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June 17, 2022 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 17 June 2022

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General Debate

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CJames

Remember how Transmission Gully came in overbudget and Labour near continuously lambasted Nation for the overspend, despite most of it happening on Labour’s watch. Of course it didn’t stop Labour wasting a massive amount of money on an opening for something they never supported.
Yet now we find the budget for the urban cycleways (over half what Transmission Gully was) has blown out by an even greater percentage. The overspend is in every city they are being built. One has trebled in price and it isn’t even finished. And the articles on them are rare. Those that have been published are invariably rewrites of OIA requests following tipoffs and full of excuses to cover the ineptitude. Unfortunately Chris Bishop supports them no matter what the cost. I can’t imaging him doing that if Steven Joyce was still around.
The cycleways are being built with fuel excise duty. So rather than fix potholes in our increasingly 3rd world highways, the Labour party is wasting that money on city bike tracks. Some of them now cost more per kilometre than Transmission Gully did. As the ones already built show, they aren’t for commuting so don’t lower traffic density. What riding that is done is the elite’s electric bike promenades on fine weekends. Who else pays $20k for a cycle? Probably paid for by the Covid bonuses for public servants.
Why aren’t the TV reporters hitting the Ministers with the hard questions? Why don’t papers have it front page every day? Or does the bribe conditions cover burying these failures as well? What it really does do is give reason 245 not to trust the media. And National as the main opposition who aren’t highlighting this incompetent management aren’t much better.
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June 17, 2022 8:05am
- kowtow
  
  Here’s one of those articles , and no surprises , no regrets .
  
  We have lost all sense of proportion , common sense and responsibitlity.
  
  ‘A long-time West Harbour cycling advocate says the new $43 million price tag to build the 5km cycleway to link Dunedin to Port Chalmers has not changed his mind about the project.’
  
  He’s a city councillor and helps control spending ?
  
  https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/dcc/no-regrets-cycleway-backer
  
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  June 17, 2022 8:11am
  - All_on_Red
    
    The cycling lobby is remarkably well organised.
    Any surveys from the Council immediately get completed by their hundreds of members.
    Of course that’s more than the general public do, so they have an inordinate influence for their size.
    And they know when cycling participation is being measured too- so out in droves they come.
    Our fault we don’t participate and that we don’t push back at the Council staff who enable this lobby and give them more power than they deserve.
    
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    June 17, 2022 8:30am
    - Rodion Raskolnikov
      
      Is there really a large, organised cycle lobby driving the construction of cycle lanes, or are cycle lanes being constructed everywhere simply another instance of a central government doing what it wants with no concern for the cost involved, despite no evidence of any real public demand nor any net benefit to peoples lives, and attempting to engineer behaviour in a way that suits their ideological goals? I suggest that it is the latter.
      
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      June 17, 2022 12:19pm
      - Nickc2
        
        Perhaps the Greens are threatening to withdraw their support for the Govt if they don’t get what they want.
        Let’s face it, if the Greens walk, Labour will have to rely on Maori Party support and that can not only be fractious, it can also be very dangerous.
        If you thought Labour’s Maori Caucus was bat shit crazy, IMO, you ain’t seen nothing until the Maori Party have Labour over a barrel eh?
        
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        June 17, 2022 1:35pm
      - UrbanNeocolonialist
        
        A lot of column A and a lot of column B. Zealot enviro-nutters, individually and in groups are motivated to capture control of boring roles in bureaucracies that no average/normal person has any interest in. This led to results like the destructive fuckup that was Ecan a decade back, as well as fringing nutters being in control of all sorts of regulatory bodies like Human ~~Rights~~wrongs Council, and of course urban planning and environmental management departments in all their myriad shades of deluded irrational stupidity.
        
        The people who seek and land these jobs should in general be prevented from getting anywhere near such control because their views are so far removed from reality, ability to foresee inevitable destructive consequences or what sane people would judge to be a sensible accounting of cost/benefits.
        
        At the end of the day you have to ensure that the cheque-signers leading such organisations are died-to-the-wool skeptics and contrarians who have their feet planted in reality so that they can stop the crusading zealots from over-regulating and fucking up everything they touch.
        
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        June 17, 2022 2:44pm
  - Waipuk
    
    There is a new cycleway in the Hawkes Bay between Waipara and Waipukurau. I am guessing about 5 km. Concrete all the way so assume the cost is also in the $10s of millions.
    
    Apart from the occasional outing of the local mobility scooter group I think there is only 1 guy who regularly uses the cycleway to get to/from work.
    
    It’s only money.
    
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    June 17, 2022 8:40am
    - KiwiRupes
      
      Cost was budgeted at $2.8M – it’s actually just a pavement, nothing fancier than that, hence the lower cost. Also as it’s on existing highway land, am guessing no much in the way of land purchases were necessary
      
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      June 17, 2022 11:41am
    - Nickc2
      
      I cycled that road many times as a youngster and it still amazes me why anyone in their right mind would want to go to Waipawa by any means these days.
      
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      June 17, 2022 12:05pm
  - wilderbeast
    
    Yes I read that one too. IMO the guy is just a scumbag. He doesn’t care about accountability with the public purse so long as the money is spent on his pet hobbies. He’s no better than the bureaucrats and councillors he conned. I believe it’s time we started calling out selfish narcissists like this, including saying that their cries to “save the planet with bikes” etc are nothing more than selfish money grabs from the public purse. Enough is enough.
    
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    June 17, 2022 8:36pm
- G152
  
  Remember liebor bought fake news.
  The Net is the only place left where anyone can voice an opinion
  
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  June 17, 2022 8:19am
- Pavel
  
  Maybe it’s the consultancy fees blowing the cost out.
  https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/more-than-two-thirds-of-aucklands-59m-light-rail-spend-is-on-consultants/5RKQQX4PHASBVADWDAXEJTTZX4/
  
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  June 17, 2022 8:43am
- mawm
  
  CJ – I’m a recreational cyclist. I frequently cycle the NW cycleway in Auckland. It is usually filled with people riding to work. After that it is full of retirees on a day out or serious cyclists training. This shows that properly sited cycleways, and ones that don’t disappear at choke points, get used.
  
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  June 17, 2022 11:27am
  - CJames
    
    I am also a recreational cyclist, just got back from my rid, which is normally 3 times a week. I don’t bike commute as 7am starts in the middle of winter aren’t realistic.
    There are some cycleways that are good for commuters. but that is the exception – most aren’t. And the cost of them is eyewatering – not value for money. What makes it worse is they are paid for out of the fuel excise duty on the grounds that they ease congestion. They should be out of general taxation anf the petrol tax used to fix the roads. Our local stretch of SH1 has tyre bursting potholes.
    Think about it mawn. With all the commuters you see, how many cars would that have taken off the road? Would you notice a difference in the road traffic?
    
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    June 17, 2022 12:54pm
Mike

Happy World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought!
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June 17, 2022 8:07am
- Inandout
  
  Mike, Happy Green Outs. Combat power cuts.
  
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  June 17, 2022 8:24am
- alloytoo
  
  Luckily the world is greening due to increased atmospheric CO2.
  
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  June 17, 2022 8:26am
- cmm
  
  Extra CO2 in the atmosphere is actually reversing desertification.
  
  This is unsurprising and was expected by everyone who has even a junior school understanding of how plants work.
  
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  June 17, 2022 8:42am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Maybe the climate change wanks did not go to junior school? They went to indoctrination school
    
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    June 17, 2022 9:38am
- Matt Long
  
  Yep, higher concentration of CO² in the atmosphere does cause greening of deserts, there’s other things that can be done with conserving water as well.
  
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  June 17, 2022 1:49pm
  - Don Beckett
    
    There are sattelite images of areas of the earth that have greened over the past 50 or so years. Over the world, I understand it is an area about the size of NSW, Australia. In any event, a massive area available for cropping or afforestation – wildlife habitat.
    
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    June 17, 2022 2:09pm
  - cmm
    
    Extra CO2 means the plants can survive with less water.
    
    How?
    
    * Plants must absorb CO2 for photosynthesis.
    * They do this by opening the wee pores in their leaves called stomata.
    * Unfortunately, opening the stomata also lets out water vapour causing water loss (aka transpiration).
    * If CO2 levels are higher then plants can get the CO2 they need with less stomata open, thereby reducing their water loss.
    * This allows plants to grow with less water – allowing them to grown in marginal arid areas.
    * Thus higher CO2 levels are reversing desertification.
    
    This was well understood and undisputed when I learned this in junior school in the early 1970s. It remains uncontroversial today.
    
    This is such basic knowledge it is probably even part of Maori Science.
    
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    June 17, 2022 4:23pm
Simon

Sovereign nations like Russia, India & China do not take man made climate seriously. They know its fraud. Its only in the Post-West AGE satellite countries like NZ where the fraud is forced upon the general population.
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June 17, 2022 8:09am
- 103PapPap
  
  I think you will find that when you probe deeply into this you will find the United Nations, followed by many other left wing organisations (Green Peace et al) are the promulgators of this.
  
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  June 17, 2022 9:57am
Lee C

Peer Hitchins on the UK ‘Coming to its Senses’
https://hitchensblog.mailonsunday.co.uk/2021/12/peter-hitchens-after-two-years-of-mass-hysteria-are-we-finally-coming-to-our-senses.html?fbclid=IwAR0FwqX_4W1zJkEK0-S3Uuu2J92xfnJIHyFTDMAXncNOnmR2LVHcoBP8u6I

So under traditional circumstances New Zealand should be catching up in about 2025?
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June 17, 2022 8:10am
Simon

Cindy Ardern talked many of you into taking the Jaxx. Cindy the girlchild who went into politics to end child poverty. That Cindy. Just think a little bit more.
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June 17, 2022 8:11am
- Niz
  
  She didn’t talk me into it. She threatened me with exclusion from society and promised me things would go back to normal if I took the ‘vaccine’.
  I saw the writing on the wall, saw that large numbers of the population were (idiotically) keen on discriminating against people based upon ‘vax’ status, realised that the ‘opposition’ parties were fully on board with this atrocious behaviour, so took the bloody thing.
  I’m not that proud of my capitulation, but tell myself that I was being pragmatic.
  
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  June 17, 2022 8:38am
  - Rodion Raskolnikov
    
    While I understand why you caved, frankly, that is no excuse. You think that you were being pragmatic, but you lost and they won. What happens when the next unreasonable demand comes along? Then the next? This is a psychological program, not a medical program. They know that, even given widespread disquiet, most people are too weak, and they count on it.
    
    If people are unwilling to potentially lose something significant in the short term, then they will be slaves in the long term. It is that simple. I’d like to be able to tell you something else, but that wouldn’t do anyone any favours. What exactly do you retain when you lose your sovereignty and your dignity and your soul? It’s like wanting to win a war while not being willing to get shot in the process. You will lose. Sucks right? It’s difficult, right? Yes, but get over it. What is the alternative?
    
    The authoritarians know what they are doing, which is applying coercion to achieve their ends. It is supposed to be a near-impossible choice for people. But by definition, if they successfully coerce you, then you lose and they win.
    
    The way out is the principle that, if nobody gives in, then that is the end of it all (unless they want to pull out the guns on the population, which may be a pyrrhic victory). It cannot continue without mass buy-in. While as many as possible need to say a definitive “no!” you cannot wait for everyone else around us to do the right thing. You’ve got to do it yourself.
    
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    June 17, 2022 12:45pm
    - tf78
      
      At least now we know why they’re letting the crim’s out of jail – to make room for us.
      
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      June 17, 2022 9:28pm
  - Lee C
    
    Ditto Niz.
    
    ‘Talked into it’?!? FFS I took it because I was gentuinely concerned that the Government would come after me and bankrupt my business with fines.
    
    Watching the demonstrations in Wellington crushed and justified because we are expected to believe that the the protesters set fire to their own tents, followed by some over-privileged c**t using Parliament to label them white supremacists and anti-semites. Views slavishly endorsed by a paid-for media, and tacitly applauded by cowards in the other media illustrated to me just how flimsy teh moral fabric of this once great, proud, independent nation has become.
    
    I will never trust The NZ Government or its Honourable Opposition again.
    
    They were a total disgrace and illustrated how far from the notion of democratic representation this ‘let them eat cake’ bucnh of self-serving elitists have become.
    
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    June 17, 2022 1:37pm
    - Don Beckett
      
      100 upticks.
      
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      June 17, 2022 2:12pm
    - wilderbeast
      
      I’m right with you
      
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      June 17, 2022 8:40pm
  - UrbanNeocolonialist
    
    I took it + 2nd dose because I judged it to be likely lower risk than catching delta, but delayed as long as I could wanting to maximise the strength of the immune response to when I thought delta would be going through NZ at end of vaccination program. But no more once omicron and other low risk variants became prevalent.
    
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    June 17, 2022 9:53pm
Simon

Being unjaxxed I cant travel to the US or Canada but have no trouble flying to Vietnam. Commie Vietnam. Post-west.

We were told the West had better systems etc than the commies. Then it was true of course. But now its not so clear cut.

Man made climate change fraud for eg is a product of the Post West that the “commies” have not fallen for.
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June 17, 2022 8:17am
- Rodion Raskolnikov
  
  As the florid invocations of “democracy” of our figureheads increase, the reality becomes more and more totalitarian and less-free. What should be self-evident in a free democracy shouldn’t require constant repetition. It would be odd if it did. If someone around you suddenly began repeating the assurance “don’t worry, it’s alright,” you’d probably start to get a bit nervous and infer that everything wasn’t alright.
  
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  June 17, 2022 12:54pm
Hugh Jarse

Given the financial issues facing New Zealand and Tane Orrs turning to the Maori world view for guidance, is it time for Orr out to swap out his pakeha advisors for some Tohunga to guide him ?. Grant and the PM would no doubt be supportive.
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June 17, 2022 8:20am
iMP

Mike Hosking canes cycleways. I had a mate who is eager to save the planet, has an EV etc, he does lots. He tried cycling. Nice straight roads. “ Mate, it was just too far, too cold, and I was a sweaty wreck when I got to work. Never again!”

https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fprotect-au.mimecast.com%2Fs%2FviRxCk81o4tY9Nj0H2tyCX%3Fdomain%3Dnewstalkzb.co.nz&data=05%7C01%7CSam.MacDonald%40ccc.govt.nz%7C6e785171bb364743453508da4f4daba3%7C45c97e4ebd8d4ddcbd6e2d62daa2a011%7C0%7C0%7C637909492268014436%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=ApTaSvQxBYGpaVyb9%2FZnD%2BUFQDME%2FXOdRaAYf7Q3BoM%3D&reserved=0
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June 17, 2022 8:21am
- MCōs
  
  I used to commute to work in Wellington for years in all sorts of weather.
  I was never cold!
  
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  June 17, 2022 8:46am
  - Gravelroad
    
    MCos-
    Was that on bus, train or in a car?
    
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    June 17, 2022 9:14am
    - MCōs
      
      All of the above plus bicycle and walking when I owned a house in Dixon St.
      
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      June 17, 2022 9:51am
    - rouppe
      
      iMP’s mate is a pussy.
      
      I commuted 25km each way into Wellington for a decade on a motorbike. All weather. You dress for the weather. There’s no reason to be cold.
      
      I now work close to where I live so either WFH when it rains, or walk to work
      
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      June 17, 2022 11:29am
- In Vino Veritas
  
  Quite right iMP. Who the hell wants to be anywhere near someone who stinks for most of the day? If it rains? I’d suggest that most cyclists are fair weather cyclists. And you can bet that anyone who bikes, and has a shower, turns up 5 mins before they are supposed to start and takes 20 mins to shower and get changed. The whole lot (and there are not that many) need to be told to fuck off.
  
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  June 17, 2022 8:52am
- Ra Henare
  
  Or for those with smaller screens
  
  https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/mike-hosking-breakfast/opinion/mike-hosking-cycleways-are-an-ideological-mess/
  
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  June 17, 2022 10:25am
- Thought Criminal
  
  He’s weak.
  
  There’s no such thing as bad weather. Only bad clothing choices.
  
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  June 17, 2022 2:46pm
ClanMcleod

It looks like Mattel, the makers of Barbie dolls have embraced the current all embracing inclusion culture. A pregnant Ken doll. Heads up, it’s Babylon Bee.

https://youtu.be/sglMO4-paHE
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June 17, 2022 8:24am
Ross Campbell

Just some thoughts regarding Bethlehem Christian School in Tauranga and their free speech issue.
Churches through the ages have never been supportive of free speech and have been on the whole actively hostile to the concept.
Persecution of heretics,the inquisition,ex communication of dissenters and the intentional ruining of personal reputations of complainants against the church to highlight some of these actions.
So when a zealot with another cause is now driving the agenda and tries to limit the churches right to free speech the question arises of whether they deserve support given their history.
I didn’t sign the petition.
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June 17, 2022 8:26am
- Nukuleka
  
  Your choice. No problem. I doubt that many Kiwibloggers are much interested in whether you signed a petition or not, Ross. I signed it but, unlike you, I didn’t feel I had to make a song and dance about having done so.
  
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  June 17, 2022 12:32pm
  - Ross Campbell
    
    Congratulations, I’m sure your life of servitude will be richly rewarded.
    
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    June 17, 2022 1:09pm
- Don Beckett
  
  What a load of rubbish. Like I said yesterday Ross, you wouldn’t know shit from chewed dates.
  
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  June 17, 2022 12:37pm
  - Ross Campbell
    
    Religious adherents such as yourself Don can never see the sleaze under the church’s roof because it’s just too difficult to face the fact that they are thoroughly corrupted and morally deficient like the rest of society.
    
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    June 17, 2022 12:57pm
    - Don Beckett
      
      Bwahahaha. Ross, I’m not as stupid as you. I know very well the problems assosciated with the Church, and the failure of its hierarchy and the corruption going on. Believe me, there are very real actions around the world that are working to rectify this, but as it took a long time to be corrupted before it could be exposed, so it will be a long time to correct. But I’ll put this back on you – you are slavishly following the demands of a vocal minority who promote the perversion & corruption of our youth despite that fact that their actions run contrary to Natural law and Moral Law – let alone Divine law.
      But you know that & just can’t help yourself.
      
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      June 17, 2022 2:19pm
Tomtoddy

A poll of Aucklanders on the mayoral race shows the Labour/Green backed candidate doing very poorly. The three centre right candidates are all polling about the same as the leftie.

Maybe a change coming?? If the centre right could sort itself out and put up one capable candidate they would waltz in. Leadership needed.
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June 17, 2022 8:27am
- All_on_Red
  
  The Centre Right candidates need to sort out who will stand or their stupidity will mean none of them wins.
  Not that it matters. We all know its the Council executive which is the problem- and AT etc
  
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  June 17, 2022 8:33am
  - kingerstinger
    
    Part of the problem is, National haven’t endorsed anyone. If you’re a Labour voter, easy, vote for Collins. National voter – or even someone who just wants Auckland Council to get a kick up the arse – ???
    
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    June 17, 2022 9:04am
- Matt Long
  
  Wouldn’t it be ironic if the Labour stooge got in on less than a quarter of the vote?
  I can’t believe Auckland can’t get a better representative voting system in place v
  
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  June 17, 2022 8:36am
  - hullkiwi
    
    It is not the voting system. It is the centre/right bloc that can’t organise themselves to relegate the likes of Collins (and his predecessors Brown & Goff) back to the margins, where they belong!
    
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    June 17, 2022 8:44am
- My
  
  Yeah, centre right. You who think you are the smart operators. Get together someplace for an afternoon and sort yourselves out. Only one of you can be Mayor. We need an overwhelming centre right win.
  
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  June 17, 2022 8:41am
- MCōs
  
  If ever there was an advertisement for a run off vote between the two top polling candidates in the first round then this election is shaping up as a contender.
  None of these people are particularly inspirational.
  
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  June 17, 2022 9:04am
- Sir Cullen's Sidekick
  
  Tomtoddy – dreams are free. So distribute.
  
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  June 17, 2022 9:15am
Yvette

Former United Future leader Peter Dunne calls Trevor Mallard an ’embarrassment’ for Government, says he doesn’t deserve diplomatic role in Europe

Now that Faafoi is leaving, who will next attempt defining “hate speech”?
And is the above utterance – demeaning a particular person and perhaps intending to incite detrimental action, like having his appointment to Ireland cancelled – is that “hate speech”: such as “recognisable when you see it”, or a statement of fact as Peter Dunne genuinely perceives it?
Even if reconsideration of the appointment may prevent Irish complaints about New Zealand 501s.
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June 17, 2022 8:30am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Kiri Allan will be in charge of any “hate speech” legislation.
  
  This is the Government MP and Lawyer who asked Chris Luxon in Parliament: “How many people do you want to kill, mate?”
  
  https://twitter.com/henrycooke/status/1470562482624237568?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
  
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  June 17, 2022 12:50pm
  - NoFax
    
    That didn’t age well as they say. Covid deaths are over 1300 now and growing everyday. Last year “one was too many” but now it’s ok. I guess she answered her own question.
    
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    June 17, 2022 1:02pm
    - Don Beckett
      
      Yeah, ‘cos they’re not Covid deaths. Covid was detected in a minor extent, often after they died. WITH – no OF.
      
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      June 17, 2022 2:21pm
      - NoFax
        
        While I agree with you, this is the numbers the government beats us over the head with and why NZ is still on orange. But now the smugness has gone.
        
        My position has always been that the government should have done nothing.
        
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        June 17, 2022 2:39pm
- Paulus
  
  What have my Irish kinfolk done to deserve Mallard ?
  
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  June 17, 2022 1:35pm
ClanMcleod

Tony Fauci has tested positive for covid.

WORLD—The world is in disbelief today upon hearing the news that Dr. Fauci, also known as the living embodiment of SCIENCE itself, has come down with COVID.

“How could this happen? What if SCIENCE dies? We’ll be lost! LOST WITHOUT SCIENCE!” cried Brian Stelter on CNN. “What does this mean? Is Fauci—blessings upon him—merely a human? I don’t know what’s true anymore!”

https://babylonbee.com/news/science-tests-positive-for-covid
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June 17, 2022 8:39am
Frank the tank

Everybody getting on board the stagflation train? Thing is once this starts it is difficult to stop – ask Japan. They have some serious advantages over us though – social cohesion, a culture that champions personal responsibility and honor and an efficient transport system. It will be a horrible outcome for New Zimbabwe.

Orr is busy talking about rotting trees, Rober(tson) is blaming everyone else and our Glorious Leader is playing a real life game of where’s wally. There are no adults in the room and the leading story last night was Te Reo sitting on a table. Of course economic ‘pundits’ like Corin’s slow brother are trying to downplay the result. Plenty of turd polishing has been requested of the feckless. Time for a Neale Jones opinion piece.

Our son has got the flu (not covid) – nasty virus and much worse than kungflu. And now thanks to Chicken little, the brown teddy bear and Chipkins our hospitals are close to breaking point. Little seems obvious to this and is parading our latest bunch of woke bureaucrats. Who would have thought locking us off from the world and the flu would have resulted in unfit individuals with breathing issues requiring hospital assistance during the winter flu season – it’s like there has been collective covid brain fog amongst our political and medical leaders.

Is it too late to bring back St Ash?

Surprisingly the gangs and youth criminals didn’t listen to our Glorious Leader when she put Labour’s inspector gadget into the Police ministry. Chipkins started like it was 2018 with all the blame at National’s feet and 9 years of neglect. At least the Killer Bees and Tribesmen have made up. Must be a large consignment from Mexico on its way.

As much as I intensely dislike Penny Wong’s politics I must say I was impressed by her stature and presentation. She certainly wants her job and is determined to perform to the best of her ability. Compare her to the individual hobbling next to her. Mahuta clearly has an ailment otherwise why would you walk like the Queen. Perhaps that is the reason why she isn’t on the world stage – physically she doesn’t have the ability. She is being forced overseas this week – I watch with interest if the feckless are allowed to take pictures. She should have a 10 meter foot race with the queen. Liz is 2:1 favorite.

Have I missed anything – all in all this week confirmed what most of us have known – the slow moving train wreak is reaching the end of the line.
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June 17, 2022 8:41am
artemisia

Stuff today.

Fertiliser prices increase by as much as 25%

New Zealand imports a huge amount of phosphates for fert. Yet we have large seabed deposits here that are not allowed to be extracted.
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June 17, 2022 8:42am
- Matt Long
  
  We import low grade phosphate rock from Africa with high Cadmium levels which has to be treated with Sulphuric acid to make it plant available. This makes the P highly susceptible to running off into waterways.
  Instead we could be harvesting phosphate nodules from the Chatham rise that I believe have an excellent mineral profile and should be able to be applied after simply being ground. Using resources from our own territory with superior properties, to have healthier soils and produce, sounds like a no-brainer and has in fact been turned down by the no-brainers in Government.
  
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  June 17, 2022 2:32pm
Pavel

Good to see judges handing down the hard sentences. With punishments like this being handed out I’m sure people will think twice before ripping off the benefit now.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/married-grandmother-stole-245k-over-15-years-while-claiming-to-be-solo-mum/5VHXLTHY6TFXMYQ3OVE3EL5VOQ/
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June 17, 2022 8:45am
- Bridgenag
  
  They will never get the money
  
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  June 17, 2022 1:33pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Are Shane Jones’ nephews back on the couch?

https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA2206/S00133/tell-the-full-pgf-story-minister.htm
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June 17, 2022 8:45am
- pdm
  
  I doubt they ever left the couch Maggy.
  
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  June 17, 2022 8:50am
- artemisia
  
  So Minister Nash won’t update the jobs created number. Can he get away with that?
  
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  June 17, 2022 8:54am
- Nickc2
  
  You couldn’t find two bigger leftist political blowhards than Shane Jones and Stuart Nash eh?
  
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  June 17, 2022 8:55am
- rouppe
  
  The PGF was largely spent on one-off artworks, repairs to Marae (private property) and other projects which actually did nothing to improve the commercial prospects of the provinces.
  
  I don’t believe Shane (Right Tree in the Right Place) Jones ever funded native plantings at scale and I’ve not heard anything about the continued operation of the few East Coast businesses that were kick started with funding.
  
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  June 17, 2022 11:34am
Tony Stuart

Just when you thought we’d reached Peak Faux Outrage, the Herald says “Hold our shandy”:

A prominent kaumātua is questioning the Māoridom guidance given to National Party leader Christopher Luxon following social media debate of a potential tikanga breach.

An image of Luxon sitting on a desk during a visit to Ormiston Junior College this week has been shared on social media, prompting a discussion as to whether it was in violation of tikanga.

As explained by kaumātua and Manurewa Marae board chairman Rangi McLean, sitting on a table – particularly one used for preparing and serving food – is in opposition to Māori tikanga, held for generations.

Auckland North Shore councillor Richard Hills was among those who took a dim view of Luxon’s seating choice, saying it was “basic tikanga” that wasn’t hard to abide by.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/kaumatua-questions-christopher-luxons-maoridom-guidance-after-potential-tikanga-breach/EXVW5XG2MG5UERO6ZU4TMCR3BQ/

Now further down the story, we find the real motivation; Rangi McLean is also the kaumātua adviser for Te Pāti Māori. And of course, it’s well known that Richard Hills is a Labour Party activist, who would have contested Labour’s nomination for Mayor of Auckland, until it was pointed out to him that he didn’t have a snowball’s chance (or should that be a snowflake’s chance?) of winning.

From where will the next “attack” on Luxon come? Maybe former Labour president Mike Williams is planning a trip somewhere.
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June 17, 2022 8:48am
- In Vino Veritas
  
  Here’s a tip for every National Party person, ignore all the Maori nonsense. Firstly, not that many vote for you, secondly, the Maori Party, even when you let them into a coalition when you don’t have to, will shit on you every time. Their sympathies are with Labour. Now, and forever. Forget about them. Reverse all the Maori crap that Labour has allowed (that’s ALL of it) and tell the Maori Party and their lackies to naff off. In your next term tell Maori if their grievances aren’t settled within 12 months, legislation will be passed to prevent them from happening. Too bad, tough luck. You had your chance.
  
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  June 17, 2022 9:02am
  - Rodion Raskolnikov
    
    I agree. That strategy will win votes, not lose them. Stop pandering to irrelevant but vocal minorities. Maori are welcome to their culture, but it doesn’t follow that our own, dominant European-derived culture has to be mown down to make way for it. Sitting on a desk is not an issue in Luxon’s culture, so what is the problem?
    
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    June 17, 2022 1:23pm
- kingerstinger
  
  The best bit is, not much is sticking to Luxon so far. He’s not Teflon John, but he’s got better non-stick properties than Bridges, Collins, or that other bloke, I forget his name
  
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  June 17, 2022 9:07am
- kowtow
  
  Honestly , how can that be “news” .It is manufactured outrage .
  
  The lesson for Luxon and others who think ’embracing” all that stuff impresses anyone is , spend your time on some other more useful “self improvement ” project . The Maoris ,left and media just don’t buy it when “Tories Go Woke”.
  
  Speaking of which I see some KPMG Agribusiness wallah wants that sector to more profoundly partner with Maori as well as make the most of decarbonising .
  
  Have we gone completely mad ?
  
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  June 17, 2022 9:11am
- greybeard
  
  Did pre-European maori have tables ?
  
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  June 17, 2022 9:13am
  - david
    
    Nope, and they didn’t complete tax returns either (probably few do now unless there is a refund in the offing) so I can’t see where KPMG are coming from.
    
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    June 17, 2022 1:14pm
  - UrbanNeocolonialist
    
    Rational cultures change with the times. We have toilets, toilet paper, soap, regularly washed clothing. Clothing. and understand germ transmission. We are not scrabbling round unclothed in the dirt as the paleo/neolithic pre-european Maori were.
    
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    June 17, 2022 2:53pm
    - blue collar
      
      Bang on neo , had that argument with the whanau up north when I got tuned up for sitting on an esky with fish in it …. “ Do you guys ever wonder why your ancestors made that weirdo rule ? … I’m pretty sure it’s coz you fellas never had undies in those days or toilet paper n they worked out you got the squits if you sat on food surfaces with a dirty arse …. So why hell are you morons still embracing this crap today ? ….. worse , you’re hving a go at me and creating a problem where logic and evidence says there isn’t one “
      A few had an epiphany and that slow understanding look … got shut down by dominant Aunty though … it’s our way so respect it ! …..
      you can’t help indoctrinated people who do things just coz
      My reply of “ it’s not my way so respect that “ got shut down by wife and as I wanted some that night I let it go . 🤔 I’ll sit anywhere if I can get me leg over 😅
      
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      June 17, 2022 5:29pm
    - NeverMindTheBollocks
      
      Would you say the same thing to kosher rules, eg not mixing shellfish & dairy?
      
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      June 17, 2022 7:19pm
- graham
  
  Fine. If they want to play that game, let’s play. My starter for 10:
  
  It’s basic social etiquette that you don’t wear a hat indoors.
  https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/fUWVlt1rwbjUGsWAOjMHTQ5Euk4=/1440×971/smart/filters:quality(70)/cloudfront-ap-southeast-2.images.arcpublishing.com/nzme/GH4JTGCU6SGP6GB6HIPK3TEIKA.jpg
  
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  June 17, 2022 9:16am
- MiddleclassTrash
  
  Nepotism & petty aristocracy are offensive to my British settler culture, but we are generally even handed and polite about judging it.
  
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  June 17, 2022 9:20am
- Souvlaki
  
  My previous indifference to Maori culture is turning to visceral abhorrence of the whole crock of excrement.
  I suspect I’m not alone!
  
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  June 17, 2022 9:22am
  - alex Masterley
    
    I am rapidly heading down the who gives a shit line myself.
    
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    June 17, 2022 9:32am
  - Nukuleka
    
    I agree Souvlaki. As someone with Maori/ Pacific Island grandchildren, a South Asian partner, innumerable Asian, PI and Maori friends and acquaintances I am finding that my hithertofore sense of benevolent tolerance for Maoridom is souring into disdain. I’d willingly wear a t shirt espousing ‘FTT’ if such an item were available. The TT stands for The Treaty; you can surmise the F word.
    
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    June 17, 2022 9:39am
    - Suze Wainwright
      
      Be equitable Nukuleka…
      
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      June 17, 2022 10:03am
  - UrbanNeocolonialist
    
    The remarkable thing to witness is that all the increasing emphasis on Maori culture over the last 2-3 decades has been strongly coupled to deteriorating average outcomes for Maori. The left finding another field to play out the ‘communism just hasn’t been done right yet’ approach where anyone with two braincells to rub together can see that the Emperor has no clothes. Indulging excuse making in children (or adults) who are failing to measure up to reasonable standards just enables and ensures ongoing and worsening failure, and 2020’s Maori culture is all about tolerating and excusing bad behaviour and abject failure.
    
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    June 17, 2022 10:45am
    - amospicton
      
      Yep, the only way to extract more from their fellow New Zealanders is to play the victimhood card. And a victim mentality is the fast track to disaster.
      
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      June 17, 2022 2:57pm
  - David Garrett
    
    Souvlaki: You are most definitely not alone Sir/Madam…Frankly I am almost looking forward to the time when “telling it like it is” – or at least was – regarding aspects of “Maori culture” is a hate crime. I won’t have the money to pay fines – and wouldn’t even if I had – so I guess they’ll either have to wipe them when they reach a certain level – as happens with the underclass now – or I’ll have a few stints at Her Majesty’s pleasure. I sure as hell won’t be shutting up.
    
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    June 17, 2022 10:47am
    - Stellaboxer
      
      Sorry David I downticked in error
      
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      June 17, 2022 10:56am
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      I’ll have a few stints at Her Majesty’s pleasure.
      
      I must admit it’s looking like a better option than paying $$$$$ at a Retirement village.
      
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      June 17, 2022 12:58pm
      - Diogenes
        
        I’m very tempted to take that route also. However, it’s more likely that debt collectors dressed in Mongrel Mob uniforms will turn up, dismantle the house to gain entry, and then take whatever they deem necessary to pay the fines. Either that or Inland Revenue will sequester your bank account.
        
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        June 17, 2022 2:18pm
  - kowtow
    
    To the extent that the cultural marxists have politicised all things Maori then to that extent I reject all things of this new cultural revolution and the works of their Red Guards .
    
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    June 17, 2022 10:56am
- alex Masterley
  
  No-one had the stones to attach their name to the byline. Which is typical of the Herald.
  
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  June 17, 2022 9:31am
  - Ehlana
    
    Nor has the Herald allowed comments. Perhaps they can tell what these are likely to be.
    
    Maori are not the only culture in New Zealand. Mr Luxon was in a school classroom, not a kitchen or dining room. He was fully dressed, which in western culture means there were two layers of cloth between him and the desk. And I think he is probably also fully toilet trained!
    
    The school principal’s comment was “We’re all at different stages of our tikanga competency “, implying that tikanga is the appropriate standard here. Why is that accepted as fact?
    
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    June 17, 2022 9:47am
    - Nickc2
      
      Selective morality on the part of the Principal?
      
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      June 17, 2022 9:51am
    - graham
      
      So if Maori tikanga is the appropriate standard at Ormiston Junior College … can we take it that Christian beliefs are the appropriate standard at Bethlehem Christian College? And if so, why all the fuss over their statement of belief regarding marriage?
      
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      June 17, 2022 10:05am
    - Stellaboxer
      
      The school principal should try speaking for himself /herself and using “I” statements rather than “we”.
      
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      June 17, 2022 10:21am
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        Thee shouldn’t limit thyself to himself/herself…
        
        Perhaps the singular Principal prefers the neuter pronoun itself or even the plural pronoun themselves.
        
        It would be so much easier if we just addressed each other/and referred to each other as Comrade.
        
        (or in the case of Quakers… Friend)
        
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        June 17, 2022 1:05pm
  - Linda Wright
    
    I think it’s good there is no byline. Once upon a time the editor accepted responsibility for all the stories and bylines are reserved for opinion pieces or extraordinary pieces of investigative journalism. Run-of-the-mill reporting was fact-gathering presented in a coherent fashion. No ego-boosting was needed for a reporter to do their job right.
    
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    June 17, 2022 10:02am
  - Ian Boag
    
    No-one had the stones to attach their name
    
    Got 17 upticks too. Welcome to Kiwiblog 🙂
    
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    June 17, 2022 11:57am
- Stellaboxer
  
  I don’t care what he sat on it’s not the law of the land just one section of the populations custom. Normally I would respect it out of politeness and respect but like so many other things now it’s used as a political weapon to beat me with so nah. Wearing a hat indoors is rude in my culture as is waving around a weapon in a debating chamber.
  
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  June 17, 2022 9:38am
- Colville
  
  Luxon was quoted today as saying..”in the English language we have a word “desk” and I sat on a desk. I know this did not exist in your stoneage language.
  So you may not be aware that while a desk is a type of table it’s not for preparing food. Now fuck off you partisan hack.”
  
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  June 17, 2022 9:41am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Looks like Luxon will be forced to take a crash course in Moari protocol by radical people.
  Luxon needs to understand the difference between learning and forced learning.
  ‘Nobody will be forced – blah blah blah, and those who choose to opt out will not be punished’
  Forcing Luxon to learn is just Moari pushing their own wheelbarrow of nonsense.
  
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  June 17, 2022 10:06am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Actually, I do know not to park my arse on a table that I do not own.
  
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  June 17, 2022 10:13am
  - David Garrett
    
    Steve: I believe the article refers to a school desk? As well as no one kid “owning” such a desk, it is certainly not used to prepare food, which is supposedly what this particular piece of tikanga is all about.
    
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    June 17, 2022 10:51am
    - kowtow
      
      And even if it is used to prepare food , who cares .
      
      We now have cleaning products to clean food preparing and eating surfaces prior to use. Plates and cutlery too to eat off , not table tops.
      
      We don’t run round semi naked with shit all over our buttocks and upper legs.
      
      It’s called hygiene , just like washing one’s hands prior to food prep.
      
      You’d swear we never went through the Enlightenment.
      
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      June 17, 2022 11:01am
    - Nickc2
      
      Let’s face it David, the Principal was never going to vote National anyway.
      IMO, this is a clear case of the Teacher/Principals Union coming to the fore and assisting the Union’s Political Wing.
      
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      June 17, 2022 11:45am
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      I can remember eating at a school desk at primary. We lived in the sticks, no covered area outside when raining.
      I also remember getting a lecture from a Maori mates Mum when I sat on the corner of a table and accidently farted. Fuck, did I get a dressing down!
      
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      June 17, 2022 1:30pm
      - Don Beckett
        
        “Accidently” — bwahaha – pull the other one. 😆
        
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        June 17, 2022 2:23pm
  - rouppe
    
    Also parked on those desks: The chairs at the end of the day.
    
    The feet of those same chairs having spent the whole day on the floor.
    
    The same floor on which the feet of countless people tread. Having tread through goodness knows what.
    
    Get over it. It’s simply a manufactured stick with which to beat other people
    
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    June 17, 2022 11:40am
- fightingtemeraire
  
  McLean now there is a fine Maori name. I assume his Ancestors came here after the Highland Clearances carried out by the Clan Chiefs not the terrible English/
  
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  June 17, 2022 10:16am
  - Tony Stuart
    
    Billy T James used to joke about being half Maori and half Scottish. He’s say that half of him wanted to get trashed, and the other half wanted someone else to pay for it!
    
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    June 17, 2022 5:21pm
- Alan Wilkinson
  
  I’m well over our professional racists.
  
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  June 17, 2022 10:37am
- curry4me
  
  No surprises there. Did they forget to mention that he is a Christian and owns a house or three? Maybe they assumed the public remembers. Or was there a word limit?
  
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  June 17, 2022 11:25am
Maggy Wassilieff

Just who is disseminating disinformation?

In 2020, the BBC’s director general warned that the problem posed by disinformation online was increasingly serious and that the BBC would need to work harder than ever to expose fake news and separate fact from fiction.

Since then the corporation set up a team of fact checkers, a BBC-wide Anti-Disinformation Unit and a Climate Misinformation team. Yet none of these teams of fact checkers noticed or addressed the long list of false news stories that were only corrected by the BBC after lengthy and protracted complaint procedures.

https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2022/06/13/bbcs-institutional-alarmism/#more-56855
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June 17, 2022 8:50am
- kowtow
  
  Quis custodiet and all that.
  
  Their lack of self awareness is astounding.
  
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  June 17, 2022 9:50am
- oldfella
  
  Maggy, I’m sure we can both remember the BBC when it still had integrity – before it was taken over by advocacy journalism. Much like our MSM.
  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10923689/BBCs-insider-reveals-trainee-journalists-encouraged-use-influence-affect-trans-rights.html
  
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  June 17, 2022 10:50am
Warren

A question for the National Party if in 2023 they become the Government.
If rumour is to be believed and Phil Goff is selected to be the High Commissioner to London, then Trevor Mallard is selected for his top Diplomatic Posting to Dublin and Annette is still the top NZ Diplomatic to Australia will they move to quash these appointments and bring them home.
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June 17, 2022 8:52am
- Graeme Hall
  
  Nope, it sets a precedent and Labour might do the same to one of them at a later date. No matter how unfit for any diplomatic post they all like those cushy retirement jobs.
  
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  June 17, 2022 12:59pm
Linda Wright

“The impact of ruminants on climate has been overestimated by a factor of 3 to 4, according to Prof. Dr. Dr. habil Wilhelm Windisch of the Technical University of Munich. ”

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2022/06/16/munich-professor-role-of-methane-from-cows-on-climate-exaggerated-by-a-factor-of-3-to-4/

Maybe we could stop the madness of taxing food producers?
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June 17, 2022 9:07am
- kowtow
  
  Maybe we should all just come back to our senses .
  
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  June 17, 2022 9:12am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Under the Paris Accord we should never have included anything to do with Food Production under our Climate Change legislations.
  
  https://pointofordernz.wordpress.com/2022/06/16/climate-change-farming-and-a-timely-reminder-for-decision-makers-the-paris-conventions-nod-to-the-need-for-food/
  
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  June 17, 2022 9:14am
  - Ruahine
    
    Yes. There is something evil in the way our local pseudo Communist elites try to put in the publics mind that there is little or no connection with farming and the availability of food.
    
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    June 17, 2022 9:24am
- cmm
  
  Imagine we could invent a technology that converted CO2 into food. Wouldn’t that be an amazing thing?
  
  Well there’s no need to imagine. That is exactly what agriculture does and has been doing for thousands of years.
  
  All your food – animal or vegetable – contains carbon that has been captured from the atmosphere by farmers.
  
  A kg of flour contains the carbon captured from approximately 1 kg of CO2.
  
  A kg of protein contains the carbon captured from approx 2kg of CO2.
  
  A kg of fat contains the carbon captured from approx 3kg of CO2.
  
  A kg of beef is approx 230g fat and 190g of protein (and the rest is mostly water) and contains the carbon from approx 1kg of CO2.
  
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  June 17, 2022 9:37am
  - Stellaboxer
    
    CCM I think that maybe you’re labouring under the mistaken belief that the climate zealots care about facts when all they are actually doing is disguising their Marxist agenda to collapse western society and rebuild it in their own image. Nothing new just that the overcoat is on a new coat hanger.
    
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    June 17, 2022 9:52am
  - kowtow
    
    Imagine a scenario where CO2 is so evil , poisonous and dangerous to life on the planet , cos that’s what the “science” tells us , and yet what do we do about the organism that covers the planet , every continent , some even in Antarctica and has multiplied so rapidly in the last 70 years and at the same time in order to exist it converts healthy oxygen to that poisonous CO2 everytime it exhales , and there’s billions and billions of them , multiplying all the time .
    
    For the sake of the planet they should be eliminated , if CO2 is so deadly.
    
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    June 17, 2022 9:57am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    That is far too much for a climate change idiot to comprehend.
    
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    June 17, 2022 10:21am
  - Dave
    
    My body scan several days ago said, notwithstanding a BMI under 24, my body fat was nearly 26% of my weight. If a kg of fat captures 3kg of carbon, I’d be hurting Gaia by losing some of that fat and releasing its carbon.
    
    According to the Ministry of Health, 71.3% of Pacific, 50.8% of Māori, 31.9% of European/Other and 18.5% of Asian adults [are] obese. Obviously, Matauranga Maori, of which I had previously been sceptical, benefits the ecosystem, judging by the tangata whenua’s successful carbon sequestration, but we Euros and Asians especially are letting the planet down.
    
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    June 17, 2022 2:05pm
- Niz
  
  Wattsup should be compulsory viewing for every skool child, and every politician (did I just repeat myself?)
  
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  June 17, 2022 1:45pm
cas

Listening to Robbo being interviewed by Mike Hosking this morning, I thought the only talent any of these Cabinet ministers have is that they can talk and say nothing. Ardern, Robbo, Wood and Woods, Hipkins, Sepuloni – I am sure there are more. I do enjoy Mike interviewing Helen Clark because she is to the point and actually answers the questions instead of the word soup of the others.
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June 17, 2022 9:08am
- RightFirstTime
  
  It is not so much “word soup” as “word vomit”.
  
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  June 17, 2022 11:03pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Crikey…

Lousy students or useless lecturers at our Engineering faculty?

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/128990898/chaotic-scene-after-furious-engineering-students-learn-80-of-class-failed-competency-quiz
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June 17, 2022 9:22am
- cmm
  
  Since they’re given a second chance it is probably a good thing that many fail on the first go. It is a good reminder to budding engineers to check and check again.
  
  It’s a pity that so many are so snow-flakey that they burst into tears. This suggests a crop of people far too emotional to be good engineers.
  
  To me, the worst of this is that they run this competency test in third year. It would be way better to be weeding people out in first year.
  
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  June 17, 2022 9:41am
  - David Garrett
    
    cmm: In my time at Canterbury – 30 odd years ago – an engineering student who burst into tears because s/he failed a test would have been laughed out of the faculty.
    
    As others have said – including the lecturer in question – there is a fair bit of public interest in ensuring that dams buildings and bridges don’t fall down.
    
    Perhaps these snowflakes would be more comfortable studying sociology.
    
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    June 17, 2022 11:20am
    - amospicton
      
      I was in engineering at Canterbury around that time DG – I well remember being told by one Prof that the word “social” in front of another renders it meaningless. Times have changed when even engineering students are snowflakes.
      
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      June 17, 2022 3:04pm
- Mobile Michael
  
  Snowflakes melt in even the lowest heat.
  
  The University is right to point out that infrastructure relies on competent engineers to be safe. If you can’t pass this exam, engineering isn’t for you.
  
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  June 17, 2022 9:44am
- kiwikidsnz
  
  Next they’ll be claiming their dog ate their homework
  
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  June 17, 2022 9:45am
- kowtow
  
  To paraphrase the PM that protest has a foreign feel to it.
  
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  June 17, 2022 10:02am
- cas
  
  It’s a bloody multi choice test FFS. they must be really hopeless.
  
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  June 17, 2022 10:21am
- Ian Boag
  
  These are third year students so have passed two years of exams to get this far. To me that sort of failure rate in a test implies a bit of a mismatch between the teaching program and the test content. Making it a prerequisite for sitting third year finals in a paper is a bit novel.
  
  I am surprised that the HoD didn’t object. If I had pulled a stunt like that in my lecturing days I would have (rightly) been run out of town on a rail …. and FWIW I wasn’t known as a soft touch.
  
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  June 17, 2022 10:23am
  - David Garrett
    
    Ian B: May I enquire what subject you lectured in? Engineering? I suspect not, but am often surprised.
    
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    June 17, 2022 11:17am
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      I presume Ian is..
      
      Dr Ian Boag who used to be at Massey Uni in something to do with Applied Maths/Production Technology.
      
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      June 17, 2022 1:15pm
      - Ian Boag
        
        Yup. Did you have the misfortune to be one of my victims …. 🙂 Seeing as I taught 50% of the 2nd and 3rd year faculty-wide applied maths courses pretty every Massey tech grad at the time had to listen to me …
        
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        June 17, 2022 5:02pm
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        No,
        I wasn’t one of your victims…(I just did a BSc at Massey, before heading to Vic for hons and PhD)
        but a couple of my Massey flatmates (Food Teckies) would have encountered you.
        
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        June 17, 2022 7:25pm
    - Ian Boag
      
      Engineering and applied math in the Massey Tech Faculty. Basically an engineering school.
      
      For my sins I had accumulated BE, ME and PhD in chemical engineering. In the US that would have been BS (no need to explain), MS (more shit) and PhD (piled higher and deeper). 🙂
      
      For the 15 years I was there, I was regarded as a bit of a hard-liner in terms of exam results, assignments and all that. But I don’t think I would have been so dumb as to set a test that 80% of a third year class would fail …. proves nothing.
      
      I would not be surprised if the lecturer has been chastised about it. He/she deserves it IMO.
      
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      June 17, 2022 5:00pm
  - Spam
    
    I studied engineering at UoC. It could be tough at times, but that was mainly because you would often be taking 9 or 10 subjects and have a 2 (or was that 3?) hour exam for each at mid-term. Studying for all of these at once could be quite intense – the libraries were full darn-near from about 06:00 – 23:00 every day for at least a few weeks before mid-terms, and during. What this tended to do was encourage people to review old tests and learn how to answer previously asked questions.
    
    I failed one paper in my time there. I had two subjects with exams on the same day – one that I was really struggling with, and the other than I thought I knew reasonably well (well, well enough to pass). I focused my efforts on understanding the first paper content (theory) then testing myself against the papers. For the one that I though I knew, I just focused on ‘learning the test’.
    
    For the actual exam, I nailed my ‘weaker’ subject. However, for the one I thought I new reasonably well, they changed the test structure (for the first time in about 5 years), and I struggled – just missed the pass mark.
    
    I didn’t go crying to the newspapers though. Just doubled-down and made sure I worked harder and passed it the next year.
    
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    June 17, 2022 12:02pm
    - Ipanema69
      
      Yes I did engineering (electrical) at Canterbury in the early 90s. It was then and still is a pretty tough course that required a lot of time and effort.
      
      I do remember one exam in my 2nd professional year where one of the four compulsory long answer questions (as I recall about 25% of the overall paper) was really out of left field (and outside the subject scope). There were a number of complaints to the academic staff, the upshot was that a student could elect to have the paper marked on the first three questions only.
      
      That all being said I dont remember anybody being hugely upset either during or after exam!
      
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      June 17, 2022 12:35pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Oh dear, those poor students got a taste of reality. These are the future Engineers of NZ? We are doomed!
  HTFU Snowflakes.
  I would like to see that test….
  
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  June 17, 2022 10:31am
- UrbanNeocolonialist
  
  Civil engineers aren’t exactly the intellectual heavyweights of the engineering profession – all the civil engineers I’ve had dealings with have been completely underwhelming in terms of their output (complete failures at identifying opportunities for efficiencies and cost savings which in my mind is the dominant requirement in engineering). Intelligence wise my experience was that it ranked Electrical=>Chemical=>Mechanical=>Civil
  
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  June 17, 2022 10:33am
  - amospicton
    
    Possibly correct in terms of narrow intelligence Urban but in my experience the electrical engineers were head and shoulders the worst for what we might politely refer to as life skills.
    
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    June 17, 2022 3:08pm
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Say to a Civil Engineer “Pass me that hammerfor”
    Civil Engineer – “What’s a hammerfor?”
    And then …….
    Ever saw Mike Rowe do that LOL
    
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    June 17, 2022 3:39pm
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      even* ffs
      
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      June 17, 2022 3:42pm
  - Ian Boag
    
    So what makes electrical engineers smarter than me?
    
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    June 17, 2022 5:04pm
- Loddenthinks
  
  Probably a little of Column A and a little of Column B, Maggy. You’d think though, what with the deaths of so many people in Christchurch from the collapse of the poorly-designed, badly constructed CTV building, that people would be quite particular about getting a high pass rate in their tests and exams.
  
  Maybe a bit too much time hitting the turps at EngSoc parties and not enough time hitting the books?
  
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  June 17, 2022 10:40am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    I would hate to be undertaking any applied science degree at the moment.
    
    I think our Students have been seriously short-changed over the last 2 years of covid close-downs.
    
    There is a limit to how much you can learn from books/lectures/internet.
    
    You need to do labs/fieldwork…hands-on practicals to really get a grasp of your subject.
    
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    June 17, 2022 1:21pm
- Master Mariner
  
  That’s the trouble with Bums on seats,
  Poor induction criteria.
  
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  June 17, 2022 11:01am
- Lance
  
  I don’t know what went on here, but once we had a big serious final exam on software coding.
  Not only were around 1/2 of the questions not taught, they weren’t even in the curriculum. I was only 1 of 3 that passed as I had covered this aspect in a project in my work.
  Everyone else had to re sit, pretty piss poor I thought even though I passed anyway.
  
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  June 17, 2022 5:09pm
Loddenthinks

Relentless pushing of the trans agenda by sympathetic leftard “journos” here in the Bay. Bethlehem College, which is very clear about its “special character” i.e. religious focus, very predictably has policies about bathroom use, pronouns, names and uniforms etc.

They correctly state that you must use a bathroom, name, uniform and pronouns consistent with your biological sex. Since it’s 2022 there will doubtless be a few mentally ill students and strident mothers who insist their little darlings are a fictional thing called “non-binary” and school life may indeed be uncomfortable for them.

This is regrettable but entirely of their own making; however happily there’s a simple remedy – find a school that has a more accepting attitude to this sort of nonsense.

Of course that’s not enough for these attention-seeking mental defectives. They want the rules changed to suit their fantasy, and Bethlehem College has so far said, No thanks. The article suggests the student was so overwhelmed they “attempted suicide, but survived” – I call BS on that fake claim. Suicide is a horrible way to go, but if you mean to do it, you usually do it. Anything else is just more attention-seeking.

This “journo” has form for labelling any organisation that doesn’t fall over itself to accommodate these weirdos as bigoted and backward. I commend Bethlehem College and hope they stick to their guns and politely suggest the student would be happier elsewhere.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/bay-of-plenty/300613838/school-told-trans-student-god-doesnt-make-mistakes–then-they-tried-to-kill-themselves
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June 17, 2022 10:29am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  These students are causing their own mental health failures. This sort of nonsense was not going on 30 years ago.
  Who is leading them to this shit?
  
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  June 17, 2022 10:37am
  - mandk
    
    You can see YouTube videos by Matt Walsh, Ben Shapiro and others, talking to young people who have detransitioned or transitioned and regretted it.
    
    A common theme is that young people who express unhappiness or confusion about themselves on social media get preyed upon by groomers who gradually persuade them that their problem is that they are in the wrong body and need to change it to make everything well.
    
    The groomers are doing huge damage. They are evil.
    
    The problem is compounded by doctors and counsellors who don’t assess the kids properly.
    
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    June 17, 2022 11:10am
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      Yes, the social media can be abused by the creeps.
      You mention Doctors. Some are missing a correct diagnosis and pumping them up with pills. Not helping in the long term.
      
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      June 17, 2022 1:37pm
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      Mentioning Ben Shapiro, wouldn’t you just love his voice on your car Navman, or GPS?
      
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      June 17, 2022 3:41pm
  - Nickc2
    
    Who is leading them to this shit?
    Lesbian, Gay and all variations thereof School Teachers.
    
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    June 17, 2022 11:52am
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      Yeah, the education system has been infiltrated by the weird ones. Drag queens at schools – Jesus.
      
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      June 17, 2022 1:39pm
- Ra Henare
  
  Total support to Bethlehem College from this Tauranga atheist
  
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  June 17, 2022 10:38am
- Alan Wilkinson
  
  Should read “it tried to kill itself”. There was only one of them. Also the article fails to clarify if it was a male pretending to be female or vice versa.
  
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  June 17, 2022 10:47am
  - David Garrett
    
    Also the article fails to clarify if it was a male pretending to be female or vice versa.
    
    Ah, but that’s just the point Alan. Part of being “non-binary” is not knowing just what the fuck “they” are.
    
    Some silly bitch I came across a few years ago claimed that one in eight babies are born with indeterminate sex. As my astute son (aged 15 at the time) noted “Dad, if that lady is right then there are 23 kids are my school who don’t know if they are a boy or a girl”.
    
    The reality of course is that there were NO such freaks of nature at my son’s school. Perhaps that’s because it’s a rural school, where the kids know there is no such thing as “non binary” sheep and cattle, and that we are mammals, just like said sheep and cattle.
    
    (There are of course the very odd instances of lambs born with two heads or six legs, but rural kids understand they are freaks of nature)
    
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    June 17, 2022 11:26am
    - Loddenthinks
      
      DG: your son has excellent math skills, a healthy degree of cynicism, and is indeed astute.
      
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      June 17, 2022 1:20pm
- kowtow
  
  On a day that the media make a big deal of Luxon not following Maori “tikanga”, why aren’t the same media allowing the school to follow its own customs and traditions .
  
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  June 17, 2022 10:52am
- Rodney Hide
  
  Quite. But i have a question for kiwibloggers cleverer than me. How can one identity know it is another identity? Like, How could i know i am a cat when i have no idea what it is to be a cat?
  
  I can’t get past that simple logic.
  
  Rodney Hide
  
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  June 17, 2022 11:22am
  - Yvette
    
    Rodney, regarding your catch-22 question, what aisle do you start with in the supermarket?
    
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    June 17, 2022 11:49am
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      Well done 🙂
      
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      June 17, 2022 1:44pm
    - Rodney Hide
      
      Fruit and veg.
      
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      June 17, 2022 1:45pm
      - Yvette
        
        Rodney, a cat wouldn’t – so you are probably OK
        
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        June 17, 2022 2:52pm
      - Steve Otto(North Shore)
        
        Meat section – see if the mountain oysters have come in yet
        
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        June 17, 2022 3:44pm
  - Ehlana
    
    I’ve often wondered. If you are told as a youngster that you are a male (based on your reproductive organs), then surely whatever you think, feel, or take an interest in, those are the thoughts, feelings and interests of boys and men.
    
    And given that it is only your reproductive organs that make you different from the other humans called females, it can hardly be a surprise to learn that the thoughts, feelings and interests of girls and women are pretty much the same as those of boys and men – when each group is allowed to express their actual thoughts and feelings, rather than being shoehorned into stereotyped boxes.
    
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    June 17, 2022 12:12pm
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    Do you purr when stroked?
    
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    June 17, 2022 1:23pm
    - Rodney Hide
      
      Oh yea baby
      
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      June 17, 2022 1:46pm
      - David Garrett
        
        You are a very naughty pussy Rodney
        
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        June 17, 2022 2:07pm
- CPB
  
  I look forward to Stuff doing a follow up on the trans policies of Auckland’s special character Islamic schools…
  
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  June 17, 2022 11:37am
- Spam
  
  So why didn’t they change school?
  
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  June 17, 2022 12:05pm
  - kowtow
    
    These days it’s easier to change your gender than change your school. Plenty to choose from either way !
    
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    June 17, 2022 12:18pm
  - Don Beckett
    
    Because they are freak-show activists and want to make a fuss, and force other people to follow what they want, to hell with what you want.
    Actually, the whole trans/rainbow/gender disphoria thingie is primarily psychiatric, but for those promoting it it is demonic.
    
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    June 17, 2022 1:00pm
  - David Garrett
    
    Spam: Ah Yes…but that would have deprived them of victimhood…
    
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    June 17, 2022 2:08pm
- Raphael
  
  Speaking as a BC parent, we specifically chose to send our kids to BC because of the fact they are a Christian school. We very reason we moved to Tauranga so they could go to BC.
  When we were looking at potential high schools for my eldest we did look at what different high schools said they promoted/believed before deciding to go for BC (for e.g. I would not consider sending any of my kids to Long Bay College which promotes 112 genders and over 200 sexualities. Nor would I send them to a Muslim school).
  I could potentially understand complaints if there was only one school that was available, but we are spoilt for choice with the number of schools.
  
  We have a case here when Parents have said “we want to send our kids here, understanding that they will promote these religious beliefs and these morals”. Why is the school being held at fault by the likes of David Farrier (the other one, not our esteemed host) because the parents said we are happy for these to be taught to our kids.
  
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  June 17, 2022 3:03pm
  - Matt Long
    
    Farrier and other similar activists believe that in order for them to feel good, not only must all elements in society be permissive of whatever behavior they espouse but all elements of society must actively approve of these behaviors or face persecution.
    The treatment of Israel Folau is a case in point, especially given Folau had the added insolence of having brown skin and not following the progressive doctrine. 0
    
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    June 17, 2022 3:40pm
  - kowtow
    
    Ed dept needs to tell Long Bay to promote education not the cultural revolution.
    
    Wot the hell is the board thinking ?
    
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    June 17, 2022 5:42pm
- wilderbeast
  
  Heard a story today where a Cambridge primary school brought in a “woman” with a penis (cross dresser) to read studies to a class of 6 year olds, to teach them that gender is a fluid concept and they can all “choose”. True story.
  
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  June 17, 2022 8:58pm
Master Mariner

Oil Industry Responds to Biden Letter

https://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_industry_responds_to_biden_letter-16-jun-2022-169360-article/

“I reinforced in a letter to President Biden and his Cabinet yesterday [June 14] ten meaningful policy actions to ultimately alleviate pain at the pump and strengthen national security, including approving critical energy infrastructure, increasing access to capital, holding energy lease sales, among other urgent priorities,” he added in the response.”

Well worth a read in its entirety and the similarities with the decline in NZ energy sector.
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June 17, 2022 10:42am
- kowtow
  
  Biden pre election.
  
  “No more drilling on federal lands. No more drilling, including offshore. No ability for the oil industry to continue to drill, period, ends, number one.”
  
  What a moron.
  
  I hope his voters enjoy their pain at the pump.
  
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  June 17, 2022 1:04pm
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Karine Jean-Pierre says the prices would be a lot higher if Joe Biden had not acted swiftly. I want to know what Joe did.
    The bullshit is strong and heavy on this one.
    
    Why do the left always resort to lying?
    
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    June 17, 2022 1:50pm
Jack5

Christchurch City is axing Christmas for many of the city’s poor kids.

Or that could be a result with the city ends the annual parade that cost $250,000 to run. It is being replaced with an indoor show with entrance at $15 a seat. There will be one free performance for charitable groups.

Balance this against the Leftist elite’s push for matariki, with ratepayer-funded facilities such as libraries and council-paid staff time contributing to the promotion.

Christmas: celebrates the foundation of the Christian religion.

Matariki: [from the official NZ Encylopedia, Te Ara]:

Traditionally, matariki was a time to acknowledge the dead and to release their spirits to become stars …

An interesting point: should “matariki” have a capital “m”? Christmas does because it’s from a personal name.
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June 17, 2022 10:59am
Frank the tank

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fauci-data-recommended-boosters-five-year-olds-work

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could have this type of robust debate without ‘misinformation/disinformation’ being shouted from the rooftops by the cultists and the feckless.

I’d suggest Paul now has the upper hand and it will be fascinating if indeed the House and Senate change hands if the ‘Feltch’ gets in some hot water. He appears very roughshod in his data/
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June 17, 2022 11:01am
Cassandra

I think the correct terminology is “they tried to kill themselves” because, apparently, “it” is not a word. “It” seems to me to be 100% appropriate. Good on Bethlehem College (which I drive past daily – always neat, tidy and happy kids, terrific!).
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June 17, 2022 11:03am
curry4me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YD7DYyppNQ

Energy crisis meeting to be held today.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Energy Minister Chris Bowen will meet today with industry and union leaders to counter the unfolding energy crisis. [Thanks spineless pollies and con-servationists. 2:36]
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June 17, 2022 11:18am
- kowtow
  
  AnAl ‘s stated priority is climate catastrophism.
  He’s a moron ,so will crush the Oz economy on the Altar of Greenism.
  
  I predict he will quickly become a very unpopular pm.
  
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  June 17, 2022 1:02pm
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    That has happened somewhere else – hmmmm
    
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    June 17, 2022 1:53pm
curry4me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnhtJ-Te2W8

Biden begins work on Ukraine 2.0.

Brandon is looking at a new alliance in Europe. It has little chance of getting through congress. [6:11]
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June 17, 2022 11:19am
cmm

I’m pretty good at first aid. I would expect I am far better than most and I have saved two lives through CPR etc. But when a paramedic turns up, I acknowledge my amateur limitations and I hand over to them.

Cindy and Robbo need some similar assessment of their capabilities. They are amateurs (and I think not even very good amateurs) playing a serious game trying to run an economy. They really should realise that what they are trying to undertake is way past their capabilities and they should hand over to more competent people.

But no, Robbo can see there are problems ahead. He’s predicting it’s going to turn to shit, yet he’s not admitting he’s unsuited to the job.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/finance-minister-grant-robertson-says-shrinking-economy-sign-of-difficult-year-ahead/JA5FFJSUVVXSHVZ6JRZ3D4EOF4/
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June 17, 2022 11:21am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  I’m hoping the paramedics come in 2023
  
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  June 17, 2022 1:55pm
Benedict Yu

Looks like COVID vaccinations for the infants 6 months to 4 years will start in the USA next week.

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/15/covid-shots-for-kids-under-5-move-closer-to-fda-authorization-after-committee-backs-shots.html

Will be interesting to see if it is approved here.

As of now only 26 percent of the 5 – 11 year old cohort in have been vaccinated. I would be surprised if the take up for infants ever exceeded 10 percent.
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June 17, 2022 11:29am
- curry4me
  
  If that happens I think a few red state governors will be saying ‘forget that’ and not enforcing the policy. Watch the population of Florida grow.
  
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  June 17, 2022 11:37am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Florida will grow, but DeSantis needs to keep an eye out for infiltrators from California etc. Those shitheads want to turn Florida into the place they left.
    
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    June 17, 2022 1:58pm
    - Littletramp
      
      “You call some place Paradise, kiss it goodbye” – The Last Resort, Don Henley (The Eagles)
      
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      June 17, 2022 2:20pm
    - curry4me
      
      Opinion on that subject is divided. I think its mostly conservatives leaving the left coast for places with a sane state government.
      
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      June 17, 2022 7:39pm
- cmm
  
  It depends on how hard the staff in maternity wards push it. New mums are put under incredible pressure to do what is advised.
  
  After one of our kids was born, they wanted to immediately give the hour-or-two old baby a jab. My wife was insisting that the baby should have a few days of adjustment before being jabbed.
  
  The nurse got into “heavy” mode with something along the lines of: “Well if you insist, then we can’t be held responsible. If the baby dies then it will be your fault.”
  
  Most mothers would fold under pressure like that and would do whatever the “experts” tell them to do.
  
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  June 17, 2022 12:01pm
  - Ehlana
    
    Good grief. What were they expecting the baby to die of? Was typhoid rampant?
    
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    June 17, 2022 1:34pm
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Should have told the nurse to slap the babies bun – it makes the dicks fall off the silly ones. Then duck for cover!
    
    7 1
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    June 17, 2022 2:01pm
thetiedarch

It used to seem that articles like this were few and far between, and spoke of an occasional quirk in the justice system. And reading them didn’t bother me so much.

Now I’m angry. And I’m wondering if National or anyone will ever change this. In the space of 12 hours I’ve read two articles where pretty serious crimes have been committed, and the punishments have been a slap in the face of hard working, tax paying kiwis:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/married-grandmother-stole-245k-over-15-years-while-claiming-to-be-solo-mum/5VHXLTHY6TFXMYQ3OVE3EL5VOQ/

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/nui-kereopa-appears-for-sentence-after-violent-road-rage-attack-on-rotoruas-fenton-st/IGJTLT6AVDYMCQNRB63EIWKRCY/

As the woman in the latter article says “No wonder people act like this, there is basically no penalty”.

And that grandmother. A quarter of a million over 15 years equates to $1,400 a month. That’s a lot of money. All she got was home detention. She probably sits at home all day anyway!

On top of this are countless cases of gang processions and beatings while the cops stand by and do jack, numerous drive by shootings, multiple smash and grabs.

Apparently it’s better to be a criminal than a tax payer in New Zealand now.
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June 17, 2022 11:32am
- septic skeptic
  
  There must be plenty of folks coming up to retirement who would be more than happy to do 10 months and three weeks home D in exchange for $245k – or even a quarter of that amount. And yes, if you give them the full $245k I’m sure they would agree to whatever reparation is settled upon. $10 a week sound OK?
  Who says crime doesn’t pay?
  
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  June 17, 2022 2:50pm
David Garrett

Yesterday I had business in West Auckland, and was thus forced to leave the tranquil confines of Rancho Garrett and go into the city.

I wondered what the hell was happening when the police had blocked off Great North Road at a major roundabout, causing a tailback of several kilometres. The reason became clear when perhaps 50 or 100 large motorbikes thundered through said intersection.

I later learned the procession of said scum was headed for the Waikumete cemetery, where they were attending the farewell of one of their members, the POS shot by police in Wellington last week because he was holding a carving knife to the throat of some hapless female.

Why the fuck should ordinary citizens be held up in going about their business by bands of scum who want – and are given – exclusive use of sections of major road?
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June 17, 2022 11:33am
- cmm
  
  A country that puts the interests of its criminals ahead of the law abiding productive citizens is on a very bad path.
  
  It would be interesting to bail up the cops involved in the roadblock and canvass their opinions on being used in this way.
  
  No wonder the scum are getting so brazen – they are treated like royalty and there are very few negative consequences for offending.
  
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  June 17, 2022 12:17pm
  - kowtow
    
    ‘It would be interesting to bail up the cops involved in the roadblock and canvass their opinions on being used in this way.’
    
    I can imagine that going very badly for said hard working decent citizen .
    
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    June 17, 2022 12:20pm
    - David Garrett
      
      kowtow: I did that, albeit very briefly because by then the traffic was moving…the cops I accosted simply didn’t respond; they just stared at me.
      
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      June 17, 2022 2:12pm
- Alan Wilkinson
  
  The proceeds of crime en route to its consequences.
  
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  June 17, 2022 12:38pm
  - kowtow
    
    We are constantly lectured by “experts” that these organised crime syndicates are a manifestation of poverty and racism .
    
    The criminals have an odd way of showing that , what with their ludicrous parody and cultural appropriation of American outfits as well as outrageously expensive motor vehicles .
    
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    June 17, 2022 1:16pm
dannz

Does this mean we get a shiny new MHA (Men’s health authority)?
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/mens-health-week-kiwi-men-get-sick-or-injured-more-and-die-sooner-than-women-why-nz-needs-a-targeted-health-policy/FFTE2HLXX2XE4RJPKUCTKMYPXQ/
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June 17, 2022 11:39am
- Ehlana
  
  We’re forming a working group to consider our response right now dannz. We expect to be able to announce a date for releasing our formal response within weeks.
  
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  June 17, 2022 1:37pm
cmm

Sroubek, a convicted drug dealer, gets a free pass from Immigration because he’s mates with the right people.

But an Indian who gets smuggled through Cindy’s Covid barrier – causing no damage whatsoever – gets deported.

We really have become a fucked up country!

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/indian-national-who-hid-in-truck-to-pass-through-aucklands-covid-19-border-to-be-deported/EIXGICS2TCMAR4XWLI2VNB6RCQ/
30 2
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June 17, 2022 12:13pm
- Bobba Fret
  
  What’s happened to Sourbek these days? Is in jail still?
  
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  June 17, 2022 2:19pm
  - Bobba Fret
    
    Gosh it takes a long time in moderation. It’s now 4:45pm and I posted that at 2:19pm
    
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    June 17, 2022 4:43pm
    - info@cruzpro.com
      
      Like you I would like my posts to show up quickly but… the moderators are most likely volunteers that don’t get paid so I don’t have an issue with them doing this work at their pace.
      
      Perhaps more people could offer to help do the moderator tasks and then post would get attention quicker.
      
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      June 17, 2022 5:36pm
- info@cruzpro.com
  
  And she did it to be with her husband. I didn’t see whether she smuggled into Auckland or out of Auckland. If into, then there is even less reason to deport them. Also, why deport him if he didn’t do anything wrong? Probably because it wouldn’t be “kind” to just deport one of them.
  
  Jeez, this current government does some really stupid things.
  
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  June 17, 2022 5:28pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

https://babylonbee.com/news/science-tests-positive-for-covid/?
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June 17, 2022 12:29pm
Nickc2

Oh, the hypocrisy of Cindy’s 501 Deportees from Aust.
An Indian couple is to be deported from NZ because one of them broke Covid lockdown regulations.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/indian-national-who-hid-in-truck-to-pass-through-aucklands-covid-19-border-to-be-deported/EIXGICS2TCMAR4XWLI2VNB6RCQ/
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June 17, 2022 12:38pm
- Ehlana
  
  I think the difference may be that the Indian couple came here as adults.
  The objection to 501 deportees, as I understand it, is that many of them left New Zealand as babies or young children. They have no life experience in this country and no family here. In that case, I think it’s reasonable to say they are a product of the place they grew up and should stay there.
  
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  June 17, 2022 1:40pm
  - Nickc2
    
    What you say is true but there are also deportees from Aust who were in their teens and adulthood when they left NZ and committed crimes in Aust and were subsequently deported. I believe the angst is the number of 501s in gangs in NZ, no matter how old they were when they left these shores for Aust.
    Surely, if they hadn’t come to the attention of the Police in NZ on their return, there wouldn’t be any problem at all.
    
    7 1
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    June 17, 2022 1:49pm
  - cmm
    
    You’d be correct that is a difference.
    
    Another difference is this:
    * Cindy is going in to bat for the 501 crims – not so much to keep them out of NZ but because she feels they have rights. Their families in Oz are being torn apart etc etc… Going in to bat for these people painted as victims burnishes her Kind and Caring CV for the UN.
    * The people who snuck through a CV19 roadblock and harmed nobody undermined her control so fuck ’em – deport ’em!
    
    15 2
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    June 17, 2022 4:53pm
    - MCōs
      
      The PM had nothing to do with the deportation of the Indians.
      Having said that what exactly did these people do wrong?
      
      1 4
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      June 17, 2022 7:55pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Pfizer warns a fourth booster shot may be needed for those who have not died yet//
17 2
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June 17, 2022 1:00pm
- Ehlana
  
  Since additional shots seem to give shorter boosted protection, it would make more sense to save further shots for times when people need to boost – say, a vulnerable person with scheduled surgery.
  
  We are not the only adaptive organisms here. We should learn from the emergence of anti-biotic resistant bacteria not to overuse a medicine.
  
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  June 17, 2022 1:43pm
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Current Govt is not capable of forward thinking.
    
    11 1
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    June 17, 2022 2:08pm
  - cmm
    
    I’m waiting for it to come in drip form. None of this pissing around getting a jab every few weeks.
    
    9 2
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    June 17, 2022 4:57pm
Surely Knott

If major parties support funding special character schools and even charter schools, then if the govt will not provide access to all medical staff, then why not special character and charter hospitals.
If the public mainstream hospitals carry on forcing mandatory vaccines for staff, then why can’t people have the right to chose. Maybe just like catholic schools or green schools govt could fund freedom hospitals for people who hold old fashioned liberal views like informed consent. I’d be happy to go to a freedom hospital and avoid the 8 hour queue.
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June 17, 2022 1:09pm
- mawm
  
  You can. It’s called a private hospital. It just means you are paying twice for your medical care. If one of our major parties was for free enterprise and freedom of choice they’d make private health insurance tax deductible.
  
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  June 17, 2022 6:32pm
- Hebe123
  
  I’d like to go to a hospital with stocks of non mRNA containing blood please!
  
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  June 17, 2022 10:08pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Hilarious (if this works)
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?ref=saved&v=455190656339915
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June 17, 2022 1:16pm
Craig Hallen

I swear that everything that is playing out in NEW ZEALAND now, are real-life episodes of The Twilight Zone. For example, the ‘criminal’ who is given a special mark which renders him invisible by society; the parents whose child is taken away by authorities for being too intelligent; the mysterious library that catalogues up to date information on the lives of every living person; the man that wakes up one day and discovers that the English language has changed.. Is it just coincidence that this latter one for example is happening right before our very eyes? Everywhere I go now, I simultaneously encounter (and ignore) names which have supplanted what was there originally. And of course this is rapidly becoming the case with this country’s name. I wonder then, if this Govt is so hell-bent on calling this land Aoteoroa, what is going to become the naming conventions of established organisations and businesses that already have NZ in their title? Is the national airline going to become ‘Air Aotearoa’, is one of the major banks going to be rebranded ‘Bank Of Aotearoa’ (even though it is Australian owned), is TVNZ going to become TVA? You can’t have it both ways, so which is it? And while we’re at it, is the ANZAC name going to be erased, such that ANZAC Day will have to become AAAC Day instead? Hell what’s next, alter the name of every English street sign, register two names for your kids, watch Team Aotearoa at the next America’s Cup?
This Govt couldn’t care less, they arrogantly believe they can do whatever they like, whenever they like, without any discussion or consultation. This is BEYOND reprehensible, and shows what an utter contempt these disgusting people have for the citizens they supposedly SERVE. This stops when people stand up and say they have had enough. I for one am tired of this crap, TIRED.
And don’t get me wrong, I am all for including other people and groups. As a musical entertainer, I regularly perform well known NEW ZEALAND songs such as ‘Maori Battalion’, ‘Hoki Mai’, and ‘Pokarekare Ana’. I even make a point of singing ‘Now Is The Hour’ in both English and Maori. In fact I think the Maori translation of this song is more moving than the English lyrics. But the difference is, this is a choice – I always play to my audience (i.e. the people I SERVE) but never feel obliged or forced to, it is done with a genuine appreciation. But this FORCING of names, language and agendas by this Govt does not come from the same place and is the completely wrong way – the corrupt way, of going about things. In fact it is not even limited to language, it is become pervasive in EVERY aspect of daily life, where you are told what to think and what to believe.
I am ashamed and appalled at what I see going on. This is not the same country I grew up in; the divisiveness being created by the so-called leaders of this so-called democratic country through their abhorrent actions and self-serving beliefs is the most despicable act of deliberate sabotage I have seen in recent times, and quite frankly criminal. I call them out on their bullshit; I have zero faith and trust in this insane ‘regime’ being run by these out of touch lunatics – their actions are UNFORGVABLE.
And we wonder why this country is overrun by crime, drug use, ant-social behaviour etc. There is a term in psychology called ‘REACTANCE’. It states that when people feel their freedoms being taken away they not only break the law, they do so significantly more than they otherwise normally would – in order to regain their lost freedom. The ELECTED individuals in leadership are driving this, THEY are stoking the fire – for that they deserve nothing more than public derision and condemnation; they should ALL hang their heads in complete shame.
As for this re-branding garbage, perhaps the recipients of this year’s Queen’s Birthday honours should be getting Order of Aotearoa awards, given that NZ doesn’t seem to matter or exist anymore. It’s either one of the other, so which is it?
https://www.hobsonspledge.nz/new_zealand_not_aotearoa
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June 17, 2022 1:24pm
Surely Knott

In the USa: Senator Paul Rand says on Twitter: “I asked, “Can you tell me if anyone on the vaccine approval committees ever received money from the people who make vaccines?”

Fauci : “People who receive royalties are not required to divulge them.”

Interesting. Did any other country’s approval bodies receive royalties.

Second John Macdonald did a review of a British Medical Journal essay this week. The journal article mentioned that the approval bodies didn’t usually get to cite the raw data of the trials for the drugs they were approving. Did our approval body see the raw data from the pfizer trials.
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June 17, 2022 4:35pm
krazykiwi

Aaron Kheriaty of Brownstone Institute asks:

Government-funded research of lab-engineered viruses to create contagious self-spreading vaccines that bypass the consent of citizens. What could go wrong?

It’s a great question. Where to start?
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June 17, 2022 4:38pm
cmm

I have not watching the crazy Depp vs Amber case, but with it being rubbed in your face by the media for weeks now, I just had to look…

This woman has collected notes from therapy sessions going back years, claiming she has been abused since 2011.

Really?

If you’d really been in a truly abusive relationship for over 10 years would you stay? Surely at some point the therapist would have also stepped in or advised her to seek legal advise etc.

Therapists encourage people to explore fantasies – remembering repressed past lives, imagining 50 shades of grey and other bullshit.

There are probably well over a hundred thousand women alive today who are convinced they were Cleopatra in a past life.

My sister-in-law has an interesting twist on that – she was one of Cleopatra’s slaves. Of course not just any slave, but Cleopatra’s favourite and most trusted slave who helped with her make up and advise on her love life. Sis-in-law found Cleopatra after she had been bitten by the asp. She killed the snake and tried to resuscitate her, alas, it was too late. That is what drove sis-in-law to becoming a nurse in this life – the compulsion to save lives and atone for failing then.

I wish I was making this up.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/johnny-depp-v-amber-heard-heard-says-she-kept-years-worth-of-notes-documenting-abuse/PJJCX7HPZY7KWO2ESNY2YI3IH4/
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June 17, 2022 4:47pm
- Its only I
  
  The case is over, she lied, she lost, the world celebrated and she will never work again.
  
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  June 17, 2022 11:51pm
Surely Knott

Quite funny…I think my dog’s a democrat.

https://youtu.be/H3VLqLLWxbQ
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June 17, 2022 5:03pm
rangitoto

The internet is worth it just for this. Replicating the Antikythera mechanism:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZioPDnFPNsHnyxfygxA0to4RXv4_jDU2
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June 17, 2022 5:31pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Moderation, as usual
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June 17, 2022 5:56pm

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