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151 Responses to “General Debate 29 November 2012”
Sri Lanka were teetering at 47-4 when bad light stopped play, chasing 363 to win, after Tim Southee and Doug Bracewell combined to cripple their powerful top-order.
It’s time to name and shame the Hobbit hating hypocrites from the left who boldly walked up the red carpet yesterday. I see Ardern has now joined in the bauble brigade of Shearer, King, Robertson. What depths can these two faced useless pricks sink to. Have they no shame.
This one seems to have slipped under the radar; Dr Judy McGregor’s “Queen” comment in a speech at the Labour Party conference.
Quite why a senior public servant is giving a keynote speech at any political party’s conference is one thing. But Dr McGregor is one of the most senior staff members of the Human Rights Commission, which is supposed to stand AGAINST discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation.
Dr McGregor’s comment may have been intended to be in jest, but it is not the first time that Christopher Finlayson has been attacked by Labour for being gay. This is a very serious error of judgment from Judy McGregor which should cost her her job, and at the very least require a public apology.
And where is the MSM on this? John Key’s “gay red shirt” banter went global, but the MSM is silent on this one, despite the fact that there was a large media contingent at the LP conference. Once again, the blogosphere has to lead the debate.
It’s something a saw recently on a forum board where gay marriage in the US was being discussed. one of the chap who is very much FOR homosexual marriage repeatedly pointed out that it was perfectly acceptable for liberal lefties like him to use the terms homo and queen and other comments (including using the word gay to mean lame) because they’re on the same side as homosexuals. But it isn’t acceptable for conservative righties like me to use the terms like homo and queen (and the word gay in any other context but when referring to homosexuals) because we’re not liberal lefties and we think that homosexual behaviour is morally wrong (and if we can stop that part of the conversation there, I have neither the time nor the inclination right now to get into a protracted debate about why I consider the behaviour to be morally wrong).
Now even though John Key has been very supportive of gay right. is supportive of voting for gay rights for marriage etc. the fact that he is not a leftie also automatically means, to the left) that he is not allowed to us the words homo or queen when referring to homosexuals, or to use the word gay in any other context other than promoting homosexuality in a positive manner.
It also amuses me that they have this outrage towards the word “gay” slowly changing it’s definition to mean something else. Afterall when we objected to them using the word gay to mean homosexual, we were told that words change, deal with it (and most of us did accepted that the word now had a new alternate meaning…depending on context). And once again the word has changed and depending on the context it is used in means “happily excited”, “brilliant in colour”; “homosexual male” or “lame”
I see the Hooralds cartoonist has jumped on the bullshit bandwagon by suggesting NZ isn’t 100% pure because shellfish are sometimes dangerous to eat.
Trouble is this is usually due to natural causes of algal blooms etc.
Keeping…
We should keep this in perspective, should we not?
After all, McGregor is nothing more than a poorly qualified Phud…in media studies (?). As such she is simply a failed left wing journalist operating way beyond her demonstrated pay grade.
C. Finlayson may be homosexual. For McGregor to transfer that label from my favourite pop star, the late Freddy Mercury, is outrageous. McGregor, whatever her sexuality, should be burnt at the MSM stake. But like you, I am not holding my breath.
And on sexuality, and following on the latest TVNZ “coming out” (this time by that whippersnapper M. McLean), one wonders whether homosexuality is a pre-requirement for employment by TVNZ. And don’t throw homophobicbullshit at me. I have family members, that I love dearly, in that dark (hardly “gay”) world.
” Green candidate led fracking report ” –headline on the NBR website. ( article behind paywall). So given this and Dr Wright’s well known “green” views there cannot be much wrong with fracking if this duo could not find anything that would stand up the scrutiny.
The Andrew Hore debacle continues to make a mockery of a once great game. A one match ban for that cowardly assault?? (remember All Blacks don’t play early-season Super Rugby matches anyway)
Steve Hansen and co could barely contain their smirks….and then (to rub further salt into the wound) Hansen had the audacity to have another go at the media for daring to report any negative press about his Saintly All Blacks!
The whole thing is a bloody disgrace. Thank Christ it’s cricket season….
M. Buffet is an excellent example of why the nomenclature that gets bandied around in a political context is pointless to the point of being facile. You appear to be assuming that because he has been so successful as a capitalist, his social views are to the right of Mr G. Khan.
In reality, the only safe method of political classification is to ascribe the terms “lefty, “pinko” to those who think they work hard but in relative terms don’t, believe they are entitled to benefit from somebody else’s ingenuity, capital and hard work because they are envious of success but prefer to justify that value set on the basis of it being “fair”, who would invoke a totalitarian state given half the opportunity and who hate everyone that doesn’t feel the same way. Everyone else is, by definition a rightie; including not only Messrs Buffet and Khan, but those losers in Christchurch who tatoo swastikas on their genitalia. It’s a convenient way to dismiss the contrary view. So when those of the non-leftie persuasion refer to lefties and pinkos, we are in reality referring to unfortunate personality traits, as distinct from any meaningful political viewpoint. You will notice, as I have done, that these people are inevitably fuckwits who “work” in environments in which their competency is not judged or challenged eg government, including education, and unions.
A one match ban for that cowardly assault?? (remember All Blacks don’t play early-season Super Rugby matches anyway)
He’s banned for this weekend’s test, three pre-season games (Jamie Joseph has already said All Blacks wil need to play in them) and the first round Highlander game.
It has to be all games, it would be impossible trying to pick and choose games that warranted suspension for.
Hore said he didn’t mean to hit him in the head, that’s quite plausible, it would be virtally unprecedented to deliberately belt someone like that out in the open. Reckless – yes. Cowardly – I don’t think so.
Longknives – if that was the intention. Hore claims it wasn’t his intent. It’s quite feasible that Hore tried to push him aside with his arm, misjudged and went too high. I think that’s most likely what happened. So it was reckless, but the result was accidental.
Longknives, as a user of the term would you please define for me the word “kinghit”. Sounds a bit emotive to me and I am not sure what it means. Just so I can correctly identify what your point is.
many thanks
david
Cant wait to see the Hobbit, still cant believe some on the left, the blogs The Hand Mirror and the Standard are still against it, because they didnt like the way the unions were treated.
david – I disagree with Longknives about most things All Blacks, but his use of ‘kinghit’ is pretty accurate as I understand the term. My understanding is that it is a punch/strike thrown when the other party is not expecting it, often from behind or the side.
This is where the football system is superior – you get suspended in a World Cup game, you are banned for X World Cup games/qualifiers. You are banned in an international friendly then you miss X international friendly games. Similarly, club suspensions are seperate in domestic and european comps. This means bans can’t be served out in meaningless pre season friendlies, which is ridiculous, but not the fault of the All Blacks/NZRU.
Get you hand off it Pete.
I don’t care what Hore “claims”…The facts are the entire rugby World saw him king hit an opposing player from behind and knock him cold. To now claim this was accidental is as laughable as claiming that Umaga was simply ‘clearing O’Driscoll out of the ruck’.
People need to grow up and accept that their beloved All Blacks aren’t Saints… and that this incident wasn’t something minor and blown out of proportion by the English media (as Steve Hansen is desperately trying to brainwash people).
Take a deep breath Pete and imagine this scenario- A big nasty Englishman runs in and smacks Saint Richie McCaw from behind this weekend, leaving McCaw face down and unconscious on the Twickenham dirt. Would you be happy with “whoops it was an accident” and a one week ban?
Luc – things have moved on significantly since Dalton’s day. Maybe I should have said “this century”.
Longknives:
“The Judicial Officer held that the act of foul play was inherently dangerous, being a deliberate swinging of the arm, delivered with significant force, causing serious injury to the victim player, Bradley Davies, who was unsighted. However, the Judicial Officer found that the player had not intended to make contact with the victim player’s head.”
“In categorising the seriousness of the offence the Judicial Officer held that it was worthy of a top end entry point under the IRB’s sanctions table, and that the entry point should be 8 weeks.
“The Judicial Officer held that there were no aggravating factors.
“The Judicial Officer acknowledged the mitigating factors of acceptance of guilt by the player, his genuine remorse, as evidenced by his daily contact with the injured player, his exemplary disciplinary record, and his conduct throughout the hearing and imposed a suspension of five weeks.
“The Judicial Officer heard submissions in detail as to when the suspension should end given that the player was entering the close season. The Judicial Officer received unreserved assurances from Ian Foster, Assistant Coach, New Zealand, the player and his legal representative that the pre-season matches to be played by the Highlanders during the weekends of 1st, 8thand 15thFebruary all had significant and meaningful consequences for the player in accordance with IRB Regulation 17.
The player is accordingly suspended up to and including Sunday 24 February 2013, and has the right of appeal.”
I repeat myself- Take a deep breath Pete and imagine this scenario- A big nasty Englishman runs in and smacks Saint Richie McCaw from behind this weekend, leaving McCaw face down and unconscious on the Twickenham dirt. Would you be happy with “whoops it was an accident” and a one week ban?
Longknives.
Hores 5 weeks Vs Greylings 3 weeks for an elbow to the head Vs Higgenbottom 2 weeks for a punch and a headbutt and openly being defiant and saying he will do it again Vs Rougerie’s eye gouge which he wasnt even cited for FFS.
Yip Hore was hard done by, once again the ABs are singled out by the fuckwits at the IRB.
Longknives – I’m not excusing Hore for what he’s done, just stating what it could have been and what the Judicial Officer found. I’ve always been against foul play and thuggery in rugby.
I think Hore’s suspension seems about right, and the ones Colville mentions were too light.
If something similar happened to Any All Black (or English player) this Saturday I’d have no reason to feel any different – except if they only got a one week ban, not an eight week ban reduced to five, then I may say plenty about the inconsistency.
Scott Chris, even the Pom media has admitted it looks as tho Hore meant to belt him below the shoulder. The chap was falling over as he got twacked. If he hadnt slipped this wouldnt have even rated a penalty.
“Rougerie’s eye gouge which he wasnt even cited for FFS.”
Did that actually happen? Amazing that the story began to circulate just in time to take the heat off Saint Richie McCaw for his heroic smashing in of the French flyhalf’s face. (Which the IRB conveniently chose to ignore)
Hey Colville, picture this- A big nasty Englishman runs in and smacks Saint Richie McCaw from behind this weekend, leaving McCaw face down and unconscious on the Twickenham dirt. Would you be happy with “whoops it was an accident” and a one week ban? (No one has managed to answer me yet)
Longknives, obviously I wouldnt be happy but if the Pom had a previously clean record and copped 5 weeks like Hore then it would be hard to complain too much.
As long as the ABs won of course.
Pete- I suspect you are lying. You are clearly a rather one-eyed Adi-Black supporter and I strongly suspect if the same were to happen to your beloved Saint Richie all hell would break loose and even a life ban wouldn’t be enough….
You’re wrong Longknives, and it’s not flash accusing me of lying.
You obviously don’t know me very well, and I expect you know very little of my views on rugby, the All Blacks and foul play. I played for a couple of decades, refereed for a while and then played again until I was in my early forties. I never deliberately hurt anyone on the field. And from what I’ve seen the majority of players rarely or ever deliberately inflict injuries, but there is a thug or two in most teams (there shouldn’t be at higher levels) and a few others that would involve themselevs in a bit of biff.
I certainly support the All Blacks but as in politics I don’t think I’m one eyed, I’m prepared to look at both sides of an argument better then most.
You don’t seem to be able to accept an alternate view to what you suppose.
If there was an identical incident this weekend, an English swinging arm connects and decks an All Black, what do you think the Judiciary should do?
Longknives, There is a fair chance the McCaw will indeed be laid out by a Pom thug this weekend Dylan Hartley is playing afterall and McCaw is on the end of a foul offence most games.
Are you trying to suggest that Hore wasn’t aiming high?
One of the biggest barriers to the future prosperity of this country is that too many people simply don’t set their sights high enough. Let’s not be too critical of Hore.
Swinging arm – not an accident.
Clocking him on the head – non-intentional.
Knocking him out – there was a bit of freakishness about it, most players survive all sorts of impacts most of the time.
Does anyone know if a different suspension range would have applied if it was deemed intentional? The starting point for his suspension was top of the range for his offence (eight weeks).
Pete- If you were indeed a rugby referee and you can’t see what was wrong with the Andrew Hore cheap shot then I for one am glad you ditched the whistle and went into politics!
I’m a staunch supporter of the All Blacks, but bleating what about other instances of foul play? is a total crock of shit.
Andrew Hore got what he deserved. It was bloody appalling. If he was trying to get an opponent running interference out of the way, he could have / should have run into him / fallen over and hoped that it caught the attention of the ref so the ABs gained a penalty. But he didn’t do that… he whacked him.
It was a stupid action that could have easily resulted in him being sent off.
It justifies what I have been saying here on our economic strategies and it is particularly illustrative of just how the Republicans in the US – here, think John and Bill and Gabriel – reason when facts are askew with their theories. It goes like this: if real world events are at variance with their theory, the real world is wrong.
Saw these interesting figures on another blog. Does anyone know if a similar breakdown exists for NZ electrcity supplies ?
” Yesterday I received along with my electricity bill, an Australian Govt. propaganda pamphlet showing where every $100 on my electricity bill goes, breakdown as follows.
$51 – Network (poles & wires)
$9 – Carbon price
$20 – Wholesale electricity generation
and for some strange reason, lumped together
$20 – Retail customer service AND
programs for ENERGY EFFICIENCY and RENEWABLES. “
Here’s a comment that Stephen Joyce be delighted to hear. String theorist, Dr Kaku is simply stating facts here.
Dr. Kaku said…
Sociologist majors, are not the ones who are going to determine the future of Silicon Valley, but physicists, the engineers and we need more of them, not less.
Dr. Kaku is right on the mark in his comment. Since I’ve been involved in R&Ds earlier on in my career in which I still scour the literature today looking for new ideas (as I work for myself), the number of research publications with non-English names in the literature has grown exponentially over the last 8 years or so and that’s a fact.
Sociologist majors, are not the ones who are going to determine the future of Silicon Valley, but physicists, the engineers and we need more of them, not less.
What atrocious construction!
Try this:
“Sociologist majors are not the ones who are going to determine the future of Silicon Valley, but physicists and engineers. We need more of them, not less.”
An uncontroversial statement, I would have thought, anyway.
It isn’t cognitive dissonance or bad maths Luc. It’s simply acknowledgement that war and terrorism kills kids. Unless, as it would seem in your case, they happen to be Israeli kids on a bus in which case it didn’t happen.
Hopefully it will keep the FBI guessing a bit longer.
Don’t flatter yourself. I doubt any agency would be interested in a geriatric old nudist who spouts propagandist shit about Hamas.
But you’ll know if they did… the delays on your laptop due to the intercepts of your eMails, the unexplained clicking on your mobile as you speak and the bloke in dark glasses who is always watching you …. Haha – I bet you even turn off the Location and Security app on your phone that allows Vodafone / Telecom to determine where you’re located!
So nah… I’d say the FBI would be the least of your worries.
Surely two wrongs don’t make a right, but in this case the overwhelming advantage in firepower of Israel, and its sustained, aggressive use since independence of that firepower makes any proposed equivalence between Hamas and Israel spurious and deeply mischievous.
This is what is being done to Gaza, ‘disengagement’ notwithstanding:
B’Tselem is an Israel based, Jewish, human rights organisation.
This is what is called ‘occupation’ and it gives rise to legally justified resistance. Rockets and public bus bombs are outside that legal framework, but resistance is messy and the best way to eliminate the resistance is to eliminate the grievance.
One aspect of the military conflict people gloss over is this: Hamas’s mainly fall harmlessly to Earth. You would have much lower odds of dying in a car crash on Israel’s roads than of being hit by a Hamas rocket, and one must presume Hamas is aware of this fact.
On the other hand, Israel prides itself on its ultra-modern weaponry and its ‘pinpoint’ accuracy, therefore one can only conclude that all deaths inflicted by that weaponry is as deliberate as if an IDF soldier carefully took aim at a Palestinian and shot him or her through the head, which, by the way, is not particularly uncommon.
And meanwhile, in the West Bank, in the absence of rockets, belligerent Israeli occupation soldiers and wild-eyed ‘settlers’ continue to wreak havoc on a defenceless population.
I can imagine that you actually do believe that a busload of Israeli kids being blown up by a suicide bomber is a lesser tragedy than a house full of Palestinian kids being blown up in an Israeli air strike. But nothing you said is in any way relevant to that point of view. I’m thinking that we can agree to differ on the point.
To change to something local, it’s good to hear on the wireless that CHCH council is taking sea level rise into account in its future planning.
Sadly, the half-metre they mentioned as likely is woefully short of latest estimates and I think the council will need to do a rethink when the next IPCC report is issued.
No, davinci, that’s not my view, but you don’t really care about that, do you?
The problem is, your Israel conducts said slaughter both on a greater scale, so much greater as to render equivalence almost meaningless – except for the victims, of course – and with more deliberate intent than the people you portray as being the sole villains of the piece.
Five million Palestinians under belligerent occupation would have a different perspective on just which party is the villain, but I presume that awareness slips under your radar.
Well then Luc, if that isn’t your view the circle is complete and we are back to where we started.
So I repeat what I said at the outset. Let me know when you start collecting donations for the kids on both sides of the border. The ones that haven’t been slaughtered by either side yet.
back in the 70′s up to the 90′s anyone who believed in an EEC was accused of wearing the tin foil hat .
I was told by a German in the early 90′s it would never happen.
Here’s what is happening now thanks to unelected technocrats former Goldman Sachs employees making Euro law
It has to be all games, it would be impossible trying to pick and choose games that warranted suspension for.
Absolute Rubbish
He gets banned for five tests, if he were suspended due to thuggish play in Super Dooper, he gets five Super Dooper Games, if NPC, then five NPC games, if Tests, then Five Tests, and so on and so on and so on.
A pre season friendly is not a competitive game, and Super Rugby is not test match rugby.
We are not discussing a circle. There is starting point to the cause of the current violence. It’s the occupation, stupid. While ending the occupation will not end the differences between Israel and Palestinians, it will end the cause of the resistance and move into a phase of a civil dispute before final resolution.
And the US is a generous donor to Israel. It doesn’t need my money. And while you are whitewashing Israel’s crimes, think about just why the British government gave up the Mandate. Here’s a couple of hints: it was tired of the violence, and the violence it was tired of was not Arab violence.
PS I don’t believe that you would donate money to Palestinians.
Luc Hansen (4,492) Says:
November 29th, 2012 at 1:13 pm
@davinci
We are not discussing a circle. There is starting point to the cause of the current violence. It’s the occupation, stupid. While ending the occupation will not end the differences between Israel and Palestinians, it will end the cause of the resistance and move into a phase of a civil dispute before final resolution.
Full marks for optimism.
These numbskulls have been fighting since long before the occupation. I’m not sure there’s a solution to every problem, especially when the problems stem from religion.
Ah, I love starting at the end and reading up the thread. Pearler Luc:
“CHCH council is taking sea level rise into account in its future planning.
Sadly, the half-metre they mentioned as likely is woefully short of latest estimates and I think the council will need to do a rethink when the next IPCC report is issued.”
You mean latest estimates diverge even further from observations? The worlds leading grant recipients are clearly getting desperate.
I heard something worrying on Newstalk ZB this morning. Hosking was interviewing Michael Reed QC on the Lundy case and the application to the privy council.
Late in the interview the Bain case came up, according to Reed (unless I heard it wrong) it seems that Bain will be awarded tax payer money (I refuse to call it compensation) and that Judith Collins is delaying the announcement until closer to Xmas in the hope that it gets ignored by the media.
If Bain is awarded any tax payer funds it will be a travesty in my opinion, the country should be outraged.
If Bain is awarded any tax payer funds it will be a travesty in my opinion, the country should be outraged.
But, but, but …we’ve been doing it for years with the Stone Agers in the form of treaty claims and nobody says anything. It is life in politically-correct NZ.
The Listener has relaunched online with a subscription model. I follow a bit of Listener political comment but $129 pa is far too much to get me to consider buying their digital.
Elaycee, Luc apparently now thinks it was Dunedin.
I would really like to help Luc, so I found this for him:
Symptoms of early onset dementia are serious and can have a profound effect on the sufferer and their friends and family. The sense of loss for people can be enormous.
Symptoms and signs of early dementia include:
• Memory problems, especially short term memory loss
• Poor judgment
• Experiencing difficulties with daily tasks
• Speech and language problems
• Erratic changes in mood, behaviour and personality
• Inability to concentrate
• Inappropriate interaction
• Disorientation in time, place and person
• Difficulties in recognition, understanding and comprehension
Dirty Rat: He gets banned for five tests, if he were suspended due to thuggish play in Super Dooper, he gets five Super Dooper Games, if NPC, then five NPC games, if Tests, then Five Tests, and so on and so on and so on.
There’s too many complications. What if he retires from International Rugby or gets dropped? He gets off with no ban?
Or he get’s banned from an incident in the last NPC game, but he can play all other rugby until NPC comes round again?
Luc Hansen – Thanks for the link to the article. Obama is certainly on the Right when it comes to education.
It will be interesting to see two new contenders for the White House in 2016.
I know Republicans are stupid, but are they stupid enough to ignore the changing American electorate?
That reminds me, two Neolibs owe me bets after Romney’s loss – One a chocolate fish and the other a $100. Seriously, why would you bet on a Romney/Ryan ticket?
I imagine many Kiwiblog readers will be up for this bet with Hamnida:
Hamnida (889) Says:
November 28th, 2012 at 12:11 pm
More Right wing propaganda.
I guess we can expect a lot of this on Kiwiblog today.
It was proven Jackson was a liar. He said the films were at risk, but it was discovered that Warner Bros had already confirmed the films would be made in New Zealand at the time of the industrial dispute.
I can see why you Neolibs are so sensitive about this. The Key/Hollywood/DotCom saga will end Key’s tenure as prime minister around March or April next year.
[DPF: Okay - how bout you promise never to comment here again after April if Key is till Prime Minister then?]
It could be read two ways:
- Key will not be prime minister after April 2013.
- Key will not be prime minister after April 2013, and the reason will be the Hobbit/DotCom sagas.
So whip out your $100 (Hamnida wouldn’t expect anything less from “Neolib Rich Pricks”) and take your pick
He gets banned for five tests, if he were suspended due to thuggish play in Super Dooper, he gets five Super Dooper Games, if NPC, then five NPC games, if Tests, then Five Tests, and so on and so on and so on.
A pre season friendly is not a competitive game, and Super Rugby is not test match rugby.
I could agree with this if the ban was for five games at the level of the offending or higher. So you be a dick in Super rugby you get banned from tests but cant count Super rugby against a Test ban.
Seriously, why would you bet on a Romney/Ryan ticket?
Why would you bet on an Obama ticket, hamnida?
After what you know, from the sites you post, I can’t believe you haven’t yet seen the drop dead obvious fact that BOTH SIDE ARE BAD. It’s not just one side. No, it’s not.
Obama in his own way is in fact, much worse than Romney. Mind you this is like saying Jack the Ripper wasn’t as bad as the Hillside Strangler. But unless and until you get that and you drop your emotive defense of your ‘home side,’ you’ll never get what really goes on.
Bruv – i heard Hosking say that towards the end of his show.
He said something like “bain will be awarded compensation – AS HE SHOULD BE- just before xmas”. im hoping its hosking being a trendy elitist dick head and demonstrating some hopeful thinking.
he also said – joe karam didnt know, i was on the phone to him the other day.
hopefully Bain doesnt get a cent. on the flip side – at least he did some time.
Karl Rove left the US so he wouldn’t have to testify
Not so the TSA. They simply said we not turning up
They have usurped congress
The TSA has refused to attend a House Transportation hearing this week, with agency head John Pistole personally refusing to appear and declaring that the Congressional Committee has “no jurisdiction over the TSA”.
The hearing, schedule for Thursday, will be held by the Subcommittee on Aviation, a part of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee (TIC). It is titled HOW BEST TO IMPROVE OUR NATION’S AIRPORT PASSENGER SECURITY SYSTEM THROUGH COMMON SENSE SOLUTIONS.
Headed by Rep. Thomas Petri, it will “examine the impact that the regulations and policies of the Transportation Security Administration have on aviation passenger experience and the free flow of aviation commerce,” according to a brief on the subcommittee’s website (PDF).
The TIC’s website indicates that TSA head John Pistole has been asked to testify at the hearing. However, a statement issued on the TSA’s website made it clear that neither Pistole, nor any TSA official intends to attend the hearing. http://www.infowars.com/tsa-claims-it-is-above-congressional-oversight/
The Privvy Council said they thought his conviction was a miscarriage of justice, and Binnie seems to think compensation is due. Everyone else seems to know better…
If he did it, he served a decent amount of time in jail.
And if he didn’t do it, then he’s a hell of a guy for coming out of it as well as he has. (Though I guess if someone killed your whole family, you may as well be in jail, the outside world’s not going to look very good to you anyway…?)
So ha ha hamnida hasn’t been able to name the ‘two Neolibs’ who he alleges owe him. What conclusion should I draw?
I go for the simplest conclusion – he’s a liar.
PS I don’t believe that you would donate money to Palestinians.
Luc, I congratulate you on your perspicacity. I believe that is what I was saying.
Now, where is the charity for kids on both sides of the fence? Tell you what, rather than trusting you, which would be foolish, nominate the charity that will ensure that it actually gets to the kids. I’ll toss in $500 and then just to show that you don’t hate Israeli kids, you chuck in $500. We’ll do it through Farrar to make sure the money gets paid and goes to where it’s meant to go. I mean after all, you don’t actually hate Israeli kids do you Luc?
It goes without saying (well, almost) that Farrar will of course need to report back on this blog as to whether we both pay up.
RightNow. 4.24pm. I have noticed that Hambone the Hobbit Hater possibly has a gambling problem. A majority of his posts when he is not slagging off at Peter Jackson contain references to making bets.
Let’s hope this is a Stuff Politics Quiz question sometime, not that many would be able to answer it: why would Brzezhinsky be saying this?
The strong words from Brzezinski, and the mainstreaming of similar sentiments, illustrate a growing backlash against Israel’s ever-more-shameless, ever-more poorly concealed domination of the USA. The post-9/11 era has witnessed a rash of unbelievably arrogant Israeli actions, including:
Benjamin Netanyahu’s reaction to 9/11 (He triumphantly chortled that 9/11 was “very good,” then hastily added that he meant it was very good for Israel.).
Ariel Sharon’s reaction to 9/11, “We Jews control America, and the Americans know it.”
…
The Israel lobby’s demolition of the Congressional career of 9/11-truth-seeker Rep. Cynthia McKinney.
…
The Israel lobby’s persecution of Christian peacemaker Mark Siljander, who was sent to prison on trumped-up charges for the crime of telling other Christians the truth about Islam, and thereby undermining the Israeli’s islamophobic “war on terror” narrative.
The Israel lobby’s increasing use of its organized crime assets to dominate American politics through blackmail, fraud, drug trafficking, money laundering, assassination, and other crimes.
Israel’s ongoing attempts to drag the US into wars-for-Israel that damage US interests – including wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Pakistan and elsewhere, as well as Israel’s proposed attack on Iran.
And finally, of course, Israel’s ever-more-arrogant refusal to do what the US and every other country on earth insists it must do: Return to its pre-1967 borders and make peace with its neighbors.
“What are you so happy about, Abdul?” Asks the Imam.
“Well, I’ll tell you,” replies Abdul. “I live by the railroad tracks and on my way home last night, I noticed a young woman tied to the rails, like in the American movies. I cut her free and took her back to my humble abode. Allah be praised – we made love all night, all around the tent. We did everything, me on top, sometimes her on top, every position permitted by Mohammed, Peace Be Upon Him!”
“By the most Merciful,” exclaimed the Imam, “you have been blessed. Was she as beautiful as a desert flower?”
Abdul grimaced, “By the Jinn, I do not know – I never found her head.”
Noskire. Its true. They are banning shorts on construction sites, road worker i.e. just about anyone who contracts to any Govt. dept.
They have gone berzerk via ACC on all sorts fo stupid shit.
Work sites closed down around here because of insfufficient scaffolding on single story houses. Sacffold Co.’s cruising the sites and dobbing in builders.
Guess who is paying.
Seeing red over new Cera dress code
A worker in Christchurch’s central city red zone says it is “bizarre and ridiculous” that he may not be able to wear shorts or T-shirts to work next year.
The Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (Cera) has proposed “new minimum safety requirements” for red-zone workers, directing they wear “long pants, hard hats, long-sleeved tops, gloves, protective boots and eyewear”.
The Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) guidelines were designed to protect workers from skin cancer, as well as help prevent “burns, abrasions, contact with cement, concrete, diesel and other chemicals”.
Brayden Sullivan, 29, was outraged when his boss informed him about the policy.
He was told the reason behind the proposal was concern about “melanoma and scratches”.
A psychiatrist was conducting a group therapy session with four young Mothers and their small children. You all have obsessions,’ he observed.
To the first mother, Mary, he said, ‘You are obsessed with eating. You’ve even named your daughter Candy.’
He turned to the second mum, Ann: ‘Your obsession is with money. Again, it manifests itself in your child’s name, Penny.’
He turned to the third Mum, Kathy: ‘Your obsession is alcohol.
This too shows itself in your child’s name, Brandy.’
At this point, the fourth mother, Joyce, quietly got up, took her little boy by the hand and whispered, ‘Come on Dick, this guy has no idea what he’s talking about. Lets pick Willy up from school and go home.
Anoskire.
Well perhaps they will also ban lycra bike shorts.
That will stuff Mallard, especially if they make them wear long trou.
Be much nicer for the spectators though. Duck legs uggg.
There was a little girl who had a little curl
Right in the middle of her forehead.
When she was good, she was very, very good.
But when she was bad……..
She got a fur coat, jewels, a waterfront condo, and a sports car.
There’s a HUGE vote at the UN today as to whether to recognise ‘Palestine’ as a state, and there is talk it could try to force Israel back to it’s 1967 borders.
RAMALLAH, West Bank — The expected U.N. vote today to recognize a state of Palestine will be far more than symbolic — it could give the Palestinians leverage in future border talks with Israel and open the way for possible war crimes charges against the Jewish state.
The Palestinians want the 193-member General Assembly to accept “Palestine,” on the lands Israel occupied in 1967, as a nonmember observer state. They anticipate broad support.
For Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the U.N. bid is a last-ditch attempt to stay relevant as a leader after years of failed peace talks with Israel, at a time when his Islamic militant Hamas rivals are gaining ground.
The U.S. and Israel have tried to block the quest for U.N. recognition of Palestine, saying it’s an attempt to bypass Israeli-Palestinian negotiations that broke down four years ago.
The U.S. deputy secretary of state, William Burns, met with Abbas in New York on Wednesday, asking Abbas again to drop the idea and promising that President Barack Obama would re-engage as a mediator in 2013, said Abbas aide Saeb Erekat. Abbas told Burns it was too late.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said U.N. recognition of an independent Palestine won’t help to reach a lasting two-state peace agreement and stressed that the “path to a two-state solution that fulfills the aspirations of the Palestinian people is through Jerusalem and Ramallah, not New York.”
Israel, meanwhile, appeared to back away from threats of drastic measures if the Palestinians get U.N. approval, with officials suggesting the government would take steps only if the Palestinians use their new status to act against Israel.
The Palestinians say they need U.N. recognition of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, lands Israel captured in 1967, to be able to resume negotiations with Israel.
Meanwhile, John Howard has called Julia Gillard’s flip-flop on the vote “pathetic” (as Australia will now abstain from voting).
JOHN Howard has branded Julia Gillard’s backdown over her push to vote no for UN observer status for Palestine as an “embarrassment” as the issue reignited internal criticisms within the government about the Prime Minister’s judgment and leadership style.
The former prime minister made a rare re-entry into contemporary politics to describe the cabinet backlash and caucus revolt as “a very bad sign when you get rolled on something like that”…
Mr Howard said: “I just think it is pathetic for a country to abstain on something like this.
“We are meant to be striking a confident new pose and the first thing we do is abstain. I can’t find any other word than pathetic. I don’t think I would have so misunderstood my cabinet or was unable to convince them. I never had anything like this, especially on foreign policy.”
The Gillard government was pushed to the brink over the Prime Minister’s insistence that Australia vote against Palestine’s bid to upgrade its status at the UN. Just minutes before the caucus meeting, Foreign Minister Bob Carr stood in Gillard’s office and told her, eyeball to eyeball, to change her mind or she faced a humiliating defeat.
He pleaded with her to back an abstention on the UN General Assembly motion to recognise Palestine as a non-member state observer.
In the end, Gillard relented and a crisis was averted, but only narrowly…
Several ministers and backbenchers … were seized by the dramatic change in the caucus on the Israel-Palestine issue, with several factors that have been slowly building within Labor—Israel’s settlement policy, increasing violence by settlers against Palestinians and a right-wing Israeli prime minister who backed Mitt Romney over Barack Obama.
THE Prime Minister was braced for a frontal assault from the Opposition about her past, but she didn’t expect the spontaneous revolt from her own party over her support for Israel.
Julia Gillard relied on her authority as Prime Minister when she decided on Monday that Australia would vote in support of Israel in a forthcoming ballot in the United Nations, but her authority proved inadequate. Gillard overruled the strong advice of her Foreign Affairs Minister, Bob Carr, and the overwhelming opinion of her cabinet to insist on her position. This set off a firestorm.
The uprising was led by Bob Carr. ”He was on the ring-a-round,” canvassing support for his position, said a factional convener. ”I’ve never seen a Cabinet minister stand up to a prime minister like that.” But after being advised that she was about to face a full Caucus revolt on the matter on Tuesday, Gillard capitulated. Importantly, the bedrock support base for Gillard in the Caucus, the Right faction, split.
While the Victorian bloc of the Right wanted to bind all the faction’s votes nationally in support of the Prime Minister, the NSW group refused.
It was a rare and humiliating backdown for a prime minister.
And it was an important marker in Australian political sentiment about the impassioned dispute between Israel and the Palestinians.
Gillard had insisted that Australia vote against giving Palestine observer status in the UN General Assembly; her party forced her to change Australia’s position to abstaining instead.
Only seven countries are expected to vote against the move to upgrade Palestinian recognition – Israel, the US, Canada, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau and the Marshall Islands. If Gillard had prevailed, Australia would have been the eighth.
As you watch all the bully-boy nations line up against the rest of the world, either by their cowardly abstentions, or by their sycophantic pandering to the biggest international arsehole the world has ever seen. Not the people of Israel, but its leadership.
Indeed, Fletch, in a few hours time the Israeli hasbara machine will be in full flight with variations on the theme of “It doesn’t change anything!” Which, of course, would betray their earlier insistent threats against Palestinians for properly pursuing their legal rights in the ultimate legal forum for nation states – as this resolution will confirm Palestine is entitled to utilise.
Because it is, in fact a propitious moment on a propitious day, the exact date, 65 years ago when the most immoral act ever of the UN took place in the General Assembly, then dominated by the now ex colonial powers.
It will be a day of great humiliation for Israel and the US, the forthcoming protestations of Tim_Oz and KIA (even Tom Hunter may return for this particular propaganda assignment) notwithstanding. But squealing about it won’t make it not so, boys!
Just watch folks, and remember, you heard it from me first.
And except for a couple of bullied and/or bribed small island states, the negative and the abstaining voting blocks will be the rump of those colonial powers who just won’t let go of their innate belief in white supremacy.
Sadly, the latter group is likely to include new Zealand, always particularly sycophantic to the US under National or National-led governments, but that will also change looking forward as our society becomes increasingly diverse.
To be honest, I can’t see how anyone can not support Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East.
All they want is to be left the hell alone and not get attacked all the time.
FFS, Israel lives on one-tenth of one percent of the available lands in the Middle East, but that is still too much?
If Israel is a democracy, and its own tourist maps show an Israel between the river and the sea, up to the Lebanon border and to the Egypt border, why are 5 million Palestinians disenfranchised?
And as a democracy, why does it have 39 basic laws discriminating in favour of Jews?
Israel doesn’t get attacked all the time – it always starts their conflicts, the one notable exception being Sadat’s surprise attack aimed at retaking Sinai.
Luc, there is no such thing as “Palestinians”.
There is no such place and never has been.
‘Palestine’ is a generic term for the area, much as ‘The Antipodes’ is a term for Australia and New Zealand, coined by the British. It would be as absurd if a group started calling themselves ‘Antipodeans” and demanding their own state.
And no, you’re wrong about who does the attacking. Israel has only defended itself when provoked, never the aggressor.
I can’t help but feel that Israelis and Palestinians could easily be prevented from encroaching each other’s territories if someone were to build a wall out of pork separating them.
To be honest, I can’t see how anyone can not support Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East.
All they want is to be left the hell alone and not get attacked all the time.
Fletch it’s quite simple. If that’s what they really want, that’s what they should act like. But they don’t. They never have. Now maybe just maybe the soldiers and the pilots and the gunners in the IDF don’t have any choice, they just obey orders, after all, that’s what soldiers do.
The only real question is, since the IDF really actually does in fact act like thugs, which the whole world sees, all the time, whose orders are they carrying out? It’s simply not possible to hallucinate they don’t act like thugs, that’s just hysterical nonsense. The whole world just saw it again a few days ago.
I’m sure you must have just missed my 4.37pm. You would never just ignore it would you? Or do you have more in common with Redbaiter than you would care to admit?
so the Govt. has knobbled councils?
Yeh, we will beleive it when it happens. Seriously it looks like another lawyers gravy chain.
Maurice Williamson led off the third reading of the debate to rein in rates increases. Photo / NZPA
Shrink
Maurice Williamson led off the third reading of the debate to rein in rates increases. Photo / NZPA
Legislation the Government says will rein in local authority rates increases was passed yesterday amid Opposition criticism it was unjustified and would result in reduced services to communities.
Local Government NZ warned the law risked leaving councils open to expensive legal challenges which ratepayers would ultimately pay for.
The Local Government Act Amendment Bill passed with the support of the Act and United Future parties.
—————————
Now I’m sure someone will correct me if I am wrong but.
The act is the brainchild of former Local Government Minister Nick Smith who introduced it with claims local authority spending, debt and rates hikes were out of control as councils spent up on wage and salary increases and on services outside core areas of activity.
This was a core ACT policy. Now I know Banks considers himself and ACT person (which he is not), but to claim Smith invented it is appalling.
Not in the least surprisingly the teacher’s union over here in Louisiana is trying to stop Jindal’s school voucher program.
I think the real issue at stake is money. Charter and private schools are non union and non bureaucrat and so teacher or public sector unions don’t collect any dues, which are of course simply passed on to the Dems. It is simply a method of indirect involuntary taxpayer support of one particular political party and the sums involved are huge. This is what the fight is really about, as much as the ideology of Govt control and non choice (except if you are a wealthy liberal in which case your kids will go to the finest most expensive private schools. e.g Obama’s kids).
In light of the left’s reaction to a couple of charter schools in NZ, an interesting piece of research to conduct would be how many dollars are collected in union dues from NZ teachers and education bureaucrats and see where this money ends up. Most of it would fund the Labour party I would expect. That might be some fun ammo to throw around at the lefties the next time they try to take pot shots at charter schools.
Charter schools are outrageously popular here in New Orleans, especially amongst poor African Americans whose kids now have a shot at a decent education. There really would be an uprising at any attempt to shut down or curtail charter schools here, so it is both funny and sad to follow the discussion in NZ on the subject.
Bloomberg said he is modeling New York’s school reform on the New Orleans model, so the cat is well and truly out of the bag on school reform, the left are going to lose this one over here. Might not make the headlines but it is a big deal.
Well, I’ve been a bit busy lately and as I don’t obsessively follow her comments I haven’t noticed what she said that was naughty enough to gain demerits.
Normally she’s like one of those small, annoying little dogs that yaps and yaps and drives you mildly nuts with their constant noise, but you can find some way to ignore them – lock it in another room, scoop it up in one hand and fling it over the neighbour’s fence. She doesn’t usually go all the way and actually take a nip at your ankle …
November 29th, 2012 at 8:00 am
I stand by my earlier statement.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 8:03 am
E Gad!:
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 8:03 am
After their first year of this term I’ve rated the parties for 2012:
National 5/10
Maori Party 7/10
UnitedFuture 7/10
Act 3/10
Labour 3/10
Greens 8/10
New Zealand First 4/10
Mana Party 4/10
Details: http://yournz.org/2012/11/29/party-review-2012/
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 8:21 am
It’s time to name and shame the Hobbit hating hypocrites from the left who boldly walked up the red carpet yesterday. I see Ardern has now joined in the bauble brigade of Shearer, King, Robertson. What depths can these two faced useless pricks sink to. Have they no shame.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 8:34 am
This one seems to have slipped under the radar; Dr Judy McGregor’s “Queen” comment in a speech at the Labour Party conference.
Quite why a senior public servant is giving a keynote speech at any political party’s conference is one thing. But Dr McGregor is one of the most senior staff members of the Human Rights Commission, which is supposed to stand AGAINST discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation.
Dr McGregor’s comment may have been intended to be in jest, but it is not the first time that Christopher Finlayson has been attacked by Labour for being gay. This is a very serious error of judgment from Judy McGregor which should cost her her job, and at the very least require a public apology.
And where is the MSM on this? John Key’s “gay red shirt” banter went global, but the MSM is silent on this one, despite the fact that there was a large media contingent at the LP conference. Once again, the blogosphere has to lead the debate.
http://keepingstock.blogspot.co.nz/2012/11/is-this-appropriate.html
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 8:59 am
keeping stock
McGregor’s Queen comment,another example of lefty liberal hypocrisy and MSM gate keeping.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 9:07 am
Quite so Kowtow. And once again, it is left to the blogosphere to out this kind of conduct.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 9:09 am
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/8011414/Medical-bills-6300-per-day-for-grandmother
Travel insurance should be compulsory…bet the good ole’ taxpayer ends up footing this one
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 9:11 am
@Keeping Stock.
It’s something a saw recently on a forum board where gay marriage in the US was being discussed. one of the chap who is very much FOR homosexual marriage repeatedly pointed out that it was perfectly acceptable for liberal lefties like him to use the terms homo and queen and other comments (including using the word gay to mean lame) because they’re on the same side as homosexuals. But it isn’t acceptable for conservative righties like me to use the terms like homo and queen (and the word gay in any other context but when referring to homosexuals) because we’re not liberal lefties and we think that homosexual behaviour is morally wrong (and if we can stop that part of the conversation there, I have neither the time nor the inclination right now to get into a protracted debate about why I consider the behaviour to be morally wrong).
Now even though John Key has been very supportive of gay right. is supportive of voting for gay rights for marriage etc. the fact that he is not a leftie also automatically means, to the left) that he is not allowed to us the words homo or queen when referring to homosexuals, or to use the word gay in any other context other than promoting homosexuality in a positive manner.
It also amuses me that they have this outrage towards the word “gay” slowly changing it’s definition to mean something else. Afterall when we objected to them using the word gay to mean homosexual, we were told that words change, deal with it (and most of us did accepted that the word now had a new alternate meaning…depending on context). And once again the word has changed and depending on the context it is used in means “happily excited”, “brilliant in colour”; “homosexual male” or “lame”
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 9:12 am
His brain is leaving him: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2012/11/27/buffett_tax_hikes_on_rich_would_raise_the_morale_of_the_middle_class.html
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 9:22 am
I see the Hooralds cartoonist has jumped on the bullshit bandwagon by suggesting NZ isn’t 100% pure because shellfish are sometimes dangerous to eat.
Trouble is this is usually due to natural causes of algal blooms etc.
100% pure bullshit
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 9:22 am
In his country of birth. The Luddite and communist Norman will not be impressed:
Vote:http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/latest/15499128/taxpayers-hit-as-costly-solar-panels-written-off/
November 29th, 2012 at 9:24 am
I see one David Shearer said on RNZ this morning that Hobbit was marvellous for NZ or words to that effect, um ahh
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 9:26 am
Keeping…
We should keep this in perspective, should we not?
After all, McGregor is nothing more than a poorly qualified Phud…in media studies (?). As such she is simply a failed left wing journalist operating way beyond her demonstrated pay grade.
C. Finlayson may be homosexual. For McGregor to transfer that label from my favourite pop star, the late Freddy Mercury, is outrageous. McGregor, whatever her sexuality, should be burnt at the MSM stake. But like you, I am not holding my breath.
Vote:And on sexuality, and following on the latest TVNZ “coming out” (this time by that whippersnapper M. McLean), one wonders whether homosexuality is a pre-requirement for employment by TVNZ. And don’t throw homophobicbullshit at me. I have family members, that I love dearly, in that dark (hardly “gay”) world.
November 29th, 2012 at 9:41 am
And don’t throw homophobicbullshit at me. I have family members, that I love dearly, in that dark (hardly “gay”) world.
Why do some end up in that “dark world”? The “normal” world may not seem very enlightened at times.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 9:45 am
” Green candidate led fracking report ” –headline on the NBR website. ( article behind paywall). So given this and Dr Wright’s well known “green” views there cannot be much wrong with fracking if this duo could not find anything that would stand up the scrutiny.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 9:45 am
The Andrew Hore debacle continues to make a mockery of a once great game. A one match ban for that cowardly assault?? (remember All Blacks don’t play early-season Super Rugby matches anyway)
Steve Hansen and co could barely contain their smirks….and then (to rub further salt into the wound) Hansen had the audacity to have another go at the media for daring to report any negative press about his Saintly All Blacks!
The whole thing is a bloody disgrace. Thank Christ it’s cricket season….
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 9:46 am
Manolo
M. Buffet is an excellent example of why the nomenclature that gets bandied around in a political context is pointless to the point of being facile. You appear to be assuming that because he has been so successful as a capitalist, his social views are to the right of Mr G. Khan.
In reality, the only safe method of political classification is to ascribe the terms “lefty, “pinko” to those who think they work hard but in relative terms don’t, believe they are entitled to benefit from somebody else’s ingenuity, capital and hard work because they are envious of success but prefer to justify that value set on the basis of it being “fair”, who would invoke a totalitarian state given half the opportunity and who hate everyone that doesn’t feel the same way. Everyone else is, by definition a rightie; including not only Messrs Buffet and Khan, but those losers in Christchurch who tatoo swastikas on their genitalia. It’s a convenient way to dismiss the contrary view. So when those of the non-leftie persuasion refer to lefties and pinkos, we are in reality referring to unfortunate personality traits, as distinct from any meaningful political viewpoint. You will notice, as I have done, that these people are inevitably fuckwits who “work” in environments in which their competency is not judged or challenged eg government, including education, and unions.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 9:57 am
Big bond collapse inevitable?
http://www.realecontv.com/videos/uk/big-bond-collapse-inevitable-.html
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 10:03 am
A one match ban for that cowardly assault?? (remember All Blacks don’t play early-season Super Rugby matches anyway)
He’s banned for this weekend’s test, three pre-season games (Jamie Joseph has already said All Blacks wil need to play in them) and the first round Highlander game.
It has to be all games, it would be impossible trying to pick and choose games that warranted suspension for.
Hore said he didn’t mean to hit him in the head, that’s quite plausible, it would be virtally unprecedented to deliberately belt someone like that out in the open. Reckless – yes. Cowardly – I don’t think so.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 10:15 am
King hitting a guy from behind and knocking him cold is gutless and cowardly Pete.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 10:23 am
Longknives – if that was the intention. Hore claims it wasn’t his intent. It’s quite feasible that Hore tried to push him aside with his arm, misjudged and went too high. I think that’s most likely what happened. So it was reckless, but the result was accidental.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 10:28 am
Longknives, as a user of the term would you please define for me the word “kinghit”. Sounds a bit emotive to me and I am not sure what it means. Just so I can correctly identify what your point is.
Vote:many thanks
david
November 29th, 2012 at 10:36 am
Cant wait to see the Hobbit, still cant believe some on the left, the blogs The Hand Mirror and the Standard are still against it, because they didnt like the way the unions were treated.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 10:45 am
david – I disagree with Longknives about most things All Blacks, but his use of ‘kinghit’ is pretty accurate as I understand the term. My understanding is that it is a punch/strike thrown when the other party is not expecting it, often from behind or the side.
This is where the football system is superior – you get suspended in a World Cup game, you are banned for X World Cup games/qualifiers. You are banned in an international friendly then you miss X international friendly games. Similarly, club suspensions are seperate in domestic and european comps. This means bans can’t be served out in meaningless pre season friendlies, which is ridiculous, but not the fault of the All Blacks/NZRU.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 10:47 am
Get you hand off it Pete.
I don’t care what Hore “claims”…The facts are the entire rugby World saw him king hit an opposing player from behind and knock him cold. To now claim this was accidental is as laughable as claiming that Umaga was simply ‘clearing O’Driscoll out of the ruck’.
People need to grow up and accept that their beloved All Blacks aren’t Saints… and that this incident wasn’t something minor and blown out of proportion by the English media (as Steve Hansen is desperately trying to brainwash people).
Take a deep breath Pete and imagine this scenario- A big nasty Englishman runs in and smacks Saint Richie McCaw from behind this weekend, leaving McCaw face down and unconscious on the Twickenham dirt. Would you be happy with “whoops it was an accident” and a one week ban?
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 10:49 am
Wanna run that past Andy Dalton, Pete?
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 10:59 am
“Wanna run that past Andy Dalton, Pete”
Aaah the infamous Mr Burger….I used to have that Cavalier series on video and they were some brutal and dramatic matches!
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 11:00 am
Luc – things have moved on significantly since Dalton’s day. Maybe I should have said “this century”.
Longknives:
…the Judicial Officer found that the player had not intended to make contact with the victim player’s head.
That means it was not deemed to be a king hit.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 11:02 am
I repeat myself- Take a deep breath Pete and imagine this scenario- A big nasty Englishman runs in and smacks Saint Richie McCaw from behind this weekend, leaving McCaw face down and unconscious on the Twickenham dirt. Would you be happy with “whoops it was an accident” and a one week ban?
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 11:03 am
The guy on the receiving end of Hore’s swinging arm is 6″ 6′. Are you trying to suggest that Hore wasn’t aiming high?
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 11:07 am
Longknives.
Hores 5 weeks Vs Greylings 3 weeks for an elbow to the head Vs Higgenbottom 2 weeks for a punch and a headbutt and openly being defiant and saying he will do it again Vs Rougerie’s eye gouge which he wasnt even cited for FFS.
Yip Hore was hard done by, once again the ABs are singled out by the fuckwits at the IRB.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 11:10 am
Longknives – I’m not excusing Hore for what he’s done, just stating what it could have been and what the Judicial Officer found. I’ve always been against foul play and thuggery in rugby.
I think Hore’s suspension seems about right, and the ones Colville mentions were too light.
If something similar happened to Any All Black (or English player) this Saturday I’d have no reason to feel any different – except if they only got a one week ban, not an eight week ban reduced to five, then I may say plenty about the inconsistency.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 11:10 am
Scott Chris, even the Pom media has admitted it looks as tho Hore meant to belt him below the shoulder. The chap was falling over as he got twacked. If he hadnt slipped this wouldnt have even rated a penalty.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 11:10 am
American charter schools in disarray:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/28/charter-school-proponents-failing-schools_n_2201912.html?utm_hp_ref=tw
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 11:12 am
“Rougerie’s eye gouge which he wasnt even cited for FFS.”
Did that actually happen? Amazing that the story began to circulate just in time to take the heat off Saint Richie McCaw for his heroic smashing in of the French flyhalf’s face. (Which the IRB conveniently chose to ignore)
Hey Colville, picture this- A big nasty Englishman runs in and smacks Saint Richie McCaw from behind this weekend, leaving McCaw face down and unconscious on the Twickenham dirt. Would you be happy with “whoops it was an accident” and a one week ban? (No one has managed to answer me yet)
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 11:14 am
Longknives, I answered while you were typing, see 11:10
Of course it would depend on the circumstances, no two incidents are the same. Most deliberate thuggery is more discrete.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 11:18 am
Longknives, obviously I wouldnt be happy but if the Pom had a previously clean record and copped 5 weeks like Hore then it would be hard to complain too much.
Vote:As long as the ABs won of course.
November 29th, 2012 at 11:20 am
Pete- I suspect you are lying. You are clearly a rather one-eyed Adi-Black supporter and I strongly suspect if the same were to happen to your beloved Saint Richie all hell would break loose and even a life ban wouldn’t be enough….
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 11:27 am
Hore’s hit.
Accident? Yeah, right.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 11:30 am
You’re wrong Longknives, and it’s not flash accusing me of lying.
You obviously don’t know me very well, and I expect you know very little of my views on rugby, the All Blacks and foul play. I played for a couple of decades, refereed for a while and then played again until I was in my early forties. I never deliberately hurt anyone on the field. And from what I’ve seen the majority of players rarely or ever deliberately inflict injuries, but there is a thug or two in most teams (there shouldn’t be at higher levels) and a few others that would involve themselevs in a bit of biff.
I certainly support the All Blacks but as in politics I don’t think I’m one eyed, I’m prepared to look at both sides of an argument better then most.
You don’t seem to be able to accept an alternate view to what you suppose.
If there was an identical incident this weekend, an English swinging arm connects and decks an All Black, what do you think the Judiciary should do?
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 11:31 am
Longknives, There is a fair chance the McCaw will indeed be laid out by a Pom thug this weekend Dylan Hartley is playing afterall and McCaw is on the end of a foul offence most games.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 11:31 am
One of the biggest barriers to the future prosperity of this country is that too many people simply don’t set their sights high enough. Let’s not be too critical of Hore.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 11:37 am
Accident? Yeah, right.
Swinging arm – not an accident.
Clocking him on the head – non-intentional.
Knocking him out – there was a bit of freakishness about it, most players survive all sorts of impacts most of the time.
Does anyone know if a different suspension range would have applied if it was deemed intentional? The starting point for his suspension was top of the range for his offence (eight weeks).
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 11:46 am
Pete- If you were indeed a rugby referee and you can’t see what was wrong with the Andrew Hore cheap shot then I for one am glad you ditched the whistle and went into politics!
Colville- Isn’t Dylan Hartley a New Zealand thug?
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 11:47 am
Eh? That’s like watching car racing without the crashes!
So you are just as much a sanctimonious prat as your dear leader?
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 11:50 am
Aaah. Hamas’ NZ desk has opened.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 11:53 am
Longknives..The Dylan Hartley that was handed the captiancy of England after being banned for 8 weeks for biting you mean?
Yeah I think he may have been exported from here early on.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 11:54 am
allah akbar, brother davinci.
Ready and waiting for your donation to the kids of Gaza, at least, the ones Israel haven’t slaughtered yet.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 11:57 am
Jesus wept!
I’m a staunch supporter of the All Blacks, but bleating what about other instances of foul play? is a total crock of shit.
Andrew Hore got what he deserved. It was bloody appalling. If he was trying to get an opponent running interference out of the way, he could have / should have run into him / fallen over and hoped that it caught the attention of the ref so the ABs gained a penalty. But he didn’t do that… he whacked him.
It was a stupid action that could have easily resulted in him being sent off.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 11:58 am
Allahu akbar to you brother Luc.
Let me know when you start collecting donations for the kids on both sides of the border. The ones that haven’t been slaughtered by either side yet.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 12:01 pm
@Hamnida (887) Says:
November 29th, 2012 at 11:10 am
Yes, it’s a sad fact that charter schools act to lower, not lift, educational achievements in both the public and charter spheres.
It’s good to see the tide may be turning on fundie-conservatives, as I posted with this example last night:
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/revenge-of-the-reality-based-community/
The piece is worth a careful read.
It justifies what I have been saying here on our economic strategies and it is particularly illustrative of just how the Republicans in the US – here, think John and Bill and Gabriel – reason when facts are askew with their theories. It goes like this: if real world events are at variance with their theory, the real world is wrong.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 12:02 pm
Abdul Ahmed Lucy:
For a Hamas lapdog, you should know better… it is actually “allahu akbar”
Get it right, Lucy. You’re starting to give morons a bad name.
Shalom.
@tdm: SNAP!
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 12:02 pm
You display some cognitive dissonance there, davinci.
Or have you always had a problem with maths?
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 12:03 pm
Saw these interesting figures on another blog. Does anyone know if a similar breakdown exists for NZ electrcity supplies ?
” Yesterday I received along with my electricity bill, an Australian Govt. propaganda pamphlet showing where every $100 on my electricity bill goes, breakdown as follows.
$51 – Network (poles & wires)
$9 – Carbon price
$20 – Wholesale electricity generation
and for some strange reason, lumped together
$20 – Retail customer service AND
Vote:programs for ENERGY EFFICIENCY and RENEWABLES. “
November 29th, 2012 at 12:03 pm
Here’s a comment that Stephen Joyce be delighted to hear. String theorist, Dr Kaku is simply stating facts here.
Dr. Kaku said…
Dr. Michio Kaku America Has A Secret Weapon
Dr. Kaku is right on the mark in his comment. Since I’ve been involved in R&Ds earlier on in my career in which I still scour the literature today looking for new ideas (as I work for myself), the number of research publications with non-English names in the literature has grown exponentially over the last 8 years or so and that’s a fact.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 12:03 pm
LAC
The mispelling was deliberate. Hopefully it will keep the FBI guessing a bit longer.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 12:07 pm
What atrocious construction!
Try this:
“Sociologist majors are not the ones who are going to determine the future of Silicon Valley, but physicists and engineers. We need more of them, not less.”
An uncontroversial statement, I would have thought, anyway.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 12:09 pm
Talking about Palestine, is our government going to kowtow to the US and the Israeli mass murderers and abstain from the vote in the UN?
I won’t hold my breath.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 12:11 pm
It isn’t cognitive dissonance or bad maths Luc. It’s simply acknowledgement that war and terrorism kills kids. Unless, as it would seem in your case, they happen to be Israeli kids on a bus in which case it didn’t happen.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 12:13 pm
“Ready and waiting for your donation to the kids of Gaza, at least, the ones Israel haven’t slaughtered yet.”
youre more optimistic than me. i reckon some of the little bastards will get to grow up.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 12:14 pm
Oh go on. You know you want to.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 12:14 pm
Abdul Ahmed Lucy:
Don’t flatter yourself. I doubt any agency would be interested in a geriatric old nudist who spouts propagandist shit about Hamas.
But you’ll know if they did… the delays on your laptop due to the intercepts of your eMails, the unexplained clicking on your mobile as you speak and the bloke in dark glasses who is always watching you …. Haha – I bet you even turn off the Location and Security app on your phone that allows Vodafone / Telecom to determine where you’re located!
So nah… I’d say the FBI would be the least of your worries.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 12:34 pm
davinci
Surely two wrongs don’t make a right, but in this case the overwhelming advantage in firepower of Israel, and its sustained, aggressive use since independence of that firepower makes any proposed equivalence between Hamas and Israel spurious and deeply mischievous.
This is what is being done to Gaza, ‘disengagement’ notwithstanding:
http://www.btselem.org/gaza_strip/gaza_status
B’Tselem is an Israel based, Jewish, human rights organisation.
This is what is called ‘occupation’ and it gives rise to legally justified resistance. Rockets and public bus bombs are outside that legal framework, but resistance is messy and the best way to eliminate the resistance is to eliminate the grievance.
One aspect of the military conflict people gloss over is this: Hamas’s mainly fall harmlessly to Earth. You would have much lower odds of dying in a car crash on Israel’s roads than of being hit by a Hamas rocket, and one must presume Hamas is aware of this fact.
On the other hand, Israel prides itself on its ultra-modern weaponry and its ‘pinpoint’ accuracy, therefore one can only conclude that all deaths inflicted by that weaponry is as deliberate as if an IDF soldier carefully took aim at a Palestinian and shot him or her through the head, which, by the way, is not particularly uncommon.
And meanwhile, in the West Bank, in the absence of rockets, belligerent Israeli occupation soldiers and wild-eyed ‘settlers’ continue to wreak havoc on a defenceless population.
http://www.theheadlines.org
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 12:34 pm
Pete, did you look at the link?
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 12:39 pm
Luc
I can imagine that you actually do believe that a busload of Israeli kids being blown up by a suicide bomber is a lesser tragedy than a house full of Palestinian kids being blown up in an Israeli air strike. But nothing you said is in any way relevant to that point of view. I’m thinking that we can agree to differ on the point.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 12:39 pm
To change to something local, it’s good to hear on the wireless that CHCH council is taking sea level rise into account in its future planning.
Sadly, the half-metre they mentioned as likely is woefully short of latest estimates and I think the council will need to do a rethink when the next IPCC report is issued.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 12:44 pm
No, davinci, that’s not my view, but you don’t really care about that, do you?
The problem is, your Israel conducts said slaughter both on a greater scale, so much greater as to render equivalence almost meaningless – except for the victims, of course – and with more deliberate intent than the people you portray as being the sole villains of the piece.
Five million Palestinians under belligerent occupation would have a different perspective on just which party is the villain, but I presume that awareness slips under your radar.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 12:52 pm
Well then Luc, if that isn’t your view the circle is complete and we are back to where we started.
So I repeat what I said at the outset. Let me know when you start collecting donations for the kids on both sides of the border. The ones that haven’t been slaughtered by either side yet.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 12:56 pm
back in the 70′s up to the 90′s anyone who believed in an EEC was accused of wearing the tin foil hat .
I was told by a German in the early 90′s it would never happen.
Here’s what is happening now thanks to unelected technocrats former Goldman Sachs employees making Euro law
The Ron Paul of Europe Exposes Globalist Tyranny
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 12:59 pm
this is the vid
For some reason I can’t squeeze it in above
Vote:
November 29th, 2012 at 1:00 pm
oh oh..sorry for the duplicate posts folks. Couldn’t see the link in the edit
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 1:01 pm
Pete George (15,382) Says:
November 29th, 2012 at 10:03 am
It has to be all games, it would be impossible trying to pick and choose games that warranted suspension for.
Absolute Rubbish
He gets banned for five tests, if he were suspended due to thuggish play in Super Dooper, he gets five Super Dooper Games, if NPC, then five NPC games, if Tests, then Five Tests, and so on and so on and so on.
A pre season friendly is not a competitive game, and Super Rugby is not test match rugby.
Not a too difficult concept
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 1:13 pm
@davinci
We are not discussing a circle. There is starting point to the cause of the current violence. It’s the occupation, stupid. While ending the occupation will not end the differences between Israel and Palestinians, it will end the cause of the resistance and move into a phase of a civil dispute before final resolution.
And the US is a generous donor to Israel. It doesn’t need my money. And while you are whitewashing Israel’s crimes, think about just why the British government gave up the Mandate. Here’s a couple of hints: it was tired of the violence, and the violence it was tired of was not Arab violence.
PS I don’t believe that you would donate money to Palestinians.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 1:15 pm
Hinemanu
Can you tell me how to put video clips up like that? Please?
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 1:46 pm
Full marks for optimism.
These numbskulls have been fighting since long before the occupation. I’m not sure there’s a solution to every problem, especially when the problems stem from religion.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 1:54 pm
Just paste the youtube URL Luc, it does the embedding for you.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 1:54 pm
Why would anyone? In the past ended up in Paris’ chic establishment spent by Arafat’s missus.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 2:03 pm
Ah, I love starting at the end and reading up the thread. Pearler Luc:
“CHCH council is taking sea level rise into account in its future planning.
Sadly, the half-metre they mentioned as likely is woefully short of latest estimates and I think the council will need to do a rethink when the next IPCC report is issued.”
You mean latest estimates diverge even further from observations? The worlds leading grant recipients are clearly getting desperate.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 2:04 pm
I heard something worrying on Newstalk ZB this morning. Hosking was interviewing Michael Reed QC on the Lundy case and the application to the privy council.
Late in the interview the Bain case came up, according to Reed (unless I heard it wrong) it seems that Bain will be awarded tax payer money (I refuse to call it compensation) and that Judith Collins is delaying the announcement until closer to Xmas in the hope that it gets ignored by the media.
If Bain is awarded any tax payer funds it will be a travesty in my opinion, the country should be outraged.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 2:05 pm
Cheers RN
Erebus remembered on Fox just now. That’s nice of them.
Now shhh! Bill O’Reilly’s started!
Know thine enemy…
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 2:06 pm
Oh, I think it was Dunedin, RN.
Now back to your alternate reality, OK?
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 2:06 pm
With a violentist crook like him as president: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/concoughlin/100191795/is-egypt-about-to-become-the-new-iran/
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 2:08 pm
RightNow:
I suspect this decision may have been influenced by the fact that CHC has sunk 10cm on average as a result of the earthquake / liquefaction issues…
http://canterburyearthquake.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/liquefaction-factsheet-20110316.pdf
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 2:10 pm
But, but, but …we’ve been doing it for years with the Stone Agers in the form of treaty claims and nobody says anything. It is life in politically-correct NZ.
A crock by any other name.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 2:11 pm
“If Bain is awarded any tax payer funds it will be a travesty in my opinion, the country should be outraged.”
Blame the idiot ‘starry eyed’ jury….He was always going to get compensation if found ‘Not Guilty’.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 2:13 pm
The Listener has relaunched online with a subscription model. I follow a bit of Listener political comment but $129 pa is far too much to get me to consider buying their digital.
http://yournz.org/2012/11/29/listener-online-now-by-subscription/
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 2:17 pm
Elaycee, Luc apparently now thinks it was Dunedin.
I would really like to help Luc, so I found this for him:
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 2:17 pm
Dirty Rat:
He gets banned for five tests, if he were suspended due to thuggish play in Super Dooper, he gets five Super Dooper Games, if NPC, then five NPC games, if Tests, then Five Tests, and so on and so on and so on.
There’s too many complications. What if he retires from International Rugby or gets dropped? He gets off with no ban?
Or he get’s banned from an incident in the last NPC game, but he can play all other rugby until NPC comes round again?
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 2:24 pm
Luc Hansen – Thanks for the link to the article. Obama is certainly on the Right when it comes to education.
It will be interesting to see two new contenders for the White House in 2016.
I know Republicans are stupid, but are they stupid enough to ignore the changing American electorate?
That reminds me, two Neolibs owe me bets after Romney’s loss – One a chocolate fish and the other a $100. Seriously, why would you bet on a Romney/Ryan ticket?
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 2:27 pm
Ha ha hamnida, can you name these two neolibs that owe you?
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 2:41 pm
RightNow:
I imagine many Kiwiblog readers will be up for this bet with Hamnida:
It could be read two ways:
- Key will not be prime minister after April 2013.
- Key will not be prime minister after April 2013, and the reason will be the Hobbit/DotCom sagas.
So whip out your $100 (Hamnida wouldn’t expect anything less from “Neolib Rich Pricks”) and take your pick
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 2:44 pm
I could agree with this if the ban was for five games at the level of the offending or higher. So you be a dick in Super rugby you get banned from tests but cant count Super rugby against a Test ban.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 2:46 pm
Seriously, why would you bet on a Romney/Ryan ticket?
Why would you bet on an Obama ticket, hamnida?
After what you know, from the sites you post, I can’t believe you haven’t yet seen the drop dead obvious fact that BOTH SIDE ARE BAD. It’s not just one side. No, it’s not.
Obama in his own way is in fact, much worse than Romney. Mind you this is like saying Jack the Ripper wasn’t as bad as the Hillside Strangler. But unless and until you get that and you drop your emotive defense of your ‘home side,’ you’ll never get what really goes on.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 2:48 pm
Reid – I guess it was good to bet on Obama because he won.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 2:55 pm
So Hamnida, how much will you bet on these statements (which you made on a previous thread):
- Key won’t be prime minister after April 2013.
- Key won’t be prime minister after April 2013, and the reason will be the Hobbit/DotCom sagas.
Then other Kiwiblog readers can decide whether to respond in kind.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 2:56 pm
Bruv – i heard Hosking say that towards the end of his show.
He said something like “bain will be awarded compensation – AS HE SHOULD BE- just before xmas”. im hoping its hosking being a trendy elitist dick head and demonstrating some hopeful thinking.
he also said – joe karam didnt know, i was on the phone to him the other day.
hopefully Bain doesnt get a cent. on the flip side – at least he did some time.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 3:01 pm
Oh no! Luc is Reid is Luc ??
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 3:01 pm
Karl Rove left the US so he wouldn’t have to testify
Not so the TSA. They simply said we not turning up
They have usurped congress
The TSA has refused to attend a House Transportation hearing this week, with agency head John Pistole personally refusing to appear and declaring that the Congressional Committee has “no jurisdiction over the TSA”.
The hearing, schedule for Thursday, will be held by the Subcommittee on Aviation, a part of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee (TIC). It is titled HOW BEST TO IMPROVE OUR NATION’S AIRPORT PASSENGER SECURITY SYSTEM THROUGH COMMON SENSE SOLUTIONS.
Headed by Rep. Thomas Petri, it will “examine the impact that the regulations and policies of the Transportation Security Administration have on aviation passenger experience and the free flow of aviation commerce,” according to a brief on the subcommittee’s website (PDF).
The TIC’s website indicates that TSA head John Pistole has been asked to testify at the hearing. However, a statement issued on the TSA’s website made it clear that neither Pistole, nor any TSA official intends to attend the hearing. http://www.infowars.com/tsa-claims-it-is-above-congressional-oversight/
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 3:12 pm
Nostradamus – Lets just say the DotCom case will be interesting when it reaches the Court room.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 3:18 pm
@hamnida
I spose not till feb/March ’13
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 3:50 pm
Dime
I guess you are right, at least we know that he had ten or so of the best years of his life taken from him.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 4:08 pm
The Privvy Council said they thought his conviction was a miscarriage of justice, and Binnie seems to think compensation is due. Everyone else seems to know better…
If he did it, he served a decent amount of time in jail.
And if he didn’t do it, then he’s a hell of a guy for coming out of it as well as he has. (Though I guess if someone killed your whole family, you may as well be in jail, the outside world’s not going to look very good to you anyway…?)
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 4:19 pm
Never short of imbeciles: http://news.msn.co.nz/worldnews/8571829/twitter-mad-couple-name-baby-hashtag
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 4:20 pm
Colville
That is probably an ever better solution than the football one I posted earlier.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 4:24 pm
So ha ha hamnida hasn’t been able to name the ‘two Neolibs’ who he alleges owe him. What conclusion should I draw?
Vote:I go for the simplest conclusion – he’s a liar.
November 29th, 2012 at 4:32 pm
Fitch downgrades the bitch, who is another socialist hell-bent in ruining a resource-rich country.
Vote:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9707546/Fitch-downgrades-Argentina-and-predicts-default.html
November 29th, 2012 at 4:37 pm
Luc, I congratulate you on your perspicacity. I believe that is what I was saying.
Now, where is the charity for kids on both sides of the fence? Tell you what, rather than trusting you, which would be foolish, nominate the charity that will ensure that it actually gets to the kids. I’ll toss in $500 and then just to show that you don’t hate Israeli kids, you chuck in $500. We’ll do it through Farrar to make sure the money gets paid and goes to where it’s meant to go. I mean after all, you don’t actually hate Israeli kids do you Luc?
It goes without saying (well, almost) that Farrar will of course need to report back on this blog as to whether we both pay up.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 4:44 pm
So, Assange has health problems. Maybe he should go to a hospital and have his lungs checked out.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 4:50 pm
Judith Collins says that a decision on Bain’s compensation claim will probably be made next year.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 4:55 pm
chiz
Maybe he should go to prison and have his health checked out.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 5:03 pm
If he leaves the embassy to go to hospital he’ll end up in prison anyway.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 5:20 pm
More evil from
Tavistockthe UK social engineers.How many of us would have had our life changed, if we’d been watching what you can get online, from age 10?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2238768/Schools-teach-pupils-porn-says-education-minister.html
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 5:24 pm
Chucky and Chrissie must be devastated: http://miami.cbslocal.com/2012/11/27/carnival-apologizes-to-gay-passengers-after-forbidding-drag-queens-on-ship/
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 5:24 pm
RightNow. 4.24pm. I have noticed that Hambone the Hobbit Hater possibly has a gambling problem. A majority of his posts when he is not slagging off at Peter Jackson contain references to making bets.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 5:24 pm
Paula Bennett tells Ardern to “Zip it, Sweetie” in the House today.
Heh. Love it!
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/8015422/Ardern-and-Bennett-trade-verbal-blows
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 5:28 pm
Elaycee. 5.24pm. Ardern last seen walking up the red carpet in Courtney Place grinning like a Cheshire Cat. Just like a rat up a drain pipe.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 5:31 pm
@RF: Of course. It was free!
Hypocrisy knows no bounds – especially for the likes of Socialist Cindy!
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 6:47 pm
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/11/27/274881/brzezinski-us-must-stop-following-israel/
Let’s hope this is a Stuff Politics Quiz question sometime, not that many would be able to answer it: why would Brzezhinsky be saying this?
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/11/27/274881/brzezinski-us-must-stop-following-israel/
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 7:23 pm
“What are you so happy about, Abdul?” Asks the Imam.
“Well, I’ll tell you,” replies Abdul. “I live by the railroad tracks and on my way home last night, I noticed a young woman tied to the rails, like in the American movies. I cut her free and took her back to my humble abode. Allah be praised – we made love all night, all around the tent. We did everything, me on top, sometimes her on top, every position permitted by Mohammed, Peace Be Upon Him!”
“By the most Merciful,” exclaimed the Imam, “you have been blessed. Was she as beautiful as a desert flower?”
Abdul grimaced, “By the Jinn, I do not know – I never found her head.”
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 7:52 pm
WTF? A tweet from Mallard in the last half hour -
@JohnJCampbell great story on proposed ban on builders shorts. This government is so PC
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 9:02 pm
Noskire. Its true. They are banning shorts on construction sites, road worker i.e. just about anyone who contracts to any Govt. dept.
They have gone berzerk via ACC on all sorts fo stupid shit.
Work sites closed down around here because of insfufficient scaffolding on single story houses. Sacffold Co.’s cruising the sites and dobbing in builders.
Guess who is paying.
Seeing red over new Cera dress code
A worker in Christchurch’s central city red zone says it is “bizarre and ridiculous” that he may not be able to wear shorts or T-shirts to work next year.
The Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (Cera) has proposed “new minimum safety requirements” for red-zone workers, directing they wear “long pants, hard hats, long-sleeved tops, gloves, protective boots and eyewear”.
The Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) guidelines were designed to protect workers from skin cancer, as well as help prevent “burns, abrasions, contact with cement, concrete, diesel and other chemicals”.
Brayden Sullivan, 29, was outraged when his boss informed him about the policy.
He was told the reason behind the proposal was concern about “melanoma and scratches”.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/8011270/Seeing-red-over-new-Cera-dress-code
—————————————
Vote:Greenies movin on or Labour shills shifting jobs. Not sure which but seems unemployment generates its own jobs for these types.
November 29th, 2012 at 9:08 pm
Three men died on Christmas Eve and were met by Saint Peter at the pearly gates.
‘In honor of this holy season’ Saint Peter said, ‘You must each possess something that symbolizes Christmas to get into heaven.’
The Englishman fumbled through his pockets and pulled out a lighter. He flicked it on. ‘It’s a candle’, he said.
‘You may pass through the pearly gates’ Saint Peter said.
The Scotsman reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys. He shook them and said, ‘They’re bells.’
Saint Peter said ‘You may pass through the pearly gates’.
The Irishman started searching desperately through his pockets and finally pulled out a pair of women’s panties.
St. Peter looked at the man with a raised eyebrow and asked, ‘And just what do those symbolize?’
The paddy replied, ‘These are Carols.’
And So The Christmas Season
Vote:Begins……
November 29th, 2012 at 9:09 pm
@Viking2
Yeah, I saw the report on Thwee. Just thought the “… so PC” comment from Mallard about the current Government was more than a touch ironic.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 9:10 pm
“Class, today’s assignment is to spell and
use the word ‘DOUGH’ in a sentence.”
Teacher says”Jane, you go first”
Dough, D O U G H..
“Italians make pizza with dough..”
Very good, Jane… now let’s hear from Mary.
Dough, D O U G H.
“My brother makes things with play dough.”
Very good, Mary…
Johnny then raises his hand.
Teacher says “Yes, Johnny, do you have something constructive to add?”
“My mom says my dad doesn’t make enough dough, and he’s bloody hopeless in bed, so she uses a dill dough!”
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 9:13 pm
“The answer to this last question will determine whether you are drunk or not.
Vote:Was Mickey Mouse a cat or a dog?”
November 29th, 2012 at 9:13 pm
A psychiatrist was conducting a group therapy session with four young Mothers and their small children. You all have obsessions,’ he observed.
To the first mother, Mary, he said, ‘You are obsessed with eating. You’ve even named your daughter Candy.’
He turned to the second mum, Ann: ‘Your obsession is with money. Again, it manifests itself in your child’s name, Penny.’
He turned to the third Mum, Kathy: ‘Your obsession is alcohol.
This too shows itself in your child’s name, Brandy.’
At this point, the fourth mother, Joyce, quietly got up, took her little boy by the hand and whispered, ‘Come on Dick, this guy has no idea what he’s talking about. Lets pick Willy up from school and go home.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 9:16 pm
Anoskire.
Vote:Well perhaps they will also ban lycra bike shorts.
That will stuff Mallard, especially if they make them wear long trou.
Be much nicer for the spectators though. Duck legs uggg.
November 29th, 2012 at 9:17 pm
Georgie Porgy pudding and pie,
Vote:Kissed the girls and made them cry.
And when the boys came out to play,
He kissed them too ’cause he was gay.
November 29th, 2012 at 9:18 pm
There was a little girl who had a little curl
Vote:Right in the middle of her forehead.
When she was good, she was very, very good.
But when she was bad……..
She got a fur coat, jewels, a waterfront condo, and a sports car.
November 29th, 2012 at 9:55 pm
There’s a HUGE vote at the UN today as to whether to recognise ‘Palestine’ as a state, and there is talk it could try to force Israel back to it’s 1967 borders.
http://www.leadertelegram.com/news/daily_updates/article_69f50f9e-39e9-11e2-bc47-001a4bcf887a.html
Meanwhile, John Howard has called Julia Gillard’s flip-flop on the vote “pathetic” (as Australia will now abstain from voting).
http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/comments/labor_again_sells_us_out_for_muslim_votes_in_western_sydney/
ANd –
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/opinion/political-news/humiliating-defeat-forces-gillard-to-back-down-over-palestinian-vote-20121127-2a5vc.html
Pathetic indeed.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 10:14 pm
Pathetic indeed.
Isn’t it Fletch.
As you watch all the bully-boy nations line up against the rest of the world, either by their cowardly abstentions, or by their sycophantic pandering to the biggest international arsehole the world has ever seen. Not the people of Israel, but its leadership.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 10:17 pm
Indeed, Fletch, in a few hours time the Israeli hasbara machine will be in full flight with variations on the theme of “It doesn’t change anything!” Which, of course, would betray their earlier insistent threats against Palestinians for properly pursuing their legal rights in the ultimate legal forum for nation states – as this resolution will confirm Palestine is entitled to utilise.
Because it is, in fact a propitious moment on a propitious day, the exact date, 65 years ago when the most immoral act ever of the UN took place in the General Assembly, then dominated by the now ex colonial powers.
It will be a day of great humiliation for Israel and the US, the forthcoming protestations of Tim_Oz and KIA (even Tom Hunter may return for this particular propaganda assignment) notwithstanding. But squealing about it won’t make it not so, boys!
Just watch folks, and remember, you heard it from me first.
And except for a couple of bullied and/or bribed small island states, the negative and the abstaining voting blocks will be the rump of those colonial powers who just won’t let go of their innate belief in white supremacy.
Sadly, the latter group is likely to include new Zealand, always particularly sycophantic to the US under National or National-led governments, but that will also change looking forward as our society becomes increasingly diverse.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 10:20 pm
To be honest, I can’t see how anyone can not support Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East.
All they want is to be left the hell alone and not get attacked all the time.
FFS, Israel lives on one-tenth of one percent of the available lands in the Middle East, but that is still too much?
I totally support Israel.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 10:27 pm
If Israel is a democracy, and its own tourist maps show an Israel between the river and the sea, up to the Lebanon border and to the Egypt border, why are 5 million Palestinians disenfranchised?
And as a democracy, why does it have 39 basic laws discriminating in favour of Jews?
Israel doesn’t get attacked all the time – it always starts their conflicts, the one notable exception being Sadat’s surprise attack aimed at retaking Sinai.
I totally support the Palestinian cause.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 10:32 pm
Luc, there is no such thing as “Palestinians”.
There is no such place and never has been.
‘Palestine’ is a generic term for the area, much as ‘The Antipodes’ is a term for Australia and New Zealand, coined by the British. It would be as absurd if a group started calling themselves ‘Antipodeans” and demanding their own state.
And no, you’re wrong about who does the attacking. Israel has only defended itself when provoked, never the aggressor.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 10:35 pm
I can’t help but feel that Israelis and Palestinians could easily be prevented from encroaching each other’s territories if someone were to build a wall out of pork separating them.
Vote:November 29th, 2012 at 10:42 pm
To be honest, I can’t see how anyone can not support Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East.
All they want is to be left the hell alone and not get attacked all the time.
Fletch it’s quite simple. If that’s what they really want, that’s what they should act like. But they don’t. They never have. Now maybe just maybe the soldiers and the pilots and the gunners in the IDF don’t have any choice, they just obey orders, after all, that’s what soldiers do.
The only real question is, since the IDF really actually does in fact act like thugs, which the whole world sees, all the time, whose orders are they carrying out? It’s simply not possible to hallucinate they don’t act like thugs, that’s just hysterical nonsense. The whole world just saw it again a few days ago.
Vote:November 30th, 2012 at 5:40 am
The 1st of December is fast approaching. A free chocolate fish for anybody who can tell me what that means for this blog.
Vote:November 30th, 2012 at 5:53 am
The usual intemperate ravings?
Vote:November 30th, 2012 at 6:30 am
mnm
Well yes, but you need to be more specific.
Vote:November 30th, 2012 at 6:33 am
Luc
I’m sure you must have just missed my 4.37pm. You would never just ignore it would you? Or do you have more in common with Redbaiter than you would care to admit?
Vote:November 30th, 2012 at 6:46 am
so the Govt. has knobbled councils?
Yeh, we will beleive it when it happens. Seriously it looks like another lawyers gravy chain.
Maurice Williamson led off the third reading of the debate to rein in rates increases. Photo / NZPA
Shrink
Maurice Williamson led off the third reading of the debate to rein in rates increases. Photo / NZPA
Legislation the Government says will rein in local authority rates increases was passed yesterday amid Opposition criticism it was unjustified and would result in reduced services to communities.
Local Government NZ warned the law risked leaving councils open to expensive legal challenges which ratepayers would ultimately pay for.
The Local Government Act Amendment Bill passed with the support of the Act and United Future parties.
—————————
Now I’m sure someone will correct me if I am wrong but.
The act is the brainchild of former Local Government Minister Nick Smith who introduced it with claims local authority spending, debt and rates hikes were out of control as councils spent up on wage and salary increases and on services outside core areas of activity.
This was a core ACT policy. Now I know Banks considers himself and ACT person (which he is not), but to claim Smith invented it is appalling.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10850929
Vote:November 30th, 2012 at 6:54 am
The Messiah shows his “concern” about his adopted country: http://www.whitehousedossier.com/2012/11/29/obama-slated-hawaii-cliff/
Vote:November 30th, 2012 at 7:26 am
DPF,
Thought you might be interested in this:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324352004578132993575990774.html
Not in the least surprisingly the teacher’s union over here in Louisiana is trying to stop Jindal’s school voucher program.
I think the real issue at stake is money. Charter and private schools are non union and non bureaucrat and so teacher or public sector unions don’t collect any dues, which are of course simply passed on to the Dems. It is simply a method of indirect involuntary taxpayer support of one particular political party and the sums involved are huge. This is what the fight is really about, as much as the ideology of Govt control and non choice (except if you are a wealthy liberal in which case your kids will go to the finest most expensive private schools. e.g Obama’s kids).
In light of the left’s reaction to a couple of charter schools in NZ, an interesting piece of research to conduct would be how many dollars are collected in union dues from NZ teachers and education bureaucrats and see where this money ends up. Most of it would fund the Labour party I would expect. That might be some fun ammo to throw around at the lefties the next time they try to take pot shots at charter schools.
Charter schools are outrageously popular here in New Orleans, especially amongst poor African Americans whose kids now have a shot at a decent education. There really would be an uprising at any attempt to shut down or curtail charter schools here, so it is both funny and sad to follow the discussion in NZ on the subject.
Bloomberg said he is modeling New York’s school reform on the New Orleans model, so the cat is well and truly out of the bag on school reform, the left are going to lose this one over here. Might not make the headlines but it is a big deal.
Vote:November 30th, 2012 at 7:37 am
You must really have been pining for him BB. Have you been sharpening your barbs and laying off bets on how long it will take?
Vote:November 30th, 2012 at 7:39 am
Quite an understatement: http://washington.cbslocal.com/2012/11/29/petraeus-i-screwed-up-royally/
Vote:November 30th, 2012 at 7:49 am
Oh, does someone’s ban from KB end tomorrow?
Vote:…eh…?
November 30th, 2012 at 7:55 am
Huh … I see the self-proclaimed publicwatchdog somehow managed to get 20 demerits. How did she do that?
Vote:November 30th, 2012 at 8:17 am
graham:
Vote:November 30th, 2012 at 8:41 am
Well, I’ve been a bit busy lately and as I don’t obsessively follow her comments I haven’t noticed what she said that was naughty enough to gain demerits.
Normally she’s like one of those small, annoying little dogs that yaps and yaps and drives you mildly nuts with their constant noise, but you can find some way to ignore them – lock it in another room, scoop it up in one hand and fling it over the neighbour’s fence. She doesn’t usually go all the way and actually take a nip at your ankle …
Vote: