@ 2011-06-30 – 04:50:55
Kronic - Pineaple Express synthetic cannabis banned in NZ today...
The New Zealand Government has ordered that a Kronic synthetic cannabis product known as "Pineapple Express" must be taken off the market. It contains an anti-anxiety drug and makes users extremely ill. The drug contained in this product is only legally available through a prescription from doctors and health authorities.
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@ 2011-06-29 – 08:18:46
US soldier 'regrows' leg after experimental operation...
A U.S.soldier who had most of his leg muscle blown off in Afghanistan has become the first to see it grow back in a pioneering experimental operation.
Marine Isaias Hernandez lost 70 per cent of his right thigh muscles when an enemy mortar exploded as he tried to carry out repairs to a truck in Afghanistan.
With such severe muscle damage Hernandez would ordinarily have had his leg amputated.
But a re-think in the way soldiers are treated led to the wounded warrior being injected with a growth promoting substance extracted from pig bladders.
Re growth: Corporal Isaias Hernandez, right, at Brooke Army Medical Centre has undergone pioneering surgery
The revolutionary treatment gives hope to the hundreds of maimed veterans returning from conflicts with severe limb trauma.
Stephen Badylak, the tissue engineering director at the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh said: 'It was a remarkable recovery.'
Since the experimental growth hormone was used, Hernandez has regained most of the strength in his right thigh.
The wounded Marine's recovery is particularly exciting for scientists as it involves the regeneration of skeletal muscle which ordinarily does not grow back.
The new treatment could in theory revolutionise how not just how soldiers are treated, but all potential amputees.
In preparation for the operation, corporal Hernandez was made to build up the remaining 30 per cent of muscle left on the damaged thigh.
Surgeons then sliced into the thigh, placing a thin slice of a substance called extracellular matrix.
The surgery is the result of a $70 million investment by the U.S. military into regenerative medicine research.
Life-changing: Corporal Hernandez was injured in Afghanistan but has received the miraculous treatment in the U.S.
Honour: Hernandez saluting at the dedication of a monument marking the events of World War II during a ceremony in Texas
Marine Hernandez was 19 when he was gearing up his truck in Afghanistan ahead of a long journey.
As he approached the vehicle an enemy mortar exploded, throwing shrapnel into his exposed body parts.
Fortunately the Marine, he was carrying a TV which shielded the upper half of his body.
Speaking to The Australian, Corporal Hernandez said: 'Pretty much anything that wasn't covered, arms and legs, was hit.'
@ 2011-06-29 – 02:33:17
A man who disappeared 14 years ago has been found buried in his wife's flower bed in Nth Carolina.
View here:
http://news.msn.co.nz/article/8266328/missing-man-found-buried-in-wifes-garden
@ 2011-06-27 – 08:30:38
Johan's Ark...
After doomsday vision, man builds full-sized, seaworthy ark
"I dreamed that a part of Holland was flooded," Dutch-native Johan Huibers said in an interview with Today. "The next day, I get the idea to build an ark." That Huibers did — this brick-like behemoth of a boat is "Johan's Ark."
The almost-finished vessel you see pictured above (in original story) is actually Huibers' second whack at making an ark of his own. The first was a half-sized replica, though this time the Dutch construction company director decided to go whole hog. It's even seaworthy, and Huibers plans for his ark to float along the Thames in London ahead of the 2012 Olympics.
Though we really have no way of knowing, Biblical scholars peg Noah's Ark as being somewhere around 300 cubits in length, 50 wide and 30 high. In feet, that translates into a vessel 450 feet long — or about the same as a Romulan Bird-of-Prey — and 75 feet wide and 45 high. In other words, it's like a narrower, longer football field, or half the length of the Titanic. Read: pretty big.
The amount of time that Noah had to build the original Ark is also something that's rather hotly debated, but the answer usually falls anywhere between a couple of decades to dozens of years. (Dude was apparently hundreds of years old when he heard about his star-making flood, so we'll forgive him a little lethargy.) Johan did it in three years, though he also had to spend $1.6 million in the process. Just like the ark of old, inside you'll also find a gallery of animals — life-sized, but fake — including a $11,000 model elephant.
These days, Johan Huibers isn't looking to survive a world-ending flood, however. In fact, when asked by NBC News if he thought it would see him through such a calamity safely, he said, "No, I don't think so." Still, it makes for a pretty sweet tourist attraction, and the size of it is certainly impressive.
@ 2011-06-23 – 07:54:40
NZ Govt to buy 5,000 quake homes in Christchurch...
Around 5,000 homeowners in Christchurch's worst affected suburbs, known as the suburban Red Zone, will be able to sell their properties to the Government.
Prime Minister John Key has just made the announcement in Christchurch alongside Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee.
Mr Key says Christchurch has been divided up into four residential zones – red, orange, green and white.
Homeowners with insurance on September 3 in the red zone, which is where the land is unlikely to be able to be rebuilt on for a considerable period of time, have two options.
They can sell their entire property at current rating value to the Crown less any built property insurance payments already made.
The Crown would assume all the insurance claims other than contents.
The other option is that the Crown makes an offer of purchase for the land only, and homeowners can continue to deal with their own insurer about their homes.
Treasury has estimated the net costs to the Government to purchase all of the around 5,000 properties currently in the residential red zone to be between $485 million and $635 million.
The costs are expected to be met from the Government's $5.5 billion Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Fund.
Residents will have nine months to consider the offer of purchase.
"The varying degrees of damage to the houses and land in the residential red zone mean it will take more time to develop these offers," Mr Key says.
Current rating valuations on properties, which are what the Council's rates are based on, date from 2007.
Mr Key says it has taken some time to get information to residents because of the size, scale and complexity of the issues the Government has been dealing with following the earthquakes.
He says the Canterbury earthquakes have been major events and the Government is committed to getting things right.
"Each subsequent earthquake since 4 September has made an already large and complex challenge more difficult," Mr Key says
Treasury has estimated the combined cost of the first two Canterbury earthquakes to be equivalent to about 8% of New Zealand's GDP.
"Damage from the 1995 Kobe earthquake in Japan was just over 2 percent of Japan's GDP, Hurricane Katrina in 2005 cost about 1 percent of US GDP, and March's Japanese earthquake and tsunami disaster was an estimated 3 to 5 percent of Japan's GDP."
Mr Key says the Canterbury earthquakes have been major events and the Government is committed to getting things right.
"Since September last year, the government has been working to provide certainty for residents, while recognising many people have their life savings tied up in their homes," Mr Key said.
Kiwipete says: I don't think it will prove to be as straight forward as the government claims. Will the payout be sufficient to buy a similar property in Christchurch? The Government said sections could be made available to influence the reaction of the market to its decision. Those people affeced have up to nine months to make a decision. There is a general election at the end of the year and a lot of people will have made their minds up by then. The government's intentions may well be genuine at this time, but faced by the need to make political decisions later in the year, considering that a majority of people in the eastern suburbs are more inclined to vote Labour, the climate could change. The future may be less than rosy for some in coming months.
Acknowledgements: Newstalk ZB Staff/Peter Petterson
@ 2011-06-20 – 07:36:58
Palaentologists in a race against time to uncover huge ice-age treasure trove of fossils...
Palaeontologists are in a race against time to uncover a treasure trove of huge ice age fossils before the site becomes flooded by an expanding reservoir.
Enormous skeletons belonging to woolly mammoths, giant sloths and bison have been discovered in a lake bed in Colorado in what is one of the most significant finds in recent years, the Aspen Times reported.
The ice age animals are believed to have sunk into the muddy lake edge and drowned, with the heavy clay preserving their skeletons perfectly.
But the palaeontologists must have their work completed before July, when the lake bed will be flooded for a new reservoir.
Denver Museum of Nature and Science curator Kirk Johnson said the specimens found at the site were "gorgeous", showing a giant sloth claw to journalists.
"This looks like it fell off a sloth last Tuesday," Dr Johnson said.
"I have no question that if you got too close to one of those sloths, it would immediately rip your face off."
Scientists estimate the bones date from between 50,000 and 150,000 years ago
http://news.msn.co.nz/aricle/8254319/treasure-trove-of-ice-age-fossils-faces-flooding
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@ 2011-06-18 – 07:32:52
Did synthetic cannabis contribute to this fatal accident...
Liam Stevenson crossed the centre line in his car and smashed into a truck. Was synthetic cannabis a contributing factor?
An investigation is under way into what role synthetic cannabis may have played in a car crash that claimed the life of a teenager.
Liam Christopher Stevenson, 16, died when his car crossed the centre line and collided with a container truck on May 19 in Dunedin.
The Weekend Herald has learned that Kronic synthetic cannabis was found in the wreckage of his car.
Yesterday, Dunedin police declined to comment as the matter was before the coroner.
Liam, an Otago Polytechnic student, was described by his former principal at Logan Park High School, Jane Johnson, as a "bright young man" with a lot of ability.
The Government yesterday announced tough new measures against synthetic cannabis.
Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne said that within weeks, the Government would have the ability to "severely curtail" the marketing and sale of the drugs, which mimic the effects of cannabis but are not illegal.
Last night, Prime Minister John Key told the Weekend Herald that he backed the action.
"The sooner the better," he said.
But one health professional said the changes did not go far enough and drugs like Kronic would still be widely available in dairies.
Dr Leo Shep, a toxicologist at the National Poisons Centre in Dunedin, said: "We have these kids who don't know what they're doing.
"They need to be protected by the law, and they're not being protected by the law.
"My beef is that it's so accessible. That's what I find so galling ... You can go to your local dairy and buy it."
Synthetic cannabis products are barred under the Smoke Free Environments Act from being sold to anyone under 18.
But Mr Dunne said police would now "feel more confident they have a package of things to enforce".
As a restricted substance under the Misuse of Drugs Act, synthetic cannabis will not be able to be sold at petrol stations, places where children gather, such as recreational facilities, or where alcohol is sold.
Products will have to be stored in child-proof containers carrying the phone number of the National Poisons Centre, and information on ingredients and health warnings.
The drugs will still be able to be sold at dairies, but advertising will be restricted to within the store, in a similar way to tobacco.
Mr Dunne said those restrictions would ensure sales were largely limited to "the person who knows that's the store to go buy it".
He denied that group now included most young people.
"I'm not sure the cat's out of the bag permanently. It's certainly having a bit of a run around the field at the moment".
Synthetic cannabis had been due to become a restricted substance by April, but Mr Dunne said that would now happen about mid-August.
Yesterday's announcement came after the Herald reported that:
* Auckland City Hospital's emergency doctors often treat one or two synthetic cannabis users a day.
* The National Poisons Centre receives about 10 calls a month about the drugs - a sharp increase.
* Synthetic cannabis is being sold to minors - one Newmarket dairy sold Kronic to a 15-year-old in a Herald "sting" without asking for ID.
The Government will also consider a Law Commission recommendation to make firms gain permission before selling synthetic drugs.
The would-be seller would have to prove the drugs were safe.
Such products can now be sold unless they are proven harmful.
Mr Dunne said he felt the recommendations gave a long-term solution to regulating the drugs.
But he said action would not be taken on them until after the election.
"We're under certain statutory requirements and we have the complications of a general election occurring in the middle of it."
Western Australia's Health Minister, Kim Hames, said on Monday that the state would ban synthetic cannabinoids such as Kronic.
The law changes
* Synthetic cannabis will not be sold at petrol stations or where alcohol is sold or at places where children gather such as recreational facilities.
* It will be packaged in child-proof containers with information on substances, health warnings, and the National Poisons Centre's phone number.
* Advertising will be restricted to within stores, much the same way as tobacco.
Acknowledgements: Weekend Herald(Auckland)
* Changes expected by mid-August
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@ 2011-06-15 – 07:39:45
Kiwis should send Sealord a strong message about its source of tuna..
Sealord needs to do more than change its logo. Sealord needs to change its tuna.
Sealord wants to be the ‘most trusted seafood company’. But, how can we trust Sealord’s sustainability messages when your company uses one of the worst fishing methods around, killing endangered sharks, turtles, juvenile tuna and other ocean life in addition to the tuna for Sealord cans.
As New Zealand’s largest brand of canned tuna, Sealord, the self-proclaimed ‘seafood experts’ should be leading the way on sustainability. So it shocks me to learn that your company is sourcing tuna caught by a method which you know catches far more than just tuna – up to 10 times more bycatch than more sustainable practices. That’s exploitation, not expertise!
I see that your website states that Sealord will avoid sourcing tuna from “fisheries that use indiscriminate fishing practices that result in significant quantities of catch being discarded or landed as juveniles or unmarketable species”.
So, live up to this promise and stop using fish aggregation devices (FADs) with purse seine nets. This would dramatically reduce the amount of bycatch. http://adl.brs.gov.au/brsShop/data/PC12777.pdf
If you are serious about the sustainability of Pacific tuna you would take this simple step as has occurred in the UK where all but one of the major brands have committed to source only pole and line or FAD-free purse seined tuna.
I am encouraged that Sealord is supporting plans to create marine reserves in the high seas.
Please let me know when Sealord will end the use of FAD-caught purse seined tuna to help save Pacific tuna and other ocean life - and become a leader for sustainability amongst New Zealand canned tuna brands.
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Sealord is New Zealand’s largest supplier of canned tuna but it’s also one of the worst.
That's because Sealord gets its Pacific tuna from companies using one of the worst fishing methods killing endangered sharks, turtles, juvenile tuna and other ocean life as well. These creatures are known as bycatch and are often thrown back into the ocean dead or dying. That’s exploitation, not expertise.
Sealord needs to clean up its act if it wants to live up to the ‘seafood experts’ image it advertises, and achieve its goal of becoming the ‘most trusted seafood company’. Sealord must stop sourcing tuna caught using fish aggregation devices (FADs). FADs are used to lure tuna but, also attract other ocean life which is then scooped up in huge purse seine nets. FADs increase the bycatch of purse seine fisheries up to 10 times more than other more sustainable methods.
If Sealord is serious about sustainability it would stop sourcing tuna caught using this indiscriminate method.
All but one of the UK’s major canned tuna brands have announced they’re phasing out purse seine tuna caught with FADs.
Sealord and other brands of canned tuna sold in New Zealand can do it too.
Last week Sealord announced it was updating its branding. Sealord needs to change more than just its logo. Tell Sealord to change its tuna and move to more sustainable fishing methods.
http://worldofcae.blogspot.com Visit the 'Green Planet blog'
@ 2011-06-11 – 03:28:43
Fijian military officer, LT Colonel, Ratu Tevita Mara, who fled Fiji, trying to enter NZ...
A pro-democracy for Fiji group based in Auckland is lobbying the Government not to allow a former Fijian military officer into the country.
The Coalition for Democracy in Fiji group has drafted a letter which they will send to the Government today.
Lieutenant-Colonel Ratu Tevita Mara escaped to Tonga last month after being charged with sedition.
Yesterday he arrived in Australia and his next intention is to come to New Zealand – hoping to speak with supporters and New Zealand government officials.
The coalition believes Mr Mara should not be allowed to enter the country due to existing sanctions which don't allow Fijian military personnel to travel here.
Speaking to Radio New Zealand this morning, coalition spokesman Nik Naidu said Mr Mara has only recently been part of the Fijian military.
“We should give him the benefit of the doubt, but that in itself is irrelevant,” said Mr Naidu.
Mr Naidu described Mr Mara as "the worst kind of [Fijian] officer" – one who lead arrests, illegal detentions and tortures. He believed Mara was guilty of this for four years before "sour grapes" made him leave, not the decision to change his ways in favour of democracy.
Mr Naidu would like to see Mr Mara be put before a court.
“How can we entertain a person who is perpetrator of heinous crimes?” asked Mr Naidu.
The letter questions if the Government will relax their sanctions on members of the Fijian military, and if so, when.
Acknowledgements: TV 3 News
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Comments [8]
Y2K
10 Jun 2011 11:37p.m.
gosh... brother Nikki, justy enjoy your Tui and leave the fight for democracy in Fiji for the real people who have a heart for Democracy in Fiji NOW. We need make things move fast.. expose their lies, including some people who reside with you in Auckalnd. They need to go back to Fiji and face the full force of the Law, when democracy is attained in Fiji. You know them and they know themselves very well. When the extradition papers show up in Wellington from Suva... free flight on Air Pacific to Naboro! Thumbs Up for Democracy in Fiji Now!!
Mela
10 Jun 2011 8:01p.m.
This so -called group does not represent the thousands of Fiji Islanders living in NZ. So why is this TV station wasting its time asking for Nik Naidu's views. He speaks for himself and no one else. There is no Auckland Fiji Democracy Movement, just Nik. I live in Auckland ,and have not heard any Fiji democracy work being done by him. Mara should be allowed to enter NZ...he will be prosecuted for his role in the coup, when democracy is returned. He has the necessary inside information on the inner workings of the militray regime and its silent backers , so what ever he provides to the NZ govt, human rights groups and international community will help further the cause of a return to democracy for Fiji. Let's not lose sight of the
@ 2011-06-05 – 08:22:57
The Culper Gang: The first CIA - Citizens Information Agency.
June 27, 1779 -- George Washington to Benjamin Tallmadge
In 1778, at Washington's orders Benjamin Tallmadge organized a spy network in New York City, the heart of the British forces. Tallmadge was to take all precautions that this ring would be extremely secret; in fact, it was so secrets that Washington did not even know who the men in the spy ring were. Robert Townsend, Abraham Woodhull, Austin Roe, Anna Strong, and Caleb Brewster made up this ring, and the code name for it was Samuel Culper.
The central figure, Robert Townsend, code name Culper Junior, was a society reporter for an American newspaper and the owner of a small dry goods store in New York City. The newspaper gave him access to social functions all over town, where he could talk to British soldiers, without having them assume anything. The dry goods store gave him access to people in and outside the city who were in need of goods and, sometimes, a little extra information.
In order to pass information from New York City to George Washington in up-state New York without being caught, the Culpers created an elaborate scheme. It was so elaborate that at times it acted to their detriment. The way it worked is this: as Townsend gathered information about the British soldiers in New York City, Austin Roe would drop by the store every once in a while to buy goods for people on Long Island. At the store, Roe would put in a request in writing from a John Bolton. Bolton was the code name for Tallmadge. Townsend would give Roe the requested goods and Roe would leave. Then Townsend would sneak out back when no one was looking, and run up to his small room, close to the shop. There he would read what Tallmadge had written and answer the letter. Roe would show up again at Townsend's room and take the letter back with the answers. Hiding the letter within the package, Roe, a courageous man, not afraid of riding great distances, would ride as fast as he could the 110 miles to Setauket, New York where he would hand off the letter at its first stop.
Once in Setauket, Roe dropped the letter off in a pre-arranged drop box in a field belonging to Abraham Woodhull, whose code name was Culper Senior. After Roe had gone, Woodhull would enter the field and pick up the letter. Woodhull would add his own information to it, and then look across the bay to see where Anna Strong had place her black petticoat on the line. This petticoat would let Woodhull know that Caleb Brewster had arrived in his whaleboat to take the letter across the bay. The number of handkerchiefs on the clothesline would tell Woodhull where exactly Brewster was hiding, or which cove he was in along the shore. Under cover of darkness, Woodhull would sneak to the cove and give Brewster the message.
Brewster would row back across Devil's Belt to Fairfield, Connecticut and give Benjamin Tallmadge, who would be waiting on his horse on the other side, the letter. Finally, in a series of mounted dragoons, posted every fifteen miles the letter would be passed all the way to Washington in New Windsor, New York.
The scheme worked well most of the time, but Washington's letter, dated June 27, 1779, signifies the dangers of this circuitous route. Tallmadge was on his way from Washington's headquarters to drop this letter off with one of the Culpers. Townsend, who knew he was coming, attempted to warn Tallmadge about possible raids into Connecticut. Woodhull forwarded the message with his own similar warning, but Tallmadge did not receive the warnings. Instead, he and some ninety troops were near Bedford, New York at Poundridge when they were attacked at dawn by Lord Roudon's Light Horse and a body of light infantry. Tallmadge lost his horse and most importantly his secret papers from Washington, including this letter, to be sent to the Culpers. The "private letter" mentions the Culpers by code, fortunately not revealing their true identity, which no one knew but Tallmadge. The letter also mentioned a George Higday, who was going to help the ring, but as a result of the letter's loss, Higday was not able to join. Instead, Washington made sure that he was notified quickly of his discovery, and although Higday's place was raided, the British found no papers because he had had time to destroy all evidence.
After this incident, Tallmadge added a few more security measures to the letters by including invisible ink and codes. Woodhull, Townsend, Tallmadge, and Washington were the only ones who had the coded dictionary and invisible ink. Washington's letter, as a result of being captured by the British, ended up in Henry Clinton's private collection.
And there are some today that believe the Culper gang still exists!
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@ 2011-06-01 – 05:51:33
Muslim youth claims stoning girl to death was justified...
A teenage boy has allegedly claimed the stoning to death of a Muslim girl who participated in a beauty contest was justified under Islam.
Police in the Ukraine have launched a murder investigation after the battered body of Katya Koren was found in a village in the Crimea region near her home, the Daily Mail reports.
The 19-year-old had come seventh in a beauty contest and officers are looking into whether she was killed under Sharia law, a controversial religious code which is interpreted to different extremes across the Islamic faith.
Three Muslim youths are being investigated and one of the group, a 16-year-old boy, is under arrest. He allegedly told police Ms Koren had "violated the laws of Sharia" and he had no regrets about her death.
Friends of Ms Koren said she liked wearing fashionable clothes and had entered the regional heats of the Miss Ukraine beauty pageant.
The Telegraph reports police allege the teen suspect has a long history of mental health problems and he had developed an unhealthy and unrequited obsession with Ms Koren.
Acknowledgements: MSN News
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