General Debate 17 February 2020

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Maggy Wassilieff

Jacinda Ardern’s appalling interview this morning about her Deputy PM.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018734421/jacinda-ardern-washes-hands-of-winston-peters-photos-fracas
(from the 3:00 min mark)
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February 17, 2020 8:01am
- lifesgood
  
  Ha ha ha ha. She’s a complete waste of space, also sounds like cracking. I don’t wish her any harm but I think for her own sake she should step down.
  
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  February 17, 2020 8:19am
  - jv
    
    The “wipe and walk away” ptpm
    
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    February 17, 2020 11:48am
- hullkiwi
  
  Maggy, I agree totally. I have vented my views in a post to com. It was appalling and echoed many of the Labour shills over in the Standard Echo chamber at the weekend.
  
  As far as they see it, anything is ok, because National are worse.
  
  But this morning Ardern demonstrated she has no leadership or ethics.
  
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  February 17, 2020 8:21am
  - Tony Stuart
    
    Thanks for taking one for the team and visiting The Standard hullkiwi. I hope you have thoroughly disinfected yourself since 😀
    
    I make that last comment only partly in jest, as for many years, those fine, upstanding people who inhabit Mr Prentice’s blog have referred to Kiwiblog as “the sewer”.
    
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    February 17, 2020 9:03am
    - hullkiwi
      
      Tony I most definitely disinfected myself. “Micky Savage’s” blog post was funny in the depths he and mates are plummeting to in order to say “National is still worse”. It took Trotter and Pete George to point out the situation Labour, NZF and the CoL are in.
      
      They are behaving like school boys caught out smoking and trying to claim they are still good boys, because others were worse in the past. It never washed with our teachers and it will not wash with voters this year.
      
      The fact this 2008 all ove, but this time Labour have a team with no leadership skills, helps make the situation all the more hilarious.
      
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      February 17, 2020 9:14am
      - Harriet
        
        Savage told me that I was the first person he has banned for life on the Standard!
        
        All I said was that Muslim governments be challenged to ‘surrender regards war the world over’ – or Mecca and Medina will cease to exist, as we’ll nuke them both.
        It was the same message Japan got, although Hiroshima was bombed first so as the Japs would take the offer seriously. They didn’t, so two more cities were bombed the next day. Then they realised they would cease to exist.
        
        “You’ve gone way over the line this time Harriet and I’m very pleased to tell you……”
        
        I was very pleased to read it. Right on target. 😎
        
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        February 17, 2020 11:22am
      - Classic Liberal
        
        Harriet – “Muslim governments”, even if not actually involved in war? Of course that’s not the same as Japan in WWII!
        
        I’m no islamist, but your post was way over the top! Not that I think your freedom of speech should be restricted for stating something so obviously out there just to wind people up and not really threatening anyone.
        
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        February 17, 2020 2:14pm
      - Ed Snack
        
        Harriet, only one other city was nuked after Hiroshima – Nagasaki.
        
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        February 17, 2020 3:17pm
    - sooty
      
      The stink is coming down the airways from the Comrade!
      She’s joined at the hip with Whinestone!
      They say never hug a corpse,
      I wonder why, she is?
      Is it to save her high paying job?
      What’s her retirement package as a one term wonder?
      The greens have not said boo!
      
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      February 17, 2020 9:21am
      - curry4me
        
        They aren’t just hugging a corpse, they’re shackled to it.
        
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        February 17, 2020 10:27am
      - sooty
        
        Stinking to high heaven is going to do wonders in an election, for all of the COL!
        Who have labour got to step up and take over?
        The other two, will just fade away!
        
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        February 17, 2020 12:57pm
    - Sydney Alvarado
      
      I literally cannot bear to read The Standard. Even a glance at it wrecks my mood. 🙂
      
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      February 17, 2020 9:26am
      - Simon Gotlieb
        
        A pity. I’m a regular on both. If you don’t take the opportunity to read both sides, you run the risk of confirmation bias affecting how you see everything.
        
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        February 17, 2020 11:20am
      - Simon Gotlieb
        
        I’ll add… both blog sites run the risk often of being echo chambers. Hardly surprising, but members of both sites could do with actually listening to the others views a lot more than they do. Both sides have something to say, and elements of both in a political party would often do a better job than one or the other.
        
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        February 17, 2020 11:21am
      - Paulus
        
        I read occasionally to know what the enemy are thinking.
        – poor sad people.
        Sun Tzu – now your enemy !
        
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        February 17, 2020 11:25am
      - Simon Gotlieb
        
        I’m hoping that’s a typo. Speaking of the Art of War, I just purchased that this morning for my youngest, who’s 15 next week. He specifically requested the book. An excellent primer for leadership that one.
        
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        February 17, 2020 1:00pm
  - Libertarians are right
    
    “National are worse” – yet they walker away from the negotiating table while Labour gave NZ First everything for power. Remember, Jacinda publicly admitted giving multiple policy concessions to the teachers union (a donor) which is straight up corruption so they can’t talk.
    
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    February 17, 2020 10:07am
    - hullkiwi
      
      Lar, the shills at the Standard see it as Labour offered Peters a better deal in terms of policy. How they delude themselves.
      
      It is well known the cost of Peters was a price to high for National. Consequently, look at the price Ardern is now paying.
      
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      February 17, 2020 2:15pm
- cmm
  
  Thinking through, and handling, coalition partner misbehaving is the first order of business with both “leading” a coalition and being a PM.
  
  Basically she has said “not my problem”, but it is. PM is PM. Buck stops on your desk sweetie. Don’t want to do the job then don’t take the gig.
  
  Even Shaw is having to make a stance.
  
  This is going to cost them all.
  
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  February 17, 2020 8:23am
  - RW Capitalist
    
    “He who sups with the devil should have a long spoon.”
    Me thinks Jacinda’s spoon be bit short and she is desperate to make it longer.
    
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    February 17, 2020 8:45am
  - Tony Stuart
    
    The Cabinet Manual dictates that Peters IS her problem:
    
    Conduct of Ministers
    2.55 A Minister of the Crown, while holding a ministerial warrant, acts in a number of different
    capacities:
    (a) in a ministerial capacity, making decisions and determining and promoting policy
    within particular portfolios;
    (b) in a political capacity as a member of Parliament, representing a constituency or
    particular community of interest; and
    (c) in a personal capacity.
    2.56 In all these roles and at all times, Ministers are expected to act lawfully and to behave in a way that upholds, and is seen to uphold, the highest ethical standards. This includes exercising a professional approach and good judgement in their interactions with the public and officials, and in all their communications, personal and professional. Ultimately, Ministers are accountable to the Prime Minister for their behaviour
    
    https://dpmc.govt.nz/sites/default/files/2017-06/cabinet-manual-2017.pdf
    
    Winston Peters serves at the express pleasure of the Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern. She cannot resile from criticising him using the defence that it is NZ First business, because he is required to uphold the highest ethical standards in ALL capacities; ministerial, political (i.e. as leader of NZF) and personal.
    
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    February 17, 2020 9:09am
    - cmm
      
      Yes, but yu gotta read between the lines. Don’t read the lines – between them!
      
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      February 17, 2020 9:25am
    - Sydney Alvarado
      
      This quote from her in the interview is simply incorrect:
      
      “No, I don’t see these things as being explicit to the Cabinet manual, which is the conduct of how we run the government”
      
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      February 17, 2020 9:27am
      - cmm
        
        Another lie from Hugzilla. Getting pretty bloody boring.
        
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        February 17, 2020 10:06am
      - alex Masterley
        
        The quote sums up the PM.
        Confused and nonsensical.
        The much vaunted communication skills totaly absent.
        
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        February 17, 2020 10:09am
      - double d
        
        She twists and contorts the English language to suit her purpose
        … as being explicit ….
        
        These are the kind of words our PM uses to make straightforward issues seem grey.
        
        She has a very low opinion of our intelligence is she thinks we don’t see through her word soup statements
        
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        February 17, 2020 11:35am
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        She has a very low opinion of our intelligence is she thinks we don’t see through her word soup statements
        
        I believe she is the one with low intelligence who doesn’t realise she is spouting word soup.
        
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        February 17, 2020 2:04pm
    - Hacked-Off
      
      Thanks for the paragraphs Tony,
      
      I have forwarded them to the PM to remind her of her duty.
      
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      February 17, 2020 9:41am
    - Ruahine
      
      The Cabinet Manual is wrong. We have to change the Manual.
      
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      February 17, 2020 10:11am
    - Bobba Fret
      
      Winston put her there. Winston can take her down. Winston is her boss. I can imagine him saying to her “now listen here girlie, this is what you are going to say / do”
      
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      February 17, 2020 10:49am
    - geoff3012
      
      I would hazard a guess some body has torn that chapter out of her copy.
      
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      February 17, 2020 11:14am
      - sooty
        
        No pictures in hers!
        
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        February 17, 2020 1:00pm
  - KevO'Brien
    
    It definitely is Ardern’s problem. She swore an oath of allegiance to HM Elizabeth II, Queen of NZ, of loyalty. That must mean upholding HM’s Realm in NZ which include Ardern’s Office of HM’s Executive Council.
    
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    February 17, 2020 10:13am
    - JackRabbit
      
      She did swear an Oath, but stumbled over the words. Jacinda hates the idea that she is accountable. Angry B Little is her boss, Hell’n is her mentor. The Queen is someone she hates.
      
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      February 17, 2020 10:26am
    - Paulus
      
      But But But she is the Queen of our Country – or so she thinks until September.
      
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      February 17, 2020 11:26am
      - sooty
        
        Or to an early election, because she’s stinking to high heaven!
        
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        February 17, 2020 1:01pm
      - KevO'Brien
        
        There is only one Queen of the Realm of NZ: Her Majesty Elizabeth II.
        The MP’s who become members of the Executive Council owe their position to their Oath of Loyalty to HM. That includes Ardern who has a higher duty still being the First Minister in the Realm of NZ.
        
        The Queen is not without power. She does not lightly intervene but an Australian PM had his warrant withdrawn–effectively sacked.
        MMP has not changed anything; those seeking High Office have to pledge loyalty to HM to uphold her standards in NZ.
        
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        February 17, 2020 4:46pm
- artemisia
  
  That interview might be trumped by the one with Mr Hosking this morning. Especially when Ms Ardern was asked whether the Provincial Growth Fund would be ongoing if she forms the next government. That particular segment will probably end up on a National video, and be slammed as a fake.
  
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  February 17, 2020 8:24am
- Swifty
  
  Thanks Maggy.
  
  As we’ve seen many times now, it is abundantly clear that Ardern is a hypocrite of the highest order.
  
  She, along with her fellow Labour desperadoes, screamed hysterically at the slightest notion of misdeed by Key and team, repeatedly shreiking that the world was about to cave in and that our democracy was at stake. But now that the shoe is on the other foot – she literally gives Peters and his gang a free pass to act as they wish and mislead us that this is nothing to do with her and not her responsibility.
  
  I just hope that when National are back in power we and National remember this. That 99% of Labour’s screeching and hysteria is seen for what it is – partisan political hackery designed to create misguided ill-will towards National and never a genuine concern for our democracy.
  
  This episode also reaffirms to me the fact that Labour have no principles. Their positions lurch from one extreme to another driven purely by perceived political advantage.
  
  The whole thing is a disgrace.
  
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  February 17, 2020 8:26am
- The Proper Ghandi
  
  Ardern reminds me of a child sitting in the back seat of Daddy Winnie’s car with her plastic steering wheel clasped in hand, turning it vigorously and saying “broooom, broooom, beep!, beep!'” Meanwhile, daddy sits up front behind the actual controls and smiles knowingly in the rear view mirror, steering the vehicle to his preferred destination.
  
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  February 17, 2020 8:36am
  - Inandout
    
    TPG, sadly we have no competent ‘daddy’ at the wheel.
    
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    February 17, 2020 8:56am
- niggly
  
  The irony of Jacinda Ardern’s appalling interview is that after being teared to shreds by Susie Fergusson on Morning Report, she seemed happy (for once) to be interviewed by Mike Hosking minutes later, as he wasn’t so aggressive and he brought up other subjects to talk about that allowed her to happily deflect attention to somewhere else!
  
  Like I say National can sit back from this one and watch – there is no need to interrupt the MSM blasting Labour, NZF (and the heads-in-the-sand Green Party) over WinstonFirst’s somewhat dodgy dealings!
  
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  February 17, 2020 8:40am
  - Bell-47
    
    Never interrupt your enemy when they are making a mistake..
    
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    February 17, 2020 9:48am
    - Minsk400
      
      #NapoleonBonaparte
      
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      February 17, 2020 10:30am
- alex Masterley
  
  The media will see those sorts of comments as an invitation to ask more and more questions.
  It will make the interrogation of Clare Curran look like Q@A at a preschool.
  
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  February 17, 2020 8:42am
- graham
  
  Wow. That was a complete trainwreck, and you could hear the interviewer (Susie Fergusson?) getting frustrated with Jacinda’s refuasl to answer.
  
  Good on the interviewer for actually going hard on Jacinda.
  
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  February 17, 2020 8:50am
- Lance
  
  Adern on the AM show this morning was pathetic. Aided and abetted by that clown Garner, Cindy avoided mentioning Winston, got to state is was the blogs fault and National were notorious for using said blog.
  Utter ‘sewage running down the walls’ speak
  
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  February 17, 2020 9:11am
  - niggly
    
    So she told more lies again? Oh dear, that won’t be good for her come the election campaign!
    
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    February 17, 2020 9:29am
  - Ruahine
    
    I read where Shaw was also blaming a blog for undermining our political system. Memo to Andrew.
    Get the legislation passed so that we can shut down those blogs. Not your one though Andrew.
    
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    February 17, 2020 10:17am
- GazzaW
  
  To earn disrespect from the RNZ Breakfast team is an outstanding accomplishment for any Labour PM. The big question now is how the rest of the MSM run with the play. Comments from the journos’ union are not exactly encouraging for Jacinda.
  
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  February 17, 2020 9:47am
- slightlyrighty
  
  OMG, what a waste of space. This recording should be recorded and played every time Jacinda brings out the Transparency statement. If it was any worse for her it should come with a national party election authorization statement!
  
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  February 17, 2020 10:16am
- Wired-one
  
  She’s saying “it is not an issue for me” but what she really means is, it’s not an issue for me, because I don’t want to defend the indefensible and have this issue potentially affect my popularity. I am an inept, out of my depth twat, who needs to portray that I am still in control, even if everyone knows that I’m not…That’s the real honest answer to that question.
  
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  February 17, 2020 10:54am
- greybeard
  
  I was listening to Mike Hosking interviewing the “Prime Minister” this morning, and suddenly a picture of Helen Clark popped into my mind.
  
  A vision of Helen Clark also listening to the discussion, holding her head in her hands and muttering “No, no, no, no…..”
  
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  February 17, 2020 11:21am
  - Classic Liberal
    
    Hearing Helen Clark re the Concert Programme issue recently, she sounded strong, firm, sensible and made good points. All assuming one supports the concept of publicly funded radio.
    
    Whether or not one supported Labour back in her day, the fact is that she appeared as a strong leader who didn’t take any shit.
    
    Clark, like her or not, is good example of how Kiwis have nothing against a strong female PM. But just wait, any criticism of Taxinda in this situation will be portrayed as ‘misogyny’.
    
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    February 17, 2020 2:51pm
    - Sydney Alvarado
      
      Yes totally agree. I am informed that when Helen Clark chaired a Cabinet Committee she had read EVERY paper on the agenda. That would frequently amount to 300 pages.
      
      And I can guarantee she understood the Cabinet Manual inside out.
      
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      February 17, 2020 5:30pm
Biscuit

Je is afraid…
Very afraid…
Je just opened the door to let the cat out and, gasp, wet stuff fell out of the sky at me.
Does Je qualify for a consoling hug from Jacinda?
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February 17, 2020 8:05am
kevn

Had to laugh at JA not having heard of hellens thinktank offering… “reduce the amount of money rich people can borrow”.
She must drink her own KoolAid.
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February 17, 2020 8:07am
artemisia

Ashley Church -The housing shortage is a myth, a house of cards.

Mr Church uses census information – population and dwelling occupancy – to determine the number of homes in New Zealand. Conclusion is not only is there no shortage but actually an oversupply. There are socio-economic issues, but not a shortage of housing.

It’s broad brush analysis but still, as he says –

The whole thing is a fascinating case study in how a completely wrong idea can grip the public consciousness to the point where logic and rational thinking are crowded out by hysteria and shonky data

It’s what happens if decent root cause analysis is not done – lots of effort and taxpayer money spent on fixing the wrong problem. Where is The Treasury rigour when it’s needed – it’s not like we are talking trivial bucks or trivial impacts here.

When the Accommodation Supplement was introduced in 1993 the broad intention was to address an income ‘problem’ rather than a housing shortage ‘problem’. That income ‘problem’ was significantly skewed by Labour’s 1999 decision to remove the AS for state (and later social) rentals and replace it with the much much more generous income related rent. Income related rent average $300 pw, AS average $100 pw. No relationship with the skyrocketing social housing waiting list then.

https://www.oneroof.co.nz/news/37509
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February 17, 2020 8:10am
- Nigel Kearney
  
  House prices as a proportion of incomes are a problem. There are causes on both the demand and supply sides. Everyone is focused on supply but I agree the bigger problem is demand. We want investors choosing the sharemarket instead of residential property but our tax and regulatory structure does not encourage that. There also an irrational fear of the sharemarket caused mostly by the events of 1987.
  
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  February 17, 2020 10:05am
  - artemisia
    
    House prices v income. Not necessarily a problem The measures generally used are median v median or average v average. Median being better IMO. But who mandates that a household on median income has to buy a median priced home, rather than one of the half of all homes at less than the median price.
    
    What is wrong with buying a studio in a lower cost location, for example, and trading up later?
    
    And how about increasing household income above the media? Upskill, a few extra hours a week, side gig … We have low low unemployment, can’t be that hard in many locations to spend Saturdays stocking shelves or mowing someone else’s lawns in order to get on the property ladder.
    
    Alternatively, folk can quote ratios and just give up as personal responsibility is too hard.
    
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    February 17, 2020 10:19am
    - Harriet
      
      “……Saturdays stocking shelves…….”
      
      Low paying part time job. $16*4 = $64 – tax.
      
      = about $220 per month!
      
      As Nigel has suggested – it’s about the lack of other investment opportunities being taken up.
      
      You could earn far more pm actively trading a $20k portfolio on the ASX. But people instead bank the $20k ‘as preparation’ for a home deposit! Pathetic when you think about the compounding returns from the market over each year – allowing you to rent forevermore in a home you couldn’t afford to ever buy! – investing isn’t a 40hr working week either. Or a low paying part time job.
      
      I can’t understand why there is so much emphasis on ‘home ownership’ – tax isn’t a significant difference when other investment choices are looked at either.[but im not an accountant]
      
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      February 17, 2020 3:18pm
Ruahine

Some of Andrew Little’s and Stuart Nash’s friends featuring in Stuff this morning.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/119556942/tensions-grow-as-new-bikie-gang-sets-up-based-on-outskirts-of-christchurch
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February 17, 2020 8:11am
Andrei

Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Simon Upton reminds us why a vote for National this year is probably an exercise in futility

I haven’t voted since 2008 and I’m tossing up whether to or not this year.

Simon’s helping me to make up my mind
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February 17, 2020 8:13am
- Local Miller
  
  Are you sure that was the link you meant to post here?
  If you don’t vote, don’t complain about the results!
  
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  February 17, 2020 9:06am
  - Andrei
    
    I voted – the mandate given by the voters was overwhelming and I had no complaint.
    
    But the result was the middle finger to the people from the fifthe National Government under the leadership of John Key.
    
    So why should I trust National in 2020?
    
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    February 17, 2020 9:34am
    - JackRabbit
      
      If you cannot find a reason to vote National, do it because the alternative is worse, much worse.
      
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      February 17, 2020 10:29am
      - Two fish and a scoop thanks Cindy
        
        Hypothetically, what if someone saw them both as equally evil?, or the only moral thing to do was not to vote for them?
        
        Disclaimer: Id like the inclusion on the ballot that none of them are fit for office.
        
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        February 17, 2020 12:23pm
      - JackRabbit
        
        @Two fish and a scoop thanks Cindy
        
        At least National listen to reason. Labour and Greens have babblefish in their ears that filter out anything rational.
        
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        February 17, 2020 1:47pm
      - Two fish and a scoop thanks Cindy
        
        not always.
        They were pretty on board with Cindy (looking at you, Judith Collins) after Tarrant’s high score attempt, and there’s the Anti-Smacking legislation for two examples.
        
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        February 17, 2020 2:12pm
    - Colville
      
      I wouldn’t have picked you as a Green supporter, but there you go.
      If you are not with us you are against us.
      
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      February 17, 2020 11:10am
    - Michael NZ
      
      Indeed why should you?
      
      Have they learned nothing from their losing last time?
      
      I’m probably voting David Seymour because he does get it about our basic freedoms.
      
      https://www.melaniephillips.com/need-check-thinking-english-police-officer/?fbclid=IwAR2pE6JYP40oeurBpzD0wSGuqmRYOPq8ufPYcQPlseoZvKOa_-cVm0wEsFQ
      
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      February 17, 2020 11:20pm
- Captain Mainwaring
  
  If you don’t vote, shut up and don’t complain.
  
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  February 17, 2020 9:17am
- Sydney Alvarado
  
  I read the article. Simon Upton is the Commissioner for the Environment. A National Government would do none of the actions advocated by Upton in that article. Can you explain your thinking?
  
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  February 17, 2020 9:30am
Maggy Wassilieff

How others view Winston’s actions:

Simon Bridges:

“The Prime Minister appears to be hiding. Her silence is damning. Has she asked who took the photos, did they pay for it, and how did they end up on the blog?”…..

Journalists’ Union:
Journalists’ union E tū has called on Peters to apologise and give assurances that NZ First is not tracking journalists as they go about their work.

James Shaw (at last)
“But regardless of who took the photographs and why, the fact they were passed to a blog that is designed to undermine trust in our political system is a concern.”

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=12308988
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February 17, 2020 8:14am
- adamsmith1922
  
  But even then he blames the blog not NZ First, nor even queries NZF behaviour at all. Hardly a condemnation of anything
  
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  February 17, 2020 8:27am
- Captain Mainwaring
  
  Sounds like Shaw is positioning himself to be the sole coalition partner after the demise of Winston First.
  But he’s got to get 5% first and that won’t be easy.
  
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  February 17, 2020 8:33am
  - cmm
    
    Shaw has to stop acting like a dead fish if he actually wants to get above 5%
    
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    February 17, 2020 8:34am
  - tf78
    
    I think Shaw’s chances will be lessened with Davison as co Leader.
    
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    February 17, 2020 8:38am
    - Tony Stuart
      
      And with Ricardo Menendez-March joining the Green Party’s team, which will inevitably see the party lurch some distance further to the Left.
      
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      February 17, 2020 9:13am
      - sooty
        
        The stink is covering all of the COL!
        Shaw can not hide!
        
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        February 17, 2020 9:27am
      - rangitoto
        
        How was this guy ever allowed into the country?
        
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        February 17, 2020 1:38pm
- Ruahine
  
  Further down the article Shaw says that Political Partys should be taxpayer funded. The ultimate in bludging by the Leader of bludgers.
  
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  February 17, 2020 8:39am
  - Tony Stuart
    
    Yep; that’s the Green Party’s end game, that you and I further fund their lifestyle.
    
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    February 17, 2020 9:46am
- Ruawai
  
  They may not be tracking journalists but they might be following Grey.
  
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  February 17, 2020 10:47am
hullkiwi

What an interview given by the SLG this morning. In a five minute flourish on RNZ Morning Repirt this morning, Ardern as good as flushed the Cabinet Manual down the toilet and demonstrated she has no limited ethics and leadership qualities herself.

This morning in her interview with Susie Ferguson, Ardern would not answer directly questions as the PM on the duties of cabinet ministers responsibilities to maintain the ethical standards as outlined in the Cabinet Manual. Instead she resorted to her standard stock answer of her operating in a MMP environment. But when Ferguson pressed that she was not asking her about the operations of parties, but about a cabinet minister, the Minister of Foerign Affairs, the Deputy PM and the stand in PM, she “itterly” did not accept that it was her role to condemn what Peters had been doing.

So, under the Premiership of Jacinda Ardern and Winston Peters, the Cabinet Manual is as good as a dead document, as the PM wi pick and chose what to apply, when to apply it and to whom it applies.

As Bennett said last week, this goes to heart of our democracy.
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February 17, 2020 8:17am
- Sydney Alvarado
  
  As much as I don’t like Helen Clark, she did understand the Cabinet Manual.
  
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  February 17, 2020 9:33am
  - tui47
    
    She was pretty good at maintaining one facial expression as well. The only variation she had was sour face. My favourite was a photo of her in some middle aged eastern country forced to wear a head scarf. The expression under that scarf was legendary.
    
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    February 17, 2020 10:06am
    - alwyn
      
      Yes indeed. This is the photo I remember.
      Is it the same one you mention?
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Clark#/media/File:Helen_Clark_in_Iran.JPG
      
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      February 17, 2020 12:57pm
      - Classic Liberal
        
        She was right to look sour if as our highest-merit politician of the day she was forced to wear a damned hijab! It’s completely unacceptable.
        
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        February 17, 2020 3:08pm
    - sooty
      
      That’s not Comrade, she absolutely glows with her tea towel on her head!
      
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      February 17, 2020 1:06pm
- KevO'Brien
  
  Ardern should tell the Gov. General that she intends to rule alone in NZ. An Australian PM was recalled.
  
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  February 17, 2020 10:20am
peterwn

Meanwhile over at BFD it is woman attacks woman with ‘Spanish Bride’ (probably using bullets supplied by Simon Lusk and Cam) attacking Paula Bennet for her alleged political attacks. It will be water off a duck’s back as far as Paula is concerned.
BFD seems to be in a dilemma anyway about what articles to ‘paywall’. If they paywall too many they would lose readers and relevance. So relatively few are ‘paywalled’ and it is fairly easy to guess the gist of the article anyway.
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February 17, 2020 8:17am
- Paulus Gnome
  
  Relevance?
  
  The bloated giant dhead does not have any, that is his problem and his search for gaining some.
  
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  February 17, 2020 9:25am
  - tui47
    
    He believes he has relevancy. However, the articles themselves paint a picture of an anti Simon, anti Paula vendetta and strong support for both JLR and Winston.
    
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    February 17, 2020 10:08am
Local Miller

This NZF photo issue is going to seriously bite Jacinda and this grubbyment in the bum. On both RNZ and NT-ZB she kept denying any accountability. She seems to honestly believe (in as much as she can be honest) that this is not a cabinet matter and isn’t covered by the cabinet manual.
Does she need to follow her own advice to Shane J and go read the manual?
It really sounds like the NZF photo debacle and JA’s response is turning the press against them.
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February 17, 2020 8:19am
- Tony Stuart
  
  See the extract from the Cabinet Manual in my reply to cmm above. The Cabinet Manual covers all aspects of a Minister’s conduct; ministerial, political (as in NZF) and personal. And responsibility for enforcing that sits solely with the PM.
  
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  February 17, 2020 9:15am
G152

After 4 years of trying to destroy President Trump the democrats have a problem.
Trump has a long memory and the ultimate power.
And its bye bye to all those seat warmers installed by the previous democrat government and the shut down of their friendly media sources.
In fact any who stupidly put their name to the ‘get Trump’ campaign
That shutdown came from the end of the ‘Russia’ debacle with (in some cases) 50% of their audience going elsewhere
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February 17, 2020 8:19am
- RW Capitalist
  
  Lowest viewership of the Oscars..and they still don’t get it.
  It’s not DJT doing this, it is the very people they rely on for their overblown wealth and sense of self importance.
  
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  February 17, 2020 8:55am
- mikenmildagain
  
  Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
  After 1100 days in office, Trump’s approval level continue to be at historically low levels. No president has been so consistently unpopular.
  At the same time, he is uncritically worshiped by 25-30% of the electorate, and even some overseas morons.
  The challenge for the republicans is finding the method to recreate the narrow path to victory that worked for Trump in 2016. His margins in the key ‘battleground’ states (Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin) were all under 2 percentage points. He needs to win those states again to remain in office.
  He has some advantages though: a supine court system, a politicised department of justice, and foreign support. Whether those will be enough to overcome his record-breaking unpopularity remains to be seen.
  
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  February 17, 2020 9:11am
  - Scott
    
    Congratulations Mikey – your points are all at considerable variance from the truth.
    
    You keep repeating about his unpopularity. Can you stop because it’s not true! Right now his popularity is well above Obama at the same time in office. Obama started with very high popularity true. But then he began to crater as he began to actually govern. Here is the link. Please read it and be better informed –
    
    https://www.statista.com/chart/19541/approval-ratings-obama-trump/
    
    He does have good support among his base which is very strong.
    
    He does not have a supine court system. In fact the courts are full of Obama appointees who do their best to stop the president exercising his lawful authority on immigration and border security to name but two issues.
    
    He does face a politicised department of justice that is politicised against him and against his supporters. Gen Flynn, Paul Manafort, Roger Stone are all being pummelled to the max by an out-of-control justice department. Meanwhile Andrew McCabe has so far faced no consequence for lying and in fact has a plum job as a CNN contributor. That is two standards of justice.
    
    He does not have foreign support as in Russia. After a two-year investigation no one in the Trump team has been indicted for collusion with Russia.
    
    It Was a Hoax Mikey!! And Yes I Am Shouting!!
    
    One can only hope that justice will prevail and those who did collude against the duly elected president of the United States will face the consequences of their actions.
    
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    February 17, 2020 9:51am
    - mikenmildagain
      
      Your points are all wrong. Just to take one, here is the link to the relative approval ratings:
      https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/trump-approval-ratings/?ex_cid=rrpromo
      
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      February 17, 2020 10:24am
      - Scott
        
        I have just given you Gallup, a very reputable polling firm who has him above Obama at the same time. 538 has got a whole lot of polls that are different. Rasmussen also has him at 50% approval.
        
        Face it, he is doing well. Especially when Trump gets 93% negative media coverage and the whole made up Russia hoax.
        
        Given any fair media coverage he would be getting approval numbers 10 to 20 points higher.
        
        America is doing well. But the media hates him and will never tell you that.
        
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        February 17, 2020 12:39pm
      - mikenmildagain
        
        He is doing well, for Trump (ie, no other president would have fans applauding a mere 50% favourability rating). His ratings are consistently lower than every other president measured. I think that pattern is unlikely to change three years into his term.
        
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        February 17, 2020 2:53pm
      - Ed Snack
        
        Polls these days tend to be campaigning instruments rather than genuine attempts to inform, at least the public ones are. So I would take the unfavourability ratings with a certain amount of salt.
        
        But it is interesting that despite the constant drumbeat of almost entirely negative press coverage, that Trump still consistently scores as high as he does. It must be so galling for the media (and the DNC, they pretty close to the same people) that their stringent campaign to undermine Trump just really isn’t having as much impact as they would like.
        
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        February 17, 2020 3:25pm
      - Batman
        
        Ed, Trump’s own behaviour is what keeps him pegged at or below 50%.
        
        So as far as your conspiracy about the media and the DNC, I guess that’s mission accomplished. Trump took out a major terrorist identity and didn’t get much of a bump from it.
        
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        February 17, 2020 3:35pm
      - mikenmildagain
        
        The argument seems to be going from ‘his approval ratings are good’ to ‘the approval ratings are fake’.
        
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        February 17, 2020 5:06pm
- MCos
  
  Trump doesn’t have the ultimate power.
  At the end of the year the voters can give him the flick and the next person, as we’ve seen, can change it all back again.
  
  Xi Jinping is an example of a bloke who really does have ultimate power.
  
  These people that seem to be impregnable can also fall from grace in the bat of an eye if they drop a sitter.
  
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  February 17, 2020 9:16am
- Tony Stuart
  
  Check out the crowd reaction to Trump’s appearance at “America’s Great Race”, the Daytona 500 this morning:
  
  https://twitter.com/TRMFTL/status/1229128525317316608
  
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  February 17, 2020 9:18am
  - Ed Snack
    
    He only did 1 lap, and yet he’s a winner. Would have made it a certain epic landslide come November if “the Beast” did a donut !
    
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    February 17, 2020 11:17am
- curry4me
  
  According to a recent poll, only 4% of Americans trust the MSM.
  
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  February 17, 2020 10:42am
Happychappy

NZ First Foundation saga: Greens break silence on “chilling photos ” of Journalists.
The Greens have broken their silence and expressed alarm at the photos of ex NZ First President with two Journalists that broke the story of the Foundation. But James Shaw stopped short of asking questions on their Government Partner.Simon Bridges pointed out if this had of been National involved in something like this Labour and the Greens would be shouting from the rooftops for all to hear.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12308988
What Power does for those in need lies and deciet is justified in the craving of power for all to see .
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February 17, 2020 8:21am
Hugh Pavletich

CORONAVIRUS … SOME ECONOMIC DISRUPTION COSTS …

China virus infections seem to be peaking; economic consequences still building; … Morning Briefing … Interest Co NZ

https://www.interest.co.nz/news/103660/china-virus-infections-seem-be-peaking-economic-consequences-still-building-eu-trade

Here’s our summary of key economic events over the weekend that affect New Zealand, with news the economic implications of the fear of China’s virus continue to grow, even if the virus spread itself is peaking. …

… And more research is suggesting that the impact on China and many other Asian economies is going to be tougher than earlier assumed. Further, a raft or new disputes is sure to flood international courts and arbitration as increasing numbers of Chinese companies claim force majeure on existing supply contracts.

China also released its Q4-2019 current account data which showed a surplus of +NZ$14 bln in the period and +NZ$61 bln for the whole year. That is a surplus of only +0.2% of GDP, tiny in world scale. For goods alone, the surplus was NZ$160 bln in 2019 and still only +0.7% of GDP. They ran large countervailing deficits in services.
.
.
Forget Sars, the new coronavirus threatens a meltdown in China’s economy … Cary Huang … SCMP

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3050629/forget-sars-new-coronavirus-threatens-meltdown-chinas-economy
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February 17, 2020 8:27am
- Michael NZ
  
  Hugh
  This could go nowhere, but it counld stifle the world economy.
  NKorea has it but isn’t reporting it and the have a porous border with China for reinfection.
  
  interesting how this might go.
  
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  February 17, 2020 8:55am
  - david
    
    North Korea operates as a sort of “negative pressure” isolation room. The border is porous to those getting out but no-one in their right mind tries to get in. As such the re-infection rate is likely to be low although there will be plenty of weakened immune systems and malnourishment around if it does get established. Havoc will wreak without doubt.
    
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    February 17, 2020 11:56am
  - GoVege
    
    And all because some members of the most intelligent species on the planet are dumb enough to eat closely related mammalian species that they can catch deadly infectious diseases from.
    When on earth did a pandemic start from eating one of the thousands of yummy plants available….or even fish?
    
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    February 17, 2020 12:17pm
    - GoVege
      
      Shut it, meat-eater.
      You know this is all your fault! 🙂 🙂
      
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      February 17, 2020 12:47pm
    - Classic Liberal
      
      Your schadenfreude stinks worse than any animal’s corpse, GV. I’m disappointed in you.
      
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      February 17, 2020 3:17pm
      - GoVege
        
        Hehe.
        Believe me, CL, I take NO pleasure in this.
        I am well aware that most people, especially males, wouldn’t give up their precious meat if it was scientifically proven they would live 3 times as long if they did.
        
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        February 17, 2020 7:55pm
- KevO'Brien
  
  It’s really too early to call Hugh. Understandably we are facing both a humanitarian crisis and an economic one. If only we had a capable Govt to cope.
  
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  February 17, 2020 10:25am
  - Hugh Pavletich
    
    Coronavirus: Hundreds of tourism jobs lost and fears more at risk … Amanda Cropp … Stuff New Zealand
    
    https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/119489474/coronavirus-hundreds-of-tourism-jobs-lost-and-fears-more-at-risk
    
    New Zealand border closures to halt the spread of the coronavirus have already led to hundreds of tourism job losses and more are feared.
    
    Bus drivers, guides and small tour operators catering for Chinese travellers are among the economic casualties as a tide of cancellations sweeps through the sector. … read more via hyperlink above …
    
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    February 17, 2020 11:12am
    - Hugh Pavletich
      
      Big increase in the number of Chinese citizens leaving New Zealand on a long term basis, Statistics NZ figures show … Interest Co NZ
      
      https://www.interest.co.nz/property/103670/there-has-been-big-increase-number-chinese-citizens-leaving-country-long-term-basis
      
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      February 17, 2020 6:10pm
Two fish and a scoop thanks Cindy

OK, updated prediction:
Biden is toast.
Mayor Pete likely to be nominated.
Bernie will be shafted by the DNC, either by their own machinations or by Warren, who I think is only there to foil Bernie.
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February 17, 2020 8:31am
- KevO'Brien
  
  Dow you really think the American are ready to be be butted? Wild intersectionalism is likely to intervene and to many homosexuality is not a preferred lifestyle.
  
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  February 17, 2020 10:27am
  - Two fish and a scoop thanks Cindy
    
    I’m referring to the nomination, not the Presidency.
    I think Trump will trounce any of them but Mayor Pete might well be the best of what they got….
    
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    February 17, 2020 10:57am
- mark15
  
  Did she get it right?
  
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  February 17, 2020 10:38am
- kloyd0306
  
  Agree re Biden
  Klobuchar, Warren likewise.
  Can’t see the Dems accepting a gay man to lead the ticket, certainly not the country.
  That leaves Bernie, a committed socialist who is not even a Dem but an Independent plus ex Republican (RINO) Bloomberg, a white billionaire. The left revile rich white billionaires
  Fun to watch the Dems in total disarray.
  
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  February 17, 2020 10:48am
- Ed Snack
  
  My conclusion is that as of now, the DNC *seem* to be getting behind Bloomberg as the nominee. I agree that Biden is done (has been for weeks), Pete doesn’t seem to have widespread support, Klobuchar same (and made a hash of an interview yesterday when she couldn’t identify almost any foreign leaders – specifically the President of Mexico), Warren is gone. That leaves Sanders…..or Bloomberg.
  
  And Bloomberg is showing that, yes, you CAN buy your way into office, or at least into getting a decent shot at it.
  
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  February 17, 2020 11:40am
- Bell-47
  
  It’s time for a wager, if it is Mayor Pete who gets the nomination, how long will it be before people who won’t vote for him are labelled homophobes? As with Hillary and her “deplorables” label. I doubt Pete would endorse it but the depths the Dem’s would plumb to label trump voters should not be underestimated.
  
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  February 17, 2020 1:14pm
  - Two fish and a scoop thanks Cindy
    
    .0000000000000659 milliseconds.
    
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    February 17, 2020 2:41pm
Yvette

Children’s Commissioner Judge Andrew Becroft, commenting on the horrifically assaulted Flaxmere four-year old boy, this morning on radio Magic Talk again referred to the SFO ability to ask questions with a power that goes beyond the Police.

Is this a myth, or can anyone say exactly how SFO questioning works?
Does it involve threat of jail-time?
And if it actually exists, how does it overcome a situation where someone knows just what happened but is threatened by the perpetrator with death if they nark. Such a family witness knows from what they are hiding, exactly what the other person is capable of.

I don’t have an answer, but unless they can give a little more detail, I wish people would cease the distraction of saying that the SFO does.
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February 17, 2020 8:34am
- mikenmildagain
  
  People interviewed by the SFO have no right to silence, and must answer questions and produce documents. Theoretically, at least, one can be jailed for refusing to answer SFO questions.
  
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  February 17, 2020 9:16am
  - KevO'Brien
    
    Income Tax Inspectors have those powers too in some circumstances.
    
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    February 17, 2020 10:29am
  - david
    
    Which may (or of course may not) hold a clue as to the kind of charges laid against 4 persons of protected identity wrt the investigation into National Party donations inspired by Jamie Lee Ross’s complaint to Police.
    According to reports, National followed all the rules and would appear to have been cleared of wrongdoing.
    
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    February 17, 2020 10:58am
- geoff3012
  
  The SFO only take very serious and only winning cases on…..unless they are sure of a winner they wont.
  
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  February 17, 2020 11:27am
Monique Watson

So she’s now washed her hands of her staffers bad behavior and the Deputy PM. Not her problem as she swans off to other countries and glams it up. Looks to the public that both JA and WP are in it for the baubles instead of representing New Zealand in office.
And it is her problem as essentially the govt is under investigation by the SFO.
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February 17, 2020 8:36am
mister nui

Gone off this blog big time, ever since these power-tripping moderators ubiquitous presence.

I’ve been commenting here since long before most of these moderators were around, and still my comments go into moderation – you may say it is because I don’t use my own name, but many others who don’t use their own name don’t have their comments go into moderation.

Then the straw that broke the camels back… A comment of mine was edited this morning by a moderator, and they didn’t even have the balls to identify that they edited it.

For you moderators, why don’t you put your real names up when you edit/moderate a comment, rather than just “mod”, that way we can identify the dripping wet ones.
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February 17, 2020 8:41am
- Michael NZ
  
  mister
  already asked that.
  It’s DPF you need to ask.
  Its his blog and making it all beige is his indaba.
  good luck with the mods having to ID themselves.
  let alone putting edited on a comment so that everyone knows they have “shaped” the comment….
  
  [Mod: the mod forgot, it has been changed now I believe)
  
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  February 17, 2020 8:58am
  - sooty
    
    So some mods are higher up the pecking order than others?
    
    11 3
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    February 17, 2020 9:36am
    - Paulus
      
      I am and have been for a long time subject to automatic Moderation in everything I write.
      I have never been declined (I don’t think).
      Just having to wait 5 minutes approx.
      Being an 80 year old I no longer mind.
      It is David’s site and I support it as much as I can.
      
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      February 17, 2020 1:56pm
- Tony Stuart
  
  For you moderators, why don’t you put your real names up when you edit/moderate a comment, rather than just “mod”, that way we can identify the dripping wet ones.
  
  Comments like this are probably a good reason for the moderators to remain anonymous. I’ve been on Kiwiblog since 2007, so have probably commented more than most. Since DPF made his changes last year, when I decided to own my comments by posting under my own name, I believe the quality of my comments have improved. because I am accountable for them.
  
  DPF doesn’t have that many rules to comply with, so it’s not difficult to pass muster. Contact DPF directly if you believe you deserve to bypass moderation.
  
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  February 17, 2020 9:23am
  - hullkiwi
    
    Unfortunately Tony, some of us work for govt organisations which precludes us from blogging under our own names. I am aware of colleagues who read this blog and are most definitely of a different political persuasion, putting my position at risk.
    
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    February 17, 2020 9:42am
    - Tony Stuart
      
      Fair enough hullkiwi. I think DPF has given mod bypasses to some who blog anonymously for reasons such as yours. Could be worth a try.
      
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      February 17, 2020 10:00am
      - Tall Man
        
        The thing that annoys me is when a post is moderated twice.
        
        I have had comments go through, receive comments then be “altered”.
        
        It says to me that while there may a standard that needs to be maintained, it is fluid.
        
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        February 17, 2020 11:21am
      - Classic Liberal
        
        Yep, Tall Man: just as the concept of ‘hate speech’ is impossible to define but damn easy to abuse by any government.
        
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        February 17, 2020 3:25pm
    - The Proper Ghandi
      
      Jesus. That says a lot doesn’t it? So much for being a pluralist system. We have sleep-walked into East Germany circa the 1970s, where people have to hide their political leanings for fear of being reported. I now consider myself a dissident, red-pilled subversive. There is a silent majority though, I believe.
      
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      February 17, 2020 10:56am
      - Classic Liberal
        
        I’ll never forget a film about a female Dr in the GDR constantly watched by the Stasi, to the extent where she was regularly hand-raped by their officers to check for hidden information!
        
        It was utterly nauseating and defined what Socialist Authoritarianism is all about!
        
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        February 17, 2020 3:28pm
      - Classic Liberal
        
        Wow, just wow! Someone here thinks the Dr being watched and hand-raped by the Stasi was OK. No doubt that troll thinks the Stasi was all for ‘freedom and equality’.
        
        The film was called ‘Barbara’, 2012 by Christian Petzold.
        
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        February 17, 2020 6:12pm
      - The Proper Ghandi
        
        Classic Liberal
        Ah, the old hand rape tactic. Lucky for everybody that the compassionate Leftists left that nonsense back in 20th century…
        
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        February 17, 2020 7:18pm
    - Aliog
      
      @hullkiwi – I too have valid reasons to use an alias. I wrote to DPF explaining the background and got a prompt response clearing me from the moderation queue.
      
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      February 17, 2020 12:22pm
      - Classic Liberal
        
        I’m not going to make pleas to DPF. He knows that many of us work in areas where using our real names would lose us business or jobs.
        
        And her knows that there is enough bitterness and extremism on the Left to cause physical attacks against moderates – just look at the ‘AntiFa’ fascism rising in Europe!
        
        Let alone what happens to people like the Charlie Hebdo staff for simply making a joke criticising islam!
        
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        February 17, 2020 3:36pm
    - lofty
      
      It would be an opportune time to say that if you think your under the cloak of anonymity by using a nom de plume, you are sadly mistaken.
      
      If comments you make attract the attention of the “authorities” your ID will be instantly sought, you might even end up having a quiet conversation with an interested party….just saying.
      
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      February 17, 2020 1:08pm
    - Michael NZ
      
      and some of us Have family who may not share our persuasions but are at risk similarly.
      
      After aricle 88 (or whatever) in USA where the left got addresses/work and names and then went after opponants of one man one woman at said work/home/schools.
      
      I have no wish to risk my family because of the cnts we have here. and they are that.
      I am appalled what I see unfolding here.
      
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      February 17, 2020 11:26pm
- Paulus Gnome
  
  Write something disparaging about the inconsistency or the pithy comments made by the [mod] and the comment disappears faster than JA at an open mike Q and A or, is deleted without being shown.
  
  Take the hit [mods] and let the uptick / downtick process sort out how the readers feel not if you feel peeved.
  
  If you can show you can walk on water, I will withdraw.
  
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  February 17, 2020 9:36am
- tf78
  
  I think it’s unfair to criticize having mods – they are for DPF and your own safety. If you don’t like it temper your comments or don’t comment at all. Just MHO that’s all – I don’t know what I’d do without KB.
  
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  February 17, 2020 10:56am
  - mister nui
    
    [Deleted – mod.]
    
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    February 17, 2020 12:38pm
  - Classic Liberal
    
    ‘Temper your comments’ – how high shall I jump? Taxinda’s government will set some ‘hate speech’ laws they like. Flexible ones like in the UK, that apply to some people only. And then the mods will try to avoid those ‘hate speech’ laws being broken.
    
    Once you temper or withhold comments that aren’t libelous or an actual threat, freedom of speech is GONE in NZ.
    
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    February 17, 2020 3:44pm
    - KevO'Brien
      
      Freedom of speech is at risk. There are some very litigious people out there who will attempt to stamp you out using the law and its costs to beggar you. We all know of an elderly politician who likes to tease about all the actions he has going.
      
      We can all write carefully with barbs on our fingers and draw the needed blood leaving our opponents choking on their whisky and cornflakes. DPF need us to exercise care too as he won’t want to be a party to a legal blunderbuss action.
      
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      February 17, 2020 5:04pm
The Proper Ghandi

He’s a male Green Party politician. They have to check their balls and gumption at the reception area.
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February 17, 2020 8:44am
- The Proper Ghandi
  
  Dear God! I missed that target like a Labour Party politician!
  
  Above was a reply to cmm’s earlier “Shaw has to stop acting like a dead fish if he actually wants to get above 5%”
  
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  February 17, 2020 9:01am
Yvette

Again the Foundation spent $425,000 on behalf of NZ First and most of the bills it paid were addressed to Winston personally or his office. The claim his only involvement was to say make sure its legal is of the same nature as his claim he knew nothing about $100,000 from Owen Glenn. – kiwiblog

Winston Peters on Foundation donations: ‘I did not receive any money’ – RNZ headline

With the whole nation having seen now that Winston Peters had repaid $17936.43
according to his lawyer– not the wildly inaccurate media estimate of $18,000 – just $63.57 out, but technically wrong, perhaps rather than “money” ask Winston, “Did you receive any advantage or benefit from the New Zealand First Foundation?”

But stand back, if you do – “benefit” might still be a slightly “touchy” word
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February 17, 2020 9:01am
- KevO'Brien
  
  Winston may not have received any money personally. He may just have had bills paid by the party that he may have initiated and not necessarily for his personal use.
  Form trumps substance frequently in commercial law situations. Winston enjoys teasing us all with that.
  
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  February 17, 2020 10:36am
  - tf78
    
    That’s why Winnie specifically said “I” did not.
    
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    February 17, 2020 10:58am
    - JackRabbit
      
      The questions should/will be:
      SFO: Is this invoice in your name or the name of the org that you manage?
      
      WP: Yes
      
      SFO: Has this invoice, made out to you or your org, been paid?
      
      WP: I don’t know.
      
      SFO: Well we have the evidence right here. For an invoice in your name or the name of the org you control, to be paid, you would have asked it to be paid, or allowed it to be paid, either explicitly or by overarching permissions granted to whoever wrote the cheque or paid by internet backing etc.
      
      The debt was incurred in your name and paid in your name.
      
      WP: I don’t know anything
      
      SFO: Could we help your memory with a simple lie detector test? Oh, and by the way, we have offered $100,000 for anyone who can vouch that you solicited donations from, donations that went to the trust.
      
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      February 17, 2020 2:12pm
      - KevO'Brien
        
        It is not that simple. There is contract, agency and trust law for starters to be applied. Being a Head of a party would not make them personally liable for the organisations. If he bought a caged budgie for his office that may not be a personal charge either. Every item needs to have the surrounding facts examined separately.
        
        I think the proper charges are ones relating to the attempt to subvert the established law. A higher duty seems to have been breached. If NZF wanted things differently they should have sponsored the changes in the House. That is their right and the proper course. Winston himself once campaigned on the Winebox subversion-he knew the boundaries well. Is this dementia or has he gone rogue?
        
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        February 17, 2020 5:19pm
  - JackRabbit
    
    “Form trumps substance frequently in commercial law situations.”
    
    Except that Criminal Law trumps commercial law every time. If your opponent is a bully or someone like Peters, sooner or later they will cross the criminal threshold. If their lawyer is smart and knows criminal law, they will always advise clients to pay or settle.
    
    Except that Winston is the person that denies everything. You find people like that in relationships whose policy is to deny everything.
    
    Such a person may be cheating on their partner, and any suggestion of evidence is denied. Even when photos of the cheater and the other person in bed making out, they still deny.
    
    The cheater / liar is a narcissist and usually has the partner doubting themselves because of the certainty with which the cheater / liar speaks.
    
    In this case, Peters lies with certainty to the point that those he opposes, start to doubt themselves and their viewpoint of him. That is how narcissists work – getting inside the head of the opponent.
    
    Peters is a narcissistic dwarf. The SFO need to steel themselves to prevent him getting inside their heads.
    
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    February 17, 2020 11:13am
    - KevO'Brien
      
      I’ve had my time dealing with arrangements and justifications on the legal commercial and tax boundaries. For example it is not an intent to commit a crime to organise your affairs to minimise the impact of taxes on you. There are Law Lords who would accord that the status of a civic duty. Interpretations are also seasonal.
      
      The SFO has to fit it’s reviews within the perspective of criminal activity. A drug dealer is already conducting a criminal activity so money laundering has to be implicitly a crime. A trust receiving money to care for on behalf of Political Party is only acting as caretaker of its resources. Depending on the documents, arrangements to pay certain accounts on presentation are not criminal. This is regular commercial activity.
      What may be criminal is if one or more of the principals of the Trust got paid surreptitiously for other than services rendered or goods supplied. It all depends on the documents.
      
      I see lawyers in the background so expect the paperwork is all in order. The intention of that paperwork though is of concern if it impact the intent of the Electoral Act and shows the Leader possibly subverting that Act.
      
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      February 17, 2020 5:40pm
  - cmm
    
    Winnie will play this that a cheque is not money. Nor is a bank deposit.
    
    Money is notes and coins in the hand. Anything else can be weasled.
    
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    February 17, 2020 1:35pm
    - JackRabbit
      
      Its all there in the Crimes Act. Cheque/deposit/Notes/Coins is irrelevant. It is did he gain from it, and was it an act of deception? yes and yes.
      
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      February 17, 2020 1:50pm
- Two fish and a scoop thanks Cindy
  
  Well of course Winston didn’t receive any money, the foundation paid the bill on his behalf, so Winston didn’t see any money and is therefore completely and utterly guilty of nothing more than being a hardworking, conscientious Minister of HM Government.
  c’mon people… this isn’t difficult.
  
  /Jokes bruh.
  
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  February 17, 2020 10:50am
  - Two fish and a scoop thanks Cindy
    
    a whole hour in moderation…
    
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    February 17, 2020 11:50am
    - Simon Gotlieb
      
      Simple solution. Use your real name.
      
      1 12
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      February 17, 2020 1:06pm
      - Two fish and a scoop thanks Cindy
        
        or,
        more mods?
        Wanna give us your address and bank account numbers, seeing as privacy is something you seem not to value?
        
        7 1
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        February 17, 2020 1:50pm
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        Sure, use your own name if you can be confident that you will not put up comments on this blog site that:
        
        *express doubt that climate science is a settled science,
        
        *refer to groups of violent men who have been protected by authorities
        
        but be wary if you have a “foreign” name.
        
        For there are some anonymous folks on this blog who will abuse, smear and defame those of us who use our own names.
        
        7 1
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        February 17, 2020 5:26pm
      - Simon Gotlieb
        
        Biggest problem I’ve ever had with having a foreign name is having to spell it to people… “no, I before E except after C”. People seem to think that being a foreign name (Latvian, not German) that i before e rule doesn’t apply.
        As for the other stuff, well, I’ve been playing in punk rock bands since 1979 so I suppose there’s plenty to lock me up for if they wanted…
        
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        February 17, 2020 8:59pm
- JackRabbit
  
  “…were addressed to Winston personally or his office.”
  
  So unless these invoices were not paid, or sent back GNA, or disputed, the paying of them constitutes knowing about them. You are legally liable for all and everything in your name or of that of an organisation or entity you are responsible for.
  
  His defence of not knowing does not stand up to scrutiny in the commercial world, Inland Revenue or under the Crimes Act.
  
  And in any event, being ignorant of the law is not a defense.
  
  Winston campaigns on being smart, trustworthy, and on the ball.
  
  But when it comes to the foundation and his not knowing, he is essentially asking the public to believe that he never studied law, knows nothing about money, or common law, or the elections rules, is a simpleton bordering on intellectually handicapped, with an IQ of less than 60. In other words, Mr Bean with a lobotomy.
  
  Would anyone in their right mind vote for Mr Bean with a lobotomy?
  
  Winston, you can’t have it both ways, you need to man up, and fess up.
  
  Winston, a role model for Lion Brown since 1991.
  
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  February 17, 2020 10:54am
Michael NZ

Raymond Ibrahim
Islamic reformation, RI reveals the truth, nothing can change because the source books can’t change in Islam.

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/02/islamic_reform_top_muslim_university_says_no.html
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February 17, 2020 9:02am
- Stephieboy2
  
  Michael NZ , this link from Americab Thinker gets the measure of their biases and prejudices ,
  
  https://www.americanthinker.com/author/raymond_ibrahim/
  
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  February 17, 2020 10:19am
  - Michael NZ
    
    Stephie2
    you are such a tool aren’t you?
    You aren’t fit to tie Raymond Ibrahim’s laces.
    read the book….
    
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    February 17, 2020 11:29pm
The Proper Ghandi

This was in my YT recommendations the other day. What has changed, because Trump certainly hasn’t?

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

Any of these old interviews show us how consistent Trump is. Unlike his opponents.
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February 17, 2020 9:05am
- tf78
  
  I’ve watched lots of Trump videos going back more than 30 years – he really doesn’t seem to have a bad bone in his body. He seems to genuinely care about People and most of all America. Great man – Trump 4EVA.
  
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  February 17, 2020 11:00am
  - The Proper Ghandi
    
    He’s very genuine and cares for his country. Those constantly bashing him are neither. They always claim he is erratic, unhinged and volatile. He is a little more blunt these days, but those old clips show a very calm, assured, thoughtful and actually quite eloquent guy. And, dare I say it, he was a very good looking guy in his physical prime.
    
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    February 17, 2020 12:19pm
cmm

Stuff has been running a few articles on South Sudan over the last few days. I’ll forgive the journalists various technical inaccuracies.

Today they’s saying “we can’t give up”. That’s a very arrogant polsci view of the world.

South Sudan has been a tribal conflict zone for over 200 years. Dave Shearer is not going to change that any time soon.

Sure he can send his blue-lidded troops out to suppress individual episodes, but solutions – nope.
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February 17, 2020 9:05am
- The Proper Ghandi
  
  Bring them over! That will fix the entrenched resentments and tribal animosities. Maybe they could start a business and stuff?
  
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  February 17, 2020 9:10am
  - cmm
    
    Good point. Steve Jobs’ mother was a refugee from Syria. Bring in a bunch of South Sudanese and we can start a bunch of Apples.
    
    Of course South Sudan is and IQ71 population, so maybe we’ll have to settle for Couscous rather than Apples.
    
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    February 17, 2020 9:34am
    - Stephieboy2
      
      cmm,
      
      Of course South Sudan is and IQ71 population,?
      
      Apart from yourself and the usual suspects , says whom?
      
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      February 17, 2020 11:05am
      - The Proper Ghandi
        
        https://brainstats.com/average-iq-by-country.html
        
        I guess we are part of “Australia.” Either that, or you are responsible for our evident non-appearance.
        
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        February 17, 2020 12:35pm
      - Classic Liberal
        
        “says whom?” – People who know that ‘says who’ is in the nominative case.
        
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        February 17, 2020 3:52pm
    - Ed Snack
      
      I’d posit that it is a cultural problem rather than any genetic based issue. In general, you need certain cultural attributes in order to form and maintain an “advanced” society. South Sudan is mired in a cultural milieu that more or less condemns them to be as they are. External influences are not going to be particularly effective until the cultural environment changes.
      
      The good thing is that being cultural, it can be changed, the bad thing is that it is very difficult and slow to do so.
      
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      February 17, 2020 11:48am
      - Stephieboy2
        
        A good measure of that” cultural problem” is Christian based ?
        
        Agree?
        
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        February 17, 2020 12:06pm
      - The Proper Ghandi
        
        Ed
        See above the IQ data I posted in response to Stiffy. Culture is downstream of average IQ, not the converse. A nation full of impulsive idiots are never going to have a stable and prosperous culture, because they don’t have the intellect to develop one. Africa is full of natural resources, but is Third World due to the Africans who live there. The same reason explains why Maori didn’t even have the wheel 250 years ago.
        
        It stings some people to concede this, but the Western world is the most developed due to our higher average cognitive capacities. Fact. This is why you cannot talk about IQ data, and why you can’t, for example, drop 60 million largely low IQ immigrants into the US since 1965 and expect the society to remain unaltered for the worse. That’s how California went from an ‘Apple Pie’ and ordered Red State, to a Blue State with human excrement all over the place in a few short decades. That is the future if we continue on the same trajectory.
        
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        February 17, 2020 1:10pm
      - mikenmildagain
        
        How come, in the US, the ‘blue states’ are all more advanced in nearly every economic and social measures that the ‘red states’?
        
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        February 17, 2020 2:49pm
    - Jack5
      
      Steve Jobs’ mother was a refugee from Syria. Nope, she wasn’t.
      
      Jobs was born to Joanne Schieble and a Syrian, Abdulfattah “John” Jandali, both University of Wisconsin graduate students. The couple gave up their unnamed son for adoption, but later married and had a daughter.
      
      Jandali was a political science academic. Schieble, an American,
      was a speech therapist. Shortly after his birth, Steve Jobs was placed for adoption.
      
      Jobs was 27 when he traced his biological parents, and some of the credit, and perhaps much of the credit, for Jobs’s creativity lies with his suburban American adoptive parents, Clara (an accountant) and Paul Jobs (a machinist and enthusiastic home tinkerer). Young Steve Jobs’ pals in the Home Brew Computer Club, notably Steve Wozniak, also fired his creativity.
      
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      February 17, 2020 2:35pm
    - Jack5
      
      If NZ is classed in Australia’s average of IQ of 98 (as cited by The Proper Ghandi), perhaps our Stephiestanis are partly responsible for the two point lag from the 100 points norm. ?
      
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      February 17, 2020 3:00pm
- mikenmildagain
  
  Just give up, huh. Nothing anyone can do?
  
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  February 17, 2020 9:17am
  - The Proper Ghandi
    
    Pretty much. Nothing to do with the parts of the world that have their shit together. What, do you expect the Sudanese will treat whitey as their long- awaited saviour and come together for a group hug? No chance in hell. These conflicts are baked into the pie.
    
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    February 17, 2020 9:34am
  - cmm
    
    Do something, anything… Wanting there to be a solution does not mean there is a solution.
    
    Ok, MMA give me a list of three things they can actually do that will actually achieve something.
    
    Both sides shoot eachother up when they want. If the blue-helmets interfere too much then they get shot.
    
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    February 17, 2020 9:38am
    - mikenmildagain
      
      You are essentially claiming that no peacekeeping or peace support mission can achieve anything, anywhere. That’s nonsense.
      
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      February 17, 2020 10:34am
      - cmm
        
        Rubbish. Stop trying to mind read because you are crap at it.
        
        Sure, put effort into peacekeeping and peace support where it can make a difference.
        
        For example, in the Balkans. etc where there was a short civil war and then a peace was found. UN actually seems to more or less have achieved a useful outcome. Same in Korea and Vietnam maybe.
        
        But in many areas it is a waste of time. Many areas of ME for example. South Sudan has been fighting these conflicts for over 200 years. To think the UN is actually achieving anything is insane.
        
        None of the belligerents allow civilian aid through unless you also pay off the warlords. Bottom line – UN is actually equipping all parties in this war.
        
        Still waiting for a short list of 3 practical things…
        
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        February 17, 2020 1:30pm
      - mikenmildagain
        
        Three things? In case this is not obvious:
        1. Monitor and enforce ceasefire agreements
        2. Organise and conduct elections
        3. Support the development of civic institutions
        These things have all be done by peacekeeping missions in other parts of Africa (Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe, etc). There is no patently obvious reason why the mission in South Sudan is doomed to failure.
        
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        February 17, 2020 2:47pm
      - Stephieboy2
        
        cmm, well things won’t go back to colonial rule which nobdoy wants ( apart from maybe someone like you.)
        
        It’s countries like Norway and numerous other countries that deem it worthwhile finding a durable peace in the South Sudan,
        
        https://www.norway.no/en/sudan/values-priorities/peace-stability-sec/
        
        International security depends on it.
        
        Various forms of foreign aid are vital.Aid that encourages economic development and political stability.
        
        Not easy and no quick fixes but that of course appeals to our basic civilised and humanitarian instincts ,
        
        https://ec.europa.eu/echo/where/africa/south-sudan_en
        
        Not your crude racial theories ( average IQ 71 etc )!
        
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        February 17, 2020 3:36pm
      - Classic Liberal
        
        Stuffy claims: “colonial rule which nobody [sic] wants ( apart from maybe someone like you.)”
        
        That is the *exact opposite* of what cmm says he wants.
        
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        February 17, 2020 3:58pm
- Stephieboy2
  
  cmm, and also South Sudan mainly Christian. Sobering for you?
  
  https://www.britannica.com/place/South-Sudan/Religion
  
  Or let’s fancifully turn the clock back to British Colonial ruler
  
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  February 17, 2020 10:21am
  - cmm
    
    Not sure what the Christian thing has to do with it. The fighting likely goes back long before Christian vs Muslim.
    
    At least the Brits created a Pax Britannica that supressed the worst of the fighting. That would be hard to do these days given easy access to automatic weapons.
    
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    February 17, 2020 1:32pm
    - Jack5
      
      If the British empire builders were transposed to today, I guess they would be using drones and AC-130 gunships to settle down the indigenous folk with their Kalashnikovs.
      
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      February 17, 2020 3:03pm
Happychappy

Newsroom reports Coalition landmine awaits residency range call.
Labour and NZ First are considering whether to abandon a 20 year practice of limiting the total of residency approvals at between 37,000 and 47,000 a year.
Dileepa Fonseka reports this much delayed and politically explosive bill is due before the 2020 Elections.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2020/02/17/1034496/immigration-to-carry-on
This will be interesting as Winston Peter uses Immigration as a vote catcher only to normally let those voters down at every Election by deciding against what he promised and could cause a devide in the Coalition.
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February 17, 2020 9:31am
- hullkiwi
  
  HC, with all the skill and experience of the CoL to hand, they’ll step on it.
  
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  February 17, 2020 10:33am
- Minsk400
  
  I’ve wanted to vote National for a long time. What has stopped me is two factors:
  1. Their unwavering and unprincipled subservience to the Chinese Communist Party (Labour is just as bad).
  2. National’s insistence on high levels of immigration when the data show the promises of greater prosperity have not been borne out after 30+ years. Simon Bridges goes on about GDP increases – It’s GDP per capita that counts – our standard of living relative to the rest of our former comparator countries has been steadily decreasing. NZ First has been the only party who have said anything about it – even talk of a population policy. The only problem is NZ First don’t do anything about it once in power. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. I’m not voting NZ First again.
  
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  February 17, 2020 10:47am
pb

The globalist empire is falling quickly. BBC told to self-fund.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-bbc-has-overreached-for-too-long-now-that-must-end-53phb05pn

Big dumb sclerotic centralizers (Hello National and Labour) are falling like rotten willows. The Covid impact is only just starting to kick in. Anyone googled prepper websites yet? Let’s start again and try the principle of “subsidiary function”, or as-local-as-possible.
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February 17, 2020 9:37am
Surely Knott

P.M. Ardern on RNZ “”I have a personal view on blogs like that – they’re not something that I choose to engage with or have the Labour Party engage with – I don’t believe them and think they tend to engage in mudslinging and that’s not how I do politics.”” Has she been to the Standard?!
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February 17, 2020 9:39am
- Sydney Alvarado
  
  I think she means all blogs except The Standard.
  
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  February 17, 2020 9:58am
- Ruawai
  
  She is turning it to the blogs fault, when it is actually the NZ First party
  
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  February 17, 2020 10:48am
hullkiwi

Funny from Friday night’s news. The TVNZ CB poll on how people will vote on the dope referendum.

With 65% against and 25% for, all Swarfega could say was “they will have to some more educating”.

Sorry, but when will she and members of the CoL realise, 1948 was a novel and we do not live it as a reality in 2020 NZ! However, what passes for news and information in the modern day MSM, I think I may be mistaken about the freedom of the press and their ability to determine what is news and information!
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February 17, 2020 9:47am
- alloytoo
  
  I suspect people have now noticed the bait switch from medicinal to recreational use.
  
  14 0
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  February 17, 2020 10:31am
- Ruahine
  
  They are already on to it with your money.
  
  https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12304648
  
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  February 17, 2020 11:00am
- tf78
  
  1984 I think you mean.
  
  6 0
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  February 17, 2020 11:04am
  - hullkiwi
    
    Yes typo, Orwell wrote 1984 in 1948.
    
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    February 17, 2020 2:22pm
Swifty

Just why isn’t the lying, thieving fraudster Haoyu Gao and his wife Xia Xue rotting in jail, before being deported?

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/119565995/kiwifruit-smuggler-ordered-to-pay-zespri-15-million

NZ growers and Plant and Food sweated blood and invested millions of dollars researching and developing new varieties in the wake of the PSA virus devastation.

I know. My family trialed SunGold and other varieties, as we did Zespri Gold (Hort 16A) before it.

Then along comes this couple who, contrary to the agreements they signed with Zespri and contrary to their responsibilities as ‘citizens’ of NZ say “We’ll have that thank you very much” and proceed to steal the variety and license it to their equally corrupt mates in China!

These are not the sort of people we want in this country.

Chuck them out.
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February 17, 2020 9:55am
- info@cruzpro.com
  
  Theft should be punishable by imprisonment.
  
  12 0
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  February 17, 2020 11:32am
  - Komata
    
    Info@1132
    
    Somehow, I don’t think that Winnie would agree with you…
    
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    February 17, 2020 3:49pm
- Simon Gotlieb
  
  Hmmm… While these guys should be prosecuted, it should be remember that what are now Kiwifruit seeds were brought into New Zealand in 1904 by Mary Isabel Fraser, the principal of Wanganui Girls’ College, who had been visiting mission schools in China. They were planted in 1906 by a Whanganui nurseryman, Alexander Allison, and the vines first fruited in 1910.
  
  One wonders if she had permission to take those seeds?
  
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  February 17, 2020 1:13pm
  - Jack5
    
    True, Simon, but it was NZ expertise, agricultural research and marketing initiative that developed kiwifruit from being exotic “Chinese gooseberries” into today’s product, popular with world consumers.
    
    Just as NZ researchers developed the Monterey pine into the Radiata pine now being raised in commmercial plantations in several countries, but a rare and endangered tree in its native California. Rotorua researchers selected specimens over decades and used advanced techniques in replicating them.
    
    The kiwifruit case is another test of China’s regard for international intellectual property rights.
    
    When the missionaries collected seeds from the wild plants in China more than a century ago there would have been little if any conception of intellectual property rights for plant species.
    
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    February 17, 2020 2:08pm
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      more than a century ago there would have been little if any conception of intellectual property rights for plant species.
      
      Some folks were thinking about the matter….
      
      But it wasn’t until the 1950s-1980s that Countries got serious about protecting the rights of seed raisers and Plant breeders.
      
      https://www.journalijdr.com/plant-variety-protection-historical-perspective
      
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      February 17, 2020 3:01pm
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    She possibly got the seeds (in a round about way) from E.H. Wilson, the famed plant collector from Veitch Nurseries.
    
    https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/01140671.2004.9514276
    
    Although China was in turmoil in the early 1900s… there is nothing to indicate that the British plant collectors were acting illegally.
    
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    February 17, 2020 3:21pm
MrTips

Thought for the day.

If Trump is this evil, horrible, conniving, lying, cheating, disgraceful, traitorous, backstabbing, unhinged despot that the Democrats and media portray him as……….

why the hell do they think they can beat him? By their logic, they really need a couple of hobbits and a lunatic ….oh wait.
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February 17, 2020 9:56am
- Stephieboy2
  
  When did the Dems and others say that?
  
  1 23
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  February 17, 2020 10:24am
  - Two fish and a scoop thanks Cindy
    
    you may want to make an appointment with Bay Audiology
    
    12 1
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    February 17, 2020 12:51pm
- Komata
  
  Mr Tips@0956
  
  A bit tough on the Hobbits there Sir; they at least kept ‘Genteel / Respectful ‘ company…
  
  Just saying.
  
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  February 17, 2020 3:51pm
Right of way is Way of Right

Well, this Labour Government have all been crowing from the rooftops about how they want to increase home ownership, so it was with no small amount of interest that I read this story published in Stuff this weekend.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/property/119475287/firsthome-buyer-i-was-told-cancel-or-live-in-a-state-housing-development

So, here we have a young lady who had paid a deposit on a unit in a housing development in Onehunga Bay, built by Avanda Developers, in August 2019. In November, she gets a notification that the remaining unsold units in the development are being purchased by HNZ/Kainga Ora.

In January, she gets a letter informing her that HNZ/Kainga Ora have purchased the ENTIRE development, and she will have her deposit and associated costs refunded.

So, instead of this government assisting people in to home ownership, it transpires that they are actively BLOCKING people from owning their own homes, buying up developments that would otherwise be available for prospective homeowners like this woman to purchase!

You cannot own your own house, the state will provide! What a crock of shit!
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February 17, 2020 10:06am
- Paulus
  
  How long will it be before these properties are like so many other ghetto estates ?
  
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  February 17, 2020 2:02pm
  - Komata
    
    Paulus @ 1402
    
    If you’re at all familiar with the American ‘Projects’, probably about two years, although that will depend on the ethnicity of the inhabitants.
    
    Some groups are more ‘destructive’ than others…
    
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    February 17, 2020 3:55pm
curry4me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ebuy3W99rMQ
Fourth Reich members are fighting like ferrets in a sack over their next Reichs budget.
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February 17, 2020 10:17am
curry4me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0dxPMTWID0

Dominic Cummings Takes On Supreme Court & Westminster Establishment. Ms Braverman is not a fan of the Supreme Court. Doesn’t like judicial activism. Looks like it won’t be business as usual.
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February 17, 2020 10:18am
curry4me

Here is what Simon Bridges could do 2-3 weeks before the election to show up the ‘Greens’ Offer them the Kermadecs sanctuary, Environment, and an extra half billion for DOC. They’ll refuse ofcourse. And that’ll show them up. The best time to do so would be about 10 days before the election. Or at the last leaders debate. Discuss.
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February 17, 2020 10:21am
- Two fish and a scoop thanks Cindy
  
  Cat, meet pigeons…
  I like it.
  
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  February 17, 2020 12:53pm
- mandk
  
  He could add cameras on board fishing boats to record the bad behaviour Greenpeace shows in it ads.
  
  And point out that the Green Party allowed Winston First to veto the measure.
  
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  February 17, 2020 4:50pm
  - curry4me
    
    Oh yes, definitely bring back the cameras on fishing boats.
    
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    February 17, 2020 8:03pm
igm

What the hell is happening to New Zealand?
Consecutive governments have gone out of their way to give these people preferential treatment to remain onside for exports . . . is it worth it when they abuse their goodwill like this cretin?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/119565995/kiwifruit-smuggler-ordered-to-pay-zespri-15-million
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February 17, 2020 10:33am
Captain Mainwaring

“I cannot run both a government and three political parties.”

So says Jacinda Ardern on 17/02/20.
Sorry sweetie, when you are dependent on all three of those parties for your hold on Government, yes you do have to keep them in line.
You made your bed out of this rabble, now you have to lie in it.
If it’s all too hard, get out and let’s have an election.
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February 17, 2020 11:18am
- Swifty
  
  Notice how she changes the narrative?
  
  “I cannot run both a government and three political parties.”
  
  Nobody has asked her to. Nobody expects her to.
  
  All she has been invited to do is condemn the bad behaviour of a Minister in her own government – which she did at the drop of a hat with Key and team. Hell, she shrieked and screamed at them even when they did nothing wrong.
  
  But she won’t do it because she maintains two sets of books. One for her team and one for everyone else.
  
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  February 17, 2020 11:54am
- UrbanNeocolonialist
  
  “I cannot run ~~both~~ a government ~~and~~ or three political parties.”
  
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  February 17, 2020 1:54pm
hullkiwi

Questions at large.

Does anyone know how much Shane Jones cousin, Stan the trucker from Whangarei has donated to the NZ First Foundation and in what amounts.

Then has anyone looked into which companies might benefit from the recently announced infrastructure package – especially the building of the SH1/SH15 Expressway between Northport and Whangarei?
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February 17, 2020 11:19am
cmm

Why is CITES limiting the trade in chacma baboons?

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/119304384/baboon-skulls-parts-of-primates-seized-at-nz-border

In many places these are pests in plague proportions. Baboon curios should be treated about the same as we treat possum skin hats and such.
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February 17, 2020 11:22am
- Stephieboy2
  
  This is why ( from your link)
  
  The baboon skulls were destroyed for not complying with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
  
  Proof,
  
  https://www.nikela.org/why-africas-primates-are-in-jeopardy/
  
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  February 17, 2020 11:44am
  - cmm
    
    That is not proof of anything.
    
    Sure, many primates are under threat, but, as I said, chacma baboons are not.
    
    We might like to think baboons are cute and cuddly because they look more human, but they are not.
    
    Same deal for many other overpopulated aminals, such as rabbits and possums in NZ, vervet monkeys in many areas of Africa and elephants in Zimbabwe
    
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    February 17, 2020 1:21pm
    - Stephieboy2
      
      Find it weird why anybody would want to import and trade in even chacma Baboon skulls?
      
      Harks back to Trophy hunting?
      
      Ideas?
      
      3 20
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      February 17, 2020 1:27pm
JimBobJoe

A victims family push back at the Mingrel Mobs attempts to be seen as good guys.
If Donny Fatu a truly remorseful he wouldn’t be patched up and he would be putting the MMs and other fangs for what they are… brutal criminal entities that prey in the vulnerable and unfortunate…
Sonny Fatu do the right thing and patch out and come clean…. but you wont…

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12289027
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February 17, 2020 11:23am
Fletch

One for Maggie – Irish people try Krispy Kremes for the first time….

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRL8W1w_gag
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February 17, 2020 11:28am
Harriet

None of my comments have been cleared while it appears lots of others with a nom de plume have been.

Last time I was polite and stated DPF’s opinion.

Now I’ll spell it out;

DPF HAS STATED PUBLICLY —–THAT YOU ARE NOTHING OTHER THAN A MODERATOR! 😎

Take it up with dpf.
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February 17, 2020 11:47am
JibberJabber

LoL Wot?
https://twitter.com/RMarchNZ/status/1226048298751950848

Decolonisation, are you going to relinquish the things Colonisation brought to NZ?
You know, things like the Wheel, Steel, Horses, Pork,Mutton and Beef et al, not to forget iPhones and the internet.
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February 17, 2020 12:10pm
- GoVege
  
  If only they would relinquish the firewater.
  Was visiting someone in Mangere today and noticed some Maori writing proudly displayed on the house next door.
  Then an old lady came staggering out the front door, fag in mouth, yelling at what appeared to be her grown children, outside drinking.
  From the florid language emanating from her, I suspect she was already drunk.
  The neighbours told us that this goes on everyday.
  They start boozing at 7am and keep on til late at night.
  Such a waste…of public money and their lives…
  
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  February 17, 2020 1:14pm
- graham
  
  Who on earth thinks up this stuff? What does it even mean?
  
  “No queer liberation without decolonisation” … seriously, what the hell does this MEAN!!!
  
  12 1
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  February 17, 2020 2:27pm
  - Batman
    
    Nothing. All it means is that some people have way too much time on their hands.
    
    10 1
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    February 17, 2020 3:16pm
  - Classic Liberal
    
    LOL, it means gay people would rather live under the indigenous social constructs of every country in the world that has been colonized and now have equal rights for gays.
    
    Because so many indigenous cultures were super-accepting of gay relationships…
    
    9 1
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    February 17, 2020 4:11pm
  - Swifty
    
    They don’t know either.
    
    3 1
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    February 17, 2020 5:44pm
- Komata
  
  JJ@1210
  
  ‘Decolonisation’ is the currently-popular buzz-word used to justify Maori inability to get their acts together and actually start doing something for themselves!
  
  It’s widely-taught, insidious, is now well-established in academia and is the prime ‘reason’ for Maori inaction and the go-to excuse for their own laziness.
  
  And as it always works, and gets more money, what is there not to like about it?
  
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  February 17, 2020 4:11pm
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    Well the colonised folks in NZ better grab their goodies quick… for soon we will have so many taxpayers from former colonies who will wonder why they are paying out for events that have nothing to do with them or their ancestors.
    
    5 1
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    February 17, 2020 6:00pm
Cobolt24

Big increase in the number of Chinese citizens leaving New Zealand on a long term basis, Statistics NZ figures show (partly because of fewer coming in?)
https://www.interest.co.nz/property/103670/there-has-been-big-increase-number-chinese-citizens-leaving-country-long-term-basis
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February 17, 2020 12:15pm
- Jack5
  
  Are they going through the back door to Australia?
  
  4 0
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  February 17, 2020 4:55pm
  - curry4me
    
    That wouldn’t surprise me. Some
    Chinese friends of mine did that earlier this century.
    
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    February 17, 2020 8:15pm
Ian Hawthorn

The court has ruled that Auckland city council can deplatform whoever it chooses. That isn’t the ruling I was hoping for as a free speech advocate, which is bad enough. However the court outdid itself, awarding costs against the Free Speech Coalition and declaring that there is NO PUBLIC INTEREST in this matter; a ruling which is so absurd and unreasonable that it reveals the judge to be politically biased and untrustworthy in my opinion. They always go that one step too far don’t they. This will now go to the court of appeal.

Sadly we seem to have a problem with politicised courts and judges in NZ just like they do in the UK and US. Judges who behave politically invite politicians to interfere with the courts. I don’t want that. Nobody wants that. But a politically biased judiciary is simply unacceptable.
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February 17, 2020 1:14pm
- Stephieboy2
  
  Ian Hawthrorn , it will be worthwile to read the whole court judgement before jumping to conclusions !
  
  The UK court robustly defending frre speech as here ,
  
  https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/02/14/courts-judgement-transphobic-tweeter-victory-free-speech/
  
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  February 17, 2020 1:39pm
  - Michael NZ
    
    rubbish stephie2 some in UK want to fight back.
    
    https://www.melaniephillips.com/need-check-thinking-english-police-officer/?fbclid=IwAR2pE6JYP40oeurBpzD0wSGuqmRYOPq8ufPYcQPlseoZvKOa_-cVm0wEsFQ
    
    https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/miller-v-college-of-police-judgment.pdf?fbclid=IwAR357emsIkiEy7_dv1IUrfGlVRYDf0ZvBP8nxKu91vmU5YmIHQCGd8vpiWQ
    
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    February 17, 2020 11:38pm
- Jack5
  
  Our courts seem to have skewed values about freedom of speech.
  
  On one hand, an unlikeable racist in Christchurch was jailed for 21 months for sharing video of the Christchurch mosques massacre. On the other hand, a Muslim teenager in the city, before the same judge, was released on two years supervision for planning a car and knife massacre of Christchurch citizens. The supervision led to him getting golf lessons, while the speech infringer was held a in a cell.
  
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  February 17, 2020 2:53pm
  - GoVege
    
    Not just a speech infringer, but a sharer of an obscene multiple murder video the likes of which has never been seen before in our country.
    Plus he was middle aged, not a teenager, and should have known better.
    
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    February 17, 2020 3:19pm
    - Jack5
      
      If Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” were banned in NZ, would it be a worse offence for a neo-Nazi to distribute copies of the book than to plan a synagogue massacre?
      
      The jailed video distributor in this case is well known in Christchurch for his racism and for his obnoxious actions. But he was punished for breaking censorship, not for threatening extreme violence. Meanwhile an offender who threatened extreme violence ended up getting golf lessons.
      
      Should the video offender have known better? Rational thinking doesn’t come with fanaticism.
      
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      February 17, 2020 4:45pm
Stephieboy2

Just heard this on RNZ . Touching and very sad but Nikita’s life was both heroic and
courageous .

“Ugandan student, 15, who starred in Queen of Katwe dies of brain tumour”

Nikita Pearl Waligwa was much-loved following the 2016 Disney film about a local chess prodigy

A Ugandan student who played a memorable role in a 2016 Disney film about a local chess prodigy has died at the age of 15.
Nikita Pearl Waligwa died on Saturday at a hospital near the Ugandan capital, Kampala. The cause was a brain tumour, according to the girls’ secondary school she had attended since 2018.

She was “a darling to many”, Gayaza high school said on Twitter.

Local media reported that Waligwa had been in and out of hospital with a recurring brain tumour and had previously received treatment, including surgery, in India….

Tributes were coming in for her on social media as Ugandans expressed sadness and recalled her role in the 2016 movie directed by Mira Nair and filmed in Kampala….”

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/feb/16/girl-who-had-role-in-film-about-ugandan-chess-prodigy-dies-of-tumour
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February 17, 2020 1:36pm
- hookerphil
  
  I know Stephieboy is normally an automatic downvote but look at this story first. Her death at 15 does not deserve a downvote.
  
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  February 17, 2020 2:25pm
- Harriet
  
  So Stephie — how come you no longer make snide remarks to me about PAULINE HANSON?
  
  Is it because she OWNED A FISH AND CHIP SHOP?
  
  😎 PLEASE EXPLAIN 😎
  
  I hope Bridges has the balls to say that every time she talks shit – please explain – but he won’t – he’ll waste every opportunity just like JK did.
  
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  February 17, 2020 2:36pm
  - Stephieboy2
    
    Pauline Hanson snide Reamrks? Well here she is not helping the cause,
    
    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/australia-senator-pauline-hanson-halal-label-food-muslim-one-nation-islam-slaughter-certified-a7810776.html
    
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    February 17, 2020 3:43pm
pb

Israel Folau scores a try in his first comeback game after the locusts attacked him for quoting the Bible. I expect Saurons minions to be fully mobilized in fresh assaults. It seemed as if all was lost, but then, at the last minute. Looking forward to hearing all the other thousands of quotes from the Bible on how to avoid burning in hell.
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February 17, 2020 2:09pm
- Michael NZ
  
  Good Point PB.
  
  Funny how everyone deliberately misses that He was speaking to all of us!
  
  The media and the activists and their enablers here just cherrypicked the homosexual verse out of all of them.
  
  Thing is if you say you’re a Christian then the verse Folau quoted aplies to all the earth and everyuthing human in it. No Christian can argue that, not if they are a Christian…..
  
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  February 18, 2020 10:08am
MH

How’s the series going or too depressing?

This is the first of a new monthly series charting Labour’s progress towards election or coalition promises. I plan to have a number of these in areas such as housing, police, light rail and forestry.
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February 17, 2020 3:21pm
Harriet

We’ll leave thieves aside as that is illegal.

But adulterers and other fornicators never complained. Not one.

Not one homosexual – or straight drunk complained either. Drunks didn’t complain – even homosexual drunks!

It wasn’t ever about Folau and -his words- on homosexuality, they just made out that it was — and they then publicly lashed and lynched a Christian Islander – over God’s words!

Another really dumb move. 😎
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February 17, 2020 3:36pm
JibberJabber

I knew there was a reason it started to rain here in the North-West this avo, ?
https://www.speedcafe.com/2020/02/17/gm-confirms-retirement-of-holden-brand/

It`s all over…
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February 17, 2020 3:44pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Bathurst Holden/Ford all over?
  
  2 0
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  February 17, 2020 5:42pm
  - JibberJabber
    
    Yeah, I don`t know what`s going to happen, T8 have said they`re running the ZB thru til the end of `21.
    Supercars talking about a new Gen 3 chassis to accomodate 2dr coupes, so possibly they could run Corvettes, GM said no way to altering the Camaro roof line like the Mustang did.
    Lots of rumours about.
    
    1 0
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    February 17, 2020 6:21pm
  - Stephieboy2
    
    Bathurst Holden/Ford all over? No but replaced with either of these car makes who toppled Holden!
    
    1. Nissan Motors
    2. Renault
    3. Honda
    4. Toyota
    5. Hyundai Motors
    
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    February 17, 2020 7:38pm
Maggy Wassilieff

German Environmental Group puts a stop on Tesla clear-felling forest for factory

https://www.theage.com.au/world/europe/german-court-halts-forest-site-preparation-for-tesla-factory-20200217-p541h8.html
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February 17, 2020 4:55pm
- Stephieboy2
  
  MW, you might be interested in this?,
  
  https://cleantechnica.com/2018/11/28/an-interview-with-the-moscow-tesla-club/
  
  1 11
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  February 17, 2020 6:42pm
Stephieboy2

Hankies, tissues out GM announces the formal closure of Aussie Holden,

Sniffle, sniffle, wimp, wimp…boo hoo…

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/409724/holden-to-retire-its-car-brand-across-nz-and-australia-by-2021
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February 17, 2020 5:28pm
- JibberJabber
  
  Dry ur tears Stephie, I`ve got a new Silverado on order to warm your winters,
  https://www.schofieldholden.co.nz/Chevrolet-Silverado
  The King is dead, long live the King.
  
  7 1
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  February 17, 2020 6:15pm
sooty

The police are lying again, this time it is about deploying their helicopter in AK to head south to CC! It’s not as though there is less crime in Ak suddenly, they could have sent it to Tarunga or Hastings to catch crims. But oh no, it’s to protect Comrade Stinky Cindy on her tour of the mosques and photoshoots in the fair city!
What’s the bet as soon as she leave, so does it!
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February 17, 2020 5:39pm
- Stephieboy2
  
  sooty, wrong there . The trial of the Eagle is to keep an eye on the boy racers that apparently infest the garden city.
  
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  February 17, 2020 6:46pm
greybeard

Is it possible that the only reason Winston chose to go with Labour and the Greens was that he wanted to be Minister of Racing ( for obvious financial reasons ) and he knew National would have baulked at agreeing to that as a condition for coalition ?
13 1
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February 17, 2020 5:46pm
- mandk
  
  I’m sure National would have given Peters that bauble.
  
  Much more likely that Peters was not going to go with National because he was thrashed by a National candidate in the Tauranga electorate in 2008.
  
  The National candidate was Simon Bridges.
  
  The urge for utu runs very deep in Peters.
  
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  February 17, 2020 8:10pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/voices/2019/02/15/donald-trump-venezuela-socialism-bernie-sanders-ilhan-omar-column/2861461002/?fbclid=IwAR1dIsgeGpKt9B1G7f3FVpP-U7wdvVZvUOqx7rhscqxxNd_UYBpBRqVcShw
Note this is an opinion, like the facts that Mike sticks to ………………….
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February 17, 2020 6:26pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

After watching many vids of Daytona 5oo, the MSM are not showing any pics of people kneeling.
I am sure someone could explain
5 1
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February 17, 2020 6:48pm
- curry4me
  
  None of the Daytona 500 stars are whiny America hating narcissists.
  
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  February 17, 2020 8:20pm
MrTips

So Cindy will go backstage, annoy a walking pneumonic and brag about meeting him.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2020/02/jacinda-ardern-meets-sir-elton-john-pm-reflects-on-incredible-and-generous-performance.html

But she won’t meet folk in flood ravaged Southland. Or talk about Winston.

WAB. She really doesn’t care for normal people. Only if they “raise her profile”.
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February 17, 2020 7:43pm
Pete George

National donations story grows.

Newsroom: Not one, but two $100k donations to National in court

Court charging documents released to the media by order of Auckland District Court Judge Edwin Paul today show that three of the four defendants – whose names are suppressed ahead of a hearing next week – each face two joint charges of deception over a sum of $100,000 donated to National in 2017 and $100,050 donated to the party in 2018.

The fourth person is charged jointly with the others only over the second $100,050 donation – but also faces one charge of providing misleading information to the SFO.

https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2020/02/17/1040468/sfo-case-is-over-two-100k-donations-to-national
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February 17, 2020 7:49pm
- mikenmildagain
  
  Details released by a left-leaning judge to take the heat off Peters…
  
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  February 17, 2020 7:59pm
Hugh Pavletich

CHINA … CORONAVIRUS …

Coronavirus could impact 5 million companies worldwide, new research shows … CNBC

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/17/coronavirus-could-impact-5-million-companies-worldwide-research-shows.html

780 million people in China are living under travel restrictions due to the coronavirus outbreak … CNN

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/02/16/asia/coronavirus-covid-19-death-toll-update-intl-hnk/index.html
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February 18, 2020 6:20am
- Hugh Pavletich
  
  US Firms In China Suffering “Severe Shortages Of Workers,” Warn Virus Impact Hitting Supply Chains … Zerohedge
  
  https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/us-firms-china-suffering-severe-shortages-workers-warn-virus-impact-hitting-supply-chains
  
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