Investigate, September 2007 by Investigate Magazine

INVESTIGATE

September 2007: Air New Zealand • Aspartame • Birdlife In Danger • Paul Henry

Issue 80

TO DISCOVER...

The only limit is the horizon. Test ride a Honda trail bike today at your local Honda Dealer, visit www.honda-motorcycles.co.nz, or call 0508 466326.

BWH 1964

Endless possibilities, ultimate freedom

Volume 7, Issue 80, September 2007

FEATURES

AIR NEW ZEALAND’S SECRET FLIGHTS

It’s owned by a country with a peacenik Government, so why is Air New Zealand shipping US and Australian combat troops up to the Iraqi border in its 767s? IAN WISHART has the exclusive story on this, and claims of multi-million dollar tax evasion by the airline

SWEET LITTLE LIES

SILENCE OF THE LAND

THE WORLD ACCORDING TO PAUL

28 32

The controversy over the artificial sweetener aspartame, found in all kinds of diet and sugar-free foods, is deepening. CHRIS WHEELER argues the artificial sweetener industry has covered up scientific evidence showing aspartame is linked to a range of modern illnesses that could be affecting large numbers of us

For as long as many can remember, the Department of Conservation has been killing possums in our native forests by dumping large amounts of 1080 poison into the affected areas. But now studies are showing the poison may be killing up to 50% of native birds and insects at the same time. Has 1080 outlived its welcome? MELODY TOWNS reports

He’s arguably one of TV’s most exposed properties this year, but there’s no sign of a slowdown for Breakfast host Paul Henry. IAN WISHART catches up with him for the release of his new DVD, To The Ends Of The Earth

Cover montage/DEFENSELINK/News

EDITORIAL AND OPINION Volume 7, issue 80, ISSN 1175-1290

Chief Executive Officer Heidi Wishart Group Managing Editor Ian Wishart Customer Services Debbie Marcroft NZ EDITION Advertising

sales@investigatemagazine.com

Contributing Writers: Melody Towns, Colleen Lewis, Amy Brooke, Chris Forster, Peter Hensley, Chris Carter, Mark Steyn, Chris Philpott, Michael Morrissey, Miranda Devine, Richard Prosser, Claire Morrow, Laura Wilson, and the worldwide resources of MCTribune Group, UPI and Newscom Art Direction Design & Layout

6 8 16 18 20 22 24 26

FOCAL POINT VOX-POPULI SIMPLY DEVINE LAURA’S WORLD STRAIGHT TALK EYES RIGHT LINE 1 TOUGH QUESTIONS

Heidi Wishart Bozidar Jokanovic

Tel: +64 9 373 3676 Fax: +64 9 373 3667 Investigate Magazine PO Box 302188, North Harbour North Shore 0751, NEW ZEALAND AUSTRALIAN EDITION Editor Customer Services Advertising Tel/Fax:

Editorial The roar of the crowd Miranda Devine on Haneef Genetic modification Mark Steyn on hostages Richard Prosser on control freaks Chris Carter on dullards and spin The Nia Glassie case

Ian Wishart Debbie Marcroft sales@investigatemagazine.com 1-800 123 983

SUBSCRIPTIONS Online: www.investigatemagazine.com By Phone: Australia 1-800 123 983 New Zealand 09 373 3676 By Post: To the PO Box NZ Edition: $72 Australian Edition: A$96 EMAIL editorial@investigatemagazine.com ian@investigatemagazine.com australia@investigatemagazine.com sales@investigatemagazine.com debbie@investigatemagazine.com All content in this magazine is copyright, and may not be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the publisher. The opinions of advertisers or contributors are not necessarily those of the magazine, and no liability is accepted. We take no responsibility for unsolicited material sent to us. Please enclose a stamped, SAE envelope. Inquiries in the first instance should be made via email or fax.

LIFESTYLE 62 64 66 68 70 72 74 80 82 86 88 90 92 94

MONEY EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY SPORT HEALTH ALT.HEALTH TRAVEL FOOD PAGES MUSIC MOVIES DVDs TOYBOX LAST WORD

US meltdown Amy Brooke on policy The Nikon D80 camera Chris Forster on Reuben Thorne Claire Morrow on head injury The probiotic debate Aitutaki, Thailand Pesto Michael Morrissey’s picks Chris Philpott’s CD reviews The latest new releases Mr Bean’s Holiday, War of the Worlds Gotta haves Beating burnout

Investigate magazine Australasia is published by HATM Magazines Ltd

94 74

35193

WITH EPSON YOU ONLY REPLACE THE COLOUR YOU USE. FROM $9.99* PER CARTRIDGE

Epson offers individual ink cartridges across its range of A4 inkjet printers. And from $9.99* per cartridge, the value doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t stop there. So why buy a printer that uses a multicolour cartridge when with Epson you only need to replace the colour you use. Visit www.epson.co.nz for more information. *RRP including gst.

L ove Is Fo r A L i f e ti m e, Cel e br ate ! C O M M E M O R AT E Y O U R C O M M I T M E N T TO ONE ANOTHER WITH A BEAUTIFUL P I E C E O F J E W E L L E RY TO M A R K YOUR SPECIAL OCCASION.

Direct importers of certified diamonds Mezzanine Floor Botany Town Centre ph 09-274 5559 3rd Floor Dingwall Building 87 Queen Street ph 09-309 8491

www.guthries.co.nz

WIN

1 5 luxury long weekends for 2 to Millbrook Resort. of

Look for packs carrying the txt code sticker. Competition commences 5th August. Visit www.dilmah.co.nz for details.

...when you want to relax, you can’t beat the delicate fragrance of bergamot in DILMAH Earl Grey tea. So take time out with DILMAH, the finest tea

C&S5335

on earth.

Fiona Beckett from London’s THE TIMES writes of DILMAH;

“The Earl Grey is outstanding - the best I’ve ever tasted...”

“ Do try it.”

w w w. d i l m a h t e a . c o m

FOCAL POINT

EDITORIAL

Air New Zealand’s secret missions

t feels odd publishing a story about Air New Zealand flying combat troops for the Iraq war around the world, because Investigate has supported the need for Western intervention in Iraq. Simply because we support something, however, is not a reason to fail in our duty as a news organization by not reporting it. Whilst others, like National Radio or some others in our national media (you know who you are) might fail to provide objective coverage of, oh, I don’t know – let’s say our story about the activities of police officer Peter Gibbons a month back – Investigate has more journalistic integrity. Sure, the revelations are embarrassing to our national airline and the New Zealand government which owns it. But it is not as if Investigate went “The koru on the tail is distinctive out looking for information Air New Zealand. As is enough to raise eyebrows in the on usually the case, the inforMiddle East, especially if it mation came to us. And if is under fighter jet escort” we hadn’t run it, somebody else eventually would have. Our magazine has had two separate approaches from different first hand witnesses to different troop flights. Undoubtedly, word has been percolating through the wider community. Was Air New Zealand wrong to do it? I don’t think so. The contracts have probably been very lucrative for the airline. But I do think the use of a branded New Zealand airliner was a mistake. They would have been better off using an airforce plane or a less recognizable jet than a fleet 767. The koru on the tail is distinctive enough to raise eyebrows in the Middle East, especially if it is under fighter jet escort. Another question is whether the Prime Minister knew. Helen Clark had visited US Defense Secretary Robert Gates only weeks before the first flight that Investigate is aware of. The NZ Government is the majority shareholder in Air New Zealand. Are we to believe that the airline management took on such controversial contracts without approval from the majority shareholder, especially a shareholder with firm views on foreign policy? The CIA used to have its own airline for precisely roles such as this. They called it “Air America”, and it was an “arms-length” cut out owned by mates of the CIA (for extra deniability). For a while after Air America’s collapse

, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007

20 years ago, the Evergreen cargo airline was said to have picked up some of that function. But the point is, they tended to use nondescript aircraft for such trips. For all of Helen Clark and Phil Goff’s teasing of National Leader John Key about flip-flopping on sending troops to Iraq, there is a certain irony in the Government’s airline now being caught sending troops to Iraq. Of course, there are other major aspects to our latest story on Air New Zealand, such as accusations of multi-million dollar tax evasion – denied by the airline of course. None of these matters might have surfaced but for the extensive and bitter restructuring of staff positions inside Air New Zealand. The airline is leaking like a sieve, with staff raising concerns with anyone who will listen. Hopefully the cost-cutting will not result in a reduced level of service to travelers. The other big stories this month are health and environment related. All of us, at some point, have consumed products containing the artificial sweetener aspartame – the base component of nearly every “diet” food and sugar-free product on the market. A new medical study published in June raises serious concerns about the safety of aspartame amid growing evidence it can cause serious health issues, some of which you yourself may already be suffering from. Do yourself a favour and read the article. See if you or your family are affected. Then there’s the hoary old chestnut of 1080 poison. Two more scientists have thrown their weight behind claims that 1080 is destroying native bird, bat and insect life, as collateral damage in the war against 1080’s main target – possums. Scientific studies acknowledged by DOC indicate that up to 50% of native bird and insect populations are dying as a result of 1080 poisoning, yet DOC and the Government appear wedded to continued use of the poison, which is banned in most other parts of the world. The Emperor has no clothes. And it’s about time more people started pointing this out.

Stressless® living ...it’s all about comfort Choose a Stressless® recliner and you are not just buying another chair. You’re investing in all the hours you’re going

THE INNOVATORS OF COMFORT TM

Stressless® Dream

to spend there... reading, relaxing, listening to music or watching TV. It’s all about comfort and enjoying every moment. Which is why every functional detail and feature on a Stressless® recliner is designed to give you superior comfort and a feeling of total wellbeing. It’s the whole concept of Stressless® living, and it’s why over ﬁve million Stressless

recliners have been

sold worldwide.

Stressless® Consul with Swing Table

To ﬁnd out more about Stressless® living, take the Comfort

test

™

at your nearest Stressless®

studio today. Because feeling is believing.

YOUR GUARANTEE OF ORIGINAL COMFORT

Stressless® recliners are custom made to order in Norway. A wide range of styles, leather colours and wood ﬁnishes available, allowing you to match the décor in your home.

SPECIAL OFFER – September only

FREE Swing Table worth $199 Not only is Stressless® the world’s most comfortable recliner – it also has a range of functional accessories to give you even greater comfort. Such as the matching swing table, which you’ll receive FREE when you order from selected Stressless® recliners during September 2007. With room for a book or refreshments and the remote control, it easily attaches to the arm of your recliner, and when not in use it simply swings to the side. So visit your nearest Stressless® studio soon to ﬁnd the recliner that’s perfect for you and your home. STRESSLESS® STUDIOS

NZ DISTRIBUTOR

DANSKE MØBLER Auckland 983 Mt Eden Road, Three Kings. Ph 09 625 3900 • 13a Link Drive, Wairau Park. Ph 09 443 3045 501 Ti Rakau Drive, Botany Town Centre. Ph 09 274 1998 Hamilton 716 Victoria Street. Ph 07 838 2261 NATIONWIDE Whangarei Fabers Furnishings Tauranga Greerton Furnishings Taupo Danske Møbler Taupo Gisborne Fenns Furniture Napier Danks Furnishers New Plymouth Cleggs Furniture Court Wanganui Wanganui Furnishers Masterton Country Life Furniture Wellington Fifth Avenue Blenheim Lynfords Christchurch D.A. Lewis • McKenzie & Willis Dunedin D.A. Lewis

www.stressless.co.nz INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007,

VOX POPULI

COMMUNIQUES SECRETS OF THE DUNEDIN POLICE

It feels strange to me to be contacting you, but it also feels right. Your recent stories on police corruption in Dunedin have intrigued me greatly, as I worked with those people for years. In the past few years your name within the Dunedin Police has been associated with mud and other such filthy substances, as you can well imagine, and I doubt the situation has improved in the past few months. I would appreciate it if you decide to publish this letter to leave out my name, as I have no desire for my friends and trustworthy co-workers within the Dunedin Police to suffer any backlash from my comments. I was recently sent a copy of the articles, in case I knew any of the names mentioned, just out of interest. And what an interesting read it was! The list of names and crimes related to them was hardly a surprise, anyone who knows the people named would most likely nod in agreement to all the allegations. Those such as Milton Weir, Peter Gibbons, [name deleted – still under investigation by magazine] (not named but I know he’s involved) and [name deleted – ditto] are among the most arrogant people I have ever had the misfortune to meet, and in one case, to work directly with. No wonder they walked around like God’s gift to law enforcement, they were getting away with EVERYTHING! Another one with his fair share of arrogance is Graeme Scott – it wasn’t a huge surprise to me to read that his father, John Scott, was in a spot of trouble in times past as well. In particular, the murder of Doreen Middlemiss strikes a chord with me. I recall that case when it happened, and that it was written off as an unfortunate accident. I also recall being quite surprised that 18 months or so later, Joyce Blondell was charged with the murder. I read the entire prosecution file because it was so intriguing, and thought it was all just a little too ‘easy’. I couldn’t quite fathom how they had come about their information that it wasn’t an accident, and why someone would confess to such a crime when all the evidence pointed to an accident. I remembered her name from the previous case involving her car in the surf, really bizarre. But, they’re the ‘experts’, what would I know? And then the murder committed by Murray Childs, that one just seemed a little too bizarre, a bit of a stretch for someone of his background to have come up with on his own. The situation with the detective who allegedly raped the

, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007

court worker at the law offices is another intriguing one, and while you didn’t name names, I have an extremely small list of suspects in mind for this crime. I’m fairly sure the name you have would match up with one of mine. The rape incident with police officers Andrew [surname deleted] and [name of victim deleted] – I know you don’t mention either of them by name in your article, but that’s who they are – was another strange situation. They were both very swiftly moved out of Dunedin and nothing ever came of it, the staff were all told that there was no evidence of rape, it was consensual and that it had just been inappropriate for them to be using Police premises. Within the Police there is a culture of ‘sticking together’. When Tom Lewis released his book, the general message around the organisation was that it was a load of rubbish from a bitter ex-cop, and that none of it should be believed. Most staff are so indoctrinated into the culture that they just accept what the management says, and carry on with their work. Same thing happened with Wayne Idour, the only theme I ever heard about him were that he was a corrupt ex-cop that couldn’t be trusted as far as you could push him. Nobody had a nice thing to say about him, so the rest of us, who in most cases had never met him, just went along with it. And yet again with the Bain case, anytime someone wrote a book or an appeal came up, it was always rubbished and made out that “it’ll be alright, they don’t know what they’re talking about, we’re the ones that were there investigating it”. I’m 100% sure that, were I still working for the Dunedin Police, I wouldn’t be contacting you. I’d be believing the ‘company line’ that all the staff will be hearing, just like I’ve done in the past. I was very skeptical when I received the articles about what was going to come out of it, purely because you wrote it. But you certainly make a compelling argument, and my views have certainly changed in the years since leaving the culture of the Dunedin Police. I enjoyed my time there, but looking back on it there were certainly some very wrong situations and cases. I hope that for all those victimised by officers such as Milton Weir and Peter Gibbons, some good comes out of your efforts. The attitudes and practices of the New Zealand Police are well overdue for a review. I have lost count of the number of times I have heard the reference “The NZ Police is the biggest gang in the country” – how right they are. Name and address supplied

INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007,

LETTER TO HOWARD BROAD

Dear Sir, I am writing in response to the issues raised by Investigate magazine over your involvement in the pornographic and bestiality movie shown at your house when a young Constable in Dunedin. I heard your commentary on Television admitting to the event, to which I applaud you for. What alarmed me were your remarks relating to letting the New Zealand public decide whether you should stay in the position, or not. Your comment bemused me as to how you can arrive at a clear decision based on this premise. Does it take street marches, petitions with 200,000 signatures to force your hand? This, to me, is a way of absolving you from any decision at all. I am a 58 year old, therefore like you am well away from our early 20’s when the event you are implicated in, took place. I can state without hesitation that had a pornographic movie like that been shown in my house, even at that age, the minimum action on my part would have been to throw all involved out. You chose to do nothing. That the movie was substantially worse than that, involving bestiality, on top of pornography, coupled with being a Policeman sworn to uphold the law, defies understanding. You chose to do nothing. Having now been caught out, and remaining in your role as CEO of the Police makes a very clear statement. For a major part of my life, like you I have been a CEO. Any disgraceful conduct (that you have admitted being guilty of) demands of you an honourable response. I strongly suggest you take it. You do not need a mandate from the Public of New Zealand, nor do you need the comfort and support of Politicians. To the former, you know well that as a nation we hide our feelings and are loathe to publicly demonstrate. It is not in our culture. As to the latter, over the past several years morality within the Government and its executive is at an all time low. Any political endorsement of you is totally self-serving, bearing no relationship to anything related to you or the morals attached to it, the Political machine merely weighing up what impact it may have on the party survival. Nothing more. I am hoping that in your resigning you will demonstrate that • As the CEO of the Police you are committing to promote a high standard • Police ethics are important • The Police can be trusted, commencing with your decision • That you wish to become an example to the thousands within the Police that look to you for guidance and the setter of standards. After stepping down, request that you be appointed as a reformer to stamp out that for which you now stand accused, plus the raft of other transgressions the Police are currently embroiled in. In taking this brave step, I assure you will be a better man for it. At the end of the day, it is the only thing of real importance in your career. I am not sure this has been of help, but I sincerely trust it is. M C Hart, Auckland

TO SERVE & PROTECT

As a ‘Pommie’ visitor to New Zealand I was rather shocked to read your article on my arrival at Auckland airport. I had trav-

10, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007

elled to New Zealand via Australia where I had taken in our cricket team’s demise and your country was stage two of my twelve months sojourn `down under.’ In my mind I had this vision of New Zealand being a quiet, law-abiding, multicultural country with the population largely content. What I found instead was a level of lawlessness and violence unequalled in any of the countries I have visited. Even the shocking revelations in your article, `To Serve & Protect,’ did not prepare me adequately for what appears to be a country dominated by malcontents. The measure of good journalism is objectivity and a fearless regard for truth. In the absence of any constructive reaction from your Labour government and Police departments it would appear your publication has exhibited all those ingredients. Your Prime Minister, Helen Clark, responded to your article with the time honoured response of corrupt governments — Attacking the messenger! Did she deny the allegations outright? Did she order an immediate inquiry with wide ranging terms of reference? Surely the head of any democratic government faced with such awful allegations would act immediately to lance the boil festering in a corrupt police department under his or her watch. Not so this seemingly smug, self-assured, delusional woman. Helen Clark handed the matter over to Commissioner Broad despite the fact that he himself had been named in the article as a man who had hosted bestiality video parties at his place of residence. He in turn handed the matter to a Police Complaints Authority that had apparently been slammed for its collusion with the New Zealand Police department in the past and was in the process of being over-hauled because of that. I waited with bated breath for a furious reaction from the rest of the New Zealand media. Amazingly they followed the same line as Comrade Clark. They focused on some individual who was to be made the scapegoat for Broad’s party. Prior to leaving Sydney airport I struck up conversation with an Australian businessman whose words now seem prophetic. ‘Ah, New Zealand – where men are men and the sheep are bloody nervous.’ On the basis of what I have seen and read chickens, dogs and unsuspecting young women should be nervous when around the local constabulary. Commissioner Broad is apparently in the process of making a decision as to the future of an Assistant Commissioner Rickard, a man recently acquitted of rape charges. Here we have a Commissioner with Broad’s `baggage’ and an Assistant Commissioner who was ordered to stand trial on rape charges and who during the course of the trials admitted to sex orgies including group sex. One would surely expect the New Zealand media to demand a Royal Commission at the very least. Quite the contrary, in actual fact they blithely take the word of Police Minister King that all is well with her `Coppers’ and proceed to concentrate their collective energies on the ‘scape-goat,’ some insignificant person alleged to have taken the bestiality movies to Commissioner Broad’s home. It begs the question: Are these news editors interested in proper journalism and real reporting or are they beholden to one side of politics? It is difficult for an outsider, like me, not to conclude that New Zealand is a dictatorship. How did this happen? Prior to leaving Australia for New Zealand I often heard New Zealand referred to as the `Land of Ladies.’ It transpired that this

title was bestowed because almost every position of note, be it the public or private sector, is, at least in Australian eyes, occupied by a female. While in the country I mentioned this fact to a number of New Zealanders. Strangely enough most agreed that there was indeed discrimination in their country be it sexual or racial. My observations are that New Zealand has sexual and racial discrimination in reverse. Males appear to be discriminated against, (unless they are members of the Constabulary) and persons of European descent also endure discrimination. There are of course two notable exceptions as far as male discrimination is concerned. One of course is top cop, Commissioner Broad. Undoubtedly he is a protected species. After reading the article, `To Serve & Protect’ it is obvious that he is in a position of strength as far as the Clark government is concerned. The second is the position of All Black coach. The incumbent, Graham Henry, must be feeling rather vulnerable after the recent loss to the Australian Wallabies. Is it conceivable that he could be replaced with a female, perhaps the PM herself! During my time in New Zealand I struggled to find anyone who actually supported Clark let alone to admitting having voted for her. Most acknowledge that her policies have left the average Kiwi behind as she continues with her belligerent ambition of creating a New Zealand the way she wants it. With the government and lawmakers suspect to say the least it is little wonder that the county is violent and lawless and that decent people are leaving in droves. It is to be hoped that a change of government rectifies the situation. This will not happen if the media continues to gloss over the serious failings of the Clark government. The breaking of real stories is what is needed here not tame journalism in return for easy stories. Keith Lawson, Berkshire, United Kingdom Editor responds: Like you, Keith, I think the NZ media did an appalling and disgraceful job of covering the police corruption stories. For a month they all screeched ‘Where’s the evidence?’. But when we dumped signed documents and affidavits on them with our last article, they all ran timidly from the room and hid behind their computer screens. Only the Sunday Star-Times had the bravery to run anything at all on the evidence they’d all been supposedly waiting for. Newstalk ZB’s Tim Dower refused to run any stories saying, ‘It doesn’t float my boat’, which I think pretty much sums up the state of both Dower’s news sense and radio news in NZ and is probably the reason people are increasingly turning to web sources like our own TBR.cc for informed analysis on major issues. There is one positive aspect, however: never again will a journalist from National Radio, Newstalk ZB, TV3 or TVNZ ever be able to challenge me ‘put up or shut up’, because when we put up they didn’t have the guts to run with it.

INVESTIGATE ON SKY?

I’m just writing a quick note to thank you for your efforts in providing excellent print media with a conservative slant, an extremely rare thing these days. I look forward to my Investigate magazine every month and actually read it from cover to cover. I really enjoy the pieces by Amy Brooke, Chris Carter, Richard Prosser, Mark Steyn & yourself of course. (Eve’s Bite was great too) I know this will sound wacky, but would it ever be possible for

yourself to explore the notion of setting up a local daily bulletin on the Fox News Channel of Sky TV, maybe as an alternative to the liberal free-to-air TV news? Just a random thought! Keep up the good work. Grant Stempher, via email

TOUCHÉ

Regarding Chris Carter’s recent column on “Masculine Steamventing”, the following could be an extract from any publication circa 3000 BC – 1950 AD: “We’ve allowed a curious imbalance of men currently calling the shots in our schools (universities, governments, businesses) and just about everywhere else for that matter, and trying to socially engineer girls and young women. “Girls mustn’t get educated or go into politics or business for instance, when any half decent mum will tell you that providing girls don’t set about totally to destroy men’s egos, all they really want is an equal and fair opportunity to realize their full potential and to have equal value and influence in every aspect of society.” E M Pritchard, Wellington

INFANT FORMULA PROBLEMS

Having worked for five years in the health industry overseas I am appalled by the ignorance of the New Zealand health authorities about FOS (fructo-oligosaccharides). FOS is a complex carbohydrate (sugar) derived from sources such as chicory root and artichoke. FOS stimulates dramatic increases in numbers of beneficial bifido bacteria in the gut, the “good guys” that boost our immune system by overwhelming the bad bacteria, improving bowel function, and helping us absorb more calcium from our food. FOS is used widely overseas in baby formula, baby cereal, yoghurt and other foods, because it is 100% safe and beneficial. (Check out Orafti site on web for extensive scientific research). Instead of causing needless panic amongst parents over FOS in Karicare, the New Zealand health authorities would be making better use of time to investigate the liberal use of aspartame in foods consumed by children (e.g. sugar-free soft drinks, chewing gum, cereals, instant breakfasts, frozen desserts like icecream, gelatin desserts, cocoa mixes, also in Equal and Nutrasweet ). Aspartame is a highly toxic waste product of the wood pulp industry that happens to taste 200 times sweeter than sugar, hence the food industries love affair with it (more profits). Aspartame consists of the amino acids phenylalanine and aspartic acid (high concentrations cause brain damage in some people), and methanol (poisonous wood alcohol that can cause blindness, brain swelling and inflammed pancreas and heart). Side effects are the same as for MSG food additive, headaches, dizziness, nausea, changes in vision, memory loss and confusion, muscle numbness, mood swings and shudder attacks (often confused with epilepsy). Aspartame is especially dangerous for children and those with mental health problems. A study by the Institutional Review Board in USA was halted because of severe reactions in individuals with mood disorder (67% experienced memory loss, 75% increase in nausea, 25% increase in anger, 37% worsening in depression, and in the normal control group 20% experinced memory loss and 40% experinced nightmares.) A friend of mine was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. I

INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007, 11

SAVE 30% on SUBSCRIPTIONS WITH BOOK PURCHASE

SUBSCRIBE The new best seller

If you take a subscription to Investigate and order Eve’s Bite at the same time, you’ll pay a total of $95*, which is less than the cover price of Investigate on its own, and means you’re paying only $67 for 12 issues of Investigate. Get a two year subscription with a book and save even more, just $160 all up. Or subscribe without getting the book: details below.

BOOK OFFER Photocopy or clip out this coupon and post to Investigate, PO Box 302188, North Harbour, North Shore 0751 or order online at www.investigatemagazine.com, or fax 09 3733 667; offer for a limited time Name

OPTIONS:

Address

0Yes, send me 12 issues & a book for only $95* 0Yes, I want a two year subscription and a book

post code

0000

for a total of $160.

Phone

0Yes, I’d like to take out a one year subscription

E-mail

for just $72

Credit card number

0Yes, I’d like to take out a two year subscription

Expires

Name on card

0Amex 0Diners 0Visa 0Bankcard 0Mastercard 0Cheque is enclosed

12, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007

for just $138 *Book cost is $27.90, Sub cost is $67.10 Extra shipping charges apply for overseas orders

persuaded him to cut out the generous amounts of sugar-free icecream and soft drinks he consumed. Within 24 hours his symptoms improved, and within a week his muscles were functioning normally again. Five years later he still carefully avoids aspartame in all its subtle forms, and he is still free of multiple sclerosis. So let’s stop hammering perfectly safe FOS and focus on dangerous aspartame instead. Liz Webster, via email

GUN-SHY

I love your magazine and the way you are not scared to ask the hard questions. Your articles often prompt me to pray more for our sick-as country. A friend passes your magazine onto me which is why I am only now asking for clarification on a statement made in your Gun-Shy article. On page 48 in the second paragraph you say “In Washington DC, where no one is allowed to carry a gun at all except police and criminals, the murder rate…….” Why are criminals allowed to carry guns and is this only convicted criminals or can anyone call themselves a criminal and carry a gun? Nova Gibson, via email Editor responds:

Naturally, criminals are not “allowed” to carry guns, but in all societies criminals generally do carry guns because they don’t feel beholden to the licensing laws. Washington DC is the most tightly regulated territory in the US in this regard, but it has not stopped gun crime. Arguably it has made it worse, because the crims know that ordinary law-abiding citizens are extremely unlikely to be breaching the law by carrying concealed weapons for self-defence. As the figures in the Gun-Shy article suggest, a case can be made that laws supporting responsible gun-ownership actually lead to a decrease in crime, in much the same way that a series of road-rage shootings on California’s freeways in the late 80s led to much more courteous behaviour on the roads there generally amid fear that somebody might shoot you for changing lanes without signaling.

CHILD ABUSE

Our community is outraged at the horrific child abuse of Rotorua three year old, Nia Glassie sustained at the hands of her family. To our countries shame New Zealand has one of the highest rates of child abuse in the OECD. The Government’s response is focused on the launch in September of a $14 million education campaign of action to prevent child abuse. The campaign is welcomed as a positive step; however it is doomed to failure. As a society are we really concerned about preventing violence against our children? We are suffering from moral blindness for we are concerned about protecting born children from violence but not unborn children. If we lose respect for the child in the womb, it is natural that we should lose respect for the born child. Unborn children are the weakest and most defenceless members of our human family. Should we be surprised that if we allow the killing of unborn children by abortion, it would follow that there is also going to be violence against born children? Studies conducted overseas reveal that there is a link between abortion and subsequent violence against children by women who have had an abortion. It is inappropriate for the Government to claim the high moral

ground. The Prime Minister expresses indignation at the violence against Nia Glassie, by protesting at “....those who frankly are maiming and killing our children.” It is to our nation’s undying shame that our Government sanctions and funds violence against innocent and defenceless children in their mother’s womb. In 2006 the Labour led Government spent more than $23 million to fund the killing of 17,930 unborn children. The abortion industry is part of a culture of death that has brutalised and desensitised our nation. Each day in New Zealand we kill the equivalent of two classrooms of children. We urgently need to build up a culture of life where all children both born and unborn are valued and protected from violence. We weep for our children, James Whakaruru, “Lillybing,” Coral Burrows, the Kahui twins and other defenceless children who were murdered and the countless thousands of unnamed children whose lives are terminated in our Public Hospitals. If as a nation we wish to live in a just society we need to protect all of our children from violence. The law currently decrees that an unborn child does not become a human being until it is born, this is a great injustice. We need to give legal recognition to the status of unborn children as human beings endowed by their Creator with human rights based on an inalienable right to life. Are we prepared to accept this challenge? Ken Orr, Right to Life New Zealand Inc.

GETTING TOUGH ON GANGS

Does anyone take politicians seriously anymore when they repeatedly roll out the “get tough on gangs” election bribe? One thing is certain – there will be no getting tough on gangs, nor will they ever be “banned” while political correctness bestrides society. This becomes clear with the realisation that the direction a proliferating gang culture would take society is identical to that which political correctness (with its moral relativism), is already taking us – albeit by a different route. Effeminate it may be, but P.C is all powerful, making an effective virile response to any problem nowadays virtually impossible. Actually, inasmuch as the gangs are criminal, (which they most certainly are), they have always been “banned” – (illegal). Therefore the only problem is that the law is not being properly applied. This again is the result of our cowardly submission to P.C which now dominates the police and the judiciary no less than the rest of society. Another factor is that P.C will tolerate no criticism of anything designated “indigenous”, and no praise of anything Western / European / Christian / Pakeha. Notwithstanding that the gangs are not actually perpetrating crime 24 hours a day, (the same can be said of the Mafia), they are nevertheless an expression of the lowest characteristics of human nature and for the sake of society in general, and children in particular, should not be tolerated for a moment longer. Colin Rawle, Dunedin

MORE ANSWERS FOR TOUGH QUESTIONS

I agree with Ian (Letters, August) that one of the reasons Jesus underwent such a brutal death was so that He could sympathise with, and truly understand what others are suffering at the hands of oppressors. But I think there is also much more to it than that, and relates

INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007, 13

to the other question asked – are we really fallen sinners in need of a Saviour? The answer is yes – we are so fallen that the only way to be bought back to life was through Jesus’ terrible, agonising death on the cross. God warned Adam and Eve in Genesis 2:17 ‘but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.’ They did not physically die (straight away), but they spiritually died, and were separated form God. We may not think of ourselves as too bad, but when we compare ourselves to the one, true, perfect and almighty God, we fall very short. Isaiah commented, ‘All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags,’ (64:6). Even our ‘good’ works are not compatible with Gods holiness! We are reminded in Romans 3:23 that ‘ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.’ Like in Genesis, Romans 6:23 says ‘the wages of sin is death,’ separation from God. That is the price that must be paid for our sin, and either we pay it in eternal hell, or Jesus has already paid it. Jesus’ death was more than a physical death; He was separated from the Father for those terrible hours on the cross. Jesus cried out as He hung there, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ See, that was the price that had to be paid. Jesus’ brutal death was the price He paid for our sin, He got what we deserve. Yes, we really are that fallen, and praise God that He did make a way through Jesus Christ. Like Paul, we can say: ‘What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!’ Romans 7:24-25. Marjolein Vos, Hamilton

PUBLIC SERVICE

A Lunar Eclipse is on its way – August 28th 2007. This astronomical event is a rare occurrence. The next time we will get the chance to observe a Lunar eclipse in New Zealand will be 21st December 2010. So make a point of marking this special night in your diaries. Stardome Observatory will be a perfect location to view the event and will be hosting a series of presentations to recognise and celebrate this rare occasion on the very night it will occur. Graham Murray, Education and programmes manager at Stardome Observatory says, “Most people have enjoyed the sight of a big bright full moon which can be seen every four weeks but the full moon of August 28 is going to be something quite different, when a lunar eclipse will occur, sometimes known as luna Rosa, I’m sure yachting fans will recognise that name”. A lunar eclipse takes place when the Moon passes through some portion of the Earth’s shadow, it can only occur when the Moon, Sun and Earth are directly aligned. The Moon will not disappear during its eclipse instead it turns a red colour. During a lunar eclipse the Moon is always full. It turns red due to the shorter blue wavelengths of sunlight being scattered by the Earth’s atmosphere, leaving only the longer red wavelengths to refract through to strike the moon. If the Earth had no atmosphere the Moon would go dark. This is the same effect that causes a red sunset or sunrise. Sessions are available on the ½ hour from 8pm through to 10.30pm (6 sessions only). Sessions include a planetarium experience where you will get to take the journey of an eclipse in the 360˚ domed theatre and then viewing from the courtyard as the

14, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007

event occurs, there will also be live feeds onto a big screen from Stardome’s large Zeiss telescope. Cost $10 per person. Bookings are essential, spaces are limited and prepayment is required. Stardome Observatory is located in One Tree Hill Domain Auckland, visit www.stardome.org.nz for more details and parking information for the evening. Victoria McArthur, Stardome

David Lange

David Lange’s attempt to air-lift SAS commandos to counter Steve Rabuka’s first coup in Fiji, was nothing short of madness. They would have been shot out of the sky. Richard Prosser rightly highlighted this little known but shameful incident in his excellent February column, “Trouble in Paradise”. “Lange,” he said, “was an intelligent man but like politicians of all hues in New Zealand, over many years, when it comes to matters military, he was plain dumb.” Too true, but I would question the use of the word “intelligent.” Such a person perceives the facts of a situation. This was beyond Lange’s ability. Facts for him were a turn-off. He dwelt in emotions. The more outlandish the better. His clumsy on-going entanglement in Fijian politics emphasised this. He initially supported the deposed Prime Minister, Dr Bavandra. He railed against the coup leaders, accusing former Prime Minister Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara of treachery. Then came an embarrassing back down. He saw the former prime minister as something of a patriot, working valiantly toward a solution to Fiji’s strife. Lange said Ratu Mara was guilty of “treason, not treachery.” He went on to deny to a press conference and to Parliament that he had accused Ratu Mara of treachery. Unfortunately, the official transcript of Lange’s earlier press conference shows he did use the word treachery. By the end of May, 1987, Lange was giving tacit recognition to the military Government, joining in a resolution carried at the South Pacific Forum. This offered the Fiji Governor-General assistance in solving the Fiji crisis. What of the unfortunate Dr Bavandra? His confused supporters questioned just where Mr Lange stood. “A running commentary on Fijian affairs by Mr Lange has us totally confused,” said a spokesman for Dr Bavandra. “If Mr Lange made just one statement a week, we might keep up with his various positions.” Then came the axe as reported in the New Zealand Herald on June 23, 1987: “Today Mr Lange deserted Dr Bavandra, describing him as not the legitimate Prime Minister, but ‘merely a substantial political contender.’ Dr Bavandra has ceased to be Prime Minister.” The whole sorry saga of Lange turning himself inside out was aptly summed up by a National Business Review cartoon: “A fat man adrift in a sea of waffle.” G R MacDonald, Dunedin

DROP US A LINE Letters to the editor can be posted to: PO Box 302188, North Harbour, North Shore 0751, or emailed to: editorial@investigatemagazine.com

INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007, 15

SIMPLY DEVINE

MIRANDA DEVINE Doesn’t anyone realise there’s a war on?

nformation released this month by the Minister for Immigration, Kevin Andrews, might not be enough to convict Mohamed Haneef of any charge of supporting terrorism but it does put a spoke in the wheel of those trying to turn the young Indian doctor into Mother Teresa. In justifying his decision to revoke Haneef’s visa after he had been released on bail, Andrews told a press conference of an internet chat room conversation between Haneef and his brother, Shuaib, in India on Monday, July 2, the day Haneef attempted to leave Australia on a one-way air ticket. Andrews recounted parts of the conversation in which Shuaib says, “Nothing has been found out about you,” urges Haneef not to delay his “Do the critics of Andrews and departure and to tell the hospital where he worked “that the federal police think terrorists you have to [leave] as you arrive on a plane with “terrorist” have a daughter born. Do tell them anything else.” stamped on their backs and bombs notThe brother also referred in their hand luggage?” to the failed Glasgow car bombing on June 30, allegedly committed by their second cousin, Kafeel Ahmed. Haneef’s Columbo-esque lawyer, Peter Russo, scoffed at Andrews’s information. But he would, wouldn’t he? Less clear are the motivations of all the left-wing lawyers, radio talk jockeys and Democrats and Greens politicians who tripped over each other to denounce the information as a desperate ploy by a drowning minister to traduce the reputation of an innocent man. Tom Percy, QC, was among many rent-a-quote lawyers who popped up on TV decrying the new evidence as “altogether equivocal and nebulous. I wouldn’t have thought it formed a basis for a prima facie case at all.” But that’s not the question. The question is whether Andrews had information which would cause him to form a reasonable suspicion that Haneef had associated with terrorism suspects. And on the face of things he did. There is enough on the public record now to see inconsistencies in Haneef’s story and there has been no adequate explanation for why he felt the need to rush out of the country on July 2.

16, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007

This was the timeline: his baby was born in Bangalore on Tuesday, June 26. On Sunday, July 1, news broke in Australia about the failed bombing overnight at Glasgow Airport. Kafeel Ahmed and an associate had allegedly driven a Jeep laden with gas canisters and nails into a terminal building packed with families heading off on the first day of school holidays. On Monday, July 2, Haneef went to work at the Gold Coast Hospital and asked for emergency leave, saying his wife was unwell after giving birth. That night he was arrested at Brisbane Airport with a one-way ticket to India purchased the same day. The circumstantial evidence on the public record has not been adequately rebutted by Haneef, who has had just one soft, paid interview with Channel Nine’s program Sixty Minutes. In fact, it is now clear that Haneef went to extraordinary lengths to avoid being interviewed by Australian journalists travelling with him on Thai Airways flight 992 out of Brisbane on Sunday morning. The executive producer of Sixty Minutes, John Westacott, says no one from Channel Nine tried to stop Haneef talking to journalists travelling on the flight. A spokeswoman for Andrews has denied claims by Russo that the Department of Immigration had made it a condition of Haneef’s departure that he could not talk to the media. “We were surprised, to say the least, that he wasn’t doing any interviews on Saturday night … We expected all these interviews as soon as he got out.” She also said Haneef originally had tried to leave on Friday night but Andrews would not give him back his passport, saying he needed time to “take advice”. She said the Government had not paid for Haneef and his entourage to fly first class, nor had it asked Thai Airways to upgrade the four men; the airline had made that decision itself, which had the effect of shielding them from media on the flight. Channel Nine did not pay for the tickets, either. Whatever Haneef’s reasons for not availing himself of every opportunity to publicly clear his name, the fact is that armchair critics of Australian authorities handling of his case have been too quick to jump to conclusions. This is because of their pre-September 11 mind-set. They still do not understand that the law enforcement environment was transformed by the terrorist attacks on America in 2001.

The Australian Federal Police Commissioner, Mick Keelty, talks of the “inchoate nature” of terrorism investigations. “It’s not like an armed robbery or a murder,” he said in a phone interview on Saturday after a golf game in Canberra. “There is no crime scene, no smoking gun, no dead victim, no witnesses … You are trying to stop an embryonic crime before it happens without precise evidence. It is a new environment.” When a terrorist cell is being formed, are any laws being broken? Forming associations with like-minded people, renting houses, buying mobile phones, taking photos, buying plane tickets, communicating with friends – these are all innocent activities. How do police form suspicions about potential terrorists? How do they know when innocent activities mean something more sinister? They do not possess crystal balls. Do the critics of Andrews and the federal police think terrorists arrive on a plane with “terrorist” stamped on their backs and bombs in their hand luggage? They don’t wear devil horns, and those whose backgrounds we

are aware of have not been obvious militants. For instance, so many doctors were among the suspects rounded up over the failed London and Glasgow car bombings on June 29 and June 30 that British newspapers headlined their stories “Doctor plot”. Mohammed Atta, the mastermind of the attacks on September 11, 2001, was a well-educated, middle-class Egyptian architect. Regardless of whether Haneef knew more than he says about his cousins’ activities, the flak his case has produced for a Government in an election year will make a useful chapter in any terrorist handbook: “How to use a Western democratic country’s laws, open court, political adversaries and media to stymie police investigations.” As a battered Andrews said early August: “You know, sometimes when I listen to the critics I wonder whether people want a bomb to go off in Sydney before they’ll actually do something.” devinemiranda@hotmail.com

INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007, 17

LAURA’S WORLD

LAURA WILSON

A dodgy government law you might have missed…

ost Kiwis are hugely relieved our nation stayed out of the ‘coalition of the willing’, especially since the Iraq conflict has become the unsolvable stalemate many predicted. We are proud to have stood our ground in the face of bullying tactics from the pro-invasion governments of Australia and Britain, and view their keenness to support the Bush regime with some derision. Yet in another, more silent war New Zealand is the one toadying up to America whilst our neighbours across the Tasman are stoically defending their right to self-protection. This is a war that, if lost, could banish from New Zealand an asset built up over generations. This asset is our identity that has “An obvious choice for Councils become an internationally who actually listen to their recognizable brand, inspiring consumers across the constituents, is to declare their world to pay premiums for region GMO free. But such a produce they believe to be an untainted land declaration has no legal standing from If New Zealand conand can be ignored by any tinues to follow the USA, individual in the district” Canada and Brazil with our careless experimenting on genetically modified crops we stand to lose this brand and our premium position within global markets, particularly those of Japan, Britain, Australia and Europe. All polls taken over the last 5 years show 70-80% of Kiwis consistently oppose GMO technology, yet our government is forging ahead. Given that New Zealand is a commodity-based economy, why is the government prepared to risk our export markets for the sake of the unknown benefits of extremely risky science? Auckland and Northland councils also want an answer to this, now more than ever since the (now departed) David Benson-Pope ensured that GMO experimenters are afforded an extraordinary protection, one not enjoyed by any other business or individual in New Zealand. Our Ministry for the Environment has written laws that ensure any pollution or damages from GMO useage including contamination of non-GMO land and products, sickness or illness, loss of business or livelihood that may be caused through the unknown consequences of releasing new genetic structures into the biosphere, can-

18, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007

not be blamed on the polluter, nor on the government that sponsored them. Instead, damages will be the burden of the innocent, the luckless farmer downwind or downstream of a GMO user, and of their regional council. These liability laws protecting GMO users are enshrined in the HSNO Act. The arbiter of HSNO is the Environmental Risk Management Authority, ERMA. Any willing GMO user has to apply to ERMA for a permit. ERMA then has the right (or not) to impose cautionary measures where they see fit, regarding factors like potential damage to neighbours. But they are not a body moved by petitions from concerned communities, as they are bound by HSNO to follow the rules allowing for general release of GMO’s in New Zealand. An obvious choice for Councils who actually listen to their constituents, is to declare their region GMO free. But such a declaration has no legal standing and can be ignored by any individual in the district. If the government refuses to extend the current regime followed by all other New Zealand businesses and farms of ‘polluterpays’ protocol, then northland Councils want HSNO amended so that ERMA is forced to recognize a region declared GMO free by a council. So why has the government afforded this extraordinary protection to GMO users? Given our increasingly strident stand on safety standards and environmental protection, it is comparable to letting petrol stations run a hose into the local stream for siphoning off their waste oil. If local farm stock die from drinking stream water, the petrol companies cannot be made to pay. Farmers, communities and councils must shoulder the burden. Attempts to get this anomaly explained by our government are met with assurances of the robustness of ERMA processes. But if the government is so sure ERMA can protect us from GMO disasters, why make a special noliability clause? Could it be because the primary investor behind GMO trials is the government itself? In any other realm it is called a conflict of interest when the regulator of an industry is also the one investing in it. Whangarei District Councillor Dr. Kerry Grundy thinks the government’s extraordinary stance is the result of some powerful behind the scenes lobbying, and the resulting liability exclusion is to ensure biotech investors don’t simply pack up their labs and go elsewhere, as in the case of Germany. When the German government imposed pol-

luter-pays rules on GMO technology, the entire industry up and left, heading for countries that would protect them from unknown future consequences, like Brazil. And now New Zealand. Dr. Grundy says the eight Northland and Auckland Councils are lobbying government to enable regions to protect themselves, either by adding liability provisions to the HSNO Act, including payment of a mandatory bond by GMO trialers, or by allowing Councils to regulate GMO use in their area under the Resource Management Act.

Over the years, Dr. Grundy has received some 180 submissions against GMO use in his council area, and two in support. Both latter submissions came from Federated Farmers, who in spite of the anti-stance of most FF members, are pro GMO use. This is the highest number of submissions council has ever received on any single issue, and Northland councilors are rightly seeing this as a mandate to action. The fight that was lost at a national level has now been picked up by the regions, and hopefully will shake the rest of New Zealand out of complacency.

INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007, 19

STRAIGHT TALK

MARK STEYN

The hostage crisis that’s not on the news…

ow do you feel about the American hostages in Iran? No, not the guys back in the Seventies, the ones being held right now. What? You haven’t heard about them? Odd that, isn’t it? But they’re there. For example, for two months now, Haleh Esfandiari has been detained in Evin prison in Tehran. Ms. Esfandiari is a U.S. citizen and had traveled to Iran to visit her sick mother. She is the director of the Middle East program at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars, which is the kind of gig that would impress your fellow guests at a Washington dinner party. Unfortunately, the mullahs say it’s an obvious cover for a Bush spy. Among the other Zionist-neocon agents currently held in Iranian “The ayatollahs figure that’s how jails are an American an American it usually goes with a plump, journalist, sociologist for a George complacent western world that Soros-funded leftie group, just wants to be left alone and and an American peace activist from California, wishes these crazies would stop Ali Shakeri, whose captrying to catch its eye” ture became known shortly after the U.S. and Iran held their first direct talks since the original hostage crisis. Two months in an Iranian jail is no fun. Four years ago, a Montreal photojournalist, Zahra Kazemi, was arrested by police in Tehran, taken to Evin prison, and wound up getting questioned to death. Upon her capture, the Canadian government had done as the State Department is apparently doing – kept things discreet, low-key, cards close to the chest, quiet word in the right ears … By the time Zahra Kazemi’s son, frustrated by his government’s ineffable equanimity, got the story out, it was too late for his mother. Still, upon hearing of her death, the then Foreign Minister of Canada, Bill Graham, expressed his “sadness” and “regret,” which are pretty strong words. But then, as Reuters put it, this sad regrettable incident had “marred previously harmonious relations between Iran and Canada.” In his public pronouncements, Mr. Graham tended to give the impression that what he chiefly regretted and was sad about was that one of his compatriots had had the poor taste to get tortured and murdered on to the front pages of the newspapers. With

20, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007

an apparently straight face, he passed on to reporters the official Iranian line that her death in jail was merely an “accident.” The following year, Shahram Azam, a physician who’d examined Ms. Kazemi’s body, fled Iran and said that she had broken fingers, a broken nose, a crushed toe, a skull fracture, severe abdominal bruising, and internal damage consistent with various forms of rape. Quite an accident. The longer American prisoners are held in Evin, the more likely it is they’ll meet with a similar accident. It would be nice to think the press has ignored these hostages out of concerns that they might inflame the situation. (To date, only National Review, Bill Bennett on his radio show and various doughty Internet wallahs have made any fuss.) Or maybe the media figure that showing American prisoners on TV will only drive Bush’s ratings back up from the grave to the rude health of intensive care. Or maybe they just don’t care about U.S. hostages, not compared to real news like Senate sleepovers to block unblocking a motion to vote for voting against a cloture motion on the best way to surrender in Iraq. But I’ll bet the mullahs wouldn’t really care if everyone put Haleh Esfandiari on the front pages 24/7. It’s only a few months since they seized a bunch of Royal Navy sailors and Royal Marines in international waters (an illegal act) and paraded them all over Iranian TV (in breach of the Geneva Conventions) and dressed up the female sailor in Islamic garb (another breach). And the U.N. and the EU and all the other transnational arbiters of global order sent a strong message: “Whoa, you guys really need to tamp things down, deescalate, defuse the confrontation…” Er, but for some reason, they sent the strong message to the British government, not the Iranians. And, with the sailors’ humiliation all over the media, the British public was inclined to agree. Almost to a man, they rose up and told Tony Blair: “This is all your fault for getting us into Iraq.” But outrage at Iran? There was none. The ayatollahs figure that’s how it usually goes with a plump, complacent western world that just wants to be left alone and wishes these crazies would stop trying to catch its eye. Officially, Iran is “negotiating” with the European Union over its nuclear program. If this were a real negotiation, instead of a transnational pseudo-negotiation, the Iranians would be concerned to stop any complicating

factors coming into play. Instead, every week they gaily toss new provocations into their EU chums’ laps: In recent days, they’ve stoned to death various fellows for adultery and homosexuality, two activities to which Europeans are generally very partial. But why let a few stonings throw your negotiations off track? And, if the Americans are so eager to get a seat at the negotiating table, why not remind them of the rules of the game? Last month, the Iranians paraded their U.S. hostages all over TV as they confessed to engaging in espionage, along the way fingering the Woodrow Wilson Centre and George Soros as key elements in the plot to overthrow the ayatollahs. If only. The week before, Iran captured 14 spies near the Iraqi border whom it claimed were agents of American and British intelligence equipped with surveillance devices. The “spies” in question were squirrels – as in small furry animals very protective of their nuts (much like the Democratic Party re Mr. Soros). I’m prepared to believe that a crack team of rodents from NUTS (the Ninja Undercover Team of Squirrels) abseiled into key installations in Iran and garroted the Revolutionary Guards, but not that the U.S. and British governments had anything to do with it. If they have any CIA or MI6 training at all, they must be rogue squirrels from the Cold War days who’ve been laid off and gone feral. In America, public opinion is in no mood for war with Iran. In Washington, Congress is focused on finding the most politically advantageous way to lose in Iraq. In Europe, they’ve already psy-

“The following year, Shahram Azam, a physician who’d examined Ms. Kazemi’s body, fled Iran and said that she had broken fingers, a broken nose, a crushed toe, a skull fracture, severe abdominal bruising, and internal damage consistent with various forms of rape. Quite an accident”

chologically accepted the Iranian nuclear umbrella. In the western world, where talks are not the means to the end but an end in themselves, we find it hard despite the evidence of 30 years to accept that Iran talks the talk and walks the walk. Once it goes nuclear, do you think there will be fewer fatwas on writers, stonings of homosexuals, kidnappings in international waters, forced confessions of American hostages, and bankrolling of terror groups worldwide? These latest hostages are part of a decadesold pattern of behavior. The longer it goes without being stopped, the worse it will be. © 2007 Mark Steyn

Barbara Doyle’s Mystery intrigue & murder weekends in true Agatha Christie style

Friday Night Supper 8 p.m.

with a pleasant Introduction to your Fellow Sleuths

Two Nights B & B

at Albert Number Six Whitianga

Saturday Tour

Day’s exploration and adventure on the Coromandel Peninsula in Coromandel at Barry Brickel’s Driving Creek Railway | Rapaura Watergardens NZ No 1 Koru Cafe for lunch Square Kauri with the pleasure of climbing to hug it | Coroglen Hotel for a few minutes of relaxation in a real country Pub | Back to Whitianga | Fancy Dress and Dinner 7 p.m.

FUN, FRIENDS AND FICTION. ROLE PLAY OVER A FABULOUS WEEKEND WITH A DIFFERENCE.

IT’S WHAT YOU HEAR THAT COUNTS. Tour arrangements can be slightly different depending on town and weather. ph 07 8660036 • 6 Albert Street Whitianga www.barbaradoylesmysteryintrigueandmurderwknd.co.nz INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007, 21

EYES RIGHT

RICHARD PROSSER Enough, already

here are some people, many of them in fact, who seem almost incapable of minding their own business. Being of a somewhat libertarian bent, this irks me. What motivates them, I wonder? Is it genetic? Are they emotionally stressed? Was something lacking during their childhood? Certainly, such characters have always been with us; they are the Mother Hen types of old, now morphed into the social engineers of the present. These are the same people, with interests beyond their rightful concern, and opinions beyond the scope of their knowledge. From everyone’s interfering aunty, through to a good few members of the present Government, with the media, the pressure groups, and “The busybody types are fixated the chattering masses in they are the peoon controlling the lives of other between, ple who steadfastly believe people because for some reason that they can run our lives they are unhappy in their own tiny and make our decisions for us, far better than we poor minds. I have a message for them; simpletons could manage my life is none of your business!” the job ourselves. Well, I’m tired of it. I’ve had enough of being busybodied. If I want to go for a drive without wearing my seatbelt, or take my old 10speed for a run without wearing a cycle helmet, whose business is it but mine? I don’t ride as much these days as once I did; countless kilometres I clocked in years gone by, to school and back, to work and back, at the weekends just for fun, on country roads and city streets, and never once wore a helmet. I fell off a couple of times, broke a finger, but never banged my head – and if I had, well, it’s my head, you know? If I kill myself, or become horribly maimed, is that any concern of the People’s Planet Party, or the United Parish of Pigsknuckle Arkansas (Manawatu Branch), or talkback caller, Mrs Outraged of Geraldine? “But if you hurt yourself you’ll be a drain on the nation’s medical resources,” is the shrill response. Yeah, well, I pay my taxes, and if I want to take my refund via the hospital system, isn’t that my free choice in a democratic society? I mean the same connotation could be applied to anyone who eats too much red meat, or not enough red meat; or who drinks un-de-caffeinated coffee, or alcohol, or who doesn’t drink enough red wine,

22, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007

or who doesn’t go jogging, or indeed who does go jogging, by some estimations – strained knees, ligaments, and tendons, etc. And what if I’m independently wealthy, and have plenty of private medical insurance, would that get me out of paying a fine for not wearing a seatbelt? Or is the “cost of medical treatment” argument just an excuse for the anti-freedom brigade to poke their noses into my personal choices? If I decide to smack my kids, then that is no concern of other people, particularly those who have never had kids. No, it really isn’t. They need to get this idea through their heads, just like it isn’t any of my business what they let their kids watch on TV, or what time they send them to bed. Likewise, if I want to fatten them up on tuck shop pies, that’s also none of anyone else’s business. I’ll get fat myself if I want to as well, because my health is my concern, and not any other person’s. Maybe I like fat. Maybe I don’t care whether I can see my feet or not. Maybe I’ll push-play for thirty minutes a day if I decide that’s what I want to do, and not because some irritating TV ad tells me I must. And if the kids want to play violent computer games, I’m not going to stop them. Instead, I’m going make sure they understand the difference between reality and fantasy, and that responsibility is mine, not that of some self-appointed guardian of the public good. The censoreverything mob used to complain about violence in cartoons as well, a generation ago; well, plenty of us grew up with the likes of Roadrunner and Yosemite Sam, with the dynamite and the falling anvils, and we didn’t turn into homicidal maniacs. Some of the busybodies want me to have fluoride in my water supply. Why? Apparently, because it’s good for my teeth. Well even if you believe that, and I’m not sure I do, and you don’t accept the medical evidence about the poisonous nature of fluoridated water, what on earth is the point in medicating people through their kitchen taps? To have any effect at all the water has to cover the entire surface of the teeth; so the 99.999 (and however many other nines there are) percent of the average household water usage which goes straight back down the drain, via the shower, the bath, the washing machine, the dishwasher, the kitchen sink, the garden hose and the toilet, won’t do anything at all; and the minute amount which is actually drunk, without being swilled round the mouth,

won’t do very much either. If I do want to fluoridate my teeth I can go and buy fluoride toothpaste….but that’s not good enough for the busybodies! I have to have my town supply fluoridated! OK, so I’m not on town supply, but you get my point. I’m having folic acid put in my bread, with the same excuse used as justification. Well what if I don’t want to eat folic acid? How do these people come to the conclusion that because they have an opinion on something, it thereby follows that they have a right to impose that opinion on others? This is a basic mentality thing, I’m sure of it. The busybody types are fixated on controlling the lives of other people because for some reason they are unhappy in their own tiny minds. I have a message for them; my life is none of your business! I like to have a beer or two on a Friday night (tut tut). Sometimes on other nights of the week, too. Heavens above, how irresponsible of me. There should be some kind of mandatory reporting system in place. And you know what, I don’t really care if the bloke standing next to me at the bar is having a cigarette. If it bothered me that much, I’d go and be somewhere else. But apparently I’m not allowed to make that choice; no, the busybodies have decreed that none shall light up a smoke in my local pub. Why? I’m damned sure most of them have never been in there. And that’ll be next; some Governmental control freak will want to restrain my imbibing, whether I’m driving or not; bars will be limited as to how much one person can be served in any given session, and the fun police will visit people in their homes to administer random sobriety tests. I drive a four-wheel-drive. My God! What a selfish waste of the earth’s resources! Why am I not riding a bicycle instead? And on top of that, I’m a deadly menace to other road users. Slaughtering them by the dozen, apparently. I should really be driving a Fiat Bambina, preferably one which runs on organic vegetable oil, doesn’t go over thirty miles an hour, and has pedestrian-friendly papier-mâché bumpers. Naturally, the said papier-mâché should be made from recycled paper. Heaven forbid that we should ever make anything new. The busybodies want to ban my truck from the city streets. Everything is like that with them; either ban it, or make it compulsory. This week, they’re wanting me to compulsorily learn to speak Maori. Why? What for? So I can communicate with people in other Maori-speaking countries? And as for what they want me to do for the climate…no, let’s not go there. It’s been done to death already, they just don’t get it, and the error of their thinking will be all too evident, all too soon... The point is that it’s yet another example of busybodies deciding that I need their help in managing my affairs. It is time we did something about the do-gooders and the social engineers and the control freaks in society. They’re easy enough to spot, because every time someone comes up with a new product or idea which might be fun, they’re the ones jumping up and down shouting about why it mustn’t be allowed. They pop out of the woodwork at the first sign of controversy, shamelessly promoted by a sensationalising and probably sycophantic media. There’s probably some psychological test we can administer to identify these people at a young age, and nip their behaviour in the bud. In fact, we should make the test compulsory. They’d like that. And we should create a lobby group, aimed at de-lobbying the lobbyists. In fact, I propose a website, where busybod-

ies can be identified and decried, a bit like a cyberspace version of the stocks. We can throw virtual tomatoes at them, or better still, virtual beer cans, because after all, our website will be a public place, and they don’t like us drinking there. There would need to be carrot as well as stick, of course, because what we really want to do is cure these poor unfortunates of their interfering ways; so they could have their Nosey Parker rating reduced, every time they DON’T call for number plates on bicycles, or seatbelts for dogs, or pictures of diseased organs on cigarette packets, or muzzles for Chihuahuas or microchips for cats. Someone else will have to set the website up, because I am but a simple winemaker, and don’t know how to do clever stuff like that; but I have sowed the seed of the idea, and together, dear readers, we can make it a reality. Take this message out to the blogosphere, get it on the talkback stations, write letters to editors. A new movement is set to sweep New Zealand. We will Ban the Busybodies, we will Clear Away the Control Freaks, we will reclaim the freedom to live our lives without the interference of ignorant and meddlesome buttinskis. Make this your rallying call, all you freedom-loving folk who are capable of operating a motor car and a cellphone at the same time, who can choose what colour to paint your houses without help from a council palette, and who have ever spun your tyres in the gravel without signaling the end of civilisation. We need to take back our society, people. The busybodies have had their day. They are not well; and this writer has had enough of them.

Reward

yourself

THE ULTIMATE RECLINER

You work hard, don’t you? So you deserve to go home to Stressless®, the world’s most comfortable recliner from Norway. And no matter how many words of praise we utter you will never quite obtain the whole story about how exceptionally comfortable a Stressless® recliner is. For one obvious reason! You have to try it! You simply have to sit in it to really understand and feel the fantastic comfort it provides — when compared to all the others. Be your own judge! Take the ™ Comfort at your nearest Stressless® Studio soon.

test

Whangarei Fabers Furnishings Auckland Danske Møbler Tauranga Greerton Furnishings Taupo Danske Møbler Taupo Gisborne Fenns Furniture Napier Danks Furnishers New Plymouth Cleggs Furniture Court Wanganui Wanganui Furnishers Masterton Country Life Furniture Wellington Fifth Avenue Blenheim Lynfords Christchurch D.A. Lewis • McKenzie and Willis Dunedin D.A. Lewis

Imported by

www.stressless.co.nz

INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007, 23

LINE ONE

CHRIS CARTER Of dullards and spin-doctors

would imagine that a fair number of you, having had the benefit of the very good education that was once available a few decades back, gained an excellent ability to read, listen and to clearly comprehend. In recent times however, it really does appear that a concerted effort has been made by those who would be King (or Queen), to dumb down more recent generations, with the probable view of providing, for venal political purposes, an increased percentage of the population unable to really comprehend just how many beans make five, and therefore the easier from whom to buy their votes. In an age where increasingly we have signs of graft, corruption, political spin, straight out lies, and of course increasingly sophisticated ways of picking our pockets, there is, not unlike a computer, a need “Chinese executioners charge for the human brain to be before it can for the bullets they use on their programmed analyse anything. victims; Helen and Co. clearly For instance, any human intend in similar fashion to, in brain collects facts, information, sights and sounds effect, charge us for the like a veritable sponge. A privilege of voting” well trained or well educated brain is marvellously capable in assembling all of this information and then forming opinions, developing ideas, and most certainly recognising threats or things repugnant to the basic programme. Basic to programming kids’ minds throughout the ages, like morality and the recognition of differences between right and wrong, that once, good parenting and a well rounded education system once did, seem to have been more or less flagged away lately don’t they? Not unlike the onset of high blood pressure, the effects of the dumbing down process in the ability to think and to analyse for an increasing percentage of the population is a slow and insidious process, that until recently appears to have gone largely unnoticed. However and thankfully, the still savvy part of our population appears, at least in one area, to have had a sudden awakening; the unsettling discovery that somehow we have given our country into the hands of people who, once, we would not have trusted to take our dog for a walk! North Cape to Bluff, with a few notable exceptions, from local body level, right through to Central Government and certainly including the bloated yet still

24, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007

exploding Civil Service, the Letters to the Editor columns nationwide are now overflowing with letters from enraged citizens who have figured out, and are now bitterly condemning, the enormous amounts of taxpayers money being thrown at public sector projects and enterprises by people whose forward planning abilities appear confined to what they intend to have for lunch. A time has been reached where it appears more money and time is being spent on meetings, endless reports, commissions of enquiries, employment of “consultants”, and of course as mentioned, the expansion of the burgeoning bureaucracy necessary to maintain these official roadblocks, than to very much of worth that’s measurable or that would be considered to be even slightly acceptable in the Private Sector. A common malaise that has become well entrenched throughout most of our local bodies and indeed Central Government is one of obesity...Obesity based on common greed of the kind that leads inevitably to mental sloth, intellectual indolence, having no concern for tomorrow other than where the next ratepayer or taxpayers dollar can be squeezed, or how to keep the official larder stuffed full, the contents of which they may then squander on partying, travel, vote catching ‘bling’, on mindlessly expensive hare-brained projects that have as much relevance to peoples’ actual needs as a sister city has, other than a terrific venue for the Mayor and official hangers on to regularly visit and get on the piss. Central Government in its turn spends millions and millions of our dollars in what can only really be described as a corrupt method of vote buying. This current Government for instance has turned any pretence of good governance into an ongoing and cynical exercise in arranging to purchase the next election at our expense. Furthermore it has the incredible arrogance to completely ignore the clamour that now is beginning to erupt as folk realise what they are up to. Chinese executioners charge for the bullets they use on their victims; Helen and Co. clearly intend in similar fashion to, in effect, charge us for the privilege of voting. Like we have this huge heap of your cash, some of it which we’ll give back to you, but it will cost you your vote! (And very likely your soul!) What other things have the folk woken up to of late as now being revealed in letters to the editor/talk back/and much increased topics of conversation as we go about our

“A Prime Ministerially generated enquiry, followed by a, “lets move on” is a crystal clear sign that the Beehive Carpet is about to be lifted and more stuff is going to join everything else that her front end loader has managed to cram there” Photography: Tim Roberts

daily lives? Probably enough examples to fill a fair sized book, but perhaps we could pick a few representative examples to give us a few clues that the inevitable revolution may be a whole lot closer than our current Lords and Mistresses might care to think. Ten years or so back, I can’t really think of a single occasion where rorting, fiddle or out and out corruption was ever mentioned in the same breath as the word government. Now it seems that scarcely a week goes by that the corner stone of corruption, which is of course lying, is not clearly on show in just about every political venue throughout the land, and worse, is being picked up and commented on by just about every second person you meet. Tune into Parliament, for instance, when they are in session, and sadly you will hear broadcast so we all can cringe, a continual barrage of lies so bare faced and blatant that if it’s true that Old Nick is the great deceiver then it’s odds on where he first picked up the habit. The Dictionary definition of a liar is “one who utters falsehood with an intention to deceive or to give a false impression”. Now if our politicians are not manufacturing constantly, politically favourable impressions from a series of disastrous and embarrassing events, by continually using weasel words to deceive their audience into believing something other than the actual truth, then pray, just what is it that they are doing! Modern politics, sadly, has brought with it, an all new terminology. One term very much in vogue of late is “Spin”, a practitioner of which is deemed to be a “Spin Doctor”. Truth is, of course, that spin is a PC term for lies, and a spin doctor, nothing more or less than a well paid professional liar. Naturally, all the major political parties now include within their armies of “consultants” these highly skilled practitioners of dissembling to assist them to better deceive and mislead the people they are meant to represent. In fact, if you are without a good spin doctor then your days in parliament will probably be numbered. Take the hapless Benson Pope and him being recently caught out telling quite obvious

‘porkies’ and getting the royal flick as a result. Hung out to dry, poor David by his Great Leader, Helen Clark, who could have dug him out of that little mess quite easily if she’d have wanted. A wee bit of advice from her expert staff of political conjurers and today he could well have been promoted to say being in charge of the employment portfolio, after all he really does seem to have a way with people doesn’t he? By the way, observe high profile politicians long enough and it’s surprising how much you can learn about them eh? Like have you picked up on the PM’s little mantra, for instance, that she always trots out when she knows that either she or one of her senior minions has been caught with their hand in the political cookie jar so to speak. If it’s a fairly serious matter, part one from the PM’s “We’re in the Crap Handbook” involves her appearing on telly with the head tilted slightly forward to hopefully achieve the sincere “I’m still in charge” look. Then follows the solemn, baritone announcement of an enquiry, for which she quite naturally, sets an agenda guaranteed to gain the “nothing to worry about result” required. This repetitive little political play of course is then concluded with a rousing chorus of “Lets Move On” as indeed she, and her acolytes have long been used to doing, to the point unfortunately that even Rip Van Winkle has woken up to it. So the conclusion being? A Prime Ministerially generated enquiry, followed by a, “lets move on” is a crystal clear sign that the Beehive Carpet is about to be lifted and more stuff is going to join everything else that her front end loader has managed to cram there. Told you we’d need a book to give this topic full justice, but never mind, seeing no one is paying for any of this I can keep this going without breaking Labour’s new Election Gag Laws. The new rules about mocking those parliamentary layabouts for around the nine months leading up to the next election only seem to apply to party members or religious ‘nutters’ using their own money or being paid to do it. Me? I’m mad enough to do it for free! Chris Carter appears in association with www.snitch.co.nz, a must-see site.

INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007, 25

TOUGH QUESTIONS

IAN WISHART The curse of moral relativism

had cause the other day to engage in a lengthy debate in The Briefing Room (www.tbr.cc) on morality, during a commentary on the death of toddler Nia Glassie. The other protagonist, Ryan, argues strenuously that morality is only ever subjective, that there is no higher standard we are required to meet. In Ryan’s world, morality is nothing more than a question of taste, and indeed he raised the issue of the taste of asparagus as proof, pointing out that some people like it, some don’t, but all of them are right in their own way. While this is an easy trap for people to fall into, it is not a correct analogy. We instinctively know and accept that some issues are merely questions of personal opinion – such as the taste of food. But all cultures, everywhere, have some kind of notion of good and evil, “Are there some things that are right and wrong. All cultures, wrong for all people, at all times, regardless of how successfully achieve it, are striving to in all places? I argue yes!” they define good and bad. The question of moral values, especially at this current point in world history, has never been more important. To an objectivist, someone who believes ultimate moral standards of behaviour exist regardless of whether or not humans choose to follow them, the concept is simple to understand: we aim for the best possible standard of behaviour towards each other, regardless of whether we fall short. To a moral subjectivist, or relativist, however, standards swap and change all the time. Just because most of us have a belief that having sex with a baby is horribly wrong, it does not mean that the act is immoral, because it might be regarded as good in some societies. Stripped of everything else, a relativist says, “who am I to judge you?” Are there some things that are wrong for all people, at all times, in all places? I argue yes! It is wrong to murder. It is wrong to steal. It is wrong to rape. It is wrong to commit genocide. But is that just my belief, or is it anchored in some kind of external standard we are measured against? As a Christian, and one who after looking at the supposed ‘contradictions’ in the Bible is happy that they don’t exist, I find the Christian version of events persuasive. Ryan, on the other hand, doesn’t. But we tried to find out whether his claim that all morality is subjective stands up to the test of logic.

26, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007

I told him the only way his view could possibly be valid is if God does not exist and that we all are simply a superior form of pond scum. If there is no God, I said, then it is true that my beliefs about good and evil are no more valid than yours or a tribesman from Timbuktu’s. I might be able to swing a majority behind me to enforce my beliefs about right and wrong, just as Hitler did, but even the use of force would not prove that my opinions carried any more weight intellectually. On the other hand, I said, if the God of the Bible exists then that would prove that an external, objective moral standard existed. “The factual existence of the God of the Bible would itself prove the existence of objective morality BECAUSE he defines objective moral laws in his Bible,” I wrote. “Expressed another way; a) If the Christian God exists, and b) the Bible accurately records his instructions to humanity, then c) Objective moral truth must exist also” Ryan, and others, try to argue that even if the Bible is true, who’s to say that God’s opinions about morality are correct. The idea of humans telling the creator of the universe he’s got it wrong has a “Mouse that Roared” feel to it, but it is symbolic of our rebellion against the rules and refusal to be judged. Watching Nia Glassie’s tangi on TV, I was struck by the sickening moral relativism of the TV coverage. Here was a child murdered by a sick, godless family long since cut adrift from moral values. Rife with drugs, sex and probably crime, this family was a train crash. Nia’s 37 year old mother was in a “relationship” with a 17 year old boy that had begun when he was just 15. Yet on TV One news, the reporter showed pictures of happy faces at the tangi as family gathered “to celebrate little Nia’s special day”. Special? I’m sure every three year old looks forward to their funeral where a pack of dysfunctional people can then tell the world how important the concept of “whanau” is. A moral relativist has no answer. After all, their opinion is no more valid than the criminal’s. And the problem with New Zealand right now is that there are too many relativists running the show, afraid to take action in case they offend someone. In the Bible there are rules, and consequences. It’s about time we reacquainted ourselves with them.

so you’d like to own a new boat...

what’s stopping you?

WHY NOT JUST INVEST IN THE AMOUNT OF BOATING YOU ARE REALISTICALLY LIKELY TO USE!

BAVARIA 42 NOW ORDERED AND ARRIVING OCTOBER LIMITED SHARES STILL AVAILABLE - BE IN FOR SUMMER!

$50,620

SHARED OWNERSHIP – THE SMART CHOICE IN BOATING 10% equity shares in a brand new boat with capital return when you sell. Your share guarantees you 33 days a year useage, or more if multiple shares are purchased, plus unlimited standby days.

OWNASHIP IS MUCH MUCH MORE THAN JUST A BOAT SYNDICATE – TIMESHARE – OR YEARLY CHARTER.

• Free boat handling tuition plus ongoing training if required. • Free Valet Boat parking and/or skipper available for small cost. • Free highest level of support and service for our boat owners

Because we include a totally hassle free boat management service, you never need to worry about who’s looking after the maintenance, insurance, cleaning, and the host of chores normally associated with owning a boat, and all for a fraction of the cost. Walk on-walk off, just enjoy your boating, with the security of knowing that if and when you decide to sell your share, your boat will have been maintained to the highest standard possible, ensuring maximum sale value and ensuring minimum depreciation.

CAN I HAVE CONFIDENCE IN OWNASHIP AS A COMPANY

JEANNEAU PRESTIGE 46 SHAREHOLDINGS AVAILABLE NOW

Yes you can. The Principals of the Company have been well established in successful business in the NZ community for the last 30 years and have substantial assets both in NZ and off shore. They have enlisted the services of leading Auckland professionals in the legal, accounting and banking environs to ensure that the rights and investments of boat owners are protected, including ensuring each Boat Owning Company has been approved and Registered by the NZ Securities Commission before making equity shares available to the public.

$131,600

SEE US AT THE HAMILTON BOAT SHOW AUGUST 9TH - 12TH ON STAND 24

phone 0800 696 7447 email info@ownaship.co.nz

www.ownaship.co.nz

INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007, 27

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE Air New Zealand’s cloak and dagger flights rattle staff

28, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007

New Zealandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s state-owned airline has been going where angels fear to tread, shipping Australian combat troops up to the Iraqi border under fighter-jet escort, and flying US marines between military bases on top secret flights. Additionally, as IAN WISHART reports, disgruntled airline staff are making serious allegations about Air New Zealand flight operations, security breaches and public safety

INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007, 29

t one level, it’s an amazing survival story. After tanking spectacularly six years ago this month (September), amid a $1.4 billion dollar nosedive when subsidiary Ansett Australia hit the financial tarmac, industry commentators held little hope for the long term future of Air New Zealand. As the New Zealand government stepped in to rescue the formerly Brierley-owned airline, there were those who urged an immediate sale of the airline to larger rivals like Qantas or Singapore Airlines. Even Air New Zealand itself tried to sing that song. But despite the doomsayers, and despite the lack of foreign investment in the taxpayer-owned national carrier, Air New Zealand is well and truly back in the black and making tidy profits for the Government. It hasn’t come without cost, however. Gone are the inflight meals and complimentary drinks. Air New Zealand more closely resembles the old ‘Nuts n Cola’ approach of Ewan Wilson’s Kiwi Airlines back in the nineties. And increasingly work has been stripped from Air New Zealand’s heavily unionized staff and fed to outside contractors, with accompanying redundancies. Little wonder, then, that disgruntled airline staff are now flagging instances of management failures and corner-cutting, as they battle airline bosses for the moral high ground. Some of the stories they tell are political dynamite, such as regular secret flight missions to the Middle East and elsewhere carrying US and Australian combat troops. “My friend crewed on an Air New Zealand 767 a couple of weeks ago that had to fly a planeload of Aussie soldiers up to Iraq,” one man told Investigate. “It wasn’t even an unmarked plane – it still had the Air New Zealand koru emblazoned on the tail, and for the last part of the journey it was escorted by US jet fighters. “They landed in Kuwait, so anyone interested who was watching will be asking questions about New Zealand declaring neutrality on the one hand, but transporting combat troops right up to the warzone on the state-owned airline. “I think everyone who travels on Air New Zealand has a right to know how the brand is raising its profile in the Middle East. All the staff have been sworn to secrecy, but they’re not that comfortable with it either.” It’s a fair point. It would be one thing for the Royal New Zealand Air Force to be transporting allied combat troops, and actually a lot less conspicuous. But to use New Zealand’s national civilian flag carrier seems like a dangerous marketing exercise for Air New Zealand. Whilst the contracts are likely to be lucrative, surely the use of an unmarked aircraft would be wiser. Nor is it the only one. Another source has disclosed a flight on the 29th of July where an Air New Zealand 767 was contracted to fly American Marines from an exercise in Darwin up to Hiroshima in Japan, ready for deployment on a new mission. Investigate contacted the control tower at the RAAF base at Darwin airport, and managed to get confirmation of an Air New Zealand flight on July 30th – destination not disclosed on the official records – with a flight number of ANZ1921. “That’s odd,” remarked the control tower, “not having a destination filed”. 30, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007

But Investigate has managed to confirm where Flight ANZ1921 landed. Hiroshima airport records disclose an arrival there of Flight 1921 at 3.45pm local time on the 30th. Again, curiously, no record exists of where it had come from, or where the flight was going to. And Hiroshima is not an airport on Air New Zealand’s regular landing schedule. It is, however, right next to the large US Marines Base at Iwakuni. Ordinarily, perhaps, details of such flights might remain under wraps. But these are not ordinary times for New Zealand’s state airline, and its staff are leaking like sieves. Sooner or later, stories like the ones detailed here were always going to get out. For example, a six page report chronicling alleged management and security failures is one of a number of complaints forwarded to Investigate: “In anticipation of the redundancies/staff resignations,” states the report, “Air NZ has embarked on a massive recruitment drive since April 2007, via newspaper advertisements, billboards, radio ads and canvassing people at places such as Manukau City Shopping Mall and Sylvia Park (where very aggressive canvassing still continues to this day). “All an applicant needs to do is text a specified number to Air NZ and within hours, they receive a call back advising them of an interview date. Signposted cars also travel around town, encouraging passer-bys to ‘text for a job at the airport”. One airport employee who happened to be approached by the canvassers at Manukau City recently, commented how ‘in-your-face’ the recruiters were, shoving brochures at her. “She felt that it not only made Air NZ look incredibly desperate, asking virtually anyone & everyone to come to work for them; it completely devalues the national carrier’s reputation. Recruitment has gone from what once was a lengthy, multistep interview process (consisting of a ½ day group interview; followed by comprehensive psychological/intellectual testing; and for near-successful applicants, a final one-on-one interview plus security/medical checks), to a “rush-them-through-as-fastas-we-can” process, whereby successful applicants only are required to attend one interview and haven’t even been given security clearance prior to the onset of training.” That in itself is a serious allegation – that potential recruits

are shown the ropes behind the scenes at a security-conscious airport without having been given security clearance. The report continues: “Many existing check-in agents have been brought in ‘on loan’ to the training department as the company set up makeshift classrooms outside of the airport,, trying to cope with the hundreds of new recruits – 30+ per week. Length of training has also been cut down from what previously existed in an effort to get the recruits onto the counters as quickly as possible. It is clearly evident that Air NZ is willing to accept just about anyone for the job, with standards lowering substantially. For example one new trainee group member showed up on the first day of training in her slippers. “Numerous recruits barely speak English (as the majority of recruits are either Asian, Indian or Pacific Islanders – now the “face” of Air New Zealand) – very few “Europeans” have been employed as of late – just look at the people behind the counters these days for proof. “More worrying still, a number of the recruits had to leave

halfway through training when it was discovered they had failed their security checks due to prior convictions or other security concerns (yet they had been privy to security sensitive areas within the airport! Just about anyone could have infiltrated the airline/airport at this time, which is quite a scary thought in this day & age, when security vigilance is an absolute top priority in the airline industry.. This should surely be scrutinized by both the authorities and the media alike.” Air New Zealand’s response? “All potential employees are taken through a two-step national security and criminal history clearance as outlined as part of our pre-employment process below,” spokesman Mike Tod told Investigate. “In regards to the recent recruitment process for the Auckland Airport, only two of 300 applicants did not make it through as they lied about previous criminal convictions, and they were removed immediately from the process. These people did not have access to security sensitive areas. It is important to note INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007, 31

that the level of applicants who did not make it through is in line with previous rates. “No candidate would be allowed or has gone into any safety sensitive area of Air New Zealand or the airport without national security clearance within the past 12 months. On a few occasions we have started new employees subject to Ministry of Justice checks only, to allow them to complete classroom based training away from the airport. Again, they are restricted from entering safety sensitive areas. “No candidates have been withdrawn in the last year as a result of security concerns following the commencement of their employment. On all occasions Aviation Security clearance was completed and so there was no threat to national security or the safety of passengers. No recruits are ‘shown the ropes’ at the airport without all clearances being completed, a proper induction into the airport environment, and training in safety and security regulations. Throughout training all new starters are accompanied by an experienced, aviation security cleared staff member. “The current recruitment campaign (including text response) was developed as a result of feedback from a large part of the external workforce who are employed in customer facing jobs and don’t have access to the internet. The approach has also allowed a significant number of people who had been out of the workplace for some time either bringing up families, studying etc to apply. Many have commented that they felt uncomfortable putting a CV together and applying online for fear of rejection. “Not only have we received praise for our innovative approach from potential employees but we have also been approached by a number of corporate, public sector and government agencies who would like to adopt our process. The response to the campaign, which also included online application, has been overwhelming and the standard of respondents incredibly high. Feedback includes – ‘Air New Zealand has given me my confidence back’ through to ‘most companies don’t care about the way we feel, they just want young people through the door. What a refreshing change’. “Seven thousand people have applied through the text process across New Zealand. We have called 100% of the applicants and in most cases engaged the respondents in a 10 minute conversation outlining the job and asking a number of basic screening questions. We have employed under 5% of the total number of applicants who responded to the campaign. This demonstrates our commitment to the standards we pride ourselves on and the robustness of the recruitment process,” says Tod. “Our recruitment process is more robust today than ever before with a 4 stage process, taking up to 6 weeks to complete. Applicants go through all 4 stages and a decision to hire is only made after successful completion of all stages. This includes behavioral interviewing and ability testing, with a minimum pass mark higher than the international customer service standard. In addition, we are about to launch a psychometric tool specifically developed to measure the competency of an airport customer service agent. All of these investments, many of which were introduced in the last 12 months, further demonstrate our commitment to driving a world-class operation with world-class people.” But wait, as the saying goes, there’s more, as the leaked staff report continues: 32, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007

“I

ndeed, mistakes are already being made by the newly recruited staff who are currently being let loose on the check-in counters. Admittedly they have the sympathies of their fellow senior colleagues because they have been given no time whatsoever to hone their skills and have no one alongside them they can ask for assistance, since virtually everyone is new. “Keep in mind„ these new staff are not only checking in for Air NZ, they are also performing all ground duties for the customer carrier airlines as well (such as Qantas, Thai Airways, Malaysian, Air Calin, Lan Chile, Korean Air, Japan Airlines, Eva Air, Air Pacific, etc). One only has to talk to the managers of these other airlines to ascertain how unimpressed they are with what’s going on. These airline managers are extremely unhappy with the diminishing level of customer service, not to mention losing patience with the number of mistakes being made by Air NZ staff responsible for their ground handling. “For example, when an Air Pacific rep was asked about the situation only this week [early July], the reply was, ‘Yes, we are experiencing heaps of problems! The other day we nearly had passengers boarded onto the wrong flight, and last week they actually left a passenger behind because they hadn’t done the proper final checks. It’s only going to get worse before it gets better!’ “Here are just a few other examples of mistakes made within the last couple of weeks: “Item One: When checking in the flights to LA, a check-in agent must enter passport details, doing what’s called an ‘AP edit’ for each passenger. This requirement is absolutely essential for each person travelling to the USA. Recently, on a Qantas flight to LAX, one of the new recruits didn’t know how to do an AP edit. Instead of asking someone for assistance, this agent simply sent each passenger to the gate without the edit. Thankfully one of the more experienced employees who was acting gate agent for the flight, caught this incredible oversight, horrified that over twenty passengers had not been properly processed for the flight. “Item Two: A passenger showed up for a flight to Sydney, advising the check-in agent that she had changed her booking ‘from tomorrow to today’s flight’. The agent couldn’t find the woman on ‘today’s flight’ and rather than call the sales desk to confirm or clarify the change in booking, the agent got into ‘tomorrow’s flight’, found the passenger, and checked her in... for the next day’s flight! Consequently when the passenger got to the gate, they had no record of her on the passenger manifest which caused confusion and delays. “Item Three: Two new recruits were assigned to do passport checks, which must take place as passengers approach the gate lounge for flights to LAX. Prior to the remainder of passengers boarding, one of the recruits abandoned her post due to the fact it was nearly time for her to finish her shift. Shortly thereafter, her colleague also abandoned her post, because she suddenly realised she had left her cardigan elsewhere. Meanwhile, passengers were passing into the gate lounge unchecked, boarding the flight, without a final passport clearance which is a US requirement. Once again, the gate agent discovered the breach and was thankfully onto it, initiating a complete on-board check of passports poor to departure. “Item Four: Two late-running elderly gentlemen were being escorted up to the gate to board their flight to LAX at Gate 2.

“Hiroshima airport records disclose an arrival there of Flight 1921 at 3.45pm local time on the 30th ... And Hiroshima is not an airport on Air New Zealand’s regular landing schedule. It is, however, right next to the large US Marines Base at Iwakuni”

The new recruit who was escorting the passengers brought them down the escalator and into Gate lounge 4 (which leads to Gate lounge 2). He obviously had not looked at their boarding passes (and seemed oblivious to the monitor in the gate lounge), proceeding to take the duo on board the wrong aircraft (which was an Air Pacific flight heading to Fiji!). Thankfully the experienced agent at Gate 2 spotted them going on board and managed to intervene, preventing them from getting on the wrong flight (similar occurrences have happened several times as of late). There are plenty of other stories to tell – far too many mistakes are being made on a regular basis and very few have been reported.” Again, Air New Zealand management claims the problems are being overstated: “Firstly,” says Mike Tod, “in regard to partner airlines – we are surprised by the feedback referred to – we have a comprehensive engagement with these airlines to address any performance concerns they have. Airlines have been very supportive of the changes we have been going through – in fact a number of our customers were demanding that we make these changes and we are have worked closely with them throughout the pro-

cess of implementing the new teams and processes. “Secondly, as an overview Air New Zealand has recently restructured its Airport operations to appoint Team Managers. This is a new position designed to improve the customer and operational performance of airports to deliver the level of service that our customers expect. The Team Manager roles are effective 6 August and are fully accountable for the operational, regulatory and customer service performance of their teams. Each Team Manager will be responsible for the performance of their team of up to 25 staff. “The Team Managers were selected based on experience, attitude and ability from a large number of applicants. They have had extensive training in the 2 months leading up to their commencement in their roles and are very well prepared for their roles. Some of the successful candidates had less experience than other candidates but clearly outshone their more experienced colleagues in attitude and ability. All Team Managers are fully familiar with all regulations and have all the necessary training to ensure a safe operation. We make no excuses for valuing attitude and customer service ability in addition INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007, 33

to experience. We are in the customer service business and our customers deserve great service. “As part of the restructuring employees who have been adversely financially affected have been offered the opportunity to take voluntary severance. Approx 300 of our 1800 employees have elected this and have been replaced by new employees. The new employees have undertaken an average of 4 weeks classroom training before moving into front line roles. New employees and experienced employees can make mistakes. We have a large number of checks and balances in place to ensure that these mistakes do not affect the safety of our operations. As the writer notes the mistakes were picked up and corrected by the system. “We do not accept that a Team Manager has to have spent years doing a job to manage an area. They need the ability to develop, encourage, support and lead their team and the ability to manage poor performance. The new appointees have these abilities. “In past years new recruits did not have anyone to ask for assistance when they started in their roles. The new structure has another new role of “on the job trainer” specifically dedicated to working alongside new employees.” But according to the leaked report provided to Investigate, airline cost-cutting and restructuring is impacting in other, safety-critical areas like ensuring aircraft are not overloaded. “Load Control is of particular concern. This is the area that handles the all-important weight & balance of the aircraft. If they get it wrong, an aircraft could potentially have an accident. Currently the load controllers are over-worked/understaffed and several have recently admitted that not only are they having to ‘bend rules’ to get the aircraft out on time, but that each and every one of them are making mistakes on a daily basis. While these mistakes have been ‘minor ones’ thus far, the controllers themselves predict it’s only a matter of time before a more serious mistake occurs. “An aircraft will sit on the tarmac until a load controller signs it off, therefore making their role particularly crucial. When there is a delay, the controller is often forced to stay back beyond their rostered finish time, until the aircraft is clear for takeoff. Currently there are no additional staff to cover when this situation arises (which, incidentally, occurs often). Recently one load controller reported working from 2pm to 6am the following morning; then having to return to work at 2pm that afternoon. Many of them report exhaustion from long hours/tack of sleep. While some of them are most unhappy about the current situation, others are unwilling to do anything about it, enjoying the extra overtime money these long hours bring in. But from a safety standpoint the controllers say it is not a good situation and something must be done. This is definitely an area worth investigating since it would very much be in the public interest.” Air New Zealand’s Mike Tod says the allegations need further investigation. “We have no evidence of any of the errors referred to and we would encourage the person alleging these issues to raise them with a senior manager so that these can be investigated. “Load Controllers normally work rostered days of either 8 and a half or 9 hours duration. In relation to Investigate magazine’s enquiries, initial investigation is unable to substantiate that an individual load controller has recently worked a 16 hour rostered day. Overtime of this duration is not supported 34, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007

or condoned. However, if an individual was rostered to work 14 hours or more, contractual obligations require at least 12 consecutive hours off, between the termination of one duty and the commencement of the next.”

he leaked report alleges the motivation behind much of this is a wholesale staff turnover in favour of cheap school leavers and other young people. “Previous ‘duty manager’ and ‘team leader’ roles were disestablished, putting many experienced airport staff out of jobs, which means a huge loss, not only to Air NZ, but to the other carrier airlines out at Auckland International as well (since Air NZ contracts out ground handling to the vast number of airlines on site). An abundance of new ‘team manager’ jobs were created, which virtually took the responsibilities previously carried out by three people„ and rolled them into one job (SFWU members were not allowed to apply for any of these jobs unless they left the union). “While some of the new team managers have limited experience (nowhere near what the previous managers had, however), the majority of them have not been at the airport for very long at all. One newly-appointed team manager was still in school when he was hired last summer as a ‘host’ (pushing wheelchairs, queue combing, etc) and only recently trained as a check-in agent several months ago. He barely knows how to check-in a flight, and now he will be in charge of staff who know more about airport operations than he has a hope of knowing for at least several more years. It has come to light that the other young, new recruits who were in his training class were sent letters by management, actively encouraging them to apply for these management roles. Obviously Air NZ wants ‘fresh young blood’ who they can keep ‘under the thumb’ thanks to their lack of knowledge/experience. But do passengers want such inexperienced young people at the helm? “Meanwhile, older more experienced staff who re-applied for the same jobs, weren’t even given a second look at. One such person, who left school at 16 and went straight into the airline, dedicating 20 years of her life to the company and is probably the most efficient/on-the-ball manager they have at the ground level, is being let go. This is the thanks she gets for dedicating her young life to a company who day-in, day-out called upon her expertise. This is a complete deja vu of what happened to inflight staff not-so-long-ago, when inflight supervisors had to re-apply for their jobs, and many lost out to inexperienced ‘newbies’ who commanded far less money. “Another newly appointed (and inexperienced) team manager, has been put in charge of three areas – two of which she knows absolutely nothing about. Unlike most professions, one cannot ‘train on the job’ or simply read a manual to be able to handle the ever-changing demands airport work throws at staff on a daily basis. It takes an abundance of experience in order to cope with an unforeseen delay/disrupt, flight cancellations & rebookings, the problems fog or other weather conditions bring, tackling safety/security issues, dealing with unruly passengers, etc. This is not something one can learn overnight. Years and years of experience are mandatory, and without that experience mistakes are very likely to be made. Both safety and customer satisfaction will surely be affected. “Because there is such an abundance of experienced staff

departing over the next few months, every area of the airport is going to be impacted (to include the customer carrier airlines Air NZ ground handles). Check-in queues have already become lengthier/take far longer, thanks to the slowness of agents on the counters. The level of customer service offered has most certainly diminished. Delays are occurring more frequently (which is costly to the airline, since the Airport Company charges each carrier for delays). And there has been a sharp rise in visa infringements to the airlines, which is costing thousands of dollars (if an airline carries a passenger to a country where they do not have the proper visa/documentation, that passenger is rejected and sent back to New Zealand, and the airline cops a hefty fine that can be as much as $10,000). “Recently, over approximately a two week period, a quarter million dollars’ worth of infringements occurred. This is unheard of! Staff members predict these infringements will only continue to increase when the new regime goes live in August. Other areas (such as the ticketing desk, service control, load control, baggage services, etc) are frantically training up staff to take over these all important roles, but many are jobs which take many, many months (if not years) of experience before one can perform the jobs efficiently. Customers will most surely be impacted due to the inefficiencies of staff who initially under-perform in new areas.” Interestingly, although Investigate asked Air New Zealand for specific visa infringement figures comparing then and now, the airline has responded only with an average figure, and no time-based comparison:

“In regards to Visa infringements, Air New Zealand averages about six per month. We carry around a million passengers a month,” says Tod. But the leaked staff report hasn’t finished with its critique of the airline; it closes with a broadside on the staff uniforms. “It is widely known that both staff and the traveling public have not warmed to Air New Zealand’s recently launched Zambesi uniform, which cost the company a small fortune to have designed/produced.. Not only is it terribly unflattering to many of the staff, it has also been called bland, old fashioned and not at all recognizable (like the last uniform was). It is very uncomfortable to work in, and is impractical, particularly in terms of upkeep (Air NZ’s dry-cleaning bill has skyrocketed since the uniform was introduced, because the material shows watermarks/perspiration quite readily, and stains very easily). “As a result, the company is currently trialing an ‘updated’ new uniform which is darker green in colour, has various design changes, and uses material which ‘gives’ more and stains less. Various staff all around the company are presently wearing differing variations of this new version uniform, providing feedback to the designers. “Once the trials are complete and a decision is made, the current uniform will be pulled from staff and the new version re-issued. How costly will this exercise be, on top of the huge expense the company outlaid first time around?” For his part, Air New Zealand’s Tod argues the company is managing to keep the uniform changes as close to revenue neutral as possible. “We have also broadly signalled a review of the suiting fabric INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007, 35

to improve its durability – especially in the areas of stain resilience and creasing. New options are being trialled as well as an evolution of the colour palette to further reduce the appearance of creasing. These options, which form part of a business drive of continuous improvement, have been extensively communicated to staff – many of whom have participated in trialling new options. The suiting changes, which are being explored in conjunction with a manufacturer review, are due to be introduced in the first half of next year. We are using this time to run down stocks of existing items as well as improving unit costs to ensure the total program has a close-to-neutral impact on our annual expense.” Not that the critics are being silenced: “There’s much, much more that the public (and government) would be up in arms about if the full story of what’s going on within the company presently came to light. The difficulty is in getting staff to go on record to talk to the media — we have been repeatedly threatened with retaliatory action if any of us speak up. Perhaps some of those taking the redundancy will feel a bit more open to talking, once they leave Air NZ But current staff have been bullied into silence, afraid to speak up on talkback, or write ‘letters to the editor’. “Come August, many of us believe that (pardon the expression) “the s**t is really going to hit the fan”, particularly as more redundancies go into effect and we head towards the very busy Christmas/school holidays time. And although staff are currently paying the price, ultimately, it will be the traveling public who will suffer.” That the redundancies are financially-driven appears to be no secret. As Air New Zealand has acknowledged, a number of staff stood to be “financially disadvantaged” by the restructuring, and 300 opted to take redundancy. The airline has now completed a grass roots recruiting campaign to hire 300 people off the streets, so clearly the saving is in pay-packets, not actual positions for the most part. If it were just one leaked piece of information, you might be tempted to take it with a grain of salt. But it isn’t. Last year, Air New Zealand disestablished the job of Garry House, who had been the airline’s Chief Electrical Inspector. His job had entailed ensuring that the electrical wiring of imported aircraft and avionics systems was safe, given that they didn’t comply to New Zealand’s domestic and industrial codes of electrical compliance. Having dismissed him, the airline then ended up in urgent discussions with “the Electrical Workers Registration Board and the Electrical Safety Service” according to an internal Investigate source in the airline. “It was a bit late for that,” the source noted, “these discussions should have taken place before Garry was given the flick.”

n EPMU report on the problem showed Air New Zealand was allegedly relying on a belief that work involving the fittings of aircraft are specifically exempt from the Electricity regulations. What the airline allegedly overlooked, however, was that while the fittings themselves on imported aircraft were indeed exempt, electrical work on those fittings carried out inside New Zealand still had to comply with the Act. And the airline had just sacked the guy responsible for ensuring that this work did, indeed, comply. 36, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007

Air New Zealand’s Mike Tod begins his response with the phrase, “Mr House is a disgruntled former employee”, but then admits a series of meetings did have to be held after the fact with legislators to ensure that Air New Zealand complied with the law. “Risk and compliance manager Geraint Bermingham says it was a ticklish issue for the company, the lawyers and the registration board’s registrar, John Sickels, but they thrashed out a workable solution,” reports Tod, quoting an internal staff report on the matter. For his part, House won an Employment Court hearing on the issue and was offered his job back, but chose not to take it, preferring to move on with his life. Nor is it just Air New Zealand with problems. According to one letter Investigate received earlier this year, the Aviation Security Service leaves a lot to be desired as well. “There was a terrorist alert given to them by Customs,” reported our source. “A passenger on a Singapore flight was a suspect, no one knew what to do. It was hushed up. Customs said it was not their problem, passed it to Aviation Security and they fumbled. The passenger got on the flight. “A senior manager was on a work-related trip overseas. He was so drunk in the business class lounge he had to be helped to the aircraft by his own staff. “The hand-held metal detectors they use do not work near the floor as there are metal rods in the concrete. Anyone can take whatever they like onto an aircraft by simply placing an item in their shoes. “A senior officer grabbed the ears of an officer and banged his head against the car door for not knowing where the spare wheel was kept in one of their cars. There are apparently many breaches of human rights in this organization, staff I spoke to were baffled as to how they get away with it. “IDs are never checked. Recently at the Air NZ gate, an Air NZ staff member tested Aviation Security by going through the checkpoint with a photograph of a monkey on the ID. It was not picked up. “The general manager was recently interviewed on TV at our airport. There was a screening machine in the background. Staff were seen passing items around the machine, on camera.” The final crunch, in this long series of leaks, however, comes from a former staff member who alleges the airline evaded Fringe Benefit Tax on staff travel. John Armstrong is a former Air New Zealand travelcentre manager, whose biggest claim to fame perhaps was creating the socalled “Pink Flights” to cater for the gay and lesbian market back in 1998. Although he left the airline in 2001, Armstrong, himself gay, watched from the sidelines when this year’s Pink Flight hit the news headlines as gay travelers and politicians joined the flight for a weekend trip to the Gay Mardi Gras in Sydney. So far, no big deal, you might say. Except for this. Armstrong alleges he didn’t jump, he was pushed, and in the course of trying to remedy his situation he has passed a lot of information to his local MP, Prime Minister Helen Clark. Information that includes extremely serious allegations of tax evasion by the government-owned airline. Armstrong claims his information has never been followed up, as no-one from the IRD has interviewed him or asked for the evidence he holds.

That evidence, which the Prime Minister already has, includes transcripts of a meeting with senior Air New Zealand managers where the possibility of discounted international travel for Armstrong’s partner was being discussed. According to the transcript, one of the senior managers confirms that the cheap travel needed to be coded as a “thinlydisguised business trip”. The reason for this was that Air New Zealand had to work in with partner airlines, which created a Fringe Benefit Tax can of worms that Air New Zealand preferred stayed unopened. Minutes of the conversation record a current senior executive at the airline talked of “disguised FBT not paid”, and a “perk problem, FBT doubly sensitive – we don’t pay FBT”. Moments later the executive adds that “If you paid FBT [there would be] no trips.” Another executive is recorded as agreeing, “There wouldn’t be”. Further in the conversation, in response to a question from the aggrieved John Armstrong, the first executive says: “You asked what would happen if taken further into public arena..[there’d be] investigation by government as to… is the travel holiday or business?. Company to be stoned with past FBT. There would be an internal Air NZ investigation…it would be gone…or in other words you would lose the benefit completely.” Interestingly, Air New Zealand does not appear to have full internal disclosure of the circumstances of this 1996 meeting – confusing the issue with a much later one that was only attended by one of the executives. This confusion can be seen from Mike Tod’s response to our questions. “Mr Armstrong is a disgruntled former employee. “[Name deleted] was the only Air New Zealander at the

meeting he refers to and Staff Travel was not discussed. So, reference to any other executive agreeing with her about statements around FBT are wrong and mischievous. “The meeting Mr Armstrong, who left Air New Zealand in 2001, refers to was to hand over a copy of the contents of his personnel file. He then complained to the Privacy Commission that the file he had been given wasn’t complete and some documents that he had weren’t on his file. The Privacy Commission has since investigated his claim and dismissed it.” Except, as we’ve pointed out, the meeting Tod refers to took place years later and was not part of our inquiry. Air New Zealand’s comment seems doubly strange, given that copies of the minutes of the meeting are in the hands of Justice Minister Mark Burton, and have been for a month. Prime Minister Helen Clark is understood to have been briefed long before that, because Armstrong as a gay constituent in her electorate took his concerns directly to her. Surely, if the government was sitting on documents suggesting Air New Zealand was deliberately evading millions of dollars a year in tax, it would have taken action? Mike Tod insists the airline has nothing to hide on the tax front. “Air New Zealand always fully declares its obligations to the Inland Revenue Department. It also continually reviews and improves its systems and processes. If any underpaid tax is identified through such reviews, then a voluntary disclosure detailing this position would be made to the Inland Revenue Department.” But given the information about flights to the Iraqi border, Air New Zealand’s tax issues may be the least of its PR problems. The airline’s response to the military flights will be posted on the magazine’s website. INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007, 37

n i y g Dfor a diet ? a Sod The Aspartame Debate Rages

How a popular artificial sweetener in all diet drinks, “sugarless” gum, low-fat icecream and a host of “sugarfree” diet, fitness and drug products, is probably creating health problems for a good number of New Zealanders and Australians, argues campaigner CHRIS WHEELER 38, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007

n 1987, a leading scientist issued a grim warning about the key ingredient in a wide range of food products: “I am a Pediatrician, a Professor of Pediatrics at Emory, and have spent 25 years in the biomedical science, trying to prevent mental retardation and birth defects caused by excess phenylalanine…I have considerable concern for the increased dissemination and consumption of the sweetener, aspartame, (1-methyl N-L-aaspartyl-L- phenylalanine) in our world food supply. “This artificial dipeptide is hydrolyzed by the intestinal tract to produce L-phenylalanine which in excess is a known neurotoxin. Normal humans do not metabolize phenylalanine as efficiently as do lower species such as rodents and thus most of the previous studies in Aspartame effects on rats are irrelevant to the question, ‘Does phenylalanine excess occur with Aspartame ingestion?’” Professor Louis J. Elsas, II, M.D., Professor of Pediatrics, was testifying before the US Senate Committee of Labor and Human Resources on the subject, “Nutrasweet: Health and safety concerns”, November 3, 1987. That was 20 years ago, and aspartame, or Additive 951, is still in use. As Elsas stressed at the time, the rat studies which were used to “prove” aspartame’s safety are inappropriate because human beings are not rats, a point which New Zealand and Australian food safety regulators, toxicologists, doctors and politicians still refuse to recognise. We, in possession of a bit more elementary commonsense, may choose to differ on the point of whether we are all being treated as the real laboratory rats by the time the sad – but also absurd – tale of aspartame is finally spelled out in these pages. Rats are, of course, the basis of food safety science. We can’t afford to kill human beings in the course of supporting food industry profiteering. We use the poor rats – and dogs, cats, rabbits and monkeys – as part of our experiments that have seen some 80,000 toxic chemicals introduced for our “convenience” over the past 60 years by industry with often the barest attention paid to long-term health outcomes for actual human beings. Rats are – in a sense – our surrogate consumer advocates: they die on the Cross of science for our sins and bad science makes sinners of us all. In the meantime it has often become difficult to find anyone in our immediate circle of friends who is really well, while a familiar pattern has developed of alarming new diseases and disorders developing at earlier and earlier ages alongside endemic infertility, an increased rate of birth defects and children and even babies falling sick with cancer – something previously unknown to our forefathers. But so familiar are we with the sea of synthetic chemicals washing around us we never INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007, 39

attribute blame to them, in fact we even add them to our food to enhance flavour, “mouth feel”, smell, colour and, of course, sweetness – the thing we use aspartame for instead of ordinary old sugar or honey. But what about our children? Consider for a moment how many cities around New Zealand and Australia are opening new hospitals and setting up increased facilities especially for treating children who in ever-increasing numbers are going down with what used to be relatively rare adult diseases like diabetes, leukaemia, brain tumours and weird new diseases like autism and hyper-activity that turn tiny kids into monsters. Generations who had children before the 1950s would wonder why we so nonchalantly accept the huge toll of chronic disease in children that now exists, with so little comment and such apparent acceptance of the inevitable. Meanwhile we carry on feeding ourselves and our children with the thousands of new convenience foods laden with a witch’s cauldron of chemical preservatives and additives, convinced by TV advertising and our faith in a vague common social mythology that neither our politicians, our health regulatory bureaucrats nor our complaisant food and beverage industries would deliberately poison us. Worst of all, many of us are now feeding a new generation of human beings – our babies, our children and our pregnant selves – with a popular synthetic sweetener poison, aspartame/Additive 951 (also known as Nutrasweet, Equal, Spoonful, Benevia, Equal Measure, Canderel, etc), which has been reported in a long series of scientific, peer-reviewed studies as carrying the ability to maim, distort and disable intellectual and physical development from the foetal stage to adolescence. In fact, over the 26 years that have passed since aspartame’s introduction into the world food chain we are now moving

into generations of human beings whose parents and parents’ parents have been continuously exposed from breakfast to dinner-time to aspartame, monosodium glutamate and a baneful assemblage of human nervous system toxins that American neurosurgeon Dr Russell Blaylock has termed “excitotoxins”, chemical poisons that can over-excite the neural pathways to the point of nerve death. (1) What is more, while we have finally accepted in our law courts and at a Government level that substances like Agent Orange, lead, and blue asbestos can medically disable particularly where long-term exposures are involved, we seem quite unable to extend that logic to the artificial dietary chemicals that we consume every day, year after year. Little wonder then, that ill health and classrooms full of medicated children are part of normal, daily life and lunatic murders, road-rage, air-rage, depression and a steady media reportage of odd and irrational behaviour in people of all ages is just put down to “modern living.” Unknown to most of us, and apparently ignored by the authorities we trust, aspartame use has been associated in the scientific literature with a huge list of medical and psychological disorders including irrational rage, headaches, numbness, fatigue, blurred vision and blindness, heart palpitations, brain lesions and tumours, memory loss, dizziness, muscle spasms, choking spasms, miscarriages, sexual dysfunction, irritability, anxiety attacks, vertigo, epileptic seizures, rashes, tachycardia, tinnitus, joint pain, nausea, mood alterations and depression, hearing loss, slurred speech, loss of taste, and insomnia, as well as eroding intelligence and short-term memory. It also helps trigger multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, chronic fatigue syndrome, Epstein Barr, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, mental retardation, lymphoma, and birth defects.

Warning to schools

methanol, which in turn is broken down into formic acid and formaldehyde. Methanol can lead to serious eye problems, formic acid and formaldehyde are potent carcinogens. The diet food industry and the F.D.A. (plus, also, our own NZFSA and FSANZ – ED) are fond of saying that aspartame is “the most studied product in history” with an outstanding safety record. In fact however virtually all of the studies in the medical literature attesting to its safety were funded by the industry, whereas independently funded studies, now numbering close to 100, identify one or more problems. It would be especially tragic if an attempt to improve the health of our children led to even greater exposure to this highly toxic product. Thank you for your attention to this urgent public health issue.

Since current Labour Party policy is recommending the use of diet products containing aspartame in our schools in order to counteract the growing obesity problem in our increasingly sedentary child population, we should pay attention to this recent warning from Professor Ralph G. Walton, M.D., Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, at the USA’s Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine: To whom it may concern: Although undoubtedly well intentioned, any attempt to replace sugared beverages with aspartame containing diet products will, in my opinion, have a devastating impact on the health of our children and adolescents. The alarming increase in obesity, type II diabetes, and a wide variety of behavioural difficulties in our children is obviously attributable to multiple factors, but I am convinced that one powerful force in accentuating these problems is the ever increasing use of aspartame. Aspartame is a multipotential toxin and carcinogen. The dipeptide component of the molecule can alter brain chemistry, significantly changing the ratio of catecholamines to indolamines, with resultant lowering of seizure threshold, production of carbohydrate craving and in vulnerable individuals leading to panic, depressive and cognitive symptoms. The methyl ester component of aspartame is metabolized to

40, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007

Ralph G. Walton, M.D. Medical Director, Safe Harbor Behavioral Health Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine Adjunct Professor Of Psychiatry Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine NOTE: Dr. Walton’s study on aspartame: “Adverse Reactions to Aspartame: Double-Blind Challenge in Patients from a Vulnerable Population,” is viewable on the website http://www.mindfully. org/Health/Aspartame-Adverse-Reactions-1993.htm and in the folder http://www.dorway.com/doctors.html#walton

“Meanwhile we carry on feeding ourselves and our children with the thousands of new convenience foods laden with a witch’s cauldron of chemical preservatives and additives, convinced by TV advertising and our faith in a vague common social mythology that neither our politicians, our health regulatory bureaucrats nor our complaisant food and beverage industries would deliberately poison us” Junk food addicts in Rotorua put a baby through a spin drier. Apart from “P”, was diet soda involved? Aspartame reacts with methamphetamine to produce totally lunatic behaviour. The 2002 Lundy murders down in Palmerston North were committed by a husband and father, Mark Lundy, who slugged back over a litre of aspartame-containing beverages every day before finally murdering his wife and daughter. How many of the truckies and car drivers who regularly lose control of their vehicles on straight New Zealand roads or drive onto level crossings in front of approaching trains were consuming one or more of the aspartame products readily available on petrol stop counters? Airline pilots, using aspartame products to keep down their weight in a sedentary job, report suddenly experiencing dizziness and loss of spatial perception at critical points in landing planes filled with hundreds of the trusting public. Henri Paul, Princess Diana’s driver in that fatal Alma Tunnel car smash in Paris,

was a heavy Diet Coke consumer and the medical drugs he was taking not only interact negatively with aspartame, but were prescribed in the first place to deal with symptoms probably caused by aspartame use. Tony Blair, George Bush and Bill Clinton all steadily consume Diet Coke according to the evidence of TV news clips. One could say Monica Lewinsky and the whole Iraqi bloodbath may have been influenced by the Clinton/Bush/Blair addiction to aspartame, a chemical closely connected to irrational behaviour. Aspartame products like Diet Coke, Wrigleys gum, Lemsip, and Roche’s fizzy Vitamin B tabs are so constantly advertised on TV and present in our brainwashed lives that we take them for granted and never for a moment examine the hidden implications behind an additive our experts assure us is completely without blame. And let’s not forget little Abby Cormack down in Wellington at this point. Her addiction to sugar-less Wrigley’s chewing gum INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007, 41

with its direful health consequences occupied our media’s fleeting attention span for a few seconds in recent times. Of course the arrival of American anti-aspartame activist Betty Martini in support of Abby’s growing campaign wasn’t something our newspapers, particularly the NZ Herald, wanted to know about. The media, of course, can’t afford to rile Coca Cola or Wrigleys’ New Zealand representatives – their aspartame products bring in a huge advertising dollar. In fact the one distinguishing feature of the short-lived anti-aspartame campaign last August/July (2007) was just how the New Zealand media steered clear of giving ANY space to the issue of what Kiwis could be doing to their health by making famous brand diet products containing a junk poison actually extracted from virtual raw sewage (genetically engineered E. coli bacteria are used to produce aspartame) part of their daily life. The NZ Woman’s Weekly, which might be considered supportive of Kiwi women, even thought a story about aspartame hazards directed at women, who are the largest group consuming aspartame products, was somehow inappropriate given that their pages are usually devoted to much more serious issues like Paris Hilton’s stint in jail.

ne shouldn’t expect the New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA) to take much interest in the issue. They refused to let Betty Martini speak (July 19) to their oddly-named Consumer Forum, which is stacked with people happy to act as a rubber stamp for Authority policy – policy which could be summed up under the rubric “Anything good for industry is good enough for the NZFSA.” Acting CEO Sandra Daly has herself confessed to using aspartame-containing products in firm belief in their virtue and the NZFSA vigorously defend the sweetener, convinced by all the shonky science from food industry junk “experts” and an American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) loaded down with ex-chemistry industry flakes that aspartame is the best thing since sliced bread. Regulatory authorities worldwide – even at the level of United Nations and European Union involvement – are hardly any better and seem to have a revolving door relationship with the chemical and food industries. Who else, after all, is going to give chemists and toxicologists the sort of salaries their university educations lead them to expect? “Food is just chemicals” and “People are just chemicals” is the popular mythology inherent in a science and medical education these days, so why doubt aspartame, which, when all is said and done, never kills you straight away and is “just another chemical?” Since I first became aware of problems being caused by aspartame back in 1990, I’ve been taken aback by the relaxed attitude of the science and medical community towards the whole chemical food additive and pesticide chemical residue issue as it relates to the human food chain. More alarming still is the manner in which ordinary people can put up with huge physical and mental damage from addiction to aspartame products like diet soft drinks without ever questioning the most obvious item(s) in their diet that could be causing the problem. When I finally got to cross-examine Abby Cormack I was astounded to discover that sugar-free chewing gums were only the tip of the iceberg. She’d been consuming aspartame products for a total of nine

42, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007

years and the gum was just the last straw to break the camel’s back and cause her total collapse into massive depression, muscular dysfunction, skin problems and other chronic symptoms that half a dozen medical specialists and numerous hospital visits could provide no answer to. Simply stopping her daily use of sugar-free gum produced an immediate initial cure. Now that she has been more than forty days free of ALL aspartame products practically all her medical symptoms have disappeared and Abby has become a leading New Zealand activist in a call from the Soil & Health Association, the Safe Food Campaign and the ADHD Association for a total ban on aspartame. The whole aspartame issue becomes, in fact, a clear indication of the huge blind-spot we all collectively have towards the things we do every day and somehow it exposes a defect in our nature that even rats and other lower order species don’t appear to suffer from. For unlike us, laboratory rats avoid aspartame wherever possible. In fact when US corporate additive producer G. D. Searle (later Monsanto/Nutrasweet) and Food & Drug Administration (FDA) food additive regulators tried to force-feed the stuff to rats as part of the Mickey Mouse pseudo-science used to validate such additions to our diet worldwide, the rats – being much cleverer than us – carefully isolated the chemical grains of aspartame from the food it was mixed with and left the puzzled “scientists” and “experts” with neat little piles of the poison in the corner of their cages. Rats apparently don’t need experts to tell them what is safe. They rely on commonsense. We are the laboratory rats! Without a question of doubt, we are the real rats in the laboratory for a large number of food additive poisons in the food chain, but we are unlikely to be exposed to anything much more virulent and disabling than the scientifically established neurotoxin aspartame, (2) officially known as Additive E951 or 951 and technically defined as L-Aspartyl-l-phenylalanine methyl ester, 98%, aspartame CAS #22839-47-0, C14H18N2O5, which is now present as a sweetener in literally thousands of supermarket food and beverage products, as well as medicines and popular supplements. Patrol the shelves of your local supermarket, health shop and pharmacy and see for yourself. Look at the ingredient lists of your favourite foods and beverages and establish your own personal damage control. Don’t expect much sympathy for your sudden interest in what goes into your food, least of all from our doctors, health authorities and politicians. The only doctor in the whole of Oceania to stick her head over the parapets and condemn aspartame in public is Australian Sandra Cabot, in her Liver Cleansing Diet book series. And while Sue Dengate’s Australian food allergy activist group, the Food Intolerance Network (Website: www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info) covers a huge range of food additives and the problems they cause, aspartame only gets a mention among the huge list of other problem-causing chemical additives Sue has to deal with. Jenny Scott of the Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Association in Auckland and our long-standing health and organics campaign association, Soil & Health (publishers of “Organic NZ) are similarly stretched. Voluntary organisations simply lack the essential resources to carry out a job we actually employ the NZ Food

Welcome to the one specialist health-centre that focuses on you and every aspect of your treatment

QE HEALTH THE SPECIALIST HEALTH-CENTRE FOR RHEUMATOLOGY & REHABILITATION

Contact us direct on 0800 734 325 or through your GP. Telephone 07 348 0189 • PO Box 1342, Whakaue Street, Rotorua infoline@qehealth.co.nz • www.qehealth.co.nz

INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007, 43

Cre8ive 0000A

Safety Authority and Food Standards Australia New Zealand to carry out using our tax dollars. In a society with citizens more concerned and knowledgeable about food safety, NZFSA and FSANZ wouldn’t last longer than the time it took to close down both offices and turn their collective staffs out onto the street. But we all currently seem to accept a vague social mythology that says both organisations are doing their job. Truth is, they are not. They rely solely on suspect data from the food industry and from official regulatory bodies like the FDA and European Union and United Nations food safety qangos, who defer to experts reliant on industry for employment and funding. The simple fact is, paid employment defending the public’s interest in genuine, ethical food safety does not exist outside the odd Green-type political party as in Europe or New Zealand, where isolated politicians like our own Sue Kedgley are prepared to devote a large slice of their life to coming up to speed with the essential scientific and political background knowledge essential to understanding the nature of a chemical additive like aspartame. The media, watchful for their industry advertisers, completely ignore the toxin and treat yours truly and the handful of food safety consumer activists like Jenny Scott, Meriel Watts, Alison White, Patricia Holborow and Sue Kedgley (the whole food safety issue is women-led), as obsessives with too much free time on our hands. It’s only the small band of phenylketonurics among us who pay attention to the only toxicity warning appearing on aspartame products – “PHENYLKETONURICS: Contains phenylalanine” or simply the term “phenylalanine”, which means nothing to the rest of us. Phenylketonurics suffer from an inherited genetic disease known as phenylketonuria (PKU), a severe allergy to phenylalanine. They must be particularly careful about what they eat and normally follow a carefully tailored diet which excludes high protein foods. Their motivation comes from the fact that they can suffer permanent brain damage if exposed to the raw synthetic phenylalanine which comes as part of the complex aspartame molecule. For the rest of us it’s “just another additive” and “the Government wouldn’t allow that sort of thing if it was bad for us.” Well, Governments regularly do some pretty stupid things, and remaining willfully ignorant about something you may be consuming every day which has a long history of fraud, shonky science, corrupt politics and health hazard is certainly not bliss – aspartame can kill and “death” is one of the outcomes underlined in court documents filed as part of major class action litigation against the aspartame-using food industry currently in progress in the USA. (3) About this course of events, however, the Australasian media has so far been completely silent. It’s a can of worms no one wants to open in this country where aspartame is in thousands of products and approved by Government edict. The silence is also very much a phenomenon of our south Pacific isolation. Particularly since release of recent Italian data (4) on aspartame’s firm connection with cancer there has been growing involvement of Northern Hemisphere media in discussing the issue. In fact ever since Professor Olney pointed to an increase in brain cancers in November 1996, drawing attention to a rising curve in brain tumours in the USA starting within a year of the introduction of aspartame/additive 951 in 1981, there has been growing concern in the science commu-

nity over the continued presence of aspartame in popular diet beverages like Diet Coke and in Wrigley’s chewing gum and a host of Weightwatchers, fitness, health and diet products (read food and beverage labels for 951, “artificial sweetener” and/or “Phenylalanine” warnings). This concern reached critical mass recently with the publication in peer-reviewed medical journals of two intensive studies by the Italian Ramazzini Foundation, in 2005 and 2007 (4) , that demonstrated a clear connection between aspartame consumption and a variety of cancers including brain tumours – something that the very first research on aspartame in the 1970s indicated before aspartame approval became a political issue pushed through the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by the Ronald Reagan White House administration in payment for election campaign funding and support from the chemical industry (G.D.Searle and Monsanto in particular). Of course in the normal, commonsense world where we, the ordinary public live, we should be able to say “Well, if there’s a problem over aspartame’s level of toxicity and other issues of potential hazard, we don’t want it in the food chain!” This is the sensible response. What nearly everyone in New Zealand – and certainly in NZFSA’s ironically-named Consumer Forum – doesn’t know, however, is how heavily politicised the whole issue of the original approval process for aspartame was under FDA governance.

FSANZ denies toxicity Aspartame, as we have seen, is fully approved as part of our food chain by the combined regulatory agency, Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) and our own NZFSA. FSANZ was formerly known under the rubric of ANZFA (Australia New Zealand Food Authority), but changed its name, according to popular Internet myth, because when you do a spell-check the suggested correction for ANZFA is always “unsafe”! “Unsafe” is certainly the least of the criticisms one might make about Additive 951/aspartame. The synthetic sweetener rapidly breaks down in the human body into three chemicals hazardous to human health: – (1.) Aspartic acid, (around 40%); (2.) Phenylalanine, (around 50%); and (3.) Methanol (10%). This breakdown process takes place spontaneously at a temperature of 30 degrees Celsius and happens immediately a diet product enters the human body (we operate normally at a temperature of 37 degrees). Hence a can of Diet Coke exposed in those bins outside a service station on a hot day – a common sight anywhere in New Zealand and Australia – will already be laced with a cocktail of dangerous toxins as will any diabetic bakery and Weight Watchers product containing aspartame which has been heated in its processing. Any analytic laboratory can prove this point for you for a cost of less than $100. The science behind methanol or “wood alcohol” toxicity is

The politics behind aspartame’s approval

Rumsfeld has been trying to get his pet project, the supersweet chemical aspartame, through the FDA’s approval process for a new food product. Approval of the product is worth billions of dollars to Searle and a huge bonus for Rumsfeld. The problem is, the FDA’s scientific team consider the sweetener is a dangerous poison with the potential to kill. Not only this, but they have amassed a pile of evidence that Searle, with Rumsfeld’s obvious approval, have gone through vital laboratory test reports on aspartame safety, eliminating evidence that the product maimed, disabled and killed test animals. All the evidence for Searle malpractice has been assembled by the FDA’s Jerome Bressler into an important document – now known as the Bressler Report – that anyone can read (it’s on the official Federal record and available on www.dorway.com). As a consequence, a Richard Merrill writes a 33-page letter, recommending to U.S. Attorney Sam Skinner that a grand jury investigate Searle for “apparent violations of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, 21 U.S.C.331(e), Act 18 USC 1001, for “their willful and knowing failure to make reports to the Food and Drug Administration required by the Act 21, U.S.C. 355 (i) and for concealing material facts and making false statements in reports of animal studies conducted to establish the safety of (aspartame).” The legal machinery creaks into action, but the whole process is hampered by the fact that the corporate chemical industry pretty effectively controls Washington. In the meantime it’s suddenly January 21, 1981, the day after Ronald Reagan, a former B-grade Hollywood actor takes office as U.S. President. He’s sailed into the White House on a huge raft of election funding from corporate America and G. D. Searle in particular and the word is out that he will not forget his friends. Donald Rumsfeld is still G.D. Searle’s president and a firm Reagan favourite. Rumsfeld has been greasing Republican palms all round Washington for the

Of course the main reason aspartame is approved in New Zealand is because aspartame is approved in the United States. Aspartame is a heavily politicised issue because it is a major American corporate profit base worth billions of dollars and, as every New Zealand adult should know by now, we usually bend over backwards to please Uncle Sam. We may pretend to be anti-nuclear, but even George Bush knows that’s a snow job kept in circulation to fox the natives. The USA maintains a major US National Security Agency spy base down at Black Birch Stream near Blenheim and US Central Intelligence Agency planes involved in “renditioning” suspected “terrorists” to torture chambers in North Africa and Afghanistan have been spotted flying in and out of the US Deep Freeze programme’s Harewood, Christchurch air base. Sucking up to the USA is good politics. Monsanto and the corporate chemical industry have helped put every American president in power since the 2nd World War and good relations with the USA means keeping American corporates happy and ensuring their products pass through our regulatory process virtually automatically providing they have the FDA stamp of approval. In that respect NZFSA’s present acting CEO, Sandra Daly is kept completely in the dark. FSANZ is in the same position. The immediate former US Secretary of Defence, Donald Rumsfeld, is a central player in the aspartame approval drama, funnily enough, and the full story of what happened is like an episode out of The Sopranos, but I’ll try to keep it brief. The scene opens on January 10, l977. FDA Chief legal Counsel Richard Merrill has been considering the huge list of violations of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, committed by G. D. Searle under the administration of former Ford White House Chief of Staff, Donald Rumsfeld.

44, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007

past few years and telling the Searle sales force “he would call in all his markers and that no matter what, he would see to it that aspartame would be approved that year.” (5) That same day G.D.Searle reapply to the FDA for the approval of aspartame despite the fact that up-to-date this approval has been denied pending the prosecution of the company. No problem. Reagan and Rumsfeld already have a staunch Republican hack ready for the job as new FDA Commissioner – Arthur Hayes, who in short order overrules the FDA’s own board of inquiry who have refused to approve aspartame and gives the product the FDA’s stamp of approval. It’s well-known in Washington circles, however, that aspartame is not just any old political FDA approval, but is, in fact, a general signal to corporate America that Reagan means business and Big Business at that. The signal in particular, tells Big Business that from now on all the brakes are off, tricky regulations about silly things like public health and safety are gone for good and “Let’s get together and make money, boys!”

Arthur Hayes is quickly bored by his job at the FDA, at any rate, and before too long goes off to work for notorious PR flack firm Burson-Marsteller, who just coincidentally, you understand, happen to be retained by G.D. Searle! At about the same time, Federal attorney Sam Skinner – remember, he’s the one who’s been assigned to prosecute Searle for fraudulent tests in their original aspartame application? – gets “an offer he can’t refuse” from – Guess who! – Searle’s lawyers! – and goes off to work for them for a reputed $US1,000 per day, effectively sabotaging the whole Federal case and, of course, effectively ending any litigation threat against Searle for its deliberately falsified aspartame data. The whole debauched exercise is the start of a long-standing criticism of US federal authorities – and the FDA in particular – that they have a “revolving door” relationship with G.D. Searle, Monsanto and the chemical industry in general. And, of course, as far as NZFSA and FSANZ is concerned this whole shoddy exercise just never happened. But it did, and it’s recorded in US Senate records. (5)

beyond debate. It’s something you learn about early in a chemistry training because it’s in every laboratory and is similar in some of its effects to ethanol, the ordinary drinking alcohol in all booze of whatever description. Easy access to methanol is a standing temptation at medical school and chemistry class parties, but it can blind you. Too much ethanol will normally only cause vomiting and loss of consciousness. Methanol is another story – it’s quickly absorbed through the stomach and small intestine mucosa and converted into formaldehyde, a severe poison and carcinogen. Then, via a process called aldehyde hydrogenase, it is converted to formic acid. These two metabolites of methanol are toxic and cumulative. They can make you go blind and they can quickly kill you – which they do, often.

ists publicizing Betty Martini’s anti-aspartame speaking tour of New Zealand main centres were collating records on the dozens of New Zealanders who have been contacting us over the severe medical problems they have been suffering due to addictive consumption levels of aspartame products like diet drinks and sugar-free gum. In every case they were completely let down by our conservative medical profession, who appear to be almost completely oblivious to the medical conditions caused by aspartame and listed earlier. It’s the same story – and even worse – in the home of aspartame. Chuck Fleming’s wife, Diane, is currently serving a 50 year sentence down in Virginia, USA, for supposedly killing him with a methanol overdose. Chuck was a fitness fanatic, body builder and basketball player who drank litres of aspartame-containing diet drinks every day as part of his fitness routine and suddenly dropped dead – hardly surprising under the circumstances. The autopsy showed chronic methanol poisoning, enlarged heart, fatty liver, pulmonary oedema, etc – all symptoms of aspartame abuse. Police indicted Diane for poisoning her husband even though she helped them try and find out why he died and passed a lie detector test with flying colours. Says methanol expert Dr Woodrow Monte (presently in retirement down in Tim Shadbolt’s Invercargill) “When diet sodas and soft drinks, sweetened with aspartame, are used to replace fluid loss during exercise and physical exertion in hot climates, the intake of methanol can exceed 250 mg/day or 32 times the US Environmental Protection Agency’s recommended limit of consumption for this cumulative poison.” (6) Dr. James Bowen, an authority on aspartame toxicity, explains that the heart muscle is very sensitive to methanol alcohol poisoning and any stress on the muscle from such a source often results in sudden death. He says: “The aspartame molecule is an alcohol poison about 20,000 times as toxic a poison as ethanol (regular old sipping, or beverage alcohol) on a per weight basis.” (7) NZFSA and FSANZ, secure in their ivory towers down in Wellington, simply say “this can’t happen.” Methanol’s hazard is exacerbated by the presence of the two

nyone who consumes a litre or more of Diet Coke or some other aspartame-containing beverage per day is probably already near the limit for chronic methanol poisoning (6) and will be suffering muscle pain, headaches, migraines, sleep problems, dizziness and/or seizures, amongst other health problems. This is because aspartame breaks down extremely rapidly in a liquid form. The well-known Hollywood actor, Michael J. Fox, and several of his fellow participants in the TV drama “Spin City”, sponsored by Diet Pepsi, have all been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. All received free supplies of the sponsoring diet product. Parkinson’s is a well-diagnosed outcome from excess aspartame consumption, as is Alzheimer’s. Fox denies a connection to his Pepsi consumption, but aspartame and Parkinson’s – and Pepsi sales – flourish on such denials. At the present time, in North America, there have been a rash of court cases and coroners’ court hearings over sudden deaths from acute methanol poisoning, which we, with our knowledge here, can connect to the chronic aspartame product consumption of the victims. Similar cases are probably occurring all over New Zealand and Australia, but may easily be attributed to other causes such as a heart attack unless a careful autopsy is carried out and a history of aspartame use discovered. As this story was going to press the ad hoc group of activ-

INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007, 45

amino-acids Aspartic acid (aspartate) and phenylalanine, in the break-down of aspartame in the human body. These two synthetic toxins (in their aspartame form) have a multiplying or synergistic role in methanol chemistry inside our bodies, a role which is still being studied and discussed in the scientific literature. But again, their independent role as toxins is not subject of debate unless you are an “expert” under contract to the aspartame-using food industry or, perhaps, a food safety regulator working for FSANZ or the FDA. Phenylalanine in its synthetic form causes the most pernicious problems among aspartame addicts (Yes! It’s highly addictive!). The amino-acid lowers the epilepsy seizure threshold in the human brain and depletes serotonin, triggering manic depression, suicidal tendencies, panic attacks, anxiety, insomnia, mood swings, paranoia, hallucinations and irrational rage. Airline pilots have a standard direction within their own inner circles and publications advising them to stay well clear of all diet products containing aspartame, following some alarming aspartame-induced lapses of control and judgement at the controls of passenger jet aircraft which have resulted in pilot-deregistration. (8) Regarding the serious issue of who is in control of your airline flight to Sydney, the pilot or a diet drink, Dr Russell Blaylock warns “Some of the more common complaints (from pilots using aspartame products) include, disorientation, difficulty thinking and concentrating, visual blurring or even monocular blindness, seizures and heart failure. It is well known that the ingredients in aspartame, as well as its breakdown products, have deleterious effects on the nervous system and retina. For example, phenylalanine is a precursor of the catecholamine neurotransmitters in the brain and elevated levels in the brain have been associated with seizures. It should also be pointed out that these catecholamines are metabolized to form other excitotoxins and peroxide products that can lead to elevated free radical formation and lipid peroxidation within the neurons. Likewise, aspartic acid (an excitotoxin) acts as an excitatory neurotransmitter and can lower the seizure threshold making a seizure more likely. The additive effect of aspartic acid and phenylalanine would significantly increase the likelihood of a seizure, especially under hypoglycemic conditions. This would occur if a diet drink is substituted for a meal, or if one is on a stringent diet.” (9) NZFSA & FSANZ misunderstand science The confusion our regulators suffer over aspartame’s potential hazard lies in a very common area of ignorance suffered particularly by toxicologists, dieticians and, in fact, anyone with an elementary background in university-level chemistry – the sort of people who, in other words, end up as “experts” in our national and state regulatory system. Both aspartic acid/aspartate and phenylalanine are common amino-acids found in nature in foods as well as in the human body. They are protein building blocks and wherever they occur in nature and in our diet they are always combined and accompanied by a huge array of associated bio-chemicals and substances with which our digestive system and physiology is entirely familiar. They NEVER appear as independent ISOLATED aminoacids as they do in their aspartame break-down form, and in a healthy human body their complex action in the functioning of our brains and nervous systems is carefully monitored by a 46, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007

huge cellular system of biological checks and balances. Like anything that may be OK in moderation, this system is quite unable to deal with the flood of free aspartic acid, phenylalanine and methanol resulting from direct aspartame consumption. The human body, being the glorious mechanism that it is, will try to compensate, but under the steady assault from a poison like diet soft drinks, will eventually weaken and sicken with any combination of over a thousand symptoms.

r H.J. Roberts, author of a leading text on the medical damage caused by aspartame, Aspartame Disease: An Ignored Epidemic, has become an acknowledged world expert on aspartame poisoning, its diagnosis and treatment at his Florida clinic. He now lists over 1,400 medical symptoms and disorders triggered by aspartame, collated from the thousands of patients who pass through his clinic’s doors. His book itself is based on the detailed case histories of 1,200 patients whose symptoms of disease disappeared when aspartame was removed from their diet. He estimates: “Hundreds of thousands of consumers, more likely millions, currently suffer major reactions to products containing aspartame. Today, every physician probably encounters aspartame disease in everyday practice, especially among patients with illnesses that are undiagnosed or difficult to treat.” (10) Consumption – and particularly HEAVY consumption – of aspartame-containing food and beverage products, is the equivalent in logic of tipping a can of petrol over your car’s efficiently working engine and setting the whole engine compartment on fire! Of course, petrol drives a car’s engine, but it must be in the right place under the correct controls. In flames, the car may continue to run for a little while longer, but the fire will eventually consume it and put it off the road for good. What our bodies are not familiar with and what our bodies cannot cope with and remain healthy are the three artificiallycreated chemicals that result from the immediate break-down of aspartame as it passes the 30 degrees C threshold – aspartic acid, phenylalanine and methanol. But none of this fazes our health regulators. FSANZ and NZFSA say methanol appears in many items of normal diet, like fruit, without causing damage. But natural items of diet with a methanol content invariably contain ethanol, which is a natural buffer against methanol poisoning. (6) Aspartame products contain no such buffer. Ethanol is not present in aspartame. Our regulators appear ignorant of this elementary fact. FSANZ and NZFSA deny that aspartame toxins can pass over the blood/brain barrier – a crucial point in understanding how aspartame toxins circulating in the blood can cross into brain cells and interfere in brain chemistry. Their assertion is based on seriously out-of-date aspartame “science” held in their standard database and used to answer public queries. The problem is that this “science” is based on shonky data proven some years ago to be the work of paid science hacks working for the aspartame industry. (11) However, the very fact that all aspartame products must – in theory – carry the “PHENYLKETONURICS: Contains phenylalanine” warning gives the lie to this claim from our regulators. The synthetic phenylalanine overdose contained in aspar-

“Hundreds of thousands of consumers, more likely millions, currently suffer major reactions to products containing aspartame. Today, every physician probably encounters aspartame disease in everyday practice, especially among patients with illnesses that are undiagnosed or difficult to treat” tame easily crosses the blood/brain barrier just as the ordinary ethanol alcohol in our booze does and just as the toxins in all the other recreational drugs we consume, like “P”, Ecstasy, heroin, cocaine, etc, do. Our drugs of choice, in fact, would lose their popularity straight away if this mystical “blood/brain barrier” wasn’t so easily breached in the first place. Under detailed cross-examination NZFSA and FSANZ representatives invariably fudge these issues and display denial symptoms and ignorance of the most basic facts about this toxin. And it’s not just our own poorly-educated regulators and the American FDA who approve the product. Tens of thousands of tonnes of aspartame are poured into the world food chain with the full approval of the World Health Organisation, European Union, and in fact every regulatory agency from here to China – the country which is presently competing with the USA to become the top supplier of aspartame on

the planet. It seems we all can’t get enough of aspartame. Aspartame, of course, is highly addictive, just like our other legal drugs, nicotine and ethanol/alcohol. What better way of ensuring huge annual profits to the food and additive chemical industries than by inserting a guaranteed, legally permitted and “scientifically approved” additive like aspartame into our supermarket food chain? But it doesn’t get the rat vote! And with that curious intelligence displayed by “lower” species everywhere, cockroaches won’t eat it, cats and dogs won’t eat it, ants won’t eat it and flies won’t eat it – but politicians, food regulators and medical professionals worldwide consider it safe enough for us, and dutifully out here in God’s Own Country many of us are consuming it in such large quantities that the products are among top-selling supermarket items and the food industry is laughing all the way to the bank. INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007, 47

References: 1. Russell L. Blaylock, M.D., “Excitotoxins; The Taste That Kills”, Health Press, Santa Fe, N.M. 87504, 1994. 2. John W. Olney and others, “Increasing Brain Tumor Rates: Is There a Link to Aspartame?” Journal Of Neuropathology And Experimental Neurology Vol. 55, No. 11 (November 1996), pgs. 1115-1123. James Bowen, M.D. “Aspartame Murders Infants in violation of Title 18, Chapter 50A, Sec 1091-3 of the Domestic Genocide Code” see <www.dorway.com>. Also Dr. H.J. Roberts, “Does Aspartame Cause Human Brain Cancer?” Journal Of Advancement In Medicine Vol. 4, No. 4 (Winter 1991), pgs. 231241, and his book, Aspartame Disease: An Ignored Epidemic, Sunshine Sentinel Press, Florida, USA, 2001, Website: www.sunsentpress.com 3. The suits were filed in Shasta, Sonoma and Butte County, California early in 2004. They allege that the food companies committed fraud and breach of warranty by marketing products to the public such as diet Coke, diet Pepsi, sugar free gum, Flintstone’s vitamins, yoghurt and children’s aspirin with the full knowledge that aspartame, the sweetener in them, is neurotoxic. Defendants in the lawsuits include Coca-cola, PepsiCo, Bayer Corp., the Dannon Company, William Wrigley Jr. Company, Walmart, ConAgra Foods, Wyeth, Inc., The NutraSweet Company, and Altria Corp. (parent company of Kraft Foods and Philip Morris). 4. Morando Soffritti, Fiorella Belpoggi, Davide Degli Esposti, Luca Lambertini, Eva Tibaldi, and Anna Rigano, Cesare Maltoni Cancer Research Center, European Ramazzini Foundation of Oncology and Environmental Sciences, Bologna, Italy, “First Experimental Demonstration of the Multipotential Carcinogenic Effects of Aspartame Administered in the Feed to Sprague-Dawley Rats,” Environmental Health Perspectives, Volume 114, Number 3, March 2006; 5. Gordon, Gregory, 1987. “NutraSweet: Questions Swirl,” UPI Investigative Report, 10/12/87. Reprinted in US Senate report (1987, page 483-510). 6. Dr. Woodrow C. Monte, “Aspartame: Methanol and the Public Health,” Journal of Applied Nutrition, Volume 36, 1984, No. 1, page 42-54. 7 See Dr James Bowen on www.dorway.com aspartame website.

48, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007

8. “Aspartame – Not for the Dieting Pilot?” Aviation Safety Digest, Spring 1989; Hicks, M., “Nutrasweet … too good to be true?” General Aviation News, July 1989; “High on High”, Plane & Pilot, January 1990. 9. ASPARTAME AND PILOTS – Position paper by Russell Blaylock, M.D., neurosurgeon on www.dorway.com in section “Aviation Dr. Blaylock’s position paper on aspartame and pilots.” Also see http://www.russellblaylockmd.com. 10. Pat Thomas, “Aspartame – The Shocking Story of the World’s Bestselling Sweetener,” The Ecologist, Vol. 35, No.7, September 2005, pages 35 – 46. 11. Nisperos-Carriedo, Myrna O., Philip E. Shaw, 1990. “Comparison of Volatile Flavour Components in Fresh and Processed Orange Juices,” Journal of Agriculture & Food Chemistry, Volume 38, page 1048-1052.

CHECK THESE RESOURCES FOR FURTHER INFORMATION For details of how to get aspartame out of your system check the Websites – www.dorway.com, www.wnho.net, and the Aspartame Toxicity Center, www.holisticmed.com/aspartame. A new video exposing the aspartame industry is “Sweet Misery: A Poisoned World”, available from Email: cori@soundandfuryproductions.com, Tel (USA) – 520 – 624 -9710. Also see the medical text on aspartame: “Aspartame Disease: An Ignored Epidemic”, available online from www.sunsentpress.com or Tel (USA) 1 800 827 7991 H. J. Roberts, M.D. (along with other books and tapes). Dr Roberts’ book contains a chapter on trial lawyers and drug interactions since aspartame is a severely neurotoxic drug and class action litigation has already begun. See also books on aspartame by neurosurgeon Russell Blaylock, MD, “Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills”, and “Health & Nutrition Secrets To Save Your Life.” See websites above for details. The latter book tells aspartame victims what they have to avoid and why, and explains how a victim can re-build their immune system. Dr. Blaylock also has a book on Cancer Strategies. With aspartame having caused so many tumours in original studies this is a helpful resource.

INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007, 49

Silence of the Land

Is 1080 Poison Killing Our Birdlife?

They say in space, no one can hear you scream. In some New Zealand forests, they say no one can hear birds screech. The reason, according to hardbitten locals and hunters, is the long-running 1080 poisoning campaign. It has become something of rural legend that after 1080 goes through a forest the birds die; and the bush that’s been around for thousands of years falls silent. Why would New Zealand’s Department of Conservation be indiscriminately killing rare native birds? It’s a question MELODY TOWNS sets out to answer

50, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007

Photography: Eldad Yitzhak

INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007, 51

he forests of New Zealand receive far more than just rainfall, as the New Zealand Department of Conservation (DOC) continues to routinely drop tonnes of food laced with the lethal compound sodium fluoroacetate (1080). It poisons all oxygen-metabolising organisms by blocking the conversion of food into energy, making this compound just as harmful as cyanide, without the bad press. Aimed to destroy the possums that are in turn wreaking havoc on our forests, the question still remains even after the reassessment by the Environment Risk Management Authority (ERMA) of this poison, what else is being destroyed? On the 30th April 2007, The Environment Risk Management Authority (ERMA) announced its preliminary findings from its reassessment of Department of Conservation (DOC) and Animal Health Board (AHB) use of the universal poison 1080 in New Zealand’s forests. Their preliminary decision is to permit the continued use of aerial 1080, a finding that has received a backlash of responses by parties against the use of this poison. Among the most damning, a scientific meta-analysis of relevant studies, carried out by a Coromandel couple. Concerned after learning a year ago, just how much poison was being dropped indiscriminately into New Zealand’s forests, chemists Patricia Whiting-OKeefe, PHD (Chemistry) and Quinn Whiting-OKeefe, BA (Chemistry, Math) felt they had a responsibility to investigate this further. Putting together a scientific appraisal on the subject, the Whiting-OKeefe’s who are both scientists and life long environmentalists were astonished by what they describe as an extraordinary national policy where scientific evidence is not the whole story. Initially struck by the assertion by DOC that this poison only kills possums and pests, the Whiting-OKeefe’s say that this statement alone appears to be a contention that violates the most fundamental principles of common sense. By choosing to approach this statement by the scientific principle which says, 52, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007

“extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence’ what they found was far more than just the answer to the question they had been looking for. By asking whether or not it is “plausible that one could drop high protein, high carbohydrate food mixed with a poison that kills all animals into a semi tropical ecosystem and only negatively affect other possums and pests?” they not only found an answer to their seemingly reasonable question but put together a report which in turn unravels a tale of bureaucracy, propaganda and questionable scientific evidence. The report claims that there is no scientific record that remotely justifies the following statement from DOC’s May 14 press release, “Without 1080, the price New Zealanders would have to pay in their loss of the unique species and habitats is too awful to contemplate”. Instead, Whiting-OKeefe’s claim is that research that DOC presents to the public are “habitually, publicly and aggressively” misrepresented. Citing an example of the use of a statement made by Al

“Initially struck by the assertion by DOC that this poison only kills possums and pests, the Whiting-OKeefe’s say that this statement alone appears to be a contention that violates the most fundamental principles of common sense” Morrison, Director General of DOC on the national radio program, Radio New Zealand, the Whiting-OKeefe’s say that his statement, “that if we want to have kiwis, then 1080 is the price”, is an assertion that they quote as bordering on the absurd. Suggesting that there is “not one stitch of scientific evidence showing that applications of 1080 benefit kiwis”, the report instead says that, “there is a sound scientific argument that may be profoundly harmful”.

The report continues to investigate other claims made by DOC, which they suggest are not based on scientific evidence. DOC claims in its ERMA submission that “robin nesting success more than compensates for any robin losses from 1080”, however the Whiting-OKeefe’s suggest that this statement is not borne out of any evidence and that the real bottom line is that DOCS own study reveals that although there was increased nesting success in 1 of 3 years this fails to translate INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007, 53

Photography: Jessica Jones

“The most severely affected species included beetles, bees, ants, butterflies, moths, springtails, flies and spiders...the backbone of forest ecosystems” into increased robin population success. Instead the study also shows that 54% of banded robins died in the 1080 poison area compared to none in the un-poisoned area. Another native bird that 1080 is claimed to be saving is the tomit; this ground feeding bird is cited in a study by Westbrooke (2005) as not being affected by 1080. Yet, the Whiting-OKeefe’s claim that this same study actually published data that shows that substantial number of tomits could be being killed even by low concentration cereal baits, and that about 40% of tomits actually died when exposed to low concentration carrot baits. The report states that this data however is “never mentioned by DOC (or by the Forests and Birds organization, DOCS principal apologist), nor is it mentioned in the abstract section of the paper yet carrot bait is still in widespread use. Bats are just another example of a species suffering from the 54, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007

use of 1080. Although DOC claims that bats are unaffected by the poison, a 2002 study done by Lloyd and McQueen showed that bats were clearly poisoned secondarily by eating affected insects. The Whiting-OKeefe report states, “The study gave a ‘best estimate’ that 14% of bats would be killed in foraging flights in a 1080 poisoned area, and who knows what the long term sublethal effects would be of the repeated exposures to which DOC subjects them”. Further than this, the Whiting-OKeefe report states “DOC has suppressed critical research unfavourable to its 1080 agenda” and says that the most disturbing of this research is that on invertebrates, the animal category that includes insects, worms and spiders. Whiting-O-Keefe claims that DOC refused to allow the following 1992 Meads study to be published, and instead commissioned a similar study to be undertaken which Whiting-OKeefe claims to have been structured, “to have virtually no chance of detecting the high mortality seen in the Meads study”. The Meads study had claimed that there was a 50% mortality rate among forest invertebrates, in particular insects from a single aerial 1080 “treatment”. The most severely affected species included beetles, bees, ants, butterflies, moths, springtails, flies and spiders...the implications of this are truly disturbing given that insects and other invertebrates are the backbone of forest ecosystems”. Yet the following DOC study is claimed to have been structured to have virtually no chance of detecting the same high mortality rate as quoted in the Meads study but Whiting-OKeefe say this “poorly designed and analysed study” still remains the sole evidence that New Zealand’s indiscriminate use of a poison originally developed as an insecticide is not devastating our forest invertebrates. Mandated by law to protect native species and biodiversity, Whiting-OKeefe suggests that instead DOC’s use of 1080 over the intervening 15 years has “probably already done irreversible damage to the diversity of our native invertebrates”. They then go on to say that even if there were no truth in the rest of their report, that this one point alone should be enough to bring an immediate halt to the poisoning of our forests with 1080. A supporter of 1080 recently emailed Whiting-OKeefe, questioning their advocacy against the poison. The emailer wrote: “…without 1080 we have lost parakeets, kaka, kokako, blue duck and at least 5 native forest plants at Aongatete in the Kaimai. With 1080 we have recovered kokako, kaka, parakeets and blue duck at Pureora and kaka at Whirinaki…anybody advocating against 1080 at this juncture is putting our natural heritage at risk. To do so is hypocrisy at the best and sabotage at the worst”. Responding to this questioning, Whiting-OKeefe says the study used to examine the effect of aerial 1080 on the populations of kaka and kukupa in the Whirinaki Forest Park contains a fatal statistical error, which is lack of replication and randomisation of study and control areas. “In the study, Powesland et al radio tagged the birds and used one poisoned area and one un-poisoned control area and tracked these birds over three breeding seasons following poisoning in one area and observation in the single control area. When the authors reported on the nesting success and fledging survival for the radio tagged birds, incredibly they did not distinguish the data from the poisoned and un-poisoned areas. Instead they only reported on the combined results from both

depression comes in many shapes and guises and often needs a helping hand

If you’d like to know more about our proven programmes available in our unique therapeutic community environment

Please contact us direct or through your G.P.

The Ashburn Clinic, Private Bag 1916, Dunedin, NZ. Tel 03 476 2092 Fax 03 476 4255 Email ashburn@ashburn.co.nz www.ashburn.co.nz

INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007, 55

Cre8ive 3931

treatment and non-treatment areas. This extraordinary choice is not justified in the text. One wonders what the data actually shows that the authors were anxious not to report. In any case, this study demonstrates absolutely nothing about the impact of aerial 1080 on the nesting success or populations of kaka and kereru.” The authors of this report were sponsored by DOC – effectively the organisation masterminding the chemical drops and Whiting-OKeefe go on to suggest that given this level of potential bias, the conclusion that “effective control of introduced mammalian predators…should benefit these bird populations”, cannot be credited. With DOC’s $80 million per year pest control budget, Whiting-OKeefe suggests that considerable doubt should be cast over the rational use by DOC to justify such spending. By combining this example with many others in the report, Whiting-OKeefe concludes, “DOC is not being straight with the people of New Zealand”. They write, “to test this conclusion, we systematically reviewed 40 randomly selected pages from DOC’s 1080 reassessment application submitted to Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA) in October 2006. We found that fully 58% of pages contained serious distortion, misrepresentation or other errors of various kinds. Of these, 36% were outright misrepresentations (typified by the previously mentioned examples), 23% were factual errors, 20% were misrepresentation by omission, and the rest were unsupported claims”. As New Zealand is unique in the fact that it is the only country in the world that uses this amount of aerial 1080, these statistics have caused immeasurable concern. New Zealand uses over 85% of the world’s supply of 1080 claiming that it is in a unique ecological position where the dropping of tonnes of food laced with this poison into semitropical forest ecosystems is vital for the protection of the native habitat. WhitingOKeefe however, says this is just not true, as Hawaii has an almost identical problem with feral mammals but would not even consider such a practice. Miles Nakahara, Forest and Wildlife Branch Manager on the Island of Hawaii says, “You are pretty cavalier using a poison like that…you will be destroying the forest…you will lose everything you are trying to save”. A poison that is toxic to all animals, banned or prohibited in most countries and classified as “extremely hazardous” by the World Health Organization, is something that, WhitingOKeefe say, “should prey deeply on the minds of every environmentally conscious Kiwi”. This is just the beginning of what Whiting-OKeefe have outlined in their detailed report. They say there are many more trolls under the bridge, including the suggestion that there are hundreds of native species for which there is no information at all. Stating that “research indicates that sublethal doses can cause reproductive dysfunction, hormonal dysfunction, and mutations in several vertebrae type species”, Whiting-OKeefe says that the ‘treatment’ of our forests every 2 to 3 years with 1080 poisoning means that “we can only speculate on the long term and chronic effects on our native species”. Although possums do need to be controlled, WhitingOKeefe says that the evidence used to support the use of 1080 is inconclusive and often suffers from researcher bias. The argu-

Photography: Craig Hill

ment is that possum numbers will be limited to some extent by 1080, however one large study also shows that possum numbers had declined naturally after about 20 years of infestation without intervention. By assuming that possums do need to be controlled one still needs to ask whether or not there is a safer option than 1080. Whiting-OKeefe answers with “absolutely yes”. They report that “in 2003, a comprehensive Animal Health Board funded study showed that even in the roughest terrain, ground based possum control is possible for a $20-per-hectare differential in cost. Nationally this translates into $36 million per year extra to protect out forest ecosystems from repeated assaults with a universal poison that is killing thousands of native birds, 50% of invertebrates, and 14% of our unique 56, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007

native bats”. With DOC stated as already using pest control on higher and higher budgets, Whiting-OKeefe, poses the question as to why these other options haven’t been looked into. It’s hard facts that Whiting-OKeefe says the New Zealand public have a right to know, not “vacuous promotion of a potentially disastrous practice”. Save our forests for future generations, is the theme of this study, and by raising alarm bells about the truthfulness of the use of 1080, Whiting-OKeefe, hopes that each environmentally conscious New Zealander will be presented with all the facts so that they can make up their own minds. *The completely referenced scientific report supporting the material in this article is available from the Whiting-OKeefe’s at pwok@alumni.caltech.edu

Unwind in Thailand

Fly non-stop Auckland to Bangkok every day in our brand new Airbus A340-600 aircraft.* THAI. Smoother than Silk

*These seats available ex Auckland to Bangkok return and to various other destinations. Please check with your travel agent.

INVEST_MAG206

INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007, 57

INTERVIEW

The WORLD ACCORDING to PAUL Paul Henry’s new DVD To The Ends of the Earth has just been released, tracing the lives of kiwis in far flung countries. But as he filmed it Henry was filled with a sense of foreboding about what is happening to the world. He talks here to IAN WISHART about what he found, and why he did it

HENRY: You know how hard it is to say no? I know that sounds ridiculous but I had this vague idea and put it to the ultimate director of the programme, and she worked on it and said ‘this is a great idea, I’ll pitch it to TVNZ’. You never think they’re going to say ‘yes’, but before you know it you’re trapped into doing it! And I ended up going back to countries that I’d sworn I would never go back to again. INVESTIGATE: Examples? HENRY: Southern Sudan. I mean, I can remember specifically as a war correspondent, leaving that country, thinking the only good thing about having been here is that I can tick it off, I never have to come back again. And there I was in Khartoum, getting on a plane to fly to Southern Sudan, and I thought, Oh, Lord, I wonder if it’s changed. And of course it hadn’t. INVESTIGATE: Well with all this Darfur stuff going on, what was it like going back there? HENRY: I went into a slightly different area, but I went in with an expectation – because of course officially the war is over – but I went in with an expectation that it was going to look quite different. But you get the feeling the fighting is over for a while, in the area you’re in – and you can only ever speak for the immediate area you’re in – but you get the feeling the fighting is over but the war runs deep. Especially where conflict is ingrained in people for generations, as it is in 58, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007

PRESSPIX/Chris Skelton

INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007, 59

“You go overseas and you see an Australian and a kiwi in one country, and you see a Briton and a kiwi in another, and an American and a kiwi in another, and after a few years you think, ‘Are we bloody everywhere?”

Southern Sudan. And you think, oh, there’s people here with good spirits doing as much as they possibly can, but the peace is paper thin. INVESTIGATE: Well you saw it too in the Balkans, but we have this view in the West that if we all just get together and sing a John Lennon song it will all be right. What’s it like in the real world? HENRY: I always think of the conflict in Papua New Guinea, and I was talking to some old English military bloke who was there when the conflict was still on, and I was talking to him and he said, ‘you know, the thing is, we’ve got to knock this on the head soon, because if you let a conflict run beyond 9 years it is almost impossible to stop’. And his thinking there was that if it runs beyond nine years you’ve got people fighting in the conflict who don’t remember what peace was like. And so no matter what you say to them they actually don’t know what they are fighting for. INVESTIGATE: That generational thing? HENRY: Yeah. And he said if you have to explain to someone what it’s like to be able to go down to the dairy whenever you like to buy a newspaper, or a packet of chippies or something, he said, things are real tough. If you can catch people before nine years they can probably all remember that sort of feeling. And of course you look at the Balkans and that – it’s generation after generation after generation of absolute hatred and fear. You can sort of bring the fighting to an end for a while, but whether or not you can ever truly walk away and say, ‘well, there you are, peace!’, I don’t know. INVESTIGATE: This is politically incorrect, but given that we source a lot of refugees around the world, as do a lot of the other OECD countries, are we importing some of this conflict? HENRY: We must be, we absolutely must be! There can be – no right minded person could imagine that the answer to that would be ‘no’. How could we not? Because it is in the psyche of these people! I can always remember, in Africa, I would go to conflicts in Africa and you’d talk to, like, eight, nine and ten year old children – and they were children – and they were in a village where the village just 20 minutes walk through the bush away had just been ‘cleansed’. And the most horrendous crimes against humanity were being committed in their neck of the woods, and yet they were absolute children. You go to the Balkans, I was in Sarajevo and places like that, 60, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007

you wouldn’t find an eight year old who wasn’t full of hate. Those children over there – and I suppose it’s a level of sophistication – but by the time they’re eight they know what the fight is all about and they have the passions. I mean, it’s a horrible thing to say, but I was talking to young, young kids, who had the passion for the kill in them. I remember talking to one girl once, in Srebrenica, she was 16 years old and told me what had happened to her family. I said, ‘Can you put this behind you? Because that is what the world is telling you to do, to put this behind you?’ And she said, ‘I will breed the warrior into my children and we will get our revenge’. INVESTIGATE: So how do we approach this in NZ – getting back to this ‘John Lennon’ approach to foreign affairs – how do we build a realistic understanding in our country of what’s going on in the world around us and how much we can, actually, do? HENRY: Well, I don’t know. Is that question impossible to answer or just impossible for me to answer? I don’t know. You mentioned this migration thing before, and it’s funny: You have people in New Zealand because you believe you’re doing the right thing, and you don’t insist that they adopt our values, because you believe it would be the wrong thing to do, to insist that they adopt our values. So how, if you run with those two lines of thought that we run with at the moment, how do you prevent the perpetuation of hatreds and angst? I just don’t know how you do it. And just to answer that last question of yours, I don’t know that we truly appreciate our place in the world or even our responsibility in the world. I was always sort of struck with that question, are we our brother’s keeper? And there’s no definitive answer to that, is there. You can’t turn your back when you see human rights violations being committed, but at the same time you are determining them to be human rights violations based on your own code of conduct. So are we our brother’s keeper? It’s very, very tricky. Do we wait until our brother causes problems in our own neck of the woods? I genuinely am unsure where the lines are drawn there. INVESTIGATE: It’s the same issue Bush has faced in Iraq, exporting democracy to the Middle East, when it comes right up against the Islamic principle that Islam is a political code as well as religious code. HENRY: Absolutely! Do you stand aside and say, ‘We totally disagree with everything you’re doing, but you’re doing it within your own boundaries so go ahead’? Or do you leap in and say, ‘No, we disagree with what you’re doing so we’re going to change it!’? Because you don’t get a lot of thanks for that, do you! [cackles with laughter] INVESTIGATE: Well one of the fascinating things about your DVD is that you are finding kiwis in these trouble spots. Why did they go there? HENRY: I can remember, and you must be like this too because you’ve traveled a lot, you go overseas and you see an Australian and a kiwi in one country, and you see a Briton and a kiwi in another, and an American and a kiwi in another, and after a few years you think, ‘Are we bloody everywhere?’ Why is this? Is it because our country is so isolated and we are a comparatively young country? I don’t know what it is, but seriously, we are absolutely everywhere! You’d be just about to hop on a

plane, and think, ‘I’ll have a quick beer’ – a New Zealander owns the bar. The car blows up, there’s a New Zealander fixing your tyre. INVESTIGATE: I was looking at the figures the other day, there’s something like a million New Zealanders living overseas. HENRY: Can there be another country on earth that could claim that, with the possible exception of Samoa? INVESTIGATE: I don’t think there is. It’s 20% of our population, living overseas. Australia is nowhere near that. HENRY: Is it because we were not remotely cosmopolitan or international, and we had a perilously small population, that we felt we had to travel? INVESTIGATE: Is it the colonial cultural cringe that we felt we had to go back, or is it just that we’re down here at the bottom of the earth and to get anywhere and see anything of the world you do travel, whereas in most of these other countries you’ve got enough there that keeps you there. HENRY: I’m sure that’s part of it, and the aspect of being so far away from the logical places to go means that I suppose we think, ‘Oh, I suppose it’s on the way so we may as well stop off and visit such and such’, but we do have that thought that a lot of the rest of the world is boring so let’s go places where other people haven’t been. I don’t quite know where we got that adventurous spirit from, unless it’s a throwback to the pioneering days. INVESTIGATE: The strange thing about it is that so many people have simply upped stakes and left. HENRY: One of the nice things about the series is that we specifically made sure we didn’t have people who were all going for the same reasons, whether it was altruistic reasons or mercenary reasons, I think we’ve pretty much covered every reason, in the series, why people would choose to live away for an extended time. INVESTIGATE: The people in Afghanistan, we understand that perspective. Finding people in Sudan and Uganda – there are still New Zealanders living in Uganda?? HENRY: Yeah. Amazing eh. I mean, Sudan was an easy one, effectively the chap that we saw over there would fit in the mercenary category, good money, going over there and he was trying to do the best possible job for his employer rather than for the people there. Fair enough, it’s a sound reason. That was his reason. In the Cocos Islands, on the other hand, they were just people running away, running away from life’s pressures, let’s just go to a little slice of paradise and chill out for a few years. INVESTIGATE: Is there anywhere left in the world that you want to go but haven’t been? HENRY: Algeria is one that springs to mind, which again is an undesirable place, but sometimes you think, ‘Ooh, I’d just like to go there’. I’d like to just go there once. And there are many places in Africa that I haven’t been – I love Africa – I would always go back there again, even when things get really tough. Africa’s an amazing continent.

INVESTIGATE: Anywhere in the Middle East? HENRY: You see, I’m not a lover of the Middle East. No, I’m not a lover of the Middle East. I came into a few problems in Iraq once when I was a correspondent and I spent a bit of time through there. I don’t know what it is. Maybe it’s just the attitude of the people or their psyche, but I’m not a huge lover. INVESTIGATE: Given your travels, where do you see the world heading over the next ten years? HENRY: Globalisation is interesting, because a lot of countries have adopted the attitude NZ has and are becoming significantly more multicultural, but at the same time watering down the strengths and the differences that their own country has, in a way to sort of pander to immigrants who come in. And so what worries me, if we look ten years down the track purely from a social point of view, it will be so hard to distinguish one country from another. You walk down Queen Street now and you think, what is truly unique about this, what shouts out, ‘New Zealand!’? Damned hard to find something now, walking down Queen Street, that shouts out ‘New Zealand!’ You’re walking through the jungle in the middle of Africa, and the next thing you know you stumble on a Coca Cola bottling plant. There’s going to be more and more of that. In a decade’s time, those extreme differences will have been watered down even further. INVESTIGATE: And yet as globalization proceeds, and this approach to multiculturalism proceeds, you end up – as you pointed out you’re not getting people to change their basic attitudes and values – so you end up with this perverse form of international democracy where the largest race, largest culture, is going to ultimately call the shots? HENRY: Yeah, and I wonder if that ‘largest culture’ is simply going to be the culture that refuses to capitulate. That, I think, is potentially very, very worrying. Perhaps we can afford not to be too worried about it yet, but we will have to worry about it soon, I think. INVESTIGATE: You’d be seeing evidence of that already, through the places you’ve visited in the DVD. HENRY: We are, yes. INVESTIGATE: So this series is worthwhile for New Zealanders to look at just for those snapshots alone? HENRY: Yeah, I think so, because they are very true snapshots and we haven’t tried to gild the lily at all. I think for young people, people who haven’t traveled – I mean, it’s great for people who have traveled and you’ll see things in there – but for people who haven’t traveled, this is a snapshot of people’s lives, these are the streets they have to walk every day. This is the picture that’s been painted of their world as a result of whatever has happened in their country. I think it’s quite valuable from that point of view. And it’s quite entertaining, so it’s not laying it on too heavily. INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007, 61

thinkLIFE money

You need to read this

Peter Hensley describes the financial game of pass the parcel that’s about to come unstuck in America

he warm tropical current flowed into Alaska’s Glacier Bay mixing with the cold air off the North American continent regularly creating a fog that rolled in like clockwork at 4 pm. Whale-watching was over for the day so Jim sat down to read the abbreviated eight page digest summary of the New York Times. It was supplied daily to the cabin. Moira took no interest as she always said that by the time it made the newspaper it was yesterday’s news. She was more interested in the wildlife on display off the port bow, which was disappearing quickly into the dense fog.

62, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007

Jim’s interest on the other hand was captured by a story on page three of the N.Y. Times Digest. It related to the sub-prime mortgage debacle currently unfolding in the USA. The lenders were defending their right to provide loans to people who could ill afford them as it gave them access to the rocketing property market. Why should they discriminate against the poor who were missing out on the property boom? Mortgage lenders claimed that such loans allowed millions of Americans to buy a first home. The banks argued that they had a responsibility to their shareholders to

make sure they met their lending targets and hinted that they had been encouraged to make loans to as many people as possible and it was not their job to ensure that the borrowers were in a position to make the repayments. The article suggested that it the onus was on the borrower to make sure they met the repayments. Jim was amazed and commented out loud that he found the whole situation unbelievable. Bob, sitting at the next table had a different opinion. He came over and introduced himself in a loud manner that made Moira cringe. Jim stood up and volunteered his first name. Bob’s response was “Hello, I’m Bob, Houston, Texas” as if it was the most natural thing to do. It took Jim a while, but it was finally dawning on him that Americans took great pride in their heritage. Every introduction had been first name, city and state. This was repeated consistently time and time again. Bob had overheard Jim explaining the story to Moira who was more interested in reading her book than listening to a story in the New York Times about people not being able to afford their mortgage repayments. She had come for an Alaskan cruise holiday and a spot of whale-watching, not an economics discussion. Whilst she cringed a little when Bob joined their table, she was pleased that Jim had someone to talk to. Bob’s approach was, “Do we live in a great country or what!”. Jim was like a stray dog, he would talk to anybody and Bob seemed to be an interesting character. He asked Bob to explain his reasoning. Before Bob could open his mouth, Moira seized the opportunity to excuse herself and disappeared off to the Exploration Café for a quiet coffee, comfortable chair and some peace & quiet to read her book. Bob made himself comfortable and explained to Jim that the reason the original lenders were so vocal in justifying their position was that they were not concerned about being paid back over time. This comment galvanized Jim’s attention. This aspect would surely be of great interest to a lender. Bob went on to explain that such loans were originally made so that they could be repackaged, relabeled and sold in bulk to Wall Street fund managers as residential mortgage backed securities or RMBA’s for short. The original lenders received the fees associated with making the loans, which were considerable because of the nature of the borrowers,

plus their loan money back. Jim suggested to Bob that this was a little unfair on the Wall Street boys. Nah, not in the least. Bob went on to explain that it was like pass the parcel. The Wall Street boys stood to make even more money than the original lenders. Jim sat opened mouthed and let Bob continue. Wall Street on-sold the mortgages to mum and dad investors via mutual funds. A fund labeled “Residential Mortgaged Backed Securities” diversified over thousands of mortgages was an easy sell. Sub prime debt attracted a higher margin which was swallowed up in fund managers’ fees. The difference in the margin was explained away by hinting that it was caused by those defaulting on the loans. The problem surfacing over middle America was that the number of loans defaulting was increasing every day. So much so, that several RMBS’ were teetering and the signs were that they would fall over. Two Bear Stearns funds had recently blown up which is a technical term for a financial disaster. They were called the High Grade Structured Credit Strategies Fund and High Grade Structured Credit

Enhanced Leverage Fund. The first was three years old and had 40 straight months without a loss, and the second was started last August. From January through April, the Enhanced Leverage Fund (which could also be called the Enhanced Loss Fund) was down 23%. Now Jim knew a little about Structured Credit and Collateralized Debt Obligations or CDO’s as they are referred to in the trade. His adviser in New Zealand had written about them and had suggested that they not be included in their investment portfolio. It was his turn to explain to Texas Bob that not only did the Wall Street boys make money by selling the RMBA’s to mum and dad’s across America, they also sold them to pension funds throughout Asia and Europe. By using some fancy financial alchemy (technical term for smoke and mirrors) they were able to convert subprime (non investment grade) RMBA’s to a fund which was rated AAA investment grade by well known (read world-wide) ratings agencies. Bob, eager to show Jim that he was just as well-informed about investment markets reminded him that CDO’s was

a common term to describe a variety of products. The most widespread one could best be described as akin to an insurance policy. The Wall Street boys not only sold the fund that contained the tainted RMBA’s, they also manufactured the insurance policies (read CDO’s) that guaranteed the loan repayments. The magic of Wall Street allows multiple CDO’s to be written on the same loan contract, thus multiplying the revenue stream for the investment bankers. The risky CDO market has in turn created Credit Default Swaps or CDS’s which is another name for pass the parcel. As long as the music keeps playing, not one gets hurt. For the boys and girls from Bear Sterns, the music has slowed enough to make them afraid. The two funds concerned have been described as cockroaches. Experienced cleaners understand that they never travel alone. If you see one or two, you know there are more lurking in the darkness. Later on, when Jim caught up with Moira he tried to explain this to Moira. She repeated, if it is in the newspapers it is yesterday’s news – meaning that wise investors have already removed them from their portfolios.

thinkLIFE education

“

Bright children are immensely frustrated in the classes of teachers whose intelligence or mental curiosity doesn’t match their own, whose lessons are tedious, their material mediocre and unsatisfying

”

Fools ruling schools?

Amy Brooke questions why our education policy is based on the theories of a drug-taking, Marxist sado-masochistic AIDS sufferer

s recently as April, Australia’s Prime Minister John Howard finally recognized that the English syllabus in Australia’s schools is dumbed down by what he called post-modernist rubbish. From all sides, overdue questions are being asked about the kind of literacy, or rather illiteracy, long promoted to students. Australian educationists, like New Zealand’s, have been only too willing to succumb to an ongoing pop-cultural endorsement of the third-rate at the expense of teaching important tools of competence in language use, great poetry, and quality literature. Traditional school subjects are to return to a national school curriculum endorsed by all state and territory governments, to move away from “the sad teachings of the past decade”.

64, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007

But it is much too late for so many, with the consequences all around us. Two-apenny experts have long colonized the rich grounds of the intellectual wastelands of Western education, particularly in English-speaking countries. It’s over 20 years now since, in 1986, William Bennett, US Secretary of Education, exclaimed in dismay when hearing how poorly American school pupils were then performing on the international scene. In spite of our own fudged “experts’ ” findings of how well we are, and have been, performing, which we can examine in a later issue, New Zealand students have done no better. A 1998 international survey, for example, found almost half New Zealand’s workforce falling below the minimum

level of literacy competence required for everyday life. Manufacturing, construction and agriculture industries were the worst affected, with 50% of staff unable to deal with written demands of work. Business and finance sectors fared better, but even then, only 39% of employees were at the higher end of the scale for literacy skills. These shocking finds proved that in spite of typical educationist hype, nationwide schools were performing very badly in what were supposedly their core areas of teaching. Why should we now trust them any more ? Bank tellers can tell us how taken aback they are by the lack of basic skills of young New Zealanders coming in to fill out even simple forms. Moreover, although the notion that literacy and numeracy are important is making a political comeback, what is still not acknowledged is the culpability of education theorists who have long been, and still are, ruling over the schools. Intimidating good teachers, they have ensured that some of our best have left the profession in despair. According to a recent damning report published by an influential independent British think-tank, Civitas, the curriculum in British schools, too, has long been stripped of its content, with subjects blighted and corrupted by political influence. “Traditional subject areas have been hijacked to promote fashionable causes such as gender awareness, the environment, and anti-racism… teachers are expected to help to achieve the government’s social goals – instead of impart-

ing a body of academic knowledge to their students….Teenagers… are being asked to write about the September 11 atrocities using Arab media reports and speeches from Osama bin Laden as sources, without balancing material from America,” it reveals. Moreover, the new, reverse racism flourishing in troubled multi-cultural Britain (as here) has led an exam board to produce a list of modern poems to be studied without any English or Welsh poet being represented, and the “the new 21st century science curriculum introduced last September substitutes debates on abortion, genetic engineering and the use of nuclear power for lab work and scientific enquiry.” Naturally, the Department of Education defends the curriculum changes, accusing the report of being based on “a profound misunderstanding of the national curriculum and modern teaching methods.” Well, they always say that, don’t they? But how many parents have really taken on board the fact that teachers are not supposed to teach children any more – that knowledge is officially out – that “procedures” is the new, mad mantra. The usual expert verbalizers have teachers primed to mentally chant “Not the sage on the stage,” but “The guide on the side.” Children evaluate their own work, or their mates (whoops, peers) do it for them. The last thing teachers are supposed to do is actually teach. No wonder so many youngsters are playing truant. It is a tedious business indeed, for the very young, who tend to be particularly interested in what a genuinely enthusiastic teacher can impart to them, to be required to themselves acquire basic information, step by step. Being directed to use mere “skills” for “accessing information” – rather than being taught methodically and well – slows down the process of quality learning. The huge will to learn and the intellectual curiosity of early childhood are dampened by a lack of worthwhile, interesting instruction by knowledgeable teachers, lighting paths of discovery. Moreover, bright children are immensely frustrated in the classes of teachers whose intelligence or mental curiosity doesn’t match their own, whose lessons are tedious, their material mediocre and unsatisfying. Top schools and fine teachers still hold their ground. But they are greatly outnumbered by the majority of mean-well, knowlittle teachers with superficial knowledge, and no deep grounding in their area of sup-

posed competence. Moreover, one rubbishy fad replaces another. But all the same, it is sobering to read well-entrenched, still, the Marxist or nihilistic jargon of the Left, on a recent website for an Auckland Faculty of Education research seminar offering. “My aim is to investigate two broad questions. On the one hand, what are the implications of the work of Michel Foucault for our understanding of how we deal with ‘problem’ children in New Zealand schools? And on the other hand, what are the implications of Foucault’s work for our understanding of the practices and self-conceptions of those who are charged with assisting problem children in New Zealand schools? In addressing these two questions, I show how the attempt to promote progressive change in relation to problem children in the Special Education 2000 (Ministry of Education, 1996) policy initiative and the subsequent introduction of the RTLB can be reconceptualised utilising Foucault’s archaeological method, his notions of a genealogy, his analysis of power and knowledge relations and his account of the subject.” Now Foucault was either mad, or bad, or both. His writings strongly influenced the perverseness of the French nihilists, and the undermining of our culture that

comes from those so riddled with relativism that they apparently espouse no values at all, except those of their own self-interest. Foucault doubted any superiority of civilization to savagery, or of democracy to totalitarianism. His basic Marxism saw education in terms of power in relation to authority figures, maintaining that human relations are dominated by the struggle for power, that right and wrong, truth and falsehood are delusions, that that there is no such thing as benevolence. He several times tried to kill himself; experimented with LSD; visited sadomasochistic clubs in California; boasted of the enormous pleasure he experienced after being hit by a car; and finally died from an AIDS-related illness. Naturally, his thinking serves as an admirable role model for our politicised and institutionalised academics. When teachers taught well, children learned. The recycling of the always “new”, always politicized methods beloved of a superfluous, damaging educationist establishment continues to cheat our children of a quality education – abused and mis-used. www.amybrooke.co.nz www.summersounds.co.nz http://www.livejournal.com/users/brookeonline

INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007, 65

thinkLIFE technology

Flash gear

Linda Knapp finds the Nikon D80 camera + 70-300mm lens are good together

couple of years ago, I switched from using a fixed-lens compact camera, to a more capable DSLR camera with changeable lenses. Before taking that major step, I tried the latest Canon, Olympus, and Nikon DSLR models. Then, I picked the Nikon D70s to buy for myself, because I like its natural colors and subtle skin tones. Since then, Nikon has come out with a newer DSLR model, the D80, which I want to try, as well as the Nikkor 70300mm lens that can zoom in closer than my 80-200mm lens. Because the newer lens is smaller, lighter, and features Vibration Reduction (which reduces the effects of camera shake), I won’t have to lug around and use a tripod while shooting with this lens. The tradeoff, however, is that this 70300mm F/4.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S VR ZOOM lens is significantly “slower” than my older 80-200mm f/2.8 lens. That means it may not be able to let in enough light for me to shoot at a shutter speed that’s fast enough to catch action indoors without a flash, which is important to me. So, we’ll see. The Nikon D80 doesn’t come with a memory card for storing images, and

66, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007

requires one I don’t already have, so I decide to try the new lens with my Nikon D70s camera while waiting for a memory card to arrive. The long lens This Nikkor 70-300mm lens is 5.6 inches long, weighs 750gms and costs around NZ$800. I mount the lens on my camera and try shooting indoors without a flash. Right away, it’s clear that I’ll have to position the subjects near electric lights or a window to provide enough light. Even then, I have to shoot at ISO 800, and the results look pretty noisy. (Noise is the artifacts that show up when there’s little light and the ISO setting is high.) Already, I miss my f/2.8 lens, which opens the lens wider to let in more light. But, then I switch to shooting in RAW rather than the standard JPG file format, and set the ISO at 200 with 1/125 shutter speed (my standard settings). The images appear too dark on the camera’s display screen, but when opened in Photoshop they miraculously pop up well exposed. Magic? Not quite. I shot them in RAW, and under the Photoshop>Camera Raw

Preferences menu (available when any RAW image is displayed). I’ve checked the default settings that apply tone adjustments and make the defaults specific to my camera’s ISO setting. When I shoot action at my daughter’s karate dojo, the results are excellent. This establishes my devotion to the 70-300mm lens. I still wish the lens could open up wider (like f2/.8) to let in more light, but that would require bigger and heavier lens glass, which would make it harder to handle without using a tripod. As some of you know, I no longer have an inner ear to help me balance, and moving around while managing a tripod would be difficult. Besides, even if I could manage a tripod, I still prefer the freedom of shooting without one. Taking outdoor shots (with good lighting) that can zoom in close on wild life would be an easier test of the long lens, though its response to the major challenges of shooting action indoors convince me that it can do well outdoors. Indeed, when I take it to our country cabin and shoot distant flora and fauna, the results look good. In sum, I like this lens so much that I decide to buy one for myself.

The camera When the Lexar 2GB SD (Secure Digital) memory card arrives, I’m ready to mount the 70-300mm lens on the Nikon D80 camera (which costs around $1,250) and see how well this newer model compares with my two-year old Nikon D70s. What’s different? The D80 has 10.2 megapixels, compared to the 6.1 megapixels on my D70s. That’s a significant difference, and it enables the newer camera to gather a lot more image information when capturing the shot. That’s good. But ... On the other hand, all those extra megapixels take up significantly more space on a hard drive. Good thing I’ve already switched to saving my RAW and TIFF image files on an external hard drive rather than my Mac’s internal hard drive, which is filling up with everything else I store on it. According to Nikon, the D80 also features a high-resolution 12-bit imageprocessing engine, faster start-up (.18 seconds) and faster shutter response

(80ms). It can take up to 2,700 images per battery charge (with the Nikon ENEL3e Lithium Ion rechargeable battery). It has a more sophisticated metering system, and a larger 2.5-inch LCD view screen with wide-angle viewing. I load the Lexar memory card, turn on the camera, set the time and date, and make personal favorite setting adjustments regarding metering, shutter speed, and flash, for example. Then I’m ready to begin shooting. After taking a number of photos at home and at the dojo, I remove the memory card, insert it in a little USB cardholder, plug it into a USB port on my Mac, and transfer images from the card to my computer. Actually, I transfer them through my Mac to the external hard drive, and then open Photoshop’s browser to view them on my computer screen. Many look good. Surprisingly good for shooting indoors, without a flash. Again, I’m successful shooting in low light because I shoot in RAW, which enables me to

increase the exposure later, in Photoshop, without adding noise. Further fiddling in Photoshop renders excellent results. The D80 works well. Since I’ve been using an earlier model that shares a similar menu structure and settings, it’s easy to learn to use this updated camera. If you’re new to Nikon, there are books available that can help you learn to use a Nikon DSLR camera, and the D80 in particular. For example: A Short Course in Nikon D80 Photography, by Dennis Curtin; Nikon D80 Digital Field Guide, by David D. Busch; Nikon D80 in Brief Camera Reference Card, by Blue Crane Digital; and others. In addition, there are also ebooks, books on CD, and DVD tutorials available. Browse in your local bookstore, on the Internet at Amazon.com for these and other titles. Linda Knapp writes for non-experts who want to learn more about using technology in their personal lives. To read other columns, go to www.gettingstartedremix.net. Write her at lknapp@seattletimes.com.

INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007, 67

feelLIFE

sport

Thorne in the side

NZPA / Wayne Drought

Four years after his All Blacks career seemed to have ground to a shuddering halt, Reuben Thorne is back for a tilt at his third World Cup. The Canterbury stalwart splits opinions with the rugby media and fans like no other player in modern times, and he’s forever branded by his leadership of John Mitchell’s ill-fated Cup campaign in Australia. But somehow he’s survived to fight one last campaign. On the eve of the Rugby World Cup in France, sports columnist Chris Forster tackles a modern day sporting enigma

he 32 year old is almost a throw back to the old-school days of rugby, when men were men and All Blacks celebrated tries with a firm handshake rather than a group hug and a couple of cartwheels. Thorne is modest and unassuming – a quiet, silent type – whose no-thrills approach on the field has earned him the unfortunate tag of “the invisible man”. Thorne was dumped by head coach

68, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007

Graham Henry when he ascended the throne from Mitchell in 2004, but has gradually worked his way back into favour. His leadership qualities have never been questioned but Thorne’s rugby skill is forever open for debate, especially in these days of highly-tuned re-conditioned athletes. The doubters persist even as he prepares to embark on a mission to break one of the most baffling sporting losing streaks

in New Zealand – indeed, in the world. Thorne was selected as one of the 30 chosen ones for the World Cup at the expense of the more expansive Troy Flavell. The Blues’ Super 14 skipper worked his butt off during the locking crisis early in New Zealand’s home internationals, but his form faded during the Tri Nations campaign. Typically Thorne has empathy for the man he displaced.

“It’s always sad for any player – every time there’s an All Blacks squad named – there’s a player who misses out, like him (Flavell). You’ve just got to feel for them, cause it could’ve been the other way around”. Thorne’s astutely aware he made the cut due to circumstances more than his brilliant form, and chuckles when questioned about ever thinking he’d play at another World Cup. But there’s more depth to the man than many of the “bah humbug” brigade give him credit for. Thorne can play lock as well as the blindside flank, and dual roles during a six week long tournament are invaluable. He makes truckloads of tackles around the field and offers a safe pair of hands in the lineout, which can be a real problem area in pressure matches. But perhaps his greatest quality is the bitter experience of two semi-final defeats at World Cups, when the All Blacks were odds-on to march all the way to glory. The French debacle at Twickenham in 1999 and the Sydney shocker against the Wallabies in 2003 are two of the darkest days in modern New Zealand rugby. Thorne featured in both, and remembers the pain more vividly than a staunch Cantabrian might want to. The shrewd, calculating brain of Graham Henry has no doubt already factored how to use that hurt as a motivational tool for the team, if and when they reach that stage

TOUR DE FARCE

POOLS For the 6th RUGBY WORLD CUP POOL A

POOL B

POOL C

POOL D

England

Australia

New Zealamd

France

South Africa

Wales

Scotland

Ireland

Samoa

Fiji

Italy

Argentina

Tonga

Canada

Romania

Georgia

USA

Japan

Portugal

Namibia

KEY POOL MATCHES (in New Zealand times) WHEN

PLAY

WHERE

Sept 8 (Saturday 7 am)

France v Argentina

Paris, Pool D

Sept 8 (Sunday 11;45 pm)

New Zealand v Italy

Marseille, Pool C

Sept 15 (Saturday 7 am)

England v South Africa

Stade de France, Pool A

Sept 15 (Saturday 11 pm)

New Zealand v Portugal

Lyon, Pool C

Sept 16 (Sunday 1 am)

Wales v Australia

Cardiff, Pool B

Sept 21 (Saturday 7 am)

France v Ireland

Stade de France, Pool D

Sept 24 (Monday 3 am)

New Zealand v Scotland

Edinburgh, Pool C

Sept 29 (Saturday 11 pm)

New Zealand v Romania

Toulouse, Pool C

Oct 1 (Monday 3 am

Ireland v Argentina

Parc des Princes, Pool D

of the tournament in France. Thorne believes this team is ready for the assault. He was as proud and honoured to make the squad as when he won the first of his caps against the Springboks in 1999, just before the UK-based World Cup. Don’t expect him to start in the three

Julian Dean was New Zealand’s lone rider in this year’s chaotic and scandalous Tour de France. Riding for the Credit Agricole team – the unselfish strongman played a support role, guiding his Norwegian team-mate Thor Hushovd to victory in one stage, and a close second in the Tour finale on the Champs Elysees. He even had a chance at a stage victory himself, but was robbed by an unfortunate fall. Dean’s toils were overshadowed by the drug cheats which turned cycling’s greatest event into a downright farce. In the space of 24 painful hours – pre-race favourite Alexandre Vinikourov and his team were chucked out for blood doping, another cyclist was arrested by French gendarmes – and tour leader Michael Rasmussen was sensationally sacked from his team for lying about his pre-Tour routine. You’d expect a good honest bloke from Rotorua to be absolutely livid about the top cyclists who couldn’t help but help themselves to the performance enhancing goodies.

big knockout matches or the final, IF the All Blacks go all the way to the Stade de France decider on the 21st of October. But Reuben Thorne – in his own almost gentle way – will be on the bench as a failsafe option, or at the very least an inspirational presence on the sideline and a reminder of past failures.

But Dean is pragmatic about those who gave into temptation. “At times it was a bit difficult to deal with, when it was all going on. But if you’re truly a professional athlete, once you get on the bike, you know what your job is, and you do it the best you can”. You can’t blame Dean for steering clear of the controversy. There’s tens of millions of Euro dollars in sponsorship, television rights and prestige involved in the three week pedal around the magnificent slab of real estate that is France. For those who refuse to cheat – or get away with it and succeed, the rewards are immense. Dean sums up the joy of the final ride into Paris, even after scandal had dulled its lustre. “It’s truly a magical moment, after the shadow the Tour was under – to see all the faces out supporting us, it’s just magnificent”. Unfortunately for Dean and the other clean riders it’s a magnificence which may be stained with suspicion forever. Dishonoured 2006 champion Floyd Landis, who’s still protesting his innocence, might even afford a wry smile.

INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007, 69

feelLIFE

health

A Cuff around the Ears

Claire Morrow takes a bang to the head, and reflects on it

’m sorry about the head injuries, OK. As far as I know, there is no good clinical evidence that people who know me are more likely to hit their heads than anyone else, though, so Ockam’s Razor (the simplest solution...) might suggest that head injuries are merely fairly common. Perhaps I just hear about more skull cracking incidents, or maybe repeatedly clocking myself on the head has improved my memory for such things. Cracks to the head cause a level of anxiety that bruised knees do not. Firstly, heads bleed and swell when injured in a way that soft tissue does not and, more importantly, we keep our brains in our heads. Some people prefer the term “brain injury” to describe the whack the head, being more accurate in describing why this can be a serious problem. I prefer the term “head injury” because although the brain is often not injured when the external head (face, skull) is, if we treat all head injuries as seri-

70, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007

ous, we don’t run the risk of missing an injury to the brain which is not evident at the time the head is first damaged. We have had two family whacks to the head in recent memory. They were both minor and in both cases I did not panic. Admittedly in the first instance it was my head, and I didn’t panic because I was a bit dazed. In the second instance it was not my head and I didn’t panic because I know that heads bleed. The face and scalp are jam packed with blood vessels, especially so in children. Even a minor injury to the scalp will bleed a lot. There is a decent chance of opening a surface vein or an artery and then it will be special effects central. If you have anything much to do with children, sooner or later you will witness this first hand. If you see some other sign that you need to call an ambulance (more in a moment) go right ahead. Otherwise, the bleeding is a function of the design of the head, not an accu-

rate measure of the severity of the injury. The bleeding will stop when the child is sitting still with pressure on the wound. The child will not sit still for this if they are surrounded by hysterical adults. There is a school of thought that wants to hold a child still for this, I have always reasoned that if they want to run around screaming for a bit (assuming this is normal for them) one should book carpet cleaners and ignore them until they sit. If the bleeding does not stop – it will still slow considerably – keep the pressure on and calmly go to the nearest place where you can get stitches. You will almost certainly find that stitches will not be necessary…through the use of the miraculous Dermabond (skin glue), or odd techniques involving tying hair to other hair. Most all of us will be given a “symptoms to watch for” brochure and sent home. You will obligingly take whoever has hit their head to get medical attention if they lost consciousness, or have any amnesia of before the injury (antegrade amnesia) or after the injury (retrograde amnesia) if they are nauseous or dizzy or vomit or can’t walk properly or are drowsy or their head hurts. These are not all terrible signs, the problem is that some brain injuries worsen over time. If you have a slow bleed into your head obviously you may feel fine, then get sicker. A mild concussion will cause similar symptoms and needs to be seen , but it may well resolve with no further drama. The whack to the head with the stars and the stitches and the 3 hour wait to be looked at and sent home with a brochure of symptoms you never develop is, indeed, a common phenomenon. Unfortunately serious injury to the brain is also pretty common. In New Zealand around 6,000 people are admitted to hospital each year with head injuries – this does not include people seen in the emergency room who are sent home. The brain is actually pretty well protected – from nasties in your body by the blood-brain barrier, and from the realities of the physical world by the skull. Of course you can damage your brain with drugs and alcohol, with boxing or a misplaced softball. A stroke, a tumour. You should take any injured head with symptoms to be checked out, but the reality is that around half of New Zealand’s brain injuries occur in the same group most prone to suicide, homicide and all round traumatic injury from accidents. They are 15 to 34, and they are

more likely to be men than women. Most of them will be admitted to hospital after a car accident. You will be thrilled to know that I do not consider banning cars to be a solution, and raising the driving age is ludicrous. It may well be that MPs’ sons will be driven around by mummy and daddy until they are 25, but a good majority of real young men do real work and require real driving skills. But then, it’s a different world. Young men (and women) will take risks. Back in the day, there were under 18s faking their papers to get into the army, as adolescents fake their ages today in order to expose themselves to risk. The adolescent brain is simply not fully developed; there is a significant improvement in the ability to reliably calculate risk between the ages of 18 and 25. There are two responses to this; we can treat 18 year olds like adults, and acknowledge that the early stages of adulthood have much to offer, although they are inherently a bit risk-filled or we can protect our children from themselves forever and ever. In affluent Western societies there is an epidemic of creeping adolescence, where one’s children are parent-supported satellite states until closer to 30 than 20. The fact that the nature vs nurture debate is extending this far is just a tad nuts, if you think about it. 20 year olds take risks more often – as a population – than 40 year olds. I have yet to see any evidence that protecting 20 year olds from the consequences of their behavior develops risk assessment skills. One grows up fast when it is one’s own money at risk, when there are dependants to think of. If “young adults” are no longer those under 18 but those under 25, how long until the brain is shown to be underdeveloped until the age of 35? The brain is ill understood. A brilliant conclusion I know. One of the torturous but often merciful things about brain injuries is that they are unique and unpredictable. The brain heals remarkably well in many cases. Most “patient groups” are irked from time to time that one’s individual condition is compared to other like conditions, as if having the same type of tumour made one reductible to all other individuals with the same tumour. In the case of brain injury the complaint is especially valid. Whether one comes out of at weeks coma with a tiny change in memory or a massive personality change, if it will improve and what it means for the individual are wildly unpredictable. Personally I have been involved with a few individuals with long term acquired brain damage and this is what has struck me; most people with acquired “brain damage” have not lost their intelligence (and are often acutely aware that people treat them as if they have), I have not seen anyone with reasonable function to begin with not improve further over time. The brain is not sturdy and it is not well understood, it is more easily damaged in accidents than repaired by medicine. It would be an ill designed thing, if it did not do it’s job so well. It’s saving grace is the optimism of plasticity.

INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007, 71

feelLIFE

alt.health

The probiotics debate

They’ve been in the news thanks to baby formula, but Julie Deardorff has the full story on probiotics

HICAGO – It sounds downright risky, but snacking on billions of live bacteria can actually improve digestion, support the immune system and bolster overall health. Called probiotics, these “friendly” microbes with health benefits are found naturally in breast milk and fermented foods such as yogurt, kefir, aged cheese, miso and certain pickles and sauerkraut.

72, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007

They work by keeping intestinal flora balanced and preventing not-so-friendly bacteria from taking over and causing disease. But during the last 50 years, the increased use of antibiotics and a changing diet low in soluble fiber and high in refined carbohydrates have produced an “invisible epidemic of insufficient probiotics,” says Gary Huffnagle, professor of internal medicine and microbiology

at the University of Michigan Medical School. “We’re not getting what we used to (through diet), and we’re destroying what’s there,” he says. “As a result, the balance of our intestinal microbe population has changed, sometimes with disastrous effects on our immune system.” Research on the topic is exploding. The National Institutes of Health recently announced that it will explore how bacteria in the body can promote health, and the food, supplement and cosmetics industries aren’t about to be left behind. Though Americans are notorious germ freaks, the helpful bacteria and yeasts are being added to beverages, cereals, wellness bars, pet foods, infant formula and even personal-care products. As supplements, probiotics can be purchased as pills, liquids, capsules and powders. The worldwide probiotic yogurt category alone is expected to increase in sales to $500 million from $294 million by 2010, according to the market research firm Euromonitor International. But finding the correct type of probiotic food or supplement (see sidebar) can be daunting for consumers, especially because research is evolving, and many functional foods make unproven claims. Only a few bacteria (members of the lactobacillus and bifidobacterium genuses) have been studied extensively, and scientists are still trying to figure out which bacterial strains are most effective for particular problems. While the strain Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1 has been shown to help with vaginal yeast or urinary-tract infections, Sacharomyces boulardii lyo has a positive effect on diarrhea and inflammatory bowel disease. Another research focus is “figuring how we detect an ‘imbalance’ in a single human being,” Huffnagle says. “When we look at groups of people, we can make generalizations, but for any single person, the generalization may not hold true.” Meanwhile, the marketplace is a freefor-all. All products labeled “probiotic” should contain “live” material, but some don’t; others don’t contain enough. When the testing service Consumerlab. com looked at 13 products, they found that only eight contained at least one billion organisms in a daily serving, the generally recommended minimum dose. But even the proper minimum dose isn’t really known. Some products have been

shown to be effective at 100 million live cells, other show positive results at one trillion. Still, “the potential of probiotics to improve health rivals drugs in terms of impact,” says Huffnagle, author of The Probiotics Revolution (Bantam Books, $24), who says probiotics are more than beneficial; they’re essential and deserve their own food group. “We have 2.5 pounds of microbes inside us,” he says. “The medical revelation is that when they cooperate and work together, they function in our body like an organ. Microbes in our digestive tract have profound effects on our health.” One of the most promising treatments uses probiotics to replenish the “good” bacteria and prevent or ease the symptoms of antibiotic-caused diarrhea, a growing problem for hospitals because of antibiotic resistance. Although antibiotics can be lifesaving drugs, they work by killing many bacteria in our microflora, including the beneficial ones. Failure to restore the good bacteria can cause side effects. But mounting research, including a recent study published in the British Medical Journal that looked at the strains used in Dannon’s DanActive, have shown that probiotics can counter the side effects. “This has the potential to decrease morbidity, health-care costs and mortality if used routinely in patients aged over 50,” the researchers wrote in the BMJ. Though not a routine practice in most hospitals, the National Jewish Medical and Research Center gives probiotics to almost all of the infectious-disease patients who receive antibiotics. For the last two years, Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital in Grand Rapids, Mich., has used them to improve the intestinal health of premature infants. And pediatricians are increasingly recommending them for their young patients. They worked well,” says Chicago’s Wendy Burgess, whose 2-year-old son, Henry, had diarrhea after a round of antibiotics for an ear infection. Burgess’ doctor suggested Florastor, which contains the probiotic yeast Saccharomyces boulardii lyo. “I didn’t know what probiotics were, but if he were to go back on antibiotics, I’d start them to be proactive,” she says. “The one time it makes sense to (use probiotics) is after antibiotics,” says Katherine Knight, chair of the department of microbiology and immunology at

Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, who believes a diet strong in fruits, vegetable and dairy is a better way to build good intestinal bacteria. Time will tell whether probiotics can help with other conditions. Though they’re safe, and good evidence shows certain strains can help with antibiotic-related diarrhea, colitis and H. pylori ulcers, the data is less definitive for obesity, lactose intolerance, cancer prevention, dental cavities, common colds and allergic diseases. “At this point, it seems the enthusiasm for probiotics use in most medical conditions has certainly outpaced the scientific evidence,” says Yehuda Ringel, an assistant professor of gastroenterology at the

University of North Carolina School of Medicine who recently published a paper calling them a “safe” but unproven treatment for irritable-bowel syndrome. Huffnagle, however, who has spent the last two decades studying the immune system, is hopeful. A longtime allergy and asthma sufferer, he started incorporating a probiotic supplement yogurt, fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains into his diet. Within a month, he realized his allergies no longer affected his daily life, and asthma attacks rarely occurred. He credits his newfound bacterial friends. “Modern medicine now appreciates that not all microbes are harmful,” he wrote. “Some are our silent partners.”

Here are answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about probiotics Which probiotic strain do I want? “If you have a specific health concern, see if any products on the market have been specifically tested for that condition,” says industry expert Mary Ellen Sanders, co-founder and executive director of the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics. “For mild irritable bowel syndrome, I’d encourage Procter & Gamble’s Align (probiotic supplement) since they have data with this population. Women with vaginal concerns I might direct toward FemDophilus, again since there is research on this,” she says. What’s the deal with yogurt? All non-heat-treated yogurts do contain live active cultures, which include the bacteria used as starter cultures to make the yogurt (Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilis ), Sanders says. “Yogurts may also contain added cultures, including probiotics. A wider range of health benefits have been documented for some of these added probiotic strains,” Sanders says. But “many of the organisms in yogurt cannot survive in the acidic environment of the stomach,” says Sri Komanduri, an assistant professor of medicine in gastroenterology and nutrition at Rush University Medical Center. Sanders also suspects many yogurts marketed as “probiotics” with added strains don’t contain enough bacteria to be effective or haven’t been studied. Are there non-dairy sources of probiotics? Try naturally fermented pickles that don’t contain vinegar; sauerkraut; the Korean condiment kimchi; soy yogurt; and miso. New products include probioticenriched fruit juices, teas and water, which are popular in Europe. Kashi’s Vive is a probiotic-enriched cereal. Many supplements also claim “dairy free.” What’s the difference between live active cultures and probiotics? Live cultures are often food-fermentation agents and haven’t necessarily been tested for health benefits. Probiotics are live microbes that show a health benefit when consumed in high enough doses.

What should the dose be? It depends on the probiotic strain, what health effect you want to see and whether it has been studied. Most research shows doses greater than 1 billion have effects. What are the best brands to take? The most researched brands include Culturelle, Florastor, Jarrow-dopilus, Fem-dophilus, Theralac, VSL No. 3, Activa, DanActive and Yakult, according to “The Probiotics Revolution.” What are prebiotics? Non-digested fibers that selectively feed your native beneficial bacteria. The most well-known prebiotic is soluble fiber found in oat bran, pectin in apples, psyllium. Inulin and fructo-oligo-saccharides (found in herbs, onions, bananas, asparagus, leeks, garlic, globe artichoke and wheat) are considered super prebiotic fibers, similar to what is found in breast milk. “Some yogurts - Horizon and Stonyfield - both include a prebiotic. Also, eating raw fruits and vegetables will increase the number of live bacteria you consume,” Sanders says. I’m healthy. Do I still need to add probiotics? To get the health benefits, probiotic bacteria need to be ingested regularly, and the best way is by eating a diet rich in foods containing probiotics and other sources of live bacteria or fiber, including fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Meanwhile, there is mounting evidence that probiotics can help people stay healthy in certain ways, such as improving immune function, maintaining normal GI function and preventing infection. Can probiotics help my skin and hair? Maybe. Yogurt has health benefits when eaten and applied to the skin, but more studies are needed to determine the role of probiotics, says Washington D.C.area dermatologist Hema Sundaram. She prescribes a natural face mask to patients: plain yogurt with active cultures plus a few drops of neem oil and a tablespoon of honey.

INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007, 73

tasteLIFE

TRAVEL

The thing about Raro… Thomas Swick discovers the best aspect of the Cook Islands’ Aitutaki is its people

ITUTAKI, Cook Islands – “Do you mind if I stop and offer these people a lift, Tom?” We were driving along the road from the airport, after looping around the doglegged runway, when a middle-aged couple appeared on foot. I had appreciated the fact that the owner of my guesthouse had come to greet me personally (especially as there didn’t at first glance appear to be any taxis on the island). Now I was taken by his kindness toward strangers, his thoughtfulness in deferring to me, and his warm use, after no more than 10 minutes of conversation, of my

74, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007

first name. He had no idea of my occupation. I immediately had a good feeling about Aitutaki. “There’s an island night in town this evening,” Rino mentioned, after the couple declined his offer of a ride. I told him I was planning to attend. “I’ll call the transport for you.” Rino’s Beach Bungalows was a kind of abridged motel set about 30 yards from the ocean. My room was clean, and came with a TV, kitchen and ceiling fan. I turned on the fan and stepped in the shower. Coming out I heard a knock on the sliding glass door.

“Tom, the transport is here.” I threw on a shirt, jumped in jeans and sandals, and ran outside. There was no transport. “He left,” Rino said casually. “He’ll be back.” And he was, after about 10 minutes. His name was Paul Bishop. On Monday I had a meeting with a Bobby Bishop. A few minutes later, we arrived in the main town of Arutanga. It appeared, in the darkness, to consist of an abbreviated row of one-story buildings. The Blue Nun Cafe was part of this row. It had a doorless entrance which led into a large room open to the stars at one end. A bar stood in one corner; plastic tables and chairs dotted the concrete floor. I took a seat across from a Hemingway look-alike. Larry was originally from Spokane, Washington, but now made his home on Aitutaki. There were regulations about foreigners working full-time, so he volunteered – teaching computer science – at the high school. I helped myself to the buffet: salads, rice, sausages, taro, raw fish marinated in coconut milk. Then the dancers appeared. They were young and ebullient, moving with a joyous energy that hadn’t been obvious at the show on Rarotonga. Larry tapped me on the shoulder. “See that girl there?” he asked, pointing to a graceful dancer whose thick black hair fell to her waist. “That’s Paul Bishop’s daughter. She’s a national champion.” Cook Island dancers, Larry claimed, were the best in the South Pacific. Drums pounded, hips swayed, sweat glistened, Larry tapped. “You see the locals come too,” he said, pointing to a large group of families sitting in the darkness off to the side. “And they watch with a critical eye.” More dances followed, each with subtleties unnoticed by newcomers but all accentuating either male potency or female sensuousness. “And people ask me,” Larry said dryly, “why I live here.” Sunday morning I found a shady spot by the road and stuck out my thumb. It felt odd (and hot) to be wearing a white dress shirt, long black pants and a baseball cap (for protection from the tropical sun). I waited five minutes until the first car passed. No dogs sleep in the middle of the road on Aitutaki only because there are no

dogs on Aitutaki. The third car stopped; I hopped in the back seat, next to a silent teenage girl. A few minutes later I hopped out in front of the most prominent building in town, the blinding white, 19th century Cook Islands Christian Church. A group of teenage boys sat on a low stone wall, speaking French. They were high school students from Tahiti, part of the delegation that had accompanied the Tahitian president to the island. A year or so earlier, a Tahitian fisherman had lost power on his boat and drifted for a couple of months, surviving on caught fish and rainwater, before washing up on Aitutaki. He was found and taken to the hospital; after a few days of care, he returned home. His uplifting story had ushered in an era of brotherhood between Tahiti and Aitutaki. The president’s visit, in fact, constituted the first international flight to arrive at Aitutaki airport. (The extensive runway was built during World War II – by the U.S., the guidebooks claim, though locals say the US only provided the funding; it was New Zealanders who did the actual labour. Today it receives planes mainly from Rarotonga, the capital of the Cook Islands, a group of 15 islands spread over an area the size of India and constituting a self-governing nation in free association with New Zealand.) I chatted with the teachers accompanying the students. They were mostly French, and, predictably, not churchgoers. But they were culturally sensitive. One student complained about the ban on hats and the teacher explained that, in the Cook Islands, male headwear was forbidden on Sundays. The boy immediately pointed at me. “Le monsieur ...” I took off my cap and stuffed it in my bookbag. The pews filled: devout islanders, curious tourists, bored teenagers, respectful French educators. Fans fastened to pillars rotated slowly. The preacher and the ushers wore white suits and black ties. Many of the female parishioners wore white dresses and hats. A lot of the people were fairly large. The heat was breathtaking. From his pulpit on the side, the preacher welcomed us all. Written on the wall behind him were the words: “Tapu, Tapu, Tapu (Holy, Holy, Holy).” High above him delicate designs in red and green decorated the white walls. The sermon was on the theme of giving’s superiority over receiving. Hymns sung a cappella nearly rattled the stained glass.

The preacher announced that all were welcome to stay for communion (it was the first Sunday of the month), but that those who didn’t wish to receive could head over to the parish hall. Most of the Tahitian students departed. Then the large, white-suited ushers made their way down the aisles, first with wicker baskets of coconut meat, then with tiny glasses of coconut water. The body and blood. Tables stretched the length of the parish hall, heavy with casseroles, salads, meats, deep-fried mysteries. A makeshift band belted out, appropriately, “Hot, Hot, Hot.” No Cook Islander ate until all the visitors had been fed. I had never seen a sermon’s message so rapidly applied. The Tahitian students interacted very little with their hosts. It was partly generational; much of the congregation was made up of older women. (I later heard that young Cook Islanders often shunned CICC services, preferring the denominations that embraced guitars.) But the students’ aloofness seemed the product of other differences: linguistic (French vs. English), religious (agnostic vs. God-fearing), geographical (big, or at least famous, island vs. small). It was the South Pacific version of the Manhattanite’s meeting with the Midwesterner. Outside, a van stopped by my thumb. I jumped in the back and when I leaned back, the seat nearly tipped over. “My name is Cindy,” the nearly upended little girl next to me said. “And that’s my brother Michael.” I turned around to find a boy of about 7 smiling sweetly. “Hi,” he said, with perfect poise. “People don’t hitchhike here,” explained the woman who picked me up an hour later. “It’s worked so far,” I told her. She was from southern California, and was building a house on the island. We drove up to the airport, alongside both parts of the dogleg, and then down a dirt road to O’otu Beach. The lagoon was a placid turquoise, but the sun was so fierce I couldn’t imagine going in it. I followed my driver into Samade; while she went to borrow a book, I walked out to the bar under a high thatched roof. Tables and chairs sank into a floor of sand. Larry sat at one of them. He said that after high school many young people left for New Zealand and Australia. (Paradise’s perennial lack of opportunity.) Alcohol was a greater problem than drugs. The hospital had a family-

planning clinic that distributed condoms and birth-control pills, but the kids didn’t go there because “their auntie or someone they know is giving them out. Everybody knows everybody.” The lagoon baked in the tropical sun. We could make out, on the rim, the island where “Survivor” was about to be filmed. Over by the airport, Larry said, was Tom’s place, which Paul Theroux wrote about in “The Happy Isles of Oceania.” Though the title was sarcastic, Theroux had genuinely liked Aitutaki, where, recovering from a failed marriage, he had befriended David Lange, the former prime minister of New Zealand who was also adrift and getting over a divorce. Aitutaki – healer of broken, middle-aged hearts. The afternoon drifted. Flies and mosquitoes made regular stops. I remembered Larry, the night before, dismissing the insect problem, saying he simply woke up in the morning and lathered himself with DEET. A desktop publisher from Oregon sat with his wife at a neighbouring table. Tim had just returned from a fishing trip, and was experiencing some money problems. “I’m having trouble calling my credit card company,” he said. “It’s difficult to get in touch here. And I kinda like that.” I asked if he could give me a lift to dinner. The environment services office sat halfway up the hill that overlooked the town. Bobby Bishop, senior environment officer, sat inside in cap and muscle shirt. We chatted about climate change, and measures the Cook Islands, specifically Aitutaki, were taking in response to it. Bobby’s big project was supplying houses with water tanks, so people could collect rainwater and store it for the seemingly increasing periods of drought. We walked outside and hopped in the back of a pickup truck driven by an assistant. It was extremely hot. We drove up to the storage center, away from the sea, and then down a road lined with simple, onestory houses (some with their tanks already installed). Bobby yelled to the driver in Rarotongan (or Cook Islands Maori), and we pulled to a stop in front of a tiny store. Bobby jumped down and, a minute later, returned with two coconuts. He picked up a machete and made a few deft whacks on one of the coconuts until a small opening appeared at the top. He handed it to me. Then he did the same to the other. We lifted them to our lips. The water contained almost equally

INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007, 75

“

Dancers gathered under the royal poinciana tree. First the troupe I had seen at the Blue Nun, with the Bishop girl, then the Tahitians. A few of their songs had a hip-hop beat

76, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007

”

faint hints of coolness and sweetness. I was amazed that more still came out after many thirsty swigs, and drippings down my chin whenever we hit a bump. When we were finished, Bobby sliced them open and showed me how to scrape out the pudding-like meat with the tip of my finger. A second communion – eating coconut in the back of a pickup on a steamy road in the South Pacific. It was my best ride so far. Walking back to my bungalow, I watched as an approaching car slowed and then came to a stop. Inside squeezed the French teachers, who invited me to the evening spectacle their students were putting on. Rino’s daughter took me into town on the back of her motorcycle. Two Tahitian high school girls shot the breeze in front of their makeshift dorm, while another braided a girlfriend’s hair. I took a seat on the concrete railing. The girls wore Tshirts, tight shorts and bored expressions. They were amazed when I told them that their home, its very name, conjures for Americans images of an earthly paradise. They teased Tanya, the girl with Asian features. The stocky girl went inside, returning shortly with a handful of necklaces made of tiny shells. She gave a few to Tanya, placed the rest around my neck, then proffered her cheeks for the requisite kisses. Tanya did the same. An hour or so later we all walked to the village green. Outside a pretty verandaed building, tables stretched with food. For the second time in two days, a feast had appeared as if out of nowhere. Hefty ladies flicked towels to shoo away flies, while unfazed students helped themselves to dinner. Dancers gathered under the royal poinciana tree. First the troupe I had seen at the Blue Nun, with the Bishop girl, then the Tahitians. Even before they started to move you could see their assurance, their brazenness. A few of their songs had a hip-hop beat. The performance continued in the Prince Edward Hall at the top of the hill. It was hard to reconcile such flagrant hips with the royal family. When it was over, I walked back into town and then along the road leading north to Rino’s. Palm trees tasseled a moonlit ocean. Raindrops fell from an errant cloud. A young man on a motorbike stopped to give me a lift.

Come on Over

to our place

The Aitutaki Lagoon Resort & Spa offers guests the Cook Islands’ only private island resort, exclusive Overwater Bungalows, and the only resort located directly on world-famous Aitutaki Lagoon. Panoramic views of the world’s most beautiful lagoon from the resort’s private island, Motu Akitua, will leave you breathless. The resort also offers broad, fine sand beaches the colour of champagne, prompting the renowned Conde Nast Traveler magazine to showcase the resort on its cover as “the resort on the beach”.

At this tranquil romantic retreat, feel free to laze in a beach hammock, slip into the luminous lagoon, ease into a soothing massage at SpaPolynesia. Supremely relaxed, sit back with a sunset cocktail at the Flying Boat Beach Bar & Grill and gaze out together across the mesmerizing lagoon as the moon and stars come out to play. The ultimate luxury ~ privacy. Alluring Aitutaki awaits you. Akitua Island, Aitutaki, Cook Islands Phone: (+682) 31 203 Fax: 31 202 info@aitutakilagoonresort.co.ck www.aitutakilagoonresort.com

Aro’a Beach, Rarotonga, Cook Islands Phone: (+682) 25 800 Fax: 25 799 info@rarotongan.co.ck www.therarotongan.com

SISTER R ESORTS • TH E AITUTAKI LAGOON R ESORT & SPA • TH E RAROTONGAN BEAC H R ESORT & SPA INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007, 77

tasteLIFE

TRAVEL

Thailand’s trunk show

Elephants steal the spotlight, Anne Chalfant discovers

lephants playing harmonicas? We exchanged looks of dread when our tour leader announced the upcoming stop at Maesa Elephant Camp near Chiang Mai, Thailand. The idea of trained elephants in captivity grates against my sense of the dignity these wonderful animals should be afforded. And yet we knew Thailand’s predicament. With deforestation now outlawed, 2,000 elephants have lost their jobs. Up until recently, the huge animals, weighing up to 7,000 pounds, have hauled teak logs from Thai forests. It’s how they make their living, a necessity to feed an animal that eats up to 440 pounds of produce a day. Thailand’s long love affair with elephants – and they do revere these animals

78, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007

to a nearly sacred level – had recycled a lot of the tuskers into tourism. So off our tour group went to Maesa Elephant Camp near Chiang Mai. We watched elephants boot a soccer ball toward the goal, with a magnificent headbutt by one, and a sharp-eyed “goalie” elephant blocking plays. We saw elephants play harmonicas (without swallowing them) and dance. We squirmed as massive elephant feet gave their face-down mahouts (elephant trainers) back massages. That was quite a show, but it was the elephant painting that stunned us. It wasn’t a matter of pachyderms going at it with a free-form Jackson Pollock approach. Each of five elephants had an easel and canvas set before him. The

mahout’s job was to dip the brush in the paint and hand it to the elephant’s trunk, and then the elephant dabbed a green leaf onto the canvas, or traced the line of a stem – following a clearly rehearsed first step in his signature painting. The mahout dipped the brush again, and on went a second dab. I chose to photograph one elephant painter closely, and as I watched, the leaves began to climb the painting in a graceful green stalk. The mahout occasionally voiced some direction, but otherwise the elephant was carefully dabbing the brush on the canvas, creating a gracefully placed leaf. Green leaves on the stalk already sufficed as graceful Asian minimalist art. Meanwhile, an elephant nearby was

stroking lily pads onto his canvas in the same dab-by-dab process. The crowd was astounded. Cameras were flashing and we were all exclaiming over what we were witnessing. Clearly, this was behavior so intelligent, it gave you chills to think where the boundaries lie between this and human intelligence. Then the elephant I was watching began to add orange flowers to the leafy stalk. Most humans, in fact, could not paint with such grace, and the flower stalks painted by another elephant were eerily Matisse-like. The paintings were hung up for sale, and went for about US$40 each. After the elephant show, we all went for an elephant ride in the jungle. Two of us sat on a platform on the elephant’s back, while the mahout rode the elephant’s neck – that is, until he jumped off and gamely shot lots of photos of us with our own cameras. Our elephant was Jumbo, a gentle and sure-footed 31-year-old who led the line of elephants first uphill, then down the trail. My friend Joan Weber and I felt as if we were sliding precariously off our wooden seats on the downhill run, but we held tight to the rails. Frankly, my mind was preoccupied with the picture of Jumbo taking a misstep and 7,000 pounds of elephant landing on me to create human origami. But huge feet create great stability, and everyone was thrilled with our daring elephant ride. Next we were off to see the elephant nursery, where two – ages 3 months and 6 months – hung out in stables with their moms. The moms were happy to grab bunches of bananas visitors had bought, and one even grabbed a bunch hung around a woman’s wrist on its raffia tie. Ellen Parker tugged back, but the elephant easily pulled her forward. For a moment I thought Ellen’s wrist would snap, but fortunately the tie broke and the elephant got its bananas. I had a close call with my digital camera. Because elephants have tiny eyes and poor eyesight, they can’t always tell a Minolta from a banana. The experience at Maesa Elephant Camp left everyone with a good feeling about Thailand’s relationship with its elephants.

“

After the elephant show, we all went for an elephant ride in the jungle. Two of us sat on a platform on the elephant’s back, while the mahout rode the elephant’s neck – that is, until he jumped off and gamely shot lots of photos of us with our own cameras The mahouts, none of whom ever used a stick or even shouted at their animals during our visit, clearly love these big pachyderms. And Thailand has protected the 3,000 wild elephants living in Thai jungle, giving them endangered species status, with severe laws for anyone violating that. When it was time to leave Maesa Elephant Camp, Tricia Fischer, a 30year-old Denverite in our group who had recently quit her marketing job, was declaring she had found her new calling – training to be a mahout.

”

IF YOU GO Maesa Elephant Camp, 119/9 Tapae Road, Muang District, Chiang Mai, Thailand 50100. E-mail maesaele@loxinfo.co.th. Visit www.maesaelephantcamp.com. Several shows a day are offered; try to get there for the day’s first show as it’s much cooler.

INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007, 79

tasteLIFE

FOOD

Italian pesto authentico When life gives you basilico, make pesto, writes Kevin Pang

ENOA, Italy – If this Mediterranean port city was just known for its breezy, sun-soaked hills and as the birthplace of Christopher Columbus, those selling points would be enough to satisfy the local tourism board. But Genoa, Italy’s sixth largest city, has also given the world pesto, the basil sauce that’s now inescapable on menus each summer: slathered on sandwiches, grilled onto chicken breast, placed atop California-style pizzas and the like. In the nearly 150 years since the recipe was first in print, pesto has evolved to where it’s no longer that specific green sauce made from those specific ingredients. It is an idea, a catchall word, a culinary term sexier than plain old “sauce.” Olive oil mixed with pureed mint sounds better when you call it “mint pesto.” But not in Genoa. Never here. Atop the kneecap of Italy’s boot, in the northwest region called Liguria, pesto is a fact of life. Variations abound. Pesto will contain a combination of basil, salt, gar-

80, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007

lic, cheese and olive oil. It accompanies pastas such as lasagna or trenette (flatstranded spaghetti), is spread on focaccia and spooned on minestrone. Some eat it for lunch and dinner seven days a week, others only during holidays. Its influence in Liguria is all the same: Pesto is as integral here as salsa in Mexico or nam pla (fish sauce) in Thailand. But there lies a distinction. Ligurians are so fiercely protective of pesto, their passion can stupefy non-Italians. Basil, they say, should come from the western neighborhood in Genoa called Pra. Salt must be coarse from the Mediterranean Sea. Garlic is best from the province of Imperia, preferably the village of Vessalico 55 miles southwest of Genoa. Extra-virgin olive oil must be cold-pressed from the tiny olives of Taggia. And so on, and so forth. The very French notion of terroir rings true here: Food tastes better when its ingredients are from the same land. When Italians use pesto, little is actually used, perhaps a tablespoonful for

every cup of pasta. There are no green oil puddles left on the plate. In Italy, sauce always serves as a flavor enhancer for pasta; rarely will pesto receive top billing. Unlike the cheese-heavy pesto prevalent in American kitchens, Ligurian pesto is aromatic but light, tasting more like fresh asparagus or string beans than an herbsand-cheese mixture. If you could concentrate the quintessence of pesto alla Genovese to one spot in the world, it could well be at Mercato Orientale, a vibrant covered market in the bustling heart of Genoa. There is enough food on display to make a gastronome tremble: tires of Parmigiano-Reggiano, coils and tubes of salumi, hand-cut pasta as fresh and abundant as the daily bread. Fishmongers sell octopus, mussels and sardines caught hours earlier, with aromas of the sea. Produce seller Simona Nucera operates stall No. 142 with her husband, Hafid. Simona is a Ligurian native but lived in England for 16 years. She left her advertis-

ing job last year and moved back to Genoa for la dolce vita – the sweet life. Now, the Nuceras are living it, selling local fruits and vegetables at the Mercato Orientale. “It’s very natural to eat pesto,” Simona Nucera said during one busy Thursday morning. “It’s like eating corn flakes in the States.” A top seller for the Nuceras is basilico di Pra, or basil from Pra. The area of Pra is industrial and gritty, where overpasses and gray factories converge. Yet it is inside its protective hothouses where some of the world’s most fragrant basil is grown (peak season is mid-April through May). Compared to basil found in NZ, the leaves of basilico di Pra are smaller with a convex shape, like a turtle’s shell. It is less minty and more sweet, the delicate texture of bibb lettuce. At stall No. 142, the basil’s roots remain encased in soil so it’s still “living” at time of purchase. Equally as crucial is olive oil, and the extra-virgin variety of Liguria is more delicate than those found in the rest of Italy. Tuscan olive oil is more robust, better suited for meat. Ligurian oil is fruitier, lighter and more seafood-friendly for this coastal region. Many Italian chefs look for the word “Taggiasca” on the bottle label. This ensures the oil comes from the sweet, tiny black fruits plucked from the silverleafed olive trees of Taggia, a town near the French border. After discussing the merits of pine nuts versus walnuts (both are traditional; the former makes the sauce sweeter, the latter provides a tannic sharpness), the pesto debate intensifies with cheese. ParmigianoReggiano, the prized nutty cheese made from cow’s milk, is option one. Pecorino, made from the whey of sheep’s milk (specifically from the island of Sardinia), is option 1A. A mixture of both in equal amounts might be used, or perhaps one slightly more than the other. Or neither. As many towns in this region are separated by hills, each commune has its own recipe and cooking style. In the town of Camogli, 15 miles east of Genoa, ricotta is favored, giving its pesto sweet tones. Even if a dozen cooks were given the same ingredients, acute Ligurians will claim they could tell all 12 pesto sauces apart. The difference, they say, is in how the pesto is prepared in the mortar and pestle (the word “pesto” is a derivative of pestle, which comes from the Italian word

pestare, meaning to crush). Each hand mashes the leaves with a certain pressure and emulsifies with olive oil at a certain tempo. No two pestos, the theory goes, are ever alike. Maria Rosa Carbone and husband Gianni are the current patriarchs of Manuelina, first opened in 1885. The restaurant has an austere sense, with a brickwalled interior, red tablecloths, ornate plates and a large portrait of the woman who founded it, Emanuela Capurro. The restaurant is known for three dishes. One is a crisp focaccia baked with gooey Crescenza (a tangy cow’s milk cheese). Another is pansotti alla salsa di noci, a heaving ravioli of ricotta and mixed greens, with a sweet walnut sauce. And, like the town itself, Manuelina is famous for trofie al pesto. Maria Rosa Carbone, a sweet grandmotherly type, demonstrates her pesto preparation one evening before dinner service. She speaks no English, but her body language is clear. Carbone picks basil leaves off its stems. She pinches sea salt into the mortar and gestures big with her hands, as if holding an imaginary cantaloupe. The larger and coarser the salt, the better it mashes into the basil, which releases an essence that no food processor could replicate. She minces garlic, removing the core first, because the flavor there is too intense. She begins mashing with a pestle, a kneading motion heavy with wrist action. She adds a few roasted pine nuts, a few more basil leaves, massaging, kneading, until the mixture turns into a bright green paste. Then a spoonful each of ParmigianoReggiano and pecorino adds savoriness and character. Switching to a wooden spoon, Carbone pours olive oil a few drops at a time, until the paste turns shiny, creamy and luscious. It smells like spring. Finally, it is time to taste. A spoonful is topped on trofie, an al dente bite to the curled pasta. The accompanying fava beans add freshness and texture. Unlike the oft-harsh and intense jar versions, this pesto is mellow and perfumed, reflective of the season. The colors are vivid, the taste reminiscent on the palate of something familiar. Yet it is miles away from any other dish Stateside with pesto to its name. Everything else is a pale imitation. Genoa’s culinary contribution to the world, turns out, is also its best-kept secret.

Pesto alla genovese Preparation time: 15 minutes Yield: 4 servings Here’s a mortar and pestle recipe, adapted from the one used by the chef at Manuelina restaurant in Recco, Italy. If you are serving the sauce with pasta, stir a tablespoon of the pasta cooking water into the sauce before tossing with pasta. 36 basil leaves 2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts, see note 1 small clove garlic, minced ¼ teaspoon coarse salt 1 tablespoon each, grated: pecorino cheese, Parmesan cheese ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil Place the basil, pine nuts, garlic and salt in a mortar. Crush all the ingredients with a pestle until combined; gradually add the cheese, mixing in with the pestle between each addition until well mixed. Transfer the mixture into a medium bowl; gradually add the oil, a little at a time, stirring with a wooden spoon to a creamy consistency. Taste for seasoning; add more salt if desired. Note: To toast pine nuts, cook in a small, dry skillet over medium heat, shaking the pan occasionally, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Nutrition information per serving: 284 calories, 96 percent of calories from fat, 31 g fat, 4 g saturated fat, 4 mg cholesterol, 1 g carbohydrates, 2 g protein, 172 mg sodium, 0.3 g fibre Eli Jameson is on holiday.

INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007, 81

seeLIFE PAGES

When it all turns to custard… Michael Morrissey finds a how-to manual helpful THE WORST-CASE SCENARIO ALMANAC: Great Outdoors By David Borgenicht & Trey Topp Chronicle Books, $34.99

his compact, sturdy little book is ideally designed to slide into your rucksack before tackling that foolhardy on-foot sledge crossing of the Antarctica, assault on K2 or whatever. The corners are clipped to avoid roughing and the pages have a tough water-proof feel (though I have yet to put it to the test). This latest in the on-going series which includes guides on how to deal with Dating & Sex, Holidays, Parenting, not to mention Golf, History and College is obviously aimed at every citizen on the planet with a little daring still flowing in their arteries. Future topics are limitless and I’m sure we can expect Worst-Case scenario books on Computers, Haircuts, Cosmetic Surgery, Weight Loss and all the thousand shocks that flesh is heir to. The Great Outdoors categorises the

82, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007

world into Desert, Woods, Tropics, Polar Regions and the Sea plus Cities. Fair enough. In this informative little tome, there is much to learn – some of it wellknown, some of it arcane. There is even advice on how to survive an encounter with a Bigfoot. Since I don’t believe in Bigfoots – the most well-known film footage is patently a fake – I consider this nugatory. In my view, Bigfoot sightings are probably up-right bears glimpsed in half light. The one-page section on the Amazon rain forest warns against tigers, leopard and jaguars. There are of course no tigers in the Amazon or in all of the Americas (except in captivity) and I can only assume the leopard refers to mountain lions for there are no leopards in the Americas either. I was surprised to see such a silly set of errors in a series which prides itself on accuracy. Also the list of venomous snakes gives no indication of relative lethality. The practice of wearing tiger masks on the back of one’s head to scare away tigers in the notorious Sundarbans should have noted that while effective for a while, the

tigers became bolder over time and the device lost its efficacy. Despite the above errors and omissions, the Worst-Case Scenario Almanac still has an excellent chance of survival. It is replete with much useful advice. It was exciting news to me that if buried in an avalanche (and still alive) you should let drool drip from your mouth to determine which way is up – then dig in the opposite direction to your spit’s descent. Without this handy tip, I might have started tunneling in the direction of the centre of the earth. Also shouting and other loud noises (except sonic booms) cannot trigger an avalanche. As a contact lens wearer, I have been warned not to spend more than seven days over 8000 feet. I always knew Everest was dangerous but there are nine other Himalayan peaks that are even more dangerous – most dangerous of all being Annapurna (41 per cent fatality rate) on which famously Maurice Herzog lost his fingers and toes. Of all the extraordinary survival stories listed here, the most moving must surely be that of Sergeant Shoichi Yokoi,

a Japanese soldier who survived in the jungles of Guam for 27 years after World War Two had concluded. Yokoi stayed alive making a shelter with an old cannon shell, using a lens to start a fire, beating a piece of brass into needles, making a belt from woven pago fibres, using a hollowed out bamboo to collect in water and so on. By comparison, Robinson Crusoe was living in a Five Star hotel. Now there’s another idea for an addition in this compelling series – a Worst Case Scenario for staying in hotels – one could start with Fawlty Towers.

ICE BERGS: The Antarctic Comes to Town By David Cull Longacre press, $24.99

cebergs off the coast of New Zealand? It sounds improbable and it is – it hasn’t happened since 1931 (75 years!) and on the face of it is reasonable evidence of global warming or some otherwise hard to explain raising of Antarctic temperatures. However, it must be remembered there have been periods of relative warmth before – for instance, 125,000 years ago, the younger West Antarctic Ice Sheet may have disappeared. Whatever the reason, a cold thrill passed through many New Zealand bones – particularly in the Invercargill/ Dunedin region where the bergs provided an impressive glimpse of these floating white monsters. Like the “fairy land” freezing of Christchurch in 1992, it proved an excellent excuse to produce a more or less overnight book which will guarantee a permanent record of this rare phenomenon and unlike the bergs it captures will not growl, crack and melt. Why not? These giant ice sculptures are definitely worth more an article and photographer Stephen Jaquiery has done them pure white justice. They made an impressive flotilla – some 200 of them in two packs, the largest of which was a kilometre-long while another was ornamented with a tower 100 metres high. If you think that’s large, remember B15, the largest iceberg ever recorded was 295 kms long and 37 kms wide – larger than Jamaica. Non-iceberg folk please note that an iceberg is called A, B, C, or D depending in which Antarctic quadrant it was first sighted. When it breaks up, each new berg 10 nautical miles in length has

an additional letter added to it, eg B15a. Like any other phenomena observed by humans, there is a special iceberg vocabulary. The largest, called tabular, which resemble colossal air craft carriers, have steep sides and a long flat top while the smaller ones are variously called bergs, bergy bits, and growlers. Shapes can be blocky, domes, wedges, pinnacles and drydocks and the more arabesque-like shapes are revealed when an iceberg tips over to reveal “the exotic carving wrought by the sea”. Though most icebergs are white they can appear dark blue-green (or cyan), green – caused by clinging algae – and almost black or chocolate-striped from “mineral impurities or moraine debris picked up by glacial base ice in contact with rock, soil or sand”. Helicopter pilot Graeme Gale reports that, “the colours were changing ... You’d go out in the morning and find the light completely different from the evening before. The icebergs had changed”. Though thousand of years in the making, once they’re born they are dramatic in their devolution back to water. In a publicity and charity-raising event, farmer John Perriam caught the media eye by flying over Shrek, a Merino wether that had not been shorn for several years and looked almost ogreish from the overgrowth of wool he was carrying. Shrek was helicoptered to the berg and denuded of his fleece on prime time television. So we might say both Shrek and the South Island-hugging icebergs have had their fifteen minutes of fame.

WINTER’S BONE By Daniel Woodrell Sceptre, $36.99

inter must have penetrated my psyche for this is the third book this month that has cold and ice in its pages. Apart from a wonderful book on ice which for some inexplicable reason I never finished (too cold?), I cannot recall any writer who describes ice and snow as well as Woodrell, a superb stylist who was an unforgettable discovery for this reader. Here is one of numerous vivid descriptions: “She became ice as she walked. White wads broke on her head and dripped to her shoulders to freeze and thicken. The green hood had become an ice hat and her shoulders a cold hard yoke ... Her boots crushed the ice topping and

broke into the underlying snow for traction.” It’s like that most chapters for the young, green-eyed, gutsy heroine of this finely written novel, which though small, really packs it in. The heroine is 16 year-old Ree Dolly, who inhabits the winter Ozarks, a mountainous region spread over Missouri and Kansas. Apart from being cold, this backwoods terrain is also one might call backwards, with crank (NZ lingo: P) being the main orchestrator of social and sometimes physical calamity. Some of the vocabulary tends to the cold and backwoodsy too – truckle, hinky, dunkle. The book has a simple plot premise – Ree’s father, a crank cooker, has gone missing – a runner from justice and the family property is the bail bond. Likely ultimate cause for disappearance – foul play. Her mother has lost her mind so the burden of looking after mother and two younger brothers falls on Ree’s young but strong shoulders. The book has a kind of happy but low key ending .On the rough way, for survivor Ree, it is tough, threatening – and cold. Winter’s Bone is populated by large brutish men who speak in brutishly short utterances, sport shot guns and manufacture P. They are not to be trifled with. Not, on the whole, the sort of fellow to take home to mother. Or maybe just the sort after all for the Ozark women are also cagily suspicious, paranoid, suspicious and violent. Three such, and not the men, are the ones who beat up the hapless Ree because she is found guilty of sticking her nose into other’s people business in her quest to find her missing father. Over this cold and grim human terrain, the sinewy, magical and original style of Woodrell weaves a spell that ensnares the reader as willing accomplice: “Mom sat in her rocker staring at the baby with alarm, pondering wretchedly, tired face riffling between shimmers of suspicion and guilt, as though trying hard to recollect if maybe she could’ve birthed yet another little bundle who’d somehow slipped from memory.” Read this book and be darkly enchanted.

OPPORTUNITY By Charlotte Grimshaw Vintage, $27.99

lready well known as a novelist, Grimshaw has now turned her talents to the short story. In former times, writers more usually started

INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007, 83

with a volume of short stories and then evolved towards a novel – often pressured by publishers who know that in general a novel sells more copies than short stories. Though it may be a natural pathway for an evolving writer to go down. Without our strong tradition of the short short story, New Zealand literature would be the poorer – think of Mansfield, Sargeson, Frame, Grace, Ihimaera, Marshall and (if no false modesty will allow) the reviewer. Grimshaw’s first book of stories consists of a group of cunningly interlinked stories. I’ve never tackled this difficult challenge myself but like Tim Winton – she succeeds admirably. Though each story stands alone, the interweave of linked narratives tends to create an overall effect more akin to a novel. The strategy provides the reader with pleasurable moments of recognition. Like realising that the anonymous burglar who ransacks popular author Celia Myers’ apartment in “Stories” is good for nothing Blake in “Daughters”. Celia reappears in the last story “Going back to the End” though this is not immediately apparent. Frissons of this type abound. Grimshaw is an author who like to surprise. This technique which could also be viewed as the artful capacity to hold information back manifests in various ways. I very enjoyed the punchy sequence where wife Karen berates her journalist brother who is suffering from bowel cancer: “I hear you’ve been shouting at people.” “Only at Christians.” I thought about writing. It’s the unexpected jump from the outward dialogue to an apparently disconnected line of thought that startles. While the technique may look easy it indicates a considerable degree of sophistication in narrative approach – we don’t know what is coming next. Of course, Grimshaw’s fictional world is more than surprise – it is also the familiar. Her characters are writers, doctors, dentists, architects. They live in Remuera and go to Kings School or St Cuthberts. They drink fine wine and speak in Englishtinged accents. I’ve got no problem with that (though some may) and it’s in welcome counterpoint to the notion that any true New Zealander should be culturally or financially underprivileged, wear a black singlet and say Gidday. My favourite among several such was

84, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007

“Doctor” which delivers several surprise narrative jolts – but you’ll have to read it to find out. Highly recommended.

SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER :Public Intellectuals Rethink New Zealand Edited Laurence Simmons Auckland University Press, $45

ome years ago, a recently arrived Jeffrey Masson, ex-Professor of Sanskrit and a well known authority on the emotional life of animals, asked me if there were any public intellectuals in New Zealand. To my shame, I could only think of C.K. Stead who interestingly or oddly enough is not included in the line up of 14 names in this anthology. Looking at the list, I feel I should have recalled some of these names all of which – save one – were in fact well known to me. I guess it’s a bit like watching Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Seated in your chair at home, you can think of the answers but when put on the spot your mind goes blank. The full list is James Belich, Sandra Coney, Brian Easton, Lloyd Geering, Nicky Hager, Roger Horrocks, Bruce Jesson, Jane Kelsey, Michael King, Andrew Sharp, Stephen Turner, Ranganui Walker, Marilyn Waring and Ian Wedde. Only Stephen Turner’s name made me go – who is this person? My guess is the ones currently most well known to the public would be James Belich, Brian Easton, Nicky Hager, Michael King, and Ranganui Walker but any such selection would also depend on what city you live in and what your intellectual interests might be. Horrocks is very known in the world of film as is Wedde in art criticism and museum theory. Possibly the most amusing in a mildly dry line up is Roger Horrocks’ examination of anti-intellectualism in Aotearoa. He instances Gordon McLauchlan’s mockery of the 2003 forum at the University of Auckland and also lists a number of high profile journalists who attacked university intellectuals over the Paul Holmes notorious “cheeky darkie” comments about Kofi Anan. Other conservative and common sense advocates who by implication are antiintellectual include Paul Holmes, the late Frank Haden, Michael Laws, Garth George, John Banks and Deborah Coddington. Editor Simmons’ approach as inter-

viewer is to frequently use a quote from a prominent overseas intellectual. For instance, he quotes English Professor Stanley Fish who says a public intellectual is “someone takes as his or her subject matters of public concern and has the public’s attention” or Richard Posner’s assertion that public intellectuals have been absorbed by the universities (not true I think) or a distinction made by Antonio Gramsci between traditional intellectuals and organic intellectuals – he then throws these quotes at our locals for comment. Fair enough. Fair enough too, is Jeffrey Masson’s observing that Posner’s listing Henry Kissinger as the number one intellectual in America based on the number of website hits requires qualification – Kissinger might also be seen as the one war criminal! Rather then Kissinger as number one intellectual I would have considered Chomsky would have qualified for such an appellation. That stalwart left wing thinker Bruce Jesson is thoughtfully examined by Professor Andrew Sharp and Jesson is frequently alluded to – Jesson, of course, was not an academic but well known to the public (especially that of Auckland) through his numerous articles. Marilyn Waring is sulphuric on the subject of universities: “Universities are the most overgoverned, over-manged incompetently administered, multi-million dollars business in New Zealand”. Several contributors nostalgically remark that the 70s and 80s were a better term for intellectual debate in New Zealand and I am left wondering if this is true and whether it was a reaction against Muldoon? Ian Wedde, who deploys a language more elegantly turned than the other contributors laments the passing of such figures as Professor Peter Munz observing that students have become “clients” and critical Socratic pedagogy is turning into “service delivery” which makes one wonder who thinks up these phrases – certainly it isn’t the intellectuals. One thing to be noted about intellectuals (especially literary, artistic and political ones rather than prophetic scientific ones like Paul Callaghan – not included ) is if you ask them how things are, you generally get intelligent though gloomy answers. But it cannot be all that bad – otherwise this book wouldn’t have come into existence – it would have been suppressed, burnt or simply never conceived of.

FATHER’S DAY SPECIAL OFFER !* PURCHASE TWO COPIES AND SAVE $10 OFF THE TOTAL

“I have been compelled to mention this book at every social occasion I have been to recently because Eve’s Bite is so deliciously full of juicy conversation-starters” – Wairarapa Times Age Get a Father’s Day Double Pack and you’ll pay only $45.80, instead of $55.80

*Father’s Day special offer is only available from 0800 747 007 or online at www.evesbite.com INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007, 85

seeLIFE MUSIC

Resurrected

Chris Philpott finds Crowded House back on their mettle CROWDED HOUSE Time on Earth

INTERPOL Our Love To Admire

SJD Songs From A Dictaphone

iven the plethora of bands reforming this year, I’m not ashamed to admit I was more than a little skeptical when I heard that Neil Finn had put back together his most successful band, albeit without their original drummer, the late Paul Hester. However, any fears were very quickly alleviated when I listened to their latest release. From the moment the simplistic acoustic guitar intro of album opener “Nobody Wants To” hits, Time on Earth feels like it was really meant to be; sure Hester is gone, but that spark between Finn and bassist Nick Seymour remains and really provides the driving force of this latest record. While critics around the world have praised Earth as a “worthy follow-up” to the past House releases, I really think it deserves more. It doesn’t carry with it that sense that each song is an instant classic, but I would say that Time on Earth accurately represents where the group is at now. Frankly, I think its their most creative and mature work to date. With great tracks like first single “Don’t Stop Now” and “Say That Again”, this is definitely an album for any Kiwi to check out and be proud of.

86, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007

f someone were to make a list of the Most Underrated Bands in the Most Prolific Musical Trends, I am absolutely sure that Interpol would be at the top of that list. Perhaps the most under-rated band in the world, period, Interpol hail from New York where they have come up through the East Coast indie scene. A perennial favourite of music critics (myself included), the group have released 2 previous works: 2002’s Turn On The Bright Lights, and 2004’s Antics, both of which qualify among my favourite albums ever. Needless to say I was excited when Our Love To Admire hit my desk last month. Behind the articulate vocals of Paul Banks, and sounding like a more refined version of The Strokes, the group are at once aggressive and incredibly relevant, but at the same time passionate and emotion-stirring. With catchy first single “The Heinrich Maneuver” leading off their latest collection, its obvious from the get-go that Interpol are onto a good thing. With more layering than their previous effort, as well as the introduction of keyboard to the recording process, Our Love To Admire is a group at the peak of their powers. A must have record from your new favourite band.

t is a curious and perhaps unfair twist of fate that SJD – Sean James Donnelly, soloist, as well as an infamous collaborator with some of New Zealand’s biggest names, including Don McGlashan and Shayne Carter (Dimmer) – is not actually well known in his own right, despite critical success with 2004 release Southern Lights, and some radio success with single “Superman You’re Crying”. At least, that’s what I might have said prior to hearing his latest effort. I feel a little disappointed that, rather than keep on the track he was on, Donnelly has gone the more experimental route by bringing in far more instruments than ever before, while putting together an infinitely more eclectic body of work than his fans might be used. Luckily, despite the name, the songs were not recorded on a dictaphone. Songs From A Dictaphone is not a complete write-off – there are several good tracks, including “I Wrote This Song For You” and the more simplistic “Black is a Beautiful Colour” – but for the most part, it seems to drag along and fails to meet the standard of Donnellys previous work. It may be interesting to listen to, but Dictaphone simply isn’t a great album.

Olympus Tough 770SW • Waterproof to 10m • Snowproof to -10ºC • Shockproof to 1.5m • Crushproof to 100kg For more information please contact: H.E. Perry Ltd. Phone: Christchurch (03) 339 0028 or Auckland (09) 303 1479

seeLIFE MOVIES

Live free or die hard

It’s a slogan that applies well to both movies, our reviewers find Live Free or Die Hard Rated: M for action violence Starring: Bruce Willis, Justin Long, Timothy Olyphant, Maggie Q Directed by: Len Wiseman 130 minutes

e’re entering the era of the geriatric superhero, as such Baby Boomer icons as Indiana Jones and John Rambo limber up for the fourth chapters in their ongoing escapades. Let’s hope they have aged as resiliently as John McClane. With three Die Hard adventures behind him, the indestructible underdog NYPD cop still fires off handguns and wisecracks with verve. Nineteen years after we first met him in the role, Bruce Willis is balder and more battered, but who isn’t? Live Free or Die Hard doesn’t strain for novelty, staying comfortably within the plot conventions of the earlier episodes (and of Willis’ recent run-the-gauntlet thriller 16 Blocks). McClane, who has “borrowed” an unmarked car to visit his resentful daughter at her New Jersey college, is assigned to pick up a nearby free-lance hacker linked to a high-security breach in the nation’s cyber-infrastructure. Matt Farrell (Justin Long, Apple’s Mac TV mascot, amusingly typecast) is every-

88, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007

thing McClane is not: Young, tech-savvy, unprincipled, inexperienced and skittish in the face of imminent danger. No sooner does McClane knock on his apartment door than a heavily armed assassination squad blasts the place full of more holes than a colander. The reluctant partners’ only hope is to make it to FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C., evading a battalion of professional killers. The most frequent lines of dialog are “Get down!” and “Hang on!” Somehow, Willis makes it sound glib. The film doesn’t approach the intricate plotting that made the first “Die Hard” the gold standard for action films, but it’s robustly funny, and director Len Wiseman (of the stylish Underworld films) stuffs it chock full of extravagant action scenes and massive explosions. There was probably a separate budget category for detonators on this production. My biggest disappointment was that Long’s portly costar in the Apple commercials, John Hodgman, didn’t pop up in a cameo as an inept square. The villains of the piece are evil-eyed Timothy Olyphant (of TV’s Deadwood) as a computer genius with a grudge against the government, and lithe Maggie Q (The Transporter) as his high-kicking henchwoman. Once again, the master-

mind’s minions are Europeans, this time practitioners of parkour, the urban sport of leaping around ledges, fire escapes and railings at top speed, which gives rise to a good Spider-Man joke. An endearing side note to McClane’s character is that he’s a working stiff on the side of the little guy. In the earlier movies, he called on the aid of a chauffeur, a janitor and a Harlem shopkeeper to eliminate threats that stymied high-ranking officials. Here he enlists the aid of Warlock, an Internet troll who lives in his mom’s basement (or as he insists, his “Command Center”) to bring down the supervillain. Kevin Smith plays the part with zany gusto, and Willis responds to the talk of “mutating encryption algorithms” with the annoyance of a guy whose preferred tools are good old fashioned guns and fists. The nationwide havoc the villains are able to wreak strains credibility, as does McClane’s ability to jump onto the wing of an airborne jet fighter and ride it, but if your sense of the credible isn’t awfully flexible, you’re the wrong audience for movies like this. The nonsense bounces along at such a breathless clip that most viewers should willingly give the improbabilities a free pass. Rambo, Indy, take a lesson. Reviewed by Colin Covert

SICKO Rated: PG Documentary Directed by: Michael Moore 123 minutes

hile Michael Moore’s documentary Sicko predictably opened to media raves in late June, it shouldn’t be used as a launching pad for reforming America’s health-care system. Generally lauded as “thought-provoking” and “affecting” by critics, Moore’s new polemic was applauded by many for “asking the right questions.” But “right questions” is a subjective phrase, and is defined far differently by those familiar with the issues Moore is attacking than by those who make their living as movie reviewers. The film is actually full of errors and omissions, but that is almost beside the point. Since the stated purpose of the film is to compare the worst features of American health care with the best features of health care in Britain, Canada, France and even Cuba, who can complain about a few errors here and there? Sicko isn’t a movie about health care and how to fix it. It is a one-sided attempt to drive a very specific agenda – single-payer, government-run health care. Moore recently told ABC’s Good Morning America that in Britain and Canada people “have a basic core belief that if you get sick, you have a human right to see a doctor and not have to worry about paying for it.” By contrast, according to Moore, “people are dying in this country as a result of the

decisions that get made by (private) health insurance companies.” If you’ve never tried to see a doctor in Britain or Canada, you might even believe that. People who actually live there, however, know they have no right to any particular health care service. A Canadian, for example, has no “right” to an MRI scan or heart surgery. There is not even a right to a place in line. Far from enjoying a “right to health care,” people in other countries often have long waits for needed care. For example: • In Britain, about 1 million patients are waiting to be admitted to hospitals at any one time. • In Canada, more than 876,000 are waiting for treatment of all types. • In tiny New Zealand, the number of people on waiting lists for surgery and other treatments is more than 90,000, and there are periodic ‘culls’ where thousands of people are mysteriously wiped from the list and forced to re-apply. Patients who wait often are waiting in pain. Many are risking their lives. People have to wait for care because of a conscious decision by their governments to limit health-care resources. When Moore boldly asserts that Britons “wouldn’t trade their NHS cards for his Blue Cross card,” he could not be more wrong. In fact, people in other countries often have to pay out-of-pocket for care that has been denied them by the government. Why then, is national health insurance in other countries as popular as Moore says it is? One reason is that people do not realize how

much they pay for it in taxes. Even mediocre care looks good if you think it is free. A second reason is that doctors in other countries often don’t tell their patients their care is being rationed. Instead, they say, “There’s nothing more we can do.” A third reason is that most people are healthy. Relative to U.S. levels of provision, countries with state health insurance routinely under provide to the seriously ill and over provide to patients with minor ailments. Thus, the scene where patients in Canadian waiting rooms are asked how long they had to wait, and they all reply with times under an hour. Moore didn’t bother to revisit these patients and ask how long they would have to wait to see a specialist. Seventeen and a half weeks – par for the course north of the border – definitely adds to the average wait time. In a typical U.S. private health-care plan, 4 percent of the enrollees spend more than half the money. In a government-run, universal health-care system, politicians cannot afford to spend half of the budget on 4 percent of the voters, many of whom are probably too sick to vote anyway. The temptation is always to take from the few who are sick and spend instead on the many. So what are we to make of Moore and his “documentary”? Economists, like other scientists, study reality in order to adapt to it. Artists, by contrast, selectively focus on some facts and ignore others in order to recreate reality. For some, this subjective recreation doesn’t cease just because the camera has stopped rolling. Reviewed by John C. Goodman

INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007, 89

seeLIFE DVDs

The Bean ultimatum

Rowan Atkinson enchants, and Jeff Wayne's dream is realised

MR BEAN’S HOLIDAY PG, 86 minutes

’ll confess to not having watched previous Bean movies. The original TV series grated with me a little, in the same way that Some Mothers do ‘ave ‘em did back in the seventies – comedy like a dentist’s drill. So I came to Mr Bean’s Holiday with a little trepidation. I needn’t have worried. It’s a great little feelgood movie, starring Rowan Atkinson in arguably his most famous character behind Blackadder, and Willem Dafoe (Spiderman). The chaos ensues when Bean asks a man (who happens to be a film critic and Cannes jury member) video him walking onto the high speed train. Amid the confusion, after handing the video back to Bean, the film critic misses the train which happens to be carrying his young son. Bean feels obligated to help the boy as the TGV speeds away from the platform leaving the hapless father behind. The journey to reconnect father and son is a jaunt through France in the summertime, enlivened by a young wannabe French actress who’d been given a bit part in a new movie and was heading down to Cannes for the first screening. All the way along, Bean keeps a video diary of his escapades. Having enjoyed this one, I guess I’ll now have to dig out The Ultimate Disaster

90, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007

Movie and see what I missed. In an unusual development, the movie is out on DVD in New Zealand and Australia before it has even been released on the big screen in the US (scheduled for late August).

WAR OF THE WORLDS: The Musical PG, 169 minutes (2 discs)

o one would have believed, in the first years of the 21st century, that human affairs would still be partial to Jeff Wayne’s seventies masterpiece War of the Worlds. As one who still has the original vinyl double LP, with faded and torn lyrics book, I pricked my ears up at hearing the familiar “Ulla” on the radio ads this past month. In case you’ve been on Mars yourself and missed it, the LP became a West End musical extravaganza which visited Auckland a month or two back. To capitalize on that, Universal has just released War of the Worlds, the musical, on DVD. Some of the old characters are still there – Justin Hayward of the Moody Blues, for example, whose haunting Forever Autumn became an instant radio hit on its release nearly 30 years ago. Of course, back then narrator Richard Burton, playing the fly on the wall storytelling journalist in Jeff Wayne’s adap-

tation of the HG Wells’ science fiction classic, was still alive. Thanks to digital wizardry and the old film taken, the musical resurrects the late Burton on a giant projection screen behind the stage. They achieved this by overlaying Burton’s youthful face on a 3D CGI image, which was then animated. Fascinating execution, and indeed it resembles one – Burton’s head is perched in space, without visible support. The show features a giant 10m high Martian fighting machine that descends onto the stage and fires heat rays into the audience. Russell Watson fans will enjoy his performance as the tortured pastor, Nathaniel (H G Wells was an ardent atheist and couldn’t resist taking a poke at the church). Ex-pat kiwi Chris Thompson (ex Manfred Mann as I recall) also reprises his role. The production is a unique blend of stadium concert and CGI movie, best watched on a big TV with the surround system plugged in. Included in the Special Edition DVD is two discs, a bonus 12 �� page booklet with exclusive photos from the show, plus additional behind the scenes footage. It also features a candid documentary that provides a fascinating insight into what it has taken to produce this truly unique project that has enthralled audiences.

When news breaks... the world turns to Investigate magazine’s blog, TBR.cc

1.6 million web pages at the height of the English Sailors crisis, and New Zealand’s TBR.cc was the number one ranked site, ahead of Yahoo and America’s Daily Kos

TBR.cc. The Authority. Pass it on...

touchLIFE

TOYBOX

Cessna Citation Mustang

For those who’ve always wanted to own a jet aircraft, Cessna’s new entry-level Citation, the Mustang, is worth a serious squizz. Prices vary depending on spec, but expect to pay less than NZ$4 million for this state of the art private jet, boasted by Cessna as “the most advanced aircraft in the skies, including the big jets.” It features a full glass cockpit, can be piloted by one person and saves a truckload of time if you are a regular traveler. “Instead of taking hours to get to an airport, go through parking..check in..security..gate check in … boarding the flight then the waiting to get out of the jet with countless other travelers, and waiting for your baggage….you can get on board the Mustang and be straight up to 41,000 feet (higher than commercial jets) fly at over 600kph and arrive at your destination refreshed and ready to go,” says Cessna, which is bringing the plane to New Zealand in August for prospective buyers to have a look. And there are buyers already signed up here. For more info, contact Peter Lang at Aeromil Pacific, 0061-7-5448 8700

High-flyers

Picture yourself, on the move Sony Ericsson P1 smartphone

Building on the feature set of earlier models, the Sony Ericsson P1 supports a wide range of push email solutions and Web browsing applications, plus connectivity via hi-speed UMTS and Wireless LAN (WiFi). Add to this its compact size and multimedia capabilities and the P1 is the complete mobile office. It is based on the Symbian operating system (v9.1) and UIQ 3.0, an open platform that offers broad potential for multimedia applications from operators/carriers, content owners and third party developers.

Features:

• Dual function keyboard – full alpha-numeric (e.g. QWERTY) text input combined with one hand phone usability • Choice of text input method including handwriting and word completion • Push email enabled including support for Exchange ActiveSync and BlackBerry Connect • Integrated WLAN and VoIP enabled • 3.2 megapixel camera with business card scanner • Large 2.6” touchscreen with a Transflective Display that is easier to view in bright light conditions. Visit www.sonyericsson.com.

92, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007

Stylus Photo R390

Epson has released the Stylus Photo R390 printer for photo enthusiasts and convenient photo lab quality printing for the small office or home environment. The Stylus Photo R390 features Epson’s Claria Photographic ink which prints vibrant photos with outstanding longevity and with individual Epson Intellidge ink cartridges you only have to replace what you use. With a resolution of up to 5760 Optimised dpi and Epson’s Variable Size Dot Technology (VSDT), the Stylus Photo R390 is capable of printing at speeds of up to 30 pages per minute. In addition, the Stylus Photo R390 can print beautiful BorderFree 4x6-inch photographs in around 13 seconds. Connected to your PC via USB, the Stylus Photo R390 also enables you to print stunning, true Edge-to-Edge BorderFree prints up to A4 in size. The Stylus Photo R390 features direct-to-surface CD and DVD printing that gives your favourite CD/DVD-based compilations of music and photographs a real touch of class. The Epson Stylus Photo R390 RRP is $349 including GST and is available from Epson stockists. www.epson.co.nz

All-in-One PC – ZPC-9100

This new generation All-in-One PC in a keyboard takes up far less space than a traditional PC, and its ease of deployment makes it simple to install or to move to different workstations. Simply plug in a monitor and plug the power cord into an outlet. Speaking of power, the ZPC-9100 uses less of it, thanks to its 150-watt power supply. Now, power it up, and let the Pentium 4-powered ZPC-9100 handle all of your PC workflow. www.cybernetman.com

PowerShot S5 IS

Equipped to handle a wide variety of scenes from sports events to landscapes, the PowerShot S5 IS offers creative functionality in conjunction with a powerful Canon 12x optical zoom lens and full motion movie shooting. With a 35mm equivalent focal length of 36-432mm, Optical Image Stabilizer and USM technologies work in conjunction with an ergonomic design to support razor sharp, shake free long distance still and video shooting. PowerShot S5 IS features an 8 megapixel sensor, optical image stabilization and an ISO range up to 1600, a Digic III processor which improves image quality, full manual controls in addition to the typical auto modes, plus a hot shoe, viewfinder, and 2.5 inch LCD monitor that can be rotated and folded to accommodate a wide range of shooting angles. Visit www.canon.co.nz

INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007, 93

realLIFE

LAST WORD

Work burnout

Feed the spirit or get used to the taste of ashes, writess Niki Sullivan

our job is a drag, your co-workers are baboons and your favorite movie is Office Space. Ever considered that you might be the one with the problem? Work burnout – that persistent, nagging feeling that you loathe the hours between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. – may not be a clinical disorder, but it is serious: About three-fourths of workers will experience it at one time or another, according to some studies, says Dr. Alan Shelton. He should know. Shelton was doing everything he was supposed to: He had an active life, enjoyed great relationships, worked as the medical director for a Health Authority and was a faculty member at Tacoma Family Medicine Residency program for doctors in training.

94, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007

Then, gradually, he lost his energy and enthusiasm. “I felt like it was a struggle to go to work. I was cranky, I didn’t have compassion for my patients, and I was getting resentful.” To sum it up: “I wasn’t ... very nice to work with,” he says, laughing riotously. So he did more of all the things he was supposed to: He tried taking a vacation, changed his hours, ramped up his social life. Nothing worked. His burnout got so bad that a coworker scheduled him an appointment with an American Indian healer without telling him. He learned of the lunch-break appointment only minutes before. Not finding an excuse (and he did try), he went to the appointment. He was sur-

prised that the “healing” consisted of one question, some stories and a chant. He was even more surprised when, despite his healthy level of doubt, Shelton returned to work that day feeling like he was finally “back.” “I was how I used to be when I was a good doctor,” he says. But, as you’d expect, it wasn’t so easy: About a month after his session, he had slowly faded back to his burned-out state. That time, he’d had it. Convinced he needed to make a change, he took a leave of absence so he could study his problem and learn how to deal with it. Work burnout can have many causes: stress, long hours, lack of a life outside work, the accumulation of general negativity or even underlying health problems. Shelton also writes that it’s often experienced by people who feel a lack of control, those who have to suppress emotion at work (caregivers, for example) and workaholic types who strive for perfection. The three main symptoms, Shelton writes in his book, “Transforming Burnout,” are exhaustion, withdrawal and lack of job satisfaction. When health problems are ruled out, it’s important to assess if you’re doing everything you can to avoid or cut off burnout. “It often comes from actually being out of balance: Too much of one thing, not enough of the other good things in your life,” says Phillip Prudhomme, a mental health counselor. “That’s why we have vacations or we take up hobbies. It’s something to shift that focus.” Prudhomme says it’s also important not to compare yourself to others – whether at work or in your personal life – but to establish reasonable goals for yourself. But Shelton was doing all those things. When he started to study the problem, something the healer had says stuck with Shelton. The healer has told him he needed to do something to tend to his spirit. At the time, Shelton thought he was doing just fine. But later, he considered it: He kept his body fit, his mind sharp and his relationships healthy but wasn’t doing anything consistently to take care of his spiritual side. He compared being spiritually connected with maintaining physical fitness. “You can’t go work out once a month; it needs to be something daily,” he says. During his time off, he found that med-

Use speech recognition to create letters, instant messages, and surf the web! AMAZINGLY ACCURATE! More accurate than ever before. Dragon NaturallySpeaking® 9, is often more accurate than typing. Dragon NaturallySpeaking never makes a spelling mistake, and it actually gets smarter the more you use it!

FASTER THAN TYPING Most people speak at over 120 words per minute, but type at less than 40 words a minute. That means you can create letters and emails about three times faster with Dragon NaturallySpeaking!

SO EASY TO USE You’ll be dictating letters, emails and surfing the web by voice right away! No script reading to get started. We even include a full set of onscreen tutorials, and a Nuance-approved free noise-cancelling microphone. Dragon Naturally Speaking can also be used wirelessly with Nuance-approved Bluetooth headsets.

USE WITH MANY WINDOWS PROGRAMS Use your voice to dictate, edit and control applications such as Microsoft® Word, Microsoft® Outlook® Express, Microsoft® Internet Explorer and America Online®.

A BEST-SELLER AROUND THE WORLD Dragon products have won over 175 major awards worldwide for accuracy and ease of use, and are used by more people worldwide than any other speech recognition software.

SURF THE NET BY VOICE Just say where you want to go, and let your PC do the rest!

Dragon NaturallySpeaking Standard 9

Easier and more accurate than ever before! With Dragon NaturallySpeaking® Standard, you can talk to your computer and watch your spoken words instantly appear in documents, emails and instant messages. Fast, easy and amazingly accurate. Just use your voice to dictate and edit in just about any Windows® application. You can even surf the web just by speaking! Dragon NaturallySpeaking® learns to recognise your voice instantly and continually improves the more you use it! A Nuance-approved noise-cancelling microphone is included.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred 9

No other product delivers the same proven accuracy, performance and ease of use! Dragon NaturallySpeaking® Preferred is the most accurate speech recognition product Nuance has ever developed – delivering accuracy than can exceed 99%! Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred is the world’s best-selling speech recognition product, ideal for home and small business users. Toss your keyboard away! Replace typing with the simplicity of using your voice. Create email, documents and spreadsheets more than three times faster than typing… simply by speaking. Plus, you can use your voice to control your PC. Start programs, use menus and surf the web by voice. The age of speech recognition has arrived, and Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred 9 gives you everything you need to get started in minutes, including a high-quality headset microphone with noise-cancelling technology.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred Mobile 9 Dragon NaturallySpeaking® Preferred Mobile 9 combines Dragon NaturallySpeaking® Preferred 9 with a Philips handheld digital recorder so your customers can dictate documents anywhere, and transcribe them when synching with a PC.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred Mobile 9 also supports other handheld digital recorders and PDAs that record in .wma or .mp3 formats for deferred transcription.

The Nuance Communications product range is available through your usual computer software dealer.

www.mistralsoftware.co.nz INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007, 95

itation and prayer were both good ways to nurture his spirit. He was also surprised to find how much damage he was doing every day. “I did this little experiment where I saw how many times I’d complained in a day,” he says. It went something like this: When the alarm clock went off, he cursed. When he got out of bed, he griped about the rain. The shower wasn’t hot enough. He worried about his patients. His co-workers got on his nerves ... He soon realized how much his negative internal voice was affecting him. “Those kind of things, over time, erode the spirit,” he says. So he reversed his thinking. When the alarm went off, he reminded himself it was the start of a new day. When it rained, he tried to appreciate that it takes rain to live in the lush, forested Pacific Northwest. “As my spirit became more well, I had more enthusiasm for my work. Work is your calling. There’s actually a sacred element to it if you’re open to that,” he says. “There’s a reason you’re doing what you’re doing, and there are ways that you can help people.” Armed with optimism, he returned to work and presented his findings to a group of physician residents. To his surprise, they were fascinated. The following year, he gave the same talk. Soon, other groups were asking to hear it. When lines started forming after he spoke, it told him burnout was something a lot of people were struggling with. “That’s when I says, `I probably should write this down.’” What he found out was simple: Our culture encourages a healthy, balanced physical, emotional and mental life, but not many people consistently pay attention to their spirit. To make matters worse, with his academic background, he had learned to be an unfailingly critical thinker. “When you extend that into all areas of life, you end up being negative a lot,” he says, laughing. But nourishing the spirit isn’t about false optimism. And it doesn’t need to be a religious thing. “I think it is important to differentiate religion and spirituality. Religion is rules for spiritual life, but the first thing is our spirit. Spirituality is really about trust, it’s about being open to God working in our life and being grateful,” he says.

96, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, September 2007

12 SIGNS OF BURNOUT 1. Do you wake up tired first thing in the morning? 2. Have you lost the feelings of satisfaction, accomplishment and enjoyment that originally inspired you to choose your present job or profession? 3. Are you more irritable and impatient than usual? Do you often feel, “I’m not myself”? 4. Do your co-workers frequently ask you, “Are you all right?” or inquire whether something’s wrong? 5. Does taking a vacation give you a temporary sense of relief, but as soon as you return to work you feel tired and have no energy or enthusiasm for work? 6. Do you take longer lunches and breaks than you used to? Is it hard to make yourself go back to work once you’re on lunch or a break? 7. Does life seem like “all work and no play”? 8. Do you often feel overwhelmed and too tired to do your work?

9. Do you look for excuses to stop what you’re doing (procrastinate), and do you welcome interruptions? 10. Do you spend time doing nonwork activities so you won’t have to face your work? 11. When you’re doing your work, is it accompanied by a feeling of inescapable fatigue? 12. Do you daydream about “running away” and quitting your job? • If you answered “yes” to three or more of the questions, you should consider taking action to reduce your stress at work. • Four to seven “yes” answers means your attitude at work is suffering and serious burnout is on the horizon, so you should take action now. • Eight or more “yes” answers means you’re experiencing acute burnout and should seek help immediately.