“..If anyone in any of these estates has seen anything trickle down -
- it would be an unpleasant-smelling liquid running from a great height…”
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“..I’ll Be Your Mirror festival – download and listen to a mixtape..”
“..Fill your ears with metal and more by listening to this mixtape put together by the curators of this month’s I’ll Be Your Mirror festival..”
go to source/story>>>
I’ll Be Your Mirror festival – download and listen to an exclusive mixtape | Music | guardian.co.uk.
“…Brown’s pyjama party was ‘bonkers’…”
“..The “slumber party” the former prime minister’s wife Sarah Brown hosted for guests including Wendi Deng and Rebekah Brooks was “completely bonkers” -
- Sky News political editor Adam Boulton told the Leveson inquiry…”
go to source/story>>>xc
Leveson inquiry: Adam Boulton says Brown’s pyjama party was ‘bonkers’ | Media | guardian.co.uk.
“…10 tips for home-workers…”
“…1 Create a dedicated work space
Set aside an area of your home that can serve as a self-contained office.
It needn’t be very big – space enough for a chair and a small table will suffice –
- nor does it have to be tidy, well-lit, comfortable or airy.
You won’t be spending much time there.
Make some tea, grab your laptop and go back to bed.
Working from home?
You’ve already started!..”
go to source/story>>>
twitter and the media…
“..Twitter has helped shift the balance of media power from press barons to the people –
- a true champagne moment..”
go to source/story>>>
Life is tweet, says John Prescott, as Twitter reaches 10m milestone | Politics | guardian.co.uk.
“…What do you think of David Cameron’s taste in music?..”
“…The PM has named Dark Side of the Moon as his favourite album of all time…”
(ed:..ew..!..but expected…
..’the lunatic is on the prowl’(?)….indeed..!…)
go to source/story>>>
What do you think of David Cameron’s taste in music? | Music | guardian.co.uk.
“…At least Hollande and Merkel agree on one thing – a financial transaction tax…”
“..Cameron believes a Tobin tax would hurt the City –
- but France and Germany are under pressure to finance a eurozone boost..”
(ed:..and what we need here..eh..?..what we call a hone heke tax..
..and it will happen…)
go to source/story>>>
“…In a YouTube video published yesterday, Admiral General Aladeen, as characterised by Sacha Baron Cohen, greets the nation in his typical controversial form…”
“..Sitting in a gold throne, flanked by two women in uniform holding guns -
- the Borat star addresses the nation in the invented language of Wadiya…”
go to source/story>>>
The Dictator greets ‘New Zealand Devils’ | ENTERTAINMENT News.
“…Bang goes another public service TV channel..”
“…The Save TVNZ 7 campaign moves into top gear this week – New Zealand loses another public service channel – and Freeview has a rough road ahead.
New Zealand viewers have just lost access to another public service television broadcaster – and most of us didn’t know we had it.
It’s SBS, the public service broadcaster established to meet the needs of Australia’s ethnic minorities –
- a very supercharged model for our own late, lamented Stratos channel…”
(cont..)
go to source/story>>>
“…Cunliffe Muzzled: The Courtiers Fight Back…”
“…David Shearers’ decision to muzzle his rival, David Cunliffe, is deeply worrying.
Right now, there’s nothing Labour needs more than an open debate about its future.
That its leader and the coterie of courtiers with which he has surrounded himself was willing to go to the extraordinary lengths of preventing Labour’s spokesperson on Economic Development from appearing on The Nation -
- reveals how ruthlessly Shearer’s faction intends to stifle all dissent…”
(cont..)
go to source/story>>>
Posted in nz politics/culture/stuff
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“…Award for invention that helps poorest kids…”
“..A former University of Auckland engineering student is encouraging New Zealand graduates to dream big after receiving international recognition for his invention.
Vinny Jeet, who finished his electrical engineering degree last year has been named one of four recipients of this year’s Alva Emerging Fellowship.
Mr Jeet’s technology enables the humanitarian organisation One Laptop Per Child to communicate with its users via radio broadcasts that can be picked up by the laptops…”
go to source/story>>>
Award for invention that helps poorest kids – National – NZ Herald News.
Posted in nz politics/culture/stuff
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“…Act leader John Banks sent internet tycoon Kim Dotcom a personal note thanking him for his “hospitality” after staying in Hong Kong…”
“..The note has emerged with details of a sumptuous gift hamper left for Mr Banks at the Grand Hyatt in Hong Kong.
The hamper – valued at more than $1000 – contained honey, hand-made chocolates, truffle pate and shortbread.
Mr Banks, who doesn’t drink alcohol, was also given wine, champagne and whisky.
It was delivered with a note reading: “Hi John, welcome to my town 
I wish you and your wife an amazing Christmas and the best new year ever. Your friend, Kim.”
In response, Mr Banks replied saying: “Thank you very much for your hospitality in Hong Kong. We have enjoyed our stay in ‘your town’ very much.”
The note is signed off with “warmest best” and dated December 30, 2011.
The notes were exchanged less than a month before armed police raided Dotcom’s $30 million home in Coatesville, north of Auckland, to arrest the millionaire on United States charges of criminal copyright violation…”
go to source/story>>>
Hong Kong hospitality warmly received – National – NZ Herald News.
Posted in nz politics/culture/stuff
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“…Banks promised Dotcom aid…”
“…Kim Dotcom’s head of security told his boss that John Banks asked for a political donation – and said he would be a “very good friend” once he was back in Parliament, according to an email.
The email also states that Mr Banks suggested Dotcom’s staff met Prime Minister John Key personally to try to smooth the red tape around his mansion purchase.
The email was written to Dotcom by his head of security Wayne Tempero on July 30 -
- just after taking a call from Mr Banks…”
go to source/story>>>
Banks promised Dotcom aid: Email – National – NZ Herald News.
Posted in nz politics/culture/stuff
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“..The economy may be hitting a pothole in the June quarter, according to the ANZ Bank’s “Truckometer” – a measure of traffic around the country…”
“…But there could be “glimmers of light” at the end of the tunnel, ANZ said.
ANZ’s Truckometer is a new economic indicator, using traffic volumes as an indicator of economic activity because a large proportion of freight is moved by road.
The new series shows a strong relationship with economic growth – with a lead of six months according to ANZ.
The Truckometer rose 1.2 per cent in April after falling 0.8 per cent in March.
The indicator fell sharply between October and December last year – steadied this year – but had not started to rise meaningfully yet, ANZ said.
“The Truckometer flags a bumpy road ahead for the economy,” ANZ said..”
go to source/story>>>
Posted in nz politics/culture/stuff
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“..Twenty projects recognised in the 2012 New Zealand Architecture Awards prove design quality is not governed by the size of buildings or type of work, says the award jury convenor Hugh Tennent…”
“…Winners ranged from the Auckland Art Gallery – to a Napier artist’s studio -
- from a chapel in an inner-city church – to a cafe on the side of a mountain -
- and from an airport hotel – to a lakeside school…”
(cont..)
go to source/story>>>
Posted in nz politics/culture/stuff
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“…Audi’s Electric pushbike…”
“…Audi recently took ownership of motorbike brand Ducati, but the German car maker isn’t ready to chuck its “four ring” logo on any motorbikes just yet.
Instead, it has built an electric pushbike.
The electric pedal bike – or “pedelec” – has principally been designed with tricks in mind – and as such it is designed to be as lightweight as a bike with a battery can be: the total rolling weight is just 21 kilograms – about seven kilos more than a conventional pushbike.
The 26-inch wheels are made of carbon fibre-reinforced plastic, weighing just 600 grams each, while the bike’s carbon fibre frame is only 1.6kg.
One of the heaviest components is the bike’s lithium-ion battery which weighs about 5 kg, and it can be fully recharged from a standard powerpoint in two and a half hours.
The electric range is between 50 and 70km -
- while the bike’s top speed is 80km/h…”
(cont..)
go to source/story>>>
Audi’s Electric pushbike | German brand’s e-concept… | Stuff.co.nz.
Posted in green things, reviews, that's cool
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“…Colin Craig | Conservative Leader Turns Agony Aunt…”
“…After hitting the headlines in the past week with his controversial views on promiscuity and gay marriage, Conservative Party leader Colin Craig is in demand as an agony aunt.
Parents and others are writing to the Christian businessman for advice.
Mr Craig, a millionaire property manager, says he has received hundreds of emails in the last few days. The number of enquiries to his party’s website have also soared.
“You know, I’m not a counsellor … people [have been] emailing me for advice. Dear Colin …
“I feel embarrassed that I get asked questions like what should do in this situation, in a son or a daughter situation.
“It’s nice that people want to ask, but it has surprised me. People suddenly expect you to be an expert on everything.”
The spotlight has also fallen on his beliefs, with commentators questioning whether he is a creationist.
Mr Craig – who does not attend church but was raised a Baptist – said he believes in intelligent design…”
go to source/story>>>
Colin Craig | Conservative Leader Turns Agony Aunt… | Stuff.co.nz.
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“..Money and Happiness: China Surveys Suggest a Limited Link..”
“..After two decades of extraordinarily rapid economic growth – people in China aren’t much happier than when they started -
- suggests a new review of happiness and national income in the world’s largest most economically accelerated country.
On the whole China’s wealthy are slightly happier than before – but little appears to have changed among middle-income earners.
Among lower income brackets – life satisfaction seems to have dropped precipitously…”
(cont..)
go to source/story>>>
Money and Happiness: China Surveys Suggest a Limited Link | Wired Science | Wired.com.
“..The Man Who Makes the Future: Wired Icon Marc Andreessen..”
“..He’s not a household name like Gates, Jobs, or Zuckerberg.
His face isn’t known to millions.
But during his remarkable 20-year career, no one has done more than Marc Andreessen to change the way we communicate.
At 22, he invented Mosaic, the first graphical web browser -
— an innovation that is perhaps more responsible than any other for popularizing the Internet – and bringing it into hundreds of millions of homes.
He cofounded Netscape and took it public in a massive (for that time) stock offering that helped catalyze the dotcom boom.
He started Loudcloud, a visionary service to bring cloud computing to business clients.
And more recently as a venture capitalist he has backed an astonishing array of web 2.0 companies -
- from Twitter to Skype to Groupon to Instagram to Airbnb…”
(cont..)
go to source/story>>>
The Man Who Makes the Future: Wired Icon Marc Andreessen | Epicenter | Wired.com.
“…Five Facts That Put America to Shame…”
“…”Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses…I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
These words, from poet Emma Lazarus, were inscribed on the Statue of Liberty over 100 years ago.
Today the golden door has a lock on it, paid for with record profits from the health care, education, and financial industries.
1. We’re near the bottom of the developed world in children’s health and safety.
According to a 2007 UNICEF report, the U.S. ranked last among 21 OECD nations in an assessment of child health and safety.
The assessment measured infant mortality, immunization, and death from accidents and injuries.
A related 2009 OECD study generally agreed – placing the U.S. 24th out of30 OECD countries for children’s health and safety.
It also showed the devastating effects of inequality in our country.
Despite having the second-highest average income for children among the 30 OECD countries -
- the U.S. ranked 27th out of 30 for child poverty -
- (percentage of children living in households that are below 50% of the median income).
2. We’ve betrayed the young people who were advised to stay in school
Over 40% of recent college graduates are living with their parents – dealing with government loans that average $27,200.
The unemployment rate for young people is about 50%.
More than 350,000 Americans with advanced degrees applied for food stamps in 2010…”
(cont..)
go to source/story>>>
Five Facts That Put America to Shame: Information Clearing House.
“…Occupy Isn’t About Electing Democrats – It’s About Exposing a Broken System..”
“…The Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party didn’t succeed by electing candidates -
- it succeeded showing the limitations of the electoral system.
Occupy should do the same…”
(cont..)
go to source/story>>>
Occupy Isn’t About Electing Democrats–It’s About Exposing a Broken System | | AlterNet.
“…How Casual Cyber Sex Became My Most Intoxicating Drug…”
“..40 percent of the most extreme cyber sex users are women.
They’re likely to ignore normal safety precautions to put themselves in high-risk situations…”
(cont..)
go to source/story>>>
How Casual Cyber Sex Became My Most Intoxicating Drug | Sex & Relationships | AlterNet.
“…How Our Demented Capitalist System Made America Insane…”
“..When civilizations start to die they go insane.
Let the ice sheets in the Arctic melt.
Let the temperatures rise.
Let the air, soil and water be poisoned.
Let the forests die.
Let the seas be emptied of life.
Let one useless war after another be waged.
Let the masses be thrust into extreme poverty – and left without jobs – while the elites – drunk on hedonism –
- accumulate vast fortunes through exploitation, speculation, fraud and theft.
Reality at the end gets unplugged.
We live in an age when news consists of Snooki’s pregnancy – Hulk Hogan’s sex tape –
- and Kim Kardashian’s denial that she is the naked woman cooking eggs in a photo circulating on the Internet.
Politicians, including presidents, appear on late night comedy shows to do gags – and they campaign on issues such as creating a moon colony.
“At times when the page is turning,” Louis-Ferdinand Celine wrote in “Castle to Castle,” “when History brings all the nuts together – opens its Epic Dance Halls!
..hats and heads in the whirlwind! ..
..Panties overboard!”
The quest by a bankrupt elite in the final days of empire to accumulate greater and greater wealth -
- as Karl Marx observed – is modern society’s version of primitive fetishism. .”
(cont..)
go to source/story>>>
Hedges: How Our Demented Capitalist System Made America Insane | Economy | AlterNet.
“…Vegetarians: We’re not just feckless hippies…”
“..I’m 35 years old and I became a vegetarian at the beginning of this year as a new year’s resolution.
It all came rather suddenly and a bit unexpectedly – (to myself as well as others).
I had always found a certain moral argument for vegetarianism persuasive: -
- that we shouldn’t kill another living creature for food when our survival doesn’t depend on it.
Should a life be taken away just to satisfy a desire for a certain sensory transaction between our tastebuds and our brains?
I think probably not.
Most rational people would find it abhorrent that animals were killed in the making of a film for example – which provides a similar sensory stimulus.
I’d also developed a mid-life environmental conscience and joined Greenpeace.
As a consequence I’d discovered that cutting meat out of your diet is the Carbon-footprint-lowering equivalent of giving up driving.
This is because the millions of animals reared for meat production generate methane – a greenhouse gas which is 23 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
Maybe, like many people, I had just liked meat too much and lacked the willpower to give it up.
Now my heretofore limp and pathetic willpower had been hardened and purged in the crucible of cigarette-quitting the year before and this -
- in combination with the moral and environmental concerns was probably what tipped me over the precipice and sent me freefalling into action.
Whatever the reasons for giving up meat – what has followed has been a meandering journey of discovery encompassing in varying parts: -
- a bionic immune system (surprisingly); weight gain (surprisingly and also annoyingly) – and an over-familiarity with lentils.
In terms of the weight gain I had gone into the whole thing with little or no planning -
-and so instead of preparing balanced nutritious meals -
- I carried on eating the same dishes but without the meat.
This led to making up the deficit with more carbs and dairy products -
- (the classic nouveau-veggie mistake I’ve since learned).
When you first become vegetarian you tend to rely on the most familiar and palatable non-meat alternatives such as pasta and pizza dishes -
- and it doesn’t take a dietician to know what a diet of pasta and pizza does to the waistline…”
(ed:..of course making the change direct to vegan means you don’t get that dairy-belly..)
go to source/story>>>
Vegetarians: We’re not just feckless hippies | | Independent Editor’s choice Blogs.
“…Robert Fisk: Must we stand idly by while world leaders spout this codswallop?..”
“…I weary a bit of this stuff.
If the CIA and the Brits and the Saudis have really penetrated al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula – or AQAP, as we are now enjoined to call it, although the acronym sounds a bit like an insurance company – all well and good.
But the fact that the Saudis originally supported the Taliban – and that al-Qa’ida was until recently led by a Saudi -
- and that most of the 9/11 bombers were Saudis -
- and that an awful lot of other al-Qa’ida men are Saudis -
- does take the gleam off the cup.
Yet still – with the noble, imperishable exception of Matt Frei on panjandrum Jon Snow’s brilliant Channel 4 news –
- we take all this stuff with mind-numbing, poker-faced seriousness.
We do not question the story…”
(cont..)
go to source/story>>>
“..Germany can’t ignore the austerity backlash..”
“…A consensus is starting to emerge that something needs to budge in terms of the current orthodoxy on the economics of austerity.
In short, Europe, starting with Germany, needs to review the terms of the fiscal compact – loosen monetary policy -
- and accept that cuts alone are not leading us towards recovery.
If we continue where we are the danger is that political instability of the kind that we are already seeing in Greece will spread -
- in some cases propelling extremists to the fore.
The message from Europe’s electorates in recent weeks has been consistent.
Voters are saying they have had enough of bitter medicine that holds no prospect of recovery -
- and no longer trust parties committed to Berlin-mandated austerity…”
(cont..)
go to source/story>>>
“..Smoking Medical Marijuana May Decrease Multiple Sclerosis Symptoms – Study Suggests..”
“..Smoking medical marijuana could help relieve some symptoms of multiple sclerosis, a small new study suggests.
Researchers from the University of California San Diego, found that people with MS who smoked cannabis had decreased pain and muscle tightness – called spasticity.
However the researchers warned that smoking the cannabis also led to problems with focus and attention…”
go to source/story>>>
Smoking Medical Marijuana May Decrease Multiple Sclerosis Symptoms, Study Suggests.
“…Gross Ingredients In Processed Foods…”
“…First it was pink slime.
Then it was crushed cochineal beetles in your favorite strawberry-flavored Starbucks drinks.
Briefly it was tuna scrape.
And any day now – it’s going to be meat glue.
More than ever before -
- it seems consumers are demanding to know what’s in their food and why…”
go to source/story>>>
“..Why We Regulate..”
“…Why, exactly, are banks special?
Because history tells us that banking is and always has been subject to occasional destructive “panics,” – which can wreak havoc with the economy as a whole.
Current right-wing mythology has it that bad banking is always the result of government intervention -
- whether from the Federal Reserve or meddling liberals in Congress.
In fact, however, Gilded Age America — a land with minimal government and no Fed — was subject to panics roughly once every six years.
And some of these panics inflicted major economic losses.
So what can be done?..”
go to source/story>>>
“…Eating Badly: 7 Consequences Of Fast Food..”
“..”We shall have to count the many hidden costs of what we are doing,” the environmentalist Rachel Carson told a congressional committee in 1963.
Carson was speaking about the dangers of pesticides.
I feel the same thing could be said about our disconnection in the United States from economies of the soil…”
go to source/story>>>
“..21 Photos Of People With Cats On Their Heads
(ed:..heh..!..
..what’s not to love about ’21 photos of people with cats on their heads’…eh..?..)
go to source/story>>>
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“…Earth PHOTO: High-Resolution Image From Electro-L Satellite Shows Planet In Single Shot (photo-video..)..”)
“..The amazing zoomable photo and video below – shot by Russian weather satellite Electro-L -
- are derived from the the highest resolution images ever taken of Earth…”
go to source/story>>>
“…Ron Paul Pares Back Presidential Campaign – Continues Delegate Hunt…”
“…Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) said Monday that he will no longer campaign in primary states that have not yet voted -
- but urged those who support his candidacy for president to continue organizing in states that have voted -
- in order to win delegates to the national convention…”
go to source/story>>>
Ron Paul Pares Back Presidential Campaign, Continues Delegate Hunt.
“…JPMorgan Chase Has Lost $20 Billion On Its Bad Trade – Taking Into Account Share Price..”
“…By now you may have heard that JPMorgan Chase lost $2 billion on a bad trade.
Multiply that by 10 – and you’re starting to get a better idea of how much it has really lost.
That’s because the share price of the biggest U.S. bank by assets has tumbled by more than 11 percent since it announced the trading loss – shaving about $17.5 billion from its market value.
JPMorgan shares were down another 2 percent on Monday -
- following a 9 percent tumble on Friday…”
go to source/story>>>
JPMorgan Chase Has Lost $20 Billion On Its Bad Trade, Taking Into Account Share Price.
“…Mitt Romney Bain Capital Record Targeted By Obama Campaign…”
“…Kansas City’s GST Steel was a successful company that had been making steel rods for 103 years when Mitt Romney and his partners took control in 1993.
They cut corners and extracted profit from the business at every turn – placing it deeply in debt.
When the company eventually declared bankruptcy, workers were denied their full pensions and health insurance -
- and the federal government was forced to step in and bail out the pension fund…”
(cont..)
go to source/story>>>
“…My day doing everything the internet told me to..”
“…The internet bombards us with advice on how to spend our money and our time.
So what would it be like to follow every single suggestion for a day?..”
go to source/story>>>
My day doing everything the internet told me to | Technology | The Guardian.
“…56 Up: ‘It’s like having another family’…”
“…It began as a one-off look at how the class system defined the hopes and aspirations of British children.
Now almost half a century later – the Up series has evolved into one of the world’s great documentary projects.
But how have these films affected the lives they follow?..”
go to source/story>>>
56 Up: ‘It’s like having another family’ | Television & radio | The Guardian.
“…The Stalinism of Tory small-staters…”
(ed:..this piece is about britain..but is also most definitely about here…)
“..Put all this in its political context, and one overlooked aspect of the coalition’s mixed-up mindset becomes clear:-
- the party – no, parties – who habitually rail against the centralised, lever-pulling state -
- gleefully making it even more so..”
go to source/story>>>
The Stalinism of Tory small-staters | John Harris | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk.
“…Italian mafia boss’s tomb opened in search for missing girl…”
“..Dozens of boxes of unidentified human bones found in mobster’s sarcophagus during search for daughter of Vatican bank worker..”
go to source/story>>>
Italian mafia boss’s tomb opened in search for missing girl | World news | The Guardian.
“…Minimum alcohol price in Scotland to be set at 50p a unit…”
“…Scottish ministers have taken a tougher line than anticipated on alcohol abuse by fixing their planned minimum price for alcohol at 50p a unit -
- pushing up the cost of cheap vodka by nearly 50%.
Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish health secretary, signalled that she plans to confront the alcoholism and binge drinking endemic in some parts of Scotland -
– by introducing a minimum price which is higher and more wide-ranging than the 45p she had previously planned.
Unveiling the most radical health policy yet proposed by the Scottish National party government in Edinburgh, Sturgeon said: “Cheap alcohol comes at a price -
- and now is the time to tackle the toll that Scotland’s unhealthy relationship with alcohol is taking on our society.
Too many Scots are drinking themselves to death.”..”
go to source/story>>>
Minimum alcohol price in Scotland to be set at 50p a unit | Society | The Guardian.