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July 12, 2023 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 12 July 2023

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General Debate

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Mike

Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Today is the 160th anniversary of the British army invasion of the Waikato on behalf of the settler government which wished to seize the most productive part of the country to expand European ownership.
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July 12, 2023 8:01am
- Nickc2
  
  Hasn’t it gone ahead in leaps and bounds since then?
  
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  July 12, 2023 8:40am
- Grunter
  
  Mike – stop making up BS and pretending it is actual history
  
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  July 12, 2023 8:45am
  - Mike
    
    I would welcome any correction to those simple facts, in the unlikely event i have got anything wrong.
    
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    July 12, 2023 9:33am
    - rouppe
      
      The British didn’t do anything for European interests back then.
      
      They did it for British interests.
      
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      July 12, 2023 9:58am
      - Mike
        
        Well spotted! Perhaps it would have been better to define the imperial power, the settler government, and most colonists, as ‘English’, as the colonization was not done for the benefit of the other nations in the British Isles, let alone for other Europeans.
        
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        July 12, 2023 10:11am
      - rouppe
        
        Should also define any perpetrators of Treaty beaches as British, and focus reparations for those beaches to come from that demographic.
        
        I’m sick of paying for other people’s shit
        
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        July 12, 2023 12:14pm
      - Mike
        
        From reading Kiwiblog comments, I had thought that the British came to New Zealand to save Māori from slavery, cannibalism and starvation, and to generously share the benefits of Christianity, gunpowder, pigs, measles, wheat, prisons, steel, etc.
        
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        July 12, 2023 1:23pm
      - Groggy
        
        @ Rouppe, apologies hit report instead of reply 🙁 The Crown is still head of state in NZ, so until we get rid of the monarch you are paying for our shit not someone elses.
        
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        July 12, 2023 2:07pm
      - NZer In Exile
        
        Mike: ” the British came to New Zealand to save Māori from slavery, cannibalism and starvation, and to generously share the benefits of Christianity, gunpowder, pigs, measles, wheat, prisons, steel, etc”
        
        It wasn’t their main motivation, obviously. It was however a great side-effect, and they knew it. So did Maori. Get over your silly adolescent brainwashing.
        
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        July 12, 2023 5:40pm
      - rouppe
        
        @groggy, oh, I don’t know about that.
        
        We’re still under the Crown, but if my neighbor gets robbed, he doesn’t expect me to pay compensation for it.
        
        Any stealing from Māori was done by the British, so the British should pay the compensation
        
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        July 12, 2023 7:12pm
- WaynelSexton
  
  Now the settlers just give away that land to any foreigner who wants it.
  
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  July 12, 2023 8:49am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Moo.
  
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  July 12, 2023 8:59am
  - Mike
    
    Loo?
    
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    July 12, 2023 9:10am
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      Yes, used to be one of those supporters.
      
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      July 12, 2023 10:39am
      - Mike
        
        And I thought you were somewhat normal.
        
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        July 12, 2023 1:02pm
    - I remember when
      
      Wrongly reported.
      Everyone is entitled to their view, even if it is only out of the window.
      
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      July 12, 2023 2:02pm
  - Bridgenag
    
    It was lovely having a Mike break
    
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    July 12, 2023 12:48pm
    - Mike
      
      It’s always lovely to hear from a fan.
      
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      July 12, 2023 1:23pm
- gravedodger
  
  Normally such socialist trolling does not even get a down tick,
  Maybe it is the early placement but for one moment just imagine how the Waikato might have developed as a productive entity that has contributed to all New Zealanders the standard of living enjoyed today had the natives been left to prowl around the Flax and Toi Toi killing, maiming and enslaving others.
  
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  July 12, 2023 9:05am
  - Mike
    
    Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
    You might be perhaps unaware that there was a flourishing agricultural economy in the region, with four mills, trading ships, etc. But it was run by Māori, so the settlers wanted to have it.
    
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    July 12, 2023 9:35am
    - burt
      
      Four mills and trading ships, they were built by?
      
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      July 12, 2023 10:09am
    - Jack5
      
      What crap. A few dozen cartloads of wheat.
      
      Wheat really made Waikato thrive, didn’t it Mick McH? Why is nearly all the country’s wheat now grown either in Canterbury, Southland, or the lower North Island?
      
      And “trading ships,” ocean-going vessels sailing up the Waikato?
      
      The settlers may have coveted the land and its potential but it wasn’t the existing agricultural output they envied.
      
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      July 12, 2023 10:19am
    - KiwiSapper
      
      Which they had cleared the land for, invented and built before the settlers arrived. You do make some Twonk posts.
      
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      July 12, 2023 10:34am
      - Jack5
        
        KiwiSapper’s … invented and built before the settlers arrived …
        
        Invented what? Ploughs? Flour mills? Dairy factories? Cargo vessels? A banking system with lending and working capital for farmers?
        
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        July 12, 2023 12:05pm
    - softail 1450
      
      Mike still believes his Mum when she said ” of course he’s your real father ” what utter shit Mike ,who were they trading the flour with and where did the ships come from?? 😮
      
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      July 12, 2023 12:21pm
- In Vino Veritas
  
  Lol Mike, you do write shit. “the most productive part of the country”. Given it was covered in bush and forest, I doubt anyone had any idea of how “productive” it would be. I guess that’s one of the great things about colonialism, instead of wasting the land, the colonials cleared it and put it to economic use.
  
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  July 12, 2023 9:06am
  - Matt Long
    
    That’s incorrect, large portions of the Waikato region were that most valuable of commodities; wet lands.
    Those ignorant white colonial oppressors were too stupid to recognise the treasure they had and turned it into New Zealand’s most productive pasture land.
    Other areas had their own issues, like acute Cobalt deficiency that caused “bush sickness” where animals on lush pasture failed to thrive or died. My mother’s father lost his shirt due to this and took a long time to pay off all his creditors.
    
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    July 12, 2023 10:42am
- Cassandra
  
  And thank God they did, now highly productive dairy farms to which we owe our high standard of living. A good omelette.
  
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  July 12, 2023 9:12am
- Rusty
  
  @Mike,
  
  So you are saying the Kingitanga (Maori movement) in 1863 broke the 1840 treaty of Waitangi contract by taking up arms against the local govt.
  
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  July 12, 2023 9:16am
  - Jack5
    
    Mick McHeckler, knows, of course, that what settlers of the 1860s really wanted were: Waikato Maoris’ cows and milk factories; Maori power stations; and Maoris’ university and airport at the river pa.
    
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    July 12, 2023 9:26am
    - Mike
      
      No Jacksie, they wanted the farms and four mills and the richer and more easily subdividable agricultural lands.
      
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      July 12, 2023 9:37am
      - Jack5
        
        Mike McHeckler, you are even more befuddled than usual.
        
        Maori had no cadastral system, and no individual ownership of land. They could never have raised capital to develop Waikato into the modern economic region it is today.
        
        That is apart from the lack of agricultural, commercial, international marketing, and general scientific knowledge.
        
        You know that of course.
        
        Mick McHeckerl, if you are driven to troll, perhaps by some autistic impulse, FFS get the background and history right first.
        
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        July 12, 2023 10:13am
      - Mike
        
        According to Jacksie, only capitalism can produce an agricultural economy.
        
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        July 12, 2023 1:05pm
  - Mike
    
    No, but that is what ‘Good’ Governor Grey pretended was happening.
    
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    July 12, 2023 9:38am
  - Groggy
    
    So the posters here are fully in support of illegally seizing someone elses land and homes if they feel it could be used more productively. The end justifies the means. The casual racism that is endemic to this blog shows really strongly in this thread!
    
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    July 12, 2023 2:17pm
    - Mike
      
      The settlers were in the habit of describing it as ‘waste land’, which presumably helped them to feel better about taking it from the owners.
      
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      July 12, 2023 3:54pm
    - NZer In Exile
      
      Groggy: “So the posters here are fully in support of illegally seizing someone elses land and homes”
      
      Why do you have this infantile and myopic view of history?
      
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      July 12, 2023 5:44pm
- lastmanstanding
  
  Australia Labor and NZ Labour are both following the same racist and denial of free speech agendas. Both are facing a cost of living crisis. In the case of Australia energy prices have increased 26% over the past year and are predicted to increase by 100% of the next two years due to Labors dumb climate policies like shutting down coal fired power stations without having any alternative supply.
  In the case of NZ Labour one hopes the Talbot Mills poll is a sign enough citizens have worken up and smelt the coffee. Alas for the poor Aussies they have put up with two more years of Australia Labour and that wont help the NZ economy.
  
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  July 12, 2023 9:20am
  - Nickc2
    
    At least Aust is going to give Aussie Citizens a vote on the matter.
    NZ, not so much!
    
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    July 12, 2023 9:33am
  - NZer In Exile
    
    lastmanstanding: “Australia energy prices have increased 26% over the past year and are predicted to increase by 100% of the next two years due to Labors dumb climate policies like shutting down coal fired power stations without having any alternative supply.”
    
    Australia is now pretty much wall to wall woke left, with the exception of Tasmania. The woke delusionals of the climate cult there have been promising for years that the wonderful “renewables” are “cheaper than fossil fuels” at producing electricity and electricity prices will come down with their greater penetration in the generation market. They have been proven to be utterly full of shit (no surprises there to energy engineers and energy economists).
    
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    July 12, 2023 5:49pm
- Simon
  
  “Today is the 160th anniversary of the British army invasion of the Waikato”
  
  This is the nature of the British empire. Sign a bull shit treaty early to calm the locals and then when the demographics are more favorable, ie numbers increase go onto attack.
  
  What will be overlooked however is the support of the Brit Empire from some Maori tribes against others tribes.
  
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  July 12, 2023 9:35am
  - Mike
    
    It can hardly be overlooked that inherent in the nature of so many imperial endeavors is the recruitment of local allies, who are often betrayed later in the colonizing mission.
    
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    July 12, 2023 10:14am
    - Simon
      
      Kūpapa often fought against other Māori not out of loyalty to the Crown, but because the British were fighting traditional rivals and could be made use of to help settle old scores.
      
      Historian Michael King believed kūpapa Māori generally prospered in the aftermath of the New Zealand Wars. Their land largely escaped confiscation and they received positive government attention, as well as ‘ceremonial swords for their leaders, monuments for their dead, and consultation on some matters of public policy’.
      
      https://nzhistory.govt.nz/politics/maori-king-movement-1860-94/build-up-to-war
      
      Even lame govt.nz history say Maori rolled other Maori for the crown and gained from it.
      
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      July 12, 2023 12:09pm
      - Mike
        
        Oh yes, the kūpapa did not have ‘as much’ land confiscated, but the Māori Land Court process kept up the process of alienation in a less overtly hostile manner. #notasbad
        
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        July 12, 2023 1:14pm
- NK
  
  I say let’s give Hamilton back to Maori. It’s a shitty place anyway. Just divert SH1 around it.
  
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  July 12, 2023 10:56am
  - Flossie
    
    SH 1….tick.
    Done already.
    
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    July 12, 2023 11:33am
  - softail 1450
    
    NK,Taiho with the diverting SH1 NK ,think of all the Taniwha and the Koha that would need to be paid to get permission to divert that highway ,billions is my thought.
    
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    July 12, 2023 12:27pm
- BananaLlama
  
  Glad to see the EU had a hand in forming the New Zealand as a nation way back then. Next up, how i am 160 years old and personally responsible for the crimes of others and how slavery and cannibalism is swept under the rug.
  
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  July 12, 2023 10:56am
  - Mike
    
    Yes, Māori were only a couple of decades behind the English in abolishing slavery. Still ahead of many other people, of course.
    
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    July 12, 2023 1:08pm
    - Jack5
      
      Maori were only a couple of decades behind the English in abolishing slavery.
      
      In generations after William the Conqueror took over England, the Normans wiped out slavery, which had been common under the Anglo-Saxons, the source below says.
      
      That is more than 800 years before the British ended Maori slavery in mainland New Zealand, though Maori slave ownership lingered in the Chatham Islands for a decade or two.
      
      British thus ended slavery in their home country about the time Maori ancestors in eastern-Pacific islands were being egged on to bugger off and find a new place of their own.
      
      Would Maori slavery have ended in 1840 without Maori becoming British citizens?
      
      https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/inspire-me/blog/blog-posts/what-was-the-legacy-of-william-the-conqueror/
      
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      July 12, 2023 3:20pm
      - Mike
        
        The British ended their own slave trade in 1807 and banned it in their colonies in 1837, after which they paid compensation, to the slave owners.
        But perhaps you are more comfortable discussing the legal and practical differences between slavery, serfdom and villeinage in medieval Europe .
        
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        July 12, 2023 4:00pm
      - Sparrow
        
        Being born English I get sick and tired of being lumped in with the British Empire exploiters. The Scots and Irish were at the forefront of the British Empire. The claim that slavery was abolished in England centuries before is crap it was just in a different form. My ancestors in rural Somerset were handed over as young children to work as virtual slaves from age 7 to 21 to local landowners. Then many died in the workhouse or on the streets. So if you were poor you were treated like shit. Māori got the vote many years before my ancestors did in the UK. Yes there is little doubt that some of the Brits who had been treated like shit in the UK took out their spleen on the locals in the Empire. So don’t paint all the English as the same as many were treated badly by the British establishment not just English. Why they never had a revolution is an interesting question.
        
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        July 12, 2023 4:15pm
      - Jack5
        
        Sparrow, serfdom was not slavery, at least British-style serfdom. Were British serfs bought and sold as they were in Russia?
        
        In NZ, from first voting rights in 1852, women couldn’t vote, and many if not most non-Maori and Maori men couldn’t either.
        
        Maori men were given voting rights in 1867 and all European men were given the vote in 1879. Women didn’t get the vote until 1893.
        
        How can you justify Maori slavery, which included cannibalism, by comparing it with the British part in Atlantic slave trade, and which was abolished in 1837. England’s “own slavery” – within the country – was stamped out by William the Conqueror before Maori arrived in these islands.
        
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        July 12, 2023 5:24pm
      - Mike
        
        lol at ‘stamped out by William the Conqueror’
        He banned the slave trade to Ireland, and reserved his ‘stamping out’ for a genocidal campaign against lots of the Saxons, whether free by for definitions or not:
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrying_of_the_North
        
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        July 12, 2023 5:42pm
    - NZer In Exile
      
      Mike: “Yes, Māori were only a couple of decades behind the English in abolishing slavery. ”
      
      They fell in line with the British Crown who were formally in charge of the joint. Ancient history. You weren’t there. Neither was anyone alive today. Wake up.
      
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      July 12, 2023 5:59pm
Warren

It’s taken the Government and Chris Hipkins our Prime Minister five months to actually hear the message from many voters and has the audacity to reply with this message.
” I know that the last few months have been a bit messy for the Government and we really need to return our laser-like focus on to the issues New Zealander’s care about Hipkins said”.
It is a sharp reminder to everybody in Government that New Zealander’s want to see us focused on the the issues that mater to them and that is exactly what they will see over the next 90 – days until the Election.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/132528958/pm-chris-hipkins-says-poll-showing-fouryear-low-in-support-for-labour-sends-a-message
Hipkins is so out of touch with reality with his jaunts across the world first without cleaning the mess of Micheal Wood and Kiri Allen before leaving is a indication that his thought were we are unbeatable are now coming back to haunt him.
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July 12, 2023 8:01am
- sirknz
  
  What really annoyed me about this article was the interchanging use of ‘focused’ and ‘focussed’.
  
  Pick one and stay with it, although in NZ it should be the second spelling.
  
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  July 12, 2023 8:37am
  - softail 1450
    
    Sirknz, if you were discussing our Countrys financial situation you’d have to include a K and another U in the word.
    
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    July 12, 2023 12:32pm
- kowtow
  
  Reports of elderly patients being turfed out of their beds in the early hours to make way for more admissions to hospitals.
  
  They locked down to save the health system ( or so they said) and one outcome of the lockdown is a collapsed health system.
  Meanwhile laser like focus on an un necessary and expensive holiday tomorrow with huge spending on ads for it in the media .
  Not to mention their continued efforts to destroy the education system .
  
  If this is laser focus I’d hate to see what they could do if they weren’t paying attention.
  
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  July 12, 2023 8:47am
  - wsk12345
    
    When you have to advertise a public holiday…! I get advertisements reminding one that it is tax time, or time to register their dog or sign onto the electoral roll. But one thing we have never had a problem with is getting workers to take a day off! Surely Liebour haven’t f*cked that too?
    
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    July 12, 2023 11:11am
- I remember when
  
  “When you’re in Government, you obviously have to focus on running the country as well as campaigning for re-election,” Chris Hipkins.
  
  Does that mean that up until now, they have been focussing on campaigning for re-election?
  
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  July 12, 2023 9:48am
- Loddenthinks
  
  Does he mean this kind of “laser-like focus”?
  
  https://theflagshop.co.nz/products/laser-kiwi
  
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  July 12, 2023 9:54am
- cmm
  
  Dear Chippy
  
  As we’ve seen over the last 6 years, anything Labour touches and tries to fix just gets much, much worse – be that child poverdee, crime, health, education,…
  Please don’t bring your laser-like focus anywhere near me.
  
  Thanks
  
  cmm
  
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  July 12, 2023 10:02am
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  But he will be lazer focused as his numbers plummet
  
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  July 12, 2023 10:12am
- greybeard
  
  “our laser-like focus” !
  
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  July 12, 2023 10:40am
- Ruawai
  
  Labour have had nearly 6 years to be laser focused, but decide to leave it til the last 90 days in office. Bit late now!
  
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  July 12, 2023 2:48pm
peterwn

See:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/300925731/high-profile-radio-host-caught-drinkdriving-keeps-name-secret
She was four times over the limit. She was disqualified for 28 days and received name suppression.
Now an ordinary person would expect to lose his licence for 6 months and would not have received name suppression.
What is so special about that woman that she receives special treatment?
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July 12, 2023 8:02am
- sirknz
  
  Ask Jessica then [redacted], maybe they could dig in and find out…
  
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  July 12, 2023 8:38am
  - Grunter
    
    [Mod – use their actual name]: “On this one I think I’ll ask [redacted] first, then Jessica…..”
    
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    July 12, 2023 9:57am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  I feel sorry for all the high profile radio hostesses who have not been found four times over the limit. By obtaining suppression this drunkard has implicitly smeared their good names.
  
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  July 12, 2023 8:55am
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    What I’d like to see is one of these hostesses state on air that it’s not her, and then start a #NotMeToo movement.
    
    Ali Mau – I think that’s your specialty, yes?
    
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    July 12, 2023 9:24am
    - Tony Stuart
      
      Leah Panapa has clearly stated that it’s not her, and has issued a cease and desist to one organisation that suggested it was.
      
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      July 12, 2023 11:12am
      - Bobba Fret
        
        Hopefully Kerre Woodham, Kate Hawkesby and Heather DPA will do the same and say its not them on air. I would if I was them.
        I reckon its more likely to be one of the younger DJ’s who is part of a group of two or three DJ’s on air.
        
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        July 12, 2023 12:01pm
      - pdm
        
        BF – Kerre Woodham did just after 9am.
        
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        July 12, 2023 1:41pm
- alex Masterley
  
  That reflects upon the quality of Judges appointed to both DC and High Court benches.
  The diversity quota trumps competence.
  And I hope that the police appeal this sentence as it is manifestly inadequate.
  
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  July 12, 2023 8:59am
- Scooter
  
  So not only was she given special treatment with name suppression, she was also given an extremely shorter time for losing her license, one month compared to the usual 6. So unless you are part of the elite media, gangs, politics crowd you are second rate citizens and deserve no special treatment?
  
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  July 12, 2023 9:08am
- Scooter
  
  Not naming her really tarnishes all the other radio hosts, that alone is why she should be named. Why protect one person over many?
  
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  July 12, 2023 9:38am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Collective punishment is a War crime under the Geneva Convention.//
    
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    July 12, 2023 10:59am
  - NZer In Exile
    
    Scooter: “Not naming her really tarnishes all the other radio hosts, that alone is why she should be named.”
    
    Yeah that’s an argument against name suppression. I regard it as a weak one.
    
    They are not tarnished. We just don’t know which individual did something dumb and dangerous. We will live and still thrive if we don’t know for the moment.
    
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    July 12, 2023 6:02pm
- Loddenthinks
  
  Disqualified for 28 days from June 1 so before she was even sentenced she had “served her time” – FFS!
  
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  July 12, 2023 9:57am
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  [Mod – do not try to break a name suppression with your guesses or it will be a ban]
  
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  July 12, 2023 10:13am
- day tripper
  
  Just to clarify…the sentence would have been back dated to the date she entered her guilty plea, because her reading was over 800 she automatically goes down the alcohol interlock stream (you can get out of it but there are limited exceptions). As part of that regime you have to be disqualified for 28 days, then apply dor an alcohol interlock licence. That licence costs a couple of hundred. You have to only drive cars with interlocks fitted…again a couple of hundred to be fitted then monthly checks and service fees. Any breach and the next step is delayed. After 12 or so months you can apply for a zero alcohol licence that last for a minimum of three years (that costs a couple of indeed as well).
  Having read the article, and knowing so much of what the judge said would not be reported, she is a first or second time drink driver (a 3rd plus would be treated far harsher), driving between 250 and 400 is an infringement and no entry on your conviction history, so saying she was over four times the limit is not correct, a better interpretation (and one we use in court) would have been just over two time the legal limit (semantics I know but we need to remind magistrates of this every day).
  Any thing else I can clarify just ask…
  
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  July 12, 2023 11:54am
- NK
  
  I know who it is and when told I had never heard of her.
  
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  July 12, 2023 12:03pm
NeverMindTheBollocks

Just when you thought that the Te Huia story couldn’t get any worse … its operating costs deficit of 86.6% will be challenged now that it’s banned past Papakura.
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July 12, 2023 8:05am
- peterwn
  
  What I cannot understand is if Te Huia is banned north of Papakura, then freight trains should also be banned since they do not have the technology to interact with the modern signalling system either. The local units do, if a signal is red then equipment on the train ensures it stops automatically too.
  
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  July 12, 2023 9:06am
  - Drone
    
    @peterwn if you are saying the Te Huia train doesn’t have the technology to interact with the signalling system why did KiwiRail put it into service without the technology ?
    
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    July 12, 2023 9:35am
    - peterwn
      
      Probably because there was no legal requirement to do so. Now the authorities say it is necessary but Kiwirail says it cannot be installed for a year (or perhaps end 2023). It would probably need to be installed on two or three locos. The only trackside equipment for this technology would be between Papakura and Swanson so it would not be worthwhile installing it on all locos. The Wellington area has had a more elementary and limited train stopping system (probably dating back to the 1930’s) and only passenger units would have been equipped with this.
      
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      July 12, 2023 1:11pm
  - Loddenthinks
    
    Yes but the drivers of the freight trains know they have to stop at a red light. The drivers of the loss-making millstone apparently are from Auckland and do not.
    
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    July 12, 2023 9:58am
    - bjools
      
      In the dim past I worked as a signals tech. for British Rail.
      Each signal is associated with a “track circuit”, when the axles of the train short out the track circuit, the adjacent signal turns RED, subsequently the signal associated to the previous “track circuit” turns YELLOW, the one before that DOUBLE YELLOW and the one before that turns GREEN.
      Now I understand the signalling in NZ is slightly different, but the principle is the same.
      It means, that the drivers have plenty of warning that a RED signal is coming.
      The interlock system, if the same as British Rail, Is permanent magnet in the train (underneath), with an electromagnet on the track, which is either on or off, depending on the signal (RED), when this counter acts the permanent magnet on the train, it automatically applies the breaks.
      This was how t worked….way back in the 80’s, I would think it may be a little better/more efficient now.
      
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      July 12, 2023 12:39pm
      - Loddenthinks
        
        It would – but this is New Zealand don’t forget. We tend to buy the stock other countries don’t want or need any more, at top dollar.
        
        Thanks for the explanation though, it seems hard to fathom how they could get it wrong.
        
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        July 12, 2023 9:55pm
  - Matt Long
    
    Link to story in stuff
    https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/300925717/te-huia-train-banned-from-auckland-city-after-twice-failing-to-stop-on-red
    
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    July 12, 2023 10:51am
- Handyman
  
  1. On the inaugural trip from Hamilton to Auckland, Ardern was front and centre travelling on ” the future of frequent intercity carbon free transport”.
  What went unreported is that she got off at Huntley because “she had to get to Auckland for a meeting”.
  Typical Ardern, typical green, typical media.
  
  2. Also note the patronage numbers are always reported daily or monthly. Actually the patronage works out to be about 65 passengers on the train at any given trip (two half full buses). And yet the passengers are squeezed in like on a plane instead of having a table/desk set up like on the Eurostar.
  
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  July 12, 2023 9:20am
  - Benedict Yu
    
    “the future of frequent intercity carbon free transport”.
    
    It is pulled by a diesel locomotive.
    
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    July 12, 2023 10:17am
    - Handyman
      
      Like I said:
      Typical Ardern, typical green, typical media.
      
      BYW, the official green party policy is to extend the wildly successful AKL/HAM train to Tauranga. Probably going to call it the Moa express.
      
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      July 12, 2023 11:23am
- I remember when
  
  Te Huia is extinct.
  If we accept mythology surely we need to respect the message.
  
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  July 12, 2023 9:57am
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    Whoops – fat fingered down tick – apols!
    
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    July 12, 2023 1:36pm
- Random T Person
  
  Why TF can’t they put these 95 people on two buses and deliver them to the centre of AKL/Britomart? It would be massively cheaper, faster, and more convenient for all concerned. The madness of ideologues.
  
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  July 12, 2023 10:00am
  - bjools
    
    The only way rail will be effective, is speed.
    When we are transporting freight and passengers at 140-180Km/hr, then it may….yes MAY, become viable.
    Cost of upgrading …in the countryside, about $60mil per Km of single track, not quite double for double track (required).
    In the cities….your guess is as good as mine but I would say triple that number.
    
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    July 12, 2023 12:45pm
  - Ruawai
    
    It would be cheaper to helicopter them than use the current train.
    
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    July 12, 2023 2:55pm
- BarryB
  
  Ah – but you have forgotten who is making the ruling here —
  Its NZLT – New Zealand Land Transport. Stoping freight trains has no PR value – but stopping the extinct bird train has much more PR value – so NZLT has stopped the passenger trains to show just how important they are……………..
  
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  July 12, 2023 10:20am
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Te Huia train banned from Auckland because it went through red lights twice.
Naughty train!
Why not ban the drivers and leave the train running?
Maybe other train drivers can not drive this special Te Huia (extinct bird) train?
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July 12, 2023 8:06am
- Tomtoddy
  
  Yes, Steve its naughty train and naughty drivers but it is also deadly serious. The Hamilton/Auckland train with 150 people on board ramming a commuter train with a couple of dozen passengers is going to be very messy. Those who use these services should be extremely worried – this is third world stuff.
  
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  July 12, 2023 8:12am
  - Tony Stuart
    
    Yes, but because Michael Wood was the Transport Minister at the time, the train driver probably thought he would have 12 strikes before any action was taken!
    
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    July 12, 2023 8:20am
    - Biscuit
      
      Yer e-v-i-l, Tony!
      
      On that subject, has Mr Woodentop actually confirmed he HAS sold the shares in question yet?
      
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      July 12, 2023 8:49am
      - pdm
        
        Probably does not need to now he is a back bencher Biscuit.
        
        Probably bought some more – such is his personality.
        
        No Prime Minister is going to tell him what to do.
        
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        July 12, 2023 1:44pm
      - Biscuit
        
        pdm, that may be true but – if only to assure folk that he’s is a good ‘un at heart – if I were Wood I’d be ensuring everyone got to know he had gotten rid of the things.
        
        Presumably he still entertains hopes of a political career? Staying shush now simply enables anyone, in the future, to ask him the question all over again…
        
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        July 12, 2023 2:00pm
  - Simon
    
    A while ago said it had been good Kiwi rail hadnt killed anyone. Thought something in govt is working. Looks like kiwirail has another govt department – NZTA riding shot gun. So its down to NZTA for kiwi rail not killing a lot of people.
    
    Surveillance society which should not be over citizens but over govt departments. Surveillance should only be for gang members and govt departments.
    
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    July 12, 2023 8:34am
  - mandk
    
    Has Te Huia ever had 150 passengers?
    
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    July 12, 2023 9:14am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    I will pick up more info from a contact as to why this happened.
    Sometimes these stories are partly fake news.
    
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    July 12, 2023 9:20am
- imalwaysright
  
  They said the train ran the red lights .
  It must have started itself and decided to head into Auckland for a bit of a day out.
  That’s why they’ve banned the train.
  Welcome to Aotearoa.
  
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  July 12, 2023 8:17am
  - mandk
    
    It’s Nu Tireni; the name in TeTiriti and the Deckaration of Independence by The United Tribes.
    
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    July 12, 2023 9:17am
- slightlyrighty
  
  Next Time a cops stops me, I’m going to blame the car….
  
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  July 12, 2023 8:20am
- Albert_Ross
  
  Erm, it was a genuine mistake?
  
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  July 12, 2023 8:46am
  - Ehlana
    
    I think it has happened more than once.
    
    What I don’t get is why the train needs “technology” to enable it to stop at a red light. Isn’t that what the driver is for?
    
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    July 12, 2023 9:58am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  This is very Thomas the Tank Engine stuff. I think it was Henry who was walked up in a tunnel for misbehaviour.
  
  Perhaps someone should have a word with the Fat Controller.
  
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  July 12, 2023 9:27am
  - Bobba Fret
    
    In this woke world, are they still allowed to call him the “Fat” controller?
    No we aren’t. He is now known as “Sir Topham Hat”!!!!!!!
    
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    July 12, 2023 10:08am
    - NeverMindTheBollocks
      
      Fat Controller with a stutter parody. One minute of your life you won’t regret.
      
      Warning: put down any drinks before watching.
      
      https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_kMw_Sx_nCY
      
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      July 12, 2023 1:45pm
    - Biscuit
      
      Bobba, these days ‘The Fat Controller’ is called ‘He Who Beat Anorexia’…
      
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      July 12, 2023 2:03pm
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Big Controller.
    
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    July 12, 2023 11:08am
    - Bobba Fret
      
      The wokesters would find that offensive too!!!!
      
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      July 12, 2023 12:03pm
      - Steve Otto(North Shore)
        
        Then there is Gail.
        
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrifKFj0RqI
        
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        July 12, 2023 12:52pm
- gravedodger
  
  The Ban was placed by the New Zealand Land Transport Authority. forbidding The Train From the “Tron” using tracks beyond Papakura all “Owned by Transrail”, the operator of the bloody train.
  Impossible to make this stuff up!
  
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  July 12, 2023 4:52pm
Grunter

Christchurch hospital reports a record number of ED visits on Monday. Highest ever.

I wonder what has happened to cause this?

I wonder if this is linked to the ongoing trend of excess deaths in NZ and across the developed world?

I wonder when the daily pulpit of truth will restart to brief us on all these deaths and emergency sickness?

I wonder when anyone will show even a remote amount of curiosity or care about all this?
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July 12, 2023 8:11am
- ClanMcleod
  
  Shhhhhh…..stop pointing at the elephant ffs……..
  
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  July 12, 2023 8:50am
- slightlyrighty
  
  A lot of it is people who either do not have a GP or do not want to pay for one.
  
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  July 12, 2023 10:12am
  - ClanMcleod
    
    Well we’ll never know how much is vaccine injury because that is automatically excluded from investigation, same with sudden deaths.
    We live in Orwellian times.
    
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    July 12, 2023 10:59am
- rouppe
  
  Bearing in mind I have as much contempt for the current government as anyone…
  
  Could some of this be due to difficulty in gaining access to one’s GP? I know Ghost seems to be able to see his GP within the day, but last time I made an appointment it was 5 days…
  
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  July 12, 2023 10:18am
  - Ghost
    
    It shouldn’t be. At least here if you go to the ED with something that is a gp visit the triage nurse tells them to go to their or the duty gp
    
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    July 12, 2023 10:35am
    - Don Beckett
      
      I have to visit my GP to be able to start treatment for a back injury – an approved ACC claim. I can’t see my doctor for 2 weeks – a couple of years ago it was 2 days.
      My real problem is that the sciatic nerve in my right leg is compromised & the leg is half paralysed, and is now affecting my left leg because of limping. I thought I might check into the hospital A & E – but that might be more than 2 weeks considering the state of our hospital system.
      Looks like a painful wait for 2 weeks – I hope the nerve lasts that long.
      
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      July 12, 2023 11:19am
    - zombie
      
      I’m in the Wellington region in an area that has been well resourced for medical care for decades. To see my Dr which as a diabetic, I am forced to at least twice a year in person. For the last 18 months about 75% of Dr’s visits are on the phone. If it is not absolutely urgent, the wait for a phone call is 10 – 14 days. But an in person visit is about 6 weeks, maybe more now it is the winter. They had a few people retire and have only recently been able after 14 months to recruit a replacement. Could try a new surgery but the other 2 surgeries down our end of town have their books closed as our Dr does.
      
      Other local specialists are similar. The Skin Clinic has been closed to new patients for 14 months so far as they cant find an extra doctor. I go back at the beginning of each month and get told, try again this time in 2 months. Just hoping my lumps and bumps arent anything too serious!
      
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      July 12, 2023 8:20pm
  - ClanMcleod
    
    Could be, but nobody is permitted to investigate the reasons apparently.
    
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    July 12, 2023 11:00am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    After 5 days you are well again.
    
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    July 12, 2023 11:10am
- Ghost
  
  Here’s a post from the other day.
  
  Sydney’s largest hospital, Westmead, is at crisis point.
  
  A whistleblower says lives are at risk, with patients sleeping on the emergency department floor, while others are waiting days for treatment.
  
  Video
  
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  July 12, 2023 10:38am
- Tony Stuart
  
  It’s winter, and colds/flu are rampant. I’ve been as sick as a dog for a few days, but wouldn’t think of going to hospital.
  
  I do however silently curse John Key for banning cold medicines with pseudoephedrine though!
  
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  July 12, 2023 11:15am
  - zombie
    
    Second that Tony!
    
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    July 12, 2023 8:23pm
- Flossie
  
  Already Dunedin’s new hospital has been down sized. You would think it would be made bigger to cater for anticipated future growth and avoid having to shut the door there too.
  But thinking ahead…not this lot’s forte.
  
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  July 12, 2023 11:41am
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Biden Admin In Rush to Jail Trump.

https://dailypresser.com/eric/biden-admin-in-rush-to-jail-trump-opposes-delay-in-pretrial-hearing-in-classified-docs-case/

Democrats getting more desperate by the day. This is all they have to campaign 2024 on. Everything else they have fucked up. Bit like Labour only the corruption is x 1000.
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July 12, 2023 8:11am
- kowtow
  
  And can you believe it , with all the shite happening here, the Ferald cartoon is yet again ,another go at Trump!
  
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  July 12, 2023 8:25am
- Paulus
  
  Like today’s NZME Herald baby Cartoon depicting the hopeful downdfall of Trump.
  What the F is a Socialist New Zealand newspaper trying to do ?
  Smart arse Editors – just stick to New Zealand which is in more trouble that the USA although Biden and family are by far worse in terms of being corrupt than Clinton and/or Obama.
  Look at the latest Polls here !
  
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  July 12, 2023 8:28am
  - Inandout
    
    Paulus, they probably realise that National will turn off their life support and this is a dying gasp in the form of a cartoon.
    
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    July 12, 2023 8:49am
  - sirknz
    
    No no no!
    
    The MSM is unfairly tilted towards the right!
    
    – Leftys on Twitter whenever Labour gets caught with their hand in the cookie jar
    
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    July 12, 2023 9:18am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    They can’t stick to New Zealand. Sure we are in trouble but any cartoon or news is bad for Labour and Greens.
    
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    July 12, 2023 9:30am
  - I remember when
    
    Who did leave those drugs at the White House?
    
    7 0
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    July 12, 2023 10:04am
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      The person who was at Camp David.
      
      4 2
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      July 12, 2023 11:31am
    - mawm
      
      They don’t know yet but it definitely wasn’t Hunter.
      
      1 1
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      July 12, 2023 4:50pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Stop Co-Governance. Julian Batchelor.

The story the other day about the artwork being returned was incorrect.

https://www.stopcogovernance.kiwi/blog/buddy-makaere-the-kkk-racism-and-how-he-cant-wait-for-the-over-50s-to-die-off/
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July 12, 2023 8:13am
- Ehlana
  
  I can see the apology about the artwork being returned story, but I can’t see anything with anyone saying they can’t wait for over 50s to die off. Am I missing something?
  
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  July 12, 2023 8:35am
  - Grunter
    
    Checkout Sean Plunkets debate on The Platform (you tube) between Batchelor and Makaere. Makare states he can’t wait for all the old white guys to die so that co-governance can take better hold in NZ.
    
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    July 12, 2023 8:51am
    - Ehlana
      
      So, how many white people did it take to make Makaere? Are they all dead yet?
      
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      July 12, 2023 10:01am
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      That will be it. Julian Batchelor has not given a link to Sean Plunket.
      
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      July 12, 2023 11:33am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    The guy who wrote the apology is Tane Tipuna.
    Today’s heading is Buddy Mikaere, but there is no post.
    
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    July 12, 2023 9:57am
Maggy Wassilieff

Who knows what energy nexus means?

Don’t worry…

Our kiddie winkles will be able to enlighten us in the years to come

https://joannenova.com.au/2023/07/new-zealand-might-adopt-new-un-science-curriculum-without-physics-and-chemistry/
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July 12, 2023 8:14am
- Ehlana
  
  Is it a portal through time and space?
  
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  July 12, 2023 8:49am
  - sirknz
    
    I thought that was a white hole…
    
    7 0
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    July 12, 2023 9:20am
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      Racist!//
      
      4 1
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      July 12, 2023 9:58am
      - zombie
        
        Well you”re not allowed to say black hole.!
        
        1 0
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        July 12, 2023 8:30pm
- NZer In Exile
  
  Kiwi Lysenkoism. The latest steaming pile of silly but dangerous from the clown show.
  
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  July 12, 2023 6:50pm
Scott

Those people who deny there is a crime wave need only observe the brand new Harvey Norman store in Masterton. Along the front of the store, which is all windows, there are bollards. There are no fewer than 40 bollards! These bollards are to stop criminals ramming their stolen cars through the front of the store and stealing stuff.

What a country we now are that a new store must build 40 bollards to protect themselves from ram raiders!

I would hope that a new government makes it a priority for police to chase ram raiders, to capture and arrest them and for the courts to imprison them in prison or a youth facility for a long period of time, say 5 years. Some teen ram raider gets 5 years in a secure youth facility and watch the practice stop almost immediately.

We can’t let this continue. Stores reinforced like bunkers to stop crime is terrible and not the NZ we know.
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July 12, 2023 8:19am
- Simon
  
  Prisons are a moral & fiscal failure – Bill English.
  
  It got underway with National and extended with Labo.
  
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  July 12, 2023 8:38am
  - JimBobJoe
    
    No Simon…. the deterioration started a long time before that. It started in our Criminology and other Social Studies departments in Universities a long time ago….. the everyone can be rehabilitated bs.
    
    English’s quote which you endless run out is out of context, but you know that.
    
    English was stating that Jails are social and fiscal failure IN the context of his overall approach of Social Investment at the beginning of a persons life journey, with an aim of stopping a descent into endless welfare dependence and possible criminal activity leading to Jail.
    
    But again you know that. You are very dull with the endless National attacks…. do better
    
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    July 12, 2023 9:44am
    - Mike
      
      I have read many times on Kiwiblog about Bill English and ‘social investment, but I am yet to read about anything that was actually done in that regard. AFAIK, it was just a rephrasing of ‘early intervention’ and other similar mantras that have been around for decades.
      NZ governments are very good at announcing aspirations, strategies and plans, but hopeless at achieving anything by the way of substantial change.
      
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      July 12, 2023 1:28pm
      - Loddenthinks
        
        Not as hopeless as you are at doing basic research Milky. As per usual you just cover your eyes and ears, declare “I’m yet to hear of blah blah blah” and fling poo like an over-excited monkey. Whatever they’re paying you, it’s too much.
        
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        July 12, 2023 2:13pm
      - Mike
        
        Thank you for confirming that the ‘social investment’ concept produced nothing, as I’m sure your thorough research would have revealed any tangible benefits.
        
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        July 12, 2023 4:14pm
      - NZer In Exile
        
        B English had quite a good plan apparently. His vibe (gritty NZ farmer type bloke) was too much for the fickle wokesters to handle so they voted for the student activists currently turning NZ into an international embarrassment.
        
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        July 12, 2023 6:12pm
      - artemisia
        
        Young Parent Payment (still in place). Students and their families at risk, funded by taking scattergun school decile funding and targeting it. Ready to go at the 2017 election.
        
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        July 12, 2023 6:34pm
  - Tony Stuart
    
    Bill English was quite right; prisons are a moral and fiscal failure. I hate that it costs $150k per annum to keep a scumbag locked up.
    
    But that’s the rub; do you tag and release criminals, as Labour have done, and see violent crime double in six years, or do you grit your teeth and pay the price to keep law-abiding members of the community safe?
    
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    July 12, 2023 11:18am
    - Loddenthinks
      
      That number seems high, though I don’t doubt its accuracy, so I had a look at what it costs other countries to incarcerate the average scumbag.
      
      UK: GBP46,696 p.a. which is equal to NZ$97,344 or just under 65% of the NZ cost
      USA: US$45,771 p.a. which works out to be NZ$73,543 or less than half the NZ cost. Each state spends a different amount but apparently this is the average.
      Australia: A$120,450 p.a. which is NZ$130,120 or 86% of the NZ cost.
      
      Whichever way you look at it, we’re paying a lot more money to house prisoners, and by the looks of it we’re not getting very good value for that money. A fiscal failure indeed.
      
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      July 12, 2023 2:28pm
      - Mike
        
        Corrections used to publish useful comparative figures for NZ, Australia, Canada and England & Wales. NZ was usually about 2nd most expensive, but also had better staff ratios and fewer assaults than the others.
        
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        July 12, 2023 4:12pm
      - zombie
        
        And why is the US so much cheaper? Probably various reasons but not least that the prisoners are made to work and the money earnt is redistributed to fund the prison.
        
        But we cant do that here because that is just modern slavery and unnecessarily punitive. Time to live in the real world and teach prisoners skills while making money. Win, win.
        
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        July 12, 2023 8:35pm
      - Loddenthinks
        
        @ Milky: “used to”, “was” and “had” are the salient words in there.
        
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        July 12, 2023 9:57pm
- Stellaboxer
  
  “ Stores reinforced like bunkers to stop crime is terrible and not the NZ we know” Not the New Zealand we knew Scott not the New Zealand we knew. It’s now called Aotearoa and there has been a radical, corrupt ethnically divisive government in power for a number of years now that are more concerned with protecting their immature ideology than facing the reality of their failures. They have managed to reduce the prison population by decriminalisation of crime.
  
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  July 12, 2023 8:51am
- kowtow
  
  Ah but today there’s a huge article in the Ferald reminding the pearl clutchers that 3 Strikes could be re introduced by the populists .
  
  btw interesting how it’s timed to follow that delightful poll result.
  
  Bring it on.
  
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  July 12, 2023 8:52am
  - Loddenthinks
    
    Just another example of the media and leftists reinventing words to mean something else. They say “populists” instead of the correct word “majority”, as per the former News of the World muck-raker Andrea Vance asking in a recent $1uffed piece:
    
    Could the Treaty of Waitangi become the next casualty of populism? (https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/132499752/could-the-treaty-of-waitangi-become-the-next-casualty-of-populism)
    
    I’m interested to know what the previous “casualties of populism” were, but what Vance actually means by populism is a majority of people that happen to have a different opinion to her and her leftist mates.
    
    I do understand that democracy is under attack all around the world, and nowhere more so than in New Zealand, but while we still have a democracy of sorts, I suggest we use the same method to determine the referendum as we do for say, general elections – including the one that fell victim to the “populism” of Jacinda Ardern less than 3 years ago.
    
    Sauce for the gander, sauce for the goose that is Andrea Vance.
    
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    July 12, 2023 2:45pm
- sirknz
  
  Public caning a la Singapore for a first time would be a lot more effective and cost us a lot less.
  
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  July 12, 2023 9:21am
  - rouppe
    
    It would, however a realisation would soon develop which would cause excitement about how not enough white people were getting the cane and was therefore evidence that there is systemic racism in NZ.
    
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    July 12, 2023 10:22am
    - NeverMindTheBollocks
      
      I could live with that
      
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      July 12, 2023 7:38pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Take them behind the woodshed before arresting them.
  
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  July 12, 2023 10:01am
Maggie Pie

TRENDING

This will be a real worry for some…

A ‘highly contagious’ infection is spreading in Melbourne among the Gay community, with an Official Alert being issued by the Government Health Minister and contact-tracing is again underway.

– News.com.au

https://twitter.com/StudLeeMD/status/1678669109851045889
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July 12, 2023 8:19am
- Suze Wainwright
  
  In all seriousness though, Chippie must be desperate for aotearoa to be locked down again…
  
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  July 12, 2023 8:29am
  - ClanMcleod
    
    Will it reduce the crime rate? Could be an election winner….//
    
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    July 12, 2023 8:53am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  FFS Maggie!
  
  I’ve reached 70 years on this planet, and I’m still encountering stuff I can barely comprehend.
  
  It is mainly transmitted when an infected person’s faeces is ingested by another person, including during sex.
  
  https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/health-problems/health-chief-issues-alert-as-highly-contagious-infection-spreads-in-victoria/news-story/24f48a797eb71ed4f61b2065712b1d24
  
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  July 12, 2023 8:31am
  - Maggie Pie
    
    Oh come on Maggz….you must have heard of “a shit eating grin”?
    
    😛
    
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    July 12, 2023 8:39am
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      We must move in different circles.
      
      24 0
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      July 12, 2023 8:44am
      - pdm
        
        Better join the same tennis club as Maggie Pie Maggy.
        
        Then again – maybe not because who knows what goes on there.
        
        14 1
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        July 12, 2023 8:50am
  - Stellaboxer
    
    Oh Maggy you’re so square.
    
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    July 12, 2023 8:53am
  - cmm
    
    They call it “rimming”.
    
    8 0
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    July 12, 2023 10:10am
    - Maggie Pie
      
      Good God…. and Healthline even has a website dedicated to it !
      
      https://healthline.com/health/healty-sex/what-is-rimming
      
      UNBELIEVEABLE 🙁
      
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      July 12, 2023 10:58am
      - Ghost
        
        That’s the usa health line.
        
        4 0
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        July 12, 2023 11:16am
      - Matt Long
        
        That also why the male gay community has a high rate of Hep A.
        
        5 1
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        July 12, 2023 12:48pm
      - NeverMindTheBollocks
        
        Your tax dollars at work
        
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        July 12, 2023 7:39pm
  - Burtland
    
    probably amongst the furries taking it a bit far
    
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    July 12, 2023 10:43am
- In Vino Veritas
  
  Yeech. Just what one needs to read early doors. I’m now feeling a little bilious…..
  
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  July 12, 2023 9:14am
- Loddenthinks
  
  That reminds me – whatever happened to Monkey Pox?
  
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  July 12, 2023 11:05am
- PeterB
  
  Eating Hershey’s chocolate after driving up the Hershey Highway.
  
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  July 12, 2023 11:48am
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Dark money.
Hillary and Joe will be all over this like flies on shit.

https://thepatriotchronicles.com/news-for-you/watchdog-group-blows-the-whistle-on-lib-billionaire-exploiting-political-loopholes/

There ya go Labour, contact this guy for free dark money.
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July 12, 2023 8:21am
- Loddenthinks
  
  Not sure what the issue is, but when I try that link it refuses to load. I can get to the Patriot chronicles home page, and see the article mentioned, and can open other articles, but no matter which way I try and access the mentioned article, I get a “This page isn’t working” message.
  
  I’m sure it’s just a coincidence that the article is disparaging towards the Clintons.
  
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  July 12, 2023 11:13am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    It works from my email. Maybe I deleted too much of that tracking shit.
    Otherwise it is America only, or banned in NZ.
    https://thepatriotchronicles.com/news-for-you/watchdog-group-blows-the-whistle-on-lib-billionaire-exploiting-political-loopholes/?utm_source=jeeng&utm_medium=email&jem=5596286a44ea9f593ce7c9d617cc601c&trigger=click
    
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    July 12, 2023 11:42am
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      Yep, this works.
      
      5 0
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      July 12, 2023 11:43am
    - Loddenthinks
      
      Yep, better – thanks
      
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      July 12, 2023 2:49pm
- zombie
  
  What makes you think they are not in bed with him already?
  
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  July 12, 2023 8:42pm
kevn

@Maggie…. Spark might have a response?
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July 12, 2023 8:21am
graham

Headline:

New Zealand telco giant joins with Young New Zealander of the year to ban New Zealanders – Speak Up for Women

http://www.voxy.co.nz/national/5/419202

Speak Up For Women is as surprised as most New Zealanders to discover that two of the major telco providers in New Zealand don’t want the majority of New Zealanders as customers.

Commenting on Spark and Vodafone’s derogatory references to “TERFs”, Speak Up For Women goes on to explain that the term “TERF” is a nasty slur widely used by activists such as Lal to try and shut down anyone who speaks up for science and sex-based rights.

If you think that trans-identifying people should be free from discrimination in the workplace, but you don’t want your 15 year old daughter competing against a male in football, congratulations, you’re a TERF.

If you think that trans-identifying people should be free from discrimination in housing but you don’t want your eight year old daughter sharing a changing room with an adult male, you’re a TERF.

And if you’re worried about hormone use in young people or if you don’t really think people can actually change sex, you’re a TERF too.

Speak Up For Women go on to point out that large corporates may find it convenient to jump on the band-wagon, rainbow-washing and Pride-monthing all year long and in so doing diverting attention from the less savoury aspects of their corporate behaviour. And, along with Lal, they will find it easier to gaslight the population into believing that “trans women” are literally women no different to your gran and your mum, if they can keep actual reasoned debate out of the public square.

The entire statement is well worth a read. It’s not long, but sums up beautifully some of the major issues around Spark and Shaneel Lal’s stance.
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July 12, 2023 8:23am
- pdm
  
  Does anyone have an email address for the hierarchy of Stuff. When I looked at their website I could not find email address for anything.
  
  Sent my complaint to email to info @ spark but non delivery.
  
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  July 12, 2023 8:53am
  - graham
    
    I’ve found a couple of options.
    
    Their website has a feedback page – https://www.spark.co.nz/help/contacts/support/feedback/
    
    You could try contacting the team dedicated to answering queries from current and prospective investors. Perhaps you might like to ask whether they want your capital invested with them, seeing as they apparently don’t want customers who don’t agree 100% with their rather strange viewpoints? investor-info@spark.co.nz
    
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    July 12, 2023 9:08am
  - Inandout
    
    pdm, if you have a My Spark then you can ask the robot at first and then a real human.
    
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    July 12, 2023 9:09am
    - Jack5
      
      Go Woke, go broke …
      
      Spark, NZ One (formerly Vodafone NZ), and 2Degrees, stand together after Spark “wholeheartedly”, on social media, backed a post of trans activist Shaneel Lal.
      
      Lal, on Threads, the new rival to Twitter, posted: “Can we agree that we won’t tolerate TERFs on Threads”.
      
      If the three cellphone companies stand shoulder to shoulder on a social matter, how can we trust them not to collude in pricing?
      
      Spark, NZ One, and 2Degrees are also collaborating in shutting down 3G services.
      
      Late next year they will shut out thousands of older cellphone users – those who use cheap 3G phones – unless they buy 4G phones.
      
      Folk on 3G fall into three types: those who can afford smart phones but either don’t want the clutter and noise, or otherwise just want the 3G “burner” as a more private second phone; children parents want to provide just basic coverage to; folk who can’t afford smart phones; and at present those in areas where there is no 4G coverage.
      
      Phasing out 3G will be a bonanza for both cellphone companies pushing people on to 4G or 5G phones, and no doubt for recruiting stillmore to smart phones, a more lucrative business for Spark, NZ One, and 2Degrees. The smart phone boom is slowing and may be near over, so a kick-along will be welcome.
      
      According to America’s Federal Communications Commission, as well as cellphones, services reliant on 3G in the United States include: “ … certain medical devices, tablets, smart watches, vehicle SOS services, home security systems, and other connected products may be using 3G network services. And don’t forget about devices that use cellular connectivity as a back-up when a wired internet connection goes down …”
      
      Heaps of advertising and hype will be coming from NZ’s three cellphone providers to backup the end of 3G and the push to 4G and 5G.
      
      Regardless, how far can we trust Spark, NZ One, and 2Degrees to be in true free-market competition rather than in collusion, when they stand together so closely on Woke issues?
      
      3G switch-off:
      
      https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/132515320/2degrees-to-join-one-nz-and-spark-in-switching-off-3g
      
      For those who missed this earlier, Spark and Lal:
      
      https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/news/business/spark-nz-stands-by-comment-backing-transgender-activist-shaneel-lal-in-face-of-social-media-boycott-threats/
      
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      July 12, 2023 10:06am
      - Burtland
        
        some power meter smart reading is on 3G
        
        4 0
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        July 12, 2023 10:48am
      - Ian Boag
        
        It’s not as if it should be a surprise. The upcoming switchoff was announced a couple of years ago. The bandwidth that gets released will be used for something else …
        
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        July 12, 2023 2:05pm
Tony Stuart

Chris Luxon spoke to more than 420 people in Nelson yesterday as his Back on Track tour continues. Thought the numbers are smaller, it’s starting to remind me a little of Rob Muldoon barnstorming up and down New Zealand in 1975, and Luxon certainly has all the momentum at the moment compared to Labour.

With 94 days to go until Election Day, Labour has a huge amount or work to do, and a shortage of MP’s who are willing to roll up their sleeves and do it.
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July 12, 2023 8:25am
- Paulus
  
  Perhaps Labour lack any competence to do any electioneerring and will leave it all to the little boy from the Hutt – not my constituancy so cannot vote for him anyway.
  
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  July 12, 2023 8:30am
  - zombie
    
    My constituency and I will not be voting for him.
    
    Lady speaking loudly in the supermarket the other weekend “Oh Good Morning Mr Prime Minister, nice to see you!” accompanied by a wide virtuous smile. Nearly tossing my cookies, I look up and there s this little grungy looking bloke scurrying away.
    
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    July 12, 2023 8:49pm
- godruelf
  
  Tony I attended the overflowing meeting with Chris Luxon in Taupo last week. Was a good positive meeting. However one worry was that looking at the audience if you threw out all the Gold Card Holders you could have held the meeting in the figurative phone box. On the positive side though it was a workday afternoon and you can be sure that most of us oldies are going to get off our arse and go and vote.
  
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  July 12, 2023 9:07am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    That doesn’t matter, those people all vote, snd younger Nat voters will have been at work, not sure what time it was, but many of these meetings are during the day, like Whangeri last week, I have seen night meetings that have had some young people, we all want change, but older people will go to meetings, young people not do much
    
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    July 12, 2023 10:26am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    This Gold Card Holder will get off his arse and vote in Upper Harbour.
    
    9 1
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    July 12, 2023 11:50am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Similar numbers at Stop Co-Governance meetings as the movement gains more traction. Us ‘oldies’ don’t want to see our lovely New Zealand destroyed after all we have done for a good life. Elite Tribal Rule is where we are headed.
    Tyranny! Our votes will also be influenced by this.
    
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    July 12, 2023 11:54am
- NK
  
  Karen Chhour from Act got 250 on a cold night at a rugby club building two weeks ago. Biggest attendance for a public meeting put on by Act I’ve seen since 1996. And it was “only” Karen Chhour.
  
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  July 12, 2023 11:06am
  - zombie
    
    Yeah but she is something of a wee gem and Nicole McKee also something of a dark horse!
    
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    July 12, 2023 8:53pm
- jon
  
  Tony, Rob Muldoon certainly got the turnouts to his meetings in 1975, one at Wiri 7000 gathered at a huge warehouse to hear him speak. Those were the days when the media were fearful of some of our politicans, whereas today its the other way round. I miss the mongrel in our politicans who now seem to just tiptoe round being nice and kind.
  
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  July 12, 2023 1:40pm
- gravedodger
  
  That will be why CHipkins had to make his captains call cloaked in desperation from Lithuania over CGT and wealth taxes will not proceed on his watch LoL
  
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  July 12, 2023 5:03pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Coke in the Whitehouse?
USSS has a fairly good idea who it belonged to?
Well the rest of the World knows. The fact that Joe and Hunter were at Camp David means nothing.

https://patriotbarbie.com/news/kayleigh-mcenany-drops-update-on-white-house-cocaine/
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July 12, 2023 8:26am
Maggie Pie

It all falls into place now…

Shaneels self-promotion attempt courtesy of SPARK, was nothing more than a sham. Little more than a feeble publicity stunt to coincide with the launch of his book and they fell for it.

https://twitter.com/shaneellall/status/1678646363054125056

Remember…. “Turn Ardern” 😀 😀 😀
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July 12, 2023 8:37am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  This person is basically a domestic terrorist.
  Organised the attack on Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull.
  Were the Police in cahoots with TV3 that day, to make news?
  
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  July 12, 2023 8:57am
- Gravelroad
  
  Conceal Shaneel.
  
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  July 12, 2023 9:02am
- Piniwi
  
  Lets hope Threads gets to be the home of “influencers” and queers which would be better for twitter.
  
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  July 12, 2023 11:25am
Steve Otto(North Shore)

On Sunday, President Trump received an immense show of support from law enforcement at Los Angeles International Airport.

https://patriotbarbie.com/news/president-trump-gets-huge-show-of-support-from-law-enforcement-at-los-angeles-international-airport-video/

Trump 2024.
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July 12, 2023 8:38am
Benedict Yu

Someone named Josie Pagani was just on the radio saying “There are so many things they can do to show they care.”
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July 12, 2023 8:39am
- Gravelroad
  
  That would be Josie the long time Labour Party activist and “carer and sharer”?
  How she gets away with this artfully disguised role as a “media commentator” when she is a well known Labour supporter is puzzling.
  Sure, she comes across as nice and balanced etc but, she is what she is – a cheerleader for the Labour Party.
  
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  July 12, 2023 9:21am
  - Loddenthinks
    
    Former Labour candidate for Rangitikei yonks back, I believe she was actually kicked out of the Labour party for wrong-think some years ago.
    
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    July 12, 2023 2:53pm
    - Jack5
      
      Josie is an intelligent Leftist.
      
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      July 12, 2023 3:24pm
- JimBobJoe
  
  As Gravelroad says Josie is old school Labour through and through, and not at the radical woke end. Currently is out of favour with the hierarchy in charge of Labour for the last decade.
  
  Josie stood as a Candidate for Labour in Rangitikei in 2011 and I think fell out of favour in the following couple of years
  
  Anything she says has to be seen through the ‘I’m and old school leftie talking now’ lens. This is reflected in her allegiance to the old Alliance Party which coalesced around Jim Andertons New Labour break away party back in the 1990’s
  
  To be fair to her she is relatively moderate in presentation but that is just probably a Fabian softly, softly method acting persona in my opinion.
  
  Scratch any committed socialist and the blood Red Communism comes seeping out pretty quickly – just look at all the authoritarian tendencies the COVID shambles drew out
  
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  July 12, 2023 9:55am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Old school Labour was finished years ago. Today Labour is far from the Labour of yesteryear. Now ut is full of commies and control freaks.
    
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    July 12, 2023 11:59am
- rouppe
  
  …to show they care
  
  Care about what? Staying in power? Promoting Communism (in Labour’s case) or Marxism (the Greens)?
  
  I don’t care whether government “care about me”. I want:
  * to see a GP within 18 hours of seeking an appointment
  * to be seen by ED within 6 hours in an actual emergency
  * to have elective surgery within 3 months
  * for my kids to be taught math, science and English to a level that makes them globally competitive
  * for criminals to fear law enforcement and jail
  * for energy (electricity and gas) to be plentiful and relatively cheap
  * for each individual to be able to retain as much of their income as reasonable, rather than trying to tax NZ into prosperity
  
  That sort of thing
  
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  July 12, 2023 10:39am
- Burtland
  
  https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2012/11/young_on_josie_pagani.html
  
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  July 12, 2023 10:56am
Biscuit

No comment on THE big story of the day?

Wellington – defending NPC Champion and Ranfurly Shield-holders – open their 2023 season with a Shield challenge from the might that is Horewhenua-Kapiti.

My whelm is overed!
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July 12, 2023 8:44am
- Prince
  
  As a Wgton supporter, I’m a little nervous.
  
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  July 12, 2023 8:58am
  - Biscuit
    
    At the risk of of one of DPF’s mods mutterng ‘NO PROMOTING GAMBLING!’, the NZ TAB will offer you $1.85 back for your $1 if Wellington’s opponents today lose by under 67.5 points…
    
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    July 12, 2023 9:32am
- greybeard
  
  If H-K win no doubt your flabber will be mightily gasted.
  ( Or should that be your gast will be mightily flabbered ? )
  
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  July 12, 2023 10:45am
  - Biscuit
    
    Good news, Wellingtonians.
    
    It was touch and go for a while. But then the referee blew his whistle to start the game.
    
    Wellington 68 (Sione Halalilo, Hugo Plummer, Asafo Aumua, Isi Saumaki (2), Louis Northcott, Joe Faleafaga, Sam Clarke, Kaliopasi Uluilakepa, TJ Clarke tries; Aidan Morgan 9 conversons)
    
    Horowhenua Kāpiti 7 (Malaki Masoe try; Connor Paki conversion)
    
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    July 12, 2023 5:19pm
The Redbaiter

Great to see Mr Luxon under pressure from attendees at his public meetings. The questioners are mainly Nat supporters unhappy with the party’s drift to the green progressive left, and this is the way to express that unhappiness.

Going to the meetings and applying pressure on Luxon and Willis makes them earn your vote. However, a warning. Given Luxon’s talent for glib insincerity, it would pay to be firm and clear, as given any crack in the reasoning, he will later slip through it like a shape shifting rat.

A good example a day ago. A questioner expressed discontent with the media/academia/Labour party push to force Maori language on NZers.

Luxon responded to the effect that “if you want this changed, vote for me”. Loud cheers from all. He then went on to say he had no real problem with Maori signs as long as they included English. Fair enough some might say.

Later, a video of the exchange was widely disseminated on social media, where the left naturally expressed outrage at Luxon’s “white supremacy and racism”.

Chris Bishop immediately rose to the occasion, saying it isn’t what Luxon really meant and of course that he wasn’t a racist. He posted a follow up video that “clarified” and predictably weakened Mr Luxon’s position.

Of course Luxon is learning Maori language himself. So is his wife. Nicola Willis too has already learnt it, and has posted videos encouraging people to “be brave” and learn it also. Do you think these people are really concerned with what the questioners are concerned with?

There is more though. As the bravest man in the country (Julian Batchelor) points out it is not really about signage or a largely invented language. It is about a comparatively small group of fake Maori activists attempting to establish and enrich themselves as the dominant and all- powerful cultural group in NZ.

National will not talk about this reality. Its why if you want change in NZ you must transfer your political allegiance from National to ACT. The Nat party is a cowardly rotting carcass propped up by the efforts of party propagandists who are doing their best to breath life into that carcass.

In the latest poll, Labour’s vote drops five points but National’s only rises one point. Luxon drops even further behind the hapless Hipkins in popularity. Its clear Luxon/Willis is an unlikeable leadership, and it should never have happened. More congenial candidates would be streets ahead of Labour by now.

Nevertheless, it is what it is, and sadly, ACT is the only real way out of this mess.

Keep going to Mr Luxon’s meetings though, and keep asking him those tetchy questions. If you must vote for the dead/ dying National party, don’t just give them your vote. Make them earn it.
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July 12, 2023 8:51am
- rockape
  
  So who would those “more congenial candidates be”?
  
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  July 12, 2023 9:39am
  - zombie
    
    Chris Penk and Shane?? Reti.
    
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    July 12, 2023 9:03pm
- Warren
  
  I’m trying to work out who has the greatest hate for the National Party, Simon who posts on this blog or Simon Wilson the dickhead from the Herald or you Redbaiter, because all seem to have a problem that suggest you need Labour as your Government.
  
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  July 12, 2023 9:55am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    Well he is baiting for red
    
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    July 12, 2023 10:33am
- Prince
  
  Can you show me where Act has said they will remove all Maori language signage or stop its use.
  No, didn’t think so. In fact, isn’t David Seymour one of those Maoris you despise so much ?
  He even tried, somewhat unsuccessfully, to speak it in Parliament recently.
  
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  July 12, 2023 10:33am
- NK
  
  Well written Red.
  
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  July 12, 2023 11:08am
- kiwi_chileno
  
  “…Luxon’s talent for glib insincerity.” Yes, hence the nickname, ‘Luxaflex’. He is “A sheep in sheep’s clothing” (as Churchill said of Clement Attlee).
  
  “The Nat party is a cowardly rotting carcass propped up by the efforts of party propagandists who are doing their best to breath life into that carcass.” Exactly. National is corrupted and unprincipled, part of the Blob. It’s the same pig, whether it’s wearing blue or red lipstick. National will just manage NZ’s decline better. And they will not stop the rise of the ethno-kleptocracy.
  
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  July 12, 2023 12:03pm
Libertarians are right

Stuff’s big story:
“Why Princess Kate didn’t wear a tiara for Joe Biden?”
Total fake news though – they didn’t include the real reason which was that she was concerned he might pole himself in the eyes when he tried to sniff her hair.
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July 12, 2023 9:11am
- Biscuit
  
  Did you notice the sly dig at The Donald in that story, LAR?
  
  Notwithstanding the fact that that story was about Prez Biden’s trip, they ran this:
  
  ‘The dress code for a state banquet is white tie. Men typically wear a black tailcoat and trousers along with medals of honour. Trump’s lapels were bare in 2019.’
  
  Trump, of course, had no immediate predecessor who handed out a Presidential Medal of Freedom to his Veep just before leaving office.
  
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  July 12, 2023 9:39am
- jon
  
  Talking Joe Biden, King Charles appeared to be having problems guiding the President through the lines of the military inspection at Windsor Castle. How he can possibly manage to complete his first term yet alone run again in 2024 is beyond belief.
  
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  July 12, 2023 1:59pm
BeaB

A bit messy? A total shambles, Chippy. Enjoy your junket. It may be your last on our money.
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July 12, 2023 9:13am
Maggie Pie

With ‘MATARIKI’ a happening thang on Friday, here’s how the Te-Maori-Pardy’s newest candidate summarises our two major cultures…..

“The pakeha concept is often about getting drunk and releasing fireworks at midnight, whereas the Maori concept, is about releasing in a spiritual and healing and healthy way”

– Hana Rawiti

LOL!!
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July 12, 2023 9:33am
- Prince
  
  Those Cis White Males again !
  
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  July 12, 2023 10:28am
  - kowtow
    
    Brings to mind the high profile trial on at the moment , the one involving alleged torture .
    
    Where’s Marama when you need her .
    
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    July 12, 2023 12:05pm
    - Loddenthinks
      
      Trust me on this one, kowtow. There has never been a time and there will never be a time when we need Marama.
      
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      July 12, 2023 3:05pm
- Ehlana
  
  Bit silly really. Maori didn’t use what they didn’t have, but I’m pretty sure they use it now.
  
  And forms of smoke and fire are used in many cultures to signify light overcoming darkness, to keep evil spirits away, or for cleansing.
  
  If s/he wants to participate in spiritual release in a healthy and healing way, I suggest attending a local church, synagogue or temple to discover the ways non-Maori have been doing that for centuries.
  
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  July 12, 2023 11:33am
- Matt Long
  
  Is cannabis abuse cultural appropriation?
  Should Maori be paying royalties to some group for this,valong with all the other stuff like written language?
  No, of course not knowledge should be freely shared between cultures so that people can pick the best parts and improve their lot.
  
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  July 12, 2023 1:06pm
- Loddenthinks
  
  Predictable casual racism by the most racist party since ol’ Billy-Bob got his spare sheets out and set fire to a cross.
  
  Like most racists, she’s also stupid and completely wrong. Shall we see what Alcohol Healthwatch (Whakatupato Waipiro) says about alcohol use in Outer-roa?
  
  “Māori are approximately twice as likely as non-Māori to have alcohol use disorders even after taking into account age, sex, education and income. Māori men have a death rate from alcohol which is more than twice that of non-Māori.”
  
  Tell us all about that Maori concept again, Hana, we’re all ears.
  
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  July 12, 2023 3:04pm
greybeard

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/explained/300059151/what-is-matariki-the-mori-new-year

“Before the turn of this century, few people knew of Matariki or understood its significance. “

Let’s be honest: I would suggest that before about 2 years ago hardly anyone in NZ had ever heard of “Matariki”.

It seems to be just another thing imagined from the maori cultural past in order to gain some sort of social and financial advantage.

Maybe they re-invented this event to counter the extraordinary popularity of Diwali.

And boy ! has the MSM really taken it on board !
The amount of advertising on NewstalkZB is astounding: wonder who is paying for it ?
Never mind – we have a new national holiday !
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July 12, 2023 10:05am
- Prince
  
  The Govt/Taxpayer is paying. ANd full whack too – no discounts.
  And we wonder why editors/owners favour Labour/Greens ?
  
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  July 12, 2023 10:27am
- Burtland
  
  pretty sure pre-colonial maori didnt have public holidays
  
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  July 12, 2023 11:01am
- Yabster
  
  four square, Bunnings all into it- laughable- funny how all the other public holidays don’t get promoted unless it is to do with a sale- I think we shld all get pissed, and let off fireworks on Friday… lol
  
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  July 12, 2023 11:12am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Before 2 years ago, people knew of ‘Subaru.’
  
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  July 12, 2023 12:08pm
  - Matt Long
    
    Pleiades
    
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    July 12, 2023 1:17pm
Tauhei Notts

I am becoming rather concerned about the upcoming World Women’s Football Cup. Ticket sales look awful etc etc.
Last month I had three weeks in England. Their sporting media are totally mad about football. The period between the FA Cup Final and early August when play starts again is a period when they scrape the bottom of the barrell looking for stories about football. I saw nothing about the upcoming Women’s World Cup, even though England are second favourites.
I get the impression we are being fed a lot of rubbish about the importance of this upcoming event. Others will not write in that way as it would make them a misogynistic old bigot.
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July 12, 2023 10:10am
- ClanMcleod
  
  It’s a nice event, but being overhyped to ludicrous proportions. It is NOT a major sporting event.
  
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  July 12, 2023 10:18am
  - Drone
    
    @ClanMcleod football aka soccer is a major sporting event in Europe and South America and pretty much all countries except NZ and Australia where historically rugby or thugby as it’s known has predominated for many reasons I’m sure. Women’s soccer is fairly new and growing in many countries it requires skill and not brawn unlike thugby which requires an excess of brawn..
    
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    July 12, 2023 10:29am
    - ClanMcleod
      
      Drone – I don’t really care for the history lesson. I was born in Europe, I know the history of the game. I’m not a Kiwi deriding football just for fun.
      
      I’ve watched football for 60 years. I know a good game when I see one. The woman’s games are awful. Truly awful.
      My point is that they are not major events and this world cup is being ridiculously and desperately overhyped. The entertainment value might improve over time. If it does I might watch it.
      
      PS – I’m not a big rugby fan. I watch it occasionally. Same with many sports. Football is what I watch most of. Currently the women’s level isn’t good enough to warrant the hype being given to it.
      
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      July 12, 2023 10:43am
      - kowtow
        
        Like the old Benny Hill skit , the only good part of wimmin’s football was after the final whistle and they exchanged jersies .
        
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        July 12, 2023 12:12pm
      - Loddenthinks
        
        @ kowtow: Not the Nine O’clock News actually, and hilarious.
        
        Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5CH5eHNpTc
        
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        July 12, 2023 3:09pm
      - kowtow
        
        LT
        
        Ooh er .
        
        I’d a sworn it was a Benny skit I was thinking of . Been a very long time.
        
        Funny the tricks a mammory can play on you.
        
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        July 12, 2023 5:56pm
      - Loddenthinks
        
        KT – I see what you did there
        
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        July 12, 2023 9:59pm
    - JimBobJoe
      
      Drone,
      
      Womans football is a very low standard. This has been demonstrated over and over – Major female national sides like Australia and the US get hammered when playing teenage boys.
      
      The keeping is simply dreadful, the speed of the game is tepid compared with mens football at the same level….. basically its an inferior product.
      
      I am all for anyone competing in sport. All for people aiming for professional or national rep level for themselves…
      
      But the media making a fetish out of how wonderful female sport is just bs. Stand any sport requiring speed, power and skill in a male versus female comparison and the mens flavour is always just better entertainment as it is more competitive and dynamic…
      
      And I love football as much as I love rugby, but I wont be spending time or money on the Womens World Cup…. the average match will be dreadful and about 4 or 5 levels below the A League level which is not great…
      
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      July 12, 2023 11:05am
    - Yabster
      
      Drone on mate- no need to run down Rugby – think the Black ferns wouldn’t agree with your dumb comments..
      
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      July 12, 2023 11:14am
  - Beach Haven expat
    
    Without doing dow my homeland, the fact it is being held in New Zealand indicates it is not a major sporting event on the world stage. Cricket and rugby WCs are different due to NZ’s history and the spread of each sport.
    But there’s no way FIFA would be letting NZ host a tournament if it was big enough to be a major money spinner through TV rights and sponsorship
    
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    July 12, 2023 11:35am
- rouppe
  
  The two best teams – Netherlands and USA – are playing in Wellington. I have relatives coming over for the tournament who will be in Wellington for that game.
  
  But it’s at 1pm. It will cost me hundreds of dollars of income to attend and that puts the ticket price way out of reach.
  
  I have booked tickets for round of 16 and quarter final though
  
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  July 12, 2023 10:47am
  - Biscuit
    
    rouppe, that game – Netherlands vs USA – is the stand-out match of the Round Robin and, unsurprisingly, is on here at a time that equates to Prime Time in the the Eastern US.
    
    Will be there!
    
    Hope your rellies enjoy Wellington,,,
    
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    July 12, 2023 11:45am
    - rouppe
      
      Yes. I sat thinking whether I wanted to forego that income for the game and ultimately decided no.
      
      The quarter final match will likely involve usa, and is also a working day afternoon, so I’ll have to settle for that.
      
      I’m going out for dinner with those relatives that night, I’ll spend the extra money on some good wine then 🙂
      
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      July 12, 2023 12:21pm
      - Biscuit
        
        You’re a saint, rouppe.
        
        The game finishes at about 2.45 pm and I’ll be available to join your dinnering/wining should one of the rellies not feel up to things…
        
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        July 12, 2023 1:54pm
  - krazykiwi
    
    Speaking of The Netherlands, they have seriously confused their nether regions: The Absurd Spectacle of Miss Netherlands Being Won by a Man Shows That Women Are Being Erased
    
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    July 12, 2023 11:55am
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      Does he play football or rugby?
      
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      July 12, 2023 12:14pm
      - krazykiwi
        
        No. Problems with his tackle.
        
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        July 12, 2023 12:17pm
    - rouppe
      
      I saw that. I have no words.
      
      Not sure I’ll bring it up at dinner…
      
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      July 12, 2023 12:22pm
- JimBobJoe
  
  You are right Tauhei. Womens football is awful to watch.
  
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  July 12, 2023 11:06am
ClanMcleod

Are the Bidens even more corrupt than the Clintons?
What is it with leftie politicians?

Not Weaponized? Biden DOJ Indicts Whistleblower Prepared To Testify Against Biden Family

Dr. Gal Luft, the “missing witness” from the Biden corruption investigation, told the NY Post last week that he was arrested in Cyprus to stop him from testifying in front of the House Oversight Committee that the Biden family received payments from individuals linked to Chinese military intelligence, and that they had an FBI mole who shared classified information with the Biden benefactors from the China-controlled energy company CEFC.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/not-weaponozed-biden-doj-indicts-whistleblower-prepared-testify-against-1st-family

Hunter should be in jail for the next ten years. Joe should be in a retirement village and someone needs to give him some Midazolam same as was given to thousands of elderly people in retirement homes in the UK during covid.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8514081/Number-prescriptions-drug-midazolam-doubled-height-pandemic.html
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July 12, 2023 10:12am
- mawm
  
  Nobody is more corrupt than either Clinton.
  
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  July 12, 2023 5:06pm
Maggie Pie

Must admit I was just a wee bit suspicious yesterday when ZB had some crim-hugging retard filling in for Kerry Woodham.

Anyway, she’s come out this morning and informed listeners she was NOT the well known ‘female-radio-personality’ who appeared in the North Shore Court on Tuesday convicted of drink driving and granted permanent name suppression.

So it wasn’t her afterall.
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July 12, 2023 10:27am
- Tauhei Notts
  
  Hey, Moggie Pie;
  It’s KERRE, not Kerry.
  
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  July 12, 2023 10:36am
  - Matt Long
    
    Can Maggy help it if Kerry spells it wrong?
    
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    July 12, 2023 1:27pm
    - Maggie Pie
      
      And I know stuff.
      
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      July 12, 2023 2:08pm
- NZer In Exile
  
  The plot thickens.
  
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  July 12, 2023 6:59pm
Surely Knott

The language used to describe me in modern NZ society by Media, govt etc are labels that come from others and defines me in the negative.
Pakeha. Terf. Gender-Critical, Cis

“gender-critical” is even in used in law in the UK/europe to describe “A belief that biological sex is immutable ”

Why is it called gender- critical? Yet trans beliefs are not called biology-critical?

If the Europe law upholds that you can be gender critical but that you cannot be absolutist in not using pronouns in the workplace as it disrespects others. Then can I require that my colleagues don’t call me Cis, or Pakeha or Gender- Critical.

And what is Gender Critical. What is the definition of Gender.

OXFORD Dictionary: Gender:

3. ” a. gen. Males or females viewed as a group; = sex n.1 1. Also: the property or fact of belonging to one of these groups.”

4. ” the male sex or the female sex, especially when considered with reference to social and cultural differences rather than biological ones, or one of a range of other identities that do not correspond to established ideas of male and female.”

I agree with 3. I am confused by 4.

Definition 4. Still is based in sex differences. Then it says considered with reference to social differences.

They could have made it less circular definition by saying gender is the social and cultural differences displayed by the female sex.

But it’s not clear from the definition, what someone’s gender is if a male sex person displays social cultural references of the female sex – does that make them a woman. That’s the question. And the definition doesn’t answer that at all

https://www.globalcompliancenews.com/2021/07/23/united-kingdom-gender-critical-belief-was-a-protected-belief-12072021/
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July 12, 2023 10:30am
- mandk
  
  Biological sex is, beyond dispute, immutable.
  
  It is determined by the chromosomes a person has (XY=male, XX=female), and there has never been a case in the whole of human history of a person changing from one to the other.
  
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  July 12, 2023 11:08am
  - Surely Knott
    
    Agree. And your scientific observation is now described in law as a “gender critical belief.”
    
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    July 12, 2023 11:39am
- Ehlana
  
  I always thought we started using “gender” because we prudishly didn’t want to say “sex”.
  
  Sex = which organs of sexual reproduction you have makes sense.
  
  Gender = social ideas attached to sex also makes sense, because it allows acknowledgement of things which are real, but actually not biological – for example, the idea that girls should learn to cook and sew, but not boys, even though biologically, both male and female humans need food and clothing.
  
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  July 12, 2023 11:43am
- Taieri
  
  A belief that biological sex is immutable
  ———–
  
  A “belief”?
  It’s not a “belief”, it’s a fact!
  
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  July 12, 2023 6:29pm
Chris Nisbet

It’d be great if somebody told David Seymour that I’m not voting ACT because of its climate change policies, and when they go on about how they’d do things better (as in their latest email to me), it just makes me disappointed that they’re the best we’ve got.
BTW…
There is no climate crisis.
Warmer is better.
CO2 is not pollution.
FF keep us warm and productive.
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July 12, 2023 10:41am
- Yabster
  
  if as you say they are best we have are you intending to not vote? If so your opening the door for Liebore..
  
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  July 12, 2023 11:17am
  - Chris Nisbet
    
    They’ll get my vote – I just hope they realise it’s not because of their climate policies.
    
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    July 12, 2023 11:51am
- Cassandra
  
  So who are you wasting your vote on?
  
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  July 12, 2023 11:35am
  - mawm
    
    Unfortunately it has come to that.
    
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    July 12, 2023 5:09pm
I remember when

US Supreme Court rules against affirmative action programmes in colleges: Washington (AP) 29/6/23.
The Supreme Court srtuck down affirmative action programmes in college admissions, declaring race cannot be a factor and forcing institutions of higher education to look for new ways to achieve diverse student bodies.

Why do advocates of race based policies not realise that policies are of themselves racist.
While the intention may be well-meaning, it is hard to see how it does not suggest the recipients can’t qualify without outside assistance.
It also suggests that there has been a failure to provide the help, when it was most needed, at an earlier date.
The Supreme Court would seem to have made the right ruling on this one.
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July 12, 2023 10:42am
I remember when

US Bureau of Labour Statistics:
Increases in June US employment figures.
Total jobs added in June in US 209,000.
This continues a consistent trend.
However, much of the up trend has been in –
Education and Health 73,000
Government 60,000
Construction 23,000
So up to 75% of the increase suggests possible Democrat spending.
Government has added an average of 63,000 per month thus far in 2023.
More than twice average of 23,000 in 2022.
Government employment is 161,000 below its pre-pandemic level of February, 2020 (0.7%).

Remind you of another Government?
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July 12, 2023 10:54am
- mawm
  
  Like every monthly set of figures for increase in employment in the Biden US those will quietly be downgraded in a couple of months.
  
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  July 12, 2023 5:11pm
Swifty

This lady wants consequences for her being, she asserts unfairly, labelled a shoplifter and racially profiled.

https://i.stuff.co.nz/bay-of-plenty/300925346/woman-falsely-accused-of-theft-wants-penalties-for-racial-profiling

Let’s start with criminal prosecutions for people who label other New Zealanders ‘racists’ without a shred of evidence, and just because they don’t get their way over something, or because they want to shut down a debate.

Yep, bang ‘em away for a good lag in the big house. The numbers of people hurling around ‘racist’ at the drop of a hat just to get their way will drop overnight. We might even return to a more civilised and reasoned debate in this country.
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July 12, 2023 11:07am
Maggie Pie

Latest update on the BBC saga…. a Freudian slip?

https://twitter.com/seanhc93/status/1678520484042792960
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July 12, 2023 11:20am
Littletramp

Finally some comment on the latest poll is appearing from the main media outlets. Laser focus, a bit messy, Luxon this, the Greens that blah, blah.
They choose to ignore the elephant in the room, and the reason you won’t see many Labour candidates daring to front up in the streets campaigning this year.
These bastards (Labour party) will be made to pay for what they did to the country through the covid years – we have not forgotten.
Businesses closed, funerals missed, education blocked, told to wear cloth masks or die, hospitals a mess, vaccine mandates, speech censored, taxpayer money dished out like confetti etc, etc.
This election is the first opportunity for the hoi polloi to show what they think of the ignorance and arrogance shown during the covid madness.
That is before we decide if we want to continue advancing apartheid in this country.
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July 12, 2023 11:28am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Funerals were a sore point. My ex-wife’s sister died with covid in a rest home (55) In reality she died from an invasive cancet that she had for 15 years.
  The thing was, the immediate family were not even allowed on the property of the Chapel and Crematorium.
  They never saw her. Found dead at 8am, at the Crematorium by 10am, then gone.
  
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  July 12, 2023 12:31pm
  - cmm
    
    Even if they did extend quality of life by a few days on average, it completely destroyed quality of life.
    
    Here is that basic deal on the table for a person in a terminal condition at an end-of life care place like Rosewood (or whatever it is called) that had 10 “covid deaths” in the first wave:
    
    If you’re there, then you likely have 6 months or less to live. You can:
    A) Lock down for the rest of your life:
    * You cannot see anyone.
    * You cannot go on outings.
    * You will die alone.
    * No funerals.
    * Your kids and grandkids businesses, jobs and education will be destroyed. They will be endebted for generations.
    * But on the plus side, we might keep you alive for a few days more to expereience this prison-like existence.
    
    B) Carry on as normal:
    * You can continue to see friends and family.
    * You can still have outings to the park.
    * When you die they can be with you.
    * People can come to your funeral.
    * Your kids and grandkids can keep their jobs, and won’t have debt piled on them.
    * But your life might be a few days shorter.
    
    I’ll bet few really got the opportunity to think this through.
    
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    July 12, 2023 5:18pm
Maggie Pie

AVOID THEM LIKE THE PLAGUE….

Look at ‘neck-tattoo’ on this scum to understand where I’m comimg from.

https://twitter.com/nzherald/status/1678898048116613120
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July 12, 2023 11:45am
- Blog-aholic
  
  No sympathy. Like that he gave the poor deaf girl…..
  
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  July 12, 2023 11:56am
goNZ1

panic in the Labour camp – “I’m confirming today that under a Government I lead there will be no wealth or capital gains tax after the election. End of story,” Hipkins said.
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July 12, 2023 12:21pm
- Nickc2
  
  Their inner circle can roll Hipkins just as they rolled Ardern.
  
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  July 12, 2023 12:35pm
  - mandk
    
    But who would they put in his place?
    
    Hipkins is a bit of a fake, like Ardern was, but he is much more presentable than Robertson, Woods, Little and Parker. All the other Labour front benchers are lightweights or dimwits.
    
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    July 12, 2023 1:23pm
    - Nickc2
      
      I’m picking it’ll be after the election and they are in opposition when Kieran McAnulty will put his hand up and probably get the nod with Willie Jackson as his deputy.
      
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      July 12, 2023 2:30pm
      - NeverMindTheBollocks
        
        Excellent choices
        
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        July 12, 2023 7:53pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  So where will he get the money to pay NZ’s massive debt?
  
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  July 12, 2023 12:36pm
  - Nickc2
    
    He didn’t go to China for a feed of Chow Mein.
    
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    July 12, 2023 12:39pm
    - fightingtemeraire
      
      Chow Mein was invented in California.
      
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      July 12, 2023 1:23pm
      - Nickc2
        
        I refude that:
        Chaomian was introduced from China into the United States by Chinese immigrants who came from the Guangdong provinces in the California 1849 Gold Rush era …
        Place of origin: China Region or state: Guangdong
        Main ingredients: Noodles, ‎soy sauce‎, ‎vegeta…‎
        Course: Main course.
        Courtesy Google
        
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        July 12, 2023 2:12pm
- Chris Nisbet
  
  Were his lips moving when he said that?
  
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  July 12, 2023 5:24pm
JimBobJoe

Marama Davidson avoiding calling violence against women unacceptable….

Avoids reference to albert Park

Jack Tame is a soft touch for left wing politicians. Do the job Jack and ask some hard, direct questions and dont stop until a clear answer is given..

https://twitter.com/NZQandA/status/1678555983000264704
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July 12, 2023 12:32pm
- Blog-aholic
  
  Tame like his name.
  
  14 0
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  July 12, 2023 12:46pm
Tony Stuart

Hipkins’ decision to rule out a Wealth Tax or CGT (for now) hasn’t gone down well with Newshub; Jenna Lynch has fair ripped into Hipkins:

ANALYSIS: It’s official. Labour is a scaredy cat.
So paralysed by fear of tax attacks it is unwilling to stick to its morals and address what the Prime Minister has acknowledged is an unfair tax system.

The Government was secretly working on a major tax switch that would have seen most Kiwis get a $20 tax cut – paid for by a wealth tax.

Budget policy documents reveal the Government had officials draft up a wealth tax to pay for a tax-free threshold of $10,000. A Robin Hood tax switch.

The wealth tax was to be paid by people who held a net wealth of $5 million. It was to be set at 1.5 percent paid on wealth over that threshold.

It was individualised so couples could have up to $10 million in assets before it kicked in. And it was designed to exclude the sacrosanct Kiwi birthright of a family home.

The Government was considering it right up until about a month before May’s Budget – but chickened out. And on Wednesday the Prime Minister, mirroring the Jacinda Ardern pledge, ruled out taxing wealth and capital gains (CGT) forever under his leadership.

“I’m confirming today that under a Government I lead there will be no wealth or capital gains tax after the election. End of story,” Hipkins said.

Hipkins confirmed he made the captain’s call to can it.

“While work was already underway on a potential wealth tax and CGT as part of a tax switch in the Budget I ultimately made the call not to proceed with it. We simply didn’t have a mandate to implement those tax changes.”

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2023/07/jenna-lynch-chris-hipkins-cowardly-robin-hood-tax-backdown-what-does-labour-stand-for.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Labour has had an absolute mandate to pass any legislation it wants since the 2020 election. If it doesn’t have a mandate now, it might never, hence Lynch’s trenchant criticism of Hipkins bottling it.

This does explain though why Grant Robertson has been so surly and monosyllabic since the Budget was delivered; he got rolled by Hipkins and his backers, Parker and his faction. It’s going to be hard now for Labour to present itself as a unified force going forward.

I hope Chris Hipkins enjoys a few drinks at the upstairs bar on the Emirates A380 flying back to New Zealand. He is in for one heck of a roasting when he gets home!
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July 12, 2023 1:03pm
- Warren
  
  Yes and he deserves roasting but the hypocritical reply from Jenna Lynch calling Hipkins a coward after all she, Tova O’Brien, Jessica Mutch McKay and many others have done to enhance first Jacinda Ardern our Former Prime Minister and Chris Hipkins our present
  Prime Minister and they are rewarded with loyalty and favoritism from both Newshub and One News , oh how times change when they don’t get their own way.
  Chris Hipkins our Prime Minister has surely dented his reputation by ruining out a Capital Gains Tax while he remains Prime Minister and the medla are in tears about it calling Hipkins a coward but forget to remember they have had a good run in getting Prime Minister’s to do what best for them and not the Country and maybe they have reason to be upset because the polls have turned and the lucky rabbit on Hipkins shoulder has given way to panic from about of their depth Labour Party and media.
  https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2023/07/jenna-lynch-chris-hipkins-cowardly-robin-hood-tax-backdown-what-does-labour-stand-for.html
  Now you might understand why the media is supposed to be neutral in Elections.
  
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  July 12, 2023 1:59pm
  - Dougal10
    
    Ardern was/is a green in the wrong party , all the fan girls that supported her are the same . What chippy has said is the greens will have no input into major tax policy in a government that I run. This will lead the fan girls into loosing their minds and they will attack him.
    
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    July 12, 2023 6:20pm
- Libertarians are right
  
  Labour campaigned on doing nothing at the last election. Their sole mandate was to do nothing other than Covid stuff. Everything else (which they started immediately after the election) was without any mandate whatsoever.
  
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  July 12, 2023 2:03pm
Bridgenag

GCHQ, JTRIG, Five Eyes and COVIDcrisis PsyWar
How Covert Agents Infiltrate the Internet to Manipulate, Deceive, and Destroy Reputations

https://open.substack.com/pub/rwmalonemd/p/gchq-jtrig-five-eyes-and-covidcrisis?r=1aj1bv&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
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July 12, 2023 1:04pm
I remember when

In case you wondered what happened to it.

“Good News Florida. The Giant Seaweed Blob Has Shrunk.”: NY Times.
The blob, known as the Atlantic Sargasson belt, in the Gulf of Mexico, shrank by 75% last month.
As quickly as it arrived, it began to disappear.
Scientists expected it to wane eventually but not so fast, or by so much.
Sargasson has a natural life cycle and scientists expect it to decrease in the Gulf around September.
Scientists don’t know why the decline was so rapid.
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July 12, 2023 1:09pm
- fightingtemeraire
  
  Sargasso Sea is in the Atlantic NOT the caribbean.
  
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  July 12, 2023 2:33pm
- Chris Nisbet
  
  Are you sure that ‘Climate Change!!’ wasn’t blamed?
  
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  July 12, 2023 5:20pm
mandk

@ Tony Stuart

“Labour has had an absolute mandate to pass any legislation it wants since the 2020 election.”

Power or mandate?

I don’t think there was much policy debate before the 2020 election. And Labour’s Manifesto didn’t appear until a few day before the election, by which time more than half of the people who voted had already done so.

2020 was purely a COVID election, based on fear and lies.
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July 12, 2023 1:16pm
goNZ1

stand by for 2pm OCR – will Orr help Chippy with a surprise rate cut ??
5 0
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July 12, 2023 1:57pm
- Warren
  
  More pain for those with large mortgages.
  OCR decision: No respite for mortgage holders – rates to stay high for foreseeable future.
  https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/ocr-decision-looms-will-mortgage-holders-get-relief-or-is-inflation-too-stubborn/62WA7LJDS5DSVBDHGTVWCQF7Q4/
  Wow I bet this is not what Grant Robertson and Chris Hipkins wanted to hear, another nail in the coffin for this tired and out of there depth Labour Party.
  
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  July 12, 2023 3:31pm
Maggie Pie

“Do you, Dame Jacinda Kate Laurel Ardern, take this man………”

Sitting here with my Maguro Sushi and thinking, it’s been quite a while since the last lot of wedding invites went out.

Just saying.
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July 12, 2023 2:21pm
- cmm
  
  Dame The Honourable Doctor …. to the likes of us.
  
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  July 12, 2023 5:08pm
  - mawm
    
    Honorary? Nothing is honourable with her.
    
    5 3
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    July 12, 2023 5:18pm
thirteenstars

Latest Curia poll has a hung parliament:

https://www.taxpayers.org.nz/taxpayer_update_230712

National with most seats should get first go at forming a coalition but since it can’t work with Greens or Maori the parliament would remain hung. Labour has the same problem.

New election.
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July 12, 2023 5:10pm
- greybeard
  
  Like the previous poll I think the supposed support for NZF and Maori parties are far too optimistic.
  Maybe these polls should list the people taking part, their age, location, previous voting history, dependence or otherwise on the State, etc so that some REAL evaluations can take place.
  
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  July 12, 2023 5:51pm
- rockape
  
  I normally have a bit of faith in polls, especially Curia. However I think something that can’t be factored in is as follows. Disillusion of the voters. Why ,because we have seen so many broken promises so many dumped policies so many dumped ministers in the last 6 years . This will obviously affect voters view during a poll, many will nominate a minor party on a single issue or a view they agree with. Not sure this will follow through to the election. How much it matters is impossible to calculate however I think Labour on their track record of failure will be influenced more than National. And the unproven Luxon. I guess time will tell and any change over the next three months of polling.
  
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  July 12, 2023 6:01pm
  - Benedict Yu
    
    All I know is that if National-ACT cannot win this election it is game over. I am not even kidding. Come 2026 the joint will be a smoking ruin.
    
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    July 12, 2023 6:55pm
- Cinematic
  
  Not buying TPM being anywhere near that number.
  
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  July 12, 2023 6:15pm
- Dougal10
  
  I get the feeling that because they are known to poll for the nats , their publicly released polls show an even balance of power to both sides which stops direct attacks on the nats because of the association . If they showed the 6 point margin and a clear win imagine how tvnz and news hub would report it.
  
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  July 12, 2023 6:25pm
Maggie Pie

THOSE BLOODY TERFS!!

look wot youve started….

https://twitter.com/shaneellall/status/1678993185622851585
10 1
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July 12, 2023 5:11pm
- Ghost
  
  What’s the bet Lal did it to try and create media attention.
  
  $20 for a kindle book, hahahahahaha, dream on
  
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  July 12, 2023 5:27pm
- graham
  
  “… TERFs have started Conceal Shaneel. Anti-trans groups are going to bookshops and hiding my books so people cannot find them and buy them.”
  
  Quite apart from the use of what I consider to be one of the most obnoxious, nasty terms that exists today – TERF – I would also question how does Lal know it’s TERFs? Or ‘anti-trans’ groups?
  
  Far more likely it’s just people who have nothing against trans people particularly, but have had a gutsful of this self-centred, narcissistic creep, and have chosen to quietly show their frustration in a peaceful, non-confrontational way. Unlike the violent anti-women mob that Lal goaded into a vicious attack on a woman who dared to commit the heinous crime of … speaking her mind.
  
  “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.“. I wonder if Lal or any of his/their/whatever cronies have any familiarity with that saying? They probably consider it hate speech …
  
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  July 12, 2023 6:52pm
rouppe

Woman complains she was racially profiled.

I’ve no doubt it was an embarrassing and humiliating experience. But where is there any evidence of racial profiling?
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July 12, 2023 5:22pm
- greybeard
  
  None whatsoever, but it is easy to use that as an excuse.
  And get a bit of exposure on the media outlets.
  I want to know: have they found the person who stole the jewellery ?
  
  6 0
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  July 12, 2023 5:47pm
- Benedict Yu
  
  If a shop assistant falsely accused me of stealing, I would say, “Nope, but search me. Fill your boots.” And then tell the story to my mates and have a great laugh. 🙂
  
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  July 12, 2023 6:49pm
  - artemisia
    
    Family member leaving the supermarket was suddenly surrounded by staff, asked to turn out pockets. Nada. Staff quickly faded away.
    
    Family switched supermarkets, never went back. Family of 6 (now 7).
    
    5 0
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    July 12, 2023 6:56pm
Scooter

Just heard the interview Mike Hosking had with some woman about the Te Huia train debacle. Mike asked if they will ever make a profit and her reply was “I don’t think any PT around the world makes money”. A quick Google search on Italy,’s Trenitalia, which partly govt owned, shows this…

“Operating profit of 202 million euro (+5% or +9 million euro compared to 2021).”

Probable the same for most train company’s in Europe.
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July 12, 2023 6:32pm
- Benedict Yu
  
  Yep. France:
  
  https://www.lemonde.fr/en/economy/article/2023/02/24/sncf-reports-record-profit-in-2022-driven-by-recovery-in-tgv-traffic-and-its-subsidiary-geodis_6017107_19.html#:~:text=The%20state%2Downed%20company's%20net,and%20reduce%20the%20company's%20debt.
  
  But those countries are made for trains. Plus in France they are all electric powered by nuclear power.
  
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  July 12, 2023 6:43pm
  - Scooter
    
    NZ is similar to Italy in size and geography and prone to earthquakes like Italy but population wise no comparison and that’s why NZ can’t have a decent profitable public transport system.
    
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    July 12, 2023 6:55pm
- Benedict Yu
  
  But the elephant in the train is …. the damn thing runs on diesel.
  
  When it started I posted on here some back of the envelope calculations of the emissions per passenger at various passenger loads. It was only less than a bus if the train was packed every day.
  
  This is why I worry so much about “Maori science”. These zealots have got a free pass from engaging in data and reasoning.
  
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  July 12, 2023 6:52pm
Benedict Yu

Does anyone know the identity of this guy?

http://norightturn.blogspot.com/

He seems to be New Zealand’s head honcho communist. He says we need a wealth tax. To fix everything. Because New Zealand has been “run down by decades of austerity” 🙂

He talks about taxing the “ultra rich”. There are not many such folk in New Zealand. But those who are ultra rich have choices. They can catch a flight out for good and take their wealth with them.
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July 12, 2023 6:33pm
- NZer In Exile
  
  I wonder if anyone has seriously “war-gamed’ the great exodus that will happen if the clown show remains after October. As in who will remain and what will their future will likely look like.
  
  7 1
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  July 12, 2023 7:02pm
- All_on_Red
  
  Malcolm Harbrow
  He is well known.
  Read some of his climate views. The guy is extreme.
  
  6 1
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  July 12, 2023 7:03pm
Scooter

The Te Huia train problem could just be an excuse so that a few months down the track😏 they can cancel the service entirely and blame the problem for lack of passengers.
7 0
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July 12, 2023 7:24pm
Ghost

The poster of a video National leader Christopher Luxon described as “another Labour hit job”, says she went along to the public meeting “absolutely in good faith” and is not aligned to Labour.

A short video was posted on Twitter from a public meeting held in Nelson on Tuesday, where education emerged as a key concern while some of the biggest applause came in response to a question about reversing the te reo Māori names of government departments.

Article

Did she really go in good faith? Reading her writings I very much doubt that.

Her are the articles she writes. KATE DAVIS The Daily Blog
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July 12, 2023 8:46pm
- Prince
  
  But she edited her video to change Luxon’s answers. She either inserted an answer to another, different question, or she would cut out the start of an answer.
  It’s an obvious hit-job, but being pro-Labour she thinks she is doing God’s work, so lies about it.
  If the roles were reversed, the media would be hounding her, and National, demanding apologies and more.
  
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  July 12, 2023 9:41pm

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