Today's Top Scoops - July 26, 2007
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LEAD STORY------------
Scoop News: Sludge Report #178: Let The Squealing Begin - Video + Text Report: Official Cash Rate Hiked by (yet another!) 25 Basis Points Would include full audio of today's RBNZ Governor's press conference if there was one. But doesn't because he is saying nothing today. Around 8.16 am this morning the sound system in the Reserve Bank's media room malfunctioned. A roaring noise from outside on the road could be heard and a Radio New Zealand wit expressed the view that it must be the bank's money dragon roaring. By then we were all locked in with the knowledge that Dr Bollard has raised the Official Cash interest Rate by a further quarter of a percent to 8.25%. More >> [1]
ALSO:Reserve Bank - Alan Bollard raises OCR to 8.25 percent [2] NZ First - Cash Rate Rise Highlights RBA Deficiencies [3] United Future - United Future regrets OCR increase [4] Greens - Governor confirms role of oil prices in rate rises [5] ACT - Labour's Chickens Come Home To Roost [6] J P Morgan - OCR hikes official cash rate to record high [7] Retirement Commission - Home owners can soften blow of interest rates [8] Auckland Chamber of Commerce - RB Raises OCR - "Consequences Are Unacceptable" [9]
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NZ POLITICS------------
Legislation: Greens Back Youth Rates Bill Despite Tinkering - "I'm upset some young workers would still have to face extremely unfair and low youth rates. Two hundred hours at the
youth pay rate, as suggested by the select committee, might not sound long to some older people but for young and
part-time workers including those still at school it could mean up to nine months on low pay," Green Party Industrial
Relations spokesperson and sponsor of the Bill, Sue Bradford says. More >> [1]
ALSO:NZ Govt - Youth rates recommendation strikes a balance [2] New Zealand Council of Trade Unions - CTU: Parl Should Keep Options Open on Youth Rates [3]
Legislation News: BDM Bill Hampers Efforts To Reunite Families - The Births, Deaths and Marriages Bill would seriously hamper The Salvation Army's work in reuniting long-lost
families if passed in its current form. "The Bill effectively places a roadblock in our attempts to reunite families who
have been out of touch for whatever reason but who now want to get back together," the Salvation Army said. More >> [1]
ALSO:United Future - UF in joint submission to select committee [2] National - National's view on 'births bill' infectious [3]
Nappy News: Nappy War Gets Dirty - Green MP Nandor Tanczos is reminding parents and local governments that the advantages of cloth nappies still far
outweigh the disadvantages. "Some disposable nappy producers have been reigniting the debate off the back of an outdated
British study," Green Party Spokesperson on Waste Nandor Tanczos says. More >> [1]
Free Speech: Hearing On Publication Of Mock Report - A member of the Save Happy Valley Coalition will be arguing the right to use parody as a means of criticising
corporate behaviour in court on Wednesday. The activist is being sued by state-owned coal miner Solid Energy for
publishing a mock report on the company's environmental performance. The interim hearing will be heard in the
Christchurch High Court at 10am on Wednesday 25th July. More >> [1]
ALSO:Save Happy Valley - Freedom of Speech preserved [2] Solid Energy NZ - Trademark rights preserved [3]
Espionage: SIS Meets With Chinese Defector - On Friday 20th July, the former Chinese diplomat Yonglin Chen met with officials from the New Zealand Security and
Intelligence Service (SIS) to discuss Chen's allegations of a New Zealand kidnapping by the Chinese government. On
Thursday 19th July, at Yonglin Chen's request, Amnesty International contacted the SIS to facilitate a meeting between
the SIS and Chen. More >> [1]
ALSO:(95FM Audio): Selwyn Manning on SIS interview of former Chinese Diplomat [2] Scoop Report - Street Theatre, MP Street At Falun Gong Protest [3] Scoop Report - Dissident Slams NZ Govt's Relationship With China [4]
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BUSINESS SCIENCE & TECH------------
Internet: Kiwis Make Very Useful Firefox Tool - Interclue Ltd has invented a new web preview tool that allows people to find what they want on the web faster and
more efficiently than ever before... By showing quick text snippets of linked pages, such as Google search results,
Interclue saves users having to download annoying images and adverts, or irrelevant large documents before determining
if the link is useful. More >> [1]
ALSO:Otago Museum - Virtual City for Kids Founded in Cyberspace [2]
Agriculture: Fonterra Lifts Final Payout - Fonterra Co-operative has announced a final payout for the year ended May 31, 2007 of $4.46 per kilogram of milk
solids (kg/MS). The result is an 11 cent improvement on the last payout forecast announced in May... Fonterra's
chairman, Mr Henry van der Heyden said, "The final payout result was positive given the high exchange rate and the fact
that commodity prices did not surge until the final quarter of the year. More >> [1]
Economy: Record High Dollar is Having a Negative Effect - Unsurprisingly, as the New Zealand dollar breaks through US81 cents, the exchange rate is the number one issue of
concern to businesses, according to initial analysis of a Wellington Regional Chamber of Commerce survey that has been
running today. "The dollar's appreciation is having a negative affect on the export sector", said Chamber CEO Charles
Finny. More >> [1]
ALSO:J P Morgan - RBNZ Preview: Rate Hike Followed by More Rhetoric [2] Export New Zealand - Exporters face record high for dollar [3] Small Business Expo Ltd - Help for exporters offered by SBE speakers [4] Canterbury Manufacturers Association - A Bridge too far... [5] CMC Markets - NZ Traders Flocking to Foreign Exchange [6] NZ First - "How High Must It Go?" Asks Winston Peters [7]
Didymo: Check, Clean, Dry Best Control (But They're Working On It) - "Two-and-a-half years of coordinated research conducted by science providers, under contract to MAFBNZ, has provided
a body of scientifically sound information regarding the detection, distribution, impacts, containment and
control/eradication of didymo. We now know much more about didymo than when it was first discovered in Southland in
2004." More >> [1]
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WORLD------------
Peacebuilding News: Shooting Incident In Afghanistan -- ADF - Australian Defence Force soldiers in Tarin Kowt, Afghanistan, were involved in a shooting incident yesterday 24 July
2007 at approximately 1.15 pm. A patrol from the Reconstruction Task Force fired at a vehicle when the driver sped
towards them after being directed to stop. More >> [1]
UN News: UN And Timor-Leste Appeal For Additional Funds - The United Nations and the Government of Timor-Leste have appealed for almost $18 million in additional funds to
address the ongoing humanitarian needs of internally displaced people (IDPs) in the Southeast Asian nation for the rest
of this year. More >> [1]
Middle East News: U.S. States Cost Of Supporting Palestinian People - As President Bush has said, the United States is committed to financial, diplomatic, and political support to help
lay the foundations for a successful Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza and today's announcement is part of an
infusion of American support. More >> [1]
Asia-Pac News: Indonesian Nationalist Criminals Active in West Papua - Last month International & Indonesian human rights groups called for the removal of Col. Siagian from West Papua. Col. Siagian who commands the
172 Military District based in Jayapura has been indicted for Crimes Against Humanity in East Timor were he has never
faced prosecution. More >> [1]
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COMMENT------------
Michael Collins: First One's Free... Then You Pay - Where did all these electronic voting machines come from anyway? They produce nothing but controversy. You can't see
where your vote goes. You can't watch the votes being counted. Even if you could, it's all done by computer. Have you
ever watched a computer do anything? Our voting machines come from a bipartisan bill produced by the Congress with
strong White House support: the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA). It was going to solve the problems of Florida
2000... More >> [1]
Gordon Campbell: The Aftermath In Europe - To the critics of Ahmed Zaoui, his convictions in Europe are a knock-down argument. The man has been convicted in
Belgium and France - and that's the end of it. The fact that the Refugee Status Appeals Authority analysed the dubious
methods by which the convictions were gained, and the weight that should be given to the convictions - as they were
compelled to do when assessing whether Zaoui... More >> [1]
Jason Leopold: Cheney Suppressed Evidence in Energy Crisis - In-depth investigation shows how Vice President Dick Cheney pressured federal energy regulators to conceal evidence
of widespread market manipulation by energy companies during the California electricity crisis in 2001. In March 2001,
while California's two largest utilities were teetering on the brink of bankruptcy... More >> [1]
Russia and US: Square Off Over Energy Reserves - Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President George W. Bush spent most of their time at the "lobster summit"
at Kennebunkport, Maine, discussing how to prevent the growing tensions between their two countries from getting out of
hand. The media and international affairs experts have been portraying missile defense in Europe and the final status of
Kosovo as the two most contentious issues between Russia and the United States, with mutual recriminations over
"democracy standards... More >> [1]
Bush's War Policy: When Time Heals Nothing - - The news of recent weeks emanating from Washington and Baghdad point to one clear, if not final, conclusion: The Bush
administration's adventures in Iraq have been a complete failure. What the media have eagerly dubbed as the Republican
Revolt is now reinforced by two of the most distinguished Republican senators: John Warner of Virginia and Richard Lugar
of Indiana. Before the Democrats' takeover of the two positions in Congress, Warner was the chairman of the Armed... More >> [1]
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LIFESTYLE------------
Community Spirit: Guide Dog Services Benefit From West Ak Generosity - Generous patrons at West Auckland's newest hospitality venue, The Hangar in Henderson's Central Park Drive, dipped
deeply into their pockets at the venue's opening function recently - and donated $1063 for the Royal New Zealand
Foundation of the Blind's Guide Dog Services. More >> [1]
Scoop News: A Roman Holiday With Auck Philharmonia Orchestra - Audiences can escape Auckland's winter chill with a musical journey to Rome in July when the Auckland Philharmonia
Orchestra presents Rome, the Eternal City. It includes excerpts from Wagner's Rienzi and Puccini's Tosca featuring stars
of the Metropolitan Opera, Simon O'Neill (tenor) and Erika Sunnegardh (soprano). More >> [1]
Arts: Leading Indian Dance Company In Wellington - Beautiful motifs of traditional Indian dance collide with experiments in rhythm, design and original music, flowing
together to form STEM Dance Kampani's world famous signature style. STEM (Space Time Energy Movem
ent) began in 1995, to explore and create new expressions in dance. Today, it has emerged as one of India's leading
contemporary Indian dance companies More >> [1]
Maori: Ko Tçnei Te Wiki O Te Reo Mâori - "My thoughts are with all our early Maori Language Pioneers today" said Te Ururoa Flavell in marking Te Wiki o te Reo
Maori. "Thirty five years ago, on 14 September 1972, we recall a petition which bore witness to the mandate of some
40,000 signatures to call for Maori language being offered in schools." More >> [1]
ALSO:NZ Govt - Horomia: Health of the Mâori Language Survey [2] NZ Govt - Survey shows more Mâori are speaking te reo [3] NZ Govt - Mâori student achievement improving [4] Maori Party - Truths of Taranaki a Gift for their Descendants [5] Maori Party - Labour's Ethnic Cleansing Policy for Local Govt [6] Environment Bay of Plenty - It's cool to korero [7] Public Health Association - Racism in Health Will Continue If Treaty Removed [8] Wintec - Mâori Language Week at Wintec [9] Out-Link - Kôrero Mâori: www.korero.maori.nz [10] Out-Link - Hau Kâinga - Nô Wikipedia Mâori [11]
[10] - http://www.korero.maori.nz/
Theatre: Welly's San Fran Gets Some Chicago Sexual Perversity - Sexual Perversity in Chicago is a wicked comedy that examines the lives of two men and two women thrust into the
harsh and lubricious world of dating in 1970s Chicago. This production of Sexual Perversity In Chicago has been
tailor-made to integrate seamlessly with the architecture of the San Francisco Bath House. More >> [1]
And those were the Top Scoops on this day, July 26, 2007
:)
ENDS