ANZAC Day
Auckland Museum, 2008
ANZAC Day Photo Gallery: Follow the link below to see more photos This photo was taken at 6:30am, there were hundreds of people around me and it was very hard find a good position to take it. ANZAC day is a commemorative holiday where the Kiwis offer tribute to the soldiers who fought for New Zealand since the First World War

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How do you conduct a credible study? Well, if you’re looking into the effects of a company’s practices, it might look a little more kosher if that company doesn’t fund the research.

This story in today’s Herald reports on a Dow-funded study into the health effects of a Dow weed-killer factory in Taranaki.

The study concluded that “there is no evidence of increased cancer or disease” related to dioxin exposure at the factory.

But buried at the bottom of the story (page two on the web version), is the study leader’s acknowledgement that the research “incorrectly suggested that health effects had been studied”.

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When Winston Peters holds up his little “No” placard, it makes me want to say “yes”. It’s a knee-jerk reaction, but I can’t help it.

So I say that this free trade deal with China is not the end of the world as we know it.

I can’t help thinking that more than a few of those who give Chinese human rights abuses as a reason not to sign were just using a new wagon for an old band. By which I mean ardent protectionists – who simply don’t want to open the country to a trade liberalisation agreement with China – used the recent protests in Tibet as a vehicle to make their point.
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