General Debate 1 January 2017

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fernglas

Happy New Year
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January 1, 2017 8:01am
- Biscuit
  
  Happy 1001st Fernglas and a Happy New Year to all Kiwibloggers!
  
  Anyone out there, like me, who PREFERS a cool, wet holiday season to a hot, dry one?
  
  Downtickers, HIT me!
  
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  January 1, 2017 8:03am
  - jude
    
    Well you asked?
    Happy NewYear to all Kiwiblog readers and Commenters.
    I do enjoy reading the articles and comments and will appreciate your opinions of the political landscape as we head towards the election this year!
    
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    January 1, 2017 9:47am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    Head for Wellington, now.
    http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/88066723/severe-weather-warning-for-windy-wellington-with-gusts-of-up-to-120kmh-forecast
    
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    January 1, 2017 10:38am
    - waikatogirl
      
      Thanks for the fireworks links Maggy.
      The Chinese and Taiwanese displays were amazing.
      
      Happy New Year!
      
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      January 1, 2017 3:06pm
  - pdm
    
    mrspdm is with you re the cool wet season Biscuit – she instructed me to give you an uptick.
    
    Done.
    
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    January 1, 2017 2:16pm
    - Biscuit
      
      pdm, your wife is clearly a lady of FINE taste…
      
      Please feel authorised to give her one (1) peck on the cheek on my behalf!
      
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      January 1, 2017 6:54pm
- thedavincimode
  
  A down tick! Good grief.
  
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  January 1, 2017 10:10am
thedavincimode

Bah! Humbug!
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January 1, 2017 8:02am
Biscuit

An uptick JUST for you, davinci!

This is what whitebait fritter brekkies DO to my mood!
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January 1, 2017 8:05am
- thedavincimode
  
  Yummmm.
  
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  January 1, 2017 8:08am
- mikenmild
  
  Nothing like munching on endangered species for breakfast.
  
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  January 1, 2017 8:48am
  - Biscuit
    
    Mikenmild, ALL species on Earth are endangered.
    
    Mother Nature – or that mythical ‘kind, loving’ Man in the Sky – really couldn’t give a toss about her/His creations…
    
    From Wikipedia:
    
    More than 99 percent of all species, amounting to over five billion species, that ever lived on Earth are estimated to be extinct. Estimates on the number of Earth’s current species range from 10 million to 14 million, of which about 1.2 million have been documented and over 86 percent have not yet been described.
    
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    January 1, 2017 8:57am
    - mikenmild
      
      That’s okay then: enjoy your Kiwi fricassee following some Panda pate.
      
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      January 1, 2017 8:59am
      - Biscuit
        
        My point, mikemild.
        
        Why SHOULD Pandas be ‘saved’ – like the Kiwi they have ‘evolved’ into states of uselessness – a ‘bear’ that can only eat certain bits of bamboo and a bird that couldn’t defend itself against a puddytat.
        You could use the same logic about the Greens’ faves, the Maui dolphin. Why can’t it find a new habitat?
        
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        January 1, 2017 9:08am
      - mikenmild
        
        I should have thought it was quite evident that Pandas are loved by many. Apart from anything else, they are something of a Chinese national symbol.
        Are you suggesting some kind of separate register of endangered species about which you couldn’t care?
        Would you be happy to eat the last ever whitebait fritter? I’m quite fond of whitebait myself, but I won’t eat it until it can be harvested sustainably. If enough other people took the same position, there would be a brighter future for freshwater fish, and the promise of fritters to come.
        
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        January 1, 2017 9:15am
      - kowtow
        
        Separate register for those no one cares about ?
        
        Not a bad idea. No one gave a shit about Rwanda and few bother about the Congo ( where many millions died) or Yemen , while Syria seems to be the sexy whale everyone wants to save.
        
        A diversion. Football witchcraft cheats in Rwanda.
        
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD55cp00KVE
        
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        January 1, 2017 9:22am
      - Rich Prick
        
        Wow, some one is scratchy this morning.
        
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        January 1, 2017 9:48am
      - cmm
        
        Biscuit
        
        Thanks to the friggin Greens, many species that should be eliminated still thrive.
        
        For example mosquitoes which kill and damage millions of people every year. Thanks Greenies.
        
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        January 1, 2017 9:52am
  - pentwig
    
    They certainly are not endangered in my river!!
    
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    January 1, 2017 9:16am
    - Biscuit
      
      mikenmild, I am simply pointing out that 99% of all species are gotten themselves extinct.
      
      Humans will be extinct, too, one day…
      
      Just cause Pandas are pretty, you want to save them. Fine. What about the 4,999,999,999 LESS-pretty species that have gone before?
      
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      January 1, 2017 9:19am
      - mikenmild
        
        I don’t have a particular soft spot for Pandas, but you may develop one after watching this video:
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpOKuaPVLiQ
        
        Yes, most species have become extinct. I’m not sure that is a reason to be complacent about the current, human-induced, mass extinction.
        
        I think whitebait are a good example of the need for proper conservation. They are delicious, and I’d be sorry if they weren’t around for my grandchildren to eat. So I’m not really convinced that we need more cow shit in streams if that is part of the price.
        
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        January 1, 2017 9:26am
    - All_on_Red
      
      That’s good to hear Pentwig. Have to say I have wondered that we should give the whitebait a break for a few years so have some empathy for Mikeys view.
      Oh dear. What a way to start the year!
      
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      January 1, 2017 9:22am
    - mikenmild
      
      That’s alright then Pentwig. Congratulations on your first substantial comment. Keep it up.
      
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      January 1, 2017 9:22am
      - pentwig
        
        Not my first Milky but if I do make a comment I prefer it to sensible.
        I will continue to play the stupid trolls though, so no let up for it/them.
        
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        January 1, 2017 10:45am
  - thedavincimode
    
    A bit snipey for so early in the new year milky.
    
    But a very Happy New Year to you all the same. May the fleas of a thousand camels nest in your enemies’ underwear.
    
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    January 1, 2017 10:05am
    - mikenmild
      
      I’ve made a resolution to be less tolerant of fuckwits.
      
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      January 1, 2017 10:14am
      - Paulus Gnome
        
        I’ll go with that!
        
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        January 1, 2017 10:17am
      - Biscuit
        
        Is that implying I’m a fuckwit, mikenmild?
        
        I don’t THINK that was your intention but I’m with Ronnie Reagan – ‘Trust… but verify’…
        
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        January 1, 2017 10:31am
      - mikenmild
        
        I wouldn’t term someone a fuckwit just because they happen to disagree with me – that just makes them wrong!
        Perhaps I should start a list of Kiwiblog fuckwits, and you could add to it.
        
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        January 1, 2017 10:47am
      - pentwig
        
        Good grief
        Does that mean you are going to stop commenting on here?
        What a great way to start the New Year.
        Thanks Milky.
        
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        January 1, 2017 10:48am
      - Viking2
        
        We noticed. seems like you are Trev in disguise lately, well as grumpy.
        Happy New Year MM.
        
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        January 1, 2017 12:38pm
Komata

Dvm

Why you no lika da Humbug – de peppermint maka them tasta so nice…(Even on New Year’s day)?
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January 1, 2017 8:05am
wiseowl

Happy New Year.
Heres to another exciting political year with the election taking centre stage.

A special New Year greeting to all great white males and to those who want a country, no muslim immigrants and an end to mass immigration.
Make New Zealand great again.
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January 1, 2017 8:17am
- Happychappy
  
  Yes and and another load of Labour’s missing million being deported back to our Country because they thought Crime was a legitimate job in Australia.
  
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  January 1, 2017 8:41am
  - Liberty
    
    The industry is a closed shop.
    The jobs have been kept in the family since the late 1700s
    
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    January 1, 2017 9:28am
- Liberty
  
  “Make New Zealand great again”
  Bloody luddites
  Life is great now.
  Why would anyone want to go back to your mythical times.
  
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  January 1, 2017 9:21am
  - kowtow
    
    Saudade.
    
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    January 1, 2017 9:24am
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      boa vocábulo
      
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      January 1, 2017 9:43am
Happychappy

One day into the New Year and the Herald is at it again trying to spoil everyones holiday by pimping a 71 year old male that needs a state house and has been told that he needs to sleep in his car to move up into the priority list for a house. It Looks like the media is setting its goal early in 2017 to change the Government and make Andrew Little Prime Minister.
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January 1, 2017 8:25am
- G152
  
  The MSM is desperate to be relevant in 2017.
  The only people listening to them/reading them/believing them are snow flakes.
  When the torches of reason and common sense are applied to them they melt..
  It’s going to be a great year with the left left in disarray
  
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  January 1, 2017 8:40am
  - Inandout
    
    May the piles of unsold newspapers grow fatter in the outlets.
    
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    January 1, 2017 8:44am
    - Paulus Gnome
      
      May the Auckland newspaper launch a thousand paper maché ships!
      
      Best wishes to all in the good ship Kiwiblog including Mike but not trev because no matter how many new years are left in the world, he will still be a knob
      
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      January 1, 2017 9:39am
- sooty
  
  The kiddies are running the paper. Anyone with any sense is on holiday!
  
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  January 1, 2017 8:41am
- artemisia
  
  Over half of those on the Social Housing Register – state house – are single people or couples with no children. They are not the traditional state house applicants – which were families waiting for 2/3+ bedroom places – so building smaller units has not kept up with demand.
  
  Which begs the question – what has caused the change? Tough to be old and renting, but financially super plus Accommodation Supplement must make it a decent option. Similar for younger people – benefit plus AS is not bad income.
  
  So why are all these singles and couples needing subsidised housing. Is anyone asking? Like asking properly, not just looking for a poor-me story.
  
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  January 1, 2017 8:51am
  - Happychappy
    
    Because their reputation precedes them,so why would any good fair Landlord want them. The Law fav’ours the tenant now days so why would you take on a dodgy tenant.
    
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    January 1, 2017 9:08am
    - artemisia
      
      Suspect this is good part of the issue. It is much easier now for a landlord to check rental and credit history, and horror stories about trashing tenants will be making landlords more cautious.
      
      Over 3700 1 and 2 bedroom places listed on Trademe today, including 1500 in Auckland where this apparently a rental shortage. And of those in Auckland 140 are under $300 pw, some well under, which should be manageable for a couple on superannuation + AS. 1200 under $300pw across NZ.
      
      And that does not include flatmates wanted.
      
      Trademe is of course not the only place rentals are advertised.
      
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      January 1, 2017 10:42am
  - jcuk
    
    Would tend to agree with you Art. but the hoops one becomes enmeshed with once you ask for assistance are formidable. Judging from comments of folk involved, not me thank goodness so far, fingers crossed.
    
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    January 1, 2017 9:09am
  - Komata
    
    Artimesia
    
    An interesting question indeed, and no, the MSM won’t investigate it – it’s not sensational enough.
    
    Based purely on observation (and without benefit of any scientific investigation), might I suggest that the ‘need for subsidised housing’ may possibly be related to the availability of almost unlimited credit, my hypothesis being that these couples / singles now owe so much on ‘the card’ that they simply cannot afford to pay the rent, purchase food etc. They have basically over-committed themselves and, as ‘the banks / lenders’ inevitably want their money back (it’s the way things work) now have only ‘The State’ to turn to.
    
    As I said, a hypothesis, but a distinct possibility IMHO. No doubt it will be rubbished, but advanced for what it may be worth.
    
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    January 1, 2017 9:12am
    - mikenmild
      
      I think you need to look at some more basic fundamentals to consider why the state has a role in providing housing; both through direct supply and accommodation subsidies.
      
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      January 1, 2017 9:17am
      - Komata
        
        MM
        
        Actually, no, that wasn’t the question.
        
        Here it is again for your consideration:
        
        ‘So why are all these singles and couples needing subsidised housing. Is anyone asking?’
        
        The reasons as to why the state is involved isn’t under consideration, rather it is why SINGLES and [Childless] COUPLES (who usually have and make more money than ‘families’) should be in that situation.
        
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        January 1, 2017 9:41am
      - mikenmild
        
        Sorry, I misunderstood. You are not questioning the role of the state in ensuring access to shelter, just wondering why people with no kids could possibly be eligible.
        It’s probably true that if we evicted all the pensioners occupying public housing we could make space for all those kids. Is that what you meant?
        
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        January 1, 2017 9:57am
- Rich Prick
  
  My New Year’s resolution was to continue ignoring the Hearald’s “poor people” stories. I’m holding fast so far.
  
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  January 1, 2017 9:53am
- Steve (North Shore)
  
  Millenials running the shithouse rag. Would not know ‘News’ if it hit them between the eyes
  
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  January 1, 2017 10:07am
- marcw
  
  Perhaps the real story would be why someone in MSD couldn’t get off their arse and find the 71 year old with health issues with accommodation until the MSM gets to pimp their story. Or is it? Who knows whether to believe anything printed in that excuse for a gossip tabloid pamphlet, especially when Sepolini is involved.
  
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  January 1, 2017 11:51am
Inandout

Armed police at New Year’s events all over the world, and because of one fucking religion trying its best to destroy our culture. May 2017 be the year that Islam gets kicked to hell.
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January 1, 2017 8:42am
- stephieboy
  
  Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
  Another alt righter like Jeremy Corbyn divorced from reality ?
  
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  January 1, 2017 8:47am
  - Inandout
    
    Is that the best you can do?
    
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    January 1, 2017 8:51am
    - Paulus Gnome
      
      The substance of the stephiebots commenting so far this year, and i admit it is early on, indicates that nothing is going to change in particular for the new year; same old same old, sigh
      
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      January 1, 2017 9:49am
    - stephieboy
      
      Yes it is actually .Now that Putin is flavour of the New Year amongst deluded alt fighters of your kind it will be interesting to see how the honey moon lasts especially over Iran .
      
      BTW do keep us posted on the 10 ft higher Mexican border wall .
      
      http://www.dailywire.com/news/8638/what-alt-right-ben-shapiro
      
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      January 1, 2017 9:52am
      - Reid
        
        it will be interesting to see how the honey moon lasts especially over Iran .
        
        Why?
        
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        January 1, 2017 10:37am
  - holysheet
    
    Is this Stupiidboy?
    
    http://www.fairfaxunderground.com/forum/file.php?40,file=170241,filename=goat_cheat.jpg
    
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    January 1, 2017 9:11am
  - Manolo
    
    Tell us stephieboy: what is the reason for all those extreme security measures around the world: Lutheran terrorism?
    
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    January 1, 2017 9:51am
- Liberty
  
  In your unbalanced rant. I see no mention
  of the fundamentalist Christians who have just
  elected some Noddy as the USA president.
  
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  January 1, 2017 9:43am
  - Liberty
    
    Time will tell. The man is as bent as a dogs hind leg and debatably as stable as North Korans despot.
    When it comes to trade the man is a luddite.
    
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    January 1, 2017 12:54pm
- MCos
  
  That’s a particularly ill informed comment, Inandout.
  As far as I’m aware here in NZ any armed police scattered around are more likely to chasing your regular crims rather than Islamic terrorists.
  I’m not quite sure what you mean by ‘our culture’? Is the Kiwi culture the only one that counts?
  
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  January 1, 2017 10:58am
  - holysheet
    
    Yes because it is our country. If you want to come here, then don’t try and turn the place that accepts you into the shit hole you have just left
    
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    January 1, 2017 2:45pm
- Rodney Randall
  
  https://youtu.be/hZZMXV_PRXk
  
  A wise honest Arab Muslim man tells Muslims the truth about themselves
  
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  January 1, 2017 11:55am
Inandout

A lesson in grovelling here-
http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2017/01/sunday-mailbag-dear-moderators/

Honestly, I don’t think I would bother if I were this person.
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January 1, 2017 9:12am
- fernglas
  
  Grovelling, or taking the piss? It seems Mr Oil has trouble seeing sarcasm. (The apostrophe in the “its” in the last sentence is a subtle but clear giveaway)
  
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  January 1, 2017 9:17am
- mikenmild
  
  Does anyone read Whale Oil anymore? Seems about as relevant as The Standard.
  
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  January 1, 2017 9:18am
  - Nostradamus
    
    Mikenmild:
    
    The Standard is always good for a laugh. We have Carolyn_nth to thank for this conspiracy theory:
    
    So the news on TV1 last night was that Max Key was going to play the New Year in on Sky Tower just before the fireworks display.
    …
    On TV1 they said preparation for the Sky Tower display began 5 months ago. An indication that 5 months John Key was still planning to be PM by 1st January?
    
    A simple-minded person like me would think that John Key’s term as prime minister and Max Key’s New Year’s Eve plans were unrelated. But thanks to Carolyn, we now know that John forgot to tell Max that he wouldn’t be prime minister on New Year’s Eve, and that Max should stay home.
    
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    January 1, 2017 9:44am
    - Kimbo
      
      Yeah, but before you go hurling too many stones in The Standard’s direction, Nostradamus, note that twice in two days a contributor to Kiwiblog has suggested that the real reason John Key stepped down as PM was to avoid being “tainted” by our UNSC vote over Israeli West Bank settlements. Dem Joos! And it wasn’t Reid or EAD!
      
      Plus Chuck Bird, what with his mining and engineering degree and lifetime experience in the industry (//) is all ready to follow his political Messiah into that Pike River Mine, but the National Government collusion with Solid Energy is the only thing stopping them. 😉
      
      Tin foil hat wearers – at least they cross political and ideological boundaries 😉
      
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      January 1, 2017 4:42pm
  - Paulus Gnome
    
    Same chance of being barred for failing to toe the line,the sycophantancy on WO is nauseating but I do like the long featured article and find the map interesting most days.
    
    The stance on the McCullyification of the situation with Israel in nigh on being a crusade against the National government; still the one of blubber has to adopt that position given the all expense paid trip to Israel that he enjoyed.
    
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    January 1, 2017 9:56am
  - Paulus
    
    I read and have been banned for the last couple of years because of something I said – no idea what it was.
    WO and his little boys is going of at great tangents – looking sometimes a little frustrated – putting it nicely.
    His wife is the only sane one left.
    Not sure what he is up to – used to be a well balanced blog but now very much selective as to who and what is reported.
    If they do not like any critical comment then you are off !
    Pity sad and pathetic really. Hard up too.
    
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    January 1, 2017 10:54am
- Liberty
  
  The blog used to be a lot of fun. but alas it has lost its mojo.
  
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  January 1, 2017 10:12am
- Viking2
  
  God that’s sad reading.
  
  If one wanted an echo chamber of their (WOBH) opinions then that’s the place to go.
  Fortunately there are other blogs including KB which are much better.
  
  WOBH is just the Standard at the other end of the political spectrum.
  The standards are the same.
  The discourse is much the same with a different slant politically.
  The invective heaped on some is no different but a least at KB one can respond. Try that over there. Banned.
  
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  January 1, 2017 1:01pm
flipper

Geez H C on a Bike……

2017 is already a paradigm of 2016 (and earlier years) for some. But by their silly and numerous offerings they will be known.
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January 1, 2017 9:37am
Biscuit

Anyone – on-line, of course – do the Herald Daily Quiz?

One of today’s questions:

7. Joplin is the capital of which US state?

You get given a choice of:
Alabama
Missouri
Kentucky

Que?

They reckon the answer is Missouri…

This will come as a big surprise to Thomas Jefferson, after whom Jefferson City is named…
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January 1, 2017 9:39am
- mikenmild
  
  I do the Stuff quiz, which has an error about once a fortnight.
  
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  January 1, 2017 9:52am
  - Biscuit
    
    Indeed, mikenmild.
    
    Trusteth not what you read in the meejya, I always say, unless you can confirm that a) it’s not just an opinion piece and b) any ‘facts’ quoted have verifiable sources!
    
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    January 1, 2017 9:55am
    - mikenmild
      
      Luckily we have Kiwiblog and Whale Oil to provide the ‘true’ facts.
      
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      January 1, 2017 9:58am
      - Paulus
        
        WO too ?
        Sure ?
        
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        January 1, 2017 10:55am
- stephieboy
  
  Biscuit , for you Google is indeed your friend !
  
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  January 1, 2017 9:58am
  - pentwig
    
    It is a shame it isn’t yours steffie
    it would educate you so much if you allowed your brain to absorb the knowledge.
    
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    January 1, 2017 10:59am
waikatogirl

Ok, I’ll ask… Any NY resolutions??

Mine is:
Not getting drawn into anyone’s self-induced dramatic crap. ?
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January 1, 2017 9:40am
- Biscuit
  
  I resolve not to kill another human being unless he or she annoys me in some small way.
  
  That do?
  
  Failing that:
  
  I will keep the puddytat well fed at all times…
  This will preclude my suddenly finding four sets of claws in my chest and my view of the bedroom eclipsed by a cat’s head bearing a ‘Well, now that you are awake, how about feeding little me?’ expression…
  
  I will keep the partner unhungry, too – though her claws are LESS sharp…
  
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  January 1, 2017 9:48am
  - Paulus Gnome
    
    True that but I can almost guarantee that her (assuming here) bite will be worse and she knows how to use your credit card.
    
    Until your cat figures out how to develop an opposing thumb, the one next to you in bed will always prove to be the greater adversary
    
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    January 1, 2017 10:02am
    - Biscuit
      
      I have a cunning plan re keeping my credit card from prying female hands, Paulus.
      
      (Yes, she is female – I just checked…)
      
      It is my job to feed the cat (thankfully, it can attend to its own toilet these days) so I just secrete my cards under her food bowl…
      
      It has worked so far!
      
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      January 1, 2017 10:23am
      - Paulus Gnome
        
        A plan so cunning, you could put a tail on it and call it a weasel.
        
        The British sense of humour is the best!
        
        Dead parrot anyone?
        
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        January 1, 2017 10:29am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Here’s some helpful expressions (learnt from KBers) when drama looms
  
  whatever
  so
  tough
  snoflake
  
  https://anasoux.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/ami-i-bothered.jpg
  
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  January 1, 2017 10:00am
  - Viking2
    
    snoflake ?????????
    Really this late in the morning.
    
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    January 1, 2017 1:04pm
Chuck Bird

Very good article by Rodney

Rodney Hide: Winston Peters has skin in the game

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11774189
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January 1, 2017 9:41am
- Nostradamus
  
  Chuck:
  
  Are you serious?
  
  Trendsetter Winston Peters ended 2016 offering to be the first man to re-enter Pike River. Our oldest, longest serving MP, once again setting the standard, this time for walking the talk. His “walking the talk” should become the thing for 2017.
  …
  Peters’ offer is revolutionary. We don’t need a referendum or a wildcard President. We just need Winston Peters down that mine. His offer is one thing; doing it is another.
  
  I think you’ve misinterpreted the article – Rodney is being sarcastic.
  
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  January 1, 2017 9:50am
  - Kimbo
    
    Tells you much about Winston Peters voters in general, and Chuck Bird, aka Mr Perfidious Albion in particular! 😉
    
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    January 1, 2017 10:28am
- Reid
  
  Did you see what Rodney posted yesterday on the Israel thread in relation to what Wayne Mapp said. You should have a look if not, it’s very interesting.
  
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  January 1, 2017 10:02am
  - Chuck Bird
    
    I looked on that thread and could not find a comment by Rodney. Link please.
    
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    January 1, 2017 10:16am
  - Nostradamus
    
    Reid:
    
    Are you referring to the No Israel did not declare war on NZ plus the actual UN Security Council resolution thread? I don’t think Rodney Hide has commented on that thread.
    
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    January 1, 2017 10:20am
    - Reid
      
      Yes sorry, it was this post:
      
      http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2016/12/sure_looks_like_a_trend_to_me.html#comment-1846649
      
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      January 1, 2017 10:33am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    Rodney commented on the “sure looks like a trend to me” post last night.
    
    He gave an account of the Hon Dr Wayne Mapp refusing to meet with Dr Vincent Gray.
    
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    January 1, 2017 10:29am
    - mikenmild
      
      There is no reason for ministers to meet with the fruitcakes from the Climate Science Coalition. They have better things to do. Mapp should not have agreed to meet Hide either, if all he wanted to talk about was denialist fantasies.
      
      2 23
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      January 1, 2017 10:38am
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        That “fruitcake” was the first director of Building Research and chief Chemist of the Coal Research Association.
        
        Dr Mapp should have called NIWA out for their shoddy work when he discovered that the computer files containing the background data for the NZ Temperature Record had been lost/destroyed.
        
        If people can not independently review the method, data collection and analysis of a piece of work, you don’t have science… you have a work of fiction.
        
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        January 1, 2017 10:55am
      - mikenmild
        
        ‘Fruitcake’ is a technical term which includes scientists pretending to expertise outside their actual filed of expertise.
        
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        January 1, 2017 11:01am
      - All_on_Red
        
        Just like Dr Mann’s venture into Dendrochronology.
        #veryspecialtree
        
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        January 1, 2017 11:13am
    - Chuck Bird
      
      Thanks for that Maggy. That further demonstrates that Wayne Mapp is a bigot who refuses to debate issues rationally.
      
      It is very concerning that he is on the Law Commission which is meant to be no political.
      
      He might have a doctorate in law but I doubt if he could succeed in science.
      
      I would like to see him debate Rodney or you on AWG. I am sure he would not do so.
      
      He will not enter into a rational debate on domestic violence either. That is another reason why he should not be on the Law Commission – another perk for retired MPs.
      
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      January 1, 2017 11:08am
      - Kimbo
        
        I would like to see him debate Rodney or you on AWG. I am sure he would not do so.
        
        Just as you’d like to see me heckle Winston Peters, and almost the entire KB community would like to see you and your political hero head off down that mine – as too would Rodney Hide (guffaw).
        
        So many match-ups. Maybe Duco Events – with a grant from ATEED – can put these match-ups together for your entertainment, ~~Chuck Bird~~ Mr Perfidious Albion.
        
        Let’s get ready to rrrrumble…..
        
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        January 1, 2017 11:18am
      - Kimbo
        
        Another match-up: Who would win a “I’ll repeatedly demand answers to my agenda-setting ‘have you stopped beating your wife?’ questions…but refuse to answer ones that refute my flawed premise” trolling contest between Chuck Bird, aka Mr Perfidious Albion and…the pride of Mt Eden…stephieboy.
        
        Better keep practicing because you may be out-matched at present. Plus you don’t have the quickness on your feet to match your political hero, Winston Peters in the chimp-throwing poo game. Yes, you are right Chuck – it was indeed a “Very good article by Rodney Hide”. Guffaw.
        
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        January 1, 2017 11:25am
      - Happychappy
        
        What he hasn’t had to or won’t pay the Tax payer back for money that was obtained agains’t the rules.Wayne Mapp has integrity more than some you associate with.
        
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        January 1, 2017 11:33am
      - Chuck Bird
        
        So you think now can speak to Rodney. While I was not happy with some things he has done unlike the likes of you and others on KB he has the balls to front people up in person or on talk back. I have rung him on talk back and disagreed with him and we could have a reasonable conversation.
        
        You are a coward not fit to lick Winston boots.
        
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        January 1, 2017 11:51am
      - Kimbo
        
        So you think now can speak to Rodney.
        
        ~~Chuck~~ Mr Perfidious Albion, when you attempt a slap-down in a public forum such as this, it helps that you read and engage directly with what your protagonist has posted, instead of putting words in their mouth. We call that a “straw man” and it is the actions of (to quote you) “a bigot who refuses to debate issues rationally”.
        
        Plus, as I pointed out to you yesterday, you have morally forfeited the right and courtesy, usually extended to others on Kiwiblog, of expecting answers to your agenda-setting questions…when you refuse to reciprocate. Another Winston Peters dodge.
        
        Now, clean that spittle off your computer screen, and try again.
        
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        January 1, 2017 12:01pm
    - Viking2
      
      A bit of this topic but shades of parallel action.
      
      This last year was the Labour Parties 100 year anniverary.
      Peter Davis (yep that one) wrote an article for the Herald about the fact that there was no recognition of this.
      
      IMHO it was a good article, but the bit left unsaid was the early history of the Party.
      Its very hard to find, especially any criticism of those days.
      The big critic was of course John Lee who wrote a number of books about those early times.
      
      Today we hear about the poor etc but if you want to know what drove him and his mates read “Children of the Poor” which is about his childhood.
      
      Labour People don’t seem to even want to acknowledge their part in NZ history.
      Perhaps because of the stigma that was perceived to go with various types of sexuality and of the people that were caught up in that as apart of their real world.
      Savage for example was an Australian, a pacifist and a homosexual as were some of the others and many since.
      
      Fortunately for NZ there have been some Labour MP’s who have done lots of good.
      
      The reason for this post was to say that like Niwa the Labour Party has quietly rid NZ of his books. Try finding one to read. They are very hard to find but worth the read if you can get any of them.
      It seems the Niwa, like Labour don’t want the people to know what went on.
      “Simple on a Soapbox” is another.
      
      7 1
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      January 1, 2017 1:20pm
      - mikenmild
        
        Could you give some more detail about how the Labour Party got rid of Lee’s books? Seems to me that they are readily available.
        
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        January 1, 2017 1:30pm
      - Honeybadger
        
        Try your local library for books written by John A lee, or failing that, would you like to borrow mine?
        
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        January 1, 2017 3:48pm
- Southern Raider
  
  Best part was Rodney suggesting Murray should be the new Minister for the West Bank
  
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  January 1, 2017 10:46am
All_on_Red

Wonder how often this happens. I imagine there’s quite a few desperate creepy old men out there who’d marry a Chinese women and give them a Passport.
‘To get Kiwi passports, some are even prepared to marry New Zealand citizens who may be total strangers, several students from the Chinese mainland told the Weekend Herald.’
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/chinese-in-nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=147&objectid=10620509
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January 1, 2017 9:56am
- nasska
  
  The poor women! Life must be very difficult in the Glorious Peoples Republic for them to sell their bodies in marriage to desperate perverts just to get a foot in the door of our country.
  
  Surely we have brothels these ‘husbands’ could frequent instead.
  
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  January 1, 2017 10:28am
  - Nostradamus
    
    Nasska:
    
    Surely we have brothels these ‘husbands’ could frequent instead.
    
    The word on the street is that Mikenmild has come up with a good marketing plan. Soon, thanks to Google, everyone will know about the Quarry Inn!
    
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    January 1, 2017 10:37am
    - mikenmild
      
      I know you are keen to know more about the Quarry Inn, but I am moving on to a new venture this year. It will be interesting to see if you can work out what it is.
      
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      January 1, 2017 10:39am
    - nasska
      
      He may even start a franchise in Auckland.
      
      The “Roskill Inn” has a certain ring to it. 🙂
      
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      January 1, 2017 10:43am
      - Nostradamus
        
        Nasska:
        
        You could be right. My guess: a joint venture between Mikenmild and Starboard that offers budget flights to Thailand and an unforgettable holiday experience.
        
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        January 1, 2017 10:47am
      - Rich Prick
        
        I don’t think they do burka’s in fishnet.
        
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        January 1, 2017 1:03pm
      - holysheet
        
        yes they do
        http://heavy.com/action/girls/2012/11/the-20-hottest-photos-of-babes-in-burqas/20/
        
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        January 1, 2017 2:55pm
  - thedavincimode
    
    Happy New Year Mr Hillbilly.
    
    I understand that they receive a very high level of inquiry from a retired bridge toll protester.
    
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    January 1, 2017 10:40am
    - mikenmild
      
      He’s only interested in imports from Singapore though, who will swear to the genius of Lee Kuan Yew and promise to obey a similarly benevolent dictator here in Godzone.
      
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      January 1, 2017 10:45am
    - nasska
      
      The planned opening must be fast tracked Davinci.
      
      They’re more desperate than I thought!
      
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      January 1, 2017 10:47am
- Gabby
  
  Desperate creepy old Chinese Surname property owners.
  
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  January 1, 2017 12:24pm
Manolo

Better late than never:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/italy-seek-track-down-deport-migrants-no-stay-155800766.html

Italy will seek to deport more migrants who have no right to be in the country and will open new detention centers to hold them before their expulsion, according to a written directive and a ministry source.

Police chief Franco Gabrielli sent a two-page directive to stations across the country on Friday ordering them to increase efforts to identify and deport migrants a week after Berlin Christmas market attacker Anis Amri was shot dead near Milan.
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January 1, 2017 9:56am
- holysheet
  
  It is too late. Why would you let them in in the first place, only to TRY and get them out again?
  If we here don’t look and learn from Europe’s failed experiment, then we have only ourselves to blame.
  
  No more importing refugees from these shit holes.
  
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  January 1, 2017 12:07pm
Reid

b on the latest bullshit WaPo claim Russia hacked into the US grid.

He concludes:

The whole bogus “Russian hacking” and “Putin did it” claims are issued to lock the coming President Trump into an anti-Russian position. Peace with Russia means less plausible “imminent threat” claims and thereby lower budgets and management prestige for the defense and cybersecurity industry and government organizations. That again would mean lower advertisement income for the Washington Post and less money for its staff, editors and owner.

These people would rather have Word War III than to endure that.

That’s true, they would. And yet some to many don’t even realise this is what they’re risking.

http://www.moonofalabama.org/2016/12/fbi-dhs-wapo-falsely-claim-russian-hacks-for-use-of-old-ukrainian-malware-used.html#more
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January 1, 2017 9:58am
- Ross12
  
  Reid
  I saw a guy on the “box” the other night stating the obvious. If there was hacking going on then the hackers would be very clued up techies and so they could very easily make it look like it was the Russians (or anyone else but themselves) doing the hacking.
  
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  January 1, 2017 11:03am
  - mikenmild
    
    Or it could be that the Russian hackers don’t really care if they leave traces. After all, there seem to be plenty of useful idiots to regurgitate the Kremlin line.
    
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    January 1, 2017 11:07am
    - stephieboy
      
      Exactly !
      
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      January 1, 2017 1:24pm
    - Reid
      
      There you go mm. You have stephie’s endorsement. Aren’t you “lucky.”
      
      3 2
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      January 1, 2017 7:49pm
      - mikenmild
        
        Craving approval, are you?
        
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        January 1, 2017 7:54pm
- Gabby
  
  The key to winning Word War III is to remember that if you make the music go back you hear Satan speaking.
  
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  January 1, 2017 12:26pm
  - Paulus Gnome
    
    You really need to get out more
    
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    January 1, 2017 1:21pm
Happychappy

When John Key reinstated Judith Collins back to Cabinet and to the Police and Correction Portfolio Kelvin Davis became irrelevant and his whining and pimping the criminal stopped because she put him to the sword and he could not use his narks and bullshit to argue his points. Now hes back pimping the same sort of story’s like before of the Career criminal that moved to Australia when 18 months old and is being deported back to NZ. Lets hope our new Minister doesn’t let him back in the game.
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January 1, 2017 10:12am
- Viking2
  
  I am left wondering if you actually read this article and comprhend what was in it.
  The article pointed out that this person went to Aussie as a 13 MONTH old baby and now at 29 he is being deported as criminal back here.
  
  Now think this through. PROPERLY.
  
  Most of us actually don’t want these people back in NZ. They have not learnt to be what they are here.
  Utter foolishness to accept them into our country. Worse I suggest than allowing in an activist Muslim.
  
  And the current figures suggest that I’m right. 730 crimes detected and laid at the feet of 193 of these immigrants from the Aussie shit pile.
  
  Now if you still think we should take them buy the house next door to where you live and take some caring responsibility for some.
  The rest of us are not so inclined but are happy for you to put you effort where you mouth is and help them.
  
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  January 1, 2017 1:32pm
  - marcw
    
    Give us a GOOD reason why Australia should keep him as one of theirs. Left here as a baby, comes back as a forty-something cry baby.
    
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    January 1, 2017 1:39pm
  - Happychappy
    
    So does that make him Australian and the law states they can deport people that do not abide to their laws. To be honest I don’t like most people want him back but that doesn’t mean Australia can’t run their Policy that if you break the law and you are not Australian national you will be deported.And talking of people with big mouths you don’t do so bad either.
    
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    January 1, 2017 2:10pm
    - Viking2
      
      THEIR POLICY IS MORALLY CORRUPT.
      given he and others have basically spent all their lives there they are essentially Australian.
      Just because JK liked to be liked and didn’t want to take a principled position on this and say it ain’t going to happen and then set some rules about the time frames around people and how long they had lived and been trained to be criminals in Australia we now have an endless stream of Australian crims being sent here and so you as a taxpayer are now up for 1.5 billion in new jails and the ongoing costs.
      
      We could just do what countries have done for years, deny them entry and send them back. Like the boat people a few episodes of that and the Aussie politicians would have so much nasty spent on them the issue would get sorted. But that’s not being friendly is it.
      Abbott did the right thing with them so why not us.
      
      They will get over themselves.
      Aussie politics is corrupt.
      
      And I have spent some time and effort dealing with our local lads with some degree of success.
      
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      January 1, 2017 5:27pm
      - Happychappy
        
        They and all that have been deported had their chance to become Naturalized Australians but declined the opportunity so NZ have no other option than to except them back.The original point Iwas trying to make was we have to have a strong minister like Judith Collins or Kelvin Davis will walk all over them.
        
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        January 1, 2017 8:30pm
Manolo

Hope and change, uh?
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-chicago-violence-2016-met-20161229-story.html

A persistent reality for some of Chicago’s toughest neighborhoods, violence unnerved far reaches of the city in 2016 as shootings and homicides soared. Not since the drug-fueled bloodshed of the mid-1990s had the city witnessed such a toll.

Some neighborhoods, already scarred and gutted by years of violence, suffered inordinately. But the danger spread into more neighborhoods, too, and randomness became an all-too-familiar element to many shootings.
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January 1, 2017 10:17am
- Jazz-Hands Mc Feels
  
  Notice when its negroes gunning each other down, BLM and Progressive media aren’t in the least bit interested.
  
  Only when a police officer, preferably white, shoots down a drug psychotic attacking pavement ape, then the usual Leftist degenerates and media slither out from under their rocks to “protest systemic racism and white privilege”.
  
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  January 1, 2017 10:43am
- Paulus
  
  Chicago hasn’t change since the Senator from Chicago, Illinois became President.
  Was the arse end of the USA for serious crime and still is if not worse, if that is possible.
  
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  January 1, 2017 11:00am
  - stephieboy
    
    Bollux !
    
    “5 Facts That Shatter the Myth of ‘Black-on-Black’ Crime”
    
    The next time you hear someone say “black-on-black crime”, show them this.
    
    “Here are 5 facts that prove white-on-white crime is actually the real problem, and that anyone trying to make “black-on-black crime” a major issue is just a racist looking for positive reinforcement of their prejudiced worldview…”
    
    http://usuncut.com/black-lives-matter/black-on-black-crime/
    
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    January 1, 2017 1:31pm
    - All_on_Red
      
      Your numbers (as per your link) don’t take into account that Blacks make up 13% of the US population. White is 63%. Yet the difference in numbers of killers between whites killing White’s (3172 victims 2630 killers) and blacks killing blacks (2695 victims 2447 killers) is only 183 killers.
      https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2011/crime-in-the-u.s.-2011/tables/expanded-homicide-data-table-6
      So proportionally as a % of population, Blacks kill more blacks than whites kill whites.
      And why are numbers from 2011 being used?
      Be good to see the latest ones for this year- especially Chicago.
      
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      January 1, 2017 2:34pm
Hugh Pavletich

NIGEL FARAGE NEW YEAR MESSAGE – YOUTUBE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXJrNRMLvII

Nigel Farage – The Movie: Warner Brothers in talks to make Brexit campaign film – UK Telegraph

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/12/31/nigel-farage-movie-warner-brothers-talks-makebrexit-campaign/

Big business groups vow to make Brexit a success … UK Telegraph

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/12/31/big-business-groups-vow-make-brexit-success/

Restoring Housing Affordability – Hugh Pavletich

http://www.performanceurbanplanning.org/definition-of-affordable-housing.html
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January 1, 2017 10:29am
- Kimbo
  
  Hugh, I’m sorry. I was wrong when I said yesterday that even-rain interrupted cricket was more interesting than your posts.
  
  There is no cricket even scheduled today – and that is still way more interesting than your latest effort. As per benaud’s priceless droll sarcasm yesterday in response to a similarly formatted post on the unrelated issue of Climate Change:
  
  It was the Caps that I found convincing.
  
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  January 1, 2017 10:35am
  - Kimbo
    
    Speaking of which, top post yesterday by Stars and Stripes in General Debate:
    
    For someone who so cherishes other cultures and the diversity dividend it is amazing how sometimes your knowledge of basic details is woefully lacking.
    It is spelt Filipinos Stephieboy, not Philippinos.
    Even a bigot like me knows that.
    
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    January 1, 2017 10:37am
  - Jazz-Hands Mc Feels
    
    I think Hughs post was fine, why are you so anti?
    
    5 11
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    January 1, 2017 10:47am
    - Captain Mainwaring
      
      Hugh’s posts are as interesting as, and reminiscent of, endless re-runs of ‘The Waltons’.
      
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      January 1, 2017 11:05am
      - nasska
        
        Especially like that riveting bit at the end:
        
        ….”Goodnight Daddy, Goodnight Elizabeth, Goodnight John Boy, Goodnight Jim Bob, Goodnight Grampa, Goodnight Erin, Goodnight Jason, Goodnight Mama, Goodnight Grandma Walton, Goodnight!”…..
        
        Repetitive waffle that adds nothing to the sum of human knowledge.
        
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        January 1, 2017 11:26am
    - Hugh Pavletich
      
      Jazz … the ‘Costa Concordia’ Key crowd are rather angry as the ship is sinking … read more from yesterday …
      
      http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2016/12/general_debate_31_december_2016.html/comment-page-1#comment-1846387
      
      Farage and Trump are irrelevant to them !
      
      The changes underway both here in New Zealand and internationally are profoundly important.
      
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      January 1, 2017 11:36am
      - Paulus Gnome
        
        And that is the phrase Hugh; ‘read more from yesterday’ that will almost invariably link to something to the day before that which in turn will link to something else the day before that – there is a pattern emerging . . .
        
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        January 1, 2017 1:26pm
- Hugh Pavletich
  
  Nigel Farage discusses Marine le Pen and FREXIT
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdppDb3U6aY
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoYPNq_UqZI
  
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  January 1, 2017 11:23am
Jazz-Hands Mc Feels

Here is an interesting argument on the debate of whether women should have equal rights:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyh3vb9TgaM
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January 1, 2017 10:52am
- stephieboy
  
  Keep them under house arrest ?
  
  2 4
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  January 1, 2017 1:33pm
Reid

Obongo fails again.

Barack Obama’s recent moves, especially his criticisms of Israel and his hyping up of the hacking scandal against Russia, are first and foremost intended to box in and undermine his successor Donald Trump.

A flood of articles appeared in the British and US media yesterday, some written in an obviously gloating tone, lauding the “difficult dilemma” in which Obama had supposedly placed Trump by imposing more sanctions on Russia.

Supposedly Trump now faced a choice: either he rescinded the sanctions, in which case he risked being branded (including by some leaders of his own party) as a stooge of the Kremlin, or he failed to do so, in which case he supposedly risked antagonising Putin and the Russians.

Either way the legitimacy of his election would be called into question, with the claim he owed his election to Russian election manipulation being given extra force.

Lots of these articles appeared – a sure sign by the way of a pre-arranged campaign – with this article in Bloomberg serving as just one example. Note the title – “Trump Must Choose Between Obama Sanctions and Putin Detente”

Along with these articles there was also what was surely a pre-arranged chorus of support for Obama’s move from various members of Congress, including several prominent Republicans.

Much has been made of these comments, especially those of Republican leaders like Paul Ryan. These people have however never liked Trump, or his moves towards detente with Russia, so the fact they lent themselves to this campaign is not surprising. Trump’s support does not come from these people, but from the Republican base.

The key point about Putin’s response yesterday is that it has made clear that the “difficult dilemma” Obama thought he was creating for Trump does not exist.

By blaming Obama for the sanctions, by getting his diplomats to call Obama a “lame duck”, and by refusing to respond in kind, Putin and the Russians have enabled Trump to sidestep the trap Obama laid for him, and have given him the political space he needs to forge ahead with his policy of improving relations with Russia.

In other words what Putin is doing is signalling that he does not require Trump to lift the latest sanctions as a condition for improving relations with Russia. Putin will not allow the future improvement of US-Russian relations to be held hostage to Obama’s spoiling tactics.

This explains Trump’s response to Putin’s move. Trump’s now famous tweet – “Great move on delay (by V. Putin) – I always knew he was very smart!” – is not only an acknowledgment by Trump of Putin’s cleverness. It reflects Trump’s relief that Putin is giving him the political space he needs by refusing to be goaded by Obama into action that might box Trump in.

http://theduran.com/putins-move-obamas-russian-hacking-story-begins-unravel/

On another note, the way Trump has let himself be tainted by these bullshit allegations notwithstanding he doesn’t own the lying media making them, doesn’t speak well for his own smarts.
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January 1, 2017 10:59am
- Steve (North Shore)
  
  What is it with the left causing trouble when they lose? Cutting off the nose in spite of the face?
  
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  January 1, 2017 11:38am
  - Gabby
    
    Reblubbiblubs would never do anything petty, like voting down their own legislation out of spite.
    
    2 9
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    January 1, 2017 12:34pm
- stephieboy
  
  Reid , some salient facts of what we know so far .
  
  1 Trump was able to win by securing the Electoral College which was critcal for a win . Aided and abetted by Russian intelligence ( agreed upon by both sides of the House ).
  
  2. Whether Putin proves to be smart or not will come when he tries out his ” adventurism ” with Russia’s Border states and Trump gives the nod . With that in mind Putin’s so called “detente” is bogus given his occupation of Crimea and his de facto occupation of the Donetsk via his Rebel proxies .
  
  3, So called “Detante ” will more than likely unravel when Trump clashes over the Iran Nuclear deal given Putin’s alliance with Iran Shia in the ME and his country a signatory to the said deal.
  
  Anything to add ?
  
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  January 1, 2017 11:49am
  - Reid
    
    You’re a complete idiot? That’s a fairly salient fact stephie
    
    e.g.
    
    So called “Detante ” will…
    
    What the hell’s “Detante?” plus you’re quite wrong on what you say about it, nothing like that will happen if Trump withdraws the US from that deal, and if you think it will, see salient fact #1.
    
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    January 1, 2017 5:08pm
  - Fletch
    
    Aided and abetted by Russian intelligence ( agreed upon by both sides of the House ).
    
    Not proven in any way. And if they did, it is funny how Obama ignored this type of hacking for YEARS and probably still would have ignored it had Hillary won.
    
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    January 1, 2017 7:25pm
    - Lucia Maria
      
      Not publicly proven. But agree with your second point.
      
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      January 1, 2017 7:26pm
Biscuit

Good joke on Sikipedia as the UK rushes to join forward-thinking countries like New Zealand into 2017:

Less than 3 hours to go of 2016.
C’mon, Cliff Richard, don’t let us down…
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January 1, 2017 11:06am
- cha
  
  He made it, Charlie.
  
  Dear God;Trump next, please!Trump next, please!Trump next, please!Trump next, please!Trump next, please!Trump next, please!??©— Charlie Sheen (@charliesheen) December 29, 2016
  
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  January 1, 2017 11:30am
Reid

Excellent summary of the top three leaders that shaped 2016: Putin, Assad and Trump.

http://theduran.com/top-3-leaders-2016-resistance/
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January 1, 2017 11:15am
Rodney Randall

https://youtu.be/hZZMXV_PRXk

A wise honest Arab Muslim man tells Muslims the truth about themselves.
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January 1, 2017 11:32am
- stephieboy
  
  Wise honest former Christians tell about the faith they left behind ,
  
  Christians Turned Atheists Discuss Decision to Leave Family Faith Behind,
  
  “According to the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, a full 1 in 4 millennials, those born between 1981 and 2000, do not affiliate with any faith. They haven’t just lapsed in observance, but have chosen to leave organized religion altogether.
  
  Why are atheism and agnosticism on the rise? And what does it take to go against your family’s faith?
  
  As part of our series on the changing role of religion in America, The Takeaway hears from three young atheists. They discuss how they began to question their faith and what it was like to leave the church….”
  
  http://www.wnyc.org/story/christians-leave-family-faith-behind/
  
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  January 1, 2017 12:02pm
  - holysheet
    
    Why are atheism and agnosticism on the rise?
    
    When you look at the alternatives, it’s a no brainer. But the followers of your religion of peace, the followers of the man who blows smoke and wears a funny hat and all the other sky fairy followers, just cannot see this.
    
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    January 1, 2017 12:20pm
cha

heh

Oh lord i knew it wouldn't be long!! ?? #ufc207 pic.twitter.com/TNpzYCh9G6— Big Dog MMA (@Bigdogmmadaily) December 31, 2016

https://twitter.com/hashtag/ufc207?src=hash
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January 1, 2017 11:36am
Manolo

The MSM hacks are offended:
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/local/update-donald-trump-ditches-press-pool-play-golf-jupiter/HxBga3iSS2oZfoPJ4xWuGN/

President-elect Donald Trump played a round of golf at his Jupiter golf course Saturday morning — without notifying the traveling press pool that traditionally reports on his whereabouts.
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January 1, 2017 12:08pm
- mikenmild
  
  The press pool is a device that has served presidents for many years. No surprises Trump can’t figure out the benefits.
  
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  January 1, 2017 12:17pm
  - Steve (North Shore)
    
    The Don is just sick of MSM bullshit and lies Mike
    
    9 1
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    January 1, 2017 12:59pm
    - mikenmild
      
      Well he won’t help that by having them guess his every movement and shadowing him constantly.
      
      2 4
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      January 1, 2017 1:08pm
- holysheet
  
  But but but, we are important, don’t you know. Without us misreporting the news and making up shit, we would have nothing to say.
  Beware, the snowflakes are everywhere
  
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  January 1, 2017 12:26pm
- CrazyIvan
  
  So, is anyone going to keep count of how many times Trump plays golf while President like we did with Obama?
  
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  January 1, 2017 12:51pm
  - Kimbo
    
    They’ve been doing it with every President since Eisenhower…
    
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    January 1, 2017 12:55pm
    - CrazyIvan
      
      Exactly, but there was a neurotic view that Obama’s golf days were somehow different or that his vacations were more than any other President, so he can’t have been doing his job. I’m just wondering if there’ll be the same scrutiny of the President-elect post Jan 20.
      
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      January 1, 2017 1:02pm
      - Kimbo
        
        By his opponents, yes. Reciprocation for what happened to W, which was reciprocation for what happened to Bill Clinton, which was reciprocation for what happened to Bush I and Reagan, which was..
        
        At least no one ever accused FDR of spending too much time on the golf course. 😉
        
        Questionable taste, I know… Mind you, it says something about the press coverage then and now that during his 12 year presidency, most Americans had no idea Roosevelt was confined to a wheel chair.
        
        But irrespective of the politics, the “he doesn’t care/is aloof” meme of Bush II being photographed while looking out the window of Airforce I while circling post-Cyclone Katrina Louisiana was bullshit. Of course he should have been looking to get an idea of the scale of the tragedy. Just as John Key did after the Kaikoura quake.
        
        http://www.usnews.com/news/the-report/articles/2015/08/28/hurricane-katrina-was-the-beginning-of-the-end-for-george-w-bush
        
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        January 1, 2017 1:11pm
      - CrazyIvan
        
        Agreed. The media beat up about Bush after Katrina was disgusting, particularly as most of the of the delays were due to the Louisiana governor and the mayor of Nawlens (who was later arrested for corruption). There was an almost identical photo of LBJ after the Watts riots in 1968, but the media was a little more forgiving then.
        
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        January 1, 2017 1:44pm
  - mikenmild
    
    That’s plain Crazy, Ivan.
    
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    January 1, 2017 12:57pm
Manolo

Corbyn has been listening to stephieboy, close advisor and confidant:
Jeremy Corbyn defied warnings from northern Labour councillors today by rejecting calls for imposing controls on immigration after Brexit.

He repeated his support for the EU’s free movement rules despite voters expressing clear concerns in June’s Brexit vote. The Labour leader insisted immigration brought net economic benefits to Britain and claimed there was a ‘level of exaggeration’ about its negative impact.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4073660/Jeremy-Corbyn-REJECTS-calls-Labour-immigration-controls-despite-warnings-party-s-northern-councillors-face-wiped-Ukip.html#ixzz4USat1ANq
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January 1, 2017 12:13pm
- mikenmild
  
  Sounds like NZ’s National and Labour politicians on the benefits of immigration…
  
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  January 1, 2017 12:18pm
  - rangitoto
    
    We get to select the immigrants. The UK gets the scum of Europe.
    
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    January 1, 2017 2:45pm
Inandout

Did John Key step down because he couldn’t stomach having to watch Israel being stabbed in the back by McCully, or whoever is pulling the strings?
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January 1, 2017 12:23pm
- Gabby
  
  Or, he’s pursuing financial opportunities that would look like ‘insider trading’ if he were in office.
  
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  January 1, 2017 1:30pm
Manolo

McCully seems to have far more power than suspected. In the Saudi pocket, maybe?
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January 1, 2017 12:29pm
- fernglas
  
  Did he not vote along lines that have been part of NZ Government policy for many years? So ask yourselves, would the vote have been any different if someone other than McCully was there?
  
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  January 1, 2017 12:45pm
  - Chuck Bird
    
    fernglas, if you have followed the story it is more than just the vote but behind the scenes colluding with other countries.
    
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    January 1, 2017 3:56pm
mikenmild

Happy Circumcision Day, fellers!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feast_of_the_Circumcision_of_Christ
No word yet on which of the purported Holy Foreskins you should venerate:
http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Holy_Foreskin
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January 1, 2017 12:53pm
publicwatchdog

Happy New Year Kiwibloggers 🙂

I predict that 2017 will be the year that deep-rooted and endemic corruption arising from the Neo-liberal private procurement model for public services (at local and central government) will be finally exposed.

As a result – I predict that the Neo-liberal myth, that ‘public is bad – private is good’, will be finally shattered, as the facts and evidence prove that the private procurement model, (contracting out of public services), is more costly, a less effective use of public (tax and rates) monies, and it breeds corruption.

That there are, in my view, billion$ of public monies being spent on ‘corporate welfare’, which could (and should) be spent on ‘people’s welfare’ – particularly our most vulnerable.

I predict that ‘the books’ will be opened, and the Public Records Act 2005, WILL be implemented and enforced, starting with Auckland Transport, and the following details of awarded contracts WILL be made available for public scrutiny:

* The unique contract number.

* The name of the consultant /contractor.

* A brief description of the scope of the contract.

* Contract start /finish dates.

* The exact dollar value of each and every contract – including those sub-contracted.

* How the contract was awarded – by direct appointment or public tender.

In order to help achieve this –
I shall be standing as an
‘anti-privatisation / anti-corruption’ Independent candidate in the upcoming Mt Albert by-election.

2017 is going to be a DOOZY!

Starting today ……

🙂

Penny Bright
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January 1, 2017 1:02pm
- mikenmild
  
  None of that will happen, Penny.
  But which electorate will you be standing in this year for our amusement?
  
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  January 1, 2017 1:10pm
  - publicwatchdog
    
    Perhaps, if you bothered to read my post a little more carefully MM – you would see the answer to your question?
    
    Kind regards
    
    Penny Bright 🙂
    
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    January 1, 2017 1:28pm
    - mikenmild
      
      But will you be standing there for the general election, too? After all, there could be an opportunity to at least double your 2014 result in Helensville.
      
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      January 1, 2017 1:33pm
      - publicwatchdog
        
        We shall see …..
        
        Thanks for asking 🙂
        
        Kind regards
        
        Penny Bright
        
        2 15
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        January 1, 2017 1:39pm
  - publicwatchdog
    
    We are now a LOT closer to the (public) ‘books being open’ and the Public Records Act 2005, being implemented and enforced than ever before.
    
    Nearly there!
    
    Kind regards
    
    Penny Bright
    
    1 19
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    January 1, 2017 1:38pm
    - Rich Prick
      
      Wow Penny, I’ve come over all tingly.
      
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      January 1, 2017 4:00pm
- holysheet
  
  Don’t you find it poetic that penny’s post is just below a post on foreskins.
  Both have been rendered redundant in the great scheme of things.
  Just pointing out the obvious in my efforts to be nice to fuckwits this new year.
  
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  January 1, 2017 1:15pm
  - waikatogirl
    
    Hope you had a merry christmas Penny.
    Now pay your damn rates!
    
    Another resolution:
    Just like 2016 in which I took a solemn oath to ignore “She who must not be named” posts, I shall not read or make reference to her again in 2017. ?
    
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    January 1, 2017 2:55pm
- Captain Mainwaring
  
  Penny,
  You’re as boring and predictable as Hugh Pavletich.
  There is nothing as tedious as an unhinged person with a bandwagon to push.
  Now run along and pay your rates. The office opens on Wednesday.
  
  14 2
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  January 1, 2017 1:17pm
  - publicwatchdog
    
    Perhaps, if you bothered to read my post a little more carefully MM – you would see the answer to your question?
    
    Kind regards
    
    Penny Bright 🙂
    
    2 16
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    January 1, 2017 1:28pm
    - Kimbo
      
      Captain Mainwaring didn’t ask a question, and his initials are CM, not MM (i.e., mikenmild – as in your previous post)
      
      Anyone would think you are pumping out lazy corporate-style cut-and-paste replies, rather than engaging with the voters. 😉
      
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      January 1, 2017 1:32pm
  - Paulus Gnome
    
    Do it online before then but that isn’t going to happen either.
    
    7 0
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    January 1, 2017 1:33pm
- Nostradamus
  
  Penny:
  
  You have an impressive CV:
  
  Failed candidate – 2010 Auckland mayoral election (0.56%)
  Failed candidate – 2011 Botany by-election (0.83%)
  Failed candidate – 2011 general election (0.34%)
  Failed candidate – 2013 Auckland mayoral election (3.41%)
  Failed candidate – 2014 general election (1.20%)
  Failed candidate – 2016 Auckland mayoral election (1.77%)
  
  Sources: http://www.electionresults.govt.nz and http://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz
  
  Most people would be proud of a track record like that. But, in your case, the only way is forward and up:
  
  Failed candidate – 2017 Mt Albert by-election
  Failed candidate – 2017 general election
  
  We really are privileged to have someone like you join us at Kiwiblog!
  
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  January 1, 2017 1:58pm
  - Manolo
    
    Happy to be a candidate, as long as the fat German mecenas keeps pumping funds.
    
    5 0
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    January 1, 2017 3:53pm
- Rich Prick
  
  Is your beret on a bit tight today? Two can play this game: I predict that none of those things will happen.
  
  10 0
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  January 1, 2017 2:42pm
- Steve (North Shore)
  
  See?
  I Spray and Walk Away
  Rubbish stays
  I walk away.
  
  Attendee Glenfield Trolley Derby 1984.
  Fuck I got trolleyed!
  
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  January 1, 2017 4:27pm
Happychappy

Stuff are predicting a massive Political bomb in 2017 and Labour to be the incoming Government with Andrew Little as the new Prime Minister.So this makes me wonder whether they hired the bright light Penny to do the crystal ball gazing to achieve such a astonishing prediction.
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January 1, 2017 1:32pm
- Paulus Gnome
  
  Still pissed from yesterday I think (and hope!)
  
  8 0
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  January 1, 2017 1:34pm
- Captain Mainwaring
  
  Where are they predicting this nonsense? I can’t find it.
  
  3 0
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  January 1, 2017 1:48pm
  - Nostradamus
    
    Captain Mainwaring:
    
    The year that might be: Our political predictions for 2017
    
    On Saturday our team of political reporters faced the judges for their predictions for 2016, scoring a commendable – though not stellar – 116.5 points out of a possible 200.
    
    Today they reach for the crystal ball for one last time before the election, forecasting who will win, who will lose and what the fallout will be from National’s attempt to win a fourth straight term.
    …
    19. There will be one more political bombshell in 2017 that will change the course of the election and install Andrew Little as prime minister.
    …
    
    There’s 20 predictions in total.
    
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    January 1, 2017 2:13pm
    - All_on_Red
      
      Good to see them helping ensure Labour goes to the Polls with Little leading them.
      
      4 0
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      January 1, 2017 2:39pm
    - Rich Prick
      
      I predict the 2017 political bombshell will be Andrew Little’s warm inner person finally revealing itself. That, or his mother votes for him.
      
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      January 1, 2017 2:48pm
      - Nostradamus
        
        Rich Prick:
        
        Scott Yorke, in a blog post entitled Top ten predictions for 2017, makes this prediction:
        
        Andrew Little will be accused of smiling. An internal Labour Party investigation will determine that he was in fact just grimacing in an unusual manner.
        
        Andrew Little has a lot to look forward to this year – a defamation lawsuit and an election campaign. I suspect we’ll see the full spectrum of emotions.
        
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        January 1, 2017 2:57pm
      - Gabby
        
        You didn’t get where you are today by being warm did you 7finger?
        
        1 5
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        January 1, 2017 3:38pm
      - Rich Prick
        
        How shall I put this Gabby, you’d never be on the payroll.
        
        5 2
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        January 1, 2017 4:05pm
    - Captain Mainwaring
      
      OK sorry, missed that.
      No 19 must be one Hell of a bombshell then.
      ‘Stuff’ loves to dream.
      
      3 0
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      January 1, 2017 3:16pm
fernglas

Meanwhile, 35 die in a nightclub shooting in Istanbul; the offender was dressed in a Santa Claus costume. That should get you guys talking.
3 0
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January 1, 2017 2:30pm
- mikenmild
  
  Christian terrorist?
  
  1 11
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  January 1, 2017 2:33pm
  - rangitoto
    
    MM thinks murderous outrage is a joke. Par for the course.
    
    9 2
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    January 1, 2017 3:00pm
    - mikenmild
      
      I’m sure your thoughts and prayers are with the victims.
      
      0 10
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      January 1, 2017 4:04pm
      - stephieboy
        
        Especially if they are Muslim / Turkish !
        
        1 9
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        January 1, 2017 6:58pm
      - rangitoto
        
        Prayers are only for the god addled.
        
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        January 2, 2017 12:44am
- Inandout
  
  Yep, festive season Turkey-wise.
  http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/88069132/several-wounded-in-attack-on-istanbul-club
  
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  January 1, 2017 3:24pm
Nostradamus

Mikenmild:

Would you describe yourself as a grumpy public servant?

The Working For Queensland survey asked almost 87,000 bureaucrats from 54 departments and agencies how they felt about a range of issues, from how they liked their job to how well they thought their teams were performing.
…
Across the public service in general, most said they were not too busy and the majority felt they were well paid.
…

🙂
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January 1, 2017 2:46pm
- mikenmild
  
  I’d describe myself as underemployed, but reasonably cheerful.
  
  2 5
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  January 1, 2017 4:05pm
  - Reid
    
    We wouldn’t.
    
    7 3
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    January 1, 2017 5:09pm
    - stephieboy
      
      Whose “we ” and about your 22, 922 …?
      
      1 9
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      January 1, 2017 6:55pm
      - pentwig
        
        your point? steffie please get to your point!!
        
        3 3
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        January 1, 2017 8:41pm
  - Steve (North Shore)
    
    Unemployable Mike. I would not employ you considering the amount of time you are here – under other names as well (admitted the other day son)
    
    6 2
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    January 1, 2017 6:17pm
    - mikenmild
      
      Maybe you shouldn’t believe everything you read on Kiwiblog.
      
      2 3
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      January 1, 2017 6:47pm
rangitoto

Now that Erdogan has double crossed Daesh, most likely them but could be PKK.
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January 1, 2017 2:52pm
dirty harry

http://1law4all.kiwi.nz/2016/12/30/a-racist-attack-on-public-rights-in-auckland/
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January 1, 2017 4:32pm
Reid

The Saker’s take on 2016. This guy is one of the few Westerners who understands Russia. Most Westerners don’t get Russia because they think its part of Europe but it’s not and never has been. The seminal acts of European development in the Renaissance and the Reformation didn’t happen in Russia and she was shaped by completely different events. This means she has different cultural drivers and this is why most in the West don’t get her because they don’t understand what those are. I only know this because I happened to take Russian history and politics at uni but this is why I see Russia the same way as this guy does and same as Andrei, who is Russian I think.

So if you want to keep believing the fallacious bollocks the Western MSM keeps feeding you by all means go ahead, but do so in the full and clear knowledge it is bollocks.

The following were the major challenges Russia faced in 2016:

The Nazi regime in Kiev
The civil war in the Donbass
Ukrainian attempts to blockade Crimea
The rabid hostility of the US Administration
NATO’s policy of military confrontation in Europe
The united European front against Russia
Western sanctions, the subsequent drop in investments and credit and the low oil prices
The growing dissatisfaction of the Russian people with the economic polices of the government
The struggle against the “liberal” 5th column inside Russia
The international aggression against Syria
The demonization of Russia in general and of Vladimir Putin in particular
Terrorist attacks against Russia
Let’s take these one by one now and score them:

The Ukraine 5/5

The Nazi occupied Ukraine is in free fall. In fact, it has been in free fall for a while already, but just like somebody jumping from the 40th floor of a building is doing “okay” passing by the 20th floor, so did the Ukraine still have the possibility to say “so far so good” and look halfway credible to the superficially informed. Now, however, it is becoming rather obvious that the so-called “Revolution of dignity” (which is how the Neonazis call the coup against Yanukovich) is an abject failure and that the “Independent Ukraine” is simply beyond rescue. The ruling class which came to power now is falling apart, everybody is fighting everybody else and there is no other discernible policy left beyond personal enrichment and survival. As for the “Joan of Arch of the Ukraine” and “Hope of the Ukraine” – Nadezhda Savchenko – she is now denounced as a traitor and FSB agent. Forbes is now running an article entitled “Corruption is killing Ukraine’s economy” while a former Ukrainian lawmaker has passed recordings of Poroshenko taking bribes to the FBI. As for the Ukrainian military, which Poroshenko has recently advertised as one of the 5 best in the world, it has only mustered enough forces to send one company size infantry force supported by 2 tank platoons to attack the Novorussian positions near Debaltsevo before getting them all killed. The situation of the Ukrainian military is so bad that they are now forced to use private cars to get to the frontlines and to evacuate the wounded. Yes, on paper the Ukrainian military is huge, but in reality it is a force which has a hard time surviving even before going into battle. Last but not least, the entire Nazi ruling elite has thrown its fully political weight behind Hillary while pouring scorn and vitriol against Trump. To say that they are now screwed would be an understatement. Hence the wind of utter panic now taking over Kiev…

http://thesaker.is/2016-the-year-of-russias-triumph/
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January 1, 2017 5:28pm
- Lucia Maria
  
  Reid,
  
  A lot has changed since the 80’s when you were at University, and you don’t seem to have kept your mainstream history knowledge up to date, instead choosing fringe sources …
  
  I mean, Ukraine being ruled by Nazis? That’s just so ridiculous, and yet it’s a Russian troll tactic to keep hammering this false point.
  
  I’m just in awe of your perseverance – any more sane person would have given up by now.
  
  Some perspective:
  
  One line of reasoning seems to run like this: the Russians won World War II, and therefore can be trusted to spot Nazis. Much is wrong with this. World War II on the eastern front was fought chiefly in what was then Soviet Ukraine and Soviet Belarus, not in Soviet Russia. Five percent of Russia was occupied by the Germans; all of Ukraine was occupied by the Germans. Apart from the Jews, whose suffering was by far the worst, the main victims of Nazi policies were not Russians but Ukrainians and Belarusians. There was no Russian army fighting in World War II, but rather a Soviet Red Army. Its soldiers were disproportionately Ukrainian, since it took so many losses in Ukraine and recruited from the local population. The army group that liberated Auschwitz was called the First Ukrainian Front.
  
  From Fascism, Russia, and Ukraine
  
  I’ve recommended the historian that wrote the above to you many times. You really, really need to update your knowledge, Reid.
  
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  January 1, 2017 7:14pm
  - cha
    
    You really, really need to update your knowledge, Reid.
    
    He does, daily
    
    https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Byj_1ybuSGp_NmYtRF95VTJTeUk/view
    
    4 2
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    January 1, 2017 7:59pm
  - Reid
    
    A lot has changed since the 80’s when you were at University, and you don’t seem to have kept your mainstream history knowledge up to date, instead choosing fringe sources …
    
    Yes I know but what it did is made me pay attention to Russian developments since that time.
    
    I mean, Ukraine being ruled by Nazis? That’s just so ridiculous
    
    In your closed mind sure, but when you use google without pre-conception then this appears, as plain as day, undeniable, inexplicable by any means other than that very conclusion.
    
    You can show people the truth, but you can’t make them see it.
    
    I’ve recommended the historian that wrote the above to you many times.
    
    I prefer this one:
    
    http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1970362.A_History_of_Russia
    
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    January 1, 2017 8:07pm
    - stephieboy
      
      Reid , this Good Reads reviewer has this to say,
      
      “Got up to like 700BC and quit. Seems like Russians write a lot of long, boring books about themselves *cough War and Peace cough*
      
      And another this,
      
      “However, for the period since 1917, this book would rate only 3 stars. I’m not sure why this is. Riasanovsky’s profound analysis seems to be stulted considerably when he discusses the Soviet Union. He whitewashes the atrocities of the Soviet government considerably. In his discussion of Stalin he barely touches on the Ukrainian famine of the 1930s, describing it as an aberration of the implementation of the first five year plan and not what it was, the intentional starving of over 30 million peasants who resisted collectivization. In his treatment of World War II he does not even mention the famous “stab in the back”, in which the Red Army invaded Poland at the same time that the Nazi army did, dividing Poland among them. Perhaps Riasanovsky sympathized with the Communists. More likely, he was being prudent for a Russian historian of the 1980s, who depended on the Soviet government for access to the archives and artifacts in the Soviet Union that he needed to do his job. This is why one must utilize post-Soviet materials in order to get a good understanding of Soviet history….”
      
      Small wonder you enjoyed it !
      
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      January 1, 2017 8:31pm
    - Lucia Maria
      
      Reid,
      
      That’s a pretty old book. Surely, given your interest in the subject, you would have read something more recent? Especially since the Soviet Union is no more and much, much more is available from the surrounding countries rather than the communist point of view.
      
      Like this book: Stalin: Volume I: Paradoxes of Power, 1878-1928
      
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      January 1, 2017 8:46pm
      - Reid
        
        Not really because you’re reading about the period that formed Russia. The more recent events have little to do with understanding that Lucia. Perhaps a Pole see life more immediately, I wouldn’t know, but you’ll never understand Russia nor Russians if you do.
        
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        January 1, 2017 9:09pm
      - Lucia Maria
        
        Reid,
        
        Every period of history sees the past in a particular way. You have chosen to immerse yourself in the view from Soviet times. It doesn’t get you any closer to the past, it just means that you see it the way the Soviets wanted you to see it. Which may be perfectly valid, however, if that is the only perspective you look at it from, you will not necessarily see it truly, and you won’t know either, as you’ll have nothing to compare it to.
        
        Now, if you are telling me that Russians are stuck in the Soviet view of their past, present and future and that’s why you only read that book and nothing else, then .. you and your point of view start to make more sense to me.
        
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        January 1, 2017 9:16pm
  - stephieboy
    
    Lucia Maria thank you for that especially illuminating piece about Ukraine and Nazi rule . Certainly there was an element of collaboration between the Nazis and Ukraine especially with the murder of their Jewish population.Most notoriously just outside Kiev at Babi Yar ( an event that Holohoxers like EAD and it seems Reid might deny ).However as this link shows there were many willing to risk their lives to save them , notably Metropolitan Andrei Sheptytsky, the leader of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church during the second world war. A controversial figure he might be ,
    
    http://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Ukrainian-Jews-seek-to-rehabilitate-Holocaust-era-priest-382280
    
    I understand Ukrainians are confronting this dark chapter in their past as much I hope Russia is also doing . ( Reid might be able to advise )
    
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    January 1, 2017 8:16pm
Manolo

Imagine the day the EU allows Turkey in:
http://edition.cnn.com/2016/12/31/europe/turkey-nightclub-attack/index.html

Nothing to fear. By then there will be no European Union.
6 2
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January 1, 2017 5:40pm
Manolo

Will the German people vote her out?
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2016/12/31/merkel-new-year-speech-migrant-policy-terrorism-compassion/

Adding that it is “particularly bitter and repulsive” when terrorist attacks are committed by migrants, Merkel pushed back against criticism of her unwavering commitment to mass migration, saying that Germany will fight the “hatred” of terrorism with “humanity” and “unity.”
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January 1, 2017 5:44pm
Lucia Maria

Happy New Year to the evening crowd! Hope you’ve all had a great first day of the year!

It’s been peachy here – rain and wind. Fantastic for me as it hasn’t been too hot and no migraine triggering bright sunlight, and I’ve been able to do my maths assignment that’s due in a couple of days, despite the cat trying to sleep on me. She’s finally forgiven me for taking her to the vet two weeks ago.
7 3
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January 1, 2017 7:40pm
- Nostradamus
  
  Lucia Maria:
  
  … my maths assignment …
  
  A newlywed husband is discouraged by his wife’s obsession with mathematics. Afraid of being second fiddle to her profession, he finally confronts her: “Do you love math more than me?”
  
  “Of course not, dear – I love you much more!”
  
  Happy, although sceptical, he challenges her: “Well, then prove it!”
  
  Pondering a bit, she responds: “Ok… Let epsilon be greater than zero…”
  
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  January 1, 2017 8:18pm
  - Lucia Maria
    
    Haha!
    
    4 0
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    January 1, 2017 8:37pm
cha

Treason be fucked,winning is all that matters.
/

Richard M. Nixon always denied it: to David Frost, to historians and to Lyndon B. Johnson, who had the strongest suspicions and the most cause for outrage at his successor’s rumored treachery. To them all, Nixon insisted that he had not sabotaged Johnson’s 1968 peace initiative to bring the war in Vietnam to an early conclusion. “My God. I would never do anything to encourage” South Vietnam “not to come to the table,” Nixon told Johnson, in a conversation captured on the White House taping system.

Now we know Nixon lied. A newfound cache of notes left by H. R. Haldeman, his closest aide, shows that Nixon directed his campaign’s efforts to scuttle the peace talks, which he feared could give his opponent, Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey, an edge in the 1968 election. On Oct. 22, 1968, he ordered Haldeman to “monkey wrench” the initiative.

[…]

In a conversation with the Republican senator Everett Dirksen, the minority leader, Johnson lashed out at Nixon. “I’m reading their hand, Everett,” Johnson told his old friend. “This is treason.”

“I know,” Dirksen said mournfully.

Johnson’s closest aides urged him to unmask Nixon’s actions. But on a Nov. 4 conference call, they concluded that they could not go public because, among other factors, they lacked the “absolute proof,” as Defense Secretary Clark Clifford put it, of Nixon’s direct involvement.

Nixon was elected president the next day.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/31/opinion/sunday/nixons-vietnam-treachery.html
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January 1, 2017 7:49pm
- stephieboy
  
  cha,
  
  “Nixon has never told the truth in his life…He is against the small farmer. He is against small business, agriculture, public power. I don’t know what the hell he’s for, and that bird has the nerve to come to Texas and ask you to vote for him. If you do, you ought to go to hell.”
  
  —Harry Truman
  
  http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Southern_strategy
  
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  January 1, 2017 7:58pm
- Kimbo
  
  And Richard Nixon reciprocated the New York Times’ contempt.
  
  Don’t see the “monkey wrench” comment in those Haldeman notes that mention Anna Chennault. Is boring old allegations.
  
  And as far as his comment “lay off pro-Negro crap”, yeah, that sums up the Quaker Republican Nixon, who had consistently voted against Southern Democrat Jim Crow entrenched racism in the 1950s…and who then, after LBJ passed the Civil Rights Act with the comment ‘we’ll have the niggers voting for us for 100 years”, then opposed the left-wing activism that was the legacy of Johnson’s mis-named ‘Great Society’. As Nixon inherited an over-heated racial conflict caused by his predecessor who, like Obama, had over-promised and under-delivered, Nixon’s wise policy was one of…benign neglect. Which was in keeping with his Republican ideals – why should government do what people are able to do for themselves?
  
  But, despite his personal disagreement with the Supreme Court decision on busing, he fulfilled it. And on his watch government construction contracts were with-held where (Democrat-controlled) white unions excluded black workers.
  
  I’ll take Nixon’s record over LBJ – or both Jack and Bobby Kennedy for that matter – any day when it came to furthering civil rights.
  
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  January 1, 2017 8:20pm
  - Kimbo
    
    Oh, yes, and in anticipation of the accusations that Nixon was an anti-Semite (he was more just a man of his times), his attitude to supporting Israel during the Yom Kippur War says it all. The Joint Chiefs of Staff were dragging the chain, afraid of the political fallout in supplying the Israelis. In response, Nixon made it clear if there were going to be repercussions for sending 3 aircraft, the Americans may as well send 300.
    
    Later, after yet more obstruction he gave the order to send them everything they needed. When asked how many planes, he replied, “everything that will fly”.
    
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    January 1, 2017 8:28pm
  - mikenmild
    
    Hunter Thompson summed up Nixon the best:
    
    If the right people had been in charge of Nixon’s funeral, his casket would have been launched into one of those open-sewage canals that empty into the ocean just south of Los Angeles. He was a swine of a man and a jabbering dupe of a president. Nixon was so crooked that he needed servants to help him screw his pants on every morning. Even his funeral was illegal. He was queer in the deepest way. His body should have been burned in a trash bin.
    
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    January 1, 2017 8:30pm
    - Kimbo
      
      Meh.
      
      Nixon was an easy target and scapegoat/bogey man for 1960s and 70s anti-establishment liberal discontent, just as Muldoon was in New Zealand.
      
      A flawed battler, with moments of genius would be a better assessment…of both of them.
      
      6 1
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      January 1, 2017 8:36pm
      - mikenmild
        
        “Richard Nixon is a no good, lying bastard. He can lie out of both sides of his mouth at the same time, and if he ever caught himself telling the truth, he’d lie just to keep his hand in.” –Harry Truman
        
        “He’s like a Spanish horse who runs faster than anyone for the first nine lengths and then turns around and runs backwards. You’ll see; he’ll do something wrong in the end. He always does.” –Lyndon Johnson, 1969
        
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        January 1, 2017 8:38pm
      - Kimbo
        
        Yeah, the assessment of two Democrat opponents whose time in the White House ended in failure…albeit not as dramatic as Nixon. But in contrast to both Truman and LBJ, he ended a war on his watch.
        
        And there was SALT and detente
        
        And the opening to China
        
        And, despite supporting Israel in 1973, his policy towards the Middle East was sufficiently even-handed to see Egypt ditch the Soviets in 1974 and begin the process of moving towards peace with Israel.
        
        Plus Chile was re-claimed back from Marxism on his watch. 😉 That was more than Truman managed with China in 1949 – or all of Eastern Europe!
        
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        January 1, 2017 8:41pm
      - mikenmild
        
        “Ended a war on his watch.” Terrific – how did that work out for the Cambodians?
        
        “Chile was re-claimed back from Marxism on his watch.” I’m sure the thousands tortured or murdered by Pinochet’s goons were relieved about that.
        
        Perhaps we should leave the last word to H R Haldeman, unless he was too much of a Deomcrat for you: “Nixon is the weirdest man to have ever lived in the White House.”
        
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        January 1, 2017 8:52pm
      - Kimbo
        
        Come on mikey. I know you are a good judge of history, and are capable, despite your inclinations, of more than regurgitating tedious anti-Nixon snark
        
        “Ended a war on his watch.” Terrific – how did that work out for the Cambodians?
        
        As one commentator put it, criticising the American bombing and incursions into Cambodia was similar to blaming the Allies for fighting in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands in 1944.
        
        “Chile was re-claimed back from Marxism on his watch.” I’m sure the thousands tortured or murdered by Pinochet’s goons were relieved about that.
        
        You want to play body counts compared to Marxism? You are smarter than that…
        
        Perhaps we should leave the last word to H R Haldeman, unless he was too much of a Deomcrat for you: “Nixon is the weirdest man to have ever lived in the White House.”
        
        Agreed. Like I said, a flawed battler, with moments of genius
        
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        January 1, 2017 8:57pm
      - Kimbo
        
        My favourite Nixon exchange:
        
        RN: “You’re rather flamboyantly dressed”
        
        Elvis Presley (wearing a brown velvet suit during his spontaneous visit to the Oval Office in a successful attempt to be deputised as an anti-narcotics officer – I’m not making this up! 😉 ): “Mr President, you dress for your job and I dress for mine”.
        
        http://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2016/06/20/elvis–nixon–the-true-story-of-how-the-king-met-the-president/
        
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        January 1, 2017 9:10pm
nasska

“So.” The lady at WINZ said, “After nearly 20 years in full time employment, you just decided to leave. May I ask why?”

“Well,” he said, “I opened a Twitter account, and after about a week I decided that my whole career had been a total waste of time. So I left.”

“And what was this career?” she asked.

“I was an English teacher.”
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January 1, 2017 8:12pm
- mikenmild
  
  Reminds me for some reason of the time tom hunter recommended Kiwiblog as a resource for his daughter’s history class to study delusions…
  
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  January 1, 2017 8:16pm
nasska

Kiwiblog GD of late has been fairly quiet & orderly with only the delusions of the Godaddled & socially conservative to ridicule Mike.

Sometimes I find myself feeling nostalgia for the knock ’em down, drag ’em out & replace the furniture at half time forum of yore. 🙂
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January 1, 2017 8:26pm
- big bruv
  
  Should we invite D4J back then?
  
  3 0
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  January 1, 2017 8:38pm
  - mikenmild
    
    Well, that’s a mental health issue. D4J should just take the medication and avoid the internet altogether.
    
    3 4
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    January 1, 2017 8:40pm
- Nostradamus
  
  Nasska takes a trip down memory lane:
  
  Redbaiter
  
  Nasska, you sad bald pot smoking derelict old hill billy drop kick, why don’t you go to church and confess you fuck your sister?
  
  November 11, 2013 5:46pm
  
  You guys could have been the perfect Mr and Mrs Smith couple:
  
  The film stars Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie as a bored upper-middle class married couple surprised to learn that they are both assassins hired by competing agencies to kill each other.
  
  I’m not sure how you’d decide who gets to be Mrs Smith though!
  
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  January 1, 2017 8:39pm
  - mikenmild
    
    Redbaiter always was a bit too obvious with his psychological projection.
    
    3 3
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    January 1, 2017 8:41pm
- mikenmild
  
  You only need a nutcase or two to join the fray, nasska. What we really need is a creationist, a homeopath and a UFOlogist to sign up for our entertainment.
  
  2 3
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  January 1, 2017 8:43pm
  - nasska
    
    We can cover the creationist & the UFOlogist from current commenters Mike.
    
    But where the hell we’ll get a homoeopath at short notice has got me beat. 🙂
    
    2 1
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    January 1, 2017 9:04pm
    - Nostradamus
      
      Nasska:
      
      Sadly, Deadrightkev has just left us, but he would be the homeopath:
      
      You don’t need a drugs to repair a broken leg. Sure, its painful and injections help the pain on the mend but they don’t fix the break do they?
      
      You definitely do not need drugs to reverse cancer right through to stage 4. I know many people that have stayed away from the chemical death and burn.
      
      There are a wide range of options available that do work, some work better than others for some, some work better in combination, they are cheaper and work far better than any drug.
      
      It’s an election year so I’m sure we can entice Deadrightkev back!
      
      2 1
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      January 1, 2017 9:11pm
      - nasska
        
        Great idea! As well as advising on the odd cancer cure he can give us some of the inside oil on Colin Craig’s election chances later this year.
        
        So many delusions, so little time! 🙂
        
        3 1
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        January 1, 2017 9:21pm
      - Nostradamus
        
        It gets even better Nasska:
        
        Steve Jobs was diagnosed with his pancreatic cancer when he was 27. He decided against surgery drugs and radio, he managed it until he was 54 by being vegan. He was advised several times to put his health before his work and get it under control but he refused. Shit happens.
        
        Nothing like a bit of competition between Deadrightkev (clearly a Steve Jobs fan) and GoVege for the role of Kiwiblog’s dietian!
        
        3 1
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        January 1, 2017 9:24pm
- mikenmild
  
  the knock ’em down, drag ’em out & replace the furniture at half time
  
  Like Friday drinks in the 80s.
  
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  January 1, 2017 8:45pm
Nostradamus

Wow!

Man refuses to talk to wife he lives with for 20 years in epic sulk

A Japanese man engaged in a sulk of epic proportions after refusing to talk to his wife for 20 years despite living in the same house as her.

Otou Yumi shared the home with his wife, Katayama, and their three children in Nara, southern Japan. Katayama tried making conversation but only ever received a nod or a grunt in response, Mail Online reported.

The two-decade long silent treatment was revealed by the couple’s son Yoshiki, 18, who wrote to a TV show asking them to intervene.
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January 1, 2017 8:51pm
- holysheet
  
  sounds like hellun and peter only without the kids
  
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  January 1, 2017 9:27pm
Captain Mainwaring

Who the Hell cares about what the she-beast and her part time ‘husband’ are up to?

http://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/88074129/high-praise-for-pouakai-crossing-from-former-prime-minister-after-new-years-eve-walk

Stuff inventing the news again.
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January 1, 2017 9:14pm
- Nostradamus
  
  Captain Mainwaring:
  
  I think it’s wonderful that Peter could drag himself away from his research for a romantic New Year’s Eve walk in the bush. Now, if Peter and Helen were a bit younger, they’d have probably ditched the sister and enjoyed some quality time together under the stars.
  
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  January 1, 2017 9:32pm
  - Captain Mainwaring
    
    Oh you’re such a sensitive guy Nostra.
    If Peter and Helen were a bit younger they could have got on with the job of having a family, which is what most ‘married’ couples do.
    Oh, wait…………………………………………..
    
    2 2
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    January 1, 2017 9:45pm
    - Nostradamus
      
      Captain Mainwaring:
      
      Johnboy would have been an excellent tramping companion:
      
      Speaking of tramps, many years ago I was having trouble sleeping on the top bunk at Tutuwai hut.
      
      Beneath us on the bottom bunk were some youngish tramps and one dirty older chap, who was it turned out, only out in Gods clean air for one reason. He was shagging a much younger trampess. Aprox 1am when they thought all others were asleep, as witnessed by snores all round, the sound of zippers, rustling sleeping bags and stiffled moans/grunts of pleasure gave them away.
      
      As the passion died down my mate, who I also thought was asleep, yelled out. “If you’ve finished with her mate how about chucking her up here! ”
      
      I near shit my pit!
      
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      January 1, 2017 9:57pm
Manolo

Some divas who said no:
http://dailycaller.com/2016/12/31/celine-dion-and-7-other-celebrities-who-are-refusing-to-perform-at-donald-trumps-inauguration-slideshow/
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January 1, 2017 9:56pm
Manolo

Will Congress undo the damage?
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_NEW_CONGRESS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-12-31-11-35-01

With Republican President-elect Donald Trump weeks away from assuming office, GOP lawmakers plan to open the 115th Congress on Tuesday and immediately take steps to repeal Obama’s health care law. Beyond that, they’ll look at a tax overhaul, reversing Obama-era environmental regulations and other conservative priorities.
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January 1, 2017 11:11pm
stephieboy

Manolo, look on a more brighter side after your 24,523 comments .

You now can spend your time each day crossing your calendar until and after the 20th ,

http://tribunecontentagency.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/20160315edloc-a.jpg
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January 1, 2017 11:40pm
- All_on_Red
  
  Most of Manolos posts are links to interesting news.
  Yours are pointless trolling comments and links to silly pictures.
  You are KBs Dumbest Commentator
  Edit -oh look a downtick- hi Stephie ?
  
  5 2
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  January 2, 2017 12:12am
Jack5

The new American administration has the UN in its sights for the Security Council resolution on Israeli settlements.

What will it think of NZ co-sponsoring the resolution with Venezuela, Senegal, and Malaysia?
2 1
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January 1, 2017 11:59pm

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