General Debate 9 December 2019

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Maggie Pie

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

NZ Bus advise that up to 70,000 Aucklanders are likely to be affected by the bus strike.
To help alleviate the problem, AT will be laying on additional carriages to the Rail Network. However, commuters are advised that from today, PLEASE BEWARE OF THE DOGS.

LOL!!!
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December 9, 2019 8:00am
- Tony Stuart
  
  Newstalk ZB was reporting that, despite the buses being off the road due to strike action, the bloke who photographs the bus lanes was working at Manakau Road this morning.
  
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  December 9, 2019 8:49am
  - Maggie Pie
    
    Heard that. At a 150 bucks a pop it’s an expensive way to travel.
    You can save a sh~t load of time though 😛
    
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    December 9, 2019 8:56am
    - pdm
      
      I pulled into a bus lane in Oxford England in 2010 just to let traffic behind me past while we looked for a car park – cost eighty quid.
      
      I did not even stop moving and there was not a bus in sight.
      
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      December 9, 2019 1:50pm
  - peterwn
    
    AT needs the money!
    
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    December 9, 2019 9:29am
    - rightoverlabour
      
      AT are C@#$%
      
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      December 9, 2019 9:51am
  - Odakyu-sen
    
    I don’t think I have ever seen a bloke who photographs the bus lanes who looks like a *Kiwi.
    
    * An undefined, subjective quality, but you know what I mean.
    
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    December 9, 2019 10:11am
    - Maggie Pie
      
      Great mindz think alike Sensei. My partner reckons they get the job cos they blend into the blackground.
      
      LOL!!
      
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      December 9, 2019 11:59am
      - Odakyu-sen
        
        Imagine filming your fellow countrymen to earn revenue for the state.
        
        Is this the Kiwi way?
        
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        December 9, 2019 5:55pm
  - RightFirstTime
    
    If I recall correctly from a previous recent bus strike you will get pinged for driving in the bus lane even though NO buses are travelling in the bus lane. Allowing vehicles to travel in the bus lane would reduce congestion but that isn’t what Auckland Transport wants. They want you to use the bus but you can’t do that if the buses aren’t available! AT really are useless but dollars to donuts Mayor Goff will never bring them into line.
    
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    December 9, 2019 3:12pm
    - Odakyu-sen
      
      My daughter (who works in the Wynyard Quarter) has already formed an opinion of the Auckland Council and their bus follies.
      
      She is becoming even more conservative than I am.
      (My job is done.)
      
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      December 9, 2019 5:57pm
- Sir Cullen's Sidekick
  
  Year of delivery at its best.
  
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  December 9, 2019 11:06am
mikenmildagain

Happy International Anti-Corruption Day!
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December 9, 2019 8:01am
- mandk
  
  Have you told the CoL they really need to tidy up their act?
  
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  December 9, 2019 8:30am
  - mikenmildagain
    
    That can wait till National Anti-Corruption Day.
    
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    December 9, 2019 8:38am
    - SGA
      
      You had that planned in advance, I’m betting. 😉
      
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      December 9, 2019 8:45am
      - mikenmildagain
        
        Surely you don’t doubt my capacity for spontaneity
        
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        December 9, 2019 8:55am
    - alloytoo
      
      Upticked for cunning.
      
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      December 9, 2019 10:02am
    - calendar girl
      
      Good to see your obvious high regard for National’s anti-corruption stance.
      
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      December 9, 2019 10:26am
    - rouppe
      
      You mean the National Socialist Workers Anti Corruption Day?
      
      But I guess that would simply prove it was a right wing conspiracy.
      
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      December 9, 2019 11:45am
- JibberJabber
  
  Sponsored by the UN?
  
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  December 9, 2019 8:40am
softail 1450

I have it from a good source that the man who was given exclusive rights to breed the dead rats for this Peters led coalition to swallow has died from stress and overwork,,LOL.
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December 9, 2019 8:06am
rightoverlabour

Bloody good read for all the numpties out there. I’ll add more “climate hate speech” as the I find it.

Quote: ” Climate Alarmists Cry Out: Planet Earth ‘Is Burning’”

https://www.breitbart.com/the-media/2019/12/08/climate-alarmists-cry-out-planet-earth-is-burning/
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December 9, 2019 8:07am
- Ford Prefect
  
  They tried to blame the planet warming, then the planet stopped warming.
  They tried to point out the extinction of the polar bear, then the bears flourished.
  They tried to say hurricanes increased, then they reduced.
  They tried to blame the California drought, then it rained.
  They tried to blame the Antarctic ice melt, only for the ice to grow.
  
  So they gave up and just started lighting fires all over the world. The only thing the alarmists can predict with certainty, as long as they have plenty of matches.
  
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  December 9, 2019 9:24am
  - rightoverlabour
    
    and now they are saying the extreme cold in the NH is because of too much CO2…. Twats
    
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    December 9, 2019 9:50am
  - Sir Cullen's Sidekick
    
    My aunty Eugene Sage will now be planning for a rain tax on South Islanders to pay for flood control so that climate change can be controlled. Her plans seem to be taxing everything that moves.
    
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    December 9, 2019 11:09am
    - Nickc2
      
      Dont even joke about it! Someone within the Green’s movement will bring it to her attention and wham, here’s your tax nephew.
      
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      December 9, 2019 11:55am
    - pdm
      
      If Eugenie is your auntie – what is your uncles name?
      
      Just wondering.
      
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      December 9, 2019 1:53pm
  - JackRabbit
    
    Alarmists are like matches. The have heads but no brains!
    
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    December 9, 2019 11:47am
- JackRabbit
  
  Scams, apoplectic warnings, plagues, floods, pestilence, people worshiping goats, the God Ra and his pyramids, the wooden horse, the German print money to create wealth scheme after the first world, Vegetarian Hitler who promised to fix the problems of Germany, and produce affordable house, oops I mean cars, Lenin / Stalin scam, Bernie Madoff scam, Socialist who promise that $10 + $10 equals $1000 of redistributed wealth, and it goes on and on.
  
  Every day there is a new sucker born, and voters and citizens who believe what they are told.
  
  We have a 16 year old autistic child, a sociopath in the making, being paraded as the smartest person to understand climate change.
  
  We have a PM who couldn’t even manage to wrap fish and chips or progress to either cooking or managing said Fish and Chip store, yet feels entitled to run an entire country.
  
  (How hard could it be, ban a few things here and there, spend like crazy, and rattle off a few sentences generated from an online speech generator. Piece of cake.)
  
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  December 9, 2019 12:09pm
Scott

Trump/ Russia has been replaced by Trump /Ukraine. What people need to understand is that they are operations against the president of the United States run by the deep state, the Democrat party and their allies in the media.
A recent book by Lee Smith “The plot against the president” details the collusion between the FBI, the Justice dept, the democrats and the media especially the Washington Post, the New York times and CNN to bring down Trump.

Those wanting a short primer about why Trump should have been concerned about Ukrainian interference in the 2016 election is here https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2019/12/08/bill_barrs_reservations_about_the_ig_report_141892.html

My summary is that these charges against Trump are lies concocted by the democrats, the media and the deep state who never accepted the result of the 2016 election. They aimed to overturn the will of the people by removing Trump from office. And they are still doing it!
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December 9, 2019 8:08am
- Brian McDonald
  
  Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
  Chill out Scott. You’re singing from the wrong songbook. But never fear Trump has declared that he is the Greatest American President ever – once he dodged the draft nothing held him back, not even his friend Epstein.
  
  https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/world/trump-hails-himself-greatest-of-all-presidents-as-democrats-meet-to-prepare-impeachment-charges/ar-BBXVd14?ocid=spartandhp
  
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  December 9, 2019 8:35am
  - mikenmildagain
    
    Modest as his declaration is, there is some support for his point of view. In a recent poll, 53% of republicans rated Trump a better president than Lincoln.
    Better start preparing Mt Rushmore for an extra head.
    
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    December 9, 2019 8:43am
    - SGA
      
      Another option is just to remove the lightweights (Lincoln, Roosevelt, Washington, and Jefferson) and redo the whole thing as a giant Trump – and anyone who thinks differently is just suffering from TDS 🙂
      
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      December 9, 2019 8:51am
      - mikenmildagain
        
        That would be yuuuge.
        
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        December 9, 2019 9:01am
      - Lance
        
        Trump would feature biggly
        
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        December 9, 2019 9:31am
      - Brian McDonald
        
        Orange buttocks would do the trick, that’s what he’s been mooning America with once he suckered them with a con job.
        
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        December 9, 2019 9:38am
    - barnacle bill
      
      I doubt there would be enough room on the mountain Mike.
      
      His noggin is swelled by his own importance.
      
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      December 9, 2019 9:55am
      - mikenmildagain
        
        Perhaps there would be roon for a life-size representaiton of his tiny hands.
        
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        December 9, 2019 10:31am
  - backster
    
    Mac…You are mixing him up with Clinton.
    
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    December 9, 2019 9:49am
- JibberJabber
  
  https://twitter.com/ArthurSchwartz/status/1203313402736775169/photo/1
  
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  December 9, 2019 8:42am
- SGA
  
  @Scott
  
  My summary is that these charges against Trump are lies concocted by the democrats, the media and the deep state
  
  Which, of course, makes Trump impervious to any criticism. Everyone and anyone who has a negative view of Trump is covered. Even if they are lifelong Republicans, they can be dismissed as RINOs, Never-Trumpers, or part of the conspiracy. The whole scenario is fascinating,
  
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  December 9, 2019 9:16am
- G152
  
  The next democrat president is going to have to go through an even worse plethora of accusations and criminal charges.
  What goes round comes round…
  
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  December 9, 2019 9:35am
  - SGA
    
    Maybe, maybe not. This isn’t the first impeachment hearings, and there hasn’t been a ‘tit-for-tat’ in the past. What we don’t know is what goes on behind closed doors with the GOP and their Senators and Congress members. It may be that they are genuinely supportive of Trump, or it may be that some/many feel like they are swallowing dead rats for the sake of the party (of course, these people can be dismissed as RINOs, never-Trumpers or part of the deep state conspiracy).
    
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    December 9, 2019 9:44am
  - mikenmildagain
    
    Well, one should certianly hope so, should the next president be as openly corrupt as the orange incumbent.
    
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    December 9, 2019 9:50am
    - sooty
      
      But he’s going to be the next one as well!
      
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      December 9, 2019 10:28am
- freethinker
  
  And when the Senate starts issuing subpoenas and questions the Schifty Schiff, Pelosi and other Liars the whole sewage works will hit the fan.
  
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  December 9, 2019 10:17am
  - mikenmildagain
    
    What evidence do you think those two would give ar Trump’s corruption trial?
    
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    December 9, 2019 1:00pm
    - Scott
      
      Mikey – I hope they do have a Senate trial. Lindsay Graham said on Fox news this morning that the Senate would shut the case down quickly and throw it out.
      But a long Senate trial would keep the focus on Joe Biden and Hunter Biden and corruption in the Ukraine.
      Adam Schiff could testify about who the whistleblower is? Also what contact did he have with the whistleblower and did he or his staff help the whistleblower with his complaint?
      Nancy Pelosi could testify about her prayer life and how she is constantly praying for Donald Trump 🙂
      
      If the Democrats want to bring up Robert Meuller and collusion with Russia that would be great! I would like to know at what exact point did Robert Meuller know that there was no collusion with Russia?
      
      And of course the centrepiece of the Senate trial would be Hunter Biden and how he came to be on the board of Ukraine?
      I think Joe Biden should be asked about how come he didn’t know about this when it is clear that he golfed with Hunter and a Ukrainian energy executive?
      
      I think a Senate trial would be awesome! It’s what’s called payback! And there are some bad actors that need to be brought to justice.
      
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      December 9, 2019 2:05pm
rightoverlabour

And for the Trump Hate Speech aficionados

Quote ” Major Ties between Impeachment Con and Russia Hoax”
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/12/07/4-major-ties-between-impeachment-narrative-and-russia-hoax/
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December 9, 2019 8:09am
Maggy Wassilieff

Martin Matthews was the Boss of the Min of Culture & Heritage when I worked there.

I liked him, and never heard any grumbles about him, though I never had daily dealings with him.

I was surprised when he came a cropper at the Min of Transport over the fraudster Joanna Harris.

But here’s some of the Stuff of that episode we were not told:
https://interactives.stuff.co.nz/2019/circuit/unprecedented-breach-of-constitution/
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December 9, 2019 8:11am
- mikenmildagain
  
  There doesn’t seem to be any barriers to Matthews publishing the report, and his response to it. If his claims are correct, he can justify his actions. As it stands, it still appears he chose to resign rather than have the report tabled and face a parliamentary motion for his dismissal.
  
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  December 9, 2019 8:15am
  - rouppe
    
    Perhaps he knows he’s not of the “correct” political persuasion, and that he won’t be protected.
    
    Unlike sex pests.
    
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    December 9, 2019 8:51am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    Martin Matthews has given his ok for the report and his response to go public.
    
    https://interactives.stuff.co.nz/2019/circuit/secret-report-left-him-a-pariah/
    
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    December 9, 2019 11:34am
- igm
  
  The whole article was blighted by taking the views of that pathetic and useless Palmer, one of the most dangerous and inept MPs NZ has ever been saddled with, still having his nose in taxpayers’ troughs.
  
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  December 9, 2019 8:22am
  - KevO'Brien
    
    Palmer is very rightly pointing out that parliamentarians are still bound by justice and law.
    That appreciation is sadly lacking. It’s abuse leads to tyranny. Witness the Dems crook behaviour at present.
    
    Curious: Stuff, if that report is as recent as it appears, is openly challenging the Govt.
    
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    December 9, 2019 9:19am
    - Tony Stuart
      
      This occurred before the change of government in 2017. Matthews’ resignation was demanded by a committee that had representatives of all parties in the Parliament, so it is more a criticism of parliamentary process than of a particular government.
      
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      December 9, 2019 9:25am
      - Brian McDonald
        
        Don’t agree it was led by the Government and the opposite where just sheeple.
        
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        December 9, 2019 9:36am
      - Tony Stuart
        
        I don’t think you could ever describe Carmel Sepuloni or Trevor Mallard, Labour’s representatives on the committee as “sheeple”.
        
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        December 9, 2019 12:03pm
      - pdm
        
        Probably correct Inv – Sepuloni may not have known what was happening but Mallard was most likely leading the charge.
        
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        December 9, 2019 1:58pm
  - Positan
    
    IGM, my reaction to reading Palmer’s contribution was identical to yours. The forever-posturing Palmer seemingly never recognised his elemental weakness in two areas: one, the size of his ego, a bastion of intellect in his own mind rather than than in the minds of so many others’, and two, a patent inability to grasp actuality where “justice” was at odds with his perception of “law.”
    His final remark about his “constitutional experience being now very long,” had me reflecting on the multifold disasters his short stint in parliament wrought on this country – starting with the invention of that nonsensical concoction, “Treaty principles” in 1986 State Owned Enterprises Act, and all the race-relations damage it consequently inspired.
    NZ would be a far better country today if our parliament had never seen or even heard of Palmer – and that was actually born out by his own colleagues back in 1990 when, eight weeks before the election they opted to act, having arrived at a similar conclusion.
    
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    December 9, 2019 10:32am
- srylands
  
  I think his downfall was not acting quickly at the first sign of trouble. IIRC Harrison was authorising payments to fake companies without contracts. The companies were not even registered on the Companies Office a website. That’s the thing with her offending. It was not sophisticated. It should have been easy to detect. Which is what happened. A couple of people in the finance team were on to it and reported it. But there was no action. And in retaliation, Harrison made the whistle blowers “redundant” and they lost their jobs.
  
  I’ve also met Martin Matthews. He is very likable.
  
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  December 9, 2019 8:35am
  - Brian McDonald
    
    Don’t go for not acting quick enough – due process is not done in haste. It’s clear he took advice. IGM does his usual wander off the subject because of the Palmer quote, he like Parliament has no regard for the law. In IGM’s case because of personality, Parliament out of self-interest.
    I think Mathews taking a case is important, and as it defines the powers of the BORA compared to the fair use of parliamentary powers – he should be entitled to legal aid.
    Parliament did a hatchet job on him, its problems is that it approved his position after due process and ignored the same when it came to getting rid of him. Dirty tricks.
    
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    December 9, 2019 9:15am
    - igm
      
      As far as I am concerned the more senior public servants taxpayers can be rid of the better . . . they, like their supporters, are not worth a blurt to anyone.
      
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      December 9, 2019 9:48am
    - srylands
      
      “Don’t go for not acting quick enough – due process is not done in haste.”
      
      I agree but paying money to fake companies with no contract does not require much due process. Well it does but it takes 5 minutes.
      
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      December 9, 2019 11:01am
      - the deity formerly known as nigel6888
        
        Exactly. Matthews chose:
        
        a to believe the fraudster over his own people
        b to trust his own judgement rather than commission a review.
        
        Both are fatal errors.
        
        The former is regrettable, but not unusual. The latter disbars him from any senior role.
        
        It isn’t rocket science. Allegation -> independent review -> exit or exoneration…
        
        These rules are taught as senior management 101. To ignore them is stupefyingly stupid.
        
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        December 9, 2019 8:45pm
- Prince
  
  I think the fact he (appeared to) ignore the warnings of his Legal counsel at MOT some two years before the fraud became public was the most damning.
  Who ignores a Legal counsel advising they had concerns about the way a member of your leadership team is acting, approving invoices, leaning on staff to push payments through etc ?
  That was the damning behaviour for me.
  
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  December 9, 2019 9:28am
slightlyrighty

So it seems that we are raising a generation that is the least resilient in history, and at the same time, raising a generation that will take offense at anything.

This is a recipe for disaster.

For example, it now seems to be the case that Non Maori who are learning Te Reo are now being charged with the Woke Crime of cultural appropriation.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12291027&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=nzh_fb&fbclid=IwAR1_qDf6JmnEfT9AuJK2Kf-J4RdVQKYOnsxH-ERBtQ04zLPcjUt5Max7NKs

Go figure…
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December 9, 2019 8:11am
- sooty
  
  Oh it will be fine, you just have to give lots of koha!
  
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  December 9, 2019 8:26am
- Odakyu-sen
  
  Non-Maori need to learn Maori, but they also need to understand that they are, and always will, be non-Maori.
  
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  December 9, 2019 8:34am
  - projectman
    
    Non-Maori do not ‘need’ to learn Maori any more than they need to learn our 3rd official language (sign-language, for those who don’t know).
    
    What about putting the emphasis on learning good English – much more useful.
    
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    December 9, 2019 8:55am
    - Odakyu-sen
      
      Sign language.
      It seems that all government departments have to use the services of a signer when they make public announcements.
      Not only in New Zealand but also in Japan. When I watch NHK (the Japanese BBC) and some government spokesman is holding a press conference, there is ALWAYS a signer off to one side.
      I went to an Auckland City-sponsored show at the Civic Theatre last year. The signer was quite distracting from the dialogues of the performers on stage. I wondered to myself just how many of the people in the audience would have benefitted from the signer, and how many (like myself) felt that the show was disrupted as a result.
      
      It is a noble thing to help the weaker members of society, but it should be done efficiently and should not waste resources. (Un-used cycle and bus lanes, un-used handicapped parking spaces, un-used ramps to gymnasiums, etc.)
      
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      December 9, 2019 9:05am
      - Prince
        
        Odayu-sen,
        This is your last warning for offensive, outrageous language.
        If you must use ‘New Zealand’, it is imperative to preface it with ‘Aotearoa’.
        I don’t know how you have escaped the constant reminders on Radio NZ, TVNZ and all other media.
        You are sentenced to one full week of Morning Report, and three days of TVNZ News.
        
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        December 9, 2019 9:31am
      - Odakyu-sen
        
        BTW,
        Signing is not an international language.
        
        A Japanese signer will not be able to understand a German one. (And I used to think that signing was a universal language like Esperanto…)
        
        Oh well…
        
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        December 9, 2019 6:01pm
    - MCos
      
      I would suggest it’s none of your business telling anyone what language they don’t need to know.
      Worry about yourself.
      
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      December 9, 2019 9:27am
  - Odakyu-sen
    
    Okay, I phrased that a little roughly.
    
    I point is that learning a foreign language is like peeling an onion. There are many layers.
    
    There’s the language itself (paradoxically the easy part).
    There’s the culture.
    There’s the religion (sometimes).
    There’s the race.
    There’s the politics (you are an “oppressor”).
    
    So. Many. Layers.
    It makes you want to cry sometimes!
    
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    December 9, 2019 9:11am
    - cmm
      
      Exactly right. If all you are going to learn are the Maori words for “the black cat jumped up a tree” then you are wasting everybody’s time.
      
      Different languages are linked to their cultures. They actually say different things and manipulate different concepts.
      
      My father, rot his bones, and I would speak in a mixture of English, Afrikaans and isiZulu – sometimes mixed up in one sentence – because each had different words and concepts available.
      
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      December 9, 2019 9:51am
      - Odakyu-sen
        
        cmm,
        
        This is why the translation of Japanese speeches (written for a Japanese audience) often fail in English.
        
        The writer is busy pushing all the Japanese buttons, but he misses all the buttons that an American audience need (for them to be moved).
        
        It was never “lost in translation” because it wasn’t even there in the first place.
        
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        December 9, 2019 10:08am
  - freethinker
    
    So Maori who speak/learn English need to understand that they are, and always will be, non English – in the name of equality I am fine with that.
    
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    December 9, 2019 10:30am
- Odakyu-sen
  
  The “guardians” of Te Reo are concerned that if the language becomes mainstream, they will lose their control over it.
  
  Yep. Living languages do that.
  That’s the danger of re-animating a dead language. It might decide to go places you never thought possible.
  
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  December 9, 2019 9:20am
  - projectman
    
    “The “guardians” of Te Reo are concerned that if the language becomes mainstream, they will lose their control over it.”
    
    Indeed. Non-Maori who sit examinations (NCEA, whatever) in Maori often out-perform the Maori students. Doesn’t go down well with “the guardians”.
    
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    December 9, 2019 3:08pm
    - Odakyu-sen
      
      You have to be a little careful with the NCEA tests.
      
      My daughter, although born in Japan and a native speaker of Japanese, would likely be unable to pass Scholarship Japanese because she would not know the correct “NCEA approved” ways in which to answer the examination questions (unless she had studied “NCEA Japanese” for several years).
      
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      December 9, 2019 6:04pm
- KevO'Brien
  
  There are some Maori who will put them in their place.
  Te Reo being an oral language embodies a lot which is reserved to tribal elders of assigned positions. The hidden language reserved to them embodies, amongst other matters, genealogies and land rights. Conquest conferred title.
  
  New comer Pakeha wannabes can never go anywhere near the real tribal Maori. They are limited to the transliterated hus and kotis taught in kindy. Te Reo in the public arena is basically fossilised from about 1835. It has few root words and can describe kumara, birds and pa but otherwise… Meet Polynesian pronouns and rejoice at the simplicity of what we have.
  The Elders of the 1930’s spoke against Te Reo’s popular development and foresaw the English was the way ahead for their people as it embraced the new technical world. They knew the place of Te Reo on the Marae but saw it as inadequate elsewhere. Their people needed more.
  Now we have posters from govt agencies in some bastardised hybrid lingo which is neither Te Reo or English. Both languages may be official but the weird admixture cannot be.
  
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  December 9, 2019 9:46am
  - Odakyu-sen
    
    “Te Reo being an oral language embodies a lot which is reserved to tribal elders of assigned positions.”
    
    You mean like magic words and incantations that are only known to a special few, and which convey special powers to the user, way out of the reach of the common man?
    
    How can that be a good thing? It sounds like a system for elite power control in perpetuity.
    
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    December 9, 2019 10:29am
    - cmm
      
      That is a great observation.
      
      Until recently, the Catholic church held all masses in Latin and it was frowned on for non-clerical people to learn Latin.
      
      This gave the clergy a monopoly over salvation.
      
      Latin is, at least, a written language.
      
      Oral languages lack definition and stability. That allows people using it to keep redefining what they mean. Great for making wiggle room to keep bending the rules.
      
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      December 9, 2019 12:22pm
    - KevO'Brien
      
      Their are tribal elders with specialist functions reserved to them alone. A herbalist did not speak on history. There are probably Maori on this blog who can give the backgrounds of chiefly duties. My knowledge is from elsewhere in the Pacific but I discern the common elements.
      
      It is understandable when the history is oral it has to be held in a trustworthy repository. It is a crime in some part of the Pacific to recite genealogies in public. The rights in control over peoples and lands come out of those genealogies and they can records centuries of details. As title was frequently gained by defeating enemies all those details are there. Those who rightly speak on such matters are authoritative.
      
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      December 9, 2019 12:41pm
  - Lizziep
    
    Maybe we should all start to learn Latin, the pre curser to English, there would be no complaints at how we speak it I am sure. Ancient Greek perhaps anyone? This is just ridiculous, they should start speaking English correctly e.g. aks = ask etc etc, as I often hear them use before they start criticising others for making an effort to learn their language. I have no wish to learn Maori. I will always say good morning when I pass Maori people as with anyone else on a morning walk. Its all about being courteous
    
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    December 9, 2019 12:32pm
rightoverlabour

This is the true agenda of climate alarmists… economic control. Be afraid if the Left get their way. MAGA and MAGA.

https://electroverse.net/senator-elizabeth-warrens-brave-new-world-plans-afoot-to-jail-fossil-fuel-executives/
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December 9, 2019 8:12am
cut n paster

The most CORRUPT NZ government ever…
https://ibb.co/wBQggZR
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December 9, 2019 8:16am
hullkiwi

Should the CoL be replaced next year, one of the first resignations a National led govt should seek is that of Judge Andrew Beacroft. This despite the Key govt appointing him in 2016.

This morning, the annual report on children in poverty was released. The number was circa 150k. No better, no worse than last year. Beacroft’s solution a $2bn cash benefit injection and to make regular benefit adjustments and ensure benefits are pegged to wages.

His radio interview demonstrated he knows very little about the issues and understands even less about fixing the “issue” or the damage his solutions would do to NZ.

To people like Beacroft benefits are a way to support a lifestyle rather than a safety net. He has no idea about the economic balance of the economy and the realities of NZ’s economy in the world. Listening to him he might as well be a member of the CoL, because his prescription for NZ would take us back backk to the worst of 1970s and 1980s attitudes.
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December 9, 2019 8:17am
- G152
  
  He said that more money would solve it.
  Where, you silly person, do we get all the money to ‘solve’ any problem without creating another ???
  And he was a judge???????
  Says something about our justice system
  
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  December 9, 2019 8:29am
- KevO'Brien
  
  Judge Beecroft is not a politician but he does have a position of oversight. It is proper for him to perceive hardship and offer his suggestions like any other citizen as to a fix. We are free to comment or disagree with his views too.
  The amateur COL have the unenviable duty temporarily of government They are the ones we need to keep our eyes fixed on.
  
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  December 9, 2019 8:35am
- igm
  
  Beacroft and Workman are dangerous lefties well funded once again by taxpayers . . . no need for either of them, along with Foon.
  
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  December 9, 2019 8:37am
- The Proper Ghandi
  
  Throwing yet more scarce taxpayer funds at the fools who continually make bad decisions for themselves and their children won’t fix anything. The hard calls need to be made. It can’t be said, but poor decisions are the number one cause of poverty:
  
  – Consistently committing crime
  – Having an ’employment-resistant personality’
  – Being an alcoholic
  – Dropping out of school
  – Having multiple kids to multiple partners
  – Multi-generational welfare dependence
  
  We all know this is true (even those who deny it), yet no politician has the balls to point it out and actually do something about it.
  
  It is far easier to continue to take from the productive and give it to those who will inevitably squander it, than it is to turn off the tap and have to deal with the marauding bands of disaffected ex-beneficiaries now out to riot, loot and steal. We’ve painted ourselves into a corner.
  
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  December 9, 2019 12:27pm
  - artemisia
    
    Actually National was doing something about it, under the data driven social investment umbrella. Young Parent Payment scheme well under way and quietly sort of continued by the current government – teen parents monitored and mentored. Then the risk analysis of children at school to target funding / resource at those at risk. Not spray money according to decile.
    
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    December 10, 2019 6:37am
sooty

Who is sleeping all of you or the moderator?
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December 9, 2019 8:20am
- rightoverlabour
  
  Moderator.
  
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  December 9, 2019 8:28am
yossarian

Cricky Mike, tell us what you really think. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12292008
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December 9, 2019 8:20am
- rightoverlabour
  
  Spot on, but I believe he is holding back on what he would really like to say. Something to the effect of effing lying, incompetent, corrupt, dopeheads.
  
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  December 9, 2019 8:28am
- MCos
  
  So Mike Hosking used to be a mate of Kris Faafoi and Jason Kerrison used to be a ‘close friend’.
  
  Daresay they ain’t anymore.
  
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  December 9, 2019 9:03am
- Bill felt
  
  Hosking: “This is a sloppy, unprofessional tainted lacklustre government. And it’s headed by a person, when it comes to matters of expectation and governance, who is a mile out of her depth.”
  
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  December 9, 2019 10:36am
cut n paster

Jacinda Ardern’s daughter Neve ‘doesn’t need me’, PM says
Neither do we, so sling your hook…..
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December 9, 2019 8:23am
- sooty
  
  Raised by Jethro and the nannies!
  Lots of pretty nannies!
  
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  December 9, 2019 8:29am
  - Tall Man
    
    Really… current selection would indicate that “pretty” isn’t a necessary qualification…..
    
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    December 9, 2019 9:57am
  - Ruahine
    
    Paid for by….Yes.
    
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    December 9, 2019 10:39am
Happychappy

What the fuck is wrong with this Government we a crisis on our roads and our population is getting older and we have a Prime Minister that chucks money around without care yet won’t and hasn’t given funding where it is needed. St John’s to Government- give us more funding or we will cut ambulance services. These guys and ladies go the extra mile to help those in need and we have a Health Minister and Prime Minister that think it’s more about them than those that society can’t do without.
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December 9, 2019 8:25am
- secondcumming
  
  Prime Minister Jacinda Adhern tells media her government is *entirely focused*
  on removing Polystyrene Trays from meat packaging in supermarkets 😎
  
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  December 9, 2019 8:42am
- Prince
  
  The Govt are thinking implications and outcomes. More ambulances = more people going to hospital and….waiting waiting waiting.
  Best not open the tap any further.
  
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  December 9, 2019 9:38am
rouppe

A fabulously acerbic view
of the Israel Folou mess.
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December 9, 2019 8:36am
- mark15
  
  I support physics,just not gravity.
  
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  December 9, 2019 9:24am
- rouppe
  
  And now, apparently paying Folou is going to save lives.
  
  Is it really?
  
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  December 9, 2019 10:04am
rightoverlabour

Hmm watch this. Can she please come and live and work in NZ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93aE8jXnIag
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December 9, 2019 8:43am
Maggie Pie

OK. Not one of my normal posts.
A little more serious this time.
If anybody knows of any lonely old people who will be eating Christmas dinner alone because they have no family or close friends, can they please let me know. I need to borrow some chairs.
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December 9, 2019 8:50am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  If it’s your partner’s mates that you’re entertaining for Xmas, they’ll be fine dining off the floor.
  https://www.theindianweekly.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/201609140105244519_FoodForThought-Eating-food-off-the-floor-is-not-safe-at_SECVPF.jpg
  
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  December 9, 2019 9:22am
  - Tall Man
    
    Harsh…… but fair 😉
    
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    December 9, 2019 9:43am
  - cut n paster
    
    Always the three second rule on known surfaces.
    India is unknown and a sh*thole.. and in Orstralia the ants will kill ya!
    
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    December 9, 2019 5:42pm
- secondcumming
  
  There’s an old lady living next door to us that I might be able to ask.
  Only problem is I think she must be on holiday. Her cat has been laying dead in her front window for over a week.
  
  14 1
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  December 9, 2019 9:38am
  - BlueGriffon
    
    Please check on the lady, she could be gone too! My sister had a reclusive neighbour not collecting her courier packages from the mailbox so she just knocked on the door and left them on the doorstep. Turned out she had died in her sleep and was there for 5 days.
    Please check on your neighbours everyone!
    
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    December 9, 2019 10:44am
- Tall Man
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUn0n9Yu7Vw
  
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  December 9, 2019 9:52am
fernglas

As I have grown older my expectations from Government have not really changed, but the effect of those expectations being met has. I still believe that Government has an obligation to provide comprehensive healthcare services for all, but where I was once concerned about the quality and availability of emergency medicine and paediatric services, I now look at such things as cancer care, elective surgery, and geriatric care. I believe that Government has a responsibility to all of its citizens to ensure proper access to housing, but now the housing is not for me but my children. I believe that Government should ensure fair access to justice, but now it is for others. None of this is inconsistent with my political beliefs remaining the same as ever, but it certainly affects who I perceive as most likely to deliver. And the current government seems incapable. So I will be voting to get rid of the current Government, not because they offend my beliefs, but because they seem incapable of fulfilling them.
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December 9, 2019 8:53am
- Tall Man
  
  One of your wiser musings 🙂
  
  For me it means a vote for anyone but National is a vote for a continuation of the current disaster.
  
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  December 9, 2019 9:42am
  - Nigel Kearney
    
    The disastrous things done by the Clark government were not undone by the subsequent National government. Why do you expect next time to be any different? In fact it’s worse now because National have actually voted in favour of some of Jacinda’s idiocies.
    
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    December 9, 2019 10:57am
    - Tall Man
      
      I’m not certain much will be dialled back apart from those pieces of legislation already “marked” by National.
      
      However, the coalition hasn’t actually done that much due to gross incompetence and most of the changes will be reinstating plans that the coalition have cancelled…. I hope.
      
      For me the fear is another term to do some real damage so I will be voting against the coalition, as I hope will many many others.
      
      I have heard many complain about National retaining WFF but by 2008 it was well entrenched and removing it would have been an expensive exercise and the earthquakes probably pushed it right into the really hard basket.
      
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      December 9, 2019 1:43pm
    - Tall Man
      
      Upon reflection…. You’re not much of a scrapper are you?
      
      When the big boy has all the mates and the ear of the prefects… you bide your time.
      
      The same applies in politics. Would you have preferred to see National in opposition again after 2020 being labelled as gun mad climate deniers who hate children?
      
      Social media would have been a disaster for them and there would be no coming back.
      
      When the big boy is getting ready to jump off the waterfall onto the rocks below….. you shut your mouth.
      
      Trust me, ardern and “what’s in it for wynston” are leaping with all their might.
      
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      December 9, 2019 5:08pm
- The King
  
  Not going to lie i can’t wait to all you boomers are in nursing homes getting abused by imported minority nurses and doctors with no education that hate you.
  
  It’s going to be a poetic justice.
  
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  December 9, 2019 11:40am
  - fernglas
    
    That’s okay, millenial; at least we won’t have spare bedrooms in the nursing home for you to live in.
    
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    December 9, 2019 12:23pm
    - hullkiwi
      
      And our money will be locked up beyond the grasping clutches of Ardern, Robertson, Shaw & Cullen.
      
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      December 9, 2019 5:58pm
  - Lizziep
    
    Well that’s kind of you the king. you must be a lovely person to have such kind thoughts. FFS
    
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    December 9, 2019 12:40pm
    - The King
      
      Your future YOU created…
      
      Enjoy..
      
      https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/hit-mocked-and-scalded-hidden-camera-captures-care-home-ordeal-a4298876.html
      
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      December 9, 2019 1:25pm
  - kevn
    
    @king… You an orphan then?
    Don’t give a shit about your parents either?
    Time will solve it, your turn sometime…
    
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    December 9, 2019 1:36pm
- The Proper Ghandi
  
  fernglas
  The Government provides nothing. The taxpayers provide it all.
  
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  December 9, 2019 1:02pm
  - fernglas
    
    The Government provides. The taxpayer pays.
    
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    December 9, 2019 1:58pm
    - The Proper Ghandi
      
      Really only a semantic distinction. The one is a necessary condition of the other.
      
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      December 9, 2019 3:21pm
      - fernglas
        
        Not necessarily. While the Government can’t provide unless the taxpayer pays, the taxpayer can pay without the Government providing.
        
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        December 9, 2019 6:28pm
artemisia

Hundreds of families have been given My Food Bag boxes, with Ministry of Social Development’s Viv Rickard saying they were trying to be creative by looking at different ways to support clients. …. Costing between $200-$300, the emergency food kit is intended to provide breakfast, lunch and dinner for a family for a week.

Some recipients are not happy with a week’s food plus recipes delivered to their door. Perhaps the boxes had chickpeas and tinned tomatoes.

I think it is a good initiative. MFB’s standard recipes are easy to follow even for the inexperienced, as long as they can read. And seems these ones are even simpler and use pots etc that most kitchens will have.

Sounds like some would rather not have cereal, protein and fresh veggies, prefer their usual.
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December 9, 2019 8:56am
- Tall Man
  
  In my experience, the bulk of the people that require food deliveries would be incapable of utilising the recipes unless the instructions started and ended with a can opener.
  
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  December 9, 2019 9:40am
- Prince
  
  Great idea. Anyone who pays for MFB is a sucker of course, but then they probably work hard, look after their families etc. They need to get with the program.
  
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  December 9, 2019 9:41am
- JibberJabber
  
  Behold the gratitude from a Food Bag recipient, hat tip to ol` Redbaiter ….
  
  https://twitter.com/Redbaiternz/status/1203579138977611777
  
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  December 9, 2019 9:47am
  - Lizziep
    
    Wow that’s interesting, I used to get my food bag and there was far too much food, I would buy the bag for one and it lasted two nights easily. Certainly lasted me the week and more.
    
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    December 9, 2019 12:44pm
- KevO'Brien
  
  It’s only a short step to compulsory dietary inspection and control for all.
  Communism embodies the denial of the basic freedom to make decisions as to living choices.
  
  Even people visiting food banks have choices. Now many people cannot readily prepare food. Even I am bothered when the larder is bare and I have to scratch up a meal out of what is available. Making people accept pre-determined food parcels from WINZ is taking ideology too far. The purpose of supply is not to worry the recipients. It’s the wrong time and place for their education which is also not the business of WINZ.
  The COL is out of control.
  ☑️☑️
  
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  December 9, 2019 10:00am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    The CoL is propping up their trendy mates at My Food Bag.
    
    Hell, I don’t even buy “free-range eggs” or only “locally-produced” chicken & beef.
    
    Did the Min Of Social Development put out a tender for these prepared food kits?
    
    There’s a number of companies doing them.
    
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    December 9, 2019 10:27am
    - Prince
      
      I doubt if anything has been put in writing.
      That makes it OK according to our political media.
      
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      December 9, 2019 12:39pm
    - Tall Man
      
      It must be Monday, Maggy’s cracking jokes…..
      
      Tender? Isn’t that a measurement of affection?
      
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      December 9, 2019 2:05pm
  - artemisia
    
    I guess if households like the one in the article hate their MFB they can say so and not be given one again. Or supplement it with a kilo of rice or spuds for the gluten free member. Or they can use it to start educating themselves on healthy eating and how to cook. If the adults can’t manage it, the kids can help.
    
    And it is said to be emergency only, so not going to be every week. And not an empty larder either, just the opposite.
    
    It’s a trial, might not last, but worth a try as it is educating as well as feeding.
    
    I remember when Jamie Oliver did his food in schools programmes. There were whole classes where not a single one knew what some veges were.
    
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    December 9, 2019 11:14am
    - Prince
      
      Right, for ’emergencies’ like the emergency payment that is now available on demand and has increased by over 1000%.
      And when is the last time these ‘trials’ have not become widespread ? How would anyone know if they have been successful ? Are there specific goals set, is the data publicly available ?
      Clue: The answer is No.
      
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      December 9, 2019 12:42pm
      - artemisia
        
        Isn’t it sometimes better to provide food rather than money? Or send people to charity foodbanks for a box of what they have available? Especially if the food provided is portioned for the size of the household, good quality, balanced, covering 3 meals a day for each person, delivered to the door?
        
        I just don’t get recipients complaining about this when they have applied for an emergency food grant. Maybe they don’t want the money for food at all.
        
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        December 9, 2019 1:31pm
  - Jules99
    
    “Making people accept pre-determined food parcels from WINZ is taking ideology too far.”
    
    But it’s what they do in that socialist utopia Venezuela!
    
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    December 9, 2019 11:16am
- Odakyu-sen
  
  How long before “chickpeas and tinned tomatoes” are classified as “hate speech”?
  
  In the US, a white politician must be careful that he does not appear to be endorsing the provision of certain kinds of foods to certain ethnic groups, based on very old stereotypes associating those groups with those foods.
  
  A National party candidate could find himself in trouble for “hate speech” by inadvertantly offering canned tomatoes or chick peas to a food bank.
  
  //
  
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  December 9, 2019 12:52pm
- kevn
  
  @art… fakebook trading, that’s what happens. Food/vouchers for cash. Booze and cigarettes.
  
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  December 9, 2019 1:51pm
  - artemisia
    
    Well now some will be able to trade the wholemeal wraps and salad. Might not be much of a queue though.
    
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    December 9, 2019 2:08pm
Tony Stuart

I attended a National Party regional meeting yesterday. A few observations:

* It was the best attended regional meeting I have ever been at
* Party membership is rising quickly
* William Wood is an impressive 17-year-old; confident, articulate and mature beyond his years. Otaki candidate Tim Costley looks like a good ‘un too
* Seven policy discussion documents have been released this year, with the Health one due out later this week
* Asked for his highlight of the year, List MP from Ohariu Brett Hudson replied “Stuart Nash; he’s the gift that keeps on giving!”
* Simon Bridges gave an excellent address, and there seems now to be little appetite among party members for change

Roll on 2020.
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December 9, 2019 8:59am
- artemisia
  
  Any indication of housing policy release, Tony? Ms Collins has been reported as saying it will be ‘radical’.
  
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  December 9, 2019 9:03am
  - Tony Stuart
    
    Not yet. Collins is also busy working on a complete overhaul of the RMA. I suspect that will all come out early next year.
    
    One thing is clear though. Bridges says National already has almost enough legislation for its first term in government, with various things prioritised as 100 Days, First Year and First Term. Seven key changes to the Zero Carbon Bill to completely reshape it are among the 100 Days agenda.
    
    National has done more policy work in two years in opposition than Labour did in nine years, and you can bet your bottom dollar there won’t be hundreds of reviews and working groups if there is a change of government. National will hit the ground running.
    
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    December 9, 2019 9:14am
    - Tall Man
      
      Sounds like National has done more work in opposition that the [Deleted – Mod] have done in government.
      
      27 2
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      December 9, 2019 9:37am
      - Tall Man
        
        Well Mr Mod….
        
        Do I have to detail each individual lie of the members of the coalition when I call them liars?
        
        Is there any doubt that the current coalition are thieves? They have stolen their salaries as they certainly don’t earn it. The PGF is nothing but a front for electoral corruption with god knows what payback being granted. The payback for the “Kermadec” decision is unknown until the SFO gets into the “Foundation”….
        
        We know ardern and curran tried to set up a $400,000 payday for a pointless job for a “mate”…
        
        We know genter hired her husband with untendered contracts to the tune of $350,000… yes, that’s a lot of zeros so please explain why my correct description of the current coalition was deleted.
        
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        December 9, 2019 10:13am
    - MCos
      
      More elective surgery
      
      Maternity hospitals reinstated
      
      New hospitals
      
      New cancer drugs
      
      Motorways all over the place
      
      Charter schools
      
      Raptor strike Force
      
      Petrol tax cut
      
      Income tax cut
      
      20 1
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      December 9, 2019 9:39am
      - DigNap15
        
        Good but just get rid of that schoolboy Wood
        
        4 6
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        December 9, 2019 11:11am
      - kevn
        
        @Mcos… You missed the re-instatement of oil and gas exploration, hoping the companies will return of course.
        
        4 0
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        December 9, 2019 1:53pm
      - Tall Man
        
        I don’t know the kid and I guess you don’t either but please let me know which coalition member is a better option and why.
        
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        December 9, 2019 2:02pm
  - secondcumming
    
    @artemisia
    
    Word is they’ll be letting thousands more Chinese into the country and house prices will go through the roof.
    
    Gets my vote 😎
    
    6 18
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    December 9, 2019 9:16am
    - Tall Man
      
      Do you mean a massive leap from 3% to 4% of sales?
      
      The actual fact of the housing bubble/boom/reappreciation is complex but driven by internal circumstances primarily however, if the rise has made you happy, enjoy.
      
      5 1
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      December 9, 2019 9:36am
      - artemisia
        
        Depends how housing prices / costs are looked at.
        
        For the year ended June 2018, households spent an average of $16.30 of every $100 of their household income on housing costs. This is relatively unchanged from the $16 they spent in 2008. Official from Stats NZ.
        
        9 0
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        December 9, 2019 11:17am
      - Tall Man
        
        To be honest, I didn’t know it was that low still.
        
        Maybe the stats for this year will be very revealing.
        
        2 0
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        December 9, 2019 2:00pm
    - rightoverlabour
      
      That would be good….
      
      2 0
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      December 9, 2019 9:46am
    - brett68
      
      Plus 10o’s of thousands of Indians.
      All part of the free trade agreement Bridges wants to do with India.
      Throwing open the front door is the trade off for getting dairy in the FTA.
      
      What a choice, incompetent and crooked Labour/NZ First or sell the country down the river National.
      
      6 17
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      December 9, 2019 9:50am
    - The King
      
      This is so shocking that only The King predicted it.
      
      “A Hawke’s Bay Mongrel Mob member whose struggle to find a job with his full facial tattoo drew international headlines and the attention of rapper 50 Cent has pleaded guilty to assaulting his partner.”
      
      https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12292130
      
      13 2
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      December 9, 2019 12:15pm
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        Kireka caught up with her and struck her in the middle of the face,
        
        A real tough guy, eh?
        
        11 0
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        December 9, 2019 1:39pm
  - IC5000
    
    Most probably the removal of foreign ownership restrictions to allow house prices to escalate beyond the reach of ordinary Kiwis.
    
    4 1
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    December 9, 2019 3:53pm
- The King
  
  The media have already found the kid posing with another kid doing the OK sign which the media says is a symbol of White Supremacy.
  
  His career is over before it began.
  
  https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2019/12/national-s-teen-candidate-william-wood-deletes-photo-with-white-supremacist-linked-gesture.html
  
  2 19
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  December 9, 2019 11:43am
  - Odakyu-sen
    
    If we are sheep-like enough to be so easily let by the mass media, we deserve what we get.
    
    10 0
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    December 9, 2019 12:54pm
  - The Proper Ghandi
    
    The Chinese are Chinese supremacists. The Muslims are Muslim supremacists. The Jews are Jewish supremacists. Nobody has a problem with that.
    
    8 2
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    December 9, 2019 1:06pm
    - The King
      
      You know whats worse than any of those supremacists?
      
      “Diversity Supremacists”
      
      5 6
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      December 9, 2019 1:42pm
  - Odakyu-sen
    
    If you can control the meaning of language, then you can claim that people have said whatever you want them to say.
    
    I see a young man (whom I disagree with) communicating something. If I have the power to define that what he has used is “a supremacist symbol” then I can eliminate him.
    
    This is why people strive to control language. Their objective is to control thought (and thus, the actions) of others.
    
    We have a word for those kinds of people: authoritarians.
    
    8 0
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    December 9, 2019 2:03pm
rightoverlabour

Read this and then think, “What does this article actually tell us?” Actually, nothing.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/the-detail/118021951/the-detail-living-with-the-threat-of-a-volcanic-eruption

I have listened to presentations given to school kids on the Auckland Volcano threat. Maybe they should ask them for some input.

The biggest problem would be evacuating Auckland. Especially if the Auckland University Geology department are correct and indicate that the minimum warning could be 16 hours. Let that sink in….
8 1
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December 9, 2019 9:44am
Tarquin North

I watched part one of that Chernobyl thing on Prime last night, it was well made and quite a good watch. What really amazed me was the management structure and the committee they were answering to. All were overruled by the hierarchy who were even more incompetent. The similarities between the way they ran the show and how the coalition operate were staggering to say the least. Even my wife who isn’t very political mentioned it, if this lot get in again we are sunk.
18 1
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December 9, 2019 9:58am
- MCos
  
  NZ doesn’t have nuclear power and with luck won’t need to saddle itself with one of those stations for some time yet.
  What we do have is earthquakes, floods, landslides, fires, volcanos and, when things go wrong, plenty of buck passers.
  Fortunately a major quake hasn’t tested one of those old dams on the Waitaki or Waikato.
  
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  December 9, 2019 11:09am
Captain Mainwaring

I just heard on the news that Twitford is claiming credit for the proposed double-tracking of the line between Trentham and Upper Hutt.
Those with longer memories than a gnat will recall that this was announced by National over two years ago.
What took the accidental Government so long to get it started?
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December 9, 2019 10:03am
- sooty
  
  Man that will really, really make a differance!
  
  5 0
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  December 9, 2019 10:46am
cut n paster

NZF shitWeasel O’ the day….
https://ibb.co/SrkmHkL
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December 9, 2019 10:06am
Maggie Pie

Simon Bridges just told Peter Williams on MagicTalk “…he’s ‘relaxed’ about changing the name of the country to Aotearoa New Zealand”.

As my partner yelled out, “Why the f~~k cant he actually take a stand on something?!”
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December 9, 2019 10:08am
- brett68
  
  Bridges is a fucking clown who lives in his own little world.
  The guy has about as much political nous as David Cunlliffe.
  
  I’m not sure who would be the worst PM, Bridges or Ardern.
  
  11 10
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  December 9, 2019 12:39pm
- BeaB
  
  Do you ever think for yourself, Maggie? Or do you always just parrot your partner? Whose wisdom I must say often leaves me speechless.
  
  1 5
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  December 9, 2019 3:40pm
  - Maggie Pie
    
    Cheers for that Bea!
    [I wont bother telling him, he’s already got an ego the size of Texas 😛 ]
    
    4 0
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    December 9, 2019 5:55pm
Stephieboy2

Even Fox is on to it re African Drought ,

“Drought ravages southern Africa, officials say 45 million at risk of hunger”

https://www.foxnews.com/world/drought-ravages-southern-africa-45-million-going-hungry-officials-say

Even The Hill the same ,

Zambia warns climate change has led to worst drought in a century,
“
Zambia is experiencing its worst drought in a century and the country says that climate change is to blame.

Zambian President Edgar Lungu has said the African country’s drought is “a stark reminder of what climate change is doing to our environment,” Reuters reports…”

https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/473413-zambia-warns-climate-change-has-led-to-worst-drought-in-a-century
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December 9, 2019 10:10am
- The King
  
  *snores wakes up cooks my $17 bacon strips sips my $40 imported deluxe coffee. Laughs.
  
  11 1
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  December 9, 2019 11:46am
- rangitoto
  
  So what caused the drought a century ago?
  
  13 0
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  December 9, 2019 1:01pm
  - Tall Man
    
    Choo choos.
    
    9 0
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    December 9, 2019 1:55pm
Stephieboy2

“If we are uncritical we shall always find what we want: we shall look for, and find, confirmations, and we shall look away from, and not see, whatever might be dangerous to our pet theories.”

Karl Popper

He surely prophetically anticipated Trump and his supporters and all that flows from them ( eg Climate change denial , ,Crowdstrike Qnon, Clinton etc Conspiracy theories , veracity of the President’s statements etc, etc )
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December 9, 2019 10:17am
- The King
  
  *Wikis Karl Popper ‘family life and training’ *squints* “All of Popper’s grandparents were Jewish”
  
  2 15
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  December 9, 2019 11:50am
  - mikenmildagain
    
    Yes, he left Austria to avoid your Nazi heroes.
    
    8 1
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    December 9, 2019 1:06pm
    - The King
      
      Yes because he was clearly not trying to subvert other nations into his jewish way of thinking…
      
      Oh the irony?
      
      1 7
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      December 9, 2019 1:41pm
- KevO'Brien
  
  Reminds me of you.
  
  6 1
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  December 9, 2019 12:51pm
Cobolt24

Hosuing market heating up again:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/property/118043404/vendors-raise-prices-as-summer-property-market-kicks-off
4 0
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December 9, 2019 10:27am
- mark15
  
  Hugh are you?
  
  0 0
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  December 9, 2019 10:41pm
Fletch

I missed reading much of yesterday’s GD, being at work, so not sure if this has been mentioned, but Cindy’s next thing to ban is – polystyrene takeaway containers…. I kid you not.

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2019/12/government-to-phase-out-more-single-use-plastics-in-favour-of-recyclable-materials.html

Give an authoritarian govt an inch and they take a mile… What will it be next? Rather than solve child poverty or hospital wait times, they’d rather concentrate on taking our guns and plastic bags.
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December 9, 2019 10:54am
- The King
  
  Keeping minority children in poverty is what gives her votes to make these stupid laws, do you not get that?
  
  This is why democrats in America never fix their states.
  
  It’s politics 101.
  
  15 3
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  December 9, 2019 12:06pm
  - Odakyu-sen
    
    “This is why democrats in America never fix their states.”
    
    The Party of the Poor wants more poor people (who will vote for it).
    
    11 0
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    December 9, 2019 1:06pm
  - The Proper Ghandi
    
    Exactly. Socialists necessarily require broken people and underperforming sectors of society. This is their target market and voting base. If they fix any problems, those people won’t need to vote for them. There’s no appetite for collectivism and wealth distribution if everyone is doing just fine by themselves.
    
    11 1
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    December 9, 2019 1:11pm
  - Tall Man
    
    It’s not really ideology but when the money gets into their hands it’s just really hard to pass it on………….
    
    Looks a lot like our very own coalition.
    
    3 1
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    December 9, 2019 1:53pm
  - Odakyu-sen
    
    “Those who promise us paradise on earth never produced anything but a hell.”
    ― Karl R. Popper
    
    Wise words to those who would vote for people who promise them free stuff.
    
    6 0
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    December 9, 2019 2:11pm
    - mikenmildagain
      
      Promising paradise off earth never produced anything either.
      
      2 3
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      December 9, 2019 3:48pm
      - Odakyu-sen
        
        Not in this world.
        
        1 0
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        December 9, 2019 7:23pm
curry4me

This could make things tricky for gun grabbers there.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/12/07/virginia-sheriff-vows-to-deputize-thousands-to-defend-gun-rights/
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December 9, 2019 11:03am
curry4me

Fish Lady wants EU to run Scotland. BoJo visits a Jewish bakery.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3zomb_1rxY
1 3
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December 9, 2019 11:04am
- The King
  
  Ah boris knows who his donors are not like that antisemite Corbyn who won’t take jewish money.
  
  1 18
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  December 9, 2019 11:56am
- fightingtemeraire
  
  Scotland has the highest taxes in the UK and if it was a separate country the highest Debt as a % of GDP.
  Scottish education is going down the gurgler and used to be the best in the world.
  The Head of the Scottish Polioce has just resigned and the Scottish Health Service is a mess,
  
  She is a Socialist and is doing to the CSots what Corbyn will do to the UK
  
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  December 9, 2019 4:05pm
DigNap15

Hey National, we have far too many third world immigrants here.
Send them back and no more please.
14 6
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December 9, 2019 11:13am
- MCos
  
  If you had your way all the fruit would lie rotting on the ground and diary farms up and down the country would be short of workers.
  There’d be no Asian restaurants, half the bank branches around Auckland would close . . . .
  
  2 2
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  December 9, 2019 2:21pm
  - DigNap15
    
    I never eat at Asian restaurants I don’t trust their hygiene habits, or their possible ingredients.
    The banks are closing already.
    I agree with the fruit though.
    We have 100,000 nephs.
    Here’s an ultimatum pick the fruit, turn up every day, do a good job or your dole is cut forever.
    
    4 4
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    December 9, 2019 3:09pm
    - Tall Man
      
      Sad.
      
      3 0
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      December 9, 2019 5:20pm
    - Ian Boag
      
      I believe the total on the jobseeker benefit is something like 120k. 100k might be a bit of an over estimate of the nephs given that people who used to be sickness beneficiaries are now on the jobseeker benefit with regular doc certificates required …. as are people genuinely between jobs.
      
      So – yep – move to a place where there is fruitpicking work and stop paying rent etc where you came from. If your name is on a lease or tenancy agreement that might be a bit hard. Abandon your possessions and friends. Find somewhere to live at this fruitpicking place. Pick fruit when the weather is OK. Go home when the season finishes. Wait a few weeks through your benefit standdown period. It’s pretty hard if you don’t own a reliable set of wheels. Socially it might not be much fun.
      
      Pretty attractive really …
      
      6 2
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      December 9, 2019 6:03pm
  - mark15
    
    Look,as for asian restaurants,we can google the recipes.
    
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    December 9, 2019 10:46pm
kevn

@Captn…. Just twyford ‘twyfording’ (aka lying) again.
10 2
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December 9, 2019 11:31am
herb1

Saw him at AKL airport last night.
As he walked along he had a very self satisfied look and he kept glancing left and right .
It really looked like he was seeking out acknowledgment from the gathered crowds.
He got nothing so sat down by himself and stared at a sheet of paper for 45 minutes.
When his plane to Wellington was announced they called Lee’s Galloway who was holding the plane up
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December 9, 2019 11:53am
- Inandout
  
  herb1, if you had glanced at the sheet of paper it may have had names and quantities on it.
  
  6 0
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  December 9, 2019 12:40pm
  - sooty
    
    Nah, it would have been blank!
    Same as walking along looking for imaginery friends!
    
    4 0
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    December 9, 2019 4:50pm
Fletch

#TurnArdern trends on twitter!

Jacinda Ardern’s fans are trying to counter a trending hashtag on Twitter that encourages the Prime Minister’s critics to hide copies of books and magazines featuring her on the cover.

The hashtag, #TurnArdern, is currently trending in New Zealand on Twitter – with one of the top trending videos showing stacks of magazines featuring Ardern on the cover being picked up and hidden from sight.

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2019/12/he-s-fragile-jacinda-ardern-backers-bite-back-as-turnardern-trends-on-twitter.html
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December 9, 2019 12:33pm
- Tall Man
  
  Another indicator of what the “undecided” 17% are thinking.
  
  8 0
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  December 9, 2019 1:49pm
- Maggie Pie
  
  And here was me thinking it was a campaign organised by the ‘Lesbian Left’
  hoping to get Jacinda to swap sides 😛
  
  11 1
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  December 9, 2019 2:06pm
- Sacha
  
  Some of us have been diligently ‘turning’ for a couple of years –
  
  6 0
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  December 9, 2019 6:18pm
Nickc2

Cindy and her Green mates should consider this video when determining what will be the next lot of plastics banned. It clearly isn’t our fault that plastic bags end up in the ocean. This video is intentional and and country concerned is India.
https://www.facebook.com/inspiringecosystempreservation/videos/1739179619551534/?t=110
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December 9, 2019 12:36pm
- Stephieboy2
  
  Clean up your own backyard first then we have a lot to teach India and other nations!
  
  Besides India is already implementing a ban on plastic bags ,cups , straws etc,
  
  https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/08/india-due-to-ban-multiple-single-use-plastics/
  
  2 22
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  December 9, 2019 1:11pm
  - The King
    
    We can’t even teach them to stop killing our girls.
    
    Say her name Steph.. Amber Rose.
    
    10 6
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    December 9, 2019 1:37pm
    - Stephieboy2
      
      The King, don’t forget fitting Grace Millane into your twisted equation!
      
      1 12
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      December 9, 2019 2:14pm
      - The King
        
        Yeah sure Maori killing women is another story but lets talk about it.
        
        5 2
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        December 9, 2019 5:20pm
  - Nickc2
    
    Bollox! Get back in your box!
    
    3 0
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    December 9, 2019 1:40pm
  - GoVege
    
    Good to see McDonalds seems to be providing more paper cups instead of plastic for its cold drinks.
    Would be great if they extended their cardboard straws from just the one outlet that seems to have them.
    I do not want my kids’ plastic straw getting stuck up the nose of some poor wee fish or seabird!
    
    4 12
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    December 9, 2019 1:55pm
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      Fuckwit. You won’t mind the plastic tube in the hole in your neck to allow you to breathe? You won’t mind the catharter to inspect your bladder? You won’t mind the plastic tubes when you have your next blood test? You won’t mind the latex glove for prostate exam?
      
      6 3
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      December 9, 2019 7:39pm
      - Tall Man
        
        Umm… don’t think steffy girl has one of those, unless she keeps it in a box……..
        
        not sure about veges….
        
        3 2
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        December 9, 2019 7:48pm
      - GoVege
        
        How on earth did you manage to confuse plastic rubbish choking sealife with plastic used in medicine, Steve?
        Have a happy Christmas anyway. 🙂
        
        2 0
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        December 9, 2019 10:21pm
    - mark15
      
      Throw it in the bin then
      
      0 0
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      December 9, 2019 10:48pm
  - DigNap15
    
    S in a year or so,India will be the cleanest country in the world!
    I think that title belongs to Rwanda
    
    0 3
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    December 9, 2019 3:05pm
- DigNap15
  
  That is absoltley disgusting
  Lebanon is not far behind either.
  
  0 3
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  December 9, 2019 3:11pm
Maggie Pie

It was amazing just how many people phoned talkback over the weekend to express their views about that poor girl who was attacked by a group of terrorists on Pt Chev beach just for getting her boobies out. Comments probably ran about 50/50 for and against.
My partner reckoned that whenever a female called in to say, “…they would never go topless in public”, you knew immediately that their tits would lay in an ‘East-Westerly’ direction. 😛
15 0
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December 9, 2019 1:32pm
- Swifty
  
  Has the ethnicity of the alleged harassers been identified?
  
  10 0
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  December 9, 2019 3:18pm
  - Maggie Pie
    
    Yup. From Mt Roskill.
    
    9 1
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    December 9, 2019 5:58pm
Stephieboy2

The evidence is , incontestable, but that won’t stop the unreason and irrationalism of climate change deniers ,

“The Ocean Is Running Out of Breath, Scientists Warn”

Widespread and sometimes drastic marine oxygen declines are stressing sensitive species—a trend that will continue with climate change

“Escaping predators, digestion and other animal activities—including those of humans—require oxygen. But that essential ingredient is no longer so easy for marine life to obtain, several new studies reveal.

In the past decade ocean oxygen levels have taken a dive—an alarming trend that is linked to climate change, says Andreas Oschlies, an oceanographer at the Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research Kiel in Germany, whose team tracks ocean oxygen levels worldwide. “We were surprised by the intensity of the changes we saw, how rapidly oxygen is going down in the ocean and how large the effects on marine ecosystems are,” he says.

It is no surprise to scientists that warming oceans are losing oxygen, but the scale of the dip calls for urgent attention, Oschlies says. Oxygen levels in some tropical regions have dropped by a startling 40 percent in the last 50 years, some recent studies reveal. Levels have dropped more subtly elsewhere, with an average loss of 2 percent globally…”

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-ocean-is-running-
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December 9, 2019 1:38pm
- KevO'Brien
  
  Scientific American ceased to be scientific years ago.
  
  15 3
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  December 9, 2019 2:31pm
  - Odakyu-sen
    
    A rough rule of thumb.
    
    Anything named or titled “Scientific ________” is usually not scientific.
    Any university course named “_________ Studies” should be avoided.
    
    10 1
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    December 9, 2019 3:52pm
- Tarquin North
  
  What happened to acid rain? That was supposed to wipe us out in the nineties.
  
  17 2
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  December 9, 2019 2:43pm
  - Tall Man
    
    https://www.ebay.com/c/22029764792
    
    3 2
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    December 9, 2019 5:15pm
- rightoverlabour
  
  Oi dickhead, didn’t you read the post yesterday about partial pressure, oh forget it, drink the cool aid and believe whatever makes you happy… Twat
  
  10 3
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  December 9, 2019 2:46pm
- DigNap15
  
  So if you belive it.
  What do you think those in Madrid should do about it?
  Exactly
  If they really believe in man made CC, and impending doom, then there is only one real anaswer
  
  3 5
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  December 9, 2019 3:04pm
- JibberJabber
  
  Ok Doomer.
  
  11 2
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  December 9, 2019 3:41pm
Fletch

Seven million jobs created since Trump took office in 2016. Lowest unemployment in half a century.

Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs at the U.S. Treasury Department Monica Crowley told Breitbart News that President Donald Trump’s “economic freedom agenda” has sparked the highly successful economic growth that has now led to the lowest unemployment rate in half a century.

This past week, the administration announced that unemployment has fallen to 3.5 percent—the lowest since 1969—after a November jobs surge of 266,000 jobs created last month, numbers that blew away expectations.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/12/08/exclusive-treasurys-monica-crowley-on-the-explosive-trump-economy-success-boom/

But he’s a bad, bad president, right?
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December 9, 2019 2:08pm
- mandk
  
  Also worth noting wages up by 3.1 percent (3.7 percent for blue collar workers).
  
  The Democrats are fuming.
  
  9 2
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  December 9, 2019 2:54pm
- mikenmildagain
  
  Yep, he’s a terrible president.
  
  1 13
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  December 9, 2019 3:47pm
  - Tall Man
    
    Now, how do we get such a “terrible” leader here?
    
    3 3
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    December 9, 2019 6:33pm
- Tall Man
  
  Just imagine how good he’d be if he wasn’t…??????
  
  4 3
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  December 9, 2019 5:14pm
- UrbanNeocolonialist
  
  He’s done some useful things, and some dumb things. EG nearly 1 Trillion a year deficit (4.6% of GDP) in supposedly good times is eye-wateringly bad. Wall is pretty useless/expensive/ineffectual as can be defeated by $10 worth of rope and a couple of sticks. North Korean and Iranian policy appear to have done nothing…. I am no longer convinced he is better than Clinton (though she was dirty and should not have been allowed to be president).
  
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  December 9, 2019 8:47pm
chaos

Bloody disgusting, what a shit father

* Former Australian prime minister Bob Hawke pleaded with his daughter not to report being raped by a Labor MP as he feared the case could damage his political career, it is claimed in court documents.*

https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/australia/118045418/former-australian-pm-bob-hawke-asked-daughter-to-keep-rape-secret
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December 9, 2019 2:40pm
- rightoverlabour
  
  Labour. What more needs to be said. “Look love, it’s only rape, now lie back and think of the country…”
  
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  December 9, 2019 2:49pm
- Inandout
  
  Hawke, the darling of the left.
  
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  December 9, 2019 3:42pm
  - Tall Man
    
    Got myself into a bit of bother in Oz around 1973 calling bob hawke a bucket of shit.
    
    I thought that then, I still think it now.
    
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    December 9, 2019 6:22pm
- Captain Mainwaring
  
  Labourites are the same, whatever country they come from.
  
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  December 9, 2019 4:51pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  But Ozzie Labor politicians don’t want to discuss Rosslyn Dillon’s claim…
  
  However Anthony Albanese did provide this gem which NZ Labour could take to heart:
  
  where there is an assault by any person against another it should be reported and action should be taken
  
  https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/albanese-responds-to-hawke-daughter-s-rape-claim-against-mp-bill-landeryou-20191209-p53i3j.html
  
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  December 9, 2019 4:59pm
chaos

*A rescue operation is under way after an eruption on Whakaari/White Island.

There are fears for people who were on the island at the time of the eruption, with images from the White Island Crater Rim camera appearing to show people at 2.10pm.

The explosions happened shortly after that.

St John told Newstalk ZB they have reports of up to 20 people injured after the island in Bay of Plenty erupted, sending massive plumes of steam and debris into the air.*

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12292240
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December 9, 2019 3:31pm
- chaos
  
  * About 100 people were on White Island when it erupted this afternoon. A number are hurt, some are unaccounted for, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says.*
  
  https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/118058738/live-white-island-erupts
  
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  December 9, 2019 4:20pm
  - Tall Man
    
    Well now, should we believe it… 😉
    
    Wait for her appearance.
    
    5 3
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    December 9, 2019 6:11pm
  - UrbanNeocolonialist
    
    Is she going to dress up in a dangling cork hat to show her deep sympathy with the (likely) dead Aussie tourists?
    
    1 1
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    December 9, 2019 8:51pm
- Tall Man
  
  Could the downticker explain or are you just a fucked up little wanker?
  
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  December 9, 2019 6:15pm
  - chaos
    
    Too gutless and vile to own up to it. Only one per fits that description.
    
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    December 9, 2019 6:44pm
    - rightoverlabour
      
      Nah, there are a few, but one definitely comes to mind…
      
      3 2
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      December 9, 2019 7:35pm
    - Tall Man
      
      True but I just don’t get it.
      
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      December 9, 2019 7:37pm
chaos

Having internet for the first time since Saturday not that it worked much on Friday night, constantly dropping with the storm. I have been reading the news, trying to see if the government has said anything about the damage this storm caused not so much to the roads and bridges but the fact that it knocked out the phone, spark towers and internet and more dangerously people’s ability to dial 111. But it seems I cannot find anything from the government.
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December 9, 2019 3:39pm
- Tall Man
  
  Hurty face on twitter soon.
  
  Show a little patience eh…….
  
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  December 9, 2019 6:13pm
Jack5

Christchurch goes into super-hype mode.

Joanna Morris, a former editor of the Christchurch Press and now head of the City Council-owned promotional organisation, ChristchurchNZ, says 100,000 more workers will be needed in the city in the next 10 years.

She doesn’t detail the industries that will spring up to employ them, or how the city will finance a 20 per cent expansion of roads, water, sewerage and other facilities.

Christchurch City Council is bleeding suburban ratepayers to death, so employing 100,000 on infrastructure would beyond citizens ability to finance, and capital needed would be beyond the city’s ability to borrow and service.

Norris’s organisation is reported to be “pushing the key areas for growing the economy called Supernodes – food and fibre, health technology and resilience, aerospace and future transport.”

Norris says Christchurch needs to “activate and stimulate”.

This is hype-full economic dreaming of the pattern: bring the people and industries and businesses will spring up.

The danger is that Leftists who dominate the Christchurch City Council will believe this hype.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/the-detail/story/2018724649/christchurch-has-rebuilt-now-it-needs-people
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December 9, 2019 3:42pm
rightoverlabour

So White Island erupted. These guys have been posting alerts to this effect for ages. How come our MSM have been so quiet on this?

https://watchers.news/2019/12/04/the-weekly-volcanic-activity-report-november-27-december-3-2019/

The watchers also post a significant amount debunking climate alarmism. Maybe that’s why they have been sidelined….

PS during solar minimums, muons enter our asthenosphere and destabilize silica-rich magmas resulting in enhanced eruptive activity which adds to climate cooling, but Greta doesn’t know this….
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December 9, 2019 4:54pm
- Tall Man
  
  greta doesn’t know a lot of things…….
  
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  December 9, 2019 5:26pm
- mikenmildagain
  
  White Island erupts frequently and is always a potentially dangerous place to visit. There is no news value in perpetual reporting of its always active status.
  
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  December 9, 2019 6:07pm
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    If you check the GNS site, you will see they raised the alert level 3 weeks ago
    https://www.geonet.org.nz/vabs/
    
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    December 9, 2019 7:10pm
    - mikenmildagain
      
      Yes. That was not a particularly newsworthy event, except on rightoverlabour’s webshites.
      
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      December 9, 2019 7:21pm
    - Odakyu-sen
      
      And yet the companies still brought the tourists to White Island.
      I wonder if there is any industry guideline for what to do when White Island Code Green get upgraded to Code Yellow?
      
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      December 9, 2019 7:29pm
  - Tall Man
    
    Other than saving lives and as we all see you have no interest in anyone but your slimy self eh mikey.
    
    Moderator my arse.
    
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    December 9, 2019 7:39pm
- Odakyu-sen
  
  Exactly how does a muon interact with silica-rich magmas (which because they are magmas, much be a long way down in the Earth’s crust)?
  
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  December 9, 2019 6:42pm
  - rightoverlabour
    
    I am not sure exactly how this works, but have a look here:
    
    “Because silica-rich magma has relatively high surface tension (~ 0.1 Nm−1), the homogeneous nucleation rate is so low that such magma exists in a highly supersaturated state without considerable exsolution, even when located relatively close to the surface, within the penetration range of cosmic-ray muons (1–10 GeV). These muons can contribute to nucleation in supersaturated magma, as documented by many authors studying a bubble chamber, via ionization loss. This radiation-induced nucleation can lead to the pre-eruptive exsolution of H2O in the silica-rich magma”.
    
    https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1342937X10001966
    
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    December 9, 2019 7:32pm
    - UrbanNeocolonialist
      
      cosmic ray energy being deposited in magma amounts to less than a Gnat’s fart in a hurricane.
      
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      December 9, 2019 8:56pm
  - Tall Man
    
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muon
    
    Well I never!
    
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    December 9, 2019 7:42pm
  - rightoverlabour
    
    look here for more on how far muons can penetrate
    
    https://link.springer.com/article/10.5047/eps.2009.06.003
    
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    December 9, 2019 8:00pm
Tony Stuart

Shit – White Island has erupted this afternoon, and there is a significant number of people unaccounted for.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12292240

I’ve been right to the edge of the crater of White Island, and it was quite freaky looking into it. I certainly wouldn’t want to be anywhere nearby when she blew. It sounds as though a number of those believed to be on the island were from a cruise ship.

UPDATE: Police are now saying there were less than 50 people on the island, but a number cannot be accounted for yet, and at least one person has been critically injured.
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December 9, 2019 5:06pm
- Tall Man
  
  Any guesses on how long it takes ardern to get there………………
  
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  December 9, 2019 5:13pm
  - Tall Man
    
    3-2-1 Bingo…
    
    https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2019/12/a-significant-issue-jacinda-ardern-fronts-on-white-island-eruption-says-thoughts-are-with-those-affected.html
    
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    December 9, 2019 8:00pm
- chaos
  
  To the scum that has down voted this, you are a pathetic heartless low life bastard
  
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  December 9, 2019 6:11pm
- chaos
  
  Someone has died, so sad especially this time of year
  
  *At least one person is dead after Whakaari/White Island erupted today, and “a number” of people are still unaccounted for.
  
  One fatality has been confirmed and there will likely be more, National Operation Commander Deputy Commissioner John Tims told a press conference at 6.35pm today.
  
  “At this stage it is too dangerous for police and rescue to go onto the island … the island is currently covered in ash and volcanic material,” he said.
  
  “We know the urgency to get back to [the] island,” he said*
  
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  December 9, 2019 7:05pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  1 dead,
  Island too dangerous for cops to attempt land search & rescue .
  
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  December 9, 2019 7:21pm
  - rightoverlabour
    
    I can’t see why its too dangerous. They dropped the level from 4 to 3. But just as in Pike River, they will stuff this up. If that was a steam erruption, the safest time to go in is immediately after the initial erruption, before the volcano gets a chance to rebuild pressure. If any body is injured out there, they wil die due to the inaction of the people tasked with rescuing them.
    
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    December 9, 2019 7:28pm
    - mikenmildagain
      
      It’s a shame you are not in charge of the rescue operation.
      
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      December 9, 2019 9:06pm
  - rightoverlabour
    
    Further to my comment
    
    “”Our monitoring equipment is still operating, and we have seen a steady decline in activity since the eruption. There remains significant uncertainty as to future changes but currently, there are no signs of escalation.”
    
    https://watchers.news/2019/12/09/white-island-volcano-eruption-december-9-2019/
    
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    December 9, 2019 7:40pm
  - Odakyu-sen
    
    “Island too dangerous for cops to attempt land search & rescue.”
    
    Let’s run the Pike River Mine scenario and let any burned and injured tourists stay as they are until its “safe” for the police to enter the area.
    It might take a while…
    
    //
    
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    December 9, 2019 7:40pm
  - UrbanNeocolonialist
    
    I suspect they could do a reasonable jog of locating survivors with search and rescue FLIR helicopters and/or drones at minimal risk(provided they are not buried). Probably also be able to quickly locate missing people via their cell phones.
    
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    December 9, 2019 9:00pm
chaos

So the corrupt Shane Jones will announce where it is going, oh gee, I wonder where he will say, perhaps an area he plans to run in

* Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has confirmed that her Cabinet is in agreement that it “is not viable” for the North Island’s main port to remain in Auckland.

Ministers discussed the report into the Ports of Auckland and if it should be moved in their weekly Cabinet meeting today.

Ardern told her weekly post-Cabinet press conference that it is Cabinet’s – and therefore the Government’s – position the port needed to move.

But she stopped short of saying where it should be moved to, saying these sorts of details will be addressed by Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones on Thursday.*

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12292277
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December 9, 2019 6:03pm
Odakyu-sen

The cellphone video of the White Island eruption (filmed on a boat) had some Japanese tourist saying, “Let’s get out of here!”
The eruption pretty much blanketed the entire crater area in ash. It wouldn’t have been pleasant to have been near the crater. I’d say a fairly high risk of suffocation. (Those helicopters looked pretty damaged.)
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December 9, 2019 6:22pm
- Maggie Pie
  
  My partner was saying he remembers reading where the Mayor of Hiroshima said something similar.
  
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  December 9, 2019 7:37pm
  - Odakyu-sen
    
    Bottled sunshine doesn’t work like that.
    
    He wouldn’t have felt a thing.
    
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    December 9, 2019 8:48pm
Happychappy

Anyone want to place any bets about Auckland Ports and what Winston wants and as far as Jacinda is concerned usually gets because he leads the country with the PM being the stooge.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=12292277
This is just another one story of what Winston wants he gets because Labour are owned and will have to break the Coalition in order to stop it.
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December 9, 2019 6:23pm
Rodney Randall

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/117978037/christchurchs-470m-stadium-plan-revealed-25000-seats-clear-roof-finished-in-5-years

The chosen option would cost $333m to build, and $104.9m to run over 30 years, of which $92.7m would be funded by stadium income, with a council top-up of $4.2m a year to cover its operating costs.

A $4.2mill operating deficit expected to be picked up by the poor suffering rate payer so the Goughs can fill a few hotel beds.

“It found the stadium would cost more to build and run than the city would get back in economic benefits”

NO SHIT!!

Privatise the profits socialise the losses.

Here is the Mayor some time ago lying about rate payers not going to be burdened with cost overuns:

Mayor Lianne Dalziel, makes it clear that she will NOT be going back to the people of Christchurch to meet any proposed stadium shortfall.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Z780YbuZE2M

Another lying Labour lickspittle toadie

Cargo cult mentality
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qmlYe2KS0-Y

“And here they are waiting faithfully”
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December 9, 2019 7:04pm
- Rodney Randall
  
  Downtick all you like.
  
  The lying Labour Mayor is on record in the video.
  
  “I won’t be going back to the people of chch and asking them to meet that shortfall” (Interview on the Stadium and associated economic implications)
  
  Well there is a massive shortfall. The operational losses run into the millions. Your Labour Mayor is hoping to saddle the already savaged rate payer with those losses so the Goughs can fill a few beds while we are all told, ad nauseum, to “FEEL GOOD” about those losses.
  
  Joanna Norris is the latest useful idiot spouting mythical multipliers and exagerated externalities like a good little parrot.
  
  By the way, this is the same fork tongued Labour Mayor who wants everyone on bicycles while she is chauferred around in a Lexus IS 250 because “she has important meetings to get to.”
  
  Apparently nobody else has to get across town to important meetings in her demented world view.
  
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  December 9, 2019 8:35pm
  - Jack5
    
    Well said, Rodney.
    
    The latest local body election has been a disaster for Christchurch home ratepayers.
    
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    December 10, 2019 7:40am
Maggy Wassilieff

Finland has youngest PM

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/09/finland-anoints-sanna-martin-34-as-worlds-youngest-serving-prime-minister

Check out the Leaders of their 5 main parties
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December 9, 2019 7:40pm

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