General Debate 01 July 2011

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plebe

FIRST,pinch and a punch……
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July 1, 2011 5:56am
Manolo

Brash calls a spade a spade: http://msn.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10735481
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July 1, 2011 7:01am
mikenmild

Brash never heard of Godwin’s Law?
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July 1, 2011 7:05am
gravedodger

Please stay with the random kickoff David.
How many tragics made how many visits to Homepaddock yesterday to see if Ele, the host was alright when she failed completely to post her weekly Thursday Quiz.
As one who is often AWOL at 0800 hrs I miss that adrenaline rush at that time.
ps I dont get out much
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July 1, 2011 7:12am
Pete George

Dim-Post had a topic yesterday – What’s the best way to influence MPs?

It has this Update: A staffer for a senior politician writes:

Without a doubt though, the best way to influence an MP is through face to face discussions. However, it is incredibly difficult to obtain a meeting even with the lowliest of backbenchers. You either have to be somebody or you have to know somebody. This option is not available to ordinary folk.

Ultimately, if you want to influence an MP you need to know how their office works or how Parliament works. So if a person was serious about getting something done ones best bet would be to enlist someone who knows the inner workings of Parliament. Again, this isn’t an option available to most people though.

That stinks. And many people know it, and think it stinks. Politicians are not concerned about people, after they get their vote.

This is why we started Your NZ, and I’ve commented on this here.

The political “experts” criticise us for not having enough policy. Most media s ignore us. Even DPF is part of the “exclude alternatives” club:

A third party candidate is shown below only if they have a realistic chance of winning the seat and/or are a current MP.

Our primary policy is just consulting and listening to “ordinary folk”. The established political system isn’t interested in quaint ideals like that.

Ordinary folk need to make their votes count, so their opinions count too. And stick one up the political elite.
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July 1, 2011 7:38am
Falafulu Fisi

The following may be of interest to those from yesterday’s General Debate thread who were involved in the discussion on the topic of crime.

Crime and punishment: the economic burden of impunity
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July 1, 2011 8:39am
Lance

The Herald was reporting that bank note images were under review
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10735579

The potential options might be scarry…
Like the Helun Klark $10 note
Or the Jim Knox $50

😛
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July 1, 2011 8:51am
thedavincimode

Jim Knox – a name to conjure up … something anyway.

“Fedarashinalaba”
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July 1, 2011 9:30am
Nookin

I am not sure if he actually got the “Fedar” part out. More like “Frashinalaba”
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July 1, 2011 9:36am
tom hunter

You should take a look at this piece on VW vs. Greenpeace.

It contains a very cute advert from VW for their new Passat. The advert screened at this year’s Superbowl.

Greenpeace have come back with a parody advert that features a VW-emblazoned Death Star. Unfortunately you’ll have to track that down somewhere else because the anal bastards at Lucas Films told YouTube to pull it. Typical of the guy who re-worked the famous Han Solo scene to have Greedo shooting first.
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July 1, 2011 9:39am
gravedodger

Don’t make us reach for the antacids. There are many iconic and unique feathered creatures even if some are now extinct due to their destruction by the Tangata Whenua, you know that caring protective people who were here first armed with their total respect for the fauna that were here firster.
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July 1, 2011 9:41am
RightNow

Walkouts by Border Agency staff at UK airports seem to make no difference.

Moutie Abrahams, 42, who flew in on a packed BA flight from Cape Town, said: “We came here two months ago and we stood in queues for a really long time. Today it was much quicker. In South Africa our strikes are more efficient. You would still be standing there.”
http://eureferendum.blogspot.com/2011/06/life-copies-art.html
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July 1, 2011 9:43am
Ender

I figure they are looking at redesigning the note as a longer term thing to coincide with a new head of state i.e. King Charles The Douche.

Propose some nice ideas, run a design comp, add heaps of unrepresentative Maori/Pacifika designs; the usual. No doubt the flag-haters will use it as a boost for proposing changing to some flag which rejects NZ’s British history.
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July 1, 2011 9:44am
tom hunter

Just as a follow-up on yesterday’s GD debate on crime – I saw mention of the declining crime rates across America, despite the country being in the worst recession for twenty years. Over a year ago I posted a reference to this with a link to the following headline in a Washington Post Op-Ed: Did liberals get it wrong on crime?:

It could be, as conservatives have insisted all along, that crime is committed by criminals. For liberals, this is bad news indeed.

This led to the following short, sharp evisceration from Tom Maguire in the blog JustOneMinute with Richard Cohen Bumps Into Reality:

So street thugs are not all Jean Val Jean – who knew? Why this is bad news (other than lefty embarrassment) is not explained – surely the reality-based community is delighted to encounter reality.

In his WaPo article, Cohen goes on to explain that it may be that culture is the root cause of crime and not economics – leading to further laughter from Tom Maguire:

Breakthrough stuff. Jennifer Rubin of Commentary is so excited by Cohen’s journey to wisdom that she gets a bit carried away: 

This revelation might suggest that liberals re-examine other premises that have proved dangerous… The possibilities in foreign policy are endless. (Let’s start with, “The problem with our policy toward Iran, China, Syria, etc. is that we haven’t tried to engage them.”)

That’ll happen.
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July 1, 2011 9:54am
Mick Mac

Thanks Fala will read it over the weekend.
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July 1, 2011 9:55am
Elaycee

Dear Water Woman,

Not every flower can say love, but a rose can. Not every plant survives thirst, but a cactus can. Not every retard can read, but look at you having a go!

Today is International Nutters Day. Please send an encouraging message to a fucked up friend, just as I’ve done. I don’t care if you lick windows, interfere with farm animals or occasionally shit yourself. You hang in there cup cake – you’re fuckin’ special to me, ‘cos you’re my mate!

Kind Regards,
Elaycee. 🙂
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July 1, 2011 10:05am
Positan

@ davinci
@nookin

In the inarticulate bluster that so typified Knox – it was more, “Federash’ a Labour,” wasn’t it?
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July 1, 2011 10:15am
grumpy

Looks like our SAS guys were injured by Afghan police fire.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13971385
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July 1, 2011 10:27am
Luc Hansen

A wonderful morning waking up and realise that Don Nicholson, aka the Great Denier, is replaced today in his role as Federated Farmers president.

Why the tag the Great Denier?

Well, our Don denies the reality of the science of climate change (it seems that this denial is very popular amongst Dons); he denies the reality of farming industry pollution; and he denies the reality that farming does, in fact, receive massive subsidies from taxpayers (we subsidise farmers by cleaning up their pollution with our dollars).

His denial of science is especially ironic when his own industry is more and more reliant on science for its future success. Here’s the quaintly quizzical question he posed about climate change on Backbenchers last year (25 Aug):

“The climate has always changed. What you have to decide is whether it is caused by humans or by natural causes.”

Don, Don, Don, no, no, no… we, you and I and the great unwashed, that is, are not climate scientists. Our decision is whether or not to accept the scientific consensus, as we do in the affirmative on a wide variety of topics every day eg going to the doctor, travelling in those ridiculously lumbering flying machines, even just depressing the brake pedal of one’s car with the full expectation that your car will stop.

These days, almost every activity (I said almost – life’s greatest pleasure is still remarkably as natural as the day we evolved into sexual creatures) is the result of some scientific consensus.

And the pollution subsidies are real and generous, so he really should stop spouting his “farming is subsidy-free” mantra, as it is demonstrably false.

Something else for Don to think about when he castigates us for not worshipping farmers with sufficient intensity of obeisance, is the economic conundrum known as the “Dutch disease” – namely, that the overwhelming success of high priced commodities causes the non-commodity sector to stagnate. One reason for this is that high commodity prices add upwards pressure on the currency, stifling other export industries. It’s happening in Australia (mining boom) and New Zealand right now and is going to be an ongoing problem for both countries.

I hear that Don may be joining the other grumpy old men in the Act caucus room (if the voters of Epsom are silly enough to return John Banks to his old stamping ground) where he will be in like company, especially as his leader has just come out as yet another curmudgeonly, old denier, trotting out his own completely unscientific theories that make sense only to a brain still stuck in the last century.

Just imaging the crap we would be facing if the US and Europe had reacted to the GFC with Brashian voodoo economics!

Both Don’s should put themselves out to pasture and leave our young to clean up the mess they leave behind.

That’s my Friday rant.

Time now to take the toddler off to Chipmunks and relax with a coffee, the latest issue of Nature-Climate Change and the pleasant realisation that surely these two men can’t do too much more damage before they meander off this planet to greet their maker, their heads bowed in mortal shame.
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July 1, 2011 10:30am
Jimbob

Luc, get you hand out of your pants.
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July 1, 2011 10:47am
gravedodger

Yeah Luc we couldn’t have Greece and the other basket cases confront the sheer idiocy of their “government will make everyone rich” economic path. Lets give them more time to dig the hole deeper eh.
That’l make those capitalists in northern Europe sit up and take notice wont it.
I retired from my lifes work at 58 and have given the state far more than I have taken since.
When the pimply faced graduate at winz offered me a benefit at age 63 as my life partner registered for National Super I took great pride in refusing.
In Greece many are doing just that and it is still stupid is as stupid was, Intelligent beings are now suggesting raising the retirement age and rightly so.
We can’t freekin afford it and neither can Greece.
Thank all the gods for people like the Dons, both Brash and Nicholson.
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July 1, 2011 10:47am
RightNow

Luc – there’s no consensus, and you’re a halfwit for trading your scepticism for unquestioning belief, especially if John Cook’s half baked skepticalscience is all you based it on.
My Friday rant.
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July 1, 2011 10:48am
tom hunter

Did somebody mention a rant from a silly old man? Luc demonstrates for the umpteenth time that he has no sense of irony.

Heh, heh, heh.

A rant is all it can be nowadays for poor old Luc, followed by running away: the real intention having been to stir things up. Sorry Luc. Not even outrage here – just laughter at your sad position.

No Copenhagen agreement. No Kyoto II. The US Cap and Trade bill dead on arrival. Al Gore reduced to writing in The Rolling Stone and having even lefties roll their eyes. China and India laughing all the way to the marketplace. The IPCC now a standing joke. Closer to home of course we still have the ETS, but with Gillard’s Labor government going down the tubes on the back of a carbon tax plan, combined with the rest of the AGW collapse, we’ll see how long our nutty policy lasts.

The Australian example is the best demonstration of what I always said about this nonsense: that even aside from the crap science, once people had to step away from nodding in smiling, airy, agreement at suburban parties and start bearing the necessary costs, they’d soon change their minds. Even if it’s only muttered in private the terrible truth is that societies were never going to cut their own throats for such distant events built on such weak daisy chains of causality.

For all that, I’ve got money invested in most aspects of engineering connected with nuclear power plants, and they’re still cranking up across the globe – so I’m still a big supporter of tackling AGW. And remember this Luc, the overwhelming consensus of thousands of expert nuclear scientists and engineers (experts!) is that nuclear power is a safe and clean!
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July 1, 2011 11:11am
side show bob

Poor Luc perhaps he should go to Aussie and help out the academic tossers that want to ban Lord Monckton from speaking. God what intellectual giants these pullers must be, to scared to let a denier speak least he makes a mockery of their arguments. Climate change can not even be challenged now, if these so call academics had their way the Inquisition would be coming to a town near you.
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July 1, 2011 11:25am
starboard

“In a speech today to the Federated Farmers annual conference, Dr Brash has advocated for further reforms of the Resource Management Act.
Dr Brash says he is constantly regaled with horror stories of the “little Hitlers” who far too often seem to populate the lower levels of local and regional government.
He says says they throw their weight around and sometimes refuse to grant RMA consents on flimsy excuses.
The ACT leader has also attacked RMA rules that require consultation with Maori, saying communities should be consulted equally without racial preference.”

Yes ! Don you da man. Why have consultation with maori? Is their opinion better than mine? Do the aussies consult with the aborigines? Who put maori up on a pedestal?
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July 1, 2011 11:30am
Put it away

Luc can’t even talk about Federated Farmers without bringing sex into it. Is it the gumboots?
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July 1, 2011 11:39am
stephen

Brash never heard of Godwin’s Law?

A tad ironic. Wasn’t Brash complaining about comparisons to Hitler a little while ago? Full credit to Danyl for seeing that one: http://dimpost.wordpress.com/2011/06/30/dolchoss/
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July 1, 2011 11:39am
leftyliberal

I find it interesting that belief or non-belief in human-caused climate change seems so closely aligned with ones’ political belief on the left/right scale (whatever that means), with the “right” suggesting the AGW science is bunk, and the “left” suggesting the AGW deniers are bunk.

It’s obvious, therefore, that any science is irrelevant and political dogma is clearly running the show.

Call me cynical, but this implies to me that either way nothing substantial will be done, whether it needs to or not. Thus, it’ll either all blow over and a few people will make lots of money off the fear and uncertainty, or it’ll all go pear shaped with a few people making lots of money by cashing in on any half-hearted attempts to stop it. The average joe will be screwed over either way, and the amusing thing is that those making the money in both scenarios are likely the same people.
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July 1, 2011 1:04pm
Manolo

The cultured, peaceful and greedy natives want the lot:
The claimants say the Crown breached article two of the Treaty which granted Maori exclusive and undisturbed ownership of their lands and property, including all taonga.

Claims say the Crown failed to protect Maori rights of authority and guardianship over indigenous flora and fauna, Maori cultural heritage and traditional knowledge.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/5218449/Ownership-over-Maori-knowlege-to-be-decided
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July 1, 2011 1:12pm
mikenmild

Manolo

Hard to argue with those two statements.
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July 1, 2011 1:22pm
Johnboy

“Claims say the Crown failed to protect Maori rights of authority and guardianship over indigenous flora and fauna”

Too damn right they did. Typical fucken Government! Should have stopped the Murri’s eating all the Moa’s eh bro? 🙂
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July 1, 2011 1:27pm
mikenmild

Sorry Johnboy, the moa were all gone before the europeans got here. They just exterminated most of the rest of the flora and fauna.
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July 1, 2011 1:31pm
Manolo

mikenmild, just wait until someone finds the last Neanderthal, who could claim ownership of the whole planet.
Another absurd idea from the Stone Age people.
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July 1, 2011 1:33pm
Johnboy

Typical fucken Pakeha government wankers bro. Always turn up too late to help the indigenous peoples save their birthright!

Bastards! 🙂
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July 1, 2011 1:35pm
kingofthejuice

@leftyliberal (14) Says:

July 1st, 2011 at 1:04 pm
“I find it interesting that belief or non-belief in human-caused climate change seems so closely aligned with ones’ political belief on the left/right scale (whatever that means), with the “right” suggesting the AGW science is bunk, and the “left” suggesting the AGW deniers are bunk.”

There is a good reason for this, in that any action we may take to disincentivise the use of CO2 involves more legislation. I suspect that the Viking 2s and FFFs of the world would say, “Let it happen, if it happens, and see who survives. Any sentimentality about the possible destruction of the environment is irrational”
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July 1, 2011 1:36pm
mikenmild

Manolo

Good luck finding those moa and neanderthals. You could start looking for the latter among the Kiwiblog community!
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July 1, 2011 1:40pm
calendar girl

@ 10.30am: “… the economic conundrum known as the “Dutch disease” – namely, that the overwhelming success of high priced commodities causes the non-commodity sector to stagnate. One reason for this is that high commodity prices add upwards pressure on the currency, stifling other export industries. It’s happening in Australia (mining boom) and New Zealand right now and is going to be an ongoing problem for both countries.”

So, Luc, the “logic” of what you say is that the best scenario for this country would be for international dairy, timber and meat prices to trend downwards? Thanks for sharing that bit of enlightenment – you don’t even stop to think about what that would mean for the economic welfare of NZ and its individual citizens.

@ 11.30am: “The ACT leader has also attacked RMA rules that require consultation with Maori, saying communities should be consulted equally without racial preference.”

Exactly right from Brash, starboard. In my local body area (and presumably elsewhere throughout the country) the Council refers all RMA applications to local iwi as a matter of course. The latter can then choose to “engage” with any applicant, customarily letting it be known what level of “consultation fee” it expects to receive for such consultation. It beggars belief that NZ is still widely regarded internationally as corruption-free when this type of process is facilitated within our administrative legislation.
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July 1, 2011 1:43pm
starboard

“Maori rights of authority and guardianship over indigenous flora and fauna, Maori cultural heritage and traditional knowledge”

..does that include beating defenceless puppies to death with a golf club? Ahh yes maori..defenders of the sacred earth , in touch with the land and all thats on it..bawhahaha !!
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July 1, 2011 1:46pm
mikenmild

calendar gurl

You don’t understand what Luc said. In this thesis, the success of our commodity exports actually makes it harder for other NZ exports to gain traction. It’s not an argument for lowering commodity prices.

Re the RMA, if this alleged ‘corruption’ is actually occurring no doubt you will want to share the precise details.
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July 1, 2011 1:46pm
mikenmild

starboard

What have rights over flora and fauna to do with animal cruelty?
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July 1, 2011 1:47pm
leftyliberal

@kingofthejuice: It seems to me that the problem is with proposed solutions – the solution that the “left” offers is unpalatable to the “right”. So instead of coming up with an alternate solution, they instead suggest the problem does not exist.

Things would be much more fruitful if instead policy makers would stand back and say: Ok, suppose it is an issue. This is what we should do. Suppose it isn’t an issue, then we should do this.” Argue about what should be done under each scenario, rather than arguing about the existence of it when they clearly have no standing.

If we assume that AGW exists, then the ETS is our current solution. If the ETS is abhorrent, what should the alternative be?

Similarly, if we assume that AGW does not exist, then should we be having the ETS, should an alternative be used, or should we be doing nothing?

I think most folk agree that we should certainly be looking to ensure that the lifestyle we enjoy is sustainable, and indeed, that there is scope to improve it. Whether AGW exists or not, therefore, we need to ensure that we minimise the impact to that lifestyle.
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July 1, 2011 2:03pm
backster

If Don Brash gets his way and Maori don’t have to be consulted how will we find out where the Taniwha are? and will it make any difference to the workload of 28 Maori advisers employed by Len Brown?.
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July 1, 2011 2:51pm
RightNow

mikenmild: “Good luck finding those moa and neanderthals. You could start looking for the latter among the Kiwiblog community!”
You know you are part of the ‘Kiwiblog community’ mikenmild. In fact you’re currently the most prolific member (double entendre not intentional).
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July 1, 2011 3:00pm
Manolo

A lifeline for DSK? http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/01/nyregion/strauss-kahn-case-seen-as-in-jeopardy.html?_r=1&hp
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July 1, 2011 3:02pm
Rex Widerstrom

Pete George notes:

A staffer for a senior politician writes:

Without a doubt though, the best way to influence an MP is through face to face discussions. However, it is incredibly difficult to obtain a meeting even with the lowliest of backbenchers…

That stinks. And many people know it, and think it stinks.

Up till yesterday I’d have leapt in with an unqualified “hear, hear”. However yesterday I was reminded of the damage one nutter can do. As I’ve mentioned in passing before, I head Civil Liberties Australia’s WA operation. That means I get a lot of desperate people contacting me, often with unwinnable cases or on issues which have nothing at all to do with civil liberties. That’s okay, I accept I set myself up for that by taking on the role, just as an MP ought.

And most people understand when told I can’t, for whatever reason, help them. What happened yesterday was that I encountered that thankfully rare breed, the complete and utter nutter. I didn’t mind the first 15 minute unsolicited phone call, even though I had to pull over and delay my arrival at a meeting. I even agreed to receiving another call, sometime in August, when he would know when his case had been listed by the courts.

But that was clearly enough to set him off. So many calls followed, with voicemails left demanding this an that (including other people’s contact details) that I’ve had to turn off my phone. I simply don’t know if – or when – it will be safe to turn it on again. Trying to even send a text message became impossible – the phone would ring 3 or 4 times.

It reminded me of my time in Winston’s office, when people would resort to snail mail bombardment. That was bad enough, in the days when email was new and cellphones were toys of the elite, but imagine today…

Of course MPs have staff, but it’d take a full time person just to deal with one determined nutter. And there’s more than one out there, I assure you.

The only answer is filtering, of course, but that means time and money – and if it’s done automatically (say, by machine “reading” emails and trying to categorise them) then just like spam and pron filters the risk is the baby being thrown out with the sewerage water.

I guess the point I’m making (if indeed there is one in all that) is that the absolute nutters are a real danger to democracy – as much as the arrogant politician. Because an MP indicating (as Winston used to) that he or she was willing to listen acts as like a pheromone to every fruit bat out there. Their rantings clog the system, at best crippling an MP’s ability to respond and at worst giving them an excuse to ignore everyone.

Congruent with the activism that encourages greater engagement needs to come the development of tools to help elected representatives deal with the sheer volume and filter out the time wasters. There are attempts to creates this all over the internet but, to the best of my knowledge, no one has quite perfected it yet.
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July 1, 2011 3:05pm
Elaycee

RightNow says: “You know you are part of the ‘Kiwiblog community’ mikenmild. In fact you’re currently the most prolific member (double entendre not intentional).”

In fact, milkmilo has posted no fewer than 118 posts since 0800 Tuesday. 118 out of a total number of around 700 posts. FFS – 1 out of 7 posts has been ‘contributed’ by the resident moron still looking for an asylum…
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July 1, 2011 3:16pm
Elaycee

@Rex:

Maybe you could send him the message I sent to Penny at 1005 today?
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July 1, 2011 3:18pm
Johnboy

“interfere with farm animals”

What the hell is wrong with that?

I thought it was called animal husbandry! 🙂
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July 1, 2011 3:28pm
Elaycee

@johnboy: “I thought it was called animal husbandry!”

Only with the good looking ones!

😉
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July 1, 2011 3:30pm
Johnboy

I’d never consider marrying an ugly ewe Elaycee.

It was just a passing fancy with Water woman. 🙂
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July 1, 2011 3:33pm
Pete George

Rex, I understand that. That’s why I suggest different levels – the electorate MPs on the ground being the main contact point, who pass on what’s necessary to the list engine room, who pass on what’s necessary to cabinet.

So at Leader level I can see that a lot of filtering is is neccesary, but at ground level availability should take precedence.

Otherwise it’s just a far too easy cop-out – saying their time is too important to be wasted by ordinary plebs.

And note that the quote referred to “even the lowliest of backbenchers…” – what should their role be? Protecting their superiors from being tarnished by unvarnished messages? Or doing some hard yards?
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July 1, 2011 3:33pm
adze

Pete, Rex definitely has a point. I used to be employed in a small call-centre and I know how frustrating and time-wasting even a tiny percentage of nutters can be. It’s even worse when they insist on turning up in person.

Even local MPs would most likely require some sort of nutter filter.
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July 1, 2011 3:47pm
Pete George

I understand adze, but filtering has it’s own risks (and provides easy excuses for politicians) – like where the line is drawn.

Call centres keep taking calls despite a few nutters, it’s necessary for business. Psych wards don’t filter the worst patients, prisons don’t filter the worst prisoners. They deal with them.

Filtering nutters can become filtering nuisances which can become filtering time wasters which can become filtering anyone encroaching on valuable time best spent on more important things like leading the party smearing campaign against opposing MPs because they don’t spend enough time listening to ordinary people.
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July 1, 2011 4:16pm
Luc Hansen

But wait! There is hope!

Federated Farmers NEW president, Bruce Wills, according to my interpretation of a soundbite played on RadioNZ sounds just the step change our cow cockies need. Hallelujah! An ex-banker, to boot, so a very modern farmer.

As usual, the Kiwiblog village idiots play reductio ad absurdum with my comments above.

The only country in the world where there is significant division along so-called party lines is in the US, at which the rest of the world looks upon with bewilderment, but is, in fact, easily explained at a natural result of arguably the most corrupt political system in the world.

In NZ, it’s just nutters who want to hold every scientific advancement dear, and as proof of the innate superiority of humankind over the creatures of the land and the fishes of the seas, but when something inconveniently awful in its long term consequences and now considered fact in the scientific community, pops up, somehow, on this one thing, all the scientists are wrong!

Lord Monckton is winging his way to Australia as we speak. I expect Air NZ planes will be packed with adoring Kiwiblog admirers! All half a dozen?

And as for Brashian economic policies, I assume the GFC has passed them by? This was the ultimate failure of Brashism. Dear ol’ Don must avoid the news reports very carefully.

Also, the bully boys attacking the Greek people for poor government and banking practices are, again, just blaming the victims. The banks who provided all their funny money should be held to account as much, if not more, than ordinary Greeks.

Gotta go.

I’ve got a world to save!
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July 1, 2011 4:34pm
RightNow

“Gotta go.

I’ve got a world to save!”

Translation – I’m off to advocate killing pensioners by increasing their energy bills so much they can’t afford heating in winter.
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July 1, 2011 4:47pm
mikenmild

Is Lord Monckton coming to talk about climate change, his patent cures for Graves’ Disease, multiple sclerosis, influenza and herpes, or just to sue anyone who disagrees with him?
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July 1, 2011 4:52pm
nasska

Peter George

If you gave each fruitbar the time they seek you would accomplish little as an MP. That is not to say that MP’s should use this as an excuse to disengage from their electorate. To this end I would suggest that home & cellphone numbers should be kept private but no one should wait more than a couple of days for a one on one appointment.

Our local MP, a pompous man of modest ability, seems to serve his constituents reasonably well in this respect.
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July 1, 2011 4:57pm
iMP

ANGLICAN GAY-DAR: a bit like the gay community banning straights and their boy/girlfriends from gay events and gay bars because it skews the community. Hmmmm….
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July 1, 2011 5:23pm
Elaycee

The sock puppets from the Service and Food Workers Union strike again:

Stuff reports: “Meanwhile, a protest earlier today by a group of women against pay equity comments made by Mr Thompson almost didn’t go ahead because they arrived too late. About 12 men and women from the service and food workers union planned a protest outside Henderson’s Trust Stadium around midday to coincide with an EMA meeting but by the time they arrived the meeting had finished.”

12 morons turn up – but the meeting is over! And this makes the news??? Bwaaahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/5220792/Air-NZ-pulls-out-of-EMA-report
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July 1, 2011 5:31pm
Tauhei Notts

This is General Debate so I can bring up this matter.
This morning’s N.Z. Herald reported that the taxpayers are to fund the heating and insulation problems of 100 houses in the village of Ratana, near Wanganui.
Hey, that is $20,000.00 per house!
What is the rateable value of each house?
How much are their values going to be enhanced by this taxpayers’ largesse?
If the houses are not going to have their values enhanced then why is the money being spent?
Are these grants, or are they loans?
If they are loans will they be secured over each property? Will the interest rate charged be sufficient so that fringe benefit tax is not payable, as it is on low interest rate loans? Will the value of those fringe benefits be brought into the calculation of family income as the changes to that section were brought in at 1st April this year?
Apparently this theft of taxpayers’ funds has been orchestrated by their local M.P., Tariana Turia, and is part of the cost of Key’s government brown nosing the tutae tangata.
We began to expect this sort of behaviour from Helen & Co.
Memo to John Key;
………..Please put a stop to this sort of silliness. It is acceptable from the likes of Mallard, Street, Cunliffe & Co. But we expect a higher standard from your lot.
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July 1, 2011 5:41pm
Luc Hansen

RightNow (2,787) Says:
July 1st, 2011 at 10:48 am

Luc – there’s no consensus, and you’re a halfwit for trading your scepticism for unquestioning belief

As I explained above, belief is not necessary. AGW rests upon on the evidence-based approach science applies-the scientific method-that has well and truly stood the test of time.

From Tom Hunter:

such distant events built on such weak daisy chains of causality

Go and tell that to the reinsurance companies, Tom. Check their websites and see what they have to say about extreme events. In the present, Tom. Here and now, Tom. Check out the billions The Netherlands is spending on upgrading their dykes in expectation of 1 – 1.5m sea level rise this century. 2100 may seem a long way to you, Tom, but many kids born today will still be around in 2100. And hundreds of millions will have been required to retreat from the sea level rise.

More Tom Hunter:

and remember this Luc, the overwhelming consensus of thousands of expert nuclear scientists and engineers (experts!) is that nuclear power is a safe and clean!

. That’s accusing me of a position I have never held, Tom. Lies, in other words.

But until Fukushima, Tom,I thought nuclear was safe enough. Now I’m undecided, but I do understand this, it is simply impossible for nuclear power to fill the energy gap in time to prevent catastrophic change for possibly billions of people.
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July 1, 2011 6:11pm
side show bob

To right Tauhei, old Shonkey’s arm must be made of jelly.

The way Luc spins it every country looks upon us in “bewilderment”, what crap flows from his fingers. Be fucking lucky if 10% of the worlds population has even heard of New Zealand. How many of these “bewildered” countries have sign up to any sort of Climate “agreement”, very few and getting less everyday. The one’s that have signed are governed by dipstick socialists who need more and more cash to bribe their voters and to continue the socialist lie. As for ” i expect air NZ planes will be packed with adoring Kiwiblog members”, wrong again Luc, we are not like all you socialist pigs that jump on the first plane to that conference with our air fares paid for by for by the taxpayer. Unlike you we would fly Lord Monckton here, one person, making one trip, saving the planet from all those nasty carbon emissions but then it’s not about that IS IT!!!!!!!!!
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July 1, 2011 6:18pm
reid

Ben Shapiro whose dazzling new book “Primetime Propaganda: The True Hollywood Story of How the Left Took Over Your TV” scrupulously exposes how “harmless entertainment” became decidedly harmful propaganda…and, as Shapiro so well documents, a vehicle for leftist indoctrination. The fount for that subliminal propaganda is … Hollywood and its producers, screenwriters, performers and executives.

In his book Ben Shapiro shows how so many “harmless entertainment” shows were subtly changing our national culture and our mores. Programs that we watched and enjoyed were actually promoting serious challenges to our politics, our morals and our national pride. Conservatives, law enforcement, and businessmen were increasingly depicted as rubes, racist boors, and objects of scorn, while the counterculture was depicted as liberal, reasonable and superior even in seemingly apolitical sit-coms.
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July 1, 2011 6:28pm
RightNow

Luc, it’s sad that you left your critical thinking at the door of the club-room. At the very least you must see that the things being implemented are the wrong things, and the people who will suffer the most are the poor, those who normally I’d expect you to champion. They’re being pushed into energy poverty through carbon taxes and renewables subsidies.
It’s almost as if killing poor pensioners is part of the goal, did you sign on for that?
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July 1, 2011 6:28pm
tom hunter

Go and tell that to the reinsurance companies, Tom

Why on earth should I tell them that when I own shares in SwissRe and the following scenario makes me money:

Reinsurance Company: We’re going to increase our premiums massively
Luc: That’s a bit rough. Where’s the bloody justification for that?

Reinsurance Company: It’s because of Global Warming Mr Hansen
GONG! (Luc hits himself in the head):Of course. I should have thought of that. Oh well, fair enough

NOIC/GazProm/Saudi Arabian Oil Chorus: We’re going to have raise our prices too
Agribusiness: Us too
Luc Hansen: WHAT?

Chorus: It’s because of Global Warming
GONG! (Luc hits himself in the head): Oh right. Well fair enough. I’ll just dig a bit deeper in my pockets. It’s all for a good cause.

Something tells me that Luc is not a financial success.
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July 1, 2011 6:29pm
Manolo

Not all is doom and gloom in Venezuela:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/01/us-venezuela-chavez-idUSTRE75T5YI20110701
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July 1, 2011 6:31pm
Manolo

John Key, please put a stop to this sort of silliness. It is acceptable from the likes of Mallard, Street, Cunliffe & Co. But we expect a higher standard from your lot.

Wrong. The difference between Labour and Labour lite is negligible.
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July 1, 2011 6:34pm
Manolo

More taxes from Labour lite. Yes, the National Party, the party of lower taxes….yeah right!
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/liquor-duty-rises-most-20-years-ng-96379
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July 1, 2011 6:39pm
reid

But until Fukushima, Tom, I thought nuclear was safe enough. Now I’m undecided

Shit. Really? Crikey Luc, I’m surprised.

Personally I’ve done a complete 180 since Fukushima. I don’t know enough about pebble bed reactors to know if they are the only viable nuclear alternative but one thing is for sure, we are gambling with humanity if we persist in operating these old designs.

Now we also have Los Alamos, Vermont Yankee and Nebraska, as well.

We need to find an alternative, and fast, and this is exactly where the world needs not a US but a world-accepted Kennedy who sets us that goal, just as he did with them, with the moon. It is not going to happen, but imagine if we had such a leader – Mandela comes closest of our lifetimes but he’s a long way away and not just in time, from what it would really take, to do something like that, to unite the world for a goal like that.

Imagine what would happen once the entire world got behind finding viable sources of alternative energy and someone somewhere remembered that back in the twenties this guy called Tesla was doing exactly that but something happened and no-one even knows about him, anymore. Imagine what would happen if the whole world, who wasn’t going to take any bullshit, suddenly got real serious about finding out what happened to all his research papers, after they vanished from his small NY apartment, just after he died.
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July 1, 2011 6:43pm
tom hunter

Oh well. I’d love to stick around laughing at Logicless Luc, but I’ve got a party to get the family to.

I have to admit that on a cold night like this it’s tempting to just stay and home and relax in 24degrees of gas-fired, centrally heated opulence, but the party’s just around the corner so no excuses really.

All the same I think we’ll take the V8, with the heaters on full and the windows open – and in 1st gear the whole way to get the throaty rumble at just the right pitch. The little street urchins love that sound. Almost makes you want to shed a tear at their healthy, growing carbon footprints.
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July 1, 2011 6:53pm
Steve

No jokes today other than ‘International Nutters Day’ ?
Well never mind. Just so as you’re not disapointed:

Sad News

With all the sadness and trauma going on in the world at this

moment, it is worth reflecting on the death of a very important

person, which almost went unnoticed last week.

Larry LaPrise, the man that wrote “The Hokey Tokey” died

peacefully at the age of 93. The most traumatic part for his family

was getting him into the coffin. They put his left leg in. And then

the trouble started.

Shut up. You know it’s funny.

Now send it on to someone else and make them smile.
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July 1, 2011 6:59pm
nasska

There was once an old man and a parrot living all alone together for like 40 years.
One day, the parrot came to the old man and said, “you know, I’ve never had a female in my life.”
So the old man, as a favour to his best friend, went to the pet store and talked the owner into letting him use a hen parrot for one night for the fee of 40 dollars.
He took the female home, put it into the cage with his parrot, covered the cage and went to bed. He was awoken in the middle of the night to the female parrot screaming she was being killed.
He ran out and pulled the cover off the cage. There he saw his male parrot ripping all the feathers off of the female. “What are you doing?” the old man screamed.
The parrot replied, “Are you kidding, for 40 dollars, I at least want the bitch naked!”
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July 1, 2011 7:07pm
Pauleastbay

On fame:

In Paris I sat beside a man on a park bench over looking a river and struck up a conversation and he said.

“Ah, monsieur, I Pierre, built zat bridge. I have built dozens of bridges. But do they call me Pierre ze bridge builder? Zey do not

But suck one cock…….”
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July 1, 2011 7:07pm
Viking2

kingofthejuice (30) Says:
July 1st, 2011 at 1:36 pm

@leftyliberal (14) Says:

July 1st, 2011 at 1:04 pm
“I find it interesting that belief or non-belief in human-caused climate change seems so closely aligned with ones’ political belief on the left/right scale (whatever that means), with the “right” suggesting the AGW science is bunk, and the “left” suggesting the AGW deniers are bunk.”

There is a good reason for this, in that any action we may take to disincentivise the use of CO2 involves more legislation. I suspect that the Viking 2s and FFFs of the world would say, “Let it happen, if it happens, and see who survives. Any sentimentality about the possible destruction of the environment is irrational”

Can’t answer for FFF but will say that you are full of shit at the best of times juicequeen. Basic science that has been known for about 200 years says, that matter cannot be created. It can be changed and that’s all that is happening. Its just a natural cycle that you and your nincompoop friends have failed to recognize and accept as part of life. We can’t change it by anything we do unless you and your idiot friends know how to stop volcanoes spewing forth, plants rotting and eventually becoming oil, people bring born and people dieing.
Wars have killed more people and currently road deaths kill more people than an excess of CO2 will. If there is too much the plants will use it and create more oxygen. Unfortunately the likes of you take up too much of that oxygen now. And produce bugger all for the use.

Noiw piss off you little controller. Come back when you have grown up and have a better intellect.
And for your information I was planting pine tress (CO@ users before your father even had a twinkle in his eye. Pity that came and bought a dummy like you along.).
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July 1, 2011 7:08pm
Steve

I THINK WE ALL KNOW SOME PEOPLE LIKE THIS. DON’T WE?!

Stupid people should have to wear signs that just say, “I’m
Stupid.” That way you wouldn’t rely on them, would you? You wouldn’t ask
them anything. It would be like, “Excuse me… oops, never mind. Didn’t see
your sign”

It’s like before my wife and I moved.Our house was full of boxes and there was a Wridgeways truck in our driveway. My neighbour comes over and says, “Hey, you moving?”
“Nope. We just pack our stuff up once or twice a week to see how
many boxes it takes.
Here’s your sign.”

A couple of months ago I went fishing with a mate of mine, we pulled his boat into the ramp, I lifted up this big whiting and this idiot on the ramp goes,
“Hey, you catch all them fish?” “Nope. Talked ’em into giving up.
Here’s your sign.”

I was watching one of those animal shows on the Discovery Channel.
There was a guy inventing a shark bite suit. And there’s only one way to test it.
“Alright Jimmy, you got that shark suit on, it looks good…
They want you to jump into this pool of sharks, and you tell us if it hurts
when they bite you.”
“Well, all right, but hold my sign. I don’t wanna lose it”.

Last time I had a flat tyre, I pulled my car into a gas station. The attendant walks out, looks at my car, looks at me, and I SWEAR he said,
“Tyre go flat?” I couldn’t resist. I said, “Nope. I was driving around and
those other three just swelled up on me.
Here’s your sign.”

We were trying to sell our car about a year ago. A guy came over to the house and drove the car around for about 45 minutes. We get back to the house, he gets out of the car, reaches down and grabs the exhaust pipe, then says, “Shit, that’s hot!”
See? If he’d been wearing his sign, I could have stopped him.

I learned to drive an semi-trailer in my days of adventure. Wouldn’t you know I misjudged the height of a bridge. The truck got stuck and I couldn’t get it out no matter how I
tried. I radioed in for help and eventually a cop shows up to take the
report. He went through his basic questioning. Ok.. No problem. I thought sure he was clear of needing a sign…until he asked “So. Is your truck stuck?” I couldn’t help myself!
I looked at him, looked back at the rig and then back to him and said “No I’m delivering a bridge…
Here’s your sign.”

I stayed late at work one night and a co-worker looked at me
and said “Are you still here?” I replied, “No. I left about 10 minutes ago.
Here’s your sign.”

Anybody you know need a sign today?
Send this to all your friends.
The next time someone says something stupid ask them where their
sign is..
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July 1, 2011 7:10pm
Johnboy

Good news at last! 🙂

Netherlands Abandoning Multiculturalism

by Thomas Lifson

In a landmark turnabout, one of the cornerstones of contemporary liberalism is being rejected by one of the fountainheads of liberalism. The politically correct doctrine of multiculturalism is heading for decline, as Holland, one of the most socially liberal societies on earth, is reversing its former policy of multiculturalism. Soeren Kern, writing for Hudson New York, covers an important story that has gotten almost no notice from the American media, which wishes to pretend that multiculturalism works just fine:

A new integration bill (covering letter and 15-page action plan), which Dutch Interior Minister Piet Hein Donner presented to parliament on June 16, reads: “The government shares the social dissatisfaction over the multicultural society model and plans to shift priority to the values of the Dutch people. In the new integration system, the values of the Dutch society play a central role. With this change, the government steps away from the model of a multicultural society.”
The letter continues: “A more obligatory integration is justified because the government also demands that from its own citizens. It is necessary because otherwise the society gradually grows apart and eventually no one feels at home anymore in the Netherlands. The integration will not be tailored to different groups.”
The new integration policy will place more demands on immigrants. For example, immigrants will be required to learn the Dutch language, and the government will take a tougher approach to immigrants to ignore Dutch values or disobey Dutch law.
The government will also stop offering special subsidies for Muslim immigrants because, according to Donner, “it is not the government’s job to integrate immigrants.” The government will introduce new legislation that outlaws forced marriages and will also impose tougher measures against Muslim immigrants who lower their chances of employment by the way they dress. More specifically, the government will impose a ban on face-covering Islamic burqas as of January 1, 2013.
This occurred just a day before a Dutch court acquitted Geert Wilders of defaming Islam by, in part, reading from the Koran. It looks as though common sense is triumphing in one of the nations which led the western world down the path of political correctness. It is hard to overstate the potential importance of this development for societies elsewhere, including the United States.
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July 1, 2011 7:11pm
Steve

No more after this:

Adam was hanging around the Garden of Eden, feeling very lonely. So God asked him “What’s wrong with you?”
Adam said he didn’t have anyone to talk to.

God said that He was going to make Adam a companion and that it would be a woman. He said “This pretty lady will gather food for you, she will cook for you and, when you discover clothing, she will wash it for you. She will always agree with every decision you make; she will not nag you and will be always the first to admit she was wrong when you’ve had a disagreement. She will praise you! She will bear your children and never ask you to get up in the middle of the night to take care of them. She will never have a headache and will freely give you love and passion whenever you need it?

Adam asked God, “What will a woman like this cost?”
God replied, “An arm and a leg”
Then Adam asked, “What can I get for a rib?”
Of course the rest is history….
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July 1, 2011 7:12pm
thedavincimode

Tom

FFS, if you fired up a coal burner you could be enjoying a balmy 28 degrees, the Hawaiian shirt, board shorts & pina thingamies.
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July 1, 2011 7:19pm
Johnboy

Sonia the hooker loved the All blacks and got a tattoo of Sonny Bill on one thigh and a tattoo of Richie McCaw on the other.

On her first trading night after the tattooing she picked up a customer and proud of her recent decoration said. ” If you can tell me the names of the All Black tattoos the shag is free”.

The John scratched his head and said, “I’m buggered if I know who the two on each of your thighs are but the long shaggy haired bloke with the juju lips in the middle must be Ma’a Nonu”.
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July 1, 2011 7:23pm
nasska

Everyday, a hen owned by a Maori man would lay an egg in his garden which was used as his daily breakfast. One day, he looked into his garden only to find that the hen laid her egg in the next door Samoan fellow’s garden.

He was about to go next door when saw the Samoan rush out of the house to pick up the egg for himself. The Maori ran up to the Samoan and told him that the egg belonged to him because he owned the hen. The Samoan disagreed because the egg was laid on his property.

They argued for a while until finally the Maori said, “ In Aotearoa we normally solve disputes by the following method. I kick you in the nuts and time how long it takes you to get back up, and then you kick me in the nuts and time how long it takes me to get up. Whoever gets up the quickest wins the egg.

The Samoan thought for a moment and noticed that the Maori was only wearing barefeet. He then looked at his own feet, which boasted a shiny pair of new Nike Basketball boots.

He quickly agreed to resolve the dispute, “Maori Style”.

The Maori took a few steps back and kicked the Samoan in the balls as hard as he could. The Samoan fell to the ground clutching himself and howled in agony for 30 minutes. Eventually, the Samoan stood up and said; “Now it’s my turn to kick you.”

The Maori shrugged his shoulders and said, “Nahh, you can keep the egg!
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July 1, 2011 7:31pm
nasska

reid

How’s Firefox & RPI going?
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July 1, 2011 7:42pm
calendar girl

Luc @4.34pm: “Also, the bully boys attacking the Greek people for poor government and banking practices are, again, just blaming the victims.”

Somebody other than the Greek people is responsible for the poor Government the people elected in a Democratic election?
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July 1, 2011 7:42pm
Steve

@ reid

Could be fucking mental, but I was born with a sense of humour. It helps 🙂
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July 1, 2011 7:45pm
reid

Yeah it was a joke Steve then I thought could be misinterpreted so deleted but no offence meant, hope none taken.

nasska, who’s Penny?
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July 1, 2011 7:49pm
Johnboy

Manolo: “Not all is doom and gloom in Venezuela:”

Perhaps we shall see slogans like this again in Latin America:

“Congressman Ernesto Sammartino mused that Perón’s voters were a “zoological flood” (aluvión zoológico).[31] In the 1940s, upper-class students were the first to oppose Peronist workers, with the slogan: “No to cheap shoe dictatorship” (No a la dictadura de las alpargatas). A graffiti revealing the strong opposition between Peronists and anti-Peronists appeared in upper-class districts in the 1950s, “Long live cancer!” (¡Viva el cáncer!), when Eva Perón was ill.[32] She died of cervical cancer in 1952 at the age of thirty-three.[33]”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Per%C3%B3n
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July 1, 2011 7:57pm
nasska

A man met a beautiful lady and he decided he wanted to marry
her right away. She said, “But we don’t know anything about
each other.” He said, “That’s all right, we’ll learn about
each other as we go along.”

So she consented, and they were married, and went on a
honeymoon to a very nice resort. So one morning they were
lying by the pool, when he got up off of his towel, climbed
up to the 10 Meter board and did a two and a half tuck
gainer, this followed by a three rotations in jackknife
position, where he straightened out and cut the water like
a knife. After a few more demonstrations, he came back and
laid down on the towel.

She said, “That was incredible!” He said, “I used to be an
Olympic diving champion. You see, I told you we’d learn more
about ourselves as we went along.”

So she got up, jumped in the pool, and started doing laps.
After about thirty laps she climbed back out and laid down
on her towel hardly out of breath. He said, “That was
incredible! Were you an Olympic endurance swimmer?” “No,”
she said, “I was a hooker in Venice and I worked both sides
of the canal.
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July 1, 2011 7:57pm
side show bob

One from the daughter.

What do you call a sleep walking nun?
A roaming Catholic.
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July 1, 2011 8:01pm
Steve

none taken reid, enjoy the weekend like I will
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July 1, 2011 8:01pm
reid

Explicatious to the max, baby…

http://www.eurekareport.com.au/iis/iis.nsf/webkohlersgraphs?readform
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July 1, 2011 8:26pm
Pauleastbay

explicatious

Word of the day Reid, top marks
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July 1, 2011 8:31pm
krazykiwi

@calendar girl – The real blame lies with socialist politicians from successive governments who, lusting after power, were happy to outdo each other bribing voters with someone elses money. It’s the same in Greece too 🙂
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July 1, 2011 9:36pm
calendar girl

KK – yep, but put the blame squarely on the punters for encouraging the bribes. We in New Zealand are the same as the Greeks, allowing politicians to bribe us (as you say) with our own money.

If we aspire to live in a true democracy, we have to find a way to break the nexus between party votes and welfare handouts. A good way to start would be reducing the number of welfare beneficiaries drastically (say, by 50%) over a brief period of about 5 years. And do the same with outstanding student loans that extend more than 3 years beyond graduation or education dropout.
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July 1, 2011 10:12pm
krazykiwi

@CG – yes but how should we prevent the lollie scramble electoral cycle restarting? The only thing I could think of would be a constitution which limited the size of the state to, say, less than 30% of the economy. But I don’t trust any politician to build a constitution that puts the welfare of our nation ahead of their personal aspirations. As Greece is discovering a sovereign nation that can’t afford it’s lifestyle expectation becomes less sovereign as funders start directing domestic fiscal policy. That kinda makes ‘sovereignty’ the final asset to be liquidated .. and then what’s left? Certainly no sovereignty and no democracy!
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July 1, 2011 10:42pm
lilman

For Fucks Sake, Luc Hansan blowing more fucking hot air about GlobalWarming ,just what the world needs.
Some one shoot me!!!!!!!!!!!!
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July 1, 2011 11:40pm
Manolo

Johnboy: Tu castellano es de primera categoria (Your Spanish is superb) 😀
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July 2, 2011 7:30am
calendar girl

KK, I agree with everything you say in that comment – especially your prescient warning about the inevitable loss of national sovereignty for countries that fail or refuse to live within their means. It would take great leadership to sell that notion to the NZ electorate, though. Our dumbed-down media are generally capable only of equating potential loss of sovereignty to “selling the family silver” – usually applied to normal transactions such as a sale to overseas interests of a handful of farms in liquidation, or of a controlled minority interest in Auckland Airport. After all we’re a nation of trade and investment protectionists at heart, possibly xenophobes as well.

There’s great merit in your suggestion of a constitutional mechanism to prevent party political lolly scrambles. A provision restricting Government expenditure to (say) 30% of GDP might require a couple of qualifications to make it totally workable; for example, most would recognise the following as being necessary and reasonable:
– parallel limitations on borrowing;
– spending limit to apply over a rolling 3-year period;
– spending limit able to be set aside for a maximum of two successive years with the agreement of a super-majority (two-thirds?) of the House. This would allow flexibility for extreme conditions such as war or the Christchurch earthquake.
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July 2, 2011 2:47pm
wat dabney

“The Center for American Progress, often called the think tank for the Obama White House, recently recommended another increase to $8.25 an hour. Though the U.S. unemployment rate is 9.1%, the thinkers assert that a rising wage would “stimulate economic growth to the tune of 50,000 new jobs.” So if the government orders employers to pay more to hire workers when they’re already not hiring, they’ll somehow hire more workers. By this logic, if we raised the minimum wage to $25 an hour we’d have full employment. ”

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304447804576411903821123330.html?mod=rss_opinion_main
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July 2, 2011 3:41pm

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This Weeks Email To Prime Minister Luxon.
No Minister
Daily review 22/11/2024
The Standard
Do the KCs believe in democracy
Utopia
More young offenders will get boot camp, bus drivers will get some protection – and there’s relief for southern farmers
Point of Order
Sowell says
Hompaddock
New Zealand government urged to back ICC arrest warrants for Israeli leaders without equivocation
The Daily Blog
The transgender agenda sunk Kamala
Bob McCoskrie's McBlog
SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT
No Punches Pulled (Bob Jones)
What does “reciprocity” mean in New Zealand laws?
Croaking Cassandra
A Day of Reckoning
NZCPR
Media Link: “A View from Afar” on the US elections.
Kiwipolitico
This will not end well
Offsetting Behaviour
Top 14 Predictions for Round 10
Stats Chat
Tory Whanau may have to sell Wellington mayoralty to make ends meet
The Civilian
The Accidental Engagement
Imperator Fish
Legal Beagle: Election '23: The Special Votes
Public Address
Making this movie might have been a mistake
Liam Hehir
Why I am retiring from political blogging
Kiwi FireWalker