Today's Top Scoops - December 13, 2007
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LEAD STORY------------
Auckland Issues: Political Storm Brews Over Housing - There is a political storm brewing in the corridors of Auckland City Council over ‘affordable housing’ which Mayor John Banks had publicly issued calls for its scrapping during his election campaign. His contention is that ‘affordable housing’ is the province of Central government and the local councils have no role to play in it. More >> [1]
ALSO:Greens - Auckland mayor a disgrace over affordable housing [2] Dr Cathy Casey - Banks must honour affordable housing contract [3] Methodist Mission Northern - Council plans to break affordable housing contract [4]
AFFORDABLE HOUSING BILL:NZ Govt - Street: Affordable Housing Bill [5] National - Rinky-dink housing no substitute for good law [6] Maori Party - Harawira: Affordable Housing Bill [7] Pavletich Properties Ltd - Housing: Stop Playing Games – Focus On Real Issues [8]
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NZ POLITICS------------
Legislation: Govt Attempts To take chance Out of Selling Houses - Better protection for Kiwi consumers and support for honest real estate professionals moved a step closer last night
with the first reading and referral to a select committee of the Real Estate Agents Bill. More >> [1]
Prison Food: No Porridge For Those Doing Porridge - The Department of Corrections today released the Prison Christmas Menu for 2007. Lunch is a portion of chicken, a
serving of vegetables and a mince pie. Cold meat, salads and fruit will be dished up for dinner. More >> [1]
BZP: Santa Gives Party Pill Pushers Early Xmas Present - The Bill to classify BZP as a Class C1 drug will not now be passed until next year. Associate Minister of Health Jim
Anderton says the Bill can’t be passed before Christmas because the Green Party wouldn’t agree to urgency. More >> [1]
ALSO:LawFuel - Aust Police Make 40 Arrests, Mulit-Million Dollar Drug Seizure [2]
Police: CCTV Footage of Missing Korean Released - Police have released CCTV footage of the 28-year-old Korean man who went missing after his car left the road north of
Kaiwaka early on Sunday morning (December 9). More >> [1]
Foreign Affairs: Nun Briefs MPs On Timor-Leste - Security is still the most pressing problem for Timor-Leste according to nun and refugee camp organiser Sister
Guilhermina Marcal currently visiting New Zealand. More >> [1]
Health: Call On Govt To Admit Spray Errors - he Ombudsman's report on Complaints Arising from Aerial Spraying is a damning indictment of the Government's handling
of the painted apple moth aerial spraying campaign, the Green Party says. More >> [1]
ALSO: Forest Owners' Association - Anderton thanked for spray defence [2] NZ Pork Industry Keeping pests and diseases out wherever possible [3] NZ Govt - Health effects of spraying carefully considered [4] Jane Schaverien - Ombudsman Slates Ministry of Health over spray [5] Waitakere City - Painted Apple Moth spraying position vindicated [6]
Election Spending: NZ First Pays It To Someone Else - New Zealand First has donated a cheque for $158,000 to the Starship Children's Hospital in Auckland... The donation
follows the Auditor-General’s ruling that spending by political parties contravened the rules in the the 2005 election. More >> [1]
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BUSINESS SCIENCE & TECH------------
Exports: Kiwi Lamb To Grace English Institution - Three years of working alongside British retailer Marks & Spencer has come together for Rissington Breedline with the announcement of a supply contract for Highlander - Primera
lamb. More >> [1]
Cyberness: Final Determinations For Unbundled Bitstream Access - The Commerce Commission has issued its final determination on the price and non-price terms on which Telecom must
make the unbundled bitstream access (UBA) service available to other telecommunications providers. More >> [1]
Technology: Voice Activated Desk A Big Winner For Young Gore Student - Fourteen year old Leighton Terry hopes his voice-activated desk leads to more success after winning a nationwide
competition for budding inventors. More >> [1]
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WORLD------------
Foreign Affairs: British PM Outlines UK'S Afghanistan Role - Britain will continue to fulfil our obligations to the Afghan people and the international community. We will support
the Afghan army, police and government as they progressively take over greater responsibility for their own security. More >> [1]
World News: New EU Rules Crackdown On Misleading Advertising - Sweeping new EU rules to crackdown on misleading advertising and aggressive selling practices - including a ban on
fake ''free'' offers and a ban on ''pester power'' advertising to children on the Internet - are in force across the EU. More >> [1]
Nation Building: Climate Change's Silver Lining - ''It is likely that a constructive adaptation to global warming will give rise to structural and cultural changes of
a kind that we last saw in the aftermath of World War Two,'' says Professor Pusey. More >> [1]
World News: Expectations High For Climate Change Breakthrough - The world is counting on a breakthrough at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali, Indonesia,
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has told delegates at the summit, calling the fight against global warming ''the moral
challenge of our generation.'' More >> [1]
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COMMENT------------
John Chuckman: Annapolis - Dead Man Walking - The Annapolis Conference was, like so many political and diplomatic events of our time, highly choreographed, finely
stage-managed, and heavily marketed. Yet, as soon as it was over, it was apparent... More >> [1]
ALSO: Ramzy Baroud - The True Aim of Annapolis, and Why It Failed [2]
Bill Berkowitz: Religious right meltdown? More fiction than fact - Despite rumblings in the traditional press about a religious right 'crackup,' key conservative Christian
organizations are bringing in 'more money than ever' says Americans United for Separation of Church and State More >> [1]
Ephraim Kam and Ephraim Asculai: - American Intelligence Reappraises the Iranian Nuclear Issue - At the beginning of December 2007, the National Intelligence Council, the supreme body of the American intelligence
community, released a reappraisal of Iran’s nuclear intentions and capabilities. The document, a non-classified summary
of... More >> [1]
Bruce Dixon: Oprah & Obama - Corporate Marketing for a Corporate Campaign - Two of the best marketers in the U.S. teamed up for a three-state weekend extravaganza of vapid, substance-devoid
entertainment posing as presidential politics. Oprah Winfrey – a certified genius of self-salesmanship – and the faux
progressive, fraudulent anti-war... More >> [1]
Franklin P Lamb: The UN Interim Force in Lebanon - Whose Mission is it fulfilling? - Ever since one of this student's favorite Professors, Dr. Ruth Widmeyer, an accomplished and rare beauty still, who
was the first woman to receive a PhD. in Soviet Studies from Harvard nearly a half century ago, announced to our
Political Science class…More >> [1]
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LIFESTYLE------------
Sporting Obsession: Auckland Lasses Soccer Madness Pays Dividends - 11-year-old AucklanderTheresa Carbines has captured Kiwi hearts and been voted the winner of the AIG Life Manchester
United Young Star competition, beating out four other soccer-mad finalists More >> [1]
Christmas Past: Gannet Pie Under The Antipodean Holly? - A magnificent gannet, shot by Endeavour botanist Joseph Banks, substituted for goose during James Cook’s first New
Zealand Christmas in 1769 – fortunately for the endangered bird the dish did not become a Kiwi tradition. More >> [1]
Bizareness: New Charity On Board For Fanuary - Myjobspace.co.nz is thrilled to announce their partnership with Women for Women Charitable Trust for Fanuary 08.
Women for Women Charitable Trust was recently set up to help educate women in all aspects of women’s health. More >> [1]
Galleries: PM launches First Outsider Art Gallery at Parliament - Bowen House at Parliament is going to have its own Outsider Art exhibition for the first time to mark the launch of
the Outside-In Gallery. The Prime Minister called it a “a caravan of a gallery”. More >> [1]
And those were the Top Scoops on this day, December 13, 2007
:)
ENDS