The Jackal

9 Mar 2011

Earthquake vs Rugby

Audio Version.

So we all love rugby in this country. It’s our national sport and has been the backbone of our communities for a very long time. People like Bunce, Zinzan and Fitzpatrick are institutions, and rightly so if you ask me. These guys are dudes. I’m a seriously avid rugby supporter and like nothing better than having a cold beer and watching the AB’s or International Seven's weave their magic.

But something has happened that dwarfs sports in this country. The Christchurch Earthquake of 22 March 2011 was such a major disaster that we as a country are going to be feeling the impact for a long time to come. The humanitarian effort, which is funded by many peoples donations requires a sustained approach and is our number one priority.

We must give those effected a fighting chance to rebuild their lives. That’s what the kiwi spirit is all about… giving those in need a helping hand. Therefore I’m going to donate the money I would have spent on rugby tickets this year to the Christchurch Earthquake appeal. Some things are just bigger than sport.

8 Mar 2011

David Farrar - Asshole of the Week Award

Audio Version.

Recently Parliament had its second reading of Nationals Foreshore and Seabed bill MK2, which has been highly controversial. Now Independent MP Hone Harawira strongly opposed the bill and the toll of trying to uphold the mandate given to him by his people is one he is undertaking with dignity.

That is why it is sad to see the ghouls pull their knives out because Mr Harawira did not vote on the bill itself. Head Troll David Peter Farrar had this to say:

"Hone is finding out the hard way there is more to being an MP than just mouthing off. Sometimes you need to actually do shit such as vote."

What ensues of course in the comments is a raft of racist derogatory claptrap, which we’ve all come to expect from the sewer AKA Kiwiblog.

The fact of the matter is it wouldn’t have made a difference if Hone had voted, as the Bill would have passed anyway.

Therefore the DF is our winner of the prestigious Asshole of the week award. Yipee! I would present the award directly, but I am permanently banned from setting foot in the sewer... I can’t say I mind.

Child Poverty in New Zealand

There is no question that child poverty is a major problem for New Zealand. Because of various Governmental policies over the last few decades, we now have an epidemic of one in five Kiwi children growing up in poverty. The true financial cost of this is hard to quantify, but I believe it can be placed in the billions of dollars. One cannot place a price however on the emotional cost poverty inflicts on its victims.

If we understand the effects of such a large amount of impoverished children on society in general, we have a better way of alleviating the causative effects of impoverishment. However a better solution is to put in place policies so that children do not live in poverty. As a developed and wealthy country, this should be well within our grasp to achieve.

Some might say that poverty in New Zealand is not such a major problem, but all one really has to do is read the recent Household Labour Force Survey and some of the statistics it contains. With such a sharp increase in unemployment since National took over, the one in five children in poverty could easily increase to one in three if not more. Yet the Government seems oblivious to the situation and there’s no impetus to rectify the causative issues through positive policy changes. In fact such abusive policies are likely to increase with the Tax Working Group and Welfare Working Groups recommendations, if their archaic ideas are implemented, even to a lessor degree.

Now there are a lot of people fighting the good fight and recently the Child Poverty Action Group took the Government to the Human Rights Tribunal on behalf of all impoverish children. Unfortunately the Tribunal found that policy discrimination against children of beneficiaries is justified. This does not bode well for the future of this country. We need our children to grow up well nourished, clothed and housed to be able to contribute to a functioning society.

We do not want the continuance of destructive policies which inhibit people through all the disadvantages associated with childhood poverty. There is no doubt that childhood poverty is bad for the economy and the old saying a stitch in time saves nine seems apt. It is a pity the previous and current Governments did not learn to sow, let alone implement policies that alleviate impoverishment.

The Public Health Association (PHA) says the call by The New Zealand Medical Association (NZMA) for the Government and Health Sector urgently to address inequalities is further endorsement that we've had the wrong health focus for too long. Read the full article here.

New Zealands child poverty rates are really something to be ashamed of. We can now align ourselves with the third world and all their poverty related and induced disease statistics. The discrimination shown towards the poor is clearly unjustifiable. The proportion of children living in poverty rose during the 1990s, from about 5.5 per cent in 1990 to around 14 per cent in 2005, reflecting the 1991 benefit cuts and a freeze in family support rates from 1998 to 2005. We are just seeing some of the extreme negative social impacts from such destructive policies. I for one will not be voting for anybody who continues to abuse our children through negative politicking.

7 Mar 2011

Baby Dolphins Dying

Here's the original story from the Detroit Free Press.

Baby dolphins, some barely 3 feet in length, are washing up along the Mississippi and Alabama coastlines at 10 times the normal rate of stillborn and infant deaths, researchers say.

Seventeen young dolphins, either aborted or dead soon after birth, have been collected along the shorelines in recent weeks, the Sun Herald of Biloxi, Miss., reports. Typically, one or two are found during breeding months of January and February.

Moby Solangi, director of the Institute of Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport, called the number of deaths an anomaly and said it's significant, in light of the BP oil spill last year, when millions of barrels of crude oil containing toxins and carcinogens spewed into the gulf. She said she is gathering tissue and organs for a thorough forensic study and hopes to have results in a couple of weeks.

This is the first birthing season since the spill. Deaths in the adult dolphin population rose in the year of the oil spill from a norm of about 30 to 89, she said.

Oil Platform on Fire in Gulf of Mexico

07/03/11 U.S. Coast Guard officials confirm two people were rescued after an oil production platform caught fire in the Gulf of Mexico Sunday. The platform is located about 50 miles south of Grand Isle.

CBS Affiliate WWL reports a Good Samaritan vessel rescued the two workers, according to officials.

The Coast Guard said it responded with multiple air and sea assets, including an MH65-C rescue helicopter and crew from Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans, who hoisted the two men from the deck of a good Samaritan vessel, the HOS Stormridge (a supply vessel from the Hornbeck Offshore Support group), after they were recovered from a life capsule they used to escape from the fire on board the GI 102A oil production platform.

I wonder how much that cost the American Tax payer?

The two were believed to be the only people on board the platform.

A spokesperson for West Jefferson Medical Center said the two men did not suffer any injuries and walked out of the hospital on their own.

Arena, the rig's owner, reports the platform had been shut two weeks ago and was not producing product at the time of the incident.

Bureau of Oceans and Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement has personnel en route to verify the status of the wells and the platform, as well as investigate the cause of the fire.

6 Mar 2011

Climate change argument 101

Here's one of the better climate change arguments I've seen:

The science of Global Warming/Climate Change is settled except for the magnitude of the changes that are coming. What hasn’t been settled is how much more noise the Global Warming Deniers will make to promote their political tribalism.

The following organizations provide evidence that:

1) Global Warming / Climate Change is real.

2) Human activities are by far the largest causative agent.

3) Global Warming / Climate Change is a continuing, ongoing phenomenon.

NASA

http://climate.nasa.gov/warmingworld/

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/blogs/climateqa/

http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/graphs/Fig.A2.lrg.gif

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

National Climatic Data Center

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/globalwarming.html

World Meteorological Organization (WMO)

http://www.wmo.ch/pages/about/wmo50/e/world/climate_pages/global_warming_e.html

American Meteorological Society

http://www.ametsoc.org/policy/2007climatechange.html

National Center for Atmospheric Research

“How do we know Earth is warming now?”

http://www.ncar.ucar.edu/research/climate/now.php

Earth System Research Laboratory – Global Monitoring Division

“Climate Forcing”

http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/about/climate.html

Jet Propulsion Laboratory – California Institute of Technology

“Global Climate Change” “How do we know?”

http://climate.jpl.nasa.gov/evidence/

American Association for the Advancement of Science

“The scientific evidence is clear: global climate change caused by human activities is occurring now”

http://www.aaas.org/news/press_room/climate_change/mtg_200702/aaas_climate_statement.pdf

http://www.aaas.org/news/press_room/climate_change/

U. S. National Academy of Sciences

“Climate change is real”

http://www.nationalacademies.org/onpi/06072005.pdf

National Science Foundation

“Global Warming Greatest in Past Decade”

http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=112206

U. S. Geological Survey

“Glacier and Landscape Change in Response to Changing Climate”

http://www.usgs.gov/global_change/glaciers/default.asp

Time lapse video: “Glacier Erasure: South Cascade Glacier in a Changing Climate”

http://wa.water.usgs.gov/projects/glacier/video.html

Geological Society of America

“The Geological Society of America (GSA) concurs . . . that global climate has warmed and that human activities (mainly greenhouse gas emissions) account for most of the warming since the middle 1900s.”

http://www.geosociety.org/positions/position10.htm

National Snow and Ice Data Center – Global Glacier Recession

“We live in a time of increasing greenhouse gas concentrations with an attendant warming of the climate.”

http://nsidc.org/glims/glaciermelt/

United Nations Environment Programme/World Glacier Monitoring Service

“Global Glacier Changes: facts and figures”

“There is mounting evidence that climate change is triggering a shrinking and thinning of many glaciers world-wide”

http://www.grid.unep.ch/glaciers/

(Introduction and links to a 26 MB WGMS report)

The United States Energy Information Administration

“Greenhouse Gases, Climate Change, and Energy”

http://www.eia.doe.gov/bookshelf/brochures/greenhouse/Chapter1.htm