kiwipete

A parable on how we got into this economic mess in the first place".

As the stockbroker, dressed in his pinstriped suit, stepped out of his BMW in Queen Street, Auckland, (it could well have been Sydney, London or New York) another car slammed into his door, shearing it right off!

When the police arrived the stockbroker was apopleptic."Did you see what that idiot did to my car, my beautiful BMW," he screamed."Have you any idea how much this car cost?"

"Sir!", the officer said, "You're so concerned about your car you haven't noticed your arm has been ripped off too!"

The stokebroker took one look at where his arm used to be, and screamed,"Where's my Rolex?

Some would suggest this is the capitalist value system in action?

http://blogevolve.com/blog/huttriver12

To an ecosystemic hell in a handcart, maybe not...

First published at Qassia:

Many Greenies claim we are all going to an ecosystemic hell in a handcart. Maybe and maybe not! It all depends on who you are talking to at the time.

Some claim we are irreparably damaging or even ruining our world's fragile ecosystems, and the losers will be our grandchildren who will inherit degraded landscapes and empty seas. Maybe and maybe not!

Some claim humankind has ruined the earth in 200,000 years that has taken four billion years to develop. Maybe and maybe not! I don't believe the point of no return has yet been passed - we are listening, watching and beginning to give cognisance to the problems that are not all humankind's. Cyclical weather patterns have caused nature to run rampant as well. We are now making decisions to plan schemes to stop the damage that has occurred. We are becoming green and aware! That in itself is a start!

Some claim it would take centuries or even millenia to rectify the damage to ecosystems and earth itself. There is already evidence that nature, given time, can rectify many of humankind's follies. Jungles can grow back in a few years to where rainforests were destroyed through clear-felling. There is proof of this in areas such as the Amazon in South America.

This has been confirmed by a couple of researching American scientists from Yale University, Holly Jones and Oswald Schmitz, who have reportedly spent years studying attempts at repairing ecosystems that have been damaged by farming, burning, hurricanes, logging, mining,oil spills,overfishing, building power plants, trawling and polluting waterways(including half a dozen successful examples in my country of New Zealand).

Researchers such as this duo are heartened that things have gone extremely well in some instances. They have found that many ecosystems are not as fragile as some would claim; many are extremely resilient and have been successfully repaired.

About 5% of the 240 ecosystems examined have been irretrievably ruined, but many if not most have been successfully returned to their original state.

It was farming and logging ecosystems that took the longest to recover, averaging about 42 years, but aquatic ecosystems took about half that time.

Dr Jones' and Schmitz' unfashionable takehome message is reportedly that although humans will continue to screw up their environment, most of the damage can be repaired quite quickly, giving hope to humankind to transition to substainable management of global ecosystems. This does, in my opinion, give more time to deal with natural eco-systemic damage through weather and sun effects.

Acknowledgements: Bob Brockie, World of Science, NZ.

http://worldofcae.blogspot.com 'Green Planet blog'

Mils Muliaina will become only the second fullback to captain the All Blacks in Test rugby after the first New Zealand squad of the season was named in Auckland on Sunday.

Muliaina, the captain of the beaten Super 14 finalists the Chiefs, will follow 1913 fullback Joe O'Leary who captained the All Blacks in two Tests against Australia.

All Blacks coach Graham Henry said he had spoken with Muliaina after the final in Pretoria earlier on Sunday, and while he had been disappointed with the outcome of that game, he was delighted to be named as captain and felt very privileged.

Missing from the squad is No.8 Rodney So'oialo who Henry was emphatic had not been dropped.

So'oialo had a neck problem that needed rehabilitation after a busy Super 14 season and he would be selected for the Tri Nations Series, Henry said.

New caps in the side are prop Wyatt Crockett, lock Isaac Ross and loose forward Tanerau Latimer.

Henry said the selection panel was looking forward to getting back to work after six months out of coaching and they were delighted that France and Italy had picked strong teams for the forthcoming matches in New Zealand.

"There's a wee bit of history with the French, as you know," Henry said.

Injured players, halfback Brendon Leonard and lock Ali Williams, were included in the side and were most likely to be considered for the second Test against France, the second of the three Tests in the series.

Forwards coach Steve Hansen said Wyatt Crockett had moved ahead of other contenders, notably Jamie Mackintosh, as a result of his improved scrimmaging.

"We sat down and talked with him last year and said he needed to do some extra work, especially around his core area. And he has got stronger and is scrummaging better," he said.

Henry said it was likely that Liam Messam would be the preferred choice at No.8 in place of So'oialo while it was a position that Kieran Read could also play.

Backs coach Wayne Smith said he felt utility back Isaia Toeava's best position was fullback and that was where the selectors would like to see him develop.

The All Blacks squad is: John Afoa, Jimmy Cowan, Wyatt Crockett, Stephen Donald, Andrew Hore, Cory Jane, Richard Kahui, Jerome Kaino, Tanerau Latimer, Brendon Leonard, Keven Mealamu, Liam Messam, Mils Muliaina (captain), Ma'a Nonu, Kieran Read, Josevata Rokocoko, Isaac Ross, Conrad Smith, Adam Thomson, Brad Thorn, Neemia Tialata, Isaia Toeava, Piri Weepu, Ali Williams, Tony Woodcock, Rudi Wulf.

The Junior All Blacks side is: Ryan Crotty, Israel Dagg, Aled de Malmanche, Tom Donnelly, Jason Eaton, Hikawera Elliot, Jacob Ellison, Tamati Ellison, Bryn Evans, Ben Franks, Owen Franks, Robert Fruean, Hosea Gear, Sione Lauaki, Karl Lowe, Luke McAlister, Jamie Mackintosh, Lelia Masaga, Alby Mathewson, Rene Ranger, Colin Slade, Chris Smylie, Jeremy Thrush, Anthony Tuitavake, George Whitelock, Victor Vito.

Its off to Germany today: A 34 year old woman slipped on a toilet floor and endured three hours in a squat toilet in the German town of Offenburg.

She lost her balance as she was leaving the toilet and got her foot stuck in the floor-level lavatory opening. The Fire Service unsealed the toilet from beneath in an attempt to push her leg up, but every attempt to dislodge her was met with a cry of pain, even after partial anaesthesia.

The officers eventually ripped out the entire lavatory unit and cut her free with a saw. The woman was then taken to hospital with minor injuries, and extremely hurt pride!

http://huttriver.blogster.com

To Mexico with love - a date with a miracle cure…

This story emanating from the Wellington daily, Dominion Post yesterday, tugged at my heartstrings; I’m really an old softie, but this was different.

The Mexican Swine flu outbreak has reportedly delayed a Levin ( near Wellington) family’s hunt for a miracle cure for their young daughter.

Young Jaide Pearson is just eight years old, the age of one of my own granddaughters. She is a blind quadriplegic who also suffers from cerebal palsy. What on earth did she do to someone in a previous life? Her mother, Jayne, and granddad Norm, had planned to take her to a pioneering clinic in Tijuana, Mexico, next month after she was accepted for experimental stem cell therapy.

Then along came the Swine flu outbreak in Mexico, with its much debated figures concerning infected people and those who have died - and in the process forced this family to delay the trip until September of this year, 2009.

Jaide had apparently suffered a haemorrhage in the womb, and was subsequently born with severe brain damage. The FernandoRamirez clinic in Tijuana can hopefully provide a miracle cure for little Jaide, who is also mute!

Her mother, Jayne, wants her to have a better quality of life, but they couldn’t risk taking her to Mexico during the flu epidemic and had to wait until the risk had been contained.

Granddad Norm said the therapy which involves inserting stem cells into Jaide’s brain from the umbilical cords of healthy full-term babies, had the potential to cure her. “We would be delighted if she could see, it would be wonderful if she could walk. I would love her to be able to put her arms around me to give me a cuddle.” he said.

I have a granddaughter of the same age and fully understand just how Norm feels, but through the grace of god our family has never had to deal with such health problems that he and his family has had to endure.

The family has been told to expect improvements within the 180 days after the procedure - which is not medically approved in many countries, including New Zealand.

These hopes were sparked by a TV documentary last February, reportedly showing a 2 year old Dunedin, NZ, cerebral palsy sufferer, Caleb Turner’s, remarkable improvement after undergoing treatment in Mexico. An 8 year old legally blind boy who also featured in the documentary was reported to have recovered almost perfect vision as a result of the therapy as well. While she is severely handicapped, there have been some reportedly good results from stem cell therapy.

Who wouldn’t try the therapy just on the off-chance it will work, even if it has been disclaimed by mainstream medical authorities and experts? If I was in the same situation as Jaide’s family, I’m sure I would be pushing to try this treatment and becoming involved in various fundraising schemes to get my granddaughter to Mexico as well. Kiaora.

Acknowledgements: Kay Blundell, Dompost, Wellington, NZ.

http://www.huttriverofnz.today.com

The Ozone hole in the Southern Pacific area encompassing New Zealand and Australia, long blamed for increased skin cancers in these countries, could actually be holding back an Antarctic thaw, according to British research.

This reduces the effects of greenhouse gases in the southern ocean. It is causing more storms and extreme winds, but cooling down the Antarctic in the process.

But here is a dilemma for humankind - repair the Ozone hole, or let nature do the job for them over the next fifty years, but with the side effect of losing one third of sea ice in the Antarctic area.

Please visit the Green Planet Blog:

http://worldofcae.blogspot.com

God and Agency in the Mind:

An interesting article on why religion may be a byproduct of the way our brain attributes agency to objects and persons, starting very early in childhood:

So how does the brain conjure up gods? One of the key factors, says Bloom, is the fact that our brains have separate cognitive systems for dealing with living things - things with minds, or at least volition - and inanimate objects.

This separation happens very early in life. Bloom and colleagues have shown that babies as young as five months make a distinction between inanimate objects and people. Shown a box moving in a stop-start way, babies show surprise. But a person moving in the same way elicits no surprise. To babies, objects ought to obey the laws of physics and move in a predictable way. People, on the other hand, have their own intentions and goals, and move however they choose.

Bloom says the two systems are autonomous, leaving us with two viewpoints on the world: one that deals with minds, and one that handles physical aspects of the world. He calls this innate assumption that mind and matter are distinct "common-sense dualism". The body is for physical processes, like eating and moving, while the mind carries our consciousness in a separate - and separable - package. "We very naturally accept you can leave your body in a dream, or in astral projection or some sort of magic," Bloom says. "These are universal views."

There is plenty of evidence that thinking about disembodied minds comes naturally. People readily form relationships with non-existent others: roughly half of all 4-year-olds have had an imaginary friend, and adults often form and maintain relationships with dead relatives, fictional characters and fantasy partners. As Barrett points out, this is an evolutionarily useful skill. Without it we would be unable to maintain large social hierarchies and alliances or anticipate what an unseen enemy might be planning. "Requiring a body around to think about its mind would be a great liability," he says.

This leads to beliefs that the world is constructed "for" agents with minds:

Again, experiments on young children reveal this default state of the mind. Children as young as three readily attribute design and purpose to inanimate objects. When Deborah Kelemen of the University of Arizona in Tucson asked 7 and 8-year-old children questions about inanimate objects and animals, she found that most believed they were created for a specific purpose. Pointy rocks are there for animals to scratch themselves on. Birds exist "to make nice music", while rivers exist so boats have something to float on. "It was extraordinary to hear children saying that things like mountains and clouds were 'for' a purpose and appearing highly resistant to any counter-suggestion," says Kelemen.

http://blogevolve.com/blog/huttriver12

Big Brother is alive and well, and trawling social network sites...

I was just reading a weekend paper here in Wellington, New Zealand, where an article reveals how "Big Brother" is alive and kicking and trawling social network sites to gain possible information on their members.

The article discussed how NZ government departments are trawling these sites for information that can be used against people on social welfare benefits for fraud purposes. One woman had been caught, redhanded you might say, because she admitted a relationship on the social networking site, and the department took a fraud case against her.

Even employers are in on the act looking for information to use against employees: In one case an employee was caught bragging on the site that he was taking a "sickie" from work because he still had a massive hangover.

If this is happening in a little country like NZ, just imagine on what scale it is being used in larger countries like Australia, Britain or in North America and Europe?

In my opinion they are just a pathetic and despicable bunch of Sebastians!

What do you think of those despicable Islamic honour killings?

Jordanian officials stated a man beat his 19 year old daughter to death with his son's help, because she wore makeup outside the house and spoke to a strange man.

The father took his daughter to hospital and admitted his guilt - saying he had to cleanse the family honour. What honour would that excuse for a family have?

The more I read about such things concerning Islamics, the more I want to vomit!

Some would excuse Islam from these animal acts, saying it was just part of the local culture, the way North Africans treat their women and female relatives - but do you ever read about criticism of such acts by Islamic leaders? No way, Jose!

The guilty should be beheaded with an Islamic sword?

A tsunami could have been responsible for Britains greatest natural disaster...

A tsunami in the Bristol Channel off the English coast could have caused 2000 deaths in Britain's greatest natural disaster. For centuries it was thought the 'great flood' of Jan 1607 was caused by high tides and floods.

It was estimated that 200sq miles(520 sq km) of land in south Wales and SW England were covered in water.

Now two climate experts have come forward and argued in favour of the tsunami theory.

It is not only the pacific and asia where tsunamis are present.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/4397679.stm