Word of the day

A bonus word for Burns’ birthday:

Sleekit – smooth, glossy; having a glossy skin or surface; crafty, deceitful, sly; artfully flattering or ingratiating.

Word of the (Burns) Day: "sleekit" – smooth, glossy (Scots).

"Wee, sleekit, cowran, tim'rous beastie,
O, what a panic's in thy breastie!
Thou need na start awa sae hasty,
Wi' bickering brattle! "

from 'To A Mouse' (1785), by Robert Burns, born OTD in 1759.#BurnsNight2019 pic.twitter.com/qwbN8fGvUq

— Robert Macfarlane (@RobGMacfarlane) January 25, 2019

A Man’s a Man for A’ That

Another for Robert Burns’ birthday:

Word of the day

Blether – talk in a long-winded way without making very much sense; foolish, voluble talk; long-winded talk with no real substance.

Tam O’Shanter

Another tribute to Robert Burns on his birthday: Tam O’Shanter, read by Bryan McCormack.

Sowell says

"When you are your own worst enemy, someone who tells you that other people are the cause of your problems is no friend. "

— Thomas Sowell Quotes (@ThomasSowell) January 22, 2019

Rural round-up

UK agreement ensures status quo for exporters  – Sally Rae:

The signing of a veterinary agreement between the United Kingdom and New Zealand will provide reassurance to farmers and exporters, Beef + Lamb New Zealand chief executive Sam McIvor says.

Uncertainty has prevailed in the red meat sector since the Brexit vote in 2016. The UK accounted for $560million worth of the sector’s exports, dominated by sheepmeat which represented 85% of that total.

In a joint statement with Beef + Lamb, Meat Industry Association chief executive Tim Ritchie said the signing of the agreement, together with recent advice from the UK about the acceptance of EU health certificates post-March 29, meant the sector was assured existing regulations would remain the same. . .

Elers’ life wrapped up in wool – Alan Williams:

 Tina Elers is working seven days a week but is still finding time to improve her fitness ahead of the World Shearing Championship in France later this year. She also found time to talk to Alan Williams about her busy life.

Thirty years into her wool-classing career Tina Elers is as busy as ever and very motivated.

When some might think it is time to slow down she’s working a seven-day week around Southland, weather permitting, and doing extra fitness work. . .

https://twitter.com/PaulBMcGill/status/1088587047365861376

Milk production record possible – Sally Rae:

 Milk production is on track to set a record this season as the risk of drought derailing it continues to recede.

Earlier in the season, an increasing chance of an El Nino weather pattern this summer was raised and the expectation was the associated dry conditions could crimp production later in the season.

Yesterday, ASB senior rural economist Nathan Penny said relatively healthy soil moisture levels suggested production should “kick on” over the next few months. . .

Surplus research farm gets the chop– Annette Scott:

More than 70 years of agriculture history will go under the hammer when AgResearch sells its Mid Canterbury research farm next month.

Bought in 1946 to provide local research into the use of border-dyke irrigation with long-term fertiliser trials started in the 1950s, the Winchmore research farm has contributed to more than 500 science publications.

But AgResearch has called time on its 72 years. . .

Farmer living the dream on Ponui island :

Living on an island in Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf has its perks for sheep and beef farmer George Watson.

The 26-year-old works on one of three farms on Ponui Island, which lies southeast of Waiheke Island.

The picturesque island has rolling grass-covered hills, pockets of bush and sheltered bays with white sandy beaches.

Great to see this stock almost gone. The overhang of intervention stocks has cast a long shadow over the market. @PhilHoganEU is right to focus on not building these again. @Lewisridge_Farm @ktmilne6 @andrew_hoggard @Fonterra https://t.co/MaPSpL0chb

— Mike Petersen (@tepunamike) January 24, 2019

Agria rep to step down as Wrightson chair by June 26 – Jenny Ruth:

(BusinessDesk) – PGG Wrightson says current chair Joo Hai Lee will step down before June 28 but that the board will continue its governance review in the meantime.

Lee represents Wrightson’s former majority shareholder, Singapore-registered Agria, and took over as chair in early November after Agria principal Alan Lai abruptly resigned the day before the scheduled annual shareholders’ meeting.

Wrightson says in a statement that the board “will provide an update in the near future regarding the outcomes of the review and the chair’s appointment.” . . 

 

Addressing the haggis

It’s Robert Burns’ birthday.

I’m not recommending haggis for eating, but my tartan genes enjoy listening to this.

NZ Beef and Lambassadors

Pablo Tacchini from Cucina in Oamaru is one of Beef + Lamb NZ’s Ambassador Chefs.

Pablo is originally from Argentina where he trained at the culinary institute, Mausi Sebess for two and a half years. He worked in Argentina in different restaurants for more than five years before coming to New Zealand for a holiday with his wife and young son. They fell in love with New Zealand, especially Oamaru and after being offered a job as a chef they decided to stay and make New Zealand home. 

Pablo worked at restaurants around the Otago region before taking over as head chef at Cucina 1871. About two years ago the opportunity came about for Pablo and his wife to buy the restaurant. They changed the name to Cucina, upgraded the decor and changed the food style to what it is now. 

Pablo’s style of cuisine is a reflection of what he grew up eating with his family every day. Part of his family comes from Italy and the other part from Spain, so when he mixes these two influences with his Argentinian culture, his style of cuisine gets very interesting. . . 

Oamaru is blessed with several restaurants where diners are guaranteed delicious food and wonderful service.

Riverstone Kitchen a few kilometres north and Fleurs Place to the south are the most well known.

Cucina, at the entrance to Oamaru’s historic precinct, facing the southern end of the town’s main street is just as good.

Beef + Lamb’s media release on the Ambassador Chefs:

Beef + Lamb New Zealand have announced their five Ambassador Chefs for 2019 to act as figureheads to drive innovation and creativity within the foodservice sector. The appointments follow the announcement of the 173 Beef and Lamb Excellence Award holders for 2019, with the ambassadors selected from some of the highest rated restaurants during the assessments.

The five selected for the coveted roles are; Andrew May (Amayjen the Restaurant, Feilding) Freddie Ponder (Tables Restaurant, New Plymouth), Jarrod McGregor (Rothko at Sculptureum, Matakana), Pablo Tacchini (Cucina, Oamaru) and Scott Buckler (No. 31 Restaurant, Hanmer Springs). . . 

The Beef + Lamb Ambassador Chefs’ roll of honour looks like a who’s who of Kiwi culinary trailblazers, with the quintet following in the footsteps of some of New Zealand’s most celebrated chefs. Peter Gordon, Ben Bayley, Sid Sahrawat, Kate Fay and Rex Morgan are just a few of Aotearoa’s finest that have featured in an ambassadorial capacity for Beef + Lamb New Zealand over the 23 years of the Beef and Lamb Excellence Awards. . . 

Lisa Moloney has been Food Service Manager for Beef + Lamb New Zealand for over 12 years, overseeing the Ambassador Chef programme. Lisa said: “This year’s ambassadors have been selected not just because they are fantastic chefs, they were identified because of their creativity, dedication and excitement for cooking with beef and lamb. 

“Their purpose is simple; to inspire a network of likeminded chefs to move forward, try something new and showcase what amazing creations are possible with beef and lamb.”

Kiwi food fanatics looking to sample the very best the ambassadors have to offer will be able to attend an Ambassador Series Dinner, hosted at each of the chef’s restaurant, with each chef being paired with a Platinum Ambassador Chef to create a unique beef and lamb dining experience.

The Excellence Awards and Ambassador Chefs give recognition to the chefs who highlight beef and lamb on their menus and do it superbly.

Tyranny by minority

The Government’s ‘fair pay’ agenda is anything but fair:

The recommendations of Iain Lees-Galloway’s Fair Pay Agreement Working Group show the Government’s industrial relations agenda amounts to compulsory unionism by stealth, National’s Workplace Relations and Safety spokesperson Scott Simpson says.

“Businesses and workers should be frightened. The recommendations from the working group are as radical as we originally feared – backward, one-size-fits-all and rigid.

“Just 10 per cent of an industry would be able to trigger mandatory nationwide employment negotiations. Business owners would lose control over an important part of running their enterprise. Workers would be forced into line with the union movement.

That is tyranny by a very small majority.

One of the most worrying aspects is the lack of opt-out provisions for businesses. That means both small and large businesses across New Zealand will be coerced into more restrictive, costly employment agreements. That is a step towards compulsory unionism.

“The Government needs to quickly dismiss these radical recommendations and give certainty to businesses and workers that they will not be coerced into these restored national awards. They hurt our economy in the 1970s and they will hurt it now. . .

These measures would take New Zealand back to the bad old days where unions ruled and both business and productivity suffered.

These are regressive and dangerous policies which reward the union donors to the Labour Party at the cost of everyone else.

But there’s no corruption in New Zealand, is there?

 

Quote of the day

There is no such uncertainty as a sure thing. – Robert Burns who was born on this day in 1759.

January 25 in history

41 Claudius was accepted as Roman Emperor by the Senate.

1327 Edward III became King of England.

1494 Alfonso II became King of Naples.

1533 Henry VIII secretly married his second wife Anne Boleyn.

1554  Founding of São Paulo city, Brazil.

1627  Robert Boyle, Irish chemist, was born (d. 1691).

1755 Moscow University established on Tatiana Day.

1759 Robert Burns, Scottish poet, was born   (d. 1796).

1791 The British Parliament passed the Constitutional Act of 1791 and split the old province of Quebec into Upper and Lower Canada.

1792 The London Corresponding Society was founded.

1796 William MacGillivray, Scottish naturalist and ornithologist, was born  (d. 1852).

1841 Jackie Fisher, British First Sea Lord, was born  (d. 1920).

1858 The Wedding March by Felix Mendelssohn became a popular wedding recessional after it is played on this day at the marriage of Queen Victoria’s daughter, Victoria, and Friedrich of Prussia.

1873 Tahupotiki Wiremu Ratana was born (d 1939).

1874  W. Somerset Maugham, English writer, was born (d. 1965).

1879  The Bulgarian National Bank was founded.

1881 – Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell formed the Oriental Telephone Company.

1882 Virginia Woolf, English writer, was born  (d. 1941).

1890  Nellie Bly completed her round-the-world journey in 72 days.

1909 Richard Strauss‘ opera Elektra received its debut performance at the Dresden State Opera.

1915  Alexander Graham Bell inaugurated U.S. transcontinental telephone service, speaking from New York to Thomas Watson in San Francisco.

1918 The Ukrainian people declared independence from Bolshevik Russia.

1919 The League of Nations was founded.

1924 The first Winter Olympics opened in Chamonix.

1942 – Thailand declared war on the United States and United Kingdom.

1945 World War II: Battle of the Bulge ended.

1949  The first Emmy Awards were presented.

1954 Richard Finch, American bass player (KC and the Sunshine Band), was born.

1955 Terry Chimes, English musician (The Clash), was born.

1960 The National Association of Broadcasters reacted to the Payola scandal by threatening fines for any disc jockeys who accepted money for playing particular records.

1961 John F. Kennedy delivered the first live presidential television news conference.

1971 – Idi Amin led a coup deposing Milton Obote and became Uganda’s president.

1974 Dick Taylor won the 10,000 metre race on the first day of competitions at the Christchurch Commonwealth Games.

1981 Jiang Qing, the widow of Mao Zedong, was sentenced to death.

1986 The National Resistance Movement toppled the government of Tito Okello in Uganda.

1990 The Burns’ Day storm hits northwestern Europe.

1994 The Clementine space probe launched.

1995 –  The Norwegian Rocket Incident: Russia almost launched a nuclear attack after it mistook Black Brant XII, a Norwegian research rocket, for a US Trident missile.

1996  – Billy Bailey became the last person to be hanged in the United States of America.

1999 – A 6.0 Richter scale earthquake hit western Colombia killing at least 1,000.

2004 – Opportunity rover (MER-B) landed on surface of Mars.

2005 – A stampede at the Mandher Devi temple in Mandhradevi in Indiakills at least 258.

2006 – Three independent observing campaigns announced the discovery ofOGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb through gravitational microlensing, the first cool rocky/icy extrasolar planet around a main-sequence star.

2010 – Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409 crashed into the Mediterranean Sea shortly after take-off from Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport, killing all 90 people on-board.

2011 – The first wave of the Egyptian revolution began in Egypt, with a series of street demonstrations, marches, rallies, acts of civil disobedience, riots, labour strikes, and violent clashes in Cairo, Alexandria, and throughout other cities in Egypt.

2013 – At least 50 people were killed and 120 people injured in a prison riot in Barquisimeto, Venezuela.

2015 – A clash in Mamasapano, Maguindanao in the Philippines killing 44 members of Special Action Force (SAF), at least 18 from Moro Islamic Liberation Front and five from Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia.

Word of the day

Omentum – a fold of peritoneum connecting the stomach with other abdominal organs; a large apron-like fold of visceral peritoneum that hangs down from the stomach.

Thatcher thinks

Do you know that one of the great problems of our age is that we are governed by people who care more about feelings than they do about thoughts and ideas. pic.twitter.com/XZF2PHEr08

— Margaret Thatcher (@MrsMThatcher) January 22, 2019

Rural round-up

Finding the path for dairy – Keith Woodford:

I have always been optimistic about the long-term future of dairy. I think it is likely that dairy will remain one of the pillars that underpins the New Zealand economy. But we sure do have some challenges!

The first challenge is that urban New Zealand does not understand the extent to which our national wealth depends on the two pillars of dairy and tourism. Yes, there are other important industries such as kiwifruit and wine, and yes, forestry, lamb and beef are also very important. But rightly or wrongly, our population has been growing rapidly, and the export economy also has to keep growing. There is a need for some big pillars.

Somehow, we have to create the exports to pay for all of the machinery, the computers, the electronics, the planes, the cars, the fuel and the pharmaceuticals on which we all depend. . .

Overseer transition needed – Ken Muir:

Clint Rissman Clint Rissman Attempts to move beyond the use of Overseer to manage nutrient loss on farms could be hampered by the level of investment already made in the system, Southland soil scientist Dr Clint Rissman says. ‘

‘In many situations, Overseer has been misused as a regulatory tool, mainly because there is a lack of alternatives for regulatory authorities,” Dr Rissman said. ”It’s important that we find a way to develop better tools while preserving the value of the investment we have already made in Overseer.” . . 

Hemp/wool combo spring a good yarn  :

Innovative new products using wool and hemp fibre will be developed under a new partnership between NZ Yarn and Hemp NZ. Farmers will have long-term opportunities to diversify into hemp and those already growing it will be able to sell a greater proportion of their product.

Christchurch-based NZ Yarn Ltd, a world-leading producer of wool yarns for the global soft flooring market, has announced a new shareholder and business partner — Hemp New Zealand Ltd. . .

https://twitter.com/onyabikejl/status/1087967236936134657

Perendale top seller – Yvonne O’Hara:

For the second year in a row, a Perendale ram is the top selling ram at the Gore A&P Association South Island Premier Ram Auction.

The ram, owned by Pip Wilson, of Waikaka, sold for $8200, which was $400 down on the top price last year. The nine breeds, totalling 241 rams, were offered at the auction held at the showgrounds on Tuesday and Wednesday last week. . . 

A day’s work is a life lesson for a kid – Uptown Farms:

On a farm there’s always work.

I try not to lose sight of the blessing that is for our family.

Today, a snow day, it meant we could say yes when our oldest asked if he could go to work instead of going to daycare.

He’s had his eye on an expensive LEGO set and he’s looking for ways to earn a few more dollars for it. So today, like a lot of farm kids, he will go to work.

He will sweat a little. He’ll freeze a little. He will probably get hollered at a little and likely goof some things up.  . . 

#Bull check this arvo. Things are OK for now as we head into the last week of mating at #MangaRa Station. #Ezicalve in cattlecountry pic.twitter.com/Jto7TIS6if

— William Morrison (@MorrisonFarming) January 23, 2019

NZ importers join in India’s largest global food event:

More than US$ 1 billion worth of business was transacted at Indus Food 2019, India’s biggest international food and beverage expo, in New Delhi on January 14-15, according to the Trade Promotion Council of India (TPCI).

Indus Food is a global platform where top exporters from India’s food and beverage industry participate and meet with prospective buyers and distributors from across the world invited to the event by the TPCI. . . 

KiwiBuild is KiwiFail again

A report from the New Zealand Initiative calls KiwiBuild Twyford’s tar baby:

• Relative to income, dwelling prices in New Zealand are among the highest in the OECD. This is New Zealand’s housing affordability problem in a nutshell.
• High population-driven demand growth has collided with inflexible supply-side constraints.
• Land prices have sky-rocketed, but construction costs are also too high.
• KiwiBuild cannot hope to materially increase home ownership proportions – the original 2012 objective. Additional housing, if achieved, will likely lift renting and ownership more or less in tandem.This report explains why KiwiBuild – defined as the government’s pledge to build or deliver 100,000 homes within a decade – fails against all the objectives set for it:
  • It is not about social housing to help those at the bottom.
  • Nor is it about helping struggling first-home buyers. They cannot afford KiwiBuild homes at current costs. KiwiBuild is for the relatively well-off.
  • It is intended to be subsidy free, since wealth transfers to the well-off are hard to justify. But its inducements to attract private developers are subsidies.
  • Even more paradoxically, if there were no subsidy, there would be no gap for KiwiBuild to fill. Private developers will meet unsubsidised market demand.
  • It cannot hope to increase the housing stock sustainably. Only enduring lower property prices can induce people to own more dwellings than otherwise. KiwiBuild reduces neither land values nor construction costs at the margin.
• The enduring effect of the policy is a changed composition of the housing stock by decree rather than by public demand.
• KiwiBuild is floundering having no clear public interest objective. It constitutes a massive political and bureaucratic distraction from what is really needed – direct action to reduce land values and construction costs.

The government should not be in the business of subsidizing property developers and people on well above average incomes.

It purports to be focused on helping the poorest and most vulnerable.

Instead, policies like KiwBuild and fee-free tertiary education waste millions on people who aren’t poor, many of whom are or will be wealthy.

Not only is it a bad policy, it hasn’t a show of meeting its target to build 1000 houses by July.

KiwiBuild is KiwiFail again.

Current number of Kiwibuild houses: 33
Current number of Maui dolphins: 63

Perhaps DoC should add KiwiBuild houses to the critically endangered list.

— New Zealand Taxpayers' Union (@TaxpayersUnion) January 23, 2019

January 24 in history

41 Gaius Caesar (Caligula), known for his eccentricity and cruel despotism, was assassinated by his disgruntled Praetorian Guards. Claudius succeeded his nephew.

76 – Hadrian, Roman Emperor, was born (d. 138).

1670  William Congreve, English playwright, was born (d. 1729).

1679 – King Charles II disbanded Parliament.

1742 – Charles VII Albert became Holy Roman Emperor.

1848 – California Gold Rush: James W. Marshall found gold at Sutter’s Mill near Sacramento.

1857 The University of Calcutta was formally founded as the first full-fledged university in south Asia.

1859  Political union of Moldavia and Wallachia; Alexandru Ioan Cuza was elected as ruler.

1862  Bucharest proclaimed capital of Romania.

1862 – Edith Wharton, American author and poet, was born (d. 1937).

1864 Marguerite Durand, French feminist leader, was born (d. 1936).

1865 General Cameron left Wanganui with 1200 Imperial troops to invade southern Taranaki.

1872 Ethel Turner, Australian author, was born (d. 1958).

1916 – In Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad, the Supreme Court of the United States declared the federal income tax constitutional.

1920 – Doris Haddock, American political activist, was born (d. 2010).

1924 –Petrograd, formerly Saint Petersburg, was renamed Leningrad.

1928 Desmond Morris, British anthropologist, was born.

1930 – Bernard Matthews, British poultry industry figure , was born (d. 2010).

1941 Neil Diamond, American singer, was born.

1952 Vincent Massey was sworn in as the first Canadian-born Governor-General of Canada.

1957 Adrian Edmondson, English comedian, was born.

1961 – 1961 Goldsboro B-52 crash: A bomber carrying two H-bombs broke up in mid-air over North Carolina. One weapon nearly detonated.

1972 Japanese Sgt. Shoichi Yokoi was found hiding in a Guam jungle, where he had been since the end of World War II.

1977 Massacre of Atocha in Madrid, during the Spanish transition to democracy.

1978 Soviet satellite Cosmos 954, with a nuclear reactor on board, burnt up in Earth’s atmosphere, scattering radioactive debris over Canada’s Northwest Territories.

1980 – The ambassador of the Soviet Union, Vsevolod Sofinsky, was ordered to leave New Zealand for giving money to the pro-Soviet Socialist Unity Party.

1984 The first Apple Macintosh went on sale.

1986 Voyager 2 passed within 81,500 km (50,680 miles) of Uranus.

2003 The United States Department of Homeland Security officially began operation.

2009 – The storm Klaus made landfall near Bordeaux. It subsequently caused 26 deaths as well as extensive disruptions to public transport and power supplies.

2011 – At least 35 died and 180 injured in a bombing at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport.

2014 – Three bombs exploded in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, killing about 7 people and injuring over 100 others.

2014 – The Philippines and the Bangsamoro agreed to a peace deal that would help end the 45-year conflict.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia.

Word of the day

EruditIon – the quality of having or showing great knowledge or learning; scholarship; profound, recondite, or bookish learning.

A tribute to Rob Hosking

Rob Hosking, one of New Zealand’s top journalists has died.

I knew Rob through his work long before I met him. His columns at the NBR were always written with erudition and wit.

His posts at his blog, The Hinterland were eclectic showing among other things his love for, and knowledge of, books and the outdoors.

We met only a few times and corresponded by email a few more.

Early last year he emailed, worrying about me after something I’d blogged.

In his response to my reply he mentioned he had cancer. When I saw his by-line in the NBR late last year I hoped that meant he had recovered.

Sadly it didn’t.

If I who knew him mostly through his writing am crying as I type, how much harder his loss will be felt by his family and circle of friends.

In one email he wrote of the ambition he and a friend had to climb all the mountains with gloomy names in New Zealand. I replied telling him Mount Misery is on our property and inviting him to climb it.

He wasn’t able to but every time I’m there I will remember him.

Hat tip: Kiwi blog

Sowell says

"Too many people in the media cannot seem to tell the difference between reporting the news and creating propaganda."

— Thomas Sowell Quotes (@ThomasSowell) January 20, 2019

Rural round-up

Small actions add up in reducing emissions – Ken Muir:

Farmers can undertake immediate practical steps to begin reducing emissions from their farms, DairyNZ climate change ambassador Dean Alexander says.

”It’s important to realise that there’s no great silver bullet and there are some basic things farmers can do now,”

Mr Alexander, who farms a herd of 1100 cows near Winton, said. He said it was important for farmers to develop an understanding of their systems.

”Once you have some idea of your emission status, you can begin to evaluate your options.” . . 

Benefactors’hopesaredashed – Neal Wallace:

For 99 years graduates of Taratahi Agricultural Training Centre and, for 54 years, from Telford in south Otago have worked on and progressed to owning farms. But all of that potentially came to an end before Christmas when a liquidator was appointed to resolve financial problems with the business. Neal Wallace profiles Taratahi.

The Taratahi and Telford farm training campuses have similar genesis. The formation of the not-for-profit private vocational farm training educators was made possible through generous bequests of land and industry and community support.

In 1918 Sir William Perry gave his Wairarapa farm to the Government to provide a training ground for servicemen returning from World War I. . .

It’s green but maybe not for long – Neal Wallace:

It might be the middle of summer but most of the country is still under an open fire season though Fire and Emergency is warning abundant vegetation growth could very quickly become potential fire fuel.

Usually, by mid-January dry conditions mean most of the country has fire controls, Fire and Emergency rural operations manager John Rasmussen said.

This year half the country can still light fires in the open without a permit because regular rain has kept vegetation green.

But Rasmussen said those conditions can change very quickly as summer gets drier.

Feeding time at the zoo!! #highlandcattle #isleofiona #nativebreeds pic.twitter.com/8bwiflZAJ1

— 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 andrew prentice (@maolfold) January 19, 2019

Export lamb prices come off peak but Outlook strong despite Brexit – Heather Chalmers:

Export lamb prices remain at historically high levels, despite uncertainty over Brexit which coincides with the key Easter lamb trade.

Alliance Group livestock and shareholder services general manager Heather Stacy said Brexit could impact on the amount stock held in Britain and exchange rates, depending on what was agreed.

“It could be disruptive. It will affect customers in the UK, rather than New Zealand.” . . 

Cleaning up with goat milk – Yvonne O’Hara:

 Malcolm Gawn and wife Tracy Tooley decided they did not like Auckland traffic or the long commutes, so they moved to Balclutha and now they make soap from goat milk.

Mr Gawn said when they met about 10 years ago he was a corporate sales manager in Auckland and Ms Tooley was an anaesthetic technician there.

‘‘It got to the point we did not want to tolerate traffic, traffic lights and road works,” Mr Gawn said.

”We moved to an 8ha block near Balclutha with about 30 Saanen dairy goats and with no traffic lights, no roundabouts and no queues.”

Rural jobs fund runs out – Basant Kumar Mohanty:

The rural job guarantee scheme has run out of funds for this financial year, with activists fearing the implementing agencies will now hesitate to take up new projects, thereby denying paid work to the people.

According to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act website, the net balance is now Rs 1,719 crore in deficit. This means the rural development ministry has exhausted the entire funds of Rs 59,567 crore released towards the programme for the 2018-19 financial year.

The scheme guarantees paid, unskilled work for up to 100 days a year to every rural household.

Social activist Nikhil Dey said the scheme would be crippled for the two-and-a-half months left in this financial year, adding to the rural distress, unless more funds are released. . . 

https://twitter.com/HumanProgress/status/1086883280224505856