Posts by Craig Ranapia
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OK, am I the only person who is detecting copious crocodile tears and faux outrage about the 'botched' execution of Saddam Hussein? (Perhaps I'm a wet pussy, but I don't think there a nice way to break someone's neck so they'll choke to death.)
Now, I'm one of those people who thinks state-sanctioned executions are repulsive, sadistic and have precisely zero deterrent value full stop - even for a bad bastard like Saddam Hussein. (OTOH, I don't recall any other country offering to keep the miserable prick locked up until he died a miserable but natural death.)
AFAIC, if the Iraqi Government were going to hang the man they should have cleared the room, put a single camera in there and offered a feed to anyone who would have broadcast the whole squalid mess live and unedited. The people who wanted to wrap the thug in a martyr's shroud would have done so regardless; the sad bastards who wanted to get off on the spectacle (however understandably) could have done so too.
Meanwhile, let's see if the armchair moralists here in New Zealand have the balls to be as vocal in their opposition to state-sanctioned murder when it comes to our major trading partners - not least China, who execute more people behind closed doors every year than evil Amerikka has managed in the last thirty.
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FFS... The silly season has officially gone retarded. I don't know what the weather's been like your side of the Bridge, but it's quite nice having temperate days followed by pleasantly cool nights where you can sit on the porch talking shit all night. And we've had Aussie friends over who find rain a delightful novelty.
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Laila Harre had Roger Kerr for breakfast, lunch and dinner on the minimum wage issue on Morning Report today.
Good to see she's eating something, because after yesterday's more than usually stupid performance with Hooters I thought those two really shouldn't hit the Xmas party trail (specifically the open bar) on an empty stomach. Is it just me, or does the silly season start earlier - and become more literal - every year?
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Oh, tosh, Paul. You can't be arrested and charged for eating a Big Mac...
Sure you can, Russell, if your fine dining experience constituted (broadly speaking) dangerous or careless use of a motor vehicle resulting in death or injury. (Try saying that ten time while walking a chalk line with your eyes closed!) In the end, I think this is yet another case where the press release should be biffed in the round file and the resultant legislation examined very, very carefully.
And just to throw something else in the pot, I wonder how many 'drug-related' road crashes are the result of people taking perfectly legal medication and being too thoroughly fuck-tarded to read the recommended dosage and/or side effect warnings on the bottle? it would be nice if you could legislate against human stupidity, but nobody's managed it yet...
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I'm so anti Eden Park that I would probably support the demolition of several orphanges for a new stadium at the moment.
Don't tease, Yamis, that's just cruel. :)
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Russell:
Well, yes - especially considering this situation is hardly without precedent. And much as I hate to agree with Lila Harre on anything, she made a perfectly fair point on __Nine to Noon__'s Politics segment today, that the International Netball Federation was (pardon the pun) on the ball in pulling hosting rights for the world champs from Fiji without fadging around, and (if my memory serves) beginning contingency planning for what would happen if a coup went down months ago. Which doesn't really say much for the big brains of Wellywood and the IRB, does it?
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Paul:
I've changed my views on all kinds of things over the last twenty five years from the trivial (I no longer agree with my ten year old self that Star Wars is the best movie ever) to the essential (being gay isn't the worse thing in creation). But I'd like to think that I'd have been at least slightly embarrased at blithely trotting off to the Sevens, a few months after I'd recounted my anti-Tour credentials to anyone in the Press Gallery who cared to listen.
I'd also like to think the New Zealand Government's response to the military coup in Fiji won't be compromised by mixed messages. There's a serious argument to be had around whether sanctions are effective or not, but when you've got one Minister trying to poke a loophole through travel bans the ink isn't quite dry on yet, you've got to ask why anyone should take New Zealand seriously.
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So what's Mallard's fucking excuse? While we're talking about what people really thought back in '81, I understand Mallard was quite the fan of hardball cultural and sporting sanctions back in the day and any financial impact on the NZRFU be damned. What's changed over the last twenty five years, apart from the view out of his office window and access to a few more corporate boxes?
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Oh, and to be fair, was Murray McCully hit with the same stupid stick as Mallard?
Judging from this (in the linked Herald story), it seems highly probable.
National's sport spokesman, Murray McCully, yesterday said he also understood tournament hosting rights could be lost if the Fijians were banned.
"In principle, we want to see sanctions taken on every possible front to send the strongest possible message to the illegal Fijian regime," he said.
"We are open to the idea of sanctions against the whole Fijian team as long as it doesn't end up boomeranging and causing loss of the hosting rights."
And this knob reportedly has ambitions to be Foreign Affairs Minister in the next National-led Government. Oy and vey...
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So New Zealand would lose the entire tournament if the government banned Fiji from playing in the Wellington sevens? Really? Could we hear that from the IRB itself?
And even if it was true, then I think we've got to ask whether the IRB in effect dictates the foreign policy of the New Zealand Government. Then again, it seemed to work five years ago when Trevor Mallard brushed off criticism of the Fijian Sevens team had no problems entering New Zealand...
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