Posts by Kumara Republic
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And yet for all the media coverage, very, very little was made of the sensational use of the light armoured vehicles in this seige. It is without precedent in New Zealand, and yet was barely remarked upon.
The very same ones Wayne Mapp is looking at flogging off.
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I laughed. Still, it’s kinda ungenerous of him to say that spending money to avoid bulldozing 600 houses is “buying votes”.
"'What do you mean you've never been to Alpha Centauri? For heaven's sake mankind, it's only four light years away you know. I'm sorry, but if you can't be bothered to take an interest in local affairs that's your own lookout.
'Energize the demolition beams.'"
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From an article in today's Sunday Times. Two words: arms race. I think more likely, if the criminal element knows the cops carry pistols on routine patrol, the crims will pack SMG's in response. I keep thinking of this Mike Moreu cartoon. Furthermore, Molenaar appears to be an isolated case and wasn't a gang member, as most NZ Army veterans seem to fold back into civillian life quite easily, compared with a lot of their US conterparts.
And if the horse has indeed bolted, as implied in the article, maybe an arms amnesty could do the trick, as long as Bill English & Treasury think it won't cost too much.
Mr Laws said he was certain the gang patch ban law would be taken up nationwide.
He also said he would like to see the police armed.
"Every time you see an incident like this (the Napier siege) and you see armed police, people actually feel safer," Mr Laws said.
"I think we've got to a stage in New Zealand where there are so many bad people out there and the public requires reassurance.
"In a place like South Auckland on a Saturday night it seems senseless that you wouldn't simply automatically, routinely, arm your cops."
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And with ACT's John Boscawen saying he'll go for broke, and the United and Kiwi Parties planning to stand candidates, it's by no means a clear run for Lee.
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This comment on Stuff summed it up quite nicely:
Chris #397 05:50 pm May 08 2009
There will be a lot of should haves and could haves people. Armchair critics are sooooo lame. The people out there are doing the best they can. It is absolutely as bad as it gets and to critique whilst the situation is in progress is insensitive. Leave it to the professionals and trust they will make the right decision and hopefully no more lives will be lost.
I heard a good comment today stating the way they are handling the situation is what seperates us from animals. To the people calling for him to be killed understand that to try as hard as possible to talk him out instead of "blowing the house up" exhibits a characteristic that should be applauded, not criticised. 14 or so shots have just been fired, nobody knows what is happening in there. Focus should be on the families of the boys in there risking their lives. My thoughts are with you guys and hopefully you enjoy that next beer with them, one could hardly comprehend what your living right now. To the idiots saying how it should be done show some respect and shut the hell up. The reality and your fantasy are two very seperate things.
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And furthermore, what if Self-Styled Rambo was/is holding hostages? Shoot first, think later à la Demolition Man just doesn't cut it.
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BTW at the end of this there just has to be an investigation as to how someone without a firearms license end up with so much weaponry
Army surplus, I suspect, given the "self-styled Rambo"'s background in the Territorials.
Molenaar's brother told TVNZ's Close Up last night that Jan Molenaar might be using guns he used in pig hunting and during his time as a soldier.
Peter Molenaar said his brother used to keep his guns in a sealed case in the family home when they were growing up.
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Yes, that's very true. But if your economy is heavily biased toward one particular form of industry you're in deep trouble if something strikes that industry. NZ's a foot-and-mouth infection away from being in very, very deep shit economically.
Or a declaration of carbon trade war by the G8.
Cue comments about the state playing in the market, communist forms of government, etc. The state isn't there to take risks, profitable or otherwise. It's there to set the frameworks within which the private sector (and I'll include SOEs here) can take risks.
DFC worked well when it stuck to what it knew, until it got drunk on the irrational exuberance of the mid-1980s.
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Stop Press: there's still hope yet.
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I sure as fuck hope that this isn't the end of the Kordia-PipeNet cable...
DomPost - Trans-Tasman cable funds withdrawn
Then again, TeamTalk has a potential Plan B. And better still, it'd be run from Kapiti.