Country Dog City dog
Tuna salad
Ingredients
¼ packet, wholemeal pasta
1 onion, peeled, finely chopped
1 capsicum, finely chopped
½ cucumber, finely chopped
1 can tomatoes, drained and chopped
½ cup fresh herbs, finely chopped
1 x 300g can of tuna in spring water, drained and flaked
2 tbsp lemon juice … Continue Reading
Historian Rutger Bregman’s studies have shown that right from the time of the ancient Greeks the great thinkers like Thucydides, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Luther, Nietzsche, and Freud have doctrined that humans are innately selfish. A negative outlook which permeated Christianity from its early days Augustine writing: ’no one is free from sin’.
Bregman’s book is about a radical idea – it sets out to prove that most people, deep down, are pretty decent. The question he asks is : are we humans more inclined to be good or evil? He set about carefully studying history for examples one way or another.
It is not until reaching the 1700s that Bregman could find a philosopher who shared his positive view of human nature, the French Philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau. By then Bregman already had strong evidence to back Rousseau’s contentions.
This generously long (470 pages) book records in interesting detail actual events through the ages to support his view. Many of these had been ‘hushed up’ at the time as they didn’t serve the current leaders aims. Along with these are descriptions of the results of numerous current experiments carried out by university researchers, plus the writings of more recent philosophers. … Continue Reading
Jane Lenting
Growing up in Christchurch Jane’s early years were rich in experiencing the wide-open spaces of the Canterbury hinterland. “My parents would take us camping in the holidays. I remember the sheep, the mountains, the rivers, and the freedom. It was idyllic.
Between 1961 and 68 we spent three 4-month periods in New Caledonia. My father was a dentist and as there was no dentist in Hienghène, he did pro bono work in the local community. We lived in tents and my schooling continued by correspondence.
Those times engendered my love for remote places, different lifestyles, and cultures.
Back in Christchurch, maths and science were my subjects of choice which led to an Electrical Engineering degree at Canterbury University.
On leaving university I applied to do Volunteer Service Abroad. My post was in Vanua Levu in Fiji, where I taught maths and physics. It was a Catholic Boarding School catering for both boys and girls. There were few Europeans. The teaching was in English to a New Zealand syllabus. In the holidays I would walk to see my students who lived in remote rural coastal villages. It was humbling to see the parents so proud of their children’s progress. … Continue Reading
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