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[Hat-tip: Cufflinks]

New Zealand not for sale

I don't know how I missed this when the news broke a few days ago, but in case you missed it too, it's official, New Zealand is not for sale.

Last week, some unnamed Aussie larrikin listed New Zealand for sale on Australian EBay. Habloodyha. The starting price, apparently, was 1 cent. Cheeky blighter. Still, on the plus side, there were 22 bids and the price had gone up to $2,300 by the time it was pulled by EBay Australia.

Like all ridiculous and vaguely embarrassing news stories involving New Zealand, this one was picked up by just about every news outlet under the sun.

Thankfully, most of them just regurgitated the AP newswire story word for word, meaning they didn't report what New Zealand's ridiculous and very embarrassing foreign minister, Winston Peters, had to say on the matter. You had to go to a New Zealand site to get his insightful input:

I don't think it's fun. I think that kind of nonsensical stupidity, I'll leave to the tabloid media.

If you're at all familiar with Winston Peters and his populist, uncomfortably nationalist politics, you'll know just how funny that is. For well over a decade, good old Winnie has made "nonsensical stupidity" one of the maintstays of his political career. Sadly, the voters of Tauranga, have lapped it up and re-elected him time and time again, allowing him to remain a blot on New Zealand's political landscape for far, far too long. As for the decision to appoint him as foriegn minister, well ...

Tags:
New Zealand; EBay; Winston Peters

Bears in the news

Gee, it's been a while. Let me make it up to you with a joke.

What do you call a grizzly bear crossed with a polar bear?

Actually, it's not a joke at all. You call it Ursus maritimus horribilis. And then, if you're a nasty hunter, you kill it, even though it's the only bear of its kind ever found anywhere. Bastard.

Call it a grolar or possibly a pizzly: either way the bear shot by American hunter Jim Martell last month has startled experts. DNA tests of the bear, shot in the Northwest Territories of Canada, showed last week it was a hybrid of polar bear and a grizzly - perhaps the first ever seen in the wild.

'It's a total surprise,' said Roger Kuptana, the local guide who aided Martell on his hunt, for which he paid $50,000 (£26,388). As for its scientific name, researchers have proposed Ursus maritimus horribilis, from Ursus maritimus (polar bear) and Ursus arctos horribilis (grizzly bear).

Source: The Observer.

I would post a picture, but it's way too disturbing, and the "hunter" looks way too smug and pleased with himself for me to put it on my blog. If you must, the picture is here. [Hat-tip: tengrrl]

Tags:
bears