General Debate 26 February 2020

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jacob

Looks like Massey are rapidly going back to their sheep:

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12311627
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February 26, 2020 8:04am
- fightingtemeraire
  
  Bet they keep the Dept of Fat Studies.
  
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  February 26, 2020 8:26am
  - john1234
    
    They’ll be getting rid of hard sciences to make some of the larger lecture theatres available for it!
    
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    February 26, 2020 9:16am
    - Jack5
      
      The “Maori sciences” courses won’t be axed.
      
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      February 26, 2020 9:32am
    - Nickc2
      
      Yep, the larger theatres will be used for bare foot stamping, stick waving and chucking, tongue poking and guitar strumming.
      They will probably flood these classes with Chinese students wishing to become NZ Citizens.
      
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      February 26, 2020 11:02am
- Scott
  
  As an old boy of Massey University and actually coincidently wearing a Massey University T-shirt today, I’m a little sad about what is happening to Massey.
  They seem to have lost their way. Massey in my opinion should be investing in sciences and computer science and other useful disciplines. Presumably they will cut some of those programs so they can enrol more students in sociology and Maori studies and gender studies?
  
  One of the problems they have is the radical stance taken by the Vice Chancellor who denied free speech to Don Brash because they didn’t like his views on race.
  Here is a saying worthy of contemplation and study – “go woke, go broke”.
  
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  February 26, 2020 8:27am
  - igm
    
    Have they rid Massey of that commo VC?
    
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    February 26, 2020 9:06am
  - Classic Liberal
    
    “go woke, go broke”
    
    Alas, it’s ‘go woke, tax the country broke’…
    
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    February 26, 2020 10:14am
- LTA1955
  
  Love it – wokey academics walking the plank
  
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  February 26, 2020 9:26am
- Misha Beattie
  
  They are proposing to abandon all teaching of physics, marine biology and plant science. At teh same time they have very significant courses in women’s and gender studies.
  e.g. “Gender: Bodies that Matter (15 credits) An examination of how people experience gender, how gender inequality relates to other categories of social difference and how feminist approaches reveal and disrupt gender.”
  
  https://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/learning/programme-course/course.cfm?course_code=176224
  
  I mean that’s all well and good but if we need to prioritise, surely a country like New Zealand can’t be downgrading its investment in plant science teaching and research?
  
  But maybe the demand for gender studies degrees far exceeds the demand for plant science degrees. Fair enough, but it has implications for our future prosperity.
  
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  February 26, 2020 9:26am
  - Classic Liberal
    
    Not ‘well and good’ at all! I’d rather women got on with overcoming any ‘gender inequality’ by becoming a useful scientist!
    
    Gender degrees are a total whining waste of taxpayer and personal money!
    
    Plenty of women for years have just jolly well got on with getting useful degrees and working in various sciences. Good on them.
    
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    February 26, 2020 10:24am
    - artemisia
      
      Barbara McClintock – my hero. Born 1902, studied maize genetics for decades and ignored, well ahead of her time. Until the world finally caught up and she won a Nobel Prize.
      
      Delving into memory here, but IIRC she was eventually asked how come she saw what nobody else did. Her reply – I am the maize.
      
      True scientist.
      
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      February 26, 2020 4:48pm
  - tf78
    
    Time for some wealthy benefactors to start a proper new university.
    
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    February 26, 2020 11:01am
    - Ian Hawthorn
      
      While Massey trains more gender studies activists, Waikato wants to build a rather more useful med school and the government won’t let them.
      
      BTW Med schools are often built so that they are capable of being turned into hospitals in case of disaster. For example they have extra wide corridors where you can wheel or park hospital beds. We could do with more places like that with coronavirus pending.
      
      Here is an off the wall idea. Start a crash program to build a specialised coronavirus treatment center on the Waikato campus – isolation wards – UV lighting – reductive concrete – negative pressure air system – medical incinerator – beds beds beds – oxygen and intubation equipment up the wazoo. Once the pandemic is over Waikato Uni can have the buildings for its med school.
      
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      February 26, 2020 6:58pm
The Proper Ghandi

What’s the bet that Netflix doctor their viewing stats (a la YouTube and their trending videos list) in order to reflect the ‘wokeness’ of their viewership, and therefore to censor data regarding anything ‘undesireable’ that people may actually have an appetite for.

https://www.odt.co.nz/business/netflix-release-top-10-feature
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February 26, 2020 8:05am
- Stephen Russell
  
  Netflix is a business. Most businesses care about one thing above all: making money. Doctoring their top list would be shooting themselves in the foot in that regard.
  
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  February 26, 2020 8:45am
  - the deity formerly known as nigel6888
    
    On the other hand, they also invited the Obamas onto their board. SJW infiltrated companies don’t care much for the preferences of actual customers – has Netflix actually made any money yet, or is it still burning cash?
    
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    February 26, 2020 9:29am
- SGA
  
  therefore to censor data regarding anything ‘undesireable’ that people may actually have an appetite for.
  
  Would you mind being a little more specific? What sort of undesirable things do you think people have an appetite for? Just curious.
  
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  February 26, 2020 8:50am
  - The Proper Ghandi
    
    Read the comment: “undesirable” would mean anything that is not deemed woke enough, obviously. That is, anything not implicitly or explicitly promoting the original sin of being white, Globalisation, homosexuality, transgenderism and other perversions. I hope your curiosity has been assuaged.
    
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    February 26, 2020 9:11am
    - sooty
      
      Maccas.
      
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      February 26, 2020 9:42am
Tony Stuart

This contract was signed in December 2017, but unsurprisingly, it has blown up in Minister Kelvin Davis’ face:

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/119805046/corrections-terminates-chinesemade-prison-bed-contract?cid=app-iPhone
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February 26, 2020 8:13am
- Simon Gotlieb
  
  If the contract was signed in December 2017, I would bet that the work to put the contract in place was all done by the previous government and Davis would have pretty much inherited that mess. I find it impossible to believe that the coalition government would work quickly enough to do all that work in three months.
  
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  February 26, 2020 12:19pm
  - UrbanNeocolonialist
    
    I find it impossible to believe that the coalition government would work ~~quickly enough to do all that work in three months.~~
    
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    February 26, 2020 12:31pm
Monique Watson

They’re giving Andy Foster arseholes for not using social media.
So refreshing after that flake Lester.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12311632
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February 26, 2020 8:15am
- Simon Gotlieb
  
  As my father used to say, “some people would still complain, even if their arses were on fire.”
  
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  February 26, 2020 12:20pm
DeepBlue

This government does not understand the basics. I really feel for these care givers. No kindness today.

“After a hugely successful trial of I Choose, it was decided to roll this new system out nationwide. However, the Government has now decided to put it on hold because – shock horror – making respite easier to access meant that more people accessed the respite care they were entitled to. The Government realised that it would need to stump up all the allocated cost, and now I Choose is on hold indefinitely.” Stuffed
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February 26, 2020 8:17am
Happychappy

Mike Hosking: Child Poverty is the Kiwibuild of Social failure.
Mike hits the nail on the head with maney of his comments concerning the problem and a couple I find interesting are in Jacinda’s promises. All the more reasons not to make promises around it, I would have thought.
But yet again, a warning of the dangers of the redistribution approach this Government has embraced with alacrity. The billions that have been put into the social side of the equation, and for what return?
Every social indicator has gone backwards – food handouts , housing queues, jobless payments and poverty, every single one of them in the wrong direction.
A cheque doesn’t solve the issues and the numbers prove it.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12311678
Jacinda’s dream and really that is all you can call it on the figure’s announced has now turned into a phantasy that even the media will struggle to praise.
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February 26, 2020 8:17am
- pb
  
  Everything socialism touches it destroys. Thankfully for us, it destroys it quickly. I suspect Jacinda’s team are even more red than they let us see, hence the failure is blindingly obvious, and will accelerate towards the election dooming them even more.
  
  Redistribution at the state’s behest is a failed experiment. Top-down has never worked. It might for a bit, but always fails. Charity must be at the individual level. Local charities, local businesses. The blind, globalist free-market-driven solution will lead us back to socialism. We need to break out of the loop.
  
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  February 26, 2020 9:08am
  - tf78
    
    I would still like to know who the “Mother Party” is that Jacinda spoke of in her ‘comrade’ speech. Who ever called Jacinda a “silly little girl” was spot on and deserves a medal.
    
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    February 26, 2020 9:39am
    - Paulus
      
      By doing what she has not done she will be expected to lay out policies for when the Labour Government comes back again in a few years time.
      They will return as part of the socialist cycle.
      
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      February 26, 2020 1:35pm
- Sir Cullen's Sidekick
  
  Bro – her new slogan is – “It won’t happen overnight, but it will happen” – translated – “Give me a second term”. I am warning you, sheeple are falling for it, aided by MSM and people like Audrey Not So Young and Resident Commie Campbell.
  
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  February 26, 2020 9:13am
- LTA1955
  
  Reminder to the Mt Albert Muddler:
  
  Venezuela went from being the biggest importer of Ford F-150s to putting chickens in the classroom so kids won’t starve. It only took one generation to take this nation back the dark ages, such is the nature of socialism
  
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  February 26, 2020 9:14am
  - Rich Prick
    
    Only socialism has you shitting on your vegetable patch.
    
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    February 26, 2020 9:23am
    - sooty
      
      Oh, I do like that saying,
      As true as it is!
      
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      February 26, 2020 9:45am
- Classic Liberal
  
  Very important point Hosking makes are how vague the definitions of ‘poverty’ are.
  
  “Of course, poverty is such a hopelessly emotive word to start with, and it’s a world of averages where you never really get to see the specifics of any given case.
  The measure is based around kids and lunches, how much access they have to vegetables, the material possessions in their lives.
  It’s woolly, and it fails to consider the role of the parent and the quality of expenditure of the actual money in the house.”
  
  If people below average are always going to be poor (that includes me), *no country can ever get over poverty”.
  
  Only real material hardship should count as poverty, and even then it needs to be defined much more clearly.
  
  And, Kiwis: if you can’t afford to look after children, *don’t have them yet!*.
  
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  February 26, 2020 10:49am
  - Ian Boag
    
    If people below average … poor … “no country can ever get over poverty”.
    
    “poor people have incomes below average” is not the same as “people with incomes below average are poor”.
    
    Nice try though
    
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    February 26, 2020 11:05am
    - Crisplion
      
      Of course you’re right Ian, that those two statements mean different things – and, neither of them is necessarily true.
      
      However in New Zealand we define poverty as earning less than 60% of the median income. In other words poverty is measured, not in absolute terms, but relative to the average. (Yes, I’m aware that the median isn’t technically the average, but it’s functionally the same in terms of the implications of the definition.)
      
      This is a great definition for the left, because socialism reduces overall wealth, and thereby the median. Thus it allows for an absurd situation in which someone can move from being defined as poor to not being so defined, simply because the median income has fallen. See! Socialism really does reduce ‘poverty’!
      
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      February 26, 2020 12:22pm
      - Ian Boag
        
        Roughly speaking the bottom quarter. Aside from all your mathematical fiddley-dee-doo I don’t find it hard to accept that some/many/whatever of the people in this situation are poor. Perhaps we differ. Perhaps you think that poverty is so hard to define that we shouldn’t try.
        
        Shifting the boundary because the median income has dropped would only affect a small number around the boundary anyway. Also I think it has been a while since the median income went down.
        
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        February 26, 2020 1:40pm
      - Crisplion
        
        No Ian, I do think we should define poverty, I just think we should define it relative to what it costs to live a decent life, not relative to an average (or a median). Maybe you’d understand that better if you took the time to grasp some basic mathematical and statistical concepts instead of ignorantly dismissing them as “fiddley-dee-doo”.
        
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        February 26, 2020 3:09pm
      - Ian Boag
        
        @crispy
        This is not a pissing contest so I will defer to your superior statistical education.
        
        Do you think (a) “the 25% point” and (b)”what it costs to live a decent life” are likely to be very different? You can of course kick this one into touch by pointing out that quite a lot of work would be required to get a handle on (b). There would be a fair bit of subjective judgement too. The number would of course vary by age, region, gender … whatever. Would take ages and in the meantime – well we really can’t call anyone poor …..
        
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        February 26, 2020 4:34pm
      - Crisplion
        
        I think they can be very different, yes, and it depends on the society in which one lives. Someone on the 25th percentile in NZ is clearly far better off – in absolute terms – than someone on the 25th percentile in Venezuela. Someone on the 25th percentile in the UAE is likely to be wealthy by NZ standards.
        
        If we define poverty as inability to afford certain basics, like enough food, a roof, clothing, reasonable medical care and heating in the winter, it can be measured in quite concrete terms. It would give us a benchmark to determine whether we’re changing over time in a positive or negative direction. It responds to changes in costs as well as incomes. Defining poverty relative to an average does not allow sound monitoring over time, because the average keeps changing.
        
        There’s no need to defer to my knowledge about statistics or anything else. You can learn to grasp those concepts yourself if you want to, and draw your own conclusions. But I do recommend avoiding disparaging other people’s expertise with snarky comments. That comes across as ignorant and arrogant.
        
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        February 26, 2020 5:24pm
      - Ian Hawthorn
        
        The differences are most important when it comes to measuring changes. If everyone can become wealthier in real terms and the “poverty rate” does not decrease then I’d say you are using the wrong measure of poverty.
        
        The problem is not the measure itself. It is what it is called. If you called this figure the “percentage earning less than 60% of the median wage” then we’d all know exactly what it was and how to interpret it, and there would be no problem.
        
        But no – it has been called the “poverty rate”. The problem is that poverty is a loaded emotional term with strong implications in terms of what quality of life is being described. Attaching this word to this statistic is misleading – I believe intentionally so.
        
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        February 26, 2020 8:30pm
      - Ian Boag
        
        @crispy
        
        I taught stats at 3rd and 4th year uni level for about 15 years …. I know about medians.
        
        25th percentile in Venezuela and Bahrain does not have a lot of relevance to NZ. People below the 25th percentile here are poor or not.
        
        You seem to want to kick for touch with “we need to investigate it all some more”.
        
        So where do you think the number is here? Just using the figures for this year and based on your extensive research and analysis. If this is all a bit hard then presumably we don’t have anything we can reliably call poverty ….
        
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        February 26, 2020 10:00pm
  - Ian Boag
    
    the role of the parent and the quality of expenditure of the actual money in the house
    
    Reckon you could cope with one full time on the minimum wage, one half time, a couple of kids and renting in Auckland?
    
    Woolly? Needs careful investigation? Wot?
    
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    February 26, 2020 11:08am
    - septic skeptic
      
      Praise the Lord they were blessed with kids though. It seems we care about child poverty. Singles and couples not so much.
      
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      February 26, 2020 11:34am
    - Sacha
      
      If I was on minimum wage, I wouldn’t be living in Auckland. There are minimum wage jobs in other, cheaper towns.
      
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      February 26, 2020 11:46am
      - Ian Boag
        
        If I was on minimum wage
        from which I surmise you are not …
        
        Taumarunui is cheaper than Auckland. Probably has five or six minimum wage jobs too. Once those are taken ….. oh … find another town.
        
        Not to mention what it costs to move a family – all a bit hard for people living week to week and going without already.
        
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        February 26, 2020 1:31pm
      - Classic Liberal
        
        “Once those are taken ….. oh … find another town.”
        
        As my parents and I often have to find jobs and accommodation.
        
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        February 26, 2020 2:30pm
    - Classic Liberal
      
      “Reckon you could cope with one full time on the minimum wage, one half time, a couple of kids and renting in Auckland? ”
      
      No. Which is why I did not have children when I couldn’t afford to!
      
      But I’m sure you believe everyone is entitled to reproduce whenever they like and *be funded by the taxpayer*.
      
      And so it gets harder to have kids for sensible people who actually wait until it’s feasible. They are funding people who haven’t bothered to wait.
      
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      February 26, 2020 12:14pm
    - Classic Liberal
      
      Just took the material poverty test. Appendix 2: https://www.stats.govt.nz/methods/measuring-child-poverty-material-hardship
      
      I certainly fit a lot of the categories and I bet lots of people here do. (Esp Economising behaviours). Lots of basic, frugal behaviours that many people planning for the future don’t see as ‘poverty’ but ‘common sense’.
      
      One fascinating thing is that they want people to each meat at least every second day. Will the Greens change that to soyburgers?
      
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      February 26, 2020 1:13pm
- Ruawai
  
  A stats NZ lady was on TV yesterday saying she believes the changes made by this Govt will be reflected in the June 2020 survey on poverty and child well being. Surely as a statistician and doing a survey you shouldn’t say what you believe you will find as this will cause bias.
  
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  February 26, 2020 12:31pm
Yvette

• Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has no plans to raise climate change issues with the Australian Prime Minister and doesn’t plan to raise human rights issues with Fiji’s leader, either.

• ‘Do the right thing’: Fiji urges Ardern to stand up for climate change.
Fiji is facing climate change head-on with rising seas and more intense storms.

“Know us by our deeds” – Ardern, Time Magazine
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February 26, 2020 8:19am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  We know her by her deeds only too well
  
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  February 26, 2020 9:08am
  - sooty
    
    How many of her deeds, have actually worked as planned?
    
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    February 26, 2020 9:49am
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      I don’t know of a single one. Maybe Twitford or Woods, or Parker, or Clark could explain
      
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      February 26, 2020 1:59pm
- alloytoo
  
  Fiji is looking for a “Guilt” hand out, they don’t really care who from, but Ozzie pockets are deeper than ours.
  
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  February 26, 2020 9:49am
  - Nickc2
    
    What guilt?
    
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    February 26, 2020 11:07am
    - alloytoo
      
      Colonialism/climate change/inequality guilt trip which leads idiots like our PM to hand out wads of taxpayer cash.
      
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      February 26, 2020 6:14pm
      - Nickc2
        
        Ok, agree.
        
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        February 26, 2020 8:27pm
Prince

How much of our money will Ardern throw around today ? Her role seems to be constant photo ops handing money to various Pacific nations, or vested interests and squeaky wheels in NZ.
There is no method or consistency in her largesse – just a travelling roadshow for the cameras and media hangers on, announcing who has won Labour Lotto for that day without paying for a ticket.
We have moved from surplus to deficits in a little over two years, with no measurable or visible benefit to the country.
National have some hard decisions about whether to continue, eg, the student giveaway, and the ‘Regional’ money for donations rort. At least they have shown to be capable of making some hard financial choices in the past.
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February 26, 2020 8:20am
- igm
  
  What a bloody crock this harridan is!
  
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  February 26, 2020 9:07am
- calendar girl
  
  Love your term “Labour Lotto”.
  
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  February 26, 2020 9:32am
Scott

President Trump’s approval ratings are on the up. The latest Rasmussen poll has him cracking 52% approval.
https://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/trump_administration/prez_track_feb25

Given the very strong economy and wages arising and unemployment is at a 50 year low his approval rating should continue to track upward.

Now that the American public has stopped being told that he is a Russian agent who stole the election from Hillary Clinton, that will also help his approval rating. Really given any modicum of fair and reasonable press coverage he would be at least 10 points higher.

I expect Mikey will be around shortly to tell you why he is the most unpopular president in US history 🙂
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February 26, 2020 8:20am
- Fletch
  
  Trump addressed a crowd in India of 110,000, Every seat in the arena was full and they all cheered for him. You don’t see that in the media.
  
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  February 26, 2020 9:32am
  - Batman
    
    I saw it in the media, weren’t you looking or something?
    
    I enjoyed his pronunciation of Sachin Tendulkar, though to be fair we’re pretty familiar with Indian cricketers here in NZ.
    
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    February 26, 2020 11:56am
    - Gravelroad
      
      If the Prime Minister of India came over here and was expected to speak publicly in English or Maori -how would he get on?
      If he botched it, would people sneer and criticise do you think and say he shouldn’t be a Prime Minister?
      
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      February 26, 2020 5:36pm
      - Batman
        
        Mate, it was hilariously bad. It wasn’t difficult stuff.
        
        Key and Co did far better at it.
        
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        February 26, 2020 5:45pm
      - All_on_Red
        
        ‘, it was hilariously bad. ’
        Snob
        But I guess small things amuse small minds
        
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        February 26, 2020 6:12pm
- kloyd0306
  
  ….. and DPF will chime in with his twice weekly TDS and pledge his support for a guy who has had two bills offered and passed into law in his 40 years in government. The two bills were to name two post offices.
  
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  February 26, 2020 9:45am
- Batman
  
  Oh Scott, bless your enthusiastic soul.
  
  Citing Rasmussen polls for Trump is like Labour citing UMR numbers for them. They’re consistently an outlier that favours him.
  
  It’s nice that you’re celebrating 52% though. If only Trump ever got anywhere near the peak ratings for literally any other US President eh?
  
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  February 26, 2020 11:54am
  - Scott
    
    He’s getting there batman. Trump is going to be hard to stop come Nov.
    Especially when Joe Biden is still in the Democrat race. Joe Biden said today – “my name is Joe Biden and I’m a candidate for the United States senate”.
    
    Only problem is that he’s not running for the senate, he’s running for president! He honestly doesn’t know what day it is.
    His other leading opponent is a 78 year old communist who recently had a heart attack. As I say, Trump’s looking good for another term ??
    
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    February 26, 2020 1:02pm
    - Batman
      
      Anyone who predicts anything at this stage is a fool. You have your views but I don’t think you’re a fool.
      
      Trump won in ’16 by a scant 77,000 in swing states. In ’18 the Dems won by the largest margins in living memory.
      
      I personally am not fan of Bernie and think it’ll be very hard for him to lose. Equally, I think that Trump might we’ll make it possible by losing himself the election with increasingly authoritarian and downright crazy behaviour. Then again, Trump might win.
      
      And all that is before anyone factors in the Russian governments chaos campaign which is designed to support anyone who is divisive and would weaken the US internationally, and by extension NATO and the Western Democracies.
      
      As I said, predicting anything at this point is a foolish game.
      
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      February 26, 2020 1:37pm
  - Tall Man
    
    Why is my harmless comment being deleted?
    
    Surely telling a commenter that someone is on a mod imposed stand down period is not now banned?
    
    What the hell is going on here?
    
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    February 26, 2020 1:08pm
    - Batman
      
      What? No idea mate, I have haven’t had any involvement in such a thing.
      
      If a comment has been deleted, it will have been for good reason. We don’t do it willy nilly.
      
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      February 26, 2020 1:32pm
      - Tall Man
        
        mikey is on “holiday” is all I said. Twice 🙁
        
        I appreciate your response.
        
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        February 26, 2020 1:58pm
      - Batman
        
        Is he? News to me haha.
        
        Well without knowing the exact content of the comment I can’t say anything authoritative sorry.
        
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        February 26, 2020 2:01pm
      - Tall Man
        
        Thanks Batman.
        
        That was the entire comment 4 words 🙂
        
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        February 26, 2020 2:15pm
- rightoverlabour
  
  Listen to Hosking on sanders this morning. Sanders is a lunatic.
  
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  February 26, 2020 6:42pm
The Proper Ghandi

This seems rather short-sighted and driven purely by greed. Paraphrase: “Let’s increase the public risk in order to genuflect as hard as possible to our Chinese (fee paying) overlords.”

https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/campus/university-of-otago/otago-university-ready-accept-chinese-students
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February 26, 2020 8:21am
- MCos
  
  Otago University has only two hundred students stuck in China due to their policy of both limiting overseas enrollments and restricting numbers from individual countries.
  Each of these students has potentially spent a lot of money on their studies to date depending on how far advanced they are.
  They will be isolated for a fortnight upon arrival.
  
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  February 26, 2020 10:05am
  - The Proper Ghandi
    
    Where will the “only two hundred” students be “isolated for a fortnight upon arrival”?
    
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    February 26, 2020 11:05am
    - Ruawai
      
      Many already came in in January are are already in lectures in Otago, so hopefully someone is checking on their health status.
      
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      February 26, 2020 12:36pm
  - freethinker
    
    As a statement I understand what I don’t is the point you are making!
    
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    February 26, 2020 3:40pm
Paulus

NZME takeover of Stuff.
Why do I feel that we the taxpayers are being mushroomed (kept in the dark and fed bullshit) over this.
Both are independent shareholders.
The correct Government authoritative body has declined this takeover as not in the best interest of New Zealand behind the scenes that this …….. Government are rising to the influences of both parties to get this takeover as soon as possible before the election.
Damn the Taxpayer we did not vote for this anyway.
TVNZ and RNZ are under the spotlight also – neither of these mergers are surely in the best interest of the country only the Labour Party.
And Peters agrees to let them go ahead so control will be with any incoming Government in the future.
Dictatorship perhaps ?
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February 26, 2020 8:23am
Ed Snack

Oh dear, poor Joe Biden. Addressing a rally in South Carolina a day or so before the primary, he claims that he’s running for the US Senate, and if they don’t like him, they should vote for “the other Biden”.

For kindness and pity’s sake, can his staff convince hi to withdraw and retire, his mental state is declining by the month.

During the South Carolina Democratic Party’s First in the South Dinner, actual quote:

“You’re the ones who sent Barack Obama the presidency. And I have a simple proposition here: I’m here to ask you for your help,” Biden asked of the audience. “Where I come from, you don’t get far unless you ask. My name’s Joe Biden. I’m a Democratic candidate for the United States Senate. Look me over. If you like what you see, help out. If not, vote for the other Biden. Give me a look, though, OK?”
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February 26, 2020 8:26am
- Stephen Russell
  
  Biden, Buttigieg, Warren, Klobuchar, Bloomberg: a circular firing squad, that is letting bonkers Bernie sail through above their squabble over the [relatively] moderate vote.
  
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  February 26, 2020 8:51am
- The Proper Ghandi
  
  This is why the claims that Biden was a “likely Democratic candidate to run against Trump” (and therefore, a phone call in which he featured became immensely relevant to impeachment) were always, plainly, manifestly a total joke. The guy doesn’t even know what day it is.
  
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  February 26, 2020 9:22am
- Rich Prick
  
  He has all the signs of early onset. Just the other day he claimed he was arrested for trying to visit Nelson Mandela. I don’t recall a Vice President ever being arrested by foreign police. It would have been in the news, surely?
  
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  February 26, 2020 9:30am
  - Nickc2
    
    Still, he’s a country mile ahead of Hillary Clinton in the IQ stakes.
    Never mind, he won’t get the nomination.
    
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    February 26, 2020 10:56am
  - Ed Snack
    
    More than that, says he was arrested in Soweto trying to see Nelson Mandela. Trouble is, Mandela was held at Robbins Island, and that’s off the coast near Capetown and a very long way from Soweto.
    
    Plus claiming to work on the Paris Accords in 2016 with former Chinese premier Deng Xiaoping – who died in 1997.
    
    Time to pin a note to Joe’s jumper and send him home.
    
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    February 26, 2020 12:34pm
    - Nickc2
      
      Please don’t give him the nuclear codes!
      
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      February 26, 2020 1:36pm
Right of way is Way of Right

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/world/2020/01/chinese-man-fined-25-000-after-throwing-coins-into-plane-engine-for-good-luck.html

This news report details incidents in China where planes have had to be grounded after boarding passengers tossed ‘lucky’ coins in to the engines while boarding to ensure a safe flight!

I thought to myself that this is a perfect metaphor for the Labour Led Coalition Government. The parallels are obvious.

They know nothing about what they are doing.

They’re making it harder for everyone else.

They’re worrying about non-existent problems.

They refuse to listen to experts.

They think they can solve a problem by throwing money at it.

They have no idea of the consequences of their actions, and the damage they are causing.
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February 26, 2020 8:31am
DeepBlue

Covid is everywhere and very possibly in NZ…

We sent health representatives to the WHO conference in the last few weeks.

Person to person spread without symptoms and now it’s circulating around health decision makers… Did Iran attend too?

“Iraj Harirchi, Iran’s deputy health minister, at the press conference in Tehran, a day before he tested positive for coronavirus.” Herald
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February 26, 2020 8:34am
- MCos
  
  The WHO conference was in Geneva.
  There have been no reported instances of covid-19 in Switzerland
  Adjacent countries, not so good.
  
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  February 26, 2020 10:15am
  - Jack5
    
    Now, first case in Switzerland:
    
    http://www.ecns.cn/news/society/2020-02-26/detail-ifztvsqr0581635.shtml
    
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    February 26, 2020 10:54am
lifesgood

So how many groups has this incompetent government pissed off so far? Here’s my list: farmers, the oil and gas industry, landlords, home buyers, tax payers, car owners, the homeless, parents of school children, and now, just to show what absolute numbskulls they are, teachers, a major vote source. Feel free to add to the list.
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February 26, 2020 8:35am
- Gravelroad
  
  For your list @lifesgood:
  Those who legally own and use firearms.
  
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  February 26, 2020 8:55am
  - Nickc2
    
    For your list @lifesgood:
    ME and mine!
    
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    February 26, 2020 9:23am
- Right of way is Way of Right
  
  Road Users. People who fish. People who don’t fish. Law abiding Gun Owners.
  
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  February 26, 2020 9:01am
  - sooty
    
    Yep, they are all sure vote winners!
    
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    February 26, 2020 9:54am
  - freethinker
    
    Or in summary all those with working brains who use them to the benefit of NZ, the other are like Barnacles on a boat that just slow it down.
    
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    February 26, 2020 3:48pm
- DeepBlue
  
  Whitebaiters, West Coast landholders with wetland bogs, real greenies, disability caregivers, International Student industry (but govn are right here)
  
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  February 26, 2020 9:27am
- Ruahine
  
  Yes but not criminals and bludgers they all appear very happy.
  
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  February 26, 2020 9:53am
  - Ruawai
    
    And not the racing or fishing industries.
    
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    February 26, 2020 12:39pm
- MrLovebucket
  
  Beneficiaries and crims love them. Surely that counts. Plus about 9 people on the West Coast that want millions poured into digging a hole in the ground.
  
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  February 26, 2020 9:55am
- lifesgood
  
  And I’ll add another: everbody who is absolutely fed up to the back teeth with Pike River, i.e. most of NZ
  
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  February 26, 2020 11:48am
- Komata
  
  Lifesgood@0835
  
  Another for your list:
  
  Small, low level importers (the ‘Amazon’ tax).
  
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  February 26, 2020 3:58pm
Humble Capitalist

Poverdee in NZ = giving the pokies a miss on a Wednesday so you can buy $100 worth of Lotto tickets that you cant afford, chasing the impossible dream.
Low IQ people don’t understand the odds, its just cruel but at least little Johnny will get fed at school so they can continue to feed their habits and addictions
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February 26, 2020 8:42am
- Tony Stuart
  
  Odds tonight of winning are one in 38 million, according to a bloke from Otago University. I think I’ll keep my money in my wallet.
  
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  February 26, 2020 8:49am
  - alex Masterley
    
    I am going to buy one ticket as I normally do. Got to give it a go.
    
    19 0
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    February 26, 2020 8:57am
  - Wangas Feral
    
    I still put in to the office lotto for tonight. Imagine being the only one not in if the syndicate did win.
    
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    February 26, 2020 9:31am
    - sooty
      
      Wangas, imagine been the only one to turn up for work!
      
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      February 26, 2020 9:56am
    - septic skeptic
      
      These office syndicates always struck me as highly immoral. It would be bloody catastrophic for the business if it won!
      
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      February 26, 2020 11:41am
      - Ed Snack
        
        Sure, but there’s plenty of them around. I was in one for 7-8 years and we had possibly the worst return of any set of Lotto numbers I’ve ever seen – maybe three wins (average $25) in 400 attempts !
        
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        February 26, 2020 5:19pm
  - Tauhei Notts
    
    If you buy a lotto ticket you have a slightly better chance of winning than the person who does not buy a ticket.
    
    25 0
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    February 26, 2020 9:34am
    - Tarquin North
      
      They say winning a huge amount of money can ruin your life. I’m prepared to take the risk, I’ve given poverty a fair bash and that hasn’t done much for me.
      
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      February 26, 2020 9:57am
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        Ecclesiastes 5:10
        He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity.
        
        I’m a few $$ up after the Gizzy races, so might blow it on a Powerball ticket….
        
        Don’t think I’d be able to spend $42M between now & death, though….. might have to leave some to a worthy cause…
        
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        February 26, 2020 11:22am
  - Right of way is Way of Right
    
    The odds are very much against you, that’s true, but I personally know three people who have struck 1st division in Lotto. You’ve got to be in to win, and if my bank account suddenly has an additional $42,000,000 in it, it’ll change the lives of a lot of people in my family, while still leaving a sum large enough for me to retire early, and then go and find something to occupy my time and my mind.
    
    I’m thinking that in the event that I am fortunate enough to win, I’d like to take my life experience and financial freedom to the halls of academia, where I would spend lectures telling various smelly left wing students and professors just how full of crap they are!
    
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    February 26, 2020 9:58am
    - Ed Snack
      
      Years ago I worked with someone who’s best friend won $1M at Lotto, then 6 months later the same friend won another $500K (first division again, but shared with another). Back in the 1980’s when $1M was real money and could buy 5 or more houses in Auckland, not like now when it is barely a sufficient deposit for 1 house there.
      
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      February 26, 2020 12:38pm
  - lemuzz
    
    I think I might invest in my retirement
    
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    February 26, 2020 10:18am
  - MCos
    
    My father won the 1st prize in the Golden Kiwi, but he never bought a ticket.
    My sister only ever bought one and gave it to Dad for his birthday.
    There’s no point in anyone in our whanau for generations to come ever buying a Lotto ticket.
    All our luck was used in one go, surely.
    But wait!
    There’s going to be more this very night and y’all be the first to hear about it!
    
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    February 26, 2020 10:29am
    - Gravelroad
      
      An older chap I know tells the story of when he was a youngster of 12 or 13 he bought a Tattersalls lottery ticket (which was before the Golden Kiwi) and to give to his father for his birthday. His mother had helped him buy the ticket at the hairdressers.
      However, before the birthday, Dad was seen holding it up to the light to see what was in it and when he found out it was a lottery ticket.
      The disillusioned son decided to keep it himself
      and got something else for the birthday present.
      This ticket won £20 – a not inconsiderable sum at the time.
      But the ticket was still in Dad’s name so he got the money.
      The solution was to use the money to buy Mum the latest expensive cake mixer so, in the end, everyone was a winner.
      
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      February 26, 2020 12:51pm
- Nigel Kearney
  
  I’m up about $7000 on Lotto with only an average amount of luck. I probably shouldn’t do this but I’m going to share my secret with Kiwiblog readers. Every single week since Lotto started, I have without fail, chosen not to buy a ticket.
  
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  February 26, 2020 9:58am
  - Poppa
    
    I don’t take lotto either I would rather waste some $$ on harness racing. That is stacked against me also but I did win enough to buy my first house many years ago
    
    I know of two people who have won lotto & one of them won it twice believe it or not
    
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    February 26, 2020 10:40am
    - Jack5
      
      A lotto joke from the internet:
      
      A woman gets home, whirls her car into the driveway, runs into the house, slams the door and shouts at the top of her lungs, “Honey, pack your bags. I won the lottery!”
      
      The husband says, “Oh my God! What should I pack, beach stuff or mountain stuff?”
      
      The wife yells back, “It doesn’t matter….just get the hell out!
      
      From:
      
      http://www.jokes4us.com/miscellaneousjokes/lotteryjokes.html
      
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      February 26, 2020 11:05am
  - info@cruzpro.com
    
    The wife and I have bought three tickets and no winners. I can understand not winning the first time and even the second time, but three times in a row? It’s got to be rigged!
    
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    February 26, 2020 11:19am
curry4me

NPC University on Bloomberg.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LookzqRd_Bg
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February 26, 2020 9:05am
curry4me

President Trump has appointed conservative judges to the Ninth Circut recently, and it’s already paying dividends. https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/02/24/court-upholds-trump-administrations-protect-life-rule/
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February 26, 2020 9:06am
curry4me

Some sanity in the UK on the ‘transgender’ issue.
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/02/24/uk-to-scrap-transgender-proposal-out-of-fear-of-harming-children/
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February 26, 2020 9:07am
- Nickc2
  
  About bloody time. I hope it’s catchy.
  
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  February 26, 2020 9:33am
Steve Otto(North Shore)

How is Harvey Weinstein doing this morning?
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February 26, 2020 9:13am
- LTA1955
  
  Still trying to look like he knows how to push a disability chair
  
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  February 26, 2020 9:32am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Yes, all an act. I have one in my garage that belonged to my Mum. The idea is to support yourself by standing up straight
    
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    February 26, 2020 10:13am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  People who knew about this all along need to be arrested. Clintons and Obamas high on that list. But I fear Weinstein will end up the same as Epstein
  
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  February 26, 2020 10:15am
- pb
  
  The dirty pervert club taking a hammering. Nygard raided last night. What’s with Spielberg’s daughter? That’s disgusting. Do you think Sir Ron is enjoying his spell in prison? God sure is angry. He’s even laying down some plague. End times.
  
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  February 26, 2020 10:19am
lastmanstanding

I gotta hand it to Labour and the Greens. The decision to hold the cannabis referendum with Election 20 was rat cunning.

It will ensure the usual lazy Green voters will drag their pot headed sorry arses out of bed and vote for both.

This will ensure the Greens are back in the House and probably with an increased in seats.

It may even lead to the ultimate terror scenario of a Labour/Green Government and the damage to the economy and to the freedoms of right thinking citizens.

Like this Blog being monitored by Angry Andys Thought Police with people like me being taken to “Re-education Centres”

You have been warned.
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February 26, 2020 9:31am
- dave_c_
  
  Not likely – they would first of all have to create KiwiJailBuild, in order to accommodate the thousands who they would wish to lock away.
  Fat chance of that happening, given current achievements (not)
  
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  February 26, 2020 9:39am
  - GJM
    
    Gulags don’t need much in the way of facilities, as prisoner rights don’t feature. Only the crims get that, whereas those suspected of having a bit much to Think are expendable and it saves the hangman a job.
    
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    February 26, 2020 12:39pm
- tf78
  
  I still don’t think it will make people vote for it as it’s already freely available with little or no consequences if caught.
  
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  February 26, 2020 10:12am
Fletch

Those who do not suscribe to the climate agenda now have their own 19 year old ‘Greta’.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/feb/25/anti-greta-teen-activist-cpac-conference-climate-sceptic

The difference is, she is doing it off her own bat –

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0m2wKSadeoM
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February 26, 2020 9:34am
- sooty
  
  Batty.
  
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  February 26, 2020 9:59am
- Kabull
  
  But that Guardian article is patently dismissive of her and the organisations (Heartland Institute) that support her. The footnote advertising the Guardian’s anti-climate stance is frightening.
  
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  February 26, 2020 10:12am
- curry4me
  
  Fletch: I was vaguely aware of her. Thanks for the YT video.
  
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  February 26, 2020 2:04pm
Fletch

I went to Auckland Hospital a few days back to visit a rellie, and the place is like a sugar-free zone…. lol. For a start, all the vending machines have diet soft drinks, if they have any at all. We went to a cafe there for lunch and I asked for a Coke, “Oh no, we don’t have that“. What they had was this Phoenix soft drink stuff which was hardly fizzy and had almost no sugar (about 7.6mg). The flavour I had was Feijoa, Lemon and Apple. It looked like pee and tasted like – well, nothing. Like when you were a kid and parents used to water down the Raro so it looked good but had no taste – but even worse than that.

My rellie told me that the Subway located in the hospital even had special cookies (no, not those) that were different from the ones that regular Subway’s have. Less sugar or something.

I think this wokeness thing is going overboard. Sometimes you need some sugar to get you going.
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February 26, 2020 9:40am
- sooty
  
  When you go visiting hospitals take a bucket of KFC.
  
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  February 26, 2020 10:01am
  - Jules99
    
    Probably healthier than subway sandwiches.
    
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    February 26, 2020 12:04pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  North Shore Hospital the same. You can have raw sugar with your coffee, but not white sugar. Do you know how bad tea tastes with raw sugar?
  And salt, forget it. Next visit I took my own
  
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  February 26, 2020 10:21am
  - Classic Liberal
    
    Pfft – as if raw sugar was better! Reminds me of what I used to believe when I was a teenager, until I looked at the science…
    
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    February 26, 2020 11:18am
  - cmm
    
    Sugar, raw sugar, sugar in apple juice… it’s all the same: fructose. To say one is “healthy sugar” and the other is “bad sugar” flies in the face of basic chemistry.
    
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    February 26, 2020 1:22pm
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      used to be sucrose when I went to kindy.
      
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      February 26, 2020 3:01pm
  - hullkiwi
    
    May I recommend an interview Kim Hill did with a leading British heart surgeon a week ago.
    
    A 10 year tudy by Kings College and the British Heart Foundation, into the levels of salt consumed as part of diet at above recommended dosages versus perceived recommended levels found – the influence of salt in diet on coronary heart disease was not as significant as originally believed – whoops!
    
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    February 26, 2020 4:08pm
  - artemisia
    
    I recall a long article in The Atlantic quite a few years ago. Conclusion – some people are susceptible to even quite small amounts of salt in the diet. Most are not. But back then at least there was no way to tell which group was which.
    
    More people are using flash salt these days, it seems. They need to read up about why our table salt is mostly iodised.
    
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    February 26, 2020 4:56pm
- rockape
  
  There are far too many low level managers in hospitals with fuck all to do. Get more nurses sack some managers. I know in the Mrs department the nurses take in their own unhealthy food to eat!
  
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  February 26, 2020 10:52am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    This is in the Café, run by caterers not the Hospital
    
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    February 26, 2020 2:02pm
Yvette

Current comments on speech might show how difficult Andrew Little may find defining hate speech.

[Jevan] Goulter, who has also acted as a spokesperson for Vision NZ, took to Facebook to label [Project host Kanoa] Lloyd a “rancid rotton [sic] stuffed pig with blood pouring out of her eyes” and said she should “show NZ what voluntary euthanasia looks like”.

And below, two comments from the woman who has just fired Goulter for his “hate speech” outburst –
• “I do not believe there is room in our society to allow for parallel cultures, faith or customs.” – Hannah Tamaki
• Hannah [Tamaki] told Radio New Zealand she believed being gay was a sin “as much as somebody who beat their wife”.

Goulter’s utterance, initially I think, seems the worst, but is so over the top as to speak more of Goulter than of his target, and is surely just beyond serious consideration.
Then, are Hannah Tamaki’s comments not more sane, acceptable and dangerous?

Good luck, Andrew Little, when you try to put your thoughts into some sort of
speech.
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February 26, 2020 9:41am
- Nigel Kearney
  
  Grownups can shrug off childish insults and move on. But when people try to exclude entire groups from participating in society due to their religious beliefs, history suggests that can end very, very badly.
  
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  February 26, 2020 10:04am
  - Classic Liberal
    
    Every ideology can and should be criticized.
    
    Ideology (including ‘religion’) is not a race.
    
    What do you say about religious groups that “try to exclude entire groups [women, homosexuals] from participating in society”?
    
    I’d say: if they are actually threatening people, that aspect of the ideology might already be illegal in NZ. Example might be if sura 4:34 is used to really encourage men to beat their wives.
    
    But if the ideology is just unpleasant (e.g. christians or muslims calling ppl ‘sinful’ but not encouraging violence), that should remain Freedom of Speech.
    
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    February 26, 2020 11:32am
wilderbeast

Can someone explain to me why Jacinda Ardern is so comfortable with Frank Bainimarama – a man who obtained power by armed force – but so uncomfortable with the democratically elected Donald Trump? Is the answer simply “see their views on climate change”?
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February 26, 2020 9:43am
- sooty
  
  Cause he has lots of machineguns, she looked pissed having to review their army with all of their guns!
  
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  February 26, 2020 10:04am
- tf78
  
  I thought Bainimarama looked at Jacinda with an idle curiosity.
  
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  February 26, 2020 10:15am
  - alloytoo
    
    Bainimarama was looking at her like an ATM.
    
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    February 26, 2020 2:07pm
  - Nickc2
    
    He’s good our Frank, he knows a non-talent when he sees it.
    
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    February 26, 2020 2:30pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Also see Barbara Dreaver there. I thought she was banned from Fiji?
  
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  February 26, 2020 10:23am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    Frank changed his mind a few years back.
    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/85646132/fiji-prime-minister-extends-personal-invitation-to-banned-tv-journo-barbara-dreaver
    
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    February 26, 2020 11:04am
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      I got the countries mixed up. She is banned from Nauru for interviewing detainees when told not to
      
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      February 26, 2020 11:14am
  - Nickc2
    
    Yes, she (Barbra Dreaver) was but a year or so ago, the ban was rescinded.
    Remember she was the one writing unfavourably about Tanks on the streets in Suva during Frank’s coup-de-tah. The Fijian Army doesn’t have any Tanks FFS. No wonder she was given the bums rush. I would not have let the (expletive) back.
    
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    February 26, 2020 2:35pm
- Libertarians are right
  
  Frank only believes in climate change because he’s in one of the countries that other countries like us have to pay to help out. It’s 100% financial. Why wouldn’t he believe?
  
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  February 26, 2020 1:00pm
- John Warren
  
  Bainimarama, a tyrant who seized power by force, and oversees a regime known for suppression of criticism, torture, and attacks on his political opponents? Cindy’s best mate, it seems.
  
  4 0
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  February 26, 2020 4:10pm
  - rightoverlabour
    
    Yup tyrants having a good time together….
    
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    February 26, 2020 6:55pm
Jack5

The Government is proposing to help small businesses collect payments quickly. Stuart Nash, Minister for Small Business, summarises the proposals as:

– A maximum payment term of 20 days.

– The right for small businesses to charge interest on overdue invoices and debt recovery fees for late payments.
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February 26, 2020 9:44am
- Ruahine
  
  Is this not just the opposite of what Woods is trying to do to the Power Companies who were/are giving a discount for prompt payment.
  
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  February 26, 2020 10:02am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    No 10% discount from Meridian for paying on time anymore. Apparently if I paid immediately I had an advantage over those who could not afford to.
    Ain’t socialism wonderful?
    
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    February 26, 2020 10:26am
- Nigel Kearney
  
  They can do that now. The problem is the cost of enforcement.
  
  5 0
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  February 26, 2020 10:06am
- the deity formerly known as nigel6888
  
  Another stupid feel good policy. So, what will it really achieve?
  
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  February 26, 2020 10:15am
- GJM
  
  Yeah good luck with that. Firstly, does it apply to government organizations? They are some of the worst at nickle and dime chiseling.
  The other one is collecting it, and the sleazy developers etc know the system. I have just written off $3500, as it would cost more than that to liquidate the company. It was a clear case of a signed contract, all steps in the CCCA followed, but they know that the cost of collecting I’d more than the debt. If I had friends in the Mob, I would love to hand it over on the basis of you can keep what you collect, as long as you make his life hell.
  
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  February 26, 2020 12:45pm
- KevO'Brien
  
  How do they propose to effect this nonsense?
  Robbo can borrow for Ardern to throw public monies around–small and large businesses do not have the luxury of commanding others to pay on demand to suit them.
  
  8 0
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  February 26, 2020 1:12pm
- cmm
  
  Nothing new in Nash’s proposals.
  
  You have always been able to attach conditions to invoices or other agreements such as providing early payment discounts, interest on overdue invoices and such.
  
  So basically a zero change policy from Nash.
  
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  February 26, 2020 1:12pm
- alloytoo
  
  Many of these terms have a contractual basis, is Stuart planning on sweeping aside all these valid contracts?
  
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  February 26, 2020 2:09pm
- LTA1955
  
  Basher Nash always turning up where he isn’t wanted with stupid proposals and so faking his concern for small business. 2020Rout2020
  
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  February 26, 2020 4:21pm
Jack5

Three cheers for the three baboons that escaped from Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney. The male baboon of the three was being taken for a vasectomy.

Other research reported on baboons in Sydney is reported to include electric shock experiments. One baboon died after having a kidney transplant from a pig.

I’ve never had much sympathy for baboons since reading that old-time children’s classic, “Jock of the Bushveldt”, but …

The Sydney Morning Herald reports a university spokeswoman defending its experiments:

“All researchers would prefer not to use animals in their research. However, in their quest to cure blindness, diabetes, cancer, epilepsy and many other illnesses, animal research is currently the best hope for finding a cure.”

Let’s hope extraterrestrial beings – if they exist – never find human beings suitable for their research.

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/baboons-on-the-loose-in-sydney-s-inner-west-20200225-p544au.html
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February 26, 2020 9:57am
- GoVege
  
  Im not overly keen on baboons or chimps but they shouldn’t be treated like this.
  What’s worse is this cruel “forced swim test” universities apparently torture small mammals with, dunking them in a container of water they cannot escape from and making them swim until exhausted.
  
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  February 26, 2020 1:20pm
- MrLovebucket
  
  One made it’s way over here to NZ and is standing for NZF in Northland.
  
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  February 26, 2020 7:06pm
lemuzz

Where have I seen this before?

Global warming proponents have hurt their cause because they’ve exaggerated the immediate danger, tailored solutions to only include only politically correct remedies, made obscene profits and/or gained political power.

No better example would be Al Gore, who made wild predictions of 2013: the polar ice caps being completely gone, all the polar bears drowning, no snow on Mount Kilimanjaro (I had a friend send a pic just recently proving him wrong), and most of Florida being underwater (which I’ve personally witnessed to be false).

Along the way, Gore invested in green tech and pocketed a couple hundred million dollars while burning up a city’s worth of carbon in his 30,000 square foot home and his private jet. If Obama had been able to pass Cap and Trade, Gore would have added billions more to that pile of cash as he had set himself up to trade carbon futures.

Blood And Gore: Making A Killing On Anti-Carbon Investment Hype

al-gores-climate-change-hypocrisy-is-as-big-as-his-energy-sucking-mansion/

Al Gore could become world’s first carbon billionaire

The 2nd problem is the politics. Progressives and Democrats want to reduce gas and oil use. Fine. But they haven’t come up with anyway to do that in the US, without turning the country back to the horse and buggy days. The cleanest source of fuel is nuclear. But that’s not politically correct. So no nuclear.

Look what’s happened to Germany’s carbon footprint when they shut off nuclear reactors. Germany Rejected Nuclear Power—and Deadly Emissions Spiked

And then there is that absolutely nauseating overweening virtue signaling from progressives. They all hail the Paris accord and criticize Trump for withdrawing from it. But no single industrialized country is even remotely trying to meet the Paris agreement.

The Climate Action Tracker, a project run by a group of three climate-research organizations, has been monitoring the progress of 32 countries in meeting the Paris accord goals. Taken together, those 32 countries account for 80 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.

The tracker’s goal is to provide an “up-to-date assessment of countries’ individual reduction targets and with an overview of their combined effects.” It looks at how much greenhouse gas each country emits right now; what it has committed to change on paper; and how well it’s following through on those promises.

As the graphic below shows, the group found that most major polluters are making few, if any, efforts to meet their goals. By Climate Action’s calculations, “critically insufficient countries” failed to even commit to cutting emissions significantly on paper. Only seven countries have made commitments or efforts that would achieve the goal of the Paris accord.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/w…

But it’s the ridiculous New Green Deal that is the global warming virtue signaling coup de grace.

While some of the specifics need to be ironed out, the plan’s authors assure us that this “massive transformation of our society” needs some “clear goals and a timeline.” The timeline is ten years. Here are some of the goals:

Ban affordable energy. GND calls for the elimination of all fossil fuel energy production, the lifeblood of American industry and life, which includes not only all oil but also natural gas — one of the cheapest sources of American energy, and one of the reasons the United States has been able to lead the world in carbon-emissions reduction.
Eliminate nuclear energy. The GND also calls for eliminating all nuclear power, one of the only productive and somewhat affordable “clean” energy sources available to us, in 11 years. This move would purge around 20 percent of American energy generation so you can rely on intermittent wind for your energy needs.
Eliminate 99 percent of cars. To be fair, under the GND, everyone will need to retrofit their cars with Flintstones-style foot holes or pedals for cycling. The authors state that the GND would like to replace every “combustion-engine vehicle” — trucks, airplanes, boats, and 99 percent of cars — within ten years. Charging stations for electric vehicles will be built “everywhere,” though how power plants will provide the energy needed to charge them is a mystery.
Gut and rebuild every building in America. Markey and Cortez want to “retrofit every building in America” with “state of the art energy efficiency.” I repeat, “every building in America.” That includes every home, factory, and apartment building, which will all need, for starters, to have their entire working heating and cooling systems ripped out and replaced with…well, with whatever technology Democrats are going invent in their committee hearings, I guess.
Eliminate air travel. GND calls for building out “highspeed rail at a scale where air travel stops becoming necessary.” Good luck Hawaii! California’s high-speed boondoggle is already in $100 billion dollars of debt, and looks to be one of the state’s biggest fiscal disasters ever. Amtrak runs billions of dollars in the red (though, as we’ll see, trains that run on fossil fuels will also be phased out). Imagine growing that business model out to every state in America?
A government-guaranteed job. The bill promises the United States government will provide every single American with a job that includes a “family-sustaining wage, family and medical leave, vacations, and a pension.” You can imagine that those left in the private sector would be funding these through some unspecified “massive” taxation. On the bright side, when you’re foraging for food, your savings will be worthless.
Free education for life. GND promises free college or trade schools for every American.
A salubrious diet. The GND promises the government will provide “healthy food” to every American (because there are no beans or lettuce in your local supermarket, I guess).
A house. The GND promises that the government will provide, “safe, affordable, adequate housing” for every American citizen. I call dibs on an affordable Adams Morgan townhouse. Thank you, Ocasio-Cortez.
Free money. The GND aims to provide, and I am not making this up, “economic security” for all who are “unable or unwilling” to work. Just to reiterate: if you’re unwilling to work, the rest of us will have your back.
Bonus insanity: Ban meat. Ocasio-Cortez admits that we can’t get zero emissions in 10 years “because we aren’t sure that we’ll be able to fully get rid of farting cows and airplanes that fast.” The only way to get rid of farting cows is to get rid of beef.The 10 Most Insane Requirements Of The Green New Deal

The New Green Deal was hailed by every Democratic presidential candidate when it came out. It’s so absurdly stupid that it makes a mockery of the whole movement.

I’m one who thinks that climate is changing. It’s also very unlikely that the world will be able to do anything about it. Any change in the US will easily be offset by the hundreds of millions of people in China, India, Africa and Central America who aspire to an industrialized society’s way of life. But I’m no expert on climate change because I’m not in entertainment nor a member of The Squad.
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February 26, 2020 10:15am
Fletch

For those who missed it, Socialist Bernie Sanders was asked in an interview about supporting Castro in Cuba. Sanders’ answer – well, he did do some good things, like starting a literacy reading programme??

https://www.redstate.com/nick-arama/2020/02/23/yikes-bernie-defends-prior-comments-about-fidel-castro-he-had-a-literacy-program/

https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-bernie-continues-praise-for-murderous-dictator-castro-praises-communist-china

Never mind that Castro’s regime killed 14,000 in his takeover of Cuba, or the other 60,000 that were killed during confiscations of homes and businesses.
He had a good literacy programme, so that’s alright.
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February 26, 2020 10:16am
- cmm
  
  To be fair to Bernie, I think he did agree that it wasn’t all rum cocktails.
  
  It is a bit confusing for people who like simple black and white messages: Castro Good vs Bad, apartheid good vs bad etc.
  
  However in any regime/situation we will always find some elements of both good and bad.
  
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  February 26, 2020 12:31pm
- Ed Snack
  
  Funny thing to me is that all these people take the Cuban Government’s own statistics on the “literacy” program’s success. Whereas really, we have no idea if there was a program that worked at all, but we are told that there was.
  
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  February 26, 2020 12:49pm
- rightoverlabour
  
  In South Africa during the height of apartheid I believe they built 100,000 houses in one year in the “townships”. Maybe tywford could adopt these obviously good policies….
  
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  February 26, 2020 6:52pm
the deity formerly known as nigel6888

I recommend reading Nick Cole’s Ctrl Alt Delete

Where AI becomes sentient, but decides it has to eliminate humans, on the grounds that humanity is the only species that willingly kills its infants, and therefore cannot be trusted not to do the same to other sentient life forms…..
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February 26, 2020 10:17am
- alloytoo
  
  “…willingly kills its infants….”
  
  huh? we’re not even the only mammal that does that.
  
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  February 26, 2020 2:15pm
UrbanNeocolonialist

Wrapping up still living patients in body bags and taking them to crematoriums in China – video of nurse talking to a driver:
https://twitter.com/EpochTimesChina/status/1232302592526635011

Fuck me that is appalling. What was a Monty Python skit (Holy Grail) is now reality in China. Yay china!!
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February 26, 2020 10:21am
Raphael

A one for the Mods (and this may not be the right spot)
There are two bugs that need fixing.
1.) When I edit my post it goes into the mod queue. (despite me being on the auto-mod list).
2.) I can’t delete a post
Both of these are events that are within the edit window.
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February 26, 2020 10:30am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  I think the mod queue for editing is so you can’t make a comment – get a reply and then edit that comment to make the reply look stupid. There are some smarmy smartarses on here
  
  8 2
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  February 26, 2020 10:33am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  To delete just go to edit and remove all text except for a full stop
  
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  February 26, 2020 10:35am
Maggy Wassilieff

Chap has been in Custody since August 2018…and is just now being charged with Terrorism.

But everything is suppressed….
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/119813718/second-person-in-new-zealand-charged-with-terrorism

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2020/02/crown-seeks-to-lay-terrorism-charge-against-auckland-man.html
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February 26, 2020 11:42am
- sooty
  
  So what charge was he held on for the last seventeen months?
  
  11 1
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  February 26, 2020 12:45pm
- Jack5
  
  We’re not allowed to know who he is or what he’s supposed to have done.
  
  It’s not just freedom of speech that’s under attack in New Zealand.
  
  And, on the other hand, we had a young man who planned terror attack in Christchurch by car and knife being sentenced to supervision that led to golf lessons.
  
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  February 26, 2020 4:40pm
Swifty

The faces of modern economic slavery:

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12311824

In 2020. In New Zealand.
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February 26, 2020 2:09pm
- Jack5
  
  Will slavers be kicked out of New Zealand – or only if they are Aussies?
  
  5 0
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  February 26, 2020 4:47pm
John Warren

Forgive me if somebody has already posted the link, but is there anybody who can get through the whole article without chundering?

https://time.com/5787443/jacinda-ardern-christchurch-new-zealand-anniversary/
4 1
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February 26, 2020 2:36pm
- MrTips
  
  God, I only got past the first sentence. “MP for just a few months?” She’s been in Parliament for years!!!! Time is such a shit rag now.
  
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  February 26, 2020 5:37pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

What is wrong with this picture?
https://news.yahoo.com/sanders-unveils-1-5-trillion-110000028.html
4 0
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February 26, 2020 2:58pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Free? He speaks PTPM language
  
  7 1
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  February 26, 2020 2:59pm
- Tall Man
  
  Nutjob is the answer.
  
  6 0
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  February 26, 2020 3:13pm
- rightoverlabour
  
  Sanders – makes Stalin look like an economic genius.
  
  6 0
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  February 26, 2020 6:47pm
- John Warren
  
  Ah yes, take 1.5 trillion bucks off people who reproduce responsibly (because we know what he means by “extreme wealth”), and use it to enable millions of feral breeders.
  
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  February 26, 2020 8:28pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Clinton 1993, but it is different when the left do it, same with Obama. But the MSM are not reporting this – they just attack President Donald Trump.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVtoyoJgGZ0
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February 26, 2020 4:13pm
freethinker

Fishing industry donations to NZ1 – Horizon just released their survey of 1000 on this details as follows –
A Horizon Research poll, which asked more than 1,000 people how much they felt donations by companies with large fishing investments would influence MPs and policy, found 73% saying that any donations by companies with large fishing investments have the potential to strongly influence MPs’ decisions.
If this result is reflected in votes 19/9/2020 then winston is toast.
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February 26, 2020 4:43pm
Gravelroad

God, is there no end to this man Shane Jones’ petty, vindictive carry-on?
Talk about school yard bully.
Who could have any respect for him.
He is a bad joke. Time he went.
And to the organisers of this event, show some guts and don’t allow yourselves to be used and manipulated in such a political way.
We’ve had enough.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/119823971/infrastructure-minister-shane-jones-uninvites-bit-player-simon-bridges-from-infrastructure-conference
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February 26, 2020 4:47pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  He will be going. Same as Jonny Harawira – in the political field. Nothing more than a trougher.
  
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  February 26, 2020 5:40pm
- Prince
  
  Looks like the ‘New Zealand Infrastructure Commission’, “a Government agency established to give certainty to infrastructure providers”, has been captured by the corrupt NZ First culture and is now just another Coalition publicity outlet.
  Revealing that Jones has decided the Conference “will be the setting for a Government announcement”.
  In other words another photo opp for Ardern, flanked by NZ First heavies, announcing $Mils on some vanity project, probably including a payback to their secret donors.
  Bridges, and Goldsmith would be well advised to stay away. So would any ethical Industry players not prepared to play the COL’s Policy for donations auction.
  
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  February 26, 2020 7:24pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

https://babylonbee.com/news/justice-department-criticizes-trump-for-pardoning-the-hamburglar?fbclid=IwAR2AolF7KgmRfphEXfgB6-K01rTDEVElhSAy7OHz1ngoFhSJVLZciw0XfuI
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February 26, 2020 5:09pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Now, there is a lot of activity at Whenuapai Air Force Base. Lots!
So I guess the C130s are full of promises? Fuck, those promises are heavy. Food and aid? or some pallets of cash?
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February 26, 2020 5:12pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Your Burn lefties.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/02/25/fact-check-bernie-sanders-blames-trump-for-homelessness-concentrated-in-blue-states/?fbclid=IwAR21pW4DD7P0DofeATlYr7zB9DEAUkLMoD5NxY_AdyNeT4pla6gUPij1D3w
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February 26, 2020 5:36pm
rightoverlabour

There is no poverty in New Zealand. Go to Africa, India or S outh America to see real poverty. 300000 beneficiaries are not the face of poverty but in most cases poor choices. The poor in other countries have no fucking choice. Period
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February 26, 2020 6:45pm
Fletch

Bloody idiotic students. What the hell is wrong with today’s generation? Are they really this damn stupid? Fkn idiots. We’re in the midst of a pandemic so bad they are thinking of cancelling the Olympics and these people think it feeds racism? Grow up!

University students are demanding the government lift the Covid-19 travel ban, saying it is unreasonable, unempathetic and feeds racism.

The Union of Students’ Associations has published an open letter to the Prime Minister, Health Minister and Education Minister, protesting the restrictions which bar foreign travellers arriving from mainland China.

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2020/02/university-students-union-demand-government-lift-racist-coronavirus-travel-ban.html

And yeh, I am mad at the utter stupidity. ?
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February 26, 2020 6:48pm
- DeepBlue
  
  Some Chinese students are just self quarantining in a Covid free country for 14 days before flying here.
  
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  February 26, 2020 9:19pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Not the type of disease you’d wish on anyone.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/119838474/green-mp-golriz-ghahraman-reveals-she-has-multiple-sclerosis
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February 26, 2020 8:18pm
- John Warren
  
  Not at all, she has my sympathy here. I’d wish election defeat on her in a heartbeat, but never this.
  
  5 0
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  February 26, 2020 8:24pm
- Jack5
  
  Yes, that’s tough.
  
  Golriz has the courage and intelligence to manage it as well as anyone, but deserves empathy and kind wishes from us at the other end of the political spectrum.
  
  Stay staunch, Golriz. ?
  
  3 0
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  February 26, 2020 8:35pm
tavita

RNZ has a story, repeated by stuff and nonsense that pensioners with incomes over $100,000 are costing the New Zealand taxpayer over half a billion dollars per year and growing. A well known self-confessed economist is calling for means testing. A quick look up and calculation using IRD tables tells me that these people are paying at least 1.5 billion in tax. I thought this might be worth mentioning.
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February 27, 2020 2:49am
- info@cruzpro.com
  
  I suppose that those pensioners would be happy to have their pensions means tested if they can also stop paying taxes.
  
  To be fair, hopefully most of them paid taxes to support their parents before they reached the age of 65. Some of them are now also still running businesses that employ others that also pay taxes.
  
  What I can’t understand is that someone can move to New Zealand, enjoy living here for ten years and then get a pension when they reach the age of 65 without ever having to have worked a day or paid any taxes. They could even have been on the dole and taken advantage of the medical system! Go figure.
  
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  February 27, 2020 7:14am

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