Scoop Top 30 Daily Ratings December 16 2008
------------
TO CHANGE MY SCOOP OPTIONS OR UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS LIST
IF YOU HAVE LOST YOUR PASSWORD
------------
LEAD STORY------------
More »[1]
ALSO:
------------
NZ POLITICS------------
ALSO:
Scoop Video: Video on Demand of NZ Prime Minister John Key's post Cabinet press conference for Parliamentary press gallery
journalists held this afternoon. The cabinet readout was followed by a joint announcement with Welfare Minister Paula
Bennett of the "Re-start" package for workers made redundant in the economic crisis. This was followed by Q on a range of subjects including the Police spying operations on activists, aspects of the urgency legislation, climate
change policy. More »[1]
ALSO:
Global Peace and Justice Auckland is not surprised at the abuse of police powers evident in Sunday’s newspaper the
Sunday Star-Times with revelations that police have paid people to infiltrate and spy on groups involved in community,
environmental, political protest and activism. More »[1]
ALSO:
On the second day of Christmas, Auckland Airport's travellers donated to me...$10,000 for Age Concern Auckland!
Christmas can be a very lonely time for those with no friends and family around. Every year Age Concern Auckland runs a
Santa Saks programme, spreading a little bit of Christmas spirit to some of our older citizens. More »[1]
With the call to State owned electricity companies to hold power pricer increases, one wonders what is going on between
the Governor of the Reserve Bank and his new political masters. More »[1]
''They're my presents but that's not how I wrapped them,'' was the general response from victims contacted to recover
their stolen items following quick work by an off-duty Hamilton Police officer. More »[1]
Any honeymoon the new government might have hoped to enjoy has been blown away by its pre-Christmas blitz on taxation,
industrial relations, bail, and education issues. Bills have been put into urgency before they even had proper names, or
before the drafting process on them had been finished. More »[1]
UnitedFuture Leader Peter Dunne has announced that he will oppose the Government's repeal of the law obliging oil
companies to sell biofuel. More »[1]
ALSO:
------------
BUSINESS SCIENCE & TECH------------
Dec. 15 - Air New Zealand said the Commerce Commission is “grandstanding’ by announcing it will start proceeding against
13 airlines, including the national carrier, for price fixing on air freight. “We have repeatedly asked... More »[1]
ALSO:
[2] - http://business.scoop.co.nz/?p=1647 [2]
The Environmental Risk Management Authority has revoked the approvals for the insecticide endosulfan and prohibited its
importation, manufacture and use in New Zealand. The Authority’s decision will come into effect on 16 January 2009. More »[1]
ALSO:
''If there is one magic bullet guaranteed to transform the New Zealand economy it is water storage,'' says Federated
Farmers water spokesperson, Hugh Ritchie. More »[1]
The TAB's new betting product - the First4 - will be available from this Wednesday (17 December), giving punters the
chance to win big dividends. More »[1]
A little spotted kiwi from Kapiti Island participating in the BNZ Save the Kiwi programme that has been convalescing at
Pukaha Mount Bruce after succumbing to the toxic effects of karaka berries. More »[1]
ALSO:
The results of an international study showing a marked drop in student achievement levels in science comes as no
surprise, according to the education sector union NZEI Te Riu Roa. More »[1]
TVNZ's presence on the Internet takes a leap forward today with the relaunch and complete redesign of tvnz.co.nz. The
redesigned website shifts the emphasis towards increased breadth and depth of information-based material, on top of
round-the-clock breaking news. More »[1]
New Zealanders could get their cars for up to 50% less if they did their homework first, says the car buyers’ Dog & Lemon Guide. More »[1]
Hanover is pleased to announce that the Debt Restructure Proposals for secured depositors, secured stockholders,
subordinated noteholders and bondholders have been approved at investor meetings held in Auckland today. More »[1]
ALSO:
------------
COMMENT------------
Truth be told, this observer, along with one suspects plenty of others, was miffed at Hezbollah this past Wednesday
morning. As I looked up at sunrise at Sammin Mountain above Beirut on the Western chain of Lebanon’s dramatic range to
see if the rumor ... More »[1]
The United States, Russia and China are sending a terrible message to the rest of the world by refusing to take part in
the historic signing of a treaty that bans the production and use of cluster bombs. In a world that is plagued by war,
military ... More »[1]
President-elect Obama should drop his plans to escalate the war in Afghanistan, a country that never attacked America,
out of pity for a helpless civilian population that will only suffer increasing misery from an expanded... More »[1]
This is the question now raised in Iraq: If they throw shoes at your face are you a combat troop or a noncombat troop?
The answer may be important in helping to guide President Elect Obama's strategy of reducing but continuing the
genocidal occupation ... More »[1]
Sixteen years ago, President-elect Bill Clinton headed for Washington with a national security team that was unprepared
for a new age of foreign policy marked by the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet
Union. Clinton ... More »[1]
(Wash. DC) The Unites States Senate voted down a "cloture" resolution last night killing the automaker bailout before it
was even considered. Failure to gain approval for cloture opened the bill up to an anticipated filibuster. General
Motors, the largest U.S. manufacturer... More »[1]
The last US House seat has been filled by a Democratic county commissioner in a vote count defined by the ghosts of
2004. And the provisional ballot system installed by former Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell - now a candidate
for chair of the Republican National Committee... More »[1]
The attacks in Mumbai at the end of November have led to every kind of analysis, especially geopolitical. One must
remember that the strategic alliance between India and Israel has much to do with the recent surge in Islamist movements
in India. Without ... More »[1]
With all the interviews President Bush has been giving out lately, you'd think he has a new movie coming out for
Christmas. ABC, NBC, National Review, Middle East Broadcasting, the Real Clear Politics Web site - even a talk with The
Washington Post's NASCAR expert. More »[1]
------------
LIFESTYLE------------
Chugg Entertainment today confirmed that Coldplay will visit New Zealand following their eleven arena shows in Australia
next March. The show will be part of their “Viva La Vida” world tour, in support of their new album of the same name. More »[1]
Car wrecks, discarded furniture and other urban detritus barricaded Stout Street at the corner of Lambton Quay in
central Wellington for 24 hours on Sunday. This large-scale art intervention, created by British artists Heather and
Ivan Morison, was part of the year-long One Day Sculpture series. More »[1]
For 27 years the Speight’s Coast to Coast has led the way in adventure sports. This year the world’s longest running
multisport event celebrates its 27th edition by celebrating the female multisporter. More »[1]
The 13th Monopoly World Championships is fast approaching and Hasbro, maker of the world's most iconic board game, is
inviting all Monopoly enthusiasts in New Zealand to roll and deal their way to Las Vegas in the search for a New Zealand
representative! More »[1]
------------
WORLD------------
More than 90 per cent of the nearly 17,500 United Nations peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are
now deployed in the strife-torn east of the vast country, including over 6,000 in North Kivu province. More »[1]
ALSO:
A review of the progress made to date to provide humanitarian assistance to the victims of Cyclone Nargis has found that
while relief efforts are ongoing, they need to be stepped up, especially to ensure food security, a United
Nations-backed group said ... More »[1]
A senior United Nations official today told a meeting of African ministers that harnessing the continent’s largely
untapped water resources is critical in feeding and providing for its people. More »[1]
ALSO:
Botswana: Diamond Mine On Bushman Land Gets Government Approval – On Condition Bushmen Receive No Water. The Botswana
government has given its approval to a controversial diamond mine on the land of the Kalahari Bushmen... More »[1]
The United Nations health agency today called on international donors for $6 million to fight Zimbabwe’s worst cholera
outbreak in over a decade, with the toll already reaching over 16,140 suspected cases and 775 deaths since August in the
impoverished ... More »[1]
ALSO:
The report, released by the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network, of which IUCN is a member, shows if current trends in
carbon dioxide emissions continue, many of the remaining reefs may be lost over the next 20 to 40 years. More »[1]
ENDS