Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: History is now

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  • TroyHoward,

    My Bad.

    I made a prediction based on Star Trek Commanders of Star Ships that Sisko didn't command a Star Ship. I was wrong.

    Sisko did command the USS Defiant later renamed USS Sao Paulo.

    So Star Trek correctly predicted a Black Man as President to be followed by a women.

    Was this before or after Tiny Lister in The Fifth Element?

    Does he he count as the first fictional black POTUS?

    There was something oddly comforting about a POTUS facing down an interstellar threat crosseyed.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 78 posts Report Reply

  • mark taslov,

    what's up danielle, salt with your cornflakes again? really, no disrespect to obama, he seems great, despite the fact he has great teeth and and has said the right words, but more than that we have very little to assess how he'll really stack up against the issues that face him. It has never been disrespectful to compliment someone's teeth or use of diction and if there is any disrespect to anyone by that comment, it would be the voters, ie. not you danielle. you can read it as a 'if you're not for then your against' kind of bushism, but that merely reiterates the deep seated affect the W may have had on the way the world touches you.

    i mean is it a historical day in that a black man was elected president or was it historical for the fact that a

    good

    man was elected president. I believe the latter.

    despite his good teeth and measured speech,

    you project a lot in that reply. Danielle. 'the plebs', 'the brainwashed', 'the disinterested', the 'haven't had one of those in a while'.

    I'm interested hence i post, we are all 'plebs' if you want to paint the readership as thus Danielle, the brainwashed..well, yes, we are, generally, in our various persuasions to a certain extent, whether by self or not, I didn't intend to follow that post up with this kind of condescension,, but all you really brought me for breakfast Danny, is a plate load vitriol with a couple of spoons of sarc. cheer up, yesterday was history, and again Saturday will be, it's a nudge to focus. be what you are Danielle, but deviating from the old shrew role for a brief sojourn may do the world of good.

    Yeah Eleanor, i hear you and agree, but that doesn't discount the fact that NZ is still one of the few countries to have a female prime minister, and in many ways this has done enormous good for the country. It's something I'm proud of. and am deeply concerned at the prospect of her being replaced by John 'to the wrong door' key.

    not forgetting that for days there has been an ad to the right of these boards reminding us that all politicians are liars

    Are we compelled to agree with it?

    I don't know, are we? are we a we? or is that a me and a you, i tend to veer on that side of the intersection...

    knowing full well that when a maori finally attains the coveted NZ captaincy there won't be half the hyperbole

    I'd wait until such time and point you in the meantime to the vastly different histories in race relations in the two countries.

    and yet, the vastly different histories still contain tonal similarities

    and no disrespect to to Obama; he has great teeth and and has said the right words. I'm just left with kind of in awe of how successful the wires and wirelesses have been in turning the droves into US drones.

    This is the thing that irks me the most. We have universal suffrage, and it didn't come cheap. You may complain about the uniformity of political choices and wank over that as much as you want, but ridiculing the people who got vote really gets my back up.

    repeat this phrase giovanni; "i am not american"
    i'm not complaining about the uniformity of political choices or wanking over the uniformity of political choices, or ridiculing anyone,
    i'm pulling focus from the US election to our own,

    I don't ridicule people who got vote or game or what ever else,
    it's a TV show, it's 1000s of miles a way
    the frontline to another slightly more relevant political event, is at your local school Saturday, that's basically all i said, if anyone were to take offence at that spiel it could only be the US drones.

    and we both know you're not a US drone Giovanni, so stop eating salty cornflakes with Danielle.

    Te Ika-a-Māui • Since Mar 2008 • 2281 posts Report Reply

  • mark taslov,

    sure Eleanor, but in (especially)MMP we're still holding a two party leaders debate, and much as Bill English would like to think that John Key is merely the pretty face atop his trojan horse, i don't feel i'm going too far out on a limb to suggest that either Helen or John may be the prime minister, and that per chance could influence people as they tick the two boxes. but yes Eleanor

    "we don't vote for Prime Ministers. A minor point, easily missed."

    Te Ika-a-Māui • Since Mar 2008 • 2281 posts Report Reply

  • Danielle,

    I can't imagine why I am responding in seriousness to someone who actually called me 'a shrew' (what is this? Shakespearean Insult Day?), but I am an American voter and I have an American passport as well as a New Zealand one, dude, so you might want to rethink that part of your post.

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report Reply

  • Che Tibby,

    what i like most about mark's posts is the way they kind of break into rap, or modern poetry of some variety,
    nearing the end,
    of what ever he had to say,
    as if unwinding,
    or running out of puff.

    the back of an envelope • Since Nov 2006 • 2042 posts Report Reply

  • TroyHoward,

    .....if anyone were to take offence at that spiel it could only be the US drones.

    and we both know you're not a US drone Giovanni, so stop eating salty cornflakes with Danielle.

    So at the end of all that, you are calling most of us US Drones?

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 78 posts Report Reply

  • Emma Hart,

    "we don't vote for Prime Ministers. A minor point, easily missed."

    Much like my name, apparently.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    as if unwinding,
    or running out of puff.

    Or being a pretentious jerk, yeah.
    Oh, sorry, forgot about keeping it clubbable.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie,

    what i like most about mark's posts is the way they kind of break into rap, or modern poetry of some variety . . .

    (Sob) - I knew it, I lack The Gift - where others perceive poetry, I see only off-his-meds half-baked homespun philosophy.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • Che Tibby,

    no baby seals in here mr italian-palin.

    the back of an envelope • Since Nov 2006 • 2042 posts Report Reply

  • LegBreak,

    And it’s no mean feat to drop the word “shrew” into rap.

    You don’t get to see that too often.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1162 posts Report Reply

  • mark taslov,

    "After that bit of passive-aggressive damning with faint praise, it seems fair to wonder just what sort of disrespect you might be holding back from. With your obsessing about Obama's ancestry - hardly the central issue of his victory - you're coming across as a real piece of work."

    joe what?

    i'm reacting to the number of headlines and articles centred around the fact that he's not white. beyond that i'm not interested in his ancestory. like i said above, not a 'black' man, but a 'good' man. as a real piece of work you mean, someone who is over the US election and focused on the NZ election?

    Te Ika-a-Māui • Since Mar 2008 • 2281 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    as a real piece of work you mean, someone who is over the US election and focused on the NZ election?

    Great. So can you go and be focused about the NZ election someplace else? Seems like you're wasting your precious focussing time talking to us bozos on this particular thread. And not to be counterlecturing or anything, but I was out canvassing some ultra-lame electoral material just this morning for this national election thingamabob. I imagine you'll be busy doing similar work of your own for among the local expats, so, you know... chop chop.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • TroyHoward,

    For Mark.

    "Even the foolish man, when he keeps quiet, is taken to be wise: when his lips are shut he is credited with good sense." Proverbs 17:28

    "There is no evidence that the tongue is connected to the brain." Frank Tyger

    "One reason a dog is such a lovable creature is his tail wags instead of his tongue"

    ok enough now.... can't we all just get along?

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 78 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    Does he he count as the first fictional black POTUS?

    Closely followed by Morgan Freeman in Deep Impact.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • TroyHoward,

    <qutoe> Does he he count as the first fictional black POTUS?

    Closely followed by Morgan Freeman in Deep Impact.</quote>

    actually I just found out that Richard Pryor was the first BPOTUS waay back in '77.

    I guess it really couldn't have been anyone else when you think about it.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 78 posts Report Reply

  • mark taslov,

    Danielle,why are you always so angry? i had no idea where about your paperwork but you're completely disqualified from taking offence to a comment aimed at US wannabes. you're now asking me to leave the site? because i'm perturbed that there are 42 pages devoted to another US election, 2 days out from a NZ election? and the man is too hungover to inspire us with a post.
    respect to your canvassingl, that's exactly what' i'm talking about danielle, so why you want a piece of me for a comment that's obviously directed at non US passport holders, who care too much for very little return, when you are a US passport holder who is actively participating in the NZ election?
    alarm bells are ringing.


    thanks che, i'll take it positively if that's ok
    sorry emma
    joe- I see only off-his-meds half-baked homespun philosophy.- where you were just a moment ago seeing racist passive aggression...
    and giovanni- a pretentious jerk...yes, and whatever else you feel the need to throw at me.

    Te Ika-a-Māui • Since Mar 2008 • 2281 posts Report Reply

  • mark taslov,

    <quote>"I imagine you'll be busy doing similar work of your own for among the local expats, so, you know... chop chop."<quote>

    i'm disqualified from voting, like most of the expats I know here.

    Te Ika-a-Māui • Since Mar 2008 • 2281 posts Report Reply

  • Gareth Ward,

    as if unwinding,
    or running out of puff.

    Do you have any idea how tiring it is to dig a hole THAT big for yourself? I'm exhausted just watching it...

    Auckland, NZ • Since Mar 2007 • 1727 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    I was kidding about Kiri Te Kanawa. Don't know much about her except she has an extraordinary voice.

    The first Maori PMONZ is not going to come from a minor party, you can bank on that. He/she will be either Labour or National. But so far all the promising candidates seem to crack the shits (sorry for the ozzism but sometimes it seems appropriate) and leave or get booted. So maybe there's going to be a long wait. I think sadly that that primaries method in the US did actually help make Obama, and our own system makes that so much less likely.

    But then again, like I said before, the right candidate just hasn't been found. Someone who speaks powerfully and is also moderate enough to stay within party orthodoxy is actually quite a rare fish. I hope we don't have to have a NZ equivalent of George Bush first to enable it. MMP makes that unlikely too.

    Hence my continued observation that the more democratic, the more conservative. Not that that is bad, I'd rather have conservative democracy over radical oligarchy any day.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • TroyHoward,

    Mark,

    i'm perturbed that there are 42 pages devoted to another US election, 2 days out from a NZ election?

    that's probably because there has __just been_ an American election.

    Check back here on Saturday I think you'll probably find there is an even longer thread about our NZ Election, because that would have just happened.

    why you want a piece of me for a comment that's obviously directed at non US passport holders, who care too much for very little return

    are you serious? No little return for the REST OF THE WORLD who don't have US passports?

    wtf?

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 78 posts Report Reply

  • mark taslov,

    "There is no evidence that the tongue is connected to the brain." Frank Tyger

    "to coin a senseless phrase can be termed creativity, but to advance another's senselessness in the name of mindfulness is surely indication of that unique variety of brain damage often attributed to prolonged exposure to car exhaust" M. Taslov

    Te Ika-a-Māui • Since Mar 2008 • 2281 posts Report Reply

  • Sam F,

    but more than that we have very little to assess how he'll really stack up against the issues that face him.

    Fair enough.

    4 more years of totalitarianism there

    Wait, wat?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1611 posts Report Reply

  • Danielle,

    Actually, I'm rather taking offence at my fellow posters being derided as 'US wannabes' when it might just be that they're actively engaged in analysing something they find interesting.

    Besides, you've just dissed US voters for being brainwashed *and* New Zealanders for being brainwashed too. I'm not sure who's actually exempt, at this point, but I appear to be getting it from both ends. ('That's what she said', etc.)

    Danielle,why are you always so angry?

    I'm not sure. When did you stop beating your wife again?

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    actually I just found out that Richard Pryor was the first BPOTUS waay back in '77.

    Nah, I can beat that as it turns out. James Earl Jones in The Man.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

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