Did you see the one about . . .

True justice and murder sentencing at Stephen Franks

Ralston addicted to blogging at Cactus Kate – on what’s missing from modern journalism.

What’s a hendecagon? at Something Should Go Here – a handy chart for figuring out which figure is which.

Spring forward: my garden year starts here  by Claire Browning at Pundit.

For confused Beltway types at NZ Conservative – Andrei compares pollution in China and NZ.

Do they wish they’d never met?

The aftermath of a partnership which promised much but ends in tears is never easy, for people or businesses.

Sometimes the people involved wish they’d never met. I suspect that’s the way PGG Wrightson and Silver Fern Farms feel after their attempt at partnership fell through.

PGW had to pay up when the deal fell through and it also lost business from farmers who were more than unimpressed with what had been planned.

SFF came away with a $30 million cash settlement and $10 million in PGW shares, at least some of which it’s now intending to sell.

SFF has been trying to raise money from shareholders but a week ago only about a third had indicated any interest. That offer closes today and the plan to sell its PGW shares indicates the take up is well below what’s needed.

Drunken sex no advertisement for Denmark

Ever wondered what happens to the kids who don’t understand what’s acceptable among mates might not be in other contexts?

At least one of them grew up and went into advertising in Denmark where s/he came up with the idea for an advertisement to attract tourists.

Picture if you will, the scene as s/he pitches the idea:

“Um, well we could like, y’ know ah do a video with a blonde chick and a baby. And like y’know she could tell how she met this bloke in a pub and he’d be a like tourist and she’d be a like y’know local and y’know they like had sex and he like did a runner and then she like, well, found out she was pregnant and like y’know had a baby and she can’t remember the father’s name or where he came from and now she’s like trying to find him”

That doesn’ say come to Denmark for the scenery or the culture to me, but the client, VisitDenmark, bought the idea, filmed it and posted it on YouTube.

The Danes who saw it were furious that people were being tempted to tour their country by the story of a one-night stand and the clip was withdrawn from YouTube. But it was too late because, as these things do, it had been copied several times.

Hat Tip: ODT

No crying over this spilled milk

Farmers can’t turn the milk off at the cow but they can stop it getting to market and that’s what they’ve done in at least eight European countries.

Anger at low prices has spurred farmers to spill their milk. They’ve poured it down drains and spread it over fields and blocked roads with tractors.

Phil Clarke has the story here and more pictures here.

Think Big pays off with Ballance

Ballance Fertiliser’s urea manufacturing plant  at Kapuni has produced its 5 millionth tonne of fertiliser.

The plat began life as one of Rob Muldoon’s Think Big projects and has since contributed billions of dollars to the New Zealand economy.

Bay of Plenty Fertiliser, which grew to become the Ballance national fertiliser co-operative, has invested heavily to achieve this output after buying it in 1992 – it had previously been owned by Petrocorp and Fletchers.

In Ballance’s hands the plant has become a significant income stream, a role model for infrastructure spending.

It underwent a major expansion soon after the takeover, boosting production by 30 percent on design, and on a regular basis since then has benefited from a substantial maintenance and capital programme.

In the most recent plant upgrade last November, the co-operative invested $21 million over six weeks to bring the plant up to tip-top condition. It runs 24/7 between the now three-yearly scheduled shutdowns.

While the first million tonnes took 7.5 years to produce, Ballance’s investment has lifted production to the extent that the fifth million tonnes took just 4 years.

Muldoon envisaged the plant would be able to help New Zealand’s balance of payments through exports,but internal demand from New Zealand farmers now absorbs all the plant can produce.

Some early production was exported, but the plant now produces just 40 percent of New Zealand’s total requirements – 260,000 tonnes a year. A further 330,000 tonnes or so is imported.

Peter, Paul but no more Mary

The woman who was the Mary in Peter, Paul and Mary, has died.

Mary Travers was 72. I don’t think I ever saw her in a photo or on television, but I grew up with her voice and sang along to If I had a Hammer, Blown’ in the Wind and Puff the Magic Dragon.

I missed the politics in their songs – blame that on my youth at the time. And for years I thought Puff had a friend called Frolicin the Ottomus – blame that on my ears . I’m not sure when I worked out that they were singing Frolicked in the Autumn Mists.

I’d misheard the words. Other people thought there was a hidden meaning in the song, but the group put the record right on that in this version:

September 18 in history

On September 18:

1709 English writer Samuel Johnson was born.

1837 Tiffany & Co was opened in New York.

1879 The Blackpool Illuminations were turned on for the first time.

1905 USA chorographer Agnes de Mille was born.

1905 Swedish actor Greta Garbo was born.

1919 The Netherlands grant woment he right to vote.

1937: New Zealand’s first state house was opened when David and Mary McGregor moved into 12 Fife Lane, Miramar.

1971 USA cyclist Lance Armstrong  was born.

1976 Brazilian football player Ronaldo was born.

Sourced from NZ History Online and Wikipedia.

EFA’s effect on 3rd parties

Bryce Edwards continues his analysis of the 2009 election with a look at the effect of the EFA on third parties.

He concludes:

It is beyond the scope of this chapter to ascertain the EFA’s effectiveness in achieving its stated objectives, but it is worth nothing that part of the EFA’s stated purpose was to ‘ensure that the controls on the conduct of election campaigns: (i) are effective; and (ii) are clear; and (iii) can be efficiently administered, complied with, and enforced’ (EFA 2007, s 3). Yet the experience of many participants showed that these goals were not achieved. A second major stated purpose of the EFA was to encourage participation in elections, but as this paper has shown, there is evidence to suggest that the opposite occurred in terms of the participation of third parties.

It is notable that after its election loss, the Labour Party not only voted with National in Parliament to abolish the EFA, but also later made a submission to the Ministry of Justice on electoral law that advocated that third parties should be subjected to much looser regulation during elections. In an indication of how unpopular the regulation of third parties was in 2008,

He also continues his analysis of the party’s which campaigned in last year’s election with a look at New Zealand First.

Revenge a dish best served breaded

Popular widsom suggests revenge is a dish best served cold, but English chef Keith Floyd served his breaded.

A Telegraph obituary recounts:

On one occasion he gleefully recalled serving a serially ungrateful diner a carefully cooked beer mat disguised as a breaded escalope of veal. The man ate it without comment but criticised the topping on his crème brûlée.

I’ve had the odd steak which tasted like leather and some takeaways seem to have the consistency and nutritional value of the cardboard they’re served in;  but I haven’t knowingly partaken of a beer mat, breaded or otherwise.

UPDATE: Liberty Scott has more on Floyd.

What the h? – Updated

What’s in an h?

A name with any other letter would spell as sweet.

To h or not to h, that is the question put to the Geogrpahic Board and it decided unanimously to h Whanganui.

The Minister of Lands, Maurice Williamson has the power to confirm, modify or reject the decision.

Alas poor Wanganui we knew it well . . .

UPDATE:

Quote Unquote has come up with the best reason for inserting the h:

But the basic principle here is that anything which annoys Michael Law must be good.

Greenpeace has wrong target for wrong reasons

Greenpeace activists might have had a case if they were protesting about the biosecurity risks from importing palm kernel extract.

But in undertaking an act of piracy and attacking Fonterra they had the wrong target for the wrong reasons.

Federated Farmers president Don Nicolson was right to call it an act of piracy.

“I fully respect the freedom of Greenpeace to protest legally but they have crossed the line by interfering with legal commerce and free navigation on the high seas.

“That’s why the Police need to take this act of piracy, or sea-robbery, very seriously and prosecute those activists to the full extent of the law.  Those activists need to be sent a message that is unequivocal and clear.  They need to be made an example of.

“It’s also economic treason designed to damage New Zealand’s reputation abroad.  Greenpeace is actually anti-farming and these new tactics show how low they are prepared to go. 

Nicolson pointed out PKE is a waste by-product of a waste by-product, derived from producing palm oil we eat or consume daily. 

This point was made by Feds’ biosecurity spokesman John Hartnell in an earlier media release:

“Palm kernel extract is a waste by-product left over from the processing of palm oil for consumer products.  I can’t state that enough, palm kernel is a waste by-product.

“Palm kernel has so little commercial value that if it isn’t recycled into supplementary feed, it is burnt.  That doesn’t sound too great for either climate change or the environment. . .

“Palm plantations aren’t created just to generate a waste by-product, just as newspapers don’t exist solely to support recycling.

Farming is a much easier target than the people who buy potato chips and all the other food which contains palm oil and Nicolson correctly points out:

“Greenpeace knows it cannot win the argument on logic so has resorted to illegal means to express its lies.  It’s a despicable new tactic that has Greenpeace’s loathing of farming written all over that ship. 

Fonterra said the ship wasn’t carrying any feed bound for its stores and that it only uses pke from sustainable sources.

The 14 activists who illegally boarded the ship have been arrested.

Can farmers fund Fonterra?

Fonterra has ruled out a public listing, a decision which is supported by most of the cooperative’s shareholders.

Suppliers are wary of a public listing because they want higher returns from the milk they produce and that might not be the primary aim of outside shareholders.

Having ruled out listing the company has to look for other ways of funding expansion and will be making an announcement tomorrow afternoon.

It is likely to include a change to the way shares are redeemed.

At the moment farmers can sell shares back to Fonterra if they want to stop supplying the company or if production drops below the level of their shareholding.

That can help farmers with cash flows if, for example, their milk supply falls because of drought. But it also allows them to sell out when the share price is high, supply another company for a year or two then buy in again when the share price has fallen.

It would be better for the company if farmers had to sell to other suppliers or wait a few years – at least three and up to five - before redeeming their shares and if the price for redemption was set at a three or five year rolling average.  

Adolf at No Minister  and Cactus Kate have posts on this topic.

September 17 in history

On September 17:

1787 The USA Constitution was signed.

1883 USA writer William Carlos Williams was born.

1901 English adventurer Sir Francis Chichester was born.

Norfolk Island two cent stamp commemorating Chichester’s arrival in his Gypsy Moth in 1931.

1929 English racing car driver Sir Stirling Moss was born.

1931 US actor Anne Bancroft was born.

1941 The death penalty was abolished in New Zealand.

1944 the airborne invasion of Holland began. Operation Market Garden is celebrated annually.

Waves of paratroopers land in the Netherlands during Operation Market Garden in September 1944.

Sourced from BBC On This Day, NZ History Online and Wikipedia.

Jean Batten’s 100th birthday

Pioneer woman aviator Jean Batten was born 100 years ago today.

Great mag & grubby kids

Young Country, the rural magazine which was launched earlier this year, continues to impress.

The current edition profiles Anna Smith, who’s working towards a PhD in animal genetics;  Michael Short, the 2009 Rural bachelor of the Year; Craig Norgate and six young people who’ve made agriculture their career.

There’s advice on dog handling and the story of Sue Arthur the cheese maker at Over the Moon.

The cover story on Tim O’Sullivan who won the National Bank Young Farmer title this year was written by Kate Rivtett-Taylor. Her blog post on Getting Dirty caught the attention of Jamie McKay who had a chat about it with her on the Farming Show.

Mid-Week Music – Rachmaninff’s Symphony #2

The latest North and South reckons that fans of Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No 2 reckon being moved to tears by it is part of the fun.

Listening on rural broadband is a stop-start process which might result in tears of frustration, but I got enough non-stop bits to enjoy it and finished the experience dry-eyed.

This is the 3rd movement played by the NHK Orchestra conducted by André Previn.

Some people should have thought of this before last weekend

 

GraphJam.

Racing start to Victorian Heritage Celebrations

Forget Royal Ascot and the Melbourne Cup, the not-to-be-missed event of this year’s racing calendar is taking place in Oamaru.

The opening of the annual Victorian Heritage Celebrations will be a combined celebration with the Oamaru Harness Club to mark its 100th anniversary.

A village green atmosphere will be created at the race course for the twilight race meeting with mini-marquees erected for businesses and the public encouraged to bring a picnic lunch, have a punt, and soak up the atmosphere.

One of the day’s ‘heritage’ features will be an invited drivers race.

In addition to some fine harness racing action, a unique array of events has been planned including the release of 100 homing pigeons to mark the Club’s centennial; a dual Sulky Celebrity Race featuring guests including Waitaki MP Jacqui Dean, Mayor Alex Familton and The Wizard; a penny farthing stunt rider and sprint races; a Saddle Pace and a Horse & Carriage Parade.

Victorian dress is encouraged but not required. Racegoers who do dress in period costume will be able to enter  the Victorian Fashion in the Fields competition with attractive prizes. Away from the track and live entertainment, a village tipster and full dining, bar and tote facilities will form part of a grand day out.

The twilight meeting starts at 2.30pm on Wednesday November 18.

Pigeon post beats email

We mutter about the frustrations of rural broadband which isn’t very fast, but it’s better than dial up and it’s definitely better than South Africa where a carrier pigeon got a message through faster than email:

Computer experts at a South African firm said it took six hours to transfer four gigabytes of encrypted data from Durban to a call centre 50 miles away near Pietermaritzburg.

Staff at Unlimited Group, a financial services company, today attached a memory card to the leg of a pigeon called Winston who took just over an hour for the trip.

In total the flight, plus the time needed for the data to be uploaded, took under three hours. 

Pigeon post was used by the Persians and Romans more than 2000 years ago . How far have we come when in some parts of the world that’s still faster than 21st century technology?

Do I want to be Linked In?

I’ve received a couple of invitations to Linked In?

Does anyone know anything about it?

Specifically is it worth yet another sign up and yet another password to remember?

Apropos of this, does anyone know anything about Loaded Web? It’s a geographically-based directory of blogs, businesses and twitters.