Posts by Rosemary McDonald

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  • Hard News: #eqnz: Okay?, in reply to Carol Stewart,

    the doorway advice is outdated

    Well, bugger.

    Plan A was to park Significant Other in his wheelchair in a doorway in the event of the Big One…. this is his own ‘self evac’ plan if by himself.

    Clearly we’ll have to go to Plan B…get wheelchair and person in it outside into the open, or Plan C…drag person out of wheelchair and drag his crippled arse under the table.

    Perhaps we should look into having some extra timbers installed to create a ‘lintelised’ zone.

    Waikato, or on the road • Since Apr 2014 • 1346 posts Report

  • Hard News: #eqnz: Okay?,

    Waikato, or on the road • Since Apr 2014 • 1346 posts Report

  • Hard News: Be careful what you wish for, in reply to Alfie,

    ...couldn’t be arsed.

    A friend was sitting next to one the the handful of US sciencetypes at a conference dinner last night at a NZ venue.

    The tablemate was a staunch Republican, who couldn't in all conscience, bring himself to vote Trump.
    Hillary no option a she is (for many reasons) perceived as a she devil.

    So he abstained.

    This Republican was as distressed at the outcome as his Democrat countrymen also attending the conference.

    Waikato, or on the road • Since Apr 2014 • 1346 posts Report

  • Access: Education: We stand together,…, in reply to Bernadette Macartney,

    but people with children in their 40s are saying they had exactly the same kinds of challenges and barriers. Not good enough :-(

    Damn right!

    My man broke his neck 46 years ago yesterday.

    Saw some good stuff happening in the mid eighties, peaked towards the end of the nineties and has been downhill from then on.

    He says he has never been made to feel as disabled as he does now.

    His greatest concern is for those who do not have strong family support.

    Good luck with your rally....

    Waikato, or on the road • Since Apr 2014 • 1346 posts Report

  • Envirologue: 1080, "eco-terrorism" and agendas, in reply to David Hood,

    I strongly and passionately disagree with this. In my personal experience, an ordinary citizen, with command of the full facts and able to mount a cogent and comprehensive arguement, can effect change.

    Tried that. Seriously...you should see the reams of paperwork we put together....reams of the stuff. And by God it was cogent...had the assistance of a PhD grad in chemistry.

    The only change....and it certainly was not for the better... was that instead of the Regional Council handling complaints about aerial application of agrichemicals the responsibility was transferred to CAA.

    Yay!

    And the nice man from CAA said the onus was on us to properly identify the aircraft doing the spraying.

    Yes...we were told to go and stand under the aircraft as it passed over on its spray run and photograph/video the identification number.

    I kid ye not.

    Life's too short for that shit.

    We are not often home now...not safe.

    The title of this post is 1080.."eco terrorism and agendas"...we know all about that.

    Waikato, or on the road • Since Apr 2014 • 1346 posts Report

  • Hard News: The Long, Strange Trip, in reply to ,

    Reality TV, just got real bad.

    ....

    Waikato, or on the road • Since Apr 2014 • 1346 posts Report

  • Hard News: The Long, Strange Trip,

    His face was cold. His mouth trembled, asking:
    “Who—who won the presidential election yesterday?”
    The man behind the desk laughed. “You joking? You know
    very well. Deutscher, of course! Who else? Not that fool weakling
    Keith. We got an iron man now, a man with guts!” The official stopped. “What’s wrong?”
    Eckels moaned. He dropped to his knees. He scrabbled at
    the golden butterfly with shaking fingers. “Can’t we,” he pleaded
    to the world, to himself, to the officials, to the Machine, “can’t
    we take it back, can’t we make it alive again? Can’t we start over?
    Can’t we—”
    He did not move. Eyes shut, he waited, shivering. He heard
    Travis breathe loud in the room; he heard Travis shift his rifle,
    click the safety catch, and raise the weapon.
    There was a sound of thunder.

    aka The Butterfly Effect

    Waikato, or on the road • Since Apr 2014 • 1346 posts Report

  • Envirologue: 1080, "eco-terrorism" and agendas, in reply to Carol Stewart,

    Note that anyone can apply for a reassessment or review of a hazardous substance if you believe there are valid grounds for this.

    Oh my goodness! Its already on the Cheif Executive Initiated Reassessment List!

    And has been for years. As well as the two substances I linked to earlier, 2,4-D and MCPA. Carbendazim, the mutagen, (aka 2, methyl benzimidazole carbamate) and still approved for widespread use as a fungicide.

    Its been a while since I have visited the EPA site...comforting, in this ever changing world, that some things just stay the same.

    There may be clues, amidst the dark hinting, that yes...we went down that road.

    Surprising that any would think that making a submission to ERMA/EPA as an ordinary individual citizen would effect any change. The system simply does not work like that.

    Waikato, or on the road • Since Apr 2014 • 1346 posts Report

  • Envirologue: 1080, "eco-terrorism" and agendas, in reply to izogi,

    It’s standard for people make statements about what scientific studies said, which often turn out to be incorrect or opposite if the study is actually checked.

    Back in 2010 I tried to find out on what basis the Food Safety Authority approved for use a certain agrichemical and how it set the MRL for that chemical. The document referenced research from 1976 and quoted one line that seemed to indicate that all was well and good with this particular chemical so we, the FSA (via the Mystery of Health) set the MRLs at ten times higher than in the EU.

    I have that research paper (somewhere in my bulging hard drive). It concludes 'we advise the use of these compounds be restricted due to the potential genetic risk to man'.

    The patent holder for that chemical later, much later, funded research to find the concentration of the chemical required to trigger mutations in human lymphocytes...and measured the number and types of mutations caused at the various concentrations. The concentration at which mutations occurred in human lymphocytes was 1000 times lower than the 'label' concentration. And no one in New Zealand is checking if users are following the 'label'.
    The patent holder let the patent lapse and this chemical was thrown to the open market. Banned for widespread use in the US....loaded into helicopters in New Zealand and applied with absolutely no effective monitoring or controls.

    There is the pantomime of monitoring.....

    Waikato, or on the road • Since Apr 2014 • 1346 posts Report

  • Envirologue: 1080, "eco-terrorism" and agendas,

    I am coming from the point of view of someone who tried, and ultimately failed, to protect her little patch of paradise from the adverse effects of her neighbours' indiscriminate use of pesticides.

    This was 2010. By 2012, and after many hours spent researching, reading, talking on the phone and sending emails to any person or organisation who sounded even remotely relevant I had to accept (or slide into a weird and possibly unhealthy headspace) that in New Zealand any voice that dares to question the accepted narrative on pesticide use (i.e. "Its safe else they (ERMA/EPA) wouldn't have approved it.") is going to be dismissed as a tinfoilhatwearingnutbar.

    Well, not quite, and certainly not by everyone. But those who do agree, those who don't think you're a paranoid nutter offer their support in sotto voce.

    Like the vet who was putting down my old cat, just last year. As the blue juice was doing its thing...I told her that I knew his symptoms were caused by the aerial application of this shit and this shit. The aerial spraying was done on the optimal day for keeping the spray off the organic dairy farm to the north west of us. The wind, of course, carried this cocktail right to our door.

    And upset that I was now holding my dead cat, I told her I didn't care if she thought I was making shit up. Quietly, very quietly, she told me that she had put a horse down out our way with the same symptoms. The spray was also cited as the possible cause.

    No, you won't see an incident report, a complaint through EPA's official channels of an adverse event. You won't find a Waikato Regional Council notification either....they don't investigate complaints of this nature and they refuse (I have this in writing) to enforce the NZ Standard for the Management of Agrichemicals or the RMA.

    I learned a great deal about pesticide use in New Zealand.

    I learned a great deal about the adverse effects of pesticides...effects that have been poorly researched and seldom acknowledged here. Research from overseas, however, is abundant.

    I learned quite a bit about the competing interests, and how the narrative is controlled by the "feed the world" brigade.

    I did read this , which of course was 'discredited' by the establishment.

    Could it be, perhaps, that the indiscriminate use of 1080 by the AHB over the decades (and the PCE did concede that the AHB needs to be more transparent) has exacerbated the general pest problem?

    If there exists an 'us and them' culture over pesticide use in general and 1080 use in particular, it is because those with concerns, however valid, are treated with total disrespect from those with none.

    This is polarising, and needs to change.

    Waikato, or on the road • Since Apr 2014 • 1346 posts Report

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