General Debate 2 March 2020

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peterwn

A judge has been criticised for declining to convict a driver for dangerous driving merely because the driver was doing 148kph. While doing 148kph may be considered ‘dangerous’ there were no other supporting circumstances showing the driving was ‘dangerous’ within established law including High Court case law. The judge is bound to follow such High Court precedents. This could be a matter for Parliament to consider – whether ‘dangerous driving’ occurs if the vehicle exceeds a certain speed.
Googling [2018] NZHC 2297 will bring up a similar relevant case where a motorcycle rider was found to be driving dangerously when doing 145kph south of Kaikoura.
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March 2, 2020 8:05am
- fernglas
  
  It all depends on the circumstances. 148 kph in a school zone at 3pm on a Friday is more likely to be dangerous than the same speed on an empty road on the Canterbury plans. Do you really suggest that we should have legislation setting arbitrary limits on what is and isn’t dangerous? Or reasonable? Or any of the other tests we have to determine criminal liability? The reason this isn’t done is because all of those things are impossible to legislate for.
  
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  March 2, 2020 8:39am
  - Albert_Ross
    
    Well, but what are you going to do instead? Are we really happy to leave it up to the individual spot judgement of an individual policeman as to whether this or that action constitutes “dangerous”? Law is not good law if it is not predictable and consistent in its application, and the judgement in different times, places and circumstances of different individuals is never going to be either consistent or predictable.
    
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    March 2, 2020 8:53am
  - peterwn
    
    I fully agree with these sentiments. Indeed it would set a terrible precedent if the Police appealed and won. The Police could win dangerous driving purely on the basis of speed. notching down the speed case by case. In the ‘school zone’ case you mentioned a judge would have no hesitation in finding dangerous driving proved and would have delivered a tongue lashing to the accused.
    The AA spokesperson should have known better than pronounce driving at 148kph was driving dangerously. One of the original objectives of the AA was to defend its members when prosecuted by over zealous Police.
    As far as I know there are extra penalties beyond fines and demerits for grossly excessive speeding. These should adequately meet the situation where the situation falls short of ‘dangerous driving’.
    
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    March 2, 2020 9:07am
    - peterwn
      
      The Police Officer in this instance was able to (indeed ‘must’) and most probably did hand down an immediate 28 day disqualification to the driver (see s95(1)(c)(i) of the Land Transport Act). The Police cannot however impound the vehicle as the Police can do for serious drink drive cases. For rental vehicles the Police get around this by contacting the rental company who immediately cancels the hire.
      
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      March 2, 2020 9:37am
      - fernglas
        
        I don’t follow what you mean when you talk about “notching the speed down case by case” . Just because one judge, whether it be in the District or High Court, finds that a particular speed is dangerous does not mean that another is bound to find the same. Precedent is a matter of law, not of fact. As I explained above, it is an evaluation of the circumstances that must be embarked upon. The speed may be dangerous in some circumstances, and not others. Each is considered on its merits on a case by case basis.
        
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        March 2, 2020 11:34am
      - peterwn
        
        fernglas – (there was no reply button). Currently case law requires that ingredients other than speed are required to prove dangerous driving – see the Kaikoura case [2018] NZHC 2297 where the prosecution was able to point to other ingredients and secured a dangerous driving conviction.
        In current case, Police are considering appealing and if successful means that any driver exceeding 148kph is ‘dangerous driving’. The court may also muse on the hypothetical instance of (say) 140kph but that would be ‘obiter’ and would not be binding on a lower court. But if there was another case the Police might successfully argue that 140kph is ‘dangerous driving’, and then 130kph, then 120kph until breaching the open road speed limit would ‘always’ be dangerous driving.
        So if the Police think that going 40kph over the speed limit (which already attracts immediate 28 day disqualification) is ‘dangerous driving’ then the Police/NZTA should through their Ministers seek a law change accordingly.
        
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        March 2, 2020 12:11pm
      - fernglas
        
        Just for completeness, two judges faced with the same set of facts could come to different conclusions about whether the speed was dangerous, and neither would necessarily be wrong.
        
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        March 2, 2020 12:33pm
  - Ed Snack
    
    Speed was just out of Napier, by the airport and outbound to Bayview area. Newly double-laned and with a centre protecting barrier.
    
    Interesting side note, driver was young and in a Suzuki Swift (so probably just about maxxed it out).
    
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    March 2, 2020 10:20am
- alloytoo
  
  I support the judge.
  
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  March 2, 2020 8:47am
- rouppe
  
  I actually think this is a good thing.
  
  I’ve been on the wrong end of a traffic cops infringement book.
  
  One I remember quite distinctly is cruising around the stadium during rush hour. I was lane splitting at about 30kph.
  
  Motorcycle cop (the worst kind) pulled me over. Started issuing me an infringement.
  Me “what for?”
  Cop “unsafe driving”
  Me “what was unsafe about it? No one was sounding the horn, no one was having to brake, no one was shouting out the window, I was legally in the left lane, my speed was moderate, what was unsafe about it?”
  C “you can discuss that in court”, accompanied by a supercilious sneer.
  
  Trafficked police are lazy, are puffed up bullies, and rely on the blue uniform to get the conviction in court.
  
  It’s about time police were required to be specific about what they’re charging you with.
  
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  March 2, 2020 8:51am
  - Tall Man
    
    Had a similar experience. I just told him lane splitting wasn’t illegal firmly enough to make him think I may be right.
    
    I gave him my details and suggested he do some research and he could send me the ticket when/if he discovered I was wrong.
    
    I never received the ticket and from my perspective lane splitting is not illegal if some of the traffic is still moving.
    
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    March 2, 2020 9:44am
    - rouppe
      
      It’s actually the reverse.
      
      Passing on the right is always legal, notwithstanding visibility ahead of 100m etc. It is passing on the left which is illegal, unless the traffic is stopped or indicating to turn right.
      
      But that is all under the “overtaking” section. The “unsafe” section is a different section and can be applied separately. It is purely subjective. However S140 of the land transport act requires the officer to provide “sufficient information as to fairly inform”, and this is almost never done. I went to court and challenged it once, but the JP (you never get a real judge) just waved away that fact
      
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      March 2, 2020 11:46am
      - Tall Man
        
        So what you are saying is “bullshit baffles brains”…….
        
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        March 2, 2020 2:39pm
      - Simon Gotlieb
        
        Yeah, you’re right rouppe. 2.6(1) Road User Rule specifically states:
        (1)
        A driver must not pass or attempt to pass another vehicle moving in the same direction unless—
        (a)
        the movement can be made with safety; and
        (b)
        the movement is made with due consideration for other users of the road; and
        (c)
        sufficient clear road is visible to the driver for the passing movement to be completed without impeding or being likely to impede any possible opposing traffic; and
        (d)
        until the passing movement is completed, the driver has a clear view of the road and any traffic on the road for at least 100 m in the direction in which the driver is travelling.
        
        1(b) is where motorcyclists get hammered, along with 1(d), as its hard to argue you actually have 100 metres of clear frontal visibility when it’s built up traffic – a car ahead may block your entire vision.
        
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        March 2, 2020 3:30pm
- Nigel Kearney
  
  Median barrier, light traffic, nobody else in the car. Even if it was dangerous, which I doubt, it wasn’t dangerous to anyone else except the driver. A waste of the court’s time when he should have just got a ticket.
  
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  March 2, 2020 9:15am
- freemark
  
  Plod is an idiot. I recently received a $30 fine for getting snapped at 55kmh on a deserted Ohiro Rd on a clear and fine afternoon early Jan. Emailed them with about 10 valid reasons why this was unwarranted – main one being the 10kmh tolerance. got a letter(!) back saying ok we’ll rescind it. Probably cost them $100 worth of processing etc, plus my time.
  
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  March 2, 2020 9:30am
  - Albert_Ross
    
    Some of them are, some are not. All of them have bad days sometimes. Even intelligent, reasonable people can have differing opinions about matters of judgement. The same applies to people in every profession, including judges.
    
    But we nevertheless think it should be left to the subjective judgement of random strangers, whether the same action constitutes a crime or not? Law enforcement as luck of the draw?
    
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    March 2, 2020 10:50am
  - Paulus
    
    Me too 55km in a 50km zone Wellsford, Christmas Eve.
    Fair doos $30 paid
    
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    March 2, 2020 1:11pm
- cmm
  
  Well screw all speeding fines then.
  
  Speeding fines are based on the premise that going faster than the posted speed limit is dangerous. Without the danger factor there is absolutely no justification for speed limits or speeding fines.
  
  Instead, it will have to all go back to the subjective charges of dangerous driving.
  
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  March 2, 2020 9:44am
  - rouppe
    
    I believe the driver still got pinged for speeding, it was the dangerous driving charge that was thrown out
    
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    March 2, 2020 9:49am
    - peterwn
      
      Yes, he would have had to pay the fine, have demerit points and the police officer who stopped him would have on the spot taken his licence off him for 28 days. Offender would have had phone two people to come and get him and the car.
      
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      March 2, 2020 2:34pm
  - Simon Gotlieb
    
    Not exactly. The problem, as I see it, is that they charged him with dangerous driving, which means they have to prove a dangerous intent.
    
    They should have charged him with dangerous speed, which he had no chance of disputing.
    
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    March 2, 2020 3:32pm
jacob

Why is Stuff Air NZs new ad agency?

https://i.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/119929395/coronavirus-more-low-airfares-for-nz-travellers
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March 2, 2020 8:07am
- peterwn
  
  It is news, not an ad.
  
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  March 2, 2020 8:32am
  - sooty
    
    Yep, they are just showing how woke, they are!
    Broke next week!
    
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    March 2, 2020 9:25am
  - BlairM
    
    Hahaha oh how naive…
    
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    March 2, 2020 9:27am
- peterwn
  
  There was another ad ran by Stuff (and other MSM) later proclaiming that Air NZ offered passengers ‘quiet enjoyment’ when flying or using Koru lounges. They reported the case where that woman tried to get the court to overturn a 12 month ban.
  Having to fly Jetstar. Bo Ho Ho.
  
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  March 2, 2020 2:39pm
Misha Beattie

I thought all this was supposed to stop.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/119880469/principal-describes-heartbreaking-scenes-of-poverty

As described, these children are literally starving. I would like to see the circumstances of the parents that have led to this. It is inexcusable for kids to have nothing to eat.
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March 2, 2020 8:09am
- peterwn
  
  Labour dismantled the welfare mechanisms National established to help deal with such situations.
  
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  March 2, 2020 8:50am
- Nigel Kearney
  
  KidsCan is nice, ParentsDo would be much better.
  
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  March 2, 2020 9:16am
- Tony Stuart
  
  Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister-elect, October 2017:
  
  Jacinda Ardern, the prime minister elect of New Zealand, has announced she will take on the newly created role of minister for child poverty reduction.
  
  Combating child poverty has been a lifelong cause for Ardern and is the reason she entered politics aged 17.
  
  One-third of New Zealand children, or 300,000, now live below the poverty line – 45,000 more than a year ago.
  
  “As prime minister I want to see urgent progress in this area. That is why we will be introducing measures and targets to ensure our policies across government are making a difference to the lives of children.”
  
  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/25/jacinda-ardern-takes-child-poverty-role-in-new-zealand-ministry#maincontent
  
  The Prime Minister has failed as dismally to reduce child poverty as she has with Labour’s flagship Kiwibuild policy. Even Eleanor Ainge Roy, The Guardian’s New Zealand-based reporter who was initially one of Ardern’s most staunch supporters, is now questioning whether Ardern deserves a second term as Prime Minister.
  
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  March 2, 2020 9:22am
  - sooty
    
    Not doing her job then is she!
    
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    March 2, 2020 9:26am
  - thetiedarch
    
    “A lifelong cause”.
    
    I wonder if she’s actually lifted anyone out of poverty in her 20ish years in politics?
    
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    March 2, 2020 10:44am
    - sooty
      
      Yep, she has, Jethro!
      
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      March 2, 2020 12:36pm
  - In Vino Veritas
    
    Since “poverty” is defined as anything the left say it is (when National are in power it includes cant afford an overseas trip each year, cant afford Sky TV or Netflix etc) I think you will find that when Ardern’s stats come out, she will have done a fine job…..
    
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    March 2, 2020 11:16am
- the deity formerly known as nigel6888
  
  Deadbeat parents as usual? What happened to shaming these arseholes? Spending the benefit on booze, drugs and pokies? Not fit to parent.
  
  Of course churches tithing and the latest bro boyfriend leaching off the solo-mum are all part of the problem too.
  
  So I guess the root cause is……
  
  ……
  
  colonialism (of course)!
  
  Just hand over more of those evil colonial tax dollars! and we can make child poverty go away…
  
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  March 2, 2020 9:24am
  - RW Capitalist
    
    If
    A portmanteau is a word that is formed by combining two different terms to create a new entity
    then
    Deadbeat parents
    must be defined as, what they do to their children
    ie beat them until they are dead.
    
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    March 2, 2020 12:44pm
    - the deity formerly known as nigel6888
      
      Well, we certainly have lots of that technology!
      
      I admit I didn’t intend it literaly, but if the portmanteau fits……. knock yourself out (sic)!
      
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      March 2, 2020 3:01pm
- notreadyet
  
  I think part of the answer to the problem is imbedded in the article, mention of 6 or 7 Kids in the house
  
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  March 2, 2020 9:39am
  - Classic Liberal
    
    Exactly. The answer is: contraception and sensible decisions whether to have any or more children.
    
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    March 2, 2020 10:39am
    - GoVege
      
      Sexist cultures don’t allow the use of contraception.
      Women might get a bit of control over their lives and become uppity. 🙂
      
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      March 2, 2020 1:43pm
      - Pharmachick
        
        From one uppity woman to another… WORD!
        
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        March 2, 2020 2:12pm
- artemisia
  
  Anecdata as there is a point to be made, and that point is a charity looking for more taxpayer money. Which money would be better spent having a social worker knock on the door and find out why children are starving. (And if parents are also starving.)
  
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  March 2, 2020 9:49am
  - Pharmachick
    
    Heh, love this comment… we have a saying in my laboratory: “The plural of anecdote is not data”.
    
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    March 2, 2020 2:13pm
- Tall Man
  
  “Red Soup” is a myth, just a party “story”.
  
  The one flaw in the “plan” is that these “poor” do not cook much at all.
  
  Poor choices plus a desire to spend on alcohol or drugs push the kids to the back of the queue in the home. More money does not help as the last 30 years have shown.
  
  A very simple solution would be to provide ingredients for simple meals to the schools for the kids to make their own meals and learn how to cook and create at the same time.
  
  Yes, it would take time and yes some parents and teachers would have to get on board but rather than “hand ringing” and waffling to the press, teach these kids how to cook and manage a simple budget.
  
  How many on this blog learned woodwork, metalwork, cooking and rudimentary sewing. How many on this blog “NEVER” used those skills?
  
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  March 2, 2020 9:51am
  - Misha Beattie
    
    I’d be confident of preparing meals for a family of 2 adults and 2 kids for $60 per week. If it was 2 teenagers it would be more like $100.
    
    Remember you can blow $40 at KFC. And cigarettes are $30 per packet.
    
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    March 2, 2020 10:17am
    - GoVege
      
      I came out of pak n save a few weeks ago.
      Hubby was waiting in the car and told me a young woman just asked him for $20.
      He said sorry, he didn’t have it.
      Then she apparently said, can I give you a blowjob for $20.
      Where is this poor girl, I asked.
      Over there asking all the other drivers.
      We couldn’t find her, but this is the terrible upbringing many young people have these days.
      And its not just financial poverty, its the horrific parenting.
      
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      March 2, 2020 1:52pm
      - Pharmachick
        
        Jesus Christ – I’d just give her $50 and wish her a good day. FFS is this what it has come to in NZ?!?!
        
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        March 2, 2020 2:16pm
      - UrbanNeocolonialist
        
        Want’s $20 and a feed? That’s a pretty aggressive begging pitch. In the old days they were just glad to have something warm in their stomachs.
        
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        March 2, 2020 4:37pm
  - Pharmachick
    
    Red soup is not a “story” it is/was real… thanks very much from Tokoroa.
    
    But to your other point, yep metal work, wood work, sewing and cooking in Intermediate. Probably the sewing and cooking were most useful (with apologies to my Step Dad who was the metalwork teacher).
    
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    March 2, 2020 2:15pm
- Gravelroad
  
  Ok, so, can someone explain to me the arguments against issuing supermarket food stamps/vouchers as part of the ever increasing benefit “entitlements”?
  These not to be spent on tobacco products and alcohol.
  Then, at the very least, some food would be bought and presumably made available to all these starving children.
  Is it some human rights embarrassment argument that the woke say is not acceptable?
  If I was really poor and had kids to feed, I wouldn’t be too proud to make use of vouchers instead of cash. It’s about what’s best for the children, surely?
  
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  March 2, 2020 10:59am
  - Tall Man
    
    They get “exchanged” at a sub par rate.
    
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    March 2, 2020 11:54am
    - DeepBlue
      
      Nowadays there should be an ‘app for that’. It would have been better than Winston’s app for GoldCard.
      
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      March 2, 2020 3:05pm
  - Lizziep
    
    Problem is Gravelroad they sell the food vouchers to Aunty or someone else that will pay cash and a bit less for the value of the voucher and they then buy booze drugs or what ever they want with the money so no matter what they do its not fool proof for those people who have no idea that children should be fed.
    
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    March 2, 2020 12:24pm
  - Twinkletoes
    
    Food vouchers can be sold for cash to feed other habits.
    
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    March 2, 2020 12:25pm
    - Batman
      
      More difficult if it’s a payment card with a name on it.
      
      Sadly the left kicked up a fuss about that…
      
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      March 2, 2020 1:46pm
  - Pharmachick
    
    I worked in a supermarket all through High School – so ~25-30 years ago.
    
    When people would come in with emergency cheques, as the checkout operator we literally couldn’t sell alcohol or cigarettes on those cheques.
    
    In general, if it was a guy with an emergency cheque, they were quiet and just wanted to get through with their groceries and get the hell out of there. The women were often terrible… they tried everything to get ciggies and wine across the till. The time I got slapped across the face for apologizing and telling the woman that the system wouldn’t accept the carton of cigarettes (back then a carton was ~$50) on the $97 emergency cheque was the worst. And YES I still remember the exact value of that cheque, and the surname of the woman, not because cigarettes are a value judgement – I couldn’t do anything about that; but because the mark on my face lasted 2 days and the owner of our New World insisted that no police would be called over the “misunderstanding”… I was 16.
    
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    March 2, 2020 3:18pm
    - Gravelroad
      
      Thanks for these responses.
      I have no doubt there will always be people who rort and game the system – any financially based system – to advantage themselves personally.
      But we are told, time and again, that we have thousands of children living in substandard conditions with little or no access to food.
      If a percentage of parents and caregivers are intent on finding ways to take food out of their children’s mouths, then they are the pits.
      But, there must also be a percentage who would not do that.
      Income assessed food stamps/vouchers or an identity phone app arrangement would be more equitable than free lunches in schools in selected electorates.
      In an election year.
      
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      March 2, 2020 3:46pm
      - Pharmachick
        
        Yes, I agree.
        
        There are a hardcore of lowlifes that are terrible parents (and I have seen that in Tok), but I truly believe that many/most have fallen on hard times and will do the best they can for their kids and families with appropriate assistance.
        
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        March 2, 2020 4:02pm
hullkiwi

Question for cmm, what on earth is going on in Ladysmith and inland Natal. My wife received a video on Saturday from a school friend who lives in Ladysmith. She was saying it was similar to Durban of the 1980s.
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March 2, 2020 8:14am
- oldpark
  
  hullkiwi
  Check out Natal Post Newspaper.
  
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  March 2, 2020 8:35am
  - hullkiwi
    
    Oldpark, thx. The video we saw yesterday didn’t look good. And as the post article mentioned it is easy to see how other local towns (Dundee and Newcastle) could get affected.
    
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    March 2, 2020 9:22am
- alloytoo
  
  Hmmm
  
  People protesting poor infrastructure and service delivery by destroying existing infrastructure.
  
  Not sure who they think is going to replace it, most of the country’s civil engineers are looking for work abroad, or already employed there.
  
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  March 2, 2020 9:00am
- cmm
  
  Ladysmith is falling apart as businesses leave and employment tanks.
  
  One of the biggest “firms” in Ladysmith is the 5 SAI infantry training school. That is falling apart.
  
  From what I can see, the infantry training camp is now training fresh meat for the local warlords rather than soldiers.
  
  KZN is very, very poked. It has the largest population of semi-literate rural dwellers. Many people in the towns are not paying for services and any money that is coming in is siphoned off anyway.
  
  The N3 (major highway through KZN) is basically a war zone all the way through KZN. Trucks are stopped and plundered and/or just burned.
  
  Inland Natal is where I grew up. It has always been a rough place. It has just got a whole lot rougher in the last 10 to 20 years.
  
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  March 2, 2020 9:52am
  - Tony Stuart
    
    I have a number of friends in the Natal midlands whom I haven’t visited since 1997. It’s sad to see everything there turning to custard.
    
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    March 2, 2020 10:02am
    - SB 2
      
      Tony Stuart , even if true there is no question of turning the clock back.
      
      How many clamouring a return to the apartheid days? ( other than a certain number of disgruntled whites)
      
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      March 2, 2020 11:26am
      - cmm
        
        Actually quite a few blacks wouldn’t mind.
        
        Having a vote is not very important to most black
        people in SA. Over half did not bother voting. Many, if not most would take jobs and a solid economy over voting any day.
        
        And for the slow of wit, I am not endorsing apartheid. It was, however, effective at providing resources and administration for all South Africans, especially medical, education, water, electricity and other services which the ANC just cannot provide.
        
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        March 2, 2020 2:59pm
      - Tony Stuart
        
        That’s not what I was suggesting Stephie. Unfortunately for South Africa, things have gone downhill fast since Mandela’s election in 1994. I was there anually between 1994 and 1997, and even in that time, you could see things getting worse each year as government incompetence, unmet expectations of the Black community, corruption and violence took hold.
        
        I heard horror stories from some of my clients about family members murdered by car hijackers (or in one case a school teacher dragged out of a school van and literally executed in front of the students), of the public service grinding to a halt because of people being promoted far beyond their level of competence, and of a beautiful country becoming uninhabitable. Ironically, the Natal Midlands was one of the few places in South Africa where I felt safe.
        
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        March 2, 2020 3:31pm
    - cmm
      
      Well you’re doing better than me. I have not been there since 1992 and am never going back.
      
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      March 2, 2020 2:47pm
  - hullkiwi
    
    We were in Natal in 2018 to visit friends (my wife grew up in Durban). We travelled north from Durban via N3, & Ladysmith (met wife’s friend) enroute to Dundee. My impression of Natal was that of a province that had long since list its purpose.
    
    Between Ladysmith & Dundee we pulled off at Colenzo (not a good idea – turned around and got out). Much of that part of Natal is either farming or coal mining for very dirty burning power plants. Ladysmith like much of Natal seemed uneasy with a not too certain future. Even parts of central Durban were derelict, and those areas had only been modernised for tourists 10 to 15 years before.
    
    At Colenzo when the power plant closed, the town was left with no real employment, today it not a safe place.
    
    From Dundee north to Newcastle, there is the potential of coal mining, but the price of coal on international markets is the issue. So, long term futures in the regions remains uncertain.
    
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    March 2, 2020 10:50am
    - Random T Person
      
      I grew up in Howick, near Pietermaritzburg. Was back there in ’18 and again in ’19, after not having visited for maybe a decade. The deterioration was alarming. Places I remember, like Alexandra Gardens in Pmb and the cemetary on Commercial Road look like they’ve been bombed. The street where I spent the first 17 years of my life in Merrivale (Loram Road) is a disaster, overgrown, filthy, just decrepit. I was showing my then 5-year old boy (a born and bred Kiwi) where I grew up. It was…sad and nostalgic and tragic and fascinating.
      Incredibly, the metal gates at the entrance to the house where I grew up were still on their poles. Complete with the bits of wire we had woven into the holes our dogs had made in the chainlink back in the late 1970s. How crazy is that.
      
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      March 2, 2020 12:11pm
      - hullkiwi
        
        RTP, on our way north we pulled off the N3 to see the Chappel of the Covenant. My brother in law had been at university in Natal in the 1980s.
        
        To say my wife was shocked was an understatement. Once again, we didn’t get out of our car. We drove out the way we came and continued our journey North.
        
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        March 2, 2020 3:33pm
Maggie Pie

I was involved in a ‘Special Research Project’ during February, which meant rather than doing random night-shifts, i was back to doing a regular 8 to 5 stint.

This meant my partner and me got up at the SAME TIME each morning 🙁

ME: Lets out dog. Makes breakfast. Feeds dog. Showers. Cleans up kitchen. Makes bed. Puts on make-up. Gets dressed.

PARTNER: Poops.
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March 2, 2020 8:18am
- fernglas
  
  I think you’re confusing the dog and the partner.
  
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  March 2, 2020 8:42am
- peterwn
  
  You should do as the women in the Greek play ‘Lysistrata’ did.
  
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  March 2, 2020 8:52am
- NoCash
  
  Regular morning pooping is a healthy habit, you should support him ;-p
  
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  March 2, 2020 9:04am
  - Tony Stuart
    
    My father had a prolonged hospitalisation in the 1960’s for a fractured femur. He was so regular the nurses reckoned they could set their watches by his bowel movements!
    
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    March 2, 2020 9:28am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  I got sick of waiting for hubby to complete his morning ablutions when we were Public Service working folk and had a kid to drop off at creche.
  I informed him that you crap on Government time, not my time.
  
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  March 2, 2020 10:26am
  - sooty
    
    He’s a slow learner!
    Should have been told that on the first day of work!
    Here’s the newspaper, see you in half an hour!
    
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    March 2, 2020 12:41pm
Paulus

I was worried for a while when some of the Christchurch Muslim victims said they did not want a remembrance service in March.
Now the Christchurch Imam has said he would like a service every year and was going to be a preacher in the service.
With 10,000 plus people expected to attend I hope there will be enough hand sanitiser and masks for everybody and headscarves for the special people.
I would have thought that the views of the Health Department would be listened to but no way as Ardern needs her last moment of glory. She should observe that her International glorification has not been very kind to her recently in such as the UK and Australia – but Fiji is alright as she has thrown some taxpayers money when there, where in fact it should go towards the betterment of children in poverty in New Zealand.
Remember that March 15th in Roman terms are the Ides of March.
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March 2, 2020 8:19am
- Simon
  
  “Christchurch Muslim victims said they did not want a remembrance service in March.
  Now the Christchurch Imam has said he would like a service every year and was going to be a preacher in the service.”
  
  Labo would have sent their feelers out and found someone.
  
  Its the Cindy remembrance service. Tarrant has not been convicted yet but that wont slow down Cindy.
  
  There is also the smell of money. Cindy is famous for handing out millions just before the photo ops.
  
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  March 2, 2020 9:00am
- MCos
  
  Face masks are a waste of time if you’re not sick, in which case you’re not likely to be there anyway.
  
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  March 2, 2020 9:02am
  - Tall Man
    
    Every little helps, just a shame most DHB’s and medical centres don’t have any.
    
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    March 2, 2020 9:54am
  - info@cruzpro.com
    
    Maybe facemasks can help prevent you infecting yourself. They may not prevent you breathing in the virus but can help by preventing you touching your face as much. If you have touched virus contaminated material you will have the virus on your hands for some period of time.
    
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    March 2, 2020 10:55am
  - SGA
    
    @mcos
    Perhaps easier to say that they are greatly overrated?
    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/01/yes-it-is-worse-than-the-flu-busting-the-coronavirus-myths
    Claim: ‘Face masks don’t work’
    Wearing a face mask is not an iron clad guarantee that you won’t get sick – viruses can also transmit through the eyes and tiny viral particles, known as aerosols, can still penetrate masks. However, masks are effective at capturing droplets, which is the main transmission route of coronavirus, and some studies have estimated a roughly five-fold protection versus no barrier. If you are likely to be in close contact with someone infected, a mask cuts the chance of the disease being passed on. If you’re just walking around town and not in close contact with others, wearing a mask is unlikely to make any difference.
    
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    March 2, 2020 11:17am
- KevO'Brien
  
  An annual memorial service could be an attempt to promote Islam in NZ–a no go.
  
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  March 2, 2020 9:10am
- Tall Man
  
  Money talks and it has spoken.
  
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  March 2, 2020 9:55am
Simon

Kelvin Davis was has been panic buying Labo Party election posters. Rest easy Labo are on top of Chinavirus.
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March 2, 2020 8:30am
G152

Just checked the manuals about the atmosphere in a B747.
The claim that you’re safe sitting more than two rows forward or behind an infected pax is bollox.
The air flow means that the entire atmosphere is replaced 15 or so times an hour so you can be infected by airborne viruses from all around…
Some-ones lying
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March 2, 2020 8:31am
- hullkiwi
  
  It’s called either:
  1. We don’t want to panic the sheeple; or
  2. We don’t have a clue what we are talking about.
  
  You choose…..
  
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  March 2, 2020 8:53am
- Misha Beattie
  
  Viruses do not spread through moving air. When someone coughs or sneezes the drops containing the virus fall to a surface within 2 metres. It is not like a mist rolling through the plane.
  
  As for general air quality, traversing the air through one of the engines means that the air on a plane is a lot cleaner than the air on a bus or a train.
  
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  March 2, 2020 9:00am
  - SGA
    
    Viruses do not spread through moving air.
    
    I think measles can last a while in the air – that’s why it is so contagious.
    
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    March 2, 2020 9:44am
    - Misha Beattie
      
      Yes correct. Measles is incredibly contagious.
      https://www.cdc.gov/measles/transmission.html
      
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      March 2, 2020 10:26am
      - sooty
        
        But if you have an infected passenger at the front of the plane, of course they are going to spread their germs all the way to the back!
        The plane is traveling at speed thru the air with a hole at the tail for stale air to escape out.
        You need to put all the sick passengers at the back and then all the first class and premium passengers are safe as they are more important than cattle class!
        
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        March 2, 2020 12:51pm
  - hullkiwi
    
    Misha, there is also an assumption the passenger stays in his seat. But as we know with a 10 hour flight from Bali to Akl, there is a good chance the passenger has availed themselves of the conveniences or even just got up to exercise, or spoken in close proximity to members of the air crew.
    
    So, plenty of chances to spread the germs.
    
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    March 2, 2020 3:37pm
- SGA
  
  Not necessarily. Air-flow is only one part of the equation. It also depends on the airborne characteristics of the virus. If it travels in larger droplets it isn’t as mobile – we are more likely to get it from surfaces where it has landed that from the air. Hence, the emphasis being placed on hand washing and not touching your face.
  
  Don’t underestimate surface contact as a means of transmission – something like norovirus can rip through a family or institution pretty damn effectively through largely surface contact transmission (it can last for quite a while on a surface).
  
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  March 2, 2020 9:13am
  - SGA
    
    This deals with Ebola, but it covers a similar issue.
    https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2014/12/01/364749313/ebola-in-the-air-what-science-says-about-how-the-virus-spreads
    
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    March 2, 2020 9:24am
  - Misha Beattie
    
    And do not share keyboards and laptops. Communal keyboards are disgusting. Carry your own and keep it clean.
    
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    March 2, 2020 9:39am
    - NoCash
      
      Indeed, hot desking should be banned.
      
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      March 2, 2020 11:02am
      - raven
        
        Hot desking is compulsory in many large office buildings (government agencies, banks). There simply aren’t enough fixed desks for everyone, and they rely on a percentage of staff being on leave or working from home. Turn up after 9am …. good luck finding a desk.
        
        Will be interesting if this hot desking policy continues.
        
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        March 2, 2020 12:38pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  In Hongkong they warn everyone that was in a plane with someone carrying Coronavirus.
  
  Chuang Shuk-kwan, the director of the infectious disease division of the Centre for Health Protection in Hong Kong, advised all passengers on Thursday’s Cathay CX250 flight from Heathrow to Hong Kong, or on ferry number 3A109, to call the centre’s hotline and to be “aware of the health situation”, and seek medical help or quarantine if necessary. A spokesperson for Cathay Pacific said the plane was being disinfected and the airline was helping authorities trace passengers who came into close contact with the man.
  
  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/01/twelve-more-people-test-positive-coronavirus-in-uk
  
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  March 2, 2020 11:22am
Maggy Wassilieff

French and Swiss advised to stop kissy-kiss greetings.

Meanwhile, both France and Switzerland, who banned mass gatherings – have cautioned citizens not use “la bise” – known to Britons as the “kissy kissy” greeting – for fear of spreading the virus.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/01/coronavirus-deaths-iran-rise-global-outbreak-worsens
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March 2, 2020 8:33am
- Jack5
  
  The hongi’s got to go for a while, too, and hand shakes.
  
  A Thai “wai” – a slight bow with the hands pressed together (like the Indian namaste), or a polite bow might do the trick.
  
  Or a more Kiwi just nod of the head and a smile.
  
  Instead of group hand shakes, modest group clapping might do.
  
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  March 2, 2020 8:49am
  - sooty
    
    I want a bit of touchy feely if I going to get the clap!
    
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    March 2, 2020 9:32am
Simon

China what a fucking shell game. The whole rotten corrupt structure. Thats why the CCP has to buy so many people in countries like NZ. To keep the fraud that is China going.

Its all smoke and mirrors bull shit. How many people do the CCP own in NZ MSM? The CCP NZ promoters are easy to spot.
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March 2, 2020 8:35am
- KevO'Brien
  
  Have you any other memes du jour? Fraser House has gotten dull.
  
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  March 2, 2020 9:12am
  - Simon
    
    Shave off a little growth every year for the last dozen years ago, and the cumulative effect is that China is now overstating its true GDP by nearly 20 percent.
    
    China’s economy isn’t what it used to be (at least as recently as last week). Four intrepid economists—Wei Chen, Xilu Chen and Michael Song of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, along with Chang-Tai Hsieh of the University of Chicago—have taken a fine-toothed comb to Chinese economic data to try to tease out China’s true rate of economic growth since 2008. Not surprisingly, they found that China has been over-reporting its growth rate by an average of 1.7 percentage points every year.
    
    https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/surprise-chinas-economy-smaller-you-think-127042
    
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    March 2, 2020 9:19am
    - UrbanNeocolonialist
      
      Yep, they lie about everything. But not corona virus infections, honest – which is why they are fine with Chinese citizens telling the world what is going on internally and not arresting them and forcing public retractions, or just disappearing them. /sarc.
      
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      March 2, 2020 10:39am
  - kowtow
    
    He’s right though and surely we must learn lessons from this .
    We are far too dependant on an aggressively expansionist , oppressive regime .
    
    Our universities for example , so keen to exclude those they don’t agree with, are economically dependant on overseas students , to the ‘degree’ (get it) they are prepared risking infecting the whole country with Wuflu , just to balance their books .
    
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    March 2, 2020 9:23am
- kowtow
  
  Al Jazeera doco on at the mo. Dataland.
  
  China has up to 10 million youngsters coming into the labour market every year.
  
  They must find jobs for them. Without that there’ll be chaos there and the Chicoms will do anything and everything to stay in power.
  
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  March 2, 2020 9:15am
  - UrbanNeocolonialist
    
    China has been lying about its birth rates for decades, overstating it by up to 50%. Fewer births per year now than any time since 18th century!!:
    
    https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3047798/how-chinese-officials-inflated-nations-birth-rate-and-population
    
    Add the huge male-female selective abortion imbalance and they are in dire shape demographically. Population likely already falling, half as many 5 year olds as 50 years olds
    
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    March 2, 2020 10:34am
- Tall Man
  
  I have asked you before but you are obviously obsessed but lacking detail.
  
  Please explain how a political party like National with $5 million in the coffers can be bought for a few hundred thousands.
  
  Please also detail any policy by any government that could be said to “reflect” influence or money from China.
  
  Now we can all see donations from the fishing and horse racing (or should that be whores racing) leading to extra special efforts from “what’s in it for wynston” but either put up or shut up.
  
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  March 2, 2020 10:01am
  - Libertarians are right
    
    National aren’t very susceptible to corruption from donations because they don’t need to offer a quid pro quo for donations (unlike Labour etc). Simply not being Labour and not associating with the Greens is enough for some people to give them money.
    A simple example: Farmers are rightly scared of the Greens, therefore it’s in their best interest to vote for and donate to National.
    
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    March 2, 2020 10:57am
    - Tall Man
      
      I called him a sad wee fellow last week and the mod deleted it.
      
      He does need help though.
      
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      March 2, 2020 2:41pm
Jack5

Subeditors at the Hooerald – if they still have subeditors in news media – are Awoke when it comes to grammar.

Here’s an extract from a report online today:

A New Zealand citizen in their 60s who flew into the country from Iran, via Bali, last Wednesday is in hospital with a confirmed case of the respiratory virus …

The Awoke are pressing for the use of non-gender pronouns – the plural “their” to be used in the singular instead of “her” or “his”.

If the scribbler doesn’t know the gender of the person, the formal, stilted way would be to say “his or her” or “her of his”. The readable way would be to rewrite the sentence: “A 60-year-old New Zealand citizen who ….”

More than two years ago the news agency Associated Press adopted “their” as a singular pronoun because of the gender issue.

There have been worse suggestions in what activists call “queering the language”. Another move is to replace the honorifics “Mrs, Mr, Miss, Ms” with “Mx”.

To be fair, “they” as a singular pronoun has been used at times for centuries. But until the Woke championed it, this use hasn’t been anywhere near common.

I prefer this approach both when gender is unknown and when the writer is Woken. I lifted it from an NPR internet article:

“The Chicago Manual of Style provides nine different strategies for achieving gender-neutrality without having to resort to using “they” — change the subject to a plural, repeat the noun and so on.
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March 2, 2020 8:39am
- Jules99
  
  Even the Guardian said it was a woman. It could be important information, but all it tells you is that our media is populated by SJW brainwashed morons, so not a good source of news.
  
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  March 2, 2020 9:10am
- Misha Beattie
  
  I now get emails that contain a note on the signature block. It advises the recipient of the pronoun that the sender wishes to have others use. eg
  
  Fred Bloggs, Manager. Pronoun “his/him”
  
  The first time it happened I was dumbfounded
  
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  March 2, 2020 9:13am
- SGA
  
  If the scribbler doesn’t know the gender of the person, the formal, stilted way would be to say “his or her” or “her of his”.
  
  For some reason I don’t understand, the authorities seemed to be trying to deliberately obscure the sex of the person initially.
  
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  March 2, 2020 9:16am
- SB 2
  
  Jack5, did you faint on reading Saturday’s morning Hooreld and displaying fake Covid 19 symptons?
  
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  March 2, 2020 9:19am
  - Tall Man
    
    Ooh, steffy back with a new pseudonym?
    
    FFS steffy, why can’t you remember your login details …… eg: goat1.
    
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    March 2, 2020 10:03am
    - Two fish and a scoop thanks Cindy
      
      [Mod: deleted as entirely designed to aggravate.]
      
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      March 2, 2020 12:27pm
      - Tall Man
        
        Obviously worked, it aggravated you 😉
        
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        March 2, 2020 2:42pm
  - pentwig
    
    sb2
    Thank goodness you are back steffie.
    I was getting bored giving approval ticks.
    
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    March 2, 2020 10:45am
  - Jack5
    
    SB2: you can take a Stephie out of Stephiestan, but you can’t take Stephiestan out of a Stephie.
    
    “SB2” – so you didn’t realise this also stand for “silly bugger No. 2”.
    
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    March 2, 2020 11:41am
- Clyde
  
  A number of people interviewed on TV referred specifically to the patient as “she”, but I’ve also noticed the use by MSM and pollies as being non-gender specific. Why for goodness sake? Like the media now doesn’t report that a person wanted for a crime is a maori or polynesian. PC gone mad.
  
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  March 2, 2020 9:25am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    I wonder why the NZ MSM is going to such extremes to hide the sex of the patient.
    
    Surely it is in the interests of the the folks travelling on the Emirates flight into NZ and cueing at customs and female toilets to know that the person with coronavirus is a woman.
    
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    March 2, 2020 10:42am
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      Oh Grief…
      now she has transitioned…
      
      The government announced on Friday travel restrictions would be extended to Iran, after a man who’d travelled through there was diagnosed with the virus in Auckland.
      
      https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/410743/coronavirus-government-to-consider-advice-for-covid-19-hotspots
      
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      March 2, 2020 11:25am
      - SB 2
        
        Happy now that the victims gender appears to be established?
        
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        March 2, 2020 11:35am
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        The victim’s gender hadn’t been established.
        Can’t you see that is the whole point of this thread?
        
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        March 2, 2020 2:34pm
    - SB 2
      
      MW, spurious. Why does the patient’s gender identity really? matter.
      
      I’m confident that Emirates and other airlines follow basic infection control and hygiene procedures when cleaning toilets for both genders.
      
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      March 2, 2020 11:32am
      - Jack5
        
        The Stephieboy Syndicate’s rostered on nuisance today (as SB2) seems to be an authority on the hygiene of Emirates airline toilets.
        
        Are all plumbers from ?Stephiestan? graduate sanitary engineers, SB2?
        
        Are you giving away what the Stephies are doing at Auckland malls? Checking toilet standards?
        
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        March 2, 2020 12:27pm
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        It matters when you arrive in NZ and stand for a period of time next to an infected person as you wait to go through customs/wait for the toilet/wait for your bags.
        
        You could be in the company/surrounds of the infected person for anything up to 2 hours.
        
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        March 2, 2020 2:32pm
curry4me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ou26PM6y904

Nationalist Populist Janez Jansa Becomes New Prime Minister of Slovenia. Hopefully there will be more of these victories in Europe this year.
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March 2, 2020 8:39am
curry4me

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/02/26/administration-insiders-pentagon-house-cleaning-of-never-trumpers-looms/ President Trump is playing drainage contractor. Sometimes you have to drain the swamp one alligator at a time. The alligators don’t like it.
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March 2, 2020 8:39am
Poppa

Over the weekend Mrs P was talking with a couple we know & he said that the govt should take money from the rich & give it to the poor. These people really do exist among us!!

He is lucky I wasn’t there or we could have had a very interesting conversation
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March 2, 2020 8:45am
- Jules99
  
  They do already – more tax is paid by the rich than anyone else, and it is given to beneficiaries.
  
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  March 2, 2020 9:11am
- Nickc2
  
  Hey Poppa, it’s the Labour way ya know.
  
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  March 2, 2020 9:12am
- Ruahine
  
  I agree with what that couple said to Mrs P. Why should the rich people only be giving money to Winston Peters especially when he already gets Superannuation and so does his partner.
  
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  March 2, 2020 9:17am
  - Tall Man
    
    Only some, just those that have “special needs”……
    
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    March 2, 2020 10:06am
  - Nickc2
    
    I think for superannuation purposes, they are treated as an ‘item’, whereby they are paid the same as a married couple.
    
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    March 2, 2020 12:55pm
GazzaW

It seems as though our media are being less than clear about worldwide coronavirus stats. The latest figures show 88,000+ cases of the virus but it took Hosking an age to get Ashley Bloomfield to admit to that figure including 42,000+ full recoveries. Why are we being told half-truths?
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March 2, 2020 8:56am
- greybeard
  
  I generally like Hosking and his views, but in regard to this coronavirus business he seems to be determined to downplay it for some reason.
  As it is a new virus and no vaccine exists there may be a chance that in those 46,000 who have been ‘cured’ it will resurface in the future.
  
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  March 2, 2020 11:07am
  - Classic Liberal
    
    “determined to downplay it for some reason.”
    
    Hosking generally sees the glass as half full. He’s a nice relaxed optimist, which is why I switch over to him when I need a break from RNZ doom and gloom merchants.
    
    But of course both the doom and gloomers and the happy chap need to be understood with a grain of salt.
    
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    March 2, 2020 1:01pm
- Jules99
  
  People seem to be testing positive following ‘recovery’ so it’s not clear. If that pans out, then there is no chance of a vaccine any time soon.
  
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  March 2, 2020 11:55am
Yvette

NZ First MP Shane Jones has been condemned by many for saying –
“If you want another million, 2 million, 3 million people, we should debate it and there should be a mandate, rather than opening up the options, unfettered, and everyone comes here from New Delhi,” Jones told Newshub Nation on Saturday, arguing that New Zealand needs some kind of maximum population policy. “I think the number of students that have come from India have ruined many of those institutions.”
President of Migrant Workers Association, Anu Kaloti, says Jones’ comments are “totally unacceptable”.

When is Andrew Little going to drop his “hate speech” law, so we are properly guided as to whether Shane Jones should be allowed to say what he has?
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March 2, 2020 8:59am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Looks like Aussie’s Treasurer is in trouble for mocking some Hindus.
  
  https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/mar/01/josh-frydenberg-urged-to-do-the-right-thing-after-offensive-hindu-comments
  
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  March 2, 2020 10:47am
- Alex13
  
  It’s not just the population increase that is of an issue, it’s also what kind of “culture” (corruption, for example) is being imported.
  
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  March 2, 2020 11:54am
Tauhei Notts

Yesterday’s Sunday drive took me from Cambridge to Matamata.
I was astounded at the traffic jam on Highway 29 approaching the Piarere intersection with Highway 1. The cars were stacked up for 1.3 km!
But it seems that if an intersection needs urgent change, and that intersection is between the Bombay hills and the Waikanae River, it does not count with N Z Transport Agency boffins.
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March 2, 2020 9:02am
- fightingtemeraire
  
  Louise Upston the local MP has been trying for years to get this improved. I drove from Hamilton to Putaruru yesterday and saw that jam The head of the queue was a tanker and trailer waiting for a gap in the SH 1 traffic to exit safely.
  
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  March 2, 2020 9:57am
Harriet

“….Australian Hindus are demanding an apology from Treasurer Josh Frydenberg for his “demeaning” references to the Indian religion during an attack on Labor.
In an attempt to goad Labor’s treasury spokesman Jim Chalmers during Question Time on Thursday, Mr Frydenberg made repeated clichéd references to Hinduism and other Indian religions while criticising the Opposition’s idea of potentially pursuing a New Zealand-style “wellbeing budget”.
“[Labor] are inspired by their spiritual leader, the member for Rankin [Jim Chalmers],” Mr Frydenberg said while making hand gestures used during meditation.
“I was thinking yesterday, as the member for Rankin, [came] into the chamber fresh from his Ashram deep in the mountains of the Himalayas … barefoot into the chamber, robes flowing, incense burning, beads in one hand, wellbeing budget in the other, I thought to myself: ‘[what] yoga position the member for Rankin would assume … to deliver the first wellbeing budget?’”
The treasurer went on to name a series of yoga poses…”

All over Cindy’s well being budget. 😎
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March 2, 2020 9:07am
- Nickc2
  
  I believe the Hindu Council of Australia are being rather precious here. Go with the flow and have a laugh FFS.
  
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  March 2, 2020 1:10pm
SB 2

Some useful information to educate yourself about Covid 19 from one who knows ( not the fear mongering NZ Herald on the same day)

Virologist Dr Chris Smith on Kim Hill last Saturday morning,

“..Coronavirus can last for a couple of days on surfaces.
While hand sanitisers will kill the virus, “you can’t beat soap and water”, Smith said.

“In studies where people have looked at the recovery of various bacteria and viruses from people’s skin, soap and water outperformed all the hand sanitisers.”

Face masks from hardware stores were a “terrible con” that offered little protection from viruses, whereas properly fitted face masks worn with eye protection could help, he said.

There was little evidence to suggest vitamin C would be effective to help prevent the disease, Smith said.
Age and co-existing health conditions – such as chronic lung, heart, or renal disease and diabetes – were the main risk factors, and little could be done about them, he said.
Air conditioning on planes was unlikely to be a vector spreading the virus, so only passengers sitting near an infected person were at risk

However, airports generally were high risk areas, with passengers in close contact and touching the same surfaces, he said….”

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/410721/coronavirus-numbers-could-be-the-tip-of-the-iceberg-says-uk-expert
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March 2, 2020 9:12am
- G152
  
  In an airliner the cabin air gets changed around 15-30 times an hour.
  All those nice little viruses get swept a meter or so each air change.
  
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  March 2, 2020 9:42am
  - NoCash
    
    Jet airliners typically use 50% bleed air from the engine and 50% recycled filtered air. Bleed air is 100% bacteria and virus free, recycled air is through HEPA filters that should trap more than 99% of bacteria and clustered viruses according to Wikipedia.
    
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    March 2, 2020 11:18am
    - Pharmachick
      
      Thanks NoCash – very nice to see a non-extremist argument around Covid-19 and one based on facts (not B/S).
      
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      March 2, 2020 4:22pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  So now you get it, stephieboy.
  The numbers could be the tip of the iceberg.
  
  But one month ago you were all over this blog writing nonsense like this:
  But he said that was highly infectious, which this virus didn’t appear to be, so people with plane tickets to China shouldn’t be too worried.
  
  https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2020/01/general_debate_22_january_2020.html#comment-2627870
  
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  March 2, 2020 10:59am
  - SB 2
    
    MW, no I don'”t get it “!
    
    Note ,” could be ”
    
    Highly speculative. Recalls the Harvard medical specialist inflammatory ” thermonuclear “rhetoric.
    
    This item might help to provide context with facts,
    
    https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2020/01/china-coronavirus-twitter/605644/
    
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    March 2, 2020 11:38am
  - Classic Liberal
    
    OK, so if ‘stephieboy’ was banned and has just clearly admitted that SB2 is the same person, why is he/she/it still here?
    
    [Mod: They had a week ban about ten days ago.]
    
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    March 2, 2020 1:07pm
    - Engelbert Humperdink
      
      So what you’re saying, Mod, is that SB2 is near the end of Xe’s incubation period 🙂
      
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      March 2, 2020 3:32pm
    - rightoverlabour
      
      Not that I want to be pedantic, but I found this in the About section of the blog
      
      “If you try to get around a suspension, by setting up a second account, then that may result in a permanent ban. Writing styles tend to be quite distinctive, and it is often easy to spot if someone has set up a second account.”
      
      I know its not my blog and I don’t make the rules….
      
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      March 2, 2020 6:31pm
Maggie Pie

A follower tweets from the ‘Hobsonville Point Supermarket’. 😀

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ER_e3fcU8AAwrGz?format=jpg&name=900×900

WASH YOUR HANDS!
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March 2, 2020 9:13am
- Tall Man
  
  Yeah not sure that’s corona virus related Maggie, I think it’s ardern coming back home that’s giving people the shits.
  
  Nice to see you back.
  
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  March 2, 2020 10:11am
  - sooty
    
    Has she turned up at work yet?
    
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    March 2, 2020 12:58pm
    - Tall Man
      
      Would we notice?
      
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      March 2, 2020 2:44pm
Ruahine

Where is Winston. Get this sorted.

https://www.interest.co.nz/property/103821/work-and-student-visa-approvals-10-year-high-residence-visa-approvals-10-year-low
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March 2, 2020 9:21am
- Tall Man
  
  I think we got to his 10,000 “limit” around mid January … each year.
  
  Now, if you could make a small foundation donation we’ll see what we can do … no promises though because that would be illegal ……. if caught 😉
  
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  March 2, 2020 10:12am
MCos

South Korea has reported a very high incidence of Covid-19. They also have a free healthcare system
Italy is the same.
Other Asian countries are completely the opposite.

I’m not sure what happens in America if you want a test. Do you have to fork out the reported $NZ500 yourself? Do you let it slide and risk infected more people? If you go to hospital does insurance pay?
https://qz.com/1810763/the-first-covid-19-death-in-the-us-has-been-reported-near-seattle/

Here it’s not an issue.
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March 2, 2020 9:22am
- MCos
  
  In Thailand if you display symptoms, testing and hospitalization is free.
  
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  March 2, 2020 9:28am
- UrbanNeocolonialist
  
  Likely to be the kick the US needs to change to universal public healthcare – during the post mortem (too late for the millions extra who are going to die as a result of restricted access to medical care boosting rate of virus spread)
  
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  March 2, 2020 10:25am
Ruahine

On a very serious note. So it is not all hugs and kisses after all.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/410738/every-day-i-was-beaten-maori-women-three-times-more-likely-to-be-killed-by-partner
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March 2, 2020 9:26am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  But nowhere in that item does it address the Elephant in the room:
  
  why some men are so free with their fists, their boots, and their abuse.
  
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  March 2, 2020 11:05am
  - Gravelroad
    
    It’s the law of the jungle, Maggy.
    At home, me big boss of the animal tribe. Any lower-down member of the tribe (missus, kids) who diss’s me gets the bash.
    She made me do it.
    I have to be the big man somewhere.
    
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    March 2, 2020 11:58am
  - Tall Man
    
    Not enough huggz?
    
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    March 2, 2020 12:05pm
  - Classic Liberal
    
    Come on, Maggy, you know why: ‘colonialism’…
    
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    March 2, 2020 1:10pm
- Classic Liberal
  
  And I find this statement a huge insult to people who ask because they care and want to know how leaving can be made easier:
  
  “It is a very complex place to be in and until you experience it, it is actually unhelpful to be asked and to hear those statements – ‘why don’t you leave’.”
  
  So people shouldn’t ask what it would take to get away, what the problems to leaving are? Well how can anyone help then?
  
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  March 2, 2020 1:12pm
  - GoVege
    
    Classic Liberal: leaving is not the answer because these brutes will just find another woman to abuse and use for a punchbag.
    Males have to be taught from an early age that violence, especially against women, is not acceptable.
    In reality, they are being taught that it is, by watching their fathers/stepfathers beat their mothers in the home.
    This mostly goes on in Maori and other sexist cultures, where women are regarded as there to serve men.
    This is rarely challenged.
    When do you ever hear about a hui being held on the shocking rate of violence against women and children?
    The only other way to keep women safe, as Stephen Pinker says, is for the woman to live as close as possible to her own family.
    Even this doesnt necessarily work for Maori women as their own families can abuse them too.
    
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    March 2, 2020 2:29pm
Happychappy

Jacinda Ardern lies again this time on Conservation.
‘ Rome continues to burn ‘: Fourteen new mines being built on Conservation Land. In the past two years more applications have been approved on Conservation Land than two years before the 2017 announcement ther would be no more new mines on Conservation Land.
Twenty one mining applications have been approved on Conservation Land since Jacinda Arderns speech promising there would be no more.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/119931204/rome-continues-to-burn-fourteen-new-mines-being-built-on-conservation-land
This again is a blatant lie to help enhance her popularity with the youth of NZ and she should be taken to task on it as it is happening to frequently but no this will disappear from media outlets because the haven’t got the balls to print she consistently bends the truth.
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March 2, 2020 9:27am
Clyde

I hear on Moaning Report as the second most important news item that maori women are 3 times more likely to be bashed by their partners than non-maori women and that the only way that this can be resolved is that maori take over the state entities that have to deal with this. BOLLOCKS

The only way to stop these maori men bashing their maori wives is for them to learn that this bullying behaviour will be met by a lot more serious consequences for them. Having them appear before a maori meeting to have their wrists gently caressed by a wet bus ticket will change nothing. Bullying tends to stop when the bully gets a lot more of what they were dishing out.
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March 2, 2020 9:31am
- Ruahine
  
  If you are the Gov’t and you have people like this as a Minister what exactly is the message. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12132379
  
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  March 2, 2020 9:48am
- Libertarians are right
  
  They say it’s hard for the women to leave their partners after long relationships (and that half of intimate partner murders happen after), but there needs to be zero tolerance of abuse. It is much easier to leave after the 1st assault than the 100th. These women need to learn that they’re worth more than having to put up with “getting the bash” from potential partners and, most importantly, need the community support to leave these monsters. This isn’t something for bureaucrats to do (maori or “colonialist). It’s a culture change that’s needed (not talking about Maori culture in particular but a general culture of not putting up with violent people).
  
  Also – what percentage of these assaults are from gang related partners? Is gang culture a big part of the problem?
  
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  March 2, 2020 11:06am
  - Tall Man
    
    Gangs a problem?
    
    What planet are you on? They are model citizens saving young people from a life of crime and abuse by providing a wonderful outlet for pent up aggression and to make up for the fact that they are too fucking lazy to go to school and emerge ignorant and violent from a broken education system infested with woke “never weres” who think a cuddle for the losers and more money for them plus a bit of food will make everything better …. “Press release from pr girl of the drug dealing Waikato mob”…. Oops 😉
    
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    March 2, 2020 12:04pm
  - mark15
    
    https://www.liveleak.com/view?t=a7WTt_1583039520
    
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    March 2, 2020 12:13pm
  - MCos
    
    “These women need to learn . . . . . “
    Got all the answers, have you?
    
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    March 2, 2020 2:02pm
    - Libertarians are right
      
      MCos – did you read the rest of that sentence or did those 5 words trigger you? Once you get back from your safe space read the rest of my statement.
      NO ONE deserves to be beaten or mistreated in any way by their partner. Everyone is worth more than that. I just don’t understand how you could take issue with that?
      
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      March 2, 2020 2:55pm
  - GoVege
    
    Its just not that straightforward, Libertarians are right.
    Most abusive males dont show their true colours until they have a ring on the woman’s finger and a baby on the way.
    Once a woman has made a huge emotional investment, it’s very hard to throw in the towel.
    Many people live in denial.
    They can’t understand why their partner is being such a jerk….surely he has to stop it sometime.
    As someone said, the “urge to power” is very strong in many people, especially males, and if combined with their culture reinforcing it, is virtually impossible to overcome.
    Thats why family violence has to be challenged on multiple fronts.
    Maori leaders need to step up and call it out, instead of staying silent.
    Families need to hold family meetings to discipline the bullies.
    And the police of course need to jail these bullies.
    But best of all is to start by teaching the kids violence is not ok.
    
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    March 2, 2020 3:06pm
    - Libertarians are right
      
      I totally agree and as I said, the most important part is that these women realise that they’re worth more than that. There are usually signs of abuse before the violence though and there needs to be zero tolerance of that. As you say, the longer they stay, the harder it becomes.
      
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      March 2, 2020 3:30pm
    - Pharmachick
      
      This. So much this.
      
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      March 2, 2020 4:23pm
- MrLovebucket
  
  Funny that the woke left don’t claim police (and the justice system) is systematically sexist due to the much higher proportion of men in court and prison compared with women. Whereas for some reason, they can’t see why certain ~~genders~~ races seem happier to break the law.
  
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  March 2, 2020 11:26am
oldpark

Check out Kiwibank ACC ,IRD. Noticed they have Chequed out . Go figure that one .
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March 2, 2020 9:50am
- kowtow
  
  This under a left wing gubmint that gobs on incessantly about “inclusiveness”.
  
  They’re “othering” all us oldies etc who like cheques and cash .
  
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  March 2, 2020 12:09pm
Swifty

For those who missed it yesterday – Indians need to up their game when it comes to swearing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi5YhZ0oAiw

Aussies of course have no need to practice – they are masters already:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uV-I0S28ogc

🙂 🙂

NSFW if swearing is a no no.
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March 2, 2020 10:28am
kevn

Letters from children… a highlight of the job for JA.
That’s lovely, tell the world.
Now about NZ and the plethora of issues… umm ahh
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March 2, 2020 10:30am
- RW Capitalist
  
  At least the education industry appears to be doing it’s part on behalf of the SLG and the Labour party.
  Writing propaganda material dictated by the teachers.
  
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  March 2, 2020 11:53am
- sooty
  
  She does like a letter written in crayon, along with a pretty picture, so she knows what the story is about!
  
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  March 2, 2020 1:03pm
RW Capitalist

So Phillis Goof and Lianne Dalziel are to be investigated by the SFO, both ex MP’s of the Labour party….coincidence…..??????
Any others?
How about past behaviour, while they were MP’s?
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March 2, 2020 10:37am
- MrLovebucket
  
  Send them both to jail.
  
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  March 2, 2020 11:26am
RW Capitalist

A different subject.
They plan to stop Kiwisaver investment in the oil industry.
but some idiot economist is out there saying it will IMPROVE returns.
WHAT???
Limiting the scope of a portfolio, or potential scope, will “INCREASE” it’s viability?? On what planet??
and
which virtue signalling interference will the do, to limit the next investment?
Farming?
Dairy?
afterall they seem to ate these industries too.
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March 2, 2020 10:41am
- rangitoto
  
  I’ve given up on oil industry investments. I find far East sweat shops and middle East slave trade to be far more lucrative what!
  
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  March 2, 2020 12:36pm
- alex Masterley
  
  It is an odd policy direction.
  How do you define investment in fossil fuels.
  Do you sell shareholdings in banks becasue they lend to mining companies?
  What do you do about good performers such as Z Energy?
  
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  March 2, 2020 12:59pm
- Inandout
  
  RW, this is what they don’t invest in.
  https://booster.co.nz/ethical-investing.aspx?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI8o6Q2Lv65wIVBKqWCh0muQRwEAAYASAAEgLWN_D_BwE
  
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  March 2, 2020 1:07pm
Biscuit

Not picking on either side of the Left/Right divide but…

Has there ever been ANY New Zealand public official who, upon learning that he/she was facing investigation by the Police or the Serious Fraud Office, promptly issued a statement along the lines of:

‘I have just been informed I am facing investigation by the (Police or Serious Fraud Office).

I am unaware as to the focus of the investigation but, being a noble person, I will immediately step down from my position and await developments.

I will issue no further statements until such time as, hopefully, I am exonerated.’
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March 2, 2020 10:49am
- RW Capitalist
  
  I am unaware as to the focus of the investigation but, being a noble person, I will immediately step down from my position and await developments.
  to rewrite
  I am unaware as to the focus of the investigation but, being a noble person, I will immediately step out of my current trough (well at least 2 feet) and await developments.
  
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  March 2, 2020 11:55am
- fernglas
  
  A far as I know, no noble person has ever been investigated by the SFO.
  
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  March 2, 2020 12:35pm
Jack5

Anyone able to get any detail of the new plan for Maori prisoners out of the interview on Red Radio this morning?

Kathryn Ryan was talking to Topia Rameka, the Department of Corrections fairly new deputy chief executive – Maori.

Rameka’s come out of tribal administration fairly recently.

He had plenty to say about “strategies” but virtually no detail beyond: “it’s all about whanau”.

You have to wish the Corrections Department well in its goal, but details of the “holistic” strategy to reduce Maori in prison would be interesting.

The interview:

https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018736532/holistic-strategy-to-reduce-the-maori-prison-population
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March 2, 2020 12:16pm
- cmm
  
  All they said in the 12:30 round up was that there was a corrections goal to reduce Maori to 15% of the prison muster.
  
  It is unclear how corrections can achieve that due to the following:
  1) Corrections do not determine to put people in the slammer, or sentencing. That is the judiciary.
  2) All they can control are special programmes etc to help get Maori to integrate better and reduce Maori recidivism. ie. Racist policies that deny the same services to non-Maori.
  3) Achieving 15%, even in 20 years, is a hell of an ask considering that Maori criminality has become a multi-generational problem with Maori offending at 3x or more than the general population – making up 50% of the prison muster.
  
  No doubt the special programmes will be funded by the taxpayer and provided by Maori NGOs.
  
  This is doomed to fail I think. There is no clear indication that any Maori programmes have achieved stellar outcomes.
  
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  March 2, 2020 2:45pm
fightingtemeraire

Oh dear another shooting in Auckland in Mt Roskill

Isnt that near where Jacinda lives???
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March 2, 2020 2:23pm
- Inandout
  
  fighting, the royal palace is in Sandringham and supposedly guarded 24/7.
  
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  March 2, 2020 2:52pm
NoCash

If covid-19 topples the Iran theocractic government, and the Trump administration, would it get nominated for the Peace Prize? Or on the cover of the Time magazine as “virus” of the year?
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March 2, 2020 2:45pm
- Batman
  
  Well, I mean, it is usually person of the year right?
  
  I suppose it could qualify if you want to be that liberal with self-ID? ?
  
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  March 2, 2020 2:49pm
Tall Man

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12313130

And it begins. I don’t know what the poster says but I doubt it is what they are trying to label it as.
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March 2, 2020 2:46pm
- Libertarians are right
  
  I’m also pretty sure that the European Club didn’t hand anything out that was remotely racist either. In fact, I don’t even think they were even accused of doing that (until now).
  
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  March 2, 2020 3:24pm
- Classic Liberal
  
  I’d like to judge for myself, Herald. But no, you just label things as you please, no evidence, no discussion, no opportunity for people to form their own opinion.
  
  You say ‘racist’ and ‘neo-Nazi’. They may well be, but *prove it*.
  
  And then prove that the flyers and stickers really come from racists/neo-Nazis and haven’t been put up by authoritarians who are trying to create tension and fear, with the aim of getting ‘hate speech’ laws pushed through.
  
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  March 2, 2020 4:21pm
Wired-one

Pete Buttigieg has ended his political campaign for president. Does anyone know what happens to the remainder of the money he has raised?
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March 2, 2020 2:47pm
- Batman
  
  Might be wrong but I think the custom is to pass it on to the eventual nominee or the party for campaigning.
  
  Things like Senate and House races you can obviously keep for future use though, as Warren did by donating to her presidential bid from her Senate race fund.
  
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  March 2, 2020 2:59pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Mayor Pete’s husband says it is not normal for him to pull out early. In the end it was just too hard and he couldn’t take it any more…..
  
  15 2
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  March 2, 2020 3:11pm
  - Batman
    
    Would you make that joke about anyone else who drops out of the race, or is it only funny to you to make it about a gay couple?
    
    Talk about immature and pathetic.
    
    2 19
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    March 2, 2020 3:47pm
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      Waiting for smoke signals from Pocahontas, Batman
      
      9 1
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      March 2, 2020 3:58pm
    - UrbanNeocolonialist
      
      Tedious concern troll is tedious. Signal your prissy virtue to an audience that cares – or become a parking warden if you have an overwhelming need to impose your preferences on others.
      
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      March 2, 2020 4:18pm
    - ISeeRed
      
      You sound Butt(igieg)hurt.
      
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      March 3, 2020 12:24am
Surely Knott

Good free speech article in Quillette about cancel culture and the narrowing of public discourse in Auckland. “You might expect a row between a moral philosopher and a casino company to involve the former lecturing the latter on the ethics of profiting from gambling. But it is Peter Singer, sometimes called “the world’s most influential living philosopher,” who finds himself rebuked by SkyCity, New Zealand’s biggest promoter of poker machines.” “Unfortunately, in both the real and the virtual worlds, “You have a right to speak and I have a right to disagree” has been superseded by “Your opinions are unacceptable and you must be shunned.” https://quillette.com/2020/02/24/peter-singer-and-the-narrowing-of-discourse/
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March 2, 2020 3:00pm
- fernglas
  
  You have a right to speak, but not at my place.
  
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  March 2, 2020 4:31pm
Piniwi

Stuff Headline – Coronavirus: New Zealand exports to China contract as scale of virus hit emerges
Exports to China have plummeted according to Statistics NZ.
Exports over the period between 27 January and 23 February fell to $1.1 billion as a result of weakened demand brought on by coronavirus.

Luckily it has been saved from a bigger reduction by some increases in commodity prices as well perhaps the sliding Kiwi dollar value. Watch this space.
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March 2, 2020 3:34pm
Piniwi

Funny but quickly followed by TV1 counter headline – New Zealand’s meat export prices hit record high before coronavirus outbreak.

That was then but the NOW and NEAR future is of more significance. Lol
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March 2, 2020 3:45pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  I’ve heard that there’s not much spare capacity in the Cold stores at the moment.
  
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  March 2, 2020 5:00pm
  - sooty
    
    Be leaving them on the trees and ground soon!
    
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    March 2, 2020 6:15pm
Batman

It’s been buried on the Fox News website of course but their own polls have bad news for Trump, which of course he has already tweeted about.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fox-news-poll-results-february-23-26-2020

Question 44 onwards has Trump losing to every single remaining Dem candidate. Ouch.
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March 2, 2020 3:49pm
- MrTips
  
  Yeh I agree. Question 56 only has 56% of all voters thinking he’ll be re-elected, majorities for both men and woman; even 30% of Democrats and 47% of moderates think he will. 50% also agree with his impeachment acquittal and he’ll never run against Buttigieg, or Warren, or Bloomberg.
  
  The whole thing is counter-productive. No-one knows whats going to happen.
  
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  March 2, 2020 4:15pm
- Inandout
  
  Batman, the 2016 polls had Hillary romping home. One thousand people do not an election make.
  
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  March 2, 2020 6:46pm
NoCash

Just been told about a report from Taiwan that the coronavirus in China is of a single variant of a later generation of the family, but there are 5 variants of the virus identified in the US including earlier generations. It’s suggested that the origin of the virus might not be in China.
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March 2, 2020 4:20pm
Wired-one

https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/119946985/coronavirus-pm-jacinda-ardern-gives-update-on-nzs-response-to-the-virus

God this government is pathetic. Take strong action now you twats. Too scared to offend, which is going to cost dozens of kiwis their lives. “Self isolation” is the best you’ve got? Wake up Ardern you incompetent fool!
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March 2, 2020 5:17pm
- Inandout
  
  Wired, self interest doesn’t appear to matter in this instance because as far as I can ascertain, Jacinda is human and virus affected. Now I could be wrong.
  
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  March 2, 2020 6:49pm
greybeard

I think that the Indian Cricket team makes more money out of manipulating game results than they do out of their salaries.
It is becoming embarrassingly transparent.
What a crock.
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March 2, 2020 6:16pm
- NoCash
  
  Surely not, the Indian players are rich. I’m sure they value pride over money, which they have plenty already.
  
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  March 2, 2020 6:26pm
- BlairM
  
  Oh get f*cked. NZ won fair and square. The Indians are the highest paid of any cricketers in the world. They don’t need dirty money. Kohli’s entire earning ability is predicated on him making big scores.
  
  You cynical arsehole. Why can’t you just enjoy success
  
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  March 3, 2020 1:58am
Fletch

An article in The Sun – a cardiovascular doctor reckons that vegan and veggie meals at fast food chains are ‘more likely to give you a heart attack than meat burgers’.

High levels of sugar and salt were also found in many of the meals, plus “toxic oils”.

Dr Malhotra said: “I was surprised to find that the top four burgers most likely to give you a heart attack were all vegan or vegetarian.

“The ones that were least likely to cause heart disease were your regular burgers, such as the Big Mac.

“The vegan diet is becoming more and more popular in Britain as people think they are being healthy, but as this investigation shows, that is not always the case.”

Dr Malhotra said: “The problem with these meals is that they are ultra processed foods that are no better for you than a regular fast-food meal. They may be even worse.

“The Greggs Vegan steak bake is worse for your health than the original Steak Bake, and the meal that contained the most salt was the Burger King Vegan Rebel Whopper.”

Dr Malhotra looked at the the ratio of carbohydrates to protein “and in nearly every case, the vegan ones are worse when it comes to keeping your heart healthy,” he said. “The higher the level of refined carbohydrates, generally, the worse for your health.

“The ones containing higher levels of protein would offset the damage a bit as this would reduce the body’s response to the glucose in them.

“In many cases though, it was the traditional meat burgers that had higher levels of protein so this made them healthier than the vegan alternatives.”

https://www.thesun.co.uk/fabulous/11067486/vegan-veggie-meals-heart-attack-risk/

And yet all these types of meals seem to be being promoted now. It’s like the new fad. Save the planet! Eat vegan instead of meat! Yeh, right… ?
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March 2, 2020 6:36pm
rightoverlabour

Stuff talking shit again

Compare these two quotes from the same article:

“The eight members of the Defence Force ventured onto Whakaari/White Island in December, knowing there was a chance they could inhale toxic gases or have their skin burned by acidic sludge.”

“That included working in the multi-layered protective suits with their own isolated breathing apparatus, how to use acid-neutralising pouches they were given for emergency first aid, and how to load the bodies onto the NH90 helicopters.”

I did’t know that hazmat suits issued were of such poor quality that the first case quote could eventuate.

sensationalist shit. as usual.
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March 2, 2020 6:39pm
greybeard

” Indian cricket team throws yet another Test series and players make millions out of Indian betting system”.
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March 2, 2020 6:45pm
Paul Marsden

“It appears we may already have disinformation (or lack of important information), being disseminated by the Government, regading the first reported coronavirus patient.

The Government first referred to the patient as a ‘person’. That later morphed into a person in their.60’s. At no stage has the gender, or the age of the actual patient being publicly announced. Commentators here are now referring to the patient as a male. Interesting, as my information is that the the patient is a 69 year old woman”

Further to my post yesterday (above):

On TV1 Breakfast show this morning, Minister of Health David Clark refers to the patient as a ‘he’. Clark goes on to say that the patient was ‘escorted’ through the arrival process to a car waiting outside the terminal, later driven off presumably to the patients home.

According to Clark, the patient was not ‘escorted’ through the terminal because of their outward symptoms of some illness, but for reasons Clark refused to disclose. Now on TV1 News tonight, a reporter believes that the patient is also a woman.

What is going on with this Government over this issue of gender and the age of the patient?? Why is there so much bobbing, weaving and subterfuge around this matter? For a Government who wants to install confidence in the populace during the embryonic stages of of a potential ‘crises’ in this country , then I suggest that been disingenuous and lying to New Zealanders, is not a good start. Answers please Ms Ardern.
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March 2, 2020 7:06pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  And why all the need to safeguard this patient’s privacy, when one of the next items on TV one was a full-out outing of a schizophrenic, intellectually handicapped NZer being held in Bali for travelling with a year’s supply of medication.
  
  No attempt by TV One to protect his name, image or medical history.
  https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/intellectually-disabled-man-found-thousands-prescription-pills-in-bali-shows-serious-problem-nz-mental-health-system-lawyer?auto=6137524187001
  
  And where were the NZ authorities?
  
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  March 2, 2020 7:35pm
  - Paul Marsden
    
    That story was extremely distressing and bordering on obscene. Some heads need to roll over this. Be it his family members who knew of his plans, or others. I do not know.
    
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    March 2, 2020 7:45pm
    - sooty
      
      5,000 pills on him to tide him over on his trip?
      3,000 dollars, to live, for 9mths?
      Buy a motorhome in Bali, it’s a bloody island?
      Go to Thailand, etc. Gunna drive was he?
      Acts as a 10 yr old?
      Who’s leading him?
      
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      March 2, 2020 9:09pm
rightoverlabour

How is that “Global Warming ” coming on guys….?

https://www.foxnews.com/us/new-york-lake-effect-snow-winds-frozen-naria-lake-erie-hamburg
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March 2, 2020 7:24pm
- Suze Wainwright
  
  Oh, for crying out loud – it’s climate change now!!!
  
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  March 2, 2020 10:08pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Our PM just can’t figure out this Cabinet Manual thingee, can she?

“She’s effectively ‘tut-tuting’ but doing nothing on the basis that this is someone in another party…he is also a senior minister of her’s.

“She, under the Cabinet manual, has responsibilities in relation to him and she should not only be raising these things but reprimanding him,” Bridges said.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/top/410799/pm-jacinda-ardern-publicly-reprimands-shane-jones-over-indian-immigrant-remarks

Perhaps she needs a wee message on her desk:
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41DuRu0g1DL._SX331_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg
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March 2, 2020 8:25pm
Suze Wainwright

Heh, onya Bryce! Let the true, honest and balanced assessments begin…

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12313219
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March 2, 2020 10:09pm

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