TGIF 3 December 2010

3 December 2010
ANALYSIS
Prince Andrew’s
royal goof
page
6
WORLD
MUSIC
BOOKS
iPhone app
saves life
Keeping it
Kanye
Palin
breaks cover
page
TGIFEDITION.TV
8
page
Auckland
Sat: 22°/14° Sun: 22°/15°
Hamilton
Sat: 27°/13° Sun: 21°/13°
14
Wellington
Sat: 24°/14° Sun: 19°/13°
page
Christchurch
Sat: 21°/13° Sun: 23°/11°
15
Queenstown
Sat: 26°/9° Sun: 20°/7°
Dunedin
Sat: 20°/12° Sun: 17°/10°
SUBSCRIBE TODAY,
IT’S FREE!
THERE’S ONE EASY WAY TO GET
THIS DIGITAL NEWSPAPER
EDITION
1
Via FACEBOOK or TWITTER
ISSN 1172-4153 | Volume 3 | Issue 72 |
| 3 December 2010 Court: abortion guidelines wrong on the
INSIDE
WELLINGTON, DEC 3 – New liberal Medical Council guidelines for doctors dealing with the issue of
abortion have overstepped the law and need to be
amended, the High Court has ruled.
Among the requirements in the council’s beliefs
and medical practice statement, doctors were
required to ensure patients were aware that abortion was an option if they were concerned about
their pregnancies.
Doctors who did not want to provide the service
could refer the request elsewhere, informing the
person it could be obtained from another health
practitioner, or a family planning clinic.
A group of doctors raised objection to the statement in a judicial review at the High Court in
Wellington last month, saying it wrongly required
them to give advice that might facilitate the patient
obtaining an abortion.
The group’s lawyer, Harry Waalkens, QC, said the
statement was not in line with the Contraception,
Sterilisation and Abortion Act itself, which excluded
offering advice of abortion services.
In a decision released today, Justice Alan MacKenzie said the statement overstated doctors’duties
in one instance and, in another, imposed obligations
beyond those imposed by law, New Zealand Doctor
reported.
Justice MacKenzie said that when a woman
requested an abortion, the proper course for a doctor who had a conscientious objection was to decline
NZPA / Mark Coote
Wong answers, may quit
WELLINGTON, DEC 3 – Former cabinet minister
Pansy Wong says she considered resigning from
Parliament for breaching international travel
rebate rules, and she isn’t certain she will stand for
re-election next year.
An inquiry report released today said a taxpayersubsidised trip she and her husband Sammy took
to China in 2008 could be construed as being for
private business, which is against the rules.
Mr Wong was involved in a business deal when
they were there, and when that was revealed last
month Mrs Wong resigned her ministerial portfolios
of women’s affairs and ethnic affairs.
The independent inquiry,conducted by consultant
to embark upon the process, and inform the woman
she could obtain the service from another health
practitioner.
“This must be seen as a maximum obligation [of
the Health Practioners Competence Assurance Act],
and not one which may be supplemented by the
imposition of professional standards.”
The judge ordered two paragraphs of the draft
statement be amended to “make clear the doctor’s
ability to decline to become medically involved”.
Medical Council chairman John Adams said time
was needed to digest the judgment before reworking the statement for consideration by the council
early next year.
– NZPA
Hugh McPhail, investigated 13 international trips
taken by Mrs Wong and Sammy Wong since 2000 and
found no evidence of abuse other than the single case
of the visit to China. Most of the trips were to Asia
and Australia and they included three by Mrs Wong,
five by Mr Wong and five by both of them.
“I did think about resigning from Parliament
because I didn’t want my behaviour to become a
distraction for the prime minister and the Government,”she said at a sometimes emotional press
conference today.
“I was frustrated with myself, because I’m very
conscious that New Zealanders are fed up with the
misuse of parliamentary funding.”
She said that was why she resigned from the
Cabinet.
“I guess I let myself down. It wasn’t an easy decision. I like to believe that single act is my gesture to
tell people I do want to aspire to and live by high
standards,”she said.
Prime Minister John Key said Mrs Wong had
always been an honest, hard working MP.
“The report says she’s made a mistake inadvertently, I accept that and she accepts that,”he said.
“I think she’s made a great contribution in 14
years and I would like to retain her, not only as a
member of the National Party caucus but, hopefully,
one day as a minister again.”
Mr Key said MrsWong had indicated she wanted to
spend time working hard for the people of Botany and
for the Asian community, as she had for a long time.
“I’m not ruling out her coming back to Cabinet
but it’s not likely to be before the election,”he said.
Mrs Wong has apologised and repaid the amount
of the rebate, $237 each for herself and her husband.
She said she was“100 percent committed”to her
Continue reading
Before and after...
trust Olympus
The E-620 from Olympus
For more information contact H.E. Perry Ltd.phone: 0800 10 33 88 | email: [email protected] | http://www.heperry.co.nz
MINE LATEST
Challenge remains
Page 2
SHYSTER’S WRECKAGE
Pensioners lose Blue Chip case
Page 3
WILLSKATE’S BAD DATE
Sharing their wedding day with Hitler
Page 5
NEW ZEALAND
2
off
BEAT
PCs GET PC COMPLAINTS ABOUT SNOWBALLS
WEST BRIDGFORD, ENGLAND, DEC. 3 (UPI) – An
English county’s police department is pleading with
the public to stop calling the emergency line to report
snowball throwing.
Nottinghamshire Police said hundreds of calls have
been pouring in about snowballs since the weather took
a turn for winter, with 120 calls alone made between
Tuesday morning and Thursday morning, The Daily
Telegraph reported Thursday.
‘’We are advising people to only ring us if there is an
incident with snowball throwing that it seems only police
can deal with,” a police spokesman said.
‘’These include incidents that are examples of serious anti-social behavior, or involve vulnerable people, or pose
real and serious dangers to traffic,” he said. ‘’We are
receiving a great number of weather-related calls and are
asking people to consider if the situation regarding snowball throwing is really a matter for police before they ring.’’
AIDEN, SOPHIA TOP BABY NAMES OF 2010
SAN FRANCISCO, DEC. 3 (UPI) – A San Francisco
parenting Web site said its annual survey of registered
infants found Aiden was the top name for boys and
Sophia topped the list for girls.
BabyCenter.com said its survey of the 350,000
babies registered on the site as born in 2010 found
Aiden topped the boys’ list for the sixth year, followed by
Jacob, Jackson, Ethan, Jayden, Noah, Logan, Caden,
Lucas and Liam.
The Web site said Sophia knocked last year’s top
girl’s name, Isabella, into second place, followed by Olivia,
Emma, Chloe, Ava, Lily, Madison, Addison and Abigail.
The BabyCenter editors said they also saw a strong
influence on this year’s list from pop culture, with names from TV series Glee, including Finn and Quinn, rising rapidly, as well as influences from Mad Men and Disney films.
Thirty-six percent of BabyCenter moms say they find
name inspiration in famous people and characters. This is the first time we’ve seen parents really own up to the
influence of pop culture, said Linda Murray, BabyCenter
editor in chief. Celebrities are our royalty, and consciously
or unconsciously, parents want a bit of that shine to rub off
on their kids.
STUDENT CYBERMUGGED BY COPS
GAINESVILLE, FLA., DEC. 3 (UPI) – A University of
Florida student said he searched his name on Google
and found authorities were using his picture to represent
a similarly named convict.
Zachary Garcia, a student at the Gainesville school,
said an online search for his name brought up his picture
associated with a Polk County Sheriff’s Office report of
a murder convict named Zachery Garcia, who spells his first name with an e rather than an a.
“I was just very shocked to find my picture and the
article saying that I was convicted of a felony murder
charge,” the student said, “and I was just very shocked
and angry that someone put my name up there and said
I did something I didn’t do”.
“Everybody makes mistakes”, Garcia said. “I work at
Publix and I might get somebody’s sub (order) wrong. But
for somebody to get (the photo of a suspect) wrong ... it’s not a sandwich, it’s somebody’s life you’re playing with.”
POLICE: MAN LOST CAR, MADE UP ROBBERY
BOYNTON BEACH, FLA., DEC. 2 (UPI) – Police in
Florida said a man allegedly invented a story about a
carjacking because he couldn’t remember where he had
parked his car.
Boynton Beach police said they were approached by
Craig Alberstat, 46, of Delray Beach, at about 2:20 a.m.
Nov. 19 and he told them he had stopped while driving
his 2003 Volkswagen Jetta to talk to a cute girl on the
street, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Thursday.
Police said Alberstat told them he was then
approached by four robbers who assaulted him and
took the vehicle. However, investigators said they soon
determined Alberstat had invented the tale and he admitted to officers he had forgotten what he did with his car
after using Xanax.
Alberstat apologized to detectives for ‘wasting personnel’s time,’ police spokeswoman Stephanie Slater said.
Alberstat, whose car was located by police the following day in a parking lot less than a mile from where he
approached the officers, was charged with false report of
a crime.
3 December 2010
Mum proud of daughter’s heroics
AUCKLAND, DEC 3 – The mother of a girl who
helped to rescue a friend of Raphael Alualu, who
drowned after leaping into a swimming hole on
Auckland’s North Shore, say she is very proud of
what her daughter did.
Raphael, a 16-year-old of Samoan descent, surfaced briefly before disappearing after jumping five
metres off a cliff top into a quarry swimming hole
next to Lake Pupuke on Tuesday.
His friend was also struggling in the water but
was pulled to safety by Westlake Girls’ High students Jemma Western, 16, and Tessa Pitney, 15.
One their friends, 15-year-old Eryn Crombie,
injured her neck in the rescue and had to be taken
to North Shore Hospital, The North Shore Times
reported.
Tessa’s mother Liz told NZPA she was proud of
what the girls did, but did not wish to say more to
the media out of respect for Raphael’s family.
“I’m very proud of what the girls did – as a
mother I’m incredibly proud of what she did – I
think they were very helpful, but I think we need
to just leave it at that because there’s a grieving
family out there,”she said.
Raphael was part of a youth programme at the
School of Business in Newmarket, Auckland, and
had gone to the lake with other students and staff.
The swimming hole is next to the North Shore
Squash Club and president Pat Menzies said he had
warned the new Auckland council something had
to be done about the dangers of youngsters leaping
into the lake.
“It’s been an accident waiting to happen. Everyday I go to the club, especially in summer, there
are kids there.
“It is a beautiful spot down there and it attracts
them.Where there is water there is going to be people and youths.
“I feel very bad.The kids were just having fun.”
Mr Menzies said over the years there had been a
number of deaths and injuries at the lake.
Police said they had spoken to witnesses who saw
Raphael dive into the swimming hole and investigations into the circumstances surrounding his death
were continuing.
File
– NZPA
Mine challenging rescuers still
WELLINGTON, DEC 3 – An Australian mine safety
expert says the Pike River site is unusually difficult
to get to and into, as work continues to make the
mine safe enough to rescue the bodies of 29 men.
A jet-propelled machine brought in from Australia to extinguish the fire in the West Coast mine
has been operating since Wednesday night and is
expected to work throughout the weekend.
It is hoped that the GAG (Gorniczy Agregat Gasniczy) machine will put out the fires with the use of
water vapour so teams can attempt to retrieve the men
killed after an explosion at the mine two weeks ago.
Police said today the fire was being gradually
suppressed after the machine began pumping carbon dioxide into the mine, but warned that it was
likely to be weeks rather than days before rescuers
could enter.
David Cliff, an Associate Professor at the University of Queensland, who is advising on the Pike
River operation, said the GAG would have filled the
tunnel many times by now.
“...And that’s why we are using the GAG because
it has the capacity to keep pumping and pumping
at a much greater rate,”he told a media briefing in
Greymouth this afternoon.
Despite the large volume of gas already pumped
into the mine, a lot more was needed to extinguish
the fire which is likely to have spread to the coal seam.
XINHUA/NEWSCOM
An expert in mine explosions and gas analysis
with 19 years of providing health and safety advice
to the industry, Dr Cliff said the mine site was the
most challenging he had encountered.
“We’ve had so many natural difficulties in terms
of the terrain, the isolation and the inability to get
access to do things,”he said.
The mine would be carefully checked before rescue teams were sent in.
“We’re using a boots and all approach, we’re just
going to keep going, we want to pressurise the mine
and push the methane back from all the areas of
interest, we want to exclude the air and guarantee
it’s all gone,”Dr Cliff said.
Once the fire is put out, the GAG machine will
blow nitrogen down the shaft to try and cool the
mine down, which is expected to take some time.
– NZPA
MAF hopes to nail oyster killer
WELLINGTON, DEC 3 NZPA – Marine pathologists
investigating the huge die-off of juvenile Pacific oysters – mostly in North Island marine farms – hope
to pin down the cause by Wednesday next week.
“Biosecurity New Zealand people who took
about 250 samples last week are flat out analysing
them and expect to have answers by Wednesday,”
Oyster Industry Association executive officer Tom
Hollings told NZPA today.
Half the aquaculture industry’s farmed oysters
due for harvest next year have died on marine
farms from Parengarenga Harbour in Northland to
Ohiwa in the eastern Bay of Plenty, and
samples from juvenile oysters
are being analysed.
On some farms, up to 80
percent of juvenile oysters
have died, compared with 5
percent to 10 percent in a normal year.
“While some mortality events have been
seen in New Zealand Pacific oysters in the past,
and routinely there is low level mortality, this event
has been big and sudden,”said a spokeswoman for
the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, whose
scientists are investigating.
But Mr Hollings said there had actually been
an earlier die-off, last autumn, and at that time
marine researchers at a private-sector institute
had suggested the causes were environmental factors, such as exceptionally warm, dry and settled
weather patterns.
“That gave us no answers at all,”Mr Hollings told
NZPA.
MAF has said not enough was yet known to link
the New Zealand deaths with an oyster herpes virus
which has killed between 20
to 100 percent of breeding
Pacific oysters in some
French beds in 2008, 2009,
and 2010.
That Ostreid herpesvirus
1 (OsHV-1) has spread into
British waters, and according to
Kevin Denham of the British government’s fish health inspectorate, it remains
dormant until water temperatures exceed 16degC.
Ostreid herpes viruses are known to affect not
only oysters but also clams, scallops, and other
molluscs, according to French Research Institute
for Exploitation of the Sea pathology lab director
Tristan Renault, who has suggested in Europe that
global warming “could be an explanation of the
appearance of this particular type of the virus”.
Animal health experts at the European Food
Safety Authority (EFSA) are assessing the extent
to which a combination of“infectious agents”such
as OsHV-1 and environmental factors are causing
the die-off of Pacific oysters there, whether other
shellfish species are involved and the risk of infection posed by the transfer of adult Pacific oysters
from infected farms.
Asked whether the oyster herpes virus had been
detected in the New Zealand shellfish, the MAF
spokeswoman said:“Testing is at a very early stage
and a wide range of factors are being considered.”
She noted that the 2008 outbreaks of late spring
and summer in Ireland and France were blamed
on a combination of adverse environmental factors, together with Vibrio bacteria, and a newlydescribed strain of the oyster herpes virus.
– NZPA
NEW ZEALAND
3 December 2010
3
God save us from Blue Chip
AUCKLAND, DEC 3 – Northland pensioners Bruce
and Judy Bartle head into Christmas not knowing if they will keep their home, and despairing for
hundreds of other investors in the failed Blue Chip
property schemes.
Mrs Bartle, 70, said she sobbed today when she
heard she and husband, Bruce, 72, had lost their
Supreme Court case against GE Custodians, which
advanced them more than $600,000 to buy an
Auckland apartment under a Blue Chip scheme.
The Supreme Court overturned an earlier Court of
Appeal ruling,and found that the loan was not oppressive. It ordered the Bartles to pay $25,000 in costs.
The Bartles said today they had thought they
were borrowing $137,000 in a joint venture with
Blue Chip to buy an Auckland apartment.The loan
eventually climbed to $629,000, with their Whangarei house as collateral.
GE Custodians, which lent the Bartles the money,
sold the apartment for $250,000 when the Blue Chip
scheme failed.
Mrs Bartle said they had no idea what would happen. They did not know if they could stay in their
Whangarei home,and they did not know what would
happen over the $629,000 loan, which Mrs Bartle
said was not the amount they originally signed for.
The Supreme Court case was seen as a test case
for many elderly investors who faced losing their
homes.
Before today’s ruling the Court of Appeal had
found the loans were oppressive, following on from
the High Court finding the Bartles had little understanding of the scheme, which was very disadvantageous for them. It concluded the loans were not
in breach of reasonable standards of commercial
practice and thus were not oppressive.
Blue Chip’s
founder Mark
Bryers leaves the
Auckland District
Court
The Appeal Court decision was challenged by GE
Custodians in the Supreme Court, which allowed the
appeal and set aside Appeal Court orders.
Mrs Bartle said she felt very bad for the hundreds
of other pensioners who owned their own homes,
who had invested in a Blue Chip scheme and who
now faced the same uncertain future.
“We don’t need this at this time of our life. The
cruel part of it is we won in the Court of Appeal.”
She said they had no idea of what would happen,
although their lawyer Paul Dale said he hoped GE
would not be insensitive enough to force them out
of their home.
Mrs Bartle said it had taught her not to trust
anyone. Faith and“lots of lovely friends”would carry
them through a stressful time.
“We believe God will look after us.We can’t call
on anyone higher than that.”
She also said she had forgiven people who put
them in such a bad position.
“What is the point in harbouring things like that?
You get bitter and it only eats at you.What is left of
life I want to enjoy.”
– NZPA
Kiwi all over the place
WELLINGTON, DEC 3 – The New Zealand dollar
consolidated above US75c today after a “night of
vicious volatility in currency markets”on Thursday.
The NZ dollar was at US75.44c at 5pm today, up
slightly from US75.39c at 8am and improved from
the US75.08c at 5pm yesterday.
It was at A77.39c at 5pm from A77.29c at 8am
and A77.91c at 5pm yesterday.
BNZ currency strategist Mike Jones said the NZ
dollar had traded in a wide range on Thursday night
of vicious volatility in currency markets.
It had initially fallen to almost US74.50c but
rose later in the overnight session thanks to a late
improvement in investors’ risk appetite.
The euro rose overnight and the upward momentum continued into the Asian trading day, though
traders are wary of US payrolls data due later today.
The euro has been boosted by reports the European Central Bank was buying Portuguese and
Irish bonds. That followed investor disappointment ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet did not
announce a more aggressive policy response to ease
the euro zone debt crisis.
The NZ dollar was little changed at 0.5716 euro
at 5pm from 0.5711 euro at 8am and was lower compared to the 0.5728 at 5pm yesterday.
The NZ dollar was also little changed at 63.16 yen
by 5pm from 63.12 yen at the same time yesterday,
while the trade weighted index was at 68.51 from
68.48 at 5pm.
BNZ said the NZ dollar has shed almost four
US cents in the last few weeks on worries about
European debt and other factors.
The NZ dollar had been looking over-stretched
above US78c and on a“fair-value”analysis its value
has reduced.
“As we move towards year-end, we continue to
hold the view that the balance of risks around the
NZ/US dollar outlook are tilted towards the downside, at least in the short-term,” BNZ said. A daily
close below US74c would pave the way for a deeper
correction toward US72c.
Position-squaring by investors who had previously bought NZ dollars has potential to amplify
a sell-off in the NZ dollar.
Botany electorate but did not give a direct answer
when she was asked whether she would stand for
re-election in next year’s general election.
“The report is just out. I want to know what the
Botany electorate feels about it,”she said.
“I have always taken my electorate feedback very
seriously.”
Labour leader Phil Goff today called for the case
to be referred to the Auditor-General.
“The report simply swallows the story as told by
the Wongs, who have already been caught rorting
taxpayers’money,”he said.
“How can their word be trusted? This is a onceover-lightly investigation that has barely scratched
the surface. It certainly does not tell us what the
Wongs have been up to.”
Mr Goff said the report revealed the Wongs had
taken 13 overseas trips and claimed $54,149 on the
travel rebate.
“Five of those were taken by Sammy Wong
alone...the same report reveals that Sammy Wong
has business interests in China and Vietnam -- the
very countries he travelled to on these so-called
holidays at the taxpayers’ expense.”
Mr Goff said the report also revealed Sammy
Wong had claimed nearly $93,935 in domestic
travel subsidies, which MPs’ spouses are entitled
to and are not permitted to be used for business
purposes.
“He advised the author (of the report) that those
trips were not for private business purposes or that
he has ‘no recollection’of any business purpose,”Mr
Goff said.
“His word is again simply accepted, despite the
fact that many of the trips were to Christchurch
where he has significant business interests.”
You’ve already been
swimming with the dolphins...
Our one-stop connection will
have you in Phuket same day.
– NZPA
publiceye_2196Listner
– NZPA
Back to the front page
Fly THAI to the world, smooth as silk.
For more information and details of our latest special deals, ask your travel agent.
www.thaiairways.com
publiceye_2290_INVEST
we protect your digital worlds
01732_CS_Nod32_V4_M2_Ad.indd 1
11/5/09 2:37:08 PM
EDITORIAL
3 December 2010
Guest Editorial Family Matters Saying goodbye to 29 brave men
The Pike River Mine tragedy ripped at the heart of
New Zealand.The 29 men
who lost their lives have
left behind family, friends,
and a void that can never
be filled.
Yesterday my wife
Bronagh and I went to
Greymouth for the Pike
River National Remembrance Service.
The service was very moving. We heard stories
of happy men who were so deeply loved by their
families, friends, and community.We shared the pain
of those who were saying goodbye to their loved
ones in the most tragic of circumstances. And we
saw a close-knit community pulling together more
than ever before.
In my speech I passed on the sympathies of all
New Zealanders.The miners’families have told me
that although their personal grief is immeasurable,
they have really appreciated the outpouring of support from all over New Zealand and the world. I
am proud to be Prime Minister of a country whose
people care so much about each other.
The Government is establishing a Royal Commission of
Inquiry into the Pike River Mine tragedy. We’re doing everything we can to make sure this tragedy isn’t repeated,
By Bob McCoskrie
-The time to tackle our binge drinking culture
and we’re taking every step we can to get the answers
that the families, and all New Zealanders, need.
To the families of the 29 brave men, I want you
to know that all New Zealanders continue to stand
alongside you.We can’t bring your loved ones back.We
can’t feel the pain that you are feeling.But our heartfelt thoughts are with you in the trying times ahead.
Many of us didn’t get the chance to know your
men, but their deaths touched our lives, and we will
remember them. May they rest in peace.
You can read my speech from yesterday’s service here.
Best wishes,
John Key
Prime Minister
SUBSCRIBE TO TGIF! Comment Will and Kate, can’t you
pick another date?
By Susan J. Gordon
Los Angeles Times
Hearty felicitations on your engagement, Kate and
William. Most of your wedding decisions sound
great, but your choice of the date has sent me reeling in shock.
Maybe you didn’t know that April 29 was the day
Adolf Hitler married Eva Braun in 1945. But surely,
someone in the royal household might have checked.
Sixty-five years later, that early morning ceremony
in a Berlin bunker still sends shivers up and down
many spines.
Fooling around with the Fates is always risky;
can’t you pick another day? Or, as my grandmother
used to say to the fruit man when he offered her
bruised bananas,“Is this the best you can do?”
Certainly, there are things even future sovereigns
can’t control, like awful weather or those dreaded
last-minute cancellations after you’ve spent weeks
determining who sits where and it’s too late to get
a refund from the caterer. But you should have no
trouble finding a new date for your nuptials.When
you strolled around Westminster Abbey, I wish you
had thought about some of the great people who are
interred and remembered there, and chosen one of
their wedding days instead.
For starters, there were King Edward the Confessor and Edith Godwin, married on Jan. 23, 1045.
Everyone was glad when Edward ascended to the
throne, replacing that wretched Dane, Harthacanute, who had treated England shabbily. Edith’s
father, the pushy Earl of Wessex, introduced her
to the native-born monarch, who thought she was
beautiful and bright as well as suitably God-fearing. She thought Edward was affable and gentle,
although a bit pale. Most of the time, their kingdom
was at peace, and they devoted themselves to religion and early construction of Westminster Abbey.
June 11, 1594, was the wedding day of English
poet Edmund Spenser and Elizabeth Boyle, and it
was“the joyfulest day that ever sun did see,”he said.
She – not the Virgin Queen – inspired her remarkable husband,“the Prince of Poets of His Tyme,”to
write some of the finest Elizabethan love poems.
Describing his bride, he wrote,“Her goodly eyes like
sapphires shining bright, her forehead ivory white,
Her cheeks like apples which the sun hath rudded,
Her lips like cherries charming men to bite.”
Poet William Wordsworth married Mary Hutchinson on Oct.4,1802.“Oh William,”she wrote,“I cannot
tell thee how I love thee, and thou must not desire
it – but feel it, O feel it in the fullness of thy soul and
believe that I am the happiest of wives.”He replied:
“I love thee so deeply and tenderly and constantly ...
that I scarcely can bring my pen to write of anything
else.”Much ofWill’s best work,including completion of
“The Prelude,”was written after his marriage to Mary.
Eventually, he became poet laureate of England.
5
One of the world’s most romantic love stories
began on Sept. 12, 1846, when 39-year-old Elizabeth
Barrett slipped out of her father’s London townhouse to marry the 33-year-old poet and playwright
Robert Browning.The wedding ring was put on and
quickly removed before the bride and groom left by
separate doors. One week later, they ran off to Italy,
after Elizabeth escaped her tenacious father’s grasp
and home forever.As she later wrote in Sonnets from
the Portuguese, because of Robert,“the face of all the
world has changed.”
Will and Kate,if you are still determined to marry
in April,how about when Elizabeth,the future Queen
Mum,married Prince Albert in 1923? They were mar-
ried in Westminster Abbey on the 26th. Elizabeth
knew that marrying into the royal family meant a life
governed by rules and restrictions, and she expected
to be only the Duchess of York. No one anticipated
that“Bertie’s”older brother Edward would renounce
the throne to marry Wallis Simpson 14 years later.
And no one foresaw that Elizabeth’s warmth, sincerity and strong sense of duty would help restore
the monarchy to public favor after that scandalous
abdication. She would always be the favorite of her
father-in-law, King George V.Years later, he recalled
that April 26 “was rather gray and inclined to rain,
but as soon as the bride arrived at the Abbey, the sun
shone as it always does in her presence.”
Every report we have read regarding child abuse and family
violence says that alcohol abuse is a major contributing factor.
A child is hugely at risk when an adult is under the influence
of alcohol, and a recent survey by Massey University found
that more than half of our sexual and physical assaults occurred
while under the influence of alcohol. Our teenagers are binge
drinking at an earlier age, and our health and justice system is clogged up with the fallout from our drinking culture.
The binge drinking culture has been spiralling out of control since liberalising laws and controls around alcohol abuse.
In 1989 alcohol law changes eased restrictions for off-licence
selling including supermarket and grocery stores selling wine,
and availability increased as trading hours of on-licence venues were extended. And then in 1999 we foolishly lowered the
drinking age, allowed the sale of beer in supermarkets and
further increased trading hours.
The government’s response to alcohol laws will have
little effect on our binge drinking culture and as a result the
problems of domestic violence, child abuse, underage drinking, public drunkenness, repeat drunk driving offences and
binge drinking will continue.
Polls over the last couple of years have shown
that 2/3’rds to 3/4’s of NZ’ers want the drinking age raised to at
least 20, instant fines for public drunkenness, on-license
premises to close by 2am, and the legal blood-alcohol
limit lowered to 50. These opinions have been ignored. The
government says they are listening – the question is to who? It’s Time They Listened To You And Me... Families
The lack of strong action on health warnings on all alcohol
products, loss leading and availability within supermarkets,
marketing of RTD’s, and pre-vetting and restrictions on alcohol advertising is all very disappointing.
Please take action and make a submission (Closing date
is 18 February 2011)
Here’s what we’re recommending
• reduce marketing and advertising
• reduce alcohol accessibility e.g.restrict sales of alcohol from residential area bottle stores, grocery stores and
supermarkets. More community say on liquor outlets. No
‘loss leading’.
• raise the tax on alcohol - this tax will help cover the huge
costs to the health and justice system from alcohol abuse
• raise the drinking age (both purchasing and drinking
age) to at least 20
• strong penalties for selling to underage
• penalties for public drunkenness
• health warnings on alcohol products and advertising
• increase treatment opportunities
The official government site for the bill is HERE and a
basic overview is HERE
The bottom line..
This is our opportunity to protect our children and our
grandchildren from a culture of alcohol abuse that comes at a great cost. -Wrong message
It is incredible that a Cambridge man who severely injured
his daughter after shaking her in frustration when she soiled
herself avoided jail and received just three months’ home
detention and 150 hours’ community work.
This outcome sends all the wrong messages about the
communities’ stand against violence, and sets a dangerous precedent for future cases.
There were a number of aggravating factors in this case
including the usual risk factor of the offender drinking and smoking drugs, and the shaking to be so severe as to cause severe
haemorrhaging to the left side of the child’s brain and eye.
Being told to stay home for three months is insulting to the
victim who will most likely have a lifetime consequence from
these abusive actions. This sentence minimises the seriousness of what has happened, and sends a dangerous message that
we really don’t take the serious abuse of children seriously.
Family First has been calling for sentencing for those who
abuse and kill our children to be toughened to provide both
a deterrent and a clear message of the community’s disgust with the actions of people who abuse children www.
stoptheabuse.org.nz
This was a terrible abuse of a child with tragic consequences – yet the consequence for the offender can be
described as ‘mildly inconvenient’.
tSign Up Now to receive FREE regular updates about the
issues affecting families in NZ http://www.familyfirst.org.
nz/index.cfm/Sign_Up
ANALYSIS
6
3 December 2010
Walker’s World World Cup decisions strictly a money grab
By Steve Kelley
The Seattle Times
SEATTLE – Qatar? Really?
Has the FIFA cartel seriously lost all of its soul?
Is it only about the dirty oil money? Does it really
care about growing the game? Or lining its pockets?
FIFA, world’s soccer’s governing body, thumbed
its nose at the United States’ bid on Friday and
awarded the 2022 World Cup to soccer-poor, oilrich Qatar.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter said his organization
wants to spread soccer around the world.
But Qatar? All this announcement does is fuel the
already-existing suspicions of collusion that have
haunted the entire bid process.
Ever been to Qatar in June or July, the time of
year the World Cup will be played?
Neither have I, but the temperatures flirt with
50 and I’m not talking Fahrenheit. Want to know
what 50 degrees Celsius feels like? Turn your oven to
bake and stick your head in it for about 10 seconds.
Don’t worry. It’s a dry heat.
Besides, FIFA has been assured that all of the
stadiums in Qatar will be air-conditioned.
Air-conditioned? Those stadiums better be refrigerated.They better have the AC cranked to the Frozen Tundra setting.
This decision strictly is a money grab. It’s not like
Qatar has been growing a domestic league the way
the United States has. It’s not as if the country is
going become the next soccer power, or build the
next great Premiership.
There’s not going to be a headline:“Messi Leaves
Barca for Doha Oil Kings.”
This is a one-and-done country.As of now, it only
THIS DECISION
STRICTLY IS A MONEY
GRAB. IT’S NOT LIKE QATAR
HAS BEEN GROWING A
DOMESTIC LEAGUE THE
WAY THE UNITED STATES
HAS. IT’S NOT AS IF THE
COUNTRY IS GOING BECOME
THE NEXT SOCCER POWER,
OR BUILD THE NEXT
GREAT PREMIERSHIP
has three World-Cup ready stadiums, which means
it will build nine more in the next 12 years.
“The more and more I think about it, the more the
whole Qatar thing is perplexing,”Sounders defender
Taylor Graham said.“I’m disappointed.This is risky.
It’s definitely a huge risk. They (FIFA) are going
for the home run.”
Around the U.S.,including Seattle,there were surprised gasps from people gathered at restaurants and
stadiums in the early morning hours, believing they
were coming to a celebration.Seattle was expected to
host several of the 2022 World Cup matches.
Qatar?
Sure, we know the United States’ presentation
wasn’t perfect. So what?
Apparently a couple of pages of actor Morgan
Freeman’s speech were stuck together and he lost
his place.And former president Bill Clinton talked
a little too much about, well, Bill Clinton.
None of that should have mattered.
Unlike Qatar, all of the 18 proposed stadiums in
the United States already are built and functioning.
Parking, transportation, housing all are in place.
And no country does big better than the United
States.
The U.S. knows how to sell, sell, sell. Sponsorships,
parties, merchandising, ticketing, media rights, all
of that is in the USA’s wheelhouse.The World Cup?
Think monthlong Super Bowl.
Sounders coach Sigi Schmid had just left the
Musee d’Orsay in Paris on Friday when he heard
the news.
“It was a feeling of great disappointment,”
Schmid said.
The U.S. has earned the right to host another
World Cup.The game is growing here. Major League
Soccer is expanding even more rapidly than its most
optimistic projections.The quality of play already
is at the level of the Belgium’s Jupiler League, and
close to the Dutch first division.
Soccer academies connected to MLS teams are
developing more players, more rapidly. The youth
system is thriving and more American players are
earning jobs in Europe.
In another 12 years the American team could be
a legitimate World Cup championship threat and
having the 2022 World Cup in the U. S. would have
been a fitting way for the world’s soccer community
to celebrate the emergence of the sport in another
corner of the globe.
“Soccer in this country right now, I think we’re
in our adolescence,”Schmid said from Paris.“We’ve
gone through our infant stage and we need to grow
into young adulthood and then become an adult.
And, for sure, we’re making strides in that direction.
“I think by 2022 we’ll be in adulthood, for sure.
We’re a serious player in the world. I think we’re
a country that is constantly growing in our soccer abilities and in our capabilities of having more
players go overseas. Our league is improving and
building its fan base.”
Hosting the World Cup would have accelerated
the growth of the game in the United States. It could
have been another big event for Seattle to celebrate.
Instead the games are going to Qatar.
Really?
Forget policy, this WikiLeaks stuff is a hoot
John James/NEWSCOM
By Mark Seibel
McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON – Note to Tatiana Gfoeller, U.S.
ambassador to Kyrgyzstan: If you ever tire of the
Foreign Service – or get drummed out – there may
be a reporting job for you.
Gfoeller, a career diplomat who speaks six languages – seven, if you count English – is the author
of a WikiwLeak’d diplomatic cable about Britain’s
Prince Andrew that made headlines in London
because she said the conversation at a brunch the
prince shared with diplomats in Bishkek, the Kyrgyz capital, two years ago “verged on the rude.”
Among the prince’s targets, Gfoeller reported,
were the French, whose penchant for corruption,
in the prince’s opinion, was nearly as great as the
Kyrgyz government’s, and the Americans, whose
ignorance of geography placed them in a category
definitely inferior to his own countrymen.
But it isn’t just the prince’s indiscretions that
make Gfoeller’s account so worthy of notice;Andrew
isn’t a diplomat, after all, and as the second son
of Queen Elizabeth II he isn’t likely to be King of
England, either. Rather, it’s the rollicking way Gfoeller tells the tale, filled with verbatim quotes, witty
observations and attention to setting the scene.
So detailed is the account that a blogger at a
website called Disappeared News suggested that
she must have been wearing a wire.
To wit: After one businessman complained to
the prince about being “harassed and hounded by
Kyrgyz tax authorities,”Gfoeller wrote,“The prince
reacted with unmitigated patriotic fervor. ...‘A contract is a contract,’he insisted.‘You have to take the
rough with the smooth.’“
After other businessmen complained about having to pay bribes to Kyrgyzstan’s president’s son,
“Prince Andrew took up the topic with gusto. ...
‘All of this sounds exactly like France,’“ she quoted
the prince as saying, noting that “at this point the
Duke of York laughed uproariously.”
When the brunch already had exceeded its allotted time,“the prince looked like he was just getting
started.”When the prince slammed British anti-cor-
ruption investigators,“his mother’s subjects seated
around the table roared their approval.”When he
attacked journalists,“the crowd practically clapped.”
When he let loose with what Gfoeller called another
“zinger,”“castigating ‘our stupid (sic) British and
American governments’“ for their lack of planning,
“there were calls of ‘hear, hear’in the private brunch
hall.”
Gfoeller’s descriptive skills are on display in
another WikiLeaks cable, this one recounting a
February 2009 meeting with China’s ambassador
to Kyrgyzstan, Zhang Yannian, at which Gfoeller
raised allegations that China had tried to scuttle
America’s lease of a military base that’s critical to
U.S. operations in Afghanistan.
“After opening pleasantries, the ambassador
mentioned that Kyrgyz officials had told her that
China had offered a $3 billion financial package to
close Manas Air Base and asked for the ambassador’s reaction to such an allegation,”she wrote, referring to herself and Zhang both as“the ambassador.”
“Visibly flustered, Zhang temporarily lost the
ability to speak Russian and began spluttering in
Chinese to the silent aide diligently taking notes
right behind him. Once he recovered the power of
Russian speech, he inveighed against such a calumny, claiming that such an idea was impossible.”
Gfoeller pressed the point, and the Chinese
changed topics:“Zhang snapped that ‘releasing 17
from Guantanamo is an unfriendly act toward us,’“
she wrote, a reference to 17 ethnic Uighur detainees
who the U.S. had decided should be transferred from
Guantanamo but not returned to China for fear
they’d face political repression.
Eventually, the conversation came back to the
base and “a $2 billion plus Russian deal with Kyrgyzstan” that figured in the Kyrgyz government’s
temporarily canceling the American lease. Zhang
suggested that the U.S.“just give”Kyrgyz officials
“$150 million per year in cash”and “you will have
the base forever.”
“Very uncharacteristically, the silent young aide
then jumped in,” Gfoeller recounted.“ ‘Or maybe
you should give them $5 billion and buy both us
and the Russians out.’“
“The aide then withered under the ambassador’s
horrified stare,”she noted.
uld
WN
E
Arthur Allan Thomas
o
lice
Ian Wishart
ARVEY
This Christmas, there’s
one book everyone wants
IND
– AN
RY...
Arthur Allan Thomas:
THE INSIDE STORY
CREWE MURDERS: NEW EVIDENCE
Jailed for a crime he didn’t commit,
now for the first time in 40 years,
he tells his incredible story as
we name a new prime suspect
Ian Wishart
HATM
Publishing
#1 bestselling author
THE EXPLOSIVE NEW BESTSELLER.
GET IT HERE
Whitcoulls, Paperplus, Borders, The Warehouse,
Take Note, Dymocks and all good bookstores
WORLD
8
update
in 60 seconds
CHINESE MINERS FOUND DEAD
CHANGSHA, DEC. 3 (XINHUA) – All the seven miners trapped in a flooded coal mine in central China’s Hunan
Province Tuesday were found dead early Friday, rescuers said.
Rescuers retrieved all their bodies at 6 a.m. at a
depth of 90 meters in the flooded pit of Yide Coal Mine
in Xiangtan County, a spokesman with the emergency
rescuer headquarters said.
The bodies were found at the end of the shaft,
indicating they were swept there by the gushing flood
shortly after the accident happened at 11:38 p.m.
Tuesday, he said.
After the accident, a deputy mine manager led 27
workers safely out of the mine.
Despite all-out rescue efforts over the past two days,
the spokesman said little progress was made due to
serious cave-ins and lack of oxygen.
Yide is a small mine that has doubled its annual
output to 60,000 tonnes after recently merging with a
neighboring mine. The local safety authority said the mine
managers had been warned of potential safety loopholes,
both orally and in writing, over the past four weeks.
Senior executives and major shareholders of the mine
are in police custody.
The cause of the accident is still under investigation.
THOUSANDS FLEE ISRAELI DISASTER
TEL AVIV (DPA) – An estimated 17,000 people had
been forced to flee their homes in northern Israel by
Friday morning, as the worst bushfire in Israel’s history
entered its second day, leaving 41 dead, police said.
The blaze had burnt more than 30 square kilometres of land and at least 1.5 million trees, the Israel Nature
and Parks Authority said, and was still not under control.
It broke out before noon Thursday on the slopes of Carmel Hill, south of the northern port city of Haifa,
Israel’s third-largest city.
Strong winds were pushing the flames westwards,
as well as in the direction of the Haifa outskirt of Denya.
Firefighters were trying to prevent it from reaching the
neighbourhood, as well as from crossing route number
4, which runs at the foot of the Carmel hill from Haifa
southbound toward Tel Aviv and separates villages along
the coast from the blaze.
Dry ground caused by drought had helped the fire
spread quickly, sending up huge columns of smoke,
which were visible on the coast, on the western side of
the hill. Witnesses said Friday the firefighter planes could
be seen in the air, picking up seawater from the Mediterranean before dropping it over the flames.
The cause of the fire was still unclear Friday morning.
An extreme-right lawmaker, Yaakov Katz of the National
Union, was quick Thursday to blame Arab residents of
lighting the fire as an alleged terrorist attack.
UK PAPERS TONIGHT
FINANCIAL TIMES – The European Central Bank (ECB)
launched its most aggressive intervention in government
bond markets for seven months after Jean-Claude Trichet, the president, revealed a determined but carefully
calibrated response to the Eurozone crisis. The traders said the ECB was on Thursday buying Portuguese and
Irish bonds in 100 million euros tranches – four times bigger than previously.
THE GUARDIAN – Britain’s four-year military stewardship of Helmand province has been scorned by
President Hamid Karzai, Afghan officials and the U.S.
commander of NATO troops, according to secret U.S.
diplomatic cables. They expose a devastating contempt
for the British failure to impose security and connect with
ordinary Afghans.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH – Football will not be coming home for at least another 20 years after a humiliating
rejection of England’s 2018 World Cup bid. England
polled just two votes, one of them from its own member
of FIFA’s 22-man executive committee, as the tournament went to Russia.
3 December 2010
Floods threaten NSW
SYDNEY, DEC. 3 – Australia’s Southern New South
Wales (NSW) is on alert as towns along the Murrumbidgee river face evacuation and floods after a
dam overflowed due to heavy rain, the State Emergency Service (SES) said on Friday.
SES has warned that lower lying areas of Jugiong,
located 344 kilometres south-west of Sydney, could
face evacuation on Friday as the Burrinjuck dam
on the Murrumbidgee River experienced a deluge
of inflows after heavy rain.
The nearby town of Gundagai is also on alert for
minor flooding as overflows from the dam, near the
Murrumbidgee River, endanger the area.
SES also responded to 85 calls for assistance in
Wagga Wagga, a city situated on the Murrumbidgee
River in NSW, after flash flooding in the area, mostly
for leaking roofs, flash flooding and water in some
homes.
Wagga Wagga’s council chambers have been
closed and the local shopping centre car park is
inundated with water.
Parkes in the central west is also on alert, with
significant flash flooding stranding a school bus,
which had to be rescued. But there were no children
on the bus.
In the state’s north, SES helicopters are on
standby to provide assistance for towns cut off
from food supplies.
The village of Pilliga in North West NSW with a
population of 140 has become isolated after heavy
rainfall overnight as well as the nearby town of Wee
Waa.
The towns of Warren and Coonamble, as well as
properties in the Macquarie Valley in Central NSW
may also face isolation as roads become impassable.
North Wagga in NSW’s south could also become
inaccessible as flooding closes roads.
“A number of properties which are isolated not
just because of floodwater, but many of the roads
out there are black soil roads and they’ve become
impassable,”the SES spokesman said.
“At this stage we haven’t had any requests for
resupply but that might change as people run out
of food.”
– Xinhua
Pilot skills critical in 380 scare
CANBERRA, DEC. 3 – The flight
crew of QF32 battled failures of
Length
80 ft.
electrical systems, flight controls,
(24 m)
239 ft. (73 m)
AirbusÕ
A380
is
the
largest
passenger
braking and computer systems to
A380
aircraft in the world. How the
land the Qantas-operated Airbus
Tail
aircraft compares to a
height
A380 near Singapore last month,
Boeing 737-700, one
Australian Transport Safety
of the most common
41 ft.
jetliners in use.
737-700
Bureau report showed on Friday.
(12 m)
The report came as a Trent
Boeing 737-700
Airbus A380
900 engine of the Qantas aircraft
Seats 126 (two classes)
Seats 555 (two classes)
110 ft. (34 m)
exploded on a Sydney bound
Range 3,900 mi. (6,300 km)
Range 9,200 mi. (14,800 km)
flight over Indonesia last month.
Weight 154,500 lb.
Weight 1,235,000 lb.
The Qantas Airbus was forced
Wingspan 262 ft. (80 m)
113 ft. (34 m)
to land in Singapore after its
engine exploded over Batam
Island on Indonesia November
4. The incident caused airlines
around the world to ground their
Source: Airbus, Boeing Co.
Graphic: Sacramento Bee
© 2010 MCT
A380s, while they investigated the
planes’ Rolls-Royce engines.
According to Australian Transevant to what happened over Batam island, adding
The aircraft’s fly-by-wire flight controls went into
port Safety Bureau chief commissioner Martin that it was unlikely that any standard maintenance a lesser alternate law, the wing slats were inoperative
Dolan, the incident was the result of “an uncon- procedure would have uncovered this potential and there was only partial control of the airlerons
tained engine failure”, which saw a loose disc shear problem.
and spoilers.
through the left wing and other parts of the aircraft.
He said he was satisfied that all necessary safety
The crew also had to deal with multiple brake
“The initial assessment was that the most likely action had been taken with the new inspection system, fuel system, centre of gravity anti-icing
cause of the engine failure was problems with the regime and the upgraded software.
and air data sensor messages. The autothrust and
release of oil into a particular part of the engine,
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau report autoland systems were also knocked out in the
leading to an oil fire and consequences finally in the also highlighted the crucial role played by the five explosion.
liberation of the disc elements,”he told reporters in experienced Qantas pilots, as they nursed the plane
According to The Australian newspaper, Dolan
Canberra on Friday.
back to Singapore after an engine exploded.
paid tribute to the response of the aircraft crew.
“That was initially responded to by ensuring
The report reveals that the uncontained failure
“The aircraft would not have arrived safely in
there were regular inspections for oil leakages in that destroyed the number two engine also affected Singapore without the focused and effective action
the ... engine in the Airbus 380.
two other engines on the plane forcing them into a of the flight crew,”he said.
“And on that basis with caution continued opera- degraded mode that restricted the flow of information.
Qantas has flagged possible legal action against
tions were seen as acceptable.”
One hydraulic system lost much of its fluid while Rolls Royce, the makers of the jet engine, if a comDolan said the investigation had so far identified the other registered pump errors and two electrical mercial settlement is not possible.
the oil leak as a significant safety issue directly rel- bus systems failed.
– Xinhua
Giant A380
iPhone saves athlete’s heart
By Stephen Ceasar
Los Angeles Times
LOS ANGELES – Xavier Jones ran across the middle of the basketball court, ready to receive a pass
from a La Verne Lutheran High School teammate.
He first stumbled, then stopped, and finally keeled
over motionless on the hardwood.
His heart had stopped beating.
After Jones crashed to the floor, head coach
Eric Cooper Sr. and assistant coach John Osorno
sprinted to his side and administered CPR to the
17-year-old high school senior.
The quick-thinking coaches – with the help of
an iPhone – were able to revive him and probably
saved his life.
The night before, Cooper had fortuitously downloaded an application to his cell phone that gives
real-time instructions on how to administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
Cooper had purchased the $1.99 application,called
PhoneAid, as a sort of refresher course on CPR.
“It was really fresh and clear in my brain,”he said.
“We are trained in CPR, but the iPhone app was a
stabilizer for us.”
Linda Jones, Xavier’s mother, said that when she
first saw the coach after the Nov. 22 incident, she
broke into tears:“I can’t thank him enough for being
there for my son.”
Jones, whose teammates call him“X,”is a coach’s
dream, Cooper said.
He described him as a kind, yet tough leader, with
aspirations far beyond the basketball court.
Instead of listening to music or dozing off in the
back of the van on road trips, he sits in the front
seat with a book seemingly attached to his hand.
“He’s the guy you want your daughter to marry,”
Cooper said.
Jones said he has wanted to become a doctor
since he was 5 years old and was planning to accept
a scholarship offer to play basketball at West Point,
the U.S. Military Academy in New York.
Jones, who has a 4.0 grade point average, said he
was interested in West Point because it will pay for
tuition through the completion of a doctorate. He
plans to enlist and serve as a military doctor.
“I’d ask him,‘Are you going to be an NBA player?’
and he would say, ‘No, I’m going to be a doctor,’”
Cooper said.“The decision was going to be based
on his career, not just basketball.”
At 6 feet 8 and 220 pounds, Jones is a defenseminded player, but also has a soft jump hook and a
bit of a mean streak, Cooper said.
“He’s a nice kid and mild-mannered off the court,”
Cooper said.“But on the court, he’s our enforcer.”
Doctors have diagnosed Jones with hypertrophic
cardiomyopathy, a condition in which the heart muscle becomes hardened, making it more difficult for
it to pump blood.
They have told him that his basketball days are
numbered and he needs a defibrillator implanted
in his chest.
Although his basketball career may not turn out
as expected, Jones said he is undeterred in achieving
his other goals.
“I’m just happy to be alive,”he said.
®
®
Ver y R are 11ct Diamond
Pa le Yellow
Vs 2
$236,0 0 0
5.04ct
Idea l cut F/SI 2
Handmade in platinum
333
333 REMUER
REMUER A
A ROAD,
ROAD, AUCK
AUCK L
LA
AN
N D.
D. PHON
PHON E
E 09
09 520
520 1092
1092
Available
tax
free
Available tax free
W
WW
W W.A
W.A N
NT
T HEASJEW
HEASJEW ELLERS.CO.NZ
ELLERS.CO.NZ
INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM December 2010 7
Antheas.indd 15
Antheasfinal.indd 101
30/11/2009 2:34:36 p.m.
7/10/2009 1:41:18 p.m.
021616643
[email protected]
Client
Mistral Software
publiCation
Investigate
Cover date(s)
April 2010
trim size
217 x 285mm
ad name/number
PaintShop Photo/VideoStudio
Embrace the new possibilities for sharing your life and finding creativity in both
photo and video. Corel has refined photo and video editing software to help you
advance your craft and create personal projects you’ll be proud of.
Paint Shop Photo Pro and VideoStudio Pro X3 – it’s time to take the next step.
AvAi lA bl e n ow freom
yo ur fAvo ur it
so ft wAr e stoc ki st
www.mistralsoftware.co.nz
SPORT
3 December 2010
11
Vettori ignoring losing streak
WELLINGTON, DEC 3 – The second worst trot in
New Zealand’s one-day cricket history will become
a reality unless Daniel Vettori’s men can lift considerably for tomorrow’s third match against India in
Vadodara.
The understrength hosts can wrap up the fivematch series with two games to spare if they maintain their grip on a New Zealand side staring down
the barrel of a ninth straight loss.
That would take them past the eight losses
lodged in 2001-02 and leave critics pondering if
the beleagured side might threaten the 13 successive
defeats tallied from 2003-05.
Captain Vettori was quizzed on the milestone
shortly after Wednesday’s eight-wicket loss to at
Jaipur, when the hosts cantered home with seven
overs to spare.
“We can’t get caught up in history,”was his blunt
reply.
However, he couldn’t help but voice concern at
his team’s progress, with the Jaipur capitulation
following a 40-run loss at Guwahati, while memories
of the embarrassing 4-0 series loss in Bangladesh
remain fresh.
“We have three more matches to go and I am
sure the team would make a comeback,” he said,
critiquing the Jaipur performance, when his team
never looked like defending 258.
“We should have put on some more runs on the
board. We also bowled badly and gave away too
many boundaries.That was the reason why we suffered a huge loss,”he said.
As he has been forced to do often of late,Vettori
heaped praise on Indian stand-in skipper Gautam
Gambhir, saying the left-hander’s unbeaten 138 had
simply taken the game away from his team.
“Gambhir’s knock is one of the best one-day
innings I have seen. But it is our fault as we could
have bowled better. We gave Gambhir too much
room and he made us pay for that.”
One of the few New Zealanders capable of matching the Gambhir knock is Brendon McCullum but
doubts remain over whether the hard-hitting wicketkeeper will recover in time from a back injury that
has sidelined him from the series to date.
The news got no better for New Zealand today,
with India’s selectors adding potent pace bowler
Zaheer Khan to their squad after he was rested
through the first two games.
Countering that, they have removed batsman
Suresh Raina and seamer Shanthakumaran Sreesanth from the equation, with that pair joining a
number of big-name players deemed in need of a
rest uch as regular captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni,
Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar and Harbhajan
Singh.
– NZPA
NEWSCOM
Herbert seeking southern comfort
WELLINGTON, DEC 3 – Wellington Phoenix coach
Ricki Herbert is hoping for another shot of southern
comfort in Christchurch on Sunday when his team
host A-League soccer high-flyers Adelaide United.
The Phoenix have beaten the Reds just once
in 10 previous meetings – that win coming their
home-away-from-home match at AMI Stadium in
Christchurch last season.
The 1-0 result, in front of almost 20,000 fans,
spurred the Phoenix’s charge into the finals series
and Herbert was hoping for a little deja vu following his side’s dispiriting 3-1 loss away to Sydney
FC on Wednesday.
“If it’s any reflection on last year it’ll be a great
weekend,”he said.
“At that stage, too, getting a good result last year
was the most important thing. Everything went
well for us, so hopefully it’ll be a case of déjà vu
this time around.”
A win would be just the tonic for the seventhplaced Phoenix, who fumed over two of Sydney’s
goals which they believe should have been disallowed.
Herbert still took positives from the performance.
“There were periods of that game where we
played extremely well,”he said.
“I think in the past three weeks we’ve shown there
has been steady improvement. It’s disappointing to
hear suggestions that our comments (regarding the
controversial goals) were excuses about the result.
“We never sought to present an excuse.All we’ve
asked for is some answers (from officials) – nothing
else. We’ve got our own hard work to do and take
care of in our own backyard and there have been
some very positive signs.
“We’re now starting to look like a side that’s capable against anybody. We have to continue to look
like that and continue to keep playing that way. If
we do that we’ll pick up wins more often than not.”
The Phoenix’s defence continues to cause concerns for Herbert, who will demand a much tighter
effort against Adelaide.
Herbert’s cause has not been helped by what he
admits is something of a “cut and paste”back four,
caused mainly by the ongoing absence of injured
left back Tony Lochhead.
That has forced several re-jigs of the defensive line,
withTroy Hearfield,Ben Sigmund,James Musa,Jade
North and Manny Muscat all used in fullback positions.
“It’s been hard,”Herbert said.
“I think people forget how reliable Tony has been
for us and what he brings to the club.We’ve had to
cut and paste a little bit and sometimes the balance
hasn’t been what we’ve wanted.”
Herbert continues to strive for consistency in
formation and selection, depending largely on the
core players who took the Phoenix within one game
has Herbert scratching his head.
Skipper Andrew Durante and Socceroo Jade
North were the centre backs in Sydney, while regular
central defender Ben Sigmund played in an unaccustomed left back position.
“That’s always a tough one because those three
are good players and three doesn’t go into two (positions). Ben gives you that real up and at ‘em attitude,
THE 1-0 RESULT, IN FRONT OF ALMOST 20,000 FANS,
SPURRED THE PHOENIX’S CHARGE INTO THE FINALS
SERIES AND HERBERT WAS HOPING FOR A LITTLE DEJA
VU FOLLOWING HIS SIDE’S DISPIRITING 3-1 LOSS AWAY TO
SYDNEY FC ON WEDNESDAY
of last season’s grand final.
That means the midfield trio of Manny Muscat,
Vince Lia and Tim Brown will start in Christchurch,
with wide midfielder Leo Bertos likely to return to
the 11 if he can prove he has fully recovered from a
groin strain that forced him to miss the Sydney game.
However, the composition of the back four still
while Jade has great international experience.The
problem is that if we go and change again then it
becomes a recycling of the back four.
“We’ll see. I’m not sure there’ll be a lot of change,
maybe one of the fullback positions might be up
for discussion.”
– NZPA
Tiger Woods looks like Tiger Woods with a 65
THE 18-PLAYER EVENT
AT THE SHERWOOD
COUNTRY CLUB COURSE
BENEFITS THE TIGER
WOODS FOUNDATION, AND
ITS NAMESAKE IS A FOURTIME WINNER. BUT WOODS
MISSED THE EVENT IN 2008
DUE TO KNEE SURGERY
AND AGAIN LAST YEAR
DUE TO THE THANKSGIVING
NIGHT CAR ACCIDENT THAT
IGNITED HIS SEX SCANDAL
By Jim Peltz
Los Angeles Times
THOUSAND OAKS, CALIF. – If Tiger Woods is finally
going to win another golf tournament, it might as
well be his own.
Showing the form that the world came to expect
from Woods before his sensational downfall a year
ago, Woods fired a seven-under-par 65 to take a
one-shot lead Friday in the opening round of the
Chevron World Challenge in Thousand Oaks.
The 18-player event at the Sherwood Country
Club course benefits the Tiger Woods Foundation,
and its namesake is a four-time winner. But Woods
missed the event in 2008 due to knee surgery and
again last year due to the Thanksgiving night car
accident that ignited his sex scandal.
Woods, 34, has struggled since returning to tournament golf in April and he’s adapting to a new
swing. But on Friday, with golf conditions ideal on
a warm day,Woods was in the aggressive frame of
mind that has enabled him to capture 71 PGA Tour
events, including 14 major championships.
“It’s nice to play well,”Woods said.“I played solid all
day”despite not sinking many long putts, he added.
It was the first time Woods was atop the leaderboard since Aug. 26, when he was the co-leader
after shooting 65 in the first round at The Barclays
tournament in New Jersey.
U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell and
Rory McIlroy, both of Northern Ireland and paired
together Friday, finished one shot behind Woods
after shooting 66s.
“No disappointment”in not sharing the lead, said
McDowell, who lost last year’s tournament by one
shot to Jim Furyk.“Obviously (it’s) just a great way
to begin the week and (I) hope to build on it as the
weekend goes on.”
Dustin Johnson and Stewart Cink followed at
three-under 69, with Luke Donald and Camilo Villegas (70) the only other players under par. Furyk
shot an even-par 72.
Woods made eight birdies – including on all five
of Sherwood’s par-five holes – while carding only one
bogey on the par-four 18th hole after an errant tee shot.
“You have to take care of the par fives,”he said.
“It’s the only way to shoot low here.”
But perhaps Woods’most notable moment came
at the par-three 12th hole when his approach shot
went wide of the green into the rough.
Woods responded by nearly holing out his chip
shot – a recovery that prompted him to gently fall
on his back in the deep grass as the ball lipped out
of the cup – to make par.Woods acknowledged that,
earlier this year, he might well have made bogey in
that situation and seen his subsequent play suffer.
“That was a sweet little shot,”he said.“Most of this
year if I did get something going, I’d make some kind
of mistake and leave myself in a bad spot and make
bogey.That was a bad spot.”
McDowell said more low scores are likely as the
four-day tournament continues.
“The greens are soft, very receptive”to incoming
shots, he said.“The whole golf course is very well set
up for scoring.”
Gourmet5528Inv.indd 1
20/07/10 4:43 PM
WEEKEND
3 December 2010
13
TV & Film Black Swan
0Cast: Christopher Gartin, Mila
Kunis, Toby Hemingway, Vincent
Cassel,Winona Ryder, Natalie Portman
0Director: Darren Aronofsky
0Length: 110 minutes
0Rating: R (for sexual content, violent
images, language and some drug use)
s St
ar T
ribu
ttle
ne
Tim
es
quir
er
Sea
poli
a In
Min
nea
lphi
d
Phil
ade
eral
Tim
e
e
Los
Ang
e
o Tr
ibun
cag
Chi
New
review
Loc
al c
ritic
Outstanding
Worthy effort
So-so
A bomb
s
Movie picks
mi H
Finally, after years of suffering through Hollywood’s predictable pap, sentimental mush, boring
bromances and mean girl cliches, comes a love story
that is actually worth falling for, with Anne Hathaway and Jake Gyllenhaal excellent at steaming up
the screen in Love & Other Drugs.
The trick is that in director Ed Zwick’s world, love
hurts. It may be funny, charming, poignant and sexy,
and Love & Other Drugs is all that too, but at some
point it stings like astringent on a fresh scrape. Like
real life, or at least real enough to make for a very
nice change of pace in the romantic comedy world.
The movie is set in Pittsburgh, which has never
looked as good as it does through cinematographer
Steven Fierberg’s lens, and is loosely based on Hard
Sell, Jamie Reidy’s memoir of being a Viagra sales
rep for Pfizer just as the potent little blue pill hit the
market with its performance-enhancing promises.
I say loosely because Reidy barely mentions a girl-
friend, but Gyllenhaal’s Jamie Randall shares equal
time with Hathaway’s Maggie, the funky 26-yearold artist who will be his undoing.
For the couple, it begins with a close encounter
of the inappropriate kind, in a doctor’s exam room
with Jamie stealing a peek at one of Maggie’s private
parts, only to be cold-cocked by her a few minutes
later when she learns he was not an intern, just a
chump taking advantage of her northern exposure.
In the best opposites-attract tradition, they
quickly move from making peace to making love
of the passionate, clothes-ripping, the-floor-will-dojust-fine sort. Neither one has“long-term”in mind,
which becomes the film’s central dilemma. Most
rom-coms spend their time trying to get to that
first embrace (think Sleepless in Seattle, Empire
State Building, final scene), but Love & Other Drugs
spends its time trying to get beyond it.
I don’t mean to suggest that the movie is free
from stereotypes; it is not. Jamie is your typical
charming rogue driven by his baser instincts, always
on the prowl for meaningless sex and making money.
Maggie as a smart, beautiful artist living the bohemian life is a type too. She’s also sick as it turns out,
with a new life-altering diagnosis she’s learning to
cope with. What sets Love & Other Drugs apart is
what it does next, using the couple’s interplay as a
way for their characters to deepen and get past the
cliches to create something that is actually moving
les
0Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway,
Oliver Platt, Hank Azaria
0Director: Edward Zwick
0Length: 113 minutes
0Rating: R (for strong sexual content,
nudity, pervasive language and some drug
material)
Mia
Love & Other Drugs
Burlesque
Fair Game
Faster
Harry Potter ...
Love and Other Drugs
The Next Three Days
127 Hours
Tangled
© 2010 MCT
– a relationship, with all its conflicting needs and
wants and desires.
If you’re worried about Maggie’s diagnosis being
too much of a bummer, all I’ll say is this is no“Love
Story”sob fest.This is, however, Hathaway’s movie.
She delivers a performance easily as affecting as her
emotionally bruised recovering addict in Jonathan
Demme’s fine Rachel Getting Married, which earned
her an Oscar nomination in 2009. Maggie may do it
for her again, with Hathaway exposing herself, both
body and soul, as she lets us inside this lushly intelligent, painfully self-aware heartbreaker of a girl.
In Gyllenhaal, she has a good match. He’s a
little like the ultimate Bridget Jones mash-up of
Hugh Grant seduction and Colin Firth sweetness,
so a complicated lot to take on. Together they sizzle whether they’re spitting and sparring or rolling
around naked – they do a lot of both. It’s an intimacy that doesn’t feel faked, or gratuitous, despite
the fun Saturday Night Live had with it over the
weekend with Hathaway hosting. Gyllenhaal, as
the bad boy who’s really a good guy, is better than
he’s been since his breakout in 2005’s Brokeback
Mountain, in which Hathaway played his all-tooknowing Texas wife.
While Hathaway provides the film’s heart, the
guys are responsible for most of its mostly politically incorrect humor. Gyllenhaal has terrific comic
timing and good partners in crime with the alwaysvoluble Oliver Platt as Jamie’s Tums-packing boss;
older but still charming Hank Azaria as Jamie’s
best client, a Dr. Do Good who’s turned into Dr. Feel
Good; and a wickedly funny Josh Gad as Jamie’s
millionaire mess of a brother, a whiner of the top
order. Suffice it to say that with those three,Viagra
isn’t the only blue pill in this movie.
With Zwick and his longtime creative collaborator Marshall Herskovitz putting the final polish
on the screenplay, which began with Charles Randolph (The Interpreter), there are echoes of the
emotional churn that made“thirtysomething”and
My So-Called Life resonate so deeply across prime
time years ago. In film, Zwick has mostly occupied
himself with epic storytelling such as Legends of the
Fall, Glory and Blood Diamond, with the romance
of his 1986 rom-com About Last Night really just a
distant (and not that great) memory.
Zwick is thankfully much more of a grown-up
now in dealing with relationship entanglements.
Somehow, between the epic and the intimate,
between Hathaway and Gyllenhaal, love doesn’t
come easy, but with Love & Other Drugs, at least
you don’t have to wait.
“I had the craziest dream last night, about a girl who was turned into a swan,” Natalie Portman says, tremulously,
in the early going of Black Swan.
But it can’t possibly be as crazy as the Darren Aronofsky dream that follows for the next 100 minutes.
The director of The Wrestler has, with Portman as his fragile, fantastic collaborator, crafted a ballet movie that
is also a psychological horror story and a scary reverie
about obsession and paranoia.
That Aronofsky’s Black Swan takes place in the rarefied spheres of the dance world – with its thoroughbred
ballerinas, sinewy and high-strung – makes the nutty
psychodrama somehow all the more intriguing.
Here is Nina (Portman), wrapped in a fluffy scarf,
stepping from the subway and trooping off to rehearsals at Lincoln Center. Her whole life revolves around
dance. There’s a music-box ballerina in her bedroom – a
bedroom still filled with the plush toys of her childhood,
a bedroom in a cramped apartment she shares with her
mother (Barbara Hershey), herself a dancer so many
years before.
A new production of “Swan Lake” – stripped-down,
primal, “real” – is on the season’s slate, and the company’s artistic director, Thomas Leroy (French actor
Vincent Cassel), is looking for a new Odette/Odile to fill
the pointe shoes left by his retiring prima ballerina, Beth
MacIntyre (a just-this-side-of-camp Winona Ryder).
Fiercely disciplined, Nina seems perfect for the part of
the innocent, elegant White Swan, but Leroy expresses concerns that she doesn’t have the sensuality, the slyness, to play her darker doppelganger.
Enter a new member to the troupe, Lilly (a cagey, sexy
Mila Kunis), just in from San Francisco. She’s as uninhibited and earthy as Nina is tamped-down and tightly
wound. It’s clear that Leroy sees star potential there.
Will Nina get the role? Will Lilly? Are Leroy’s motives purely artistic? Are Lilly’s overtures to Nina a guileless signal of friendship, or some sinister plot to usurp her
position in the company?
Portman, in the role of her career, oozes anxiety and
aching loneliness. Here is a young woman overwhelmed
by her dreams and ambitions, sexually repressed,
smothered by her mother, and in physical pain from
the intense regimen of dance. But also in self-inflicted
pain: She picks and claws her body apart like a dog
gnashing at itself.
If you thought the bloody stuff Mickey Rourke’s character subjected himself to in The Wrestler was tough
(remember the staple gun?), Portman’s Nina puts herself
through even more torture and torment. Black Swan is,
at times, exceedingly difficult to watch.
And then there are moments when you just can’t
help but laugh. And that seems fine.
Portman, shot mostly in close-up and mid-range,
appears to be doing much of the dance work herself,
and ably. Members of the Pennsylvania Ballet lend verisimilitude and artistry to the proceedings, and the staging
of “Swan Lake’s” climactic scenes, truly a transcendent
fusion of music, dance, and cinema, is thrilling to behold.
Thrilling, indeed. And brazenly, beautifully crazy.
Watch the trailer – By Steven Rea
Watch the trailer – By Betsy Sharkey
REVIEWS
14
3 December 2010
Music unaware of any such banning.
West was sufficiently infuriated by two 2009 skits
on“Saturday Night Live”– one featuring Swift and
another in which “Twilight” star Taylor Lautner
decapitates an effigy of the rapper with a karate
kick – to pen a rhyming couplet on his May single
“Power”that told the comedic variety show where
it could go (and what body part it could kiss) in
so many four-letter words. Still, the performer was
not only invited back on the air in October,“SNL”
gave him carte blanche to mount one of the most
elaborately staged and art-directed performances
in the show’s history – of the very song that disses
“Saturday Night Live.”
The show’s creator and longtime executive producer, Lorne Michaels, said West’s fighting words
never burned his bridges with“SNL.”
“He reacted the way he reacted, but I never
thought twice about having him back on the show,”
Michaels said.“If the music hadn’t been good? Then
I wouldn’t, obviously. But when a person is that talented, of course. Kanye is the real thing.”
West moved away from hip-hop with 2008’s“808s
and Heartbreak,”a downbeat breakup album that
divided critics and was his only effort to not garner a Grammy nomination for album of the year.
First-week sales of “808s” tallied 450,000 copies,
according to Nielsen SoundScan, less than half of
the first-week totals of his 2007 effort,“Graduation.”
Reviewers, however, have uniformly backed West’s
latest, as it earned perfect scores from Rolling Stone
and Pitchfork, and it appears on target to give the
artist a commercial and critical rebound.
Through it all,West has been a signature artist for
MTV, and the network milked his so-called feud with
Swift for this year’s VMAs, resulting in MTV’s mostwatched music video award show since 2004. Amy
Doyle, the executive in charge of music and talent
for the network, isn’t giving West and Swift all the
credit for the ratings boost but notes it didn’t hurt.
“People want to see him on TV for all kinds of
reasons,”Doyle said.“I truly believe they come for
his art. But they clearly get a lot more than that. He
speaks very honestly about what he’s feeling, and it’s
actually quite refreshing.”
And necessary, said Legend. For all the groundbreaking critical accolades heaped upon the artist,
Legend said, he fulfills another time-honored pop
tradition.
“We need rock stars in our culture,”Legend said.
asked via e-mail about West’s interview availability “I feel like we don’t have as many right now as we
on a scale of 1 to 10 – with one being“not a chance” used to. It’s cool to have an outrageous, outsized
and 10 being a sure thing – Tesoriero responded persona in popular culture, and Kanye’s doing that.
with a numerical one, accompanied by a frowny“He’s also making really interesting, innovative
face emoticon.
and exciting music. We should be grateful to have
Likewise, executives at Universal Music Group an artist like him right now.”
declined to comment.“My Beautiful Dark Twisted
Can’t Tell Me Nothing Fantasy”is no doubt a priority for the label, given
its holiday-timed release and West’s star persona,
yet in a depressed climate in which labels are eager
to talk about any success, multiple requests over
the last two weeks to speak to representatives of
Universal’s Island Def Jam imprint were met with
notable silence.
Instead, West has largely been a one-man show.
Online, he has been the comedian –“Don’t you hate
it when you say bye to someone then yall get on the
elevator together,” he tweeted in August – as well
as the victim – “I can’t be everybody’s hero and
villain savior and sinner Christian and anti Christ!”
he noted in November.
CLEARLY, HE DOES
“Outlets like Twitter,”said suave R&B star Ne-Yo,
allow West the opportunity to“vent to the world.”
THINGS THAT ARE
“I think it’s a beautiful thing,” Ne-Yo said.“By
now, you know who Kanye is. If he feels like he was PROVOCATIVE. THAT’S COOL.
disrespected, he’s not only going to say it, he’s going THAT’S A PART OF WHAT
to stand on a chair and scream it.That’s who he is.
MAKES HIM INTERESTING
He’s a master of PR. He knows what he is doing.”
But does anyone else? The answer remains AS AN ARTIST. HE PUTS IT
unclear. For instance,West tweeted that his intended ALL OUT THERE IN EVERY
album art for“My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy”
had been“banned in the USA,”adding that he didn’t WAY – MUSICALLY AND WITH
think about Wal-Mart when picking art.The retailer HIS PERSONALITY. IT’S ALL
issued a statement, saying it had never been shown
OUT THERE. I THINK THAT
the sexually graphic image, and multiple Universal
Music Group staffers contacted by the Times were THROWS PEOPLE OFF
Kanye West shapes the message his way
acceptance speech – including abandoning a coheadlining tour with Lady Gaga – he spearheaded
his own promo initiative by giving away alternate
LOS ANGELES – Early this fall, before any kind and non-album tracks from “My Beautiful Dark
of promotional push for Kanye West’s new album, Twisted Fantasy” on his blog at KanyeWest.com.
“My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy,” had begun The performer spurned the overwhelming majorin earnest, the Grammy-winning rapper-producer ity of interview requests – the notable exceptions
took to his widely read Twitter account to vent. being an appearance on “The Ellen DeGeneres
Even for a creative firebrand whose career has in Show” and a stint “guest editing” XXL magazine
many ways been defined by outrageous behavior (in which he basically interviewed himself) – and
and controversial statements,West’s remarks stood took to Twitter to lambaste various reporters and
as a defiant dismissal of every rule in the major media outlets, including the Los Angeles Times (for
label marketing playbook. Call it a tweet as mis- what West decried as a“soulless”review of his short
sion statement.
film“Runaway”) and“Today”show host Matt Lauer.
“Man I love Twitter,”West posted on Sept. 4.“I’ve
In the process, the performer has won critical
always been at the mercy of the press but no more.” props from a constellation of recording stars and
And so began a campaign of nearly unprec- past collaborators – even a powerhouse TV proedented, self-styled image control and media spin ducer whose show West dissed on a single from the
that culminated Nov. 22 with the album’s release. new album.
Even in an era when social networking tools allow
To hear it from multiplatinum-selling R&B
artists ever greater freedoms to communicate crooner John Legend, who is signed to West’s
directly with fans, the so-called Louis Vuitton Don G.O.O.D. Music imprint, appears on “My Beautiful
has taken the notion of personally generating his Dark Twisted Fantasy” and is currently working
own hype to further extremes than just about any- on an album to be released in 2011 with West,“all
one in popular culture.
this wacky stuff and this controversy” does more
The upshot:“My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” than generate publicity. It sets West apart as a sort
was on track to sell more than 550,000 copies in its of endangered species, an artistic loner in an age of
first week on the market, according to a senior staff mannered shock value and carefully laid-out viral
member at his label Universal Music Group who marketing initiatives.
declined to be named because he was not authorized
“Clearly, he does things that are provocative,”Legto speak publicly on behalf of the company.
end said.“That’s cool. That’s a part of what makes
Moreover, West has seemingly sidestepped con- him interesting as an artist. He puts it all out there
ventional logic and courted controversy every step in every way – musically and with his personality.
of the way. After nearly a year of silence following It’s all out there. I think that throws people off.”
the public outcry that accompanied West’s interrupUnsurprisingly, efforts to reach West were unsuction of Taylor Swift’s 2009 MTV Video Music Awards cessful. When his publicist, Gabe Tesoriero, was
By Chris Lee and Todd Martens
Los Angeles Times
REVIEWS
3 December 2010
NEW CD RELEASES
15
Books Full Dark isn’t
King’s shining hour
Girl Talk
0All Day
0Illegal Art
Gregg Gillis, aka Girl Talk, specializes in mashing together the
best bits of popular songs from
the last 40-odd years into supersaturated, nonstop, ecstatic dance
mixes.“All Day,”available for free
download at http://illegal-art.net/allday, follows the
blueprint of 2006’s“Night Ripper”and 2008’s“Feed
The Animals,” although it’s even more dense with
samples. It’s relentless. Since it opens with Black
Sabbath’s“War Pigs”(layered with Ludacris’“Move
Bitch”) and ends 71 minutes later with John Lennon’s “Imagine”(spliced with Rich Boy’s “Drop”),
“All Day” might seem to have a political subtext.
But Gillis’ goals (aside from flouting fair-use laws)
are less intellectual. He just wants to have fun, and
he finds it in R-rated raps from Jay-Z,Waka Flocka
Flame, and Lil Wayne and in instantly recognizable
hooks from the Ramones, Arcade Fire, and Bruce
Springsteen, among more than 300 others.“All Day”
is perfect for the instant-gratification generation:
it’s an exhausting, dizzying sugar-rush.
– Steve Klinge
Jason Aldean
0My Kinda Party
0Broken Bow
Jason Aldean’s kind of party takes
place just outside town, where his
“redneck Romeo”can find a“tanlegged Juliet.”It’s a“Country Boy’s
World,”to use one of the song titles,
and Aldean revels in it.
And why not? That country-and-proud-of-it
approach has helped make the strapping singer a
star, even if the depictions of rural and small-town
life he sings about (he doesn’t write them) tend to
have an earnest, workmanlike quality short on real
personality – much like the pumped-up rock that
passes for country throughout the album. There’s
also the dreaded power ballad,“Don’t You Wanna
Stay,” with Kelly Clarkson, and on “Dirt Road
Anthem”the country boy even raps the verses, which
is as ridiculous as it sounds.
When he gets a good song, however,Aldean shows
he can dig deeper, whether wallowing in the alienation of“Church Pew or Bar Stool”or ruminating on
loss in“The Heartache That Don’t Stop Hurting”or
“Texas Was You.”There just aren’t enough of those
moments among the 15 cuts here.
– Nick Cristiano
Denis Diblasio/Brian Betz Project
0Flute/Guitar
0Dreambox Media
This brash duet recording finds
two pros hanging out on new turf.
Denis DiBlasio is perhaps better
known as baritone saxophonist,
but the director of Rowan University’s jazz department (and
formerly Maynard Ferguson’s music director) holds
forth on flute with fellow Rowan faculty member
Brian Betz on acoustic guitar.
The eight originals – six by DiBlasio – create
their own worlds. Sometimes it’s a sassy and bluesy
groove, as on DiBlasio’s “Jackson Square.” Other
times, it’s a more mellow vibe, as on Betz’s winsome
“Baby Bree.”
DiBlasio and Betz are pretty expressive in either
mode, and they reach high. DiBlasio’s haunting“In
Pieces”is dedicated to his father’s long struggle with
Alzheimer’s.
– Karl Stark
Full Dark, No Stars
0Stephen King
0Scribner (368 pages, $27.95)
In the afterword to Full Dark, No Stars – which
may be Stephen King’s 150,000th book, we’re not
quite sure – the author sounds a note of apology.
The four novellas you’ve just digested, he tells his
reader, are harsh.“You may have found them hard
to read in places,”King writes. But such is the price
of worthy fiction.“I have little patience with writers,”he continues,“who don’t take the job seriously.”
But if the stories in Full Dark, No Stars are hard
to read, it isn’t because they’re violent, gruesome
or dark, all of which they most certainly are. It’s
that King himself hasn’t taken this particular job
very seriously – not if that responsibility includes
the creation of believable characters and plausible situations, even within the kind of inherently
implausible universe King regularly conjures up.
Take “1922,” the first and longest story in the
book. Farmer-turned-murderer Leland Wilford
James holed up in an Omaha hotel, imaginary rats
gnawing at the walls, the memory of his wayward
son gnawing at his conscience.Would a guy like Wilf,
who’s never left Nebraska, say that his wife’s nose
was making“a shape like a shark’s fin”in the burlap
bag that their son has slipped over her head? No, but
a writer from Maine might.
A writer from Maine might also establish the
background of a character like Darcy Anderson –
who discovers her husband is a sadistic serial killer
in“A Good Marriage”– as follows:“She was raised in
Freeport, Maine, back when it was a town instead of
an adjunct to L.L. Bean,American’s first superstore,
and half a dozen other oversized retail operations
that are called ‘outlets’(as if they were sewer drains
rather than shopping locations).”
In his best work, you feel that King has his
chummy arm around you even while he’s trying
to make you wet your pants. Here, King can’t get
out of his characters’ way:The banal observations,
the petty gripes, the clumsy asides are not just distracting but annoying.And lazy: In“Big Driver,”the
plucky Tessa Jean, author of a successful mystery
series about The Willow Grove Knitting Society
(Really? Is that the best you can do?) is waylaid,
beaten, raped and left for dead. Plotting revenge,
she winds up having two-way conversations with
her cat, her dog and her GPS, none of which has
any more effect in creating thrills than the rape
statistics that one character recites at story’s end,
as if the story were a public service announcement.
“Big Driver” is the most distasteful of the four
stories certainly. It’s also the one that best exhibits a
creeping atrophy in King’s writing, which has always
been popular, frightful and literary.
The final story,“Fair Extension,”is also the shortest,
and involves a man who makes a deal with the devil.
“Full Dark, No Stars”isn’t a horrifying development. But it’s a little worrisome.
– By John Anderson
Sarah Palin comes
off as a savvy politico
America by Heart: Reflections
on Family, Faith, and Flag
0Sarah Palin
0Harper (276 pages, $25.99)
There really is nothing quite like a gifted politician
on the make, but even in such fast company, Sarah
Palin really has to rank as a force of nature.
Along with her ally-of-convenience, the Fox News
personality Glenn Beck – certainly the most gifted
electronic demagogue since Father Coughlin in the
1930s – she has adroitly used the full panoply of
contemporary media to position herself as a leader
of the populist surge reshaping Republican politics.
Like Beck, Palin is a multi-platforming powerhouse,
a presence on cable news, reality television, on social
media – Facebook and Twitter – and, more traditionally, in book publishing.
America by Heart: Reflections on Family, Faith,
and Flag is Palin’s second book in as many years and
more overtly political than last year’s autobiographical Going Rogue. If it isn’t an outright declaration
of her intention to seek the GOP’s 2012 presidential nomination, it’s a clear warning to the other
prospective candidates that they’ll have to reckon
with her and those she counts as her Americans on
their way to the party’s endorsement.
Two interesting things stand out in this latest manifesto (and, make no mistake,that’s what it is):One is
that Palin clearly has widened her circle of advisers,
at least when it comes to her uncredited ghost writers,
who have stitched a veritable laundry list of current
conservative preoccupations into America by Heart,
along with extended quotations from an array of
figures,including Margaret Thatcher,James Q.Wilson,
poet Karl Shapiro and all the requisite Founders and
Framers.The other – and perhaps most instructive –
thing to be gleaned from this book is just how shrewd
a politician Palin is. Professional political consultants sometimes like to talk about a candidate’s“RLC
quotient.”The acronym stands for Rat-Like Cunning
– and it’s meant to be a compliment indicating not
only a deep instinctual shrewdness but also a willingness to fight ruthlessly when forced.
Not unexpectedly, this book begins with the
former Alaska governor speaking to a “tea party”
rally in – where else? – Boston. These, she assures
us repeatedly, are the real Americans and not the
angry“hillbillies”allegedly portrayed by the mainstream media.The media, by the way, are one of the
recurring demons in this media-savvy book, along
with progressives, liberals, academics and all sorts
of look-down-their-noses-at-the-rest-of-us “elites.”
Like Beck, though, Palin is wonderfully adept at
escaping any responsibility for what’s essentially a
Manichaean view of our society – one that divides
real, hard-working, family-loving, religious Americans from those who ... well, aren’t those things.
Thus, she doesn’t bat a professionally mascaraed
eyelash while decrying the “shameful tendency on
the left not simply to declare their opponents wrong,
but to declare them evil. Conservatives and liberals
don’t have honest policy disagreements, this strategy says, conservatives are just bad people.”
Right.
One of the quirky oddities of this volume is the
frequent citation of relatively obscure Chicago School
economists, marginal conservative historians and
obscure political sources along with television shows
and lots of films.Thus, two of Palin’s touchstones are
Calvin Coolidge and“Mr.Smith Goes to Washington.”
According to Palin,“ordinary Americans are tired
of (President) Obama’s apology tour and of hearing
about what a weak country America is from the
left-wing and journalists.That’s why America yearns
for ... leaders who are not embarrassed by America,
who see our country’s flaws but also its greatness;
leaders who are proud to be Americans, and are
proud of her every day, not just when their chosen
ones are winning elections.”The latter, of course, is
a not-very-subtle put-down of Michelle Obama.
Like Beck, Palin is bent on educating her readers
on the“real”American history that’s being kept from
them.Thus,during one of her discussions of Coolidge’s
suppressed legacy,the author muses,“is it just a coincidence that one of the presidents who most appreciated
our founding principles is one of the least celebrated
by the academic elite?”Actually, it’s because he was a
worse-than-mediocre president, but why argue?
There’s also an extended discussion of the intricacies of the original Constitutional provision that, for
the purposes of congressional representation, slaves
be counted as three-fifths of a person. Somehow,
Palin and her collaborators manage to tease that
historical grotesquerie into the Framers’ affirmation of African Americans’personhood, rather than
the Southern delegates’desire to maintain political
dominance in the new republic.
Along with the bewildering range of citations,
digressions like that leave one wondering whether
we’re really meant to believe that Palin recently
has been rereading Whittaker Chambers; or did she
recently “come across” the letters of 18th century
immigrant farmer J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur?
One simply supposes that the Alaskan winter leaves
time for more than ice fishing or snowmobiling.
Irony apparently doesn’t get shelf-space in Palin’s
freshly stocked intellectual arsenal. At one point
during an extended critique of contemporary feminism, she contrasts it with Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s
famous Seneca Falls declaration of 1848, writing,
“Can you imagine a contemporary feminist invoking the laws of nature and of nature’s God?”Somehow, it escapes the author that those sentiments,
part – as she acknowledges – of the Declaration
of Independence, were an expression of the Deism
that prevailed among the Founders, a sentiment
utterly at odds with the conventional, essentially
evangelical“faith”she cites elsewhere.
In Palin’s Manichaean America,“property rights
are routinely violated,”abortion “is the state-sanctioned killing of innocent life,”and“it’s no accident
that progressives view the Constitution and the
Declaration of Independence as obstacles to be
mowed down or maneuvered around to create a
bigger government.After all, their name itself, progressives, implies that there is something defective
or at least inadequate about America. Progressives
exist, their name implies, to ‘correct’ America, to
‘correct’all the rest of us in the process.”
When Palin resigned as governor of Alaska, a
number of experienced pundits firmly opined that
she’d committed political suicide.They didn’t reckon
on her shrewd political instincts, which were telling
her – correctly, as it turns out – how much easier it
would be to seek the presidency as the unaccountable symbol of a populist upwelling than it would
be from the statehouse.
– By Tim Rutten
HEALTH
16
3 December 2010
Annual global study reports progress against HIV
Eric Goosby, U.S. global AIDS coordinator, said in
a statement that the United States has been stretching its funding through a variety of approaches,
LOS ANGELES – More than 1.2 million people including switching from air transportation for
began taking anti-HIV therapy in 2009, a 30 per- medications to ocean and land transport and
cent increase that brings the worldwide total to 5.2 increasing the use of generic drugs.
million, UNAIDS said in its annual report, but that
In a report last week in the British Medical
still leaves 10 million people in the developing world Journal, Dr. Eran Bendavid of Stanford University
in need of access to the lifesaving drugs.
Medical School and his colleagues said it has been
Since the pandemic peaked in 1999,new infections possible to continue expanding treatment programs
have fallen by 19 percent – in some key countries by amid slow funding growth because of substantial
25 percent or more. Expanding access to treatment declines in drug prices brought about by the use of
has yielded a 19 percent decline in deaths since 2004. generics: a drop from $1,177 per year per patient in
“That clearly demonstrates that with confidence 2003 to $96 in 2008. But they said those price drops
and conviction we have broken the trajectory of the are unlikely to continue and that further expansion
AIDS epidemic,”Dr. Paul De Lay, deputy executive will require new infusions of funds.
director of the UNAIDS program branch, said at a
Schwartlander called on low-income countries to
news conference.“Fewer are infected,fewer are dying.” carry a bigger share of the burden, noting that “90
But those gains are at risk because of the econ- percent of AIDS spending in low-income countries
omy, Bernhard Schwartlander, chief epidemiologist now comes from international sources.That creates
at UNAIDS, said at the news conference.“In 2009, a dependency we must overcome.”
for the first time, the funds available for fighting
But A. Cornelius Baker, an AIDS expert on the
the epidemic were less than in the previous year.”
Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS, cauIn 2008, international funding was $7.7 billion. tioned that it was important to continue to provide
The next year, it dropped to $7.6 billion.The United support for people in the poorest countries.“People
Nations estimates that achieving its goal of univer- should not have to spend themselves into poverty
sal access to AIDS drugs will require at least $15 to stay alive,”he said.
billion a year.
“Even when drugs are made available much more
By Thomas H. Maugh II
Los Angeles Times
Some of the most
impressive gains
noted in the new
report have been
in sub-Saharan
Africa, which
has borne the
brunt of the AIDS
pandemic
cheaply than in the United States, when they are
living on $2 a day,”it is simply not feasible for them
to pay for the drugs, he said.
Some of the most impressive gains noted in the new
report have been in sub-Saharan Africa, which has
borne the brunt of the AIDS pandemic. In 22 countries in the region,the incidence of HIV infections fell
by at least 22 percent from 2001 to 2009 as a result
of education and prevention programs. Nearly 37
percent of adults and children in the region who were
eligible for antiretroviral therapy in 2009 received
it, compared with just 2 percent seven years earlier.
Not all the news is good. In Eastern Europe and
Central Asia, the number of people living with HIV
almost tripled from 2000 to 2009, climbing to 1.4
million people. Russia and Ukraine are particular
problem areas, accounting for nearly 90 percent of
all new infections in the region.
The epidemic there is concentrated primarily
among drug abusers, sex workers and, to a lesser
extent, gay males.
Authorities are also seeing a resurgence in HIV
infections among gay males in the United States
and Europe, according to the report. The total
number of people living with HIV in the two regions
grew from 1.8 million in 2001 to 2.3 million in 2009,
with about 35,000 deaths in 2009, compared with
37,000 in 2001.
Plavix and aspirin together Prostate cancer stage might
can increase hemorrhage risk not matter after surgery
minor cuts. However, the risk of
a life-threatening hemorrhage
was not significantly different
LOS ANGELES – Plavix and
between the patients taking
aspirin are sometimes prescribed
Plavix and aspirin compared
together to prevent blood clots
with those taking warfarin. Hembecause the most popular alternaorrhages that occur with warfarin
tive, warfarin, can lead to unconcan be managed, but the authors
trolled bleeding in some patients.
said, “there remain few simiBut a new study has found the
lar interventions” for stopping
combination treatment can also
bleeding from the combination
2 colserious
x 3.5hemorrhages.
in / 96x89 mm / 327x302 pixels
cause
antiplatelet therapy.
Researchers at the Centers for
Doctors have long hoped for an
20101129
HLand
Navy
beans
Disease
Control
Prevention
alternative treatment for preventexamined emergency room cases
ing blood clots, and now they have
krtfeatures
features;
krthealthmed;
krtnational
national;Pradaxa,
krtworld
world;
of
bleeding related
to taking
drugs that prevent
one.The medication
known
generically as
07003003;
HEA;antiplatelet
health treatment;
HTH;dabigatran,
krtdiet diet;
krthealth
health;
krt;by the
clotting
(also called
therapy). They
was approved
earlier
this month
mctgraphic;
2010;
krtedonly;
nutrition;
found
that warfarin
led tokrt2010;
more caseskrtcampus
of bleeding, campus;
Food and Drug
Administration.
Otherphoto;
antiplatelet
wf hl healthy
living; carr;
bean;
protein;
folate;
manganese;
including
minor bleeding
from navy
nosebleeds
andfiber;
therapies
are under
investigation.
By Shari Roan
Los Angeles Times
vitamin b1; iron
Healthy Living
A mighty bean
Small, mild-flavored and versatile, navy beans are
also a nutritional powerhouse.
The bean that kept the Navy afloat
• Called “navy beans” because they
were a staple in the U.S. NavyÕs menu
in the early 20th century
• Combined with grains, such as
rice, they provide low-fat,
high-quality protein
• One cup provides almost half the
recommended daily intake of fiber,
which helps lower cholesterol and
prevent constipation, other
digestive disorders
• Good source of folate,
mangenese, vitamin B1 and iron
© 2010 MCT
Source: World’s Healthiest Foods,
MCT Photo Service
Graphic: Pat Carr
By Shari Roan
Los Angeles Times
LOS ANGELES – Prostate cancer is often discovered when the tumor is localized – meaning it has
not spread beyond the site of the original cancer.
Still, men with localized prostate cancer are given
a“stage”of T1 or T2 to reflect the size of the tumor
and other characteristics that involve the chances
that the cancer will recur. Cancer staging can also
help doctors and patients decide on treatments
after surgery.
However, a new study confirms what many cancer doctors have felt about localized prostate cancer
staging:It just doesn’t appear to matter after surgery.
Researchers at the University of California,
San Francisco, assessed the records of 3,875 men
in a national database. The men had undergone
prostate cancer surgery for localized tumors. The
study showed that the
stage was incorrectly
assessed 35.4 percent
of the time. An inappropriately low clinical
stage was assigned in
55.1 percent of these
cases and 44.9 percent
of the errors consisted
of an inappropriately
high stage.
Nevertheless, the errors didn’t seem to matter, the
authors found. Even after the errors were corrected,
staging did not predict the chances of the disease
recurring.“Our findings question the utility of our
current staging system for localized prostate cancer,”
the lead author of the study, Adam C. Reese, said
in a news release. The study was published online
Monday in the journal Cancer.
Walking may preserve
brain function
By Jeannine Stein
Los Angeles Times
LOS ANGELES – Walking may put the brakes on
cognitive decline in healthy older people as well as
those with cognitive impairment, a new study finds.
The ongoing study, which spans 20 years, also
quantified how much walking is necessary to keep
brain volume up. Researchers followed 426 older
adults for a number of years to see if there were
changes in brain volume. Among the participants
299 were healthy and 127 had cognitive impairments, including 83 with mild cognitive impairment
and 44 with Alzheimer’s disease.
The more people moved, the higher their brain
volume, a marker for brain health. That link held
after adjusting for factors such as age, gender,
body mass index and education. People who met
the requirements for activity also scored better on
a mental exam.
For healthy adults, walking at least 72 blocks a
week (about six miles) can preserve brain volume
and slow the risk of cognitive decline. Cognitively
impaired adults needed to walk at least 58 city
blocks a week (about five miles) to achieve the
same results.
“Because a cure for Alzheimer’s is not yet a reality,
we hope to find ways of alleviating disease progression or symptoms in people who are already cognitively impaired,” said study co-author Cyrus Raji,
in a news release.The study was presented recently
at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society
of North America in Chicago.
SCIENCE/TECH 17
3 December 2010
Is a tablet the best choice?
By David Sarno
Los Angeles Times
TABLETS VS. LAPTOPS: So your laptop is getting
old: Should you buy a new one or change horses and
try out one of these tablet computers?
That all depends on what you want to do with it.
It’s still the case that laptops and smaller netbook
computers are tuned for production – word processing,
e-mailing,number-crunching,more complicated tasks
that often require a lot of text and switching among
several windows running different applications.
Tablets, lacking a mouse or a keyboard, are better for tasks that have simpler tactile and visual
elements – like paging through a photo gallery,
checking online news or blogs, or reading a digital magazine. In other words, they work better for
consumption, and thus can stay on for quite a few
hours on one charge.
For social media addicts, tablets will be excellent
for browsing through Facebook for the latest photos
or links that friends have posted.
The iPad in particular has become a hit for casual
gaming.Video games like“Angry Birds,”in which the
player tries to knock down rickety structures by
shooting birds at them with a large slingshot, can
be played with a single fingertip. No complicated
controllers required.
When it comes to more serious applications,
though, tablets are likely to lag behind netbooks
and laptops for the foreseeable future:The devices
are not sophisticated enough to seamlessly run multiple programs at once or to allow users to find and
install the endless variety of software now available
for PCs.
There is a thriving community of iPad “app”
developers – the device has close to 40,000 small
programs created for it, by some counts. But no
such group yet exists for tablets running on Google’s
Android operating system, which will constitute
most of the new offerings in coming months.
TABLETS VS. E-READERS: With electronic reading devices adding more bells and whistles, including wireless connectivity, the differences between
e-readers and tablet computers seem to be blurring.
But there’s one difference that might never go
away.
Tablets are designed to let users interact with a
range of features, from telephony and video chat
to e-mail and text messaging, and from watching
movies and looking at photos to browsing Web pages
and news sites.
But e-readers are just for reading.
Most e-reader converts will tell you that the
Amazon Kindle, for instance, works because it has
reduced the number of built-in bells nearly to zero.
When you’re reading a book, you’re not bombarded with “You’ve got mail” sounds, “Friend”
notifications or even a digital clock. All you get is
the text in front of you, ready for your complete
attention.
Tablet devices like the iPad or Samsung’s new
Galaxy tablet afford no such digital austerity:
E-mail,Web browsing and Facebook are only a click
away, and many readers find the temptation of the
media matrix too difficult to resist.
And though tablet screens will soon offer higher
resolution and brighter colors than the electronic
ink still favored by most e-readers, you may find that
staring at a digital display for hours can tire out
your eyes (especially if you’ve already been doing it
at work all day).The e-ink displays, while slower and
monochrome, are all but identical to a printed page.
The success of Amazon’s Kindle reader, which
has become the online retailer’s bestselling product,
may show that the best way you can improve on
the printed book is to make it lighter and simpler.
Science Matters
What deep rumbles meant
Researchers have reconstructed how the complex ÒplumbingÓ deep
under a volcano in Iceland stirred for years before a violent eruption.
Eyjafjallajokull
volcano
Dust cloud
Ice
Basaltic
magma
Oliver Berg/dpa/picture-alliance/NEWSCOM
Dike
High-tech console, disappointing games
By Victor Godinez
The Dallas Morning News
The technology behind Sony’s Move for the PlayStation 3 video game console is certainly impressive.
Too bad the first games that use the tech are
mostly junk.
The Move is basically Sony’s answer to Nintendo’s wildly successful Wii game console. Nintendo
proved that motion-activated controller wands
could be a huge hit, and so, four years later, Sony is
hopping on the bandwagon.
The Move controllers are exactly what you’d
expect from a Sony knockoff of the Wii remote:
sleek, black and with lots of buttons.
From a technical perspective, the Move is certainly better than the Wii. The little balls on top
of the Move wands light up, and the separate PlayStation Eye video camera tracks the movement
of the balls.
The Move offers several improvements over the
Wii.
First, the Move is more precise than the Wii
remote – even the one with the optional MotionPlus
add-on that improves the accuracy of the original
Wii controller.When you move your Move, your onscreen character rotates his sword, Frisbee, racket
or whatever he’s holding with uncanny precision
and synchronization.
There’s a tiny lag between when you move and
when your character responds, but it’s noticeable
only if you’re looking for it. It doesn’t affect game
play at all.
The Move is also notable for its ability to detect
your movements in three-dimensional space. In
other words, if you step toward or away from your
TV, the system senses that movement and your character mimics it.
So, for example, in the pingpong game included in
the obligatory but unimaginative“Sports Champions”launch title, if your opponent dinks a soft shot
over the net, you actually have to lunge at the screen
to hit the ball back over. If you just swing from your
original stance, you won’t get to the ball.
That moment of discovery is almost more fun
than the game itself, and I hope the technical capabilities of the Move will eventually give developers
the incentive to think more creatively about the
games they’re making.
“Sports Champions”is an almost embarrassingly
obvious copycat of the genre-busting “Wii Sports”
title that launched the Wii. Some of the games
are OK – pingpong and Frisbee golf are made for
motion control – but nothing special. Of course, the
tennis and bowling games in Wii Sports weren’t
overwhelming, either, but motion control was so
new at the time that the gimmick was enough to
overcome ordinary game play.
The motion controller, Eye camera and “Sports
Champions” game are available in a $99 bundle.
Separately, the controller is $49.99, and the camera
and game are each $39.99.
I also played the idiotic and frustrating“Kung Fu
Rider,”the sort of wacky Japanese title that would
never be released on these shores if Sony weren’t
hungry to launch titles for the Move. Basically, you
ride office chairs and other furniture down city
streets, dodging crates, pedestrians and such.
The game idea is actually somewhat interesting,
but motion controls add nothing to the experience,
and in fact a traditional controller would probably
make the game much more intuitive and fun.
But the Move has a lot of potential, and upcoming blockbuster titles such as the shooter“SOCOM
4”should be a much better test of what developers
can do with this technology.
Alkaline
magma
3
Sill
1
Sill
2
Sill
3-D view of steps toward eruption
1994
1 After centuries of dormancy, magma
1999
2 Magma moves into another sill,
Jan.-March
(molten rock) rises into sill in volcano;
its vibrations cause earthquakes
causes tremors; GPS instruments
show that volcano is swelling
2010
3 Magma intrudes into more sills and
MarchApril 12
FIRST ERUPTION
April 14May
SECOND ERUPTION
2010
2010
large vertical dike
VolcanoÕs flanks expand by 6 in.
(15 cm); basaltic magma erupts
onto side of mountain
Alkaline magma bursts through ice on
summit; dust rises 30,000 ft. (10,000 m),
disrupting air traffic across Europe
Source: University of Wisconsin-Madison Geoscience Department, National Science
Foundation (U.S.), Nature magazine
Graphic: Helen Lee McComas
© 2010 MCT
OUTDOOR LIVING with DANSKE MØBLER
Find the perfect outdoor furniture for your home and lifestyle from our large
collection of quality New Zealand made and imported designs and styles.
View the full collection online or phone 09 625 3900 for a free catalogue.
AUCKLAND 983 Mt Eden Rd, Three Kings. Ph 09 625 3900 • 13a Link Dve, Wairau Park. Ph 09 443 3045
501 Ti Rakau Dve, Botany Town Centre. Ph 09 274 1998
HAMILTON 15 Maui St, Te Rapa. Ph 07 847 0398
TAUpO 29 Totara St, Totara Point. Ph 07 378 3156
weLLINgTON Level 1, Harvey Norman Centre, 28 Rutherford St, Lower Hutt. Ph 04 568 5001
STOCKISTS NATIONwIDe www.danskemobler.co.nz
104512 Investigate Nov10 Eden.indd 1
9/28/10 11:36:00 AM
TECHNOLOGY 19
3 December 2010
Laura French
of Roseville,
Minnesota, likes
Netflix streaming
video service for
watching movies
and has scaled
back some of her
other services.
Glen Stubbe/
Minneapolis Star
Tribune/MCT
Streaming video could strain Internet’s capacity
A reaction came quickly. Level 3 Communications,
the company that distributes Netflix Corp. videos,
on Tuesday complained to the Federal CommunicaKANSAS CITY, MO. – With a click on your Xbox, tions Commission that Comcast raised its fees to
your Wii, your Roku or a fast-growing class of gadg- carry Netflix videos on its network.
ets that stream Internet video, you’ve instantly
“If you see a whole lot of people in that last mile
brought Johnny Depp into your living room.
trying to stream video, you could imagine them
Netflix last week set a new pricing schedule that going,‘Whoa! Crap!’“ said Dan Andresen, a Kansas
nudges consumers toward computers and away from State University computer scientist.“When that
mailboxes. So by tapping into the company’s “play happens, things are going to have to change.”
now” feature to watch “Alice in Wonderland,” you
For now, Netflix users won’t see higher fees
swerve into a high-consumption data traffic lane.
because of Comcast’s action. But the larger probFor now that’s no problem. The Net can handle lem remains.
the less than 2 percent of people online at peak
It could mean your Internet service provider
hours who pump Netflix video to their TVs.That’s might need to cap your consumption. They might
even with Netflix traffic making up more than 17 raise rates to pay for improvements on that last mile.
percent of the data gushing around the Web.
Or you could be introduced to a baffling choice of
Now imagine what might happen come Christ- services depending on whether you want the Intermas, when the flood of electronics is unwrapped and net for e-mail and shopping, for online gaming, or
plugged in, and perhaps 20 percent of us stream to bring Hollywood movies to your living room.
video off the Internet.
That poses tough questions for commerce and
Few experts see the backbone of the Internet public policy, for whether the future of home enterreaching gridlock anytime soon.Rather,they liken it tainment will remain the stuff of cable and satellite
to a lightly traveled interstate highway system where packages or be gleaned from the anarchic Internet.
more lanes could be opened without much expense.
Already, 24 hours of video is uploaded every
The trouble is the last mile of the Internet – the minute to YouTube, and that service alone takes
cable or telephone line to your house built for far up 8 percent of prime time Internet traffic. (Like
narrower lanes of traffic.
conventional TV, consumers spend most of their
Today it might be easy enough to watch a high- time watching Internet video after they come home
definition streaming movie. But those local lanes from work and before they hit the sack.)
could quickly become overwhelmed once all your
Experts note that all Internet traffic isn’t the
neighbors sit down for marathons of “The Office” same. Some requires a large amount of bandwidth
over the Internet.
to move huge files such as movies someone might
More traffic may have just been routed that way. store on their computer – but such file transfers
As Netflix increased its mail subscription rates, it don’t have to move that fast because the end user
introduced a cheaper online-only deal for $8 a month. isn’t watching them live.
By Scott Canon
McClatchy Newspapers
Other traffic, like online game playing, hogs less
bandwidth. But if your connection isn’t speedy
enough, your “Call of Duty” avatar could move so
slowly he ends up in a digital pool of blood.
Video streaming brings a moving image to your
screen in real time. But it’s buffered – the data
arrives to your home a little before it arrives on
your screen.That uses bandwidth slightly differently
from file downloads or online games.
So imagine different pricing of Internet service
for gamers, for users of the popular online phone
system Skype, for Netflix and Hulu fanatics.
“The story here isn’t that the sky is falling, it’s:
Here we go again,”said Tom Donnelly, co-founder of
Sandvine, a consultant to Internet providers.
The industry is constantly shifting with changing
uses of the Internet, and the variety of ways people
use it, he said.As people look to use more bandwidth
ALREADY, 24 HOURS
OF VIDEO IS UPLOADED
EVERY MINUTE TO YOUTUBE,
AND THAT SERVICE ALONE
TAKES UP 8 PERCENT OF
PRIME TIME INTERNET
TRAFFIC. LIKE CONVENTIONAL
TV, CONSUMERS SPEND MOST
OF THEIR TIME WATCHING
INTERNET VIDEO AFTER THEY
COME HOME FROM WORK AND
BEFORE THEY HIT THE SACK
for different purposes, the controversial issue of
“network neutrality”takes on new urgency.
“A neutral network is not necessarily a fair network,”Donnelly said.“What you’re going to have is a
high level of inefficiency. Networks need to be managed.These are not self-regulating environments.”
The Federal Communications Commission
recently put off its December meeting by about one
week, when agency Chairman Julius Genachowski is
likely to tackle the issue of whether the government
has the power to regulate broadband providers.The
Obama administration has said it wants that power
so it can prevent Internet service companies from
giving special priority to different content.
For instance, a cable company might want to give
Netflix top priority in delivering signals to homes in
return for a fee from the video-streaming company.
Critics say that could stifle competition.
So they argue for net neutrality, which would
essentially keep the status quo where all traffic
moves with the same priority. Critics of that position, though, say it could allow Netflix users to hog
bandwidth while paying the same rates as their
non-Netflix neighbors.
Others say the solution is fatter data pipes to our
homes – a plus for consumers if it doesn’t raise rates
too much to pay for the upgrades.
Those Internet service providers, or ISPs, especially given that their cable TV packages look less
enticing as the Internet offers more competition,
will want to capture more of the money that content
providers such as Hulu, Netflix and even Google
are pocketing.
“They want a piece of that action,”said Wallach,
the Rice computer scientist.“And they own the wires
going into people’s houses.”