Food an important factor in children's ability to learn so government should do right thing and reinstate old rules. The Government's $1.9 million a year contribution to feeding breakfasts to kids in low-decile schools may be modest. But at least it's a start. It's also amounts to a long-overdue admission by the government that what kids eat - or don't eat - has a huge impact on their behaviour in school and their ability to learn. For the past four years the government has been maintaining that what kids eat in school is none of its business.

Food an important factor in children's ability to learn so government should do right thing and reinstate old rules. The Government's $1.9 million a year contribution to feeding breakfasts to kids in low-decile schools may be modest. But at least it's a start. It's also amounts to a long-overdue admission by the government that what kids eat - or don't eat - has a huge impact on their behaviour in school and their ability to learn. For the past four years the government has been maintaining that what kids eat in school is none of its business.

This deadly poison is promoted as if it's a routine, safe, procedure but little is known of the long-term effects. I've always wondered why women would inject poison into their faces in an attempt to look younger. It's surprised me, too, that health officials would approve a procedure that involves injecting poison into people's faces three or four times a year.

Employers should encourage different working arrangements among staff to reduce peak-hour congestion. One of the many delights of working from home is that you don't have to wrestle with early-morning rush-hour traffic. While most car commuters begin their day with their blood pressure rising and their frustration levels escalating as they sit helplessly in long traffic queues, those of us who work from home can chill out reading the newspaper, sipping coffee, going for a walk or otherwise limbering up for the working day.

The Government's decision to remove state-funded charter schools and partially privatised state-owned enterprises from coverage of the Official Information Act is an alarming move, and sets a dangerous precedent. It nibbles away at our democracy and threatens to roll back our culture of openness and transparency. If these state-funded organisations are allowed to make all their decisions behind a cloak of secrecy, what other agencies will be next? And if they are able to keep their decisions secret, how will they be held to account?

The Government's decision to remove state-funded charter schools and partially privatised state-owned enterprises from coverage of the Official Information Act is an alarming move, and sets a dangerous precedent. It nibbles away at our democracy and threatens to roll back our culture of openness and transparency. If these state-funded organisations are allowed to make all their decisions behind a cloak of secrecy, what other agencies will be next? And if they are able to keep their decisions secret, how will they be held to account?

Most countries in the world are expanding their rail networks. But the future of ours is looking uncertain as a series of closures shrinks it ever further. The past 12 years have seen the closure of passenger rail services to Rotorua, Tauranga, Napier, Dunedin and Invercargill, as well as the recent mothballing of the Stratford to Okahukura and Napier to Gisborne lines, the closure of Hillside rail workshops and the sacking of 181 staff.

Could horsemeat be hidden in our food too? With NZ's disclosure requirements it's hard to know for certain. It's interesting how a food scare on the other side of the world can create ripples right around the globe. The discovery that horsemeat, disguised as beef, is being widely sold in Europe in classic dishes such as lasagne, spaghetti bolognese and burgers has created a food scandal in Europe that keeps on escalating.

Fallout from melamine debacle should have motivated Fonterra to deal with DCD scare quickly and openly. It's always interesting to see how corporations and governments respond to a food safety crisis. There's invariably a temptation to cover up, procrastinate, deny or downplay a food safety risk because of its potential to scare off consumers and international trading partners. This is especially the case when the food safety scare involves New Zealand milk, our major export commodity which earns us around $11 billion a year.

It's time for shareholders to question why caregivers are among the lowest paid workers in New Zealand. I see the aged care provider Ryman Healthcare is one of the best performing companies on the sharemarket, and has returned on average 19 per cent to its shareholders over the past decade. It has its sights set on becoming the No1 company on the New Zealand Stock Exchange. Other aged care providers such as Metlifecare and Summerset are also performing well, and are fast becoming the darlings of the sharemarket.