Cracker: P is for Politics.
206 Responses
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Where is she now?
Appearing in at least one tragically bad student film, judging by Youtube's related clips. Anyone feeling bad about our local film industry should find it uplifting.
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To be fair, Newbold does actually do a fair amount of academic research. He didn't get his position just for being a source of quotes for the media.
And some of the things he has been quoted as saying aren't obvious to the "tough on crime" crowd. He's gotten better at deflecting attention from it when quoted, but some of his ideas would be considered quite radical not too long ago.I don't doubt the quantity and quality of Newbold's research, and I clearly remember how he appeared to cut through so much of the BS around at the time that he first sprang to prominence. Not in recent memory though. While he's hardly to blame for the often inane and trivial context in which the media seek his opinions, he doesn't seem to be averse to giving them when asked.
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Damian:
The biggest and loudest conspiracy theorists at the moment of course are the climate deniers. Huge, massive weight of scientific evidence against them, but listen to Leighton for 5 minutes, or read some nutty uttering by Owen McShane or Lindsay Perigo, and bang, that's it.
Other conspiracy theorists include the likes of holocaust denier David Irving. They're just not as acceptable when they're coming from the Right, no?
You listen to the conspiracy theorists you're talking about. Are they asking questions? No. They're stating the alternative as fact, just with far less evidence.
Not coincidentally, the Protocols of the Elders of the Penguins conspiracy theorists have very strong overlap with the Elders of Mecca brigade.
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I'm very much in favour of decriminalising pot, but I'm actually kind of relieved that the kind of people who shoot at police officers are off the street as an end result.
But they weren't on the street. They were at home chillin'. I think it's more complicated than saying;
Nobody had to shoot them.
To be fair, anybody who uses a firearm on Police (and dog) is a wannabe homicidal maniac
I had my door kicked in by police in the early 90s, and my first instinct was not to pull a firearm and shoot at them
fact 1: There is widespread perceived lack of immorality in something as benign as growing plants and woe betold selling them.
fact 2: A brain explosion may occur in the adult male at the sudden realisation that despite being discrete about growing and selling plants and whilst causing no trouble on the streets you're faced with the imminent reality of year long incarceration.
fact 3: People value their own freedom that much, that they are prepared to kill for it.
fact 4: Many people own guns because it's legal to own guns in New Zealand, (regardless of any propaganda about our staunch environmentalism), people like kiilling creatures, and despite the propaganda about our kiwi ingenuity, guns are essential for this purpose.
fact 5: The police were aware of all these facts
Supposition 1: The police were familiar enough with the aroma of cannabis (requiring a reasonable amount of exposure to the scent)
To contextualise;
A friend of a friend received a call from his gf informing him the police were in the lounge, they'd received testimony that he'd been selling hash and he must return home. He returned to find the police giving the house a going over, after about 45 minutes of searching the cops asked the guy where the drugs were. Bored and keen to be done with the invasion of privacy, the guy pointed to the hash clearly visible in front of them on the coffee table. He was arrested and taken away, he was jailed for 2 weeks in a room with 13 others, then he was set free, reclaimed his passport, end of story.
To further contextualise;
Another friend has a small courtyard, in which he grows the odd plant or three, the police came to check his living registration, as they walked in they brushed through the leaves of the plants which were at that stage well over a metre tall. Having checked his registration, they again walked through the greenery on the way out. I guess if they'd wanted to they could have asked what the plants were, then they could have arrested him and put him in jail for a few weeks, but being civilized, they realised that would entail a lot of extra work, which would bring no significant benefits for the community and at worse case could possibly incite some unfavorable reaction.
Not in New Zealand obviously.
Latent wannabe homicidal mania is a feature of humanity, especially in defence of freedom. Activating latent homicidal maniacs does not make our communities safer. Sure that guy won't be on the street for a few years, but eventually he will, and he'll be no less a homicidal maniac for the experience.
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Chris, facts. You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
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I really don't care if people have a differing opinion to me. Not at all. I just think it's silly to heap all opinions into one category, that of "conspiracy theorists". I think it's healthy to question and sensible to research but I do also think a cover up is possible.Not using any example because I don't get all jiggy about that anyway. but anyone should be able to have an opinion no matter how nutty you may think, without being labelled immediately. As for your acquaintances Damian, hope you debate with them vigourously, they may learn something.but labelling doesn't get one anywhere. Jus' sayin' :)
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This is all starting to fall into place for me. Where was Damain when JFK was shot? Check out the grassy knoll footage, my god that cop looks familar.
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Chris, facts. You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
prove it; )
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chris: re your 'fact' 4:
yes, many people own guns because it's legal to own *some types of guns*
but - what on earth has that got to do with "reguardless of any propaganda about our staunch environmentalism"?I was taught to shoot (.22 air rifle, and .22) as a child, and later, with a .303 and a shotgun. As were all family children. Our targets? Possums, stoats, rabbits, feral cats, and later, deer and pig. These creatures - through no fault of their own - *are introduced vermin.*
I dont like killing things. Very few of my large whanau enjoy killing things (there are a few for whom hunting is definitely a buzz) but we will shoot effectively to get rid of vermin. (The fact that a few species are major food animals is a definite plus: I've eaten my share- & some -of wild pigs, feral sheep, and deer (and feral goats) altho' I've shot very few of them.)I've shot a LOT of possums, as many stoats as I can line up with the .410 (and not a few starling & magpies) but that's it.
None of us duckshoot - there are many other ways of catching edible birds- and I cannot envisage any of us reaching for a rifle/shotgun against a human (except in truly extreme circumstances.) As I said to the policeperson who interviewed me when I renewed my gun licence (in answer to his question "If you were home-invaded would you use a gun against the offender?") "Nope. It takes at least 2 minutes to unlock my triple-locked gun cabinet - it takes two seconds to pick up that trade tomahawk, and 20 to have my rapier at the ready. They come in here with a gun, I'm going to play their game."
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Maybe deep down there's an outlaw element to the kiwi male that hasn't really been examined, the snapping.
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My understanding is that the Misuse of Drugs Act doesn't require warrants. The law allows police officers to execute a search of a person, vehicle or property where they have good reason to believe that illegal drugs are being used. They just have to cite the law when they demand entry.
As someone who has personally experienced state sanctioned home invasion of the very sort, the search without warrant provisions are thrown around with careless abandon. Little wonder then when they occasionally hit a landmine.
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yes, many people own guns because it's legal to own *some types of guns*
but - what on earth has that got to do with "reguardless of any propaganda about our staunch environmentalism"?Beyond the extermination of vermin/pests I see the hunting of animals to be somewhat at odds with any truly integrated environmentalism, fish as extension of ocean, animals as an extension of the land. I know perhaps it's tenuous and wasn't thinking of vermin with that line - basically recreational hunters and their (somewhat celebrated)l killing.
I was taught to shoot (.22 air rifle, and .22) as a child, and later, with a .303 and a shotgun. As were all family children. Our targets? Possums, stoats, rabbits, feral cats, and later, deer and pig. These creatures - through no fault of their own - *are introduced vermin.*
And with my kiwi conditioning that strikes me as pretty cool. But there's no reason you couldn't accomplish the same ends with age-old devices like crossbows or blow darts or spears or whatever else our questionably superior human brains are capable of conceiving
Not that I'm any kind of anti gun advocate, but really, why not? I'd like to see 'hunters' show us their true abilities without recourse to night vision and laser sights. Thinking of our ancestors Islander, obviously they didn't have to contend with evils such as the opossum, but it's almost an admission of ineptness and the inferiority of our species to argue that we can't deal with these creatures without firearms.
My only reason to mention this is that guns here (not NZ) are banned in the general population and police don't carry them either (or tasers). And so there's not a huge groundswell of support for an armed population - and ultimately less danger all round.
I think that there would be a strong argument made in New Zealand by the rural population for retaining guns, but I'm not satisfied that the arguments in favour are any match for the arguments against. Sure banning firearms would incur a problematic changeover period when people would horde and hide weapons, but ultimately, After a fair few iffy house searches under the 'Misuse of Firearms Act' in the long term, on an island, the outcome could only be positive.
Comparatively there is little positive in an increasingly armed police force, conducting iffy house searches under the "Misuse of Drugs Act" with the intention of destroying good quality plants and getting shot in the process. That's an admitted step backwards for a society. It's not making the community any safer, and it's certainly not bringing about a greener tomorrow.
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Well chris, one set of my ancestors didnt have to contend with 70 million opossums!
(That lot did okay hunting for their initial main food resource....)
50 k down the road from my home is the South Westland Bowhunters' Club...deer, chamois/thar are their targets as they are for one of my nephews, also a bowhunter - so we can deal/kill quite large creatures with other weapons than guns. Atlatl darts and other thrown spears are quite impractical in our bush (one set of my ancestors did spear birds - very specialised spears! (not thrown) but noosing over feed troughs (or kiore runs), or netting, was more usual-
Um, as for the last couple of sentences of your penultimate paragraph - no way mate! EVERY arms amnesty here turns up quite large numbers of WW1 & WW2, 'memorabilia' - not to mention other stuff that has *never* been registered (or has been stolen.)
Banning firearms would cause rioting among one of the most conservative groups in ANZ society - rural ANZ-
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Thinking of our ancestors Islander, obviously they didn't have to contend with evils such as the opossum, but it's almost an admission of ineptness and the inferiority of our species to argue that we can't deal with these creatures without firearms.
You want to take on wild pigs with a spear? Or a blow-dart? Be my guest. I'll watch. From a safe distance.
This is a basically fallacious argument; our ancestors also dealt with the winter cold and outdoor living without modern tools, but I hardly feel that my oil heater, sunscreen, or felted merino jacket are admissions of ineptness.
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Banning firearms would cause rioting among one of the most conservative groups in ANZ society - rural ANZ-
That's weird but not implausible.Would they riot?
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When people lose their fire arms in Auckland people wave flags.
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@Sofie
Damian, hope you debate with them vigourously, they may learn something.but labelling doesn't get one anywhere
My point is this Sofie, that if you have done a lot of reading and that has led you to believe say, that vaccinations are a plot by the pharmaceutical industry, or whatever, that's one thing. But then you also decide that the Queen is a shapeshifter. And then you also decide that JFK's alien progeny live among us and the FBI is covering it up and the federal reserve is actually torturing eskimoes because they have the secret about the vapour trails etc etc.
If you sing one folk song, that's one thing. If you sing heaps, I'm going to call you a folk singer.
And as I say, it's just a coincidence that the people with the biggest P habits I've known are also the ones who choose to believe the biggest number of what are commonly known as "conspiracy theories". Maybe their brains are simply far more open because of their prolonged exposure to methamphetamine. Or maybe they've friend their bullshit meter. I know which one I'm going with.
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Actually the missus has just reminded me that we know two more P heads. Who are also really into their conspiracies. So now the Venn diagram of conspiracy theorists I know who are also P heads is a big circle with 9 people in it, and a smaller circle inside that with eight of those people.
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Funny to think that you two could have had this conversation around that fire tonight..
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Not that I'm conspiring or anything
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knife flaw...
a new shop at my local mall is dedicated to swords and knives - probably cheap knock offs, but could still cause some injury i'm sure...
and the spotty youths gathered about it didn't look like sedentary weapons collectors...
a slice of Evan anyone? -
Jeremy Eade - would the rural locals I know riot if all firearms were banned?
Yes.
I'm not a Conservative person - but I am somewhat conservative. I dont like being told what tools I may, or may not keep, or use, to continue to live in a somewhat difficult environment.Which brings us to Ian-the-superb-bard D's "knife flaw":
I was at my neighbour's with a few mutual friends this week: we checked who was carrying a knife/blade: we were largely older people, all of whom had lived in the wopwops for years. We were all genders you can think of. We *were all carrying knives*! "It's only a Swiss Army manicure thingie dear" - which is actually quite enough to kill someone if you are so evilly inclined.
Spotty youth may lust after swords (almost all of which are hideous cheap replicas) and knives - commando all-purpose fuckwittery - BUT most people *killed* by knives are killed by kitchen or cooking knives.
Knife-flaw indeed.
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I just had drinks with a Hungarian couple who were granted work permits on the basis of being economists. I asked them the basis of world currency, they told me it was based on gold. I am going to build a house in Bretton Woods and vanish into thin air.
Boy are we fucked or what. -
You want to take on wild pigs with a spear? Or a blow-dart? Be my guest. I'll watch. From a safe distance.
I don't really want to take on wild pigs at all, that was my point, and showing a little more respect to the police wouldn't go amiss Lucy; r
Bowhunting! Now that's I can respect. Obviously I was a bit of a fan of Steve Irwin and his ilk.
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granted work permits on the basis of being economists
No doubt they'll be insulated from the effects of their ignorance
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