Bat shit crazy America ? ..... Michele Bachmann

Religion and politics really do not walk down even the same side of the street here in New Zealand, Graham Capill a former MP  tried to take NZ down this road and failed for 15 years to gain any representation.

" On 1 April 2005 name suppression was lifted and Capill pleaded guilty to a charge of indecently assaulting an eight-year old girl on four occasions.^[3]These events took place between the years of 2001 and 2002, while Capill was still leader of Christian Heritage. His activities were brought to an end by the Rev Wally Behan, vicar of St John's Anglican Church, Latimer Square, Christchurch, the church which the Capill family attended. Rev Behan was acting on information received from some of the victims. Further charges of rape and indecent assault against girls aged under 12 (committed during the 1990s) followed. "


As  you can imagine I  don't like Capill. I don't like people who view gay and lesbian members of our community as an abonimation against God and condem them as the face of evil, while sexual assulting children as an MP and then as a morals campaigner, a sentiment shared by probably all New Zealanders and I don't like the Christian right, Capill is one manifestaion Michele Bachmann is another.

This woman disgusts me.

" Michele Bachmann has claimed that Hurricane Irene and last week's earthquake in the eastern United States were messages from God to lawmakers in Washington.

The Republican presidential candidate used the hurricane, which has killed at least 32 people and caused billions of pounds of damage, and the 5.8 earthquake, as signs of God's anger at government policies.

Speaking on Saturday, just as Irene was beginning its raking course up the East Coast, Mrs Bachmann told senior citizens in Poinciana, Florida: 'Washington, DC, you'd think by now they'd get the message. An earthquake, a hurricane. Are you listening?'

"She added, drawing some laughs from her audience: 'The American people have done everything they can, and now it's time for an act of God and we're getting it.'

She ( Further ) added: 'I don't know how much God has to do to get the attention of the politicians."

Trust me I know about natural disasters I live in what the Australians call the " Shaky Isles ". I also know I suspect a hell of a lot more than that silly bitch Bachmann about what has caused the problems that face not only America but the rest of the world. I try and triangulate my news sources and sometimes I get information I can't provide verification for because it is provided in confidence usually because a reader has of my blog feels my understanding isn't quite up to scratch, can I recommend John Mauldin if you are interested in good analysis  although it might be slightly to the right of my positions.

John pointed out today  that greed is still the problem and Bachmann is the personification of that greed. The rich will not pay  tax greed. America wake up this woman is bat shit crazy, and you are seriously thinking of putting her up as a candidate  for President of the United States.

Trust me America the Pied Piper of  Minnesota will not expel the rats but she will ensure they get fatter and your children will not leave but become slaves to the system. History has taught us time and time again and as we watch events play out in Libya is teaching is again, that we can do this the hard way or the easy way.

History has a habit of catching up  with wealth  insanity.

" Enfin je me rappelai le pis-aller d’une grande princesse à qui l’on disait que les paysans n’avaient pas de pain, et qui répondit : Qu’ils mangent de la brioche.^[3]

Finally I recalled the stopgap solution of a great princess who was told that the peasants had no bread, and who responded: "Let them eat brioche."

That could be our future. While not wanting to have to run a guillotine I would far rather do that than experience the  guillotines blade. We have a choice ? Yes we do  lets take it.

Pain. Childbirth V. baldness

Farrar at Kiwiblog spotted this and I think it is something the female  blogers on Friendburst are probably unaware of  and it is something that needs to be pointed out to them.

" The Onion reports:

According to a study released Wednesday by the California Pain Medicine Center, subjects suffering from male- pattern baldness were found to experience a level of physical pain at least seven times more intense than that experienced by women during childbirth. “Clinical studies show that as hair gradually separates from the scalp, men experience intensifying waves of all-consuming pain equivalent to having their insides ripped out through the thousands of tiny follicles on their head,” said Vincent Kwan, who led the all-male research team that carried out the study. “While strong uterine contractions and tearing of the vaginal walls undoubtedly cause a degree of discomfort among women in labor, balding men would give anything to experience those sensations instead of lying awake and suffering all night as their hair thins.” Kwan stated that men’s remarkable ability to endure years of excruciating agony without the aid of epidurals or other powerful analgesics was a testament to the sex’s unrivaled tolerance for pain.

Feel free to share you experiences of both the joy childbirth and agony of  going bald in comments.

Hat tip Kiwiblog

Make Room

A very good friend of mine who I happen to think is one of the worlds greatest acoustic guitar players  many years ago wrote Make Room. It was a different age  though, we were fighting  South Africa and apartide a cause only the insane right supported and rugby mad fools. I am Rugby mad and many of you consider me a fool but I protested against  South Africa, I gave money to the ANC at university. I stopped supporting rugby and closed my bank account down with  a bank that sponsored rugby.

I have mates who were on the other side and  argued sport and politics don't mix, all of them agree now that they were wrong, that New Zealand just about had a civil war on the issue probably  influenced them.  But I  also think they came to an understanding of justice.

Africa  again faces regime change.  Libya has  got rid of one of the worlds last dictators we need to support the  interim government now. The right are screaming about Muslim  fundamentalists, lets  make room.

American Eagles are landbound

This from today's NZ Herald is an unfortunate story about the USA Eagles.

" They may have the courage to face the world's rugby giants but World Cup minnows the USA Eagles are too nervous to take a waka trip across the Whanganui River.

And their decision has the makings of an international incident.

The journey from Putiki Wharanui Marae to the Waimarie berth on ceremonial waka was to have been the highlight of the September 4 greeting for the 46-person American party, which will spend a week in Wanganui before the Rugby World Cup.

But "safety and security reasons" prompted them to scupper the waka journey."

I have to say that the chances of this causing an international incident are zero. I have no idea what the advice given to the Eagle's management was if any and that is a definite failure on the part of the New Zealand Rugby Union.

" It may be something some of them are not used to.

"We will still be providing an opportunity for the public to engage with the US party along the riverbank - we are looking at alternatives," said Mr Cobb, admitting that time was short."

The iwi will be gutted. The Eagle's probably aren't aware of is that this is an opportunity that very few New Zealanders ever get. I haven't got around to looking at the Eagle's team  yet but it seems inconceivable to me that there aren't at least a couple of Kiwi's in the team and if I am correct on that they either weren't consulted  or if they were weren't listened to or and I would struggle to believe this, gave some very bad advise to team management.

"The USA team manager did confirm with their team liaison officer that they did not wish to go on the waka on the river.

"They do not mean any disrespect by this."

Whanganui iwi representative and Wanganui District Council Maori liaison officer John Maihi said he wanted to hear the official word on the matter for himself.

"My position is that we've never given up on anything else before, we'll probably challenge them."

He said he expected Maori Affairs minister Pita Sharples, Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia and Wanganui MP Chester Borrows to "make a ruckus" if the US pulled out."

That is a bad idea and Sharples and Turia are experienced politicians and  will more likely work behind the scenes to get a resolution. I hope they do because there are no safety or security issues  involved, for  fucks sake this is New Zealand  not Afghanistan. The American Eagles will not get past the opening round but have fought very hard to qualify for the Rugby World Cup. These  young men will remember playing for the USA in the spiritual home of rugby union for the rest of their lives, I suspect they would also remember the waka ride and the Maori cultural experience that this  is part of for the rest of their lives and it might well have become as they get older a fonder memory than playing in the Rugby World Cup.

Incidentally you probably didn't notice this spelling  

Whanganui 

 and  

Wanganui

  this spelling. Maori New Zealand  insist it is Whanganui but the good people  idiots of  Whanganui insisted  that they know ( no ) better how to spell Maori than Maori the NZ Geographic Board in a totally gutless back down to redneck stupidity authorised both spellings.

Hat Tip Keeping Stock

The Gang of Ten

I use this blog to compose my blogs on Friendburst because basically nothing bloody works on Friendburst blogs for me I can't post pictures or video in my blogs although I can post video in my comments but not pictures go bloody figure. I have to use keystrokes to copy and paste and Friendburst management  on the whole couldn't give a dam. So be it.

OK I have been busy and have not been on line for a couple of weeks other than to post a quick blog and so missed this development until I read Vic Damico's blog on the creation of the Gang of  Ten and then I noticed I had an invitation to join the  Gang. It is one I won't be taking for several reasons as I noted in Vic's blog.

" I see I have an invite to join, and I must say it looks fairly harmless fun but I won’t be taking up the invitation for several reasons not least being I have blogged frequently about gangs in New Zealand and the very real damage they do to our community. While I feel free to blog on American Politics and trust me that really pisses of some of the right wing American bloggers and I seem to get reported all the time for it I will not be stopping any time soon but at the end of the day I am not an American and I have no say on how America organises itself politically. To join forces with a left wing American blog group that is fundamentally focused on the US could be seen as inappropriate. I suspect the Australian and British left of centre bloggers will have a similar attitude."


I don't agree with Vic's blog that this is an attempt by the friendburst left ( of which I am a card caring member ) to promote hate of the right.


 " My problem with it is that it represents pure hatred not by an individual, but as an organized attempt by a group of individuals to promote the hatred that is not necessarily shared by all within the group." 

Rather I think it is an poorly thought out bit of fun that has been misinterpreted by Vic a bloody good guy on the right and has left us vulnerable to hysterical attacks by those less measured than Vic. But worse " The Gang of Ten " has become the focus of the left / right debate over the last few days and it is a distraction. The right in America are self destructing and we need to assist them in any way possible. Playing silly buggers and opening ourselves to attack from the sensible right as well as the idiot right is stupid.

I can think of other ways to achieve this and Pundit in New Zealand is a great idea. We could do this on Friendburst.

President Obama gets it right. Republicans just don't get it at all.

It is great to see President Obama  taking a strong stand on deportation from
TheNew York Times. 

"WASHINGTON — The Obama administration announced Thursday that it would suspend deportation proceedings against many illegal immigrants who pose no threat to national security or public safety.


The new policy is expected to help thousands of illegal immigrants who came to the United States as young children, graduated from high school and want to go on to college or serve in the armed forces."


This is a policy that's time has come. I hope the New Zealand Government is looking at this humane sensible policy and learns that deporting young Kiwis born here  because their parents aren't New Zealand citizens.


"White House and immigration officials said they would exercise “prosecutorial discretion” to focus enforcement efforts on cases involving criminals and people who have flagrantly violated immigration laws.


Under the new policy, the secretary of homeland security, Janet Napolitano, can provide relief, on a case-by-case basis, to young people who are in the country illegally but pose no threat to national security or to the public safety."

This is how it should be.

" The action would also bolster Presidend Obama's reputation with Latino voters as he heads into the 2012 election. Just a week ago the leaders of major Hispanic organizations criticized his record, saying in a report that Mr. Obama and Congress had “overpromised and underdelivered” on immigration and other issues of concern to Latino voters, a major force in some swing states."

I am sure that isn't lost on the administration so it is not only humane it is good politics.

" The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Representative Lamar Smith, Republican of Texas, denounced the new policy.

“The Obama administration has again made clear its plan to grant backdoor amnesty to illegal immigrants,” Mr. Smith said. “The administration should enforce immigration laws, not look for ways to ignore them. Officials should remember the oath of office they took to uphold the Constitution and the laws of the land.”

White House officials emphasized that they were not granting relief to a whole class of people, but would review cases one by one, using new standards meant to distinguish low- and high-priority cases.

“The president has said on numerous occasions that it makes no sense to expend our enforcement resources on low-priority cases, such as individuals” who were brought to this country as young children and know no other home, Ms. Napolitano said in a letter to Mr. Durbin. "

I think President Obama is quietly telling the Republicans to get stuffed. Good on him.

Fox News had a fit and then had the standard  hysterical presidential impeachment meltdown.

"Fox News host Dave Briggs claimed that a new immigration policy, which will postpone deportation proceedings of certain undocumented workers in order to prioritize convicted criminals, is "perhaps blanket amnesty."  Fox News has a long history of labeling immigration policies "amnesty," a term that has been shown to produce a more negative reaction than describing a policy as "a path to citizenship."


What a bunch of bloody fools. calling for the presidents impeachment every 5 minutes is just bloody ridicules. I have warned on the international consequences of that insanity before on blogs here.

An American political metaphor

 An interesting opinion piece by Kurt Anderson from the New York Times.

"Sincere, passionate, hysterical belief that the country is full of (make-believe) anti-American enemies and (fictional) foreign horrors is the besetting national disease. And I’ve diagnosed the systemic problem: the American body politic suffers from autoimmune disorders.

It’s a metaphor, but it’s not a joke. I’ve read a lot about autoimmune diseases — the literal, medical kinds, also disconcertingly on the rise — because several members of my family have them. At some point, our bodies’ own immune systems went nuts, mistaking healthy pieces of our anatomies — a pancreas, a thyroid, a joint — for foreign tissue, dangerous enemies within, and proceeded to attack and try to destroy them. It’s as close to tragedy as biology gets.

Which is pretty much exactly what’s been happening the last decade in our politics. The Truthers decided the U.S. government was behind 9/11. Others decided our black president is definitely foreign-born and Muslim. Tea Party Republicans are convinced his administration is crypto-socialist and/or proto-fascist. The anti-Shariah people are terrified of the nonexistent threat of Islamic law infecting American jurisprudence. It’s now considered reasonable to regard organs and limbs of the federal government — the E.P.A., the education department, the Federal Reserve — as tumors that must be removed. Taxation itself is now considered a parasitic pathogen rather than a crucial part of our social organism.

Many autoimmune diseases of the literal kind, such as Type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis, are apparently triggered by stress. For the sociopolitical autoimmune epidemic, there are plenty of plausibly precipitating mega-stresses: the 9/11 attacks and the resulting wars, a decade of stagnant incomes, chronic job insecurity, hyper-connected digitalism, real estate wipeout, teetering financial system, take your pick."

 I think that is an excellent metaphor. There are some interesting observations on Rick Perry as well.

"Yet the most troubling thing about Perry (and Michele Bachmann and so many more), what’s new and strange and epidemic in mainstream politics, is the degree to which people inhabit their own Manichaean make-believe worlds. They totally believe their vivid fictions.

Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion. Perry is even entitled to his opinion that states such as Texas might want to secede, as he threatened at a Tea Party rally two years ago. But he’s not entitled to his own facts. “When we came into the nation in 1845,” he’d earlier told some bloggers visiting his office, “we were a republic. We were a stand-alone nation. And one of the deals was, we can leave anytime we want. So we’re kind of thinking about that again.” That special opt-out provision is entirely fiction, a Texas myth the governor of Texas apparently thinks is real."

That is bloody hilarious. I am still waiting to see if the GOP can come up with a candidate with a credibale plan for America rather than the deluded idiots that seem to be lining up at the moment. It gets better go have a read.

No sex in New Zealand for the Rugby World Cup

I  am in advertising I understand advertising and this is an idea that would never have occurred to me because it is just about the fucking most stupid idea in the history of fucking stupid ideas that I have ever heard of. From today's NZ Herald  no sex for fans

"Abstain for the All Blacks" - to start late next week - will be driven by the Telecom-sponsored official All Blacks' fan site, BackingBlack. It asks supporters to avoid sex during the World Cup to support the team."

The campaign will be fronted by former All Black captain Sean Fitzpatrick, and participants will receive black rubber finger-rings to show they have signed up for the World Cup next month."

I'll bet that puts of horny  guys and  girls off a trip to NZ in the hope of a bit of World Cup shagging. It gets better. 

" But a marketing person familiar with the campaign said Telecom's advertising agency, Saatchi & Saatchi, considered it "edgy" and expected it to be controversial.

He told the Herald: "I think this thing is a bloody embarrassment. The rest of the world will take the piss out of us. This will be much better sport than the rugby. It's inexplicable. "


He is right.


Telecom are of course an outstanding NZ company  hell they have managed in the last 12 years to drop their share price from $8.50 to about $2.50 and will now be involved in rolling out broadband  to NZ and  all paid for by the NZ tax payer. 


I will post the video in comments.  I guess the idea behind it is if we as a nation don't score then the All Blacks will. Now I need to figure out who has got the LSD.    

" There is enough for everyone "

Just been having a chat with a friend of mine. She is a woman who has very few options by comparison  to me  and in fact probably all the readers  here. This image is used with her permission.

  

You all know what she does. She is 51 although you wouldn't guess that from this photo. I have blogged before on the life of cam girls  in the third world, the exploitation of hundreds of thousand's of  women to satisfy largely white male western appetites.

It was interesting to read on Kiwi blog this.  Following the link on Kiwi blog I found this  I was sort of bloody amazed by the lack of thought in the article. have a look at this

 It tells  a story but not an accurate story.

" A one dollar bag of rice in the U.S. is not the same as a one dollar bag of rice in Indonesia. For an American, who, on average, devotes about seven percent of his or her spending to food, it won’t matter that much if the price of rice doubles to two dollars. An American can likely take the money that would have gone to a “non-essential” item and put it towards food instead. But for an Indonesian, who devotes 43 percent of his/her spending to food, it could mean less to eat."


I agree with this but it assumes that a doubling in food prices in the developed world won't have economic consequences for the poor in the developed world . It will. Look at the UK last week. Look at Somali pirates they used to be fishermen but then  Europe  stole their fish.

There is a way out of this without revolution  it is called taxation, redistribution of wealth on a global scale and one the super rich can't bloody avoid.

The other options well we tried them twice last century. They did seem to solve the problems short term but I don't think a world war is a great solution.

Sometimes it snows in Auckland

I come from the deep south and snow is something I am used to hell I am from Scotland a place that snow is common and just part of life. But Snow is not all that common to the part of New Zealand I live in now in fact the  lst time it happened here was  was in 1974 if radio news reports are accurate or 80 years if you believe to days NZ Herald I will admit it is bloody cold today.

" Snow has fallen on most of the country, including downtown Auckland for the first time in 80 years, as a 'once in a lifetime' polar blast spreads across New Zealand, forecasters say.

Widespread reports of snow emerged this afternoon as bitterly cold and stormy conditions set in around Auckland.

Weather watch.co.nz this afternoon confirmed snowflakes had fallen in Auckland city centre for the first time since the 1930s."

Lets get real. Just had a call from Mum in the deep south and she has 4 foot of snow. In the mean time  my Magnolia has done this today.

" Sometimes all good things come to pass.

London Calling

I love London. It is one of the worlds great cities. Edward Rutherfurd  has written a great historical novel on  the city one I recommend to you. I know Muswell Hill in London well my sister lives there and hell I almost feel that I am living in New Zealand  when I visit. It is multi-cultural,  not a white island although I recognise people are  on the whole wealthy in that suburb.

Just got off the phone to my sister and she makes a few points about the  riots that go against the left wing justification on the grounds of class. She is a lawyer and she she's it in black and white with out shades of grey. It is not racial, it is anti-social. Pablo at Kiwipolitico gives a superb analysis of that.

My view, fuck them. They are  criminals and should be treated as such.

Racism rears its head again

Most organisations, councils and even national governments have rules, by-laws and laws that at are out dated and should have in some cases never been legislated and in other cases were perfectly appropriate at the time  but events caught up on them and there time is done. I remember while on the University of Otago student executive the president asking if I would back him in dumping our 300 page policy document and try and get in a 3 page policy document that reflected the realities as student face them at that time. A great example would have been our opposition to apartheid in South Africa, a great policy but rather odd given that President Mandela was running South Africa.

Yesterday the New Zealand Police came up with a racist disgusting plan

" Police are looking at using Maori wardens on streets throughout the country during the Rugby World Cup.

They are regularly used throughout New Zealand to monitor cultural events and assist police.

The law which established the wardens dates back to 1962 and contains a provision enabling them to order bars to stop serving "drunk and quarrelsome" Maori.

Today, MPs on all sides of the political spectrum acknowledged it was out of date. Parliament is currently reviewing the law which was last year considered by the Maori Affairs Select Committee."

I am bloody struggling with this what the fuck were the police thinking.

" Today, MPs on all sides of the political spectrum acknowledged it was out of date. Parliament is currently reviewing the law which was last year considered by the Maori Affairs Select Committee.

Committee member and National MP Tau Henare said the law was archaic and an embarrassment. The select committee recommended the provision be wiped from the statute books in a report in December 2010.

"It wasn't urgent, it most probably is now, that we take it off the books. Can you imagine a day before the World Cup final and a Portuguese man, who may look like a Maori, is turfed out of the pub."

Prime Minister John Key said only drunks and under-aged people should be thrown out of bars. The 1962 law was antiquated and "felt a bit" racist.

"If someone's removed from a bar it should be because they're under-aged or they're intoxicated, ethnicity's got nothing to do with it."

I am glad that politicians left and right have condemned this but it still doesn't answer what the bloody hell the NZ Police were thinking ? The Minister for Police should be asking some very hard questions  today.

" Police Minister Judith Collins said she did not support the "attack" on the wardens. "There is nothing wrong with the work Maori wardens do."

Asked if she was concerned the wardens would target Maori during the Rugby World Cup, Collins said they should continue to work with police.

"Their focus is always going to be about trying to prevent crime, prevent Maori becoming victims of crime, and to keep the peace."

WTF. Judith Collins also needs a bloody good kick in the arse, nobody is attacking Maori wardens, hell I have pointed out often in my blogs that you just can't tell who is Maori and who isn't in New Zealand. We have been shagging each other for so long it just isn't possible in many occasions to tell. Maori wardens are great and trust me  in Dunedin in the deep south they took the attitude that all obnoxious teenagers were Maori. I got my fair share of talking's to and trust me you don't bloody argue back to a Maori warden because if you do you might well be giving your details to police and then having to explain to your parents  the reason for a Maori warden making a visit to them.

The law which established the wardens dates back to 1962 and contains a provision enabling them to order bars to stop serving "drunk and quarrelsome" Maori."

I have a better idea lets give them the power to deal with drunk and quarrelsome kiwis. My point, if I went out and behaved badly and a Maori warden decided I had crossed the line, and I wouldn't co-operate with the warden and was compelled to give my parents contact details so the warden could call them well I am not sure I would be looking forward to the next phone call from Mum and Dad and I am in my mid forties.

The Dream that dreams

I have had enough of  Labour infact they are pissing me off. I have voted for them  for every election but today they fucked me off more than they have fucked me off before.This is mad

"You will be banned without notice."




What the fuck, So we on the left will shut down  debate, I am on the left  sport.


I believe in freedom. I don't understand the Labour party.

For Fun

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Carisbrook "The House Of Pain "

Most of you won't have a clue what I am on about but in my never ending quest to educate and civilise America this is a rugby blog. Yes America you have a team they and aren't to bad. The have qualified for the Rugby World Cup. But this blog is about the " Brook " one of the great rugby venues of the world that today was consigned to history.

It ended with a whimper as Otago  my team the home team went down to Southland.  Carisbook is known as the " house of pain " and when it comes to international rugby it is a an accurate description, I can't remember when the All Blacks last lost at Carisbrook

" Floodlit since the 1990s, it can cater for both day and night fixtures. Known locally simply as "The Brook", it has been branded with the name "The House of Pain", due to its reputation as a difficult venue for visiting teams."

I can't believe the Otago guys didn't step up and  give the " Brook" a fitting end the only consolation is that it was Southland  who beat us and they are part of the Highlanders Super 15 Franchise that is ( was ) based at Carisbrook. I am personally sad to see the end of the " Brook " it had a grand history and I am part of that.

Rugby has become a professional sport and the day of armature's has gone  and with that has come a demand for flash new stadia. The New Zealand Rugby Football Union ( NZRFU ) drove the stake through Carisbrook's heart, backed by the " Old farts "  sorry the International Rugby Board ( IRB ) the people we expect to build on the traditions that the rugby public hold very dear around the globe.

But sadly no. The ratepayers of Otago and Southland buckled under pressure and the result was this.

Yes it has a roof and it has a name but who would want a bunch of bloody stock brokers for a name when you had a name like Carisbrook, The Brook, The House Of Pain. Who the hell would want the huge debt that the people of Otago and Southland now shoulder so we can have the privilege of boosting the coffers of the the IRB and the NZRFU.

130 years of tradition gone for this

"The Forsyth Barr Stadium (officially Forsyth Barr Stadium at University Plaza) is a multi-purpose stadium in Dunedin, New Zealand.^[1][2] At various stages of development it was also known as Dunedin Stadium, Awatea Street Stadium, New Carisbrook, or its non-commercial official name during the 2011 Rugby World Cup, Otago Stadium^[3].

The stadium was opened by New Zealand Prime Minister John Key on 5 August 2011, replacing Carisbrook as the home stadium of the Highlanders team in Super Rugby and the Otago Rugby Football Union in the domestic ITM Cup. The stadium is scheduled to host four matches of the 2011 Rugby World Cup."

I guess I am a Luddite when it comes to rugby. Goodbye Carisbrook, you are the second to last great New Zealand rugby venue to close.  You join Lancaster Park and Athletic Park as part of rugby history and all we have left in New Zealand is Eden Park.

Lancaster park sounds a lot better than AMI Stadium ( a venue wreaked by the Christchurch earthquake ) and Athletic Park  was way better than Westpac Trust Stadium as names go.

Do it youself gone mad. What was he thinking ?

I have a Swedish sister (of the AFS variety ) and I love her to bits, she is a very liberal rational woman so I am guessing this isn't a national characteristic of Sweden. From yesterdays  Associated Press we have this.

"Swedish man caught trying to split atoms at home"

What the fuck ? is my initial reaction.

" STOCKHOLM (AP) — A Swedish man who was arrested after trying to split atoms in his kitchen said Wednesday he was only doing it as a hobby.

Richard Handl told The Associated Press that he had the radioactive elements radium, americium and uranium in his apartment in southern Sweden when police showed up and arrested him on charges of unauthorized possession of nuclear material.

The 31-year-old Handl said he had tried for months to set up a nuclear reactor at home and kept a blog about his experiments, describing how he created a small meltdown on his stove."

Where the hell did he get it from ?

' Only later did he realize it might not be legal and sent a question to Sweden's Radiation Authority, which answered by sending the police.

"I have always been interested in physics and chemistry," Handl said, adding he just wanted to "see if it's possible to split atoms at home."

The police raid took place in late July, but police have refused to comment. If convicted, Handl could face fines or up to two years in prison.

Although he says police didn't detect dangerous levels of radiation in his apartment, he now acknowledges the project wasn't such a good idea.

"From now on, I will stick to the theory," he said."

Hell I am interested in physics and chemistry but... now there's a thought...

Hat tip Kiwiblog

Sometimes the world just hits you and you understand  banana republic

well Fiji you just went there.  Not that you  have not been batshit crazy for quirt a while
but this is insanity

The fried chicken chain was forced to close its three stores in Fiji this week, claiming the military regime has been blocking the importation of the colonel's secret chicken mix since last October.

"The missing ingredients led to a decline in product quality, coupled with rising food costs, which contributed to decreasing sales," KFC said in a statement.

The NZ Herald have reported the company quit Fiji in order to keep its blend of 11 herbs and spices a secret. The paper claims the regime barred the ingredients because KFC would not reveal the recipe.

However, Fijian biosecurity officials (BAF) have rubbished the claims.

BAF spokesman Colonel Mason Smith told the NZ Herald Fiji would not be bullied by KFC and relax its biosecurity measures.

"First and foremost (BAF is) here to protect the national interest and to protect this nation from the introduction of pests and diseases," he said in the NZ Herald.

up guess what people, a military dictatorship just demanded  the intellectual properties of  KFC and that says everything you need to know about a military dictatotrship.

I Have been thinking

I have been thinking about dollars and value and what it means for the average joe. Nothing  is the short answere.Apart from our PM who the hell plays in these  markets ? A huge  devaluation of the NZ Dollar effects  me not at all.

KFC and a military officer screws the coronol

The American coronal  of the KFC has been ironically fucked  by authoritaranism  or in fact dictators in Fiji.

"The Fijian KFC crisis has taken a new turn.

The fried chicken chain was forced to close its three stores in Fiji this week, claiming the military regime has been blocking the importation of the colonel's secret chicken mix since last October.

"The missing ingredients led to a decline in product quality, coupled with rising food costs, which contributed to decreasing sales," KFC said in a statement.

The NZ Herald have reported the company quit Fiji in order to keep its blend of 11 herbs and spices a secret. The paper claims the regime barred the ingredients because KFC would not reveal the recipe.

However, Fijian biosecurity officials (BAF) have rubbished the claims.

BAF spokesman Colonel Mason Smith told the NZ Herald Fiji would not be bullied by KFC and relax its biosecurity measures.

"First and foremost (BAF is) here to protect the national interest and to protect this nation from the introduction of pests and diseases," he said in the NZ Herald."

Yeah can anyone spot the problem ?

Well their are a few but lets think about things  pre coup  KFC not a problem, now a problem under bio security legislation  so you need to think about things for at least a couple of seconds and then it dawns  on you, KFC has failed to pay the bribe  that is know required to do business in Fiji..

Military dictatorships should be ignored by the world and China you are fucking that policy up.

Laveners Blue

A penny for your thoughts my friends but I am walking in the park. I have some good friends
but if you want Scotland then  be scottish bge me

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