Did you know

DUE TO net fishing the Maui Dolphin number is now down to 110, a huge reduction from a surveyed estimate of 30,000 in 1970. These dolphins live around twenty years  during which time they only produce two or three young. Even  with  net bans it will take  two hundred years for the population to recover from its current threatened extinction.

SIXTEEN POINT THREE million cups of coffee are consumed every day in Australia. Some of the beans are supplied by the thirty Australian coffee plantations which have over 8500,000 coffee trees

‘IN THIRTY YEARS of healthcare I have always addressed my patients as ‘Good boy’ or ‘Good girl’ or even sometimes even as ‘gorgeous’. This has always been well received – Nottingham Vet  John Oleshko 

ALMOST 60% of Spain’s electricity is provided by wind power. In Denmark  over 42% of the electricity comes from wind turbines. Meanwhile the  UK Royal Society fro the Protection of Birds (yes such an organisation does exist) surveys have shown that  wind farms have negligible  impact on birds.

‘POLITNESS is the art of choosing among your thoughts’ –Germaine de Grain.

ANNUALLY half a million people are killed by air pollution in China. Nevertheless  155 new coal fired  plants were approved last year. A 55% increase on the previous year.

‘IRISH diplomacy is the ability to tell a man to go to Hell so that he looks forward to making the trip’ – Anon

OVER 22 MILLION hectares are planted in cereals in Australia, with wheat being the dominant crop.

AOTEAROA was formerly accepted as the country’s name at the crowning of the first Maori King, Te Wherowhero who took the name of Potatau, at the ceremony held at Ngaruawhaia on June 1^st 1858.

‘THE ONLY place where success comes before work is in the dictionary’ – Vidal Sasson

LONDON TRANSPORT operates 9,500 buses over 650 routes with 19,000 bus stops. New Zealand company Tait Electronics have signed a thirty million dollar contract to supply and fit new sophisticated communication systems which include wifi and  satellite tracking to each of the buses.

A  NEW ZEALAND  Herald investigation last year  found that Apple had paid no tax over the last decade despite sales in the country of 4.2 billion dollars

The deadline for the May issue is 4pm  on Wednesday  April 25^th