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TODAY’S TOP SCOOPS:
RECOMMENDED AUDIO:
Health: Hodgson Announces Investigation Into Focus 2000 -
Health: NZ's Bird-Flu Planning To Be Used As WHO Model
MORE HEADLINES:
Employment Law: CTU Applauds Minimum Wage Bill Passing First Reading
Opinion: Peters Ought To Be Encouraged For 'Soft Criticism' Of U.S
UN Haiti welcomes national dialogue after election
Right-wing posturing from Congress on Arab firm’s role at US ports
MORE INTERNATIONAL HEADLINES:
SCOOP COLUMNS:
Paul Buchanan on Cold War Communism and World Peace
Motornet Gets Directions From A Beamer
Suzan Mazur: Spinning the Returned Euphronios
David Slack compares broadband deals and oranges
MORE COMMENTARY:
OTHER NEWS (Just Politics):
POLITICAL NEWSLETTERS:
SCOOP IS IN THE HOUSE:
Economy: NZ-Australia Economies Eye Common-Ground
Health: Nurses Shortage Must Be Addressed By Better Pay: NZNO
Foreign Affairs: Peters Lays Down NZ's Five Year Policy Plan
MORE POLITICS NEWS:
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TODAY’S TOP SCOOPS
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- The Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union is challenging Air New Zealand’s latest round of jobs cuts, saying that it’s time the airline worked with its employees for the sake of everyone. National secretary Andrew Little said that it was unbelievable that the company had today announced another 470 jobs would go, hard on the heels of the drama over contracting out engineering. “Air New Zealand got that wrong, and it’s probably got this wrong too,” he said. See... Air NZ – don’t get it wrong again [1] EARLIER: EPMU - ‘Yes’ vote great news [2] Scoop Report - Parties Positions On Sacking Of Air NZ Workers [3] AMEA - Christchurch engineers vote yes [4]
RECOMMENDED AUDIO:
Health: Hodgson Announces Investigation Into Focus 2000 -
The government will carry out an organisational review of Focus 2000 in addition to a financial audit and quality audits
of the organisation's disability support facilities, Health Minister Pete Hodgson announced. The Minister's comments
follow this afternoon's meeting between the Ministry of Health and the board of Focus 2000. See... Hodgson announces review of Focus 2000 [1] ALSO:MOH Clarification Regarding Focus 2000 [2]
Health: NZ's Bird-Flu Planning To Be Used As WHO Model
- New Zealand's work to plan for a possible flu pandemic will be used by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as a model
to guide the planning efforts of other countries, Health Minister Pete Hodgson announced today. The WHO will use the
Ministry of Health's public awareness campaign material – including brochures and broadcast advertising – to help other
governments develop similar campaigns. See... WHO seeks New Zealand help for pandemic planning [1]
MORE HEADLINES:
Restaurant Brands National Call Center to Strike [1] Report Highlights Petrol Tax Folly [2] Cuisine Salutes the Country’s Finest Restaurants [3] District Health Boards Report Operating Deficit [4] German electro-punk puppeteer hits Wellington [5]
Employment Law: CTU Applauds Minimum Wage Bill Passing First Reading
- "The Council of Trade Unions is eager to make the case to MPs for the removal of youth rates, and inject some sense
and evidence into this debate,” said Ross Wilson, Council of Trade Unions President. Parliament tonight decided to send
Sue Bradford's Minimum Wage (Abolition of Age Discrimination) Amendment Bill to select committee. "Various business
lobby groups have used the publicity generated by Sue Bradford’s bill to paint a picture of dreary employment prospects
for young workers should the bill pass," said Ross Wilson. See... Youth wages bill goes to select committee [1] ALSO:Maori Party - Minimum wage: Tariana Turia [2] Young Workers Strike as Youth Rates Bill Debated [3] Second Store to Strike Against Youth Rates [4] Porirua KFC workers to Strike! [5] Restaurant Brands National Call Center to Strike [6]
Opinion: Peters Ought To Be Encouraged For 'Soft Criticism' Of U.S
- State Of It editorial Selwyn Manning writes that Criticisms by Winston Peters, of the USA's level of understanding of NZ's role in the Pacific is fully justified
and indicates a shift in thinking - from that of an opposition MP to ministerial responsibility. It ought to be
encouraged. But has Peters gone far enough? In time, one can imagine this foreign minister, armed with a box of facts,
determining a view and aggrieve that recent history has relegated New Zealand's national identity, and indeed its
international identity, down to that of third-way insignificance. See... Soft-Criticism Of Unappreciative U.S. Fair Comment [1] ALSO:Omar Hamed - Selling out our neighbours and serving the empire [2]
UN Haiti welcomes national dialogue after election
- After updating the Security Council on the election process in Haiti, the United Nations top envoy to that country
welcomed President-elect René Préval’s invitation for Haitians to join together in a national dialogue. “We believe that
dialogue and reconciliation are the concepts to be applied today in Haiti, and we also expect that his dialogues with
the private sector he announced for tomorrow will also be fruitful,” said Juan Gabriel Valdés, Secretary-General Kofi
Annan’s Special Representative for Haiti. See... UN Haiti welcomes national dialogue after election [1] ALSO:Haiti: President’s vow to take young off streets [2]
Right-wing posturing from Congress on Arab firm’s role at US ports
- Congressional leaders of both parties are engaged in a cynical publicity stunt in their criticism of the Bush
administration for approving the takeover of commercial operations at six Atlantic and Gulf Coast ports by a port
management company owned by the government of Dubai, a Persian Gulf sheikdom that is part of the United Arab Emirates
(UAE). For Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer, New York’s two Democratic senators, as well as a dozen other senators,
congressmen and governors of both parties, the campaign against the sale of port operations to Dubai provides a welcome
opportunity to combine anti-Arab agitation with an attack on the Bush administration from the right. See... Right-wing posturing: Arab firm’s role at US ports [1]
MORE INTERNATIONAL HEADLINES:
State Dep. Begins to Pick Off S. America 'pariahs' [1] Action on Scandal of Impunity Over Media Killings [2] Meeting of Iraqi leaders to curb sectarian strife [3] Nigerian bird flu outbreak threatens disaster [4] California: Physician Participation in Executions [5]
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SCOOP COLUMNS
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Paul Buchanan on Cold War Communism and World Peace
- In 1990, somewhere in the bowels of the Pentagon, someone in the Joint Chiefs of Staff is reputed to have said that
the United States would rue the day that the Berlin Wall fell. At least the Communists running the Soviet Union and its
allies shared the logics of conventional and nuclear deterrence that preserved the relative peace of the 45-year-old
Cold War. See... Paul Buchanan: When Communists Look Good [1]
Motornet Gets Directions From A Beamer
- ‘Please take the next exit on your left. Then, turn right in 200 metres,’ says the modulated voice of BMW’s satellite
navigation system. Failing to follow instructions does nothing to raise a non-automated response. Even a complete 360
will see the GPS based system pause for the briefest of seconds before re-plotting the correct course, and re-issuing
instructions. It’s really quite frustrating… There’s an unflappable quality in many German cars and the new BMW 330i is
no exception. See... MOTORNET: On Your Command - The BMW 330i [1]
Suzan Mazur: Spinning the Returned Euphronios
- The battle for ownership of the Euphronios vase illustrates perfectly how the New York Times publishing family fools
only itself. Sales of the newspaper deservedly continue to decline as the people responsible for putting the Times out
think they can get away with hoodwinking the public. See... Suzan Mazur: The Italy-Met Euphronios Accord? [1]
David Slack compares broadband deals and oranges
- Business New Zealand waded into the Broadband debate yesterday. Quoting from the release: "Business NZ has called for
a more factually based argument over broadband access." ... Coverage, so far, of their contribution has been a little
short on an actual comparison of the oranges, apples and lemons in question, which of course is what you want in a more
factually based argument, so I asked Business NZ for a copy of the data. See... Public Address 23/02/06 - All you can eat, assuming you're not very hungry [1]
MORE COMMENTARY:
UQ Wire: The Secret History Of Mohamed Atta [1] Public Address 24/02/06 - Totally Hot [2] Mary Pitt: Walkin' Up On A Jackass [3] Martin LeFevre: The ‘Riddle of Man’ [4] Norma Sherry: The Big "A" - As in Alzheimer's [5] Swanson: Sweat Shop Workers Tour US Colleges [6] Marc My Words – Against Section 59 Propaganda [7] “Democracy” To Justify Invasion And Mass Murder [8] Russ Wellen: The Bourse Conspiracy [9] John Bishop: TV Debases The Viewers [10] Dubai and The Bush Dynasty Deal with the Devil [11] A New Era Of Surveillance & Military Police In Oz [12] John Bishop's Communications Line - 23 Feb 2006 [13] Ernest Partridge: Perception is Reality [14] Green Left Weekly: Latin America Revolts Against The Empire [15] G C Fraser: Israeli Defense Minister -Palestine “Axis of Evil” [16] Evelyn Pringle: Psych Drugs - Doctors Serve As Middle-Man Pushers [17] Rodríguez Santos: The Indocumentados Of Today [18] Province of Michigan: A Modest Proposal, [19]
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OTHER NEWS (JUST POLITICS)
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POLITICAL NEWSLETTERS:
Molesworth & Featherston (Weekend) – Feb. 18 2006 [1] Transtasman Political Letter – 23 Feb. Digest [2]
SCOOP IS IN THE HOUSE:
Questions And Answers - 23 February 2006 [1] Questions And Answers - 22 February 2006 [2] Questions And Answers - 21 February 2006 [3]
Economy: NZ-Australia Economies Eye Common-Ground
- Australia's Peter Costello and NZ Finance Minister, Michael Cullen, have signed a treaty on Mutual Recognition of
Securities Offerings and a revised new Memorandum of Understanding on Business Law Coordination. In addition, both
Governments have committed to implement the recommendations of the first report of the Joint Trans-Tasman Council on
Banking Supervision and to legislative amendments to facilitate information sharing between the competition regulators
in both countries. See... NZ- Aus: Ministers announce key achievements [1]
Health: Nurses Shortage Must Be Addressed By Better Pay: NZNO
- Results of a new survey of primary health nursing staff, conducted by the New Zealand Nurses Organisation, signal a
looming recruitment crisis in the sector, unless the pay gap is closed between them and their counterparts in public
hospitals (DHBs). See... Nursing Recruitment Crisis Looms in Primary Health [1]
Foreign Affairs: Peters Lays Down NZ's Five Year Policy Plan
- Scoop Audio: Alastair Thompson reports that Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters and National Foreign Affairs Spokesman Murray McCully today delivered
speeches to a seminar held at Victoria University. The speeches were billed as an opportunity for the two major parties
to explain the points of difference between their policy perspectives in the international arena. In the final result
however the audience learned that there is actually very little light between the foreign affairs policies of New
Zealand's two major Parliamentary parties. See... Scoop Audio: Peters & McCully Talk Foreign Affairs [1] ALSO: Peters - Peters: "Foreign Policy: The Next Five Years" (Text) [2] Nats - McCully: NZ Institute of International Affairs (Text) [3]
MORE POLITICS NEWS:
Govt - Key Fact Sheet: Regional economic development [1] Govt - New Zealand support for Sri Lanka peace process [2] Govt - Review of trans-Tasman MOU [3] Govt - Roading projects will proceed as planned [4] Govt - New Zealand to host World Heritage Committee [5] Greens - More needed to combat P use - Greens [6] Greens - Obesity inquiry vitally important - Greens [7] Nats - Scholarship: Labour is learning its lesson [8] Nats - Questions remain unanswered over aged-care funding [9] Nats - Transit bombshell highlights Govt's failures [10] Nats - Recognition for war heroine overdue [11] Nats - Police Minister silent over officer's claims [12] ACT - Labour Socks Aucklanders Again [13]
ENDS