Posts by Robert van Bakel
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giovanni tiso! In 1974 the great Dutch side, playing a game they invented known as 'total football', and led by the then, greatest player in the world, Johan Cruyff lost 2-1 to Germany in the final. The rivalry goes beyond this, to past generations. Do you know why the Dutch are so proficient in English? The reason is simple, they must learn a second European language at school. They hate the Germans, for obvious reasons, and the French, (think Belgium on the verge of being two countries).
In football, the Germans wisely understand that England are, and have been for some time, mediocre. The Dutch is whom they, the Brazilians, and the Argentinians worry about: so small, so few people, and yet they constantly punch above their weight: aaah, remember 1988.
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just to bring the board back to where I assume Russel's original intent was; education, I have a question: Why is it that NZ kids always do so poorly at international maths and science 'elite' competitions, and always do so well at maths and language comprehension in OECD ratings? The usual top five are Japan, Korea (south), Norway (I think), NZ, and another. Now I've lived in Korea, and Japan, and with knowledge of my own upbringing in NZ, wouldn't wish their education demands on a scoundrel.
We are, moderately egalitarian, socratic, platonic, who knows. But, long summers at Muriwai beat as wrote chanting in a darkened room any day.
Still, it would be nice to have a few more Nobels in physics etc, just to justify the 'long summers' you understand.
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Aaah Paul Holmes, the most loathsome leech ever to usher from that mediocrity factory, TVNZ.
I grew up listening to this prick's drivel in the eighties, and even as a 15 year old, had to fight to change the chanel after the 6.00 O'clock news with my parents and siblings, to avoid his vapid, moronic emptiness, 'Holmes'; the bloke was a one-man vanity show. And what did he offer? Tits!
So, now he states the dole is demeaning? disruptive? sapping? A simple question; How would you know Mr Twat? ... your journalistic ability questionable, and your hairstyle, (just to get personal here) is in need of, aaah, style? I've been on the dole sir, and it enabled me after 9 months to retain a vestage of dignity amongst my working peers, you fuck!
The sooner our country buries the memory of this ode to ordinariness, we might move on to real journalism,
Thanks Russ,
Rob. -
Thank you Paul, if you were ever more ashamed of your own sex I think perhaps re-orientation might be called for.
Emma, I said these facts have been known in the scientific literature for decades, one of my ill-received points is, 'what's changed?' And further, if nothing's changed can we make IT better; no! Therefore the answer is not human, it appears to be more fundamental, less fixable, (unless over vast generations). I mean, is there an evolutionary reason for beating your partner, and is there an evolutionary reason for staying?
As for the fictional women you've plausibly created, I have a question for her: "Are you insane, leave!"
Rob. -
This happens every day? I believe it of course although my life has never been touched by male abuse of female relations; I think. Except for the time I beat my little sister, but then she replied in kind.
Emma, I feel nothing for this women, or the score, hundreds like her; not in NZ anyway. Apparently your writing tugs the heart strings, and makes known a great ill kept secret. No it doesn't,. We've known about spousal abuse for decades, in the scientific literature, and eons before that in ALL cultural spheres, everywhere in the world, at all times; what's your point exactly? Men are bad! I know that, I am one. And yet I've never beaten the women I've known intimately, even the stupid ones, and believe me, women can be unbelievably more stupid than men, generally: Something about maternal protection of their children, upon becoming mothers, blinds them to the suffering of those outside their genetic interest, it causes a maternal selfishness which men, usually, do not suffer from; hence the great evil and great good men do, and the forever mediocrity of women, tied as they are to their little bundles of joy.
Rob. -
I'm deeply interested in this paper model, versus online model, of news presentation debate, as I'm in China and 'Youtube' has been, well, let us just say, 'normal service will be resumed shortly'. I prefer the grand paper model, for several reasons.
A paper has an address, a physical location, something I can placard, protest, or visit. Doing this online is, well, inhuman! A paper, unlike most blogsites, has a staff that are accountable, and cannot hide behind poxy alter egos. Most papers are not run by Rupert Murdoch, although the vile shit is trying. (Oooh, BTW, go to youtube and search out Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry and 'A world without Rupert Murdoch' skit, fucking brilliant) Finally, and most important, blogging is fine, but you're hardly going to set the world on fire. Infact the amount of people your dedicated sites reach is dwindling. Like the engineer who goes on learning more and more, about less and less, until he knows absolutely everything about nothing; that is blogging to me. It appears you are reaching dedicated audiences in their millions, this is not enough, unless you are Rupert Murdoch, who owns thousands of these papers, sites.
The demise of world class papers is not the rise of a new internet democracy it is the watering down of information to smaller and smaller interest groups, each adamently ignoring the sites they loath. Papers, or at least the good ones, have content that can cross this divide.
Rob. -
Is it only me or does this piece of journalism seem like an almost incoherrant ramble; I had to read the thing three times to get the idea that folic acid is, what? Good, bad, ugly.
Not surprising really NZ journalism and blogging must surely count as some of the lowest in the OECD world. Check out the Herald bafoonery on the extremely important TaitoPhillip-Fields corruption allegations. He's guilty of course, and a fucking vile liar. What does the Herald do? An innocuous wet grape piece of coverage that a schoolgirl could have written.
Please, please give us some reporting, or failing that, how about some fucking information!
Rob.
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Russell,
I have been a fan for several years. I know you are a media savvy sevant, and that your beat covers more than just politics, but could you please get back to it; politics that is.
Why is it that since the ineffectual 'Key' became PM you are not exposing the tosspot for what he is; a 'micromanager' devolved of relations to the humanity he supposedly represents?
I'm not a particularly argumentative person, and I would not like to argue against you, ('You', being somewhat brighter than, 'I'), BUT,when Helen was dame, you shat upon National specifically, and the opposition generally. I know your a socialist at heart, please resort to form; I miss your style.
Rob. -
Russel,
I am unsubtle, or merely dim; what on earth do you mean, if I, 'ever do spy "The World's Biggest Chinese Restaurant"', I shoiuld, 'try and see it'?Am I being made the butt of some insider joke? What do you know that you're not telling me? I feel so used! heh!
BTW I saw our dismal 'All Whites' get their first point in a major international comp against a near destroyed state called Iraq; well done the lads, they looked almost competant.
Rob. -
Russ,
I was trolling and dived in at the deepish end;
Regards.