Wednesday, August 24, 2005
Are There Any Good Arguments Against Cutting Income Taxes? Sinclair Davidson, of Australia's Centre for Independent Studies, looks at four key arguments used by opponents of lower taxation, and finds they are misleading or contestable. He finds that in a sharply ‘progressive’ tax system like ours, higher income earners pay much more than their fair share in taxation. Not only this, but cuts in marginal tax rates induce people to work harder in situations where they have an effective choice between work and leisure hours. In regards to the arguments that tax cuts are immoral because they pander to human selfishness, Davidson shows that the highest earners in Australia already pay much more than their ‘share’ of charitable donations, and that ‘high levels of taxation – especially high rates of taxation – crowd out philanthropy.’
Deaths exceeded births in Japan by 31,034 in the first half of the year, the Health Ministry said this week, raising the possibility that the population will start to shrink in 2005, two years earlier than previously forecast. Japan's falling birth rate and ageing population have fuelled concerns about future growth in the world's second-largest economy, and experts have previously said the population was likely to start shrinking in 2007.[Japan has very tough immigration policies, so they're not likely to be looking to that source to increase population, as many western countries do.]
In case you'd like to read exactly what the Iraqi Constitution says (rather than what people say it says), there's a copy here. PS: Its beautifully simple language is a model for any country.
A ruined church on the banks of a fjord marks the remains of a Viking farming civilisation. The sun casts shadows through the arched window to the site of the altar, last used in the 1400s before the area was abandoned when it became too cold to support habitation. Today, the farmers are back. Sheep once again graze the surrounding hillside and shiny new tractors work the fields near the southern coast. Greenland is turning green, something the rest of us should be very worried about indeed. [We're going to have to rewrite the old hymn!]
A British cosmetic surgery clinic is offering loyalty card discounts to repeat customers. Anyone who has four consecutive procedures is entitled to £200 cash back off the next one. The procedures include liposuction, Botox injections and tummy tucks. A spokesperson for the Transform Medical Group explained: "Most of our patients need to have their procedures re-done every six months or so anyway, so it's nice to be able to offer them a little thank you." Other plastic surgeons are not impressed. Dr Patrick Mallucci, of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, lashed out: "I am shocked at the way people are encouraged to seek plastic surgery as if it were a commodity, like a handbag or a tie... They are preying on the vulnerabilities of a society increasingly obsessed with physical perfection."
Too much choice can be a nightmare for patients, according to a feature in the New York Times. "Many find the job of being a modern patient, with its slog through medical uncertainty, to be lonely, frightening and overwhelming." Although doctors are trained to respect patient autonomy and patients are often well informed after researching their ailments on the internet, their well-being can suffer nonetheless.
Until recently, adultery has been a sin of the flesh. Temptation arrives, chemistry sizzles and before long the unfaithful spouse is spending stolen nights in cheap hotels. Now there is a new threat: the virtual affair. While some argue online affairs aren't real, research shows some spouses take them as seriously as the offline variety - and they're becoming a gateway to divorce.
News reports out of South Korea keep announcing advances in human cloning. The following are a few myths circulating about the latest cloning experiments: Myth #1: Human beings are not being cloned. Fact: Unfortunately, South Korean scientists have already cloned humaneings -- purely for the sake of destructive scientific research. Leading Korean scientist Woo Suk Hwang says he believes cloning human beings is "unsafe and unethical" and claims his new "creations" are not human and have no potential to ever become human. His statements directly contradict the facts of his research techniques. In their experiments, Hwang and his colleagues used a technique called "somatic cell nuclear transfer" (SCNT) -- also known as cloning. When the nucleus from an unfertilized egg is replaced with genetic material from a donor cell and the cell begins to divide, a new, genetically complete human is formed. The South Korean scientists then kill these new humans to harvest their stem cells. SCNT is the same process that was used to clone Dolly the sheep. Scientists never questioned whether Dolly was a real sheep. In fact, they proclaimed the event as a scientific breakthrough because she was a sheep. The same thing has happened here: Hwang and his team have successfully cloned and destroyed human beings. [Three more myths are explored in this article.]
Dear Abby: Mother's Day is coming up and I want to take my mother out for a nice lunch. Only I have to decide: Melissa was the one who gave birth to me in the hospital 24 years ago, and she nursed me (though I don't remember any of this). My other mom, Sally, the woman with whom my mother lived and also who took care of me; in fact, she was the one who drove me to my first day of school and was home much more often than Melissa, who made lots of money but had to work downtown at a law firm to do it. Now Melissa and Sally aren't speaking to each other anymore; and I can't mention the name of one in the presence of the other. The last time I mentioned Melissa to Sally, I was told that Sally gave the egg that turned into me, so I was really Sally's son, not Melissa's. I asked Melissa about this, and she told me it was all true, but that Sally didn't really do very much and that she, Melissa, put up with morning sickness and nine months of pregnancy, which almost cost her her career, and a very difficult birth (C-section), plus nursing for a month. I want to have lunch with Melissa and Sally, but I can't since they won't see me together and are only free at the same time. Melissa has other plans later in the day and Sally won't be free later because she is celebrating Mother's Day with her other two children, in vitro children, she had several years after she broke up with Melissa. What should I do? I can't ask my Dad; he was never married and gave the lab a little shot of his stuff so Sally's egg could be planted in Melissa; later he died of AIDS. Two years ago I joined a synagogue, the first time I have ever been involved in religion. I means a lot to me now. I learned I am supposed to "honor my mother and father," but how can I? I am not sure who is my real mom or what that word even means anymore. What should I do?
Deaths exceeded births in Japan by 31,034 in the first half of the year, the Health Ministry said this week, raising the possibility that the population will start to shrink in 2005, two years earlier than previously forecast. Japan's falling birth rate and ageing population have fuelled concerns about future growth in the world's second-largest economy, and experts have previously said the population was likely to start shrinking in 2007.[Japan has very tough immigration policies, so they're not likely to be looking to that source to increase population, as many western countries do.]
In case you'd like to read exactly what the Iraqi Constitution says (rather than what people say it says), there's a copy here. PS: Its beautifully simple language is a model for any country.
A ruined church on the banks of a fjord marks the remains of a Viking farming civilisation. The sun casts shadows through the arched window to the site of the altar, last used in the 1400s before the area was abandoned when it became too cold to support habitation. Today, the farmers are back. Sheep once again graze the surrounding hillside and shiny new tractors work the fields near the southern coast. Greenland is turning green, something the rest of us should be very worried about indeed. [We're going to have to rewrite the old hymn!]
A British cosmetic surgery clinic is offering loyalty card discounts to repeat customers. Anyone who has four consecutive procedures is entitled to £200 cash back off the next one. The procedures include liposuction, Botox injections and tummy tucks. A spokesperson for the Transform Medical Group explained: "Most of our patients need to have their procedures re-done every six months or so anyway, so it's nice to be able to offer them a little thank you." Other plastic surgeons are not impressed. Dr Patrick Mallucci, of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, lashed out: "I am shocked at the way people are encouraged to seek plastic surgery as if it were a commodity, like a handbag or a tie... They are preying on the vulnerabilities of a society increasingly obsessed with physical perfection."
Too much choice can be a nightmare for patients, according to a feature in the New York Times. "Many find the job of being a modern patient, with its slog through medical uncertainty, to be lonely, frightening and overwhelming." Although doctors are trained to respect patient autonomy and patients are often well informed after researching their ailments on the internet, their well-being can suffer nonetheless.
Until recently, adultery has been a sin of the flesh. Temptation arrives, chemistry sizzles and before long the unfaithful spouse is spending stolen nights in cheap hotels. Now there is a new threat: the virtual affair. While some argue online affairs aren't real, research shows some spouses take them as seriously as the offline variety - and they're becoming a gateway to divorce.
News reports out of South Korea keep announcing advances in human cloning. The following are a few myths circulating about the latest cloning experiments: Myth #1: Human beings are not being cloned. Fact: Unfortunately, South Korean scientists have already cloned humaneings -- purely for the sake of destructive scientific research. Leading Korean scientist Woo Suk Hwang says he believes cloning human beings is "unsafe and unethical" and claims his new "creations" are not human and have no potential to ever become human. His statements directly contradict the facts of his research techniques. In their experiments, Hwang and his colleagues used a technique called "somatic cell nuclear transfer" (SCNT) -- also known as cloning. When the nucleus from an unfertilized egg is replaced with genetic material from a donor cell and the cell begins to divide, a new, genetically complete human is formed. The South Korean scientists then kill these new humans to harvest their stem cells. SCNT is the same process that was used to clone Dolly the sheep. Scientists never questioned whether Dolly was a real sheep. In fact, they proclaimed the event as a scientific breakthrough because she was a sheep. The same thing has happened here: Hwang and his team have successfully cloned and destroyed human beings. [Three more myths are explored in this article.]
Dear Abby: Mother's Day is coming up and I want to take my mother out for a nice lunch. Only I have to decide: Melissa was the one who gave birth to me in the hospital 24 years ago, and she nursed me (though I don't remember any of this). My other mom, Sally, the woman with whom my mother lived and also who took care of me; in fact, she was the one who drove me to my first day of school and was home much more often than Melissa, who made lots of money but had to work downtown at a law firm to do it. Now Melissa and Sally aren't speaking to each other anymore; and I can't mention the name of one in the presence of the other. The last time I mentioned Melissa to Sally, I was told that Sally gave the egg that turned into me, so I was really Sally's son, not Melissa's. I asked Melissa about this, and she told me it was all true, but that Sally didn't really do very much and that she, Melissa, put up with morning sickness and nine months of pregnancy, which almost cost her her career, and a very difficult birth (C-section), plus nursing for a month. I want to have lunch with Melissa and Sally, but I can't since they won't see me together and are only free at the same time. Melissa has other plans later in the day and Sally won't be free later because she is celebrating Mother's Day with her other two children, in vitro children, she had several years after she broke up with Melissa. What should I do? I can't ask my Dad; he was never married and gave the lab a little shot of his stuff so Sally's egg could be planted in Melissa; later he died of AIDS. Two years ago I joined a synagogue, the first time I have ever been involved in religion. I means a lot to me now. I learned I am supposed to "honor my mother and father," but how can I? I am not sure who is my real mom or what that word even means anymore. What should I do?
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
What's going on with NZ First? Its party list, released today, will put six sitting MPs out of Parliament if the party scores around its current polling percentage in the Election. Newcomer Susan Baragwanath (wife of High Court judge David Baragwanath) was one to be placed ahead of several sitting MPs.
A new poll reveals that almost three quarters of the British public believe it is right to give up civil liberties to boost security against the terrorist threat. The Guardian/ICM poll shows that 73 per cent of respondents back feel it is a price worth paying, with only 17 per cent rejecting the trade-off outright. [Trouble is, once you give civil liberties away, it just about takes a civil war to get them back.]
Former Polish communist strongman, Wojciech Jaruzelski, has apologised to the Czech Republic and Slovakia for Poland's role in the Soviet-led invasion in August 1968 that crushed a pro-democracy movement. "I have felt bad, I have been tormented by that," said Jaruzelski during a broadcast on Czech public television, 37 years to the day after the invasion of then Czechoslovakia. Troops from the Soviet Union and four former Warsaw Pact countries squashed the so-called "Prague Spring", a movement led by Slovak reformer Alexander Dubcek that tried to put "a human face on socialism" through democratic reforms to the totalitarian regime in power in Prague. "It was a stupid political act," said Jaruzelski, 82, who was Poland's defence minister at the time.
"Let there be no mistake; the struggle is on for human nature. And while the barbarous bioethics of the People's Republic of China is well known, the 'kinder, gentler' path into the Brave New World, led by the United Kingdom, is the gravest threat we face." Nigel M. de S. Cameron explains what's going on in the complex world of bioethics.
China risks social meltdown within five years because of the stresses provoked by its economic boom, government officials were warned yesterday. The country was now in a "yellow-light" zone, the second most serious indicator of "social instability", according to an official report focusing on the growing gap between rich and poor. "We are going to hit the red-light scenario after 2010 if there are no effective solutions in the next few years," said the report, commissioned by the labour and social security ministry. As if to bear out its warnings, police admitted that rioting had broken out in a town in the eastern province of Zhejiang, the latest in a wave of violent protests in the region. Buildings and police cars were set alight in clashes led by parents who accused a battery factory of giving their children lead poisoning. Such unrest is now common in many Chinese towns, often triggered by protests against the mixture of corruption and environmental degradation that the dash for development has brought.
68% of “born again” or “evangelical” Christians say that a “good person who isn’t of your religious faith” can gain salvation, according to a new Newsweek/Beliefnet poll. "This is pretty amazing. Evangelicals are among the most churchgoing and religiously attentive people in the United States, and one of the ideas they’re most likely to hear from the minister at church on a given Sunday is that the path to salvation is through Jesus. Apparently, rank-and-file evangelicals have a different view. Nationally, 79% of those surveyed said the same thing, and the figure is 73% for non-Christians and an astounding 91% among Catholics. The Catholics surveyed seemed more inclined to listen to the Catechism's precept that those who 'seek the truth' may gain salvation—rather than, say, St. Augustine's view that being 'separated from the Church' will damn you to hell 'no matter how estimable a life he may imagine he is living.' "
Search giant Google's ambitions to make the Web more international got a slight boost from a US government-run test in which its machine translation software beat out competitors from IBM and academia. Google scored the highest in Arabic-to-English and Chinese-to-English translation tests conducted by the National Institute of Science and Technology. Each test consisted of translating 100 articles from Agence France Presse and the Xinhua News Agency.
A new poll reveals that almost three quarters of the British public believe it is right to give up civil liberties to boost security against the terrorist threat. The Guardian/ICM poll shows that 73 per cent of respondents back feel it is a price worth paying, with only 17 per cent rejecting the trade-off outright. [Trouble is, once you give civil liberties away, it just about takes a civil war to get them back.]
Former Polish communist strongman, Wojciech Jaruzelski, has apologised to the Czech Republic and Slovakia for Poland's role in the Soviet-led invasion in August 1968 that crushed a pro-democracy movement. "I have felt bad, I have been tormented by that," said Jaruzelski during a broadcast on Czech public television, 37 years to the day after the invasion of then Czechoslovakia. Troops from the Soviet Union and four former Warsaw Pact countries squashed the so-called "Prague Spring", a movement led by Slovak reformer Alexander Dubcek that tried to put "a human face on socialism" through democratic reforms to the totalitarian regime in power in Prague. "It was a stupid political act," said Jaruzelski, 82, who was Poland's defence minister at the time.
"Let there be no mistake; the struggle is on for human nature. And while the barbarous bioethics of the People's Republic of China is well known, the 'kinder, gentler' path into the Brave New World, led by the United Kingdom, is the gravest threat we face." Nigel M. de S. Cameron explains what's going on in the complex world of bioethics.
China risks social meltdown within five years because of the stresses provoked by its economic boom, government officials were warned yesterday. The country was now in a "yellow-light" zone, the second most serious indicator of "social instability", according to an official report focusing on the growing gap between rich and poor. "We are going to hit the red-light scenario after 2010 if there are no effective solutions in the next few years," said the report, commissioned by the labour and social security ministry. As if to bear out its warnings, police admitted that rioting had broken out in a town in the eastern province of Zhejiang, the latest in a wave of violent protests in the region. Buildings and police cars were set alight in clashes led by parents who accused a battery factory of giving their children lead poisoning. Such unrest is now common in many Chinese towns, often triggered by protests against the mixture of corruption and environmental degradation that the dash for development has brought.
68% of “born again” or “evangelical” Christians say that a “good person who isn’t of your religious faith” can gain salvation, according to a new Newsweek/Beliefnet poll. "This is pretty amazing. Evangelicals are among the most churchgoing and religiously attentive people in the United States, and one of the ideas they’re most likely to hear from the minister at church on a given Sunday is that the path to salvation is through Jesus. Apparently, rank-and-file evangelicals have a different view. Nationally, 79% of those surveyed said the same thing, and the figure is 73% for non-Christians and an astounding 91% among Catholics. The Catholics surveyed seemed more inclined to listen to the Catechism's precept that those who 'seek the truth' may gain salvation—rather than, say, St. Augustine's view that being 'separated from the Church' will damn you to hell 'no matter how estimable a life he may imagine he is living.' "
Search giant Google's ambitions to make the Web more international got a slight boost from a US government-run test in which its machine translation software beat out competitors from IBM and academia. Google scored the highest in Arabic-to-English and Chinese-to-English translation tests conducted by the National Institute of Science and Technology. Each test consisted of translating 100 articles from Agence France Presse and the Xinhua News Agency.
Monday, August 22, 2005
National leader Don Brash today unveiled a major restructuring of the tax system, providing tax relief and targeted family assistance worth about $3.9 billion by the third year.
It took National a while to get their calculator up and running on the web, but it's now online at www.taxcuts.co.nz If you want to compare Labour's proposals, their calculator is here.
No doubt Labour and the Greens will pour scorn on the National proposals, but Labour really killed their ability to realistically criticise when they suddenly announced their massive family assistance package last week.
While the debate over tax rages in New Zealand, there are signs that Germany could soon be looking seriously at a flat tax system (a proposal by NZ's Act party which has been rubbished by just everybody else). Angela Merkel, leader of the Christian Democrat Union (CDU), Germany's principal opposition party, has appointed a prominent advocate of a flat tax system as a finance policy expert to her election campaign team. Kirchof espouses a complete overhaul of the country's tax system, and advocates sweeping away Germany's extensive system of taxpayer subsidies and replacing it with a flat rate of income tax charged at 25%. The move is being interpreted by observers as a statement of long-term radical intent should Merkel oust Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in September's election. An opinion poll last week placed the CDU and Bavarian sister party Christian Social Union on 43%, comfortably ahead of the ruling Social Democrats on 29%.
Australia’s opposition party is calling on the ruling coalition government to clarify new restrictions placed on churches and other charitable institutions, which stipulate that criticism of the government or its policies can lead to revocation of their charitable tax status. Opposition treasury spokesman Wayne Swan said the new measure is the “sort of thuggery . . . typical of a Government that’s drunk on its own power,” according to an abc.net.au report. He said the institutions that represent the underprivileged should be free to voice their opposition to policies that may affect the poor. [Similar concerns were voiced in New Zealand when the Charities Commission Bill was introduced.]
It snuck under my radar that Japan is also having national elections next month (a week before New Zealand). The election was called suddenly last week by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi after lawmakers rejected by a narrow margin his bill to privatize Japan's massive postal system. Laying out a new policy agenda, Japan's governing party outlined a vision for the country's future on Friday that called for shrinking the size of government, taking a more assertive stance in Asia and strengthening the Japanese military. The elections are widely seen as a referendum on the future course of Japan, both the sorts of measures the country will take to rejuvenate its low-growth $5 trillion economy, and whether it will alter a pacifist foreign policy adopted after defeat in World War II.
The way in which electioneering has changed over the last half century is charted in this fascinating article by Colin James. Do you feel manipulated? You should: "Now leaders do 'events' to illustrate the spin of the day, aimed for the 6pm television news. Long expositions of their parties' policies have been largely replaced by subliminal messages, dog-whistles, keywords, sound bytes, stagey photos, gimmicks and slick, nasty or syrupy advertising - with automated phone calls and text messages to come, if Australia is a guide."
Peace is fraying in Hawaii as tensions rise over a bill the US Senate will vote on next month that would create an independent, race-based government for Native Hawaiians. What some see as redress for past injustices, others see as the creation of a racial spoils system that could treat neighbors differently depending on whether or not they have a drop of native blood. Democrat Senator Daniel Akaka has introduced a bill called the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2005. Akaka wants to extend the government's policy of self-governance and self-determination to Native Hawaiians. He, and fellow Hawaiian Senator Inouye intend to do this by creating a race-based and racially separate government for Native Hawaiians. Under S. 147 Native Hawaiians would be under the federal Indian law system and would be designated as a "tribe." This new race-based government would have jurisdiction over 20 percent of Hawaii's citizens as well as 400,000 citizens nationwide.
For the first time in recent history, US students have recorded positive results in a series of national tests designed to show progress over time. According to The Economist, “This year's report contained two striking results. The first is that America's nine-year-olds posted their best scores in reading and math since the tests were introduced (in 1971 in reading and 1973 in math). The second is that the gap between white students and minorities is narrowing. The nine-year-olds who made the biggest gains of all were blacks, traditionally the most educationally deprived group in American society.” Commentators suggest that the results could be put down to: a) Accountability (holding schools, teachers, and administrators responsible for educational results); b) Competition (University of California-Berkeley professor Eric Rofes reports that 25 percent of schools faced with competition changed their practices because of the pressure to show better results); c) Quality teachers.
They're called "synthetic biologists" and they boldly claim the ability to make never-before-seen living things, one genetic molecule at a time. They're mixing, matching and stacking DNA's chemical components like microscopic Lego blocks in an effort to make biologically based computers, medicines and alternative energy sources. The rapidly expanding field is confounding the taxonomists' centuries-old system of classifying species and raising concerns about the new technology's potential for misuse.
At a church planting congress in 1998, representatives of Latin American nations set the very ambitious goal of planting a total of 500,000 new Christian churches by the year 2010. Dawn Ministries has published a progress report on their website, which shows that the target will be reached if the development continues at the current rate. Five nations have already reached their original target and set new national targets. Guatemala, the first Latin American nation to have a process based on the Dawn strategy following their initial Congress in 1984, reached the target of 7,000 new churches in only five years. They then set another target of a further 5,000 churches, which has also already been reached. In the small nation of Uruguay, 30% of the population considered themselves atheist in 1996. Between 1996 and 1999, 1,000 new churches were planted, three years faster than planned. In the meantime, only 10% of the population now consider themselves atheists. Following 30 years of Communism, Cuba had less than 800 churches, the same number as at the start of the Communist revolution. By 1998, Cuban Christians had already reached their aim of planting 5,000 new churches, most of which were house churches. That was two years before their target, 2000.
Tail-out: [I am wondering whether the following is a hoax, as I can find no mention of it elsewhere on the Internet news wires - but TVNZ seem to think its genuine:] Some young Japanese graduates will literally have a mountain to climb to get their first job. One of the country's top Internet apparel retailers wants to make sure new employees have what it takes to scale the heights of business by interviewing them at the summit of the 3,776 metre Mount Fuji. Some 50 hopefuls will need to be at the peak of their powers to get one of the four jobs on offer when they climb the mountain with company executives on August 24, aiming to reach the summit for a dawn interview the next day. "We are aiming to be the No.1 Internet retailer, so the No.1 mountain in Japan is very suitable," said Yoshifumi Tsunada, head of public relations for Image Co, the parent company of ImageNet Co., which will do the hiring.
It took National a while to get their calculator up and running on the web, but it's now online at www.taxcuts.co.nz If you want to compare Labour's proposals, their calculator is here.
No doubt Labour and the Greens will pour scorn on the National proposals, but Labour really killed their ability to realistically criticise when they suddenly announced their massive family assistance package last week.
While the debate over tax rages in New Zealand, there are signs that Germany could soon be looking seriously at a flat tax system (a proposal by NZ's Act party which has been rubbished by just everybody else). Angela Merkel, leader of the Christian Democrat Union (CDU), Germany's principal opposition party, has appointed a prominent advocate of a flat tax system as a finance policy expert to her election campaign team. Kirchof espouses a complete overhaul of the country's tax system, and advocates sweeping away Germany's extensive system of taxpayer subsidies and replacing it with a flat rate of income tax charged at 25%. The move is being interpreted by observers as a statement of long-term radical intent should Merkel oust Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in September's election. An opinion poll last week placed the CDU and Bavarian sister party Christian Social Union on 43%, comfortably ahead of the ruling Social Democrats on 29%.
Australia’s opposition party is calling on the ruling coalition government to clarify new restrictions placed on churches and other charitable institutions, which stipulate that criticism of the government or its policies can lead to revocation of their charitable tax status. Opposition treasury spokesman Wayne Swan said the new measure is the “sort of thuggery . . . typical of a Government that’s drunk on its own power,” according to an abc.net.au report. He said the institutions that represent the underprivileged should be free to voice their opposition to policies that may affect the poor. [Similar concerns were voiced in New Zealand when the Charities Commission Bill was introduced.]
It snuck under my radar that Japan is also having national elections next month (a week before New Zealand). The election was called suddenly last week by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi after lawmakers rejected by a narrow margin his bill to privatize Japan's massive postal system. Laying out a new policy agenda, Japan's governing party outlined a vision for the country's future on Friday that called for shrinking the size of government, taking a more assertive stance in Asia and strengthening the Japanese military. The elections are widely seen as a referendum on the future course of Japan, both the sorts of measures the country will take to rejuvenate its low-growth $5 trillion economy, and whether it will alter a pacifist foreign policy adopted after defeat in World War II.
The way in which electioneering has changed over the last half century is charted in this fascinating article by Colin James. Do you feel manipulated? You should: "Now leaders do 'events' to illustrate the spin of the day, aimed for the 6pm television news. Long expositions of their parties' policies have been largely replaced by subliminal messages, dog-whistles, keywords, sound bytes, stagey photos, gimmicks and slick, nasty or syrupy advertising - with automated phone calls and text messages to come, if Australia is a guide."
Peace is fraying in Hawaii as tensions rise over a bill the US Senate will vote on next month that would create an independent, race-based government for Native Hawaiians. What some see as redress for past injustices, others see as the creation of a racial spoils system that could treat neighbors differently depending on whether or not they have a drop of native blood. Democrat Senator Daniel Akaka has introduced a bill called the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2005. Akaka wants to extend the government's policy of self-governance and self-determination to Native Hawaiians. He, and fellow Hawaiian Senator Inouye intend to do this by creating a race-based and racially separate government for Native Hawaiians. Under S. 147 Native Hawaiians would be under the federal Indian law system and would be designated as a "tribe." This new race-based government would have jurisdiction over 20 percent of Hawaii's citizens as well as 400,000 citizens nationwide.
For the first time in recent history, US students have recorded positive results in a series of national tests designed to show progress over time. According to The Economist, “This year's report contained two striking results. The first is that America's nine-year-olds posted their best scores in reading and math since the tests were introduced (in 1971 in reading and 1973 in math). The second is that the gap between white students and minorities is narrowing. The nine-year-olds who made the biggest gains of all were blacks, traditionally the most educationally deprived group in American society.” Commentators suggest that the results could be put down to: a) Accountability (holding schools, teachers, and administrators responsible for educational results); b) Competition (University of California-Berkeley professor Eric Rofes reports that 25 percent of schools faced with competition changed their practices because of the pressure to show better results); c) Quality teachers.
They're called "synthetic biologists" and they boldly claim the ability to make never-before-seen living things, one genetic molecule at a time. They're mixing, matching and stacking DNA's chemical components like microscopic Lego blocks in an effort to make biologically based computers, medicines and alternative energy sources. The rapidly expanding field is confounding the taxonomists' centuries-old system of classifying species and raising concerns about the new technology's potential for misuse.
At a church planting congress in 1998, representatives of Latin American nations set the very ambitious goal of planting a total of 500,000 new Christian churches by the year 2010. Dawn Ministries has published a progress report on their website, which shows that the target will be reached if the development continues at the current rate. Five nations have already reached their original target and set new national targets. Guatemala, the first Latin American nation to have a process based on the Dawn strategy following their initial Congress in 1984, reached the target of 7,000 new churches in only five years. They then set another target of a further 5,000 churches, which has also already been reached. In the small nation of Uruguay, 30% of the population considered themselves atheist in 1996. Between 1996 and 1999, 1,000 new churches were planted, three years faster than planned. In the meantime, only 10% of the population now consider themselves atheists. Following 30 years of Communism, Cuba had less than 800 churches, the same number as at the start of the Communist revolution. By 1998, Cuban Christians had already reached their aim of planting 5,000 new churches, most of which were house churches. That was two years before their target, 2000.
Tail-out: [I am wondering whether the following is a hoax, as I can find no mention of it elsewhere on the Internet news wires - but TVNZ seem to think its genuine:] Some young Japanese graduates will literally have a mountain to climb to get their first job. One of the country's top Internet apparel retailers wants to make sure new employees have what it takes to scale the heights of business by interviewing them at the summit of the 3,776 metre Mount Fuji. Some 50 hopefuls will need to be at the peak of their powers to get one of the four jobs on offer when they climb the mountain with company executives on August 24, aiming to reach the summit for a dawn interview the next day. "We are aiming to be the No.1 Internet retailer, so the No.1 mountain in Japan is very suitable," said Yoshifumi Tsunada, head of public relations for Image Co, the parent company of ImageNet Co., which will do the hiring.
