Fonterra holding forecast payout

Fonterra is holding its forecast payout at $5.70 with an expected dividend of 20-30 cents.

If the actual return is as good as forecast it will be the second highest suppliers have received.

Last season the company revised its forecast downwards which was difficult for farmers who had budgeted on receiving more. The company must be confident it can deliver the higher forecast payout this year.

Dairy conversions are continuing in the South Island and this interim report from Fonterra may well encourage more farmers to shift from sheep and beef.

What’s wrong with Chinese investment in NZ farms?

Federated Farmers has an open mind  on the news that a Chinese company wants to buy the Crafer dairy farms.

Reports that Hong Kong listed Natural Dairy (NZ) Holdings Limited, maybe moving to buy dairy farm assets and milk powder production plants in New Zealand, is a sign that the gate on the New Zealand-China Free Trade Agreement, swings both ways. . .

. . .”While the ball’s in the Government’s court, assuming this all comes to pass, Federated Farmers wishes to meet with Natural Dairy (NZ) Holdings Limited sooner rather than later, to understand its strategic direction.

“Whatever happens, New Zealand will remain an attractive investment destination so maybe time has come for us to look at a Ministry of Food Production. 

“It may also help put a floor under farm prices given that in the three months ending February, just 205 farms were sold.  That was down from 276 farm sales in the same three month period in 2009 and 713 for the same quarter in 2008.

I’m not sure that we need another ministry, but a discussion and strategy on food production is a good idea.

The sale might also persuade would-be buyers that the bottom of the market has been reached and it’s time to get the gorse out of their pockets.

Not everyone is so open minded about the idea of Chinese investment here.

There are risks that animal welfare, hygiene and environmental standards might be compromised. But that can happen with any ownership. There are very strict rules about all of those which every owner has to adhere to and breeches of which have stiff penalties.

There are also oppportunities from the plan. If, has been mooted, at least some of the milk will be processed here and shipped as long-life milk rather than powder, that will create jobs for New Zealanders.

Some opposition is based on a blanket aversion to foreign ownership but as Lachlan McKenzie said the door swings both ways.

PGG Wrightson is 30% owned by Agria Corp which is a Chinese company and New Zealand businesses own foreign businesses.

Fonterra has dairy farms in China and Chile and NZ Farming Systems Uruguay owns farms in Uruguay.

9/10

9/10 in this week’s Dominion Post political quiz.

I din’t know an Irish Minister had been in NZ nor that s/he had been in trouble at home.

March 25 in history

On March 25:

1199 Richard I was wounded by a crossbow bolt while fighting France.

1306 Robert the Bruce became King of Scotland.

1347 Catherine of Siena, Italian saint, was born.

1409 The Council of Pisa opened.

1584 Sir Walter Raleigh was granted a patent to colonize Virginia.

1634  The first settlers arrived in Maryland.

1655 Saturn‘s largest moon, Titan, was discovered by Christian Huygens.

1802 The Treaty of Amiens was signed as a “Definitive Treaty of Peace” between France and Britain.

James Gillray, The first Kiss this Ten Years! —or—the meeting of Britannia & Citizen François (1803)

1807 The Slave Trade Act became law, abolishing the slave trade in the British Empire.

1807 – The Swansea and Mumbles Railway, then known as the Oystermouth Railway, became the first passenger carrying railway in the world.

 

1811 Percy Bysshe Shelley was expelled from the University of Oxford for his publication of the pamphlet The Necessity of Atheism.

1821 Greeks revolted against the Ottoman Empire, beginning the Greek War of Independence.

1847 Duel between Dr Isaac Featherston, editor of the Wellington Independent, and Colonel William Wakefield, the New Zealand Company’s Principal Agent in New Zealand.

1881 Mary Gladys Webb, English writer, was born.

 1894  Coxey’s Army, the first significant American protest march, left Massillon, Ohio for Washington D.C.

 

1897 John Laurie, Scottish actor, was born.

 

1899 Burt Munro, New Zealand motorcycle racer, was born.

 

1903 Racing Club de Avellaneda, one of the big five of Argentina, was founded.

1908 Clube Atletico Mineiro was founded in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

1911 In New York City, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire killed 146 garment workers.

 People and horses draped in black walk in procession in memory of the victims.

1913 Sir Reo Stakis, Anglo-Cypriot hotel magnate, was born.

 

1914 Norman Borlaug, American agriculturalist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, was born.

1917 The Georgian Orthodox Church restored its autocephaly abolished by Imperial Russia in 1811.

1918 The Belarusian People’s Republic was established.

1922 Eileen Ford, American model agency executive, was born.

1924  On the anniversary of Greek Independence, Alexandros Papanastasiou proclaimed the Second Hellenic Republic.

1934 Gloria Steinem, American feminist and publisher, was born.

1937 Tom Monaghan, American fast-food industry entrepreneur, was born.

1939 Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli beccame Pope Pius XII.

1940 John A Lee was expelled from the Labour Party.

1941 The Kingdom of Yugoslavia joined the Axis powers with the signing of the Tripartite Pact.

1942 Aretha Franklin, American singer, was born.

1947  An explosion in a coal mine in Centralia, Illinois killed 111.

1947 Elton John, English singer and songwriter, was born.

1948  The first successful tornado forecast predicted that a tornado would strike Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma.

1949  The March deportation was conducted in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to force collectivisation by way of terror. The Soviet authorities deported more than 92,000 people from Baltics to remote areas of the Soviet Union.

 “Enemies of the people”: 72% of deportees were women and children under the age of 16

1957  United States Customs seized copies of Allen Ginsberg‘s poem “Howl” as obscene.

 

1957  The European Economic Community was established (West Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg).

1958  Canada’s Avro Arrow made its first flight.

1960 Steve Norman, British saxophonist (Spandau Ballet), was born.

1960 Peter O’Brien, Australian actor, was born.

1965  Sarah Jessica Parker, American actress, was born.

 

1965  Civil rights activists led by Martin Luther King, Jr. successfully completed their 4-day 50-mile march from Selma to the capitol in Montgomery, Alabama.

 

1969  During their honeymoon, John Lennon and Yoko Ono held their first Bed-In for Peace at the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel (until March 31).

1971 Beginning of Operation Searchlight of Pakistan Army against East Pakistani civilians.

1975 Faisal of Saudi Arabia was shot and killed by a mentally ill nephew.

1979  The first fully functional space shuttle orbiter, Columbia, was delivered to the John F. Kennedy Space Center to be prepared for its first launch.

1988  The Candle demonstration in Bratislava - the first mass demonstration of the 1980s against the communist regime in Czechoslovakia.

1992  Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev returned to Earth after a 10-month stay aboard the Mir space station.

1995  The world’s first wiki, a part of the Portland Pattern Repository, was made public by Ward Cunningham.

 

1996  An 81-day-long standoff between the anti-government group Montana Freemen and law enforcement near Jordan, Montana, began.

1996  The European Union’s Veterinarian Committee bans the export of British beef and its by-products as a result of mad cow disease (Bovine spongiform encephalopathy).

 

2006  Capitol Hill massacre: A gunman killed six people before taking his own life at a party in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood.

2006 Protesters demanding a new election in Belarus following the rigged Belarusian presidential election, 2006 clashed with riot police. Opposition leader Aleksander Kozulin was among several protesters arrested.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia

Forgiven Not Forgotten

Happy birthday Sharon Corr – 40 today.

Cruel To Be Kind

Happy birthday Nick Lowe – 61 today.

$2 what shops?

What will $2 Shops call themselves if GST increases to 15%?

And what will they charge?

$2 plus 2.5% Shops is unwieldy. Besides, and someone whose maths is better than mine (which will be most of you) is welcome to correct me on this, won’t it be $2 minus 12.5% plus 15% rather than $2 plus 2.5%?

And whatever the impact of any GST change, given we don’t have any coins smaller than 10 cents, it will be impossible to add just that amount to prices for cash sales.

Computer thief to be charged

The man who stole my computer (should I make that allegedly?) is to be charged.

When the police officer contacted me to say he’d found the man and got my computer back he asked if I wanted him to be charged, saying that if he was he’d probably be offered diversion.

I blogged on that and asked if I should make him do diversion. The majority response from people who commented here, and over at Kiwiblog  and Keeping Stock who covered the p0st)  was yes.

I passed that on to the policeman and he tells me the man is to be charged and he has recommended diversion.

His email explained that it’s up to the prosecutor/ diversion officer to determine if the alleged thief meets the criteria for diversion and to determine the conditions of the diversions agreement.

He must agree to a whole range of conditions in order to finalise his diversion. It could take up to 2 months before all the conditions are met. When he fronts in court again the prosecutor will inform the court if all the conditions of diversion were met or not. If for any reason he doesn’t abide by those agreed on conditions, he will proceed through the normal prosecution/court process.

If he fulfils all the tasks as per his diversions agreement, the prosecutor will seek to withdraw the theft charges, and he will then be released without a conviction.

His ‘Police record’ will be note that he has completed diversion in this case. Diversion is offered only once. If he comes to the police attention again, he will not receive diversion again.

I’ve got the computer back (but not before buying a replacement). The bloke who took it got round the password and had been using it - he’d used windows messenger which I never use and left an email address there and had also visited Trade Me. 

That, and the fact he’d had the laptop for a month without making any attempt to return it, has made me feel more strongly he should face some consequences for the inconvenience and expense he caused me. But I think diversion will be sufficient so hope the prosecuting officer offers him that option.

What’s wrong with WFF

Finance Minister Bill English illustrated how the current tax system is unfair for many families.

It’s also unfair for many taxpayers.

Take this as an example:

They own a couple of profitable farms, a crib with a boat and all the trimmings and they get Working For Families.

March 24 in history

On March 24:

1401 Turko-Mongol emperor Timur sacked Damascus.

1603 James VI of Scotland also became James I King of England.

1731 Naturalization of Hieronimus de Salis Parliamentary Act was passed.

 

1765 The Britain passed the Quartering Act that required the Thirteen Colonies to house British troops.

1770 Kidnap victim, Ngati Kahu leader Ranginui, died on board the French ship Saint Jean Baptiste.

1820 Fanny Crosby, American hymnist, was born.

  

 1832 In Hiram, Ohio a group of men beat, tarred and feathered Mormon leader Joseph Smith, Jr..

1834 William Morris, English writer and designer, was born.

1837 Canada gave African men the right to vote.

1878  HMS Eurydice sank, killing more than 300.

1882 Robert Koch announced the discovery of the bacterium responsible for tuberculosis (mycobacterium tuberculosis).

1886 Athenagoras I, Greek Patriarch of Constantinople, was born.

 

1900 New York City Mayor Robert Anderson Van Wyck broke ground for a new underground “Rapid Transit Railroad” that would link Manhattan and Brooklyn.

1907 The first issue of the Georgian Bolshevik newspaper Dro was published.

1923 Greece becomes a republic.

1930 Steve McQueen, American actor, was born.

 

1934 U.S. Congress passed the Tydings-McDuffie Act allowing the Philippines to become a self-governing commonwealth.

1944 Ardeatine Massacre: German troops killed 335 Italian civilians in Rome.

 

1944  In an event later dramatized in the movie The Great Escape, 76 prisoners begin breaking out of Stalag Luft III.

 

1947  Christine Gregoire, American politician, current governor of Washington, was born.

1949 Nick Lowe, British musician, was born.

1951 Tommy Hilfiger, American fashion designer, was born.

1959 The Party of the African Federation (PFA) was launched by Léopold Sédar Senghor and Modibo Keita.

1965 NASA spacecraft Ranger 9, equipped to convert its signals into a form suitable for showing on domestic television, brought images of the Moon into ordinary homes before crash landing.

1970 Sharon Corr, Irish musician (The Corrs), was born.

1972 The United Kingdom imposed “Direct Rule” over Northern Ireland.

1973 Kenyan track runner Kip Keino defeated Jim Ryun at the first-ever professional track meet in Los Angeles, California.

1976 Argentina’s military forces deposed president Isabel Perón and start the National Reorganization Process.

1976 A general strike took place in the People’s Republic of Congo

1980 Archbishop Óscar Romero was killed while celebrating Mass in San Salvador.

1986 The Loscoe gas explosion ledto new UK laws on landfill gas migration and gas protection on landfill sites.

1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill: In Prince William Sound in Alaska, the Exxon Valdez spilt 240,000 barrels (42,000 m³) of petroleum after running aground.

 

1990 Keisha Castle-Hughes, Australian/New Zealand actress, was born.

1998 Jonesboro massacre: two students, ages 11 and 13, fired upon teachers and students at Westside Middle School in Jonesboro, Arkansas; five people were killed and ten were wounded.

1998 A tornado swept through Dantan in India killing 250 people and injuring 3000 others.

1999 Kosovo War: NATO commenced air bombardment against Yugoslavia, marking the first time NATO has attacked a sovereign country.

1999 – Mont Blanc Tunnel Fire: 39 people died when a Belgian transport truck carrying flour and margarine caught fire in the Mont Blanc Tunnel.

 

2003 The Arab League voted 21-1 in favor of a resolution demanding the immediate and unconditional removal of US and British soldiers from Iraq.

2008 Bhutan officially became a democracy, with its first ever general election.

		Jigme Thinley	Sangay Ngedup

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia

Why not mine ours?

While voices are being raised opposing the idea of mining the odd packet-handkerchief sized corner of our vast conservation estate, Busted Blonde speaks softly in favour:

“We are confident and supportive of any attempt to mine in our back yard. Just as long as they sweep up the yard and put out the rubbish when they leave.”

What a pity Colin Espiner hadn’t read that before he wrote the parks are ours not mine.

Yes, we’re sitting on vast wealth. Yes, if we dug it all up we’d be rich. But what would we have lost? Our countryside. Our reputation. And possibly our souls. I know it’s tempting, Gerry, but sorry, you’re just going to have to leave it in the hills. There are other ways to make a dollar. 

What a lot of emotive claptrap. Our countryside, reputation and souls have survived the mining currently going on throughout the country – including on the conservation estate.

Interestingly most of the 39 comments on this post disagree with his view, including:

Typical NZ NIMBYs, we all happily consume the products of mining, we just don’t want any mining here.

and

IF we can do the mining without destroying the countryside and IF the benefits will go to New Zealand as a whole and not a select few or (shudder) overseas companies then it is worth mining.

I think the Government can show that mining is palatable. It is important they demonstrate the money will benefit everyone because most people seem to believe that multinational companies and a lucky few will be the big winners while everybody else loses out.

and

We want all the toys but expect others like sweatshop workers in Asia to pay all the nasty costs. We whinge on about Australia’s luck with minerals but stupidly leave ours locked up. Careful modern mining will bring income we seriously need if we are to maintain our standard of living and social services. Most of us will never ever go to these wilderness areas and neither will that naive tourist we keep prattling on about. In any case, human activity like mining is itself a tourist attraction – look at Coober Pedy and our own West Coast. Let’s proceed with the care the Government has given us the lead on and stop the crazy exaggerations and hype.

and

Colin, you say “It’s a no-brainer really. Mining is unpopular. End-of-bloody-story.” Really? On what basis do you make that assumption? On the basis of the press articles from Environmentalists?

I think you will find if you ask the general public that mining is not as unpopular as you think.

Here’s an analogy: A rich man owns land that contains a well of water. Outside his property are people who are dying of thirst. They ask him for some water. He says “No, because you will dirty my well”. The people die of thirst. Question: is the rich man being cruel, or is he a “good environmentalist”?

Cactus Kate posts on whining about mining:

The only downside to mining is that New Zealand isn’t enough of an economic powerhouse to have it’s own mining company that could be given the contracts to “drill baby drill” or Kiwislaver and the Cullen Fund were large enough to simply gobble a 100% shareholding in an established overseas mining company to do the work so all profits could remain in New Zealand which would end that argument. Anyway cheers to dreaming on that one.

Adolf at No Minister says dig baby dig.

Keeping Stock concludes a post mining the reaction with:

We know that there will be opposition, and we hope that last week’s jury verdict in Wellington doesn’t send a few tree-huggers over the top in their protests, believing that what they do is for the greater good. Right at the moment, we can’t think of ANY greater good than New Zealand’s economic future.

And Kiwiblog writes:

There is a segment of the population (and associated lobby groups) that is opposed to all mining, everywhere. You could apply to mine in the middle of a gorse laden field, and they’ll be against it, regardless of how much mineral wealth may be there.

That is a legitimate view to hold, but there is a cost – NZ has less money for schools, less money for hospitals, and lower incomes overall.

The previous government increased spending which we can’t afford. The current one can and should cut spending. It shouldn’t increase its income by increasing taxes but it could increase government income and economic growth by following through on this proposal to mine little patches of the conservation estate.

Southern Man

For Otago & Southland’s Anniversary Day:

Just What I Needed

Happy birthday Ric Ocasek, 61 today.

Tuesday’s answers

Monday’s questions were:

1. What are you playing if you hear man alive, doctor’s orders, clikety click, two fat ladies and top of the shop?

2. Monrovia is the capital of which country?

3. What is an eponym?

4. Who said: Books were my pass to personal freedom. I learned to read at age three, and soon discovered there was a whole world to conquer that went beyond our farm in Mississippi.

5. Which is New Zealand’s second windiest city?

Inventory 2 got one and a bonus for explaining doctor’s orders.

Deborah got two.

David got three.

PDM got two.

Gravedodger get’s the electronic bunch of flowers for four right – so nearly five because he mentioned Palmerston North.

Rob got three and a bonus for lingusitic reasoning with #4.

Paul got three right. Who’s Larry McMurtry?

I’m writing this on Monday evening and scheduling it for Tuesday afternoon, if anyone answers the quiz after this and before it’s published s/he’ll have to score her/himself.

The answers follow the break:

NZ Institute’s report card for NZ

The New Zealand Institute is launching a website - nzahead – which will give a comprehensive assessment of the coutnry’s social, economic, and environmental performance.

A media release from the institute says:

nzahead brings together 16 key measures of how we are doing as a country, and then gives an overall mark for ‘Effort’ and ‘Achievement’. It will be launched in Auckland on 31 March.

Dr Rick Boven, Director of the Institute, says that while there might be a light-hearted element to the idea of a whole country receiving a report card like a student, there is a serious side to the project.

“If we’re going to make good choices about our future as a country, we need to have an informed debate about how we’re really doing in the things that really matter. This is one of our most important contributions to informing that debate.”

. . . Dr Boven recognises that choosing what is measured and how performance is assessed can be highly charged decisions.

“Our objective is not to embarrass or upset anyone. We have selected 16 measures which we believe give an accurate Big Picture view of our country’s long-term performance. And we will take the next step of saying what we think about that performance. Whether or not people agree or disagree with our 16 measures or our  assessment, I hope they will feel better able to talk about the issues with their  families, friends and workmates.”

Dr Boven says that selecting the 16 measures was a very challenging process. “We wanted to find the right balance between capturing enough information to make broad judgments about New Zealand’s performance, without capturing so much that we would be drowning in detail. Of course we prefer that the figures are reliable and accurate, and ideally cover a long time period so that we can see trends and spot  onnections. One of the challenges was that there is little information on some measures we think are very important.”

An independent assessment of where we are and how we can improve is a very good idea.

I await the launch with interest.

Mine a little conserve more

Ministers of Energy and Resources and Conservation, Gerry Brownlee and Kate Wilkinson are right, it’s time to discuss maximising our mineral potential.

It’s too much to hope that the discussion will be calm and reasoned when the hysteria preceded the announcement.

But those who take the time to read the media release will find that no-one is suggesting digging up vast tracts of the conservation estate.

“Today the government is suggesting allowing potential access, with appropriate environmental mitigation, to a small percentage of that resource,” Mr Brownlee said.

The Government is proposing to remove 7,058 hectares of land from Schedule Four of the Crown Minerals Act, including some areas in the Coromandel Peninsula and the Inangahua sector of Paparoa National Park.

Mr Brownlee said it was important to view the proposal in context.

“7,058 hectares is just 0.2 per cent of Schedule Four land.  Moreover, if that land subsequently saw mining development, only around five per cent of the land might actually be mined – as little as 500 hectares.  This is nothing like the vast tracts of land suggested to date by the environmental lobby.

Five hundred hectares is a tiny amount of land to sacrifice for mining. It’s less than half the area of the farm I live on.

“In fact 500 hectares is smaller than what the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry describes as an average New Zealand sheep and beef farm (550 ha).

“However, it is 500 hectares across a number of potential sites that could have big economic benefit for New Zealand.  Mining in New Zealand is already a $2 billion industry, which contributes to export receipts and government revenue.

“It’s also worth noting that in productivity terms, workers in the mining sector return an average of $360,000 of GDP per worker, nearly six times the national average.”

 The economic gains are obvious and they will bring social benefits because we’ll be able to afford more of what we need to make New Zealand a healthier, better educated and more secure country.

What about the environment?

Any mining will be subject to the resource consent process and the government is proposing to more than compensate for the land which will be mined by adding a greater areas to the conservation estate:

Ms Wilkinson said it should be noted that while the Government was proposing removing 7,058 hectares from the 4.6 million hectares in Schedule Four under the Crown Minerals Act, it was also proposing to add a further 12,400 hectares – a net gain in protected areas of 5,342 hectares.

“The areas being considered for removal are small and any mining on conservation land is subject to strict environmental tests.  It has been made clear that any future mining applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis and conservation and environmental management remain a key consideration. . .

Ms Wilkinson said the Government is also proposing to create a dedicated Conservation Fund based on a portion of future royalties it receives from mining in public conservation areas.  The budget for the fund would be 50 per cent of royalty revenue from minerals (other than petroleum) from public conservation areas, with a minimum of $2 million per annum for the first four years and a maximum of $10 million per annum.

Let’s look at those figures again: The proposal is to remove 7,058 hectares from the 4.8 million hectares in Schedule Four, only a tiny amount of which may be mined, and add a further 12,400 hectares.

That makes economic and environmental sense to me.

March 23 in history

On March 23:

1174 Jocelin, abbot of Melrose, was elected bishop of Glasgow.

1568 Peace of Longjumeau ended the Second War of Religion in France. Again Catherine de’ Medici and Charles IX of France make substantial concessions to the Huguenots.

1645 William Kidd, Scottish sailor, was born.

1708  James Francis Edward Stuart landed at the Firth of Forth.

1775 American Revolutionary War: Patrick Henry delivered his famous speech – “Give me Liberty, or give me Death!” – at St. John’s Church in Richmond, Virginia.

 

1801  Tsar Paul I of Russia was struck with a sword, then strangled, and finally trampled to death in his bedroom at St. Michael’s Castle.

1806  After traveling through the Louisiana Purchase and reaching the Pacific Ocean, explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark and their “Corps of Discovery” began their journey home.

 

1821 Battle and fall of city of Kalamata, Greek War of Independence.  

1848 the immigrant ship John Wikcliffe anchored at Port Chalmers carrying the first Scottish settlers for Dunedin, New Zealand.

1848 Otago province was founded.

 

1857 Elisha Otis‘s first lift was installed at 488 Broadway New York City.

1862 The First Battle of Kernstown, Virginia, marked the start of Stonewall Jackson’s Valley Campaign.

1868 The University of California was founded.

1879 War of the Pacific  between Chile and the joint forces of Bolivia and Peru. Chile successfully took over Arica and Tarapacá leaving Bolivia as a landlocked country.

1889 – The free Woolwich Ferry officially opened in east London.

1889 The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community was established by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in Qadian India.

1896 The Raines Law was passed by the New York State Legislature, restricting Sunday sale of alcohol to hotels.

1903 The Wright Brothers applied for a patent on their invention of one of the first successful airplanes.

 

1905 Joan Crawford, American actress, was born.

 

1919  Benito Mussolini founded his Fascist political movement.

1921 Donald Campbell, British car and motorboat racer, was born.

1929  Sir Roger Bannister, English runner, was born.

1933 The Reichstag passed the Enabling act of 1933, making Adolf Hitler dictator of Germany.

 

1935 Signing of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of the Philippines.

1939 Hungarian air force attacked the headquarters of Slovak air force in the city of Spišská Nová Ves, killed 13 people and began the Slovak–Hungarian War.

1942 In the Indian Ocean, Japanese forces captured the Andaman Islands.

1949 Ric Ocasek, American musician (The Cars), was born.

 

1956 Pakistan becomes the first Islamic republic in the world. (Republic Day in Pakistan)

1956 José Manuel Barroso, Portuguese politician, president of the European Commission, was born.

1962 – NS Savannah, the first nuclear-powered cargo-passenger ship, was launched as a showcase for Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Atoms for Peace initiative.

1965  NASA launched Gemini 3, the United States’ first two-man space flight.

1980  Archbishop Óscar Romero of El Salvador gave his famous speech appealing to men of the El Salvadoran armed forces to stop killing the Salvadorans.

1982 Guatemala’s government, headed by Fernando Romeo Lucas García was overthrown in a military coup by right-wing General Efraín Ríos Montt.

1983 Strategic Defense Initiative: President Ronald Reagan made his initial proposal to develop technology to intercept enemy missiles.

1989 Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann announced cold fusion at the University of Utah.

 

1994 Mexican presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio was assassinated by Mario Aburto Martínez.

 

1994 – Aeroflot Flight 593 crashed in Siberia when the pilot’s fifteen-year old son accidentally disengaged the autopilot, killing all 75 people on board.

1994 – A United States Air Force (USAF) F-16 aircraft collided with a USAF C-130 at Pope Air Force Base and then crashes, killing 24 United States Army soldiers on the ground in the Green Ramp disaster.

1996 Taiwan held its first direct elections and elected Lee Teng-hui as President.

1999 Gunmen assassinated Paraguay’s Vice President Luis María Argaña.

2001 The Russian Mir space station was disposed of, breaking up in the atmosphere before falling into the southern Pacific Ocean.

2003 In Nasiriyah, Iraq, 11 soldiers of the 507th Maintenance Company and 18 U.S. Marines were killed during the first major conflict of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

2005 – A major explosion at the Texas City Refinery killed 15 workeers.

2007 Burnley Tunnel catastrophe in Melbourne.

 

2007 – The Iranian Navy seizes Royal Navy personnel in the waters between Iran and Iraq.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia

Mirror Sequence

Chico Marx was born on this day in 1887.

The Lion Tamer

Marcel Marceau would have been 87 today.

Monday’s quiz

1. What are you playing if you hear man alive, doctor’s orders, clikety click, two fat ladies and top of the shop?

2. Monrovia is the capital of which country?

3. What is an eponym?

4. Who said: Books were my pass to personal freedom. I learned to read at age three, and soon discovered there was a whole world to conquer that went beyond our farm in Mississippi.

5. Which is New Zealand’s second windiest city?