Shivoo – boisterous celebration of party; a revel; rowdy event; disturbance.
Saturday’s smiles
30/09/2017A young man at this construction site was bragging that he could outdo anyone based on his strength.
He especially made fun of one of his older workmates. After several minutes, the older worker had enough.
“Why don’t you put your money where your mouth is?” he said. “I’ll bet a week’s wages that I can haul something in a wheelbarrow over to the other building that you won’t be able to wheel back.”
“You’re on, old man,” the young man replied. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”
The old man reached out and grabbed the wheelbarrow by the handles. Then nodding to the young man, he said with a smile, “All right. Get in.
Saturday soapbox
30/09/2017Saturday’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.
Worry is like a rocking chair: it gives you something to do but never gets you anywhere. – Erma Bombeck
Word of the day
29/09/2017Razzle – out celebrating or enjoying oneself; a state of confusion or hilarity; a complex maneuver (as in sports) designed to confuse an opponent; a confusing or colourful often gaudy action or display; to cook something so that the outside of it burns, but the inside of it stays raw; warm oneself by the fire.
Rural round-up
29/09/2017NZ beef prices drop marginally lower with further downward pressure expected – industry report:
A strong New Zealand dollar and declining US imported beef prices have seen New Zealand beef prices drop marginally lower over the past quarter. And further downward pressure on beef prices is expected as the year progresses, with increased Japanese tariffs on frozen beef imports creating additional headwinds for Kiwi exporters, according to Rabobank’s latest Beef Quarterly report. . .
Synlait Receives CFDA Registration of the A2 Milk Company’s Infant Formula:
Synlait has received registration which will allow exports of The a2 Milk Company Limited’s China label infant formula to China to continue.
All manufacturers of infant formula are required to register brands and recipes with the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) in order to import products into China, through traditional import channels, from 1 January 2018. . .
GlobalDairyTrade beefs up offering with multi-seller pools of US lactose products – Rebecca Howard
(BusinessDesk) – Fonterra Cooperative Group’s GlobalDairyTrade platform, which has moved more than US$20 billion in dairy products since it launched in 2008, is looking to broaden its offering to meet customer needs.
“We are continually innovating and always looking for these expansion ideas,” Eric Hansen, director of GlobalDairyTrade, told BusinessDesk. . .
Science And Innovation Key to Farming’s Future, Says Dairynz Candidate:
Sustainability and scientific innovation is high on the agenda of Waikato dairy farmer Grant Coombes.
As a candidate for the DairyNZ Board of Directors, Coombes says it’s time for farmers to embrace new technology and innovation as a way forward, to tackle issues such as environmental sustainability. . .
App to Combat Kauri Dieback Disease – an Environmental Game-changer:
There is a game-changing tool on the way in the war against kauri dieback disease which is having a devastating effect on New Zealand’s native forests.
Thanks to the 2016 WWF-New Zealand Conservation Innovation Awards, sustainable land management group Groundtruth is developing a Stop Kauri Dieback app that will support community engagement and management of kauri dieback. The fungus-like disease with no known cure is killing kauri forests in Northland, and kauri could become extinct in some locations without urgent action. . .
Growers of NZ goes live on Instagram:
Global interest in the story behind healthy, fresh food has inspired Horticulture New Zealand to start an Instagram page where people can better get to know the fruit and vegetable growers of New Zealand, Horticulture New Zealand chief executive Mike Chapman says.
Growers of New Zealand (@growersofnz) went live yesterday and already has sparked interest from New Zealand and around the world. Each week a grower will be profiled at work, and the seasonal crop they have been working with will be highlighted in a recipe. . .
Hangawera Station Hereford bull sale ready for auction:
Tainui Group Holding’s annual Hangawera Station Hereford sale is set to go with over 180 pure-bred, vaccinated and tested bulls being auctioned on Monday 2nd October.
TGH’s Primary Industries Manager Mark Jackways says they expect a solid auction turnout, much like previous years, given strong market demand for quality bulls, as dairy herds re-stock after a tight couple of years. . .
Friday’s answers
29/09/2017Andrie, Teletext and J Bloggs get my thanks for posing Thursday’s questions.
Should they have stumped us all they can claim a virtual bunch of spring flowers by posing the answers below.
15/15
29/09/201715/15 in matching MPs to names.
(Though three I got only by a process of eliminating the names which didn’t match).
Tertiary ed. not needed
29/09/2017More than 100 companies have signed an open letter declaring tertiary qualifications are not required for a range of roles within their workplaces.
Dear New Zealand
As employment is increasingly redefined by technology and new skills, the job market needs to respond in new ways to find talent. Skills will replace fixed knowledge and new jobs will replace the old. These new jobs need to be adaptable and offer applicants the ability to learn on the job. The pace of change is rapid.
As businesses, we acknowledge that the skills we are looking for in prospective employees can now be developed through a range of pathways. While traditional tertiary education has its place, it is one of many pathways to employment. Internships, apprenticeships, new micro-credentials, on the job training, online courses and badging are all effective ways to learn. For many, the time and cost of gaining a tertiary qualification without certainty of employment means we all need to think outside the box to connect people to jobs and opportunities.
As such, we confirm that for a range of specific, skilled-based roles in our companies, we do not require tertiary qualifications. These may be roles in technology, sales, marketing, customer service, management, manufacturing and operations to name a few.
In adopting this recruitment policy, we hope to attract a more diverse workforce with wide-ranging experience. We appreciate there are many highly skilled people with practical experience, self-taught skills, passion and the motivation to learn on the job if given the opportunity.
Some people are very skilled but don’t have bits of paper to prove it.
Experience can be at least as valuable than qualifications in some roles.
Attitude can be more important in some jobs than qualifications.
We will now consider applicants for a wide range of roles regardless of whether or not they hold a tertiary qualification. As businesses, our focus will be on assessment of necessary skills, attitudes, motivation and adaptability to join our organisations. Prior work experience (full or part-time), community work, portfolios, online learning and entrepreneurial endeavours will be some of the things we will consider during the employment process.
One place that you will be able to find these jobs is on the Trade Me Jobs site, with a clear indicator that no tertiary qualification is required to apply.
We are excited by the opportunity to engage with a wider cross section of the New Zealand public through our recruitment processes and welcome the chance to diversify the experience within our businesses.
We welcome other New Zealand businesses to follow suit and broaden the diversity of their talent pools by considering a wider range of applicants for roles. If you are a business that would like to join this movement as a signatory to this letter, please contact frances.savage@asb.co.nz and attach your company logo.
We recognise that new jobs require new skills. We welcome a new generation of employees with diverse skills and talent.
We look forward to changing the conversation.
Tertiary education can have many benefits but not everyone is suited to it and not every job requires it.
New Zealand has a high level of unfilled vacancies.
A willingness by business to look beyond a lack of tertiary training when recruiting could be part of the solution to that.
It could also save people from wasting their time and accruing debt by studying towards something that will be of little value to them.
It would be good if something similar could count with employers who are trying to employ immigrants too.
For some employers, qualifications, especially those from overseas, aren’t always nearly as useful as character and attitude.
This is certainly the case for dairying.
Quote of the day
29/09/2017Never stand begging for that which you have the power to earn. – Miguel de Cervantes who was born on this day in 1547.
September 29 in history
29/09/2017522 BC – Darius I of Persia killed the Magian usurper Gaumâta, securing his hold as king of the Persian Empire.
480 BC Battle of Salamis: The Greek fleet under Themistocles defeats the Persian fleet under Xerxes I.
61 BC Pompey the Great celebrated his third triumph for victories over the pirates and the end of the Mithridatic Wars on his 45th birthday.
1227 Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, was excommunicated by Pope Gregory IX for his failure to participate in the Crusades.
1364 Battle of Auray: English forces defeated the French in Brittany; end of the Breton War of Succession.
1547 Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes was born (d. 1616).
1650 Henry Robinson opened his Office of Addresses and Encounters – the first historically documented dating service – in Threadneedle Street, London.
1717 An earthquake struck Antigua Guatemala, destroying much of the city’s architecture and making authorities consider moving the capital to a different city.
1758 Horatio Nelson was born (d. 1805).
1810 English author Elizabeth Gaskell was born (d. 1865).
1829 The Metropolitan Police of London, later also known as the Met, was founded.
1848 Battle of Pákozd: Hungarian forces defeated Croats at Pákozd; the first battle of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848.
1850 The Roman Catholic hierarchy was re-established in England and Wales by Pope Pius IX.
1862 The first professional opera performance in New Zealand was put on by members of ‘The English Opera Troupe’ and the Royal Princess Theatre Company in Dunedin.
1864 American Civil War: The Battle of Chaffin’s Farm.
1885 The first practical public electric tramway in the world opened in Blackpool.
1907 The cornerstone was laid at Washington National Cathedral.
1907 US singer Gene Autry was born (d. 1998).
1911 Italy declared war on the Ottoman Empire.
1913 US film director Stanley Kramer was born (d. 2001).
1916 John D. Rockefeller became the first billionaire.
1918 World War I: The Hindenburg Line was broken by Allied forces. Bulgaria signed an armistice
1932 Chaco War: Last day of the Battle of Boquerón between Paraguay and Bolivia.
1935 US musician Jerry Lee Lewis was born.
1936 Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was born.
1941 World War II: Holocaust in Kiev German Einsatzgruppe C began theBabi Yar massacre.
1943 Polish president Lech Walsea was born.
1943 World War II: U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower and Italian Marshal Pietro Badoglio signed an armistice aboard the Royal Navy battleship HMS Nelson off Malta.
1947 – The Licensed Victuallers’ Association’s decision to bring local beer prices into line with those in the rest of the country provoked determined resistance from the West Coast Trades Council, which represented most union members in the region.
1951 Michelle Bachelet, former President of Chile, was born.
1954 The convention establishing CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) was signed.
1956 English athlete Sir Sebastian Coe was born.
1957 20 MCi (740 petabecquerels) of radioactive material was released in an explosion at the Soviet Mayak nuclear plant at Chelyabinsk.
1961 Julia Gillard, Australian politician, Prime Minister of Australia, was born.
1962 Alouette 1, the first Canadian satellite, was launched.
1963 The second period of the Second Vatican Council opened.
1963 The University of East Anglia was established in Norwich.
1964 The Argentine comic strip Mafalda, by Joaquín Salvador Lavado, better known by his pen name Quino, was published for the first time.
1966 The Chevrolet Camaro, originally named Panther, was introduced.
1975 WGPR in Detroit, Michigan, becomes the world’s first black-owned-and-operated television station.
1979 Pope John Paul II became the first pope to set foot on Irish soil.
1988 Space Shuttle: NASA launched STS-26, the return to flight mission.
1990 Construction of the Washington National Cathedral was completed.
1990 The YF-22, which later became the F-22 Raptor, flew for the first time.
1991 Military coup in Haiti.
1992 Brazilian President Fernando Collor de Mello resigned.
1995 The United States Navy disbanded Fighter Squadron 84 (VF-84), nicknamed the “Jolly Rogers”.
2004 The asteroid 4179 Toutatis passed within four lunar distances of Earth.
2004 – The Burt Rutan Ansari X Prize entry SpaceShipOne performed a successful spaceflight, the first of two required to win the prize.
2006 Gol Transportes Aéreos Flight 1907 collided in mid-air with an Embraer Legacy business jet, killing 154 total people, and triggering aBrazilian aviation crisis.
2007 Calder Hall, the world’s first commercial nuclear power station, was demolished in a controlled explosion.
2008 The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 777.68 points, the largest single-day point loss in its history.
2009 An 8.0 magnitude earthquake near the Samoan Islands caused a tsunami .
2013 – More than 42 people were killed by members of Boko Haram at the College of Agriculture in Gujba, Nigeria.
Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia
Word of the day
28/09/2017Edgelands – the interfacial interzone between urban and rural; transitional, liminal areas of space to be found on the boundaries of country and town.
Thursday’s quiz
28/09/2017You’re invited to pose the questions.
Anyone who stumps everyone will win a virtual bunch of spring flowers.
Economic growth is the means
28/09/2017National is unapologetic about its focus on economic growth in spite of criticisms that this means it doesn’t care about people.
What the critics don’t, or won’t, understand, is that economic growth is the means not the end.
The only sustainable way to provide first world services and infrastructure and to help people is through economic growth.
Any government can throw money at problems.
A good government aims for quality spending rather than quantity.
National had done that in the last three terms. It worked hard to make sure the country could afford its initiatives and that the money spent was spent wisely, focussing on addressing the causes of problems not just treating the symptoms.
That is the best way to make a positive difference to people and the country.
Quote of the day
28/09/2017Today’s younger generation is no worse than my own. We were just as ignorant and repulsive as they are, but nobody listened to us. – Al Capp who was born on this day in 1909.
September 28 in history
28/09/2017551 BC: Confucious, the Chinese philosopher was born (d. 479 BC).
48 BC Pompey the Great was assassinated on the orders of King Ptolemy of Egypt after landing in Egypt.
351 Battle of Mursa Major: the Roman Emperor Constantius II defeated the usurper Magnentius.
365 Roman usurper Procopius bribed two legions passing by Constantinople, and proclaims himself Roman emperor.
935 Saint Wenceslas was murdered by his brother, Boleslaus I of Bohemia.
995 Members of Slavník’s dynasty – Spytimír, Pobraslav, Pořej and Čáslav – were murdered by Boleslaus’s son, Boleslaus II the Pious.
1066 William the Conqueror invaded England: the Norman Conquest began.
1106 The Battle of Tinchebrai – Henry I of England defeated his brother, Robert Curthose.
1238 Muslim Valencia surrendered to the besieging King James I of Aragonthe Conqueror.
1322 Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor defeated Frederick I of Austria in theBattle of Mühldorf.
1448 Christian I was crowned king of Denmark.
1542 Navigator João Rodrigues Cabrilho of Portugal arrived at what is now San Diego, California.
1571:Italian artist Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio was born (d. 1610).
1708 Peter the Great defeated the Swedes at the Battle of Lesnaya.
1779 American Revolution: Samuel Huntington was elected President of the Continental Congress, succeeding John Jay.
1781 American forces backed by a French fleet began the siege of Yorktown, Virginia, during the American Revolutionary War
1787 The newly completed United States Constitution was voted on by the U.S. Congress to be sent to the state legislatures for approval.
1791 France became the first European country to emancipate its Jewish population.
1836 Thomas Crapper, English inventor, was born (d. 1910).
1844 Oscar I of Sweden-Norway was crowned king of Sweden.
1864 The International Workingmen’s Association was founded in London.
1868 Battle of Alcolea caused Queen Isabella II of Spain to flee to France.
1889 The first General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM) defined the length of a meter as the distance between two lines on a standard bar of an alloy of platinum with ten percent iridium, measured at the melting point of ice.
1891 Club Atletico Peñarol was founded under the name of Central Uruguay Railway Cricket Club.
1899 Premier R.J. (‘King Dick’) Seddon asked Parliament to approve an offer to the British government of a contingent of mounted rifles to fight in Transvaal.
1901 US television host Ed Sullivan was born (d. 1974).
1909 – Al Capp, American author and illustrator, was born (d. 1979).
1914 – Maria Franziska von Trapp, Austrian-American singer, was born (d. 2014).
1916 Peter Finch, English-born Australian actor,was born (d. 1977).
1928 The U.K. Parliament passed the Dangerous Drugs Act outlawingcannabis.
1928 Sir Alexander Fleming noticed a bacteria-killing mould growing in his laboratory, discovering what later became known as penicillin.
1934 French model and actress Brigtte Bardot was born.
1939 – Warsaw surrendered to Nazi Germany.
1944 Soviet Army troops liberated Klooga concentration camp in Estonia.
1946 English singer Helen Shapiro was born
1958 France ratified a new Constitution of France
1961 A military coup in Damascus effectively ended the United Arab Republic, the union between Egypt and Syria.
1962 The Paddington tram depot fire destroyed 65 trams in Brisbane.
1971 The British government passed the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971banning the medicinal use of cannabis.
1973 The ITT Building in New York City was bombed in protest at ITT’s alleged involvement in the September 11 coup d’état in Chile.
1975 The Spaghetti House siege, in which nine people were taken hostage, took place in London.
1987 The beginning of the Palestinian civil disobedience uprising, “TheFirst Intifada” against the Israeli occupation.
1994 The car ferry MS Estonia sank in the Baltic Sea, killing 852 people.
1995 Bob Denard and a group of mercenaries took the islands of Comoros in a coup.
2000 Al-Aqsa Intifada: Ariel Sharon visited the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
2008 SpaceX launched the first ever private spacecraft, the Falcon 1into orbit.
2009 The military junta leading Guinea, headed by Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, sexually assaulted, killed and wounded protesters during a protest rally in the Stade du 28 Septembre.
2012 – Somali and African Union forces launched a coordinated assaulton the Somali port city of Kismayo to take back the city from al-Shabaab militants.
2012 – A Dornier Do 228 light aircraft crashed on the outskirts of the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu, killing 19 people.
2014 – Hong Kong protests : Benny Tai announced that Occupy Central was launched as Hong Kong’s government headquarters was being occupied by thousands of protesters. Hong Kong police resorted to tear gas to disperse protesters but thousands remained.
Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia.
Rural round-up
27/09/2017Fear and loathing in the farming press – Colin Peacock:
Claims that the election pitted town against country were strongly echoed in the media – especially the farming press.
Hundreds of farmers beat a path to Jacinda Ardern’s home town of Morrinsville last Monday.
They feared a change of government would hit their bottom line and that they were being blamed too much for the state of the environment. Their strength of feeling prompted many pundits and reporters to say the gulf between town and country was widening. . .
Farmers ‘ batten down their hatches’ post election – Alexa Cook:
Some farmers are “genuinely worried” about the uncertain outcome of the election and are keeping their wallets in their pockets, Federated Farmers says.
Farmers have demonstrated against several Labour Party policies – including a proposal to introduce a charge for irrigation, and to include agricultural in the Emissions Trading Scheme.
Last week New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said he would not support National or Labour’s policies to impose new taxes on farmers nor include agriculture in the emissions scheme. . .
World Rivers Day heralds boost for water quality data:
Understanding and improving our waterways requires high quality information and communities can now access the latest on their rivers, lakes and streams thanks to fresh data available today. World Rivers Day highlights the value many people see in rivers, and strives to increase public awareness and improved stewardship of rivers around the world.
Water quality is of high importance to many across New Zealand and became a key election issue. It is clear New Zealanders want to see a lift in the quality of our fresh water resources.
This World Rivers Day environmental monitoring organisation Land, Air, Water Aotearoa (LAWA) is adding the latest fresh water quality data at lawa.org.nz, where communities can easily access data from over 1400 lakes and river monitoring sites. . .
Synlait to invest in Palmerston North research and development centre – Tina Morrison:
(BusinessDesk) – Synlait Milk, the South Island-based milk processor, will establish a research and development centre in Palmerston North to drive new product development, process technology and packaging.
Rakaia-based Synlait is partnering with Massey University and FoodPilot, which is located at the university’s Palmerston North campus and houses the largest collection of pilot-scale food processing equipment in the southern hemisphere. The business-to-business dairy products manufacturer, which counts milk marketer A2 Milk as a key customer, announced last week that it’s looking to enter the market for branded consumer products for the first time. . .
Where are they now? – Anne-Marie Case-Miller;
The winners of the 2003 New Zealand Sharemilker of the Year title believe the Dairy Industry Awards are an important part of the industry and career succession, and potential entrants should prepare well and have a go.
It took Andrew and Alison Watters two attempts to win what was then called Sharemilker of the Year, now known as Share Farmer of the Year competition. . .
Zespri chooses head of sales Dan Mathieson as new CEO – Sophie Boot:
(BusinessDesk) – Zespri, New Zealand’s statutory kiwifruit exporter, has chosen its global president of sales and marketing Dan Mathieson as its new chief executive.
Mathieson, who first joined Zespri in 2003, has worked in multiple roles in the business primarily based in Asia. Chair Peter McBride said Mathieson has an impressive track record and in his time leading the company’s sales and marketing he had grown Zespri’s mature markets and diversified the business into new markets. . .
Environment isn’t partisan
27/09/2017Former Prime Minister Jim Bolger nails it:
He said the Greens might be quietly reflecting on whether they should only link themselves to left-wing politics.
“The environment is neither left wing or right wing, frankly. The environment is the environment, it’s Mother Earth we’re talking about.” . .
If the Greens weren’t really reds they would be in a much stronger position than they are now.
They could sit in the middle, as the Maori Party did, able to go left or right.
It would be they, not New Zealand First, that would be being courted by the major parties.
The Green Party’s environmental policies were lost in the controversy over its radical left-wing social policy regarding welfare. It was delivered by Metiria Turei who lost her co-leadership and ultimately her seat because of it.
The environment isn’t partisan. A party which recognised that would be far more attractive to voters and in a much stronger position than the red Greens are.