Free Republic

New Zealand firefighters performed a powerful haka in Auckland on Wednesday to honor the 9/11 first responders. The group were filmed in their service uniforms in two rows as they performed the Maori tradition. A crowd of dignitaries and other firefighters dressed in their operational gear and were seen watching on. Hakas are generally performed as a sign of great respect and are often presented at funerals, celebrations or sporting events. Over 200 firefighters climbed Auckland's Sky Tower as a tribute to those who died in the attacks on the World Trade Centre. Three chiefs from the New York Fire...

Rugby football, via television, has brought to the world an ancient and aggressive form of South Pacific dancing, not the beautiful girls in hula skirts with leis around their necks to welcome American sailors in search of rest and recreation, as Technicolor movies told the world was how dancing was done in the islands. The four Pacific Island teams at the Rugby World Cup have shown off dances of a different kind to the world, the best moments of prematch drama. It was a moment of gripping drama as the All Blacks performed their Haka, now stylised and theatrical, and...