Friday, August 11, 2006

The New Zealand Government has asked the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand to start refining its taxpayer funded ‘Buy Kiwi Made‘ scheme to also include products designed in New Zealand but manufactured elsewhere.

The Buy Kiwi Made scheme was a NZ$11 million post-election deal between the Labour Party and the Green Party.

Political experts say the reason for Labour to ask the Green party to refine the scheme was because it was afraid that companies, like clothes maker Icebreaker which manufactures its clothes outside of New Zealand would not be included.

Robert Linterman, Norsewear New Zealand CEO, said “The decision to include companies which manufacture overseas undermines the credibility of the entire campaign. We were assured that the purpose of Buy Kiwi Made was to encourage the production in New Zealand, help build up our manufacturing capability and create employment. It’s hard to see how classing Icebreaker – a company which does much of its processing and manufacturing in China – as Kiwi Made will help those achieve those aims. The Buy Kiwi Made campaign should support products which are actually Kiwi made – not just Kiwi designed.”

Sue Bradford, Green MP (Member of Parliament) who is responsible for Buy Kiwi Made scheme, said she is making her proposal clearer so such companies can be associated with it and that she is confident all sides will be pleased with the final proposal. “It is good to clarify the details because there is a lot of taxpayer’s money at stake,” Bradford said.

The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions does not want the scheme to be extended to the changes. Ross Wilson, President of the Council of Trade Unions, said “It would not be in the interests of many ordinary companies and their staff. I plan to raise union concerns with government ministers.”

A compilation of brief news reports for Monday, April 2, 2007.

Today marks the 25th anniversary of Argentina’s invasion of the Falkland Islands, a British overseas territory. The public holiday will be marked by memorial services to remember the dead, but it is also an opportunity to reiterate the country’s claim to sovereignty of the Falkland Islands.

Sources

• “Argentina marks Falkland invasion” — BBC News Online, April 2, 2007
• Larry Rohter. “25 Years After War, Wealth Changes Falklands” — The New York Times, April 1, 2007

The US Supreme Court majority opinion was that “the will of Congress” should prevail on the provision of the Military Commissions Act of 2006 that was being challenged. The 6 to 3 decision means that detainees at Guantánamo will not be able file habeas corpus challenges in US courts.

Sources

• “Top court rejects Guantanamo test” — BBC News Online, April 2, 2007
• Greg Stohr. “Guantanamo Bay Inmate Appeals Rejected by High Court” — Bloomberg L.P., April 2, 2007

In an interview with Reuters, Russia’s Secretary of the Public Chamber, President of the Kurchatov Institute, and a leading nuclear scientist, Yevgeny Velikhov said: “From a scientific point of view of course they could create nuclear weapons,” and pointed to how the United States had underestimated the amount of time it would take the Soviet Union. “I consider biological, chemical and nuclear arms should be forbidden and that the holding and development of nuclear weapons should be considered a crime against humanity,” he said.

Sources

• Guy Faulconbridge. “Russian expert says Iran can make nuclear weapons” — Reuters, April 2, 2007

Canada’s major music awards weekend ended Sunday night with pop singer Nelly Furtado winning Juno Awards in five categories including best artist, best single for her song Promiscuous, and best album for her 2006 release Loose. Furtado was also host of last night’s televised ceremonies from Saskatoon, the first time the province of Saskatchewan has hosted the Junos.

The Juno Awards began in 1970 as the Gold Leaf Awards and honour Canadian music achievements. Other winners included Dixie Chicks, Billy Talent, Tomi Swick, Mobile, and Gordie Sampson.

Sources

• “2007 Juno Award winners” — Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, April 1, 2007
• “Sexy but goofy, Furtado sweeps Juno Awards” — Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, April 1, 2007

External links

• Juno Awards official site

President Viktor Yushchenko dissolved Ukraine’s parliament and called early elections Monday. “My actions are dictated by the strict necessity to save the state’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he said in a televised address. However, members of the parliament said it would continue to function as-is, and would refuse to fund the election. Ukraine has been in a political turmoil as the president and his rival Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych position for power.

According to BBC News reports, the official election is set for May 27.

Sources

• “Ukraine leader calls early poll” — BBC News Online, April 2, 2007
• “Ukraine president calls early vote; Parliament turns cheek” — CNN International, April 2, 2007

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Torture proliferates American headlines today: whether its use is defensible in certain contexts and the morality of the practice. Wikinews reporter David Shankbone was curious about torture in American popular culture. This is the first of a two part series examining the BDSM business. This interview focuses on the owners of a dungeon, what they charge, what the clients are like and how they handle their needs.

When Shankbone rings the bell of “HC & Co.” he has no idea what to expect. A BDSM (Bondage Discipline Sadism Masochism) dungeon is a legal enterprise in New York City, and there are more than a few businesses that cater to a clientèle that wants an enema, a spanking, to be dressed like a baby or to wear women’s clothing. Shankbone went to find out what these businesses are like, who runs them, who works at them, and who frequents them. He spent three hours one night in what is considered one of the more upscale establishments in Manhattan, Rebecca’s Hidden Chamber, where according to The Village Voice, “you can take your girlfriend or wife, and have them treated with respect—unless they hope to be treated with something other than respect!”

When Shankbone arrived on the sixth floor of a midtown office building, the elevator opened up to a hallway where a smiling Rebecca greeted him. She is a beautiful forty-ish Long Island mother of three who is dressed in smart black pants and a black turtleneck that reaches up to her blond-streaked hair pulled back in a bushy ponytail. “Are you David Shankbone? We’re so excited to meet you!” she says, and leads him down the hall to a living room area with a sofa, a television playing an action-thriller, an open supply cabinet stocked with enema kits, and her husband Bill sitting at the computer trying to find where the re-release of Blade Runner is playing at the local theater. “I don’t like that movie,” says Rebecca.

Perhaps the most poignant moment came at the end of the night when Shankbone was waiting to be escorted out (to avoid running into a client). Rebecca came into the room and sat on the sofa. “You know, a lot of people out there would like to see me burn for what I do,” she says. Rebecca is a woman who has faced challenges in her life, and dealt with them the best she could given her circumstances. She sees herself as providing a service to people who have needs, no matter how debauched the outside world deems them. They sat talking mutual challenges they have faced and politics (she’s supporting Hillary); Rebecca reflected upon the irony that many of the people who supported the torture at Abu Ghraib would want her closed down. It was in this conversation that Shankbone saw that humanity can be found anywhere, including in places that appear on the surface to cater to the inhumanity some people in our society feel towards themselves, or others.

“The best way to describe it,” says Bill, “is if you had a kink, and you had a wife and you had two kids, and every time you had sex with your wife it just didn’t hit the nail on the head. What would you do about it? How would you handle it? You might go through life feeling unfulfilled. Or you might say, ‘No, my kink is I really need to dress in women’s clothing.’ We’re that outlet. We’re not the evil devil out here, plucking people off the street, keeping them chained up for days on end.”

Below is David Shankbone’s interview with Bill & Rebecca, owners of Rebecca’s Hidden Chamber, a BDSM dungeon.

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

India‘s steelmaker Tata Steel, of the Tata Group, buys Anglo-Dutch steel giant Corus Group for £6.7 billion ($12 billion), making it the world’s fifth largest steel manufacturer. 70-year-old Tata group Chairman Ratan Tata, from one of India’s best-known business families, won the race against Benjamin Steinbruch, 52, a famous Brazilian executive who is the chief and main owner of Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (CSN). Tata paid investors 608 pence a share, whereas the Brazilians final offer in an auction by the U.K.’s Takeover Panel was 603 pence.

The deal triples Tata Steel’s capacity to almost 28 million tons a year. Tata: “This is the first step in showing that Indian industry can step outside its shores into an international market place as a global player.”

Corus, which was created from the merger of British Steel and Hoogovens, currently employs 47,300 people worldwide. Last year the company was the ninth-largest steel maker worldwide.

The takeover may start a round of consolidation in the fragmented steel sector.