Archive for January, 2006

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  A whale of a problem - by frog

  
  
  
  It seems Japan’s “scientific” whaling programme may have bitten off a little more than its country is willing to chew. An article in The Japan Times reveals that whale meat seems to be piling up and is only going to be getting bigger. Surely this makes Japan’s decision to double this season’s catch of Minke [...] read more
  January 31, 2006 1:25 pm - 6 Comments
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  Thank goodness for Wayne Mapp - by frog

  
  
  
  I’m glad Wayne Mapp is National’s spokesman for the Eradication of Political Correctness – it really is an invaluable source of entertainment. This morning’s Dom Post has a short article about Mapp’s latest hobbyhorse – bilingual census forms – which leaves him looking like a complete wally. Not only does it contain this fabulous quote [...] read more
  January 31, 2006 10:06 am - 4 Comments
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  Unhappy protesters settle into Happy Valley - by frog

  
  
  
  While most most of us are today returning to work after the weekend (or enjoying a holiday if we’re lucky enough to be in Auckland or Nelson), 75 protesters at Happy Valley are settling in for a long stay in the great outdoors as they begin an indefinite occupation to protest Solid Energy’s proposed open [...] read more
  January 30, 2006 12:22 pm - 4 Comments
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  Policy conference - by frog

  
  
  
  The Greens are away up north this weekend for their policy conference. Over the next few days Green members from all over the country will be gathering to talk about what the Greens think about all sorts of things – from organic food to international relationships and trade. Unfortunately Frogs don’t travel long distances well, [...] read more
  January 27, 2006 4:45 pm - 6 Comments
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  The biggest media arrives in the biggest country - by frog

  
  
  
  I’ve had a bit of a soft spot for Google, after all it’s only seven years old and its guiding principle is “Don’t do evil”. But a couple of things have given me pause this week. Writing (offline) in The Listener, Russell Brown reports: By market capitalisation, the world’s biggest media company is Google. At [...] read more
  January 26, 2006 10:52 am - 11 Comments
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  Limbo Land - by frog

  
  
  
  The plight of the West Papuan people has all but been ignored by New Zealand media, much as the situation in East Timor was till it became an internationally fashionable cause in the late 90s. Keith has just put out a press release asking the New Zealand Government to consider offering homes to some of [...] read more
  January 26, 2006 9:23 am - 4 Comments
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  Smaller engines now mean more engines later - by frog

  
  
  
  Good to see the Transport Ministry is looking at the Greens’ feebate proposal. The Dom Post reports: …the Transport Ministry has confirmed it is investigating a Green Party proposal to link car registration charges with fuel efficiency as occurs in Europe. Such an initiative is used in France, where car taxes are graduated according to [...] read more
  January 25, 2006 9:36 am - 34 Comments
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  Super size her credibility - by frog

  
  
  
  Sue Bradford is putting her money where her mouth is by giving half of her back-dated MPs’ pay increase towards the youth rate campaign. Her release says: The $850 will go toward the SupersizeMyPay.Com action aimed at increasing the minimum wage to $12 an hour, achieve more secure hours of work and abolish youth rates. [...] read more
  January 24, 2006 8:25 pm - 13 Comments
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  Maybe this shows the Greens shouldn’t shut up, even for a day - by frog

  
  
  
  NZPA reports: An international report rating New Zealand as leading the world in environmental performance vindicates the Government’s directions, Environment Minister David Benson-Pope said yesterday. Mr Benson-Pope was commenting on the 2006 Environmental Environment Index, a pilot nation-by-nation study jointly produced by Yale and Columbia Universities. Hm, “Environmental Environment Index”, I spot a typo. Perhaps [...] read more
  January 24, 2006 5:17 pm - 10 Comments
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  Noise control for the planet - by frog

  
  
  
  In her State of the Planet speech on Sunday Jeanette said: These phenomena have led the atmospheric chemist James Lovelock to the view that the climate is past the point of no return and nothing can now be done to prevent the planet becoming uninhabitable. That is an extreme view, which I don’t share. Any [...] read more
  January 24, 2006 1:31 pm - 4 Comments
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  Bad jelly the fish - by frog

  
  
  
  As I previously mentioned, my current reading on the lilypad is Tim Flannery‘s The Weather Makers. I’m finding that many of things he talks about have an uncanny habit of cropping up in the news shortly after I read them. Consider this (pg 97): As the krill numbers decreased, those of another major grazing species [...] read more
  January 20, 2006 5:02 pm - 2 Comments
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  Clearing the air - by frog

  
  
  
  Land Transport has announced: Proposed changes to the requirements for vehicle exhaust emissions have been released for public comment, including a proposal to introduce a visible smoke check for exhausts as part of regular vehicle inspections. [snip] Director of Land Transport Wayne Donnelly said the proposed new [WOF] check would only affect a small number [...] read more
  January 19, 2006 12:35 pm - 32 Comments
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  Zimbabwe walks - by frog

  
  
  
  Further to my post the other day, looks like half of my prediction is coming to pass. The BBC reports: Zimbabwe’s interim cricket board has suspended the country’s Test status for the remainder of 2006. [snip] Zimbabwe Cricket said it had decided to suspend playing in Tests “after considering recent performances”, but the nation will [...] read more
  January 19, 2006 8:57 am - 2 Comments
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  Bobcasts - by frog

  
  
  
  Australian Green Party leader Senator Brown is now doing ‘Bobcasts’. AAP reports: “I am not techno-savvy, but I enjoy stopping every now and then to talk about the issue of the moment as we see it,” Mr Brown said. He said the technology would allow people to get a direct Greens point of view on [...] read more
  January 18, 2006 4:08 pm - No Comments
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  The whales were here first… - by frog

  
  
  
  Metiria this morning raised questions about Maori fisheries body Te Ohu Kaimoana‘s links to the Japanese whaling operation. It is the sole shareholder in Aotearoa Fisheries Limited (AFL), which owns a 50 percent shareholding in Sealord. The other half is owned by Japanese company Nissui, which is also a major shareholder in whaling fleets. Metiria [...] read more
  January 18, 2006 1:13 pm - 11 Comments
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  Maybe we could download ourselves off the planet - by frog

  
  
  
  This from today’s The Press: Is humanity striding towards glory, or are we so busy reaching for the stars that we’re about to sail off the edge of a cliff? Good question. The article goes on to the arguments of Ray Kurzweil: …the vast changes of the 20th century amount to only about 20 years [...] read more
  January 17, 2006 4:46 pm - 66 Comments
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  A cautionary tale about trying to make robust law just before an election - by frog

  
  
  
  Last April when the Land Transport Amendment Bill was going through the Select Committee stage, then Green MP Mike Ward raised some concerns. It was an omnibus bill, which means it was fiddling with bits and pieces all over the relevant law. The Greens agreed with nearly all of it, certainly enough to vote for [...] read more
  January 16, 2006 3:46 pm - 43 Comments
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  Full power, but… - by frog

  
  
  
  How’s this for having it both ways? The Waikato Times’ editorial today summerises its argument: Full power to the protesters, they are playing a key role in keeping pressure on the whalers. But if one of their workers is killed or maimed, it won’t do any good bleating to the world. The Japanese have a [...] read more
  January 16, 2006 1:16 pm - No Comments
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  Tapping the whalers’ wire - by frog

  
  
  
  Reacting to the GCSB report released with the Lange papers yesterday Keith has called for an inquiry. In a release he’s just put out, he says : “Is New Zealand intercepting Japanese communications with their whaling fleet? Is New Zealand keeping tabs on European countries that have opted out of the Iraq war? Without a [...] read more
  January 16, 2006 12:55 pm - 15 Comments
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  Endangered species - by frog

  
  
  
  Stephen Franks has a unique, but misguided, take on the the Japanese whaling issue in today’s Dom Post (off line). In his opinion piece he suggests we should not upset the Japanese over their whale slaughter because they might have a go at us over sheep: We are lathered in moral indignation about whaling. Yet [...] read more
  January 13, 2006 4:35 pm - 14 Comments