General Debate 5 December 2017

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holysheet

Turn the TV on first thing this morning (I know, I know, that was the first thing I did wrong ) and I hear another fucking foreigner telling us what and how we should be doing things. Now they want all of us going fishing, to have a licence to do so. Like all experts, he said give us more money to research our theories and we will prove you kiwis wrong and us foreign experts right.

We have Pom weather readers, Canadian weather experts, yardy yardy bloody yardy.
When will we grow a pair as a country and tell them they are welcome to live here but do not import all your failed theories into our country.
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December 5, 2017 8:01am
- Inandout
  
  Interesting that fishers thought Nathan Guy had it right, so maybe Nash will take heed.
  Meanwhile, iwi are protecting Auckland’s koddie trees, and presumably this includes unelected iwi Councillors.
  
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  December 5, 2017 8:04am
  - Paulus
    
    Stop people getting close to their waccy patches.
    
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    December 5, 2017 8:19am
    - Random T Person
      
      Waccy patch I got 🙂
      
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      December 5, 2017 8:44am
  - Random T Person
    
    What’s a koddie tree, podocarp? Unkle Google can’t help me there…
    
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    December 5, 2017 8:44am
    - Paulus Gnome
      
      The liberal media pronunciation of kauri, a linguistic specialty of Espiner
      
      More people speak and undoubtedly understand klingon than maori without a $60 million per annum subsidy; maybe we should make klingon an official language.
      
      To Espinise – to make a sanctimonious pronouncement in a language that nobody really gives a sit about just to annoy those who happen to be listening to him
      
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      December 5, 2017 9:12am
      - Longknives
        
        The NZ Taxpayer actually pumps aver $200 million PA into the dying Maori Language Paulus!
        Qatlho!
        
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        December 5, 2017 9:18am
      - jcuk
        
        I simply ignore and wait for the next english words
        Noted that Kim doesn’t speak that funny talk like espiner despite her badgering of Don Brash and some truth from English this morning when he said she was politicising the subject.
        
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        December 5, 2017 9:24am
      - Classic Liberal
        
        Yet compared to Kim Hill, Guyon is giving slightly more balanced interviews, a bit tougher on the CoL. Did you hear Kim Hill with Bill English this morning on RNZ? She was so hate filled that she tried bring Barclay’s severance pay/Europe trip into a ‘work for the dole’ discussion. Tried to make Barclay getting his severance pay a contradiction to National’s plan of sanctions on uncooperative unemployed people.
        
        Even the calm and polite Bill English called her ‘partisan’. Pretty strong, given that it’s *public* radio and they should be balanced.
        
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        December 5, 2017 9:24am
      - Paulus
        
        Guyon crashes out in Maori because his wife Emma is a politically motivated Maori I understand and is quite left wing Labour enlightened.
        
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        December 5, 2017 10:48am
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        Here are some 19thC forms of spelling for Kauri:
        
        cawdi(e), coudie, courie, cowdee, cowdi(e), cowdy, cowree, cowri(e), cowry, kaudi, kaurie, kawdie, koude, koudi, kouri, kowree, kowri, etc.
        
        p.398: Orsman, H. The Dictionary of NZ English
        
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        December 5, 2017 11:02am
      - Komata
        
        FWIW:
        
        One day last week, Mr Espiner was rabbitting on, and on, and on in Maori. At the end of it his co-announcer merely said, ‘Good morning, I’m Kim Hill’.
        
        Quite showed Mr Espiner up really, and although I don’t like Hill per se’, I thought her delivery was both understated and very effective…
        
        Notably, Espiner made no audible comment…
        
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        December 5, 2017 11:39am
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      What’s a koddie tree, podocarp?
      No.
      A kauri tree is an araucarian, not a podocarp.
      http://plantphylogeny.landcareresearch.co.nz/webforms/ViewTree.aspx?ObjectID=84acde73-93d5-45ae-a958-7ec5b49ad25f
      
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      December 5, 2017 10:21am
      - Classic Liberal
        
        I see no harm in using a few generally known Maori words and pronouncing them correctly. Not difficult really, because it was very logically transcribed. If you can say a few Italian words in a restaurant, you can easily pronounce Maori.
        
        But long Maori introductions that huge numbers of the population can’t understand seem a waste of time.
        
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        December 5, 2017 10:32am
      - Dave Stringer
        
        Just a familiar question.
        If the POHMs wrote a word phonetically an Ngaio, why don’t Mauro speakers pronounce it that way with the first syllable rhyming with ‘eng’ as in English,rather than accept the idiocy that they were documenting a silent letter. Maori, as many other languages was guttural in nature, the POHMs had no issue with names like NGOMO, ( sometimes written as N’gomo ) so it is unlikely that they would resort to a silent G.
        
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        December 5, 2017 12:14pm
      - chiz
        
        Dave Stringer:
        
        If the POHMs wrote a word phonetically an Ngaio, why don’t Mauro speakers pronounce it that way with the first syllable rhyming with ‘eng’ as in English,rather than accept the idiocy that they were documenting a silent letter.
        
        If they wanted the start to rhyme with ‘eng’ then they would have spelled it with a vowel – Engairo. The reason they didn’t do that is because Ngaio doesn’t start with a vowel. It starts with a ‘ng’ sound. Syllables don’t start with the ‘ng’ sound in english which is why you are apparently still struggling to understand that the g isn’t silent.
        
        No idea what your claim about maori being a gutteral language is about. That certainly isn’t true.
        
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        December 5, 2017 12:31pm
      - lifesgood
        
        Except, Komata, Hill then went on to absolutely hit Don Brash with a barrage for daring to complain about Espiner’s pretentious nonsense.
        
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        December 5, 2017 1:39pm
- Lance
  
  The pom weather reader is a NZ citizen. And he doesn’t tell us what to do.
  Fairs fair
  
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  December 5, 2017 8:04am
  - lifesgood
    
    And he’s a good guy doing a great job. But Julie Ann Genter can go home. Having said that we should use experts where needed, regardless, but I do get the point that it is annoying to have overseas “experts” telling us what to do. Even worse, recent immigrants trying to change us into the dump they left.
    
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    December 5, 2017 8:12am
    - starboard
      
      The pom weather presenter looks like a funeral director.
      Now, Renee Wright part time weather girl..she is some serious, and I mean serious piece of ass..with a brain.?
      
      Wait for the howls of ” pig!”…”chauvanist!”..”bastard!!”..from the hairy legged and fat busted arse face brigade.”?????” heh?
      You’re welcome.
      
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      December 5, 2017 8:49am
      - sooty
        
        Easily fixed don’t watch the news and hopefully they will fold their tent and disapper up the fundimental oriffice.
        
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        December 5, 2017 9:20am
      - lifesgood
        
        Classic liberal will be on your case.
        
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        December 5, 2017 9:25am
      - Classic Liberal
        
        Nope, vulgar compliments of a public figure aren’t physical sexual abuse.
        
        Hey, your bank story sounded like in your younger days you were quite an attractive ‘piece of a**’ yourself.
        
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        December 5, 2017 10:23am
      - wiseowl
        
        When Renee does the weather I never get to see it.
        
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        December 5, 2017 1:00pm
    - MCos
      
      Julie Ann Genter Is at home in NZ in the same way that my mother, who was born in the same shire as Kim Hill, is now forever a Kiwi.
      
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      December 5, 2017 11:46am
      - Swifty
        
        Then what is Kim’s birth name?
        
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        December 5, 2017 12:53pm
      - lifesgood
        
        Classic Liberal. It wasn’t me that wrote the bank story. You need to pay attention.
        
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        December 5, 2017 1:41pm
      - lifesgood
        
        Kim Hill’s birth name was Edwina, I’m pretty sure. She decided as a youngster she preferred Kim. Can’t blame her although she is more like an Edwina than a Kim
        
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        December 5, 2017 1:43pm
      - Swifty
        
        Fiona
        
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        December 5, 2017 2:37pm
      - Classic Liberal
        
        Sorry Lifesgood.
        
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        December 5, 2017 3:23pm
      - Jack5
        
        Lifesgood at 1.43 posted only one of Kim Hill’s birth names.
        
        Way, way, way back in those days it was the custom of genteel families to give girls multiple Christian names.
        
        Those bestowed on Kim at her birth, after four aunts, were: Edwina Sophronia Ida Agatha.
        
        It was Aunt Sophronia who paid for her elocution lessons from the age of 19 months. Until a teenager, and always to the family, Kim was known as Soppy.
        
        Young Edwina adopted the name of Kim at secondary school, and formally changed her name after being transported to the colonies, though the cause of her leaving Mother England was certainly not heinous.
        
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        December 5, 2017 9:36pm
- Paulus Gnome
  
  Halal KFC anyone?
  
  How about FIFO?
  
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  December 5, 2017 8:14am
  - Digmen1
    
    How about When in Rome eat as the Romans do.
    
    Muslims belong in muslim countires.
    
    Don’t force extra costs on us.
    
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    December 5, 2017 8:20am
    - In Vino Veritas
      
      I’ve met many fine and generous Muslim people Digmen. But, you just have to ask them one question: “do you agree with the implementation of Sharia Law?”
      The answer will tell you all you need to know.
      
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      December 5, 2017 8:28am
      - Victor Omega
        
        Or ask “which predominantly Muslim country would you prefer to live in”? Especially women.
        
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        December 5, 2017 8:35am
      - Disillusioned_Voter
        
        Victor Omega, Like this?
        
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        December 5, 2017 9:55am
      - Inandout
        
        Ask them why they leave a supposed crap country and then take root here, but keep all their uniforms and Arab way of life that they ‘despised’? They are an enemy within, and Sharia includes disposing of gays for starters.
        
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        December 5, 2017 10:14am
      - Victor Omega
        
        @D_V… Exactly! Love how Milo follows it up with “I think we’re done here”.
        I put a link to it in GD the other day so I didn’t think I should link it again, but I’m glad you did 🙂
        
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        December 5, 2017 10:38am
    - Longknives
      
      “When in Rome eat as the Romans do.”
      
      What have the Romans ever done for us?
      
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      December 5, 2017 9:21am
      - Komata
        
        Longknives
        
        Re: ‘What have the Romans ever done for us?’
        
        (And only ‘cos you asked)
        
        Aside from giving us such minor things as viable, useable roads, concrete, a codified legal system, central heating, the calendar, flushing toilets, sewers and a language, nothing really…
        
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        December 5, 2017 11:45am
      - BrasellBrush
        
        The Aqueduct
        Medicine
        A form of Government
        Reduction in crime
        Stability….
        Hahaha A great line from “Life of Brian”
        
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        December 5, 2017 11:46am
    - MCos
      
      So you’re an advocate of ethnic cleansing are you, Digger?
      Does that mean all the Irish Catholics should go back to Ireland, and all the C of E back to England?
      Where do you draw the line?
      
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      December 5, 2017 11:57am
      - Nukuleka
        
        MCos: As well you know Islam is an ideology, and its adherents wish to impose its edicts on us all – it is not simply a set of personal religious beliefs.
        
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        December 5, 2017 12:44pm
      - treadingthemill
        
        Islam is an ideology, and its adherents wish to impose its edicts on us all – it is not simply a set of personal religious beliefs.
        
        Just like fundamentalist Christianity. This is Ken Orr from Right to Life demanding that his beliefs be imposed on all Kiwis.
        
        The prayer reflects the historical reality that New Zealand was founded by Christians who based our laws on Judeo-Christian principles. The action of the Speaker is giving the community the false message that this is the post-Christian era and that Christ and Christianity are now irrelevant. This is a rejection of Christ, Christianity, the good news of our redemption, salvation and the promise of eternal life. The prayer is not just the prayer of Parliament but is indeed the prayer of the people of New Zealand, who acknowledge that we are his creation and that we continue to need his loving direction and protection.
        
        https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/99507508/should-the-parliamentary-prayer-be-amended
        
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        December 5, 2017 12:49pm
  - holysheet
    
    FIFO?
    foreign infidel fuck off?
    
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    December 5, 2017 8:34am
  - Disillusioned_Voter
    
    Why I refuse to eat halal meat, and you should too.
    
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    December 5, 2017 8:53am
    - mara
      
      Pure barbarism that most Kiwis have no idea about! Halal certification on most food for sale is also a total rort. Islam creeps in inch by inch, step by step and we do nothing.
      
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      December 5, 2017 9:20am
      - KevOB
        
        These is a local organisation that sets charges and I believe is getting rich out of it.
        
        Christians shouldn’t have to tolerate this.
        
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        December 5, 2017 1:45pm
      - Jack5
        
        They shut down quickly the video of halal killing at a North Island freezing works that was put on the Net by a worker.
        
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        December 5, 2017 9:40pm
      - realityczech
        
        Jacksie, must have been Islamaphobia, or this racism business we have been hearing so much about.
        
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        December 5, 2017 9:43pm
    - Classic Liberal
      
      If only we had the choice! Most NZ meat is now halal, I’ve been informed by a muslim acquaintance. They get their religious rights, we don’t.
      
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      December 5, 2017 9:28am
      - Tarquin North
        
        I’m fairly sure the home kill we get up here isn’t halal certified. Our butcher drinks even more than I do and he does the best bacon and ham around.
        
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        December 5, 2017 10:10am
    - Paulus
      
      You have no idea that it is Halal – even if you asked only the meat buyer will know.
      
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      December 5, 2017 10:50am
      - geoff3012
        
        clearly marked HALAL in our local freshcoice.
        
        I don’t buy it and have told them
        
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        December 5, 2017 11:22am
    - GoVege
      
      Basta*ds!!!
      I wonder why they are so brutal to their women…
      
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      December 5, 2017 11:06am
    - realityczech
      
      Disillusioned_Voter, to be fair killing is not pretty even the way we do it. You would need to see both to restore some perspective.
      
      In principle I do object to unnecessary suffering.
      
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      December 5, 2017 9:46pm
      - Disillusioned_Voter
        
        Watch the video from the start then.
        
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        December 6, 2017 6:34am
  - Yvette
    
    Only one animal can be ritually slaughtered at a time and the other animals must not witness any death.
    The religious law also says how the animal must be treated during its life, with the animal not allowed to have been mistreated or caused any pain. It must also be provided with enough space to roam, clean water, food and fresh air.
    
    No wonder KFC is not wildly keen on the idea.
    
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    December 5, 2017 9:26am
    - Classic Liberal
      
      Nice try, Yvette, but halal slaughter is very brutal. Also, consumers are paying for people to say prayers during the killing and those of us who don’t want any involvement in islam can’t easily find non-halal meat.
      
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      December 5, 2017 9:30am
      - Disillusioned_Voter
        
        Classic Liberal, I’ve been reading this blog since before PhilU’s head exploded (#OriginalTroll… eh?). Yvette is well aware.
        
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        December 5, 2017 9:49am
      - Paulus
        
        Slaughter is ok as long as the animal is facing Mecca when it dies.
        
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        December 5, 2017 10:51am
      - Yvette
        
        My point, I thought, was the impossibility of the mass chicken market to meet the stated requirements of halal law, meant it was very unlikely to happen, unless the law is relaxed and then the meat will be harem (forbidden) not halal (allowed).
        
        This totally apart for how the animal feels about a halal death or not. New Zealand slaughter full stun of the animal, halal a stun that can be survived, and kosher apparently no stun at all.
        
        I am against any Islamic blessing any food I eat, and consider that more offensive than would be accompanying killing animals while reading paragraphs from Mein Kampf, as the Koran is the more obnoxious publication.
        Obviously I did not quite express myself as accurately as desired.
        
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        December 5, 2017 11:35am
      - Classic Liberal
        
        Thanks Yvette, I see what you mean now. We’d better watch out for Rachel Stewart’s ‘hate speech’ laws now!
        
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        December 5, 2017 3:26pm
    - howitis
      
      Hell, it looks like the Moozlems treat animals way better than humans.
      You mean to say they don’t plough down goats, chickens, and sheep in rented trucks!
      
      They don’t even treat each other that well in the Middle East or most places they drag their attitude to.
      Sunni vs Shia.
      
      I’ll bet there are a few people in Yemen right now who would like to be treated like animals in preference to what they are experiencing.
      Animal life sounds better than what they are going through.
      Add in Syria, Libya et al.
      
      There is a big gap between what Mooslems say and what they do.
      Treatment of women and gays for starters.
      The difference between the BS they spout and what they do is large enough to drive a rented truck through.
      However they would manage to swerve into the people!
      
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      December 5, 2017 1:56pm
    - Jack5
      
      Halal killing is slow and brutal. The video a Muslim slaughterman at a North Island meat works had on the net for a short time showed it was far crueller than our humane slaughter.
      
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      December 5, 2017 9:43pm
      - realityczech
        
        Jacksie I am surprised our resident farmers have not put you right on that. Cutting throats is the preferred method here to.
        
        Did you see that Halal allows the animal to be stunned but Kosher does not ?
        
        Is that another special exception ??????????????
        
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        December 5, 2017 9:50pm
  - Albert_Ross
    
    As I understand it, KFC politely declined a request to provide halal meals. That is their right, just as it is the right of Muslims to make the request.
    
    Nobody at all is suggesting that non-Muslims in New Zealand should be required to eat halal meat.
    
    What exactly are you so frightened of?
    
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    December 5, 2017 9:30am
    - Classic Liberal
      
      We do eat halal meat. Try finding non-pork meat in supermarkets that isn’t halal.
      
      What some are ‘frightened’ of is of supporting an ideology that has various principles and practices many disagree with: wife beating, oppressing non-believers, general slavery, sexual slavery, killing homosexuals.
      
      Moderate muslims no longer support those practices, but look at Europe to know what happens when muslim demographics get so strong that islamist influence increases and liberal/moderate muslims and non-muslims are oppressed by islamists.
      
      Have a look at Turkey, too: Ataturk worked hard on changing religion-based laws to secular law. Erdoğan is now reintroducing islamisation of education to “raise a devout generation”, winding back secularism.
      
      Depending on immigration policies in NZ, islamisation could never happen, take decades, or happen very quickly.
      
      To really understand this issue, listen to and read the experts. Youtube search: ‘hamed abdel samad english’ to hear a German/Egyption ex-muslim who risks his life daring to criticise islam.
      
      Geert Wilders in Holland has to live under constant police protection for daring to criticise islam.
      
      This is a very depressing topic.
      
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      December 5, 2017 10:10am
    - Fletch
      
      The Halal certification thing is a big money-making scam. There have been accusations that many of the funds they make go to countries like Syria to fund terrorism. The Senate in Australia held an inquiry into it in 2015.
      
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6STWBEV-H8
      
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVfEvwotFZM
      
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      December 5, 2017 11:03am
    - Jack5
      
      Albert, it’s the cruelty of halal (and kosher) killing that’s the issue, not the right to eat it, nor not eat it.
      
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      December 5, 2017 9:44pm
      - realityczech
        
        ” (and kosher)”
        
        GASP !!!! Fuck Jacksies account has been hacked.
        
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        December 5, 2017 9:51pm
  - realityczech
    
    Sure and I want my Nasi Goreng with Pork delivered to my table by a dog.
    
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    December 5, 2017 1:48pm
- In Vino Veritas
  
  Lol holy, and its not the recreational anglers that are taking undersize fish and shellfish. The people that are doing that will never buy a licence.
  
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  December 5, 2017 8:15am
  - RF
    
    Unfortunately some claim that as it is their country it is their right to take what they want with no restrictions. The
    
    A close second are the Asians who take heaps of shell fish / crabs etc as though there is no tomorrow.
    
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    December 5, 2017 8:21am
    - Swifty
      
      I’ve never had that adequately explained to me why it is the case – and I’ve asked a few asian mates.
      
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      December 5, 2017 8:30am
      - waikatogirl
        
        China: Huge population, scarce resources, every man for himself.
        
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        December 5, 2017 8:53am
      - Swifty
        
        In my experience it’s not just the cho’s.
        
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        December 5, 2017 10:19am
    - Stars And Stripes
      
      Yes I have also wondered why NZ still needs the SPCA with so many Asians in the country.
      I thought they would have eaten there way through the unwanted pet problem years ago.
      
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      December 5, 2017 9:53am
- Paul Marsden
  
  I was thinking exactly the same thing as I stormed my way to work, across Auckland this morning. At least that nauseating, Canadian Whatshisname who took great pleasure in telling us all how to drive, has disappeared off our screens. God, he drove me nuts!
  
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  December 5, 2017 10:42am
AgainstTheFlow

The CEO of the Pike River re-entry agency will be legally liable for deaths and injuries during the mine re-entry, despite it being Andrew Little’s final decision to go back in or not.
Labour will not change National’s legislation to shift liability to the Minister.

Such complete cowardice from the CoL.
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December 5, 2017 8:08am
- Sofia
  
  Are they looking for a looney to be CEO for Pike River Re-entry?
  
  As AgainstThe Flow points out, the Pike River Recovery Agency yet-to-be-appointed Chief Executive will be liable if re-entry goes wrong, not Minister Andrew Little, although a final decision on re-entry will remain with Little … just no blame.
  
  So Catch 22: Will such Chief Executive – a person who accepts total liability but has no final say on re-entry – really be sane enough to actually run such an operation?
  
  Surely Pike River re-entry is a legitimate function of Government, and Cabinet should take responsibility for it (as they do for police, medical activities, or defence or any work relating to life or death matter) or it is by priority, risk or finance not a proper function of Government.
  
  And who does Winston (prime mover on this, until suddenly he is not), Jacinda Ardern or anyone else think they are fooling. If we, the population, know Little (still in fact a Member of Cabinet) decides re-entry is appropriate but the drift roof falls in, we will all know who made the decision and who should along with Cabinet carry the can, and avoidance of that will probably a factor remembered next Election.
  
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  December 5, 2017 8:12am
  - Paulus Gnome
    
    Bernie Monk will make an excellent CEO.
    
    Monk knows absolutely everything about Pike River, has all the answers and solutions and would undoubtedly welcome the opportunity to put his money where his mouth is.
    
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    December 5, 2017 8:18am
    - alex Masterley
      
      He would be my nomination for the role.
      It will be fun to watching him sidestep the opportunity.
      
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      December 5, 2017 8:24am
    - In Vino Veritas
      
      Michael Cullen. As a University Lecturer, he knows everything about everything. For instance, led NZ Post to a string of hopeless results, became a tax expert overnight to lead the Labour organised panel, was Attorney General by dint of the fact he was and economist.
      Clearly the man to do the job. Except there is not enough money in the world to pay him to accept such a poisoned chalice.
      
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      December 5, 2017 8:34am
    - Prince
      
      I think you mean ‘put our money where his mouth is’.
      
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      December 5, 2017 8:42am
  - In Vino Veritas
    
    Winston is in the perfect situation. If they go in, nothing happens and they recover remains, he will milk it forever and be the hero. If they go ahead and it ends up with more people being killed, he will say that he was only prepared to go in if the risks were manageable and here’s the memo I sent – it had nothing to do with me, Angry Andy is the guy you need to talk to. If Labour pulls the pin because of risk, he will say he always wanted to go in but has been stymied by the Labour Party. Its a win win for him.
    
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    December 5, 2017 8:19am
    - Rachael Membery
      
      And when will the coasters wake up to the fact that they have been used.
      
      No wonder Erebus families want a memorial when you see all the kerfuffle about Pike.
      
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      December 5, 2017 9:28am
  - Paulus
    
    Angry Andy will have moved on to his new job very soon which will not allow him time to continue in his current chosen Pike River role.
    He will buck it to the Greens I expect when he takes over Davis’s job shortly.
    Too busy – or give it to Davis – what a good idea,
    
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    December 5, 2017 8:22am
    - RalphT
      
      Give the job to the Greens. With their hatred of coal mining they will refuse to let anyone go into the mine, thus ensuring that there is no additional loss of life. If that were to happen I might be prepared to take on the role of CEO, secure in the knowledge that there would be nothing for me to be held accountable for.
      
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      December 5, 2017 8:29am
  - AgainstTheFlow
    
    The CEO of the agency – in te Reo “Te Kahui Whakamana Rua Tekau ma Iwa (The Empowering Voice for the Pike 29)” – should be nicknamed ‘Pike River Muggins’.
    
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    December 5, 2017 8:23am
  - Rachael Membery
    
    Mr ‘the buck stops over there’ Little?
    
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    December 5, 2017 9:20am
- KevOB
  
  I note the legal squirming. Little wants to put someone else in the line of liability while he pulls the strings.
  
  The Courts have always taken a very dim view of unconscionable behaviour. An annoyed Judge may well find he has jurisdiction to attach the the Minister. Our courts are those of Justice not merely law.
  
  A further substantial explosion, harming no one, would put an end to all this.
  
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  December 5, 2017 8:21am
  - holysheet
    
    Call it what you like, but in the end if it goes tits up, you can bet your bottom dollar the taxpayer will be left holding the liability and having to pay out millions yet again.
    
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    December 5, 2017 8:32am
- G152
  
  Then give Little the job !
  
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  December 5, 2017 8:22am
- RF
  
  Angry Andrew…. New Zealand’s own Pontus Pilate…..
  
  So much for him and the head dwarf marching up the drift, arm in arm and singing “Hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to work we go”.
  
  Pure BS.
  
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  December 5, 2017 8:26am
- Brito
  
  After Cave Creek wasn’t there a law change which made government departments culpable for death and mayhem caused by ineptitude. I’m sure there was/is a law which makes all and anybody attached to the ‘incident’ liable for prosecution.
  
  If that’s the case then Megan Woods is the Minister of Energy and Resources and Angry Little is the Minister for Pike River Re-Entry.
  
  Is it possible that these heads will rest uncomfortably on the block? Must have a sniff through the records to see if that maybe the case.
  
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  December 5, 2017 8:28am
  - Sofia
    
    Cave Creek – Since the accident, New Zealand law has been adjusted to ensure that the Building Act covers government departments, and to allow government departments to be held liable for such negligence in future.
    
    This may of course apply to any equipment or device built and used in re-entry.
    
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    December 5, 2017 8:58am
    - Brito
      
      Have to sniffing through Health and Safety then…
      
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      December 5, 2017 9:37am
- Huevon
  
  Unbelievable…well, not really. Lefties always run when the heat comes on.
  
  BTW, what a job advert…
  
  Senior public sector leader sought for high profile role.
  Wellington based with regular travel to beautiful West Coast.
  Opportunity to make a difference.
  Oh, but if you fuck up you’re going to jail.
  
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  December 5, 2017 8:37am
  - Prince
    
    Correction…
    Oh, but if we fuck up, you’re going to jail.
    
    21 0
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    December 5, 2017 8:45am
    - oldgolfer
      
      Jail?
      Jail?
      No one will go to jail soon; Andy is going to empty them.
      
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      December 5, 2017 9:39am
  - realityczech
    
    The senior level of the public service is full of corrupt people who will do anything for money. That part will be easy. It is hard to find a senior public servant who is not a lying sack of shit and people who say otherwise are either idiots or lying themselves.
    
    They will drag it on for as long as possible to build themselves a little kingdom and achieve nothing.
    
    There are people who specialise in these sorts of do nothing jobs.
    
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    December 5, 2017 9:06am
    - Albert_Ross
      
      How many senior public servants have you actually met?
      
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      December 5, 2017 9:32am
      - realityczech
        
        I have met plenty. They are totally immoral and will do what ever it takes to further their career. They are not interested in the “public service”, only in self-service by making the government of the day look good. If they had any integrity and told the truth, they would not be in a senior role.
        
        And no I don’t care if your good mate is a public servant blah blah blah. They may be okay people outside of work and exceptions do not make the rule.
        
        The public service is essentially corrupt and has a culture of managing problems by managing the message.
        
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        December 5, 2017 9:47am
    - marcw
      
      They’ve got $23million to rort – should be worth a few overseas trips (1st Class), consultant (mates) reports, hotel stays in Greymouth, fancy Tesla car, big Christmas do’s, sexy pa (or 3). And still enough left over to employ 70 ‘yes’ people on $100,000 per annum for 3 years.
      
      Yay, what’s not to like?
      
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      December 5, 2017 9:39am
      - realityczech
        
        marcw, yep and an endless barrage of PR bullshit to make it all look good for the sheeple. In other words it will be like all the other govt agencies today.
        
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        December 5, 2017 10:02am
- oldgolfer
  
  Too true, and it probably means that no one will ever enter the mine, despite many assurances to the contrary.
  Watch this wander out till just after the next election.
  Mind you, that might be sooner than some think.
  
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  December 5, 2017 8:38am
- Komata
  
  ATF
  
  Re: ‘The CEO of the Pike River re-entry agency will be legally liable for deaths and injuries during the mine re-entry…’
  
  OK, so Mr Little has absolutely no intention of going anywhere near the adit portal – unless there is a press photo opp in the making.
  
  Cowardice has many forms – we’ve now seen the ‘Little’ variant.
  
  And yet the ‘Monk’-ees still support him!! how very, very sad.
  
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  December 5, 2017 11:52am
- KevOB
  
  I hope AL has to deal with a Judge who will see him as a responsible party if anything goes wrong. The Courts in their equitable jurisdiction can break down other legal boundaries.
  
  Also there may be a cause of action for an injunction to prevent a government agency exposing its head to potential liability which a Minister is too cowardly to accept.
  
  False righteousness can stick in the craw.
  
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  December 5, 2017 1:55pm
Rich Prick

Work for the dole. Bloody brilliant. I just never thought it would be introduced by a Labour-led Government.
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December 5, 2017 8:08am
- In Vino Veritas
  
  It wont be introduced Rich. They’ll back down in short order.
  
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  December 5, 2017 8:11am
- Captain Mainwaring
  
  Except it won’t be, because there is dissent in the ranks.
  
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  December 5, 2017 8:12am
- waikatogirl
  
  I’ll believe it when I see Working for the Dole, or as I heard it called yesterday “Working for Your Country” lasting for a few years, and actually achieving its goal of getting the unemployable into permanent jobs.
  
  Drug use will rule them out from the programme, not to mention getting them out of bed, getting them to the job, supervising individuals so they cannot vandalise the job or machinery, etc, etc.
  
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  December 5, 2017 8:24am
  - Sir Cullen's Sidekick
    
    Shane Jones all talk and no action. Lazy guy.
    
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    December 5, 2017 8:35am
    - Keeping Stock
      
      All hui, no do-ey.
      
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      December 5, 2017 9:08am
    - Right of way is Way of Right
      
      Very true, he’d much rather watch the job being done by others than do any of the work himself. Typical voyeur!
      
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      December 5, 2017 9:13am
  - krazykiwi
    
    Hand up employers/directors who will sustain the liability of having inept, drug soaked ‘staff’ in your employment.
    :
    Anyone?
    
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    December 5, 2017 8:41am
- Paulus
  
  It wont be introduced by Cinderella she effectively said yesterday.
  It was Shane Jones’s aberration without her and Heather’s permission.
  So STFU Shane.
  
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  December 5, 2017 8:24am
- Digmen1
  
  I hope it is.
  But Not Work for the Dole.
  But
  “Work for the job we give you or else their is no Dole for you.” or some other similar catchy phrase.
  
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  December 5, 2017 8:25am
  - Rich Prick
    
    A “comprehensive and progressive” work for the dole scheme, perhaps?
    
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    December 5, 2017 8:57am
  - Right of way is Way of Right
    
    Interestingly, they are saying that they won’t be paid the benefit, but will instead be paid the minimum wage. The same minimum wage they are talking about putting up to over $20 an hour!
    
    So, how big was that financial hole again? Seems like it’s just getting bigger and bigger, and they haven’t even started doing anything yet!
    
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    December 5, 2017 9:11am
    - G152
      
      And drugged in charge of a spade and a few wilted saplings.
      And that’s just the supervisors
      
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      December 5, 2017 11:05am
- MrLovebucket
  
  It will be a “Work for the dole” scheme, but only if you feel like it. Maori will be exempt as anything else will be racist.
  
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  December 5, 2017 9:01am
- Right of way is Way of Right
  
  Well, it may be a Labour-Led Government (in name only) but this policy has been introduced by NZ First, not Labour. Waikatogirl has hit the nail on the head though, most of them will be ‘weeded’ out by the drugs test, pun intended.
  
  They’ll probably have to legalise cannabis first, but then watch our ACC premiums go through the roof!
  
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  December 5, 2017 9:03am
  - Rich Prick
    
    Yes, but the fun part will be the watching usual suspects attempting to defend such a thing. Or will they be silent on it?
    
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    December 5, 2017 9:12am
In Vino Veritas

Andrew Little. Running away since…. forever.
Ran away from the Pike River disaster after his Union promised to get “workers home safe to families each night” and knew about issues in the mine.
Ran away from said Union as member numbers plummeted.
Ran away from being leader of the Labour Party as an abject failure.
Now running away from liability for a decision made by him and the Labour Party, and trying to hang any liability on a public servant.
Though it is I guess, classic Labour Party. Everything bad is someone else’s fault, everything good is because Labour exists.
Andrew Little, little in name and little in nature.
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December 5, 2017 8:10am
- Poppa
  
  So what we will have is a public servant saying it is unsafe to enter, job done.
  
  Little is a gutless weasel and his new found friend Peters is equally gutless
  
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  December 5, 2017 8:17am
  - AgainstTheFlow
    
    What sane CEO ( or ‘Pike River Muggins’) would send up a recommendation to enter the mine?
    
    Or they could just send their resignation letter instead.
    
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    December 5, 2017 8:28am
- oldpark
  
  I heard the “Commie Chic” Comrade Ardern say on todays Newstalk ZB massaged news bulletins. That she was comfortable with the decision.
  Sounds like another flip flop to get out of doing nothing. Would have thought just for one moment,that the Peters “selected” PM would have at least taken some sort of culpability for her lies about Pike River in the Mainstream Media stage managed Election Campaign.
  No such luck. Even yesterday she created a story about a ring that give her excema on her ring finger.All she was doing was leading the reef fish media pack away from asking one of the news story of the day.
  What was her call on the letter from the Ombudsman asking her why she was refusing to release the clandestine deal between her and the meglamaniac Peters.
  She got away with the fobbing off of that question.
  After all, last i knew NZ was still a democracy and such type of secret arrangement between Two so called parties ,should be released.
  Especially when the country of NZ is in fact being run by a minority Government.
  The commie Golriz/James Shaw Green Party liars are only there to support the minority Government with confidence and supply.
  Sooner the good ship NZ voters learns just what the secret deal is all about,and what they did not vote for .A good time to let in some sunshine.
  
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  December 5, 2017 8:33am
  - VicParking
    
    Shes breaking down. The excuse for the ring shifting was a skin complaint not doubt brought on by the pressure of the job.
    
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    December 5, 2017 9:31am
Captain Mainwaring

It’s so peaceful here without William’s idiocy first thing in the morning.
Did he disappear up his own fundamental orifice?
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December 5, 2017 8:11am
- GazzaW
  
  Red carded?
  
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  December 5, 2017 8:21am
- Paulus Gnome
  
  Don’t poke the bear, look what happens when ‘she who must not be mentioned’ is not evoked
  
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  December 5, 2017 8:21am
- In Vino Veritas
  
  But Peters will never take the rap Captain. That will be Little. The Dopey of the seven intellectual pygmies Ardern, Robertson, Twyford, Little, Davis, Hipkins, Curran.
  Though you could add Sepuloni and Mahuta.
  Hmm, nah, I shouldnt equate them to the 7 dwarves, they are all dopey.
  
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  December 5, 2017 8:25am
  - holysheet
    
    And you couldn’t in any drunken drug induced stupor, call Mahuta a dwarf, by any stretch of the imagination.
    
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    December 5, 2017 8:40am
    - RF
      
      Isn’t it funny. After being Cunners deputy Mahuta was dog tucker with little future in the Labour Party. She was getting slowly pushed back to the back seats.
      
      All it took was some face art and a change of Govt and she is back in the trough slurping away.
      
      Still bloody useless but I guess no different from the other 99%.
      
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      December 5, 2017 9:33am
Paulus

I hear this morning that the Very Reverend Doctor David Clark is introducing a new way of controlling the Department of Health.
The current Director General appears to have been persuaded to resign early.
The Doctor is now setting up a Committee of Five ? people to effectively take over the Department and they will report directly to him.
This is new whereby it means that a Minister has now taken Executive responsibility for running the Department of Health and of course the iniquitous DHBs with many sycophants and
Labour supporters there.
Having spent a short while in hospital recently and see many great people – particularly the Nurses and ward assistants, but via many weeks of Outpatients in every bowel of the buildings there are offices with lights and computers on but unmanned/unwomand, and many coffee meetings taking place. There are many people walking around the Hospital with files under their arms and break time corridors are sparse.
And I was in one of the best run Hospitals.
Doctor – when the Department staff find that you have usurped their roles there will be much unhappiness.
I shall watch with interest. Clown.
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December 5, 2017 8:16am
- Keeping Stock
  
  Those who have the wrong impression about the title “Dr” in front of David Clark’s name should take note of this:
  
  Clark undertook university study at the University of Otago and Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen. He completed degrees in German and theology before a PhD on the work of German/New Zealand refugee and existentialist thinker Helmut Herbert Hermann Rex.
  
  Ordained in 1997, Clark is a Presbyterian minister. He was the celebrant at the civil union of MP Grant Robertson. He has also worked as a Treasury analyst and the warden of Selwyn College at the University of Otago.
  
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Clark_(New_Zealand_politician)
  
  I wonder what ztev thinks about Clark having formerly been a Treasury analyst, given his recent remarks about Bill English.
  
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  December 5, 2017 8:43am
  - Chris R
    
    How would he have been appointed as a Treasury Analyst without a degree in economics (or something similar?) If I had a degree in Lesbian Geography I’d be emboldened to apply for a role like that based on Dr Clark’s employment.
    
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    December 5, 2017 9:03am
  - Right of way is Way of Right
    
    A Presbyterian Minister? Does that impact on the definition of ministerial responsibility at Question Time?
    
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    December 5, 2017 9:08am
    - Paulus
      
      As a Minister/Minister I cannot tell a lie !
      
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      December 5, 2017 10:59am
  - Dave Mann
    
    He seems like a right prick. Useless for anything.
    
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    December 5, 2017 9:09am
  - Morrissey
    
    Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
    I’ll bet that not one Treasury analyst told English it was okay to rort the system like he did….
    
    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/2711246/Bill-English-defends-taxpayer-cash-for-house
    
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    December 5, 2017 9:19am
    - Albert_Ross
      
      I don’t suppose they did, because advising MPs on their entitlements is not Treasury’s job.
      
      He was, however, advised that his claim would be okay by the people whose job it was to advise on what it was okay to claim. As soon as he found out it wasn’t, he paid the money back.
      
      Can the same be said of Metiria?
      
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      December 5, 2017 9:35am
    - Keeping Stock
      
      I guess the fact that the Auditor-General cleared English of any wrongdoing, and found the advice he sought and received from Ministerial Services was incorrect means nothing eh Morrissey. You’ll still keep the lies and smears going.
      
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      December 5, 2017 9:51am
  - flipper
    
    Beautifully outed Keeping. Well done.
    
    The use of PhDs in areas outside their specific area of qualification or expertise is an idiotic, self aggrandisement arising from egocentric HoR Standing Orders that permit MPs to determine how they are to be addressed. “Doctors ” in law, theology, landslips and many, many more are simply designed and used to increase the “standing” of the individual concerned.
    The US system whereby “Doctor” is almost always restricted to doctors of medicine. PhDs are just PhDs. Away with the idiotic self aggrandising. And away with smart arses like Clark who obviously believes his faeces are non odorific.
    
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    December 5, 2017 9:21am
    - Keeping Stock
      
      At least Dr Jonathan Coleman was a bona fide medical practitioner.
      
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      December 5, 2017 9:52am
      - Chris R
        
        Yes; and Dr Martyn Finlay was a genuine doctor of Law and became A-G and Minister of Justice in the Kirk Labour Government. He was effective, clever and likeable.
        
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        December 5, 2017 10:09am
    - Paulus
      
      Doctor Megan Wood is another rorter, and as useless.
      
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      December 5, 2017 11:00am
Digmen1

Another “working” group
They had nine years to work out their policies and plans.
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December 5, 2017 8:22am
Digmen1

I demand the Andrew Little and Winston Peters re-enter the mine – themselves, on their own and before Xmas.

They both promised it.
They “won” the election on false pretences.
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December 5, 2017 8:23am
- oldgolfer
  
  I back your demand, but I fear we will both be disappointed.
  
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  December 5, 2017 8:41am
- holysheet
  
  Don’t forget Chucky said he would will be there as well.
  
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  December 5, 2017 8:44am
- marcw
  
  I think you will be getting a lump of coal from Santa this year Dm. Ironically, it will come from China as most of our mines are closed, too dangerous, or on strike.
  
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  December 5, 2017 9:48am
Hugh Pavletich

Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
NZ housing minster lays out reform masterpiece – MacroBusiness Australia

https://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2017/12/nz-housing-minster-lays-reform-masterpiece/

By Leith van Onselen

I noted in the lead-up to the New Zealand General Election, held on 23 September, that Labour had an excellent housing platform that addresses both supply and demand distortions via negative gearing reform, banning foreign buyers of existing homes, tighter capital gains taxes, removal of urban growth boundaries, plus bond financing for infrastructure. Its plan to reduce immigration by around a third is also sound, and would help to relieve chronic housing and infrastructure pressures, especially around Auckland. … read more via hyperlink above …

THE URBAN REVIVAL IS AN URBAN MYTH, AND THE SUBURBS ARE SURGING … JOEL KOTKIN … NEW GEOGRAPHY

http://www.newgeography.com/content/005815-the-urban-revival-is-urban-myth-and-suburbs-are-surging

The past decade has seen a gusher of books arguing for and detailing the supposed ascendency of dense urban cores, like the inimitable Edward Glaeser’s influential Triumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier, and Happier, and about the ‘burbs as the slums of the future, abandoned by businesses and young people, like Leigh Gallagher’s The Death of Suburbia: Where the American Dream Is Moving.

But as we show in Infinite Suburbia, the new book we co-edited, the vast majority of American economic and demographic growth continues to take place there.

Let’s start with people. … read more via hyperlink above …
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December 5, 2017 8:24am
- Classic Liberal
  
  Why so many downticks? This seems like a valid discussion: urban revival is not what the average Kiwi, let alone family, wants. Having lived in big European cities, there is a reason they have demographic problems: many are not great places to bring up children.
  
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  December 5, 2017 9:07am
  - Hugh Pavletich
    
    Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
    Posted at … https://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2017/12/nz-housing-minster-lays-reform-masterpiece/#comment-3010817
    
    There is extensive background material at my recently revamped and updated archival website … PERFORMANCE URBAN PLANNING http://www.PerformanceUrbanPlanning.org …
    
    Read and view in particular the Ardern / Twyford section near the top.
    
    There is a very very long history to this issue in New Zealand.
    
    Realistically … I am extremely heartened with the evolutionary and inclusive progress made … and am confident this new Labour – led government will get sound and workable solutions in place.
    
    Historically … Labour has been the political party of reform in New Zealand.
    
    In having said that, we owe Bill English, former National Prime Minister and Finance Minister and former Reserve Bank Governor Graeme Wheeler, enormous gratitude for their skills and commitment to these issues.
    
    Both are men of tremendous character and integrity.
    
    English and Wheeler bought the whole machinery of government on board with these issues.
    
    Labours Phil Twyford is just the guy to lead the ‘implementation phase’.
    
    I have enormous admiration for English, Wheeler and Twyford. They make me proud to call myself a New Zealander.
    
    New Zealand is the global leader on the path of restoring housing affordability … as I explained to one of New Zealand’s leading journalists, Heather du Plessis Allan, on radio mid last year …
    
    Talking housing affordability across the globe with Hugh Pavletich
    
    http://www.radiolive.co.nz/Talking-housing-affordability-across-the-globe-with-Hugh-Pavletich/tabid/506/articleID/122978/Default.aspx
    
    I ‘walked through’ the issue around the same time within this article …
    
    Restoring affordable housing: An advocates tale … by Hugh Pavletich
    
    http://www.performanceurbanplanning.org/definition-of-affordable-housing.html
    
    As I made clear within the early part of the above article, restoring affordable housing is a ‘nonsense issue’ … in the sense that the solutions are so blindingly obvious !
    
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    December 5, 2017 9:48am
    - realityczech
      
      Hugh can we have a few more links to read in support of your informative comments ?
      
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      December 5, 2017 10:00am
    - 4077th
      
      Twyford is a twat of the first order. He has NEVER had a real job let alone transport, urban planning or any type of real world experience. A couple of years as a journo does not make one an expert in life. He is however, a well healed purveyor of dog whistle politics for his own personal gain.
      
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      December 5, 2017 12:17pm
      - Morrissey
        
        If you reckon Phil Twyford has “NEVER had a real job”, then I’d be interested to see your take on one John Key, a money market gambler who made a small fortune betting against our dollar.
        
        And as for that idiot son of his…
        
        http://www.reactiongifs.com/r/y3PWaHz.gif
        
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        December 5, 2017 4:11pm
  - softail 1450
    
    CL , because it batshit boring drivvle ….
    
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    December 5, 2017 9:53am
  - tom hunter
    
    Why so many downticks?
    
    Amazing how many times this has to be asked.
    
    I agree with the arguments expressed in that piece by Pavletich. I’ve made them before on this forum, as have others. The whole urban vs. suburban bun fight is filled with myths and bullshit.
    
    But I still downticked Hugh. Why?
    
    To try and get through his incredibly thick fucking skull that being a bellowing, single-issue crank who constantly uses DPF to link-whore to himself – is not acceptable blog commenting behaviour.
    
    Having said that it’s obvious he’s never going to learn. He’ll continue to be an obnoxious, cloth-eared prick here, so the least I can do is contribute to reducing him to one line: Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
    
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    December 5, 2017 10:21am
    - Classic Liberal
      
      Well agreed, he does go on rather. But it is an interesting topic.
      
      9 3
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      December 5, 2017 10:35am
      - Hugh Pavletich
        
        Classic Liberal … thank you.
        
        ‘Housing’ is what cost the Kiwi Tories the last election … which as a Tory myself … saddens me.
        
        Check out the GONE GONE GOING section at http://www.PerformanceUrbanPlanning.org .
        
        The Tories here have handed these issues and government to Lavour on a plate.
        
        The former Deputy Editor of the UK Telegraph Allister Heath, constantly gives the UK Tories hell for the way they handle these issues … this from a couple of years ago …
        
        The real ticking time bomb for the Tories is home ownership … Allister Heath … UK Telegraph
        
        http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/property/11917816/The-real-ticking-time-bomb-for-the-Tories-is-home-ownership.html
        
        Note in particular this article extract …
        
        … Remarkably, 354,700 new homes were built in France last year, compared with 140,880 across the UK, a pathetically inadequate number barely half of that required. The French were actually bitterly disappointed with their own performance: their recent average has been around 400,000 homes a year. … read more via hyperlink above …
        
        Regrettably … most National Party members are completely clueless about classical liberalism … so the Kiwibloggers get the occasional reminded from me to view this important Johan Norberg doco about Adam Smith …
        
        The Real Adam Smith: Ideas That Changed The World – Full Video
        
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ruiUOQERnw
        
        It is very unfortunate indeed the Kiwibloggers have failed to think through the medium / long term consequences of handing these issues (and the government with it) to the Left on a plate.
        
        The National Party needs to take a very hard look at itself.
        
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        December 5, 2017 11:07am
      - Hugh Pavletich
        
        Sales are well down at Barfoot & Thompson but new listings are well up, suggesting there will be stockpile of unsold properties after the Christmas break | interest.co.nz
        
        https://www.interest.co.nz/property/91222/sales-are-well-down-barfoot-thompson-new-listings-are-well-suggesting-there-will-be
        
        The outlook for Auckland’s residential property market over summer is not looking good, with Barfoot & Thompson’s sales hitting their lowest point for the month of November since 2010. … read more via hyperlink above
        .
        .
        New building work worth $5.51 billion in the third quarter of this year – Statistics NZ | interest.co.nz
        
        https://www.interest.co.nz/property/91228/new-building-work-worth-551-billion-third-quarter-year-statistics-nz
        
        The total value of new buildng work commenced hit $5.51 billion in the third quarter of this year, up 6.4% compared to the same period of last year, according to Statistics NZ’s Survey of Building Work Put in Place.
        
        The biggest increase was in new residential building work, which was worth $3.606 billion in the third quarter of this year, compared to $3.357 billion in the second quarter of this year and $3.286 billion in the third quarter of last year.
        
        Non-residential building work was worth $1.904 billion in the third quarter of this year compared to $1.8 billion in the second quarter of this year and $1.893 in the third quarter of last year. … read more via hyperlink above …
        
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        December 5, 2017 12:19pm
      - Hugh Pavletich
        
        Build, build, build: Why housing supply matters | The Spinoff
        
        https://thespinoff.co.nz/auckland/05-12-2017/build-build-build-why-housing-supply-matters/
        
        Yes, Auckland does need more houses. Urban planner Joe Jeffries explains why.
        
        A recent article in The Spinoff made the extraordinary claim that increasing housing supply cannot improve affordability and seemed to suggest it could make things worse. That article relied on a strawman version of Economics 101 supply and demand, claiming that model doesn’t take into account the role of cheap credit and the financialisation of housing. … read morevia hyperlink above …
        
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        December 5, 2017 1:20pm
      - Hugh Pavletich
        
        Comment by LSWCHP on MacroBusiness Australia article thread …
        
        NZ housing minster lays out reform masterpiece … Leith van Onselen … MacroBusiness Australia
        
        https://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2017/12/nz-housing-minster-lays-reform-masterpiece/
        
        LSWCHP
        
        December 5, 2017 at 10:14 am
        
        Can we arrange for the Kiwi’s to invade us, or annex us, or perform a soft-power takeover or something? Anything to get sensible ideas like these implemented here, and also to swing some of our politicians on lampposts.
        
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        December 5, 2017 1:40pm
      - Hugh Pavletich
        
        Special Report: Hidden peril awaits China’s banks as property binge fuels mortgage fraud frenzy … Reuters
        
        https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-risk-mortgages-specialreport/special-report-hidden-peril-awaits-chinas-banks-as-property-binge-fuels-mortgage-fraud-frenzy-idUSKBN1DY1AS
        
        SHANGHAI/HONG KONG/BEIJING (Reuters) – When Zhu Chenxia bought a flat early last year from Lei Yarong in the up-market Nanshan district of China’s southern metropolis of Shenzhen, the two women drew up three purchase agreements to cover the deal.
        
        Only one was genuine.
        
        In the legitimate contract, Zhu agreed to pay Lei 6.49 million yuan (about $980,000) for the 96-square-meter apartment near the city’s border with Hong Kong, according to records filed in a Shenzhen court. With the help of her property agent, Zhu cooked up a second contract with Lei that overstated the value of the flat at 7 million yuan. This one was for the bank. … read more via hyperlink above …
        .
        .
        Chinese mortgage fraud touted too large for authorities to clamp down on; Bitcoin now bigger than New Zealand; Government to urgently establish committee to fix health system; UST 10yr yield at 2.39%; oil and gold down; NZ$1 = 68.5 US¢, TWI-5 = 71.3 | interes
        
        https://www.interest.co.nz/news/91218/chinese-mortgage-fraud-touted-too-large-authorities-clamp-down-bitcoin-now-bigger-new
        .
        .
        Mortgage fraud is widespread in China … forexlive com
        
        http://www.forexlive.com/news/!/mortgage-fraud-is-widespread-in-china-20171204
        
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        December 5, 2017 4:35pm
Keeping Stock

Bryce Edwards, as leftie as they come, finds Golriz Ghahraman not guilty of the “crime” of acting for a perpetrator of genocide.

But on his second charge, misrepresentation, here’s what he has to say:

Allegation #2: Golriz Ghahraman and the Greens misrepresented her human rights activities

Verdict on allegation #2: Guilty. There seems to be no doubt that the Greens and Ghahraman have been attempting to downplay the more uncomfortable and unpalatable side of her legal background. But the seriousness of this “crime” is disputed by many. Certainly, Ghahraman and the Greens have now paid a high price for story which has taken an extraordinarily long time to die down.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11952997

If Ghahraman had been frank and honest in the first place, none of this would have happened. She and her party however CHOSE to sanitise her CV to create the impression that she had extensive international experience in holding genocidal maniacs to account. The consequences of that deception are now coming home to roost.

The Greens make huge claims about being the only principled party in Parliament. In truth, they have feet of clay, just like everyone else. I won’t hold my breath waiting for an apology from Ghahraman, but right at the start of her political career, she has made a rod for her own back.
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December 5, 2017 8:28am
- alex Masterley
  
  I don’t think many had an issue with Ms Ghahraman volunteering on the defence of those charged with genocide. I certainly didn’t.
  What annoyed most people was the deliberate coverup of what she had done to emphasise her human rights defending credentials.
  
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  December 5, 2017 8:39am
  - Swifty
    
    All to make her and them appear holier than thou….
    
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    December 5, 2017 8:44am
  - Keeping Stock
    
    Quite so Alex. Whaleoil has a post this morning with a tweet from Ghahraman dated August 2017 where she says “I cut my teeth prosecuting governments for hate crimes…”
    
    https://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2017/12/another-fantastical-claim-golriz-ghahraman/#more-349966
    
    I’d suggest that, rather than having cut her teeth, she is lying through them…
    
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    December 5, 2017 8:46am
    - alex Masterley
      
      That statement in itself is massaging the truth in my humble opinion.
      All these utterances do call into question her fitness for practice, again, in my humble opinion.
      
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      December 5, 2017 9:16am
    - Swifty
      
      If you ask me, someone who appears to be constantly, and publically, trumpeting themselves has an inferiority complex – and is overcompensating.
      
      Who the hell tweets things like that?
      
      What a blowhard.
      
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      December 5, 2017 9:49am
  - MCos
    
    Phil Quin, who started the furor, most certainly had an issue with her defending a man who was subsequently convicted of inciting genocide.
    
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    December 5, 2017 12:10pm
- RF
  
  At every opportunity we must remind anyone and everyone of just how Crooked and self serving the Greens are.
  
  Interesting that the eunuch Shaw has gone into hiding.
  
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  December 5, 2017 8:44am
  - MrLovebucket
    
    Anything to get votes really. Some even think the Greens actually care about the environment. It’s all just a front to get votes.
    
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    December 5, 2017 10:42am
- Classic Liberal
  
  “Ghahraman and the Greens have now paid a high price ”
  
  What a joke. What high price? A medium price would be her resignation. A high price would be her and Shaw’s resignation for having published that information on the website.
  
  They’re barely paying any price.
  
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  December 5, 2017 9:11am
- realityczech
  
  The issue is Golriz Ghahraman misrepresenting herself. Clearly she thought it was not a good look and sought to reinvent herself for political gain.
  
  This speaks volumes about her level of integrity and the the integrity of the Greens. The Greens lie and misrepresent pretty much every issue of importance to them. This is just one of many examples.
  
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  December 5, 2017 9:39am
  - howitis
    
    There is a double-fail count on Cuck Shaw now.
    
    He supported MeTu with her outright lie that she HAD to LIE or the baby would DIE.
    This was proven with a minimal amount of effort to be a serious economy of the truth. So economic that there was no truth present.
    Now Cuck Shaw is supporting the refugee who gone done good in the Hague!
    
    The Greens are at cross roads. Largely it was an environmental party 20 years ago. Since it was a bunch of mealy-mouth, hemp wearing, mung bean chomping vegetarians weak from protein deficiency it was pretty easy for the Commies and Anarchists (MeTu) to march in and take it over.
    The choice of the next she-devil co-boss is critical.
    If it goes to Davidson it is hard core anarchy out to the horizon.
    If it is Genter there can be some chance for a hue of green but she will be outnumbered by the soap-unaware man- haters and will be neutralised like Cuck Shaw.
    MeTu was their rep at the top table and was able to chow down on a fighter like Sue Bradford and spit her out of Parliament. They are a scary lot.
    
    Either way I don’t care too much. At least there is a repository for extreme left votes to be encapsulated even if it wastes away below 5% next election.
    
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    December 5, 2017 2:37pm
- Rachael Membery
  
  Isn’t it great that Golriz wasn’t trying to hide her involvement in the defence cases, she will get offered a lot more of those cases when/if her time in Parliament ends, as it is now a well known fact.
  
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  December 5, 2017 12:56pm
Scott

If you are looking for a knowledgeable and unbiased account of the special prosecutor investigation of Trump and Russia collusion then look here –
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/454311/mueller-strategy-obstruction-justice-investigation-leading-impeachment

Bottom line-the pleading of Michael Flynn on lying charges shows that Robert Mueller has no case regarding Trump and Russia collusion.
However Mueller, like all special counsels everywhere, is trying to find a crime, any crime to get Trump impeached.

Two things-the special counsel is a bad law and should be gotten rid of.
Secondly Trump is being punished by liberals for winning the election and dismantling the Obama administration agenda.
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December 5, 2017 8:30am
- MCos
  
  The National Review is not unbiased.
  In my experience it’s almost impossible to find anything unbiased on issues such as this.
  
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  December 5, 2017 12:15pm
  - Scott
    
    True, they tend to be against trump more than anything. But look the facts are the facts. After 18 months of extensive investigation there is still no evidence of actual collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.
    Mueller is looking for a crime, any crime, to prosecute Trump.
    
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    December 5, 2017 12:39pm
    - MCos
      
      The investigation started on 17-May. That’s coming up to seven months not eighteen.
      
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      December 5, 2017 1:57pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Traditional Virtues School closes
“Whatever your husband asks, your reply should be: ‘Yes. Right away'”

I can see where my education took the wrong path.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-42218618
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December 5, 2017 8:36am
- holysheet
  
  She who must be obeyed must have gone to the wrong school then Maggy. Alas, there is none of that shit in our household.
  
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  December 5, 2017 8:47am
- Right of way is Way of Right
  
  If my wife was to respond to a request in such a manner, I would hesitate to eat or drink anything she gives me!!
  
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  December 5, 2017 9:05am
- Kiwi Dave
  
  Maggie, on a related topic, here’s some good advice from the Internet to ladies desirous of domestic harmony.
  
  When your man says he will do something, he will do it. There’s no need to remind him every six months.
  
  29 0
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  December 5, 2017 9:10am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    Our eldest daughter, 30+ years, is still awaiting her tree house and swing.
    
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    December 5, 2017 11:32am
Rodney Randall

https://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2017/12/another-fantastical-claim-golriz-ghahraman/#more-349966

“Thank you! I cut my teeth prosecuting governments for hate crimes so twitter bile is water off a duck’s back” – Golriz Ghahraman.

Allahu Ackbar!
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December 5, 2017 8:42am
Captain Mainwaring

This seems to be yet another brilliant idea for tourism in NZ. Except the promoter has forgotten one small point – there is no railway line to Queenstown.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/99500533/luxury-train-to-travel-the-length-of-new-zealand–unpacking-just-once
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December 5, 2017 8:58am
- waikatogirl
  
  No railway line to QT you say Captain. The Minister of Regional Development has a cool $1b burning a hole in his back pocket so will soon have that sorted under his work for the dole scheme. Picks and shovels, manhandling railway sleepers and rails into place will soon solve regional unemployment and spend taxpayers money toot sweet. ? ?
  
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  December 5, 2017 9:07am
  - RalphT
    
    Railway sleepers? Oh no, that will mean even more trees we have to plant.
    
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    December 5, 2017 10:24am
  - Paulus
    
    Regional Development can only take place in Northland with a home for Maori only.
    What the hell did you think it meant ?
    Other people !
    
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    December 5, 2017 11:04am
- VicParking
  
  There is a rail line to queenstown.
  http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/94005296/50-000-funding-to-consider-return-of-Christchurch-Invercargill-passenger-train-service
  It just needs trains to travel on it.
  
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  December 5, 2017 9:40am
  - Captain Mainwaring
    
    Did you flunk 3rd form geography Vic? Invercargill is not Queenstown, they are 187 kilomtres apart.
    Yes there used to be a railway line to Kingston, at the southern end of Lake Wakatipu, but most of it was dug up many years ago.
    
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    December 5, 2017 9:57am
Morrissey

Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
GROPERS
No. 16: Sir Richard Branson

This just in….

“His behaviour was disgusting. I feel like it was sexual assault,” she said. “We were by the bar and he was saying bye to everyone. He came up to me and put his face in my breasts. He went ‘brrrrrr’ and just walked away. It was surreal, totally out of the blue. Joss and I were like, ‘What the hell was that?!’ Everyone was wondering why I wasn’t angry because I’m usually a firebrand. But I was just too shocked.”
http://www.vulture.com/2017/11/richard-branson-accused-of-sexual-assault-by-motorboating.html

Evidently this rich prick has been getting away with assaulting young women for generations now….

In the 1990s, two Virgin employees accused Branson of sexual harassment. PR boss Elizabeth Hlinko claimed in 1996 that he groped her breasts at a party at his country home two years earlier, after he sprayed champagne over her. It was thrown out.

Two years later Lorna Brissett-Romans alleged that Branson “grabbed her buttocks” at a party in a Palm Beach club. That claim was also dismissed.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/4714165/jenson-button-richard-branson-virgin-boss-model-jessica-michibata-girlfriend-face/

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

“GROPERS” is presented by GroperWatch, a division of Daisycutter Sports Inc.

No.1 George Herbert Walker Bush; No. 2 Bill O’Reilly; No. 3 Al Franken; No. 4 Robin Brooke; No. 5 Lester Beck; No. 6 Arnold Schwarzenegger; No. 7 Joe Biden; No. 8 Rolf Harris; No. 9 Harold Bloom; No. 10 Sir Jimmy Savile; No. 11 Dr Morgan Fahey; No.12 Prince Harry; No. 13 Bill Clinton; No.14 Judge Roy Moore; No.15 Matt Lauer
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December 5, 2017 9:00am
- Morrissey
  
  Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
  As of 9:06 a.m., three supporters of Sir Richard Grabsem have registered with us. Shame on you, you ratbags.
  
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  December 5, 2017 9:05am
- realityczech
  
  Morris Dancer, those money grubbing whores are a disgrace and an insult to women who have suffered real sexual assaults.
  
  They should be tossed into the high security wing of a prison as meat for the inmates.
  
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  December 5, 2017 9:10am
  - Morrissey
    
    Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
    Idiot.
    
    4 36
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    December 5, 2017 9:12am
    - Captain Mainwaring
      
      Yes you certainly are.
      
      25 1
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      December 5, 2017 9:24am
      - Morrissey
        
        Once again, ya got me, Cap’n!
        
        http://mymemes.biz/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/you-re-awesome-meme-59d991896f080.jpg
        
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        December 5, 2017 9:40am
    - realityczech
      
      Morris Dancer, my sympathy is with real victims not attention seeking whores who put out to further their career then demanded $$$$ at some later date.
      
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      December 5, 2017 9:31am
  - Dave Mann
    
    those money grubbing whores are a disgrace and an insult to women who have suffered real sexual assaults.
    Agree
    
    They should be tossed into the high security wing of a prison as meat for the inmates.
    Disagree. Thats totally OTT. But they should be challenged at every opportunity and shown up for the money grubbing attention seekers that they obviously are.
    
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    December 5, 2017 9:26am
    - realityczech
      
      Yeah there probably is some middle ground 🙂
      
      8 1
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      December 5, 2017 9:34am
      - Morrissey
        
        Blessed relief! He was joking. Good on you, realityczech. This writer, i.e., moi, needs to take a chill pill, perhaps.
        
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        December 5, 2017 9:44am
      - realityczech
        
        Morris Dancer, What is more alarming is innocent men are thrown into prison. How do you feel about that ?
        
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        December 5, 2017 9:50am
- Brito
  
  Ok, on the one hand you’re making a point.
  
  One the other hand, your post outlines that the complaints were thrown out.
  
  So…he’s not guilty by your own admission…or have I mis-read your facts? Therefore, he’s innocent and these tarts need to be charged for telling porkies.
  
  Is that what you meant?
  
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  December 5, 2017 10:15am
Manolo

Obama’s anti-American administration:
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/byron-york-in-trump-russia-probe-was-it-all-about-the-logan-act/article/2642434
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December 5, 2017 9:07am
Yvette

The 38 page document that is 33 pages long.

What Ardern was trying to say was that the coalition agreement was not a full and final settlement – but could be added to. There was, it seemed, a long wish list by NZ First which Labour had not unequivocally said “no” to.

Ardern also said that when something from that document “sees the light of day” we will certainly reference it so people will be certain it is from that document, thereby giving it substantial authority for an unofficial document.

Is this another quirk of MMP? – that a coalition can actually start governing while still negotiating a final agreement?

Ardern said the document Peters had put so much store on as setting a strong foundation for the coalition was mere “notes” rather than official information.

So she contradicts the importance just given above to her “living agreement document”, but whether mere notes or not, thanks to Winston’s further information, the document is in substantial enough form that it can be reformatted by changing its font, so is not just various handwritten jottings as Ardern would imply.
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December 5, 2017 9:07am
- waikatogirl
  
  Why would the font be made smaller to reduce the number of pages? I realise Winston, even at his stage of life, miraculously doesn’t need to wear reading glasses, and can walk on water, but I am assuming making the font smaller would hinder even Winnie from reading the hidden 33 page document. ?
  
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  December 5, 2017 9:16am
  - Yvette
    
    When asked to produce “the 38 page document”, it was possible to technically “honestly” say I do not have such an official document – ie: it is now 33 pages, but that is definitely not how you identified it.
    
    But since Peters initially said it would be released, but not by him, I guess in indicating it is now varying in length, Winston is for whatever reason of his own, supporting the Opposition’s quest to obtain it.
    
    And if it is a valid coalition Labour / New Zealand First document, one would think it legitimate for Winston to release it, so there is likely some kamikaze reason why he insists it is Jacinda’s call.
    
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    December 5, 2017 10:20am
  - Paulus
    
    Surely the other 5 pages have been buried somewhere in Heather’s Office.
    What is Peters doing about this fiasco ?
    Waiting for the shit to hit the fan as usual.
    
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    December 5, 2017 11:07am
  - G152
    
    They started with Comic Sans 100 point
    
    5 0
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    December 5, 2017 11:14am
- flipper
  
  Size ??? Peters says “change of font”.
  I suppose that could right…. like changing 13pt for 10pt.
  But that would have been post Peters disclosure.
  Given his (Peters’) proclivities for passing off deliberate lies, how do we now know that the document was not altered by Ardern/Simpson or someone else … like Peters ????
  
  As for the rest….. There is a smell of burned Iranian wench in the air , is there not ????
  
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  December 5, 2017 9:38am
  - marcw
    
    If you change the font to a smaller size, then you would as you say have a document with fewer pages. However, if you have a document printed in Comic Sans, as this “living agreement” should be, then no matter what size font is used, it is still a f#*king sick CoL joke.
    
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    December 5, 2017 10:03am
- Rich Prick
  
  I’ve never heard such bullshit. You nail down every last part of a negotiation and that’s it. A “living” agreement is open to abuse. What the hell have Labour signed us (well, we’re paying) up to?
  
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  December 5, 2017 9:38am
  - alex Masterley
    
    There is the strong smell of bullshit about this “document”.
    
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    December 5, 2017 9:43am
    - Keeping Stock
      
      Quite so, and kudos to Ombudsman Peter Boshier for putting the acid on Jacinda Ardern and Winston Peters.
      
      Publishing the “secret” document is the only way we are going to know what concessions Ardern made to Peters. That may be politically unpalatable to her, but she promised a new era of transparency, and it seems the A-G is going to hold her to that promise.
      
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      December 5, 2017 10:53am
      - waikatogirl
        
        Winston knew releasing the 38 page addendum would be explosive but wasn’t ever going to happen. So how to let the public and msm know of it’s existence??? Winnie carelessly announcing the release of the addendum was a set-up and Cindy walked right into his trap. He is just playing out his fishing line, giving it a little tug occasionally to make sure “the catch” is still on the line. Changing the size of the font, and therefore it being 33 pages instead of the 38 is typical Winston obfuscation. Muddying the waters is his signature move.
        
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        December 5, 2017 12:13pm
- Rachael Membery
  
  The new Treaty?
  
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  December 5, 2017 9:41am
Victor Omega

Rachel Dolezal pretends to be African American and Elizabeth Warren pretends to be Native American, both to further their careers. Why…? Because white privilege doesn’t exist.
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December 5, 2017 9:09am
- Morrissey
  
  Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
  I nominate Victor Omega’s comment just above as the stupidest and most swinishly ignorant contribution to this blog in 2017.
  
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  December 5, 2017 9:12am
  - Jack5
    
    Nope, Morrissey, you trump Victor Omega.
    
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    December 5, 2017 9:30am
    - Morrissey
      
      Come on Jack, you know THAT’s not true!
      
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      December 5, 2017 9:41am
  - Longknives
    
    There is no such thing as ‘White Privilege’ Morrissey.
    The notion that White people all lead wonderful lives, have everything handed to them on a plate,and everyone else is downtrodden is fantastical at best..
    
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    December 5, 2017 9:55am
  - Swifty
    
    Why do you hate yourself so much yank?
    
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    December 5, 2017 10:22am
  - Ed Snack
    
    Disagree, there’s certainly a joke or a wry comment in there somewhere, even if VO hasn’t nailed it.
    
    I mean, why would you claim that “high cheekbones” make you a Cherokee and thus more deserving of a place at Harvard if “white privilege” exists ? If it exists as claimed, then she should have been able to gain a place MORE easily by claiming NOT to be a native American ? Of course she could have claimed to be part Chinese or Japanese, but that of course would make it LESS likely that she would be appointed at Harvard. Such is the way of lefty racism.
    
    Warren’s just another utter hypocritical leftie who plagiarized her dissertation and then weaseled her way into a prestigious institution on the basis of fake information. And remains unrepentant about it to this day.
    
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    December 5, 2017 11:41am
- Disillusioned_Voter
  
  VO, You forgot Mattress Girl
  
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  December 5, 2017 9:37am
Jack5

Young Auckland thugs who rob Indian dairies better think twice. They might end up being a dairy slave.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/99530117/immigrants-like-slaves-under-broken-system
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December 5, 2017 9:39am
- Inandout
  
  I think Flees-Galloway represents Palmerston North, one of the worst areas (as percentage of population) in NZ for dairy robberies.
  
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  December 5, 2017 10:19am
Longknives

Now I don’t watch much ‘Old School’ TV myself but I am told some Prime Time TV shows are predominantly Maori Language these days.
And there was a Guy on the Radio (might have been that Tamati Coffey idiot?) recently saying that within ten years he hopes most of TVNZ’s content will be in Maori language.
How selfish and bloody arrogant- I know of many retired and elderly relatives who can’t afford Internet or Netflix etc and spend their evenings watching TVNZ.
What becomes of them? Are they expected to go to Night School in their 80s/90s and learn a new language? Just so they can watch the evening news??
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December 5, 2017 9:51am
- Jack5
  
  Longknives, don’t fret. The internet and new services such as Netflix have put broadcast TV on the slippery slope towards obsolescence.
  
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  December 5, 2017 10:07am
- Ed Snack
  
  Longknives, he’s probably right, in 10 years all TVNZ programs will be in Maori, and they will be watched by an average audience of 10 people per night while everyone else is on Netflix or other similar channels.
  
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  December 5, 2017 11:43am
- Peter
  
  What is broadcast TV?
  
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  December 5, 2017 12:07pm
Swifty

I’ve long thought there could be a market for this; good luck to these folk – I hope it comes off.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11953285

Better keep the unions away though….
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December 5, 2017 9:58am
Stars And Stripes

Dozens of locals turned out last night to protest Kiwibank’s decision to close its services at an Auckland post shop after three armed robberies.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/345447/kiwibank-closure-i-feel-as-if-i-ve-been-issued-a-death-sentence
“Bhaskar Desai has been robbed at gunpoint three times at the Owairaka Post Shop in Mount Roskill, which he has owned for 12 years.
In a statement provided to RNZ Kiwibank said its decision to stop banking in post shops in Mount Roskill, Otara and Rotorua is final”.

Good old Mt Roskill and all its miserable savages in the news again this time complaining that they won’t have a Kiwibank to steal from anymore.
The diversity dividend in all its glory on display.
I still reckon my original idea of contracting a recognised world authority such as the Burmese Army to give some guidance on gentrification in the area could be extremely successful.
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December 5, 2017 10:22am
- Harkman
  
  Really Kiwibank is a miserable failure. It has no rental costs, had millions pumped into it and still it is not really profitable. As for good & honest, about a year ago I noticed they changed my account and when it drifted under $4k they started to charge $10-15 per month without telling me. Who charges $120-180 a year for a savings account? You guessed it, a bank run by Michael Cullen.
  
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  December 5, 2017 10:46am
  - Paulus
    
    Note that the Post Office/Kiwi Bank subsidiary, ex head got Knighted for doing his job there, and is now off to the new Health Department Advisory Board.
    
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    December 5, 2017 11:11am
    - waikatogirl
      
      At least Mrs Cullen will be pleased “Call me Sir” Michael has found a new board to be appointed to so he is out from under her feet. ?
      
      Can you imagine having to listen to his work stories in that boring monotone of his! ?
      
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      December 5, 2017 12:52pm
      - lifesgood
        
        Boring monotone, yes, but you left out “nasal and whining”
        
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        December 5, 2017 1:55pm
  - KevOB
    
    Welcome to negative interest rates.
    
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    December 5, 2017 11:26am
- GoVege
  
  Interesting….
  The dude has been robbed three times at gunpoint….yet he considers closing his shop = a “death sentence”.
  Now THAT’S what you call a work ethic.
  Pity we can’t bottle it and feed it to the nat…. general population.
  
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  December 5, 2017 11:41am
Swifty

Steady on there old chap.

Ol’ Bhaskar has given me excellent service over the last ten years I’ve been using him. I will be sorry to see him go.

The word is that his assailants have travelled up from the bowels of South Auckland to do their ag robs. We have a better class of people around these parts! 🙂
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December 5, 2017 10:32am
- Stars And Stripes
  
  Do you happen to know Stephieboy by chance as he was a big flag waver on this blog for Mt Roskill a while back?.
  He disappeared all of a sudden however which could be tied possibly to a prison sentence over his activities at St Lukes or maybe he finally found a job teaching Pidgin English and spelling at Mt Roskill Grammar School.
  
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  December 5, 2017 10:44am
  - Swifty
    
    Anything is possible with that unfortunate fellow.
    
    I’d say it would be a lag – given the porn linking and gazing at young lasses in St Lukes. He clearly had problems.
    
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    December 5, 2017 11:32am
  - GoVege
    
    Very naughty, Stripes.
    An uptick for sheer cheekiness. 🙂
    
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    December 5, 2017 11:33am
- waikatogirl
  
  The same sub-group travel down to Hamilton to do their ag robs. They must think the cops can’t figure out who dun it if they don’t live in the local area. One dairy owner lost an eye from the beating he received.
  
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  December 5, 2017 12:55pm
krazykiwi

FFS – UK police say kissing under the mistletoe without consent is ‘rape’
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December 5, 2017 10:55am
rangitoto

Trump wins again:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/12/04/supreme-court-permits-full-enforcement-trump-travel-ban.html
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December 5, 2017 11:19am
Maggy Wassilieff

For those wishing to rort the system – you could do no better than study these masters
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-42224937

How can it cost $22 M to bury someone?
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December 5, 2017 11:56am
- cmm
  
  ” Mr Mandela spent 27 years in prison after being charged with trying to overthrow the apartheid government ”
  
  Err, no, he was charged with terrorism.
  
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rivonia_Trial#Charges
  
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  December 5, 2017 12:09pm
  - realityczech
    
    Mandela was not trying to free blacks from apartheid , he was trying to enslave them under communism.
    
    His black political opponents were dealt with by placing burning tyres around their necks and other forms of torture. He was a violent and brutal man who targeted civilians.
    
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    December 5, 2017 1:23pm
    - GoVege
      
      I’m sure the burning tyres and ripping off the lips with pliers would have been Winnie’s idea, RC, or at least condoned by her.
      
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      December 5, 2017 1:31pm
  - GoVege
    
    Which is why Amnesty International wouldn’t support him….because he promoted violence.
    Apparently I think he also beat up his wife before he left her with 4 kids for that Winnie character, who treated him badly (like a lot of women who lure men away from their families.)
    But he mellowed with age into a wonderful leader. 🙂
    
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    December 5, 2017 1:28pm
    - realityczech
      
      He was a disgusting animal who should have been euthanised with a length of rope. When he came into power the country turned into the murder, rape and robbery capital of the world. The slaughter of whites was as horrendous as it was unreported.
      
      Hitler would have mellowed too if he was given what he wanted.
      
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      December 5, 2017 1:34pm
      - GoVege
        
        I think South Africa would have turned out worse without Mandela’s influence.
        We’re not talking about Mugabe here.
        
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        December 5, 2017 9:58pm
      - realityczech
        
        Might pay to do some research Vege. It is in serious trouble.
        
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        December 5, 2017 10:02pm
cmm

Anyone up for another Jacinda rumor?

Nope, she says, she is not engaged. She just moved her ring due to eczema.

Apparently eczema can be associated with pregnancy.

“Nearly 80 percent of those with pregnancy eczema experienced eczema for the first time while pregnant.”

https://www.everydayhealth.com/eczema/pregnancy-eczema.aspx

If so, she should get an uptick in the Wommins Weakly voting bloc.
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December 5, 2017 11:56am
- realityczech
  
  Imagine that vacuous commie bimbo, with wildly fluctuating hormone levels, in the debating chamber and running the country ! 🙂
  
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  December 5, 2017 12:58pm
  - Rachael Membery
    
    Would keep ’em on their toes I reckon. ;0
    
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    December 5, 2017 1:39pm
  - starboard
    
    Cindys under huge pressure on question time..but its ok..lame duck mallard is to the rescue. Way way out of her depth.
    
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    December 5, 2017 2:24pm
tom hunter

Here you go, courtesy of some outfit called “World Socialist Movement”, but from a US blog….Real Socialism graphic.

And guess what? “Real Socialism” really never has been tried! Yes, the old punchline turns out to be an actual belief of some people. You can see that Venezuela is Left-Wing Capitalism – (a similar claim to that if Ken “Red” Livingston and others in Britain).
North Korea is (drum-roll), State Capitalism.

One question that should be asked is why “True” Socialists still think they can get to that last utopia via the Venezuela/North Korea approach of going through the state. Why are they are continually surprised when the Revolution stops at that point? The point where the State and its little clique of expert controllers simply get to work gouging, stealing, torturing and murdering, often starting with the True Believers.

Why do they never learn from experience, which – far beyond credentials, education or IQ – is the true measure of whether a person is smart or stupid.

Why are they so fucking stupid?
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December 5, 2017 12:14pm
- Peter
  
  They tend to be religious zealots.
  
  They are not interested in evidence, only utopian fantasies. They also tend to be naive, especially those in academia.
  
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  December 5, 2017 12:16pm
- realityczech
  
  “Why are they so fucking stupid?”
  
  Your mistake is assuming they have good intentions for their fellow man and are simply stupid.
  
  The reality is those people seek only one thing; Total power and control over others. All people who crave that level of control are evil to their core. The socialist ideal is only used to lure people in. They don’t care that it wont work because by the time people wake up it will be too late and they will have control of the armed forces and use that to crush dissent.
  
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  December 5, 2017 12:54pm
- BrasellBrush
  
  Well that Graphic made me laugh, pure fiction.
  
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  December 5, 2017 1:55pm
Digmen1

Socialists is a badly used term.
Do you mean the Russian Soviet Socialist Republics
Venezuelan Style
Scandinavian/European style
NZ Labour party ?
Or North Korean

All different styles.
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December 5, 2017 1:19pm
RF

It appears that the commie chic has taken a page out of Frau Clarks book where at the last minute in 1975 she bribed students with interest free loans.

Our tooth fairy is now giving away free tuition for students in the first year.

I hope her finance minster has a good supply of ink for his printing press as he will be working overtime churning out the money he requires for this.
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December 5, 2017 2:36pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Might be some crowded lecture rooms and “overworked” tutors having to cope with a few more eager students.
  Where will all these 1st year students be housed?
  I thought most Uni accommodation was already chocka.
  
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  December 5, 2017 2:43pm
  - cmm
    
    No, you have it all wrong.
    
    The new scheme appeals most to those who go to uni for a year to party their arses off.
    
    They don’t go to lectures or do assignments, so no more work for the lecturers and tutors.
    
    However there’s now more funding sloshing around in the universities so more toys and trough for the staff.
    
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    December 5, 2017 4:14pm
- RalphT
  
  “…where at the last minute in 1975…”
  I think you mean 2005. In 1975 there were no loans (and bugger all in the way of fees) so there was nothing to bribe the students with.
  
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  December 5, 2017 3:47pm
cmm

Sickening double standards

http://spy.nzherald.co.nz/spy-news/hilary-barry-flaunts-birthday-penis-cake/

So she talks about penis cakes and spanking men with a riding crop and it’s all laughs.

If a male presenter talked about a vagina cake or spanking bums he’d be fired.

Sure, it’s a bit of fun, but only if it works for everyone.
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December 5, 2017 3:50pm
- sooty
  
  I think Hillary Barry had better ask some male for a close inspection, because I think see needs to go to spec savers!
  
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  December 5, 2017 5:39pm
- RF
  
  Air head !!! !
  
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  December 5, 2017 6:53pm
Monique Watson

Trump visits Utah to sign new land control rules:

http://dailycaller.com/2017/12/04/trump-pushing-a-grocery-cart-between-rows-of-peanut-butter-and-photos-of-jesus-is-incredible/

As the article says, it doesn’t get more American than that.
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December 5, 2017 4:27pm
Kleva Kiwi

Wow. The comments in the article on Stuff about the gubberments poverdy… I mean middle class welfare handout of free first year tertiary education is almost 100% negative!
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/99544254/government-confirms-details-of-its-flagship-education-policy-and-80000-will-benefit-in-2018
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December 5, 2017 4:37pm
Westie Bob

So I have a child who through hard work and volunteering through her school managed to gain a scholarship for her first years study. Problem as it is from trust (gambling funds) the only option is either use it for the purpose it was awarded or return it. They can’t use it for the second year.
The below is from the website FAQ.
What should students do if they have a scholarship for 2018?
A. Scholarship providers are responsible for administering their own scholarships. If you have been awarded a scholarship for 2018, then we recommend you contact the awarding body to discuss your situation. You could ask the awarding body if the scholarship can be used for living or course related costs other than fees, or if it can be used in the second year of study.
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December 5, 2017 4:38pm
- Ross12
  
  Bob
  Without knowing the details , my advice to your daughter would be to go the scholarship people, be totally honest and do what is suggested in the answer from the website –ask if can it be used for the alternatives as there is no extra cost to the provider.
  The main thing is she should not try to cut corners but given how you are asking the question and how hard she has worked that seems to be a very unlikely event.
  
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  December 5, 2017 4:53pm
  - Westie Bob
    
    Been there done that in fact her school (with a number of other schools in the area as this affects 50 – 100 Students) wrote to the Trust involved and the answer was they are hamstrung by the provisions of the gambling act. The government could have got around the problem by adding the following to the legislation. However they choose not to.
    “The first year that a student would be required to pay tertiary study fees, which will not necessarily be his/her actual first year of study where a scholarship or other award has been granted to a student specifically for the purpose of paying fees related to his/her first year’s study (where such purpose cannot be amended to apply to the payment of a subsequent year’s fees)”. Thanks to my local national MP (No meaningful replies from any of my emails to Labour MP’s – Chris Hipkins, Jacinda Ardern Carmel Sepuloni & Phil Twyford hopefully the affected students and their families cease any support for this Government.
    
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    December 5, 2017 5:40pm
    - Ross12
      
      Good luck with sorting it out Bob. Good to hear your local Nat MP is working for you.
      
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      December 5, 2017 8:20pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  It will always work in your daughter’s favour to be recognised as a Scholarship winner.
  
  Use the scholarship money to buy necessary items for her study –new phone/laptop etc.
  
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  December 5, 2017 6:14pm
  - Westie Bob
    
    That is the trouble you can’t buy a laptop if it is not used for fees it needs to be returned.
    
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    December 6, 2017 5:16am
Ross12

I’m wondering what Shane Jones is up to with the position he is taking on work schemes/sanctions etc.
He must have known Labour & the Greens would not like it but he pushes it anyway. So what is his long game here?
BTW I agree with what Jones is trying to do
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December 5, 2017 4:48pm
Jack5

?????????? ???

Where are the Stephiestani trolls being held?
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December 5, 2017 5:15pm
- realityczech
  
  Last I heard he was taken out in a drone strike (by the great satan) while innocently burying some fertiliser in a road, which is the custom in his village.
  
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  December 5, 2017 5:40pm
sooty

As far away as possible!
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December 5, 2017 5:35pm
Jack5

More damning evidence of the student-visa rort.

From a report on the Radio NZ web site about an immigration adviser being banned for the industry (the report calls it a profession) for two years:

Ms Goldsmith also gave incorrect advice to his partner about getting a student visa, leading to her taking a more expensive university course instead of attending a polytechnic.

The disciplinary body is the Immigration Advisers Complaints and Disciplinary Tribunal.

The Justice Department web site says of such bodies:

“These tribunals, authorities and committees are a forum for resolving disputes over facts and/or law and assessing specific cases. They also work as regulatory bodies, issuing licences and certificates. Each body is established by legislation which also sets out its functions, powers and the extent of its authority or jurisdiction.

http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/345480/two-year-ban-for-misleading-client
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December 5, 2017 5:43pm
- realityczech
  
  “The Justice Department”
  
  We have no Justice Department in NZ Jacksie.
  
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  December 5, 2017 5:45pm
  - Jack5
    
    Okay, Realityczech, Ministry of Justice, or in Maori – macrons and all – Tāhū o te Ture.
    
    Looking up on the internet, the Maori phrase seems to translate literally into English as Ridge pole of the legal system, with “ture” borrowed from English. That is, it’s Maori for Ministry of Justice.
    
    Doubtless, Radio NZ will now borrow “ture” back for its NZ Pidgin. It’s more PC than “justice”.
    
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    December 5, 2017 7:48pm
RF

Lordy… Al Gore & the tooth fairy are now new best friends.

She is now working how much of our depleted cash reserves she can give to his cause.

Couple of con artists who just love publicity….

If anyone has spare cash I suggest you spend it now as sure as hell it will soon be worthless or else a rare sight.
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December 5, 2017 6:59pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Going by the comments, it looks like a lot of folks aren’t being fooled by these 2.
  https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/99555340/prime-minister-jacinda-ardern-to-be-interviewed-by-al-gore-over-climate-change
  
  Gosh, has Morrissey covered Al Gore’s sexual assault investigations?
  http://observer.com/2016/10/ny-times-barely-reported-2010-al-gore-sex-assault-police-investigations/
  
  Should someone warn Jacinda about this old groper?
  
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  December 5, 2017 7:38pm
  - realityczech
    
    Wiggles, Why is the mule toothed communist meeting with a science fiction writer ?
    
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    December 5, 2017 7:42pm
Manolo

Would you believe this mummy?
http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/363240-pelosi-gop-tax-proposal-the-worst-bill-in-the-history-of-the-united

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) declared unequivocally on Monday that the GOP tax overhaul is the worst legislation ever considered by Congress.
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December 5, 2017 7:26pm
Manolo

Doubting the investigator:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/muellers-credibility-problem-1512432318
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December 5, 2017 7:27pm
Jack5

The international criminal court is to investigate claims of British troops’ alleged war crimes in Iraq.

These legal Leftists won’t, I bet, investigate war crimes and atrocities by ISIL scum now slinking back to Western countries.

According to Wikipedia, the United States, Russia, Israel, and Sudan are backing out of the “states parties” – the backers of the court – and there is a possibility of African countries abandoning the court en masse.

The accusations against the British troops seem to have come at leastly from the work of the despicable Phil Shiner, the now debarred-as-a-solicitor British law professor.

Let’s hope no New Zealand tax money is going to these legal troughers. I doubt the current mob who run Britain will have the balls to pull out of this shonky court.

https://www.theguardian.com/law/2017/dec/04/icc-to-continue-investigation-into-claims-of-war-crimes-by-british-troops
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December 5, 2017 7:36pm
- sooty
  
  What a shame that goldbrick golly is tied for the next 2yr 9mth. She would have been in like a robbers dog.
  
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  December 5, 2017 8:47pm
nasska

Christmas is a great time of year to splash out on some lingerie to spice up your sex life & the shop assistants are more likely to think it’s for a wife or girlfriend.
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December 5, 2017 8:06pm
Jack5

More Te Reo activism.

Old Tipene O’Regan, of the tax-exempt Ngai Tahu, wants Lake Wakitipu’s spelling changed to Lake Whakitipu. Old Tipene is a member of the New Zealand Geographic Board, which has not-too-subtly has been re-Maorifying many NZ place names.

Obviously, there should be two spellings for the southern lake: one in the English language, and the other in the Maori language and Radio NZ Pidgin.

I think in Otago-Southland Pidgin it’s already the shorter Wakatip.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/99400116/is-it-wakatipu-or-whakatipu
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December 5, 2017 8:13pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Can I ask the Prime Minister whether it’s her Government’s attitude that the wealth of a country is in its working people, and whether it would be refreshing if some people, instead of looking a gift-horse in the mouth, decided to put a saddle on its back and be grateful?
– Winston Peters, 5/12/17
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December 5, 2017 9:52pm
burt

To all the seasoned lefties who love giving Trump a good kicking, like here.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/99568258/a-bold-new-legal-defence-for-trump-us-president-above-the-law

Just remember when you defended you own PM playing the same BS card you accuse Trump of.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10125099

He pointed out a phrase Helen Clark had used in Parliament the previous day: “It is a matter of judgment for the Prime Minister how I use information from official reports; by definition I cannot leak.”
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December 5, 2017 10:50pm
Manolo

Son of a pervert:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rep-john-conyers-son-john-conyers-iii-to-run-for-congress-seat/
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December 6, 2017 7:17am

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