Posts by Tom Semmens
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I would say at a wild guess based on how we all know the USA/Canada is organised that their pork is almost exclusively "farmed" in stalls.
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RoO - we imported almost 2600 tonnes of pork in March 2009 alone. This represents about 43% of our consumption.
http://www.nzpork.co.nz/Portals/NZPib/Documents/Publications/March%202009%20Imports%20Report.pdf
Funnily enough, most of it seems to come from Canada.
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Banning stall grown meat from China???
WHAT ABOUT THE WTO?
Labelling the origin of your pork?
ZOMG! THAT BREACHES FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS! THE SKY WILL FALL!
Personally, I like keeping free range pigs. After chcickens, they are the most relaxing and interesting beast of the field to watch. Nothing like leaning on the fence of the pig pen and chewing the fat with a friend:"Nice pig"
"Yup"
They are fun, grow fast, and you can use every bit of them except the squeal.
I would love to see Chinese pork banned, but pigs don't vote and they don't hire expensive lobbyists.
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Having thought about it over the weekend, I have zilch sympathy for Rankin. Professionally she was self-serving, self-promoting and incompetent.
Privately she is now exposed as a hypoctrite of the highest order.
Rankin's main gripe appears to be that she thinks Biblical justice is something that should only be for others, which isn't surprising given her compete lack of self-awareness.
You reap what you sow.
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Wow! More tolerant than me - personally I would have deleted the entire post as in poor taste, and not in the public interest.
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Is there a moderator in the house?
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I think the Tialata incident was most unfortunate, the poor fellow didn't deserve for his chin to become the focal point of decades of suppressed anger and frustration at the treatment the NZRU and the big franchise unions have dished out to proud unions like Hawke's Bay.
What the NZRU and the rest of the bloated gravy train that is professional rugby in this country doesn't seem to understand is that for every glamour squad like (to use the NRL as an example) a Sea Eagles or a Storm or a Broncos you need to support and nurture the battler teams like the Sharks, Eels or Raiders so that their supporters can have hope that they will have their day in the sun.
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Oh and I don't think Peter Russell is being held responsible for anything, I just think the comfortably connected non-performers in the Hurricanes HQ are shit scared they'll lose their nice salaries if a new broom is brought into the franchise.
Better to look after your Wellington mates and not rock the boat and consistantly finish with the title of "best team not to consistantly reach it's potential" than actually get a new coaching regime who might win the competition.
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The funny thing about the Clint Newlands incident is that everyone in Hawkes Bay agreed it was a shocking and terrible thing to do. But they laughed their heads off anyway. I think the incident has to be entered under "cathartic" and that's about it.
But Colin Cooper is useless. He produces the same results year in and year out. Given the raw material he has to work with he would have been sacked years ago if he was a Gridiron coach.
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Oh! Did someone say HAWKES BAY??? Goodie goodie! Real rugby!
We will be in the final this year, mark my words.
The Mighty Magpies have got -what? - over ten players in the Super 14 this year? It really is telling that so many Hawkes bay players were picked up in the draft.
Peter Russell is the best coach in the Hurricanes franchise. The fact the Colin Cooper, a man who consistantly produces a Super 14 also ran result despite having the biggest name players in the competition, is still the Hurricanes coach speaks volumes for the jobs-for-boys complacency infecting NZ rugby right now.
And the fact that so many Magpies have had to go elsewhere for Super 14 experience should also speak volumes for how the dominance of the Super 14 franchise teams is killing provincial rugby. Wellington fucked over Taranaki a few seasons back by refusing to pick their players unless they became Wellington based, and they are trying it again with Hawkes Bay. A reformed Super 14 where they might actually miss out on making the professional comp would do Wellington good.
But anyway, under Russell and with a HEAP of players with professional experience under their belts the Bay will be very hard to beat this year. Given the Blues atrocious form and the rebuilding of the Crusaders, I would say the Magpies would probably fancy their chances against even Auckland and Canterbury in this years Air NZ Cup.