Word of the day

Anachronaut – a person who re-enacts several time periods and is inclined to introduce articles from these activities into the steampunk world.; a person who enjoys speaking and/or behaving in an achronistic fashion.

Rural round-up

Red meat prices forty years ago – Allan Barber:

We could be forgiven for thinking nothing has changed in the last forty years with regard to meat schedule setting, if not actual price levels. But an address to the Ruakura Farmers Conference in 1975 by then chairman of the New Zealand meat Producers Board, Charles Hilgendorff, gives an interesting perspective on the industry at that time.

The Board’s overriding concern was price stabilisation whereby it sought to avoid excessive short term highs and lows, but it was not in favour of absolute stability because this would provide a misleading impression to producers. The Meat Board had been involved in price support for the past 20 years and, funded as it was by farmer levies, it saw the need to use levy funds to smooth prices within a range. When prices exceeded a certain trigger, the surplus would be withheld from producers to provide a buffer when prices dropped. . .

 Managing the dairy downturn – Keith Woodford:

It is still far from clear whether we have reached the bottom of the dairy price cycle. The Chinese seem to be coming back into the market but no one much else is. But even if prices do start to rise in the next few months, down on the farms things will be tight at least until Christmas.

There are considerable lags in the system between prices at the Global Dairy Trade auction, and the milk cheques that farmers receive. Hence the financial crunch is just coming on. . .

Scanning and tracking stock is key for Gypsy Day moves:

The key risk for farmers during this year’s June 1st Gypsy Day is ensuring that stock are accurately identified and tracked, says Michael Lee, Principal with Crowe Horwath in Invercargill.

One of the biggest days in the dairying calendar, Gypsy Day marks the start of the new season when farms are bought and sold, stock is transferred to new owners and new sharemilking contracts are signed. This year it will again fall on a Monday public holiday.

“Stock is the second-biggest investment for farmers after the farm itself,” said Mr Lee. . .

Farmers wanted to help NIWA:

NIWA is looking for farmers to help fine tune its latest development.
The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research has developed new tools that can help farmers decide when to irrigate or fertilise. But it needs farmers to test out the tools to ensure they are as practical and easy to use as possible.

The first new tool is called NIWA IrriMet and will be demonstrated at the NIWA stand in the main pavilion at this year’s National Agricultural Fieldays. IrriMet follows the successful launch of FarmMet at last year’s Fieldays.

FarmMet is a tailored weather forecasting tool that provides accurate up-to-date forecasts specific to individual properties. It works by capturing data from climate stations closest to an individual farm and using that to tailor a forecast to farmers delivered straight to their computer. . .

Ballance farewells Warwick de Vere after 45 years:

Fertiliser industry stalwart, Warwick de Vere will leave Ballance Agri-Nutrients Mount Maunganui site for the last time on today [29 May], closing the door on a 45-year career with the co-operative.

Known by colleagues as a legend who “lives, breathes and eats fertiliser”, he joined the industry as a laboratory technician in 1970 at New Zealand Farmers Fertiliser, Te Papapa, one of Ballance’s legacy companies. That was the start of a career which spanned a number of technical and management roles spanning manufacturing, safety, distribution, sales, human resources and IT, culminating in various General Manager roles with the co-operative in the last 15 years. . .

Vet Club Merger Confirmed:

A merger between two of North Island’s Veterinary Clubs has been confirmed. Effective 1st of June, Anexa Animal Health and Farmers Vet Club (FVC Veterinary Services) will operate as one practice called Anexa FVC.

Chairman Brian Gordon said, “This merger provides a sustainable Vet Club model in the Waikato-Hauraki region for the future. Farmers Vet Club (t/a FVC Veterinary Services) was established in Ngatea in 1923 and the Morrinsville Vet Club (t/a Anexa Animal Health) was established in Morrinsville in 1939. These clubs were established by farmers, for farmers and the Boards of both clubs wish to ensure strong competition remains in the market for local farmers.” . . .

Rural Business Network Hub launches in Northland:

Rural business professionals in Northland will have an opportunity to develop their businesses and strengthen their networks with the launch of the Northland Rural Business Network Hub on June 16. Whangarei will host the inaugural event on Tuesday June 16 at the Whangarei Barge Showgrounds Events Centre.

The Rural Business Network provides an opportunity for rural-based business people to participate in events that will help them grow their business through networking and learning from others. RBN aims to connect innovative, motivated people from across the range of primary industry sectors with successful, experienced businessmen and women creating opportunities to share ideas, be inspired and learn by example. . .

Seeking new Holstein Friesian Genetic Leaders:

Holstein Friesian New Zealand and CRV Ambreed will team up again this year to select New Zealand’s next generation of top Holstein Friesian bulls for their joint sire proving programme, ‘Holstein Friesian Genetic Leaders’.

Recently celebrating 20 years, the joint venture was set up to source, prove and sell high merit genetics within New Zealand’s Holstein Friesian population and has helped to advance and develop the breed ever since. . .

Beautiful things

Once, there was a girl who wanted to change the world & at first, she thought it’d be easy, because if everyone could see how beautiful it’d be, it’d take about a minute, but all the people she talked to were too busy to stop & listen. So, she went off & did beautiful things all on her own & pretty soon people were stopping and asking if they could come along & do that, too & that’s how she figured out how worlds change.

Beautiful Things – ©2014 Brian Andreas

You can sign up for an email delivery with a daily dose of whimsy like this at Story People.

Flag of the day

The Flag Consideration Panel is inviting people to upload designs for a new flag.

There’s more than 1500 in the gallery already.

John Ansell thinks the issue is black and white:

To the rest of the world, our flag is not really a national flag at all. It’s a regional flag. And it’s utterly devoid of anything that says New Zealand. (At least the Australian variant features the Commonwealth star, the Fijian flag displays their coat of arms, and the stars of the Cook Islands and Tuvaluan ensigns represent those nations’ islands.)

All the New Zealand flag – one of six to fly the Southern Cross – says to anyone who cares (which wouldn’t be many, given its dullness) is “British colony, South Pacific.” Such mediocrity is hardly good enough for a proudly independent, high achieving nation. Time to get positive about our nation and adopt a national flag!

Sunday soapbox

Sunday’s soapbox is yours to use as you will – within the bounds of decency and absence of defamation. You’re welcome to look back or forward, discuss issues of the moment, to pontificate, ponder or point us to something of interest, to educate, elucidate or entertain, amuse, bemuse or simply muse, but not abuse.

The words of the tongue should have three gatekeepers: Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary – Arabian Proverb.

May 31 in history

1279 BC – Rameses II (The Great) (19th dynasty) became pharaoh of Ancient Egypt.

526  A an earthquake in Antioch, Turkey, killed 250,000.

1223 Mongol invasion of the Cumans: Battle of the Kalka River – Mongol armies of Genghis Khan led by Subutai defeated Kievan Rus and Cumans.

1578  Martin Frobisher sailed from Harwich,  to Frobisher Bay, Canada, eventually to mine fool’s gold, used to pave streets in London.

1669   Samuel Pepys recorded the last event in his diary.

1678  The Godiva procession through Coventry began.

1759  The Province of Pennsylvania banned all theatre productions.

1775  American Revolution: The Mecklenburg Resolutions adopted in the Province of North Carolina.

1790 Alferez Manuel Quimper explored the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

1790 – The United States enacted its first copyright statute, the Copyright Act of 1790.

1813  Lawson, Blaxland and Wentworth, reached Mount Blaxland, effectively marking the end of a route across the Blue Mountains.

1819 Walt Whitman, American poet, was born (d. 1892).

1859  The clock tower at the Houses of Parliament, which houses Big Ben, started keeping time.

1862  American Civil War Peninsula Campaign: Battle of Seven Pines or (Battle of Fair Oaks) – Confederate forces under Joseph E. Johnston & G. W. Smith engaged Union forces under George B. McClellan outside Richmond, Virginia.

1864 American Civil War Overland Campaign: Battle of Cold Harbor – The Army of Northern Virginia under Robert E. Lee engaged the Army of the Potomac under Ulysses S. Grant & George G. Meade.

1866  In the Fenian Invasion of Canada, John O’Neill led 850 Fenian raiders across the Niagara Riveras part of an effort to  free Ireland from the English.

1872 Heath Robinson, English cartoonist, was born (d. 1944).

1884 Arrival at Plymouth of Tawhiao,  Maori king, to claim protection of Queen Victoria.

1889 – Johnstown Flood: Over 2,200 people died after a dam break sent a 60-foot (18-meter) wall of water over the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania.

1898 Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, American clergyman, was born (d. 1993).

1902 The Treaty of Vereeniging ended the second Boer War war and ensured British control of South Africa.

1910 Creation of the Union of South Africa.

1911  The ocean liner R.M.S. Titanic was launched.

1916  World War I: Battle of Jutland – The British Grand Fleet under the command of Sir John Jellicoe & Sir David Beatty engaged the Kaiserliche Marine under the command of Reinhard Scheer & Franz von Hipper in the largest naval battle of the war, which proved indecisive.

1921 Tulsa Race Riot: A civil unrest in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the official death toll was 39, but recent investigations suggest the actual toll was much higher.

1923 Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, was born (d. 2005).

1924  The Soviet Union signed an agreement with the Peking government, referring to Outer Mongolia as an “integral part of the Republic of China”, whose “sovereignty” therein the Soviet Union promised to respect.

1927  The last Ford Model T rolled off the assembly line after a production run of 15,007,003 vehicles.

1930 Clint Eastwood, American film director and actor, was born.

1935  A 7.7 Mw earthquake destroyed Quetta, Pakistan,: 40,000 dead.

1935 Jim Bolger, 35th Prime Minister of New Zealand, was born.

1938 Peter Yarrow, American folk singer (Peter, Paul and Mary), was born.

1939 Terry Waite, British humanitarian, was born.

1941  A Luftwaffe air raid in Dublin claimed 38 lives.

1942 World War II: Imperial Japanese Navy midget submarines began a series of attacks on Sydney.

1943  Zoot Suit Riots began.

1961 Republic of South Africa created.

1962 The West Indies Federation dissolved.

1962  Adolf Eichmann was hanged in Israel.

1965 Brooke Shields, American actress and supermodel, was born.

1967 Phil Keoghan, New Zealand-born US televison personality, was born.

1970  The Ancash earthquake caused a landslide that buried the town of Yungay, Peru; more than 47,000 people were killed.

1971  In accordance with the Uniform Monday Holiday Act passed by the U.S. Congress in 1968, observation of Memorial Day occurs on the last Monday in May for the first time, rather than on the traditional Memorial Day of May 30.

1973  The United States Senate voted to cut off funding for the bombing of Khmer Rouge targets within Cambodia, hastening the end of the Cambodian Civil War.

1975 Mona Blades, an 18 year-old htich hiker disappeared, after last being seen in an orange Datsun.

1977  The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System completed.

1981  Burning of Jaffna library, Sri Lanka.

1985 Forty-one tornadoes hit Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ontario, leaving 76 dead.

1989 – A group of six members of the guerrilla group Revolutionary Movement Tupac Amaru (MRTA) of Peru, shot dead eight transsexuals, in the city of Tarapoto

1991 – Bicesse Accords in Angola laid out a transition to multi-party democracy under the supervision of the United Nations’ UNAVEM II mission.

2005 – Vanity Fair revealed that Mark Felt was Deep Throat

2010 – In international waters, armed Shayetet 13 commandos, intending to force the flotilla to anchor at the Ashdod port, boarded ships trying to break the ongoing blockade of the Gaza Strip, resulting in 9 civilian deaths.

2013 – The asteroid 1998 QE2 and its moon made their closest approach to Earth for the next two centuries.

2013 – An EF5 tornado devastated El Reno, Oklahoma, killing nine people, becoming the widest tornado in recorded history, with an astounding diameter of 2.6 miles (4.2 km).

2013 – The asteroid 1998 QE2 and its moon made their closest approach to Earth for the next two centuries.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia

Word of the day

Steampunk – a genre of science fiction that typically features steam-powered machinery rather than advanced technology; a subgenre of science fiction and sometimes fantasy—also in recent years a fashion and lifestyle movement—that incorporates technology and aesthetic designs inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery; tomorrow as it used to be.

Rural round-up

Ahuwhenua Trophy winner congratulated:

Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy and Māori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell have tonight congratulated Mangaroa Station, this year’s Ahuwhenua Trophy winner.

Mangaroa Station was presented with the 2015 Ahuwhenua Trophy BNZ Māori Excellence in Farming award at an awards dinner tonight in Whanganui.

“The owners of Mangaroa Station set a fantastic example to other Māori landowners of what can be achieved through ambition and hard work,” says Mr Guy.

“They’ve created a successful family-run farm and sustainably developed their land for future generations.” . . .

Farmers confronting second season of low dairy payouts:

Federated Farmers says the latest Fonterra $5.25 payout prediction for farmers for next season is a signal that the low payment this year is not a one off.

Dairy chairman Andrew Hoggard says a more immediate impact will be felt from a further 10 cents a kilo reduction in the current season payout down to $4.40.

“This will make it really tough for farmers managing their cashflows through the low winter months with the likelihood of little or no retro payments helping to smooth out that cashflow.”

Hoggard notes Fonterra’s advance rate of $3.66 isn’t scheduled to pick up to $4.17 until February 2016, for the milk produced in January. . .

Swede survey results show multiple factors to manage:

Industry body DairyNZ is advising farmers to focus on managing a number of factors involved in feeding swedes this season, including the proportion of swede that makes up the diet of their cows.

In the wake of preliminary analysis of an in-depth farmer survey, DairyNZ’s Southland/South Otago regional leader Richard Kyte says farmers have been advised<http://www.dairynz.co.nz/swedes> of its key findings including that cow ill-health increased last season as the proportion of swedes fed as part of the total diet increased. Feeding swedes on the milking platform (farm) in spring when cows approached calving and early lactation also increased the incidence of ill-health. . .

Agri-event to strengthen links between research and industry:

On the eve of Fieldays, the University of Waikato will host agri-stakeholders at an event to showcase its latest research and strengthen links with the agricultural industry. It features a presentation on the importance of soils, a panel discussion on how industry can work with Waikato, and the presentation of the 2015 New Zealand National Agricultural Fieldays Sir Don Llewellyn Scholarship prize.

The importance of soils

University of Waikato soil expert, Professor Louis Schipper, will discuss how we can improve the environmental outcomes of farming by looking at the use of soils to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and approaches to help reduce nitrogen losses to waterways. . .

Growing knowledge through collaboration:

A collaborative workshop to help food producers gain specialist knowledge and skills was held at Lincoln University yesterday.

Entitled “Growing You”, it is part of a series covering topics such as sustainable weed management and sustainable pest and disease management, and was a joint effort of the University, MG Marketing, and the Lincoln-based Biological Husbandry Unit (BHU) and Bio-Protection Research Centre (BPRC).

MG Marketing is a co-operative organisation with over 90 years of growing, distributing and selling fresh vegetables and fruit. . .

Blue cod fishery consultation launch:

Consultation on new proposals to manage the blue cod fishery in the Marlborough Sounds will begin on 2 June.

The Blue Cod Management Group, which developed these proposals, is made up of recreational and commercial fishing representatives and the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI).

Group spokesperson, Eric Jorgensen, says the proposals were developed following feedback from the community and an analysis of the science earlier this year.

“Our goal is a sustainable fishery for the current and future generations. Your feedback on these proposals will help us arrive at the best way forward. . .

Beef + Lamb New Zealand Using Online Tool to Engage with More Sheep And Beef Farmers:

Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) has launched a new interactive communication tool, “Farmers’ Voice” to provide another way to engage with sheep and beef farmers and provide a forum for them to share information with each other.

B+LNZ chief executive, Dr Scott Champion said Farmers’ Voice will be accessed through the B+LNZ website atbeeflambnz.com/farmersvoice and would be another way to get information to farmers and receive feedback on topical issues. It is designed to complement existing face-to-face, print, radio and electronic channels used by B+LNZ.

“As an online forum, Farmers’ Voice provides the opportunity to post stories and videos, follow blogs, have online conversations and run quick polls on a topical question. . .

Pomahaka Project Scales Up:

Following the success of a one year scoping exercise NZ Landcare Trust has secured nearly $150,000 from MPI’s Sustainable Farming Fund to facilitate a catchment scale project within the Pomahaka catchment. With support from Pomahaka Farmers Water Care Group and the Pomahaka Stakeholders Group the ‘Pathway for the Pomahaka’ project will utilise and showcase industry tools that demonstrate the benefits of good farm management practices on water quality. . .

Finer Wools Firm, Coarse Wools Ease:

New Zealand Wool Services International Limited’s Marketing Executive, Mr Paul Steel reports that continued shipping pressure for China kept Finer Crossbreds firm however coarse wools eased as volumes available increase.

The weighted indicator remained unchanged compared to the last sale on 21st May.

Of the 8,900 bales on offer, 94 percent sold. . .

Saturday’s smiles

This one’s for Queen’s Birthday:

Once upon a time, in a land far away, a beautiful, independent, self-assured young woman happened upon a frog as she sat, contemplating ecological issues on the shores of an unpolluted pond in a verdant meadow near her castle.

The frog hopped into the woman’s lap and said: “Elegant Lady, I was once a handsome prince, until an evil witch cast a spell upon me. One kiss from you, however, and I will turn back into the dapper, young prince that I am, and then, my sweet, we can marry and setup housekeeping in yon castle with my mother, where you can prepare my meals, clean my clothes, bear my children, and forever feel grateful and happy doing so.”

That night the woman dined sumptuously on a repast of lightly sautéed frog legs seasoned in a white wine and shallot cream sauce.

And a bonus one for Ardberg Day:

A chemistry teacher wanted to teach her year 12 class a lesson about the evils of liquor.

She produced an experiment that involved a glass of water, a glass of whiskey, and two worms.

“Now, class. Observe the worms closely,” the teacher said, putting a worm first into the water.

The worm in the water writhed about, happy as a worm in water could be. She put the second worm into the whiskey. It writhed pitifully and quickly sank to the bottom, dead as a doornail.

“Now, what lesson can we derive from this experiment?” the teacher asked.

Suzy, who always sat at he back of the classroom, raised her hand and responded, “Drink whisky and you won’t get worms.”

Flag of the day

The Flag Consideration Panel is inviting people to upload designs for a new flag.

There’s more than 2000 in the gallery already.

The Herald polled readers on this selection:

Results of the poll:

1. Heritage Minimalist 4.4%
2. New New Zealand Flag 3.97%
3. Long White Cloud 6.06%
4. Three Islands. One Land 1.13%
5. Silver Fern Flag Kyle Lockwood’s original 23.06%
6. Kiwi: Air Force 1.4%
7. Design 1 0.38%
8. Matariki Long White Cloud 3.81%
9. Manawa 9.12%
10. Silver Fern 10.57%
11. Silver Fern with Southern Cross 25.15%
12. United New Zealand 6.49%
13. Kiwi, Aotearoa, Oceans East & West 0.54%
14. Contemporary 0.65%
15. Long White Cloud Southern Cross 3.33%

Feel good no good if doesn’t make a difference

Finance Minsiter Bill English explains the importance of data:

. . . Speaking at the Identity Conference in Wellington on Monday, English said it was important to know “which people were where” across the country in order to tell what particular Government services were making a difference.

“The reason people hand over their PAYE at the end of the week or fortnight… is because they think we are making a difference to someone else’s life. Too often we haven’t.”

He said: “We’ve delivered policy to make us feel good… that made it look like we cared, but we never went back to see whether it made any difference, and actually, we couldn’t because often we didn’t know, and still don’t know who gets our service,” he said.

It’s unclear whether the people  who need help the most are receiving it or whether the services they receive have an impact, English said.

Businesses know if they’re making an impact because if they’re not customers don’t buy their goods and services and they run out of money.

It is much more difficult to measure the success of a lot of government agencies and publicly funded entities which are dealing with vulnerable people but it must be done.

There’s a “moral compulsion” for Government to provide assistance and the broadening of data collection, particularly around social services, has contributed to better outcomes.

“Take a child under 5 who is known to CYFS, where at least one parent in the household is on the benefit and where either of the parents has had contact with Corrections…we can pretty much forecast now that that child under 5 with those characteristics…by the age of 35 they’re five times more likely to be a beneficiary and seven times more likely to be in prison by age 21.”

English calls these children the “billion dollar kids” and says the more the state knows about them, “we may be able to change the course of that life”.

“If we can’t know that much about them it’s almost certain that we can’t change the course of their life.” . .

The moral compulsion isn’t just to provide assistance, it’s to provide assistance that makes a positive difference.

Saturday soapbox

Saturday’s soapbox is yours to use as you will – within the bounds of decency and absence of defamation. You’re welcome to look back or forward, discuss issues of the moment, to pontificate, ponder or point us to something of interest, to educate, elucidate or entertain, amuse, bemuse or simply muse but not to abuse.

If you don’t like the way things are, do something about it.

May 30 in history

70 Siege of Jerusalem: Titus and his Roman legions breached the Second Wall of Jerusalem. The Jewish defenders retreated to the First Wall. The Romans built a circumvallation, all trees within fifteen kilometres were cut down.

1416 The Council of Constance, called by the Emperor Sigismund, a supporter of Antipope John XXIII, burned Jerome of Prague following a trial for heresy.

1431  Hundred Years’ War: 19-year-old Joan of Arc was burned at the stake by an English-dominated tribunal. Because of this the Catholic Church remember this day as the celebration of Saint Joan of Arc.

1434  Hussite Wars (Bohemian Wars): Battle of Lipany – effectively ending the war, Utraquist forces led by Diviš Bořek of Miletínek defeated and almost annihilated Taborite forces led by Prokop the Great.

1536  Henry VIII of England married Jane Seymour, a lady-in-waiting to his first two wives.

1539 Hernando de Soto landed at Tampa Bay, Florida,  with 600 soldiers with the goal of finding gold.

1574  Henry III became King of France.

1588 The last ship of the Spanish Armada set sail from Lisbon heading for the English Channel.

1635  Thirty Years’ War: the Peace of Prague (1635) was signed.

1642  From this date all honours granted by Charles I were retrospectively annulled by Parliament.

1757 Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, was born (d. 1844).

1806 Andrew Jackson killed Charles Dickinson in a duel after Dickinson had accused Jackson’s wife of bigamy.

1814 Napoleonic Wars: War of the Sixth Coalition – the Treaty of Paris (1814) was signed returning French borders to their 1792 extent.

1819 – William McMurdo, English general, was born (d. 1894).

1832  The Rideau Canal in eastern Ontario opened.

1842  John Francis attempted to murder Queen Victoria as she drove down Constitution Hill with Prince Albert.

1845 – Amadeo I, King of Spain, was born (d. 1890).

1846 Peter Carl Fabergé, Russian goldsmith and jeweller, was born (d. 1920).

1854 The Kansas-Nebraska Act became law establishing the US territories of Nebraska and Kansas.

1859 Westminster’s Big Ben rang for the first time in London.

1862 – Mirza Alakbar Sabir, Azerbaijani philosopher and poet, was born (d. 1911).

1868  Decoration Day (the predecessor of the modern “Memorial Day) was observed in the United States for the first time (By “Commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic” John A. Logan‘s proclamation on May 5).

1871  The Paris Commune fell.

1876  Ottoman sultan Abd-ul-Aziz was deposed and succeeded by his nephew Murat V.

1879 New York City’s Gilmores Garden was renamed Madison Square Garden by William Henry Vanderbilt and opened to the public at 26th Street and Madison Avenue.

1883  A rumour that the Brooklyn Bridge was going to collapse causes a stampede that crushes twelve people.

1901 – A 10-man Royal Commission reported unanimously that New Zealand should not become a state of the Commonwealth of Australia.

1909 – Benny Goodman, American clarinet player, songwriter, and bandleader, was born (d. 1986).

1911  At the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the first Indianapolis 500 ended with Ray Harroun in his Marmon Wasp becoming the first winner of the 500-mile auto race.

1913  First Balkan War: the Treaty of London, 1913 is signed ending the war. Albania becomes an independent nation.

1914  The new and then largest Cunard ocean liner RMS Aquitania, 45,647 tons, set sails on her maiden voyage from Liverpool, England to New York City.

1915  The East Indiaman ship Arniston was wrecked during a storm at Waenhuiskrans, the loss of 372 lives.

1917  Alexander I became king of Greece.

1919 – René Barrientos, Bolivian army officer and politician, 55th President of Bolivia, was born. (d. 1969).

1922  In Washington, D.C. the Lincoln Memorial was dedicated.

1941  World War II: Manolis Glezos and Apostolos Santas climb on the Athenian Acropolis, tear down the Nazi swastika and replace it with the Greek flag.

1942  World War II: 1000 British bombers launched a 90-minute attack on Cologne, Germany.

1948  A dike along the flooding Columbia River broke, obliterating Vanport, Oregon within minutes. Fifteen people die and tens of thousands are left homeless.

1955 Topper Headon, British musician (The Clash), was born.

1958  Memorial Day: the remains of two unidentified American servicemen, killed in action during World War II and the Korean War respectively, were buried at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery.

1959  The Auckland Harbour Bridge, crossing the Waitemata Harbour was officially opened by Governor-General Lord Cobham.

1961  Long time Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo was assassinated in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

1962 Kevin Eastman, American comic book creator (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), was born.

1963  A protest against pro-Catholic discrimination during the Buddhist crisis was held outside South Vietnam’s National Assembly, the first open demonstration during the eight-year rule of Ngo Dinh Diem.

1966 Former Congolese Prime Minister Evariste Kimba and several other politicians are publicly executed in Kinshasa on the orders of President Joseph Mobutu.

1967 Daredevil Evel Knievel jumped his motorcycle over 16 cars lined up in a row.

1967  The Nigerian Eastern Region declared independence as the Republic of Biafra, sparking a civil war.

1971 Mariner 9 was launched to map 70% of the surface, and to study temporal changes in the atmosphere and surface, of Mars.

1972 The Angry Brigade went on trial over a series of 25 bombings throughout Britain.

1972  In Tel Aviv members of the Japanese Red Army carried out the Lod Airport Massacre, killing 24 people and injuring 78 others.

1989  Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: the 33-foot high “Goddess of Democracy” statue was unveiled in Tiananmen Square by student demonstrators.

1996 – A New Zealand Royal Honours System was established with the institution of the New Zealand Order of Merit, which replaced the various British State Orders of Chivalry.

1998  A magnitude 6.6 earthquake hit northern Afghanistan, killing up to 5,000.2002– 272 days after the September 11 attacks, closing ceremonies were held for the clean up/recovery efforts at the World Trade Center site in New York City.2003 – Depayin massacre: at least 70 people associated with the National League for Democracy were killed by government-sponsored mob in Burma. Aung San Suu Kyi fled the scene, but was arrested soon afterwards.

2012 – Former Liberian president Charles Taylor was sentenced to 50 years in prison for his role in atrocities committed during the Sierra Leone Civil War.

2013  – Nigeria passed a law banning same-sex marriage.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia

Word of the day

WOMADs – weapons of mass adminsitrative delay; regulation which blocks growth.

Hat tip: NBR

For stubborn lids

J Bloggs has been offering suggestions in the Friday’s answers post for tools to open jars with stubborn lids, neither of which are like the one I have.

I don’t know how to get a photo in a comment so here’s what I mean:

When you squeeze the bottom arm it allows you to adjust the size of the grip.

Rural round-up

Top deer environment award winners announced – Kate Taylor:

Central Hawke’s Bay farmers George Williams and Laura Billings were presented with the Elworthy Environment Award at the deer industry conference in Napier on Tuesday night.

The couple have a 1188ha business, including home farm Te Maire, in the Tikokino area with sheep, beef and cropping as well as deer.

Williams has a personal passion for deer with a focus on velvet with a venison by-product.

Velvet production for the 2014/15 season was a total of 2550kg (including 278kg of regrowth). Te Maire has also hosted the Wilkins Farming North Island stag sale since 2010. . .

Chefs to serve up kiwi venison in Euorpean restaruants –  Kate Taylor:

New Zealand venison will be eaten at European restaurants this summer.

Thirty-six ambassador chefs in Belgium and the Netherlands will be serving cervena venison on their menus in a trial as part of a Passion2Profit initiative formally launched at the Deer Industry Conference in Napier on Tuesday. . .

NZ heading for lowest wool clip in 6 years as farmers favour meat breeds, sheep flock declines – Tina Morrison:

(BusinessDesk) – New Zealand, the world’s largest exporter of crossbred wool, is heading for its smallest annual wool clip in six years, reflecting the lowest sheep flock in more than 70 years, dry conditions and an increased focus on meat producing breeds of sheep.

New Zealand will probably produce 138,400 tonnes of greasy wool, or 833,700 wool bales, in the annual season that runs through June, down 5.4 percent on the year earlier, according to farmer-owned industry organisation Beef + Lamb New Zealand. That would mark the lowest level since the 2008/09 season when the clip dropped to 132,400 tonnes as farmers eschewed a second shear in the face of low wool prices. . .

Support for dairy farmers ramped up:

Industry body DairyNZ is ramping up its support to dairy farmers following the announcement today by Fonterra of an opening forecast Farmgate Milk Price of $5.25 per kgMS for the 2015-16 season.

Chief executive Tim Mackle says DairyNZ had already been working on boosting its Tactics for Tight Times campaign to help farmers cope with what is likely to be a “very tough and grim season”.

“By our calculations, this forecast will translate into an average farmer’s milk income dropping by $150,000 for this next season. We’ve worked out that the breakeven milk price for the average farmer now going forward is $5.70 kgMS, yet under this forecast scenario they’ll only be receiving $4.75 all up in terms of farm income including retro payments from last season and dividends. Annual farm working expenses will need to be reduced to minimise increasing debt levels further. The flow-on impacts to the local economy will be significant as that money gets spent on things like feed, fertiliser, repairs and maintenance items. There will also be less capital spending in our sector. . .

Well-oiled operation sees rapid growth – Harrison Christian:

WAYNE and Maureen Startup never dreamed the four olive trees in their Havelock North backyard would turn into 17,000.

But that is what happened, after they decided to go full-time with their hobby 15 years ago.

The Village Press, which takes its name from their hometown, is the biggest and most competitive olive oil operation in New Zealand. Its high-quality olive and avocado oils are stocked on shelves around the world – and the business continues to grow. . .

Farmers ready to put irrigation funds to good use:

Federated Farmers says farmers will put to good use a $25m funding boost, from the recent Budget, for investigation and development of irrigation projects.

The Government has put $25m into the Irrigation Acceleration Fund through the next five years to kick-start regional irrigation projects.

Federated Farmers spokesperson on water, Ian Mackenzie, says the Government is quite right to identify nearly every part of New Zealand as being hit by drought in the past three years. . .

Plant disease world first in Bay:

A Peruvian plant disease will be used in a world first biocontrol against a notorious weed in the Bay of Plenty and Northland

Lantana blister rust (Puccinia lantanae) was recently released in the Bay and Northland regions in an attempt to control lantana – considered one of the world’s 10 worst weeds.

Landcare Research scientists have been searching for biocontrols before it becomes widespread. . .

Input Prices Rise for Sheep And Beef Farmers:

Prices for inputs used on New Zealand sheep and beef farms increased 1.1 per cent in the year to March 2015, according to the latest Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) Economic Service sheep and beef on-farm inflation report.

The sheep and beef on-farm inflation report identifies annual changes in farm input prices in New Zealand for the various expenditure categories. The on-farm inflation rate is determined by weighting the individual input category price changes by their proportion of total farm expenditure.

B+LNZ Economic Service chief economist Andrew Burtt says the increase in the 2014-15 year follows a 0.6 per cent decrease the previous year and was driven by rises in prices of interest and, local and central government rates and fees. It was only partly offset by a fall in fuel prices as fuel accounts for less than 5 per cent of sheep and beef total farm expenditure. . .

Pasture and Performance Loan to lift red meat productivity:

New Zealand’s largest rural lender today launched an extended lending package for red meat farmers wanting to boost farm productivity.

ANZ Bank’s Pasture and Performance Loan offers an interest rate of 5%* p.a. with a maximum loan of $100,000. The maximum loan term is five years, principal reducing, and there are no establishment fees. . .

Friday’s answers

Thursday’s questions were:

1. Who said: I’m giving him a Useful Pot to Keep Things In, . . and to whom was he giving it?

2. What is an aglet?

3. It’s chose in French, cosa in Italian and Spanish and  mea in Maori, what is it in English?

4. What is a gnomon?

5. What useful thing/s other might not have that you’d put in your ideal kitchen?

Points for answers:

Andrei got four right (right characters in wrong order for #1) and a bonus for extra information.

Tracey got two and J Bloggs got four.

Answers follow the break:

Flag of the day

The Flag Consideration Panel is inviting people to upload designs for a new flag.

There’s more than 2000 in the gallery already.

This one is  From Our Past to Our Future – 6 by Barbara Peddie:

Greenwash not green

Green Party co-leader aspirant James Shaw has just got his learners’ licence:

. . . Aged 16, Mr Shaw decided he would not learn to drive for environmental reasons. He has maintained that stance while living in Wellington, Brussels, and London.

Now that electric cars are more readily available, the 42 year-old is planning to change his policy, and has gained his learner licence. . .

Does he travel in cars that other people drive, does he travel in taxis, does he use products which are transported by land sea or air, does he fly . . .?

Not driving but being driven or flown isn’t being green it’s greenwash that defies logic.

If this is the sort of intellectual rigour the politician and his party apply to their policies and practices they are destined to remain on the loopy left of the political spectrum.

Working as it should

The New Zealand dollar has fallen to a four-year low in the wake of yesterday’s announcement of a reduced payout from Fonterra:

The kiwi touched 71.27 US cents, its lowest since March 2011, and was trading at 71.74 cents at 8am in Wellington, from 72.42 cents at 5pm yesterday. The trade-weighted index fell to 75.26 from 75.92 yesterday. . . .

This is the floating currency working as it should and a lower dollar will make it a little easier for all exporters.