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April 3, 2021 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 03 April 2021

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General Debate

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Captain Mainwaring

Black Caps.
The coach seems very happy with the form of some of the newer players, and admits that some decisions will have to be made.
Ross Taylor: Is it time to take him out the back and have a quiet chat about a dignified retirement?
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April 3, 2021 8:00am
- Cinematic
  
  Not yet. Looking like a super star in home conditions against weak opposition won’t eclipse what Taylor brings. But naturally his time is drawing to a close. Another summer or two.
  
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  April 3, 2021 8:33am
- hmmokrightitis
  
  Went to the Basin match last week with my boys, we had a blast – what a great innings from NZ.
  
  Our focus now is getting used to the Duke ball in English conditions and beating India. That said, I think Roscoe will do well IF the top order fires – he doesn’t seem to produce runs when weve lost quick wickets, may be a confidence thing, whereas Steady The Ship does just that more often than not. Part of me also thinks Roscoe deserves this as a final hoorah.
  
  God I wish I could be there to watch that match.
  
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  April 3, 2021 8:39am
- Yogibear
  
  When he retires, his will be one of the better sporting biographies- assuming he can find the right author. The whole shafting over the captaincy won’t paint MacCullum and Hesson in a good light. Also expect he will put the boot in to NZ Cricket.
  
  One of our greatest, and the work he does here in Central Districts, especially encouraging cricket in schools outside of the traditional BHS’s and Collegiate is fantastic.
  
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  April 3, 2021 8:40am
  - Tony Stuart
    
    I have often thought that my first biography would be on the Southern African players in New Zealand cricket, but maybe I should start writing to Ross Taylor offering my services to write a biography that wouldn’t be a cookie-cutter sports biography. There’s a fascinating back-story to tell.
    
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    April 3, 2021 9:48am
  - chukar
    
    Yogi, yes.
    Actually NZC should be very reluctant to wield the axe.
    The Guptill experience springs to mind.
    Taylor does appear not to have been that well treated by NZC in the past.
    His incredible record begs the question why?
    
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    April 3, 2021 9:53am
- mikenmildagain
  
  No.
  
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  April 3, 2021 8:44am
- Brian McDonald
  
  The coach doesn’t seem to think so.
  
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  April 3, 2021 8:52am
  - Captain Mainwaring
    
    It won’t be the coach’s decision. There are other selectors.
    
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    April 3, 2021 9:03am
    - Brian McDonald
      
      Yep.
      
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      April 3, 2021 9:12am
    - mikenmildagain
      
      One other selector.
      
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      April 3, 2021 9:44am
      - Tony Stuart
        
        Correct. Gary Stead and Gavin Larsen are the two selectors, although they are supported by former coach and selector Bob Carter, who acts as a non-voting sounding board.
        
        However when the team is on tour, match day XI’s are selected by the coach and captain.
        
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        April 3, 2021 10:16am
      - mikenmildagain
        
        Bob Carter, I believe, is no longer part of it – concentrating on coaching the women.
        
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        April 3, 2021 10:33am
- amospicton
  
  I think the short term solution for the test team is to ask Conway to open. Suspect they’ll want Taylor’s experience in England for the test championship final. Longer term he takes Taylor’s place at 4.
  
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  April 3, 2021 9:08am
  - mikenmildagain
    
    Bit tough to drop any of the current specialist batsmen.
    
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    April 3, 2021 9:44am
    - Tony Stuart
      
      That was my view earlier in the season mikenmild. However Conway has played so well in both the white-ball formats, he has made an exceptionally strong case for selection. So as I’ve said elsewhere, I think Blundell will be told he’s the sacrificial lamb, until such time as Watling pulls stumps.
      
      And once Taylor retires, Conway to move to #4, creating a vacancy at the top which could easily be filled by youngster Rachin Ravindra, who is another player of immense promise. I can’t recall a time where New Zealand cricket had such depth.
      
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      April 3, 2021 10:22am
  - Tony Stuart
    
    I concur. That’s hard on Blundell, but he will get his chance soon enough to become our wicketkeeper-batsman.
    
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    April 3, 2021 9:49am
- Tony Stuart
  
  Nope. Taylor has always played well in England. My most likely scenario is that Tom Blundell misses out, and that Devon Conway will open the batting with Latham in the two tests against England.
  
  It’s rough on Blundell, but he is a ready-made replacement for when BJ Watling calls time on his career, which could quite possibly be after the WTC final. But Conway is such a class batsman already, that he pretty much demands selection, and I freely admit my position on him has changed since the beginning of the season.
  
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  April 3, 2021 9:45am
artemisia

Wellington local government representatives Fleur Fitzsimons and Daran Ponter exposed by Stuff and the Official Information Act after making stuff up.

Wellington mayor wants investigation into councillor’s ‘inappropriate’ meeting with transport minister

https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/wellington/124690429/wellington-mayor-wants-investigation-into-councillors-inappropriate-meeting-with-transport-minister
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April 3, 2021 8:03am
- Gravelroad
  
  Well that’s the way politics works today.
  If you are in the Labour Party/socialist fold, customary standards of behaviour around ratepayer/voter funded consultations, meetings etc do not apply.
  Has worked very well for this government so far and I don’t see any signs of that changing.
  Transparency? Ummm……..
  
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  April 3, 2021 10:03am
  - 3-coil
    
    You’d think they would’ve been quieter about their meeting though. It’s not a good look for them both to be taking instructions from central govt, rather than the ratepayers of Wellington. It was the odour of dodgy back room shit like that (Green ministers controlling him) which cost Lester the mayoralty last election.
    
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    April 3, 2021 10:40am
- nathie
  
  The article exposes (yet again) the shear arrogance of Fleur Fitzsimons.
  
  Acting totally outside of her areas of responsibilities she doubles-down, growling “I make no apology …” etc, reminds me of another Labour person with dictatorial tendencies – H1!
  
  Backed up by her 3-4 clueless virtue-signalling “storm-troopers”, this mob runs riot – no wonder why WCC is screwed!
  
  (Despite the woahs of Auckland super city and Goff, thankfully at least they are not this dysfunctional)!
  
  Hopefully the public take note of these shenanigans and vote the turkey’s out next year!
  
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  April 3, 2021 11:20am
  - hullkiwi
    
    Sorry, people have been saying that for the past 9 years. Instead the steeple of Wellington will not take note, and those that do, will still vote these muppets in.
    
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    April 3, 2021 3:45pm
  - Steve Todd
    
    Hopefully the public take note of these shenanigans and vote the turkey’s out next year!
    
    Unfortunately, Nathie, that won’t be easy.
    
    Under Wellington’s ward system — four three-seat wards and one two-seat ward — incumbent councillors are very difficult to remove. For example, in 2019, only three sitting members were defeated — Peter Gilberd (Labour) (Takapu-Northern Ward), Brian Dawson (Labour) (Pukehinau-Lambton Ward) and Chris Calvi-Freeman (Independent) (Motukairangi-Eastern Ward).
    
    Why is that so? Because, under STV, successful candidates need 25% of all votes cast (actually, remaining in the election) to be elected in a three-seat ward (100/4), and 33.33% in the two-seat Paekawakawa-Southern Ward (100/3). Realistically, only incumbent councillors have a chance of attaining that many votes. Changes in council membership are more likely as a result of vacancies being created by retirements.
    
    (For the record, Fleur Fitzsimons is unassailable in the Southern Ward. See https://wellington.govt.nz/-/media/your-council/elections/2019/wellington-city-council-2019-elections-final-stv-result-report.pdf?la=en&hash=48291212602D1A7924B267B2E4B31BD064DB3FB9, then scroll down).
    
    To get what you want, two things must happen: (1) councillors must be elected city-wide, meaning that each successful candidate would need only 6.67% of all votes cast, to be elected; and (2), the Right must organise (under a single banner), and put up a team of viable, electable, candidates. Only (2) is possible in 2022, but that would be a good start.
    
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    April 3, 2021 4:30pm
- Ed Snack
  
  I saw that Fitzsimmons claims that the meeting had nothing to do with the letter being issued by Wood.
  
  The correct answer to that is “Pull the other one, it’s got bells on…”
  
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  April 3, 2021 12:39pm
Benedict Yu

Interesting interview with Chris Whitty the UK Chief Medical Officer.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/01/chris-whitty-society-will-have-to-learn-to-live-with-covid-in-similar-way-to-flu

His view is that all nations will need to live with COVID and an elimination goal is not realistic. He says that vaccines will drastically reduce the harm of the virus down to the same level that influenza currentky causes.

In summary, get most of the population vaccinated and then develop good plans for dealing with cases and minimising serious illness and death.

If he is correct, it has serious implications for New Zealand. The government has no other plan than its “elimination strategy”. So what does the government do if it becomes clear that elimination is impossible?
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April 3, 2021 8:06am
- Phronesis
  
  Cindy will never open the border because people will die as a direct result. She can’t handle that basic fact so it will never happen under her watch.
  
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  April 3, 2021 9:58am
  - DeepBlue
    
    It might be the driver that ultimately causes her to leave the watch house.
    
    We will have her agenda confirmed on Tuesday. Which one:
    1. Due to Brisbane and Melbourne resurgence an announcement will be made 1 May, or
    2. We will not be opening borders over winter due to higher risk of seasonal flu, or
    3. Bubble with Australia will start 1 May after the NZ and Australian school holidays, or
    4. Bubble starts today. Party on me.
    
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    April 3, 2021 10:15am
    - Benedict Yu
      
      I predict they will open with tasmania only. And further quarantine free travel will require a vaccine.
      
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      April 3, 2021 11:09am
  - amospicton
    
    I agree Phronesis but that is a real blind spot for the PM. A death from covid is worth less than a death from road accident (given covid generally only kills those with existing morbidities) so, applying the same logic, she should ban cars. The Health budget should be multiples of what it is now using the same argument. But no, she has covid tunnel vision.
    
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    April 3, 2021 11:29am
- kowtow
  
  ‘In summary, get most of the population vaccinated and then develop good plans for dealing with cases and minimising serious illness and death.’
  
  Why not provide the vaccine for those who are in the vulnerable group , if they want it , and let the rest of us get on with life , building up natural immunities etc , rather than this “vaccinate everyone medical experiment” fascism that has become so popular?
  
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  April 3, 2021 10:11am
  - Benedict Yu
    
    “building up natural immunities”
    That is only achieved by catching Covid. Or am I missing something?
    
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    April 3, 2021 11:11am
    - kowtow
      
      Let the young , fit and healthy catch Wuflu and build up their immunities . It’s been shown to do fuck all to ’em. The sick and scared can stay away , get the vaccine if they want and then engage .
      
      Simple , natural , cost effective and efficient .
      
      No need for mass experimentation or annual covid vaxes.
      
      Wuflu then weakens naturally and becomes endemic like the experts say it will anyway and we can all get on with life.
      
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      April 3, 2021 1:36pm
      - Benedict Yu
        
        I checked the data for the UK as at 21 January. There is probably later data but I can’t readily find it.
        
        As at that date, 4,717 people under 60 had died of Covid.
        
        Also more than 20,000 people under 65 have been admitted to hospital.
        
        https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/healthcare?areaType=nhsregion&areaName=North%20West
        
        I agree it is very rare for people under 18 to be seriously ill. Not so for people in their 40s and 50s.
        
        The only way this pandemic will be brought under control is through vaccination. Under control does not equal elimination.
        
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        April 3, 2021 4:01pm
  - Cinematic
    
    Quite. I don’t believe it’s ever been acceptable practice to recommend or undertake procedures that aren’t necessary for a patient.
    
    This notion that everyone should feel an obligation to participate in a mass vaccination trial for a common good is more than a little worrying.
    
    Last week I donated white blood cells for a 5 year old child that had none due to recently completing chemo. It wasn’t risk free to me but I felt on balance it was a worthy investment.
    
    Participating in a mass vaccination program to buy a few extra months for those on the way out, no thanks.
    
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    April 3, 2021 11:55am
    - kowtow
      
      Another aspect that I find mystifying is how govts the world over and their propaganda arms ie the Media Pardy constantly bang on mypically about one thing and one thing alone …….vaccination .
      
      There is no talk of medicines , or lifestyle issues that will have a bearing on how one is affected by the Wuflu ie obesity , and the other self inflicted co morbidities identified as being pertinent .
      
      There’s literature out there by ED doctors who’ve treated Wuflu patients with a cocktail of drugs and been successful.
      
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      April 3, 2021 2:10pm
    - Benedict Yu
      
      You don’t need to be vaccinated. It is totally voluntary. Although you won’t be able to leave New Zealand again.
      
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      April 3, 2021 4:02pm
- tf78
  
  Benedict, imagine if they recorded cases and deaths from ‘the Flu’ like they do Covid – how would they compare do you think, or has the ‘Flu’ now been eradicated. Ha bloody ha, the jokes on us I think.
  
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  April 3, 2021 10:18am
  - Benedict Yu
    
    They do record deaths by influenza.
    
    The deaths and serious illness from COVID are about 10 times that of influenza. But we have a vaccine for influenza.
    
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    April 3, 2021 11:12am
    - andydownhere
      
      The UK had no deaths from influenza for six months last year. Its a miracle! No. All died from covid. Strange that
      
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      April 4, 2021 6:55pm
- Bob
  
  what does the government do if it becomes clear……
  they keep the border closed until the Covid 19 complies with the Comrades edict!!!!
  
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  April 3, 2021 11:41am
- Happy1
  
  The British are quite right and Ardern has already said that that’s where we are heading too. A world that is open to vaccinated travellers. After all those who want the vaccine are done, we open and the virus, when it comes in, will struggle to get a hold. It will become like the flu and will cause little trouble as the vulnerable will have been vaccinated. The elimination strategy was always a temporary measure until the vaccine arrived. It is right and proper that the badly affected countries get it first as vaccination will save many hundreds of thousands of lives. Vaccination here won’t save lives as no one is dying of covid.
  
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  April 3, 2021 11:44am
  - rouppe
    
    It is right and proper that the badly affected countries get it first as vaccination will save many hundreds of thousands of lives.
    
    What a missed climate change mitigation opportunity…
    
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    April 3, 2021 2:26pm
- virtualmark
  
  Well yes, in the same way that we live with tuberculosis.
  
  It’s still here. It’s treatable, but there are resistant strains that will give you a very hard time. But we manage it by vaccinating the vast majority of our population.
  
  Covid isn’t going away. But neither are measles, or mumps, or tuberculosis, or … lots of other historically fatal diseases. But until we have geared up to contain it Covid is still a significant health risk and burden.
  
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  April 3, 2021 1:26pm
Mobile Michael

Supermarkets break Good Friday trading laws in Wanaka. See it as profitable despite staff getting 1.5 times pay and a day in lieu plus likely fine.
https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/wanaka/supermarkets-open-%E2%80%98meet-need%E2%80%99

Reminds me of the late 80s when supermarkets opened on Sundays by simply not selling certain items. For instance, it was legal to sell 2 x 1.5kg bags of sugar, but illegal to sell a 3kg bag of sugar. The law was an ass then, and is an ass now.

You have this strange coalition of left-wing anti-business types and conservative Christians stopping the sale of items 3.5 Days a year.
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April 3, 2021 8:17am
- Nukuleka
  
  Ok, Mobile Mike. Let’s see the greedy Wanaka supermarkets have the courage of their convictions and open on Anzac Day morning and Christmas Day. Let’s see how popular a move that is with the general NZ population irrespective of whether they are, as you put, it ‘conservative Christians’ or anti- business leftie types. I expect that such a move would go down like a bag of sick.
  
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  April 3, 2021 10:56am
  - amospicton
    
    I think it would be very popular Nukuleka. If anyone has an objection to them being open, then don’t go. But why should those who would be happy to shop, the majority I believe, be deprived of that option? The staff are happy to get their extra wages and their customers, by definition, are happy to shop. I simply don’t see the issue.
    
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    April 3, 2021 11:36am
    - NeverMindTheBollocks
      
      There will be heavy pressure on staff to work, whether they want to or not – over time if not immediately.
      
      Shops didn’t used to open on weekends in NZ. Imagine applying for a retail job today & declining to work weekends. You’d have no chance of getting the job.
      
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      April 3, 2021 4:15pm
- Nickc2
  
  Yes, there was a time when it was illegal to serve alcohol on a Sunday. Then, the Govt made it legal to serve alcohol on a Sunday if it was served with a meal. Well, that worked well (not), the pubs would issue each customer with a ticket for a supposed meal with the first drink. The kitchen was working, but that was only for customers who genuinely wanted a meal. What Govt was in power then – Labour of course (Clark replaced Shipley).
  
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  April 3, 2021 11:54am
Cinematic

.
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April 3, 2021 8:30am
SB2

Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
It’s now official. The Republicans have now morphed into a Conspiracy based party with strong affiliations to Qanon thanks to their latest acquisition mad hatter Rep Majorie Taylor Greene,

“GOP to GQP: Republicans show strong support for Greene, Pelosi says”

https://www.kron4.com/news/national/gop-to-gqp
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April 3, 2021 8:47am
- Tony Stuart
  
  You’re basing that allegation on something Nancy Pelosi is reported to have said?
  
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  April 3, 2021 9:51am
  - kowtow
    
    I don’t bother to engage with the troll at all . Simply down tick and move on .
    
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    April 3, 2021 10:12am
- Fletch
  
  While the Democrats are going full totalitarian. Now going to bring in a capital gains tax and also their own govt-run broadband. They also have a massive 2 trillion “infrastructure”, only which 5% of goes to roads, bridges, tunnels and the like, the bulk going to Green policies. The left are systematically destroying America.
  
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  April 3, 2021 9:58am
- KevO'Brien
  
  You’re showing more distress weekly. Quoting Pelosi?
  
  Wait till you see this:
  https://lindelltv.com/
  
  Particularly “Absolute Proof”
  It’s a 2-hour long very detailed documentary and separate summaries showing a coup occurred instead of the US election.
  
  A global cyber attack principally through China through voting machines that had ethernet cables attached but “were not on the internet”.
  
  The USA Intelligence were aware of the voting machines as US agents had probably manipulated them previously in foreign elections. Intelligence was on standby and captured thousands of pages of line items for entries of the attack. They show for each wherefrom and whereto right down to the actual computer physical ID! Time and date stamped too and the votes sneakily transferred.
  
  GOTCHA of the Century.
  I’ll leave the consequences to your judgement.
  
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  April 3, 2021 10:20am
  - SB2
    
    Mike Lindell suspended from Twittter for spreading disinformation about US election 3/11/20,
    
    https://www.npr.org/2021/01/26/960679189/my-pillow-ceo-mike-lindell-permanently-suspended-from-twitter
    
    And subject to a defamation class action by Dominion,
    
    https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2021/02/22/dominion-voting-sues-mypillow-ceo-mike-lindell-for-defamation-over-election-conspiracy/?sh=1a2cd15a52f2
    
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    April 3, 2021 11:20am
    - KevO'Brien
      
      We know who the real twits are.
      Lindell may be presenting the case but he is not the investigator but is an accomplished engineer/scientist/businessman who is funding the inquiries.
      
      Look for yourself. I’ve done enough forensic work to know when high grade evidence requires answer.
      
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      April 3, 2021 4:00pm
  - virtualmark
    
    Mike Lindell just proves that you don’t need to be sane to sell pillows.
    
    But you do need to be insane to believe his schtick.
    
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    April 3, 2021 1:27pm
    - KevO'Brien
      
      A rational case is presented with the details for your own examination.
      
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      April 3, 2021 4:02pm
buzzler

Right on cue. An article in the Horrid this morning about a guy buying a house at auction and moaning that he paid $50,000 more than he wanted to. Says that the auction system is unfair and forces people to pay more than they want to. Reading the article gives one the impression that it is a paid advertisement from Labour. Robertson the other day was giving the impression that he thought auctions were forcing prices up. Auctions about to be banned?
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/auckland-investment-home-buyer-says-auctions-sending-house-prices-sky-high/HL5WA5ACCLIN6KCIQGJ3NWMRXI/
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April 3, 2021 8:48am
- Tony Stuart
  
  Has he ever hears of the Latin phrase Caveat emptor? It translates to “Let the buyer beware”.
  
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  April 3, 2021 10:07am
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    Latin – something else banned by Labour (ironic, really, given the root of the word Labour comes from Latin)
    
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    April 3, 2021 11:16am
- yossarian
  
  Are they massaging the story to bring in a ban on residential auctions?
  
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  April 3, 2021 10:09am
  - Bob
    
    Just about guaranteed!!
    
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    April 3, 2021 11:43am
    - Nickc2
      
      It’s certainly being talked about within Labour circles.
      When Shock Jocks talk about it in a favourable light, you know it has to come from somewhere.
      
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      April 3, 2021 2:17pm
- Brian McDonald
  
  Everybody pays more than they want to.
  
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  April 3, 2021 10:19am
- KevO'Brien
  
  Communists don’t allow markets. Prices are decided in central planning committees or under the table. The peasants (us) get what we are allowed.
  
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  April 3, 2021 10:26am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  Last week’s story was that tenders were unfair as they can lead to the successful bidder paying significantly more than the under bidder.
  
  So if Labour ban auctions and tenders, what are we left with?
  
  Yes, Stephie-boy? You have your hand up?
  
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  April 3, 2021 11:15am
- whostoblame
  
  If auctions were banned then place a ridiculous asking price and move down from there. Every action has a reaction but that just falls on deaf ears with these muppets.
  
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  April 3, 2021 11:55am
  - alwyn
    
    They have that method. Unfortunately it has the unmentionable word “Auction” in the name. You’ll be accused of uttering an obscenity.
    It also references the word Dutch so you would be accused of both racism and obscenity.
    Anyway, for those with strong stomachs, it is called a “Dutch Auction”. I don’t think I have ever seen one in New Zealand. I believe it was a traditional way of selling flowers in The Netherlands.
    
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    April 3, 2021 5:31pm
- kloyd0306
  
  The guy is a whimp.
  Needs to put his big boy pants on and know when to stop bidding.
  The auction system is the nearest thing to transparency.
  The only system that is more transparent is an auction with no reserve, which not only establishes true value, it also adds one more buyer (the owner).
  Hopefully, most readers of the piece will see through the motive of the piece.
  Moral of the story: Grow some gonads and know your limits.
  
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  April 3, 2021 12:14pm
  - Tony Stuart
    
    Spot on. Once the bidding reached the maximum price he was willing to pay, he should have stopped bidding. As it stands, he actually set the price the market was prepared to pay for the house.
    
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    April 3, 2021 1:26pm
Yvette

Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern, Opening address to United Nations Climate Action Summit
24 September 2019 :
“We aim to plant one billion trees by 2028 – 150 million are already in the ground” [1]

Current graphic on MPI website [2] –
The One Billion Trees has directly funded 44,961,000 trees as at 8 Marh [sic] 2021 (less than a third of Ardern’s figure)

The above graphic also claims 258 million trees have been planted. But those are commercial Forestry trees, replanted at a 95% replanting rate, meaning for every 95 seedlings Forestry plants, they fell 100 mature trees elsewhere in their forests.

As of now it is unclear whether the One Billion Trees policy will convert to the Climate Commission’s plan that only 300 million native trees should be planted. If that is an adequate substitute to sequester the desired gases, who made the mistaken oversight with One Billion Trees?

While the Government seems rather slow in vaccinating the nation, not much else appears to be happening either.

[1] https://www.beehive.govt.nz/speech/opening-address-united-nations-climate-action-summit
[2] https://www.mpi.govt.nz/forestry/funding-tree-planting-research/one-billion-trees-programme/progress-towards-planting-one-billion-trees/tracking-planting-for-the-one-billion-trees-programme/
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April 3, 2021 8:53am
- Tony Stuart
  
  One Billion Trees seems now to be off the table, now that Shane Jones is no longer an MP. That’s good news for rural New Zealand.
  
  The exemption to the OIA that allowed foreign investors to buy New Zealand farmland if they intended to plant trees is wrong on so many levels. It’s especially bad when whole farms are planted in pine, and there is no intention to ever harvest the trees, just take the carbon dollars offshore.
  
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  April 3, 2021 9:55am
  - tf78
    
    Tony, I’m sure pine bark soup is very tasty, but not for me thanks. Muppets each and every atom of them.
    
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    April 3, 2021 10:20am
  - Gravelroad
    
    So you and presumably the National Party which you frequently champion here, would deny us the opportunity to sell a block of land for forestry purposes?
    This In order to establish an income stream by planting a crop which is most suited for the land in question?
    Timber is just another crop.
    Same as the thousands of hectares here planted in grapes for wine making – again a crop suited for the land in question.
    So no more land to be sold to overseas investors for wine making then, Tony Stuart?
    You and your National Party do realise that a very high percentage of grape growing land here in the top of the South is overseas owned (often by huge corporates) who take the profits off shore?
    So we now have a policy of Wine good, timber bad from National?
    
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    April 3, 2021 10:21am
    - Tony Stuart
      
      No, not at all. However the philosophy or “right tree, right place, right reason” needs to apply.
      
      Planting marginal hill country land in pine is fine. But planting productive pastoral land in pine is anything but fine, especially when you see how much New Zealand relied on dairy, beef and lamb exports last year.
      
      As it happens, I took a remit to the party last year urging a full review of the One Billion Trees policy by an incoming National government. Of course, there wasn’t an incoming National government, but in any event, the steam seems to have gone out of the wholesale planting of pine trees. But the government has legislated against foreign ownership of New Zealand land, apart from the exemption allowing farms to be bought for planting in trees, a clear sop to NZ First. If the Government wants to close loopholes, that’s one they should be looking at.
      
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      April 3, 2021 10:29am
      - Gravelroad
        
        “But the government has legislated against foreign ownership of New Zealand land, apart from the exemption allowing farms to be bought for planting in trees”
        Oh, I didn’t realise that there was to be no more farm land sold to overseas investors for grape growing for wine making and exporting.
        Better ask Stuart Smith MP what he thinks about that.
        
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        April 3, 2021 10:43am
      - Gravelroad
        
        As for your attempted deflection in your reply below re trees requiring very little labour – in today’s situation that could be a positive.
        The fruit growing sector – grapes, apples, strawberries etc can’t get the labour to harvest their crops without importing workers from overseas – which nowadays is a problem.
        Many NZers don’t want to leave home in town to go out and harvest flat field crops.
        But around here, there are many dedicated forestry workers willing to climb hills in all weathers to plant, prune and harvest trees.
        Your other points about rural schools and pubs:
        People left the countryside in droves due to the Roger Douglas/Labour government “reforms” in the 1980’s. That had huge impacts on rural schools and communities and they never really recovered. I know this because I lived through it.
        As for pubs – drink driving laws and supermarkets selling alcohol changed their futures.
        
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        April 3, 2021 11:15am
      - virtualmark
        
        Tony, I think there’s a very profitable vein of work for National to dig into the PGF. How much of the $1.5bn was spent? How much more has been committed? How many jobs were created? How many trees were planted? How many of the “investments” show personal connections to Jones, NZ First and other PGF notables? etc etc.
        
        I strongly suspect there’s a lot of dung there, and Labour won’t want the smell clinging to them, but can’t escape their connection to it.
        
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        April 3, 2021 1:29pm
      - rouppe
        
        Sorry virtualmark, reported you by mistake.
        
        Meant to say: just look at the published grants. Plenty there of sculptures or generating reports. Lots and lots of money that did nothing to grow the province
        
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        April 3, 2021 2:38pm
    - Tomtoddy
      
      Interesting perspective. Trees are a little different in that they are a long rotation crop that tends to diminish the soil quality and play havoc with small rural communities, at least for 20 odd years.
      
      The current complication is that the industry is heavily subsidised and us rural people who are long in the tooth know that subsidies have very nasty side effects.
      
      There are many parts of the country that need trees – subsidies of the 1970/80’s denuded hillsides that should never have seen and axe. However the lesson is to keep governments out of the picking winners business.
      
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      April 3, 2021 10:30am
      - Tony Stuart
        
        The other issue with trees is that they require very little labour, once planted, unlike a pastoral farm. So employment in areas where a number of farms have been purchased, such as the eastern Wairarapa, has slumped. That has made rural schools less viable, rural businesses such as the country pub a mate of mine owns a borderline proposition, and it is generally having a negative effect on the social side of those areas. Add in a significance increase in asthma and allergy-related illnesses due to the volume of pollen in the air, and the unforeseen circumstances of OBT are becoming significant.
        
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        April 3, 2021 10:41am
      - chukar
        
        Gravelroad you are so right.
        The reality is that it is wrong for Governments to interfere in markets.Successive Governments of all colours have interfered.
        NZ has reached a stage where the people who bought the land, ( who often also bought it twice, first from the original leaseholders and then from the NZ Government through a free holding process), are not now allowed to even sell the property to the highest bidder.
        Farmers should be able to trade in the same markets they have to compete in.
        The demand for Forestry land is huge at present, mainly because of demand for Carbon credits.
        My view is this market is very unlikely to stand the test of time ,but that is another story. It is an issue for the investor not the seller.
        It should also be noted that the livestock industry is actually in decline, particularly in marginal lands.
        This is largely caused by Government including local interference.
        Think regulation,water,run plans ,RMA etc and all these extra associated costs.— Forestry does not require fencing.
        
        Property rights are a very bad joke in NZ .
        
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        April 3, 2021 11:38am
      - Ed Snack
        
        Yet another issue, trees are probably less effective at absorbing “carbon” than pasture anyway, in real life that is. In the Lala land of green politics and policies, the real world is unimportant, it’s the optics and politics that matter.
        
        So policies are happily supported that actually increase NZ’s overall carbon emissions because it is more important to be thought to be doing something than to actually do something.
        
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        April 3, 2021 12:45pm
      - Trev
        
        Tree crops don’t diminsh the soil anywhere near the amount of pasture or horticulture. There are third generation pine plantations growing well where none of the rotaions have ever been fertilized. Pasture and horticulture on the other hand usually gets supplementary fertiliser annually.
        
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        April 3, 2021 1:32pm
    - tf78
      
      GR – Fair point but I was thinking more of the pasture lands being taken for growing pines, not hill country.
      
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      April 3, 2021 11:08am
      - Wayne Mapp
        
        I read a lot on Kiwiblog that productive farmland (as opposed to steep hill country) is/was being turned into pine forest. Was that actually happening?
        Presumably the argument was that good productive farmland was being sold by farmers for this purpose (if in fact it was happening).
        My understanding of forestry economics is that this would be highly unlikely.
        I am a member of a forestry syndicate in Waiarapa, which has had one rotation and was replanted about 5 years ago. It is being sold, but the price is such that it would make no sense at all to take a good sheep and beef farm and turn it into forest. The numbers don’t stack up, including potential ETS gains. I would be pretty certain it is only steep hill country farms that are being purchased. Yes, they are currently farms but they would be hard to manage well and will inevitably have significant erosion problems.
        
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        April 3, 2021 5:46pm
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        @Wayne Mapp
        
        Do you think the Mayor of Wairoa and Shane Jones were just getting their knickers in a twist about the sale of sheep and cattle farms for C-farming?
        
        https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2019/12/wairoa-farmland-sold-for-forestry-angers-50-shades-of-green-as-shane-jones-extends-olive-branch.html
        
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        April 3, 2021 6:19pm
  - kowtow
    
    It’s got to be one of the craziest among the crazy “solutions” to the climate scam .
    
    Carbon credit farming , when we should be growing food .
    
    Have these eco loons no shame . Not to mention how even supposedly conservative parties have bought into the lunacy.
    
    And why isn’t this terrible news getting more attention from the great and the good ……oh no we’re more concerned about a sky sports jockey talking jap piss take accent.
    
    ‘One of Taranaki’s big industrial players, Methanex, has confirmed 75 jobs will be lost after its decision to close one of its plants, citing an inability to secure gas supply as the reason for shutting it down.’
    
    Thanks jax and Woods and co , and theTeddy Bear cultists who voted to destroy other people’s jobs.
    
    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/rnz/300268355/75-jobs-to-go-as-taranaki-methanol-producer-methanex-plans-to-close-plant
    
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    April 3, 2021 10:21am
    - alwyn
      
      Carbon credit farming is quite profitable I gather.
      Wellington’s former mayor, Celia Wade-Brown is doing just that these days.
      Buy a farm, get rid of all the stock and then let the scrub come back.
      https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/110364419/former-wellington-mayor-celia-wadebrown-farms-trees-for-carbon-credits
      
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      April 3, 2021 12:47pm
      - kowtow
        
        ‘Carbon credit farming is quite profitable I gather’
        
        Yep , I imagine it’s cos it’s a spurious market created by govt edict and taxpayer subsidies , what could possibly go wrong ?
        
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        April 3, 2021 1:29pm
      - Captain Mainwaring
        
        Yep, that would be par for the course for Wade-Brown, the looniest mayor that Wellington has ever had.
        And that takes some doing.
        
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        April 3, 2021 9:17pm
    - virtualmark
      
      I think this has more to do with medium-term disruption and investment at Pohokura than anything else. I believe Methanex will re-open the third train once OMV have sorted out Pohokura’s problems.
      
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      April 3, 2021 1:31pm
      - NeverMindTheBollocks
        
        Unlikely that Methanex would have let 75 highly trained staff go if it was just a case of Pohokura coming right.
        
        The real issue is the O&G ban.
        
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        April 3, 2021 4:21pm
Ruahine

An update from the South China Sea via India.

P.S. Just let the ad play.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0hd65zanZg
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April 3, 2021 8:54am
- tf78
  
  Ruahine, that was really interesting thank you. It took me over an hour as I got more interested with each new topic.
  
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  April 3, 2021 11:15am
  - andydownhere
    
    Same here, I went to the Suez Canal next, then the Israeli canal, Gin Wigmore somehow, and then Ardern and Gin doing a sit down talk. I was nearly sick then, so came back to here. I cant stand stand seeing that fraud talk. No not Gin Wigmore
    
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    April 4, 2021 7:53pm
Inandout

So Georgia writes into its law that voters must have ID and other sensible rules to make sure there is no cheating. Well the usual suspects like CocaCola and a host of other companies with China factories are ‘astounded’ by these new rules and will leave Georgia. Of course they will support Biden’s H1 voting rules which would likely lock the Dems in power for decades, riding on the millions of illegal immigrants. It has been pointed out though that these ‘concerned’ companies will reap what they sow if H1 is enacted because the left will devour them as evil capitalists.
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April 3, 2021 9:00am
- mikenmildagain
  
  Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
  Surprise, surprise, Republicans supports laws to restrict voting, while democrats support laws to encourage voting.
  
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  April 3, 2021 9:47am
  - Apropos of the Wet Snow
    
    It’s a law to restrict voting to people who can prove their identity. Who would be against this and for what reasons?
    
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    April 3, 2021 10:14am
  - Fletch
    
    Actually, if you look at the Georgia bill, it actually EXPANDS voting. The Washington Post actually gave Biden 4 Pinnochios for lying about it.
    
    https://dailycaller.com/2021/03/31/georgia-voting-bill-absentee-voting-id-requirement-food-water/
    
    They are targeting Georgia, because Georgia are taking back their Constitutional voting rights and other States will likely follow. So they are smearing them with talk about “Jim Crow” laws (which were actually Democrat policy years ago – surprise, surprise). There’s nothing wrong with what Georgia is putting in place, asking for ID before voting etc. And 97% of the state already has ID, and it is free to get ID to vote.
    
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    April 3, 2021 10:21am
  - Inandout
    
    M7M, you are way off track on this one. The standout reason the Dems are agin’ this bill is because it will block many of the loopholes in voting they have seized on in the past. They have brought up any diversion from racism to climate damage to try and sideline this bill. Desperate much.
    
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    April 3, 2021 10:47am
  - Ed Snack
    
    Such a predictable liar you are Mikey !
    
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    April 3, 2021 12:57pm
- kowtow
  
  I will boycott Coca Cola.
  
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  April 3, 2021 10:22am
  - Inandout
    
    The sugar hating Greens and vegans will love you…but wait…CocaCola are now the good guys because their CEO is anti Georgia voting laws. What a web they weave.
    
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    April 3, 2021 10:51am
  - virtualmark
    
    But let me guess, you don’t like cancel culture?
    
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    April 4, 2021 7:15am
- Monique Watson
  
  Republicans have been culling black voters from the rolls for decades. The tide is turning:
  
  https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.apmreports.org/amp/story/2018/10/19/georgia-voter-purge
  
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  April 3, 2021 10:41am
  - Inandout
    
    MW, isn’t it illegal not to vote in some countries like Australia? In a democracy surely everyone should play their part, well that is my opinion.
    
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    April 3, 2021 10:56am
  - Ed Snack
    
    Rubbish, the Democrats have been stuffing electoral rolls with fake voters for decades and finally something is being done about it. The fraud in the last election was the final straw.
    
    In Georgia, on the electoral roll, there are over 6,000 people registered to a single isolated rural property. In NZ, a mere 20 people being registered at the same address led to the trail and conviction of a Labour Party activist. Plus many more “voters” do NOT have, as is required, a valid residential address on the roll.
    
    Having some form of valid ID is necessary for so many things in the US, including flying, driving, and buying alcohol. Yet for some reason voting isn’t considered important enough to need ID by Democrats.
    
    And as noted, the Georgia law is LESS restrictive than the voting laws in Joe Biden’s home state of Delaware, and actually expands the opportunities to vote and codifies that early voting must be available to all at specified times.
    
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    April 3, 2021 1:05pm
    - Wayne Mapp
      
      An evidence free claim, just like the claim that Trump won the election.
      
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      April 3, 2021 5:50pm
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  Coca Cola leave Georgia?
  
  I recognise a hollow threat when I hear one
  
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  April 3, 2021 11:19am
- SB2
  
  These are the facts regarding GOP GQP Voter suppression,
  
  The GOP’s voter suppression mania is threatening American democracy. Democrats need to step up and fight back,
  
  https://www.businessinsider.com/gop-voter-suppression-mania-threatens-us-democracy-democrats-must-fight-back-2021-3?r=AU&IR=T
  
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  April 3, 2021 11:27am
- virtualmark
  
  Sigh.
  
  The GQP are presenting it as a law to require voters to have ID. And it’s true that that is *one* of the provisions. And I don’t object to that, and I think New Zealand should require the same.
  
  But that’s not why basically everyone outside the GOP and Fox News is against this law. There are so many non-democratic provisions in there that I don’t have room here to write them up. But … allowing the State congress to over-ride election results, restricting times & places for voting, restricting voter enrolment, restricting use of mail votes etc etc etc etc etc.
  
  You can see the full text at https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/04/01/us/politics/georgia-voting-law.html and an annotated list of the major provisions at https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/02/us/politics/georgia-voting-law-annotated.html
  
  I cannot see how you can support this law and still claim to also support democratic “one man, one vote” elections. If Labour introduced an equal law here in New Zealand you would be frothy at the mouth about the “great reset” and global socialism and how Cindy is a dictator.
  
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  April 3, 2021 1:40pm
  - SB2
    
    If Labour introduced an equal law here in New Zealand you would be frothy at the mouth about the “great reset” and global socialism and how Cindy is a dictator.
    
    Paranoia rules!
    
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    April 3, 2021 2:33pm
WaveyDavey

Dear lord…

Sweet Spots: The suburb which ranks as the most liveable in New Zealand…

“…gritty, it’s diverse…

…main thoroughfare of Lincoln Rd might appear rough…

…Coffee Co-op …philosophy of pumping profits back into the community and abroad…

…scores high on the important index of dedicated-vegan-cafes-per-capita…

…centre of ethnic diversity…

… fears Addington’s lower-income residents will soon be pushed out …

…Salvation Army’s Supportive Accommodation building takes in people who have psychiatric issues, intellectual disabilities and men on parole, who often have mental health and addiction issues…”

Well that’s a hard no from me

Although I’d happily buy a cheap property and cash-in on the gentrification.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/sweet-spots/123872189/sweet-spots-the-suburb-which-ranks-as-the-most-liveable-in-new-zealand-isnt-the-most-expensive
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April 3, 2021 9:08am
- Tony Stuart
  
  Don’t knock the Addington Coffee Co-Op. My wife and I know some of the people who set it up. Not only are they providing jobs for young people, but by reinvesting their profits back into the community, they are funding important social services.
  
  I’m not a coffee drinker, but my wife assures me that the coffee, roasted on the premises, is top-notch, and their food is excellent.
  
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  April 3, 2021 10:00am
  - WaveyDavey
    
    Fair enough.
    
    My point is more how Stuff chooses to define what makes a place great to live.
    
    “gritty… diverse… vegan… psychiatric issues… men on parole… addiction issues…”
    
    Not terms you’re likely to see used to “sell” a suburb
    
    I don’t care whether my coffee is virtue-signalling only that it tastes good.
    
    And I would pay good cash money to not be in an “ethnically diverse” suburb. I’ve spent my entire life avoiding them. Fine for a visit. Living there: Not so much.
    
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    April 3, 2021 10:08am
    - Tony Stuart
      
      My daughter and son-in-law live on Lincoln Road, and enjoy being within walking distance of a range of cafes and restaurants. I haven’t seen much evidence of any of the things Stuff uses to classify Addington, except of course the Coffee Co-Op.
      
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      April 3, 2021 10:43am
    - NeverMindTheBollocks
      
      It’s the Stuff agenda, applied to property
      
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      April 3, 2021 11:21am
- amospicton
  
  Perhaps the author of that nonsense has a vested interest…..I lived in Chch for 25 years and I guarantee no-one ever aspired to live in Addington.
  
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  April 3, 2021 10:03am
Brian McDonald

Best Rugby of the year last night livens up the Super Rugby and gives an insight for international coaches on how to upset the All Black game. Tony Brown is right up there in the coaching stakes.
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April 3, 2021 9:15am
WaveyDavey

And there’s more…

Stuff’s “Senior Investigations Reporter” investigates…

His leaking toilet

Now I’ve heard of journalists interviewing their keyboards, but come on…

https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/124720355/the-world-could-save-a-lot-more-water–just-look-at-my-toilet
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April 3, 2021 9:16am
- kowtow
  
  I checked the date , sadly it’s not an April Fools’ Day joke .
  Stuff really has brought itself low .
  
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  April 3, 2021 11:17am
- tf78
  
  WD – tell him he should stuff a brick in it.
  
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  April 3, 2021 11:42am
- Manu-Rau
  
  I don’t know. Given what Stuff produces daily, I suspect he isn’t the only reporter who interviews his toilet.
  
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  April 3, 2021 12:27pm
I remember when

Czechnia, Hungary, Bosnia & Herz now lead the world for deaths per million.
Despite all the news about new strains and new waves elsewhere, the Eastern European countries have been the centre of the second wave.
Perhaps the reason we haven’t heard more about their situation is the fact that they highlight the problems with lockdown.
Success during first waves may mean greater pain if there are subsequent waves.
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April 3, 2021 9:24am
- kowtow
  
  That’s why the Swedes were right to stick with , as far as they could , the pre ordained pandemic plan and as they’ve said all along , it’s not about the short term outcomes . Things need to be measured over a much longer period , a couple of years or maybe even a decade .
  
  The long term consequences , financial, social , cultural , educational as well as health must be taken into account .
  
  Our media seems to be slowly waking up to that . Today’s Ferald about people people missing out on eye checks who may go blind . Granted that a diabetes issue , but the lock downs have made things worse.
  
  As to Jax and “elimination” , as a wise politician once said in a different context ” Hope is not a plan”.
  
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  April 3, 2021 10:45am
  - SB2
    
    The Swedish Covid 19 experiment has failed by their own admission,
    
    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-17/sweden-s-top-covid-strategist-is-losing-the-population-s-trust
    
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    April 3, 2021 11:29am
    - I remember when
      
      The problem with covid-19 is that everybody use caution when talking about their responses.
      There is little about their waves for daily deaths that suggest they suffered from their overall approach.
      They are still getting deaths but are now dropping further and further down the global deaths per million ratings.
      Since the first of August, 2020, Germany has 812 deaths per million against 765 Sweden.
      Remember Germany was an example of the correct approach.
      
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      April 3, 2021 2:57pm
Greg Ettridge

You would hope a player of his caliber has a little say in his exit. He is 37 years old and has made a massive contribution to NZ and world cricket as have many of his old team mates.
His time may have come in the whites, but he could still be a major player in 20 20.
This is life in cricket after you depart the big game.
Hogg and Hodge are great examples, Hodge was 40 when he played for Australia in the 20 20 world cup.
Hogg is now 70 and played 20 20 into his mid 60’s.
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April 3, 2021 9:29am
- amospicton
  
  Ross has a problem starting – if he gets through 20 balls he’s still top drawer, but getting to that point is happening less and less frequently. That means 20/20 is his worst format. I think one-day is best because it has a less intense first 20 balls than test cricket but still allows time to start slowly.
  
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  April 3, 2021 10:06am
  - Humble Capitalist
    
    I agree once Ross gets a start he is very dangerous in any conditions. I will never forget the double hundred 2 years ago on a very green Basin wicket
    
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    April 3, 2021 10:50am
- Humble Capitalist
  
  I agree Ross still has plenty to offer but not necessarily in 20/20. If anything he is at his best in 50 overs or tests.
  I think you mean Brad Hogg playing into his late 40’s. Rodney Hogg is 70 but he retired in the mid 1980’s
  
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  April 3, 2021 10:42am
I remember when

Vegans Buzz Over Bee-Free Honey Production:
‘It’ll Bee the same’, promises Darko Mandich, CEO of Melibio, a vegan honey producer, promises about his product which is biologically identical but doesn’t use insects.
‘Commercial beekeeping is favouring the honey bee the world over to meet the demand for honey.’
‘They are competing with wild and native bee species, pushing thyem back.’
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April 3, 2021 9:31am
- cmm
  
  Most commercial bee keeping is for pollination – not for making honey. The only reason they use honey bees for that is that they are easy to transport and manage.
  
  No more honey bees = no more almond milk. Better tell #CinD4UN!
  
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  April 3, 2021 10:14am
  - I remember when
    
    No being on the same wave length, I guess there are suggesting wild and native species would do the job.
    
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    April 3, 2021 3:01pm
    - cmm
      
      While natives can do a fantastic job for some pollination purposes they would be entirely hopeless for the Californian almond orchards etc.
      
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      April 3, 2021 7:29pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Oh dear, oh dear..
  
  I thought every self-respecting Gaia-lover had to have a bee-hive in their backyard or on their apartment roof.
  https://www.ecrotek.co.nz/learn/articles/detail/url-beekeeping-in-the-city-
  
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  April 3, 2021 10:26am
  - alwyn
    
    The French certainly think so. There are a number of beehives in the Jardin du Luxembourg which is probably the most used, and most loved, garden in Paris.
    There is also a small orchard.
    The honey and the fruit go to the Senate which is located in the Palace in the grounds.
    I don’t know how many remain but a few years ago there were hives on the Opera Bastille, the Opera Garnier, Notre Dame and the Musee d’Orsay as well as the Ecole Militaire and the Grand Palais. Those ones were up on the roofs. I haven’t been there since 2018 so they may have gone by now without my noticing.
    Napoleon had the bee as his personal symbol so I guess the French attachment to them is to be expected.
    
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    April 3, 2021 2:27pm
Maggie Pie

So, Jack Tame tells ZB listeners he believes he has the answer to what he describes as….. “Auckland’s ‘over-heated’ housing problem”.

His solution….”Time to forget about the Nimbies”

This from a guy who admits to living alone in a leaky, sparsely furnished 6th floor inner-city apartment building, growing Kale on a roof-top garden, and biking to work.

As my partner just called out from his bathroom……”Go f – -k yourself Jacky!”
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April 3, 2021 9:53am
- Captain Mainwaring
  
  Only in a socialist hellhole would that idiot Jack Tame get and keep the job he has.
  
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  April 3, 2021 10:00am
  - WaveyDavey
    
    My old newsroom was obsessed hiring with the idiot child
    
    I really couldn’t work it out
    
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    April 3, 2021 10:12am
  - mikenmildagain
    
    How do you account for him having a job in NZ then?
    
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    April 3, 2021 10:59am
    - Captain Mainwaring
      
      Read between the lines, idiot.
      
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      April 3, 2021 11:12am
    - graham
      
      Pretty-boy looks and spouting the correct PC lines.
      
      Simple.
      
      14 2
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      April 3, 2021 11:12am
      - WaveyDavey
        
        mike will disagree with you, but I can attest to the fact that those were exactly the reason we wanted to hire him
        
        Chasing da yoof innit?
        
        6 1
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        April 3, 2021 2:07pm
- Humble Capitalist
  
  Thanks for the morning laugh Maggie
  
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  April 3, 2021 10:35am
- kowtow
  
  There are 2 sides to the equation.
  
  Supply ;which the gubmint (local and central) is stuffing up by regulation and loose fiscal policy and
  
  demand ;which the gubmint has kept red hot by mass immigration and loose fiscal policy .
  
  No points for identifying the real problem . ( Hint , it’s not ‘boomers’ )
  
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  April 3, 2021 10:36am
- igm
  
  Imagine the little effeminate wimp getting into a herringbone and milking cows?
  Bet the apology for a woofter could not even open a gate!
  
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  April 3, 2021 10:58am
  - Pharmachick
    
    The only thing worse than a herringbone is a step-up. A friend’s father from Uni still had one (Northland) in the 1990s (!) Grew up in the Waikato and truly couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw it.
    
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    April 3, 2021 1:30pm
- Inandout
  
  Maggie, he was living with that other ‘celebrity’ who ran off and married another chap. Now I can understand why that other chap left.
  
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  April 3, 2021 10:59am
- Steve Todd
  
  Wow, Maggie!
  
  I would never have thought that you and your partner have separate bathrooms.
  
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  April 3, 2021 12:25pm
  - mikenmildagain
    
    Can’t have shared bathrooms. Transgender folk might take advantage of that.
    
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    April 3, 2021 12:30pm
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      Uptick for that sonny
      
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      April 3, 2021 1:27pm
  - Maggie Pie
    
    YUP – 2 up & 2 down. And all with a bidet.
    At least I don’t have to keep putting the seats down.
    
    7 3
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    April 3, 2021 12:47pm
    - Steve Todd
      
      Ah, that’s good. I’m relieved to see that you reserve the right to use any of the bathrooms in your home.
      
      I’ve never understood this notion that men don’t put the toilet seat down (after doing their thing). I couldn’t imagine not putting it down, if only because a “bare” toilet bowl is rather unsightly. Nor can I remember ever seeing evidence of it in other homes.
      
      Plus, it would be dangerous in the event of an accident — I read somewhere once that bathroom accidents are surprisingly common. Who, on the way down, would want their head to come into direct contact with porcelain?
      
      Do men really not put the seat down? Really and truly?
      
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      April 3, 2021 1:29pm
      - Inandout
        
        ST, I did up to about 10 years ago when I got tired of bitchy females we visited moaning about ‘who the hell left the seat up’. To be honest I probably left the seat up as a silent protest.
        
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        April 3, 2021 1:52pm
      - Maggie Pie
        
        Like mother like son, Steve.
        That’s why whenever she comes over, I always point her to his bathroom.
        
        6 1
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        April 3, 2021 2:05pm
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        You seem to have led a very limited life.
        
        I can assure you that many men fail to return the seat to the down position.
        
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        April 3, 2021 2:07pm
      - WaveyDavey
        
        My partner always leaves the lid up and I go round after her closing them
        
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        April 3, 2021 2:09pm
      - rouppe
        
        My response to that has been to put the seat AND the lid down.
        
        That way those that insisted that leaving the seat up was unacceptable still have “make an adjustment” before using it.
        
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        April 3, 2021 2:56pm
      - Steve Todd
        
        You seem to have led a very limited life.
        
        No, I don’t think so.
        
        I’m not saying I have never seen a bare toilet bowl — of course I haven’t; just that I can’t recall any of the men I have known, throughout the 50+ years of my adult life, who routinely left / leave the seat up.
        
        Perhaps it’s something that only wives, girlfriends and female flatmates notice — and rightly correct immediately (especially if visitors are expected).
        
        No matter; life goes on.
        
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        April 3, 2021 3:05pm
      - Steve Otto(North Shore)
        
        Need the seat up so you can have a quick spew when someone posts some disgusting leftist shit
        
        8 2
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        April 3, 2021 3:06pm
      - Steve Todd
        
        @Inandout @ 1:52PM
        
        Okay, but why did you start to not put the seat down in the first place? I mean, putting the seat down is the natural thing to do, isn’t it?
        
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        April 3, 2021 5:53pm
    - theoldbloke
      
      And he doesnt have to keep putting the seat up. Why do women seem to think their preference gazumps mens preference.
      
      I used to always put the “lid” down on the toilet for 40 years. Then equity. Both parties then need to lift the toilet seat or lid.
      But finally I am free…I live alone.
      Bliss!!!
      
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      April 3, 2021 3:25pm
Kiwi_in_Paris

This lawyer has some interesting legal points regarding the vaccine roll-out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHif-n7EerE&t=3s
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April 3, 2021 9:54am
- info@cruzpro.com
  
  She says that the government is breaking the law. Politely says the government isn’t telling the truth. If you have not watched this video, please do so before you allow yourself or you loved ones to be vaccinated with the Covid19 vaccine.
  
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  April 3, 2021 11:38am
- SB2
  
  Kiwi in Paris, a co leader of the NZ Outdoors party and anti vaxxer it seems too,
  
  https://www.facebook.com/nzoutdoorsparty/
  
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  April 3, 2021 11:38am
  - Kiwi_in_Paris
    
    Let’s call it anti-experimental jab.
    
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    April 3, 2021 5:41pm
- The Housekeeper
  
  I’d tip a hundy into her legal challenge.
  
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  April 3, 2021 11:48am
Happychappy

You have to laugh at Mr and Mr’s Joe blogs at how blinded they have been with Labours Policy. The went into the 2017 Election promising change and honesty with the way the country would be run, they promised to fix housing so it benefited everyone and also promised to Fix Mental Health and Health in General with saying the problem was the last Government left nine years of neglect and underfunding.
After four and a half years in power the only thing that has changed is these and many other Ministry’s are a disaster and need billions to be fixed while the Prime Minister and Finance Minister borrow more to give the unfortunate in NZ more to spend on their life style while not having to pay for accommodation, power, education, food or clothe their children , they even now get a payment for having children. So a question what changed that the middle voter in NZ saw and still sees that encourages them to vote for Labour and the Greens
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April 3, 2021 9:58am
- DeepBlue
  
  Research from Otago University, 65% of 2000 people found a Silver Lining in Lockdown 4. More time for themselves, their family, relationships and working from home. A lot of these personal benefits have carried on post Lockdown.
  
  The answer to your question is Gratitude. As a society most people are now in some social hiatus that will remain until a catastrophic collapse happens.
  
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  April 3, 2021 10:25am
  - kowtow
    
    We’re in a slow motion train wreck as it is , but the client class , which is huge is on the tax payer tit , so no one except the net taxpayer ( the producer class) is overly bothered.
    
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    April 3, 2021 10:39am
  - cmm
    
    Of course there is a silver lining. There’s a silver lining in everything.
    
    Two weeks ago one of my cats was killed by an uncontrolled dog. Silver lining: cat food lasts longer.
    
    There are two questions though:
    a) Do the silver linings outweigh the downsides? ie was there a net benefit?
    b) Much of the silver lining is coming from unsustainable debt. This is going to take a generation to pay back and has a long set of negative consequences.
    
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    April 3, 2021 1:10pm
cmm

Leftie wet dream fails to stick to budget. Surprise, surprise.

Chch cycleway projects 4 times over budget. Cost $3000 dollars per metre! It would be cheaper to make the cycleways out of $20 notes.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/124611551/building-101km-of-cycleways-across-christchurch-to-cost-301m
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April 3, 2021 10:09am
- KevO'Brien
  
  It is is noticeably adding to road congestion.
  What use are these in the winter?
  
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  April 3, 2021 10:48am
Maggie Pie

TRENDING….

Appears the suspect at the Capitol Building this morning was black.
The story will disappear as the MSM only goes hysterical when a white person does something bad.
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April 3, 2021 10:17am
- Inandout
  
  Maggie, a black/white suprematist who is not a terrorist but once belonged to the KKK. CNN will bury this story.
  
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  April 3, 2021 10:19am
- Apropos of the Wet Snow
  
  Just like the recent mass shooting of 4 people by an Hispanic guy with a hand gun: the story was simultaneously dropped by all media, when it was discovered the guy wasn’t white and that he didn’t have a semi-automatic rifle.
  
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  April 3, 2021 10:21am
- mikenmildagain
  
  Okay, let’s follow this story over the next few days. I bet another terrorist attacking at the US Capitol, killing one officer and the offender, will remain in the news.
  
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  April 3, 2021 11:03am
  - KevO'Brien
    
    How can anyone get into the razor wire fenced Capitol?
    
    5 2
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    April 3, 2021 12:42pm
    - Maggie Pie
      
      Drove thru the fence.
      
      Here’s the culprit…..surprise surprise
      
      https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/1378084182342123523
      
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      April 3, 2021 12:52pm
      - Inandout
        
        Maggie, Muslim man will mean a non story. Next story please…
        
        5 2
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        April 3, 2021 1:57pm
- kowtow
  
  “The driver who killed a US Capitol cop before he was gunned down by police is a Nation of Islam devotee from Indiana, according to reports and his social media.”
  
  https://nypost.com/2021/04/02/suspect-who-smashed-into-barrier-at-us-capitol-identified-reports/
  
  Story will drop fast, all attention must be focussed on the show trial of the decade, courtesy of the International Media Pardy , Fentanyl Floyd’s Farcical Follies.
  
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  April 3, 2021 11:42am
- SB2
  
  Unlike the Trump-inspired Capitol Hill insurrection.
  
  One way to do at look at it the later 5 dead ( including one police officer ) and Noah Green 1
  
  https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/04/02/us/us-capitol-police-attack#capitol-attack
  
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  April 3, 2021 2:46pm
Maggie Pie

THE FIFTH

And the George Floyd saga takes another twist.
Who was it with George in the back of the police car when he was arrested…… His drug dealer maybe??

https://twitter.com/kimmiintx/status/1377633973782913025
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April 3, 2021 10:32am
- Inandout
  
  Maggie, the violence is on standby if the police guy is acquitted. Poor judge.
  
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  April 3, 2021 11:00am
  - Steve Todd
    
    Derek Chauvin faces three charges pertaining to George Floyd’s death, being second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
    
    The charges are discussed in this article: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/here-s-what-know-about-derek-chauvin-trial-n1261826.
    
    Chauvin’s problem is that he knelt on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes!! And did so seemingly completely nonchalantly / without showing any concern for Floyd’s well-being.
    
    Why on earth was that necessary? Surely Floyd, who was handcuffed, immobile, and completely under police control, could have been processed well within that time. From a police point-of-view, what was going on during those 10 or so minutes?
    
    I will be very surprised if Chauvin is not convicted of (at least) one of the three charges he faces.
    
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    April 3, 2021 12:11pm
    - Maggie Pie
      
      Did you catch up with the question I raised on GD @ 4:10pm yesterday, Steve?
      
      Have a look and get back to me with your answer.
      
      How many on the jury will be thinking just like me do you reckon? My partner says… “millions”
      
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      April 3, 2021 12:42pm
      - Steve Todd
        
        a) A white Cop with an 18 year unblemished record in the Police Force….
        
        Yes, I saw your comment at the time, Maggie.
        
        Derek Chauvin is not quite the poster boy you imply he is. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derek_Chauvin.
        
        Quite frankly, I would prefer to have neither as a neighbour.
        
        As for the jury, this one could go either way, but it seems (to me) unlikely he will get off all three charges.
        
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        April 3, 2021 8:05pm
    - Apropos of the Wet Snow
      
      The only question is what killed George Floyd. The autopsy indicates that it was a near-lethal dose of fentanyl combined with an existing heart condition. Whether or not Chauvin was nonchalant or showed any concern is not really relevant.
      
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      April 3, 2021 12:52pm
      - Steve Todd
        
        The only question is what killed George Floyd.
        
        Not only is that nonsense, it is nothing more than your opinion.
        
        3 5
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        April 3, 2021 1:36pm
      - virtualmark
        
        Well if that’s true then the defence case will be straightforward.
        
        But somehow I doubt that is how it will play out …
        
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        April 3, 2021 1:42pm
      - Apropos of the Wet Snow
        
        Seems a pretty fundamental consideration to me, Stevie. Cause of death is always relevant when asking if Mr X killed Mr Y. I would have thought that this didn’t require any explanation, but I guess I was wrong.
        
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        April 3, 2021 2:09pm
      - SB2
        
        THE QUESTION
        
        Did drugs or heart issues contribute to George Floyd’s death?
        
        THE ANSWER
        
        We can’t verify whether drugs or heart issues contributed to Floyd’s death, but we can verify that three medical examiners ruled his death a homicide.
        
        https://www.king5.com/article/news/verify/chauvin-trial-drugs-heart-george-floyd-death/507-79911bcd-3cbe-44ee-8e44-30e00baf8010
        
        But there is the chance for the defence to contrive theatrics in the tradtion of OJ
        
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        April 3, 2021 3:02pm
      - Steve Todd
        
        @Apropos of the Wet Snow @ 2:09PM
        
        Snowy, your smug certainty that your opinion is all that need be considered is laughable.
        
        The simple fact of the matter is, George Floyd would not have died that evening if Derek Chauvin had not knelt on his neck for nine minutes.
        
        Can you not consider the possibility that the jury will find that that was the cause of death, or at least contributed to it?
        
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        April 3, 2021 6:16pm
      - Maggie Pie
        
        My partner believes the question that NEEDS to be considered by the jury…..
        
        “Is the world not now a better place that George Floyd is dead?”
        
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        April 3, 2021 6:53pm
    - artemisia
      
      9 minutes kneeling on the neck? Maybe, maybe not. Evidence will be tabled including photos and an autopsy report.
      
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      April 3, 2021 4:11pm
gump

I see that Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz is under investigation for paying for sex with underaged women.

Funny how the QAnon folks suddenly stop talking when it turns out that Republicans are involved in sex trafficking.
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April 3, 2021 10:43am
- Inandout
  
  gump, this is another diversion like that silly Dem attempt to blacken Kavanagh.
  
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  April 3, 2021 11:01am
  - tf78
    
    Inandout, it seems that ‘toxic feminity’ (my newly invented word) has taken over the world.
    
    6 4
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    April 3, 2021 11:48am
  - mikenmildagain
    
    Come back to us when this proves to be the case…
    
    3 5
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    April 3, 2021 12:07pm
- mikenmildagain
  
  He’s pretending it’s part of an extortion plot against him…
  
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  April 3, 2021 11:06am
  - Ed Snack
    
    There’s more to come, but it could be both. He does seem fairly certain that he has evidence of an extortion attempt, and that’s a pretty high risk strategy if there is no such evidence. Some released info does seem to point to his (wealthy) father being approached to pay up to silence witnesses.
    
    5 2
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    April 3, 2021 1:14pm
    - gump
      
      Where there is smoke there is fire. His Communications Director has just jumped from the burning ship.
      
      https://www.foxnews.com/politics/matt-gaetz-communications-director-steps-down-federal-investigation
      
      1 2
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      April 3, 2021 4:31pm
  - virtualmark
    
    Weird strategy. If you’re innocent then how can you be extorted?
    
    3 0
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    April 3, 2021 1:43pm
  - Inandout
    
    m&m, well he is Republican so he must be ‘exposed’. Meanwhile Hunter remains under censorship.
    
    4 2
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    April 3, 2021 2:02pm
- ISeeRed
  
  If they’re under age, they aren’t women.
  
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  April 3, 2021 11:11am
Captain Mainwaring

With the passage of time, ‘nine years of neglect’ has proven to be anything but.
Now, the Nats can start proudly using the phrase ‘four years of failure’, and next year they can update it to ‘five years of failure.’
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April 3, 2021 10:50am
- Captain Mainwaring
  
  Followed by ‘six years of stagnation’.
  
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  April 3, 2021 10:55am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    and let’s not even contemplate:
    Seven years of screw-ups
    Eight years of errors
    or Nine years of negligence.
    
    21 1
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    April 3, 2021 11:03am
    - NeverMindTheBollocks
      
      Followed by a decade of decline, dereliction, decimation, destruction, disaster (take your pick)
      
      5 1
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      April 3, 2021 4:28pm
  - WaveyDavey
    
    Stagnation implies that things have stayed the same not got worse
    
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    April 3, 2021 2:12pm
- kowtow
  
  The problem is the Nats are still quivering in their bunker after that very successful facebook campaign that branded Bridges as “negative” and set off the coup that ultimately all but wiped them out of any contention to be taken seriously.
  
  No doubt their Crosby Textor style focus groups are telling them the same thing .
  
  Yet there’s so much they can be doing to re connect with the “heartland” .
  
  Kick all the identity politics out , the global warming crap , the cosying up to the CCP ( now that would be particularly hard for them) , get back to the economy , personal responsibility , less regulation ,tough on crime , a fair go for all ……
  
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  April 3, 2021 11:13am
- KevO'Brien
  
  We cannot afford another year. “Happily” the world has been so disturbed by the COVID lockdowns and the financial opportunism that occurred that a monetary tsunami is approaching NZ and the Gobblement will be taken unawares. The Min Fin will have to come out of his Uni-Cafe mode and explain to Cinders how her fire has been doused.
  National get ready!
  
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  April 3, 2021 12:39pm
  - Steve Todd
    
    We cannot afford another year.
    
    What utter nonsense. If we can survive nearly nine years of Muldoon, we can survive nine years of Robbo.
    
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    April 3, 2021 1:02pm
    - Ed Snack
      
      That’s a distortion of the time. Muldoon was fairly orthodox for most of his time as PM, and wasn’t always incapable.
      
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      April 3, 2021 1:16pm
      - Steve Todd
        
        Maybe so, Ed, but We the People wanted rid of Muldoon after just one term, but the workings of the FPP system meant we were stuck with him for nearly three terms.
        
        See my response to KevO’Brien (Mon 8 Mar 21), here: https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2021/03/socialism_means_everyone_is_now_a_millionaire.html/comment-page-1#comment-2902864.
        
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        April 3, 2021 2:00pm
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      Muldoon may not have been that great, but he understood money. Robbo works with a roving decimal point
      
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      April 3, 2021 1:29pm
      - Nickc2
        
        Robbo also works on the principle that financial debt is someone else’s problem, not his. He’s aware he won’t be around long enough to pay it back and neither will his replacement.
        
        9 2
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        April 3, 2021 2:09pm
      - SB2
        
        He understood money??
        
        2 8
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        April 3, 2021 3:00pm
      - Steve Otto(North Shore)
        
        Stupid boy. The only difference between a billion and a trillion is 3 zeros. As zeros have no value, there is no extra cost.
        AOC, prove me wrong stupid boy
        
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        April 3, 2021 5:58pm
TWEEDSE

Jack Tame in an NZB article about housing puts the blame for the crisis on those of us who live in a house with a garden. He accuses us of “acting against the collective interests”. Well excuse me comrade, exactly what salary is little Jack on at the tax payers expense?

He ignores all the obvious reasons for why housing is so expensive and blames those bad rich pricks as he sees them.

I guess he fits in well with the woke, government funded, hacks backing Cindy.

Try being a true journalist for a change Jack.
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April 3, 2021 10:52am
- Steve Todd
  
  This is the article you forgot to link to, TWEEDSE—
  
  https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/saturday-morning-with-jack-tame/opinion/jack-tame-what-can-home-owners-do-for-the-housing-crisis/.
  
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  April 3, 2021 11:46am
- Gravelroad
  
  I suggest Mr Tame would be far more suited to working in the PM’s office as a propaganda specialist for the Labour Party.
  Hopefully, an opportunity will come up for him there soon.
  In the meantime, he is doing a pretty good Comms job for them on national TV and radio as it is.
  
  30 3
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  April 3, 2021 11:47am
Steve Todd

Uh, oh! The consequences are sinking in for the Capitol riot suspects.

See short video, and article, here: https://www.yahoo.com/news/capitol-riot-suspects-apologize-consequences-100425147.html.
6 9
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April 3, 2021 11:14am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  All gone quiet about them being Trump supporters.
  The bastards hijacked it, they said they would, Trump offered troops for protection, and Pelosi vetoed that. The Dems are responsible for this – and now the troops are there with a fence around the grounds.
  Hip hip hip hypocrites
  
  7 3
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  April 3, 2021 3:14pm
Chuck Bird

They are NOT us.

Dunedin teen refugee victim of live-streamed honour beating by family

“Judges at both sentencings were clear Islam was a religion of peace and familial violence was not acceptable for those who practised.”

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/dunedin-teen-refugee-victim-of-live-streamed-honour-beating-by-family/F3K625RND5LZKIK4BIIL6SOGDQ/
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April 3, 2021 11:35am
- SB2
  
  That’s right. Everyone living here are subject to the laws of our land whether refugees or not.
  
  Most citizens understand that including the vast majority of refugees who observe them.
  
  I would suggest (from past form )not to pick out a a particular incident and make a sweeping over generalisation
  
  And you will agree that those massacred and wounded in the Chrsitchuch Mosque attacks are ” us”
  
  Correct?
  
  4 21
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  April 3, 2021 11:47am
  - Chuck Bird
    
    Very few of them probably. I wonder how many of them would accept that Isreal has a right to exist as I presume is still NZ’s position.
    
    11 4
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    April 3, 2021 2:13pm
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Suggest what you like stupid boy. Those people came to NZ and bought the luggage from the shitholes they came from.
    The Aussie shooter was totally wrong, but then you have to ask the Plod how he got the license, guns, and 3000 rounds
    
    13 4
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    April 3, 2021 3:19pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Yep, they bring their stoneage luggage from the shithole they came from
  
  21 5
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  April 3, 2021 11:48am
  - SB2
    
    Who taught you your warp and twisted way of thinking?
    
    2 7
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    April 3, 2021 2:54pm
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      Labour Party did – sometimes I troll, just like you do 24/7
      
      8 3
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      April 3, 2021 6:01pm
- kowtow
  
  Cuppla points .
  
  The article makes no mention of any dealings by the Crown towards the “boys” or their ages who also engaged in the thrashings …….
  
  Dunedin is a main centre and yet ;
  
  ‘That assistance in regions outside the main centres, Ms Ward said, was often lacking.’
  
  And yet the gubmint , when it upped the numbers being brought in said we could cope.
  
  As to the judges , they say this is a religion of peace and yet progressives like Fisk tell us that honour murders are a scourge of those societies and on a lighter note this has been known by the people dealing with them for a very long time ……
  
  ‘……in New Zealand the law requires us………’
  
  https://nopunchespulled.com/2019/03/22/cultural-clashes-always-good-for-a-laugh/
  
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  April 3, 2021 1:22pm
  - kowtow
    
    Oh and I really don’t expect the # Mobocracy / Ali Maus of this world to take to the tweets on this either …….
    
    6 1
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    April 3, 2021 1:54pm
  - SB2
    
    Correct and thats way why most refugees like us obey our own laws the prohibit that klind of actions.
    
    As always trying any way to blanket smear and discredit refugee and other ethnic/racial /religious minorities?
    
    1 11
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    April 3, 2021 2:59pm
    - cmm
      
      “most refugees like us”
      
      I never knew you were a refugee.
      
      6 0
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      April 3, 2021 7:33pm
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        Stephieboy/SB2 knows nothing about refugees in NZ.
        
        If he had the faintest clue he would have realised the absurd nonsense of equating someone with my surname with the alt-Right.
        
        How the FUCK did he think my in-laws got to NZ?
        
        6 3
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        April 3, 2021 7:50pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Either there has been a rash of honour beatings going on in Dunedin…or this is the second daughter that has been beaten up.
  
  https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/crime/%E2%80%98cultural-displacement%E2%80%99-cited-assaults
  
  9 1
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  April 3, 2021 2:55pm
  - greybeard
    
    These judges have very little good judgement.
    They are idiots.
    Maybe it would be better if the employers and neighbours of these child-beating and female-beating immigrants had a say in their punishment.
    
    10 1
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    April 3, 2021 4:04pm
  - kowtow
    
    Different case altogether.
    
    But the gubmint assured us they chose the pick of the crop ………
    
    8 1
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    April 3, 2021 5:04pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

The Dems really hate Candace Owens. Here she is with Tucker Carlson talking about Govt issued ID.
Keep your eye on this clever woman, she could well be the first black woman POTUS.
https://www.foxnews.com/media/candace-owens-tucker-democrats-voter-id-blacks-neanderhals.amp
17 6
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April 3, 2021 11:39am
- SB2
  
  Tucker Carlson squirms and crawls back into favour again?
  
  2 19
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  April 3, 2021 11:49am
  - Inandout
    
    SB, at least he has a wife and family unlike the CNN lot.
    
    5 3
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    April 3, 2021 2:04pm
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Fox has some leftie wanks in admin these days. Why do you think they are crashing?
    
    4 4
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    April 3, 2021 3:21pm
- mikenmildagain
  
  Well, Donald Trump has set a low bar for elected office…
  
  3 17
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  April 3, 2021 12:05pm
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Carlson would run rings around you and stupid boy
    
    13 6
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    April 3, 2021 2:02pm
    - mikenmildagain
      
      How is Tucker Carlson mixed up in the Matt Gaetz thing?
      
      2 3
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      April 3, 2021 2:19pm
- Nickc2
  
  I live in hope!
  
  5 2
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  April 3, 2021 12:32pm
Maggie Pie

Me: Think I’ll open this kitchen drawer.

Potato Masher: The fuck you will…..
25 1
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April 3, 2021 12:34pm
- Tall Man
  
  I really hate to say it Maggie but …….
  
  I think you need bigger “drawers”……
  
  4 0
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  April 3, 2021 2:03pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Children, you know the story, get the keys off Mum and fuck off to the basement https://babylonbee.com/news/concession-vendors-selling-bricks-molotovs-outside-derek-chauvin-trial?
7 2
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April 3, 2021 2:03pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

The United Spot is also satire. Children, stay in the basement.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwokeEoDXec
3 3
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April 3, 2021 2:11pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Liz Wheeler calling out Biden on his bullshit.
Btw, if I could go live in the US, I would. Sure beats this shithole now called A tea rower.
https://rumble.com/vf9vmn-heres-whats-actually-in-bidens-insane-immigration-plan.html?
7 5
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April 3, 2021 2:18pm
- mikenmildagain
  
  Watching people like Liz Wheeler won’t make you a better person, Steve.
  
  3 3
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  April 3, 2021 2:41pm
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    She would make you a better person Mike – but married and just had a child.
    Hope that child grows to to be smarter than you Mike.
    Remember, it was you that started this shit, you just attack anyone that does not have TDS
    
    6 4
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    April 3, 2021 6:18pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Taiwan opening up its borders to visitors from Palau
https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/taiwan-palau-travel-bubble-intl-hnk/index.html

Time for NZ to look for Asian bubbles?
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/calls-grow-government-consider-travel-bubble-asia
7 2
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April 3, 2021 2:34pm
- Jack5
  
  The Palau decision is particularly significant, given that 20 Taiwanese sailors tested positive for Covid-19 after a Taiwanese Navy goodwill visit to Palau early last year.
  
  This led to 700 sailors being put into cautionary quarantine.
  
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  April 3, 2021 3:13pm
  - Tall Man
    
    How many fell ill? Did any require hospitalisation? Did any die?
    
    Isn’t that the most important aspect?
    
    2 1
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    April 3, 2021 7:39pm
fredonas

“Australia and New Zealand are two of the most advanced and beautiful countries on earth, but if Cook (or Abel Tasman) had not discovered the place, I wonder whether they would be as advanced as, say, Yemen or the Central African Republic are, countries not discovered by white supremacists like Cook.”
Ruh, roh, I suspect Taki won’t be on Magic Talk any time soon 🙂
https://www.takimag.com/article/only-the-good-get-canceled/
5 2
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April 3, 2021 2:41pm
Jack5

Britain’s Woke are furious about the report of the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, which found that Britain is a model for race relations .

The Commission concluded the “claim the country is still institutionally racist is not borne out by the evidence”.

Commission chairman Tony Sewell, a Black Englishman of Jamaican descent, wrote in the foreword wrote that there was a new story to be told about the “slave period,” not just “about profit and suffering”, but about how “culturally African people transformed themselves into a re-modelled African/Britain”.

The Commission found factors such as social class and family structures often explain differences in outcomes for individual ethnic groups rather than racial discrimination.

To read the report (or just delve into its 258 pages):

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/974507/20210331_-_CRED_Report_-_FINAL_-_Web_Accessible.pdf

For the angry reaction of Black English acadmeic David Olusoga (the commision report’s “poisonously patronising” and “historically inaccurate”) :

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/apr/02/sewell-race-report-historical-young-people-britain
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April 3, 2021 3:07pm
- fredonas
  
  My reaction when I saw that on the tweeters was: Common sense 1 – race grifting leftists nil ?
  
  3 1
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  April 3, 2021 5:52pm
Maggie Pie

HAPPY EASTER!

One of the gurls from tennis just retweeted this to everyone.
Thort I’d share it with the group….. 😀

https://twitter.com/_1Bonita_/status/1378034644428468225
5 2
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April 3, 2021 3:24pm
- Inandout
  
  Maggie, if I become ‘fluid’ and identify as gender/species free can I become a rabbit? The next census must cater for fluidity like it does for those alternative marriages.
  
  5 2
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  April 3, 2021 3:33pm
kowtow

The perpetually offended brigade are making a bigly stink over a sky sports jockey taking the mickey out of a japanese accent .

‘Foon said even off-hand comments were bad and a stereotype, and even if someone laughed a comment off, they could be hurting underneath.

“All the micro-aggressions that accumulate, even though they may be small, they do become quite tiresome and hurtful to the people receiving them, so these new micro-aggressions need to stop.” ‘

OK but during the commentary 2 of the guys covering the game itself took the piss out of “Gorrrrrrrre” when discussing De Groot’s good performance .

I take it from the perpetually outraged mob Meng Foon and the other media go to guy for a bit of corrective commentary Spoonly that from their silence the only people who can have the piss taken from ’em is Honkeys?
8 1
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April 3, 2021 3:56pm
surfing

This guy can’t get work with unemployment at 4.9%…

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/auckland-mans-job-hunt-3000-applications-158-interviews-still-no-work/DGE7W67VAXKNGUWBT4HJZHISJA/

It doesn’t really add up. Something is not right.
5 1
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April 3, 2021 3:58pm
- fredonas
  
  This says it all: “he has been offered roles four times – but all have been rescinded as the country went through yo-yo lockdowns”. Ouch.
  His area of expertise, sales and account management, is also very susceptible to economic swings and downturns. Hope he gets the job he wants soon.
  
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  April 3, 2021 6:01pm
mikenmildagain

John Boehner reflects on his time a speaker of the US house of representatives:

In the 2010 midterm election, voters from all over the place gave President Obama what he himself called “a shellacking.” And oh boy, was it ever. You could be a total moron and get elected just by having an R next to your name—and that year, by the way, we did pick up a fair number in that category.
Since I was presiding over a large group of people who’d never sat in Congress, I felt I owed them a little tutorial on governing. I had to explain how to actually get things done. A lot of that went straight through the ears of most of them, especially the ones who didn’t have brains that got in the way. Incrementalism? Compromise? That wasn’t their thing. A lot of them wanted to blow up Washington. That’s why they thought they were elected.
4 6
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April 3, 2021 4:25pm
Maggie Pie

Camp David Security Guard: “Mister President, sorry to wake you at this hour sir, there’s been a fatal stabbing outside the Whitehouse”

Joe: “C’mon man! It’s 2 o’clock in the afternoon”
14 4
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April 3, 2021 6:14pm

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