Thursday’s quiz

1. Who said: “In passing, also, I would like to say that the first time Adam had a chance he laid the blame on woman. “

2. It’s l’argent in French,  solid  soldi in Italian, dinero in Spanish and moni in aori, what is it in English.

3. Who brought us this  in Hogsnort Rupert’s song?

4. What is/are Ovis Aries ?

5. What is a philtrum?

Top of the food chain

Quote of the week:

Peter Talley at the Maori Fisheries Conference :

“I, for one, certainly did not fight my way to the top of the food chain to eat vegetables.”

(Spotted on Facebook – I’m not sure of the etiquette around this – am I supposed to link to and/or name the person who posted it?)

Drs shouldn’t need court approval to do no harm

“How aggressive do you want us to be in treating Tom?” the doctor asked.

He was referring to our baby who had a degenerative brains disorder, had stopped breathing, been revived and taken to hospital.

We said that if he was fighting for himself he should be helped but if it came down to using technology to prolong the inevitable he should be left alone.

A few hours later another doctor asked the same question and I gave the same answer. Tom died a few minutes later, in my arms.

Nearly seven years later Tom’s brother Dan stopped breathing. The registrar treating him asked the nurse to get the crash team but I said “no”.

The paediatrician in charge of Dan’s care had discussed this situation with us when he was only a few weeks old and it was obvious he had the same condition which had killed Tom. The consultant’s advice was that if something life threatening happened, Dan shouldn’t be treated.

I explained this to the registrar who asked me if I was sure. I said “yes,” and he said, “I think that’s the right decision.”

That was 17 years ago tomorrow and I thought that this sort of  situatio, while not common-place, wouldn’t be unusual. Life is fatal and not treating someone who is terminally ill can sometimes be the best way of doing no harm.

I thought that was accepted practice.  But just a couple of weeks ago a special court was convened at night to determine whether a health board’s decision not to do surgery on a terminally ill boy would amount to homicide.

A judge ruled it did not, finding it was in accordance with “good medical practice” not to do the life-prolonging operation. The seven-year-old boy died the next day.

This sort of decision shouldn’t be taken lightly but I don’t understand why there was a need to take it to court. As Dr Richard McGrarth says at Not PC:

 I find it disturbing that a court should even be considering whether they can force a surgeon to operate on anyone, or charge him with homicide if he declines to operate and the patient then dies of natural causes.

I have no doubts that not treating my sons was the right thing to do.

If I was in a similar position with a similar prognosis I’d make the same decision again and I’d be very upset if I had to go to court to protect the doctors I was asking to withhold treatment.

Doctors shouldn’t need a judge’s approval to do nothing when that is the best way to do no harm.

Could Mana be confused with Mana or mana?

The Electoral Commission is calling for submissions on the application for the registration of the Mana Party.

Registration may be refused if the name is indecent, offensive, excessively long, likely to cause confusion or mislead electors, or contains any reference to a title or honour or similar form of identification.

 

Anyone who wishes to comment may do so in writing to the Electoral Commission at:

• PO Box 3220
• Wellington 6140
• fax 04-495 0031
• email enquiries@elections.govt.nz

The deadline for comments is 5pm, Wednesday, 8 June 2011.

 

 

There’s not much danger of Mana (the party) being confused with mana (the description of character) but could it be confused with Mana (the electorate)?

It’s not the first party to use Mana in it’s name. But they both had another word in their name – Mana Motuhake and Mana Wahine which reduced the possibility of confusion.

May 26 in history

451   Battle of Avarayr between Armenian rebels and the Sassanid Emire.

113 5 Alfonso VII of León and Castile was crowned in the Cathedral of Leon as Imperator totius Hispaniae, “Emperor of All the Spains”.

1293 An earthquake in  Kamakura, Japan  killed about 30,000.

1328  William of Ockham, Franciscan Minister-General Michael of Cesena and two other Franciscan leaders secretly left  Avignon, fearing a death sentence from Pope John XXII.

1538  Geneva expelled John Calvin and his followers from the city.

 

1637  Pequot War: A combined Protestant and Mohegan force under Captain John Mason attacked a Pequot village massacring approximately 500 people.

 

1647 Alse Young was the first person executed as a witch in the American colonies.

1670  In Dover, England, Charles II of Great Britain and Louis XIV of France signed the Secret Treaty of Dover.

 

1689 Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, English writer was born (d. 1762).

 

1736 Battle of Ackia: British and Chickasaw soldiers repelled a French and Choctaw attack on the Chickasaw village of Ackia.

 

1770 The Orlov Revolt, a first attempt to revolt against the Turks before the Greek War of Independence, ended in disaster for the Greeks.

 

1783  A Great Jubilee Day was held in Trumbull, Connecticut to celebrate the end of the American Revolution.

1822 116 people die din the Grue Church fire, the biggest fire disaster in Norway’s history.

1828 Mysterious feral child Kaspar Hauser was discovered wandering the streets of Nuremberg.

1830  The Indian Removal Act was passed by the U.S. Congress.

1857 Dred Scott was emancipated by the Blow family, his original owners.

 

1863 Robert Fitzsimmons, Boxing champion who live din Timaru, was born (d. 1917).

1865 American Civil War: Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith, commander of the Confederate Trans-Mississippi division, was the last general of the Confederate Army to surrender, at Galveston, Texas.

 

1868 The impeachment trial of U.S. President Andrew Johnson ended with Johnson being found not guilty by one vote.

1869  Boston University was chartered by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

1879  Parihaka Maori, led by Te Whiti and Tohu Kakahi, embarked upon a ploughing campaign to protest against European settlement on confiscated Maori land.

 1879  Russia and the United Kingdom signed the Treaty of Gandamak establishing an Afghan state.

 

 1883  Mamie Smith, American singer , was born (d. 1946).

1886 Al Jolson, American singer, was born (d. 1950).

1889 Opening of the first Eiffel Tower lift to the public.

 

1896 Nicholas II became  Tsar of Russia.

1896  Charles Dow  published the first edition of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

 

1904  George Formby, English singer and comedian, was born (d. 1961).

1906 Vauxhall Bridge was opened in London.

1907 John Wayne, American actor, was born (d. 1979).

1908 At Masjed Soleyman (مسجد سليمان) in southwest Persia  the first major commercial oil strike in the Middle East was made.

1915 Antonia Forest, British children’s author, was born (d. 2003).

1917  An F4btornado ripped Mattoon, Illinois apart, killing 101 people and injuring 689. It was the world’s longest-lasting tornado, lasting for over 7 hours and traveling 293 miles.

1918  Armenia defeated the Ottoman Army in the Battle of Sardarapat.

1918  The Democratic Republic of Georgia was established.

1920 Peggy Lee, American singer, was born (d. 2002).

1923  Roy Dotrice, British actor, was born.

1926 Miles Davis, American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer, was born  (d. 1991).

1928 The first motion picture was projected publicly in Athens.

1936  In the House of Commons of Northern Ireland, Tommy Henderson began speaking on the Appropriation Bill. By the time he sat down in the early hours of the following morning, he had spoken for 10 hours.

1938  The House Un-American Activities Committee began its first session.

 

1940  World War II: Battle of Dunkirk – Allied  forces began a massive evacuation from Dunkirk, France.

 

1942  World War II: The Battle of Bir Hakeim.

 

1945  Garry Peterson, Canadian drummer (The Guess Who), was born.

1948 Stevie Nicks, American songwriter, was born.

1948 The U.S. Congress passes Public Law 557 which permanently established the Civil Air Patrol as an auxiliary of the United States Air Force.

1951 Sally Ride, American astronaut, was born.

 

1966 – Helena Bonham Carter, English actress, was born.

1966 – Zola Budd, South African athlete, was born.

 

1966 British Guiana gained independence, becoming Guyana.

1969 Apollo 10 returned to Earth after a successful eight-day test of all the components needed for the forthcoming first manned moon landing.

1970 The Soviet Tupolev Tu-144 became the first commercial transport to exceed Mach 2.

 

1972 Willandra National Park was established in Australia.

1972  The United States and the Soviet Union signed the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.

1977 George Willig climbed the South Tower of  the World Trade Centre.

1981 Italian Prime Minister Arnaldo Forlani and his coalition cabinet resigned following a scandal over membership of the pseudo-masonic lodge P2 (Propaganda Due).

1983  A  7.7 magnitude earthquake in Japan, triggered a tsunami that killed at least 104 people and injured thousands.

1986  The European Community adopted the European flag.

1991  Zviad Gamsakhurdia became  the first democratically elected President of the Republic of Georgia in the post-Soviet era.

1991  Lauda Air Flight 004 exploded over rural Thailand, killing 223.

1992  Charles Geschke, co-founder of Adobe Systems, Inc was kidnapped.

1998 The United States Supreme Court ruled that Ellis Island, the historic gateway for millions of immigrants, was mainly in the state of New Jersey, not New York.

2003  Only three days after a previous record, Sherpa Lakpa Gelu climbed  Mount Everest in 10 hours 56 minutes.

2004 The New York Times published an admission of journalistic failings, claiming that its flawed reporting and lack of skepticism towards sources during the buildup to the 2003 war in Iraq helped promote the belief that Iraq possessed large stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction.

2006  The May 2006 Java earthquake killed more than 5,700 people, and left 200,000 homeless.

 

Sourced from NZ history Online & Wikipedia

Word of the day

Verbile – one whose mental imagery consists of words; one whose mental processes are most easily stimulated by words

Ownership doesn’t influence price and service

A friend reckons all power companies are a pack of b of questionable legitimacy:

I wouldn’t go that far. But we use different companies in different places and have noticed no appreciable difference between the price and service from SOEs and private companies.

Opponents of the partial sale of state owned power companies are fear mongering over the difference it will make to consumers.

In our experience ownership doesn’t seem to influence price or service which are the things which matter to consumers.

Making sense of cents

A couple of weeks ago petrol cost more than 220 cents a litre.

Yesterday I stopped for fuel in Dunedin and was pleasantly surprised to find the price had dropped to 205 cents/litre.

Apropos of this – why is fuel priced in cents rather than dollars and cents?

Is it something to do with commodities?  Wool is usually quoted in cents per kilo too.

Employers are taxpayers

A media release from the Wellington People’s Centre is headlined: A minimum wage rise puts costs onto employers not taxpayers:

“Recent discussions about Labour’s plans to increase the minimum wage seem to have missed an important point” Says Kay Brereton of the Wellington People’s Centre.

Currently taxpayers subsidise employers paying the minimum wage through the Working for Families Tax Credit package. Increasing the minimum wage would put the costs onto the employers who are benefiting from the labour of their employees.

Isn’t it interesting that she doesn’t understand that employers are taxpayers? Not only do they pay tax, they have to absorb the cost of collecting it on behalf of the IRD as well as collecting other money such as ACC levies, fines and payments for children of broken relationships on behalf of other government departments.

The Minimum Family Tax credit ensures that sole parents working a minimum of 20 hours per week, and couples with children working a minimum of 30 hours per week receive net pay of $408 per week.

This equates to $20.40 per hour after tax for sole parents and $13.60 per hour after tax for couples, which means taxpayers are subsidising this employment to levels well above the current minimum wage.

She has a point there but draws the wrong conclusion.

Labour’s tax-churn welfare for working people helped to disguise the parlous state of the economy from 2005.

They had raised taxes, increased the costs of employing people by adding a fourth week’s holiday and introduced other employer-unfriendly policies which at best did nothing to increase productivity and at worst hampered it.

Their tax and spend policies fuelled inflation and unsustainable consumption disguising the fact we were in recession.

Turning this around won’t be achieved by increasing the price of labour. The solution will come from policies which reduce costs and encourage sustainable growth.

May 25 in history

1085 Alfonso VI of Castile took Toledo, Spain back from the Moors.

1420  Henry the Navigator was appointed governor of the Order of Christ.

1521  The Diet of Worms ended when Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, issues the Edict of Worms, declaring Martin Luther an outlaw.

 

1659  Richard Cromwell resigned as Lord Protector of England following the restoration of the Long Parliament, beginning a second brief period of the republican government called the Commonwealth of England.

1738  A treaty between Pennsylvania and Maryland ended the Conojocular War with settlement of a boundary dispute and exchange of prisoners.

 

1787 In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, delegates convened a Constitutional Convention to write a new Constitution for the United States. George Washington presided.

1803 Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist and philosopher, was born (d. 1882).

1809 Chuquisaca Revolution: a group of patriots in Chuquisaca (modern day Sucre) revolted against the Spanish Empire, starting the South American Wars of Independence.

 

1810 May Revolution: citizens of Buenos Aires expelled Viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros during the May week, starting the Argentine War of Independence.

1837  The Patriots of Lower Canada (Quebec) rebelled against the British.

1865  In Mobile, Alabama, 300 were killed when an ordnance depot exploded.

1878  Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, American entertainer, was born (d. 1949).

 

1878  Gilbert and Sullivan’s H.M.S. Pinafore opened at the Opera Comique in London.

 

1892 Josip Broz Tito, Yugoslav resistance leader and later president, was born (d. 1980).

1895  Playwright, poet, and novelist Oscar Wilde was convicted of “committing acts of gross indecency with other male persons” and sentenced to serve two years in prison.

 

1895  The Republic of Formosa was formed, with Tang Ching-sung as the president.

1913  Richard Dimbleby, British journalist and broadcaster, was born (d. 1965).

 1914  The United Kingdom’s House of Commons passed the Home Rule Act for devolution in Ireland.

1921 Hal David, American lyricist and songwriter, was born.

 

1925  John T. Scopes was indicted for teaching Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.

 

1926 Sholom Schwartzbard assassinated  Symon Petliura, the head of the Paris-based government-in-exile of Ukrainian People’s Republic.

1927 Robert Ludlum, American writer was born (d. 2001).

1933 Basdeo Panday, 5th Prime Minister of Trinidad & Tobago, was born.

1935  Jesse Owens broke five world records and ties a sixth at the Big Ten Conference Track and Field Championships in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

1936 Tom T. Hall, American singer and songwriter, was born.

1936  The Remington Rand strike, led by the American Federation of Labor, begins.

1938 Raymond Carver, American writer, was born  (d. 1988).

1938 Spanish Civil War: The bombing of Alicante caused 313 deaths.

1939 Ian McKellen, English actor, was born.

1940  World War II: The Battle of Dunkirk began.

1946  The parliament of Transjordan made Abdullah I of Jordan their king.

1953  At the Nevada Test Site, the United States conducted its first and only nuclear artillery test.

 

1953 The first public television station in the United States officially began broadcasting as KUHT from the campus of the University of Houston.

1955 A night time F5 tornado struck f Udall, Kansas, killing 80 and injuring 273.

1955  First ascent of Kangchenjunga (8,586 m.), the third highest mountain in the world, by a British expedition.

1959 Julian Clary, British television personality, was born.

1961 Apollo program: John F. Kennedy announced before a special joint session of Congress his goal to initiate a project to put a “man on the moon” before the end of the decade.

1962  The Old Bay Line, the last overnight steamboat service in the United States, went out of business.

1963 In Addis Ababa, the Organisation of African Unity was established.

1966  Explorer 32 launched.

1966 The first prominent DaZiBao during the Cultural Revolution in China was posted at Peking University.

 

1967  Celtic Football Club became the first Scottish, British and northern European team to win the European Cup, beating Inter 2–1 in the Estádio Nacional, in Lisbon.

1978 Bastion Point protestors were evicted.

  1979  American Airlines Flight 191: A McDonnell Douglas DC-10 crashed during takeoff at O’Hare International Airport killing 271 on board and two people on the ground.

1979  Six-year-old Etan Patz disappeared from the street just two blocks away from his New York home, prompting an International search for the child, and causing President Ronald Reagan to designate May 25th as National Missing Children’s Day (in 1983).

 

1981  In Riyadh, the Gulf Cooperation Council was created between Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

1982  HMS Coventry  was sunk during the Falklands War.

1985 Bangladesh was hit by a tropical cyclone and storm surge, which killed approximately 10,000 people.

1997  A military coup in Sierra Leone replaced President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah with Major Johnny Paul Koromah.

1999 The United States House of Representatives released the Cox Report which detailed China‘s nuclear espionage against the U.S. over the prior two decades.

 

2000  Liberation Day of Lebanon. Israel withdrew its army from most of the Lebanese territory after 22 years of its first invasion in 1978.

2001  Erik Weihenmayer  became the first blind person to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

 

2002  China Airlines Flight 611: A Boeing 747-200 broke apart in mid-air and plunged into the Taiwan Strait killing 225 people.

2002  A train crash in Tenga, Mozambique killed 197 people.

2009  North Korea allegedly tested its second nuclear device. 

 

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia.

Word of the day

Lactivorous – feeding, living or subsisting on milk.

Fonterra forecast profit up, payout stable

Fonterra has announced a 10 cents per share increase in its forecast profit and payout, before retentions for the current season.

The updated forecast Payout range before retentions is $8.00-$8.10, which would be a new record for the Co-operative.

At the same time, Fonterra announced a lower opening forecast Payout for the 2011/12 season commencing 1 June 2011, reflecting an outlook for a higher average exchange rate and potentially moderating commodity prices. The opening forecast Payout range before retentions is $7.15-$7.25, including an opening forecast Milk Price of $6.75 per kilogram of milksolids (kgMS) and forecast Distributable Profit range of 40-50 cents per share.

The Co-operative has also set the Fair Value Share (FVS) price for the 2011/12 season at $4.52, the same level as in the current season.

The previous record payout was  $7.90, before retentions, and $7.66 cash basis, in the 2007/08 season.

Farmers who let this go to their heads got their fingers well and truly burned the following year when the forecast payout dropped and costs increased during the season. Even conservative budgeters had difficulties with few doing much better than breaking-even which explains why few paid tax that year.

The company is taking a more cautious approach to the forecast for the coming season although it is still a very good starting price and the company’s highest so far.

The updated forecast Payout range for this year combines an unchanged forecast Milk Price of $7.50 per kgMS and a forecast Distributable Profit range of $690-$830 million, equating to 50-60 cents per share – 10 cents higher than the previous forecast in February 2011. The target range for the Dividend (to be paid out of Distributable Profit) is unchanged at 25-30 cents per share.

As a consequence, Fonterra forecasts that a 100 per cent share-backed farmer will earn on average in the range $8.00-$8.10 before retentions (up 10 cents on the previous forecast), and $7.75-$7.80 on a cash basis (unchanged from the previous forecast).

The increased retention means the direct return to farmers remains the same.

However, this is still a forecast , the final payout will be announced in September.

Smart marketing for launch

The first issue of  Primary which was launched yesterday includes The Farm 40 who are:

 . . . the most influential players in New Zealand agribusiness. Selected by a panel of experts led by Massey University’s Professor Jacqueline Rowarth, The Farm 40 contains some surprises and controversy and is a must-read for everyone. You might not agree with some of the choices, but then that’s what lists are for; to spark discussion and debate.

That’s a good idea to generate interest in the first issue, everyone in agribusiness is going to want to know who’s on the list.

The magazine has also used smart marketing in its distribution:

Primary is being mailed over 12,000 individually-identified, high-net-worth farmers. In addition, this issue is being distributed to another 1,500 customers of sponsors Bank of New Zealand, Audi, Bayer, Farmside, Mercury Energy, and the aforementioned PGG Wrightson.

That’s a big enough group to engender interest and discussion but small enough to leave out plenty who won’t want to admit to having been left out and therefore will want to buy a copy of the magazine.

Lisa Harper wins Enterprsing Rural Women Award

Lisa Harper of Sherington Grange is the 2011 winner of Rural Women NZ’s Enterprising Rural Women Award.

The business provides accommodation, food and activities, including cheese making and fishing  on a 400 acre working farm in Marlborough.

Runner-ups were  sisters Maria-Fe Rohrlach and Bernadine Guilleux. Their business, Nestling produces organis merino and cotton baby wraps and slings.

This is the third year Rural Women has run the awards. It’s a wonderful initiative which not only rewards the winners but highlights the achievements of rural businesswomen.

Labour does favour for National and farmers

Labour’s promise to force farmers into the Emissions Trading Scheme in 2013 has done both the National Party and farmers a favour.

It’s good for National because it’s further proof that Labour has declared open season on farmers. That will make it much easier to get support for the blue team not just from farmers but also from those who work for, service and supply them and anyone else who understands the importance of the primary sector in this country.

Just how damaging the policy would be is spelt out by Beef + Lamb NZ:

Including livestock emissions in the ETS, in isolation from every other country in the world would be economic suicide for New Zealand and could spell the end of the sheep and beef sector in this country, Beef + Lamb New Zealand is warning the Labour Party.

Responding to Labour’s election year announcement that it would bring agriculture into the emissions trading scheme in 2013 and use the money to fund research and development tax credits, B+LNZ Chairman, Mike Petersen said the policy would penalise an $8 billion sector that is heavily supporting New Zealand’s export led recovery.

“At a time when a strong export sector is even more vital to New Zealand’s economy, we have Labour harking back to old ideas and their previously held view that farming is a sunset industry.

“What is most insulting is the proposal to use the emissions tax to fund R&D credits when the pastoral sector is already contributing significantly to climate change research and in fact is the only sector which has set up its own consortium (Pastoral Greenhouse Gas Consortium) to do so.

“What Labour seems to be proposing is to use the pastoral sector’s money to fund research for other industries that have not invested in climate change science.

“If that isn’t irksome enough for sheep and beef farmers, Labour seems to have completely forgotten that the sheep and beef sector has reduced its GHG emission levels significantly below Kyoto Protocol requirements and has so far produced carbon credits worth over $800 million dollars which have been pocketed by the Government.”

Bringing in livestock emissions would impose unsustainable additional costs on sheep and beef farmers, already under assault from massive farm input price inflation that has reached a staggering 41% over the previous 10 years, Petersen said.

“And let’s be clear, farmers are already in the ETS – they pay it on fuel and energy just like every other New Zealander. They are also investing in mitigation technologies but until there are viable tools for sheep and beef farmers to use to mitigate emissions on farm, it’s crazy to penalise them when no other country in the world is putting on-farm emissions into an ETS,” Petersen said.

Sheep and beef farmers through B+LNZ are funding the Pastoral Greenhouse Gas Research Consortium and with other sector organisations have invested $37 million since 2002. The Consortium is developing solutions for methane and nitrous oxide mitigation.

“Labour’s policy is effectively imposing cost on the sheep and beef sector which will make us uncompetitive in global markets. B+LNZ estimates of the cost to sheep and beef farmers under the Labour legislation was over $40,000 per farm at a carbon cost of $25.00 per tonne.

“In turn, this will ruin an iconic export industry, destroy our vibrant rural communities and, most ironically, lead to increases in global emissions when carbon efficient livestock production in New Zealand is replaced by comparably inefficient farming in other countries,” Petersen said.

If Labour’s policy is so bad, why is it good for farmers? 

Because it’s reinforced the government’s position that animal emissions won’t be taxed under the ETS unless other countries do it too  and there’s almost no chance of that happening in the next couple of years, if at all.

New Zealand’s agricultural sector won’t face the cost of the emissions trading scheme in 2015 unless other countries come to the party, Prime Minister John Key says.

The Prime Minister told reporters at his weekly post-Cabinet press conference New Zealand can’t “throw our biggest export earner to the wolves” by bringing agriculture under the ETS without other countries doing their part.

The government will only include agricultural emissions if farmers have a“reasonable chance” of competing internationally.

The sector was given a holiday from inclusion until 2015, though that’s only if a review, due in July, recommends requiring agricultural emissions be covered by the scheme.

“The test is whether other countries join them,” Key said.“We don’t live in some magical little world, where New Zealand can impose whatever costs it wants and say that that has no impact on our ability of our exporters to compete.

“We have the only unsubsidised agricultural sector in the world, and you don’t see our farmers moaning about that, and nor do you see any political will to change that.”

Labour isn’t suggesting bringing livestock into the ETS to reduce emissions. Its primary motivation isn’t environmental, it’s to raise more taxes.

The anti-farmer rhetoric in the past week suggests it has a secondary motivation to punish primary producers for political reasons and drive a wedge between town and country.

In doing so it will produce a gap which National is willing and able to fill.

Who pays for higher minimum wage?

Duncan Garner describes Labour’s decision to increase the minimum wage to $15  an hour as good politics but bad policy.

How can any policy which comes at so high a price be good for anything?

Employers pay wages but the costs of forcing a higher minimum wage on them don’t stop there.

Other employees pay because paying more for some leaves less for others unless it is at least matched by an increase in productivity and profit.

All employees pay the price of less security of job tenure when the cost of labour increases without regard for the profitability of the business.

Business owners and shareholders pay the price of less security of income for the same reason.

Prospective employees pay – in particular the young and any others who find it more difficult to get work if employers have to pay them more than their work is worth.

The country pays the price of higher unemployment, more business failures and less tax as a result of that.

Consumers pay more for ggoods and services if the price of producing them icnreases, that fuels inflation and we all pay the price of that.

Politicians can’t make sustainable increases to wages by decree, that can only be done by employers.

Politicians can make sustainable increases to workers’ take-home pay by reducing taxes but Labour wouldn’t do that.

May 24 in history

15 BC  Julius Caesar Germanicus, Roman commander, was born (d. 19).

1218 The Fifth Crusade left Acre for Egypt.

1276  Magnus Ladulås was crowned King of Sweden in Uppsala Cathedral.

 

1487  Lambert Simnel was crowned as “King Edward VI” at Dublin.

1595  Nomenclator of Leiden University Library appeared, the first printed catalog of an institutional library.

 

1621  The Protestant Union was formally dissolved.

1626  Peter Minuit bought Manhattan.

1689  The English Parliament passes the Act of Toleration protecting Protestants.

1738  John Wesley was converted, essentially launching the Methodist movement; the day is celebrated annually by Methodists as Aldersgate Day.

1798 Irish Rebellion of 1798 led by the United Irishmen against British rule began.

1819 Queen Victoria  was born (d. 1901).

1822  Battle of Pichincha: Antonio José de Sucre secured the independence of the Presidency of Quito.

 

1830  ”Mary Had a Little Lamb” by Sarah Josepha Hale was published.

1830  The first revenue trains in the United States began service on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad between Baltimore, Maryland and Ellicott’s Mills, Maryland.

1832  The First Kingdom of Greece was declared in the London Conference.

1844  Samuel F. B. Morse sent the message “What hath God wrought” (a Bible quotation, Numbers 23:23) from the Old Supreme Court Chamber in the United States Capitol to his assistant, Alfred Vail, in Baltimore, Maryland.

1846 Mexican-American War: General Zachary Taylor captured Monterrey.

1854 New Zealand’s parliament sat for the first time in Auckland, with 37 MPs.

 1856  John Brown and his men murdered five slavery supporters at Pottawatomie Creek, Kansas.

 

1861 American Civil War: Union troop occupied Alexandria, Virginia.

1870 Jan Christiaan Smuts, Prime Minister of South Africa, was born (d. 1950).

1883 The Brooklyn Bridge  was opened to traffic after 14 years of construction.

 

1887 Edward “Mick” Mannock, Irish WWI flying ace was born (d. 1918).

1895  Henry Irving became the first person from the theatre to be knighted.

1900 Second Boer War: The United Kingdom annexed the Orange Free State.

1901  Seventy-eight miners died in the Caerphilly pit disaster in South Wales.

1915  World War I: Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary.

1921  The trial of Sacco and Vanzetti opened.

 

1930  Amy Johnson landed in Darwin, Northern Territory, becoming the first woman to fly from England to Australia.

 

1935  The first night game in Major League Baseball history was played in Cincinnati, Ohio, with the Cincinnati Reds beating the Philadelphia Phillies 2-1 at Crosley Field.

1940  Igor Sikorsky performed the first successful single-rotor helicopter flight.

1941 Bob Dylan, American singer and songwriter, was born.

1941  World War II: In the Battle of the Atlantic, the German Battleship Bismarck sank the then pride of the Royal Navy, HMS Hood, killing all but three crewmen.

1943  Josef Mengele became chief medical officer of the Auschwitz concentration camp.

1945 Priscilla Presley, American actress, was born.

1956 Conclusion of the Sixth Buddhist Council on Vesak Day, marking the 2,500 year anniversary after the Lord Buddha’s Parinibbāna.

1956 The first Eurovision Song Contest was held in Lugano, Switzerland.

 

1958 United Press International was formed through a merger of the United Press and the International News Service.

 

1960 Kristin Scott Thomas, English actress, was born.

1960 Guy Fletcher, British keyboardist (Dire Straits), was born.

1960  Cordón Caulle began to erupt.

 

1961  American civil rights movement: Freedom Riders  were arrested in Jackson, Mississippi for “disturbing the peace” after disembarking from their bus.

1961  Cyprus entered the Council of Europe.

1962 Project Mercury: American astronaut Scott Carpenter orbited earth three times in the Aurora 7 space capsule.

1967  Egypt imposed a blockade and siege of the Red Sea coast of Israel.

1968  FLQ separatists bombed the U.S. consulate in Quebec City.

1970  The drilling of the Kola Superdeep Borehole began in the Soviet Union.

 

1973  Earl Jellicoe resigned as Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the Lords.

1976  The London to Washington, D.C. Concorde service began.

1980  The International Court of Justice called for the release of United States embassy hostagesin Tehran. 

1982  Liberation of Khorramshahr, Iranians recapture of the port city of Khorramshahr from the Iraqis during the Iran–Iraq War.

1988  Section 28 of the United Kingdom’s ocal Government Act of 1988, a controversial amendment stating that a local authority cannot intentionally promote homosexuality, was enacted.

1989  Sonia Sutcliffe, wife of the Yorkshire Ripper, was awarded  £600,000 in damages (later reduced to £60,000 on appeal) after winning a libel action against Private Eye.

1990  A car carrying American Earth First! activists Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney exploded in Oakland, California, critically injuring both.

1991  Eritrea gained its independence from Ethiopia.

1991  Israel conducted Operation Solomon, evacuating Ethiopian Jews to Israel.

1992 The last Thai dictator,  General Suchinda Kraprayoon, resigned following pro-democracy protests.

1994  Four men convicted of bombing the World Trade Center in New York in 1993 were each sentenced to 240 years in prison.

2000  Israeli troops withdrew from southern Lebanon after 22 years of occupation.

2001 Fifteen-year-old Sherpa Temba Tsheri became  the youngest person to climb to the top of Mount Everest.

2001  The Versailles wedding hall disaster in Jerusalem, killed 23 and injured over 200 in Israel’s worst-ever civil disaster.

2002  Russia and the United States signed the Moscow Treaty.

 

2004  North Korea banned mobile phones.

Sourced from NZ History Online and Wikipedia.

Word of the day

Talionic – pertaining to revenge in kind, punishment identical to the offence – an eye for an eye.

How much are we paying for this?

The front of this card, delivered to mail boxes in Oamaru at the weekend, was bright red. It asked people to oppose the partial sale of state assets.

If you look very carefully at the bottom left hand corner you’ll see the House of Representatives symbol which shows you and I are paying for it.

Thanks Fonterra

The Rise Up Christchurch- Te Kotahitanga  Telethon broadcast on Maori Television yesterday raised $2,561,015.30 for earthquake relief.

Fonterra gave a last minute donation of $1 million.

It had already given  $500, 000 to cover  production costs so that all money raised goes to the government’s earthquake appeal.

Fonterra’s backing of Rise Up Christchurch – Te Kotahitanga continues our long-term commitment to Christchurch. We were able to provide immediate practical support to Christchurch with our tankers, water supply, milk products and a skilled team of 24 Search and Rescue volunteers. The Co-operative has previously donated $2 million cash from consolidated funds to the Red Cross Christchurch appeal, while its staff and shareholders raised another $1.9 million which has also been sent to Red Cross.

If my addition is correct that’s $5,400,000 from the co-operative, its staff and suppliers. Not a bad effort from the company and industry which cops more than its fair share of criticism.