General Debate 22 July 2019

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Happychappy

Did Jacinda fix Australian problems while she was there and did she achieve getting millions of dollars of investment from Ausrtralian Business into the NZ Economy. We know she got one promise,that those ex NZer’s that commit crimes in Australiawill still be deported back to NZ.
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July 22, 2019 8:11am
- RW Capitalist
  
  First big news day, since the meeting and………….
  S I L E N C E………………….
  
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  July 22, 2019 8:23am
  - freethinker
    
    Must be the first decent thing ardern has done – shut her mouth, its so sucessful she should try it on a permanent basis.
    
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    July 22, 2019 11:11am
- kowtow
  
  She also tried to make the housing crisis worse , but the Oz gubmint wouldn’t let her.
  
  ‘New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said her government remained willing to accept the refugees on humanitarian grounds, confirming the number of places during her visit to Australia last Friday.’
  
  https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/another-chance-looms-to-transfer-refugees-to-new-zealand-20190721-p529an.html
  
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  July 22, 2019 8:30am
  - hullkiwi
    
    Just as well the Aussies have got a deaf ear to Jacinda and her bleating about Manus Island.
    
    Because despite the Wellbeing Budget being delivered only 2 months ago, we have a housing crisis getting out of hand.
    
    https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018704936/govt-spends-record-amount-on-emergency-housing
    
    I thought she was meant to hasve solved poverty?
    
    Perhaps not….?
    
    Maybe she should either:
    
    1. spend more time being Prime Minister in NZ;
    
    2. stop making b/s statements for the media, or the media should do some investigating into what JA is delivering; or
    
    3. have another reshuffle of the cabinet, as clearly the current cabinet is not up to it;
    
    4. Just resign and go and have another baby as she freely discussed on Seven Sharp with Hilary last week. What a bunch of hypocrites the Labour spinmeister/cheerleaders are, remember Mark Richardson asking a similar question before the 2017 election….?
    
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    July 22, 2019 9:10am
  - kowtow
    
    Ha ha ha
    
    On radio just now Peter Williams tells us we ‘ve deported some 400 people to Pacific Island nations for criminal offending last year……..
    
    Rest my beating heart while I await our media party to give that figure front page coverage and constant references on the tele “news’ and in the commentariat.
    
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    July 22, 2019 9:18am
    - sooty
      
      Well, that’s inconvenient!
      
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      July 22, 2019 9:44am
    - Happychappy
      
      This has not gone down well in Australia.
      https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12251514
      Suggestions Jacinda should be awarded a Peace Prize for her deeds over the ChristChurch Mosque’s Shootings.
      
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      July 22, 2019 11:10am
      - alex Masterley
        
        Rotary clubs in Christchurch are giving her some sort of award for her actions after the Mosque Shootings.
        I am holding my peace on that subject.
        
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        July 22, 2019 11:44am
  - tf78
    
    Why would she be happy to import Nauru ‘refugees’ and not our own Aussie made Kiwi criminals. Six of one half a dozen of the other if you ask me.
    
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    July 22, 2019 10:07am
- sooty
  
  Fit In or Fly Off, Deportee!
  
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  July 22, 2019 8:35am
- wreck1080
  
  There are a few cases where Australia should not be deporting kiwi citizens who commit crimes. eg, where the person was born in Australia or moved there at a very early age, such as preschool. As far as I’m concerned, that makes them a product of australia.
  
  But, generally I agree with the Aussie foreign criminal deportation policy.
  
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  July 22, 2019 9:28am
Maggie Pie

“One small step for MAN – one giant leap for MANkind”

WOW! So, i see its 50 years since the first white racist misogynists landed on the moon. The mission should be shunned and removed from the history books. There were no astronauts that were women or people of color. It was nothing more than a mission of white male supremacy!

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D_7vxaiXYAMFXoh?format=jpg&name=large
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July 22, 2019 8:18am
- srylands
  
  Give it time.
  
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  July 22, 2019 8:29am
- Tall Man
  
  Look out Maggie, a lady Thor is on her way to “re-educate” you.
  
  I wonder if she gets a a hammer or a rolling pin 😉
  
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  July 22, 2019 8:29am
  - Bell-47
    
    Add to that Jemima Bond who will likely be a “woman of colour”, no more James Bond..FFS this is getting ridiculous.
    
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    July 22, 2019 10:29am
    - freethinker
      
      Won’t be going to movies to see it – Bond is Male – Jemima is just a girlie faux Male.
      
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      July 22, 2019 11:15am
      - Bell-47
        
        I won’t be patronising it. Not because Bond is now a black woman but that she is not James Bond and the virtue signalling going on to appease the hollywood luvvies and touch sensitive millennials is disgusting. Am a huge Bond fan, or should I say WAS!
        
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        July 22, 2019 11:47am
  - Batman
    
    Natalie Portman will be an excellent Thor, she’s hilarious when given the chance. After all this is a fantasy comic series whereby Thor’s own sister was more powerful than him despite being Cate Blanchett.
    
    On the topic of Bond, the studio don’t appear to have confirmed anything beyond a casting for a main role. I wouldn’t put it past them to be deliberately unclear about it in order to keep the movie in the headlines while being filmed. And besides, Daniel Craig is still in the actual film.
    
    I think she will be another 00 agent and act as a partner to Bond or something… But who knows because this is all wild speculation to drive clicks….
    
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    July 22, 2019 3:21pm
    - White Anglo Saxon Protestant
      
      Bond is retired, and the FMPOC has the 007 designation.
      But guess what? Bond has to come out of retirement to save the day!
      
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      July 22, 2019 3:41pm
- sooty
  
  Didn’t they do well!
  
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  July 22, 2019 8:33am
  - kowtow
    
    Send them back.
    
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    July 22, 2019 9:04am
- Tall Man
  
  https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/african_american_astronauts_fs.pdf
  
  Seems they were trying.
  
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  July 22, 2019 8:33am
  - stephieboy
    
    Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
    Tall Man, another of your tiresome racially motivated cheapshots?
    
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    July 22, 2019 9:56am
    - 453mm
      
      stephieboy, you have quite the talent for taking offense when none was given. Are you a socialist by any chance?
      
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      July 22, 2019 12:08pm
      - Tall Man
        
        steffy girl = idiot.
        
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        July 22, 2019 2:16pm
- Lance
  
  To compensate only women of colour will be allowed to be astronauts on the next moon landing
  
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  July 22, 2019 8:34am
  - Tony Stuart
    
    Can they please send The Squad?
    
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    July 22, 2019 9:52am
    - The Proper Ghandi
      
      Tony Stuart
      I propose that The Squad become the first women to land on the surface of the Sun.
      
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      July 22, 2019 11:04am
      - Steve Otto(North Shore)
        
        AOC has that sorted – going at night
        
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        July 22, 2019 5:22pm
    - krazykiwi
      
      .. and send them on a rocket built under a socialist government. North Korea could help.
      
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      July 22, 2019 3:34pm
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      Send them back to where they came from? The moon?
      
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      July 22, 2019 5:21pm
- Nigel Kearney
  
  They have already promised the next moon mission will include a woman. And I’m pretty sure I learned from a Hollywood movie that none of the moon missions would have been possible without black, female mathematicians.
  
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  July 22, 2019 9:08am
  - Batman
    
    To be fair, putting a man and a woman on the moon as part of a mission named Artemis does have a bit of a ring to it, no?
    
    As for the women of multiple colours doing the maths in the back room, yes they actually did do some of the hard bits! That’s why their job titles were “computer”
    
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    July 22, 2019 3:27pm
    - Sacha
      
      Ooooh!
      A Space Baby!
      That’d sort some people out,lol.
      
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      July 22, 2019 6:25pm
- alloytoo
  
  The women of colour were doing the, arguably more important, Math.
  
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  July 22, 2019 9:12am
- wreck1080
  
  Or, “One small step for A man”?
  
  It doesn’t make sense otherwise.
  
  I reckon he got a bit excited as he hopped down the steps and forgot his lines.
  
  https://www.space.com/neil-armstrong-first-words-on-moon.html
  
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  July 22, 2019 9:33am
- Paulus Gnome
  
  TV1 last night said mankind in the report initially and then it became humanity
  
  Flakes.
  
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  July 22, 2019 10:00am
- Martin Williams
  
  Maggie. I know you like being stuck in the kitchen cooking for your man, but please don’t hold other women back.
  
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  July 22, 2019 12:45pm
- The Proper Ghandi
  
  Maggie Pie
  The accepted historical record shows that the Soviets and the Americans were the main players in the space race, but it is a little known historical fact that there was actually a third, less well acknowledged attempt to escape the Earth’s atmosphere in those days.
  
  Unfortunately, the homegrown Maori Space Program never made it if the ground, quite literally. My research has uncovered that much bickering occurred at all levels within Mission Control, with debate raging over the (some claimed) too early lift off time of Sunday at 6am NZST, and that (some claimed) the higher echelons of the organisation were hogging all of the (some claimed rather delicious) kai on offer, at the expense of the more numerous and lower-rung ropu members.
  
  Evidently, calls were made for the program’s (predominately non-Maori) benefactors to stump up with additional sustenance for the plebs – avoiding the need for the higher-ups to further divide their own substantial portion – but these calls were abandoned due to an overdue bill and subsequent disconnection of the Mission Control telephonic system.
  
  Such ultimately insurmountable challenges proved too much for the fledgling organisation, with many opting out and returning to whatever the hell they were doing before this ill-considered operation was inaugurated. I have, however, uncovered some (admittedly sketchy) evidence that two of the more talented Maori pilots took up offers with the American effort, with the (unstated) intention of leaping ahead of Armstrong on his way out the door, claiming the moon for themselves ahead of the Honkies, notwithstanding the painstaking and labourious groundwork undertaken by the Stateside Crackers. An ambiguous clause was later discovered in (one version) of their employment contract, that, if so interpreted, would have given the tangata whenua crew members, not only the mere “full rights and priviliges” attributed to the Americans, but with additional partnership obligations placed only upon the Yanks – with no reciprocal duties placed upon the Maori – in the all-to-possible event that things didn’t quite go to plan. However, as Apollo 11 departed at 5:30EST on the day of lift off, the contract was deemed null and void due to the the non-attendance of the Maori astronauts.
  
  These chaotic events resulted in the abandonment of a half-finished propulsion unit, and a barely begun lunar module. The same are gathering dust and accumulating weeds just outside of Turangi. But, history shoes that this debacle did not come to nought. ‘Roupe 1’ and it’s discarded ancillaries now provide much needed shelter to several families of local Kereru and the odd passing possum.
  
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  July 22, 2019 2:13pm
G152

That was so good seeing the entire Moon Landing films.
Time dulls a lot of memories but to see it all again was tremendous.
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July 22, 2019 8:23am
- The King
  
  Yes amazing what can be achieved with a couple of double D batteries and tinfoil as a spacecraft i mean micro meteorites traveling at 100,000 km per hour could never penetrate those suits, my favorite is Nixons telephone call to those on the moon with 0 seconds delay some we still can’t do with modern tech.
  
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  July 22, 2019 3:43pm
Tarquin North

I hear Jack Tame is having an extended interview with the P.M tonight on Q & A. Apparently Colmar Brunton just happen to be conducting a poll at the moment, how incredibly convenient. Anyone who enjoys grovelling adulation and swooning should tune in to this must see television event. Have a sick bucket ready!
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July 22, 2019 8:25am
- Tony Stuart
  
  To be fair, anyone who submits themselves to an extended interview of the PM by Jack Tame is probably going to vote for her anyway.
  
  Needless to say, I will NOT be watching!
  
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  July 22, 2019 8:52am
  - igm
    
    Mix with dogs, contract fleas!
    
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    July 22, 2019 9:02am
  - kowtow
    
    “For your penance my son you will…….”
    
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    July 22, 2019 9:05am
    - Tarquin North
      
      I had a catholic education, so burning in hell etc was to be expected but never did they come up with anything as evil as Jack Tame and Jacinda on tv together for an extended interview. The nuns could learn a thing or two from this lot.
      
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      July 22, 2019 10:08am
      - Tony Stuart
        
        I’m sure it beats a smack across the knuckles with the thin edge of a ruler!
        
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        July 22, 2019 10:54am
- MickMac
  
  Thank you but no.
  He is one reason why I turned off Breakfast.
  
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  July 22, 2019 9:11am
  - MCos
    
    Relax he’s gone, but Oh No John Campbell has taken over!
    
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    July 22, 2019 9:54am
- Biscuit
  
  Tarquin, it’ll all be so predictable.
  
  Jack: Some Maori greeting
  Jass: Tin of cocoa, tin of cocoa, car door
  Jack: How wonderful has your Government been this week, Your Highness?
  Jass: (Mucho waffle)
  Jack: How’s that super baby of your’s getting on? Got any pics for me?
  Jass: (More waffle)
  Jack: How’s Clarke bearing up with having to live with someone as fantastic as you?
  Jass: (Waffle par excellence)
  Jack: Tune in next week for more hard-hitting current affairs from me.
  
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  July 22, 2019 9:32am
  - Wangas Feral
    
    To be fair, one doesn’t have to be a Nostradamus to predict how that will go.
    
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    July 22, 2019 12:35pm
- MCos
  
  If Tame & Ardern are as pitiful as most people here say they are I’d have thought you’d be well pleased if they were to receive plenty of exposure on all possible media outlets!
  As it happens less than seventy thousand people watch Q & A. A mere fraction of the number that tune into Mike Hosking every day.
  
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  July 22, 2019 9:52am
  - Inandout
    
    MCos, and most of those viewers are in the rest homes that have TV0ne permanently fused so they don’t miss Coro. As an aside, I believe only 16,000 watch ‘The Projectile’ on TV3.
    
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    July 22, 2019 10:48am
    - John Warren
      
      160,000 surely? That’d be in keeping with their traditional figures.
      
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      July 22, 2019 1:27pm
    - Paulus Gnome
      
      I had two confess to me that they watched the Project over the weekend, I still speak to them but have to through clenched teeth . . . .
      
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      July 22, 2019 1:28pm
artemisia

Porirua mayor Mike Tana keeps his official expenses down by getting other folk to buy his coffees. One small step for ratepayers ….

https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/porirua/113732456/mayor-of-porirua-mike-tana-defends-cash-withdrawals-expensing-and-120k-staff-bill
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July 22, 2019 8:35am
- Tall Man
  
  Firstly a warning… that link launches into an incomprehensible dialogue…
  
  Well, what a surprise… not.
  
  A maori politician playing fast and loose with other people’s money… who would have thought?
  
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  July 22, 2019 8:54am
  - kowtow
    
    To be fair that sentence could just as easily read
    
    ” Politician playing fast and loose with opm….who woodda thort”
    
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    July 22, 2019 9:07am
    - Tall Man
      
      Correct but in this case I was accurate…..
      
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      July 22, 2019 9:43am
  - stephieboy
    
    Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
    Tall Man, snide cheap shots the main feature of your attack ammo today?
    
    Running down on supplies?
    
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    July 22, 2019 9:59am
    - freethinker
      
      Whats wrong with a one way trip to Mars?
      
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      July 22, 2019 11:21am
  - artemisia
    
    Certainly a weird dialogue but amusing in a sad way. And of course the odd bludged coffee was not the point, apart from the ethics of it.
    
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    July 22, 2019 10:42am
secondcumming

Police Minister Stuart Nash says he has been impressed with the number of Gang Members surrendering *prohibited gun parts* during Auckland’s first gun buy-back event at Mt Smart Stadium on Sunday.

There were *87 sawn-off shotgun barrels* exchanged for cash…..with a promise of more to come.
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July 22, 2019 8:35am
- Tony Stuart
  
  That’s good of those gang members to hand over sawn-off shotgun barrels to the Police; it saves them from having to dispose of the barrels themselves.
  
  Less comforting of course is the fact that there are at least 87 sawn-off shotguns which have NOT been handed over!
  
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  July 22, 2019 8:55am
  - Tall Man
    
    Thought that as well.
    
    As we have all said, 12 year old’s infecting news outlets.
    
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    July 22, 2019 9:01am
  - igm
    
    I take it that there will be weapons handed in from mosques . . . I am sure there will be considerable caches in these so-called houses of worship!
    
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    July 22, 2019 9:04am
  - Paulus Gnome
    
    Which end of the sawn off shotgun was handed back? The end with the trigger or the end with the sight?
    
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    July 22, 2019 10:04am
    - sooty
      
      HAA, HHAAA!
      
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      July 22, 2019 12:19pm
- kowtow
  
  Link please.
  I thoiught shortened barrels were alawys illegal so shouldn’t be liable for compensation in the first instance .
  
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  July 22, 2019 9:10am
  - Tony Stuart
    
    Indeed. Aren’t sawn-off weapons categorised as pistols, and thus illegal?
    
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    July 22, 2019 10:55am
Im Right

Have been thinking…the Antifa activist who was shot dead trying to ignite gas bottles attached to a detention centre….I can see no reporting on US TV that had he been successful in igniting the gas he would have killed many, including the ones being detained inside!
Question: would the left (CNN/Wapo/NYT etc) have blamed Trump for this Antifa Terrorist killing others as ‘Trumps policies drove him to it’ blah blah.
Question: If this had been someone not from the left but far right, would the same news outlets mentioned above have wall to wall coverage about ‘white supremists’, ‘Alt-right’ blah blah?
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July 22, 2019 8:41am
- mikenmildagain
  
  Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
  Concerns noted.
  
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  July 22, 2019 9:05am
  - Im Right
    
    Thanks for noting my concerns MM, now, any answer to my questions or would any answer you give show you up as just another leftie apologist?
    
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    July 22, 2019 9:56am
    - mikenmildagain
      
      Are you sure I am the right person to be anmswering the hypothetical questions bouncing around inside your head?
      
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      July 22, 2019 1:06pm
- The Proper Ghandi
  
  Im Right
  You won’t hear anything about it, because the Fascist Antifa shock-troops are tacitly supported by the Leftist MSM. He was a ‘freedom fighter’ not an inveterate 69 year old Communist terrorist who committed suicide by cop.
  
  Did we hear anything about Andy Ngo being violently assaulted by a gang of Antifa thugs in Portland the other week?
  
  When Leftist ‘influencers’ use the term ‘by any means necessary’ it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to decode the intended meaning.
  
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  July 22, 2019 9:32am
  - Im Right
    
    Exactly PG, that’s my point.
    Nice to see there is a bill raised in Congress to make Antifa a terrorist organisation, don’t think it will pass unfortunately, but puts it in the spotlight.
    And why is Portland such a hotbed of left violence, with faces covered of course, thought California would have taken that crown and not Oregon.
    
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    July 22, 2019 9:49am
  - stephieboy
    
    Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
    Antifa having nothing on White right-wing extremists,
    
    “Why White Supremacist Attacks Are on the Rise, Even in Surprising Places”
    
    https://time.com/5555396/white-supremacist-attacks-rise-new-zealand/
    
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    July 22, 2019 10:08am
    - The Proper Ghandi
      
      stephieboy
      On the rise from what base level? Going from 1 to 2 is ‘on the rise’ for example.
      
      Quote: “November 2016 was the worst month for hate crime in the U.S. since September 2002, with 758 incidences; the day after the election, Nov. 10, was the worst day since June 2003, with 44 incidences alone. And while there was an initial increase in anti-Muslim hate crimes after the 2015 jihadism-inspired terror attack in San Bernardino, such crimes surged to even higher levels five days later, when Trump said there should be a “total and complete shutdown” of allowing Muslims to enter the United States.”
      
      This passage doesn’t attribute ‘hate crimes’ to a specific group of perpetrators nor which groups were targeted. Then “an increase in anti-Muslim hate crimes” is claimed, but no figures are given.
      
      “Europol noted that right-wing extremists arrests on the continent nearly doubled in 2017 over 2016. And in 2018, the Anti-Defamation League reported a 182% increase in hate propaganda, like leafleting at colleges, compared to the year before; according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the number of hate groups in America hit 1,020 last year, the highest level they’ve ever recorded.”
      
      Again, “doubling” – doubling of what level? Hate groups “hit 1,200 last year” – haters of which groups? (Antifa is a hate group, who hate Western values, for example).
      
      You must recognise selective propaganda when you see it. Moreover, whataboutism doesn’t change the fact that Antifa are themselves fascists who are enabled and encouraged by apologists such as yourself.
      
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      July 22, 2019 11:52am
    - The King
      
      >muh White Supremacists
      >links jewish websites
      
      There might be a conflict of interest here somewhere stephie.
      
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      July 22, 2019 3:50pm
- wreck1080
  
  Antifa are a bunch of cowards, and the US authorities should be cracking down on their illegal activities.
  
  Listen to the recent Joe Rogan podcast on the portland antifa scene. Some journalist was attacked and given a brain injury.
  
  Portland sounds like antifa ground zero… now, the proud boys have taken notice and may turn up at the next Portland antifa event. Could be some seriously dead people after this.
  
  It is so stupid.
  
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  July 22, 2019 9:40am
  - Im Right
    
    Unfortunately Wreck that is not a good idea as any violence any right wing group carries out, provoked or not, will just be sliced and diced and edited to show the ‘poor Antifa’ were never to blame. Best let Antifa do what they do and show on TV as often as possible, then it can be outlawed as a terrorist organisation, adding any right wing group to the mix legitimises Antifa! (Protecting ourselves/fighting against Nazis/stopping racism etc etc)
    
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    July 22, 2019 10:03am
Tony Stuart

Well done Ryan Fox. He had a very solid weekend at the Open Championship, going from a tie for 58th after two rounds to finishing T16th; his best result to date at a Major.

His final round, a 2-under 69, was in stark contrast to the fortunes of a number of notables on the last day. None of the top five beat par in the final round, and their combined score was nine over. And JB Holmes, leader after the first two rounds, blew out with a 16-over par round of 87!

After a lean trot since winning in Perth earlier in the year, Fox should be pleased with his effort at Royal Portrush.
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July 22, 2019 8:42am
Martin Williams

Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.

City Rail Link should have been open by now

Newshub reports:

The CRL is expected to double the number of trains that can operate at one time, and slash commuting times. It was first proposed in 2008 by the Auckland Regional Transport Authority, Auckland Transport’s predecessor, and had support from then-Mayor John Banks and the man who’d replace him, Len Brown.

But for years National opposed its construction – Steven Joyce once said funding it would be “pouring money down a hole”, and Gerry Brownlee compared it to the infamous monorail from The Simpsons that nearly bankrupted Springfield. National changed its mind in 2013.

Yep. Joyce, as ever, obsessed with non-existent holes. And Brownlee using a cartoon to set NZ back a decade.

It would be interesting to quantify just how much damage the John Key government did to Auckland.
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July 22, 2019 8:59am
- backster
  
  Personally I would back Joyce to be proved right just as he was proved right over the hole.
  
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  July 22, 2019 9:15am
- alloytoo
  
  It is literally pouring money into a hole, a hole which ,because of it’s location is bankrupting inner city vendors.
  
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  July 22, 2019 9:16am
  - Martin Williams
    
    You’d not complete the inner rail network because a few $2 shops might struggle? ?
    
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    July 22, 2019 11:42am
    - alloytoo
      
      I wouldn’t have started it at all.
      
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      July 22, 2019 12:50pm
- alloytoo
  
  Here’s a question:
  
  If we’re doubling the capacity of the CBD rail station, the objective of which is to encourage people to commute via rail, shouldn’t we also double the capacity of “Park ‘n Ride” facilities?
  
  Given that multistory car parks are expensive and take time to Plan and build we should get onto it.
  
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  July 22, 2019 9:21am
  - srylands
    
    You cycle to the station. No cars allowed.
    
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    July 22, 2019 9:26am
- srylands
  
  As at the 2013 census, 1.8 percent of Auckland folk commuted to work by train. Sure it might have gone up to 3 percent. We would know if the 2018 census had worked.
  
  Public transport use in Auckland is negligible and expensive. I don’t live there but visit frequently. The first job at the airport is to collect a rental car.
  
  So I think Aucklanders will cope fine.
  
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  July 22, 2019 9:32am
- hullkiwi
  
  Martin, ever worked on an infrastructure project finance deal involving rail? No, thought not., else you would have had the same conclusions as Joyce and Brownlee. Key came to the party only because public pressure was such that his government could do nothing but approve it.
  
  The Business Case for CRL (which I have read), was nothing more than optimistic twaddle, with poor projections, inadequate costings and no suitable forward projections. The justifications for the project were always flakey and could not be substantiated. The project to Auckland, is akin to the Channel Rail Tunnel – it will never pay for itself and there will be need for the debt to be capitalised by the Crown, else Auckland will go broke paying for it.
  
  The project in 2014 was $2.4billion without the additional trains, a forecast published in April was $4.5billion and those closest to the project expect the final cost to be way north of that number. The project is already 2 years behind its original scheduled delivery date. Most of this has been caused largely by continuous interference by local government politicians and the woeful procurement method followed by CRL Ltd and AT, giving rise to NZTA needing to be involved (but given they have their own management problems, don’t expect anything to improve).
  
  Given the above, I expect politicians to stand back from this project as it will be toxic because of its cost “overruns” and lateness. All a result of a lack of strategic need and proper programme management.
  
  Oh and by the way, I do know what I am talking about. I worked on Rail infrastructure projects and rail tenders (both Heavy and light rail) in the UK and Europe for 20 years that make CRL look like the joke it is.
  
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  July 22, 2019 9:38am
  - wreck1080
    
    Would you shutdown the london subway system if you could go back in time and do so?
    
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    July 22, 2019 10:09am
    - hullkiwi
      
      Wreck, that was a stupid question and comparison.
      
      You seem to be of the opinion that a 2.5km tunnel that will bankrupt Auckland without government capitalizing the debt is somehow a good idea.
      
      Please enlightening me and everybody else why you think it is a good idea. Because there is only one reason and that does not justify asking taxpayers in Bluff to subsidise Joe Bloggs from Baldwin Avd getting quicker to his desk.
      
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      July 22, 2019 10:57am
      - thetiedarch
        
        The reason CRL is a good idea is that it reduces congestion on the western & southern lines and in Britomart station. By converting Britomart Station to a ‘through’ station, you increase it’s capacity to deal with incoming trains (without even actually building more platforms) – thereby increasing the capacity of the network to deal with trains (particularly on the western and southern lines).
        
        But most importantly: converting Britomart and ‘closing the inner city loop’ – you allow the network to connect a Northern line.
        
        CRL never stacked up in a BCR as a standalone project – it’s expensive as hell. But it allows the network to cater for future growth.
        
        Not doing CRL would be like spending billions on SH1 North and SH1 South, and then going “nah, we won’t build a second harbour crossing because the BCR doesn’t stack up”
        
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        July 22, 2019 11:29am
      - Albert_Ross
        
        Nope, tiedarch, simply demonstrating that an infrastructure project, or anything else, is expected to provide benefits isn’t sufficient to prove that it’s a good idea. No matter how convincing and certain the benefits, you need to show that they are greater than the costs of the project. If they’re not, then there’s no net benefit and proceeding will make us worse off.
        
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        July 22, 2019 1:12pm
      - mikenmildagain
        
        Lots of infrastructure projects have minimal, even negative BCRs. Transmission Gully, for example, although some might follow thetiedarch’s approach to CRL and say the BCR for the whole Levin-Wellington route stacks up.
        
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        July 22, 2019 1:30pm
      - hullkiwi
        
        Thetiedarch, you are wrong about congestion.
        
        If congestion at Britomart was the issue, you and others have claimed, a cheaper solution comprises the following:
        1. is to widen Britomart and give more platforms and to widen the tunnel into Britomart; and
        2. Reduce dwell times of existing services at Britomart.
        3. Fix Newmarket, so there is a proper South – West service;
        4 Fix the Strand area so West services could link to go to Meadowbank etc
        5. Stop putting all trains through Britomart;
        6. Lengthen the platforms at Britomart for longer trains (9 car).
        
        All of the above achieves everything for a fraction of $4.5billion.
        
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        July 22, 2019 1:50pm
    - alloytoo
      
      Why?
      
      It was commenced and financed by private enterprise.
      
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      July 22, 2019 12:55pm
- rangitoto
  
  It’s already cost more than double the price claimed at the start of the project. Would have be been far better to spend the money on roads.
  
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  July 22, 2019 9:55am
- Tony Stuart
  
  Perhaps you’ve forgotten (or perhaps you’re not old enough to remember), but at the time the government changed in 2008, New Zealand’s economy was in freefall, ahead of the Global Financial Crisis. The 2008 Pre-Election Fiscal Update (Prefu) was predicting deficits for at least ten years; Michael Cullen’s legacy to New Zealanders.
  
  https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2008/10/prefu_ten_years_of_deficits.html
  
  Putting aside the merits of the CRL, there was simply no money to pay for it. The we had the double-whammy of the Christchurch earthquakes in 2010 and 2011, and the billions the National-led government had to find to cover that. But hey, don’t let your hatred of National stop you from rewriting history.
  
  As for fiscal holes, Steven Joyce has been proved right about the existence of one, even though he was conservative about its depth 😀
  
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  July 22, 2019 10:02am
- toby1845
  
  Martin Williams: Are you running for the local body elections in the Wairarapa? If the answer is ‘yes’, watch out for some damage to your billboards.
  
  BTW: a failure to answer will be taken as a ‘yes’, in which case, watch out for some damage to your billboards.
  
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  July 22, 2019 12:06pm
mikenmildagain

We’re celebrating the feast day of Mary Magdalene today. So here’s a treat for all her devoted fans:
https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Fun:That_fine-ass_Mary_Magdalene
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July 22, 2019 9:04am
Maggie Pie

Yet another reason why you should always wash the fruit purchased from
Mangere Countdown..

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D_2aCCwWsAEy19A?format=jpg&name=small
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July 22, 2019 9:07am
- stephieboy
  
  Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
  Maggie Pie, skimming the bottom of the barrel with more belated cheap shots!
  
  Pathetic!
  
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  July 22, 2019 10:28am
  - Tony Stuart
    
    Actually stephie, I think that photo is more about skimming the barrel of a bottom 😀
    
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    July 22, 2019 11:00am
lastmanstanding

I had to laugh. Over the weekend TV One Two and Three all referred to the 50th anniversary of Humans landing on the Moon.

Fact check you Morons. It was 2 BLOKES.

In addition the Lefties must have been beside themselves seeing Mission Control and a sea of white male faces.

The good old days!!!!!
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July 22, 2019 9:18am
- srylands
  
  All in white shirts and black ties. Half of them chain smoking.
  
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  July 22, 2019 9:24am
  - wreck1080
    
    It is a good thing to chain smoke?
    
    Smoking is one of the activities where I think it is good for the government to crack down.
    
    It is strange though, most of the people you see smoking these days don’t look like they can afford to smoke.
    
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    July 22, 2019 9:45am
    - srylands
      
      No it is hideous. I stopped 15 years ago.
      
      I was simply observing the reality that in 1969 about half of adult males smoked. All the time.
      
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      July 22, 2019 10:22am
  - Paulus Gnome
    
    And, fitting into their trousers and, without the benefit of identifying tats!
    
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    July 22, 2019 10:19am
  - Inandout
    
    Sry, smoking was so common when you look at those clips from the 40s to 70s. Hollywood actors often looked tired and lined in their middle age, and died early such as Humphrey Bogart. Looking at YouTube clips of guys being interviewed and virtually chain smoking throughout the show.
    
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    July 22, 2019 11:00am
  - cmm
    
    And they all drove Corvettes… Not a single hybrid!
    
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    July 22, 2019 3:10pm
- Albert_Ross
  
  Post in wrong place
  
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  July 22, 2019 1:10pm
srylands

Oh well. It could have been 50 years late like Transmission Gully motorway.
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July 22, 2019 9:22am
The Proper Ghandi

https://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/burkini-clad-muslim-women-kicked-out-auckland-pool

Why apologise? Either they infringed the dress code, or did they not. Why don’t the Muslim women involved wear more ‘Westernised’ swimwear, given that they are now in the West? Oh, it’s probably because their misogynistic patriarchs won’t allow it. Or something.

The chronically outraged Feminists must have skimmed over this one.
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July 22, 2019 9:25am
- Inandout
  
  TPG, but what a neat way to wash your clothes.
  
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  July 22, 2019 11:02am
Maggie Pie

SHOULD WE ALL BE WORRIED?!!
https://twitter.com/GarethMP/status/1152725528870174722

[….and what about the plastic coffee cup sitting in front of Golriz – LOL!! ]
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July 22, 2019 9:27am
- Tall Man
  
  Oh god, what a bunch of nancys.
  
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  July 22, 2019 9:37am
- srylands
  
  I wonder what they came up with?
  
  If the government is returned in 2020 I predict an announcement of a prohibition on the importation of petrol powered light passenger and light commercial vehicles from 2030.
  
  Why? Because take up of EVs will stall which will impede the zero carbon targets.
  
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  July 22, 2019 9:41am
- Swifty
  
  Wow, they’re taking an absolute hammering in the comments.
  
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  July 22, 2019 10:01am
- Tony Stuart
  
  Interesting that they all have cellphones, tablets or laptops sitting on the table; I wonder where the minerals used to create them came from. And don’t get me started on the bowls of individually plastic-wrapped mints on the table!
  
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  July 22, 2019 10:06am
  - stephieboy
    
    Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
    Tony Stuart, I can confidently assure you they do not go around in V12 /8 gas guzzlers!
    
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    July 22, 2019 10:14am
    - Tony Stuart
      
      No, they fly everywhere stephie. Gareth Hughes used to have the nickname of “Koru”, which had nothing to do with native ferns, and everything to do with his appetite for flying and enjoying pre-flight hospitality on the taxpayer’s dime.
      
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      July 22, 2019 10:47am
    - rangitoto
      
      W16 is great for a runabout
      
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bugatti_Chiron#/media/File:70_Years_Porsche_Sports_Car,_Berlin_(1X7A3942).jpg
      
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      July 22, 2019 11:04am
    - srylands
      
      FFS How many V12 cars are there?
      
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      July 22, 2019 4:13pm
- stephieboy
  
  Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
  SHOULD WE ALL BE WORRIED?!!
  
  Nope!
  
  Unless you have the paranoid bott.
  
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  July 22, 2019 10:11am
  - Maggie Pie
    
    the thing is stephie, it’s not you –
    it’s your social media behaviour.
    
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    July 22, 2019 11:01am
    - stephieboy
      
      Maggie Pie, recall moderator’s warning yesterday?
      
      2 19
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      July 22, 2019 12:12pm
      - Maggie Pie
        
        No, must have missed that one.
        How many more you got to go until you get another smacking?
        
        9 2
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        July 22, 2019 1:50pm
      - Swifty
        
        You’re one to talk, Pornoboy.
        
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        July 22, 2019 3:08pm
Happychappy

So it looks like it will take a lot longer for people like Jacinda, Winston, Hugh and anyone connected to the Coalition to find another excuse rather than using the catch phrase ” it’s Nationals fault “.Today we have Phil Goff joining the group blaming National for Aucklands grid lock without taking some responsibility for his own out of date policy.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2019/07/city-rail-link-should-have-been-open-by-now-says-frustrated-auckland-mayor-phil-goff.html
It is not only time to rid NZ of the Coalition it is also time to change a few Mayors.
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July 22, 2019 9:27am
- hullkiwi
  
  City Rail Link will fix nothing!!!!
  
  How does City Rail link for West Auckland commuters help people commuting to and from the North Shore?
  
  How does a Rail Link help commuters to and from the Eastern suberbs of Mission Bay, Kohi and St Heliers?
  
  How does CRL help commuters from Mt Roskill, Balmoral or Epsom?
  
  In all cases it doesn’t.
  
  Perhaps the media need to stop taking the word of inept politicians like Goff as Gospel and get out and do some proper investigative journalism. Is that too much to ask?
  
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  July 22, 2019 9:51am
  - alex Masterley
    
    I am not sure where the extra people who will use the CRL, when complete, will come from.
    The same number will travel in from the west and the same number will go out.
    People in places like Mt Albert Village are behaving much like cargo cultists by saying the CRL will mean more people will visit their village. Hope they aren’t too let down when the uptick in visitors doesn’t happen.
    
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    July 22, 2019 11:42am
    - hullkiwi
      
      Alex exactly. People do not appreciate that 90% of all journeys on PT are to and from your place of employment (work, study etc). The majority of people do not travel on PT for the hell of it or in their leisure, because they do not have the time. Their commitments during their leisure are completely different to their work commitments.
      
      Re. Where are all the users of the train are going to come from, that is easy. From existing bus services, which will be cancelled when CRL goes live.
      
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      July 22, 2019 1:58pm
Ross12

So some enterprising Aussie got some caps made and printed MAGA –Make Ardren Go Away (the smaller print underneath MAGA).
They are selling online.
Someone opened an account on TradeMe to sell them. Sales were going well before TradeMe took the sale down and closed the guy’s account.
All sorts of complaints going into TradeMe. Watch this space.
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July 22, 2019 9:36am
- stephieboy
  
  Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
  Ross12, infantile pratts do you not agree?
  
  MAWA?
  
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  July 22, 2019 10:16am
- Garbageman
  
  You can still buy one the owner has been in touch with Holysheet at YSB
  https://ysb.co.nz/have-your-say-101/
  Email address at right of page
  
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  July 22, 2019 11:22am
brett68

This is another reason why no one takes Bridges seriously.

https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/simon-bridges-says-electric-vehicle-uptake-too-slow

National hasn’t got a hope with this fool in charge.
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July 22, 2019 9:42am
- Tall Man
  
  Bugger, up ticked in error.
  
  Listen on Magic right now. Then fuck off and eat your words.
  
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  July 22, 2019 9:54am
- Happychappy
  
  Fool? you didn’t vote fo Bill English because you didn’t like him, so please tell us who you voted for. We know it wasn’t Labour and the Green’s so it doesn’t leave many others.
  
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  July 22, 2019 10:12am
- Tony Stuart
  
  I think it’s more a matter of why no one takes YOU seriously Brett.
  
  Did you bother to read the story, or did you just read the headline? Bridges is criticising the government for being all talk on EV’s, and not converting the government’s fleet of cars at the rate they promised to.
  
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  July 22, 2019 10:44am
Yvette

For ages now a tv ad has shown that if you use drugs then drive you can ding your car and get seriously splattered with a milkshake …
and an end tag that says “Drug driving. Is it really that safe?”

Apparently it isn’t.
“Last year 71 people died in crashes when drugs had been taken and 66 died where alcohol was above the legal limit.” – TV1 News yesterday evening.

They were introducing a new $2 million campaign on drug driving – an ad showing a young woman standing on the side of the road, with a series of drop cards, asking, “is drug driving hurting us?”

“… If I am the only one with a story like this then I don’t need to be here raising awareness. But if you’ve lost someone to drug driving let me know, and I will come back here for you.
Message me at Unsaid facebook / Instagram”

So the whole subject is still being treated as if people have doubts it is happening.

Meanwhile, apparently –
• One third of people who take drugs admit to driving with drugs in their system
• 1 in 4 drivers killed in 2017 had drugs in their system [1]
• 41% of drivers whose blood samples tested positive for drugs had used methamphetamin
• 36% of cannabis users say they would drive while feeling under the influence

[1] In 2018, the road toll was 380. So, if the 2017 “1 in 4” statistic applied that would be 95 deaths with drugs a factor.

Are they trying to run an anti-drug driving campaign that is really not hard hitting, or in fact not effective at all, because of the up-coming referendum on cannabis?
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July 22, 2019 9:43am
- MCos
  
  I wonder how many people drive with alcohol in their system.
  I know I’ve had ‘alcohol in my system’ and passed a breath test a number of times over the years because I’m careful.
  However, from what I understand, drugs can be detected long after they’ve been used when there’s no way they impair driving.
  
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  July 22, 2019 10:19am
  - Happychappy
    
    Some people can handle or absorb different quantities of both alcohol and Marijuana without it showing a negative reading but it still doesn’t mean that both substances are not evil and can do irreversible harm such as deaths in car accidents.
    
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    July 22, 2019 10:38am
  - tf78
    
    MCos, the accident stats seem to say differently.
    
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    July 22, 2019 10:38am
    - MCos
      
      Not necessarily.
      ‘For someone smoking marijuana for the first time, tests may detect it for about 3 days.’
      Hard to believe an accident would be the direct result of smoking a joint a couple of days previously.
      https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/324315.php
      
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      July 22, 2019 11:05am
    - fernglas
      
      That’s the problem. There is currently no way to prove causation between the presence of drugs and the accident. Nor does the repetition of those statistics point out that it includes prescription drugs. Hands up those here who would have traces of anti-depressant, sleeping , heart prostate etc. medication on board when they drove.
      
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      July 22, 2019 8:08pm
  - Ed Snack
    
    I knew someone who participated in a series of tests regarding the influence of alcohol and drugs (in this case marijuana) on driving. Involved going out to Pukekohe race track and driving around after consuming 1 x drink and 1 x hand-rolled “cigarette”. The researchers did their best to disguise the taste/flavours/smell to attempt to make the test a form of double-blinded so the drink was strongly flavoured with cloves for example (and was pretty nasty apparently).
    
    Subjects were video’d and had certain tasks to do including reaction times testing etc. They were also required to fill in a questionnaire after each session answering questions about their perceived performance.
    
    After it all ended they did receive a summary of the findings:
    
    1. Driving with alcohol was a bit worse than with drugs, and there was a noticeable affect;
    2. Driving with both was significantly worse again;
    3. Participants were not very good at detecting alcohol (often guessed wrong), a bit better at detecting dope, better than chance with both (statistically significant – just);
    4. Participants were bad at assessing their own abilities when affected – that is they rarely thought they were doing worse when they were.
    
    Not sure how good the research really was and if it was published – must have been in the 1980’s some time.
    
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    July 22, 2019 11:43am
    - cmm
      
      Ok, I will bite:
      
      “1. Driving with alcohol was a bit worse than with drugs, and there was a noticeable affect;”
      
      The problem with statements like this is that they are not calibrated. Comparing the impacts of a drink and a joint is pretty pointless.
      
      What would be more useful is comparing the effects of a typical drinking session (typically not just one drink) and a typical dope session.
      
      More useful still would be to find the impairment level of a person just on the legal limit and how much dope causes the same impairment.
      
      I think any such measures are going to be difficult. Alcohol levels in booze are well known and written on bottles. Dope strength is not standardised or known, though maybe it could be in the future.
      
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      July 22, 2019 3:09pm
      - srylands
        
        I will play.
        
        I could drive safely after two standard drinks. No more.
        
        I could not drive safely after consuming even a very modest amount of canabis.
        
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        July 22, 2019 4:18pm
- kloyd0306
  
  How long before cigarette smoking while driving is a crime?
  
  Still waiting for some drug addled nitwit to explain why cannabis is good and tobacco is bad.
  
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  July 22, 2019 10:53am
- Batman
  
  Yvette, watch the actual advert. You can do so at the below link.
  
  https://nzta.govt.nz/safety/driving-safely/alcohol-and-drugs/drug-affected-driving-advertising/the-unsaid/
  
  It isn’t presented as doubtful at all. I’m glad the NZTA are finally getting around to tackling it, rather than another lecture about doing 105kmh!
  
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  July 22, 2019 3:39pm
MrTips

Geez, I didn’t need this photo for my morning cuppa. Not flattering at all. But its ok, Jack won’t mention this at all.
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July 22, 2019 10:19am
KevO'Brien

UAE putting heat on warring players to calm it in Middle East–developing situation;
https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2019/07/21/as-trump-backs-down-pips-squeak/
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July 22, 2019 10:48am
All_on_Red

Is Scott Dixon the greatest racing driver NZ has produced?
Out of 316 starts he has finished either 1st or 2nd 90 times.
15 1
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July 22, 2019 11:10am
- MCos
  
  I see people everyday on the streets and motorways of Auckland who seem to think they’re right up there.
  
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  July 22, 2019 2:07pm
rangitoto

Trouble on Mountain.

https://maunakeaobservatories.org/aloha-to-scientific-colleagues/
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July 22, 2019 11:26am
Jack5

Protest chaos in Hong Kong:

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-hongkong-extradition/hong-kong-police-fire-rubber-bullets-tear-gas-as-protests-descend-into-chaos-idUKKCN1UG04R
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July 22, 2019 11:32am
- UrbanNeocolonialist
  
  Chinese economy is wobbly, have a new wanna-be emperor for life in power , seems pretty likely that Tianamen II is coming up 🙁
  
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  July 22, 2019 1:07pm
  - mikenmildagain
    
    Seems emminently possible. Also very likely that the rest of the world would shrug their collective shoulders.
    
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    July 22, 2019 3:37pm
Jack5

The Russian who is pulling political strings in Britain:

https://uk.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/britain-eu-johnson-russian/
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July 22, 2019 11:35am
- mikenmildagain
  
  How completely unsurprising.
  
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  July 22, 2019 1:13pm
Hugh Pavletich

… CHRISTCHURCH NEW ZEALAND HOUSING: What peoples preferences really are … and policymakers ignore at their peril …

Investors choosing apartments in Christchurch over pricey North Island homes | Stuff.co.nz

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/property/114253407/investors-choosing-apartments-in-christchurch-over-pricey-north-island-homes#comments

… Paulsomn (Pavletich) comment on thread … note follow – up comments …

The Westpac Housing Preference Survey tells a completely different story. By a country mile, people prefer detached housing with a backyard …

Survey finds Kiwis’ backyard dream still alive and well – Westpac Bank Survey … Scoop NZ

http://business.scoop.co.nz/2019/05/28/survey-finds-kiwis-backyard-dream-still-alive-and-well/

… This likely explains why on a population basis, there is twice as much residential building going on in the adjoining counties of Waimakariri and Selwyn.

This trend will be turbocharged when the new southern and northern motorways come on stream early next year. The commercial and residential sectors will become increasingly affordable.
.
.
Residential construction shows no sign of slowing down as new consents hit a forty five year high, pushed up by a strong rise in consents for townhouses in Auckland | interest.co.nz

https://www.interest.co.nz/property/100502/residential-construction-shows-no-sign-slowing-down-new-consents-hit-forty-five-year

Notice in particular, by going to the Canterbury graph, how, since the 2017 election, Canterbury consenting has lifted from about 360 per month to about 440 now … and likely still rising.

With Canterbury’s population about 624,000 and 440 monthly average consents annualized to 5,280 … this suggests residential consenting is running at about 8.5 units per 1000 population per annum ( a standard industry measure ).

The major reason for this is the growing ‘affordability gap’ of Greater Christchurch ( for both residential and commercial … the latter refer recent JLL Report ) … attracting young people and entrepreneurial business.

To illustrate with just one example … the restaurant sector of Greater Christchurch ( ignoring the disastrous former central area … The Bureaucrats Bog ) leaves Auckland’s in the dust.

Increasingly lower residential and commercial property costs mean greater competition and more disposable income.

Interestingly too … the May residential consenting figures annualized had New Zealand at 9 units per 1000 population per annum ( 3,680 x 12 ) … Australia about 7 units per 1000 population per annum ( 14,000 x 12 ).

We appear to be moving ahead of Australia.

The imminent structural ( land supply / urban limits abolition – infrastructure financing) announcements by Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford will lift these figures further, as construction industry performance is significantly improved and prices are progressively lowered. Access further information via 2019 section http://www.PerformanceUrbanPlanning.org .
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July 22, 2019 12:10pm
- Captain Mainwaring
  
  Downtick and move on.
  
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  July 22, 2019 3:43pm
  - Hugh Pavletich
    
    … which is exactly what was done at the 2017 General Election when the National Party was deservedly put on the Opposition benches … giving them the opportunity to start learning something …
    
    GONE GONE GOING: The demise of the New Zealand National Party … Performance Urban Planning
    
    http://www.performanceurbanplanning.org/National%20News.html
    
    On current ‘learning trends’ it appears the National Party has at least 9 years / 3 terms on the Opposition benches !
    
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    July 22, 2019 4:38pm
slightlyrighty

Ardern, the so called communications major, is so out of her depth. She was completely unable to articulate the deportation issue to the Australian public and government.

The issue is not about the deportation of non citizens, but about the fact that the Australian Government has continued to adjust its laws and criteria to deny NZ citizens a path to citizenship in a way that no other nationality is treated.
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July 22, 2019 12:32pm
- mikenmildagain
  
  Have any NZ politicians have made any impact on Australian immigration policy since the rules changed 15 years ago?
  
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  July 22, 2019 1:15pm
  - Tall Man
    
    Please list the ones who have tried and how and when.
    
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    July 22, 2019 1:55pm
- cmm
  
  Only a tiny % of our communications is through words. Don’t forget the power of hugz.
  
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  July 22, 2019 3:01pm
  - Tall Man
    
    Gives her a chance to reach around and steal your wallet in your back pocket.
    
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    July 22, 2019 5:41pm
secondcumming

Had to get the urgent drain-surgeon yesterday to clear an overflow. Put the CCTV camera into the pipe and located a couple of *tree roots* impeding the flow……an hour and 3 hundy later, all up and running.

Talking to the guy on the truck, (a hard-case pom), he was saying he was enticed back out of retirement due to a dire shortage of *Registered Plumbers & Drainlayers* available in Auckland. Reckons in about a decade they’ll be an extinct species.

Doesn’t bode well for the future…..
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July 22, 2019 12:45pm
- artemisia
  
  Article in the paper the other day about plumbers in Southland – a fifth of them due to retire in the next decade and unfilled vacancies even now.
  
  One of ours is a final year apprentice plumber / gasfitter and there are other tradies in the family. I blame Lego. Seriously, plumbing is just big Lego really and encourages 3D thinking that a lot of other learning doesn’t.
  
  I have mentioned here before that the trades foundation course he did started with more than 20 and finished with 4.
  
  https://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/114245579/plumbers-preparing-to-leave-the-workforce
  
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  July 22, 2019 2:09pm
  - mikenmildagain
    
    New Zealand has had for several decades a very weird obsession with increasing the number of university graduates.
    
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    July 22, 2019 3:36pm
    - Tall Man
      
      They are “vege” degrees and merely designed to lift the “score” of the indigenous to appease the UN.
      
      Started with h1.
      
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      July 22, 2019 5:42pm
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      The “Knowledge Economy”… much favoured by Helen Clarke… a strategy to keep her mates in cushy jobs in tertiary institutes churning out psycho-sociobabblers.
      
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      July 22, 2019 6:25pm
Monique Watson

Did you hear about the 40 lb little man from Oregon?

Each one of his testicles weighs 10 lbs.

Little guy is half nuts.
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July 22, 2019 1:41pm
- kowtow
  
  What have you got if you’re holding two moth balls in your hands ……
  
  ……the undivided attention of a moth.
  
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  July 22, 2019 3:48pm
burt

From Stuff:

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/114405705/plumbers-group-looks-to-raise-insurance-cover-for-members-after-christchurch-explosion

Surely the best option for the gas fitter is to have no insurance so the government picks up the cost and pays out on the houses effected?
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July 22, 2019 2:26pm
- mikenmildagain
  
  Apropos of explosions, what’s your take on the chances of finally catching the Trades Hall bomber?
  https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/114098187/trades-hall-bombing-evidence-points-to-a-key-suspect-retired-marine-engineer-edgar-kidman
  
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  July 22, 2019 2:38pm
  - cmm
    
    Commies kill millions, an average of over a million a year for the last century, but just one of them dies and everyone loses their shit.
    
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    July 22, 2019 2:59pm
    - mikenmildagain
      
      Your sympathy for a terrorist is noted.
      
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      July 22, 2019 3:07pm
      - Tall Man
        
        I thought it was merely a lack of sympathy but I suppose you need to turn it around to suit your childish agenda.
        
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        July 22, 2019 5:44pm
- rangitoto
  
  The reticulated gas supplied in Christchurch is actually LPG, which is mostly heavier than air components. The reticulated gas supplied around Auckland is natural gas, which is mostly lighter than air methane. I wonder if that makes the Christchurch gas more dangerous as it would tend to accumulate.
  
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  July 22, 2019 4:59pm
UrbanNeocolonialist

Gloabal warming rates by latitude. Appears NZ warming at about 0.7-0.8°C per century:
https://4k4oijnpiu3l4c3h-zippykid.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Lower-Troposphere-temperature-trends-720×703.png

Sea warms about 0.8°C for every 100km you move north in NZ, so a century of warming will be about the same as moving from Pukekohe to Orewa, or Napier to Gisborne.

We iz all gunna die!!!
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July 22, 2019 2:27pm
Jack5

?Crime outbreak in Southland: gang gets away with goodies –

https://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/114284901/dairy-owner-shocked-by-brazen-theft-by-youths
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July 22, 2019 2:32pm
- Inandout
  
  Comments closed.
  
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  July 22, 2019 4:59pm
srylands

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/114414227/netball-world-cup-prompts-call-to-invest-in-sports-pay-equity#comments

The stupidity here makes my head hurt. An academic from Massey wailing that the Silver Ferns get paid less than the New Zealand mens cricket team. Its not fair!
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July 22, 2019 2:56pm
Happychappy

Simon Bridges on US Free Trade deal ambiitions to a fly dealing with a elephant.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2019/07/simon-bridges-likens-nz-us-free-trade-ambitions-to-fly-dealing-with-elephant.html
That should get Winston going.
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July 22, 2019 2:58pm
Monique Watson

So I’m trying to keep my eye on the troops. I share my concern with my my second oldest: “Your brother is acting really strangely” He might be smoking pot”.
“Mom, if he is smoking weed, that’s his problem not mine”.
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July 22, 2019 3:25pm
- UrbanNeocolonialist
  
  kids are sociopaths, thankfully they mostly grow out of it, the rest become left wing politicians.
  
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  July 22, 2019 11:20pm
nasska

Obituary Notice:

It is my sad duty to advise that the last surviving Kiwiblog moderator has departed this mortal coil. Last heard from at 3.29pm 22 July 2019 it is presumed that he walked into Cook Strait, pulled the nearest wave over his head & called it a day.

Will be sorely missed.
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July 22, 2019 5:02pm
- stigie
  
  Maybe Johnboy and the rest of the suspect but decent buggers might return Nasska ole chap..? Even Dad !~
  
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  July 22, 2019 5:17pm
  - Nostradamus
    
    Stigie:
    
    the rest of the suspect but decent buggers
    
    Well, speaking of buggers, there’s a rumour doing the rounds about a reunion (of sorts) at Hagley Park, so I heard?
    
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    July 22, 2019 8:28pm
rightoverlabour

hmm that heat wave, another perspective on it…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDZFFObVoPk
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July 22, 2019 7:54pm
Hugh Pavletich

… HONG KONG …

Why Hong Kong’s angry and disillusioned youth are making their voices heard … Thomas Peter … South China Morning Post

https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3019591/why-hong-kongs-angry-and-disillusioned-youth-are

Young people have been at the forefront of ongoing protests against a proposed extradition bill that have shaken Hong Kong. At the root of the turmoil is concern over what many people see as the inexorable erosion of civil liberties and the city’s autonomy by an ever-meddling central government that refuses to grant full democracy in the former British colony. But many young people in what is one of the world’s most densely populated and expensive cities are also infuriated by sky-high living costs and a feeling that a home of one’s own will never be more than a dream.

Over the past decade, Hong Kong’s residential property prices have skyrocketed by 242 per cent, and for the ninth year in a row, the city’s property market has been rated the world’s most unaffordable.

The average monthly salaryis HK$19,100 for men and HK$14,700 for women. The average monthly rent for a one-bedroom flat in the city centre is HK$16,551. In 2018, average home prices were 20.9 times the gross annual median household income, according to the Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey. You could buy a French chateau for what you would pay for your Hong Kong shoebox in the sky.

With figures like these, it is clear that young Hongkongers’ anger will not be easily dispelled. … read more via hyperlink above
.
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July 23, 2019 2:15am

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