w h o a r . c o . n z

“…Please say sorry for your reckless lending decisions and for hiring the poor management that allowed the institution you built to go on a lending spree funded by government guaranteed money through late 2008 and early 2009.

Please take responsibility for the poor credit assessment and record keeping you passed on to Chief Executive Sandy Maier when he assumed control of the company in late December 2009.

Please explain why you failed to declare publicly, except in the bowels of your annual report, that your bank BNZ had summarily pulled its funding line in mid 2009.

Please explain why you used a local accounting firm Woodnorth Myers & Co as your auditor for so many years instead of bringing in an outside firm to provide some oversight.

Please explain why Ernst and Young found you had overvalued your assets by at least NZ$43.7 million in the initial accounts you prepared for 2008/09.

Please explain why you chose to repeatedly lend to related parties of other companies and interests that you either personally owned or controlled.

Please explain why you represented an equity injection in 2009 as a real injection of fresh money when it was nothing more than a merry-go-round of assets for shares.

Please explain why you refused to be interviewed or engage with the financial press in any meaningful way for years.

Please explain why you thought making interest free loans to young farmers to buy overpriced land was a prudent way to run a business.

Please explain why you chose to run so many businesses yourself without any outside scrutiny.

A search of Companies Office records show you were or are a director and/or shareholder in 552 companies.

There are 1,690 companies registered from your offices at 39 George St, Timaru…” (cont..)

go to source/story>>>Bernard Hickey: Dear Allan Hubbard - Please say sorry and thanks - Business - NZ Herald News

“…His philosophy inspired a generation, then drifted out of fashion.

Now, 100 years after his birth, the life and work of Jean-Paul Sartre are once again highly relevant - and bitterly controversial.

Jean-Paul Sartre’s grave is a modest affair, befitting a man who (so he claimed) hated monuments and cared nothing for his own legacy.

Beside the plain, white marble tombstone in the Montparnasse cemetery in Paris this week, well-wishers had left a vase of plastic flowers, a pot of geraniums, five roses, a pigeon feather, scores of pebbles and five unused Métro tickets.

On the grave - also the last resting place of Sartre’s lifelong “companion” Simone de Beauvoir - there was an anonymous, scribbled note: …

…”To JPS and SB, for your sincere writing and for the meaning you gave to life.

Thank you for leaving your mark on history.”

What the Métro tickets were for is unclear. Perhaps Le Petit Homme (the little man) and Castor (the beaver) might like to return to the Café de Flore to drink coffee, smoke Gauloises, discuss their many infidelities, mock their friends …

… and ponder, from a new perspective, the difference between “being and nothingness”.

Jean-Paul Sartre - philosopher, novelist, playwright, polemicist, political activist … the secular messiah of existentialism …

… the prototype of the “engaged” French intellectual - died 25 years ago this year.

He was born 100 years ago next Tuesday.

His funeral in April 1980 provoked an outpouring of grief more usually associated with actors than with ugly, chain-smoking, foul-smelling, squint-eyed philosophers.

More than 30,000 people took to the streets of Paris to follow his coffin …

…and - in the phrase of one fan at the time - to “demonstrate against Sartre’s death”….”

go to source/story>>>The Second Coming Of Sartre - Features, Books - The Independent

“…Healthful cooking doesn’t have to be expensive cooking.

In this week’s Recipes for Health series, Martha Rose Shulman provides five nutritious meals that won’t break the bank.

To create these inexpensive meals, Ms. Shulman relies on pantry staples like pasta and rice … adding beans and peas for extra nutritional value.

Vegetables like onions, cabbage and carrots are also great for those on a budget, are easy to find and can stay fresh in the refrigerator for an extended period, she explains.

Here are five cost-conscious ways to eat healthfully…”

go to source/story>>>Healthful eating on a dime (all-vegan recipes from the NY Times) - Vegsource.com

“…Got milk?

Plenty of people think its perfectly healthy to drink … and advertisements would have you eating dairy all the time.

But it may not be as healthy as you think.

In this weeks UltraWellness blog Dr. Mark Hyman gives six reasons you should avoid milk and explains why it may be at the very root of your health problems.

Dr. Hyman is a smart guy, though we don’t agree 100% with his recommendations …

…(e.g., we don’t recommend any seafoods or other animal products as a source of calcium…

… or anything else)…”

go to source/story>>>Six Reasons You Should Avoid Dairy at all Costs (VIDEO) - Vegsource.com

“…Books like Diet For A New America, Skinny Bitch and the film Earthlings had a profound effect on Ellen’s decision to avoid animal products…”

(recommended-watch..)

go to source/story>>>Ellen DeGeneres on why she went vegan - Vegsource.com

“…factoids, how to win an argument with a meat-eater,…”

* The Hunger Argument

* The Environmental Argument

* The Cancer Argument

* The Cholesterol Argument

* The Natural Resources Argument

* The Antibiotic Argument

* The Pesticide Argument

* The Ethical Argument

* The Survival Argument…”

(recommended-read..)

go to source/story>>>How to Win An Argument With a Meat-Eater - Vegsource.com

“…Contrary to largely gloomy cultural perceptions … growing old brings some benefits … notably emotional and cognitive stability.

Laura Carstensen, a Stanford social psychologist calls this the “well-being paradox.”

Although adults older than 65 face challenges to body and brain …

… the 70s and 80s also bring an abundance of social and emotional knowledge … qualities scientists are beginning to define as wisdom.

As Carstensen and another social psychologist, Fredda Blanchard-Fields of the Georgia Institute of Technology, have shown …

… adults gain a toolbox of social and emotional instincts as they age.

According to Blanchard-Fields, seniors acquire a feel … an enhanced sense of knowing right from wrong …

… and therefore a way to make sound life decisions.

That may help explain the finding that old age correlates with happiness.

A study published this year in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science found a U-shaped relationship between happiness and age: …

… Adults were happiest in youth and again in their 70s and early 80s …

… and least happy in middle age…”

go to source/story>>>Researchers find that wisdom and happiness increase as people grow older - Vegsource.com

um..!..wd it be out of order to ask for a bit of transperancy around this $1.75 billion ’soaking’ we have just taken…?

namely…did any of those who granted this mountain of money….

did any of them have any conflict of interests running here..?

as in..were any in national taking advantage of that hubbard-potion of high interest rates..

..and a gold-plated gummint-guarantee…?

..should it all turn to custard..?

(i mean..why wouldn’t they..?..eh…?)

in effect…i am asking if any of them lobbied for/voted for..

..a bailout for themselves..?…

..eh..?

(hidden away in ‘trusts’/w.h.y…?..)

(i’m just asking..!..)

“… The children most likely to die from neglect and abuse are falling under the radar of the government agencies that should be protecting them, research shows.

A study of Masterton families that rely on social services found support was failing to reach those most at risk.

The research, commissioned by Social Development Minister Paula Bennett, showed most families were resilient and used social services to make themselves stronger.

The Families Commission study focused on Masterton and looked at 400 families and 33 social service agencies.

High-risk, dysfunctional families were among those interviewed.

But the most severe cases – families in which children had died – avoided contact with social services and fell under the radar, the report said.

Figures from key agencies show that, on average, 60 babies a year throughout the country are being admitted to hospital because of abuse.

Abuse reported to Child, Youth and Family last year increased 119 per cent in the past five years.

Last year, 110,000 cases were reported to CYF and, by the end of this year, the figure is expected to be about 125,000…”

go to source/story>>>Children most at risk of harm ‘fall under radar’ | Stuff.co.nz

“… As the evil Mr Burns would say: Excellent …

The creators of The Simpsons have finally revealed what Wellington duo Flight of the Conchords will look like when they guest star in the long-running show in the United States this month.

The cartoon of Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie, signed by Simpson’s creator Matt Groening, is a Simpsons-style makeover that includes yellow skin and one fewer finger on each hand.

The pair guest star in the first episode of the new season, Elementary School Musical, to be broadcast in the US on September 26.

In it, Lisa enrols at a special band camp where she runs into talented singers, including Lea Michele, Corey Monteith, and Amber Riley from television show Glee.

Flight of the Conchords play two free-spirited, artsy camp counsellors.

A TV3 spokeswoman said the episode would probably air in New Zealand next year…”

go to source/story>>>Bret and Jemaine’s guest turn | Stuff.co.nz

“… A woman who claims that her personalised licence plate “ARYAN1″ is the initial and surname of a former boyfriend …

… has links to white supremacist groups … and is backed by the National Front.

Upper Hutt mother Lisa Marie Thompson – who has references to neo-Nazi white-power organisation Blood & Honour on a personal webpage – has denied being racist.

She said she had no idea what “Aryan” meant and the apparent nod to Adolf Hitler’s “master” race actually referred to her former boyfriend – Andrew Ryan.

However, Ms Thompson, 32 – whose licence plate sparked a complaint to roading authorities – has links to white supremacist groups which appear active in Wellington.

The Facebook page of the body piercer, seamstress and mother of three includes “friends” posing before swastika flags …

… and claiming allegiance to “white nationalist” skinhead groups such as Crew 38 and Hammerskin Nation.

The New Zealand National Front party threw its support behind Ms Thompson this week…”

go to source/story>>>‘Aryan1′ owner’s white supremacy links - national | Stuff.co.nz

“…Unfair, unaffordable and unlikely to happen.

That just about sums up Peter Dunne’s bill to allow income splitting for tax purposes for couples with dependent children.

Its avowed objectives sound fair enough: “To give parents greater choice in their work and caring roles, to give families with children additional financial support, and to acknowledge the contributions of those who forgo income to care for children.”

But that is specious.

It should read, “To give some parents greater choice”, “to give the right kinds of families additional support”…

… and “to acknowledge the contributions of those who can afford to forgo income to care for children”.

By definition it does nothing for sole parents … yet theirs are the families among whom child poverty is most prevalent…”

go to source/story>>>Brian Fallow : Income splitting hardest on poor - Opinion - NZ Herald News

“…Questions need to be asked of the former management of failed company South Canterbury Finance, says the Shareholders Association.

Des Hunt, Shareholders Association corporate liaison director, said there was concern with activities in expanding the business and investing in areas known to be risky.

“The questions would be why were they still investing heavily in real estate -

- if that’s true then one would want to question the governance and what were the directors and management doing,” Hunt said.

“I can’t imagine he [Allan Hubbard] was the one who was out there looking for all these various investments.”

Sandy Maier, who in December was appointed as South Canterbury chief executive…

… this week said the company had ramped up its risky real estate loans …

… after it signed up to the Government scheme that protected investors’ money…”

go to source/story>>>‘What were bosses thinking’ - Business - NZ Herald News

“…Super City mayoral contender John Banks is facing heat over his liquor policy on top of revelations that his son Alex was among those who “egged on” a schoolmate who died after binge-drinking.

Last week, Mr Banks flip-flopped over his support for 24-hour drinking at central city bars, and now supports 4am closing.

Yesterday, the Auckland City Mayor was accused of failing to show leadership to close bottle stores at 10pm and give communities a say on liquor outlets.

Last October, Mr Banks and his Citizens & Ratepayers allies abandoned liquor licensing changes following a hostile reaction from the hospitality industry to plans to close suburban bars at midnight.

Attempts at the time by City Vision councillors to continue public consultation of the opening hours and location of off-licence alcohol outlets were also knocked back by Mr Banks and C&R…”

go to source/story>>>Banks in firing line for policy on alcohol - National - NZ Herald News

“…TVNZ workers’ days of splurging on company plastic have ended …

… as the state broadcaster cuts up hundreds of credit cards to avoid “misleading” publicity.

Nearly everyone from celebrity presenters to senior executives will be affected.

Chief executive Rick Ellis has told staff that following a review of company practices, they will have their cards taken away.

TVNZ has hit the headlines in recent years for credit card spending.

More than 470 of its 900 or so staff have had cards, and in the six months to January this year - a time of cost cutting -

- they spent $3.18 million.

Almost 100 of the cards had a monthly cap of at least $10,000.

Mr Ellis racked up more than $140,000 on his own company plastic in two years - including $32,000 entertaining.

He and senior executives will be among those losing their cards … and soon there will be as few as 50 left at TVNZ…”

go to source/story>>>TVNZ staff lose credit card perk - National - NZ Herald News

“…What is the link between alcohol and throat cancer?

Eighty-five percent of all head and neck cancers are related to smoking … but alcohol has also been linked to throat cancer.

According to the American Cancer Society … drinkers are six times more likely to get these cancers.

Some reports have found that people who smoke and drink are as much as 100 times more likely to get mouth and throat cancer than people with neither habit.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, consuming 50 grams of alcohol a day, the equivalent of four drinks …

… doubles or triples the risk for getting mouth, voice box and throat cancer….”

go to source/story>>>Michael Douglas’ Throat Cancer Diagnosis Have You Scared? Here’s What You Need to Know About Throat Cancer - ABC News

(this has been posted by a commenter at kiwiblog…)

“…From page 487 GCHQ-The Uncensored story of Britain’s most secret Intelligence Agency – Richard J Aldrich Harper Press 2010

“..a team from GCHQ were assisting with the investigation into blackouts of the national power grid that had struck Auckland in New Zealand.

They proved to be the result of electronic attacks on the country’s electricity distribution network, launched over the internet……

..The culprits were a group of hackers called the ” Anti Christ Doom Squad…………

…Once they gained access to the computers controlling New Zealand’s power supply, they focused on the distribution systems …

… picking a point where all five main power lines converged before coming into Auckland.

By changing the temperature with in the sensitive cables they quickly put them out of action.

Remarkably the whole attack was run from a laptop in a drug cafe in the back streets of Amsterdam.”

(whoar…!…eh…?…)

“…The new documentary “Psywar,” featuring CMD founder John Stauber, explores corporate and government use of propaganda and public relations to manipulate American people.

The movie explores how the U.S. government staged events to manipulate public opinion about the Iraq war …

… like the rescue of Private Jessica Lynch …

… the supposedly spontaneous mob that pulled over the larger-than-life statue of Saddam Hussein in Iraq.

It also discusses the Pentagon pundit scandal … and the hidden activities of the Rendon Group … a PR firm specializing in spinning war.

The film exposes government and corporate activities to blur the lines between real news and fake news …

… as well as the development over time of public relations misinformation campaigns …

… strategic corporate campaigns to generate goodwill … and the perception of good works …

… the use of staged photo-ops …

… and other manipulative PR tools that have turned the land of the free and the home of the brave into a place where citizens are now manipulated with great efficiency …

… and on a massive scale…”

(Watch the entire film for free online..in link..)

go to source/story>>>Psywar Film Reveals The Hidden Battle for Your Mind | Center for Media and Democracy

“…The continuing woes of the book industry were underscored today when the US retail chain Borders, which pulled out of Britain last year …

… said its losses had increased amid sharply falling revenues.

American book retailers, who have been struggling to compete with online rivals and supermarkets, now face the threat of digital books …

… which have begun to appeal to a wider audience.

In Britain the picture is little better, and investors have begun to put pressure on HMV to rid itself of Waterstone’s …

… the only remaining large high street book chain.

Borders said like-for-like sales at stores open for more than a year had dropped 6.8% in the second quarter.

It made losses of $46.7m (£30.2m), compared with the $45.6m loss recorded in the same quarter last year.

Revenue fell 12% to $526m.

US rival Barnes & Noble is also deep in the red … and reported losses of $62.5m for its fiscal first quarter, ending in July.

Borders arrived in Britain in 1998, promising to revolutionise book-buying … and opened a chain of 45 stores.

But by 2007 … the company admitted it was considering a sale of the UK division…”

go to source/story>>>Borders sees sharp fall in revenue | Business | The Guardian

“…Arianna has griped about its misuse before and, frankly, the number of misplaced apostrophe’s — oops, we mean apostrophes — out there has become downright frightening.

Thankfully, the people over at CoolRules.com have made light of the situation by recording “The Apostrophe Song.”

A sort of “Schoolhouse Rock!” for the internet age, “The Apostrophe Song” comes in four different flavors:…

… “Hip Hop,” “Pop/Dance,” “Rock” and “Acoustic,” available at the Cool Rules website.

Only one, so far as we can tell … comes with its own outstanding video…”

go to source/story>>>Can New ‘Apostrophe Song’ Cure The Apostrophe Crisis? (VIDEO)

“…The hot question in green circles these days is, “what next?”

For the last decade, strategy has been built around getting a federal climate bill that would place a cap on carbon emissions.

That attempt was supposed to culminate in success this year, but it didn’t, so … what next?

There will be much to say along those lines in coming months.

I hope to share words of inspiration and uplift, to stir minds with insight and hearts with passion.

To tell great tales of green pastures to come … and the heroes who will sail the fleet of righteousness to the golden shores of, uh, the pastures.

Just real quick, though …

… I need to be depressed as hell for a minute…”

go to source/story>>>How bad are the next few years going to suck? | Grist

“…Kiwi taxpayers should be asking why they have had to stump up a $1.77 billion cheque to “bail out” investors in collapsed South Canterbury Finance.

As Government-orchestrated financial bailouts go this is the biggest in New Zealand’s history -

- dwarfing that of the $600 million Bank of New Zealand bailout in 1990.

The difference is that this time it is the investors who get lucky.

The shareholder (Allan Hubbard) loses his shirt.

But the company closes its doors and the Government recoups as much of the $1.77 billion as it can through the receivership process.

Most of the 35,000 New Zealanders who were enticed to put their savings into Hubbard’s former flagship did so because they were attracted by returns which were much higher than those offered by the trading banks.

But unlike the hundreds of thousands of investors - who between them have lost more than $4 billion in the string of finance company collapses -

- they have been spared as a result of the retail depositors’ guarantee scheme that the Labour Government introduced (with National’s connivance) during the November 2008 election…”

go to source/story>>>Fran O’Sullivan : Alarm bells were deafening on SCF woes - Opinion - NZ Herald News

“…Agonising over whether the drinking age should revert to 20 or be split - allowing 18-year-olds to start buying booze in pubs but not in supermarkets - is all beside the point.

If an 18-year-old hasn’t already got easy access to alcohol … courtesy of their parents or mates …

…. they must be living a very solitary life…”

go to source/story>>>Brian Rudman : Booze needs to cost more to deter young - Opinion - NZ Herald News

“…Never mind the cow cockies - South Canterbury and Allan Hubbard were sunk by glitzy property investments including some in upmarket Auckland bars and nightclubs.

New information shows Auckland’s nightlife cost the failed finance company about $1.5 million.

While the financier traded strongly on its South Island links and stressed the parsimonious lifestyle of owner Hubbard …

… it was a big Auckland lender and helped create venues for the city’s after-dark revellers.

It financed chunks of the city’s hospitality industry, pouring money into real estate created for Princes Wharf and Vulcan Lane bar devotees.

Three Princes Wharf bars at the bottom of Quay St and a themed Vulcan Bar received cash from the financier …

… much to the detriment of South Canterbury Finance…”

go to source/story>>>Big-city nightlife helped to sink finance company - Business - NZ Herald News

“… after the failed finance company’s chief executive, Sandy Maier, was spotted on an Air New Zealand flight leafing through a sale and purchase agreement.

But businessman Duncan Saville is not the only investor circling the remains of Allan Hubbard’s company which failed on Tuesday, saddling the taxpayer with an immediate $1.78 billion bill.

South Island rich lister George Kerr yesterday confirmed he was interested in buying at least some of South Canterbury’s better assets…”

go to source/story>>>Plane leak reveals $1.57b bid - National - NZ Herald News

“…Take sunlight, add water, and there you have it: free energy.

Plants have been doing this for quite some time, splitting water’s hydrogen apart from its oxygen …

… but our efforts to turn water into a source of free hydrogen fuel by mimicking them have borne no fruit.

The problem is that splitting water takes more energy than conventional solar-cell technology can realistically deliver.

But now we may be tantalisingly close to having economically viable sun-powered water splitters …

…and with it all the clean-burning fuel we want.

In 2008, Daniel Nocera at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his team unveiled a revolutionary approach to splitting water.

They used a cheap cobalt-phosphate catalyst and titanium oxide electrodes that need far less electricity than conventional electrolysis to split water.

That raised the possibility of stealing plants’ trick and using sunlight to power the reaction.

However, the number of photovoltaic cells needed for such devices mean it cannot compete on price with fossil fuels, says Daniel Gamelin, a chemist at the University of Washington in Seattle.

But Gamelin and his team thought they could bring down the costs by incorporating some of that photovoltaic technology in Nocera’s water-splitting device …

… creating a so-called photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitter…”

go to source/story>>>Green machine: Perfecting the plant way to power - tech - 01 September 2010 - New Scientist

“…(Newly discovered materials could clear the way for blisteringly fast laptops and smartphones that don’t warm our laps or singe our ears).

As I write this, an uncomfortable warmth is starting to overcome me.

But this is no mystery fever to send me running to the medicine cupboard.

The source is all too obvious: the laptop cradled in my lap.

Time to fetch not a cold compress, but a pillow to place beneath my computer.

Today’s microelectronic devices pump out a lot of heat.

If only they wouldn’t, processors would be zippier, batteries would last longer, laptops could be used on laps and smartphones wouldn’t singe our ears.

But there is little we can do.

Heat is a natural by-product of what goes on in a computer chip, released when electrons careering around the processor pathways smash into each other and the surrounding furniture …

… and through that become deflected from their intended course.

Help might be at hand.

In the past five years, physicists have uncovered a new kind of material that can keep electrons on the straight and narrow …

… eliminating collisions and slashing the amount of heat produced.

Called topological insulators, these materials conduct electricity by harnessing a quantum-mechanical property of electrons called spin.

Unlike superconductors, those other low-heat-loss marvel materials, they can perform this feat at room temperature.

Forget silicon: it could soon be time to fasten your seat belt for a drive on the spin superhighway…”

go to source/story>>>Wonder conductors will spin up cooler computers - tech - 01 September 2010 - New Scientist

“…(Is touchy-feely environmentalism a new opiate of the people?

Why are we paying rent to Bill Gates?

Is reality incomplete?

Marxist cultural commentator Slavoj Žižek, the man they call the most dangerous philosopher in the west, unravels it all for Liz Else)..

Your new book, Living in the End Times, is about the demise of global capitalism. What is science’s place in all this?

Science is completely entangled with capital and capitalism. It is simultaneously the source of some threats (such as the ecological consequences of our industries or the uncontrolled use of genetic engineering), and our best hope of understanding those threats and finding a way to cope with them.

Given the book’s title, it’s no surprise that it also features the four horsemen of the apocalypse, which you identify with four major threats you say we face.

For me, remember, apocalypse means revelation, not catastrophe.

Take the threat to our ecology.

Until recently, the main reaction to ominous news such as Arctic sea ice melting faster than predicted was, “We are approaching an unthinkable catastrophe, the time to act is running out.”

Lately, we’re hearing more voices telling us to be positive about global warming.

True, they say, climate change increases competition for resources, flooding, the stresses on animals and indigenous cultures, ethnic violence and civil disorder.

But we must bear in mind that thanks to climate change the Arctic’s treasures could be uncovered, resources become more accessible, land fit for habitation and so on.

So it’s business as usual?

Yes…” (cont..)

go to source/story>>>Slavoj Žižek: Wake up and smell the apocalypse - opinion - 30 August 2010 - New Scientist

“…From the relaxing effects of cannabis to the highs of LSD and ecstasy, illegal drugs are not generally associated with the lab bench.

Now, for the first time in decades, that is starting to change.

For almost 40 years, mainstream research has shied away from investigating the therapeutic benefits of drugs whose recreational use is prohibited by law.

But a better understanding of how these drugs work in animal studies, and the advancement of brain-imaging techniques, has sparked a swathe of new research.

What’s more, clinical trials of MDMA (ecstasy), LSD and other psychoactive drugs are starting to yield some positive results.

This could lead to a call for governments to take a new approach to the funding and regulation of research into the potential benefits of such chemicals.

LSD was developed in the 1940s (see “The highs and lows of LSD”) but by the 1970s it and many other drugs became classed as schedule 1 in many countries - described as “abuse” drugs with no accepted medical use.

“Research on psychedelics was severely restricted and interest in the therapeutic use of these drugs faded,” says Franz Vollenweider of the neuropsychopharmacology and brain-imaging unit at the Zurich University Hospital of Psychiatry, Switzerland.

The classification of LSD as schedule 1 was a mistake born of “ignorance and taboo”, says Amanda Feilding, director of the Beckley Foundation …

… a charitable trust that promotes investigation into consciousness and its modulation, based in Oxford, UK.

These kinds of decisions are political not scientific, says Michael Mithoefer, a psychiatrist in Mount Pleasant, California.

“When the US Drug Enforcement Agency held hearings about MDMA, the judge ruled it did not meet criteria for schedule 1 and should be schedule 3, so it could be used by physicians but not sold in bars.

The DEA administrator put it in schedule 1 despite it not meeting the criteria.”

Despite these hurdles, a number of trials are now under way in the US and Switzerland to investigate the potential of LSD and psilocybin - the psychoactive component of magic mushrooms - in helping terminal cancer patients deal with anxiety and depression.

Feilding is also working with David Nutt of Imperial College London on the first UK study using psychedelics for 40 years.

Among other things, they are researching how psilocybin can help in recalling distant memories …

… which they say could help with psychotherapy following trauma…”

go to source/story>>>Psychoactive drugs: From recreation to medication - health - 01 September 2010 - New Scientist

“… The biggest shake-up of the finance sector in 35 years is under way in a bid to restore shattered confidence …

… but it will be too late for most of those who invested more than $8 billion in finance companies that then failed.

The bulk of those deposits were not protected by the Government guarantee …

… and many of the inventors will get nothing back from what represents a massive destruction of wealth in the past few years.

The failure of South Canterbury Finance this week is the latest in a string of finance company failures …

… the bulk of which took place before the deposit guarantee scheme protecting investors was put in place.

Commerce Minister Simon Power said finance company failures accounted for deposits totalling more than $6 billion before the Government took office in December 2008, shortly after the deposit guarantee scheme came into effect.

Depositor funds worth about $2 billion had been affected by failures since then…”

go to source/story>>>Finance shake-up - after $8b wiped out | Stuff.co.nz

“… Low income New Zealand families would have to spend up to a third of their income to eat healthily, a researcher says.

A separate study reveals about 40 per cent of New Zealand households go hungry, skip meals or scrimp on ingredients because they are not “food secure”.

Food security is a key topic for discussion at a national dietitians conference in Dunedin that started yesterday and runs until tomorrow.

Professor John Coveney, associate dean at South Australia’s Flinders University …

… said yesterday people in low socio-economic groups were more likely to have a diet-related disease such as diabetes, heart disease and some cancers.

His Australian research, which will be presented at the conference …

… showed low income families would have to spend up to one-third of their weekly income on buying a shopping basket of healthy food.

In comparison, a “healthy food basket” cost just 9 per cent of income for high income families…”

go to source/story>>>Healthy eating hard for poor - research | Stuff.co.nz

“… South Canterbury Finance’s collapse appears to have been caused in part by rich investors pulling out cash to get below new limits for the government’s deposit guarantee scheme.

Trustee Executors regional manager Yogesh Mody said “many investors” with deposits above the $250,000 limit that will apply to the revised scheme from October 12 …

… had been “rearranging” their investments to get below that figure ahead of the deadline.

Mr Mody, who appointed receivers to SCF on Tuesday, said the moves were symptomatic of the company’s inability to attract and keep investors amid doubts about its survival.

“In some ways, this contributed to one of the core problems the company had been facing –

- the lack of confidence by investors to reinvest or invest larger sums this year, notwithstanding the extended government guarantee,” he said.

The guarantee scheme was introduced in October 2008 amid fears of a run on finance companies as the global recession hit New Zealand …

… and at present protects deposits of up to $1 million an investor.

It was to have ended next month, but the Government extended it for approved companies – which included SCF – through to the end of next year…”

go to source/story>>>The rich blamed for SCF’s fall | Stuff.co.nz

a kiwi-bach is entered into a green-buildings competition…

and it is so simple….and so cool…

go to source/story>>>http://blog.greens.org.nz/2010/09/01/kiwi-bach-goes-to-washington/#comment-148608Kiwi bach goes to Washington | frogblog

“…The University of Washington epidemiologist Dr Stephen Bezruchka has been writing and speaking for nearly two decades on the real cause of illness and poor health.

As he repeatedly points out, lifestyle factors (including smoking) only account for ten percent of the causation of illness.

According to Bezruchka, the single most important determinant of adult health status and life expectancy is your mother’s income and social status during pregnancy … and the first three years of life.

Although more than fifty years of epidemiological studies bear this out … it is only in the last decade scientists could explain why this is –

– thanks to the new science of epigenetics.

While the early Freudians used to make similar claims about unfavorable “psychological” influences on infants and young children …

… it is now clear the effect is biological rather than psychological.

That it relates to “epigenetics” –

- a term referring to changes in gene expression caused by mechanisms other than the underlying DNA sequence…” (cont..)

go to source/story>>>Income Inequality: the Real Cause of Poor Health « american in exile

“…The Toledo Museum of Art’s $30 million Glass Pavilion is a symbol of America’s “Glass City,” and reflects the legacy of its local glassmakers.

A smudge on the image: The pavilion glass was imported from China, the new global powerhouse of the glass industry.

No one in the U.S. had the capability to satisfy cutting-edge architectural specifications for the curving pavilion …

… even though the 2006 job involved techniques advanced decades ago by Toledo inventors: bending and laminating glass.

The pavilion features 360 thick glass panels, each up to 13.5 feet tall, eight feet wide and weighing over 1,300 pounds.

For years, the West focused on the threat from China’s low-tech exporters like clothing and furniture makers.

Glass represents how an even more potent challenge has arrived:…

… sophisticated, capital-intensive businesses that boast high-tech expertise.

In industries where global demand has shifted to China, the pattern is repeated … from steel to locomotives and turbines to specialized glassworks.

Chinese companies that have gorged on growth in the domestic market have managed … in just a few years …

… to close the gap on decades of technological innovation in the industrialized West…”

go to source/story>>>In Toledo, the ‘Glass City,’ New Label: Made in China - WSJ.com

“…Being a child of a rock legend brings kudos, travel and famous friends –

– but fatherly wisdom and bedtime stories are rarely part of the deal.

Having a babysitter called “The Sulphate Strangler”; being forsaken by your tour bus;…

… having a father who’d rather grease party-guests’ palms with opiates than grip your mother’s clammy paw during childbirth.

If you thought everyday kid-rearing was difficult … then blaze through a guide to rock’n'roll parenting and prepare to baulk.

Except, well, there is no official guide.

If only there was an instruction leaflet prescribing parenting tips to famous musicians;…

… the best they have is How’s Your Dad?, a new book by the rock journalist Zoë Street Howe …

… which outlines the excesses of rock stars … and how they impact on their sprogs…”

go to source/story>>>The children of rock dads - Features, Health & Families - The Independent

“…What will it take for us to realize that the same funding dollars used to arrest, prosecute and imprison drug usage could be spent to help rather than punish people.

Think of the lives that could be saved if we chose to fund harm reduction programs …

… and to make the overdose antidote naloxone readily available.

A dose of naloxone that costs approximately $10 could have saved my son.

Consider what common sense and good policy it is to pass Good Samaritan 911 laws that allow people to report an overdose without fearing arrest.

It is a mystery why a society would rather make a drug bust … than let a person with drugs call 911 to save a life.

We are taught that nothing is as powerful as a good education – and I believe that –

- and yet we neglect to educate young people with a realistic drug education curriculum.

And, finally, we make noise about drug treatment programs …

… and then do not support our elected representatives to pass legislation that provides adequate funding…” (cont..)

go to source/story>>>Preventing Death by Overdose: One of the Most Avoidable Tragedies on Earth | | AlterNet

“…Operation Tropic Twilight tests improved co-ordination between government and development agencies in the Pacific.

He likened it to the landing of the Americans during the second world war when suddenly, as if the sea had changed colour …

… the island was swamped by white men in military uniforms.

Some 67 years later, like hundreds of other residents of Funafuti, Fakasoa Eutelu dropped everything he was doing to watch as the New Zealand navy unloaded the amphibious support vessel Canterbury at the tiny port of Tuvalu’s capital.

“This is the biggest ship to dock here since the war,” he said.

“But that time, people here thought they were being invaded.”

The Canterbury’s crew emerged from the bowels with timber, piping, cable, concrete, water tanks and dozens of vehicles.

A sparkling French Puma helicopter picked up in Noumea was unveiled on the flight deck.

Tuvalu, the world’s third smallest nation and perhaps the most vocal about the threat to small island states from sea-level rise … was a hive of activity.

It was Tropic Twilight 2010, a joint operation by the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) … and the country’s foreign aid programme.

The two-week exercise had two major aims: to practise a response to a natural disaster such as a cyclone or tsunami in low-lying islands …

… and to deliver a series of aid programmes to Tuvalu.

As well as NZAid staff, and more than 300 army, air force and navy personnel, there were police, Red Cross and Ministry of Health officials.

Hercules-130 aircraft had been flying in medics, tradesmen, engineers and builders over the previous two days.

It soon became clear that this rapid workshop in humanitarian and disaster relief was going to address a few pressing needs.

Army trucks began ferrying materials to sites around the island where work on education and health projects began immediately.

As well as building new schools, fixing up old ones, repairing the hospital and providing a range of surgery …

… the army installed water tanks and irrigation systems … and repaired failing infrastructure…”

(good one..!..eh..?..)

go to source/story>>>Tuvalu disaster relief exercise shows a shift in New Zealand’s aid strategy | World news | Guardian Weekly

“…Bjørn Lomborg, the self-styled “sceptical environmentalist” once compared to Adolf Hitler by the UN’s climate chief …

… is famous for attacking climate scientists, campaigners, the media and others for exaggerating the rate of global warming …

… and its effects on humans …

… and the costly waste of policies to stop the problem.

But in a new book to be published next month, Lomborg will call for tens of billions of dollars a year to be invested in tackling climate change.

“Investing $100bn annually would mean that we could essentially resolve the climate change problem by the end of this century,” the book concludes.

Examining eight methods to reduce or stop global warming, Lomborg and his fellow economists recommend pouring money into researching and developing clean energy sources such as wind, wave, solar and nuclear power …

… and more work on climate engineering ideas such as “cloud whitening” … to reflect the sun’s heat back into the outer atmosphere.

In a Guardian interview, he said he would finance investment through a tax on carbon emissions that would also raise $50bn to mitigate the effect of climate change …

… for example by building better sea defences … and $100bn for global healthcare.

His declaration about the importance of action on climate change comes at a crucial point in the debate …

… with international efforts to agree a global deal on emissions …

… stalled amid a resurgence in scepticism caused by rows over the reliability of the scientific evidence for global warming…”

go to source/story>>>Bjørn Lomborg: $100bn a year needed to fight climate change | Environment | The Guardian

“…With Amazon’s recent announcement that digital e-books outsold hardcover books for the first time …

… and paperbacks destined to a similar fate in the near future …

.. we can safely say the e-book revolution is upon us.

That doesn’t necessarily mean, however, that the devices upon which we read those books — digital e-readers, tablet computers, smartphones — are anywhere near their final form.

Last December, we took a look at the most popular e-readers on the market, and, while many companies have made only incremental alterations to their lineups since then …

… a few new additions and serious price-drops among others have vastly changed the landscape.

And, oh yeah, there’s that whole iPad thing.

At first blush, the iPad seemed like it would radically alter the e-reader market.

In the months that have passed, it has sold like hot cakes, but, then again, so have E-ink e-readers.

So in putting together this revisited roundup, we found ourselves in a curious dilemma: whether to include the iPad or not.

The iPad, as you’ve undoubtedly heard, is billed by Apple as a new device category altogether (one that involves magic!).

All hype aside, we’re inclined to agree.

Unlike virtually every e-reader on the market, the iPad is, first and foremost … a multimedia device that happens to have e-reader capabilities.

And if one were to be honest in analyzing the iPad strictly on its merits as a dedicated e-reader …

… it’s woefully lacking compared to much of the competition.

The brilliant, glossy color screen is difficult to see in bright light … and can strain the eyes over long periods.

It’s also relatively heavy (about three times the weight of many e-readers) …

… and its battery life is around 10 hours … versus a couple weeks or more for most e-readers.

And, well, it costs at least twice as much as dedicated e-readers.

In short, if you’re primarily looking for an e-reader … you’d be better served elsewhere.

By the same token, if you’re looking for a full-featured multimedia experience … the iPad currently has no real competition …

… and dedicated e-readers simply don’t compare.

In light of that schism, for this piece, we tested what we think represent the cream of the ever-burgeoning dedicated e-reader crop…”

go to source/story>>>The Best e-Readers Compared: Kindle, Kobo, Nook and Reader Throw Down