December 14 in history

On December 14:

1287 St. Lucia’s flood: The Zuider Zee sea wall in the Netherlands collapsed, killing more than 50,000 people.

1503 Nostradamus, French astrologer, was born (d. 1566).

1542 Princess Mary Stuart beccame Queen Mary I of Scotland.

 1751 The Theresian Military Academy was founded as the first Military Academy in the world.

 

1782  The Montgolfier brothers’ first balloon lifts on its first test flight.

 A 1786 depiction of the Montgolfier brothers’ historic balloon with engineering data.

1843 The first Auckland A&P Show was held.

1895  King George VI  was born (d. 1952).

1896 The Glasgow Underground Railway was opened by the Glasgow District Subway Company.

1900  Max Planck presented a theoretical derivation of his black-body radiation law.

                   

1902 The Commercial Pacific Cable Company laid the first Pacific telegraph cable, from Ocean Beach, San Francisco to Honolulu, Hawaii.

1903 The Wright Brothers made their first attempt to fly with the Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

 

1911  Roald Amundsen‘s team, Olav Bjaaland, Helmer Hanssen, Sverre Hassel, and Oscar Wisting and Amundsen, became the first to reach the South Pole.

1918 Friedrich Karl von Hessen, a German prince elected by the Parliament of Finland to become King Väinö I, renounces the Finnish throne.

1922 Don Hewitt, American creator of 60 Minutes, was born (d. 2009).

 1932  Charlie Rich, American musician, was born (d. 1995).

1946 Patty Duke, American actress, was born.

1948  Kim Beazley, Australian politician, was born.

1949 Cliff Williams, English bassist (AC/DC), was born.

1958  The 3rd Soviet Antarctic Expedition became the first expedition to reach The Pole of Relative Inaccessibility in the Antarctic.

1958  Mike Scott, Scottish singer-songwriter (The Waterboys), was born.

1958 Spider Stacy, English musician (The Pogues), was born.

1960 – Ian Meckiff of Australia was run out by the West Indies, causing the first Tied Test in the history of cricket.

1962  NASA‘s Mariner 2 became the first spacecraft to fly by Venus.

 

1963 – Baldwin Hills Reservoir wall burst, killing five people and damaging hundreds of homes in Los Angeles.

1964  Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States – The United States Supreme Court rules that the U.S. Congress can use its Commerce Clause power to fight discrimination.

 1972 Apollo programme: Eugene Cernan was the last person to walk on the moon, after he and Harrison Schmitt completed the third and final Extra-vehicular activity (EVA) of Apollo 17. This was the last manned mission to the moon of the 20th century.

1981  Israel‘s Knesset passes The Golan Heights Law, extending Israeli law to the area of the Golan Heights.

1994 Construction began on the Three Gorges Dam in the Yangtze River.

2004  The Millau viaduct, the highest bridge in the world, near Millau, France was officially opened.

2008 President George W. Bush made his fourth and final (planned) trip to Iraq as president and almost got struck by two shoes thrown at him by Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi during a farewell conference in Baghdad.

 

 Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia.

Word of the day

Lapactic – cathartic, purgative.

iPredict on which leaders will fall before election

iPredict is launching new stocks on which party leaders will make it through to the election.

It would take a disaster, natural or otherwise, to remove John Key from the leadership of the National Party in the next 12 months.

The chances of Peter Dunne giving up his place are also tiny because when he goes so does the party. The leadership of the Greens is unlikely to change before the election and only if Tariana Turia decides to retire is it likely that the Maori Party would have a change at the top.

Rodney Hide isn’t quite as secure but probably wouldn’t face a challenge unless it looks probable he’d lose the seat of Epsom which is what gives Act its seats in parliament.

That leaves Labour. Phil Goff and his party aren’t making any traction. The question isn’t will he go, but when?

Will any challengers have the appetite for the poisoned chalice which is what leadership of a party in its first term in opposition after three terms in power almost inevitably is? Or will they leave him to lose the election and take over when he falls on his sword afterwards?

Weather influences food prices more than GST

The price of fruit and vegetables dropped 9.9% in November althought they were higher than a year ago.

Food prices fell 0.6 percent in the November 2010 month reflecting lower vegetable prices, Statistics New Zealand said today. This follows a 2.2 percent increase in October when food prices were affected by the rise in GST, and a 0.7 percent increase in September.
 
Vegetable prices fell 9.9 percent in November. “Lettuce, tomato, and broccoli prices fell in November, as they usually do. However, prices are much higher than this time last year, reflecting poor weather in September and October,” Statistics New Zealand prices manager Chris Pike said.
 
Grocery food prices were flat (up 0.1 percent) in November 2010. This follows a 1.7 percent rise in October, when about half the prices collected that were not affected by discounting rose 2.0 to 2.5 percent (reflecting the GST rise).
 
Restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food prices rose 0.6 percent in November 2010, following a 1.9 percent rise in October.

The important point is that poor weather in September and October was the biggest influence on the price rise of fresh fruit and vegetables.

Yet more proof of the futility of Labour’s policy to take GST off a small part of most people’s grocery purchases.

A scientist’s lot is not an easy one

A graduand was considering post-graduate study but a summer with scientists put her off.

It wasn’t the work but the scientists’ stories of the frustration of time wasted applying for funds which took them away from their research.

The government has increased funding for science and innovation and private individuals and organisations also fund research. Even so a scientist’s lot is not an easy one with the challenges of work complicated by insecurity of tenure.

It doesn’t help that a lot of the work scientists do goes unrecognised, even in farming where the uptake of research findings is pretty good.

But perhaps this will help:

 It’s the work of singing scientist Dr Matthew Barnett who was interviewed on Nine to Noon this morning.

Treating symptoms won’t cure problem

The machete attack on an policeman has led to the inevitable calls for police to carry guns.

That might or might not treat the symptoms of increasing mindless violence but it won’t cure the malaise which is infecting society.

Drug and alcohol abuse are among the causes. So too is a lack of respect for authority, other people, their property and lives.

Arming police will fuel a vicious circle of escalating violence. Addressing the causes is the only way to make New Zealand safer.

Letter from another planet

. . . It’s refreshing news that this honest, sincere politician might once again take his rightful place in the Beehive.

Malicious innuendo, fellow politicians and the media all assisted in bringing about his downfall in 2008 . . .

Letter to the Editor of the Sunday Star Times from Horace Cassidy of Papakura.

Mr Cassidy must have been on another planet when the man he praises was using $158,000 or taxpayers’ money promoting himself before the 2005 election.

He must be there still if he doesn’t understand the misdeeds which led to the Minister of Baubles’ third sacking from Cabinet.

December 13 in history

On December 13:

1294 – Saint Celestine V resigned the papacy after only five months; Celestine hoped to return to his previous life as an ascetic hermit.

1545 – Council of Trent began.

 

1577 Sir Francis Drake set out from Plymouth, on his round-the-world voyage.

1642  Towards noon the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman sighted ‘a large land, uplifted high’. This was the first recorded sighting of New Zealand by a European.

1643 – English Civil War: The Battle of Alton.

1769 Dartmouth College was founded by the Rev. Eleazar Wheelock, with a Royal Charter from King George III.

1816 Ernst Werner von Siemens, German engineer, inventor, and industrialist, was born (d. 1892).

1903 Carlos Montoya, Spanish guitarist, was born (d. 1993).

1906 Sir Laurens van der Post, South African author, was born  (d. 1996).

1925 Dick Van Dyke, American actor and comedian was born.

1929 Christopher Plummer, Canadian actor, was born.

1936 Prince Karim Aga Khan (Aga Khan IV), Imam (leader) of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims, was born.

1939 Eric Flynn, British actor and singer, was born (d. 2002).

1939 Battle of the River Plate : At 6.21 a.m. on 13 December 1939, the cruiser HMS Achilles opened fire on the German ‘pocket battleship’ Admiral Graf Spee in the South Atlantic. It became the first New Zealand unit to strike a blow at the enemy in the Second World War.

1948 Jeff Baxter, American guitarist (Steely Dan, The Doobie Brothers) was born.

1949 Paula Wilcox, English actress, was born.

1954 Tamora Pierce, American author, was born.

1959 Archbishop Makarios became the first President of Cyprus.

1960 – While Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia visited Brazil, his Imperial Bodyguard seized the capital and proclaimed him deposed and his son, Crown Prince Asfa Wossen, Emperor.

1961 Irene Saez, Miss Universe 1981 and Venezuelan politician, was born.

 

1967 – Constantine II of Greece attempted an unsuccessful counter-coup against the Regime of the Colonels.

1974 Malta became a republic.

1979 – The Canadian Government of Prime Minister Joe Clark was defeated in the House of Commons, prompting the 1980 Canadian election.

1981 General Wojciech Jaruzelski declared martial law in Poland to prevent dismantling of the communist system by Solidarity.

1989 – Attack on Derryard checkpoint: The Provisional Irish Republican Army launched an attack on a British Army permanent vehicle checkpoint near Rosslea. Two British soldiers were killed and one badly wounded.

1996 Kofi Annan was elected as Secretary-General of the United Nations.

2002 -  The European Union announced that Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia would become members from May 1, 2004.

2003  Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was captured near his home town of Tikrit.

2004 Former Chilean dictator, General Augusto Pinochet was put under house arrest, after being sued under accusations over 9 kidnapping actions and manslaughter. The house arrest was lifted the same day on appeal.

2006 – The Baiji, or Chinese River Dolphin, was pronounced extinct.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia.

That’s Amore

Happy birthday Connie Francis – 72 today.

Did you see the one about . .

I am a receptionist -  The Bullet on life on the other side of the hotel check-in counter.

Bad parenting not lack of money is harming poor kids - Liberty Scott shows poverty is no excuse for children’s failure.

Avoiding the quarter life crisis: parents guide your children well – Peter Kerr on the importance of choosing school subjects carefully.

You swearing at me? Quote Unquote talks dirty.

The Ninth Floor -  Stoatspring on adjusting to ordinary life after work in the PM’s office.

3.6% of Kiwis have paid a bribe in the last year - Stephen Franks takes a serious look at Transparency International’s GLobal Corruption Barometer Survey.

Corrupt? Hell yeah!  - Imperator fish takes a lighter look at the same survey.

The Year in review According to Google – Motella looks back with the help of Google & YouTube.

Wahine Toa - Roarprawn celebrates four Maori women in Cabinet.

Word of the day

Jovialist -  a convivial person; one who leads a jovial or merry life.

Axioms updated for computer age

 Home is where you hang your @

 The E-mail of the species is faster than the mail.

 A journey of a thousand sites begins with a single click.

 Great groups from little icons grow.

 Speak softly and carry a cellular phone.

 Don’t put all your hypes in one home page.

  The modem is the message.

 Too many clicks spoil the browse.

 The geek shall inherit the earth.

 A chat has nine lives.

 Don’t byte off more than you can view.

 Windows will never cease.

Virtual reality is its own reward.

Modulation in all things.

A user and her leisure time are soon parted.

There’s no place like home.com

Oh, what a tangled website we weave when first we practice.

Speed thrills.

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach him to use the Net and he won’t bother you for weeks.

Ordinary people doing extraordinary things

Ordinary people doing extraordinary things used to make the headlines.

Now, in many media, it’s extraordinary people – in terms of their fame – doing ordinary things.

The former provided inspiration, the latter is at best entertainment, at worst voyeurism.

But yesterday the New Zealand Herald named Emma Woods as its New Zealander of the Year, giving well earned recognition to the woman who had the grace to forgive the young man who killed her son.

In doing so they’ve highlighted someone like us doing something we might aspire to, reacting with compassion, intelligence and strength rather than anger and bitterness in the face of tragedy.

Quote of the week

‘There are occasions,’ he said, ‘when the imperative of serving the national interest transcends other concerns, including party political and personal concerns.’

 

Well, that’s nice to know: there are occasions when the needs of the country may be permitted to interfere (though not, of course, for very long) with a politician’s career plans. But think how galling it must be for him, poor fellow, when this happens! There will soon be a name for the psychiatric condition such occasions cause in politicians: Politician’s Self-Sacrificial Stress Disorder.

The opening remark was made by the  Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of Ireland, Brian Cowen, the comment which follows comes from Theodore Dalrymple in When Irish Eyes are Crying.

If you follow the link you’ll find his guide to diagnosis.

December 12 in history

On December 12:

627 Battle of Nineveh: A Byzantine army under Emperor Heraclius defeated Emperor Khosrau II‘s Persian forces, commanded by General Rhahzadh.

Heraclius and his son Heraclius Constantine on a Roman coin

1769 French explorer Jean François Marie de Surville first sighted New Zealand near Hokianga.

1779 Madeleine Sophie Barat, French saint was born (d. 1865).

1805  Henry Wells, Founder of American Express, was born (d. 1878).

1812 The French invasion of Russia ended.

Napoleon’s retreat from Moscow, painted by Adolph Northen.

1821 Gustave Flaubert, French writer, was born  (d. 1880).

1862 USS Cairo sank on the Yazoo River, becoming the first armored ship to be sunk by an electrically detonated mine.

 

1863  Edvard Munch, Norwegian painter, was born (d. 1944).

Self Portrait with Skeleton Arm,

1893 Edward G. Robinson, American actor, was born  (d. 1973).

 

1870  Joseph H. Rainey of South Carolina became the first black U.S. congressman.

 

1900 Sammy Davis, Sr., American dancer, was born (d. 1988).

1901 Guglielmo Marconi received the first transatlantic radio signal at Signal Hill in St John’s, Newfoundland.

1911 Delhi replaced Calcutta as the capital of India.

1915  Frank Sinatra, American singer and actor, was born (d. 1998).

 1927  Robert Noyce, American inventor of the microship, was born (d. 1990) .

1929 John Osborne, English dramatist, was born (d. 1994).

 1935  Lebensborn Project, a Nazi reproduction programme, was founded by Heinrich Himmler.

 

A Lebensborn birth house

1936  Xi’an Incident: The Generalissimo of the Republic of China, Chiang Kai-shek was kidnapped by Zhang Xueliang.

Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and senior members of the KMT after their arrest.

1938  Connie Francis, American singer, was born .

1940 – Dionne Warwick, American singer, was born.

1941  Adolf Hitler announced the extermination of the Jews at a meeting in the Reich Chancellery.

1948 Batang Kali Massacre – 14 members of the Scots Guards stationed in Malaysia allegedly massacred 24 unarmed civilians and set fire to the village.

1949 – Bill Nighy, English actor, was born.

1950  Paula Ackerman, the first woman appointed to perform rabbinical functions in the United States, led the congregation in her first services.

1956 Irish Republican Army‘s “Border Campaign” began.

1961 The first Golden Kiwi draw took place.

1963 Kenya gained its independence from the United Kingdom.

1964 Prime Minister Jomo Kenyatta became the first President of the Republic of Kenya.

1965 Will Carling, English rugby union footballer, was born.

1979  Rhodesia changed its name to Zimbabwe.

1982 Women’s peace protest at Greenham Common – 30,000 women held hands and formed a human chain around the 14.5 kilometres (9.0 mi) perimeter fence.

1985 Arrow Air Flight 1285 crashed after takeoff in Gander, Newfoundland killing 256, including 248 members of the United States Army‘s 101st Airborne Division.

1988 The Clapham Junction rail crash killed thirty-five and injures hundreds after two collisions of three commuter trains.

1991  Russian Federation gained independence from the USSR.

2006 Peugeot produced its last car at the Ryton Plant signalling the end of mass car production in Coventry, formerly a major centre of the British motor industry.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia.

Saturday’s smiles

After driving all night, a man arrived in a small town where he decided to stop beside a park for a nap.

Just as he dozed off, there was a knock on the window. Outside the car, was a jogger.
“Excuse me, can you give me the time?” the she asked.

The man looked at his watch and replied, “It’s 6:27.”

He closed his eyes again and just as he dozed off there was another knock on the window.

There stood another jogger who said, “I’m sorry to disturb you. Do you have the time?”,

Struggling to be polite, he peered at his watch again and replied, “It’s 6:34.”
The man rolled up the window but realizing that this could go on indefinitely, he took paper and pen and wrote: “I DO NOT KNOW THE TIME.”
He stuck the paper in the window, closed his eyes, and was barely asleep when there came yet another tap on the window. The man looked and sure enough, there was another jogger. He rolled down the window and said, “Yeah, what is it?”
The jogger replied, “It’s 6:42.”

Word of the day

Uberous -  abundant, fruitful, yielding an abundance of milk.

From plastic waste to brick walls

Recycling reduces the amount of waste put into landfills but it’s not necessarily better for the environment and it doesn’t always stack up economically.

But a Dunedin inventor Peter Lewis has come up with a machine which  turns plastic waste into bricks which might stack up.

His Byfusion machine has been operating at the Green Island landfill for eight years and since the ODT gave it publicity he’s had approaches from around the world from people interested in buying one.

The prototype at the Green Island landfill can swallow most types of raw plastic – from drink bottles to meat packaging – where it was washed, dried and compacted into a plastic block.

Each brick is formed from 10kg of plastic, and could be used for garden retaining or landscaping walls, and had other potential uses including as shock absorbers behind crash barriers.

Consideration was being given to using the products to build hurricane and tsunami shelters in the Pacific Islands, or cheaper sustainable housing where wood is scarce.

The machine’s main source of interest for buyers was its ability to turn millions of tonnes of plastic, which took many years to break down in landfills, into something of continued use, he said.

I’ve been a reluctant recycler since reading about problems with workers’ health and air and water pollution in recylcing plants in China.

But from what I’ve read the Byfusion machine turns plastic waste into bricks without endangering the health of workers or the environment. If he gets the investment he needs to expand, Mr Lewis and his comapny will also make a significant contribution to the Dunedin economy.

Smith speaks sense on emissions targets

A friend is developing a farm which has small blocks of forestry.

As the Kyoto rules stand at the moment if he fells the pines re-plants in the same place or fells the trees and leaves the stumps he will have no carbon liability. But if he fells the trees, clears the stumps and replants trees in a different place he will.

Many hectares of land around Taupo were planted in trees because stock grazed there got bush sickness. It has since been recognised that this was caused by cobalt deficiency which can be addressed.

In other areas development incentives encouraged farmers to clear marginal land which is prone to erosion.

It would be better for both the economy and the environment if the land near Taupo was cleared for pastoral farming and the marginal land was returned to forestry but that is unlikely to happen under the current Kyoto rules which were designed with native forests in mind.

New Zealand is one of few, possibly the only, country in the world with a large areas of exotic forestry.

There may be sense in requiring the replanting of trees where they’ve been felled if you’re trying to save rain forests but it makes no difference to carbon emissions if replacement trees are planted in a different place.

New Zealand has put a lot of effort into getting this changed and now Climate Change Minister is sensibly saying New Zealand won’t commit to emissions targets unless forestry rules are clear.

He told the United Nations conference in Cancun New Zealand wants a change to allow pre-1990 forests to be harvested and re-planted elsewhere and also to lock up emissions for wood which is felled and used for building  rather than have it count as being consumed and its emissions released on felling.

It’s such a good idea, Whaleoil, who doesn’t praise lightly, has given him politician of the week on the strength of it.

5/10

Oh dear, I obviously wasn’t concentrating this week – only 5/10 in the NZ Herald weekly news quiz.