General Debate 9 September 2019

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Raphael

SO today our Glorious Leader is meeting with Jack Dorsey (CEO of Twitter) to discuss stopping online extremism.

This is the same Jack Dorsey who thinks it was absolutely appalling that Brexit supporters were able to use Twitter to get their message out.
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September 9, 2019 8:06am
- herb1
  
  She should be more concerned about stopping hand written extremism coming out of institutions under her own Government control
  
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  September 9, 2019 8:12am
- hullkiwi
  
  So, he is happy to support denial of free speech! Just the person PriNZess should share scones and a cup of tea with!
  
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  September 9, 2019 8:21am
- cut n paster
  
  Off on another flight of fancy…… virtues to seek.
  Out saving the world and trying to show she’s so special and of global importance.
  Instead of keeping the promises she made to NZ.
  
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  September 9, 2019 8:27am
- G152
  
  Obviously the term WWW eludes her and her advisors.
  Or is she wanting the North Korean/Chinese version of the Internet ????
  
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  September 9, 2019 8:32am
Straight arrow

Duncan Greive, (the Spinoff, 23 July 2019) in an article about the decline of public media funding over the past 30 years, tries to make the case for more public funding.

Claim 1. Public funding should have increased “in lockstep” with increase in GDP.
Counterclaim: First, if you accept this argument, then it should be on GDP per capita, as other public funding (eg health, education) have a per capita function in funding.
Secondly, a particular programme costs $x to make, whether 100 or 10,000 view it. Is he suggesting quality needs to improve, or more programming hours? In the case of more hours, he does not suggest any particular area where NZ needs to increase coverage.

Claim 2. Funding for Maori television is a Treaty obligation, so he has excluded this from his figures.
Counterclaim. It should be included, as it is public funding, it is just that Maori have set different priorities for how they spend that money.

Claim 3. NZ public funding is significantly less than other countries. He uses a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation graph from a 2014 study.
Counterclaim. I have doubts about accuracy of figures used by CBC. What is included / excluded for each nation? Does not appear to include Maori funding (as separate budget vote), while I suspect other countries include ethnic-based funding within total funds (e.g Welsh and Scottish languages). TVNZ channels have commercials, while in UK and Australia they have commercial-free channels. Commercials reduce the need for public (i.e. taxpayer) funds. Would you prefer to pay more taxes, or see commercials? Then again, BBC makes money from selling in-house made programmes, as opposed to NZ where production companies gets the sales, I believe.

Claim 4. Funding should have increased at higher rate than GDP, as need more content for digital platforms.
Counterclaim. Viewers can choose which platform to view the same content. Viewers can subscribe to Netflix, or watch Youtube etc. Youtube content has both content from traditional sources (eg BBC programmes) as well as user-submitted. If anything, the move to digital platforms has increased choice to view overseas TV content in preference to NZ TV content. This could also indicate a gap where NZ on Air could be funding, but Greive does not identify what this gap is.

Claim 5. “Public media … ties us together, communicates important information and reflects our society and culture.”
Counterclaim. Shortland Street, which supposedly reflects NZ culture and diversity, has had an approximate seven percent drop in viewership over the past four years (adding TV and streaming). From my observations of Asian colleagues, if they wish to watch a culturally appropriate programme, they stream it from country of origin. This is backed up by NZ on Air research. In other words, they may not be so much interested in, e.g. Indians within NZ society, but Indian stories. India and other countries already produces such programmes, so why duplicate them?

Conclusion. Greive is pleading for more money for broadcasting, for the sake of spending more money. He has not articulated what will be achieved in regards to outcome. He uses dubious arguments and figures. NZ on Air is a Spinoff sponsor.
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September 9, 2019 8:06am
- srylands
  
  It is all bullshit. The stuff that New Zealand on Air funds is mostly total rubbish. I have not turned a TV on in two years except to occasionally stream a couple of favourite US series.
  
  I would kill New Zealand on Air and RNZ along with it. And after a short period of lefty tantrums, it would all be forgotten.
  
  If people really want these shows they can pay for them via subscriptions. Same with RNZ. I think RNZ is vile but I recognise that others love it. So they can pay for it.
  
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  September 9, 2019 8:22am
  - MCos
    
    “I have not turned a TV on in two years”, but I’m an expert.
    
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    September 9, 2019 8:54am
    - Happychappy
      
      Seeing you seem to know everything MCos maybe you could shed some light on what has happened to Barry Soper as he hasn’t done a column for over two weeks. I was wondering seeing Winston Peter’s has been laid up after his operation whether Barry gets sick leave from his master. Just thought you might be able to help.
      
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      September 9, 2019 9:37am
      - sooty
        
        Barry’s around at Whinestones waitng on him hand and foot!
        Is Barrys missus around or are they paying for their own trip?
        
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        September 9, 2019 10:28am
  - srylands
    
    I don’t need to watch the shit to know it is shit. I simply need to read the list of shows in the NZ On Air annual report.
    
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    September 9, 2019 3:58pm
- KevO'Brien
  
  Public broadcasting is already very extravagant on spending for lefty promotion. TV1 is not fit for purpose and should be disbanded. No PM deserves their own private channel.
  
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  September 9, 2019 8:43am
  - MCos
    
    What is the purpose of TV1?
    It’s certainly not a private channel for the PM.
    It has some propaganda shows like Border Control & the one about our wonderful traffic police force. Country Calendar, Coronation St & Fair Go that predate Serena Williams.
    
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    September 9, 2019 9:24am
    - kowtow
      
      It’s purpose ( and Red Radio’s) is to use public funds to join a worldwide conspiracy to broadcast FAKE NEWS. Literally. Don’t believe me ? They’re not hiding it.
      
      ‘Most of New Zealand’s major news outlets – Stuff, New Zealand Herald, TVNZ, RNZ, Newsroom and the Spinoff – are joining the likes of the Guardian, Scientific American, CBS News, La Republica, and the Lancet in committing themselves to a week of special reporting on climate change.’
      
      https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/mediawatch/audio/2018709007/media-s-worldwide-push-for-climate-change-coverage
      
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      September 9, 2019 9:47am
      - sooty
        
        If your wonderful traffic cop show is showing the cream of the crop, the rest must be right plonkers!
        
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        September 9, 2019 10:31am
      - Straight arrow
        
        I would have thought collusion on what stories to cover would be illegal in NZ.
        
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        September 9, 2019 10:36am
      - KevO'Brien
        
        Cripes. I will be busy in opposition. It’s beyond farce now into legal responsibility for propagating alarmism without care.
        The UN models are not fit for purpose. Any reasonable scientist can verify that.
        
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        September 9, 2019 11:38am
- kowtow
  
  Sean Punkett is also a big advocate for tax payer funding of the fourth estate .
  
  All well and good when they claim they have a “sacred” duty to hold power to account . The problem is they’ve become activists pushing a left wing agenda that runs contrary to the best interests of taxpayers and they don’t hold power to account , they promote a “progressive” agenda .
  
  So fuck ’em.
  
  http://karldufresne.blogspot.com/2019/09/activism-disguised-as-journalism.html
  
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  September 9, 2019 9:06am
  - sooty
    
    Shouldn’t make shit up and tell lies and they might be in a better position!
    
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    September 9, 2019 10:32am
- calendar girl
  
  “Media” matters are high in profile at the present time, but there’s much more to come.
  
  What about what’s soon to appear by way of the “live streaming” on smart TVs of the Rugby World Cup, now only a matter of weeks away from beginning in Japan?
  
  Both major newspaper groups, ‘Stuff’ and the ‘NZ Herald’ today publish opinion pieces casting doubts on whether Spark Sport will be able to cope technically:
  
  https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12265940
  
  https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/115593221/are-we-heading-for-a-spark-sport-rugby-coverage-debacle
  
  But that’s before (perhaps three-quarters of) NZ’s sports followers / viewers even know of the Spark Sport takeover of our major sport’s former broadcasting arrangements.
  
  If PM Ardern thinks that she has had a few problems recently, she should consider getting out of the country for the duration of the Rugby World Cup, and for a month or two afterwards. The forthcoming anger is not something that results from direct actions of her Government. But even she must know that much of the general public will blame her Government for not stepping in earlier to ‘save’ the Rugby World Cup for TV broadcast to New Zealanders at large.
  
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  September 9, 2019 9:09am
Maggie Pie

Millie H. has been one of my Instagram besties for ages.
Here’s what the Herald WONT show you!
To me, it is both sad and disturbing – although when my partner watched it, he said “That’s 15 minutes of my life I’ll never get back”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyK7dnZuJnk

[language warning 🙂 ]
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September 9, 2019 8:09am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Good on her for putting out the message about “Controlling” people in relationships.
  Some folks never seem to see the light and bounce from creep to creep.
  
  Still, why she needs a man to “show her off” is beyond me.
  She’s gorgeous enough without the addition of a stud accessory.
  
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  September 9, 2019 9:01am
  - Maggie Pie
    
    You are sooo right Maggs. She is gawjus and doesn’t deserve the crap shes been subjected to. Its such a shame she has not been able to keep her weight under control.
    
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    September 9, 2019 9:54am
    - sooty
      
      But all of the top woman have a man to show them off. H1 has H2, Cindy has Jethro, Woody has Twyford!
      
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      September 9, 2019 10:36am
      - stigie
        
        Sweet Cheeks has Alf !~
        
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        September 9, 2019 10:58am
    - The King
      
      Yeah, all these bad relationships she has are all the mens fault because she’s ‘gawjus’, like getting kicked out a pub 11 times a night its the pubs fault amirite?
      
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      September 9, 2019 7:06pm
- Lizziep
  
  To me Maggie she does not appear to be a well person at all. I feel for her being in a destructive relationship is hard for anyone. Stay away from the men for a while, get herself together and surely learn from her many past experiences would be the best advice.
  
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  September 9, 2019 10:47am
- The King
  
  Oh so riding the cock carousal isnt working out, imagine my shock.
  
  Curse of the instathot.
  
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  September 9, 2019 7:02pm
Happychappy

Will the Labour led Coalition’s policies come back to bite them on the arse.
Research this week where 1500 were polled by Colmar Bruton shows New Zealanders aren’t entirely comfortable at giving to much help to those who need it and a marketing strategy officer at advertising Giant WPP AUNZ calls it a inconvenient truth.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=12265470
This is under pay wall but I think it gives a picture.
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September 9, 2019 8:10am
- Nigel Kearney
  
  “help to those who need it” is how the journalist has chosen to characterise it. Most of us are happy to help those who need it, just not those who could help themselves but can’t be bothered.
  
  The centre-right positions on welfare, sentencing, and race issues, are extremely popular and National could be hammering Labour with them much harder than they are doing at present.
  
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  September 9, 2019 8:44am
Simon

Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Bridges licking the CCP arses of Yang’s handlers. The tide is moving against the CCP see Hong Kong for calcification. Fucking useless.

You can see what is going to happen once Natz swamp is in government again. They are going to
throw open the doors again to the dirty & criminal CCP money as some sort of remedy to a structurally failing economy. Not going to work this time.
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September 9, 2019 8:12am
- KevO'Brien
  
  Jacinda carries her international commie affiliations as a proud badge of incompetence through loyalty to ideology.
  
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  September 9, 2019 8:36am
- Happychappy
  
  Well fuck off and vote Greens then because Winston and Jacinda are both doing the same. Or a better idea start a political party and see how you go.
  
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  September 9, 2019 8:37am
  - KevO'Brien
    
    If I was a little younger I would be starting the Magenta Party.
    Magenta absorbs green, annihilates it.
    
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    September 9, 2019 8:45am
  - Simon
    
    When a NZ company bids for a NZ asset that NZ company has paid extensive income tax, and been subject to strict health & safely, employment, trade practices and environmental laws. As opposed to a CCP approved entity.
    
    A CCP Chinese company has paid no income tax, treated its workers as serfs, treated the environment as a dump and likely to have committed corruption.
    
    Of course on average the Chinese CCP entity has more far bidding power than a NZ company.
    
    Natz swamp stop getting paid off by the CCP and understand it aint a level playing field.
    
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    September 9, 2019 8:51am
    - RW Capitalist
      
      What planet are you on????
      When a foreign company buys a business in NZ to operate in NZ, they are subject to OUR laws
      Labour laws
      Environmental laws
      Tax laws
      You really are a dumb shit!
      
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      September 9, 2019 10:06am
- Odakyu-sen
  
  Funny how China, a communist country, has so many super-wealthy people.
  
  Something about China is not quite in tune with the term “communism” as it is used in English or “共産主義” as it is used in Japanese.
  
  What could that be? I know the Chinese are nationalists, and they are indeed socialists. Maybe there is a clue there?
  
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  September 9, 2019 8:41am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    Same with all those kleptocrats in Putin’s Russia.
    
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    September 9, 2019 9:04am
- chaos
  
  Strange, because it was actually the Helen Clark government that was responsible for the free trade agreement with China and actually more land and businesses were sold to Chinese buyers under the Clark govt than under the key govt.
  
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  September 9, 2019 10:55am
- Komata
  
  Simon@0812
  
  You’d be a Labour party supporter then?
  
  Does the name Bill Liu mean anything to you?
  
  (Asking for a friend)
  
  BTW: You have an unusual (and perhaps unintentionally-ironic), choice of nom-de-computer… (Just saying).
  
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  September 9, 2019 1:14pm
Tricati

There must be some more bad news coming for the government when stuff put out rubbish on Cindy & Neve,
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/115636645/prime-minister-jacinda-ardern-and-neve-make-video-for-flight-seatmates-daughter
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September 9, 2019 8:24am
Maggie Pie

‘MAFS’ [Ep1 last night TV3]

Foxton meets Hollywood.

Chances of survival = NIL

LOL!!!!
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September 9, 2019 8:32am
G152

Fake news on TV this morning creaming their panties over the Maori language.
A language spoken by few in one country and currently pushed by people who shouldn’t be allowed out without a minder…
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September 9, 2019 8:36am
- surfing
  
  It is amazing isn’t it? But a worry when you get the likes of Kelvin davis wanting it mandatory in schools.
  
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  September 9, 2019 8:44am
- Nigel Kearney
  
  More of us have Irish ancestry than Maori ancestry. That means Gaelic is more ‘our language’ than Maori is.
  
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  September 9, 2019 8:46am
  - kowtow
    
    Gaelic is on (tax payer funded) life support back in the Old Country . Another political waste of money . Nearly one hundred years of revival and God knows how much spent on it , for what ?
    
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    September 9, 2019 9:21am
- KevO'Brien
  
  A good week to practice my useless pidgin.
  Puketifinau what absurdity the COL is going to commit next.
  
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  September 9, 2019 8:49am
- kowtow
  
  They should be pushing getting English right first though , not to mention the vitally important need to have literate/ numerate school leavers……..
  
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  September 9, 2019 9:15am
- Odakyu-sen
  
  Using Te Reo for feel-good, virtue-signalling, token “greetings” does not make it a functional language.
  
  I would challenge any so-called “native speaker” of Te Reo to use this cyborg language (due to its synthetic upgrades) to call up a garage and book a warrant of fitness for their car (or to do anything much in the modern word).
  
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  September 9, 2019 9:20am
  - MCos
    
    English is full of words that are derived from other languages to fill a hole.
    Thai, which is perfectly useless outside Thailand & Laos (unless your go to a Thai temple or restaurant) purloin (from Old French porloigner) foreign words where none previously existed, e.g. remote=tv remote, pump=petrol station (petroleum from Medieval Latin and pétrole is French)
    
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    September 9, 2019 10:50am
    - MCos
      
      Bonjour, une wof & make it snappy, Somchai.
      
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      September 9, 2019 10:58am
    - Odakyu-sen
      
      Yep. But Te Reo was given a suite of custom-made implants by a committee of linguistic surgeons in Wellington.
      
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      September 9, 2019 2:25pm
kowtow

WTF is wrong with these people ?

Mayor Cull of Dunedin also thought he could have a relationship with these criminals .

‘The Gore District Council mayoral office was reluctant to ban gang patches in part because it wanted to protect its burgeoning relationship with a Mongrel Mob leader.’

https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/southland/gore-council-against-gang-patch-ban
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September 9, 2019 8:40am
Random T Person

Out comes the baby – ‘PM and Neve’s video message’ on Stuff this morning 08h19
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September 9, 2019 8:40am
- Poppa
  
  Bloody disgusting isn’t it using your child in that way .
  
  I feel real sorry for that poor kid, being used as a political crutch
  
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  September 9, 2019 9:05am
  - The King
    
    In 2 years nev will be able to decide his gender.
    
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    September 9, 2019 7:10pm
surfing

Looks like Te Reo is eventually going to be made compulsory in schools.

The movement is huge, anyone not in favour will be labelled as a racist and who wants to be that?

My view is that it should be optional.

I think bilingual public signage is a good thing though.
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September 9, 2019 8:44am
- kowtow
  
  ‘I think bilingual public signage is a good thing though.’
  
  Pointless virtue signalling.
  
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  September 9, 2019 9:16am
- Billy Collins
  
  NZ History should be made compulsory before Maori language.
  
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  September 9, 2019 9:25am
  - Jack5
    
    When people took of compulsory history, they mean the take on history they agree with.
    
    Study of the Land Wars and the Westernisation of New Zealand would be sensible if both European and Western views were included in a balanced, impartial way.
    
    That won’t happen. Compulsory NZ history from left-wing schoolies pushed by Maori activists and the Leftish media will be overwhelmingly about the evils of “colonialisation,” with denigration of changes, benefits, and economic development from Westernisation.
    
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    September 9, 2019 10:54am
- Odakyu-sen
  
  “I think bilingual public signage is a good thing though.”
  
  A divided national will not stand.
  
  You can guarantee that, like with the signs at Okahu Bay in Auckland, that Te Reo will be placed above the English, and in a larger or bolder font, to subliminally drive home the intended agenda.
  
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  September 9, 2019 9:26am
  - Gravyman2
    
    I’ve been trying to find signs in Maori that say “Warning this property is under video surveillance” but haven’t had any luck so far….
    
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    September 9, 2019 12:23pm
  - artemisia
    
    Check out the IRD site. On the home page the Maori greeting is on top, larger and bolder than the English name underneath.
    
    On other pages the Maori version is also on top but the English version is similar, smaller font and in bold. Often the Maori version dominates because it is much longer.
    
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    September 9, 2019 2:08pm
- Jack5
  
  The overwhelmingly-Leftist teachers’ profession has already made learning Maori a de facto compulsory subject.
  
  It’s still uphill for Maori language against English, the world lingua franca in business, tourism, education, science, technology, and most important, popular culture.
  
  In signage, the use of macrons will be an obstacle for international travellers and a pain for sign writers.
  
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  September 9, 2019 10:01am
  - Odakyu-sen
    
    Socialism seeks to weaken a society through “kindness.”
    For example, mandating cycle lanes that hardly anyone uses but that choke traffic.
    Forcing children to learn a ceremonial language of a minority culture.
    Reserving parking spaces at facilities (such as gyms) that are hardly ever used.
    Requiring expensive engineering to create “access” ways to buildings that are hardly ever used.
    Elaborate “health & safety” procedures that lull people into a false sense of security (creating greater risk and danger).
    It’s such a waste of time, and for no measurable gain.
    
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    September 9, 2019 3:52pm
- KevO'Brien
  
  Drop Te Reo except for use on a tribal marae completely.
  
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  September 9, 2019 10:08am
  - MCos
    
    When I went to school, why did I have learn French & Latin?
    My English comprehension is no better than the kids who were taught woodwork, except they learnt a lot more profanities than I did listening to the teacher whack himself with a hammer.
    Latin?
    We only learnt it so we knew wtf was going on at Mass and then they changed it to English.
    French?
    Did that for five years. Went to Paris & nobody understood a word I said.
    Personally, & reading the comments here I can see it’s not a popular choice, I would rather have learnt Maori. I would like to understand more of the culture of the original inhabitants of my country and knowing the language is the doorway.
    That’s my opinion.
    
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    September 9, 2019 12:09pm
    - greybeard
      
      I took both French and Latin, in the early 1960s.
      I did not have to learn them, I chose to.
      Thank God.
      
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      September 9, 2019 1:05pm
    - Jules99
      
      My dad did Latin and French at school. It enabled him to speak to the locals, not only in France, but other countries where it was the lingua franca, and he was very grateful. His accent is terrible but they liked the fact that he tried. LOL. If you have a child, French would be a good second language because it’s required by many organisations overseas. Mandarin might be a good option too. Maori, not so much.
      
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      September 9, 2019 2:01pm
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      why did I have learn French & Latin?
      It was a way of sorting all of us into designated pigeon holes….
      
      plus what was the Government going to do with all those secondary teachers who could only teach French & Latin?
      
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      September 9, 2019 4:05pm
      - MCos
        
        In my case they were priests!!
        
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        September 9, 2019 5:59pm
Maggie Pie

Watched ‘THE BLOCK’ live auction last night.
Disappointing for the three teams that spent 12 weeks working for SFA.
But $1.5mill reserve for a crap unit in Kingsland?

Quote of the night: “It looked like the Real Estate Agents had more work done on them than the apartments” [nothing wrong with that of course 🙂 ]
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September 9, 2019 8:56am
- Cobolt24
  
  At least one of the teams who got no money from the auction got a car. The reserve price was too high I agree.
  
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  September 9, 2019 11:22am
  - Maggie Pie
    
    Yep – i’ve been involved with a couple of auctions as a vendor. The secret i reckon is to set the reserve at a level where the auctioneer can say, “We’re on the market!”. That will normally set the room alight – and providing you’ve got a few agents in the room making phantom bids, it’s off to the races 🙂
    
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    September 9, 2019 11:54am
stephieboy

Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
“Climate change denial strongly linked to right-wing nationalism”

With Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, as a hub, the world’s first global research network into climate change denial has now been established. Building on a brand-new research publication showing the links between conservatism, xenophobia and climate change denial, the network will study how the growth of right-wing nationalism in Europe has contributed to an increase in climate change denial.

Scientific awareness of the greenhouse effect, and human influence on the climate has existed for over three decades. During the 1980s, there was a strong environmental movement and a political consensus on the issue, but in recent years, climate change denial – denying that changes to the climate are due to human influence on the environment – has increased.

”Two strong groups have joined forces on this issue – the extractive industry, and right-wing nationalists. The combination has taken the current debate to a much more dramatic level than previously, at the same time as our window of opportunity is disappearing…”

https://www.chalmers.se/en/departments/tme/news/Pages/Climate-change-denial-strongly-linked-to-right-wing-nationalism.aspx

Nothing really new here as we see it here with xenophobic far right climate change deniers rattling the cot sides
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September 9, 2019 9:02am
- Notsofast
  
  A simpler way to discuss this is to not discuss climate change but refer people to the 3 big graphs starting 1800.
  
  1. Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration.
  2. Human population.
  3. Mean global temperature.
  
  These all have an identical appearance to the profile of Rangitoto Island visible from many aspects around Auckland.
  Enjoy.
  
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  September 9, 2019 9:42am
- KevO'Brien
  
  “Chalmers “University” was founded in 1829 as a kindergarten to teach poor children reading and writing.”
  And from your favorite Christopher Monckton of Brenchley a little backgrounder…
  https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/09/02/the-thermageddonites-are-studying-us-be-afraid-be-very-afraid/
  
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  September 9, 2019 10:06am
  - stephieboy
    
    KevO’Brien, false!
    
    Chalmers University of Technology
    
    “Chalmers University of Technology (Swedish: Chalmers tekniska högskola, often shortened to Chalmers) is a Swedish university located in Gothenburg that focuses on research and education in technology, natural science, architecture, maritime and other management areas”
    
    The university was founded in 1829 following a donation by William Chalmers, a director of the Swedish East India Company. He donated part of his fortune for the establishment of an “industrial school”. Chalmers was run as a private institution until 1937, when the institute became a state-owned university. In 1994, the school was incorporated as an aktiebolag under the control of the Swedish Government, the faculty and the Student Union. Chalmers is one of only three universities in Sweden which are named after a person, the other two being Karolinska Institutet and Linnaeus University….”
    
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chalmers_University_of_Technology
    
    We also learn from Wiki that in 2018 MIT ranked Chalmers Engineering faculty as 10th in the world in terms of teaching and academic excellence.
    
    Anthony Watts and his associates are notoriously unreliable as they are Climate denial propaganderists
    
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    September 9, 2019 11:19am
    - KevO'Brien
      
      Can you explain how the UNIPCC models showing the actual observations differing greatly from their projections are fit for purpose. Would any person of science trust them? If so why?
      
      Further, the UNIPCC Third Assessment Report stated that they could not predict future climate as the weather was a coupled chaotic system and hence mathematically impossible. Shouldn’t they have shut up shop then or was control more important?
      
      Politics is driving all this not science. That is being slowly revealed as people are asked to pay more and more and more…
      
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      September 9, 2019 11:48am
      - stephieboy
        
        What the IPCC models really say,
        
        “ Over the last couple of months there has been much blog-viating about what the models used in the IPCC 4th Assessment Report (AR4) do and do not predict about natural variability in the presence of a long-term greenhouse gas related trend. Unfortunately, much of the discussion has been based on graphics, energy-balance models and descriptions of what the forced component is, rather than the full ensemble from the coupled models. That has lead to some rather excitable but ill-informed buzz about very short time scale tendencies. We have already discussed how short term analysis of the data can be misleading, and we have previously commented on the use of the uncertainty in the ensemble mean being confused with the envelope of possible trajectories (here). The actual model outputs have been available for a long time, and it is somewhat surprising that no-one has looked specifically at it given the attention the subject has garnered. So in this post we will examine directly what the individual model simulations actually show….
        
        …It should be clear from the above the plot that the long term trend (the global warming signal) is robust, but it is equally obvious that the short term behaviour of any individual realisation is not. This is the impact of the uncorrelated stochastic variability (weather!) in the models that is associated with interannual and interdecadal modes in the models – these can be associated with tropical Pacific variability or fluctuations in the ocean circulation for instance. Different models have different magnitudes of this variability that spans what can be inferred from the observations and in a more sophisticated analysis you would want to adjust for that. For this post however, it suffices to just use them ‘as is’….”
        
        http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2008/05/what-the-ipcc-models-really-say/
        
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        September 9, 2019 12:53pm
      - All_on_Red
        
        Stephie you racist idiot.
        You’re quoting AR4 (2008)which has been superseded by AR5 in 2012
        From the IPCC AR5 WG1 report on Modelling ;’CMIP5 has produced a multi-model dataset that includes long-term simulations of twentieth-century climate and projections for the twenty-first century and beyond. This summarizes near-term projections of global mean surface temperature anomalies in Figure 11.25 This shows that observations particularly since 2005 are on the low end of the envelope that contains 90% of the climate model simulations. Observations in 2011-2012 are below the 5-95% envelope of the CMIP5 simulations. The trend in the model simulations is substantially larger than the observed trend over the past 15 years.”
        In simple words 90% of the Models are too high compared to the actual observed temp.
        Now shush, adults are talking.
        
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        September 9, 2019 2:07pm
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        According to NOAA the global Temp has gone from about 14.0C in 1880 to about 14.2C in 2017
        
        https://twitter.com/climaterealists/status/1029022058469044225
        
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        September 9, 2019 2:22pm
      - All_on_Red
        
        Oops. If only they’d looked at the data from DMI before they went. They would know the Ice is growing.
        
        ‘Arctic tours ship MS MALMO with 16 passengers on board got stuck in ice on Sep 3 off Longyearbyen, Svalbard Archipelago, halfway between Norway and North Pole. The ship is on Arctic tour with Climate Change documentary film team, and tourists, concerned with Climate Change and melting Arctic ice.All 16 Climate Change warriors were evacuated by helicopter in challenging conditions, all are safe. 7 crew remains on board, waiting for Coast Guard ship assistance.’
        https://maritimebulletin.net/2019/09/04/ship-with-climate-change-warriors-caught-in-ice-warriors-evacuated/
        
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        September 9, 2019 3:01pm
      - KevO'Brien
        
        Obfuscation will get you the Assistant Curator of Neve position. You will be able to observe chaos at first hand. You might even get butterflies which can appear.
        
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        September 9, 2019 3:11pm
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        @AoRed
        
        Yep, it’s a Joke..
        Stuff is running with a big article about Longyearbyen suffering through a heatwave.
        https://play.stuff.co.nz/details/_6082810733001
        
        It was bloody cold when I was up there this July…
        and if Stuff had checked Longyearbyen’s 24hr videocam, they would have seen that the place is now pretty well snow-covered.
        https://www.spitsbergen-svalbard.com/photos-panoramas-videos-and-webcams/spitsbergen-webcams.html
        It’s below zero for 8 months of the year.
        
        The Arctic sea-ice was pretty dense at the beginning of July and we couldn’t reach the northernmost islands of the archipelego.
        
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        September 9, 2019 3:27pm
- The King
  
  “Everyone who disagrees with me is literally Hitler”
  
  you are the meme stephie
  
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  September 9, 2019 7:14pm
plc

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/maori-language-week/115569881/stop-talking-about-why-we-need-to-learn-te-reo-mori-and-just-learn-it-any-way-you-can

I have not yet heard one cogent argument on “Why we need to learn te reo mori”.

The language is of no use outside New Zealand.

I have no problem if somebody wants to learn the language…..like I have no issue if someone wants to learn to ski. But neither are for me. They don’t interest me.

I left a Tier 3 role at a Government Department last year. While I was dragging them out of the dark ages in my specialist area, I was told that unless I had “upskilled” to conversational Te Reo I would not be assessed as competent in my role.

When every meeting had to begin with a karekia and end with a waiata, I realised that I was in the wrong place.

No doubt, I’m part of the problem.
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September 9, 2019 9:02am
- kowtow
  
  ‘The language is of no use outside New Zealand.’
  
  And it’s usefulness in New Zealand is highly questionable too.
  
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  September 9, 2019 9:18am
  - Odakyu-sen
    
    Fluency in Te Reo will be an asset to help counter whiteness, heterosexuality and maleness, if you want to work for the State sector in this country.
    
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    September 9, 2019 9:28am
  - stephieboy
    
    kowtow, if you look at it like that nor is Irish Gaelic , Thai, Laotian , Welsh etc, etc !
    
    For humans language is the basis of ones identity whether the above, Chinese, Japanese, Indonesian and Maori for that matter.!
    
    https://ro.ecu.edu.au/lsjic/6/
    
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    September 9, 2019 11:27am
    - Swifty
      
      Well, if is as important to people as ‘to be the basis of their identity’ then you’d think they’d work harder to maintain it.
      
      That after several decades of hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars annually extorted from the taypayer to support it numbers of speakers are still falling – I guess the majority of Maori don’t share your view.
      
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      September 9, 2019 1:14pm
    - Jack5
      
      Stephie X, in stating that “language is the basis of one’s identity”, in the list of examples, you modestly omitted Stephiestani.
      
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      September 9, 2019 1:38pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Extraordinary amount of time is wasted in the Public Service on long Powhiri and Waiata practice.
  
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  September 9, 2019 9:43am
  - plc
    
    The other practice that was becoming widespread in Public Service was putting your “iwi affiliation” on your business card as though it is a qualification.
    
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    September 9, 2019 10:40am
    - Straight arrow
      
      I’m thinking of putting my star sign. Just as useful.
      
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      September 9, 2019 6:46pm
  - kowtow
    
    Reminding members of the public service that they are second class and late comers and rubbing honkeys face in the race guilt pit is not a waste of time , if you’re into social engineering and divisive race policies.
    
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    September 9, 2019 2:52pm
- KevO'Brien
  
  Conversational Maori? Hus and kotis.
  
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  September 9, 2019 10:01am
- Maggie Pie
  
  ‘Te Reo’ for beginners –
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_v1G57bfpGc&t=5s
  
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  September 9, 2019 10:05am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    First time I have been able to comprehend ‘Te Reo’
    
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    September 9, 2019 5:48pm
- graham
  
  plc, like you I have no problem if somebody wants to learn Maori. Good on them for taking an interest in something.
  
  But again, like you it has no interest or value to me. We all have a certain amount of time to spend doing the things we WANT to do, and for me that just happens to be learning to play the piano. Other people may have no interest in that at all, and that’s fine. But learning to play the piano takes time and practice, and with only a limited amount of time to spend doing the things I want to do, there is no time left over to start learning ANY language, even if I wanted to.
  
  Then there are things I HAVE to do, and again learning Maori doesn’t seem to have any compelling reason. I followed a link from the story you linked to:
  
  https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/maori-language-week/114961777/learn-te-reo-mori-with-anton-matthews-why-its-what-sets-us-apart-as-kiwis?rm=m
  
  with the headline, “Learn te reo Maori with Anton Matthews: Why? It’s what sets us apart as Kiwis”. The arguments presented for learning Maori in this article are:
  
  – Maori culture is what makes New Zealand a special place
  – Learning Maori gives you an insight into Maori culture
  – The author just wants people to embrace it and feel comfortable speaking it
  
  Yeah, sorry, still not compelling enough for me to stop devoting one hour each day to piano practice (which gives me pleasure, and gives me the ability to make music which in turn can bring pleasure to many other people), and start learning how to speak Maori instead.
  
  If someone wants to learn Maori, fine. Good for them. Go for it. I sincerely mean that.
  
  But don’t force me to learn it. I prefer to learn piano. Let’s celebrate our diversity, shall we?
  
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  September 9, 2019 10:12am
  - Jack5
    
    Is New Zealand a “special place”?
    
    We have problems and benefits from being one of the world’s most remote countries.
    
    We sit on a tectonic plate edge that makes us vulnerable to earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and tidal waves.
    
    Our terrain is predominantly mountainous, and from the coastal plains we run an agriculture-based economy that for nearly half a century has been struggling – but not quite obtaining – sufficient export income to end a balance-of-payments deficit.
    
    New Zealand has plenty of good points, such as low population and temperate weather, but we aren’t living in Heaven.
    
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    September 9, 2019 11:02am
    - MCos
      
      ‘Is New Zealand a “special place”?’
      
      For me it is because it’s my home country.
      I’m not interested, as are some people, in running everywhere else down and going on about NZ being the best place in the world.
      It has it’s flaws as some people point out and some Kiwis can’t stand the place and go somewhere else where they think they will be happier.
      It’s where I feel most at home.
      
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      September 9, 2019 1:35pm
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    – Maori culture is what makes New Zealand a special place
    
    The land and its biota existed here long before humans arrived.
    
    We have existing trees in NZ that pre-date any “culture.”
    
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    September 9, 2019 1:48pm
  - Kiwi Dave
    
    … learning Maori doesn’t seem to have any compelling reason.
    
    That’s the central problem for Maori language here and minority/indigenous languages elsewhere in a nut shell; coercion is unlikely to defeat mass indifference
    
    Many individuals value Maori enough to learn it, but most NZers choose not to because they don’t identify with the language/culture enough, or they find it insufficiently useful to give it the priority necessary for learning; the same holds true for those who could have learnt it as a mother tongue but did not, or later abandoned it.
    
    The reasons given for learning it rarely deserve much more than a ‘So what?’; the alleged educational benefits are contested, heavily dependent on social contexts not experienced by most learners, and not unique to the Maori language.
    
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    September 9, 2019 4:09pm
- Straight arrow
  
  As part of Management degree at Victoria we had to endure several lectures about Maori culture. One, by Ngātata Love, was quite interesting as to how “Maori business” was growing in NZ, although just because someone is Maori does not qualify their business as “Maori”, in my opinion.
  
  One lecturer (not a management or business person, but a Maori subject academic), who I forget her name, was so racist and anti-European that just about every white person walked out (a couple of hundred), leaving basically just Asians taking copious notes.
  
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  September 9, 2019 10:29am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    I do hope you weren’t instructed in any dodgy business dealings by Professor Love.
    https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/95845191/convicted-fraudster-sir-ngatata-love-granted-parole
    
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    September 9, 2019 1:44pm
- Straight arrow
  
  News reports say Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon was the only mayor fluent in te reo Māori. Which means Mayor Lester is not. Mayor Justin Lester wants his city to be the first ‘Te Reo Māori Capital City’ of the world, and yet it seems he cannot be bothered himself. All he serves up are platitudes and virtue signalling.
  
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  September 9, 2019 5:55pm
artemisia

Cactus Kate, insightful and always highly entertaining, takes aim at the 5% home deposit policy. (Well I think it’s a policy, it is very vague so far.) There’s a link to her blog on the right under ‘Links’.

I just cannot write anymore about what a stupid policy this is. Some people are and should never own their own home because they do not earn enough income. We let too many people buy too many houses and we do not build new ones fast enough. The Chinese have gone, it is your Mum and Dad who are buying up “investment” homes. Wait til they die. You will get a share in one then. If you have even less shame, find some rich bloke or woman and move in with them and grift your way into a bigger home that you think you and your children deserve.

Until then, leave the poor bloody taxpayer without the advantage of a share in an estate, alone.
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September 9, 2019 9:33am
Jack5

Next, Nobel Prizes in indigenous physics …

Maori studies useless?

The world is open for folk with good science degrees, and countries more intelligent than New Zealand focus their immigration policies on attracting the scientifically literate.

But hooray, here’s the University of Canterbury bringing Maori learning into science studies – so look out Western competitors:

https://www.canterbury.ac.nz/courseinfo/GetCourseDetails.aspx?course=SCIM101&occurrence=19S2(C)&year=2019
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September 9, 2019 9:48am
G152

One of the things about the Maori language is that it isn’t the same (or wasn’t the same) across New Zealand as there are regional differences.
Is there acknowledgement of this in the ‘education’ ???
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September 9, 2019 9:48am
Notsofast

Evidence disappears when it proves what the police cannot explain in a pet theory.

“The then couple were walking to the bus stop when they spotted the man staggering along Highcliff Rd and onto Every St where his family home was.

The pair said they told police about the unusual sighting at the time – but police told the Herald they had no record of it.

Police had undertaken an “extensive search of available documentation” but had not been able to locate or identify any material relating to the pair’s version of events, according to a police spokeswoman.

Their sighting could be significant as it raises uncertainty around whether David Bain was home when the family computer was turned on, Stuff reported.

The defence argues Robin Bain shot his family and turned the computer on before turning the gun on himself.

While the Crown argued Bain had time to turn it on once he finished his paper run and write: “Sorry you are the only one who deserved to stay”.”

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/crime/news/article.cfm?c_id=30&objectid=12265829

Appears to be not premium content so available for analysis and comment by all kiwibloggers.
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September 9, 2019 9:48am
- Swifty
  
  Ah, the caped crusader, was wondering when you’d pop up following this ‘news’.
  
  Not quite sure why you’d bother to demonstrate here on KB your inability to face facts. I’d guess the great majority of KBers here followed the case, weighed the evidence and came to the firm conclusion that the paperboy dunnit.
  
  The list of physical evidence pointing to David is as long as my kitchen table.
  
  The list for Robin? Yeah nah.
  
  Frankly I think you’ve a better chance with the fat scoutmaster. The Massacre at Every St is an open and shut case. As much as it must pain you to realise it – the boy did it.
  
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  September 9, 2019 12:46pm
  - Brian McDonald
    
    “As long as the kitchen table.” Blame the jury time again because you know best. Don’t tell me you sat through the whole trial as well – that’s another qualifier. Must be hard for you to stomach but the alleged new evidence supports evidence at the trial that yes, Robin did turn his own computer on after he left a towel with his own blood on it in the laundry. Nobody gets cuts and bruises to their hands praying, or even gunshot residue.
    
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    September 9, 2019 2:03pm
    - Swifty
      
      Sorry mate, you’re barking up the wrong tree with me.
      
      Caught up with old Les the other day.
      
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      September 9, 2019 2:16pm
- Brian McDonald
  
  This was always controversial. The detective that checked the car clock of the woman who saw Bain entering the property never reported to the Court that the woman always ran her clock 2 minutes fast to ensure she was early for work. That 2 minutes helped get the case over the line at trial 1. That belated evidence was heard at the PC when the convictions were quashed. Secondly there was a call centre staff member who said she took the 111 call after 7am and that she was sure because her shift started at 7am. For some reason he defence at the retrial didn’t push that point – more than likely they would have had they known of these 2 witnesses. There is no explanation why the defence didn’t respond to them which one would normally expect just out of courtesy – so perhaps it wasn’t received.
  One of the ‘arms’ of the prosecution was the ‘lost time’ between David arriving home and his call. Whilst always fanciful to think every person can be purposeful in the face of horror and time conscious all the same – this would be considered new evidence now had David not been acquitted. Unfortunately it fits with a pattern in the big cases of evidence going missing.
  
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  September 9, 2019 12:59pm
KevO'Brien

A disturbing view of the future largely in accord with my own. We’re probably going to have to tax robot production…
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-09-08/universal-basic-income-automation-plutocracy-dystopia

The ultimate outcome is having robots producing goods for other robots with only a couple of humans left owning them all.
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September 9, 2019 9:57am
- chiz
  
  Robots still require humans. So-called autonomous robots aren’t fully autonomous and still need to humans to operate them every now and then.
  
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  September 9, 2019 3:18pm
marcw

This report from Friday was about the launch of the new America’s Cup boat in Auckland.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/americas-cup/115559108/americas-cup-team-nz-name-new-boat-te-aihe

Dear leader and Mallard (who had obviously traveled on taxpayer dime to be present) were featured in the video at the start of the Stuff report. If you start watching at about 0.45m, notice how the PTPM has no clue when her minders are not puting the words in her mouth. What a put down of Mallard – will he take her out of witless protection as payback?
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September 9, 2019 10:36am
- Swifty
  
  Sums up Mallard – he protects and shelters Ardern.
  
  Come to think of it – is this a role for our Speaker? Even if ‘acting’ in his capacity as an MP? Shouldn’t he at least try to maintain a public profile demonstrating some impartiality?
  
  Happy to be corrected if people can dig up pictures of Lockwood or Carter holding umbrellas for Key.
  
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  September 9, 2019 12:29pm
  - chaos
    
    Mallard was hugely involved with the America’s cup in the last labour govt so not surprised he went there, actually because of his involvement last time with funding I don’t mind him being there.
    
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    September 9, 2019 3:28pm
    - Swifty
      
      Attend yes, but to be her punka wallah? Why him, she must have tens of party or office toadies for such a job.
      
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      September 9, 2019 4:30pm
      - chaos
        
        You’re sounding a it like a precious labour supporter.. whinge whinge whinge. Oh how dare Trevor being there holding an umbrella whinge whinge whinge.. grow up
        
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        September 9, 2019 6:27pm
      - Swifty
        
        You just don’t get it do you.
        
        Our Speaker has a vital constitutional role in our parliamentary democracy and one which relies on their even-handedness and impartiality.
        
        Again, I’ve no objection whatsoever to him attending – but holding an umbrella for Jacinda? Not a good look – unless of course someone from National spoke as well and Trev held an umbrella for them too.
        
        Yeah nah.
        
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        September 9, 2019 7:26pm
igm

At which mosque will Ardern being attending 9/11 celebrations this year?
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September 9, 2019 10:54am
- stephieboy
  
  A silly question from a silly boy/girl!
  
  https://news.yahoo.com/george-w-bush-standing-tolerance-9-11-090054730.html
  
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  September 9, 2019 1:02pm
Jack5

?For the Auckland followers of Kiwiblog who have hotly challenged suggestions about strong Chinese influence on the Auckland property market:

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/115636054/super-investor-ronovation-fined-for-price-fixing-in-auckland-housing-market
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September 9, 2019 11:09am
- All_on_Red
  
  Ron Hoy Fong is a third generation NZer.
  
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  September 9, 2019 12:36pm
  - Swifty
    
    Yep.
    
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    September 9, 2019 12:48pm
    - Jack5
      
      Ronald Ng Hoy Fong is a third generation New Zealander?
      
      Well here he is on Youtube, and so he is.
      
      https://youtu.be/KjwWNtSmP7U
      
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      September 9, 2019 1:28pm
      - All_on_Red
        
        Glad they finally got him though
        He was pretty predatory about the way he did things.
        
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        September 9, 2019 1:56pm
  - Maggie Pie
    
    You know what Confucius says about… ‘old habits’
    
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    September 9, 2019 1:15pm
- KevO'Brien
  
  Sharp business practices. Let the buyer be very aware. It’s cultural, acceptable and a game.
  I have encountered it and string of court cases followed as they gambled on the outcome. Some of the lawyers got paid others other lost out when I pulled the plug.
  
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  September 9, 2019 3:24pm
WaveyDavey

Now I have no problem if you want to learn an obsolete and nearly dead language in your own time and at your own expense.

However today Puna (Stuff to those of us who live in the modern world) gives us this story. Hard to find and buried beneath the te reo virtue signalling toss but apparently spraying millions on a stone-age language that even the allegedly indigenous part of our community can’t be bothered learning comes before addressing a much more pressing need.

“NZ has a basic skills problem. Too many of our adults have the bare minimum of basic literacy and numeracy skills.

“This is holding them back, holding our economy back and feeding into ongoing social problems.”

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/115643490/new-zealands-basic-skills-problem-holding-economy-back

Let’s just keep funding the white guilt-trippers and ignore the real elephant in the room.
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September 9, 2019 12:41pm
- Swifty
  
  Last week it was reported that our school-kid reading levels were top of the OECD in 1970 – and that we are now 34th i.e. at the bottom.
  
  It’s a fucking disgrace.
  
  But I know let’s make Maori compulsory!
  
  And squeeze the time and resources available to teach core subjects even further…….
  
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  September 9, 2019 2:11pm
  - WaveyDavey
    
    How long before it is classed as a core subject?
    
    TBF, the vast majority in NZ is going to need a smattering or te reo to work out which government agency they’ll need to contact to deal with their bashed kids/their single-parent bennie/their dole/their obesity and smoking-related diseases…
    
    And to think there are those of us who thought the movie Idiocracy was ludicrously far-fetched…
    
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    September 9, 2019 2:52pm
  - kowtow
    
    Defies logic , but social engineering is Top Priority.
    
    You’d think the Comrades would want all the Proles to do well , not just the brown ones.
    
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    September 9, 2019 2:55pm
  - KevO'Brien
    
    Learning Maori will be a hindrance to learning English. The grammar is vastly different and Maori speakers frequently now use English grammar constructions mixed in with their own.
    
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    September 9, 2019 3:16pm
    - MH
      
      Dover Samuels will be expecting a written apology in triplicake forthwidth. In the corridors and hotels of power may he be fourever peeing into the wind.
      
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      September 9, 2019 4:13pm
  - chaos
    
    Have you got a link for that? All I can find is the 2015 PISA which has us at 8 out of 39 female, 9 out of 39 for male for reading, the 2018 results won’t be released until december.
    
    https://data.oecd.org/new-zealand.htm#profile-education
    
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    September 9, 2019 4:02pm
Swifty

UK- educated and based ex-Afghan MP gets pissed on a flight and labels cabin attendants ‘racist’.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7441351/You-dont-like-Im-Muslim-Ex-Afghan-MPs-bizarre-drunken-rant-police.html

What a prick.
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September 9, 2019 1:35pm
Maggie Pie

My partners mum txts –

Why do mice have such small balls?
So few of them know how to dance.

LOL!!!
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September 9, 2019 1:44pm
- Paulus Gnome
  
  Why does Labour have no balls?
  
  Because dancing on the head of a pin, as they tend to do, allows only limited attendance
  
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  September 9, 2019 2:59pm
chaos

As much as he may want this story isn’t going to end for Andrew.

*Paedophile Jeffrey Epstein ‘was a guest at Princess Beatrice’s lavish £400,000 18th birthday party at Windsor Castle alongside Harvey Weinstein and Ghislane Maxwell’ *

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7439679/Harvey-Weinstein-paedophile-tycoon-Jeffrey-Epstein-attended-Princess-Beatrices-18th-birthday.html
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September 9, 2019 3:35pm
- Maggie Pie
  
  The Duke of York’s accuser, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, as she is today-
  
  https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EDTmhLCXoAAhUvs?format=jpg&name=small
  
  My partner reckons people are being a bit hard on Andrew. He sez he can understand why the poor guy might be a bit embarrassed about the association these days 🙂
  
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  September 9, 2019 4:11pm
MrTips

As everyone knew, there is no “gay gene” . Multiple DNA markers align with a persons propensity to same-sex behaviour but no single one explains it: in fact, all 5 might estimate 25% of the behaviour model.

“There is no ‘gay gene’,” says lead study author Andrea Ganna, a geneticist at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Ganna and his colleagues also used the analysis to estimate that up to 25% of sexual behaviour can be explained by genetics, with the rest influenced by environmental and cultural factors — a figure similar to the findings of smaller studies.
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September 9, 2019 3:39pm
Michael

So David Bain was sighted at the top of Every Street at around 7.a.m on the morning of the murders. What a turn-up for the books. Now we know what he was doing during part of that missing 20 minutes that he said he couldn’t remember. What I would like to know is why the police are unable to locate those signed statements. I reckon there should be an inquiry into that.
For some reason known only to him David Bain felt the need to be seen that morning. That is why he caused one subscribers dog to bark , something she had expressly told him not to do. That is why he went back out to the street 2/3 minutes after arriving home. He knew that a lady who worked at the nursing home next door always drove past at around 6.44.
And that is why he went up to the bus stop at around 7 a.m , after he had shot his father who was late coming into the house that morning due to the fact that he was having a lie in. He had an appointment to see an Education Board official that morning and wasn’t going out to Taieri Beach School until after he had spoken to her. David Bain hoped there might be some people up at the top of Every Street waiting for a bus at the bus stop. He drew attention to himself by staggering about and pretending to bump into a lamp post. No doubt the pro David Bainers will now say that is how he got those bruises on his face.
But those same pro David Bainers will have a problem explaining why David Bain went back out to the street after supposedly finding his family dead instead of contacting the emergency services.
And another thing. David Bain reckoned he put the sweatshirt he was wearing that morning in the wash when he arrived home. One of those witnesses believed he was wearing an anorak when she saw him. But hang on a second , that anorak was found in his father’s van. And two other witnesses reckoned he was wearing an anorak. I reckon those chickens are all coming home to roost. I wonder if David Bain will ever confess? I mean it is now so bleeding obvious that he murdered his family despite what that gullible Canadian believes.
Btw, I wrote a book about the Bain case, The Bain Killings Whodunnit? I have to say with this latest sighting it ain’t a whodunnit anymore. David dunnit.
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September 9, 2019 3:55pm
Nostradamus

Michael:

So David Bain …

I think most of the Bainiacs have left town old chap. You could try reviving this thread (959 comments) or this thread (1,325 comments). If you feel like a big Bainiac reunion, then you could try this thread (4,919 comments).
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September 9, 2019 4:51pm
- Swifty
  
  4919 – wow, I had forgotten about that.
  
  Them were the days…..
  
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  September 9, 2019 7:41pm
igm

So they are greasing to the privileged race to get acceptance.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/115641759/new-multimillion-dollar-mosque-for-palmerston-north
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September 9, 2019 5:40pm
Michael

Nostradamus,
It does appear there are some Baniacs still around.
The only reason I made a comment was because Notsofast and Brian McDonald had previously commented on that article. BTW, I am aware of those threads you refer to seeing as I made comments on all of them. I was muggins back then.
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September 9, 2019 5:58pm
stigie

Christ, it would be far more interesting to bring back Dad or even Philu for shear entertainment Nostra..?
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September 9, 2019 6:01pm
- Nostradamus
  
  Stigie:
  
  Dad or Philu would be good value, but if they’re not available, I’d settle for Bereal *Hic*
  
  Actually, speaking of well-known Kiwiblog personalities, Mikenmild seems to have gone quiet?
  
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  September 9, 2019 6:17pm
  - Swifty
    
    Haven’t seen anything from him for quite some time.
    
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    September 9, 2019 7:44pm
Fletch

Someone on my Facebook posted a link to a TVNZ story which is trumpeting Labours unemployment rate, “the lowest in 11 years!”.

https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/unemployment-falls-lowest-rate-in-11-years-wages-rise-4-per-cent

Of course, what this doesn’t show is the Underutilisation rate which is actually 11% and not counted in the statistics.

https://www.stats.govt.nz/indicators/underutilisation-rate

At least Newshub was honest enough to post about the statistics in their story from two years ago.

To count as unemployed, people must have actively sought work within the past month and be available for work within the next four weeks. ‘Actively sought’ means they contacted an employer, placed an ad to find a job or took steps to set up a business.
You might be trawling Seek for a forestry job in Kaikohe, but if you don’t apply for anything in the month before the employment survey takes place, you count as ‘outside the workforce’.

Yes, you’re unemployed and you want a job but no, you are not counted in the Government’s unemployment statistics.

So, are we being misled by statistics boasting low unemployment rates?
Bill Rosenberg, economist at the Council of Trade Unions, says when people read headlines saying New Zealand has a 4.8 percent unemployment rate, they are not getting the full picture.

“When [people] look at that figure, they get a false sense of wellbeing. Actually, there’s a lot more people out there who are still wanting work.”

He said he’s never been particularly happy with the exclusion of people who have stopped looking for work.

“It’s a fairly brutal definition, really. It’s what’s used internationally, but it really doesn’t take into account the nature of the jobs that are out there and the difficulties people can have in finding those jobs.”

“There are a lot of people who are not getting what they need from employment,” he said, be it enough hours or enough pay.

The same measure of unemployment is used in the United Kingdom, where the statistic was labelled a ‘lie’ by the editor of Business Insider Jim Edwards last week.

“The statistical definition of ‘unemployment’ relies on a fiction that economists tell themselves about the nature of work,” he wrote.

MORE – https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/election/2017/08/unemployment-bad-news-nz-it-s-much-worse-than-you-think.html

So, not as good as we think.
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September 9, 2019 6:28pm

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