General Debate 19 March 2013

March 19th, 2013 at 8:00 am by Kokila Patel
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97 Responses to “General Debate 19 March 2013”

  1. Pete George (17,596) Says:

    The latest Roy Morgan poll shows the usual fluctuations:

    National 43.5% (down 4% since late February)
    Maori Party 2% (down 0.5%)
    ACT NZ 0.5% (unchanged)
    United Future 0.5% (unchanged).

    Labour is 32.5% (up 2%)
    Greens are 13.5% (up 1%)
    New Zealand First 5% (up 2%)
    Mana Party 0% (down 0.5%)

    Conservative Party of NZ 2% (unchanged)
    Others 0.5% (unchanged).

    National remain within the mostly mid-fortyish fluctuations they dropped to since the 2011 election.
    Labour remain within the low thirties fluctuations they have had since the 2008 election.

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  2. iMP (1,307) Says:

    New poll out shows public want Smacking Law repealed. 82% in favour. (10,700 respondents).

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  3. wreck1080 (2,836) Says:

    When will this rain stop!!

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  4. wreck1080 (2,836) Says:

    The smacking law is flawed.

    Labour could win the next election by promising to change this law.

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  5. peterwn (2,165) Says:

    Interesting that a protest meeting is planned concerning allegedly excessive noise from the Johnsonville railway line. The Greater Wellington Regional Council put the future of the line ‘in issue’ some years ago suggesting the possibility busway/ cycle way, etc. Kiwirail accused it of impertenance for daring to suggest the re-use of railway land and Labour let Kiwirail re-develop the line at enormous cost. It apparently does not fit in well with general public transport plans.

    Seems as if re-development of the line was a bad decision especially if ‘patch up’ solutions do not work and major remedial work is found to be required.

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  6. Jacob Cohen (29) Says:

    A little while ago
    Hillary Clinton backs gay marriage.
    and many headlines cynically add –
    A sign she’s serious about 2016

    WASHINGTON — Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced her support for gay marriage Monday, putting her in line with other potential Democratic presidential candidates on a social issue that is rapidly gaining public approval.
    Clinton made the announcement in an online video released Monday morning by the gay rights advocacy group Human Rights Campaign. She says in the six-minute video that gays and lesbians are “full and equal citizens and deserve the rights of citizenship.”
    “That includes marriage,” she says, adding that she backs gay marriage both “personally and as a matter of policy and law.”

    And the real question that few here in New Zealand will discuss – gay adoption
    [even although the act here will probably make it an automatic 'right']

    Hillary Clinton supports equal adoption rights. “We’re going to make sure that nothing stands in the way of loving couples, gay or straight, who want to adopt children,” Clinton said during a March 2007 speech to 400 members of the Human Rights Campaign.

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  7. Pete George (17,596) Says:

    The ‘smacking’ law is flawed, but so would any replacement have flaws, hence no party is proposing changing it. It’s not ideal but I doubt it’s causing any more problems than the law it replaced.

    I’d prefer the law leaned towards protecting children.

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  8. Sofia (552) Says:

    Deborah Coddington, yesterday afternoon on Radio Live, seemed a little unclear about the anti-smacking act, although she had made submissions on it so must have had substantial interest.
    You can smack children using mild force, she claimed
    But seemed to completely miss the point that what mild action is allowed is in a preventative context only
    You may not smack a child as a corrective measure

    Which means really you can not smack children at all, since most preventive measures are to grab a child back from running into a road, swipe a hand away about to poke a lightning conductor [knife or fork] in a power point, or hit aside a hand that is about to slap you in the face.

    Rarely is actual smacking involved as a preventative measure, but you could get the situation where you smack a child’s leg twice to distract that child about to stab a brother or sister with some item, and then smack them three times more so they experience some pain – the first two smacks would be legal [preventative] the next three whacks would be illegal [corrective]
    Good luck with all that

    Better to do as is now current practice among some groups – get your older children to sort out the younger ones. They can’t be charged. Although it does run the risk to those older children becoming greater thugs than they are usually destined to be.

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  9. iMP (1,307) Says:

    More on the FAKE GAY LETTERS. Interesting. balance is so…well…balancing.

    http://conzervative.wordpress.com/2013/03/19/the-fake-gay-letters

    And a counter-story (to show its not all love and bunnies in Gay/Chris Auchinvole Utopia).

    http://conzervative.wordpress.com/2013/03/19/a-hearfelt-same-sex-home-story

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  10. thedavincimode (4,693) Says:

    iMP

    Give it a rest on GD will you. Wait for some more bait – ie a gay marriage thread.

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  11. Colville (742) Says:

    ahhh smacking…. the big heavy grey leather strap that used to reside in the kitchen drawer for when Dad got home…. purely punitive ….. usually preceeded by ‘wait till your father gets home!….”

    Those were the days :-)

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  12. hinamanu (2,347) Says:

    Does it seem like the new job of so-called law enforcement is to harass drivers and create pointlessly dangerous situations on the road?

    It sure seems that way to me.

    Eric Peters, one of the top automative writers in the world, agrees.

    Black boxes to disable cars. Onstar technology monitoring the car

    http://www.brasschecktv.com/videos/law-enforcement-corruption–abuse-1/the-automotive-police-state.html

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  13. dime (6,171) Says:

    i did my usual quick scroll of stuff this morning. as usual, i didnt click on anything tacky looking.. so i read nothing..

    anyway, didnt see a single mention of shearer and his 50 grand +?

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  14. Andrei (2,058) Says:

    Yes thedavincimode nobody should talk about gay marriage and just let the abomination pass without anybody noticing.

    We should allow government hubris to know no bounds like the good little sheep we are and live our lives in meekness until they cut our throats

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  15. Pete George (17,596) Says:

    Foxes on the right, foxes on the left – are David Shearer’s and Labour’s rookie chickens coming home to roost?

    He has accused Banks, he has accused Key, now hoist by his own gotcha memory lapse petard?

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  16. graham (1,897) Says:

    dime – neither did I. The Herald’s got it though (but not on the front page, electronically speaking).

    I did, however see the following on Stuff:

    1. A 3-year-old girl admitted to Hutt Hospital with a leg wound so badly infected that the bones were visible through the pus-filled wound. The injuries were so bad that doctors considered amputation. She also had head lice and nappy rash.

    But at least we’ve got the anti-smacking law to get the really bad parents.

    2. Having wound up with egg on their face over the carpark tax, the Government has decided that they’re really just gluttons for punishment and are still looking into a tax on the personal use of work laptop and cellphones.

    Popcorn time … again.

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  17. hinamanu (2,347) Says:

    The plans to implement martial law in America have been taking shape over the past few months, hidden behind the Department of Homeland Security’s massive purchase of over 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition and Obama’s purchase of over 2,700 Light-Armored Tanks. Now with the public outcry of banker bailouts and the recent collapse of Cyprus, all bets are off and the pieces in place to implement martial law in the United States.

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  18. Paulus (1,675) Says:

    Shearer’s $50,000 is of course tax free, and in US$, as are all UN payments – see Helen Klark, now Chucky, and soon “little pony”.
    Of course it is a minimum amount – the actual amount is not disclosed, and could well be considerably over that level. This is a disclosure level only.
    Is the money technically owned by one of his two trusts also ?

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  19. hinamanu (2,347) Says:

    There have been waves of threats by Eurozone politicians to bully people into accepting “whatever it takes” to keep the shaky construct of the monetary union glued together.

    The Demons Of War In Europe Could Awaken

    These threats peaked last year with disorderly default, and when that wasn’t enough, with thecollapse of the Eurozone. But now, the ultimate threat has been pronounced: war.

    It wasn’t an idle thought by a wayward parliamentarian on the radical fringe but a well-articulated statement by Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker who was, until January, the President of the Eurogroup that manages the political aspects of the euro.And he’d picked Europe’s largest magazine, Der Spiegel, to make it (excerpts here, rest behind pay wall).

    He’d alluded to it before. Last August, as he was jabbering about Greece’s potential exit from the Eurozone, he lamented that “many Germans and the German media” talked about Greece as if it were “a people you couldn’t respect,” and that Greeks depicted Chancellor Angela Merkel as if she were “the heiress of the Nazis.” And then his big threat, albeit in veiled form: “What we thought had been buried long ago, very quickly rises again.”

    http://www.secretsofthefed.com/the-demons-of-war-in-europe-could-awaken/

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  20. Yvette (2,412) Says:

    Will John Key read the Police report on Shearer’s omission to include his $50k bank account when he should have.?

    Oh – no one has even made a complaint to the Police yet – neither Trevor Mallard nor Penny Bright? WTF?

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  21. iMP (1,307) Says:

    Hinamanu, do you really believe the USA will implement marshal law? Snow flakes chance in…

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  22. dime (6,171) Says:

    it would take a lot more than 2700 armored trucks to implement martial law.

    good luck holding texas down…

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  23. wreck1080 (2,836) Says:

    @colville

    You are just like Sue Bradford. You think that thrashing a child with a heavy leather strap is equivalent to giving a child a palm smack on the open hand or bottom.

    One is abuse, the other is not.

    It is clear to me.

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  24. Andrei (2,058) Says:

    I’d prefer the law leaned towards protecting children.

    Good Pete George, you will start campaigning against abortion then?

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  25. Colville (742) Says:

    2700 trucks is one for every 100,000 people? what a joke.

    I bet that thing does at least 2 miles to the gallon!

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  26. Pete George (17,596) Says:

    Andrei, you don’t understand “children”?

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  27. Pete George (17,596) Says:

    Farmers are celebrating but…

    …some of the media continue to paint a gloomy picture – by forecasting sunshine!

    RadioLIVE Newsroom ‏@LIVENewsDesk

    Farmers are celebrating rain – up to 50mls in parts of the North Island …
    but forecasters say the sun will be back by Thursday

    Message to non-farmers – sunshine after rain actually helps grass to regrow.

    And a weather forecast expert said that this rain probably signals the end of the stable weather patterns and a return to more normal wet/dry cycles.

    You don’t have to have continuous rain for a month to break a drought.

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  28. stigie (111) Says:

    @ Yvette
    Its different when the left do it, you should know that.
    Glad to see Key staying out of it and not playing petty politics !

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  29. Andrei (2,058) Says:

    Andrei, you don’t understand “children”?

    Of course I understand children Pete George, Love them I do.

    Had four you know. we still have their first pictures, grainy ultrsounds.

    When my boy came along my wife looked at his snowy image on the screen and being told his gender remarked “look how cute little Kolya is”. He is a man now though so he doesn’t get called cute anymore – well not by us anyway

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  30. hinamanu (2,347) Says:

    “it would take a lot more than 2700 armored trucks to implement martial law. ”

    dime, I hope you right.

    Do you know about the NDAA act ?

    The authorisation to implement martial law

    Do you know what Posse Comdatus means ? No military overseeing civilians….. been taken away

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  31. Redbaiter (2,999) Says:

    “Wait for some more bait – ie a gay marriage thread.”

    It was about deceit and propaganda and deception and dishonesty rather than homosexual marriage.

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  32. nasska (6,358) Says:

    PG

    We eventually got enough (70mm to 7AM) to make quite a difference…..the trick now will be getting something to grow in the wrecked paddocks before the cold sets in & to do that we need both sun & a little more rain.

    Things are definitely looking a little brighter.

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  33. hinamanu (2,347) Says:

    Govt braces for backlash to phone, laptop tax

    Say this 5 yrs ago and you would be a conspiracy theorist

    Is there really anything we can’t expect from the Nat/LAbs

    You think Labour would rescind this ?

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/8443022/Govt-braces-for-backlash-to-phone-laptop-tax

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  34. Pete George (17,596) Says:

    nasska – yes, even more so in the south, getting enough recovery before the chills of autumn set in.

    But the drought hasn’t been as bad down here, drier but not parched (except in places that are used to it and have irrigation).

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  35. RightNow (5,359) Says:

    Save the Whales, emit more CO2!

    Ocean Plankton Sponge Up Nearly Twice the Carbon Currently Assumed

    http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130317154758.htm

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  36. Redbaiter (2,999) Says:

    “Is there really anything we can’t expect from the Nat/LAbs”

    Throw them all out. Stale useless socialist losers and troughers (like Dunne especially) should have been gone years ago.

    Why NZers are so pleased to put up with being continually harassed by these bastards is beyond me.

    BTW, an individual tax (paid the same way rates are paid) is the only way to go. The Progressive tax system is unworkable.

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  37. Pete George (17,596) Says:

    Very clever and funny cartoon on the car park tax: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10872112

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  38. Fletch (4,305) Says:

    Hahaha…love it.

    The Bible is a mini-series on the History Channel in the U.S getting record ratings – even beating out American Idol. The latest episode featured Jesus being tempted by the devil; the devil who some say resembles Obama. :lol:

    The producer denies it.
    Maybe those who think so are just projecting.

    See for yourself – http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/18/the-bible-satan-obama_n_2900509.html?utm_hp_ref=entertainment

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  39. Kea (4,328) Says:

    Ocean Plankton Sponge Up Nearly Twice the Carbon Currently Assumed

    RightNow, can you back that up with a “model” from the weathermen paid to make models ?

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  40. graham (1,897) Says:

    Pete George:

    You don’t have to have continuous rain for a month to break a drought.

    True. On the other hand, you do need more than a few days of occasional rain. Here in Rodney, my water tanks for the house have just 70 cm of water, and we have had less than 10 mm of rain since Friday. Philip Duncan on Weatherwatch states that this drought won’t necessarily be broken by one event. But having said that, he thinks we’ll see the situation gradually ease overall.

    Time will tell. In the meantime, my sheep are getting pretty fed up with eating brown dried-off grass, and the fish would like more than 4 inches of water to swim in, so here’s hoping for both sun and more rain – lots of it.

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  41. All_on_Red (352) Says:

    Kea,
    No models on this one its based on actual observations.
    ” This is really the first time it’s been shown with observation. That’s why it’s so important.”

    Its also a Peer Reviewed Research Paper.
    1.Adam C. Martiny, Chau T. A. Pham, Francois W. Primeau, Jasper A. Vrugt, J. Keith Moore, Simon A. Levin, Michael W. Lomas. Strong latitudinal patterns in the elemental ratios of marine plankton and organic matter. Nature Geoscience, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/ngeo1757

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  42. Kea (4,328) Says:

    Kea,
    No models on this one its based on actual observations.

    In that case it is not [climate] science :)

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  43. mandk (188) Says:

    Kea,
    isn’t empiricism a valid scientific approach?

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  44. dime (6,171) Says:

    can one of you dirtbags point me in the right direction?

    im looking for a forum for property investors.

    Dime is gonna buy another house or three. keen to see what strategies other people are using.. where they are buying etc

    someone once gave me a link to a good forum but i lost it.

    cheers

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  45. Kea (4,328) Says:

    mandk (18) Says:

    March 19th, 2013 at 11:47 am
    Kea,
    isn’t empiricism a valid scientific approach?

    Yes it is. Which is my point.

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  46. hinamanu (2,347) Says:

    Major General responsible for the US armies intelligence strategies throughout the entire world opens up on 9/11

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  47. RightNow (5,359) Says:

    Here ya go dime
    http://www.propertytalk.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?55-Property-Investment-(NZ)

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  48. RightNow (5,359) Says:

    Kea, the only models I do are in my dreams.

    I especially liked that research because it “upended a decades-old core principle of marine science”. It shows that long held assumptions (aka “principles”) are not necessarily correct.

    File that one under “the science is unsettled”.

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  49. RightNow (5,359) Says:

    “Farmers are celebrating rain – up to 50mls in parts of the North Island”

    If that is the standard of reporting from RNZ then sell them now. 50ml is a measure of spirits. 50mm is a measure of rainfall.

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  50. RightNow (5,359) Says:

    It’s worse than I thought, Stuff are doing it too:

    “In the Coromandel Peninsula, more than 100ml had already fallen, 96ml in the Takaka Hills and about 100ml in the Nelson Ranges.

    In populated areas, Whitianga has had the biggest rainfall so far with 50ml.”

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/7374209/Heavy-rain-across-the-country

    Across all of those four areas less than a pint has fallen? Poor bastards.

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  51. Kea (4,328) Says:

    RightNow, I await Griff to turn up and tell us the Ocean (along with the Sun) does not drive climate. (Apparently it is all due to people popping down the shop in the car and burning a few lumps of coal. Oh and capitalism :) )

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  52. Pete George (17,596) Says:

    In October David Shearer was reported as saying (about the GCSB video of the alleged Dotcom joke):

    If it exists, he says John Key should release the video to clear up what has happened once and for all.

    “This cuts directly to John Key’s credibility, he keeps forgetting things.”

    Shearer probably won’t be allowed to forget his standards on memory.

    http://yournz.org/2013/03/19/shearer-he-keeps-forgetting-things/

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  53. Lance (1,926) Says:

    @hinamanu

    We know how true conspiracy theories are.
    Here is one to bake your noodle.

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  54. eszett (2,020) Says:

    Fletch (4,058) Says:
    March 19th, 2013 at 11:04 am
    Hahaha…love it.

    The Bible is a mini-series on the History Channel in the U.S getting record ratings – even beating out American Idol. The latest episode featured Jesus being tempted by the devil; the devil who some say resembles Obama.

    Yes, it is pretty ridiculous, indeed. “History” channel.

    Here’s the condensed version. WIth much better commentary. ;-)

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  55. Longknives (2,469) Says:

    eszett- I’m all for intelligent debate but yelling “Fuck this shit, Mother fucker, Fucking bullshit” etc etc loudly over the top of snippets of a TV show is hardly a winning play from the Christian bashers….

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  56. Griff (4,892) Says:

    eszett
    They teach that shit to kids.
    Sicko

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  57. Longknives (2,469) Says:

    I’m trying to make it through the whole clip but that guy is a fucking moron! He has definite anger issues!

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  58. dime (6,171) Says:

    cheers dude!

    anyone here buying rentals at the moment?

    im torn between spending 750 on the shore or a couple out west…

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  59. hinamanu (2,347) Says:

    This is how the martial law in the US is being instigated as observed by a top police officer

    Drones of course

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  60. hinamanu (2,347) Says:

    Arkansas city mayor announces martial law

    This was way back in 2008

    Areas of a town in Arkansas have been placed under a 24-hour, non-stop curfew described by the mayor as “almost akin to martial law”.
    The lockdown, issued after a spate of robberies, home invasions and shootings, applies to everyone in Helena-West Helena, no matter what age or what time of day it is.
    Mayor James Valley has indicated that the curfew could be extended indefinitely.
    Residents have described the lockdown as “like being in jail” and critics have slammed it as unconstitutional given that it effectively suspends the fourth amendment.
    The ACLU of Arkansas has sent Mayor Valley a letter outlining these concerns:
    “Imposing house arrest and suspending the Fourth Amendment for law-abiding people is only going to cause more problems for this city,” said ACLU of Arkansas staff attorney Holly Dickson. “They need to work with the community to get this resolved instead of treating all of their citizens like criminals.”

    http://cleowaller.blogspot.co.nz/2013/02/martial-law-declared-in-arkansas-town.html?m=0

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  61. Manolo (9,867) Says:

    For the resident multiculturalist lover of all-things Arabic: http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/comments/a_suburb_that_was_once_australias/

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  62. hinamanu (2,347) Says:

    Campbell Live
    Tonight, we pay our insurance premiums but how hard is it to make a claim and actually get a payout? The international expert who says insurance companies delay, deny and defend. He debates live with the Insurance Council.

    Isn’t this really a conspiracy. Or only what you don’t want to believe.

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  63. dime (6,171) Says:

    has Mr Sensible been taking too many party pill samples?

    whats with him trying to tax everything??

    no wonder he worked so well with labour

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  64. Fletch (4,305) Says:

    eszett, yet, last week it was #1 in all television –

    Week two of HISTORY’s The Bible series continues to deliver blockbuster ratings for the network. The Bible commanded HISTORY as #1 in all of television from 8-10pm, with 10.8 million total viewers and in Adults 25-54 with 3.8 million. In addition, The Bible garnered 3.2 million Adults 18-49. Over 50 million cumulative viewers have seen at least a portion of the series since it began on March 3*

    http://tv.broadwayworld.com/article/Week-2-of-Historys-THE-BIBLE-Continues-to-Deliver-Blockbuster-Ratings-20130312

    So you may poo-poo the idea, but it’s viewer numbers that judge popularity :)

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  65. graham (1,897) Says:

    Well, who woulda picked it …

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/8443022/PM-sounds-death-knell-for-phone-laptop-tax

    Prime Minister John Key has sounded the death knell for a proposed tax on employer-provided laptops and cellphones just a day after Cabinet scrapped the tax on perk car parks.

    “There is virtually no chance of it going ahead,” Key said of the laptop and cellphone tax today on his way into Parliament.

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  66. wat dabney (2,696) Says:

    Redbaiter,

    Why NZers are so pleased to put up with being continually harassed by these bastards is beyond me.

    Yet you still maintain that the state has the right – nay, the duty – to monitor our every move, even in our bedrooms.

    Apparently a totalitarian state is fine, just as long as you are in agreement with it. Isn’t that right Sue.

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  67. Manolo (9,867) Says:

    Another defeat for the political prostitute of Ohariu Belmont, and a devastating blow to his staunch follower, P.G.:
    http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/cellphone-laptop-tax-plan-scrapped-5372683

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  68. publicwatchdog (1,364) Says:

    Here you go Kiwibloggers!

    What’s your view on this one?

    NZ FIRST – FIRST NZ POLITICAL PARTY TO CONFIRM THAT THEIR MPS WILL NOT PURCHASE SHARES IN MIGHTY RIVER POWER!

    Well done NZ FIrst!

    ____________________________________________________________________

    “1) For the public record, as a New Zealand Member of Parliament, please confirm – will YOU purchase shares in Mighty River Power, if they become available?

    - YES or NO?

    2) Is this the agreed position of the political party which you represent, as a New Zealand Member of Parliament?

    - YES or NO? ”
    ____________________________________________________________________

    No to Q1
    Yes to Q2.
    Denis O’Rourke
    NZ First List MP
    _______________________________________________________

    19 March 2013

    Dear Members of the NZ House of Parliament,

    The ‘Switch Off Mercury Energy’ group, are looking forward to your replies to the following ‘Open Letter’.

    (Thank you Tau Henare, for your prompt response.)

    Kind regards,

    Penny Bright

    A Spokesperson for the Switch Off Mercury Energy group.

    ‘Anti-corruption campaigner’.

    …………..

    _______________________________________________________

    ‘Open Letter’ to all New Zealand Members of Parliament – re: the purchase of shares in Mighty River Power

    14 March 2013

    Dear New Zealand Member Of Parliament,

    Please be reminded that the final vote on the Public Finance (Mixed Ownership Model) Amendment Act 2012, was 61 – 60

    http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/PB/Debates/Debates/e/8/e/50HansD_20120626_00000012-State-Owned-Enterprises-Amendment-Bill-Public.htm

    A party vote was called for on the question, That the Public Finance (Mixed Ownership Model) Amendment Bill be now read a third time.

    Ayes 61
    New Zealand National 59; ACT New Zealand 1; United Future 1.
    Noes 60
    New Zealand Labour 34; Green Party 14; New Zealand First 8; Maori Party 3; Mana 1.

    ____________________________________________________________________

    1) For the public record, as a New Zealand Member of Parliament, can YOU please confirm – will YOU purchase shares in Mighty River Power, if they become available?

    - YES or NO?

    2) Is this the agreed position of the political party which you represent, as a New Zealand Member of Parliament?

    - YES or NO?

    Please be advised that your reply will be made available to both the media and the public.

    Your prompt response would be much appreciated.

    Yours sincerely,

    Penny Bright

    A Spokesperson for the Switch Off Mercury Energy group.

    ‘Anti-corruption campaigner’.

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  69. RRM (7,207) Says:

    My view is that you’re a sponge Penny, leeching off Auckland Ratepayers and New Zealand Taxpayers while acting to sabotage their interests.

    Get a job, pay your rates.

    When you’re no longer a debtor of Metro Water and Auckland Council, you might be in a position to speak about their business affairs with some credibility.

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  70. wat dabney (2,696) Says:

    NZ FIRST – FIRST NZ POLITICAL PARTY TO CONFIRM THAT THEIR MPS WILL NOT PURCHASE SHARES IN MIGHTY RIVER POWER!

    The real test is will they use the schools and hospitals that come from the sale, and if they will keep the benefit of the lower electricity bills which will stem from less state control.

    Why don’t you add those questions?

    Otherwise they are benefitting just as much as the rest of us.

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  71. Kea (4,328) Says:

    Christian extremists’ attack veteran Russian pro-democracy party

    The attackers, who claimed to represent the Orthodox Christian public movement Will of God, recorded a video of the incident and posted it on the Internet, calling the event “an action of the Orthodox inquisition” with “confiscation and burning of the pulp literature issued by Yabloko – the party of Satanists and perverts.”

    http://rt.com/politics/orthodox-christian-extremists-attack-veteran-russian-pro-democracy-party-421/

    Bloody Muslims Christians.

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  72. Manolo (9,867) Says:

    Progressives of the world, unite!
    Your icon has spoken: http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/18/hillary-clinton-endorses-same-sex-marriage/

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  73. Rodders (1,790) Says:

    NZ FIRST…CONFIRM THAT THEIR MPS WILL NOT PURCHASE SHARES IN MIGHTY RIVER POWER

    Will NZ First also disclose the names of organisations from which they won’t accept donations?
    Unprincipled populists!

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  74. Manolo (9,867) Says:

    I look forward to Dunne’s further (and feeble) defense of his “fair” laptop and car park taxes. Defeated but proud.

    The buffoon and his comical party, UnitedFuture, know no shame.

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  75. SPC (2,929) Says:

    Life of O’Brien

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21788238

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  76. Viking2 (9,461) Says:

    Here you go dime. Lots of good info there and ask a question and you will get good answers. Some really experienced property managers frequent especially Nelson and whangarei.

    Lots to learn but most important is to employ the best property manager you can. They make a huge difference. You can ask on the blog.
    .
    .http://www.propertytalk.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?55-Property-Investment-%28NZ%29

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  77. nasska (6,358) Says:

    Religion simplified…..

    Ref: https://www.dropbox.com/s/y9rs6ge31hagjb4/Faith.gif

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  78. Reid (13,564) Says:

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/9936180/Iraq-anniversary-war-intelligence-was-a-lie-BBC-Panorama-documentary-to-say.html

    and

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/mar/18/panorama-iraq-fresh-wmd-claims

    Gee. I guess those few of us who called bullshit on this years ago who were and sometimes still are vehemently told by all the much much “wiser” people that of course there were WMDs, are still completely wrong and anyway, it doesn’t matter because the Iraqians are all just a bunch of fucking ragheads who hated our fweedom, until we learned them.

    Too bad about all that blood and treasure that continues to be spilt and will be for decades to come. For what?

    The less amusing fact is, they’re still doing the same thing in e.g. Syria, and still, the much much “wiser” people even now, still think they’re fighting for the fweedom of the poor opwessed Sywian people. Why just look at this Human Wights weport that has all those interviews from all the Sywians who’ve been opwessed by nasty ole Assad.

    When are any of you “wise” people going to wake up?

    Never, is my guess.

    You’re all living examples of Niemöller, you know that? Yes, you are. You don’t know that you are, you’re not doing it on purpose, but nevertheless, you’re doing it.

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  79. nasska (6,358) Says:

    A guy is sitting in the bar in departures at Sydney Airport.

    A beautiful woman walks in and sits down at the table next to him. He assumes because she’s got a uniform on, she’s probably an off-duty flight attendant.

    So he decides to have a go at picking her up by identifying the airline she flies for, thereby impressing her greatly.

    He leans across to her and says the Delta Airlines motto ‘We love to fly and it shows’.

    The woman looks at him blankly. He sits back and thinks up another line.

    He leans forward again and delivers the Air France motto ‘Winning the hearts of the world’.

    Again she just stares at him with a slightly puzzled look on her face.

    Undeterred, he tries again, this time saying the Malaysian Airlines motto ‘Going beyond expectations’.

    The woman looks at him aggressively and says ‘What the fuck do you want?’

    ‘Ah!’ he says, sitting back with a smile on his face –’Jetstar’.

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  80. nasska (6,358) Says:

    Reid

    I followed the link you provided on Tesla the other afternoon. I not a convert but I’ve digested the info & filed it upstairs. Of particular interest to me was the suggestion that the earth itself was the conductor & generator of the electricity…..there was no way that anyone could bend the laws of physics & do the same via air.

    To the best of your knowledge was Tesla ever accredited with or accused of the development of a “death ray”?

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  81. wat dabney (2,696) Says:

    Of course, David Bowie played Tesla in The Prestige.

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  82. nasska (6,358) Says:

    I’d never heard of Tesla until Reid brought the name up last year wat. I don’t reckon that he got the good publicity he deserved as he was undoubted a gifted inventor.

    The trouble nowadays is separating fact from fiction in everything I’ve read on the subject…..few experts agree on much.

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  83. Fletch (4,305) Says:

    I’d heard of him before. I used to work with an old Croatian guy who talked about him, and was proud of him.

    Sounds like an incredible guy.

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  84. big bruv (11,201) Says:

    Did anybody else hear Michael Laws rip our old pal James Sleep to bits on his radio show this morning?

    It was magical radio, Sleep was shown up to be nothing more than an amatuer. You may not like Laws but todays bit of radio was absolute magic. Sleep was made to look like the liar and Labour party flunky that he is.

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  85. Nostradamus (2,391) Says:

    Big Bruv:

    I remember James Sleep and D4J got on famously when they came together on Kiwiblog (not really). Also this one!

    What do you make of this story about Jerry Collins? Why would he need to carry a kitchen knife in Japan of all places for “self-defence”? Bereal, could you please elaborate?

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  86. big bruv (11,201) Says:

    Nos.

    Dunno about Jerry Collins. I struggle to find a reason why a guy his size would need a knife in a place like Japan.

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  87. Nostradamus (2,391) Says:

    Big Bruv:

    I lived in Japan for two years, and never felt the need to carry a knife around with me. But perhaps Jerry felt differently.

    Approximately what time was the James Sleep interview?

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  88. big bruv (11,201) Says:

    Between 10.30am and 12.00. Sorry I was working at the time and do not remember exactly when it was on.

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  89. Nostradamus (2,391) Says:

    That’s cool. Just trying to choose the correct 15-minute block from the RadioLive website.

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  90. Reid (13,564) Says:

    To the best of your knowledge was Tesla ever accredited with or accused of the development of a “death ray”?

    Yes he was but that was public disinformation bullshit. When Edison was fucked over by him with Tesla’s AC instead of Edison’s DC electricity, Edison used to pay people to go round fairs electrocuting animals to show how “deadly” Tesla’s nasty old AC really was. What Edison didn’t tell people was that his DC proposal meant there had to be a generating station every few hundred yards, whereas Tesla’s AC current enabled the step-up step-down method which meant we could transmit it for miles without loss. (Tesla BTW started out at Menlo Park with Edison when he first came to the US. When Edison realised he had a competitor, he got rid of him, PDQ. Then he sabotaged his work.)

    What people don’t understand is Tesla after revolutionising the electricity industry (he teamed up with George Westinghouse and his technology gave Westinghouse it’s beginnings), he left it behind and started researching other forms of phenomena. When he died, as a pauper in NY in 1946, all his papers disappeared.

    You have to know a bit about who he was and what his research was before you can make up your mind about him, but lots of evidence suggests he was the first to tap into zero-point energy, which is the energy that remains after matter is cooled to absolute zero, where all motion stops. There’s enough zero-point energy in a cup of coffee to power the entire US for a year.

    There’s little doubt his research was stolen, who stole it and has since refined it, is the question. I have my theories, but very few here would find it credible, so what’s the point in expounding on them here.

    One sidebar note is his research into the vibration of matter. Once or twice he setup a pendulum-like device which was tuned to the natural vibrational rythym of the NY skyscraper it was setup beside. Just like an opera singer can shatter crystal, the same principle applies to buildings and as the pendulum (it wasn’t a pendulum, I can’t remember what he called it), synched to the vibration of the skyscaper it started to sway, as well. The sidebar note is that when Kruschev announced his “doomsday” weapon in the 60′s, some allege it was a Tesla device tuned to the vibration of the Earth. Ultra-low frequency transmitters, with the capacity to crack the Earth in half like an egg. Some allege the Russians tried it once and it almost ran out of control, scaring the shit out of them. Who knows.

    There’s little doubt however that what Tesla was doing was far more significant than anything Edison ever did and the fact history is almost completely silent on this genius, draw your own conclusions. His research could open up FREE energy. Unmetered. But we’re not allowed to have that. Not only that, the military applications are huge. Any military would give their eye-teeth to develop weaponised versions of his research. Zero-point energy capability also opens up space travel. The HAARP stations are also said to be based on Tesla’s research.

    Scratch the surface of this guy and you find someone head and shoulders above Einstein, Edison, Teller or any other famous scientist of his era. And yet, no-one’s ever heard of him. That’s the reality, and it’s not because those guys were greater than he was. So who has the power to influence the entire Western world for coming up to a full century, on who this guy was and what he did? Gee. I wonder.

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  91. Left Right and Centre (707) Says:

    PC bullshit = elderly drivers might drive slowly, but they’re careful and don’t cause accidents.

    Truth = http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/hutt-valley/8444961/Elderly-woman-dies-after-wrong-way-crash

    What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck??

    Something has just fallen out of the socket there. How do you explain that one? And it’s all the time if you were to waste your life counting all of these braindead fuck-ups by geriatrics. That’s not just a lapse of concentration or a small error with a bad result… you have to be right out of your fucking tree to do what this idiot did.

    Answer? Annual driving tests at least? Swap the six monthly WOF checks for six monthly old fart practicals? Let’s face it… they’ve got the time being retired to sit two practicals a year. Give them a ten test card… number ten is on us.

    I don’t know- it’s a pet hate though… the ‘old people are safer than every other category’ myth. pffffffff!!!!

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  92. Left Right and Centre (707) Says:

    more reasons to hate the lower classes….

    bored finger drumming, constant sniffing, leg pumping, continuous pen clicking, knuckle cracking, book flipping, pen tapping…..

    kill me now…. save me from these despicable insufferable idiots….

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  93. Joseph Carpenter (209) Says:

    Surely those very nice people the Greens wouldn’t stoop to scaremongering the public:
    http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1303/S00306/national-planning-cyprus-style-solution-for-new-zealand.htm

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  94. Manolo (9,867) Says:

    A piss-weak Englishman: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/leveson-inquiry/9938693/David-Camerons-Leveson-deal-is-threat-to-press-freedom-says-human-rights-watchdog.html

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  95. Manolo (9,867) Says:

    Some loyal supporter and party candidate will be weeping and wailing in the South Island: http://news.msn.co.nz/nationalnews/8629098/dunne-humiliated-labour-says

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  96. expat (3,975) Says:

    Reid, I hope you don’t mean this http://www.panacea-bocaf.org/nikolatesla.htm

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  97. Reid (13,564) Says:

    Yes expat, but I suggest you check my links on him from GD over the weekend, if you want to know more about the man, as opposed to what that link says.

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