The very sensible Rachel Stewart on the hiring of a venue at Massey University by a group of feminists, and why this seems so threatening to so many, so-called enlightened people. The below link was published before the event in question was banned, making her words all the more poignant.
https://speakupforwomen.nz/the-rachel-stewart-column/
October 17, 2019
October 14, 2019
RWC 2019 - Japan beat Scotland
Japan have topped their group, going through unbeaten. In their last game they held on strongly to defeat Scotland. Earlier they beat Ireland as well, Japan have arrived on the world stage and surely now must be considered Tier 1.
The quarter-finalists are:
England v Australia
New Zealand v Ireland
Wales v France
Japan v South Africa
Based on current form, I'm picking the semi-finalists:
NZ v Australia
Wales v South Africa
And for the final:
NZ v South Africa
The quarter-finalists are:
England v Australia
New Zealand v Ireland
Wales v France
Japan v South Africa
Based on current form, I'm picking the semi-finalists:
NZ v Australia
Wales v South Africa
And for the final:
NZ v South Africa
October 11, 2019
Cancelled Games: RWC 2019
Two games have been cancelled; they are All Blacks v Italy and England v France. The second of these wouldn't have caused a change in group outcomes, however the AB's v Italy game raises a question. It was possible that with a bonus point win, Italy could knock NZ out and South Africa and Italy go through. People are now crying favouritism.
Wait a minute, all teams knew the rules when they agreed to compete. What would be improper is changing venues at the last minute in order to engineer results. Tournaments by their nature have an air of uncertainty about them, so cancelling due to severe weather events is the only thing the organisers can do and remain impartial.
Wait a minute, all teams knew the rules when they agreed to compete. What would be improper is changing venues at the last minute in order to engineer results. Tournaments by their nature have an air of uncertainty about them, so cancelling due to severe weather events is the only thing the organisers can do and remain impartial.
October 08, 2019
Typhoon Threatens Rugby World Cup Results
A Pacific Ocean typhoon called Hagibis is currently on course to disrupt the final Rugby World Cup group-stage matches. The tournament allows for washouts, each team receiving 2 points. Here's the rub; if the final games involving Ireland are affected, then Ireland could be eliminated. The number 2 team in the world could be out. Oh no.
Well, the organisers of the Rugby World Cup are planning to move the final Ireland game against Samoa to somewhere unaffected. What? The teams knew the rules when they entered the competition. The rules are meant to apply to every team equally. Get the feeling the tournament is rigged? Read about it here:
https://www.rte.ie/sport/rugby-world-cup-2019/2019/1007/1081517-irelands-final-pool-game-threatened-by-typhoon/
Well, the organisers of the Rugby World Cup are planning to move the final Ireland game against Samoa to somewhere unaffected. What? The teams knew the rules when they entered the competition. The rules are meant to apply to every team equally. Get the feeling the tournament is rigged? Read about it here:
https://www.rte.ie/sport/rugby-world-cup-2019/2019/1007/1081517-irelands-final-pool-game-threatened-by-typhoon/
October 04, 2019
Boris Johnson's Proposed EU Deal
Personally, I don't see what's wrong with the latest Brexit plan. Check it out here:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-49914326
Under Mr Johnson's proposals, which he calls a "broad landing zone" for a new deal with the EU:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-49914326
Under Mr Johnson's proposals, which he calls a "broad landing zone" for a new deal with the EU:
- Northern Ireland would leave the EU's customs union alongside the rest of the UK, at the start of 2021
- But Northern Ireland would, with the consent of politicians in the Northern Ireland Assembly, continue to apply EU legislation relating to agricultural and other products - what he calls an "all-island regulatory zone"
- This arrangement could, in theory, continue indefinitely, but the consent of Northern Ireland's politicians would have to be sought every four years
- Customs checks on goods traded between the UK and EU would be "decentralised", with paperwork submitted electronically and only a "very small number" of physical checks
- These checks should take place away from the border itself, at business premises or at "other points in the supply chain"
The government is also promising a "New Deal for Northern Ireland", with financial commitments to help manage the changes.
October 02, 2019
Christchurch Mayoralty
I'm voting John Minto for mayor of Christchurch and ask everyone to do the same. Minto is well known in New Zealand, he led the action protesting the Springbok tour of NZ in 1982. Importantly, while he's a professional agitator, he's not a professional politician. I'm sick of professional politicians. The latter just say what they think you want to hear.
Minto is campaigning for free buses. That's a good idea as it will lower the cost of road maintenance, and get people moving at the same time. He's also opposed to selling off city assets. He wants to clean up the rivers, a bit harder to do that one but good luck to him. All in all he stands for something.
What's the downside? Christchurch will have to put up with his achingly annoying PC crap. A small price to pay I'd say when you consider the alternatives; Lianne Dalziel who Christchurch can't seem to get rid of, her answer to everything is to increase rates. Then that dipstick Darryl Park talked about himself in the third person in the candidate brochure. I'm not voting for anyone who thinks he's god.
So in your postal ballot, tick Minto, place your ballot inside the reply paid envelope and post pronto. Done.
Minto is campaigning for free buses. That's a good idea as it will lower the cost of road maintenance, and get people moving at the same time. He's also opposed to selling off city assets. He wants to clean up the rivers, a bit harder to do that one but good luck to him. All in all he stands for something.
What's the downside? Christchurch will have to put up with his achingly annoying PC crap. A small price to pay I'd say when you consider the alternatives; Lianne Dalziel who Christchurch can't seem to get rid of, her answer to everything is to increase rates. Then that dipstick Darryl Park talked about himself in the third person in the candidate brochure. I'm not voting for anyone who thinks he's god.
So in your postal ballot, tick Minto, place your ballot inside the reply paid envelope and post pronto. Done.
September 30, 2019
Hong Kong Protests
Things are getting out of control in Hong Kong. It seems rather obvious to me that the protesters are playing into China's hands. It wouldn't be impossible for China to have planted fifth columnists amongst the activists, the intention to cause violence. China would then come to the rescue to restore order. A takeover would result, and the end of autonomy for Hong Kong.
Rugby World Cup 2019 Heating Up
The 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan is proving to be a close tournament. We've had two major upsets, the first was Uruguay beating Fiji, but then Japan beat Ireland the world's second ranked team. Now we have Wales beating Australia. Wales have never won a world cup while Australia has won two. If this continues, New Zealand's All Blacks will cruise to their third straight world cup, as the strong opponents will be weakened, eliminated or find themselves on the wrong side of the draw.
September 29, 2019
Big Oil and Electric Vehicles
I thought of this lovely conspiracy theory, have fun with it. I haven't seen this anywhere else, so I apologise in advance if this isn't an original idea.
As I've outlined numerous times, electric vehicles (EV's) are total nonsense, a complete waste of time, don't even think about them. That's the well considered experienced view of the matter, all very scientific.
But hang on, what if the fact EV's are utter crap has something to do with why they're being pushed so hard. What if the big oil companies and the myriad of companies heavily reliant on the liquid fuels infrastructure are pushing EV's as they know they're rubbish. They're doing this to discredit alternative fuels or forms of energy. The result would be to force people back to the internal combustion engine and this would be for the foreseeable future. In other words, EV's are a stalking horse, concealing big oil's desire to lock in fossil fuels. Hmm?
Note that Norway, the world's biggest hypocrite which has made a fortune from oil and gas is heavily promoting EV's. Sweden is not far behind this, they're massive hypocrite's too but they'd be promoting their carbon capture technology. There'd be a lot of interconnecting and overlapping agendas with this theory, but they all have one goal; to lock in people to a future that relies entirely on old industries that have morphed into new, sexy, born again new technology companies. Old technology companies that are really old tech re-branded or re-skinned.
To support this theory, consider ideas that never get looked at seriously. We have the idea of the water powered car, which are generally discredited. One in New Zealand was designed and built, the story of which you can read about here: https://waterpoweredcar.com/archieblue.html
The argument against this is that it involves more energy (or the same amount) to separate the hydrogen and so there is no gain. Fine, but what about a nuclear car? The nuclear reactor generating heat, then a steam engine is used for motive power. The amount of uranium needed to drive a car its entire useful life would be extremely small. Even microscopic. It would not be enough to create an explosion, it would be more like a clock with reflective hour and seconds hands and numbers.
Such a car completely circumvents the liquid fuels infrastructure. No gas stations, and very few oil refineries would be needed as only certain lubricants would be required for wheel bearings and the like. These ideas would be ditched because of that very fact. In this new green age of Corporate Green only the right technology is accepted and that has to be based upon centralised models that rely on the existing companies (or sources of capital ) to provide the solutions. Independence is not allowed, with this idea that's exactly why EV's are promoted, they're to fail as they must, sending people into the arms of Big Oil.
As I've outlined numerous times, electric vehicles (EV's) are total nonsense, a complete waste of time, don't even think about them. That's the well considered experienced view of the matter, all very scientific.
But hang on, what if the fact EV's are utter crap has something to do with why they're being pushed so hard. What if the big oil companies and the myriad of companies heavily reliant on the liquid fuels infrastructure are pushing EV's as they know they're rubbish. They're doing this to discredit alternative fuels or forms of energy. The result would be to force people back to the internal combustion engine and this would be for the foreseeable future. In other words, EV's are a stalking horse, concealing big oil's desire to lock in fossil fuels. Hmm?
Note that Norway, the world's biggest hypocrite which has made a fortune from oil and gas is heavily promoting EV's. Sweden is not far behind this, they're massive hypocrite's too but they'd be promoting their carbon capture technology. There'd be a lot of interconnecting and overlapping agendas with this theory, but they all have one goal; to lock in people to a future that relies entirely on old industries that have morphed into new, sexy, born again new technology companies. Old technology companies that are really old tech re-branded or re-skinned.
To support this theory, consider ideas that never get looked at seriously. We have the idea of the water powered car, which are generally discredited. One in New Zealand was designed and built, the story of which you can read about here: https://waterpoweredcar.com/archieblue.html
The argument against this is that it involves more energy (or the same amount) to separate the hydrogen and so there is no gain. Fine, but what about a nuclear car? The nuclear reactor generating heat, then a steam engine is used for motive power. The amount of uranium needed to drive a car its entire useful life would be extremely small. Even microscopic. It would not be enough to create an explosion, it would be more like a clock with reflective hour and seconds hands and numbers.
Such a car completely circumvents the liquid fuels infrastructure. No gas stations, and very few oil refineries would be needed as only certain lubricants would be required for wheel bearings and the like. These ideas would be ditched because of that very fact. In this new green age of Corporate Green only the right technology is accepted and that has to be based upon centralised models that rely on the existing companies (or sources of capital ) to provide the solutions. Independence is not allowed, with this idea that's exactly why EV's are promoted, they're to fail as they must, sending people into the arms of Big Oil.
September 27, 2019
Boris Johnson's Brexit Escape Route?
An interesting blog post in The Spectator
https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2019/09/has-the-supreme-court-handed-boris-johnson-a-brexit-escape-route/
"...the Supreme Court states that its ‘proper function’ under our constitution is to give effect to the separation of powers (which justifies court intervention in relation to prorogation). Then, in what appears to be an innocuous sentence in paragraph 55, it says that it is to be “remember[ed] always that the actual task of governing is for the executive and not for Parliament or the courts.”
<snip>
The way is now open for Boris Johnson to refuse to comply with the Benn Act on the legitimate ground that the Act is unconstitutional and that the courts (and ultimately the Supreme Court) will agree; and even if the Court won’t go so far as declaring it an actual nullity, then at least they will refuse to enforce it."
https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2019/09/has-the-supreme-court-handed-boris-johnson-a-brexit-escape-route/
"...the Supreme Court states that its ‘proper function’ under our constitution is to give effect to the separation of powers (which justifies court intervention in relation to prorogation). Then, in what appears to be an innocuous sentence in paragraph 55, it says that it is to be “remember[ed] always that the actual task of governing is for the executive and not for Parliament or the courts.”
<snip>
The way is now open for Boris Johnson to refuse to comply with the Benn Act on the legitimate ground that the Act is unconstitutional and that the courts (and ultimately the Supreme Court) will agree; and even if the Court won’t go so far as declaring it an actual nullity, then at least they will refuse to enforce it."
September 26, 2019
RWC 2019 Uruguay v Fiji
The 2019 Rugby World Cup has had its first upset; Uruguay defeated Fiji 30-27. Now Uruguay have 4 days until they meet Georgia. If they manage to win that game and secure bonus points in the other games, they could qualify for the knock-out stages. Wouldn't that be amazing.
September 25, 2019
Brexit Battle Continues
I have already used the phrase the new English Civil War. That's what we have in effect; the Remainers vs the Brexiteers. We now have a situation where the Supreme Court has become political and intervened to uphold a Scottish court decision that Boris Johnson's proroguing of parliament was unlawful.
This is a strange state of affairs. The executive cannot govern, the courts interfere, parliament itself cannot decide anything and then refuses a general election. It is a complete stalemate.
Boris Johnson must now take the gloves off and use every bit of the executive power at his disposal. To begin with, start stacking the House of Lords to block any Commons legislation. Then finally, consider calling for a state of emergency, and keep that in place until Brexit has been completed.
This is a strange state of affairs. The executive cannot govern, the courts interfere, parliament itself cannot decide anything and then refuses a general election. It is a complete stalemate.
Boris Johnson must now take the gloves off and use every bit of the executive power at his disposal. To begin with, start stacking the House of Lords to block any Commons legislation. Then finally, consider calling for a state of emergency, and keep that in place until Brexit has been completed.
September 24, 2019
Rugby World Cup 2019
The Rugby World Cup is under way, exciting times indeed. I'm a supporter of the All Blacks, a team I never want to see lose. Just as well, as in fact, they rarely lose. Yay.
But even I can see this world cup is heavily stacked in favour of the All Blacks, and South Africa. That comes down to the structure of the tournament and what amounts to a very weak pool New Zealand and South Africa find themselves in. Not only that, but the pool's first and second place was essentially decided by the first game between the All Blacks and South Africa.
Both teams are guaranteed a place in the quarter-finals where they're almost certain to advance as they'll play teams they'll probably beat. New Zealand will likely be playing Scotland, a team it has never lost to. South Africa will likely play Ireland, a team you'd fancy South Africa beating.
Across the competition you can find other situations that are less than ideal. For instance England are slated to win their pool, but then they'll either play Australia or Wales in their quarter-final. England could easily be out at that stage, not even making the semi-final.
What's the problem? As I see it the problem is with the way the game is structured globally, not just with the structure of this tournament which follows a familiar and popular pattern; pools, then knock-outs leading to a final.
Structurally, Rugby is not like Soccer (Association Football), the lesser teams are locked out and cannot develop. Unlike Soccer, where any team can beat any other team on the day, Rugby is an elitist game and the powerful countries entrench their position at the top.
Solving this problem requires grassroots reform. That means international competitions with promotion and relegation. In this scenario Russia, Georgia and Japan would be able to qualify for the Six Nations; or Tonga, Fiji and Samoa qualifying to play in the southern hemisphere's Rugby Championship. Then when these teams get to the world cup, have a structure where losing a game may end up losing a life, not immediate elimination. This also allows pathways for lesser teams to advance. Whatever, the obvious bias has to be addressed as Rugby will stall in terms of global following if not corrected.
September 23, 2019
Thomas Cook Failure
The once great travel company, Thomas Cook is no longer. It has shut down overnight, stranding hundreds of thousands of travellers, with the loss of 20,000 jobs. Thomas Cook used to be as safe as the Bank of England, its travellers cheques a useful haven for storing funds. What has happened is unbelievable.
What went wrong? Clearly, a lot went wrong and no doubt we'll get to hear about it in time. When management stuff up, they can so spectacularly and I'm pretty sure this is one of those times. Was all this avoidable? Probably, the banks like to make an example of someone at times and this could be a case in point.
What went wrong? Clearly, a lot went wrong and no doubt we'll get to hear about it in time. When management stuff up, they can so spectacularly and I'm pretty sure this is one of those times. Was all this avoidable? Probably, the banks like to make an example of someone at times and this could be a case in point.
September 21, 2019
Climate Strikes: What Kind of Message?
Climate strikers are trying to save the planet. They're skipping school, work, and descending on houses of parliament and public spaces to demonstrate. Now it doesn't take a genius to work out their efforts will be for nought. But what I'm concerned about are two things: what is the end point for what is being proposed and who exactly is behind the giving of the message.
Imagine the strikes are successful and what is being asked for comes about. What kind of world would that be exactly. That would be a world I certainly wouldn't want to live in. Follow the logic; cars are bad, you can't use your car, you can't own a car, take your car away, the way you live is also bad, change how you live, tell you where to live, take your house away, all property is theft.
That's right, bloody communism, or whatever label you want to put on it. Look into the people behind organising these climate strikes, look at their politics. They can stuff off.
Imagine the strikes are successful and what is being asked for comes about. What kind of world would that be exactly. That would be a world I certainly wouldn't want to live in. Follow the logic; cars are bad, you can't use your car, you can't own a car, take your car away, the way you live is also bad, change how you live, tell you where to live, take your house away, all property is theft.
That's right, bloody communism, or whatever label you want to put on it. Look into the people behind organising these climate strikes, look at their politics. They can stuff off.
September 20, 2019
The Fall of Justin Trudeau and Jacinda Ardern
The Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau and his New Zealand counterpart, Jacinda Ardern have come under fire recently.
Trudeau has dressed in brown face and costume for a party, something he says he regrets and has apologised for. The first evidence of this was an event he attended in 2001 at the age of 29. Think about his age and the year. What? 2001 and 29. Not 1961 and 19.
Justin Trudeau, the most 'woke' person on the planet, turns out he's just another racist. He's been playing the electorate like fools all along. Anyone who voted for him must feel badly cheated.
Then we have Jacinda Ardern. Six months ago she did an astoundingly good job in the wake of the Christchurch massacre. New Zealanders overlooked the stage managing of her hug of the Muslim woman, a picture that went around the world. NZ wanted to heal, and the picture helped. Okay, they ensured the angle was just right, and she held the other person long enough for the right picture to be taken, but who really cared, what happened was truly shocking and stage managing was acceptable.
But six months on and things have changed drastically. Now we have a different stage, this time it's the Beehive and Bowen House where the executive of the NZ government hangs out. Inside those buildings it is alleged a number of serious sexual assaults occurred. The predator initially kept his job while, apparently, his many victims were sidelined. What's worse, the PM may have known but did nothing. The Minister of Finance may have known but did nothing. It's hard to know what the two knew, when they knew and what they did about the allegations because a wall of silence has gone up. Inquiries will be held, the terms of reference for which are secret (yes, secret), while the alleged perpetrator has finally resigned. It's all very murky indeed and not a good look at all.
Justin Trudeau and Jacinda Ardern have experienced a sudden and astonishing fall from grace. One word sums up why that is: hubris.
September 17, 2019
USA and Saudi Arabia v Iran
A rather obvious question this but I haven't seen it addressed very closely. If - and that is a big if - Iran has attacked Saudi oil installations, knocking out about 6% of global oil supply, why is the USA so keen to fight Saudi Arabia's battles? The Saudis have spent a lot of money buying American equipment, can't they look after themselves?
September 16, 2019
FIBA Grand Final 2019
At many basketball tournaments the semi-finals prove to be the best games and this tournament in China was no exception. The final between Spain and Argentina was a comfortable win for Spain. They hit the front from the start and were leading throughout the contest. Argentina tried everything but they didn't have the size or talent to match the Spanish. It all came down to defense, Spain shut down Argentina completely. Toward the end of the game, Spain seemed to block shots at will.
September 14, 2019
Australia v Spain @ FIBA World Cup 2019
Now THAT'S basketball. Disappointment for Australia to go down in double overtime, I couldn't believe I was rooting for Australia. In the end, they ran out of juice and Spain showed their class. Australia play an abrasive style, it looks ugly to my eye, but they're effective and are a team. Spain look more stylish, smooth, and when they needed to they upped the ante and put the stops on defensively.
September 13, 2019
US Basketball Aura of Invincibility Ends
The USA are going to playing off for 7th place at the FIBA World Cup taking place in China. The US had been beaten in the quarter-finals by France 89-79 and following that defeat the US lost to Serbia 97-89 to prole them down to the basement of world basketball.
Is it because of a lack of talent and quality coaching? Hardly, as the team is fully stacked. Maybe many of the players are not exactly household names, but you cannot question the Team USA pedigree, especially the coaching staff which includes Greg Popovich and Steve Kerr.
No, what happened is the rest of the world has caught up. They no longer fear the US, they see Team USA as beatable. Look at Turkey at this tournament, they lost by one point in overtime to the US, then lose to New Zealand and end up finishing in 21st place (or thereabouts). What I'm saying is that on the day any team can beat any other team and no outcomes are guaranteed. And as I write this the first quarter of the first semi-final has ended, Australia on 21, Spain on 20. Really close, the world of basketball just got intense.
Is it because of a lack of talent and quality coaching? Hardly, as the team is fully stacked. Maybe many of the players are not exactly household names, but you cannot question the Team USA pedigree, especially the coaching staff which includes Greg Popovich and Steve Kerr.
No, what happened is the rest of the world has caught up. They no longer fear the US, they see Team USA as beatable. Look at Turkey at this tournament, they lost by one point in overtime to the US, then lose to New Zealand and end up finishing in 21st place (or thereabouts). What I'm saying is that on the day any team can beat any other team and no outcomes are guaranteed. And as I write this the first quarter of the first semi-final has ended, Australia on 21, Spain on 20. Really close, the world of basketball just got intense.