Word of the day

Lepton – any member of a class of subatomic particles that respond only to the electromagnetic force, weak force, and gravitational force and are not affected by the strong force; a former monetary unit of Greece used only in calculations, worth one hundredth of a drachma.

Saturday’s smiles

A couple of robbers entered a bank in a small town.

One of them shouted: “Don’t move. The money belongs to the bank, your lives belong to you.”

Immediately all the people in the bank lay on the floor quietly and without panicking.

This is an example of how the correct wording of a sentence can make everyone change their view of the world.

One woman lay on the floor in a provocative manner.

The robber approached her saying, ” Ma’am, this is a robbery not a seduction. Please behave accordingly.”

This is an example of how to behave professionally, and focus on the goal..

While running from the bank the youngest robber (who had a college degree) said to the oldest robber (who had barely finished primary school): “Hey, maybe we should count how much we stole.”  The older man replied: “Don’t be stupid. It’s a lot of money so let’s wait for the news on TV to find out how much money was taken from the bank”

This is an example of how life experience is more important than a degree.

After the robbery, the bank manager said to the accountant: “Let’s call the cops and tell them how much has been stolen.”

“Wait”, said the Accountant, “before we do that, let’s add the $800,000 we took for ourselves a few months ago and just say that it was stolen as part of today’s robbery.”

This is an example of taking advantage of an opportunity.

The following day it was reported in the news that the bank was robbed of $ 3 million. The robbers counted the money, but they found only $1 million so they started to grumble.

“We risked our lives for $1 million, while the bank’s management robbed two million dollars without blinking? Maybe it’s better to learn how to work the system, instead of being a simple robber.”

This is an example of how knowledge can be more useful than power.

Moral of the Story : Give people guns, and they can rob a bank. Give them a bank, and they can rob everyone.

Rural round-up

Riding the dairy rollercoaster – Ian Telfer:

Head just west from Riverton, Southland, turn inland from stony Colac Bay and the wilder waters of Foveaux Strait, and you reach the Mathieson family farm.

Sandwiched between the sea and the bush-covered slopes of Longwood Forest, it’s where Ewen Mathieson was born, and has remained ever since.

“It’s a pretty special place.”

For most of its history, the 650-hectare farm ran mainly sheep and beef, but in 2008 – the year the National-led government was elected – the family decided to convert to dairy.

It turned out to be interesting timing. . . 

Researchers confident of pāua comeback after quake:

Researchers studying how pāua have been impacted by the Kaikōura earthquake say it is not yet clear how long it will take the species to recover.

November’s 7.8 magnitude earthquake lifted parts of coastline up by several metres in places, dehydrating and killing thousands of exposed pāua.

Last year the government announced a $2 million research package to look at how marine life was coping after the disaster.

Pāua are one of the species thought to have fared worst in the Kaikōura earthquake. A ban on collecting them and all other shellfish and seaweed in the area, excluding crayfish, is in place until November this year – when it will be reviewed. . . 

Green Ribbon Awards showcase farmers’ environmental work:

Federated Farmers is delighted to see farmers’ environmental work being showcased and celebrated at the annual Green Ribbon Awards in Wellington last night.

The Ministers for Environment and Conservation who hosted the event announced two farmer led initiatives as winners; The Banks Peninsula Conservation Trust was honoured in the community leadership category, while Te Rūnanga-ā-Iwi o Ngāti Kahu was winner of the Kaitiaki Leadership category.

In all, there were five farmer led initiatives which were 2017 finalists, underlining kiwi farmers’ commitment to the environment and biodiversity. . . 

Grow large with milk – Eric Crampton:

It would be tempting to take these results and make a case for ending Canadian dairy supply management, but there are better reasons for ending Canadian supply management.

A new paper out in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition shows there’s an association between children drinking non-dairy milk, as opposed to cow’s milk, and lower heights. 

The press release doesn’t link to the paper. Here’s the link to the paper if you’re interested. 

The press release talks about associations but doesn’t say anything about causality. Nevertheless, the author goes on about the lack of regulation of protein content in non-dairy milk. 

And hey, maybe that’s what’s going on. Reduced protein intake could be doing it. . . 

Global demand fueling forestry export growth:

Strong demand from key markets is driving up export growth in forestry products, Associate Primary Industries Minister Louise Upston says.

The latest Ministry for Primary Industries’ Situation and Outlook for Primary Industries (SOPI) shows strong growth in the forestry sector.

“Forestry exports are expected to grow 6.4 per cent to $5.5 billion in 2017, before increasing further to $6.3 billion by 2021 as increased volumes of wood become available for harvest,” Ms Upston says. . . 

Proud moment as New Zealand farmers take their wool to the world stage:

Seeing their product presented to the North American market was an emotional and triumphant experience for a group of New Zealand wool growers last month.

Just Shorn®, Carrfields Primary Wool (CP Wool)’s range of premium New Zealand wool carpets and rugs, was launched in New York City on May 18 at an event attended by New Zealand Trade Commissioner – Consul General, Beatrice Faumuina.

Craig Carr, managing director of Carrfields, said the farmers who attended the event were immensely proud to see the finished carpets and rugs, which are now available from US luxury flooring specialist Carlisle, presented at the event. . . 

Soybeans: Missouri’s Super Crop! Planting #My60Acres – Uptown farms:

It’s ‘s growing day 10 already and I am just now telling the story of planting #My60Acres!  Many of you will remember from last year that my farmer husband gave me full access to take over one, 60 acre  field on our home farm.
 
Last year #My60Acres was planted to corn (you can read that story here).  I delayed planting a few days (because I didn’t want to take time off from my day job) and it cost me in yield at harvest time because I hit some wet, cold weather right after planting. . . 

Sileni Estates wins Platinum at the prestigious Decanter World Wine Awards in London:

Hawke’s Bay producer, Sileni Estates, has been awarded Platinum at the 2017 Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA) for its 2014 Estate Selection Peak Syrah.

The Decanter World Wine Awards is one of the world’s largest and most influential international wine competitions judged by the top wine experts, Masters of Wine and Master Sommeliers from around the world. . . 

Xero urges agri sector to Improve glacial invoicing:

Xero announces new app developments, agri-specific reporting templates and benchmarking capability

As Fieldays is in full swing and businesses have been spending up large, Xero is urging agri businesses to proactively manage their finances.

Craig Hudson, New Zealand Country Manager at Xero, says the agri sector has some of the longest payment terms Xero sees across New Zealand.

“The concept of monthly invoicing is outdated for the agri sector. If you aren’t invoicing as you complete work, you are missing a trick. The sector will be losing out on millions due to the unnecessary cost of financing negative cashflow. . . 

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 abuse.

Stand up for what you believe in, even if you’re standing alone.

June 17 in history

1239 –  Edward Longshanks, English king, was born (d. 1307).

1462 – Vlad III the Impaler attempted to assassinate Mehmed II (The Night Attack) forcing him to retreat from Wallachia.

1497 – Battle of Deptford Bridge – forces under King Henry VII defeated troops led by Michael An Gof.

1565  Matsunaga Hisahide assassinated the 13th Ashikaga shogun,Ashikaga Yoshiteru.

1579  Sir Francis Drake claimed a land he called Nova Albion (modern California) for England.

1631 Mumtaz Mahal died during childbirth. Her husband, Mughal emperorShah Jahan I, then spent more than 20 years building her tomb, the Taj Mahal.

1691 Giovanni Paolo Pannini, Italian painter and architect, was born  (d. 1765).

1704 John Kay, English inventor of the flying shuttle, was born  (d. 1780)

1773 Cúcuta, Colombia was founded by Juana Rangel de Cuéllar.

1775 American Revolutionary War: Battle of Bunker Hill.

1789  In France, the Third Estate declared itself the National Assembly.

1839 In the Kingdom of Hawaii, Kamehameha III issued the Edict of toleration which gave Roman Catholics the freedom to worship in the Hawaiian Islands.

1843 The Wiarau Incident: New Zealand Company settlers and Ngati Toa clashed over the ownership of land in the Wairau Valley.

1863 Battle of Aldie in the Gettysburg Campaign of the American Civil War.

1867 Henry Lawson, Australian poet, was born  (d. 1922).

1876 Indian Wars: Battle of the Rosebud – 1,500 Sioux and Cheyenne led by Crazy Horse beat back General George Crook‘s forces at Rosebud Creek in Montana Territory.

1877  Indian Wars: Battle of White Bird Canyon – the Nez Perce defeated the US Cavalry at White Bird Canyon in the Idaho Territory.

1885 The Statue of Liberty arrived in New York Harbour.

1898  The United States Navy Hospital Corps  was established.

1900 Martin Bormann, Nazi official, was born  (d. 1945).

1901  The College Board introduced its first standardized test.

1910 Aurel Vlaicu performed the first flight of A. Vlaicu nr. 1.

1919 – Beryl Reid, English actress, was born (d. 1996).

1922 – John Amis, English journalist and critic, was born (d. 2013).

1930  U.S. President Herbert Hoover signed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act into law.

1932  Bonus Army: around a thousand World War I veterans amassed at the United States Capitol as the U.S. Senate considered a bill that would give them certain benefits.

1933 Union Station Massacre: in Kansas City, Missouri, four FBI agents and captured fugitive Frank Nash were gunned down by gangsters attempting to free Nash.

1939  Last public guillotining in France. Eugen Weidmann, a convicted murderer, was guillotined in Versailles.

1940  World War II: Operation Ariel began– Allied troops started to evacuate France, following Germany’s takeover of Paris and most of the nation.

1940 – World War II: sinking of the RMS Lancastria by the Luftwaffe.

1940 – World War II: the British Army’s 11th Hussars assaulted and tookFort Capuzzo in Libya from Italian forces.

1940 – The three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania fell under the occupation of the Soviet Union.

1943 Barry Manilow, American musician, was born.

1944  Iceland declared independence from Denmark and became a republic.

1945 Ken Livingstone, English politician, was born.

1947 Paul Young, English singer and percussionist, was born  (d. 2000).

1948  A Douglas DC-6 carrying United Airlines Flight 624 crashed near Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, killing all 43 people on board.

1949 – John Craven, English economist and academic, was born.

1950 Lee Tamahori, New Zealand film director, was born.

1953  Workers Uprising: in East Germany, the Soviet Union ordered a division of troops into East Berlin to quell a rebellion.

1957 Phil Chevron, Irish musician (The Pogues, The Radiators From Space), was born.

1958  The Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Crossing being built connecting Vancouver and North Vancouver, Canada, collapses into the Burrard Inlet, killing many of the ironworkers and injuring others.

1958  The Wooden Roller Coaster at Playland, in the Pacific National Exhibition, Vancouver, opened.

1960  The Nez Perce tribe was awarded $4 million for 7 million acres of land undervalued (4 cents/acre) in the 1863 treaty.

1961  The New Democratic Party of Canada was founded with the merger of the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) and the Canadian Labour Congress.

1963  The United States Supreme Court ruled 8 to 1 in Abington School District v. Schempp against allowing the reciting of Bible verses and the Lord’s Prayer in public schools.

1963  A day after South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem announced the Joint Communique to end the Buddhist crisis, a riot involving around 2000 people breaks out, killing one.

1972  Watergate scandal: five White House operatives were arrested for burglary of the offices of the Democratic National Committee

1987  With the death of the last individual, the Dusky Seaside Sparrowbecame extinct.

1991  Apartheid: the South African Parliament repealed the Population Registration Act, which had required racial classification of all South Africans at birth.

1992  A ‘Joint Understanding’ agreement on arms reduction was signed by George Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin (this was later codified in START II).

1994 O.J. Simpson was arrested for the murders of his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman.

2015 – Nine people were killed in a mass shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina.

Sourced from NZ history Online & Wikipedia