CityBeat - Te Waha Nui Online

by Thea Knight

Give up thinking about myself? Only care for others? What are these mysterious eastern mantras?

Growing up in a home with undefined religious values, I have always had a niggling curiosity about the spiritual world.

So last week I went to a Buddhism introduction evening. One of those things you hear about, think about going to, but put off until the undefined ‘later’. Read more

by Lydia Brewer

Unless you’ve been living under a rock since the weekend, you would have heard about New Zealand’s disappointing defeat in the Rugby World Cup on Sunday morning.

I say disappointing not because of the sadness of the actual event, but more in reference to the fairness of the game.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not the biggest rugby fan, but I can watch a game along with any other red-blooded New Zealander. Read more

by Justin Henehan

Stories emerge from Burma of brutal government reprisals against monks

Grim stories are beginning to emerge from Burma of brutal government reprisals against Buddhist monks and the sacking of monasteries.

An email from Bangkok based IT consultant Claude Brina, whose sister lives in Burma, was read at a recent Auckland protest. Read more

by Pinky Khanna

Cricket! Cricket! Cricket!

What’s so good about it that the Indians (mostly living in India) don’t want to encourage any other sport?

Of course there are some who do like sports other than cricket, but are not encouraged or appreciated enough.

For example, hockey (which happens to be the “national sport” of the country) has barely received any recognition over the years. Read more

by Michelle King

Business confidence is still low as we head into Christmas.

A recent survey of 750 New Zealand businesses shows that businesses confidence is still low with cautious optimism for the festive season.

The Auckland Chamber of Commerce, Business Confidence survey hit a 12 month low in June 2007 and has remained flat as businesses look ahead into the next 6 months. Read more

by Michelle King

In case you have not been following local body politics the race for Auckland mayoralty is currently on.

Not ringing any bells? Well you may have seen Dick Hubbard’s face on a few Auckland buses.

Imagine for a moment that you were a mayoral candidate and you wanted to score points with the average punter (or just votes) what would be a great way to win the crowd over? Read more

by Michelle King

Want to purchase a brand new clean green car but don’t want to leave the house? Trade me has the answer for you.

Trade Me New Zealand’s version of E-bay decided this week to enter the car market, only this time there is a bit of a twist.

The Trade Me motors site previously only sold used cars, bikes and boats. Read more

by Martin Hirst

Calling all bloggers:

An online campaign “Free Burma” has been organised to make a splash in the blogosphere in a couple of days time. The organisers are asking people to sign up and to post a pro-democracy item on their blog on the fourth of October in support of the Burmese people who have been protesting against the military junta. Over the past week tens of thousands of Burmese, including monks and ordinary workers have been on the streets. Hundreds have been killed. About 2000 university students are currently on hunger strike, their campus surrounded by heavily-armed soldiers.

If you want one good reason why you, as a journalism student, should support Free Burma day, read the story about Kenji Nagai.

Read more

by Ranita Nand

I’m not much of an art fanatic, but when I first saw Sophia Minson’s paintings earlier this year they captured my attention almost instantly.

I was amazed at how elegant and smooth her paintings looked and what made her work even more interesting to me was the fact she is a young talented New Zealand artist, who graduated from AUT.

It’s obvious to tell by looking at her paintings that it comes from the soul and that she is truely passionate about her work as she puts so much detail into it. Read more

by Bex Appleton

Over the last week and a half the police has been criticised over proceedings in what the media refers to as the “Pumpkin Case”.

Published on the Herald website’s public opinion section, adjectives describing the performance of the New Zealand police include: absolutely atrocious. woeful, pathetic, pitiful, outrageous, alongside comments like someone needs their bottom kicked.

Time should not be wasted on comments like the above or questioning the length of time it took the police to obtain a warrant, conduct a search of Mr. Nai Yin Xue vehicle, and find the body of An An Liu (four days after Qian being found abandoned in Melbourne). Read more