General Debate 25 March 2017

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holysheet

Mrs Holy and I have recently returned from a weeks holiday in the south of the South Island. In our travels we went out to Milford Sound. While waiting in the line of cars to enter the Homer tunnel, we heard this squawking on the road side. We both looked out and saw two Keas.
Now I am not one to infer anything, but it was at the same time “Kea” was banned from KiwiBlog.

Squawking and making a nuisance of themselves seems to be the modus operandi for ALL Keas.
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March 25, 2017 8:05am
- Biscuit
  
  Did you catch any glimpses of the Lesser Spotted Penny on your travels, holy?
  
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  March 25, 2017 9:56am
  - holysheet
    
    No but I heard the distant cry of the banded stupid dodo.
    
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    March 25, 2017 10:32am
    - ztev
      
      Soon to be extinct ,like the blue crested rick prick ?-
      
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      March 25, 2017 10:33am
      - holysheet
        
        There you go ztev, like the true liabore fuckwit you are.
        Your hatred for anyone who has got off their arse and done something successful in their life, is really showing with your “rich prick” comment.
        
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        March 25, 2017 11:10am
      - RF
        
        Holysheet. Sorry down ticked you.
        
        I was going to ask if ztev is Michael Cullens love child.
        
        Some of their comments are identical.
        
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        March 25, 2017 4:26pm
Longknives

http://www.stuff.co.nz/oddstuff/90811493/Boys-became-girls-inside-became-outside-at-Eltham-Schools-Opposites-Day

“The idea, initially suggested by a group of 12 and 13 year olds, saw boys dressed as girls and girls as boys..”

I call bullshit! This was clearly the idea of some bone-carving wearing Lefty Teacher..
*Can you imagine young Teenage Boys wanting to do this?
Look I don’t care if people want to cross-dress and become Trannys as adults but the idea of relentlessly pushing this agenda onto confused, pubescent kids just sits uncomfortably with me..
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March 25, 2017 8:13am
MCos

In 1961, in the days when the slide rule was king, JFK promised that America would put a man on the moon before the decade was out.
Which they did.
Yesterday the ever caution English administration promised to have a train to Auckland International Airport in thirty years.
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March 25, 2017 8:16am
- peterwn
  
  Like Te Kaha (East Coast) electricity supply. Locals asked the County Chairman when they were getting electricity – ‘never’ was the response. Later on they asked again – ‘when man lands on the moon’. That prediction was spot on.
  
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  March 25, 2017 8:25am
  - mikenmild
    
    Sounds apocryphal, like Neil Armstrong’s “Good luck, Mr Gorsky.”
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_11_in_popular_culture
    
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    March 25, 2017 8:29am
  - Biscuit
    
    Peter, Moscow was having power problems when we were there late last year.
    
    There was a joke doing the rounds:
    
    Q: What did folk in Moscow use for power before Putin came into power?
    A: Electricity
    
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    March 25, 2017 9:58am
- Paulus Gnome
  
  Soooooo, what’s going to give for this latest flight of fantasy and offering on the altar to the train God?
  
  My pick, is that the 220,0000 people who live on and above the Northshore, will see the second crossing bridge disappear.
  
  Congestion on Dominion Road is nothing compared to the chaos that is the weekday commute on the SH1 Auckland northern motorway from 6.00 am almost everyday.
  
  Comments on here sometimes contain offers of someone having a bridge to sell, if said bridge is still available, could they pitch it to the gummermint please.
  
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  March 25, 2017 8:52am
  - MCos
    
    I very rarely stray to the feral wasteland beyond the bridge. I think the best thing for all concerned would be a great big beautiful wall that would force the people up there to find work locally rather than clog up the streets of the CBD with their Japanese imports.
    Maybe they could start up a slide rule factory . . .
    
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    March 25, 2017 10:06am
- cmm
  
  I often point out that engineering has declined since the age of the sliderule.
  
  Every single useful plane in the US military comes from the age of the slide rule. Everything designed since then has been a dismal failure.
  
  Slide rules force you to actually think about the numbers and what they mean. Computers and simulations not so much.
  
  And before you think I’m a Luddite, I design computer systems. However, I can still remember how to use a slide rule.
  
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  March 25, 2017 8:54am
  - Kea
    
    cmm, yes snotty youngsters are pretty good at talking themselves up, but all the good stuff was designed in the 50’s.
    
    I am struggling to think of anything ground breaking or original designed in recent decades. And no kiddies FB and other crap does not count.
    
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    March 25, 2017 9:19am
    - itstricky
      
      struggling to think of anything ground breaking or original designed in recent decades
      
      And… that’s it. The grumpy old men have officially raided and taken over KB this morning.
      
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      March 25, 2017 9:30am
      - Kea
        
        “The grumpy old men have officially raided and taken over KB this morning”
        
        itstricky, Send an angry tweet about it kid. To show how great you are with technology.
        
        Way more techy than space exploration or building the SR-71. Social media and selfies are your contribution to humanity. Nothing of any substance has been created.
        
        So much fail. LOL 🙂
        
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        March 25, 2017 10:44am
    - Fletch
      
      The iPhone?
      
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      March 25, 2017 11:32am
      - Kea
        
        Fletch, nothing new. A stupid little over rated trinket. A good example of how marketing bs has taken over from substance.
        
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        March 25, 2017 1:49pm
      - Lucia Maria
        
        Smartphones have made a tremendous impact on the world. They’ve opened up the ability for people to report on events in their part of the globe and upload them almost immediately to the internet for dissemination. Donald Trump even credits Twitter, and by association the smartphone to helping him win the presidency.
        
        Putin obviously doesn’t like the smartphone – too much power in the hands of the little people.
        
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        March 25, 2017 3:18pm
  - ztev
    
    Largish computers were in use for aircraft design from the late 50s. Of course they had the same computing power as the cheapest phone, but they made the most of it. The other way they made the most of the circumstances was with very complex equations derived from years of experience to aid their designs. Now days with computers you can use simple equations repeated millions of times
    
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    March 25, 2017 9:27am
    - Kea
      
      Just as they do with “climate science”. All done with computer games.
      
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      March 25, 2017 9:30am
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        Yep,
        
        and even though one or two teams are beginning to explain how they keep tweaking their climate models, they all still remain a mass of fudged data.
        http://notrickszone.com/#sthash.g3OwHMq6.7xnN8meh.dpbs
        
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        March 25, 2017 9:39am
      - itstricky
        
        Whip out your sliderule and show us the counter evidence on it.
        
        I’ll wait for you to buy some more parchment and ink for your quill but would you mind faxing it to us, just to get it distributed out a bit quicker?
        
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        March 25, 2017 9:42am
    - cmm
      
      “Largish computers were in use for aircraft design from the late 50s. Of course they had the same computing power as the cheapest phone, but they made the most of it”
      
      The large computers of the 50s had way, way, less processing power than the cheapest candy-bar phone you can get today.
      
      “The other way they made the most of the circumstances was with very complex equations derived from years of experience to aid their designs. Now days with computers you can use simple equations repeated millions of times”
      
      Not true at all. The computational abilities of the past severely limited the complexity of the operations that could be performed.
      
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      March 25, 2017 9:46am
      - ztev
        
        Thats what I said. Anyway , first order calculations had been previously done by hand, often taking weeks with various mechanical calculators. They were easiest to computerise.
        Nowdays they seem to use computer power to create pretty pictures , when all you used to get was a box full of printouts.
        Like those results of the kaikoura earthquakes, half the research effort is the computer graphics. Actual findings -‘Its complicated ‘
        Nowdays Einsteins work would be rejected as not creating a compelling picture
        
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        March 25, 2017 10:44am
      - Kea
        
        Nowdays Einsteins work would be rejected as not creating a compelling picture
        
        He would also need to link his work to climate change and include anti Trump statements. And acknowledge the contribution of disabled black Muslim lesbian solo mums.
        
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        March 25, 2017 10:50am
  - wiseowl
    
    I still have a slide rule in my draw.
    
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    March 25, 2017 10:16am
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      Ours are in my drawers.
      
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      March 25, 2017 11:09am
      - Don the Kiwi
        
        😆
        
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        March 25, 2017 8:16pm
      - mikenmild
        
        Is that a slide rule in Don’s pocket, or is he pleased to see Maggy?
        
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        March 25, 2017 8:21pm
Huevon

I’m hearing quite a bit of support for Jacinda Ardern around the traps…especially from people who should know better.
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March 25, 2017 8:17am
- holysheet
  
  What traps are you frequenting?
  Angry and airhead are well suited. It’s just that one is the rider and the other is the ridden. She is not called Our little pony for nothing.
  
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  March 25, 2017 8:22am
  - Huevon
    
    Banks, property developers, law firms…hence the concern.
    
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    March 25, 2017 9:19am
  - Inandout
    
    Imagine if our politicians’ past were subjected to intense scrutiny, as in the US. Many Labour MPs have traditionally never had a real job outside Parliament, and have swanned around various universities. Students are notorious for indulging in pleasures of the flesh; say no more.
    
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    March 25, 2017 9:39am
    - mikenmild
      
      Just because you spent your student days taking drugs and giving old men head for money doesn’t mean it was true for everyone.
      
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      March 25, 2017 9:59am
    - SGA
      
      Students are notorious for indulging in pleasures of the flesh; say no more.
      
      You say that as though it’s a bad thing (and that it’s limited to students – lol)
      
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      March 25, 2017 10:17am
      - Inandout
        
        Ah, but when it relates to ‘up and coming’ politicians….
        
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        March 25, 2017 11:17am
      - SGA
        
        … then what? (all I’m ‘getting’ is that you’re a tad salacious)
        
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        March 25, 2017 11:49am
Longknives

More arrests in relation to the Westminster Terror attack.
And seemingly ISIS links..
One wonders will we get a retraction/apology from Hilary and Jack on TVNZ who rushed to report to us that this guy was a “Lone Wolf”??
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March 25, 2017 8:21am
- G152
  
  Wont happen.
  It’s against their agenda.
  Fake news or nothing
  
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  March 25, 2017 8:25am
- krazykiwi
  
  Yup
  
  LONDON (REUTERS, AFP) – British police said on Friday (March 24) they have made two further significant arrests in the investigation into the attack on London’s parliament.
  
  “We have made two further significant arrests overnight,” counter-terrorism commander Mark Rowley said, confirming that there are currently nine people in total in custody over the attack.
  
  One woman arrested earlier was released on bail.
  
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  March 25, 2017 9:06am
  - kowtow
    
    The authorities know who these people are and are quite happy for them to wander about planning mayhem while they themselves are guarded behind high walls and fences by masses of police , police who don’t patrol the streets of the towns and estates where the victims live and come from.
    The same authorities have heavily armed police on hand to protect themselves and their interests but pass laws to remove firearms from the law abiding public and are very quick to prosecute people who do use firearms to protect themselves.
    They bring in the scum of the third world, house , educate and provide free health to them while working citizens pay taxes and queue endlessly for gummint “services”.
    They lead prayer services for the victims while they send the military to do their dirty work or to bring in even more unassimilatables and having done their dirty work the politicians are happy to allow tax money to be used to investigate and prosecute those same soldiers.
    And then they pass laws to make it very dangerous to express your concerns about what those same politicians are doing to the west.
    Welcome to the west , beacon of liberty to the Muslim world .
    
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    March 25, 2017 9:36am
- simpleton1
  
  No not lone wolf ! ! !
  
  It is the KNOWN WOLF.
  
  The police knew of him.
  Prison knew of him, having been sentenced at least 3 differing times just for assaults and stabbing.
  MI5 Intelligience probed and knew of him, but did not keep him on the list of the other 3,000 they monitor.
  And in some damm secret room of a mosque, they knew of him.
  
  He was a follower of Mohammad, imbibing deeply of all of Mohammad’s advice and actions, which many of us do know of.
  
  The KNOWN WOLF supported/enabled by a pack of wolves.
  
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  March 25, 2017 10:20am
  - Paulus
    
    Whilst arrested a number of times does not appear to have been jailed as far as I can find.
    
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    March 25, 2017 11:16am
    - simpleton1
      
      Some serious offenses and he spent time in 3 different prisons,
      
      His first conviction was for criminal damage in November 1983, when he was just 19.
      His last was for an attack in 2003, where he stabbed a 22-year-old man in the face, leaving him slumped in the driveway of a nursing home in Eastbourne. The victim was left needing cosmetic surgery after the vicious attack.
      Masood is understood to have spent time in Lewes jail in East Sussex, Wayland prison in Norfolk and Ford open prison in West Sussex, The Times reported.
      He was sentenced to two years for wounding in 2000 and sent back to jail in 2003 for the attack in Eastbourne.
      Masood had never been convicted of terror offences, although Theresa May revealed this morning that he had been on MI5’s radar a number of years ago.
      
      Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4340858/Armed-police-seal-Birmingham-ongoing-incident.html#ixzz4cHiAFNxp
      
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      March 25, 2017 11:26am
oldpark

Hager the Horrible and his associates.should be careful what they wish for. Recently a so called British Human Rights Lawyer was struck off for bringing “false abuse claims” against British Soldiers in Iraq. He was called a traitor for aiding and abetting our enemies. Seems he was out to denigrate British Soldiers,while like most Lawyers ,getting rich at the soldiers expense,Afghanistan has also been mentioned about trumped up allegations about war crimes.
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March 25, 2017 8:34am
- oldpark
  
  Struck off British Lawyers name is Philip Shine,who incidentally is being sued for millions of pounds,for his nefarious actitivies. Go figure.
  
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  March 25, 2017 8:50am
  - holysheet
    
    With this latest so called book only good for wiping dog shit off my shoes, anyone wanting to get money out of Hager will be shit out of luck.
    It will be found in the $2 bin at the red shed soon.
    
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    March 25, 2017 9:02am
- Paulus Gnome
  
  I heard the figure of £31 million for the enquiry. Perhaps part of the busted grapes plan is to inflict maximum inconvenience, expense and embarrassment for the Government for the cost of a trashy novella offering.
  
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  March 25, 2017 9:01am
- niggly
  
  At the lawyers press conference yesterday when asked by Radio NZ they said that the villagers had approached Jon Stephenson for help and he put them onto lawyers Deborah Manning and co. So much for Stephenson being an impartial journalist reporting then, he is colluding in a hit-job on the SAS’s credibility. (Do we see international reporters eg BBC, CNN, ABC etc impartially advocating on their story subjects behalf like Stephenson)?
  
  Then to cap it all off the lawyers admit when asked that they have been acting for the villagers since last September. Talk about further collusion with Hager’s and Stephenson’s hit-job when they hold their press conference just after the book release.
  
  Anyway whilst I have every sympathy for innocents being killed unnecessarily I am uncomfortable with Hager’s/Stephenson’s and now Manning’s misleading portrayal of the villagers being simple folk when it appears that these were villages that some insurgents came from. Even on Thursday Wayne Mapp stated that passing NZDF patrols were often fired upon from the vicinity of the villages.
  
  The other interesting aspect of the NZ lawyer’s claim on behalf of the villagers is that usually ISAF pays compensation to the families of innocents killed so did that not already happen as a result of those earlier ISAF investigations? If not, then why not, shouldn’t the NZ lawyers be looking at that first?
  
  Finally it looks like the family of the deceased Lt O’Donnell have spoken up in disgust at the Hager/Stephenson hit-job.
  
  “If the allegations are in any way accurate, we are confused and upset as to why the evidence was not presented to the appropriate authorities as pure evidence.
  
  “The publishing of this book appears to be a money-making venture that seeks fame for the authors, and attempts to blacken the reputations of more than a few people including very courageous defence personnel who repeatedly get in harms way for New Zealand.”,
  
  http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/90835154/family-of-killed-sas-soldier-tim-odonnell-back-new-zealand-defence-force
  
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  March 25, 2017 10:39am
- Paulus
  
  I understand that the SAS soldier who is in the muck with Hager and Co was not there at the time at all.
  I assume frustrated poor one time SAS soldier (like little bald NZ First one) with an axe to grind.
  I see that Mother Theresa Manning etc have been up to their armpits in this for many months since later last year.
  
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  March 25, 2017 11:20am
- Kabull
  
  Very interesting explanation of the law around investigations of this nature by Graeme Edgler here: https://publicaddress.net/legalbeagle/a-war-crimes-inquiry-or-why-nicky-hager-is/
  
  Something that all the ignorant talking mouths in the media – and some so-called legal experts – should pause and consider. But none will …
  
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  March 25, 2017 12:29pm
  - niggly
    
    Thanks for the link, that’s a very interesting and clear headed analysis of the legal situation indeed from Mr Edgler.
    
    I also note some of the inaccuracies/falsehoods being peddled by Hager/Stephenson to frame their narrative (in the book quotations provided), which is typical of Hager’s writing in general which can be summarised as “take some facts, then apply personal bias to reach conclusions”). Eg:
    
    Hager: “The SAS and their US allies attacked villages of civilians with helicopter gunships and SAS snipers, killing and injuring innocent people. Confident in their ability to keep everything secret, they needlessly burned and blew up home. “
    
    David Fisher (NZH) interview with SAS member’s explanation: “As part of the normal assault, flash-bang grenades – sometimes called stun grenades – were thrown into the houses before the soldiers entered. He said it was a flash-bang grenade, which sparked fires. This contrasts with Hit & Run’s claim that the fires were deliberately sparked, apparently by soldiers firing bullets into cotton mattresses and curtains.”
    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11824213
    In other words, the burning down of houses (in the first village) was not deliberate revenge as Hager makes it out to be.
    
    Also in terms of Hager stating that SAS snipers killed two innocents (making it sound deliberate),in Henry Cookes Fairfax article he explains the two villagers ran towards a SAS sniper position in the hills (at night) and naturally the SAS fired at them thinking they were being rushed at. A perfectly understandable (but tragic) outcome, which isn’t a “war crime’ as Hager alleges.
    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/90801107/six-questions-we-can-answer-about-the-sas-incident-and-three-we-cant
    
    In later book quotations provided in Mr Edgler’s article, we learn what Hager’s true intentions are about. Hager is an isolationist and since the 198o’s he has advocated for NZ to cut ties with the US military … which is what he states his book he wishes for the NZSAS to no longer work with the US military.
    
    Hager is (and always has been) a partisan activist who writes books to suit his political worldview, not some sort of impartial, honest and reliable “investigative journalist”!
    
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    March 25, 2017 1:18pm
    - Kabull
      
      Hagar and Stephensons’ intentions are more specific. They want the NZDF destroyed and brought under a ‘control’ regime that is impossible for a military force. I’ve just skimmed through the pages of the book (no – I didn’t pay for it; I took advantage of having to wait while Her Indoors was shopping next to Paper Plus!) and they devote most of the last chapter to setting out their vision for getting rid of senior officers with an SAS background, introducing an inspector-general like the IG of Security, and having all NZDF decisions being subject to external scrutiny. You get the drift …
      Hagar has always been trying to overhaul the military machine, as is evidenced by all his books since the 1990s. Stephenson has a personal distaste for the Army in particular, and his writings since the start of New Zealand’s involvement in Afghanistan have been biased that way.
      I think it is distasteful that these two have named so many senior personnel in their book, without having given any of them an opportunity to speak or defend themselves. Talk about being one-sided.
      And that they brought Deborah Manning and her crowd into the picture over six months ago and encouraged them to ‘investigate’ providing legal support for the ‘families’ affected stinks. If they really believed a crime had been committed that should have passed all their material to the Police. However, their having taken this course may well have prejudiced any opportunity for legal proceedings to be brought.
      
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      March 25, 2017 3:57pm
Dave_1924

I see the “he was crazy” meme is being pushed regarding the Isalmic terrorist murderer who tried to attack the UK Parliament…

Seriously they trot out the same bloody line time after time after time after time after time….

And this time its just the old next door neighbour saying it….at least the sub editor had the sense to make it a paragraph heading not the headline… maybe the press are learning to be a little more subtle…

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11825336
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March 25, 2017 8:39am
- Padriv Ustoev
  
  Crazy for Allah’s love more like it! Western media always portraying Muslims in such a negative light.
  
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  March 25, 2017 8:55am
- Huevon
  
  I’m open with my views with people…it’s Islam and it’s only a matter of time until it happens here.
  
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  March 25, 2017 9:22am
- Shaun the Sheep
  
  the “he was crazy” meme
  
  Well it’s hardly the work of a sound mind, but then terrorism never is. I’m surprised at how long it took the media to diagnose the ‘lone wolf’ that has had eight of his acquaintances arrested co-incidentally.
  
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  March 26, 2017 12:35am
nasska

If you repeat a lie often enough you have a brilliant future as a NZ journalist.
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March 25, 2017 8:42am
- MCos
  
  Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
  or President of the United States of America
  
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  March 25, 2017 8:46am
  - BananaLlama
    
    Hillary lost you dufus.
    
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    March 25, 2017 9:43am
    - ztev
      
      let me count the ways Trump loses every day.
      Twice in the courts with his ‘executive orders’
      In Congress when his Trumpcare was withdrawn without a vote.
      Letst not get going over his ‘heard this, saw that’ allegations
      
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      March 25, 2017 10:47am
    - BananaLlama
      
      Trumpcare? lmao. That Snake Paul Ryan is going to get the chop just like his healthcare bill.
      
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      March 25, 2017 12:01pm
  - Dave Mann
    
    Good one MCos! Very quick, and sadly so true! 😀
    
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    March 25, 2017 9:54am
    - Dave Mann
      
      On wait… I’ve just thought of one: there are lies, damn lies and TrumpTweets 😀
      
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      March 25, 2017 9:59am
Souvlaki

This should provide us with some entertainment in a couple of weeks. : -) What a dufus !

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/90820583/labour-leader-andrew-little-headed-to-court-over-defamation-case
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March 25, 2017 8:43am
- cmm
  
  So is Jacinda going to run the shop while Little is in the dock?
  
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  March 25, 2017 8:56am
  - Paulus Gnome
    
    Extra scoops all round! Can’t wait!
    
    With the little one apologising and the subsequent rejection, the phrase that the left love to trot out at every opportunity to any Government plan or initiativeven, ‘too little and too late’ finally has some context!
    
    Cannot wait for it all to begin me
    
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    March 25, 2017 9:09am
  - krazykiwi
    
    The cock’ll be in the dock, while the frock runs amok 😀
    
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    March 25, 2017 9:25am
- sooty
  
  Angry Crap offered more than the expected damages? Hay it’s cost them 200k already a week before court date. I think they want his arse on a plate! The first they here about Angrys back down was in the media. You have to ask your self who Angry has enchaged as his lawyer, as it looks like he is in for a right dubbing. Jacindas star is going to rise even higher, after this!
  
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  March 25, 2017 9:00am
  - Paulus Gnome
    
    Be fair, his star has fa distance to fall.
    
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    March 25, 2017 9:11am
  - holysheet
    
    The union fees will be going up soon to cover the shortfall in funds once this is settled. Angry will be homeless and Mrs Angry will have kicked him out.
    What a looser.
    
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    March 25, 2017 9:11am
    - ztev
      
      Not so . he was wearing his leader of the opposition hat when he made the comments.
      The tax payer will be paying just like it was for Nick Smith and some comments about a timber treatment firms many years back
      
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      March 25, 2017 9:31am
      - Awww C-mon
        
        I don’t want to pay his bill, but you’re right Ztev we probably will end up paying (well those who vote national and actually pay taxes, not receive them like you and your waster mates)
        
        At the end of the the day though it’s a small price to pay to be rid of the useless POS, imagine how much he would cost us as PM.
        
        and as an aside, I have been quietly watching your comments of the past few weeks and you really a prize fuckwit, is being such an arsehole something that comes naturally or do you work at it?
        
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        March 25, 2017 11:23am
    - Happychappy
      
      That’s probably where all them Union Funds went under the Labour Leaders watch to put together a slush fund to pay for Motor Mouths fuck ups.
      
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      March 25, 2017 11:43am
- hmmokrightitis
  
  Its going to be so much fun to watch. Funny that Angry backed down, apologised unreservedly and offered up $ – way too late, should have taken the hit when he was offered the chance.
  
  But then I dont expect the media will make much of it, its not like hes an important figure in NZ life now is it?
  
  I suspect it will be a relatively straight forward case, and it will hit labours coffers even more. And wouldn’t the irony be delicious if any damages were paid directly on to the National party as a donation? 😀
  
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  March 25, 2017 9:08am
- krazykiwi
  
  This whole episode demonstrates Angry’s lack of judgement. He took the view that:
  
  (1) He could stare the Hagamans down and they’d blink first
  
  (2) He could ignore the problem as it would go away
  
  (3) He could buy his way out if (1) and (2) failed.
  
  This demonstrates that he lacks the wisdom to run his personal affairs, let alone those of his party, lets alone – and God forbid – the country.
  
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  March 25, 2017 9:23am
  - ztev
    
    What about when Key was sued by the cameraman ?
    
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    March 25, 2017 9:32am
    - krazykiwi
      
      Ah yes, when Ambrose recorded a private conversation. Key wisely dealt with the situation and everyone was satisfied with the outcome.
      
      Squeeze out of your cycle lycra and ask Angry if he’s currently satisfied with things.
      
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      March 25, 2017 9:52am
      - ztev
        
        Key was sued ! Key admitted his false accusation, after delaying for some time …some considerable time. But Ambrose crowdfunded his starting costs so thats when Key knew he was a turkey.
        
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        March 25, 2017 10:50am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    Who on Earth has been advising Little?
    
    Why did he just now admit he was wrong before he had found out if the Hagaman’s would accept his apology?
    Does he think the public are going to believe that he is the wronged party?
    
    And why was he so clueless to not ask Jacinda about Niue in the first place?
    
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    March 25, 2017 9:46am
    - Kea
      
      And why ~~was~~ is he so clueless…
      
      Fixed it for ya Maggy
      
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      March 25, 2017 10:53am
- Inandout
  
  Obviously Angry had planned his Deputy move knowing the court case was looming. Leaving street wise Annette in charge might have resulted in a coup; something Jacinta wouldn’t have a clue about arranging.
  
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  March 25, 2017 9:47am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Pete George’s blog has a good analysis/breakdown of Little’s apology
  https://yournz.org/2017/03/25/littles-statementapology/
  
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  March 25, 2017 9:59am
  - calendar girl
    
    Agreed, Maggy.
    
    PG makes a point also that struck me in reading the so-called’ apology’ – Andrew Little’s comments refer only to Mr Hagaman, with no reference that I can see to Mrs Hagaman (or their company).
    
    Is Little a ‘sexist’ as well?
    
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    March 25, 2017 10:46am
- calendar girl
  
  I wouldn’t assume, necessarily, that the Hagamans will win a favourable judgment in Court. That’s because in this country there is always a Judge who (quite apart from any politics involved!) is prepared to go into bat for the ‘underdog’ – rather than enforce the letter of the law.
  
  It’s easy to envisage such a Judge making the following rulings:
  – Little has made a full public apology for his statements. and withdrawn them. Accordingly, the allegations made against the Hagamans have no credibility or permanence.
  – Pursuing the defamation action through the Courts in such circumstances is a hollow action that smacks of vindictiveness (or even political oportunism?) on the part of the Hagamans. It has also wasted unnecessarily the time and resources of the Court.
  – Little is ordered to pay the costs of the Hagamans incurred up to the time of the public apology; thereafter, each party to pay its own costs.
  
  If such an outcome were to occur, I would hope that the Hagamans would pursue the matter relentlessly; if necessary , through the Appeal Courts. Denying people their rights at law (as opposed to through political press releases) is not part of any legal sytem under which I want to live.
  
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  March 25, 2017 10:16am
MCos

I see Trumpcare has been kicked into touch.
Oh dear.
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March 25, 2017 8:54am
- All_on_Red
  
  Oh dear indeed.
  ‘ New projections from the Congressional Budget Office, however, anticipate that the federal government will need to spend more on Obamacare than previously thought.
  The non-partisan office estimates that the program will cost the federal government $1.34 trillion over the next decade, an increase of $136 billion from the CBO’s predictions in 2015. In 2016 alone, Obamacare will cost a total of $110 billion.’
  http://time.com/money/4271224/obamacare-cost-taxpayers-2016/
  And the CBO is conservative.No wonder it’s collapsing
  
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  March 25, 2017 9:11am
  - MCos
    
    I sure the Republicans knew all that plus Trump has been pointing out what a disaster Obamacare is ete etc
    In spite of that, Trumpcare is apparently so awful that even with control of everything the Republicans don’t want to risk their sorry arses by ushing it through.
    
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    March 25, 2017 10:59am
    - All_on_Red
      
      Do tell us all about what the Bill contains. Every detail.
      The GOP don’t have 60 seats in the Senate so they don’t “have control of everything” hence the process they have to go through.
      
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      March 25, 2017 11:28am
      - mikenmild
        
        Even defunding Planned Parenthood, forcing new mothers to return to work after two months and making sure pregnancy didn’t have to be covered by insurance plans weren’t hostile enough to women to make the bill popular with enough Republicans.
        
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        March 25, 2017 11:34am
- Inandout
  
  I fear that the drug companies had a hand in this with their far reaching lobbying. Trump wanted to introduce a bidding system for drug supplies to Obamacare’s replacement, like many other countries do. That would have resulted in far cheaper drug costs for the US, and much anger from big pharma.
  
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  March 25, 2017 9:53am
- mikenmild
  
  Trump demanded a vote by today on the botched proposal. It now looks like he’s going to pretend that this wasn’t his idea.
  Omnishambles.
  
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  March 25, 2017 10:24am
duggledog

Actually on the other thread about the boy who won’t conform with Auckland Grammar’s hair length rules…

His place will be taken by a smart young Asian boy with short hair, thanks to his Mum’s ideology. Guarantee it.

I couldn’t think of a better analogy for the state of this country, and its future.
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March 25, 2017 9:02am
- itstricky
  
  I couldn’t think of a better analogy for the state of this country, and its future.
  
  Ironic, given the rule about long hair probably comes from the distant, backwards looking, past.
  
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  March 25, 2017 9:22am
  - holysheet
    
    You are missing the point, it’s not so much the long hair. More the fact that this school has rules and must enforce them. Its called discipline, something this snowflake generation do not get enough of.
    
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    March 25, 2017 9:32am
    - itstricky
      
      No, I didn’t miss the point at all. I made no mention of rules nor of discipline.
      
      I merely requoted someone else’s comment about “the future” and pointed out it was a comment at odds with an antiquated rule.
      
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      March 25, 2017 9:36am
    - GoVege
      
      “Discipline” holy….or just good old- fashioned, personality-crushing “control”?
      Kids are at school to get an education, not learn to be conformists.
      
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      March 25, 2017 1:14pm
      - holysheet
        
        I suppose you would want them to conform to your dietry requirements when we all know its false knowledge
        
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        March 25, 2017 2:22pm
  - rangitoto
    
    The rule is quite new.
    
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    March 25, 2017 10:43am
Stars And Stripes

Auckland sandwich shop embroiled in ‘homophobic’ menu stoush
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11824882.
“But some customers have been quick to take offence at the message at the top of its menu board – which said people could have their hot, spicy foods and jalapeno…”unless you are a poof”.
Gay and lesbian support groups have expressed outrage at the menu”.

All the usual words are in this one,outrage, appalled, homophobic and so on.
The owners have removed the word and apologised but will this be enough to appease the righteous baying mob.
The owners may still be required to show real contrition by volunteering at Rainbow Youth for a couple of weeks or making a donation to Gay NZ.
Maybe even closure of the business might be required to fully atone for this wrong.
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March 25, 2017 9:21am
- itstricky
  
  Maybe even closure of the business might be required to fully atone for this wrong.
  
  Maybe if you get outraged enough yourself, that won’t happen.
  
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  March 25, 2017 9:24am
- Scott
  
  Yes, you cannot say anything about homosexuality that is at all critical. Letters to the editor against homosexuality will not be published.
  Liberals believe apparently in free speech apart from when it’s speech they don’t like.
  Thank goodness we have the Internet and fine sites like kiwiblog where people can actually speak freely.
  
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  March 25, 2017 9:27am
  - Dave Mann
    
    Hear hear!
    
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    March 25, 2017 10:02am
  - mikenmild
    
    Letters against gravity will also probably not be published. Newspaper are not obliged to air the views of random cranks.
    
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    March 25, 2017 10:14am
- waikatogirl
  
  The use of poof is obviously describing in this case a person who doesn’t have the balls to eat the hot and spicy menu, not someone with feminine sexual sensibilities (she says carefully).
  I guess these wouldn’t be allowed as alternatives to poof:
  – big girls blouse
  – big jessie
  – pansy
  
  Don’t take life too seriously folks. ?
  
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  March 25, 2017 11:01am
  - GoVege
    
    It’s not “serious” for those handing out the abuse, waikato girl.
    Not such fun to be on the receiving end.
    Hence the high suicide rates for young gay men.
    
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    March 25, 2017 12:55pm
    - Kea
      
      Not such fun to be on the receiving end.
      Hence the high suicide rates for ~~young gay~~ men.
      
      Fixed it for you. Men are over represented in every negative social statistic and are by far the biggest victims of violence. Real violence too, not the odd clip under the ear you always moan about.
      
      We gave women too much power and they have abused it. Time they were put very firmly back in their place.
      
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      March 25, 2017 1:01pm
      - GoVege
        
        What rubbish Kea.
        NZ is still a violent place for women, though the worst violence is from the “tagata whenua”.
        I agree many Kiwi men get a rough deal, but not many of them live in fear of getting bashed to death or harassed daily.
        Unless they are gay of course.
        
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        March 25, 2017 1:37pm
      - Kea
        
        GoVege, well there goes any credibility you might have had !
        
        The statistics are clear. In spite of only a tiny fraction of violent attacks against men being reported, they make up the vast majority of victim stats.
        
        As they do in suicide, workplace deaths, social deprivation and so on.
        
        NZ women are the biggest sluts in the world [another statistical fact] but that is not the worst thing about them. It is all down hill from there.
        
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        March 25, 2017 1:44pm
      - sam green
        
        https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wsBJvf3zTVs
        
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        March 25, 2017 4:43pm
      - GoVege
        
        I just said I agree a lot of NZ men get a rough deal…”no fault divorce” has a lot to do with that.
        (But not just men, a good friend of mine has been divorced against her will after 40 years of faithful devotion to a violent, two-timing layabout.)
        The workplace injury rate has a lot to do with our “she’ll be right” lackadaisical attitudes.
        The suicide rates probably have a fair bit to do with our macho culture which makes it hard for men to admit weakness or ask for help.
        
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        March 25, 2017 6:13pm
Jack5

How did the NZ media get so far out of line with public opinion – public opinion as shown by voting patterns?

State broadcaster Radio NZ this week looked as though it colluded in the Leftist strategy of launching an anti-NZ armed forces book on the day of John Key’s final appearance in Parliament.

Then in the Hooerald a political “scientist” from Dunedin was given a platform to throw a far-left slant on the blogosphere. The commentator, a former Alliance Party staffer, carefully avoids high-hit blogs like Whale Oil and Kiwblog.

In Stuff today, we have a Leftist, purported summary of the week in which Philip Matthews cites another Leftist, Finlay Macdonald, described as a “Radio NZ columnist”.

Matthews reports Macdonald argued that Key “remained a popular prime minister by never committing to anything, but [he] leaves behind a backlog of neglect and deferred decisions”.

Why has the dying print, TV, and radio media shifted so far Left? The chief cause I see is the moving of journalist training into universities and pseudo-universities.
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March 25, 2017 9:26am
- ztev
  
  Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
  Voting patterns that have NEVER given national a majority in 9 years .
  ie the opposition to national is a majority.
  Surely you knew that.
  9 time out 10 they are running nationals agenda as they are the government and you worry about one small item ?
  
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  March 25, 2017 9:35am
  - Jack5
    
    We are talking about Left wing, Comrade Ztev.
    
    Few NZ First voters, and no ACT voters would class themselves as Left-wing. Not sure about Possum Pete’s pals.
    
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    March 25, 2017 9:44am
    - Ross12
      
      Don’t forget the non voters Jack –they have to come out of the equation altogether.
      Voters haven’t given any party a clear majority for how long Ztec –I’m sure you’d know the answer to that with your political knowledge ? ( I mean that as serious question not a snarky remark)
      
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      March 25, 2017 10:18am
- mikenmild
  
  You should avoid those media since they appear to have a triggering effect on you.
  
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  March 25, 2017 10:15am
  - Jack5
    
    Sorry and apologies, Milky. I forgot commentary on the commentariat – that is, daring to talk about the media – is the prerogative of the Left. In future, I will try to leave it to the big media-about-the-media team at Radio NZ.
    
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    March 25, 2017 10:24am
    - mikenmild
      
      It is constant source of amusement to me how closely some Kiwibloggers follow the ‘MSM’ despite professing to despise it. Is it a bit like dear old Patricia Bartlett’s fondness for pornography?
      
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      March 25, 2017 10:27am
      - Jack5
        
        You find it surprising that non-Leftists read newspapers, hear radio, and see TV, Milky?
        
        Or is it non-Leftists expressing their opinion that makes you uneasy?
        
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        March 25, 2017 10:31am
      - mikenmild
        
        On the contrary, I would encourage you (and anyone, really) to widen your sources of information to fill some of the gaps in your understanding of the world.
        
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        March 25, 2017 10:33am
      - holysheet
        
        You mean like all those discredited links Griff is prone to post about global warming?
        
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        March 25, 2017 10:41am
      - mikenmild
        
        Discredited how? By cranks in the blogosphere?
        
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        March 25, 2017 10:43am
      - All_on_Red
        
        Griff believes the Temp will rise 6C and CO2 ppm will double twice by 2100.
        He’s the crank
        
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        March 25, 2017 11:32am
- Dave Mann
  
  Jack, I agree with your frustration at the left-leaning media totally, and you couldn’t be more correct about the ‘pseudo-universities’ (like Massey, AUT, Waikato).
  
  However, I’m wondering if its not that they are left wing per se, so much as simply ‘anti establishment’?
  
  The free press (fourth estate) was founded in the West and one of the functions of a free press us to be the irritant asker of awkward questions and so maybe that’s just what they are doing… attacking the established order?
  
  Again, I’m not trying to defend socialists, PC thinking, homosexuals and fake academics here…. but I’m wondering if, when the boot was on the other foot during the last labour government, the media attacked Clark et al in a similar way?
  
  Just asking…. comments…?
  
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  March 25, 2017 10:55am
  - Jack5
    
    Dave: I think part of the problem may also be the shrinking of the print media.
    
    First the evening papers went, now surviving morning papers may well shrink to being weekend papers.
    
    Smart young folk must know chances of a life-time journalism job are slim. That raises the proportion of ideologues in journalism to change the world.
    
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    March 25, 2017 1:10pm
    - Dave Mann
      
      Yes Jack I think you’re right about the lack of prospects for young people in the MSM, but that doesn’t wholly explain the one-way bias that we perceive.
      
      I wonder if any research has been conducted on the subject of media bias in NZ? By ‘research’ of course I mean intelligent dispassionate investigation looking at weird things like, you know…. well…. facts and stuff….. 😀
      
      Another interesting factor is that overseas newspapers have traditionally been ‘out’ as either Right or Left leaning in their editorial policies – whereas on NZ we have (perhaps naively) assumed that the press is unbiased.
      
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      March 26, 2017 9:38am
Jack5

Anyone-else wondering about new rules to give the plods acccess to all quite low-level bank transactions and overseas money transfers?

The police have also been talking about getting rules to control free speech, and they seem to be enthusiastic about enforcing Dame Devoid type race relations.

With the latest regulations you can bet they will be screaming for another few hundred staff to monitor all our financial transactions.

Why don’t they just get burglars and thugs under control?

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11823969
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March 25, 2017 9:33am
- Kea
  
  Oh but its for out own good they crave power and control over us. Because cops know what is best. The armed state always does. Just look at history and see the evidence. Which will show that you are many times more likely to die at the hands of your own government than by “terrorists” and the biggest slaughters in modern history were done by govt against their own people… but for their own good.
  
  Just ask Stalin and Mao.
  
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  March 25, 2017 10:03am
- kowtow
  
  More gun control on the way too.
  Under the guise of access to firearms by crims Plod will make life harder for the licensed ,law abiding citizen……..while the crims continue on their merry way.
  
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  March 25, 2017 12:02pm
- marcw
  
  By monitoring large bank transactions the police are in fact getting “burglars and thugs under control”. Once these groups find (as many already are) there is no profit to be made in ‘burgling and thugging’ under the Proceeds of Crime Act, they will move on to other domains, hopefully other people’s countries. If there is no benefit from the risk, why would they bother.
  
  So how many of your “quite low-level” financial transactions are you concerned about being monitored? My bank has occasionally rung me to check if I am aware of a large transaction on my account, and I think it is great that they are in the background watching where my assets are going. Seems sensible in my opinion.
  
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  March 25, 2017 12:08pm
  - Kea
    
    marcw spoken like a true communist, who’s only concern is power and control over others… so you can inflict misery and pain on them.
    
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    March 25, 2017 1:07pm
  - Jack5
    
    Marcw, these police rules aren’t to protect John and Jane Kiwi being ripped off by internet con. artists.
    
    I doubt any burglars are shifting money internationally.
    
    I’m happy that the IRD can see bank accounts, and the police can with warrants, I understand, but why do they need to pry into our business as of right?
    
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    March 25, 2017 1:15pm
    - Kea
      
      Jack5, get a brain. This has nothing to do with stopping crime.
      
      You honestly think white collar types and serious criminals are going to run their dirty deals through the local bank ? Of course not.
      
      The sorts of people who support this kind of thing are sadistic perverts who get off on power and control fantasies. This is where your kiddy fiddlers and rapists come out of the shadows. Pay careful attention to their words and reasoning. Its right there in front of you.
      
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      March 25, 2017 1:30pm
  - Jack5
    
    I hope you folk noticed in the Hooerald article that the banksters say they will likely raise fees to cover this new service to the police.
    
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    March 25, 2017 1:25pm
- Lucia Maria
  
  A big part of it could have something to do with a large number of shell companies set up in NZ and an effort to combat international money laundering and tax havens.
  
  From 2012
  NZ shell company linked to alleged $150m fraud
  NZ shell companies in Kyrgyz corruption
  
  From 2016
  New Zealander fronted as a director for thousands of shell companies revealed in the leaked Panama Papers as being tax havens for the world’s ultra rich
  
  No wonder Kea is against it. Fits into the modus operandi of a pro-Kremlin troll.
  
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  March 25, 2017 2:39pm
lastmanstanding

Just catching up with the Not Just London post. My 2 bits worth.

Why not stop the bombing in the ME countries do a deal with Saudi Arabia to set up an Israel for Muslims and “invite” all the Muslims in the West ( relocation costs met by the West governments) to relocate to the new promised land where they can set up a Caliphate and observe Sharia law.

It would seem this would answer all their prayers. They would be left alone by the West to practice their religion in peace love and harmony.

Those who chose not to relocate would have a non removable tracker device surgically implanted that would trigger a limited explosive device if any attempt was made to remove it.

Most of them tend to congregate together so there would be strict controls on them leaving a defined geographical area in order to ensure their protection from the Infidel.

Problem solved.
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March 25, 2017 9:35am
- kowtow
  
  I have a simpler solution , how about our governments just doing their sworn duty and enforcing their borders?
  Instead they send their warships to pick them up , they allow them to pour across their frontiers , they fall over themselves bringing in more “refugees”.
  
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  March 25, 2017 9:41am
- Shaun the Sheep
  
  I think that idea has been tried and it just upset the neighbours.
  Trouble with your idea is that the radicals don’t want to stay home and be good muslims. They want world domination of their ideology and death to infidels.
  
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  March 26, 2017 1:02am
krazykiwi

The Pope is, once again, weighing in on politics:

“The first element of European vitality must be solidarity,” he added, describing the principle as “the most effective antidote to modern forms of populism.”

This from the man who runs the most populist group on earth.
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March 25, 2017 9:47am
- BananaLlama
  
  He should be deported back to Argentina.
  
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  March 25, 2017 10:09am
- mikenmild
  
  In what way is the Catholic Church populist?
  
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  March 25, 2017 10:16am
  - SGA
    
    I think it’s a typo, he may have meant papist. 🙂
    
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    March 25, 2017 10:23am
    - mikenmild
      
      Popular, maybe, unless you’re an abused altar boy…
      
      7 5
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      March 25, 2017 10:28am
  - Kimbo
    
    Most religion as it is practiced is “tribal”. Speak to most adherents and they believe what they do because that is what they were taught, and they rationalise whatever their authority figure says. Is also the reason why most “apologetics” is not evangelistic at all, or even intellectually rigourous or prepared to at least contemplate and weigh alternate points of view other than as a strawman. Instead it is preaching to the choir.
    
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    March 25, 2017 11:09am
    - SPC
      
      Politics and related partisanship is little different.
      
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      March 25, 2017 12:37pm
- Lucia Maria
  
  Good on Pope Francis for speaking up.
  
  What he’s saying may not be popular, especially here, but he’s right.
  
  Europeans are prone to fighting major wars and it’s less likely they will do so if they remain united. Populist and divisive politics is dangerous and that is what he is speaking against.
  
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  March 25, 2017 2:23pm
Kea

The sore losers are trying to undermine Trumps visionary new health plan, resulting in millions of Americans not receiving the care they deserve.

Interesting to compare the msm reporting on this with how they reported it when decent people tried to stop Obama’s disastrous and failed changes.
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March 25, 2017 10:57am
- SPC
  
  The GOP has a rather large majority in the House so this failure is all of their own – not even the GOP partisans are blaming the Democrats or liberals for their own disunity.
  
  Pretty bizarre that you and 6 others are more fake news on this than a Trump tweet – even POTUS and Spicer won’t try and sell your herbal crap.
  
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  March 25, 2017 12:29pm
  - SPC
    
    A Democrat has succinctly labelled attempts to blame Democrats for GOP disunity – the art of the squeal.
    
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    March 25, 2017 1:39pm
  - All_on_Red
    
    The Senate passes the law, not the House. They need 60 to do anything they want and they don’t have that. Hence this Mickey Mouse 3 step process as the House can only make amendments within the framework of the existing law.
    The Bill isn’t good enough. They should get it right. Partisanship aside, it’s too important to be done in a half arsed manner.
    
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    March 25, 2017 2:35pm
    - SPC
      
      The House first has to pass it before it can go to the Senate.
      
      It failed in the House, despite the large GOP majority there.
      
      It only requires 60 in the Senate to prevent delaying tactics (and 2/3rd to over-ride a POTUS veto).
      
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      March 25, 2017 2:45pm
      - mikenmild
        
        True. If the GOP can’t even get their half-arsed proposal out of the House; they have no chance in the Senate.
        I expect Trump will get bored of it all and move on to something more entertaining than playing president.
        
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        March 25, 2017 2:48pm
      - SPC
        
        GTG, the local club team fresh from victory over HOM, have some blunt axemen to dismiss with extreme prejudice.
        
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        March 25, 2017 2:53pm
      - mikenmild
        
        Upper Hutt – give us a break.
        
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        March 25, 2017 2:59pm
      - SPC
        
        Not sure that is possible, they might not be in the same group in the next round ….
        
        They can look forward to two games with Wellington though.
        
        Despite it being a comprehensive 50-24 win, Wellington had one period where they looked competitive.
        
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        March 25, 2017 5:56pm
    - Tirebiter
      
      All_on_Red “The Senate passes the law, not the House. They need 60 to do anything they want and they don’t have that.”
      
      Not precisely. Both the senate and the house have to pass the same legislation and either chamber can initiate legislation. Amendments are voted on before becoming part of the legislation and under normal circumstances require a 50% + 1 majority. If there is a difference between the legislation each chamber votes for, it is sent to a joint session of selected senators and congressmen to work out the differences. The resulting compromise legislation is then offered in both the house and the senate for a straight yes/no vote, without allowing any amendments. If the same bill passes both chambers it is sent to the president for his signature. The president has 30 days (if my memory is correct) to veto the legislation; or if it’s at the end of a congressional term (i.e. less than 30 days to go)he can ignore the legislation allowing the bill to die without veto when the congress adjourns. If this happens the legislation must then be re-initiated in the next congress and go through the process all over again. Presidential veto can be overridden by a 2/3 majority in both chambers.
      Both chambers make up their own rules and the rules don’t apply to the other chamber. (My guess is that Ryan, having the house votes, will try to change the rules before they try this again.) Budget bills in both chambers only require 50% + 1 to pass – why Ryan wanted to attach the health care portion of the bill (as a Trojan Horse) to a budget bill – since it only requires 50% + 1 to pass instead of presenting it as a non-budgetary bill – which the healthcare portion of the bill is. All other non-budgetary legislation requires 50% +1 in the house and, before the filibuster was made popular, 50% +1 in the senate. Since the filibuster rules in the senate became popular – in the ’80s when congress became so divisive – legislation can require 60% approval to break the filibuster if opponents exercise that prerogative.
      And all this explains why Ryan and Trump tried to introduce this as a budget bill and talked about phase 2 to fill out the health care portion of the bill instead of using the years they railed against ‘Obamacare’ to produce a workable plan of their own. And why their attempt to pass ‘Trumpcare’ was such a failure. That and the fact that the goal of ‘Trumpcare’ is not health care but tax cuts for the wealthy – including Trump. But that’s business as normal in congress. If one gets queasy easily one shouldn’t watch either sausage or legislation being made.
      
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      March 26, 2017 9:17am
- SPC
  
  Obamacare boosted the number of Americans with health insurance through mandates on individuals and employers, and income-based subsidies. About 20 million Americans gained insurance coverage through the law.
  The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said under the Republican legislation, 14 million people would lose medical coverage by next year and more than 24 million would be uninsured in 2026.
  
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  March 25, 2017 12:39pm
  - All_on_Red
    
    Not sure I would call the CBO non partisan and they were wrong in a number of claims about OCare.
    It’s a moot point anyway as OCare costs and premiums are blowing out bigly.
    Insurers are leaving. The whole thing is in collapse.
    One things for sure. It makes you realise how lucky we are here.
    
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    March 25, 2017 2:38pm
    - mikenmild
      
      You seem to have the likely Trump line down pat: Obamacare is imploding so I don’t need to do anything till it collapses.
      
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      March 25, 2017 2:49pm
      - Tirebiter
        
        One of the many reasons ‘Obamacare’ is a failure is because it is less a healthcare plan and more a guarantee of profits for health care insurance providers and tax breaks for the wealthy. Even ‘Obamacare’ left 30 million Americans without healthcare insurance.
        Having healthcare insurance is not the same as having healthcare. Most ‘affordable’ plans – say those with premiums of less that $500-$700 a month – have triggers of up to $10000 or more meaning the health care insurance won’t kick in payments for any health services until the enrollee has paid the first $10000 of expenses out of pocket that year. Since for most people and for most years, they don’t spend $10000 on their health the healthcare insurance companies are guaranteed to make tons of money. As usual under the US system it is the poorest who have to pay the most.
        The current failed republican plan only pretends to be a healthcare plan. It was presented as a ‘budget bill’ meaning it only requires 51 votes in the senate to pass. Had it been presented as a non-budget bill, which it would have been without the tax implications. it could be filibustered until opponents have at least 60 votes to end the filibuster. The reason it was presented as a budget bill, publicly stated by Paul Ryan, was because of the unrelated tax breaks for the wealthy – which he doesn’t talk about much.
        The US has been pushing a fantasy since Reagan – that tax breaks for the wealthy would trickle down to everybody else. All the research since has demonstrated otherwise. But that hasn’t stopped what David Stockman, Reagan’s own economics czar called ‘voodoo economics’.
        
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        March 26, 2017 3:04am
    - Tirebiter
      
      The CBO is about as non-partisan as you can expect in a highly partisan institution. Most healthcare in the US is offered as a benefit of employment. One reason why projected costs of ‘Obamacare’ went up ‘bigly’ is because opportunistic employers cancelled their employees’ healthcare – thus saving money – forcing them into the market-based system. The original CBO assessment did not account for all the employers dumping so many of their employees’ healthcare. Which is why they had to change it.
      
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      March 26, 2017 9:23am
Kimbo

Well, the Black Caps may be subject to personnel changes due to injury but some things stay the same – Kane Williamson lost the toss and we are fielding. Better hope for rain…
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March 25, 2017 11:05am
- Kimbo
  
  Neesham is twelfth man, which is fair enough based on his performances in this series. Five batsmen, two spinners, one of whom is an all rounder (Santner), plus wicketkeeper Watling and third seamer De Granhomme to bolster the batting down to no. 8, and the two frontline seamers Wagner and Henry.
  
  I recall Don Bradman once suggested that the perfect team was:
  
  Two openers, at least one of whom is left handed (we have both Raval and Latham)
  
  Three middle order batsmen, at least one of whom is left handed (in our line up that is Nicholls at no. 5)
  
  An allrounder (de Grandhomme but Santner also qualifies)
  
  A wicketkeeper batsman (Watling)
  
  An opening bowler with the wind (Wagner)
  
  An opening bowler into the wind (he didn’t mention a left and right arm combination, but we have one anyway with Wagner and Henry)
  
  A left arm orthodox spinner (Santner)
  
  An off spinner (Patel)
  
  …so we have the perfect team! However, test matches aren’t won on paper! 😉
  
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  March 25, 2017 11:24am
  - mikenmild
    
    It’s our best team available, but the weather might be their best friend.
    
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    March 25, 2017 11:31am
  - Longknives
    
    What’s the best Test Team you’ve seen in your time Kimbo? Windies in early 80s? Aussie about 10-15 years ago??..
    
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    March 25, 2017 12:55pm
    - Kimbo
      
      Those are the two obvious ones.
      
      I know Steve Waugh rated his team of the early 2000s the best, and they had the consecutive test-win record to supposedly prove it. And their positive style was to be commended, although I thought Mark Taylor was a better skipper than Waugh, indeed the best captain I ever saw. Whenever he made a bowling or a fielding change they seemed to take a wicket. Granted he had Warne and McGrath, but he still had to use them right! 😉
      
      However, for me the fly in the ointment in rating the Aussie team of that era was their Ashes loss in 2005. Yes, I know Waugh had retired by then, but it was still essentially the same team (Hayden, Langer, Martyn, Ponting, Gilchrist, Warne and, even though he was hit by a fateful injury…McGrath). Yet you look at the English test attack that undid them – Harmison, Jones, Flintoff, Hoggard and Giles. With respect, that wouldn’t even be as good as, say England in the late 1970s/early 80’s – Willis, Botham, Old, Hendrick and Emburey. Yet Aussie in 2005 were so deficient in facing what they called “pace”, I would hate to see how they would have gone against the four prong attack of Roberts, Holding, Garner and Croft (or Ambrose or Walsh). So to me, even though they weren’t a “balanced side”, the Windies c 1984.
      
      That’s also why I look at test batting averages now, and lots of guys over 50. Yeah, well, Bruce Edgar averaged only 30, and John Wright 38, but they had to face the likes of the Windies quartet, Lille and Thommo, Wiils and a young Botham, Imran, and Kapil Dev. It was the era of the fast bowler. Who compares now? Steyn for a while, but he is injured, Morkel is not express. Very tame in comparison to the mid 1970s to mid 1980s.
      
      However, I still reckon the best when they got their shit together (which wasn’t that often as they were always in-fighting and/or undermined by corruption and incompetent administration) was the Pakistan team of the early to mid 1990s. They had all the bases covered – great fast bowlers in Wasim and Waqar who could bowl through a session, implemented reverse wing and unlike the Windies, bowled full. Also Mushtaq was a great leggie, Suqlain was a classy offie who could bowl the doosra (yeah, I know you have to throw it, but if the umpire won’t call it!), Saaed Anwar and Amir Sohail were an excellent opening par, and they had the great Javed Miandad. If Imran Khan was captaining, well, just look at how he brought them back from the dead in the 1992 World Cup.
      
      I also never saw the great South African side of the late 1960s, early 1970s but Richards, Barlow, Graham and Peter Pollock, Dennis Lindsay, Mike Proctor – wow! But no spinners! The England team of the 1950s could win with pace (Tyson, Statham and Trueman), swing (Bedser, Loader and Bailey) and spin (Laker, Lock and Wardle) and they could call on Hutton, May, Cowdrey and Graveney plus a marvellous keeper in Evans. The 1948 Aussies had a great unbeaten record, but as they could have a new ball after only 55 overs (a ridiculous rule) they never had to rely on spin, so I don’t know if they were a balanced side. Also, the Don was a pale shadow of his pre-war form, yet he was still the best batsman in their side. Put it this way – they lost the Ashes 5 years later with basically the key players – Morris, Hassett, Miller, Lindwall, Johnstone – so I question their absolute greatness.
      
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      March 25, 2017 3:22pm
      - Longknives
        
        A wealth of knowledge as always Kimbo- No time for Clive Lloyd’s Windies though?
        Greenidge,Haynes, Richardson,Richards, Lloyd and about a dozen or so of the biggest meanest fast bowlers on the Planet…
        
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        March 25, 2017 7:33pm
      - Kimbo
        
        Oh, yes, sorry for not making it clear I rated Lloyd’s team the best for sheer pragmatic domination, even though its lack of spinners meant it lacked balance. That’s why, in my plethora of words, I implied that with their quartet of fast bowlers they would beat Waugh’s team of the early 2000s, even though they had no spinners of note. So winning in Sydney on a turning pitch against Warne might be a problem. And also Brisbane was always a venue where Warne did well. But they would have killed Aussie in Perth, beaten them in Melbourne, and probably shaded them in Adelaide. Just can’t see how the Aussie batsman, no matter how good they were could have coped…when they failed against Harmison et al in 2005.
        
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        March 25, 2017 8:04pm
      - mikenmild
        
        Maybe the best argument for that West Indies team being the best ever was that the rules had to be changed to limit their pace attack.
        
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        March 25, 2017 8:06pm
      - Kimbo
        
        Yes, the 90 overs/day requirement. Imran Khan always reckoned it was bullshit because that West Indies team were so good they used to bowl teams out in less than a day bowling 70 overs!
        
        You could also argue the great English offspinner Jim Laker had the rules changed on him too. If you look at his 19 wickets in the Old Trafford test of 1956, he had two or three leg slips and maybe a couple in the deep at fine leg and behind square to catch a top-edged sweep or pull shot. However, not long after there was a limit placed of only two fielders behind square on the legside. Was done to stop boring leg theory bowling which had no intention other than to dry up the scoring rate and wait for the batsman to get himself out. Is fair enough those sort of negative tactics were discouraged, but Laker was never that sort of bowler. He used to bowl attacking deliveries aiming to go through the gate between bat and pad, and, in the days of uncovered and sometimes sticky/drying wickets, his deliveries would jump off the pitch and bring the leg slip fielders into the play.
        
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKqcXyh4Vis
        
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        March 25, 2017 8:57pm
- MCos
  
  Our plucky boys don’t need to hear that sort of loser talk when their backs are up against the wall!
  
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  March 25, 2017 11:26am
  - Kimbo
    
    Hey, every time I’ve praised the likes of Williamson or Raval in this series, I’ve put the hoodoo on them and they’ve got out so I’m trying to do my bit so that we knock over the saffers for 150, and then pile on 600 in reply! 😉
    
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    March 25, 2017 11:33am
    - MCos
      
      South Africans are giving us a start
      
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      March 25, 2017 11:46am
      - Kimbo
        
        5-2. The scorecard says it is Henry and de Grandhomme who took the wickets, but I think it can be shown I’ve earned both those scalps! 😉
        
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        March 25, 2017 11:47am
      - Awww C-mon
        
        Hey Kimbo, with powers like that can you start talking up the Lions
        
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        March 25, 2017 12:46pm
      - Kimbo
        
        No, only the Black Caps need special help. The All Blacks are good enough to take care of themselves. And this is one of the great All Black teams, so I can’t see the Lions doing it. At all. And only one Lions team – the great side of 1971 have ever done it, when our back play , scrummaging and goal kicking were all deficient. And even then they only just scraped in 2-1 with a draw in the last test, although if they had used that magnificent back line they would have slaughtered us as they did when they reformed as the 1973 Barbarians in that game, when they scored that try.
        
        We also beat the great Lions of 1959, and their teams of 1977 and 1993 were a hell of a handful in the forwards. And sadly, whatever chance the 2005 team had disappeared with those injuries to Dallaglio and (courtesy of that shocking piece of poor technique by Umaga and Mealamu) Brian O’Driscoll So, no, no need to worry too much about the Lions.
        
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        March 25, 2017 3:59pm
  - Longknives
    
    Plucky? Apart from Raval I haven’t seen a lot of ‘Pluck’ from any NZ Batsman in this series….
    
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    March 25, 2017 12:54pm
    - mikenmild
      
      It could be worse, Longknives. Imagine how bad you would feel if the Blackcaps were as successful as the All Blacks.
      
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      March 25, 2017 2:10pm
Manolo

A dinosaur that refuses to go away:
https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2017-03-24/obamacare-donald-trump-and-nancy-pelosis-potential-last-stand
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March 25, 2017 11:59am
Chuck Bird

I had a laugh at the James Shaw interview on The Nation. He said that we may have another party in the coalition. Lisa Owen did not pick him up on such a stupid comment. There is no way the Greens and Labour can get over 60 seats between them and there is no maybe about that fact.
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March 25, 2017 12:22pm
SPC

The GOP – its core belief is that government does not work, and every time the stars align and they have their ducks in a row (a majority in House and Senate and the office of POTUS) – they act out their faith with total conviction.

As far as such gatherings of faith groups go, it is quite compelling a performance.
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March 25, 2017 12:22pm
- SPC
  
  Paul Ryan : “We were a 10-year opposition party where being against things was easy to do,” he said, adding that it was difficult to get “people to agree with each other in how we do things”.
  
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  March 25, 2017 1:36pm
Manolo

France experiences more violence:
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/3174784/terror-lille-gunman-shoots-three-people-outside-metro-station-in-french-city/

French reports say there were several shots fired near the Porte d’Arras metro station at around 9.50pm.

It’s said a 14-year-old boy had been shot in leg and at least two others youths had been injured.
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March 25, 2017 12:25pm
- simpleton1
  
  “Police now believe the shooter knew the victims”
  
  A “known wolf”; gun man
  
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  March 25, 2017 12:35pm
Manolo

The million-dollar question: will Speaker RINO Ryan survive?
https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-03-24/white-house-said-to-prepare-to-blame-ryan-if-health-bill-fails
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March 25, 2017 12:31pm
- SPC
  
  No one else wants the job – and changing leaders would not solve the problem of GOP disunity.
  
  The only play POTUS has is to buy off factions across issues. If conservatives blocking his health care proposal give way he gives them something on another issue.
  
  POTUS is too politically inexperienced at Capitol Hill gamesmanship.
  
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  March 25, 2017 12:41pm
  - SPC
    
    That said the main problem is that while the GOP have mobilised a majority against Obama Care, they have not built a majority for what to put in its place. Not in the general population or the GOP.
    
    Middle class families like that their children are covered to age 25 (college years etc 4 years under-graduate and 3 years masters) on their parents plan.
    
    They also face regular job change and by their middle age there come pre-existing conditions that block access to new health care cover with this – they like that Obama Care ends “middle class” people like them being excluded from health cover because of this.
    
    And the GOP plan includes both of these, so it could/should have worked.
    
    Maybe the Freedom faction are simply neigh-sayers incapable of catering for any America but their own narrow spectrum.
    
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    March 25, 2017 2:28pm
    - SPC
      
      Neigh-sayers rather than naysayers, because the Freedom faction see appeasement as something the liberal world set for the fires of hell (when the 4 horsemen come) does.
      
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      March 25, 2017 2:34pm
  - Tirebiter
    
    As one corrupt Chicago politician said in the 1930s: “Politics ain’t beanbag.”
    
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    March 26, 2017 3:12am
Scorpion

Prevention is the Best Cure.

Stop Voting for People who will
INSIST ON ALLOWING this
to Happen in New Zealand.

Do you have any idea what an incident
even mildly similar to this one?

is going to do to NZ’s
Peaceful Place for a Holiday Status

The Jobs and $$ at Risk is Phenomenal

WAKE UP – WAKE UP – NOW

STOP TALKING AND TAKE ACTION

WHILE YOU CAN

VOTE FOR CHANGE

Japan is having an influx of Tourists?
people too scared to Holiday anywhere else?
Ask yourself Why?

No one really likes to go to Paris
anymore unless they can’t help it

IS NEW ZEALAND GOING TO SLEEP
WALK HAND IN HAND with

THE ZOMBIES or

IS IT GOING TO WAKE UP TO THE LIES

Either way if things do not Change

You will one day if you do not
TAKE ACTION NOW

YOU WILL wake up to this OR WORSE

HAPPENING IN

NEW ZEALAND

THE TIME FOR TALK IS OVER

IT IS TIME FOR ACTION
PEACFUL AND LEGAL

is NOW TODAY

Send an email to your elected politician
demanding they state their Views
Their Opinions and their Solutions

if they do not have one
ASK WHY?

NZ has time to
PROTECT ITS PEOPLE
but is it running out
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March 25, 2017 12:50pm
- GoVege
  
  The Goveges were in Paris a few weeks ago, Scorpion.
  (No terrorists can scare the Goveges….just the sight of red meat!)
  Security was great.
  Soldiers toting machine guns outside the Palace of Versailles…hot ones too…
  Even Govege herself was frisked twice. ..both times by security women in Muslim garb.
  (Equal opportunity frisking I presume.)
  People were nice and friendly…a lovely Frenchman grabbed me when I tripped on a train.
  Just be prepared to say “go away” loudly to the professional beggars..they have nearly as many as Auckland.
  
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  March 25, 2017 2:22pm
- Lucia Maria
  
  And here’s Kea’s alter ego agitating for fear from outsiders and distrust that our politicians will be able to protect us.
  
  Nevermind that we are at the bottom of the world, far away from the most populated areas and we have a massive moat around us.
  
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  March 25, 2017 2:45pm
simpleton1

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-23/melbourne-man-wife-killed-over-decision-join-is-court-document/8381350?WT.mc_id=newsmail&WT.tsrc=Newsmail

The prosecution summary alleged the man told his brother-in-law he had fought with his wife over his desire to go to Syria to fight for Islamic State and had sliced her hand with a knife six months before her death……

In the months before her death, it is alleged the woman was not allowed to leave the house, speak to her family or watch television.

Her husband also erected a tarp on the fence around the backyard to stop neighbours from seeing into their property and covered their home’s window with shutters, according to the prosecution summary.

The children had never attended school and only spoke broken English.

A hidden but “known wolf”
.
Neighbours would have noticed the tarpaulins on the boundary fences.
Social welfare would have a note of the children, but able to say they fell through the cracks.
Brother in law knew.
Would some of that Lebanese community have known?
Would the local mosque have known?
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March 25, 2017 1:38pm
- kowtow
  
  “He wanted them to only speak Lebanese, and learn the Koran,” the prosecution summary stated.
  
  “He wanted to teach them about guns, swords, war and jihad.”
  
  Why is that in the prosecution summary, after all we’re all multicultural now ,all cultures are equal and that’s the culture of these people,so we must respect it.
  
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  March 25, 2017 3:11pm
- simpleton1
  
  Seems like he is a devout one eyed ‘known wolf Mohammedan.
  
  ……..The woman remained unidentified for weeks.
  Police visited the family’s home in early July for a “welfare check” and finding the three children badly injured, arrested the father….
  ….She was not allowed outdoors without him, was forced to wear a full-length burka, was isolated from her family and friends, and suffered regular beatings at his hands….
  
  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4341816/Aspiring-ISIS-fighter-killed-wife-children.html
  from another paper with some more information
  
  Will those kids ever recover seeing their mother treated as the “one eyed anti-christ”?
  Are they put with other muslim families?
  How would a foster family cope with them?
  
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  March 25, 2017 8:27pm
Manolo

The Canadian version of Muslim love:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/imam-sermon-montreal-mosque-1.4037397

A Montreal mosque is facing a police complaint and rebukes from the larger Muslim community after a video of an imam delivering a sermon in which he asks for Jews to be killed surfaced online.

The sermon took place at the Dar Al-Arqam Mosque in the city’s Saint-Michel neighbourhood on Dec. 23, 2016.
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March 25, 2017 3:08pm
- kowtow
  
  So the rebukes come after the video surfaces? How convenient.
  
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  March 25, 2017 3:13pm
  - Manolo
    
    Those Muslims are very cunning and crafty, dear kowtow. The MSM helps, of course,
    
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    March 25, 2017 3:17pm
- Swifty
  
  Just look at the fat bearded prick.
  
  One aspect of Islam which I’ll never understand is how, worldwide, the adherents seem so willing to sit on the floor in front of these oafs and just lap it all up. Can they not work out how to live a good life themselves? Are they not capable of independent thought?
  
  Islam has been specifically engineered by men over the years to produce mental slaves. It should be shunned by all civilised people.
  
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  March 25, 2017 3:27pm
cha

Flynn’s dug a fucking big hole for himself.

.

Ex-CIA Director: Mike Flynn and Turkish Officials Discussed Removal of Erdogan Foe From U.S

.
James Woolsey says he attended a September meeting where other participants, including then-Trump adviser Mike Flynn, talked of moving Fethullah Gulen back to Turkey without going through U.S. extradition process

[…]

Retired Army Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn, while serving as an adviser to the Trump campaign, met with top Turkish government ministers and discussed removing a Muslim cleric from the U.S. and taking him to Turkey, according to former Central Intelligence Agency Director James Woolsey, who attended, and others who were briefed on the meeting.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/ex-cia-director-mike-flynn-and-turkish-officials-discussed-removal-of-erdogan-foe-from-u-s-1490380426
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March 25, 2017 3:34pm
- Viking2
  
  Looks like everyone is running scared.
  
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  March 25, 2017 5:45pm
  - cha
    
    Looks like everyone is running scared.
    
    Indeed.
    
    Now, the big news: The National Enquirer is accusing former Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn of being a “Russian spy.”
    
    This story is huge, and here’s why.
    
    No one should believe anything the National Enquirer writes. The fact that the National Enquirer says Flynn is a Russian spy likely means Flynn isn’t a Russian spy. But this story matters because the man who runs the National Enquirer, David Pecker, is a huge longtime friend of Trump. The Enquirer only runs stories that help Trump. And there is no way the Enquirer would run this story unless Team Trump thought this story helped Trump.
    
    […]
    
    Even better, it’s “top White House officials” telling the Enquirer that Flynn is a Russian agent. Again, the Enquirer is close to Trump, why would they lie about the White House claiming this story is real unless the White House approved it?
    
    […]
    
    UPDATE: I’ve got a copy of the Enquirer. There are no caveats. They accuse Flynn of being a spy, and quote a White House official, no less!
    
    http://americablog.com/2017/03/national-enquirer-brands-flynn-russian-spy-trump-just-threw-flynn-bus.html
    
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    March 25, 2017 6:31pm
    - Tirebiter
      
      The Enquirer is a sensationalist rag. It usually pushes stories about Elvis sightings, UFOs, zombies, celebrity shenanigans, fact-less conspiracy theories, and the other trash people without crap-detectors devour.
      
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      March 26, 2017 3:18am
- SPC
  
  The US government is well rid of Flynn.
  
  Pretenders to office having talks with foreign governments is part of the swamp that needs to be drained.
  
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  March 25, 2017 5:49pm
Lucia Maria

An important lecture by historian, author and Yale University professor, Timothy Snyder on the decline of liberal democracy, and what it means and what we can do.

One of the things that stood out to me was the idea that in knowing more history, especially of the last 100+ years you can know what things can go wrong in countries so that you are not surprised when they happen. ie the Donald Trump effect, which is far more surprising for Americans and Western Europeans than Eastern Europeans and Russians. Though my ie is picked up from another lecture where he talks about similar things but to college students in America (1:22:49 min) . The lecture below is to adults in the Netherlands.

The other thing is that what is happening now is in response the 2nd crisis of globalisation. The first globalisation happened from 1870 onwards and it ended in the 1st world war.

Lots of good stuff in it for history buffs and those that need something to help them make sense of today and what they can do.

Timothy Snyder: Can History Save Us From Ourselves? 53:49 minutes
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March 25, 2017 3:46pm
Viking2

On a more serious note.

How many have noticed lately all the cars that are catching fire.
Seems like every week a car is involved in an accident and the car becomes a fireball.

We had this happen a few years ago and it affected mostly a Ford product in the USA. There the litigation ramped up and Ford had to fix the issue.

It seems from observation that there are more people getting hurt and killed in this latest round of economy type puddle jumpers.

Personally I consider them to be unsafe. A small bang and they fall to bits and there seems to be little protection for the occupants.

Just wondered what others observations had been.
I guess sometime in the next year or two NZTA or the Police will churn out some stats on the vehicles and their crash and survival rates.
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March 25, 2017 5:44pm
- wiseowl
  
  Maybe there is an opportunity here to develop some way to suppress fire resulting from a serious impact?
  
  It is such an awful result and with all the other tests they do eg.air bags, it is a wonder no one has worked on a solution before now.
  
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  March 25, 2017 8:51pm
Nostradamus

A tale of two valedictory speeches (at The Standard)

Here’s Shona:

I’ve spent the last 10 years muting the lisping, venomous, destructive, prick. (only ever read the transcripts of what he’s said)
so I’m sure as hell NOT going to bother listening to the mongrel piece of shit now!

And here’s mosa:

The love affair with Key is over except for some lovers like Hosking who can’t accept life without him.
Staying with a relative who watches seven sharp and I had to leave the room nauseated at Hosking and his glowing adulation for this shyster who contributed nothing meaningful to this country and was desperate to be popular.
Eight years of lies and corruption and no respect for life or service.
With Key it was like being trapped in a roundabout , moving but going nowhere.

So Shona and Mosa can only cope by reading transcripts and leaving the room. I wonder how they deal with real-world problems in real-world jobs?
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March 25, 2017 6:01pm
- nasska
  
  …”I wonder how they deal with real-world problems in real-world jobs?”….
  
  Hot cocoa, safe places & hug puppies.
  
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  March 25, 2017 6:24pm
  - Nostradamus
    
    Nasska:
    
    Hot cocoa
    
    If only things were that simple!
    
    How to Shop for Sustainable Hot Cocoa
    
    Buying fair-trade, organic hot cocoa reduces the chances that the cacao beans we are consuming were treated with dangerous chemicals during cultivation, or were grown on farms that use exploited labor and trafficked children.
    
    So drinking hot cocoa isn’t necessarily a guilt-free activity!
    
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    March 25, 2017 6:48pm
    - nasska
      
      Okay. That’s cocoa off the feel good list. What about goldfish…..I’ve heard that they have therapeutic vibes that may help the sensitive amongst us.
      
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      March 25, 2017 7:48pm
      - Nostradamus
        
        Not that simple either, Nasska, I’m afraid.
        
        Are Your Pets Contributing to Global Warming?
        
        Want to reduce your carbon footprint? Replace your cat with a goldfish, or only raise pets that you plan to eat later on.
        
        I wonder if GoVege agrees with this sentiment?
        
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        March 25, 2017 7:53pm
      - mikenmild
        
        Goldfish layback?
        
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        March 25, 2017 7:57pm
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        Just have a pond big enough for goldie to stretch his pectorals
        http://a0.img.mobypicture.com/3c22a38eae68a69810993e7176c9e9ac_view.jpg
        
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        March 25, 2017 8:05pm
Nostradamus

William of Ockham on Kiwiblog:

Well fuck my old boots. Been banned from pundit for crapping on Andrew Geddis.

Dennis Horne at Pundit:

Naughty boys, Andrew will take your toys.
Not you! Baby Bush and Phony Blair, you’re too big to bust.
Man-made climate change will disrupt tens of millions of people. Many in poor countries will die. Someone will write book. The politicians will ask the scientists if AGW is real.
And the military will demand more materiel. Whatever it is, it won’t be enough.

Andrew Geddis decided not to award bonus points (or a chocolate fish) for the off-topic AGW reference:

@Dennis,
…
However, seeing as you think every post on this site is useless and about the wrong thing, I’m saving you the time and effort of constantly telling us this by blocking you for a while. Go read and comment on some stuff you think is worthwhile … it’ll do you some good.

Presumably William of Ockham will open the batting on tomorrow’s GD thread at 8:00am tomorrow…
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March 25, 2017 7:50pm
- nasska
  
  And with that AG condemns Kiwiblog’s GD to an indefinite sentence of W of O’s inanities.
  
  There’s such a thing as Karma Andrew! 🙂
  
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  March 25, 2017 7:56pm
EAD

Intro to a great essay:

https://katana17.wordpress.com/2017/03/21/patrick-grimm-boy-were-you-ever-wrong/

You knew your country was sick, didn’t you? Yes, you did. You can feel this sick degeneration down deep in your bones. It was a sixth sense you had. It spoke to you like a still small voice and it whispered ever so softly. It told you that the foundations were crumbling and the buffering institutions were being eroded. But you wanted to call it something else. You ranted about “liberalism”, “big government”, “high taxes”, “overregulation” and how bad those Democrats were. Perhaps you attended a few Tea Parties and whined to your friends about the dangers and wickedness of an Obama administration. You might have even dropped a few dollars in the coffers of yet another “conservative” group, thinking you were doing your due diligence. Sarah Palin is probably your girl in 2012. Her shallow rhetoric and inane sound bites did not dissuade you one bit. You, a solid red state flag-waving “patriot” probably cheered the war in Iraq even as the pseudo-mission became more and more opaque and fuzzy. This didn’t stop you from sending your precious son or daughter to “fight for democracy and freedom” and kill more Muslim people all for the nebulous pronouncements of War Party bureaucrats who knew nothing about Sherman tanks, but spent most of their time in think tanks.

When your child came home from college or university mocking the religious beliefs you taught them since their birth and began spouting rehearsed bromides against the evils of white European culture, you blamed “liberal professors.” When your offspring waxed pretty about alternative lifestyles, the merits of homosexuality and the open-minded beauty of bi-curious pursuits, you blamed those damn liberals and Communists. You were half right, which still means that you were also half wrong too. You didn’t look any deeper, did you? You asked shallow questions and you got shallow answers. What did you expect?

Now, as you glance about you and see very few Americans flying American flags (they are almost non-existent in my community), you are chagrined. Like you, many of our citizens know that a sick force has seized our government and our institutions. You know something is awry. But that’s all you know. You, even more than a liberal or a progressive, believe what the controlled, so-called “conservative” media tells you. You don’t ask questions. You are a “controlled opponent” and don’t even know it. You parrot the tired rehashed lines of a Glenn Beck, a Rush Limbaugh or (god forbid) a Sean Hannity. These folks talk about the symptoms all day long, but they want to leave the causes untouched.

You know that patriotic fervor is dead in the USA, but you don’t know why. You know your dollar won’t buy you much, but you’ve done little to investigate exactly why this is the case. The hatred against your country grows, but you, like most Americans, assure your family that “we live in the best country in the world”, even though you share a typically American lack of curiosity about other nations. You’ve never been anywhere else. Europe must be jealous of America. That’s it. It couldn’t be that our foreign policy has created a hatred now erupting in violence aimed at our citizens.

Despite all of the chaos now dragging this country into the abyss, you can’t think outside the box. If you just happened upon this little essay, you have already branded me as “anti-Semitic.”
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March 25, 2017 8:04pm
- Kea
  
  How about this outrage
  
  http://thefreethoughtproject.com/59-years-covered-israeli-false-flag-attack-killed-34-americans-wounded-173/
  
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  March 25, 2017 9:08pm
Nostradamus

From the Kiwiblog archives:

Redbaiter:

Hey Johnny, its not that Bruv and Nasska were upset about being abused by their male teachers, it was more the shock of realising that they actually enjoyed it.

Nasska:

How did the twittering & the tweeting go for you Baity?

Redbaiter:

The tweeting is going good Nasska. I’ve not quite caught up to Justin Beiber in followers yet but I do have over 540. Pete George who has been on for yonks has about 280 and Big Bruv has about 22. So I’ve probably got twice as many followers as tune into GD these days.

BTW, did you hear Davaselinemode applied for a job as a Labour Party publicist? When they asked him if he could tweet, he said “If you give me the job, I’ll make any noise you want me to”.

Big Bruv:

There are 549 people living in your retirement home Redbaiter?, wow that is impressive. Did you have to download twitter for all of them?

Those were the days!
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March 25, 2017 8:22pm
- nasska
  
  The Davincimode wrote some classics in his endeavours to bait Baity. My personal alltime favourite was his depiction of the Harbour Bridge Protester coming home to find his family of inflatable dolls had been vandalised. Baity then adopts the persona of Rambo & heads off seeking revenge.
  
  I should have kept a file copy.
  
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  March 25, 2017 8:37pm
  - mikenmild
    
    I’m told Redbaiter spent a long time trying to find out who in the retirement village was providing Da Vinci with those tip-offs.
    
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    March 25, 2017 8:40pm
  - Kea
    
    I enjoyed our chats about the new; compulsory gay marriage, bible burning and sodomy Act
    
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    March 25, 2017 9:09pm
Manolo

The MSM gloats:
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/d6b3f963391a4b9486bc847a7f286a55/failure-health-bill-hurts-prospects-tax-overhaul
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March 26, 2017 7:46am
Inandout

What the hell is Jack Lame doing filling in for Larry? You would think the presenters would have some say in who fills in while they are away.
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March 27, 2017 4:35pm

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