Scoop: Top Scoops + Just Politics (Happy Easter!)

Thursday, 13 April 2006, 2:06 pm
Article: Alastair Thompson

TODAY’S TOP SCOOPS:
PlunketLine: Fraud Accusation Against McKesson
Broadband: New Stats Show Low Uptake Speeds
Rehabilatation: Bloomin Good News From Prison -
MORE NZ HEADLINES:
Environment: Snails-for-Coal Deal Approved
Politics/Entertainment: Greens Attempt To Reclaim Family Values -
Goff Remembers The Bravest Of The Brave
Australia: Downer refuses to walk the gauntlet at AWB…
Gaza: Israeli Women's Action: 'Stop the Bombing of Gaza!'
MORE INTERNATIONAL HEADLINES:

SCOOP COLUMNS:
Easter 2006 & The Seige Of Gaza
Leaker-In-Chief Caught Out In YET Another WMD Lie
Ramzy Baroud: The End Of The American Empire?
William Rivers Pitt On The Nuking Of Iran
MORE SCOOP COMMENT AND OPINION:
Katya Rivas's Passion (Parts 1-20)

OTHER NEWS (Just Politics):
Dr Don Wants You To Turn You Lights Off!
National Champions Hospital Waiting List Dumpees
Anderton Calls For Bottom Trawling Submissions
Maori Party Attacks Race Relations Commissioner
Turner & Dean Seek Action On Party Pills
Health FULL COVERAGE: Plunket Helpline Calls for Help
MORE POLITICAL HEADLINES:
POLITICAL COLUMNS

PlunketLine: Fraud Accusation Against McKesson

The Government needs to explain why a subsidiary of a huge multi-national corporation which appears on the Top 100 list of US Defense Contractors and which paid US$3 million to settle serious fraud allegations as recently as February has been chosen over the trusted New Zealand institution of Plunket to provide telephone advice to parents, Green Party Health Spokesperson Sue Kedgley says. See... Plunket or a multi-nat accused of fraud - who would you call? [1] ALSO:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00237.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00262.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00171.htm#plunket

Broadband: New Stats Show Low Uptake Speeds

- New Zealand's broadband deficit compared to the rest of the world has got worse. The latest OECD statistics have shown that it will be next to impossible for the Government's goal to see New Zealand’s uptake reach that of the OECD's top half by 2007 and top quarter by 2010. "Our projection, based on the OECD data, is that the Government looks set to fall around 900,000 subscribers short of its broadband target." See... Broadband deficit grows bigger [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/SC0604/S00030.htm

Rehabilatation: Bloomin Good News From Prison -

A recent restructure of Corrections Inmate Employment (CIE) nurseries is providing better employment training opportunities for prisoners. In 2002, a few nurseries that did not provide training in a commercial type work environment were closed. Their activities were amalgamated and replaced with larger nursery units at Auckland, New Plymouth, Wanganui, Manawatu, Rimutaka, and Rolleston Prisons. “It is a far cry from closing things See... Prison nurseries blooming [1] ALSO:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0604/S00113.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00253.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0604/S00111.htm

MORE HEADLINES:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0604/S00119.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0604/S00117.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0604/S00115.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0604/S00106.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0604/S00105.htm

Environment: Snails-for-Coal Deal Approved

- Conservation Minister Chris Carter and Associate Minister of Energy Harry Duynhoven have approved permits under the Wildlife Act to enable a population of Powelliphanta Augustus snails to be moved from the Mt Augustus ridgeline on the West Coast. But Solid Energy New Zealand must implement an intensive mitigation package to preserve the snails before it can commence mining in the area. See... Permits approved to move Mt Augustus snails [1] ALSO:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00233.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0604/S00237.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00239.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0604/S00106.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0604/S00110.htm

Politics/Entertainment: Greens Attempt To Reclaim Family Values -

The Green Party and Loop Recordings have joined forces to showcase some of the best in contemporary music and culture on the Green Room 05: Whanau CD. "The word 'family' has been co-opted by right-wing politicians in recent years as an excuse for intolerance, exclusivity and bigotry. By juxtaposing the concepts of family and whanau, I hope we can start to reclaim that most basic human reality: the importance of kin," Nandor says. See... Greens CD reclaims family from Conservative Right [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00246.htm

Goff Remembers The Bravest Of The Brave

- Defence Minister Phil Goff praised the "ordinary New Zealanders who showed extraordinary courage" when he opened an exhibition marking the 150th anniversary of the creation of the Victoria Cross, at the Waiouru Army Museum today. See... Goff praises New Zealand's VC winners [1] & Goff Speech: New Zealand's Victoria Cross winners [2]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00235.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00236.htm

Australia: Downer refuses to walk the gauntlet at AWB…

- In a big loss for democracy the Foreign Minister Alexander Downer refused to submit to the scrutiny of the media by sneaking into the Cole Inquiry into the AWB today… Highlighting the use of Australian aid money to support commercial interests in Iraq – namely by giving over $1.4 million of our aid money to AWB to protect their wheat contracts. See... Downer refuses to walk the gauntlet at AWB… [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0604/S00204.htm

Gaza: Israeli Women's Action: 'Stop the Bombing of Gaza!'

- The Coalition of Women for Peace has issued this statement, "In Passover we celebrate freedom while in Gaza - the largest prison in the world, Israel is shedding blood. In the past week the Israeli occupation army attacked brutally Palestinian residents of Gaza, killing and wounding dozens." With this action they, "demand that the Israeli government stops the bombings!" See... Israeli Women's Action: 'Stop the Bombing of Gaza' [1] ALSO:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0604/S00232.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0604/S00211.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0604/S00229.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0604/S00220.htm

MORE INTERNATIONAL HEADLINES:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0604/S00235.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0604/S00227.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0604/S00225.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0604/S00221.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0604/S00216.htm

Easter 2006 & The Seige Of Gaza

- She was finally able to contact him over the internet but their messages were cut short because helicopters were flying over head again. We are all dead men he later admitted to her. The time is NOW, the place is GAZA, i.e. Occupied Palestine. See... SOS: Palestine - the Holy Land - Is Under Siege [1] MORE:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00146.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00168.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00133.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00132.htm

Leaker-In-Chief Caught Out In YET Another WMD Lie

- Yesterday the Washington Post broke yet another story apparently catching U.S. President George Bush in a lie. This time in a direct, conscious and often repeated lie over the discovery of WMDs in Iraq in the form of "biolab" biological weapons mobile laboratories. See... Leaker-In-Chief Caught Out In Another WMD Lie [1] MORE:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00167.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00156.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00143.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00134.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00114.htm
[6] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00110.htm
[7] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00109.htm
[8] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00095.htm
[9] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00094.htm
[10] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00081.htm

Ramzy Baroud: The End Of The American Empire?

- The miscalculated policies of the US administration in the Middle East are quickly depleting the country’s ability to sustain its once unchallenged global position. Winds of change are blowing everywhere, and there is little that Washington’s ideologues can do to stop it. The above claim is increasingly finding its way into the realm of mainstream thinking, despite all attempts to mute or relegate its import. See... Ramzy Baroud: Imminent Decline of Empire? [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00160.htm

William Rivers Pitt On The Nuking Of Iran

- Things have come to a pretty pass in the United States of America when the first question you have to ask yourself on matters of war and death is, "Just how crazy are these people?" See... William Rivers Pitt: How Crazy Are They? [1] MORE:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00153.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00144.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00166.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00162.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00116.htm
[6] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00108.htm
[7] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00103.htm

MORE SCOOP COMMENT AND OPINION:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00170.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00157.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00145.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00148.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00169.htm
[6] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00154.htm
[7] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00159.htm
[8] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00158.htm
[9] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00152.htm
[10] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00149.htm
[11] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00147.htm
[12] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00151.htm
[13] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00165.htm
[14] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00142.htm
[15] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00164.htm
[16] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00150.htm

Katya Rivas's Passion (Parts 1-20)

- In the Will of Father I have lived days of intense sadness without complaining but accepting what the Father wanted to make Me feel. When I was apprehended in the Garden, My accusers were quick with every lie and I, without the least resistance, allowed ... See... Katya Rivas: The Passion Extracts 16-20 [1] - Extracts 11-15 [2]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00163.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00141.htm

Dr Don Wants You To Turn You Lights Off!

- National Party Leader Don Brash today called on the Labour Government to immediately launch a comprehensive public electricity savings campaign. See... Power savings campaign needed now [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00232.htm

National Champions Hospital Waiting List Dumpees

- Many hundreds of sick New Zealanders are being dumped from waiting lists every month as the elective surgery crisis worsens, says National's Health spokesman, Tony Ryall. See... Only the tip of the waiting-list iceberg [1] & Hodgson must explain [2] MORE:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00263.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00244.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00243.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00249.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00260.htm

Anderton Calls For Bottom Trawling Submissions

- Fisheries Minister Jim Anderton is consulting on an industry proposal to ban bottom trawling from almost a third of New Zealand's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). See... Public opinion sought on Benthic Protection Areas [1] See also Scoop backgrounder… Scoop Audio: Anderton Bottom Trawling Press Conf. & Followup Questions [2]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00259.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0602/S00143.htm

Maori Party Attacks Race Relations Commissioner

- “The role of the Race Relations Commissioner was established to provide leadership on matters of race relations” said Dr Pita Sharples. “The current Commissioner has failed, abysmally, to take up this role in relation to engagement with tangata whenua”. See... Race Relations Commissioner Must Go - Sharples [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00254.htm

Turner & Dean Seek Action On Party Pills

- United Future drugs spokesperson Judy Turner says a Waikato Hospital study on party pills, due to be released tomorrow, is a hurry-up message for Jim Anderton and the Expert Advisory Committee on Drugs to decide how to deal with party pills. See.. Turner demands swift action on party pills [1] MORE:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00245.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00234.htm

Health: Plunket Helpline Calls for Help

- Plunket, founders and operators of PlunketLine, an information and support service for parents, is seeking an urgent meeting with the Prime Minister following the announcement that Government is to withdraw funding from PlunketLine and instead fund a competing telephone service to be operated by US-owned multi-national McKesson Corporation. See... Plunket to seek meeting with Prime Minister [1] ALSO

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/GE0604/S00034.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00121.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00209.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00208.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00164.htm
[6] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00169.htm
[7] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00173.htm
[8] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00175.htm
[10] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/GE0604/S00047.htm
[11] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0604/S00100.htm
[12] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0604/S00244.htm

MORE POLITICAL HEADLINES:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00264.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00261.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00258.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00255.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00253.htm
[6] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00252.htm
[7] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00251.htm
[8] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00248.htm
[9] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00242.htm
[10] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00241.htm
[11] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00240.htm

POLITICAL COLUMNS

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00256.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.

Contact Alastair Thompson

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