Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Awful in more than one way

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  • Kyle Matthews,

    Who interestingly also has one of the largest private collection of firearms in New Zealand.

    And is also fascinated with old warplanes.

    He'd look much better hunched over a WWI biplane, machine gun firing red hot, goggles and scarf, strafing suits on Lambton Quay, than wandering around Victoria University with a couple of pop guns and shooting scarfies from the top of the Hunter building.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report

  • WH,

    There are many people who, for a variety of informal reasons, do not fully participate in our society. Many of these people go off the rails in a variety of non-violent and violent ways - some take it out on themselves, some people take it out on others.

    I'm not suggesting that formal intervention is appropriate, but its clear that positive outcomes become increasingly unlikely as people become become increasingly alienated from their peers. Unfortunately, our collective response is to keep as far away from the socially radioactive as we can.

    Since Nov 2006 • 797 posts Report

  • Andrew Paul Wood,

    I think the good thing about our system is are the conditions of gun ownership. I have no problem with guns and rifles in both the sporting and farming context. By law firearms mus be kept in a locked secured rack and cabinet, with the ammo stored away seperately, also locked.
    It's difficult to shoot someone in a rage when you have to unlock all those locks, unlike in the US where they sleep with them under their pillow.

    Christchurch • Since Jan 2007 • 175 posts Report

  • Riddley Walker,

    awful in another way...

    i see Garth Vader is leaving town. seems Auckland is nolonger what is was since they stopped 6 o'clock closing and he's off to somewhere the buffalo still play.

    AKL • Since Feb 2007 • 890 posts Report

  • Che Tibby,

    our collective response is to keep as far away from the socially radioactive as we can

    cue: sanctimony.

    i've always been convinced we need more freaks and loners about the place.

    the back of an envelope • Since Nov 2006 • 2042 posts Report

  • Russell Brown,

    awful in another way...

    i see Garth Vader is leaving town. seems Auckland is nolonger what is was since they stopped 6 o'clock closing and he's off to somewhere the buffalo still play.

    That column is hilarious. He really dos live inside his head.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Riddley Walker,

    He really dos live inside his head

    for all concerned, that would indeed be safest place for him to stay.

    i expect it's a forerunner to the 'i'm retiring' announcement, preempting the 'i've been chopped' announcement.

    AKL • Since Feb 2007 • 890 posts Report

  • Che Tibby,

    i see Garth Vader is leaving town

    we should have a whip-around.

    might be able to get enough for a tank of gas and hurry him on his way.

    no... wait... the fcker isn't coming to wellington is he?

    the back of an envelope • Since Nov 2006 • 2042 posts Report

  • Russell Brown,

    The other thing that struck me about Darth's column were his emotional appears to neighbourliness and good manners. When Fiona did The Panel with him once, he was basically a dreadful old bugger. They were sitting a metre away from each other and he barely even acknowledged her presence.

    Given that she is, to my certain knowledge, the nicest woman in all creation*, that seemed more than a little rude.

    * First equal with my mum, that is ...

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Heather Gaye,

    Ah, can't remember who originally put me onto this story, but here's one for those that favour a more proactive approach to weeding out the freaks before they go postal.

    ...And another case from 1995. Pre-terrorists, pre-Columbine even.

    Morningside • Since Nov 2006 • 533 posts Report

  • andrew llewellyn,

    before they go postal.

    And that reminds me, Peter Jackson is a disaffected ex employee of the Evening POST. True?

    Since Nov 2006 • 2075 posts Report

  • WH,

    cue: sanctimony.

    Yeah. I don't want to pretend that I'm any sort of saint in this respect, because I'm not, but I think your policy is a good one.

    I used to joke that Tool wasn't so much a form of artistic expression as it was a cry for help. One Tool fan I went to school with threw himself off Grafton Bridge and another joined some weird socialist movement before dropping out and heading "up north".

    Of course, this isn't really about Tool (a band that makes music with a washing machine and a drumkit), but there is a tragic predictability to the kinds of people that do these sorts of things.

    Since Nov 2006 • 797 posts Report

  • Robyn Gallagher,

    Then the great American crime plunge of the Clinton years happened.

    Freakonomics theorises that the legalisation of abortion in the 1970s lead to the drop in crime in the 1990s.

    Abortion meant that fewer children were being born to solo mothers, raised on low incomes, which is somewhat of an incubator for criminals.

    http://www.freakonomics.com/ch4.php

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report

  • Juha Saarinen,

    So... armed aborting single mothers.

    Be kinda tricky to sell that solution politically.

    Since Nov 2006 • 529 posts Report

  • andrew llewellyn,

    I certainly don't want to watch the TV advertising..

    Since Nov 2006 • 2075 posts Report

  • Che Tibby,

    So... armed aborting single mothers.

    Be kinda tricky to sell that solution politically.

    but someone call tarantino NOW.

    we have a hook for his next film.

    the back of an envelope • Since Nov 2006 • 2042 posts Report

  • Riddley Walker,

    i think it could make for a really 'edgey' campaign, as they say. couldn't be any worse than Density Church doing their 'anuf is anuf' Nuremburg impression.

    AKL • Since Feb 2007 • 890 posts Report

  • Riddley Walker,

    someone call tarantino

    shoot it in the style of Pinter's Handmaid's Tale i reckon

    AKL • Since Feb 2007 • 890 posts Report

  • Juha Saarinen,

    Yeah... in the US, you can call yourself Quentin without getting your butt fried Crisp. You know why? Because people know you pack. You pack heat. Serious heat. Not the sort of lukewarm, damp stuff you find on your colleague's chair in the office you mistakenly sat on. Cool heat. Guns.

    We're all hypocrites really. All we want is extreme Tarantinoesque ultraviolence with guns, nuns and wiggling taser stuns. In the US, they have a legal right to all of that.

    Hmm. Must stop taking my afternoon espresso intravenously.

    Since Nov 2006 • 529 posts Report

  • andrew llewellyn,

    An interesting letter in today's DomPost calling for all guns to be banned & for hunters & farmers to ply their hobby & trade in future using...

    ...crossbows.

    Sounds cool to me. Maybe as a bonus, they could include throwing knives. That'd be great.

    I have been plagued recently by rabbits & pig. Buying a rifle had crossed my mind, but when I learned that machine guns (I was thinking a uzi type thing would be fun & efficient) aren't allowed here the idea palled.

    But shit, a crossbow? Wahoo!

    Since Nov 2006 • 2075 posts Report

  • Riddley Walker,

    yeah there are some awesome crossbows out there, including ones in 'pistol' format. they are completely lethal but as they don't go 'bang' they don't seem to attract the same restrictions as bangy things.

    AKL • Since Feb 2007 • 890 posts Report

  • Juha Saarinen,

    One Man Against The Pigs
    (And Rabbits)
    Based on a true life story
    I'd watch that.

    The more killings there, the better the gun biz gets:

    But many people say the incident may also lead to greater gun sales. Leane Anderson, a firearms instructor and gun shop owner, said purchases had soared since the killings.

    "I think guns don't kill people, people kill people," she said. "I'm a strong believer in being able to protect yourself and your family."

    Since Nov 2006 • 529 posts Report

  • Danyl Mclauchlan,

    Want to feel really smug and superior? Read some of the American respondents to the Heraldss gun control editorial.
    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/feature/story.cfm?c_id=1501154&objectid=10434649

    Stephen
    I once thought I might like to live in New Zealand however, after reading some of the narrow minded, immature, and downright hateful messages regarding the University shootings, I have decided that NZ is one of the last places on earth I would want to live. Good day.

    Joe (US)
    You are very uninformed. To base your views of America on a movie is sad to say the least. I spent 2 weeks in Auckland last year. Visiting my wifes family. Get your country's drug problem under control before you throw stones. Hope you enjoy living under Japan rule because they are buying up New Zealand 1 block at a time. Sorry we have a Constitution that allows us to buy weapons for protection or hunting. Sorry there is no sanity test attached to the purchase of a weapon. Let's not forget he wasn't an American. He was a guest here.

    Elaine
    Kiwis are messed up like the rest of the world - if it wasn't for the United States kiwis would be still living in the dark ages. To make derogatory remarks about the US just shows how stupid kiwis are.

    Nick (US)
    This is the same New Zealand that we fought to save in world war II? You kidding me ? Now that was stupid on our part ! we should have left them to bow hard to the emperor by now. Not that New Zealand really matters, (heck New Zealand doesn't even matter for the nearby Fijians) but for the record, this is not a country that we can call a friend. Helen Clark just made a trip recently to Washington. Let's make a note that at least for the next 100 years we need not bother with another kiwi official. I'm not heartless, really, but I can't wait to laugh when New Zealand faces a doom day.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 927 posts Report

  • Che Tibby,

    But shit, a crossbow? Wahoo!

    dude... just yell 'banzai' and charge the bastard with an machete.

    according to nick (US) we're all living under japanese occupation anyhow. might as well start playing up to stereotypes.

    the back of an envelope • Since Nov 2006 • 2042 posts Report

  • Juha Saarinen,

    They shoot Kiwis, don't they?

    Since Nov 2006 • 529 posts Report

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