Two a penny

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New Zealand’s Canadian High Commissioner has blamed Kiwis’ “rednecky element” for comments suggesting a tourist should go home after complaining about Eskimo lollies.

NZ High Commissioner Kate Lackey said New Zealand residents were as loyal to Eskimos lollies as Canadians were to Tim Hortons coffee, the Canadian Press reported.
But rude radio comments and online calls for the 21-year-old tourist to head back to Canada were not acceptable, she told Canadian media yesterday.
“I’ll probably get into trouble in New Zealand for saying such a thing, but often there’s a sort of ‘rednecky’ element .
“I would hope New Zealanders would be a bit more courteous and understanding,” Lackey said… The people who get on talk-back (radio) and Stuff haven’t had time to think through a bit more deeply how the other person might feel.
In the blogosphere, on talkback and around watercoolers, New Zealanders have been debating whether Eskimo lollies are offensive to Inuit afterMs Parson’s, 21, said the term was offensive to her people.”
The Eskimo lolly controversy, which erupted this week, has gone international since Canadian tourist Seeka Lee Veevee Parsons told the the sweets were insensitive to her culture and bought back painful memories of racism in Canada as a child.
Confectionary company Pascalls, which produces the sweet, has refused to stop making the “iconic New Zealand lolly”. . Hundreds more comments were rejected on grounds of offensiveness.
Hundreds of readers commented on the story, with a strong thread arguing the call was another case of political correctness gone mad.
Ms Lackey defended Pascalls’ business decision, which she said was “a wee bit hard-hearted”.
Ms Lackey defended Pascalls’ business decision, which she said was “a wee bit hard-hearted”.”
She said she has the highest admiration for the Inuit and has travelled across Canada’s North. I think New Zealanders would have had absolutely no idea that it might cause offence to another people.

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Fatal crashes kill four

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A Wanganui rest home resident has complained to the Health and Disability Commissioner after bandages were left on her ulcered legs so long that maggots grew in the wounds.

Christine de Roo, 50, from Marton, but now living at Wanganui’s Aubert Home of Compassion, said her dressings should be changed two to three times a week but they were left untouched for 13 days the previous month.

Ms de Roo is wheelchair-bound with multiple sclerosis and has serious kidney problems and lymphoedema.

When the bandages were finally pulled back, her legs were crawling with maggots, she told the Wanganui Chronicle.

Small cracks in her skin mean there is a high risk of infection and fluid leakage, requiring both legs to be heavily bandaged from her knees to her feet.

The lymphoedema means her legs are often swollen due to a build-up of fluid.

“I was left until March 21.

Ms de Roo said her bandages were changed on March 8 but not again for almost another two weeks. . . By then my legs had become so itchy it was painful and I was desperate to have them done. it was a Saturday afternoon.

It was “the worst kind of nightmare anyone could ever have”, she said.”

A nurse removed the bandage from one leg and discovered the maggots. They were in shock.

Ms de Roo said she would never forget the look on the faces of the nurse and caregiver.

“I never thought I’d ever be fly-blown like an old sheep. .”

She demanded a specimen jar to scrape the maggots into. There were dozens of them – it was revolting. .

“I told her if she didn’t get me one I would scrape them into a cup. and I would’ve too, believe me. . Maggots were found under them too, she said. Maggots were found under them too, she said.

Ms de Roo has complained to the Health and Disability Commissioner and is now awaiting his report.

A Ministry of Health investigation and an internal investigation are also being undertaken.

Home of Compassion nurse manager Ruth Portland told the Chronicle that she would not comment on Ms de Roo’s case until the investigations were not completed.

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Boy saves 5-year-old at surf champs

Tuesday, 03 March 2009

/The
YOUNG HERO: Cameron Turchie, 12, of Wellington, rescued a five-year-old after he was swept 200 metres out from shore at a Mt Maunganui beach.

Twelve-year-old Cameron Turchie risked his life to save a five-year-old from drowning in pounding three-metre-high surf, 200 metres from shore.
When the young Lyall Bay surf club member saw a limp, bloodied body being sucked under the water at Mt Maunganui's Main Beach on Sunday, he drew on his five years' surf lifesaving experience and all of his energy to rescue the boy. "I saw blood coming down his face and he was crying and wasn't really moving that much or talking, so I swam over and held him up. . "I had to really fight to stay above the water."
The pair were bashed by the waves, which kept sucking them both under, as they waited for rescuers. I wasn't scared but it was hard work holding him up."
Two lifeguards arrived in an inflatable rescue boat after about five minutes, pulling the limp boy on board and taking him back to the beach, where he was given oxygen and treated by event medical staff and two passing doctors. I was determined not to let go. Another lifeguard had to swim out with a flotation tube to support the young hero till the boat returned.
But the drama was not over for Cameron, who got pounded by the waves for several more minutes.
"He probably would have gone under for good and that could have been the end of it.
Surf Life Saving New Zealand sport manager Mark Weatherall, who was on the beach when the rescue unfolded, said he would hate to think what would have happened if the victim had swallowed another mouthful of water. He's a lucky little fella and Cameron was very brave to put his own life at risk. He's a lucky little fella and Cameron was very brave to put his own life at risk. That experience made all the difference on Sunday."
It wasn't Cameron's first rescue; he helped a friend with breathing difficulties at a surf carnival in Wellington last year."
His mother, Tanya, said she was unbelievably proud of her boy.
"I sort of panicked once I got out there but because I'd done it once before, I guess I knew what to do."

. "It was a brave thing to do, but he just backed himself and didn't even hesitate

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Finger cut off over $170 and Fairmont car

Thursday, 26 February 2009

Two men have admitted cutting part of a flatmate's finger off over a dispute about $170 and a 1976 Ford Fairmont.
Roger Johnson, 46, and Shayne Fryer, 37, both unemployed of Waipukurau, appeared in Napier District Court yesterday and pleaded guilty to maiming with intent to cause grievous bodily harm to Lee Walter. The court was told Johnson and Fryer had been drinking large quantities of alcohol when they woke Mr Walter at 1.
Mr Walter, 49, had been staying at the men's house for a few days. They bailed him up in a corner of the living room while Fryer threatened him with a 30-centimetre-long butcher's knife.30am on October 2 last year.
While Fryer discussed where he was going to cut Mr Walter, Johnson told him to cut his little finger off and grabbed the knife from Fryer.
Mr Walter said he was going to give Fryer his Ford Fairmont car and $170 cash for letting him stay at his house, but he had been unable to raise the cash. . He demanded Mr Walter hold out the little finger on his left hand.
"I thought they were joking at first but I started getting worried when they started talking about which part of me they were going to cut off.
Fryer forced Mr Walter's hand on to a mantelpiece and Johnson severed the finger at the knuckle closest to the fingertip.
He walked from the room, covered his bleeding finger with a towel and asked Johnson for his finger back. He cut my finger off, said, `The car's mine, pay the rent tomorrow or else,"' Mr Walter said. Mr Walter waited in the house a short while then sneaked out and sought help at a close toby service station. Johnson laughed, then handed it to him.
"It's a lot shorter than it was before. An ambulance took him to hospital but attempts to reattach the finger were unsuccessful. I get pain in it now and again. I can't play guitar any more. The car, which remains in Mr Walter's possession, was worth less than $500, he said. It's just not the same," Mr Walter said. Fryer, a sentenced prisoner, will appear on the same day.
Johnson was remanded in custody for sentencing in May.

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Mermaid dream comes true thanks to Weta

Wednesday, 25 February 2009

STEVE UNWIN
WHAT A TALE: Auckland woman, Nadya Vessey wrote to Weta Workshop in Wellington asking if they would help her realise a life long dream and make her a fully functional mermaid tail so she could swim.

Nadya Vessey lost her legs as a child but now she swims like a mermaid. .
She lost both legs below the knee from a medical condition when she was a child and told Close Up last night her long-held dream had come true. She was astounded when they agreed.
Ms Vessey told a little boy: "I'm a little mermaid" when he asked what happened to her legs and the idea stuck. "A prosthetic is a prosthetic, and your body has to be comfortable with it and you have to mentally make it part of yourself," she said.
Weta Workshop director Richard Taylor, more used to winning Oscars for visual effects from movies such as Lord of the Rings, was delighted to make it happen. We haven't always been able to fulfil some requests.
"She was very patient."
Weta costumer Lee Williams, who worked on the suit between film projects with seven other staff, told Close Up she "wanted [Nadya] to be beautiful and sexy". We were engaged in it pretty quickly because it was a challenge. "It was absolutely amazing.
After seeing Ms Vessey test the tail in Kilbirnie pool then frolic in the harbour, Ms Williams was stoked. It's beautiful to watch Nadya swim and to see that dream come true and to be a part of that. It's beautiful to watch Nadya swim and to see that dream come true and to be a part of that. Mermaid-like scales were painted by hand."
The suit was made mostly of wetsuit fabric and plastic moulds, and was covered in a digitally printed sock. "What became apparent was that she actually physically wanted to look like a mermaid.
Mr Taylor said not only did the tail have to be functional, it was important it looked realistic."

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Economic crisis keeps Kiwis close to home

By KATHERINE NEWTON Thursday, 05 February 2009

Kiwis who might once have headed overseas in search of work or play are hunkering down to weather the economic storm at home instead.
Overseas visitors have no such qualms yet, with 322,200 short-term visitors arriving last December a record for any month.
The number of Kiwis and long-term visitors who left for any period of time in that month dropped to 165,700 from 176,100 in December 2007, a decrease of 5.
That included a 16 per cent fall in the number of New Zealanders heading to Britain permanently or long term.9 per cent. Overall, the number of New Zealanders heading overseas last year was steady compared with 2007, dropping only 0.
There were fewer trips to all top 10 destinations for New Zealand residents, including Fiji, down 18 per cent, the United States, down 13 per cent, and Britain, down 8 per cent.3 per cent.
"One of the economies that's been hardest hit is the UK and you're now getting mass job layoffs in that sector," he said.
However, ASB chief economist Nick Tuffley said December's fall in departures was likely to continue this year as moving overseas, especially to Britain and the United States, became less attractive. . "People are now becoming more aware that their prospects of going over to the UK and getting a job are diminishing.
Departures to Australia steadily rose last year, but now appeared to be levelling off, it said.5 per cent from December 2007. "The Australian labour market has recently become more difficult and . "The Australian labour market has recently become more difficult and . net outflows across the Tasman may start to ease..
Tourism New Zealand chief executive George Hickton said that month had been unexpectedly strong, but he expected the number of visitors to start to fall in the next few months."
Despite record visitor numbers to New Zealand in December, tourism officials are bracing themselves for a tough year."
Tourism New Zealand was predicting long-haul visitor numbers to fall by up to 15 per cent between January and March, he said, but an expected small rise in Australian numbers could help to offset that.
"We're going to get through the summer a little bit better than some people imagined [but] there will be a reduction over the next year.

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Toastman talks about living with cancer

Monday, 02 February 2009

/The
BURNING PASSION: Wellington businessman and toast artist Maurice Bennett faces a daily battle with leukaemia but Instead of taking it easy he runs two businesses, does his toast art and is rarely home before 8pm.

Wellington businessman and toast artist Maurice Bennett faces a daily battle with leukaemia but has refused to let the disease ruin his life.
When it was diagnosed about 2000, he was given five years to live, but he is still at the helm of Island Bay's New World supermarket and Bennetts Beer, and is working on his biggest toast work. But not anymore," Mr Bennett says.
"I used to keep quiet about it and just tell people I had a cold.
"But the last thing I want is sympathy, someone coming up to me in the pub to say how sorry they are. "We're all going to die at least I know what I'm going to die of."
After being diagnosed, there were sleepless nights wondering why and "screams at God". Despite this he's up at 6am every day to head to the supermarket, then he turns to his toast art in the bakery by late afternoon, and he's rarely home before 8pm. The thought of taking it easy regularly crosses his mind.
Even though he was "crook as a dog" when the All Blacks were turfed out of the last Rugby World Cup quarterfinal, he still made it to Paris and walked down the Champs-Elysees in the black jersey.
With an immune system weakened by the disease, even catching the flu could prove fatal. "The doctors are monitoring my health with regular CT scans and blood tests.
Mr Bennett sees himself as the lucky one. Modern medicine is brilliant. Modern medicine is brilliant. Males in this country need to step up [and get regular checks]. They wake up and find they've got the big C or drop dead at 35. Though the toast art started about the same time as the leukaemia diagnosis, he says that is coincidental."
The New World, which he has run for 15 years with his wife, provides a ready supply of bread and commercial ovens facilitating his toast portraits of Jonah Lomu and the Mona Lisa and helping him set a world record for his 2724-slice mosaic of former Wellington mayor Mark Blumsky. I was artistic before that.
"It's just fallen into place. It's not like I've gone through a blue period because of the leukaemia. I used to do oil painting and sculpture work."If anything, being confronted with his mortality has just clarified beliefs he has always held, and he expects to lead a "normal, healthy life for quite a while". It's not like: `Buy some of Maurice's art because he's about to drop dead'. Life revolves around friendship. Life revolves around friendship. It's not about seeing every place in the world, it's about enjoying what you've got.

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It’s what neighbours do, says fire rescuer

– Wellington Tuesday, 06 January 2009

/The
BRAVE BID: Ben Tionisio, 18, cut his fist smashing a glass pane to save his neighbours’ dog from the burning house.

A youth smashed a door window with his fist to break into a burning home to save his neighbours' dog.
"It's just what neighbours do, eh," said Ben Tionisio, 18, nursing a bleeding hand suffered when he smashed the window to help retrieve the dog about 1.
And another neighbour braved the smoke, exploding upstairs windows and rising heat to check the Palmerston North family were not home and to search for the dog.
The Lyndhurst St house was a writeoff but the animals two cats and a dog survived.15pm yesterday.
Mr Tionisio, a labourer, was at home in front of the television enjoying his holidays when he heard his mother yell that the house across the road was on fire. The owners had insurance. "I heard the dog barking and just smashed the window, I punched it.
"There was smoke coming out the window and some chicks were yelling there was a dog inside," he said.
The neighbours retreated once they realised no one was home and when they could not see or hear the animals." Max, the two-year-old dog, got spooked and darted away.
Both Mr Tionisio and the second neighbour, Phil, who ran upstairs to check if anyone was trapped, shrugged at the danger of going to save neighbours whose names they did not even know. ..
"You do it for your neighbours . It's just what neighbours do.."
Glenn Richards, who lived at the house with his partner and parents, was counting the cost yesterday, after losing all his possessions. Just glad no one was hurt, and the dog is okay."
Fire chief Roger Calder said 16 firefighters took 30 minutes to control the fire, which began in the second storey and was not suspicious.
He had received a phone call saying; "Come home, your house is on fire.

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Experts at a loss to explain Airbus tragedy

By ANTHONY HUBBARD, ADRIENNE BOURGEON – Sunday, 30 November 2008

The rescue efforts continue to be hampered by poor visibility stirred up by heavy seas.

Eefforts toexplain the mystery crash of the Air New Zealand Airbus in France may take months as experts rule out the most likely causes for its abrupt plunge into the Mediterranean Sea.
No hope is now held that any of the men survived the impact of Friday's crash.
Air New Zealand chief executive Rob Fyfe is due in Perpignan today with a support crew and relatives of one of the five New Zealanders killed, vowing to "bring our team home". Civil Aviation Authority inspector Jeremy Cook, 58, was the fifth New Zealander to die. The Air NZ staff who died were captain Brian Horrell, 52, and engineers Michael Gyles, 49, Murray White, 37, and Noel Marsh, 35.
Bad weather yesterday hampered the recovery and only two bodies, still unidentified, have so far been recovered. Two German pilots also lost their lives. Gendarme Pierre Renault said once they were found they could be handed over to families "so they can start mourning".
The head of the rescue operation in France said the most important job was finding the remaining five bodies.
"Normally the sea should be clear blue, and authorities should be able to see the plane in the sand on the seabed, but today this is not possible.
The rescue efforts, involving a rotating team of divers, helped by a robot aboard an anti-mining navy vessel, continued to be hampered by poor visibility stirred up by heavy seas. Debris that has already been recovered includes a shoe, lifejackets and fuselage insulation."
Signals from the two flight recorders have been detected and a team of 10 specialist divers were due to go back into the water at 8pm last night to retrieve them.
Air NZ group general manager Ed Sims said 75 French personnel were involved in the recovery efforts. Part of one wing was found floating but has not yet been recovered.
A message from the pilots to the air control tower at Perpignan airport just minutes before the crash gave no hint of any danger. He said confirmation that the victims were presumed dead was "difficult and devastating news for the families of all concerned".
The plane appeared to nosedive into the sea, breaking up into fragments now strewn over a wide area, dispersed by sea currents for dozens of kilometres along the French coast.
There was no mayday and the aircraft was already in the "corridor" lined up to land at the airport before it crashed four nautical miles off the coast..
"Nobody saw exactly what happened. it is like a puzzle that we have to piece together," said Renault, who predicted the technical investigation would take months..
Fernand Ejnes, director of EAS Industries, said the work was mainly decor and paintwork.
Fernand Ejnes, director of EAS Industries, said the work was mainly decor and paintwork. Everything was simply put in order to enable it to receive New Zealand licensing.
Leading New Zealand aviation writer Rob Neil agreed the crash remained "extremely mysterious". The Pacific Wings magazine editor said news reports did not point to any obvious cause.
Neil told the Sunday Star-Times that bird-strike was unlikely to be the cause, and in any case the crew would have time for a mayday call.
Horrell, who was sitting in the jump seat behind the two German pilots, was an "incredibly meticulous pilot, absolutely professional in everything he did", Neil said.
He and the Air NZ engineers would have checked the maintenance done on the plane and if they were not happy with it, they would not have flown in the aircraft.
Horrell, although he was not flying the plane, was in effect one of the flight crew and would have immediately communicated with the others had he had noticed anything amiss.
The Airbus 320 was one of the two workhorses of the world's airlines. Even Boeing, maker of the other most popular narrow-bodied airliner, the Boeing 737, conceded that it was a safe aeroplane.
The plane was relatively new and the maintenance firm, EAS Industries, was a reputable company.
The Airbus was reportedly about 300m above the sea and it was very lightly loaded. It would therefore have "plenty of performance" and was extremely unlikely to suddenly plummet. That was likely only in a violent thunderstorm or during what was known as a microburst, a highly concentrated and localised downward wind associated with thunderstorms. News reports did not suggest such weather.
THE MISSING KIWI CREW
BRIAN HORRELL, 52, Auckland Air New Zealand captain
Southland-born Horrell grew up on the family farm at Te Tua close to Tuatapere in Southland. His love of flying began with hang-gliders, representing New Zealand at the world championships in France.
After working as a pilot for Water Wings in Te Anau, he joined Air New Zealand in Christchurch his 22-year career taking him from Friendships to Boeings, from the South Island to Auckland, where he became a training captain for Airbus.
Family described Horrell as a dedicated family man to his wife Shelley and their teenage children Olivia, 19, and Logan, 17. His parents, Herbert and Moira, who are both in their 80s and live in Tuatapere, are said to be "shattered". Air New Zealand sent support staff to be with them, and also his wife and children, in Auckland.

NOEL MARSH, 35, Christchurch Air New Zealand engineer
A heavily-pregnant Tracy Marsh kissed her husband goodbye in France last week and flew home to Christchurch with their two young children.
Noel Marsh, 35, died in the crash just two weeks before he was due to come home for the birth of his third child and on the day his five-year-old son should have been starring with the rest of his classmates in his school's end-of-year production. But instead of flitting around the stage as a sandfly, Leon Marsh was at home with his mum in Rolleston, south of Christchurch, struggling to understand why he wasn't going to see his dad again.
Marsh, an engineer with Air New Zealand for the past six years, was in France for the handover of the A320 from German XL Airways but had organised for his wife and children to fly over for the family holiday of a lifetime. Family said Marsh, who had been with Air New Zealand for six years, relished the opportunity to travel to Europe to be involved in the acceptance process for the A320. They were extremely proud of the man who they said loved his job.

MICHAEL GYLES, 49, Christchurch Air New Zealand engineer
The father of two teenage boys, Gyles has been described as a dedicated family man. He had 30 years' service with Air New Zealand, starting as an apprentice and working his way up. A quiet man with exceptional skills, Gyles was reported as being well-liked by colleagues. Some of his family were yesterday on their way to France while the remainder were gathering in Christchurch to mourn a man they say loved his family and his job.

MURRAY WHITE 37, Auckland Air New Zealand engineer
White lived in Pakuranga, Auckland, and had been with Air New Zealand for the past 19 years.
He was acting as an observer on the flight and was said to be a highly skilled engineer.

JEREMY COOK, 58, Wellington Civil Aviation Authority inspector
Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) staff have been in shock over the death of Cook but are continuing to provide support to his wife Sally and children.
CAA staff said Cook was a popular and respected engineer. Acting director Graeme Harris said Cook was an aviation enthusiast with a long career dedicated to enhancing aviation safety standards.
He joined the CAA as airworthiness inspector in April, 2005. He was a licensed maintenance engineer with an extensive background in aircraft maintenance.
Cook had worked for Air Niugini in Papua New Guinea, Ansett New Zealand and the Christchurch Engine Centre. In his role at CAA he processed the entry of aircraft into the New Zealand civil aviation system, assessing applications for the issue or change to aircraft airworthiness certificates. Harris said Cook was a valued member of the CAA's Aircraft Certification Unit and was widely respected in his field.
It is understood members of the Cook family flew to Europe last night.

Timeline to disaster 2am Friday (NZ time): Plane handed back by EAS Industries, which had carried out light technical work on the aircraft. 2.43am: Take off at Perpignan Airport. Flight plan is filed and plane flies south-west towards the coast. 3.46am: Last call by crew to air traffic control. Authorities describe a banal exchange, there is no sign of alarm. 4.45am: The crash. Onlookers say it appeared the aircraft was trying to approach the airport when it made an unexpected turn followed by a steep climb. Then it nosedived into the sea. They say it appeared the pilot did everything possible to avoid crashing into the coastal town of Le Canet en Rousillon, the seaside town 10km east of Perpignan.