Word of the day

Āwhina – to assist, help, support, benefit; assisting, aiding, helping, benefitting.

From the Maori Dictionary for te wiki o te reo Māori – Maori Language Week.

Rural round-up

Ten water questions for Jacinda Ardern and Todd Muller – Jamie Mackay:

Today the Country’s Jamie Mackay has 10 questions on the Government’s freshwater proposals for National’s Primary Industries spokesman Todd Muller. Tomorrow, he will ask Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern the same 10 questions.

Comment: Everyone wants cleaner waterways. It’s how we get there that’s the contentious bit for me.

But first, I have to declare an interest here. As the host of a rural radio show on Newstalk ZB and Radio Sport, I have a vested interest in going into bat for the primary sector and I’m personally heavily invested in it.

I’m also in the privileged position of having a nationwide radio show that infiltrates urban New Zealand, one of very few such voices. . .

Robots, trees and pushbikes – farming’s ‘bright’ future – Pete Fitz-Herbert:

Manawatu farmer Pete Fitz-Herbert takes a tongue in cheek look at the future of New Zealand agriculture.

The future is bright.

There is so much negativity around at the moment I thought I would look forward positively to the bright future that awaits New Zealand.

Imagine a country where you can ride your bicycle to the closest hospital to give birth.

Then to save some more of the environment and be a part of the zero waste movement, your first and only hospital meal containing meat is your own gently seared placenta with a pinch of pink Himalayan salt and julienne carrots. . .

Work views 🐄☀️👌❤ #431am pic.twitter.com/ABRGU0OX4S

— Anieka Templer (@AniekaNick) September 9, 2019

Fonterra aims for 750 million-litre annual water saving – Yvonne O’Hara:

Fonterra’s Edendale site intends to reduce its annual water usage by 750 million litres by 2030, as part of the co-operative’s sustainability strategy.

Fonterra’s general manager for the lower South Island, including Edendale and Stirling, Richard Gray, said the co-operative recently announced that six of its manufacturing sites in water-constrained regions would reduce their water use by 30% by 2030 as part of Fonterra’s sustainability plans.

The Edendale site used “close to two billion litres a year” and all its water was taken from the Edendale aquifer, Mr Gray said. . .

Celebrating a life well-lived – Joyce Wyllie:

“The room was a kinder place when Michelle was in it”.

Profound, sincere words to honour a fine, sincere woman. And after many wonderful tributes the final speaker summing up with that simple heartfelt sentence was significant, as we all knew how true it was.

Seeing over 500 people from varied walks of life crammed into the Collingwood Memorial Hall to celebrate the generous, loving life of Michelle Riley showed how many lives  she touched with her wide skills and talents and her great ability to connect with people. Her kindness impacted her community near and far. . .

Hydro exemption from water standards risk two tier system – Trustpower:

Exempting the country’s major hydro catchments from new controls on fresh water quality appears arbitrary and runs the risk of putting disproportionate scrutiny on smaller schemes, Trustpower chief executive Vince Hawksworth says.

The proposal – to allow councils to accept lower water quality in rivers hosting major dams – is intended to maintain flexibility for the country’s biggest providers of renewable energy. But officials acknowledged the move is a compromise that could be unfair to producers of about 10 percent of the country’s hydro-generation.

Hawksworth says everyone has a part to play to improve water quality and most also share an ambition to make greater use of renewable energy to counter climate change. . .

Bumper crop pic.twitter.com/NisjeLjs9V

— Dembeck Farms (@DembeckFarms) September 8, 2019

 

The next 30 years will make or break humanity: Farming is a bigger deal than Brexit – Tom Clarke:

Over the next 30 years, farmers will have to produce more food for more people with fewer resources. This is a huge challenge, and much more important than Brexit, says Cambridgeshire Fens farmer Tom Clarke.

Just get on with it.

Everybody wants to get on with it. It’s just everybody disagrees what ‘IT’ is. . .

It’s about trust

Who do you believe?

• The people who complained to the Labour Party including the woman whose harrowing experience alleging sexual abuse Alex Casey chronicled at the Spinnoff?
• Labour Party President Nigel Haworth who said he acted professionally?
• Labour leader and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern who said she didn’t know there had been allegations of sexual assault even though they have been aired in the media for weeks?

Heather du Plessis-Allan says we must question the PM’s honesty:

. . .She told media yesterday: ”I was informed in the very beginning that the allegations made were not sexual.”

She told RNZ this morning that she found out yesterday.

“The first I’ve seen the complaints of that nature was when I read then.” Asked when that was, she said “When I saw them in the Spinoff.”

That is very hard to believe. This has been reported in the media for the last five weeks.

If you believe that yesterday was the first the Prime Minister heard of this, then you must believe that the Prime Minister of this country does not watch, read or listen to the news reported in this country.

That she for the last five weeks has missed every bulletin, newspaper and programme that mentioned the fact this guy is alleged to have committed a sexual crime. . .

And also believe she doesn’t have staff who monitor the media and make sure she knows what she needs to know.

 . . . You have to also believe that the Prime Minister didn’t ask what allegation was so serious that a staffer in her office stopped coming to work five weeks ago.

You also have to square it with this comment she made yesterday in her press conference”:

“A month ago I visited New Zealand [Labour Party] Council. Very seriously shared my view that they were not the appropriate place to undertake inquiries around concerning behaviour of members of the Labour Party. But particularly they are not the appropriate place to ever undertake an investigation into a sexual assault. And that would be their view too.”  

Why would she say to the Labour Party council that they were not the right people to investigate an alleged sex crime, if she didn’t know the allegations were of a sex crime?

Because she did. She did know.

On the 6th of August, one day after the story broke in the media, Mike Hosking raised it with her right here on this station.

He asked her: “How many people have quit your party as a result of this investigation into this bloke who may or may not have sexual assaulted someone?”

Her response was: “I’m going to be very careful answering that question Mike because this is an inquiry and work is still underway and it is still a party matter.”

Exactly when the Prime Minister knew is important for a bunch of reasons.

Did she fail in her duty of care to staffers and volunteers?  Was this supposed to be covered up? But mostly it’s important because this is now about her integrity

It’s becoming increasingly hard to believe her version of events, and possibly this is the first time that we’ve had reason to question Jacinda Ardern’s honesty.

It’s not just about her integrity, It’s about trust.

It’s about the trust the people making serious allegations, and they are still allegations, put in the Labour Party to deal with them properly, and that their trust was abused.

It’s about the trust we ought to be able to have that when questioned about serious matters the PM would tell the truth.

And because, if she genuinely believes she didn’t know, it’s about trust in her and her office’s competence.

Because if neither she nor her staff keep up with the media reports on serious matters, what else aren’t they doing?

In which case it’s also about the trust that we all should have in our Prime Minister, whether we like her or not, whether we voted for her or not, whether we support her or not, to do her job and to deal with serious issues properly.

Quote of the day

The most notable thing about Time is that it is so purely relative. A large amount of reminiscence is, by common consent, conceded to the drowning man; and it is not past belief that one may review an entire courtship while removing one’s gloves. ― O. Henry who was born on this day in 1862.

September 11 in history

1185 Isaac II Angelus killed Stephanus Hagiochristophorites.

1297 Battle of Stirling Bridge: Scots jointly-led by William Wallace and Andrew Moray defeated the English.

1390  Lithuanian Civil War (1389–1392): the Teutonic Knights began a five-week siege of Vilnius.

1541  Santiago, Chile, was destroyed by indigenous warriors, lead by Michimalonko.

1609  Expulsion order announced against the Moriscos of Valencia; beginning of the expulsion of all Spain‘s Moriscos.

1609  Henry Hudson discovered Manhattan Island.

1649  Siege of Drogheda ended: Oliver Cromwell’s English Parliamentarian troops took the town and executed its garrison.

1697  Battle of Zenta.

1709  Battle of Malplaquet: Great Britain, Netherlands and Austria fight against France.

1758  Battle of Saint Cast: France repelled British invasion during the Souven Year’s War.

1773  The Public Advertiser published a satirical essay titled Rules By Which A Great Empire May Be Reduced To A Small One written by Benjamin Franklin.

1776  British-American peace conference on Staten Island failed to stop nascent American Revolutionary War.

1777  American Revolution: Battle of Brandywine –  British victory in Chester County, Pennsylvania.

1786  The Beginning of the Annapolis Convention.

1792 The Hope Diamond and other French crown jewels were stolen.

1802  France annexed the Kingdom of Piedmont.

1814  War of 1812: The climax of the Battle of Plattsburgh, a major United States victory in the war.

1847 Stephen Foster‘s song, Oh! Susanna, was first performed at a saloon in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

1847 – Mary Watson Whitney, American astronomer and academic, was born (d. 1921).

1857  Mormon settlers and Paiutes massacred 120 pioneers at Mountain Meadows, Utah.

1858 First ascent of Dom, the third highest summit in the Pennine Alps.

1860 – James Allan, New Zealand rugby player, All Black, was born (d. 1934).

1862 O. Henry, American writer, was born (d. 1910).

1880 – Four children were killed and 13 adults injured when two rail carriages were blown off the tracks by severe winds on a notoriously exposed part of the Rimutaka Incline railway line.

1885 D. H. Lawrence, English novelist, was born (d. 1930).

1892 Pinto Colvig, voice actor for Goofy, Pluto, and Bozo the Clown, was born (d. 1967).

1893 First conference of the World Parliament of Religions was held.

1897 After months of pursuit, generals of Menelik II of Ethiopia captured Gaki Sherocho, the last king of Kaffa, bringing an end to that ancient kingdom.

1903  The first race at The Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wisconsin was held. It is the oldest major speedway in the world.

1906  Mahatma Gandhi coined the term “Satyagraha” to characterize the Non-Violence movement in South Africa.

1914 Australia invaded New Britain, defeating a German contingent at the Battle of Bita Paka.

1916 The Quebec Bridge‘s central span collapsed, killing 11 men.

1917  Ferdinand Marcos, 10^th President of the Philippines, was born (d. 1989).

1917  Jessica Mitford, British writer, was born (d. 1996).

1921 Nahalal, the first moshav in Israel, was settled.

1922  The British Mandate of Palestine began.

1922  The Treaty of Kars was ratified in Yerevan, Armenia.

1922   The Sun News-Pictorial was founded in Melbourne.

1928 Charles Kingsford Smith and Charles Ulm made the first successful trans-Tasman flight.

1932 Franciszek Żwirko and Stanisław Wigura, Polish Challenge 1932 winners, were killed when their RWD 6 airplane crashes into the ground during a storm.

1937 – Queen Paola of Belgium, was born.

1941  Ground was broken for the construction of The Pentagon.

1941  Charles Lindbergh’s Des Moines Speech accusing the British, Jews and the Roosevelt administration of pressing for war with Germany.

1943 – Brian Perkins, New Zealand-English journalist and actor, was born.

1943 Mickey Hart, American drummer (Grateful Dead), was born.

1944  World War II: RAF bombing raid on Darmstadt and the following firestorm killed 11,500.

1945  World War II: Liberation of the Japanese-run POW and civilian internment camp at Batu Lintang, Kuching, Sarawak, by Australian 9th Division forces.

1950 – Anne Dell, Australian biochemist and academic, was born.

1951 – Hugo Porta, Argentinian rugby player, was born.

1956  People to People International was founded by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

1961  Foundation of the World Wildlife Fund.

1961 Hurricane Carla struck the Texas coast .

1968  Air France Flight 1611 crashed off Nice, France, killing 89 passengers and 6 crew.

1970  88 of the hostages from the Dawson’s Field hijackings were released.

1972  Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) in San Francisco, California began regular service.

1973 A coup in Chile headed by General Augusto Pinochet toppled the democratically elected president Salvador Allende.

1974  Eastern Air Lines Flight 212 crashed in Charlotte, North Carolina, killing 69 passengers and two crew.

1977 Jon Buckland, British guitarist (Coldplay), was born.

1978  U.S. President Jimmy Carter, President Anwar Sadat of Egypt, and Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel agreed on the Camp David Accords a framework for peace between Israel and Egypt and a comprehensive peace in the Middle East.

1989  The iron curtain opened between Hungary and Austria.

1992  Hurricane Iniki devastated Hawaii.

1997  NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor reached Mars.

1997  Scotland voted to establish a devolved parliament, within the United Kingdom.

1997 14 Estonian soldiers drowned in the Kurkse tragedy.

1998  Opening ceremony for the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur.

2001  The September 11 attacks in the United States.

2003 – The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety came into effect.

2004  Seventeen people were killed when a helicopter crashed in the Aegean Sea – among them were Patriarch Peter VII of Alexandria and bishops of the Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria.

2005 The Israel completed its unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip.

2007  Russia tested the largest conventional weapon ever, the Father of all bombs.

2012 – A total of 315 people were killed in two garment factory fires in Pakistan.

2012 – The first day of a series of protests and attacks; in which the U.S. embassy in Benghazi, Libya was attacked, resulting in four deaths, including J. Christopher Stevens, the United States Ambassador to Libya

2013 – A 400 km long Human chain called Catalan Way was organized by the Assemblea Nacional Catalana for the independence of Catalonia.

2015 – A crane collapsed onto the Masjid al-Haram mosque in Saudi Arabia, killing 111 people and injuring 394 others.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia