Friday, September 30, 2005
Netherlands Trio Wed: In the Netherlands, a country that already allows same-sex marriage, a polygamous civil union has received official government recognition, sending shockwaves worldwide. Victor de Bruijn (46) from Roosendaal “married” both Bianca (31) and Mirjam (35) in a ceremony before a notary who duly registered their civil union," reported Paul Belien, whose article in the Brussels Journal noted that while a legal marriage between three people in the Netherlands at this stage cannot be performed, such a possibility is allowed among civil unions.
Mothers are turning the act of birth into a social occasion. Once it was the private preserve of mother and cherished newborn. Then dad was allowed to join in. Now the birth of a baby is being transformed into a truly social occasion. Attended by friends and family, "birthing parties" are becoming popular. Mothers-to-be are sending out printed invitations and even hiring photographers to record the event. The parties - which originated in the US, where maternity unit "spectator galleries" have been built - have spread to Britain, where several private and public hospitals host the events.
The Dutch government intends to expand its current euthanasia policy, setting guidelines for when doctors may end the lives of terminally ill newborns with the parents' consent, The Associated Press has learned. A letter outlining the new directives was expected to be submitted to parliament for discussion by mid-October, but the new policy will not require a change of law, Dutch Health Ministry spokeswoman Annette Dijkstra said Thursday. Proponents and opponents agree the change is doubly important because it will provide the model for how the Dutch will treat other cases in which patients are unable to say whether they want to live or die, such as the mentally retarded or elderly people who have become demented. Under the protocol, euthanasia would be permissible when a child is terminally ill with no prospect of recovery, when it is suffering great pain, when two sets of doctors agree the situation is hopeless, and when parents give their consent.
More than half of NZ schoolchildren cannot swim 100 metres and experts say the decline of swimming lessons in the curriculum is to blame. A study by Kevin Moran, from the University of Auckland, shows that 54 per cent of Year 11 students cannot manage four lengths of a standard 25m pool. Other research, from Water Safety New Zealand, suggests the problem could be worse. It says three out of four children cannot swim 200 metres - the minimum "safe standard" to get out of trouble. A lack of emphasis on swimming, poor teacher training in aquatics and the high costs of pools against a tight budget are all blamed for the dip in children's abilities - and the result is the high numbers who drown each year.
Arctic sea ice has melted to a record low this month prompting fears that the entire polar ice cap may disappear within decades during the summer period. Satellite images of the northern hemisphere's floating sea ice show that the area of ocean covered by the ice this September was the lowest ever observed by scientists. It is the fourth consecutive summer that the area covered by the sea ice in the Arctic has shrunk below even the long-term decline, which began at least as far back as the late 1970s.
While we're on the apocalyptic, a UN expert warns that global influenza pandemic could come at any time and claim anywhere between 5 million and 150 million lives, depending on steps the world takes now to control the bird flu in Asia.
Have a nice weekend!!
Mothers are turning the act of birth into a social occasion. Once it was the private preserve of mother and cherished newborn. Then dad was allowed to join in. Now the birth of a baby is being transformed into a truly social occasion. Attended by friends and family, "birthing parties" are becoming popular. Mothers-to-be are sending out printed invitations and even hiring photographers to record the event. The parties - which originated in the US, where maternity unit "spectator galleries" have been built - have spread to Britain, where several private and public hospitals host the events.
The Dutch government intends to expand its current euthanasia policy, setting guidelines for when doctors may end the lives of terminally ill newborns with the parents' consent, The Associated Press has learned. A letter outlining the new directives was expected to be submitted to parliament for discussion by mid-October, but the new policy will not require a change of law, Dutch Health Ministry spokeswoman Annette Dijkstra said Thursday. Proponents and opponents agree the change is doubly important because it will provide the model for how the Dutch will treat other cases in which patients are unable to say whether they want to live or die, such as the mentally retarded or elderly people who have become demented. Under the protocol, euthanasia would be permissible when a child is terminally ill with no prospect of recovery, when it is suffering great pain, when two sets of doctors agree the situation is hopeless, and when parents give their consent.
More than half of NZ schoolchildren cannot swim 100 metres and experts say the decline of swimming lessons in the curriculum is to blame. A study by Kevin Moran, from the University of Auckland, shows that 54 per cent of Year 11 students cannot manage four lengths of a standard 25m pool. Other research, from Water Safety New Zealand, suggests the problem could be worse. It says three out of four children cannot swim 200 metres - the minimum "safe standard" to get out of trouble. A lack of emphasis on swimming, poor teacher training in aquatics and the high costs of pools against a tight budget are all blamed for the dip in children's abilities - and the result is the high numbers who drown each year.
Arctic sea ice has melted to a record low this month prompting fears that the entire polar ice cap may disappear within decades during the summer period. Satellite images of the northern hemisphere's floating sea ice show that the area of ocean covered by the ice this September was the lowest ever observed by scientists. It is the fourth consecutive summer that the area covered by the sea ice in the Arctic has shrunk below even the long-term decline, which began at least as far back as the late 1970s.
While we're on the apocalyptic, a UN expert warns that global influenza pandemic could come at any time and claim anywhere between 5 million and 150 million lives, depending on steps the world takes now to control the bird flu in Asia.
Have a nice weekend!!
Thursday, September 29, 2005
A Labour Party decision that there will be no more school closures has been welcomed with applause by teachers union members. Education Minister Trevor Mallard yesterday told the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) that there would be no more centrally planned school re-organisations once the five-year moratorium on school reviews had ended.
Eighty school swimming pools are disappearing each year as schools sacrifice the expense of water safety to meet an ever-tightening budget. In 2002, there were 1906 state school swimming pools, but today there are only 1668 - a drop of 12 per cent. In just three years 37 secondary schools have disposed of their pools, while 201 primary schools have lost theirs.
A growing number of Americans plan to work beyond normal retirement age because they will not be able to afford to retire. Over 70% of Americans say they intend to work after they "retire" from their main job, and the Rutgers University poll recorded that 12% of those surveyed believe they will never be able to retire — nearly twice the proportion of people who were asked the same question five years ago.
Middle-class French women will be offered cash incentives to have a third child amid growing concerns that professional couples are having too few children.
Dutch doctors have found that few patients who ask for euthanasia are making a rational request for a good death. Writing in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, researchers say that contrary to their own clinical experience and their initial hypothesis, depressed patients were four times more likely to request euthanasia and half of all requests were made by depressed patients. In an accompanying editorial, Dr Ezekiel J. Emanuel, a bioethicist at the US National Institutes of Health, says that most, if not all, studies have shown that psychological distress, including depression and hopelessness, is a major factor in euthanasia requests.
~ Journal of Clinical Oncology, Sept 20
A hospital in Britain has stopped visitors from cooing at other people's babies for fear of trampling over the youngster's human rights. Some new mothers at Calderdale Royal Hospital in Halifax say they are astonished by the new rules, which stop people asking questions about their babies or looking at them in maternity wards.
Eighty school swimming pools are disappearing each year as schools sacrifice the expense of water safety to meet an ever-tightening budget. In 2002, there were 1906 state school swimming pools, but today there are only 1668 - a drop of 12 per cent. In just three years 37 secondary schools have disposed of their pools, while 201 primary schools have lost theirs.
A growing number of Americans plan to work beyond normal retirement age because they will not be able to afford to retire. Over 70% of Americans say they intend to work after they "retire" from their main job, and the Rutgers University poll recorded that 12% of those surveyed believe they will never be able to retire — nearly twice the proportion of people who were asked the same question five years ago.
Middle-class French women will be offered cash incentives to have a third child amid growing concerns that professional couples are having too few children.
Dutch doctors have found that few patients who ask for euthanasia are making a rational request for a good death. Writing in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, researchers say that contrary to their own clinical experience and their initial hypothesis, depressed patients were four times more likely to request euthanasia and half of all requests were made by depressed patients. In an accompanying editorial, Dr Ezekiel J. Emanuel, a bioethicist at the US National Institutes of Health, says that most, if not all, studies have shown that psychological distress, including depression and hopelessness, is a major factor in euthanasia requests.
~ Journal of Clinical Oncology, Sept 20
A hospital in Britain has stopped visitors from cooing at other people's babies for fear of trampling over the youngster's human rights. Some new mothers at Calderdale Royal Hospital in Halifax say they are astonished by the new rules, which stop people asking questions about their babies or looking at them in maternity wards.
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
More than 1200 students aged under 16 years have been banned from NZ schools nationwide so far this year because of out-of-control behaviour. Education Ministry figures showed a total of 1205 students had been banned or "excluded" for the year to September 23.
Australia's schools are on the verge of a revolution that will end "the Berlin Wall" between the public and private systems and deliver greater choice to parents, former competition watchdog chief Allan Fels has predicted. Speaking on the eve of the Schooling for the 21st Century conference, Professor Fels said it was time to debate a voucher scheme that would allow parents to spend a taxpayer-grant at public or private schools. Parents and students should also be offered greater choice between public schools, including being able to select from a cluster of schools in their region, rather than the current "take it or leave it" option based on residence.
Keith Rankin says our MMP voting system has come under much recent attack for doing exactly what it was designed to do; namely delivering a Parliament with representation by parties in proportion to votes cast. But critics have yet to state which parties they believe should have had their votes discounted. Rankin looks at what would have happened on September 17 if the election had been held under any of three other systems: FPP ("nearest the post"); SM ("supplementary member"); 1-2-3 ("preferential MMP"). He concludes that under FPP we would get a parliament made of 36 National, 33 Labour, plus Peter Dunne, another to Jim Anderton, and a third to Tariana Turia. That would leave a result of 35 National; 34 all others. For a 120-member Parliament under SM, the 2005 election would have delivered – on election night – 54 to National, 49 to Labour, 5 to the Maori Party, 3 to NZ First, 3 to Green, 2 to United-Future, 2 to Act, and 2 to the Progressives. Under 1-2-3, the centre-right (including New Zealand First) would have just prevailed over the centre-left (62:60). Votes for the likes of Destiny and Christian Heritage would have counted for the right. Preferences from the Legalise Cannabis Party would have helped the Greens, getting Nandor Tanczos back into Parliament. Under 1-2-3, there would have still been a Maori Party overhang. A likely result would have been: Progressive 1, United-Future 3, Maori 4, Act 6, Green 7, NZ First 7, National 46, Labour 48.
The recent German and Japanese elections deserve more attention than they've got because they illustrate the uneasy relationship between capitalism and democracy. Capitalism thrives on change—it inspires new technologies, products and profit opportunities. Democracy resists change—it creates powerful constituencies with a stake in the status quo. Capitalism (by which I mean an economic system that relies heavily on markets and private ownership) and democracy need each other. The one generates rising living standards; the other cushions capitalism's injustices and, thereby, anchors public support. But this mutual dependence is tricky because if democratic prerogatives are overused, they may strangle capitalism.
Reports of violent crime in the United States in 2004 stayed at the lowest level since the statistics began 32 years ago. By contrast, a United Nations report has labelled Scotland the most violent country in the developed world, with people three times more likely to be assaulted than in America. England and Wales recorded the second highest number of violent assaults while Northern Ireland recorded the fewest.
Tony Blair has admitted that the fight to prevent global warming by ordering countries to cut greenhouse gases will never be won. The UK Prime Minister said "no country is going to cut its growth or consumption" despite environmental fears.
A maverick fertility doctor announced yesterday that he has for a second time failed in his attempts to implant a cloned human embryo into a woman's womb. Panos Zavos claimed - without producing any evidence - that he had created four cloned IVF embryos, which he had then implanted into a 33-year-old woman living in the Middle East. He refused to name the country where the controversial experiment took place and admitted that he has not submitted the study to a scientific journal for peer review - the accepted way of publishing research. The controversial scientist told journalists at a press conference that he had created the four embryos from the skin cells of the woman's husband, a 35-year-old man who is incapable of producing any sperm.
China said Sunday it is imposing new regulations to control content on its news Web sites and will allow the posting of only "healthy and civilized" news. The move is part of China's ongoing efforts to police the country's 100-million Internet population. Sites should only post news on current events and politics, according to the new regulations issued by the Ministry of Information Industry and China's cabinet, the State Council. The subjects that would be acceptable under those categories was not clear. Only "healthy and civilized news and information that is beneficial to the improvement of the quality of the nation, beneficial to its economic development and conducive to social progress" will be allowed, Xinhua said. "The sites are prohibited from spreading news and information that goes against state security and public interest," it added.
Meanwhile, a bloggers' handbook aimed at helping dissidents in repressive countries avoid detection when they publish on the Internet was released in Paris on Thursday with the support of the French government. The press rights group Reporters without Borders (RSF) said the 86-page book - which is also available at its website - offers "handy tips and technical advice on how to to remain anonymous and to get round censorship, by choosing the most suitable method for each situation."
If you are fed up with the daily media diet of death and destruction, there's a new website to help you. Happynews.com, started three months ago, covers many of the international, national, sports and entertainment stories that the big guys do. But as the name implies, it doesn't cover them the same way. Happynews doesn't do bummers: no death, no destruction, no shocking Lindsay Lohan weight-loss updates. Which is to say, it doesn't do the kinds of stories that have come to define the contemporary concept of "news." Happynews founder and publisher Byron Reese says his website's take on the world may be more representative than what he sees in the newspaper or on TV. "I think the news media should give people an accurate view of reality." "What the media gives us now is not an accurate view. It's distorted. I don't want to sound like a media basher, because I'm not, but news organizations tend to report what people want and what they'll buy.
A "hurried" generation who "don’t know anything about the Bible - or Christianity" - this week received the most condensed paraphrase of the Bible to date. Author Revd Martin Hinton describes his 57-page The 100-minute Bible as "a gateway to the Bible for everybody". The ex-headmaster dedicated two years to writing a single narrative, spanning Genesis to Revelation. "We have sacrificed poetry to clarity", he admitted, in the aim of presenting anyone "in an overwhelmingly secular society … with the story and what Christianity is all about".
Australia's schools are on the verge of a revolution that will end "the Berlin Wall" between the public and private systems and deliver greater choice to parents, former competition watchdog chief Allan Fels has predicted. Speaking on the eve of the Schooling for the 21st Century conference, Professor Fels said it was time to debate a voucher scheme that would allow parents to spend a taxpayer-grant at public or private schools. Parents and students should also be offered greater choice between public schools, including being able to select from a cluster of schools in their region, rather than the current "take it or leave it" option based on residence.
Keith Rankin says our MMP voting system has come under much recent attack for doing exactly what it was designed to do; namely delivering a Parliament with representation by parties in proportion to votes cast. But critics have yet to state which parties they believe should have had their votes discounted. Rankin looks at what would have happened on September 17 if the election had been held under any of three other systems: FPP ("nearest the post"); SM ("supplementary member"); 1-2-3 ("preferential MMP"). He concludes that under FPP we would get a parliament made of 36 National, 33 Labour, plus Peter Dunne, another to Jim Anderton, and a third to Tariana Turia. That would leave a result of 35 National; 34 all others. For a 120-member Parliament under SM, the 2005 election would have delivered – on election night – 54 to National, 49 to Labour, 5 to the Maori Party, 3 to NZ First, 3 to Green, 2 to United-Future, 2 to Act, and 2 to the Progressives. Under 1-2-3, the centre-right (including New Zealand First) would have just prevailed over the centre-left (62:60). Votes for the likes of Destiny and Christian Heritage would have counted for the right. Preferences from the Legalise Cannabis Party would have helped the Greens, getting Nandor Tanczos back into Parliament. Under 1-2-3, there would have still been a Maori Party overhang. A likely result would have been: Progressive 1, United-Future 3, Maori 4, Act 6, Green 7, NZ First 7, National 46, Labour 48.
The recent German and Japanese elections deserve more attention than they've got because they illustrate the uneasy relationship between capitalism and democracy. Capitalism thrives on change—it inspires new technologies, products and profit opportunities. Democracy resists change—it creates powerful constituencies with a stake in the status quo. Capitalism (by which I mean an economic system that relies heavily on markets and private ownership) and democracy need each other. The one generates rising living standards; the other cushions capitalism's injustices and, thereby, anchors public support. But this mutual dependence is tricky because if democratic prerogatives are overused, they may strangle capitalism.
Reports of violent crime in the United States in 2004 stayed at the lowest level since the statistics began 32 years ago. By contrast, a United Nations report has labelled Scotland the most violent country in the developed world, with people three times more likely to be assaulted than in America. England and Wales recorded the second highest number of violent assaults while Northern Ireland recorded the fewest.
Tony Blair has admitted that the fight to prevent global warming by ordering countries to cut greenhouse gases will never be won. The UK Prime Minister said "no country is going to cut its growth or consumption" despite environmental fears.
A maverick fertility doctor announced yesterday that he has for a second time failed in his attempts to implant a cloned human embryo into a woman's womb. Panos Zavos claimed - without producing any evidence - that he had created four cloned IVF embryos, which he had then implanted into a 33-year-old woman living in the Middle East. He refused to name the country where the controversial experiment took place and admitted that he has not submitted the study to a scientific journal for peer review - the accepted way of publishing research. The controversial scientist told journalists at a press conference that he had created the four embryos from the skin cells of the woman's husband, a 35-year-old man who is incapable of producing any sperm.
China said Sunday it is imposing new regulations to control content on its news Web sites and will allow the posting of only "healthy and civilized" news. The move is part of China's ongoing efforts to police the country's 100-million Internet population. Sites should only post news on current events and politics, according to the new regulations issued by the Ministry of Information Industry and China's cabinet, the State Council. The subjects that would be acceptable under those categories was not clear. Only "healthy and civilized news and information that is beneficial to the improvement of the quality of the nation, beneficial to its economic development and conducive to social progress" will be allowed, Xinhua said. "The sites are prohibited from spreading news and information that goes against state security and public interest," it added.
Meanwhile, a bloggers' handbook aimed at helping dissidents in repressive countries avoid detection when they publish on the Internet was released in Paris on Thursday with the support of the French government. The press rights group Reporters without Borders (RSF) said the 86-page book - which is also available at its website - offers "handy tips and technical advice on how to to remain anonymous and to get round censorship, by choosing the most suitable method for each situation."
If you are fed up with the daily media diet of death and destruction, there's a new website to help you. Happynews.com, started three months ago, covers many of the international, national, sports and entertainment stories that the big guys do. But as the name implies, it doesn't cover them the same way. Happynews doesn't do bummers: no death, no destruction, no shocking Lindsay Lohan weight-loss updates. Which is to say, it doesn't do the kinds of stories that have come to define the contemporary concept of "news." Happynews founder and publisher Byron Reese says his website's take on the world may be more representative than what he sees in the newspaper or on TV. "I think the news media should give people an accurate view of reality." "What the media gives us now is not an accurate view. It's distorted. I don't want to sound like a media basher, because I'm not, but news organizations tend to report what people want and what they'll buy.
A "hurried" generation who "don’t know anything about the Bible - or Christianity" - this week received the most condensed paraphrase of the Bible to date. Author Revd Martin Hinton describes his 57-page The 100-minute Bible as "a gateway to the Bible for everybody". The ex-headmaster dedicated two years to writing a single narrative, spanning Genesis to Revelation. "We have sacrificed poetry to clarity", he admitted, in the aim of presenting anyone "in an overwhelmingly secular society … with the story and what Christianity is all about".
