General Debate 1 May2017

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Yoza

Happy May Day, comrades!

Most people living in the United States know little about the International Workers’ Day of May Day. For many others there is an assumption that it is a holiday celebrated in state communist countries like Cuba or the former Soviet Union. Most Americans don’t realize that May Day has its origins here in this country and is as “American” as baseball and apple pie, and stemmed from the pre-Christian holiday of Beltane, a celebration of rebirth and fertility.

In the late nineteenth century, the working class was in constant struggle to gain the 8-hour work day. Working conditions were severe and it was quite common to work 10 to 16 hour days in unsafe conditions. Death and injury were commonplace at many work places and inspired such books as Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle and Jack London’s The Iron Heel. As early as the 1860’s, working people agitated to shorten the workday without a cut in pay, but it wasn’t until the late 1880’s that organized labor was able to garner enough strength to declare the 8-hour workday. This proclamation was without consent of employers, yet demanded by many of the working class.
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May 1, 2017 8:00am
- cmm
  
  “, but it wasn’t until the late 1880’s that organized labor was able to garner enough strength to declare the 8-hour workday”
  
  Well that’s one way to look at it.
  
  But another way to look at it is that capitalism increased productivity so that the factory workers were more productive and the factory owners could afford to pay more.
  
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  May 1, 2017 8:49am
  - Yoza
    
    Henry Ford had a reasonable grasp of how economies work, he paid his factory workers the sort of wage that allowed the ability for them to buy the cars they produced on Ford’s assembly line. The vast majority of factory owners/bosses in the US and elsewhere regarded their working class labour force as a threat that needed to be pummeled into submission.
    
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    May 1, 2017 9:26am
    - Kimbo
      
      Henry Ford had a reasonable grasp of how economies work…
      
      …including union-busting, and, as per EAD and Reid, that economies and world affairs are manipulated by war-mongering international Jewry?
      
      And tofu is still shit.
      
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      May 1, 2017 9:31am
    - cmm
      
      Yup, just like I said…. Henry Ford invested huge amounts into capital to be able to make his workers more productive.
      
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      May 1, 2017 9:52am
- redeye
  
  Yet we are told inequity has never been worse?
  
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  May 1, 2017 8:56am
- mikenmild
  
  I see today is also the feast day for Joseph, cuckolded husband of the ‘virgin’ Mary.
  He already had a feast day, apparently, but the pope set up this feast day as well, for ‘Joseph the Worker’ in case the catholic proletariat were tempted by more secular celebrations of a revolutionary kind.
  
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  May 1, 2017 6:42pm
starboard

Twice convicted sexual pervert and muslim, Sultan Ali Abdul Ali Akbari must go…
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May 1, 2017 8:01am
- Kimbo
  
  But as I posted on Friday, if you want to achieve anything tangible other than the likes of Chuck Bird up in arms and frothing at the keyboard and spitting on his computer screen, you don’t get the crusade championed by a disgraced former MP with an unpleasant habit of misrepresenting others, and who has publicly written in this forum that we should treat Muslims the same way the Americans did in the 1940s to the Japanese within their country despite it being (and this from a lawyer) “harsh and inevitably unjust”.
  
  Hence Michael Woodhouse or Bill English waited for the news cycle to pass, and made no comment on the “revelations” here on Kiwiblog last Thursday. And from a political damage-control perspective they would have been mad if they had.
  
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  May 1, 2017 8:09am
  - starboard
    
    Woodhouse needs to go as well. He still hasn’t answered the the question that I sent to him regarding the convicted pedo and muslim Ali Akbari.
    Loser. Completely out of his depth. We are onto you, Woodhouse.
    
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    May 1, 2017 8:16am
    - MCos
      
      I suspect Woodhouse already knows he is a Muslim.
      The inference from your comment seems to be that non-Muslim sex offenders should be treated differently.
      
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      May 1, 2017 8:45am
      - starboard
        
        MCos, how long has Woodhouse been muslim ?
        News to me.
        
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        May 1, 2017 12:37pm
      - starboard
        
        Why does MCos remind me of a McDonalsd burger …
        
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        May 1, 2017 2:21pm
    - Kimbo
      
      He still hasn’t answered the the question that I sent to him regarding the convicted pedo and muslim Ali Akbari.
      
      “…and Muslim”? Judging by your considered thoughts and calm prose, I would regard any Ministerial reply to you other than “I acknowledge receipt of your correspondence and it is duly noted” (i.e., “fuck off, crazy/sad person”) a gross waste of my taxpayer dollars, and it should result in an instant sacking on the grounds of incompetence.
      
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      May 1, 2017 9:18am
      - starboard
        
        Thanks Bimbo. Let’s hope no one in your family is fiddled with by an import, and if they are, let us hope the rule of law comes down hard on them. Rule one..if we let you into our country you are on ‘watch’ for first 10 years. If you ( seriously ) break the law in that ten year time period, you are deported back to the swamp from where you came.
        No if, no buts.
        
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        May 1, 2017 12:46pm
      - Kimbo
        
        Yep, I’d agree with those requirements, including if we could wind back the clock and apply them to Sultan Ali Abdul Ali Akbari. Not that “Muslim” has anything to do with it”.
        
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        May 1, 2017 2:02pm
      - starboard
        
        Muslim, Christian, Buddhism , Hinduism..I dont care which sky fairy is flavour of the day..commit the crime, see ya later.
        
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        May 1, 2017 2:30pm
  - cmm
    
    No we just treat them the same way as Austrailans do.
    
    If you’re a refugee fleeing a war-torn region then you’re surely prepared to put up with living on an island for a few months while your paperwork gets sorted.
    
    If that seems too onerous, then maybe things are not as hard as you say they are.
    
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    May 1, 2017 8:23am
    - MCos
      
      Completely different situation as I understand the process.
      The refugees that are accepted into NZ have been vetted off shore somewhere prior to arrival whereas those detained in PNG or wherever have tried to make an unauthorized landing in Australia.
      
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      May 1, 2017 8:51am
      - cmm
        
        There is a HUGE difference.
        
        The Australians hold the refugees in a controlled environment where they can be assessed reasonably well. Sure it might not be the most pleasant circumstances but if you really are fleeing a warzone then it is a reasonable sacrafice.
        
        NZ-style “offshore processing” does not happen in a controlled setting making it almost impossible to vet people properly.
        
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        May 1, 2017 9:04am
      - Kimbo
        
        Good point, CMM. Someone stuffed up when we let you in, apparently fresh out of the bush from fighting SWAPO and the Cubans in Angola. And since then sales of “Soldier of Fortune” have sky-rocketed here! It’s over, CMM. The commies lost. 😉
        
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        May 1, 2017 9:14am
      - Rachael Membery
        
        Are the families held to the same standard?
        
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        May 1, 2017 7:26pm
- Rodney Randall
  
  We have seen this exact situation in UK.
  
  The UK police refused to uphold the law or even investigate muslim attacks on under age white girls. So it spread all over the UK. The same message, with the same results here. More immigrant rapists will think they have the ok to grope – and worse – little kids.
  
  I suspect there is something the intelligence agencies are not telling us concerning Snackbhari and his fellow Snackbharians living here.
  
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  May 1, 2017 9:12am
- Rodney Randall
  
  http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/240199/muslims-sexually-enslaving-children-global-raymond-ibrahim
  
  “What happened in Rotherham is hardly an aberration. Rather, it is Islam coming to town, Muslims growing in numbers. Even Dr. Taj Hargey, a British imam, just confirmed that the majority of the UK’s “imams promote grooming rings.” He said Muslim men are taught that women are “second-class citizens, little more than chattels or possessions over whom they have absolute authority” and that the imams preach a doctrine “that denigrates all women, but treats whites with particular contempt.”
  
  Change “whites” to “non-Muslims”—this is not about race but religion—and the experiences of those 1,400 children in Rotherham is one with the experiences of countless non-Muslim minorities throughout the Islamic world.”
  
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  May 1, 2017 9:21am
  - Dave Mann
    
    If even a quarter of what they claim in that article is true, then NZ should have a special police task force dedicated to monitoring fighting and preventing Muslim sex crime. We haven’t got the same problem here yet because of the (still) lower proportion of Muslims…. but we shouldn’t be complacent nevertheless.
    
    This a test case and so far Woodhouse has spectacularly failed to be effective. At the very least an official enquiry us needed to establish how this scum is allowed to remain here.
    
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    May 1, 2017 10:02am
  - stephieboy
    
    Rodney Randell, some sound reasons why we should believe fontpage given it’s alt right repuation of blanket demonsonisng of all Muslims . Even I wonder the 50,000 living here ?
    
    Evidence of Rotherham grooming rings equivalents here or in Austrlia ?
    
    If not , why not ?
    
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    May 1, 2017 10:02am
    - All_on_Red
      
      Hey Stephie
      It was notable you never condemned Sultan Akbaris action.
      He a friend of yours? Coffee club?
      
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      May 1, 2017 10:19am
    - Rodney Randall
      
      Hi Stephie. Thank you for your comment.
      
      I recall you being in agreement with me when I asked you if you would like to see Sharia Law here in New Zealand. You stated you would not. I can never validate your response, however I would like to give you the benefit of the doubt.
      
      Let’s hope the intelligence agencies are keeping a close eye on any radical clerics/imams encouraging this sort of behaviour in New Zealand.
      
      Could you give me a reason why you would not like to see Sharia Law here in New Zealand?
      
      Perhaps we agree on more than would appear at first glance?
      
      Have a nice day
      
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      May 1, 2017 10:45am
    - starboard
      
      “Ya’all need to speak up now ya hear, stupid boys got his head buried in the sand again..ass facing mecca.”
      
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      May 1, 2017 12:48pm
    - starboard
      
      Shocking spelling today from stupid boy #7
      
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      May 1, 2017 2:33pm
- calendar girl
  
  Agreed, Starboard. But, if Minister Woodhouse can’t (or won’t) bring that about, then Prime Minister English is the person whom we should expect to explain, publicly, (a) what he intends to do about this specific case; and (b) the National Party’s clear policy for the future about non-NZ-citizens who commit criminal acts in this country.
  
  Silence, and hoping for political reasons that this matter will simply go away, are no longer good enough.
  
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  May 1, 2017 10:02am
- 4077th
  
  Is back in the “news” again today. Apparently the minister was looking at this “first thing Monday morning”. The article does not state anything we don’t already know but at least it is getting more air time.
  
  http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11848022
  
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  May 1, 2017 10:22am
  - Dave Mann
    
    Yes I noticed that it has come back (a little bit) into the news too.
    
    Good work by the Sensible Sentencing Trust for continuing to push this and well done NZHerald for publishing too.
    
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    May 1, 2017 10:55am
    - calendar girl
      
      No sign yet of a statement from Minister Woodhouse following his promised meeting with officials “first thing Monday morning”.
      
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      May 1, 2017 12:02pm
      - Jack5
        
        While Immigration Minister Woodhouse bumbles, “Mr Multiculture” – Paul Spoonley – tries to set the agenda for the emerging debate on immigration.
        
        An article of his in the Hooerald includes:
        
        We should debate policy settings and targets but surely this can be done in a way that avoids the xenophobia and simplistic causality that has been obvious overseas?
        
        What does Mr Multiculturism mean by “simplistic causality”? RationalWiki helps with this: “Causality in its simplest form is the relationship between cause and effect.”
        
        To Spoonley, that probably means immigration arguments he doesn’t agree with are just too simple. We’re no further ahead.
        
        Are we going to let Spoonley, Massey University’s sociology head honcho and a national champion of diversity, skew the emerging debate on immigration?
        
        http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11847932
        
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        May 1, 2017 2:29pm
      - Jack5
        
        This may be relevant to Spoonley’s talk of “simplistic causality”.
        
        American satirist Russell Baker on sociologists’ language:
        
        The young cult of sociology, needing a language, invented one. There are many dead languages, but the sociologists’ is the only language that was dead at birth.
        
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        May 1, 2017 2:39pm
      - Jack5
        
        And the multiculturism juggernaut rolls on…
        
        Immigration New Zealand has chosen Invercargill as a refugee settlement. That’s right – “chosen” – by the Immigration NZ bureaucrats.
        
        There won’t have been any vote or broad choice by Invercargillites, though the social justice warriors will have stirred up a few locals to be quoted in the media.
        
        I bet that’s worth a hundred or two party votes for NZ First.
        
        http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/92104313/invercargill-to-be-new-refugee-settlement
        
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        May 1, 2017 8:12pm
      - mikenmild
        
        I bet that’s worth a hundred or two party votes for NZ First
        
        Is that your estimate of the strength of xenophobia in Invercargill?
        
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        May 1, 2017 8:15pm
      - Jack5
        
        Milky’s for open borders.
        
        Milky the Merkelite.
        
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        May 1, 2017 8:53pm
      - mikenmild
        
        No surprises Jack can’t follow an argument.
        
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        May 1, 2017 8:59pm
duggledog

Ah, the eight hour work day. Didn’t quite work out like that did it Yoza? I was in the workforce in the early eighties and saw a lot of eight hour days but not a lot of work being done. Then they started wanting more, and more, and more, until the country was almost bankrupt.

Which brings me to Sue Moroney.

The fact someone like Sue Moroney can actually be a serving MP for such a length of time does not give me any confidence in the future of New Zealand.

Ditto Poto Williams.
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May 1, 2017 8:02am
- mikenmild
  
  I think you need to widen your net:
  Maureen Pugh
  Steffan Browning
  Nuk Korako
  Shit, where do I stop…
  
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  May 1, 2017 8:03am
  - starboard
    
    so mikenmong disagrees and thinks the pedo muslum sex offender should be allowed to stay. Why is that mong ?
    
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    May 1, 2017 8:07am
    - mikenmild
      
      Are you still drunk?
      
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      May 1, 2017 8:07am
      - starboard
        
        answer the question son.
        
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        May 1, 2017 8:12am
      - Dafixeruppa
        
        Actually, despite the fact that I find mm’s comments usually mind draining, I don’t remember him supporting the pedo Muslim sex offender.
        I am happy to be corrected if I am wrong though.
        
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        May 1, 2017 8:15am
      - starboard
        
        mm is a serial downticker. Unfortunately for him, Im onto him.
        
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        May 1, 2017 8:19am
      - stephieboy
        
        Starboad , mm a serial down ticker ?
        
        And what about you ?
        
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        May 1, 2017 10:03am
  - Keeping Stock
    
    Nuk Korako, a first-term MP, has done an outstanding job chairing the Maori Affairs select committee mikenmild. He is respected by MP’s from right across the Parliament. Maureen Pugh has only been an MP for part of one term, so comparing her to seven-time loser Moroney is misleading.
    
    What has Steffan Browning achieved in his six years in Parliament apart from suggesting that homeopathy could cure ebola, and a vitriolic attack on John Key when he made his valedictory, which was even condemned by his own leader?
    
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    May 1, 2017 8:25am
    - Happychappy
      
      Can you give a example of what the obese tubby Doctor from the front bench of the Labour Party has achieved apart from being a nasty bitch.
      
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      May 1, 2017 8:41am
      - Keeping Stock
        
        If you’re referring to Dr Megan Woods Happychappy, not a lot, although describing someone as “being a nasty bitch” is a bit off IMHO.
        
        She or her staff haven’t added anything to her website since March.
        
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        May 1, 2017 11:16am
    - Jack5
      
      Nuk Korako, Ngai Tahu list MP, has been best known for his move on baggage at airports, hasn’t he?
      
      This was his Airport Authorities (Publicising Lost Property Sales) Amendment Bill which would allow airports to decide the best way to advertise lost property for sale.
      
      He’s also known for being embarrassed by his sons and nephew sending abusive tweets on Nuk’s Parliament-issued cellphone.
      
      Here’s Nuk’s listing on Wikipedia:
      
      Tutehounuku “Nuk” Korako (born 1953/1954) is a New Zealand politician who was elected to the House of Representatives at the 2014 general election as a representative of the National Party.
      
      Nuk came into Parliament as a list MP. He missed out in the local electorate election, despite a vigorous campaign during which he claimed to have knocked on up to 300 doors a day.
      
      Nuk has been involved in worthwhile local groups, and in Ngai Tahu. He was quoted in the Christchurch Press as saying:
      
      “If you can survive iwi politics for 10 or so years, you can survive anything.”
      
      Someone might be able to throw light on Nuk’s birth date. It seems to straddle two years. Was he born on New Year’s Eve?
      
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      May 1, 2017 11:59am
  - DifferentPerspective
    
    Yes – MM – I have to agree.
    
    Although, I’d have to say the exception is the good rather than the bad. It’d be more appropriate to talk about those worth keeping:
    – Stuart Nash
    – Judith Collins
    – Annette King
    
    Um! Did I miss anyone?
    
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    May 1, 2017 9:13am
- GazzaW
  
  Where will wannabe Speaker Trevor Mallard sit on the list? Any ideas ztrev?
  
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  May 1, 2017 8:53am
  - sooty
    
    Bottom.
    
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    May 1, 2017 9:52am
- Old.Mickey.Blue.Eyes
  
  I did see that Moroney has chucked her toys and will not stand again for labour as she wont get a winnable place on the list ! While it is good to see her go and contemplate how where else she can get her snout in the trough, It should be noted that she will be missed by her National party counterparts – she has managed to increase the majority of every National Party MP she has stood against…..I am sure there are plenty of other deadbeats and snowflakes to take her place in the trough…….
  
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  May 1, 2017 11:27am
  - GazzaW
    
    She’s been an MP for long enough to pick up the taxpayer-funded golden super scheme and her Labour comrades will find her a nice little sinecure in the union movement as icing on the cake.
    
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    May 1, 2017 12:22pm
    - starboard
      
      She is evil. She has 4 rental properties.
      
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      May 1, 2017 2:41pm
      - GazzaW
        
        NO!! So she’s a running capitalist dog after all. I hope that she’s not profiteering off the backs of the working classes.
        
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        May 1, 2017 2:59pm
Inandout

Leaked Pike River mine video footage that English and Key hadn’t seen. Amazing.
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May 1, 2017 8:03am
- VicParking
  
  Not leaked stolen
  
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  May 1, 2017 8:16am
  - doggone7
    
    You have the details about that?
    
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    May 1, 2017 1:18pm
- holysheet
  
  Its all good. Now Winston will be able to head the search team into the mine and get to the truth once and for all.
  Someone should warn Chuck to get his gear ready and wait for the call as well
  
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  May 1, 2017 8:22am
- Happychappy
  
  Have they sent a SOS out to Nicky Hagar yet to write the political obituary of National and what will bring them down.
  
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  May 1, 2017 8:24am
- kowtow
  
  Amazing Plod didn’t reveal its existance to the royal commission.
  
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  May 1, 2017 8:24am
  - Inandout
    
    It goes to show even the leader of the country is not aware of everything public servants have tucked away.
    
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    May 1, 2017 8:36am
    - sooty
      
      Sir Humphery strikes again!
      
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      May 1, 2017 9:12am
    - john1234
      
      It has long been common knowledge that robots were sent up the drift and that they captured video.
      What is alleged as new, is that humans went up the drift to fix the robot. Except this has been dishonestly manipulated by the media – 3News and Paddy Gower in particular. There’s nothing in the leaked video to suggest the engineers proceeded past the inside of the portal.
      
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      May 1, 2017 9:54am
      - KevinH
        
        Video courtesy of the New Zealand Herald:
        http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11848008
        The footage from the robot travelling up the drift appears to be sourced from 4 camera angles.
        At about 15.05 it shows two men wearing breathing apparatus fixing a cover to the front of the robot, perhaps a piece of cardboard covering a light unit that may be obscuring footage on one camera.
        At 16.42 the footage shows the robot passing an earlier robot in the tunnel, location unknown.
        At 17.47 the footage shows the robot stopped in front of a coal bucket. It is at this point that smoke is shown in one of the camera’s which suggests that the covering over the light unit is smouldering.
        The video finishes there.
        
        The Pike River Mine Tragedy occurred on 19 November 2010.
        The footage from the video was time stamped 15 March 2011, approximately 3 months after the initial explosion.
        
        What the video tells us is that the drift was accessible at 15 March 2011 and that the fire inside the mine was out. Equipment such as ventilation pipes appear intact although there are signs that the coal bucket had fire damage, scorching.
        
        What the video doesn’t indicate is the methane levels inside the mine, there was the potential for an ignition source from the smouldering light unit cover.
        
        Although a fascinating insight into the condition of the drift the video doesn’t provide any new information as to the location of the miners or their status and or remains.
        
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        May 1, 2017 12:56pm
  - VicParking
    
    Was made available to commision but their lawyers said there was nothing on the 28hrs of tape that would assist them.
    
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    May 1, 2017 9:57am
- john1234
  
  Incredibly dishonest stuff in the 3 News (or whatever they call themselves today) report.
  It shows the engineers working on the robot some time after the robot moved a significant distance up the drift.
  But if you look at the time-stamp, the engineers were working on the robots right at the start of the footage.
  3 News showed this out of chronological sequence. The only reason is that they sought to misrepresent how far the engineers went into the drift.
  Pure dishonesty.
  
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  May 1, 2017 9:51am
- tf78
  
  I heard this morning that it was edited from previous footage which was about 1 hr long. True/false not sure but it seems a reasonable explanation.
  
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  May 1, 2017 10:40am
  - Keeping Stock
    
    A reasonable explanation for presenting a misleading sequence of events, do you mean?
    
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    May 1, 2017 11:18am
  - john1234
    
    The parts that are included in the original Newshub segment span 15:02 through 17:47 where the smoke starts.
    
    The original story is here from 30/04:
    http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2017/04/video-inside-the-pike-river-mine-what-police-never-showed-the-families.html
    
    Today they have released this:
    http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2017/04/full-video-robot-overheats-inside-pike-river-mine.html
    
    They claim this is undedited. while it does have the correct chronological sequence, but it is still edited as there are gaps in it.
    
    This version runs 15:02 to 18:18. Interestingly the smoke only emitted for a few seconds at 17:47. The robot moved again at 18:18 so it clearly didn’t kark when the smoke appeared.
    
    Newshub are dishonest shits.
    
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    May 1, 2017 12:50pm
Dafixeruppa

This morning’s dilemma.
Not sure what to do, my mind is in complete turmoil.
I saw a comment that I really wanted to uptick, but it was by someone that is usually a complete numbskull and whose typical comments are complete tripe.
What do I do? I can’t be seen to support the usual inanities of this personage… 🙁
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May 1, 2017 8:13am
- starboard
  
  You should know by now that you cannot uptick your own comments.
  
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  May 1, 2017 8:24am
  - Dafixeruppa
    
    Thank you starboard, you made me laugh.
    Just for that, I gave you an uptick 🙂
    
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    May 1, 2017 8:50am
    - MCos
      
      See! It wasn’t that bad.
      
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      May 1, 2017 9:14am
cmm

From : http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/92060698/christchurch-dairy-attendant-swings-bat-at-robbers

Anyone who found themselves in a robbery should comply with the offender’s demands, Sweeney said.

“The risks just aren’t worth it.”

Actually the risks ARE worth it. If we as a society just roll over every time a punk with a penknife threatens us, we just encourage them. At some stage society has to fight back or we just lose who we are.

Our forefathers took up arms against the Germans. They did not just roll over and say the risks are not worth it. Nor should we.
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May 1, 2017 8:15am
- kowtow
  
  Of course cmm is right but the Crown ( Plod) doesn’t like it and will do everything it can to also ruin your life . Victimised first by the crims and then by the Crown. The feminists and media go on about so called rape culture but many in NZ are victims of what has become Robbery culture.
  
  “Kawakawa farmer Paul McIntyre walked from Kaikohe Court a free man yesterday after 2 1/2 years defending charges laid against him for shooting and injuring an intruder he caught trying to steal his farm bike one night in October 2002.”
  
  http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10120194
  
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  May 1, 2017 8:30am
  - cmm
    
    I’m surprised the dairy owners have not been roughed up for keeping offensive weapons on hand.
    
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    May 1, 2017 8:35am
- Longknives
  
  “Anyone who found themselves in a robbery should comply with the offender’s demands, Sweeney said..”
  
  What a fucking bizarre comment for a Senior Cop to make!
  So if the Offender orders you to lie down face first on the ground so he can put a round ‘Execution Style’ into the back of your head-You should just quietly comply?
  Or if the Meth-head Crim takes a shining to your wife or daughter you should just let him have his way with her??
  
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  May 1, 2017 8:51am
- VicParking
  
  If you capture the crim and hold them you will have to feed and look after them for the three weeks before plod arrives and then it will only be old age pensioners doing community work.
  
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  May 1, 2017 10:01am
- Fletch
  
  I both agree and disagree. The main downside I see is that life is so much cheaper than it used to be in the past and resisting a violent offender is more likely to get you killed. For instance, back in the day if two guys got into a disagreement at a party they might go outside and duke it out. One guy might walk away with a bloody nose and a bruised ego but nowadays one of them is likely to actually kill the other; it is becoming the norm. In my parents day a murder was quite a sensation. It hardly ever happened and it if did it was talked about for months. Now (I would guess) that it is quite common. According to the latest stats I could find, the homicide rate (murder and manslaughter) is around 64 persons a year in New Zealand.
  
  http://www.police.govt.nz/sites/default/files/publications/homicide-victims-report-2015.pdf
  
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  May 1, 2017 11:26am
duggledog

cmm

You’re from S.A so you know what you’re talking about.

At some point, a robber is going to get beaten to death by a shopkeeper who just loses it.

Then, the shopkeeper will have to face a court. Then, a judge and jury will have to decide if the shopkeeper goes to prison or not.

Then, if the law is followed there will be uproar. I’d like an MP with balls to declare any shopkeeper being threatened with a weapon for the purposes of a burglary is entitled to fight back without fear of conviction.
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May 1, 2017 8:21am
- cmm
  
  First off, I must say I would rather have NZ’s silly laws than have to actually protect myself and my property on an almost daily basis.
  
  However they have really clear laws on when you are allowed to use force and to what extent. Here things are much more complex. Shoot a robber within the law and you’re not going to face court.
  
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  May 1, 2017 8:40am
  - All_on_Red
    
    Ahem
    https://bearingarms.com/bob-o/2017/04/21/nashville-gunfighter-takes-three-armed-robbers-single-handedly/
    
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    May 1, 2017 9:14am
    - stephieboy
      
      All on Red , signal for the government to issue AR 15s to dairy owners and all and sundry ?
      
      1 18
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      May 1, 2017 10:07am
      - All_on_Red
        
        No, don’t be an idiot- oh wait…
        
        16 1
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        May 1, 2017 10:20am
      - starboard
        
        You live in NZ, not Afghanistan stupid boy.
        
        9 1
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        May 1, 2017 12:55pm
      - cmm
        
        There are some options in the middle.
        
        Pepper spray for instance…
        
        That’s very, very, unlikely to kill someone, but can generally do a reasonable job of stopping an attack.
        
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        May 1, 2017 1:33pm
  - Shaun the Sheep
    
    cmm: Oh what a Pollyanna world you live in!
    Our cops are always on the lookout for low hanging fruit.
    No one mention speed cameras.
    
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    May 1, 2017 10:20am
starboard

A great read
http://wp.me/p3Avhv-1ju
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May 1, 2017 8:29am
Swifty

Really feel for those dairy/liquor store owners.

I spent hundreds of nights pumping gas on graveyard shifts in Wellington in the 80s, long before the days of bolting the doors and security wondows – never robbed once. Some drive-offs and shoplifters, that’s all.

Times have clearly changed.

Totally understandable they’ve taken to swinging bats.
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May 1, 2017 8:29am
- Lance
  
  I used to work in the electronic security industry in the 1980’s.
  When an alarm activated the perps always fled, often leaving their tools behind.
  
  My contacts in the industry now say they perps just ignore the alarm, ready to bash anyone who shows up.
  
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  May 1, 2017 11:13am
Keeping Stock

Was Chris Trotter referring to Sue Moroney and Trevor Mallard when he said this?

Left-wing political commentator Chris Trotter says he knows there’s been a lot of very interesting discussion about the rejuvenation process the party’s undertaking.

“It’s a brutal business, politics, and when a party is in a mood to rejuvenate and it’s in a mood to put new faces towards the top of its list, then those who have been around a while and generally failed to set the world on fire, clearly the Labour Party is of a view should have a line drawn underneath [their careers].”

http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2017/04/labour-to-reveal-election-candidate-list.html

Earlier in the same story, it is noted that “A Labour insider told Newshub Mr Mallard is ranked lower than expected, and may struggle to get back as he has given up his Hutt South electorate seat.”

It’s good to know that the Good Ship Labour is still leaking like a sieve. But ztev will not be happy this morning, with his “mate” being effectively shown the door.
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May 1, 2017 8:31am
- sooty
  
  No ztev, this morning. Must have been summoned in for instuctions on how to spin the list!
  
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  May 1, 2017 9:57am
  - stephieboy
    
    Spin what list . Not ztev’s problem that Trump has proven himself to be so inept.
    
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    May 1, 2017 10:09am
    - Keeping Stock
      
      What on earth has anything that Trump done or not done got to do with Trevor Mallard’s demotion Stephie? Your bout of Trump Derangement Syndrome seems terminal; seek help 😎
      
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      May 1, 2017 10:17am
      - holysheet
        
        It’s past being terminal KS. Stoooooopidboy is beyond any form of revival. He’s/it’s just waiting for their paedo sky fairy to clear a place in the next life for them. There’s a bit of a lineup with the 10,000 reported ISIS volunteers reported dead last week. They haven’t got enough virgins and have run out of goats.
        
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        May 1, 2017 10:33am
duggledog

kowtow

That’s right, bit of a tough one for the Crown when that Kawakawa farmer shot those fat Maori boys trying to nick his gear. Should have been exonerated on the spot in my opinion.

Have a look on Trade Me at all the farms and hobby farms around Dargaville and up in the far North around Bay of Islands inland. You would be hard pressed to find a farmer up there who hasn’t had gear or animals stolen. They just give up in the end and sell.

Nothing they can do either. No cops, National don’t care. They tried voting in Winston but nothing changed. Might be a bit different next year when Peters has English by the short & curlies
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May 1, 2017 8:41am
- kowtow
  
  National had better be careful. It looks like they’re happy to piss off 250,000 voters.
  
  https://kiwigunblog.wordpress.com/2017/04/11/how-to-vote-for-guns-in-the-coming-election/
  
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  May 1, 2017 8:56am
Notsofast

Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Ewen MacDonald plays rugby

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11847748

For those gullible suckers who are stupid enough to think he did the crime, here are a few exerpts from Mike White’s book Who killed Scott Guy?

Read it, available with one click on Kindle.

And here it’s useful to pause and consider what that meant. Having charged Macdonald in April 2011 with Scott’s murder, there was no turning back. Any evidence they collected after this event was likely to be viewed in only one way—through the myopic lens of the presumption of guilt, as Greg King described it. Having already made up their mind and in effect publicly declared who’d committed the crime, the police were faced with enormous difficulty if evidence subsequently surfaced that pointed to someone else, or suggested Macdonald was innocent.Read more at location 3120 • Delete this highlight
Add a note
Police tunnel vision is an issue frequently raised when arrests and convictions are challenged. While police, often correctly, dismiss these accusations, in this case it is difficult to view the latter part of their investigation in any other way. Few would have qualms with this approach if all the necessary evidence had been amassed by the time of Macdonald’s arrest or the evidence they had already was utterly convincing. But as became very clear during the trial, this wasn’t the case here. Police had evidence—very strong evidence—of motive and a wealth of prejudicial testimony regarding Macdonald’s relationship with Scott and events on the farm, as well as a possibly plausible scenario on the morning of the murder—but they still lacked anything directly linking him to the murder. At Macdonald’s final interview before his arrest, Detective Laurie Howell told him, ‘You’re the only logical person,’ betraying the police’s own logic and investigation trajectory.Read more at location 3134 • Delete this highlight
Add a note
Sue Schwalger’s remarks after Macdonald’s acquittal, that police weren’t pursuing anyone else and there were no other avenues of investigation, were easily interpreted as meaning police still believed they’d charged the right man.Read more at location 3172 • Delete this highlight
Add a note
Then again, most people won’t have considered exactly what it would have taken for Macdonald to carry out the murder—what he would have had to do physically to be in a position to kill Scott, the risks he would have had to take, the many ways he could so easily have been caught if even the smallest thing went wrong. If you do analyse this, that simple step from A to B—that instinctive assumption that if you can smash up a man’s house you can creep from the shadows and shoot him—becomes a longer, more difficult one. A step becomes a stride and then a leap—a leap of faith for your common sense and a leap of logic as far as the evidence goes

AND;

“only just begun” …… busting the Lundy hoax.
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May 1, 2017 8:46am
- Captain Mainwaring
  
  Lundy lovers unite. Both of you.
  
  29 2
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  May 1, 2017 8:52am
  - Notsofast
    
    I was thinking of that Carpenter’s song Captain, very tuneful. Enjoy. All fun and games till someone loses an eye, these hoaxes.
    
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    May 1, 2017 9:03am
dime

Sue Maroney to “retire”

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
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May 1, 2017 8:50am
Captain Mainwaring

This is utter nonsense. When is it going to stop?

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/92004853/locals-say-plan-to-give-sh1-seven-unpronounceable-maori-names-is-pc-gone-haywire
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May 1, 2017 8:51am
- simpleton1
  
  ‘heredewhuckarewe” road
  
  14 2
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  May 1, 2017 9:06am
- Longknives
  
  It’s never going to stop Mainwaring. The horse has fucking bolted.
  
  I couldn’t care less about the names- But can you imagine how much it will cost to pay the hundreds of wailing, singing and tongue-poking Maori who will be there ‘blessing’ and opening these roads?
  Considering it cost what 7 million to move the fucking Treaty of Waitangi across the road?..
  
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  May 1, 2017 9:09am
  - wiseowl
    
    You know the horse has bolted when you get a Minister at the closing ceremony of the great games concluded in Auckland , using a word about a something rower.
    New Zealand Minister, New Zealand.
    
    12 4
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    May 1, 2017 9:52am
- alex Masterley
  
  Perhaps these roads could be called something simple like say, ummm “Old Main Road”.
  Easy to say and easy to spell!
  
  3 1
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  May 1, 2017 1:39pm
b1gdaddynz

I often hear people complaining how hard it is to get a job but my stepson just got a job at the first place he tried door knocking…..
25 1
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May 1, 2017 8:55am
- Swifty
  
  Good work. Well done to him.
  
  16 1
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  May 1, 2017 9:01am
- rangitoto
  
  Let me guess. No face scribbles, Neatly dressed ?
  
  17 1
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  May 1, 2017 9:41am
  - b1gdaddynz
    
    Yeah he had a shower, a shave and clean clothes. They said when can you start and he said now is good! Done deal!
    
    23 1
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    May 1, 2017 9:47am
- calendar girl
  
  Your partner and you yourself deserve some of the credit!
  
  11 1
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  May 1, 2017 9:50am
- GazzaW
  
  Goff said yesterday that the CRL will create 1800 new jobs. Good luck with finding 1800 prospective workers Phil. Best he gets real & puts a full page ad in the Irish Times I think.
  
  3 0
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  May 1, 2017 12:35pm
- b1gdaddynz
  
  How much of a sad sack do you need to be to downtick someone getting a job?!
  
  1 0
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  May 2, 2017 7:47am
EAD

Shame of Ukip’s ‘rampant rabbi’ – Candidate in sex role-play scandal with woman he met on bondage site won’t even shake female rivals’ hands ‘on religious grounds’

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4459182/Sex-role-play-shame-Ukip-s-rampant-rabbi.html

So UKIP’s Rabbi burns bibles, refuses to shake females’ hands & meets women on bondage websites.

Imagine the outrage on here if he was a Muslim!

I wonder if he is one of those lovely so called “Chosen Ones” who spits on Christians when they see them?

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/christians-in-jerusalem-want-jews-to-stop-spitting-on-them-1.137099
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May 1, 2017 9:03am
- EAD
  
  PS:
  
  To my downtickers, apologies for the crimes of “noticing” and “reading widely”.
  
  EAD
  
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  May 1, 2017 9:17am
  - Keeping Stock
    
    What did you think of your mate Donald’s condemnation of anti-Semitism and Holocaust deniers the other day EAD?
    
    18 1
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    May 1, 2017 9:57am
    - Reid
      
      I thought it was very sad how he’s sold out to the murderous zionists and neocons KS and wasn’t that a shame.
      
      You do realise of course the zionists and neocons hate the Jew in the street almost as much as they hate the goy, don’t you. And that most Israeli’s aren’t zionists, don’t you.
      
      Therefore, if anyone’s anti-semitic, it’s people who think the zionists and neocons are just great, since they bring destruction and death to every single thing they ever touch, and at the mo, that includes the state of Israel.
      
      So apparently KS, you and all your uptickers hate the state of Israel and wish harm to it. What does that make you, and all your uptickers? There’s a word, on the tip of my tongue, starts with a, double-banger. Can’t quite think of it…
      
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      May 1, 2017 5:41pm
    - EAD
      
      @ Keeping Stock,
      
      Firstly – why would Donald Trump be “my mate”?
      
      Secondly – why are the facts “anti semetic”?
      
      “Anti-Semetism” to me sounds like a word that gets used just to silence any criticsm of Jews.
      
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      May 1, 2017 7:43pm
      - mikenmild
        
        Facts are not in themselves antisemitic. Your alleged facts are put in service of your antisemitism though.
        Not to mention your bogus quotes.
        
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        May 1, 2017 8:05pm
      - EAD
        
        “alleged facts”
        
        Hey, that’s a new one! I’ll file that one alongside “fake news”
        
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        May 1, 2017 8:54pm
      - mikenmild
        
        Sorted out your Churchill quote yet?
        
        0 3
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        May 1, 2017 9:00pm
  - VicParking
    
    Sort of like wanting to hear your own voice
    
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    May 1, 2017 10:04am
- Odakyu-sen
  
  Let me guess. Ultra-Orthodox, by any chance?
  
  10 0
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  May 1, 2017 9:23am
  - Kimbo
    
    Sent sexually explicit texts on the Sabbath
    
    Whereas any other day of the week would have been ok. 😉
    
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    May 1, 2017 9:29am
    - Odakyu-sen
      
      Does texting count as “work”?
      
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      May 1, 2017 11:22am
      - Kimbo
        
        According to this Rabbi, yes, unless it can be shown that failing to send sexually explicit texts on the Sabbath presents a life-threatening danger! 😉
        
        What’s Wrong With Texting on Shabbat? A Halachic Analysis
        by Gil Student | February 5, 2012 in Jewish Law
        
        Texting on Shabbat involves the violation of a number of rabbinic prohibitions and perhaps some Biblical prohibitions as well. We will explore a few key technical issues, keeping in mind that there are others which we cannot discuss due to space limitations.
        
        Electricity
        The treatment of electricity in halachah is complex. The accepted practice is to forbid adjusting electric currents on Shabbat, although there is a range of opinions as to why. Early discussions in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries explored various approaches to defining electricity within the categories of halachah.
        
        The Gemara (Beitzah 23a) forbids, on a rabbinic level, spraying perfume on a garment on Shabbat because it creates (molid) a fragrance within the garment. Rabbi Yitzchak Shmelkes, in his responsa Beit Yitzchak (I:120:4) published in 1878, proposed that closing an electrical circuit, thereby causing electricity to flow through the wires, is similar to perfume entering fabric and also would fall under the rabbinic prohibition of molid.
        
        Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, in his 1935 work Me’orei Eish, disagreed with Rabbi Shmelkes based on an intimate understanding of the new technology and complex Talmudic arguments. A decade later, in 1946, Rabbi Avraham Karelitz published his Chazon Ish on Orach Chaim (no. 50) in which he forbade completing an electrical circuit because it constitutes the forbidden labor of building (boneh).
        
        The consensus today seems to follow Rabbi Yosef Eliyahu Henkin’s middle approach found in his 1945 work Eidut LeYisrael (nos. 20,56): unless there are extenuating circumstances, we follow the strict views which completely forbid the closing of an electric circuit. When there are extenuating circumstances, we take into account the lenient views. Therefore, unless we are discussing a doctor or soldier using a cell phone or e-reader on Shabbat for his vital work, or some similar mitigating circumstance, we cannot permit the electronic use entailed.
        
        Writing
        Generating letters on a cell phone screen in almost all cases violates at least a rabbinic prohibition. The Biblical prohibition against writing on Shabbat only applies to permanent ink on parchment or ink and/or parchment equivalents. If one writes with fruit juice, which isn’t permanent, he violates a rabbinic prohibition. Similarly, writing in sand is only rabbinically prohibited.
        
        Rabbi Shmuel Wosner (Shevet HaLevi 6:37), writing in 1983, ruled that creating letters on a computer screen is Biblically prohibited. The screen will not dissolve or rot and is therefore the equivalent of parchment. The letters also will remain on the screen permanently, unless someone actively erases them. However, Rabbi Nachum Rabinovich (Melumdei Milchamah [1993], nos. 57, 63) argues that writing on a computer screen is not a prohibited form of writing because neither the letters nor the background is permanent. One will eventually turn off the electricity, causing everything to disappear, and even if one does not, the batteries or generator will eventually lose power and turn the computer off. Similarly, Dr. Avraham Sofer (Nishmat Avraham [2007, second edition], vol. 1, p. 569ff.) records that Rabbi Auerbach told him that writing via an electron stream is not considered writing with regard to the Biblical prohibition.
        
        However, Rabbi Zalman Menachem Koren (Meorei Eish HaShalem [2010], pp. 943-946) notes that a recently developed type of LCD, which includes the Kindle’s Eink technology, is problematic even according to these lenient views. With this technology, the molecules remain in place—the screen retains that which is written on it—even after being turned off. Writing on this type of screen would be Biblically prohibited because both the “ink” and the “parchment” last.
        
        Lighting
        Cell phone screens present an additional issue. As previously mentioned, spraying perfume on a garment is forbidden on Shabbat because it creates (molid) a fragrance within the garment. While Rabbi Auerbach disagreed with the view that causing an electric current to flow is considered molid, he did not entirely reject the Talmudic concept. He argued that unrecognizable changes cannot be considered molid, but lighting a dark object, such as with a neon light, is rabbinically prohibited.
        
        Applying this to cell phone screens, both CRT and plasma screens involve lighting pixels one way or another. Rabbi Auerbach would therefore consider their use on Shabbat rabbinically forbidden because of molid. LCD screens are backlit. If the backlight is already on, then using such a screen only blocks or modifies light and does not turn it on. Therefore, molid does not apply to LCD screens unless one turns on the backlight. However, cell phones never maintain a constant backlight because of the battery drain. Therefore, using even LCD screens is rabbinically forbidden, according to Rabbi Auerbach, because of molid.
        
        Conclusion
        There are other issues worthy of mention, such as texting indirectly (grama), texts being automatically saved to a server which might be prohibited and the parameters of the somewhat ambiguous prohibition of performing a “weekday activity” on Shabbat (uvda dechol), which we cannot explore here. However, an important responsum by Rabbi Rabinovich (ibid.) places a worthy emphasis on the entirety of halachic arguments on this subject.
        
        Rabbi Rabinovich was asked by his students in the IDF whether when writing non-urgent security-related information on Shabbat they should type on computers or write with special Shabbat pens with slowly disappearing ink. After extensive consultation with IDF engineers, Rabbi Rabinovich ruled that the otherwise rabbinically prohibited pens are halachically preferable to electronic writing on a computer screen. Absent life-threatening danger, even intelligence operatives in the army must avoid texting on Shabbat.
        
        https://www.ou.org/jewish_action/02/2012/whats-wrong-with-texting-on-shabbat-a-halachic-analysis-2/
        
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        May 1, 2017 2:27pm
      - Odakyu-sen
        
        Kimbo’s Rabbis seem obsessed with the letter of the law rather than the spirit of the law. (Which will inevitably tie common people in knots, but will provide a handsome living to those whose job depends on the application and interpretation of the law.)
        
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        May 1, 2017 2:53pm
      - Kimbo
        
        Not “my Rabbi”, Odakyu-sen. Mine, the Galileean Carpenter got into a bit of trouble over allegedly working on the Sabbath. 😉
        
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        May 1, 2017 3:07pm
  - EAD
    
    Let me guess. Ultra-Orthodox, by any chance?
    
    It’s that 99% of jews that give the rest a bad reputation! ?
    
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    May 1, 2017 7:45pm
    - mikenmild
      
      Jews don’t have a bad reputation. Individuals have bad reputations, not entire races or religions. But xenophobes don’t understand that.
      
      1 2
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      May 1, 2017 8:07pm
      - EAD
        
        Jews don’t have a bad reputation
        
        Saying something glib does not make it so Milkmaid.
        
        History does not begin and end with Steven Spielberg movies about dem ebillll Naaaaazzzzziiis
        
        The question is why were the Jews hated so much in Europe? Europe was the center of most Jews since the 10th century and I’m they’re history, they’ve been kicked out of no less than 109 countries.
        
        When Judea had a revolt in 72 AD against the Roman Empire it was not only crushed but Judea was renamed Palestine by the Roman Senate several years later
        
        By 78 AD most Jews (Judaians) were scattered and left Judea. This is 700 years before the birth of Islam. They could not go to any Roman region and that region included most of Europe, Egypt, some parts of the Middle East and most of North Africa. They had to go south and south east of the North African part of the Roman Empire.
        
        By the time many returned to Europe it was well after the Roman Empire fell. They faced laws, decrees, edicts from rulers and Popes to get out of each region they would settle.
        
        So why did Pope Pious drive them out? why did Martin Luther the founder of the Protestant movement, want all Synagogues and Jewish books burned and the Jews driven out? How about the edicts passed by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella against the Jews?
        
        Why did King James of Aragon demand that Jews wear a yellow patch with the star of David? (Centuries before Germany).
        
        Why were there Pogroms on regular basis in Czarist Russia against their Jewish community? We are talking of a massive population with many cultures disliking the presence of the Jewish community.
        
        If one answers those questions why the highly civilized cultures of Europe wanted them out, time and time again, maybe we may understand the nature of Jews outside of Israel.
        
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        May 1, 2017 8:46pm
      - mikenmild
        
        Next you’ll be claiming it’s okay to hate blacks because they used to be despised slaves.
        
        2 1
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        May 1, 2017 8:58pm
      - EAD
        
        Next you’ll be claiming it’s okay to hate blacks because they used to be despised slaves.
        
        No – why would I say that?
        
        PS: and where have I ever said it is “okay to hate Jews”? I know you like dealing in emotive language, such is the way of the SJW whose arguments don’t stand up to facts and reason but your mental and and linguistic gymnastics can only be described as slimy.
        
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        May 1, 2017 9:30pm
- BeeSting
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnwU4nDim6Q
  
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  May 2, 2017 12:41am
Gulag1917

“In the most extreme circumstances we have made it very clear that you can’t rule out the use of nuclear weapons as a first strike.”
Michael Fallon, BBC Today, 4-25-17

Britain would be ‘literally erased from the face of the earth’ if it launched a nuclear attack, warns Russian MP
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/uk-nuclear-war-russia-warn-senator-frants-klintsevich-erased-face-earth-razed-ground-us-cold-war-a7701411.html
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May 1, 2017 9:32am
- stephieboy
  
  Gulag1917, rubbing hands and warming up for such a possibilty ?
  
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  May 1, 2017 10:12am
  - Reid
    
    Yes dumbo, everyone really really wants thermonuclear war.
    
    I mean seriously, what the fuck goes through your head.
    
    Anything at all?
    
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    May 1, 2017 5:37pm
Hugh Pavletich

… Canada …

Panic Bank Run Leaves Canada’s Largest Alternative Mortgage Lender On Edge Of Collapse | Zero Hedge

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-04-29/furious-bank-run-leaves-canadas-largest-alternative-mortgage-lender-verge-collapse

After two years of recurring warnings (both on this website and elsewhere) that Canada’s largest alternative (i.e., non-bank) mortgage lender is fundamentally insolvent, kept alive only courtesy of the Canadian housing bubble which until last week had managed to lift all boats, Home Capital Group suffered a spectacular spectacular implosion last week when its stock price crashed by the most on record after HCG revealed that it had taken out an emergency $2 billion line of credit from an unnamed counterparty with an effective rate as high as 22.5%, indicative of a business model on the verge of collapse . … read more via hyperlink above …

Home Capital’s Crisis Could Mean Higher Mortgage Rates For Canadians

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2017/04/30/home-capital-crisis-canada-mortgage-rates_n_16341662.html

https://www.google.co.nz/?gws_rd=ssl#q=home+capital+canada&tbm=nws&spf=1
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May 1, 2017 9:46am
Swifty

I see the Zimbabwean war criminal, murderer and rapist has been refused a work visa and has departed our shores.

Good job.

More of this please.
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May 1, 2017 10:41am
- Rodney Randall
  
  http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/329789/zimbabwean-self-confessed-murderer-leaves-nz
  
  “He told immigration officials he feared being tortured if he returned to Zimbabwe at the hands of the Zimbabwe Central Intelligence Office, or secret police.
  
  That allowed Mr Nduku to claim the status of a Protected Person – that gave him limited rights to stay in New Zealand as Protected Persons cannot be deported, but he was not legally allowed to work.”
  
  “But surely this will result in poor Nduku facing a death penalty back in his home country? How can you expect an office worker in Wellington with a family at home to live with this?” 🙂
  
  Now onto Mr Ackbhari…
  
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  May 1, 2017 11:23am
  - Dave Mann
    
    Thanks for the link that Swifty didn’t bother to supply, Rodney 😀
    
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    May 1, 2017 3:00pm
- Dave Mann
  
  Swifty: Why didn’t you give us any details or even supply a link to the story? Do you think we are mind readers?
  
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  May 1, 2017 2:59pm
- calendar girl
  
  Two interesting points:
  1. Deborah Manning involved again.
  2. Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse seems capable of making decisions personally in this case, but not in respect of Afghani multiple sexual offender (against young girls) Sultan Ali Abdul Ali Akbari. Why the difference?
  
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  May 1, 2017 7:09pm
stephieboy

Life is full of surprises .

Sigh !

“President Trump Invites Controversial Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte to White House,”

President Donald Trump invited Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte to the White House to discuss the relationship between their two countries following a conversation between the two leaders over the weekend.
Trump and Duterte had a “very friendly” conversation Saturday, according to the White House, where they discussed a range of topics including the Philippine’s regional security in light of the missile tests launched by North Korea and Duterte’s controversial war on drugs.

“They also discussed the fact that the Philippine government is fighting very hard to rid its country of drugs, a scourge that affects many countries throughout the world,” the White House said in a statement.

Duterte’s fight against drugs in his country, which has resulted in the death of thousands of people, has drawn global criticism. Last month, Human Rights Watch estimated that police officers and “unidentified vigilantes” have killed over 7,000 suspected drug dealers and drug users in the country, often in impoverished and urban areas. “Duterte’s outspoken endorsement of the campaign implicates him and other senior officials in possible incitement to violence, instigation of murder, and in command responsibility for crimes against humanity,” Human Rights Watch wrote in its March report.

http://time.com/4760798/donald-trump-rodrigo-duterte-white-house-visit/
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May 1, 2017 11:01am
- holysheet
  
  Stooopidboy, one less drug pusher has to be a good thing. Who actually gives a fuck how they are gotten rid of, as long as they are gone. Shooting them is too good for any drug pusher.
  
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  May 1, 2017 11:08am
  - stephieboy
    
    Even those innocent caught in the crossfire ?
    
    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/17/duterte-says-children-killed-in-philippines-drug-war-are-collateral-damage
    
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    May 1, 2017 11:37am
Jack5

For military history buffs, the morning reading on Radio NZ at present is likely of interest.

It’s the story of Douglas Stark – Starkie – one of the Otago Regiment’s two reknown scouts in France in World War 1.

The story was written by Iris Wilkinson, a prominent NZ journalist and novelist of the 1920s and 1930s.

Starkie, of Invercargill, claimed to be partly of American Indian descent. Starkie was a rebel and an outlaw, while the other famous Otago Regiment scout, Dick Travis, won a VC. Starkie survived the war, but Travis didn’t.

Starkie’s war and outlaw exploits used to be well known in Southland, and maybe still are. He was always known just as “Starkie”.

While regarded as fearless scout, he seems to have much time in custody because of his second war, with the authority of the NZ Army itself.

Wilkinson also wrote a sequel based on Starkie’s life after World War 1.

Iris Wilkinson’s own story is remarkable. A poet as well as novelist and reporter, she was injured, perhaps gang raped, while a war correspondent in the 1930s as Japan invaded China.

She committed suicide in London while she is still in her early 30s.

There was one small blip in the Starkie story read today. Wilkinson has Stark drinking in an Invercargill hotel with men waiting to go into camp. Invercargill bars closed in 1911, when the town went dry.
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May 1, 2017 11:23am
- mikenmild
  
  Passport to Hell is a remarkable book. Fictionalised but apparently only lightly.
  Iris Wilkinson is perhaps better know by her pen-name of Robin Hyde.
  
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  May 1, 2017 12:13pm
- mikenmild
  
  Re the hotel. Just because Invercargill was a dry town would not have stopped Stark from Drinking!
  
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  May 1, 2017 12:22pm
  - nasska
    
    Prohibition never stopped anyone determined to get a drink from doing so. The Wairarapa had its shot at going dry when the prohibitionists won the day in the 1908 elections forcing the closure of Masterton’s fifteen liquor outlets.
    
    Note that only the specific area of Masterton township was affected. Citizens could still drink in their own homes & the town’s brewery still brewed. So long as the beer was sold south of the Waingawa bridge or East of Te Ore Ore all was well. This led to the farcical situation where the brewery truck drove over the bridge, the kegs or crates to be loaded onto trailers or into cars to be driven back over the bridge & drunk in private premises.
    
    Additionally the proprietors of the four hotels of nearby Carterton & the outlying Taueru Hotel had much to thank the wowsers & Godnutters for.
    
    Sanity was restored in 1946 when Masterton voted for Trust liquor outlets.
    
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    May 1, 2017 1:08pm
  - Jack5
    
    Milky, the slip was about the place they were drinking, not that they were drinking. They couldn’t have been drinking in a hotel bar in “dry” Invercargill.
    
    It’s a tiny blemish, and I wish I hadn’t mentioned it.
    
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    May 1, 2017 2:00pm
    - nasska
      
      Jack5
      
      The Listener published an interesting article about Stark. As far as a few minor discrepancies in the book go this might offer a reason:
      
      ….”As the weeks passed, Stark kept begging Wilkinson to marry him, but after he made a pass, her psychologist urged her to tell Stark she wasn’t available”…..
      
      AND
      
      ….”Wilkinson deliberately rushed the writing and editing process to expedite the payment of royalties to Stark, having little time to check the accuracy of his account”…..
      
      http://www.noted.co.nz/archive/listener-nz-2015/real-life-rambo/
      
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      May 1, 2017 2:14pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  A short biography here
  Robin Hyde.
  http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/4h41/hyde-robin
  
  A more complete account by her son:
  http://www.press.auckland.ac.nz/en/browse-books/all-books/books-2002/The-Book-of-Iris-A-Life-of-Robin-Hyde.html
  
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  May 1, 2017 12:33pm
cmm

Musk looking for a new trough:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/news/92081763/elon-musk-boring-into-new-modes-of-transportation

Personally making millions of dollars a day from government handouts on Teslas just isn’t enough for our Muskie!
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May 1, 2017 12:47pm
- cha
  
  Some guys have all the luck, and get to bang Amber Heard, too.
  
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  May 1, 2017 1:18pm
Happychappy

So Labour had to delay the list announcement so Willie Jackson who is not happy about being 21 st on the list with two Maori members ahead of him so he could fly to Wellington for a meeting with the Labour Council. Well is this the start of the back stabbing or will Labour give Willie a better number on the Party list.
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May 1, 2017 12:57pm
- alex Masterley
  
  The Horrid has the story about him not being happy. I didn’t realise Willie had the power to make the Labour Council postpone its announcement.
  Whatever the outcome their inability to stage manage something like this makes them look incompetent.
  
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  May 1, 2017 1:10pm
  - Captain Mainwaring
    
    “makes them look incompetent.”
    
    Correction: confirms that they ARE incompetent.
    
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    May 1, 2017 1:22pm
- Captain Mainwaring
  
  Certainly looks like a shitstorm brewing in the Labour party. Willie is in Wellington pinning Angry up against the wall and he’s not the only one highly pissed off about their list position.
  Who knows where this will end?
  Stock up on popcorn and beer, it could be fun.
  No doubt it will generate its own thread on Kiwiblog.
  
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  May 1, 2017 1:20pm
- Swifty
  
  Willie’s still got some explaining to do about recent fisticuffs with Les Green.
  
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  May 1, 2017 1:41pm
  - Jack5
    
    Who is Les Green, Swifty? The only Les Green I have heard of was a bank robber.
    
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    May 1, 2017 2:05pm
    - Swifty
      
      Bank robbery was one of his skill sets, yes.
      
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      May 1, 2017 2:50pm
      - Jack5
        
        Swifty, if Les Green is still alive he must be quite an age.
        
        He sounds to be an interesting bloke, from this:
        
        http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/69468426/The-decline-of-the-bank-robbery-at-the-hands-of-science
        
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        May 1, 2017 3:19pm
      - Swifty
        
        Not yet in the Big House in the sky.
        
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        May 1, 2017 4:07pm
- Right of way is Way of Right
  
  Now it looks as though the release of the list, originally scheduled for this morning, will now happen tomorrow.
  
  Can’t even organise a simple list of people to be released on time because they promised too much to too many people without realising they couldn’t give everyone a high list placing! When you have to actually rank people, it goes against the socialist mindset. They can’t all be equal now!
  
  Seems typical Labour policy to me!
  
  Meanwhile, Andrew Little would have us believe that the Labour Party is ready to govern! Yeah Right!
  
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  May 1, 2017 2:31pm
  - Captain Mainwaring
    
    Love to be a fly on the wall at tonight’s meeting, Angry is sure to lose his rag.
    Seems he enticed Willie with the promise of a high list ranking without discussing the idea with the rest of his caucus, many of whom disagreed and the ranking committee has placed Willie where he deserves to be.
    Let the fists fly.
    
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    May 1, 2017 2:39pm
  - 4077th
    
    That lot couldn’t organise a root in a brothel.
    
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    May 1, 2017 4:51pm
waikatogirl

ROWIWOR ” When you have to actually rank people, it goes against the socialist mindset. They can’t all be equal now!”

But some are always more equal than others so there is always the more equal to direct lower others on their needs and deeds. ??
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May 1, 2017 2:54pm
Stars And Stripes

Woman gains refuge in NZ from ‘bully’ mother-in-law
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/329828/woman-gains-refuge-in-nz-from-'bully'-mother-in-law
“A woman who fled Jordan, claiming that her mother-in-law abused her so badly she needed to seek asylum in New Zealand, has been granted refugee status”.

The liberal hand wringers at the Immigration and Protection Tribunal hard at work again allowing people with sob stories to stay in our country.
Wonder what will be next as grounds for refugee status?.
Bullied at school?
Workmates did not like me?
My sister was prettier than me?
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May 1, 2017 3:22pm
MrTips

I see John Key’s joined the board of AirNZ, effective Sept 01. https://nzx.com/companies/AIR/announcements/300465

This would actually be a bloody good fit for the company and for him. No doubt AirNZ’s hedging and forward exchange practices will come under scrutiny!!
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May 1, 2017 4:40pm
- Nostradamus
  
  I wonder how the likes of Ztev (who continue to suffer from Key Derangement Syndrome) will react to this announcement. Will they refuse to fly with Air NZ? Someone might like to pop over to The Standard and ask the wee petals what they think…
  
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  May 1, 2017 5:00pm
  - 4077th
    
    Perhaps Jetstar would be more to their liking?
    
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    May 1, 2017 5:16pm
    - starboard
      
      John who ?
      
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      May 1, 2017 5:30pm
  - stigie
    
    Would you mind popping over Nostra and take one for the team, it must be your turn ?
    
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    May 1, 2017 7:25pm
- Reid
  
  Plus there’s a lot of diplomacy involved in negotiating landing rights and because planes are so expensive there’s quite a bit of finance too and whose got good banking contacts.
  
  And one assumes free flights are available to the board so isn’t that handy which is probably why he’s doing it.
  
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  May 1, 2017 5:35pm
4077th

Is it not staggering that a jury of no less than 11 women and 1 man find a man guilty of assault with intent of a man who viciously raped his stepdaughter. I for one would like to hand the man a medal. I have said it before, it seems he exercised far more restraint than I would. I would happily spend a bit of time inside with him so we could get to know each other a bit better.
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May 1, 2017 4:43pm
- Reid
  
  It’s a factual question not an emotional one, is why.
  
  It’s your duty as a consciencious citizen to apply the law.
  
  No-one is asking whether or not you want to, no-one asks if you like it, no-one asks if you agree with the law as explicated by the Judge. That’s because if you start bringing in any of those things into jury trials, Lady Justice’s blindfold slips and that’s a bad thing, because you start getting emotional decisions not objective ones.
  
  There’s wisdom behind the law. That’s why these principles are applied.
  
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  May 1, 2017 5:31pm
  - Ross12
    
    You are right Reid that the law has to be applied unemotionally but in this case I hope the guy gets a very light punishment.
    There was a lot more to the situation, after the original assault when guy found out his step daughter had been raped.
    
    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/92076152/judge-warns-jury-no-one-could-take-revenge-for-a-wrong-done
    
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    May 1, 2017 5:47pm
    - nasska
      
      From Ross12’s link:
      
      ….”Malcolm will find out in June what penalty he will face.”…..
      
      Hopefully an hour of community service to be spent polishing the medal he should receive.
      
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      May 1, 2017 5:59pm
GazzaW

Well, what a farce the Labour list announcement has been. Due at noon, then delayed until 2pm and now scheduled for tomorrow morning sometime. They are as bad as Jetstar. And all caused by a second-rate shock jock not getting what he wants. Who exactly is in charge? It’s obviously not Little.

This outfit can’t run itself, couldn’t run a bath and must not be allowed near the reins of power.
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May 1, 2017 5:22pm
Fletch

Hungary manages to erase illegal immigration in just a few months by – building a border wall and having it patrolled.

http://dailycaller.com/2017/04/30/exclusive-it-was-an-invasion-how-hungary-managed-to-erase-illegal-immigration-in-just-a-few-months/
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May 1, 2017 5:24pm
Viking2

confused about immigration?
You are not alone.
Once you read this spoof you will know why Woodhouse & Co. are like possums in the headlights.

By Alex Tarrant

The scene: Alex, a Member of Parliament who may or may not be in Government or Opposition, has called in Sandy, his political advisor, to discuss a key policy as the General Election approaches.

S: Morning Alex. You mentioned on the phone something about devising a new immigration policy?

A: Morning Sandy. Yeah, well this morning I was listening to my favourite talk-back radio programme and they were saying we let 72,000 people into this country last year, when there’s double that number of unemployed locals. That’s outrageous. We need to do something about it.

S: Sure. Stroke of luck actually – I was going through the figures myself yesterday…

A: 72,000 physical people from overseas, coming to live here, when all these New Zealanders are on the dole!

S: Well if you’re going to be throwing numbers around like that, then actually 129,518 physical people arrived here to stay permanently or long term in the year to March.

A: What? That’s even more outrageous! Where’s that figure from? Why aren’t we talking about that number?

S: Well, 57,586 people left the country over the same period. So that’s why we talk about that net 72k figure.

A: Still, 129,000 people being let in when we have scores of people queuing for supermarkets…

S: That’s generally what you do in supermarkets

A: …queuing for supermarket jobs, Sandy. We’ve got to stop letting so many people in.

S: 31,995 were Kiwis coming home. And 6,124 were Australian citizens.

A: Well we can’t keep them out, I guess. Still, that leaves…

S: 91,399 who were not New Zealanders or Australians arrived during the past 12 months to live here…

A: …taking Kiwis’ jobs no doubt.

S: Well, of those arriving, we gave 43,725 of them work visas.

A: And what about the rest?

S: 16,763 already had residency visas, but they’re not citizens; 23,861 were students coming here to study – remember your promise to boost exports? Dairy prices dropped and we haven’t really done anything to boost value-added, so we’re now relying on tourism and education a bit more…

A: Yeah, yeah and we’re not anywhere near our goal, thanks for reminding me…

S: …6,327 of them were classed as ‘visitors’ and 693 were ‘other’.

A: So, last year we issued 43,000 work visas to foreigners while Kiwis sat there unemployed?

S: No.

A: But you just said…

S: I said, ‘of those arriving’. Actually in the year to March 2017 we issued 226,362 work visas.

A: Say that again.

S: 226,362.

A: But you just said only 129,000 arrived here, and 30% of them were Kiwis and Aussies.

S: 170,529 work visas were issued onshore – to people already here. That leaves…

A: 55,833 work visas issued to people who were outside the country last year.

S: That’s a fancy calculator.

A: Yeah I bought it during the leadership battle. So, at least 170,000 people are in the country on temporary work visas and 56,000 may or may not have arrived, and we had the power to not issue to them because we’re concerned that they’re taking Kiwis’ jobs?

S: Hmmmmmm not quite.

A: Arrrgghhh

S: The latest government figures I could find are that we had 132,781 people in this country on temporary work visas as of 30 June 2016.

A: That’s almost a year ago! What about those numbers until the end of March you were talking about?

S: 226,362 work visas issued during the year to March 2017.

A: Where were these people from?

S: Well, 108 from Afghanistan, 13 from Albania, 9 from Algeria, 1 from Andorra.

A: How many from China?

S: 22,335

A: India?

S: 36,445

A: And most of them are applying for visas from onshore? How did they get here in the first place?

S: Well, some were students and they want to stay, some are here on working holiday visas and want to extend…

A: I’m not worried about Working Holiday Schemes. Anyway, tough to cut them if we don’t want reciprocal moves. Take them out of whatever number we’re working with.

S: Ok, 226,332 minus 74,704, that’s 151,658. While we’re at it, we should probably take out foreign vessel shipping crews, humanitarian migrants and rich entrepreneurs. That takes us to 148,920 in the year to March.

A: 74 thousand?! Well, still plenty of room to cut. You said some of them were students – I take it you were using past tense and not dropping into that habit of reported speech you have. They came and they haven’t left?

S: That’s right, they’ve finished their studies, and if they have an acceptable enough qualification we give them a bit of time to find a job here.

A: Acceptable enough…like a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering? Construction diploma?

S: Yeah. Or a level 4 National Certificate in Animal Management.

A: Like a vet?

S: More like being able to implement a health and safety plan in an animal care or training facility and ensure compliance with regulatory procedures. For people who want to be pet sitters. It’s on the skilled occupation list.

Related Topics
OpinionNational PartyLabour PartyImmigration NZEYElection 2017immigrationmigrationnet migrationskills shortages

A: Hmmmm. So how long can these people stay in the country looking for a job then?

S: 12 months.

A: How do they afford that if they don’t have a job?

S: Well they can work in any job for 12 months until they find one that matches their qualification.

A: No shortage of pet sitters I’d bet. How many people were given this visa last year then?

S: Give or take a few, about 21,000.

A: Jeepers. And they can take any job for a year?

S: Any job.

A: Don’t they get lonely? They’ve just spent a bunch of time studying here away from their families and now they’re going to take an extra year trying to find a job. I know I would.

S: Yeah, perhaps the ones whose partners aren’t here on relationship work visas with them.

A: Relationship work visas eh. Come on then, how many?

S: 37,078. But that includes Entrepreneurs’ Partners, Partners of people on work visas, partners of NZAID students, partners of students, the Partnership Visa and Partnership Deferral.

A: Heavens. Who’s left then? And make it quick. It’s getting late on a Friday afternoon and I didn’t think this would take that long. Why can’t we just talk about that 72,000 figure? Too many numbers.

S: Evidence-based policy…

A: Oh yeah. Keep forgetting about that.

S: There’s also a corrella…a link, between the Australian economy doing well, and fewer people wanting to come to New Zealand. So, the amount of people coming here should drop away when the Australian economy starts to get better – you won’t be seeing such a high net figure – that 72,000 you were talking about – once the Australian labour market recovers.

A: Will that happen before the election?

S: Probably not.

A: Good. That number’s going to be gold-dust on the campaign trail. Ok, who else did we issue work visas to last year then?

S: Well, 1,963 came under the ‘Approved in Principal’ category. That’s one of the Essential Skills ones under which employers are allowed to hire a bunch of people on the skills shortage list.

A: Well that isn’t many. What else? What about all those people who come in to pick fruit? You know, the ones with small ha…

S: We call them RSE workers. 11,110 of them approved last year.

A: We can’t cover that ourselves?

S: Well you know young people these days. Smoke too much dope, don’t they. And there was something about the social consequences of moving people around the country multiple times a year due to different seasonal work being in different places.

There were 33,285 work visas issued under ‘other’ last year. Exchange work, consular staff, Graduate Work Experience…

A: We just went over graduates.

S: This is another one. Basically, if you do have an offer for work. Anyway, to be fair, half of ‘other’ relates to Specific Purpose or Event visas – about 15,000 of those were issued last year.

Another one you might be interested in is a Section 61 Visa.

A: What’s that? For spies or something?

S: No, it’s the visa you apply for if you’re in the country illegally.

A: That just doesn’t sound right in my head.

S: 2,167 last year. Oh, there’s also Work to Residence – 3,813 last year. That’s a two-year visa if you can cover a long-term skills shortage.

A: Skill shortages, yeah hold on, let’s talk about those. What about these Essential Skills migrants then.

S: 38,320 under the Skilled Work substream last year. And 205 under the Skilled Migrant Category.

A: Taking skilled jobs from Kiwis!

S: Or filling jobs that we can’t fill ourselves.

A: Like pet groomers?

S: Yeah, alright.

A: 38,000 skilled worker visas issued last year, and we can’t even find enough truck drivers. Barry down the pub the other day told me we were turning away truck drivers. Can you believe that?! There’s a shortage of truck drivers in New Zealand and we’re not letting them in…

S: 621 foreign truck drivers were granted visas to come to or stay in the country last year. British, Fijian, Hungarian, Indian, Dutch, Irish, even a Zambian truck driver was given a visa.

A: Oh.

S: Maybe he’s just not offering high enough rates of pay to attract the workers – locals and foreigners?

A: Who, Barry? Nah Barry’s a good guy. His anecdotes have backed up heaps of my policies…

S: I thought I’d warned you to stop relying on anecdotes?

A: …last year Bazza was saying how much better it is for the economy to transport freight with trucks driving on highways with regular motorists than it is putting the freight on trains.

S: But wouldn’t putting more freight on trains help reduce the truck driver skill shortage gap?

A: …

S: We were talking about immigration…

A: Here’s an better idea. Let’s wait until everyone else has put their policies out then nick the best bits. I’m hungry. Afternoon tea?

S: There’s that new café around the corner.

A: Great idea. Pierre makes a wicked soufflé. He was telling me the other day how much he enjoys living here.

S: Well, Bakers are on the shortage list.
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May 1, 2017 5:55pm
Brigitte

NZ MUSIC MONTH

Yes it’s that time of the year again. This year I’m going to count down to this year so to start here is Herbs and Sensitive to a smile from 1987:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HBpvfQ2-Q4
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May 1, 2017 6:33pm
Stars And Stripes

Invercargill to be new refugee settlement
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/92104313/invercargill-to-be-new-refugee-settlement
“Employment opportunities in Invercargill mean the town will become a new home for refugees in New Zealand
Invercargill was considered alongside Christchurch, New Plymouth, Rotorua and Tauranga, but it edged out the others because of the broad range of employment opportunities in the area, he said”.

Brilliant news, New Plymouth was just edged out by Invercargill.
Got enough diversity in NP already without more of these grubs.
I’m sure Invercargill will become another Mt Roskill of the south fairly quickly.
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May 1, 2017 6:57pm
- mikenmild
  
  Do you even know how many refugees might settle there?
  
  3 7
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  May 1, 2017 7:05pm
  - starboard
    
    Do you ?
    
    7 3
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    May 1, 2017 7:17pm
    - mikenmild
      
      Or you?
      
      4 6
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      May 1, 2017 7:18pm
      - starboard
        
        ones too many you handwringing mong
        
        9 4
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        May 1, 2017 7:20pm
  - starboard
    
    Look out for Invercargillstan, coming soon
    
    7 4
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    May 1, 2017 7:19pm
    - Jack5
      
      Hundreds more Southland votes for NZ First.
      
      Southland will be too cold for Mozzies. They will be off to Melbourne as soon as they have permanent residency…. unless Australia wakes up and shuts the back door.
      
      You have to laugh at “Invercargill … edged out the others because of the broad range of employment opportunities in the area.”
      
      There wouldn’t be more than a dozen fast-food outlets in Invercargill, and they’re filling up the farm jobs with Filipinos. What employment opportunities?
      
      3 2
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      May 1, 2017 8:33pm
- mikenmild
  
  Do you think the residents of Invercargill would enjoy having the same per capita income as those of Mt Roskill?
  
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  May 1, 2017 7:20pm
  - Stars And Stripes
    
    More to it than per capita income MM.
    Depends whether you want to hear the painful screams of young girls getting sliced up next door or getting invited to a neighbourhood meal and finding where your missing pet went.
    
    4 2
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    May 1, 2017 7:59pm
    - mikenmild
      
      You wouldn’t be going to any ‘neighbourhood meal’ with refugees, though, so you might as well concentrate on slightly more realistic flights of xenophobic fantasy.
      
      3 5
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      May 1, 2017 8:13pm
      - Jack5
        
        Disposable income in Invercargill would be higher than in Mt Roskill, Milky. At least until unemployment rises.
        
        3 2
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        May 1, 2017 8:38pm
      - Jack5
        
        The Immigration NZ bureaucrats obviously haven’t been following Trump, who looks set to protect aluminium refining in the United States.
        
        That must put some pressure on the Bluff smelter. If that were to close, Southland’s economy would be hit hard. The locals woiuld be competing with refugees for scarce work.
        
        It wouldn’t be good for NZ’s balance of payments, either, and they are already in the red. The smelter must earn the best part of a billion dollars a year for NZ overseas.
        
        3 2
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        May 1, 2017 8:46pm
      - EAD
        
        The thing I gather about Invercargill is it is probably the wealthiest part of all of New Zealand in terms of people having disposable income.
        
        It is of course helped, by Tiwai Aluminium Smelter which created thousands of high wage blue collar jobs but is mainly due to house prices being so low and people not being so “blingy” with their money as up north.
        
        People down there on average have far more real wealth and can lead a better lifestyle than the rest of the country especially for those in jobs like teachers/policemen where there is no regional differentiation of wages.
        
        You just need to harden up and ignore the weather which might be a bit tough for today’s snowflakes…
        
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        May 1, 2017 9:37pm
rightoverlabour

Can’t believe the outcome of this case. http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/92076152/judge-warns-jury-no-one-could-take-revenge-for-a-wrong-done

Hope that rapists gets it everyday….
7 1
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May 1, 2017 7:04pm
Captain Mainwaring

Shut this load of crap down quick smart Mr. English or you’re toast in September.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11848225
11 1
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May 1, 2017 7:19pm
- starboard
  
  Maanu Paul…that bludging racist scumbag ..heh good luck.
  
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  May 1, 2017 7:22pm
- mikenmild
  
  Anyone is able to object to a claim within 20 days of it being advertised
  
  There you go. Don’t just moan, do something.
  
  3 8
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  May 1, 2017 7:31pm
  - Captain Mainwaring
    
    Objection is fine, backing it up with legal grunt to fight the Waitangi industry is another thing altogether.
    Why do these idiots get media attention?
    
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    May 1, 2017 7:51pm
  - Jack5
    
    Milky’s solution to all: make a submission. Paper, paper, more fucking paper.
    
    9 2
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    May 1, 2017 8:40pm
- Fletch
  
  Maybe they should gift the foreshore and seabed personhood as well, then it can own itself.
  
  3 1
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  May 1, 2017 9:30pm
- Reid
  
  So what would you say if you knew that all round the foreshore are huge vanadium titanium and berylium rich deposits just lying on the seabad waiting to be vacuumed up by mining ships, turned into ingots in a refinery they build in Auckland, and shipped off to Asia to all the factories that need huge quantities of those materials for their new alloys.
  
  And all that’s needed is to give ownership of those resources to the nepotistic tribal people down there in NZ.
  
  Because then, after a bit of flattery, the bankers will just set the leaders of the day up for life along with a few thousand of their closest rellies, and everyone will be happy. Except of course the people of NZ who lost a fortune and could have been the Dubai of the South Pacific. But who cares about them?
  
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  May 1, 2017 9:31pm
  - GoVege
    
    The Maori people are not like that, Reid!
    They only want control of the foreshore and seabed to provide jobs for their youth.
    Just like with the fisheries deal….
    
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    May 1, 2017 9:36pm
    - Reid
      
      And don’t think the Crown doesn’t know about this, either. The Crown is who owns the banks which come and rape us.
      
      I’m talking about the British branch of the Crown, of course, but the NZ branch is whose responsible for making it happen.
      
      1 3
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      May 1, 2017 9:51pm
      - mikenmild
        
        How many banks does the Queen own?
        
        1 0
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        May 2, 2017 6:51am
- GoVege
  
  Don’t be silly Cap’n.
  National owes The Maori Party big-time for their support to stay in power.
  Do you really think they will be satisfied with the RMA deal?
  The foreshore and beaches were the very reason they were formed.
  If the Nats don’t roll over on this one, they will be toast alright.
  
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  May 1, 2017 9:31pm
nasska

A man walks into a costume hire shop & asks for a Dracula outfit.

They then handed him over a Auckland Blues supporters jersey.

He said, “You must’ve misheard me. I said I wanted to look like a count.”
8 1
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May 1, 2017 8:39pm
Rachael Membery

National party under the music gun, why isn’t the authorising music company a party?
3 0
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May 1, 2017 8:43pm
starboard

Sultan Ali Abdul Ali Akbari must be deported.

Woodhouse, wake up.
8 1
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May 1, 2017 9:24pm
jonar

President Snowflake strikes again!

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/apr/30/reince-priebus-libel-law-change-media-white-house

On the campaign trail last year, Trump responded to reporting on his policies and background by floating the possibility of a change to libel laws. Such a move would in reality require a change to the US constitution, which enshrines freedom of the press in the first amendment, the supreme court having ruled on the issue.

Undaunted, the president returned to the theme on Thursday, writing on Twitter: “The failing [New York Times] has disgraced the media world. Gotten me wrong for two solid years. Change libel laws?”
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May 1, 2017 9:48pm
Manolo

Another Chicago?
http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2017/04/28/mayor-asking-fbi-for-help/

Baltimore’s mayor is asking for help from the FBI, as the city struggles to contain a soaring murder rate.

The mayor pulled no punches earlier this week when she said the murder rate is out of control. She wants to bring in the FBI to the city, but will it make a difference? Some people are skeptical of that.

Violence in Baltimore has reached a crisis level, with the number of killings shattering a 20-year high this early in the year, Baltimore’s mayor was blunt.
3 1
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May 2, 2017 2:39am
Manolo

Another working for the messianic defender of the poor:
http://thehill.com/homenews/news/331309-obama-got-400k-to-speak-at-ae-event-report

Former President Barack Obama reportedly made $400,000 for an appearance and interview last week at an A&E Networks advertising event.

The former president was interviewed at The Pierre Hotel in Midtown Manhattan by presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, The New York Post reported. The “History Makers” event, which lasted 90 minutes, was conducted in front of the cable network’s advertisers and hosted by A&E chief Nancy Dubac.
3 1
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May 2, 2017 2:45am
Manolo

Mamma Merkel challenges the primitives:
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/05/01/german-chancellor-angela-merkel-visits-saudi-arabia-without-headscarf.html
3 1
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May 2, 2017 5:00am

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