Posts by Tom Semmens
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The immediate romanticising of Iti and the rest of his lawless mob by the left is almost embarassing. Never let the facts get in the way of a good bit matyrdom by the state, especially if it come wrapped in all sorts of mystical children of the mist bullshit. Most people who do a bit of hunting or shooting in those part of the Urewera where Tame and co run around playing at freedom fighters will tell endless anecdotal stories of the general lawlessness and lack of order in the Eastern Bay of Plenty .
Clearly, the police simply grew tired of the challenge to their power to enforce law and order and resolved to teach Tame and co a lesson they won't forget. As the state agency charged with the maintaining not just law but also order they are entirely operating within their responsibilities in doing so. At best, Tame Iti and co are simply alienated absurb fantisists and wannabe gangsters who doesn't deserve the ideological raiment the left is bestowing on them. At worst, they were finally girding themselves to actually carry out some kind of Weathermen type campaign of terror against New Zealanders. Either way, as far I am concerned they got their just desserts.
As for Mallard vs. Henare - grabbing Mallards tie constitutes the first assault, so no wonder the National Party is quiet on the issue. But as a pair of grown men, they made themselve both look foolish and Trevor Mallard was right to eat humble pie and apologise. Henare, he of the sunglasses clad "tight five", appears to have learnt nothing.
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Argentina 34, France 10. Doesn't that put into perspective how crap our bunch of choking show ponies are.
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Someone I know, but who shall remain nameless, made nitrogylerine in the chemistry lab at polytech many many moons ago... then panicked and tipped it down the sink. In a six floor building. She later reflected she was lucky some dear old prof didn't decide to throw his ciggie butt down the siink in the lab on the floor below - terrorist incident right there.
When I used to do a bit of shooting with my mate I was of the opinion that the Somme would have been a safer place to be than some parts of the NZ bush during the roar.
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Did someone say thepolice were formation marching in the pre-dawn light past TV3's offices??? In their black armed offenders uniform????
Were they singing as well?????
The flag high! The ranks tightly closed!
NZP marches with a firm, courageous pace.
Comrades, shot dead by Red Front and Reaction
March in spirit within our ranks....?????? -
I just hope we are not venturing into the tricky territory of using anti-terror laws to prosecute thought crimes, you know when people might say "that bitch Clark and the rest of the liarbour dykeocracy need a military coup to put bullet in the head," some cop using invasive surveillance picks up the conversation and before you know it you are an unregistered Gulfstream IV to Gitmo.
Hmmm, come to think of it the posting has been quiet on kiwiblog today...
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Bank's has already begun, with his carry on over the Eden Park upgrade looking like part of a plan to paint himself the hero of the grey power ratepayers of the western suburbs, with an eye on the mayoralty of any super-city that will come from local government reform.
Anyway, with Bob Harvey getting things off to a good start by saying Bank's election has set Auckland city back 20 years and with the formidable operator Mike Lee back at the ARC along with a strongly Labour aligned mayor in Manakau it looks like just when Auckland is desperately in need of seriously good leadership we are going to get a full blown three years of trench warfare in the Balkans of Auckland local governance, with everyone looking to be in a position to seize control of super-Auckland.
Anyone know anything about the new guy on the shore? As far as I can tell he's been elected on a traditional do nothing and keep the rates down platform, but I don't really know.
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"...I'd rather not be able to buy heroine at the supermarket than you very much..."
You clearly have to many E's though.
The Nazi's loaded their troops up on meth - http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,354606,00.htmlWhich may explain at least some of the random and extremely brutal atrocities committed by German forces.
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I know this will sound like heresy, but I actually don't care as much about the international game as I do about the state of the provincial game. To me the question is - could a 18 team, two pool Air New Zealand Cup, with the All Blacks playing and up to four Australian teams & a Pacific Islands Barbarians, a top five play off (best two from each pool plus next highest from either pool) make as much money as the Super 14? I reckon one of the biggest turn off factors in rugby right now is the number of mis-matches going on. We need to learn from the AFL and NRL here I think. A proper draft & pool seedings based on last seasons results and really competitive tussles across multiple home grounds would pull massive gate receipts IMHO, and generate excellent TV coverage rights and sponsorship.
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"...That kind of weird anachronistic macho criticism makes me all the more fond of Dan Carter..."
I'll think you'll find i was shocked at his doing it in public, if I were him i would probably sobbd my heart out back in the hotel room when no one was around. But I would like to think I could keep my dignity intact in public, on TV, and while the game was still going on. And if you think expecting an All Black to retain his composure in public is somehow encouraging family violence, then you are an idiot.
Rugby IS an anachronistic macho game. Its a game for men, its about male values, thats why men love it. And like the joy of stroking a proud new moustache (is movember happening this year? if so - gents remember to get the facial fuzz going!) most females just don't get it. Men in this country are not allowed to lecture women on childbirth or question the amount of money spent on breast cancer prevention vs the amount spent on prostate cancer prevention, so keep your views on All Blacks crying to yourself. its an issue for us guys to argue over.
I admit it, I love the game, which is odd because I can't stand a lot of the boff head male culture that come with it. We have made rugby our sport and its warp and woof of our culture. Probably its to important but much that is good and much that is bad about us and our culture is reflected in our attitude to the game. Unlike so many of our ruling and intellectual elites who have some sort of weird self-loathing I actually like my fellow New Zealanders for who we are, and i like rugby because it is part of that. I love watching the Maori channel just for its unabashed celebrations of New Zealandness, free of the intellectual middle class cultural cringe like this PA column.
One thing this event has really opened my eyes to though is how much a lot of rugby people in Europe loath us. As a patriotic and proud New Zealander I hope we remember the patronising sarcasm and unalloyed joy in the All Black's downfall a lot of the UK and Irish media have reflected. They knew it hurt and they have left no stone unturned to try and rub it in. I think we've handled the French victory over us with a lot more dignity than they've handled the gloating at our loss.
And come 2011, I want us to ram their words back down their supercillious throats.
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My very last comment on the refereeing (I promise):
In the age of professionalism, it is beyond me why the same touchies and the referee are not kept together as a unit for all games. Combinations, as Grahame Henry found out, are important in the big games.