This was my first journey into the early'woke days' — as a young kiwi in USA.
Firstly arived in San Francisco to Scott MacKenzie singing "when you go to San francisco be sure to wear flowers in your hair"
While in New York I heard "all long the watchtower" by Jimmy Hendricks as he at at a protest march he was sung to the 'vietnam protectors' – I was feeling free inside someone elses country.A magic time indeed as I was 23 yrs old on my own half way around the globe from home.
Wow Cleangreen (1.1) that must have been an amazing experience of a lifetime to have been right there where it was all happening. Lucky you 🙂
Loved the music and culture of that time … the event of Woodstock, Janis Joplin, Carlos Santana, Scott McKenzie, Bobbie Gentry, Jimi Hendrix, Hair, Good Morning Star shine, Let The Sunshine In et al. Too many more to mention.
Although the bloody and totally horrific Vietnam war was raging, the period was revolutionary, one of the best music eras ever IMO. A time of renaissance and change, when women became aware they were able to control their lives, in particular fertility, as they wanted it to be.
Even though I didn't experience it first hand as you did Cleangreen, I was nevertheless very much part of that time, influenced by the magic of the music, the harsh reality of the existing politics, as well as the cultural change which emerged. An enlightening time to be alive.
This is not a consequence I had thought about really much – must widen that I think.
According to Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, the supercell thunderstorm "killed and maimed more than 11,000 waterfowl and wetland birds at the Big Lake Wildlife Management Area west of Molt". Molt is about 20 miles (32km) west-northwest of Billings, Montana's largest city.
According to the release, biologist Justin Paugh estimates that roughly a quarter of the birds at the lake were injured or killed. About 5 per cent of surviving ducks and a third of living pelicans/cormorants "show some sign of injury or impaired movement".
"Another feature of the storm was that the hail was spiked and jagged. Correlation coefficient radar shows an area of reduced returns where more irregular shapes are detected within the storm."
This bit sends a shiver down my spine. I suppose, for the moment anyway, humans in the West are protected from unannounced, "spiked and jagged" hail, by the roof of their cars, in which we are so often sat. Not so crops though. Nor birds, it transpires. Sudden events such as that hailstorm are game-changers. I reckon we'll experience such cataclysms. Not very cheerful this morning, am I
A conspiracy theorist might consider the right wing have never left their eugenics/poor culling fantasies alone, and climate change is a convenience to their nefarious masturbation fantasies. I find no other understandable explanation for this insanity.
Terrence McKenna and his wife have a project running to collect and propagate as many medicinal (etc.) plants from the Amazon Basin as they possible can/could (he's passed). Their "nursery" is in Hawaii, I understand. He believed the future of mankind resides in the use of those plants for expanding consciousness to the point where we can see what we are doing and how to undo that.
I hope they got all they wanted before this latest conflagration. I wonder if the two ideas are connected? Would those you cite be alert enough to action the extinction of the mechanism for seeing the truth? How's that for a conspiracy theory, WTB?
The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down on the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up
Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, Russia – A Greenpeace Russia team is documenting wildfires in the Taiga forest, in the Krasnoyarsk region of Siberia. Despite statements by Russian authorities, the intensity of forest fires in Siberia is not decreasing. The 4.3 million hectare fire — an area larger than Denmark — is contributing significantly to climate change. Since the beginning of the year a total of 13.1 million hectares has burned.
Fires in the Taiga have been raging every year, but this summer’s blazes have reached unprecedented size and strength. The Siberian fires are emitting more than 166 Mt CO2 — nearly as much as 36 million cars emit a year. Fires in Siberian forests are especially dangerous for the climate as they are the source of black carbon that settles on the Arctic ice and accelerates its melting.
“These fires should have been put out at the very beginning, but were ignored due to weak policies. Now it has grown into a climate catastrophe that can not be stopped by human means,” said Greenpeace Russia wildland fire expert and volunteer firefighter Anton Beneslavskiy. “Russia should increase efforts in forest protection and provide sufficient funding for firefighting and fire prevention. The problem of wildfires should be addressed at the international level in the global climate agreements to keep global warming below 1.5°C.”
Did sheep originate in a land such as Afghanistan, I wonder and were lambs originally born into warm or cold weather? Perhaps they've always been snowed-upon at birth.
"The results support an Asiatic origin of the genus Ovis, followed by a migration to North America through North-Eastern Asia and the Bering Strait and a diversification of the genus in Eurasia less than 3 million years ago. Our results show that the evolution of the genus Ovis is a striking example of successive speciation events occurring along the migration routes propagating from the ancestral area."
Chap I knew from the Falkland Islands reckoned that the FI livestock was largely wild – the high peat content meant no footrot, and the sheep and cows just roamed wherever with very few fences or walls. Herd the sheep for shearing every so often, help out a cow if it's in difficulty, that was mostly it. No need for most drenches and what have you.
yeah defnitely less stock density than a feed lot, but then they are subantarctic. The bulk of it was simly that with so few parasites etc, almost zero maintenance was required.
(Best I could do and I needed Google at that! My Nana could've rattled off a string of greetings and anything else she wanted to say, but that was long ago…)
Sheep won't have lambs at this time of year if they're left to breed on their own timeframe. Isn't early spring lambing something to do with having lamb for Christmas dinner?
There aren't really that many lamb deaths from bad weather. I would think that the average each year in NZ would be less than 0.5%, or perhaps 1 in every 200.
I don't know where to find any accurate figures though. Newspaper reports are just guesses.
You really should read that story more carefully Robert.
The figure of 100,000 is not a quote from Ms Croad. What she says is "Croad said her losses had been small, but she had heard of other farmers who lost about 20 per cent of their lamb crop.". That really isn't a highly accurate figure is it? And other farmers are quoted as saying. like Mr Falloon, "Wairarapa hill country farmer Jamie Falloon said he had not done a tally of his losses yet, but was expecting a significant number because there had been seven days of cold rain right in the middle of lambing."
As he then says you don't disturb the sheep because you can cause a lot of mis-mothering. No Robert, that 100,000 is really just a guess.
However there are about 23-24 million lambs that are docked each year in New Zealand. Docking is the first time lambs are actually counted and it doesn't happen until 3 or 4 weeks after lambing so there would have been more born than were finally docked.Even if the 100,000 is correct it represents about 1 in every 240. And it was a bad enough storm to get in the paper as being "disastrous".
So no, Robert, I think my original comment stands.
That is very much easier than the way you have to do it otherwise.
You have to stand by the fence and count the number of lamb's legs you see. It isn't easy as you have to make sure you don't count the ewes' legs and that you don't count a lamb twice. Bloody hard work actually. They hop around all over the place.
When, in my youth, I used to spend the school holidays docking counting the tails was the way we did it and the only way you had any idea of how good the lambing season was going to be. You had to make sure that the shepherds' dogs didn't get any of them before you had done it of course. Bloody greedy things they were.
Oh for the smell of Docko in the morning. I wonder if it still exists? It was an antiseptic and coagulant we used on the lambs after the tail was cut off.
Actually Robert, I thought you might have picked up the reference to the most famous line from the movie Apocylapse Now. Don't you remember it? "I love the smell of napalm in the morning".
I didn't do the cutting off of the tail. I held the lamb while it was done. The actual operation was done by the farm manager who had been properly trained in the procedure.
What was amazing was that the lamb would jump as it was done and then immediately settle down. As soon as they got back to the ewe they would be feeding instantly. They really didn't seem to notice after a few seconds.
Do I miss it? Of course not. It was about 60 years ago and I wouldn't mind being young again of course. Am I unhappy I did it? Not at all.
By the way. You have obviously read my comment about your remarks about the item in the paper being a guess. Do you still think that it was an accurate number?
"Do you still think that it was an accurate number?"
I guess so.
When I was younger I too, tailed lambs only I did wield the knife, quite untrained. My impression wasn't the same as yours; those lambs felt the pain deeply. I can't imagine how it could be otherwise. My impression was that running for a feed was a shock-reaction. I'm not at all nostalgic for that time.
Sheep will start lambing in July if the boys snack out to play . The modern sheep is very different to the old breeds .
lambing dates are more set for trying to match feed growth to demand . And making sure they are grown or gone before the winter slow down or summer dry periods .
Lambing in the north island will go from July till November depending on were you farm .
"How about this: Animal products cover only 17 per cent of human calorie requirements, but use 77 per cent of global arable land.
Here's another one: No beef for a year can save 2.2 tonnes of CO2 equivalents. That's roughly the same as filling 16.5 bathtubs with petrol and setting them all on fire. "
"Fonterra meantime is bombarding us with quality infomercials about how good their farmers are at what they do. Nobody in the world does it with less impact on climate.
Translated that means our dairy industry is the least bad of a bad lot. What a sorry state we find ourselves in."
well considering what is happening currently in Brasil that controversial claim might not be so outlandish.
in saying that….surely when the fires in the Amazon are all burned out of fuel, there will be a nice flat area of land where one can grow Palm something, Soy something, stuff something to create all that 'plantmeat' that is gonna save us from ourself. Right?
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Forestry Minister Shane Jones says concerns that carbon foresters are planting pine trees that will never be harvested are the result of "misinformation". "The billion tree strategy is an excellent idea, unfortunately from time to time it's tainted by misinformation spread by the National Party or their grandees, hiding in scattered ...
The Green Party welcomes funding in the budget to reunite more refugees with their families, ensuring they have the best chance at a new life in Aotearoa New Zealand. ...
A new-look Police graduation ceremony to take account of COVID19 health rules has marked the completion of training for 57 new constables. Police Minister Stuart Nash attended this afternoon's ceremony, where officers of Recruit Wing 337 were formally sworn in at the Royal New Zealand Police College without the normal support of ...
Mobile traders and truck shops must adhere to responsible lending requirements Interest rate cap on high-cost loans Lenders prohibited from offering further credit to an applicant who has taken two high-cost loans in the past 90 days The Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Kris Faafoi, has signalled an end ...
94% of firms say wage subsidy had positive impact on cashflow 62% of firms say support helped to manage non-wage costs like rent A survey of business that have received the Government’s wage subsidy show it has played a significant role in saving jobs, and freed up cash flow to ...
New legislation introduced to Parliament today will support growth and assist businesses on the road to economic recovery, said Revenue Minister Stuart Nash. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2020-21, Feasibility Expenditure, and Remedial Matters) Bill proposes that businesses can get tax deductions for ‘feasibility expenditure’ on new investments,” said Mr ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Grant Robertson has welcomed the first release of funds from the $265 million Sport Recovery Package announced as part of Budget 2020. Sport NZ has announced that $4.6 million in funding will go to the Wellington Phoenix, NZ Warriors, Super Rugby teams and the ANZ Premiership ...
An iconic New Zealand tourism attraction and the country’s 31 Regional Tourism Organisations are the first recipients of support from the $400 million Tourism Sector Recovery Plan, to help position the sector for recovery from COVID-19, Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis announced today. The plan includes a Strategic Tourism Assets Protection ...
The Government will legislate to ensure businesses that suffered as a result of the COVID-19 response will get help to resolve disputes over commercial rent issues, Justice Minister Andrew Little announced today. A temporary amendment to the Property Law Act will insert a clause in commercial leases requiring a fair ...
The Minister for Small Business says new data from Xero highlights the urgency of prompt payment practices to small and medium enterprises as we move into economic recovery. Last month Government ministers wrote to significant private enterprises and the banking industry to request they join efforts by government agencies to ...
Young people in Waikato will be the first to have free access to period products in schools in another step to support children and young people in poverty,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said. During term 3, the Ministry of Education will begin providing free period products to schools following the ...
The Minister of Police Stuart Nash has issued the following statement in response to charges filed against three Police officers this morning in the New Plymouth District Court. “Any incident involving a loss of life in Police custody is taken very seriously. The charges today reflect the gravity of the ...
$196 million for Crown Research Institutes $150 million for R&D loan scheme $33 million for Māori research and development opportunities $12 million for the Nationally Significant Collections and Databases $10 million to help maintain in-house capability at Callaghan Innovation New Zealand’s entrepreneurs, innovators and crown researchers will benefit from a ...
Further temporary changes to NCEA and University Entrance (UE) will support senior secondary school students whose teaching and learning have been disrupted by COVID-19. “The wellbeing of students and teachers is a priority. As we are all aware, COVID-19 has created massive disruption to the school system, and the Government ...
Minister for Racing Winston Peters today announced that the terms for the directors of the Racing Industry Transition Agency (RITA) have been extended to 30 June 2021. Due to the COVID-19 crisis the transition period has been extended to ensure that the Racing Industry Bill can complete its progress through ...
The deadline for landlords to include detailed information in their tenancy agreements about how their property meets the Healthy Homes Standards, so tenants can see the home they are renting is compliant, has been extended from 1 July 2020 to 1 December 2020. The Healthy Homes Standards became law on 1 July 2019. The Standards are ...
Justice Minister Andrew Little today announced details of further appointments to the Criminal Cases Review Commission. “I am pleased to announce Paula Rose QSO OStJ as Deputy Chief Commissioner for a term of five years commencing on 15 June 2020,” said Andrew Little. “I am also pleased to announce the ...
The Targeted Training and Apprenticeships Fund (TTAF) will pay costs of learners of all ages to undertake vocational education and training The fund will target support for areas of study and training that will give learners better employment prospects as New Zealand recovers from COVID-19 Apprentices working in all industries ...
The Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) will finally start to cut New Zealand’s greenhouse gas pollution as it was originally intended to, because of changes announced today by the Minister for Climate Change, James Shaw. The changes include a limit on the total emissions allowed within the ETS, rules to ensure ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio says the Queen’s Birthday 2020 Honours List provides an abundance of examples that Pacific people’s leadership capability is unquestionable in Aotearoa. “The work and the individuals we acknowledge this year highlights the kind of visionary examples and dedicated community leadership that we need ...
The Government is backing a new $27 million project aimed at boosting sustainable horticulture production and New Zealand’s COVID-19 recovery efforts, says Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. “Our horticulture sector has long been one of New Zealand’s export star performers, contributing around $6 billion a year to our economy. During and ...
Applications have opened for 2021 Ngā Karahipi Uru Rākau – Forestry Scholarships, which will support more Māori and women to pursue careers in forestry science, says Forestry Minister Shane Jones. “I’m delighted Te Uru Rākau is offering Ngā Karahipi Uru Rākau – Forestry Scholarships for the third year running. These ...
The Queen’s Birthday 2020 Honours List once again highlights the dedication by many to looking after our native plants and wildlife, including incredible work to restore the populations of critically endangered birds says Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage. Anne Richardson of Hororata has been made an Officer of the New ...
The Government will invest $10 million from the One Billion Trees Fund for large-scale planting to provide jobs in communities and improve the environment, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor and Forestry Minister Shane Jones have announced. New, more flexible funding criteria for applications will help up to 10 catchment groups plant ...
Organisations that support women are invited to apply to a new $1,000,000 fund as part of the Government’s COVID-19 response. “We know women, and organisations that support women, have been affected by COVID-19. This new money will ensure funding for groups that support women and women’s rights,” said Minister for ...
Healthier waterways are front and centre in a new project involving more than 300 King Country sheep, beef and dairy farmers. The Government is investing $844,000 in King Country River Care, a group that helps farmers to lift freshwater quality and farming practice, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor announced today. “Yesterday ...
A major funding package for libraries will allow them to play a far greater role in supporting their communities and people seeking jobs as part of the economic recovery from COVID-19. “Budget 2020 contains over $60 million of funding to protect library services and to protect jobs,” says Internal Affairs ...
A jobseekers programme for the creative sector and four new funds have been set up by the Government to help our arts and music industry recover from the blow of COVID-19. Thousands of jobs will be supported through today’s $175 million package in a crucial economic boost to support the ...
Minister for Veterans Ron Mark has welcomed the First Reading of a Bill that will make legislative changes to further improve the veterans’ support system. The Veterans’ Support Amendment Bill No 2, which will amend the Veterans’ Support Act 2014, passed First Reading today. The bill addresses a number of ...
Views sought on Order in Council to help fast track the reinstatement of the Christ Church Cathedral The Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration, Hon Poto Williams, will be seeking public written comment, following Cabinet approving the drafting of an Order in Council aimed at fast-tracking the reinstatement of the ...
The law setting out New Zealanders’ basic civil and human rights is today one step towards being strengthened following the first reading of a Bill that requires Parliament to take action if a court says a statute undermines those rights. At present, a senior court can issue a ‘declaration of ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters today reiterated the deep concern of the New Zealand Government following confirmation by China’s National People’s Congress of national security legislation relating to Hong Kong. “New Zealand shares the international community’s significant and long-standing stake in Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability,” Mr Peters said. “New Zealand ...
Thousands of artists and creatives at hundreds of cultural and heritage organisations have been given much-needed support to recover from the impact of COVID-19, Prime Minister and Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Jacinda Ardern announced today. “The cultural sector was amongst the worst hit by the global pandemic,” Jacinda ...
Key New Zealand assets will be better protected from being sold to overseas owners in a way contrary to the national interest, with the passage of the Overseas Investment (Urgent Measures) Bill. The Bill, which passed its third reading in Parliament today, also cuts unnecessary red tape to help attract ...
Setting higher health standards at swimming spots Requiring urban waterways to be cleaned up and new protections for urban streams Putting controls on higher-risk farm practices such as winter grazing and feed lots Setting stricter controls on nitrogen pollution and new bottom lines on other measures of waterway health Ensuring ...
The Government is on the verge of reaching its target of state sector boards and committees made up of at least 50 percent women, says Minister for Women Julie Anne Genter and Minister for Ethnic Communities Jenny Salesa. For the first time, the Government stocktake measures the number of Māori, ...
The Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister and Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media Minister, Kris Faafoi, has today announced the appointment of Tristan Gilbertson as the new Telecommunications Commissioner and member of the Commerce Commission. “Mr Gilbertson has considerable experience in the telecommunications industry and a strong reputation amongst his peers,” ...
The Ministry of Education and NZEI Te Riu Roa have agreed to settle the pay equity claim for teacher aides, Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced today. This will see more than 22,000 teacher aides, mostly women, being valued and paid fairly for the work they do. “Teacher aides are frontline ...
Subcontractors will have greater certainty, more cashflow support and job security with new changes to retention payments under the Construction Contracts Act says Minister for Building and Construction, Jenny Salesa. A recent review of the retentions money regime showed that most of the building and construction sector is complying with ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong have marked the first anniversary of the New Zealand-Singapore Enhanced Partnership with a virtual Leaders’ Meeting today. The Enhanced Partnership, signed on 17 May 2019, provides the framework for cooperation across the four main areas of trade, defence and ...
On 17 May 2019, New Zealand and Singapore established an Enhanced Partnership to elevate our relations. The Enhanced Partnership – based on the four pillars of trade and economics, security and defence, science, technology and innovation, and people-to-people links – has seen the long-standing relationship between our countries strengthen over the ...
State-Owned Enterprises Minister Winston Peters has welcomed KiwiRail’s announcement that it is seeking a preferred shipyard to build two new rail-enabled ferries for the Cook Strait crossing. “This Government is committed to restoring rail to its rightful place in New Zealand. Bigger, better ships, with new technology are yet another ...
The British Tribe Next Door attracted over 60 complaints of racist themes from viewers when it first aired in the UK. Now TVNZ is streaming it on its OnDemand service attracting concerns from members of Aotearoa’s African community and a letter from race relations commissioner Meng Foon.When The British Tribe ...
When approached by The Spinoff Jeanette Wilson denied having told participants in an online session that the product ‘lined the lungs’, despite clear evidence to the contrary.The Covid-19 crisis has sparked misinformation in every corner of the world. In New Zealand, a “psychic healer” whose fixations read like a conspiracy ...
The union movement launched a push earlier this week to double the legal minimum of sick leave from five days a year to 10. Is a change likely?What’s all this then?In light of the recent global pandemic putting the focus on health in the workplace, unions have called for changes ...
An African American pastor from George Floyd's community gives The Detail a special insight into what's happening there - and gives us hope for the future. “Nobody in America wants to be a racist.” David Hill is a pastor in the Third Ward neighbourhood of Houston where George Floyd grew ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra When Ken Wyatt, the Minister for Indigenous Australians, last week effectively pronounced dead the prospect of a referendum on indigenous recognition being put to the people this parliamentary term, the demise of his hoped-for timetable ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Morrison government will significantly strengthen its scrutiny of foreign investment to protect sensitive national security technology and information and further ring fence the nation’s critical infrastructure. It will insert a new “national security test” ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards. Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. Does National have any chance of winning the election in September? It’s looking very unlikely, especially after National’s change of leadership hasn’t exactly produced Mullermania in the first two weeks. Quite the opposite, in fact, as I summarised in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Denis Muller, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Advancing Journalism, University of Melbourne When a newspaper with the authority of The New York Times chooses to publish a party-political essay calculated to further inflame the violence wracking cities across America, serious questions arise. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Plank, Professor in Mathematics, University of Canterbury There is now a 95% chance COVID-19 has been eliminated in New Zealand, according to our modelling, based on official Ministry of Health data. As of June 4, New Zealand has had 20 consecutive ...
In 2014, Duncan Greive was invited to interview Dan Carter on the back of the All Black’s spokesmodelling gig for Jockey underwear – a meeting that would eventually lead to Greive co-writing Carter’s autobiography, My Story. To celebrate today’s big Dan Carter news, we republish that original Metro story here.In ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendan Coates, Program Director, Household Finances, Grattan Institute Scott Morrison’s new housing stimulus package is straight-out retail politics. HomeBuilder offers homeowners (including first home buyers) a grant of A$25,000 to build a new home worth less than $750,000 or to spend between ...
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he talks to Rachel Taulelei, CEO of Kono.Demand for New Zealand produce overseas is currently up. ...
By Moch. Fiqih Prawira Adjie in Jakarta A panel of judges at the Jakarta State Administrative Court (PTUN) has granted a lawsuit filed by civil society groups against the Indonesian government’s decision to impose an internet blackout during weeks of protests in Papua and West Papua provinces last year, declaring ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Mitchell, Professor of Nursing, University of Newcastle With coronavirus restrictions gradually lifting across the country, we’re now able to resume many of our regular activities. A lot of us might have been particularly keen to get back to the gym, which ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Perhaps at no point in Australia’s history has the demand for real-time figures been stronger than during the coronavirus crisis. The Australian Bureau of Statistics has stepped up its efforts to get data fast, to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bree Hurst, Senior Lecturer, QUT Business School, Queensland University of Technology If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jolynna Sinanan, Research Fellow in Digital Media and Ethnography, University of Sydney Earlier this week, you might have seen your social media taken over by a stream of posts showing simple images of a black square. These posts, often tagged with #BlackoutTuesday, ...
A strong vote for sustainability would make the resulting Labour-Greens government a confident and ambitious reformer, having shed its NZ First handbrake ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick White, PhD Candidate in History and Politics, James Cook University Australia’s local governments breathed new life into embattled regional communities after the second world war. Today, this history reminds us of the role local councils and communities should play in plans ...
This bill proposes to provide for enhanced information disclosure requirements for the gas market and to ensure that settings around enforcement and penalties are suitably robust. The Gas (Information Disclosure and Penalties) Amendment Bill would do this ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mick Broderick, Associate Professor of Media Analysis, Murdoch University Over successive Sunday nights, the ABC has premiered two important television programs recounting the history of nuclear testing in Australia – the documentary Maralinga Tjuratja and a six-drama series Operation Buffalo. Both explore ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marisa Paterson, Centre for Social Research and Methods, Australian National University When the COVID-19 restrictions came into force more than two months ago, it meant lights out for the country’s 200,000 poker machines. Now, the pokies are slowly turning on again across ...
With roughly 97% of New Zealand enterprises categorised as small businesses – that is, 20 or fewer employees – accounting software platform Xero’s newly released analysis provides a stark picture of the severe impact of Covid-19 throughout the sector.What exactly does the data show?Essentially, the data shows that year-on-year revenue ...
This week, on 1 June 2020, an interest rate cap on high-cost loans (over 50% interest per annum) was finally introduced in New Zealand. The introduction of an interest rate cap will help borrowers, like Sarah Newham, who presented to Select Committee ...
After hammering out a deal over commercial rents with Labour, New Zealand First is now publicly criticising some of the measures its coalition partner had been pushing for. ...
After hammering out a deal over commercial rents with Labour, New Zealand First is now publicly criticising some of the measures its coalition partner had been pushing for. ...
After hammering out a deal over commercial rents with Labour, New Zealand First is now publicly criticising some of the measures its coalition partner had been pushing for. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Lee, Associate Professor of History , UNSW The Conversation is running a series of explainers on key figures in Australian political history, looking at the way they changed the nature of debate, its impact then, and it relevance to politics today. ...
Labour-hire workers are falling between the cracks because neither the agencies they are employed by nor the host companies they work for want to take responsibility for them, FIRST Union said today. Dozens of agency workers have been contacting the ...
CEAC annual review of National Party climate change policy, makes miserable reading, and supports Government for elevating clean ‘Rail Transport’ over truck transport, for moving more freight onto rail, thereby keeping our CO2 ‘climate emissions’ ...
The biggest danger facing New Zealand under level one will the border. Justin Giovannetti looks at what the government is doing to increase border defences and prevent another influx of Covid-19.As the elimination of coronavirus appears imminent in New Zealand, the country’s attention turns to the border and the conflicting ...
The Government’s 5.3% increase in road user charges (RUC) from 1 July is a kick in the guts to the trucking industry that kept the country moving during lockdown and must be cancelled says the National Road Carriers Association. “It is unacceptable,” ...
From the Minister of Tourism came an announcement on the distribution of $400 million. He was outdone by the Minister for Research, Science and Technology, whose announcement involved a sum of $401.3m. Much more bemusing was the announcement from the PM headed Free period products in schools to combat poverty. ...
The charging of three officers of the Central Police District with homicide confirms community fears of police violence. The announcement of the charges comes as the United States of America is crippled by nationwide protests against the murder of ...
The Government’s recently announced Action for Healthy Waterways package includes protections and funding to improve the quality of New Zealand’s rivers, lakes, streams, estuaries, and wetlands. The package introduces new rules and regulations ...
The images of Minnesota policeman Derek Chauvin kneeling on a dying African-American man’s neck have ricocheted around the world. From Auckland to London, Christchurch to cities across the US, tens of thousands have marched in opposition to what is perceived as systemic police violence against one race. Chauvin’s charges have ...
With Rhys Darby returning to our small screens with a travel series documenting his wild travels around Japan, Tara Ward rounds up some more TVNZ shows that will take you from your armchair to locales far and wide. Rhys Darby is world famous for bringing walk socks to New York on ...
Sir Jerry Mateparae is extending his life of service to the NZ community, moving into the role of chair of Chair of the Healthier Lives−He Oranga Hauora National Science Challenge. He says the research being done in preventing some of the country’s worst diseases as fitting neatly with his own ...
E tū is calling for a serious harm investigation into the case of two security guards who were injured when a staff member was attacked at Auckland’s Middlemore Hospital. On 21 May, two security guards were stabbed with a pair of scissors when ...
Kiwi Rail CEO Greg Miller said he will not re-open the Gisborne rail service for freight and passenger services for the region, after eight years of closure even now after a yearlong PGF $600.000 study confirmed to the Government that the rail ...
Universal public compliance has been one of the major reasons why New Zealand has apparently been so successful in curbing the spread of the Covid19 virus. Fundamentally, people complied with the restrictions imposed during Alert Levels 4 and 3 because ...
Greenpeace wants New Zealand to become the first country in the world to ban plastic drinks bottles. Last year, after a huge public outcry, the NZ Government banned single use plastic bags. Now Greenpeace is launching a new campaign to "ban the bottle." ...
Pacific Media Centre A Papua New Guinea provincial governor has defending his actions for speaking up in Parliament yesterday on the government’s mooted proposal to extend the state of emergency (SoE) for two more months. Writing on social media, Governor Allan Bird of East Sepik cited instances of police abuse ...
Grey Power’s stance is that the global Covid-19 pandemic, as it has impinged on New Zealand, has highlighted existing problems within the Aged Care Sector and we suggest that if the promise by the Labour Party to fund an Aged Care Commissioner ...
New Zealanders have been re-discovering the many benefits of growing food at home over the Pandemic lock-down. Sustainable Living’s free learning guides on food growing have been this on-line community education programme’s most popular downloads. ...
From 1846 onwards, various militia came together to form the New Zealand Armed Constabulary Force, to ‘combat Māori hostiles and to keep civil order’. In 1885 they changed uniforms and became the New Zealand Police. We’re still feeling the effects of that whakapapa today, writes Emilie Rākete. America is burning, burning ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Carew, Lecturer, University of Melbourne During the coronavirus pandemic, have your kids been using headphones more than usual? Maybe for remote schooling, video chats with relatives, or for their favourite music and Netflix shows? We have to be careful about both ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sunanda Creagh, Head of Digital Storytelling When it comes to coronavirus cases, deaths and tests, Australia is performing better than many other countries with comparable populations and geographies, a new COVID-19 data visualisation reveals. Use the tool below, which uses data drawn ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joelle Gergis, Senior Lecturer in Climate Science, Australian National University As we slowly emerge from lockdown, local adventures are high on people’s wish lists. You may be planning a trip to the ski fields, or even the nearby hills to revel in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lauren Rickards, Associate Professor, Sustainability and Urban Planning, School of Global Urban and Social Studies; Co-leader, Climate Change and Resilience Research Program, Centre for Urban Studies, RMIT University This essay is based on an episode of the UTS podcast series “The New ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marcus Luigi Spiller, Associate Professor (Urban Planning) – honorary , University of Melbourne Melbourne’s global reputation for liveability does not resonate with many Melburnians. Its economy has slipped into per capita recession a couple of times over the past decade. Population growth ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Hamilton, Visiting Fellow, Tax and Transfer Policy Institute, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University With the virus on the back foot, it’s tempting to declare victory. Provided we stay vigilant on the public health front, we do have a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jeff Borland, Professor of Economics, University of Melbourne When it comes to the outlook for employment, there’s good news and bad news. To begin with the good news: with a bit of luck, the next few months will see the fastest expansion ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Caitlin Vincent, Lecturer in Creative Industries, University of Melbourne There’s a long-running adage about working for free in the performing arts. “The problem with working for exposure,” it goes, “is you can die from exposure”. Only partly a joke, the saying is ...
For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level two – read The Spinoff’s giant explainer about what that means here. For official government advice, see here.The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is made possible thanks to donations from Spinoff Members. ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Decision coming soon on move to level one, housing market in a weird place, and manslaughter charges laid against officers after custody death. As has been the way with these moves, we got an announcement of what the new alert level ...
The embargo on this year’s list has just been lifted. Here are all the books in the running for a gong. Huge caveat: we are yet to read them all. We’re working on that, snarled-up postal system permitting. So please consider these initial thoughts.We’re very chuffed to see Our Toby ...
A tiny, tourism-focused village asks for help from its local authority which, unusually, is a government department. David Williams reports Queen’s Birthday weekend was bustling at Aoraki/Mt Cook Village as Kiwis swarmed in to support the struggling tourist hotspot, nestled in a national park straddling the South Island’s mountainous spine. ...
Tenants unable to pay rent on commercial leases have been given a lifeline after almost two months of negotiations between Labour and New Zealand First. ...
Employee-owned businesses tend to perform better than traditionally-owned ones. With Stuff and Countdown recently saying they'll embrace the model, Alex Sims looks at what share schemes look like for employees. Covid-19 has seen the rapid adoption of new ways of working, such as working from home and Zoom meetings. However, these ...
Anna Rawhiti-Connell tells herself to stop being a dick about domestic tourism and visits the Waitomo Caves I have never been a great one at heeding calls. Group participation is what my nightmares are made of. It’s not my own awkward response I worry about, it’s a specific anxiety that ...
As protests sparked by the death of George Floyd unfold across the US, David Mayeda has a message for NZ: 'For those of you who don’t experience racism, be publicly anti-racist - support those of us who do'. Monday evening in Washington D.C. shortly before a 7pm curfew and just before ...
Susie Simcock, the former head of World Squash and a tireless advocate for women's sport, passed away last week. Suzanne McFadden talks to Kiwi sports stars and leaders about a pioneer, mentor, baker and friend. There was the time when Susie Simcock, the first woman to preside at the apex of World Squash, dressed ...
NZ is not beyond the issues of racial discrimination being protested in the US, but we should be mindful of the way we show our solidarity Over the long weekend, approximately 4000 protestors gathered in major centres around Aotearoa to protest against the killing of George Floyd in the US ...
Open mike 22/08/2019 
Does National have any chance of winning the election in September? It’s looking very unlikely, especially after National’s change of leadership hasn’t exactly produced Mullermania in the first two weeks. Quite the opposite, in fact, as I summarised in Tuesday’s Political Roundup column: Todd Muller’s torrid start as National leader. ...13 hours ago
Last year, in the face of public pressure to better regulate New Zealand's pervasively criminal fishing industry, the government finally anounced a bullshit trial scheme for cameras on boats. The trial would apply only to a limited number of boats fishing in Māui's dolphin habitat. But all fishing boats would ...16 hours ago
Another study comparing effect in children from nonendemic areas (Dagang) and endemic fluorosis area (Jinghai) about 80km apart in the Tianjin area of China. Hardly sampling the same population. Anti-fluoride campaigners still use studies from ... 19 hours ago
George Thomson, Nick Wilson, Richard Edwards This blog discusses the passing of the Smoke-free Environments (Prohibiting Smoking in Motor Vehicles Carrying Children) Amendment Act last week. We briefly review some lessons from this legislation’s long journey and explore future smokefree possibilities in Aotearoa / New Zealand. A law ...22 hours ago
74 Articles Physical science of global warming & effects Surface-Energy-Balance Closure over Land: A Review (open access) Observations & observational methods of global warming & effects Human influence has intensified extreme precipitation in North America (open access) Observation-derived ice growth curves show patterns and trends in maximum ice thickness and ...1 day ago
Last month I noted that the public policy debate was all about how we deal with covid-19. That’s changing now, and will change more over the next couple of months as the buffering impact of the wage subsidy disappears and we see starkly the economic hole out of which we ...1 day ago
Bernard Hickey is one of New Zealand’s leading financial journalists. His latest article, published by Newsroom, lays bare the cruel treatment of hundreds of thousands of workers stranded since the lockdown. Our Prime Minister is lauded overseas for her compassion, but her Cabinet is refusing to properly support tens of ...2 days ago
For a good part of my adult life I have studied civil-military relations. I have studied authoritarian and democratic variants, and I have studied them across countries and regions. I have also worked in and with several US security agencies and have lectured on the theme at a number of ...2 days ago
by The Spark “The system is broken”—the words of a young black man in Minneapolis watching flames destroy a police precinct demonstrators had torched. Broken? Yes, it is! What else could you say about a system whose police for nine minutes casually knelt on a black man’s neck, watching until ...2 days ago
Minneapolis Police StationIf you’ve been keeping an eye on recent events in the United States, you’ll likely understand why there’s so much anger on the streets at the moment. Not only did police officers murder another black man; it is patently obvious that authorities initially attempted to cover up George ...3 days ago
Like the rest of the world, I have been aghast at what I have seen of, and read and heard about, what is happening currently in the United States. It seems incredible that a once great country should be suffering the worst effects and the highest number of deaths worldwide ...4 days ago
Image credit: Writing an Article vs. Writing a Blog Post: What’s the Difference? I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This may happen accidentally when the blog format is ... 4 days ago
It’s almost painful to watch. Let’s be honest, maybe a pleasure too, in some quarters, but painful nonetheless. Because the fact is, for a democracy to function properly, any sitting Government does need honest and proper Opposition so that it doesn’t get ahead of itself. That’s what we should ...6 days ago
SATURDAY MAY 30Six60: Live at Western Springs 2020 (TVNZ 1, 8.45pm). Remember live concerts? The day will come again, friends, when we will be able to stand shoulder-to-shoulder in an uncomfortable sweaty venue with people we don’t know. It will happen. Sometimes the sound of concerts drifts over to the ...7 days ago
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Well, we are out of lockdown, essentially. I did end up getting the wage subsidy while we were on levels 3 and 4 but I would have been fine if we didn’t. The first day of level 2, the Thursday, the office opened again for the people who weren’t able ...1 week ago
age credit: Science and Politics – Skeptically.org It seems impossible to keep politics out of science. It’s a pity because politics can end up forcing science to produce the results desired by ... 2 weeks ago
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has described Labour's original COVID-19 commercial rent dispute proposal as "poorly targeted". Justice Minister Andrew Little has announced a temporary law change to force commercial landlords and renters to consider COVID-19 in disputes over rent issues, almost two months after the Government first floated the idea. But ...14 hours ago
It's been a busy seven days as we start to rebuild New Zealand together. From delivering extra support for small businesses, to investing in our artists and arts organisations, to cutting red tape on home DIY projects, we're rolling out our plan to get the economy and New Zealand moving ...3 days ago
“Today and every day we stand in solidarity with George Floyd’s family, friends and community who feel pain and fear about his untimely death at the hands of Minneapolis police”, said Green Party Co-leader and Māori Development spokesperson Marama Davidson. ...4 days ago
A new-look Police graduation ceremony to take account of COVID19 health rules has marked the completion of training for 57 new constables. Police Minister Stuart Nash attended this afternoon's ceremony, where officers of Recruit Wing 337 were formally sworn in at the Royal New Zealand Police College without the normal support of ...11 hours ago
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this is kinda cool..and has its' moments of involuntary humour..
(news report on woodstock..)
https://boingboing.net/2019/08/20/watch-walter-cronkite-and-cbs.html
police: 'so many young people were smoking marijuana..'
This was my first journey into the early'woke days' — as a young kiwi in USA.
Firstly arived in San Francisco to Scott MacKenzie singing "when you go to San francisco be sure to wear flowers in your hair"
While in New York I heard "all long the watchtower" by Jimmy Hendricks as he at at a protest march he was sung to the 'vietnam protectors' – I was feeling free inside someone elses country.A magic time indeed as I was 23 yrs old on my own half way around the globe from home.
cool..!..that was an interesting time to be there…
(i can recommend the recent book 'chaos' – on the manson murders – for the portrait of the times it provides..)
Wow Cleangreen (1.1) that must have been an amazing experience of a lifetime to have been right there where it was all happening. Lucky you 🙂
Loved the music and culture of that time … the event of Woodstock, Janis Joplin, Carlos Santana, Scott McKenzie, Bobbie Gentry, Jimi Hendrix, Hair, Good Morning Star shine, Let The Sunshine In et al. Too many more to mention.
Although the bloody and totally horrific Vietnam war was raging, the period was revolutionary, one of the best music eras ever IMO. A time of renaissance and change, when women became aware they were able to control their lives, in particular fertility, as they wanted it to be.
Even though I didn't experience it first hand as you did Cleangreen, I was nevertheless very much part of that time, influenced by the magic of the music, the harsh reality of the existing politics, as well as the cultural change which emerged. An enlightening time to be alive.
This is not a consequence I had thought about really much – must widen that I think.
"Another feature of the storm was that the hail was spiked and jagged. Correlation coefficient radar shows an area of reduced returns where more irregular shapes are detected within the storm."
This bit sends a shiver down my spine. I suppose, for the moment anyway, humans in the West are protected from unannounced, "spiked and jagged" hail, by the roof of their cars, in which we are so often sat. Not so crops though. Nor birds, it transpires. Sudden events such as that hailstorm are game-changers. I reckon we'll experience such cataclysms. Not very cheerful this morning, am I
awesome – looks good whānau – kia kaha!
tino awesome. They look like they're having fun. I put a post up.
no billionaires pledging money to save the amazon – not a church for them I suppose
Might pay to start planting as much as we can as soon as we can methinks
Those fires are chilling.
Really though, the Amazon, on fire!
We're in deep trouble, as you know.
A conspiracy theorist might consider the right wing have never left their eugenics/poor culling fantasies alone, and climate change is a convenience to their nefarious masturbation fantasies. I find no other understandable explanation for this insanity.
Terrence McKenna and his wife have a project running to collect and propagate as many medicinal (etc.) plants from the Amazon Basin as they possible can/could (he's passed). Their "nursery" is in Hawaii, I understand. He believed the future of mankind resides in the use of those plants for expanding consciousness to the point where we can see what we are doing and how to undo that.
I hope they got all they wanted before this latest conflagration. I wonder if the two ideas are connected? Would those you cite be alert enough to action the extinction of the mechanism for seeing the truth? How's that for a conspiracy theory, WTB?
I'd be pissed off if this stuff was true
And that was just the first angel!
bit hard on the green grass – the oi oi be going nah we're bronzey coppery mate not green.
In a rush to avoid extermination
Very wry of you there
If fires don't jigger the Taiga, illegal logging will.
Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, Russia – A Greenpeace Russia team is documenting wildfires in the Taiga forest, in the Krasnoyarsk region of Siberia. Despite statements by Russian authorities, the intensity of forest fires in Siberia is not decreasing. The 4.3 million hectare fire — an area larger than Denmark — is contributing significantly to climate change. Since the beginning of the year a total of 13.1 million hectares has burned.
Fires in the Taiga have been raging every year, but this summer’s blazes have reached unprecedented size and strength. The Siberian fires are emitting more than 166 Mt CO2 — nearly as much as 36 million cars emit a year. Fires in Siberian forests are especially dangerous for the climate as they are the source of black carbon that settles on the Arctic ice and accelerates its melting.
“These fires should have been put out at the very beginning, but were ignored due to weak policies. Now it has grown into a climate catastrophe that can not be stopped by human means,” said Greenpeace Russia wildland fire expert and volunteer firefighter Anton Beneslavskiy. “Russia should increase efforts in forest protection and provide sufficient funding for firefighting and fire prevention. The problem of wildfires should be addressed at the international level in the global climate agreements to keep global warming below 1.5°C.”
https://www.greenpeace.org/international/press-release/23660/massive-forest-fires-in-siberia-is-a-climate-emergency/
lol the pledged money hasn't shown up, anyway
According to the indigenous people, the fires are not spontaneous forest fires, but fires lit by the Bolsonaro regime.
"Conservationists have blamed Bolsonaro, saying he has encouraged loggers and farmers to clear the land for cattle ranching"
"It's going to be a brutal day weather-wise for most of the North Island on Thursday, with heavy rain and thunderstorms expected. "
Sunny-as down South
Warm too, for a change and still. I'm gardening while the going's good.
Thankfully it's not to cold so the lambs should survive it.
Did sheep originate in a land such as Afghanistan, I wonder and were lambs originally born into warm or cold weather? Perhaps they've always been snowed-upon at birth.
"The results support an Asiatic origin of the genus Ovis, followed by a migration to North America through North-Eastern Asia and the Bering Strait and a diversification of the genus in Eurasia less than 3 million years ago. Our results show that the evolution of the genus Ovis is a striking example of successive speciation events occurring along the migration routes propagating from the ancestral area."
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/38074290_Evolution_and_taxonomy_of_the_wild_species_of_the_genus_Ovis_Mammalia_Artiodactyla_Bovidae
When you consider historical land bridges it makes better sense…
They won't have walked to New Zealand. Nor Saudi Arabia. Poor creatures.
They do pretty well here, though.
Chap I knew from the Falkland Islands reckoned that the FI livestock was largely wild – the high peat content meant no footrot, and the sheep and cows just roamed wherever with very few fences or walls. Herd the sheep for shearing every so often, help out a cow if it's in difficulty, that was mostly it. No need for most drenches and what have you.
Survival of the fittest. How many stock units per acre, do ya reckon?
I'm guessing, few.
I wonder too, how the native herbs fared, browsed as they would be, by browsers.
yeah defnitely less stock density than a feed lot, but then they are subantarctic. The bulk of it was simly that with so few parasites etc, almost zero maintenance was required.
Sounds similar to Shetland and Orkney, my turangawaewae.
Gude helt an lang may yee lum reek!
‘Weel buy, whit’s deuan the day?’
(Best I could do and I needed Google at that! My Nana could've rattled off a string of greetings and anything else she wanted to say, but that was long ago…)
Sheep won't have lambs at this time of year if they're left to breed on their own timeframe. Isn't early spring lambing something to do with having lamb for Christmas dinner?
Ah! Something for the wee things to look forward to!
Setting a place at the table for the lambs on the 25th?
It's so they can maximise the weight over the grass growing season before being sent to the works.
how does that balance out with the lamb losses due to weather?
There aren't really that many lamb deaths from bad weather. I would think that the average each year in NZ would be less than 0.5%, or perhaps 1 in every 200.
I don't know where to find any accurate figures though. Newspaper reports are just guesses.
"North Island farmers lose 100,000 lambs after spring storm"
"AgriHQ analyst Mel Croad described the North Island losses as a devastating blow for farmer morale."
Guesses?
I guess you could claim that Mel Croad is just "guessing", despite her qualification as an agricultural analyst.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/107152693/north-island-farmers-lose-100000-lambs-after-spring-storm
yikes.
Another climate adaptation to think through. Are wool farmers lambing in early spring?
You really should read that story more carefully Robert.
The figure of 100,000 is not a quote from Ms Croad. What she says is "Croad said her losses had been small, but she had heard of other farmers who lost about 20 per cent of their lamb crop.". That really isn't a highly accurate figure is it? And other farmers are quoted as saying. like Mr Falloon, "Wairarapa hill country farmer Jamie Falloon said he had not done a tally of his losses yet, but was expecting a significant number because there had been seven days of cold rain right in the middle of lambing."
As he then says you don't disturb the sheep because you can cause a lot of mis-mothering. No Robert, that 100,000 is really just a guess.
However there are about 23-24 million lambs that are docked each year in New Zealand. Docking is the first time lambs are actually counted and it doesn't happen until 3 or 4 weeks after lambing so there would have been more born than were finally docked.Even if the 100,000 is correct it represents about 1 in every 240. And it was a bad enough storm to get in the paper as being "disastrous".
So no, Robert, I think my original comment stands.
Docking is a good model,count total tails and divide by 1
That is very much easier than the way you have to do it otherwise.
You have to stand by the fence and count the number of lamb's legs you see. It isn't easy as you have to make sure you don't count the ewes' legs and that you don't count a lamb twice. Bloody hard work actually. They hop around all over the place.
When, in my youth, I used to spend the school holidays docking counting the tails was the way we did it and the only way you had any idea of how good the lambing season was going to be. You had to make sure that the shepherds' dogs didn't get any of them before you had done it of course. Bloody greedy things they were.
Oh for the smell of Docko in the morning. I wonder if it still exists? It was an antiseptic and coagulant we used on the lambs after the tail was cut off.
Most of it does, Alwyn. However, to my horror and that of other sensitive souls, most likely, you quoted:
"23-24 million lambs that are docked each year in New Zealand."
It just gets worse!
Tails, cut or starved of blood till they drop off, from lambs?
Barbaric, isn't it!
Cut off with a butcher's knife or seared off with a gas-torch?
Ah, how you yearn for those good old days, Alwyn. The smell, the wonderful, evocative smell!
Actually Robert, I thought you might have picked up the reference to the most famous line from the movie Apocylapse Now. Don't you remember it? "I love the smell of napalm in the morning".
I didn't do the cutting off of the tail. I held the lamb while it was done. The actual operation was done by the farm manager who had been properly trained in the procedure.
What was amazing was that the lamb would jump as it was done and then immediately settle down. As soon as they got back to the ewe they would be feeding instantly. They really didn't seem to notice after a few seconds.
Do I miss it? Of course not. It was about 60 years ago and I wouldn't mind being young again of course. Am I unhappy I did it? Not at all.
By the way. You have obviously read my comment about your remarks about the item in the paper being a guess. Do you still think that it was an accurate number?
"Do you still think that it was an accurate number?"
I guess so.
When I was younger I too, tailed lambs only I did wield the knife, quite untrained. My impression wasn't the same as yours; those lambs felt the pain deeply. I can't imagine how it could be otherwise. My impression was that running for a feed was a shock-reaction. I'm not at all nostalgic for that time.
Slinkskins still seems to be a thing (made from lambs that don't survive).
https://www.slinkskins.co.nz/animal-welfare
Mmmmm..weight!*
*voice of Homer Simpson
Sheep will start lambing in July if the boys snack out to play . The modern sheep is very different to the old breeds .
lambing dates are more set for trying to match feed growth to demand . And making sure they are grown or gone before the winter slow down or summer dry periods .
Lambing in the north island will go from July till November depending on were you farm .
west coast – near raglan – warm/sunny..
This guy's inspired by Greta:
"How about this: Animal products cover only 17 per cent of human calorie requirements, but use 77 per cent of global arable land.
Here's another one: No beef for a year can save 2.2 tonnes of CO2 equivalents. That's roughly the same as filling 16.5 bathtubs with petrol and setting them all on fire. "
"Fonterra meantime is bombarding us with quality infomercials about how good their farmers are at what they do. Nobody in the world does it with less impact on climate.
Translated that means our dairy industry is the least bad of a bad lot. What a sorry state we find ourselves in."
https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/opinion/115167617/my-new-hero-is-greta-thunberg
Man can't live by calories alone. Women really can't.
@ robert:
'Translated that means our dairy industry is the least bad of a bad lot.'
as it happens – that is just another pile of bullshit/spin the dairy industry has repeated enough – that people believe it..
from memory (sorry – don't have link to hand) the science says the exact opposite is true..
that compared to the american/european etc models – we are actually the worst…
a long long way from 1st place…
ok, ok, I'll stop setting tubs of petrol on fire.
'Bout time! Stick to burning it through your car's engine; hardly anyone notices.
Here's a controversial claim and the article it came from is one well worth exploring.
"For most wild creatures, nuclear holocaust is, on balance, less harmful than having humans as your neighbours."
I'd like to feature it on How to get there this coming Sunday.
https://dark-mountain.net/restoration-a-submissions-call-for-dark-mountain-issue-17/
Do you want to write it up as a stand alone post? I can put it up for you.
Thanks. I'll have a look-see.
if you decide to, drop me a note here as I don't check my email that often.
well considering what is happening currently in Brasil that controversial claim might not be so outlandish.
in saying that….surely when the fires in the Amazon are all burned out of fuel, there will be a nice flat area of land where one can grow Palm something, Soy something, stuff something to create all that 'plantmeat' that is gonna save us from ourself. Right?
Yeah, opportunities abound and who needs those biologically-super-rich rainforests anyway? What of value could be found in a jungle?
@sabine..
'can grow Palm something, Soy something'..
can i point out that most soy on the planet is grown to feed to animals…
and do soy-haters know that i used to be only able to buy one or two types of bread – 'cos most bread had milk powder on it….
now i can eat most..
soy..you know your spreading yr peanut butter on it..?..eh..?