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June 6, 2010 9:54am by David Farrar

General Debate 6 June 2010

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General Debate

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Manolo

Good on Sir Bob Jones for not mincing his words about another academic imbecile:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/3779984/City-takes-Farming-Family-to-heart
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June 6, 2010 9:55am
reid

The hijacking of the truth
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June 6, 2010 10:05am
Redbaiter

Not just applicable to the US-

“The danger to America is not Barack Obama but a citizenry capable of entrusting a man like him with the Presidency.

It will be far easier to limit and undo the follies of an Obama presidency than to restore the necessary common sense and good judgment to a depraved electorate willing to have such a man for their president.

The problem is much deeper and far more serious than Mr. Obama, who is a mere symptom of what ails America. Blaming the prince of the fools should not blind anyone to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince.

The Republic can survive a Barack Obama, who is, after all, merely a fool. It is less likely to survive a multitude of fools such as those who made him their president.”
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June 6, 2010 10:07am
Tauhei Notts

It is General Debate so I can raise this matter.
About 18 months ago a new law came in that brought howls of fear from the left and the dickwits and the dongbeaters and the dingbats.
It was the 90 day trial period for new employment contracts.
I recall many Labourites predicting that it would be the end of civilisation as we know it. National Socialist Radio gave those people plenty of airtime.
I would love to hear from anybody how awful that law has become; or are our fears of it just another crock of excrement from Philu’s mates.
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June 6, 2010 10:17am
JiveKitty

@Redbaiter: In my view, the major problem is the system. It’s at the stage where decisions are more about perpetuating the system than increasing the utility of the populace, and even if there was a desire for significant change from those within the system, the system has become so layered with complexity in the rules of its functioning that to create change through its channels is nigh on impossible.

For example, your quote mentions the multitude of fools making Obama their president – and implies that they will continue to make presidents of his ilk – but part of the problem here is choice. The system only allows people of his ilk to make a run at President/Vice-President, and I include McCain and Palin in that. It is, to coin a phrase, the same shit, different party. Realistically, change in the calibre of individuals who attain those positions is not likely within the system.
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June 6, 2010 10:19am
tom hunter

Considering the similarity of what White House reporter Helen Thomas said – that the Jews in Israel should just go home to Germany and Poland – with what one frequent commentator says here on Kiwiblog, I think a brief comment from an Israeli reader of Instapundit is appropriate:

When my father was growing up in Poland in the ‘30s, the local anti-Semites often demanded that the Jews get the hell out of Poland and go to Palestine (after all the Jews had only lived in Poland for 1,000 years and were not really “Polish”).

Now Helen Thomas wants the Jews to get the hell out of Palestine and go to Poland. Makes you think that perhaps these folks don’t want the Jews to be anywhere.

We have a name for such people – Nazis.
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June 6, 2010 10:20am
Kris K

Manolo 9:55 am,

Good on Sir Bob Jones for not mincing his words about another academic imbecile:

More post colonial guilt from the useful idiots that want to deny any history after 1840. Can’t we round these people up and send them somewhere?

From the link:

Sir Bob Jones has pilloried a Waikato University academic who criticised a plaque on Hamilton’s Farming Family statue as “racist and offensive”.
The plaque commemorates the “unsung heroes of our first 150 years”.

University community psychologist Neville Robertson said the plaque completely ignored the role Maori played in the region’s history.
“In commenting that the statue ignores pre-European Maori history he overlooks the fact that it was commissioned to commemorate New Zealand’s 150th anniversary since the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi.

“Nevertheless we could satisfy his doubtless predictable concerns of omission by having the sculptor reshape the father’s face to have Maori features but with one arm foppishly behind his back to cover homosexuals.
“The wife could be recast sitting in a wheelchair to avoid Robertson protesting that we’ve ignored the enormous contribution of the disabled.
“Finally, we could put a mortar board on the sheep’s head with a sign around its neck bearing the message, “psychology graduate of Waikato University”.

Classic Bob Jones.
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June 6, 2010 10:20am
Pete George

Multitudes of “fools” have survived for millenia RB.

Multitudes of Tea Partiers are going to change what?
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June 6, 2010 10:21am
reid

We have a name for such people – Nazis

An oft-made remark whenever Israel comes up. I often wonder why more people don’t get the fact she doesn’t have to behave as she does in order to be secure. I mean it’s not rocket-science, is it.

I also wonder why those who clap and cheer her every move appear oblivious to the fact that the very actions they applaud serve only to diminish and not increase her security. Again, it’s not rocket science, is it.

And then some people who claim to support her do precisely what lefties do. They pretend that the act of criticising means the critic must be an enemy and not a friend.
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June 6, 2010 10:32am
Kris K

tom hunter 10:20 am,

Considering the similarity of what White House reporter Helen Thomas said – that the Jews in Israel should just go home to Germany and Poland – with what one frequent commentator says here on Kiwiblog, I think a brief comment from an Israeli reader of Instapundit is appropriate:

Indeed, Tom.
When I hear people making such comments as these, what I REALLY hear is more along the lines of, “the Jews in Israel should just … do us all a favour and find the nearest oven/gas chamber”.

As the Israeli reader of Instapundit said, “We have a name for such people – Nazis.”
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June 6, 2010 10:33am
Redbaiter

“Multitudes of “fools” have survived for millenia RB.”

Utter rot. Throughout history civilisations have failed, countries have come to ruination.

Our civilisation and our country is being destroyed from within by a politically motivated triumvirate of so called educators, a corrupt mainstream media, and those politicians who organise and promote the Progressive political movement, and if you cannot see the evidence of this you are truly a fool.
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June 6, 2010 10:37am
Redbaiter

Isreal needs friends like you Reid like it needs hemlock in its coffee.
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June 6, 2010 10:39am
Kris K

reid 10:32 am,

An oft-made remark whenever Israel comes up. I often wonder why more people don’t get the fact she doesn’t have to behave as she does in order to be secure.

If Israel didn’t behave the way she does she wouild likely cease to exist.
While Israel isn’t perfect, when you have 200 million screaming Arabs (Muslims) proclaiming they want to drive her into the sea, and kill every last Jew on planet earth, it kind of puts a little balance into the equation.

What other sovereign nation would put up with what Israel does and behave in such a stayed manner?
None throughout human history come to mind.
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June 6, 2010 10:42am
Captain Neurotic

Tauhei Notts (653) Says:
June 6th, 2010 at 10:17 am

Good work – I completely agree with you.

However don’t hold your breath – they won’t remember the issue, let alone retract their statements, or even better still: apologize!

Shit – Phil couldn’t even himself to admit he was wrong about David Cameron after days of spewing that Labour were going to be victorious!
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June 6, 2010 10:43am
reid

So you advocate weakening Israel’s security, RB?

I thought you were a supporter.

…when you have 200 million screaming Arabs (Muslims) proclaiming they want to drive her into the sea, and kill every last Jew on planet earth, it kind of puts a little balance into the equation.

Yes I hadn’t overlooked them when I made my comment, RB. Would you like me to explain just how Israel can change behaviour AND be secure? It’s not rocket-science and I imagine you already have a fair idea but happy to do so if you wish.
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June 6, 2010 10:43am
Redbaiter

” What other sovereign nation would put up with what Israel does and behave in such a stayed manner? ”

Only Israel. They’ve never been able to articulate a clear political position. 85% of American Jews voted for Obama. In their political confusion, they are like a wounded snake, and inject themselves with their own poison.

Lack of resolution is never the answer. They need to speak globally with a much more united voice, but it seems they never will. And historically, they never have.
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June 6, 2010 10:46am
Kris K

Pete George 10:21 am,

Multitudes of “fools” have survived for millenia RB.

Multitudes of Tea Partiers are going to change what?

I was going to say, “Welcome back, Pete”, but you’ve just reminded me that I haven’t actually missed most of your typical contributions very much at all.
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June 6, 2010 10:49am
reid

“Lack of resolution is never the answer.”

Of course that’s right but being resolute has never been Israel’s issue, the strategy and tactics she adopts are fundamentally flawed and that’s why she never moves toward resolution.
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June 6, 2010 10:52am
Pete George

Perhaps you missed the point Kris. We are all imperfect, all civilisations, all governments, but so far as a race we keep doing more than survive, we keep expanding. Tea Party supporters are a diverse bunch and are no doubt also imperfect, if they can get some collective power it may improve some things but I don’t see it making a massive difference.

Some of RB’s idealism is fine in theory but will never work in practice.
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June 6, 2010 10:54am
Kris K

Redbaiter 10:46 am,

They’ve never been able to articulate a clear political position. 85% of American Jews voted for Obama. In their political confusion, they are like a wounded snake, and inject themselves with their own poison.

I agree, Red. Jews are their own worst enemy.
I wonder of those American Jews who voted for OB1 how many are now reconsidering their position? He is certainly no friend of Israel, and neither is Clinton. Israel appears to be increasingly very much on its own – lucky they have God watching over them despite the majority being atheists.
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June 6, 2010 10:58am
Redbaiter

” Some of RB’s idealism is fine in theory but will never work in practice.”

Whereas Greece and almost every other nation that has embraced Progressivism presently stand so well as examples of how that ideal functions in reality.
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June 6, 2010 10:58am
Pete George

RB, I have spent some of the last month shuffling through the ruins of past civilisations. They were mightier, but never as crowded as they are now.
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June 6, 2010 10:59am
Redbaiter

” being resolute has never been Israel’s issue ”

Completely wrong.
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June 6, 2010 11:01am
Kris K

Pete George 10:54 am,

Better, Pete.
Even if I disagree with you, at least, when you choose to, you can put forward a view so we actually see where you stand.
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June 6, 2010 11:02am
Redbaiter

“never as crowded as they are now”

Ant heaps are crowded. Population is no measure of civilisation.
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June 6, 2010 11:03am
Viking2

This can only be good.

Greens see red over Key
By JOHN HARTEVELT – Sunday Star Times
Last updated 05:00 06/06/2010

A withering attack on Prime Minister John Key has seen him accused of turning his back on his state house roots and forgetting who he is.

“National have attempted to make John Key out to be a very nice and fairly easygoing, benign guy,” Green Party co-leader Metiria Turei said yesterday.
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June 6, 2010 11:05am
reid

Israel’s answer is to do a hearts-and-minds campaign that goes over the heads of the terrorists directly to the Palestinian people. They’ve never tried that not once. The closest they came was before Shamir was assassinated.

If they did that as seriously as they do the other thing which is to keep their foot on their throats, in time, people would turn. It has to be done sincerely and abundantly and in good faith with no hidden traps and it has to be cross-party long-term initiative.

There is a hell of a lot of pain on both sides and their current tactics do nothing but exacerbate and not alleviate. That’s just fucking nuts. And it’s observable nuts. Year after year. It’s like giving yourself cancer, and it won’t go away.

The current treatment plan has been tried for 50 years and so far there is no result except a lot of very angry people. Is this a good thing, or a bad thing? I say, we’ve tried that, what about something else, cause this ain’t working.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking this will reduce their security because it doesn’t have to. You don’t have to drop your guard in any way in order to start this process. Over time, you can if you like, but there is nothing to stop your current security measures from continuing, as is, for as long as you like. Just without the aggression and harassment angles. Drop both of those attitudes completely.

Even if they tried this for five years I predict there would still be a security problem but what about 20 years down the track and that’s still less than half the time the other plan has been given. Like I said, it’s not rocket science.
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June 6, 2010 11:05am
Redbaiter

“National have attempted to make John Key out to be a very nice and fairly easygoing, benign guy,”

Which is actually pretty true, but also the reason he is so damn useless as a politician.
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June 6, 2010 11:07am
Kris K

reid 10:43 am,

So you advocate weakening Israel’s security, RB?

Yes I hadn’t overlooked them when I made my comment, RB. Would you like me to explain just how Israel can change behaviour AND be secure? It’s not rocket-science and I imagine you already have a fair idea but happy to do so if you wish.

You’re confusing my comment with Red.
And I am very interested in how you see that “Israel can change behaviour AND be [more] secure”.
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June 6, 2010 11:08am
malcolm

Israel appears to be increasingly very much on its own – lucky they have God watching over them despite the majority being atheists.

Kris, do you think God has done a good job of watching over the Jews? I’d give him a E+, if he exists.
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June 6, 2010 11:09am
Redbaiter

“There is a hell of a lot of pain on both sides and their current tactics do nothing but exacerbate and not alleviate.”

Many Jews agree with this, but you call them ‘resolute’. How’s that work??
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June 6, 2010 11:09am
reid

“Many Jews agree with this, but you call them ‘resolute’. How’s that work??”

What do you mean, RB?

Sorry Kris. See above.

“Kris, do you think God has done a good job of watching over the Jews?”

He did a heck of a good job in the Six-Day War.
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June 6, 2010 11:11am
Murray

Good to see the commander of the boardign party is up for medal for his handling of the situation.

He did an outstanding job, particularly when you compare it with British efforts to blocakde the area to prevent holocaust survivors from going to their homaeland. It was know to take them up to 8 hours to secure a ship when faced a considerably lot less violence.

There’s also the side benefit of seeing wankers like John Minto have their lying commie heads explode in mock outrage.

If they wanted aid to get to Gaza they would have gone through any of the ports in Israel or Egypt that were offered to them by those countries. They chose confrontation, not aid.

Question for minto and his merry gang of Nazi waanbes, why aren’t you going after Egypt?
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June 6, 2010 11:17am
Kris K

reid 11:05 am,

Israel’s answer is to do a hearts-and-minds campaign that goes over the heads of the terrorists directly to the Palestinian people. They’ve never tried that not once. The closest they came was before Shamir was assassinated.

If they did that as seriously as they do the other thing which is to keep their foot on their throats, in time, people would turn. It has to be done sincerely and abundantly and in good faith with no hidden traps and it has to be cross-party long-term initiative.

While I agree that this approach may work with ANY OTHER nations/peoples, we have to remember we are dealing with ‘Palestinians’ and Israel – the rules of the game are totaly different. Foundational to this is the fact that ALL Muslim nations/people believe that Allah will annihilate every last Jew on planet earth, and that he has entrusted ALL Muslims as the means by which this ends is to be achieved. In that context the Israeli-Palestinian conflict cannot/will not ever be resolved.
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June 6, 2010 11:21am
Murray

For those of you saying you support the “Palestinian cause” i’d like you to actually find out what that cause is first. Its not a secret. Its the first article of the Palestinian Charter. The destriction of the state of Israel.

If you support their “cause” you support genocide.

Not sure what you claim that makes you but “peace activist” isn’t what I’d use.
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June 6, 2010 11:27am
reid

In that context the Israeli-Palestinian conflict cannot/will not ever be resolved.

No argument the Jewish State is staying put, Kris. What I advocate above has precisely zero down-side on that score.

What is a fact is that the Palestinian population is just like any other in that most people are not terrorists, they’re shop-keepers and housewives etc. It’s those you need to talk to, the last to come on board are the young men. It’s doable, with a will. As I said above, the current plan is broken. It’s a fact. Not arguable. It doesn’t work. So what is the wise thing to do.
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June 6, 2010 11:28am
Murray

Inlcuding the ones that voted Hammas into power?

They aint like the people I live amongst.
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June 6, 2010 11:33am
Kris K

malcolm 11:09 am,

Kris, do you think God has done a good job of watching over the Jews? I’d give him a E+, if he exists.

As Reid said, “He did a heck of a good job in the Six-Day War.” – as He has with all other conflicts since the recreation of Israel in 1948.

But yes, one third of the Jews at the time were slaughtered during the Holocaust. And the Bible speaks of the order of two thirds of the Jews being decimated during the reign of the Antichrist – the world dictator at the end of human history.
But despite their past (and their future) God has (and will continue to) preserved the Jews as an identifiable ethnic people; as well as reestablishing them in their original land.

What other nation/people have been as persecuted throughout all of human history as has the Jew, and yet they still exist, and they have been regathered – exactly as God has promised to do in His word. There is only one word to describe Israel and the Jew – MIRACULOUS.
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June 6, 2010 11:34am
tom hunter

The good old NZ Herald printing nothing more than a ‘cut and paste’ from that fabulous bastion of truth in the UK – the Independent

After the Marmara was subdued, the passengers silenced, and their recording equipment confiscated, Israel disseminated a carefully choreographed account of the events that night that would dominate the airwaves for the first 48 hours.

Ah yes – I recall the tsunami of support for Israel and condemnation of the ‘peace’ activists in the first 48 hours after the event. Orwellian does not even begin to describe this point of view: no wonder the Protocols of The Elders of Zion still sells so many copies.

Would it really be so difficult to hire someone to just read blogs and provide an alternative view within the same article – or would that be a false call for balance: “A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth gets a chance to put its pants on”

I spoke this morning with a senior producer for one of the major network news divisions in the United States. “This morning, I received a well-phrased press release from the office of [PA spokesman] Saeb Erekat,” he told me. “I got it at 4:36 a.m. It was obviously prepared in advance. Now it’s 11 a.m., and I still have got nothing from the Israeli government.”

That there is some slick PR campaign by Israel. Then there’s this from the Herald (nee Independent):

Israel has sought to undermine some eyewitness accounts by alleging some of the passengers were terrorist sympathisers bent on martyrdom.

Again, if the Herald was really ‘reporting’ they could have easily found out these ‘allegations’ are in fact based on interviews conducted by Turkish reporters for Turkish newspapers (Haber and Anadolu News Agency), in which three of the Turkish victims apparently made it quite clear that they wanted to be martyrs for jihad.

And before it’s pointed out – the quotes of those people appear in a Jewish media source called Ynet, but if anybody wants to prove that it’s invented propaganda I presume they can google the links and run the translation – perhaps they already have?
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June 6, 2010 11:35am
Southern Raider

Does Fairfax have no over media sources on Gaza over than the Guardian. At least if they were providing a real information service to NZ they would have a mixture of views.

The Guardian is so great
– when you want to get a view on Israel they interview a UK guy who is head of Friends of al-Aqsa. Isn’t that like interviewing someone from Friends of al-Queda about whether Osama is a nice guy or not
– they have a picture of a market over flowing with fresh food, but claim there is a humanitarian crisis
– they interview a family who complains about the cost of feeding their family and then include a quote about how the 10 children are waiting for dinner
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June 6, 2010 11:36am
reid

“Inlcuding the ones that voted Hammas into power? They aint like the people I live amongst.”

The Palestinians voted Hamas in because they have for decades been one of the biggest providers of schools and other infrastructure. It’s wide-spread and works in the Muslim way of brotherhood and charity. It has a terrorist branch which makes it unacceptable but the majority of people who work in those support centres are ordinary “civilians.”

Now if you were a Palestinian, why wouldn’t you like those people?
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June 6, 2010 11:37am
Viking2

Joyce Just doesn’t get it either. does he.
Telecom is privately owned company which has been thrashed by the socialists so the shareholders have lost their assets. Now the latest crop are doing the same. Telecom should pull the plug on the lot for a couple of days and damand respect from these creeps.

Telecom mute on faults
By Matt Nippert
4:00 AM Sunday Jun 6, 2010

At the height of Telecom’s problems with its XT mobile network and access to 111 emergency services, the besieged company kept the public in the dark about faults affecting almost half the country.

But Joyce said the decision to not publicly disclose the March 18 faults was Telecom’s.

He was frustrated at the 111 system: “We have very little ability to impose sanctions, and also little direct visibility into how these issues are being handled. We’re working on that with urgency.”

He said several reports were being prepared on the matter and the Government was considering introducing fines for operators who failed to provide a reliable 111 service.
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June 6, 2010 11:38am
Pete George

But Kris, I thought you claim that those who don’t subscribe to your flavour of Christianity are doomed to eternal hell. Are Jews somehow exempt from this? That doesn’t sound very miraculous.
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June 6, 2010 11:38am
Redbaiter

“What do you mean, RB?”

Hell Reid, you write on here about Israel with such conviction yet you apparently overlook the root cause of their situation. Jews rightly said never again, and have developed the IDF as a means of ensuring it never does happen again, at the same time as so many of them enthusiastically embrace Progressivism and all it brings with it including a global political agenda that denies them a place in the Middle East.

Without the Jew vote, Obama would not be POTUS. Hollywood is largely controlled by Jews, and it is the biggest source of destructive Progressive propaganda in the west. Speilberg and his mates donate genorously to the Democrat party. They heartily joined the hate campaign against George Bush, a man who was a far greater friend to Israel than Obama will ever be.

The Jews are not resolute, and they never have been, and that’s why although I am aware of the lies and hate and propaganda that is used against them, I never take their part because they are as Kris stated above, their own worst enemy.

I’m not going out on a limb for a people so politically confused and I don’t know why anyone would. Look what Bush got for his concern.
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June 6, 2010 11:40am
Southern Raider

All the left wing articles print as fact quotes from the activists who are still referred to as peace protesters and then beside everything supplied by the IDF has comments like “suggested by” etc and claiming the videos don’t tell the full story.

Yet none of these pricks have picked up on where the scopes and magazines came from that were found on the boat and don’t match any weapons used by the IDF.

Also why go on about a activist having 5 bullet wounds. If I’ve been beaten with a metal rod, stabbed and attacked and then someone runs at me to have another go I’m sure as hell not going to take the chance of one bullet stopping him. Doesn’t this also highlight why it wasn’t a massacre? as the IDF clearly targeted at close quarters the real threats to their solidiers. They could have sprayed the whole boat from a distance and that would have been the safer option for them.
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June 6, 2010 11:41am
JiveKitty

On Tea Partiers, I know some would like to characterise them as a somewhat libertarian/anti-big government grouping, but I do not see the Tea Party as having a particularly cohesive ideology. They appear to be a somewhat large grouping of relatively disparate people who are likely to have significant differences in views that are held. Their common factor is that they appear to be a grouping of people who have a general discontent with their situation and how it is being dealt with by the government. They seem to be an “anti-grouping”, rather than a grouping with a cohesive policy agenda. Admittedly, the Tea Party movement seems to have grown out of a kind of hysteria about the economic problems and short-term self-interest, but in-line with it being an “anti-grouping”, there appears to be no specific policy manifesto, just a lot of rhetoric about socialism and how they want much smaller government.

It is my belief that while the Tea Partiers and others might froth about big government and socialism in principle, what they really have a problem with is the specifics of the Obama government’s intervention rather than the intervention itself. That is to say, they see it as imposing direct costs or otherwise not benefitting them and they feel entitled to their slice of the pie. A libertarian, in the true sense of the word, would remove subsidies, barriers to movement of labour and so on. This would not give the Tea Partiers what they want. While a libertarian in power would have the potential to decrease their tax burden – at least in the medium-term (the government still has significant debt to service), a libertarian who implemented libertarian reform would not get them the slice of pie they feel so entitled to.

So Pete George, I agree with you. The only change they will create, if any, will be the specifics of big government and its interventions into the lives of the people of the USA. They won’t decrease its power and influence. They won’t solve the problems.
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June 6, 2010 11:48am
reid

Jews rightly said never again, and have developed the IDF as a means of ensuring it never does happen again…

Yes I know that, RB, but my point is that Israel could still be secure if she avoided deploying the IDF against soft squishy civilian targets. Every time she does that it’s a hiding to nothing. Stop doing it. Simple.

The Jews are not resolute, and they never have been…

Perhaps you use a different dictionary RB, but I’ve observed them to be amongst the most resolute, together with the Chinese, Japanese, Americans (when they decide on it). They couldn’t have become a nuclear power without it, they couldn’t have established their state, they couldn’t exist today, without their resolution.

I think that’s a good thing, for them to have. I agree the Never Again psychology is a driver of her security posture but it doesn’t have to be.

This is a logical not emotional decision. Is it of benefit to change tack?
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June 6, 2010 11:51am
Manolo

““National have attempted to make John Key out to be a very nice and fairly easygoing, benign guy,”

A bit generous calling him “benign”. Key has turned out to be an accomplished dilettante and spineless Prime Minister.
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June 6, 2010 11:51am
TimG_Oz

Hmm strange – Reid almost seems to make some sense that the redirection of the flotilla to Israel has played into the hands of the terrorists (which is correct, to some degree).

This is actually giving me faith in the New Zealand mental health system. Previously Reid has suggested that Jews control the world economy, engineered 911 and destroyed their loved ones gravesites in Wellington. Reid – well done, and I hope you continue your journey through the system.
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June 6, 2010 11:54am
Pauleastbay

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/3781541/Thief-texts-his-name-to-astonished-victim

Christchurch – the home of legends
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June 6, 2010 11:57am
Viking2

Yep Manalo and have a read of this. I’m posting the lot to show how double standards exist. Remember just a day or two back Key was reported to have given via Eaglestone a telling off about his behavoir. Well check out that same message broker and his mates. Check our what DPF had to say and then wonder about the National executive.

Sorry its long but read it anyway.

PM’s advisers living it up in Sin City
By Matt Nippert
4:00 AM Sunday Jun 6, 2010

John Key’s right-hand man is living it up with big-spending lobbyists in the casinos of Las Vegas, sparking questions about their influence on Government policy.

The Prime Minister’s chief of staff, Wayne Eagleson, has spent the past week enjoying a shootin’, smokin’ and boozin’ trip to “Sin City”. He has been travelling with NZ Post chief executive Brian Roche, and lobbyists Mark Unsworth and Roger Sowry – a former National Party deputy leader who remains a member of John Key and Bill English’s inner circle.

The four have dropped “a ton” on blackjack, visited a gun shop where they could shoot an AK47 and dined at a restaurant on The Strip where 50g of caviar costs $500.

The Herald on Sunday has been told Key has explicitly discouraged his ministers from publicly fraternising with lobbyists – but it seems this does not apply to Eagleson.

Key is on holiday himself and did not return Herald on Sunday calls yesterday. But Lesley Hamilton, his spokeswoman, said he was aware of his chief of staff’s trip with the lobbyists.

“Wayne Eagleson is on annual leave with a group of long-time friends in the United States.
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This leave was approved by the PM and this private holiday was funded by Mr Eagleson,” she said.

A source close to senior National Party figures expressed surprise that Key would allow such a trip, saying he had always told his ministers not to be seen with lobbyists.

Eagleson, the source said, was “more powerful than a minister”.

Otago University political science lecturer Bryce Edwards said the role of chief of staff was vitally important: “Few people know anything about Wayne Eagleson and what he does, but the job description of the chief of staff is pretty basic – these are the people who are supposed to stop controversies like this happening.”

Labour leader Phil Goff said the trip raised questions over how the entertainment was being funded: “I’ve no idea who’s paying for what over there.”

Goff said fraternisation between lobbyists and Government figures risked giving the impression that access to Government was for sale. “There needs to be caution to ensure that these relationships don’t lead to special treatment for the lobbyists’ clients.”

News of the trip comes from the Facebook updates of the normally discreet Unsworth.

He wrote that the party engaged in “serious betting” on casino blackjack tables before hitting a bar famous for bartop-dancing waitresses.

“It’s 12:30am Sowry just did a ton on the tables tonight but he’s well up, I am about 10 in front and as Wayne says that doesn’t count the free drinks or being able to smoke cigars inside with a Heinie as you bet.

“We had a great night tonight and pushed on to Coyote Ugly and a duelling pianos bar where we all sang Bohemian Rhapsody.”

The party is believed to have dined at the pricey Eiffel Tower restaurant where mains cost around $80 and 50g of caviar sets diners back $500. “Our most expensive meal, but great grub,” Unsworth said.

The week-long holiday also included a helicopter flight to the Grand Canyon and a meal at an Italian restaurant in San Francisco, which Unsworth said came personally recommended by Key’s wife Bronagh.

Unsworth is one of the founders of lobbying firm Saunders Unsworth and is regarded as one of the most influential backroom operators in Wellington.

On its website, his firm takes credit for excluding clients from the costs of climate change policy, protecting the televised advertising of pharmaceuticals, and – somewhat appropriately – blocking tougher casino regulations.

National Party pollster and conservative blogger David Farrar said the success of the firm was due to the lobbyists’ close relationship with politicians.

“They’re successful partly because they’re so well connected.”

Roche was picked to head NZ Post in October last year and is believed to receive an annual salary of $1,180,000.

Sir Jim Bolger, chairman of NZ Post, said he was “very relaxed” about the trip because he knew all the parties involved. “Wayne worked with me in the Prime Minister’s Office, Sowry was a member of my cabinet, and Wayne and Brian have been friends for years.”

Sowry is, in addition to his lobbying work, is a member of the Electricity Commission.

After a long Friday night of free drinks, Unsworth posted online: “Off to the Hoover Dam tomorrow and I think I am the designated driver which is a worry. Still, then we can put the whole trip down as a business expense to the Electricity Commission, no?”

Electricity Commission chairman David Caygill said he was not aware of any official business being conducted in the United States by Unsworth or Sowry, and the line seemed to be in jest.

Actually claiming taxpayer money for a Las Vegas jaunt would be no laughing matter, he said.

The four did not return messages – but according to Unsworth’s posts, they’re off to Venice Beach in LA today.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10650068&pnum=0
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June 6, 2010 11:58am
Redbaiter

“Hmm strange – Reid almost seems to make some sense that the redirection of the flotilla to Israel has played into the hands of the terrorists (which is correct, to some degree).”

You have obviously either forgotten or perhaps never heard of the three nevers of Israel-

1. Never underestimate the level of force Israel will use when it feels its interests are threatened;

2. Never call Israel’s bluff;

3. Never expect Israel to care about its image.
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June 6, 2010 11:59am
malcolm

He did a heck of a good job in the Six-Day War.

Six days and six million. There’s a biblical symmetry for you. And here I was thinking Christians hold their God to very low and untestable standards.

But yes, one third of the Jews at the time were slaughtered during the Holocaust. And the Bible speaks of the order of two thirds of the Jews being decimated during the reign of the Antichrist – the world dictator at the end of human history.

Kris, what does the first sentence have to do with the second? You’re using a biblical prediction to give cover to a past where God had no noticable concern for his Jews. They’ve survived because they’re resourceful and because most of the time most people don’t want to kill them.

What other nation/people have been as persecuted throughout all of human history as has the Jew, and yet they still exist, and they have been regathered…

Homosexuals?
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June 6, 2010 12:00pm
TimG_Oz

“1. Never underestimate the level of force Israel will use when it feels its interests are threatened;”

Actually this should be when it’s “people” are threatened.

2. Never call Israel’s bluff;

True. But expect to see a policy shift in the near future on peace flotillas.

3. Never expect Israel to care about its image.

Not true. Hence why Israel now captures video of it’s operations to disprove the lies of the left. Just remember that the lives of people come before the image
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June 6, 2010 12:07pm
Kris K

Pete George 11:38 am,

But Kris, I thought you claim that those who don’t subscribe to your flavour of Christianity are doomed to eternal hell. Are Jews somehow exempt from this? That doesn’t sound very miraculous.

Ah, Pete – you’re slipping back into your usual mode where you obfuscate and twist people’s words.
God preserving the Jews, and often just a remnant, in THIS life doesn’t translate into Him giving them a pass regarding their eternal state. And I have certainly never said, or intimated, anything even vaguely approaching that view.

But that the Jew and the nation of Israel exist is certainly a major testimony to God watching over them – especially in light of the history of extermination which has been waged against them.
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June 6, 2010 12:10pm
reid

Hmm strange – Reid almost seems to make some sense that the redirection of the flotilla to Israel has played into the hands of the terrorists (which is correct, to some degree).

Hi Tim, expected you to show up soon. You’re not a sayanim are you? It’s a pretty basic fact though, isn’t it, that the way it played out with the people fighting back, was an entirely basic thing to predict during the planning phase. I mean you’d have to be an A-Grade Village Idiot military planner if you failed to take that possibility into account. And therefore issue specific instructions and plan and if necessary rehearse, in order to deal with it properly when it happens. That’s what the military does: plan for contingencies and rehearse. So what do you think happened in that regard Tim? How do you explain it?

This is actually giving me faith in the New Zealand mental health system. Previously Reid has suggested that Jews control the world economy, engineered 911 and destroyed their loved ones gravesites in Wellington. Reid – well done, and I hope you continue your journey through the system.

“Jews control the world economy” Er, no. I’ve said the Money Masters is a really good video and you should watch it. Nothing about Jews in there. Apart from the Rothschilds, but I don’t see that as a Jewish thing, I see the Rothschilds as a global finance thing.

“engineered 911” Er, no. (You’re not doing very well, are you Tim. Perhaps the next one will be a winner.) What I’ve said about 911 is that I have no idea who did it, why they did it and how they did it. It’s perfectly evident to an objective observer however, that the official story is a fairy tale.

“destroyed their loved ones gravesites in Wellington” Er, yes and no. (Well done. Let’s play again soon, Tim.) What I’ve said was that it’s a remarkable coincidence that just when things are a bit black for a Jewish issue, in various countries you often get a coincidental grave-desecration coming just at the right moment if one wanted to engender a sense of sympathy, and that wasn’t it lucky that this very thing happened right here in Wellington (was it just when those Mossad men were going on trial?) and I commented upon the remarkable convenience of this tragic event.
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June 6, 2010 12:19pm
Manolo

The stench of corruption around Wellington. The tight links between lobbysts, political advisors, consultants, and politicians, which the sycophants claim is “all legal”, of course.

The establishment, regardless of which political party is in power, is corrupt to the core, with many politicians up to their eyeballs in excrement.

The stables are in needed of an urgent clean up.
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June 6, 2010 12:20pm
Pete George

I’m not trying to twist words Kris. As far as I understand it, Christians (including non-proper Christians like Catholics), Jews and Muslims all believe in the same god. All still exist, actually all keep increasing in number (over time), so is that god watching over all of them? And will they all get equal treatment at some supposed day of judgement?
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June 6, 2010 12:23pm
Kris K

malcolm 12:00 pm,

Kris, what does the first sentence have to do with the second? You’re using a biblical prediction to give cover to a past where God had no noticable concern for his Jews. They’ve survived because they’re resourceful and because most of the time most people don’t want to kill them.

My two sentences are related in that, just like in the case of the Holocaust, when the second Holocaust occurs under the Antichrist (Hitler mark II) people will also suggest that God has forsaken the Jewsih people, and yet He will also preserve a remnant through that time of testing – the Bible doesn’t call it the time of “Jacob’s touble” for nothing. If you won’t/can’t see God’s hand on His chosen people then I suggest you either ignore the evidence or you’ve got your eyes firmly shut.

And I think the world’s Muslim population (plus others) wanting every last Jew dead is a not an insignificant minority. And when you look at the vitriol directed against Israel in general terms you really have to ask whether it is, in fact, the majority of people who wish the Jew/Israel would just ‘disappear’.
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June 6, 2010 12:29pm
billyborker

It is beyond time that this rogue nation, Israel, was put to the sword. Regime change is needed, and needed urgently.

Beards must be cut, heads shaved and temples ruined before the Middle East will see peace.

This nation was born in terror and can only be sustained by terror.

Nice to see the Turks expsoe Israel’s lies.

AUTOPSY results on the bodies of those killed during the assault on the Gaza aid flotilla reveal they were peppered with 9 millimetre bullets, many fired at close range and into victims’ backs.

Nine Turkish men on board the Mavi Marmara were shot a total of 30 times and five were killed by gunshot wounds to the head, according to the vice-chairman of the Turkish Council of Forensic Medicine.

Come on Murray, et al, what was that bullshit about the Israelis “defending” themselves? This was a coldly calculated act of terror.
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June 6, 2010 12:37pm
reid

“This was a coldly calculated act of terror.”

No it wasn’t, it was a SNAFU cluster of biblical proportions, but that’s all it was. But it definitely should not have been allowed to arise in the first place.
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June 6, 2010 12:43pm
Kris K

Pete George 12:23 pm,

I’m not trying to twist words Kris. As far as I understand it, Christians (including non-proper Christians like Catholics), Jews and Muslims all believe in the same god. All still exist, actually all keep increasing in number (over time), so is that god watching over all of them? And will they all get equal treatment at some supposed day of judgement?

I have on numerous occassions made it clear that, since the crucifixion of Christ, there is only ONE qualification which will stand you in good sted on the day of judgement. And sadly Jews and Muslims don’t meet that qualification. (Messianic Jews are actually ‘in Christ’).
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June 6, 2010 12:44pm
Viking2

Never mind the Jewrab’s look out for NZ.
Govt Spending Impoverishing Our Grandkids

Finance Minister Bill English’s shocking revelation in the house today that public sector spending in the financial year ending June 2009 was $93 billion – over 50 percent of GDP – should send shockwaves into every New Zealand home, ACT New Zealand Finance Spokesman Sir Roger Douglas said today.

“Five years ago public sector spending was sitting at 41 percent of GDP. But since then has increased by over $33 billion. This massive spending binge highlights just how much the last Government, led by Clark and Cullen, were prepared to pillage the pockets of New Zealanders,” Sir Roger said.

“A recent study of almost 40 years of OECD data showed that countries which grew the most were the countries in which public sector expenditure was lowest. If we review New Zealand’s statistics against this, it paints a bleak picture for our future.

“Countries that spent below 25 percent of GDP enjoyed average annual growth of 6.6 percent, while those that spent 25-30 percent experienced growth of 4.7 percent. However, countries that spent over 50 percent, which is where New Zealand is sitting now, grew by less than 2 percent.

“To put it another way, over those 40 years the wages in those countries with growth of 2 percent rose by approximately 120 percent (from $10,000 to $22,080 annual income after 40 years), while the wages in those countries that grew by 6.6 percent went up by 1289 percent (from $10,000 to $128,910 annual income after 40 years).

“New Zealanders need to realise that there is no such thing as a free lunch. You can have all the Government handouts you like, but they come at a cost. That cost is measured in the lost opportunity of economic growth, lower wages, and fewer goods and services.

“Government spending must be reduced in order to increase New Zealand’s growth potential. If we cannot get public sector expenditure under control, it will be our grandchildren that will be paying the price of our excess,” Sir Roger said.
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June 6, 2010 12:48pm
reid

And I think the world’s Muslim population (plus others) wanting every last Jew dead is a not an insignificant minority.

Kris, do you draw any distinction between fanatical muslims who are fanatic enough to devote themselves to killing us – the numerically tiny minority as one would expect from demographics anyway – and moderate Muslims – the vast majority in every Muslim country – who are just like you and I and no more dangerous.

It’s there. Really.

And when you look at the vitriol directed against Israel in general terms you really have to ask whether it is, in fact, the majority of people who wish the Jew/Israel would just ‘disappear’.

Perhaps if Israel changed course she wouldn’t have the issue in the first place?
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June 6, 2010 12:53pm
Kris K

billyborker 12:37 pm,

This was a coldly calculated act of terror.

Funny, LRO, how activists on the other vessels who didn’t attack members of the IDF suffered no ill effects due to ‘acts of Israeli aggression’, and that of those who did attacked the IDF nine were Turkish men – some (all?) who were prepared to be literally martyrs for the cause.

[I thought you were banned for a week, LRO?]
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June 6, 2010 12:59pm
philu

(are these the members of the kiwiblog-commenting-community..?..)

“..A community of the wise and thoughtful ..

… these conscientious commenters are often far too modest to attach their real name to the pearls of insight …

… they donate to the internet’s treasure chest of opinion…”

mmm…???

when will farrar clean up this sewer…?

..and make commenters use/stand-by their real names…?

phil(whoar.co.nz)
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June 6, 2010 12:59pm
reid

If we cannot get public sector expenditure under control, it will be our grandchildren that will be paying the price of our excess…

Key is annoying me in that he’s not addressing this and therefore not taking the hard decision. He’s too much on the short-term upside and needs to carefully consider what he wants his legacy to be.
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June 6, 2010 1:01pm
Viking2

Ah well I said yesterday the Sunday would be buggered up with religious fanatics.
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June 6, 2010 1:02pm
JiveKitty

Some of us have reasons for using a pseudonym unrelated to how closely our posts resemble sewage. Some of those whose legal names are known still post comments closely resembling sewage. Furthermore, how is one to know if the given name here is the name that is given in physical reality?
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June 6, 2010 1:09pm
Kris K

reid 12:53 pm,

And I think the world’s Muslim population (plus others) wanting every last Jew dead is a not an insignificant minority.

Kris, do you draw any distinction between fanatical muslims who are fanatic enough to devote themselves to killing us – the numerically tiny minority as one would expect from demographics anyway – and moderate Muslims – the vast majority in every Muslim country – who are just like you and I and no more dangerous.

In answer to your question read my comment form the other day:

Is Radical Fundamentalist Islam the problem, or is the problem actually the system of Islam itself?
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June 6, 2010 1:11pm
Kris K

Viking2 1:02 pm,

Ah well I said yesterday the Sunday would be buggered up with religious fanatics.

For some of us everyday is ‘Sunday’. 😉
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June 6, 2010 1:15pm
philu

“..how is one to know if the given name here is the name that is given in physical reality?..”

micro-chip everyone..and have a scanning-login…?

phil(whoar.co.nz)
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June 6, 2010 1:15pm
philu

“…For some of us everyday is ‘Sunday’. ;)..”

and us too…unfortunately…as it turns out…

phil(whoar.co.nz)
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June 6, 2010 1:24pm
hj

Racism and Poverty in Aotearoa:
Catherine Delahunty Green MP:

Our history is built on a deep contradiction and an ongoing commitment to state sanctioned violence, not by the people in this meeting, but by the powerbrokers and passive racists who maintain control. I am talking about a belief in equality for the assimilated and fairplay for everyone who acts like a Pakeha and I am generalising wildly to make a point, but living in Te Tairawhiti has only strengthened my view that we have a long way to go. 50% of the population is tangata whenua and the level of poverty and discrimination resembles the north. We have plenty of beaten women; gutted communities and whanau living in state housing that have never had proper electricity or water supplies. But lots of Pakeha are drinking wine and surfing, and they say so loudly without saying a word, would you please shut up about the connection between racism and poverty?

It is not rocket science that Pakeha may be a minority by the late 21st century. It is to be hoped that tangata whenua will be the largest cultural grouping in their own country again. However all the demographic changes will be a change for the worst if Pakeha cannot come to terms with being a minority culture. Our attachment to Westminster democracy has been based on our majority status. Will we find to our horror that minorities in such a system are overruled and undermined? Will we react by supporting more truly equitable and culturally diverse methods of decisionmaking, based upon Te Tiriti, or will we build a fortress, clinging to wealth and power behind barbed wire and guard dogs?
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0702/S00068.htm
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June 6, 2010 1:29pm
wat dabney

“Our history is built on a deep contradiction and an ongoing commitment to state sanctioned violence”

She’s summed-up Green fascism very well.
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June 6, 2010 1:46pm
reid

Kris, thanks for that link.

In response to which I say, so what.

I’ve seen photos on the internet of real terrorists and their eyes are completely implacably dead. I’ve also seen similar looks in the eyes of young Waffen SS troops fighting in the Ardennes during the Battle of the Bulge. Similarities: young men.

They’re a subset of the population Kris. At the end of the day, they’re simply a subset and they can be influenced and guess who by? Their mothers.
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June 6, 2010 1:48pm
krazykiwi

@Viking2 – your 12:48 comment underscores how stuffed NZ is. Not only because of wisdom of the words.. but also because of the total lack of support for the speaker/party
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June 6, 2010 2:03pm
Viking2

KK. darn right.

Here is another interesting article from and about Afghanistan. Won’t be much longer and they will head this country off.

China Willing to Spend Big on Afghan Commerce
James R. Yeager/Associated Press

A delegation from the state-owned Chinese company, China Metallurgical Group Corporation, visited the site of a copper mine in Aynak, a former al-Qaeda stronghold southeast of Kabul, in 2007.

By MICHAEL WINES
Published: December 29, 2009

KABUL, Afghanistan — Behind an electrified fence, blast-resistant sandbags and 53 National Police outposts, the Afghan surge is well under way.

This is the ninth in a series of articles examining stresses and strains of China’s emergence as a global power.
Related

Imaginechina, via Associated Press

The Beijing headquarters of the China Metallurgical Group Corporation, known as M.C.C.

But the foot soldiers in a bowl-shaped valley about 20 miles southeast of Kabul are not fighting the Taliban, or even carrying guns. They are preparing to extract copper from one of the richest untapped deposits on earth. And they are Chinese, undertaking by far the largest foreign investment project in war-torn Afghanistan.

Two years ago, the China Metallurgical Group Corporation, a Chinese state-owned conglomerate, bid $3.4 billion — $1 billion more than any of its competitors from Canada, Europe, Russia, the United States and Kazakhstan — for the rights to mine deposits near the village of Aynak. Over the next 25 years, it plans to extract about 11 million tons of copper — an amount equal to one-third of all the known copper reserves in China.

more at; http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/30/world/asia/30mine.html?pagewanted=1
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June 6, 2010 2:41pm
krazykiwi

ETS & Kyoto: Smith (the barking one) claims we need an ETS to pay for our Kyoto liabilities.

Yet Treasuy boasts “The estimate of New Zealand’s position at 31 March 2010 is a $NZ231 million net asset“.

Anyone else confused .. besides said barking one?
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June 6, 2010 2:46pm
Viking2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LulDJh4fWI&feature=player_embedded
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June 6, 2010 2:55pm
Viking2

anyone watch the crazy horse on Q+A?
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June 6, 2010 2:56pm
krazykiwi

ETS / Kyoto / Carbon Price
Treasury says:

At present Treasury revises the underlying carbon price twice a year (typically for the year ended 30 June and six months ended 31 December Financial Statements of the Government of New Zealand). The current price is EUR 10.00. See New Zealand’s Position under the Kyoto Protocol Carbon Price Information Release for more information on the changes in the carbon price and how this price is derived.

Why is the price struck at EUR10.00 .. when the Chicago Carbon Exchange has carbon at $US0.10 (yes, 10 cents) and the volume has been zero for months?

Treasury’s pricing rationale is here, but that’s cold comfort for us. Have open markets created a few Gore-style carbon billionaires, and left countries like NZ with ‘assets’ that are now worthless?
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June 6, 2010 3:20pm
Manolo

The whole carbon-trading scheme is a dodgy, shady exercise, a true Ponzi-scheme at which New Zealand arrives as a willing investor thanks to the gullibility of Key and Smith.

We are about to witness a massive transfer of wealth from NZ taxpayers to a bunch of happy recipients on the other side of the world.

Why are we impoverishing ourselves? Can Key or Smith explain why? This ETS farce cannot be allowed to continue.
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June 6, 2010 3:25pm
Redbaiter

” Why are we impoverishing ourselves? Can Key or Smith explain why? This ETS farce cannot be allowed to continue.”

There’s big bucks to be made by anybody who got in on this scheme at an early stage. Huge bucks. Given Key and Smith’s intrangisence, I reckon someone out there needs to investigate and see if there are any National Party links to those who have a commercial interest in carbon trading.
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June 6, 2010 3:55pm
krazykiwi

Obama loses the Left: suddenly, it’s cool to bash Barack

Europe still worships him and Washington’s Obamatrons remain smitten, but former supporters are turning on the President, writes Toby Harnden.
::
Whereas Europe is stuck in November 2008 and still hopelessly in love with Obama, Americans have got over the historic symbolism of it all and are now moving on as they live with the reality.
That reality has now begun to dawn on some of Obama’s natural constituency – Hollywood and the Left. The “no drama Obama” demeanour that served him so well on the campaign trail is now becoming a liability.
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June 6, 2010 3:58pm
Manolo

The ‘no drama Obama” has turned out to be a sheer incompetent. The Messiah appears paralised when the big decisions need to be made.

Add to that his ideological push for socialised medicine and a coterie of Chicago-mafia style advisers (Rahm, Jarrett, Axelrod) and you have a good explanation for the disenchament. The mid-term elections this November will be a vote on his performance and could well impair the rest of his tenure as president of the United States.

So much for hope and change. After less than two years if for all to see: the emperor is naked.
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June 6, 2010 4:04pm
TimG_Oz

This is interesting … Ban Ki Moon has suggested New Zealand’s Geoffrey Palmer head the inquiry into the flotilla raid.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/un-proposes-former-new-zealand-pm-head-gaza-flotilla-probe-1.294376

I choked for a second .. I thought he’d appointed Helen Clark!
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June 6, 2010 4:22pm
TimG_Oz

Hi Reid.

Yes I’m a sayanim. We all are. [Whatever that is] In fact … you know the new people that just moved to Eastbourne not far from you … they’re Sayanim too. Bet you can’t find the surveillance devices we planted to watch you!
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June 6, 2010 4:25pm
krazykiwi

The Telegraph says Israel determined to stop aid ship reaching Gaza. Nonsense, aid has nothing to do with it. Israel is determined not to allow ships, which may or may not be carrying weapons, to breech the legal blockade. Gaza get’s plenty of aid eg Britain is to give £19 million to help support schools and health clinics for Gazan refugees.
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June 6, 2010 4:25pm
Viking2

Sir Geoffrey tipped for UN panel

Sunday, 6, Jun, 2010 2:16PM

It’s believed former Prime Minister Sir Geoffrey Palmer will be asked to help investigate Israel’s raid on a Turkish aid ship. Nine people died when soldiers stormed the vessel, which was bound for Gaza.

Israeli media report Sir Geoffrey has been named by UN chief Ban Ki-moon as a possible member of a panel to look into the raid.

Sir Geoffrey is neither confirming nor denying the reports, telling our newsroom “I can’t talk to you about this so I’m going to say goodbye.”

A spokesman for New Zealand’s Foreign Affairs Ministry was unaware of the UN request.
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June 6, 2010 4:49pm
kaya

Redbaiter – “I reckon someone out there needs to investigate and see if there are any National Party links to those who have a commercial interest in carbon trading.”

One of my father’s best bits of advice, if any situation doesn’t make logical sense, follow the money.

So many decisions from this Government and the previous crowd make no sense. Totally undemocratic decisions made against the known will of the vast majority of the population.

On that note, the media appearances by the police this weekend over the lowering of speeding tolerances has the overpowering stench of a stage-managed, PR exercise to allow an increase in revenue gathering. Having Paula Rose and Howard Broad all over the place telling us how concerned they are for our safety was heartwarming….yeah right.

“We will be enforcing a ‘no excuses’ policy towards all individuals who break the speed limit this weekend. We will take action against anyone caught driving more than 4 kilometres over the posted permanent speed limit,” says the National Manager of Road Policing, Superintendent Paula Rose.

“National road policing manager Superintendent Paula Rose said last night the measures put in place this weekend could become permanent if they helped keep the road toll down.

The crackdown came after police announced there would be just 5km/h tolerance for drivers exceeding the speed limit.

By 6pm last night there had been 116 crashes across the country compared with 144 the year before, including two which claimed five lives.”

So the shitty weather conditions didn’t have anything to do with it did it? All the normal “speeders” read the paper about the clampdown and slowed down for the weekend did they? Utter garbage.

This woman is a disgrace to the police uniform and should not be allowed to wear one and the same applies to Broad. It is time the police and traffic were separated again. The negativity generated towards the force by the tax collectors in their midst is doing no one any favours. At least with a traffic department you know what you are up against.
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June 6, 2010 4:52pm
kaya

Oh no! The UN is going to have a “special” investigation! The Israelis will be shitting bricks.
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June 6, 2010 4:56pm
krazykiwi

Israeli media report Sir Geoffrey has been named by UN chief Ban Ki-moon as a possible member of a panel to look into the raid.

This would be the same Geoffrey Palmer who was happy to consider alleged rape a ‘guilty until proven innocent’ offence?
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June 6, 2010 5:09pm
billyborker

krazykiwi (5457) Says:

June 6th, 2010 at 4:25 pm
The Telegraph says Israel determined to stop aid ship reaching Gaza. Nonsense, aid has nothing to do with it. Israel is determined not to allow ships, which may or may not be carrying weapons, to breech the legal blockade. Gaza get’s plenty of aid eg Britain is to give £19 million to help support schools and health clinics for Gazan refugees.

And don’t you think the gazans would prefer to NOT be refugees?

The only diifference between Warsaw 1943 and Gaza 2010 is Warsaw held only 380,000 Jews, Gaza has 1.3 million people.
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June 6, 2010 5:20pm
Manolo

Palmer to the UN? The “face-that-needs-punching” will be advocating tighter alcohol laws in Gaza first and the whole world next.

The mere suggestion of useless Geoffrey Palmer heading anything leaves NZ open to mockery and ridicule. He’s a complete waste of space.
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June 6, 2010 5:28pm
Jack5

hj at 1.29pm posted a quote from Green MP Catherine Delahunty. It included this:

…It is not rocket science that Pakeha may be a minority by the late 21st century. It is to be hoped that tangata whenua will be the largest cultural grouping in their own country again. However all the demographic changes will be a change for the worst if Pakeha cannot come to terms with being a minority culture.

This will be so only if the surging number of people who carry both white and Maori genes choose to be classified as Maori. It could e argued that Maori are being swallowed up into a new mixed-race society, in which the dominant proportion of genes will be white, with minority genetics from Maori, and, to a lesser extent, Pacific Islanderss, and various Asian ethnicities.

With the dominant world culture based on America – popular music, films, etc – and the most popular world language English, the chances of the future new New Zealanders of mixed origin identifying as predominantly Maori are minimal.

However, never expect solid thinking from Delahunty, who is a member of the Greens’ education and science committee, and the Greens spokeswoman on arts and culture, the Treaty of Waitangi and other issues.

Delahunty lists her hobbies as including writing fiction and practising yoga.

Here are snippets from Delahunty’s maiden speech, which was lightened chiefly by her quip:”Last time I was a maiden was 40 years ago.”

…our (that is, Pahehas’) end of the rope is made of the bones and tears of migrants many of whom left cold islands on the other side of the world hoping desperately for a better life. And that better life came to pass through systemic violence, theft and denial…

And:

…Thanks to the Treaty educators, the disability activists, the Women’s liberation and gay rights workers, the environmental campaigners, the unemployed rights activists, community development leaders and young unionists, the collective gardeners and all the other targets of SIS and Threat Assessment Unit time wasting…

^^^
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June 6, 2010 5:40pm
krazykiwi

And don’t you think the gazans would prefer to NOT be refugees?

LRO – Then perhaps they could vote for a party that does have the destruction of it’s neighbour as part of its charter. Mmm?
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June 6, 2010 5:42pm
billyborker

Then perhaps they could vote for a party that does have the destruction of it’s neighbour as part of its charter. Mmm?

Did you vote for the last 3 Labour governments? No? Then why do you assume that every Palestinian elected Hamas?

And did you ever stop to think (you can think, can’t you?) that the desire for the destruction of Israel is born from the Zionistas war of terror to siexe Palestine in the first place? Zionists. Nazis. One and the same, and they both deserve the same fate. Death.
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June 6, 2010 5:52pm
reid

Yes I’m a sayanim. We all are. [Whatever that is]

Yes, Wikipedia and Dictionary.com are hard things to find on this confusing inter-watchmucally, aren’t they, Tim.

Good to note no-one’s yet directly addressed any logical flaws in my suggestion, so at the mo, I’ll take that as a “I’m right and you’re wrong.”

It’s turning out to be a better long weekend than I thought it would.
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June 6, 2010 7:04pm
reid

It’s believed former Prime Minister Sir Geoffrey Palmer will be asked to help investigate Israel’s raid on a Turkish aid ship. Nine people died when soldiers stormed the vessel, which was bound for Gaza.

Israeli media report Sir Geoffrey has been named by UN chief Ban Ki-moon as a possible member of a panel to look into the raid.

Sir Geoffrey is neither confirming nor denying the reports, telling our newsroom “I can’t talk to you about this so I’m going to say goodbye.”

A spokesman for New Zealand’s Foreign Affairs Ministry was unaware of the UN request.

I think it’s great, BTW. He’s a brilliant jurist with political skills. The more use we or the world make of him the better. And well done him and thank you, Geoffrey.

And it does indicate Hulun is making traction, doesn’t it. And good on her, too.
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June 6, 2010 8:34pm

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