Irish Eyes are smiling

Ireland 15 Australia 6: Wow - what a game. No tries but the Irish scrum was incredible. Probably the only game they have in them but we shall see.

It upsets the draw as it looks as if the Pools now split into Northern/Southern. It depends on some further results but if we can get through it may be NZ - England. But a couple of problems lay in wait - the Boks who demolished Fiji - not so much the scoreline but the dynamic open play - and Australia. Also lying in wait of course is our usual bête noire - France.

Boks - Fiji

Smith scores against Japan.The USA - Russia game

Angela and I will be at the USA - Australia game on Friday. I have printed up some stuff to wear supporting the USA and will also wear my T Shirt that says I support NZ and any team playing Australia. It will be fun.

Awful joke: The Chinese comedian Raybon Kan told an awful joke and has been abused - but as he says he is a comedian and it is his job to upset people.

" Adidas is the All Blacks sponsor so maybe they should take over running Auckland transport as being German they have had a lot of knowledge about using trains shipping people in cattle truck conditions"

Japan buried

RWC: Japan slaughtered by 83 - 7. We now find our second best 5/8 is Weepu. As I have always said they are better coaches than selectors. I still think they don't know what their best team is.

Anyway it is a fine day today and 3 good games with the Oz - Ireland clash looking to be a likely contest although Australia should - should - push them aside quite easily. We shall see.

Cost of Living: When you are on a fixed income and with low interest rates this is of importance. So here are the Stats Departments figures over the past 5 years -

Cigarettes and tobacco — up 42.5 per cent (Good!!)

· Hospital services — up 31.2 per cent

· Household energy — up 31.1 per cent

· Primary and secondary education — up 28.9 per cent

· Food — up 27.1 per cent

· Postal services — up 24.9 per cent

· Tertiary and post-school education — up 24.1 per cent

· Average weekly wage — up 21.2 per cent - but if your income is fixed !!

· Outpatient services — up 19.7 per cent

· Home ownership costs — up 18.2 per cent

· Alcohol — up 17 per cent (good)

· Rent — up 11.1 per cent up

· Vehicle purchase — up 6.5 per cent

· Telecommunication services — down 1.7 per cent

· Early childhood education — down 22.5 per cent

· Audiovisual and computing equipment — down 50.4 per cent (strong NZ $)

· Telecommunication and equipment — down 61.9 per cent

Flag

FLAG

Thought I would get an AB's flag for the car but you can't get one for love or money (a re-order is in to China).

Anyway I then decided to put our one up on the fence. Don't know how long, with our wind, it will last.

In Whangarei a motor camp owner has a1928 Rugby car with about 71,000 miles on the clock and he has been taking his campers to the games in it. They of course can't believe it.

Our problem of course - bums on seats.

Silence

The right to: The Government were looking to take away (under certain circumstances) the right to silence in Court. But it seems they couldn't get the numbers in Parliament.

I believe it has had its day but it looks like it will take another 50 years to do away with it.The weird thing is that the Act Party who are supposed to be strong on Law and Order are against taking away the right but of course it conflicts with their desire that people are not ordered about by Government.

The UK ended it about a decade ago and the most recent cases here were

- the Kahu twins debacle where Chris Kahui just sat there (in a nice suit and tie) and said nothing while his partner had to go on the stand and was ripped apart

- David Bain went on the stand in his first trial and lost - didn't say a word in his second and won.

Much opposition to its abolition is out of a misconception that a right to silence would force people to give evidence. It would not. An accused could say nothing but the jury would draw it own conclusions on the silence and lack of cross-examination. Why, we should always ask, won't the defendant expose himself/herself to questioning.

The simple fact is that the defendant knows what went on at the crime, and is the best person to question about it but can't be called. Yet, as we saw in the Kahui case, his lawyer can hound others who must go on the stand. Crazy. The days of silence are long gone.

RWC: I said the Scotland Georgia game would be the one to watch. I meant in the sense it could be close. And it was. Luckily we just watched it on the background at the Quiz (moving up - 13 teams and 5th to last) as it was typical Northern Hemisphere stuff - all penalties and one drop goal with little skill - although the weather didn't seem to help. Basically rubbish - rubbish that would make Stephen Jones my 'favourite" scribe salivate.

The game of the day was Canada - Tonga. I thought Tonga would have been the stronger but if Tonga had won it would have been their first win over the Canuks in a World Cup. So they didn't improve; losing 25-20. It was a great game.

Now looking forward to Wales - Samoa which may be the game of that Pool.

More than Rugby

But First Rugby: Its Wednesday so it is all on again. Three games today and I think Georgia - Scotland will be the one to see. We will be at the Quiz so will have to keep track on the big screen. The Herald team of the week is a real mixture - with even Romania & Japan featuring.

A hobbyhorse: Copyright. Yeah right!

It took three years of doing, but the music industry has finally won its European battle to extend copyright on sound recordings for another 20 years.

So who now cares. The recording industry probably had a party to celebrate their 20 year out of date business model. The companies (not the artists) who think they will make the $$$ will of course extend it again in about 15 years.

What planet are these people living on?

This is a farcical attitude towards a law that was originally designed to protect the creators of artistic and creative works for a fixed and finite period of time. It seems now that legislators are happy to extend that fixed and finite period whenever lobbyists want.

There's a very good reason that copyright and patent protection is only supposed to offer a fixed, finite term of protection.When that protection expires, it enables others to build on those works, for the betterment of mankind -- either by way of derivative creative works or improved technologies. An example is West Side Story. This was based on Romeo & Juliet. If copyright had been in place we would have lost the fabulous production that came about.

Now, at least in theory, that objective has been shot down by the seemingly limitless extensions to copyright protection terms that have recently appeared in the USA and EU.

However, it's all totally academic anyway.

While the recording studios and copyright holders might think they've retained their license to print money -- they're being awfully myopic and naive.

You see, no matter what the legislators try to do, the copyright cat is already out of the bag -- thanks to the relentless march of technology.

No Plan B

Transport chaos on the opening night of the RWC. My first question was 'what was the back up plan?"

It seems almost unbelievable but according to Head of Auckland Transport Committee Mike Lee the transport company had no real Plan B.

The city-wide failure saw thousands of fans stranded in trains, and about 2000 ticket holders miss the opening ceremony and kick-off of the All Blacks-Tonga game, or in some cases the whole event.

Some were stranded on Auckland's North Shore as ferries were shut down due to large crowds swamping the terminal at Queen's Wharf which was overloaded as an estimated 200,000 partied in the central city.

Mayor Brown said the turnout on Friday exceeded estimates, with 200,000 people packing the downtown area and 90,000 taking public transport to Eden Park "when we thought we'd have about 30 or 40,000".

He said: "We asked people to come to the game, we asked them to come downtown. We said 'come to the party, party central, this is the place where it's going to be a fabulous opening ceremony. Come downtown or go to the game' So they did - in huge numbers."

Brown said he has asked for a "no holds barred" report from Auckland Transport, and then decisions will be made about compensation and to "make sure that we do our very best to deliver a seamless experience from this point on."

Brown had already promised things will be fixed in time for this Saturday's game at Eden Park.

But they were told 18 months ago about the expected numbers. Just thick!!

Some great games

Watched all 4 games - and everyone was a beauty.

Romania (or is it Rumania, or even Roumania) gave Scotland a fright, France took their foot of the Japanese and had to put it back down,hard, to come away, Fiji - Namibia was a try fest with Namibia showing they had the goods once they got over their kicking habit - and as for the Argies England!

If the Argies had converted just 50% of their kicks they would have won easily. Really lookning forwrd to the 4 Nations next year. What about adding in a combined Pacific/Japanese team?

Some pictures below with England in their black jerseys. Also I see the French played in white against the Japanese. The IRB (who are useless) should takea stand on the jersy colours but they lack guts. Also I think the firms want constant change so they can sell more.