TVNZ is finally pulling the plug on its youth channel.
TVNZ U closes at the end of August and its frequency will carry a time-shifted version of TV2.
TVNZ said it's made a commercial decision to take the free-to-air channel down after two years of running at a loss.
CEO Kevin Kenrick: "Despite our best efforts, we've not been able to make it work financially. As it is, the channel is a very lean operation and no significant savings can be made to address the shortfall."
TVNZ plans to launch TV2+1 on the vacated frequency on Sept.01 - an exact duplicate of TV2, broadcast an hour later. Time-shifted TV has proved to be popular with viewers.
Quite WHY it has taken two years for TVNZ to reach this decision is beyond me. Time and time again, youth-targeted programming has shown it struggles to generate revenue. Jeans and bubblegum just don't bring in the large sums of dosh needed to run such an operation. And forced exurberance in the name of teen entertainment became painful a very long time back...
No-one should be at all surprised that the U-boat sank. It was aimed at the 15-24yr.olds, featuring reality and factual entertainment programming, on Freeview Channel 6 and SKY Channel 016, but the internet is the first option for many young people. So how many actually watched U? It has over 60,000 likes on its Facebook page (woop-de-doo), but again, how many viewers? Weeeeeell, U doesn't actually know. TVNZ U brand manager Cindy Carleton: "We don't get specific ratings for U because its audience is small." Riiiiiiight.