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August 12, 2020 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 12 August 2020

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General Debate

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Maggie Pie

No sense in being pessimistic.
It wouldn’t work anyway.
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August 12, 2020 8:01am
- Te Rauparaha
  
  That’s what my wife told me this morning Maggie 🙂
  
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  August 12, 2020 8:03am
- Ceejay
  
  Always optimistic, me.
  
  Optimistic that this has screwed Ardern’s chances of a second term.
  
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  August 12, 2020 10:29am
- Nutta
  
  Pessimists make the world a safe place for the optimists.
  
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  August 12, 2020 1:10pm
Te Rauparaha

I am now like a Cuban peasant living as a prisoner under Castro.

Thanks Winston. Top marks for keeping Jacinda honest 🙂
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August 12, 2020 8:01am
- MT_Tinman
  
  The internal polls must be showing a large drop in Labour support.
  
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  August 12, 2020 8:10am
  - Sir Cullen's Sidekick
    
    Yup – This is what I am also thinking…..Needed to play this trump card for sure to scare Sheeple.
    
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    August 12, 2020 8:30am
  - 3-coil
    
    MT (8:10am) – if true, why then did Jacinda do “a little dance“ and the end of her 9:15pm announcement last night??
    
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    August 12, 2020 8:52am
  - 3-coil
    
    MT (8:10am) – if true, why then did Jacinda do “a little dance“ at the end of her 9:15pm announcement last night??
    
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    August 12, 2020 8:55am
    - Captain Mainwaring
      
      I heard you the first time.
      
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      August 12, 2020 9:06am
      - Tall Man
        
        At least he’s not shouting 🙂
        
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        August 12, 2020 9:27am
      - Sir Cullen's Sidekick
        
        Be kind Cap bro.
        
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        August 12, 2020 9:29am
      - sooty
        
        She will be pleased to be running the election speeches multiple times a day to all the sheeple!
        
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        August 12, 2020 12:48pm
    - MT_Tinman
      
      Maybe she’d just read this
      
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      August 12, 2020 9:32am
    - mark15
      
      Her $16m PR team told her to?
      
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      August 12, 2020 12:07pm
Happychappy

So Jacinda Ardernis still showing the same traits of being a stranger to the truth and if it hadn’t had been for a Journalist being leaked information on the case of the four people that have test positive for COVID-19 we would not have had the details released last night. Jacinda is politically corrupt and will stop at nothing to retain power.
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August 12, 2020 8:04am
- G152
  
  She probably wanted to keep it a big secret until nearer the election for some strange reason I couldn’t possibly fathom…
  Been saying for a while that its a pandemic not that its going to go away when politics say its time…
  
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  August 12, 2020 8:16am
  - Happychappy
    
    It looks and sounds like one or two Journalists have got sick of the bullshit and have decided to do their job, that being to release the facts when they have been confirmed. Jacinda will be hunting for blood after having to publish the details sooner than she wanted as they new days before last night’s tell all.
    
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    August 12, 2020 8:47am
    - Greg Ettridge
      
      Let’s hope they chase down genomic testing results with a vengeance, all cases in all states in Australia are pretty much from Uber driver aka security guard bonk boy.
      Auckland has a shitload of international flights landing today with a quarantine system looking not unlike Melbourne had.
      These infected people can be traced to origin, but government and health will totally resist being open with this.
      
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      August 12, 2020 9:39am
  - Tall Man
    
    Waiting for Parliament to close I think you’ll find.
    
    Her response to Judith Collins asking for it to be extended will be revealing.
    
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    August 12, 2020 9:27am
    - DeepBlue
      
      Fantastic work by journalists – Jacinda probably wanted to wait until after parliament dissolved before announcing the news at 5pm tonight.
      
      I’d say Judith wont agree to some sideshow Zoom committee either (although I think Simon did well on that last time, Jacinda was able to hold centre court with her presidential briefings.)
      
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      August 12, 2020 11:48am
- calendar girl
  
  At 7.00am today, in Auckland, my smart-phone was activated with a loud, grating sound to alert me to an on-screen message:
  
  “Emergency alert (Wed, 12 Aug, 6.55am) in the Auckland Region.
  If you are in Auckland, STAY HOME where possible, and follow Alert Level 3 guidelines. This will stop the transmission of COVID-19 and SAVE LIVES.
  For more information on Alert Level 3 and Alert Level 2 go to http://www.covid19.govt.nz .
  
  Issued 12 August 2020 06:55am”
  
  Most of us were well aware yesterday of the re-imposed lock-down. It’s not good enough for Ardern’s Government to allow normal transmission of this news through the media, but now they feel a need and a right to invade our homes with their instructions to New Zealanders at large.
  
  Who of us gave Telecom or Vodafone this right to provide Government access to our smart-phones, and no doubt allow Government (if it wishes to) to be able to determine our physical whereabouts at any time? It’s a frightening development which, arguably, signals the end of citizens’ right to personal privacy.
  
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  August 12, 2020 8:38am
  - Loddenthinks
    
    My wife and I each got the same message at the same time, and personally I have no issue with it. There will have been thousands, probably tens of thousands, of people that didn’t catch the news last night, and it’s one of those situations where they’re damned if they don’t but if they do there will always be people who grizzle about it.
    
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    August 12, 2020 8:54am
    - niggly
      
      Well I don’t like the alert tone the Government uses – it’s somewhat “scary” (as in creepy) and bloody damn annoying – surely they can come up with something better than something mimicking an air raid siren alert (it’s not like air raids are about to happen with bombs dropping from the sky, surely)!
      
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      August 12, 2020 8:59am
      - Crisplion
        
        Agreed. It’s not the message itself but the overly dramatic way in which it was delivered that’s objectionable. It’s quite deliberate of course – the objective is to make people afraid and obedient.
        
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        August 12, 2020 9:30am
      - Batman
        
        Oh come on Niggly and Crisp, that is the standard noise to gain people’s attention. It’s the same every time whether it be a test or real.
        
        It is designed to alert you, not gently suggest that there’s a tsunami and you should maybe consult on leaving for higher ground.
        
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        August 12, 2020 10:54am
      - dcrane
        
        Sorry Batman. Hit “report” by accident before realizing no reply button.
        
        They should use that tone only for immediate emergencies. It’s the kind of sound used for tornado warnings in the US.
        
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        August 12, 2020 11:35am
      - Crisplion
        
        Batman,
        Thing is though, it’s not a tsunami. While it’s important that people get the message, it’s not in the same category as an emergency in terms of time criticality or the need to get immediate attention. I still think using that channel is a bit of political theatre.
        
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        August 12, 2020 11:42am
      - mark15
        
        That’s next week niggly
        
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        August 12, 2020 12:11pm
  - Batman
    
    It’s the National Alert System. Designed for use around earthquakes, tsunami, or yes… pandemics. Chill out.
    
    The second message was sent to make sure the shift workers and earlier risers got it.
    
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    August 12, 2020 9:02am
  - Dairy Flat
    
    Your lucky.
    My phone is ex. USA and I got a Presidential Alert heading on mine! A heart stopping moment I’ll tell you until I realised why it happened. She wishes!
    
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    August 12, 2020 9:20am
    - Evadne
      
      Just a text heading?
      
      My last phone shrieked “this is a presidential alert! Whoop! Whoop! This is a presidential alert!” At top volume when the alert came through, complete with flashing display. A bit of a crowd stopper.
      
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      August 12, 2020 9:50am
  - Sir Cullen's Sidekick
    
    Get over it bro.
    
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    August 12, 2020 9:30am
  - IC5000
    
    > Who of us gave Telecom or Vodafone this right to provide Government access to our smart-phones, and no doubt allow Government
    
    Obviously Parliament as telecommunications is heavily regulated.could be useful for things like tsunamis.
    
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    August 12, 2020 9:54am
    - Batman
      
      No no, it’s all a communist plot to overthrow our freedoms!
      
      They’ll be shocked when they find out that it was the National government that started the initiative after the earthquakes and particularly Kaikoura.
      
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      August 12, 2020 10:55am
  - Sacha
    
    I have a smartphone. It has a super camera, but unfortunately there is no mobile service where I live rurally. The end result is that I almost never remember to take it with me when I leave home, and it sits mutely on my desk.
    And I didn’t hear the news until this morning, so missed all the alarm. and panic of last evening.
    
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    August 12, 2020 10:07am
    - Batman
      
      The system runs outside of normal reception systems, so you’ll probably have noticed that your phone did receive it?
      
      Interesting if it didn’t.
      
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      August 12, 2020 10:56am
      - mark15
        
        How does it work outside of normal reception systems?
        
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        August 12, 2020 12:12pm
      - Dougal10
        
        I have had nothing at all and have great coverage
        
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        August 12, 2020 1:09pm
- arkhad
  
  I did not realise that. Can you link the story please?
  
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  August 12, 2020 8:46am
- Fisiani2
  
  We were told that there were positive tests on Monday and that these were repeated on Tuesday and yet Ardern staterd that she only found out 4pm Tuesday. That is simply not true or believable. .
  
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  August 12, 2020 10:00am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Another example of the constant lies she tells
    
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    August 12, 2020 3:05pm
- Happychappy
  
  This is the reply from the Prime Minister and Health director to as they say are misleading the public with stories that the knew about the cases , by withholding the information so why would we do that Ardern says.
  https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2020/08/prime-minister-jacinda-ardern-rubbishes-rumours-government-withheld-information-about-auckland-covid-19-outbreak.html
  This from two people that have form in bending the truth and the report on flue vaccinations prove that point with lies being told daily ina bid to cover up the truth.
  
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  August 12, 2020 1:10pm
Batman

Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
A classic whodunnit story for your Wednesday which provides a cautionary tale for the credulous

A Bible Burning, a Russian News Agency and a Story Too Good to Check Out https://nyti.ms/2XRwuBo
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August 12, 2020 8:06am
- Tall Man
  
  Good thing it’s GD eh Batman or a pesky mod would delete that great post for being “off topic” 😉
  
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  August 12, 2020 8:42am
  - Batman
    
    Well if you go off topic in other threads, onto tangent rants… Yeah it will get deleted ?
    
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    August 12, 2020 9:05am
    - Engelbert Humperdink
      
      Could you kindly define a tangent rant… Seems a little oblique… Even when viewed with a camera obscura…
      
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      August 12, 2020 9:13am
      - Batman
        
        Engel, there’s no hard and fast definition but if I was to make up an example…
        
        Say it’s the thread about the library books and the idiot councillor. If someone appeared and went on a massive tear about lockdowns and Ardern trying to lock us up etc, and did it repeatedly in multiple replies in that post, the mods would probably cull some of those as they’re off topic and disruptive.
        
        Same goes for personal attacks in unrelated posts.
        
        There’s a pretty high bar for removing posts though, in my view.
        
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        August 12, 2020 11:00am
      - Tall Man
        
        “High bar” not always in my experience Batman.
        
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        August 12, 2020 1:29pm
    - Tall Man
      
      I have never posted a rant, have you? 😉
      
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      August 12, 2020 9:26am
    - mark15
      
      Oh,the power.
      
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      August 12, 2020 12:14pm
      - Paulus Gnome
        
        Superman might get away wearing his Y fronts outside his tights, Batman not so much and, our Batman, not at all.
        
        I suspect our Batman wears his Y fronts over his head in his mum’s basement somewhere in west West Aucland . . .
        
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        August 12, 2020 1:40pm
- Exclamation Mark
  
  Great, makes perfect sense because I always keep a couple of bibles handy for when I might want to start a fire /s.
  
  Now try to imagine how the NYT might have written this article if “just one” Koran (or was it two? Who cares!) had been used as kindling to start a fire by the or Proud Boys or a random bunch of Republicans. I’m sure they would have been very restrained and not cited this is evidence of systemic racism and directly linked this to Trump. Right?
  
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  August 12, 2020 8:50am
  - Batman
    
    Sure, focus on that if you like. Burning religious texts is a bad idea in any situation.
    
    The main issue is foreign disinformation tactics manipulating domestic media.
    
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    August 12, 2020 9:07am
    - Engelbert Humperdink
      
      “Burning religious texts is a bad idea in any situation.”
      
      I don’t know, I think if you could go back in time you might want to burn the first and only copy of some of the tomes that have resulted in purges and religiously inspired genocides over the ages.
      
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      August 12, 2020 9:14am
      - Scott
        
        Sure Englebert – let’s start with the religious socialist works of Karl Marx. No one has been responsible for more deaths than him.
        
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        August 12, 2020 9:43am
      - Batman
        
        Haha dammit Scott, you’ve just done exactly what DPF said right wingers don’t do in the library books post!
        
        You’re making us look bad mate ?
        
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        August 12, 2020 11:01am
      - Engelbert Humperdink
        
        Completely agree Scott. How about we split the job between us. I’ll do the religious nutters, you do the secular nutters.
        
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        August 12, 2020 12:05pm
    - RW Capitalist
      
      The main issue is domestic disinformation tactics manipulating domestic and foreign media.
      Fixed it with a little cut and paste.
      
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      August 12, 2020 10:10am
    - The Proper Ghandi
      
      “The main issue is foreign disinformation tactics manipulating domestic media”
      
      Correct. If the message is going to be manipulated, then I want only locals doing it thanks very much …
      
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      August 12, 2020 10:45am
      - Batman
        
        So you’re totally fine with being duped by the Russians? Cool.
        
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        August 12, 2020 11:02am
      - The Proper Ghandi
        
        No, that is irony but I know that you can never detect it without some symbol or other.
        
        In US politics for instance ( a topic that I know keeps you up at night), how is voters being duped by the Russians (which didn’t occur) any different than being duped by the Israelis (which occurs in every US election), or any other group that manipulates people’s opinions? To think that anyone in any ostensible democracy is exercising pure and untainted agency when they step into the voting booth is utterly naive.
        
        The “problem” is that the the internal manipulators don’t like it when outsiders interfere in their chess game (foreign interference which is advocated, for instance, when Dems want illegals to vote). Manipulation is manipulation, no matter who does it.
        
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        August 12, 2020 11:26am
    - alloytoo
      
      Bible paper reputedly makes rather good smokes
      
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      August 12, 2020 12:16pm
    - Jim
      
      I’m not so sure, Batman. Burning flags and bibles is a form of protected speech (first amendment).
      
      A lot of the same people that are triggered by this Russian-seeded campaign are flag waving supporters of the constitution. What they should be more upset about is this:
      
      Fifteen years in Iowa jail for burning pride flag
      
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      August 12, 2020 2:37pm
- Loddenthinks
  
  This is a laughably desperate attempt to discredit a video that shows exactly what it purports – left wing Antifa terrorists burning bibles and the US flag outside the Federal Courthouse.
  
  You can point to the people that released the video all you like, it means nothing. I can also point to the NYT, which is fractionally to the left of the WaPo, not a reassuring position for those of us who favour truth and scorn partisanship.
  
  Apart from the obvious attempt at deflection, there are a few cues and clues for those not infected with TDS (a scourge more virulent and likely more dangerous than COVID-19). For example, they refer to Trump as simply that, while they call the presumptive Democrat nominee “Joseph R. Biden Jr” in a vain effort to imbue Sleepy Joe with some much-needed gravitas. Come on, man!
  
  Once again Batman, explaining is losing.
  
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  August 12, 2020 9:09am
  - Batman
    
    Antifa terrorists aren’t a real thing.
    
    “Fake news” and blaming bias is a lame hackneyed response given the issue is worst on the other side of the US political fence.
    
    Clues? Sounds more like you are upset because they use the full name the first time round and you’ve misread it. Also it’s a pretty weak leg for your stool.
    
    You just did a whole lot of explaining so….
    
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    August 12, 2020 11:06am
    - alloytoo
      
      Antifa are, for the most part, terrorists.
      
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      August 12, 2020 12:17pm
    - Nickc2
      
      Antifa terrorists aren’t a real thing? Ok Batman, who are Portland Mounted Police riding out of town in this video? Scotch Mist??
      https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=mounted police ride antifa out of portland&ru=/search?q=mounted+police+ride+antifa+out+of+portland&src=IE-SearchBox&FORM=IESR3A&pc=EUPP_UE04&mmscn=vwrc&view=detail&mid=7BF161D456027E240EE07BF161D456027E240EE0&rvsmid=3DAEA5FF53DE38D818233DAEA5FF53DE38D81823&FORM=VDQVAP
      
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      August 12, 2020 1:48pm
      - Nickc2
        
        Sorry Batman, my youtube post appears to have been taken down (censorship I believe).
        
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        August 12, 2020 2:37pm
    - Loddenthinks
      
      Dismantling rather than explaining, so…
      
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      August 13, 2020 10:38am
- Classic Liberal
  
  So Batman hasn’t noticed that in the last week we were being softened up with “masks and second wave” messages.
  
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  August 12, 2020 1:49pm
  - Engelbert Humperdink
    
    “Forget it, Jake. It’s Batman”.
    
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    August 12, 2020 3:14pm
niggly

Although the Government had to act, I believe they made some bad decisions last night:

Why put the rest of the nation at level 2? There is no need to put the South Island (or far flung places like the Chatham Islands) at level 2 – does the Government seriously think that people in Hokitika or Invercargill or Blenheim will catch Covid? No way!

Then why the rest of the North Island? If Auckland is going to level 3, then wouldn’t it be prudent to restrict level 2 to the areas bordering greater Auckland eg north Waikato (or Waikato itself) and southern Northland (or Northland itself)? Again it makes no sense for someone in (eg) Gisborne or Masterton to be at level 2!

I’m saying this from a disruption point of view (eg disrupted schools, businesses and people in general).

Can the Government please rethink this? Especially if they extend these measures on Friday?
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August 12, 2020 8:08am
- Engelbert Humperdink
  
  Build a wall across the Bombay Hills.
  
  Sorted.
  
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  August 12, 2020 8:25am
  - Engelbert Humperdink
    
    I would like to announce the second tranche of my wall policy:
    
    (1. Build a wall across the Bombay Hills).
    
    2. Auckland has to pay for it.
    
    Addendum: all Labour voters, politicians and functionaries will be moved north of it.
    
    That is all, for now.
    
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    August 12, 2020 12:06pm
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      Jacinda can pay for it – she has shitloads of money – yours!
      
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      August 12, 2020 3:21pm
  - Biscuit
    
    A wall right round the Super Sh*tty would be better, EH.
    
    We could then fill it with water…
    
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    August 12, 2020 12:23pm
    - Engelbert Humperdink
      
      Biscuit for Prez!
      
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      August 12, 2020 3:15pm
- virtualmark
  
  niggly, if 4 people tested positive yesterday then that says they got infected a week ago. Whoever they got it from got infected at least 5 days before that.
  
  Qu: In the last 12 days do you think people have travelled from Auckland to Hokitika, Invercargill, Blenheim, Gisborne, Masterton …?
  
  We should expect that during the next week we will see this pop up in other parts of the country.
  
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  August 12, 2020 8:26am
  - niggly
    
    Fair points and I agree that could potentially happen (but hopefully not).
    
    I would have thought though that the no 1 health priority is Auckland and all efforts should be prioritised there.
    
    I’m really concerned about the “unintended consequences” such as deferred surgeries and other important hospital appointments (eg cancer screening, hip operations etc), IF the health authorities shut hospitals up under the Covid level system, as they wait (and wait) for a supposed “overwhelming” of the health system (like they did earlier in the year – which didn’t eventuate).
    
    Potentially this may not only affect Auckland citizens, but other people all around NZ if the Govt keeps putting alert levels up (without any evidence for them to do so – I’m talking about everywhere else, not Auckland, as it is evident there is an outbreak there of course)!
    
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    August 12, 2020 9:33am
    - virtualmark
      
      All fair points.
      
      It would be nice to think the Ministry of Health might have a smarter approach to any future lockdowns, but I’m not optimistic.
      
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      August 12, 2020 10:33am
      - Evadne
        
        It’s not a remotely smart lockdown.
        The cases are in South Auckland. They’ve locked down the entire Auckland region, which includes the country town of Wellsford, 90 minutes drive north of the cluster.
        Yet Pokeno, and neighbouring commuter villages nearby, is in Waikato, so is not locked down.. even though it’s just over the hill from South Auckland, and plenty of people commute between the two for work and school, shoppong, sport, social life etc..
        
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        August 12, 2020 11:16am
      - Tony Stuart
        
        Although we now know that one of the women who has tested positive spent time in Rotorua at the weekend. It’s probably only a matter of time before there is a positive test from there.
        
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        August 12, 2020 1:15pm
- Sir Cullen's Sidekick
  
  Let’s keep movin.
  
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  August 12, 2020 8:31am
  - Tall Man
    
    Those two load noises from my phone almost got me moving …….. long before I was prepared.
    
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    August 12, 2020 9:24am
- Tall Man
  
  The guy has been sick for at least 5 days. Imagine the spread when compared to the 300 plus that the two women from the UK generated in 1 day ……
  
  While reduced, people have been travelling all over NZ, yes even from the West Coast and probably on the same bus with the same drivers that the “fiscal refugees” had been using.
  
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  August 12, 2020 8:47am
- The Proper Ghandi
  
  Why? Fear.
  
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  August 12, 2020 10:46am
Cinematic

Today I’m so thankful for my love of queues.
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August 12, 2020 8:08am
- Engelbert Humperdink
  
  I sometimes remember to be grateful for my queue of loves…
  
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  August 12, 2020 8:25am
  - Tall Man
    
    I’d like to send ardern to the far queue …….
    
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    August 12, 2020 8:48am
    - Engelbert Humperdink
      
      Far canal!
      
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      August 12, 2020 9:09am
      - Tall Man
        
        You didn’t mean Ear? Reading a doctor’s writing is a raffle these days ……
        
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        August 12, 2020 10:49am
- Loddenthinks
  
  You’re from England, aren’t you?
  
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  August 12, 2020 9:13am
  - kowtow
    
    Nah , the English queue well ,cos they’re a polite people .
    Russians had to queue cos they were “liberated” by the Commos.
    
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    August 12, 2020 2:37pm
- Sir Cullen's Sidekick
  
  Wait until you start to love taxes too….
  
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  August 12, 2020 9:31am
  - IC5000
    
    Generally roads don’t pay for themselves so yeah taxes bro.
    
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    August 12, 2020 9:57am
    - The Proper Ghandi
      
      Correct. Roads don’t pay for themselves. Then again, neither do all of the parasites in the country.
      
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      August 12, 2020 10:49am
      - mark15
        
        Have you heard about the new McDonalds’ Jacinderburger?
        Looks nothing like the advert and the bloke behind you in the queue pays for it.
        
        7 1
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        August 12, 2020 12:20pm
wimpston peeeders

Viewing from a mobile device on stuffed you wouldnt even know about the covid development.
funny that its been hidden away and brushed off with just a negative judith piece about delaying the election.
50mil does wonders.
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August 12, 2020 8:08am
niggly

To prevent the further death of small businesses, jobs and people’s mental health and well-being, has the Government got off its collective backsides and redefined what is and isn’t an essential business?

For example, will we now see the likes of butchers and greengrocers operate under level 3/4? Or does the Government still favor the two main supermarket chains?
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August 12, 2020 8:12am
- Tony Stuart
  
  There was no mention of butchers being an essential service last night, so I assume there’s the prospect again of butchers having to find ways of disposing of a shop-full of meat.
  
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  August 12, 2020 8:20am
  - Evadne
    
    Yes. Local butcher near tears this morning. A full fridge and another delivery from this supplier arriving this morning.
    
    And Jacinda thinks she’s kind for giving him a few hours notice.
    
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    August 12, 2020 8:29am
  - 3-coil
    
    TonyStuart (8:20am) – correction: “…the prospect again of non-muslim butchers having to find ways of disposing of a shop-full of meat”
    
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    August 12, 2020 8:46am
  - Nutta
    
    I went and bought bulk from my local butcher. He got screwed last time, and I hope he survives round 2.
    
    Same at local Cafe, who are also desperately worried that this will be extended past Friday.
    
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    August 12, 2020 1:17pm
  - Paulus Gnome
    
    I wrote Halal on the butcher’s window this morning.
    
    I think he is pleased as the doors are still open . . .
    
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    August 12, 2020 1:48pm
- Benedict Yu
  
  The butchers were only shut during Level 4.
  
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  August 12, 2020 8:29am
  - Tall Man
    
    Irrelevant really mate if your customers are all staying at home.
    
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    August 12, 2020 8:55am
    - sooty
      
      That would raise question of how much would you order in?
      
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      August 12, 2020 12:58pm
      - Tall Man
        
        Not easy for every small butcher but I’ll bet they’re looking at that.
        
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        August 12, 2020 4:51pm
- Bobba Fret
  
  New World car park absolutely full at 8:30am this morning with line of people waiting to get in.
  The two supermarket chains will have record sales this year. One of the few businesses that will actually thrive with all this.
  
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  August 12, 2020 9:09am
  - The Proper Ghandi
    
    The Big Guys love a lock down. Not so much the Small Guys.
    
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    August 12, 2020 10:51am
- Classic Liberal
  
  Many cafes and restaurants here just closing. Bake too, reason “not worth staying open three days if we then have to throw out a load on pies at level 4”
  
  This is the absolute end for such businesses. We can’t do that crap again! They need to at least have guaranteed take away trading at all levels.
  
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  August 12, 2020 2:05pm
budgieboy

So how long does it take to clinically determine a positive test?

So many people feel there’s been a level of dishonesty lately so it’s worth asking.

Because at yesterdays briefings there was one new case – a guy in his 20’s from Melbourne (in isolation) presumably tested once and the announcement made.

They absolutely would have known about the man in his 50’s (in the community) at that stage so information was clearly withheld and the information that was given was false, wrong – and frankly dishonest.

And to suggest the that PM wasn’t told until 4pm is absurd and laughable.

Or are we being asked to believe that after they got the first result (after 1pm) they did NOT tell the New Zealand Prime Minister of a confirmed case (in the COMMUNITY) immediately?

And that they then completed all of the logistic and clinical requirements of a scond test by 4pm – when she claims she was first told???

I’m never comfortable calling people liars but if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck….
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August 12, 2020 8:13am
- wimpston peeeders
  
  yesterdays tests were FOLLOW UP tests, theyd already tested positive a day or so prior.
  should have went to level 2 at the 1st positive test then ramped up upon confirmation.
  
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  August 12, 2020 8:36am
  - Classic Liberal
    
    No, they should have a decent tracing system and recommend masks on public transport as Asian countries do, but not shut down the economy.
    
    Sweden has it right.
    
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    August 12, 2020 2:10pm
- Sir Cullen's Sidekick
  
  if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck…. It is called Trevor Mallard
  
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  August 12, 2020 9:33am
- covfefe
  
  I did think liar but I have had it confirmed that she didn’t know until yesterday. The test results can be very quick – one instrument will give a result in about an hour. Other instruments 3 -4 hours. I think the second test was on the same swab so it wasn’t like they recollected another swab from the patient.
  
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  August 12, 2020 11:12am
  - budgieboy
    
    Thanks for that covfefe, appreciate it.
    
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    August 12, 2020 4:06pm
- Nutta
  
  …then it is Speaker of the House?
  
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  August 12, 2020 1:18pm
sooty

Cindy knew monday and went electioneering,
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August 12, 2020 8:15am
- Chris R
  
  Jacinda knew last Thursday yet opened her vile electoral campaign in the Auckland Town Hall on Saturday to her blind and stupid faithful. My degrees of mistrust of the PM are enormous. I detest the Coalition.
  
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  August 12, 2020 9:05am
  - GT Build
    
    May need to start a rumour the infected person was at the town hall event
    
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    August 12, 2020 9:56am
  - crikey
    
    What’s the likelihood they can contact trace everyone who went to Labour’s campaign launch? My chance of winning Lotto tonight is probably greater.
    
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    August 12, 2020 10:33am
    - sooty
      
      party membership roll would tell them.
      Doubt if there were many none members!
      
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      August 12, 2020 1:01pm
- Ruawai
  
  Ashley also knew and went out joking with media having a nose swab and a photo with Dakta Green, does this mean he is promoting cannabis being legalised?
  
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  August 12, 2020 9:53am
  - Engelbert Humperdink
    
    Is Dr B Patient +1?
    
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    August 12, 2020 11:49am
Lee C

You know that sound your wife makes when she suddenly realises you might have been right about something?

There was a bit of that sound in our kitchen this morning.
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August 12, 2020 8:15am
- Tall Man
  
  It usually precedes a fight 😉
  
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  August 12, 2020 8:56am
- Loddenthinks
  
  I think I know what you mean, but have no direct experience of it. Could you describe it for me so in the remote likelihood that it ever happens, I’ll be able to recognise it?
  
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  August 12, 2020 9:16am
  - Tall Man
    
    It’s preceded by a long period of silence ……..
    
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    August 12, 2020 9:23am
    - Sir Cullen's Sidekick
      
      and ends with a statement – “I think you may be right, but still not sure”.
      
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      August 12, 2020 9:34am
      - Tall Man
        
        “I think you may be right”
        
        I always thought you were a tad deluded, that comment removes all doubt …. 🙂
        
        You’d need to be married to a bloke to hear that phrase …….
        
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        August 12, 2020 10:51am
niggly

Refer to https://covid19.govt.nz/assets/resources/tables/COVID-19-alert-levels-summary.pdf

Has the Government over-reacted again? According to the Covid Alert Levels it could be argued that Auckland needs to move to level 2 (not level 3) and the rest of the country could stay at level 1 (not move to level 2).

From the PDF – Level 2:
• Household transmission could be occurring.
• Single or isolated cluster outbreak

So why is Auckland going to level 3 due to a “single or isolated cluster outbreak”?

As for the rest of NZ, the Level 1 description is apt “Isolated household transmission could be occurring in New Zealand” (but not in their communities)!
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August 12, 2020 8:16am
- RW Capitalist
  
  So that cindy can be the only one campaigning (via covid19 announcements)
  She did say this would be a covid election.
  
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  August 12, 2020 8:25am
  - Ruawai
    
    JA wanted to wait until parliament had closed to release this info and go to level 3 but her hand was forced when some journalists found about the positive tests.
    
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    August 12, 2020 9:57am
- Engelbert Humperdink
  
  If you don’t control the sheep, you can’t keep shearing them for their wool…
  
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  August 12, 2020 8:26am
  - Tall Man
    
    I don’t mind them taking a bit of my “wool” it’s when they go after my “mountain oysters” I get a bit pissy ……
    
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    August 12, 2020 8:57am
  - Greg Ettridge
    
    If you don’t let them work, there will be no wool to shear.
    
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    August 12, 2020 9:52am
    - krazykiwi
      
      And if you shear them continuously including over winter they will jump the ditch and you’ll have none if their wool thereafter
      
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      August 12, 2020 10:25am
  - The Proper Ghandi
    
    Sheep spend their lives being afraid of the wolf, but end up being killed by the shepherd.
    
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    August 12, 2020 10:55am
- wimpston peeeders
  
  because they know damn well this family caught it from someone else in the community, most likely due to a govt blunder.
  
  This action taken is not to protect the community its to protect the labour party and jacindas credibility!
  
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  August 12, 2020 8:39am
  - Ruawai
    
    This likely started when there was no testing in quarantine and has taken about 6 weeks of transmission to get to someone who has symptoms bad enough to get tested. I have heard of numerous friends and myself who either haven’t been offered tests or have been told no need to test by doctors when presenting with symptoms.
    
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    August 12, 2020 9:59am
- Brian McDonald
  
  I picked level 2 before the announcement but clearly on the details of the family with 4 infections and untraceable source of the virus (at that stage), that went out the window. Now I hope the next 3 days may see a result that removes the possibility of level 4.
  
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  August 12, 2020 8:43am
- DeepBlue
  
  It’s not an ‘isolated’ cluster. There are 3 workplaces plus 1 school involved.
  
  And now the trip to Rotorua. I heard a reporter on RNZ that person has had symptoms for 9 days, so he/she could have gone anywhere.
  
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  August 12, 2020 1:07pm
Maggie Pie

-1
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August 12, 2020 8:19am
RW Capitalist

I thought the civil defense alert system was for immanent threats.
Not a party political announcement as to how cindy will save us….especially after the mess she made the first time.
Why did my phone receive the alert last night and this morning?
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August 12, 2020 8:23am
- RJ
  
  I had an alert last night and this morning, it runs the risk of making people not taking this alert system seriously.
  
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  August 12, 2020 9:29am
Tauhei Notts

I live near Tauhei and get home delivery of the N.Z. Herald. This morning’s edition has NOTHING about the Covid 19 shutdown in Auckland.
Many years ago when printing techniques were molten lead and linotype, the N.Z. Herald was able to show the race results of the 10.30 p.m. race at the night trots, in the following day’s issue.
With all the huge advances in newspaper printing technology they can’t show a story that appeared on Kiwiblog at 9.17 p.m.
And we wonder why politicians talk about fake news.
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August 12, 2020 8:23am
- coge
  
  Madam President!
  
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  August 12, 2020 8:59am
Ruahine

The Sky is falling everyone. Again.
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August 12, 2020 8:24am
- sooty
  
  Raining?
  
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  August 12, 2020 1:04pm
Centrist

Politicians and the media are calling this a 72-hour lockdown despite the fact it is from noon today until midnight on Friday (60 hours). If they can’t do primary school maths, what can they do?
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August 12, 2020 8:27am
- sooty
  
  They believe what ever the Cindy tells them!
  
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  August 12, 2020 1:05pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Makes you wonder if that $50M gift was really $50M, or just a deposit with an undefined cap
  
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  August 12, 2020 3:34pm
RW Capitalist

3 days at level 3?
For a disease with an incubation of 14 days?
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August 12, 2020 8:28am
- Loddenthinks
  
  This is just the beginning.
  
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  August 12, 2020 9:18am
  - mark15
    
    Again.
    
    3 0
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    August 12, 2020 12:26pm
  - sooty
    
    Full level 4 lockdown at the end of the week.
    She’s just softening you up!
    
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    August 12, 2020 1:07pm
lastmanstanding

Some random thoughts and comments.

1.Judith should just say its unfortunate. No More. Do be seen to be overtly criticising. The old saying is when your opposition is in a hole let them keep digging and shut up.

2. If I was the Dictator of New Zealand I would be taking names of the hoarding morons at the supermarkets and striking them off the electoral role. They have shown they dont have the capacity or capability to vote.

3. I hope the supermarket owners/managers restrict the sale of products so that when I do the weekly shop on Friday on behalf of she who must be obeyed ( I am considered expendable) I can actually buy stuff and not see Sold Out signs. If not the Manager will get a well deserved tongue lashing.

4. They must be confident they can contain the outbreak. If they have to extend they will lose any remaining credibility expect from their their die hard supporters.

5. I expect this situation off/on to continue well into the future. I dont believe a vaccine will be found and if so NZ will be at the bottom of the list and the cost will be beyond our budget.
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August 12, 2020 8:31am
- Scott
  
  Last man standing – I keep reading about hydroxy plus zinc from doctors actually treating Covid patients with the stuff. It apparently is working and doctors talk about 300 patients with Covid that they treated with hydroxy and they didn’t lose any of them.
  
  The trouble with hydroxy is that Pres Trump suggested it as a good idea as a treatment. That means the mainstream media who are automatically against everything president Trump says and does, were against it.
  
  If hydroxy is any good can someone please ask president trump to say that hydroxy is terrible and under no circumstances should anyone take it. Watch the mainstream media turn on a dime. And then we will have a cure for Covid! 🙂
  
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  August 12, 2020 8:42am
  - fernglas
    
    Just to put some perspective on it, of the 96 cases identified at the border, none have died and from memory one had to go to hospital. You could treat 300 people with eye of newt and have the same outcome
    
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    August 12, 2020 9:36am
    - Engelbert Humperdink
      
      I was always keen on the fillet of a fenny snake.
      
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      August 12, 2020 10:56am
    - The Proper Ghandi
      
      fernglas
      That is the crux of the matter. Negligibly dangerous.
      
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      August 12, 2020 11:00am
  - IC5000
    
    > If hydroxy is any good can someone please ask president trump to say that hydroxy is terrible and under no circumstances should anyone take it.
    
    Ask him yourself. He has a twitter account.
    
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    August 12, 2020 10:01am
  - Northshoredoc
    
    Scott – the trouble with HCQ (and Ivermectin for that matter) is that the only comparative data available in Covid 19 available is that HCQ is no more effective than placebo.
    
    However overnight there has been some very positive news about a new treatment (narsoplimab) for very ill patients – it will still need to be tested in a proper clinical trial.
    
    Also the vaccine ex Oxford is looking like it will be successful – and with the Russians doing a quasi population based trial of what is a very similar vaccine we could be looking at earlier than expected availability of a vaccine.
    
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    August 12, 2020 10:04am
  - Ed Snack
    
    Yes, but HCQ is not a “cure”, it appears (based on studies) to significantly reduce the onset and severity of symptoms, probably by restricting viral replication. It works best when given prophylactically when an infection is first detected, and is less effective for already seriously ill patients (on ventilators etc).
    
    We should certainly be using it in NZ, with the proviso (of course) that there are certain conditions such as existing heart beat irregularities that disqualify its usage.
    
    And I also agree that opposition to its use is a purely political act intended to cause suffering – all to “own” Trump. And as I’ve commented before, HCQ was used in the same way with both SARS and MERS, so Trump’s comment was a very well informed one, and the reaction to it was dangerous anti-scientific garbage that actually caused a number of unnecessary deaths. Those responsible should be held accountable.
    
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    August 12, 2020 10:38am
    - Northshoredoc
      
      Ed – There is no compelling comparative data to show that HCQ significantly reduces the onset and severity of symptoms of covid 19 infection.
      
      The results to date have been so disappointing that clinical trials of HCQ in the preventative and treatment settings in A/NZ and globally have been cancelled.
      
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      August 12, 2020 12:20pm
      - Ed Snack
        
        NSD, I don’t think you parsed all the studies, the Ford Foundation one for a start. And the major negative conclusion study was withdrawn because the data was simply made up to prove a political point – which is a serious indictment on the peer review it went through.
        
        Ford study wasn’t absolutely perfect but was large and fairly well balanced. It showed a huge reduction in the severity of symptoms using HCQ. The jury is still out as far as I can see on whether using the antibiotic helps.
        
        Total contrast to Remdesvir, where the one study showed remarkably little affect (statistical no effect) but that was widely reported as a success. Not much heard about it since though.
        
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        August 12, 2020 4:34pm
- Brian McDonald
  
  Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
  Judith should say why Bridge and his antics are none of ther business.
  
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  August 12, 2020 8:44am
  - Tall Man
    
    She has brian. Do keep up.
    
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    August 12, 2020 9:01am
  - 3-coil
    
    BM: Why should Judith be concerned about George Bridge…or any of the Crusaders for that matter? They won, get over it.
    
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    August 12, 2020 9:59am
  - The Boss
    
    Brian, she has done that. You are an obvious Labour supporter, so imo this is none of your business.
    
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    August 12, 2020 10:25am
- tf78
  
  LMS – With the uncertainty of these muppets next move why are you surprised people are panic buying.
  We must learn to live with the Newflu we can’t panic everytime someone tests positive.
  
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  August 12, 2020 9:17am
- Loddenthinks
  
  “2. If I was the Dictator of New Zealand I would be taking names of the hoarding morons at the supermarkets and striking them off the electoral role. ”
  
  If you were Dictator there’d be no need for an electoral roll…
  
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  August 12, 2020 9:20am
  - Engelbert Humperdink
    
    If I was the dictator of New Zealand I would make sure that nobody who ever voted for Labour would have a role in any electorate. But then somebody would lead a coup and I’d be in dire straits. Ah well, I shall just continue being a salaryman.
    
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    August 12, 2020 11:01am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  #2, they would be Labour/Green voters
  
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  August 12, 2020 3:36pm
oldpark

Wonder today in NZ will the Team of Five Million hang onto every word which Ardern and the wee Puppeteer Bloomfieldsay as they address the Nation .
The mentioned two liars as exposed on TVNZ with their coverup on the Flu Vaccine saying there was plenty available . They made out NZs Medical Profession didn’t know what they were claiming about a Flu Vaccine shortage . An inquiry vindicated NZs Doctors . Yes the Liars were Commie Ardern and her wee Puppeteer Bloomfield .Control being everything. “Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely”.
Today what ever any of the Ardern gang say to the Five Million team after being exposed as Liars on the Flu Vaccine Caper and now whats what on the latest Coronavirus Fiasco it will surely be a matter of “TRUST”. It will be “Fool Me Once Shame On You” “Fool Me Twice Shame On Me” .Roll on 19- 09- 2020.
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August 12, 2020 8:31am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  The team is now 4999999. I emailed Supreme Leader and asked to be unsubscribed
  
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  August 12, 2020 3:40pm
sooty

Chief plod, Are you going to allow the maori gangs to run the roadblocks again?
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August 12, 2020 8:35am
- Loddenthinks
  
  Yes, of course, why do you ask?
  
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  August 12, 2020 9:21am
  - Engelbert Humperdink
    
    The Sons of Arthritis want to go for a ride… Hijinks may ensue.
    
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    August 12, 2020 11:02am
Yvette

COVID-19 – tests by day and cumulative –
[…]
1-Aug 2401 470469 Saturday
2-Aug 1692 472161 Sunday
3-Aug 1608 473769
4-Aug 4140 477909
5-Aug 5020 482929
6-Aug 4014 486943
7-Aug 3289 490232
8-Aug 4249 494481 Sat
9-Aug 2125 496606 Sun
10-Aug 1874 498480 [1]

Have ‘They’ have been aware of a serious situation from August 2 or 3?
(tests are from the previous day)

[1] https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-current-situation/covid-19-current-cases#lab
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August 12, 2020 8:37am
- virtualmark
  
  Nah. Just the long-standing pattern of lots of tests on weekdays and less on weekends.
  
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  August 12, 2020 8:58am
- the deity formerly known as nigel6888
  
  If they were so concerned, why did the Ministry stop funding DHBs for COVID testing stations at the end of June, and DHBs stop funding the CBACs at the end of July?
  
  Asking for a friend.
  
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  August 12, 2020 9:23am
- Phronesis
  
  20-July 1007
  21-July 2191
  22-July 2419
  23-July 2830
  24-July 2307
  25-July 1754
  26-July 550
  27-July 1107
  28-July 2733
  29-July 2523
  30-July 2476
  31-July 3002
  1-Aug 2401
  2-Aug 1692
  3-Aug 1608
  4-Aug 4140
  5-Aug 5020
  6-Aug 4014
  7-Aug 3289
  8-Aug 4249
  9-Aug 2125
  10-Aug 1874
  
  Yeah big increase in testing last week. Highest numbers since June when they did the big push to rule out low level community subsistence of the virus. My interpretation is that someone eventually managed to convince the higher ups that the quarantine process at the border would inevitably fail in its current form. You do have to wonder if there was a specific incident that spooked them or perhaps just coincidence. The problem is when you straight up lie every day people start to doubt the coincidences…
  
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  August 12, 2020 10:06am
  - RJ
    
    the increase in testing was seen as people who had been in the locations of the South Korean all rushed to be tested.
    
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    August 12, 2020 1:55pm
JibberJabber

There is precious little difference between the policies of the Communist Party and the policies of the Labour Party.

Kinda paraphrased from the Baroness, almost like she had a premonition of Jacinda Stalinovaskaya personally.
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August 12, 2020 8:37am
Critical Thinker

The next President of the USA if Trump somehow loses the 2020 election is the deeply corrupt Kamala Harris, whom has just been named as Biden’s VP:

https://youtu.be/Cfp_IIdVnXs
??
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August 12, 2020 8:38am
- KevO'Brien
  
  Let the USA look after the USA. They’re quite ungovernable.
  
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  August 12, 2020 9:09am
  - thirteenstars
    
    In many respects, yes they are.
    
    Good for them and the system that encourages it.
    
    Let’s have some ourselves.
    
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    August 12, 2020 9:21am
  - Inandout
    
    KO, we would likely be the same if every NZ province was self governing.
    
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    August 12, 2020 11:28am
- buzzler
  
  A great pick by Biden. Kamala Harris’s ancestor was an Irishman who owned slaves in Jamaica. Will see how that goes for her!
  
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  August 12, 2020 9:20am
  - buzzler
    
    Here is a link to a list of slaves owned by Hamilton Brown from 1817. He owned 86 slaves.
    http://www.jamaicanfamilysearch.com/Members/slavereg.htm
    
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    August 12, 2020 9:31am
  - Flossie
    
    ONE of her many ancestors owned slaves. She may have had others who fought against slavery. I know I’ve a whole raft of ancestry from all walks and as far as I’ve been able to establish some were good people and some not. Whatever – I’m not responsible for the sins of my fore-fathers.
    
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    August 12, 2020 10:05am
    - Ed Snack
      
      Oh yes you are…….if you are white. It is probably not the greatest issue (but one that the opposition can have fun with), more troubling is her role as AG of California in not just imprisoning young blacks in large numbers for trivial offences but all the prosecutorial misconduct that she endorsed as part of that campaign.
      
      Interesting to see a story yesterday that quoted Willie Brown (who was the first to give her a taste of power) that she should turn down the offer and ask to be AG if Biden was elected.
      
      And yes, Harris is essentially the presidential candidate as Biden is incapable of serving as POTUS now, and will be even less capable come January 2021. Her own campaign to be the nominee cratered pretty quickly, wonder how she will impact the Biden campaign. She doesn’t offer any regional advantages – California is already pretty solid Democrat and extra votes there are worthless in the EC.
      
      So interesting choice, that’s $10 down the drain after I bet on Rice being the pick. And I still think that Rice would have been a more serious threat despite her multitude of failures on the foreign policy stage. At least she’s a serious person with a good brain, not just a “good head”.
      
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      August 12, 2020 10:47am
      - virtualmark
        
        Good luck arguing that Trump is a “law and order” President while at the same time alleging his rival’s VP pick was imprisoning young blacks in large numbers for trivial offences.
        
        Also good luck with arguing Biden is mentally incapable. There’s no signs of that, and he certainly hasn’t recommended anyone inject themselves with bleach. The big risk you face with the “Biden is senile” argument is that soon Trump and Biden will be in televised debates – building up a “Biden is gaga” line of argument might blow up in your face.
        
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        August 12, 2020 1:53pm
      - All_on_Red
        
        ‘VP pick was imprisoning young blacks in large numbers for trivial offences.’
        
        Interesting you can’t see that this is the sort of ‘Law and Order’ which is generally despised, especially by Blacks- many of whom are now supporting Trump.
        Maybe they think Trumps ‘Law and Order’ might actually protect them.
        
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        August 12, 2020 2:02pm
      - virtualmark
        
        Well Red, surely you’ll be thrilled that Biden picking Harris will see a flood of African-Americans swing in behind Trump.
        
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        August 12, 2020 2:12pm
      - Ed Snack
        
        Funnily enough, Virtualmark, I don’t happen to think that “law and order” consists of over criminalising minor offences nor do I think it needs to involve corrupt prosecutorial processes whereby innocent people were imprisoned for long sentences even after it was known that they weren’t guilty.
        
        Something more along applying the law evenly to all, with no special exemptions for those with specific political associations.
        
        As for bleach, no, Trump didn’t suggest injecting oneself with bleach, that’s just the low info low intelligence liberal interpretation.
        
        And if you think Biden isn’t showing significant signs of dementia, then I have this bridge for sale that I bet you be interested in. Interesting that his wife will sit for a one on one interview for TV, but Biden himself won’t. It can’t be hidden if he debates in public, which is why I still believe that he won’t despite having agreed to do so. His team will find some out so at worst Joe has a set of prompts he can try to follow to answer any queries.
        
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        August 12, 2020 4:44pm
      - virtualmark
        
        Ed, just today Brian Karem (White House correspondent for Playboy … good articles you understand …) said this:
        
        “I’ve covered this administration since day one.
        @realDonaldTrump
        is not the same man he was then. He’s incoherent, ill-tempered and ignorant, yes. But he’s also changed. Today I saw a man with low energy, befuddled and lumbering. Put a fork in him, I think he’s done.”
        
        Go back and look at old video of Trump from pre-2016 and look at him today. I suggest he has dementia. You can see it in his gait, the way he stands, his loss of balance, the slow monotone speech, the loss of energy etc etc.
        
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        August 12, 2020 8:26pm
    - Inandout
      
      Flossie, pull down all Harris family statues.
      
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      August 12, 2020 11:30am
  - Jim
    
    Indeed. Let’s see if she wants to build statues of her slave-owning ancestors.
    
    $1000 says she won’t.
    
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    August 12, 2020 10:52am
    - The Proper Ghandi
      
      Irrelevant: it’s not the slaves, it’s the whiteness.
      
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      August 12, 2020 11:34am
  - The Proper Ghandi
    
    Yeah, but the thing is, everyone on the planet’s ancestors owned slaves at some point. It will NOT matter if Kamala Harris’s did, because she is black (at least partially – I don’t know her genealogy).
    
    This “but they are the real racists” argument (that I think you are implying) is irrelevant and misses the point: it’s not slavery that is the “problem” it is being white. Period.
    
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    August 12, 2020 11:14am
    - Ed Snack
      
      Father’s Indian and mother is Jamaican with mixed ancestry from that, as far as I know part black part white. She’s Black only if you denigrate her 50% Indian heritage as not significant.
      
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      August 12, 2020 4:47pm
  - virtualmark
    
    Really stretching for broken straws eh buzzler.
    
    Kamala Harris’ “ancestors” (normal people call them parents) were a Jamaican-born Stanford professor and an Indian-born cancer researcher. So she’s mixed Jamaican:Indian background.
    
    I seriously doubt that anyone in the last several generations of her family was calling the Klan “very fine people”.
    
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    August 12, 2020 1:48pm
    - All_on_Red
      
      *fine people hoax*
      ????
      
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      August 12, 2020 1:59pm
    - virtualmark
      
      Gee Red, it was only 2017. You forgotten already? Maybe we should make you take the Montreal Cognitive Assessment …
      
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      August 12, 2020 2:14pm
      - Ed Snack
        
        Maybe you should read the whole quote then, and not the truncated version ?
        
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        August 12, 2020 4:50pm
    - Ed Snack
      
      So her family weren’t Democrats and weren’t supporters of Joe Biden, because the last standing politicians that I know of who heavily praised a KKK functionary are Pelosi and Biden, who have been seen eulogising Senator Byrd.
      
      You ARE desperate aren’t you.
      
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      August 12, 2020 4:49pm
      - virtualmark
        
        Sure, David Duke is going to vote for Biden. Yep, got it.
        
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        August 12, 2020 8:29pm
- the deity formerly known as nigel6888
  
  Deep State’s finest product. There is literally nothing or no-one she wouldn’t do on her path to power.
  
  She used to brag about how many kids she had locked up.
  
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  August 12, 2020 9:24am
  - Ed Snack
    
    I see that she is being sponsored by the biggest US maker of knee pads. Great example for young women to follow.
    
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    August 12, 2020 4:51pm
- RJ
  
  Next president of the USA has to deal with The Curse of Tippecanoe………
  
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  August 12, 2020 9:33am
- Jim
  
  It’s funny how Harris is immediately “corrupt” while Trump’s shit doesn’t stink.
  
  It’s ok to dislike the left but still call a spade a spade.
  
  Harris is a smart choice; she’s moderate, pragmatic, definitely not a progressive judging by her record as a prosecutor. It was this that sunk her in the primary race. She is far more “law and order” than the current POTUS.
  
  The looney lefties hate her – that’s a positive indicator in my book.
  
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  August 12, 2020 10:48am
- Engelbert Humperdink
  
  You have to admit though, that Girl will do anyone for Career Progression.
  
  I’m so sorry, did I say anyone? I meant to say she will do anything, anything, got it?
  
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  August 12, 2020 11:03am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Killary has not made her move yet. She will. That evil woman has not finished with the US yet.
  
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  August 12, 2020 3:43pm
Vallager

Cindy, Bloomfield and co are all very pat with their answers about when ‘they knew’.
Because the question being asked of them is when they knew.
What we need to ask is when they knew about the possibility – because right now they are saying when they knew for certain – about the second test results.
But they knew about the first positive test results 3 days ago.
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August 12, 2020 8:40am
- the deity formerly known as nigel6888
  
  Well it took them all week to get the script straight. Those $15m speechwriters have to make it perfect…
  
  “hard and fast”
  “team of 5 million”
  “be kind”
  
  Yup check, all there.
  
  I imagine sad tilty face was on full display, but didn’t watch.
  
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  August 12, 2020 9:26am
Megatron

Says it all really – Won’t get fooled again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDfAdHBtK_Q
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August 12, 2020 8:43am
- krazykiwi
  
  Such a good track. I prefer the studio version.
  
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  August 12, 2020 9:29am
Paulus

Slightly different tack – for a week now I have been analysing the left wing blogs that I can find.
And what I find is interesting – many of those who regularly spout forth usually loving Ardern are now saying that they may well vote Green – why because they do not see the Labour Party as being no longer the real str0ng left wing party, but the influence that the Greens will bring to the incoming Labour Green Alliance will be critically more the real left wing. A bit Trotterish perhaps.
Interesting.
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August 12, 2020 8:45am
Maggie Pie

Latest Covid outbreak traced to South Auckland house with family of 7 living under one roof….

“Hey, youse kids washed ya hands?!”
“Can’t! Doors locked. Dads still takin’ a shit”
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August 12, 2020 8:46am
- JackRabbit
  
  Covid, as a corona virus flu, never actually went away. Probably got transmitted from one of the 93,271 New Zealanders that had it but were asymptomatic.
  
  So being that in this country the death toll BY Covid still stands at Zero, and the assumed death toll even if we treat the deaths WITH Covid as deaths BY Covid, the mortality rate is still less than or equal to that of the flu.
  
  The family that tested positive, they do not have the plague, they are not zombies, or mutant aliens.
  
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  August 12, 2020 9:03am
  - Northshoredoc
    
    Zombies you say …
    
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    August 12, 2020 10:07am
  - Engelbert Humperdink
    
    Notice how we are getting absolutely zero mortality statistics about the effects of the lockdown even now months later when the data are there.
    
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    August 12, 2020 11:03am
    - wimpston peeeders
      
      notice how today there are no probable case stats either. the govt only tell when the story is on their side, when its not it gets sequestered away.
      
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      August 12, 2020 3:11pm
    - JackRabbit
      
      Yep, proverbial Smoke and Mirrors.
      
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      August 12, 2020 3:21pm
- Tall Man
  
  Now what concerns me Maggie is how do you know about that?
  
  😉
  
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  August 12, 2020 9:03am
  - RJ
    
    Isn’t it that most people that claim to live in Remuera are really from Manurewa
    
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    August 12, 2020 9:36am
  - Maggie Pie
    
    It was reported in the Herald, you ninny! 😀
    
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    August 12, 2020 9:41am
    - Tall Man
      
      The only time the Hreald report on “shit” is when they have ardern’s little titbits in the “news”…….
      
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      August 12, 2020 10:53am
    - the deity formerly known as nigel6888
      
      Oh, that little read provincial celebrity gossip rag?
      
      Can’t blame Tall Man for not thinking of checking in there.
      
      I recommend sticking with Woman’s Day if you want hard news.
      
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      August 12, 2020 11:01am
- Inandout
  
  Maggie, any doctor will tell you if you are obese, have diabetes/heart problems/high cholesterol/dicky liver/poor hygeine and eat shit food from drive ins..well you get the picture.
  
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  August 12, 2020 11:34am
Benedict Yu

I’m at the bottom of the South Island heading to Fiordland for a tour of Doubtful Sound. It now may not be possible due to social distancing requirements. On a boat. In literally the middle of nowhere. ?
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August 12, 2020 8:48am
- Weinerpoop
  
  I’ve done a few of those trips they are awesome, I hope you still get to go
  
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  August 12, 2020 9:16am
- Sacha
  
  I did one of those cruises about 25 years ago – the boat cruised slowly along the bush-clad shore-line and stopped by waterfalls and rocks covered in sunbathing seals. We went out to where the fresh water meets the ocean and crossed over.
  I dropped my camera overboard . . . . . .
  
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  August 12, 2020 10:27am
  - Tall Man
    
    Be a bit more specific, give him a cgance to spot it 🙂
    
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    August 12, 2020 10:59am
  - Inandout
    
    Sacha, that is why camera straps are supplied.
    
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    August 12, 2020 11:36am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    So the Magnum PI doors off helicopter over Oahu Hawaii is prob not for you??
    
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    August 12, 2020 3:49pm
bruceavon

Judith needs to be very careful with her response. I think she has been ok so far, but if she goes too far she runs the risk of a backlash from the “team of 5 million” lovers.
If it can be determined this was directly the result of a stuff up then she can go for it. But I would tread carefully.
My guess is they will have no idea how it got out. Or at least they will say that.
They should not dissolve parliament but they will.
This will not last for only 3 days. They will be cautious and go for 3 weeks.
It will be an outrage if they don’t delay the election if it extends. Election after a successful lock down could mean Labour 50+.
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August 12, 2020 8:52am
- JackRabbit
  
  “My guess is they will have no idea how it got out”
  
  It never got out because it was already out and was never eradicated, and never will be. But you haven’t seen piles of bodies because in this country it is not as lethal as they say.
  
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  August 12, 2020 9:15am
- Lizziep
  
  But there is not a team of 5 million lovers of PTPM bruceavon. In fact I would be certain there is perhaps still a team of 1 million the other 4 million are not so sure about her now or never were sure of her abilities or leanings.
  
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  August 12, 2020 9:49am
- peterwn
  
  Judith has sufficient ‘smarts’ to be careful as needed, and would have a better understanding of constitutional things than Jacinda and co.
  Whether to continue to dissolve Parliament today is an awkward dilemma for Jacinda and for that matter Winston. Once Parliament is dissolved, Jacinda’s executive powers are diminished as her government enters ‘caretaker’ mode. She should then be consulting with Judith on any significant matter that needs decision something which Jacinda would want like a hole in the head.
  A decision not to dissolve Parliament today would be tantamount to deferring the election, something again which Jacinda may not want. This would give Judith, Emma Mellow and Megan Hands some valuable catch-up time. But the election can only be deferred to November (unless possibly National and Labour agree to a war-time like coalition). Winston also has a problem – while he might be successful in keeping the SFO investigation under the carpet until a September election, it could be difficult to persuade a court to push this back to November.
  The Governor General may also have to make some actual decisions rather than just accepting the advice of the Prime Minister. However the Governor General would not want to raise the ire of the Prime Minister unless absolutely necessary bearing in mind Canberra 1975.
  
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  August 12, 2020 9:55am
  - bruceavon
    
    Yes interesting situation. The ideal thing for Labour would be 3 week successful lockdown followed by a two week gap till the election. Politically perfect, but morally wrong.
    
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    August 12, 2020 10:46am
    - Paulus Gnome
      
      Morally wrong, young labour party drunken grope fest?
      
      Do you seriously think these leftards give a flying fk about morals unless it suits their narrative?
      
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      August 12, 2020 2:10pm
- Paulus
  
  It is “reported” by a “reputable” repeater that the shutdown could be as long as seven weeks.
  
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  August 12, 2020 2:13pm
- Classic Liberal
  
  “ Election after a successful lock down could mean Labour 50+.“
  
  There is no successful lockdown. Each destroys more businesses and causes more deaths from undetected and untreated other diseases.
  
  The sooner we stop buying into the myth that nz can live in safe isolation the better.
  
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  August 12, 2020 2:43pm
niggly

On wearing face masks … lots of positive commentary from health professionals on the effectiveness of wearing face masks (from overseas studies).

If that’s the case, rather than locking Auckland down at level 3, why not move Auckland to level 2 BUT make it mandatory for people to wear face masks in public?

Saying this because does one really believe the Government has the confidence to reduce the alert level on Friday (after 3 days of contact tracing)? Personally I hope so but I doubt it.

Sure face masks may be a pain, but would rather have Auckland (or NZ) at level 2 (or 1) with face masks … as opposed to the massive disruption for families, individuals, businesses and schools (and further job loses) as the Government keeps the alert levels high.
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August 12, 2020 8:54am
- KevO'Brien
  
  There are a lot of professional differences of opinion globally about masks. The rules seem as much political as sensible.
  
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  August 12, 2020 9:13am
  - All_on_Red
    
    Masks are pretty pointless really unless you are sick or over 70
    It’s more a symbol to make people feel safe
    
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    August 12, 2020 9:34am
    - Flossie
      
      Please explain to me if masks are pointless how/why are they of any benefit if you’re over 70?
      
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      August 12, 2020 9:45am
      - KevO'Brien
        
        The mask doesn’t care. Age is only relevant because it establishes a statistical model of a human with a likely range of attributed health issues.
        
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        August 12, 2020 11:33am
      - Don Beckett
        
        The virus is too small to be stopped by a mask – they work only for bacteria.
        As advised this morning by a senior theatre nurse, the disposable masks are good for only 20 mins. and after that are useless. The very expensive surgigal N95 masks are much better & reusable after cleaning, but still no good for viruses.
        
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        August 12, 2020 12:10pm
    - Sacha
      
      I think the mask’s true worth is to keep people thinking about their public health responsibilities.
      And they are of most benefit in preventing the virus being spread from the wearer to others.
      
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      August 12, 2020 10:34am
      - The Proper Ghandi
        
        If a muzzle can prevent someone spreading a virus, then it follows that it can prevent someone catching a virus. Therefore, if you don’t want to catch the virus, wear a muzzle; but if you understand the statistics and are therefore unconcerned about covid, don’t wear one. They are really just a symbol of submission to an irrational authority more than anything else.
        
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        August 12, 2020 11:47am
    - Ed Snack
      
      Following the various studies is pretty tedious, but in my view the consensus amongst those actually following scientific studies is that plain cloth type masks are ineffective against the spread of this virus. The N95 style masks are somewhat better, but not foolproof by any means.
      
      FWIW, the Dutch medical council came out solidly against mask wearing in general by the public. Based on the studies as they understood the results.
      
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      August 12, 2020 11:18am
    - virtualmark
      
      Cloth face masks are not effective at stopping you *catching* Covid-19. Even N95 masks aren’t totally effective at protecting you from infection.
      
      But cloth masks are effective at reducing the amount of infected particles that you *emit*. Less particles that travel less distance. The reason for using them is that you are less likely to infect others, rather than that you are protected from infection.
      
      That distinction is not hard to understand.
      
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      August 12, 2020 1:56pm
      - Ed Snack
        
        Virtualmark, as I read the various studies, that isn’t really true either although they can protect from the direct impact of larger droplets expelled by sneezes or coughs. Trouble is, after one such incident you really should change the mask and dispose of the old one in a sanitary way.
        
        The overall impact is about at the statistical limit, so some studies see a mall impact and others none.
        
        If, as stated above by Sacha, the effect is to remind people of their responsibilities to distance and control their wheezes, then they might help.
        
        I guess the best one could say from my POV is that maybe we *should* just try everything anyway as any even minor reduction in spread can help. So masks, use HCQ prophylactically, strict isolation for seniors and vulnerable persons, etc. Don’t know that NZ as a whole can achieve that, and at some point unless vaccine is produced (an effective vaccine of course), NZ is going to have to face up to the fact that we can’t isolate ourselves for ever.
        
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        August 12, 2020 4:59pm
    - JackRabbit
      
      “It’s more a symbol to make people feel safe.”
      
      Called virtue signalling.
      
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      August 12, 2020 3:23pm
- lofty
  
  @niggly, I don’t necessarily disagree with you, but where are the large stocks of masks to be obtained (bought) and worn?
  During the last “great manipulation”, I thought I would buy a couple from the local chemist..they wanted $10 per mask. 10 bloody dollars for a paper mask that on a good day would be worth $2.
  Needless to say I still don’t have any.
  
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  August 12, 2020 9:14am
  - Fletch
    
    Countdown are selling plain-looking boxes of 50 for $54.99
    
    https://shop.countdown.co.nz/shop/productdetails?stockcode=90170&name=disposable-face-masks
    
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    August 12, 2020 9:34am
    - KevO'Brien
      
      The ones I brought for my lab use were 3 cents each/100 lots delivered ex China.
      
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      August 12, 2020 11:37am
      - [email protected]
        
        Our company just purchased a volume of N95 face masks for $5.00 each. The box has Chinese writing as well as English making me believe they were made in China.
        
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        August 12, 2020 1:47pm
      - Paulus Gnome
        
        Made in China, a guarantee of quality since never.
        
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        August 12, 2020 2:13pm
  - niggly
    
    Fully agree with all of that!. Masks are ridiculously expensive as you say, for a mass produced item (and I hear other’s points here that not all health professionals agree with them, plus I’m hearing commentary on the difficulties of breathing when wearing them as they restrict airflow in and out of the lungs).
    
    Frankly I suspect alot of people don’t have the budget to continuously spend money on them (I sure don’t)!
    
    But if push came to shove, I’d rather wear the darn thing when in public, rather than see more businesses close due to lockdowns!
    
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    August 12, 2020 9:41am
  - fernglas
    
    10 for $8:50 at Pak’n’Save yesterday.
    
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    August 12, 2020 9:41am
  - Inandout
    
    lofty, I have seen some grubby looking masks which would be a hot bed of germs. Remember when we heard that German males changed their underpants every 3 days on average.
    
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    August 12, 2020 11:39am
- Classic Liberal
  
  “ to wear face masks in public“
  
  No way. Only in crowded spaces like shops or buses. Not out on a street w few people.
  
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  August 12, 2020 2:55pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Sad this many times. A micron is 1/1000th of a millimeter. Surgical mask is about 1 micron, the other paper and dust masks are 2.5 to 5 microns.
  A N95 carbon mask is 0.6 of a micron. Now the interesting bit, Covid is 0.03 of a micron. That is 20 times smaller.
  Bit like putting up a mesh fence to keep out mosquitos – but the sheep do it
  
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  August 12, 2020 3:58pm
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    *said ffs
    
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    August 12, 2020 3:58pm
Happychappy

Two workplace closed as staff show symptoms of the virus.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12355801
This could be trouble for Jacinda Ardern if they can’t stop the spread of the virus really quickly.
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August 12, 2020 8:59am
- the deity formerly known as nigel6888
  
  Its a flu virus. During flu season. Of course they can’t stop it.
  
  The only course of action was always Plan B. How do we live with covid?
  
  This government does have a plan B, right?
  
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  August 12, 2020 9:30am
  - Engelbert Humperdink
    
    “This government does have a Plan B, right”
    
    I’m sorry, I didn’t realise this was the Comedy Channel 🙂
    
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    August 12, 2020 11:05am
- Paulus
  
  Don’t be daft Jacinda is above all this and is immune from any criticism.
  
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  August 12, 2020 2:15pm
Yvette

Four members of the [Pasifika] family of six recorded positive Covid-19 tests
The father, a man in his 50s, works the night shift at a facility in South Auckland that has links to Auckland airport. Three of his colleagues are currently awaiting their Covid-19 test results.
His wife works in a central Auckland suburb and was tested for Covid-19 at a GP in West Auckland, which has closed its doors.Their daughter goes to a primary school in Mt Albert. [1]

Does the above number – all contacts of the six people in the family, plus all contacts of three work colleagues, perhaps 25 families of primary school class contacts, and the wife’s work contacts, and the West Auckland health facility (now closed) contacts – tax the present “track and trace” abilities to their maximum, that a city of one million will move to Level 3 each time this happens?

Meanwhile – Pacific Islanders see highest COVID-19 rate in L.A. County
Coronavirus infection rates among Pacific Islander residents of Los Angeles County are six times higher than white residents and three times higher than Latino residents.

Health experts say the reasons are similar to why Black people and Latinos are falling ill and dying at higher rates: reduced access to healthcare; higher levels of poverty; crowded housing; multigenerational households that make it more difficult to physically distance or quarantine; and higher rates of underlying health conditions that increase risk for severe illness from COVID-19, such as heart and lung disease, asthma and diabetes. Many Pacific Islanders also work in front-line jobs, such as food service, hospitality and healthcare, at which they are more likely to contract the virus and bring it home. [2]

[1] https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/auckland-family-tested-positive-covid-19-have-connections-across-city
[2] https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-07-19/california-pacific-islander-native-hawaiian-communities-hit-hard-by-coronavirus
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August 12, 2020 9:14am
- Tauhei Notts
  
  Yvette, an uptick is inadequate.
  Facts.
  I should be able to read all that on a news site, but it is people like you that make this blog the best in the country.
  I hope you have a wonderful day. You deserve it.
  
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  August 12, 2020 11:17am
  - Papalazarou
    
    Could not agree more
    
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    August 12, 2020 7:56pm
- KevO'Brien
  
  Obesity is prized among the Polynesians. When you had hurricanes and such like the better covered survived the food shortages. Chiefly families were well looked after.
  This cultural appreciation of natural enlargement has followed into many who now have more independence.
  
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  August 12, 2020 11:51am
  - Tall Man
    
    And they like eating fatty shit.
    
    https://1samoana.com/how-do-you-like-your-povi-masima/
    
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    August 12, 2020 12:11pm
    - Paulus Gnome
      
      Apparently, you are what you eat . . .
      
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      August 12, 2020 2:16pm
      - Tall Man
        
        That’s me buggered then …….. Vege curry tonight.
        
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        August 12, 2020 5:07pm
Frank the tank

If you believe they locked us down for 4-related cases i’ve got a fully funded light rail service out to Auckland international airport to sell you.

I have a feeling this is about to go nuclear…..
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August 12, 2020 9:17am
- Engelbert Humperdink
  
  Can I swap that for a port in Northland, Frank?
  
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  August 12, 2020 11:06am
thirteenstars

So, whose more likely to still venture out and vote, waiting in line, physical distancing, etc. during a COVID outbreak election?
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August 12, 2020 9:18am
- Durden
  
  Lots of people around the world did.
  https://hongkongfp.com/2020/07/31/how-12-countries-rich-and-poor-carried-out-elections-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/
  
  Jacinda will go ahead with elections as planned, because the longer she delays it the more obvious the results of this governments failures.
  
  Here is an article published before last night’s announcement looking at he possible election scenarios.
  
  https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2020/08/nz-election-2020-what-would-happen-if-there-was-a-covid-19-outbreak.html
  
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  August 12, 2020 10:09am
  - thirteenstars
    
    What I mean is which type of voter does it favour? I know studies have been done overseas that certain things can have small but significant effects upon certain demographics.
    
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    August 12, 2020 11:46am
- Engelbert Humperdink
  
  I have got my ultra protective mask on order and I’ll be there to vote!
  
  https://www.ebay.com/itm/Alien-Xenomorph-Facehugger-Leather-Face-Mask-Kit/254680481394?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&var=554447751669&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649
  
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  August 12, 2020 11:07am
thirteenstars

Now we’ll see just how politically correct Crusher Collins can be.

No doubt Bridges has dusted off his notes for her and she’ll toe the line. Can’t frighten the natives with dissent.
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August 12, 2020 9:23am
- Sir Cullen's Sidekick
  
  Nine long years of neglect could be used by Cindy as the reason for this new outbreak….
  
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  August 12, 2020 9:41am
  - Flossie
    
    On AM last week, Bridges and Parker asked about their reaction to the vaping bill. Bridges – why did it take 3 years to get this passed. Parker – National did nothing about it in nine years….
    Very quickly told vaping was not a thing back then!
    
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    August 12, 2020 10:09am
    - Nickc2
      
      That’s David Parker for you. Thick as piggy’s poo!
      
      7 1
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      August 12, 2020 12:43pm
  - wimpston peeeders
    
    nine long weeks of CoL incompetence led us here
    
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    August 12, 2020 11:32am
  - Paulus Gnome
    
    Six months of incompetence dragged out for the following thirty . . .
    
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    August 12, 2020 2:18pm
- RW Capitalist
  
  She was asked how she was feeling.
  Answer, something to the effect.
  It’s very difficult to take calls from people crying because they have lost their business.
  An excellent hit with inflaming the situation.
  PM material.
  
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  August 12, 2020 9:52am
Fletch

Setting off that damn alarm again. Just now, and first thing at 6.30am… ?
9 1
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August 12, 2020 9:29am
Inandout

New World email. Be kind.
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August 12, 2020 9:30am
- Prince
  
  PaknSav email. Be Kind.
  Supermarkets payback to Govt for filling their aisles and allowing them to up prices in the name of ‘demand control’.
  
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  August 12, 2020 11:07am
All_on_Red

Biden has picked Kamala Harris
Told ya so
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August 12, 2020 9:35am
- RJ
  
  Ah so if trump loses, the next president of the USA will be a woman.
  
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  August 12, 2020 9:37am
  - KevO'Brien
    
    Yeah?
    
    3 1
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    August 12, 2020 11:52am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Killary. She has not made her move yet
    
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    August 12, 2020 4:02pm
- virtualmark
  
  The VP debate on 7 October is going to be lit.
  
  Although I’m not sure if Mother will allow Pence to be alone on a stage with another woman.
  
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  August 12, 2020 1:59pm
- virtualmark
  
  Some good analysis here …
  
  “The VP choice doesn’t, in terms of actual votes cast, matter. That’s not universally true, but it’s true enough to be an axiom of modern American politics. But the VP choice does tell you a great deal about the campaign and what they think about the race internally.
  
  Dick Cheney was an admission that George W. Bush thought he needed grownup help.
  
  Sarah Palin was a recognition that without shaking up the race, McCain couldn’t beat Obama.
  
  Joe Biden was a tacit assurance to voters that Barack Obama wasn’t a radical and could work with the establishment.
  
  Mike Pence was a blood-oath to white evangelicals, who were not yet fully on board the Trump train.
  
  So what does Kamala Harris tell us about how the Biden campaign sees the race right now? Her selection suggests that the campaign believes their position is very strong. They think that the progressive wing of the party is with them and did not need to be tended to. They believe the heart of their coalition in November is going to be African Americans and college-educated suburban whites, both of whom should respond well to Harris.”
  
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  August 12, 2020 2:55pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Siouxie Wiles tells us that there is misinformation about this latest outbreak being spread online.

We are to ignore talk of Conspiracy theories..
It is not a Plandemic.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018759068/covid-19-auckland-community-transmission-will-this-lockdown-be-harder

Disclosure: I have no idea whether the above is misinformation, disinformation, information or political propaganda.
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August 12, 2020 9:43am
- Northshoredoc
  
  Siouxie Wiles …. good grief, has the media in this country got no one better to go to for comment ?
  
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  August 12, 2020 10:12am
  - Engelbert Humperdink
    
    The Colour Purple was a book, not a how-to bluster about kitchen-sink microbiology manual.
    
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    August 12, 2020 11:08am
- fernglas
  
  It is the opinion of someone unqualified to express it as to how we should live our lives. As far as I know, she has no authority to be speaking on behalf of the Government and when the day comes that an associate professorship in microbiology confers expertise in sociology, psychology, anthropology, economics and epidemiology I might give her the time of day. Until then, ignore her as you would any other rent-a-mouth.
  
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  August 12, 2020 10:16am
  - lofty
    
    Well said fernglass, mind if I pinch it?
    
    Cheers
    
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    August 12, 2020 11:58am
- crikey
  
  “Siouxie Wiles tells us that there is misinformation about this latest outbreak being spread online.”
  
  Absolutely no chance of it being spread online ;-).
  
  Perhaps you meant “…there is misinformation online about the spread of this latest outbreak.”
  
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  August 12, 2020 10:44am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    No…
    did you listen to what Siouxie Wiles said?
    
    ” We do know that misinformation has been spreading online”
    
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    August 12, 2020 12:43pm
- Tall Man
  
  Neither does she Maggy.
  
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  August 12, 2020 10:55am
- Lee C
  
  Oh another media whore wakes up to bask in the limelight of covid-porn..
  
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  August 12, 2020 11:01am
  - Tall Man
    
    I got deleted for that …. Same woman I think as well.
    
    Oh well, I guess Southern men are blessed 😉
    
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    August 12, 2020 12:09pm
- Philview
  
  RNZ is a Jacinda propaganda channel so no surprise there.
  
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  August 12, 2020 11:08am
The Housekeeper

Anyone heard results of the sewage testing that began in April? This would have let them know the range of community infection without the need for individual tests.
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August 12, 2020 9:49am
RW Capitalist

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/122417210/coronavirus-government-blames-vodafone-for-emergency-mobile-phone-alert-system-problems
No question ass to why the alert system was used in the first place.
Was it used the first time?
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August 12, 2020 9:49am
I remember when

So far there said to have been 1575 confirmed cases of covid-19 in New Zealand.
Apparently, most of these cases have been researched and the contact details established.
So what is the result of this research? Under what circumstances was the virus passed on? Are there any details from these contacts that will assist us going forward?
Surely we must have learned something, about the virus, to assist in future actions to reduce active cases.
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August 12, 2020 9:55am
I remember when

“Government blames Vodaphone for emergency mobile phone alert system problems”.
Always give the responsibility to someone else and you can never be blamed for getting it wrong.
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August 12, 2020 10:00am
I remember when

If its the National Alert System its no wonder that Labour got it wrong.
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August 12, 2020 10:01am
Durden

Stuff reports, “Bloomfield said he was confident that Covid-19 had not been lingering around South Auckland since the last-known community transmission 102 days ago.”

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/300079921/coronavirus-everything-we-know-about-the-auckland-cases-of-community-transmission

Says a lot about the poor community testing the eh? Chris Hipkins desperately announced multiple times during the last three weeks that testing numbers need to ramp up. Did not seem to have power to make it so. Does it mean that MoH was not under control or that they were so useless? The fact that isolation facility workers had no routine testing since those units were established over two months ago suggests ministry and Minister failure.

Even if the South Korean travelling from NZ via Singapore and tested positive in South Korea picked it up in Singapore transit, the other two who tested positive in Sydney did so after a direct flight. First case happened around 6 July. More than four fricking weeks ago.

https://www.odt.co.nz/star-news/star-national/second-positive-covid-case-auckland-sydney-flights

Unless Bloomfield is dumb and/or useless, he could not have said what he said above. Especially given the rising rhetoric about avoiding complacency, getting tested, stocking up on masks and the Covid advertising campaign all suggest that they should have surmised it. They were stretching for strange explanations like “residual Covid” etc.

Jacinda, instead of going “hard and early” and telling the team of 5 million that “the virus is very likely to be in the community” , and enlist them to keep a watch on it, she and her ministers kept talking in paternalistic generalities including saying “I accept there is an election, but my priority priority is Covid”. They were late by at least 4 weeks at taking action.

Also seems quite fortuitous for Jacinda that the (wanton?) head-in-sand approach meant the infections were found the week after Parliament sittings ended. And even worse, would this have been announced with out the information leaking to some journalists and forcing their hand ? Where was Peters the people’s protector in all this ?

If Jacinda id what should have been done by a open and honest PM leading such a government, she would NOT have been soft and late. Maybe she was not happy to be questioned in the parliament about it. Or maybe she did not want news to get out before Tarrant sentencing on 24 August and her moment in the international spotlight.

She lied by omission. She was soft and late. The halo has fallen.
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August 12, 2020 10:01am
- Northshoredoc
  
  Durden I can assure you that the Ministry of Health is stocked full of useless bureaucrats and muppets.
  
  Most of NZ’s real medical practitioners despise them with a passion.
  
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  August 12, 2020 10:14am
  - fightingtemeraire
    
    Just like the old Marine Dept was held in contempt by professional Deck Officers
    
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    August 12, 2020 11:16am
  - Phronesis
    
    But they are “diverse”.
    
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    August 12, 2020 2:20pm
- Engelbert Humperdink
  
  I’ve said it before and I hope it doesn’t sound too ad hominem, but I will say again Dr Bloomfield’s specialty qualifications are *not* focused around the response to and management of *contagious* disease.
  
  “Dr Bloomfield qualified in medicine at the University of Auckland in 1990 and after several years of clinical work specialised in public health medicine. His particular area of professional interest is non-communicable disease prevention and control, and he spent 2011 at the World Health Organization in Geneva working on this topic at a global level.”
  
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  August 12, 2020 11:23am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Stop pointing out her lies – it is getting beyond embarrassing
  
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  August 12, 2020 4:10pm
fernglas

New North Road near the testing centre is completely at a standstill
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August 12, 2020 10:35am
- Paulus Gnome
  
  That means nothing, NFA (normal for Auckland) at any time.
  
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  August 12, 2020 2:25pm
Maggie Pie

My partner was saying, word down the Viaduct is …. 110 non-English speking Chinese arrived at Novotel Ellerslie yesterday with ehough luggage for half of Remuera (one of them had 180kg!!)
Refugees? CCP Defectors? Are our borders open?
Who’s paying the quarantine bill?

SO MANY QUESTIONS – SO LITTLE TIME 🙁
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August 12, 2020 10:35am
- fernglas
  
  687 people arrived yesterday. Probably to beat the charges.
  
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  August 12, 2020 10:36am
  - Philview
    
    Young New Zealanders doing the traditional OE are finding it impossible to get back to NZ yet we seem to be getting bus loads of tourists turning up. What is going on with the management of those quarantine facilities?
    
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    August 12, 2020 11:03am
    - fernglas
      
      If you look on the Ministry of Health website you will find that there is capacity for over 7,000 people in isolation facilities, but only 5,000 are being used at any given time. This suggests that they have overdone the obstacles to returning New Zealanders to the point where anyone who can’t get a place or a flight could rightly kick up a serious stink.
      
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      August 12, 2020 1:23pm
      - lifesgood
        
        I’m sorry but I don’t care. One of the returnees has caused this F**k up and I’m bloody livid.
        
        5 1
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        August 12, 2020 2:01pm
- Engelbert Humperdink
  
  They are filming a movie, drilling a tunnel, shopping designer handbags and and bringing tens of millions of dollars of foreign exchange into our country, be grateful. / sarc
  
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  August 12, 2020 11:26am
Odakyu-sen

The southbound motorway from Auckland was jam packed, as people take their kids and make the most of a 5-day long weekend and a fine weather forecast!

I just hope the Level 3 lockdown is not extended by 14 to 21 days. We’ll know soon enough.

Can you imagine if they went to Level 4? (Depends on how much the supermarket chains contribute in political donations. //)
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August 12, 2020 10:35am
- fernglas
  
  That’s exactly how the virus spread from Madrid to the coast of Spain.
  
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  August 12, 2020 11:04am
  - Odakyu-sen
    
    Don’t worry, the police have set up checkpoints.
    
    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12355920
    
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    August 12, 2020 1:29pm
    - Paulus Gnome
      
      So another maori gang roadblock with a few honkies thrown in because, diversity.
      
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      August 12, 2020 2:27pm
WaynelSexton

The news is telling people to wear dirty old jeans over their face to stay safe.
No thank you, I’ll stick to eating healthy to boost my immunity.
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August 12, 2020 10:47am
- UrbanNeocolonialist
  
  Masks cut down transmission. They’re cheap and easy and and require negligible effort. Even improvised masks can do the job. There really aren’t any good arguments for not wearing them when out and about.
  
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  August 12, 2020 12:00pm
  - Evadne
    
    There are plenty of good reasons why people object to masks. These include:
    – makes communication near- impossible for the deaf and hard of hearing who rely on lip reading, facial expression and/or clear, unmuffled speech
    – socially isolating. Most of our communication is non- verbal. We all rely on seeing people’s expressions, and losing that actually makes people behave worse to each other ( we stop seeing people as people)
    – causes false security; people are less likely to maintain social distancing
    – hard to wear effectively (ditto provides false security)
    – dehumanizing for the wearer, especially the feeling of loss of autonomy and self-worth
    – exacerbates skin conditions such as eczema
    – uncomfortable / painful for people with facial issues and chronic facial pain
    – restricted air flow through masks can adversely affect those with respiratory problems
    – impossible for those with sensory or nerve disorders, who cannot have any touch skin
    – terrifying / anxiety inducing for people with claustrophobia
    …
    I could go on. Try a bit of empathy before you make thoughtless comments about ” no good arguments”.
    
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    August 12, 2020 1:26pm
  - NoFax
    
    The argument for not wearing masks is that there is no empirical evidence to support wearing masks. Last week our MOH was saying that there was no clear cut evidence. Yet the update this week (with no empirical evidence) states that masks are effective. I want the evidence and to date: there is none.
    
    5 1
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    August 12, 2020 1:41pm
  - virtualmark
    
    Urban … you forget that it’s way more effective to pro-actively take hydroxychloroquine rather than wear a mask.
    
    If you go to your pharmacy you should ask for it under it’s brand name, “Imbecillin”.
    
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    August 12, 2020 2:06pm
  - WaynelSexton
    
    If you want to wear a face diaper, do it. Just don’t force the rest of us to wear one after witnessing checkout operators survive last time, after serving thousands.
    
    5 1
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    August 12, 2020 2:29pm
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    No good arguments that you have heard. But then you suffer from SDS. Sheep derangement syndrome
    
    3 1
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    August 12, 2020 4:14pm
Loddenthinks

Even in her wildest dreams the Princess couldn’t imagine how successfully she’s scared the crap out of Joe Public. Top 10 Most Popular articles on Stuff right now:

Live: Coronavirus – Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern gives Covid-19 update as level 3 looms for Auckland (it’s not live of course, she’s kept everyone waiting for her 10:30 sermon from the Mount)

Coronavirus: Everything we know about the Auckland cases of community transmission

Coronavirus: Auckland moves to Level 3, rest of NZ to Level 2, as four Covid-19 cases confirmed in community
Coronavirus: Auckland’s Mt Albert Primary linked to confirmed Covid-19 cases
Coronavirus: Supermarkets urge calm as queues continue to build ahead of lockdown

Coronavirus: What happens on Wednesday after four cases of community transmission

Coronavirus: Concerns NZ Defence Force Covid-19 cluster did not self-isolate

Coronavirus three-day lockdown: what it means for Auckland and the rest of NZ

Coronavirus: Government blames Vodafone for emergency mobile phone alert system problems

The Covid-19 alert level system
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August 12, 2020 10:48am
- The Proper Ghandi
  
  Like the trending topics on Twitter for instance, who says they are in fact the most popular? Twitter? Stuff? Oh, please.
  
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  August 12, 2020 11:55am
Fisiani2

Ardern wanted to bask in the combined efforts of the 5 million and just sleepwalk in adulation to electoral victory. Like a sports manager of a successful team.
Now the border security has fecked it up. Ardern must resign. You only had one vital task and you failed to keep us safe. Move aside and let the grown -ups take charge.
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August 12, 2020 10:53am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  SOCIALISTS NEVER resign
  
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  August 12, 2020 4:19pm
- RW Capitalist
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPiH-LBna5I
  “All glory is fleeting”
  But Ardern is listening to her own press.
  The glory she INVENTED for herself.
  
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  August 12, 2020 5:01pm
Prince

Ardern soaks up all the attention during the ‘campaign’, with sudden country-wide statements from a podium, which actually don’t tell us much more. Drops in the usual Labour meaningless mantras, ‘be kind’, ‘hard and early’, ‘team of five million’.
Any alternative viewpoints from Opposition is greeted by a wave of pre-programmed on-line trolling criticism.
Just what exactly did the latest 10.30am (actually 10.50 as she made us all wait) podium speech tell us ? She loves the sound of her own voice.
The Labour internal polls must have been very troubling for them.
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August 12, 2020 11:01am
Maggie Pie

Just heard the PM telling Aucklanders “….to cover their face with some sort of mask when they leave home”.

Would make-up work?
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August 12, 2020 11:07am
- RJ
  
  Would this be acceptable https://immortalmasks.com/shop/alien-silicone-mask
  
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  August 12, 2020 11:26am
- Jules99
  
  Batman mask?
  
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  August 12, 2020 11:28am
- WaveyDavey
  
  It’s bollocks.
  
  A properly fitted single-use medical mask may help reduce transmission
  
  A bit of tee-shirt wrapped loosely around your face will do precisely nothing. Social distancing and hand washing gives the real results.
  
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  August 12, 2020 11:40am
  - RJ
    
    I’m not sure a bollocks mask would work, everyone would say you’re nuts
    
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    August 12, 2020 1:47pm
- Inandout
  
  Maggie, would a full burka suffice?
  
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  August 12, 2020 11:41am
greenfinger

Where is the apology for YOUR screw up, Princess? Almost “inevitable” that the whole country will have to go back to level 3.9. All the sacrifice 5mn people made the first time now amounts to nothing but $50bn of extra debt which we all will have to now pay off through higher taxes. Why is she not wearing a mask? She is just another hypocrite like Donald…
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August 12, 2020 11:14am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Donald? You mean Donald Duck? Don’t understand
  
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  August 12, 2020 4:22pm
Tony

Looks like the positive case visited Rotorua. Joy of joys.

https://www.sunlive.co.nz/news/249649-live-covid-update-positive-case-visited-rotorua.html
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August 12, 2020 11:16am
Lee C

Dear Judith.
New Zealand has no proper leadership.
Message ends.
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August 12, 2020 11:16am
buzzler

So according to the good Doctor and Ardern the virus may have arrived on a lump of chilled meat from overseas!
Clowns, the lot of them.
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August 12, 2020 11:35am
- KevO'Brien
  
  That’s not impossible. I suspect they could hitchhike on birds blown by the wind too. If labs can culture them why can’t they survive elsewhere?
  
  No Cindy has the ability to control the whole of the natural world. We may have to live it, but we do not have to live with Cindy.
  
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  August 12, 2020 1:12pm
- lifesgood
  
  Oh FFS!
  
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  August 12, 2020 1:57pm
Centrist

Not in Auckland but have only seen 2 people wearing masks today and no signs of social distancing.
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August 12, 2020 11:53am
- Centrist
  
  No one is listening to Dear Leader
  
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  August 12, 2020 12:15pm
  - thirteenstars
    
    Then the Public Health Response Bill passed in May loaded with all those juicy new powers of search, detainment and denial of the right to remain silent will have to be invoked.
    
    Let’s take the police state out for a spin and see how it handles in the corners.
    
    http://www.legislation.govt.nz/bill/government/2020/0246/latest/LMS344134.html
    
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    August 12, 2020 1:16pm
  - Engelbert Humperdink
    
    People may not be listening to dear leader, but her henchmen the big blue patched gang are already out there stopping drivers without due cause, legal coverage, judicial appeal or any regulatory support.
    
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    August 12, 2020 2:29pm
    - Engelbert Humperdink
      
      …and just in – the blue gang have got the camo gang “helping” on the Bombay Hills roadblock.
      
      Using the Army to enforce knee-jerk Government policy – FFS.
      
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      August 12, 2020 3:12pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  One this morning, walking down the road in the pissing down rain.
  Total A grade fuckwit
  
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  August 12, 2020 4:24pm
lofty

And the fuse continues to splutter…Rotorua is feeling the heat now.
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August 12, 2020 12:01pm
RJ

Hmmm. 3 days ago this family first tested positive. 2 days ago they tested positive again. Today you only find out one went to Rotorua. This is feeling like they knew more and are just drip feeding
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August 12, 2020 12:04pm
- lifesgood
  
  They bloody knew more, they are just out and out liars. Why did the covid ads ramp up, why all the talk about buying masks? Ba*****ds. That useless waste of space PM wanted to parade before the world that we had had 100 days without community transmission and also to get her party’s election rally front and centre of the news. Funny how it is nicely timed to prevent National having their election opening rally, isn’t it? I tell you what there is a huge amount of anger and hatred towards this government out there right now.
  
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  August 12, 2020 1:56pm
alex Masterley

Dear Prime Minister.
You screwed up.
Kind regards,
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August 12, 2020 12:12pm
- Tony Stuart
  
  Spot on Alex. Somehow, someone has been exposed to Covid in one of the MIQ facilities, hasn’t been tested, and has taken the virus out into the community.
  
  Megan Woods was given responsibility for MIQ, so it’s a failing on her watch, but the buck actually stops with the Prime Minister.
  
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  August 12, 2020 1:31pm
Alboy

Just had a text from our doctors saying that they’ve had a positive test in West Auckland, taken at the waterview test centre.
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August 12, 2020 12:19pm
- sooty
  
  It’s out and about folks!
  
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  August 12, 2020 1:22pm
- RJ
  
  Yes it is one of the four mentioned yesterday
  
  https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12355962
  
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  August 12, 2020 1:45pm
Maggie Pie

Random impertinent question 😛

‘Which International Quarantine Hotel recently dismissed their Head Chef after he was outed for providing personal ‘Room Service’?

Asking for a friend
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August 12, 2020 12:24pm
- Northshoredoc
  
  Name and shame Maggie…name and shame…. then perhaps the MSM might pick it up and ask a few random but pertinent questions.
  
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  August 12, 2020 1:04pm
- Paulus Gnome
  
  A whole new level of room ‘service’?
  
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  August 12, 2020 2:34pm
curry4me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsRz7m2OjAc
Biden Picks Harris.

He has chosen a police state shill as his running mate.
She will be a lightning rod for criticism. Moderate leftists
don’t like her. She’s jailed lots of black males for marijuana related
offences. Michelle Obama, Kirsten Gillibrand, or Mayor Pete would
have been better picks. Harris is insufferable. She was a ‘tough on
crime’ prosecutor. He was ‘tough on crime’ too. That’s a turn off
for the under 30s.
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August 12, 2020 12:58pm
- lifesgood
  
  I fail to see why it is a good thing that she is a woman and black over just being good for the job. I hate identity politics with a passion.
  
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  August 12, 2020 1:25pm
  - virtualmark
    
    She *is* good at her job. Watch her questioning Kavanaugh and Barr, watch her speech in the impeachment proceedings. Don’t underestimate her.
    
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    August 12, 2020 2:08pm
    - Ed Snack
      
      She didn’t “question” Kavanaugh, she harangued him. To say questioned implies that she actually wanted answers.
      
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      August 12, 2020 5:51pm
      - virtualmark
        
        Ed, one thing I’ve noticed about you Trumpanzees is that you automatically assume all the Democrats are idiots. That’s how generals lose wars … by underestimating their opponent.
        
        For example, I don’t agree with much, if any, of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s policy beliefs. But she is a very good politician, a very good debater, and superb whenever she speaks. I don’t agree with her, but it would be foolish not to respect her ability.
        
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        August 12, 2020 8:35pm
curry4me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kPkmCukPlI
Senkaku Islands.

The Chinese naval militia want to swarm the Senkaku Islands.
The ban on Chinese fishing boats entering Japanese waters expires
on the 16th, according to China. They will send ‘fishing boats’.
Many of them are part of the Maratime Militia, and are well trained.
Japans Defence Minister has declined to comment on what the response
will be.
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August 12, 2020 12:58pm
Nickc2

So Biden has made his choice for VP? Should be interesting as Kamala Harris said she believes sexual harassment complaints made against him.
I wonder if his minders have made him aware of this, or are they hoping he will be impeached before he is elected if that is possible and Harris will automatically become the Democrat Nominee. Then, she will be in a position to pick her own VP. Nice one Joe, only a Democrat could be that dumb.
https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2020/08/kamala-harris-i-believe-biden-sexual-harassment-accusers.html
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August 12, 2020 1:00pm
- virtualmark
  
  Hey, Ted Cruz got over Trump saying his wife was ugly and that his Dad shot JFK.
  
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  August 12, 2020 2:18pm
Roger

Sweden has just started looking better and better.
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August 12, 2020 1:03pm
- fernglas
  
  Try this: https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/how-dangerous-is-covid-a-swedish-doctor-s-perspective
  
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  August 12, 2020 1:28pm
  - Roger
    
    Paywalled. What’s the gist?
    
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    August 12, 2020 2:04pm
    - fernglas
      
      It’s not dangerous Almost gone from ERs and the death toll from Covid is about 6% of annual deaths there. Probably by the end of the year there will be no excess deaths in Sweden.
      
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      August 12, 2020 2:36pm
- Cinematic
  
  Inexorably. It was the right model from the start. They bungled aspects of it but it was the only rational option. The elimination concept being the opposite.
  
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  August 12, 2020 2:10pm
Nickc2

In Melbourne, you really should wear a mask when told. All this police power for one arrogant little girl? Well, for how long is wearing a mask outdoors going to be optional in lil olde NZ?
https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2020/08/horrible-scenes-in-melbourne.html
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August 12, 2020 1:15pm
Happychappy

Just a question for Jacinda Ardern and her bunch of cronies if you had a team of five million why has less the one million only signed up for your COVID-19 apt.
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August 12, 2020 1:21pm
- Stu2
  
  Because it’s rubbish
  
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  August 12, 2020 1:31pm
- RJ
  
  4 million decided to waka jump and play for the other side
  
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  August 12, 2020 1:41pm
- cmm
  
  1 million have down loaded it and tried it once or twice.
  
  Actually using it? far, far less.
  
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  August 12, 2020 2:40pm
Tony Stuart

The crew who do the marketing for Tui Brewery have been busy this morning…

https://twitter.com/TonyStuart55/status/1293352290896683008
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August 12, 2020 1:33pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Oh Look, folks…
It is a mystery coronavirus….

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/12/new-zealand-delays-dissolving-parliament-amid-mystery-coronavirus-outbreak

But hey,…..
Jacinda has a plan…..
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August 12, 2020 1:46pm
- Inandout
  
  Maggy, some Guardian fluff:
  ‘Millions are flocking to the Guardian for quality news every day’.
  
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  August 12, 2020 2:14pm
Pheobe

We live nowhere near Auckland, so level 2 applies, why then when we had the central lines men arrive this morning they told us that they had been told by there head office in Auckland that they had to work from home as of this afternoon and all jobs are canceled unless urgent. How is that level 2?
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August 12, 2020 1:46pm
- Cinematic
  
  Pheobe, people have a right to use their Covid leave. Covid leave is in addition to sick leave (also due to be doubled).
  
  If you’re desperate for lines men (or women) you only need to pop down to your local supermarket. They’re quite an officious bunch.
  
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  August 12, 2020 2:16pm
  - Pheobe
    
    Thats not what I said. The men that arrived were quite happy to keep working, they don’t understand why at level 2, they are required to work as if in level 3.
    
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    August 12, 2020 3:33pm
    - Tall Man
      
      Humour … whoosh…..
      
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      August 12, 2020 9:46pm
JibberJabber

If you can’t be good, be careful and if you can’t be nice, try to be as gracious as Sting as his music is murdered in font of him.
https://twitter.com/RitaPanahi/status/1293365489553387520
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August 12, 2020 2:03pm
Maggie Pie

Dust off the PPE.
Lvl 4 lock down @ midnight Friday.

So I’ve been warned anyway……
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August 12, 2020 2:12pm
- Inandout
  
  Maggie, this time round will be different I assure you. More roarr than baaaa.
  
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  August 12, 2020 2:16pm
  - sooty
    
    Watch out Maggie, they will be coming for you!
    Giving out their secerts!
    
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    August 12, 2020 8:33pm
- Tall Man
  
  Shame they don’t give you new stuff…..
  
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  August 12, 2020 9:35pm
JibberJabber

Jamie Lee as mad as her namesake here in NZ,
https://twitter.com/jamieleecurtis/status/1293246051772588032
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August 12, 2020 2:13pm
- RJ
  
  That’s sad. Celebrities spread bullshit and their idiotic supporters believe them.
  
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  August 12, 2020 2:15pm
  - Engelbert Humperdink
    
    Is that the one that was briefly hot in some Arnie movie? If that was the high point of your life, you’d probably be twittering desperately as well.
    
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    August 12, 2020 2:32pm
  - fernglas
    
    It’s a joke, son.
    
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    August 12, 2020 2:38pm
    - RJ
      
      Sadly, not from jami, this is the sort of crap she pushes knowing that her followers believe her.
      
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      August 12, 2020 3:06pm
- Inandout
  
  JJ, and from that Obama Tweet:
  ‘I’ve known Senator @KamalaHarris
  for a long time. She is more than prepared for the job. She’s spent her career defending our Constitution and fighting for folks who need a fair shake. This is a good day for our country. Now let’s go win this thing’.
  I wonder if she has at any time accompanied Old Bill to the Love Island’
  
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  August 12, 2020 2:20pm
  - Tall Man
    
    Not for 20 years 🙂
    
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    August 12, 2020 5:13pm
dave_c_

The following link demonstrates an intriguing view of what is happening, in terms of this Covid period.
It’s probably not for everyone, and any religious commentary can be taken with a grain of salt.
However, in my view, it indicates a stunning correlation to historical and current events.

Satanism / New World Order:

https://www.eyeopeningtruth.com/covid-19-satanic-ritual/
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August 12, 2020 2:28pm
RJ

I love how things change. Last night we were informed that the man tested positive two days ago, Monday, was retested Tuesday and that was positive. Now Newshub are rewriting the story that he tested positive yesterday and retested yesterday. And that Cindy held a press conference at 9.15pm. Ah no she didn’t. She told the world she would but in her typical fashion she was very late to it. Media starting their protection job as people ask why they weren’t told about this on Monday.

Newshub
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August 12, 2020 2:33pm
- Prince
  
  Yes I heard that yesterday also. Bloomfield distinctly said the first positive test was Monday, then retested and positive again Tuesday. And the family was also tested Monday and 3 more positive found.
  So…
  1) why was the positive test not reported in Monday or Tuesdays 1pm update?
  2) Are we to believe Ardern was not told until 4pm Tuesday ? I don’t buy that.
  3) Why has the timeline been changed today to remove the initial Monday test ?
  
  I do wish the media would press this point and not allow Ardern and Bloomfield to brush them aside. The Tuesday conference must be recorded somewhere.
  
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  August 12, 2020 9:01pm
  - Prince
    
    Yes I heard that yesterday also. Bloomfield distinctly said the first positive test was Monday, then retested and positive again Tuesday. And the family was also tested Monday and 3 more positive found.
    So…
    1) why was the positive test not reported in Monday or Tuesdays 1pm update?
    2) Are we to believe Ardern was not told until 4pm Tuesday ? I don’t buy that.
    3) Why has the timeline been changed today to remove the initial Monday test ?
    
    I do wish the media would press this point and not allow Ardern and Bloomfield to brush them aside. The Tuesday conference must be recorded somewhere.
    
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    August 12, 2020 9:06pm
    - Prince
      
      Here is the broadcast from Tuesday. Early on, about 20 seconds, Bloomfield says the person tested positive ‘yesterday’, was re-swabbed and tested positive again.
      https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/300079882/coronavirus-four-cases-of-covid19-community-transmission-confirmed-in-auckland
      
      Now they are denying the Monday test. And we are to believe Ardern was not told for over 24 hours of a potential positive Community-transfer case ??
      
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      August 12, 2020 9:11pm
UrbanNeocolonialist

National 28% in UMR poll today. NZF 5.1, Act 5.9 Green 5.4 Labour 52%

No positive movement for Collins.
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August 12, 2020 2:38pm
JibberJabber

We all know how this is gonna end…

The Reserve Bank (RBNZ) has expanded its Quantitative Easing programme to up to $100 billion

?It’s fun to charter an accountant
And sail the wide accountancy,
To find, explore the funds offshore
And skirt the shoals of bankruptcy!?
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August 12, 2020 3:00pm
- wimpston peeeders
  
  another 40bil of paper closer to becoming venezuela
  
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  August 12, 2020 5:43pm
JibberJabber

The Army and the Police have been mobilised to prevent New Zealanders going about their daily business, anyone still think there will be elections in September?
Roadblocks at Wellsford and Bombay, make sure you have your Identity papers ready to be presented.
Lockdown to be extended on Friday?
Obviously the first one didn’t achieve the desired result.
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August 12, 2020 3:13pm
lifesgood

Woo hoo! Labour expected to announce another election bribe. Robertson says that they have set $14 Billion, yes folks, $14 billion, aside and will probably use it to extend the wage subsidy. Who didn’t see that coming, eh?
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August 12, 2020 3:19pm
comm4nder

On the way to enjoy this lockdown and work from our beach house, we encountered a very long queue (40 minutes) near Mangawhai. When we finally reached the head of the queue the nice policeman said that she was stopping us to tell us that we were entering a Level 2 zone. Surely a big sign on the side of the road would have saved a huge amount of time and fuel. Perhaps this was getting us ready for a more oppressive police state
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August 12, 2020 3:35pm
- Batman
  
  Probably just intended to inform the people going the other way…
  
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  August 12, 2020 4:25pm
  - Tall Man
    
    Can people only read in one direction?
    
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    August 12, 2020 5:11pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

I think we are not being told the truth about jumping to Level 3 so quick.
Imo community transfer has been with us for 6 weeks or more – Ardern and Bloomfield have been keeping the lid on it. Somehow the info got out or was leaked. Now seeing as BOTH Ardern and Bloomfield are known liars, they decided to own their own shit for some reason, Ardern being a compulsive liar.
Someone told them that NZ has had enough of their constant bullshit.
My opinion, but I’m sure I’m not the only one who thinks this is the case.
Level 3. Socialists do not relinquish their control easily
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August 12, 2020 4:32pm
alex Masterley

I do wish the pm would shut up and left Dr Bloomfield finish a comment.
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August 12, 2020 4:38pm
Komata

Alex@1638

But she can’t, ‘cos its got to be all about her and ONLY her.

Evidence of Narcissistic Personality Disorder perhaps?
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August 12, 2020 4:44pm
Fletch

So, TVNZ are playing The Chase on TV1, but it has that Covid information bar at the bottom of the screen obscuring all the answers. ?
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August 12, 2020 5:07pm
- Fletch
  
  They just fixed it…
  
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  August 12, 2020 5:21pm
Tall Man

Now for those of you who remember Blackadder, I have a plan ….

How about someone print “Vote National” face masks ……..

Pretty sure they’d be a big seller here and on Trademe………

David, it’s up to you 🙂
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August 12, 2020 5:15pm
lifesgood

Had my blood pressure checked yesterday. Dr said it was excellent, probably because the only news I watch is Sky and I don’t read the papers. I’ve also left Red Radio for good and now listen to Hosking in the morning. I hate to think what my BP was after getting that bloody text last night, though.
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August 12, 2020 5:18pm
BananaLlama

Vodafone doing such a great job with their political slogans every time i connect to their towers.
“Be Kind”
“Stay Safe”
Starting to make Telecom (or w/e they are called) look like upstanding service providers.
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August 12, 2020 5:22pm
niggly

Fantastic interview by Ryan Bridge with health minister Chris Hipkins on Magic Talk just now!

Bridge pushed down on Hipkins’ “jugular” question after question, stunning “Chippie” speechless at times with emerging factual information (eg an undeclared positive case, why did Winston claim he knew before supposedly the Government etc).

Those pauses kind of gave the game away for Hipkins, however to be fair he always came back with a plausible answer (albeit clearly not used to that line of questioning perhaps).

Although Bridge got the better of Hipkins I felt, Hipkins could and did give excellent, informative and concise answers.

I’m getting the feeling Hipkins is actually a much better performer than Jacinda’s “wannabe” successors, Robbo and Megan Woods.

Whilst Robbo has managed the art of answering by coming across as “authoritive” (and at ease), his answers are really just mixtures of “facts” with rhetoric and slogans, boy can he waffle and waffle (but for some reason the MSM are suckered in with his BS – I guess he’s not nicknamed H3 for no reason)!

Megan Woods is pretty much a carbon copy of Robbo in many ways eg authoritive speaker, puts the audience at ease smiles alot, but again mixes “facts” with rhetoric and slogans, but frankly much more of a waffler than Robbo!

But back to Hipkins, surely he’s got to be Jacinda’s heir apparent? He comes across well, media savy, always is up with the facts and comes across with more integrity but best of all he’s not a smiling waffler! 😉
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August 12, 2020 5:57pm
- Maggie Pie
  
  From what we hear, Jacinda ONLY has eyes for Robbo. And a lot of others in the fold are pretty p*ssed off.
  Just saying.
  
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  August 12, 2020 7:39pm
  - niggly
    
    Yep, Robbo still rules as the Queen of the Castle and it’ll take more than Smile and Waffle or Chippie to unseat his Throne which is next to the Princess’ of course! 😉
    
    Even Angry Andy, David C and good ol’ David S succumbed (and in his case by the two rotting fish trick)!
    
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    August 12, 2020 7:58pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Fuck this shit. I am going to the spa pool before we have separation in the spa. One at a time shit, and bring and take your drinkies.
THEN, we have to sleep in the same fucking bed!!
This socialist country is fucked and going downhill
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August 12, 2020 6:04pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Kamala. Lefties, don’t watch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsUcemVe2Fw&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR1zN_k6ba56CU7xFx7WhbnJEM9-IscHKbdaXA89gpNdtG20CZqwHBwlv08
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August 12, 2020 6:15pm
Mikey Martinelli

DPF was totally correct. NZ Public Party are really a bunch of nuts. They predicted a lockdown in the first week of August. Crazy! I can’t believe they thought that was going to happen. It wasn’t the first week of August! It was the second week. Completely wrong!
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August 12, 2020 8:37pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Only because one of the infected cases didn’t get a test on 6 Aug when advised to.
  
  https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/423388/two-auckland-clinics-closed-after-visits-from-positive-cases
  The patient had presented themselves to our clinic on 6 August and was advised by one of our general practitioners to go to a local community testing centre,” the statement said.
  
  “This is standard practice for clinics that are not designated swabbing centres.
  
  “On 10 August they presented again to our clinic where our general practitioner established the test had not been done and advised them again as a priority to do so at a local testing centre.
  
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  August 12, 2020 8:57pm
- Kiwi_in_Paris
  
  NZ Public Party is pretty much New Zealand’s only chance of freedom and safety. It is no wonder the Kiwi Marxist tax payer bribed media have gone after them. It is time for Kiwis to wake up to what is actually happening to the country, and that Cindy is committing treason.
  
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  August 12, 2020 9:09pm
I remember when

They may be having trouble getting motels to accept the homeless, they may be having to use camping gear to solve the problem, but we have shown those landlords!
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August 13, 2020 9:13am
I remember when

If , as the family of seven has shown us, we can have tests done, and answers supplied in approx one and a half hours, why have we been waiting so long in the past?
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August 13, 2020 10:00am
I remember when

There doesn’t seem to be any conclusive information to support any cases of covid-19 from imported sources anywhere else to date.
There was a reference somewhere yesterday to cool stores being melting pots elsewhere – presumably meat works in the US. However, according to reports at the time, they appeared to involve crowded workplaces with poor prevention systems.
Trevor Bailey, straight bat, playing for time technique?
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August 13, 2020 10:07am
lifesgood

What about all those people released from quarantine who refused to have a test and/or supplied false contact information? Why weren’t those people kept in quarantine until they agreed to have a test, why weren’t contact details checked before people were released? It is nonsense to say you can’t force people to have a test. It should have been a condition of their release. You can’t refuse a blood/alcohol test can you? Will Ashley “We can’t round people up. we round up sheep” Bloomfield change his view on this too. The man’s a disgrace. And how come lots of companies can have compulsory drug testing? My anger levels continue to rise.
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August 14, 2020 11:05am

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