Posted on 03/16/2006 12:23:03 AM PST by DieHard the Hunter
Crime in New Zealand is probably not something you get to see much news about in the United States. Life here is very different to life in the USA, and despite what you may have heard, Crime is a growing problem DownUnder. And we are seeing a proliferation of some purely-American criminal elements and ideas, such as "Crips" and "Bloods" and colors, and the occasional drive-by-shooting. These are new concepts to us: they were not here 10 years ago.
Accordingly, we have imported some good old-fashioned American ideas to help us combat Crime: such as the Guardian Angels. (Full disclosure: that's me in the video)
Therefore, I thought this short TV news video clip might be interesting to you:
http://www.tv3.co.nz/News/tabid/67/articleID/5145/Default.aspx
Enjoy! And I will be interested in your feedback...
Kind Regards "DieHard the Hunter"
I've lurked for a while, trying to learn the ropes, and sought competent advice...
...and I've RTFM'd and FAQ'd! Best I can do!
Hey I was thinking about you the other day--wondering how you were doing. I'll check out the video--hopefully I can pull it up.
> This film was made in 1994 (12 years ago). How close is this movie to reality in New Zealand?
It is a spooky reality -- if anything, Reality has gotten much worse.
As usual, the book is "better" than the movie, if "better' means "more close to reality."
The book was written by Alan Duff, a brilliant Maori author. "Once Were Warriors" and its sequel "What Becomes of the Broken Hearted" describe life as it is in a certain segment of New Zealand society: violent, alcohol-and-drug ridden, lawless, without hope. Recommended reading!
The movies were somewhat disappointing, particularly the sequel. Alan Duff should be a FReeper: his main messages include individual responsibility. He's well worth hunting down for a good weekend read.
Cheers from DownUnder
"DieHard the Hunter"
Did you make a Def Leppard song your username?
Nice to hear from you, Beaversmom!
> I'll check out the video--hopefully I can pull it up.
I guess I need to figure out how to make links work: but if you click the "source", it should come up lickety-split. (I'm still new at this -- HTML is a four-letter mystery to me -- any advice or guidance from anyone much appreciated!)
> Did you make a Def Leppard song your username?
I did indeed! A Leppard fan since 1982 (seriously dating myself...!)
Nothing you did--sometimes I can't pull up videos on our computer for some reason.
So nice to see you on video. You're a real stand up guy to
have started this down under. I don't know why some people
from New Zealand would want to emulate the criminals and gangs in the U.S. Are they getting too many government freebies and they get bored?
You do good work.
> You do good work.
Hey, thanks Mate!
I'm no genius with HTML either. Here's the latest periodic
HTML sandbox for some help on the basics.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1569737/posts
HTML Sandbox 02/01/2006
> You're a real stand up guy to have started this down under.
Thanks for that -- but in reality, I'm only a 43 yr old father of two young kids who desperately wants them to grow up and live in a safe place. This may come at a personal cost and risk to me: so be it. That's what Dads are for.
> I don't know why some people from New Zealand would want to emulate the criminals and gangs in the U.S. Are they getting too many government freebies and they get bored?
I'll tell you straight: it beats the heck out of me, too. I grew up in East Broadway Vangcouver (as you may tell by my Canadian accent on the video) in a smallish house. It was an inner-city neighborhood and yuh a fair bit of crime. But it was not a ghetto by any stretch of the imagination. Not the way Americans would understand the term "Ghetto". Yet, East Broadway in Vangcouver was considered a "tuff" Italian neighborhood (and it was!)
Otara and Manurewa are considered to be "tuff" neighborhoods in Auckland. They are not even *close* to the squalor of East Broadway: most are "State" houses (lo rent) and most are very well kept. Many on a full 1/4 acre lot. Heavily subsidised by the Government. Yet this is the breeding grounds for our "Once Were Warriors" criminal class.
D*mned if I understand it. Poverty does not drive this problem: we do not have "poverty" in the same sense that you Yanks would understand the term, as a matter of deliberate Government policy developed over many, many decades.
Yet the "Once Were Warriors" thing exists! It thrives!
Too many Government freebies? I think so. Some analysts would also include a sense of Entitlement. Rights rather than Responsibilities. Too much time and free money on their hands, not enough work to do. A social environment that excuses and rewards mediocrity, and punishes excellence: driving all ever toward the Lowest Common Denominator.
Too much time spent leaning toward the Left: it is a self-destructive path, as we are finding out...
> I'm no genius with HTML either. Here's the latest periodic
HTML sandbox for some help on the basics.
Thanks for that! Appreciated! I'll review this as homework for the weekend!
Cheers
"DieHard the Hunter"
How does one go from Vancouver to New Zealand?
> How does one go from Vancouver to New Zealand?
I took a plane, "The Spirit of Queenstown"...
(Married a Kiwi Girl 15 years ago. We lived together in Vangcouver for 3 years. Eventually, she wanted to go home, and I wanted to go with her, funnily enough... 'tis a pattern that is repeated over and over and over again here!)
Well I can definitely understand your concern for your children but not many people would step up to the plate the way you have. I'm concerned too--we've got the homegrown gangs plus ones that are sneaking up from Central/South America. Then you wonder what the zany Muslims will be
up to next. Thank goodness we don't have as many as
Europe but they are here too.
Anyway, I'm glad you're holding down the fort down under.
Stay safe and keep us updated. Tell your conservative
pals down there about FR.
Hey, how many times has that girl been married? :)
BTW, "Once Were Warriors" got a GREAT reviews on imdb.com, so I've added it to my Blockbuster queue. Thanks for the recommendation!
Regarding the causes for these types of troubles...there is an old saying. "An idle mind is the Devil's workshop."
Hmmm, much like a segment of our society known as Democratic Underground.
Concealed carry works very well, too. Not everyone wants to believe it, though.
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