No Doomsday Downunder - How Is It At Your Place?

Er…um…well, this IS embarrassing!!! We're all supposed to be DEAD now. Aren't we?
According to a Christian group, you shouldn't be able to read this blog because the world is due to be engulfed and destroyed by a great fire on 07 October!!
Chris McCann, leader of the eBible fellowship and all-round God expert, recently predicted Doomsday was upon us.
McCann delivered his warnings via podcast. He reckons that 07 October will be the day God has spoken of. It's The Big One. The day the Earth passes away. The day we should be gone forever. Annihiliated.
McCann: "God destroyed the Earth with water, by a flood, in the days of Noah. And he says he'll not do that again, not by water. But he does say in 2nd Peter 3 that he'll destroy it by fire." However, just to cover his self-righteous arse, McCann adds a disclaimer that "there's an unlikely possibility that it will not end." He had previously claimed the world would end 21 May 2011 but had to revise that date.
So while New Zealand may have lived to see another day, perhaps

we should keep our fingers crossed for our Northern Hemisphere friends who are still waiting to live through 07 October…or not!

Cashing In On Ebola

Hey, never let a large-scale health disaster get in the way of good hard-earned money scams, I say!
I notice one of the latest rip-offs to circulate into my in-box is a rewriting of the usual crap...with all the same-ol' same-ol' spelling mistakes, but with an Ebola twist:

"Hello sir /madam,
Thanks be and God richly bless you for your kind gesture in helping me out of this critical situations.
Yes i,m Peter Karu a Sierra Leone citizen from West Africa sub region of Africa.
My father and my mother has died currently from Ebola Diseases virus, and i am manage to escaped from Sierra Leone to Ghana a country alsos in West Africa.
meanwhile my late father Chief Karu was a Gold merchanter , and have his Gold delivery office in Ghana.
I want you to help to ship my late father 120 kilograms of Gold ,out of Africa as soon as possible.
meanwhile , my late father also deposited $3,2M America dollar with a private security bank company in Ghana.
I need your help quickly , so that i can continued my education.
I,m 16 years old now. and i now stay in an uncompleted house building in Ghana Africa now.
I need your help very urgently.
Thank you, your son Peter Karu "

Well, I've never slept with an African gal so Peter Karu is definitely NOT my son! How dare he get so familiar! LOL And if he WAS, his grammatical skills would be much higher than this clown's!

Further, as you'll see at this [link], young "Peter" has changed his name from "Solomon Korobo", son of "Chief Korobo".
You KNOW what these vultures are up to. Do NOT be tempted... unlike THIS gullible Australian pillick [link]!

The Global Tamiflu Scam

Readers may recall that, back in June 2009, I warned against the hysterical global over-reaction to Swine Flu (H1N1), which was slated to wipe out a significant portion of mankind.
We were told that mankind's only saviour was a new fast-tracked wonder-drug called Tamiflu, which was being injected into patients without due checks and balances...
Now a University of Auckland researcher says new evidence shows Tamiflu doesn't actually work at all!

Just as I said.
Dr Vanessa Jordan, NZ Cochrane Fellow at Akld Uni, confirms what'd previously been suspected "that there is currently no support for claims that Tamiflu or Relenza reduces admissions to hospital or complications of influenza".
Like most countries that could afford to, NZ stockpiled 750,000 doses of Tamiflu in 2009 (since dumped after expiry).
This new evidence only came out last week so we shouldn't be too harsh on our govt. After all, it - like everyone else - bought into the World Health Organisation's (WHO) panic-causing announcement of a 'pandemic'.
Jordan: "Tamiflu is on the WHO's essential medicines list so our govt is following recommendations at the moment, but it's no doubt those recommendations will change."
Naturally, Tamiflu manufacturer Roche has rejected the Cochrane Report's findings saying it "fundamentally disagrees with the overall conclusions".
Medsafe (responsible for the regulation of medicines in NZ) agrees: "This study alone is not enough for NZ to reconsider its position on stockpiles of Tamiflu as an important precaution in case of future global influenza pandemic."
In other words, until there're multi-tons of other evidence, taxpayers' $$$ will continue to be spent on crap that doesn't WORK!! And that'll keep the Big Pharmaceuticals very happy indeed.
*thinks aloud* Hmmm, wonder if they're allowed to contribute to election funding...?

Who's No.1 For Hacking?

If you enjoyed the late Tom Clancy's techo-thriller Threat Vector, you may be thinking that China is the world's worst nation for internet hacking. Think again.
China has a reputation as the hacker capital of the world, but a new report shows the bulk of global cyber-attack activity has recently come from its smaller neighbour, Indonesia.
38% of the world's cyber attacks originated in Indonesia during the second quarter of 2013, up from 21% in the first quarter. This spike knocked China off the hacking pedestal, with Big Red accounting for 33% of attacks, down from 34%. The amount of hacking originating in US (although at No.3), is a piddly 6.9% of cyber-attack traffic, a decrease from 8.3%. Indonesia and China alone accounted for more than half of all global cyber-attack activity during the quarter!
While it may seem like Indonesia came out of nowhere to take the lead (last year it accounted for less than 1% of cyber crimes), hackers may be taking advantage of its increase in connection and weakening IT structure. The country's average internet connection speed increased 125% from the same time last year. That, coupled with the fact the country isn't spending lots on its infrastructure, may make the country a haven for cybercriminals.
Last Jan., hacker group Anonymous Indonesia claimed responsibility for defacing 12 government websites. In April, the country's defence minister announced it was building a Cyber Defence Centre to combat hackers. Microsoft also felt the supposed wrath of Indonesian criminals (among others) when it put the lid on a cyber-crime operation in June.
One thing to keep in mind: the IP address assigned to a particular country may not be the nation where the attacker resides. So someone from China with an IP address associated with them, may actually be committing cyber attacks in, say, France, while sitting anonymously in Turkey...!

Pet Or Pest?

In absurd animal news, a retired man in Argentina has discovered that his toy poodle pets...are actually two large ferrets pumped with steroids.
The man paid just NZ$90 for the two ferrets at La Salada, Argentina's largest bazaar, in Buenos Aires. The going rate for two toy poodle pups in Argentina would have been closer to NZ$1,200. Hmmm, ya know what they say: if the deal seems too good to be true, then it probably IS!

Which one's which...?

Well, this chump only found out that the beady-eyed 'puppies' were in fact large ferrets stuffed with steroids when he took them to his local vet. The veterinarian told him the ferrets had been given steroids at birth to increase their size, and then had some extra grooming to make their coats resemble a fluffy toy poodle!
And this isn't the only time someone's been suckered by drugged-up ferrets in Argentina either. A woman says she suffered from the same scam when buying a Chihuahua at the very same market.
It's unknown what these duped pet owners did with their freaked-up ferrets...

Popularity By Proxy

*sigh* It's tough being popular!
Opened up my emails yesterday, and look what was sitting in my Spam bin...

Tania...Svetlana...Daniella...Juliana...AND Sofiya!
ALL of them very cute sexy girls who like to chat on-line and show their bodies!!!
Checked my spam again less than an hour later, and...

Now there's Olga...Nastia...AND Claudia too! ALSO all very cute sexy girls who like to chat on-line and show their bodies!!! And of course all genuine, caring women wanting to have a deep meaningful true and lasting relationship.
What can I say? *sigh* It's tough being popular!

Who Killed Morgan Freeman?

The internet likes to kill Morgan Freeman.
Early in September, the Facebook page R.I.P. Morgan Freeman started - and this hoax refuses to...er...die!
The page proclaimed: "At about 5pm ET on Thursday, our beloved actor Morgan Freeman passed away due to an artery rupture. Morgan was born on June 1, 1937. He will be missed but not forgotten. Please show your sympathy and condolences by commenting on and liking this page." Rather than check a credible news source, foolish Facebook followers believed this BS! The page has more than 67,000 "likes" and is the subject of countless news stories.
Morgan Freeman may have played God, made a bucket list and been killed at the box office, but he is not dead. Morgan Freeman is very much alive, as confirmed (several times!) by his agent...who's also shot down the rumour that he's voicing an audio book of Fifty Shades of Grey (sorry, ladies!).
Freeman's not the only celeb to have been killed on-line: Jeff Goldblum, Justin Bieber and the much-loved Bill Cosby are other regular victims (Cosby - again - just last month. Bieber's real demise however may be eagerly awaited by music purists).
The motivation for starting these rumours escapes me. Many say there's no harm done by them, but there is. From family to friends to fans, even a moment of seeing these headlines before common sense kicks in is hurtful.
Long live Morgan Freeman, Bill Cosby, and other quality entertainers!
As for the rumour-mongers (and Justin Bieber), well...

Nigerian Scams Are Not For You

You've probably received or seen one of these:
a terminally-ill Nigerian prince / director of a massive corporation / dieing nun / disgruntled US soldier contacts you urgently, asking you to move a large sum of money, promising you can keep a share. All they need is your credit card number and banking PIN...

It looks like a scam, sounds like a scam - of course it's a scam. But who on earth actually believes these things? If you've ever wondered why these scams are so blatant, here's why...if you were just too smart for the scammer and saw through the tricky plot - it simply means you were never the target in the first place.
A recent study has found that email scammers really aren't interested in appearing believable...because it would just be too expensive if everyone fell for it.
The research conducted by Microsoft - "Why do Nigerian scammers say they are from Nigeria?" - found that the OTT scam email, complete with typos is a simple cost-effective way of weeding out intelligent people, leaving only the dumb and dumber to hit.
Principal researcher Cormac Herley: "Our analysis suggests that's an advantage to the attacker, not a disadvantage. Since his attack has a low density of victims, the Nigerian scammer has an over-riding need to reduce the false positives. By sending a mass email that filters out all but the most gullible, the scammer gets the most promising marks to self-select."
It seems to work. Just last year a Nigerian man was jailed for 12 years after scamming US$1.3 million. In 2008 an Oregon woman lost $400k to a similar scam. Every month or so, someone goes down in a screaming heap here in NZ, bemoaning their recently-raped bank account.
So next time you open a scam email and think to yourself: "Why do they bother?", live happy in the knowledge you're not the target at all!
Which is a bit of a shame really, coz the current total I'm due to collect via Nigeria so far is over $4.1 billion!!!

First In, Best Dressed (Supposedly!)

Most accept maori were not New Zealand's first inhabitants.

Ancient Egyptian Cook Strait ferry

But now, claims that the places of Captain Cook and Abel Tasman in our history books are just as dodgy. A new book reckons Spanish, Greeks and even Egyptians were first! To the End of the Earth, by researchers Maxwell Hill, Gary Cook and Noel Hilliam - retired curator of the Dargaville Maritime Museum - shows (supposedly) ancient maps pre-dating Christ, which they say detail the Oz and NZ coastlines.
They claim skeletons, rock carvings, stone buildings and monuments all prove Europeans lived here centuries before Polynesians. These artefacts include a rock carving of an ancient Greek ship found in Taupo, carvings on rocks at Raglan, and a stone pillar with an accurate coastal map of NZ showing Lake Taupo in its pre-232AD eruption shape (slight problem with that...Lake Taupo's nowhere near the coast!).
Hill also says the legendary maori explorer Maui was an actual Egyptian naval navigator, who steered a flotilla of Greek ships from the Red Sea under the flag of Ptolemy III in 232BC.
AUT professor Paul Moon says the authors lack credibility as none have any quals in history, archaeology, anthropology or related disciplines: "This is no evidence at all that people came to NZ at this time. On the contrary, Ptolemy's map shows a complete lack of geographical knowledge about the South Pacific."
But the authors claim British botanist David Bellamy is on their side and quote him as saying: "Max Hill has filled his steerage log with a collage of artefacts any museum would like to have in its keeping."

Tick - tick - tick - tick...

A rock carving, dubbed the Jesus Watch, was discovered on a Northland farm recently. The huge boulder weighing several tonnes, has deep cuts in it - claimed to be a huge Greek star calendar marked with figures.
Yeup, wearing my doubter's cap...but hey, who knows? We've all heard about the Spanish helmet found in Wellington Harbour that (supposedly) predates Tasman's arrival by about 60yrs; a (supposed) Tamil bell used by Whangarei maori as a cooking pot; the (supposed) extremely tall blonde passive people (supposedly) massacred by maori warriors; the (supposed) ancient Northland brick wall that maori (supposedly) don't want anyone to see; or the Ship Of Rongotute...and let's not forget Hilliam's claim to have discovered a WWII sub off the Kaipara that smuggled gold and Nazis to NZ...?
Do I hear a Tui Beer billboard coming on?

PS: For a lighthearted piss-take on this, check out Alf Grumble.

Harold, Backpedalling

Do you remember that prize prat, Harold Camping?
Of course ya do! He's the elderly US preacher who spent millions last year telling the world of its impending destruction.
Well, for the very first time he has admitted...opps!...his apocalyptic prophecy was wrong.
In a letter on his ministry's website, Camping has told his followers he actually has no evidence the world will end anytime soon: "We realise many people are hoping for the date of Christ's return. We humbly acknowledge we were wrong about the timing."
Camping's Family Radio International over recent years has spent millions of bucks erecting thousands of billboards plastered with the Judgment Day message. But after global cataclysm didn't occur on May 21st 2011 as he'd originally forecast, Camping revised his prophecy, saying he had been off by five months.
Followers were crestfallen when the Rapture didn't occur, as many had quit their jobs or donated their retirement savings or college funds to the righteous cause. Mind you, they only have themselves to blame: Harold was on record as wrongly foretelling Armageddon on September 6th 1994!!
Camping was later hospitalised after suffering a mild stroke, but continued spreading the word, through his website and his weekly Open Forum radio show, that natural disasters would instead destroy the globe in October 2011.
Now Camping has told his flock (well, the remaining few still hanging on to his every word) that he's stopped looking for new dates, and will concentrate on deepening his faith through re-reading the Scriptures: "God has humbled us through the events of May 21st (2011). We must also openly acknowledge that we have no new evidence pointing to another date for the end of the world. Though many dates are circulating, Family Radio has no interest in even considering another date." And about bloody time too!

Hmmm... I'm SURE the answer's in here SOMEwhere!!! Fourth time lucky???

Do As I Say, Not As I Do

Who's a prize prat then?
MP Trevor Mallard's been busted, selling tickets on TradeMe...for a profit!
He on-sold four tickets to the Homegrown Music Festival for a profit of $276. But wait, he says that's NOT illegal coz the anti-scalping law applies only to major events (like the Rugby World Cup). I'm sure Homegrown director Mark Wright would just love to hear his hard work doesn't rank highly on the 'major events' barometer.
Labour leader David Shearer says he was unwise to sell the tickets for more than their value, but Mallard says it's not hypocritical at all! He was Economic Development Minister in 2006, when he sponsored legislation to outlaw ticket scalping. He says he didn't buy tickets to make a profit, and sees nothing wrong with selling them when he discovered he couldn't use them.
Fair enough: no-one wants to waste money. However unless they sell the tickets for ONLY face value, they're breaking the law! That's not the point though, is it? This smells of "do as I say, not as I do". It's
"one law fits all", Trev. You should know: you championed it!
He sold four tickets to the same festival last year on TradeMe, and two in 2009. He also sold a Wellington Sevens ticket in 2009. But he denies this was scalping: "Scalping is buying tickets for the intention of selling them. I bought them with the intention of going." Ticketek says it's unhappy with him selling the tickets for a profit. He has breached its terms and conditions of sale which say tickets may not, without the prior written consent of Ticketek or the Seller, be resold at a premium and if this happens the ticketholder could be refused entry to an event.
PM John Key laughed when asked about the incident: "I don't know the ins and outs of it, but it sounds untidy.'' Should Mallard face disciplinary action for the sale? "I don't know legally, but it's probably a bit embarrassing."
Meanwhile Trev desperately tried to buy back the tickets from the purchasers, but they turned him down flat. They say they'd like to see the profit from the sale go to charity.
So how about it, Trev: put your money where your mouth is, and publicly donate it to a charity...?
Or would you rather face censure in the House?

Show Me The MONEY!

When all else fails, try being up-front!
You too probably get the odd spam email. You know the ones - from Nigeria, Taiwan, Burkina Faso, Russia...little old lady dieing in British hospital with trillions of pounds hidden in a Swiss bank account which she needs you to kindly invest to save orphans, for a healthy percentage...
Multiple variations on the theme as well, including one from the FBI saying hefty compensation awaits me simply because I'd received such an email scam - please contact them...and send my account details for verification. LOL
So a scammer this week tried a different approach on me:
“Hello,
Can I ask you for some Help ? Please Read my letter carefully. NO......... I`m not Spam/Scam ! Send a Quick reply and U will see. Take time to Reply to me and you will then see.(So...what? If I reply, I'll see? Is that what you're saying?) I collect Bank Notes (Paper Money) from countries worldwide. (Riiiiiiiiiiiigghhtt!) I want to ask if you could help me with this by sending me any Banknotes of your country or any others around the world. I don`t care about the value, but I do like notes that are like New. (yes, I'm sure you do!) Please try to find the Newest/Unfolded notes that you can.
I`m now Disabled and shut in thedoors most of the time (ouch, sounds painful), so there`s not much to do and this it`s a pass-time for me. Since I can not do much, I am online a lot, that is how I found your email. Any help that could give me on this would be Greatly appreciated. If you can help send me anything, Reply and I will send you my address.
(sooooo tempting!!! I'm sure I could send him something! hehehe)
Thank you.
Norm”

Rena: Penguins Don't Need Sweaters

wildlife clean-up

Following Rena's stranding on the Astrolabe Reef earlier this month, 1300+ birds have died in spilt oil.
Some crafty bird lovers decided to help, by knitting sweaters for penguins: this quirky story generated responses worldwide.
A local wool yarn shop blogged that it had "been asked to help with the penguin relief by knitting small Penguin PJs to help protect the birds and prevent them from preening their feathers and ingesting the toxic oil." The shop posted instructions to make tiny turtleneck sweaters with side slits for penguin flippers and, fueled by media interest, knitters around the world stepped up to help.
Seems a dubious claim to me – just which animal rescue agency asked them for this?

Just what we always wanted!
Yea. Right.

The thought of a cute little penguin in a cute little sweater is...well, cute. But how helpful are these? The Tauranga wildlife centre, where the penguins are being cared for, says while they appreciate the efforts, they won’t be using them at all. The process of cleaning the birds does strip them of their natural oil and makes them cold, but they are being kept under warming lamps and dryers. And Natalie Clark, bird/mammal keeper at the Auckland Zoo, adds: "Putting that on a penguin's only going to stress it out even more than it already is. These are wild penguins, they haven't had any interaction with humans. There's already enough stress on a bird without trying to put a sweater on it."
So, knitters...please STOP! Sweaters are NOT wanted, NOT needed, and I can't find ANY reference in ANY news source to indicate they were EVER officially requested by ANY rescue agency whatsoever!!
It would be a real shame if the knitters' good intentions have been exploited merely to gain some publicity for a wool yarn shop.
Wildlife conservation is not a game.
PS: 28 Nov.2011 - How to deal with a penguin sweater overload...

How Long’s A Piece Of String?

Last night I tried to access my email, but encountered a phishing attempt (my provider resolved it quickly).
There’re growing incidents of hacking – some personal, some international (such as hacking of multi-nationals, banks, military and government sites).
Alan Dupont, director of the Centre for International Security Studies at Sydney University and former intelligence analyst: "Cyber security is at the top of the (Australian) national security agenda. It's become the fifth domain of warfare - land, sea, air, space and now cyber."
Last week, Oz and USA formally gave cyber attacks the same gravity as military attack for the purposes of the ANZUS defence treaty. They announced that "in the event of a cyber attack that threatens the territorial integrity, political independence or security of either of our nations, Australia and the United States would consult together and determine appropriate options to address the threat".
It's the first time any country’s written cyber attacks into a defence treaty, and it's a strong message that hackers could potentially start conflict in ways they hadn't expected. But what constitutes such an attack? That hasn't been defined yet.
Well, if a hacker steals military secrets, is that grounds for invoking the treaty? Because that's already happened many times...
What if a country suddenly diverts 15% of all global internet routes through its servers, including those for the US Senate and military, for 18 minutes? Because China Telecom did that (April 2010)...
What if a cyber attack shuts down a country's electricity grid, or its financial system? Hello, Tom Clancy...is that provocative enough?
An official said: "The issue will be one where 'you’ll know it when you see it'." How long is a piece of string...?
Hackers don’t care about repercussions – it’s all about the game or the gain - so the onus is on their host countries to tighten their own cyber security. But what if that country benefits from any information received...? 
PS: 27 Sept.2011 - NZ's new National Cyber Security Centre opens.

Justify THIS!

Auckland-Hamilton is a 1½hr drive: roughly $20 petrol, $40 return. So how can $90 be justified for an Akld-Hamilton return train ticket?!
There'll be three special Akld-Hamilton train services during the *yawn* Rugby World Cup. None of them leave from Akld's central city Britomart location, so travellers have to get to the designated stations first...
The matches are:
Friday Sept.16 - All Blacks vs Japan
Sunday Sept.18 - Wales vs Samoa
Sunday Oct.02 - Wales vs Fiji
The adult prices:
Ellerslie, Newmarket, the Strand, Glen Innes, Middlemore, Manurewa to Hamilton return $90
Papakura-Hamilton return $80
Pukekohe-Hamilton return $75
Huntly-Hamilton return $60
WTF??!! $60 for a return from Huntly!!! It’s not much more than a 20min drive, and the public transport bus service does it for $8 return with a bus card!
Mind you, who is this service aimed at? Aucklanders who want to see these games? Nuh, as only one match features the All Blacks. These are more likely targeted at tourists who need to get to Hamilton, so they're better than a rental car anyway. Coming from overseas, tourists’re more used to trains taking them where they need to go. The prices are higher than they would otherwise be though, because everyone's trying to scalp the tourists, aren’t they?
Ha, welcome to New Zealand!
Then again, if the service is NOT patronised (whether because of the inflated prices or otherwise), the NZTA will turn around and say: “Look, not enough train passengers, we should build more motorways.”
Either way, the public can't win with public transport...

(...thanx to AKT)

Taniwha Torpedoes Train?

Is Auckland's $2.6-billion train project becoming “the little train that might not”?
Mayor Len Brown has staked his political future on a tunnel under the CBD, linking Britomart station to Mt Eden. But the govt has crunched the numbers and reckons it’s a dog. As if that ain’t enough, now there’s another hiccup: Horotiu the taniwha.

Is THIS a taniwha?

[For overseas readers: a taniwha's a mythical maori monster supposedly lurking in deep pools, caves and the sea. They can be dangerous predators and supposedly also guardians - but they can bite you if they don't like what you're doing.]
The interesting thing about this taniwha is that it’s never been mentioned in any talk or planning about this rail tunnel – not once. All of a sudden, Maori Statutory Board member Glenn Wilcox raises the issue…saying no-one's asked the local Ngati Whatua tribe about the plan, and now *surprise-surprise* there's a taniwha sitting right in the path of the planned tunnel!

No, THIS is
a taniwha!!!

Wilcox agrees the taniwha issue is a shot across the bows of the Auckland Super City, to remind them that the Maori Statutory Board exists and has issues. Riiiiiggghhtt!!! (Interestingly, the tribe's heritage advisor Malcolm Paterson has never heard the story of the taniwha!)
For ancient creatures, the ol’ taniwhas have adapted to the modern world with incredible ease. Back in 2002, plans for State Highway 1 through Meremere in the Waikato were disrupted by a taniwha…which curiously disappeared immediately after the Transit NZ chequebook was opened.
Cryptically, Glenn Wilcox says, "There are always ways to placate taniwha." Hmmm, I’ll bet there are, Glenn! Wonder how much it’ll cost for Ngati Whatua to make Horotiu, the mysteriously-appearing mythical taniwha, vanish again…
Furthermore, when will local and central govt stop allowing projects to be disrupted by myths that're merely greed in disguise...?

PS: 11 June 2011 - An NZHerald editorial claims the taniwha issue damages maori credibility...

Apocalypse Now...er...In October

We waited...and waited... and waited.
No global obliteration last Saturday.
Gee, WHAT a surprise!
Why it didn’t happen? Oh. Um. Er.
Evangelist Harold Camping now claims it’s because his forecast is already playing out... spiritually.
Furthermore he’s even set a new date for our impending doom, saying May 21st was a...er...miscalculation.
This pillick issued his correction on his Open Forum radio show from California yesterday. In a sometimes rambling, 90-minute discourse, 89-yr.old Camping said he felt bad that Saturday did not deliver the Rapture. Reflecting on scripture afterward, he said it dawned on him that a merciful and compassionate God would spare humanity from hell on Earth for five months, by compressing the physical apocalypse into a shorter time frame. Strange...I'm sure Harold originally claimed it was all gonna happen in one day anyway!

"The Harold...the Harold..."

He now says the actual apocalypse will occur five months later, on October 21st!!!
He insists that October 21st has always been part of his ‘end times’ chronology, marking the final day when the world will come to an end. He's adamant the apocalypse WILL begin on THAT day. Riiiiiiiiiggghhhttt!!!!
Watch this space...
In the meantime, you gotta feel sorry for Harold's followers, who spent their entire savings in anticipation of being swept into heaven. Don’t ya? Really??
Hell, NO!!! Bloody idiots.

[click here for the full movie trailer: see it before October 21st!]

Is Love Really THIS Blind?

Every day, Sharon Armstrong's explanation about being tricked into smuggling drugs smells more dodgy...
Armstrong, a former Maori Language Commission deputy CEO, was arrested on April 13th. after Buenos Aires Airport police allegedly found 5kg cocaine hidden in her suitcase (@ NZ street value $250gm = about $1.25m!).
Many want to believe she was conned by an online romeo: smitten people can do silly things. She claims she was duped into believing she was taking a top secret business contract to a man in London, who she’d been dating online for 6mths: "I know I’ve been incredibly stupid, but I was in love...I know I am innocent, my family and friends know I am innocent. If you ask them, they'll say my biggest fault is that I’m too trusting."
+ Considering her family and friends also warned her it was a scam, any request to take a strange package should have rung loud warning bells - especially from someone you’ve never met...
+ Now, you can accept this sad tale of a lonely middle-aged woman looking on-line for love and getting burnt, but... she was a probation officer for eight years (1990-1998)! You don't work with criminals for that long and remain gullible...
+ She was carrying three driving licences in her name - NZ, Oz, and Cook Islands. The Cooks one had expired (so why carry it?) and she said the Oz licence was for visiting family. A NZ licence can be used in Australia for a limited time, so that raises questions…
+ Contrary to reports that she’d just diverted to Buenos Aries to collect some papers, she actually spent a week there sightseeing. Sorry, but if you’re rushing to London to meet the love of your life, you don't take a week-long detour on the way. The excitement of meeting your heart-throb in person would make any sightseeing seem an unwanted delay...
+ This weekend NZ Herald reported that Sharon admitted knowing about a secret package hidden in her suitcase, but thought it was paperwork. She said she did not notice the 5kg cocaine. WTF? Just add ten packets of butter to your grocery bag…you WILL notice the weight! And hello – 5kg of paperwork?
+ Armstrong is refusing to name the scammer or say how she came into possession of the suitcase. Well, I understand the maximum penalty for cocaine trafficking in Argentina is 15 years...
Ok, all my musing is based completely on news reports and, like none of us here, I don’t know the complete story. But sorry, Sharon, there are just too many holes in your story, and "Love is blind” is not a recognised legal defence.
PS: 24 March 2012 - Armstrong is convicted of cocaine smuggling.

Shameless Vulture

A man who offered permanent NZ residency through tribal adoption was found guilty this week of altering a document with intent to cause loss.
In 2009 Gerard Otimi bullshitted illegal overstayers, that they could avoid deportation if they paid him $500 each to be adopted into his tribe.
The mostly Tongan and Samoan victims had their passports stamped and signed by Otimi, and were issued certificates giving them permission to remain in NZ as a hapu (kinsman).
The 32 victims were so desperate to stay that they believed this shyster. Otimi's scheme was a godsend in their eyes - a chance to remain in NZ 'lawfully', the removal of the overstayer stigma and relief from possible deportation.
As part of his defence, this maori rip-off artist (with previous history of suspect deals) dissed the court, saying it did not have jurisdiction to hear his case because maori had retained their sovereignty under the 1835 Declaration of Independence, and he claimed the Treaty of Waitangi was an "immigration document" that allowed others to come here.
This immature refusal to accept reality (which surely borders on contempt of court) is rife among the rabid fringe of maoridom (eg: the Harawiras, Popata brothers, Tame Iti etc). It drags the collective maori image down in the interests of personal greed, and does nothing to nuture racial harmony. Otimi's actions have also shown great disrespect towards his own people.
I don't know if Otimi has any authority in his tribe, but that doesn't give him any authority to override the laws of this land. I've touched on this subject several times in the past and will continue to point out that, regardless of our own political leanings, ethnicity, longevity in NZ... this is ONE nation and there is but ONE set of laws.
Anyone who claims otherwise has permanent right-of-residency in The Great White Cloud Cuckoo Land!
PS: 15 June 2011 - Otimi faces jail if he doesn't pay up.

Faster Than An Inbound Cruise Missile!

Talk about quick off the mark!
The missiles' exhaust fumes still drift over the Libyan desert, and the scammers have already sent out this diatribe from one General A.A.Bin-Zafar (from a supposed Libyan email address, but with the reply address based in China)!
"Greetings fellow.
First, I want to solicit for your absolute confidence and assurance that this transmission is of mutual benefit and do not mean any harm as it is strictly risk free.
I am General Ahmed Abdullahi Bin-Zafar of the Libyan Military. I am sorry I have to put this story short because of time. I and my colleague General of the oil wells chief and security of Libyan crude oil, have watched the incumbent president stash away over US$140billion through relatives and few friends abroad during this ongoing political crisis in Libya, please watch presstv.ir or other media telecast covering the invents and present happening in Libya.
With my position I need not to be told that I have to use this opportunity to secure my family future. I am contacting you to assist me because I came in to one of the west African country through the diplomatic channel with a consignment worth of US$45Million which I want you to take hold of in your country as I will soon resign from this work and war going on in Libya.
Contact me immediate by email so that I can introduce/link you to my attorney who knows where I am deposited the consignment funds because I having to return to Libya as soon as possible. The attorney will guard you through all the legal process and to protect our both financial interest. You shall be entitled 20% of these funds on completion of transfer to your bank account.
Be rest assured that this communication is totally free from all risks. Above all I want you to keep this tightly confidential, if you feel you can't do it please delete this letter for good.
Allah Bless You.
Gen. A. A. Bin-Zafar."
Oh absolutely, fellow! Be rest very assured, General, I am being certainly keep this most tightly confidential! Bloody pillick!!