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August 28, 2024 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 28 August 2024

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artemisia

Ministry of Education staff member raises fears curriculum writing teams not appointed on merit

… the staff member warned it was “quite difficult to find justification for some of the writers we’re proposing to hire”…. They were so worried about the process for appointing people that they asked to step aside from the job.

With the following writers engaged, I can see how a Min of Ed staffer might be afraid and worried.

The secondary English writing team had five members, including two teachers from Auckland Grammar School, one from St Cuthbert’s College, University of Auckland academic Elizabeth Rata and a teacher from Manurewa Intermediate.

Diddums.

If Kiwiblog readers fall off their chairs laughing like drains, don’t blame me.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/526359/ministry-of-education-staff-member-raises-fears-curriculum-writing-teams-not-appointed-on-merit
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August 28, 2024 8:03am
- surfing
  
  I haven’t read the link, but presumably people are being hired to jobs that likely pay into the 6 figures, because they are of the right culture.
  
  This has been happening for a long time now anyway.
  
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  August 28, 2024 8:24am
  - the deity formerly known as nigel6888
    
    nope. In this case “on merit” means precisely the opposite to what ordinary people might think “merit” meant.
    
    The “whistleblower” is concerned that the writing team might actually be qualified and competent!
    
    Imagine taking students back to the bad old days when reading and writing were core curriculum!
    
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    August 28, 2024 2:39pm
- peterwn
  
  Those who seem to be the best qualified on paper are not necessarily the most suitable for appointment.
  In the early 1970’s the then State Services Commission appointed a new Director of Education who was a former university Vice Chancellor but was not a ‘core’ public servant. His appointment was generally welcomed by teachers and others. The Assistant Director of Education (Administration) appealed the appointment and was given the job instead since ‘core’ public servants had priority for such jobs. That did not go down at all well and the Government amended State Services law.
  So this seems to be the ‘core’ Ministry of Education staff trying to close ranks against outsiders.
  
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  August 28, 2024 8:25am
  - RoboRob
    
    It sounded more like a woke liberal worried that teachers wont get to teach there ‘feels’ and might have to do some work.
    
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    August 28, 2024 9:12am
- Swifty
  
  What’s ’ultra-conservative’ I wonder?
  
  Is that like anyone to the right of Swarbrick or Ardern is automatically ‘far-right’ when in fact just twenty years ago they would be rightly considered very centrist?
  
  I’d say also that when it comes to NZ primary and secondary education I’d regard ‘old fashioned’ as a positive not as a criticism as implied in the piece – given that our recent slide down the international education rankings has been coincident with a whole bunch of trendy, new education methods being foisted upon our kids.
  
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  August 28, 2024 8:25am
  - NothingLeft
    
    the tribal left’s (media, academia, civil service) ‘ultra-conservative’ is really the far-center
    
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    August 28, 2024 11:13am
- Blog-aholic
  
  Expressing that Professor Rata not appointed on merit is just insanity.
  
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  August 28, 2024 8:26am
- RoboRob
  
  Oh nooos, the curriculum might be ‘ultra-conservative and out of step with the way most teachers work’and ‘would be very prescriptive about what teachers should teach.
  
  ‘teachers were worried the amount of time required to teach each programme was unrealistic’, translates to, oh no there is quite a lot to teach and we wont get to fluff around and watch movies and play games anymore.
  
  It might be ‘ “really old-fashioned” with little reference to the New Zealand context.’, that translates to not ultra maori with lots of maori key words sprinkled in.
  
  Sounds terrible. How could they propose a curriculum that tells teachers what they must teach, is full and aimed at all kids not just Maori.
  
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  August 28, 2024 9:10am
  - Swifty
    
    Well said.
    
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    August 28, 2024 9:35am
- cmm
  
  Why would anyone expect them to be appointed on merit?
  
  They’ve been openly saying that NZ government departments are not run on merit of at least 10 years now.
  
  And Luxon seems not at all interested in changing anything.
  
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  August 28, 2024 10:39am
- Notsofast
  
  Fantastic to see Elizabeth Rata involved.
  
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  August 28, 2024 11:20am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  When the complainant says “not being made on merit”, what s/he really means is “being made on merit”.
  
  Black is white, no means yes. Orwellian.
  
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  August 28, 2024 8:17pm
Anthony Melchett

https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/heather-du-plessis-allan-drive/audio/john-maynard-and-alistair-boyce-postal-workers-union-national-president-and-better-wellington-spokesperson-on-the-controversial-anti-council-leaflet/

An entry into the “woke, moronic, virtue signaling act of the year competion”.

Wellington posties are refusing to deliver a flyer because they have decided they disagree with the information on it.

The subject matter? The countries worst mayor solves all of wellingtons problems by allowing the muslim call to prayer to be broadcast over loud speakers in public.

It won’t even be the posties, it will be some green haired middle aged white woman proving how unracist she is and how much they are us (news flash, they aren’t us and most want to turn nz into a screeching religious based violent slum like where they have come from)

You are paid to put things in letter boxes, not read and comment on them.

We are literally one step away from not delivering political flyers of the party they don’t support.

What has happened to this country?

You would ask how this could even be a subject of debate when there are much more important things for wellington to deal with, such as how many speed bumps and traffic lights to put on main roads (this is a direct reaction to the public rejecting blanket 30 kmh speed limits) and the installation of road furniture on Courtenay place, restricting access and parking. Yes road furniture. That’s what they actually call it while helping themselves to millions of dollars of rate payer money and forcing a religion on you.
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August 28, 2024 8:03am
- artemisia
  
  That is quite astonishing, totally hard to believe. Until we note the Postal Workers Union looks to be driving the censorship stance. Not political at all then.
  
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  August 28, 2024 9:29am
- sherp
  
  So great we now have standing that mail fraud to stop a political message being spread is all ok here in NZ… I don’t think many people in my area will be receiving Labor or Green party mailouts next election and cops have already shown they won’t intervene.
  
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  August 28, 2024 10:06am
  - Quail
    
    This action by Postal Workers Union must be unlawful as well as disgraceful.
    The content of mail must be sacrosanct apart from items excluded already such as dangerous goods.
    
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    August 28, 2024 11:38am
- Inandout
  
  AM, we will look forward to next year when council postal papers are sent out with a Maori seat decision enclosed. Just wait for these cretins to refuse to handle the envelopes. I say return to voting in booths like we used to with councils and do away with these mail ins.
  
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  August 28, 2024 10:27am
- Conservatarian
  
  The postal workers union must have been listening to normie media describing recent events in the UK and determined that dangerous “far right” rioting is the inevitable result of a group circulating views clashing with [probable] council support for broadcasting the “call to prayer”. The council here has formed a very strange and unnatural alliance with a minority group whose society and practices tend towards theocratic fascism.
  
  Add this to the NZME / Hobson’s Choice / Te Ethno-nationalist Party farce recently. It is obvious that far leftists are using all means available to them to shut down discussion of any issue with which overwhelming majority of ordinary people will have an opposing view.
  
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  August 28, 2024 10:48am
- DimChappie
  
  The link has no good audio on it for me, just electronic noise.
  
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  August 28, 2024 2:54pm
- DimChappie
  
  That link does not work for me. Here is the whole show, the postie item is near the start:
  https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/heather-du-plessis-allan-drive/audio/full-show-podcast-27-august-2024/
  
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  August 28, 2024 3:37pm
- PurplePen
  
  Most bizarre action from workers whose job is to deliver stuff. Regarding the call to prayer initiative I gather it’s for the Chch incident memorial day. Consider the 10s of thousands of young men sent to be slaughtered in that fruitless WW1. We have a day set aside for it but no-one has ever wanted to broadcast over loudspeakers into everyone’s back yard a message about it let alone anything religious. What right does any religion in a predominantly secular society have to disturb everyone’s peaceful enjoyment in their back yards. And for all those religious the call to prayer says their God is the one true God etc!! Here’s a religion that doesn’t embrace LGBT, subjugates women, all contrary to NZ culture. Two people complained to the advertising standards authority about the fictitious Maori Kupe that is shown on a beer can. The authority rules it’s offensive and should be removed. If that’s all it takes to be offensive, how can the Wgtn City Council not rule that religious and offensive words broadcast to secular society and other religious is also not offensive. Here Endeth my rant.
  
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  August 28, 2024 6:43pm
- Scooter
  
  Here’s Sean Plunket’s interview with the leftie wowser, funny interview especially when Sean asks him if he would drink a Kupe beer and the guy admits he hasn’t had a drink in 30 years, says it all really.
  
  https://theplatform.kiwi/podcasts/episode/why-did-posties-refuse-to-deliver-better-wellingtons-pamphlets
  
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  August 28, 2024 8:03pm
gorse

Any chance New Zealand had of digging itself out of the energy situation it is in fell over yesterday with Hipkins announcing Labour will re-instate the oil and gas ban when back in power. Any explorer/driller thinking of taking a look now won’t. Great.
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August 28, 2024 8:05am
- RoboRob
  
  Deliberate and thoughtless sabotage of our country.
  Heard Ginney Anderson (L) on with Hoskings this morning, just brain dead. We have an immediate shortage (caused by Labours inactivity on energy over the last 6 years) and her solution is build more solar and wind. So 2+ years to build some more intermittent energy vs getting some LNG so we can run the gas turbines we already have. Einsteins
  
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  August 28, 2024 9:16am
  - MCōs
    
    The government, whether it be Labour or National lead, doesn’t build power stations anymore as it did in the good old days with the MOW.
    The people that do build them make more money by not building them.
    
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    August 28, 2024 9:41am
    - peterwn
      
      You do not make money by building too many power stations too early.
      
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      August 28, 2024 9:48am
      - RoboRob
        
        Yup thats the problem with the current market structure.
        
        Im all for the market making decisions but there needs to be some ‘market’ disincentives for getting supply too close to demand.
        
        It needs to be changed so that there are financial penalties when the total available supply has less then say a 10% buffer. So a penalty for generators having total supply too close to maximum demand. There could even by a financial incentive to have supply greater then n%, im thinking lower tax credits or some such.
        
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        August 28, 2024 10:34am
      - MCōs
        
        Are you saying they should only build a power station or wind farm or whatever if they know they can turn a buck. Like building a new Bunnings.
        If there’s a misjudgment and the country is short of power we get the current situation where the power companies are laughing as prices rocket
        If there’s a misjudgment and there’s a power surplus there’s presumably a price war
        Oh the horror!
        
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        August 28, 2024 12:05pm
      - wsk12345
        
        Hold on Rob – this is not a market failure. No market design would have produced a better result. Because regardless of what the market says. Gas and coal are off the menu. No company will destroy their brand in this era of “glabal boiling” by proceeding with coal. Add the government created uncertainty around Onslow and Comalco – why would any company invest in anything big?
        
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        August 28, 2024 1:09pm
      - wsk12345
        
        MCos. Exactly. You think the government can do a better job? Imagine if you left it to the central planners – we would be paying 10 x as much for supply that is unreliable. Or and when they can’t build wind/solar fast enough we will have shortages. One thing is for sure though, we will pay way more for the privilege of central planning as we do with everything the gummint touches.
        
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        August 28, 2024 1:11pm
  - Burtland
    
    thoughtless …. no …. relentless
    
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    August 28, 2024 9:47am
  - the deity formerly known as nigel6888
    
    Noticed that a labour person, and candidate for the big job, simply refused to answer the question as to what was her message for workers being laid off. Instead platitudinous word Salad about renewable in time…
    
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    August 28, 2024 10:57am
  - all true
    
    Just watching Germany today. Also they thought, mainly the Labour & Green Parties, with renewable energy (wind turbine and solar) the energy crisis gonna be solved.
    Germany has to keep coal and gas power station going for a long time to come, because the sun is not shinning at night time, wind turbine are highly inefficient, they figured this out.
    They tried even with LPG this was a big failure and their energy costs are going thru the roof.
    And New Zealand want to go the faulty way and not learning for the other country’s mistakes.
    
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    August 28, 2024 11:40am
    - Jack5
      
      The German Government has just rejected a Green push to narrow its limit on coal-fired power from 2038 to 2030.
      
      Here are German Greenies being arrested for protesting over the expansion of a lignite mine:
      
      https://www.tnonline.com/20230116/climate-activists-occupy-giant-digger-at-german-coal-mine/
      
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      August 28, 2024 2:25pm
    - Hard Cheese
      
      Hmm…according to this, renewables covered 52% of Germany’s gross energy needs last year
      
      “Germany’s renewables share was 46 percent in 2022. Both a decrease of overall electricity consumption and an increase in absolute renewables production – which rose six percent to an all-time high of 267 TWh – pushed up the share of renewable electricity.
      
      Germany aims to have a renewable electricity share of 80 percent by 2030 and a largely decarbonised power supply by 2035 (…)
      Solar and wind energy contributed around 75 percent of Germany’s renewable electricity, with the remainder covered by biomass, hydropower, and a small share of geothermal plants.”
      
      https://www.cleanenergywire.org/news/renewables-cover-more-half-germanys-electricity-demand-first-time-year
      
      Yes, there will be a long term need for some coal and gas – but the direction they are going is clear.
      
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      August 28, 2024 9:28pm
  - crikey
    
    RoboRob: “So 2+ years…”.
    Compared with long-term, stable, continuous, and the most environmentally-friendly supply, by installation of nuclear power generation. It’s time this country pulled its figurative head out of the sand.
    
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    August 28, 2024 12:30pm
- Yvette
  
  Since the out-of-Cabinet Labour/Greens/New Zealand First Coalition decision was linked to “horse-trading” that saw the Greens (vehemently opposed as they still claim to be) to the waka jumping legislation, allowed it to pass for, in return, the gas and oil exploration ban. Labour’s promise now to reinstate the ban compounds the original mythical motivation, with present “green” popularism and party political vanity.
  
  ________________
  And a magnificent example of towering irony is whether the Green Party will now use the waka jumping law to rid themselves of their current (but not last) embarrassment.
  
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  August 28, 2024 9:27am
- Grunter
  
  Does anyone still think that this “Global Boiling” narrative is not a scam?
  
  Why would Hipkins say this when he has no obvious plan to avoid economic chaos? He is not even deliberately hiding the obvious outcome. NZ industry, agriculture, and tourism will collapse under his plan – and he knows that.
  
  And remember, Luxon also believes in the same plan – just pushes it out to 2050.
  
  The lunatics are clearly in charge!
  
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  August 28, 2024 9:31am
  - JohnRidd
    
    He doesn’t want to avoid economic chaos. He wants to cause it.
    
    Before the glorious communist utopia can arise, all previous systems have to be destroyed. Karl Marx said so, and he has been right about everything so far.
    
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    August 28, 2024 9:44am
    - Grunter
      
      Come on John – that’s just a conspiracy theory….! //
      
      The other plausible reason is…….. nope, I don’t have one!
      
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      August 28, 2024 10:34am
    - Conservatarian
      
      Correct John – the jealous bludging German doom merchant called for “ruthless criticism of all that exists.”
      
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      August 28, 2024 10:52am
- David Garrett
  
  gorse: Any explorer/driller thinking of taking a look now won’t Quite so.
  
  I think you may be new here, but I have been saying endlessly – based on my ten years in the oil and gas exploration industry, and ongoing interest in it – that Ardern forever destroyed political stability as a factor to be considered when oil companies considered exploring in NZ. New Zealand has many negatives from an industry point of view: distance from markets; tiny local market; being “gas prone” [rather ironic since it’s gas and not oil that WE want found]; terrible drilling conditions; offshore conditions equal to the North Sea etc. etc.
  
  Political stability – meaning the rules would not be subject to sudden unheralded change – was one of our big pluses. Now gone forever because of one empty headed girl and her equally dim successor who has confirmed and endorsed her stupidity.
  
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  August 28, 2024 9:45am
- kevn
  
  gorse… He (hipkins) wants it saved for the Chinese.
  
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  August 28, 2024 10:11am
- kowtow
  
  More ammo , if needed , for the sane folk in the coalition to beat Labour/Greens with .
  
  Labour is no longer the party of the working classes but of the woke class .
  
  Any vote for Labour is a vote for impoverishment , de industrialisation and societal chaos . But then we know that already . Pity about the easily swayed and thickos ( recall Ardern’s absolute majoridy under the scamdemic , frightening to think what the average voter is capable of)
  
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  August 28, 2024 10:21am
- BananaLlama
  
  Tell the National party to stop compromising with the left they aren’t interested in any political compromise best to just get on with initiating a partial divorce.
  
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  August 28, 2024 10:27am
- SPC
  
  So last century.
  
  This will be the past tobacco and carbon government.
  
  Hipkins knows this sort of thing.
  
  https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018953071/electrification-could-save-nz-95-billion-by-2040-report
  
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  August 28, 2024 12:49pm
- Bloody Dago
  
  This idiot should resign for committing the treasonous act of sabotaging the future economy of NZ. If that’s not a foot in gob moment, it sure is a both feet with a shottie. McWeaner will be salivating at the opportunity this presents for his aspirations of Head Muppet of Liarbour sometime this year.
  
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  August 28, 2024 2:17pm
Gravelroad

https://www.stuff.co.nz/world-news/350393837/robert-kennedy-jrs-daughter-says-he-sawed-head-whale-tied-car-roof
This is what happens when you are a famous person but you pick the wrong side in American politics.
Now that Robert Kennedy Jnr has done the unthinkable and gone off the reservation to support Trump, suddenly he is not such a great family icon after all.
Cue the media and those running the Democrats to hunt down some more dirty gossip about Kennedy – from an incident which allegedly took place in 2012.
And, of course, the dutiful media here in little old NZ rushes to repeat it, no questions asked, because it might cast shade on Trump by association.
Does anyone seriously believe that if Mr Kennedy was still in the Democrat tribe this story would ever see the light of day here?
Is it news?
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August 28, 2024 8:07am
- rouppe
  
  His own daughter.
  
  Thanksgiving dinner will be interesting this year
  
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  August 28, 2024 8:17am
  - Jake Dee
    
    Her mother killed herself after divorcing RFK jr. a serial adulterer. God only knows what their relationship is like today.
    She apparently has a “career in philanthropy”. I’m not exactly sure what that is but feel certain that it isn’t anything my old grandfather would call a “real job”. It seems to be living on family money while helping other people to give away their money.
    
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    August 28, 2024 5:17pm
- kevn
  
  Gravel… This latest Tucker Carlson interview with RFK is enlightening.
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8O-ZM0RxG4g&t=3s
  
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  August 28, 2024 8:30am
  - David Garrett
    
    Kevn: I am trying to earn a living – don’t have an hour and a half to listen to that interview.
    
    Perhaps you could highlight the main points for us??
    
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    August 28, 2024 9:49am
    - Don Beckett
      
      Hi David. I suppose you have an appointment to have a wee chat with PM Luxon when he arrives in Tonga today ? 😆
      
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      August 28, 2024 10:30am
      - David Garrett
        
        Don: I have much better things to do than that!
        
        It’s a nightmare up here – roads closed off, police cars with sirens wailing trying to force their way through clogged streets not designed for traffic.
        
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        August 28, 2024 11:05am
      - Don Beckett
        
        Thanks for the response David – why am I not surprised ? 😆
        
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        August 28, 2024 11:36am
    - ISeeRed
      
      Here is an AI bot summary (if permitted by moderators; accuracy unverified):
      
      RFK Jr. Endorsing Donald Trump
      – Democratic Party has shifted its focus to carbon orthodoxy, neglecting other environmental issues like habitat protection, wildlife conservation, and removing toxins from children’s environments.
      – Democratic Party selected presidential candidate who has not engaged in any media interviews and cannot effectively defend their vision or America’s global role.
      – Democratic Party, once champion of democracy, now exhibits lack of trust in people, as evidenced by their control over primaries, selection of Vice President Harris without an election, and their embrace of censorship.
      
      Pavel Durov’s Arrest and Censorship
      – Pavel Durov, founder of Telegram, is currently imprisoned in France for allegedly spreading misinformation.
      – Biden administration is accused of encouraging Durov’s arrest and of censoring free speech by pressuring social media companies to remove content and accounts critical of government.
      – Argues this alleged censorship is threat to democracy and government should not dictate what information people are allowed to access.
      
      America’s Health Crisis
      – Believes chronic disease in children is profitable industry for insurance companies, hospitals, medical cartel, and pharmaceutical companies.
      – In 1962, autism rate was estimated to be between 1 in 1,500 and 1 in 10,000, while today, CDC reports it to be 1 in 34.
      – Believes mainstream media outlets function as mouthpieces for Democratic National Committee and engage in defamation to discredit individuals who challenge their narratives.
      
      Kennedy Meeting with Trump
      – Had meetings with former President Trump, initially prompted by suggestion from someone named Carly Maines shortly after Trump was shot.
      – Found common ground with Trump on issues such as opposition to neocons, concerns about chronic diseases in children, and importance of free speech and censorship.
      – While possibility of collaboration was discussed, RJK ultimately decided against it, partly due to diminishing chances of participating in debates, which were seen as crucial for winning election.
      
      Kamala Harris Refusing to Meet with Kennedy
      – An attempt was made to schedule meeting with Kamala Harris through various channels, including personal connections, but it was deemed “nonstarter” by her campaign.
      – Only unscripted interview Harris gave in significant period was with reporter waiting for her at Andrews Air Force Base.
      – Difference in number of interviews given by RJK and Harris is highlighted, suggesting being in public life necessitates engaging with public and promoting one’s vision.
      
      Why Did They Withdraw Secret Service?
      – Secret Service protection previously granted has been withdrawn.
      – Secret Service protection was reinstated and then withdrawn again while still running for president in several states.
      – Believes federal enforcement agencies, including CIA, have been politically weaponized against American people.
      
      Would Kennedy Accept Position as CIA Director?
      – States Senate confirmation for position as CIA director would be unlikely.
      – Claims Mike Pompeo, former CIA director, advised former President Trump against declassifying documents related to assassination of John F. Kennedy.
      – Expresses concern about FBI’s involvement in censorship and American politics.
      
      Why Is Democratic Party Suing Kennedy?
      – Democratic Party is suing Kennedy to prevent people from voting for him, despite him obtaining historic number of ballot signatures.
      – Claims is being sued on basis of his residency, with Democratic Party alleging he does not live in New York State despite him maintaining residence, paying taxes, and being registered to vote in New York.
      – Believes lawsuit is politically motivated attempt to remove him from ballot and Democratic Party is no longer party of working class, citing study showing wealth disparity between Biden and Trump voters.
      
      Why Nature Matters
      – Reason for protecting environment stems from spiritual connection and love for nature, encompassing its wildlife and landscapes.
      – Destroying nature diminishes ability to sense the divine, comprehend God, and understand human potential and responsibilities.
      – Most effective action for climate change is soil restoration, which can absorb carbon, water, prevent flooding, and provide nutritious food.
      
      Kennedy’s Plan to Get Trump Elected
      – Plans to work with Trump campaign on policy issues and help select people for government positions if Trump is re-elected.
      – Was asked to be on transition team.
      – Plans to be “happy warrior” and do what they have to do.
      
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      August 28, 2024 4:13pm
      - Jake Dee
        
        Thanks! AI isn’t just autocomplete.
        
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        August 28, 2024 5:19pm
- Libertarians are right
  
  The Democrats tried to facilitate his assassination AND tried to remove him from ballots. Why would he support them? He’s left an abusive relationship.
  
  The Kennedy family is a disgrace. They should be supporting RFK Jnr. Remember, their golden boy was a monstrous sex offender and they keep pretending he was something special.
  
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  August 28, 2024 8:52am
  - sherp
    
    Trunp has said he will launch a comission into JFK and RFK assassinations… you think that would get the entire family backing him but nope they all in a cult.
    
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    August 28, 2024 10:10am
    - Ghost
      
      He promised to release all documents last time and never did
      
      5 5
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      August 28, 2024 10:23am
- NothingLeft
  
  Trump’s current policies would be be absolutely in line and normal for Clinton era Democrats. Trump was a Democrat until the 2010’s
  
  Obama and onwards the Democrats have become the elite’s authoritarian/woke weapon against the Untermensch in USA.
  
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  August 28, 2024 11:11am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  I wonder how iwi transport the jaw bones they chainsaw off dead whales?
  
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  August 28, 2024 12:19pm
- Gravelroad
  
  Update
  This is what Democratic strategist James Carville has had to say today (in person on Fox News) about RJK Jnr:
  “I really feel sorry for the Kennedy family because I will remind them, you can pick your friends, you can’t pick your relatives. And if Bobby Kennedy lived in a more humane country, they would have him in a nice rubber room and you know, three hots and a cot and take care of this guy. He has no business being out on the street mixing and mingling with people. But this is where we are in this country. We have a mental health crisis and he’s at the top of it.”
  
  Again, if Mr Kennedy was still in the Democrat camp, would this guy be maligning him in this crass fashion?
  No.
  
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  August 28, 2024 12:49pm
Chuck Bird

Mike interviewing Mark and Jenny should be interesting. Jenny has to defend the oil and gas exploration ban.
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August 28, 2024 8:08am
- pdm
  
  Ginny which is presumably short for Virginia Chuck.
  
  Jenny is a female mule I think.
  
  Oops you might be on target.
  
  22 3
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  August 28, 2024 8:12am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    And the daughter of a rotten union hack
    
    11 3
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    August 28, 2024 8:13am
    - Inandout
      
      G, if you are referring to Bill Andersen I think he was an uncle.
      
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      August 28, 2024 10:29am
  - Mod88
    
    Better known as “Gaslight” Ginny for obvious reasons.
    
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    August 28, 2024 8:38am
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  She will simply say it’s the right thing to do, utterly pathetic in this moment.
  
  Watched Swarbrick question the pm, what weak pathetic bullshit, she is fine with Labour burning Indonesian coal but not gas that is only half the emissions, a pointless exercise, the country can simply not continue on this path, and the stupid woman can’t see the difference with us having 86% renewables making the power we require, then parrots other countries with less than 20%
  
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  August 28, 2024 8:12am
- Grunter
  
  It was all political waffle. Two central planners tripping over themselves trying to solve a central planning F-up with even more central planning.
  
  Let the market loose! It won’t be perfect but we will have access to abundant NZ sourced energy and we would be a decent sized exporter of coal.
  
  But hey – keep voting Labour & Labour-Lite and you get what you deserve.
  
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  August 28, 2024 8:41am
- Nukuleka
  
  So we are all supposed to be ‘in the know’ about Mike n Mark n Jenny, are we Chuck? It might be helpful if your posts contained just a skerrick of context so that we have some inkling what it is you’re on about.
  
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  August 28, 2024 8:45am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    His post was before they were on, they will have been on now
    
    5 2
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    August 28, 2024 8:51am
  - Chuck Bird
    
    I was in a hurry to leave the house. It does not take long to turn on the radio. I thought before Mike said much the issue would be the stupid oil and gas exploration ban.
    
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    August 28, 2024 3:17pm
- Dougal10
  
  I turn Hosking off for 20 minutes when I hear Ginnys voice come on.
  
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  August 28, 2024 9:19am
  - kowtow
    
    I don’t bother at all.
    
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    August 28, 2024 10:29am
  - MCōs
    
    I was watching the cricket
    
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    August 28, 2024 12:11pm
slightlyrighty

This morning, TVNZ ran a story about 25 junior Doctors not being offered roles prior to their graduation.

95% of junior docs did get an offer, however, these are contingient on them actually graduating, which they will not know until Nov.

The point is, this happens every year, but it’s only now it has become headline news.

Why do I bring this up? Simple. TVNZ is now the de-facto television arm of the Labour Opposition. We have always percieved a bias, but they’re not even trying to hide it now.
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August 28, 2024 8:08am
- 7kiwi11
  
  Exactly – non news. In my profession, architecture, the top 5% students were all tapped on the shoulder by various firm prior to graduating.
  
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  August 28, 2024 9:45am
- Phronesis
  
  Didn’t see it but it does seem relevant with recent talk of increasing the number of graduate Dr’s. The reality is graduate Dr’s are just as useless as every other new grad. The real training occurs in the hospitals and that takes time away from the senior staff who are actually getting stuff done. We don’t have enough senior Dr’s to both train the new grads and keep patients alive. So many of these extra new grads will go to Australia to train where they will find much higher pay and better conditions. The bottom of Australian pay scales are often higher than the top of the NZ pay scale. They aren’t coming back. So why would we train more doctors here?
  
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  August 28, 2024 9:50am
- MCōs
  
  Going by figures from a couple of years ago 1.6% of medical students fail to graduate. That would be nine people.
  Why these graduates don’t get placements, I don’t know, but everyone knows the country is crying out for GPs
  https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/526221/dozens-of-medical-students-without-a-post-graduate-job
  
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  August 28, 2024 10:09am
  - wsk12345
    
    Med school grads can’t be GPs. It’s another two years training after their residency.
    
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    August 28, 2024 1:15pm
softail 1450

Zuckerberg is crawling along in the swamp trying to blame everyone else for his disgusting shameful censoring of anything anti Biden or Democrat in 2020,FFS he’s doing everything except officially endorsing 45 , it’s a cowardly act by a filthy bought and paid for POS hoping for redemption for his corruption and its not going to work.
The other equally disgusting creature is Dorsey who realised very soon after the election that he’d fcuked up and hasn’t been heard of since , the joke of it all is the MSM and big tech despite what Cuckerburg says is doing it all over again in 2024.
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August 28, 2024 8:18am
- artemisia
  
  Well there is also Berenson v Biden progressing. Federal lawsuit against White House and Pfizer officials for their 2021 conspiracy to make Twitter censor and ban him. Mr Berenson gives updates on his Unreported Truths substack.
  
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  August 28, 2024 9:24am
  - JimBobJoe
    
    Berenson wins that suit v Biden, then inevitably civil suits against the companies follows don’t they and for large financial sums? Unless the companies are joined to the current suit (I haven’t been following in detail just aware Alex Berenson is taking on the Biden Administration)
    
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    August 28, 2024 9:55am
- NothingLeft
  
  He, more than any other, financed the election steal in 2020 with $400Mill ‘zuckerbucks’ pushed into opaque ‘get out the vote’ efforts in Democrat urban areas in swing states.
  
  He will be getting very very nervous at possibility that it might all be scrutinized by a DOJ/Congress/Senate not controlled by Democrats.
  
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  August 28, 2024 11:05am
NeverMindTheBollocks

Not dwelt on by RNZ but surely relevant is a comment by Gerry Brownlee – “now that we have 123 MPs …”. Overhangs have real life consequences, children.

http://www.1news.co.nz/2024/08/27/totally-mad-up-to-7m-to-be-spent-on-new-ministerial-offices/
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August 28, 2024 8:26am
- MCōs
  
  $7mil seems an awful lot of money to provide offices for three MPs few people would have heard of
  One of them is only there because of the unfortunate death of a Port Waikato candidate at an inopportune moment. First the expense of a completely unnecessary by election and now this.
  
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  August 28, 2024 12:22pm
Damocles11

Dame Lisa Carrington interviewed by Jenny May on Breakfast this morning. I was dreading that Jenny May might question her as to when she’d be getting a massive chin tattoo, but thankfully the conversation didn’t go in those directions. Jenny May mentioned the fantastic job Dame Lisa’s parents have done with her, and I concur. She hasn’t grown up to be an angry hate filled activist railing against ‘colonists’, instead she is a positive, vivacious high achiever and model New Zealander. Her parents obviously are either apolitical or, at the least, ideology doesn’t rule their lives. They surely haven’t been infected with the destructive ‘social justice’ left wing mind virus.
Dame Lisa has written a book for children detailing her early life and career. It is published in both English and Te Reo versions. Whoever has illustrated the book has portrayed her as a reasonably dark skinned brown person with fairly dark brown hair, racing against some white kids and other brown kids. It really looks like a completely different person. I guess we shouldn’t be surprised in New Zealand 2024, where whiteness – symbolic of the hated ‘colonists’ – is not something to be proud of.
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August 28, 2024 8:29am
surfing

Bob Jones is a kiwiblog reader….

https://nopunchespulled.com/2024/08/26/the-joy-of-black-humour/

In the immediate aftermath before anything had been revealed about his attempted assassin, David jokingly suggested the culprit was likely to be Trump’s current wife Melania. Given her clear (and understandable) aversion to be seen with Trump, it was a harmless amusing joke.

I suspect Farrar had a shock awakening about the stupidity of some of his readers for he was besieged with attacks for bad taste.

For a laugh, I had a look at those commenters …
https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/07/trump_shot_at.html

Here’s hoping Bob Jones is around for many years to come.
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August 28, 2024 8:30am
- Matt Long
  
  Bob is a great comedian, however such is his TDS that he comes over as a school boy who entered into a pissing contest and came up short and inadequate, both in material success and political influence.
  It’s really a shame to see him debasing his legacy in such a petulant way, shooting himself in the foot, so to speak.
  
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  August 28, 2024 9:52am
  - Grunter
    
    I’m fine with Sir Bob not being a Trump fan – I get that.
    
    But when he came out supporting the Kackling one?? That’s the bit that made me ask “Where has the real Sir Bob gone?”
    
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    August 28, 2024 10:40am
    - Colville
      
      Sir Bob is a self admitted lifelong Labour voter I believe.
      
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      August 28, 2024 1:21pm
      - Paulus
        
        It would appear that under Labour only made him a very Multi Millionaire.
        So sure he appears to favour Labour everytime.
        
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        August 28, 2024 3:42pm
  - All_on_Red
    
    Bob writes well and can be funny but he has always been pretty ignorant about US Politics.
    The other day he was pushing Pete Buttigieg as VP!
    And this article praising Kamala Harris is just woeful and moronic.
    https://nopunchespulled.com/2024/08/19/kamala-harris-2/#more-6168
    
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    August 28, 2024 12:13pm
    - Tom Hunter
      
      Bob’s probably concerned that Trump will trash the reputation of billionaire commercial property developers who run their mouths in public and regularly get accused of macho behaviours as well as racism, sexism and whole lot of other awful things.
      
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      August 28, 2024 12:40pm
- BananaLlama
  
  Bob Jones is a kiwiblog reader….
  
  I always thought he was an amateur golfer.
  
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  August 28, 2024 10:36am
- Tom Hunter
  
  Some of what Bob is supporting – assuming he even knows…
  
  The Harris tax plan would:
  
  * Raise the corporate tax from 21% to 28%
  * Quadruple the tax on stock buybacks from 1% to 4%
  * Double the global minimum tax from 10% to 20%
  * Raise the top Income tax rate from 37% to 39.6%
  * Raise the corporate alternative minimum tax from 15% to 21%
  * Raise the capital gains tax from 24% to 43.5%
  * Impose the first-ever tax on unrealized capital gains at 25%
  * Double the number of Americans subject to the death tax
  
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  August 28, 2024 1:08pm
  - SPC
    
    Compare it to the Biden plan, stated here in March.
    
    https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/03/07/fact-sheet-president-biden-is-fighting-to-reduce-the-deficit-cut-taxes-for-working-families-and-invest-in-america-by-making-big-corporations-and-the-wealthy-pay-their-fair-share/
    
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    August 28, 2024 3:10pm
    - Tom Hunter
      
      While it’s all good election fodder for both sides the fact is that it would never pass even in a Democrat-controlled Congress, although they might get the income tax increase.
      
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      August 28, 2024 4:00pm
Surely Knott

One of the most powerful men in the world Mark Zuckerburg releases a letter saying he regrets censoring information and was repeatedly pressured by Biden Govt officials to censor information related to covid and info relevant to the last US election. He regrets it. How is this not front page news? This is history in the making surely?

Social media is now the 4th estate standing for free flow of information and holding governments to account. While the mainstream media refuse to print it and make no acknowledgement of the coercion and or influence that they may have come under..

Zuckerberg, “In 2021 officials in the Biden Administration , including the white house, repeatedly pressured for months to censor certain Covid 19 … I believe the govt pressure was wrong and I regret that we were not outspoken about it.”

It takes guts to publicly admit you were wrong.

“In a seperate situation the FBI warned us about a potential Russian Disinformation operation about the Biden family and Burisma in the lead up to the 2020 election…It’s since been made clear it wasn’t Russian Disinformation and in retrospect we shouldn’t have demoted the story”.

https://x.com/stillgray/status/1828221730407506279/photo/1
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August 28, 2024 8:42am
- RoboRob
  
  I believe the US constitution explicitly forbids the government from influencing the media. Seems like something the DOJ should have been investigating. Oh wait, they are horribly politicised too.
  
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  August 28, 2024 9:23am
  - Tom Hunter
    
    I believe the US constitution explicitly forbids the government from influencing the media.
    
    Not quite. Passing laws or regulations commanding the media to say stuff (propaganda) or not say stuff censorship), is a breach of the 1st Amendment, but “influencing” may not be.
    
    I say “may” because it hasn’t been fully tested at the Supreme Court, with recent cases booted for lack of standing, which seemed like crap to me given the impact it had on those groups.
    
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    August 28, 2024 4:04pm
- JimBobJoe
  
  To little too late. The Zuck is trying to put up some type of mea culpa to try and avoid a lawsuit from those censored by pointing the finger of balme at Biden’s Administration.
  
  His genuineness is highly suspect in my humble opinion, given his business ethics have been some what loose since he obtained Facebook, if the movie and lawsuits from the Twins are to be given credence…
  
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  August 28, 2024 9:59am
  - imalwaysright
    
    Its possible that he is trying to preempt a whistleblower.
    
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    August 28, 2024 10:30am
zubrick

new zealander demographics in australia
https://www.thenewdaily.com.au/finance/2024/08/23/the-stats-guy-new-zealand-australia
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August 28, 2024 8:43am
Matt Long

Great news for a future resumption of commercial whaling.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/southern-right-whale-spotted-near-whangarei-harbour-dream-a-promising-sign/3SO6S6OTHBGZHBCZJXYD7FB5GA/
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August 28, 2024 8:50am
Steve Otto(North Shore)

USSS did not fire first shot at would be assassin Thomas Crooks, SWATT operator did.

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/leahbarkoukis/2024/08/22/rep-higgins-report-local-swat-officer-first-shot-crooks-n2643749?
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August 28, 2024 8:53am
Matt Long

Mark Zuckerberg believes the government/FBI was wrong to suppress Hunter Biden’s lap top story amongst other government disinformation campaigns and call it Russian disinformation. Will no longer donate to Dems.
https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/meta-ceo-admits-biden-harris-admin-pressured-company-censor-americans
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August 28, 2024 8:54am
- Blog-aholic
  
  Seems he was happy to censor at the time. What has changed?
  
  18 1
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  August 28, 2024 8:56am
  - NK
    
    Exactly, a coward to speak out now. The Twitter files exposed the collusion between the US Government and Twitter around censorship. Anyone with a brain knew Meta had the same pressure applied.
    
    We also know Jacinda a batphone line into the DIA so our Meta feeds and posts could also be censored, and we know that happened.
    
    But don’t worry folk, the V is/was “safe and effective”, and the government was “the single source of truth”.
    
    21 2
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    August 28, 2024 9:08am
    - Paulus
      
      Now that Jacinda is living in Boston we can assume she will apply for US Citizenship.
      We hope she gets it an never comes back to New Zealand.
      
      6 1
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      August 28, 2024 3:44pm
  - NothingLeft
    
    He expects Trump to win and is worried about his legal exposure.
    
    But this is same Zuckerberg who spent $400million in a ‘get out the vote’ effort in swing states in 2020 that was likely the source of funds for industrial scale ballot fraud in Democrat controlled urban areas:
    
    https://tenney.house.gov/media/press-releases/new-information-confirms-zuckerberg-connected-group-funneled-majority-election
    
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    August 28, 2024 11:00am
  - ISeeRed
    
    The Overton window is shifting rightward.
    
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    August 28, 2024 4:48pm
Benedict Yu

This sets off alarm bells.

Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau is salivating about a congestion charge for Wellington.

““It provides a much-needed alternative to rates when it comes to funding our transport.”

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/350393104/wellington-congestion-charges-could-they-become-reality

This woman should not get her hands on the revenue from a congestion charge. It simply gives her more money to waste. ☹️☹️☹️

She also demonstrates that she does not understand the purpose of the charge. It is not to raise revenue for her to waste. The purpose is simply to reduce congestion. The revenue raised should be returned as a rebate to all ratepayers. Not given to the stupid Wellington Mayor to spend on cycleways.
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August 28, 2024 9:06am
- RoboRob
  
  Lol, if you believe any council in the country are going to return congestion fees as a rebate to ratepayers I have a bridge to sell you 🙂
  
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  August 28, 2024 9:24am
  - Benedict Yu
    
    You miss the point. The government can legislate to make that happen.
    
    11 1
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    August 28, 2024 9:45am
    - Matt Long
      
      Unfortunately another government can legislate to spend congestion revenue on cycleways and unicorn farts.
      
      10 3
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      August 28, 2024 10:00am
    - RoboRob
      
      Sorry I did miss your point 🙂
      However as Matt rightly points out the next Labour government would allow the council to take that money.
      
      Chippy was on TV talking about a grab bag of new taxes they want, incl a renamed wealth tax (they now call it capital income tax). My thoughts
      
      1) So NZ taxing its way to success
      2) Is there a tax the left doesn’t like?
      
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      August 28, 2024 10:39am
      - sirknz
        
        In answer to 2, yes there is.
        
        Tax Rebate.
        
        5 0
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        August 28, 2024 2:57pm
    - the deity formerly known as nigel6888
      
      Technically council is obliged by law to return half of all traffic infringement notices to the Crown. Guess how many have ever complied?
      
      6 1
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      August 28, 2024 11:04am
- Dougal10
  
  And if it works parking revenue will be down by a similar amount , because the centre of the city will be completely dead.
  
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  August 28, 2024 9:27am
  - Benedict Yu
    
    I doubt that. The congestion charge will only apply at peak travel times. Wellington Street parking spots will be fully occupied, just as they are now.
    
    4 3
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    August 28, 2024 9:47am
    - Dougal10
      
      Wanna buy a bridge , only used at peak traffic times lol.
      
      8 1
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      August 28, 2024 9:56am
      - Benedict Yu
        
        “only used at peak traffic times”
        
        That is what a “congestion charge” means. You are not going to pay it at 0900 on a Sunday.
        
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        August 28, 2024 2:24pm
  - sherp
    
    Chris cbd is already dead
    
    7 3
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    August 28, 2024 10:16am
    - Benedict Yu
      
      who is Chris?
      
      1 0
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      August 28, 2024 2:25pm
  - Paulus
    
    Tauranga is already a dead City thanks to the Mahuta Commissioners.
    Chances of recovery very slender but Council still spending like no tomorrow on their fantasies flat out.
    Well done Ratepayers, it conna cost like hell.
    Not enough people actually pay rates, only property owners, with ratio 3 people to 1 property.
    
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    August 28, 2024 3:49pm
- Handyman
  
  And don’t forget she can borrow a multiple of revenue so will have even more to spend on cycleways.
  What’s the bet that any reduced traffic results in dedicating a full lane to buses/cycles thereby causing congestion for cars.
  It is easy to predict green behaviour; just ask yourself “how can I make this situation worse?”
  
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  August 28, 2024 9:51am
- Notsofast
  
  She needs the cash to supply the mosques with state of the art PA systems.
  
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  August 28, 2024 11:24am
Benedict Yu

Seems that Bob Jones is not a fan of Kiwiblog commenters.😂

https://nopunchespulled.com/2024/08/26/the-joy-of-black-humour/#more-6179

I think that he makes a valid point. Over the last 5 years, I think that there has been a widening gulf betwen the prevailing views of DPF and the regular commenters.

Trump is the obvious subject where there is a gulf. Climate change is probably another. Also since 2021 there has been a collective madness about COVID vaccines, and to a lesser extent vaccines generally.
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August 28, 2024 9:16am
- Surely Knott
  
  Lol. Bob Jones describes a genuine assassination attempt as a scraped knee?!! FFS.
  Bob’s lost the plot.
  
  And forced injections of a novel produce isn’t collective madness. It’s a breach of the bill of rights. You have a right to refuse medical treatment. And you had a right to be informed and we know the fbi was pressuring facebook and others to censor information and content about Covid and the vaccines.
  
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  August 28, 2024 9:26am
  - Ghost
    
    No, he described the injury as such saying Trump “miraculous escape with a tiny skin wound”.
    
    2 16
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    August 28, 2024 9:38am
    - Surely Knott
      
      He also calls Kiwiblog readers “narrow minded bigots”.
      
      Followed by …”This followed the narrow assassination of Trump after it was clear it was a narrow skin wound as would have happened to a million Americans that day.” And then goes on to compare the effects of a political assassination attempt with shooting himself in the foot as a kid.
      
      And he fails to say anything bigoted that your readers actually said. Is the supposed bigotry that we didn’t laugh at Farrar’s joke that it was Melania who shot him? Seems that not laughing off political motivated assassination is now bigotry?!
      
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      August 28, 2024 10:26am
      - Ghost
        
        I think on that day we did see “narrow-minded bigotry of some of his readers.” Actually I’d say we see it often.
        
        Trump
        Biden
        Covid
        Anything Maori related
        
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        August 28, 2024 10:42am
      - Jack5
        
        Kiwiblog’s a freedom wall on which to scribble non-mainstream views and sometimes reveal overlooked facts.
        
        Some messages may be rubbish, some raucous – they vary from day to day and even at times of the day. But many are worth while and some are entertaining.
        
        More and more read this digital wall, while patronage of newspapers, TV and radio slides.
        
        If anything, the blog’s becoming more mainstream without posters like Griff, Kea, and Black with a Vengeance.
        
        Thank you, David Farrar, for Kiwiblog! 👍
        
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        August 28, 2024 12:29pm
      - surfing
        
        He (Bob Jones) also calls Kiwiblog readers “narrow minded bigots”.
        
        So you say that Bob Jones accused ALL Kiwiblog readers as being bigots.
        
        Checking your allegation…
        
        Farrar, a market economy liberal had a rude awakening recently about the narrow-minded bigotry of some of his readers.
        
        Is what you did as bad as lying? I think so. You could have used the word ‘some’ if you wanted to be truthful.
        
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        August 28, 2024 12:59pm
      - Surely Knott
        
        @surfing
        
        Settle down and check your facts.
        
        I said “He calls Kiwiblog readers “narrow minded bigots”.”
        
        You then argue ” So you say that Bob Jones accused ALL Kiwiblog readers as being bigots.”
        
        You are the one who has added the word ALL. I did not use the word all.
        
        You then accuse me of lying because I said All which I didn’t? And If i had mistyped it would be a mistake.
        
        You then say “Is what you did as bad as lying? I think so. You could have used the word ‘some’ if you wanted to be truthful” ?!!!
        
        I didn’t use the word use the word ALL. And I don’t lie.
        
        Please reread the comment I made before accusing me of being a liar.
        
        Sir Bob then finishes off , “Farrar’s protestors simply revealed they are dumb thickheads” ?!! This is a grown man. Lol. That people go to for his opinions?!
        
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        August 28, 2024 1:46pm
  - Benedict Yu
    
    I agree.
    
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    August 28, 2024 9:44am
    - Cassandra
      
      No, not “anything Māori related”, just protests about rorts by elite Māoris and criticism about the approach by some Māoris to crime and personal responsibility.
      
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      August 28, 2024 11:08am
- Dougal10
  
  I’m guessing you think you are on the right side of the collective madness.
  
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  August 28, 2024 9:29am
  - Benedict Yu
    
    I know I am. Good old data. 😀
    
    For the avoidance of doubt, my conclusion that the covid vaccines saved millions of lives in no way should be read as me supporting the last government’s COVID vaccine policies.
    
    Similarly on climate change, I am a consistent critic of “Net Zero”. However I am frustrated by those who think that climate change is not a significant problem for the world.
    
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    August 28, 2024 9:43am
    - JimBobJoe
      
      Ben. Climate change is not a significant problem.
      
      Why? Because the climate changes on its own accord regularly.
      
      15000 years ago it was completely different climate globally. 5000 years ago the Sahara was a savannah as evidence by pollen in dried up lakes, animal remains and human cave paintings.
      
      The problem many of us have with Climate Change is a problem that needs solving is quite simply it is being totally over egged for political purposes to force the population into a state of fear and push central government as the solution to all things.
      
      Add in the wealth transfers to the 3rd World and it all looks uncannily like a far left push to destroy markets and achieve a world government beholding to a global elite (like Zuckerberg!)
      
      Sounds mad – but the evidence is slowly stacking up and the WEF is open about pursuing world government, diminishment of markets and central government control of all aspects of life
      
      Climate Change should be responded to by adapting not by destroying the basis of the world economy which is and will be for decades energy derived from hydrocarbons.
      
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      August 28, 2024 10:08am
      - Notsofast
        
        CO2 is increasing at a rate 2000 times now as any ascertainable rate in the past.
        This is not a natural fluctuation, it is man made. The average global temperature has increased almost exactly as predicted by Carl Sagan in 1985, due to CO2.
        This is why most scientists agree.
        
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        August 28, 2024 12:25pm
      - Grunter
        
        Notsofast
        Thankfully CO2 levels have gone up over the past 200-odd years. If they had gone down instead then we’d all be dead.
        
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        August 28, 2024 2:41pm
      - Benedict Yu
        
        “CO2 is increasing at a rate 2000 times now as any ascertainable rate in the past.”
        
        You are wasting your time. Pointing out facts about climate change or the covid vaccines on Kiwiblog. Does not work.
        
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        August 28, 2024 3:44pm
      - Countrygirl
        
        Today we were advised that the South Pacific region is suffering from more ocean rise than anywhere else. Up until now I had thought that water sort of self levelled itself, but I have come to the realisation that in fact it runs down hill and therefore we are in terrible danger just by living at the bottom of the world.//
        
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        August 28, 2024 3:46pm
      - JimBobJoe
        
        Notsofast:
        
        “CO2 is increasing at a rate 2000 times now as any ascertainable rate in the past.”
        
        2000 times faster than any time in history? Really? Based on what.
        
        Please provide some link to a proper study to validate this.
        
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        August 28, 2024 4:58pm
      - NZer In Exile
        
        “CO2 is increasing at a rate 2000 times now as any ascertainable rate in the past.”
        
        You realise there have been MUCH higher concentrations in the past, including during ICE AGES? You realise apes and pre-human hominids (IE the ancestors of humans) lived during those times?
        
        You realise Co2 has a logarithmically diminishing relationship to the greenhouse effect as it’s concentration increases? IE 1C or less global average temp increase per doubling of atmospheric Co2. Alarmists try to fudge this by making up unproven feedbacks.
        
        You realise Co2 is currently 0.04% of the atmosphere and around 97% of that was NOT put there by human activity?
        
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        August 29, 2024 8:30pm
    - sherp
      
      How many times has fauci been jabbed and how many times has he got the coof… weird how the proposed mechanism of action for the mRNA experimental treatment proved not to work yet they continued to force people to take the jab so their investments could see a dividend.
      
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      August 28, 2024 10:20am
      - Benedict Yu
        
        The madness of your comment just proves my point.
        
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        August 28, 2024 3:43pm
    - sherp
      
      Weird isn’t it how if we just pay more taxes the politicans will fix the weather….
      
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      August 28, 2024 10:22am
      - kowtow
        
        Preceded with some neo pagan incantations .
        
        ( it wasn’t that long ago the folk promoting all that nonsense were virulently anti Christian )
        
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        August 28, 2024 10:45am
    - Surely Knott
      
      Which data makes you so certain you are right.
      
      Just yesterday the Herald was claiming Covid deaths for the year were around 1300.
      
      Jamie Morton reported “Health experts have suggested Covid could again claim more lives than flu in 2024, although the toll could be slightly lower than the 1300-plus deaths reported last year.”
      
      But Ministry of Health Mortality Web Tool says, “COVID-related information –
      This web tool includes deaths where COVID was coded as the underlying cause of death. These deaths are coded to the following ICD classification; Chapter 22 Codes for special purposes > U00–U49 Provisional assignment of new diseases of uncertain aetiology or emergency use > U07 Emergency use of U07. The 3-character code U07 can also include vaping-related deaths, though none were reported in 2020 or 2021.
      In 2020, there were 25 deaths where COVID was the underlying cause of death. In 2021, there were 15 deaths where COVID was the underlying cause of death, as reflected in this web tool. This may differ from data available on the Ministry of Health’s COVID-19 Data GitHub repository.”
      
      Lol? So one source tells us deaths are around 1300 a year and the MOH says it was 15 in 2021.
      
      The data is a mess and much of it is inconsistent or missing.
      
      https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/hospitals-gp-clinics-are-still-busy-with-flu-why-has-it-hit-nz-so-hard-this-year/JO4B3QU23VHYTHXDV7LREHZC5U/
      
      https://tewhatuora.shinyapps.io/mortality-web-tool/
      
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      August 28, 2024 10:31am
    - NothingLeft
      
      So Benedict; do you have an explanation for the persistent huge numbers of excess deaths seen throughout the west post vaccination?
      
      NZ is a very interesting case in point. With essentially no covid or other respiratory viruses in circulation through 2020 and almost all of 2021 to muddy the ‘signal’. NZ had ~2000 more deaths in 2021 after the vaccination program than in 2020. That 6% annual increase – that was closer to 12% during winter/spring months – is way more than a statistical blip, it wasn’t covid, flu, colds, RSV et al, so what was it? Vax is the obvious smoking gun.
      
      Your faith-based certainty that it’s not covid vaccines is not at all justified when there is a ton of evidence (amyloid clots from autopsies, high incidence of elevated treponin levels post vaccination, clinical myo and pericarditis incidence increases, even increased cardiovascular issues in original safety trial that did not rise to statistical significance due to small and truncated study) and established mechanisms regarding vax-caused cardio-vascular injury.
      
      We should distinguish the covid vax from prior vaccinations as well. It was a poorly tested experimental gene therapy forced on the population that cannot be lumped in with previous vaccination technology in it’s mechanism of operation or assumed safety. It intentionally and permanently alters some cells in your body with consequences that are not fully understood.
      
      The excess deaths have persisted long after covid has stopped killing people in significant numbers. It’s not due to covid.
      
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      August 28, 2024 10:54am
      - Ghost
        
        Some of those deaths will be people who weren’t getting their medical treatment, or diagnosis because of the huge backlog in surgical and specialists.
        
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        August 28, 2024 11:00am
      - NothingLeft
        
        If it was due to lack of medical treatment for illness then it wouldn’t have had such a noticeable temporal correlation to the vaccination program.
        
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        August 28, 2024 1:06pm
      - Ghost
        
        Prof Plank also noted travel restrictions and social distancing throughout 2020 reduced the number of deaths from flu and other respiratory diseases.
        
        “Whereas in 2022 COVID-19 caused a significant number of deaths, and the pandemic has also had knock-on effects such as delayed healthcare, which could have indirectly led to other deaths,” he said.
        
        https://www.aap.com.au/factcheck/excess-deaths-claim-undone-by-nonsensical-calculation/
        
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        August 28, 2024 1:38pm
      - Dougal10
        
        Plank lol
        
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        August 28, 2024 2:43pm
      - Benedict Yu
        
        “So Benedict; do you have an explanation for the persistent huge numbers of excess deaths seen throughout the west post vaccination?”
        
        COVID.
        
        Which country had the highest vaccination rate globally? New Zealand. Which country had ‘negative’ excess deaths? New Zealand.
        
        I have posted the data on all this several times.
        
        Do not fall for the madness that has it that COVID vaccines are killing millions of people. It is ridiculous.
        
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        August 28, 2024 3:48pm
      - NothingLeft
        
        Benedict that is not an answer as to why there were around 2000 more excess deaths in 2021 NZ before covid took off in last month or two (and even then the low-mortality omicron) than in 2020.
        
        Remember no significant incidence of respiratory viruses in either year and yet something new to 2021 was killing an enormous number of kiwis.
        
        And before you object that there weren’t any excess deaths in 2021, the absence of respiratory viruses due to lockdowns and extreme care about transmission had created a huge step change in the underlying baseline, making 2020 the year you need to compare 2021 to.
        
        Waving your hands and saying that subsequent deaths are all down to covid is contradicted by that 2021 anomaly – when there was no significant incidence of covid. But cardiovascular damage done by covid vax and evidenced by a lot of autopsies etc could produce an excess death ‘signal’ as observed. We know it wasn’t covid doing that damage because the weird white amyloid clots found by embalmers in people dying of non-specific cardiovascular issues started to appear in 2021 after the vaccination programs, not in 2020 when Covid was raging through the world.
        
        Essentially the facts aren’t fitting your claims.
        
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        August 28, 2024 4:38pm
      - ISeeRed
        
        I am perplexed why those who argue “We don’t know what’s causing unprecedented rates of excess deaths but we know it’s definitely not the vaccines” can’t see the massive logic fail.
        
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        August 28, 2024 4:57pm
- RoboRob
  
  Nothing wrong with that 🙂
  
  Trump is very divisive everywhere. People generally either like him or really hate him, there is little in-between. DPF is a hater, which is his choice.
  
  Climate change and vaccines are kind of the reverse of the above, where DPF is ok with them and some bloggers really hate them.
  
  There are plenty of posters who agree with DPF on the above, I like that there is diversity here.
  
  I will comment that I feel DPF, who lives in ultra left leaning Wellington does seem to be moving more left with some of his beliefs, which is again fine. Not saying he is a lefty. Although perhaps I am just moving more right wing 🙂
  
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  August 28, 2024 9:35am
- Nukuleka
  
  Your petticoat is showing, Ben. You state your view that there is ‘collective madness about COVID vaccines’ on KB and imply that this ‘collective madness’ applies similarly to attitudes on KB to Trump and Climate change. KB is a platform for debate and people express a range of views on all topics. That’s generally called freedom of speech, not ‘collective madness’. Drop the ‘holier than thou’ élitism, for heaven’s sake. You’re sounding like the dreary woke left.
  
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  August 28, 2024 9:44am
  - Greenheart
    
    Ben is one of the few commentators on this blog who argues with logic and data rather than the assertions many bloggers use to promote their agendas. Nowhere does he argue against freedom of speech
    Long may Maggie and Ben contribute to provide us with their intelligent contributions
    
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    August 28, 2024 10:03am
  - Benedict Yu
    
    It is a platform for ‘debate’. However Kiwiblog commenters have now caught the disease prominent in the USA of wanting to debate facts. We do not debate climate change policy. Instead the debate gets destroyed by the madness of ‘climate change is a hoax’ or ‘it is good for us’ or ‘it is natural’.
    
    With the COVID vaccines the madness is even worse.
    
    The blog has certainly changed for the worse.
    
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    August 28, 2024 3:51pm
    - Mike
      
      On thw one hand, engagement is more civil, due to the moderators. OTOH, it is more like an echo chamber.
      Kìwiblog is still fun. It’s best to remember that it is an entertainment, not a seminar or even a debating club. ‘Fomenting happy mischief’
      
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      August 28, 2024 4:43pm
      - Ian Boag
        
        echo chamber … chanting circle? 🙂
        
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        August 28, 2024 4:51pm
- Razork
  
  I agree re widening gulf between DPF and many commentators who feel the need to bang on the same drum day after day. What I liked when I started following Kiwiblog many years ago was the opportunity for intelligent debate.
  That’s mostly gone now and I note even David hardly bothers to engage in comments anymore.
  
  Wouldn’t surprise me if he’s over it actually….
  
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  August 28, 2024 9:55am
  - Tom Hunter
    
    Wouldn’t surprise me if he’s over it actually….
    
    I’ve wondered about that too since the posts are no longer tagged so that they can be grouped by subject. They all seem to be “uncategorized” nowadays.
    
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    August 28, 2024 4:10pm
  - Mike
    
    There were some intelligent debates, but also a lot more variety, albeit often unhinged and abusive, in the comments.
    It would be extremely rare for a commenter to admit their opinion on anything had changed as a result of reading Kiwiblog posts, let alone comments.
    
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    August 28, 2024 4:38pm
- Grunter
  
  Hey Bene – link below to the latest WEEKLY EXCESS DEATHS data for NZ. Still averaging around 15% during 2024. You can use this to replace your Jan’23 Cumulated Deaths chart to give you a more accurate perspective as to what is continuing to happen in NZ. It is totally up to you to consider or dismiss of course.
  
  But you have convinced few if any KBers that the jab is ‘safe and effective’. Most of us look at data such as this and at least critically ask the question “Why?” And when the Govt and the MSM say “conspiracy theorist!!” it almost makes it certain that there is a problem.
  
  BTW @ +15% that’s about 4,500 Kiwis each year.
  
  https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/excess-mortality-p-scores-average-baseline?time=earliest..2024-07-14&country=~NZL
  
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  August 28, 2024 9:57am
  - cmm
    
    Excess deaths is one of the most ridiculous metrics ever designed.
    
    Excess deaths just compares deaths to previous years. We expect a natural fluctuation just as we do in the weather (some years dry, some years wet, etc).
    
    But all that pre-supposes that nothing changes. That is of course wrong.
    
    The baby boomers are a demographic wave that have moved through history:
    * More junior schools in the 50s and 60s.
    * More senior schools in the 60s and 70s.
    * More weddings in the 70s and 80s.
    …
    * More deaths in the 2020s and 2030s.
    
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    August 28, 2024 11:10am
    - NothingLeft
      
      Not a bad thought, but the increase is thousands above the historic trend:
      https://figure.nz/chart/1WdlzLBou0RzmBrp-iPkoB2oBRqtLT8qU
      
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      August 28, 2024 11:48am
    - Grunter
      
      cmm
      I thought of that, but that would be a gradual rise not a sudden increase.
      
      And after the COVID wave came through and we had a rise in deaths as eldery people were affected you’d expect to see a year or 2 of less deaths (you only die once). But it is the opposite, deaths are as high, if not higher than when COVID went through the population.
      
      As a minimum, you’d think someone would at least do a deep dive into what is driving this. But to ignore it and say “nothing to see….” is wrong.
      
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      August 28, 2024 12:03pm
      - cmm
        
        Grunter
        I think there are many factors at play.
        
        There is the factor that the Boomers are starting to hit end or life so we can expect a rise in deaths. As you say, this should be reflected as a gradual slow rise.
        
        On top of that there are a bunch of other factors that go on including natural variance. One year there will be more flu, next year less etc.
        
        One of the bigger factors is probably that social distancing and lock downs actually work – not just for Covid but for all diseases. There are a bunch of old frail people that should have been carried off by The Old Man’s Friend (aka flu & pneumonia) but missed it. This left a surplus of old frail people that should have died last year but did not. Guess what: the Grim Reaper has some catching up to do so we get a bumper crop this year.
        
        It’s a bit like mowing your lawn on high for a week, then going back to normal the next week. First week there will be less than average grass, next week there will be more than average.
        
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        August 28, 2024 2:34pm
      - ISeeRed
        
        cmm:
        
        One of the bigger factors is probably that social distancing and lock downs actually work – not just for Covid but for all diseases.
        
        Isolating your immune system from germs through social distancing, lockdowns etc. make you more vulnerable to infections and illness, not less.
        
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        August 28, 2024 5:05pm
  - imalwaysright
    
    There is a danger that those who continue to support the jab, be they misguided, uninformed, or remnant victims of the propaganda campaign , are encouraging others to take the drug and risk becoming another excess death.
    
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    August 28, 2024 11:19am
  - newview
    
    Grunter
    quote ‘But you have convinced few if any KBers that the jab is ‘safe and effective’.
    If you are going by the ticks when you say most, and ‘few if any’ Don’t. I happen to agree with Bens view on most things but don’t always tick on comments regardless who writes them. The echo chamber you are referring to, and are part of, may be a minority for all you know. The repeat bloggers who negatively comment on vaccinations seem to be a group you could count on one hand, two at most.
    
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    August 28, 2024 11:53am
  - Conservatarian
    
    The equivalent of 20 fully occupied Boeing or Airbus planes crashing and killing everybody onboard.
    
    “Nothing to see here”.
    
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    August 28, 2024 12:48pm
    - NothingLeft
      
      When something is only killing 1 in 2-3000 per year via an uptick in already very common cardiovascular and perhaps cancer deaths it is very hard to see the wood for the trees. It only sticks out when doing population level analysis/statistics or very very large safety trials with long term follow-up (that were never and will never be done)
      
      And we have a huge pool of medical professionals and politicians and civil servants that have a very strong interest in ensuring that no responsibility is ever laid at their door. Their automatic instinct will be to murder all ‘dangerous’ inquiry in infancy.
      
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      August 28, 2024 1:20pm
  - Benedict Yu
    
    You cannot escape the large scale data analysis in all countries, especially the UK where the data is high quality. Those who are vaccinated have lower mortality than those who are not vaccinated. This is so unsurprising that it is incredible that folk are arguing about it.
    
    A recent large scale study demonstrates conclusively the protection afforded by the COVID vaccines against cardiac death and serious illness caused by COVID.
    
    “The role of COVID-19 vaccines in preventing post-COVID-19 thromboembolic and cardiovascular complications
    
    https://heart.bmj.com/content/110/9/635
    
    This is what I mean about the madness that has affected too many commenters on this blog. A refusal to accept basic facts and to adopt conspiracy theories.
    
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    August 28, 2024 4:07pm
    - NothingLeft
      
      So why all the excess deaths in 2021 in NZ before covid was significant? 2000 covid cases in 2020, only 4k more before oct ’21, and another 8k cases before end of 2021. Yet we saw 2000 more excess deaths in 2021 than 2020. That needs explanation before your theory of benign vaccination can hold water.
      
      https://science.feedback.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/new-zealand_excess-mortality.png
      
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      August 28, 2024 4:51pm
- Taieri
  
  I think that there has been a widening gulf betwen the prevailing views of DPF and the regular commenters.
  ————–
  
  Should the Kiwiblog commentators uniformly share DPF’s views then?
  
  My appreciation and respect to David Farrar for enabling and tolerating the expression of such a wide diversity of opinions on his blog, even when, as I suspect, he doesn’t agree with many of them.
  A big thank you!
  
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  August 28, 2024 9:58am
  - Grunter
    
    Well said
    
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    August 28, 2024 10:46am
  - Benedict Yu
    
    “Should the Kiwiblog commentators uniformly share DPF’s views then?”
    
    Bo of course not. I have frequently expressed by disagreement with his views.
    
    I am not talking about a difference of views. I am talking about people not accepting facts and promoting fantasies. “Climate change is a scam”. “The COVID vaccines are killing millions”. “The MMR vaccines cause autism.” It is a waste of time trying to reason with such folk. It is like arguing with a Jehovas Witness coming to your door.
    
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    August 28, 2024 4:11pm
- Scott
  
  Benedict – I think DPF provides a great service as he is one of the few that allows free speech, even speech he disagrees with.
  
  But here’s the thing:
  – climate change is an unproven theory that generates very few falsifiable predictions. Global warming has now been replaced by climate change that can mean almost anything. Bad weather? Climate change. And it’s still cold here in the Wairarapa. 😎
  – Trump has a great record of governance and if not for covid would have been handily re elected.
  – I was talking to a retired medical professional the other day after church and he told me that the Vax has a diminishing effect and by 7 months is zero. After 7 months you are more likely to get covid if you have had the Vax than if you had not had a shot.
  – lastly we can debate homophobia on another occasion. 😊
  
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  August 28, 2024 10:38am
  - cmm
    
    “I was talking to a retired medical professional the other day ”
    
    Medical professional is a meaningless term. Was he an actual researcher or a GP?
    
    Most GPs just do what they are told based on other people’s research. They have no more of an independent opinion or access to special insights than you or I.
    
    For the most part, the most fundamental part of valid research is a solid understanding of statistics. Most people in the medical field have almost zero training in statistics.
    
    Statistics is a really challenging field. I studied statistics to second year university and I would say I am borderline competent to do statistical analysis in some fields and woefully incompetent in other fields.
    
    Any research not backed up by solid stats and a solid appraisal of the statistics (and other mathematical methods and models) employed is close to worthless.
    
    Most GPs are not trained in this stuff and get much beyond calculating an average. Some might even understand a standard deviation.
    
    Note: I am not slagging off GPs. I know a few and am generally impressed by what they do. It is generally not their job to do the research, but rather to dispense the research to patients.
    
    Like “scientists”, or any other professional, it is important not to put the opinions of GPs up on some pedestal.
    
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    August 28, 2024 11:23am
    - newview
      
      cmm. If you know anything about statistics you will know they are only as good as the info put into them. You will also know you can manipulate them to say what you want or believe depending on how they are presented. At least with the medical professional he is commenting on his own experience and the sick people he sees.
      
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      August 28, 2024 12:07pm
      - cmm
        
        Yup, absolutely correct.
        The most key part of statistics (and IMHO the hardest part to get right) is validating the data quality so that it is a fair representation of the subject under study.
        
        That’s why, for instance, many of those MSM “studies” where people go and ask 10 people in their coffee shop are meaningless due to being self selecting and likely highly biased.
        
        GPs rarely see a wide cross section of the population. Most only serve a very narrow band of people (eg. the people in the suburb surrounding their practice). Unless you have the statistical training, then all they really have is anecdotal evidence.
        
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        August 28, 2024 2:41pm
      - Paulus
        
        Called GIGO in my day.
        Garbage In Garbage out.
        In well over 50 years ago in writing new computer programmes, using say Fortran, you decided what the product would be expected to look like, and designed from that result, to achieve that result.
        So What’s different ?
        
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        August 28, 2024 3:56pm
    - Scott
      
      cmm – I don’t want to give away his identity but I can say he worked in the field of surgery in a provincial hospital. He seems like a smart guy who was a medical professional so his opinion has weight with me.
      
      I have heard elsewhere that the effect of the Vax detoriates to almost nothing after 7 months. But this was the first time I’d heard that the Vax has a negative effect, you’re more likely to get covid!
      
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      August 28, 2024 2:01pm
      - Hard Cheese
        
        Medicine is specialised, the same is true of IT. You can be an expert in one discipline but have a dangerously shallow understanding of others. Whilst a surgeon is probably more likely to have some general knowledge of vaccines than Joe Public, I wouldn’t count on them for expert (or even correct) advice on the subject.
        
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        August 28, 2024 9:53pm
  - Benedict Yu
    
    “…and he told me that the Vax has a diminishing effect and by 7 months is zero. ”
    
    IIRC it is about 9 months. All that means is that you need to get a booster every May. What is the problem? How is that different to the flu vaccine? We all get that every year.
    
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    August 28, 2024 4:13pm
    - NeverMindTheBollocks
      
      Not me, Benedict. I trust my Mk 1 immune system. It’s got me and my antecedents to where I am today.
      
      To be clear, I had all the usual childhood jabs; and a few of the exotics before heading to the tropics.
      
      But, Covid is not the Black Death, or the Spanish ‘Flu, where you could be right as rain at breakfast and dead by dinner time.
      
      Covid? Unless you’re 85 or being treated for cancer, or obese or a chain smoker then it’s simply a non event.
      
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      August 28, 2024 8:44pm
- NZer In Exile
  
  Maybe Bob J is not an oracle of supreme wisdom?
  
  NOTE: I enjoy some of his commentary. Some of it not so much.
  
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  August 29, 2024 8:37pm
Swifty

Five years after Labour’s $1.9Bn mental health spend kicked off and we still can’t tell whether outcomes have improved…..

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/526347/jury-still-out-on-impact-of-labour-s-major-mental-health-investment-in-2019-budget

Nice.

//
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August 28, 2024 9:27am
Maggy Wassilieff

What has race got to do with it?

https://www.teaonews.co.nz/2024/08/27/do-pakeha-get-stopped-armed-police-flag-down-maori-priest-on-morning-jog/

1. Steve Elers notices a bunch of cops have arrived in a park where he is jogging in the early dawn, so he turns around.

2. He seems surprised that the cops come towards him (with torches).
(But he knows that recent crimes have taken place there)

3. He seems surprised that they are demanding his name.
(He has head phones on…. how long had the cops been asking for his name?)

4. Did Steve Elers have any evidence that the cops let “pakeha” joggers continue jogging through the park?

5. How could cops figure out that Steve Elers was Maori from a distance in the dim, dim light of dawn…as shown on his video clip?

6. Of what relevance to the story is the fact that he had just sat Masters papers the night before, that he was a cop in Australia, or that he is an Anglican Priest?
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August 28, 2024 9:29am
- Phronesis
  
  The obvious answer to your final point – He’s well qualified at making shit up.
  
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  August 28, 2024 9:38am
- Conservatarian
  
  The demand for racism far exceeds the supply.
  
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  August 28, 2024 12:50pm
- Sir Henry Morgan
  
  Steve Elers is yet another a shit-stirring racist who somehow believes he is on the side of the angels.
  
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  August 28, 2024 1:28pm
Matt Long

The campaign by four Uber drivers and unions to end Uber’s operation in New Zealand and spoil it for all the other drivers will now go to the Supreme Court.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/uber-loses-landmark-appeal-court-rules-drivers-are-employees-not-contractors/JDXF52QBBBHPJIQJNFNGYC4JOE/
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August 28, 2024 9:34am
- greybeard
  
  These court decisions could affect other “contractors” as well, not just Uber drivers. e.g maybe subbies on building sites, or even radio hosts like Hosking etc. Hosking was certainly spitting tacks this morning when he spoke about it.
  
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  August 28, 2024 9:52am
  - peterwn
    
    Re building sites. A subbie registered as a company and employing staff on hourly rates would not be affected by the UBER case, An individual on a ‘labour-only’ contract could be classed as an employee but it would turn on how much supervision and control the ‘principal’ has.
    The issue has arisen with Harvey Norman shops in Australia. Although sort of franchised the firm has such detailed control over the person who runs the shop that they have claimed to be ’employees’ (eg if their contract to run the store is cancelled). In 2002 the Employment Court ruled such a person was a ‘contractor’ following the cancellation of his contract. Things may have changed since then.
    
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    August 28, 2024 10:50am
    - Skippytony
      
      The left absolutely hate the whole concept of independent contractors as basically it is an un-organised workforce.
      
      Pretty much every comment by a disaffected Uber driver was about missing normal employment benefits. They are in for a shock when the find out how many of them will be offered an actual job.
      
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      August 28, 2024 12:00pm
- mandk
  
  I spoke to my Uber driver about this last night.
  
  He saw the decision as an attack on his freedom.
  
  He is working as an Uber driver to supplement his income while he is studying to become a CA.
  
  He wouldn’t have this freedom, if his only option was to drive as an employee, with his hours dictated by the taxi company.
  
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  August 28, 2024 12:45pm
- Paulus
  
  Quickest way to cost destroy Uber by the Unions.
  
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  August 28, 2024 3:58pm
- MCōs
  
  I don’t think you quite understand the situation
  Uber drivers are treated as contractors and have no entitlement to annual leave, sick leave and other entitlements they would receive as employees
  Furthermore they earn shit money from which they must maintain their vehicle and other expenses.
  There’s a guy in our whanau who told me he earned less than $60k doing that work. He’s since moved to Oz.
  Previously he’d worked in a Thai restaurant in Gizzy, which was also minimum wage. Him and his wife did that for nine years and fancied a change of scenery so they moved to Auckland.
  
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  August 28, 2024 10:13pm
NothingLeft

Terrorism in Ireland from official stats: 81% far left, 13% Islamist, 4% unspecified, 2% far-right.

Yet far left-aligned media and govt bullshit and gaslight incessantly about real danger being far-right, even when evidence points to other perps.

https://youtu.be/57hCcRtK5JM?t=176
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August 28, 2024 10:32am
- cmm
  
  Not all foreigners are the same.
  
  For example in the UK there are around 68,000 Albanian born people and 680,000 Polish born people (ie. Poles are 10: 1 Albanians),
  Yet there are 1272 Albanians in prison there are 906 Poles.
  
  That is an incarceration rate of 18.7 per thousand for Albanians, 1.3 for Poles and for the general population it is 1.15.
  
  Crank the numbers and Albanians are being imprisoned at 14x what Poles are and 16x the general population.
  
  None of those were for overdue library books.
  
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  August 28, 2024 11:00am
  - mandk
    
    I wonder if this has anything to do with the religious make-up of the Albanian and Polish populations, and how it affects their attitudes towards the law of the land.
    
    For example, according to Wiki, 51% of Albanians follow the ‘religion of peace’, while virtually 0% of Poles do so.
    
    But it might simply be that Albanians have more scumbag tendencies. In the UK, Poles are renowned as good workers, which is why they were welcomed to stay after Brexit.
    
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    August 28, 2024 12:35pm
    - NothingLeft
      
      A religion created by a hegemonic warlord vs religion largely built by a hippyish roman convert working under imperious Judeo-Roman rule where you had to fit in or be executed.
      
      One plays nicely with others, the other does not.
      
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      August 28, 2024 1:14pm
    - MCōs
      
      Most Albanians would leave the country given the chance because the place is a low income dump.
      They make up the highest number of boat people crossing the English Channel ahead of Afghans
      Because there are so many and they are not exactly highly qualified many turn to crime to get by and subsequently end up in prison
      Large numbers are also deported and no doubt start all over again
      
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      August 28, 2024 1:33pm
      - Jack5
        
        New Zealand has a link of sorts with Albania.
        
        The NZ Communist Party was the first Communist party in the “First World” to switch allegiance from the Soviet Union (under Khrushchev) to China and Mao.
        
        When Chinese Communistm became too soft-line for it, the NZ Communist Party switched allegiance to Hoxha’s Communist Albania.
        
        Meanwhile, Albania seeks to extradite a hit squad from Britain to Albania over a murder in Albania:
        
        https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13784947/moment-father-shot-dead-five-star-Albanian-hotel-targeted-British-hit-squad.html
        
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        August 28, 2024 2:42pm
      - cmm
        
        “Most Albanians would leave the country given the chance because the place is a low income dump.”
        
        Sounds a bit like Californians going to Texas to escape California but just spreading the disease by Californicating Texas.
        
        The Albanians “fleeing from poverty” seem to not understand that it is crime that causes poverty. All they are doing is taking their criminality, and future poverty, with them to UK – for all to enjoy.
        
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        August 28, 2024 2:47pm
    - Jake Dee
      
      It’s the presence of Albanian organized crime syndicates not scumbag tendencies. They run drugs, prostitution benefit scams and sponsor more Albanian migration. Probably all communities have some organized crime, but some have a lot. Early Italian migration into America was somewhat similar. I have heard that China towns in goldrush California had very high murder rates, the Triads ran drugs, prostitution and sponsored more Chinese migration. Today not so much and ethnic Chinese neighborhoods are some of the safest in the country.
      
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      August 28, 2024 5:47pm
cmm

“Half of those who failed maths were Māori or Pacific with failure rates of 77 percent for Pacific students and 71 percent for Māori.”

So three quarters of our Pacifika brothers and sisters fail extremely basic maths and we’re supposed to accept “Maori science”?

But more to the point: what is the solution to bringing this back on track?

The teachers are not really interested. They just want to kill the testing so that the problem is hidden. Of course that fixes nothing.

The moral of the story is clear: stop handing over your parental responsibilities to educate your child to the state.

Unfortunately there is a large segment in society who thinks the state should do everything for them and the statistics show there is a huge intersection with Maori.

The solution is to reduce state involvement – not increase it. More parental responsibility for earning a living, feeding kids, educating them and making sure they are not out committing pre-crime (and sometimes real crimes too).

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/350393876/low-pass-rates-new-online-ncea-literacy-numeracy-tests-worry-secondary-teachers
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August 28, 2024 10:47am
- Cassandra
  
  The teachers’ contention is that the tests are the problem. In fact it would seem that the problem is actually the teachers. Plus the culture of some of the students. We need a culture of excellence in learning.
  
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  August 28, 2024 11:28am
  - cmm
    
    “We need a culture of excellence in learning.”
    
    That won’t happen until people see a benefit in learning over sitting on the couch.
    
    I haven’t run the numbers but I expect that getting the dole (+ a “free” house and all the other hand outs) is a pretty sweet deal especially if fortified by a side hustle (moving a bit of meth maybe?).
    
    Even if you want to go legit, truck drivers can earn as much as programmers as employees. Truck drivers don’t have to get an A for maths (and all the work that implies) nor 3-4 years at uni ($250k lost earnings + $40k debt). Nor does a truck driver need an IQ of 120+ (though a higher IQ would probably help if you want to turn your career into business earning you $500k a year)
    
    So remind me why anyone should want to sign up for this “excellence in learning” stuff?
    
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    August 28, 2024 3:11pm
- cmm
  
  Here is really the killer bit:
  
  “It’s not helping with the equity gap at all, in fact it’s exacerbating it. On the surface of it, you’d say that the literacy and numeracy co-requisites are not helping in terms of students being able to access the qualification.”
  
  The teachers seem to think that the qualification itself has value and handing out these qualifications will help improve “equity”.
  
  It is completely beyond any comprehension that a teacher could think the value of education is in the paper that is handed out at the end of the year.
  
  But then the teacher probably has a basketweaving degree.
  
  What is valuable is the skill. If they don’t have the skill then hold the kid back and repeat the education and ensure they get the skill.
  
  If you just hand out qualifications willy-nilly, they drop in value.
  
  South Africa had a problem where too many people were failing maths and not getting school leavers’ qualifications. Solution: drop the pass mark for maths to 30%.
  
  Double-whammy negative result: the matric certificate has dropped in value to where it is meaningless AND they have an unemployable youth!
  
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  August 28, 2024 11:44am
  - imalwaysright
    
    “The teachers seem to think that the qualification itself has value and handing out these qualifications will help improve “equity””
    
    Yes, it is hard to comprehend such a mentality.
    
    I’m surprised they haven’t suggested doling out university degrees along with the fraudulent NCEA.
    Maybe give the bright ones that can read and count a PhD perhaps?
    
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    August 28, 2024 4:02pm
- mandk
  
  “Māori science” is no more than folk wisdom.
  
  It is no more advanced than the wisdom of my UK ancestors from 4,000+ years ago.
  
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  August 28, 2024 12:40pm
Ghost

Here we go again

In response to a Supreme Court ruling granting broad immunity to presidents for official acts, special counsel Jack Smith on Tuesday filed a new federal indictment against former President Donald Trump in the Jan. 6 case involving riots at the U.S. Capitol more than three years ago
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August 28, 2024 11:09am
- NothingLeft
  
  How can that work? Trump was president until Jan 20 so still president so activities on Jan 6 still clearly within Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling. And he repeatedly asked protestors to be peaceful, respect police, go home etc.
  
  Clearly more bullshit lawfare in support of Democrat campaign.
  
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  August 28, 2024 11:30am
  - Mike
    
    That only works if everything a president does is considered an official act.
    
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    August 28, 2024 4:23pm
    - All_on_Red
      
      Thats not correct. Only if what he did on that day could be construed an official act and what he did was usual. He gave a speech “And he repeatedly asked protestors to be peaceful, respect police, go home etc.”
      
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      August 28, 2024 4:55pm
- All_on_Red
  
  Is Jack still pretending to be a Special Counsel?
  
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  August 28, 2024 12:04pm
  - Mike
    
    Doesn’t stop being special cousel while Cannon’s nonsensical ruling is under appeal.
    
    2 3
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    August 28, 2024 4:20pm
    - All_on_Red
      
      Its ‘Counsel’ Mike.
      And the Appeal will fail as the Law is clear.
      This is probably Smiths last go.
      
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      August 28, 2024 4:52pm
    - NothingLeft
      
      Jack Smith’s appointment as a special counsel has been ruled unconstitutional as he wasn’t nominated by President or confirmed by senate.
      
      Alan Dershowitz (mostly left leaning) commentary on it. Says the ruling is reasonable, but will most likely end up eventually at supreme court. He says fundamental problem is that member of Biden’s admin (AG Garland) is the one here deciding to find an excuse to prosecute a political rival of Biden through a tame Democrat lawyer he appointed. Obviously an absolutely rotten state of affairs.
      
      https://youtu.be/pGSXkBzQDjs?t=835
      
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      August 28, 2024 5:22pm
Gravelroad

How come we are reading and hearing so much about this guy Polkinghorne’s murder trial?
Day after day in the print media there is a huge amount of minute detail pertaining to his alleged offences.
Sure, I get it that he is a specialist doctor living in a posh part of Auckland. He may be well known amongst his colleagues and associates.
But outside of Auckland, I suggest most people will have barely heard of him – until now.
Not many others charged with similar crimes attract so much media attention. Why him?
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August 28, 2024 11:50am
- Blog-aholic
  
  They have nothing else they want to tell us about the world and NZ so they fill the spaces with gossip.
  Censorship by ommission maybe?
  
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  August 28, 2024 12:04pm
- Swifty
  
  I’ve been thinking that myself.
  
  I presume it’s purely to attract eyeballs and, given the salacious details of a prominent medical chap, his wife’s suspicious death, hookers, vast spending, drugs etc, they expect to deliver eyeballs in the hundreds of thousands daily.
  
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  August 28, 2024 12:24pm
- kowtow
  
  It’s actually quite perverse and prurient , so it’s essentially pornography.All this on the back of a woman’s tragic death , disgusting.
  NZME seems to have made some sort of editorial decision to throw everything they have at it .
  Steve Braunias in full flowin print , HDPA in the evening and someone’s got a POD cast or some such on it.
  
  I reckon they should follow their own advice and check their white privelige ……..
  
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  August 28, 2024 12:28pm
  - Sir Henry Morgan
    
    I can’t believe Steve Braunias somehow remains employed to ‘write’ even as legacy print media draw their final breaths. In a sane world he’d have been the very first to get laid off.
    
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    August 28, 2024 1:32pm
- NothingLeft
  
  Wealth kinky sex + murder stories get all the media luvvies in a lather, they’re a huge magnet for drama and status obsessed women – who are enormous consumers of ‘true crime’ fiction, documentaries, podcasts etc.
  
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  August 28, 2024 1:26pm
- Chris Nisbet
  
  It might be a bit of a leap, but he happens to be a white guy with a pretty bald head, just like our PM. Are they trying to imply a link between them?
  Like I say, it’s a bit of a leap, but we’re also talking about the worst media in our lifetimes – who knows what’s going on in their tiny minds?
  
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  August 28, 2024 1:41pm
- Ghost
  
  No difference from other high profile cases. Heck, a certain green mp, former, her court appearance had live blogging on msm with all the details. The timaru kids murder was reported in every detail.
  
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  August 28, 2024 1:48pm
- cmm
  
  Of course it is news worthy.
  
  It would be bloody boring it it was yet another story about a brown dude beating his girlfriend’s SOCK to death to make another playmate for the Kahui twins.
  
  Who would read that? It would be easy to write though: just cut and paste the article from last week, or the week before that, and just change the kid’s name with search and replace: “Ruthless Empire” to “Flavoured Sunshine” or whatever. All the suff about colonialism, fetal alcohol syndrome etc etc etc doesn’t need to change.
  
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  August 28, 2024 3:20pm
  - MCōs
    
    The trial of South African woman who murdered her three little kids attracted a lot of media interest, don’t forget.
    
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    August 28, 2024 9:52pm
    - Ghost
      
      I think people make up this myth in their heads and cannot see anything but that. I can think of numerous cases that had reporting like this.
      
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      August 28, 2024 10:06pm
- Paulus
  
  Not sure that I have heard from the media any real evidence that he murdered his wife by hanging her ?
  Yes, he was a rich Remmers scum which the media love but ?
  
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  August 28, 2024 4:02pm
  - Swifty
    
    There has been Paulus.
    
    The prosecution’s assertion is that he’s throttled her and then staged the ‘suicide by hanging’ and they’ve presented evidence that this is in fact the case.
    
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    August 28, 2024 5:25pm
Grunter

More craziness from NZ Health and the PSA. Calling for voluntary redundancies – it just went out to all staff.

PSA national secretary Kerry Davies said the agency was “being forced to meet the Government’s unhinged and unplanned defunding of healthcare, no matter the consequences”.

This sounds like complete chaos……so take the redundancy and them get re-employed as they figure out what to do?

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/health-new-zealand-introduces-voluntary-redundancies-following-overspend-union-says/I3R4P6XOZBDQTHINFQA5I6K3UE/
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August 28, 2024 11:51am
- Don Beckett
  
  I wonder what the minister has to say about that ? Looks like deliberate sabotage to me as the govt. has said they wanted the frontline staff to be maintained & increased.
  
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  August 28, 2024 12:32pm
  - Jinky
    
    It’s not available to health professionals. Aimed at admin staff.
    
    5 0
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    August 28, 2024 1:16pm
  - Ghost
    
    They’re not Frontline staff
    
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    August 28, 2024 1:28pm
- cmm
  
  They really need to be careful which staff they cut.
  Sometimes support staff are worth their weight in gold and really help front line staff perform better.
  
  In hospitals nurses aids are often dismissed as “just” being support staff and not as important as nurses. That is correct to a point. But if you get to the state where nurses are making beds that nurse aids could have made, then you’re wasting the nurses capabilities and time.
  
  But these are “hidden losses” that don’t show up on spread sheets.
  
  I see that in the private sector too though. One of my customers cut an office junior position. One of the things she did (and did very well) was booking flights and hotels etc. Now the engineers etc have to do their booking though a terrible website. The engineers (worth, say, $500 per hour to the company), are taking 3 or 4 hours to sort out their bookings for a conference etc. Cost $2000 in engineering time (probably + the same again due to not getting the best deals).
  
  Yup, they might have cut $40k a year off their staffing budget but they’re losing $200k a year in hidden losses.
  
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  August 28, 2024 2:58pm
- rouppe
  
  It’s just lazy.
  
  Ceo’s are paid to make hard strategic decisions. Just going out for voluntary redundancy is pathetic.
  
  Where is the analysis of their systems, where the time sinks are, the processes that don’t provide value, where there is duplication.
  
  A general call for voluntary redundancy doesn’t increase any efficiency as part of the cost reduction
  
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  August 28, 2024 3:04pm
  - Mike
    
    Offering voluntary redundancy is the quickest way to get staff reductions. The priority is cost cutting over efficiency, as increased inefficiencies can be safely blamed on the previous regime.
    
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    August 28, 2024 4:29pm
    - rouppe
      
      As i said. Lazy.
      
      A gargantuan amount of money is spent on vote health, yet health outcomes are materially worse.
      
      Any public servant (I include MoH heads in that) should be looking to improve the outcomes of their ministry.
      
      This is like a child being told to take the rubbish to the kerb only for the parent to discover the child has emptied the bins onto the street. “But you told me to put the rubbish on the kerb…”
      
      The ceo has gone “but you told me to drop staff” acting like a child, not a leader
      
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      August 28, 2024 6:31pm
slightlyrighty

https://youtu.be/fdPIKgjR_gE?si=pVDRKwXKj17bn_eN

Well……this is just plain weird, although I think there would be a few Fanboys here who might spring for a few of these bad boys!
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August 28, 2024 12:26pm
Chuck Bird

As a long-term shareholder of Mercury shares, I have contacted Mercury with a few questions. One is about considering nuclear power if it works in Oz. Another is about the PM of either party interfering in the day-to-day running of the company. I think a sell-off of shares.

I will be attending the AGM on 19 September in Auckland. Any other shareholders attending?
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August 28, 2024 3:13pm
Yvette

Two iwi pen scathing open letter refuting Luxon’s Crown sovereignty claim
Two Northland iwi have penned a scathing open letter to the prime minister, rejecting his assertion in the House last week that Māori had ceded sovereignty.
On Tuesday, August 20, Christopher Luxon confirmed his view that Māori ceded sovereignty to the Crown following a series of questions from Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick.
The following Sunday, August 25, Ngāti Hine and Ngāti Manu met and penned a joint letter rebuking Luxon.
“Your assertion is both misleading and offensive,” the iwi wrote, citing the Waitangi Tribunal’s Te Paparahi o Te Raki Inquiry, which concluded northern chiefs did not cede sovereignty in either He Whakaputanga or Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
“We absolutely and categorically refute your claim that the Crown is sovereign.”
https://www.teaonews.co.nz/2024/08/28/two-iwi-pen-scathing-open-letter-refuting-luxons-crown-sovereignty-claim/

Will we be involved in a civil war by the time ACT gets their act together in November?
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August 28, 2024 3:26pm
- Mike
  
  No
  
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  August 28, 2024 6:20pm
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  Taitokerau, eh. Forever argumentative, those guys. The sort of people who will never compromise and always blame others for a lack of agreement.
  
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  August 28, 2024 8:55pm
Jack5

The Advertising Standards Authority has told a Kiwi brewer it cannot use a Maori name – “Kupe” – on its beer.

How dare brewers put a Kupe beer in their series featuring great navigators such as Magellan and Columbus? The brewers can’t laud Kupe as a great explorer?

Sean Plunket, on the Platform tackled this beer name issue this afternoon.

“We’ve got to stand up against this Woke stupidity,” said Plunket.

And later in the video: “This decision is what drives racial division and tension in this country.”

Plunket’s program:

https://youtu.be/T-eqw-Tmaoc?si=azw0_b3en8Gu-r4t

A newspaper report:

https://www.odt.co.nz/business/brewery-told-stop-selling-kupe-beer

The Advertising Standards Authority report:

https://cdn.asa.co.nz/backend/documents/2024/08/13/24133.pdf
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August 28, 2024 4:03pm
- Jack5
  
  Make-up of the group that decides on advertising complaints such as the use of “Kupe” for a beer?
  
  https://www.asa.co.nz/about-us/complaints-board-ascb-members/
  
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  August 28, 2024 4:29pm
Dougal10

So Ecan refuse to give up the chch based iwi representives. This iwi has as many seats at the table as the vast ecan area south of the rangitata. It is time that regional council representation became region based not population based. Ecan and the ORC are completely dominated by city based councilors who just want cash from the regions to prop up the staff bloated councils.
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August 28, 2024 4:27pm
- Mod88
  
  Add in Otago Regional Council pushing through with their Land & Water Plan when the Minister/Central Govt has told them the Law will be changed. Consulted Ngai Tahu but not the Ratepayers. NZ needs a National Rates strike to bring these Councils to heel. All of them.
  
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  August 28, 2024 5:00pm
- Mike
  
  Bring back the country quota!
  
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  August 28, 2024 5:21pm
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    Bring back Penny Bright!
    
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    August 28, 2024 8:56pm
Tauhei Notts

The USA’s Defence (Defense?) Department have weird ways of spending their dough.
An advertisement warning that the U.S. will respond to provocations appeared on the Tinder web site in Lebanon. The advert had several pictures of American fighter jets.
Tinder???
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August 28, 2024 5:08pm
- Jake Dee
  
  Psychological Operations (Psyops).
  There has been plenty of use of dating apps in the Russia/Ukraine war. Luring soldiers to defect, fishing for information, planting false stories, contacting agents. Did you ever see one of those old detective movies where they use the “lonely hearts” column of the local newspaper? I think there was a Sherlock Holmes story with that device.
  
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  August 28, 2024 5:57pm
Biscuit

Who’d ever have thunk! There is a Labour Member of Parliament even more clueless than Chris Hipkins.

Step forward Ginny Anderson and her spouting some novel interpretations of police ‘on the beat’ numbers.

Ginny says they have gone down.

Clearly she was expected the One Ewes reporter, Benedict Collins, to swallow her claims with no rebuttal…

But…

Benedict was able to counter Ginny’s – let’s call them what they are – lies with figures of his own.

Ginny looked, all of a sudden, as if she’d rather be elsewhere…

Great stuff, Benedict…
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August 28, 2024 6:21pm
- Gravelroad
  
  Yep.
  Don’t think I have ever seen anything like it on the TV1 News – a senior political reporter holding a Labour Party former minister to account and not letting her off the hook.
  Benedict Collins eh? Who would of thought he had it in him to front former Police Minister Andersen like that?
  He knew Andersen was faking the figures and didn’t let her get away with it for once.
  And she looked very sulky when she scuttled off at the end.
  And then that dope Hipkins had to embarrass himself by agreeing with her against the figures on the police website.
  Wow.
  
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  August 28, 2024 6:43pm
  - Quail
    
    Sorry should be uptick.
    
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    August 28, 2024 7:22pm
  - Swifty
    
    Hahahhahaha!
    
    Just watched it on the TVNZ website – she was straight out lying. Baseless assertions without a scrap of evidence in support – and when challenged, tried to swerve off into ‘rural’ patrols and then just stuck her fingers in her ears.
    
    What a pity that hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders will just automatically believe her.
    
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    August 28, 2024 8:02pm
- Ghost
  
  Deny and lie, the labour motto.
  
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  August 28, 2024 6:52pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Yep,
  
  watch here, from about 38sec onward:
  
  https://www.1news.co.nz/2024/08/28/labour-cherry-picked-cop-foot-patrol-data-police-minister/
  
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  August 28, 2024 8:10pm
- MCōs
  
  She came out of that encounter with egg on her face because she was interviewed by someone who’d done a bit of preparation
  A lot more politicians should be hauled over the coals thus, but get away with spouting garbage because interviewers are not as informed as they might be.
  Of course pulling MPs up on the veracity of their favourite talking points doesn’t make one universally popular on forums such as this
  
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  August 28, 2024 8:31pm
surfing

Ginny Anderson was made to look an absolute fool on tonight’s TV1 news.

She was claiming police foot patrols were down between December and June, and National is at fault.

However, police foot patrols are very seasonal, summer is very different from winter, so you have to compare year on year.

It would be equivalent to claiming that the world is cooling because the June temperatures were colder than January.

Using police stats, year on year, police foot patrols are up 10%.

Ginny was made to look like an absolute fool, probably because she is!
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August 28, 2024 6:27pm
- Swifty
  
  Typical for Labour.
  
  Their concern is not for the truth or even for our welfare – their concern is getting themselves back in power by fair means or foul.
  
  Exactly the wrong sort of people we want in positions of authority over us.
  
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  August 28, 2024 7:03pm
  - Albie
    
    A symptom of the left in general. You only have to took at the Dem’s farcical transition of power from Sleepy Joe to Cackling Kamala.
    
    4 1
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    August 28, 2024 8:38pm
Swifty

I wonder how Aussie women think of this person being recognised by the Aussie government as a woman?

https://www.stuff.co.nz/world-news/350394851/leader-pack-australian-inmate-allegedly-led-child-sex-abuse-ring-prison

And that offences committed by this person are deemed to be committed by ‘women’ in official stats.
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August 28, 2024 7:00pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  So transistioning from a male to a transwoman hasn’t curbed this pedophile’s sexual interest in little kiddies.
  
  Colour me surprised!
  
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  August 28, 2024 8:21pm
Steve Todd

Trump CRIMES get FULLY EXPOSED in Pitch-Perfect BREAKDOWN

Ten days ago, in a reply to Taieri, I described Trump as a “ghastly shell of a man, a man who has led a charmed life of crime and self-service”.

This 15-minute video from MeidasTouch host Anthony Davis (put out an hour or two ago) sets out many of Trump’s “high Crimes and Misdemeanors” over the last 40+ years.

See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aehR6xYad6g [14:35].

It can only be described as a devastating takedown of the man, who, in my opinion, is the most unsuitable person ever to seek election to the Oval Office.

Well worth your time, if only to take on board an alternative point of view as to the sort of man Americans could well elect as their president on November 5.
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August 28, 2024 7:29pm
- Tom Hunter
  
  Two words in response.
  
  Woodrow Wilson.
  
  Although he’s probably one of your heroes. 🙂
  
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  August 28, 2024 10:33pm
NeverMindTheBollocks

“ is the most unsuitable person ever to seek election to the Oval Office”

Come, come, Steve. Have you not considered the demerits of Warren G Harding? Andrew Johnson? James Buchanan? And that’s just those who managed to get elected.
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August 28, 2024 9:07pm
- All_on_Red
  
  I think with Steve, ignorance is bliss
  Ruh roh
  https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2024/08/26/dem-pollsters-are-warning-that-kamala-harris-numbers-arent-that-good-n2643893
  
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  August 28, 2024 10:20pm

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