Utopia, you are standing in it!

Shackleton: By Endurance We Conquer
by Michael Smith
443 pages
Oneworld Publications
Published: Oct 2014

Michael Smith’s biography of Ernest Shackleton was the first full biography of this legendary explorer in nearly three decades. Smith is a British author and journalist with a focus on polar exploration. Among his half-dozen other books are “An Unsung Hero – Tom Crean” and “Captain Francis Crozier – Last Man Standing?”

Ernest Shackleton (1874-1922) is best remembered for the dramatic heroics and tragic misfortunes associated with his Antarctic Expedition of 1914-1917 which resulted in the loss of three men. But this was just one of four such trips he would undertake before he died at the age of 47. During a less star-crossed expedition in 1907 he hoped to be the first person to reach the South Pole but, running critically low on supplies, had to turn back 100 miles…

Following the death of the philanderer, Pope John XII, a schism began to emerge between the military empire of Germany and Constantinople’s imperial whims on the Italian peninsula while the Rome remained at the center. Which side would the pontiffs choose –Germany or Byzantium? With John out of the way, German ruler Otto assumed Rome would simply re-appoint his own preferred pope, Leo VIII, however the bishops of Rome would have none of this bullying. They preferred a reformer who maintained a morally unimpeachable character and thus they elected Benedict V as the next pope. However, a furious Otto besieged Rome until Benedict was dethroned and exiled to Hamburg (where he died two years later). Benedict had only been pope for about a month. In his stead, Otto placed Leo back on the throne and when he also died two years later, Otto forced John XIII into the papacy, though…

To: The Finance and Expenditure Committee,
Parliament Buildings
Wellington

I oppose the Water Services Entities Bill and the Three Waters reforms and I am very concerned about the divisive racial track that this country is currently being taken down.

Three Waters seems to be an integral part of that racial division favouring one race over all others that make up this fine country. An unpalatable agenda and contrary in all aspects of the New Zealand I grew up in and have lived in for over 76 years.

I would like to make an oral submission to the Committee, ideally in person in my community. I am sure that I would not be the only person in Hastings wanting to do this and at my age I would very much prefer not to have to travel to Wellington to do so. But believe me I will do so if it means…

Boris Johnson yesterday fired the starting gun on a Conservative leadership race which should make the winner Prime Minister. Meg Russell, Alan Renwick and Robert Hazell pose five key questions which Conservative MPs and others are encouraged to ask the party leadership candidates, based on recent public, parliamentary and expert concerns.

Boris Johnson’s premiership has been marked by ever-growing concerns about the maintenance of various constitutional standards, which in recent days have reached fever pitch. These were echoed repeatedly in ministerial resignation statements and calls for him to go. Recent opinion polls meanwhile show strong public support for constitutional standards of integrity and accountability.

Conservative MPs now have an opportunity to choose among candidates to take Johnson’s place, which also creates an important constitutional responsibility. A high priority when picking the next Conservative leader should be to restore the standards essential to UK democracy, in order both to rebuild…

The Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee works to a “Remit” set down for them from time to time by the Minister of Finance (the current one is here). It is a different (and better) system than the previous approach of Policy Targets Agreements between the Governor and the Minister, and in particular makes it clear (as is appropriate in our system of government) that the (elected) Minister and government set the targets for monetary policy, while the MPC is the accountable (at least on paper) body responsible for setting monetary policy to deliver the government’s goal.

Under the Reserve Bank Act the law now reads

And several weeks ago the Bank kicked off the first stage in a consultative process designed to inform the advice they will eventually provide to the Minister of Finance. If you want to have a say, submissions close next Friday (15th).

Consultation with the…

German Autobahn Their Government has decided for them what cars they’re to be allowed to have, or not have. Climate obsession allows their leaders to do that apparently, by claiming their transport policies are ‘climate friendly’ or something. The motoring public find themselves backed into a corner.
– – –
A majority of Germans oppose the EU’s planned 2035 ban of combustion engine cars, according to a survey by research institute forsa for UNITI, the German association of small and medium-sized mineral oil companies.

The survey found that 58 percent of respondents are against an outright ban, while 39 percent support it, says Clean Energy Wire.

Nearly two-thirds of respondents also reject a medium or long-term general ban on vehicles with diesel or petrol engines.

Back in May we reported on the suspension of Stuart Kirk, who dropped some truth bombs about climate finance at a Times newspaper conference. Stuart has now resigned his post, and issued this statement:

Today I wish to announce that I have resigned as global head of responsible investing at HSBC Asset Management.

Ironically given my job title, I have concluded that the bank’s behaviour towards me since my speech at a Financial Times conference in May has made my position, well, unsustainable.

Funny old world.

Over a 27-year unblemished record in finance, journalism and consulting I have only ever tried to do the best for my clients and readers, knowing that doing so helps my employer too.

Investing is hard. So is saving our planet. Opinions on both differ. But humanity’s best chance of success is open and honest debate. If companies believe in diversity and speaking up…

Edward I (June 17/18, 1239 – July 7, 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307.

Edward was born at the Palace of Westminster on the night of June 17–18, 1239, to King Henry III and Eleanor of Provence. Edward is an Anglo-Saxon name, and was not commonly given among the aristocracy of England after the Norman conquest, but Henry was devoted to the veneration of Edward the Confessor, and decided to name his firstborn son after the saint.

Before his accession to the throne, he was commonly referred to as The Lord Edward. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved from an early age in the political intrigues of his father’s reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons. In 1259, he briefly sided with a baronial reform movement…

James Caan, Vito Corleone’s toughest son and Buddy the Elf’s soft touch dad, has died. An old school hardcase who worked pretty much right to the end, he was 82.

“Thief,” “Gardens of Stone,” “The Godfather,” he walked away from good parts and seemed to have as many foibles as anybody who ever attained star status. But he was one of a kind.

Talented people wanted to work with him, even if he wasn’t the nicest guy to deal with on the set. I remember him dismissing “For the Boys,” and keeping Bette Midler, a packed LA cinema and a big band waiting for the premiere, one of a couple of times I interviewed him.

A lot of long “bathroom” breaks in that era in Hollywood.

That British series on movies and the star system that contrasted Caan with gladhander hack Schwarzenegger made Arnold look like a putz and Caan…

There is no doubt that the thumping, grinding, mechanical cacophony generated by giant industrial wind turbines drives neighbours nuts. But trying to explain wind turbine noise to someone who has never had to live with it, is like trying to explain a migraine to someone who has never had a headache.

A study from Flinders University in South Australia found, that there’s a reason why wind turbine noise is so much worse after dark; precisely when people are trying to wind down and, at some point, sleep.

The Flinders University study identified the culprit as the pulsing, thumping nature of wind turbine noise – aka ‘amplitude modulation’ (AM) – which relates to blades passing the tower – that results in peaks and troughs in sound pressure levels – that makes living with wind turbine noise a daily misery for thousands around the world.

Australia’s Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) held that…

Boris Johnson’s time in Downing Street appears to be in its final days, but how it will end remains unclear. Robert Hazell examines the possibilities. How long will a leadership election take? Could there be a caretaker Prime Minister? What happens if Johnson tries to call a snap general election?

If Boris Johnson loses the confidence vote among Conservative MPs, he is not able to stand again. Any other Conservative MP can stand for the party leadership. How long it will take for the party to elect a new leader will depend on the number of candidates standing, and whether the vote goes to a second stage ballot of all party members. Party rules prescribe that Conservative MPs vote initially in a series of ballots to select two candidates, who then go forward to a postal ballot of all party members for the final decision. In 2005 it took two…

The Constitution Unit has today published a new discussion paper entitled Northern Ireland’s political future: Challenges after the Assembly elections. Here the author, Alan Whysall, Honorary Senior Research Associate at the Unit, introduces it. A further paper on longer-term prospects for Northern Ireland will be published later this year.

Northern Ireland voted for a new Assembly yesterday; the results will emerge over the coming hours and days. Thereafter, talks will begin on the formation of a new Executive. What happens in these negotiations matters profoundly for the future of Northern Ireland. It should also be of great concern to ministers in London. The future of the power-sharing arrangements that have brought stability to Northern Ireland for almost a quarter of a century may be at stake.

In current difficulties, there is also the potential to bring about change for the better. The paper explores what renewal of the…

From the Emperor’s Desk: This is the information I discovered.

The Treaty of Union and the subsequent Acts of Union state that England and Scotland were to be “United into One Kingdom by the Name of Great Britain”, and as such “Great Britain” was the official name of the state, as well as being used in titles such as “Parliament of Great Britain”.

The websites of the Scottish Parliament, the BBC, and others, including the Historical Association, refer to the state created on May 1, 1707 as the United Kingdom of Great Britain. Both the Acts and the Treaty describe the country as “One Kingdom” and a “United Kingdom”, leading some publications to treat the state as the “United Kingdom”. The term United Kingdom was sometimes used during the 18th century to describe the state.

Kingdoms

The Acts of Union 1800 were parallel acts of the Parliament of Great Britain…