General Debate 10 April 2018

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radvad

The two paragraphs below are the slightly edited relevant parts of the complaint I made to the Human Rights Commission about the comments made by Julie Anne Genter. The first paragraph sets out what happened and why it is of concern to someone like myself. The second suggests some solutions. The first three suggestions are obviously a bit frivolous albeit they all make a point. The fourth suggestion is serious and is what should happen.

Ms Genter indicated to a class of 10 year olds, that “old white men” are not appreciated and they should “move on”. Her targets were company directors which I am not but as a 69 year old white male I do take her comments seriously and consider them extremely bigoted. They could reasonably be expected to lead to antagonism towards and even marginalisation of certain groups.
I may be pale male and stale but I am fully (self) employed, pay a considerable amount of tax and also provide employment, mostly to immigrants and also refugees who, without exception, have fled countries with zero old white men in their governments.

Some suggested solutions:
1. That Immigration New Zealand review its procedures so as to avoid granting citizenship to such intolerant bigots.
2. That Ms Genter only fly in aeroplanes that have been designed and created exclusively by young, non white females.
3. That this government, that seems to despise me so much, make a decision to “boycott” me and refuse to accept my taxes.
4. Failing all of the above, a complete withdrawal of her comments with an unconditional apology and an acknowledgement of the huge contribution to New Zealand made, and continues to be made, by old white men. This apology and acknowledgement should be endorsed by her party leader and also the Prime Minister.

This is their response:
Thank you for contacting the Human Rights Commission about recent comments made by Minister Julie Anne Genter.
We understand you found the Minister’s comments offensive. The Commission considers that this is not a matter that can be addressed by the Commission’s dispute resolution services. We are therefore unable to take further action in respect of your complaint.
If you have not done so already, you may wish to contact the Minister’s office directly to express your concern.
Yours sincerely
Infoline
Human Rights Commission
I have emailed back asking them to explain how they arrived at such a non decision and also that all future correspondence be conducted with a real person with a real name.
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April 10, 2018 8:01am
- KiWombat
  
  Rad I received exactly the same reply from the HRC, and I am aware of others who have also received the same reply.
  
  The HRC is not taking seriously complaints about this racist behaviour, and should be held to account !
  
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  April 10, 2018 8:06am
  - UrbanNeocolonialist
    
    Because the HRC is obviously a racist organisation.
    
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    April 10, 2018 8:11am
    - hullkiwi
      
      You forgot ageist and sexist…
      
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      April 10, 2018 10:30am
  - peterwn
    
    The HRC is quite right in not taking this complaint seriously. An enactment must be interpreted in accordance with its text and in the light of its purpose (Interpretation Act 1999 S5i). The purpose of human rights legislation is to give equality for non males, non Europeans, etc. Its purpose is not to deal with inequality adversely affecting elderly white males.
    
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    April 10, 2018 8:27am
    - Odakyu-sen
      
      The purpose of human rights legislation is to give equality of outcome for non males, non Europeans, etc.
      
      There. Fixed it.
      
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      April 10, 2018 8:39am
    - niggly
      
      Ah hah, so it needs a tweak then to reflect discrimination against anyone …. not just selected or targeted ethnic groups!
      
      Hey hmmm hang on a minute …. isn’t the latest “controversial” immigration profiling programme hoopla just exactly that?
      http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/354553/immigration-minister-puts-controversial-profiling-programme-on-hold
      
      So it’s now NOT ok for Immigration to profile … but on the other hand for HRC it IS ok to profile ….
      
      Who made up this Orwellian double-speak? Let me guess, hypocritical, devoid of real world realities, “do-gooder” Lefties!
      
      Time for HRC to be pulled into line (after all if it’s good enough for Immigration and every other sector of the public service to do so, then it’s about time the same applied to the HRC)!
      
      PS thanks Peterwn for taking the time to clarify the situation! 🙂
      
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      April 10, 2018 8:40am
      - tf78
        
        Once again the wrong people get all the “rights”.
        
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        April 10, 2018 10:37am
    - Paul Marsden
      
      The ‘law’ is an ass then.
      
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      April 10, 2018 11:08am
    - waikatogirl
      
      Still, there is no need to be blindly anti older, white males because you’re an ideologue fruitloop Ms Genter!
      
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      April 10, 2018 2:01pm
  - Komata
    
    KW (and others)
    
    As I pointed out yesterday, same letter, same answer, same anonymity.
    
    Yet had we been lodging a complaint because we were Maori, Muslim, Female or… and had been ‘offended’ by these ‘Old White men’ then rest assured , the reply would have been far more ‘encouraging’ and proceedings would no doubt have been being considerd.
    
    If the ‘form’ letter is a reflection of the corporate culture, then perhaps the CEO should be being investigated.
    
    BTW, the following is from the ‘Commissions’ own website: it might be of interest. Note specifically Numbers 5 and 7: The very things that have been complained about are actually illegal, yet we get palmed off with a ‘form’ letter which, by its wording would seem to make a mockery of the law itself!!
    
    And also raises the question: WHO is making that sort of decision? The buck stops where…?
    
    Herewith the HRC statement:
    _______________
    
    The Human Rights Act 1993 makes it unlawful to discriminate based on:
    
    Sex – includes pregnancy and childbirth, and discrimination against transgender and intersex people because of their sex or gender identity.
    Marital status – includes marriages and civil unions that have ended.
    Religious belief – not limited to traditional or mainstream religions.
    Ethical belief – not having a religious belief.
    Colour, race, or ethnic or national origins – includes nationality or citizenship.
    Disability – including physical, psychiatric, intellectual or psychological disability or illness.
    Age – people are protected from age discrimination if they are over 16 years old.
    Political opinion – including not having a political opinion.
    Employment status – being unemployed, on a benefit or on ACC. It does not include being employed or being on national superannuation.
    Family status – includes not being responsible for children or other dependants.
    Sexual orientation – being heterosexual, homosexual, lesbian or bisexual.
    These grounds apply to a person’s past, present or assumed circumstances. For example, it is unlawful to discriminate against someone because they have a mental illness, had one in the past, or someone assumes they have a mental illness.
    
    The prohibited grounds for discrimination are covered in detail in part two of the Human Rights Act.
    
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    April 10, 2018 11:30am
    - KiWombat
      
      I have today lodged a complaint with the Ombudsman, requesting censure of the Minister concerned. Lets see what happens !
      
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      April 10, 2018 4:51pm
    - Straight arrow
      
      Actually, the Act does NOT state that “transgender and intersex people because of their sex or gender identity” The HRC has interpreted that from foreign jurisdictions (with different constitutions and laws) and from a single (unpublished as far as I know) Crown Law Office OPINION, that the transgender and gender identity bit is valid. It has never been tested in a NZ court as far as I know.
      I doubt that law makers in 1993 were thinking the Act applied to gender identities, otherwise it would of been noted, just like “pregnancy and childbirth” were specifically noted.
      
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      April 10, 2018 7:34pm
- simo
  
  5: Her immediate deportation back to country of origin.
  
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  April 10, 2018 8:29am
- Justitia
  
  Yes, I too made a complaint to the Commission about Genter’s racist, ageist and sexist remarks and got precisely the same facetious reply yesterday. So our concerns have not been taken seriously. Obviously the Commission considers that “old white men” by definition cannot be the victims of racism and are fair game. So the next question is how to take this matter further? I feel the Commission’s laughable response deserves full publicity. I would also like to see a rolling campaign to expose and keep the spotlight on the absurdities of this Orwellian body, leading to its disbandment.
  
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  April 10, 2018 8:35am
  - Odakyu-sen
    
    This “Human Rights Commission”….
    
    Just you wait till National get back into power and shut down this identity-politics-driven department!
    
    (Oh, wait a minute…)
    
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    April 10, 2018 8:41am
    - stephieboy
      
      It was first created under National,
      
      “The Commission was formed in 1977, and currently functions under the mandate of the Human Rights Act 1993. The Office of the Race Relations Conciliator was consolidated with the Human Rights Commission by an amendment to the Human Rights Act in 2001. The Commission’s primary functions are to “advocate and promote respect for, and an understanding and appreciation of, human rights in New Zealand society, and to encourage the maintenance and development of harmonious relations between individuals and among the diverse groups in New Zealand society”.[1]”
      
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Rights_Commission_(New_Zealand)
      
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      April 10, 2018 9:02am
      - Odakyu-sen
        
        “…and to encourage the maintenance and development of harmonious relations between individuals and among the diverse groups in New Zealand society”
        
        Freedom of speech to openly talk about concerns and issues is the way that societies bring problems out into the open to seek acceptable resolutions.
        
        In the process of seeking the truth, you will risk offending people.
        
        Silencing “offending speech” is like suppressing the safety valve of a pressure cooker because you find the hissing disruptive of the harmony of the kitchen.
        
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        April 10, 2018 9:10am
      - KiWombat
        
        If you really want to do more research on mistakes Ralph just go and ask your parents !
        
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        April 10, 2018 9:24am
      - backster
        
        ” It was first created under National,”
        
        By Rob Muldoon……You didn’t make many mistakes Rob but this was a biggie. ..Stop rolling in your grave.
        
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        April 10, 2018 11:34am
  - Viking2
    
    Actually IMHO the best outfit to complain to is the Race relations conciliator.
    We see this statement from Genter as rascist as well as sexist.
    
    Not a human rights failure but an attempt to vilify old white males. It is therefore racist (White) Gender specific (Male) and Age discriminatory (Old).
    
    Must be one of the three where it sticks.
    
    Try all three. time to swamp them all with letters.
    
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    April 10, 2018 10:05am
    - Piniwi
      
      Sorry Viking2 she has now crossed over to the dark perhaps because squash balls are black or because black Friday is coming around this week.
      
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      April 10, 2018 2:34pm
  - radvad
    
    Their response is more insulting than the original comments. The sub text is “go away you old white male dinosaur, we do not care about you so sit down and shut up”.
    All the while our taxes continue to pay for their make work scheme.
    
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    April 10, 2018 10:33am
- DifferentPerspective
  
  The Ombudsman is not only there to investigate OIA complaints, they also investigate under the Ombudsman Act 1975.
  
  And the Human Rights Commission is subject to the Ombudsman Act.
  
  In fact, this appallingly inappropriate decision by the HRC seems to be a perfect fit for what the Ombudsman should investigate. Section 13 of the Act:
  
  Subject to section 14, it shall be a function of the Ombudsmen to investigate any decision or recommendation made, or any act done or omitted, whether before or after the passing of this Act, relating to a matter of administration and affecting any person or body of persons in his or its personal capacity, in or by any of the departments or organisations named or specified in Parts 1 and 2 of Schedule 1, or by any committee (other than a committee of the whole) or subcommittee of any organisation named or specified in Part 3 of Schedule 1, or by any officer, employee, or member of any such department or organisation in his capacity as such officer, employee, or member.
  
  Given that JAG’s statement about old, white, males is so clearly considered discrimination by so many – the HRC’s decision seems to fly completely in the face of what the HRC says are one of the basic human rights old, white male NZers are entitled to:
  
  The right to be free from discrimination.
  
  Complaints to the Ombudsman under the Ombudsman Act (I presume under s16) would see the issue gain further attention and cause more discomfort to the HRC as they would be required to explain to the Ombudsman why they decided that blatant discrimination was not discrimination and a breach of human rights of any old, white males that complained.
  
  This is what you have to do to libtards, employ the same sort of lawfare that they use to attack conservative viewpoints. If nothing else, it will take up HRC resources and make them more accountable for their agenda-driven bad decisions.
  
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  April 10, 2018 9:28am
  - waikatogirl
    
    Time to start a union representing white, stale, male members of society. The CoL can’t possibly object to supporting the members.
    
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    April 10, 2018 2:13pm
- Crisplion
  
  radvad,
  
  I suggest sending the HRC a request under the official information act for documentation of the process by which they arrived at the conclusion that your complaint “is not a matter that can be addressed by the Commission’s dispute resolution services”. Making it an official information request would make it much harder for them to fob you off.
  
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  April 10, 2018 10:13am
- KevOB
  
  JAG is a Minister of the Crown and it is wholly improper for a Govt judicidal body to comment on her. That is for Parliament. The HRC is not above Parliament.
  
  We as voters have rights to pillory JAG lawfully as best we can. I note she lost to that awful Marama Davidson–Maori childish activist beats mature Canadian Roadie.
  
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  April 10, 2018 10:14am
  - DifferentPerspective
    
    That’s just standard leftist nonsense and the HRC has had no problems with censuring MPs (even the PM) before.
    
    The simple truth is the left-wing, identity politics activists who occupy the HRC swamp are unfit to do their jobs because they absolutely buy in to the yank skank’s Minister for Bigotry statement.
    
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    April 10, 2018 10:28am
    - KevOB
      
      It’s constitutionally improper.
      
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      April 10, 2018 6:00pm
Captain Mainwaring

Hubbard’s injury was the best and fairest result for the genuine female competitors at the games weightlifting, and Marcus Lush’s praise of the freak on ZB last night, together with his shutting down of any callers who disagreed with him, was nothing short of sickening.
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April 10, 2018 8:01am
- Chris R
  
  “The Mark of Slush” is the one person who (almost) makes Rachael Smalley look like she has a modicum of intelligence. He is a perfect reason to avoid ZB in the evenings.
  
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  April 10, 2018 8:08am
  - Chris2
    
    Years ago a radio station invited me to be interviewed by Lush by telephone. I only lived a kilometer from the radio station and said I was happy to come to the studio instead.
    
    The Producer warned me that Lush sometimes did his show without trousers on, wearing underpants. Don’t know if this was true or not as the interview still ended up being done by ‘phone.
    
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    April 10, 2018 9:05am
- G152
  
  Such should have their own little games.
  Maybe call them the Olymprics
  The weights the cock in a frock was lifting were far outside the weights any female weightlifter in that class could do
  
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  April 10, 2018 8:17am
  - KKKKatee
    
    I love that ‘cock in a frock’. Can’t stop laughing.
    So as you say, ‘the weights the cock in a frock was lifting’. etc. etc. Just proves my point. Create a Transgender class so this people can compete on an even playing field. Not to do so, is just a bloody oxymoron. The girls – the real ones with vaginas etc. – simply cannot compete with ‘cocks in frocks’. It ain’t rocket science yet no one can see that is the obvious thing to do……
    
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    April 10, 2018 10:42am
    - Harriet
      
      “……Create a Transgender class so………. It ain’t rocket science….’
      
      LOL Kateeee …….yes it is. I’m going to steal that. 😎
      
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      April 10, 2018 1:11pm
- KKKKatee
  
  Hubbard is, indeed, a freak. I suggest that a Transgender class is created in the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games etc. That way, any Transgender can compete fairly and squarely with one of their type. At the moment, I see ‘normal’ females are being disadvantaged by allowing beefed up ‘girls’ to compete alongside them. Basically, a ‘girl’ with a dick and loads more testosterone, can compete with real girls in sport. When will this madness stop?
  
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  April 10, 2018 8:37am
  - Odakyu-sen
    
    You’ve got XX-born individuals (women) competing with drug-enhanced women and then, add XY-born individuals who have a different skeletal / muscle-to-bone-attachment area / joint design.
    
    Natural, un-enhanced women don’t have a chance.
    
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    April 10, 2018 8:44am
    - KKKKatee
      
      My point exactly. But the guy who really wants a vagina thinks he’s a girl, but with a dick! Go figure. This is an unfair competition. Females – real ones with real vaginas and not a dick – cannot possibly compete with a testosterone fuelled bloke. After all, that’s what Hubbard really is. A bloke in girls clothing.
      
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      April 10, 2018 9:15am
  - Harkman
    
    “Hubbard is, indeed, a freak” well its/his/her father is Dick Hubbard, so what would we expect.
    
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    April 10, 2018 9:16am
    - Jack5
      
      It’s widely known that Laurel (formerly Gavin) Hubbard is the ~~daughter,~~ ~~son~~ child of breakfast food magnate Dick Hubbard.
      
      A cynic might ask what sort of hormones is Hubbard Foods putting in its breakfast cereal?
      
      Last month, Whale Oil reported that Dick Hubbard told the “Gay Auckland Business Association” that he stood for diversity and tolerance. Then later he declared himself a moral conservative and signed a letter opposing the creation of civil unions.
      
      Hubbard senior was a Leftie Mayor of Auckland – at least according to Wikipedia, which says in part:
      
      Hubbard was elected as part of a broad swing to the centre-left in the 2004 Auckland City local government elections, predicated on concerns about the style of the previous Mayor, and proposals to construct a major new multi-laned road through the city’s relatively affluent eastern suburbs. Although formally independent, Hubbard’s support on Auckland’s council was derived from the centre-left leaning City Vision, Labour, and Action Hobson tickets.
      
      Wikipedia also says that Laurel Hubbard was at one stage executive officer for Olympic Weightlifting New Zealand (OWNZ), a position terminated a year or two ago.
      
      Apparently Hubbard responded to the loss of his authority by paying for a new weightlifting facility to host and sponsor the OWNZ competition itself.
      
      Whale on Dick Hubbard’s stance:
      
      https://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2017/03/compare-contrast-dick-hubbard-now/
      
      An article on Dick Hubbard from the English newspaper, the Independent, labelling him a “cereal socialist”.
      
      https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/dick-hubbard-the-cereal-socialist-174847.html
      
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      April 10, 2018 10:56am
      - sooty
        
        Another one with more money than sense.
        
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        April 10, 2018 10:59am
      - Kimbo
        
        I always thought Dick Hubbard’s politics were best summed up by NIMBY. 😉
        
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        April 10, 2018 10:59am
      - 4077th
        
        Seems “Gavin” also competed at elite level in weightlifting as “Gavin”.
        
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        April 10, 2018 12:12pm
      - 4077th
        
        So, not so TransParent then?
        
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        April 10, 2018 12:13pm
      - Jack5
        
        Did the transgender weightlifter’s Mum wear jeans?
        
        http://www.newsweek.com/professor-claims-women-who-wear-jeans-give-birth-transgender-children-872816
        
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        April 10, 2018 1:17pm
    - lifesgood
      
      How embarrassing.
      
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      April 10, 2018 12:46pm
  - niggly
    
    Mr Muttonbird – how rude and inappropriate!
    
    Clearly you don’t like women voicing their opinions, where do you think they should be – at home in the kitchen cooking and cleaning? Seen but not heard?
    
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    April 10, 2018 9:30am
    - Muttonbird
      
      Nah, I just think it’s weird a woman pretending to be a man gets upset by a man pretending to be a woman.
      
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      April 10, 2018 9:55am
  - Longknives
    
    And to think the legendary Comedian Billy ’12th Man’ Birmingham used to take the mickey out of ‘Anna Bolic’ (who had a testicle pop out of her costume)
    We live in strange times..
    
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    April 10, 2018 9:40am
    - Harkman
      
      Jarmila Kratochvílová (the Roger Daltry lookalike with muscles) still holds the W800m world record.
      
      http://c8.alamy.com/comp/DGN1DD/jarmila-kratochvilova-cze-competing-in-the-1983-world-athletics-championships-DGN1DD.jpg
      
      Look at her spout.
      
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      April 10, 2018 12:39pm
      - Longknives
        
        Ha Ha Jarmila doesn’t need to fight to prove she’s right Harkman!
        
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        April 10, 2018 12:51pm
- VicParking
  
  Kate you need to to reported to the HRC for picking on a middle aged white male….
  
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  April 10, 2018 9:11am
  - KKKKatee
    
    Be my guest. Besides, I’m unfairly disadvantaged because I’m not built like a brick shithouse so I could never, ever compete with he/she in weightlifting or any other sport for that matter.
    
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    April 10, 2018 9:19am
- backster
  
  Divine intervention.
  
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  April 10, 2018 11:37am
peterwn

50 years ago Broadcasting Corporation engineers and contractors got something right. The Mt KauKau TV mast had just been completed by Japanese contractors and was on this day 50 years ago going to be given the final inspection and handover. The engineers and contractors apparently waited all day for the weather to clear sufficiently to visit the site but that was impossible. Finally the NZBC engineers concluded that as it had withstood the storm they concluded the tower had been sufficiently well designed and built so signed off the paperwork. This was seven years after television transmission started in Wellington. The studio was in Waring Taylor Street. Programming originated from there because the Post Office telecommunications system did not have available bandwith to convey even a single TV channel. Prior to the Mt KauKau transmitter being commissioned TV reception would have been very patchy. NZBC during the 1970’s built a nationwide broadband microwave system to connect studios and transmitters which would have been among the four largest communications networks in NZ.
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April 10, 2018 8:01am
- niggly
  
  Thank goodness for that old school Kiwi “can do” attitude which saw TV rolled out and transmitters and microwave linking station networks built across the width and breadth of NZ’s hills and mountaintops!
  
  Imagine that today – it would never happen thanks to the Greens and increasingly Labour MP’s thinking – oh no we can’t disturb the habitat – hey folks lets live in the 1400’s they wish (whilst denouncing non-believers via statements and press releases produced on their 21st century petrol-chemical derived cellphones and other technologies)!
  
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  April 10, 2018 8:52am
  - sooty
    
    But Labour want to spend 38mil plus on a propaganda tv channel.
    
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    April 10, 2018 9:44am
  - peterwn
    
    To be fair to Labour, it was the 1957-1960 Nash Labour government that kicked off TV in New Zealand. In the 1950’s a group in Auckland obtained an experimental TV licence and broadcast some 405 line TV (the old British standard) but programming was limited to TV technology matters (they got a rap over the knuckles when some programming was considered to go beyond ‘experimental’). The Holland National Government considered that the NZ economy could not support the cost of TV so it did not happen until Labour promised TV as part of its 1957 manifesto.
    Similarly National in the 1960’s – early 1970’s supported the NZBC’s views that it should run any second channel and that TV service should be Wellington-centric run from the Avalon studio. It was the Kirk Labour government who re-shaped broadcasting by breaking up NZBC and paving the way for TV to become Auckland-centric.
    There were few environmental concerns then. For example NZBC was able to cut a bulldozer track up the north side of Mt Taranaki and build a transmitting site there using an old power pylon (less arms). The steel pieces were transported there by trailer towed by a bulldozer. It is doubtful that DOC would have allowed this today.
    The Curran TV proposal is budgeted at $38M. By comparison the original TV system in NZ probably cost $1B in today’s money.
    
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    April 10, 2018 10:14am
- peterwn
  
  A few other things from that era. In the early 1970’s a big debate rages whether colour TV or a second TV channel should come first. Colour TV came first because all new TV production and transmission equipment were designed for colour and because a colour TV feed from the 1972 Christchurch Commonwealth Games for transmission via satellites to the UK (the Brits paid the very high transmission costs). NZBC acquired a couple of Marconi colour outside broadcast vans for the games on the cheap when an Eastern European country cancelled an order.
  At that time advances such as multiple TV channels, cell phones, personal computers and cheap international phone calls were pretty well unimaginable. Things have come a long way.
  The Wahine used steam boilers and turbines (the only modern aspect on the Wahine being turbo electric propulsion where the steam turbines produced electricity to drive the propulsion motors). This would be unthinkable for a ship nowadays.
  
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  April 10, 2018 8:59am
  - KiWombat
    
    This was – and remains – common for Ro-Ro’s Peter. Ships could be constructed with generating plant above cargo decks and relatively compact electric motors below – giving much more usable space on deck !
    
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    April 10, 2018 9:15am
    - peterwn
      
      I was thinking more of the steam raising plant than electric propulsion as such. Electric propulsion was chosen for maneuverability and diesel electric was an option – Aramoana and Arahura were diesel electric. Union Company wanted to give passengers a quiet ride without the incessant throbbing of diesel engines, hence the choice of steam turbines. Presumably the ro ro electric ships you mention are driven by gas turbines originally intended for aircraft use.
      
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      April 10, 2018 9:47am
- labrator
  
  Here’s great video on youtube about the upgrade in 1991. Some supreme flying in a Bell 212 (edit – not Huey) to make it all happen.
  
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  April 11, 2018 9:05am
Dave Mann

Poor Gavin…. oh well, I guess we won’t have the embarrassment of seeing him on the podium with ‘New Zealand’ written across his chest for the world to gawp at, so it’s not all bad.
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April 10, 2018 8:02am
- Tarquin North
  
  The worst part was his speech on TV1 last night. It was awful, he sounded like a cross between Michael Jackson and a fallen televangelist reading a script inspired by Jacinda.
  
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  April 10, 2018 8:06am
  - Dave Mann
    
    Can we see this speech online or on-demand somewhere? What programme was it on, or do you have a link?
    
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    April 10, 2018 8:19am
    - Tarquin North
      
      I think it was on the sports news – should be able to get it on demand. I’d have a go at finding it, but to be honest I don’t think I could cope with seeing it again!
      
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      April 10, 2018 8:38am
    - Dave Mann
      
      Cheers Tarquin I found it and yes it is sickening.
      
      Even worse though… during my search I came across this quote from 2017, made by this ridiculous and disgusting character:
      
      “I don’t believe there is any fundamental difference between me and the other athletes, and to suggest there is is slightly demeaning to them.”
      
      The perverted logic if this man, not to mention his utter contempt for other people, is utterly staggering.
      
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      April 10, 2018 8:47am
kowtow

How can using “race or nationality” profiles be a problem when investigating immigration crime ?
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April 10, 2018 8:07am
- 4077th
  
  It’s an issue because Manamana and Julie say it is.
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8N_tupPBtWQ
  
  Muppets!
  
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  April 10, 2018 12:37pm
  - stiglet
    
    “The question is…what is a manamanama.”
    “The question is….who cares?”
    One of the greatest pieces of TV in history.
    Animal. He was my favourite.
    
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    April 10, 2018 6:21pm
holysheet

Racism is rife in New Zealand my arse. Teke whitey has said we are racist. No part of NZ is more racist than Maori. What is the difference? They can get away with it because of their brown skin, whereas the rest of us have to walk on eggshells. Well stuff him and his denigrating NZ from his lofty perch. Who the hell is he really, what has he actually done for his country?
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April 10, 2018 8:07am
- Inandout
  
  That the conservation man? I wondered what the hell race has to do with South America.
  
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  April 10, 2018 8:10am
- Lance
  
  Isn’t he someone who used to live in NZ a long time ago?
  
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  April 10, 2018 8:12am
- lifesgood
  
  So who was it that invented movies? It sure as hell wasn’t Maori. You would think this waititi character would have a modicum of respect for those who invented his career.
  
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  April 10, 2018 8:23am
  - cmm
    
    I heard some black actress on Red Radio blaming the movie industry on whites too.
    
    Apparently photographic processes and contrast etc were invented by whites and were tuned for white skin and this disadvantages black actors.
    
    I wonder whether it is also the whites’ fault that silver nitrate turns dark when exposed to light?
    
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    April 10, 2018 8:48am
    - KevOB
      
      If it was tuned for black that would add whiten it. Movie film was exposed for white showing as white. Anything else meant white would have no detail and darks would be lightened. Film was designed to have a decent range of grey tones with sunlit green grass typically appearing mid grey.
      
      Nothing racist there.
      
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      April 10, 2018 10:38am
  - Longknives
    
    I’m fairly sure Maori did invent movies (like they claim to have invented everything else on the Planet) and in fact had a prosperous film industry before those evil Colonial invaders turned up and ruined everything!
    The Waitangi Tribunal would no doubt agree…
    
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    April 10, 2018 10:58am
    - backster
      
      “I’m fairly sure Maori did invent movies (like they claim to have invented everything else on the Planet”
      
      Except the wheel.
      
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      April 10, 2018 11:46am
      - Paulus Gnome
        
        And anything metal . .
        
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        April 10, 2018 9:48pm
- VicParking
  
  It seems that when you go to Work and Income you wont be asked your age, sex or nationality as this will be deemed to be ageist, sexist and racist. The only question they will be permitted is “How much money do you need”
  
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  April 10, 2018 8:29am
  - fernglas
    
    That question would discriminate against the non-needy. It should be “how much money do you believe we should be giving you”
    
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    April 10, 2018 8:34am
    - sooty
      
      MeToo followed that thought.
      
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      April 10, 2018 11:02am
      - backster
        
        And Winston
        
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        April 10, 2018 11:48am
- MrLovebucket
  
  I agree and he is right. NZ is a racist country – only 90% of the racism is from Maori themselves. The vast majority of Europeans are colour blind when it comes to race.
  
  As far as his claim for pronunciation. The English pronunciation of words is based on English vowels and sounds so is always going to be different to Maori pronunciation.
  
  If I am speaking a sentence in English, it is perfectly fine to use the English pronunciation, and it is not an insult to Maori as a few idiots claim.
  
  If I am speaking a sentence in Maori, then I should make an effort to pronounce works using the vowel sounds of the Maori Language.
  
  I wonder how this fool has ever been to the capital of France and how he might pronounce the word Paris in any sentence.
  
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  April 10, 2018 8:47am
  - niggly
    
    Those politically correct whingers would be the same people that denounce incorrect pronunciation of Maori …. but are quite happy to converse in lazy English??!!!
    
    Eg S’up, Wazup, Bro, Rad, Da, Yo, etc!
    
    Seems that’s ok but saying the likes of “Wanganui” isn’t!
    
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    April 10, 2018 9:00am
  - Dave Mann
    
    Good point, Lovebucket…. and that’s why, when speaking and writing in English, I always say ‘Maoris’ when using the plural. In my language, ‘s’ denotes the plural form. Maoris.
    
    And before anybody mentions ‘sheep’ or ‘fish’, these are highly irregular and linguistically rare forms of the plural and shouldn’t be taken as the rule.
    
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    April 10, 2018 9:10am
    - MrLovebucket
      
      Also, English doesn’t contain macrons, so the correct spelling of Maori names when used in English sentences should use a macron free alphabet.
      
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      April 10, 2018 9:19am
      - Dave Mann
        
        Agreed 100%
        
        I speak two other languages (imperfectly) and when writing in them I try to include the accents as my keyboard allows. When writing in English I don’t use accents for exactly the reason you stated.
        
        Another thing… how about the arrogance of people trying to impose accents on my language, when they didn’t even have fucking writing in theirs? JFC…..!
        
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        April 10, 2018 9:35am
      - Odakyu-sen
        
        It is unnatural to insert Te Reo-pronounced words into English, when English has its own words.
        Why say “cody tree die-back” when you could say “kauri tree die-back”? It is nothing more than signalling virtuousness.
        
        After all, the Japanese refer to Macdonalds (“Mackers” in NZ) as “makudonarudo.” Would you insist that the Japanese pronounce “Macdonalds” as it is pronounced in English?
        
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        April 10, 2018 9:36am
      - Harriet
        
        “…..After all, the Japanese refer to Macdonalds (“Mackers” in NZ)….”
        
        And to take it further Odakyu-sen – it is spelt Maccas in Aussie, and to take the argument even further again, Maccas is coypwrit by Mcdonalds. – whose language is then that, and who then gets to dictate the pronunciation of it – the Aussie public or Mcdonalds executives?
        Mcdonalds have forgotten to coypwrit the pronunciation. 😎
        
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        April 10, 2018 1:32pm
  - VicParking
    
    Half the Maori words a just tweeked English anyway.
    
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    April 10, 2018 9:15am
    - sooty
      
      It’s funny how the keep inventing new maori words and they pay people to do it.
      
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      April 10, 2018 9:51am
      - MrLovebucket
        
        Not just words. A bunch of weedy leftie liberals recently invented Matariki to try and gain some relevance. We’ll no doubt get that shoved down our throats again shortly.
        
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        April 10, 2018 12:41pm
    - Jack5
      
      Vic – not enough Maori words are tweaked English.
      
      Tweaking is a healthy adoption of words from languages. See what Odakyu-sen posts above about the Japanese language. English has always done this: khaki, from Urdu, tea from Chinese, tycoon, from Japanese are among the thousands of examples.
      
      There are people, presumably ultimately supported by taxpayers, creating new Maori words to cover the thousands of objects the language doesn’t cover.
      
      They would be better off tweaking English words.
      
      Regardless, Maori language is unlikely to become more than a cultural relic.
      
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      April 10, 2018 11:09am
  - KevOB
    
    Maori do not speak the same throughout NZ. They are tribal and it shows. Spoken Maori in NZ is a new pidgin.
    
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    April 10, 2018 10:43am
- stephieboy
  
  Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
  holysheet , some of the worst racism is by certain posters on this very blog.
  
  A platitude to assert otherwise.
  
  Not a day goes by when those, especially with darker skins, are subjected to all kinds denigrating and vile abuse.
  
  I might add Jews also .
  
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  April 10, 2018 9:10am
  - VicParking
    
    Morning Stephie, I agree especially those that abuse people like yourselves. Fancy calling you a C**t, goat f**ker and Pedo lover. Shame on them. By the way why dont you take the day off I hear your favourite goat is in season ??
    
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    April 10, 2018 9:20am
    - stephieboy
      
      Vicparking , sublime !
      
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      April 10, 2018 11:17am
  - KiWombat
    
    Why don’t you slip into something more comfortable – like a coma ?
    
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    April 10, 2018 9:26am
    - Dave Mann
      
      Only one tick available. Please accept the following emoticons as virtual additional upticks….
      
      😀 😀 😀 😀
      
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      April 10, 2018 9:42am
  - MrLovebucket
    
    Mostly from Maori who think they are owed something, or are more privileged and entitled than others simply because of the colour of their skin.
    
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    April 10, 2018 9:33am
  - pdm
    
    Bugger – upticked s/boy in error.
    
    Will I have to do penance.
    
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    April 10, 2018 10:03am
    - Twinkletoes
      
      Yes, three hail Maoris and $1 million in the Destiny church repair fund.
      
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      April 10, 2018 3:44pm
  - Jack5
    
    Roster change again at Stephiestani Trolls Ltd.
    
    We have the Stephie with punctuation problems.
    
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    April 10, 2018 11:11am
  - Manolo
    
    Hold that horse! You are the one dishing out the abuse for being a “darkie”!
    
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    April 10, 2018 11:13am
    - stephieboy
      
      Manolo, and you” The Kenyan “
      
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      April 10, 2018 11:16am
      - Padriv Ustoev
        
        Stephie you on several occasions implied I’m less of a human being because I’m allegedly a Slav. What’s wrong with Slavs? Or do you think they are untermench?
        
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        April 10, 2018 1:19pm
  - holysheet
    
    Just as well Islam is not a race then, stooopidboy.
    
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    April 10, 2018 12:37pm
- Longknives
  
  Some kid who writes for Stuff has written a piece in support if that dickhead Waititi.
  He starts off by saying that Taika is right and we are a racist Country- Then goes on a lengthy rant about ‘Old White Men’.
  
  https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/celebrities/102948539/taika-waititis-right-new-zealand-really-is-a-racist-place
  
  You couldn’t make this shit up..
  
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  April 10, 2018 9:45am
  - Longknives
    
    Just noticed that the piece has been heavily edited since I first read it this morning- And ‘Comments are closed’!
    
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    April 10, 2018 9:46am
  - graham
    
    Whoever wrote this is as daft as a brush. My blood started boiling at this part:
    
    But who were the people most outraged? Well, they seemed to be the ones Waititi was describing when he called New Zealand “racist as f…”
    
    They were the ones who choose to mispronounce and misspell Māori words. The ones who say “Maoris” and Paraparam or find it frustrating to hear te reo spoken outside of the All Blacks’ haka.
    
    Once again, it seems the people most offended by Waititi’s comments are those who are the most offensive.
    
    So “people who mispronounce and misspell Maori words” are racist, hmm? Okay, so by the same measure, people who:
    
    – say “brought” instead of “bought”;
    – confuse “there” “their” and “they’re”;
    – say they “could of” instead of “could have” or “could’ve”;
    – say “youse guys”;
    – misspell my name, EVEN IN AN EMAIL WHERE IT’S ALREADY WRITTEN THERE AND STARING THEM IN THE FACE;
    – talk about “Oz” instead of “Australia”;
    – oh, and not forgetting as actually quoted in the article, a student who said “Just cause we are Māori doesn’t mean we are stupid” (agreed, but here’s a hint – the word that I strongly suspect you meant to use is “because”)
    
    are also racist?
    
    What an imbecile. Glad to see a lot of the comments taking the writer to task.
    
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    April 10, 2018 10:25am
- 4077th
  
  Nothing more than a B rate wannabe. He has most, if not all the diversity requirements to be pedestaled at the next oscars. All he was missing was the socially correct gobshyte he spewed yesterday. Congratulations Taika, you are now inducted into the rapehouse that is hollywood. Enjoy your stay, don’t buy any kind of conspicuous couch or play with anyone who might be in trouble down the line. Oh, and GFY 🙂
  
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  April 10, 2018 12:43pm
  - MH
    
    gives Dracula a bad name.
    
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    April 10, 2018 4:39pm
  - CharlieBrown
    
    He has graduatedd from taker to giver in the holywood rapehouse. What a garbage human being.
    
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    April 10, 2018 10:04pm
Inandout

Garner could barely contain his glee that Fox (another sneer) mixed up a university poll result. Just as well Wahine has taken over his show news.
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April 10, 2018 8:08am
Awww C-mon

Troll School for Stephie’s

Point #1/ Know the rules

DPF States in the comments policy “Trolling I define as an attempt to deliberately disrupt a conversation by being grossly offensive or massively off topic”
also “I want arguments attacked, not people. As an example it will be unacceptable to call someone a moron, but it will be acceptable to say their argument is moronic. That may seem a fine distinction, but an important one”

Sadly you know the outcome of not following the rules already
StephieBoy – 1st warning 28/12/14, 1st strike – 11/7/16, 2nd strike – 18/12/16, 3rd strike – 22/1/17, 4th strike – 21/3/17, 5th strike – 13/06/17
Another strike would be 2 months on the sidelines so let’s keep on the right side of the law that is DPF aye Stephie-5strikes

Following points will be posted over the next few days, please pay attention and perhaps leave notes so that Stephie-Drunk, Stephie-irate, Stephie-misogynistic and Stephie-perv can all benefit.
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April 10, 2018 8:08am
holysheet

Police in London have found a bomb outside a mosque.. They’ve told the public not to panic as they’ve managed to push it inside…
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April 10, 2018 8:09am
- sooty
  
  You win post of the day.
  
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  April 10, 2018 9:53am
EAD_TWO

I see Maori Jew Tiaki Cohen is eloquently articulating his thoughts on New Zealanders to the global MSM :

http://www.breitbart.com/big-hollywood/2018/04/09/thor-ragnarok-director-taika-waititi-new-zealand-racist-fk/

New Zealanders are racist as f**k

Comments are surprisingly red-pilled…
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April 10, 2018 8:09am
- UrbanNeocolonialist
  
  He is really complaining that people have functional memories, and form opinions of other people and groups based on their behaviour. Attributes essential to functioning as a social animal. NZers are behaviourist as fuck.
  
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  April 10, 2018 8:19am
- VicParking
  
  Well Taika can stay in the USA, there is no racism there.
  
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  April 10, 2018 8:33am
  - MrLovebucket
    
    I hope he always uses American pronunciation for the names and places over there and doesn’t sound like a NZ’er. Anything else would be racist, right?
    
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    April 10, 2018 9:41am
    - Longknives
      
      Maybe he could use some of that taxpayer cash he is so fond of and give all the American Cities their proper Maori names?
      Like some activists did with the London Tube map a few years ago..
      
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      April 10, 2018 9:50am
      - MrLovebucket
        
        And then go change the spelling every 5 mins just to try and get some attention.
        
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        April 10, 2018 2:18pm
  - Piniwi
    
    @VicParking and it’s “Take a load off Annie” and not “take a load of Fanny”.
    
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    April 10, 2018 2:54pm
- stephieboy
  
  EAD TWO , judging by many posts on this blog ( including yours ) the” Maori Jew “is probably correct
  
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  April 10, 2018 9:14am
- Harkman
  
  This guy is so overrated, “NZer of the Year” what a joke.
  
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  April 10, 2018 9:29am
  - 4077th
    
    “Overrated” is understated!
    
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    April 10, 2018 12:54pm
- Jack5
  
  EAD: Hullo and sieg heil.
  
  You neo’s in New Zealand have a problem. Much greater than the fact that Taika Waititi is Jewish because his Mum was (or is) a Jew.
  
  If the link below is correct you are surrounded by brown Jews and scores of thousands of whites who are Jews through their Maori genes.
  
  Apparently many Maori feel attracted to Judaism, and many believe that Maori are the lost tribe of Israel.
  
  Shalom!
  
  https://www.thejc.com/news/world/why-maori-are-singing-their-love-for-judaism-1.58254
  
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  April 10, 2018 12:54pm
  - 4077th
    
    Maori believe they are lots of things the first one on the list is : Entitled, the rest is history in the making.
    
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    April 10, 2018 12:56pm
  - CharlieBrown
    
    So when they go shopping for a bike they will have to choose between jewing’ the salesmen for a big discount or just thieving it?
    
    Stereotypes can be funny because often observations in line with statistics make the basis of them.
    
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    April 10, 2018 11:11pm
kowtow

Racist western MSM.

Bus crash in India , ho hum.

Bus crash in Peru, ho hum.

Bus crash in Canada ……..Aiee ya , shock , horror.
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April 10, 2018 8:12am
- Dave Mann
  
  Yes, that’s because it’s the Western MSM, not the Indian or Peruvian MSM. Societies tend to discuss stuff which happens to people in their sphere of interest. No problem with that.
  
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  April 10, 2018 8:58am
- stephieboy
  
  kowtow , lots of MSM coverage of both the Indian Bus crash and Canada,
  
  http://time.com/5233235/new-delhi-indiaschool-bus-crash/
  
  and ,
  
  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/08/canada-hockey-team-bus-crash
  
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  April 10, 2018 9:17am
  - KiWombat
    
    You’ll never be the man that your mother is !
    
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    April 10, 2018 9:23am
  - 4077th
    
    I disagree, neither of them are MSM they are nothing more than local rags.
    
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    April 10, 2018 12:58pm
The Virgin

The only racism I have experienced are the scum who inhabit the streets of the Wellington CBD calling out ‘sir, got any spare change bro?’. When I tell them to get a job I am a ‘white Fucker’ or a ‘rich c*nt’…
Hooray for the southerly, far more efficient and cheaper than ‘The Red Squad’ to get rid if these parasites.
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April 10, 2018 8:17am
- Humble Capitalist
  
  they will be a thing of the past within 2 years `homes for all’
  
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  April 10, 2018 9:50am
- GoVege
  
  Forgive them, Virgin, it’s the way they’ve been dragged up.
  Probably one of 20 kids to an illiterate alcoholic gang member.
  I usually give the women a few bucks, but not the males unless they appear to be disabled.
  I reckon any male or childless female should be ashamed to beg.
  
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  April 10, 2018 8:19pm
KiWombat

Cindy

Time to start shedding the low lying fruit !

This is another sitting week – If Melissa Lee continues to hammer away at Clare Curran then I suggest you begin to take some decisive action and shed the rotten fruit. Paul Eagle is another festering sore on your behind – better excise that one too whilst you can still sit comfortably !
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April 10, 2018 8:23am
- lifesgood
  
  Go Melissa, you good thing.
  
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  April 10, 2018 8:24am
  - KiWombat
    
    Cindy – you don’t need to play the genius when you are surrounded by morons !
    
    Lets do this !
    
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    April 10, 2018 10:25am
- cmm
  
  I’m sure Cindy sees this differently.
  
  While they keep digging away at Curran they’re not asking even more embarrassing questions.
  
  Curran is history, but Labour might as well draw the process out to use it as a diversion for other issues.
  
  If Curran only lasted a week, they’d be onto the next one already: Eagle, Little, Davis, Jones, strikes,…
  
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  April 10, 2018 9:58am
  - oob
    
    Agreed. Eviscerating Curran from here is only worthwhile if it damages Taxinda.
    
    If it isn’t, coup de grace the bitch and move onto the next CoL target.
    
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    April 10, 2018 10:35am
Chuck Bird

I heard on Hosking this morning someone from the prosecution in the case of the 11-year-old girls in the case of the teacher who was found not guilty. He says the girls never admitted lying about what happened to them although one admitted lying about what she witnessed to another girl.

I find this very interesting. He also explains about the jury just taking one hour. The fact is juries retire many times during a case and discuss the evidence of the prosecution and defence many times before the judge sums up.

I think some might have been a little hasty in what should happen to the girls or their parents.
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April 10, 2018 8:26am
- VicParking
  
  Your saying that you and your keyboard know they did not lie but the jury who heard all the evidence got it wrong……
  
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  April 10, 2018 8:37am
  - Chuck Bird
    
    No, not at all. I am saying what heard on Hosking from someone from the prosecution. I hope someone else did. I assume you did not.
    
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    April 10, 2018 8:53am
  - Chuck Bird
    
    Vic, I would suggest you or any others listen to NewstalkZB at 7:11 this morning to Brian Dickey, Crown Solicitor. He is not saying the girls did not lie but that they did not admit lying about being molested.
    
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    April 10, 2018 9:49am
  - Chuck Bird
    
    Leighton Smith has just talked about this. He has an open mind. The reporting was not accurate.
    
    The Crown Solicitor in the case of the teacher cleared of indecently assaulting three schoolgirls says none of the students admitted to lying.
    
    The jury only needed an hour to return not guilty verdicts on all seven charges.
    
    It was reported the complainants recanted on their claims during the trial.
    
    Brian Dickey QC told Mike Hosking the three students never admitted they lied about what happened to them to get him fired.
    
    “Outright misreporting by a major press agency, that complainant and the other two all maintained that what happened, happened to them.”
    
    Dickey says one other student admitted making up what happened to someone else to support their case.
    
    http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/mike-hosking-breakfast/audio/crown-solicitor-in-teacher-abuse-case-kids-never-admitted-lying/
    
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    April 10, 2018 9:58am
    - fernglas
      
      To be fair to Chuck, it is unusual for the Crown Solicitor to comment on verdicts in particular cases, so there must have been a need to set the record straight. An hour for a verdict is quick in a sex case, but it sounds as if the complainants didn’t in fact accept that they had lied.
      
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      April 10, 2018 10:26am
      - Chuck Bird
        
        Thanks fernglas. It looks look flipper think nobody is actually guilty and he uses abuse rather than logic. He could have read the link.
        
        I have talked a lot about the time it took when I was on a jury and was criticized. I hope most of the criticism came from those who had not been on a jury.
        
        In my case on a rape trial, it took 3 days and we were in the jury room for less than 30 minutes after the judges summing up. That does not mean that we as jurors sorted through 3 days of evidence and testimony in 20 minutes or so.
        
        During most of the prosecution, we discussed what we thought and I think we took a straw poll early on. When the defence started the jurors started to vote not guilty.
        
        This case was around 20 years ago so no one can be identified. The woman claimed she was raped on 4 separate occasions and did complain till later. She had not anticipated the last witness who was a friend or relation. She testified how this woman brought along this accused who was much younger and good looking. She told how she was over him like a rash. The date was after the 4 alleged rapes.
        
        We would have spent many hours in the jury room plus we would talk in small groups during lunch when jurors would go to different lunch venues.
        
        I am certainly not saying the girls did not lie but I would have to hear more facts before I had a strong view on compensation.
        
        If the girls had not admitted lying a prosecution would be difficult even if the were older. The idea of prosecuting 11 year-olds is ridiculous.
        
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        April 10, 2018 12:50pm
      - Nostradamus
        
        Chuck:
        
        We would have spent many hours in the jury room plus we would talk in small groups during lunch when jurors would go to different lunch venues.
        
        That explains it. Kimbo bought you lunch one day and you never reciprocated!
        
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        April 10, 2018 1:48pm
      - Kimbo
        
        @ Nostradamus
        
        Hey, stop shit stirring! Chuck and I currently have a truce, admittedly as fragile and soon-to-be broken as the 1939 Hitler/Stalin Non-Aggression Pact, but I am making an effort. You have no idea how hard it was to let Chuck’s, “Clark Gayford admits in a Youtube video to having thousands of previous partners” post go by… ?
        
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        April 10, 2018 2:31pm
      - Nostradamus
        
        Kimbo:
        
        Chuck and I currently have a truce
        
        Like North Korea and South Korea have a truce? (We’re technically still at war, but we won’t bomb each other…)
        
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        April 10, 2018 2:51pm
      - Chuck Bird
        
        Kimbo, I was not having a go at you. But the issue of the short time the jury was out in another case was raised.
        
        You do not see who gives you upticks. I have given you a lot as basically agree with you more than I disagree with you.
        
        Kind regards
        Chuck
        
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        April 10, 2018 3:07pm
      - Kimbo
        
        No, Chuck, you weren’t having a go at me, which is why I wasn’t having a go at you, nor even engaging with you, much less raising the “jury matter”. Instead I was chiding the trouble-making Nostradamus for trying to create an “incident” in our demilitarised zone.
        
        Thank you for the upticks, and I similarly reciprocate in some circumstances. Meanwhile, Comrade Stalin gives you his assurance he will continue to supply the agreed grain shipments so your armies are well-fed for your military campaign in the West against the British and the French. ?
        
        Kind Regards,
        
        Kimbo
        
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        April 10, 2018 4:04pm
  - G152
    
    They should be prosecuted and their names broadcast.
    The teacher has had his life destroyed by these lying bitches.
    Make an example of them, destroy them.
    And that school should be shut down and those in charge contribute to the teachers compensation !
    
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    April 10, 2018 10:13am
    - Poppa
      
      I heard him interviewed & he is back working I think at the same school. The school have supported him apparently through his re-introduction into the classroom
      
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      April 10, 2018 11:10am
      - Chuck Bird
        
        Poppa, I think you are confusing two different cases that were made public in the last few days. In the second case, the teacher went public not his lawyer. In this case, the school stood by him unlike in the first case.
        
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        April 10, 2018 12:23pm
- flipper
  
  Chucky is back on the lignocaine again.
  Go read Alex M. from yesterday. His children go to that school !
  
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  April 10, 2018 9:09am
  - Chuck Bird
    
    flipper, I read his comment again. Now tell me the relevance to what I said.
    
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    April 10, 2018 9:38am
  - alex Masterley
    
    For clarification only one of my kids attended the school.
    It was interesting listening to the interview.
    I felt there was a hint of self serving taking place.
    
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    April 10, 2018 2:00pm
    - Chuck Bird
      
      Alex, you may be right about a hint of self serving. However, I doubt if he would lie. The fact that the QC would work pro bono would indicate he is innocent.
      
      I think being back depositions would help reduce false allegations going to a jury trial.
      
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      April 10, 2018 4:09pm
RRM

Have your say on the future of getting stiffed by the government at https://taxworkinggroup.govt.nz – also on Facebook!
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April 10, 2018 8:31am
oldgolfer

Haven’t heard much from Winnie about his eagerness to trade with Russia.
If he’s keen on a deal, he’d better get in quick, with its stocks and rouble slumping overnight.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-09/russia-government-said-to-seek-ways-to-help-sanctioned-oligarchs
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April 10, 2018 8:33am
waikatogirl

Cindy told Duncan Garner this morning that a new PM would not be sworn in while she is on maternity leave. When he asked if she would be running the caucus from home? she said “you’d be amazed what I can do from home”. She then clarified that an “interim leader” will be appointed to attend caucus in her place.
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April 10, 2018 8:34am
- pdm
  
  ` She then clarified that an “interim leader” will be appointed to attend caucus in her place.’
  
  Does that mean that the incompetent Kelvin Davis is on the way out as deputy?
  
  Angry Andy or Robbo to replace him is my bet.
  
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  April 10, 2018 8:40am
  - niggly
    
    Shouldn’t Labour appoint a woman as the interim leader? I mean, diversity and all that. If so, step up please either Dr Megan Woods (#5 on the list), or Carmel (#8), or Nania Mahuta (#11) or wild card Clare Curran (#16)!
    
    After all Clare has proven herself excellent at obfuscation and never admitting wrong – and getting away with it – perfect Labour leadership traits! Go Clare, you are “the one”!!!
    
    Plus Jacinda likes you (judging by the way she saved your sorry ass), so that must count surely!
    
    Old white men Andrew Little and Robbo – please stand down and apologise for even having such leadership thoughts! 😉
    
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    April 10, 2018 9:07am
- KKKKatee
  
  She doesn’t know what she doesn’t know. I’m always amused by the naivety of mothers to be. They really have no understanding of the kick in the ass coming their way. I’m sure she will be ready to eat humble pie by the time the first 24 hours post-natal kick in. I was totally shell-shocked and nothing in the world can prepare you not only for labour and delivery, but caring for newborn as well. I seriously don’t think running the Caucus from her lounge will be a priority. Time will tell.
  
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  April 10, 2018 8:43am
  - lifesgood
    
    She is also an elderly primagravida. It’s a lot tougher for these old mothers.
    
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    April 10, 2018 8:52am
    - sooty
      
      She ain’t coming back before parliament opening next year!
      
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      April 10, 2018 9:58am
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      She will have loads of help.
      
      She will not be in the same situation as an isolated young mum whose hubby has to go out to work all day.
      
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      April 10, 2018 10:20am
      - VicParking
        
        No her hubby is out all night bonking
        
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        April 10, 2018 10:28am
    - alex Masterley
      
      Our first child was born when my wife was 38.
      I can say that she found it very difficult post birth. I fully expect Ms Ardern will too and the impact on her life style will take some adjustment.
      
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      April 10, 2018 2:03pm
  - KevOB
    
    Jacinda still has to get to full term.
    
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    April 10, 2018 10:49am
    - MH
      
      Prime Triminster
      
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      April 10, 2018 4:55pm
- cmm
  
  “you’d be amazed what I can do from home”.
  
  I hope she’s not taking any sensitive documents home or using unsecured comms lines etc.
  
  Is their house secure?
  
  Has First Daddy been properly vetted for security and blackmail risk etc? He has had a very “interesting” past and, even if we discount current rumours, that begs the question as to security risks.
  
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  April 10, 2018 8:56am
Hugh Pavletich

Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
WHEN CAN AUCKLAND TEACHERS HAVE AFFORDABLE HOUSING MINISTER TWYFORD ?

Posted at …
https://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2018/04/links-9-april-2018/#comment-3084052

South Auckland teacher commutes 180km a day because of housing costs … Fairfax / Stuff

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/102707618/south-auckland-teacher-commutes-180km-a-day-because-of-housing-costs

Buying a house is next to impossible, teachers in south Auckland say.

Kaveeta Shiriwastow’s day starts in Thames at 2.50am just so she can make it in time to her teaching job in Manurewa. She has to complete chores, get herself and her two sons, who are of different ages and attend different schools, ready for the day.

Driving the 180 kilometre return trip daily leaves her with little time for her boys. … read more via hyperlink above …

… Teachers … ask Minister Twyford when this is going to happen …

Housing – New Zealand Labour Party

http://www.labour.org.nz/housing

… extract …

Remove barriers that are stopping Auckland growing up and out

Labour will remove the Auckland urban growth boundary and free up density controls. This will give Auckland more options to grow, as well as stopping landbankers profiteering and holding up development. New developments, both in Auckland and the rest of New Zealand, will be funded through innovative infrastructure bonds.

… so that affordable new housing is ALLOWED ( yes … that’s all ! ) to be built. Note these Pulte Homes. Phoenix, Arizona, USA examples (building areas quoted are ‘heated areas’. Add approx 36 square metres or 388 square feet for double garage). Then compare with current new Auckland prices …

Pulte Homes Suburban Development Phoenix Arizona

https://www.pulte.com/homes/arizona/phoenix/florence/parkside-at-anthem-at-merrill-ranch-7739#CommunityDetailsView

… Distribute & discuss (PARTICULARLY WITH TEACHERS) … thank you …
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April 10, 2018 8:35am
- KiWombat
  
  Crap story Hugh. This person chooses to live in Thames and commute to Auckland. Must have shit for brains if she/he is now complaining about it.
  
  There are oodles of affordable homes closer to Auckland than Thames, so this is a lifestyle choice – not an economic one !
  
  Perhaps you should report her to CYFS if she really is getting her kids out of bed at 2:50 in the morning to go to school – that reeks of child abuse ! If you have any form of social conscience then report this woman !
  
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  April 10, 2018 8:39am
  - Hugh Pavletich
    
    Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
    Ardern and Twyford are betting their futures on voters backing their zealotry | Wayne Mapp | The Spinoff
    
    https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/09-04-2018/ardern-and-twyford-are-betting-their-futures-on-voters-backing-their-zealotry/
    
    The stakes of the next election can be found in the recently announced housing plan for Unitec and a transport blueprint that prioritises trains and bikes over cars. Labour is moving into the dangerous territory of telling people how they should live, writes (former) National minister Wayne Mapp … read more via hyperlink above …
    
    … earlier important report …
    
    Rodney Dickens says section prices are the key to solving the housing affordability problem, not higher density around transport hubs. He warns against force-feeding in areas that won’t deliver the intended outcome
    
    https://www.interest.co.nz/opinion/92556/rodney-dickens-says-section-prices-are-key-solving-housing-affordability-problem-not
    
    Maybe reflecting vested interests and complacency, National’s housing policies did nothing to solve the affordability problem.
    
    In the case of Auckland this is evidenced by section prices having increased 72% since the first tranche of Special Housing Areas was approved in 2013.
    
    Labour is adopting a broader and more hands-on approach to addressing the housing affordability problem including proposing some policies that have the potential to address the most pressing problem: excessive section prices. … read more via hyperlink above …
    
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    April 10, 2018 8:53am
    - Hugh Pavletich
      
      Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
      Toronto house sales and prices tank as new lending rules bite – MacroBusiness Australia
      
      https://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2018/04/toronto-house-sales-prices-tank-new-lending-rules-bite/
      
      By Leith van Onselen
      
      The wheels continue to fall off Toronto’s housing market, according to the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB): read more via hyperlink above …
      
      Access further MacroBusiness Australia articles … https://www.macrobusiness.com.au/
      
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      April 10, 2018 9:16am
      - Hugh Pavletich
        
        Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
        Housing incentives fail to ease Sydney’s affordability crisis | Cities | The Guardian
        
        https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/apr/09/housing-incentives-fail-to-ease-sydneys-affordability-crisis
        
        Government incentives have failed to entice property developers to build affordable housing in Australia’s most overpriced market, leading to the construction of just 1,287 affordable homes, or roughly 0.5% of total supply, in eight years.
        
        The finding, contained in a significant study by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (Ahuri), has prompted renewed criticism of the New South Wales government’s efforts to combat the housing affordability crisis in Sydney.
        
        The city was rated the second “least affordable” in the world behind Hong Kong and surging house prices, stagnant wages and decade-long waits for social housing are putting enormous strain on low-income groups. The crisis has seen homelessness soar to record levels across the state, jumping from 33.9 homeless people per 10,000 people in 2006 to 50.4 in 2016, according to Australia’s most recent census.
        .
        .
        ‘The Property Boom Is Officially Over … ‘ Martin North of Digital Financial Analytics …
        
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ihFdqe8ebc
        .
        .
        THE URBAN CONTAINMENT EFFECT (ZONING EFFECT) ON AUSTRALIAN HOUSE PRICES (RBA Report) … WENDELL COX … NEW GEOGRAPHY
        
        http://www.newgeography.com/content/005921-the-urban-containment-effect-zoning-effect-australian-house-prices
        
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        April 10, 2018 10:01am
      - Nostradamus
        
        Hugh:
        
        Your short comment is much better – but there’s no need to keep repeating yourself!
        
        Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
        
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        April 10, 2018 1:50pm
  - KKKKatee
    
    She needs to get a job in Thames then. This is bullshit. Stupid woman.
    
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    April 10, 2018 9:24am
    - srylands
      
      Yes I wonder how the media get hold of these people.
      
      Hundreds of people chew up three hours daily commuting from the Wairarapa to Wellington. I know a few. It has nothing to do with house prices. It is a lifestyle choice.
      
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      April 10, 2018 9:51am
      - KKKKatee
        
        Yes, I reckon this is a ‘non-story’ just like the stories of people living in garages etc. The decision this Bimbo has made over her work arrangements are hers and hers alone. No point blaming any Govt for this. And yet some silly little ‘reporter’ thinks there’s a story in this and, in reality, there isn’t. And she’s supposed to be a teacher? They’re supposed to be reasonably intelligent aren’t they? This one appears to be pretty damned dumb.
        
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        April 10, 2018 10:49am
      - Komata
        
        KW (and others)
        
        As I pointed out yesterday, same letter, same answer, same anonymity.
        
        Yet had we been lodging a complaint because we were Maori, Muslim, Female or… and had been ‘offended’ by these ‘Old White men’ then rest assured , the reply would have been far more ‘encouraging’ and proceedings would no doubt have been being considerd.
        
        If the ‘form’ letter is a reflection of the corporate culture, then perhaps the CEO should be being investigated.
        
        BTW, the following is from the ‘Commissions’ own website: it might be of interest. Note specifically Numbers 5 and 7: The very things that have been complained about are actually illegal, yet we get palmed off with a ‘form’ letter which, by its wording would seem to make a mockery of the law itself!!
        
        And also raises the question: WHO is making that sort of decision? The buck stops where…?
        
        Herewith the HRC statement:
        _______________
        
        The Human Rights Act 1993 makes it unlawful to discriminate based on:
        
        Sex – includes pregnancy and childbirth, and discrimination against transgender and intersex people because of their sex or gender identity.
        Marital status – includes marriages and civil unions that have ended.
        Religious belief – not limited to traditional or mainstream religions.
        Ethical belief – not having a religious belief.
        Colour, race, or ethnic or national origins – includes nationality or citizenship.
        Disability – including physical, psychiatric, intellectual or psychological disability or illness.
        Age – people are protected from age discrimination if they are over 16 years old.
        Political opinion – including not having a political opinion.
        Employment status – being unemployed, on a benefit or on ACC. It does not include being employed or being on national superannuation.
        Family status – includes not being responsible for children or other dependants.
        Sexual orientation – being heterosexual, homosexual, lesbian or bisexual.
        These grounds apply to a person’s past, present or assumed circumstances. For example, it is unlawful to discriminate against someone because they have a mental illness, had one in the past, or someone assumes they have a mental illness.
        
        The prohibited grounds for discrimination are covered in detail in part two of the Human Rights Act.
        
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        April 10, 2018 11:58am
      - Komata
        
        About 20 years ago, a new family moved into our area (200 km south of Auckland) and although Mum and the children were always ‘in sight’ we could never work out where Dad was.
        
        Enquiries over time revealed that Dad was working in South Auckland and commuting there and back daily; taking 2-3 hours to do so. He would leave at around 0100 to get to work on time.
        
        At the time it was a ‘wonder’ but now it has become so common-place as to not elicit local comment.
        
        The reason was simply one of economics; they couldn’t afford to live in Auckland, and despite the increased wear and tear on their car and the associated costs of fuel etc. they obviously felt it was a viable option.
        
        Interestingly, as Auckland house prices continue to climb, towns further south are also experiencing the same ‘commuter’ phenomenon, and I have heard that people are even ‘commuting’ from Tauranga to Auckland on a daily basis.
        
        No doubt the service stations and garages are profitting as a result..
        
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        April 10, 2018 12:08pm
  - Odakyu-sen
    
    Maybe she could move to Kingseat… although this whole region is being developed for Papakura-intersection-clogging housing.
    
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    April 10, 2018 10:53am
- VicParking
  
  What’s so special about teachers. Thousand of other people have to buy houses and travel to work…. but they dont work from 9 to 3 and have holidays all year and get paid to travel to Rarotonga. And don’t tell me otherwise. I know teachers who are home by 4 each day and spend the school holidays moaning about how hard their $55k a year job is.
  
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  April 10, 2018 8:43am
  - lifesgood
    
    Yep, you’ve hit the nail on the head. Not only do they get 12 week’s holiday on full pay!! But they have the temerity to also take “teacher only days”. They couldn’t give a stuff as to how difficult that is for working parents.
    
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    April 10, 2018 8:54am
    - RW Capitalist
      
      Thats not the half of it.
      Read their collective agreement.
      Penal rates and other benefits for out of town “work”
      Sabbatical every 5 years of 1 year is available
      One semester at University (I think every 3 years)
      Several pay increments, available every year, within a pay structure, you can then apply to be promoted to the next pay level.
      So when they say they haven’t had a pay rise, they mean the pay STRUCTURE hasn’t increased, but individual teachers are mostly paid more year on year.
      
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      April 10, 2018 9:57am
      - Steve (North Shore)
        
        I want to know who is footing the fuel bill for all of that travel?
        
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        April 10, 2018 10:40am
    - VicParking
      
      Don’t count the teachers only days. They go to school in the morning and all bond at a wine bar in the afternoon.
      
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      April 10, 2018 10:31am
    - kowtow
      
      “Teacher only days.”
      
      Only ever on a Monday or Friday , how odd !
      
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      April 10, 2018 2:06pm
  - RW Capitalist
    
    Some teachers are dedicated and work hard, they are under appreciated.
    Most only call it a profession and only play lip service to the description.
    I worked at a school for a while , about 80% barely arrived on time and were first out, almost running over the students to get away.
    For this 80% it is the best paid part-time JOB in the country.
    
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    April 10, 2018 9:51am
    - lifesgood
      
      I agree. I also worked at a high school. What a joke. All the rubbish you read about overworked teachers is just union fed guff. I rarely ever saw a teacher at school during their 12 weeks holiday. Many of them were overseas on holiday, and yes, out the school as fast as they could at the end of the day. Most people don’t realise that high school teachers have a number of non teaching periods a week. If they choose to sit in the staff room gossiping during that time and then have to do work at home, that’s their choice. Also, senior teachers get more like 16 weeks holiday a year on full pay. They stop teaching senior classes in early November and don’t start again until February. They are paid extremely well for the hours worked.
      
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      April 10, 2018 1:01pm
- Paulus
  
  Young teacher who chooses to live in Thames is an example of the stupidity in the hole she exists.
  She is of course a single young mother, has two children, rents, and has a student loan.
  FFS what the hell does she think she is doing with having two children and not completed her student loan.
  Thames is a nice place to live but I am sure that with the hundreds of vacancies we are told continually by the Unions does she not get a job more locally.
  She is obviously not long out of nappies herself.
  Silly Union base media publicist.
  
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  April 10, 2018 8:52am
Odakyu-sen

The NZ Herald is really becoming even more of a tabloid with silly articles like this one.
“An expert claims two of Stonehenge’s largest stones had been in place at the site for millions of years before Neolithic people built the monument.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12029278
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April 10, 2018 8:37am
- VicParking
  
  They, as usual, don’t read the article just copy and paste headlines. The area is a glacial plane. Stones where picked up and moved very large distances. There are two types of stones at the site, ones that were just had to be moved a few kilometres and others that we’re quarried and move 140km from Wales.
  
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  April 10, 2018 8:50am
Inandout

Viktor Orbán. Maybe we are at last seeing a push back against the madness that is Arab migration to Europe. Even a EU minister has seen the light.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-43697596

‘The election campaign was dominated by immigration, with Mr Orban promising to defend the country’s borders and block migration by Muslims.

In 2015, Hungary built a fence along its borders with Serbia and Croatia to stop illegal migrants.

Mr Orban refused to debate publicly with his opponents or speak to the independent media, speaking instead at rallies for his supporters.

He has promised to cut income taxes and pass pro-growth economic policies.’
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April 10, 2018 8:53am
Paulus

I am sure I am not alone in saying quite emphatically.
Cindy – please stop whinging, whining, disgracing and denigrating both New Zealand and the job Winston gave you, and get on and Govern.
You said you could do everything in 100 days, for crying out loud get on with it and stop bitching how everything is not your fault – sadly I expected better of you.
So far all you have done is form committees, and visit kindergartens.
I sincerely hope you will be a better mother than you are a so called politician.
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April 10, 2018 8:58am
- niggly
  
  Again I must say, they’ve now had “their turn”, but have proved they cannot lead, manage and govern – Opposition is best suited to them, they can play all day long without any responsibilities, they love it there (and they know it)!
  
  Time for the COL to stand-down please and let some responsible adults govern the country!
  
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  April 10, 2018 9:15am
- Komata
  
  Paulus
  
  ‘Cindy’ / ‘Govern’; methinks an oxymoron old chap. She hasn’t a clue, and we’re suffering as a result.
  
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  April 10, 2018 12:13pm
Sideoiler

WTF!
https://www.funnyordie.com/videos/613d1b213a/lickster-cunnilingus-training-app-the-kloons
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April 10, 2018 9:14am
- Tauhei Notts
  
  That is why I like Kiwiblog. There are items of serious political debate, some items of a moronic nature, and then pieces, like what Sideoiler uncovered that are so weird they are incredibly hilarious.
  
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  April 10, 2018 9:37am
  - BrasellBrush
    
    I agree, but should have a NSFW warning….I am still laughing…
    
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    April 10, 2018 3:09pm
Manolo

Mueller wastes no time:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/09/us/politics/fbi-raids-office-of-trumps-longtime-lawyer-michael-cohen.html
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April 10, 2018 9:16am
- Scott
  
  Very disturbed to see this. I guess it’s what special counsels do? Having after a year found no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia the special counsel is looking for a crime, any crime.
  I think Jeff Sessions should unrecuse himself and start supervising the special counsel. The special counsel then needs to report back on the collusion investigation.
  If there was no collusion then his work should be over.
  
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  April 10, 2018 9:55am
  - waripori
    
    Not directly the special counsel. Mueller apparently came across evidence of a crime involving Cohen. He passed the info to the New York authorities who then convinced a judge there was sufficient evidence to issue a warrant to search a lawyers office. That will be a very high bar .
    Could be anything. Might even go back to how Trump got his buildings up in a city where construction is controlled by the mob.
    
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    April 10, 2018 11:10am
    - BananaLlama
      
      If this is true then it is the biggest witch hunt in history. Going after Trumps lawyer because Mueller found unrelated evidence in his Russia investigation which has produced zero evidence of criminal collusion between Trump and Russia.
      Fucking unreal.
      
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      April 10, 2018 11:49am
      - Kimbo
        
        Is arguably nothing new. Richard Nixon’s lawyer, John Dean flipped and spilled his guts to the Ervin Senate hearings during Watergate, but arguably Nixon should have been protected due to lawyer-client confidentiality. Especially as Dean was out to save his own skin. Which included compiling the infamous “Nixon’s enemies list” in the last minutes before he cleaned out his desk in the White House in an attempt to impress those out to get Nixon, and thereby gain Dean’s own immunity from prosecution.
        
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        April 10, 2018 12:05pm
      - All_on_Red
        
        The suggestion is that Cohen didn’t tell his Bank that money he borrowed from them was to be used to pay off Stormy Daniels.
        That’s a form of Bank Fraud.
        
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        April 10, 2018 12:06pm
      - waripori
        
        If Mueller finds evidence of criminal activity involving anyone he would have to pass it on to the relevant authorities. Otherwise it would be a cover up and an ethics breach if not a crime. Up to those authorities what they do with the information.
        Incidentally there is no such thing as criminal collusion. Might be conspiracy or obstruction of justice or even treason but no crime of collusion.
        
        Plenty of evidence of contacts between the Trump camp and Russians and even some convictions . Nothing in the public arena involving Trump himself yet.
        
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        April 10, 2018 12:20pm
      - BananaLlama
        
        Mueller is there to investigate alleged criminal activity between Trump and Russia not to produce evidence for unrelated crimes involving Trumps lawyer. Mueller needs his head pulled in or cut off but at the end of the day this is Sessions fault. He should not have recused himself, by doing so he has allowed Mueller to run amok.
        
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        April 10, 2018 12:35pm
      - virtualmark
        
        BananaLlama,
        
        I think you’ll find that it’s coming …
        
        Or do you want to be bold and assert that there was no conspiracy (legal term) between Trump and Russian actors?
        
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        April 10, 2018 1:07pm
      - BananaLlama
        
        How long before people like you start pulling in Trumps associates for parking violations Virtual? this is way beyond the scope of the initial investigation and i find it disturbing that you would support this kind of behavior from a judiciary.
        Mueller needs to go.
        
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        April 10, 2018 1:13pm
  - G152
    
    It reeks of desperation.
    The ‘special’ prosecutor ?
    In the real world ‘special’ doesn’t mean extraordinary …
    
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    April 10, 2018 12:02pm
- virtualmark
  
  US media saying Cohen is being investigated for bank fraud and campaign finance violations.
  
  Trump threw Cohen under the bus.
  
  As soon as Trump said he did not know of any hush agreement with Stormy Daniels then logically Cohen was not acting as Trump’s attorney. So there is no attorney:client privilege here. And Cohen, as simply Mr Cohen, man at large, has committed campaign finance violations by contributing $130,000 to further Trump’s campaign without declaring it as a donation.
  
  So Trump did this. He had two options:
  1 = acknowledge the Stormy Daniels settlement, but then that proves he is susceptible to blackmail just as the Steele Dossier asserts, or
  2 = deny knowledge of the Stormy Daniels settlement but know that it throws his fixer under the bus
  
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  April 10, 2018 1:03pm
  - Scott
    
    Umm so what the heck does this have to do with Trump and Russia? That’s what is supposed to be investigated!
    This is another reason why special counsels are no good. They put huge resources into the hands of a person to find a crime, any crime.
    That’s fundamentally unjust. I would have thought liberals would be against it? But apparently not – because its Trump!
    
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    April 10, 2018 1:19pm
    - Milhous
      
      No
      
      We are against it because he broke the law paying off a porn Star he was fucking whilst his wife was home breast feeding his son……whadda guy!
      
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      April 10, 2018 1:52pm
      - Scott
        
        Milhous – what nonsense! You are a liberal man. You love all consensual sex between consenting adults. You guys have no morals about adultery and porn stars. Live down to your moral values man!
        
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        April 10, 2018 2:04pm
      - All_on_Red
        
        Milhaus
        Cohen paid Daniels not Trump. Trump has denied all knowledge of the payment
        It’s alleged Daniels and Trump had a one day affair in 2006 but it hasn’t been proven.
        Your confusion aside. If you’re this morally outraged perhaps you should look into the fraudulent behaviour of Avenatti- Daniels lawyer.
        He’s currently under investigation himself.
        https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/stormy-daniels-lawyer-buried-in-allegations-of-shady-business-practices/
        
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        April 10, 2018 2:38pm
      - Milhous
        
        I don’t care that he fucked a porn star….but it shows he’s a liar , a hypocrite and he broke electoral laws.
        
        It shows the Steele dossier was bang on. This weapons grade moron IS vulnerable to blackmail. He just proved it himself.
        
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        April 10, 2018 2:59pm
      - All_on_Red
        
        Trump has denied he had an affair. There’s no proof he did, so you can’t call him a liar over this.
        His lawyer made the payment without Trumps knowledge so Trump hasn’t broken any Electoral Laws.
        I note this is not the first time you’ve shown us how truly fucking dumb you are.
        If there’s any collusion it’s the Russians feeding info via Steele to the Clinton’s and the DNC to get at a Candidate and now President
        That might still bounce back and hurt the Clinton’s and the DNC, Podesta etc.
        Tricky those Russians huh
        
        ?
        
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        April 10, 2018 3:20pm
    - virtualmark
      
      Scott, and also BananaLlama,
      
      Mueller’s probe is not restricted to only looking at potential “collusion” with Russia. It’s free to roam across quite a lot of terrain guided by a series of memos agreed with Deputy AG Rosenstein. You can see some of these memos at https://www.emptywheel.net/2018/04/03/there-are-almost-certainly-other-dag-rosenstein-memos/ (some have been released via Paul Manafort’s law suits).
      
      It is all but 100% certain that Mueller has Trump for obstruction of justice, money laundering and conspiracy to defraud the United States. All of those areas are within Mueller’s purview.
      
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      April 10, 2018 2:57pm
      - All_on_Red
        
        ‘100% certain’
        ?
        
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        April 10, 2018 3:17pm
      - virtualmark
        
        [Shrug]
        
        Just from public information you can clearly see enough evidence of obstruction of justice and of conspiracy to defraud the United States. And Mueller’s working from far more than just the public information.
        
        You’d need to subpoena Deutsche Bank to conclusively prove money laundering, but accounts indicate Mueller has done that.
        
        What I’m not certain about is:
        * will Mueller be allowed to provide a final report that is made public (66%?),
        * will the Dems win the House in November and then embark on a searching investigation that Trump cannot stop (90%?),
        * will a political deal be done to impeach him on minor charges (obstruction of justice) while hushing up the worst – almost treasonous – charges such as conspiracy to defraud the US (75%?)
        
        For Trump to survive he needs to be able to sack Mueller without blowback, and then have the R’s win the House in November. I’d put those odds at about 10% at the moment. But one thing Trump has proven over his career is that he lies, cheats, but survives like a cockroach. So I don’t discount the 10% possibility.
        
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        April 10, 2018 3:58pm
      - BananaLlama
        
        Yes it is quite certain that Mueller has been given the go ahead to form a witch hunt “Show me the man and i will find the crime” might fly in Zimbabwe but it doesn’t down here. Mueller should be very careful or he will get strung up on perjury.
        
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        April 10, 2018 4:09pm
      - virtualmark
        
        Your problem is that you’re letting your emotions run ahead of your brain.
        
        Mueller is smart and he’s thorough. He’s not going to step outside his jurisdiction. He’s not going to break the law. He is going to cross every t and dot every i.
        
        So you can rant all you like about witch hunts, and perjury, and so on … but all that tells me is that you’re not really keeping up with the facts and that you’re not thinking this through dispassionately.
        
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        April 10, 2018 4:40pm
      - BananaLlama
        
        Your problem is that you’re letting your emotions run ahead of your brain
        
        You are the one who thinks we are on twitter chap.
        
        #DeepState
        
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        April 10, 2018 4:46pm
      - virtualmark
        
        So you’re ill-informed and humourless too huh?
        
        Good for you.
        
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        April 10, 2018 4:50pm
      - Scott
        
        Virtualmark – you used to be a good contributor to this blog but alas, like many, you have completely lost it on all things Trump. Once again the investigation is supposed to be about Trump’s treasonous collusion with Russia to steal the election from Hillary Clinton. Not any of those other things.
        There is still no evidence of any collusion.
        For the special counsel to go on a mission to find any other offence to get trump on is a breach of natural justice.
        It’s a terrible breach of justice and you or any other informed commentator has no business supporting this witch hunt.
        
        Now the FBI informed by Mueller has raided Trump’s lawyers house! Which is outrageous when the Trump campaign has bent over backwards to give all information to the special counsel.
        There are forces trying to overthrow the democratically elected president of the United States.
        And if you’re not concerned about that, well you damn well should be!
        
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        April 10, 2018 5:07pm
      - virtualmark
        
        Scott,
        
        I’ll happily confess to being a never Trumper. I don’t think he has the principles, intellect or morals for the job. Everything he has touched in his life has turned to shit, and now he is the President …
        
        But one of two things is right. Either:
        1. I’ve lost it as you say, or
        2. I’m watching events dispassionately and putting in the effort to keep up with what Mueller is doing.
        
        So far I’ve not seen anyone on this blog who’s keeping up with the facts. Lots of Trumphadi’s wanting to believe Trump is innocent and Mueller’s on a witch-hunt. But no one – including you – who’s dispassionately across the detail.
        
        Your lens says the FBI raiding Cohen is an outrageous travesty. Well, if so then you should expect – and I would expect – to see law suits flying and Mueller on charges. So let’s check back in a few weeks and see if that’s how it pans out.
        
        Meanwhile … a question … in your witch-hunt conspiracy theory just who is pulling Mueller’s strings? Hilary? Bernie? The “Deep State”? Tin foil manufacturers?
        
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        April 10, 2018 5:38pm
      - virtualmark
        
        Scott,
        
        There is still no evidence of any collusion.
        
        Okay. Here’s just one example, via a series of questions you will never hear on Hannity.
        
        Q: Who is Emin Agalarov?
        Q: Who is Aras Agalarov?
        Q: Who is Artem Klyushin?
        Q: Who is Alferova Yulya?
        Q: Who did Trump and those four Russians speak with via speakerphone on 9 November 2013?
        Q: Why is Chuck Labella important in connection with these names?
        Q: Who is Herman Gref?
        Q: What did Herman Gref do after 9 November 2013? How did it overlap with what Emin Agalarov did?
        Q: What did Konstantin Rykov supply on 10 November 2013? (Hint: What is Dosug?)
        Q: When did Alferova Yulya tweet “I’m sure @realDonaldTrump will be great President! We’ll support you from Russia! America needs ambitious leader!” (Okay, it was *22 January 2014*)
        Q: What did Konstantin Rykov write on Facebook on 12 November 2016?
        
        Mueller has asked those questions. He has flipped the people that know those answers.
        
        And that’s just one of at least a dozen events of significance.
        
        But hey, you keep plunging your head in the sand and say there’s no collusion. I’m sure you’re right. I have full confidence that you’re across the detail.
        
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        April 10, 2018 5:57pm
      - virtualmark
        
        Scott,
        
        Three supplementaries I should have thought to include:
        
        Q: What is the relationship between Artem Klyushin and Konstantin Rykov?
        Q: What is Konstantin Rykov’s current position?
        Q: Who is Kate Sarka and what can she tell us about Trump’s state of mind on 9/10 November 2013?
        
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        April 10, 2018 6:20pm
      - Scott
        
        Virtualmark – absolutely no idea about the answers to your questions?
        However I read and watch widely on this issue. So far not CNN or any of the major newspapers appear to have any concrete evidence of actual collusion?
        So these people may be important or they are probably not. Otherwise my boy Anderson Cooper would have been all over it.
        But look I think the whole collusion story is BS. I think the mainstream media know its BS but they want to pull down Trump at any cost.
        Regarding the forces wanting to pull down Trump include the democrats, many Republicans, the Washington bureaucracy, the entire mainstream media and all those big progressive donors, like George Soros.
        But look, if those names are found to mean anything we will see.
        But for me, I respectfully am still of the view that you have lost it ?
        
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        April 10, 2018 7:04pm
      - virtualmark
        
        So really what you’re saying is that your strategy boils down to wishful thinking and bogeymen (like Soros).
        
        Me, I’d rather go with the people investigating the hard facts, even if that leads to uncomfortable truths.
        
        But yeah, I’m the one that’s lost it …
        
        PS I, and many others, know the answers to those questions I posed. And none of the answers are good for Trump. All of them point to collusion/conspiracy. And there’s at least ten other similar situations that also point to a coordinated Trump-Russia campaign. But yeah, you keep telling yourself there’s no proof of collusion. Ignorance is ~~bliss~~ ignorance.
        
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        April 10, 2018 8:01pm
      - Scott
        
        Umm, you don’t have a list of facts. You have a list of questions. But look lay out your best evidence that Trump colluded with Russia to steal the election from Hillary Clinton? I’ve seen none. So if you are so sure, what is your best evidence?
        Also do you truly believe that Donald trump colluded with Russia to steal the election? Do you truly believe that?
        
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        April 10, 2018 8:51pm
      - virtualmark
        
        Scott,
        
        You have a list of questions
        
        But people have already run to ground public information that answers those questions. What that public information shows is that Trump made the Russians aware of his intent to run for President in 2016 on the 9th of November 2013. And that their work to help him started then.
        
        Meanwhile Mueller has subpoenaed private information that provides far more detail about Trump’s weekend in Moscow than that public information. I expect Mueller has that documented, notarised, beyond-reasonable-doubt ready-for-Court … because that’s his job.
        
        And like I said before, that’s just one of at least a dozen events between the Trump campaign and Russia.
        
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        April 11, 2018 5:34pm
    - chiz
      
      Scott:
      
      Umm so what the heck does this have to do with Trump and Russia?
      
      This has been explained multiple times on this blog. One of the reasons for going after unrelated crimes is to see if you get the people involved to flip.
      
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      April 10, 2018 5:32pm
  - virtualmark
    
    MAGA.
    
    My Attorney Got Arrested.
    
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    April 10, 2018 2:59pm
- virtualmark
  
  Note too that the warrant was obtained from the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York … who is *a Trump appointee*.
  
  Geoffrey Berman. Republican. Trump appointee. Donated to Trump’s 2016 campaign to the full extent allowable. Former law partner of Rudy Guiliani (who will be in the poo before this is all done)
  
  #DeepState
  
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  April 10, 2018 1:05pm
kowtow

WTF has the political class brought London to.

‘Police have released the footage of the moment a 51-year-old man was attacked, apparently randomly, in Trafalgar Square, in a bid for witnesses.

Desmond O’Beirne, 51, from Westminster was attacked outside the National Gallery at around 00:25 on Saturday, 3rd June 2017.’

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/04/09/police-release-shocking-cctv-moment-51-year-old-attacked-killed/
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April 10, 2018 9:17am
- Scott
  
  Well the problem is a Muslim mayor who has no idea. Cutbacks on police. And a police force that has become so pc that they are useless at stopping crime.
  And lots of random immigrants who are poorly assimilated and prone to violence.
  What Great Britain could do is close the border. Allow only immigration on merit. Reinstate proper law and order policing. And start deporting people who cause trouble.
  Those things would help a great deal.
  
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  April 10, 2018 9:59am
  - G152
    
    What better place for a muslim apologist than being mayor and able to influence the fake news…
    
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    April 10, 2018 12:04pm
  - stephieboy
    
    “Cutbacks on police. And a police force that has become so pc that they are useless at stopping crime.”
    
    Under Theresa May’s watch!
    
    http://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-34877031/police-cuts-terror-response-warning-to-theresa-may
    
    2 6
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    April 10, 2018 2:10pm
    - Scott
      
      No argument from me stephieboy. Theresa May is as useless as, please forgive the indelicate expression, tits on a bull.
      
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      April 10, 2018 2:36pm
      - All_on_Red
        
        Sadiq Khan said in 2015 he wanted to reduce Stop and Search.
        Looks like he’s backtracked on that now. It used to work
        
        From the Met
        Stop and search remains a hugely important police power for protecting Londoners, tackling crime and keeping our streets safe. It is an invaluable tool – especially in relation to knife crime; resulting in over 3,500 arrests for weapon possession and for taking several thousand weapons off the streets of London each year.
        ‘. Presently 32 per cent, almost one in three of all searches, result in the officer’s suspicion being confirmed and an illegal object found or a relevant crime detected. Our arrest rate is now 20%, up from 8 per cent in 2011.’
        https://www.met.police.uk/advice-and-information/stop-and-search/how-we-use-stop-and-search/
        
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        April 10, 2018 2:50pm
RF

I really enjoy hearing Mike Hosking put the commie PM through the hoops.

She is obviously unsettled by his questioning and must dread Tuesday mornings.

Cutting through the bluster it is so obvious that Labour over committed their pre-election promises and as a result have blown the surplus.

You hear of people winning lotto and blowing it all in 6 months… that’s what this lot is doing.

Steven Joyce was spot on…..
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April 10, 2018 9:27am
- Manolo
  
  PM Ardern comes across hesitant every time.
  
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  April 10, 2018 9:44am
- Keeping Stock
  
  Actually, whilst Joyce was right about the fiscal hole, he underestimated the depth of it by half.
  
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  April 10, 2018 9:47am
- Kimbo
  
  Hmm. Cindy struggling with Mike Hosking. How to fix that? Ah, yes, as per your recent post, RF, have a left-wing activist denounce him as a “rich white male”.
  
  https://thestandard.org.nz/mike-hosking-reckons-minimum-wage-increase-will-be-terrible-for-everyone/
  
  Problem sorted… ?
  
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  April 10, 2018 9:49am
- Captain Mainwaring
  
  The big difference with Hosking’s interviews with the airhead compared to those with Key or English is that with the latter two you could be guaranteed that their answers would be sharp, to the point and interesting to hear. In contrast, as soon as the airhead starts talking her waffle one has an immediate need to go to sleep.
  
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  April 10, 2018 9:52am
Kimbo

I’m hoping this is a delayed April 1st announcement, but it looks like the Kiwi King of bland over-rated music, Neil Finn will join Fleetwood Mac:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=12029456

Everyone knows that if it’s anything but the classic line up -Fleetwood, McVie, McVie, Buckingham and Nicks – it’s not the real deal.
15 1
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April 10, 2018 9:31am
- Longknives
  
  Noooooooooooo…
  
  10 1
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  April 10, 2018 9:54am
  - Kimbo
    
    Yeah, but the good news is, based on past form it will blow over eventually and Buckingham will return. Fleetwood Mac’s dramas make The Beatles break up look like a love in. Or the Sex Pistols well-managed. ?
    
    A few years go Buckingham vetoed the idea of bringing Sheryl Crow in to replace the “I don’t want to play anymore” Christine McVie, so this is just another variation on the personal, professional, creative and financial break ups they have been conducting among themselves for 43 years!
    
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    April 10, 2018 9:59am
    - fernglas
      
      Hey now. Don’t dream,it’s over. You can go your own way. Big love
      
      7 1
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      April 10, 2018 11:35am
- Longknives
  
  I understand Campbell coming on board to replace Buckingham- He is a freaking great Guitarist but what possible purpose could Neil Finn serve??
  
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  April 10, 2018 9:56am
  - Poppa
    
    Yeah it does seem rather weird.
    
    Buckingham is certainly a great man on guitar & quite hard to replicate
    
    6 1
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    April 10, 2018 10:23am
  - fernglas
    
    Vocals, although it is hard to see him tearing off the gymnastics that Buckingham did in his live version of “Big Love”
    
    6 1
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    April 10, 2018 10:59am
MCos

The other day Hosking said idiots crashed their cars.
Yesterday he crashed his car.
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April 10, 2018 9:56am
- RW Capitalist
  
  So he has joined the club.
  
  9 1
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  April 10, 2018 9:58am
- Nigel Kearney
  
  What is reasonable on the road is is not the same as what is reasonable on a race track, and I think you know that. Please try harder not to mislead people.
  
  15 1
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  April 10, 2018 10:16am
  - MCos
    
    “Since joining Hampton Downs and taking my car round a track at 220km/h I have not crashed, will not crash, and have concluded I am vastly less likely to be in trouble on a track than I am on a road. Why? Because there are no idiots.”
    
    Michael Hosking 4-April, 2018
    
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    April 10, 2018 1:36pm
    - Captain Mainwaring
      
      And how does a 2016 model car have a complete brake failure?
      Oh, it’s Italian so it might.
      
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      April 10, 2018 3:49pm
- Biscuit
  
  MCos, it’s always good when those who never err suddenly, erm, err!
  
  When I was at College we had a boring Maths teacher who used to get on my wick with statements like ‘I don’t make mistakes!’
  
  I began complaining a list of all the mistakes he didn’t make, ha.
  
  And the School Magazine actually printcd my letter to them detailing them.
  
  We still exchange Christmas cards now. NOT.
  
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  April 10, 2018 11:08am
Rodney Randall

https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/102930849/christchurch-mayor-adamant-citys-water-supply-will-be-chlorinefree-in-12-months-despite-report-saying-could-take-3-years

“The council has no money in its budget to pay for the work, so the council would have to review its entire capital programme to find a way. Increasing rates was not an option, Dalziel said.”

The C.C.C. has neglected maintenance of Core Infrastructure in preference of feelz.

Hundreds of millions wasted on feelz at the expense of core infrastructure maintenance.

In other news:

https://ccc.govt.nz/news-and-events/newsline/show/2544

Maggot Dalziel is “delighted that moves are underway to reinstate the well-beings, recognising the vital work we do at a city level to deliver social, economic, environmental and cultural outcomes for communities.”

Local government is a CANCER
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April 10, 2018 9:59am
publicwatchdog

Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Halt the forced sale of Penny Bright’s house. | TOKO

Petition to Auckland Mayor Phil Goff.

Please SIGN and SHARE?

Thanks!

Penny Bright

https://www.toko.org.nz/petitions/halt-the-forced-sale-of-penny-bright-s-house
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April 10, 2018 10:03am
- Captain Mainwaring
  
  Fuck off and pack up your junk.
  
  34 2
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  April 10, 2018 10:11am
  - stigie
    
    Too late to pay your 9 years of debt to the Auckland Council now Penny…..
    
    You’re fucked !~
    
    27 2
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    April 10, 2018 10:21am
    - thedavincimode
      
      That offer of accommodation from Johnboy must be looking pretty good now stigie. But can she retrieve the relationship?
      
      16 0
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      April 10, 2018 10:30am
      - stigie
        
        She should take up the offer davinci, i hear he’s turned his sheep dip into a eco friendly jacuzzi !~
        
        16 0
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        April 10, 2018 10:37am
      - JibberJabber
        
        He`ll probably have to run her thru the sheep dip first before he gets into the Jacuzzi with her.
        
        12 0
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        April 10, 2018 11:07am
- Rich Prick
  
  Snigger. I see Donald D. and Mickey M. support you.
  
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  April 10, 2018 10:24am
  - KiWombat
    
    – – and Yogi B. !
    
    Sounds like Disneyland supports her alternate universe !
    
    18 0
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    April 10, 2018 10:32am
  - Nermal
    
    And Nelson Muntz “Ha Ha”
    
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    April 10, 2018 11:01am
- thedavincimode
  
  penny, a couple of things are going to happen.
  
  First, your house will be sold. Your begging campaign isn’t even targeting what you owe.
  Second, you’re going to get a minimum 25% knocked off your price because the buyer will factor in the risk attributable to your stupidity.
  
  You’ve refused to confront reality throughout this; you’ve wasted public money with your silly litigation and failed shake down action against the council. Even so, I feel a little bit sorry for you in that you’re a victim of you’re own stupidity but you’ve brought this all on yourself through your silly grandstanding. The best thing you can do is tidy the place up, let people through and make it clear to the agents that you are going to behave properly and wont create problems post-sale. In light of your public comments, you’re unfortunately still going to suffer a pricing discount despite behaving yourself, but it won’t be as bad as it will be if you continue to behave like an idiot. There are hundreds of thousands of dollars at stake here so do yourself a favour and wise up.
  
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  April 10, 2018 10:26am
  - stigie
    
    I have tears in my eyes davinci !~
    
    19 0
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    April 10, 2018 10:30am
    - thedavincimode
      
      You’ve seen the property then stigie?
      
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      April 10, 2018 10:33am
  - Rich Prick
    
    25%? I’d say closer to 50%. It’s hardly staged for a sale, it looks like a bag lady’s dumping ground. Thankfully we can’t smell it.
    
    19 0
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    April 10, 2018 10:30am
    - thedavincimode
      
      That would have to be the range given the reasonable expectation that she will commence yet another round of batshit crazy litigation. I expect vacant possession (assuming that’s being offered) becomes the Court’s problem, not the purchaser’s, but then a delay in taking possession would inevitably follow
      
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      April 10, 2018 10:39am
      - sooty
        
        Has anyone got a van, she can move into?
        
        11 0
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        April 10, 2018 10:50am
      - Poppa
        
        I think Penny is about to find out that all the “friends” she thought she had won’t have any room for her to stay
        
        14 1
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        April 10, 2018 11:20am
- Dave Mann
  
  Idiot.
  
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  April 10, 2018 10:26am
- Steve (North Shore)
  
  See?
  I Spray and Walk Away
  Rubbish stays
  I walk away
  
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  April 10, 2018 10:37am
- VicParking
  
  Penny nothing to to with the Council
  
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  April 10, 2018 10:38am
- srylands
  
  You don’t have a shit show of stopping the sale. Why don’t you just pay what you owe, and live to fight another day? If your house is nominally worth $1 million, you will be lucky to walk away from this with 400k. Surely some of your supporters are rational and have tried to talk some sense into you?
  
  I think your policy obsessions are totally crazy. But I don’t like to see you have your life wrecked. Especially when it is totally avoidable.
  
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  April 10, 2018 10:49am
  - sooty
    
    It’s going to be interesting to see what she does get for house. After all it is public knowledge. It may just be a couple of months for it to be listed on the websites.
    
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    April 10, 2018 10:54am
  - Odakyu-sen
    
    But if her life is wrecked, then she will be a victim! (With the attendant moral superiority.)
    
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    April 10, 2018 11:01am
    - Swifty
      
      She will have realised her lifelong dream – to become a martyr.
      
      15 0
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      April 10, 2018 11:30am
      - RF
        
        Yep… Joan of Arc will have to share her stake with Penny.
        
        In the old days it was lady’s a plate… now it’s a cord of firewood.
        
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        April 10, 2018 7:22pm
  - thedavincimode
    
    One of her many problems is that no bank in its right mind would lend her the money even though in relative terms it’s a trifling amount. She’s reduced herself to help from supporters and she’s burnt plenty of them off by all accounts as well.
    
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    April 10, 2018 11:21am
- Nermal
  
  Karma’s a bitch, isn’t it.
  (aka the chickens are finally coming home to roost)
  
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  April 10, 2018 10:56am
- KevOB
  
  You can’t fight the High Court Penny. It has rules and ancient privilege. The petition won’t do it. The council does not have the right to withdraw without satisfying the Court that the amount owing has been actually paid. The Court is now in charge.
  
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  April 10, 2018 10:58am
  - fernglas
    
    I’ve read the petition. It confuses an explanation of the rating sale process with the Council’s policy. If the process is wrongly carried out, the remedy is in the Courts. If the policy is wrongly enforced, then there may (just may) be a basis for judicial review. I don’t see either, so I won’t be adding to the 353 signatures already gathered. And for that reason, I’m out.
    
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    April 10, 2018 11:58am
  - Jack5
    
    The sell-up could be a blessing for you, Penny.
    
    After clearing the unpaid rates you may end up with considerably more cash than you would have otherwise if the Auckland property bubble bursts.
    
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    April 10, 2018 12:59pm
- lofty
  
  Sigh….
  
  5 0
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  April 10, 2018 11:57am
- UrbanNeocolonialist
  
  The wheels of justice grind slow, but ever so fine.
  
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  April 10, 2018 12:22pm
- Nostradamus
  
  Penny:
  
  Petition to Auckland Mayor Phil Goff.
  Please SIGN and SHARE?
  
  Oh. A petition. How nice. So I take it you lied when you said this on your Facebook page on the Easter weekend?
  
  Hans Heumann: Lets all go to barfood&thompson and tell them, I will never list with them because of this proposed sale. And where can we deposit that money?
  
  Penny Bright: I have to sort out a solicitor’s account – hopefully on Tuesday
  
  So you haven’t set up a solicitor’s trust account then? That means you have no financial means (or intention) of paying your rates debt then?
  
  Your day of reckoning is nearly here!
  
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  April 10, 2018 1:58pm
  - stigie
    
    I believe there’s going to be a movie made “Eviction of the hovel”.
    
    6 0
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    April 10, 2018 3:17pm
    - RF
      
      What about the wicked witch from the north is dead.
      
      Has a nice ring to it.
      
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      April 10, 2018 7:45pm
Manolo

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-09/bulls-lose-nerve-and-another-rally-crumbles-on-a-volatile-monday

After rallying as much as 1.8% through the first four hours and threatening to wipe out last week’s decline, the S&P 500 rolled over at 2 p.m., erasing about two-thirds of its earlier advance. At the end of the day, the benchmark measure was up 0.3%.

The cascade of selling coincided with news that the FBI conducted a raid at the office of President Donald Trump’s longtime lawyer, Michael Cohen, who has been a key figure in several legal issues including the investigations into Russian election meddling and a payment to an adult film actress.
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April 10, 2018 10:07am
- fernglas
  
  It’s hard to deny the Trump factor in considering volatility in the markets in both directions. That an unrelated search could cause Wall Street to drop so noticeably and quickly doesn’t say much for current stability.
  
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  April 10, 2018 10:31am
  - Kimbo
    
    If it is related it will be the big fund managers moving their investments around in response to the need to avoid short-term losses, and with one eye on the news headlines. Same as happened in the UK when the Brexit vote occurred, the financial ruin of Britain was predicted, and a few days later the market bounced back. On such…silliness is “market confidence” built in part.
    
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    April 10, 2018 10:35am
DifferentPerspective

No one does sexism and racism like a socialist does

So, late night “comedian” Jimmy Kimmel is in hot water for mocking the first lady’s accent (of course the privileged, white male who only speaks a single language forgot to mention that FLOTUS is a polyglot speaking five tongues).

The left is so full of hate and bile, and so lacking in self-awareness that they are blind to the fact that they are the greatest perpetrators of all the evils that they accuse others of.

Still it’s good to know that it is not just NZ that is plagued with very unfunny so called “comedians”.
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April 10, 2018 10:11am
- Kimbo
  
  No one does sexism and racism like a socialist does
  
  No, some Kiwibloggers far exceeded that effort by Kimmel when referring to Michelle Obama.
  
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  April 10, 2018 10:16am
- stephieboy
  
  DP
  
  “No one does sexism and racism like a socialist does”
  
  Unlike this kind of thing,
  
  https://twitter.com/emmyrossum/status/797958368593903616/photo/1?tfw_site=teenvogue&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.teenvogue.com%2Fstory%2Femmy-rossum-anti-semitic-tweets-trump-supporters
  
  And what the former first lady and her husband had to endure ( including posters on Kiwiblog )
  
  https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jul/27/michelle-obama-wounded-racism-first-lady
  
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  April 10, 2018 10:23am
  - KiWombat
    
    Oi Ralph – you’re missing the caucus meeting !
    
    Don’t forget your family reunion at the zoo today !
    
    12 2
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    April 10, 2018 10:37am
    - sooty
      
      Better not do that the Wellington ones would haven been bitten when they tried.
      
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      April 10, 2018 10:46am
  - Salacious Crumb
    
    Stephieboy – so how is it you reconcile labeling all and sundry who have differing views as “alt-right”; a derogatory and obviously inaccurate label which you know will elicit a negative response. Does that not make you a hypocrite?
    
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    April 10, 2018 11:31am
  - Nev.
    
    Teen vogue? Why doesn’t it surprise me you follow that site?
    Also didn’t you get banned from Kiwiblog for posting pictures of the FLOTUS titties? You’re hardly one to lecture people on impropriety.
    Nev.
    
    9 2
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    April 10, 2018 12:57pm
    - Nostradamus
      
      Nev:
      
      Also didn’t you get banned from Kiwiblog for posting pictures of the FLOTUS titties?
      
      It was worse than that. Maggy summarised the situation:
      
      Good one, stephieboy.
      Why stop at posting photos of the First Lady’s Labia majora on someone else’s blog? Perhaps you have other photos of ladies’ bits you would like to post here.
      
      Oh Goodness, it’s not the First Lady…. It’s pics of the President’s daughter. Excellent stephieboy….. posting pervy pics of the children of politicians.
      
      Stephieboy is unapologetic:
      
      All on Red ,tsk, tsk ,tsk I’m sorry for the link . I never realised you found the womans form,.like the poses of Ivanka , made you feel so ashamed ,disgusted and nauseated .
      
      How did you explain this one to your St Albans friends, Stephieboy?
      
      11 1
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      April 10, 2018 2:11pm
      - All_on_Red
        
        For the record, I’m quite fond of the female form.
        ?
        I’d also note Stephie got bans for comparing people to Nazis.
        
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        April 10, 2018 2:25pm
      - RF
        
        Nostradamus.
        
        The female body in its youth takes on a beautiful form that sadly deteriorates over the years.
        
        We all know what it looks like and my ongoing memory is still active thank you so I did not see the need to be reminded by viewing photos of Ivanka in the flesh.
        
        I do worry about Stephieboy as he is a sick unit and is in need of urgent help.
        
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        April 10, 2018 7:54pm
      - mikewasmild
        
        Kiwi Wombat and Nostradamus doxxing on the same comment thread.
        
        0 3
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        April 10, 2018 8:02pm
      - axeman
        
        Hey Walphy do your MAGS educated children know that their father is pervert?
        
        0 1
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        April 11, 2018 1:50am
- SGA
  
  DifferentPerspective
  
  The left is so full of hate and bile, and so lacking in self-awareness that they are blind to the fact that they are the greatest perpetrators of all the evils that they accuse others of.
  
  Oh well, DP, at least you have the hateless, bileless Kiwiblog in which you can take refuge and complain about the left’s lack of awareness 🙂
  
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  April 10, 2018 10:44am
  - DifferentPerspective
    
    Oh look a squirrel!
    
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    April 10, 2018 11:05am
    - Kimbo
      
      No, SGA cut right to the false premise in your original post. It is stephieboy who does squirrels round here, not SGA.
      
      But to be fair to you, I have little doubt you complete self-awareness of what you are saying when you post. Those who approve of your efforts..not so much. 😉
      
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      April 10, 2018 11:08am
    - SGA
      
      lol – I suggest that you look up what that expression actually means 🙂
      
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      April 10, 2018 11:08am
    - Kimbo
      
      Am still amused by waikatogirl getting 1,001 upticks the other day when she opined that Clarke Gayford saying on a You Tube video “I’ve had thousands of successful relationships” was an oxymoron. Yes, that was joke behind Gayford’s self-deprecating sarcasm when he suggested the best way to ensure a good and lasting relationship was to treat your new girlfriend like crap from the beginning. 😉
      
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      April 10, 2018 11:15am
      - RF
        
        Kimbo have you considered that this gods gift to woman is actually serious and believes in the crap he is spouting.
        
        It may impress the bimbo who is just a scatter brain but I am sure most of us just snort with derision.
        
        It does concern me that when these turkeys are soon to be on the world stage representing New Zealand we will hear the laughter from down here.
        
        11 1
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        April 10, 2018 1:01pm
      - Kimbo
        
        Yes, RF, just for you I considered that possibility for a minute, then decided life as a humourless Kiwiblog partisan isn’t worth it. But in a brighter note, at least we both get the Minto bar joke from your policing days. ?
        
        But seriously, I also don’t think Ardern is up to the job, but it doesn’t mean there is a licence to project wish-fulfilment, hostility and malice onto her and her partner. Gayford’s an entertainer, it was always a deliberate joke at his own expense.
        
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        April 10, 2018 1:49pm
      - RF
        
        Kimbo.
        
        Fair comment.
        
        Cheers
        
        3 1
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        April 10, 2018 3:49pm
    - DifferentPerspective
      
      So let’s see how this works Kimbo….
      
      I point out leftist lack of self-awareness when attacking a woman and a non-US citizen
      
      Then SGA points out my lack of self-awareness as a distraction from the key point
      
      I point out the distraction from the key point
      
      You point out the lack of my lack of self-awareness
      
      Then I point out again that you both miss the point that the side of the political debate that is always complaining about how awful the right are (to women and foreigners because of their foreign-ness) are the always doing what they complain about
      
      Then you point out my lack of self-awareness
      
      Then I point out you are distracting from the key point
      
      Ad infinitum? Well OK – if it makes you feel better 🙂
      
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      April 10, 2018 4:26pm
      - Kimbo
        
        I point out leftist lack of self-awareness when attacking a woman and a non-US citizen
        
        Then SGA points out my lack of self-awareness as a distraction from the key point
        
        But as lack of self-awareness was your point, then pointing out you are similarly impared is not a distraction. Instead it undermines your entire premise.
        
        But yes, always happy to watch you try and fool us with your version of the shell game. 😉
        
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        April 10, 2018 4:44pm
JasonJohns

vanuatu falls to china.
beijing’s march continues.
and they have hundreds of thousands of operatives i a fifth column in nz
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/canberra-needs-to-get-very-serious-very-quickly-to-counter-this-move-by-a-master-strategist-20180409-p4z8mj.html
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April 10, 2018 10:18am
- Dave Mann
  
  Yes. I wonder what their aim is here? I’m quite interested in China and I’ve got a passing acquaintance with their language and history and it does seem totally out of character for them to be militarily expanding like this.
  
  I don’t think Australia and NZ are the ‘target’ though. We’re both pretty friendly towards China and they are certainly extending their influence here very successfully without the need for military threats (they’ve even placed one of their operatives into our parliament!).
  
  I think they are probably after the fishing and also sending a message to the Americans.
  
  Vanuatu is a shithole and they’d probably benefit immensely from a Chinese military base…… but the SMH is totally wrong in saying that there’s ‘nothing between Vanuatu and Queensland’. Hasn’t their writer heard of New Caledonia and that NC is effectively a part of France?
  
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  April 10, 2018 11:01am
JasonJohns

This move is key to blockading NZ and Australia – China needs the raw materials, fisheries and agricultural capacities of Aus and NZ to feed its population – expect them to take them in the next 20 years. We are about to get the same old terra nullius treatment from China that Britain handed out to the locals 200 years ago

while people label anti-Chinese sentiments as being racists and xenophobic – the Chinese are not so troubled by a view of their superiority over the rest of us
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April 10, 2018 10:25am
Anne Glen Eden

NZ used to be known as the land of the “No. 8 wire”. A country which got things done by innovative means and ingenuity which made the most of what it had and “called a spade, a spade”. These days, it’s the land of the ‘con’ and PR spin.

First and foremost, there’s the Labour government. I remember writing during the election exactly what Ardern would say if Labour got into power. And Ardern is saying it all, as the ‘tape’ always runs – the blatant lies being what they always were.

“”We won’t be able to rebuild or deliver everything,” Ardern said …That could take some time… 10 years or more, because her Government was discovering under-investment in a broad range of core services. “I’ve always said from the beginning that it would be bad,” … “We didn’t know it would be this bad.”

Then, there’s the ‘green’ lobby, exposed by David Broome for the crock it is. While other countries like the UK and Norway are increasingly committed experts in effective and efficient recycling:

“…supermarket bags are a visual totem to some… Greenpeace gets a visual scalp to boost donations, … supermarkets save a sliver of cost while putting a PR issue to bed … ironically, consumers will have to buy heavier-grade plastic bags to line rubbish bins [meanwhile] billions of non-biodegradable synthetic fibres .. is now so prevalent that it is being found in tap water overseas.

…I’d describe New Zealand’s efforts on recycling in one word: limp…. Here, where we’re repeatedly told the environment is taonga, there’s barely a murmur despite close to 300 million coffee cups occupying more landfill than 700 million supermarket plastic bags.”

NZ, in recent ‘liberal’ history, lays claim to being committed to ‘peace’ – but has the worst family violence in the developed world, and endemic bullying in every sphere of life. We are part of 5 Eyes with our ‘allies’, but relentlessly ‘twerk’ alluringly at China, Russia, and the ME and specialise in trying to play both sides. ‘Liberality’ has become synonymous with the total abdication of honesty, integrity, ethics, or moral values, which are considered ‘conservative’ anaethema.

We claim to champion ‘equality’ while specialising in discrimination, giving every minority group preference over the majority, and particularly 10% of the population 50% plus of power in decision-making, jobs, education…. And, like the world at large, importing people from all over the world who deserve special help in the same areas.

“Taika Waititi has called New Zealand “racist as f***…People just flat-out refuse to pronounce Maori names properly.” That’s right. 90% odd of the population are not Maori. They don’t speak the language – and don’t want to – but are racistly browbeaten to. No-one in the country prevents Maori from doing so – but they mostly don’t want to either, especially as all ‘names’ are abused and/or shortened by people over time, and the PR departments are going out of their way to create increasingly unpronounceable names in increasingly fragmented spaces which defy reason.

Waititi also called Aucklanders “very patronising”. “They’re like, ‘Oh, you’ve done so well, haven’t you? For how you grew up. For one of your people’.” Well, yes.

Maori not only comprise the dominant numbers in our worst social statistics, they (and specifically they) are those who have insisted and insist that they are ‘underprivileged’, ‘deprived’, unable or unwilling to ‘integrate’, need ‘special help’, are ‘not evolved’, require $billions in ‘aid’ which they feel is ‘owed’ to them because of how ‘damaged’ they are. So what should they be seen as? The most adaptable, intelligent, and highest functioning? Let alone that their public profile is almost entirely running around in grass skirts and doing haka – including internationally. They live almost entirely in the past. One recently was claiming superior ‘warrior’ status because they’re experts at ‘deceit’ – lies and manipulation to get what they want. Yep. Do they think that’s generally considered a favourable trait?

But it has added to the national ‘character’. Now we’re proud of calling a spade ‘a garden implement for moving soil from one place to another, perhaps associated with the shifting or destruction of flora which requires a cultural consultation before it is used’. Organisations like Fonterra charge us maximum prices for dairy products – when the world price is low, we have to make up the difference. When the world price is high, we have to pay a competitive world price. NZ Post has consistently raised prices – not surprising in the increasingly electronic age. But at one point, they increased revenue by deliberately creating slower mail and a lesser service. Advertisers increase revenue by advertising progressively less efficiently in progressively smaller areas and charging more for it. There are innumerable numbers of ‘middlemen/women’ charging huge amounts for duplicating what original companies do which people could do very readily for themselves, if they but realised – advertising on Google being such a burgeoning industry.

Productivity in NZ is a constant issue – but often people are not actually producing anything worthwhile; or anything at all outside of a PR image. The equation is to provide as little as possible (preferably nothing), make it seem like a huge amount, to get as much as you can. And this is ’good’.

Actually, I don’t think it’s doing us much good at all. It would be nice to get back to calling the spade, the spade and doing things genuinely, genuinely ‘equally’, that are genuinely worthwhile, with real ingenuity and innovation.
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April 10, 2018 11:12am
- Salacious Crumb
  
  *stands up and applauds*
  
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  April 10, 2018 11:36am
- DigNap15
  
  Aside from the negative stats caused by Maori (which I agree with you on 100% on)
  One of the reasons for our low productividy and high prices is our small population and distance from other markets.
  I have always said that we need 20 million good people in NZ all spread out.
  
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  April 10, 2018 9:05pm
Maggy Wassilieff

First US Senator gives birth while holding office (at age 50) – 2nd daughter

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43702907
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April 10, 2018 11:15am
- cmm
  
  50? Seriously dusty eggs.
  
  Messing around like this is bad for mother and child.
  
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  April 10, 2018 12:40pm
cmm

Another teenager response from Our Mother.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12029582

” Speaking to reporters at Parliament this morning, Ardern said she had not been briefed on the matter but she had read the media reports on it.”

C’mon. I call bullshit that she isn’t briefed on this stuff and only reads it in the paper.

“That will be between those two sovereign nations and I can’t comment on the validity of that.”

But she will comment on the actions of Australia in Manus Islands (also sovereign nations?) and Trump is orange and take part in anti-trump campaigns.

And we do pay Vanuatu foreign aid, so we do have some leverage.

https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/aid-and-development/our-work-in-the-pacific/vanuatu/

Side-question: Why is this called an “Aid partnership”? It isn’t a partnership if one side is doing all the taking and the other is doing all the giving. Last I checked that’s a bit more like slavery!
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April 10, 2018 12:26pm
- Inandout
  
  Of course daddy Adern would have briefed her.
  
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  April 10, 2018 12:56pm
Jack5

We give the Aussies a hard time here over sportsmanship, but here’s some fine sportswomanship by Aussies at the Commonwealth Games:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-10/commonwealth-games-athletes-wait-for-final-runner-to-finish/9635536?section=sport
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April 10, 2018 1:05pm
- Longknives
  
  Considering we nearly pinched a Gold Medal in the weightlifting by pretending a big fat pudding of a bloke was a woman I don’t think we can throw too many stones anymore Jack!
  
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  April 10, 2018 1:08pm
Jack5

Another interesting Aussie report – international students caught living in the library at an Australian university.

I wonder if it happens at the University of Auckland or at any of Auckland’s quasi-universities?

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-10/international-students-struggle-to-find-a-place-to-live/9634444
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April 10, 2018 1:15pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  One of the Commonwealth Scholars (from UK) doing her PhD in the late 1970s lived in her research lab/office at Vic Uni for some months.
  Always easy to explain that you were sleeping over to look after an experiment, etc.
  
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  April 10, 2018 1:24pm
- Jack5
  
  Could the Stephiestani trolls be living in an Auckland suburban library?
  
  Their posts tend to begin around mid-morning, about the time the library computers would be switched on.
  
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  April 10, 2018 1:27pm
wombatge

What happened to Greens giving their questions to the opposition?
Written Question 1 today
MARAMA DAVIDSON to the Prime Minister: Ka tū a ia i runga i tana kōrero mō te iti rawa o te mahi haumi i roto ratonga tūmataiti, ā, nā runga i tērā, “we didn’t know it would be this bad” ā, mēnā kua pēnei rawa, ka pēhea te nui o te iti rawa o te mahi haumi nei?
The COL is starting to fray at the edges.
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April 10, 2018 1:45pm
- rangitoto
  
  Yep. The Greens reneging. Shaw said they would only use the questions themselves if they had serious questions for the government. This is clearly a patsy. They are basically a bunch of liars so it’s par for the course.
  
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  April 10, 2018 1:56pm
  - MrLovebucket
    
    Shaw has been sacked by Davidson. He will only be allowed to stand and sit when she says. He will quite enjoy this arrangement.
    
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    April 10, 2018 3:29pm
    - Salacious Crumb
      
      He put the lotion in the basket. He does this whenever he’s told. Or else he gets the hose again.
      
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      April 10, 2018 4:12pm
      - RF
        
        I understand he disperses the KY Jelly to the Green Party members as is when required.
        
        How the mighty has fallen. He is just a glorified pimp.
        
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        April 10, 2018 7:16pm
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    Pete George has put up the Hansard script of Davidson’s patsy.
    
    https://yournz.org/2018/04/10/green-question-not-a-patsy/
    
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    April 10, 2018 7:54pm
Longknives

Don’t know if it has been mentioned yet but RIP the Great Fergie McCormick!
Was a bit before my time but my Dad (who played in that era) told me stories of how uncompromising and tough he was..
Played for Canterbury for 17 odd years or something didn’t he Kimbo?
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April 10, 2018 2:16pm
- Kimbo
  
  Yep. From 1958 to 1975, although his first big game for the Cantabrians was against the 1959 Lions, which was only one of two non-test games that great touring side lost in New Zealand. It took him a while to make it into the All Blacks (he was 25 when he made his debut, and them 27 when he became first string for the unbeaten All Black tour of Britain and France in 1967). First the great Don Clarke was in the way, then he had to see off Mick Williment of Wellington, in a rivalry that was just as fierce as the Allan Hewson vs Robbie Deans/Wellington vs Canterbury rivalry of some 20 years later. Williment was a more polished and stylish player and a better goal kicker, but coach Freddie Allen, courtesy of his army background was impressed by the remorseless attitude of McCormick.
  
  McCormick was never a natural goal kicker, but he held two records – the 24 points he kicked against the Welsh at Eden Park in 1969 was the world test record until Grant Fox (briefly) took it off him at the 1987 World Cup.
  
  And he was the first New Zealand rugby player to score over 2,000 points, a record that stood until , again, Grant Fox took it off him.
  
  Bu McCormick’s best qualities were his guts and determination. His tackling was his strongest quality, sure and physical. Also, before his time, he was a good determined runner from fullback, not fast, but very hard to put down. And he used to scold his own useless Canterbury forwards who weren’t prepared to trample on him to get to the ball in the many rucks he was caught up in! 😉
  
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  April 10, 2018 4:26pm
  - Longknives
    
    Kimbo-
    Who, In your esteemed opinion, is the greatest of All Black Fullbacks (I know comparing eras is realistically an impossibility- but good fun to try nonetheless)
    Nepia? Clarke? McCormick? Cullen??..
    
    And Worldwide?
    JPR Williams? Blanco??
    
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    April 10, 2018 5:22pm
    - Kimbo
      
      Bearing in mind that the positional requirements changed for fullbacks in the late ‘60s/early ‘70s when they prohibited kicking into touch on the full outside your own quarter, so before then the fullback was primarily a defensive player, whereas after that it eventually became the most important attacking position in the team
      
      …and putting together all the skills:
      Courage
      Anticipation
      Handling
      Kicking off both feet
      Positional play
      Vision
      Tackling
      Running
      Passing
      
      ….the player above all who could transcend all eras was the great Bob Scott. The fact he played for Ponsonby is incidental! As he joked himself, he was never dropped, and instead they talked him out of retirement twice. Indeed, when he was 35 they were trying to do so for a third time to play against the 1956 Springboks.
      
      During the 1949 All Black tour of South Africa, the great Springbok no. 8 Henie Muller was creating havoc with our backline courtesy of his great speed, irresistible fitness, and devastating crash tacking. But not once on that tour did he nail Bob Scott, so great was his anticipation, reading of the play, lightness on his feet, and quickness of thought. In one test Muller was hard on Scott’s tail as the All Black fullback ran back to recover a kick over his head. Scott summed up the situation, and when he recovered the ball realised he would be nailed if he turned to either the left or right…so instead Scott continued running some thirty metres back into his own in-goal. Once there, we managed to dodge Muller by wheeling around one of the goal posts, and then proceeded to slam the ball into touch some fifty yards up the field. You can’t coach genius like that! ?
      
      With Christian Cullen the best attacker, Don Clarke the most dangerous goal kicker, George Nepal the most skilled at stopping he now-defunct dribbling rush, and McCormick the most recklessly courageous.
      
      Best non Kiwi? Yeah, JPR Williams would do me. Not quite as polished an attacker as Serge Blanco, but a much better defender. Arguably, along with 1937 Springbok Gerry Brand the best fullback who ever toured New Zealand.
      
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      April 10, 2018 5:43pm
      - Longknives
        
        I like that a good ‘Greatest Ever’ sports debate will always ‘Awake the Sleeping Giant’ that is Kimbo!
        
        I confess that I haven’t watched nearly as much Rugby as you (I’m in my early-mid 40s) but here are my thoughts-
        Serge Blanco was for mine the best fullback I ever saw- When I was a kid All Black fans were genuinely terrified of him- There simply aren’t many players that worry All Black fans like that! The guy could cut into a backline (outside the magical Philippe Sella) and literally tear you to shreds..
        His performance in that ’87 World Cup Semi-Final- Including scoring that insane winning try, was off the planet.
        I read once that the Guy was a lazy trainer, a chain smoker and heavy drinker- which makes his talent even more remarkable…
        
        As for All Black Fullbacks- Well Christian Cullen was a Game Changer when he first burst on to the scene..But he didn’t seem to hold his form for as long as many other greats.
        John Gallagher is underrated- He could cut into the line like Blanco could…But his disastrous foray into Rugby League tainted his legacy.
        Lots of fine players to chose from- Back in the early 80s my dad was a massive Allan Hewson fan! (He always rated him above Deans)
        
        I’ll go Blanco and Cullen…
        
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        April 10, 2018 6:09pm
      - Kimbo
        
        Gallagher left just when he was in a position to cement his reputation as maybe as good an attacker as Cullen became. The combination he had with John Schuster was deadly. The Schu would make the space and lay off the pass, and with Gallagher’s ability to pick the line and hit the ball with pace it was all over. Like a knife through butter. Phillipe Sella had the same sort of understanding with Blanco.
        
        And credit to Allan Hewson as the first genuine attacking fullback we ever had. And special mention to Joe Karam for his magnificent temperament. Kicking those 5 penalties when he and Keith Murdoch beat Welsh in Cardiff in 1972, when they were the best team in the world, rates as one of the all time best All Black test debuts.
        
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        April 10, 2018 6:18pm
      - Longknives
        
        Christ Kimbo I was hoping you wouldn’t mention Karam! This will likely trigger a 400 comment-strong thread about that ‘other matter’ he is famous for..
        
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        April 10, 2018 6:28pm
      - oob
        
        ..the great Springbok no. 8 Henie Muller was creating havoc with our backline courtesy of his great speed, irresistible fitness, and devastating crash tacking.
        
        Sorry to quible chap but you’ve omitted a sine qua non salient detail here:
        
        The laws at the time allowed Muller to stand in line with the lineout but 20 metres behind it, directly in front of the flyhalf/inside-centre channel.
        
        From the modern perspective he would be 15 metres offside.
        
        The issue for the ABs was this: as soon as the wing* threw the ball into the lineout, Muller would start running. By the time the AB forwards had completed the defensive lineout and the scrumhalf had transfered the ball to first receiver, Muller was already on top of him: man and ball at the same time, the classic hospital pass.
        
        Because of this Springbok “innovation” (which I prefer to describe as “blatant Japie cheating”) the laws were amended to keep forwards nominally in the lineout inside the tramlines.
        
        As an aside Japies and Poms reading this, go ahead, make a fatuous comparison to the 1905 All Blacks’ innovation of the wing forward standing off at the scrum. Make my day.
        
        (*) I could be wrong but I don’t think Hookers had begun throwing into the lineout then.
        
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        April 10, 2018 6:35pm
      - Longknives
        
        Gallagher was superb cutting into the line- He had pace like a winger.
        Joe Stanley, Schuster and Warwick Taylor were all superb timers of their pass so this worked perfectly…
        
        Sella and Blanco were off the planet though…French ‘Flair’ at it’s absolute best.
        
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        April 10, 2018 6:35pm
      - Kimbo
        
        @ oob
        
        Yes, you are quite right, there was no limit on the length of the lineout in 1949, and yes, Muller used to stand in what is now considered an offside position. However,
        
        1. As you rightly imply, it was within the laws of the game at the time
        
        2. New Zealand had arguably started the offside gamesmanship against the spirit of the game some 50 years before when they used to have the rover/wing forward putting the ball into the 2-3-2 scrum…and then keep him standing there to shield his half back from defenders. In the same way that the length of the line out was eventually restricted to stop Mullerism (in the early 1960s), so also in 1932 the scrum laws were changed requiring 3 players in the front row, making effective scrummaging with only 7 men impractical, and driving the rover back into the scrum.
        
        3. Danie Craven, the Springbok coach who utilised Muller against the 1949 All Blacks, and the New Zealand captain of that year, Fred Allen, who later went on to be a great coach too, were adamant – against a good backline, winning good fast ball, and passing quickly and effectively, and running with sufficient speed, a marauder like Hennie Muller would be ineffective. The ball will always beat the man. In that respect Muller was a mirror held up to the 1949 All Blacks, revealing their play in a crucial facet – the speed of the pass by the half back – was deficient. Is the same principle today when dealing with the “rush defence”, which Wayne Smith rightly described as “high risk, high reward”. If your execution is good enough, the aggressive would-be tackler is evaded by the speed and precision of running and passing, the break is clean, and he is miles out of position and unable to contribute to cover defence.
        
        But 7 years later, with Muller retired but with the 1956 Springboks having three similar marauding loose forwards in Daan Retief, Butch Lochner and Dawie Ackermann, the All Blacks outfoxed Danie Craven’s coaching by refusing to pass from set play. Instead they would kick up and unders all day long at the Springbok fullback and as soon as he caught the ball, 8 All Black forwards would arrive and out ruck the South Africans.
        
        Also, throwing in by hookers only began with the British in the late 1960s. As late as 1977, Bryan Williams and Grant Batty were still throwing in to the line out.
        
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        April 10, 2018 7:14pm
      - Kimbo
        
        @ Prince.
        
        Most emphatically (justified adverb!), no! You’ve maybe been listening to the nonsense mumbling of the likes of Wellington rugby club followers like Johnboy and mikenmild. ?
        
        Throughout his entire All Black career from 1946 to 1954, Bob Scott was a registered Ponsonby player. It was only at the end of the 1953-54 Northern Hemisphere tour that he retired from first class play for good, and was enticed south from Auckland with the offer by Wellington businessman Caesar Cohen to go partners in a menswear store in Petone.
        
        And his play at the Petone Rec ground for those three seasons 1954-56 was as good as ever, according to those who saw him play. Must have been very good considering the great Victoria University team of that era with All Blacks Ron Jarden, Sean’s dad Brian Fitzpatrick, Jim Fitzgerald, Larry Savage and Bill Clark.
        
        But no, the inhabitants of the minor sub-union in which Petone still sits don’t get to claim Robert William Henry Scott as one of their All Blacks. Like Bryan Williams, Peter Whiting, Dave Gallaher, Reiko Ioane, Patrick Tuipolutu, and dozens of others, Bob Scott is a Ponies All Black.
        
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        April 10, 2018 7:31pm
      - oob
        
        @Kimbo.
        
        Oob wrote: As an aside Japies and Poms reading this, go ahead, make a fatuous comparison to the 1905 All Blacks’ innovation of the wing forward standing off at the scrum. Make my day.
        
        Kimbo wrote: 2. New Zealand had arguably started the offside gamesmanship against the spirit of the game some 50 years before when they used to have the rover/wing forward putting the ball into the 2-3-2 scrum…and then keep him standing there to shield his half back from defenders. In the same way that the length of the line out was eventually restricted to stop Mullerism (in the early 1960s), so also in 1932 the scrum laws were changed requiring 3 players in the front row, making effective scrummaging with only 7 men impractical, and driving the rover back into the scrum.
        
        Thank you chap, for affording me the opportunity to draw the distinction:
        
        The 1905 ABs made a significant sacrifice in choosing to stand off a forward in the scrum, where the physics of the equation is total forward strength matched against total forward strength. NZ became excruciatingly aware of this fact during the obliterations of the AB scrum during the 1928 series.
        
        In stark contrast the opportunity cost for the Springbok of competing one-man-down in a defensive lineout were nowhere near as severe.
        
        In summary, the 1905 ABs instituted an entirely honourable tactical advantage in one aspect in exchange for a tactical disadvantage in another aspect. A quid pro quo.
        
        And in stark contrast, the cheating Japies cheated.
        
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        April 10, 2018 8:29pm
      - Kimbo
        
        @ oob
        
        Ok, I’ll see you “Nobel Prize in Economics”, and double it! ?
        
        You overlook that as the All Black wing forwards/rovers of 1905 and 1924-25 such Dave, Gallaher, George Gillett, Cliff Porter and Jim Parker (who incidentally co-managed the 1949 All Blacks) were not attached to the scrum, this gave them an extra and crucial head start to harass the opposition inside backs in a manner not dissimilar to the way Hennie Muller gained an advantage by separating himself from the main body of the lineout.
        
        Also, in the same way that the 1928 Springboks exposed the numerical disadvantage of the 7-man All Black scrum, the 1949 All Blacks could have done the same with the Springbok lineout. The All Blacks had an unmarked potential jumper at the end of their line. An accurate throw would have meant an uncontested win of possession. The All Blacks could then have further exacerbated Muller’s isolation from the play if the they then chose to drive the ball, rather than feed it directly to where Muller was waiting.
        
        As the great Charlie Saxton taught, which sadly the 1949 All Blacks forgot when they were caught like a possum in the headlights by Hennie Muller, “the object of rugby is for fourteen players to work together to give a fifteenth a half a yard start”.
        
        Like Tal vs Petrosian – if your opponent is massing his defence in the centre, then you should attack on one of the flanks. ?
        
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        April 10, 2018 9:02pm
      - Kimbo
        
        @ oob
        
        Also, you may want to study Gallaher and Stead’s “The Complete Rugby Footballer”, which they wrote at the end of the 1905-06 tour. They made the point that even though they packed 7 men against 8 in the scrums, the wedge-shape of the 2-3-2 formation made it an efficient transfer of weight compared to the 3-2-3 and 3-3-2 formations they faced.
        
        The efficiency was further demonstrated in that the same number of shoulders (12) on each side were pushing against one another when the All Blacks packed down against their opponents.
        
        And the third efficiency was that the British had no specialist positions in the scrum in 1905. Instead, in contrast to the All Blacks, they would pack haphazardly on the “first up, first down” approach.
        
        It was only when the South Africans, probably the great Stellenbosch coach Oubaas Markotter developed a similar wedge shape with the 3-4-1 formation, and everyone learned from the 1905 All Blacks that positional specialisation in the scrum was best practice, plus independent of New Zealand the value of feeding on the loose head side was understood
        
        …that the deficiency in numbers, including the two man front row, of the 2-3-2 formation was exposed.
        
        Ask any coach or team today- where would you automatically throw to and how much ball would you win if you knew your player at the back of the lineout is permanently unmarked? Plus they get to know where the extra opposition player will be stationed and plan accordingly?
        
        Any decent team, especially an All Black team would not only accept that scenario, they would be confident they could quickly gain the initiative, because their opponents have over-committed too early. That’s the tactical tragedy of the 1949 All Blacks (who admittedly were deficient 8n the crucial elements of international-standard halfbacks, fast loose forwards and initially adequate scrummaging until the “cheating Jaipur’s” including Danie Craven taught them how to! ?)
        
        …they couldn’t apply the Nimzowitsch hyper-modern “indirect control of the centre” chess principle to the rugby field. ?
        
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        April 10, 2018 9:32pm
      - oob
        
        @kimbo
        
        20 years ago I turned down the opportunity to purchase a first edition tCRF for GBP1,500 and have regretted it ever since.
        
        I should like to continue our conversation offline. E-mail me at oob@sdf.lonestar.org if you’d like to.
        
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        April 10, 2018 11:29pm
      - oob
        
        You overlook that as the All Black wing forwards/rovers of 1905 and 1924-25 such Dave, Gallaher, George Gillett, Cliff Porter and Jim Parker (who incidentally co-managed the 1949 All Blacks) were not attached to the scrum, this gave them an extra and crucial head start to harass the opposition inside backs in a manner not dissimilar to the way Hennie Muller gained an advantage by separating himself from the main body of the lineout.
        
        Check your logic, chap. I didn’t overlook that: in fact I specifically made mention of the fact the ABs chose that opportunity cost for a greater good.
        
        And in 1928, paid for it.
        
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        April 10, 2018 11:42pm
rangitoto

As a kid, I saw him play for Canterbury against Hawkes Bay at Napier when the Cantabs lifted the shield off the Bay. Fergie wasn’t popular with the locals that day.
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April 10, 2018 2:27pm
- MCos
  
  He wasn’t popular with anyone except Canterbury supporters except when he played for the All Blacks.
  He played his last test for the ABs in the 1st Lions test of 1971, which I saw at the wretched old Carisbrook. The Lions ran rings around him & he also missed a penalty from right out in front.
  That was that for Fergie & next test he was replaced by Laurie Mains at Lancaster Park. Fortunately we won and Ian Kirkpatrick scored one of the great AB tries.
  The one eyed bastards in Chch loved Fergie & loathed anyone from Otago, particularly Mains.
  
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  April 10, 2018 5:29pm
  - Longknives
    
    Ha Ha Carisbrook was old and outdated way back in 1971?
    I saw Test Matches there from the late 80s to the mid 90s and was pretty unpopular with the one-eyed locals for my thoughts that the place needed a bulldozer. Christ it was literally falling down..
    
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    April 10, 2018 5:39pm
  - Kimbo
    
    Yeah, but the astute 1971 Lions coach Carwyn James had instructed maybe the greatest tactical kicker of all time, Barry John to deliberately try and get McCormick dropped for the rest of that 1971 series. It says something about McCormick’s positional ability that he seemed to arrive that day just as John’s kicks were rolling into touch, whereas most other fullbacks wouldn’t have been anywhere near them.
    
    And with respect to Laurie Mains who was a gutsy provincial player who admitted his own limitations, but McCormick was always a better player. Especially as Mains also missed some very kickable goals later on in that lost 1971 series to the Lions.
    
    But then Fergie had misbehaved a bit in the infamous Canterbury-Lions game a week before the first test of 1971, so maybe it was time for him to go. It says something of Carwyn James’ judgement that he knew enough to keep Barry John in the stand the day that Canterbury match was played, safe from injury, and studying McCormick’s play so he could plan how to make a monkey out of him 7 days later. ?
    
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    April 10, 2018 6:50pm
    - Longknives
      
      I know very little about Mains as a player but he was horribly biased in his selections when he first became All Black coach!
      I was at Otago University at the time and I remember when he dropped Graeme Bachop (one of the best passes in All Black history) for local lad Stu Forster..Well even the boys drinking in the downstairs bar at the Captain Cook raised their eyebrows over that one!
      *I think he also preferred Arran Pene over Zinzan Brooke for a while as well…But that’s another story
      
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      April 10, 2018 7:01pm
      - Kimbo
        
        Was more a case of Mains getting rid of those who didn’t fit into the right culture, or at least putting them on probation until they had proved themselves. And as Mains had coached the Otago players like Pene, Forster, Jamie Joseph and Marc Ellis, he knew he could rely on them in that regard. Bear in mind he inherited a team that had been divided by the ridiculous Wyllie-Hart co-coaching disaster, a situation engineered by the Auckland player mafia. And these were the same group of players with various fellow-travellers and behind-the-scenes influencers who also managed to get the likes of Jason Hewitt and Mark Carter in the All Blacks, John Timu and Ginge Henderson relegated to the fringes, and Wayne Shelford out! Hence Laurie made no bones about a clean out, with more than just playing ability being the criterion.
        
        So Garry Whetton whose abysmal play at the 1991 World Cup was embarrassing, went straight away. Others like Steve McDowell and Terry Wright couldn’t be bothered fighting back once relegated to dirt tracker status, while others like Grant Fox and John Kirwan won their place back by good play on the field and being team men off it. Plus right from the beginning Mains backed Fitzpatrick as a first choice, even before his intended captain Mike Brewer got injured. And it was Fitzy who talked Mains into picking Zinzan for the 1992 tour, with the assurance he would play however Mains wanted. And as Brooke himself admitted, he had never been properly coached how to play no. 8 up to that point! By the end of that tour, Brooke was always an automatic choice for Mains when fit.
        
        But yes, Laurie got it wrong about Graeme Bachop, as he admits. Was influenced by some feedback he got from Lin Colling about Bachop’s supposedly disconnected attitude during a coaching session. But the initial replacements were Ant Strahan and John Preston. Then on the 1993 end of year tour they brought in Stu Forster. But in the end, and by the time they got to the 1995 World Cup they had done the full circle and realised Bachop was always the best option.
        
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        April 10, 2018 7:58pm
    - Nookin
      
      Fertile was one of the fastest over 20 yards or so. He was a brilliant runner in broken play and very few got by him. The beginning of the end came in an Otago game at Lancaster Park when Bruce Hunter went round him without having a finger laid on him. Mind you, Hunter had wheels.
      He may have been a tough nut but he was 100% loyal to Linwood and Canterbury and they knew he had their backs.
      
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      April 10, 2018 8:05pm
      - Kimbo
        
        Yep. Fergie famously had to turn and then run down Welsh speedster Gerald Davies in the 1967 game against the Barbarians with the try line open when, given the gap he should never have been able to do it. Pride and determination. Apparently McCormick was swearing his head off all the time, scaring the shit out of Davies while doing so. ?
        
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        April 10, 2018 8:13pm
      - mikewasmild
        
        He rose above a very troubled youth, too. I shudder to think what Kiwibloggers would say about any
        All Black today who had a similar past.
        
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        April 10, 2018 8:15pm
Kimbo

Sad to see former Canterbury and All Black fullback Fergi McCormick has passed away. Whereas most sports biographies are trite dishonest rip-off rubbish for Fathers Day and Xmas presents, his written by Alex Veysey in 1976 was one of the best. Warts and all about the subject and his career. Anyone who would pick dirty filthy stiff-arm-tackle king Springbok Mannetjies Roux in his all-time best XV was an interesting rugby player.

Most interesting was the tough man McCormick admit that all the controversy that accrued from the tackle/obstruction he made on Springbok Sid Nomis, which cost Nomis his two front teeth during the 1970 tour of South Africa, got to McCormick, and affected his form.
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April 10, 2018 2:40pm
- big bruv
  
  McCormick’s passing is of course sad for his family. I do not know anything about his private life (that is how it should be) however we are about to be deluged with stories about how tough “Fergie” was on the field of play.
  Given that, it does mean we should be totally honest about McCormick’s rugby career.
  In short, the man was a thug, a disgrace to the NZ jersey. McCormick, along with fellow thugs Meads and Murdoch symbolised all that is, and was, wrong with the game in NZ.
  
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  April 10, 2018 4:15pm
  - dad4justice
    
    What a bitter and twisted nutbar you are bb. You are pure filth.
    
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    April 10, 2018 4:25pm
    - stigie
      
      Is he having us on Dad..?
      
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      April 10, 2018 5:17pm
      - dad4justice
        
        No he is not, don’t you know why bb is so bitter and twisted?
        
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        April 10, 2018 5:35pm
      - stigie
        
        As long as you pray for him Dad, all should be forgiven !~
        
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        April 10, 2018 5:54pm
Keeping Stock

Mallard is having another ‘mare as Speaker. He has just taken five supplementary questions from the opposition; for tomorrow!

I suspect a motion of no confidence in the Speaker is imminent.
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April 10, 2018 2:57pm
- stigie
  
  He really is a dickhead, treating the opposition like kids..?
  Brownlee deserves better than that !~
  
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  April 10, 2018 3:20pm
  - Nostradamus
    
    Stigie:
    
    Can you imagine Lprent as Speaker of the House? He’d dish out bans left, right and centre, together with a long statement in bold text, and frequent references to penises (which is how he deals with bans at The Standard).
    
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    April 10, 2018 3:39pm
- Salacious Crumb
  
  Removing questions? Is that actually in the parliamentary rules?
  
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  April 10, 2018 4:13pm
  - Keeping Stock
    
    Mallard has effectively rewritten the rules, and punishes rowdy MP’s by denying them opportunities to hold the government to account via supplementary questions. It’s pretty puerile stuff on Mallard’s part.
    
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    April 10, 2018 5:49pm
- Monique Watson
  
  He’s taken other supplementaries. Takes a village to raise a child and a fully kitted out pharmaceutical cupboard to raise some customers.
  
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  April 10, 2018 7:12pm
Fletch

So, yeh, it’s not as safe as you thought –

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/marijuana-us-sickness-nausea-stomach-pain-symptoms-hot-shower-colorado-chicago-medicine-health-a8295491.html
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April 10, 2018 3:02pm
- mandk
  
  Figures.
  It made me nauseous on the few occasions I tried it.
  
  4 0
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  April 10, 2018 3:27pm
- labrator
  
  But as marijuana use has increased, emergency room physicians say they have seen a steady flow of patients with the telltale symptoms, especially in states where marijuana has been decriminalised and patients are more likely to divulge their drug use to physicians.
  
  Seems like net win. People getting the correct diagnosis as a result of not being persecuted.
  
  Still kills less people than peanuts each year!
  
  1 0
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  April 10, 2018 8:04pm
Manolo

Mueller goes all the way:
https://www.businessinsider.com.au/mueller-victor-pinchuk-trump-foundation-donation-michael-cohen-2018-4

The special counsel Robert Mueller is looking into a large donation a pro-Russian Ukrainian oligarch made to the Trump Foundation in September 2015 after then-candidate Donald Trump gave a video talk at a conference in Kiev, Ukraine, The New York Times reported.

At the time, Trump was one of several Republicans vying for the 2016 presidential nomination. In August 2015, Doug Schoen, a political consultant who works for the Ukrainian billionaire and steel magnate Victor Pinchuk, personally contacted Trump to set up the speech, according to the report.
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April 10, 2018 3:30pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Goats – ethical
baa lambs – maybe not.
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/shortcuts/2018/apr/09/no-kidding-goat-meat-ethical-new-lamb-healthy-sustainable-flavour

How long before we have to protect these desertification machines?
4 0
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April 10, 2018 3:41pm
- cmm
  
  Especially if hunted.
  
  1 0
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  April 10, 2018 4:14pm
Nostradamus

Here’s an accommodation idea for Penny: Australian university discovers students living in campus library

Auckland Council provide library services: find a library. And for companionship:

Book a librarian: Get one-on-one time with one of our librarians.
4 1
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April 10, 2018 3:59pm
- stigie
  
  Sure Nostra, make Penny a librarian and have a one-on-one with her !~
  
  5 1
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  April 10, 2018 4:18pm
  - Nostradamus
    
    You don’t think she might rub people up the wrong way, Stigie? 🙂
    
    4 0
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    April 10, 2018 4:45pm
Happychappy

I haven’t cited any critism from those that kept on hammering National about what they were giving Maori especially now when Andrew Little has open the Checkbook up with top ups in treaty settlement for two of the largest tribes. I could be wrong but this is the third settlement for Tainui and only six months into Labour’s and Andrew Littles term.
10 1
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April 10, 2018 4:07pm
- RF
  
  Don’t forget Labours broke…. so they keep telling us….
  
  0 0
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  April 10, 2018 8:40pm
cmm

I don’t think it is the wee bump on “her” arm that has ended Hubbard’s career.

Rather the bumps in the pants.
11 0
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April 10, 2018 4:13pm
- Steve (North Shore)
  
  Looks like a career change. Joining the other transistors up on K Road – where it should be
  
  4 0
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  April 10, 2018 5:37pm
  - Longknives
    
    Jesus Steve- Gav wouldn’t earn much up on K-Rd with all the other Trannys would he?
    Unless people get off on the ‘Celebrity’ buzz??
    
    *Shudder!
    https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/commonwealth-games/102956209/kiwi-transgender-weightlifter-laurel-hubbard-injured-out-of-commonwealth-games
    
    4 0
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    April 10, 2018 5:48pm
- RF
  
  Yep. Chick with a dick sounds about right.
  
  0 0
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  April 10, 2018 8:37pm
Longknives

Gav Hubbard is still odds-on favourite with Longknives the Bookmaker to carry the flag at the closing ceremony!

‘OMG look how Progressive we are!’ etc etc
5 2
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April 10, 2018 5:10pm
- lifesgood
  
  Is he really Dick Hubbard’s son?
  
  4 0
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  April 10, 2018 5:23pm
  - MCos
    
    Not any more. She’s his daughter now.
    
    11 0
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    April 10, 2018 5:35pm
- mikewasmild
  
  I didn’t check back on your comment last night. Did you accept my bet?
  
  3 2
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  April 10, 2018 6:58pm
MH

Ten ancient taiaha dating back to pre-colonial times are set to be on public display at the Museum Theatre Gallery (MTG) Hawke’s Bay in Napier as part of changes to the Māori exhibition Tēnei Tonu.

“Most recently, other museums have been x-raying these taiaha because they sometimes, in the binding, have extra taonga. Sometimes you might find teeth and pounamu and other trinkets,” explains Michelle Lee, Māori Curator at MTG.

-probably the remains of an enemy-

Some predate the 1840s and are unique specimens, including the rare whale bone taiaha.
“Our people (don’t yer just love it when they say “our people-imagine if the families of Scots and Irish settlers started saying our people” } had only a matter of days to prepare that whale before it became a bio-hazard so they had to get in there quick, lop out an entire whale jawbone [and] haul that out to make a taonga such as this,” says Lee.

The ten taiaha are part of a wider collection of 200 taiaha that are held here in the museum.

The taiaha have come from all over New Zealand but pinpointing their exact origin is a difficult task.

“Taonga like taiaha, they often will go through different iwi hands and that’s because when they were used in pakanga, if they were left behind in the battlefield they were picked up by the victor”.

The public will be able to view the taiaha next week at the permanent Māori exhibition Tēnei Tonu.

Meanwhile in a little known war Memorial Museum in Auckland the girls have got rid of a decent armourer and put all the bang bang toys away from children’s eyes and have endorsed that silly southland school? idea of giving sticks as “guns”. So pc, and again -meanwhile in a repeat programme on Aljazeera, Mr Aghan man is showing his chinese made pistol to 9 -11 yr old boys who probably could break it down under half a minute.
And the RNZRSA just mutters on. It’s your museum – storm the walls and get it back.
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April 10, 2018 5:37pm
- mikewasmild
  
  It’s not the RNZRSA’s museum.
  
  2 5
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  April 10, 2018 6:59pm
Jack5

An $18.7 million settlement top-up for Ngai Tahu, part of the sweetheart deal negotiated for the tribe by National MP Finlayson when he was a lawyer.

And Waikato-Tainui gets a top-up of $16.6 million.

The payments are never going to end.

But in the meantime these tribes’ business investments ought to start paying company tax (they’re exempt as registered charities).

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/102982674/ngai-tahu-and-waikatotainui-receive-substantial-treaty-payments-to-acknowledge-historical-deal
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April 10, 2018 5:41pm
- Longknives
  
  Where the fuck does all this money go?
  Because (I’m sorry for any offence but) the average Maori family doesn’t have a pot to piss in..
  
  12 1
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  April 10, 2018 5:44pm
  - itstricky
    
    http://ngaitahu.iwi.nz/investment/ngai-tahu-annual-reports/
    
    3 2
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    April 10, 2018 5:49pm
  - Jack5
    
    I think Ngai Tahu families on average are better off than most other Maori families.
    
    4 0
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    April 10, 2018 7:19pm
wiseowl

Turnbull has just said his government would be really concerned if China set up a military base in the Pacific.
Where does National stand on this?
4 0
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April 10, 2018 5:46pm
- Stars And Stripes
  
  Well let’s see.
  If they were in government they would have procrastinated on it before finally probably offering to host it here as long as China bought lots of money with them.
  In opposition they will probably say how terrible it is and that present government should oppose it while secretly offering the Chinese govt a deal to host it if they get back to power in the future as long as the bring money again of course.
  
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  April 10, 2018 6:01pm
  - mikewasmild
    
    National would ask Jian Yang to check with Beijing first about what they should say.
    
    1 4
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    April 10, 2018 8:40pm
Odakyu-sen

Shock, horror Herald headline screams: “Revealed: Kiwi couple named in human trafficking case.”

Okay. Before I read the article, the impression I get is that a Mr. and Mrs. Smith from Avodale are somehow tied up with this affair.

So I read the article.

“Now the Herald can reveal the accused are Kiwi citizens Mohammed Atiqul Islam, also known as Kafi Islam, and Nafisa Ahmed.”

Kiwi couple?

At least the (file) photo caption is more accurate.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12020158
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April 10, 2018 5:52pm
- Jack5
  
  Yes, it’s virtue signalling by the media. Look at how politically correct/multiculturist/diversity-friendly we are.
  
  Not a naturalised New Zealander, a New Zealand citizen, a new New Zealander, a person with NZ residency, but a “Kiwi” or a “New Zealander”.
  
  They think people are going to pay to get through a pay wall to read this crap.
  
  7 0
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  April 10, 2018 6:22pm
  - Odakyu-sen
    
    My definition of a Kiwi is someone born in New Zealand and/or raised in this country in a manner that makes them sense that any other country “just doesn’t feel like home” when they go overseas.
    
    Kafi Islam and Nafisa Ahmed would feel “right at home” when they visit Bangladesh.
    
    4 1
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    April 10, 2018 6:30pm
    - Jack5
      
      That’s quite a good definition, Odakyu-sen.
      
      2 0
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      April 10, 2018 7:17pm
Fletch

Gawd, Anika Moa is co-presenting Seven Sharp tonight. Can’t stand her. She has this smugness thing going on….
11 1
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April 10, 2018 6:22pm
- Longknives
  
  I saw a snippet of her Taxpayer Funded TV Chat Show at Election time last year.
  She was imploring people not to vote for National as they were ‘Old Stinky National’ etc etc
  One might wonder how appropriate that was? Considering Electoral Advertising Rules and rules surrounding Broadcasting money etc etc …
  
  10 0
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  April 10, 2018 6:55pm
  - mikewasmild
    
    Did you complain to the BSA?
    
    1 8
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    April 10, 2018 7:16pm
- lifesgood
  
  It’s beyond a joke now. You can’t watch the news because it’s relentlessly leftie, you can’t watch 7 Sharp because it’s got that hideous low class Moa on it, you can’t watch The Project because Ali Mau is a regular and some stupid Maori woman going on about racism. NZ tv is an embarrassment. It seems to be a rush to the bottom to see who can go the lowest. It used to be good once. It’s YouTube and Jordan Peterson for me.
  
  6 0
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  April 10, 2018 9:01pm
  - mikewasmild
    
    some stupid Maori woman going on about racism
    
    LOL. At you, not with you, BTW.
    
    0 10
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    April 10, 2018 9:05pm
    - lifesgood
      
      Yes she was stupid, she seemed to think racism was only white people against any other colour. Even you must realise that’s utter nonsense. Maori are some of the most racist of all.
      
      5 1
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      April 10, 2018 9:22pm
      - mikewasmild
        
        There you go again. I find your unconscious stupidity hilarious.
        
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        April 10, 2018 9:32pm
    - dime
      
      “some stupid Maori woman going on about racism”
      
      how is that racist?
      
      -some stupid bald guy going on about racism = bigotry against baldies?
      
      -some stupid fat woman going on about racism = fat shaming?
      
      -some stupid asian woman going on about racism = wacist?
      
      he picked the main identifier of her – maori. big deal.
      
      eg if milky was on it would have been
      
      “some stupid little wimp going on about racism”
      
      that would have been wimp shaming?
      
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      April 11, 2018 11:58am
EAD_TWO

The Jews once again using accusations of “racism” to shut down debate and get their own way:

https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/.premium-white-supremacists-call-syrian-chemical-attack-false-flag-operation-1.5988679

White Supremacists Defend Assad, Warn Trump: Don’t Let Israel Force You Into War With Syria

It’s really funny that “white supremacists” are the only people right now vigorously trying to stop a war that would result in the deaths of millions of brown people.

Who will stop these evil “white supremacists” in their anti-war campaign of hate?
1 10
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April 10, 2018 6:44pm
- mikewasmild
  
  But you want to see the deaths of millions of people.
  
  4 7
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  April 10, 2018 7:17pm
  - EAD_TWO
    
    Any more strawmen you want to attack and destroy Milky?
    
    3 3
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    April 10, 2018 8:01pm
    - mikewasmild
      
      No, but I’m willing to offer a detailed critique of your ‘modern National Socialism’ if you would like to tell us how it is different from the ‘cartoonish’ Nazis of the 1940s.
      
      4 5
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      April 10, 2018 8:09pm
      - Odakyu-sen
        
        Ghandi was an advocate for socialism and communism, but warned that it was not the same as that imagined by the Europeans and Americans (he was a militant pacifist).
        Ghandi was also a nationalist who wanted an India for the Indians.
        
        Ergo, Ghandi was a national socialist.
        
        Do not confuse national socialism with the National Socialist German Workers’ Party. The latter is a subset of the former.
        
        5 1
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        April 10, 2018 8:56pm
      - mikewasmild
        
        I’m glad you cleared that up. But I’m more interested about the details of EAD’s ‘modern’ programme for ~~Anschluss, mass murder and Lebensraum~~ national socialism than your bewildered musings.
        
        4 5
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        April 10, 2018 9:08pm
Longknives

Stuff have gone Full Retard over this Taika Waititi thing-

https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/film/102973332/yes-some-kiwis-are-as-racist-as-taika-waititi-says-heres-the-proof

Honestly- This reads like it was written by a 12 year old! And I actually agree with most of the comments..
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April 10, 2018 6:47pm
- Nev.
  
  I see they have left comments open to harvest the fresh crop of outrage and tears
  
  5 0
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  April 10, 2018 7:33pm
- GoVege
  
  Have to agree LK, there’s nothing racist about those statements.
  But this is a racist country.
  I’ve been in shops where the Indian owners have been called “monkeys”…by Maori.
  I’ve been there when Polynesian relatives have been called “n*****s” or “blacks”….again by Maori.
  But at least they’re open about it.
  The worse kind of racism is the insidious kind.
  
  7 0
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  April 10, 2018 8:09pm
- RF
  
  Naughty naughty Longknives.
  
  Susan Devoy is now a devoted follower of this turkey.
  
  Time she retired…
  
  7 1
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  April 10, 2018 8:35pm
- Odakyu-sen
  
  Taika Waititi is virtue signalling, like many members of the Hollywood elite.
  
  I mean, I don’t think he has a choice. All his public utterances must comply with the narrative.
  
  5 0
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  April 10, 2018 8:59pm
wiseowl

Interesting watching coverage of alleged chemical attacks on RT.
If you watch with the sound off and analyse it carefully it looks as though it is staged.
4 5
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April 10, 2018 6:52pm
- EAD_TWO
  
  Of course it is all staged. Go to Zerohedge and it’s beem dismantled left right and centre. One of the clips they showed was recycled footage from years ago and the other they showed the crisis actors getting their make-up done to film the scenes that have been beamed into our living rooms showing the “attacks”
  
  Seperatley, did you see Tucker Carlson calling BS on the Syrian gas attack and makeing an absolute fool of a US Senator who when asked what American national security interest was served by US military involvement in Syria replied “Don’t you care about Israel?”
  
  Carlson is the only man in the US media asking these questions and he gets more based by the day.
  
  2 8
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  April 10, 2018 7:08pm
  - mikewasmild
    
    Well if the Zerohedge bloggers say so, that’s good enough for me. After all, they have accurately predicted 200 of the last 2 recessions.
    
    8 7
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    April 10, 2018 7:20pm
  - wiseowl
    
    Yes I saw Tucker and thought he did a great job with that Senator.
    
    3 2
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    April 10, 2018 7:25pm
- Andrei
  
  The UN security council meeting was revealing
  
  Russia and Syria both say it didn’t happen and suggested the OPCW go there immediately and verify for themselves
  
  The USA claim that it is impossible to verify because the area is surrounded by the Syrian army
  
  When the Syrian ambassador spoke the American delegation walked out
  
  The Russian Ambassador tore Nikki Haley a new asshole for referring to the Russian and Syrian Governments as regimes
  
  The French and Americans are all for war, the British seem just a little bit more circumspect
  
  I don’t think we are going to get away with this I think it is all on
  
  WW3
  
  4 5
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  April 10, 2018 8:12pm
  - EAD_TWO
    
    I don’t think we are going to get away with this I think it is all on
    
    WW3
    
    My feeling that we are in a pre-war era, and are being prepared for that war almost every day, grows. I cannot at any point in my life ever recall being gripped by such a feeling of impending, unavoidable disaster.
    
    It began over the weekend with claims of a gas attack in the suburbs of Damascus.
    
    Although the controlled MSM were careful to state that the reports were unverified, my heart sank. The prominence being given to the story suggested that it didn’t much matter that they were not verified.
    
    Why lead a news bulletin with unverified material, if you think verification matters a lot? Surely the old rule was ‘verify first’, then publish’?
    
    How right does Pikes letter to Mazzini look now in light of events?
    
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3480720/Letter-written-Confederate-officer-150-years-ago-predicted-two-World-Wars-said-Islamic-leaders-West-just-hoax.html
    
    0 6
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    April 10, 2018 8:54pm
    - mikewasmild
      
      My feeling is that we must be close to a total global economic collapse, but could you make a new prediction of the exact date so that nasska and I can stock up on the gold, food, guns and ammo?
      
      9 5
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      April 10, 2018 9:12pm
      - EAD_TWO
        
        “The real hopeless victims of mental illness are to be found among those who appear to be most normal.
        
        Many of them are normal because they are so well adjusted to our mode of existence, because their human voice has been silenced so early in their lives, that they do not even struggle or suffer or develop symptoms as the neurotic does.
        
        They are normal not in what may be called the absolute sense of the word; they are normal only in relation to a profoundly abnormal society. Their perfect adjustment to that abnormal society is a measure of their mental sickness.
        
        These millions of abnormally normal people, living without fuss in a society to which, if they were fully human beings, they ought not to be adjusted.”
        Aldous Huxley, Brave New World Revisited
        
        0 3
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        April 10, 2018 10:23pm
      - mikewasmild
        
        Reading that passage must have been, for you, like looking in a mirror.
        
        1 0
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        April 11, 2018 6:31am
Monique Watson

Why is he not handing it over? Given it will damn her and not him.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12029948
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April 10, 2018 7:46pm
- mikewasmild
  
  It’s hard to say, given he won’t tell the media what excuses he is making to the select committee. Maybe it is not a ‘given’ that the voicemail says what he has said it says.
  
  2 6
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  April 10, 2018 7:52pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  He’s probably making sure that an OIA is requested and that the recording can’t be swept under some chair.
  Prolongs the agony also.
  
  6 0
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  April 10, 2018 9:27pm
  - mikewasmild
    
    It has been requested by the select committee so would form evidence submitted to their annual review of RNZ and thus be published anyway.
    As I said, what happens would depend upon what the committee makes of his reasons for refusing the request.
    A request under the OIA could also be made, but there are more possibilities for refusal that way. Section 9(2)((f), for example.
    
    0 4
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    April 10, 2018 9:37pm
Monique Watson

Fuckin A @Andrei. It’s war. Tel Aviv has launched fighters and where Israel goes, America will follow.
5 2
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April 10, 2018 8:17pm
- EAD_TWO
  
  Spot in Monique – great to see more and more people are waking up about who is running American foreign policy.
  
  https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-03-19/top-us-general-says-american-troops-should-be-ready-die-israel
  
  1 3
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  April 10, 2018 10:26pm
Monique Watson

Safest places on Earth in the event of a major war? Arkansas and New Zealand. According to a neighborhood 8th grader.
5 0
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April 10, 2018 8:23pm
Monique Watson

“So a dog walks into a bar and asks the bartender, “Do you have any jobs?” and the bartender says, “Why don’t you try the circus?” The dog replies, “Why would the circus need a bartender?”
6 0
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April 10, 2018 9:07pm
- mikewasmild
  
  Shaggy dog jokes? Have we sunk so low?
  
  2 5
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  April 10, 2018 9:16pm
  - Awww C-mon
    
    it appears so Mike
    
    2 0
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    April 10, 2018 9:20pm
    - mikewasmild
      
      Couldn’t we just fall back on repeating Monty Python lines?
      Could we call Monique a ‘watery bint’?
      
      1 7
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      April 10, 2018 9:27pm
      - Awww C-mon
        
        Monty Python vs xyz walked into a bar jokes.
        
        I may just drink instead tbh.
        
        3 0
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        April 10, 2018 9:34pm
      - mikewasmild
        
        Feel free to elevate the conversation to your usual sophisticated plane.
        
        2 7
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        April 10, 2018 9:38pm
      - Awww C-mon
        
        Hahaha that just leads us back to a bar and a talking animal
        
        5 0
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        April 10, 2018 10:00pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Oh Shi*,

looks like fatties that consume a teaspoon(?tablespoon) of poos from a skinny might start losing weight.
http://www.bbc.com/news/health-43674270
ooooooooooh
6 0
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April 10, 2018 9:09pm
- Awww C-mon
  
  Soo glad I jumped on GD as I have some dinner 😉
  
  3 0
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  April 10, 2018 9:11pm
Monique Watson

Are we not getting GD today? It’s back to the bar and talking animals.

A bear walks into a bar and says to the bartender, “I’ll have a pint of beer and a………. packet of peanuts.”

The bartender asks, “Why the big pause?”
1 0
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April 11, 2018 8:50am
Biscuit

Tell me about it, Monique.

There are superb Liverpool wins in Champions League Quarterfinal ties to talk about!
1 0
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April 11, 2018 9:55am
Manolo

Conning the Poms:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5592357/Two-thirds-child-refugees-lied-age-18.html

Nearly two-thirds of ‘child’ refugees who were questioned about their real age after coming to Britain were found to be adults, an official report has found.
2 0
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April 11, 2018 10:13am
DigNap15

Why is there no GD for today 11 April ?
2 0
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April 11, 2018 12:39pm
wreck1080

Pacific students almost catch up with Pakeha in NCEA

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12030269

This article is garbage because it does not detail the pass rates in the core subjects of maths, english, and science.

Achieving NCEA in itself is quite meaningless. You can almost earn NCEA by just having hobbies, such as scuba diving, or playing an instrument etc. That is the fraud of NCEA, educators turned ‘dumb kids’ into ‘smart kids’ by giving them points for non-academic or soft skills.

Most smart employers are not duped though, they will want to see aptitude in subjects and skills that actually matter to the job at hand.
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April 11, 2018 5:27pm

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A crisis of ambition
Point of Order
What happened to academic freedom?
Hompaddock
Who is a bigger coward? Te Papa Board or TVNZ Board?
The Daily Blog
Silence is Golden
No Minister
Response from Devin Pope, on religious attendance
Utopia
Open mike 20/04/2024
The Standard
A who's who of New Zealand's dodgiest companies
No Right Turn
"Under a better Resource Management system [sic], there would be no need for fast-track approval processes."
Not PC
Again, hate crimes are not necessarily terrorism.
Kiwipolitico
Despair - construction consenting edition
Offsetting Behaviour
RACIST ADVERTISING
No Punches Pulled (Bob Jones)
Is the state coming for churches?
Bob McCoskrie's McBlog
Super Rugby Predictions for Week 9
Stats Chat
Coalition Promises
NZCPR
Tougher than that
Croaking Cassandra
ABs stripped of 2011 title after try disallowed
Imperator Fish
Legal Beagle: Election '23: The Special Votes
Public Address
Making this movie might have been a mistake
Liam Hehir
Why I am retiring from political blogging
Kiwi FireWalker
Angie Warren-Clark: Meet the Newbies
Dan Moskovitz