General Debate 31 October 2024

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NeverMindTheBollocks

Shell Lane (The Terrace) bike rack report:

At 8.00am, zero bikes.

A calm, coolish, light wind morning in the Capital, ideal for cycling.
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October 31, 2024 8:04am
- lastmanstanding
  
  Interesting how Left Wing Leaders ( Im thinking Albanese and Starmer) play up their dirt poor backgrounds and representing the poor yet when they get in office they have their noses deep in the trough seeking and taking all the freebies they can get.
  
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  October 31, 2024 9:20am
  - sirknz
    
    That describes most on the left, noses in the trough, trying to get everything they can from everyone else…
    
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    October 31, 2024 9:23am
    - Kiwiguy
      
      Yep, driven by envy.
      
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      October 31, 2024 10:34am
- ISeeRed
  
  Setting up a camera to do time-lapse over 30 days and counting the number of users would be interesting.
  
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  October 31, 2024 12:06pm
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    I believe there is cctv there.
    
    Does anyone feel an OIA request coming on?
    
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    October 31, 2024 9:08pm
- AitchW
  
  At least your expensive bike rack isn’t being scratched and worn out by people putting their bikes in it.
  
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  October 31, 2024 1:05pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Just waiting for the Wellington Council to buy 4 bikes and lock them to that rack permanently.
  
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  October 31, 2024 6:42pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Ayesha Verrall admits she was out of the loop when Min of Health Finance advisers decided to have a big scoff-up last year.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018961978/health-nz-spent-nearly-100-000-on-catering-for-conference
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October 31, 2024 8:04am
- cmm
  
  To be fair, one hardly expects a minister to be involved in the planning of catering for a conference.
  
  However you would hope that they ensure that those in charge are being respectful of the taxpayers’ wallets.
  
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  October 31, 2024 8:07am
  - Matt Long
    
    Labour Minister respectful of taxpayer money. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
    
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    October 31, 2024 8:11am
    - Jethrod
      
      Mind you , that button gets a bit of a tight stretch on it when she gets indignant on TV. It’s not as if she needs it!
      
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      October 31, 2024 8:22am
  - rockape
    
    However I would expect a Minister to be responsible for the culture they develop in their ministry. Is it a culture of spending taxpayers money wisely or not !
    
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    October 31, 2024 10:51am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    She should have been checking accounts surely, she will have been at that conference, you would thi k she would check the cost at some point
    
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    October 31, 2024 3:21pm
- Burtland
  
  the worlds turned a page – a million dollars is nothing any more – all in about 5 years
  
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  October 31, 2024 8:21am
- pdm
  
  If she was inside the loop would that make her – LOOPY?
  
  If so that would be a change from her being a squawking fishwife.
  
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  October 31, 2024 8:26am
- AitchW
  
  Pfft when was she ever in the loop? 2nd worst health minister after Hipkins.
  
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  October 31, 2024 8:41am
- mandk
  
  “Ayesha Verrall admits she was out of the loop …”
  
  That’s nothing new. She was always utterly clueless. Just like Jan Tinetti.
  
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  October 31, 2024 8:50am
  - AitchW
    
    mandk isn’t that a prerequisite for a Labour minister? Can’t have a minister who is smarter and more effective than the leader.
    And let’s be honest, Labour haven’t had a smart, effective leader for quite some time.
    
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    October 31, 2024 9:07am
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  She would always be out of the loop, but true to a leftie minister would never think to check accounts
  
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  October 31, 2024 3:19pm
Grunter

When socialism fails and the socialists protest for more socialism and spend even more of the citizens money…..

The Dunedin hospital mess continues to get even dumber. The DCC spends money they didn’t have on a pointless campaign and argue that we need even more socialism to fix failed socialism.

https://search.app/pc4jjDKCGKMx6SrV6
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October 31, 2024 8:05am
- AitchW
  
  Grunter, wouldnt you love to be a Dunedin rate payer and see your rates going to pay for a campaign to get your local hospital built?
  Especially when the Minister of Health has said it is going to be built, just not with solid gold taps that the last lot promised!
  
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  October 31, 2024 9:09am
  - Burtland
    
    visited Christchurchs $184M Waipapa hospital block recently – no gold plated taps but all pretty lux – almost got lost from the lack of bilingual signage.
    
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    October 31, 2024 9:54am
    - wsk12345
      
      Was it only signed in the special language?
      
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      October 31, 2024 11:29am
    - ISeeRed
      
      No te reo? Reporting this hate crime to the HRC.
      
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      October 31, 2024 12:14pm
    - Burtland
      
      surprise, very little maori
      
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      October 31, 2024 8:53pm
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  Worse than that, they tried to hide the costs on the pathetic ambulance that the mayor said he borrowed off his mate, they put the cost down to a new car, there was no car
  
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  October 31, 2024 3:23pm
Matt Long

A good summary of the Southport Islamist cover up, it seems very similar to the way UK police covered up Pakistani rape ganngs previously.
Some people call it suicidal empathy, but it seems to me the ruling classes are enjoying vicarious evil.
https://x.com/StarkNakedBrief/status/1851442988683018263
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October 31, 2024 8:10am
- Notsofast
  
  Another take, I just prepared this post:
  
  It now seems this was rational fear of Islamism and the BBC were complicit in denying the Islamism behind the 3 girls murdered. Many men were jailed and 61 year old Peter Lynch killed himself in jail.
  
  “The motivations of the man who entered a Taylor Swift-themed Birthday party to attack the young girls in attendance have now been made public. Unsurprisingly, it was motivated by Islamism. Axel Rudakubana is facing charges of making a biological weapon and possessing a jihadi terror manual. After months of accusations of prejudicial Islamophobia, there are questions to which the British public want answers.”
  
  And
  
  “One BBC article blamed the subsequent riots on “untrue claims that the attacker was a Muslim” while another suggested that his being a Muslim was a “false online rumour”. Disturbances erupted outside of the Southport Mosque with a number of protestors arrested for violence and incitement, leading Sir Keir Starmer to condemn Islamophobia and far-right thuggery in his first speech after the attack.”
  
  https://courage.media/2024/10/29/misinformation-amidst-the-southport-terror/
  
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  October 31, 2024 10:55am
Matt Long

Jon Stewart Mocks Media Outrage Over Comedian’s “Very Funny” Jokes at Trump MSG Rally

“There’s something wrong with me. I find that guy [Tony Hinchcliffe] very funny.”

Bringing Hinchcliffe to a rally and having him “not do roast jokes” would be “like bringing Beyoncé to a rally and not having… Oh”
https://x.com/VigilantFox/status/1851399176313323712
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October 31, 2024 8:14am
- Burtland
  
  the only comedian appears to be Biden
  
  “Biden in hot water over comments that Donald Trump’s supporters are “garbage” “
  
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  October 31, 2024 8:29am
  - Inandout
    
    Burt, Joe is getting his last dig at Kamala before being silenced. He despises her.
    
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    October 31, 2024 9:12am
    - Flossie
      
      Serious question. How do you know this?
      
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      October 31, 2024 9:32am
      - Conservatarian
        
        Miranda Devine of the NY Post has repeatedly reported that Biden and Harris despise each other. Also that Biden and Obama despise each other , though this is more that Obama pities Biden’s stupidity (this also speaks to Obama’s air of condescension).
        
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        October 31, 2024 11:45am
    - leoj
      
      ……proving that he was NEVER in charge. Biden backed himself into a corner by declaring that the VP had to black and female. DEI is a failure, as is Harris.
      
      The Dems are a basket case of DEI and wokeism. They will get exactly what they deserve next week because middle America has had a gutsful.
      
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      October 31, 2024 2:42pm
  - Rich Prick
    
    Hey! I identify as compost!
    
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    October 31, 2024 1:29pm
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    Trump driving around today in a garbage truck ridiculing Biden and the dems in the process
    
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    October 31, 2024 3:25pm
- cmm
  
  Some people find “roast jokes” hilarious. I am not one of them.
  
  It’s a risky move. Roast jokes are always going to provide sound bites that provide ammo for the opposition.
  
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  October 31, 2024 8:38am
  - AitchW
    
    cmm and are generally puerile, playground stuff.
    Cheap laughs from cheap shots.
    
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    October 31, 2024 8:42am
  - Matt Long
    
    I don’t find roast jokes particularly funny either, but I do like irony.
    Konstantin Kisin reports on the Nazi Trump rally at MSG. He watched it for us.
    https://youtu.be/I1IsPL3xWSk?si=jYb2I-ywPHcrQWUb 10 minutes.
    
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    October 31, 2024 9:17am
  - RoboRob
    
    Yup poor choice to front that sort of comedy at your political rally when you know the media and your opposition are just hanging out for opportunities to have a go at you.
    
    Luckily Bidens senility or hatred for Kamala has led him to divert the attention back to the Dems with his comments about Trumps supporters being garbage individuals. This really harks back to Hillarys ‘basket of deplorables’ and Kamalas campaign statements that the MSG rally was a fascist event.
    
    It’s almost like the Dems really do think that anyone voting republican is garbage. They know not to say it but sometimes it just slips out.
    
    The American population isn’t stupid, they know what the Dems think of them. Even the ‘blacks’ and hispanics are starting to see that the dems consider them a ‘locked in vote’ and dont really care about them. To quote Joe Biden ‘If you aint voting for me you aint black’.
    
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    October 31, 2024 9:35am
    - Paulus
      
      I wonder whether both Biden and America are really ready for their first Female President.
      Irrespective of whatever the politics of either clowns I am not sure that they are yet ready !
      
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      October 31, 2024 11:04am
      - wsk12345
        
        It’s not about them being female, it’s the nasty individuals that have been on offer!
        
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        October 31, 2024 11:38am
      - leoj
        
        Trouble is: the moronic left are all for a first female leader but mention Maggy Thatcher and they go berserk.
        
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        October 31, 2024 2:44pm
    - Beach Haven expat
      
      On Kamala’s big Washington set piece – if Trump holding his rally at MSG was more proof he was a Nazi because of a rally there by fascists in the 30s, according to many commentators, what does that make Kamala’s for holding a rally at the Jan 6 site?
      The level of media commentary has been ever more ridiculous.
      
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      October 31, 2024 12:07pm
    - ISeeRed
      
      Puh-leese. It wouldn’t matter how safe Trump tried to play it. The establishment media would and do “have a go” at every opportunity no matter how inconsequential or innocent. See also: NZ media and Luxon.
      
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      October 31, 2024 12:19pm
      - leoj
        
        Is this an attempt to compare Trump with Luxon?
        
        One has a great record while the other is a weak, woke maori activist leading a namby-pamby party.
        
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        October 31, 2024 2:47pm
- Conservatarian
  
  Stewart is guilty of telling the truth here. The last time he did this was during the Covid Regime with his [in]famous appearance on the “comedy” show of Dem shill Stephen Colbert. Stewart mocked the Covid Regime’s inability to make any official link to the Wuhan lab manipulating viruses (to my knowledge the Regime still appears to insist that the source of the outbreak was the wet market near the labs).
  
  Stewart compared this to a fictional outbreak of chocolatey goodness being discovered right next to the Hershey’s factory but officials being mystified as to the cause of the outbreak. A good bit of comedy rooted in truth. Colbert was very uncomfortable during the bit, befitting his role as a Regime propagandist.
  
  Stewart then did his penance by not deviating one inch from the line of the Democrat-media complex for years. Until now.
  
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  October 31, 2024 8:55am
  - Frank Thomas
    
    Errr….could it be that Stewart just calls it the way he see’s it rather than just blindly following other peoples narratives? Just a thought
    
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    October 31, 2024 9:06am
    - Conservatarian
      
      Yes Frank, he “calls it the way he sees it” very occasionally. The rest of the time he is a Regime Comedian.
      
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      October 31, 2024 10:27am
imalwaysright

Pennsylvania TV station broadcasts next weeks election results during Formula 1 race!:

Harris 52% 3,293,712 votes
Trump 47% 2,997,793 votes

https://youtu.be/aU2-rTtJRcg?si=LtXRHmds5MW7ue–
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October 31, 2024 8:14am
- Steve Todd
  
  The explanation is probably correct. The figures shown on screen would appear to be demonstration “progress” figures.
  
  The official results from the statewide report give Biden: 3,458,229, Trump: 3,377,674, [diff. 80,555], Jorgensen: 79,380. The turnout appears to be around 67%.
  
  Dave Leip’s figures at the link, below (click on PA), show results “updated in several counties [as] per official county reports”, being Biden: 3,461,221 (49.87%), Trump: 3,379,055 (48.69%), [diff. 82,166], Jorgensen: 79,445 (1.14%).
  
  So, ignoring Jorgensen, Write-ins and Others, that’s 6,840,276 votes for Biden and Trump. Your figures sum to 6,291,505. The final combined figure for Harris and Trump will likely exceed 7 million.
  
  Although this should never have happened, especially in such a partisan environment, I think we can all relax.
  
  See https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/.
  
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  October 31, 2024 10:46am
  - imalwaysright
    
    Thanks👍🏻
    
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    October 31, 2024 1:32pm
kowtow

Reason 3201 why NZ’s in such deep shit.

A huge business story is the trouble VW is in due to a variety of reasons .
Facing many of the problems NZ does ; high power prices , carbon regulations , Chinese competition .

For the first time since Bomber Command tried to close its factories , VW is proposing closing some domestic plants , laying off workers and cutting pay .

But our te meedia paahti are obsessing about a threatening war dance before a footie match and the Presidential candidate who would reverse the wokery that threatens his economy, stability and standard of living.
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October 31, 2024 8:15am
- cmm
  
  The Hitler Motor Company was struggling to sell EVs here even with a $20k (25%) discount. That made these EVs far cheaper than during the taxpayer funded rebate period.
  
  Once you’re cutting prices by 25% you’re slitting your own throat.
  
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  October 31, 2024 8:58am
  - Swifty
    
    I’ve read that 80% of car company revenues are from parts and services post initial sale – so there could be sense in lowering new car prices.
    
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    October 31, 2024 9:54am
    - info@cruzpro.com
      
      That doesn’t bode well for ev companies.
      
      Ev’s require very little maintenance. Our 2013 Nissan LEAF has only required two new tires and windshield wiper fluid in the past 10 years.
      
      No other maintenance, zip, zero, zilch.
      
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      October 31, 2024 1:25pm
      - NeverMindTheBollocks
        
        No new wiper blades? Do you not drive your car in the rain?
        
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        October 31, 2024 9:13pm
    - NothingLeft
      
      Yep, mass-market cars are just loss leaders. A lot of manufacturers only make about $1000 per car they sell – but most of that comes from selling spares at insanely inflated prices.
      
      Its a huge entry barrier for new manufacturers, because they don’t get the revenue from servicing the old fleet.
      
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      October 31, 2024 1:53pm
    - rouppe
      
      Like printers. Cheap to buy, ink is ridiculous.
      
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      October 31, 2024 2:01pm
- Burtland
  
  the UN and EUs attempt to change the climate is starting to hit the rocks
  – they needed cheap russian oil to do it, china has coal
  
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  October 31, 2024 10:00am
Chuck Bird

People who vote for the Greens or the Maori Party are garbage!
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October 31, 2024 8:35am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  But Chuck, you’re not the President of the United States of America.
  
  Although, it does reflect as much on you as Biden to describe your fellow citizens as garbage.
  
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  October 31, 2024 8:41am
  - Chuck Bird
    
    “Although, it does reflect as much on you as Biden to describe your fellow citizens as garbage.”
    
    People who support the 7 October atrocities are garbage.
    
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    October 31, 2024 9:00am
    - sirknz
      
      Here’s a Venn diagram of the TPM/Greens supporters and people who support the instigators of the October 7th atrocities:
      
      O
      
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      October 31, 2024 9:33am
- Ghost
  
  People are free to vote for who they wish, and they should be able to do so without abuse.
  
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  October 31, 2024 8:45am
  - Matt Long
    
    Ghost, free votes and free speech, I’m uncomfortable with calling green voters garbage, and I’m uncomfortable with people who vote terrorist supporters.
    
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    October 31, 2024 9:05am
    - Ghost
      
      Recently I saw a politician’s wife claim anyone that didn’t vote for her team were sexist and racist.
      
      There are greens and Maori voters who won’t support their stand with Palestine. But now apparently we have a member who even thinks he should tell DPF who to vote for .
      
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      October 31, 2024 9:14am
  - Chuck Bird
    
    Read my post. I asked DPF if he considered changing his support to Act. There is a difference.
    
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    October 31, 2024 1:37pm
    - Ghost
      
      Who DPF votes for is none of your business.
      
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      October 31, 2024 1:57pm
Maggy Wassilieff

When did our welfare benefit system change from a safety net to a dragnet?

“Our benefit system should be a safety net, not a dragnet that keeps people down. It must be a genuine pathway to employment for those who can work.

https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA2410/S00236/dire-benefit-forecasts-show-the-need-for-welfare-that-works.htm
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October 31, 2024 8:57am
- Keith White
  
  When we stopped holding people even partially responsible for stupid and costly decisions (e.g. too-easy divorce without making greater effort to work it out; paying people to stay unemployed while they devote no effort to getting a job; paying people to be serially impregnated; not holding serial impregnators to account by garnishing their wages; etc.
  
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  October 31, 2024 9:01am
  - MCōs
    
    I don’t think the law has changed since I was divorced coming up for forty years ago and we certainly didn’t take the decision lightly
    In fact the separation was the major step and there’s no law that says you must live together except the law of the fist.
    Of course it may not be viable financially, but that’s a sad reason to stay together
    The actual divorce was a couple of years later
    
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    October 31, 2024 11:15am
- cmm
  
  I thought it had become more of a hammock than a safety net.
  
  A safety net is just there to prevent the worst outcomes. It is not supposed to be comfortable. Fall in a safety net and you’re still going to get bruises and maybe a twisted ankle.
  
  The modern social system is a comfortable hammock: lie back, take it easy. Wrap around services will be along soon to take your orders…
  
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  October 31, 2024 9:01am
- artemisia
  
  And then there is the black / grey economy, earlier this century estimated at $20billion.
  
  At some point it is no longer worth putting resource into people moving into work. Cheaper to pay them to lie on the sofa when cost of ‘work brokers’ and cost/hassle to employers becomes uneconomic. Target the resource where it will actually make a difference.
  
  A pilot of ‘rubber rooms’ would be worth a try. Jobseekers have to turn up for set hours each day, work on CV, skills, job applications. .When this was done in the UK a few years back, a miracle occurred! Some came off benefit right away as they could not be in two places at once.
  
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  October 31, 2024 9:43am
  - Tauhei Notts
    
    The word I am getting is that the arse has fallen out of the marijuana market. If so then I believe this will have a significant impact on the grey economy.
    
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    October 31, 2024 12:00pm
    - Colville
      
      Various pills and potions have just taken the gap tho, go to a concert these days half the crowd is on the Class A’s.
      
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      October 31, 2024 12:51pm
- Anthony Melchett
  
  November 2017?
  
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  October 31, 2024 11:37am
Keith White

Police no-show to early-morning home-invasion of elderly wheelchair-bound lady’s place.

Guess she messed up. She should have called to say “boy-racers are doing wheelies on the rainbow crossing outside my house and shooting high-capacity assault rifles with flamethrower attachments while shouting ‘MAGA forever.'”

That would have seen at least 6 Police ‘Skoda Superb’ (yes, really) cars and an AOS delivery van turn up within minutes.
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October 31, 2024 8:57am
- Inandout
  
  KW, I presume this old lady wasn’t related to anyone important or the cops would have responded immediately.
  
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  October 31, 2024 9:31am
- MCōs
  
  There’s about five rainbow crossing in the country so it would be a huge coincidence if Destiny Church fronted up outside her place.
  
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  October 31, 2024 10:18am
  - Taieri
    
    There’s one in Invercargill, one at Dunedin airport and one in Queenstown. That makes three at the bottom of the South Island alone.
    
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    October 31, 2024 10:43am
    - Paulus
      
      And the new Tauranga Council under Mayor Mahe Drysdale, have approved a Rainbow crossing to be built, despite serious opposition form other that 1% of the population who pushed the Councillors for it.
      
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      October 31, 2024 11:11am
- NothingLeft
  
  If you get property damaged or burgled, just spray paint a swastika before calling the police and they will give laser-like focus to solving it.
  
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  October 31, 2024 1:58pm
- ISeeRed
  
  Thanks for the LOL! You forgot the T-shirts saying “Woman: adult human female”.
  
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  October 31, 2024 2:19pm
Grunter

I’ve just been watching & reading a few USA election updates….. I reckon The Orange Man is going to bolt in. My guess is 330+ electoral votes
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October 31, 2024 8:59am
- Steve Todd
  
  Well, if it doesn’t turn out the way you hope, Grunter, I hope you will not be one of the many Kiwiblog commenters who will say the election was rigged; it was obvious weeks ago that “the fix” was in; etc.
  
  For the record, I have no idea what the outcome will be. “Lefty” videos on YouTube say Harris will win, often quoting the latest left-wing polling, and “Righty” videos on YouTube say Trump will win, often quoting the latest right-wing polling.
  
  What I do know, though, is that if Trump wins, sure, I will be disappointed, but I also know that I will simply suck it up and carry on with my life.
  
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  October 31, 2024 9:57am
  - Local Miller
    
    Really, you would be disappointed if Harris won the election. Do you really want someone who is worse than Ardern was (if this is possible) to run the most powerful country in the world? Well it was the most powerful country until Sleepy Joe took over.
    Love or hate Trump, there is no way that Harris will be better for the USA than Trump will be.
    
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    October 31, 2024 10:28am
    - Steve Todd
      
      No, I said I will be disappointed if Trump wins.
      
      You have your point of view, I have mine. If Trump wins, my disappointment will be shared with somewhere around 75 million American voters.
      
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      October 31, 2024 11:11am
      - sherp
        
        Lol if Harris wins the inflation bidenomics caused will look like childs play…. any yea having the worlds global reserve currency being hyper inflated by an idiot politician printing money will destroy global economic prosperity. So yea we all know trump is the only way this won’t happen but keep lying to yourself.
        
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        October 31, 2024 1:34pm
      - Notsofast
        
        Your disappointment was guaranteed when DEI officers instructed Biden to appoint a black female VP, thus eliminating most candidates. This is an agreed fact.
        It is not surprising Obama wanted to reopen the ballot. Following this catastrophe it became a sure thing she would appoint a sillier person than herself to the ticket in that nonsensical Walz.
        JD Vance is the only serious candidate in the field, you should look right past Trump in this election.
        On another note Condoleeza Rice popped up on YouTube, leading me to ask why did the dems not find a proper black woman to field, until I recalled she was a republican.
        
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        October 31, 2024 2:18pm
  - newview
    
    Why will you be disappointed Steve. Are you American. If not you must know Trump won’t be great for NZ with trade barriers. Those trade barriers will eventually hurt the US. I don’t get it.
    
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    October 31, 2024 10:32am
    - Don Beckett
      
      Trump is not proposing trade barriers to countries like NZ. He is saying he will impose tarrifs on countries that some US manufacturers have taken their manufacturing facilities to, to gain an advantage with low cost of wages & closed their US operations & importing their goods for those other countries.
      
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      October 31, 2024 10:46am
      - newview
        
        You say that Don but there was an economist on the box the other day saying a bigger risk for us with Trump. Simply because he’s random and nobody knows what he will do. I wouldn’t have thought that was a smart way to run a country. Wide spread trade barriers might work for a while giving the locals some protection but in the end it will hurt their economy and make them less competitive. IMO
        
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        October 31, 2024 11:14am
    - Steve Todd
      
      newview, I said I will be disappointed if Trump wins.
      
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      October 31, 2024 11:25am
    - Benedict Yu
      
      “Trump won’t be great for NZ with trade barriers. ”
      
      That is a one dimensional view.
      
      I do not agree with Trump’s trade policies.
      
      I doubt that he is coming after New Zealand. AFAIK all (or almost all) USA exports to New Zealand enter NZ duty free.
      
      What will benefit New Zealand is a prosperous United States. Kamala Harris will promote the opposite.
      
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      October 31, 2024 3:12pm
      - G the giant from Dunedin
        
        He imposed tariffs last time, but they did not effect us, our organic wool fetching huge premiums and competing against US wool ( and yes, they do have a lot of wool) didn’t get damaged by trade tariffs.
        
        Let’s not forget what his oil and gas policy did to the price of oil and in fact our petrol prices
        
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        October 31, 2024 3:34pm
  - AitchW
    
    Both sides claim that the other is riggin the vote. If they’re both right then presumably one will cancel the other out.
    
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    October 31, 2024 11:04am
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      Doesn’t work like that. When the Dems are really in action they are very nasty.
      
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      October 31, 2024 11:52am
- Mod88
  
  I certainly hope so, even Vlad Putin says Trump is the worst choice for Russian interests but admits at least we know what we are getting. Harris means an escalation and with Two-Tier Keir in the UK pushing for that escalation there are troubling times ahead make no mistake. Kamala Harris as President of the US of A is a disaster for the world, make no mistake.
  
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  October 31, 2024 11:16am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Kamala would be Ardern to the power of 50.
    
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    October 31, 2024 11:56am
    - kowtow
      
      Already happened under Biden/Harris.
      
      Wild spending , inflation , Green new deal, soft on crime , over regulation, EV mandates , DEI , lawfare , climate scam etc.
      
      That’s why the thinking voter will go with Trump , at least he represents freedom , the other is fascism dressed up as “joy”.
      
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      October 31, 2024 1:10pm
      - Steve Otto(North Shore)
        
        The black Americans have moved camp as well.
        There will be a November surprise to the shit media.
        
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        October 31, 2024 6:45pm
- bennerg
  
  I’ve been looking at the Betting Odds and RealClearPolling have it as Trump 63.6% and Harris 35%.
  
  https://www.realclearpolling.com/betting-odds/2024/president
  
  Now I was curious as to how reliable betting odds were, and Newsweek has an interesting article, albeit some weeks out of date (7 Oct) with current polling figures.
  
  https://www.newsweek.com/election-betting-odds-accurate-prediction-us-presidential-election-1964752
  
  According to aggregates by Bookmakers Review, betting odds have accurately predicted several of the most recent elections, with 77 percent of the expected candidates winning over the last 35 years.
  
  In the 11 presidential elections since 1980, the only race where the winning candidate had worse odds than the losing candidate was in 2016, where both the betting markets and conventional polling failed to predict a Trump win.
  
  Betting odds have also correctly predicted close elections, including Barack Obama’s win against Mitt Romney in 2012, where Obama was given odds of -450, and even the extremely close election of 2000, where President George W. Bush was given odds of -150.
  
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  October 31, 2024 11:36am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    Not so long ago the numbers weee favouring Harris
    
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    October 31, 2024 3:36pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  I was thinking 312/226, which is still a landslide.
  Let’s hope you are correct Grunter.
  
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  October 31, 2024 11:50am
Matt Long

RFK junior says Biden Harris have sent a directive to the Pentagon which allows for lethal force by the army against political protesters on American soil. It sounds a little like fascism.
https://youtube.com/shorts/nw3qHCs-eRM?si=AMx7Sm6QZargbA9V
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October 31, 2024 9:09am
- Cassandra
  
  Remember Kent State. Harris will not want a repeat before the election. Or even after.
  
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  October 31, 2024 9:16am
- MCōs
  
  The vice president has no power to use any part of the military including the national guard
  Generally state governors control their national guard and the president Washington DC, which doesn’t have a governor.
  On rare occasions a president can use the army. Last time was last century
  https://thewarhorse.org/everything-to-know-about-the-national-guard/
  
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  October 31, 2024 9:47am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Strange that Biden/Harris have already said this is what Trump will do when the left start rioting after his win.
  
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  October 31, 2024 11:58am
cmm

Police failed to attend to a home invasion but told the victim to fill out an online form instead.

Yeah right! That’s a bloody help.

Apparently Hamilton can only serve one 111 call at a time!

Here’s the deal cops: We are not allowed to own any weapons in our houses for self defence because the deal is that you are there to respond.

If you can’t hold up your end of the bargain then we have a moral right to arm ourselves.

While I think anyone should be allowed to own a firearm for self defence and shoot home invaders, I realise that NZ is probably not ready for that yet.

C’mon. How about let’s start with pepper spray?

Of course anyone assaulting someone with pepper spray for no good reason should be dealt with appropriately and serve a prison term.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/police-no-show-to-hamilton-home-invasion-attempt-leaves-woman-in-wheelchair-terrified/MQ5QA654OBATPHMN6EMFLPW3T4/
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October 31, 2024 9:25am
- David George
  
  I don’t think we’re even allowed pepper spray for protection. I hear that Deep Heat (or similar) spray works very well though.
  
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  October 31, 2024 9:40am
  - Keith White
    
    Anyone who is in fear for their life should use whatever is to hand. And any time some feral invades someone else’s home, the death of anyone in that home at the hands of that feral is a likely outcome. More and more so, these days.
    
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    October 31, 2024 10:33am
  - cmm
    
    You are not allowed to own anything for the purpose of self defence. You may, however, press items into use for self defence – even firearms.
    
    AFAIK, possession of pepper spray or taser-like devices are illegal in NZ.
    
    It is time to grow up NZ. It is no longer the 1950s when people called policemen “sir” and they could command authority by waving their notebook.
    
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    October 31, 2024 2:45pm
- Ghost
  
  The lesson is you don’t tell the police they’re gone or you’ve got them out and locked the door. Tell them they’re still there
  
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  October 31, 2024 10:43am
  - Colville
    
    …and you are pretty sure one of them has a gun!
    
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    October 31, 2024 12:56pm
    - imalwaysright
      
      Kiwi cops will never come in if they think someone is armed. They put their own safety first.
      Keep a couple of stubby hand saws handy. Very difficult to disarm.
      
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      October 31, 2024 1:45pm
    - OlderChas
      
      Ahhhh but then you’d have to wait while they got the AOS out of bed and all dressed up in their ninja gear, then wake up an Inspector to control the incident, and wait while they set up the “safe forward point’ and assessed the situation for a while before the (probably desk-bound) Inspector decided it was safe to send ‘resources’ in. Meanwhile……………
      
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      October 31, 2024 1:58pm
  - kowtow
    
    And then you’d be the one facing charges .
    
    Low hanging fruit and all that.
    
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    October 31, 2024 1:07pm
    - Ghost
      
      No she wouldn’t be charged if she said she thought they were still there
      
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      October 31, 2024 1:47pm
- kowtow
  
  The failure to attend is proof that the social contract is broken.
  ( esp when juxtaposed with that rainbow crossing protection operation , so brilliantly parodied by Redbaiter)
  
  We give up certain rights and freedoms to the state on the understanding that in return the state is there to do its side , which is the use of police force to protect the law abiding . ( even force is out , it’s a ‘service’).
  
  The idea that Labour wanted to release prisoners or not incarcerate in the first place or courts failing to properly sentence repeat , dangerous and violent offenders is proof of how broken the contract is .
  
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  October 31, 2024 11:10am
- Paulus
  
  Perhaps the wheelchair lady should have an St John medical alarm in her house – this can be subsidised as she is wheelchaired.
  Ring St John -no, not the Maori one !
  
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  October 31, 2024 11:14am
  - bennerg
    
    Call 111 and say there is a fire and you’ll have six burly guys (or identifying as such) there in an instant.
    
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    October 31, 2024 11:39am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Shoot home invaders sounds fair to me.
  Far easier than using my 20mm stainless bar curtain rod.
  
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  October 31, 2024 12:02pm
I remember when

Chief Coroner releases annual provisional suicide statistics for New Zealand.
Item by Chris Lynch shows for year ending 30/6/24, a total of 617 suspected suicides released through Health NZ.
Roughly 1.1 in 10,000 people which doesn’t sound too high, until you multiply it by the average life expectancy of say 80 years.
Once again Maori are over represented, especially in the 25-44 age group, where they are 2.6 times higher than non-Maori.

Time for answers other than ‘colonialisation’ and ‘systemic racism’?
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October 31, 2024 9:29am
- NothingLeft
  
  Hopelessness and lack of purpose. Having a meaningful job and kids to look after is the best solution.
  
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  October 31, 2024 2:05pm
- cmm
  
  Suicide numbers are hard to work out.
  
  I’ll wager my standard bet of 50 cents and a servo pie that many late night single person crashes are suicide by car.
  
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  October 31, 2024 2:49pm
NZer In Exile

From Watts Up With That website:

Ten Fundamental Climate Questions the Media and Climate Alarmists Can’t or Won’t Answer.

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2024/10/30/ten-fundamental-climate-questions-the-media-and-climate-alarmists-cant-or-wont-answer/
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October 31, 2024 10:05am
Matt Long

How might one reward a politician for services rendered. One way could be with a method similar to this; government donates to a Charitable Foundation, Foundation after an acceptable down time donates to a helpful politician.
https://www.forbes.com.au/news/investing/melinda-french-gates-pledges-1-5-billion-to-women/
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October 31, 2024 10:20am
Colville

Suspect in ballot drop box fires is an experienced metalworker, investigators say

Investigators say the man suspected of setting fires in ballot drop boxes in Oregon and Washington state is an experienced metalworker and may be planning additional attacks

Steve Otto??
Where were you on Tuesday??

🙂
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October 31, 2024 10:27am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  I was on the other side of town lighting dumpster fires with false Democrat ballots.
  
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  October 31, 2024 12:05pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  I think you will find the fire was set from the top but the door forced open by those trying to put the fire out.
  There will be security cameras, but we never see footage – just like the cameras watching Epstein.
  
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  October 31, 2024 12:21pm
Handyman

Stalin said “it not who votes that count; it is who counts the votes”.

Ominous signs of vote rigging in place:
1. Michigan swing state has banned Republican vote checkers/counters because they say it will delay the declaration of the winner. (Even though returns are not needed until Jan 6)
2. This combines with a recent law change in Democrat states that the election night result cannot be challenged in court.

In the US, most state and counties have their own vote counting laws, often run by the local party. In the last mid-terms, the Arizona state official in charge of overseeing the election integrity was also running for Governor.

How would you feel if all votes in New Zealand were sent to the local TPM electorate office, where votes were counted by TPM party members with no other party scrutineers allowed in. There is a ban of asking for voter ID for in-person voting and TPM does not do any integrity check in voter fraud. The TPM electorate chair announces the result that night and no recount or judicial review is allowed.
Oh, and TPM also manages the voter registration process and voter rolls, making its own rules which cannot be overturned by NZ Parliament.
Now add in mail voting which do not need to be filled in by hand. Computer printed voter returns are acceptable. No TPM members raise suspicion when a box of 5000 votes is found with identical computer printed votes.

Final quote from Biden: “The struggle’s no longer just who gets to vote. It’s about who gets to count the vote.” in a speech to remove the right to challenge the election night vote result.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/07/13/remarks-by-president-biden-on-protecting-the-sacred-constitutional-right-to-vote/
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October 31, 2024 11:16am
- Inandout
  
  Handy, that is a lot of reading from the monitor. Did Joe have an ear piece? Coming from a Party that has done its best to destroy democracy then false voting is the last chance by the looks of it.
  
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  October 31, 2024 12:06pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Have TPM been advising the Democrats?
  
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  October 31, 2024 12:17pm
Paulus

Did the fired collection boxes have fire supressants that neither worked ?
Assume fitted by a Democrat worker.
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October 31, 2024 11:16am
Swifty

A well-overdue look at the ubiquitous sporting haka:

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/360470190/haka-overused-and-it-absurd-stand-there-and-simply-watch-it

I must admit to cringing at many of them these days. When you see them anywhere and everywhere they lose any specialness they once had.
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October 31, 2024 11:17am
- Anthony Melchett
  
  The all blacks haka is ridiculous.
  
  A war dance by a team that supports domestic violence (sevu reece, luke mcalister), public assault (losi filipo) and now potentially non consensual filming of sex acts by a promising player.
  
  The last guy has been charged but its gone to appeal to have the charges dropped because they could hurt his career.
  
  https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/rugby-players-career-at-risk-after-high-court-dismisses-sex-video-conviction-appeal/ULE6AEZ3UJBR7HCVNFSMJWF7FQ/
  
  Anyone else gets convicted and their career ruined. Rugby player? Na it’s all good.
  
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  October 31, 2024 11:47am
- MCōs
  
  Whenever the All Blacks go over there some Englishman calls for the haka to be discontinued
  Bit ironic considering for all their centuries of culture built on war and conquest they use a Postbellum African-American Gospel Spiritual and more lately BLM anthem to rouse emotions
  
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  October 31, 2024 12:00pm
  - kowtow
    
    Er , that anti English rant is a wee bit ironic given the history of Empire /Dominion teams going “Home” to play a game invented by a bunch of English toffs at an exclusive English school , which no doubt played its own storied part in building and spreading the wonderful English culture , peace and prosperity that British democracy brought to the far flung corners of the world ( at least where enough British folk managed to colonise and settle)
    Argentina excluded.
    
    Oh and that brilliance in the art of war , by land and sea is still a big part of why so much of the west is free and prosperous , despite the best efforts of lefty twats .
    Lest we forget.
    
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    October 31, 2024 4:10pm
- wsk12345
  
  I definitely cringe and I’ve probably never seen one right through since we had to perform it at school every time a sports team visited many decades ago. I had a lot of docs appts on those afternoons then!
  
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  October 31, 2024 2:15pm
David Garrett

I see some rugby player in England has ridiculed the haka and said it is time it was “binned”. Now, since I have zero interest in rugby, perhaps my opinion doesn’t count for much, but I have considerable sympathy with the English player’s view.

The haka certainly meant something when it was a uniquely All Black “thing”, but the Fijians, Tongans and the Samoans now perform their version of a battle cry, and it all gets a little boring as each nation tries to be the most intimidating prior to the kickoff.

Off the rugby field, I find it frankly embarrassing – and in fact cringe worthy – when foreign visitors to our shores are “Welcomed” by a bunch of overweight Maori sticking their tongues out and rolling their eyeballs as if they are, in Tongan, fakasesele, i.e. suffering from some mental illness.

Most visitors have absolutely no idea what’s going on, as is obvious from their expressions. Keep in on the rugby field I suppose – if we must – but FFS “bin it” at the arrivals hall of Auckland International.
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October 31, 2024 11:46am
- David Garrett
  
  The worst example of foreigners’ bewilderment which I can recall was many years ago when Dire Straits made one of their several tours of NZ.
  
  They were “welcomed” at Auckland airport by the ubiquitous group of overweight Maori – but this time the “welcome” included shoving Dire Straits guitarist Mark Knopfler in the chest. He looked totally bewildered – if not somewhat alarmed – while I cringed at the TV image..
  
  Do away with the bloody thing everywhere but on the sports fields I say – if they must keep doing it there.
  
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  October 31, 2024 12:15pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  On the World stage at Barcelona it was embarrassing.
  
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  October 31, 2024 12:28pm
  - imalwaysright
    
    The Tahitians, Tongans and Hawaiians are very welcoming .
    Darwin didn’t like the maoris, he described them as unkempt and surly, unlike the civilised and friendly Tahitians etc.
    
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    October 31, 2024 1:56pm
    - David Garrett
      
      I’malways: Well, Darwin’s view clearly differed greatly from James Cook’s who described them as “the finest specimens of humanity” he had encountered…although he did note that they were inveterate thieves.
      
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      October 31, 2024 2:13pm
      - Jethrod
        
        Ha…. thieves even then
        
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        October 31, 2024 2:53pm
      - imalwaysright
        
        Maybe Cook was referring to physique rather than psyche!
        
        Here’s a brief taste of Darwin’s impressions, bear in mind that D was suffering with travel sickness.
        https://ndhadeliver.natlib.govt.nz/webarchive/20210104000423/http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Gov09_06Rail-t1-body-d9-d2.html
        
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        October 31, 2024 5:11pm
    - David Garrett
      
      Imalways: I suggest you do some research on why Cook named Tonga “The Friendly Islands”. Let’s just say if he knew what the locals actually had planned for him and his crew before he sailed abruptly and without warning, the survivors – if any – would certainly not have given that name to these Islands which are currently my home.
      
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      October 31, 2024 3:36pm
      - lifesgood
        
        I am disgusted by the haka being used as a welcome and as a so called honour. It’s a bloody war dance for goodness sake. Performed by fat over weight slobs rolling their eyes and sticking their tongues out. Who in their right mind thought that would be a good idea? I’m ashamed of it and as far as it being used to represent NZ overseas? Give me a break, How many Maori are there in NZ again?
        
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        October 31, 2024 4:02pm
      - imalwaysright
        
        DG
        Thanks for the suggestion, will do. Sam Neil did a good TV series and told of the peril Cook experienced in Tonga.
        Cook was certainly an impressive man.
        
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        October 31, 2024 5:15pm
- kowtow
  
  “Welcome” to country .
  
  And while you’re here be very careful about where you go , who you might “disrespect” , lock up your valuables while off tramping ,avoid public transport ,taxi queues at hospitals , certain funeral processions ,and if you’re a young woman on her own ,best turn around at the airport and head off to somewhere much safer…….
  
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  October 31, 2024 1:05pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Texas AG wants 454,300 registered voters checked for citizenship.

https://crystalclearnews.com/ken-paxton-challenges-biden-administration-to-verify-citizenship-of-454300-texas-voters/
Same in Arizona.

https://crystalclearnews.com/arizona-faces-legal-showdown-over-218000-voters-without-citizenship-proof/
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October 31, 2024 12:42pm
- quarterpack
  
  …or when a haka is performed in front of the coffin of one of the many poor maori boys who have died pointlessly as the result of disparaging the mana of another
  
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  October 31, 2024 1:08pm
- artemisia
  
  Move along, nothing to see here… A glitch in the voter roll system and a data coding oversight have affected the registration status of approximately 218,000 voters in Arizona”
  
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  October 31, 2024 1:42pm
Swifty

CNN data analyst calls it for Trump:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14022233/CNN-data-guru-reveals-signs-Trump-win-2024-election-say-didnt-warn-you.html?ico=article_preview_xp_mobile
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October 31, 2024 2:18pm
cmm

The gangs can smell weakness and are exploiting it.

“Iwi leader Willie Te Aho has slammed police tactics for the trauma left on children having to watch their parents arrested after orchestrated raids on Mongrel Mob homes ”

“Māori community leaders Te Aho and Tame Iti attended a meeting in Ōpōtiki, the Eastern Bay of Plenty town, where locals outlined issues caused by the police raids where mokopuna were forced to watch as whānau were arrested by armed police.”

How about this: if you don’t want your kids to see you being arrested then:
a) Don’t join a gang.
b) Don’t commit crimes to bring the cops to your door.

Stop all this bullshit giving gangs a say in their own policing.

“The other thing coming is that we will establish our own intelligence and surveillance of them. When an emergency is triggered we will blockade them at the houses that they raid and not relent until the rights of our people have been validated and our tamariki mokopuna.”

So threatening to disrupt police activities.

The government needs to step on the gangs’ necks. No more state funerals. No more negotiations. Just out and out pursuit of the scumbag criminals.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/kahu/gang-crackdown-maori-leaders-push-back-on-police-tactics-rhetoric-over-mongrel-mob-raids/GGAXSXTF3VAP5B7H4XKJDSMMDY/
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October 31, 2024 2:35pm
- AitchW
  
  “The other thing coming is that we will establish our own intelligence and surveillance of them.”
  Would it be unkind to suggest that to use “gang” and “intelligence” in the same sentence is an oxymoron?
  
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  October 31, 2024 3:40pm
- Handyman
  
  Children seeing their crim parents being arrested is exactly what they need to see. They need to see their “untouchable” hero drug lords being handcuffed and taken away. They need to see the rule of law in action.
  
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  October 31, 2024 4:21pm
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    Of course. That’s why the gangs are trying to prevent it.
    
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    October 31, 2024 9:23pm
Chuck Bird

Climate change alarmism is harmful to young people as well as it being BS.

Between 14,000 years ago and 8,000 years ago the sea level increased 90 meters in roughly 6,000 years. This yields a sea level rise rate of 0.015 meters per year or 1.5 centimeters per year or 15 mm per year.

There was little if any increase in that time period.

https://www.e-education.psu.edu/earth107/node/1506

The sea level is now rising at a rate of 3.5 mm per year. I fail to see the climate emergency. What is wrong with Mr Luxon if he cannot understand something so simple?

Are there any climate alarmists here who can say how I am wrong?
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October 31, 2024 3:07pm
- Benedict Yu
  
  “Between 14,000 years ago and 8,000 years ago the sea level increased 90 meters in roughly 6,000 years.
  
  Indeed. When folk look at the Marlborough Sounds, how many take in the fact that it is a series of drowned river valleys by sea level rise? I never get tired of looking at it.
  
  I am not a climate alarmist and you are not necessarily wrong. However IIRC the consensus is that over the next century sea levels will rise by about 1 metre rather than the 0.350 metre that you are implying.
  
  There are many resources online that tell you what a 1 metre sea level rise will do. However IMO the key point is that there is nothing that the New Zealand Government can do about it. More importantly, what countries will best cope with a 1 metre sea level rise? Rich countries. New Zealand’s Zero Carbon Act will turn New Zealand into a poor country. Enough said.
  
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  October 31, 2024 3:24pm
  - Chuck Bird
    
    Proper science is done by debate, not consensus.
    
    There are many good climate scientists who have a different view, such as Dr Curry, Dr Koonin, and Dr Patrick Moore. Have you read any of their books?
    
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    October 31, 2024 3:36pm
  - cmm
    
    “I am not a climate alarmist and you are not necessarily wrong. However IIRC the consensus is that over the next century sea levels will rise by about 1 metre rather than the 0.350 metre that you are implying.”
    
    Next century? Do you mean this century?
    
    It was supposed to get to 0.5 metres or something by 2050. If so it better get a move on because it has some catching up to do!
    
    We all died in 2012, then again in 2020 anyway, so I don’t know why we’re even having this discussion.
    
    Anyone who uses the word “consensus” is not really being a scientist.
    
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    October 31, 2024 3:38pm
    - imalwaysright
      
      True scientists try to prove their own theory to be wrong.
      Many of the charlatans today try to do the opposite.
      Prostitutes for hire.
      
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      October 31, 2024 5:29pm
  - Chris Nisbet
    
    To anybody who thinks that sea levels are going to start to rise at 1cm/year (or even faster, because they’re not rising anywhere near that rate right now, nor showing any signs of doing so according to LINZ data (I’ve looked)), and are a bit worried their holiday home near the beach is going to go under as a result, I’ll be happy to take it off their hands.
    
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    October 31, 2024 3:44pm
  - Handyman
    
    Sea level rise, as measured at many places around the world has been 2 – 3 mm per year since 1850.
    
    Incidentally, as the ice from the ice age retreats over the UK, Scotland is rising and southern England is sinking. As a result, the Thames in London flows a metre lower than in Tudor times, half due to sea level rise and half due to England sinking.
    
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    October 31, 2024 4:16pm
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    You just wait until the Doomsday Glacier breaks off
    Sea levels up by 3 meters – yeah 3000mm.//
    
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    October 31, 2024 7:44pm
Chuck Bird

The government’s job is to stop unnecessary spending – not save the planet.

KiwiRail unveils new state-of-the-art, low emission trains

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/kiwirail-unveils-new-state-of-the-art-low-emission-trains/CRWGUG72DVFHHDDMSSBRT3RKB4/?utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=nzh_fb&utm_source=Facebook#Echobox=1730332436
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October 31, 2024 3:53pm
cmm

According to all the luvvies we have around 9000 gang members in NZ.

That would make them 0.2% of the population or 1 in every 500 people.

According to Corrections, there are only about 2700 gang members in prison (out of 7,800 total population) – 35% of prisoners. That’s also 30% of all gang members currently being behind bars.

Based on that (if you accept these numbers – big if), gang members are over represented in prison by a factor of 300x vs the general population.

They are likely also over-represented in the criminal justice system by a factor of 300 too, as well as all the other dramas: police call outs, domestic violence, state housing problems etc etc.

But, no, apparently they are just cuddly cultural organisations!

Come on – pull the other one!

The only way to get crime and the whole justice system sorted is to get rid of gangs. Come down hard on them.

We will never get rid of gangs entirely, but if we could halve their numbers and their offending then we would have better court systems and a better society in general.

Yet another one today, This one getting off relatively lightly with a manslaughter charge vs the murder he should have faced.

“From an 11-year start point, La Hood discounted 40% for Huriwaka’s background and guilty plea, arriving at 7.5 years in prison. He will be required to serve a minimum three-year period.

He sentenced his co-offender to two years’ intensive supervision, ordering her to undergo treatment.”

So three years in the state funded gang pad for one and Playstation for the other. How is that going to do anything?

C’mon dudges – do your bloody duty and give them max sentences!

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360470290/man-died-after-attack-gang-member-who-loved-him-brother
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October 31, 2024 4:00pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Need to up that 30% to 75% in the hinaki.
  
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  October 31, 2024 7:45pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

This is what the Trump Admin is up against.
You can not remove non-citizens during the ‘quiet period’ of 90 days before an Election. 3 months? Get real. Some if these illegals have only been there 2 weeks ffs!

https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/other/troubling-omen-columnist-highlights-worrisome-supreme-court-move-ahead-of-election/ar-AA1teAkT?
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October 31, 2024 4:25pm
MCōs

Mike King advocates booze as a treatment for depression
That’s the last thing I would have thought he’d say
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/mental-health-campaigner-mike-king-defends-claims-alcohol-is-the-solution-for-those-struggling/PM2JXBEL2JD7JPAJH2KWNMIB7Y/
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October 31, 2024 4:47pm
- Ghost
  
  Here’s my take on his comment
  
  The help isn’t there for some people, the waiting list for some is long. Alcohol is there, and it numbs the pain, it numbs the voices. Many self medicate through alcohol and drugs, our health system has been fucked to the point that it’s not easy reaching out to get help for mental health
  
  “I mean, I’m a drug addict, an alcoholic; my whole life, I’ve used drugs and alcohol to stop that little voice inside my head that told me that I wasn’t good enough, that I was useless.
  
  “It’s a release, it’s like a video game.
  
  “It’s like methadone, it keeps us going until some help comes along. It’s our life jacket.”
  
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  October 31, 2024 5:53pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Imagine how depressed I would be without my weekly bottle of Jacks?
  
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  October 31, 2024 7:48pm
Tauhei Notts

I have noted a surprising degree of support for the Kackling One on the Betfair market.
She has firmed from $2.88 to $2.68 in the past three days.
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October 31, 2024 4:55pm
cmm

Oh, goodie, goodie,

Maori in the Nelson region will be getting many hundreds of millions of dollars. This will fix all their poverty, make them worth hundreds of thousands of dollars each. They won’t need state houses and dole any more!

We all know that poverty causes domestic violence, gang membership and drug abuse. All that is going to end.

Awesome!

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360469997/nelson-tenths-decision-finds-compensation-due
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October 31, 2024 4:58pm
Sparrow

I have a question for Master Mariner and other present or ex seagoing folk. As an ex Master Mariner who left the sea many many years ago and never sailed with a auto pilot I am intrigued by todays finding on the Cook Strait ferry stranding. In what I would consider restricted waters they are allowed to use auto pilot instead of the helmsman. Would have thought they would wait until in the Strait. Mind you I am old fart who is certainly technically challenged in todays world. Are there rules concerning the use of an auto pilot?
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October 31, 2024 5:39pm
Jack5

Getting rid of colonial trees in NZ’s “most English” city …

The target is century-old Lombardy poplar trees on either side of the city’s Avon River in central Christchurch, specifically, beside Poplar Crescent, a reserve with a bandstand donated by baking-powder maker Thomas Edmonds.

The Christchurch Press, which now calls the stream the “Ōtākaro Avon River,” says the City Council wants to replace the trees as they age with the same species.

Ngai Tahu, the main South Island tribe, opposes a consent application and wants the trees replaced by native trees.

Mahaanui Kurataioi Ltd, a Maori company formed to advise councils and Government on cultural issues, says native species should be used along riverbanks and streetscapes and in parks and reserves.

It’s told the council: ” … there needs to be a succession plan for the next 200 years to replace introduced plantings with indigenous plantings suitable for the conditions and that assimilate the pre-European landscape.”

The council’s city plan lists the poplars as highly significant, but native flax and grasses have been planted under them.

The Press says the City Council retains final say on the consent application.

https://www.thepress.co.nz/nz-news/360467809/dispute-over-future-almost-100-year-old-poplars?
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October 31, 2024 6:36pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  So no flowers? Nice flowers?
  
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  October 31, 2024 7:55pm
Keith White

Prediction: The ethnic gangs will continue to get soft judgments from soft judges in a softened legal system until – suddenly, a few Paul Kerseys and Bernhard Goetzs will push back hard.

Then the soft judges in a softened legal system will hammer the few Paul Kerseys and Bernhard Goetzs.

Then, there will be many Paul Kerseys and Bernhard Goetzs and the soft judges will harden up.
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October 31, 2024 9:28pm