Today's Top Scoops - 25 January 2008
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LEAD STORY------------
Employment: Prebble Cites Health As Reason For Tootling Off Early - Mark Prebble, the State Services Commissioner, said today that he intends to step down from the job in the middle of this year. "When I was appointed four years ago, the Government asked me to establish a renewed leadership role for the State Services Commission (SSC). That has led to three main priorities in the job. Though the programme now has real momentum, a succession of minor health problems has affected my own work rate. More >> [1]
ALSO:National - National on Mark Prebble's resignation [2] Public Service Association - PSA regrets Mark Prebble resignation [3]
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NZ POLITICS------------
Politics: Responsibilities of Select Committee Deputy Chair Force Copeland To Resign Co-Leadership - Independent MP Gordon Copeland today advised that he had advised the Party's Board that he was stepping down as
co-leader of Future New Zealand (now The Kiwi Party). "I have stepped aside as co-leader in order to focus on my
responsibilities as an Independent MP and Deputy Chair of the Commerce Committee during a busy election year," said Mr
Copeland. More >> [1]
ALSO:The Kiwi Party - New Name & New Leader [2] Electoral Commission - The Kiwi Party - Application to register [3] Out-Link - The Kiwi Party [4]
Education: Massive Student Debt Increase Since 2004 - Average student debt[1] has risen by 54 percent since 2004 and is now $28,838 according to major new research
released today by the New Zealand Union of Students' Associations. "For the majority of students, living expenses now
far out weigh their income levels and they are forced to borrow to live." More >> [1]
ALSO:Greens - Loans simply to live: Greens join student protest [2] United Future - Turner: Can you live on $8/week? [3] Student Job Search - Tertiary Students seek more work [4]
Economy: The Bad Oil On Inflation - The Green party is calling on the Government to help the Reserve Bank reduce inflationary pressures in the New
Zealand economy by rapidly implementing measures to deal with one of the key drivers of inflation - rising oil prices. More >> [1]
ALSO:Reserve Bank - OCR unchanged at 8.25 percent [2] NZ Govt - New Zealand well-prepared for global slowdown [3] NZ Govt - Surplus policy pays dividends in uncertain times [4] NZ Govt - Key: Wednesday, man of woe; Thursday, man of dough [5] National - More trouble ahead for households [6] NZ First - High Interest Rate Symptom Of Deeper Problems [7] J P Morgan - RBNZ on hold, acknowledges increased uncertainty [8] William Engdahl - F. William Engdahl - The Financial Tsunami Pt. II [9] William Engdahl - F. William Engdahl - The Financial Tsunami Pt. III [10] Bob Fertik - Democrats.com - Want to Prevent a Depression? Impeach Dick Cheney [11]
Broadcasting: Coleman Makes Analogous Analog Argument - The current rate of growth in Freeview uptake means that it will be years before the full switch to digital TV is
achieved, says National Party Broadcasting spokesman Jonathan Coleman. Dr Coleman is commenting after the release of
figures that show Freeview has reached 78,700 households. More >> [1]
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BUSINESS SCIENCE & TECH------------
Transport: High Freight Costs "A Kick In The Guts" For Farmers - Farmers will be horrified that freight costs are 30 percent higher in New Zealand than in Australia, said Don
Nicolson, vice-president of Federated Farmers... The report, released today by the Road Transport Forum, identifies two
main reasons why freight costs are so much greater in New Zealand: Australian trucks pay much lower road taxes and can
carry heavier payloads. More >> [1]
ALSO:NZ Forest Owners Association - Forest owners identify big transport savings [2] Wellington Regional Chamber of Commerce - High Transport Costs are holding New Zealand Back [3]
Employment: Stop Students Lounging Around Getting Up To Mischief - With the Christmas holiday period concluded students are back looking for more work says tertiary employment service,
Student Job Search. Students have around one month at least perhaps more, depending on the institution before they head
back to study. More >> [1]
Zzzzzzz: Body Clock Study Gains Research Funding - Sleep researcher Dr Sarah-Jane Paine has been awarded the Health Research Council Eru Pomare Research Fellowship in
Mâori Health. Dr Paine, from the Sleep/Wake Research Centre at Massey University in Wellington, will embark on an
innovative programme of research to advance sleep health. More >> [1]
Marketing: Dunedinites To Go Without Even A Kilt For Radio Promo - Dunedin is about to find out what is really under their kilts with the launch of "How to look MORE good naked" on
Friday. What started out as a random question on the MORE FM breakfast show with Damian Newell and Nicky Hunt has
escalated into a major on air promotion. More >> [1]
Lizards: Gecko 2 - Return of the Green Gecko - An elusive Wellingtonian has made a surprise re-appearance after an absence of nearly 30 years. Once widespread
throughout the Region, the Wellington green gecko has been in gradual decline for many years More >> [1]
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WORLD------------
Global News: World Economic Forum: Rice, Blair, Kissinger - World Economic Forum Transcript: including comments from co-chairs of the meeting: Tony Blair; Jamie Dimon, JP Morgan
Chase and Company, USA; Mr. Kamath, ICICI Bank in India CEO; Dr. Henry Kissinger; Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo CEO; David
O'Reilly, Chevron CEO... (Scoop image by Selwyn Manning.) More >> [1]
Australia News: New Start In Aboriginal Relations Called For - To mark Australia Day on 26 January Survival International calls on Australia's new government to lay the foundations
for a fresh start in relations with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. More >> [1]
Africa News: Spike In Sexual Violence During Kenyan Crisis - With reports of increasing sexual assaults against women displaced by Kenya's post-election violence, a senior United
Nations official today called on the global community to recognize such crimes as an affront to basic human rights. More >> [1]
US News: Gambino Mafioso Faces Phony Mag Subs Charges - According to the indictment, Vincent Artuso, a member of the Gambino Organized Crime Family, supervised and directed
members of an enterprise, including his son, John Vincent Artuso, Gregory Orr, Robert Gannon, Philip Edward Forgione and
William Larry Horton, in the commission of various frauds against numerous victims. More >> [1]
UN News: UN Security Officials Outline Priorities For 08 - UN reforms announced include: ensuring that United Nations disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR)
efforts are more fully integrated into the overall peace processes. (Scoop image by Selwyn Manning.) More >> [1]
Central Asia News: Nepal: Delayed Elections Will Be Successful - UN - The top United Nations envoy to Nepal says he is optimistic that twice-delayed Constituent Assembly polls will be
staged successfully on 10 April. More >> [1]
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COMMENT------------
William Rivers Pitt: Real Change - While the last days of 2007 bled away one by one, and as the pre-Iowa political bedlam became loud beyond endurance,
"change" was the word on the lips of every candidate. One could not swing a dead cat by the tail in Ames or Des Moines
without swatting campaign literature pledging "change to come". More >> [1]
Jim Miles: House Of Cards - This wonderful financial powerhouse relies on the creation of debt to supply the wealth and keep the economy
'growing'. It is a financial institute built with the strength of a house of cards, susceptible to any stray currents
within the financial markets of the world, or marketers destabilizing it all with a few puffs of air. More >> [1]
Bill Berkowitz: Christian Zionists Feel Betrayed By Bush Road Map - Why do some Christian Zionists in the U.S., who have consistently supported Bush's foreign policy initiatives and
believe that the modern state of Israel is the fulfillment of Biblical "End Times" prophecy and thus deserving of
political, financial and religious support, feel betrayed by Bush's actions? Their anger revolves around both the future
status of Jerusalem and whether a peace agreement lessens the chances for a preemptive strike against Iran. More >> [1]
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LIFESTYLE------------
Ukeleles: Porirua Waitangi Day Festival Set To Rock! - The idea of having a bunch of ukulele players to headline New Zealand's biggest Waitangi Day festival seemed a little
left of field at first. But once Porirua's Festival of the Elements Chairman Bob Cater heard the Wellington
International Ukulele Orchestra, there was no question about the top bill. More >> [1]
Festivals: Fringe Powers Up For Biggest Fest Ever - The 2008 Fringe is so big that not even a floor could hold the weight of the super-action mega power of Fringe 08,
the biggest in the 15-year history of the festival. More >> [1]
Exercise: Interest Peaks In Mountain Biking's Season Finale - Coronet Peak will host its final mountain biking event of the season - the Nzone Brake Burner - on Saturday 2
February. Entry to the super-D biking challenge has closed already because the 200 capacity field has been reached More >> [1]
And those were the Top Scoops on this day, 25 January 2008
:)
ENDS