Word of the day

悲しみ – sorrow.

6/10

6/10 in NZ History Online’s quiz.

How much is new party worth to Hone?

It doesn’t take much to form a political party. It takes a bit more to register one.

To apply for and maintain registration a party needs:

1)      An acceptable party name (and any abbreviation).

2)      Satisfactory evidence of at least 500 eligible members.

3)      Statutory declarations from its party secretary concerning membership, intention to contest general elections, and advising of any component parties.

4)      Party membership rules showing what is required for current financial membership, and candidate selection rules which provide for the democratic involvement of members in the process.

5)      An auditor (or person who has agreed to be auditor when the party is registered).

6)      A party secretary with a postal address (and ideally phone, fax and e-mail contact details).

7)      Either the secretary, or a sitting MP who is a current financial member of the party, to make the application.

The party should also understand and be prepared to meet the ongoing compliance requirements of being a registered political party.

Christ Trotter points out that isn’t as easy as it sounds.

But it’s not impossible and Hone Harawira starts with the advantage of a seat in parliament which gives him the opportunity to grandstand and also travel round the country recruiting members without having to worry about travel and accommodation expenses.

Getting registered is only one step on the way to winning seats in an election. The Maori Party agreed not to contest Harawira’s seat when but he agreed not to criticise the party either.

If he has a free-run at the seat he’d probably still win it. He won 12019 votes and a majority of 6,308  in 2008, although only 19,930 people bothered to vote. However, if the Maori Party put up a strong candidate it might take the seat, or split the vote and let the Labour candidate through.

Harawira hasn’t had a good start as an independent MP. He had the bad luck to miss making the headlines when it happened because the media, and the rest of the country, was concentrating on the earthquake. Then he exhibited bad management by forgetting to vote against the Coastal and Marine Areas legislation which precipitated his leaving the Maori Party.

But he’s holding meetings to discuss forming a new party. Regardless of his chances of holding his seat and the party winning any others, I presume he’d find it worth the effort of setting up a party as soon as he can.

It will need all the time it can get to gain any traction before the election on November 26. But I think there’d also be a financial gain in doing it. Assuming he becomes leader, am I right in thinking Harawira would then become another one-man band with the extra budget which goes to a party leader?

8.9 earthquake and tsunami in Japan

Japan was quick to respond with help when the earthquake hit Christchurch.

What can we do to help Japan in the wake of an 8.9 magnitude earthquake and tsunami?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHrPwzbqNyM&NR=1

March 12 in history

On March 12:

538  Witiges, king of the Ostrogoths ended his siege of Rome leaving the city in the hands of the victorious Roman general, Belisarius.

1622  Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, was canonized a saint by the Catholic Church.

1689 The Williamite war in Ireland began.

1821  Sir John Abbott, third Prime Minister of Canada, was born  (d. 1893).

1831 Clement Studebaker, American automobile pioneer, was born  (d. 1901).

 The Studebaker brothers

1832 The Filippo Taglioni ballet La Sylphide received its première performance at the Paris Opéra.

 

1832 Charles Boycott, British land agent and source of the term to boycott, was born (d. 1897).

 

1864 Arthur’s Pass was “discovered”.

 1868 Henry O’Farrell attempted to assassinate Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh.

1880 Henry Drysdale Dakin, British-American biochemist, known for the Dakin-West reaction, was born (d. 1952).

1881 Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, first President of Turkey was born (d. 1938).

1881 Andrew Watson made his Scotland debut as the world’s first black international football player and captain.

1894  Coca-Cola was sold in bottles for the first time.

 

1908 Rita Angus, New Zealand painter, was born  (d. 1970).

 

1912 The Girl Guides (later renamed the Girl Scouts of the USA) were founded in the United States.

1913  Canberra Day: The future capital of Australia was officially named Canberra.

1918 Moscow became the capital of Russia again after Saint-Petersburg held this status for 215 years.

1928 The St. Francis Dam in California failed, killing over 600 people.

 

1930 Mahatma Gandhi led a 200-mile march, known as the Dandi March, to the sea in defiance of British opposition, to protest the British monopoly on salt.

 

1932 Barbara Feldon, American actress and model, was born.

1933 Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed the nation for the first time as President of the United States in the first of his “fireside chats“.

 

1934 Konstantin Päts and General Johan Laidoner staged a coup in Estonia, and banned all political parties.

 

1938 Anschluss: German troops occupied Austria.

 

1940 Finland signed the Moscow Peace Treaty with the Soviet Union, ceding almost all of Finnish Karelia.

 

1946 Liza Minnelli, American singer and actress, was born.

1947 The Truman Doctrine was proclaimed to help stem the spread of Communism.

1948  James Taylor, American musician, was born.

1957 Marlon Jackson, American singer and musician (The Jackson 5), was born.

 

1966 Suharto became President of Indonesia.

1968  Mauritius achieved independence.

1971 The March 12 Memorandum, was sent to the Demirel government of Turkey and the government resigned.

1992 – Mauritius becomes a republic while remaining a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.

1993 Several bombs exploded in Mumbai killing about 300 and injuring hundreds more.

1993 North Korea said it planned to withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and refused to allow inspectors access to its nuclear sites.

1993 – The Blizzard of 1993 – Snow began to fall across the eastern portion of the US with tornadoes, thunder snow storms, high winds and record low temperatures.

 

1994 The Church of England ordained its first female priests.

2003 Zoran Đinđić, Prime Minister of Serbia, was assassinated in Belgrade.

2004 A President of South Korea, Roh Moo-hyun, was impeached by its national assembly for the first time in the nation’s history.

2005 Tung Chee Hwa, the first Chief Executive of Hong Kong, stepped down from his post after his resignation was approved by the Chinese central government.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia