Gaily New Zealand

[Carygrant]

Of course they will be beaten. But, despite having 6x our playing population and a zillionx our funding, not by England.

Your reckless confidence is touching and most loyal .
Rugby is played here as a minority sport --- a long way behind Football , Darts and Fishing . So basically we only field men who are not footballers , don't throw arrows or catch fish .
That leaves only 174 men to choose from .
So stop giving me your sob stories .

[Awryly]

Your reckless confidence is touching and most loyal .
Rugby is played here as a minority sport --- a long way behind Football , Darts and Fishing . So basically we only field men who are not footballers , don't throw arrows or catch fish .
That leaves only 174 men to choose from .
So stop giving me your sob stories .

Then we are reduced to pathetic facts. You have a playing population of 600-700 thousand rugby players We have 140,000. The ERFU is swimming in money. The NZRFU struggles to make ends meet.

Granted, we have the better genes.

[Awryly]

An adorable quote from an NZ newspaper report:

The Wallabies' (Australian international rugby team, for Americans here. Not to be confused with the Eagles, which are American) next test in the Rugby Championship is against the Wallabies in a fortnight and Cooper says they won't have any problem bouncing back from this defeat. http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/i...e-Quade-Cooper

But can they get up to beat themselves in only two weeks?

[Carygrant]

Granted, we have the better genes.

You are right there .
Nobody answering to Jean plays for England .

[Awryly]

You are right there .
Nobody answering to Jean plays for England .

Pity. There might be more competition.

[Awryly]

Hey, that was a joke. A rather good one.

[Mainecoons]

Far be it from me to disturb the equanimity of Americans by extolling the comparative virtues of the country from whence I, fortunately, come.

But some things cannot be left unsaid.

While the US wallows in corporate elitist politics and government, we here are blessed with a political system that:

1. Is not fed by corporate money
2. Represents, pretty fairly, the views and interest of all New Zealanders.
3. Is not subject to the mind-boggling cretinism of candidates on the campaign trail.
4. Gets stuff done without hurtling towards fiscal cliffs and suchlike.

I apologise.

You come from a little bitty quite homogeneous country of little international consequence. Count yourself lucky on that but be smart enough to recognize that when you live in such a rarified condition, you don't have a lot of direct experience about the rest of the world, including the U.S. which is neither small nor homogeneous. Frankly, I think you make a good argument for something I've supported for some time, a break up of the U.S. into several nations, none of which would be large enough to carry on the relentless policies of foreign military misadventurism that the folks in our hopelessly isolated capitol just can't seem to get enough of. Regardless of political party.

New Zealand is a stunner. One of the places high on our list of places to see.

[Awryly]

You come from a little bitty quite homogeneous country of little international consequence. Count yourself lucky on that but be smart enough to recognize that when you live in such a rarified condition, you don't have a lot of direct experience about the rest of the world, including the U.S. which is neither small nor homogeneous. Frankly, I think you make a good argument for something I've supported for some time, a break up of the U.S. into several nations, none of which would be large enough to carry on the relentless policies of foreign military misadventurism that the folks in our hopelessly isolated capitol just can't seem to get enough of. Regardless of political party.

New Zealand is a stunner. One of the places high on our list of places to see.

How are we "homogeneous" when 1 in 4 of us are new immigrants and we have an indigenous population of 14%?

I would be loathe to use just that as a solution to your problems.

But as an example of a robust representative democracy, social justice, a willingness to jail corporate fraudsters and a welfare state that supports its citizens....?

Then you might be onto something.

And yes, we are blessed with a beautiful environment and a largely temperate climate. That is improving, thanks to global warming. Thanks for that. Keep it up.

[Mainecoons]

Thank the Chinese, the world's #1 polluters.

BTW, our "minority" population is approaching 50 percent. Whites will be the minority in the U.S. in a few decades.

Look it up.

[Awryly]

Thank the Chinese, the world's #1 polluters.

BTW, our "minority" population is approaching 50 percent. Whites will be the minority in the U.S. in a few decades.

Look it up.

Did that.

A report by the U.S. Census Bureau projects a decrease in the ratio of Whites between 2010 and 2050, from 79.5% to 74.0%.^[59] At the same time, Non-Hispanic Whites are projected to no longer make up the majority of the population by 2042, but will remain the largest single race. In 2050 they will compose 46.3% of the population. Non-Hispanic whites made up 85% of the population in 1960.^[60]
The report foresees the Hispanic or Latino population rising from 16% today to 30% by 2050, the African American percentage barely rising from 12.9% to 13.0%, and Asian Americans upping their 4.6% share to 7.8%.

It appears you are on a collision course with your underclasses.

Stock up on dem guns and ammo.