Politics

152 Topics 63.9k Posts
  • Politics Sub Forum

    Pinned Locked
    9 Votes
    4 Posts
    2k Views

    The quarterly reminder about some of the rules

    Please don't post memes that say people with different views are stupid and/or evil. These will be deleted

    A few of these have been getting removed recently. They don't help conversation and what some find funny others get pissed at.

    This rule was added during the Hillary/Trump campaign and a couple of threads were just getting spammed with memes about retard Trump and Hillary's death count etc etc

    Spam

    There's few complaints about this too.

    Some of the threads are just getting the latest twitter outrage dumped into them. No real discussion takes place.
    Just be aware that this pisses a lot of fellow posters off and makes people put threads (or the entire sub-forum) on ignore.

    ...and this is still annoying a lot of users

    If you are being evangelical and trying to win converts to your 'side' perhaps consider that a NZ sports forum is probably not the best place for your mission.

    Also don't just dump your favourite twitter posts of the day into threads here. Again it crowds out the conversation

  • Climate Change

    Moved
    7 Votes
    949 Posts
    18k Views

    We don't have consistent temperatures, we have rapid heating. Any rapid change is not good for food production, because it means your crops and animals are in the wrong place.
    Right now Aussie meat prices are going to start dropping because the farmers there are going to flood the market by de-stocking in a hurry because of El Nino. It's going to be warmer and drier. That's not necessarily climate change related, but it illustrates the point that 'warmer is better' is bullshit. Some cheap meat right now, lower output for the next few years.

  • US Politics

    Moved
    1 Votes
    18k Posts
    1m Views

    @Victor-Meldrew Dog probably trained as well as Joe raised Hunter.

  • NZ Politics

    Moved
    0 Votes
    11k Posts
    361k Views

    @dogmeat said in NZ Politics:

    @nostrildamus

    You were limited on how much NZ currency you could take with you on an overseas trip. Very little choice of car food entertainment etc. The disposable income stuff. I guess the uber rich could splash around but not the middle classes.

    It did make for a more egalatarian society. My old man drank (in the public bar) with his mates - a ditchdigger in his clay encrusted boots, the local barber, the GM of Watties, Sir Woolf Fischer and the local layabout.

    I didn't realise there was a film industry in NZ for Muldoon to destroy.

    you know what, you are right! We were probably too poor back then for me remembering/being affected by how much money one could take overseas.
    The egalitarian spirit has definitely been eroded, and I don't recall 3 or 4 or more decades ago overwhelming snobbery with where people lived or went to school.
    I have recently brushed with VIPs/the very rich and from what they say (if it can be believed) yes the rules and regulations during COVID etc didn't seem to apply to them...

  • Aussie Politics

    Moved
    2 Votes
    2k Posts
    58k Views

    I know Judith and I would label her an economic rationalist, which historically lends to more centre right, but she is a straight shooter and doesn’t really matter who it is she won’t pull any punches.

    But it tends to be from big spending, big taxing, big public sector governments that she will lay the boots into because from her economic perspective, those things tend to be inefficient means to running an economy.

  • Ukraine

    0 Votes
    1k Posts
    18k Views

    @Tim said in Ukraine:

    @antipodean

    These are fancy, but how long will they last?

    Biden to supply Kyiv with long-range ATACMS missiles after months of lobbying

    Not long enough I'd wager. Also turned up too late to be of any use in Ukraine's Spring offensive which has predictably been less successful than we'd been led to believe it would be.

    Meanwhile back in the propaganda stakes:

  • British Politics

    Moved
    0 Votes
    6k Posts
    170k Views

    @antipodean

    HS2 was originally intended to link with HS1 (Channel Tunnel) and Heathrow - all included in the £21Bn when it was sold to the government by the rail and construction lobby. They were deemed uneconomic and chopped once the project got the go-ahead

    I was heavily involved in HS2 for 3-4 years liaising with them on local issues and the level of gouging was astonishing. One example: they said it would cost £10-15m for a 500m noise barrier for our village. We received quotes from French, Belgium and Spanish companies of between £150-220k based on the same data HS2 was using....

    500m of tunnelling? Not enough opportunity to rip-off the taxpayer

  • Political Memes (memes only)

    Moved
    2 Votes
    1k Posts
    32k Views

    F37B02F1-E6CD-4315-BFBE-8476D3F9E55E.jpeg

  • Qantas

    Moved
    9 Votes
    15 Posts
    247 Views

    Joyce's final shenanigans reminded me of the other name for Qantas. Google tells me there's even related merchandise. I'm far too easily amused...

    All my other bags have been lost by the airline

    FabbvZ8VEAApKr8.jpg

  • Transgender debate, in sport, in general

    Moved
    0 Votes
    912 Posts
    14k Views

    @Higgins said in Transgender debate, in sport, in general:

    @Donsteppa Aren't the bats and pads the same size and strength though?

    Yes. Though Tayla Vlaeminck is about the only quick I can think of top of mind who is consistently close in speed to international men's cricket.

    Setting aside transgender for a mo, one of the challenges in Junior and Youth cricket can be finding fair matchups in situations where there may be enough players for perhaps one or two girls teams, but not enough for a whole grade of them. So games against boys teams become a given. Mismatches happen (but do work both ways, especially if older girls teams end up in younger boys grades).

    My take would be that in an even contest, bowling speed matters less than say skill, variation etc does. But in an uneven contest...

    Back to transgender, I have wondered whether or not that becomes more complicated for fairness & inclusion if the proverbial tearaway fast bowler is permanently in one of the teams at a lower grade.

  • F off with the damn PC Brigade

    Moved
    1 Votes
    1k Posts
    21k Views

    Glorious way to deal with these clowns giving real climate-change arguments a bad press. Some of the replies are gold.

  • China

    0 Votes
    71 Posts
    1k Views
  • Musk & Twitter

    0 Votes
    310 Posts
    2k Views
  • Royal drama

    1 Votes
    1k Posts
    16k Views

    Classic.

    Aug 5  /  Entertainment 'Tense' Prince Harry 'relegated to entourage' in snaps on Meghan's night out 'Tense' Prince Harry 'relegated to entourage' in snaps on Meghan's night out

    The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were snapped going to dinner for her 42nd birthday in 'tense' images.

  • America ... Fark Yeahhhhhhishhhhh

    Moved
    8 Votes
    29 Posts
    582 Views

    @MiketheSnow said in America ... Fark Yeahhhhhhishhhhh:

    @Victor-Meldrew said in America ... Fark Yeahhhhhhishhhhh:

    This link is to quite a good piece which sets out the issues in SF. Some staggering stats

    Five years and an investment of 3.5 billion dollars later, the number of homeless people has not only failed to drop, but it is increasing uncontrollably. When Farha visited (in 2018), the figure was estimated to stand at around 7,800, in 2022 this figure has increased to more than 20,000.

    Got this for Christmas - yet to read it....

    59c4ba3d-5b96-44c4-8e42-5e04c4dc0bb4-image.png

    Great title

    The sequel, investigating crime, is also a good read

    San
    Fran-
    frisko

    Oh I see we recommended the same book. Top Man Mike 👍

  • Jeffrey Epstein

    0 Votes
    395 Posts
    9k Views

    @Tim said in Jeffrey Epstein:

    Opening sentence in the Miami Herald

    Billionaire hedge fund founder Leon Black has been accused of beating and raping a 16-year-old girl with a rare genetic disorder

    I've heard of beating the gay out of you, but beating the autism into you?

    Does anyone check what goes to print these says?

    Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article277647763.html#storylink=cpy

  • Shooting in Auckland CBD

    Moved
    0 Votes
    81 Posts
    795 Views

    @Crazy-Horse said in Shooting in Auckland CBD:

    @antipodean said in Shooting in Auckland CBD:

    @Bones said in Shooting in Auckland CBD:

    @MN5 said in Shooting in Auckland CBD:

    @Bones said in Shooting in Auckland CBD:

    @Donsteppa said in Shooting in Auckland CBD:

    @Bones said in Shooting in Auckland CBD:

    @Hooroo said in Shooting in Auckland CBD:

    @Bones said in Shooting in Auckland CBD:

    @MN5 said in Shooting in Auckland CBD:

    All Police have firearms in their vehicles.

    I've got a bottle of oil in my boot, doesn't mean I'm a mechanic.

    Yeah because they just put the guns in there with no training….

    If I may borrow some of that sarcasm - I see there's an armed offenders squad, what's the need for that if every cop has the training?

    Presumably there's a middle ground, as there's little need for access to firearms if the only option is to wait until the specialists.

    I'm sure there is, but a police firearms response to someone with a knife is different to a response to someone with a gun I imagine. Or are NZ cops only allowed to use a firearm in response to someone with a firearm?

    I’m fairly confident they’re allowed to shoot someone if they’re not complying and advancing at them armed with……well pretty much anything.

    But ( possibly off topic ) fuck having to be in that situation and having to make that call knowing you’re in a lose/lose situation like that.

    I remember when that bloke was shot in Waitara 20 odd years and his feral family were interviewed and whinged that he was “only armed with a golf club”

    I believe you're missing the point. Call comes in about someone armed with a golf club - on the face of it, that's a fuckload different than someone armed with a gun and first responders may be able to contain the situation, even if not trained in tactical firearms response. If there's a firearm involved, they're probably not going to go rushing in and likely have to wait until trained units are available.

    I've never been a cop, let alone one in New Zealand. But common sense dictates to me that being made aware you have a potentially armed offender, the first GD cops to arrive would be trying to secure the scene, ensure public safety, rendering aid where possible and gaining intel.

    Having said that, 11 minutes is a long time in the CBD.

    Traditionally that has been the case and still largely is. Things used to be 100% isolate and contain but they are now training cops to 'go in' when it's an active shooter scenario. Training changed following an active shooter incident in the US where the local cops isolated and contained while the shooter was still going around shooting people.

    The problem we face in Australia, and probably NZ, is cops are only likely to be carrying sidearms. They are no good when up against a rifle.

    Yes and they don’t ‘carry’ them here. They still need to go to the car to get them.

    That issue is still obviously a massive can of worms too

  • Your favourite conspiracy theories

    Moved
    0 Votes
    1k Posts
    76k Views

    That old 'there was a female pope' story

    Pope Joan | Legend & History Pope Joan | Legend & History

    Pope Joan, legendary female pontiff who supposedly reigned for more than 25 months, from 855 to 858, under the title of John VIII. It has subsequently been proved that a gap of only a few weeks fell between Pope Leo IV and Pope Benedict III and that the story is entirely apocryphal.

    I'm going to say 'apocryphal' on a lot of 'players moving to... ' posts here on in...

  • NZ Judiciary

    0 Votes
    75 Posts
    1k Views

    @Tim cos mental health...I reckon it'd be easy to game the system after reading that.

    As to him being rehabilitated and low risk of re-offending, right, am sure that kind of depravity doesnt just go away.

  • European Politics

    0 Votes
    132 Posts
    4k Views

    @Tim

    it's a truism that inflation gives more opportunity for increasing margin.