General Debate 10 February 2020

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Tony Stuart

If you get the chance, check out Mike Hosking’s interview of Jacinda Ardern this morning. He pressed her on the damning report about the measles crisis, and her answers were far from impressive. She referred several times to Tonga, whereas I thought it was Samoa that was the victim of transmission of measles from New Zealand. The MoH report says this:

“Exporting a disease to a country with fragmented health care is something to be ashamed of”

Listen here, on the 07.30 to 0745 segment:

https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-demand/week-on-demand/
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February 10, 2020 8:11am
- RW Capitalist
  
  When the outbreak occurred after they removed targets for immunization. (rates dropped from 95% to about 87%)
  Followed by (I would say causing) an outbreak of meningitis (that killed 2), govt REFUSED offer of 30000 vaccines shortly before 2 died.
  Then came the measles, exported to Samoa, how many BABIES died?
  
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  February 10, 2020 8:29am
  - Sydney Alvarado
    
    83 people died. Mostly babies and infants.
    
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    February 10, 2020 9:33am
    - Harriet
      
      “….83 people died. Mostly babies and infants….”
      
      Yeah that’s far more than the muslim citizens who got killed in NZ.
      
      Anyway lots more nearly die from lots of other health matters, and lots more again get commonly sick and injured from lots of those other matters. And from more matters again. That’s in the islands that is.
      
      “….. The MoH report says this:
      “Exporting a disease to a country with fragmented health care is something to be ashamed of” …..”
      
      No kidding – as there are lots of island votes in NZ, and they will be more than listening when it involves their dead kids, hell they’d even be rather wishful I’d imagine.
      Look what she does for muslims they will say – so what can you do for us Christians? 😎
      
      Snow White will now wrap it all up together with a big hug.
      
      And including shit loads of your tax money.
      
      Do you really believe the departments and the public servants interests lie in helping to eradicate a disease now and again, or having their say in ‘fragmented island healthcare’ — which is a say in fucken near everything. Gotta keep it going comrade.
      
      She then gets the island vote.
      The public service vote.
      The Fletchers and/or others senior investment staff vote. And praise. Leading to lots more votes from inside and outside those companies who will profit from the New Zealand government servicing the islands.
      
      Do you really think she will let an opportunity like this pass – like being seen playing with island Christian kids ?
      
      Y’know, the conservative vote. She’s smart. 😎
      
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      February 10, 2020 10:19am
- Paulus Gnome
  
  Could not identify the most populous nation on earth from the world’s second most developed economy?
  
  Why do you expect someone to discern Tonga from Samoa when they may well have L and R marked in their shoes and gets their knickers from C & A in London
  
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  February 10, 2020 8:30am
- cmm
  
  A few months ago she could not tell the difference between China and Japan.
  I’d say Tonga vs Samoa is an easier mistake to make.
  
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  February 10, 2020 8:32am
  - RW Capitalist
    
    Is this an “they all look alike to me” moment for the ignorant PM.
    
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    February 10, 2020 8:36am
    - cmm
      
      Well they are alike.
      
      Both of them have been given heaps of cash, they both will roll out a VIP holiday for the First Family any time they want and both have great fishing for the current boyfriend.
      
      So where’s the difference eh?
      
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      February 10, 2020 10:17am
  - Ruahine
    
    I understand marijuana can causes short term memory loss.
    
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    February 10, 2020 8:38am
    - Lance
      
      I more suspect that socialism causes brain damage 😉
      
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      February 10, 2020 9:34am
      - freethinker
        
        Surely its Brain damage that causes socialism?
        
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        February 10, 2020 9:42am
      - alloytoo
        
        Freethinker.
        
        I think youth causes socialism.
        
        Brain damage sustains it.
        
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        February 10, 2020 10:44am
      - GoVege
        
        There’s nothing wrong with socialism…in moderation and tempered with common sense.
        
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        February 10, 2020 12:44pm
    - RW Capitalist
      
      [del – mod.]
      
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      February 10, 2020 9:58am
      - Captain Mainwaring
        
        Why?
        
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        February 10, 2020 12:04pm
      - Paulus Gnome
        
        My uptick.
        
        If the post has been deleted by the mod, it is likely to be something I would agree with.
        
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        February 10, 2020 2:17pm
  - Simon
    
    and her answers were far from impressive = struggles with facts.
    
    When Ardern declared 2020 year of the fact she was just gaslighting
    
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    February 10, 2020 8:41am
    - Tony Stuart
      
      In the PM’s defence, with all the engagements at Waitangi and the Big Gay Out, she didn’t have much time to prepare for Monday’s media round (brought forward from Tuesday the last two years).
      
      Of course, that’s the sarcastic version. This is far from the first time that the PM has gone into interviews with Hosking underdone. Parliament resumes tomorrow, so she needs to up her game, or Trevor Mallard is going to have his work cut out defending her.
      
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      February 10, 2020 8:57am
      - pdm
        
        `This is far from the first time that the PM has gone into interviews with Hosking underdone. ‘
        
        More to the point Inv is – has she ever gone on radio with Hosking prepared. Or is she just thick?
        
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        February 10, 2020 9:31am
      - alloytoo
        
        Hosking punctuates his show throughout the week with “We’ll ask the Prime Minister.”
        
        Not being prepared for his questions is simply laziness.
        
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        February 10, 2020 10:46am
      - Paulus Gnome
        
        Inept is a good word there as well
        
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        February 10, 2020 2:19pm
      - Piniwi
        
        Funny TS this rush of exposure with the aid of the compliant Media Mob of the PTPM might help to her undoing by greater exposure of her weaknesses. Compare this with being the new Labour masthead for the last election that made her the face of Labour much to the Media Mobs joy. The increased exposure this time will serve to be more like a constant reminder of the farce we know as the COL. Fool us once etc…………
        
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        February 10, 2020 2:27pm
  - JackRabbit
    
    If she was a consultant giving a presentation in front of a board selling her services for deployment in Samoa, and kept referring to Tonga, there would be a unanimous cry:
    
    “Your services are not needed. We cannot hire a consultant that does 5 seconds of preparation before walking in the door. You have put no thought into this. Leave immediately, you have wasted our time.”
    
    Tonga, Samoa, Japan, China.
    
    It is becoming more and more obvious that this woman is a sham. It would appear that she has no empathy, little understanding and has to script and rehearse, otherwise it would be there in the forefront of her mind.
    
    It would appear that her head is full of a jumble of eclectic ideas, has no first principles, and cannot even remember simple things.
    
    I wonder how many people got home from the fish and chip shop ready to tuck into tea, and realised that they had someone else’s order.
    
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    February 10, 2020 8:58am
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      I’m thinking that inside her head is a vacuum. Not much works in a vacuum. Oh radio valves do but they are sort of obsolete.
      
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      February 10, 2020 5:23pm
- Nickc2
  
  The ventriloquist manipulating the Cindy glove puppet this morning stuffed up big time on this one. She wouldn’t have a bloody clue about questions she has been pre-programmed to answer in advance.
  
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  February 10, 2020 9:19am
  - JackRabbit
    
    She obviously lost her cue cards, so took a guess at which country it was. Probably needs a memory upgrade, as she can’t fit more than a few things in her memory at once.
    
    It would be interesting to test that theory. Maybe Mike should have corrected her and said it was the Cook Islands, and see if she corrected him.
    
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    February 10, 2020 9:50am
    - Nickc2
      
      Are you suggesting she is a booby looking for a trap? She wouldn’t have a bloody clue! Thick as two short planks!
      
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      February 10, 2020 11:07am
      - tf78
        
        Naught but a gobby mare.
        
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        February 10, 2020 12:26pm
      - JackRabbit
        
        Not knowing the subject matter of what you are being interviewed about shows something is seriously wrong.
        
        It would be equivalent to Jeremy Clarkson hopping into a Ford and doing a few laps testing it out, all the while referring to it as a Mazda.
        
        Or Nigella Lawson whipping up a chocolate cake and referring to as a ginger cake… And we know she had a drug problem, but she didn’t stuff up her recipes.
        
        I think she was totally consumed knowing that the Police were going to launch an investigation into NZF over electoral fraud. She has not got the substance to be a PM.
        
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        February 10, 2020 2:08pm
- Fletch
  
  What’s even more scary is having a govt with this kind of attitude in charge when we are being threatened with a far more dangerous virus…
  
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  February 10, 2020 9:26am
- Sydney Alvarado
  
  Mike was pushing compulsory vaccination. I noticed the PM said that Australia still had a measles outbreak after it (successfully) increased vaccination rates by applying sanctions to those who did not vaccinate their kids.
  
  However, that statement is misleading. The 2019 measles outbreak was caused by a tourist to Australia. It was confined to Melbourne and was limited to 39 cases. That is a totally different situation to the recent New Zealand outbreak which infected 2,161 people.
  
  https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/melbourne-measles-cluster-traveller-infects-baby-and-five-adults-with-disease-20190522-p51pvb.html
  
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  February 10, 2020 9:40am
  - Michael NZ
    
    Sydney
    Was Adhern lying or just mistaken.
    She has a lot on her plate and it’s a devil of a job.
    
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    February 10, 2020 12:24pm
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      Don’t care how much she has on her plate. Can’t stand the heat? get out of the kitchen
      
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      February 10, 2020 5:27pm
- KevO'Brien
  
  Tonga/Samoa? In Samoa the US Statesiders thought NZ was part of Australia.
  
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  February 10, 2020 10:15am
- GoVege
  
  Yes, we need an honest examination of how a supposedly first world country experiencing a measles epidemic, failed to screen passengers heading for a small nation like Samoa with very low vaccination levels.
  83 lives have been lost, mainly babies.
  It is NOT good enough and Labour need to explain their failure to prevent this terrible death toll.
  
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  February 10, 2020 12:49pm
Yvette

Yesterday evening, posting on the Newshub Reid Research poll, David Farrar pointed out the poll was taken before National ruled out NZ First.

This is confirmed in two Newshub website articles each with the item end tag: “The Newshub-Reid Research poll was conducted between January 23 and February 1 with a sample size of 1000 eligible voters and a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percent.”
– so their poll ended the day before Bridges made his announcement, and you have to work out that yourself.

[Simon Bridges rules out working with NZ First after election – Stuff, February 02 2020
Yesterday, the Opposition leader ruled out working with New Zealand First in any potential government after this year’s election – RNZ, February 3]

In one Newshub item, the last sentence of Tova O’Brien’s analysis is “Now that he’s [Bridges] ruled out working with NZ First, watch as the Nats set their sights on the Greens – expect an all-out blue-on-green attack.” and then gives the poll dates for you to again work out the same conclusion:
That, without considering Bridges has actually made his announcement now, the new Newshub-Reid Research poll may be pretty much a total waste of space because those polled did not know that fact, and Newshub does little to really tell you that..

That one Newshub item does state –
But Bridges says he still thinks he made the right call. “Ultimately I had to do what I believe is right,” he told Newshub.
– in fact can suggest the poll is reaction to his announcement rather the question “Do you think National should work with NZ First” being coincidental.

So is Newshub displaying the Election transparency and honesty Ardern has appealed for?
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February 10, 2020 8:15am
- calendar girl
  
  Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
  I’m not particularly impressed by Simon Bridges’ ruling out working with NZ First after the 2020 General Election.
  
  Apart from Bridges’ announcement being (arguably) premature, I consider that it would have been more meaningful if National had announced that it would not work with NZ First if Winston Peters remained in any form of NZF leadership function.
  
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  February 10, 2020 8:54am
  - Captain Mainwaring
    
    That’s a superfluous argument cg, because without Winnie NZF would cease to exist.
    
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    February 10, 2020 9:06am
    - calendar girl
      
      Very soon, yes, but not before this year’s General Election. Targeting Peters by name would signal to NZF voters that National would not preclude a future coalition arrangement with NZF after Peters has finally departed its ranks.
      
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      February 10, 2020 9:26am
      - alloytoo
        
        That would be virtue signaling.
        
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        February 10, 2020 10:49am
      - Two fish and a scoop thanks Cindy
        
        Jones.
        Mark.
        Martin.
        
        Oxygen thieves the lot of them. Bridges done good, but I do wonder if this was the opportunity of maximum benefit.
        
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        February 10, 2020 11:10am
  - NoCash
    
    Or he could have simply said he wouldn’t work with Winston Peters period, and leave the door open.
    
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    February 10, 2020 9:16am
    - kaykaybee
      
      The resentment towards National from the rest of the caucus is shared by the other MPs. In Martin’s case, it is well known and regularly exhibited that she is ‘more Labour than Labour’.
      
      They hated National so much that they actuallymade a pact with grossly inexperienced, ideological Socialists/ a bunch of fringe leftist Marxists and conspiracy theorist Greens when we had an economy thriving, social measures being addressed and infrastructure on a huge scale pending. Their hatred blinded them to rationale. Now, it’s starting to look there are a lot of unlikely irons in the Kia Kaha Northland fire.
      
      Watch this space.
      
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      February 10, 2020 11:50am
  - Tony Stuart
    
    I considered that originally, but I don’t want to see National tethered to Shane Jones, Tracey Martin, Ron Mark and the dwarf-tossing Clayton Mitchell either. Parliament would be a far better place if NZF was no longer there.
    
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    February 10, 2020 11:16am
    - JackRabbit
      
      “Parliament would be a far better place if NZF was no longer there.”
      
      The party needs to be scuttled or renamed to NZL (New Zealand Last.)
      
      When in the history of NZFirst, has New Zealand ever been put first? If NZF put New Zealand first, the Jones slush fund would have enough had a maximum of $5 in it – the amount needed for Jones to buy a slushie at the local dairy on his way out of politics, after being fired for bribing voters.
      
      And if NZF put New Zealand first, Winston would have opposed Stuart, sorry Andrew Little in committing funds to go into Pike River. How does NZ benefit from spending tens of millions to go back into the mine and either find nothing of interest or some made up story that blames National? Sure as hell, no-one is going to point the finger at the miners themselves. There is no political mileage in that.
      
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      February 10, 2020 1:51pm
- Paulus
  
  Assume the results were moderated by Tova O’Brian ?
  
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  February 10, 2020 1:17pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Background material about that “record high temperature” on the Antarctic Peninsula
(Comments are worth reading )

https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2020/02/09/its-t-shirt-weather-in-antarctica/
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February 10, 2020 8:17am
- JackRabbit
  
  Thanks Maggy
  
  A case of where the actual specifics contradict the MSM generalities.
  
  It would appear that the fruit season must have come to an abrupt end, so Cherry Pickers were forced to move from the Orchards and find work in Media.
  
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  February 10, 2020 8:38am
- freethinker
  
  I do wonder Maggy if the time gap between highs coincides with sunspot activity?
  
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  February 10, 2020 9:49am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    The high temperature at Esperanza Base is a short-lived local affair… lasting for only a few hours at the most … It is related to an atmospheric/wind effect.
    
    Here’s a paper on one of the previous events there:
    Foehn Event Triggered by an Atmospheric River Underlies Record‐Setting Temperature Along Continental Antarctica
    https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/2017JD027796
    
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    February 10, 2020 7:17pm
- rightoverlabour
  
  Dear Maggy – Typical from those who have no idea about data, statistics or anything around the scientific method. Yet we get harangued and hassled by trolls who at best know how to cut and paste and don’t have an original thought of their own. This blog flows so much better without those interjections….
  
  Thanks for posting this. Cheers
  
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  February 10, 2020 6:02pm
Happychappy

Be aware as the Greens push for most powerful labour laws as Government negotiates on fair play agreements.
Green Party workplace relations spokesperson Jan Logie says the Party will be pushing for the strongest fair play agreement measures as the Government negotiates between themselves.
Work place relations Minister Iain Lee’s Galloway is now negotiating the final design on the bargaining regime with NZ First and the Greens with business representatives having concerns on the Governments findings.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/119360655/greens-push-for-most-powerful-labour-law-as-government-negotiates-on-fair-pay-agreements
This is a Minister that gave Czech drug smuggler Karel Sroubek residency and now after it has been rescinded can’t be honest or up front with the on what will be the end result, so this will not end good for Business in NZ with his track record in other industrial disputes.
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February 10, 2020 8:18am
- Prince
  
  Greens and Labour scrapping over the Union vote (and money).
  
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  February 10, 2020 9:14am
  - RW Capitalist
    
    You mean they won’t be queuing up at Kim Dot Com’s place, this time.
    
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    February 10, 2020 10:00am
tedbear

Time for a reality check about this planet we’re on.
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8znei

Make the video part of everyone’s education.
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February 10, 2020 8:24am
- Charmaine Hawke
  
  George at his absolute best but it also reminds us the Green’s haven’t changed the script they have just decided to shout louder.
  
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  February 10, 2020 9:43am
  - RW Capitalist
    
    “……….have just decided to shout louder.”
    emitting even more CO2?
    
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    February 10, 2020 10:01am
Maggy Wassilieff

Overlooked by the MSM… Greenland has just set its lowest temperature

https://www.iceagenow.info/coldest-temperature-ever-recorded-in-greenland/
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February 10, 2020 8:25am
- JackRabbit
  
  There will be an increase in Health funding as Pharmaceuticals rush to find a cure for the Lacunar Amnesia outbreak in the MSM.
  
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  February 10, 2020 8:40am
- rightoverlabour
  
  Tony Heller has this on that claim on Antarctica’s warmest temperature
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWlBiih1p9Y
  
  He references this article as well.
  
  https://www.forbes.com/sites/trevornace/2018/06/28/its-almost-like-another-planet-coldest-temperature-on-earth-recorded-in-antarctica/#1b9d90b44054
  
  Remember that warmist have insisted that the poles will warm the most in any warming scenario. Looks like the cool the most too.
  
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  February 10, 2020 8:13pm
hullkiwi

Questions from someone who only passed School Certificate science.

Why do global climate alarmists always talk about the internal combustion engines of vehicles emitting CO2, when they don’t, they emit CO? I heard Shaw on Friday speaking of cars emitting CO2

Their problem seems to be the major contributors of “greenhouse gases” are living or decaying organisms.

So when are global climate alarmists going to call for worldwide population reduction?
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February 10, 2020 8:27am
- cmm
  
  No they do emit mainly CO2 as well as a bit of CO. A well tuned car should be emiting relatively small amounts of CO.
  
  CO2 is inert (won’t burn) but CO will. It is effectively half-burned fuel.
  
  CO, carbon monoxide, is the major fuel component in wood gas (that stuff they used to power cars etc during the war when they could not get petrol). When you see smoke in a fire suddenly take flame – that’s the CO.
  
  The actual combustion of the carbon in a hydrocarbon is a two-step process:
  
  C + O -> CO; CO + O ->CO2.
  
  However if there is always enough oxygen you can just treat it as a single step of C + O2 -> CO2
  
  If there is insufficient oxygen available then less of the CO + O -> CO2 reactions take place and more CO is emited.
  
  Once CO gets into the atmosphere it should react with oxygen reasonably quickly to form CO2.
  
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  February 10, 2020 8:55am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Complete combustion of hydrocarbons in Oxygen produces CO2 and H2O.
  
  No ICE is 100% efficient… so CO and CH4 can be produced (as well as nitrous and sulfur oxides, depending on the nature of the fuel).
  
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  February 10, 2020 8:57am
- Blackbob
  
  You probably need to revisit your science knowledge then, the CO2 content of ICE exhaust is around 13% (73% nitrogen and the rest is water and trace gases). CO is only emitted, in small amounts, from engines that do not work properly – incomplete combustion process.
  
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  February 10, 2020 8:59am
- Nigel Kearney
  
  Car exhaust is about 95% CO2 and 5% CO.
  
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  February 10, 2020 9:00am
  - UrbanNeocolonialist
    
    CO is about 0.1% of exhaust, Co2 about 13%
    
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    February 10, 2020 9:17pm
- Ed Snack
  
  Hullkiwi, not sure if I am understanding you correctly, but here’s an attempt to explain.
  
  When a hydrocarbon (like Petrol or Diesel) is burnt, the ultimate products are CO2 and H2O in theory. In practice the combustion in an ICE engine is never ideal, and there’s a mixture of other compounds:
  
  NOx from the Nitrogen in the air getting involved in the reactions – something that increases with heat and pressure so Diesels can produce detectable amounts but Petrol engined vihicles produce only very small amounts (that in aggregate can be significant though);
  
  C and CO from incomplete combustion, mostly C (Carbon) in the form of soots in small to extremely small particles. CO does occur but in pretty small quantities. CO is dangerous in an enclosed area though because it accumulates in the body and preferentially displaces O from haemoglobin – hence asphyxiation from same.
  
  You can get some emissions of complex hydrocarbons either from unburnt or partially burnt fuel, but very small amounts unless the engine is badly tuned or possibly running very badly.
  
  Individual vehicles emit very little, but in aggregate the emissions can be significant. NOx emissions for example can cause the sort of orange coloured haze you can see over Auckland or Christchurch on a still day.
  
  But to what I think you are saying about CO and CO2 – vehicles don’t emit enough CO to be a concern except in enclosed spaces, the huge majority of emissions are H2O and CO2. Soot particles can be a health concern especially at certain sizes, and NOx can also be a problem.
  
  All living things emit some CO2, though vegetation emits far more O2 and only a little CO2 while absorbing more CO2. Dead things in the process of decaying emit both CO2 and CH4 depending on how they are being broken down. And what you think is being emitted will depend on what you measure and how you count – for example the largest source of CH4 in NZ is the decay of vegetation in wetlands and wet areas especially Fiordland, but this is simply not counted in most measures. NZ used to have significantly (very significantly) more wetlands before European settlement and the overall emission from NZ of CH4 has probably dropped despite the introduction of ruminants.
  
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  February 10, 2020 9:06am
  - hullkiwi
    
    Ed, thx for the detail. It was my lack of science knowledge. That is why I rarely comment on the issue at all. It was just I heard Shaw on the radio on Friday, and I was aware that cars emit toxic levels of CO, but not that most of the emissions are indeed CO2.
    
    The linkage to living beings is a linkage to humans and our behaviour and if people are really serious about cutting CO2, there would need to be significant population reduction in order to curb our behaviours.
    
    As for decaying matter emitting CO2 & CH4coming previously from drained wetlands, your response as to what is measured highlights how disingenuous the whole climate debate is. Thanks HK.
    
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    February 10, 2020 9:56am
    - GoVege
      
      Listening to yous is more fun than looking up science questions… 🙂
      
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      February 10, 2020 12:55pm
    - Ed Snack
      
      HK, cars do emit some CO some it is rarely significant unless in a confined space; similarly most combustion (Gas Fires, Gas Burners, Wood Fires, etc) are not 100% efficient burners so will emit some CO. You may have seen some deaths attributed to people using combustion heating in a near sealed space and dying from the accumulated CO, same with running an ICE engine in the same sort of space – can be lethal.
      
      Some other gases can do the same, there’s been a few deaths in Rotorua over the decades from accumulated H2S in confined spaces. With H2S the trick apparently is that if you can smell it you’re still OK, but when you stop smelling it the gas has disabled your sense of smell and is on it’s way to disable you. CO is odourless and you’ll just pass out when the concentration in your blood reaches a certain level. Small quantities though aren’t a problem and get cleared from the blood in fresh air.
      
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      February 10, 2020 1:50pm
- freethinker
  
  China may be starting that process now!
  
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  February 10, 2020 9:57am
- rangitoto
  
  Forget CO, CO2 and NOx. By far the most dangerous emission from an ICE powered vehicle is the hydroxylic acid. Our rivers and lakes are contaminated with it and just look what damage it did down south last week. Why isn’t someone doing something about it.
  
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  February 10, 2020 10:35am
  - alloytoo
    
    It’s an inorganic compound. Must be bad.
    
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    February 10, 2020 12:48pm
  - rightoverlabour
    
    And its found in Nuclear reactors! Biggest problem is the number of people who die once immersed in it…. And once it turns to gas it is invisible and has no odor. Truly frightening stuff. 70% of global warming heat absorption is probably attributed to it as well.
    
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    February 10, 2020 6:13pm
    - mikenmildagain
      
      Be much safer if it was swapped out for dihydrogen monoxide
      
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      February 10, 2020 7:00pm
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    Why isn’t someone doing something about it.
    
    Oh, I’m sure someone is planning how we can tax it.
    
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    February 10, 2020 7:22pm
ex-golfer

Edited cross-post from the Poll thread:

Labour would rather govern without NZ First putting a handbrake on their socialist agenda.

So my thinking is that Labour will be signalling strongly to their supporter base that an electorate vote for a Green candidate would be better for their future.

If you listen to Ardern on the AM Show today (no link available yet) she was already talking about people strategically voting in order to form the type of Government they want. Such rhetoric will ramp up strongly.

Without NZ First, Labour/Greens could form a government on their own. And it will be a disaster for the country – which will head for the lofty heights of Venezuela before we know it.

National NEEDS to find more support while at the same time not taking up ACT votes.

Its going to be a bumpy ride.
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February 10, 2020 8:31am
- curry4me
  
  Endorsing the New Conservatives would be a step in the right direction. Two sane potential partners is better than one.
  
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  February 10, 2020 8:59am
  - ex-golfer
    
    Splitting the vote on the Right does not gain any ground and will simply help the status quo (and look what happened last time people voted in protest against National).
    
    National will remain the largest party in Parliament – but without friends who can stand on their own feet and establish enough electoral support to get into Parliament, they are high and dry on the opposition benches.
    
    If you want a change of Government, two ticks BLUE.
    
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    February 10, 2020 9:10am
    - Ruawai
      
      Any votes for a party other than National, Labour, Act or Greens and maybe NZF are a wasted vote. If you want your vote to count you need to vote for a party that has a chance of either winning a seat or getting over 5%.
      
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      February 10, 2020 9:45am
      - JackRabbit
        
        Since greens are polling at only 5.6%, and there are no electorate appointed MPs, what would be required for 0.7% of Greens to jump ship?
        
        Act to claim their policies are more green than the Green Party as they probably are.?
        
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        February 10, 2020 10:03am
      - GoVege
        
        I’ll be jumping ship if Greens don’t do something about improving our treatment of our animals.
        Stopping the mass slaughter of several million day old baby chicks annually for starters.
        Stopping tearing baby calves from their mums and slaughtering them at a few days old.
        All unnecessary as there ARE humane alternatives.
        
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        February 10, 2020 12:59pm
      - Raphael
        
        @JackRabbit the Greens normally drop a point in an actual election, and WinnieFirst normally gains a point.
        using the latest poll that would result in both parties being out.
        
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        February 10, 2020 1:33pm
    - KevO'Brien
      
      ☑️☑️Rout2020☑️☑️
      
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      February 10, 2020 10:20am
    - freethinker
      
      Ex Golfer – Two tick blue excludes the very support parties you want – perhaps a strategic Electorate vote National,Party vote ACT would result in an effective support partner for National?
      
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      February 10, 2020 10:31am
      - greybeard
        
        No point in taking a party vote from National to give to ACT: what ACT needs are party votes from those who previously gave them to Labour or Greens or NZF.
        
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        February 10, 2020 11:02am
    - Tony Stuart
      
      As I have said on a number of occasions, if you seriously want to change the government, give your party vote to National, even if you have to hold your nose to do so.
      
      The New Conservatives will not make 5%, and I can’t see National gifting them an electorate. They are a completely unknown quantity. The only other tactical vote helpful to National would be for Green voters more concerned with actual Green issues and not a march left towards socialism to give their party votes to Sustainable NZ, and split the Green vote. I certainly wouldn’t pin my hopes on that however.
      
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      February 10, 2020 11:21am
    - curry4me
      
      They need a partner. The best source of same is from the list.
      
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      February 10, 2020 2:18pm
  - Colville
    
    Every vote for NC is a wasted vote.
    
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    February 10, 2020 10:36am
- MCos
  
  Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
  “Without NZ First, Labour/Greens could form a government on their own. And it will be a disaster for the country – which will head for the lofty heights of Venezuela before we know it.”
  
  Get a grip.
  
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  February 10, 2020 9:03am
  - Tall Man
    
    “Get a grip”…..
    
    Let’s assume ardern managed to get her way over the past two years.
    
    Capital Gains Tax. Well that’ll help the economy.
    
    Ihumatao repurchased with government money opening the way for maori to start occupying and contesting private land. That’ll be good for morale.
    
    Complete abandonment of new road construction throughout New Zealand, not just the South Island.
    
    Increased taxation to allow for more “investment” in her future with the UN.
    
    The complete abandonment of the TPP rather than the irrelevant CPTPP….
    
    The further “criminalisation” of landlords plus “restrictions” to be placed on how we choose to use our own property.
    
    It will not take long for ardern and the rest of the loonies to destroy what was once a fantastic country.
    
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    February 10, 2020 10:14am
- Prince
  
  If the Greens stay below 6%, some their support may bleed to labour as voters fret about their vote being wasted.
  
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  February 10, 2020 9:17am
- Ruawai
  
  Labour will be pushing for some of their voters to vote green to ensure greens get over 5% as if greens get below 5% there votes are distributed pro-rata to all other parties over 5% of holding a seat.
  
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  February 10, 2020 9:49am
  - rockape
    
    I dont think Labour have the votes to do that. There certainly isnt a seat winnable by the Greens.
    
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    February 10, 2020 10:10am
- bruceavon
  
  This poll is not good news. If I was a betting man you would say a change if government is unlikely based on this. National / ACT need to about 3 points higher. With NZF on 3.6% that’s with in striking distance considering how well Peters campaigns and picks up votes close to an election. And if the figures look like this one month out, expect right voters to freak out and change to NZF out of fear for a Labour/green worst case government. Long way to go, but National really have to do much better than this.
  
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  February 10, 2020 10:23am
  - hullkiwi
    
    Bruce, you have repeated a myth. Generally, Peters loses votes.
    
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    February 10, 2020 11:24am
    - bruceavon
      
      Ok. Thanks. The article about this said they poll badly in between elections. I am surprised he is on 3.6%. I still think that is close enough to worry. especially if it looks close and we are face with a green/labour government.
      
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      February 10, 2020 12:59pm
  - rockape
    
    Last election Feb NZ First was polling 11% on CB he got 7.2 on election night. How is that picking up votes close to the election?
    The Greens dropped even more between Feb and election night 2017.
    
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    February 10, 2020 11:39am
- hullkiwi
  
  Ex-golfer. There are a few matters you are missing. These are:
  
  1. Labour and Greens have a consistent vote level of circa 40% to 43% between them. The party vote level just fluctuates between them.
  2. Of the votes Labour receives it is the votes that move between Green and Labour that are crucial.
  3. National needs to pick up soft swing votes from Labour and eliminate NZF – reducing it to 2.5%, which could happen if it is seen NZF has no future and recent disclosures continue.
  4. The key fight this year is Ohariu.
  The Conservative Party vote was 4% in 2014, & this went to NZF in 2017. NZF lost votes to both Labour and National in 2017.
  5. National’s targets must be:
  – vote share at 45.5% to 46%;
  – Ohariu;
  – getting NZF down to 3% or lower;
  – taking 1.5% to 2.5% of the vote of Labour
  
  Score all of the above and National/Act are in government.
  
  ACT need to target NZF in the provincial areas. The only other help ACT can help National is by winning another current National electorate and helping National to maintain it’s current popular vote percentage.
  
  As others have said, at the moment the best strategy is 2 votes BLUE!
  
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  February 10, 2020 10:39am
  - rockape
    
    1% of the Greens current polling would be nice too!
    
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    February 10, 2020 11:41am
Simon

Trump Admin spending $100 million and sending massive supplies to assist with China against coronavirus.

The CCP are vile turds but the people of China are suffering. NZ should do what it can to help.
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February 10, 2020 8:31am
- cmm
  
  Hugzilla is gonna send some buzzy bees to Tokyo!
  
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  February 10, 2020 8:56am
- freethinker
  
  Simon – Trump is right as China has already without pressure offered a 50% reduction in tariffs on some US exports, this could and should be the start of pragmatic reproachment between China and the rest of the world.
  
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  February 10, 2020 10:36am
Scott

The unexpected surprises in elections around the world gives us pause to make us wonder about the accuracy and usefulness of polling? Donald Trump is the premier example. Brexit was a huge surprise to the polling agencies as was the election of Scott Morrison in Australia.

Now we see that Joe Biden, the Democrat frontrunner in all the polling, has collapsed. When it came to actual voters in Iowa he came fourth! Now the polling in new Hampshire and the facts on the ground appeared to show that he will be fourth again??

There seems to be a disconnect between what people say at the polls and what they actually do in the ballot box? Or there could be bias among the polling companies towards liberal and leftist and socialist candidates?

Whatever the reason, polling appears to be a bust. When it comes to predicting elections you might as well just ask your taxi driver. 🙂
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February 10, 2020 8:31am
- Prince
  
  I suspect there is a growing ‘silent vote’ in NZ, who will make their feelings known in the ballot box only.
  
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  February 10, 2020 9:18am
  - greybeard
    
    Oh yes.
    And it can’t come soon enough.
    
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    February 10, 2020 6:35pm
- Batman
  
  Scott this has been covered before. I realise you want to keep plugging this narrative that all polling is wrong but I’m sorry, it isn’t.
  
  The two examples you cite were within the margin of error. The US elections are a tricky case because a few (77,000) votes difference in a few key states can cause an outsize swing in the electoral college. Brexit was a line call and polling can never truly be 100% accurate in such close contests.
  
  Now, on to Biden:
  Biden was always going to do worse in Iowa and NH than other candidates. His strength will be in the more diverse states, and vice versa, Sanders will do worse in those places.
  
  The polling to date has been mostly National and some state level polling. You can’t ever predict the future with polling, only gain a snapshot of a moment in time.
  
  Heck, Sanders could drop dead tomorrow and then it will be all about the Amy, Pete, and Joe horse race to the convention!
  
  Long story short, no polling isn’t a bust, you just can’t rely on it to be a perfect oracle of the future!
  
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  February 10, 2020 1:22pm
Simon

Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Sir John’s current business activities include a role advising a $200 billion United States corporation on its investments in China

https://www.airnewzealand.co.nz/air-new-zealand-board

Who knew John Keys was a China expert?

He must know about the CCP concentration camp system. He can get word to his mate Xi then.

John Keys “China expert” & Air NZ wanted to keep flying into China.

“China expert.”
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February 10, 2020 8:36am
- Paulus Gnome
  
  Keys every time. You really are a muppet. I apologise to genuine Muppets everywhere for trashing your credibility with this new low addition to your collective.
  
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  February 10, 2020 9:05am
- Captain Mainwaring
  
  Who the hell is ‘John Keys’?
  
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  February 10, 2020 9:08am
  - ex-golfer
    
    He’s a British organist:
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Keys_(organist)
    
    Simon must be a fan of organ music.
    … [del -mod.]
    
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    February 10, 2020 9:23am
  - Bell-47
    
    Yes, as demonstrated by many still suffering from acute KDS, they are unable to correctly spell and pronounce his 3 letter surname.
    
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    February 10, 2020 9:46am
- JackRabbit
  
  No doubt Sir John Key will know 1000% more then Jacinda, as Jacinda does not even know the correct country (Japan). And she has now followed up Smoa with Tonga.
  
  I’m sure you’ve heard of the saying the ball’s not even in the court, however in this instance Jacinda is in the wrong stadium.
  
  She is one stadium short of a tennis match.
  
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  February 10, 2020 9:14am
  - Stephieboy2
    
    Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
    Jack Rabbit,
    
    “She is one stadium short of a tennis match.” ??
    
    Evidently, the latest newshub polling doesn appear to reflect that.
    
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    February 10, 2020 10:34am
    - alloytoo
      
      Is English your first language?
      
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      February 10, 2020 11:12am
    - Two fish and a scoop thanks Cindy
      
      Shhhhhh. Grown ups talking.
      
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      February 10, 2020 11:56am
- Stephieboy2
  
  Simon,I think his nine years as PM alone would give him some very important expereinces and lessons in dealing with China both diplomatically and economically.
  
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  February 10, 2020 10:31am
  - Simon
    
    “Simon,I think his nine years as PM alone would give him some very important expereinces and lessons in dealing with China both diplomatically and economically.”
    
    Lol.
    
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    February 10, 2020 10:45am
- Michael NZ
  
  Why the 35 downticks, all he has said is true and correct.
  
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  February 10, 2020 12:32pm
  - Two fish and a scoop thanks Cindy
    
    No its not. John Keys is not a GNZM, nor is he the former Prime Minister.
    
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    February 10, 2020 2:10pm
curry4me

If President Trump did this, it’s be ‘sexist’, and ‘homophobic’.
https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/colorful-lights-and-decorative-brick-biden-mocks-buttigieg/
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February 10, 2020 8:51am
- Tony Stuart
  
  I guess so, but in terms of an anti-Mayor Pete advert, it’s an absolute cracker!
  
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  February 10, 2020 12:32pm
  - curry4me
    
    Yes, it does a good job of blowing him out of the water.
    
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    February 10, 2020 2:27pm
curry4me

It looks like the Fourth Reich could lose another member soon. Honey, I shrunk the Reich. https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/774503/Nexit-more-than-half-Dutch-voters-follow-Brexit-leave-EU-Wilder
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February 10, 2020 8:53am
- John Warren
  
  That’s a bit old, curry old chap. If there had been any meat in it we’d surely have heard more in the intervening 3 years.
  
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  February 10, 2020 9:18am
  - curry4me
    
    This stuff takes a while, and the fact of Brexit will be a boost to other wanna be leavers.
    
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    February 10, 2020 2:28pm
curry4me

Long term this should reduce poverty and crime if it’s successful.
https://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2020/02/06/brazil-bolsonaro-launches-anti-sex-campaign-aimed-at-reducing-teen-pregnancy/
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February 10, 2020 8:54am
Simon

Joe Biden what an utter mess. And the Russian truthers called this neolib globalist a “political rival” to Trump.

Biden just a corrupt neolib hanging out for a pay out from Netflix.
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February 10, 2020 8:54am
- Ed Snack
  
  I see that Joe just called a potential voter who asked how he could recover from Iowa a “lying, dog-faced, pony soldier”, not really encouraging them to vote for him.
  
  I do think that Joe’s recent spate of angry statements to questions is a classic case of “labile emotions” which is a definitive marker for Alzheimers. Joe really does need to retire now and spend what time he has left in a supportive environment – he’s toast as a candidate and well past his “best by” date. It’s actually a little sad to see his degradation continue.
  
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  February 10, 2020 9:56am
  - Batman
    
    I do think that Donald’s recent spate of angry statements to questions is a classic case of “labile emotions” which is a definitive marker for Alzheimers. Donald really does need to retire now and spend what time he has left in a supportive environment – he’s toast as a President and well past his “best by” date. It’s actually a little sad to see his degradation continue.
    
    Fixed it for ya! ?
    
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    February 10, 2020 1:44pm
    - Ed Snack
      
      At least Trump has something to be angry about, and some things to celebrate too.
      
      But honestly, calling a potential voter a “lying, dog-faced, pony soldier” because they asked how Joe planned to recover from a 4th place finish in Iowa is counter-productive at best. And it is not the only case of Joe getting angry in what appear to be quite ordinary circumstances. And I don’t think you know what you are talking about, Trump’s not showing those irrational little outbursts that I refer to as markers. That is the marker – little normal interactions that generate hostility out of apparently nowhere – it is the sign that the person is losing their sense of social balance and doesn’t understand why. I am unfortunate enough to have seen it in an elderly close relative who did indeed get diagnosed and ultimately succumb to Alzheimers. Small relatively inconsequential question and the reaction is rude and inappropriate – because they don’t really understand what you mean and become very defensive
      
      I really do think that he is suffering and should seriously consider retiring for his own health.
      
      He was unlikely to win Iowa although the timing of the impeachment trial kept all but Pete out of Iowa for a couple of weeks that Joe could have used to gain some traction. That he fell below Warren though is, for him, a bad sign. The latest polls in NH look pretty bad as well. He wasn’t that likely to win IA and NH but a strong second or third would have seen him in a much stronger position. A distant 4th and another 4th or 5th placing is bad, and even now the polls in SC are not running his way. He’s still first but his lead has dropped substantially – primarily to Bernie. But the candidate with momentum is Pete, at least for now.
      
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      February 10, 2020 2:09pm
Swifty

“Logie said…….there was no evidence FPAs would dampen productivity.”

Jan Logie is either a fool and out of her depth or a liar:

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/119360655/greens-push-for-most-powerful-labour-law-as-government-negotiates-on-fair-pay-agreements

She wants these (Orwellian-named) ‘Fair Pay’ agreements, as she knows they will lift union bargaining power in order to extract from employers higher wages.

Increasing wages (inputs) without increasing outputs or outcomes will, by definition, cause productivity to fall. Inevitably, all other things being equal, this will result in employers looking to labour substitutes, lower hours, less staff, lower employment demand and job losses.

For heavens sake we’ve just seen as a country this government hammer landlords in the last two years and now we’re witnessing lower numbers of rentals available, rents shooting up, increasing homelessness, housing waiting lists skyrocketing and accommodation supplements doubling.

To say these things are unrelated in mind-mindbogglingly naive or willfully untruthful.

To now say that mechanisms to increase union power in order to lift wages will have no effect on jobs is one of the more damnable comments I’ve seen in recent NZ history.

If this goes ahead and unemployment skyrockets will Jan Logie admit she caused this? Or will she try to lie her way out of it as Ardern and Robertson have done with the current housing issue?
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February 10, 2020 9:08am
- Tall Man
  
  Having been both a “worker” and an employer over the years I have always believed in a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work.
  
  Recently a client decided to reduce an employee’s hourly rate as he found he wasn’t keeping his side of the bargain. Our client gave him the choice, accept the lower rate or look elsewhere.
  
  He accepted the lower rate but tried to lift his game to get back to the better rate.
  
  Our low productivity is the key to the whole issue and a better educated workforce will “produce” better.
  
  Welfare based thought is ruining our country and our education system is not helping.
  
  Scandinavia is often quoted as the “place to be” yet few actually look at the “unemployment” welfare of most of these countries. For perpetual “non workers” they are no where near as generous as ours plus the education levels achieved easily surpass ours.
  
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  February 10, 2020 9:39am
  - Bell-47
    
    As a current employer, I pay all of my staff well above the going rate. I have zero staff churn and a very loyal workforce. I provide a flexible working week where staff can come and go as they please provided 40 hours are done. When we have extra work and a deadline, staff work extra hours without me having to ask and nor do I pay overtime. Granted, it’s not for everyone and some people will take the piss but I don’t have that problem.
    
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    February 10, 2020 10:22am
    - Swifty
      
      And that is your choice.
      
      Just as it should be the choice of any employer to offer a wage and the choice of any person to accept or reject it.
      
      What the FPA intends doing though is removing choice. Employers will no longer be able to set their own wage rates, rather they will be forced under threat of the law to pay rates the government and unions have determined.
      
      It is a scandalous racket – using the law to feather union nests in return for their electoral support.
      
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      February 10, 2020 10:27am
      - Bell-47
        
        Agreed Swifty. If EVER a union rep dared to darken my/our doorway they would be met with an immediate threat of trespass….law or no law, period.
        
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        February 10, 2020 11:04am
  - hullkiwi
    
    Tall Man a “Fair day’s pay for a Fair Day’s work” is and always has been the correct approach. The issue that has developed is what is a fair day’s pay? This is because many jobs are now paid at significantly lower rates relative to average pay than a generation ago, thus meaning people now rely on benefits (eg WFF) to supplement take home pay. This was not the case (or at least to the same extent in pre-1970).
    The issue has arisen because:
    1. Jacinda’s transformation in NZ has been happening since the end of the 2 World Wars, with women becoming a significant proportion of the paid workforce – i.e a circa 100% increase in people in paid employment,;
    2. The move from a social security safety net to welfare being a means of income support (e.g. WFF);
    3. Changes in working conditions including – minimum wage, contracts employment act, Longer shop trading hours.
    All of these factors have served to transform NZ including how much we earn for a fair day’s work and whether we are dependent on benefits for income support.
    
    The honest answer is the government alone cannot fix the problems that are arising.
    
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    February 10, 2020 11:04am
Fletch

So, it turns out that a teenage Pete Buttigieg won a national essay contest in which he praised Bernie Sanders and Sanders’s Socialism. LOL. You couldn’t make this stuff up.

https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/education/profile-in-courage-essay-contest/past-winning-essays/2000-winning-essay-by-peter-buttigieg

Meanwhile at the last Democrat debate, Joe Biden asked the question if everyone else were OK with a Socialist like Bernie being the Democrat nominee, and no one objected. Also, when asked, none of the candidates said they would have gone after Soleimani.
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February 10, 2020 9:31am
- cmm
  
  Adults should be judged by what they did as a teen.
  
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  February 10, 2020 9:46am
  - cmm
    
    FFS
    
    I meant to say “Adults should NOT be judged by what they did as a teen.”
    
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    February 10, 2020 10:11am
    - mikenmildagain
      
      Fletch disagrees.
      
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      February 10, 2020 10:18am
      - cmm
        
        Perhaps Fletch needs to look in the mirror then.
        
        If I had daughters and one came home dragging teenage me behind her I’d kick that shit down the street and send her to a convent.
        
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        February 10, 2020 10:29am
      - Ed Snack
        
        But you know the correct formulation don’t you mikey. It matters enormously if the person is on the right or perceived to be so – like Justice Kavanaugh and his beer drinking, but if at the same age one wore blackface and/or a KKK robe it is fine ONLY if you are on the left (Ralph Northam) – right ?
        
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        February 10, 2020 2:14pm
  - Fletch
    
    Well the Democrats sure made a big deal out of what Kavanaugh did in high school. They set the precedent. I guess they don’t like it when the same is applied to their candidates?
    
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    February 10, 2020 10:56am
    - mikenmildagain
      
      Oh, was Buttigieg credibly accused of a sexual assault? Or did he just write an essay about socialism?
      
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      February 10, 2020 1:05pm
      - Two fish and a scoop thanks Cindy
        
        The credible story where everyone the plaintiff named as a witness either recanted or straight up denied it?
        
        Your definition of credible leaves a lot to be desired
        
        #MikenmildBelievesAllMatressGirls
        
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        February 10, 2020 1:30pm
      - Ed Snack
        
        I think your idea of “credibly” is slightly awry. Someone with a story that changes and gets more vague when the details look like upsetting the narrative, and 2 or 3 cited “witnesses” claim zero knowledge.
        
        It looked and sounded like a particularly nasty setup job with the prime “witness” setup to lie for money.
        
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        February 10, 2020 2:17pm
  - Two fish and a scoop thanks Cindy
    
    “Past behaviour is the best indicator of future behaviour”
    
    6 1
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    February 10, 2020 12:33pm
Fletch

Adam Sandlers hilarious speech on his winning Best Male Lead at the Film Independent Spirit Awards.
?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihalG3Rw_QA
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February 10, 2020 9:41am
- Bell-47
  
  It’s a great movie BTW. Enjoyed seeing Sandler in a different role. None of is nauseating, slapstick, gutter humour.. underneath it all it seems he is actually quite a good actor. 4.5 stars for Uncut Gems IMHO.
  
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  February 10, 2020 10:30am
Tall Man

[Thank you for your opinion – mods. Complaints can be addressed, as you have suggested, to the boss. Links at the bottom of the blog page.]
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February 10, 2020 9:51am
- Tall Man
  
  [Thank you – mods]
  
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  February 10, 2020 10:17am
trout

The liberal elite luvvies (and Jacinda fans) have not reacted well to RNZ taking away their beloved fee free (and commercial free) Concert Program. Diversity is important ( the FM band is going to be used for a ‘younger’ – read polynesian audience), but diversity is for ‘other people’.
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February 10, 2020 10:05am
- Stephieboy2
  
  trout, you don’t make sense, It could be said that the PM is reading public feelings and opinion very well on the proposed to Conert FM.
  
  2 31
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  February 10, 2020 10:27am
  - Tony Stuart
    
    It could also be said that she is only doing that because Helen Clark has started a campaign to “save” Concert FM.
    
    19 1
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    February 10, 2020 12:34pm
    - Paulus Gnome
      
      The Concert programme was never under threat.
      
      Adhern will ride in on a rainbow on her white unicorn and declare a ‘Captains call’ and the Concert programme will be retained where it is!
      
      The people will all shout ‘hurrah to our saviour’ and those who have swallowed this bs will vote labour!
      
      We have been played peeps, very amauterishly but played all the same.
      
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      February 10, 2020 2:42pm
mikenmildagain

Yesterday, I posted a picure of President Trump:
https://twitter.com/photowhitehouse/status/1225909811851780096/photo/1
The president has confirmed that this was photoshopped to make him look bad. I’d like to apologise to all his fans who were upset.
4 25
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February 10, 2020 10:22am
- Garbageman
  
  Yawn another day where the trolling child treats KB like a Delhi belly baby without nappies on, how we all look forward to another day another 100 posts of meaningless dodo splatter from Mike – such fun
  
  22 3
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  February 10, 2020 10:50am
- oob
  
  The absolute state of that orange freak.
  
  Protip:
  
  If you’re a Trump fan you’re a moron. If you’re a Kiwi and a Trump fan you’re a treasonous moron.
  
  6 25
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  February 10, 2020 11:31am
  - Garbageman
    
    What if you dont really care about American politics but love the way the bad orange man treats the lowlife duplicitous media what kind of moron does that make ?
    
    15 3
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    February 10, 2020 12:15pm
    - oob
      
      In that case you ought to balance your enjoyment of that against the value of the international rules-based system to a small country such as NZ.
      
      5 9
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      February 10, 2020 12:52pm
      - Ed Snack
        
        Oh there there diddums. There is medication for your mental illness (TDS) you know.
        
        8 6
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        February 10, 2020 2:19pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Concern noted
  
  3 2
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  February 10, 2020 5:59pm
cmm

I see “I’m the news” Hilary Barry is scrambling for attention again.

No, not another penis cake (someone really needs to show here what a penis actually looks like). This time she is baring almost all! No, not really.

Perhaps, sweetie, you were just good at your job you wouldn’t need to make all these desperate grabs for the limelight.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=12307102
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February 10, 2020 10:25am
- Stephieboy2
  
  Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
  cmm, now why most people could be conceivably be interested in that tita tatter.
  
  Seek something more substantial like Bolsonaro ‘streatment of Brazils indigenous population.
  
  XINGU INDIGENOUS PARK, Brazil (Reuters) – Brazilian indigenous leaders began a four-day tribal gathering in the Amazon on Tuesday to plan their opposition to far-right President Jair Bolsonaro’s push to open their reservations for commercial mining and agriculture.
  
  https://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-indigenous/amazon-tribes-gather-to-plan-resistance-to-brazil-government-idUSKBN1ZD2HQhttps://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-indigenous/amazon-tribes-gather-to-plan-resistance-to-brazil-government-idUSKBN1ZD2HQ
  
  h
  
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  February 10, 2020 10:41am
  - cmm
    
    Does this follow on from the crap you wrote yesterday?
    Are they killing the elephants in Chile?
    
    19 1
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    February 10, 2020 11:10am
- Garbageman
  
  Its never ending isn’t it these clowns constantly trying to make the news about themselves they really do live in a vacuum sealed media bubble where they think 99% of Kiwis give a flying rat’s patootie about them or their latest look at me stunt
  
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  February 10, 2020 10:54am
- Bobba Fret
  
  I used to really like Hilary Barry when she was Paul Henry’s side kick and also as a news reader. I also liked her when she was on the radio (more FM with Kim and Corbett).
  I never watch her any more.
  
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  February 10, 2020 11:38am
  - Two fish and a scoop thanks Cindy
    
    With few exceptions, the faces on the box hit their expiry when:
    -They become ‘household names’
    -They think their job is to ‘influence’
    -They think their opinions are ‘news’
    
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    February 10, 2020 12:39pm
Hugh Pavletich

David Chaston of Interest Co NZ perspective this morning on the coronavirus issue …

China losing virus battles; faulty tests and panic buying; China’s economic response weak; impact locally underestimated; US & Canadian payrolls rise; rains save eastern Australia; UST 10yr yield at 1.58%; oil down and gold up; NZ$1 = 64 USc; TWI-5 = 69.8

https://www.interest.co.nz/news/103543/china-losing-virus-battles-faulty-tests-and-panic-buying-chinas-economic-response-weak

… And first up today, there was another very large jump in the official tally of coronavirus confirmed victims and deaths yesterday, reaching 37,600 and 814 respectively. We are heading for a doubling in a week. (On February 4, the total confirmed was 20,600 with 426 deaths.) Now more people have now died from the 2020 coronavirus in three weeks than the 2003 SARS (774) in nine months.

And infection rates are now rising fast in economically vital Chinese coastal cities, far from the outbreak’s epicenter, raising uncertainty over how many manufacturers will be able to resume production this week. Their Government is eyeing further delays is restarting their economy after the Spring Festival extended break. One new issue is revealing itself – the test they are using produces high levels of false negative results.

And in Hong Kong, with memories of SARS still around, panic hoarding of vital supplies is causing huge problem in the City. They are bracing for a surge in cases just like across the border.

Back in China, the economic impact of the disaster are becoming apparent. One third of SME’s in a prestigious survey said they can only survive one month of this crisis before declaring bankruptcy. Another third said they could only survive eight week. Official interest rate cuts and instructions to banks to defer loan repayments are just not going to be enough to save most of them. And now experts are calling for rent reductions or rent holidays for businesses.

More locally, Westpac economists are saying we are greatly underestimating the likely economic impact in Australia (and New Zealand).
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February 10, 2020 10:32am
peterwn

Bob Jones defamation case (judge only – no jury) against Renae Maihi starts in court today. Is her ‘strip Bob’s knighthood’ petition still up? – I might just sign it.
I think Bob is shooting himself in the foot with this lawsuit, while he might ‘feel good’ if he wins it, he is simply damaging his public relations either way.
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February 10, 2020 11:06am
- Libertarians are right
  
  I disagree. He’s going for costs only and is doing it purely to set a precedent.
  He is sick of people using the label of racist as a weapon and wants it stopped, as do I.
  Most Kiwis I know are sick of labels being used against people so I don’t think this will hurt his reputation.
  I think her “additional evidence” will actually hurt her case as well as he will be able to show evidence of a long history of satire that isn’t backed up by actual racist actions. Satire is not illegal and his point was obvious – that Waitangi day has become a grievance industry and has little value any more. You can disagree with his point but that doesn’t make it racist.
  He deserves his knighthood for “speaking truth to power” which ironically, Leftists love to pretend they’re doing.
  
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  February 10, 2020 11:29am
  - Nigel Kearney
    
    Defamation should be limited to false factual assertions, not insults and opinions. Calling him ‘racist’ is a conclusion she was entitled to draw. People can decide for themselves if the facts justify that conclusion.
    
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    February 10, 2020 12:57pm
    - GoVege
      
      Exactly, Nigel.
      I thought right wingers were all for free speech.
      
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      February 10, 2020 1:05pm
      - mikenmildagain
        
        Bob is entitled to seek redress for his hurt fee-fees.
        
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        February 10, 2020 2:36pm
    - Libertarians are right
      
      I agree completely. However, that’s not what she did. She called him Racist AND actively attempted to punish him and destroy his reputation because he held different views to him and based it on her claim that he is racist. While it’s ok to think someone’s a racist, attempting to publicly destroy them over it could come under the banner of defamation. It needs to be an honestly held belief and I assume Bob will argue that it’s not honest, that it’s based on an attempt to silence him rather than actual racism. It will be very interesting to see how it’s fought in court.
      
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      February 10, 2020 1:47pm
  - curry4me
    
    Lawfare has worked well for the left. Especially in the US. There’s no reason why the good guys can’t use it. Our libel laws lend themselves to that approach.
    
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    February 10, 2020 2:37pm
  - Paulus Gnome
    
    Your post surprises me peterwn, did not see that as you from what I read.
    
    3 1
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    February 10, 2020 2:47pm
  - peterwn
    
    If he is not seeking damages he should not be wasting court time (which is heavily subsidised by the taxpayer). I wonder if Renae’s lawyer made Bob’s lawyer a ‘Calderbank’ offer of a few grand then argue that $10 damages would be quite sufficient. If damages less than $1000 were awarded then Bob would have to meet part of Renae’s costs. That is just a dream, though.
    Defamation proceedings are there to deal with allegedly damaged reputations, not to make a point or resolve scientific issues (Chiropractors v Singh (UK) re latter instance).
    
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    February 10, 2020 3:03pm
Garbageman

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/119359346/bob-jones-defamation-claim-against-renae-maihi-set-for-hearing
Shame he isn’t going for damages as well these clowns need to realise their words & actions have consequences especially if their target has deep pockets & fondness for a scrap
“Arriving at court, Jones was asked by a reporter what he hoped to achieve.
His response: “I’m learning a recipe about a new way to cut carrots is why we’re at court. Bloody stupid question.”
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February 10, 2020 11:13am
- sooty
  
  I would expect Sir Bob to turn up with a top lawyer (read expensive) and that is going to make her weep!
  
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  February 10, 2020 12:50pm
- GoVege
  
  I’m disappointed in Bob Jones for taking these silly young twits to court.
  I thought he was better than that these days.
  
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  February 10, 2020 1:02pm
  - peterwn
    
    Heartily agreed. I hope Bob gets trounced.
    Seems he likes dishing it out but cannot take it. For example calling people ‘scoutmasters’, criticising them for driving Skodas or wearing grey shoes etc.
    
    An American anti-slavery politician years ago copped a rotten egg during a meeting. Instead of getting all hurty and wanting the police or sheriff to act he merely commented that showed the reasons to continue slavery were unsound at the core. Guess which action would have helped better his political career.
    
    2 6
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    February 10, 2020 3:12pm
- mikenmildagain
  
  I can’t see what consequences there were for Jones. Did anyone who did not already consider him to be a racist have a change of mind as a result of the petitioin?
  
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  February 10, 2020 1:08pm
  - Libertarians are right
    
    He lost his NBR job so he definitely can claim consequences. He’s also not asking for monetary compensation.
    
    11 1
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    February 10, 2020 1:49pm
    - mikenmildagain
      
      So even the NBR got tired of his nonsense? Bob’s not getting the message, is he?
      
      1 11
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      February 10, 2020 2:34pm
      - peterwn
        
        He ended up writing for Whaleoil – for a brief period – nuff said. He seems to have cornered himself in an echo chamber. Perhaps the High Court is his last possible communication channel to the world.
        
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        February 10, 2020 3:15pm
      - Captain Mainwaring
        
        He needs to write another book.
        
        4 1
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        February 10, 2020 5:09pm
Garbageman

https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/climate-news/119360650/auckland-water-shortage-residents-urged-to-take-shorter-showers
The stinky super city i trust all KB folk are doing their part for the rest of the great unwashed
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February 10, 2020 11:31am
Hugh Pavletich

NEW ZEALAND … Waikato and Christchurch (2) motorways and urban development ministers initiatives will turbocharge the construction of new affordable housing …

Residential housing growth waits at end of Waikato Expressway … Lawrence Gullery … Stuff New Zealand

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/property/119257352/residential-housing-growth-waits-at-end-of-waikato-expressway?cid=app-iPad

A building boom at the southern end of the Waikato Expressway is expected to shift into high gear when the final sections of highway slot into place, building industry leaders believe. … read more via hyperlink above …
.
.
$500m of new Christchurch motorways six months away (from mid January) … Michael Hayward … Stuff New Zealand

https://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/118282231/500m-of-new-christchurch-motorways-six-months-away

Canterbury motorists may have only six months to wait until two major new motorways are in use.

The northern corridor and the southern motorway, worth almost half a billion dollars combined, are due to finish midway through this year. … read more via hyperlink above …
.
.
… with the political initiatives underway … of the Urban Development National Policy Strategy, the Urban Development Bill and the Infrastructure Funding & Financing Bill …

URBAN DEVELOPMENT MINISTER – HON PHIL TWYFORD

https://www.beehive.govt.nz/portfolio/labour-led-government-2017-2020/urban-development
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February 10, 2020 11:42am
- Tony Stuart
  
  You appear to have missed a large protest at Woodend yesterday Hugh. The protest was because the government has NOT included the Woodend bypass in its recent announcements, and the good folk of North Canterbury aren’t happy about that.
  
  It’s that patronising attitude from Labour that explains why the Waimakiriri electorate, for years held by Mike Moore and Clayton Cosgrove, is now a safe National seat.
  
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  February 10, 2020 12:38pm
  - Hugh Pavletich
    
    Tony …
    
    Thank you for alerting me.
    
    Lets hope the Labour – led government sorts this out with the good folk of Woodend.
    
    Following 15+ years of intense public discussion / debate of these issues, there is now broad political support and agreement on these issues. It is enormously heartening …
    
    How Judith Collins (NZ National Party Housing Spokesperson) has more in common with her arch nemesis, Phil Twyford, than one might be led to believe … Jenee Tibshraeny VIDEO INTERVIEW … Interest Co NZ
    
    https://www.interest.co.nz/personal-finance/103112/how-judith-collins-has-more-common-her-archnemesis-phil-twyford-one-might-be
    
    Infrastructure Funding and Financing Bill – Hon Phil Twyford – First Reading – Video 1
    
    https://vimeo.com/379923683
    
    Government’s transport package takes the wind out of the Opposition’s sails, but new promises puts it under more pressure to deliver … Jenee Tibshraeny … Interest Co NZ
    
    https://www.interest.co.nz/opinion/103419/governments-transport-package-takes-wind-out-oppositions-sails-new-promises-puts-it
    
    2 12
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    February 10, 2020 1:08pm
    - Tony Stuart
      
      Of course Hugh, both the Southern and Northern Motorway projects were started by the previous government, although doubtless this current mob will claim credit for them. The Stuff article you linked to in your first post notes that the first section of the Southern Motorway was completed in 2012, by the previous National government.
      
      Your enthusiasm for Phil Twyford and his infrastructure programme is not shared by the good folk of Christchurch, who remember only too well what a hash Twyford made of Kiwibuild. Twyford had to buy homes that developers couldn’t sell to get his numbers up, and guess what; they still haven’t sold. The taxpayer is currently $26m out of pocket for Kiwibuild houses Twyford bought from developers, which STILL can’t sell!
      
      17 2
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      February 10, 2020 1:22pm
      - Hugh Pavletich
        
        Remember … Twyford got a wind – up from me following the release of last years Demographia Survey re Kiwibuild. Check out the Feb 2019 Update and the 2019 Sections at http://www.PerformanceUrbanPlanning.org .
        
        In fairness, this idiocy was created before Twyfords time in the job … back during the Cunliffe era.
        
        With the targets gone (thanks Housing Minister Megan Woods) its rarely heard about today.
        
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        February 10, 2020 4:14pm
  - barnacle bill
    
    As a life time resident of Nth Canterbury, it is my opinion that Woodend has been badly let down by its current MP.
    You know the one, he sits behind Bridges during question time nodding with a stupid grin on his face.
    
    He is a total light weight.
    Where the hell was he during Nationals reign ?
    Now he has the gall to be jumping up and down about what should be done.
    The Waimakiriri electorate would be well rid of him.
    
    We lived in Woodend up until a few years ago, the proposed by pass is a balls up to start with.
    It should go from Saltwater creek and come out at Pineacres corner, that would solve several problems with one hit, as Pineacres is a long standing death trap.
    
    Give Doocey the boot.
    
    5 5
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    February 10, 2020 1:35pm
    - Hugh Pavletich
      
      … AUSTRALIA …
      
      Older Australians who own their home more than 20 times better off than those who rent, data shows … Geoff Thompson & Alex McDonald … ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
      h/t poster ‘The Travelling Wilbur’
      Todays MacroBusiness Links Page Thread
      https://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2020/02/links-10-february-2020/
      
      https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-10/older-australians-who-own-home-more-than-20-times-better-off/11815006
      
      Exclusive Australian Bureau of Statistics data has revealed the staggering difference in wealth of older Australians in owner-occupied households compared to those that rent.
      
      In 2017-18, the ABS found that property-owning households — where at least one of the occupants was 65 and over — had a median net worth of $960,000.
      
      Similar households that were still paying off a mortgage had a median net worth of $934,900.
      
      In stark contrast, the median net worth of similar households that rent was just $40,800. … read more via hyperlink above …
      
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      February 10, 2020 2:03pm
    - MrTips
      
      Agreed. Doocey is a total knob. Presented at the local euthanasia submissions and Doocey was there. Useless. A right hand clapper who’s never there when the shovels are needed
      
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      February 10, 2020 7:54pm
- Ruahine
  
  T
  
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  February 10, 2020 3:53pm
Bell-47

Q: What did Cliff Richard get for Christmas?
A: Phillip Schofield 🙂
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February 10, 2020 12:01pm
- Lance
  
  Don’t give up you day job.
  
  It’s that sort of Gobshite that leads to Cliff being afraid to meet young people now at all.
  A good man who works for charity and gets pissed on by the gutter press and lowlifes, of which there is an oversupply.
  The fucking Police arranged for press to fly over his house when they raided it, and found NOTHING.
  Pricks the lot of them.
  
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  February 10, 2020 4:37pm
Bell-47

Perhaps POTUS should consider Vermont and New Hampshire as part of the wall building program.
6 2
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February 10, 2020 12:05pm
- mikenmildagain
  
  Why not, he already extended the wall to Colorado, didn’t he?
  https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/oct/24/trump-colorado-wall-awkward-not-a-border-state
  
  2 15
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  February 10, 2020 1:10pm
Bobba Fret

Sean Plunkett was saying that at the Big Gay out there was a ball pit for the kids to play in and above it, Vodafone had a sign saying “Go Balls Deep”!
I bet that gets a few complaints to the advertising board.
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February 10, 2020 12:23pm
- Inandout
  
  It sends the wrong message to kids because the big kids will sure as hell instruct the littler ones as to its real meaning. Makes you wonder who runs these ad agencies.
  
  14 1
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  February 10, 2020 1:10pm
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Fucking drag queens are the new instructors
    
    2 3
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    February 10, 2020 6:09pm
waripori

Assuming ACT retail Epsom there is not much point in National voters voting tactically anywhere else. None could know if one vote less for National and one more for ACT would result in an additional ACT MP without costing National one. It could just as easily be the other way around.

The accommodation that can be reached between National and ACT in an unspoken way is for ACT to campaign strongly on one or two issues such as gun rights which might earn them votes which would otherwise have gone to Labour or NZ first. These issues can be of relatively minority interest as ACT really only needs to appeal to 2 to 5% of voters to ensure a centre right Government.

National can leave those slightly divisive issues alone and work hard for the middle ground and again pick up soft Labour and NZ First votes as well as maybe a few Green votes from people concerned with environmental issues but put of by left wing nuttery. ACT and National will both know what the most effective issues are.

There is no point in National doing any kind of deal with any other parties. They need every vote they can get .
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February 10, 2020 12:33pm
- mikenmildagain
  
  Seems tactically sound. The question for voters will be whether they believe that ACT can attract sufficient support for that second MP.
  
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  February 10, 2020 1:12pm
  - SPC
    
    On current polling 1.8% ACT is now reaching for a third MP – c 2.0%.
    
    Free Speech (helped along if by Little brings forward related legislation sought by safe online social media spaces spaces activists) and gun rights – GOP standard.
    
    3 1
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    February 10, 2020 2:03pm
    - mikenmildagain
      
      The last three actual (election) results wouldn’t give potential supporters too much confidence.
      
      2 8
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      February 10, 2020 3:12pm
  - DigNap15
    
    According to YSB ACT were going to rate really high 4 or 5% at these polls. Gun Buy Back, Free Speech etc. (I disagreed)
    I think many people don’t rate David Seymour as he comes across as a schoolboy.
    And he believes in man made Climate Change.
    
    6 1
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    February 10, 2020 3:15pm
- DigNap15
  
  Yes its hard to understand all of this.
  What if National gifted the New Conservatives a seat.
  They might bring 1 or 2 Mps in.
  What if National cut Act loose, they would have no MP’s!
  
  Thats why I’d like to see a new Proportional system brought in so that we have say 100 MP’s and if you get 1% you get 1 MP.
  Nice and easy.
  
  1 7
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  February 10, 2020 3:12pm
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Trouble is the prick in my electorate won’t answer the phone, or I get an email diversion. Can’t talk to anyone. Sharpen up National, sharpen up real quick
    
    6 1
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    February 10, 2020 6:14pm
sooty

Milky and stephie had a late start today.
I wonder if they had retraining at fraser house!
14 2
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February 10, 2020 12:56pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Maybe they’re thrown by the mod’s comment last night…”Personal abuse is unacceptable”
  
  https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2020/02/latest_poll-72.html#comment-2640096
  
  and just don’t know how to comment on KB without abusing or smearing other commenters.
  
  12 2
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  February 10, 2020 1:54pm
  - mikenmildagain
    
    Sure, Maggy.
    
    4 12
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    February 10, 2020 2:33pm
  - Tall Man
    
    It’s not just “personal abuse” that gets them deleting posts.
    
    A week or so a comment of mine was deleted because the mod stated it wasn’t following the thread, which was incorrect, when I just referred to “insects” when talking about weird food.
    
    Yesterday was a delete spree by a mod and even today my reasoned arguments have again been totally deleted. I addressed yesterday’s issue a number of times and even today I tried the same but “delete” rather discuss or advise was the response although I did manage to get part of my message through this morning on yesterday’s GD so obviously a different mod in attendance although it may be re-moderated at any time.
    
    https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2020/02/general_debate_09_february_2020.html
    
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    February 10, 2020 2:37pm
Sydney Alvarado

I noticed that TOP is polling at 0.6%, half what they got in the 2017 election. It would not surprise me if they disband. They must be short of funds. Without Gareth I won’t know who pays the salary of Geoff Simmons.
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February 10, 2020 1:02pm
- SPC
  
  The Tava Party is also drifting on a liferaft towards the starting line for the election.
  
  4 4
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  February 10, 2020 1:57pm
  - DigNap15
    
    I don’t think he prepared very well.
    It costs a lot of money to run a party.
    
    3 1
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    February 10, 2020 3:07pm
Prince

Three questions you will not hear asked on State run TV news and current affairs today.
Why did the PM continually confuse Samoa and Tonga when interviewed this morning ?
Why has the PM found time to partake in the Big Gay Out, but not visit the flood-stricken residents of Southland ?
What does she make of the Electoral Commission referring the party her Deputy runs to Police for breaking the Electoral law ?

And perhaps a fourth, why has her Associate Health Minister only now decided to ‘strengthen public health and address under-immunisation’, when under her watch immunisation rates have dropped dramatically ? How many people, children especially, have died while her eye was off the ball ?
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February 10, 2020 1:55pm
- MCos
  
  With regard to your fourth question nobody in NZ died last year from measles.
  Furthermore immunization is a personal responsibility. We don’t have a stassi that forceable immunized kids.
  
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  February 10, 2020 7:22pm
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    Two unborn fetuses in 2nd trimester died as a result of the outbreak.
    
    An ongoing outbreak in Perth began in October 2019 after a New Zealander visited while infectious.
    
    The strain of this outbreak is the D8 strain and this epidemic spread to Samoa killing more than 72 people
    
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_New_Zealand_measles_outbreak
    
    4 cases in Fiji, and 74 cases in Australia are directly or indirectly linked to the outbreak in New Zealand
    
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    February 10, 2020 7:53pm
    - MCos
      
      NZ was not responsible for Samoa’s abysmal 34% rate of immunization.
      Nearby American Samoa, which didn’t have a measles epidemic, has 99.7% coverage.
      BTW
      The NZ epidemic was started after being introduced by infected individuals from elsewhere.
      
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      February 10, 2020 10:24pm
Cobolt24

Carter Holt Harvey mill confirms closure in Whangarei, 111 jobs to go.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/119392473/coronavirus-carter-holt-harvey-whangrei-mill-closure-couldnt-be-worse-for-industry
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February 10, 2020 2:13pm
Sydney Alvarado

Well that must have put a dent in the bushfires 🙂

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/sydney-weather-evacuations-flooding-and-power-cuts-across-nsw-20200210-p53z77.html

The Sydney basin has received its heaviest rainfall in about 20 years as communities were hammered by a sustained east coast low bringing strong winds and flooding that left nearly 100,000 without power and caused public transport chaos and school closures across the state.
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February 10, 2020 2:14pm
- Stephieboy2
  
  Yet another example of extreme weather events equalling ckimate change and warming!
  
  2 16
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  February 10, 2020 3:47pm
  - rightoverlabour
    
    ???????
    
    7 1
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    February 10, 2020 6:23pm
  - greybeard
    
    Don’t be a twit.
    
    5 1
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    February 10, 2020 6:56pm
curry4me

Some breaking News that could see everyone’s favorite party in well deserved difficulties.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/119393435/electoral-commission-refers-nz-first-foundation-donations-to-police-says-donations-should-have-been-declared
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February 10, 2020 2:46pm
KevO'Brien

WINZ reduces student to food grant needs–systems fail again.
A student returning on a multiyear course to start the year again has been stood down from the Student Allowance for a week. How are they expected to survive?
Too many rules and not enough common sense.
Have Winz adopted the systems out of Auckland University which have been exported to some USA States and havoc reported there?
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February 10, 2020 2:57pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Hard to understand what is going on there Tall Man without seeing what has been deleted.

It could be an interesting exercise to see what has been accepted on this forum, but is now deemed definitely unacceptable.

(according to the comments policy page… personal abuse was ALWAYS unacceptable….so why was it so readily accepted?)
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February 10, 2020 3:21pm
- mikenmildagain
  
  The blog was not really moderated until last year, so frequent abuse of the comments policy was tolerated.
  
  4 10
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  February 10, 2020 3:24pm
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    Seems you were well aware of that fact…
    
    I wasn’t when I arrived on this blog and stumbled into the filthy abuse pool of the sharks and trolls who infest this blog.
    
    I read the Comments policy and believed it would be upheld…
    
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    February 10, 2020 3:36pm
    - Stephieboy2
      
      MW, it seems the problem is that you have a very low tolerance threshold of anyone who disagrees and challenges your cherished assumptions and beliefs .
      
      2 19
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      February 10, 2020 3:43pm
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        I don’t think having my menstrual status, the size of my bosoms, my finances, my business interests, my relationships, my underwear size has anything to do with climate change.
        
        I don’t like being labelled an alt-righter or a racist by you.
        I don’t like the way you lie and obfuscate that you didn’t mean I was a neo-nazi, when you placed links to nazi insignia.
        
        I do not like the way you, Griff and Mikenmild labelled me as mad, deranged, deluded when I put posts up on this blog.
        
        As far as I know I have never met any of you anonymous abusers, but somehow you have felt that you had the right to indulge in petty nasty personal harassment of me, just because you knew you could get away with it on this forum.
        
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        February 10, 2020 5:11pm
      - Swifty
        
        “…anyone who disagrees and challenges your cherished assumptions and beliefs…”
        
        Don’t try to rewrite history Stiffboy.
        
        You haven’t just disagreed and challenged – you have slurred, slandered, labelled, harassed and thrown assertions about people’s reading lists, character, attitudes etc without any foundation whatsoever.
        
        You’ve behaved here, quite uniquely, as a nasty little fucker at times.
        
        And you keep on doing it.
        
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        February 10, 2020 5:41pm
      - rightoverlabour
        
        Bollocks.
        
        9 1
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        February 10, 2020 6:26pm
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        @stephieboy
        the problem is that you have a very low tolerance threshold
        
        No … the problem is that you and your fellow trolls chose to direct personal abuse at me.
        
        You have chosen to harass me.
        
        You have chosen to tell lies on this blog about me.
        
        I have expressed my opinions and posted information on KB.
        Most people on KB can cope with this without abusing or harassing me.
        
        You can’t.
        
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        February 10, 2020 8:16pm
    - mikenmildagain
      
      It became obvious when I started copping warning and suspensions for using the same tones that others were. I think such moderation as was hapening depended upon people making specific complaints.
      The blog is tidier now, although some of the crazier characters, now gone, had their place
      
      5 9
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      February 10, 2020 3:59pm
      - Tall Man
        
        What I find difficult to comprehend is the inconsistency and some the comment I have had deleted were neither abusive nor breaching the Comments policy.
        
        For example, the ardern liar thing was deleted ceaselessly even when it was part of a discussion and clearly referenced yet I was explicitly told that calling her a liar was ok if part of a conversation.
        
        Also golly. I was warned about that and jimmy two mums yet both have been allowed many times so I think you have a point about the “who” as much as the what.
        
        Mods have deleted and then mentioned “complaints” yet none of my posts have been complaints yet my request that they not do that have been deleted as well so currently I have no fucking idea what the issue is.
        
        My many deleted posts yesterday are not entirely dissimilar to the comment that was allowed today so I think I need a lie down and a whiskey …. I’m just not sure of the order yet 😉
        
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        February 10, 2020 4:19pm
      - Steve Otto(North Shore)
        
        Fuck off Mike. You are one of the worst insulters and trolls here.
        Fuck knows how you get away with it.
        Check my outfit. Mods had a tiny episode, but I have never had a warning, or strike.
        
        12 3
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        February 10, 2020 6:27pm
      - All_on_Red
        
        Thoughts and prayers to poor victim Mikey
        Lol
        
        8 1
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        February 10, 2020 8:16pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Ok, that above post was meant to go under Tall Man’s 2.37pm post.
  
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  February 10, 2020 3:24pm
mikenmildagain

I wonder if Donald Trump wil be congratulating the Obamas for the Oscar win to their film production company.
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February 10, 2020 3:32pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Mike needs an Oscar, you know, that one on Sesame Street
  
  6 2
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  February 10, 2020 6:29pm
  - mikenmildagain
    
    Always had this weird crush on him, actually. How did you know?
    
    2 7
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    February 10, 2020 6:49pm
Swifty

Taika Waititi wins an Oscar:

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=12307323

Years ago when I was a young fellow I did a lag with Warren Trent, among others.

He was best mates with Tiger Waititi ex Satan Slaves and who died in 2015 from memory.

Here’s a short vid of Tiger’s farewell. Warren was one of the pall-bearers at the tangi (he’s the one dressed in all black).

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

Looks like his old man, eh?

Nice one, Taika.
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February 10, 2020 4:01pm
- Jack5
  
  Yes, well done Taika Waititi!
  
  On Sunday, the Israeli news service, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, forecast that Waititi would win an Oscar for best adapted screen play, for his “Jojo Rabbit”.
  
  JTA was reporting on the Oscar predictions of American data analyst Ben Zauzmer, 26, who, since 2012, has been making Oscar predictions based on mathematical modelling.
  
  Zauzmer is a baseball analyst for the Los Angeles Dodgers, using mathematics to identify strong players that the team could potentially acquire.
  
  In 2018, Zaumer correctly predicted 20 of 21 Oscar categories that he fed into his model, and last year wrote a book, “Oscarmetics: The Math Behind the Biggest Night in Hollywood.”
  
  This link takes you to the JTA Oscar forecasts that include Waititi:
  
  https://www.jta.org/2020/02/07/culture/this-jewish-data-whiz-predicts-the-oscar-winners-with-math
  
  Last October, JTA, in an article about “Jojo Rabbit” described Waititi as a Maori Jew.
  
  https://www.jta.org/2019/10/18/culture/jojo-rabbit-doesnt-glorify-nazis-its-a-lesson-in-how-hate-is-taught
  
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  February 10, 2020 10:17pm
paul scott

Immigration New Zealand .
Does anyone have knowledge of the Immigration and diversity reporter Limcoln Tan at the Auckland Herald? I have a major report on INZ falsity and discrimination documented and am about to send him the details. My report makes outright statements on such matters as the Indian marriage arrangement preferences, discrimination against white New Zealanders, and the cocaine scandal with Sroubek and Lees-Galloway. Can someone tell me if Lincoln Tan is just another globalist diversity specialist or will he properly represent serious allegations against INZ. paulscottfilms@gmail.com
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February 10, 2020 4:01pm
- Stephieboy2
  
  Paul Scott,
  
  “discrimination against white New Zealanders” ??
  
  2 16
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  February 10, 2020 5:58pm
Monique Watson

Did JA just do a broadcast ostensibly to update about Coronavirus and Concert FM (FFS who cares) and use it as a broadcast to coattail on Waititi’s success? Of course she did.

Watching the awards, I ask Mr Watson about Waititi’s accent: “Is that how we sound over here?”
“Yeah but he sounds a bit more Maori bro”!
So cool to see a Kiwi onstage at the Globe accepting and presenting.
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February 10, 2020 4:51pm
cmm

Solar Orbiter being launched today (unless scrubbed) https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2020/new-mission-will-take-first-peek-at-sun-s-poles

This is being sent to better understand the solar poles that drive the solar processes that have a vast impact on the weather on all planets in the solar system.

Dunno why they’re doing this if the science is settled.

Cut N paste below:
“In general, the sun’s poles look like the rest of the solar surface,” said Müller. “The difference lies in the magnetic field.” He and the rest of the science team think they will observe the early stages of the next solar cycle at the poles first, which is why Solar Orbiter’s mission is so important: It will fill in major gaps in our understanding of how the sun works.

Every 11 years, Müller explained, the sun flips its global magnetic field — the north pole becomes the south pole and vice versa. By sending Solar Orbiter on a journey outside the ecliptic (the plane in which Earth and the other big planets orbit), scientists will capture unprecedented views of the region, shedding light on its processes.

Solar Orbiter is scheduled to launch on Sunday (Feb. 9) atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. It is expected to make its first science measurements as early as May, with full science operations commencing in November 2021 when the craft’s imagers come online.
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February 10, 2020 5:04pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Coronavirus deaths still climbing – highest no. of deaths in one day

Coronavirus claims 97 lives in one day
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-51439450
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February 10, 2020 8:08pm
Stephieboy2

China coronavirus outbreak: All the latest updates

WHO chief Ghebreyesus notes ‘concerning instances’ of infection among people who have not travelled to China.

2 hours ago

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/02/900-dead-china-coronavirus-outbreak-200209233734869.html
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February 10, 2020 8:20pm
Hugh Pavletich

CHINA …

Factories in China remain shuttered as some regions extend shutdowns amid coronavirus quarantine efforts … CNBC

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/10/some-factories-in-china-extend-shutdowns-amid-coronavirus-outbreak.html

KEY POINTS

• Last week, more than 20 provinces and other regions told businesses not to resume work before Feb. 10 at the earliest.

• Some provinces and districts have now told companies not to resume work till March 1, according to officials.

• “That … is a major blast to the global value chain, not only for China, but the world,” said Alicia Garcia Herrero, chief economist for Asia Pacific at Natixis.
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February 10, 2020 8:25pm
- Hugh Pavletich
  
  More than 60 new cases of coronavirus reported on quarantined Diamond Princess … The Japan Times
  
  https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/02/10/national/japan-test-all-passengers-diamond-princess-cruise-ship-coronavirus/#.XkEJEGgzY2w
  
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  February 10, 2020 8:55pm
  - Hugh Pavletich
    
    Food prices are soaring in China because of the coronavirus and swine fever … Laura He … CNN
    
    https://edition.cnn.com/2020/02/10/economy/china-food-prices-coronavirus-pork/index.html
    
    China struggles to return to work after coronavirus shutdown … Ryan McMorrow … Financial Times
    
    https://www.ft.com/content/775d4c14-4bbb-11ea-95a0-43d18ec715f5
    
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    February 11, 2020 1:23am
    - Hugh Pavletich
      
      Are the disruption risks and costs of top – down and unresponsive political / bureaucratic systems adequately understood ? …
      
      Some experts see coronavirus outbreak as a wake-up call … VIDEO… CNA
      
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpQthH6N5SA
      
      China hid the severity of its coronavirus outbreak and muzzled whistleblowers — because it can … Julia Belluz … Vox
      
      https://www.vox.com/2020/2/10/21124881/coronavirus-outbreak-china-li-wenliang-world-health-organization
      
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      February 11, 2020 6:48am
Maggy Wassilieff

Bong Joon-Ho, my favourite S.Korean director ,wins Best film at the Oscars
(I haven’t seen Parasite yet)

One of his earlier films is brilliant…
“Memories of Murder”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26iYo7Vwp4E

(The Host and Mother are good value too)
My fav Korean actor Song Kang-ho is in many of his films
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February 10, 2020 8:34pm

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