The Weekender 15/08/2010
Submitted by darrenh on Sun, 15/08/2010 - 18:24
Hello everyone!
Sport
With the tri-nations taking a break this weekend, lets get on to the NPC. Auckland beat BOP 11-6 in terrible wet conditions at the Mount. Southland retained the Ranfurly Shield by beating the former chart leaders Counties-Manukau 13-9 with a Jason Rutledge try near the end. Tana Umaga (who is player/coach for Counties) has still never won the Shield. Canterbury had their best outing, beating North Harbour 44-22, Tasman surprised & thrashed Hawke's Bay 21-7, and Northland thrashed Manawatu 77-8.
Bay of Plenty has bowed to public pressure and has banned the use of vuvuzelas at home games.
The Tall Blacks may have looked to the All Whites for a bit of inspiration when they pulled off a stunning 104-103 double overtime opening game win over Slovenia. Kirk Penny put on a fantastic 42 points.
Wow the Warriors do so much better when Manu Vatuvei is playing & playing well. He scored a hat-trick this afternoon to help the Warriors to a 22-10 win over Newcastle & put them one step closer to the playoffs.
Our most decorated soft-baller Mark Sorenson is to be admitted into the United States Hall of Fame.
In their first game of the one-day tri-series NZ humbled India by 200 runs after reaching 288. In the Black Caps second game they fell to Sri Lanka by three wickets.
NZ News
The Independent Police Conduct Authority did an investigation into the disappearance of Ben Smart & Olivia Hope from the Marlborough Sounds back in 1997. They criticised three parts of the investigation but found those three aspects didn't affect the outcome.
Labour tried to kick a hornets nest this week when they accused Tony Ryall, the Health Minister, of "sneaking into hospitals to spy on staff". A spokesman said the visits were spur-of-the-moment and he usually introduced himself to patients to chat about their experiences. One medical union said it was a "storm in a bedpan". I wonder how the accuser, former Health Minister, Labours Annette King used to find out how things were going in hospitals? Perhaps she just emailed them from the beach she was lying on.
During the week I happened to read a story about London preparing for the Olympics. They mentioned that Kiwis & Aussies might refer to the English as "poms" but not to worry because it was a term of endearment. Ironically, the next day a story came out about the Rugby World Cup, saying "Be nice to visitors - and don't call them Poms".
The government is giving DIY'ers an early Christmas present by cutting the red tape out of the house building sector, relaxing rules on minor jobs. However builders and designers will be forced to stand by their work, liable to provide warranties and fix things if disputes arise.
A kiwi pilot, Steve Morrissey, went missing a week ago in Hong Kong and after a long search his body was finally found. The Air NZ pilot almost made the end of the track with a friend and then didn't meet up at the hotel and also missed his flight the next day.
Labour MP's seem resigned to not winning next years election after Labour MP Winnie Laban accepted a job at Victoria University before telling her party leader she was leaving.
5: th NZ to die from swine flu this year was a 22 year old Hawke's Bay man - with an underlying health condition
10: % more health insurance claims in the year ending June
28.7: % support for John Banks in the race for the Super City mayoralty - Sir John Walker has joined the race for the mayoralty
29.6: % support for Len Brown in the race for the Super City mayoralty (margin of error 3.5%)
50: % of kiwi adults now have a tertiary qualification - we are getting smarter
965: $ stolen from a Palmerston North Kiwibank led to jail for the robber, he was sentenced to three years and four months (are bank robbers getting dumber?)
1200: skiers were trapped on Mt Hutt for the night after 200kph winds closed the road
4.37m: is now the population of NZ after it grew an estimated 1.2% in the year to June 30
30m: $ to be set aside for road safety programmes
Finance NZ Dollar
GBP 0.4530 (-0.0074)
EUR 0.5538 (+0.0011)
USD 0.7061 (-0.0276)
AUD 0.7914 (-0.0084)
The
Weekender NZer of the week
Te Rangi Hiroa/Sir Peter Buck
AOTEAROA ANTHROPOLOGIST
Peter Buck’s achievements are astonishing for their diversity: pioneering and internationally renowned anthropologist, the first Maori medical doctor, a politician, administrator, soldier, sportsperson and leader of the Maori people. Through exploring the cross-cultural advantages of his birth and excercising a self-taught scientific rigour, Buck extended the edges of knowledge.
http://www.nzedge.com/heroes/buck.html
Dangerous Cargo
Our Supply Clerk at the factory where I work, discovered a box that was left on the loading dock with this warning printed on it: DANGER DO NOT TOUCH!
Management was called and all employees were told to stay clear of the box until it could be analyzed.
When the foreman arrived, he donned gloves and safety glasses, and then, very carefully opened the box. Inside were 25 signs that read: DANGER! DO NOT TOUCH!
Check
out my photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/dunwich42
Darren Harrison:
darren@harrison.gen.nz
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