Thursday, November 20, 2003
Don't give me the facts - I prefer a good story
New Zealand's Minister of Social Development - he who administers the country's vast welfare budget - has scored a perfect own goal. Steve Maharey told a family conference in Wellington yesterday that sole-mother families are just as good as the traditional "nuclear family" of mum, dad and kids. "I know of no social science that says a nuclear family is more successful than other kinds. It's whether you have a loving, nurturing family."
Whew! What planet does Mr Maharey live on? For a start, he's totally ignoring advice from his own senior departmental officials.
As ACT MP Muriel Newman delighted in pointing out immediately, the Social Development Ministry's June 2002 Social Policy Journal said that significant risks to children include `being in contact with the benefit system at birth', `living with a sole caregiver at first contact' and having a caregiver who is `in receipt of the Domestic Purposes Benefit'. These conclusions are consistent with the publicly-stated views of the Child Youth and Family Department's Head of Maori Strategy, Peter Douglas, who identified that significant risks exist to children who live in a sole parent family.
In fact, there's a mountain of research worldwide which shows that, in general, children in two-parent families do better than children in other households, and as Minister in this portfolio, Mr Maharey ought to know it. But then, ideology trumps fact every time.
New Zealand's Minister of Social Development - he who administers the country's vast welfare budget - has scored a perfect own goal. Steve Maharey told a family conference in Wellington yesterday that sole-mother families are just as good as the traditional "nuclear family" of mum, dad and kids. "I know of no social science that says a nuclear family is more successful than other kinds. It's whether you have a loving, nurturing family."
Whew! What planet does Mr Maharey live on? For a start, he's totally ignoring advice from his own senior departmental officials.
As ACT MP Muriel Newman delighted in pointing out immediately, the Social Development Ministry's June 2002 Social Policy Journal said that significant risks to children include `being in contact with the benefit system at birth', `living with a sole caregiver at first contact' and having a caregiver who is `in receipt of the Domestic Purposes Benefit'. These conclusions are consistent with the publicly-stated views of the Child Youth and Family Department's Head of Maori Strategy, Peter Douglas, who identified that significant risks exist to children who live in a sole parent family.
In fact, there's a mountain of research worldwide which shows that, in general, children in two-parent families do better than children in other households, and as Minister in this portfolio, Mr Maharey ought to know it. But then, ideology trumps fact every time.
Monday, November 17, 2003
No wonder the frog didn't understand you, you were using the wrong accent!
Yep, folks, a British researcher has discovered that frogs in Essex have a different accent from the rest of England.
This has to be frontrunner in the award for the most useless piece of science this year.
Useless science is rewarded, you will be pleased to know, by the annual Ig-Nobel Awards. This year's awards were recently announced, and here they are:
Engineering
The late John Paul Stapp, the late Edward A. Murphy, Jr., and George Nichols, for jointly giving birth in 1949 to Murphy's Law.
Physics
To a group of Australians, for their irresistible report "An Analysis of the Forces Required to Drag Sheep over Various Surfaces."
Medicine
To University College London, for presenting evidence that the brains of London taxi drivers are more highly developed than those of their fellow citizens.
Psychology
For the discerning report "Politicians' Uniquely Simple Personalities."
Chemistry
For the chemical investigation of a bronze statue, in the city of Kanazawa, that fails to attract pigeons.
Literature
To John Trinkaus, of New York City, for meticulously collecting data and publishing more than 80 detailed academic reports about specific annoyances and anomalies of daily life, such as: What percentage of young people wear baseball caps with the peak facing to the rear rather than to the front.
Economics
To the nation of Liechtenstein, for making it possible to rent the entire country for corporate conventions, weddings, bar mitzvahs, and other gatherings.
Interdisciplinary research
To researchers at Stockholm University, for their inevitable report "Chickens Prefer Beautiful Humans."
Peace
Lal Bihari, of Uttar Pradesh, India, for a triple accomplishment: First, for leading an active life even though he has been declared legally dead; Second, for waging a lively posthumous campaign against bureaucratic inertia and greedy relatives; and Third, for creating the Association of Dead People.
Biology
C.W. Moeliker, of Natuurmuseum Rotterdam, the Netherlands, for documenting the first scientifically recorded case of homosexual necrophilia in the mallard duck.
Yep, folks, a British researcher has discovered that frogs in Essex have a different accent from the rest of England.
This has to be frontrunner in the award for the most useless piece of science this year.
Useless science is rewarded, you will be pleased to know, by the annual Ig-Nobel Awards. This year's awards were recently announced, and here they are:
Engineering
The late John Paul Stapp, the late Edward A. Murphy, Jr., and George Nichols, for jointly giving birth in 1949 to Murphy's Law.
Physics
To a group of Australians, for their irresistible report "An Analysis of the Forces Required to Drag Sheep over Various Surfaces."
Medicine
To University College London, for presenting evidence that the brains of London taxi drivers are more highly developed than those of their fellow citizens.
Psychology
For the discerning report "Politicians' Uniquely Simple Personalities."
Chemistry
For the chemical investigation of a bronze statue, in the city of Kanazawa, that fails to attract pigeons.
Literature
To John Trinkaus, of New York City, for meticulously collecting data and publishing more than 80 detailed academic reports about specific annoyances and anomalies of daily life, such as: What percentage of young people wear baseball caps with the peak facing to the rear rather than to the front.
Economics
To the nation of Liechtenstein, for making it possible to rent the entire country for corporate conventions, weddings, bar mitzvahs, and other gatherings.
Interdisciplinary research
To researchers at Stockholm University, for their inevitable report "Chickens Prefer Beautiful Humans."
Peace
Lal Bihari, of Uttar Pradesh, India, for a triple accomplishment: First, for leading an active life even though he has been declared legally dead; Second, for waging a lively posthumous campaign against bureaucratic inertia and greedy relatives; and Third, for creating the Association of Dead People.
Biology
C.W. Moeliker, of Natuurmuseum Rotterdam, the Netherlands, for documenting the first scientifically recorded case of homosexual necrophilia in the mallard duck.
