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?
Surprisingly enough, one could argue (as I often do) that the day inserted into a leap year is not that we label 29th February, but actually the 24th of February. Here I explain why, briefly. Almost everyone assumes that the day added into February in a leap year is the ...
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A dairy owner in St Kilda, Dunedin was delighted to hear that an attempted robbery of his establishment was foiled by a government-funded security system. Sean Lee was delighted at how well the anti-theft smoke system worked. When a knife-wielding man entered the store, the shop assistant immediately pressed a ...
Customs says it stopped more than three tonnes of illegal drugs coming into New Zealand last year. This includes 1,180kg of methamphetamine, 329kg of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine precursors, which could have been converted into 246kg of methamphetamine, 739kg and 6469 pills of MDMA or Ecstasy and 60kg of cocaine. Offshore, ...
Hon. Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development Up to $2 million will be allocated from the Provincial Growth Fund to set up temporary water supplies in Kaikohe and Kaitaia where drought is biting hard, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. Drought conditions in Northland have led to ...
Darroch Ball, Spokesperson for Law and Order New Zealand First welcomes the deployment of an Eagle Police helicopter in Christchurch in what is a step towards fulfilling its long-standing goal to increase the use of police helicopters for the front line, particularly in addressing the scourge of fleeing drivers. Christchurch leads ...
It may have been the first sitting week of 2020, but our Government is already in full-swing - managing a strong economy, investing in infrastructure, and working to break the cycle of homelessness. Read below for all that, and more... ...
In a heated debate in Parliament, National's Deputy Leader Paula Bennett claimed that “nearly 1600 patched gang members have been added” since the Coalition Government took power. To illustrate her point, she altered a chart used by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to show her government’s progress in housing to instead ...
Speech by the Rt Hon Winston Peters at Parliament’s Opening 2020 "We all need insurance" This year New Zealanders are going to have a clear choice to make That choice is between: Optimism versus pessimism; More progress versus back to the future; Investment versus divestment; Unity versus division. New Zealand ...
Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones has slammed the Board of Auckland Airport following the airport's runway closing twice within two weeks due to maintenance. Around 2,000 passengers were affected by last week’s runway closures, according to 1NEWS. Another maintenance closure on January 24 saw two international flights and three domestic flights ...
Jenny Marcroft, Spokesperson for Broadcasting New Zealand First supports the commissioning of a business case to assess the viability of a new public media entity. “A strong media environment is critical for a healthy democracy. New Zealand First is a strong supporter of a diverse, independent media,” New Zealand First broadcasting spokesperson ...
Pounamou and technology industries in the West Coast region are set to receive more than $2 million in Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) funding. This was announced by the Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau during Waitangi Day commemorations in Hokitika. He said $800,000 would be given to Development West ...
Clayton Mitchell MP, New Zealand First spokesperson for Labour and Industrial Relations Unemployment and wage growth numbers released by Stats NZ today demonstrate a labour market in good shape with unemployment falling to 4.0%, the underutilisation rate falling to an 11 year low, and wage growth at a 10-year high ...
Hon. Ron Mark, New Zealand First Spokesperson for Defence New Zealand First Spokesperson for Defence Ron Mark, welcomes the official opening of Te Rau Aroha, a new museum at Waitangi Treaty Grounds as part of our Coalition Agreement. “It is a great honour to be part of an effective Government ...
Rt. Hon. Winston Peters, Deputy Prime MinisterGood morning,Let us start with important acknowledgements.First, this special day, in remembrance of the 28th Maori Battalion, is also to honour all those men and women who have risked their lives in the service of our country.Second, special guest Robert ...
Hon. Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic DevelopmentTe Rau Aroha, a new museum at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, acknowledges the duty and sacrifice of Māori who served in New Zealand’s armed forces, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones says.The museum, whose construction was ...
Benefit settings rise in line with wages as of 1 April Main benefits will increase by over 3 percent, instead of 1.66 percent, on 1 April with the Government’s decision to annually adjust benefit rates to increases in the average wage. The Minister for Social Development, Carmel Sepuloni, said ...
Strengthening New Zealand’s political and business ties with India will be the focus of Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters’ and Trade and Export Growth Minister David Parker’s visit to India this week. The Ministers are co-leading a high level business delegation to India to support increased people and economic engagement ...
The Minister for Pacific Peoples, Aupito William Sio continues to champion for greater Pacific participation in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) careers with the announcement of the Toloa Awards, with 8 recipients of the Toloa Community Fund and 13 Toloa Tertiary Scholarships. “The Toloa Programme encourages more Pacific peoples ...
Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage has extended the date for people to have their say on proposed changes to improve management of whitebait across New Zealand. Submissions were due to close on 2 March 2020 but will now remain open until 9am on Monday 16 March 2020. “I have ...
The endangered toroa/Antipodean albatross has new international protection for its 100,000km annual migration, thanks to collaborative efforts led by New Zealand, Australia and Chile. Today, 130 countries agreed to strictly protect Antipodean albatross at the Conference of Parties on the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild ...
No sales to under-18-year-olds No advertising and sponsorship of vaping products and e-cigarettes No vaping or smokeless tobacco in smokefree areas Regulates vaping product safety comprehensively, - including devices, flavours and ingredients Ensure vaping products are available for those who want to quit smoking Vaping regulation that balances ...
Justice Minister Andrew Little will travel to Berlin tomorrow to represent New Zealand at a high-level summit on nuclear disarmament. This year, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) celebrates 50 years since it entered into force. “New Zealand’s proud record and leadership on nuclear disarmament is unwavering, so it’s important we are present ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will visit two of New Zealand’s most important Pacific partners, Fiji and Australia, next week. The visit to Fiji will be the first by a New Zealand Prime Minister in four years and comes during the 50th anniversary of Fijian independence and diplomatic relations between our ...
Justice Minister Andrew Little and New Zealand First MP Darroch Ball, have today announced the appointment of the Chief Commissioner of the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), the location, and the membership of the Establishment Advisory Group. Colin Carruthers QC has been appointed Chief Commissioner of the CCRC for an ...
Māori Development Minister Hon Nanaia Mahuta and Agriculture Minister Hon Damien O’Connor co-announced the first horticultural finalists for the Ahuwhenua Trophy celebrating excellence in the Māori agricultural sector. The three finalists are Ngai Tukairangi Trust from Mt Maunganui, Otama Marere Trust from Tauranga, and Hineora Orchard Te Kaha 15B Ahuwhenua ...
A new kete of resources to strengthen support for students with dyslexia will provide extra tools for the new Learning Support Coordinators (LSCs) as they start in schools, Associate Education Minister Tracey Martin announced today. The Minister launched the kete in Wellington this morning, at the first of three induction ...
The Government continues to make progress on a fairer and more secure rental market for renters and landlords with the First Reading of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill and its referral to the Social Services and Community Select Committee. “Now is the opportunity for landlords, tenants and others who want ...
Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister Hon James Marape will visit New Zealand from 21-25 February, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced today. “New Zealand and Papua New Guinea have a warm and friendly relationship. I look forward to welcoming Prime Minister Marape here and strengthening the relationship between our two countries,” ...
Thousands of children have begun receiving a free lunch on every day of the school week, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said. The Government’s free and healthy school lunch programme is under way for 7,000 students at 31 schools in Hawke’s Bay / Tairāwhiti and Bay of Plenty / Waiariki, extending ...
The Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni today announced a new approach that continues to broaden the Government’s social sector focus from a narrow, investment approach to one centred on people and wellbeing. Minister Sepuloni said redefining the previous approach to social investment by combining science, data and lived experience ...
The Government is strengthening the Protected Disclosures Act to provide better protection for whistle blowers, Minister of State Services Chris Hipkins said today. “The Protected Disclosures Act is meant to encourage people to speak up about serious wrongdoing in the workplace and protect them from losing their jobs or being ...
Nǐn hǎo (Hello in Mandarin). Xīn Nián Kuài Lè (Happy New Year in Mandarin) Néi Hóu (Hello in Cantonese). Sun Nin Fai Lok (Happy New Year in Cantonese) Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa. Thank you for your invitation to attend this celebration today. I would like to acknowledge ...
Kia ora. Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou katoa. Nau mai haere mai ki te Whare Pāremata. E ngā mana whenua ki tēnei rohe Taranaki Whānui, Te Upoko o Te Ika, Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Ngāti Raukawa – kei te mihi, kei te mihi, kei te mihi. E ngā mana, e ...
Kia ora. Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou katoa. Nau mai haere mai ki te Whare Pāremata. E ngā mana whenua ki tēnei rohe Taranaki Whānui, Te Upoko o Te Ika, Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Ngāti Raukawa – kei te mihi, kei te mihi, kei te mihi. E ngā mana, e ngā ...
Tougher penalties for gun crime are a step closer with the passage of firearms reform legislation through another stage in Parliament. The Arms Legislation Bill has tonight passed its Second Reading. “The changes have one objective - to prevent firearms falling into the wrong hands,” said Police Minister Stuart Nash. ...
Introduction Mr Speaker We all know why we are here today. It has been a long journey. The journey did not actually begin on 15 March 2019. It began on 30 June 1997. Almost 23 years ago, Justice Sir Thomas Thorp told us what was wrong with our firearms legislation. ...
The Government’s work to put trades and vocational education back on the agenda took another major step forward today with the passing of the Education (Vocational Education and Training Reform) Amendment Bill, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said. “This is a watershed day for trades and vocational education. These law changes formalise ...
Speeding up the return of Christchurch regeneration activities to local leadership is behind the Greater Christchurch Regeneration Amendment Bill introduced to Parliament today by Minister Megan Woods. “As we approach nine years since the February 2011 earthquake in Canterbury, and with the transition to local leadership well underway, the time ...
Hundreds of New Zealanders and international visitors will be able to get back out into nature with the Milford Track partially reopening next week, after extensive assessments and repairs, the Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage announced today. The popular Great Walk has been closed since 3 February after an extreme ...
Up to 110 new EV chargers nationwide in cities and regions 50 electric vehicles for ride-sharing The Government is helping deliver more infrastructure and options for low emissions transport through new projects, Energy and Resources Minister Dr Megan Woods says. Tauranga, Nelson, Levin, New Plymouth and Oamaru are just some ...
New Zealanders are increasingly better off under this Government as wages rise and families have more disposable income, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. Stats NZ reported today that average household disposable incomes after housing costs rose 4.9% in 2019. This was the highest rise in four years and came as ...
All New Zealanders need to have their voices heard at work to ensure we have an inclusive and productive economy. Today we introduce a Bill to do this for workers in the New Zealand screen industry, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. “The Screen Industry Workers Bill will ...
The Government has announced further help for the Southland and Otago regions to speed up recovery efforts from the floods. “I’ve approved Enhanced Taskforce Green (ETFG), making $500,000 available to help with the clean-up in Fiordland, Southland, and the Clutha district in Otago,” Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni said. ...
Following the announcement that more than 340 schools will be funded to run events promoting vocational education, the Government has announced it will fund a further 257 events to be run by employers and industry. “These industry-run events will allow more than 30,000 students to connect with more than 2,000 ...
Today the Government is making progress on a fairer and more secure rental market for renters and landlords with the introduction of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill in Parliament. “This Bill includes a series of reforms to improve the wellbeing of the 609,700 households that live in rented homes, and ...
A Government programme to wipe out pea weevil has achieved a world first, with Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor today announcing the successful eradication of the noxious pest from Wairarapa. This means the nearly four-year ban on pea plants and pea straw was lifted today. Commercial and home gardeners can again grow ...
Southland residents hit by flooding caused by heavy rainfall can now access help finding temporary accommodation with the Government activating the Temporary Accommodation Service, Minister of Civil Defence Peeni Henare announced today. “The Temporary Accommodation Service (TAS) has been activated by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment to help ...
“Is that it?” That’s Finance Minister Grant Robertson’s response to Simon Bridges’ much-hyped economic speech today. “Simon Bridges just gave the most over-hyped and under-delivered speech that I can remember during my time in politics,” Grant Robertson said. “It’s not surprising. Simon Bridges literally said on the radio this morning ...
A trial deployment of the Police Eagle helicopter in Christchurch will test whether the aircraft would make a significant difference to crime prevention and community safety. “The Bell 429 helicopter will be based in Christchurch for five weeks, from 17 February to 20 March,” said Police Minister Stuart Nash. “The ...
The Government has kept up the pace of its work to promote New Zealand’s trade interests and diversify our export markets, with visits to Fiji and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by Trade and Export Growth Minister David Parker. Building momentum to bring the PACER Plus trade and development agreement ...
The Coalition Government’s investment in a strong border and disrupting transnational organised crime produced record results for stopping drugs in 2019, says Minister of Customs Jenny Salesa. The illegal drugs were seized at the New Zealand border by Customs, and overseas by Customs’ international border partners before the drugs could ...
Transport Minister Phil Twyford today kicked off construction of a separated cycleway alongside Tamaki Drive. A two-way separated cycleway will be built along the northern side of Tamaki Drive, between the Quay Street Cycleway extension and Ngapipi Road. There will be a separate walking path alongside. Phil Twyford said giving ...
Owner-occupiers of unit and apartments living in earthquake-prone buildings will have certainty about the financial support they’ll be eligible for with the release of criteria for an upcoming assistance scheme, Minister for Building and Construction Jenny Salesa says. The Residential Earthquake-Prone Building Financial Assistance Scheme will help unit owners facing ...
Temporary restrictions on travel from China will remain in place as a precautionary measure to protect against the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. The restrictions which prevent foreign nationals travelling from, or transiting through, mainland China from entering New Zealand have been extended for a further 8 days. This position ...
Employment Minister Willie Jackson announced today that Tairāwhiti rangatahi will benefit from an investment made by the Government’s He Poutama Rangatahi (HPR) scheme. The funding will go to the Tautua Village, Kauneke programme and the Matapuna Supported Employment Programme which will fund 120 rangatahi over two years. “Both programmes work ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jane Varney, Senior Research Dietitian in the Department of Gastroenterology, Monash University The FODMAP diet is used to help manage irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), but it’s becoming more popular. Now bloggers and so-called health gurus have jumped on board, claiming it can ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tanya Notley, Senior Lecturer in Digital Media, Western Sydney University Like adults, children use the news to learn about what’s happening in the world. But the circulation of misinformation, such as the recent spread of fake news about COVID-19 (the disease caused ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Holly Kirk, Postdoctoral Fellow, Interdisciplinary Conservation Science Research Group (ICON Science), RMIT University People living in cities far from the unprecedented bushfires this summer may feel they can do little more to help beyond donating to organisations that support affected wildlife. But ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katarina Miljkovic, ARC DECRA fellow, Curtin University We’ve all heard of earthquakes, but what about marsquakes? NASA’s InSight mission has, for the first time, recorded seismic activity coming from Mars’ interior. The observations, recorded in 2019 and published today, will help understand ...
In today’s edition: Coronavirus’ harsh impact on New Zealand’s economy starts to reveal itself; Bridges advocates matching Australia’s deportation policies and the Shelly Bay dispute ratchets up.
As major outbreaks were confirmed in Iran and Italy, the impact of Coronavirus on New Zealand’s economy started to become more clear, ...
ReadingRoom is devoting all week to the best-selling book in New Zealand right now, In The Clearing, the brilliant thriller by Ngāpuhi author JP Pomare. Today: Steve Braunias interviews journalist Chris Johnston, who has written extensively about the creepy cult which inspired Pomare's novel. When I looked ...
While two companies give conflicting accounts of past events, authorities are silent on the sale of a piece of equipment which could be used to process the 830,000 litres of dangerous solvents. The distillation unit essential to process the almost million litres of toxic and flammable solvents abandoned in Ruakaka ...
Laura Robertson once hated running, was overweight, then battled a heart condition. But nothing, it seems, will stop the athletic paramedic lining up in the punishing Ironman. Laura Robertson was a cross country cheat. She hated the race and did anything and everything she could to shorten it. She simply wasn’t a ...
Vivienne Martini, who worked for OT and its predecessor CYFS for 15 years, says the case of the boy badly injured at his home in Flaxmere raises deep issues about the practices at the children’s ministry. This case is about the terrible abuse of a child. But it is also ...
A group discovered to be digging for proof of a giant pre-Māori race in the limestone caves of Waikato have not lost their minds all of a sudden, but are continuing a legacy of religion-based racism in the area, writes Scott Hamilton.Earlier this month, RNZ’s Susan Strongman reported that amateur ...
A long-awaited bill to regulate vaping has been unveiled at parliament. Here’s the skinny.What does the bill do?The bill, which associate health minister Jenny Salesa is calling “the most significant change to New Zealand’s smokefree laws since they were introduced 30 years ago”, will introduce a complete ban on the ...
This month's Treaty settlement with Moriori includes an unusual provision - setting the official record on the people's history straight For more than 100 years, New Zealanders have been fed a myth. The myth goes something like this: that once upon a time, Aotearoa was home to a race of ...
By Vasinatta Yama in Mt Hagen Eight prisoners at the Baisu Correctional Service prison near the Western Highlands provincial capital of Mt Hagen are dead following a massive jail breakout. Western Highlands Acting Provincial Police Commander David Kongui confirmed that two prisoners have surrendered, while an unknown number of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra A foreign intelligence service sent a “sleeper” agent to Australia, who provided logistical support for visiting spies, the head of ASIO, Mike Burgess, has revealed, in a speech pledging to intensify the fight against the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Apart from committing a crime, what do you have to do or say to be stripped of your order of Australia award? Where “a line” should be drawn is the question the Council for the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Stewart, Doctoral Candidate at BehaviourWorks Australia, Monash Sustainable Development Institute, Monash University In the wake of last week’s horrific murder of a woman and her three children in Brisbane at the hands of her estranged partner, Social Services Minister Anne Ruston ...
Politicians who have appeared on Dancing with the Stars over the past 15 years say the publicity could backfire for would-be politician Hannah Tamaki if she puts on her dancing shoes. ...
Marlin’s Dreaming have a new single out ahead of their next, ‘least accessible’ album. Frontman Semisi Maiai sat down to talk about how a bunch of jocks from Dunedin became indie darlings.Semisi Maiai embodies the duality of man. He’s a barista and a basketballer; he’s a jock and an indie ...
Pacific Media Watch A University of Waikato researcher says some of the current colonial representations of climate change in the Pacific are obscuring Pacific voices and failing to recognise the importance of Indigenous knowledge in the fight against the changing climate. Dr Jessica Pasisi’s thesis, Niue Women’s Perspective and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Melbourne Bernie Sanders has easily won the Nevada Democratic caucus, cementing his status as front-runner for the Democratic nomination in the US presidential election. With 88% of precincts reporting, Sanders won ...
An announcement that the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) will be based in Hamilton makes “perfect sense” given the city’s location and strong transport links says Hamilton Mayor Paula Southgate. On Friday Justice Minister Andrew Little ...
Steel & Tube has recorded a large half-year loss, in line with forecasts, mostly because of a $37 million write-down in asset values. For the six months ended December the steel manufacturing company made a $36.9m loss. Chief executive Mark Malpass said the company expected an improved second half. "While ...
The Tiwai Point aluminium smelter has slumped to a large loss because of volatile prices and power costs. Pacific Aluminium, controlled by Rio Tinto, made a loss of $313 million for the year ended December compared with the previous year's profit of $207m. However, the underlying loss fell to $46m ...
The Government has extended its ban on travel from China by another eight days until early March, but may provide an exemption for international students, while the Treasury is considering global recession scenarios. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced Cabinet decided on Monday afternoon to extend its ban on travel ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Australia’s catastrophic bushfire season has done immense damage to Australia’s tourist industry. Then, just as heavy rain began to bring the situation under control, came the coronavirus outbreak in China – now ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matthew Hole, Senior Research Fellow, Mathematical Sciences Institute, Australian National University Recent reports from scientists pursuing a new kind of nuclear fusion technology are encouraging, but we are still some distance away from the “holy grail of clean energy”. The technology developed ...
First the broadcaster was caught up in an online swindle using Facebook – now it’s the other media giant.“Hosking’s Latest Investment”, went the headline on the Google-served advertisement, complete with a photograph of the award-winning broadcaster, placed on a New Zealand news site. “New Zealand’s citizens are already raking in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Will Steffen, Emeritus Professor, Australian National University Opposition leader Anthony Albanese’s announcement on Friday that a Labor government would adopt a target of net-zero emissions by 2050 was a big step in the right direction. But a bit of simple maths reveals ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lauren Gurrieri, Senior Lecturer in Marketing, RMIT University Under Australia’s harsh sun, we’ve long slapped on sunscreen to protect ourselves from skin damage and cancer. Now the product, once known for protecting skin against harmful UV rays, is becoming part of beauty ...
Get data at the national level, by regional council area, territorial authority / Auckland local board area, statistical area 2 (SA2), and district health board area. Tables contain 2018, 2013, and 2006 Census data. Access data in NZ.Stat Use ...
Northland's biggest trucking operator has accused the Transport Agency of letting an employee wage a personal vendetta against him that's cost him millions of dollars. Stan Semenoff says the employee went after his scalp, but he's defeated the Agency and shown that it had no safety case to begin with. ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s contentPolitical donations scandals John Armstrong (TVNZ): Jacinda Ardern’s refusal to reprimand Winston Peters is nothing short of disgraceful Luke ...
Keep New Zealand Beautiful partners with Waste Management New Zealand to send educational book to New Zealand schools New Zealand not-for-profit organisation, Keep New Zealand Beautiful, has teamed up with Waste Management to distribute an educational storybook ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paxton Loke, Paediatric Allergist and Immunologist, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute Some children grow out of their food allergies, but researchers don’t exactly know why. Here’s how to work with your allergy specialist if you suspect your child isn’t allergic any more. Read ...
The Māori Party candidate for Waiariki - Rawiri Waititi - believes the younger generation will be the key to the party getting back into Parliament this year. ...
The Sustainable New Zealand Party is struggling to demonstrate it has enough political sustainability to last until the election campaign heats up later this year. Within just a few months media attention has turned from its founding to its foundering. The New Zealand Herald seems not to have caught up ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sunanda Creagh, Head of Digital Storytelling You’ve heard of dark matter. You’ve probably heard there’s a fair bit of it out there in space, and that astronomers don’t know for sure what it is. But, strange as dark matter is, there’s an ...
When NZME reports its annual results on Tuesday, attention will focus on its mooted purchase of rival Stuff Ltd and the revenue its paywalled nzherald.co.nz site has brought in ...
After 43 years on the telly, Fair Go knows exactly how to stick up for Kiwi consumers. Tara Ward talks to Sophie Baird, the woman changing New Zealand, one consumer complaint at a time. For over four decades, Fair Go has been our saviour. They’ve defended us when we’ve been ripped ...
ANALYSIS:By Asmiati Malik in Jakarta The Indonesian government plans to evaluate the efficacy of special funds for the West Papua region. These funds have been disbursed to the easternmost region, comprising the two provinces of Papua and West Papua, for nearly two decades. The funds, paid since 2002 to ...
Last week Nick Loosley, founder of food waste and food poverty charity Everybody Eats, was named the 2020 Kiwibank New Zealand Local Hero of the Year. He talked to Alex Braae about how a more sustainable approach to our food system can help feed those in need. There’s a theme of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Natalie Skead, Professor, Dean of Law School, University of Western Australia In 2017, a business lecturer posted a photo on LinkedIn showing a completely empty university classroom, 15 minutes after the class had been scheduled to start. This is not an isolated ...
The coronavirus outbreak is set to cost Air New Zealand as much as $75 million, as it moved to cut more flights to lessen the impact. The airline has issued a revised forecast for its full year earnings, cutting its estimate of operating earnings by between $35m to $75m to ...
New Zealand's steps to shield itself from the Covid-19 coronavirus will not save the economy from feeling its effects. Hundreds of millions of dollars is likely to be shaved off the value of the economy for the first quarter, with estimates currently between 0.3 and 0.6 percentage points less than ...
By Evaristo Soares Martins in Dili Early elections cannot be allowed to “become the political culture” in Timor-Leste, says the leader of the opposition Fretilin party, Dr Marí Alkatiri. The former Prime Minister said he wants to see an end to the political impasse, prompted by the collapse of ...
By Sharlyne Eri in Lae A Papua New Guinean man who once resorted to crime to make a living is now running a bicycle repair business. Collin Kunan is a long-time resident of West Taraka, one of Lae’s urban settlements where petty crime is rife because of high unemployment. ...
Jamie’s away with the lads, Claire’s elbow deep in a dead man’s abdomen, and Roger wants to go back to the future. Tara Ward recaps episode two of season five of Outlander.Well, my thirstly little Outlander cherubs, that was something else, wasn’t it? It’s been many a moon since I watched ...
Opposition leader Simon Bridges says a National government will look at amending the law to allow Australians convicted of serious crimes in New Zealand to be deported. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carlo Perrotta, Senior lecturer, Monash University The spread of the coronavirus disease known as COVID-19 is a public health emergency with economic and social ramifications in China and across the world. While the impacts on business are well documented, education is also ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Holly Cullen, Adjunct professor, University of Western Australia The extradition hearing to decide whether to send Julian Assange to the United States to be tried for publishing classified military documents on Wikileaks is expected to finally begin today in London. Assange is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bernadette McSherry, Foundation Director, Melbourne Social Equity Institute, University of Melbourne In 2018, the Victorian Ombudsman, Deborah Glass, delivered a report about “the saddest case” she had ever seen. A 39-year-old woman with a developmental disorder had been locked in her prison ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick O’Connor, Associate Professor, University of Adelaide Among the vast number of native species damaged by the recent bushfire crisis, we must not forget native pollinators. These animals, mainly insects such as native bees, help sustain ecosystems by pollinating native plants. Native ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Natalie Skead, Professor, Dean of Law School, University of Western Australia In 2017, a business lecturer posted a photo on LinkedIn showing a completely empty university classroom, 15 minutes after the class had been scheduled to start. This is not an isolated ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Neil G Sipe, Adjunct Researcher in Transport and Planning, The University of Queensland Over the past decade almost US$200 billion has been invested globally in mobility technology that promises to improve our ability to get around. More than US$33 billion was invested ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dodd, Director of the Centre for Advancing Journalism, University of Melbourne In a recent ruling the Australian Press Council has given a signal to gossip magazines it is OK to make up and publish rubbish about people, so long as the ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern anticipates cabinet ministers will decide to extend the ban on foreign travellers arriving from mainland China which is due to expire tonight. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The transformation of the national electricity market has “progressed at a remarkable pace and scale” over the last year as it moves towards renewables, but security is a critical issue, according to the Energy Security ...
The Labour Party has selected Kerrin Leoni as their candidate for the electorate of Waikato. In a confirmation meeting held in Ngaruawahia on 23rd February, Ms Leoni, 39, was nominated unopposed as the electorate candidate, with the electorate covering ...
RNZ Checkpoint last week reported that the rodeo industry has killed two animals during the current rodeo season. Information recently obtained by animal rights organisation SAFE reveals two bulls were killed at ‘Mad Bull’ rodeo events in November and ...
Open mike 22/08/2019 
Surprisingly enough, one could argue (as I often do) that the day inserted into a leap year is not that we label 29th February, but actually the 24th of February. Here I explain why, briefly. Almost everyone assumes that the day added into February in a leap year is the ...13 hours ago
If you haven’t watched Newsroom’s video showing Oranga Tamariki staff attempting to uplift a newborn baby yet you should do so. Although it's not the worst case as far as interventions go, it’s certainly not a good look for the Government. Because of this controversy there’s been a plethora of ...20 hours ago
Genesis Energy is planning to build the country's biggest PV solar farm:Power generator and retailer Genesis Energy says it is in advanced discussions to build New Zealand's biggest solar farm in northern Waikato. The company, which earlier reported a 15 per cent decline in operating earnings to $167.2 million, said ...22 hours ago
High Risk Call: Insensitive though it may seem to even pose the question: how will the electorate respond to what the Prime Minister’s opponents will undoubtedly characterise as an attack on New Zealanders’ freedom of speech? At more than twelve month’s remove from the terrible events of 15 March 2019, ...24 hours ago
Story of the Week... Opinion of the Week... El Niño/La Niña Update... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week... Story of the Week... Climate change leads to more violence against women, girls Rape, domestic violence, forced marriages: A new ...1 day ago
Last week the Wall Street Journal published an article ‘The Dangerous Denial of Sex by two scientists Colin Wright and Emma Hilton. Write is an evolutionary biologist at Penn State and Hilton is a developmental biologist at the University of Manchester. It is well worth reading the article in full. Here ...3 days ago
I am about to mail my overseas ballot to Florida so that it can be counted in the Democratic primary on March 17. In Florida you have closed as opposed to open primaries, which means that one must declare a party preference in order to vote in a party primary. ...3 days 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..?