Articles from ‘elocal magazine’

Earlier today, I was sent a statement which read: · “On 9 July, an FTA [Free Trade Agreement] between Aotearoa and the European Union was signed. As part of our mandate, we prepared a Te Tiriti o Waitangi assessment of the FTA. We found that: · ‘The Crown continues to exceed its authority as kawanatanga in the negotiation of trade agreements and deny Maori the right to exercise our rangatiratanga in the process, the content and the…

A significant event on the Māori calendar, Matariki takes its name from a cluster of stars that reappears in the night sky over New Zealand during mid-winter. Made up of hundreds of member stars, it’s one of the brightest clusters found in the sky and signals the Māori New Year. Known as Pleiades in other parts of the world, the reappearance of the Matariki constellation represents the end of the Māori lunar year and marks the beginning of a…

Hominins — humans and their ancient relatives — emerged in Africa some seven million years ago. Now researchers have gleaned genetic information from an African hominin that lived two million years ago, the oldest such data yet recovered. · The protein sequences, described in a preprint posted on the bioRxiv server on July1, come from several Paranthropus robustus tooth fossils found in a South African cave. · These genetic data are the oldest…

Resumes containing they/them pronouns are more likely to be neglected by many hiring managers, according to a report from Business.com. Business.com's experiment involved sending two mostly identical resumes of phantom jobseekers to various employers. Both featured the gender-ambiguous name "Taylor Williams," but only one contained gender-neutral pronouns. · The resumes were sent to 180 unique job postings that were open to…

Dementia is frequently associated with negative assumptions concerning loss of memory and independence, rarely with personal agency and learning new things. A new study has found that contrary to commonly held beliefs, it is possible for people with dementia to continue to learn despite the condition. · Dementia is an umbrella term for multiple diagnoses with a collection of symptoms affecting cognition and behaviour that progressively worsens…

In Newsroom, 8 June 2023, Dr Iresh Jayawardena, a lecturer in the School of Architecture and Planning at the University of Auckland, has a <u>column</u> criticizing the National Party’s recently-announced housing policy. · He notes that the National Party’s proposed policy “would require councils in major towns and cities to zone for 30 years’ worth of growth immediately, with the option to opt out of the medium density standards law [which…

Antidepressants can cause severe, sometimes irreversible, sexual dysfunction that persists even after discontinuing the medication. Sufferers have described it as ‘chemical castration’ – a type of genital mutilation caused by antidepressants, mainly selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). · The condition is known as post-SSRI sexual dysfunction (PSSD), a condition largely unrecognised, and the true incidence of which is unknown. David…

Vaping may increase the risk of heart disease and therefore a heart attack. However, some research suggests the risk of vaping may be lower than the risk of smoking tobacco products. However, we need further research to understand the full risks of vaping. · Vaping is relatively new, so researchers have not thoroughly studied its long-term effects and cannot make conclusive statements about the potential risks. · In a 2020 umbrella review,…

A few days ago, I spoke in the Public Forum part of a Western Bay of Plenty District Council meeting. For me, this was a first – I had never spoken at a local body council meeting before. What prompted my short speech was seeing some absolutely outrageous data on house prices in Tauranga and the Western Bay of Plenty. · In Tauranga, according to Smart Growth – the body charged by the Tauranga City Council and the Western Bay of Plenty…

Sir Jeffery Archer is a bestselling English author who it can be claimed has enjoyed a somewhat colourful life, including an Oxford Education, training to join the police and army, becoming a  physical education teacher before serving as a member of the British Parliament in the 1960’s and a stint as deputy chairman of the Conservative Party in the 1980’s.  Now published in 97 countries and more than 33 languages, Jeffrey Archer is a well-known…