Firstly I must say Australian mainstream media is an absolute cancer. I see these reporters at these events and they have zero interest in reporting what is going on, everything has to be some sort of narrative. I guess they just don't have souls, any journo's on here care to talk me through how they sleep at night?

Despite the misreporting however the event was a massive success.

We had in excess of 500 people attend with thankfully minimal representation of the ''alt-right' crowd,these groups were advised they would not be welcome..glad they didn't show because a skinny 5'8" bloke in a high vis like myself might have struggled to kick out 6'4" steroid abusers.

The ferals had their counter protest of maybe 100-150, bravely protesting against nazism, facism, the kkk, homophobia, rape, transphobia, mysogyny, immigration control, pollution..eating meat, drinking milk (excluding soy). Just kinda sad for them that we weren't actually rallying for any of those ideals.

Some protesters managed to sneak in and bravely pulled out a megaphone with a siren on it in order to drown out one of our speakers talking about her experience living in an domestic violence shelter with her 3 children. They were evicted with a bit of a scuffle.

There was also another siren in a chilly bin that went off, again bravely drowning out a young man speaking about his experience of being sexually abused and his multiple suicide attempts.

Any neutral walking past would have immediately seen who the good guys were and who the deranged lunatics were but thankfully aussie mainstream media can do the thinking for the folk at home by labelling it an 'Anti-feminist march' (SBS) or the MC as 'Extreme right campaigner' (Channel 9)

Anyway a bit of a rant but it was really successful, huge turnout had some amazing conversations with the public. So many don't know that 40 Australian men commit suicide every week and when I explained these stats to most folk they fully understood what we were about and couldn't believe the protesters. Had some chats with Mens rights campaigners nearly in tears finally seeing public support for something they have been fighting and being demonised for for nearly 20 years.

The best news however of the whole day was a call from 'Dads In Distress' the charity we were raising money for. They had been inundated with calls from men who had been watching the march live on youtube and for the first time felt some hope in their lives about the situations they were in. Many were suicidal and reaching out for the first time because of what we were doing.

One thing that also bugged me..and surely it's been mentioned is what happened to our must win attitude? That penalty with what was in 10 mins to go to bring the gap to 7, I saw going for that kick as an admission that we were happy settling for a draw. It should have been smashed to the corner and had everything thrown at the try line, sure we may have blown it and lost by 10 overall but at least we we'd have the right attitude and wouldn't die wondering.

This is outstanding. CNN correspondent during a radio interview accuses the host of 'white privilege'...only problem for this deranged leftist is unbeknown to her, he is actually black.

@Baron-Silas-Greenback said in The Folau Factor:

@Paekakboyz said in The Folau Factor:

I think they are screwed. But with his devotion to god and being able to share his message I wonder if Foal-ow has thought much about the ripple effect for RA in terms of staff and financial impact. He says this isn't about money, but if his court action cripples RA that's a massive cost (literally) to all involved in the sport. I get that from his perspective that's a non issue as it's about expressing his beliefs. But far out this will impact a big number of folks as it works its way towards a messy conclusion.

Fair point... but maybe QANTAS and ARU could have had similar thoughts....

Seems a lot of the current orthadoxy is based more on emotion than rationalism. The sooner organisations realise that the cultish 8% of twitter users (and the media who amplify it) that drive online discourse are not actually representative of normal every-day folk the better.

The worst part of that night in Cardiff was depressingly getting back to my accommodation only to discover my lucky All Blacks boxers were on inside-out. Sorry team.

So for anyone following my family drama regarding this virus. My brother and his wife have just touched down in Auckland after the honeymoon from hell.

They left NZ on Thursday for Madrid, escaped there a less than a day before total lockdown, got to London Saturday night and thankfully following my advice rather than their agent booked the first available flight back to NZ via Dubai.

You kiwis will not be happy to hear that the plane had a lot of people on who aren't kiwis who were sick with some sort of a cold..oh and apparently really easy getting into NZ. Rest of their honeymoon will be in isolation.

In a weeks time they might just see this not so much as an unlucky honeymoon but really a very lucky bullet dodge.

Sorry to hear that @Baron-Silas-Greenback ,

You've been part of the furniture here since even my lurking days in the early 2000's. I might have celebrated this announcement a few years back thinking it was a good thing that someone who viewed the world through a lens I disagreed with just disappeared, no doubt some will now. But like the 10th man principle, sometimes that sole opposing voice that you hate so much might just be trying to stop you from running headfirst into a brick wall. You were harsh…often too harsh, you didn't suffer fools, but your opinions were always your own and not just regurgitating a headline read the morning before or jumping on a popular bandwagon because everyone else was.

I think you also followed sport at some point, Cricket was it? Rugby too?

All the best for your future life as a tsf lurker trying your darndest not to correct a poster so wrong its scarcely comprehensible.

So a few comments from a dairy farmer:

*So many variables. Canterbury and Wairarapa are drier soil types. River flow is less so higher chance of pollutants to build up.

In Taranaki however we started a fencing and riparian scheme voluntarily in 1995 - most farmers brought into it and over 97 percent fenced and over 90 ish planted. Canterbury and Wairarapa are further behind.

Stocking rates is also a concern (Cows per hectare) - Taranaki is 2-2.5 cow per hectare and Canterbury is 2.5-3.5. Also Higher input farms in Canterbury and Wairarapa - reliant on brought in feeds etc to maintain higher stock rates. Also depends on where waterways are etc - Most farmland in taranaki is off the mountain shorter stretch then to the sea - less chance of pollutants to build up. Wairarapa is from lake Wairarapa which is fed further up by rivers that have thousands of hectares of farmland and towns cities polluting. Canterbury Has the most pristine water coming from the alps but it meanders slowly so sedimentation happens quicker which will catch nitrates etc. Way more to go into and way more science needed to solve the issues.*

Well I also blame Laurel. She knows she has a massive unfair advantage and is cheating other girls out of their hard earned dreams. The gentlemanly (sue me) thing to do would be not compete and maybe go into coaching or something.

Looks like Prop 16 is going to be defeated. Good to see some sanity remains in California.

I guess 2020 isn't done. A drawn out highly disputed election is probably the worst result. Sounds like there might be recounts and potentially head to the courts. If the Trump base feel they have been cheated will they protest? This might get really ugly.

It's a concern..what is he going to be like in a year or two?

@reprobate Seriously? Christ mate it's a US politics discussion thread on a NZ rugby forum...you known kinda where people discuss US politics...oh but thanks for your concern buddy, really sure you mean that, almost brings a tear to my eye that a bloke somewhere in the world is going that extra mile to try and reach out and help a fellow human being in such a time of need. Such a selfless act which I'm sure the sycophants will lap up with glee

Righto my election prediction.

So this is how it sits according to latest polling. 319 Biden to 219 Trump, though a large number are 'technically' toss-ups.

Not pretty viewing and although betting odds are narrowing it doesn't look good for Trump.

The polls are surely more accurate than last time, a lot of reputations got tarnished after 2016 so I can't see the same mistakes being made and I don't buy the idea that polling is intentionally being skewed to dissuade Trump voters (If anything I'd have thought that would energise a base). On top of that Corona has removed Trumps "It's the economy stupid" argument and unlike 2016 msm and social media has gone pretty much all-in on censorship of anything anti-Biden. I find it funny showing supposedly 'politically informed' folk Biden gaff clips that they had absolutely no idea about, let alone the mind-boggling content of crackhead son's laptop.

Having said all that, I still have hope. Trump supporter enthusiasm is off the charts, huge rallies, convoys, regattas. Look up on youtube to find amateur artists writing songs and raps for Trump where there is no real equivalent for Biden. My feeling is those polled who support Trump will vote while those who support just may not, the only enthusiasm is really to be against the Orange Man.

In 2016 we were told he was 'literally Hitler'...and well after 4 years and still no concentrations camps, an increasing support amongst minorities, recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, the development of the #blexit & #walkaway movements, a string of peace deals (Bahrain/Israel, Israel/UAE, Serbia/Kosovo, Israel/Sudan), no additional major military conflicts (how long since a president who managed that?)...well where can the anti-Trump argument go? Sure you can hit him with Corona handling, though surely some responsibility lies with state representatives..and of course public gaffs and tweets..but it doesn't really measure up to "Trust us, he is Hitler, electing him will be a crime against humanity!".

Of course the side effect of the extremist anti-Trump narrative pushed by mainstream outlets had the side effect of painting anyone who was either supportive of or even neutral to Trump as being racists/nazis/facists/-insertword-phobic and as such it is your civic duty to berate, dox, assault and do everything in your power to have their means of employment and supporting their family removed. I have a MAGA hat but even in a city on the other side of the world I can nearly guarantee if I was to wear it in public I would be attacked. Has there been any other US president where showing support will likely get you attacked in public in a foreign western country? Hell I had a family member of my partner frothing at the mouth about how Trump and his family need to be murdered for the sake of humanity at a family skype dinner the other day, this from a medical specialist with his own practice. The brainwashing at work to create such a visceral reaction from a respected medical professional is incredible as it is terrifying. I can only imagine this being significantly worse in democrat strongholds & toss-up states and its from this I see the shy Trump support. If anyone asks you say you are voting Democrat because failure to do so could very likely result in significant pain to you or your family.

Finally as cities around the US are busy boarding up their windows for expected violence during election night, you can bet it isn't Trump supporters they are worried about. The twin marxist movements of Antifa and BLM have really made their mark this year, fighting for racial justice and against the evils of capitalism through assault, vandalism, arson and murder. It took Biden until August to condemn the violence with Democrats appearing to openly encourage it until polling started to show that it might not be the vote winner they thought it was. Most recently this occurred in Pennsylvania which is shaping up to be a very key battleground state, this looked to be safely in Biden's hands until a couple weeks ago..

So in conclusion my prediction is that the polling has improved and a lot of 2016's polling issues have been accounted for..however I think the specific enthusiasm, shy Trump support and folk who appreciate law and order are new issues which will not be accounted for in 2020 polling. At a guess I think this could be worth about a 4% shift on the polls and as such I see Trump taking it narrowly at 285 to 253

Of course I'm hoping like hell for a more convincing win than even last time, including the popular vote, as I see that as being the only way this rising radicalism in the states can be addressed.

If I'm wrong and the Dem's take it out as expected then I think we can all agree its certainly been a fascinating 4 years on the Trump train.

@Crucial said in US Politics:

There were some good size rallies being held in Nuremburg once upon a time as well. Hope things don't turn out similar. I thought the western world had learned a few lessons about populism.

Jesus mate, get a grip

New York Times is a meme

Polls and betting agencies are definitely saying Biden...but then this keeps happening

and Trump's doing 5 of these a day...

@Paekakboyz Likely or they'll put it down as a 'mistake' from a junior member of staff.

More revelations on Tucker today

Trouble for Dorsey?