Did you know

THERE ARE nineteen thousand registered real estate agents in New Zealand and two hundred and thirty five listed real estate firms. The largest firms are Barfoot and Thompson with 603 staff, Harcourts with 253 staff and Bayleys with 235 staff

THE FIRST blast furnace for smelting iron ore was not built in Coalbrookdale in 1709 as commonly taught, but in China before 200 BC. The first iron bridge was built in Ching-tung in the Yunnan province where it stands to this day. 

“SAYING ATHEISM is a belief system is like saying that not going skiing is a hobby” – Ricky Gervais. 

RESEARCH INTO  the cropping hemp shows, economic and environmental opportunities. Michael Mayell, who invests in environmental projects, says hemp could become useful as a gateway to regenerative agriculture, which aims to build up the soil quality. “There are many who believe that we will not move to regenerative agriculture without hemp,” he says. “And consider that an acre of hemp breathes in four times the carbon dioxide and breathes out four times as much oxygen per acre of trees.”

A MASSEY UNIVERSITY study of over 13,000 adulits ove the age of 65 found that over half were at risk of malnutrition. 65% reporting that they have one portion or less of dairy product a day and 57%  eating one or fewer servings of either meat, eggs, fish or meat substitute a day – as recommended by the Ministry of Health. 

‘DONALD TRUMP thinks the Bill of Rights is just one more bill he doesn’t have to pay ‘ Christian Britschigi 

THE WILLYS CAR Company launched it’s Jeep (General Purpose) four wheel drive vehicle army vehicle on November eleventh 1940. Ford also produced it’s version in competition. The Willys was chosen.  

CREATIVE NZ AWARDED: $24,600 Towards writing a novel about the collapse of democracy in an association of alpaca breeders.

CHINA HAS twenty percent of the world’s population but only seven percent of the world’s fresh water, of which eighty percent is in the south. A 1,500 km long canal to bring water from the south to Beijing was completed two years ago.  

‘THE DESIRE to become a politician should debar you for life from becoming one” –Billy Connolly 

The absolute deadline for the Christmas issue of The Star is 4 pm Wednesday November 25 th