Top Scoops (With Sharp Stories)

Thursday, 21 December 2000, 4:10 pm
Article: Alastair Thompson

xxxx MERRY CHRISTMAS xxxxxx
Steinlager Premium Light presents Sharp Stories....

HOW SHARP? - Blind To Change

You're walking across a college campus when a stranger asks you for directions. While you're talking to him, two men pass between you carrying a wooden door. They move on and you carry on describing the route. When Daniel Simons, a psychologist at Harvard University, and his colleague Daniel Levin of Kent State University in Ohio did this experiment they found that fully 50 per cent of those who took part failed to notice that the man who asked them for directions walked off behind the door and was replaced by someone else. Far from logging every detail of a visual scene, Laura Spinney finds out that we actually see far less than we think we do.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/ad_html/sharpstories/stein.html

xxxx MERRY CHRISTMAS xxxxxx

TOP SCOOPS
Growth Should Silence The Doom Merchants, Says Cullen
Giant Dairy Merger
Ethical Chickens Arrested
Keith Rankin: Vector Vexation
US Stocks Sliding Dramatically
Bunkle Gives Up Apartment
Fiji President Resigns
Sooooo! Sharp - Scoop's Christmas Ratings Triumph
Tips For Holiday Driving
What About The Marlborough Sounds - The One Percent Fights Back
Telecommunications Shakeup – FULL COVERAGE
Muriel Newman: Spare A Thought This Christmas

TOP SCOOPS

Growth Should Silence The Doom Merchants, Says Cullen

- Economic activity increased in the September 2000 quarter by 0.7 percent, according to information released today by Statistics New Zealand. This follows a 1.0 percent fall in the June quarter and brings the economy back towards the level recorded for the year to September 1999. See... Economy Grows 0.7 Percent In September Quarter [1] and GDP Figure Shows Sturdy Economic Growth - Cullen [2] - NATIONAL - GDP recovers after dismal second quarter [3]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/BU0012/S00150.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0012/S00378.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0012/S00385.htm

Giant Dairy Merger

- The chairmen of the country's two biggest dairy companies, the New Zealand Dairy Group and Kiwi Co-operative Dairies, announced today that they have signed a Merger Agreement after receiving unanimous support from their boards. See... Dairy Industry Comes Of Age [1] - Dairy Merger Questions And Answers [2] - Dairy Merger Fact Sheet [3]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/BU0012/S00155.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/BU0012/S00157.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/BU0012/S00156.htm

Ethical Chickens Arrested

- Auckland, December 21 2000 – Police removed and arrested four Greenpeace activists who stopped the production and distribution of genetic engineered animal feed by Tegel Foods Limited. See... Police Arrest Chickens at Tegel’s [1] and Tegel Chicken Feed – GE Contaminated [2] . See also Green Party response... Legal loophole on GE feed for pork and chicken [3]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PO0012/S00094.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PO0012/S00095.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0012/S00384.htm

Keith Rankin: Vector Vexation

- In 1999, Vector, formerly Mercury Energy and before that the Auckland Electric Power Board, paid a dividend of $107m to its owner, the Auckland Energy Consumers Trust (AECT) (see press release on Scoop ). The raison d'être of the AECT is to distribute that dividend. See... Keith Rankin: Vector Vexation [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0012/S00115.htm

US Stocks Sliding Dramatically

- US stocks are sliding dramatically on fears of a harsh economic slowdown, continued weakness and disappointment that the Federal Reserve declined to lower interest rates yesterday. See... US Stocks Tumbling [1] . See also... Howard's End: US Economy Cools [2]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0012/S00116.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0012/S00106.htm

Bunkle Gives Up Apartment

- Customs Minister Phillida Bunkle has volunteered to give up her Ministerial apartment, saying she doesn't want to live there if there are any suggestions that she doesn't qualify. See... Ministerial house issue resolved [1] . See also... No Perks For Bludger Bunkle [2]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0012/S00365.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PO0012/S00097.htm

Fiji President Resigns

- Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, the substantive President of Fiji, has officially resigned. According to reports, his resignation is effective 29 May 2000. See... Ratu Mara Resigns [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0012/S00100.htm

Sooooo! Sharp

- Christmas is looking good on Scoop especially when looking at today’s NZ Internet ratings…. See.... Scoop Images: Graph Shows Scoops Rapid Rise To Top [1] . Then check out http://www.hitwise.co.nz/ [2] . Into the “Try Hitwise:” box type “www.scoop.co.nz” – but without the quote marks. Click GO. A box will then pop up saying…push next….push NEXT. See also... SHARP RATINGS: Scoop Tops NZ Internet Ratings [3]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0012/S00114.htm
[2] - http://www.hitwise.co.nz/
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0012/S00110.htm

Tips For Holiday Driving

- A record low annual road toll could be the icing on the Christmas cake so long as motorists take care and act responsibly over the holiday period, the director of Land Transport Safety, Reg Barrett said today. See... Christmas is here – don’t blow it [1] and Plunket Plea For Kids In Cars [2]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/GE0012/S00039.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/GE0012/S00036.htm

What About The Marlborough Sounds - The One Percent Fights Back

- Green Party MP Ian Ewen-Street today said he was concerned about the one per cent of the population who will not benefit from the telcommunication reforms, as these people will mainly be in the Marlborough Sounds. See... Telecommunications Concern for Marlborough Sounds [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0012/S00382.htm

Telecommunications Shakeup – FULL COVERAGE

- Communications Minister Paul Swain released the government's response to the Ministerial Inquiry into Telecommunications today. See... NZ's 'World Leading' Telecommunications Reform [1] BACKGROUND INFO: - A world leading regulatory reform – Minister’s Speech Notes [2] - Telecommunications - Summary Of Key Decisions [3] - Telecommunications: Summary Of Government Decision [4] - Telecommunications - Glossary Of Terms [5] - TELECOMMUNICATIONS: QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS [6] REACTION: - FEDERATED FARMERS - Federated Farmers - Telecommunication Inquiry [7] - RURAL AFFAIRS MINISTER Telecommunications Response Good For Rural People [8] - ACT - Telecom’s Regulation Backwards Step - ACT [9] - TELECOM - Government Proposals “Measured”, Says Telecom [10] - GREEN - Telecom monopoly over local lines should go [11] - ALLIANCE - Alliance support govt. telecommunications response [12] - NATS - Fletcher Inquiry overturned [13]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0012/S00350.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0012/S00349.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0012/S00348.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0012/S00347.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0012/S00346.htm
[6] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0012/S00345.htm
[7] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PO0012/S00096.htm
[8] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0012/S00375.htm
[9] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0012/S00366.htm
[10] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/BU0012/S00142.htm
[11] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0012/S00355.htm
[12] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0012/S00354.htm
[13] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0012/S00358.htm

Muriel Newman: Spare A Thought This Christmas

- Most of us will now be deep in preparation for Christmas. Christmas is a special time for most people. As well as being of traditional religious significance, Christmas is also a celebration of the family. See... Spare A Thought This Christmas.... [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0012/S00363.htm

© Scoop Media

Alastair Thompson

Scoop Publisher

Alastair Thompson is the co-founder of Scoop. He is of Scottish and Irish extraction and from Wellington, New Zealand. Alastair has 24 years experience in the media, at the Dominion, National Business Review, North & South magazine, Straight Furrow newspaper and online since 1997. He is the winner of several journalism awards for business and investigative work.

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