So who's the terrorist again?

[Robert Taylor]

The US is big and easy to pick on. Yes, they have made some appalling foreign policy blunders, the support of the corrupt South Vietnam government being the worst by far.

In more recent times, Saddam Hussein was a "friend" in the 70s and 80s because Iraq provided a bulwark in the region against the Islamic regime of Iran.

Today the US is friendly with Uzbekistan which is a quasi-dictatorship (although nominally democratic) as well as Pakistan which is a malestrom of corruption as well as having nuclear weapons.

Politics makes strange bedfellows......

Incidentally China supports the Sudanese government, a nation where its President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir has just been indicted by the International Court of Justice.

China also supports Zimbabwe - remember the ship-load of munitions discovered off the coast of East Africa?

Funny - don't see any frothing at the mouth about China here........

Usual double standards. Face up to it - in China political commentary in this forum would disappear and you'd be tracked down for "re-education".

Give this quasi communist ''Government'' another 3 years and we will be allowed less freedom of speech.

[peasea]

Give this quasi communist ''Government'' another 3 years and we will be allowed less freedom of speech.

Do you really believe umpfh ugghh ummppfpf ypmmph?

[scumdog]

Do you really believe umpfh ugghh ummppfpf ypmmph?

Soooo.... what are YOU drinking???

(I'm on the Aberlour the noo..)

[peasea]

Soooo.... what are YOU drinking???

(I'm on the Aberlour the noo..)

Nothing officer, nothing at all.

[scumdog]

Nothing officer, nothing at all.

Yeahh...riiigght!!
They ALL say that - as they fall puking out of their car..."I only had two, honest, only two"

(Must have been two jugs of straight bourbon)

[Sanx]

Well spotted that man! Actually, not from my arse, from some commentator on `Alt TV' actually... (I used to use more reliable sources).

If only 100,000 have been killed thats ok then.

Of course it's not OK. Though it does remind me of that old Nazi-era quote: "Killing one thousand people requires evil. Killing one million people requires logistics."

But if you're going to spout rhetoric about the evil Americans and how Islamic terrorism is no threat, get the figures right.

[svr]

Or Stalin :"One dead is a tragedy, One thousand dead is a statistic"
Actually I don't agree with simple US bashing - it is easy to imagine a worse superpower.
But if people are really concerned about actual threat from Islamic terrorists they might want to get the figures right too.

[svr]

Give this quasi communist ''Government'' another 3 years and we will be allowed less freedom of speech.

Large central government (e.g. ours) is the opposite of communism. You mean quasi Socialism. I agree that there is excessive state intervention / centralised decision making etc. (unnecesary with todays IT if you think about it) - all antidemocratic.
My question is, exactly what, if anything of actual substance, will the incomming National government actually change?

[Winston001]

My question is, exactly what, if anything of actual substance, will the incomming National government actually change?

Good question and realistically, not a lot. Governments lose elections, the public are sick of Labour's arrogance so time for a change. National previously became equally arrogant under Jim Bolger/Jenny Shipley.

So - what could they change? As a small nation, we are becoming completely bogged down by red tape. Partly this is the price of democracy - we demand accountability so hospitals now have to have managers to check on the managers..... Times that by 100 and you have the civil service in the 21st century.

A quick example - an insane man killed his mother after being released from Southland Hospital. Including Court cases, there were 8 separate enquiries - count them - 8!!!! - over 5 years into this tragedy. Thousands of hours of investigation, millions of dollars of mostly taxpayer dollars.......and every part of it justifiable in the public interest.

So maybe we should take a step back and harden up. The blame game is totally out of control.

[terbang]

A quick example - an insane man killed his mother after being released from Southland Hospital. Including Court cases, there were 8 separate enquiries - count them - 8!!!! - over 5 years into this tragedy. Thousands of hours of investigation, millions of dollars of mostly taxpayer dollars.......and every part of it justifiable in the public interest.

So maybe we should take a step back and harden up. The blame game is totally out of control.

Rapists, murderers, thieves, boi racers, drunk drivers and many others here just wind up in chop chop square. But I forget, they are just crazy muslims.. Right..?
I live in two countries, both on each end of the spectrum of human rights and justice. One has chop chop square and the other has prisons with tv´s and heated floors. Both could do with a step back and could learn a trick from each other.

[idleidolidyll]

Give this quasi communist ''Government'' another 3 years and we will be allowed less freedom of speech.

quasi communist?
what forced labour camps do you know of in NZ?
how many people are 'assigned' jobs based on what the government thinks they should do in NZ?
Just how many cummunal work organisations has the government set up during its time in office?


what a load of tripe.
the labour govt is centrist.
do you even KNOW what communism is?
I only ask because you express such ignorance on the subject.......or is it just fascist propaganda? ie; "anything left of fascism must be commie"

communist.................fukkin hilarious nonsense!

now please explain:
the Labour govt has been fiscally very conservative and has reduced debt to 17% from the lofty heights of the 80 percentile region where that National asswipe piggy muldoon borrowed us to.
national today is promising to out borrow labour by a massive amount.....$3 billion bucks so far in order to spend on 'infrastructure'. you know, think big crap like piggy did and big projects for the corporates whose dicks they suck.
you and your fellow fascists have whined on and on about government spending being out of control:
why are you prepared to put up with worse from national?

[idleidolidyll]

rubbish winston

there will be massive change as the fascists set up the next sell off of state assets and our jobs to foreign capitalists AGAIN!

[MisterD]

Oh look, it's the loony left scaremongering again.....

Lets see, how was the major infrastructure of this country financed again? Oh, that's right, long term debt.

Klerk and Kullen's political games over a patch of reclaimed swap in Mangere (that just happens to have a runway on it) has scared all the foreign investors away. We should see an announcement today that we're officially in a recession which will be worse because of our least favourite history professor's spending and all Liarbore have got is "Slippery John" as an argument.

[alanzs]

why are you prepared to put up with worse from national?

I am not prepared to put up with it. I will vote and encourage others to do the same. I have lived in a country where only 40% of the eligible voters vote and it sucked. Democracy is a potent form of action, but people must vote, or we are sheep and deserve what we get. Oh yeah, I'm from the Great Satan, the US. I voted with my feet.
People don't know how good we have it here in NZ. It ain't perfect, but it's pretty damn good. IMHO....

[idleidolidyll]

Of course it's not OK. Though it does remind me of that old Nazi-era quote: "Killing one thousand people requires evil. Killing one million people requires logistics."

But if you're going to spout rhetoric about the evil Americans and how Islamic terrorism is no threat, get the figures right.

"Islamic Terrorism"

Fuck me there's some suckers around!

Compare and contrast: How many people have Islamic Terrorists killed and terrorised over the last few decades?

How many people have Western Governments killed and terrorised in the same period?

"Islamic Terrorism" is a beat up for shallow thinkers. It's fucking TINY compared to Western Terrorism.