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January 24, 2022 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 24 January 2022

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General Debate

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Benedict Yu

Dropped into Pak n Save yesterday afternoon. They have this wine I like at a good price.

What a shit show. Hundreds of people filled with anxiety, trollies piled high. Toilet paper 80 percent gone. And this was at 2.00pm.
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January 24, 2022 8:00am
- Bloody Dago
  
  The usual wackademia wonks spewing their bile around this morning, the one from Dunedin spinning like a top.
  
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  January 24, 2022 8:05am
  - Marcus Vinicius
    
    One from Canterbury University doing the same.
    
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    January 24, 2022 8:32am
    - Frank the tank
      
      In fairness – for them this is their sleeping with Elle McPherson moment. The little one from Dunedin looked post orgasmic when I fleetingly saw him on some news last night.
      
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      January 24, 2022 8:38am
    - Marcus Vinicius
      
      In the NZ Herald Chippie has joined in throwing possible daily case numbers around as well.
      
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      January 24, 2022 8:46am
- Charmaine Hawke
  
  This was bound to happen after the announcement. It is pleasing, though, to see we have become an international laughing stock after this over reaction.
  I am now bored with covid and just wish it would do what it is supposed to do and move through the country so we can get rid of the fear and the tinpot dictator running the country.
  I also note yet again she can’t stick to the plan and had to introduce 3 levels to red. To be an event planner in this country must now be second only to being a travel agent in the lunacy employment stakes, said as a travel agent who has worked through this mess and is back to 2020 and cancelling peoples trips. I should add these are not holidays in the traditional sense but people trying to get overseas to see elderly parents before they die. It is heartbreaking that we have a government so myopically focused on one thing they are missing what they are doing to peoples mental health. If I hadn’t known as many people as I do in government who are tearing their hair out I would say it was almost a plan to destroy us.
  Sadly it is more banal than that, the rule makers lack the skills to understand what their rules mean in practice.
  
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  January 24, 2022 8:11am
  - Clownworld
    
    Plan to destroy us…like the great reset? Surely not?
    
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    January 24, 2022 8:39am
  - david
    
    Charmaigne, please point to some evidence that it is not deliberate.
    thanks
    
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    January 24, 2022 9:01am
  - John Pakes
    
    Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
    You find it pleasing that we have become an international laughing stock?
    And where is your evidence that we have become this?
    Your post reeks of hyperbole.
    
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    January 24, 2022 9:30am
    - Clownworld
      
      Sometimes people outside the problem have better perspective
      In this case countries overseas find NZ’s over reaction – ridiculous, pointless and weird. Most countries have thousands of “cases”per day, they are opening up not locking down or painting staged red traffic lights.
      
      Evidience -headline in European country – rough translation ” Jacinda cancels red wedding as she locks down country for 9 omnicron cases”. People here are laughing…at the response.
      
      No hyperbole.
      
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      January 24, 2022 9:41am
      - Prince
        
        We are known as ‘The Hermit Kingdom’
        
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        January 24, 2022 10:36am
    - Charmaine Hawke
      
      John as bored as I am to do this just read the comments
      https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10432425/Major-events-cancelled-New-Zealand-Jacinda-Ardern-announced-tough-Covid-rules.html
      Before you sai “oh it’s the Daily Mail” realise that they have been the ultimate bedwetters over this, a bit like you actually.
      
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      January 24, 2022 9:44am
      - John Pakes
        
        Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
        A glance at the link provided hardly could lead anyone to consider that New Zealand is the laughing stock of the world.
        Only in your mind.
        So you are bored with covid. Oh dear.
        You are hooked on hyperbole and exaggeration.
        
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        January 24, 2022 10:40am
    - hmmokrightitis
      
      Look about you JP, look about. There are two other states locking their people down globally because of Omicron.
      
      North Korea and China.
      
      Thats who we rank with. Laughing stock.
      
      Oh but I forget, red traffic light isn’t lockdown. Get to 90% she said, well open up she said.
      
      She couldn’t lie straight in bed.
      
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      January 24, 2022 9:44am
      - John Pakes
        
        Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
        We are not locked down, so the rest of your comment is rubbish.
        
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        January 24, 2022 10:42am
      - hmmokrightitis
        
        Your reading and cognitive abilities are clearly sub-par for the usual trolls we get.
        
        Are you our summer troll? Will the better ones be back from Labours latest “retreat” (with our without kids and alcohol?) soon?
        
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        January 24, 2022 1:39pm
    - Sacha
      
      Some of us are laughing too. We will get on with our lives despite the idiocies of this ‘government’.
      
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      January 24, 2022 9:47am
      - rouppe
        
        I went to a bar / restaurant last night.
        
        During the first lock down I had some staff member shout at me because I dared to walk without a mask the 5 metres from the door to the table my mates were at.
        
        Last night maybe 2 of the staff members were wearing a mask despite that being the “rule” for staff at a hospitality venue.
        
        Times have changed…
        
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        January 24, 2022 10:34am
    - Mr_Blobby
      
      You must live a very sad existence.
      
      1. Stop watching free to air TV
      2. Stop reading the News Papers
      3. Get on with life.
      
      You will be much happier, I guarantee it.
      
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      January 24, 2022 10:30am
      - John Pakes
        
        Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
        Don’t think so, some how.
        
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        January 24, 2022 10:42am
      - curry4me
        
        Mr_Blobby: Without those things though; some members of Branch Covidians have nothing. Their life is pointless.
        
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        January 24, 2022 11:25am
    - Jim
      
      https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-10435637/DAN-WOOTTON-Prime-Minister-Jacinda-Arderns-crazy-Covid-zero-policy.html#comments
      
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      January 25, 2022 6:29am
- Mr_Blobby
  
  Have I made the right choice, you see I desperately want to get covid so I can get it out of the way and move on.
  
  I decided to exercise my right to free choice, you see I am pro choice.
  
  So it seemed the best option was to stand in support of the newly created 2nd class of segregated filthy infectious unvaccinated.
  
  And explain to people that unvaccinated does not mean infectious.
  
  Jacinda was very clear that the vaccinated only wanted to associate with other vaccinated, her words not mine. I was not at the supermarket yesterday so I can only assume it was the vaccinated associating with other vaccinated.
  
  But it seems to me that covid was brought into the country by vaccinated people, all the places of interest can only be used by the vaccinated associating with other vaccinated,.
  
  Everything we have done has made the virus hotter and more infectious, imperfect leaky vaccine killing off milder variants and lock downs killing off less infectious variants.
  
  So have I made the right choice.
  
  If you ever wondered what side of the fence you would have been on during the Civil rights movement in the US last century, swap vaccinated for white and unvaccinated for coloured.
  
  There is your answer.
  
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  January 24, 2022 8:18am
  - KevO'Brien
    
    Consider this plandemic may be the outcome of the battle between the wannabe globalist controllers and the increasingly powerful technocrats:
    https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2022/01/23/the-covid-deception-is-a-power-grab/
    
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    January 24, 2022 8:49am
    - Mr_Blobby
      
      It’s far braver to stand against tyranny than it is to stand for it, or stand by and watch it happen.
      
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      January 24, 2022 10:51am
  - riffer
    
    Your logic is just plain weird.
    
    TBH I believe a more infectious, less dangerous virus is definitely the way we want things to move, as that variant would effectively wipe out all others, leading the virus to become endemic but mostly harmless, like the Spanish flu led to what we now call the flu.
    As for “the vaccinated are bringing in covid”, well, it is true that a very small amount of incoming vaccinated do seem to still get infected – Astrazenica is proving to be less effective against Omicron. But, that does not mean that unvaccinated would not bring in Omicron. It would be far more likely that the unvaccinated would be far worse connected. Remember, 2% of 99% is always going to look more than 10% of 5%.
    I don’t understand your comparison with white and black in the civil rights movement at all.
    As for vaccinated being able to infect, it seems, based on evidence, that this may be true, but it is for a far shorter timeframe than unvaccinated. So again, unvaccinated get the short end of the stick. All things considered, I’d still be leaning towards vaccination, even if not perfect.
    
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    January 24, 2022 8:55am
    - cmm
      
      “Astrazenica is proving to be less effective against Omicron”
      
      Pfizer too.
      
      And “for less effective”, substitute completely ineffective at reducing transmission.
      
      In an age of Omicron, the vaccine passport and traffic light levels have thing is nothing to do with medical science (which would focus on transmission) and only are there for one thing: exerting compliance.
      
      Look at the ridiculous requirements under red: hospitality can serve vaccinated, but then must do a “deep clean” before returning to “vaccinated” mode.
      
      This them vs us is really very like apartheid.
      
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      January 24, 2022 9:15am
      - Mr_Blobby
        
        I understand and it certainly looks like the current “vaccines”, if you can even call them vaccines, have been bypassed by omicron. a better “vaccine” is on the way apparently, but what to do with millions of shots that are already here.
        
        Just a little bit embarrassing, do we though [throw] them out?
        
        Or do we carry on and shoot everybody up with a vaccine that we now know is not effective.
        
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        January 24, 2022 9:25am
    - Mr_Blobby
      
      look your scared.
      
      I understand. Its OK.
      
      I have looked at the overall death rates for all causes, from around the World, every Country has a death rate, they have barely moved, some up some down.
      
      I have looked a all causes of death. You are going to die, it is part of the human condition.
      
      So odds are that you have a 1 in 90 chance of dying in any given year, unless you plan to be immortal.
      
      Cause of death Odds of Dying
      
      Heart disease 1 in 6
      Cancer 1 in 7
      All preventable causes of death 1 in 24
      Chronic lower respiratory disease 1 in 27
      Suicide 1 in 88
      
      Covid does not even come close to the top 10 causes of death.
      
      But I understand you are scared, and it is OK.
      
      Try not to panic.
      
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      January 24, 2022 9:16am
      - Russ the Muss
        
        Lol, indeed. But surely queen Canute can keep us all safe. Surely she can legislate against death with her super majority?
        
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        January 24, 2022 10:42am
    - Observer of Life
      
      I read a headline the other day .. “1/3 of Covid at border are unvaccinated”. Flip side reality… 2/3 of Covid at border are VACCINATED!!
      
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      January 24, 2022 9:38am
      - Mr_Blobby
        
        It was my understanding that you could not travel to New Zealand or work at the border, unless you were vaccinated, so we are all safe right?
        
        But what about the 501 deportees, are they all vaccinated and tested?
        
        Are our Prisoners, sorry men in our care, all vaccinated and tested?
        
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        January 24, 2022 10:22am
  - coolas
    
    Weird logic Blobby. Getting vaccinated or not is a choice. We don’t choose to be white or coloured.
    
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    January 24, 2022 9:23am
    - Mr_Blobby
      
      Ok how about Nazi Germany, Apartheid or Slavery.
      
      What side of the fence do you think you would be on.
      
      The right side or the wrong side.
      
      I think you have your answer.
      
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      January 24, 2022 10:19am
      - coolas
        
        Blobby. It’s not a binary. Can’t you think outside your prejudices?
        
        In Nazi Germany victims of the holocaust didn’t choose to be Jewish, or Gypsy etc.
        
        In South Africa the victims of Apartheid were non-whites. Blacks and coloured didn’t choose their colour.
        
        Slavery was mostly blacks. Not a choice.
        
        Not to be vaccinated is a choice with consequences.
        
        Framing them as victims equivalent to apartheid, slavery, holocaust is an insult to all those who suffered under the abhorrent regimes.
        
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        January 24, 2022 12:19pm
      - bronny1
        
        Coolas. I don’t mean to be awful but if the true long term impacts of the vaccine are really bad (eg sterilisation of women due to the lipid nanoparticles known to go right to the ovaries, cancers due to immune system being suppressed, big increases in heart disease), I hope you will take the same attitude that you had a choice and the outcome is your own fault. Because you had a choice to be jobless or take the jab, you made a choice to be able to be part of society or not, you had a choice as to whether to comply. And the outcome is 100% on you. You can’t blame the spin doctors, Pfizer or anyone else as it was YOUR choice.
        
        Glad we are clear on that.
        
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        January 24, 2022 4:22pm
    - coge
      
      We don’t choose coercion.
      
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      January 24, 2022 8:38pm
  - rockape
    
    But if you were black back then you couldn’t choose to be white!
    
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    January 24, 2022 9:35am
    - Mr_Blobby
      
      Could I choose to marry a black?
      
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      January 24, 2022 10:20am
      - Fight4NZ
        
        Yes. There might be consequences.
        
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        January 24, 2022 4:26pm
- UkiWop
  
  By saying NO need to panic IS the Green light for the masses to panic, it works every time…….suckers
  
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  January 24, 2022 8:31am
  - Mr_Blobby
    
    As long as it is vaccinated associating with other vaccinated we should be OK.
    
    Some sort of mass hysteria.
    
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    January 24, 2022 8:56am
    - artemisia
      
      Same sort of mass hysteria. FIFY.
      
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      January 24, 2022 9:31am
      - Don Beckett
        
        It’s called ‘Mass Formation Psychosis’.
        
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        January 24, 2022 10:08am
  - Russ the Muss
    
    I’m waiting for the day a politicians says, ‘yeah, it’s time to panic’ it would be glorious to behold watching those idiots who actually listen to these weirdo politicans with neither a critical thought between their brains reacting, lol.
    
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    January 24, 2022 10:45am
- Marcus Vinicius
  
  Never can fathom why folks hoard up on bog paper!!
  
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  January 24, 2022 8:35am
  - riffer
    
    I am not convinced it’s a lot of people buying up large. I reckon it’s more like just a lot of people buying. If the supermarket normally sells a hundred packs of toilet paper and in one day they have 500 customers all wanting it, there’s gonna be a shortage.
    More interesting data would be to see the difference in foot traffic.
    
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    January 24, 2022 8:57am
    - jgw739
      
      Could be dairies and other convenience stores loading up?
      
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      January 24, 2022 2:49pm
  - westernScientest
    
    They are shitting themselves with fear, seems like they might need it
    
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    January 24, 2022 9:08am
  - Observer of Life
    
    Who buys newspapers these days. Hence why the panic ?
    
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    January 24, 2022 10:04am
    - Prince
      
      Hardly anyone buys them, except for the taxpayer (Govt), who distributes the ‘freebies’ to Govt depts.
      And they pay full whack.
      Walk into any Govt dept at 8am (or later) and you’ll see a pile of newspapers for the managers’ crosswords, sudoku and daily quiz.
      
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      January 24, 2022 10:39am
      - Observer of Life
        
        So the govt dept staff don’t need to stock like bog roll with access to all that news print.
        
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        January 24, 2022 5:37pm
  - Mr_Blobby
    
    Especially when the price has gone up.
    
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    January 24, 2022 10:32am
  - peterwn
    
    Strategically important now that fewer and fewer people are buying newspapers. In WW2 some group would send tracts to allied POW’s. These came in handy as bog paper. The Goons did not provide anyway (it was probably in short supply for the locals).
    
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    January 24, 2022 10:45am
- rouppe
  
  I did a preemptive strike on the supermarket on Friday. It was obvious it was coming.
  
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  January 24, 2022 8:42am
  - riffer
    
    And here is my point proven.
    
    So many people on social media going on about “I went down to the supermarket yesterday to stock up and it was full of people.”
    
    Well, duh. They were all doing the same as you mate.
    
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    January 24, 2022 8:58am
    - westernScientest
      
      except that Friday was 3 days ago….
      
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      January 24, 2022 9:16am
      - rouppe
        
        Ha ha exactly. Burned him good!
        
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        January 24, 2022 10:36am
  - Joely Doe
    
    Meh.
    Organised a pre-emptive strike on Tuesday last week.
    Went back again on Friday for another round, once it became clear that that MIQ and tracing were failing again.
    No point being in the 1% if we can’t use it…
    Sunday? Smug? Moi?
    
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    January 24, 2022 10:25am
- alloytoo
  
  To be fair, toilet paper was probably 80% gone by Thursday.
  
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  January 24, 2022 9:54am
- Colville
  
  BY.
  
  Do yourself a favour:
  
  https://www.wine-searcher.com/
  
  and BUY the Pro version!
  
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  January 24, 2022 10:47am
Warren

Jacinda Ardern puts her wedding on hold as New Zealand moves into red traffic light system.
While nobody wants to see anyone’s wedding disrupted by the pandemic I think this statement by our Prime Minister is playing with words and belittling those whose families suffered a worse fate than a proposed wedding.
” My wedding will not be going ahead, but I join many other New Zealander’s that have had a experience like that as a result of the pandemic “.
People have died and love ones have not been able to travel or be able to comfort them in a time of need or been able to attend their funerals because of this Government and the Prime Minister, so to use that is downright ignorance and just a vote catching ploy.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/127574035/jacinda-ardern-puts-her-wedding-on-hold-as-nz-moves-into-red-traffic-light-setting
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January 24, 2022 8:00am
- KevO'Brien
  
  Is Jacinda seeking Megan Markle status?
  Is she trying to trade her wedding for sympathy votes?
  
  That woman could not organise a p..s up in a potty.
  
  What business does she have being in govt where executive ability is required. At least Luxon has that.
  
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  January 24, 2022 8:54am
  - riffer
    
    Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
    Well hang on. So many here were saying she would hold off until she had her wedding before putting us into red. Now she doesn’t you’re all bitching.
    
    You can’t have it both ways guys. Y’all sound pretty shallow to me.
    
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    January 24, 2022 8:59am
    - mikenmildagain
      
      Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
      This is Kiwiblog, riffer. Heads I win, tails you lose is how most of the arguments go when inconvenient facts emerge.
      
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      January 24, 2022 9:15am
    - Warren
      
      riffer everyone is allowed a opinion so can you show me where my post is false because what I have stated is fact people have died and love ones weren’t given the option like jacinda has with their loved ones have died without them seeing them for a last time, with others not even allowed to be present at the funeral.Jacinda Ardern our Prime Minister can have her wedding anytime so to compare a wedding to what others have been put through is arrogance at its best,while others will never forget the tragedy they have been put through.
      
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      January 24, 2022 9:17am
      - Paulus
        
        Like many others I am distraught at the cancellation of the Wedding of the Year.
        It was to a highlite of the Year of Reconciliation.
        Will it happen before she goes overseas shortly on her political honeymoon – taxpayer funded of course.
        
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        January 24, 2022 11:10am
      - Fight4NZ
        
        In the announcement I heard she said that cancelling the wedding was small potatoes compared the suffering of others. But why split hairs.
        
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        January 24, 2022 4:32pm
    - alloytoo
      
      I suspect that her hand was forced by others.
      
      IRD was warning staff to be prepared to work from home on Thursday,
      
      Foodstuffs and progressive was warning early child care facilities (and presumable aged care) on Tuesday.
      
      At the same time Ardern chose to move Northland from Red to Orange only to reverse this yesterday.
      
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      January 24, 2022 10:13am
      - Jack5
        
        Michael Reddell at Croaking Cassandra gets stuck into Covid policy – a taste:
        
        Since late last year, the government’s approach has increasingly lost any coherence. Despite high vaccination rates, we’ve had extreme coercion used on the reluctant to get vaccinated, and we’ve lurched down a path of “papers please” where those who refuse to show their government papers are prohibited (either by law directly, or enabled by it) from undertaking many of the normal activities of life.
        
        https://croakingcassandra.com/2022/01/24/to-what-end/
        
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        January 24, 2022 11:26am
      - Fight4NZ
        
        So why don’t you and all your antivaxxer mates stay at croakingcassandra? Sounds like you could post any non-sense and noone will point it out to you, perfect.
        
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        January 24, 2022 4:34pm
    - Joely Doe
      
      Nope.
      Still the same response as before.
      I don’t give a flying rats what she does or doesn’t do.
      
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      January 24, 2022 10:28am
    - TS Child
      
      No. Actually kiwibloggers were short sighted as it turns out. Much much better political capital in planning a wedding that then has to be delayed. Now she is us. It’s very clever. Or very lucky. Wedding plans and pictures can be disparaged as tone-deaf. A covid-related postponement / cancellation shows oneness with the community. The headlines worldwide will reflect this. The PM is good at narrative. national need to pay very close attention – we lives in a narrative based world and currently National and Act almost completely lack any sort of narrative at all and have a long way to go to be able to compete with Jacinda Ardern on this front – she’s schooling us good and proper.
      
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      January 24, 2022 1:18pm
      - Nickc2
        
        Geez, her daughter could well be the Marriage Celebrant if this goes on much longer.
        
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        January 24, 2022 1:41pm
  - Scooter
    
    She did an Adele but without the tears.
    
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    January 24, 2022 9:52am
- ClanMcleod
  
  Of course she had to turn it into all about her. Note for the amateur psychologists out there, she doesn’t say “our” wedding. It’s “my” wedding. “I” join many others. Not “we” join many others.
  Narcissist revealed by her own words.
  Brenda has zero scruples. Let’s go Brenda.
  
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  January 24, 2022 8:58am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  I’m afraid I join you in your cynical response to the PM’s postponed wedding.
  
  As someone on ‘The Standard” pointed out yesterday:… she can still get married, anytime, anywhere. She’s still got her partner & family here with her.
  
  It’s not the same as never being able to see a loved one who is dying, or not being present to help a family member/friend during a crisis, or missing your child’s graduation, etc.
  
  Her options are still open…
  
  That’s not the case for thousands of other folk whose options were closed in lockdowns or at the border.
  
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  January 24, 2022 8:58am
  - Taieri
    
    she can still get married, anytime, anywhere. She’s still got her partner & family here with her
    ————–
    
    Ah, but you are missing the point. This is just another occasion to get some sympathy from those still in love with her. “She even had to cancel her wedding for the greater good (or glory?)…”.
    
    By the way, what’s the big deal? Normal people go to the registry office, get the marriage licence and just do it instead of just talking about it for years and spilling crocodile tears…
    
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    January 24, 2022 9:17am
    - Cassandra
      
      Normal people? Shame on you. You’ve obviously not been paying attention. Normal people also eat bread. Here at Premier House we have cake.
      
      38 2
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      January 24, 2022 9:33am
  - Unity
    
    I’m feeling very cynical about the whole thing. First of all things opened up in time for Christmas and now that’s over, back comes the control. I’m very sceptical about the wedding. … [Deleted – keep the personal discussion out please. mod.] Was the wedding ever booked or was it only alluded to so when it was ‘cancelled’ she could look as though she was joining the rest of the people who were having a hard time seeing relatives, visiting dying relatives, being allowed back into the country for vital surgery etc?. I don’t believe a word that comes out of Vaxinder’s mouth.
    
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    January 24, 2022 9:20am
    - Man Among the Ruins
      
      You are right to be cynical. Extremely cynical, in fact. This has never been about virology or epidemiology at all, but has been purely political since day one. It is political policy dressed up with a thin veneer of health policy (although totally irrational, contradictory, and inconsistent as this veneer is) to act as a pretext to make the “new normal” more acceptable to the naively gullible among us.
      
      The virus is apolitical and wholly indifferent to holiday periods and other human affairs. Yet, this ongoing charade being solely and cynically a matter of politics, political policy dictates that the authorities can spring into action whenever it is deemed most politically expedient. For instance, Boris Johnson has just dropped all restrictions because calls for his resignation were gaining such momentum: pure politics. As some commenters have reported, why are government organisations and various individuals who are in the know aware of the policy’s timing well in advance? If this is a situation worthy of the designation “national state of emergency,” then surely actions cannot be signalled well in advance because time is of the essence, and should instead be implemented with very little warning, due to the “immanent extistential threat” posed by Covid. We have a situation where the implementation is very causal, and known well before time. So, it’s all just a matter of policy.
      
      As a good illustration that this is a pure policy issue wholly unrelated to any science or to public health, take the NHS mandate coming into effect in April: if we accept the falsehood that they are at present a threat to anyone else, are we seriously supposed to believe that NS staff can safely work in their unvaccinated state for the next three months, but after a certain arbitrary (politically expedient) date, they cannot? It’s all political theatre.
      
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      January 24, 2022 12:11pm
      - Jim
        
        100%
        
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        January 24, 2022 6:21pm
  - cmm
    
    No Maggy, you miss the main point: She’s Just Like Us.
    
    Just like any young mother she was going to get married at a billionaire’s mansion with a Grammy award winner singing for her and and now she’s had to put that off.
    
    See, just like thousands of others out there.
    
    60 3
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    January 24, 2022 9:22am
  - Tomtoddy
    
    The wedding is pure PR. It is all about maximising exposure. Having a wedding or not having a wedding for the PM makes not one iota of difference for her – she is living with a guy, got a child, and is to all effects married. So the wedding’s only purpose is publicity. Her PR team will be plotting to get the best possible favourable coverage and the bought and paid for media will oblige.
    
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    January 24, 2022 9:33am
    - Observer of Life
      
      TomT: The weddings other purpose is to satisfy the job application to the UN.
      
      19 2
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      January 24, 2022 10:25am
      - bronny1
        
        If she puts it off for a year the photos will be out just in time for election propagandising.
        
        6 0
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        January 24, 2022 4:51pm
  - david
    
    True to form and highly predictable (in hindsight)
    Cast your mind back to the statement that she knew about small businesses because she had worked in a fish-n-chip shop.
    Just about leveraging the smallest thing into a feel-good orgasm of sympathy and kindness.
    Bah ….. Humbug
    
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    January 24, 2022 11:12am
- John Pakes
  
  Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
  Come on Warren, this comment from you is pretty pathetic. What else could she say?
  I am with riffer on this one.
  
  6 37
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  January 24, 2022 9:35am
  - pussycat
    
    She could have said she was “postponing ” the wedding not cancelling it.
    
    20 2
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    January 24, 2022 10:38am
- Lee C
  
  If she’s getting cold feet, she could have just told Clarke.
  
  This ‘Red-Light’ nonsense is just an over-reaction why must we all pay for her indecisiveness?.
  
  29 2
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  January 24, 2022 10:14am
- Local Miller
  
  Two things I picked up from the report on this:
  1) Buying sympathy and trying to make herself look like “one of the people” and “I’m suffering just like ‘My’ people” in a bid to win voters back. Sorry, but this is classic Orwellian behaviour.
  2) As with lockdowns that were enforced around the time the jab was being pushed, this move to all red looks like an attempt to “encourage” (read force) everyone to get the booster and get their kiddies jabbed. There’s a subtext here of: “If we were all boosted this wouldn’t have happened”.
  
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  January 24, 2022 10:45am
- Squeek
  
  When she said it was canceled I thought that’s a bit drastic, I would have expected to just postpone it. It seems that having at least 100 people present is more important to her/them than actually getting married.
  
  15 0
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  January 24, 2022 1:28pm
NeverMindTheBollocks

Morning Report is back. I note Susie Ferguson is one of the presenters. With it being Wellington Anniversary Day, surely RNZ could have rostered only Auckland-based staff for this morning’s show?
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January 24, 2022 8:00am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  For clarity – one assumes that she will be paid the increased rate for working on a public holiday.
  
  Ditto next Mon, for the Auckland-based staff.
  
  If RNZ are looking to cut costs, that’s one place they could start.
  
  15 1
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  January 24, 2022 9:58am
  - Paulus
    
    See Tova O’Brien is suing under a Restraint in Trade agreement.
    Why ?
    is it because she is so special that she is different to a standard employment contract.
    A Labour MP is supporting her.
    Up to the Courts to decide
    
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    January 24, 2022 11:20am
    - EssenX
      
      I suspect Tova has been put up to do a well publicised court case, which she will likely lose. The Government may then use that decision to intervene and ban the use of such clauses.
      
      17 1
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      January 24, 2022 12:29pm
      - Nickc2
        
        Supported by a Labour Party MP? Wow, why hasn’t this made the headlines? Oh, that’s right, the MSM were warned in advance that any future funding would be in jeopardy if they did.
        “Tova, Jessica, no not you Barry, you ask difficult questions.”
        
        14 2
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        January 24, 2022 1:18pm
      - jgw739
        
        Was it just me or did she call ‘1, then 3’ instead of ‘Jessica, then Tova’ in yesterday’s presser?
        
        6 1
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        January 24, 2022 4:17pm
Benedict Yu

You would need to be brain dead or sociopathic to think you could get away with this.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/127552317/auckland-council-could-face-25k-bill-after-mowing-8000-native-plants

So hundreds of people plant 8,000 native trees, partly funded by Rotary and the government. And because of the slope, or the plan or someone’s view might be diminished in 40 years, they get mowed.

You would think one of them would have asked “Hey are we sure about this?” ??
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January 24, 2022 8:00am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  Would we be having this conversation, do you think, if the plants were exotic?
  
  29 0
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  January 24, 2022 8:02am
  - namron
    
    I read in one report about the “natives” that were planted had a large lot of manuka and kanuka.
    These are commonly called “scrub” and chopped down for firewood.
    A whole lot of fuss about nothing!!!
    
    15 3
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    January 24, 2022 10:39am
- bravefart
  
  What dysfunction.
  
  The question I have is whether the (central) government will remove 8000 from their “1 billion trees” tally?
  
  32 1
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  January 24, 2022 8:09am
  - Yvette
    
    bravefart – will the central government will remove 8000 from their “1 billion trees” tally?
    
    I think you will find Government has in fact removed the “1 billion trees” scheme itself.
    It appears the Climate Commission recommended just 300 million natives instead and now James Shaw in Glasgow announced two thirds would be grown in other countries (“kicking the can” into other people’s backyards), leaving Government to still think about it, again
    
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    January 24, 2022 9:03am
    - KevO'Brien
      
      Climate Commission recommended just 300 million natives instead
      Maturing when: 100 hundred? 200 hundred years? 5oo for a good kauri?
      Stupidity reigns supreme among the sycophants.
      
      23 1
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      January 24, 2022 9:17am
  - emmess
    
    The count is probably negative now
    
    16 0
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    January 24, 2022 9:05am
- dannz
  
  Let’s just MOW them.
  At least could have put a sign out the front free to take away.
  I thought ARC was supposed to be all green these days?
  
  21 2
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  January 24, 2022 8:22am
- Mr_Blobby
  
  You read stuff?
  
  Are you brain dead yet.
  
  21 3
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  January 24, 2022 8:22am
- Akitio
  
  I’m still waiting for the headline “Committee of idiots resigns en masse”
  
  19 2
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  January 24, 2022 8:25am
  - KevO'Brien
    
    The Canadian anti-jab would be exciting:
    https://joannenova.com.au/2022/01/freedom-convoy-raises-2m-thousands-of-trucks-take-to-canadas-highways-against-mandatory-jabs/
    
    16 2
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    January 24, 2022 9:19am
- historian
  
  Too many trees blocking views all over the place. Grass left to grow too long on Auckland’s volcanoes.
  
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  January 24, 2022 9:56am
NeverMindTheBollocks

Finally, it’s being acknowledged that any mask less than the N95 is pretty much useless.
41 3
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January 24, 2022 8:01am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Oh, I’m sure I heard Dr Bloomfield state yesterday that they were going to look at the evidence…. then tell us what they had decided.
  
  There’s no way we, the dirty public, could work out from first principles (size of a coronovirus, size of aerosol droplets, size of gaps in cloth and surgical masks) that most masks in general daily use are of bugga all protection against covid-19.
  
  50 2
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  January 24, 2022 9:15am
  - TS Child
    
    To be fair, most of the public can’t seem to work out that the entire Covid response has been as dodgy as anything. It’s not entirely unreasonable for Dr Bloomfield to thing we might need some help understanding masks …
    
    6 2
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    January 24, 2022 6:17pm
- Thought Criminal
  
  Not useless. They are effective covid theatre.
  
  27 2
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  January 24, 2022 10:16am
Yabster

From the Taxpayers Union- this shit Governtment strikes again….

The taxman wants to know who’s staying at your bach

Back in 2020, the Government pushed tax changes for family trusts through Parliament under urgency. The rushed legislation meant there wasn’t time for proper scrutiny, and now that Inland Revenue is beginning to enforce the rules, we’re seeing some serious devil in the detail for bach owners.

In a paywalled NZ Herald article, Hamish Rutherford explains:

Where the holiday home is owned through a trust but has some income – such as family members paying enough for accommodation to cover the upkeep – any beneficiary who stays for free or even pays less than the market rate has to have their name, date of birth and IRD number recorded and provided to the IRD.

The rules also require the disclosure of the details of anyone who provides a settlement to the trust, meaning a friend who helped out by painting the bach for free while on holiday would need to have this “gift” recorded to the IRD.

These new rules are intrusive, absurdly bureaucratic, and completely out of sync with New Zealand’s culture of easy-going hospitality.

The good news is that Revenue Minister David Parker has admitted the rules are more over-the-top than he intended. He says he may make a retrospective amendment to the law to remove the need for “minor and incidental non-cash distributions”.

To be honest, we’re not sure how this hare-brained law can be salvaged.

(In another case of unintended tax consequences, parents who help their children get a house deposit have found themselves triggering the Government’s ‘bright line’ test, meaning they’re liable for tax on the capital gain. Another nail in the coffin of Grant Robertson’s “no new taxes” promise.)
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January 24, 2022 8:02am
- KevO'Brien
  
  over-the-top
  Bloomin’ ridiculous. Modifying tax law is not for the faint hearted–trust law particularly.
  Adhoc changes are invariably messed up.
  
  Get these amateurs out of govt before they destroy New Zealand.
  
  39 2
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  January 24, 2022 8:59am
  - Ehlana
    
    Too late, Kev, too late.
    
    26 0
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    January 24, 2022 9:25am
    - KevO'Brien
      
      They’re signalling attempts to try and fix it.
      
      10 1
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      January 24, 2022 11:20am
- Fight4NZ
  
  After the tax on gifting was ditched not so long ago because the cost was not covered by the revenue, this just seems dumb before you even start with the detail.
  
  4 2
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  January 24, 2022 4:43pm
- Jim
  
  These people will be salivating at the future prospect of a cashless society (reserve bank digital currency) where every single personal transaction (no matter how small) is tracked and traced by any interest per government departments not just the IRD.
  
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  January 24, 2022 6:29pm
Yabster

From The taxpayers union:

more waste from this hopeless bunch of clowns that refer to themselves as a Government:

Revealed: Government’s media pay-off for APEC puff pieces
Remember APEC, the online conference hosted last year that somehow cost taxpayers $76 million?

An official information response passed to the Taxpayers’ Union reveals the Ministry of Foreign Affairs paid news outlets $93,000 to publish full-page ads and puff pieces about APEC in Stuff and the NZ Herald.

This exemplifies the pointless, wasteful spending rife in New Zealand’s diplomatic sector.

You’d think that a conference of global leaders on the scale of APEC is important enough to attract news interest on its own merits. If it isn’t, then why is New Zealand participating, let alone spending $76 million hosting it?

The decision to buy positive media coverage doesn’t just stink of self-promotion. It risks legitimising the illiberal collusion between media and state practiced by APEC’s dodgiest banana republics, undermining New Zealand’s moral authority on the world stage. We should be better than this.
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January 24, 2022 8:04am
Lee C

I hear that Luxon and Her Majesty’s Opposition missed the PM’s Press conferance yesterday.

They would have made it on time, but the doors of the car blew off, and the Ringmaster had to tell them off in a theatrical manner.

A chase ensued and the audience got a bucket full of confetti thrown over them.

Fortunately, as teh five-to-eleven year olds left the Big Top, a slightly scary looking clown was waiting to give them their jabs.

Just in case.

The ticket sales werent’ enough recompense and a little covert sideline might just make ends meet.

Then the freak- show circus packed up to seek new victims.
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January 24, 2022 8:06am
Nickc2

Cindy’s Faux Waitangi Day
Was Northland’s Covid State changed to Orange for two days only to facilitate Cindy featuring in a fake Waitangi Day TV Ceremony featuring no other Political Parties?
64 4
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January 24, 2022 8:12am
- mandk
  
  Does anyone really pay much attention to what happens at Waitangi on Maori Grievance Day, apart from the usual grumpy Maori?
  
  Don’t most people, including Maori, just say ‘Hey, it’s another day off. Let’s head to the beach and have some kai’?
  
  56 2
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  January 24, 2022 8:39am
- KevO'Brien
  
  SLG is a scheming minx.
  
  27 3
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  January 24, 2022 9:00am
  - Nickc2
    
    Who or what is SLG?
    
    13 3
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    January 24, 2022 9:31am
    - DeepBlue
      
      Silly Little Girl. A few years ago Mallard thought he heard the Opposition calling Jacinda this in Parliament. He made a big deal of it and it has stuck.
      
      20 3
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      January 24, 2022 10:20am
      - Nickc2
        
        Yea, ok, I get it now. TKS.
        
        10 1
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        January 24, 2022 10:58am
- riffer
  
  LOL, no.
  
  Talk about conspiracy theory.
  
  4 25
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  January 24, 2022 9:01am
  - Nickc2
    
    Read and weep riffer.
    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/waitangi-day-snub-prime-minister-in-but-nationals-luxon-out-of-superficial-powhiri-pre-recorded-for-tv-special/LIN3BKGQ55LCB6Z2YKN4APQUPQ/
    
    23 2
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    January 24, 2022 9:37am
    - nathie
      
      Looks like Labour does not believe in (Watangi Day) “inclusion and collaboration” when they figure they can get one over the Opposition!
      
      Labour, supporters of “Cancel Culture”, ALL THE TIME!
      
      21 1
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      January 24, 2022 10:48am
- Yvette
  
  Can any part of “a fake Waitangi Day TV Ceremony” be screened on television in the context of a RED traffic light setting, which will either prevent it happening, or only allow vaccinated persons to attend?
  
  22 1
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  January 24, 2022 9:10am
  - Nickc2
    
    Ask TVNZ.
    
    14 2
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    January 24, 2022 9:29am
Frank the tank

Anyone have the full story about what went down in Waitangi over the weekend?
27 3
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January 24, 2022 8:13am
- Nickc2
  
  See my post at 8:12AM.
  
  15 2
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  January 24, 2022 8:37am
  - Frank the tank
    
    Will any of the feckless make a story of it (rhetorical question)?
    
    14 3
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    January 24, 2022 8:49am
    - lifesgood
      
      Well what did happen is she was shouted at and booed out of Paihia.
      
      28 2
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      January 24, 2022 9:20am
      - Nickc2
        
        Yea, I saw that. She deserved everything she got IMO. Heavily tinted windows Mercedes complete with out of the vehicle security detachment. Did you pick up that it wasn’t non-Maori doing the abuse?
        
        16 2
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        January 24, 2022 11:04am
    - Nickc2
      
      Not if they’re looking forward to another Govt (taxpayer) cash injection.
      
      10 1
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      January 24, 2022 1:06pm
- mandk
  
  Nah. Who cares?
  
  The Te Marua stocks were much more interesting. And they had an awesome fireworks display.
  
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  January 24, 2022 8:41am
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    Yeah, was driving back over the Rumutakas as the sky rockets went up – nice. Was amazed that the Council signed off fireworks in Jan. Although Wellington’s main water dams are just uphill.
    
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    January 24, 2022 6:52pm
Peter Lane

From the Herald this morning…

“The top 20 Covid symptoms are:

Runny nose
Headache
Fatigue
Sore throat
Sneezing
Persistent cough
Hoarse voice
Unusual joint pains
Chills or shivers
Fever
Dizzy
Eye soreness
Brain fog
Unusual muscle pains
Altered smell
Skipped meals
Swollen glands
Chest pain
Earache”

For once words fail me – the world has officially gone mad.
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January 24, 2022 8:14am
- Frank the tank
  
  No just large segments of it. The third world overall seems the most rational part of the planet atm.
  
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  January 24, 2022 8:23am
  - Man Among the Ruins
    
    I suppose that is because third world countries don’t need to be subjected to the systematic controlled demolition program that the first world is having forced on it. They are already economic basket cases whose populations generally have nothing.
    
    10 2
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    January 24, 2022 12:38pm
- G152
  
  I have never seen a meal skip let alone a skipped meal.
  Cold symptoms one cold symptoms all
  
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  January 24, 2022 8:23am
- Benedict Yu
  
  The media will just LOVE this. Wait until it gets going. They will be doing everything possible to wind everyone up.
  
  And why are people panic buying, again? The supermarkets don’t shut. If you need to isolate at home for a few days, there are delivery services. And most people have family members or friends who will help out – yes I know not everyone.
  
  But what I witnessed yesterday afternoon was not rational. These people in the supermarket were scared. I could see it on their faces.
  
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  January 24, 2022 8:24am
  - UrbanNeocolonialist
    
    Sheep.
    
    38 3
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    January 24, 2022 8:28am
  - artemisia
    
    Folk in Wainuiomata will be fine. Just call Speaker Mallard.
    
    Other locations, call your local Labour MP.
    
    35 1
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    January 24, 2022 8:30am
    - backster
      
      The Speaker will be using his Ministerial Limousine , not every Labour member has access to one.
      
      17 1
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      January 24, 2022 9:45am
      - TS Child
        
        We could give them all e-bikes … with paniers … the fleet becomes electric, the ministers get exercise, fresh air and free vitamin D and can be seen helping their constituents… Only risk is that same might then be expected of National MPs…
        
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        January 24, 2022 6:32pm
  - Aunty
    
    Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
    Come on, Benedict, you’re not as silly as that! If you have got a family of four or more, and all of you need to isolate at home for 2 weeks, and you want to stock your pantry up and have sufficient toilet paper for everyone to last that minimum two weeks at home, well you do the math of how much of everything you need. Yes, I’m sure there are some people who are panic buying. The vulnerable unvaxxed in particular are probably the main cause of it as the majority of these seem to be scaredy-cat nutjobs and this will be one way they manifest their fear and anxiety. But most people I would suggest are just being prudent and prepared for the months ahead.
    
    8 58
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    January 24, 2022 8:35am
    - ClanMcleod
      
      [Try again without the abuse of other posters – warning not to repeat. mod.]
      
      8 7
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      January 24, 2022 8:54am
    - KevO'Brien
      
      What a way to wreck a country with 24 day lockdowns when one unknowingly encounters the presence of falsely detected omicron in the neighbourhood.
      Get a life.
      Call AOC for advice.
      
      22 4
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      January 24, 2022 9:05am
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      Extraordinarily enough, I haven’t noticed the unvaxxed being the ones pushing their fear and scare stories.
      
      The pressure from the vaxxed has been truly extraordinary…. It’s as if they don’t believe in the efficacy of the vaccine.
      
      46 4
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      January 24, 2022 9:20am
      - Local Miller
        
        Well they don’t believe in it.
        
        12 1
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        January 24, 2022 11:36am
      - Fight4NZ
        
        You haven’t read any of the thousands of posts here proclaiming how many deaths the vaccines are causing, and its negative effects on immunity and other fairy stories? So much fear porn on high rotation here it is ridiculous.
        
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        January 24, 2022 4:55pm
    - UrbanNeocolonialist
      
      So in years to come, when flu is doing its yearly rounds anyone with a sniffle should stock up and isolate at home for 3 weeks too? The level of disruption for a disease that might kill 1 in 10000 kiwis (almost all nearing death anyway) is off the scale nuts.
      
      32 3
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      January 24, 2022 9:26am
    - Benedict Yu
      
      A few points.
      
      Yes some people would find it prudent to prepare for a seven day isolation at home. That could have been achieved by having a small stockpile of extra things and it could have been in place over the last 6 months. Omicron was inevitable. It did not just go “surprise!” yesterday .
      
      There are delivery services. You think you can stock fresh vegetables and fruit for kids for 2 weeks?
      
      I guarantee that these folk yesterday were not the “panicked unvaccinated” – quite the opposite.
      
      42 4
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      January 24, 2022 9:28am
      - John Pakes
        
        Aha, so it is OK to stockpile, just the size of it needs to be debated.
        The delivery services could well break down due to Omricon.
        You can give no guarantee at all as you simply do not know.
        
        8 35
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        January 24, 2022 9:43am
      - Aunty
        
        “There are delivery services.”
        
        You think? You’ve really thought that one through? If we get a lot of people home sick or because they have to isolate all at the same time, and they all want delivery services………….
        
        I don’t know what is going to happen wrt to our supply chains in the coming weeks and months. Nobody does. But I wouldn’t rely solely upon those delivery services, because they may simply be so overwhelmed and understaffed that they are just not there. So getting some stuff in now will help mitigate against the worst of that should that be the position we find ourselves in.
        
        It’s the old motto isn’t it? Hope for the best but plan for the worst.
        
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        January 24, 2022 9:46am
      - Local Miller
        
        JP – No one is criticizing reasonable stock piling, it’s panic buying that’s the problem. We live in an earthquake prone country and area of the world, with the perpetual risk of tsunami’s. At least since the most recent deadly Christchurch earthquake it has been recommended that every household have a week or two’s stockpile of non perishables, water, etc. on hand to cope with the impact of an earthquake. This would cover for a lockdown or supply chain disruption, or covid required isolation.
        Planned stock piling is a wise precaution, panic buying is a fear induced knee jerk reaction.
        
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        January 24, 2022 11:44am
      - Observer of Life
        
        Have you visited the supermarket the day before public holidays where the supermarkets are compulsorily closed?. People shop like they’re not going to have access to food for a week. Is it a kiwi thing?
        
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        January 24, 2022 5:52pm
    - cmm
      
      “The vulnerable unvaxxed ”
      
      Oh dear!
      
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      January 24, 2022 9:30am
      - Aunty
        
        I imagine you of all people, cmm, would have your little posies of Ivermectin, Vit D and Zinc clutched tightly to your person in your sweating hands?
        
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        January 24, 2022 9:51am
    - coolas
      
      That Aunty’s common sense response to Yu’s cynical opinion is heavily down ticked, and Yu is up-ticked, totally baffles me.
      
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      January 24, 2022 9:35am
      - Local Miller
        
        Not at all, Aunty chose to assume that the “vulnerable unvaxxed in particular are probably the main cause of it (panic buying)” and there is no evidence for this, and as an unvaxxed who didn’t panic buy, along with the 10+ other other unvaxed I know, I find this an offensive and unjustifiable comment that I can’t agree with, hence the down tick.
        Posters need to realise that one really bad comment in an otherwise reasonable post can sway readers to down tick you.
        
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        January 24, 2022 11:53am
    - Mr_Blobby
      
      “The vulnerable unvaxxed in particular are probably the main cause of it as the majority of these seem to be scaredy-cat nutjobs and this will be one way they manifest their fear and anxiety”
      
      I doubt there are that many unvaccinated.
      
      So more likely vaccinated.
      
      If I was that scared of Covid, I am not, I would get vaccinated, I have not.
      
      But look Aunty it is OK to be scared, I understand, try to stay calm and not panic.
      
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      January 24, 2022 9:44am
    - Sacha
      
      Lol. @ Aunty.
      In my experience, the ‘scaredy-cat nut jobs’ are those vaccinated who believe the government’s nonsense propaganda.
      The ‘vulnerable unvaxxed’ are the least concerned as far as I can see.
      We visit and socialise, and take the latest media revelations with a grain of salt.
      
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      January 24, 2022 10:17am
      - krazykiwi
        
        [Deleted – OTT. mod.]
        
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        January 24, 2022 10:55am
      - bronny1
        
        Got to remember too, most of us unvaxxed are pretty well informed on the subject, whereas not a single vaxxed person I know has done any looking into this at all. Not even looking at what’s happening offshore. Not even the Pfizer trials. Not even the list of adverse reactions. Nobody has heard of the 12 year old who was paralysed in the Pfizer trial. But they are the scared ones. I and most of my filthy compatriots are comfortable with it.
        
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        January 24, 2022 5:30pm
      - TS Child
        
        There are some other plausible explanations: people who live week to week for example, or who have just come back from holiday or who have been eaten out of house and home by maurading teenagers, or who listened to the PM before the first lock down when she said ‘stock up for 2 weeks’ or who’ve noticed the PM defines ‘short and sharp’ as around 4 months, or people who simply have no trust in anything, or who thought this would never actually happen (it’s a thing, doesn’t have to be rational) or are simply just disorganised. And then there’s the people for whom that was shopping day or who were helping out someone else… the vaccinated-unvaccinated thing? Time to let it go people – every time you have that row, you are like two dogs fighting over a bone while the cat steals it right from under your noses.
        
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        January 24, 2022 6:47pm
    - Observer of Life
      
      Oh Aunty. Give it a break. You just love to pin so much on the un-jabbed. Yeh.. the unjabbed are panicking. Hence why they’re unjabbed.
      
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      January 24, 2022 10:41am
    - Local Miller
      
      No, the “vulnerable unvaxxed” are not panic buying, or certainly not the 10+ that I have immediate contact with. We did our normal weekly shopping on Sunday morning and did little more than replace what we used the previous week. As a matter of habit we have about 2 weeks of non-perishables in our pantry and freezer, but certainly not because we are suddenly afraid of the bug.
      It looks a lot more like the panic buyers were the fearful sheeple who in fear got jabbed, and now in fear are following the Duck’s and the SLG’s instructions to “stock up” (aka panic buy).
      
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      January 24, 2022 11:35am
      - bronny1
        
        Strangely all the unvaxxed I know have been buying a bit extra each shop for the past couple of months. Bolster that emergency survival stockpile. Cos We all know of the likely impact on food supply lines.
        
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        January 24, 2022 5:32pm
      - NeverMindTheBollocks
        
        Do the maths. We’re told that 90% of adults are vaxxed. There just aren’t enough unvaxxed to move the panic-buying needle.
        
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        January 24, 2022 6:58pm
  - Matt Long
    
    The concern for me is that the government will force so many people into isolation that basic services will fail, hence stocking up on essentials some time ago. Now people are all FOMO due to the SNAFU government.
    
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    January 24, 2022 8:37am
    - KevO'Brien
      
      Could this be the start of a revolt?
      
      Other countries have dumped omicron self protection, it had so little affect. The scare and anxiety generated was much more damaging to public health.
      I’ve got clients who cannot afford more days without work and the overheads and pay required.
      
      Now major summer events have been cancelled. So, I get a couple of sniffles, I have to take care each year. That’s no reason to lock the country down. The affects are very unlikely to bother the hospitals. A bit more work for GP’s maybe.
      Where’s the basic healthcare provisions?
      
      12 2
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      January 24, 2022 11:33am
      - Paulus
        
        This Red Zone could go on for at least three months remember – it will be well underway by then – nothing to do with two weeks as Mallard and Robertson say we should stock up.
        
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        January 24, 2022 1:51pm
    - rangitoto
      
      The solution is don’t get tested unless you can’t avoid it.
      
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      January 24, 2022 12:52pm
  - Spam
    
    They should have spent the last couple of months updating the communications strategy (“pivot” is what the cool kids call it, I think).
    
    “We must take Omichron seriously, and protect the vulnerable. However, for most people, the symptoms are mild. If you have mild symptoms, be sensible: stay home and isolate to avoid spreading it, but you will make a full recovery in around a week. If you have significant symptoms such as difficulty breathing, then call healthline. Save ER for emergencies.”
    
    But probably better to panic everybody that actually try to manage the issue like adults.
    
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    January 24, 2022 8:37am
    - cmm
      
      Where are all the pulse oximeters that Andy Little promised us so that we could monitor ourselves at home? How many did they buy? Where are they? How do they get those out to people if all the couriers are crook?
      
      Only an idiot would depend on this government in a crisis.
      
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      January 24, 2022 9:34am
    - Fight4NZ
      
      That’s pretty much the official advice.
      
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      January 24, 2022 5:01pm
  - Ruawai
    
    What actually amazes me is that people don’t see it coming until she announces it, then they all run around like headless chickens.
    
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    January 24, 2022 8:43am
    - Local Miller
      
      Had my annual review meeting with my boss on Thursday and as happens the conversation drifted into the covid territory as this impacts on my job description and title. On Sunday just after 11:00 Am he sent me a message “Picked it :-)”. We had both figured there would be an up lift of the traffic lights to red in next few days.
      I may even consider buying a lotto ticket given my ability to predict things at the moment.
      
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      January 24, 2022 12:01pm
  - ClanMcleod
    
    People living out meaningless, crappy existences are thriving on this. Others have pointed it out on this forum before. Many have never known as much excitement and never will again. Many love the masks because it’s a visual confirmation that they are active participants in the “team of 5 million”.
    Sad people.
    
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    January 24, 2022 8:48am
    - Inandout
      
      Clan, I sat in a local cafe and observed masked pedestrians walking past with only their eyes visible and looking straight ahead like transfixed beings. The saddest of all though were stooped elderly fighting the heat but complying with Jacinda’s orders to ‘mask up while out and about’. I often wonder how much their lives are shortened by all this idiocy?
      
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      January 24, 2022 9:17am
      - KevO'Brien
        
        Masking outside is ridiculous. Cinders is no MOH. (That does not stand for Most Outspoken Hussy.)
        
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        January 24, 2022 11:35am
    - The Feed
      
      The in-car wearers, with no one else in the car, are hilarious.
      
      I have no doubt who these weapons-grade idiots voted for.
      
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      January 24, 2022 8:14pm
      - jgw739
        
        Like wearing a condom with airholes.
        If Jacinda told them a full biohazard suit was the only way to enjoy a classic kiwi summer, these idiots would be wearing one in the surf at the beach.
        
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        January 24, 2022 11:49pm
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  My wife has allergies; off & on she’s had about half of those symptoms for the last 20 years.
  
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  January 24, 2022 8:27am
- Peter Lane
  
  I mean ‘Skipped meals’ really?
  
  So if I’m doing Intermittent Fasting I have Covid?
  
  It’s just laughable.
  
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  January 24, 2022 8:29am
  - Local Miller
    
    Skipped meals reminds me of the blond, significantly over weight going to her doctor. The doc puts her an an intermittent fasting diet telling her she must eat one day, then skip the next, and so on through the month, than arranges to see her in a months time to evaluate her progress.
    A month later she’s back and is looking fantastic having loss almost all her excess weight. The doc’s amazed and asks her how it went as she’s done much better than expected. She tells him that for the first few days all that skipping nearly killed her.
    
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    January 24, 2022 12:10pm
- Inandout
  
  PL, many of those symptoms are common to cocaine users.
  
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  January 24, 2022 9:05am
- Mr_Blobby
  
  Shit I must have Covid.
  
  That’s a relief I thought it might be something serious.
  
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  January 24, 2022 9:47am
- krazykiwi
  
  They missed the most important symptoms:
  – Irrational fear
  – Jumped up bureaucrats crashing the economy and mortgaging our kids’ futures so they can be seen to be Doing Something™
  – Experts clamoring for attention via doom inflation
  – Media pumping panic porn at us 24×7
  – Vaxx fanatics being unleashed
  – Bio fascism flourishing
  
  Etc..
  
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  January 24, 2022 11:09am
Benedict Yu

Just had the Monday morning zoom check in with the project team colleagues. Mother of 5 year old. “I can’t believe I got her vaccinated just in time.” ??

The Tall Red Head got her booster a week ago. She has just come right. Had to take to days off work. This morning “Are you getting you booster today?” NO. I still have not decided. But today will be a circus.
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January 24, 2022 8:14am
- Frank the tank
  
  Had mine yesterday – a sore arm, dull headaches and otherwise feel like shite.
  
  Unfortunately with Jacinda Canute at the helm I’m predicting our ‘papers’ will still be relevant by the time they expire and a ‘booster’ jab will be required for them to be renewed.
  
  On the bright side spoons now stick to my arm again…….
  
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  January 24, 2022 8:22am
  - Mr_Blobby
    
    Good on you for taking one for the team, would not want to waste millions of vaccine shots, in a couple of months they will have something that may work for omicron.
    
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    January 24, 2022 9:51am
    - KevO'Brien
      
      Don’t count on it.
      The next scariant is being readied for delivery.
      
      12 2
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      January 24, 2022 11:37am
  - bronny1
    
    Funny as I know someone who got the booster last week. It moved the expiry date on her vax pass by about 10 days ??????
    
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    January 24, 2022 5:35pm
    - Observer of Life
      
      I believe 1 June 2022 is the cut off for everyone.
      
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      January 24, 2022 5:58pm
- Chuck Bird
  
  BY, I will let you know how my AstraZeneca booster goes provided my doctor gives me a prescription tomorrow.
  
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  January 24, 2022 8:23am
  - Benedict Yu
    
    I’m going on a 2 week holiday in Northland at the end of February. If it is raging out of control I might get the booster before I go. But sitting in my home office in Christchurch, I don’t feel threatened yet. 🙂
    
    27 2
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    January 24, 2022 8:27am
    - curry4me
      
      Benedict Yu: JetStar will accept unvaxxed passengers. Have fun.
      
      10 1
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      January 24, 2022 11:48am
      - Benedict Yu
        
        Ummm I would not be seen on Jetstar. And I am vaccinated. You must be new here.
        
        5 0
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        January 24, 2022 4:55pm
- ClanMcleod
  
  It’s been a circus for almost 2 years. Dominated by the clowns.
  
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  January 24, 2022 8:27am
  - Clownworld
    
    Welcome to NZ Clownland.
    
    25 2
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    January 24, 2022 8:43am
- John Pakes
  
  I had no trouble at all, Benedict, with my booster. Flew through.
  The shorter Brunette, who is a very reluctant taker of any needle at all to the point of saying no to her dentist, says that she will grab hers as soon as she can after the 4 months is up
  
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  January 24, 2022 8:46am
  - Observer of Life
    
    One of the younger family members in my household had the booster, then spent the next two days in bed feeling incredibly sick. Same reaction as the 2nd jab. Apparently has decided on not getting a 4th. Me.. I’m not getting the 3rd shot. Why would you when Pfizer’s CEO tells us it doesn’t even work for Omicron. Wake up people.
    
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    January 24, 2022 10:51am
- alex Masterley
  
  I and my wife were boosted on saturday. The sore shoulder where the jab was administered was the only minor irritant. Otherwise no side effects.
  We took the 14yr old for a boost only to be told he wasn’t eligible. He was happy to hear that and wandered off while we waited to be jabbed.
  
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  January 24, 2022 9:01am
  - rouppe
    
    Interesting. I had no reaction to jab 1 or the booster. It was only jab 2 that gave me a sore arm.
    
    For now I am done with covid jabs
    
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    January 24, 2022 10:56am
- ClanMcleod
  
  BY out of curiosity, did your partner report those adverse reactions? I know that the numbers reported are a small fraction of the actual events. Best estimates are 5% – 10% actually reported.
  I know of 3 people personally who were strongly discouraged from reporting adverse events. That’s disturbing. We need all evidence so we have a clear picture of all aspects of what is happening.
  
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  January 24, 2022 9:08am
  - Observer of Life
    
    Confused as to people would down tick your comment Clan. The reporting of adverse events surely is a no brainer???
    
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    January 24, 2022 10:56am
    - Mike
      
      While I lack the epidemiological expertise of the prominent Kiwiblog vaccine savants, I should have thought the reporting rate for adverse events would be similar across different vaccinations.
      
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      January 24, 2022 11:37am
      - bronny1
        
        Well not if you are looking at VAERS which has had many times more reports for adverse reactions from the covid vaccines compared to all vaccines given in the past 30 years. And remember a large proportion of the pop have flu vaccine every year and kids have close to 20 vaccinations by the time they are 11.
        
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        January 24, 2022 7:45pm
- Local Miller
  
  A work colleague of mine was off work 4 days. Got his booster on Saturday 15th so it wouldn’t impact on his work if things went sideways. Was sick Sunday though Thursday (20th), so 5 days. And this weekend he was supposed to run the Auckland Marathon. I’m wondering how that worked out for him.
  
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  January 24, 2022 12:17pm
Frank the tank

I woke up this morning waiting to hear the ‘Hosk’ again.

Hopefully he hasn’t been cancelled over the break and is back next week or has he finally done what he has been threatening to do and cross the ditch?
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January 24, 2022 8:17am
- Benedict Yu
  
  Nothing would surprise me. Magic Talk cancelled Sean Plunket and Peter Williams. They had the cheek to insist that Peter Williams had “retired”. Yes he signed off on Friday morning without saying anything and did not show up on Monday.
  
  I used to listen to both of them in the car when driving between clients. That station just has clowns encouraging clowns to phone them. So they lost me as a listener and I will not be the only one.
  
  I tried RNZ again. That lasted 2 minutes because of the Pidgin English. So that is the end of radio for me. Just use spotify in the car now.
  
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  January 24, 2022 8:38am
  - Chuck Bird
    
    BY, Peter Williams was given an ultimatum – either do not express certain views or resign. He told them to shove it. What concerns me is was Magic Talk leaned on by the government. I would say yes.
    
    61 2
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    January 24, 2022 8:50am
    - ClanMcleod
      
      If it is anything like the club I have been a member of for 27 years it is government pressure to comply, particularly financial. With media there was funding available as we know. But there is also the threat of losing advertising revenue which they have been spending faster than a one armed paper hanger.
      Our club secretary apologised to me and the few other untermensch not complying. But they need the money, and 25 social distanced, masked up punters doesn’t attract many takers.
      
      … [Deleted, OTT abusive and inappropriate. You have already had a warning today about abuse in your posts. Remember, you are a guest on DPF’s blog, take a week break. mod.]
      
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      January 24, 2022 9:15am
  - mikenmildagain
    
    It surprises me that so superficial an objection would see you cutting yourself off from the best source of news and comment in NZ.
    Just last night I was listening to a repeat of this excellent doco:
    https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/red-line
    
    3 23
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    January 24, 2022 9:22am
    - Frank the tank
      
      best source of news and comment in NZ – Next you’ll tell me that One News is objective…….
      
      13 3
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      January 24, 2022 2:30pm
  - kowtow
    
    And John Banks.
    
    16 2
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    January 24, 2022 9:30am
  - Miritu
    
    There’s a wide range of great podcasts to listen to while driving, some in NZ (e.g. Leighton Smith). Why waste your time listening to corporate media propaganda?
    
    23 1
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    January 24, 2022 9:31am
  - Observer of Life
    
    Ditto BY. Sean Plunket’s new radio show must be due to start soon. I think it’s called The Platform.
    
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    January 24, 2022 10:58am
  - rouppe
    
    There is the possibility of The Platform coming sometime.
    
    I reckon you’d see Peter Williams there. Not quite sure of the time frame for it starting
    
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    January 24, 2022 11:00am
  - Paulus
    
    I appear that as of now the RNZ lagugae gurus have determined athat certain english words are exterminated.
    Children are Tamariki
    Auckland is Tamaki Makaura
    New Zealand is Aotearoa
    Family are Whanau
    Watch this new space as these thing and many others are the new rule of the day by RNZ
    
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    January 24, 2022 1:57pm
    - Jack5
      
      And the NZ Pidgin: “grand tamariki”.
      
      8 1
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      January 24, 2022 2:35pm
  - Jim
    
    Ever since Williams mentioned The Great Reset to the petulant response of Robbo who said it was conspiracy none sense……shame about Clause Schwabe’s annual meeting, the website and the book.
    
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    January 24, 2022 6:52pm
- Nickc2
  
  Likewise. I could have sworn I heard an ad for his return this week. However, this morning there was an ad for his Mrs returning next week.
  The clowns they currently have in these time slots don’t interest me at all.
  
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  January 24, 2022 9:02am
  - Chuck Bird
    
    Heather is meant to be back today.
    
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    January 24, 2022 10:56am
- david
  
  Nah Frank, the Hosk takes off ALL the school holidays, didn’t you know that. I hear that he pushed to be paid to take the teacher-only days as well but finally hit the wall.
  
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  January 24, 2022 9:26am
  - artemisia
    
    Tova will be along shortly to decimate – or more – his listener share from day 1. Especially with all the free publicity about her contract conditions. She’ll be #1 in no time. He’ll be really worried for sure.
    
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    January 24, 2022 9:50am
    - nathie
      
      a – I take it that’s said with a healthy dose of “//” 🙂
      
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      January 24, 2022 10:52am
      - artemisia
        
        Of course.
        
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        January 24, 2022 11:37am
    - rouppe
      
      The palaver about her contract conditions show what a moron she is.
      
      It’s almost like she thinks contract law doesn’t apply to her. We’ve had numbers of good testers being treated poorly by the contracted agency resign and go elsewhere because of a restraint of trade clause in their contracts
      
      16 1
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      January 24, 2022 11:03am
    - Nickc2
      
      In ya dreams!
      
      6 1
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      January 24, 2022 11:07am
    - Paulus
      
      Tova still has 3 months to finish her Restraint in Trade agreement, or until nullified by the Courts – unlikely
      
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      January 24, 2022 1:58pm
Stu2

There is a Herald story cobbling together predictions from their usual sources, but they haven’t realised they don’t line up.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-omicron-outbreak-hunt-for-omicron-continues-as-new-zealand-turns-red/JYKZBE6N5EX4UW74MPIVMKUFCU/

Auckland DHBs
Auckland’s three district health boards were predicting a 1800 cases a day for the city at the outbreak peak, expecting to see that in March.

Hipkins
Covid Response Minister Chris Hipkins said modelling suggested there could be “tens of thousands” of daily Omicron cases within weeks. So way more than 1800 a day in Auckland.

Real world
The outbreak in NSW peaked at around 50,000 tested Omicron cases a day.

In reality the daily numbers were far higher as they pulled back the qualification for testing, and the test positivity rates were over 50% at times. If test positivity rates are over 5% then cases are being missed.

Their vax levels at almost the same as ours, and their population is 8.1 million.

Their experience suggests Hipkins is far more realistic.
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January 24, 2022 8:17am
- PeeJay
  
  The Victoria daily dashboard is pretty good – slightly better than the NSW dashboard I’d say but both far better than the NZ updates. What is good about the Victoria dashboard is it splits out the positives into PCR and RAT, and then gives the actual number of PCR tests. This let’s you work out the positivity rate for PCR tests (I know there are concerns around PCR methodology). The rate is slightly above 20% (was north of 30%) which indicates that cases are being missed.
  
  As far as i can remember, the NZ data modellers haven’t even been close with their previous forecasts. If it’s somewhere between 1,800 and 10,000 per day, that tells me (having done some numbers in my time) that they really don’t have a clue at this point, probably due to too many variables to accurately forecast.
  
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  January 24, 2022 9:21am
  - KevO'Brien
    
    They’ve shown no evidence of practical forecasting skill. Economists have to do it all the time and where there is not direct data model that too. But they have to have their models work in context and know that cannot just pass on numbers to their clients.
    
    Academics get critiqued on the “beauty” of their models not their usefulness.
    In the past I have successfully modelled quoted investment grade companies share prices based on published data and liquidity.
    Any model to be used for public decision making has to be bullet proof and all the consequences accounted for.
    
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    January 24, 2022 11:55am
- Ehlana
  
  We differentiate rain falling from the sky between sun showers, light drizzle, steady rain, downpour, etc. In the same way, not all “people who have tested positive for Covid-19” are actually feeling unwell, fewer still are sick enough to stay in bed for the day, even fewer need to go to hospital and only a very small minority will end up in ICU or dead.
  We could all manage our real risk better if the government would focus less on “tested positive” and more on symptomatic, hospitalised, seriously ill, etc. If we knew more of those numbers, our stress levels and responses might be more in line with actual risk – which would make us mentally and emotionally healthier, boost our immune systems and make us even less likely to end up very sick.
  
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  January 24, 2022 9:51am
  - Stu2
    
    The key numbers from NSW are the hospitalisations and ICU.
    
    They seem to have peaked at 2700 beds and 200 in ICU. If you take their 8.1 million population into account, that would still be high enough to stress our health system if Omicron spreads in a similar way here.
    
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    January 24, 2022 10:06am
  - Nickc2
    
    She has to keep the fear factor paramount, wot with forgoing her wedding, etc. Such a pity. I was so looking forward to seeing her in all her glory on TV getting married. I would even have recorded it just in case there were no repeats. [definitely sarc //]
    
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    January 24, 2022 11:16am
  - KevO'Brien
    
    The testing is not fit for the purpose of diagnosis.
    
    8 1
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    January 24, 2022 11:56am
- Ra Henare
  
  I see the much lauded John Campbell Phd is upping his bias. Ranting that EVERYONE will get Omicron.
  
  Even a very simple analysis will prove this to be Jacinda level truth(ie NOT).
  
  While a percentage of the population may be exposed to omicron does NOT mean everyone will “get it””
  
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  January 24, 2022 1:20pm
  - Ra Henare
    
    Dont get me wrong John does some great work.
    Todays interview with Oz Immunologist is amazing.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPPnyzvO7J4
    
    Really explains lots from how the infection works, thru Vaccines John is a great interviewer. Its well worth investing an hour.
    Its Johns assumptions and opinions that I challenge from time to time.
    
    Looked at his Youtube stats. He will be well rewarded financially for his work. As he should be 🙂
    
    6 1
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    January 24, 2022 2:45pm
ds

New Taxpayer’s Union Poll is out but ignored here.
LABOUR – 41.2%
NATIONAL – 33%
GREENS – 10.7%
ACT – 11.5%
Maori Party – .5%
NZ First – .9%
Your gnome sent from heaven hasn’t helped.
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January 24, 2022 8:21am
- mikenmildagain
  
  Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
  Why does the Taxpayers’ ‘Union’ commission political opinion polls?
  
  6 44
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  January 24, 2022 8:45am
  - Swifty
    
    You have consistently supported the rights of NZers to organise and organise politically, on here, and over many years. I distinctly recall you on several occasions supporting workers and workers organising themselves politically through the Labour Party and that there is nothing wrong with that – and I quite agree with you.
    
    Why then are you so triggered by the Taxpayers Union? Going back several years now every mention of them sets you off.
    
    It appears a glaring inconsistency.
    
    40 4
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    January 24, 2022 9:17am
    - mikenmildagain
      
      I would like to answer that, but DPF has told me I would be banned if I repeated my views about the Taxpayers’ ‘Union’.
      
      6 24
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      January 24, 2022 10:38am
      - ds
        
        What I would like to know is who finances them.
        
        8 5
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        January 24, 2022 11:44am
      - Swifty
        
        Their members.
        
        18 2
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        January 24, 2022 12:02pm
  - Taieri
    
    Why not? Anyone can commission an opinion poll. On any topic.
    
    29 2
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    January 24, 2022 9:22am
  - cmm
    
    Why does the insert-union-of-your-choice do anything in the political field?
    
    20 3
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    January 24, 2022 9:40am
  - Cassandra
    
    mike is, as usual, criticising for the sake of it. I wish he’d stick to his forte of World xxxxx Day. Spoiler: tomorrow is Burns Night. Haggis and neeps. And perhaps what my parents called “a spot”.
    
    13 4
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    January 24, 2022 9:42am
    - Local Miller
      
      And a good time to post a Scottish joke.
      A Kiwi doctor was visiting Scotland one week, and doing a tour of their hospitals. In one ward as he was escorted in, one of the patients suddenly sat up and shouted:
      “Ha! whaur ye gaun, ye crowlin ferlie?
      Your impudence protects you sairly;
      I canna say but ye strunt rarely,
      Owre gauze and lace;
      Tho’, faith! I fear ye dine but sparely
      On sic a place”
      Aha says the Kiwi this must be your mental health ward.
      Oh no, say his host, this is our Serious Burns ward.
      
      14 2
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      January 24, 2022 12:50pm
- westernScientest
  
  Link?
  
  Or are you referring to the December one?
  
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  January 24, 2022 12:20pm
NeverMindTheBollocks

I heard Chris Luxon on RNZ this morning. It was noticeable how calmly he spoke, and with what good sense.

Quite the contrast with the current PM.
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January 24, 2022 8:25am
- lifesgood
  
  He is very articulate and has all information at his fingertips. A breath of fresh air after listening to “I reject that” “I reject the premise of that question” “We have a plan” LOL. What I will say, though, is that Luxon needs to slow down his delivery and stop his overuse of the word “actually”
  
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  January 24, 2022 9:28am
  - DeepBlue
    
    He’s a quick learner. Remember his 2021 favourite word ‘fundamentally’.
    It was cringe worthy for its religious connotations and overuse.
    
    He no longer says it.
    
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    January 24, 2022 10:27am
    - curry4me
      
      DeepBlue: Good for him. I’m sure the MSM will be eager to remind the peasants that he’s a Christian, and owns several houses.
      
      11 1
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      January 24, 2022 11:57am
      - Paulus
        
        So does a Labour Cabinet Minister in Auckland but keep that quiet – particulaly on a Sunday.
        Similar Church to Luxon
        
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        January 24, 2022 2:01pm
    - lifesgood
      
      Religious connotations? That’s drawing a long bow. I thought it meant at the base of something or the basis of something. I guess if you are looking for Gotcha moments you can find them.
      
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      January 24, 2022 12:40pm
  - curry4me
    
    lifesgood: Chris from marketing is derinitely very articulate. Aside from that, National is still Labour lite.
    
    11 2
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    January 24, 2022 11:56am
- Chuck Bird
  
  I did as well and again on Radio Magic and he took calls from the public and he was the same there.
  
  Ardern would need a very friendly host to take calls from the public.
  
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  January 24, 2022 10:25am
Scooter

[Deleted – inappropriate, try facebook. mod.]
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January 24, 2022 8:28am
Matt Long

Dad’s caregiver is off work again due to his third booster jab, makes a total of 2 and a half weeks off courtesy of Pfizer, makes me wonder how long he might have been sick with omicron without a jab?
44 4
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January 24, 2022 8:28am
- John Pakes
  
  Very unusual activity. Perhaps the care giver is not being honest with his employer?
  
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  January 24, 2022 9:49am
- bronny1
  
  2days seems to be the norm
  
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  January 24, 2022 5:43pm
Maggie Pie

Thort this might be worth sharing….partner got a txt earlier from his FA saying inflation for Dec-Qtr over 6%. Interest rates to rise far quicker than expected.
44 3
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January 24, 2022 8:29am
- Frank the tank
  
  Mags – the real rate is >10%. Winter is coming.
  
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  January 24, 2022 8:35am
- In Vino Veritas
  
  Absolutely no surprises there Maggie. As I’ve said on this site for a year or so, Governments can’t go around printing billions of dollars and not expect to have inflation follow. Increasing money supply is “inflation”. It wasn’t that long ago that the NZ Govt, RBNZ, Fed and Dems in America were convincing everyone that inflation was “transitory”! Yeah, right. Having increased property portfolio, moved to shares that can easily increase prices in inflationary times (like infrastructure|energy), I’m feeling pretty good Jack!
  
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  January 24, 2022 8:44am
  - PeeJay
    
    Unfortunately, I think the governments in the west have forgotten the struggles against inflation in the 1970’s and 1980’s. They’ve become used to cheap credit and low inflation (and relatively low unemployment) for close to 30 years now. There may no longer be anyone in the central banks and government that actually have the experience of working in inflationary environments. If it starts to let rip, and the signs are it just may, then I’d questions whether they have the skills, experience and tools available to keep inflation low. As anyone who has experienced high inflationary environments, the medicine is not particularly pleasant! Actually wonder if current governments and central bankers have the stomach for the task.
    
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    January 24, 2022 9:34am
    - Sean OConnor
      
      What the heck was the point of having independent monetary policy with entire institutions devoted to controlling inflation if they drop the ball the very first time serious inflationary pressure comes on.
      “Oh sure, inflation is driven by expectations and governments all over the world simultaneously all did giant fiscal stimulus and supply chains are constrained, but we all really liked the idea that inflation would be transitory and figured we’d wait until it hits 10% or so before we do very much”.
      
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      January 24, 2022 3:44pm
- cmm
  
  6% will bite.
  
  Due to the tax burden, anyone getting less than a 10% raise will be going backwards.
  
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  January 24, 2022 9:58am
Frank the tank

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-omicron-outbreak-why-siouxsie-wiles-wont-be-going-to-bars-or-restaurants/WQ6CH4ZSAP4H27KVA75DO6FVWQ/

Don’t think you would be welcome in many Luv. Didn’t know you could become an infectious disease expert by surfing the net – guess we’re all experts now
50 4
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January 24, 2022 8:31am
- westernScientest
  
  That is how she become one (from twitter). Its only in the last couple of months that the media have been referring to her as an ‘infectious disease expert’ previously they were referring to her as a microbiologist – which she is, did a bunch of work with Bioluminescents if I remember correctly – https://www.superbugslab.org/members/. Not exactly infectious diseases.
  
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  January 24, 2022 8:58am
  - ClanMcleod
    
    Bioluminescence? That’s the “Natural Glow” stuff we see advertised on late night TV by Suzanne Paul isn’t it?
    You go Siousxie! You’re a champion!
    
    24 3
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    January 24, 2022 9:22am
- ClanMcleod
  
  She would have to be extremely selective in which hospitality locations she attended I would imagine.
  
  21 3
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  January 24, 2022 9:20am
- Joely Doe
  
  Actually, according to Stuff she is an epidemiologist…
  according to University of Auckland epidemiologist Associate Professor Siouxsie Wiles
  As we know, Stuff never lies and is to be considered a ‘Source of Truth’ because they Fact Check everything they print.
  They tell us so.
  /sarc
  
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  January 24, 2022 12:37pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Well, looks like I’ll be stuck in NZ for at least another year, so I should organize a project:

I could revamp the kitchen… (but I won’t)
or
I could take up a new hobby.. (but why?)
or
I could start planning Hubby’s 70th bash (maybe)
or
??????

Suggestions welcome.
22 1
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January 24, 2022 8:35am
- Matt Long
  
  Start a Velvet Revolution Maggie, the last one was over 30 years ago and we’re due another.
  
  23 2
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  January 24, 2022 8:43am
- artemisia
  
  Perfect opportunity to find a great book series and start (again) from #1. Paper copy or download, might be free from the library. Download audio versions, pop in the ear buds and multitask while strolling, gardening, high dusting.
  
  I’m sure posters here will recommend series, tell us what genre you like.
  
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  January 24, 2022 8:43am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    I do this anyway…(audio/TV productions/hard copy)
    
    Just finished Olivia Manning’s “Fortunes of War”
    
    I’m a fan of some of the Victorians – Trollope, George Eliot, Jane Austen… (but not Dickens)
    
    11 0
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    January 24, 2022 9:45am
  - rjay
    
    Recommend reading 1984. It’s got today’s news.
    
    26 3
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    January 24, 2022 9:48am
    - Clownworld
      
      Re-reading this textbook manual at the moment.
      
      13 1
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      January 24, 2022 11:20am
    - oldfella
      
      rjay, grab 1984 while you still can.
      George Orwell’s iconic novel 1984, written in 1949 about the horrors of censorship and the threat of authoritarianism, is being censored by a university. The University of Northampton in Orwell’s own England has issued a trigger warning on the book, with staff claiming that the book contains “explicit material” and that some student may find the work to be “offensive and unsettling.”
      https://thepostmillennial.com/university-puts-trigger-warning-on-orwells-1984
      
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      January 24, 2022 11:34am
- Benedict Yu
  
  I would recommend gliding.
  
  https://gliding.co.nz/clubs/map/
  
  18 1
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  January 24, 2022 8:45am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    Not on your nelly.
    
    11 0
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    January 24, 2022 9:38am
  - Ra Henare
    
    However the Gliding Clubs are insisting you have a vax passport! 🙂
    
    Even to fly your own glider from their site
    
    (Yep Glider pilot of 50+ years) who is pissed off with the Gliding administrations wally behaviour.
    
    10 0
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    January 24, 2022 1:28pm
    - Observer of Life
      
      To drive your own car around Hampton Downs race track, one must have a Covid Passport – wtf!!
      
      4 0
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      January 24, 2022 6:23pm
- mikenmildagain
  
  Write a scientific paper?
  
  13 2
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  January 24, 2022 8:46am
  - ClanMcleod
    
    It would be an improvement on anything so far from Hendy, Plank or Baker.
    
    24 3
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    January 24, 2022 9:23am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    Been there, done that.
    
    https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/03036758.1986.10418167
    
    22 1
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    January 24, 2022 9:36am
    - mikenmildagain
      
      Yes, of course you have. But surely you have much more research to share.
      
      4 20
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      January 24, 2022 10:40am
- Clownworld
  
  Why be stuck? Just leave it is an empowering feeling. Tastes like freedom.
  
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  January 24, 2022 8:46am
- UrbanNeocolonialist
  
  Save a kid. Ask local school for a girl from a rough background with brains who just needs a bit of educational assistance and mentoring to change her trajectory and life.
  
  17 1
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  January 24, 2022 9:16am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    I do a bit of this already….
    
    10 0
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    January 24, 2022 11:55am
    - bronny1
      
      Foster some animals?
      Learn something new (something that uses different skills than you might be used to like drawing or meditation)?
      Go surfing?
      
      5 1
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      January 24, 2022 5:46pm
- KevO'Brien
  
  Write a book.
  
  5 1
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  January 24, 2022 11:59am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  Take an on-line course in becoming a chocolatier
  
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  January 24, 2022 7:11pm
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    That’s the youngest daughter’s department…
    I don’t really like chocolate.
    
    2 0
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    January 24, 2022 10:00pm
UrbanNeocolonialist

New important (and very surprising!) Danish data:
-HIGHER rates of infection among vaccinated 5-11 yos, even when adjusting for testing rate
-Boosters not associated w/lower infection rates
https://covid19danmark.dk/#gennembrudsinfektioner
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January 24, 2022 8:48am
Swifty

I’m lost for words.

I urge KBers to view this latest propaganda piece from the CTU supporting their Fair Pay Agreements travesty.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3EBtTR6TuzM

I first noticed it as an ad on YouTube, and then I tracked it down.

What an absolute disgrace, particularly the way NZ employers and business owners are portrayed.

Is this how the CTU routinely portrays NZ Ma and Pa business owners?

I forget the numbers but isn’t it that 85% of New Zealanders are employed by firms with less than 20 employees and the the vast majority of businesses in NZ are small to medium-sized family run operations scratching to make a living for their employees and themselves.

Well, this is where we are now. This is who our government is in bed with. This, the CTU, is the organisation who thinks nothing wrong with colluding with the NZ Labour Party to use the power of the state to coerce NZ business owners to comply with their demands.

It’s a protection racket.

How absolutely shameful and, I might add, this reinforces the fact that the FPAs are nothing but a great big leap back to the 60s and 70s with the ‘evil greedy capitalist’ and ‘us versus them’ mindsets that prevailed during those times.

Some friends you’ve got Labour!

Team of 5 million? Yeah nah.
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January 24, 2022 8:49am
- In Vino Veritas
  
  Swifty, a good few years ago (2019 I think), the stats showed only about 17% of NZ’rs were unionised (that gives a decent idea how most NZ’rs feel about Union parasites). And of that 17%, over 60% of them are public sector employees. So, those 60% are protecting themselves against their employer. That would be me and all other taxpayers out there. Ironic huh?
  
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  January 24, 2022 9:38am
- amospicton
  
  That is truly appalling.
  
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  January 24, 2022 9:55am
Yvette

A compliant [complaint] aired yesterday in a television bulletin seemed to be that Maori vaccination of a younger group but above 12 years was denied before September, supposedly putting Maori again at a disadvantage.

At what stage in the ‘vaccine roll-out have Maori been treated differently than non-Maori?
That Maori have a lower life expectancy by a few years, and a larger number of their population portion is younger than some non-Maori group, surely can not be accommodated in the roll-out, but in fact substantial funding appears to have been allocated to facilitate Maori vaccination and dealing with covid.

Budget 2020: Māori to get $900m to deal with Covid-19 fallout
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/416669/budget-2020-maori-to-get-900m-to-deal-with-covid-19-fallout

Funding for the Māori COVID-19 Delta Outbreak response
This funding of $36 million will ensure Māori health providers can continue to support Māori communities while responding to COVID-19
https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/populations/maori-health/funding-maori-covid-19-delta-outbreak-response
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January 24, 2022 9:15am
- UrbanNeocolonialist
  
  A substantial portion of reduced life expectancy for polynesians in NZ is due to their huge rates of obesity. Lack of personal discipline (and a community tolerant of it) carries a heavy price. Being a fat slob is not ok.
  
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  January 24, 2022 9:31am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Cat Pause will chat with you shortly//
    
    6 1
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    January 24, 2022 5:30pm
    - NeverMindTheBollocks
      
      Miaow!
      
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      January 24, 2022 7:13pm
iMP

TAMAKI. Several churches have penned a letter calling for Brian Tamaki’s release from jail. It has some GREAT LINES.

Ex-inmate now columnist Damien Grant wrote an excellent article of concern about the jailing (here: https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/300501039/why-the-arrest-and-detention-of-brian-tamaki-dismays-me).

The letter shows Jacinda has made a martyr of Tamaki and only strengthened his personality cult.
The churches are:
• 3 Grace Churches (Gisborne, Tauranga, Rotorua)
• Auckland Covenant Church
• South City Reformed Baptist Church.

Here are some extracts:
“It is no secret there is much of Brian Tamaki’s theology and Christian practice that we would disagree with.”

“Yet, we felt compelled to write the following as a show of solidarity with his current plight. Our aim here is not to air our disagreements with Mr Tamaki. Rather we stand in solidarity with a religious minister who has been imprisoned, right here in Aotearoa.”

“systematically silenced”

[New Zealand is] “faced with a diseased democracy at best; and at worst, tyranny”

“We must learn to converse with one another once again, even when we disagree, without corralling one another off to jail cells.”

“Mr Tamaki may have touched the painted line of his bail conditions, but is jail really the suitable answer for handling political differences (while gangs in NZ face far lesser penalities for public disorder)?

“We write in solidarity with a man who dared to speak a point of view not approved by the State.”

WOW. Tamaki aside, Labour just lost LOTS of church votes 2023.
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January 24, 2022 9:20am
- KevO'Brien
  
  What about activists stealing land titles with Police connivance and Govt paying for the land? (Ihumatao and others?)
  
  That is an unspeakable crime which should have any govt turfed out.
  
  Bishop Tamaki is only protesting against further dereliction of this govt’s duties. Pfizer never made a convincing case for their “vaccines” and they were promoted after law changes in the USA by parties with a financial interest in the outcomes.
  
  The Bishop has been nabbed for breach of bail conditions which is implicitly an offence against the Courts authority. That also makes it a political act when an amateur govt has charge.
  
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  January 24, 2022 12:19pm
Maggie Pie

[Deleted – you could make the same comment without the casual racist overtone. mod.]
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January 24, 2022 9:30am
- Maggie Pie
  
  Is Batzie having a day off?
  
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  January 24, 2022 12:51pm
ClanMcleod

From Toby Young at the Daily Sceptic and The Spectator in the UK.

“Jacinda Arden is behaving like a character in a Don’t Look Up-style satire about the absurd lengths Zero Covid fanatics will go to avoid abandoning their crackpot agenda. Ninety-four per cent of the over-12s vaccinated and the toothy tyrant still won’t give them their freedom back.”

https://dailysceptic.org/2022/01/23/zero-covid-zealot-jacinda-arden-cancels-wedding-imposes-mini-lockdown-and-insists-on-a-24-day-isolation-period-after-new-zealand-recorded-84-new-covid-cases-on-saturday/
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January 24, 2022 9:31am
solarsailer

It’s hard to tell if Ardern has contempt for us or if she just thinks we’re all thick? I mean we know its BS, she knows its BS, she knows we know, but gets up there and faithfully delivers the plan as if somehow the result will be different to anywhere else in the world.
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January 24, 2022 9:37am
- UrbanNeocolonialist
  
  She is always late to press-conferences so she clearly has no respect for the economy or 100’s of thousands wasting their time waiting around for the decisions she is announcing.
  
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  January 24, 2022 12:21pm
  - cmm
    
    Being late is a friggin power play.
    
    16 1
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    January 24, 2022 2:22pm
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      Or evidence of disorganisation.
      
      11 1
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      January 24, 2022 4:26pm
- KevO'Brien
  
  Is she taking instructions from the World Economic Forum?
  
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  January 24, 2022 6:29pm
Rusty

I might be dumb on all this but what flu virus are we being told to look out for symptoms on?

covid-19 (2020)
delta (2021)
omicron (2022)

Have the first two disappeared and if so, how and why?

Why do we even need a warning traffic light system if we have been told omicron is less deadly than the first two?

Nothing is making sense anymore.
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January 24, 2022 9:55am
- Clownworld
  
  Stop making sense – Talking Heads
  Jacinda is the talking head along with Bloomfield.
  
  Trust us as your single source of truth.
  Nothing makes sense when you are living in a dystopian jungle.
  
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  January 24, 2022 11:11pm
ecco

Ardern’s comms team working overtime releasing press releases/advertorials about poor Cindy having to cancel her wedding. You know it’s orchestrated from NZ when it hits the Daily Mail and the Financial Times simultaneously. Some of the comments are hilarious as they are not moderated, so stuff you would not read in NZ. Can’t report the teeth ones on here as appearance stuff is not allowed on here ?.
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January 24, 2022 9:57am
Surely Knott

Just watching the massive Swedish protests and violence in Brussels on the Russian times . None of the European protests have been covered in the NZ press. I now go to the Russian Times to see factual events censored by our state funded media??!!? Man has the world changed.
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January 24, 2022 9:57am
- mikenmildagain
  
  By ‘Russian Times’, do you mean the Russia Today site? If so, do you expect it to be a non-censored source?
  
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  January 24, 2022 10:44am
  - fisho
    
    Compared to Stuffed, Horrid, Red Radio etc, most likely less censored.
    
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    January 24, 2022 12:04pm
    - Mike
      
      What a sheltered life you must lead. I suggest you google the respective rankings of Russia and NZ for press freedom.
      
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      January 24, 2022 1:30pm
      - Surely Knott
        
        Yes I’m aware of the relative press rankings. That’s why it’s interesting that you can’t find anything about the protests happening all over the world on the NZ mainstream media and you can on a russian website. It’s supposed to be free press here.
        
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        January 24, 2022 3:42pm
      - NeverMindTheBollocks
        
        I don’t read the Russian press for news about Russia; but its other stuff can be ok
        
        3 1
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        January 24, 2022 7:16pm
    - KevO'Brien
      
      Relatively RT is often an excellent source, particularly of global news or reactions.
      
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      January 24, 2022 6:32pm
  - rangitoto
    
    No one expects RT to be non-censored. The surprise is the censorship in our local media.
    
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    January 24, 2022 1:18pm
Fletch

This is going around at the moment –

The Covid 19 Public Health Response (Vaccinations) Order 2021 [2022] comes into effect on April 1st.

This legislation will allow for:

1. The lockdown of unvaccinated or insufficiently vaccinated individuals.
2. The ability to restrict travel within the country to unvaccinated or insufficiently vaccinated (e.g. a person who does not want to get a booster shot).
3. Withhold certification from those who do not get required boosters or subsequent combinations of vaccines as may be ordered at any time.
4. The ability to dictate the type and form of certification required for proof of vaccination status — digital or otherwise.
5. The ability to dictate what other information may be required for the renewal of vaccine certificates, and which information may be contained on such a certificate.
6. The period for which a vaccine certificate is valid can be changed at any time, and who it is that may be entitled or eligible to have these certificates.
7. The specification of mandates for entire job sectors.
8. The ordering of certain jobs to require regular mandatory testing and medical examination.
9. Enforcement officers to be able to demand certification, pretty much at any time.
10. The appointment of enforcement officers that can be anybody they wish to appoint, and not necessarily police.
11. Enforcement officers to inspect and take copies of certification to be verified at a later date, before immediately returning such documentation.
12. The provision of an assessment tool for employers to use to determine who should be vaccine mandated, however employers can totally disregard the assessment tool and mandate at whim.
13. Legal or other representatives of employees may be refused entry to workplaces.
14. Contact tracing information may be used against a person in order to enforce the Act.
15. Employees who have been dismissed for non-compliance of testing or vaccination, but comply at the last minute, may still be dismissed if the employer deems revoking the dismissal to be disruptive of their business.

https://www.legislation.govt.nz/regulation/public/2022/0004/latest/LMS629661.html
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January 24, 2022 10:00am
- dannz
  
  Comes into effect on April 1st 😀
  
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  January 24, 2022 2:31pm
- cjn
  
  Fletch: Is this legislation a joke? No-one has responded to your post. Is everyone in on the joke? It sounds to me like a cross between Stalin’s state and North Korea. I am worried.
  
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  January 24, 2022 2:36pm
  - Fletch
    
    I just had a read through. It pretty much translates as being “more discrimination against the unvaccinated if not following whatever rules we just made up.” ??
    I can’t wait to see this woman on trial after all this is over.
    This govt has a lot to answer for.
    
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    January 24, 2022 5:14pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  That order has been operating since midnight.
  
  This order comes into force at 11.59 pm on 23 January 2022.
  
  https://www.legislation.govt.nz/regulation/public/2022/0004/latest/LMS629664.html
  
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  January 24, 2022 4:30pm
  - KevO'Brien
    
    If these clowns endeavour to force vaccination on unwilling people who are not or cannot be satisfied that they have been informed as to be able for them to consent to the procedure the likelyhood is high that NZ govt officials will be added to the those presently being charged before the ICCC. Lesser grades may be attached too as there is no defence of acting for someone else.
    
    The right as to being satisfied as to being able to make a considered decision is inalienable. That right belongs solely to the person sought to be vaccinated or otherwise experimented on.
    
    Global lawyers are on the hunt for potential offenders.
    
    If they attempt to carry me off screaming my price escalating daily.
    
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    January 24, 2022 6:44pm
Fletch

Auckland City Council are blathering on about the “Fourth Industrial Revolution”, whatever that is, parroting the World Economic Forum. Sounds like utter twaddle.

https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/plans-projects-policies-reports-bylaws/our-plans-strategies/auckland-plan/opportunities-prosperity/Pages/fourth-industrial-revolution.aspx
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January 24, 2022 10:04am
Maggie Pie

About this time last year, there were a few ‘sniggers’ when I casually mentioned we had 7 cartons of Toilet Paper (504 rolls) stored under the stairs.

It could be time to tap into the ‘Strategic Reserve’…..

https://twitter.com/nzherald/status/1485352924104601603
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January 24, 2022 10:06am
- Scooter
  
  Get a bidet, never use loo paper again
  
  15 1
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  January 24, 2022 10:22am
  - Maggie Pie
    
    You obviously haven’t got a bidet then, Scoots!
    
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    January 24, 2022 10:35am
    - Scooter
      
      Mags I do have one but luckily loo paper isn’t running out where I am. Still useful for washing feet or filling with ice for beer.
      
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      January 24, 2022 10:44am
    - Ra Henare
      
      I have been using a portable bidet for years. (Bum Gun)
      Zero consumption of toilet paper.
      
      If ever I have to go to another toilet sans bidet, my arse feels violated with the scrape of toilet paper.
      
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      January 24, 2022 1:35pm
      - kevn
        
        @Ra…. My Grandfather used to have tidy squares of newspaper on a wire hook. No fancy bog roll for him.
        
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        January 24, 2022 4:56pm
Fletch

The pre-print of a fascinating new paper, detailing how the vaccines might suppress the immune system.

https://www.authorea.com/users/455597/articles/552937-innate-immune-suppression-by-sars-cov-2-mrna-vaccinations-the-role-of-g-quadruplexes-exosomes-and-micrornas

It’s above my pay grade, trying to understand this stuff, although the website at the below link attempts to summarize it all. Includes a video interview with the main author of the paper. “To summarize the central point of Seneff’s latest paper, the COVID jab causes alpha interferon suppression, which weakens your immune system.”

https://conservativeplaylist.com/2022/01/23/how-covid-shots-suppress-your-immune-system/

Trying to read and understand this, it seems like the mechanisms of the body are far more complex and have far more flow-on effects than the makers of the vaccines have allowed for. I am reminded that it says in the Bible, “we are fearfully and wonderfully made.”
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January 24, 2022 10:14am
- bennerg
  
  It’s sort of made easier to understand here:
  https://hatchardreport.com/the-data-landscape-is-changing-rapidly-non-covid-death-rates-accelerate-alarmingly/
  
  Insurance companies are first to highlight the problems they are now seeing – huge increases in deaths. Not from Covid, but that then leaves only one thing.
  
  “the increase in deaths represents “huge, huge numbers,” and that it’s not elderly people who are dying, but “primarily working-age people 18 to 64” who are the employees of companies that have group life insurance plans through OneAmerica. Most of the claims for deaths being filed are not classified as COVID-19 deaths,”
  
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  January 24, 2022 12:12pm
Local Miller

https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/complaints_policy
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January 24, 2022 10:17am
- mandk
  
  https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/complaints_policy
  
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  January 24, 2022 10:30am
Yvette

Is a “casual” news item now considered a Rule the whole nation needs to aware of and observe, possibly with consequences, and a Rule that is confusing anycase?

The plan is designed to slow the spread as we get ready for Omicron, but there’s concern the plan will quickly become unworkable.
New rules, introduced on Friday, mean positive cases must isolate for at least 14 days, including 72 hours symptom-free.
However, household members need to be in isolation for an additional 10 days after the positive case has been cleared.
That means household contacts will have to isolate for at least 24 days or three and a half weeks, which is longer than the actual case themselves.
https://www.1news.co.nz/2022/01/22/covid-rules-could-see-household-contacts-of-positive-case-isolate-for-24-days/

■ Are those household members in serving an extra 10 days, suspected as possibly covid infected or carriers, as was the shamed KFC worker (until that sister returned a positive test result) and during those 10 days does not the first positive case become, in turn, a close contact of the family members and should spend the further 10 days isolating with them, rather than “ironically going ‘free’ before them”, as the quoted 1-News item suggests?
_____________
A ’precedent’? –
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has refused to apologise after calling out the sister of a student infected with coronavirus for going to work at a KFC rather than self-isolating.
The woman worked at the fast food chain’s restaurant in Botany Downs in Auckland’s eastern suburbs on February 22 and 23 [between 3.30pm on Monday and 12.30am on Tuesday] three days before testing positive for Covid-19.
Her sister tested positive on February 23 after being considered a casual contact of a confirmed case at Papatoetoe High School – the centre of a cluster of cases in South Auckland.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9314499/Jacinda-Ardern-says-WONT-apologising-Auckland-Covid-infected-KFC-worker.html

Extract – the KFC worker, who said the only instruction she ‘received” was a phone text to her sister that indirectly indicated the worker need not isolate, but subsequently in fact was condemned nationwide for not isolating as a close contact and getting tested.
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January 24, 2022 10:32am
- Cartman
  
  Simple – just don’t get tested if you have the sniffles.
  
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  January 24, 2022 10:42am
Jack5

Has the Ardern-subsidised Herald given the Judas kiss to National’s deputy leader, Nicola Willis? Can praise from the Left be that damaging?

The article, which seems to be reprinted from the Listener (does Ardern own the lot?), paints Willis as the eptimome of an MMP politician – school, university, party worker:

Her strength lies in 20 years of being mired in the ways of parliamentary thinking. She went from university – she has a first-class honours degree in English from Victoria University of Wellington and a postgraduate diploma in journalism – straight to Parliament. Her first job was as a researcher in Bill English’s office “right after he lost the election”; she later became a senior adviser to John Key. She also worked for Fonterra, which is probably as political as Parliament: all of which is by way of saying that she is a political geek.

Willis’s Mum was a Press Gallery reporter.

If Willis can’t get the feminine-dominated media on-side for National, no-one can. But would she axe State subsidies for the media?

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/national-party-deputy-leader-nicola-willis-prime-minister-in-waiting/656ZOQ3ITJYI4JGXN5BKVIJSNQ/

[Paywalled]
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January 24, 2022 10:47am
- BananaLlama
  
  But would she axe State subsidies for the media?
  
  I doubt anyone in National believes in free markets or even subsidising their own people against competition. They are actually the worst of both worlds and will gate keep for the labour party until we are a full blown socialist republic.
  
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  January 24, 2022 11:04am
- Fletch
  
  As compared to woman who went straight from a fish ‘n’ chip shop into politics to end up being Prime Minister.
  
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  January 24, 2022 1:17pm
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    At least Nicola’s degree is a first class one
    
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    January 24, 2022 7:20pm
I remember when

There has been a lot of talk about the selfishness of the unvaccinated.
During the last week I have had a number of conversations with fellow pensioners and have come to the following conclusions –
. They are almost invariably more worried about there own health than anyone else.
. A number think the border should be totally closed so they obviously have no children, rellies or friends overseas.
. They believe that all the unvaccinated have been reading ‘conspiracy theory’ advice. However, they don’t appear to have read (or heard) anything other than local media and ‘conspiracy theory’ means anything at odds with that.
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January 24, 2022 10:53am
- bennerg
  
  The so called “selfishness” is simply a propaganda technique. The so called vaccines fail to meet the original standards to be classified as such, as they do not prevent getting nor transmitting the infection.
  So the claim that they just minimise the severity of symptoms classifies them as “therapeutics”, and puts them in the same class as Ivermectin, Hydrochloroquine, only way more expensive and dangerous that these well proven safe treatments.
  In my experience those not taking these mRNA based therapeutics are generally those that actually think for themselves, and don’t buy in to political tyranny. Granted it makes for strange bedfellows, but that’s life.
  
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  January 24, 2022 12:36pm
- Fletch
  
  Question: is every conspiracy theory just a theory or are any actually true? Not every one can just be a theory.
  
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  January 24, 2022 1:19pm
  - Don Beckett
    
    Remember Fletch, the difference between a conspiracy theory and the Truth is about 6 months.
    
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    January 24, 2022 5:02pm
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  Every elderly person is concerned with their own health. Don’t ask them how they are, for they will certainly tell you.
  
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  January 24, 2022 7:21pm
I remember when

8 December, 2020.
UK grandmother the first person in the world to be given Pfizer jab.
Now we are reading about boosters and a booster of the booster.
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January 24, 2022 11:05am
curry4me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfdjEuIS8ZQ

South Korea and Japan team up to end China’s dominance in Battery Manufacturing sector.

Apart from China, South Korea and Japan are the only nations that have considerable battery manufacturing infrastructure at home. They have expertise; they have skilled labour, and they indeed have the political will to hurt China where it hurts unbearably. [5:05]
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January 24, 2022 11:20am
curry4me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0uLcc0KbWI

Is Omicron Almost Over?

If you’re a parent, you know the “are we there yet” during any long car trip. I think we’re all asking “is Omicron over yet?” about the coronavirus pandemic (except you pajama-loving, sourdough-making, closet organizing hermits who would be happy to stay at home for the rest of your lives). Some countries have started opening up after Omicron cases peaked, so what about the US? Some voting rights bills have been blocked in the Senate, which was an obvious outcome given Senators’ stated stances on the bills before the vote. And is nuclear energy the best clean energy source? Bill Gates thinks so. Watch this episode of America Uncovered for that and more of this week’s headlines. [14:39]
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January 24, 2022 11:20am
I remember when

To date there have been in excess of 15,479 recorded cases of covid in NZ.
We have been told we have a track and trace system that is world class.
So were are the research papers detailing how most infections occured, where, the risks comparisons of indoors and outdoors.
We have now had two years to learn, and pass on advice, so that people can avoid risk areas.
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January 24, 2022 11:27am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  I want to know the numbers of NZ covid hospitalised, ICU’d & deaths by age, gender, ethnicity, comorbidities, COVID variant, & vaxx status.
  
  I want to be able to form a view as to my personal risk profile.
  
  Is that too much to ask?
  
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  January 24, 2022 7:26pm
oldfella

Guess someone should ask Cindy if she intends to surge ahead with that major overhaul of our medical system.
What could go wrong doing it in the middle of a pandemic? //s
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January 24, 2022 11:43am
waripori

Full page ad in Wairarapa Times Age this morning about the shift to Red.

I reckon if I got in touch with them over a long weekend and tried to get a full page ad in Mondays paper they would have said some chance about Thursday. Paper goes to print Sunday night.

You cant tell me this was not organised on Saturday at the latest.
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January 24, 2022 11:55am
- cmm
  
  Quite likely Cindy’s friends in advertising were fronting this.
  
  They would have bought the space up front, giving dimensions etc and told the paper that the graphics were coming an hour before print start (for an extra $ of course).
  
  Then email them the graphics, Ctrl C/Ctrl V, save and hit the print button.
  
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  January 24, 2022 12:52pm
  - waripori
    
    Still means they knew some time before yesterday morning the lights were going to change.
    
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    January 24, 2022 1:50pm
    - bronny1
      
      Everyone knew that – lots of businesses were warning staff.
      
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      January 24, 2022 7:53pm
- Fletch
  
  There was a post circulating on Wednesday, saying that people who knew people working at one of the Councils and in the Health sector were preparing to work from home.
  
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  January 24, 2022 2:10pm
- bronny1
  
  They probably can find space for their best customer
  
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  January 24, 2022 7:52pm
Oldmate

My sister has a newborn (1 month) that has been struggling to eat and losing weight consistently.

She setup an appointment with a paediatrician who on finding out she was unvaccinated refused to see her. The doctor informed her that she would have to get someone else to bring in her one month old baby for the X-ray etc.

My sister doesn’t know anyone vaccinated apart from some friends who are not close enough for her to give them her sick newborn. Her husband is also unvaccinated.

They finally agreed to a negative covid test. However she was unable to obtain one as she is not symptomatic.

They then agreed that she would have to wait for a day when the hospital wasn’t busy where she could come at a time when not many other patients were around. She completed the X-ray etc and will need to continue with this process as her baby is still in need of diagnosis/treatment.

Is this Legal?
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January 24, 2022 12:38pm
- cmm
  
  I don’t think that is legal.
  
  Even under Red, essential service providers (including medics) are not allowed to deny service based on vaccination status according to the government.
  
  The medics get public funding so they must comply to government rules.
  
  They may request pre-consultations tests, but not if the case is urgent.
  
  https://www.health.govt.nz/system/files/documents/pages/ministry-health-position-statement-management-unvaccinated-individuals-healthcare-settings-25nov21.pdf
  
  On the flip side, I’d steer clear of any doctor that is so irrational and misinformed that they fear catching CV19 because a patient is unvaccinated.
  
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  January 24, 2022 1:41pm
  - Hard Cheese
    
    To say nothing of their ethics being so messed up they’d refuse treating a one month old baby
    
    18 1
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    January 24, 2022 2:34pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  No, it is not legal or medically ethical.
  
  https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-delta-outbreak-doctors-have-duty-of-care-to-unvaccinated-says-moh/NEP6JRLAYYSPUOXIB4BVKWNFAQ/
  
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  January 24, 2022 1:56pm
- Joely Doe
  
  Depends… in Private Practice, the clinician can pick and choose who they see.
  As noted above, if they are seeing both Public and Private patients, it becomes a bit murky.
  I have heard of Private specialists refusing to see Unvaxxed (even GPs are seeing asymptomatic Unvaxxed in full PPE and in their cars – for a sore toe!), so it’s not a stretch to refuse to see any Unvaxxed.
  Advice provided clinically, is that we can refuse to treat but have to make recourse to refer on.
  Personally, I see anyone who makes an appointment and can pay the bill.
  
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  January 24, 2022 2:54pm
- Observer of Life
  
  Oldmate: That is appalling. I would have thought illegal. No medical facility can refuse treatment.
  
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  January 24, 2022 6:41pm
oldfella

If you’re looking for a laugh…
++
Bono, the pretentious lead singer of the rock band U2, is famous throughout the entertainment industry for being more than just a little self-righteous.
At a recent U2 concert in Glasgow, Scotland, he asked the audience for total quiet.
Then, in the silence, he started to slowly clap his hands, once every few seconds.
Holding the audience in total silence, he said into the microphone,
“Every time I clap my hands, a child in Africa dies.”
A voice with a broad Scottish accent from the front of the crowd pierced the quiet…
“Well, foockin stop clappin’ then, ya evil bastard!”
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January 24, 2022 12:48pm
- emmess
  
  Every 60 seconds in Africa an hour passes
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Zm1hPbmzPw
  
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  January 24, 2022 1:15pm
- Rusty
  
  U2 have more money than some African economies.
  
  Bono has been criticised in the past for his and U2’s hypocritical attitude to the starving people in Africa and blaming greedy western capitalism for not doing enough considering U2 is a half a billion dollar industry.
  
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  January 24, 2022 1:17pm
- Tom Hunter
  
  He hasn’t changed. Had an Irish acquaintance here in NZ in the late 80’s who had, as a teenager in the late 70’s, gone to U2 sessions when they were basically just a pub band in Ireland, and he told me a similar story where Bono would be fucking yammering on about some Great Social Cause, only to be interrupted by people in the crowd yelling:
  
  “Shoot oop and fookin sing.”
  
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  January 24, 2022 2:00pm
- kowtow
  
  Also notorious for his ,cough cough ,tax arrangements.
  That’s OK , but not when you make a virtue of lecturing others on how to spend their hard earned savings / tax revenues.
  
  prick of the highest order.
  
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  January 24, 2022 2:26pm
- Bobba Fret
  
  That is a very old joke and has been around for years but is a good one.
  
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  January 24, 2022 3:29pm
Maggie Pie

“Ardern the Unready”

– Piers Morgan
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January 24, 2022 12:50pm
- Fletch
  
  “Given over 90% of New Zealand’s eligible population has had at least 2 doses of Covid vaccine, and Omicron is indisputably a significantly less severe strain of the virus, I’m not sure why Jacinda Ardern is implementing draconian new restrictions & cancelling her wedding?” Morgan said on Twitter.
  
  https://www.1news.co.nz/2022/01/23/piers-morgan-slams-ardern-for-draconian-new-restrictions/
  
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  January 24, 2022 1:28pm
- Sean OConnor
  
  A KB commenter beat Piers there the other day after we were talking about Canute.
  
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  January 24, 2022 3:52pm
oldfella

How long till we go back to the daily Podium of Struth (POS) standups?
I imagine Cindy will avoid them to avoid being associated with all the bad news/huge case numbers coming our way.
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January 24, 2022 1:02pm
cmm

So MSD advises a man to arm himself.

As much as it is illegal to carry a gun for self defence, it is illegal to carry any weapon for self defence.

Of course people do arm themselves, by having ready excuses: that hammer under my car seat is there because sometimes the starter motor plays up and needs a wee tappy-tap-tap; I carry a knife in case I need to cut some string. Both could be pressed into service if needed for defence, but that’s clearly not why I carry them.

But for a government official to advise someone to break the law would seem a bit of a push.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/127543372/man-who-feared-for-safety-in-emergency-housing-advised-to-carry-a-bat-by-msd-staff
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January 24, 2022 1:31pm
- Inandout
  
  cmm, he looks pretty fit so can’t he get a farm job with accommodation? He lives in the right area.
  
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  January 24, 2022 1:48pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Steering wheel lock lives under my driver’s seat. It is there for a reason
  
  6 1
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  January 24, 2022 5:39pm
Maggie Pie

PUTTING IT INTO PERSPECTIVE….

OUR biggest concern, is how long the 504 rolls of Toilet Paper will last.

Tomorrow morning @10:45 am, Julian Assange will learn whether he’ll be extradited to the United States and spend 504 years in prison.

https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/1484506432909320195
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January 24, 2022 1:35pm
- Frank the tank
  
  He’ll be out in 2025. Trumpy will give him a pardon just to piss off the military elite
  
  14 4
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  January 24, 2022 2:35pm
  - Local Miller
    
    Up tick, even if it’s only because of your positivity that Trump will win 2024. With some extra push from the idea of pissing off the (mostly left leaning) military elite.
    
    13 3
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    January 24, 2022 3:22pm
- Fletch
  
  They reckon there could be shortages.
  
  Speaking to Newstalk ZB’s Tim Dower today, Auckland University supply chain expert David Robb said we could see toilet paper running out within “a week or so”.
  
  Robb said the workforce could be impacted hugely if Omicron gets into workplaces and factories linked to the supply chain – particularly if people need to isolate or stay home longer.
  
  https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/covid-19-omicron-outbreak-would-nz-run-out-of-toilet-paper-supply-chain-expert-responds/TMXFYIHKZFCVIHPDJ4OSQEOL6I/
  
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  January 24, 2022 3:28pm
lifesgood

I’ve just seen the latest update on places of interest. It is getting longer by the minute. The govt needs to accept the fact that omicron is now throughout the community and just let it rip. The way the are going everyone in the country will be in isolation soon. It’s nuts.
25 1
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January 24, 2022 1:37pm
- UrbanNeocolonialist
  
  What if Govt announced a lockdown and everyone just ignored them? It wouldn’t make for any worse outcome.
  
  19 1
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  January 24, 2022 1:59pm
- cmm
  
  Yup, places of interest is pointless theatre.
  
  If masks and vaccinations stop transmission then who cares about places of interest with Delta? But that’s pretty much obsolete now.
  
  With omicron we know it is much more infectious and masks do nothing (except the really fancy ones). And we know the vaccine does nothing to stop transmission. So what’s the point of tracking places of interest?
  
  20 1
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  January 24, 2022 2:00pm
  - Stu2
    
    We were very earnestly agonising over supermarkets, locking them up and deep cleaning them.
    
    Then we discovered that infections were very rare in that setting.
    
    11 1
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    January 24, 2022 2:50pm
    - I remember when
      
      Supermarkets – high stud and usually well ventilated.
      
      12 0
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      January 24, 2022 3:29pm
- Joely Doe
  
  Why would anyone isolate for a headache and a runny nose?
  If you don’t get tested, how would you know you are ill?
  Friends in UK – husband got Omicron and was off work for 2 days. Wife caught from husband and was told to stay away from work for the next week. She felt feverish for the first day and better on the second day. Third day, took the kids skiing for few days as work was paying for her to stay away…
  
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  January 24, 2022 3:02pm
waripori

I noticed when Ashley was talking yesterday he mentioned the penalties under his section 70 notice ( $4,000 fine or 6 months jail ) for not complying with an order to isolate if you are a contact or been at a place of interest. It was mentioned again in todays MOH release.

They must be expecting widespread disobedience given the draconian isolation rules and the mild symptoms.

Not sure how the team of 5 million will react to hundreds of prosecutions.
23 0
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January 24, 2022 2:12pm
- CAKE FACE1
  
  The problem is that say hay-fever has similar symptoms to Omicron, so people may not isolate or test, innocently assuming that they have the former?
  
  I have never even glanced at the so-called “places of interest”. They are certainly of no interest to me.
  
  Contract tracers may have trouble finding me. I never sign in. I often pay in cash. Prove I was there. I don’t think I was. Go away overpaid bureaucrat.
  
  I’m unconvinced that everyone will willingly isolate for 24 days, if they catch this cold.
  
  Balancing this out, the Cindy cult will probably hide under their beds for 24 days, even if they don’t have Covid. The outside world is a scary place for them. Under their bed is the safety space that they crave. They might spend the rest of their lives there – just in case.
  
  Is Bloomers a paper tiger? Will they actually prosecute those people that ignore these rules?
  
  If they are correct, and there are tens of thousands of cases a day, I doubt that they will be able to enforce these rules.
  
  “Aotearoans” are an interesting breed. Typically, people won’t complain about a bad restaurant meal. The response is simply not to go back, with no comment made.
  
  So it is with many of these childish rules, such as signing in, and mask wearing. “Aotearoans” don’t complain. They just stop complying.
  
  You can feel the tide turning. The Cindy cult tries to hold the line, but the opposition is slowly increasing.
  
  As the economy tanks (later this year, I suspect), I expect Cindy’s support to grind lower.
  
  Although Cindy’s support seems very high at the moment, she is polarising. The Cindy cult love her. However, there is a large and growing minority that simply detest her. I expect the latter group to continue to grow, whilst some cultists may even fall out of love with Cindy.
  
  “May you live in interesting times”, as the Chinese expression says…
  
  15 1
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  January 24, 2022 3:18pm
  - cmm
    
    Good luck to them trying to track down tens of thousands of people and check they are all complying.
    
    There system breaks with a couple of hundred.
    
    That’s what you get when muppets design software and don’t understand basics like scaling.
    
    No doubt the job went to one of Cindy’s woke mates rather than someone who knows what they’re doing.
    
    14 1
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    January 24, 2022 4:13pm
    - cmm
      
      There -> their…. yuck. 50 years ago I’d have earned a solid thrashing for that!
      
      9 0
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      January 24, 2022 5:59pm
  - lifesgood
    
    I’m like you, have never to this day used the contact tracer ap, it’s not even on my phone. I absolutely resent the intrusion into my life, even if it is a boring one. I wear a mask only when I have to, and never outside. If I get a bit of a cold I will tell no one.
    
    12 3
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    January 24, 2022 4:51pm
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      I sign in when asked to. Donald Duck, Hollywood.
      Phone? Don’t be silly, ducks don’t have phones
      
      7 3
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      January 24, 2022 5:47pm
      - Mike
        
        The staff must appreciate you giving them an eye roll moment.
        
        2 4
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        January 24, 2022 7:04pm
    - Ceepar
      
      Me too lifesgood. I doubt it is just a few of us who think like this.
      
      3 0
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      January 24, 2022 8:02pm
- Its only I
  
  “Not sure how the team of 5 million will react to hundreds of prosecutions.”
  
  They will react the same sad way they have for any group or individual Labour and its media have labeled an enemy of the state.
  
  Its genuinely surprised me how malleable Kiwis Mana is and how easy it has been for Labour to manipulate an entire nation so negatively for political gain during a pandemic. The checks and balances I thought were there obviously never were.
  
  11 0
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  January 24, 2022 4:08pm
Maggie Pie

Ma txt to say she just drove past the Royal Oak Pak ‘n Save.
Reckons they’ve gone ‘Full-Mallard’ over there.

LOL!!
16 3
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January 24, 2022 2:18pm
Local Miller

I noticed that at the Auckland Marathon there were no masks on the runners, even in the crowded starting lineup, nor at the end. Also no masks in the crowd that I could see from photos.
So did they all have mask exemptions?
14 2
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January 24, 2022 3:19pm
- KevO'Brien
  
  A marathon is over 40K kilometres.
  Try running 100m masked.
  Masks reduce oxygen flow by re-breathing exhaled gases so can be foolhardy in many circumstances.
  
  5 2
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  January 24, 2022 6:58pm
Maggie Pie

TRENDING TWITTER

An old Pom residing in the UK asks…..

“New Zealand’s f*cked isn’t it?”

https://twitter.com/omotforest/status/1485140536923144195

The ‘replies’ make for an interesting read 😀
21 1
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January 24, 2022 3:28pm
- lifesgood
  
  Oh dear, no love for Cindy there, is there?
  
  8 0
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  January 24, 2022 4:54pm
Bobba Fret

Tova may have to do that bar tending after all. Seems like she has lost her case! Oh dear, how sad, never mind!
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/300501389/tova-obrien-broadcaster-must-wait-two-months-before-beginning-her-new-job
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January 24, 2022 3:30pm
- cmm
  
  Would you really order a drink from her?
  
  She’d probably demand you pay for it then drink it herself.
  
  12 2
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  January 24, 2022 4:09pm
slernz

I am very pleased that the Employment Court judgement went against Miss Toya O’Brien. It was laughable that she challenged a legal contract that she signed and agreed to. Miss O’Brien has zero integrity pulling a stunt like this and frankly her impartiality is now questionable.

Further, I was extremely disappointed to see Sean Plunket defend Miss O’Brien and calling her contract as unfair. Last week he also shamefully bullied Mrs Elizabeth Gunn on social media. Mr Plunket’s integrity must now be questioned. I had hopes for Mr Plunkett’s upcoming media startup but after this I shall not be listening.
19 3
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January 24, 2022 3:35pm
- Maggie Pie
  
  I think Sean had the HOTS for Chloe once as well 😛
  
  6 2
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  January 24, 2022 5:28pm
- Its only I
  
  $2000 fine as well.
  
  May be seen posting rants on stuff comment sections for the next few months, Labours troll farm works from home….
  
  6 1
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  January 24, 2022 6:01pm
- Sponge
  
  ” frankly her impartiality is now questionable”
  
  Are you serious?
  
  8 1
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  January 24, 2022 6:42pm
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    Waddya mean ‘now’?
    
    6 0
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    January 24, 2022 7:34pm
- Ceepar
  
  “Miss O’Brien has zero integrity pulling a stunt like this and frankly her impartiality is now questionable.” Now? Have you be living under a rock for the last 4 years? She dislikes any leader of the National Party, just because they’re National.
  
  7 0
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  January 24, 2022 8:10pm
Russ the Muss

Yeah looks like Tova will be working in a bar for the next few weeks. To be fair I think a spell in real NZ working the taps would be good for her both personally and professionally.
15 3
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January 24, 2022 4:02pm
- lifesgood
  
  Poetic justice. Just wonderful to give her a taste of her own medicine.
  
  12 2
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  January 24, 2022 4:56pm
  - lifesgood
    
    Sir Robert Jones sums up Tova’s case beautifully @ http://www.nopunchespulled.com/2022/01/20/world-class-cock/
    
    14 1
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    January 24, 2022 5:05pm
cmm

~~Levels~~
~~Traffic Lights~~
Stages

Well it keeps the advertising agencies in business…
15 0
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January 24, 2022 4:07pm
- mandk
  
  I’ll see your Stages and raise you Steps.
  
  12 0
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  January 24, 2022 4:43pm
cmm

“Contract clauses like Tova O’Brien’s hurting low-wage workers, says MP calling for ban”

Bullshit.

How often do low-wage workers end up with restraint of trade clauses?

“Restraints are habitually included in individual agreements for workers on wages close to the minimum wage,” she said.

Fruitpicker boss: “Naah mate, if you sign up to pick kiwifruit then you can’t pick avos for at least three months after.”

“If you drive forklifts for us, then you can’t drive forklifts for anyone else for 2 months.”

Bullshit.

Restraint of trade is not hurting low end workers.

There might be cases where this happens and workers steal business from their boss and set up their own shop (eg. the seamstresses she mentions), but, I doubt it is at all common with low-wage workers.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/127573787/contract-clauses-like-tova-obriens-hurting-lowwage-workers-says-mp-calling-for-ban
19 1
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January 24, 2022 4:20pm
- alex Masterley
  
  Its the first time that this MP has popped up on the radar since she was elected.
  
  15 3
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  January 24, 2022 4:42pm
  - Mike
    
    How many of the 120 MPs do you think you could name?
    
    5 3
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    January 24, 2022 6:57pm
Russ the Muss

Words cannot describe how cheesy this is and my respect for Tom Hanks has diminished immensely! Unlike many of Hollywood actors Tom has kinda kept out of politics, why he has stepped in to tell Americans how good Joe Biden is, when we all know he clearly is on his last legs, and sadly is struggling, I have no idea!!
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/tom-hanks-simpsons-cameo-predicted-the-future/QYBDQIF2UDEF3Y3HDKPY4AKSZQ/
14 3
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January 24, 2022 4:24pm
- Fletch
  
  Wow, that really was a PSA laden with BS…
  
  6 3
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  January 24, 2022 4:54pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Is Labour credibility dying with Covid, or from Covid?
16 1
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January 24, 2022 5:51pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Not with our “Celebrities”….
  
  https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/entertainment/2022/01/omicron-in-nz-jay-jay-feeney-hollie-smith-guy-williams-and-more-react-to-move-to-red-setting.html
  
  5 0
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  January 24, 2022 6:10pm
UrbanNeocolonialist

NSW deaths from covid in ’22. 90% over 60, nearly 2/3rds men. It’s almost entirely a disease of the old and sick. End all covid mitigation policies now!
https://twitter.com/OzParadoxdotcom/status/1485459462890860544/photo/1
5 1
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January 24, 2022 6:00pm
- Rich Prick
  
  And even Stuff is now telling us it is bad as a cold or hay fever. All of the mayhem for this?
  
  https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/explained/300502186/covid19-is-it-omicron-a-cold-or-hayfever-symptoms-to-look-out-for
  
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  January 25, 2022 3:35am
Steve Otto(North Shore)

MRI of the neck today at Ascot. While waiting another person came in, gave the papers and told to take a seat. 3 of us with 4 chairs available. She said “oh no, I want my own private waiting room” Such is the mind control Jaspinda has now enforced on the brain dead sheep.
Somewhere, someone is showering with a mask on, you just know it!
16 3
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January 24, 2022 6:39pm
- DeepBlue
  
  (Ops sorry I mistakenly reported you.)
  
  Today I saw a teenager on a trailer sailer with 1 other person. She was enjoying the fresh ocean air and stiff breeze with a mask on.
  
  10 0
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  January 24, 2022 7:09pm
  - Captain Mainwaring
    
    Obviously a Cindy fan.
    How bloody pathetic.
    
    4 1
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    January 24, 2022 9:31pm
Maggie Pie

I see the Horrid is reporting that 2 Indian Restaurants and an Indian Hall, all in Auckland, have been designated as ‘places of interest’ today linked to the Omicron outbreak.
Is their a pattern forming here?
7 3
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January 24, 2022 7:21pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Looks like omicron has escaped into a different ethnic group than the one delta chose.
  
  Anyway, we’ve already been told the “cases” were at a Sikh wedding.
  
  https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300502375/covid19-sikh-temple-relieved-no-omicron-transmission-after-case-visit-for-wedding
  
  4 0
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  January 24, 2022 7:46pm
  - Maggie Pie
    
    I remember from the very day I learned to walk, whenever I came out of the bathroom mum would always say…. “Did you wash your hands? Come here and let me smell them”
    
    She still does.
    
    5 2
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    January 24, 2022 8:39pm
fernglas

Can anyone explain to me why RAT is going to be of any help at all, other than as a statistic gathering exercise? Either you’ve got it or you haven’t.
6 1
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January 24, 2022 8:11pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Folks use it to see if they have Covid, so can inform their bosses/work-mates that they mightn’t be at work for a few days…. contaminating them.
  
  5 0
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  January 24, 2022 8:39pm
  - fernglas
    
    Don’t you think they might be able to come to that conclusion independently? Do you normally test for the common cold or influenza? What help is it if the majority of infections are asymptomatic?
    
    4 1
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    January 24, 2022 8:47pm
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      Maybe..
      
      But I’m just explaining the situation my loved ones are in over in Ozzie.
      
      If they feel a bit off and don’t test themselves, then potentially they could spread covid to their workmates… if their workmates have to isolate, their restaurant closes for a couple of weeks.
      
      3 1
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      January 24, 2022 9:21pm
- Stu2
  
  In Oz they are using them to get essential workers back into the work place if they are :
  – isolating close contacts
  – symptom free
  – negative on a rapid test
  
  3 0
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  January 24, 2022 9:10pm
Kiwi

Jacinda Ardern is martyring herself and her country – and all for a failed Covid strategy Trending News & More – The Telegraph – https://upjobsnews.com/jacinda-ardern-is-martyring-herself-and-her-country-and-all-for-a-failed-covid-strategy-trending-news-more/
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January 25, 2022 5:52pm

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