One cuckoo's nest over the flu

When Morning Report led off at 8am the other day with a
string of reports about swine flu from around the world, all
of them mentioning New Zealand among the countries
affected, Geoff Robinson—mildest of men—virtually burst
into song by trumpeting ‘New Zealand’s prominence in
international headlines.’ As if this was something we could
take pride in. As if we ought to congratulate ourselves on
being noticed by the world’s media. As if it mattered. So the
'largest wooden building in the southern hemisphere’
syndrome is clearly still alive and cringing. Frankly, along
with those antidotes to swine flu, it would be a great relief if
someone came up with a cure for a far more chronic Kiwi
affliction—inferiority complex, and its longtime companion
attention deficit disorder.