Aaron Nicholson - Biggest News of 2013

Posted 26th December 2013 from Manapouri New Zealand

Without doubt 2 giant statements cropped up in 2013 that went mostly un noticed by the world Media.

Firstly earlyer on President Obama, with the advice of the World's Top Scientists announced somewhat surreptitisously that Climate Change is a threat to Humanity.

and Secondly and more Recently, Scientists have announced a break through in reverseing ageing in Mice DNA  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-25445748

If these two things from 2013 are not a game changer for the Human Diaspora than there is something
terminally wrong with our International Media.

And it also Beggs the Question if truely stupid people should be included at all in the World's political process.

Tolkien Family Host Hobbit Screening

The Daily Post (Wales) 19th December 2013

Clwyd Theatr Cymru rolled out the red carpet last week as the venue hosted a special fundraising  preview of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.

The advance screening of the film –  which is the second instalment in The Hobbitmovie trilogy – was organised by members of J R R Tolkien’s family to raise money and awareness of the MS Support Centre in Saltney.

The facility is close to the family’s  heart as it is where Tolkien’s great grandson Mike receives treatment for motor neurone disease.

Mike, who lives in Deeside, was diagnosed with the condition, which affects the nervous system, a year ago and attends the centre for treatment.

The 38-year-old invited volunteers and staff from the facility to the preview event as a way of thanking them for their help and support over the past year.

Mandy Doyle, Mike’s sister, said: “It's been amazing as we have so many close family and friends here – it's just been great to see everybody here and everybody coming to support Mike.

“We're a close-knit family and it is nice to give Mike that extra comfort and support that he needed to come out – it  is very hard when you have been so active to lose all that and be in a wheelchair and it takes a lot of courage to come out.”

She went on: “The MS centre in Saltney has just got amazing group of people that aren't scary medical people that are in your face – they just very pro-active and very friendly.

“We can go in and have a laugh in a relaxed environment and you don't  have to worry about anything. They do all sorts of things there and its a way of saying thank you to them because when you get diagnosed with MND you just feel lost and you don't know where to turn and a lot of people find it really difficult.

“And a lot of people there are volunteers as well so its really important to support them – hopefully they will raise lots of dosh tonight.”

There was an extra surprise for Mike at the screening as director Peter Jackson and stars including Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch appeared on screen to give him some special messages.

Mike’s brother Royd Tolkien, said:  “Mike absolutely loved the messages from all the stars – we only had a week to put it together and we weren’t sure who would even do it – but when I saw it, it blew me away.

“It was so touching and the messages were so personal – it was fantastic.”

The evening raised more than £700 for the MS centre in Saltney, which is the only dedicated MS treatment centre across Cheshire, North Wales, Wirral and Merseyside.

Jane Johnston-Cree, centre manager, said: “We are very grateful to the Tolkien family and Warner Brothers for supporting us and raising vital funds and awareness of our charity.”

Tolkien Mountain's Family NZ 

Peter Jackson - Monorail & Tolkien

From the Bloomberg Business Online News Site December 2013

       A plan to build the world’s longest single-track monorail through the pristine forests and rivers of New Zealand’s Fiordland is                 pitting growth advocates against environmentalists.

Developers want to build the track through the Snowden Forest, a part of New Zealand’s South Island classed a world heritage area by UNESCO. Opponents argue it will scar the landscape, whose Beech-tree covered mountains and snow-fed lakes featured in “The Lord of the Rings” films.

“Environmentalists need to be open to the fact that not all economic growth is necessarily bad,” said John Ballingall, deputy chief executive at the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research Inc. in Wellington. “It doesn’t have to be a binary choice between growth and no-growth.”

STORY: Green Groups Get a Big Win in the Palm Oil Wars
The monorail clash underscores a broader debate over the nation’s economic future. Prime Minister John Key’s center-right National Party government wants increased tourism, infrastructure and resource exploration to diversify an economy reliant on dairy farming and construction. With an election due next year, the main opposition Labour Party is likely to ally with the pro-environment Green Party to boost its chances of governing, putting some plans in jeopardy.

More use of the nation’s natural resources will be a critical component in meeting the goal of exports rising to 40 percent of gross domestic product by 2025, from about 30 percent, the government said in a December 2012 report.

New Zealand leverages its waterways, forests and mountains to attract tourists and uses the “100% Pure” tag to help sell dairy, meat and kiwifruit exports. Tourism contributes about 8.7 percent to GDP, down from 10 percent 10 years ago.

STORY: Why Rob Ford Happened
Decision Pending
Conservation Minister Nick Smith is waiting on officials’ advice before making a decision on the monorail proposal, a spokeswoman for the minister said. He’s unlikely to make the decision this year, she said.

“There really isn’t a valid reason not to approve this,” said Bob Robertson, chairman and majority shareholder of Riverstone Holdings Ltd., the company promoting the Fiordland Link. “It’s going to be essential that not only us but others facilitate tourism and spend some money on infrastructure.”

Critics say the very tourists he wants to attract will be turned off by the damage done to the landscape.

STORY: Drowning Kiribati
“The idea that you could carve a double line through the center of that incredibly beautiful piece of forest doesn’t make sense,” said Sarah McCrum, a former manager at the Takaro Lodge on the edge of the Snowden Forest, who’s among the more than 280 written submitters opposed to the project.

Quicker Trip
Passengers opting for the Fiordland Link would take a catamaran from Queenstown, an all-terrain vehicle over back-country roads and the 43-kilometer (27-mile) monorail ride, all in less than three hours. They would then connect with the existing road to Milford Sound, the region’s most popular destination. The Link aims to attract visitors who currently face a five-hour bus ride to Milford from Queenstown.

If approved, Robertson expects to spend NZ$200 million ($165 million) on the project, which he estimates would carry as many as 300,000 people a year. An estimated 140 construction jobs and work for another 300 suppliers would result, while as many as 100 people would be employed to operate the Fiordland Link, according to the project’s website.

STORY: What Blackwater Founder Erik Prince Learned About the Business of War
Middle Earth
Film director Peter Jackson, who used locations near the planned monorail site in the “Lord of the Rings” films, has added his support to the campaign against the project.

“Our National Parks and World Heritage area were created to protect and preserve the beauty of our country for all New Zealanders,” Jackson said in comments circulated by protest group Save Fiordland and confirmed by his spokesman. “If we don’t conserve our natural heritage, we will lose it.”

Similar arguments have been raised by opponents of companies such as Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC:US), which plans to seek oil and gas off the coast, and Newmont Mining Corp. (NEM:US) and Bathurst Resources New Zealand Ltd., who are preparing to mine for gold and coal.

STORY: Farewell to the Age of Free Trade
“New Zealand is in danger of damaging the unspoiled oceans that are the heart of who we are,” said Greenpeace campaigner Steve Abel. “New Zealanders do not want a fossil-fuel future.”

The green-growth tension is also evident in the dairy industry, which makes up a quarter of New Zealand’s exports.

Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Jan Wright last month published a report on water quality that concluded that more intense dairy farming, and the consequent release of nitrogen in animal urine, was polluting the nation’s rivers.

“This investigation has shown the clear link between expanding dairy farming and increasing stress on water quality,” she said. “New Zealand does face a classic economy versus environment dilemma.”

Kathryn Ryan - Child Poverty in NZ

Posted 9th December 2013 to Radio New Zealand

Hello, Capitalism needs slaves to work properly!
New Zealand was once a near Perfect Socialist State
But We Got Bored with it and then a faction of Radical Maori Made the Mistake of saying
That one day they would out-breed the European population.
If you are old enough you can remember all this.

There where two socialist based Parties to run the Country then, Now we have two Capitalist Based ones.

One at least says it puts New Zealand Voters first the other is a Multinational Party propped up by radical Maoris?!?
And leaves misery & poverty in it's wake

Southland the home of Giants - Lloyd Esler

Published 5th of December 2013 the Southland Times

Did you know. . . Southland's largest animal is The Lion, a 1302m high rock in Milford Sound that resembles a crouching lion.

Second largest may be The Giraffe, pictured, which appeared when a slip exposed rock at Lake Manapouri.

The perceived resemblance of natural shapes to animals and body parts, particularly facial features, is called pareidolia.

The best example is the "Face on Mars", which is actually an eroded mountain. Pareidolia is the explanation for ghosts which appear in photographs where shadows and reflections and patches of light and dark resemble humans.

New Zealand's largest muster of wild horses and biggest horse sales took place when the horses of Ruapuke Island were rounded up, shipped to the mainland on the Kekeno and transported to the Wallacetown saleyards in the 1920s.

Southland's first motels were probably Mitchell's Motels in Alice Street. In 1956 the tariff was [PndStlg]2 5/- per day per unit. That's $4.50.

Southland's remotest spot is the one remaining "confluence point" that has never been visited.

There are five confluence points in Southland where latitude and longitude intersect as whole numbers.

Four have been visited - at Chatton, Wairio, Big Glory Bay and on the Milford Road. 46'S 167'E is deep in the Cameron Mountains in southwest Fiordland. It is 36 kilometres from Port Craig and at an altitude of 548m.

The story of confluences can be found on confluence.org.

Southland's and New Zealand's most poisonous spider is the redback which turns up occasionally.

The female is black with a distinct red stripe. The similar, native katipo reaches its southern limit at Karitane, just north of Dunedin. Some other spiders have a nasty bite such as the white-tailed spider which is well established in Southland.

About The South Lloyd Esler 15 Mahuri Rd, Otatara, RD 9, Invercargill Phone-fax (03) 213 0404 email:esler@southnet.co.nz

Nelson Mandela - International Smile Day

8th December 2013 Odentroll Dispatch: Mark Steel's Smile Revolution

In respect for Nelson Mandela His Birthday Should be a day where all the repressed
people of the World and empolyees in Walmart and Macdonalds put on a Big Mandela Smile
for the day and dream of freedom.

National Memo - America's Corporate Bastards

Posted 7th December 2013 Odentroll Dispatch

Who Are Americas Modern Day Slave Drivers?
Who's Workers need Government Food Stamps to live...

Check out the National Memo:

http://www.nationalmemo.com/americas-greediest-meet-yum-ceo-david-novak-keeping-fast-food-wages-minimal/

If Capatalism isn't dieing, it sure smells funny!