@pukunui Yep, well, if only that were possible. Best of both worlds right there. I hoped for a moment that the Govt would deem the stadium worthy of further investment to stimulate jobs after the loxkdown, but I think that's a dead duck.

@Bones said in Crusaders v Blues: My only concern on the halfbacks is we've seen Nock just gets better with more gametime and has really been building nicely. The impression I get of Christie is that he's prone to occasionally having a good game. To me, Nock looked tired against the 'Landers - his passing was sloppy and his kicking was straight up in the air. Sloppy skill execution is often a sign of fatigue. They may also want to have more of a look at Christie and perhaps they don't rate Nock as a bench option

On a mate's facebook page I'm not racist, you know that, my gran was black. Teaching people what they should know goes both ways. We've had to forget that we were once the slaves of the Romans, then the bloody Vikings, and white people are still being sold as slaves today. African countries are still selling black people today. ISIS and Al-Qaeda gain a lot of revenue from this activity. Don't hear of people wagging fingers at them. Slavery was made legal through a law suit brought to a Virginia court by a black slave owner. At least 10 of the first 20 slave owners in America were black.

One Gary Larson cartoon I can't find - and would love a copy - is where some wolves are looking down on a convoy of sheep driving trucks with mounted machine guns, missile launchers & flame-throwers driving thru a valley. The caption was "The moment when wolves realised the sheep would no longer be a push-over "

@nzzp said in NZ Politics: @Godder I know, right. It's like competition in our electricity market, just a bit unusual. Streamlining really important. I'm not one for centralising stuff, but markets your can't opt out of are a bit weird to me. Water, electricity, health... Competition means scrimping on stuff like infrastructure improvement

@mariner4life Totally agree cats Lions it’s going to be a good game

@taniwharugby said in Good podcasts: The Great Fail: Death of Atari Interesting listen...is ep 11, but havent listened to any of the other ones where they chart the demise (LA Gear, Google Glass) Great series. Thanks

Maximum sentence of 6 months - hope they both get that, because they can get stuffed.

@raznomore said in UFC: Fight Island is paid for and booked! Just in time for Mike Perry to bring the sport of MMA into disrepute... This man is a dead shit. How dumb is the old, fat guy to call Perry a motherfucker twice and mimic him? How dumb is Perry using the 'n' word? Gone With The Wind

@MiketheSnow I've only just tried to read the article and gave up after the shitty page pop-ups and ads still hadn't finished loading by the time I'd managed to eventually get down to blindside with far too much effort than should have been required.

@canefan said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?: @Bovidae said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?: Nonu didn't always play in the midfield for Wellington. In the 2006 NPC final, for example, he was on the left wing. He was used as a sub as often as a 12/13 in the next 4 years after his AB debut. All his early matches were at wing for the Canes Against Ireland in Ireland early on in his career I remember him coming on as a sub, running 50m, being people with power and pace, chipping, regathering and then knocking on in goal. Would have been one of the all time great tries.

Condor Sevens The dates for the Condor Sevens have been announced: Thu 10 - Fri 11 December 2020: Open boys & girls (seniors) Sat 12 - Sun 13 December 2020: U15 boys & girls (juniors) Normally, the seniors would play on the weekend and the juniors on Thursday and Friday, but because - due to Covid-19 - several tournaments had to be squeezed into one weekend (because of changed NCEA examination dates), they have swapped the dates for the seniors and juniors, to allow students to play at multiple events. http://www.nzsssc.co.nz/newsarticle/92047

@Machpants said in The future of NZ Rugby: We have a 250 mill 5 yr deal with sky If you believe that number won't be adjusted then I've got a bridge for sale you might be interested in. Having said that, you're right that broadcast deals (such as they are) don't always get split 50-50.

Absolutley FUBAR eh. Imagine finding that boat....

@taniwharugby A good chance for you to top the weekly results if you are competing against no one else!

Survived rugby training number 2. Realising it's gonna be a bloody hard slog getting the rugby wits back, but ahh well might as well eh! Reactions and vision (not eyesight) just not at the level of everyone else after so many years off. A bit frustrating but being an unco fucker that's how any sport/activity has been for me and at least I know for this one the level I can get to, so will push on. Another 4.5km yesterday too. Right Achilles (at the base by the heel) really starting to flare up and really stiff when not warmed up. Hopefully just getting used to movement.

Looks worth a watch, especially with Thrush!

SHoulders, back and arms with a wee bit of legs. Overhead pressing - widegrip and behind the head. Strict presses for sets of 5 with bar x2, 40kgx2, 50kgx2, gave 60kg a crack but it didn't even move lol. Moved to push pressing, same rep range. 60kg for one, then 70kg x2, 75kg once, then 3 by 3-4 at 80kg. That felt plenty heavy enough Military press next. 2 sets of 6 with 40kg, one at 50kg then 3 sets of 5 at 60kg. Moved to a single leg extension + hammy curls super set. 3 rounds in total. Nice pump after that, hopefully it takes the edge off my incoming leg DOMs. I did want to squat today but that probably wasn't viable lol. Tricep push downs superset with cable curls. 3 rounds of 12 reps each. Then isolation curls for biceps. 2 sets of 12. Standing KB press- two sets. One at 14kg and the other 16kg. Still going hard on grip for these - it definitely benefits overhead bar grip. Always nice to feel secure! Have nudged back up to 97-98kg - a week of a bit more indulgence but I'm also wondering how fast I'll be putting muscle back on after lockdown. But I'm back running my fasting + caloric deficit and drinking a lot more water. Sleep is still shitty but things are going pretty well overall. .

And some line-out drives ...

Shalfoon has moved around in 12 months. Canterbury -> Waikato -> Tasman.

The England v WI test is also on BBC for those that can access. Not much play in day one. Windies got an early wicket with early movement but pitch looks dead.

Some members of the Democrat party have put forward the BREATHE ACT. This is a summary of its proposals. Section 1: Divesting from police Divesting from agencies like the DEA and ICE as well as moving federal resources away from incarceration and policing Eliminate ankle monitors End civil asset forfeiture, which even some conservatives say is readily open to police abuse End life sentences and mandatory minimum sentences Develop a "time-bound plan to close all federal prisons and immigration detention centers" Decriminalize and retroactively expunge both state and federal drug offenses Section 2: Community safety Offer a 50 percent federal match for projected savings when states and/or local jurisdictions close detention facilities, including jails End cooperation with immigration authorities Ban "pretextual" police stops and searches, even where police obtain consent. It's not clear how the lawmakers would define a "pretextual" police stop Abolish police gang databases, as well as armed cops and metal detectors in school Forgive all outstanding court debt Tie state grants to intervention programs that involve specialists other than police responding to some 911 calls Section 3: Allocating new money Create a plan to close youth detention centers Pilot programs for universal basic income Develop curricula that examine the political, economic, and social impacts of colonialism, native genocide, and slavery Create tools to promote environmental justice, including by subsidizing "community" energy solutions Provide lifetime education for illegal immigrants and the currently incarcerated Ensure all communities have safe access to water Eliminate state laws that bar formerly incarcerated people from serving as guardian for their own children or others in their community, Section 4: Holding officials accountable Pass the Commission to Study Reparation Proposal for African-Americans Act and establish commissions to "design reparations" for mass incarceration to include those caught up in the War on Drugs, border and police violence and the "systemic violation of the U.S. Government’s treaty obligations to Tribal nations" Enfranchise all incarcerated individuals Guarantee private right of action for recovering damages when a federal official has committed a constitutional violation Allowing local and state resident voting for illegal immigrants

@Snowy said in NRL 2020: @Nepia said in NRL 2020: I think I'd been on a league forum There's the problem right there. I like to get out of the right wing echo chamber occasionally.

This could be a cracking match. I think the Reds are a better side than the Rebels, but there's class and experience in the Rebels backline that isn't there for the Reds. I think the Rebels will struggle to contain the big ballrunners like Tupou, Wilson, LSL and that should be enough for the Reds to score tries. They should win by 10.

Apparently, one Harlequins player or staff member.

@Nepia I couldn't help thinking the same thing, but he's been playing club rugby since round 1 now ...

Not sure if this will embed properly

@Bones I was waiting for them to sniff each others arses. Different folks - different strokes I guess.

@Bones said in Super Rugby 2020: @Chris said in Super Rugby 2020: @Dice said in Super Rugby 2020: I'm surprised Jordie Barrett is up there. Is he a sneaky grub? I can't remember any incidents involving him. Sio Tomkinson probably should be up there, but he's not a high profile player. Off the field he may have got the grub rep He's not J-Mac for nothing eh. There are rumours about that stuff but rumours stick sometimes

@MiketheSnow Anguilliforme fish, but I was wondering what Dr King's different set was until Honey helped me out with that. All clear now. Morays are actually quite scary...

@Snowy you available for a private flight? UK to Aus... Asking for a friend...

@barbarian said in Aussie Politics: What it means broadly is the best local candidate is often overlooked in favour of local stackers. This impacts the supply chain of future leaders, as you want the backbench to be a breeding ground of talented people rather than a cesspool of local hacks. How do you fix it? Tighter rules around membership, perhaps. More central oversight in candidates maybe. But there is no easy answer as both of those things can have unintended consequences. The line pretty clearly is if the member is aware they hold membership and pay the fee themselves - then it's fair game. It's not exactly clear why rigorous membership checks haven't been put in place if there is a genuine effort to stamp this out - particularly around preselection - when the two major parties have ~50,000 members each in 150 federal divisions. It's pretty obvious cash membership payment should be out with unique bank account or credit card required. If anything the Liberal system with the higher membership fees and state executive having a hand in things is weighted too much to the 'best candidate' - I would argue some returns in the blue-ribbon seats where Howard ministers retired have been pretty safe and underwhelming, particularly out of NSW. The Labor system obviously is clearly worse with each faction 'owning' various seats and the gender targets - but they probably still get as much of their top talent in the door despite the hackery.

@Hooroo said in Rough tips and other bets...: @JK said in Rough tips and other bets...: Not too sure mate. I hardly follow NZ racing and only really go to Ellerslie when someone is offering free beers Well free beers at 10:45 am on Saturday if you’re about. Tempting mate but will be down at the beach until mid next week. Taking the lad out for a bit of serious landbased fishing on saturday morning! Cant wait!

Sad news that Aussie world champion snowboarder Alex Pullin died whilst diving. Only 32yo https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-08/queensland-olympian-alex-pullin-drowns-spearfishing-on-goldcoast/12434974

Outcry On to episode 2 Hooked

@Daffy-Jaffy said in Exodus: Connacht have announced the signing Bay of Plenty number eight Abraham Papali’i ahead of next season. New Zealander Papali’i arrives from Bay of Plenty where he was a key member of the squad that won the Mitre 10 Cup Championship last year. The Auckland-born duel code player started his rugby union career with North Harbour before being recruited into the New Zealand Warriors (rugby league) pathway. In 2015 Papali’i signed a two-year contract with the Sydney Roosters of the Australian National Rugby League. Following his time with the Roosters, Papali’i joined Lézignan Sangliers in the premier French Rugby League competition before the 6’4″ number eight returned to New Zealand and successfully restarted his rugby union career with Bay of Plenty. “I am delighted to welcome Abraham to Connacht Rugby,” he said. “Abraham is a powerful number eight who has all the attributes to become a really valuable player for us while furthering our options in the back-row. I know every Connacht supporter will be excited to see what he can offer.” Did this guy fall out of favour at BoP or was he injured? Don't think he was named in the 23 for any of the finals last year.

@mariner4life said in Hawt discussion (lots of PG13 gifs/pics): This was a pretty sweet thread once upon a time

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/07/business/sweden-economy-coronavirus.html?fbclid=IwAR19rObhtXYFJL9pd9mIzs6ol83IXumk9T6oHvkWtE3WSxZArcbz8zy7fbA