Katie wrote: “Afghanistan has been unwinnable since Victoria’s armies were stationed in Khartoum in the nineteenth century”

no wonder Victoria couldn’t conquer Afghanistan, if all her armies were stationed in Khartoum

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Nah, send the pommie aristo to Farnham; being buzzed by flying RAF nutters while chained to the nearest end-of-runway fence should do the job nicely.

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“Gitmo for Godfrey”

Now, that would be a cool slogan Ian. Except we agree with Gitmo being closed, which presents a wee bit of a problem.

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Can Godfrey Bloom be for real ?

If he supports terrorists shouldn’t the Americans kidnap him from where ever he maybe and take him to Gitmo for a spot of water boarding

Yay the war on terror ! finally something we can all support !

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Stephen-
nice thoughts but most likely to be completely wrong.

As came out in the investigation of the Rainbow Warrior bombing, the British (MI5/6) knew that there was a possibility of French (DGSE) agents operating in the pacific that year; they did not give any advice to the security services here, internal or external; nor to customs, nor via the interpol agencies. Prieur and Mafart were tracked after the event, and were arrested having left for Norfolk Island, by (if my memory serves me correctly) Australian authorities.

The British establishment were quite happy to let the French bomb the Rainbow Warrior, and didn’t lift a finger to stop it.

John Key has already shown himself ready to be part of the next ‘coalition of the willing’, although he’d be in a minority of one as a head of state there, most of the current coalition doing their best to exit the Iraq war, and commit less troops to the Afghani war, on two counts – the International Court war crimes investigation which has yet to exonerate Tony Blair, and may indict George Bush; and the excessive toll to troops stationed in these theatres of illegal war, which is becoming very unpopular back home.
Afghanistan has been unwinnable since Victoria’s armies were stationed in Khartoum in the nineteenth century – and for very similar reasons now as then. DIY history lesson needed for most readers, try wikipedia.

It’s not about trade, unless you consider our soldiers ‘trade’.
It’s about the continuance of the military industrial complex, against which Greenpeace have been long-term and vociferous protestors.

BP -
speak for yourself, do not generalise your ‘we all’ to include other NZ citizens, especially me.

I’m not overly fond of any of the current authorities, and I’m particularly not fond of the actions of the SIS, GCSB, and the Anti-terror Unit, all of whom have proven themselves to be State-funded Terrorists. Wait until after the trial, and if someone else doesn’t publish it, I’ll be publishing matters currently sub judice that would make the average ‘mainstream-family’ adult weep.

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Bringing it back to topic… The PM is silent on this because the EU are still quite powerful competitors to NZ in our Export area, particularly in the Lamb front to the UK, Criticizing this MEP would be useless as he is a member of a party that holds little sway and it would only cause backlash to NZ rather than support. It is a shame However, that He had to say such pathetic things in a reasonable debate around the verifiability of Climate change being a threat to the world pegging him amongst the others of the extremist factions of the global debate.

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Would the Sea Shepherd put itself between that Whale and a harpoon?

Does Greenpeace speak in defence of every Penguin?

(Imagine the blubbering if either were skewered!)

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Valis said: Greenpeace activity is protest by a group who take public responsibility for their actions and are willing to go to jail for their convictions.

Not Cameron Slater though.

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And, would you break the thread?

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Peter – re: pies – the difference with the food in schools issue, for me, is that students are (generally) children and just as we have all agreed to prevent their having access to tobacco at school (it’s not sold there), so the Greens wanted access to foods that negatively affected the health (and learning) of those same children. As much a parental role as an authoritarian one, in the way that teachers already are.

John Key is not our father, though there are droves who seem to want him to be.

I see him more as a sharp-eyed uncle. Wouldn’t trust him to stay over night.

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No. It’s not that black and white. As I say, we’ll all use authority when it suits our purposes

Too right. Now, the current comparrison is between implementing a public policy banning pies in schools for health reasons vs the secret sinking of a protest ship in a foreign harbour because they got in the way of your bomb tests. Obviously not all use of state power is equivalent.

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No. It’s not that black and white. As I say, we’ll all use authority when it suits our purposes

Who are politicians, if not people who desire power over others using the authority of the state?

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No Peter, I mean on a personal level. You get irritated by people who don’t do what the boss says

Hey! Personal challenge! Make a list of the things National has banned or forced upon us.

Start with cellphones in cars.

They’ve barely been in a year but by golly …

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Train tracks – a slippery slope! Blue!

I’ve an observation Blue (and it applies to photonz1, big bro etc – those who rail at so many things here on Frog blog) -

You get very upset when someone doesn’t do as they are told – those uppity teachers, Greenpeace activists, Sea Shepherd sailors etc.

Do you see yourself, as I see you, as Authoritarian?

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