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Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Random News Bits

I'm in the middle of a work project, so here are some brief notes from the news.


Kiwi discovery


Much of this blog talks about me (of course), an American who moved to New Zealand. The news today had the story of a Kiwi who moved to America and made it big.


Artist Peter Lyons was “discovered” while working as a security guard at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The self-taught Lyons moved from Dunedin to the US in 1990. He paints rural and urban landscapes in a realist style that has earned him comparisons to Edward Hopper, Charles Sheeler and Caspar David Friedrich.


He was virtually unknown in New Zealand. In America, his paintings sell for tens of thousands of dollars. My emigration in the opposite direction hasn’t been nearly as lucrative (yet, anyway), but neither of us have regrets about the move.


Bad indications


There was a report on One News last night that butterflies are scarce throughout New Zealand this year. This matters because butterflies are an “indicator species” that tend to show the effects of environmental degradation like climate change.


The initial report referred to Monarch butterflies, but natives are affected as well, according the related video report (“Where are all the butterflies?”).


A dangerous itch


And speaking of global warming, experts agree that it’s only a matter of time before exotic insect species capable of spreading tropical diseases become established here. Radio New Zealand reported today that a male Asian Tiger mosquito was found in a cargo ship at Auckland’s port. Another was found two months ago and “dealt with”.


There are stories all the time about biosecurity officials finding exotic creatures—usually bugs, but sometimes snakes or other critters. New Zealand has no snakes and only one potentially dangerous species of spider, so this is a pretty benign ecosystem. So far, at least, New Zealand’s biosecurity officials are winning the war.

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