USA actions in the Pacific should be of concern to us all. We only need to look at the way they have behaved toward the various Latin American countries and their interference as a possible model.
The problems I foresee for NZ come initially from the T and the influence of the US Global conglomerates in our commercial operations and sovereignty.
I feel that the Monsanto model and the FDA type of authorization of GM crops is a very real risk.
I would like to see NZ protected as an "Ark" where all the heritage seeds and plants are protected from GM. So when the rest of the world runs out of the unmodified there is a source of original uncontaminated plant material available for the world to draw on.
There is certainly room for more ways than one of governing these small countries and we shouldn't be to hasty in telling Fiji how to sort out it's problems. I understand the indigenous Fijian reluctance to cede government on a majority basis. It would be too easy for them to become second class citizens in their own country. They were wise to try and prevent the sale of land and only allow leases to those not of Fijian descent. The imposition of Western land ownership/title is not the easiest to carry out fairly when the history has been communal/community ownership. Look at the problems that have been generated in NZ, Look at what happened in USA and the indigenous people in Latin America who are going through it now (being dispossessed and Displaced). Might is not Right!

Stars and Stripes forever. What a ghastly thought. They now have a foot in the N.I. but no one is saying a word. They are in the N.T. and planes in Darwin.

All I care about is NZ and our sovereignty - I don't want a takeover, hostile or commercial (wait, that's pretty damn hostile, these days) whether it be US or China or that international gang of Banksters.

We really do have to be alert; see the patterns, join the dots, don't be so trusting of those who talk sweet to us and promise the earth.

I am not a fan of Fortress NZ, far from it, and Ark Aotearoa-New Zealand has a lovely ring to it. Keeping ourselves safe from all the predators is a damn good idea.

Arandar......ai cant see NZ ever managing to be a "fortress NZ" for you need to be armed to the teeth for that scenario.

So an hypocritical version of "sovereignty" will be far for likely to be traded in a negotiation for "shared" legalities in exchange for goods and srvices.
As in the last war,we had cosy little deals in all sorts of goodies like better military equipment and better roads and transport.

We fed them and supplied them with all those things that are quietly not talked about............lol.
Basically our economy would zoom,and maybe a whole new psyche would develop amongst NZers.

It's far better choice than Islamic Fundamentalists and Russian Mafia businesses gouging us dry of every piece of value.

And it's not so hard talking American accents.............

Oi,

""Arandar......ai cant see NZ ever managing to be a "fortress NZ" for you need to be armed to the teeth for that scenario""

As our teeth have been pulled we'll leave the "Fortress" part for our Aussie mates. Anyway, if anyone wanted to take good ole NZ they'd be able to do it by telephone. Easy.

""As in the last war,we had cosy little deals in all sorts of goodies like better military equipment and better roads and transport""

That's how we re-powered our small, under-powered, pommie trucks after the war with 671 cu. in. GM motors out of the tanks our Yank friends left....I drove one. They just packed up their personal gear and said, "see ya's later" they left everything. We lived within 22,000 of them at Mckays Crossing.

""all those things that are quietly not talked about............lol""

Ask our returning boys and the 'Damage' they did to the poor yanks who thoroughly deserved it for bonking their wives while away fighting....christ only knows if ole Squirter'd be a part of the bonking brigade had I been a yank....probably....bloody ouch !!! They also suffered at the hands of our Aussie mates too....more bloody ouch !!!

""And it's not so hard talking American accents.............""

I could also fit in real well there too. No need to worry about the Americans at this stage as they've got huge problems not only within their financial sector but also high up in their military hierarcy, and it's their election year too.

Watch this space.

Cheers.

Sorry, guys, I meant another sort of fortress. I don't see any sort of military take-over being remotely likely. Why bother, when they can just buy us, for a few blankets and beads, a couple of rusty muskets or an all-expenses paid trip to Washington or Beijing, or an upgrade in a Singapore Hotel.

NZ could choose to pull up the drawbridge, look inward, become self-sustaining, restrict the easy two-way exchange of goods, services and people across our borders, ideas, too, I guess, and that's a policy that some seem to be recommending.

I am one who moans and fears many of the ideas and ideologies we've imported over the last few years. I think we've lost what was best about NZ along with a lot of what was bloody awful. I think we've been conned. I think when our masters (the o/s financiers) command we bend our knees.

But I don't want to assume the ('Fortress NZ') position either.

The absolute last thing we need is to emulate North Korea!!

I just want us to put NZ first; ensure we understand what the downstream effects might be of doing this or that, do the research, do the pilot schemes, and to realise that just because some of our friends do something we (edit) DON'T dammit) we don't have to do it too.

G'day Aranda,

You've got a lovely big heart love so just keep on doing what you are doing as it's in the right place.

If we pulled up the drawbridge we could survive possibly, but it would be the survival of the fittest only. Oh Shoite.

As for "LOOK INWARD"....on a personal basis that is something we should all do very regular, and think, 'what would greatly benefit me the most'....so, if that did happed with the population as a whole, then the answer transferred toward our lovely nation, then in my opinion it would indeed be "Gods Little Acre"

The average NZ'er is not stupid and his/her personal desires for him/her would not differ greatly....it's just the bloody road to get to our desires love that buggers us up a bit.

Wotdoyareckin'

Cheers.

I know this will sound selfish,but as a young kid just starting an electrical apprenticeship,I soon found out what the "mana" of the American presence in NZ during the war consisted of,especially with waht they left behind (not counting babies).

The company I worked for must have emptied out Camp Bunn out at South Auckland......we had everything American in the electrical inventory plus their trucks and vans,and darned good quality it was too.

All that stuff lasted right through to the 70s and although that company has since gone bust,I know the owner still had warehouses still full of.by now,useless American gear. I think he got somewhat attached to it all.

And of course I had to do my CMT in the middle of my apprenticeship but fortunately chose the airforce......where I "met" the Mustang and the Harvard.....the English Vampires were useless things...underpowered and kept twisting their tail booms if you did any sharp manouvres.....lol.

Then there were the ex GIs who came back to NZ after the war,and we tasted the REAL hamburgers for the first time.No doubt some came back to the women and babies they had fathered and married and lived happily ever after until they died.

The point being,I see no problem with being "flooded" by Americans perhaps once again....whereas I would be bristling if it were British or Russian or Asian. Aussies.........?.......just another funny version of us,that's all.

We should be looking at all scenarios before making what could be very helpful or very unhelpful help. There can be lots of plusses and minuses with any assistance offered as very little is ever offered with some strings attached so we need to see where those strings go.

Talking about WW2 there were lots of advantages offered to us some accepted some declined. One I heard of being turned down (stupidly, if true) was the Yanks offered to put in a 4 lane highway through "Transmission Gully" FREE! Now in their wisdom the present Government is having to spend millions doing just that. Now if it had been built to the standard of the road they built out Seaview past what was the Ford Motor plant it probably still wouldn't need any maintenance.

"I would like to see NZ protected as an "Ark" where all the heritage seeds and plants are protected from GM. "


That's a brilliant idea,sounds good to me & makes a good deal of sense.


"I am one who moans and fears many of the ideas and ideologies we've imported over the last few years. I think we've lost what was best about NZ along with a lot of what was bloody awful. I think we've been conned. I think when our masters (the o/s financiers) command we bend our knees.

I just want us to put NZ first; ensure we understand what the downstream effects might be of doing this or that, do the research, do the pilot schemes,"


Yes,I think its a good idea to check things thoroughly first, & in cases where there's doubt about long term effects - don't use it.



"The point being,I see no problem with being "flooded" by Americans perhaps once again....whereas I would be bristling if it were British or Russian or Asian. Aussies.........?.......just another funny version of us,that's all."

I think I'd have a problem if we were to be flooded with anyone;moderation,I think works best.

I cant help getting that feeling that there are an awful lot of Luddites on the subject.........lol.

I have fond memories of early life but I dont yearn for them to be relived again......maybe I'm just one of those who embraces anything new conceptually moving onwards,hopefully to a better result than before.

For example I'll never forget all those concrete roads the Americans laid all over Auckland and the North Shore,and which have simply been tarsealed over and over again.Deep under all that still lies the rock solid base that the Yanks did so their heavy stuff could move around fast if needed.

And judging by todays road constructions I still reckon concrete would outlast the lot the way the Yanks did it.........lol.

And to those of us who are still suggesting that "we" should be "advising" those at the top about what would be better for NZ,or not,I can quite assure you the sort of decisions made at the top have been done and dusted many months ago if not years ago......and the contracts have already been signed.

Our only "sovereignty" that we can debate and argue about is what relates to local and national borders.Anything beyond that is way out of our hands and even knowledge.And in that we are literally helpless.

For me,I regard the present circumstances as BEING in depression and not recession,and that a "war footing" of austerity is the next shock coming for NZers.
And so history repeats itself over again........