General Debate 25 November 2017

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starboard

Not my PM..just sayin ?
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November 25, 2017 8:01am
- waikatogirl
  
  Not for long! ?
  
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  November 25, 2017 8:17am
- Paulus
  
  Winston’s PM.
  
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  November 25, 2017 8:19am
  - GazzaW
    
    Union’s PM.
    
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    November 25, 2017 8:55am
    - Paulus
      
      No Cinderella was not backed by the Unions as we will see when Angry is up to Deputy soon in the new years as Davis steps down.
      Helen Clark and Grant Robertson saw a loophole in the Labour Union rules and took advantage of it.
      
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      November 25, 2017 1:36pm
    - Morrissey
      
      So, unlike the previous regime, she respects working people. Surely that’s better than being bullied into being Warner Brothers’ PM, like the last bloke. ….
      
      https://torrentfreak.com/kim-dotcom-wins-settlement-military-style-police-raid-171103/
      
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      November 25, 2017 1:52pm
      - All_on_Red
        
        Lol, Morrissey thinks Unions respect working people!!
        Hahahahahahahahaah
        
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        November 25, 2017 1:54pm
      - Morrissey
        
        Not every union is a good union, and not every unionist is decent. After all, that useless plank of parliamentary time-filler Tau Henare was once a (by all accounts ineffective) union rep.
        
        And the police unions in the United States seem like a particularly disgusting collection of racists and murderers.
        
        But they’re the exception. In New Zealand, apart from aberrations like Tau Henare and—that rogue police culture again—Greg O’Connor, we have excellent, eloquent representatives of teachers, nurses, doctors, and workers in all industries. The Bolger regime tried to smash the unions in the 1990s, but it only weakened them temporarily. People—especially young people—realize that they need to join a union if they are going to have any decent job security. There are many employers, as well as the National Party and its ACT parasite, that hate workers organizing for better conditions, but they’re fighting a losing battle.
        
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        November 25, 2017 2:05pm
      - All_on_Red
        
        ‘There are many employers,….that hate workers organizing for better conditions,’
        Citation needed
        I’d observe our Labour laws, combined with the general decency NZers possess, make the need for Unions increasingly redundant.
        I won’t address the implication National and Act don’t care about people as it’s such a moronic thing to say.
        
        Hey, did a Union help you when you got the arse from Daisycutter Sports?
        
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        November 25, 2017 2:18pm
      - Morrissey
        
        ‘There are many employers,….that hate workers organizing for better conditions,’
        Citation needed
        
        Sure….
        
        …. In particular, the employers in the traditionally unionised sectors want access to the flexibility and casualisation that exists in other sectors. This is what was behind the 2012 attacks on the conditions of meat workers throughout the country. It is also what is behind the attacks on port workers in Auckland – an ongoing situation where there is currently something of a stalemate.
        
        The link between profitability and the recent attacks on meat workers shows the way in which the employers want to offload their profit woes on to workers. [….]
        
        Talleys purchased the AFFCO plants in 2011 and were demanding more flexibility in the workplace. The company’s demand for greater flexibility was connected to its requirement for more control over the workplace. [….]
        
        At the Ports of Auckland Limited the employer attacks against the wharfies (stevedores), including lockouts, have been fundamentally about trying to reduce the conditions and power of workers in traditional union jobs and force them down to the flexibilised conditions of the broader workforce in New Zealand.
        
        A TV report about the dispute, in January 2012, said that “Businesses say it’s a battle between old and new work practices” and Kim Campbell of the Employers and Manufacturers Association said, “I think it’s do or die personally, and that really is a serious matter.” The Auckland ports director told TV3 News that “Our singular focus is on addressing old-fashioned workplace practices that are a handbrake on flexibility and productivity.”
        
        https://fightback.org.nz/2014/05/09/new-zealands-union-movement-a-socialist-perspective/
        
        I’d observe our Labour laws, combined with the general decency NZers possess, make the need for Unions increasingly redundant.
        
        Sadly, as shown by the actions of the management of Talley’s, Affco, Ports of Auckland, Weta Digital and several other employers, the “general decency” of working people does not necessarily extend to employers.
        
        I won’t address the implication National and Act don’t care about people as it’s such a moronic thing to say.
        
        You think they care about people, when this is how they care about our water….
        
        https://resources.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/l/f/i/z/s/image.related.StuffLandscapeSixteenByNine.620×349.1lfi0o.png/1504501119377.jpg
        
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        November 25, 2017 2:36pm
      - All_on_Red
        
        I’m afraid giving examples of Weta, Ports of Auckland aren’t good enough.
        Unionists actions (sabotage for eg)against those organisations are known well enough to completely discredit your point.
        I don’t have knowledge of Affco. But shock horror, employer wants control over its workplace.
        As for your water comment, you can fuck off with your Pigeon Chess.
        
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        November 25, 2017 2:42pm
      - All_on_Red
        
        The fact is Unions declined for many years. Even after all the growth in employment here, they’ve stayed static.
        Scum Unionists by their own actions are hurting their cause.
        ‘According to UMR’s 2016 Mood of the Nation report, unions are the second least trusted institution – with only 30 per cent of those surveyed having confidence. This is more than the media (26%), but less than big business (31%), churches (33%), and banks (44%).’
        
        Rated lower than Business and Banks! Lol.
        
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        November 25, 2017 3:13pm
  - holysheet
    
    Winston’s bitch.
    
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    November 25, 2017 9:16am
    - 3-coil
      
      Winnie’s ‘mare.
      
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      November 26, 2017 2:43pm
- itstricky
  
  Not my PM
  
  The first time you pulled this out I thought that was actually a clever piece of sarcasm. Now that you use it every day, it’s obvious that you actually mean it, which leaves you wide open to being called a snowflake.
  
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  November 25, 2017 8:23am
  - CHFR1
    
    While I am not happy with the occupant of the office I am afraid she is the PM of New Zealand at the moment. Personally I prefer the title the future former PM of NZ as this will be the case eventually.
    
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    November 25, 2017 8:30am
    - RF
      
      Yep. You can respect the office of PM but not the person holding the title.
      
      The Govt was appointed by a loser who resorted to devious means and this makes us look like
      Zimbabwe.
      
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      November 25, 2017 9:10am
  - Fletch
    
    Perhaps it is best to call her, PM In Training.
    
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    November 25, 2017 10:16am
wiseowl

Hero of the week.
Dave Witherow of Dunedin who wrote an opinion piece that explains what so many real New Zealanders think.
And thanks to the ODT that had the guts to print an opinion piece that sticks it up them and tells the truth.
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November 25, 2017 8:07am
- starboard
  
  Got a link Owl ?
  
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  November 25, 2017 8:10am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    https://www.odt.co.nz/opinion/haere-mai-everything-far-ka-pai
    
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    November 25, 2017 8:21am
    - starboard
      
      Thanks veddy much
      
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      November 25, 2017 8:23am
    - Paulus
      
      Heard in Auckland that Kim Hill is in the gun as she will not use the Maori language.
      Expect her to be outed soon.
      
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      November 25, 2017 1:38pm
      - Suze Wainwright
        
        Wow! Is Kim Hill that subversive!
        
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        November 25, 2017 8:32pm
  - Happychappy
    
    Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
    Why would you need a link from wiseowl when you know it would be on his pet subject ” Maori bashing ” .
    
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    November 25, 2017 8:36am
    - Jack5
      
      Happychappy, discussing Radio NZ’s sell-out to Willie Jackson and Maoridom isn’t “Maori bashing”.
      
      The 21 tribal radio stations are already subsidised by taxpayers, but the deal negotiated by Labour apparatchik Willie Jackson with Radio NZ, Maorified the national State broadcaster.
      
      According to the tribal network, 53 per cent of Maori listen to tribal radio.
      
      Why was Jackson able to negotiate having Radio New Zealand bombard the non-Maori majority with bursts of Maori language and have its female announcers laughably daily introduce themselves as “Ho’s”? It was bad enough having a national broadcaster skewed to the political Left, without it joining a PC drive to re-Maorify the country.
      
      With Radio NZ and their own radio network, Maori are saying “what’s mine is mine, and what’s yours is half mine”.
      
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      November 25, 2017 8:50am
      - Jack5
        
        It was good to see Mike O’Donnell appointed to the Radio NZ board a week or two before the General Election.
        
        But why National was so lethargic in acting on Radio NZ, stuck in its Leftist rut? The whole board should have been replaced. Was National bamboozled by the chairman, Richard Griffin, an old compadre and adviser of Farmer Jim Bolger? (He is also an old mate of Winston Peters.)
        
        The coalition could now well stack the board with Melon Greens and NZ First friends. This as Radio NZ tries to become a second State TV provider and a State internet news centre.
        
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        November 25, 2017 9:03am
      - frankflintstone
        
        there should be 21 other funded radio stations for our other official language, sign language.
        
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        November 25, 2017 9:52am
      - itstricky
        
        Why was Jackson able to negotiate having Radio New Zealand bombard the non-Maori majority with bursts of Maori language and have its female announcers laughably daily introduce themselves as “Ho’s”?
        
        C’mon Jack, stop horsing around.
        
        Ha ha, I just called you a whore. Ha, ha.
        
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        November 25, 2017 9:59am
      - Jack5
        
        Itstricky’s pathetic:
        
        … stop horsing around.
        
        Ha ha, I just called you a whore. Ha, ha
        
        So you’re not from a WhFanganui iwi, then Istricky.
        
        Otherwise you might dally with fores if you had any money left from the forses.
        
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        November 25, 2017 1:55pm
      - itstricky
        
        Itstricky’s pathetic
        
        It’s the same “joke” as yours, Jack.
        
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        November 25, 2017 4:58pm
      - treadingthemill
        
        @ Itstrickey, Jack5
        
        How old are you guys? Based on the conversation above I would say 13 – 15?
        
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        November 25, 2017 5:05pm
      - Jack5
        
        Sorry about that, Treadingthemill. Forgot you’d been appointed blog monitor and were watching …
        
        If you use on your posts the monitor symbol ? it will help up to remember you’re watching and to behave ourselves.
        
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        November 25, 2017 5:18pm
      - treadingthemill
        
        Blog Monitor Jack5? Yeah nah. I thought the convo was bloody hilarious, and was making a joke about it. But hard to get that across on a blog as I am constitutionally unable to use emojis. I have already succumbed to using a cell phone, but I draw the line at emojis!
        
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        November 25, 2017 5:54pm
    - itstricky
      
      when you know it would be on his pet subject ” Maori bashing ”
      
      But it represents “what so many real New Zealanders think” – he told me so himself.
      
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      November 25, 2017 9:37am
      - starboard
        
        Stupid mocher aren’t you itsdrippy….
        
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        November 25, 2017 10:15am
      - treadingthemill
        
        “what so many real New Zealanders think”
        
        What’s an unreal New Zealander?
        
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        November 25, 2017 6:01pm
  - Suze Wainwright
    
    Yes, I believe the article was severely flamed by all the usual suspects.
    
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    November 25, 2017 8:36pm
- itstricky
  
  He brands others ‘snowflakes’ whilst simultaneously writing paragraphs about how he doesn’t like the way someone else is talking. LOL. Is this lost on him?
  
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  November 25, 2017 8:27am
  - starboard
    
    Hey itsdrippy…….
    Bah cant be bothered…crackhead
    
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    November 25, 2017 9:04am
    - itstricky
      
      You went to town on the literally analysis, didn’t you? Good work. Keep it up.
      
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      November 25, 2017 9:37am
  - Kimbo
    
    @ itstricky
    
    He brands others ‘snowflakes’ whilst simultaneously writing paragraphs about how he doesn’t like the way someone else is talking. LOL. Is this lost on him?
    
    No, that’s not equivalence. I personally disagree with Witherow that there is no place in the public doman for te reo. Nonetheless, in the first instance Witherow didn’t brand them as “snowflakes” just because he disagrees with them. Instead, and with reasonable justification IMHO (if he has reported correctly) it was because those to whom he refers were sanctimonious and precious in trying to make non-compliant pronunciation a matter of personal insult to them and their ancestors:
    
    One morning, for example, a couple of Maori snowflakes were banging on about the terrible grief they were suffering from the mispronunciation of their names. Not only were they themselves being insulted by this, but so were their ancestors, the whole tribal boiling of them, right back to the first canoe.
    
    I just about choked on my coffee. Come on presenters, I thought, tell them to get a life. Switch off the mikes and boot them out of the studio. But oh no, nothing like that. Not the slightest suggestion that perhaps the agony being suffered by these sad sacks was not quite the end of the world.
    
    Also, while he criticises the perceived excessive use by tax-payer funded public radio (is his taxes so he gets the right to a say…but at least he isn’t dragging alleged insults to his ancestors or European culture into it! 😉 ), nonetheless he affirms the right of those who want to use te reo to do so
    
    Radio New Zealand – the New Zealand equivalent of the BBC – is supposed to be free of political meddling. Yet now it has been hijacked, and its hapless staff obliged to dispense their daily dose of te reo. There were just a few words to begin with. Then longer sentences which have kept on growing until the keener young grovellers now begin and end their spiels with expansive swatches of a lingo understood by only a minuscule proportion of their audience.
    
    English is our daily language. It is spoken by every New Zealander, and is a passport to access and understanding all around the world. Those who prefer te reo have a right to their choice, but not to insist on inflicting it on the English-speaking majority.
    
    Snowflakes? Yep. Fair call, IMHO.
    
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    November 25, 2017 12:02pm
    - itstricky
      
      Nonetheless, in the first instance Witherow didn’t brand them as “snowflakes” just because he disagrees with them. Instead, and with reasonable justification IMHO (if he has reported correctly) it was because those to whom he refers were sanctimonious and precious in trying to make non-compliant pronunciation a matter of personal insult to them and their ancestors
      
      Let me pull out a few of the words and phrases used in his overall opinion:
      
      the urge to grovel; media apologists; holy altar of te reo; Everything indigenous is sacrosanct; boring bigots; Maori snowflakes were banging on; tell them to get a life; keener young grovellers; their lives are one long grovel
      
      I could go on. And just because someone on the radio spoke a few words that he didn’t understand?
      
      If that’s not a sanctimonious and precious, I’m not sure what is.
      
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      November 25, 2017 12:46pm
      - All_on_Red
        
        ‘If that’s not a sanctimonious and precious, I’m not sure what is.’
        
        Heh, by saying that, aren’t you doing the same? Being ‘morally superior’ about his comments…
        
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        November 25, 2017 1:05pm
      - Kimbo
        
        @ itstricky
        
        Let me pull out a few of the words and phrases used in his overall opinion:
        
        the urge to grovel; media apologists; holy altar of te reo; Everything indigenous is sacrosanct; boring bigots; Maori snowflakes were banging on; tell them to get a life; keener young grovellers; their lives are one long grovel
        
        And there’s your problem. You pulled them out of context. If you read it in context they contribute to his argument, not that Maori is inferior but that it is not superior and beyond critique, and it should not be regarded and treated as such. Hence:
        
        I could go on. And just because someone on the radio spoke a few words that he didn’t understand?
        
        Er, no, not “just”. It was prompted by the claim hat
        
        1. To mispronounce te reo is to cause grief and insult to Maori and their tīpuna /ancestors. Come on!!
        
        2. and the use of te reo on Radio NZ was not only excessive, but also obsequious. In the light of the above allegation, I call “got their number” if he applied the ‘snowflake’ label.
        
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        November 25, 2017 1:43pm
      - Kimbo
        
        @ itstricky
        
        Deal with those arguments, then let’s see if his use of language is OTT. Simple question dealing with the matter of how he introduced the label “snowflake” – is it reasonable for ordinary Kiwis, be they Maori or Pakeha to give weight and consideration to the claim that if they (usually accidentally) mispronounce “Taupo”, “Whanganui” or “Taumata whakatangi hangakoauau o tamatea turi pukakapiki maunga horo nuku pokai whenua kitanatahu
        
        ….it is a just and reasonable cause for grief and insult to Maori and their tīpuna /ancestors?! Really??! If so, hey, let’s all avoid the problem of giving potential offense…by avoiding te reo forever. Result you or the promoters and supporters of te reo wanted?
        
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        November 25, 2017 1:55pm
      - itstricky
        
        You pulled them out of context
        
        Because out of context is where they belong. Extracts showing how up tight he is about the whole ordeal of having to hear an official language of New Zealand, Maori, on the radio during Maori language week, in New Zealand. God forbid! Whatever next? All Black commentating on All Black games during Rugby World Cups? Where does it end?
        
        To mispronounce te reo is to cause grief and insult to Maori and their tīpuna /ancestors. Come on!!
        
        There is no reference to actual particulars of that “incident” and you’ve not provided one, either. Regardless, whether they are or they are not “snowflakes” (whomever they were) does not preclude Mr Witherow from being a “snowflake”. The two are not mutually exclusive.
        
        2. and the use of te reo on Radio NZ was not only excessive, but also obsequious.
        
        This goes back to the beginning of this comment. Radio NZ is the national public broadcaster of New Zealand, that has Maori as an official language. And it was Maori Language Week.
        
        What does he expect?
        
        Of course it was obsequious (vocab mental note – I’ve learnt something today) – Radio NZ probably has specific quotas of Maori language time that they have to fulfill. I really don’t know why he would expect anything else.
        
        When we take into account his choice of language, as “taken out of context” above, it’s obvious that he’s also eyeing up a jump into the deep end – somewhat akin to the regular KB comments during Maori language week that amount to:
        
        “the coppers came to my place last night, chained me to a chair and slapped me around with a baton trying to make me speak Maori”.
        
        No, they didn’t, you heard “Ko Melissa ahau” (snigger snigger) on the TV. There’s no need to make wild claims of apologists, bigots, holy altars, or “get a life”. Complaining about hearing the official language of Maori on a NZ public broadcaster in NZ, during Maori language week is the very definition of “not having a life”.
        
        Hence – snowflake.
        
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        November 25, 2017 6:41pm
      - All_on_Red
        
        ‘Because out of context is where they belong. ‘
        
        Careful what you wish for as we can all play that game.
        Kimbo- the floor is yours ?
        
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        November 25, 2017 7:04pm
      - Kimbo
        
        @ itstricky
        
        Because out of context is where they belong.
        
        He he he. OK, you’ve made that claim…let’s see you sell it:
        
        Extracts showing how up tight he is about the whole ordeal of having to hear an official language of New Zealand, Maori, on the radio during Maori language week, in New Zealand. God forbid! Whatever next? All Black commentating on All Black games during Rugby World Cups? Where does it end?
        
        Um, something like Devoy’s missive?!…and she ignored the context of Witherow’s comments which – in context – referred only to Radio NZ:
        
        “Tonight I’ll be at the Ngā Tohu Reo Māori Awards, sharing a table with Kiwis from Māori, Pakeha, Asian and Jewish backgrounds. We’re not boring bigots. We’re New Zealanders.”
        
        Er, no, Susan, he didn’t call you or the users or promoters of te reo and Maori language week bigots. He was more specific.
        
        https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/99218710/this-is-new-zealand-get-used-to-it-dame-susan-devoy
        
        To mispronounce te reo is to cause grief and insult to Maori and their tīpuna /ancestors. Come on!!
        
        There is no reference to actual particulars of that “incident” and you’ve not provided one, either.
        
        Er, yes – it is quote from Witherow’s op-ed, and I did give the proviso “if he has reported correctly”. And he’s quoting from a radio program. Are you saying that a link has to be provided to establish his version of events as true? OK…but just out of interest, if it was provided, would you concede it makes the context and application of his “boring bigots” description valid?
        
        Regardless,
        
        I see what you did there! 😉
        
        …whether they are or they are not “snowflakes” (whomever they were)
        
        Obfuscation. Courtesy of Witherow’s explanation, it is those who insist they and their ancestors are insulted and grieved when te reo is mispronounced. And I note you continue to avoid the issue that such a stance is…bullshit.
        
        …does not preclude Mr Witherow from being a “snowflake”. The two are not mutually exclusive.
        
        No, but then, as Witherow is not claiming he or his ancestors are “grieved” or “insulted”, and in the absence of your continued failure to deal with that critical point, you’ve done nothing to address my initial critique that you are engaging in false equivalence.
        
        2. and the use of te reo on Radio NZ was not only excessive, but also obsequious.
        
        This goes back to the beginning of this comment. Radio NZ is the national public broadcaster of New Zealand, that has Maori as an official language. And it was Maori Language Week.
        
        What does he expect?
        
        He told you – at least some measure of critique rather than fawning obsequiousness that remains silent when…some pretentious, self-righteous idiot proclaims that to mispronounce re reo is an insult and cause of grievance to Maori and their tīpuna /ancestors. He isn’t being cryptic! 😉
        
        Of course it was obsequious (vocab mental note – I’ve learnt something today) – Radio NZ probably has specific quotas of Maori language time that they have to fulfill. I really don’t know why he would expect anything else.
        
        Again, he told you, and here, I’ll repeat it for you again with emphasis: …It is not that te reo has been neglected. There are already 21 Maori radio stations and a television channel, funded by the general taxpayer and dedicated to the furtherance of indigenous language and culture. There are innumerable other initiatives, all similarly funded, and in a less than perfect world this might be considered adequate….Radio New Zealand – the New Zealand equivalent of the BBC – is supposed to be free of political meddling. Yet now it has been hijacked, and its hapless staff obliged to dispense their daily dose of te reo. There were just a few words to begin with. Then longer sentences which have kept on growing until the keener young grovellers now begin and end their spiels with expansive swatches of a lingo understood by only a minuscule proportion of their audience.
        
        English is our daily language. It is spoken by every New Zealander, and is a passport to access and understanding all around the world. Those who prefer te reo have a right to their choice, but not to insist on inflicting it on the English-speaking majority.
        
        …all of which are valid arguments, irrespective of whether you agree with them, or consider them compelling.
        
        When we take into account his choice of language, as “taken out of context” above, it’s obvious that he’s also eyeing up a jump into the deep end
        
        Um, his argument is that Maori is not superior, English is not inferior, and those who don’t want to, should not have Maori forced on them in relatively large and intelligible doses on English language public radio…when multiple tax-payer options already exist for those who do want broadcasting in te reo. I’d consider that a reasonable unbigoted position. If he is using provocative language, it is to highlight the point that the current variation on Radio NZ may very well be bigoted. Especially when (and I’ll repeat it again) some are using the occasion to claim that the mispronouncing of te reo is an insult and cause for grievance for both Maori and their tīpuna /ancestors!
        
        – somewhat akin to the regular KB comments
        
        OK, now did you see what you did right there? Let’s see where it heads…
        
        …during Maori language week that amount to:
        
        “the coppers came to my place last night, chained me to a chair and slapped me around with a baton trying to make me speak Maori”.
        
        No, they didn’t, you heard “Ko Melissa ahau” (snigger snigger) on the TV. There’s no need to make wild claims of apologists, bigots, holy altars, or “get a life”. Complaining about hearing the official language of Maori on a NZ public broadcaster in NZ, during Maori language week is the very definition of “not having a life”.
        
        So now, you are dealing with another variation on what Witherow didn’t say, by putting the words of some of those on Kiwiblog into his mouth?!
        
        Hence – snowflake.
        
        Yeah, sure if you continually ignore what he says, fixate on what he didn’t say, and put the words of others in Witherow’s mouth, yeah, sure. Which, surprise, surprise, is what happens when you ignore…context. A text without a context is a pretext.
        
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        November 25, 2017 7:20pm
      - itstricky
        
        Quoting is going to get out of hand so I will just attempt to write one passage.
        
        I couldn’t care less what Devoy got wrong so I don’t know why you’re trying to project her mistakes to me. I can’t, for the life of me, see why you wouldn’t expect to hear Maori, an official language of NZ, on NZ public broadcast radio, during Maori language week. And lots of it. Seems undeniable that it would be that way. If signers were plastered in the top right of the TV during Sign Language Week, I wouldn’t write in to the BSA to complain about the large portion of physical movement that I couldn’t understand. And I would consider anyone that did to be petty.
        
        Yes, I would like to hear what the pronunciation offended Maori actually said. I think we all know that such political things are routinely overstated in the race to justify one’s means.
        
        Yes, if they are what someone else defines “boring bigots” then that person is entitled to that opinion. But whether or not they are classed as such is of little consequence to my original statement. Offended Maori bigots and offended Witherow are not mutually exclusive. They can be (and probably are, IMHO) both true.
        
        He didn’t complain about his ancestors, but does he have to? Do we have to have a claim of hypocritical or contrary behaviour before we can call him an “offended person”? I don’t think so. Someone can be easily be an offended “snowflake” without being hypocritical or contrary. So I do not think I am raising a false equivalence, unless you originally interpreted my first statement to be me implying he is hypocritical. He is not and I did not intend to imply that.
        
        Finally, I did not put words into Witherow’s mouth. I gave an example of petty behaviour.
        
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        November 25, 2017 8:35pm
      - Kimbo
        
        @ itstricky
        
        You didn’t raise the matter of Devoy, but you asked me a rhetorical question “Where does it end?” that drew her as an example from me. Don’t like the answer? Don’t ask the question or give others the chance to answer your flippancy with an example. 😉
        
        Um, and Witherow didn’t complain about the presence of te Reo in broadcasting in general, nor even on Radio NZ as such…he complained about the quantity (“expansive swatches…understood by only a minuscule proportion of their audience”) and the fawning non-critical quality of the reception of it (as in the claim mispronunciation = an insult and cause for grievance for Maori and their ancestors).
        
        As we all agree that it is reasonable there should be robust debate concerning the limit in public policy matters such the rate taxation, the level of immigration and the number of MPs, I don’t see what the problem is with him stating where he thinks the line concerning the amount te reo should be drawn. Especially for those who don’t want it, including and especially during Maori language week. Is a matter of public policy. So that is hardly…the actions of a snowflake. Not compared to…someone claiming they and their ancestors are grieved and insulted. Speaking of which…
        
        Um, I don’t see where he acted “offended” He spoke about a point at which, if the present state of incremental increase continued. there would be a shortage of tolerance, a lack of goodwill, and eventually contempt. Strong words, but no, those things don’t automatically imply he is offended.
        
        And earlier you asked, speculated and implied what Witherow thought on the matter of the use of the native language in his original country. And you made an equivalence (“he’s also eyeing up a jump into the deep end – somewhat akin to the regular KB comments during Maori language week that amount to:…”) with what others were saying here on Kiwiblog and elsewhere about their opposition to the alleged overuse of te reo. That’ll do me for “putting words in his mouth”. Especially when you’ve consistently ignored and misrepresented what he wrote – as I’ve, yet again, had to clarify in this post….
        
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        November 25, 2017 10:05pm
  - Kimbo
    
    @ itstricky
    
    …and also note that Witherow places that criticism of what he considers the obsequious and excessive use of te reo on Radio NZ into the wider context of the generous yet under-appreciated tax-payer funding for Maori language broadcasting…….a budget-allocation that he in no way criticises!:
    
    Maori Language Week, now a permanent annual fixture, is one of those occasions when our determination to give no offence blossoms into the urge to grovel. This year was the best yet, with media apologists the length and breadth of the land prostrating themselves before the holy altar of te reo. Radio New Zealand took the prize, in a seven-day fiesta of cringing servility that, were Billy T. James still with us, would have provided him with material forever.
    
    For the last couple of years, of course, RNZ has been ahead of the pack in obsequiousness. Everything indigenous is sacrosanct, and even formerly redoubtable interviewers now shrink from the slightest demur when boring bigots drone on about the mana of all things native.
    
    …It is not that te reo has been neglected. There are already 21 Maori radio stations and a television channel, funded by the general taxpayer and dedicated to the furtherance of indigenous language and culture. There are innumerable other initiatives, all similarly funded, and in a less than perfect world this might be considered adequate.
    
    So, no. Witherow doesn’t sound like a snowflake to me. He’s stated his case well. Not that I necessarily agree with him.
    
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    November 25, 2017 12:29pm
    - itstricky
      
      Witherow doesn’t sound like a snowflake to me
      
      As noted above, his language and the nature of his objection suggests to me that he is. A classic case of jumping off the deep end with a armload of hang-ups and stereotypes.
      
      This is why it would be interesting to know what he thought of the situation in the “motherland”.
      
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      November 25, 2017 12:59pm
      - All_on_Red
        
        Look I’m all for preserving my language but he’s got a point that there does seem to be a group of whiteys who become overly pretentious about the whole thing.
        
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        November 25, 2017 1:08pm
      - Kimbo
        
        @ itstricky
        
        As noted above, his language and the nature of his objection suggests to me that he is. A classic case of jumping off the deep end with a armload of hang-ups and stereotypes.
        
        As per above, you don’t seem to have yet grasped the nettle of his argument.
        
        This is why it would be interesting to know what he thought of the situation in the “motherland”.
        
        1. As you haven’t yet dealt with the substance and reason for his stated opinions yet, perhaps you should concentrate on that, and not what on he hasn’t written. Nonetheless,
        
        2. as he did also write:
        
        English is our daily language. It is spoken by every New Zealander, and is a passport to access and understanding all around the world. Those who prefer te reo have a right to their choice, but not to insist on inflicting it on the English-speaking majority.
        
        …I’m guessing he would probably take the same utilitarian attitude to Gaelic in Ireland. One is free to agree or disagree with him in NZ and/or Ireland, but at least he’s made an argument based on a valid reason – utility.
        
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        November 25, 2017 2:09pm
- Paulus Gnome
  
  Good read, thanks ☺
  
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  November 25, 2017 8:34am
- VicParking
  
  I think that it is only fair that the 85% (being generous) who dont understand, and have no wish to understand or speak maori, should be provided with a translation each time they speak this minority language. The only thing I get out of this is our announcers on Red Radio have to be “a ho” to get a job on the radio station.
  
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  November 25, 2017 8:44am
- KevOB
  
  Once the word “ho” was not used politely; even Santa limited his use. Now some cultural authoritarian has decided it is fit for our ears on radio and even worse TV. Now we have Cosmopolitan and Penthouse TV2 any thing goes. Who is in charge–or have ratings fallen so low we need garbage TV to tickle our senses? A race to the bottom of the values dung heap.
  
  Maori is useless for a modern language for daily life. Why the economic waste of imposing it? My ears rebel when they hear the mangled vowels, when ho becomes a garden tool not a prostitute or even a simple particle as intended. Tau has become an appendage to the foot. Is ko a new contraction of cripes ?
  
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  November 25, 2017 8:53am
  - waikatogirl
    
    When Maori TV plays “Shanghai Panda”, or other mainstream programmes, do Maori TV provide subtitles? Meanwhile TV1 with Tamiti Cofee are speaking Maori during programming on mainstream TV.
    Something is certainly topsy-turvy these days.
    
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    November 25, 2017 9:34am
    - softail 1450
      
      WG this mornings nation programme on tv3 should have been renamed “indigenous nation “because the bloody programme was 100% moodi content.
      
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      November 25, 2017 10:13am
      - waikatogirl
        
        Turned the Nation on to find Hone, John Hatfield Hawawera so turned it straight off. Couldn’t be bothered…
        
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        November 25, 2017 1:41pm
      - sooty
        
        What trough has Hone/John got his snout in?
        
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        November 25, 2017 3:57pm
      - MrLovebucket
        
        It’s pronounced “mouldy”
        
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        November 25, 2017 4:51pm
      - RF
        
        Hone is just a racist Spear chucker.
        
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        November 25, 2017 10:26pm
  - itstricky
    
    Once the word “ho” was not used politely; even Santa limited his use. Now some cultural authoritarian has decided it is fit for our ears on radio and even worse TV.
    
    The word you refer to is probably “ahau”, in its entirety.
    
    This reasoning is like taking:
    
    “Hope hoped she would do well at horticulture”
    
    and yelling:
    
    “Sir, sir, he said ho, ho, whore!”
    
    Why the economic waste of imposing it?
    
    Because it is an official language of this country. Because it only exists here. Because, although it may not rank in your top five list, learning any language forms a good basis for a well rounded general education.
    
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    November 25, 2017 9:44am
    - Jack5
      
      Itstricky is defending NZ Pidgin.
      
      We have the Maori language; we have the current world lingua franca, English; and then we have NZ Pidgin, which is English with Maori macrons in print, and great dollops of Maori in print and speech.
      
      Languages adopt each other’s terms, and English has adopted many Maori words, and vice-versa.
      
      But it’s one thing for words from a language to come into use in a different language. Its another thing when you try to force phrases, changes of lettering, into a language.
      
      Let’s have English and Maori (and sign language). But not NZ Pidgin and Maori.
      
      Radio NZ is on its way to becoming the NZ Pidgin network.
      
      It would be better if Maori gave Radio NZ some of the frequencies they obtained under the Treaty (cynics joke that this was for having invented radio).
      
      Radio NZ could then run a second, parallel radio network, fully in Te Reo. There would be twin networks – in English and Maori respectively. But none in NZ Pidgin.
      
      When radio becomes digital, there will be spectrum room for third, fourth and more networks – in Samoan, Tongan, Chinese, Hindi, Arabic. Whatever the snowflakes want. Radio NZ will be like a micro, homeland-only version of the BBC World Service.
      
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      November 25, 2017 1:31pm
    - KevOB
      
      Rubbish. I was seriously fluent in a close Polynsian language and Biblical Greek and I know why the kaumatua reject the language in the 1920’s as a waste of effort going forward for their people. What we have now is close to pidgin with an unstable grammar and pronounciation. Why bother to teach anyone a language which is a tiny subset of what they are already fluent in but transliterated? It belongs to a society of the 1830’s not nearly 200 years later.
      
      Latin as a study is more use as it gives a better base for picking up many roots words which came via the Norman French.
      
      Try discoursing on this blog site in Maori. (Te reo just means the voice/ loud/ sound etc depending on context. It appears elsewhere as leoleo–policeman–the plural being used for calling out.)
      
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      November 25, 2017 5:46pm
      - Kimbo
        
        …and yet the same and even more could have been said of the parlous state of the other major biblical language, Hebrew, some 140 years ago…
        
        As most inhabitants of Israel (Arab, Jew, Druze) are bi-lingual, and many also speak English, by the same token would you apply that measure to modern Hebrew? The grammar is different/pidgin compared to the classical version, lots of loan words and updates…
        
        Or is that somehow “different”? 😉
        
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        November 25, 2017 5:55pm
    - KevOB
      
      The word “ho” in its context is a particle. Curiously the Maori dictionary on line only give hoe.
      
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      November 25, 2017 5:53pm
  - Fletch
    
    … and trying exclaiming, “what, ho!” to someone who has never read Wodehouse…
    
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    November 25, 2017 10:47am
  - Morrissey
    
    Is this “KevOB” the dumbest person on the internet?
    
    http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/577be95888e4a77c708b581f-480/4×3-5-financial-terms-youre-probably-using-all-wrong.png
    
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    November 25, 2017 1:39pm
    - KevOB
      
      Amongst the SJW’s invariably.
      I have stock market research which give me a few credits elsewhere and a state people’s savings bank thriving after 40+ years.
      
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      November 25, 2017 5:59pm
- Captain Mainwaring
  
  And he certainly got Dame Devoid wound up, so job done.
  That woman is a waste of space.
  
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  November 25, 2017 8:54am
  - Jack5
    
    Dead right, Cap’n. The Dame is devoid of nous.
    Note she emphasised that the country’s name was “Aotearoa New Zealand”.
    
    That isn’t the country’s official name. It’s the Maori name for these islands.
    
    Devoid also honed on the fact that Witherow was born in Ireland. Would she have mentioned his birthplace if it had been China, or Tonga, or Samoa? Bet she would have it had been Australia.
    
    Here’s a link to what Dipstick Dame Devoid said about Witherow.
    
    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/99218710/This-is-New-Zealand-get-used-to-it-Dame-Susan-Devoy
    
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    November 25, 2017 9:26am
    - itstricky
      
      That isn’t the country’s official name.
      
      I don’t see the bit where she said it was.
      
      Devoid also honed on the fact that Witherow was born in Ireland. Would she have mentioned his birthplace if it had been China, or Tonga, or Samoa?
      
      And so? Ireland has an indigenous language, which is supported by the Government, as ours is, and which has higher prevalence amongst the community. It is very relevant to his argument/opinion.
      
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      November 25, 2017 9:54am
      - Jack5
        
        China’s languages are interesting, Itstricky.
        
        As I understand, Red China has made Putonghua, largely Mandarin, the Beijing dialect, the common language of China.
        
        The country seems to have several official languages, but the drive has been the opposite to that in NZ, where the push is to make Maori closer to being equal with English.
        
        The written language has always been common to the other languages, each spoken by million, but the emphasis has been on making Putonghua the internal lingua franca, as it were.
        
        In the southern region of Guangdong, which contributes about a quarter of China’s foreign trade, the rich language, Cantonese, is fighting against Beijing strategy to increase the importance of Putonghua.
        
        China’s language policies should be of interest to thinking New Zealanders – Maori and non-Maori.
        
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        November 25, 2017 1:46pm
- Scott
  
  Very good article, thanks for the heads up. Unfortunately this movement is also in the churches. The Anglicans have long been “bicultural”. Even we formerly staunch Baptists are going down the same tiresome road ?
  
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  November 25, 2017 9:19am
  - Nukuleka
    
    The Catholics have begun this in some areas of NZ – I went to a mass in leafy Remuera a while back where much of the mass was in Maori- but I suspect that the large number of immigrant Catholics, amongst them Filipinos and Indians, are not going to be much impressed. Wait till a trendy new bishop is appointed to the Christchurch diocese and institutes a new bi lingual policy down here- it won’t go down well with the Samoans and Tongans either!!
    
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    November 25, 2017 11:45am
- kowtow
  
  Yep and the state was very quick to respond.
  
  A good thing we don’t have “re education ” camps here, cos they’d sure as hell exile him there.
  
  https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/99218710/this-is-new-zealand-get-used-to-it-dame-susan-devoy
  
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  November 25, 2017 9:55am
- lifesgood
  
  What a brilliant article and hats off to the ODT for publishing it. I see some commentator on here calls it “maori bashing” For crying out loud, get a life. Thanks to Guyon Espiner and his longer and longer and longer spiels in maori I no longer listen to morning report. It was getting ludicrous. I wager less than 1% of his audience know what the hell he is burbling on about.
  
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  November 25, 2017 10:00am
  - Paulus
    
    Understand Espiner is under instruction from his Maori wife who I believe works for the Labour Party in Parliament.
    She has been heard on various radio programmes before the election.
    
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    November 25, 2017 1:43pm
  - Happychappy
    
    Lifesgood : Get it right I did not call the story Maori bashing I called a fellow commenter a Maori basher and I stand by my comment. This person bases most of his comments slagging Maori and until recently used to have his version of the word Maori to take the piss out of them so it was about him not the article.
    
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    November 25, 2017 2:10pm
- MCos
  
  I read that appalling piece by the Irish chap and my immediate thoughts were that there are a lot of people on this forum who will either agree with this chap or feel obligated to do so because, you know, the Maori language has no place has NZ public life.
  
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  November 25, 2017 11:44am
  - Nukuleka
    
    That was not what he was saying, and you know it. I am not really sure why you bring up the fact, as did Susan Devoy, that he is Irish. It’s called ‘racial profiling’, I think, and seeks to demean him personally and the validity of his opinion.
    
    That’s not a very progressive thing to do now is it?
    
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    November 25, 2017 11:49am
    - MCos
      
      Let me explain.
      There are plenty of people here who don’t believe the Maori language has any place in NZ public life. An example being RNZ, which is what this chap was railing against.
      
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      November 25, 2017 12:34pm
  - treadingthemill
    
    My thought was the guy writing it was a bit of a snowflake himself. “Oh my god, lots of people are speaking Te Reo, PANIC!!!”
    
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    November 25, 2017 12:21pm
virtualmark

For the gun nuts among you … there’s a fascinating read at https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1981/06/m-16-a-bureaucratic-horror-story/545153/
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November 25, 2017 8:07am
kowtow

Religion of peace strikes again.

There won’t be much media coverage , they’re only Egyptians and they can’t blame Trump or angry white men , much as they’d like to.

‘Egyptian media reports say at least 235 people have been killed in a bomb and gun attack on a mosque in the country’s northern Sinai Peninsula.’

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/11/blast-strikes-mosque-egypt-sinai-171124113423231.html
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November 25, 2017 8:07am
- Paulus Gnome
  
  ‘Attack On a Mosque’ is my kind of headline.
  
  Sauce for the goose is . . . . . .
  
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  November 25, 2017 8:27am
  - Digmen1
    
    The sad thing is that it seems they were targeted because they are a softer muslim sect.
    
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    November 25, 2017 8:42am
    - treadingthemill
      
      Yes, it was a Sufi mosque. Sufi’s are a mystical sect that does not take the Koran literally, are friendly towards other religions, and believe in peaceful living. Not surprising then that ISIS has targeted them. Bloody awful business.
      
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      November 25, 2017 8:50am
- treadingthemill
  
  There won’t be much media coverage
  
  It’s headline news on One, Newshub, Stuff, the BBC, CNN and Fox.
  
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  November 25, 2017 8:44am
  - kowtow
    
    For how long?
    
    2 1
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    November 25, 2017 9:46am
  - kowtow
    
    I see nothing on One “news”‘s main page about Egyptians , but there is coverage of a tiger short in paris and some girl and the Tongan national anthem.
    
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    November 25, 2017 9:49am
    - treadingthemill
      
      Have another look, it’s now the lead story again. When I first checked there was a report on the attack at the top of the page, now there is a second, more detailed report.
      
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      November 25, 2017 9:54am
Morrissey

Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
GROPERS
No. 10: Sir Jimmy Savile

“He would indulge in sexual touching while working on the set (Top of the Pops or Jim’ll Fix It) and, on at least one occasion, he was actually on camera.

“Savile would seize the opportunity for sexual contact even in public places such as corridors, staircases and canteens.”

….the honours committee advised then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher against recommending Savile for a knighthood because of public warning signs about the presenter, even if the BBC failed to see them. ….

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/jimmy-savile-raped-children-as-young-as-nine-while-working-at-bbc-leaked-report-finds-a6824436.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yv4Nmrwtg4

“GROPERS” is presented by GroperWatch, a division of Daisycutter Sports Inc.

More gropers. Collect the series!…
 No.1 George Herbert Walker Bush; No. 2 Bill O’Reilly; No. 3 Al Franken; No. 4 Robin Brooke; No. 5 Lester Beck; No. 6 Arnold Schwarzenegger; No. 7 Joe Biden; No. 8 Rolf Harris; No. 9 Harold Bloom
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November 25, 2017 8:11am
- Inandout
  
  Bill Clinton, Rose,,,the list goes on…
  
  17 3
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  November 25, 2017 8:17am
  - Morrissey
    
    Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
    Yes, my friend, they’re both coming up soon.
    
    2 32
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    November 25, 2017 8:20am
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      Or you could go over to Pete George’s blog and check out his lists
      https://yournz.org/2017/11/25/stream-of-revelations-of-abuse-of-power-and-women/#comment-234521
      
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      November 25, 2017 8:23am
- stigie
  
  Why the fascination with gropers morris dancer, do you feel left out..?
  
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  November 25, 2017 8:35am
- Liberty
  
  “Daisycutter Sports Inc.”
  The home of sock puppets.
  
  14 1
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  November 25, 2017 8:46am
- Morrissey
  
  As of 1:45 p.m., 46 people had registered their shame and mortification at being reminded that Jimmy Savile was very much Margaret Thatcher’s man.
  
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  November 25, 2017 1:46pm
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    Nice of you to forget the role that Labour Party “Progressives” played in down-playing the seriousness of child sex abuse in Britain.
    
    Remember what Harriet Harman was advocating back in the 1970s?
    “Childhood sexual experiences, willingly engaged in with an adult result in no identifiable damage”.
    Children as young as 14 should be able to consent to sex, to reduce the “harmful effects of the present laws”.
    It is “logical” for the age of consent to be abolished.”
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/jimmy-savile/9614516/Jimmy-Savile-Labour-faces-embarrassment-over-former-child-sex-claims.html
    
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    November 25, 2017 4:51pm
Hugh Pavletich

Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
WHY BUILDING AFFORDABLE HOUSING IS A NONSENSE ISSUE …

… WATCH THESE THREE IMPORTANT SHORT VIDEOS …

… NOTE IN PARTICULAR HOW BILL LEVITT AND MALCOM McLEAN TALKED STRAIGHT. THEY DIDN’T WAFFLE …

Bill and Alfred Levitt figured out how to supply new housing at or below $10,000 after World War 11 … when access to low cost products was extremely difficult and often impossible …

This Man Is the Father of Modern American Suburbia | Smithsonian

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/videos/category/smithsonian-channel/this-man-is-the-father-of-modern-american-su/

… then … soon after … Malcom McLean created the modern container industry … dropping shipping costs dramatically … for example with what cost $6 with break – bulk cargo handling to just 16 cents with containerization ! …

The Power of Outsiders – Video – NYTimes.com

https://www.nytimes.com/video/business/100000004807604/the-power-of-outsiders.html

… note here the extremely small costs of shipping selected items around the planet today …

Malcom McLean and Containerisation | Maersk Line – YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iq8UU9kafJ0

… in contrast … we don’t seem to hear of the concept of ‘increasingly affordable government’.

WHY ?
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November 25, 2017 8:15am
- Padriv Ustoev
  
  Hugh.
  We are convinced. Everyone agrees with you. Please in the name of Allah and everything that is holly and sacred, let’s move on from these posts to something new.
  
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  November 25, 2017 8:22am
  - Hugh Pavletich
    
    Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
    Wrong … It was the protectionists within the National ranks who stalled any progress on these issues over the past 9 years.
    
    It was … deservedly … the housing issue that led to the change of government.
    
    The stupid Tories handed this whole issue … and government … to Labour on a plate.
    
    Have you considered the consequences of this failure by the National Party ?
    
    Its all there in flashing lights on my recently revamped archival website http://www.PerformanceUrbanPlanning.org .
    
    What is being learned ?
    
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    November 25, 2017 8:35am
    - Hugh Pavletich
      
      Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
      Bill English needs to be more visible if he’s serious about staying on as leader … Jo Moir Opinion … Fairfax NZ
      
      https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/99208027/Bill-English-needs-to-be-more-visible-if-hes-serious-about-staying-on-as-leader?cid=app-iPad
      
      OPINION: There’s been a big hole where the Opposition leader is meant to be this week. Bill English has gone AWOL.
      
      Parliament was in recess this week so it’s perfectly normal to only see the Government ministers about the precinct but this is the time for the Opposition to shine. So where exactly is their leader?
      
      Recess weeks in the press gallery are a welcome relief from the chaos of the House sitting but when it comes to finding stories, one can be left scraping the barrel. … read more via hyperlink above …
      
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      November 25, 2017 8:42am
      - starboard
        
        “Hic..hic..burpp..farrtt..” goes the Hugh..
        
        18 4
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        November 25, 2017 9:09am
      - Hugh Pavletich
        
        Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
        New Housing Minister Phil Twyford talks tough on property speculators and opens the door to more overseas developers/builders doing work here | interest.co.nz
        
        https://www.interest.co.nz/property/91065/new-housing-minister-phil-twyford-talks-tough-property-speculators-and-opens-door
        
        Residential property investors have a narrow window of opportunity to purchase new properties that won’t be subject to the extended five year bright line capital gains tax the government is introducing, but those who are offsetting losses from their existing properties against other income had better start working on plan B.
        
        In an extended video interview with interest.co.nz, Housing and Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford outlined the state of play of the new Labour-led Government’s plans for housing industry reform.
        
        He said extending the bright line test so that residential investment properties would be taxed on any capital gains if they’re were sold within five years of purchase did not require a change of legislation, which meant it could be introduced reasonably quickly.
        
        But it would not be retrospective. … VIEW & READ MORE via hyperlink above …
        
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        November 25, 2017 9:19am
      - Hugh Pavletich
        
        Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
        Bloomie: Party over for Aussie housing market … Leith van Onselen … MacroBusiness Australia
        
        https://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2017/11/bloomie-party-aussie-housing-market/
        
        Bloomberg’s Chris Bourke is the latest to call the top on the great Australian housing bubble:
        
        The party is finally winding down for Australia’s housing market. How severe the hangover is will determine the economy’s fate for years to come.
        
        After five years of surging prices, the market value of the nation’s homes has ballooned to A$7.3 trillion ($5.6 trillion) — or more than four times gross domestic product. Not even the U.S. and U.K. markets achieved such heights at their peaks a decade ago before prices spiraled lower and dragged their economies with them. … read more via hyperlink above …
        
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        November 25, 2017 10:15am
    - Swifty
      
      We have learned only that you are a spamming prick.
      
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      November 25, 2017 9:25am
      - All_on_Red
        
        He’s quite childish isn’t he.
        Gets criticised so deliberately posts more articles.
        
        13 2
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        November 25, 2017 12:54pm
      - Hugh Pavletich
        
        New Zealanders more optimistic than Australians about 2018 …
        
        Roy Morgan Research poll finds high levels of optimism about 2018, led by young, female Aucklanders. Those over 65 are least optimistic | interest.co.nz
        
        https://www.interest.co.nz/news/91077/roy-morgan-research-poll-finds-high-levels-optimism-about-2018-led%C2%A0-young-female
        
        … extract …
        
        … Although the 53% of New Zealanders saying 2018 will be ‘better’ than 2017 is lower than the last time this survey was conducted in 2009 when a record high 73% of New Zealanders expected a ‘better’ year following a sharp recession in NZ, New Zealanders are far more optimistic about 2018 than their Australian counterparts. Only 31% of Australians expect 2018 to be ‘better’ than 2017.
        
        Driving the positive result are supporters of new Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and the Labour-NZ First-Greens Government she leads. 74% of Labour supporters, 67% of NZ First supporters and an even higher 82% of Greens supporters expect 2018 will be ‘better’ than 2017 compared to only 30% of National supporters – further details below. … read more via hyperlink above …
        
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        November 25, 2017 1:24pm
      - All_on_Red
        
        Thanks for proving my point Hugh
        You’re such a cock
        Roy Morgan rates near the bottom when it comes to accurate Polling.
        They are well known for having a left leaning bias.
        
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        November 25, 2017 1:33pm
      - Hugh Pavletich
        
        Outside team to report to (NZ) Govt on housing | Newshub
        
        http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2017/11/outside-team-to-report-to-govt-on-housing.html
        
        The Government is asking experts outside Treasury and other ministries to assess housing, having argued there is a crisis.
        
        Housing and Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford has commissioned economist Shamubeel Eaqub, academic Philippa Howden-Chapman and Salvation Army senior policy analyst Alan Johnson to write a report on housing, which is due out by Christmas. … read more via hyperlink above …
        
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        November 25, 2017 3:21pm
    - Hugh Pavletich
      
      Fran O’Sullivan: Get over the silly gossip, there’s work to be done – NZ Herald
      
      http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11947706
      
      … extracts …
      
      … The Government confidence rating is at its highest in almost eight years, jumping 15.5 points to 146.5 points in November. The last time confidence was this high was in January 2010 when Key was in his heyday.
      
      With 66.5 per cent saying NZ is heading in the right direction, it is time for the new Government to capitalise on that support and get down to sustained work. …
      
      … concluding …
      
      … Not only would they have been welcomed by a top-level audience that does want to see social change, but they would have heard an excellent and inspiring address by Air New Zealand chief executive Christopher Luxon.
      
      As Luxon said, “We will all get the country — the environment, the society and the economy — we all deserve.
      
      “Building a sustainable and better New Zealand is a cause well worth putting all our collective efforts and energy behind as business leaders working together with government and community leaders.
      
      “Fundamentally, business needs a strong society and society needs strong business. The two are intrinsically linked and mutually reinforcing.”
      
      There is goodwill within the business community — it just needs to be tapped.
      
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      November 25, 2017 3:44pm
- Paulus Gnome
  
  I am convinced by the SHOUTING alone, nothing to do with the content.
  
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  November 25, 2017 8:28am
  - Hugh Pavletich
    
    Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
    Paulus … The focus should be on the issues !
    
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    November 25, 2017 8:51am
    - treadingthemill
      
      I’m not going to focus on any issue if it’s being SHOUTED AT ME in all caps.
      
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      November 25, 2017 9:24am
    - Paulus Gnome
      
      We are focused on the issues Hugh, just not the ones that you deem to be important.
      
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      November 25, 2017 9:39am
      - Hugh Pavletich
        
        Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
        Paulus … It appears the wider public / polling and the recent election results ‘suggest’ housing / inequality (they go hand – in – hand) are the most important issues.
        
        Again … do check out my recently significantly revamped archival website Performance Urban Planning http://www.PerformanceUrbanPlanning.org … and of course, draw your own conclusions.
        
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        November 25, 2017 9:59am
- JibberJabber
  
  Hugh, the AFFORDABLE Housing Watchdog and Whistleblower?
  Do YOU pay YOUR Rates, Hugh?
  
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  November 25, 2017 8:56am
  - sooty
    
    HUGH. I wish that you stop repeating the same post every day as it becomes boring having to sit here reading everyone of the bloody things. I better things to do.
    
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    November 25, 2017 11:53am
    - lifesgood
      
      Be like me, just read his name and automatically downtick. Life’s too short to read his endless garbage..
      
      13 2
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      November 25, 2017 1:09pm
oldpark

Read this and weep . Drove through Levin yesterday and stopped to buy petrol at a Gull Station .
$1.82 Cents per litre of 91 Unleaded.That was in the South bound lane.
Across the road on the North bound lane ,even cheaper.
$1.76 CentsPer Litre of 91 unleaded. at an Allied petrol station.
Got to South of Plimmerton and all the way into Wellington.
Let the gouging of all motorists by a cabal of petrol selling price fixing mafia begin.
Every petrol station all the way to the Airport were selling the same 91 Unleaded at $2.14 Cents per litre.
What is going on, seems car owners South of Plimmerton are literally being taken for a ride by the petrol companies.
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November 25, 2017 8:17am
- Inandout
  
  I suspect Wellington has no Gull stations to temper prices. Speaking of Levin, isn’t it nice to see local body politics working well?
  
  http://horowhenuachronicle.communitynews.co.nz/
  
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  November 25, 2017 8:23am
  - peterwn
    
    As long as Mayors are directly elected by residents this sort of situation will occur from time to time. The Council CEO (who seems to have the confidence of a majority of councillors) would seem to have every justification to resign then sue the Council for constructive dismissal
    
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    November 25, 2017 9:09am
    - Nermal
      
      Totally agree. The old County Council way of the chair being elected by the majority of councillors was much better suited to the New Zealand style of democracy than the current “presidential” method.
      
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      November 25, 2017 12:34pm
- Komata
  
  It’s the law of demand and supply.
  
  You (the motorist) demands; we (the petrol companies and the servos) supply.
  
  Just don’t complain when we charge you for the ‘Privilege’ of driving your car.
  
  Suckers!!
  
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  November 25, 2017 8:24am
  - peterwn
    
    It is a matter of terminals and delivery networks which to a significant extent are controlled by the major players. The entry barrier for Gull to enter the Wellington market could be too great because of costs and probably resource consent issues.
    Smaller cell phone operators (generally resellers) have similar issues. The vexed question is whether the owners of existing facilities (which they developed at great expense) should be obliged to share these facilities with newcomers at a regulated price.
    Arguably Wellington region residents do not want to allow a sprawl of oil company facilities in their patch (via Councils) but find it hard to accept that Council/ RMA policies are to a significant extent to blame for higher fuel prices.
    
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    November 25, 2017 9:22am
- Paulus
  
  Why do no garages publish their 98 oct prices ?
  Why do I pay for AA membership but do nothing about it.
  98 oct are up to 20c per litre more expensive than 91 oct.
  You have to look at the bowser to see the price.
  Many late model cars with small charged engines only work properly on 98 oct.
  
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  November 25, 2017 8:24am
  - Inandout
    
    If you are referring to Suzuki Sport cars with 998cc motors, I think they run on 95 octane. This model is off my wish list because it doesn’t even reach 1000kgs, a terribly light missile.
    
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    November 25, 2017 8:33am
    - Paulus Gnome
      
      Otherwise an additional crumple zone to a two tonne Mercedes or a bonnet badge to a 42 tonne Kenworth
      
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      November 25, 2017 8:36am
  - UrbanNeocolonialist
    
    That is true in hot weather, but in cold weather 91 or 95 are fine. For every 1° increase in air temperature the temperature of the air-fuel mix just before ignition goes up about 3°C – and it is this temperature which is the reason for using higher octane fuel, as higher octane rating means higher auto-ignition temperature (pure octane with octane rating 100 autoignites at about 460°C, pure heptane with octane rating 0 autoignites at about 230°C, so as very crude rule of thumb a +1 increase in octane rating gives same engine performance with +1°C air temperature increase. choosing 98 over 91 octane is really only about 7-10°C air temp difference. Your car can cope. (they have knock sensors to continuously optimise the ignition timing). Use 91 in middle of winter and 98 (if you care) in middle of summer.
    
    Cars are designed to handle hottest ambient temperatures on earth of over 50°C, even if they have to retard their spark timing a lot to operate at that temperature.
    
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    November 25, 2017 9:05am
    - Inandout
      
      A Honda mechanic told me that with a 2.0 litre Civic ivtech motor, every fourth fill can include 95 octane fuel. More 95 fills can run the danger of burnt valves; or so he said.
      
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      November 25, 2017 9:16am
      - holysheet
        
        You can always get a lada.The drunken dwarf can go to his beloved country, work his drinking skills and return with boats full of ladas in exchange for our butter and milk powder.
        Worked last time.
        
        8 3
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        November 25, 2017 9:33am
      - sooty
        
        You forgot the Russian tractors, the Belarus.
        
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        November 25, 2017 12:05pm
      - UrbanNeocolonialist
        
        Mechanics as a rule know fuck all about such things, mostly operating on chinese whispers and shit their mates told them rather than actual understanding.
        
        Car makers will always tell you to use the most expensive/high performance option however marginal the performance or reliability gains because the added cost is on you not them.
        
        Keep in mind that you use high power on your car less than 0.1% of the time, and are mostly pootling around using less than 20% of max power, where benefits of high octane are greatly reduced.
        
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        November 25, 2017 2:00pm
- burt
  
  Perhaps this will be solved as we are starting to follow the state control model that has worked so well in Venezuela.
  
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  November 25, 2017 8:37am
  - VicParking
    
    Your wish will soon be Robbo’s command.
    
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    November 25, 2017 8:50am
- JibberJabber
  
  $1.95 in Kumeu, went up 10c a litre in celebration of Taxindas anointing.
  Expect another 25c per L when the regional tax comes in countrywide.
  
  14 0
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  November 25, 2017 9:06am
  - UrbanNeocolonialist
    
    The NZD:TWI exchange rate has dropped 10% since Taxinda took leadership of labour and they started to look like they could be a viable threat to National. So about $0.18c increase in petrol price so far is thanks to Taxinda.
    
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    November 25, 2017 9:30am
  - calendar girl
    
    Don’t overlook the fact that the Labour Government-induced weakness of the NZ$ will continue to push up the cost of oil imports.
    
    Edit: hadn’t seen your earlier comment, Urban Neocolonialist!
    
    2 0
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    November 25, 2017 5:18pm
- GazzaW
  
  I would have thought that Labour would have taken the fuel companies to task by now and carried on with Judith’s good works.
  
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  November 25, 2017 9:09am
  - Paulus Gnome
    
    Haha, carry on something that National initiated, surely you jest my man! (Person)!
    
    Dogma always trumps good practice and systems that work! Dontcha no nuttink?
    
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    November 25, 2017 9:44am
  - Captain Mainwaring
    
    “I would have thought that Labour would have taken the fuel companies to task by now and carried on with Judith’s good works.”
    
    Don’t be silly, they’re too busy looking for the Deputy Prime Minister.
    
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    November 25, 2017 9:49am
- MCos
  
  Back in the good old days the government controlled the price and it was the same everywhere.
  A lot of things were controlled by the government back then before those nasty ‘communist’ Labour administrations everyone moans about now.
  
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  November 25, 2017 11:57am
  - alwyn
    
    “it was the same everywhere.”
    Actually it wasn’t. There was a basic price and each area had something called a “differential”. It was intended to allow a bit more for delivering the fuel to remote locations. Fuel cost more in Kaikoura than Christchurch for example and even more down the West Coast.
    It also had lead in it. Why do you think the Labour MPs are so thick? They grew up when petrol had lead and it did dreadful things to children’s brains. Standard octane rating was 83. Anyone think a modern car would run on that? The lead would wreck the engine first of course.
    
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    November 25, 2017 1:08pm
Komata

It’s nice to see SOOO many new houses being built and oh so many trees being planted ; Not!!

‘Promises, promises, that’s all we ever get…’ comes to mind.

Thanks DPF for the counter; it’s very enlightening.
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November 25, 2017 8:21am
- VicParking
  
  I’m just about to go out and plant two trees (well shrubs) does that count.
  
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  November 25, 2017 8:52am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    It’s a start.
    Can you email DPF to take 2 off his counter?
    
    13 0
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    November 25, 2017 9:46am
  - niggly
    
    Since you’re doing their job for them, perhaps send a copy of your tree receipt to the Labour Party to claim a refund!
    
    8 0
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    November 25, 2017 10:05am
    - sooty
      
      If I put up my christmas tree, does that count?
      
      11 0
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      November 25, 2017 12:09pm
  - holysheet
    
    It’s 2 more than liabore and the drunken dwarf have planted.
    
    10 1
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    November 25, 2017 1:56pm
  - MrLovebucket
    
    I just chopped three down so that cancels you out… and some…
    
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    November 25, 2017 5:05pm
- RalphT
  
  I don’t know about you but I feel dizzy watching the tree counter tick over. They must start planting trees if only for the sake of our health.
  
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  November 25, 2017 9:20am
Manolo

A day of reckoning for Bill Clinton?
http://www.weeklystandard.com/linda-tripp-its-a-day-late-and-its-a-dollar-short/article/2010600

As the reckoning over sexual abuse finally reaches Bill Clinton, with handwringing by some of his former defenders in the press and in politics, one Clinton White House veteran is following developments with particular interest—and a large measure of skepticism.
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November 25, 2017 8:25am
- Inandout
  
  Gripper Morrisey will be onto this like a robber’s dog.
  
  16 1
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  November 25, 2017 8:34am
  - Morrissey
    
    I am right across this, as they say on television news.
    
    Clinton is indeed on my roster of Gropers.
    
    4 3
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    November 25, 2017 1:14pm
    - GoVege
      
      Clinton can grope me ANY day! 🙂
      
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      November 26, 2017 12:51pm
Manolo

Maybe it was this what took stephieboy away from KB:
https://www.apnews.com/871704f3833d40c789f3eb6696110214

Robert Pape, who directs the security center, said the extremist group is targeting Westerners — especially recent Muslim converts — with videos that follow, nearly step-by-step, a screenwriter’s standard blueprint for heroic storytelling.

“It’s the heroic screenplay journey, the same thing that’s in Wonder Woman, where you have someone who is learning his or her own powers through the course of their reluctant journey to be hero,” Pape said.
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November 25, 2017 8:27am
Nukuleka

Bravo to our wise Parliamentary Speaker and Man of Peace Trevor Mallard for removing that appalling swear word ‘Jesus’ from the Parliamentary prayer. For years I have been deeply offended and shocked that our MPS have condoned the use of a prayer which includes one of the most commonly used swear words heard in Aotearoa New Zealand. ‘Jesus’ indeed!

I look forward to his replacing this divisive and offensive word with the much more wholesome and acceptable term ‘Mohammed’ and concluding his prayerful invocation with ‘Allahu Akbar’.

I have no doubt that the time will come.
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November 25, 2017 8:31am
- Paulus Gnome
  
  What is Allah akbar in te reo?
  
  Mallard is already saying that, just no one knows.
  
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  November 25, 2017 8:40am
  - JibberJabber
    
    What is Allah akbar in te reo?
    
    Mudderfarkka.
    
    21 0
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    November 25, 2017 9:00am
    - sooty
      
      Hone has been saying that for years!
      
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      November 25, 2017 12:11pm
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    الله أكبر
    He nui te Atua
    
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    November 25, 2017 9:53am
- Biscuit
  
  Nukuleka, the prayer really is a waste of time.
  
  How the hell the ‘honorable’ members can get away with that ‘laying aside all personal interests’ crap is beyond me!
  
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  November 25, 2017 8:43am
  - VicParking
    
    Of course they are laying aside all their personal interests, they are all now being provided by the taxpayers via the Trough.
    
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    November 25, 2017 8:56am
  - waikatogirl
    
    “laying aside all personal interest” is leftie speak for do as I say, not as I do.
    
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    November 25, 2017 9:48am
    - Left Right and Centre
      
      save to brain *click*
      
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      November 26, 2017 3:37am
  - Morrissey
    
    This “honorable member” certainly failed to lay aside all personal interests….
    
    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/2711246/Bill-English-defends-taxpayer-cash-for-house
    
    This “honorable member” ran a character assassination operation out of his office….
    
    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/64399395/pm-john-keys-text-message-deleting-to-be-examined
    
    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11329167
    
    And as for THIS “honorable member” putting aside her personal interests….
    
    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9818950/Judith-Collins-comes-clean-about-dinner
    
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    November 25, 2017 1:29pm
    - Biscuit
      
      Morrissey, lest you be thinking my original post was digging at your leftist pals, the ‘laying aside’ male cow droppings wording was used by David Carter when he was Speaker.
      
      I haven’t checked but I am thinking he borrowed it from previous Speakers (from both sides of the House), too.
      
      My point was that, no matter who is in power, personal interests seem to outweigh the common good all over the place!
      
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      November 25, 2017 11:06pm
- KevOB
  
  This creeping islamisation is why immigration needs strict controls.
  
  Jesus is Lord.
  
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  November 25, 2017 9:01am
  - treadingthemill
    
    What creeping Islamisation in New Zealand? The change to the Parliamentary prayer had nothing to do with Islam.
    
    6 15
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    November 25, 2017 9:04am
    - JasonJohns
      
      A lot of our top MPs are secret Muslims. They’re waiting to ‘come out’. The change in the prayer is just part of the preparations for a shariah republic.
      
      4 12
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      November 25, 2017 9:06am
      - Paulus Gnome
        
        That sort of knocks H1 out as the first president of Aotearoa Nou Venezuilland, almost a blessing in disguise really.
        
        5 1
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        November 25, 2017 9:47am
      - waikatogirl
        
        JJ, Report back to the Delta, headquarters in Ngaruawahia. ?
        
        5 0
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        November 25, 2017 9:53am
      - Morrissey
        
        Loon. If only you spoke more than one language, so that more people could laugh at your insanity.
        
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        November 25, 2017 1:31pm
- kowtow
  
  Going to the stadium for footie and going to church is the same thing.
  
  At Church they say ‘Stand up for Jesus’ sake’
  
  At Footie they say ‘Sit down , for Christ sake.’
  
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  November 25, 2017 10:34am
  - Morrissey
    
    “Going to the stadium for footie [sic] and going to church…”
    
    It’s FOOTBALL.
    
    1 3
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    November 25, 2017 1:32pm
slightlyrighty

Can anyone in the LBGTQ community come up with a cogent argument that a weightlifter who used to be a man but is now identifying as a woman does not disadvantage other competitors?

I have no doubt that Ms Hubbard has had a difficult pathway, and I hope that conforming to her gender identity over her biological gender gives her some comfort, but being biologically male in a competition of strength among females is such an advantage that she should do the honourable thing, and withdraw.

To me, it’s no different to the testosterone driven East German female Olympians. Ms Hubbard has made a choice, and in continuing to compete as she has, has opened herself to criticism.

There are those out there who would challenge me on this thinking, and downtick away if you must, but at least do us all the courtesy of debate. Give us your reasons why Ms Hubbard should be allowed to compete in a competition where her biological gender gives her an advantage.

We live in an age where certain people have been granted some sort of protected status, and whose actions cannot be questioned for fear of causing offence. Debate on these issues is being suppressed as society has focused on what is correct as opposed to what is right. Ms Hubbard has the right to live under her own gender identity, and I support her in that choice, but I also have sympathy for those who are disadvantaged by her decision to compete in a playing field that has become uneven by her very participation, and who cannot question that decision for fear of being labelled as anti LBGTQ.
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November 25, 2017 8:46am
- Tarquin North
  
  This is a bloke with a receding hair line who used to be a male weight lifter masquerading as a chick. Clearly an unfair competitor. Call a spade a spade.
  
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  November 25, 2017 8:57am
- VicParking
  
  A transgender commentator was interviewed last night and he/she said that with all the “gender bender” drugs he/she is taking she/he is actually at an disadvantage .
  
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  November 25, 2017 9:00am
  - GazzaW
    
    I put it down to all that GM muesli she ate as a kid.
    
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    November 25, 2017 9:15am
  - Inandout
    
    His/her internals are going to be permanently damaged, but it will know this.
    
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    November 25, 2017 9:18am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    I disagree…
    
    Her frame, bone density, musculature were formed under high levels of testosterone.
    
    She may well be at a disadvantage now in respect of male lifting, but she has an advantage over females whose bodies have developed under a completely different hormone regime.
    
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    November 25, 2017 10:00am
    - Inandout
      
      Here are many concerns:
      https://www.health.ny.gov/diseases/aids/consumers/lgbt/transgender_health_concerns.htm
      
      As a specialist once said to me, ‘most transgenders I have met are quite mad’.
      
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      November 25, 2017 10:10am
    - Left Right and Centre
      
      You’re not allowed to leave KB ever Mags.
      
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      November 26, 2017 3:41am
- Liberty
  
  A nancy boy in a woman’s team is cheating.
  
  15 0
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  November 25, 2017 9:42am
  - MH
    
    certainly no barbell doll.
    The medal would have to be brassiere.
    
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    November 25, 2017 5:16pm
- DifferentPerspective
  
  This is the great paradox of cultural marxism and identity politics. It’s just a re-casting of the “divide and conquer” approach to oppression of the mindless masses. The “equal” treatment of one identity category always ends up disadvantaging another identity category. It’s like a snake eating it’s own tail.
  
  Q: Who will be disadvantaged by this travesty?
  A: Women!
  
  Q: Who is oppressing all the female athletes?
  A: A man!
  
  Isn’t this the very definition of oppresson by the male patriarchy?
  
  BTW – I identify as black women at the moment so anyone downticking me is a racist, sexist transphobic pig.
  
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  November 25, 2017 10:05am
- kowtow
  
  The world has literally gone PC mad.
  
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  November 25, 2017 10:36am
- Fletch
  
  As I read someone else say, if Laurel had a fatal disease and there was only one cure, but a version that only worked on men and a version that only worked on women, which one do you think Laurel would take?
  
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  November 25, 2017 11:01am
  - Left Right and Centre
    
    Brilliant.
    
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    November 26, 2017 3:43am
- Nukuleka
  
  If Mr Hubbard wishes to call himself a woman when biologically he isn’t and never will be then that is his choice and he can go about behaving as he wishes in whatever guise he wishes- it will not affect me. But please don’t expect me to enter into his own personal fantasy and shame on any organisation such as the Commonwealth Games Federation that enters into his make-believe world.
  
  Many are the folk who have suffered delusions of being Queen Victoria, Jesus Christ or Napoleon: we may humour them in their mental confusion but we all agree that they aren’t any of these personages. They are sick people.
  
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  November 25, 2017 12:00pm
- MrLovebucket
  
  He should complete as the gender of his birth regardless of what pills he is taking – unless they are on the banned list for performance enhancing.
  
  If he wants to wear a dress on the bus to the event then good on him. Otherwise it’s a farce and I feel sorry for the real female competitors who have trained seriously who will miss out.
  
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  November 25, 2017 5:11pm
JasonJohns

Big day here in Ngaruawahia with the armed forces of the provisional government of NZ due for their first dignity patrol.
They’ve come a long way in a few weeks…from a couple of guys with sticks to a sophisticated army…

A model for the nation!
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November 25, 2017 8:52am
- MCos
  
  Ngaruawahia??
  
  I’m surprised you haven’t attempted to rename the place to something more attuned to your white supremacist creed.
  Trump Town
  Breivikville
  
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  November 25, 2017 12:08pm
  - Jack5
    
    MCos, JasonJohns is one of ☪TeamKea☪ trolling – playing the agent provocateur.
    
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    November 25, 2017 5:25pm
    - MCos
      
      Well, knock me over with a feather!
      And here was I thinking he was just a regular loathsome piece of shit.
      
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      November 25, 2017 11:22pm
- holysheet
  
  Has Chucky made an appearance yet?
  He would be a sight for sore eyes in his mine safety suit and all the paraphernalia that goes with his Pike river mine entry duties.
  
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  November 25, 2017 1:46pm
JasonJohns

Yesterday in the ODT Dave Witherow had the courage to say that the Maori ‘language’ should be pushed firmly back out of the public sphere…as Witherow says, it was the Maori Language Act that started the rot…now things are totally out of control…Aryan NZers are being hammered every day with this obscenity…you can’t turn on the radio safely…https://www.odt.co.nz/opinion/haere-mai-everything-far-ka-pai
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November 25, 2017 9:00am
- VicParking
  
  Agreed says Vic Parking a Ho.
  
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  November 25, 2017 9:02am
  - RalphT
    
    I also agree, but suggest you stop calling people hos
    
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    November 25, 2017 9:27am
- JasonJohns
  
  Witherow makes it clear he has nothing against people speaking Maori and practicing Maori culture…in the privacy of their own homes. But not in the public sphere. The Maori Language Act as he said recognised the language as indigenous to NZ…that set the rot…now every time the language is sued on RNZ a calculated attac is being made on the Aryan majority
  
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  November 25, 2017 9:08am
  - VicParking
    
    The rub with that comment is the lack of having their “own home”.
    
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    November 25, 2017 10:59am
- UrbanNeocolonialist
  
  In spite of billions spent on propping up Maori language, it is still falling in use. Even Maori can not be bothered learning or using it. Let the dog die.
  http://stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/snapshots-of-nz/nz-social-indicators/Home/Culture%20and%20identity/maori-lang-speakers.aspx
  
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  November 25, 2017 9:35am
  - Digmen1
    
    Yes most Maori are learning American gutter talk. They have a vocabulary of about 50 words.
    
    Most countries around the world are pushing English as they way of the future, business, science and being able to express many feelings and emotions.
    
    It really is time that Maori parents tried to encourage their children to learn to speak english.
    
    Just look at all the black people in Zimbabwe, they are all able to put some nice sentences together.
    
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    November 25, 2017 10:39am
    - holysheet
      
      Yeh but give them enough time and blaming the white colonialists for their countries ills will soon be back in vogue. You cannot blame a black man, even a shit like Mugabe for this forever. The defaullt for all natives is blame whitey for all their problems.
      
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      November 25, 2017 1:50pm
    - Paulus
      
      Was in Shanghai a few years ago and we were stopped in the street by young people and asked to speak English to them as they all learn this at school.
      In doing so quite a gathering formed.
      Lovely young people.
      Strange world though.
      
      Over the years I have said and will repeat that unless young people cannot speak a language properly in the first place then they can never speak anther language.
      Speak English not US slang and then Maori will come more easily.
      
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      November 25, 2017 1:54pm
  - Piniwi
    
    Funny UN when even the most committed users of the native dialect resort to their favourite English words for insults or labels.
    
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    November 25, 2017 3:03pm
    - Steve (North Shore)
      
      Need to have a butchers at that, might be pork pies
      
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      November 25, 2017 6:22pm
- Morrissey
  
  You’re struggling to express yourself coherently in English. Don’t worry, NOBODY expects you to be any better in Te Reo.
  
  Funnily enough, Māori and Pacific Island kids are often proficient in two languages, and (perhaps because they have that head start) are renowned as very quick learners of French, German, Japanese and Italian, to name a few.
  
  You?
  
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  November 25, 2017 1:19pm
  - All_on_Red
    
    Actually only about 1 in 5 Maori speak Maori and only about three percent of NZers
    
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    November 25, 2017 1:29pm
  - Jack5
    
    Anyone fluent in English can be a quick learner of German, and to a lesser extent French and Italian. Maori and Pacific Island kids who did not know English would struggle learning these three European languages.
    
    Japanese is hard for most foreigners.
    
    Maori and other Polynesian languages might be helpful in learning Malay and Indonesian.
    
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    November 25, 2017 7:36pm
softail 1450

who figured moronissey was a man ? I had always just thought it was a man hating feminazi, I apologise to him for that …….not.
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November 25, 2017 9:04am
- sooty
  
  I always thought she was short, fat, ugly and left out. I was wrong!
  
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  November 25, 2017 12:18pm
- Morrissey
  
  I contain multitudes, my friend.
  
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  November 25, 2017 1:21pm
Doubledimp

Stuff article saying “where is bill english” and saying “Nikki kaye and judith collins are barking at every passing car” and inferring that is a good thing. It’s like fairfax have given up any pretence of impartiality.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/99208027/bill-english-needs-to-be-more-visible-if-hes-serious-about-staying-on-as-leader
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November 25, 2017 9:04am
- Inandout
  
  Winston is effectively our PM, but he hides most of the time. Bill will be back next week.
  
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  November 25, 2017 9:20am
- Maxx
  
  When she says “when it comes to finding stories, one can be left scraping the barrel” she highlighted what this article is about. The bottom of the barrel.
  
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  November 25, 2017 9:42am
Liberty

COL apologists are into self pleasure.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/99208027/bill-english-needs-to-be-more-visible-if-hes-serious-about-staying-on-as-leader
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November 25, 2017 9:05am
- slightlyrighty
  
  The MSM commentary on Bill English shows just how myopic they have become.
  
  They should do well to remember a few salient points.
  
  In 2014, National had a total vote count of 1,131,501. Last September, Nationals total vote was 1,152,075. Bill English as leader garnered 21000 MORE votes.
  
  Secondly, with Labours cabinet in disarray, and Grant Robertson countermanding policy statements from other ministers, Labour embracing the TPPA, shooting themselves in the foot over the sharing of Parental Leave, Backtracking on the Pike River Re-entry, the tree planting target, Kiwibuild being shown to be pie in the sky dreams, Jacinda falling over herself to welcome refugees while talking about reducing immigration, and Kelvin Davis doing a great impression of a possum in the headlights, what is there for a leader of the opposition to do. Sometimes it’s best to sit back and give your opponents more rope.
  
  Thirdly, opposition is about being a government in waiting and showing the public that your team is better. Labour never really did that in opposition, and they still aren’t much in Government. In having Collins, Adams, and Joyce also taking point, this works for the Nats. Not against it.
  
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  November 25, 2017 9:37am
  - sooty
    
    Here’s a question for you then. Where’s Kelvin?
    After getting a drupping after the trainee PM was out of the country, he’s gone missing.
    
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    November 25, 2017 12:21pm
    - Paulus
      
      Kelvin is away up North being re trained for when Angry, with the new suit, takes over his job early in the New Year.
      Cindy and H2 have said he is nbg so away back to Maoridom he goes.
      
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      November 25, 2017 1:59pm
      - waikatogirl
        
        Politburo guy will have the details on Kelvin’s retraining ‘holiday’. I’m sure he will report the details to us plebs on a need to know basis.
        
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        November 25, 2017 2:22pm
Catons

I see the detainees gave all been removed from Manus Island by the PNG Government. So what has her virtue signalling on this issue achieved?? Nothing except piss the Aussies off. It will cost us. The asylum policy has cost the Australuan Government $11 billion. But they have stopped the trade. We will be asked to pay some of the cost of turning back the boats mark my word Jacinda.
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November 25, 2017 9:11am
- Digmen1
  
  Now they need to do the same in Europe and the mediterranean. But it is a about 5 years too late.
  
  Those people smuggling scum who charge thousands and then open the sea cocks in sight of European navy boats!
  
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  November 25, 2017 11:20am
  - Classic Liberal
    
    Can’t believe someone voted you down, Digmen. Anyone who has been watching the European ‘refugee’ situation knows you’re right.
    
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    November 25, 2017 12:32pm
- sooty
  
  11 billion trumps 3 million!
  
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  November 25, 2017 12:22pm
- Piniwi
  
  Interesting Catons to see the boat people pleading to NZ to take them as a result of the Commie Chicks tampering. If people think that the Aussies are pissed off now then imagine how much more so when number of boats leap up again.
  
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  November 25, 2017 3:12pm
Jack5

The Hooerald prints an extract from a book that questions the relationship between Donald Trump and his daughter Ivanka.

It likes the relationship to that between Uzbekistan president , Islam Karimov, and his daughter.

The Hooerald article describes the Trumps’ relationship as weird. Just what is it trying to imply?

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=11947589
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November 25, 2017 9:42am
- Tauhei Notts
  
  I suppose it is bit like their lead story this morning about Kelston Boys High School and Samoan rugby.
  
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  November 25, 2017 10:18am
  - sooty
    
    That the Hooreald is run by the alphabet soup?
    
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    November 25, 2017 12:25pm
DifferentPerspective

Swede’s de-evolving

From the country that gave us Vikings, proof that Sweden is approach peak libtardery .. lesbian bishop wants to remove crosses from the church and introduce muslim prayer spaces.

Aesop’s Farmer would have some valuable advice for the Swedes.
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November 25, 2017 9:59am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Oh, that’s not the Aesop’s story they used to read at school…
  http://www.read.gov/aesop/007.html
  
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  November 25, 2017 10:10am
- Inandout
  
  Can some Swede on here, any Swede, argue that Sweden isn’t going balmy?
  
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  November 25, 2017 10:13am
  - GoVege
    
    I’m part Swede…hang on….that might be Norwegian.
    Yes, they have definitely gone balmy letting in all those chauvinist Islamists to a pure gender-equal Christian Scandinavian nation.
    I’m heading over soon to check out the situation. 🙂
    
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    November 25, 2017 10:40am
    - lifesgood
      
      I had cause to work with a group of Swedish tourists yesterday. One of the most pleasant groups of tourists I have ever met. They were, to a person, scathing about what is going on in Sweden. I wonder how and why this madness has taken hold of Sweden.
      
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      November 25, 2017 11:03am
      - Paulus
        
        Madness in Sweden is as a result of Socialism – easy.
        
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        November 25, 2017 2:01pm
    - kowtow
      
      Balmy it isn’t , especially at this time of year.
      
      Barmy , most certainly.
      
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      November 25, 2017 11:58am
      - Inandout
        
        You are so correct.
        
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        November 25, 2017 12:18pm
      - Classic Liberal
        
        I like the way people politely help out with the odd spelling error here. At WO you get chucked out for daring to do that.
        
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        November 25, 2017 12:37pm
      - fernglas
        
        everyone liked this comment, bar me.
        
        3 1
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        November 25, 2017 3:45pm
- kowtow
  
  Their political / establishment class are completely bonkers.
  
  “The Church of Sweden is urging its clergy to use gender-neutral language when referring to the supreme deity, refraining from using terms such as “Lord” and “he” in favour of the less specific “God.”’
  
  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/24/church-of-sweden-to-stop-referring-to-god-as-he-or-lord
  
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  November 25, 2017 10:44am
- Nermal
  
  In WWII they were called collaborators.
  
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  November 25, 2017 12:41pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Anyone know why this company was getting so much backing?

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/99108960/recovery-of-12m-shortfall-at-failed-hydroworks-unlikely
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November 25, 2017 10:22am
- UrbanNeocolonialist
  
  Pretty certain it will come down to public body decision makers with access to large piles of money operating in areas outside their competence on the basis of advice from highly credentialed but commercially incompetent consultants.
  
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  November 25, 2017 1:52pm
  - JeffW
    
    Doesn’t have to be a large pile of money; it just has to be a pile of somebody else’s money.
    
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    November 25, 2017 2:00pm
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    Well that’s been my impression about most of these university start-up businesses.
    
    Hydroworks seems to have been backed by Incubator Powerhouse…
    http://www.powerhouse-ventures.co.nz/about-us
    
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    November 25, 2017 5:05pm
Manolo

Another pervert is exposed:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/11/24/conyers-accused-taking-staff-meeting-in-his-underwear-ordering-subordinate-to-babysit-his-kid.html
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November 25, 2017 10:47am
- Inandout
  
  This phenomena will spread well beyond just the grubby Democrats, many idols will fall. Some sadly will not deserve the ‘recalled memory’ syndrome, as we found out when our ACC paid out millions to women who ‘remembered’ things, with a bit of prompting by ‘experts’. There would be few males on here who hadn’t pushed their luck with a woman at some stage. Luckily most of us are neither famous nor rich.
  
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  November 25, 2017 11:15am
  - sooty
    
    If there is money or fame in it, there will be lots off remembering! Sounds like a treaty settlement.
    
    7 0
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    November 25, 2017 12:30pm
    - GoVege
      
      The difference is the treaty settlements are victimless cri….processes (besides the damage to the public purse.)
      But extracting dosh from naughty men for past gropings could result in multiple victims.
      In addition to the permanently scarred survivors that is….
      
      3 1
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      November 25, 2017 2:51pm
  - GoVege
    
    I know a rich builder I had to fight off when I was left alone with him in a car once when I was 17 .
    He’s probably in a rest-home by now so maybe I shouldn’t hassle him……..heck! That didn’t stop Rolfe’s accusers!
    
    4 3
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    November 25, 2017 2:45pm
    - MCos
      
      Someone made advances when you were 17.
      Have you reported the matter to the police?
      
      1 0
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      November 25, 2017 11:30pm
      - GoVege
        
        For some reason…it just never crossed my mind MCos.
        Same as when mum’s elderly neighbour grabbed my boob a few years back.
        I must get with the programme! 🙂
        
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        November 26, 2017 12:55pm
flipper

But hang on.. our fair and balanced media run at least anti-Trump smear fiction piece every day so they often need to scrape the barrel. What many NZers fail to realise is that some 141 times the total population of NZ voted for Trump.

Oh, while the MSM ridicules his use of “social” media, by the latest count almost 100 million in the USofA follow his comments or tweets on the several platforms.

But the left wing, socialist “intelligentsia” cannot accept that Americans no longer care what the BS East and West Coast media says.
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November 25, 2017 11:52am
KKKKatee

Word on the street according to WO is that Jacinda is negotiating to bring 150 Manus Island ‘refugees’ and their families to NZ. If that’s the case, why isn’t she being ‘transparent’ about this and telling us what’s going on? Do we get a say in this PM? No, thought not. “Captain’s Call” is her mantra.
I don’t want them here – what about you?
So, if this happens, then these scumbags will take ‘prioridy’ over the already starving she’s promised to make life good again – including a ‘house for all’.
Week #5 and she’s nothing but a scheming, lying piece of work.
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November 25, 2017 11:53am
- MCos
  
  I thought everybody in NZ would have known by now that both this Government & the previous one offered to take 150 of these people.
  
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  November 25, 2017 11:34pm
JibberJabber

Just another gang,

https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/99241631/destiny-church-marches-in-auckland-amid-white-ribbon-clash
True colours come out now that the “Charity” status has been removed.
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November 25, 2017 11:59am
- softail 1450
  
  JJ,,,we’ve heard talk like that before from a man that is credited with the saying “drinking the coolaid”
  let’s hope there’s no repeat of that outcome with mr tamaki…..
  
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  November 26, 2017 6:54am
RF

Have you noticed that Ardern is keeping a low profile after a series of mis-speaks.

I have heard that her minders have suggested that she should avoid getting into controversial discussions such as Manus Island, Pike River Mine etc…

Both the Greens and NZ First are potential problems for her.
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November 25, 2017 12:10pm
- KKKKatee
  
  How the hell is she going to last 3 years then I wonder? She’s the PM, the buck stops with her. She can’t avoid tricky questions. And there’s no point either in getting Kelvin Davis to field questions on her behalf either. The man can barely comprehend. And as for Peters, where the hell is he and does he actually care? Prepare to be sliced and diced Ardern. That comes with the territory. Get used to it and stop whimping when it comes to the very difficult issues.
  
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  November 25, 2017 12:35pm
  - GoVege
    
    Stop brow-beating Kelvin!
    Can’t you see he’s sexy!!?
    
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    November 25, 2017 2:38pm
    - sooty
      
      If you say so! I thought you were a male?
      
      2 0
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      November 25, 2017 4:09pm
      - GoVege
        
        Sooty: I am always honoured when I am mistaken for a male, but unfortunately I was born a member of the weaker sex.
        (But at least I got to have babies!)
        As FluffyCoco would say….thanks anyway. 🙂
        
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        November 26, 2017 12:59pm
  - MrLovebucket
    
    She can avoid tricky questions just by talking to the MSM. No chance of any heat going on her from that lot.
    
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    November 25, 2017 5:19pm
    - Steve (North Shore)
      
      Just like Hillary. Get CNN to paraphrase everything for you
      
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      November 25, 2017 6:32pm
Sofia

Pike River
Labour’s sudden nervousness is evident in the designation of Little as the minister who will alone determine whether to go ahead with any recovery plan —rather than following the standard practice of the Cabinet making a collective decision.
The intention is obvious. If Little gets it wrong, other ministers will be able to distance themselves and the Government as a whole from what will be an almighty mess
– John Armstrong

1– Does Cabinet actually have the power to constrain “collective responsibility” to a “collection of one” when that move is explicitly to avoid responsibility being the responsibility of all?

2 – The view of responsibility may be seen as one issue for Cabinet but what is the same issue viewed in respect to WorkSafe law itself and is a exclusive constraint in the usual Cabinet collective actually a form of premeditated irresponsibility?

3 – Since there is a lack of formal legislation establishing Cabinet (according to Wikipedia), leaving the powers of its members only loosely defined, will not a court case as would surely result from the proposed Cabinet action (should a disaster ensue) be the most appropriate way to define for politicians what there duties are?

4 – As regards a change in Labour leadership, Arden initially told Little “to stick to out”. He didn’t. What happens to this change in Cabinet collective responsibility, should he again decide as fall-boy, he won’t “stick it out”?
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November 25, 2017 1:01pm
- sooty
  
  There will never be a maned entry. Ever. Angrys not going to put his balls on the block, if he has any. Should offer to take the families ashes down the mine by robot when they pop their clogs. Be cheaper.
  
  12 1
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  November 25, 2017 4:15pm
  - Steve (North Shore)
    
    Silly as it sounds, it is not a silly idea. It may fly
    
    2 0
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    November 25, 2017 6:35pm
wreck1080

Uhhhh, I liked the americas cup while it lasted but now I can’t stand the thing and the greedy shenanigans of the current cup holders.

I wouldn’t care if they held the cup overseas, lost it , and never to be won again for several generations.
4 9
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November 25, 2017 1:25pm
wreck1080

Why are cops here such utter crap?

Indian dairy owner defends himself against armed robbers and the cops put him on trial saying it is not up to them to decide guilt.

Now, cops are saying there is not enough evidence to put the people on trial who murdered Stephen Dudley .

So What happened to letting a jury decide? Seems the keystone cops just make up statements to justify any action or inaction.

Stephen Dudley’s parents have been insulted and it makes you wonder if there is some corruption and some people in the justice system are protecting the attackers. What was wrong with letting a jury decide? The facts are in public and I would have found them guilty.
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November 25, 2017 2:23pm
- Chuck Bird
  
  Wreck, it does make you wonder. Do you know who the killers were?
  
  2 1
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  November 25, 2017 3:08pm
  - Kimbo
    
    I do – it is subject to name suppression as is the school so be careful.
    
    I think the decision was fair enough – was not murder. Hell, any of us when we were kids have been in similar situations when we were at school and got into fights. I went to the same school and I can remember stuff much worse that occurred when I was the same age as the two youths concerned. Doesn’t make what they did right…but the likely reason that Stephen Dudley died was an undiagnosed heart condition, and any physically stressful situation could have been the occasion. Not much comfort for his family and I can’t blame them for how they feel. What parent wouldn’t. But sending these two young guys to prison won’t bring him back. Deter others? No, I think the news of Stephen’s death did that.
    
    3 6
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    November 25, 2017 3:17pm
    - Chuck Bird
      
      Dr Kimbo, I did not see you down the Delta last night. I would love you to come down and start shooting you mouth off about the Pike River families.
      
      So you think you know more than than the coroner.
      
      Last year Coroner Gordon Matenga held an inquest into Stephen’s death and ruled in May – after hearing copious amounts of medical and expert evidence – that while the teen had an underlying heart condition, his death was the direct result of “stress associated with physical assault”./blockquote>
      
      8 4
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      November 25, 2017 3:53pm
      - Kimbo
        
        I haven’t shot my mouth off about the Pike River families. I am in complete sympathy for them – but not the arseholes (including you) who use them for political ens.
        
        10 2
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        November 25, 2017 4:00pm
      - Kimbo
        
        I just don’t agree with the Pike River families. And I have contempt for those using them.
        
        Plus the scope of a coroner is wider and not as legally rigorous as that of a Crown Prosector.
        
        8 2
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        November 25, 2017 4:11pm
      - Chuck Bird
        
        What political end am I using the Pike River families?
        
        3 5
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        November 25, 2017 4:22pm
      - Kimbo
        
        What political end am I using the Pike River families?
        
        You used it repeatedly in the last 12 months to advance the cause of Winston Peters and NZ First here on Kiwiblog. Including casting aspersions on the integrity of the likes of John Key in the matter, quoting him without sufficient context, calling people here out, interrogating them with leading questions,then refusing to reciprocate when the same was done to you. Breach of reasonable internet etiquette.
        
        But I note you’ve been relatively silent in Peters and Pike River lately. Funny that…
        
        14 3
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        November 25, 2017 4:55pm
      - Chuck Bird
        
        I said am. That is in the present context. I was not happy with Peter’s failure to push for many things he promised. I will not be voting for NZF again.
        
        Therefore I have no political agenda. I want to see justice for the Pike River families and the Dudley’s.
        
        I will certainly not be voting Labour but that does not mean that everything Labour does is bad.
        
        The Pike River families are not stupid as claiming they are being used implies. When someone is the victim of a crime or gross negligence they should be kept fully in the loop. This applies in regarding the Pike River familes, the Dudley’s and the parents of Moko plus countless others where plea bargains are done.
        
        6 5
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        November 25, 2017 5:21pm
      - Kimbo
        
        I said am. That is in the present context.
        
        Yes, I can understand why a sometimes Winston Peters supporter would like to insist on the application of mind bleach concerning the past. 😉 Who the fuck gave you permission to delimit and thus avoid scrutiny of your lack of judgement and integrity?
        
        Yet another reason why you are an arrogant, self-promoting, self-righteous arse hole. Especially when you write shit about “I want to see justice”. No, you want to inject yourself like a ghoul into these poor people’s lives for your own pride and ego.
        
        7 1
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        November 25, 2017 5:26pm
      - Chuck Bird
        
        When are you coming to the Delta you cowardly POS?
        
        1 9
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        November 25, 2017 5:42pm
      - Kimbo
        
        I said I “might”.
        
        https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2017/11/would_the_families_rather_have_1_million_each_or_re-entry.html
        
        Or are you now so senile and devoid of a comeback that deals with the legal facts concerning Pike River and Stephen Dudley – including your self-aggrandisement in those affairs – that you can’t understand the use of the subjunctive (google it)?
        
        Just out of interest, what are you going to do if I turn up? 😉
        
        8 0
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        November 25, 2017 5:52pm
      - nasska
        
        High Noon at the Delta featuring Motormouth vs the Godnutter……coming to a wide screen near you soon. 🙂
        
        8 0
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        November 25, 2017 6:09pm
      - Kimbo
        
        What does that make JasonJohns? 😉
        
        6 0
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        November 25, 2017 6:17pm
      - treadingthemill
        
        High Noon at the Delta featuring Motormouth vs the Godnutter
        
        Who do you think would win?
        
        4 1
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        November 25, 2017 6:27pm
      - nasska
        
        …..”Who do you think would win?”…..
        
        My money’s on Kimbo. I reckon Chuck would be at a disadvantage with one hand on his cock & the other clutching his Zimmer frame. 🙂
        
        10 1
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        November 25, 2017 6:33pm
      - Chuck Bird
        
        Kimbo, I understand what IF means you cowardly POS.
        
        Mr Keyboard warrior why do you ask what I am going to do if you show up.
        
        3 4
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        November 25, 2017 7:16pm
      - Kimbo
        
        why do you ask what I am going to do if you show up.
        
        Because I seek amusement.
        
        5 1
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        November 25, 2017 7:32pm
      - Chuck Bird
        
        Kimbo, show up and we will all get amusement
        
        2 2
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        November 25, 2017 8:09pm
      - Chuck Bird
        
        nasska, If I did have a disability it would show what sort of a cowardly keyboard warrior you are like you mate Kimbo. How old are you?
        
        2 3
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        November 25, 2017 8:13pm
- fernglas
  
  The point seemed to be that if they ran the trial they couldn’t exclude the possibility that the heart failure was caused by an argument that took place just before the physical altercation, so the trial would never have gone anywhere (the argument not being a criminal offence). That being the case, it would never have got to a jury. So, despite the parents hoping for the trial to provide closure, it would not have, and there would have been significant expense incurred in going nowhere. At least that’s how I read it.
  
  6 0
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  November 25, 2017 3:29pm
- MrLovebucket
  
  This gummint wants to reduce the number of mouldy in prison. The easiest way to achieve that is to stop the police prosecuting them. What could go wrong?
  
  7 2
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  November 25, 2017 5:36pm
  - sooty
    
    When they do catch them, let them go to try again!
    
    5 0
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    November 25, 2017 6:27pm
- GoVege
  
  Stop blaming the cops!
  It’s not them….it’s their higher-ups.
  
  0 1
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  November 26, 2017 1:01pm
Ross12

Is this what they call going beyond the tipping point?
Absolute madness, in my view.

http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/11/23/teachers-boys-girls-reminded-pupils-gender/
4 0
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November 25, 2017 3:02pm
Johnboy

What’s happened to Milkey?
I know he may have been recalled to the fold with the victory of Muleteeth but surely he could still find some time for his old chums here at KB? 🙂
12 1
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November 25, 2017 4:17pm
- holysheet
  
  Be carefull what you ask for JB. With the dairy prices at record levels, he’s trying that almond crap to impress his girlie Taxcinda. Anything to be seen getting with her indoctrination program I guess. Cannot be seen conversing with the likes of us here on KB.
  
  6 0
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  November 25, 2017 4:30pm
  - Johnboy
    
    I’m just a tad concerned that I’m next in line for most voluble commenter holy old chap! 🙂
    I keep thinking of Pete George! 🙂
    Perhaps I could just shut the fuck up! 🙂
    
    9 0
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    November 25, 2017 4:34pm
    - Manolo
      
      No, do not do that, Johnboy. The ewes love it when you talk.
      
      8 0
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      November 25, 2017 4:36pm
      - holysheet
        
        The ewes love it when you talk dirty, you mean?
        
        5 1
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        November 25, 2017 4:39pm
      - Johnboy
        
        Thank Christ you’ve taken that load off my shoulders Manolo! 🙂
        I never realised that you were so far ahead of me at verbal diarrhea I had nothing to be concerned about with my movements on this blog.
        What’s happened to poor old old Milkey…any idea? 🙂
        
        5 2
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        November 25, 2017 4:42pm
      - holysheet
        
        JB who gives a fuck, just another leftie who has got bigger problems trying to reign in their tooth fairy to stop pissing off even their own supporters.
        
        11 1
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        November 25, 2017 5:10pm
    - Manolo
      
      No doubt milky is on a secret assignment on behalf of the Labour Party. He will resurface any day.
      
      5 0
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      November 25, 2017 6:50pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  He’s here.
  
  He’s just had a bit of reassignment surgery…it’s given him a more booooring/beige persona;
  but now & again you can see the old MM trying to throw off the cloak of reasonableness.
  
  12 2
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  November 25, 2017 5:25pm
- Steve (North Shore)
  
  He went mad so we shot him. He was already mad anyway. Sometimes on the ball and sometimes in a bubble in space
  
  6 1
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  November 25, 2017 7:03pm
Digmen1

Its like that hazing guy in the Philipines. He was big and strong and played Football and then died during hazing of an obscure heart disease.
1 1
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November 25, 2017 4:30pm
Maggy Wassilieff

All cat-owning potential criminals take note:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/nov/24/barack-obama-explosive-package-cat-hairs
4 1
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November 25, 2017 5:44pm
- Steve (North Shore)
  
  There are more bridges for sale????
  
  3 0
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  November 25, 2017 7:09pm
Manolo

Comrade Yoza would be proud:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/venezuelans-suffer-malaria-outbreak-spreads-drug-short-nation-121824448.html

In a rare release of data earlier this year, government statistics showed there were 240,613 cases of malaria last year, up 76 percent compared with 2015, with most in Bolivar.

The former Health Minister was fired after the data was published, and it has not been updated since.
6 0
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November 25, 2017 7:05pm
Left Right and Centre

fluffy frothy nonsense . . .

You’re in a shop. They have a v-e-r-y big Santa. Some young Santa ‘hatted’ bloke offers you a mini chocolate bar or two from a small basket.

You see a selection including such popular names as Mars, Snickers, Twix, Bounty, Picnic, Cherry Ripe, Galaxy, Marvellous Creations, Moro, Boost, Malteasers, Crunchie and Flake.

Do you . . .
(A) Browse quickly before casually selecting one or two.
(B) Just pick any old bars.
(C) They are damn near all equally your first two picks. You can’t pick the best two. This is taking you forever. You are told your time has run out. You left with nothing – and in fact that was the only way to end the pain and torment.
3 3
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November 25, 2017 7:07pm
- nasska
  
  Grab a handful & make a run for it! 🙂
  
  6 0
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  November 25, 2017 7:09pm
- waikatogirl
  
  You won’t get Cherry Ripe any more. Haven’t you heard opinionated snowflakes got it banned cause they didn’t like it! Nevermind those of us who did happily choose Cherry Ripe over some of the other selection. No need to ban everything YOU don’t like, just don’t choose it.
  Wankers!
  
  8 0
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  November 25, 2017 7:49pm
Johnboy

The real reason I miss Milkey is that there will be no one to cheer for HOBM next season. Trev can’t do it as he’s become totally unbiased since his elevation to Mr Speaker. 🙂
8 0
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November 25, 2017 7:24pm
- nasska
  
  Thank God you’re still here JB. I had fears that you may have snuck up to the hills to live in a cave rather than face a life of shame after I read last Wednesday’s Dominion Post.
  
  There on Page A6 was the “Judgemental map of Wellington NZ”. Along with arrows pointing to Newtown as “brown people & hipsters, Miramar designated as “schoolteachers”, Khandallah allocated to “old money”, Wainuiomata got a mention.
  
  I did feel that the designation of “single mums & the truly desperate” was a little harsh. ?
  
  11 0
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  November 25, 2017 7:43pm
  - Left Right and Centre
    
    Cool game – aerial street map Khandallah and take a swig every tennis court or big pool.
    
    Your mouse won’t be the only thing rolling . . .
    
    5 0
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    November 25, 2017 7:55pm
  - Johnboy
    
    None of my ewes or I have had the ministrations of a preacher nasska so the single mums tag is fair enough. I used to be truly desperate but since we got rid of Mallard and the dreadful woman who seeked to replace him got seen off by Chris Bishop things have improved a tad! 🙂
    
    10 0
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    November 25, 2017 7:55pm
waikatogirl

Cindy has said any Manus Island (economic queue jumpers) coming to NZ is up to Australia.
That means Cindy finally understands that Aussie has been telling her to take her “refugee” crusade and piss off.
17 0
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November 25, 2017 7:43pm
- RF
  
  Message from H2. Zip it sweetie.
  
  2 0
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  November 25, 2017 10:57pm
nasska

It must be tough for actresses who didn’t get groped or raped by Harvey Weinstein (if there are any).

They’ll have to claim that they did, or they’ll be regarded as proper mingers.
6 0
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November 25, 2017 9:33pm
Manolo

The smell of money. Who doesn’t feel offended?
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/4995275/richard-branson-motorboating-singer-claims/
1 0
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November 26, 2017 6:54am

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