Bringing you the best weekly reading from your friendly local website.

Emily Writes: An open letter to Mike Hosking

“Now, any parent who actually parents will know that early childhood education is no walk in the park and the question is absurd. And “painting pictures with a three-year-old” is not only not easy, but also it’s nowhere near all that a teacher does.

But men talking about things they don’t understand isn’t exactly new so why bother writing this column? Well, dear reader: It’s because I sincerely want to show Mike what kindy teachers do.

So I have an invitation to make to him: please Mike, jump in your penis extension car and come on down to my son’s kindy. You and I can spend the day together and you can attempt to do what my son’s early childhood teachers do ALL DAY.

You’ll be welcomed, despite how you talk about women who teach – because I know the teachers at my child’s kindy really want adults like yourself to understand how important it is that we have quality early childhood education in New Zealand.”

Madeleine Chapman: Those WORLD T-shirts: Dame Denise L’Estrange-Corbet responds

“L’Estrange-Corbet also emailed to clarify a point made in her earlier response regarding the cardboard tags and whether or not they could mislead customers. ‘The SWING TAG is made in New Zealand, the garments clearly state the country of origin in all our garments,’ she said.

‘The swing tag is not misleading, it is a tag that the prices are put onto, and yes, the tag is made in NZ!’

She also upbraided The Spinoff, saying, ‘Your support of a 99% New Zealand brand is remarkable.’ She added: ‘The Tall Poppy syndrome I see is alive and well and still raging in NZ. Please remind me again why I should keep my production here??'”

Madeleine Chapman: T-Shirts from Bangladesh. Sequin patches from China. Sold by WORLD as ‘Made in New Zealand’

“As of today, the WORLD store in downtown Auckland stocks their latest collection in full, including t-shirts with various sequin appliqués, sweatshirts ($199), and sweatpants ($199) with sequins down the legs. The WORLD tag on every item of clothing proclaims “FABRIQUE EN NOUVELLE-ZELANDE”. Translation: Made in New Zealand.

Find the care instruction label on the inside seam, however, and you’ll discover the t-shirts are sourced from AS Colour and made in Bangladesh. The sweatshirts  and sweatpants are also purchased from AS Colour and made in China.

The appliqué sequin patches can be found on AliExpress, sold by TongLiang Boutique, a Chinese online store.”

Duncan Greive: The great Waiheke Island ferry rort

“The cost of an adult return fare to Waiheke is $38, and there is no discount for HOP card users or seniors who don’t hold a Supergold card. The upshot is that the 100 most frequent users of the service are using over 10% of the total budget for ferry travel to Waiheke.

To use the ferry that frequently you’re not taking day trips, or even holidaying there: you’re commuting. It’s the equivalent of over 100 one way trips a year – a usage rate which would be near impossible to achieve unless you were working on the mainland and living on the island.

There’s a reason that lifestyle – living and playing on an island paradise, working in the city – is a subset of the archetypal Kiwi dream. It’s because most of us can’t think of many better ways to live. And, as a result, it’s very costly.”

Group Think: Dancing with the Stars NZ Power Rankings: The kiss of death for the first celeb

“Look, if Gilda’s insta story from last Sunday night is anything to go by, her elimination is a tremendous loss to this competition. Think of the huge marble floors! Think of the endless champagne! Think of Marama Fox singing ‘Titanium’ with some guy on the ukulele! Dancing a samba tonight to what her kids call “the bum bum song,” she looked like a beautiful baby giraffe queen, but it was not enough to keep her on the show.

Julz said he wanted to see her break a sweat, but you know Gilda would walk off this show anyway before she PERSPIRED like a PEASANT on the TELEVISION. See you for RHOAKL two though please, please, please.”

Anthonie Tonnon: How to get to Auckland Airport for $4.80

“After seven years spent in Auckland, I realised only last year that you can take public transport to the airport, at nearly a tenth the price of the $45 flat fare Discount Taxi I used to take, or less than a third of the $18 bus fare with Skybus.

My recent reconfigure of my performance rig means I can now take public transport on tour – even changing trains and buses without too much effort, so I decided to use this method when heading from some band practices in Auckland, to Dunedin to develop a future show.

Here’s what you do.”

Catherine Delahunty: The Ministry of Pākehā Affairs – the time has come

“The new government needs to face facts: Pākehā need help to assimilate into Aotearoa. We have had more than 160 years but some of us are still struggling to cope. Reluctant as I am to throw more money at Pākehā, the failures are obvious. Pākehā have in some instances failed to fulfil our potential and become useful contributors to a Te Tiriti based nation. A number of Pākehā show a lack of knowledge of how to behave in a culturally appropriate manner and often retreat to unhelpful myths. There is a stubborn monolingualism and a persistent problem with the Pākehā belief that we are “normal” and that our culture does not even exist.”

Charlotte Graham-McLay: But where was the roar? Watching the Hillary Clinton show in Auckland

“What was missing, mostly, was the roar. Clinton spoke from a podium before fielding fairly softball questions from former New Zealand Prime Minister Jenny Shipley. No questions from the floor were permitted, though the occasional furious rustling from RNZ broadcasters Kim Hill and Susie Ferguson, who were sitting next to me, suggested they were thinking about vaulting 10 rows of seats and giving it a go.

Shipley was the weakest link of the whole affair, though it’s not fair to blame her entirely because you’d better believe that every aspect of the night was stage managed by the Clinton juggernaut. If she’d wanted to be interviewed by a journalist, Clinton would have been.”