Wakahuia

“He has no political capital.

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Weakened Bush pleads for economic rescue

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Last journey for life-changing man

– Wednesday, 01 October 2008

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FAREWELL: Jenny Hemmings speaks at the funeral of her husband Austin with her children Meghann, Gareth and Jessica.

FAMILY MAN: Austin Hemmings with wife Jenny and their children, Meghann, 19, at back, Jessica, 17, and Gareth, 16. You were already our hero," said the family in a funeral notice. `"You were taken so suddenly because of your kindness.
Almost 1000 mourners gathered at Holy Trinity Church in Devonport, Auckland, this afternoon to farewell a man who gave his life so a stranger could live.

Funeral of a hero

The wife of slain hero Austin Hemmings has challenged one and all to tell her how his death has changed their life.
Today, Jenny Hemmings said her husband prayed every morning for his family, friends and the people of New Zealand.
The 44-year-old father of three was fatally stabbed after he went to the aid of a woman being attacked in central Auckland last Thursday.
"People have asked what they can do for me.
Since his death she has been swamped with offers of help.
"What you can do for me is please write to me and tell me . So here it is," she said…"
Others spoke of Mr Hemmings as a man who has great love and pride for his family, who had integrity, was honest and always did the right thing. how Austin's death has changed you.
The two hour service ended with doves being released outside the church by Mrs Hemmings and her three children, Meghann, Jessica and Gareth.
When he went to the aid of a woman being attacked he was simply acting according to his principles.30pm last Thursday.
Yesterday, police said they had found two knives near Mills Lane where Mr Hemmings collapsed and died about 5.
"Both have been sent to the ESR for forensic examination," said Detective Senior Sergeant Gerry Whitley.
They believe one of them was probably used to stab Mr Hemmings.
Eleven hours after Mr Hemmings died police arrested a 45-year-old man in Otara and charge him with assaulting the woman Mr Hemmings had tried to help.
Police were also examining for a taxi driver who may have taken the man alleged to have stabbed Mr Hemmings to an Otara address.
Tomorrow, a mobile police station would return to Mills Lane in the hope of uncovering more details about what happened immediately before and after the attack.
Tomorrow, a mobile police station would return to Mills Lane in the hope of uncovering more details about what happened immediately before and after the attack.
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An end to the American housing recession, something that many observers regard as essential to ending the credit crunch, seemed little closer yesterday, with US real estate prices falling by the sharpest annual rate ever in July, …

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American real-estate market hit by sharpest ever annual drop in prices

John Key was one of onely four upon invitation only advisors to Alan Greenspan and the privately owned Federal Reserve of New York from 1999 until March 2001. I wonder is he shitting his pants too now that the American Congress has …

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Wall Street’s Central Values: Avarice and Greed

Lost my journal, this is a journal post:. Me, I am/have a combination of wounded child (although I have forgiven most of that – I hope), a dose of the orphan child (not true, but with love being condiitonal – it resonates) and dependant …

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Child Archetypes

By SPIEGEL Staff.

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THE END OF ARROGANCE: America Loses Its Dominant Economic Role

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Alleged murder victim ‘nine times over alcohol limit’

Wednesday, 01 October 2008

A teenager allegedly murdered in a Christchurch park had drunk nine times the limit of alcohol allowed for a driver his age, a court was told today.
Auckland pathologist Dr Jane Vuletic said the death of 16-year-old Sean Martin William Philip Finnerty-Gallagher was due to asphyxia from the combined effects of a mild head injury and far too much alcohol.
She was giving evidence at a depositions hearing at Christchurch District Court for two drinking companions Thomas Tihema Christie, 25, and Sonny Avon Rehu, 31, who face a joint charge of murder.
She could not put an accurate percentage on how much each factor contributed to his death, but suggested that they were "approximately equal in terms of contributing to the development of asphyxia".
There were multiple fresh abrasions to the face, limbs, and body, and a broken nose.
Dr Vuletic described the post mortem injuries she found on Sean Finnerty-Gallagher.
It was not possible to determine the number of blows, but none of the blows would have caused a fatal head injury. The facial injuries were consistent with blunt force trauma.
She believed marks on the victim's face showed he had been lying face down, even though ambulance officers found him on his back.
The cause of death was asphyxia, possibly caused by obstruction of the airway from bleeding, or from lying face down while unconscious.
"Alcohol toxicity is likely to be a significant contributing factor," she said.
She also spoke of possible aspiration of stomach contents and the possibility of death from "postural asphyxia" as he lay in the park after a long drinking session in February.
The legal driving limit for someone his age was 30mg.
A blood-alcohol test showed he had 267mg of alcohol to a 100ml of blood and the level would have been higher at the time he lapsed into unconsciousness.
The level was "significantly high" for a 16-year-old, she said. No evidence of other drugs was found in his blood or urine.
Asked by crown prosecutor Mark Zarifeh what the effect of the alcohol intake would have been on the teenager's injuries, Dr Vuletic replied: "I think it would have allowed him to succumb to the mild head injury much more readily than if there was no alcohol present. It would have depressed or lowered his respiratory function.
Mr Zarifeh: "What if he was sober, received these injuries, was knocked unconscious and fell down in a position where his breathing was compromised?"
Dr Vuletic: "It would be very, very unusual for that to occur."
She said it would have been very unusual if he had died from the injuries he received without the alcohol present."
The court has heard of a group gathering in two parks, in Riccarton and Upper Riccarton, where they drank over a long period on the night of February 12 to 13.
"Because the alcohol was so high, I believe it contributed to the ease with which he succumbed to unconsciousness and remained unconscious rather than coming to.
Witnesses have spoken of members of the group play-fighting, throwing stones at each other, and assaulting Sean Finnerty-Gallagher who was drinking with them. Sean Finnerty-Gallagher was found lying dead in the Auburn Reserve next morning. The victim's blood was found on the clothing of both of them. The victim's blood was found on the clothing of both of them.
The hearing may continue to the end of the week.
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Employee compensated over ‘dry humping’

Wednesday, 01 October 2008

A construction company employee has won thousands in compensation after being subjected to workplace antics such as "dry humping" and "genital flicking".
The Employment Relations Authority (ERA) case, heard in Christchurch, exposed a sexually-oriented culture in the unnamed company, but one the company defended as being common within the industry.
He said one incident in 2007 involved the company's managing director (Mr E) approaching him from behind while he was bending over and "rubbing his genital area" against his backside – a term the report described as "dry humping".
The complainant (Mr C) worked for the company between 2005 and 2008.
Mr E later denied knowledge of the incident, but Mr C said he must have had amnesia.
Mr C said he was shocked and immediately took evasive action.
"This was a process where, when a group of workmates were standing together, typically in a social environment, one or other of them would flick at or near the genitals of a colleague nearby, allegedly with purpose of making the recipient spill his drink.
At a Christmas function the same year, Mr C said he was the subject of another unpleasant experience, which the ERA report described as "genital flicking".
A solicitor for Mr C wrote to the company warning of the behaviour but the company replied by suggesting it was endemic within the industry."
Mr E said he recalled some genital flicking, along with Mr C's protests, but that he had told staff "not to flick Mr C's balls because he doesn't like it".
Mr C also alleged Mr E had made offensive remarks relating to his 25-year-old daughter.
After the genital flicking incident, Mr C was left out of a company fishing trip and told his physical safety couldn't be guaranteed.
The ERA report said witnesses generally accepted the behaviour alleged by Mr C probably happened, but that it was part of the job and Mr C in effect needed to "harden up".
The situation took its toll on Mr C and he ended up leaving his job through stress and wound up a sickness beneficiary.
"Such rituals underpin the culture of the building and construction industry.
The company referred to "rituals of Kiwi mateship" involved in the building industry."
It said steps were taken to stop Mr C being the target of rituals once it became apparent he was offended by it, and Mr C accepted that was the case. It is not intended as sexual and is not viewed by those in the industry as sexual.
It said remedying the situation by simply protecting the complainant was not satisfactory as it only ostracised him, and that a good employer would have taken steps to remove the culture altogether.
The ERA said it had no hesitation in concluding that Mr C had suffered from the behaviour and was entitled to remedies.
It ordered the company to pay compensation of $12,500 plus loss in earnings between when Mr C left and the date of the hearing.
The ERA said it was treating the situation as an unjustified disadvantage action rather than unjustified dismissal.
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Cadbury targeted by Sugar Liberation Army

Wednesday, 01 October 2008

SNIFTERED OUT: The Sugar Liberation Front is planning to protest about Cadbury’s decision to stop producing iconic Kiwi lollies Snifters and Tangy Fruits.

Cadbury-Schweppes is not going to get away easily with axing iconic New Zealand sweets.
The company, which owns the Pascall brand, said the previous month the sweets were being dropped because of lack of consumer demand and sales had "decreased significantly".
A group calling itself the Sugar Liberation Army plans to protest tomorrow outside the company's Dunedin premises to protest the chopping of Snifters, Sparkles and Tangy Fruits, favourites of movie-goers for decades.
"I always thought I would protest something like cheese prices, but this is just ridiculous," she said today.
But concerned Dunedin resident Leigh Paterson describes the move as ridiculous and, out of desperation, has formed the SLA to take action."
Ms Paterson said passing the axing off as a public health measure to combat child obesity and cavity rates was "blatant pandering to the current mode of nanny state regulation and interference that is plaguing the country".
"Someone has to stand up to Cadbury's and tell them the way they are hacking at the childhoods of thousands is atrocious.
"Operation Tang Protest" will take place at 5.
She said the products were all melamine-free.
"In a world of financial uncertainty and economic crisis, we turn to nostalgia for small comforts," Ms Paterson said.30pm tomorrow outside Cadbury's premises in Cumberland Street, Dunedin.
"Cadbury-Schweppes Pty Ltd is denying everyday New Zealanders the sweet, confectionary nostalgia of their forefathers."

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NZ shares join Aussies in rebound

By DAVID HARGREAVES, DAVID GADD & AARON LIM Wednesday, 01 October 2008

Bush pushes bailout

Senate leaders vow to pass bailout plan

Wall St rebounds

McManus on the crisis

Bollard discounts OCR move

The New Zealand sharemarketreversed yesterday's losses,rising over3 percent by early afternoon.
In Australia, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 jumped over3 per cent, on the back of increased market optimism.
The ASX 200 index gained 163 points to 4764, with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia rising189c to $44.
Global markets will continue to watch the developementsonCapitol Hill closely,withthe US Senate schedulinganother vote on Wednesday night in America on the bailout package.89.51, and NAB rising 63c to $24.85. westpac gained 137c to $22.60, with Rio Tinto up 600c to $90.
Mining giant BHP rose 160c to $32.2 per cent, adding 153 points to 11,412 in early trading.50
in Japan the Nikkei index was up 1.
By early afternoon, the benchmark NZX 50 was up points 100, or 3. Gains in Japan were however limited by the Bank of Japan's business survey which revealed negative business confidence for the first time in 5 years.
In New Zealandleading blue chip Telecomwas at $2.14 per cent to 3190, wiping out all of yesterday’s losses.150.86 by early afternoon, up 13c while Fletcher Building increased50c to $7.05, while ANZ bankjumped67c $22.
Contact Energy was up 23c to $8.
Fisher and Paykel Healthcare was up 12c to $3.90 by lunch time.67.05, with F&P Appliances adding 7c to $1.32.32.
Wall St clawed its way back overnight from yesterday's worst slide in more than 20 years, as investors bet that Washington would still pass a plan to stabilize the US financial sector despite Monday's defeat.
Yesterday the NZX, the first market to open after news that the US$700 billion bail out had not passed, plunged 148 points within the first 30 min of trading, taking it down more than 4%. But the NZX 50 index stabilised and finished the day at 3090.216, down 98.322 points.
Despite the benchmark index falling 3 per cent, it was on light trading volumes of $121,658,077. Among leading stocks Telecom fell 5c to $2.730 Fletcher Building was $6.650, down 26c, and Contact Energy was $7.820 down 47c.
Commentators saw this as a relatively restrained reaction in the New Zealand market when compared with the bloodletting on global markets. However, all eyes have been nervously watching Wall St overnight and if it had continued its drops, then expectation was that the NZX would lose confidence and begin to fall steeply itself.
Tower's Robertshawe cautioned that while there may be some relief once a bailout is approved, the global outlook was not good.
"The medium term outlook is getting bleaker by the day. The real growth, GDP globally, keeps getting revised down, people have to deleverage, banks aren't lending money to just about anybody – so the whole real economy is going to slow quite materially. So there's no point in getting euphoric, but there's no point in slitting your wrists either."
The US indices rally shows investors snapping up beaten-down shares across the board, with financial and technology companies among the standouts. Apple Inc contributed the most to the Nasdaq's advance, a day after the iPod-maker led the index to its worst day since the bursting of the Internet bubble.
It is not unusual for big sell-offs like Monday's to be followed by a short-term relief rally, Mary Ann Bartels, chief US market analyst at Merrill Lynch wrote in a note to clients. Of the eight times the S&P fell by at least 8.79 percent, a next-day rally occurred six times, she said.
"There are at least some hints of optimism that something will still happen soon with regards to the bill," said Jim Dunigan, managing executive of investments at PNC Wealth Management. "It's not surprising with the washout yesterday that you'd get some bounce-back today, both due to bargain hunters and some prospects of a resolution. All eyes are still on Washington."
* London's FTSE 100 Index ended up. It had lost 5.3 percent yesterday, pushing it to its lowest level since 2005. It began trading (overnight our time) with volatility, swinging between gains and losses at least 16 times in the session, but as US markets opened it began to rebound and eventually added 83.68, closing 1.7 percent up, to 4,902.45.
* Similarly, Hong Kong's Hang Seng wiped out an early plunge to close in positive territory, showing the sort of activity which would later be seen on Wall St – it had plunged as much as 6.1 percent, but rallied in the last 30 minutes of trading as investors came back into the market to take advantage of stocks which were overly sold down. It closed the day having added 135.53, or 0.8 percent, to close at 18,016.21.
* Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 declined 483.75, or 4.1 percent, to 11,259.86 at close in Tokyo, its lowest since December 2004. But investors there were not only digesting the impact of Hank Paulson's failed US$700 billion bailout, there were existing negative local dynamics which worsened sentiment – the unemployment rate rose to a two-year high in August while industrial production fell at the fastest pace in five years. Yesterday's impact was felt mainly by Japan's local finance firms – Nomura Holdings its biggest brokerage declined 7.3 percent and. That will be a worry for Nomura which is in a deal to take over parts of Lehman's business, including an ambitious move to take its European part.
* Australian investors in particular showed high nervousness. The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 206.9 points, or 4.3 percent, lower at 4600.5, its lowest finish in nearly three years. At the opening, the index dropped by as much as 5.6 percent wiping more than $60 billion in value off the market, before recovering slightly during the day. Banks (the parents to our own major New Zealand banks) led the market down on concerns the worsening credit crisis would further push up funding costs, slow demand for loans and increase bad debts. Investors also dumped miners on concerns the crisis would slow global growth and cut back demand for metals.
Stronger-than-expected economic reports, including a reading on consumer confidence, added to the positive sentiment.
The Dow Jones industrial average shot up 272.63 points, or 2.63 percent, to 10,638.08, while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index climbed 36.34 points, or 3.28 percent, to 1,142.73. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 64.92 points, or 3.23 percent, at 2,047.07.
Without a sudden surge, the S&P 500 index was headed on Tuesday for its worst quarter since the third-quarter of 2002 and its worst monthly slide since September of the same year
The rally comes as President George W Bush, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and congressional leaders pledged to continue negotiations.
– More BusinessDay.co.nz stories