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September 2009:
Vaccine Scandal FIRST INTERVIEW
Swine flu vaccine • Global warming • English surrender
SWINE FLU JAB: UNTESTED, UNSAFE SCIENTISTS WARN AGAINST NEW VACCINE
Global Warming
Fundamentalists
Are you ready to pay $1,400 each to appease the Greens?
Organics Debate
Surrender Monkeys
It’s better for you
Why England can’t win
$8.30 September2009
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INVESTIGATEdigital This is the Adobe Flash edition of Investigate magazine. To zoom in, simply click the mouse on the page, then use the mouse to move the page. Whilst back issues will appear publicly online after they’ve gone off sale at the newsstands, you can purchase a premium digital subscription and get a link to the latest editions as they’re published. If you prefer, you can also purchase a fully functional PDF of the magazine to save to your disk – putting the text of the entire issue at your fingertips. For all these options and more, visit our webstore: http://www.tgifedition.com For access to our news feeds, story archives and blogs, visit our main site: http://www.investigatemagazine.com In the meantime, enjoy, and feel free to share this edition with friends and colleagues.
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PUKEKOHE
Contents 30
38
46
52
58
76
FEATURES
30 Vaccine Scandal
The company tasked with making Swine Flu vaccine accidentally put live bird flu virus into a vaccine. Experts warn the swine flu jab could be far worse than the disease. DR MAE-WAN HO & PROFESSOR JOE CUMMINS have the story
38 Global Warming
A new peer-reviewed study says human CO2 is not causing global warming, but will our Government listen? TOM SEGALSTAD reports
46 Surrender Monkeys
Britain’s slide into the civilisational abyss just gets messier and messier. HAL G. P. COLEBATCH details the Labour government’s culture war against Christianity and British heritage, in the name of globalism
52 The Weather Man
Independent forecaster KEN RING wades into the climate change debate by analysing mistakes in the weather service
58 Animal Magic
Something different: a photo essay showing the merger of plants and animals
76 The Organics Debate
Health correspondent Maureen O’Hagan analyses the fallout from the latest organics study, see HEALTH
Cover: Newscom
20
Editorial and opinion 06 Focal Point
Volume 9, Issue 104, ISSN 1175-1290
Editorial
08 Vox-Populi
The roar of the crowd
18 Simply Devine
Miranda Devine on policing
20 Mark Steyn Big Bro-bama
28
22 Global Warning
Joe Fone slaughers sacred cows
24 Eyes Right
Richard Prosser on referenda
26 Line 1
Chris Carter on arming the police
28 Contra Mundum
Matt Flanagan on imposing beliefs
Lifestyle 16 Poetry
Amy Brooke’s poem of the month
66 Money
Peter Hensley on the big picture
68 Education
Amy Brooke on ideology
72
70 Science
Glass building and birds don’t mix
72 Technology Txting while drvng
74 Sport
Chris Forster on Team NZ
76 Health
Maureen O’Hagan on organics
78 Alt.Health
Fuller Media Richa Fuller 09 522 7062 richa@fullermedia.co.nz
Contributing Writers: Melody Towns, Selwyn Parker, Amy Brooke, Chris Forster, Peter Hensley, Chris Carter, Mark Steyn, Chris Philpott, Michael Morrissey, Miranda Devine, Richard Prosser, Claire Morrow, James Morrow, Len Restall, Laura Wilson, and the worldwide resources of MCTribune Group, UPI and Newscom Art Direction Design & Layout
Heidi Wishart Bozidar Jokanovic
Tel: +64 9 373 3676 Fax: +64 9 373 3667 Investigate Magazine PO Box 188, Kaukapakapa Auckland 0843, NEW ZEALAND AUSTRALIAN Editor Ian Wishart Advertising sales@investigatemagazine.com Tel/Fax: 1-800 123 983 SUBSCRIPTIONS Online: www.investigatemagazine.com By Phone: Australia 1-800 123 983 NZ 09 373 3676 By Post: To the PO Box NZ Edition: $85 Au Edition: A$96 Email editorial@investigatemagazine.com ian@investigatemagazine.com australia@investigatemagazine.com sales@investigatemagazine.com helpdesk@investigatemagazine.tv
88 Pages 92 Music
Investigate magazine Australasia is published by HATM Magazines Ltd
80 Travel Marrakech
84 Food
An interview with Gordon Ramsay Michael Morrissey’s spring reads Chris Philpott’s CD reviews
94 Movies
Julie & Julia; G I Joe
80
NZ EDITION Advertising
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78
Chief Executive Officer Heidi Wishart Group Managing Editor Ian Wishart
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Editorial
Halfwitted global warming fundamentalists
S
o the shrill shrieks of global warming fundamentalists there will be a glut of wood on the market, with a resultant tumble are getting louder? What a surprise. With the Government in value, a la the Dutch tulip crash a couple of centuries ago. announcing it’s aiming for an emissions reduction target This is why the Emissions Trading Scheme is a dog. It just creof 10% to 20% below 1990 levels by 2020, Green lobbyists ates a chance for carbon traders like Al Gore and the Greens to get are screaming ‘it’s not enough!’ while sensible folk are reeling in rich, while everyone else is bled dry of their life savings. shock from the realization their wages are going to be robbed by Nor are the Greens telling the truth about climate change. I around $150 per week, per family for the rest of their natural born listened to Greenpeace campaigner Simon Boxer making outralives to pay for the myth of human-caused climate change. geously misleading comments about the dangers of global warmAnd the $30 per person per week figure is not truly representa- ing in a radio interview with Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking. Boxer tive. It works out at $1,400 per year for every man, woman and raved on about how global warming was going to lead to extincchild in the country, no exceptions, if we achieve a cut of 15% tions and the end of biodiversity. below 1990 levels. But if we hit the government’s higher threshContrast that with this latest study: old of 20% we’ll be paying around $2,000 per person, or $10,000 a year extra that each family of five will have to find. BIODIVERSITY BOOMED DURING GLOBAL WARMING The Government won’t really be able to protect beneficiaries or DENVER, Aug. 7 (UPI) – A global warming span from 53 million to other low income earners from these fees, because nearly half the 47 million years ago strongly influenced the biodiversity of western North NZ population are already America, geologists said. dependents in some way The warming spurred a It just creates a chance for shape or form. Mums and biodiversity boom of plants Dads will already be carrying and animals, the researchcarbon traders like Al Gore and the ers reported this week in the the financial burden of their own children for the $1,400 Proceedings of the National Greens to get rich, while everyone a year price tag each, and if Academy of Sciences. they have to carry everyone else is bled dry of their life savings Never let the facts get in the else as well that would equate to a minimum of $3,000 a way of a good scare story, year per person, or $15,000 per family. eh? Time and again, the science is showing us that life thrives In case you are wondering, that’s an extra $300 a week on top in warmer temperatures and declines in colder temperatures. of your current weekly expenses. Expressed another way, it’s the Greenpeace and other halfwitted global warming fundamentalsize of an average mortgage, but it won’t end after 25 years, you’ll ists try to tell journalists life won’t be able to adapt to the rapid be paying it your whole life. change. Rubbish! Most evolutionary biologists will admit through Sweet little actresses like Keisha, Lucy or Robyn, reading from gritted teeth that most fossil evidence shows rapid genetic changes a Greenpeace script on their TV commercials, reassure New in organisms in response to environmental cues. Adaptation hapZealanders that the Grey Lynn latte set think 15% cuts are way pens remarkably fast, not slowly. too low and we should be aiming for a 40% cut. Good on them. Even the claim about growing ocean acidification turns out If you agree, then double the financial burden outlined above to to be wrong. Latest studies this year have found fish control the as much as $6,000 per person per year, if wage earners have to alkalinity of the ocean, and in regions that have been overfished, pay for unemployed Labour and Green voters. the oceans are sliding more towards acidity. The answer is simple: The Greens have hit back at the government’s costings, suggest- fish sustainably, oceans will stay balanced. ing they don’t take account of planting forests in mitigation. Well, Do you really think paying taxes to the UN is going to solve that depends on who the forest owners sell their credits to on the the problem? open market. If they sell them to the highest bidders offshore, then it ultimately won’t help New Zealanders one iota. More to the point, the Greens are idiots if they don’t think the rest of the world will wake up to the tree planting idea too. Suddenly INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009
THIS YEAR’S MOST IMPORTANT NEW BOOK A devastating exposé of the global warming industry, and its plans to raid your wallet “Air Con demonstrates, with hundreds of scientific references, that “global warming” was not, is not, and will not be a global crisis … “The new religion is merely an excuse for world government. World government will not, repeat not, be democratic government. The “global warming” debate is not really a debate about climatology - it is a debate about freedom… “I commend this timely book, which makes the scientific arguments comprehensible to the layman. Those who read it will help to forestall the new Fascists and so to keep us free.” – Lord Christopher Monckton, Viscount of Brenchley, former adviser to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
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> vox populi
Communiques The roar of the crowd
WE MUST AGREE TO DISAGREE Joe Fone’s article on global warming fails to present any credible evidence to backup claims it makes. He states (without any reference of course) that climate change contains conflicting evidence giving the example: ‘global temperatures trending downwards for the past decade while CO2 emissions increased’. This is wrong. For the past 30 years Global temperatures have increased along with CO2 levels. Evidence of this can be found in our biggest heat-sink the ocean, having remained stable up to the 70s then steadily increasing in temperature by more than 1 degree (ref: NASA’s GISS Mean Ocean Surface Temperatures index). This temperature increased is also observed locally with New Zealand glaciers breaking their equilibrium in 1977, forming lakes and loosing 10% of their mass; all in the last 30 years (Ref: NIWA Glacier Survey data). The article also misses a key point, that the world temperature sits in a very narrow range for human survival, 5 degrees cooler and much of the world (inc. NZ) will be under hundreds of meters of ice (as it was in our last major ice age +10k years ago). 4 degrees warmer and we lose the polar ice caps all together. We have never recorded temperatures 5 degrees warmer in the last 30 million years and we know only some of the possible impacts this could bring. There is plenty of other evidence of warming global temperatures if Joe would care to look, however I suspect he is not so interested researching truth as he is in misquoting people, scaremongering and blatant coercion. This piece of sub-standard journalism discredits your entire magazine, is in contradiction to world wide opinion (and your article on peak oil) and makes you all look pretty stupid. Hugh Walcott, Wellington Editor responds:
We appreciate your comments, Hugh, but with respect the sources and details you quote are wrong. As the following graph shows, CO2 levels have risen while temperatures have flatlined. The oceans have not warmed since 2003. The ARGO project reports it has detected slight cooling, rather than warming since its 3,000 robots were launched in the world’s oceans six years ago. (See Air Con for specific references). Given that the oceans store far more heat than the atmosphere, the hard evidence seems to be contradicting NASA GISS surface station temperature records. Although you say we have not experienced temperatures 5C warmer, in fact a study published this year by the University of Bristol reveals Greenland temperatures were 5C warmer 125,000 years ago, with no major INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009
loss of the Greenland icecap. (See Air Con for specific references). The problem with the data is that NASA GISS relies on unreliable weatherstation records, which show a sharp warming trend, but that isn’t matched by satellite records which have not recorded the same levels of warming, nor is there evidence of the tropical hotspot that the computer models have been predicting. For an objective overview of the latest global warming science, may I humbly suggest you read Air Con first. It might give you something to think about or at least take aim at.
THE MYSTERIES OF BANKING In reply to my article in the July edition entitled “Barbarians at the Gate, Trevor Crosbie falls into the trap many people make, including eminent economists, mistaking the Economic Multiplier Effect with the creation of credit. His example indicates precisely the difference. Firstly he notes that “Banks record $1,000 million dollars in depositors funds”. I assume he refers to new deposits. Out of this the bank lends $800 m. which finds its way into the hands of other banks’ customers who deposit those funds in other banks. So far same money, no new money. It all emanates from the funds which presumably came from another bank or fell into the hands of the initial depositors through economic activity. More importantly the banks created nothing. No bank could lend until it had deposits or otherwise raised funds through debt issues. In each case of the quoted cases the bank could only lend from it’s deposit base. In fact, if you like, the customers created the credit.
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That is why banks actually compete for deposits, usually with different maturities depending on the state of the economy and the trend in interest rates. Just to illustrate further here is a summary of Westpac’s 2008 Balance Sheet: Assets Cash and Central Banks Due from Financial Inst. Financial Instruments Trading securities Loans Other Assets Total Assets
$m 4,809 21,345 34,810 43,694 313,545 21,345 439,548
Liabilities Due to Financial Inst. Deposits Trading Liabilities Financial Instruments Debt Issues Other Liabilities Total Liabilities Shareholders Funds Total Liabs/Equity
15,861 233,730 16,689 24,970 100,369 19,439 411,058 28,490 439,548
It becomes obvious that the only way Westpac could lend $313,545, was by taking deposits of $233,730 and issuing financial instruments ($24,970) and other debt issues (100,369) a total of $359,069, the difference being invested in other ways. As to the assertion that banks can somehow create credit our of “thin air”- please let me know how its done Trevor, because I and some of my mates are waiting with bated breath to get cracking the moment you divulge the secret. Banks wouldn’t need to take deposits if they had this Merlinlike ability to conjure up credit from nothing. If the absurd presumption that “Debt from lending at interest grows at an exponential rate” was correct then Westpac’s balance sheet would have many more noughts on its figures than it does. Banking is a low margin, high risk business. Banks are highly geared, that is the only way they can make profits, and why they are the cornerstone of the capitalist system. Oh by the way, Trevor in the 1970’s I was the Assistant Chief Accountant of one of the Big Four Australian banks. And thanks for the honorary membership of the Economic Flat Earth Society. I will see you at the meetings.!! Galbraith should come too!! Alan Gallagher, via email
VIETNAM EXPERIENCE People interested in touring Vietnam and thus morally and financially supporting it may be interested to know that while it now permits some free-market economic activity it remains a Communist dictatorship in which all political dissent remains forbidden and religious activity beyond certain narrow boundaries is viciously suppressed, apparently by the technique, familiar in Communist regimes, of the government, while ostensibly paying lip-service to religious freedom, in effect encouraging and condoning violence against religious people and organizations. 10 INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009
In July, 2009 according to the Rome-based Catholic newsagency Zenit, Catholics organized protests in several Vietnamese cities after two priests and other lay people were savagely beaten by police and thugs. Fathers Paul Nguyen Dinh Phu and Peter Nguyen The Binh were in critical condition after the attacks. The former had broken ribs and head injuries, and the latter was beaten into a coma and then thrown from a 2nd floor window. The Diocese of Vinh released a statement condemning the police violence against the priests and other Catholics. On July 20, hundreds of Catholics were attacked at the church of Tam Toa, where they had gathered to erect a cross and altar. The 120-year-old church, damaged after an American bombing in 1968, was seized in 1996 by the government to create a “U.S. war crimes memorial.” The people were too poor to rebuild their church immediately, but they still regarded it as the seat of their parish and have come together there for ceremonies. After repeated requests for the return of the land, Bishop PaulMarie Cao Dinh Thuyen of Vinh celebrated a Feb. 2 Mass at the parish, which was attended by 14 priests and thousands of faithful. In July, when the faithful gathered again to bring a cross and an altar, police launched tear gas bombs at them, and beat them with sticks and stun guns. Some 500,000 people, along with 170 priests and 420 religious, joined in the peaceful march, praying the rosary through the streets of cities in the Nghe An, Ha Tinh and Quang Binh regions. Father Dinh Phu Nguyen was on his way to celebrate Mass along with five other priests before the demonstration, when he was attacked. He had been trying to intervene to protect three women being beaten by a group of men. He said that the gang recognized him as a priest and turned to beat him “with brutality” instead, while some 30 uniformed policemen watched. A group of laypeople rescued him and took him to hospital. The diocese issued a public complaint to the People’s Committee of Quang Binh province, and asked Father Nguyen The Binh, the pastor of a nearby parish, to visit the hospitalized priest, along with the vice governor, Tran Cong Thuat. However, the gang who beat the first priest was surrounding the hospital, armed with clubs. Thuat fled, and the thugs attacked the abandoned pastor, beating him unconscious and then throwing him from an upper level of the building. Later in Ho Chi Minh City, more than 2,000 Catholics attended a prayer vigil to appeal to the Vietnamese government to stop this persecution. The Vinh Diocese publicized a statement calling for the government to “stop immediately the distortion of truth, the defamation of religion, and the instigation of hatred between Catholics and non-Catholics.” Hal G. P. Colebatch, Nedlands, Western Australia
THE LAST OF OLDE ENGLAND The recent articles by Hal Colebatch have been a most impressive expose of the shocking assisted suicide of the United Kingdom – in particular dear old England. His latest essay touches upon the deliberate savaging of British military and naval prowess by the marxist Labour party. It is as clear as crystal to anyone with a modicum of cognitive ability that the marxist/globalist in control of the British Labour party have no love for the Anglo-Celts of Britain; nor for England
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TESTED, UNSAFE SWINE FLU JAB: UN INST NEW AGA SCIENTISTS WARN VACCINE
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and the English countryside; nor for the traditional Christian influenced culture; and definitely no love for the Royal Navy. What we are seeing is the deliberate destruction of the identity, sovereignty and independence of the United Kingdom. What on earth do the British think the EU is all about? Or the moronic foreign policies of HM government? Back to the Royal Navy: This is a service that is being conveniently sacrificed on the altar of pointless Middle Eastern wars. The Labour administration has four MCMVs based in the Persian Gulf; at least two frigates operate near the Arabian peninsula, along with one or two RFAs (at least one being a tanker). There are constant references to helping with the security and defence of the likes of Iraq, Oman etc. Hey! what about the defence and security of the UK? Commentators, such as those from RUSI, have lamented the deliberate decline of the RN. Since 1997 there has [have?] been no additional orders for Wave class tankers; only two Echo class survey vessels were ordered when there was a need for at least three. A very low number (four) of River class OPVs were ordered despite a need for at least twice the number; the submarine force has been allowed to wither on the vine. The Royal Navy is to receive six Daring class destroyers – by all accounts only due to pressure from the Pentagon – to provide air defence for the amphibious force. However, for there to be a truly effective force there needs to be at least ten destroyers, but the Labour party and Treasury bureaucrats have made sure that will probably never happen. Not only so, but the ADVs (DDGs in American usage) are poorly equipped – no SSTD with dual soft-kill/hard-kill modes, no torpedoes, no long-range cruise missiles, no 5-inch naval gun with 60-mile range munitions (like that on the Danish Absalon class), and only 48 surface-to-air missiles. The Royal Navy needs a new Antarctic Patrol Ship – British politicians could easily have paid the Norwegians to construct another Svalbard class ice-breaker. Never happened. The RN needs at least two new inshore surveying craft: the Canadian Orca class would have been suitable, but no money forthcoming for these low cost vessels. No money! The UK is meant to be the world’s fourth biggest economy. There is no shortage of funds to hand over to the EU or a foreign country such as India; nor any shortage of money to fight Muslims in Afghanistan when the real war – as pointed out by Colebatch – is being fought back in the United Kingdom. Interestingly enough the RAF appears not to have suffered anything like the savaging given to the RN. But – apart from airborne reconnaissance assets – it is not the RAF that can undertake global power projection and influence or protect what is left of the British Empire. Of course it can be argued what is the point of having any armed forces when you have an administration that has torn down the border fences and allowed an invasion of proportions never before seen in England. (Three ways to conquer a country: military invasion, mass open immigration, or re-educate the thinking of the masses ie. culture war. No need for the former when the latter two are so effective.) When one looks at the UK – and the decline of the Royal Navy is symptomatic – I guess it is what happens when a people who once acknowledged the Lord Jesus Christ then dismissed him for the worship of mammon, hedonism and political correctness. J. Price, via email 14 INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT My name is Rosemary Baird and I am a History PhD student at the University of Canterbury, supervised by Prof Philippa Mein Smith and Dr Lyndon Fraser. My thesis aims to investigate the experiences of New Zealand migrants and return migrants who moved to and from Australia during the late 1960s to the early 1990s through their own life stories. I want to highlight the experiences of real people rather than just focusing on statistics. To do this project I need volunteers who are willing to tell me their stories, either in written or oral form. Is there any way that you could help me please either by printing the advertisement below or profiling my project in an article or notice. Alternatively, do you know if Investigate has a community notices section? This project has been approved by the University of Canterbury Human Ethics Committee. Rosemary Baird Cell: 0273316213 Email: kiwisinaustralia@gmail.com
AN EVOLVING DEBATE Correspondent Warwick Don describes evolution as ‘testable’ science. I think it is fair that he provide evidence of this. After all he can’t just expect us to take it on faith. One method of testing a scientific hypothesis is to predict an observation that will not occur if the hypothesis is correct. If this observation is made then the hypothesis is false. I invite Warwick Don to present his falsifiable prediction of evolution. Since we want to avoid confusion, the definition of evolution used is the hypothesis that all living things are descended from a single form which in turn arose from non-living matter. If it does not deal with this matter of ultimate origins then it is probably non-controversial from a creation perspective. To be helpful I will give an example of a supposed prediction that really doesn’t have anything to do with evolution. A claim is made that evolution predicts the nested hierarchy that living forms generally fall into. However this cannot be a prediction of evolution as it was proposed by Carolus Linnaeus a century before Darwin’s writings. Indeed Linnaeus saw it as the divine order of God’s creation. Warwick Don also claims that atheism is a logical outcome of science (by science he means evolution because no other field has such theological implications) however if this is true then by insisting on its teaching he is engaged in proselytizing for his religious beliefs. He would decry this in any other group. Why the double standard? Jason Clark, Auckland
AND MORE Warwick Don has concluded his most recent contribution to our debate (evolution, June issue) by emphasizing the “vast amount of evidence for evolution derived from many fields of research.” But much of these vast amounts are pseudo-scientific evidence and is cancelled out by research more objectively and realistically interpreted. The quotes I am accused of misusing are not, I believe, substantially in contradiction to the background material from which they have been selected. There is a Cambrian conundrum, and there is a problem of major morphologic changes between species. In a final thrust Warwick Don says: “Yet despite this incomplete-
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INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009 15
ness (transitional intermediates) much has been revealed about past life, including the existence of transitional species, each showing a mixture of traits characteristic of organisms that lived before and after it.” (italics mine). Well, let’s look at just one example – the transition from fish to reptile. A classic evolutionary example is the fish Eusthenopteron becoming the amphibian Ichthyostegid over an estimated period of 30 million years. This supposed transition appears to be possible because the basic form of both creatures – a torpedo shaped body and the fins/limbs are in the same relative position, and there are similar bones and musculature. The fins may appear to be in the correct body position to form the legs but in the fish form they are obviously for swimming and not for supporting the weight of the body – the water does that. But in adapting to its reptilian stage these fins (mainly muscle) have to change to become legs with a strong bony structure connected to the vertebrae to be able to support the animal. So, by way of illustration let’s lock into a certain time, say 10 million years ago and take a snap shot of the transitional creature between Eusthen and Ichthy. What does it look like? Of course no one knows because no fossil has ever turned up, and never will in spite of its many bony parts that should have been fossilized and preserved. But evolutionists, with their well developed imaginations should be able to conjure up its essentials. They could picture it lolling in the shallow sea-shore experimenting with supporting its weight on its, not yet fully evolved legs as the tide ebbs out and returns. But somehow there is this genetically conditioned urge (but meaningless) to take to terra firma. The almost bone-less fins, which were unattached to the spine by any skeletal structure in the fish seem to show some emerging rudimentary leg bones and some subtle signs of a foot morphing from the atrophying fins. Its head and tail are also in a state of flux – the tail noticeably altered from a rudder shape to a long, diminishing sharp end. It’s a messy, cumbersome process. So, for a few million years Eusthen is oscillating between swimming and beaching; suffering schizophrenic agonies, wondering what it really is! And the breathing apparatus – that’s a delicate question. To reinforce the fish/reptile dilemma the Cinderella fairy tale could be revised. It could be adapted to illustrate an example of a brief but rapid burst of evolutionary activity (saltationism) intercepted by a hiatus. Imagine that the fairy godmother was restricted in her magical powers to be only able to transform the pumpkin and mice into coach and horses respectively in a slow evolutionary process of 24 hours. The pumpkin would have to grow to an enormous size over this period and the coach-like equipment: windows, doors, interior fittings, wheels, hauling shafts, harness gear etc would also have to gradually evolve into their specific forms for their particular functions. The six mice too would be experiencing the process of changing into horses. Imagine this had been the magical process metamorphosing pumpkin and mice. Then suddenly, fifteen hours into the transformation period, the fairy godmother appears and in a flash she casts a spell and a hiatus in the evolutionary process freezes everything to a stand-still. At this intermediate stage the pumpkin has been emptied of seeds and pulp and was beginning to alter to coach-shape. Door and window openings had appeared and four pumpkin flowers were partially formed into wheels and some vines were beginning to be formed into shafts and harness. The mice had become about the size of dogs but were unsteady on their legs and their feet were now in the process of becoming 16 INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009
hooves. It is a grotesque, if not comical sight. If someone examined this “thing”, what would they think it was? Its semi-wooden shell cannot be eaten as a pumpkin nor can it be used as a coach. The dog/horse animals are in a pitiable condition and should be put-down. This evolving fairy tale illustrates the nonsense of Darwinian evolution which I firmly believe is really an adult fairy tale. And if anyone thinks this tale is a gross exaggeration with imagination out of control, check out scales becoming feathers and heavy grounded animals growing the equipment to take flight. This letter is my final contribution to this debate. Malcolm Ford, Whangarei
Poetry Is it poetry? Then send submissions to Poetry Editor Amy Brooke:amy@investigatemagazine.tv A letter to the editor Has anyone else noticed lately how the world has suddenly changed? The winds flit round in circles and the sun is dull and deranged. Nothing works as it used to: birds fly backwards in the skies, our kettle freezes the water and our camera tells whopping lies. The mirrors don’t show reflections and the clocks ignore the time. All tunes have lost their rhythm and poems won’t rhyme. Has anyone else noticed lately how pretence is the thing to do, and the world’s last hope is your smile and only your love holds true? Kevin Ireland
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publiceye1466_INVEST
> simply devine
Miranda Devine Watered-down police too PC
W
hen this is over, there will be much more fear in Based on a similar “linguistic realignment” in Britain, this is the world.’’ This was the boast of the Mumbai terror- an Orwellian attempt to change attitudes by excluding from offiist controllers in Pakistan as they used mobile phones cial language certain words such as “war” or “jihad” when talking to direct the attacks in India’s largest city last year, about terrorism. Phrases such as ‘‘Islamic extremists’’ and ‘‘Muslim killing at least 173 people. The extraordinary phone intercepts by terrorists’’ are reportedly suspect. Indian intelligence services were broadcast this month by ABC1’s Unfortunately, even if we are no longer permitted to mention Four Corners. them by name, Islamic terrorists continue to kill innocent “infiThey show how easily robotic young men strolled through a dels” and Muslims alike. city slaughtering innocent people, setting fire to a luxury hotel, But this is Australian policing now. Faced with a threat from A, causing fear around the world. our authorities feel compelled to defend A from what they imagine We know what happened in Mumbai, and in Jakarta last month, the populace is thinking, and from any police officers who might can happen anywhere. Plots to blow up our sports stadiums, assas- mistakenly believe their role is to protect the populace from A. sinate our prime minister and cause mayhem on a Mumbai scale A case in point is the NSW Police Service in the 15 years since have been uncovered in recent years. This month four men were the Wood Royal Commission began its work, as summarised in arrested in Melbourne, accused of being part of a Somali Islamist the former detective Tim Priest’s new book, Enemies of the State, plot to attack an Australian army base. (and to which I have contributed the foreword). If anything, it highlights Priest forensically attacks the importance of compethe commission, which he Unfortunately, even if we are no tent police and intelligence says employed dubious pracservices. Yet, in an era when tices to “utterly destroy the longer permitted to mention them we are facing unprecedented morale of police”, throwthreats, we have been steadily ing out good police with lowering our defences and by name, Islamic terrorists continue bad, and allowed the Carr nobbling the effectiveness of government to ‘‘wrest conto kill innocent “infidels” and our police services. trol of the police service … After the latest terrorist raids, It’s been a basket case ever Muslims alike for instance, we heard from the since”. Victorian Police chief, Simon As a result, organised Overland, who presides over a police force so incapable of pro- crime in NSW has flourished, and policing has become weak, tecting Indian students from being bashed that Melbourne crime cowardly and selective, Priest argues. He cites the “recent outbreak has blown up into an international scandal. of outlaw motorcycle gang violence and the emerging threat of At a press conference about the raids, Overland was preoccupied Middle Eastern criminals”. with apologising to the Islamic community for having arrested NSW police are “almost ‘impotent’, too frightened to take on Muslims, telling journalists: ‘‘Don’t blame the Muslim commu- organised crime lest there might be corruption again”. Priest targets nity.’’ As if they were. the commission’s preoccupation with so-called “noble cause corHe declared the obvious – the accused men were entitled to the ruption”, which in the commission’s final report includes: “unofpresumption of innocence – and attacked the media for report- ficial or unauthorised practices such as putting suspected street ing the raids. drug dealers onto a train and banning them from an area”. For Overland is the model of a modern Australian police com- Priest, who once served in Australia’s heroin capital, Cabramatta, missioner, who has politically correct spin on the list of priori- “That is just good old-fashioned policing.” ties, along with actual crime-fighting. No wonder, then, that the His most explosive chapters deal with a Kings Cross heroin Victorian police are enthusiastic participants, with the Australian dealer, KX15, who was about to be charged by NSW Police Task Multicultural Foundation, in the “Lexicon of Terrorism project” Force Bax but who became a protected witness and was given a announced by the federal Attorney-General, Robert McClelland, “green light” to sell drugs 18 hours a day. Priest reports that 23 days last month. after he became a witness, the commission discovered people were 18 INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009
NSW police are “almost ‘impotent’, too frightened to take on organised crime lest there might be corruption again”
“dropping in the streets” because of the purity and strength of the heroin KX15 was supplying; 14 people died. When the commission got wind of the “hot heroin”, it issued a warning but it didn’t stop the operation. No police were ever charged. When the commission ended, Task Force Bax restarted its investigation of Kings Cross drug dealing, but as it began to examine those heroin overdose deaths Bax was raided by Internal Affairs. Bax’s commander, Geoff Wegg, and his officers were arrested and their careers destroyed. One officer was convicted of corruption unrelated to Bax.
Charges against the rest were thrown out, and 10 years later, Wegg and colleagues won an apology and a settlement reported to be $10 million. In the end, “the public of NSW lost 32 experienced and dedicated detectives with over 500 years experience and dedicated service. You cannot replace that, ever”. Priest’s book is full of such tales of good police officers destroyed because they were on the wrong side of history, when we decided policing was about placating and appeasing the bad guys. devinemiranda@hotmail.com
INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009 19
> straight talk
Mark Steyn
We’ve got our eyes on you
D
ISSENT IS THE HIGHEST FORM OF PATRIOTIsm – No, wait, they’re AstroTurf,” she declared. “They’re carrying swastikas and that bumper sticker expired January 20th. Under the stim- symbols like that to a town meeting on health care.” ulus bill, there’s a new $1.3 trillion bills-for-bumpers proIs this one of those Chinese Whispers things? Obama told Gibbs gram whereby, if you peel off old slogans now recognized to tell Boxer to tell Reid, and by the time it reached Pelosi, it came as environmentally harmful (“QUESTION AUTHORITY”), you out as uniforms night: Brooks Brothers. Mel Brooks. Springtime can trade them in for a new “CELEBRATE CONFORMITY” for Hitler. Swastikas. Or is the Speaker right to sound the alarm sticker, complete with a holographic image of President Obama about this army of goosestepping dandies? A veritable Garbstapo that never takes his eyes off you. jackbooting down the Interstate like it’s a catwalk in Milan. “The right-wing extremist Republican base is back!” warns the Fortunately, this president doesn’t fold like a Robert Gibbs suit. Democratic National Committee. These right-wing extremists He won’t give in to the attire pressure. So, on Monday, the official have been given their marching orders by their masters: They’ve White House Web site drew attention to the alarming amount of been directed to show up at “thousands of events,” told to “orga- “disinformation about health insurance reform.” “These rumors nize,” “knock on doors” – often travel just below the surface,” warned Macon Phillips, Chief No, wait. My mistake. That’s the e-mail I got from Mitch Commissar of the Hopenstasi – whoops, I mean White House Stewart, Director of “Organizing for America” at BarackObama. Director of New Media, “via chain e-mails or through casual com. But that’s the good kind of “organizing.” Obama’s a com- conversation.” munity organizer. We’re the “Casual conversation,” community. He organizes us. eh? Why can’t these “dis Senator Barbara Boxer has What part of that don’t you senters” just be like norget? mal people and read off the When the community starts denounced dissenters from Obama’s teleprompter? organizing against the orga“Since we can’t keep track health care proposals as too “well- of all of them here at the nizer, the whole rigmarole goes to hell. Not that these White House, we’re asking dressed” to be genuine. Only the extremists showing up at town for your help,” continued hall meetings are real members Commissar Phillips. Emperor has new clothes of the “community.” Have you “If you get an e-mail or noticed how tailored they are? see something on the Web Dissent is now the hautest form of couturism. Senator Barbara about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@ Boxer has denounced dissenters from Obama’s health care pro- whitehouse.gov.” posals as too “well-dressed” to be genuine. Only the Emperor has Reporting dissent is the highest form of patriotism! Is your new clothes. Everyone knows that. neighbor suspiciously “well-dressed”? Is he mouthing off about Thankfully, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs has cancer survival rates under socialized medical systems while wearseen through the “manufactured anger” of “the Brooks Brothers ing a cravat? Give us his name, and we’ll give you his spats! Just go brigade.” Did he announce this in a crumpled suit? He’s a Press to flag@whitehouse.gov, not to be confused with flagging@whiteSecretary who won’t press. Apparently, the health care debate now house.gov., which is the e-mail address for reporting President has a dress code. Soon you won’t be able to get in unless you’re Obama’s latest approval rating. Go to flay@whitehouse.gov if you’d wearing Barack Obama mom-jeans, manufactured at a converted like Speaker Pelosi to walk across your back as a whip-wielding SS GM plant by an assembly line of retrained insurance salesmen. dominatrix barking “Vee hoff vays of making you tokk less casually, Any day now, Hollywood will greenlight a new movie in which dumbkopf!” Go to flange@whitehouse.gov if you need parts for an insane Sarah Palin figure picks out her outfit for spreading dis- your new government car, or your new government hip replaceinformation (The Lyin’, The Witch And The Wardrobe). ment. Go to flaunt@whitehouse.gov if you’d like a special preMeanwhile, Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, added her view of President Obama’s latest bare-chested pictorial for Vanity own distinctive wrinkle to the Brooks Brothers menswear. She Fair. Go to flatulent@whitehouse.gov if you’d like to report your disdained the anti-Obamacare protests as fake grassroots. “I think neighbor’s cow for excessive CO2 emissions. 20 INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009
Better yet, just send everything on everyone to the White House. Unsure about that old hippie artist across the street? The one who said, “Yeah, I voted for Obama ‘cause I thought it’d be cool to have an African-American president. But, since the economic downturn, the bottom’s really dropped out of my hemp tapestry market.” He seems to be starting to entertain impure thoughts about the Dear Leader’s plans for us, doesn’t he? And yet, with the best will in the world, one couldn’t really describe him as a snappy dresser, could one? It’s a tough call. So best be on the safe side, and report everyone. The Administration can hire people to sift through it all, and that will stimulate the economy even more than the new cashmere-for-clunkers program: Are you an angry right-wing fop? Why not trade in your frankly effete sweater for an evening with Joe Biden? The Washington Post’s Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite (not, as far as I know, a Brooks sister to the Brooks Brothers) says “the town hall demolition derby” is “cynically designed and carried out in order to destroy real debate in the public square over health
insurance reform.” Decrying the snarling, angry protesters, liberal talk-show host Bill Press (no relation to the Corby Trouser Press) says that “Americans want serious discussion” on health care. If only we’d stuck to the President’s August timetable and passed a gazillion-page health care reform entirely unread by the House of Representatives or the Senate (the world’s greatest deliberative body) in nothing flat, we’d now have all the time in the world to sit around having a “serious discussion” and “real debate” on whatever it was we just did to one-sixth of the economy. But a sick, deranged, un-American mob has put an end to all that moderate and reasonable steamrollering by showing up and yelling insane, out-of-control questions like, “Awfully sorry to bother you, your Most Excellent Senatorial Eminence, but I was wondering if you could tell me why you don’t read any of the laws you make before you make them into law?” The community is restless. The firm hand of greater organization is needed. © 2009 Mark Steyn
INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009 21
> global warning
Joe Fone
Sacred cows and heretics
I
n the mid-seventies, I made an amazing discovery. My father thought to be crucially important to mankind and promoted by took my brothers and me to the public library and exposed us to the academic community as irrefutably valid. Most of these ideas an unspeakable heresy. I was not outraged though because at the have since faded into obscurity despite their widespread poputime I had no idea that the book my father held had been black- larity at the time. They were fashionably iconic and held as the listed by the scientific establishment. Instead I was intrigued. The consensus view, paraded in the media by politicians, intellectuals book in question was Worlds in Collision by Immanuel Velikovsky, and scientists. From the early seventies until today, we have been the arch heretic of that time who incensed the Astronomers on threatened by another Ice Age, nuclear winter, the Jupiter Effect, one hand and the Egyptologists on the other by uncovering large the China Syndrome, the Doomsday Asteroid, ozone depletion, Y2K, SARS, global warming, climate change and bird flu. Affluent errors and problems within both disciplines. The discovery I made was not so much Velikovsky’s heresy, but Western societies, fearful of obesity epidemics, overpopulation the realisation that the scientific establishment was built upon and African killer bees, seem to expect such calamities to oversacred cows – ideas that become so entrenched they are accepted take them. We live our lives in constant fear of impending disaswithout question, appearing in textbooks and taught in class- ter as though God had it in for the human race. We are running rooms as unassailable truths. Empowered by this knowledge, I out of oil and water and soon there will be standing room only. became an incorrigible cynic. But I blame my father for my iniq- The end is always nigh. Most of these notions have either been forgotten about or uity because he taught me to question the fundamentals of any become amusing clichés, belief system and to be wise to but strangely the theory of fashions, especially in science. Accepted theories are holy writ, Global Warming seems to Of course to question such reappear in various guises. It fashions in science is to invite dogma never to be questioned and has a curious history, dating ridicule and hostility because back to the French mathit is seen as throwing mud in the “consensus” view is necessarily ematician Joseph Fourier the eye of respectability, with who first postulated a terwhich critics of the currently an established fact with no room restrial greenhouse in the fashionable manmade global early nineteenth century. warming hypothesis would be for debate Yet science has flip-flopped familiar. Modern science is so five times on the issue since replete with sacred cows you might be forgiven for thinking the modern scientific establish- the beginning of the twentieth century as scientists and the media ment indistinguishable from the early Church with its dogmas, proclaimed approaching climate doom – first by global cooling, its high priests and its heretics. Like the early Church, the sci- then global warming, then global cooling and so on until today entific establishment is peopled by fundamentalists who defend when we are back to warming. But the modern version germinated the Faith and damn the heretics who question it. The heretics of in the mire of the Velikovsky affair in the 1960s and 70s when the course being freethinkers like Copernicus, Galileo and many oth- science populariser Carl Sagan employed it to explain the extremely ers who challenged the so-called “consensus” view of nature at the high surface temperature discovered on Venus. Sagan however had a hidden agenda. His real intention was to refute the ideas of his time and yet who were ultimately vindicated. But science is not done by consensus or by a show of hands. nemesis, Immanuel Velikovsky, who attacked the “consensus” view Science is systematic knowledge of Nature through unbiased obser- about Venus by arguing that its high surface temperature was due vation and experimentation. So why then is the term “consensus” to its internal core heat and not through solar radiation alone. used to determine which idea is right and which wrong? Why is This idea was poisonous. It was utter heresy to the scientific coma moral imperative attached to the idea of the majority vote, as munity because the solar system was supposedly an ordered place though merit is always on the side of greater numbers, when the of respectable predictability with no exceptions. Establishment science reflected the attitudes of the Medieval Church: accepted history of science itself suggests precisely the opposite? The last few decades have seen many plausible doomsday theo- theories are holy writ, dogma never to be questioned and the “conries widely accepted and popularized with media hype. Each was sensus” view is necessarily an established fact with no room for 22 INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009
debate. That is until firebrands like Nicolas Copernicus, Andreas Vesalius, Galileo Galilei and, in more modern times, Immanuel Velikovsky come along to prove the exact opposite. The history of science is littered with the carcases of dead theories, killed off by individuals who assaulted the scienctific “consensus”. In the fifties, Dr. Immanuel Velikovsky shook the foundations of modern Astronomy by theorising that Venus was a relative newcomer to the Solar System and that its surface temperature and atmospheric pressure would be extremely high due to its recent incandescent past. He predicted such conditions on Venus at a time when it was supposed they would be similar to those on Earth, a balmy tropical climate. Measurements taken by the US space programme years later proved Velikovsky correct and reported temperatures in excess of 400ºC and atmospheric pressures some ninety times that on Earth. But the damage had already been done and “Velikovsky” became a dirty word. Frantic efforts were mounted by the more orthodox scientists to explain away the anomaly and to silence Velikovsky who suggested the accepted theories on the origin of the Solar System must be wrong. His books were blacklisted and the US publisher, Macmillan, was boycotted by the astronomical fraternity despite Velikovsky’s first book Worlds in Collision being a best seller. Macmillan’s senior editor, James Putnam, who drew up the original contract with Velikovsky, was sacked as a token of acquiescence to the establishment. The problem was that Astronomy, the queen of the sciences, was fraught with entrenched theories that were sacrosanct, and here was this pesky upstart revealing so many flies in the ointment. Velikovsky’s theories were seen as depraved perversions of all that was sacred so he had to be denounced as a charlatan and a heretic, regardless of any merit in his ideas. The fact that many of his predictions were being verified and his ideas quietly adopted by other scientists did not dilute the fury. A personal vendetta was raised against Velikovsky, especially by the astronomers who went to extraordinary lengths to discredit him. He was publicly vilified and deliberately misquoted in popular science journals, then denied the publishing space to respond. Velikovsky’s name remains unmentionable and he is still denied credit for any of his ideas despite many now being widely accepted. His only crime was that he challenged the credibility of sacred cows in science and ancient history and found them to be fatally flawed. However Carl Sagan can take credit for restoring the public image of the scientific establishment and repairing the damage after Velikovsky’s assault, but the balm he applied merely covered the cracks because the problems over Venus’ high surface temperature still remain. It didn’t take long for Sagan’s quick-fix solution of a ‘greenhouse effect’ to be shown unworkable. Planetary scientist Dr. Clark R. Chapman pointed out that simple atmospheric convection would prevent extremes of temperature at the surface of such a planet heated only by the Sun and so would act as a natural moderator. But worse, the Mariner and Pioneer space probes discovered Venus’ night side to be hotter than its day side, its poles to be hotter than its equator and that it radiates 15% more
In the fifties, Dr. Immanuel Velikovsky shook the foundations of modern Astronomy by theorising that Venus was a relative newcomer to the Solar System and that its surface temperature and atmospheric pressure would be extremely high due to its recent incandescent past
energy than it receives, phenomena utterly incompatible with any greenhouse effect. Therefore the source of Venus’ high surface temperature must indeed be found elsewhere. But it was too late. The idea of a planetary ‘greenhouse’ was so popular it stuck fast and would be used again in the near future. Sagan’s application of this idea to explain the Venus problem was a cosmic gap-filler designed to discredit Velikovsky. It was a hasty and panicky attempt to restore law and order. But it was also a masterstroke of genius because it satisfied a public with an insatiable appetite for fashionably disastrous calamities by morphing into the more user-friendly Global Warming theory. Like many other popular notions that have come and gone, it is currently fashionable to endorse the theory. To question it is heresy. But in a few years, the opposite will be true and the heretics vindicated once again. ”There is no opinion, however absurd, which men will not readily embrace as soon as they can be brought to the conviction that it is generally adopted”. – Arthur Schopenhauer. Joe Fone is a bibliophile, amateur astronomer and avid reader of science, philosophy, science history and ancient history. He has followed the global warming debate closely for over ten years and has read numerous books on both sides of the issue.
INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009 23
> eyes right
Richard Prosser Terms of reference
I
n 1676 Nathaniel Bacon, a tobacco farmer from the upper such sentiment upon them. The Swiss are past masters of this reaches of the James River in Virginia, led a rebellion against system. Since 1847, Swiss voters have enjoyed the power of pure the colonial regime of King Charles I’s Governor, Sir William democracy to advise and control their representatives, going to Berkeley. Berkeley, a favourite of the King, had failed repeat- the polls about twice a year to direct, instruct, or over-rule the edly to deliver on a promise to provide protection to the colo- Government on everything from simple local matters to major nists from attacks by local Indians. The colonists, their patience constitutional issues. expired, went to the capital and extracted a commission from Conservative in their implementation of Direct Democracy as the Colonial Assembly to deal with the Natives themselves, at they are in almost everything else, the Swiss have passed or approved the point of 400 muskets. Further frustrated by inaction on the only around a tenth of the questions and initiatives put before them, part of the Governor, the rebels, led by Bacon – who happened which goes some way towards dampening the arguments of those to be the Governor’s wife’s cousin – marched on Jamestown in opponents to plebiscite democracy who claim that enforced accountforce, sacked the capital and burned it to the ground, and drove ability to the electorate makes governance impossible. Berkeley and his forces out of town and across the river before So why do we not have Binding Referenda in New Zealand? looting his house. Why is it, I ask, that such questions as we are permitted to conBacon’s Rebellion petered out when Bacon died of malaria front our Parliamentarians with, may be belittled, usurped, or on October 26th, with the Governor returning to power, hang- plain ignored, whilst Government continues with nary a nod to ing some two dozen former the populace which elected rebels, and seizing their propit and which pays for it? Referenda, initiated by the erty. But things ended badly Good question. Perhaps for Berkeley as well, removed the answer is that, to date, citizenry, absolutely must become from office and recalled to no Government in this fair England by Charles II, who land has ever been conirrevocably binding on was less than impressed by fronted with the serious his Vice-Regal’s behaviour. possibility of having to face the Government The disgraced Berkeley died either a sharp blade or the in May of the following year, barrel of a gun. That’s probas history recalls, “a half a world away from the place which had ably our fault. I mean we talk big, but we’re a wee bit spineless become his home.” when it comes to holding a Bowie knife up to authority’s nostril, 460-ish years earlier, the forebears of both sides of the afore- and saying, “No.” mentioned quarrel had been involved in another stoush wherein Why not, I find myself compelled to ask? We own them, after the ruling authority was compelled to acquiesce to the wishes of all; they work for us; we pay their wages, we set the rules, we a group of disgruntled subjects, on pain of death. Muskets being send them to Wellington to represent our views, our interests, less in vogue in 1215 than they were to prove in the centuries to our wishes. We are actually in charge. Neither Government, nor come, it was instead by the pointy end of a sword that the Barons Parliament, nor any of their various officials or minions, has any gave King John the choice of signing the Magna Carta, or else. authority which we do not expressly afford them, nor do they Since “or else” involved being dead, John wisely agreed, and the have any power or let beyond that which We The People profoundation for our modern Common Law was laid. claim or reserve for ourselves. The Police – in spite of their own History shows us time and again that this is all too often the protestations to the contrary – do not have any greater authority way; those in power will simply not listen to the will of the peo- of arrest or prosecution than that available to the general public, ple, until and unless someone is faced with actual violence or at although their daily exercise of it has been smoothed by regulaleast the very real threat of it. It is a rare revolution indeed which tion; the Inland Revenue may not take that which we do not is entirely bloodless. authorise, and at the end of the day, no act of legislation which In civilised parts of the world, of course, we have a different does not pass the muster of general public approval and consent, way of looking at things; we use referenda to inform our polit- may be said to have any recognizable lawful authority. The essence ical masters of our various opinions, and elections to enforce of Governmental power is that regardless of any terms in which 24 INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009
its legality may be couched, its foundation is wholly and solely contained within the consensus of public opinion and the willing compliance of the people. We send our representatives to Parliament every three years, and we expect them to spend the intervening periods adhering to our rules, abiding by our wishes, and following our instructions. We send them with fairly clear Terms of Reference, but we do not follow these up with any kind of system of accountability. More fool us. The Anti-Smacking referendum is a case in point. It will be almost all over bar the shouting by the time this issue goes to print, but that doesn’t really matter. The Prime Minister has already said that he intends to ignore the result, regardless of what that may be. Your favourite commentator is not normally a betting man, but this time I think I’ll go out on a limb and predict an 80% rejection of Sue Bradford’s overwhelmingly hated Bill. What gives John Key any kind of authority or right to disregard such a clearly stated declaration of the nation’s will? Key does say that he will change the law if it doesn’t appear to be working. How magnanimous of him. He seems unconcerned by the fact that no-one wanted it in the first place. I don’t know about anyone else, but this writer finds such utter gall infuriating almost to the point of sedition – which, perhaps fortunately, isn’t a crime in New Zealand anymore. The whole business “smacks” particularly, because almost the whole sorry mess which is Parliament was, and is, in on the deal. All but eight of our “representatives” voted to abolish Section 59 of the Crimes Act, despite the fact that eight out of ten New Zealanders wanted it retained. No-one wanted the law changed, no-one wanted the “compromise” deal stitched up by Helen Clark and John Key, late at night in a back room, and no-one gave these politicians permission to go ahead and do it anyway. Not content with blatantly ignoring the instructions of their employers, the same Parliamentarians who foisted this thing on us have sought to disrupt the referendum against it, calling the process unnecessary, the wording misleading, and the exercise a waste of money. Well for my money, the only excuse anyone could have for finding the question misleading is that they’re plain thick. Since most politicians are, by definition, possessed of at least enough cunning to enable themselves to get elected in the first place, their only excuse must be that they’re lying. And if democracy at $3 per voter is a waste of money, to whom should we send the nine million dollar bill? Sue Bradford, for authoring the law change to begin with? Helen Clark, for refusing to hold the referendum at the same time as the election, when it would have cost nothing? John Key, for declaring that he will ignore the result? How about the National Party, for failing to recognize that the 2008 election itself was a de facto referendum on anti-smacking and the Nanny State generally? Personally I think we should split the cost 113 ways, and send every MP who voted for the Bradford Bill an invoice for $79,646.01, because we didn’t want it, and we said so very clearly at the time. And if the process itself is unnecessary, why do we even bother to have elections? No, the answer does not lie down that road. The truth is that we need better rules to go with our electoral processes, unarguable and mandatory regulation to bind politicians, and systems to make them immediately and completely accountable for their actions. If the Prime Minister is to be vested with the apparent authority to unilaterally decide and declare what will and what will not be law, then the Prime Minister needs to be elected by a direct ballot
of the people, not appointed to the Office by default, as a result of becoming the Leader of any given political Party. That person, and every other Minister and Member of the House, needs to be able to be recalled from office by a plebiscite on the back of a successful petition, at any time during their tenure, if their behaviour should make such action necessary. The same should apply to Judges, Police Commissioners, and Department Heads; all those who interpret the laws of the land and who exercise power over the People, must be ultimately and swiftly accountable to the People. And referenda, initiated by the citizenry, absolutely must become irrevocably binding on the Government. Of all the mechanisms which we as a society put in place to ensure fair representation and good governance, this is perhaps the most important of all. It has become glaringly apparent that those who regard themselves as our lords and masters have little interest in voluntarily adopting the practice of democracy along with the theory; and so its adoption must be made involuntary upon them. This is important because it must be recognized, in reality and in law, that the convention by which the public choose to obey the dictates of Government, rests upon an equal acceptance by Government, that the consent of the People is the sole basis of the Government’s power, and the sole foundation of the legitimacy of Statute; this and nothing else. We have a right to be listened to by the Government, we have a right to be heard by the Government, and we have a right to be obeyed by the Government. And if they will not listen and obey on the basis of an instruction delivered via the ballot box, then they risk, by consequence, discovering that we also retain the ultimate right to resort to the musket and the sword.
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> line one
Chris Carter Copping it
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nteresting to see once again another round of breast-beat- lump of four by two or maybe a jack handle in his large meaty ing as to whether or not the nation’s Coppers should be armed paw and you stand in his direct path. The guy is plainly a nut or or not. This time around it appears that more people seem to at the least fighting drunk and all you currently have to protect think that they should, which I guess comes from seeing the yourself are your bare hands. What is likely to be going through almost weekly reports now of armed and invariably very danger- your mind? Perhaps to return to your wife and kids in one piece ous crims not only being “tooled up” but seemingly more than after your shift, or wondering if you perhaps could out run this willing to almost shoot at will, not only at the objects of their out of control man mountain. current disaffection but also at the public at large and even the I wonder how many of the people who are so keen to deny police Police themselves. Indeed to send our legal enforcement people the means to defend themselves have ever been in what could well into the field, on our behalf, to tackle these urban terrorists with- be a life threatening situation, would they just cry or perhaps wet out benefit at the least of being able to defend themselves is, to themselves? More likely, I would imagine, they’ll call 111 on the me at least, bordering on a display of moral cowardice almost trusty cell phone for an unarmed policemen to put his life at risk beyond belief. to try and save them. And, strangely enough, despite the frequent Once again the poor old Police are being in effect emasculated ingratitude shown by sections of the public as to their efforts, a very simply because the vociferous minority of police haters and the high percentage of the boys and girls in blue will fearlessly bore leftist criminal huggers kick up a stink every time it’s suggested in and have a go to save your miserable skin, when I’m sure that that we should allow the police if they realised you were to at least have the weapons one of those that bleated A number of cop shows on to match those of the enemy. on about Tasers etc they Their crazed rational seems to might have good reason to the telly clearly show the major be based on some warped belief have second thoughts. that whilst NZ gang memI remember the first time difference between the respect bers not only out number the I went to Sydney and compolice and the army combined ing out of the airport there and are probably better armed armed police versus unarmed police was the little female Aussie to boot, Tasers and Glocks are copper who looked as if officers seem to enjoy far too dangerous to be carried she would be hard pressed by a beat copper. to arrest anyone outside of Then of course, to further complicate matters, on the few occa- a kid in short pants, well that is until she turned slightly and I sions that a policemen has had to use a firearm, then this small saw this dirty great pistol attached to her hip. At this point, even legion of nit wits, plainly having watched far too many movies, as a law abiding sort of a bloke, had she suggested that I did this writes to the papers or prattles away on talk back as to how the or that, to my eternal shame I have to admit that the speed of coppers should have shot the offender in the arm or the leg. This, my compliance to her wishes would have been wondrous to see. despite law enforcement manuals from around the world clearly Similarly at a road side breath test road block on the Gold Coast pointing out that if you are forced to draw and fire a weapon, then Highway in Queensland I felt absolutely no desire at all to give to overcome the natural inaccuracy of hand guns that you always any grief at all to the two coppers doing the business, one of whom should aim at the “big bit”. This more often than not stops any incidentally was a Kiwi. None of this “why aren’t you out chasing offender in his tracks with the added bonus that the right person crooks instead of wasting my time etc etc” as I remember reading is killed or seriously injured rather than our policeman who has somewhere that is really dumb to irritate large armed policemen after all only been protecting us. when only armed yourself with a smart lip. From many a Copper’s point of view though many of them must It’s a peculiar thing isn’t it how the presence of a Glock 9mm seriously wonder if a large number of the public are clinically stu- mentally calms the otherwise stroppy civilian, whilst at the same pid or just have no idea at all as to what a night patrol frequently time adding to the confidence being displayed by the person in has to face out there in Indian territory. Imagine for instance being uniform, leading invariably to a much more peaceable resolufaced with an out of control guy going around 120kg swinging a tion to any event that under different circumstances might easily 26 INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009
lead to verbal or even physical conflict. A number of cop shows on the telly clearly show the major difference between the respect armed police versus unarmed police officers seem to enjoy. The Pommy coppers like ours are frequently pushed and sworn at as opposed to the U.S. where the respect/ fear factor leads mostly to an entirely different attitude towards the police enabling them to do their job, in my opinion at least, in a much more productive and peaceable manner. Perhaps in our society like many others we have somewhat lost sight as to who the good guys really are. Me? I’ve always given my vote to the Police, taking it very personally when a Policeman is killed or seriously injured, yet seldom shedding a single tear over the ungodly coming to a sticky end as a result of their criminal activities, no doubt eternally scotching my chances of ever becoming a Green Party Candidate. Which perhaps partly explains why it is that over the last couple of decades society’s attitude towards the Police has sadly changed in that the police now not only have to take on the bad guys but now have to do so with an eye out for various anarchistic groups, many university-based and even in Parliament, who seem to delight in stabbing Plod in the back at every opportunity to do so. So convinced are these morally bereft nut-jobs that it’s the criminal who needs our help and understanding that they have become complicit in a long series of highly publicised attacks on our Police Force that has had a very serious effect on Police morale. I remember clearly meeting a Policeman mate of mine a few years back who had an arm heavily bandaged. He had been a part of an arrest team charged with entering a property to arrest a particularly notorious and dangerous drug dealer. The offender refused to open his flat door so the window at the top of the door was smashed and my friend reached in to open the door, whereupon the offender grabbed his arm and proceeded to saw it back and forth across the remains of the glass left in the frame. In the subsequent struggle that followed with this violent crim as they endeavoured to handcuff him the offender collected a beautiful
shiner which subsequently graced the Nation’s newspapers leading to the inevitable hand wringing cries of Police brutality etc. Not a thought was spared for the serious injuries suffered by my friend or the real risk that these guys had faced in arresting this frequently armed criminal. Now we have the situation where things have got so bad that, almost as a matter of course, crims are more than happy to shoot at the Police. There is now some talk that Police may soon have a pistol carried in the I-cars, placed in a Lock Box which I suppose is marginally better than back at the station in the Inspector’s desk drawer. But once again the arm chair warriors at Police Head Quarters, terrified as always of the bleating of the bearded academics and the likes of Keith Locke etc refuse to recognise that their job is to support and protect their front line troops, not to kow-tow to anti police nut jobs. Sure I feel very strongly about the leaving of our protectors out on a limb in this shameless manner probably going back to 1963 when I was a kid and a very close police mate of mine that I’d been in the Scouts with – Neville Power who along with Wally Chalmers was shot and killed at Waitakere by an offender with a rifle. That event along with another two policemen being shot and killed two weeks later led to the then Inspector Bob Walton forming the Armed Offenders squads. Whether or not being armed would have affected the tragic outcome of Neville and Wally being murdered we’ll never know, but perhaps the offender might have thought twice before shooting at people he knew might well have shot back. There’s a well known American adage that you should never take a knife along to a gun fight. Surely an update to this would be don’t take just your bare hands and a pepper spray. Much better surely to have readily at hand a Glock on your belt and a pump action shot gun in the patrol car boot, you perhaps could even call them defensive weapons to keep the panty wetter happy. Meantime just try to remember who the good guys and girls really are. Chris Carter appears in association with www.snitch.co.nz, a must-see site.
INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009 27
> contra mundum
Matthew Flannagan
What’s wrong with imposing your beliefs onto others?
T
he assumption that ‘it is wrong to impose your moral Second, the contention is subject to serious counter-examples. beliefs onto others’ is almost unilaterally accepted in soci- I’ll explain what I mean. ety. Everyone knows this, only zealous religious types seem If it is wrong to impose one’s beliefs onto others then it follows to believe that it is acceptable to try to foist their morality that one is required to refrain from such impositions; further, any onto others; the concept of respecting other people’s beliefs seems attempt to impose moral beliefs should be prevented. However, to be lost on the religious. this claim is itself a moral belief and as we’ve just established, it One does not have to look far to see this assumption at work; is being imposed on others. Therefore the claim is self-defeating, in the Aotearoa Ethnic Network Journal atheist commentator, Ken those who defend it are attempting to impose a moral belief about Perrott, writes, not-imposing moral beliefs onto others. Non-religious people have the right to be free from interference by As for the counter examples, consider acts such as rape, assault religious people and organisations, freedom from proselytising, and or infanticide. I personally believe each of these practices is wrong freedom from imposition of values, morality and practice. I don’t for me to engage in. Further, I think it is wrong for others to think religious people should see this as in any way violating their do these things. In fact, I even support the commission of these rights. If anything, it helps preserve the sacredness of their beliefs acts being considered a crime punishable by the state. I am sure –imposition on others degrades a belief. most would agree with me. However, if it were wrong to impose Perrott is clear; those with religious beliefs should not demand moral beliefs onto others then our position on rape, assault or that others comply with their infanticide would be unacviews on morality. This criticeptable. We would have to What is wrong is not the cism is not new, we see it regleave others free to choose ularly in the media and it is whether they wished to imposition of someone’s values equally prevalent in academia. rape, assault or kill children In her book, The Abortion – to do otherwise would be but the imposition of values that Myth, bio-ethicist Leslie to impose our moral beliefs Cannold writes, onto others. are incorrect, irrational, unethical, In the United States, the Perhaps I am being feminist rejection of the moral uncharitable; Perrott and oppressive or unjust had a strong connection to the Cannold and others who anti-choice religious right’s advocate the claim, do not promotion of itself as the “moral” voice of the Republican move- object to such impositions in an unqualified manner and certainly do ment. The agenda of the Christian right is, to put it rather baldly, not intend to promote anarchy. Their objection is that it is inapproto make the Bible (rather than the secular U.S Constitution) the priate to impose certain kinds of moral principles upon others. supreme law of the land. The United States religious right, like most The types of principles Cannold means to catch are those she religious extremists, believe their political beliefs are actually God’s labels “narrow”. What is meant by this spatial metaphor is unclear; will. ... [Feminism is opposed] to one religious group’s imposition of however, I presume she means that this is a minority religious view, its rather narrow version of morality on a pluralistic society held by only a small segment of society. Cannold states that any appeals to God’s will, as laid down in Implicit in this argument is the claim that a necessary condithe Bible, constitute an imposition of moral views onto others. tion for any principle to be advocated as a basis for rules binding Feminists such as her, she assures us, oppose such things. on all people is that the majority accepts the principle. However, I find the claim, that it is wrong to impose your moral beliefs this majoritarianism modification to the claim that it is wrong to onto others, strange. Despite widespread acceptance to the con- impose your moral beliefs onto others is equally flawed. trary, I see nothing objectionable in imposing moral beliefs onto Consider a culture where the majority believes that a husband others. has the right to beat his wife. Would Cannold contend that in While this comment may strike many as absurd, I assure you such a society criticism by a Christian-feminist minority of this it is not for the following reasons. First of all, to claim that it is practice and their advocacy of norms forbidding spousal abuse is wrong to impose your moral beliefs onto others is self-defeating. an unacceptable imposition of a narrow religious perspective in a 28 INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009
pluralistic society? Would it be true that in such a society public policy could not be based on the moral principle that it is wrong for a man to beat his wife? The objection to imposing one’s “narrow” moral beliefs onto others is flawed. What is wrong is not the imposition of someone’s values but the imposition of values that are incorrect, irrational, unethical, oppressive or unjust. If the principles expounded are correct and accurately reflect justice then there is nothing wrong with
imposing them onto others, even if they are religious beliefs. “Contra Mundum” is a Latin phrase said to have been coined by an early Christian philosopher, Athanasius. It translates as “Against the World”. Dr Matthew Flannagan holds a PhD in Theology from the University of Otago, a Masters with First Class Honours and a Bachelors in Philosophy from the University of Waikato. His area of expertise is Philosophy of Religion, Theology and Ethics. He blogs at MandM and runs fortnightly Apologetics seminars for the community through Thinking Matters Auckland.
INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009 29
F ast-tracked Swine Flu Vaccine
Under Fire The vaccines may be far more deadly than the swine flu; mass vaccinations a recipe for disaster, warn top scientists Dr. Mae-Wan Ho and Prof. Joe Cummins in this report submitted to the UK and US governments
A
swine flu outbreak occurred in Mexico and the United States in April 2009 and spread rapidly around the world by human-to human transmission. The new type A H1N1 influenza virus is unlike any that had been previously isolated [1, 2], judging from the first data released in May. It is a messy combination of sequences from bird, human and swine flu virus lineages from North America and Eurasia. A senior virologist based in Canberra, Australia, told the press he thought that the virus could have been created in the laboratory and released by accident [3]. Some even suggest it was made intentionally as a bioweapon [4], while others blame the intensive livestock industry and extensive trafficking of love animals over long distances, which provide plenty of opportunity for generating exotic recombinants [5]. But what worries the public most is the mass vaccination programmes governments are putting in place to combat the emerging pandemic, which could well be worse than the pandemic itself. 30 INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009
INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009 31
Watchdog opposes fast-track vaccine for school children The US government is intending to vaccinate all children in September when school re-opens, and the country’s vaccine watchdog National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) has called on the Obama Administration and all state Governors to provide evidence that the move is [6] “necessary and safe”, demanding “strong mechanisms for vaccine safety screening, recording, monitoring, reporting and vaccine injury compensation.” The US Departments of Health and Homeland Security had declared a national public health emergency in April soon after the swine flu outbreak. As a result, some schools were closed, people quarantined, and drug companies were given contracts worth $7 billon to make vaccines that are being fast tracked by the Food and Drugs Administration [7]. That means they will only be tested for a few weeks on several hundred children and adult volunteers before being given to all school children this fall. Furthermore, under federal legislation passed by Congress since 2001, an Emergency Use Authorization allows drug companies, health officials and anyone administering experimental vaccines to Americans during a declared public health emergency to be protected from liability if people get injured. US Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius has granted vaccine makers total legal immunity from any lawsuits that may result from any new swine flu vaccine. And some states may make the vaccination mandatory by law. The NVIC is asking whether the states are prepared to obey vaccine safety provisions in the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act, which include: 1. Giving parents written information about vaccine benefits and risks before children are vaccinated; 2. Keeping a record of which vaccines the children get, including the manufacturer’s name and lot number; 3. Recording which vaccines were given in the child’s medical record; and 4. Recording serious health problems that develop after vaccination in the child’s medical record and immediately making a report to the federal Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System. NVIC also wants to know if the states are prepared to provide financial compensation to children injured by the swine flu vaccines, whether parents will be given “complete, truthful information about swine flu vaccine risks”, and have the right to say “no” to vaccination. Co-founder and president of NVIC Barbara Loe Fisher said [6]: “Parents and legislators should be asking themselves right now: Why are children the first to get experimental swine flu vaccines? Are schools equipped to get signed informed consent from parents before vaccination, keep accurate vaccination records and screen out children biologically at high risk for suffering vaccine reactions? Will people giving these vaccines know how to monitor children afterwards and immediately record, report and treat serious health problems that develop? And will states have the financial resources to compensate children who are injured?” WHO and mass vaccination fever The mass vaccination order has come from the World Health Organization (WHO) [8]. In early July 2009, a group of vaccination experts concluded that the pandemic is unstoppable, and Marie-Paul Kieny, WHO director on vaccine research said all nations will need access to vaccines, and that a vaccine should be available as early as September. Critics point out that the ‘vaccination experts’ are dominated by the vaccine makers standing to gain from the enormously lucra32 INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009
tive vaccine and antiviral contracts awarded by governments. But the decisive argument against mass vaccinations is that flu shots simply don’t work and are dangerous [9]. Flu shots ineffective and increase risks of asthma There are widely acknowledged reasons why flu vaccines won’t work, as already pointed out with regard to the much touted vaccines against the ‘pandemic bird flu’ that has yet to materialize [10] (How to Stop Bird Flu Instead, SiS 35). The flu virus changes quickly – even without the help of genetic engineering in the laboratory, and especially with the help of the intensive livestock industry – whereas the vaccines target specific strains. Furthermore, flu vaccination does not give permanent protection, and must be repeated annually; the vaccines are difficult to mass-produce, and some strains won’t grow at all under laboratory conditions. Numerous studies have documented that flu shots give little or no protection against infection and illness, and there is no reason to believe that swine flu vaccines will be different. A review of 51 separate studies in 2006 concluded that flu vaccines worked no better than a placebo in 260 000 children ranging in age from six months to 23 months [11]. A report published in 2008 found flu vaccines in young children made no difference in the number of flu-related doctor and hospital visits [12]. On the other hand, a study of 800 children with asthma found that those receiving a flu vaccine had a significantly increased risk of asthma-related doctor and emergency room visits [13]; the odds ratios were 3.4 and 1.9 respectively. This was confirmed in a report published in 2009, which showed children with asthma who received FluMist had a 3-fold increased risk of hospitalization [14] Flu vaccines are equally useless for adults, including the elderly, giving little or no protection against infection or illnesses including pneumonia (see [9]). Toxic adjuvants in flu vaccines Vaccines themselves can be dangerous, especially live, attenuated viral vaccines or the new recombinant nucleic acid vaccines [10], they have the potential to generate virulent viruses by recombination and the recombinant nucleic acids could cause autoimmune diseases. A further major source of toxicity in the case of the flu vaccines are the adjuvants, substances added in order to boost the immunogenicity of the vaccines. There is a large literature on the toxicities of adjuvants. Most flu vaccines contain dangerous levels of mercury in the form of thimerosal, a deadly preservative 50 times more toxic than mercury itself [9]. At high enough doses, it can cause long-term immune, sensory, neurological, motor, and behavioural dysfunctions. Also associated with mercury poisoning are autism, attention deficit disorder, multiple sclerosis, and speech and language deficiencies. The Institute of Medicine has warned that infants, children, and pregnant women should not be injected with thimerosal, yet the majority of flu shots contain 25 micrograms of it. Another common adjuvant is alum or aluminium hydroxide, which can cause vaccine allergy, anaphylaxis, and macrophage myofascitis, a chronic inflammation syndrome, In cats, alum also gives rise to fibrosarcomas at the site of injection [15]. Numerous new adjuvants are no better, and could be worse. According to a recent review in a science and business pharmaceutical publication [15], most newer adjuvants including MF59, ISCOMS, QS21, AS02, and AS04 have “substantially higher local reactogenicity and systemic toxicity than alum.”
INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009 33
Current status of swine flu vaccines Five different companies have been contracted to produce vaccines worldwide: Baxter International, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis and Sanofi-Aventis and AstroZeneca [16]. Already stretched beyond capacity, there is every intention to make smaller vaccine doses go further with a range of new adjuvants [17], with the blessing of the WHO (see later). Flu vaccines are traditionally produced from non-virulent (attenuated or weakened) influenza viruses (see Box for a description of the viruses). To be effective, the genes of the non- virulent virus used must match those of the viral strain spreading in the population. Activation of the immune system by exposure to the non pathogenic form of the circulating pathogenic strain leads to the production of antibodies that will confer protection against the pathogenic strain. Producing the non-virulent virus involves first identifying and then recreating the subtypes of two of the virus’s surface proteins, haemagglutinin (H) and neuraminidase (N), which determine the strain’s virulence and ability to spread, and are also the target proteins for vaccine production. Influenza viruses There are 3 types of influenza viruses, A, B and C. The influenza A type virus is the main one that cause diseases in birds and mammals. Its genome consists of 8 segments of RNA coding for 11 proteins, and the viruses are further classified by subtype on the basis of the two main surface glycoproteins (proteins with complex carbohydrate side chains): haemagglutinin (H) and neuraminidase (N) [18]. The segmented genome enables the virus to’ reassort’ (shuffle) segments as well as recombine within segments, thereby greatly increasing the rate of evolution and generation of new strains. Reassortment is also widely exploited in the laboratory in the process of creating vaccine strains. To-date, 16 H and 9 N subtypes have been detected in numerous combinations circulating in wild birds [19]. Seed viruses are first made to provide the starting material for large scale production of live non-virulent flu viruses. The seed viruses are approved by the WHO or the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA). The usual method of seed virus production is reassortment (see Box). Fertilized chicken eggs are injected with both a standard non-pathogenic influenza strain known to grow well in eggs and the strain that carries the genes expressing the desired vaccine H and N protein subtypes. The two viruses multiply, and their eight genome segments reassort with 256 possible combinations. The resulting recombinant viruses are then screened for the desired virus with the six genome segments that allow the standard strain to grow so well in eggs and the H and N genes from the circulating strain. The seed virus is then injected into millions of eggs for mass production of vaccine. This conventional method of seed stock production takes about one to two months to complete [20]. Cell culture systems may eventually replace chicken eggs. Baxter International applied for a patent on a process using cell culture to produce quantities of infecting virus, which are harvested, inactivated with formaldehyde and ultraviolet light, and then detergent [21] . Baxter has produced H5N1 whole virus vaccines in a Vero cell line derived from the kidney of an African green monkey, and conducted phase 1 and 2 clinical trials with and without aluminium hydroxide as adjuvant [22, 23]. The main finding was that the toxic adjuvant did not increase neutralising antibodies against the vaccine Baxter has agreed to ship H1N1 vaccine by the end Photo:strain. French Navy 34 INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009
of July or early August 2009 but details of the production of that vaccine have not yet been released to the public [16]. In December, a Baxter facility in Austria sent a human flu vaccine contaminated with the deadly H5N1 live avian flu [bird flu] virus to 18 countries, including the Czech Republic, where testing showed it killed the ferrets inoculated [24]. Czech newspapers questioned whether Baxter was involved in a deliberate attempt to start a pandemic. Novartis, another big pharma, announced on 13 June that it,
“Critics point out that the ‘vaccination experts’ are dominated by the vaccine makers standing to gain from the enormously lucrative vaccine and antiviral contracts awarded by governments. But the decisive argument against mass vaccinations is that flu shots simply don’t work and are dangerous” INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009 35
too, has produced a swine flu vaccine using cell-based technology and the proprietary adjuvant MF59®. The MF59® adjuvant is oil based and contains Tween80, Span85, and squalene [25]. In studies of oil-based adjuvants in rats, the animals were rendered crippled and paralyzed. Squalene brought on severe arthritis symptoms in rats, and studies in humans given from 10 to 20 ppb (parts per billion) of squalene showed severe immune system impact and development of autoimmune disorders [26]. Novartis was in the news in 2008 for a clinical trial of an H5N1 bird flu vaccine in Poland. The trial was administered by local nurses and doctors who gave the vaccine to 350 homeless people, leaving 21 dead; and were prosecuted by the Polish police [27, 28] . Novartis claimed the deaths were unrelated to the H5N1 vaccine [29], which had been “tested on 3500 other people without any deaths.” GlaxoSmithKline’s vaccine will be made up of antigens of the recently isolated influenza strain, and also contains its own proprietary adjuvant system AS03 that has been approved in the EU along with its H5N1 bird flu vaccine in 2008. According to the European Public Assessment Report [30], AS03 adjuvant is composed of squalene (10.68 milligrams), DL-?-tocopherol (11.86 milligrams) and polysorbate 80 (4.85 milligrams). The H5N1 vaccine also contains 5 micrograms thiomersal, as well as Polysorbate 80, Octoxynol 10, and various inorganic salts. The company is aggressively promoting various adjuvant systems as its ‘adjuvant advan36 INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009
tage’ that reduces the dose of vaccines [31]. A recent WHO survey of primary vaccine producers concluded that the potential output of 4.9 Billion doses of H1N1 vaccine per year is a best-case scenario, assuming among other factors that the most dose-sparing formulation (that will include toxic adjuvants) be selected by each manufacturer and that production will take place at full capacity. WHO Director-General, Dr .Margaret Chan, and the United Nations Secretary-General, Mr Ban Ki-moon, met with senior officials of vaccine manufacturers on 19 May and asked them to reserve part of their production capacity for poor countries that would otherwise have no or little access to vaccine in the case of a pandemic [32]. The last mass-vaccination in the US was a disaster. In 1976, cases of swine flu were found in soldiers at Fort Dix, New Jersey, and one of them died, most likely of physical overexertion rather than from the infection [7]. This led to the launch of a mass vaccination of 40 million against a pandemic that never materialized. Thousands filed claims for injury. At least 25 died and 500 developed paralyzing Guillain-Barre syndrome [33, 34]. Swine flu syndromes mostly mild As of 22 July 2009, the CDC listed a total of 40 617 cases in the US, with 319 fatalities, giving a fatalities/case ratio of 0.8 percent [35]; though the real death rate – among all cases of infection including the mild ones that go unreported – is probably much lower. Experts estimate that only 1 out of 20 cases are reported [36]. The UK is the worst affected European country, and the pandemic is in the headlines everyday in July. A new telephone helpline was set up on 23 July to let people get advice and tamiflu without seeing a doctor. In that week, there has been a record rise in cases to 100 000 and a total of 30 deaths so far [37], giving a fatalities/case ratio of 0.03 percent, a more accurate reflection of the actual death rate. UK’s chief medical officer Sir Liam Donaldson has ordered the NHS to plan for as many as 65 000 deaths, with 350 a day at the peak [38]. There has been no plan as yet for mass vaccination; but the UK government has advance orders for 195 million doses of vaccine with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). The vaccine that GSK is developing will be tested on a limited number of people as the UK drug company reportedly [39] “weighs the pandemic danger against the risks of an unsafe shot.” This was criticized as “risky” by Prof. Hugh Pennington, a retired microbiologist at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. “By limiting clinical trials, Glaxo raises the danger that the vaccine dose isn’t properly calibrated, and could lead to shots that don’t protect people from the virus or at worse are unsafe,” Pennington said. Pennington added that the shot’s ability to trigger the body’s defences is crucial and requires tests to determine the best dose and whether an adjuvant is needed to bolster the immunity. (As we know, GSK is definitely promoting its new range of toxic adjuvants.) He also referred to the Fort Dix incident in 1976 (see earlier). France has ordered vaccines from Sanofi, GSK and Novartis, but sees no reason to ask vaccine makers to shorten or skip clinical tri-
als [16]. Sanofi-Aventis, the French drug maker developing its own swine flu vaccine will begin testing the product in early August, and estimates it will need as much as two and a half months of tests before having a shot that’s “both safe and protective”, according to Albert Garcia, speaking for the company’s vaccine unit, “the vaccine will be ready in November or December, he said. Baxter, however, will produce a vaccine by early August for clinical tests. Glaxo also said it is developing a face mask coated with antivirals to prevent infection and boosting production of its Relenza drug for patients already suffering from swine flu. There are obviously safer and more effective ways to combat the pandemic than mass vaccinations: washing hands often, sneezing into a tissue that can be safely disposed of, avoiding unnecessary gatherings, and delay opening schools – all advised by governments – and we would add, eating healthily, exercise, and getting enough vitamin D to boost your natural immunity [10]. ISIS Report 27/07/09 http://www.i-sis.org.uk/fastTrackSwineFluVaccineUnderFire.php
References 1. ”New details on virus’s promiscuous past”, Jon Cohen, Science 2009, 324, 1127. 2. Garten RJ, Davis CT,Tussell CA et al. Antigenic and genetic charaatcteristics of swineorigin 2009 A (H1N1) influenza viruses circulating in humans. Science 2009, 325, 197-201. 3. ”Virologist to make his case for lab origin of swine flu”, Peter Duveen, Opednews. com, 4 July 2009, http://www.opednews.com/articles/Virologist-to-make-his-cas-byPeter-Duveen-090630-103.html 4. ”Is swine flu a biological weapon?”, Paul Joseph Watson, PrisonPlanet.com 27 April 2009, http://www.prisonplanet.com/is-swine-flu-a-biological-weapon.htm 5. ”CDC confirms ties to virus first discovered in U.S. pig factories” Michael Greger, 3 May 2009, http://www.hsus.org/farm/news/ournews/swine_flu_virus_origin_1998_ 042909.html 6. “Swine flu vaccine should not be given to children in schools”, Barbara Loe Fisher, National Vaccine Information Center, 22 July 2009, http://www.nvic.org/NVIC-VaccineNews/July-2009/Swine-Flu-Vaccine-Should-Not-Be-Given-to-Children.aspx 7. “Now legal immunity for swine flu vaccine makers” F, William Engdahl, Global Research 20 July 2009, http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=14453 8. ”Swine flu pandemic now ‘unstoppable’: WHO official”, Agence France-Presse 13 July 2009, Calgary Herald, http://www.calgaryherald.com/Swine+pandemic+unstoppa ble+official/1788693/story.html 9. What are the dangers of mandatory swine flu vaccination? Dr. Mercola, June 2009, http://blogs.mercola.com/sites/vitalvotes/archive/2009/07/15/What-are-the-Dangersof-Mandatory-Swine-Flu-Vaccination.aspx 10. Ho MW. How to stop bir flu instead of the vaccine-antiviral model. Science in Society 35. 40-42, 2007. 11. Smith S, Demicheli V, DiPietrantoni C, Harnden AR, Jefferson T, Matheson NJ and Rivett A. Vaccines for preventing influenza in healthy children. Cochrane Database Systematic Review 2006, Jan 25: CD004879. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16437500 12. Szilagyi PG, Fairbrother G, Griffin MR et al. Influenza vaccine effectiveness among children 6 to 59 months of age during 2 influenza seasons: a case-cohort study. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2008, 162, 943-51. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18838647 13. Christy C, Aligne C, Auinger P, Pulcino T and Weitzman M. Effectiveness of influenza vaccine for the prevention of asthma exacerbations. Arch. Dis Child 2004, 89, 734-5, http:// www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=15269071 14. Flu vaccination may triple risk for flu-related hospitalization in children with asthma, 25 May 2009, http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/703235 15. Petrovsky N, Heinzel S, Honda Y, Lyons AB. New-age vaccine adjuvants, friend or foe? BioPharm International 2 August 2007, http://biopharminternational.findpharma.
com/biopharm/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=444996&sk=&date=&pageID=5 16. “Update: 1-Baxter can take no more H1N1 flu vaccine orders”, Bill Berkerto, 16 July 2009, Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsnews/idINN1644290820090716?rpc=33 17. H1N1 ‘swine flu’ vaccine, postnote, May 2009, number 331, http://www.parliament. uk/documents/upload/postpn331.pdf 18. Avian Influenza (Bird Flu) CDC, 18 November 2005, http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/ gen-info/flu-viruses.htm 19. Olsen B, Munster VJ, Wallensten A, Waldenstrom J, Osterhaus ADME and Fouchier RAM. Global patterns of influenza A virus in wild birds. Science 2006, 312, 384-8. 20. Hood E. Environews Innovations 2006 Environmental Health Perpectives 114,A108-111. 21. Kistner,O,Tauer,C, Barrett,N. Mundt,W. Method for Producing Viral Vaccines 2009 Patent application US2009/0060950A1 22. Ehrlich HJ, Müller M, Oh HM, Tambyah PA, Joukhadar C, Montomoli E, Fisher D, Berezuk G, Fritsch S, Löw-Baselli A, Vartian N, Bobrovsky R, Pavlova BG, Pöllabauer EM, Kistner O, Barrett PN; Baxter H5N1 Pandemic Influenza Vaccine Clinical Study Team. A clinical trial of a whole-virus H5N1 vaccine derived from cell culture. N Engl J Med. 2008 Jun 12;358(24):2573-84. 23. Ketel.W,Dekker,C,Mink,C,Campbell,J,Edwards,K,Patel,S,Ho,D,Talbot,H,Guo,K,Noah, D,Hill,H.Safety and immunogenicity of inactivated, Vero cell culture-derived whole virus influenza A/H5N1 vaccine given alone or with aluminum hydroxide adjuvant in healthy adults Vaccine 2009 in press doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2009.03.015 24. “Bird flu mix-up could have spelled disaster”, NewScientist 6 March 2009, http:// www.newscientist.com/article/mg20126983.400 25. Kenney RT and Edelman R. Survey of human-use adjuvants. Expert Review of Vaccines April 2003; 2(2):167-88, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/ 12899569?ordinalpos=5&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel. Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum 26. “Vaccines may be linked to Gulf War Syndrome”, Chiroweb.com, June 12, 2000, http://www.chiroweb.com/mpacms/dc/article.php?id=31730 27. “Homeless people die after bird flu vaccine trial in Poland”, Mathew Day, Telegraph, 2 July 2008, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/poland/2235676/ Homeless-people-die-after-bird-flu-vaccine-trial-in-Poland.html 28. “Homeless people die after trials of bird-flu vaccine”, 10 July 2008, Pharmaceutical Portal for Poland, http://www.pharmapoland.com/next.php?id=62409 29. “Polish industry not dented by deaths”, Emma Dorey, Entrepreneur, 21 July 2008, http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals/article/181991358.html 30. Pandermrix = European Public Assessment Report [EMEA] 27 September 2009, http:// www.emea.europa.eu/humandocs/Humans/EPAR/pandemrix/pandemrix.htm 31. Vaccine adjuvant system technology background information. GlaxoSmithKline, accessed 25 July 2009, http://www.gsk.com/media/flu/flu-adjuvant.pdf 32. Collin N, de Radiguès X, Kieny MP; the World Health Organization H1N1 Vaccine Task Force.New influenza A(H1N1) vaccine: How ready are we for large-scale production? Vaccine. 2009 Jun 26 in press doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2009.06.034 33. 1976 swine flu outbreak, Wikipedia, 22 July 2009, http://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/1976_swine_flu_outbreak 34. Haber P, Sejvar J, Mikaeloff Y and DeStefano F. Vaccine and Guilaain-Barre syndrome. Drug Saf 2009, 32, 309-23. 35. ”2009 flu pandemic in the United States”, Wikipdeia, 22 July 2009, http://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/2009_flu_pandemic_in_the_United_States 36. 2009 flu pandemic, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_flu_pandemic 37. “Swine flu website overwhelmed by demand as new cases double in a week”, Owen Bowcott and Severin Carrell, The Guardian, 23 July 2009, http://www.guardian. co.uk/world/2009/jul/23/swine-flu-website-overwhelmed 38. “Swine flu: medical chief orders NHS to prepare for 65 000 deaths – with a toll of as many as 350 a day”, Daniel Martin, The Daily Mail, 17 July 2009, T, http://www.dailymail. co.uk/news/article-1200012/Swine-flu-Every-child-16-vaccinated--when.html 39. “Glaxo to limit tests of flu vaccine, citing urgency”, Jason Gale and Trista Kelley, Bloomberg Press, 22 July 2009, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=2060110 2&sid=apkg_4J.PCEw n
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38 INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009
NEW STUDY
EXONERATES
CO
2
CARBON DIOXIDE RISE NATURAL, NOT HUMAN-CAUSED
A new peer-reviewed scientific study reinforces the growing belief that man-made CO2 emissions are too small to override natural climatic forces. Essentially, the study finds that CO2 doesn’t last in the atmosphere anywhere near as long as the UNIPCC claims, and therefore can’t have the impact the UN claims. Norwegian scientist TOM SEGALSTAD has just published this analysis of the new study on climate change website www.icecap.us, and we think it’s important enough to reprint here:
INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009 39
I
n a paper recently published in the international peer-reviewed journal Energy & Fuels, Dr. Robert H. Essenhigh (2009), Professor of Energy Conversion at the Ohio State University, addresses the residence time (RT) of anthropogenic CO2 in the air. He finds that the RT for bulk atmospheric CO2, the molecule 12CO2, is ~5 years, in good agreement with other cited sources (Segalstad, 1998), while the RT for the trace molecule 14CO2 is ~16 years. Both of these residence times are much shorter than what is claimed by the IPCC. The rising concentration of atmospheric CO2 in the last century is not consistent with supply from anthropogenic sources. Such anthropogenic sources account for less than 5% of the present atmosphere, compared to the major input/output from natural sources (~95%). Hence, anthropogenic CO2 is too small to be a significant or relevant factor in the global warming process, particularly when comparing with the far more potent greenhouse gas water vapor. The rising atmospheric CO2 is the outcome of rising temperature rather than vice versa. Correspondingly, Dr. Essenhigh concludes that the politically driven target of capture and sequestration of carbon from combustion sources would be a major and pointless waste of physical and financial resources. Essenhigh (2009) points out that the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) in their first report (Houghton et al., 1990) gives an atmospheric CO2 residence time (lifetime) of 50200 years [as a “rough estimate”]. This estimate is confusingly given as an adjustment time for a scenario with a given anthropogenic CO2 input, and ignores natural (sea and vegetation) CO2 flux rates. Such estimates are analytically invalid; and they are in conflict with the more correct explanation given elsewhere in the same IPCC report: “This means that on average it takes only a few years before a CO2 molecule in the atmosphere is taken up by plants or dissolved in the ocean”. Some 99% of the atmospheric CO2 molecules are 12CO2 molecules containing the stable isotope 12C (Segalstad, 1982). To calculate the RT of the bulk atmospheric CO2 molecule 12CO2, Essenhigh (2009) uses the IPCC data of 1990 with a total mass of carbon of 750 gigatons in the atmospheric CO2 and a natural input/output exchange rate of 150 gigatons of carbon per year (Houghton et al., 1990). The characteristic decay time (denoted by the Greek letter tau) is simply the former value divided by the latter value: 750 / 150 = 5 years. This is a similar value to the ~5 years found from 13C/12C carbon isotope mass balance calculations of measured atmospheric CO2 13C/12C carbon isotope data by Segalstad (1992); the ~5 years obtained from CO2 solubility data by Murray (1992); and the ~5 years derived from CO2 chemical kinetic data by Stumm & Morgan (1970). Revelle & Suess (1957) calculated from data for the trace atmospheric molecule 14CO2, containing the radioactive isotope14C, that the amount of atmospheric “CO2 derived from industrial fuel combustion” would be only 1.2% for an atmospheric CO2 lifetime of 5 years, and 1.73% for a CO2 lifetime of 7 years (Segalstad, 1998). Essenhigh (2009) reviews measurements of 14C from 1963 up to 1995, and finds that the RT of atmospheric 14CO2 is ~16 (16.3) years. He also uses the 14C data to find that the time value (exchange time) for variation of the concentration difference between the northern and southern hemispheres is ~2 (2.2) years for atmospheric 14CO2. This result compares well with the observed hemispheric transport of volcanic debris leading to “the year without a summer” in 1816 in the northern hemisphere after the 1815 Tambora volcano cataclysmic eruption in Indonesia in 1815. 40 INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009
INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009 41
Sundquist (1985) compiled a large number of measured RTs of CO2 found by different methods. The list, containing RTs for both 12CO2 and 14CO2, was expanded by Segalstad (1998), showing a total range for all reported RTs from 1 to 15 years, with most RT values ranging from 5 to 15 years. Essenhigh (2009) emphasizes that this list of measured values of RT compares well with his calculated RT of 5 years (atmospheric bulk 12CO2) and ~16 years (atmospheric trace 14CO2). Furthermore he points out that the annual oscillations in the measured atmospheric CO2 levels would be impossible without a short atmospheric residence time for the CO2 molecules. Essenhigh (2009) suggests that the difference in atmospheric CO2 residence times between the gaseous molecules 12CO2 and 14CO2 may be due to differences in the kinetic absorption and/or dissolution rates of the two different gas molecules. With such short residence times for atmospheric CO2, Essenhigh (2009) correctly points out that it is impossible for the anthropogenic combustion supply of CO2 to cause the given rise in atmospheric CO2. Consequently, a rising atmospheric CO2 concentration must be natural. This conclusion accords with measurements of 13C/12C carbon isotopes in atmospheric CO2, which show a maximum of 4% anthropogenic CO2 in the atmosphere (including any biogenic CO2), with 96% of the atmospheric CO2 being isotopically indistinguishable from “natural” inorganic CO2 exchanged with and degassed from the ocean, and degassed from volcanoes and the Earth’s interior (Segalstad, 1992). Essenhigh (2009) discusses alternative ways of expressing residence time, like fill time, decay time, e-fold time, turnover time, lifetime, and so on, and whether the Earth system carbon cycle is in dynamic equilibrium or non-equilibrium status. He concludes (like Segalstad, 1998) that the residence time is a robust parameter independent of the status of equilibrium, and that alternative expressions of the residence time give corresponding values. It is important to compare Essenhigh’s (2009) results with a recently published paper in PNAS by Solomon et al. (2009), the first author of which (Susan Solomon) co-chairs the IPCC Working Group One, the part of the IPCC that deals with physical climate science. This paper was published after Essenhigh had submitted his manuscript to Energy & Fuels. The message of Solomon et al. (2009) is that there is an irreversible climate change due to the assimilation of CO2 in the atmosphere, solely due to anthropogenic CO2 emissions. From quantified scenarios of anthropogenic increases in atmospheric CO2, their implication is that the CO2 level flattens out asymptotically towards infinity, giving a residence time of more than 1000 years (without offering a definition or discussion of residence time or isotopic differences): “a quasi-equilibrium amount of CO2 is expected to be retained in the atmosphere by the end of the millennium that is surprisingly large: typically ~40% of the peak concentration enhancement over preindustrial values (~280 ppmv)”. The authors’ Fig. 1, i.a. shows a peak level at 1200 ppmv atmospheric CO2 in the year 2100, levelling off to an almost steady level of ~800 ppmv in the year 3000. It is not known how their 40% estimate was derived. Solomon et al. (2009) go on to say that “this can be easily understood on the basis of the observed instantaneous airborne fraction (AFpeak) of ~50% of anthropogenic carbon emissions retained during their build-up in the atmosphere, together with well-established ocean chemistry and physics that require ~20% of the emitted carbon to remain in the atmosphere on thousand-year timescales [quasi-equilibrium airborne fraction (AFequil), determined largely 42 INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009
by the Revelle factor governing the long-term partitioning of carbon between the ocean and atmosphere/biosphere system]”. Solomon et al. (2009) have obviously not seriously considered the paper by Segalstad (1998), who addresses the 50% “missing sink” error of the IPCC and shows that the Revelle evasion “buffer” factor is ideologically defined from an assumed model (atmospheric anthropogenic CO2 increase) and an assumed preindustrial value for the CO2 level, in conflict with the chemical Henry’s Law governing the fast ~1:50 equilibrium partitioning of CO2 between gas (air) and fluid (ocean) at the Earth’s average surface temperature. This CO2 partitioning factor is strongly dependent on temperature because of the temperature-dependent retrograde aqueous solubility of CO2, which facilitates fast degassing of dissolved CO2 from a heated fluid phase (ocean), similar to what we experience from a heated carbonated drink. Consequently, the IPCC’s and Solomon et al.’s (2009) non-realistic carbon cycle modelling and misconception of the way the
“Essenhigh (2009) correctly points out that it is impossible for the anthropogenic combustion supply of CO2 to cause the given rise in atmospheric CO2. Consequently, a rising atmospheric CO2 concentration must be natural” geochemistry of CO2 works simply defy reality, and would make it impossible for breweries to make the carbonated beer or soda “pop” that many of us enjoy (Segalstad, 1998). So why is the correct estimate of the atmospheric residence time of CO2 so important? The IPCC has constructed an artificial model where they claim that the natural CO2 input/output is in static balance, and that all CO2 additions from anthropogenic carbon combustion being added to the atmospheric pool will stay there almost indefinitely. This means that with an anthropogenic atmospheric CO2 residence time of 50 – 200 years (Houghton, 1990) or near infinite (Solomon et al., 2009), there is still a 50% error (nicknamed the “missing sink”) in the IPCC’s model, because the measured rise in the atmospheric CO2 level is just half of that expected from the amount of anthropogenic CO2 supplied to the atmosphere; and carbon isotope measurements invalidate the IPCC’s model (Segalstad, 1992; Segalstad, 1998). The correct evaluation of the CO2 residence time – giving values
of about 5 years for the bulk of the atmospheric CO2 molecules, as per Essenhigh’s (2009) reasoning and numerous measurements with different methods – tells us that the real world’s CO2 is part of a dynamic (i.e. non-static) system, where about one fifth of the atmospheric CO2 pool is exchanged every year between different sources and sinks, due to relatively fast equilibria and temperaturedependent CO2 partitioning governed by the chemical Henry’s Law (Segalstad 1992; Segalstad, 1996; Segalstad, 1998). Knowledge of the correct timing of the whereabouts of CO2 in the air is essential to a correct understanding of the way nature works and the extent of anthropogenic modulation of, or impact upon, natural processes. Concerning the Earth’s carbon cycle, the anthropogenic contribution and its influence are so small and negligible that our resources would be much better spent on other real challenges that are facing mankind. Tom V Segalstad is an Associate Professor of Resource and Environmental Geology, The University of Oslo, Norway
INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009 43
GLOBAL WARMING NATURAL, MAY END WITHIN 20 YEARS COLUMBUS, Ohio – Global warming is a natural geological process that could begin to reverse itself within 10 to 20 years, predicts an Ohio State University researcher. The researcher suggests that atmospheric carbon dioxide -- often thought of as a key “greenhouse gas” -- is not the cause of global warming. The opposite is most likely to be true, according to Robert Essenhigh, E.G. Bailey Professor of Energy Conservation in Ohio State’s Department of Mechanical Engineering. It is the rising global temperatures that are naturally increasing the levels of carbon dioxide, not the other way around, he says. Essenhigh explains his position in a “viewpoint” article in the current issue of the journal Chemical Innovation, published by the American Chemical Society. Many people blame global warming on carbon dioxide sent into the atmosphere from burning fossil fuels in man-made devices such as automobiles and power plants. Essenhigh believes these people fail to account for the much greater amount of carbon dioxide that enters -- and leaves -- the atmosphere as part of the natural cycle of water exchange from, and back into, the sea and vegetation. “Many scientists who have tried to mathematically determine the relationship between carbon dioxide and global temperature would appear to have vastly underestimated the significance of water in the atmosphere as a radiation-absorbing gas,” Essenhigh argues. “If you ignore the water, you’re going to get the wrong answer.” How could so many scientists miss out on this critical bit of information, as Essenhigh believes? He said a National Academy of Sciences report on carbon dioxide levels that was published in 1977 omitted information about water as a gas and identified it only as vapor, which means condensed water or cloud, which is at a much lower concentration in the atmosphere; and most subsequent investigations into this area evidently have built upon the pattern of that report. For his hypothesis, Essenhigh examined data from various other sources, including measurements of ocean evaporation rates, man-made sources of carbon dioxide, and global temperature data for the last one million years. He cites a 1995 report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a panel formed by the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme in 1988 to assess the risk of human-induced climate change. In the report, the IPCC wrote that some 90 billion tons of carbon as carbon dioxide annually circulate between the earth’s ocean and the atmosphere, and another 60 billion tons exchange between the vegetation and the atmosphere. Compared to man-made sources’ emission of about 5 to 6 billion tons per year, the natural sources would then account for more than 95 percent of all atmospheric carbon dioxide, Essenhigh said. “At 6 billion tons, humans are then responsible for a comparatively small amount – less than 5 percent – of atmospheric carbon dioxide,” he said. “And if nature is the source of the rest of the carbon dioxide, then it is difficult to see that man-made carbon dioxide can be driving the rising temperatures. In fact, I don’t believe it does.” Some scientists believe that the human contribution to carbon dioxide in
the atmosphere, however small, is of a critical amount that could nonetheless upset Earth’s environmental balance. But Essenhigh feels that, mathematically, that hypothesis hasn’t been adequately substantiated. Here’s how Essenhigh sees the global temperature system working: As temperatures rise, the carbon dioxide equilibrium in the water changes, and this releases more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. According to this scenario, atmospheric carbon dioxide is then an indicator of rising temperatures -- not the driving force behind it. Essenhigh attributes the current reported rise in global temperatures to a natural cycle of warming and cooling. He examined data that Cambridge University geologists Nicholas Shackleton and Neil Opdyke reported in the journal Quaternary Research in 1973, which found that global temperatures have been oscillating steadily, with an average rising gradually, over the last one million years -- long before human industry began to release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Opdyke is now at the University of Florida. According to Shackleton and Opdyke’s data, average global temperatures have risen less than one degree in the last million years, though the amplitude of the periodic oscillation has now risen in that time from about 5 degrees to about 10 degrees, with a period of about 100,000 years. “Today, we are simply near a peak in the current cycle that started about 25,000 years ago,” Essenhigh explained. As to why highs and lows follow a 100,000 year cycle, the explanation Essenhigh uses is that the Arctic Ocean acts as a giant temperature regulator, an idea known as the “Arctic Ocean Model.” This model first appeared over 30 years ago and is well presented in the 1974 book Weather Machine: How our weather works and why it is changing, by Nigel Calder, a former editor of New Scientist magazine. According to this model, when the Arctic Ocean is frozen over, as it is today, Essenhigh said, it prevents evaporation of water that would otherwise escape to the atmosphere and then return as snow. When there is less snow to replenish the Arctic ice cap, the cap may start to shrink. That could be the cause behind the retreat of the Arctic ice cap that scientists are documenting today, Essenhigh said. As the ice cap melts, the earth warms, until the Arctic Ocean opens again. Once enough water is available by evaporation from the ocean into the atmosphere, snows can begin to replenish the ice cap. At that point, the Arctic ice begins to expand, the global temperature can then start to reverse, and the earth can start re-entry to a new ice age. According to Essenhigh’s estimations, Earth may reach a peak in the current temperature profile within the next 10 to 20 years, and then it could begin to cool into a new ice age. Essenhigh knows that his scientific opinion is a minority one. As far as he knows, he’s the only person who’s linked global warming and carbon
“According to Essenhigh’s estimations, Earth may reach a peak in the current temperature profile within the next 10 to 20 years, and then it could begin to cool into a new ice age”
44 INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009
dioxide in this particular way. But he maintains his evaluations represent an improvement on those of the majority opinion, because they are logically rigorous and includes water vapor as a far more significant factor than in other studies. “If there are flaws in these propositions, I’m listening,” he wrote in his Chemical Innovation paper. “But if there are objections, let’s have them with the numbers.” n
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46 INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009
The Rise
New D ark Ages of the
To create a new Homo Britannicus: Britain’s multi-sided attacks on Christianity increase, writes HAL G. P. COLEBATCH
INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009 47
A
favourite expression of communist political writing was that some set of facts or other was “no coincidence,” implying that there was more to matters than met the eye. George Orwell wrote in Nineteen Eighty Four that: “Power is about tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of your own choosing.” The old Bolshevik theoretician Nikolai Bukharin claimed that it was necessary for a revolution to “alter people’s actual psychology.” Never until the present government came to power have we seen in Britain, or any other Western democracy, such a wide-ranging and concerted effort to alter people’s “actual psychology” and indeed put their minds together in new shapes as is happening there now. In a string of incidents in Britain recently Christians have been discriminated against in various ways – for wearing crucifix brooches or necklaces at work or school, in the case of one nurse being sacked for offering to pray for a patient, and so forth. A school-girl was recently banned from wearing a small crucifix on a necklace while Sikh girls at the same school were permitted to wear religious bangles, enough for “no coincidence” to raise its head again. There is the new Equality Bill now before Parliament whose provisions could compel religious institutions such as care-homes, hospitals and schools to remove crosses, holy pictures, icons and other signs from the walls if employees not of their belief – and who they are compelled not to discriminate against in hiring – object. This seems most directly aimed at Catholic institutions which tend to display such signs but could also be applied against others. A crematorium has been forced to remove a cross from its chapel. While Government and Qango initiatives seem directed at attacking expressions of Christianity or Judeo/Christianity, pagan police officers in Britain have been given the right to take eight days off work a year to celebrate pagan “religious holidays” including Hallowe’en and the summer solstice. This follows the setting up of a new “Pagan Police Association.” Police Constable Andy Pardy, a leading pagan officer from Hertfordshire Police, met recently with Home Office officials to push for more recognition for pagan officers. He is reported to worship Viking gods such as Thor and Freya, and is quoted as saying: “Paganism involves chanting, music, meditation, reading passages and for pagans the practices are seen to have the same power as prayer does for Christians. Most pagans practice some kind of conservation work as well to give something back to the planet.” Perhaps pagan police attending the Solstice at Stonehenge etc. would be well placed to do a little policing of any Christianity which dares raise its head there: the Equality Bill is drafted to make displays of Christian symbols possible grounds for charges of harassment. A spokesman for the Home Office is quoted as saying: “The Government wants a police service that reflects the diverse communities it serves.” Another officer, Constable Andy Hill of Staffordshire Police, is a practicing witch. (Let Christian police officers decide to take Christmas or Easter off and I think the official reaction could be rather different). Last year the Home Office introduced a pagan oath for use in the courts, though it is a little hard to see at first glance what sort of oath would be acceptable both to a pagan who followed, say, the gentle Greek philosopher Socrates and one who followed the Viking rape and pillage specialist Erik Bloodaxe. A leading think-tank close to the government, the Institute for 48 INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009
Public Policy Research, has recommended that Christmas, if it cannot be obliterated, should be down-graded to promote multiculturalism. It says that because it would be hard to “expunge” Christmas from the national calendar (although this would apparently be desirable), public organizations must be made to give nonChristian religious festivals equal footing. This would fit in with Pagan Police at the Solstice very neatly. They might even be able to do a bit of policing of Christianity while they were there. It is easy to imagine the ratchet being turned a little further and police encouraged to practice not merely Paganism but outright Satanism. There are already precedents for Satanism being officially condoned: a Royal Navy warship has, in the interests of diversity, had a compartment fitted out to accommodate the proclivities of a Satanist crewman (one imagines Nelson’s comments on this would have been short and to the point), and Satanist paraphernalia is supplied to prisoners in British prisons. Christianity in Britain appears to be facing an attack on at least three fronts – from paganism, nihilism-secularism and militant Islam (Islamic official “community police” have already prevented Christian evangelists from giving out material in certain districts, threatened them with arrest and telling them that they would be beaten up if they attempted to repeat the offence. Dozens of Sharia courts are reported to be operating in Britain with more opening all the time). A Tower Hamlets school-teacher, Nicholas Kafouris, was recently reported sacked for reprimanding Muslim pupils for anti-Christian and anti-Jewish behaviour. He said children aged eight and nine in his class praised the suicide bombers in the 9/11 attacks. He said many unacceptable and openly racist, anti-Semitic and antiChristian remarks were being made, including: “We want to be Islamic bombers when we grow up”, “the Twin Towers bombers are heroes and martyrs”, “we hate the Jews” and “we hate the Christians”. During a religious education lesson about Jonah and the whale, he claims one of the pupils asked if Jonah was a Jew, before shouting: “I hate the Jews, they’re our enemies.” He said reports he made to the school authorities about these matters were ignored. A church in Stockport, Manchester, was charged by the local council for advertising when it displayed a three-foot illuminated cross above the entrance. The Red Cross has banned Nativity scenes and Christmas trees from its shops, and banned Christian messages on cards its employees send out. A spokesman said: “In shops people can put up decorations like tinsel or snow which are seasonal. But the guidance is that things representative of Christmas cannot be shown.” It was reported that schools across Britain were ordered by local authorities to abandon the ancient tradition of serving hot cross buns at Easter. Tower Hamlets officials decided to remove the buns from menus after criticism of pancakes being served on Shrove Tuesday. A spokesman for the Labour-run council said there had been “a lot” of complaints but did not have a figure. Liverpool council, controlled by the Liberal Democrats, also said that the symbol of the cross had the “potential to offend” and buns would no longer be served to children. Crematoriums have also been prohibited from displaying crosses. A traffic warden successfully objected to being forced to wear a cap-badge which incorporated a tiny cross within its representation of St. Edward’s Crown. An Anglican school in Islington was ordered to drop the word “Saint” from its name. A spokesman for the council’s ruling Liberal
“Of the newly-appointed female clergy in the Church of England a significant majority did not believe in such basic Christian propositions as the Virgin Birth, and little more than a bare majority believed in the Resurrection and Redemption through Christ’s suffering and death, though a much greater majority of their male colleagues still did” Democrats, said: “We need to ensure that this school is appropriate for Islington in the 21st Century. Churchgoing is now a much less significant part of people’s lives.” This Kulturkampf did not spare even the Beatles, who had done such signal service in destroying traditional culture and values. “When I am 64” was banned at a concert of the Hart Male Voice Choir, not because its lyrics were stupid and inane, which would have been a defensible reason, but because it was decided the line “birthday greetings, bottle of wine” might offend a certain non-Christian religious group. Christmas and Easter were removed from Scarborough College’s calendar in September, 2008, for similar reasons. It has become quite common for film and television programmes,
if for a long time not quite unequivocally blasphemous about Christianity, to be at least highly offensive to some Christians. This was obvious in old films like Monty Python and the Holy Grail and The Life of Brian, and recent television shows like The Vicar of Dibley and Father Ted, the former portraying opponents of the ordination of women in the Anglican church as stuffy, dim-witted reactionaries, the latter portraying Catholic clergy including Bishops as dim-witted, drunk, mad, sexually debauched and warcriminals. The BBC produced a cartoon series, Popetown, depicting the Pope as a demented child. No comparable shows were made about Islam or Islamic beliefs or religious leaders. This was partly but probably not entirely because Muslims were liable to INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009 49
express displeasure at mockery of their faith. Another reason was that the Adversary Culture saw fundamentalist Islam as an ally against middle-culture. A survey by media buying agency MediaCom TMB of 1,200 children aged between eight and 16 found only 8% associated Christmas with religion. However, to say that Christianity is being attacked only by paganism, nihilism and militant Islam is probably to understate the situation. The Anglican Bishop of Oxford, Richard Harries, stated that: “People who are groping their way into Christianity can suddenly find themselves shocked and horrified at the sacrificial, cannibalistic language of the Eucharist. Christians do not take seriously enough people’s sense of horror at going to a Eucharist or Mass and hearing the image of sacrificing and eating God.” He suggested that in order not to offend these groups healthier expressions like “the food of angels” and “the bread of life” be substituted. That this would mean not only censoring the central Mystery and meaning of Christianity but also censoring the words of its founder as apparently irrelevant. Presumably the horrific image of the Crucifixion was also a candidate for abolition. What exactly would be left of Christianity after this was hard to say. A survey suggested one quarter of Anglican clergy did not believe in the Virgin Birth of Christ, drawing money and receiving housing for propagating a doctrine they thought false. One, who declined to be named, was quoted in the press as saying: “I need to keep the job I have got.” The Virgin Birth is generally regarded not as a minor point of doctrine but as central to the concept of the Incarnation – of God becoming Man – and as an essential tenet of Christianity.
A
nother significant but little-remarked survey of 2,000 Church of England clerics commissioned by the group Cost of Conscience found that of the newly-appointed female clergy in the Church of England a significant majority did not believe in such basic Christian propositions as the Virgin Birth, and little more than a bare majority believed in the Resurrection and Redemption through Christ’s suffering and death, though a much greater majority of their male colleagues still did. In August, 2002, the Archbishop of Canterbury-designate, Dr Rowan Williams, adopted the robes of a Druid, taking the Druidic name of ap Aneurin in homage to Leftist politician Aneurin Bevan (who described Conservative voters as “lower than vermin”). He thus symbolically adopted a religion which regarded mistletoe as sacred and whose original rituals had centred upon human sacrifice. He was reported shortly afterwards as voicing a pessimistic view of the world, saying it was descending into chaos and anarchy, and that the world-wide Anglican church could fall apart. Perhaps there was some reason for this. Later this distinguished Druid suggested homosexual acts might be a sin only when practised by heterosexuals, a pronouncement which led to a certain degree of head-scratching. While anti-Christian blasphemy was permitted, the congregation of All Saints Anglican church at High Wycombe was told by the Buckinghamshire County Council that it was not allowed to publicise the dates and times of a Christmas service on an A4 sheet of paper on a community notice board in case members of other religions were offended. The council claimed that announcing the times and dates of carols and services promoted a “religious preference group.” Even more bizarrely, the Council was Conservative-controlled. 50 INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009
Meanwhile again, various youth and health authorities have made efforts over the last few years – many of them admittedly strikingly futile or counter-productive – to counteract underage sex and teenage pregnancy, areas in which Britain is a world leader. A recent multi-million pound initiative to reduce teenage pregnancies with targeted sex-education appears to have more than doubled the number of girls conceiving. Now, however, a National Health Service leaflet called “Pleasure” is being distributed which advises school pupils that they have a “right” to an enjoyable sex life and that regular intercourse can be good for their cardiovascular health. The leaflet, circulated to parents, teachers and youth workers, is apparently intended to update sex-education by telling pupils about the benefits of sexual pleasure. It claims that for too long experts have concentrated on the need for “safe sex” and loving relationships while ignoring the main reason that many people have sex, that is, for enjoyment. It was drawn up by the NHS in Sheffield but is being circulated beyond that city. With the slogan “an orgasm a day keeps the doctor away”, it says: “Health promotion experts advocate five portions of fruit and veg. a day and 30 minutes’ physical activity three times a week. What about sex or masturbation twice a week?” Underage sex is, of course, apart from anything else, illegal, but this is apparently irrelevant. We see a concerted campaign to campaign to alter attitudes, emotions, values and beliefs in the cause of creating a new Homo Britannicus, a Dusk-Man shambling towards Westminster to be born. When New Labour was elected in 1997 the widespread consensus was that Blair and Co. had shed leftist ideology and would run Britain along pragmatic, managerialist lines not too different from every other modern government. “The best Tory Prime Minister we’ve had for a long time” one dear old buffer chortled to me at my British home-from-home, the Cheltenham Conservative Club (now no longer in existence), shortly after Blair’s New Labour was elected. “The Strangest Tory Ever Sold” was The Economist’s memorable poster. On The Mail on Sunday for 1 February, 1998, Bob MarshallAndrew claimed: “New Labour has no time for political philosophy [In] our modern, pluralist, classless Ford-Galaxy-Driving-society …” Public guru Paul Johnson (who also professed “love” for Blair, and to pray to, as distinct from for, the late Princess Diana, declared in the Daily Mail of 27 March, 1998: “In essentials, Blair’s Government is a continuation of Margaret Thatcher’s after the hiatus of the John Major Interregnum …” David Marquand wrote in Prospect of May that year: “[New Labour] offers a warm bath, administered by a hegemonic people’s party appealing equally to every part of the nation.” Stewart Steven claimed in the Daily Mail of 26 April, 2008, that Blair thought “the ideological approach to politics was almost a perversion of the 20th Century.” His Excellence the British High Commissioner to Australia, Alex Allen, told an Australian audience officially that: “Blair is leading a third wave, between free markets and the traditional socialist approach … He did not say what the Tories had done was bad, he agreed to build on them. New Labour was very different from traditional Labour.” This image was carefully crafted by British Labour to distance it from the Leftism of Michael Foot and Neil Kinnock which had previously made it unelectable. The commentators who repeated it were fooled. It has proved a vast, staggering lie of Goebbels-shaming propositions, one of the greatest lies in all of modern politics. Yes, New Labour was very different from traditional Labour, but only in that beneath a thin and rapidly dissolving veneer of managerialist pragmatism it was extremist and totalitarian in a way
”Yes, New Labour was very different from traditional Labour, but only in that beneath a thin and rapidly dissolving veneer of managerialist pragmatism it was extremist and totalitarian in a way that the British Labour movement of Attlee or Gaitskell would never have contemplated” that the British Labour movement of Attlee or Gaitskell would never have contemplated. Labour played down the rhetoric of political leftism (although far more under Blair than Brown), while those more-or-less associated or allied with it (in often tacit or deniable relationships) were pressing ahead with an unprecedented kulturkampf of which the attack on Christianity (and thus on British traditional corevalues) is only one, though a central, aspect. These things, and a mountain of similar incidents, some of which I have written about earlier, are not co-incidence. We are seeing, not so much directly from elected politicians as from a multitude
of unelected bodies and institutions, but with the government’s passive or active connivance, an unprecedented effort along the lines prescribed by Bukharin and Gramsci, and warned against by the likes of Orwell and Aldous Huxley, to alter the psychology, including the religious values, of the people of Britain and turn it into a completely different country. While the Labour Government is irrevocably doomed and waiting electoral oblivion at the next election, the left’s creatures throughout a multitude of organisations (including now many police forces,) are making hay. It will be interesting to see if the Tory government-in-waiting has really caught on to what is happening, or if it cares. n INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009 51
52 INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009
Did Meteorology Take a Wrong Turning? Forecaster Ken Ring takes a poke at climate change
INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009 53
T
he Australian Weather Bureau is currently facing an inquiry into why weather is not being predicted to the satisfaction of the country’s taxpayers and farming groups. Once mandatory, such reviewing of a State-funded science faculty should be encouraged. However, it may be little more than a token attempt to appear accountable. For although most are okay at day-to-day forecasting and cataloguing and archiving past events, meteorologists do admit not to having a longrange system. The more honest will not predict any, let alone extreme weather in 50 or 100 years time. When pressed to do so, they resort to averages from the past or computer modeling to look ahead: models that 20 years ago made predictions for today that did not get today’s weather right. Satellites and weather balloons are their tools of trade. Consequently forecasters claim the weather is fickle (rather than the models). In the history of the science meteorology has no more advanced than when the British Meteorological Society was formed in 1850. Back then they could also only hope to go a day or two ahead. It is possibly not their fault but their system. Meteorologists are trained only to study the properties of the atmosphere. In doing so they believe they can detect changes which will culminate in weather events. And so in the newscasts we get to hear about air pressure, temperature and humidity. We watch wind direction and force. From these come isobaric maps and forecasts which cover a wide area, perhaps from Northland to Taupo, or all of Victoria. But is this forecasting? If you studied the properties of seawater could you predict tides? A basic point of logic is at stake, so simple a point it is missed. The atmosphere cannot create weather – weather is the atmosphere just as tides are not produced by the sea – the tides are the sea. One simply means the other. A revolving wheel does not make a car go, an engine does. Putting water under a microscope cannot detect tidal action, and there is nothing about the properties of air that can possibly generate a weather event, any more than a rice pudding can suddenly jump up and run around like a kangaroo. Yet over recent decades it has been politically advantageous for weather scientists to build a case for climate-change by describing how weather does come from air. They can then claim that something put into air, like CO2, can upset air-composition balance which would thereby change weather patterns now, as in more severe cyclones, and later, as in climate, hence ‘climate change’. If emitting a substance into the air could change the weather then tipping a tankful of ink into the sea should be able to alter the tide. And continuing this line of logic, one should be able to claim that if more than 0.001% of the sea was replaced with ink and fed into waterways, ocean masses would one day reach a ‘tipping point’ after which the tides will wreak enough havoc that the planet will need saving, all because of a fixed amount of new impurity occupying the ocean. Never mind that the minerals making up the ink pigment originally came from the ocean anyway. It is now a pollutant and visible and should be stopped. The only way to fix it would be to sequester all that ink and to impose a tax on anybody who uses ink to write with. Then, dadaa..tides will return to normal. Sound familiar? That is the way we are told of the danger of CO2 put into the air. Actually, the sea has had a plethora of impurities poured into it over the years, like sewage, industrial waste and dirty river run-off, not to mention sulphur and lead and other toxic minerals daily from underwater fissures. Oddly this addi54 INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009
tion of impurity to oceans has not altered the tides in any way. It all gets absorbed to be collectively called ‘the sea’. CO2 forms part of the ocean, with most of it actually in the ocean, and only 3 parts CO2 per 10,000 parts air above our heads at any one time. The amount is stable and the gas comes and goes as oceans release or reabsorb from the air immediately above the ocean surface, depending on local sea surface temperatures. Perhaps this explains why so many forecasters are certain that greenhouse gases are part of the weather equation. They therefore may never be in a position to deliver more than extended forecasts, because if they only study the physical properties of air at any one moment, they have become weather reporters, substituting reacting to the weather for predicting it. Meteorologists have no interest in extraterrestrial tidal (gravitational) forces – this is the domain of astronomy. Consequently astronomers are well versed in cycles. Meteorologists, again like reporters, look first for stories, not for cycles. They believe weather is random, part chaos, perhaps as patterned as a serial offender, but above all surprising and unexpected. It is as if you were not informed about tide cycles, then you might insist that the sea comes and goes whenever it feels like it. Any hydrologist knows that outside forces acting on water like moon and sun do change tide, and it is a small mental step to the idea that outside forces also change weather. Weather is the cyclically tidal movement of the air in constant flux. Tide is the cyclical movement of water driven by the same dynamic. There has always been extreme weather, and there have always been exceptional tides and rogue waves. The sea and air are acted on by outside systems. Think of an oyster, a migrating bird, a fish, a mating crab and a cow. All are closed systems until their skins are penetrated, yet all are also subject to lunar influence outside of themselves which governs at least part of their behaviour. CO2, part of the inner system of air/water/ land, can make absolutely no contribution to weather or climate. Otherwise, why were CO2 levels higher during the last Ice Age than they are today? Why have we been cooling for the last 10,000 years (Holocene Period)? We are a cooling planet, both in the inner molten core that cools by 5C every million years, and above ground where Earth spends most time – 80-90% of all our
geological history – in glaciation mode. The Sun warms the earth which then warms the air. The air never gets warmer than the Sun can heat the ground below it. In short, the air cannot warm the air and nothing within the air can warm the air, anymore than something inside a tyre can drive the car. Those who buy into the weather-comes-from-the-atmosphere theory also must buy into global warming. Those aware that Nature obeys cycles cannot in the same breath embrace the concept of uncharted climate change. So meteorologists need to address what their science is about. If it is just weather-reporting then it is still useful for chroniclers but ceases to be a science, for journalism comes under the arts label, and for a dry-land farmer a weather reporter is the last thing he needs. Science used to be about patterns, the research and discovery of them, and the scientific method a well-defined procedure. The difference between sci-
ence and a faith-based set of hunches is that the first is dependent on observation, enabling prediction from patterns, arising from the analysis of data. The second concerns itself with confidence levels, percentages, luck, chance-ofs, randomness and probabilities and is peppered with surprise and bewilderment. Its ranks seem more to comprise gamblers. Farmers feel they deserve better. However it may take more than a window-dressing inquiry to stop climate change taxation proposals currently on the parliamentary tables of both countries, to fix a non-existent problem. Ken Ring, of www.predictweather.com is the Auckland-based Australasian longrange forecaster who predicts coming weather by the orbits of the Moon and Sun. He is longrange consultant to Australia’s Channel Seven network and the author of the Predict Weather Almanacs (2009) both for NZ and Australia, published by Random House NZ
INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009 55
Farmers Will Be Hit Hard Americans are waking up to the likely impact of emissions trading on agriculture, as congressman Peter Hoekstra explains in this essay WASHINGTON – The “cap-and-trade” national energy tax bill passed by the U.S. House and now making its way through the Senate would impose nearly impossible burdens on agriculture and likely deliver a final death blow to the family farm. Many Americans rightly fear the devastating effect cap-andtrade will have on our already foundering auto industry. They also understand the increased cost of generating electricity – a cost will be directly passed on to consumers. Few, however, realize the destructive effect it will have on the family farms. Farming has never been a high-profit business, as those who grow our food can readily attest. They also would tell those of us who get our food at grocery stores that producing it consumes vast amounts of energy. Energy consumption is essential to farming in so many ways. Vehicles fueled by gasoline and diesel till the soil, plant the seeds, spray essential fertilizers and pesticides, harvest the crops and transport them to processors. Most fertilizer is made from natural gas and petroleum is an essential part of most pesticides. Many crops, such as commercial corn, which show up in so many of our prepared foods, must be dried using propane gas before being shipped to market. Of course, none of this includes the high energy costs of processing, packaging and shipping the food to your super market or neighbourhood grocery. Agricultural products are commodities. Their prices are set by the worldwide market and do not automatically go up as farmers’ “input” costs rise. In this case, market prices will be held down by imported food products that are not produced under the heavy burden of cap-and-trade. The result: America’s family farmers will be crunched between soaring energy costs and profits too scant to offset their mounting expenses. And if you like how OPEC impacts the price and availability of energy, you will love the impact of cap and trade on the price and availability of food. 56 INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009
In the typical process of “buying” votes, which is so common in our nation’s capital, a false “gift” was given to farmers to buy House Agriculture Committee votes. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and her leadership pals decided to issue credits to growers who use “no-till” farming. But it only makes matters worse. Most crops that can be grown this way already are. But many fruits and vegetables that are huge cash-crops for my district in Michigan and districts in many other states will not qualify for the no-till credit. Growers of crops that need annual plowing will get no federal rebates – further exacerbating the financial predicament. All of this burden is being imposed by cap-and-trade proponents in the name of preventing climate change caused by the emission of carbon dioxide, which they claim causes it. The problem is that countries such as China and India, which are two of the largest producers of carbon emissions into the atmosphere, have unequivocally stated that they have no intention of holding themselves to similar environmental standards. So, it would appear that capping carbon dioxide emissions and forcing additional sacrifice from farmers who today already are using a bare minimum of the energy they require is pretty much a notion that involves all pain and no gain. That is why no other nation has enacted such a law. It is also why their farm products will cost less to produce and become more plentiful, holding down prices as American farmers’ costs go up. The result will inevitably be drastic cuts in farming and farm jobs in America and the potential loss of one of our proudest traditions: the family farm. The good news is that it is not too late. People should call their Senators and tell them to act responsibly by stopping the cap and trade bill before it becomes a reality that the U.S. agricultural industry cannot afford. Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich., is the ranking member of the House Select Committee on Intelligence. n
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ANIMAL MAGIC In a light departure from the hard news and analysis, the techie geniuses at Worth1000.com have put their master hands at work to create a series of plantturned-animal images. The photos have been cleverly crafted to show insects and animals made from fruit. And the favourite appears to be a frog – the gallery contains images of him as a potato, a cucumber, and even a strawberry. Other amusing pictures include fruit bats disguised as mangoes, an onion spider, and a melon morphed into the shell of a turtle. Supplied by WENN.com 58 INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009
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think life | money
The simple solution Peter Hensley suggests taking a step back from money woes
Jim was looking forward to Sunday’s lunch. Moira had invited Ron and Myrl over as she had heard they were having a small problem coping financially. Moira mentioned this to Jim and as they were aware of the details of their financial situation they were puzzled as to how this could be the case. Jim was confident with Moira’s ability to help others and he was thrilled with the prospect of another specially prepared meal as Moira’s culinary skills seemed to step up a notch when they had guests over. Sunday dawned a classic winter’s day, the remains of a heavy frost still evident on the southern side of the fence line when the guests arrived around 11 am. The warmth of the sun provided the balance as the previous night was bitterly cold. The lack of wind meant that they could enjoy lunch in the new conservatory that Jim and Moira had installed on their large deck overlooking the Tasman Sea, although Jim preferred to call it the Pacific Ocean. Once their guests were inside Jim noticed that Ron looked a little out of sorts and decided that he should sit him down near where they were going to take lunch. Ron 66 INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009
looked so drawn that Jim started being concerned for his friend’s health. Myrl was almost in tears as she disappeared off into the kitchen with Moira. Crikey, he thought, what’s going on here. He quietly hoped that this wasn’t going to spoil lunch as he had been looking forward to it for close on a week. Because Ron was so quiet Jim thought he would get the conversation going by telling him about a KiwiSaver loop hole one of their children’s workmates had discovered. The thought of hearing how to beat the Government perked Ron up a little as he asked Jim to elaborate. Jim went on to explain that this fellow signed up for KiwiSaver when it started in July 07. He contributed 4% of his pay and then once he had been a member for 12 months he applied for a contribution holiday. This was duly approved by the IRD and meant that he was not required to contribute to his scheme through his salary. Now because he was still a scheme member he thought he would add $1,042 from his private savings to his account each year and thus qualify for matching tax credit deposit from the Government.
Ron ran this through his brain and whilst it was a simple process Jim could see that his demeanour had improved considerably. They discussed the pros and cons briefly, and concluded that the fellow should not try and beat the system and would be better off continuing to save 4% of his salary. They both knew that when it came to retirement savings that all that will be there when he gets there is what he sends on ahead. Jim now felt safe to ask Ron what was troubling him. He surprised Jim by saying that they were running out of money. This comment caught Jim totally off guard as he was aware that Ron and Myrl had property investments and the rental income from these alone returned close on the average wage. On top of this he knew that Ron and Myrl both qualified for New Zealand Superannuation and they had a well diversified and substantial investment portfolio administered by one of the best investment advisers in the country. Now unless that had fallen apart he struggled to understand how his good friends were running out of money. This same adviser was looking after their own portfolio and whilst Jim was more than aware that most portfolios had suffered some capital losses in the recent down turn they were not going to be terminal to a person’s wealth. Meanwhile in the kitchen Moira was hearing a different version of the same story. It turned out that one of their major tenants had sold their business and the new owners had merged it into their existing workshop. This meant that the lease on Ron & Myrl’s building was terminated which in turn meant that the rent payment had stopped. The mechanics of the way they had their funds structured meant that their working account had run down and Ron had been embarrassed when he went to pay for the groceries at Woolworths. The transaction was declined and he was forced to leave the store without the required ingredients for their evening meal. Myrl said that ever since then, Ron had been convinced that they were running out of money and no encouragement from her would change his mind. Now Ron and Myrl had been married about three years longer than Jim and Moira, their kids had grown up and gone to school together. Discussions about the academic abilities of their grand children dominated lunch time table talk. Jim tucked into the food like he hadn’t eaten for several days. It only took one look from Moira and he slowed his approach. Here he was,
almost 75 years of age and he still could not work out how women could adopt “the look” in a nano second and throw it like Thor would cast a thunderbolt. Jim decided to steer the discussion back to finances to see if they could solve Ron’s issue about running out of money. He had gone to listen to Gareth Morgan’s town hall road show during the week to hear about climate change. He was pleased in a way that Mr Morgan had stopped trying to self promote that he alone was the guru adviser for all New Zealand. They were very pleased with their provincial based investment adviser and it appeared that many others were as well as his business was constantly expanding. Anyway, Mr Morgan suggested that when buying any sort of asset with debt, then the cash flow generated by the asset should be able to pay off the debt and leave a profit margin for the investor. Ron chipped in and totally agreed with the concept. He struggled to understand why anyone would buy a property and have to chip in out of their own personal income to make the investment break even. This applies to all types of assets including farms, commercial buildings and rental properties. Moira could see where Jim was directing
“He struggled to understand why anyone would buy a property and have to chip in out of their own personal income to make the investment break even. This applies to all types of assets including farms, commercial buildings and rental properties the conversation and thought she would chip in and help. She said that it made no economic sense to buy a rental property for say $400,000, and rent it out for $400 a week. The interest on $400k at 6% pa works out to $460 and then the investor still had to cover all the other outgoings such as rates, maintenance and insurance etc. Then Ron started to open up and say, it was no good if you didn’t have a tenant paying rent either. In the early days they worked out that debt was another out going that they did not have to pay and consequently they worked to clear all their debt. Moira saw this as a good opening and inquired about their investment portfolio and what was happening with the income that was generating. It was Myrl’s turn to step up to the plate and she remarked that it was all being compounded back into the portfolio. It was as
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if someone turned a switch on and Ron’s face lit up. Why couldn’t they channel the income from their investment portfolio into their working account to replace the rental income. Myrl was almost in tears. The solution was obvious, simple and effective, yet it had taken Ron almost three months of despair to arrive at it. During that time his health had deteriorated to a level that his family was becoming concerned. Maybe they should have turned up at Jim and Moira’s place a little earlier. Ron knew exactly what to do and would instruct their adviser on his way home from swimming in the morning. All of a sudden his appetite returned and he quickly came to understand why Jim always appreciated Moira’s cooking. © Peter J Hensley July 2009 A copy of Peter Hensley’s disclosure statement is available on request and is free of charge.
EVE’S BITE
THE DIVINITY CODE
“…the most politically incorrect book” in New Zealand. He is absolutely right…Prepare to be surprised and shocked. Wishart may ruffle a few feathers but his arguments are fair as his evidence proves. If you are looking for a stimulating mental challenge, or a cause to fight for, Eve’s Bite will definitely satisfy. – Wairarapa Times-Age
Wishart takes up the gauntlet laid down by Richard Dawkins in The God Delusion, and in fact, uses Dawkins own logic and methodology to launch a counter-attack against unbelief. Challenging…thought provoking…compelling – keepingstock.blogspot.com
Discover the truth for yourself. Get these two books today from Whitcoulls, Borders, PaperPlus, Dymocks, Take Note, and all good independent booksellers, or online at
I’m having a cracking good read of another cracking good read – The Divinity Code by Ian Wishart, his follow-up book to Eve’s Bite which was also a cracking good read – comment on “Being Frank”
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think life | EDUCATION
Flaying the dragon The education bureaucracy: its PC ideology and platitudes rule – okay?, comments Amy Brooke
Because New Zealand is a small country, it has been very easy for it to become dominated by activist groups beavering away in various aspects of our public life, and sharing a similar philosophical agenda. At its base is always the quite deliberate planning behind what we call political correctness – a term reportedly initially coined by Leon Trotsky to refer favourably to those whose views supported the murderous Bolshevik ideology. The term was adopted again in the 60s by New Left radicals fancying themselves revolutionaries in the mould of Che Guevera (one of the mercifully-departed Helen Clark’s idols), Castro and Mao. What political correctness is, is cultural Marxism – that long forward planning to destroy the West – probably, in particular, because of its underpinning by Christianity. For it has been the latter’s emphasis on the freedom and importance of individuals to understand and accept the 68 INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009
distinction between good and evil which threatens their agenda. This reminder of our responsibility to live well – a commitment to Christianity’s central ethic of treating others as we would wish to be treated ourselves (which has never historically been high on the Left’s PC agenda) – is essential to underpin a stable society. Ultimately, it is closest to ensuring the very preservation of civilization. That the latter is breaking down, and that society is becoming very sick indeed, is no accident. Building more prisons; forever-passing new laws to impose the state’s edicts on individuals and families; observing an empty-headed society ill-served by anything remotely approaching a quality education system – one so little worth respecting that thousands of our young can’t bear the tedium of schooling and drop out, opting for the quick fixes of pop-rock, hip-hop and rap, the sex culture, alcohol, drugs and fast cars: a very strong message
is coming through. But the state education politburo, is, of course, never at fault. This central concept of the cohesion of a society, underpinned by a strong moral and ethical foundation, is anathema to those fellow-travellers inhabiting the isms of communism, socialism (its little, softer, but equally ambitious younger brother), fascism, Islamofascism, and their close relatives – autocracy, kleptocracy, and oligarchy – the system of government we have in reality in this country. All these oppressive systems are dominated by state apparatchiks using means separated only by degree to enforce centralised authority, inevitably wielded by the determined few manipulating those who serve them – even, or especially, as in our education system – from a position of ignorance. The political scene in this country, long dominated by the Left, is thrown temporarily out of power periodically, at election
“No system is more important than that state institution holding a virtual monopoly over the thoughts and feelings of our young, with the ability to thoroughly indoctrinate them politically. And the history of education in New Zealand for well over half a century has been just that
time, by a largely disenfranchised electorate. However, what should be the party standing against the Left for the rights of the individual and the truth – not the politicisation of issues – instead now makes for what it thinks of as “the middle ground” of public opinion. With the sniff of power in its nostrils, ministerial cars and microphones thrust at burgeoning egos, it is anxious to be there for the long haul. But this middle ground is itself propagandised and under-informed, dominated by a correspondingly ill-informed leftist media, similarly captured by the long march through the institutions. No system is more important than that state institution holding a virtual monopoly over the thoughts and feelings of our young, with the ability to thoroughly indoctrinate them politically. And the history of education in New Zealand for well over half a century has been just that: the Left’s moving in to dominate its bureaucracy, the
schools, universities and colleges of education – as well as other social and political groupings (including ominously, some now activist members of the judiciary). Factor in those dependent on Government funding – as we see with the infamous anti-smacking legislation so accommodatingly backed by government-funded organizations. Why then should we be naïve enough to expect the school curricula to be unpoliticised ? Or the well-controlled teachers’ unions? Against these impositions of power, our only hope is the courage and clear thinking of the few prepared to challenge this ugly monolith and its off-shoots. Naturally, the last thing wanted by those who launched the attack against quality teaching and learning these past decades, is transparency. Teacher competence assessment? How insulting? The point of having actual standards specified and tested? “Too vague… too general and meaningless… not particularly helpful… making schools compete against each (sic) other at the expense of pupils…” Clichés and platitudes roll effortlessly off glib tongues. However, league tables are not a horror concept. Making schools compete is one of the best ideas for putting them on their mettle, not at the expense of pupils, but very much for their benefit – and for parents noting that some schools perform poorly, many indifferently. It should encourage them to ask muchneeded questions, as well as highlight their own responsibility to do the best they can for their children – and to ask the same of their teachers. What, after all, is the purpose of education if not to promote to our young not pop-rock competitions nor discos; the damaging, gay-straight pupil groupings; the drenching in junk-cult theorising – such as man-made global warming with its necessity to keep Al Gore’s multimillion dollar carbon credit scheme conveniently productive. Nor should we be sending children out to gather discarded litter and used condoms to help “save the planet”; or attacking the valuable, protective innocence of the young with intrusive,
premature and disorientating “sex education” classes? And why are the apparatchiks pushing the insidious untruths of the equal value of all cultures, all beliefs, all religions – even promoting the superiority of ethnic primitivism against far more valuable and relevant intellectual disciplines, centuries-advanced past stone age posturing and instability? What basically should education be for? It’s hard to go past Professor F. Sinclaire’s answer in “A Footnote on Education,” pointing out that any philosophy of education should be judged by its fruit. The sadly ignorant state of too many school leavers, let alone that existing even among those who gain entry to our supposed top institutions, universities, law and medical schools and teachers colleges, provides its own answer. His second excellent reference is to Doctor Johnson’s maxim that it should be to “Clear your mind of cant” – just about the most useful definition of a quality education that can be found anywhere. However, as he reminds us, cant is a Proteus which, slain in one form, springs to life in another, right throughout our society – in education, in politics, in art, in the media – and in our now second-rate, politicallycorrect literary establishment, controlled by its own well-funded Left politburo. If the first task of education is to clear the mind, the next is to fill it – not with trivia, propaganda, platitudes and politically fashionable notions, but with real and important learning including a scale of values, of reference and judgment – the very last things now taught. Although we live at a time when this is more vital and urgent than ever, the takeover of our education system by the Left serves up banalities and platitudes instead. No wonder our young increasingly turn away from it. Isn’t it time for their parents to join them? © Amy Brooke www.amybrooke.co.nz www.summersounds..co.nz http://www.livejournal.com/users/brookeonline/
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think life | SCIENCE
Avian glass tombstones Glass-walled buildings can mean death for birds, killing one to five percent of them a year reports Karen Knee PHILADELPHIA – The front of Temple University’s student center is an almost seamless wall of glass, reflecting trees and sky in lifelike detail and adding visual appeal to the urban landscape. But, for the city’s winged residents, the glinting surface can be a killing zone. The very qualities that people prize in glass – its transparency and reflectiveness – make it invisible to birds, who mistake the reflections for reality. They often fly straight into windows, and, according to a study by the New York City Audubon Society, the impact kills them nine times out of 10. Bird-window mishaps have been overlooked until recently, said Muhlenberg College ornithologist Daniel Klem Jr., who has researched the problem for three decades. 70 INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009
In the last five years, environmental groups, city governments, and schools such as Temple and Swarthmore have begun seeking ways to prevent the crashes. Still, those efforts are dwarfed by the scale of the problem. In a paper published this spring, Klem estimated that 520 birds crash into windows and die during the four-month fall and spring migratory period each year in an average 10-squareblock urban area. In Philadelphia, located along the Atlantic Flyway, that adds up to more than 40,000 bird deaths during the annual migrations. In an earlier paper, Klem calculated that building crashes cause between 100 million and a billion avian deaths in the United States each year. Even the low estimate is more than the death toll from cats, cell-
phone towers, and windmills combined. Windows kill indiscriminately, Klem noted, as opposed to other threats, such as predators, disease, and starvation, which cull weaker individuals from the flock. “From a population standpoint, it’s a bleeding that doesn’t get replaced,” he added, estimating that between 1 percent and 5 percent of the total migratory population die in window crashes annually. At Temple University, assistant superintendent of grounds Glenn Eck suspected that window crashes were behind the dead birds that he and his student employees kept finding in front of certain buildings. He began an informal monitoring program, collecting the carcasses and identifying their species. Meanwhile, Keith Russell, Audubon
Pennsylvania’s outreach coordinator, had been reading Klem’s papers. He decided to spearhead a formal study of bird-window mishaps in Philadelphia. While researching potential monitoring sites, he connected with Temple’s Eck. With $10,000 in funding from the Audubon Society’s Toyota-sponsored Together Green program – as well as two years of data and other assistance from Eck – Russell collaborated with the Philadelphia Zoo and the Academy of Natural Sciences to set up a monitoring program focusing on two areas: Temple University and Center City. From April 20 through May 30 – a period corresponding to the height of the spring migration – volunteers took to the streets just after dawn, following two designated routes, checking carefully in front of 12 Temple and 11 Center City buildings for bird victims, and recording what they saw. Russell said he was still compiling the spring Center City data. But at Temple, the volunteers found 47 dead birds from 14 common species, including warblers and sparrows. Although none of the birds that Russell and his volunteers picked up were rare, Klem says endangered songbird species are equally vulnerable. There are just fewer of them to find. Eleven of Temple’s avian casualties occurred at the student center – the deadliest building on campus, Russell’s study found. The combination of large, mirroredglass windows and abundant greenery was
probably to blame. Russell added that the survey probably underestimated the number, because some dead birds were carried away by scavengers or fell into bushes, where they were difficult to spot. Temple hopes to repeat the study during the fall migration between September and November, said Sandra McDade, the university’s director of sustainability. She plans to use the results to identify especially hazardous buildings, where changes are most needed. The findings will also be used to make future buildings safer for birds. Temple has not yet decided what methods it will use to reduce bird-window mishaps, McDade said, adding that she planned to look into different options – such as applying decals or paint dots to windows, soaping windows during peak migratory periods, and installing screens – and their cost. Seen from across the wide, tree-lined lawn that surrounds it, Swarthmore College’s science building doesn’t look much safer for birds than Temple’s student center. But up close, something different emerges – a pattern of eighth-inch frosted dots spaced a quarter of an inch apart on most panes. As birds approach this special “fritted” glass, they see the dots as a barrier and turn around, said engineering professor E. Carr Everbach, who was instrumental in getting them installed. The fritted glass added about $40,000 to the building’s cost, he said. Everbach and his students designed their own bird-window crash monitors and placed them on two fritted and two ordinary windowpanes in the science cen-
ter’s skyway. Digital camcorders shoot continuous footage of the windows. When a motion sensor detects a thump, it alerts the corresponding camera to send the images from the 10 seconds surrounding the impact – both before and after – to a computer. Everbach hoped to use the data from the monitors to better understand how birds perceive windows and what factors make accidents more likely. But even though fritted panes make up only 60 percent of the skyway’s windows, there have been very few thumps. “We’ve had exactly four bird hits in five years, and as far as we could tell, all of them were on unfritted glass,” he said, adding that, with all conventional windows, he would have expected about 200 hits per year on the science building. Not only was the special glass good for birds, it also saved Swarthmore money. “People ask me if we really spent $40,000 on birds, and I say, no, we saved hundreds of thousands of dollars over the life of the building,” Everbach said. He explained that science buildings have high cooling costs, even in winter, and that the fritted glass blocks about 60 percent of heat-producing sunlight. Klem and Everbach are looking for costeffective ways to make existing buildings safer for birds without replacing all the glass. Everbach and his students are developing a special roller that paints a dotted pattern on the outside surface of windows. And Klem collaborated with CPFilms chemist Tony Port in Martinsville, Va., to create an adhesive bird-proofing window film. The film is patterned with areas that alternately reflect and absorb ultraviolet light, which is visible to birds but invisible to people. The film works, Klem said. The only problem is convincing CPFilms that there’s enough demand to justify mass-producing it. Klem suspects that one reason bird-window crashes had been ignored for so long was that no easy, practical solutions existed. But that’s beginning to change. Audubon Society chapters have launched monitoring programs in New York and Chicago, and, in Toronto, the city government recently released a manual of bird-friendly development guidelines. Klem sees these projects as a sign that people are finally beginning to take birdwindow mishaps more seriously. “I hope it’ll be a turning point for the better – for the birds,” he said. INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009 71
think life | TECHNOLOGY
Txt now, di yng With NZ about to ban mobile use while driving, texting while driving is getting attention in the US too, report Bridget Carey and Jennifer Lebovich Are you a one-handed glancer? A twothumb-typing knee steerer? Or maybe you’re like Ashley Serrate, 26, who is an only-at-red-light responder. Text messaging while driving has become a daily distraction for a generation of drivers hooked on instant communication – and a menace to others on the road. Last year, Heather Hurd, 26, and Stephanie Phills, 37, died when a truck driver, reaching for his hand-held device to text his office, rammed into traffic at a stoplight, causing a 10-car pileup, police said. The driver was cited for careless driving, a noncriminal offense that carries a $500 fine. In May, a truant high school student slammed into a patrol car while texting. She caused $3,000 in damage but no injuries. In New York, texting is considered the 72 INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009
likely cause of a crash that killed five cheerleaders last year. And in April, a California woman was sentenced to six years in prison for killing a woman in a car accident – caused by texting while driving. Isolated incidents? In a previously unreleased report, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration revealed last month that in 2002 there were 955 deaths and 240,000 crashes attributable to drivers using cellphones – either texting or talking. That was before texting became a true phenomenon. This past week, the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute reported that texting while driving is 23 times more dangerous than driving fully alert. There are 14 states that make it illegal to send a text message while driving, but
Florida isn’t one of them. State Rep. Doug Holder filed a bill this month to make it illegal to read or type on any mobile device while behind the wheel in Florida. He has been trying to get a bill passed for three years, to no avail. He hopes that the buzz around the new research could make a difference. Holder calls the public safety issue “a no brainer.” Cellphones have turned vehicles into rolling offices, and many can’t resist typing a quick response. “My friends are always texting while driving,” said Ashley Serrate. “Sometimes even my mom does it.” In a Harris Interactive/Intel survey, 28 percent of adults admit to typing while driving, and 8 percent said they do it often. The Transport Research Laboratory in
“The Transport Research Laboratory in the United Kingdom found that drivers slowed their reaction time by as much as 35 percent when reading or texting. Compare that to smoking marijuana and driving, which slowed reaction time 21 percent. Drivers at the legal alcohol-intake limit were slowed 12 percent
the United Kingdom found that drivers slowed their reaction time by as much as 35 percent when reading or texting. Compare that to smoking marijuana and driving, which slowed reaction time 21 percent. Drivers at the legal alcohol-intake limit were slowed 12 percent. Car and Driver magazine did a test last month and confirmed the results: texting is worse than driving at the legal alcohol limit. “Everyone knows the dangers,” said Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Mark Wysocky, whose agency doesn’t track crashes caused by texting. “We all know when you text and try to make phone calls. Where do your eyes go? Your eyes go to the phone and then your eyes are off the roadway.” The dangers seem pretty common sense – taking your eyes off the road isn’t safe. So why do we do it?
“The more times you do this without any kind of incident, the more you reinforce to your mind that the risks are low,” said Joseph Sharit, a professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Miami. He explains that you can get away with it 100 times in a row by making “good decisions” – like glancing at a phone quickly and only texting when traffic is light. But in the end, a driver who is texting is not in control to make an unexpected, split-second decision. “Eventually it’s gotta catch up with you,” Sharit said, “It’s just a matter of chance.” Miami-Dade Judge Steve Leifman, head of traffic court, has seen a growing number of accident cases where cellphones were involved – but distracted driving appears in his courtroom in many forms. “You’d be amazed. Some people are brushing their teeth, putting on makeup, eating, combing their hair, texting and cell use,” Leifman said. But cultural anthropologist Genevieve Bell, director of user experience at Intel, said the glowing screen begs to be answered and represents a subconscious need to be connected. “It becomes a real, tangible symbol of our relationships,” Bell said. “I think it makes it very difficult sometimes to know how to ignore that because it feels like we are ignoring those relationships, too.” Serrate – the red-light responder – said she always feels the need to reply to her boyfriend’s messages if she’s on the road – even if it’s just to hit him back with, “I love you, too.” “My boyfriend always tells me don’t text and drive, but he texts me,” Serrate said. “He is my enabler, a little bit.” It’s not exactly a problem that can easily go away. As more programs are built to reach people on their mobile phones, the potential to get distracted is actually growing, said Charles Golvin an analyst with Forrester Research. The threat “is absolutely real,” says the expert on mobile devices for consumers. There are a few companies developing ways to keep your eyes on the road and your hands on the wheel. There are programs that will read your text messages aloud, or let you turn your speech into a text message. One Washington company invented a way to strap your phone to your seat belt for hands-free calling. And if the user has willpower to keep it strapped, perhaps it could keep away texthappy fingers. Said Golvin: “Technology doesn’t provide solutions to people doing stupid things.” INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009 73
feel life | SPORT Ivo Rovira/Alinghi
Marooned The America’s Cup is about to emerge from a paralysing recess. There are signs the acrid rivalry between the billionaire backers of Swiss holders Alinghi and San Francisco challengers BMW Oracle could be out of the courts long enough for a race of giant proportions in an exotic location. Waiting impatiently in the wings is Grant Dalton and Team New Zealand. Chris Forster wades through the latest subterfuge to find some life at the end of yachting’s dark tunnel
IT SEEMS they’ll be racing in an obscure part of the United Arab Emirates called Ras-al-Khaimah in February. Log onto your Google Earth web page for this one. It’s an emirate ruled by an emir with an impossibly long name. It’s famous for its cement industry rather than the oil of its wealthier and more famous neighbours, and certainly not part of the regular sailing landscape. But the Persian Gulf is the venue of choice of holders Alinghi for a race of obscenely quick and opulent multi-hulls. This could be a masterstroke from Alinghi, if Oracle decides to take its medicine and accept the venue. In the Swiss corner is a huge space-age catamaran, custom made for speed in lighter breezes. With much fanfare it was recently airlifted by the world’s most powerful helicopter over the mountains from Lake Geneva to Italy for a couple of weeks of sea trials. The 50 metre tall mast had to be flown separately. On the San Francisco side of the course Oracle confirmed they’ll be racing in a space age tri-maran officially called BOR 90 – but 74 INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009
more impressively nicknamed as DOGzilla. It measures a whopping 90 by 90 metres and has a 16 storey tall mast which its New Zealand skipper and CEO Russell Coutts reckons has the potential of scooting along at three times the wind speed, in the right breeze. They are an eon away from the cut and thrust of monohull racing in the America’s Cup and its Challenger series. Venerable yachting commentator and the planet’s best known America’s Cup scribe Bob Fisher is no fan of Bertarelli’s ways and sceptical about the chosen venue. “The judge suggests that they went to Valencia BUT they are now planning to take it to the UAE and race there. That’s not on and you can bet your life it’s going back to court. That’s bound to be challenged by BMW Oracle who don’t really fancy that because it’s a light air venue and light air venues are not what they think is in the spirit of racing for the America’s Cup”. It’s another case of watch this space. TEAM NEW ZEALAND’s cooling its keel on the Mediterranean match-play circuit, setting the pace in an annual event known as the Med Cup.
Grant Dalton’s in a far different boat than Bertarelli and Ellison. NZL 380 is more compact and “design-driven” than NZL 92, but still keeps 15 top notch sailors busy during race days, including the match-hardened experience of Dean Barker at the helm. He still thinks about that 1 second defeat to Alinghi “daily”. He’s got the sports savvy Emirates Airlines as a major backer, and a generous helping hand from the New Zealand government, and needs all the help he can get to keep his team of elite crew on board. “There’s not a lot of action at the moment. Everything we do we need to win – the America’s Cup is in the doldrums and it’s turning into a bit of a survival exercise. The Med Cup is good for us. The Louis Vuitton series in Auckland (a challengers’ series held early this year) was good for us. These regattas have been going well for us. To keep these guys together is very important”. All of the other teams are in recess, or on skeleton staff levels, while the richest of the rich bicker over the rules.
“We’re the only team that have survived – apart from Alinghi and Oracle – basically because there are two guys with a helluva lot of money who make them survive”. Dalton’s wait for a return to the America’s Cup has been a painful one. “No patience. Completely impatient. Disappointed about the state created by these two guys”. But at least there’s a glimmer of hope for a return to the good old days of traditional monohull races. “These two guys will race in February. That’s in stone. That will not change. I couldn’t care less who wins (the race of giant multihulls. I’d probably prefer Oracle (but) I just want it done”. Larry Ellison’s challenge was originally seen as the saviour of the America’s Cup, but Dalton blames both sides for the protracted legal arguments. “There are no winners. There are good guys and bad guys on both sides really. “It’s probably cost Ernesto Bertarelli the thick end of 100 million Euro, or something like that. I’m sure he didn’t want to spend that sort of money to try and prove
a point. A point that was based on a wrong premise. The real losers are the rest of the yachting fraternity affected by this. And that means thousands of people”. Dalton’s been tossing up a tilt at the Volvo round-the-world yacht race if it all turns to custard after February. But he’s committed to the New Zealand cause for another couple of years no matter what. “There’s no doubt we’ll keep it together til 2011. If it goes beyond that … I’ve got to consider that as it becomes an issue”. ERNESTO BERTARELLI has been behaving like the rich kid who doesn’t want to share his spoils ever since Alinghi successfully defended theAuld Mug in a gripping series of races against Team New Zealand after what turned into an entertaining and dramatic regatta in the Spanish port of Valencia in 2007. The Swiss pharmaceuticals magnate wants to set the rules to suit his syndicate, with the explicit aim of holding onto the prized trophy for as long as possible. He can afford it. The 44 year old father of three is worth US $8.2 billon and ranked 52nd on the world’s rich list.
Oracle Corporation’s mega-rich founder and CEO Larry Ellison is refusing to let the Swiss billionaire dictate terms and has bankrolled a defence on behalf of all the challengers. He’s even richer than his Swiss rival, rated fourth richest person in the world in March this year. Ellison’s personal fortune is worth an estimated US$22.5 billion. These two successful businessmen have been immersed in a battle of wits and courtroom swerves for more than two years, creating massive uncertainty for the professional yachties and eating into its popularity with the average sports fans. This battle involves lawyers on huge salaries, staff members on ludicrous retainers and mind boggling designs to find out who’s got the flashest and fastest toy. It should ultimately be sorted out in a three match race between the two space age monsters in front of cynical media hacks and bemused Arabs in February. But then again it could unravel into another egodriven battle over the Deed of Gift, the 19th century document which sets the rules and frustrates everyone else. INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009 75
feel life | HEALTH
To eat, or not to eat? New study says organic foods equally nutritious, but doesn’t consider lack of pesticides, writes Maureen O’Hagan For years, healthy-food advocates have said organic food is more nutritious than conventionally grown. But that claim – trumpeted on the Web sites of organizations ranging from the national Organic Trade Association to the Seattle-based PCC Natural Markets – is being challenged by a comprehensive new study released last month. Now the healthful-eating crowd is up in arms. Not only did researchers reach the wrong conclusion, advocates say, they didn’t even ask the right questions. Such as: Why, exactly, do people buy organic? Many advocates say it’s not so much about what’s in the food; it’s about what isn’t. The study, conducted by British researchers and published in the peer-reviewed American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, examined all the relevant research between 1958 and 2008, eliminating studies the authors deemed not scientifically sound. It has been billed as the most comprehensive review of the nutrition question to date. Researchers concluded “there is no evidence of a difference” between organic and conventionally grown produce in 20 of 23 nutrient categories, including vitamin C, calcium and potassium. The researchers 76 INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009
had similar results when comparing meats. Any nutritional differences they did find were not significant, the researchers said. “Our review indicates that there is currently no evidence to support the selection of organically over conventionally produced foods on the basis of nutritional superiority,” the lead researcher said in a news release. The study was undertaken “because there is currently no independent authoritative statement” on the nutrition question, the researchers said. The study was conducted by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the country’s national school of public health. It was funded by the Food Standards Agency, an independently operating government department “set up to protect the public’s health and consumer interests.” Media reports on the study have appeared on CNN and in newspapers stretching from Chicago to Australia. Meanwhile, the blogosphere is buzzing with criticism. Some worry that publicity about the results could affect consumer buying habits. The main problem with the study, critics say, is that nutrition is only a small part of organic’s appeal. The researchers did not examine, for example, what effect chemical
fertilizers and pesticides – used in growing conventional crops – have on consumers. Nor did they look at the environmental effects of each growing method. “Nutritional quality is one of many potential variables related to the advantages of organic food,” Margaret Wittenberg, global vice president of quality standards for Whole Foods Market, said in a statement. “But for us, there are already plenty of well-documented reasons to choose organic.” Advocates pointed to a study completed last year by The Organic Center that reached a different conclusion. Like the British study, these researchers examined the results of previous studies but went back only to the 1980s and used different methodology. For example, they focused exclusively on “matched pairs” of organic and conventional foods – that is, “crops grown on nearby farms, on the same type of soil, with the same irrigation systems and harvest timing.” The conclusion? “Yes, organic plant-based foods are, on average, more nutritious.” The Organic Center’s mission is “conversion of agriculture to organic methods, improved health for the earth and its inhabitants, and greater awareness of and demand for organic products.” Pointing to the conclusions of the The Organic Center’s report, Diana Crane, of PCC Natural Markets, said the British report was “not balanced.” “I don’t see it as a matter of taking sides,” Crane added. “I see it as being informed, knowing what’s reputable, and in some cases what just makes common sense. ... Organic has intuitively to be better for you.” While criticism of the British results abound, some have chosen to look at the bright side. Debra Boutin, chair of Bastyr University’s Department of Nutrition and Exercise Science, said that while the results may have been overblown in media reports, she’s not about to dispute the conclusions. Her priority is to get people to eat their fruits and vegetables, whether they’re wellto-do fine-diners or struggling shoppers. If they can get as many nutrients from conventionally grown as they can from organic, she said, “that’s a good thing. They’re equally good for us.” MORE INFORMATION Read more about the British researchers’ study: www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2009/jul/organic The Organic Center’s study: www.organic-center.org
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INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009 77
feel life | ALT.HEALTH
Give us our Daily Bread? South Island writer Rachel Tomkinson surveys the bread debate I think most would have heard this prayer but it’s so amazing how so many are now struggling to abide by these simple words. Our daily bread today seems to be the enemy to thousands of people, young and old alike. It appears to be another “modern” problem. Why on earth does something so right become so wrong? Most of these folk I have come across used to eat the common “supermarket” types of bread before they gave up their “daily bread” due to health/weight issues. I personally have found there are really not too many “righteous” bread’s available that are both healthy and taste good. After much researching, talking to my grandparents and looking back in old cook books the news is bread was made very differently. They used to make food with love, rather than industrialised equipment. Their flours were fresh and far superior 78 INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009
quality. I have met several farmers lately and the stories I have heard in regards to storage of common flours and having to fumigate with plenty of chemicals to rid the bugs is a disgrace. But wait there is more; most of our breads we buy have added soy flour, processed vegetable oils and many other bits and bobs to add flavour, shelf life, etc. Even our yeast has changed since my Grandmas time; they used to use “Fresh Compressed Yeast”. The old Edmonds Cooking Book’s, always showed this for baking. Our dried yeasts only came about because again we want things to last longer on the supermarket shelves, as fresh compressed yeast only lasts 2 to 3 weeks and must be refrigerated. But sadly these quick more profitable fixes, just may be compromising our health. The good news is you can still make your daily bread with a little love rather than a whole lot of love like it had to be done
in grandma’s time. I think it’s nice to be able to use traditional foods in a modern way so we don’t have to spend hours in the kitchen. I use our bread-maker, but use quality organic flours, fresh compressed yeast, water, quality unprocessed salt, raw organic honey and butter. It only takes me 5 minutes to prepare. Now you are probably thinking it’s cheaper to buy a production line loaf? Well that depends on if you think $1.30 (approx) is expensive for home made, nutritious and delicious bread? Just maybe the old way of doing things is the “right” way. This bread is very filling and one to two slices I have found is enough. With the bread we used to buy, I was never full (could easily eat 6 slices at a time) and tummy bloating was very common, until I learnt the TRUTH!! The TRUTH is thank you for our daily “traditional” bread … made chemically and additive free in our little magic breadmaker “WHOO HOO”
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www.EwanWilson.com INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009 79
taste life travel
Marrakech City of souks, snakes and side trips, reports Jessica Yadegaran MARRAKECH, Morocco – Smoke rises like thin clouds above the Jemaa El Fna, the public square at the center of Marrakech. It is dusk, and white-robed food vendors tame hissing flames as they grill kebabs, simmer sheep heads and saute snails. The music is hypnotic. Berbers, the original inhabitants of Morocco, play long, mystical strains of a percussive groove, while the Gnawa, descendants of the Sudan, draw 80 INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009
throngs of tourists with their drum-andbass beats. Snake charmers and transvestite belly dancers compete for the camera, while a shoeless girl begs for money. The scene is the most intense blend of sights, sounds and scents I have ever witnessed, and it is the first thing I tell friends who ask me if I think North Africa is for them. If you are a foodie who loves to shop, you must go to Marrakech. The cuisine is
cheap and delicious, and you can design an apartment in “Arabian Nights” chic for less than half what it would cost in the United States. At press time, the exchange rate was eight dirhams per dollar. However, if you hate being harassed and don’t even slightly desire a photograph of yourself with a Barbary monkey on your arm, you should probably stay away. Regardless, the numbers indicate that
Marrakech is reviving its 1960s reputation as North Africa’s hot spot. In 2006, the Moroccan government invested $2 billion in tourism-centered projects, such as fivestar hotels. The city gussied up riads (guesthouses), and designated a tourist police force to patrol the Medina to tamp down overly aggressive merchants (although you’ll still be hassled). The changes seem to be working. A total of 1.5 million tourists – more than the population of Marrakech – hit the city in 2006. My fiance, Joel, and I arrived this past April via Paris. Morocco has always intrigued us, from its cumin-tinged cui-
sine to its brazen openness. For an Islamic country, it is tolerant and mixed. Gays blend easily on the streets with bearded mullahs and veiled women. As the call to prayer fills the Jemaa each night, gaggles of scantily-clad girls whiz by the 12th-century Koutoubia Mosque. We stayed at Dar Zouar, a riad in a Medina residential alley, 15 minutes north of the Jemaa. It was quiet, free of peddlers and owned by Thierry, a Frenchman who staffs it with locals. He has decorated Dar Zouar using the finest housewares available in Marrakech. But it was Amina, the cook and host-
ess, who won us over with her tagines of chicken, almonds and apricots. Breakfast, which was included, consisted of yogurt, breads, jams, and freshly-squeezed orange juice. Mint tea, which Moroccans take with three times more sugar than mint, was served round-the-clock. The best thing a riad’s staff can do is direct you to the Jemaa, which means walking through the snaking, 500-year-old souk (or market). Thierry tried. In French and broken English, he used maps and landmarks to help us navigate the narrow labyrinth of 15,000 vendors. Yet, each time we tried to follow his directions, we failed, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009 81
winding up in some alley admiring slippers and tea sets. Getting lost is obviously the point. The deeper you go in the souk, the more lost you become and the more likely you are to give up and shop. And, despite how confused and cranky we’d get, the souk was still the most authentic part of the Marrakech experience: Taking in the brilliant colors of leather goods, the craftsmanship of lanterns, and the free sesame candies, while donkeys, the “working class,” as Morrocans call them, trot by with slabs of concrete on their backs. Remember, just when you think you’ve found the silk shawl of your dreams, keep walking. The deeper you go into the souks, the higher the quality of the wares. Also, don’t forget to bargain. Merchants expect it. By the time we actually made it to the square, we were ready to stay awhile. We timed our arrival for the late afternoon, so we could enjoy a cold drink from one of the many terraced cafes – or grab a glass of orange juice from a stand for about 30
cents – before deciding on dinner. Once the grilling began, competing busboys would fight over our patronage, luring us to their grillmaster’s picnic tables with promises of vegetable couscous or lamb tagine. Two people can eat in the square nightly for as little as $6. Before and after meals, we would wander around the square, watching acrobats, listening to storytellers in Arabic, or observing strange phenomena. For instance, pliers and old teeth were spread out on cloths before dentists offering services in the square. If you’re not a roamer, Marrakech may not be for you. Eating, walking and shopping are core activities. There are a few sites to visit, such as the Musee de Marrakech, Badi Palace and Medersa Ben Youssef, North Africa’s oldest Koranic school. But they leave much to be desired. These spots are cool and quiet, so tourists use them mostly as respites from the heat and noise. After four days of soaking, we were ready to get out of the city. We hopped a
IF YOU GO GETTING THERE u You can take direct flights from either London or Paris. GETTING AROUND u Grand taxis drive up to six people on specific routes and for a fixed fare. Pick up these taxis at the Jemaa el Fna bus station and post office in Gueliz. You won’t have to share Petit taxis (they’re usually beige), but expect to pay more. Be sure that the driver runs a meter or agree on a price before you get in. A ride within the Medina should run US$2-$5. To Gueliz or anywhere in the new city, the price can be up to $10. WHERE TO STAY u Dar Zouar – Bab Taghzout in Medina, www.darzouar.com, 00212-524-38-22-85. In a bed-and-breakfast style, this quaint riad was renovated in 2001. Rates start at about US$78. El Andalous – Avenue du president Kennedy, Hivernage, www.elandalous-marrakech.com, 00-212-524-44-82-26. The four-star hotel has 195 airconditioned rooms, spa and restaurant and includes breakfast. Rates start at about US$44. Es Saadi Garden and Resort – Avenue El Quadissia, www.essaadi.com, 00-212524-44-88-11. The five-star luxury resort has a 150-room resort, palace suites and villas, as well as a spa, casino and restaurants. Rates start at about US$245. WHAT TO SEE u If traditional tourist attractions are your thing, check out these. Musee de Marrakech – Place Ben Youssef in Medina, 00-212-524-44-18-93. The museum exhibits include calligraphy, jewelry, ceramics and more. Open 9 a.m.-6:30 p.m. daily. Cost is about $3.75. Badi Palace – Between Kasbah and Mellah near the Saadian tombs. The ruins of Saadian king Ahmad al-Mansur’s palace are open 8:30 a.m.-noon and 2:30-6 p.m. daily. Cost is about $1.25. Medersa Ben Youssef – Next to Ben Youssef Mosque. Home to an Islamic school founded in the 14th century, it contains examples of Moroccan art and architecture, included in a large courtyard, prayer room and more. Open 9 a.m.-6 p.m. daily. Cost is about $2.50. MORE INFORMATION u www.ilove-marrakesh.com/index(underscore)en.html TRAVEL TIPS u If you want to buy spices, go to the spice market in the mellah, the former Jewish quarter. | If you’re not interested in purchasing something, don’t touch it or linger too long in a merchant’s space. The concept of window shopping is not a familiar one in the souks. If you are foreign they assume you have money and want to spend it. | Even though Morocco fosters an open society, it is still an Islamic country and most women cover up. Dress simply and wear nothing revealing or above the knee.
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Supratours bus (65 dirhams one-way) for Essaouira, a coastal hamlet three hours west of Marrakech. You know you’re approaching the sea when the arid heat of Marrakech shifts to cool breezes and the pink and coral buildings give way to blue and white ones. Jimi Hendrix and Cat Stevens put Essaouira on the map with visits in the late 1960s, and it has managed to retain its laid-back, hippie charm despite decades of commercialism. Films, including Ridley Scott’s “Kingdom of Heaven” and Oliver Stone’s “Alexander” were shot here. There is a Medina, which includes a souk and a daily market, but the essence of this town is its untouched beauty. A sizable fishing port is surrounded by French piazzas and the Place Moulay Hassan, a social epicenter filled with cafes and views of bobbing, cornflower blue fishing boats. In many ways, Essaouira reminded me of a modest Mykonos, the Greek island. It had the same brilliant sunlight bouncing off the whitewashed buildings. Since it was too cold to tan on the beach – Essaouira is famous for windsurfing, not sunbathing – we ate our way through town. Our favorite meal and experience was buying freshly caught fish at one of the stalls along the port, where fishermen gather on the docks in the mornings. We selected bass and sole from the wide array of fish and walked it over to one of a dozen grilling stalls, where a chef cooked it with lemon juice over hot coals. For 60 dirhams, it came with salad and bread and was definitely the healthiest meal of our trip. While I loved the kinetic energy of Marrakech and the sleepiness of Essaouira, it was a short road trip through the Ourika Valley and into the tiny village of Setti Fatma, with its modest waterfalls, that made me fall in love with Morocco. With the help of Thierry, we hired a driver to take us an hour south of Marrakech and into the snow-capped Atlas Mountains and the pre-Sahara Desert. Again, the landscape drastically shifted to lush, rolling valleys dotted with wildflowers. Almond trees were in full bloom, and the only signs of life were the occasional casbah, a fortified family mansion, or a Berber tribe crossing streams on its way down the mountain to the verdant valley floor. As much as I like shopping, turns out my happy place was not bargaining down a fabulous leather handbag in the souk. Instead it was sipping cloyingly sweet mint tea after a hike through the countryside – perhaps the most sensual experience in Morocco.
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taste life FOOD
Hell’s resident chef There are two sides to Hell’s Kitchen chef Gordon Ramsay, writes Luaine Lee
“If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen!” That’s Chef Gordon Ramsay’s war cry as he excoriates contestants on Hell’s Kitchen. Though Ramsay seems to outdo Lucifer in his cranky search for perfection, he’s actually a cream puff in real life, or so he says. “The problem in kitchens today is the lack of discipline. Suddenly cooking is one of the very few jobs anywhere in the 84 INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009
world that you don’t need qualifications to become a chef,” he says. “You ... could walk down Sunset Strip tomorrow morning and get a job as a commis chef washing salads in the bistro, brasserie without even producing a form of certificate, certification, that you are a trained chef. That’s the bad news. ... I mean, it’s a very sad scenario. ... So I’m not making excuses for the lack of my
management skills, but I have an amazing cookery school in the U.K., and I have amazing standards.” The British Ramsay, 42, says one of the principal downfalls for chefs is smoking. “My father died of a heart attack 10 years ago at the age of 53. You can never smoke a cigarette and expect to perfect food literally two minutes after that. So if it’s an oldfashioned thing that we need to smoke to
just sort of feel less stressful, it’s absolutely rubbish. There are other ways of becoming less stressful than smoking. So it does surprise me, but then you also have this sort of superficial setup. Cooking is seen as a very glamorous thing on the outside world, but behind the scenes. ... ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ helps to expose the sort of weaknesses.” Ramsay has a wife and four children. He’s far less bombastic at home, he says. “I don’t act or perform like that when things go wrong with a Sunday lunch at home.” But he admits he’s not the soul of restraint when his wife, Tana, is cooking. “When Tana’s roast potatoes are stuck to the tray or the Yorkshire puddings haven’t risen, I get a little bit impatient. ... Of course, I want to jump in there and do it myself because I’m starving, and I want to move things on a little bit quicker. So we don’t have appetizers, entrees and desserts in our house. We have one course, and dessert is a treat, and going out is special. ... There’s two sides to Gordon Ramsay. “Yes, I am a hard-ass, driven, self-confessed perfectionist, but in a domestic scene, you know, I want to have that excitement with that journey as well.” Ramsay doesn’t mention the media blitz surrounding his affair and his controversial appearances in Australia recently, preferring to put the experience behind him. Later this month the 11 remaining contestants on Hell’s Kitchen have to devise three-course meals that don’t exceed 700 calories. The winning team gets volleyball pointers from 2000 Olympian Annett Davis during a day at the beach, while the losers prepare both kitchens. But there’s never a dull moment with Ramsay. During dinner service, one chef actually talks back to Ramsay and another is rushed to the emergency room. As persnickety as he is about haute cuisine, Ramsay says he’s a meat-and-potatoes guy at heart. “Whether you’ve got a budget of $100 a month or $300 a month for food at home, it’s having the intelligence not to waste, because I didn’t grow up with a silver spoon. We didn’t go out to restaurants and have that kind of glamorous insight. So mainstream, great appetizer, great entree, and something exciting, involving fruit and clearly a lot of starch, protein for the entree.” One of his passions, he confesses, is hamburgers. “One thing I enjoy eating is fish and meats. Here, the steakhouses – my choice – is something that is an event, especially for the kids as well. So it’s a treat once every, sort of,
“Here, the steakhouses – my choice – is something that is an event, especially for the kids as well. So it’s a treat once every, sort of, two to three weeks, but no, I’ve been somewhat obsessed with In-N-Out burgers two to three weeks, but no, I’ve been somewhat obsessed with In-N-Out burgers.” On another of his shows, Kitchen Nightmares, Ramsay, prowls the nooks and crannies of restaurants giving them the white glove treatment. He says his own restaurant in New York is often cited for minor infractions. “We get panned for a little seal or an egg being left out of the fridge or whatever. Of course, we get violations because it’s Gordon Ramsay, and they are over us 10,000 times more, and every time we go into Kitchen Nightmares and we unleash a disgusting kitchen, they know I’m coming. “But I need kitchens to have the attitude like walking into a dental surgery,
like any customers should have the divine right any time across that dinner to walk into that kitchen and just to stand there for two minutes. ...” “The kitchen has to be that spotless,” he says. “And that’s what hurts more than anything when you see that level of hygiene that’s not practiced and the kitchen is disgusting, and it really hurts because, let’s be honest – it’s not as if I walk up unannounced. The team’s there three days before I get there. They hold movie interviews. They’re watching service. They’re seeing the restaurants function under pressure, and to turn around and to be told that, ‘We cleaned before you got here,’ and you discover what you discovered, it bugs you.” INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009 85
touch life > toybox Epson EHTW3000 projector Enjoy the home theatre experience in a way you never thought possible. With a 18000:1 contrast ratio, the highest currently available in its class, the Epson EHTW3000 puts you right in the middle of where the action is, as larger–than–life images leap right off the screen. Whether you’re watching movies or sports, this 1080p projector ensures amazing image quality with the latest–generation Epson D7 chip, DeepBlack technology and 1800 lumens of colour and white light output. With a state–of–the–art Fujinon lens, a brand trusted by renowned Hollywood filmmakers, this product delivers blockbuster video performance. And, with Epson’s 3LCD, 3–chip optical engine, it offers such incredible quality, you’re sure to achieve a true cinematic experience. The Epson EH-TW3000 brings big–screen entertainment home in a whole new way. www.epson.co.nz
COOLPIX S1000pj The COOLPIX S1000pj is the first compact digital camera in the world to feature a built-in projector. With a simple touch of a button, the camera projects favorite photos or movies clips on any flat surface at up to 40 inches in size. Pictures can be projected individually, or as slide shows complete with music and added effects that enhance the experience.. This capability to project still images or movie clips gives birth to an entirely new form of communication as all participants visually share the passion of special moments together. For example, the COOLPIX S1000pj can be used to capture photos on a family vacation, and then serve double-duty as a personal theater in the evening as everyone enjoys viewing the highlights of the day projected on a wall or a ceiling. Parents can even use the COOLPIX S1000pj to display photos of their own artworks or other images on the ceiling to complement bedtime stories they tell their children. A handy projector stand is included, as is a remote control that can be used to operate the projector, release the shutter, and more. Also featured are the precision optics of a 5x zoom NIKKOR lens that provides the compositional freedom of 28mm wideangle coverage and macro shooting ability from as close as 3 cm (1.2 in.). This combines with the image quality and performance benefits of Nikon’s innovative EXPEED digital image-processing concept to help ensure consistently beautiful results produced at the high resolution of 12.1 effective megapixels. www.nikon.com
86 INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009
samsung 8500 series led hdtv Samsung has unveiled the flagship model of its expanded LED HDTV lineup with the all-new 8500 Series. The new HDTVs combine the award-winning picture quality and thinness of Samsung’s previous LED HDTVs, with the latest networking and interactive features, to provide an ideal option to all TV connoisseurs. With Samsung’s innovative use of white LEDs as a backlight source, the 8500 Series is capable of a stunning 7,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio for extreme detail and image depth. Its Wide Color Enhancer Pro ensures that colors are consistently vibrant, while Samsung’s Ultra Clear Panel works to improve image clarity and brightness regardless of a room’s ambient lighting. www.samsung.com
Canon PIXMA iP4600 The PIXMA iP4600 is an advanced photo inkjet printer capable of ejecting microscopic 1 picolitre ink droplets and achieving maximum 9600 x 2400 dpi to ensure even smoother gradation by eliminating graininess to produce lab quality photos at home. Fast printing of approximately 20 seconds for a 6” x 4” photo. The convenience of 5 individual ink tanks mean you only need to replace the colour that runs out. Advanced features with auto duplex, dual paper path (ASF and paper cassette) holding up to 300 sheets, CD/DVD printing and direct prints from compatible digital cameras. Now you have chosen a printer for home, how about a new printer for the office? www.canon.co.nz
Sony Ericsson T715 Keep yourself organised in an intuitive way with the T715’s smart desktop feature, direct reminders of appointments, notes and special animation to remind you of birthdays and global events. Messaging is quick and easy with the ability to review the history of your conversation as you go along. Need to access the internet? The turbo 3G network connection allows stressfree fast browsing and the large 2.2” screen shows off websites in all their glory – even in direct sunlight! The T715 comes complete with Google Maps including local search and directions and AccuWeather.com – giving you access to three day weather forecasts so you’ll never be caught short without an umbrella or your sunglasses. www.sonyericsson.com
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New Zealander missing in Paris Michael Morrissey can’t find a kiwi writer in iconic French text THE PARIS REVIEW INTERVIEWS Vol 3 Edited by Philip Gourevitch Canongate, $37 The Paris Review interviews which originally ran in book form from 1953 to 1988, and were undoubtedly the finest and most in depth in the world, have been revived. What the new series does is re-print a segment of the earlier out-of-print interviews and add in some new ones. This means that most of the older writers like Ralph Ellison, Georges Simeon, Isak Dinesen, Evelyn Waugh, William Carlos Williams, Harold Pinter, John Cheever, Jean Rhys, Raymond Carver have all passed on to that happy hunting ground of deceased writers – possibly no more than memories in the hearts and mind of readers. Only Joyce Carol Oates remains writing as prolifically as ever. The new writers are Chinua Achebe, Ted Hughes, Jan Morris, Martin Amis, Salman Rushdie and Norman Mailer – in Mailer’s case, the last interview before he died aged 84, after completing that extraordinary novel, The Castle in the Forest. A patriotic local reader might wonder after surveying the entire series, why no New Zealander is included. And the answer is none living would make the cut. Our best two candidates, Katherine Mansfield and Allen Curnow, are dead – Mansfield long before the series began. Had Curnow received the Nobel prize as he deserved, he might have been included but that alas is not how the international literary cookie crumbled. The saddest interview in this dazzling lineup is that with my favorite poet William Carlos Williams who had a number of strokes and therefore could no longer write nor answer questions as fully as he might have done when in good health. Apart from insights into creativity and influences, these interviews throw a fascinating light on the daily working methods of well known writers. Salman Rushdie, for instance – during the time of his fatwah, the most famous (if not notorious) writer in the world – says, “I need to give it the first energy of the day, 88 INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009
so before I read the newspaper, before I open the mail, before I phone anyone, often before I have a shower, I sit in my pajamas at the desk. I do not allow myself to get up until I’ve done something that I think qualifies as writing.” Salman, I know exactly what you’re talking about – though I prefer to get dressed and slug down a coffee before I hit the keys. Martin Amis is always tantilisingly provocative – “Plot only really matters in thrillers.” And in contrast to those who think writers always construct an elaborate plan before they start writing (in fact some do), Amis says of his novel Money, ”I had an idea of a big fat guy in New York trying to make a film. That was all.” Raymond Carver would never do less than ten or twelve drafts of a short story and sometimes did as many as thirty (!) Pinter finds politics boring while to Rushdie (perhaps understandably), they are central. Evelyn Waugh, possibly the most arrogant of all, considered that the Americans had nothing to say of interest and claimed never to have heard of Edmund Wilson, at the time, America’s most well known and influential critic. Waugh also considered Joyce to have gone mad with vanity and wound up writing like “a lunatic” and that Faulkner was “intolerably bad”. Oddly enough, some days I agree with him. For any readers who have wondered how some of the most important writers of our time think and work, this book is an absolute must. THE ATLANTIS CODE By Charles Brokaw Michael Joseph, $37 Whatever one might think of the trashy The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown has done what many writers would gladly sacrifice their little pinky for – the creation of a new popular fiction genre. The six necessary ingredients are: (a) a secret code, the more cryptic the better, that will destroy civilisation should the contents be revealed; (b) a professor in the mould of Indiana Jones who
decodes the cipher; (c) an adventuresome heroine who can knock large brutish men senseless; (d) a nasty Cardinal or other fanatical Catholic who will happily murder to prevent the contents of the aforesaid code from escaping into a vulnerable world; (e) a sinister secret Catholic society more ruthless than the Inquisition; (f ) the novel must be set in at least half a dozen different countries to keep the action moving and give the cameraman in the anticipated film plenty of locations in which to shoot. Now for the shameful confession – I was initially gripped by The Atlantis Code and particularly enjoyed the arrival of the five foot ten inch-tall Russian policewoman Natashya Safarov who takes no prisoners and shoots bad guys with alarming accuracy. Professor Langdon is here Professor Thomas Lourds (excuse me, but isn’t that a Catholic shrine in France?). The code (actually the Atlantean language) is contained in five exotic musical instruments and is unsurprisingly connected to Atlantis – located not in the Atlantic ocean as you might expect, but on the coast of Spain in a subterranean cavern. As usual, the Bible and the Catholic Church have got history scrambled – instead of there being one Christ, there were two Christs, the first previously unknown one being driven out of the Garden of Eden. Yeah, right. However, there are flaws that eventually undermine this thriller’s successful grip on the reader. There are two violence-capable heroines not just one (shades of Kill Bill). The initial bad guy butt-kicker is TV news hound Leslie Crane who shows off her stuff thus: “Before Lourds fully realised what was happening, she pushed herself to her feet and flung herself at one of the men. She knocked him over and took his gun, then dived beneath the heavy desk at the back of the set in a single fluid motion.” I’ve tried this and discovered that one gets shot in the first quarter of a second. But, alas, Leslie never hits top form again and becomes a whimpering shadow of herself. But no matter, the Russian giantess continues to kick butt throughout. The problem is, she does it so many times in so many countries, you wind up questioning the competence of the professional hitmen in pursuit. The real bad guy, hirer of incompetent thugs, and ambitious to become Pope, is Cardinal Murani. And if you thought that the magic bullet that killed President Kennedy was a trifle unbelievable, wait till you read about the enchanted slug that takes out the suave but snarling villain by ricocheting off the esoteric Book of Knowledge. The idea of Atlantis as an underwater city is haunting but the drawn out chase of five instruments and the too frequent arrival of Natashya at critical moments, makes this rollicking thriller more of a film script manque than a novel. However, if it is filmed – and that will surely be inevitable – there is one young woman absolutely custom-built for the part of Natashya. Come in Lucy Lawless, your time starts now. MEDICAL MURDER By Robert M. Kaplan Allen & Unwin, $35 This book makes for grim reading. Can you trust your doctor? And if not, who can you trust? We in New Zealand have always regarded our doctors highly – almost as though they were secular priests. The doctors chronicled here are serial killers on a frighteningly enormous scale. We’re not talking dozens but hundreds of victims, either dispatched with the jab of a needle or in the countries where democratic decency has been abandoned – used as animals in laboratories for murderous medical experimentation.
To categorise this new type of killer, Kaplan proposes the term clinicide – though I am not sure whether cooking up a new term is a great help. Kaplan divides the perpetrators of clinicide into three categories – medical serial killers, treatment killers and mass killers. Dr Michael Swango, an American physician who killed sixty people, is a typical example of the psychopath killer type – “lack of remorse, glib self-confidence, indifference to the feelings of others, low frustration tolerance, preoccupation with extreme violent and sadistic fantasies, and intense hedonism” is the Kaplanian analysis of his character. Harold Shipman, England’s most prolific killer doctor, is the leading example of the treatment killer type. While definitely psychopathic, a man who felt himself superior to everybody, he at least – unlike the notorious Chicago killer H..H. Holmes (who had a fortress-like house with poison gas, acid baths and other instruments of torture) – dispatched people with a “humane” jab. Shipman presumably did not try on provocation as a defence and was found guilty of murder in just six minutes. Oh that other juries would be so efficient and clear-minded in their deliberations! Shipman’s murder tally was variously estimated between 215 and 450. The recent bizarre butcher-style murder by Clayton Weatherston was paralleled by murderers such as Dr Kaplany who tied his victim to a bed, “dousing her naked body, including her eyes and vagina, with acid and slicing open one breast.” Include also in this survey of murder, mayhem and the macabre is Dr Radovan Karadzic, president of Bosnian Serbs from 1992, a former psychiatrist turned mass murderer. Noted in passing, are the infamous Dr Mengele of Auschwitz and numerous other German doctors of a similar persuasion. Also alluded to are the much more extensive Japanese war crimes conducted principally at unit 731 and many other comparable units – crimes against humanity which the Japanese government has remained singularly silent about. Lieutenant-General Shiro, the leader of the unit, got off scot-free because of a shameful deal struck with the American government allowing them access to the unit’s biological warfare know-how. It seems that whenever governments become corrupt and brutal and go, as it were, over to the Dark Side – the doctors (some of them) follow suit. But does forensic psychiatrist Kaplan truly understand the psychopaths about whom he writes so lucidly and so authoritatively – and whose heinous acts he describes almost with too loving detail? Perhaps not. Look at this sentence on page 94: “The consensus is that psychopaths are born bad, and will become bad if given the chance.” Apart from its almost oxymoronic or careless repeat of the word “bad”, this isn’t true. The consensus is, in fact, that nature and nurture interact from day one. So any tendency to be bad (if such exists) will be greatly reduced or enhanced by the environment and the experiences that person sustains as they develop. Dr Kaplan needs to re-think this one. Thus said, this is a timely book that offers an unnervingly dark picture of the doctor killer. THE USES AND ABUSES OF HISTORY By Margaret MacMillan Profile Books, $37.99 This small compact book is one of the best summaries of the ways that history can be put into illicit ideological service or manipulated for purposes of propaganda. It is one hundred per cent lucid and could be read by the general reader as well as the INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009 89
academic. In her opening chapter, McMillan reminds us – if we had forgotten or not realised – that we are going through an ongoing history craze. She alludes to the numerous television programmes about (say) Elizabeth I (and by implication the Tudors – see review below) and the American Civil War. And the nineteen million people who have signed up for Friends Reunited to chart their personal history not to mention the possibilities opened up by DNA. We are, as never before, a generation drenched in the possibilities of historic research, and this phenomenon helps, as McBride acutely points out, provide a bulwark to counter much of the ephemerality of our daily lives. She notes the contradiction between the Communist Chinese disdain for the past and their making their headquarters in Beijing where the imperial court had once flourished. She walks us through various attempts by contemporary governments to apologise or offer compensation for past wrongs and one economist, named with uncanny symbolism, Richard America, sets the figure black Americans are owed as between $5 and $10 trillion. Of course, not even the United States government could pay such a stupendous sum any more than the New Zealand government could afford to pay Maori the $50 billion that one ideologue asserted was the bill for wrongs to be righted. MacMillan reprises the lunatic history fringe that claims the Negro once ruled the world and that Socrates was black because he had a flat nose and succinctly summarizes what may be history’s most difficult can of worms, the Israeli-Palestinian Arab conflict where, as in other complex conflicts, both sides argue history favours their case. I was shocked to read that right wing Hindu fundamentalists who destroyed a sixteenth century mosque in Northern India wanted also to destroy the Taj Mahal, frequently considered the world’s most beautiful building.. The awful thing about this species of political and historic fanaticism, as noted by MacMillan, is that there is “copious evidence that down the centuries, Muslims, Hindus, Christians, Sikhs – indeed, adherents of all religions – had lived peaceably side by side, borrowing and learning from one another.” If MacMillan is accurate in her reading of history then it does indeed seem that the golden age of tolerance is behind us and we can only look forward to more misguided fanaticism of the type that prompted the dynamiting of the two large statues of Buddha in Afghanistan and piloted aeroplanes into the World Trade Centre Twin Towers. MacMillan also deals with the China-Tibet conflict, and even, in passing, the apology made by the Queen to Maori for the illegal seizure of their land. This valuable, insightful and fair-minded little book concludes with the warning: “We should be wary of grand claims in history’s name or those who claim to have uncovered the truth and for all.” And a plea: “In the end, my only advice is use it, enjoy it, but always handle history with care.” Amen. WOLF HALL By Hilary Mantel Fourth Estate, $36.99 Any time soon, one might expect, we will be Tudored out. But that day is nowhere in sight yet. In recent times, we have viewed two excellent TV programmes – Henry V111 and The Tudors. There have been even more recent films such as The Other Boleyn Girl. And these are in addition to many numerous predecessors such as 90 INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009
Henry V111 and his Six Wives and Anne of the Thousand Days. While Henry and Elizabeth largely hog the limelight, Lord Chancellor Sir Thomas More was given favourable star treatment in Robert Bolt’s classic A Man for All Seasons while Thomas Cromwell, along with Richard Rich, were the bad guys. Now Mantel, a highly competent novelist, has reversed this timehonoured moral schema – Cromwell is an astute statesman and Thomas More is a cold-hearted fanatic. Mantel is not the first to attempt to besmirch More’s usual high reputation as an affable, kindly, high-principled and, indeed, saintly fellow. Some 25 and more years ago, historian Jasper Ridley described More as “a particularly nasty sadomasochistic pervert.” Indeed, since Richard III has been upgraded from villain to misinterpreted hero manque, I am beginning to wonder when some historian more reliable than David Irving will whitewash Hitler into misunderstood German hero and paint Churchill and Roosevelt as the villains. Mantel begins her weighty tome with a vivid portrayal of the young Cromwell being bullied by his father. This gets us on side immediately. Later, he is a Dickensian urchin begging for food. By page 31, now 40, he is analysed in that witty astute way that is Mantel’s trademark signature: “He can draft a contract, train a falcon, draw a map, stop a street fight, furnish a house and fix a jury.” He can quote knowledgeably from the classics, recite the New Testament in its entirety, works all hours, and argue a point with supreme eloquence. So now it is Cromwell, rather than More, who is a man for all seasons, an omni-compete fellow better to have as an ally than an adversary. Ironically, in the end, Henry had them both executed and reportedly regretted both decisions. We are further gripped when Cardinal Wolsey’s sumptuous dwelling is stripped of its splendours and the scheming and adroit prelate begins his fall from the King’s grace. Cromwell’s presence is salted throughout the book and Mantel is unmatched in her deployment of the first person point of view which, rather than being egocentric, subtly works as a variant of an omniscient point of view. Yet despite Mantel’s formidable powers of character analysis, the lyrical detail of her descriptions and the astonishingly subtle use of narrative point of view, there is something about the novel that fails to grip. Perhaps it is the lack of clear forward-driving narrative or the relative psychological pallor of the king or too much non-riveting dialogue. True, there are spots of brightness such as the measured exchange between Cromwell and King Henry about the 44 charges mounted against Wolsey, but passages of such dramatic focus are too few and much of the dialogue is overly domestic, almost to the point of banality. The novel’s initial momentum slows and it bogs down under its own overwrought ambiances. Mine is a minority opinion – the English critics have been lavish in their praise and there is more than enough writing of high quality in Wolf Hall to justify such a view. My guess is that many of the English readers are already so saturated with the material they can breeze through the novel’s slow patches with ease. Speaking only for myself, I got bogged down. Perhaps it was the cold weather or maybe my Irish Catholic upbringing which will not allow me to see Cromwell as a force for good or perhaps it was the wonderful moral clarity of Bolt’s play and indeed, it may even be a gender issue – is this perhaps a “woman’s “ book, albeit on a grand scale? However, I intend giving this grand historical epic another go in the spring. It is a book that possibly I may warm to in the future – I could grow to like More the less and Cromwell the more. I look forward to an amiable reversal of my initial response.
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Inspire me Chris Philpott has the unique story of the car crash that created a jazz sensation Melody Gardot My One And Only Thrill Talk about overcoming the odds. In 2004, Melody Gardot was hit by a driver ignoring a red light while she was riding her bicycle, landing her on her back in a hospital for over a year, during which time she managed to teach herself how to play guitar. Inspired to start writing her own songs after undertaking music therapy as a way to recover from her accident, Gardot used downtime following injuries to her head and back, as well as sensitivity to light and sound, to master her newfound love. To this day she uses a cane to stand and performs sitting down. The result is a classic jazz and blues sound, influenced by luminaries such as Duke Ellington, Miles Davis and the big band sound of George Gershwin, and perfected on this latest release. Marked by Gardot’s fantastic voice, My One and Only Thrill is jam-packed with understated tracks dedicated to the sound of a time gone by. Highlights like scat-infused first single “Who Will Comfort Me” and ballad “Lover Undercover” are easy to listen to and, while hardly original, are unique in the current musical climate. Musically and vocally, this is one of the surprise highlights of the year. Dave Matthews Band Big Whiskey And The Groogrux King It’s not too often that a band will wait until their 7th major release to put out what is possibly the defining work by the group. However, The Dave Matthews Band, named eponymously for their lead singer and songwriter, may have done exactly that with the release of Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King, the group’s first album in 4 years, and their fifth straight to debut at the top of the American Billboard charts. Despite the absence of long-time saxophonist LeRoi Moore, who was killed in a tragic farm accident in June 2008, Big Whiskey 92 INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009
manages to incorporate all of the elements that have marked the groups’ unique sound. Aside from some South African influence brought in by Johannesburg-born Matthews, listeners will find the jazzy guitar work (“Lying in the Hands of God”), the “groogrux” sound formed by drummer Carter Beauford and guitarist Tim Reynolds (first single “Funny the Way It Is”) and the more rock-driven, commercial sound that has brought the group the most fame (“Shake Me Like a Monkey”). Add to that the few pieces of saxophone work that Moore left behind, and you’ve got an album that really sums up the group as accurately as one possibly could. Blindspott Sold Out (Live @ Powerstation) It’s not too often I get to review some good heavy music for this column, but I had to make an exception for Sold Out, a live CD/DVD package from Blindspott. It could be argued that Blindspott are one of the most important heavy bands in NZ music history, as their nu-metal sound – reminiscent of bands like Korn and Linkin Park – opened the door for a number of local bands to succeed and to normalise the nu-metal sound. Although they only released 2 albums, in 2002’s self-titled debut and 2006’s much more refined End the Silence, the groups legacy is strong, judging by the interest in their first show since 2007 at this year’s Homegrown festival in Wellington. Sold Out documents their last show before then, a sold out affair at Auckland’s Powerstation, which at the time was a farewell gig with the group deciding to go their separate ways. Though their status remains unknown, this top quality CD/DVD package captures the extraordinary energy the group put into their live performances. While sound quality is always a concern on live recordings, this one sums up the group perfectly, providing the listener with a perfect way to remember one of NZ’s most important bands.
INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009 93
see life / movies
Chef movie hits and misses The Julia Child pic is lacking that certain je ne sais quoi, argues Colin Covert JULIE & JULIA Starring: Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Stanley Tucci Directed by: Nora Ephron Rated: PG-13 (for brief strong language and some sensuality) 123 minutes They sometimes say of a great performer, “I’d pay to hear him read the phone book.” I am delighted to watch Meryl Streep peel potatoes in Julie & Julia. Streep plays – no, inhabits – the role of Julia Child. Before there were celebrity chefs, before there was a Food Network, there was Child, America’s first foodie. Her 1961 bestseller Mastering the Art of French Cooking saved our society from a dismal diet of TV dinners, casseroles and Jell-O salads. When she went on public TV the following year, narrating her cleaver work in that lofty sing-song voice, America fell in love. Streep nails Child’s mannerisms, of course, but so much more – her sincerity and warmth, her gentleness and charm, her patrician air and common touch. She is the one reason to see the film, and if you close your eyes during the chapters when she is off camera, you will have a jolly time. Unfortunately, there is much more to the movie. Amy Adams, Streep’s co-star from last year’s Doubt, plays Julie Powell, a New York cubicle drone who set out to cook her way through Child’s treatise, preparing all 524 recipes in 365 days and blogging about the experience. Writer/director Nora Ephron wrings obvious irony out of the contrast between the women’s lives. The Child sequences, set in gauzy, gorgeous 1950s French locales, are little gems of grace and glamour. Her husband (Stanley Tucci, demonstrating a nice chemistry with Streep) is suave and adoring. Their apartments look like anterooms in Versailles. 94 INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009
Powell, circa 2002, lives above a skeevy pizzeria in Queens, and every day is a struggle. Her girlfriends are shallow successes who broker multimillion-dollar deals on their phones at lunch (and all eat dull Cobb salads). Her job is dismal: She administers federal payouts to people victimized by the 9-11 attacks, and angry callers yell at her nonstop. Ephron presents Powell’s average lowermiddle-class existence as if it were a life-size bad-taste exhibit – George Segal sculptures in banal living color. Powell’s one blessing is a limitlessly supportive husband (Chris Messina), who suggests that she shake off her blues by combining the two subjects she’s passionate about – cooking and writing. Her blog catches on, and soon she’s microfamous. So we get two women leading parallel lives, never meeting. Ephron made a similar story structure work for Sleepless in Seattle, with a pair of intriguing characters emotionally linked to each other, struggling to connect. Here we get one charismatic lady and a mouseburger, with no real bond. Neither speaks in the cute zingers that Ephron characters normally employ (and the biggest laugh is swiped from the fantasy novelist Douglas Adams). Neither travels a great dramatic arc. Child’s chief antagonist is a snippy functionary at the Cordon Bleu cooking school. The worst things that happen to Powell are (spoiler alert) an overcooked boeuf bourguignon and a tiff with her husband that occurs only so there can be a last-act reconciliation. With such ingredients, how do you dramatize two women cooking and writing about cooking? Ephron makes the kitchen scenes sensually alluring – the film is a eulogy to veal stock, pork fat, sausage, organ meat, demiglace and stinky cheese. French cuisine is an art and she presents it artfully; the film could be subtitled “The Joy of Cooking.” As for the writing, no one has ever made that drudgery look interesting onscreen; neither can Ephron.
The story cries out for a tricky device, a Charlie Kaufman fantasy sequence where Julia enters Julie’s imagination and leads her on a tour of Wonka-esque castles of goose liver pâte. Or an “Iron Chef ” showdown. Something. But Ephron’s approach is clumpingly literal and structurally dull. Ten minutes of Julia, cut. Ten minutes of Julie, cut. As in Ephron’s last movie, 2005’s Bewitched, which had Nicole Kidman playing Samantha the ethereal witch and Will Ferrell playing Jack the earthbound movie star, Julie & Julia never works its characters into a single coherent narrative. The film feels like two stories fighting to coexist in the same space. Loved the first course, hated the second. Reviewed by Colin Covert G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Ray Park, Christopher Eccleston, Sienna Miller, Rachel Nichols, Marlon Wayans, Channing Tatum, Said Taghmaoui, Byung Hun Lee Directed by: Stephen Sommers Rated: M (for violence) 118 minutes Judging by the crowd that flocked to a packed pre-noon showing of G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra on its opening day, this film is destined to make big noise at the box office. It does on the screen as well. G.I. Joe is a brazen, earsplitting, eye-popping, oddly satisfying action extravaganza, though it veers wildly off-target in its second hour. Your fingers will start out gripping the seat handles and end up tapping them impatiently.
Unlike previous incarnations, Joe is not a character in this movie. Instead, it’s the name of a crack clandestine special-ops unit commanded by Gen. Hawk (Dennis Quaid, swaggering around like a stunted John Wayne). Still don’t know who or what Cobra is. Two soldiers, Duke (Channing Tatum) and his slapstick sidekick, Ripcord (Marlon Wayans), want in, but the general informs them, “You don’t ask to join G.I. Joe. You get asked.” Ah, but Duke has a trump card. He’s the ex-fiance of Ana (Sienna Miller in a pneumatic push-up bra). His demure former sweetheart is now living a double life. She’s the unstoppable enforcer for an evil cabal plotting to rule the world. In her downtime, she’s the wife of a clueless French baron, greeting her hubby with sweet nothings like, “Hello, Daniel. How was your meeting with the defense minister?” The leading man, Tatum, has the doughty look of a young action hero, but lacks the larger-than-life presence to float this film. Doesn’t really matter, because the real stars of G.I. Joe get locked, loaded, and discharged. The problem, as in the Transformers films, is that once the fighting starts, it’s almost impossible to tell the good guys and bad guys apart. As the movie jolts along, the battle scenes grow more elaborate, sustained, and unconvincing. Meanwhile the implausibilities mount. It’s hard to believe, for instance, an American president with a plummy British accent. G.I. Joe’s mission is to provide moviegoers with bang for their buck. And in this it succeeds. Action? Virtually nonstop. Big-budget sheen? Check. Explosive CGI effects? In spades. Futuristic weapons? Loaded for rhino. OK, it’s seriously deficient in plot or acting. But in this genre, those two ingredients are as superfluous as canoes in a desert. Reviewed by David Hiltbrand ACE INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009 95
see life / dvds
Galactica reaches the finish line Final frontier a great watch Ron Moore helped take a rather cheesy old TV series called Battlestar Galactica (1978-79) and make it something special. As co-executive producer and writer of the current series, he gave the show depth through a rich and often complicated mythology and a more serious style in the stories. Four years and 73 episodes later, Battlestar Galactica has picked up two Emmys and a prestigious Peabody Award, akin to a Pulitzer Prize for broadcasting. Viewers have made a cable hit out of the story of a group of human survivors of a space war trying to find a place called Earth after their planets were destroyed. This final offering in Battlestar Galactica Season 4, Part 2, marks the end of the franchise, although a prequel, Caprica, is now in production. “I didn’t anticipate the critical acclaim of the show,” Moore says during a telephone interview. “I didn’t anticipate how deeply it would penetrate out into the general audience. That it would be talked about as much as it is. And get the awards that it has and that it would have this kind of spotlight on it. I just sort of thought that it was a good show.” But he believed the cast and crew were doing something in which they could take pride. The newer Battlestar’s mythology created depth and background about the characters and the story. And the appearance of the characters helped spin tales. For example, the bad guys called the Cylons that were on the old show were robots with a Pong-like light scooting back and forth across their metal foreheads. The new Cylons can take on any of a dozen human forms. 96 INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM September 2009
The big revelation in the final season is the identity of the last human-looking Cylon: Ellen Tigh, who is played by Kate Vernon. She never expected her character to become the source of so much speculation and buzz among the show’s fans. “Ellen is the best role I’ve had in my career,” Vernon says. “And I had no expectations when I auditioned for the part. I was told there might be two or three shows ... As they brought me back with each show, I couldn’t wait to crack open these scripts because these writers seemed to really indulge the naughtiness or the feistiness or the troublemaking or the complicated relations she had with her husband.” Moore’s glad the show has reached a level where it is being honored by critics and loved by fans. Getting to this point has been the interesting part. “In terms of creatively, I’m very surprised at where we ended up,” he says. “All the characters and the mythologies. And none of that I had in the beginning. I just sort of trusted that we would figure it out. And we did. But I didn’t really have a grand master plan of how it was all going to fit together.” It wasn’t until the end of the first season that Moore felt like he had a pretty firm plan as to the show’s trek across the cable galaxy. Making a successful television show is nothing new to Moore, 44, a graduate of Cornell University. He sold his first script to Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1989. Since then, he has been a mainstay of science-fiction television as a writer or producer. His credits include Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Good vs. Evil and Roswell. Moore’s next series, Caprica, is a prequel to the galactic disaster that sent the survivors on their trek to Earth. One of Moore’s writing trademarks is strong female characters. Battlestar has been no different. He went so far as to make Starbuck, the hotshot pilot played by Dirk Benedict in the original Battlestar, into a female pilot (Katee Sackhoff) for this latest version. And now Vernon gets to take on a similar strong role. She won’t give many details of where her character is going. It has been hard enough to keep the secret of her place in the Battlestar Galactica mythology. And that mythology has made the new Battlestar far different from the original. Despite those differences, Moore says one thing has remained the same from the very first day. “I felt it was important to never lose sight of the premise of the show, which is that the show is born in an apocalypse – that literally billions of people are wiped out,” he says. “And their world was taken away from them and everything they know is gone. All they’ve got are these four walls and the ceiling and the floor around them. And those are made of metal.” Moore has promised fans that the series would come to a proper end and he would get the space travelers to Earth. It is only in these last few episodes that viewers realize how complicated things can be. The space travelers reached Earth at the end of last season, only to find a world that had been destroyed more than 2,000 years ago. Although the show has been a series of twists and turns – from the revelations about the Cylons to the death of major characters – Moore promises the last episode will be the end. “In terms of the larger mysteries and mythologies and hows and the whys and how everything lays out on Galactica, we set out to answer as many of the questions that we could by the end of the show, and that’s what we did. We didn’t hold anything in reserve,” Moore says. Reviewed by Rick Bentley