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August 25, 2020 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 25 August 2020

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General Debate

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CJames

In a now typical lack of awareness, a CEO complains that he needs more of a subsidy to make a fossil fuel alternative business profitable.
“Bennetts said a government subsidy was crucial to make the local biofuel market viable, unless carbon prices or oil prices spiked dramatically. …If the price of carbon was $150-200 a tonne, it would solve itself. Or if there was a targeted incentive, that could solve it,” he said. “
https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/climate-news/122402184/more-profitable-to-sell-nz-biofuel-to-the-united-states-than-to-sell-it-here–z-energy-boss
The subisidy would mean taxpayers had a hidden cost, rather than an visible one. $150/ tonne carbon would mean the collapse of many currently viable industries in New Zealand as other countries without the charge would undercut them. The subsidies reverse Robin Hood, taking from the poor to give to the rich who have subsidised electric cars. That is why they appeal to Labour and the Greens – virtue signalling but really protecting the elites.
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August 25, 2020 8:00am
- Benedict Yu
  
  It is just outrageous that journalists run this rubbish unchallenged. They made an investment on the basis of poor assumptions about carbon prices. That is what the Emissions Trading Scheme is for. And not one mention of the ETS in the article! So because their investment is losing money they want a bail out. And the media acts as their mouth piece.
  
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  August 25, 2020 8:42am
  - igm
    
    Let us await the attitudes of left-wing Labour/Green mouthpieces now that brakes have been applied to taxpayers’ handouts.
    They, in the main, have lost support of many major advertisers because of their anti-commerce rhetoric, that meaning they survive by appeasing the leeching left who have no money or businesses to promote.
    Hope this is the final nail in the coffins for these disgusting messengers of left-wing crap.
    
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    August 25, 2020 9:59am
    - RichardX
      
      Any evidence to support this assertion or this this another “cynical joke”?
      
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      August 25, 2020 10:49am
- Loddenthinks
  
  Hard to find a more blatant case of hypocrisy and blackmail. He’s happy to make something here that he reckons helps the planet, then ship it to the other side of the world to make a dollar.
  
  Unless the floating tankers run on fairy dust and moonbeams, any benefits (which are marginal at a great stretch) from using his biofuel will be greatly outweighed by the carbon footprint of getting the stuff to the US.
  
  But he’s still got his hand out, saying “give me more money or that’s what I’ll do”
  
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  August 25, 2020 8:54am
  - sooty
    
    I would not have thought that the tankers were going that way at all. They would be going to asia middle east, so he’s paying top dollar to ship his product to the states!
    
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    August 25, 2020 10:00am
- rouppe
  
  If bio fuels require a subsidy to make it competitive, then it is not competitive.
  
  That’s all there is to it.
  
  Plus, after watching on Planet of the Humans the manifest lying that constitutes biomass energy, I’d want to know exactly how that bio fuel is produced.
  
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  August 25, 2020 12:45pm
Benedict Yu

The Chief Scientist of Australia , Dr Alan Finkel has been condemned in an open letter by 25 climate scientists because he stated the obvious.

He said that as renewable energy generation, storage and transmission technologies are scaled up to decarbonise the economy, natural gas would play a “critical role”, and that the transition could take decades.

https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/australia-s-chief-scientist-is-wrong-on-gas-say-leading-experts-20200824-p55oty.html

Now I know a bit about energy, physics, and climate change. What he said was totally obvious. In 2040 the world will be using much more natural gas than in 2020. That is why Australia is subject to investors spending 200 billion USD on natural gas infrastructure over the next 20 years.

So here is thing. I know about this stuff and I see a bunch of “scientists” trying to silence this guy because he doesn’t fit their narrative. I can make reasoned judgment that if government acted on their faulty belief system, the world would be impoverished.

Which brings us to COVID. Unlike physics, I know little about virus. But what if the “scientists” who are advising the government are like the 25 climate scientists who I know are stupid? Because few politicians, especially in New Zealand, know anything about virus, or physics, or energy economics. Any science at all. Maybe the New Zealand virus experts are as one dimensional as the Australian “climate experts” who have clubbed together to de platform a voice of reason?

What I am sure about? There is not “one source of truth”. And it is definitely not New Zealand Government.
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August 25, 2020 8:00am
- Brian McDonald
  
  Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
  Make that any NZ Government or probably any international Government and I’ll agree. There is also unlikely to be any truthful opposition party.
  
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  August 25, 2020 8:07am
  - mjw
    
    Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
    That is the problem for the Nats, in a nutshell. The recent evidence strongly suggests they would be worse, rather than better, than the current government.
    
    And they won’t improve until they have some honest self-reflection, instead of continuously doubling down on failed strategies.
    
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    August 25, 2020 8:38am
    - Lance
      
      Because the successful strategy for Labour has been to bald face lie, obfuscate and mislead to the public.
      
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      August 25, 2020 9:16am
      - mjw
        
        Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
        So there is the problem right there – incessant whinging, instead of looking at the data.
        
        Kiwiblog commentators have become a kind of hidden cult of Jacques Derrida, interested in nothing but tearing down, while denying the existence of any independent facts.
        
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        August 25, 2020 9:34am
      - The Proper Ghandi
        
        mjw
        You do realise that you are a kiwiblogger yourself, right? I think many of the usual suspects on this blog don’t seem to appreciate that they are in fact part of our number.
        
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        August 25, 2020 12:11pm
      - notrotsky
        
        MJW is as banal in his diatribes as that twit Muttonbird who used to troll here incessantly and then run back to thestrandard and reporting on his droppings
        
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        August 25, 2020 5:03pm
    - yossarian
      
      It’s amazing how so many people can see in the post future on how National would have handled Covid?
      
      If this people hold such great foresight, how come they didn’t predict Covid in the first place
      
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      August 25, 2020 9:55am
      - fernglas
        
        National would have cocked it up too; possibly not so badly, but there is no reason to suppose they would have taken (or will take) any different underlying strategy. Most of the rest of the world is the same. Plenty of people predicted a pandemic; it was no tougher than predicting that the sun would rise. The issue is how it has been dealt with.
        
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        August 25, 2020 10:35am
      - Akarak
        
        I don’t believe that National would have based its response in a ‘cart before the horse’ method that appears to be standard for the CoL.
        
        The Herald reports:
        ‘A spokesman for Health Minister Chris Hipkins said the rules for wearing masks on public transport and the expectations on passengers and transport operators are still being worked through and should be released on Thursday.
        
        An Auckland Transport spokesman said the Government has indicated the obligation to wear a face mask will be on individual passengers and operators will not assume the role of enforcement officer.
        
        He said a guidance document being worked on by the Ministry of Transport and the NZ Transport Agency is expected to cover enforcement, as well as face covering types, disposal and availability of masks, and exemptions.’
        
        So make the announcement on a matter that you intend to make mandatory and then try and work out how you intend to do it later!
        
        I’d suggest it’s more like wrapping the paper before you put the chips in. All you end up with is a bloody mess!
        
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        August 25, 2020 1:38pm
  - Paulus
    
    After the Election we will have a new Opposition Party too !
    How will the so called Media reacts then ?
    No they will still hate anything not Left Wing.
    
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    August 25, 2020 8:54am
    - SB2
      
      Paulus , would that be Jamie Lee’s Advance NZ?
      
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      August 25, 2020 9:37am
    - igm
      
      Can guarantee that a decent goverment will not give taxpayers’ money to any media outlet.
      This current mob are buying pro-left publicity at our expense . . . it stinks.
      
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      August 25, 2020 10:03am
      - SB2
        
        “..buying pro- left…”
        
        How?
        
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        August 25, 2020 12:39pm
  - kloyd0306
    
    Somewhat difficult to discover the truth when the current CoL/regime/dictatorship won’t even allow questions.
    
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    August 25, 2020 9:59am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  So aren’t we lucky we have WHO giving over-arching guidance to nations?
  
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  August 25, 2020 8:12am
  - CJames
    
    Yes – that would be interesting. WHO advises the general population without symptoms NOT to wear masks.
    https://twitter.com/i/status/1243171683067777024
    
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    August 25, 2020 9:10am
    - Nigel Kearney
      
      WHO are advising masks in situations where a two metre separation is not possible, such as on public transport. Which is the same as what the government is saying.
      
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      August 25, 2020 9:48am
      - CJames
        
        Not in that WHO video they aren’t – or is there advice changing?
        
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        August 25, 2020 9:55am
      - Flossie
        
        I just don’t understand why it (wearing masks on public transport) isn’t starting till Monday? How many cases are going to arise in the interim? We’ve bin told we can use “any kind of face covering” so what’s the hold up.
        
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        August 25, 2020 11:37am
  - SB2
    
    That was back in March.Their stance is currently very different ,
    
    https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public/when-and-how-to-use-masks
    
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    August 25, 2020 9:42am
    - Classic Liberal
      
      But you always trust it? All this contradictory advice can’t all be correct.
      
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      August 25, 2020 11:24am
      - IC5000
        
        > All this contradictory advice can’t all be correct.
        
        Maybe their position has changed in light of changing circumstances. Has this ever occurred to you?
        
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        August 25, 2020 12:06pm
      - The Proper Ghandi
        
        Which specific circumstances have changed, other than the advice? Has new data come to light?
        
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        August 25, 2020 12:13pm
      - Ed Snack
        
        Have a look at the COVID incidence in places that have gone ahead with mask mandates. The data shows zero difference, no change to trends or to trends in trends.
        
        That does support the scientific evidence which we have that strongly suggests that masks are worthless medically; though they are useful politically and as virtue signalling devices for the “woke”.
        
        Mask use is a classic case of doing SOMETHING just to show that you care, even when you know, deep down, that it is a meaningless gesture.
        
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        August 25, 2020 6:37pm
    - The Proper Ghandi
      
      What has changed in terms of scientific evidence and control trials that supports to the change of position? My understanding is that it is purely political.
      
      https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-8537489/PETER-HITCHENS-Face-masks-turn-voiceless-submissives.html
      
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      August 25, 2020 11:29am
- JackRabbit
  
  Benedict, you are not wrong.
  
  And you do not need to be an expert to be right. It was Richard Feynman, the great scientist, who always maintained that if an expert understands something, they can explain it in every day common language so that the common man can understand.
  
  If the expert has a head full of data and speaks in technobabble, they know some things, but do not understand it. The lack of understanding is due to not having distilled, sorted, compared and identified the core principles of the subject matter.
  
  Facts and details are important, but not as important as the core principles.
  
  When you listen to a real expert, it all makes sense. You get the core principles, you can follow the logic, and real experts are always happy to answer questions, and in fact invite critique. They love to teach and enlighten. They will be the first to admit they do not know everything. And they have an objective view of their art.
  
  Fake experts talk above the common man. There are no core principles to be shared, and the logic is missing. You are expected to simply accept what you are told. They do not want to enlighten, they want to keep you in the dark.
  
  Asking questions is akin to insulting the fake expert, and to suggest anything that conflicts with their narrative, invites being discredited or accused of being a conspiracy theorist. They are subjective and the narrative changes to cover any exposed inconsistencies. i.e. they are full of shit and tell more porkies to cover up previous exposed porkies.
  
  Continuing down the road of creating a false narrative and telling porkies, creates a narcissistic or sociopathic persona. Which is why the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and why those who believe they can ‘control fix the world’ end up destroying it.
  
  In the Emperor’s New Clothes, it took the innocence of a young boy, who was not conditioned by the media and ‘consensus’, to point out and say what everyone else was afraid to say. That the Emperor was butt naked. Cindy and the CoL, and the fake experts they have handpicked to maintain the false narrative, are scientifically, intellectually, and morally butt naked, they just don’t realise it. We do.
  
  Objectivity in science is the pursuit of truth. Subjectivity is wanting to be right, so the narrative is more important than the truth.
  
  Objectivity is rooted in humility and the willingness to learn. Subjectivity is rooted in the ego, and the desire to control others.
  
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  August 25, 2020 9:00am
- UrbanNeocolonialist
  
  PV electricity is cheaper than natural gas produced electricity in the middle east now, just $0.016/kWh for an 800MW plant. That Economics is likely to drive a rapid shift to majority PV produced energy in sunny countries. Particularly as home owners are paying such a high price for grid connection supply. It’s not at all certain that PV will remain an energy mainstay in the face of that.
  
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  August 25, 2020 9:19am
  - Tall Man
    
    PV in sunny countries without natural gas, all others, not so much I would think.
    
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    August 25, 2020 9:43am
  - CJames
    
    And where are they going to get the power from when the sun goes down? Or it clouds over? That is the problem California has been having. Don’t say batteries as you haven’t built them into your cost.
    The grid connection fees are high because of all the PV freeloaders – they still want all the grid power at the heavy load times, like 6pm in July.
    
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    August 25, 2020 9:50am
- Sacha
  
  We have come to a sad state where it is increasingly difficult to sift the truth from the information that arrives from various sources.
  Even the medical fraternity, which seemed to have unshakeable integrity and spoke with one authoritative voice, is now mired down with dozens of apparent experts.
  No wonder everyone is getting pissed off.
  It’s all too confusing.
  
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  August 25, 2020 9:46am
- covfefe
  
  The govt is being advised for covid by left wing public health doctors. No diversity, no balance.
  
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  August 25, 2020 10:23am
  - IC5000
    
    So we need some doctors from the far right to balance it out? I look forward them to the govnt justifying its position by claiming that the weak should rightly die so that the strong will survive to create a master race of covid free super humans as dictated by the iron laws of history.
    
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    August 25, 2020 12:09pm
    - Classic Liberal
      
      You really don’t know anything about triage and health funding, do you? Difficult decisions balancing various health needs against economic realities are made all the time. Life years and quality of life are part of this equation daily. Every time a GP wants us to go for any hospital check up, the reason it can take months or years is because of such decisions.
      
      Covid has been the only exception to this process: suddenly an extra week barely alive due to comorbidities is worth millions of dollars of loss and the resulting reduced wellbeing of hundreds of thousands more people.
      
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      August 25, 2020 1:01pm
    - ex-golfer
      
      Idiot.
      You can’t provide a source for anyone from the right claiming “the weak should rightly die”.
      
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      August 25, 2020 2:19pm
      - Batman
        
        Plenty of comments here lean towards a “we’re spending millions to keep people alive for a couple more months/years and it’s a waste” approach to public health.
        
        So some are getting fairly close to it!
        
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        August 25, 2020 2:47pm
      - IC5000
        
        > You can’t provide a source for anyone from the right claiming “the weak should rightly die”.
        
        References are for the untermensch. The struggle is ontological not bibliographical.
        
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        August 25, 2020 3:24pm
wimpston peeeders

hmmm im very suspect of the change of wording with managed isolation cases and the coinciding of finaly testing front line staff.

Up until the blunder was found out the media would report the cases “at the border” and also detail age gender and country of origin.
Now I notice theyre refered to as “case picked up in managed isolation” . Sounds like spin are these cases staff or detainees?
Why the sudden change in the way they report them?
“Picked up in isolation” could mean multiple things.

Im very suspect, time for some journalist to pick this up and ask questions to make cindy or ash squirm
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August 25, 2020 8:00am
- Classic Liberal
  
  Today: Hosking confronts Jacinda but she just keeps patronising him and all of us.
  
  Hosking “Is it fair to suggest this is all on you” Taxinda “No, it’s all on covid”
  
  She is called out by him on many of her failures. But she still patronises by putting little laughing noises into her answers and constantly using his name as if a she were talking some naughty kindergarten kid instead of to the whole county.
  
  She can’t hear how patronising she sounds.
  
  Then on red radio: softer questions but her whining tone tells us she’d rather not be there. Sounds like ‘you’re meant to be my friend, so why are you asking me about this nasty bug?’
  
  She has just admitted to Corin that there could be many more lockdowns, because of the elimination strategy.
  
  With Corin she only uses the patronising tone and little laugh against the hardest questions. Usually she sounds whining and upset.
  
  Conclusion: our PM sounds like a kindergarten kid who easily gets upset with her buddies and tries to play teacher in front of her enemies.
  
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  August 25, 2020 8:07am
  - wimpston peeeders
    
    Yup when she was on am show you can tell how sincere she is with the smirky laugh thing she does when she answers any questions of criticism.
    
    imo it comes across as she thinks the whole things a joke and its funny when you destroy businesses and ruin livelyhoods. I hope many others see it the same as I do.
    
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    August 25, 2020 8:33am
    - Gravelroad
      
      Unfortunately, Ms Ardern’s demeanour illustrates supreme confidence that her election is in the bag.
      People used to go on about Muldoon being arrogant and entitled – but he was just a learner compared with Ms Ardern.
      
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      August 25, 2020 8:51am
      - Tall Man
        
        There’s arrogant and entitled, then there’s plain stupidity.
        
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        August 25, 2020 9:37am
    - Nickc2
      
      Socialist control can only be fully implemented once businesses are under Govt. control and the peasants are totally reliant on Govt. for their livelihoods. Lockdowns are Cindy’s way of achieving this. One could say this is being achieved with minimal resistance and assisted by a financially dependant media. Already, businesses are in debt to the Govt. and without Govt. wage subsidies and handouts, peasants would have no livelihoods whatsoever.
      Oh, don’t forget new taxes and regulated redistribution will take care of those with private means. Landlords have been the first to suffer Cindy’s regulated march to Socialism.
      
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      August 25, 2020 9:54am
      - Surely Knott
        
        Currently business is paying for most of this folly. If we were to share the cost and Ardern said we will be cutting employees annual leave back to 2 weeks this year because everyone must pay their share and many have already had time at home with their families and our country needs to get back to work. The feeling about lockdown would be quite different.
        
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        August 25, 2020 11:27am
      - Nickc2
        
        @ Surely Knott 11:27AM
        Just imagine if you were a unionised business and you told your employees there would be no more paid holidays for the next three years because all holidays for that period have been consumed during lockdowns.
        You can betcha whatever that Cindy would summon the Attorney General faster than a speeding bullet to draft and pass legislation to counter your intention.
        Oh shit, maybe we have drawn her trolls on this blog to a disaster waiting to happen.
        
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        August 25, 2020 12:49pm
    - Bob
      
      wimpston…you have missed the point of Cindies TV appearances.
      It is all about the face, the sincerity face that appears when she is trying to fool us all into believing that she is sincere; you know the one we have seen so often, the wise frown, big smile, tilted head, the jutting chin, the patronising ‘be kind phrase, team of 5 million’. This is the ‘face of sincerity’ that we must all come to love and admire; because that may well be the future unless the sheeple wake up to the steepness of the slippery slope into COMMUNISM.
      
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      August 25, 2020 12:11pm
  - Sir Cullen's Sidekick
    
    What is your point bro? 61% people are happy with her. Majority rules. Keep movin. Don’t complain.
    
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    August 25, 2020 8:48am
    - Tall Man
      
      I’m happy to ride in a limo, but I’ll never buy one.
      
      Don’t confuse acceptance for choice. When we all have a have choice on the 17th of October, the result may be very different.
      
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      August 25, 2020 9:39am
  - IC5000
    
    Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
    > Hosking confronts Jacinda but she just keeps patronising him
    
    That’s because he’s not a real journalist so that is the correct response.
    
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    August 25, 2020 8:50am
    - Lance
      
      Can you explain the bald faced lie she said about Shane Reti being informed on health matters by Labour and it’s minions?
      Judith confirmed it was a lie when Hosking interviewed her a bit later.
      Because a real journalist would follow up on that, but there are just ‘crickets’ from the woke halfwits that masquerade as journalists in NZ.
      
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      August 25, 2020 9:23am
    - Tall Man
      
      But that’s ok by me, ardern isn’t a real Prime Minister either.
      
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      August 25, 2020 9:39am
      - Nickc2
        
        Exactly, she was appointed by a bitter and twisted old fool. Speaking of bitter and twisted old fools, does anyone know when his date with the courts is due as a result of SFO investigations?
        
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        August 25, 2020 1:15pm
    - Paulus Gnome
      
      What the fuck has not ‘being a real journalist’ got to do with it?
      
      Concerned Citizen of Island Bay and Mr Angry of Johnsonville have as much right to ask questions of Adhern and her shambles of a government as does Hoskin, Dann, Morrah, any other taxpaying or not, subject of this autocracy.
      
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      August 25, 2020 10:06am
      - Swifty
        
        Well said.
        
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        August 25, 2020 10:24am
      - Classic Liberal
        
        Exactly, and the whole nation has the right to sensible answers to Hosking’s questions, not her patronising smirk and down talking.
        
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        August 25, 2020 11:31am
      - The Proper Ghandi
        
        Yes. Journalism is an activity, not an identity. A question is a question, regardless who is asking it.
        
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        August 25, 2020 12:03pm
    - Boxing junkie
      
      Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
      I often find it funny when the right complains about biased media. NZ has been littered with right wing shock jocks forever. I wonder if they’re in so much denial they actually believe Hosking represents ‘neutral’ journalism.
      
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      August 25, 2020 10:35am
      - graham
        
        “Right wing shock jocks”?
        
        I’m genuinely puzzled about this. I saw someone on Facebook refer to Mike Hosking as a “shock jock”, and I have to say … really?
        
        Mike Hosking is pretty mild. If you honestly think he is a shock jock, then I have to say your bar is set pretty bloody low.
        
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        August 25, 2020 10:50am
      - Classic Liberal
        
        Irrelevant. He asks questions the whole nation wants answered.
        
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        August 25, 2020 11:32am
      - Flossie
        
        Whoever said Hosking was neutral? I feel sure he wouldn’t say he is either.
        
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        August 25, 2020 11:40am
      - The Proper Ghandi
        
        I think the factor that you clearly fail to grasp is that the “biased media” refers to the general consensus among the large majority of media operatives taken as a whole. Pointing out that individuals of the likes of Hoskings or Damian Grant, for instance, are biased right wingers does nothing to dislodge the argument that the majority are biased left wingers. In fact, being able to point to only a handful of dissenters bolsters the argument supporting a systemic leftist bias.
        
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        August 25, 2020 12:07pm
  - UrbanNeocolonialist
    
    It’s politician 101 to laugh and try to project confidence when asked challenging questions, stay good-humored and relatable, never sullen and angry. Trick is to make it sound natural – which is where most aspiring politicians fail.
    
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    August 25, 2020 9:23am
  - SB2
    
    Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
    She appears to manage Mike Hosking’s the contrarian on covid with great aplomb.
    
    Earlier on Hosking’s s was a great fan of lockdown. Now apparently a fanboy of Swedish style Herd immunity
    
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    August 25, 2020 9:54am
    - amospicton
      
      H_o_s_k_i_n_g – just as its was K_e_y. Both singular. Why do their critics persist in getting it wrong?
      
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      August 25, 2020 10:32am
      - lifesgood
        
        Because they are thick. Anyone who adheres to the cult of Jacinda is.
        
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        August 25, 2020 11:04am
    - fernglas
      
      Well, SB2, we have all learned as the pandemic has progressed, and that includes Ardern and Hosking. People who don’t learn are fucked. (That’s actually a paraphrase of “those who cannot remember the past are condemned ……. etc.)
      
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      August 25, 2020 10:40am
      - SB2
        
        Like the quest for Herd immunity?
        
        1 10
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        August 25, 2020 12:38pm
- Jimmy White
  
  “I’m sorry Prime Minister to interrupt you but”
  Why don’t we get this with (Add National party politician)
  
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  August 25, 2020 8:41am
BarryB

I had an appointment at the Waikato DHB on Saturday morning. It was arranged by the DHB as a follow up to check on an aneurism that showed up in a CT scan for another problem 2 years ago. The DHB set the 2 year review and firstly advised me by letter. They then rang me on Thursday to make sure I was coming. They texted me on Friday about taking a support person.
I could think of nothing to complain about. The DHB made the appointment and then made three efforts to make sure I made it.
I would have had to tried hard to not made the appointment !!!

On the way back home in the car listening to RNZ there were comments about how bad the health system was for Maori and Pacifica. There were comments that the need to isolate positive Covid cases wasn’t compatible with Pacifica custom. There was a question at a news conference last week where one reporter asked if asking putting Maori and Pacifica into isolation wasn’t racist. Bloody stupid question in my opinion.

The happenings of the day had me wondering what the hell was wrong with Maori and Pacifica that they can claim they are disadvantaged by the health system. As far as I can see the DHB does an excellent job. Doctor visits for under 13 are free. Dentist visits for under 18 are free. For those on community cards or low income and visits above those ages are low cost and grants are made for dental care. If particular people are in real need of help – then where the hell is their whānau – or family. After all much is made of the greatness of the whanau and how special it is.
I also read that Maori are joining the Muslim faith in unprecedented numbers and a sort of half and half Mosque – Marae building is planned for Christchurch. Only a moron would welcome the full teachings of the Muslim religion.

Ive come to the conclusion that either the bulk of Maori and Pacifica have been brainwashed by social commentators into believing that the health system (and most anything the taxpayer provides) is not good for them, or that the bulk of Maori and Pacifica are mentally retarded and/or their culture is holding them back in some sort of prehistoric life style.

Whatever the reason Ive decided that evolution will take care of the problem.
Evolution means the survival of the fittest. If one is stupid enough to listen to social justice warriors or to not take care of your health – or if you are a bit mentally slow – then you are not ‘fit enough’ to survive. Your offspring will be the same and eventually either diabetes or stupidity will end your genetic line.

In the mean time the government is channelling millions – if not billions – into cultural or race based avenues and are showing every signal that they will increase this spending. Acceptance into places like Medical School are something like a 73% pass for Maori and Pacifica and 93% for others (pass rate for the medical intermediate exams).
Nothing good has ever emerged out of race or cultural based programmes.
In the US the current move by Afro-American (ie: Negroes) is to sue the school boards for bussing them to better schools – BECAUSE SUCH ACTION DENIED THEM OF THEIR CULTURAL HERITAGE. Ungrateful bastards.
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August 25, 2020 8:02am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  The inconvenient bit of evidence is that the 22 folks who have died of /with Covid-19 in NZ are predominantly (exclusively?) of European descent.
  
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  August 25, 2020 8:40am
  - Brian Marshall
    
    Maggy, of those 22 that died, only 17 actually tested positive for the [Covid-19]. 1 of the 5 wasn’t tested at all, and 1 of the 5 tested negative 4 times but was still included. Not trying to take anything away from what you are saying, just think we need to push back on the offical narratives.
    https://www.health.govt.nz/system/files/documents/information-release/h202005103.pdf
    
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    August 25, 2020 9:34am
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      Yes, I’m aware of that interesting document.
      
      However, I have been instructed to only believe official pronouncements, so of course I am complying.
      
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      August 25, 2020 2:00pm
- Brian McDonald
  
  Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
  So says the church mouse.
  
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  August 25, 2020 9:13am
  - Observer of Life
    
    It is you Garry!!!!
    
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    August 25, 2020 2:47pm
- Classic Liberal
  
  No, Barry, gender equality must surely be very important to all people of NZ and any islam is practiced is a very toned-down way with gender equality and gay rights of prime importance. Surely??
  
  Regarding evolution, ethnicity aside: if the state pays people to have children, they will…
  
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  August 25, 2020 9:22am
wimpston peeeders

so whats happening with the debates? Are they still happening as planned, I rekon theres room for several more with the added 4wks 🙂

being a “covid election” I rekon there should be a cindy vs crusher , hipkins vs reti covid debate. if that happens id advise on stocking up on popcorn.
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August 25, 2020 8:02am
- Tony Stuart
  
  Please, no! There are enough debates scheduled already, even if they have been moved back a few weeks to fit in the election cycle.
  
  Speaking of deadlines though, the Serious Fraud Office is still on track to announce the result of its investigation into the New Zealand First Foundation by September 😀
  
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  August 25, 2020 8:10am
  - wimpston peeeders
    
    I take it youre a cindy fan and dont want to see her get called out by crusher on live tv?
    
    19 11
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    August 25, 2020 8:20am
    - Tony Stuart
      
      I take it you’re joking? I’m a card-carrying member of the National Party, and I’m working hard to get National elected. But there are three debates between Ardern and Collins between now and the election, and that’s plenty.
      
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      August 25, 2020 8:27am
      - wimpston peeeders
        
        well if you dont want judith vs cindy then why not a few more minor party debates and let them consume each other?
        
        10 2
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        August 25, 2020 8:35am
      - Brian McDonald
        
        As a card carrying member Tony you’d appreciate which Parties wanted to delay the election. The calculated risk was that things with Covid deteriorate, but if they don’t?
        
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        August 25, 2020 9:16am
      - Tricati
        
        I agree Tony, and given we are now in a ‘Covid 19 Election’ I would like to see Hipkins vs Reti on health policy and strategy and Robertson vs Goldsmith on how to recover the economy.
        I suspect without prewritten scrips, Hipkins & Robo would be heavily found out.
        
        12 1
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        August 25, 2020 11:29am
    - IC5000
      
      Aunty Judith crushed only 3 cars as part of a PR stunt. She does t even deserve that nickname.
      
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      August 25, 2020 8:53am
      - Classic Liberal
        
        True, and kind of you to say so, since she has said she doesn’t much like it 🙂
        
        20 1
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        August 25, 2020 9:26am
      - Lance
        
        So you agree it was an effective strategy then.
        
        14 2
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        August 25, 2020 9:27am
      - UrbanNeocolonialist
        
        But RNZ have decided that “Crusher” Collins is an appropriate term of reference for her. I look forward to hearing their amusing nicknames for Coalition politicians.
        
        27 1
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        August 25, 2020 9:28am
      - Tall Man
        
        Does cindy deserve to be called a liar? Asking for a friend….
        
        29 3
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        August 25, 2020 9:33am
      - Loddenthinks
        
        Neither does she deserve the nickname “Aunty” she’s a serious politician and New Zealand’s next Prime Minister.
        
        24 2
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        August 25, 2020 9:53am
      - SB2
        
        But its OK to name call the PM ?
        
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        August 25, 2020 9:58am
      - Flossie
        
        SB2 Please let us all know what the media publicly nicknames the PM? Sure we call her all sorts on here but I’m talking about a reporter on the news or something.
        
        13 1
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        August 25, 2020 11:43am
      - CJames
        
        Because a few were crushed, the drivers knew the authorities were serious about what would happen so they stopped doing it. Very good deterrence. A lot more effective than “be kind”
        
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        August 25, 2020 4:32pm
    - bruceavon
      
      I am not sure the debates will be as important as they used to be, so we don’t need more. The first one might be watched by a lot of people but interest will fade. I don’t know anyone who has live TV anymore. I haven’t watched it for years. It will be considerably worse for people under 40. So the more you add the less people will watch the ones that matter. They should have 3 or 4.
      
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      August 25, 2020 9:25am
  - pdm
    
    Inv – any debate with John Campbell moderating will be one too many.
    
    29 2
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    August 25, 2020 9:21am
- amospicton
  
  Asked about the dodgy Labour ad at the press conference yesterday Ardern replied that it was not a political ad it was promoting the government’s fight against covid. Obvious missing follow-up question – who paid for it? It’s just another outright lie.
  
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  August 25, 2020 8:19am
  - Loddenthinks
    
    Isn’t this the “Covid election”? Of course it’s a campaign ad, the lying, dissembling charlatan. She’s clearly picked up some tricks from Winston.
    
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    August 25, 2020 9:55am
- Centrist
  
  I want a Gerry Brownlie vs Kelvin Davis debate. We should be able to compare deputies.
  
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  August 25, 2020 8:39am
  - Loddenthinks
    
    Entirely reasonable proposition, lots of popcorn required!
    
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    August 25, 2020 9:08am
  - Clyde
    
    Davis wouldn’t be able to find his way to the studio.
    
    26 1
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    August 25, 2020 9:22am
    - Paulus Gnome
      
      The debate will have to be in Kelvins cupboard under the stairs with Go-pros strapped to their heads due to the space restriction.
      
      I will be working the refresh option constantly with Kelvin because the ah ah ah ah ah noises coming from him will make me think that it is buffering when in fact it is Kelvins bestest response.!
      
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      August 25, 2020 10:15am
  - Nigel Kearney
    
    About as much chance of that as me getting in a ring with Mike Tyson, and for largely the same reasons.
    
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    August 25, 2020 9:51am
- Sir Cullen's Sidekick
  
  No way Crusher can take on Cindy in a debate. Cindy will crush Collins with kindness.
  
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  August 25, 2020 8:58am
Sigmund Freud

I hate waking up and wondering how many tens of thousands of bodies will be piling up on the streets of Takapuna today due to coronavirus-19.

Unless St Cindy of the Pestilence can save us…

Best vote Labour.

/sarc
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August 25, 2020 8:02am
- Sir Cullen's Sidekick
  
  Don’t ever forget Cindy single handedly 80,000 lives.
  
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  August 25, 2020 8:59am
  - pdm
    
    The only life `Cindy’ is interested in is her political life and the big bucks that go with it.
    
    29 2
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    August 25, 2020 9:24am
    - SB2
      
      pdm, unlike Aunty Judith?
      
      3 29
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      August 25, 2020 9:59am
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        Judith Collins isn’t in politics for a lousy Minister’s salary.
        
        She is worth a few bob, and probably could be making hoots more $$$$ running a legal practice.
        
        11 1
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        August 25, 2020 2:52pm
      - Nickc2
        
        Geez Stephie, you spout some shit.
        
        6 1
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        August 25, 2020 3:26pm
    - Classic Liberal
      
      I think her IUSY presidency shows it’s much worse than that: total narcissism. She believes she can ‘save the world’ with hard core socialism.
      
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      August 25, 2020 10:19am
  - Tall Man
    
    Before lunch.
    
    15 2
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    August 25, 2020 9:31am
Maggie Pie

I know i’ve banged on about this before, but like my gran used to say, “Beware of associating with anybody who relies on Public Transport. Avoid them like the plague”

Quite prophetic.
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August 25, 2020 8:07am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Or you could start associating with the great unwashed and build up your immunity levels.
  
  44 2
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  August 25, 2020 8:20am
  - Maggie Pie
    
    That’s where my partner comes in 😛
    
    35 4
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    August 25, 2020 8:36am
  - the deity formerly known as nigel6888
    
    Yup a couple of trips crushed up in a Loser Cruiser, and you will probably have herd immunity to a whole range of nasty bugs.
    
    24 3
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    August 25, 2020 8:59am
    - Rich Prick
      
      Doesn’t work. I’m still not immunised against the smell of urine.
      
      20 2
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      August 25, 2020 10:01am
      - IC5000
        
        > Doesn’t work. I’m still not immunised against the smell of urine.
        
        Why are you complaining? It’s something that some pay good money to be exposed to. Trump was obviously a fan with his predilection for Russian golden showers.
        
        2 8
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        August 25, 2020 3:12pm
    - sooty
      
      Or caught everyone of them!
      
      9 2
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      August 25, 2020 10:09am
    - Paulus Gnome
      
      Public transport?
      
      To paraphrase someone; ‘I have not got to the top of the evolutionary tree just to eat brocolli’
      
      16 3
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      August 25, 2020 10:18am
- Okahu
  
  Hey Maggie, does that include planes? Ferries? Good on you then. Admirable green sentiment. Otherwise somewhat self defeating I would of thought. Or were you just having a little dig at those less fortunate than your anticipated audience? Wonder how many of the local ‘christians’ upticked that bigotry?
  
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  August 25, 2020 11:16am
  - Classic Liberal
    
    Most people here have a bit of an online character. Maggie Pie’s is slightly off-colour comedienne. I’d say people were upticking being able to have a laugh rather than agreeing with ‘bigotry’.
    
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    August 25, 2020 1:51pm
  - Maggie Pie
    
    Hey Okahu!
    Of course it doesn’t include planes, silly 😀
    Name one person you know that stands at a Bus stop, then spends 8k with Emirates on a return trip to Syders?
    And why would anyone catch a Ferry when you’re partners got a Beneteau at Westhaven?
    
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    August 25, 2020 1:56pm
Simon

“If National was in Government I’m sure there would be some on the right who would denounce him as a commie agitator just as some on the left today are calling him worse than Mike Hosking.”

Lol – those on the right understand that Labour & National are almost the same party. There is an inch of difference between the parties. They fight like cats and dogs over that inch but is all bullshit theater.

Replace “right” with National Party tribe.
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August 25, 2020 8:08am
- Isobar
  
  That’s very true, in fact under Collins they have got closer to Labour in many ways. For example they have moved away from calling for private isolation facilities and letting in international students, to calling for another bureaucracy to run the existing facilities already set up.
  
  Hardly the stuff of dreams for those on the right.
  
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  August 25, 2020 8:50am
  - The Proper Ghandi
    
    We have to get real and understand that National offer no real alternative. This is why they are going to lose. Labour are hopeless, but what other conclusion can be reached? The only real chance National have is if they do a 180 on adopting what is essentially Labour’s approach to covid. But I think there is an international pressure factor in “handling” covid, and they will be vilified if they adopt a Swedish approach. They don’t have the gumption to go against the grain. So we are screwed. Get ready for another 3 years of Jacinda.
    
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    August 25, 2020 11:45am
    - Classic Liberal
      
      Yes. Unfortunately our only hope to get rid of the Jacinda is that people are now so bloody scared that they think National will be better at helping us hide under the bed!
      
      But let’s not fall into the trap of making this election all about Covid. In other policies National still makes more sense.
      
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      August 25, 2020 1:57pm
- Bobba Fret
  
  There is a lot more skill and talent in the National party.
  
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  August 25, 2020 8:56am
  - Isobar
    
    Well that is true, but they are losing a good amount of it at the election. Which really sucks TBH.
    
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    August 25, 2020 10:56am
  - septic skeptic
    
    I hope so. They have certainly lost a lot over the last few years.
    Key
    English
    Joyce
    Williamson
    Bennett
    Ryall
    Coleman
    
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    August 25, 2020 12:47pm
- The Proper Ghandi
  
  Simon
  Unfortunately you are correct. There is now a solid cross-party consenus on the majority of issues, and it is really the liberal consensus. National are without principle and they can’t stand up for their voters as they don’t want to jeopardise their comfy positions and salaries by stepping out of line. Most of them are spineless. The difference between Labour and National is negligible, as we see with the bickering over mere details re: covid-19. What difference would National make if in power? David Seymour is the only hope really.
  
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  August 25, 2020 11:39am
Simon

Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Should NZ become a vassal state of China?

Economy security from China and NZ provides political support internationally for China.

NZ could choose our government & local laws etc. Pretty much business as usual domestically. China pay NZ 20% above market value for NZ goods and services or just say an annual $50 billion grant.

In return internationally where China goes NZ follows.
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August 25, 2020 8:14am
- backster
  
  Like Hong Kong you mean.
  
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  August 25, 2020 8:48am
  - Simon
    
    “Like Hong Kong you mean.”
    
    Economic security for the masses is one promise of the Socialist.
    
    Trade with China = economic security for NZ is one promise that the neolib globalists promote.
    
    Neolib NZ is almost at the end game economically. They are now talking negative interest rates things are so fucked.
    
    The neolib solution will be to become a puppet of China for economic reasons. NZ is 25% on the way there. Might as well do it properly.
    
    5 22
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    August 25, 2020 9:12am
- Tall Man
  
  Make sure you don’t sneeze while you have your tongue in your cheek.
  
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  August 25, 2020 8:51am
  - Simon
    
    Well TM you would know i dont want NZ to be a vassal of China.
    
    But my opinion of course counts for utter shit.
    
    What is good for NZ?
    
    Our lot aint up to it economically. For the good of the country NZ should probably become a Chinese vassal state.
    
    3 18
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    August 25, 2020 9:06am
    - Paulus Gnome
      
      Nurse! Over here!
      
      8 1
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      August 25, 2020 10:21am
- WaynelSexton
  
  It’s inevitable that we will become a vassal of China, because no one wants to bring back the yellow peril laws.
  The British posterity living today would rather the Chinese rule over their great grandchildren than be called racist.
  
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  August 25, 2020 9:05am
wimpston peeeders

well cindy had a blast at 3pm yesterday and took delight in informing the peasants that they could make their own masks at home…

if we can make masks that protect us against microscopic viruses then why the hell dosent she instruct breeding dole bludgers to make diy condoms?

makes sense dosent it? you see those pics of folk with undie masks and allsorts and that protects against corona thats probably same size or smaller then sperm, can we just short cut the diy stage and just grab a sock? Asking for a friend
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August 25, 2020 8:19am
- Brian McDonald
  
  Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
  Have you got a fixation with sperm?
  
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  August 25, 2020 8:26am
  - wimpston peeeders
    
    nah got the snip so they dont worry me now.
    
    9 1
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    August 25, 2020 10:13am
- Maggie Pie
  
  To everyone who types in all lower case.
  We are the difference between helping your Uncle Jack off a horse or helping your uncle jack off a horse.
  
  Just saying wimpy 😀
  
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  August 25, 2020 8:35am
  - Biscuit
    
    But which is the worst, Maggie?:
    
    (1) people who type only in lower case
    
    (2) PEOPLE WHO TYPE ONLY IN UPPER CASE
    
    (3) PeOpLe WhO aLtErNaTe ThEiR tYpInG bEtWeEn lOwEr AnD uPpEr CaSe
    
    32 1
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    August 25, 2020 8:45am
    - Lee C
      
      I think on balance people who jack off horses are probably the worst.
      
      35 0
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      August 25, 2020 9:25am
      - Biscuit
        
        Could be right, Lee C.
        
        My credo has always been that anything is ‘on’ provided it’s a) consensual, b) of legal age and – most importantly (c) doesn’t frighten any horses.
        
        11 2
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        August 25, 2020 9:28am
      - Tall Man
        
        Neigh ………
        
        15 1
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        August 25, 2020 9:29am
      - Brian Marshall
        
        That’s a legit job in the horse breeding industry Lee. God knows how they explain that one when people ask them about what they do for a job.
        
        13 1
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        August 25, 2020 9:47am
      - Loddenthinks
        
        So the entire horse breeding industry then.
        
        12 1
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        August 25, 2020 10:01am
      - david
        
        But then who’s uncle Jack would “off” a horse. Only humane methods approved here.
        
        9 1
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        August 25, 2020 10:27am
    - Jade Warrior
      
      … does anybody here remember philu …?
      
      … and his own memorable command of english grammar …?
      
      … what he actually had to say was bad enough but reading it when it was written like this could really do your head in …
      
      … eh …?
      
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      August 25, 2020 10:02am
      - Tony Stuart
        
        Ah yes, Phil Ure, former junkie and chemist robber, who refused to work because he had a teenaged son, and who had a serious cannabis habit; how could we ever forget him?
        
        12 1
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        August 25, 2020 11:59am
  - rangitoto
    
    Please don’t use full stops – they are threatening to us youngsters
    
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8657089/Full-stop-intimidating-young-people-interpret-sign-anger-linguists-say.html
    
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    August 25, 2020 8:46am
    - Inandout
      
      rangi, so is clapping threatening to youngsters, and reading about the mosque shootings. A dose of realism is badly needed in our society.
      
      20 1
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      August 25, 2020 9:24am
    - Loddenthinks
      
      That’s hilarious. In all sincerity they also say:
      
      “Some experts say context is key and that full stops are still important in emails”
      
      They could just call it the grammatically correct name “period” but that would cause mass panic and fainting in 13-year-old girls.
      
      24 1
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      August 25, 2020 10:05am
      - oldfella
        
        You should be saying – ‘PEOPLE who have periods’. Better to be woke than burned at the stake like J.K. Rowling.
        
        8 1
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        August 25, 2020 11:23am
    - Pharmachick
      
      I once got asked in all seriousness by a colleague not to mark in red or green pen because it could be perceived by students as aggressive feedback. I immediately replied that since students write in blue and black, without using red or green feedback likely wouldn’t be perceived at all…
      
      (a) true story (b) I still mark in red. (c) somebody’s got to hold the line somewhere.
      
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      August 25, 2020 11:48am
  - Tall Man
    
    Very erudite Maggie.
    
    19 3
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    August 25, 2020 8:48am
  - wimpston peeeders
    
    Mags, I have fat clumsy thumbs and a stupid lil smartphone screen so not a good combo, I try to minimise the tapping as upper case requires more thumb movements and generally means bumping more wrong buttons and having to delete.
    frustrating times I tell ya, laptop died desktop died and cindys covid response left me jobless so for the time being im stuck with a smartphone to type with.
    
    11 4
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    August 25, 2020 10:19am
- EuropeanCanon
  
  Exactly right. The only point of the mask is to humiliate and demoralize people. This is psychological warfare.
  
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  August 25, 2020 9:42am
  - IC5000
    
    > The only point of the mask is to humiliate and demoralize people.
    
    No, it can serve as a barrier to the lungs to prevent infection. I think you maybe getting confused with your gimp mask.
    
    2 8
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    August 25, 2020 3:33pm
    - Don Beckett
      
      “No, it can serve as a barrier to the lungs to prevent infection.”
      Couldn’t be more incorrect.
      The purpose of masks is to prevent your breath possibly infecting others – that’s why surgeons wear them.
      But ordinary masks are only good for 20 mins use. The N95 masks that are used by surgeons are considerably better, but are used only to prevent bacterial infections from the surgeon to the patient. I was advised this by a senior theatre nurse.
      But a virus is many times smaller than a bacteria, and there are plenty of articles & Youtube videos showing that masks cannot prevent viruses, and only stop a small percentage of aerosol exhalation. And even those small particles that do get stopped by the mask are then breathed back in, and if it contains SARS Cov-2 virus, you are increasing the infection load upon your self.
      Masks are a “feel good” thing only, now being politicised.
      
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      August 25, 2020 4:55pm
Brian McDonald

Judith disappointed the “herders” by advocating mainstream. Now Act agrees with the wearing of masks, Judith having alreadymade clear her support for wearing them. Who to vote for now.
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August 25, 2020 8:25am
- Tall Man
  
  As I said, whoosh …………
  
  27 3
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  August 25, 2020 8:47am
- Sir Cullen's Sidekick
  
  Vote Greens.
  
  7 7
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  August 25, 2020 9:01am
- Interested Party
  
  I suspect polling indicates most of the sheeple are in fear so it’s a political decision not to deviate too much from the status quo
  
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  August 25, 2020 12:56pm
oldpark

Read the ambiguous double meaning headline that appeared in the worth one Dollar Stuff news outlet .
It read Judith Collins says We have to “Trust” Ardern with the latest Lockdown extension decision . Seems Commie Ardern forgot her 16 Million Taxpayer funded phrase . “Be Kind “.
Real Truth is the Control Freak Ardern and her arrogant bunch of sycophant followers had refused to share the reasons and state of the play for the latest we know best how to handle the Nation of Five Million. Partisan Politics at play here big time .
Check out Mike Hoskins interview with Judith Collins today around 7.30am . Just after the Control Freak Arderns’ Obfuscation every time we have the misfortune to hear her and know that half the lies she blurts out are not true.WTF.
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August 25, 2020 8:25am
- Tony Stuart
  
  Some people on Twitter last night were berating Collins for the “We have to trust” comment. I don’t think they know the meaning of the word “facetious” 😀
  
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  August 25, 2020 8:39am
  - Tall Man
    
    Many here have the same issue, humour goes whoosh …….
    
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    August 25, 2020 8:46am
  - SGA
    
    I don’t think they know the meaning of the word “facetious”
    
    Maybe they couldn’t see whether she’d raised her eyebrows or not? 🙂
    
    17 3
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    August 25, 2020 9:00am
    - Paulus Gnome
      
      Jessica Much Hyphen?
      
      Move head to into camera, open eyes wide wide wider, emphasis of word, raise eyebrows . . .
      
      Nauseating
      
      21 2
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      August 25, 2020 10:27am
      - SGA
        
        Jessica Much Hyphen?
        
        Sorry, I’ve no idea what you mean? If it’s some sort of “in” joke, then I’m not “in”.
        
        3 6
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        August 25, 2020 10:48am
      - Nickc2
        
        Jessica-Mutch-Mckay. A red headed talking head on TV1. Her partner is Cindy’s body guard. Lots of pillow talk I believe.
        
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        August 25, 2020 12:18pm
- Loddenthinks
  
  Pretty sure all her lies are not true, actually, but I take your point. Chalk and cheese between Ardern’s and Collins’ approach to interviews and interviewers. I know which one I prefer.
  
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  August 25, 2020 10:16am
wimpston peeeders

Anyone else notice the odd looking cindy photo on stuff yesterday when she made her 3pm waffle?
It took me a few seconds to figure out what was off in the photo… cindys head was vertical but everything else in the photo was on a good angle! I find it halarious that they now rotate the photos to get rid of the extreme head tilt… Wonder how long thatll go on for now fafoi announced no more handouts?
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August 25, 2020 8:27am
Maggie Pie

First i make some silly little joke about Elves…. and Robbo blocks me on Twitter. Now it looks like I’ve upset Greta as well 🙁

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EgMx8R0XoAcoqbu?format=jpg&name=900×900
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August 25, 2020 8:28am
- sooty
  
  Please, can you do it more often!
  
  14 2
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  August 25, 2020 10:14am
I remember when

Whoops didn’t see that coming, but obviously the Government did.
So if you isolate individual areas/regions it creates a future problem.
If Auckland is Level 3, and the rest of the country is Level 1, how do you return to equality. You can’t go to Level 2 in Auckland, without there being a need to emphasise there are still different levels.
I know, if we bring everyone else up to Level 2, when Auckland improves, there is no need for borders.
Suddenly, it all becomes very clear!
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August 25, 2020 8:34am
- thetiedarch
  
  And as it was pointed out to me last night, why the hell is the entire South Island at L2??
  
  Have there been any cases in the south island in the last few months? Even in managed isolation? Is there even an isolation facility in the South Island?
  
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  August 25, 2020 10:08am
  - Loddenthinks
    
    Not any more, thanks to the actions of Andrew Falloon (though he did later stuff up big-time thanks to that poisonous witch Boag).
    
    I’m now in the process of cancelling flights and Airbnb bookings to Christchurch for the second time, for my son’s uni graduation originally scheduled for April, and now rescheduled for next week, and cancelled again due to Level 2 gathering restrictions. Cheers Jacinda, we trust you and we’re all behind you (/sarc)
    
    #BeKind #Teamof5Million #SavingLives
    
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    August 25, 2020 10:24am
  - Paulus Gnome
    
    ‘Is there even an isolation facility in the South Island?’
    
    Nod to Hamish Walker, kept the south island isolation centre free.
    
    12 2
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    August 25, 2020 10:31am
    - wimpston peeeders
      
      Yup in chch, and no doubt was another special one there for the mosque trial folk.
      
      4 2
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      August 25, 2020 1:14pm
Simon

Rest of NZ on level 2 bullshit alert. No reason the Auckland border is closed.

Got to keep the Wuhan Virus fear porn going.
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August 25, 2020 8:39am
- kowtow
  
  Thus masks for the rest of the country where there’s no Wuflu .
  
  Lambs to the slaughter.
  
  27 3
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  August 25, 2020 9:00am
- oldfella
  
  But everyone must be at Level 2 for the election. Cindy says at Level 2 it could go ahead, even if the current fear mongering might dampen turnout by older, more vulnerable, voters. But don’t worry, citizens – in Cindy we trust.
  
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  August 25, 2020 11:29am
lifesgood

What a train wreck of an interview Jacinda had this morning with Hosking. ” Mike, Mike, Mike” lie, lie, lie. “I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know” She sounded desperate and drowning. She hasn’t got a bloody clue. How could anyone think she was doing a good job? It defies common sense.
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August 25, 2020 8:45am
- Tall Man
  
  Too early in the morning for most ardernists, still wrapped up in the smelly blanket on the couch.
  
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  August 25, 2020 9:25am
Justitia

“He did this mostly through executive orders, and when Trump takes personal control, things seem to get done. China is now widely recognised as the number one global threat; the United Arab Emirates has made a peace deal with Israel. Trump wants out of the Middle East and, fingers crossed, he’ll get there by establishing an anti-Iran coalition that can keep order while America withdraws. His greatest achievement, in my eyes, is that there has been no war. Trump, we were told, was a reckless lunatic. He turned out to be more peaceful than Barack Obama.

Until the coronavirus, he had a better economic record, too. Obama’s recovery was ups-and-downs, Trump’s was near seamless, capping a record run on Wall Street, a steady rise in household income and the lowest unemployment rate since 1969. This was no accident. Trump has slashed regulations and cut taxes, bribing companies to repatriate investment and jobs – and it’s significant that, before Covid hit, Trump achieved the lowest unemployment rate for African-Americans in history.

The President regards himself as progressive on race. He really does. In 2018, he signed a bi-partisan bill called the First Step Act that tried to reverse the trend of minorities going to jail for small infractions and for absurdly long sentences. Under Trump, thousands of Americans have had their sentences commuted. Billions have been spent on drug addiction. It is now illegal to restrain a pregnant woman in a federal jail.

If you don’t believe Trump has a compassionate side, google “Trump honours Miosotis Familia”, a black police woman who was shot dead while sitting in her vehicle. As the President delivers her eulogy, Familia’s 90-year-old mother can’t let go of him. “You look no older than 55,” he tells her. “You got up those stairs better than I did.”

Cops are his people and Trump is their guy. They’ve got no one else. In 2016, Trump was the candidate of the unfashionable Americans, particularly the working-class, and the growing social gulf between the two parties is stark. The Democrat convention was hosted by actors, rock stars and comedians. Who has Trump got? A couple famous for defending their property with guns; the widow of a cop murdered during the riots; a school boy who was slandered by the media; and a black grandmother who was given life for drug trafficking, and who Trump set free.

The breadth of this coalition is extraordinary, yet the more the media laughs at Trump, the more coherent it feels. Many Americans, even if they didn’t like Trump to begin with, have come to see his fight against the establishment as symbolic of their own alienation. If he loses, they lose – even if, by some metrics, he’s letting them down.”

Fair comment on Donald Trump from Tim Stanley in today’s Telegraph.
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August 25, 2020 8:49am
- gravedodger
  
  Donal Trump the first POTUS since Hoover in 1932 to have totally avoided beginning a war while he has made some important moves to reduce the US involvements in troubles begun by others.
  Try suggesting that to New zealanders who have an anti Trump belief based on the NZ Media almost total use of the Clinton News Network daily third rate output.
  This morning Hosking pointed out that problem with his reference to CNN’s Biden post convention poll bump that amounted to a zero lift, in a headline “Biden enjoys a post convention poll boost”
  
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  August 25, 2020 9:22am
  - SB2
    
    gravedodger, not quite e.g Nazi Germany decared war on America and the Japs bombed Pearl Harbour leaving FDR litlle choice.
    
    Entirely different circumstances prevail today which Trump can’t take all the credit
    
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    August 25, 2020 12:54pm
    - Batman
      
      FDR knew they would have to eventually. He spent years working on Congress and getting prepared for full war production.
      
      As I recall, the Japs did pearl and then Hitler needlessly declared war on the US. A classic dumbarse move from the failed artist.
      
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      August 25, 2020 2:36pm
- Critical Thinker
  
  That is indeed a very good rundown of why so many people from incredibly diverse backgrounds now support Trump against his deeply corrupted opponents.
  
  Here is 10 of the core “Fighting for You!” priorities he has announced for his second term that will most certainly get him reelected in a landslide ?
  
  1. Hold China Fully Accountable for Allowing the Virus to Spread around the World.
  
  2. End Our Reliance On China.
  
  3. Cut Prescription Drug Prices.
  
  4. Create 10 Million New Jobs in 10 Months.
  
  5. Pass Congressional Term Limits.
  
  6. Drain the Globalist Swamp by Taking on
  International Organizations That Hurt American Citizens.
  
  7. Fully Fund and Hire More Police and Law Enforcement Officers.
  
  8. Dismantle Human Trafficking Networks.
  
  9. Stop Endless Wars and Bring Our Troops Home.
  
  10. Wipe Out Global Terrorists Who Threaten to Harm Americans.
  
  https://www.donaldjtrump.com/media/trump-campaign-announces-president-trumps-2nd-term-agenda-fighting-for-you
  
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  August 25, 2020 9:46am
Frank the tank

So I had my covid19 test yesterday after being forced by all of the family due to a cough. Test 12.20pm yesterday – result (negative) 7.20am. That’s pretty fast I have to say.

Interesting case in HK about the 2 different strains of covid19. Who would have thought that an influenza virus would act like an influenza virus and have different strains. This is big and suggests an elimination strategy is like pushing water uphill with a rusty rake. It also has big implications for covid19 vaccines and international travel.

Get used to being the Cuba of the South Pacific folks.
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August 25, 2020 8:50am
- JackRabbit
  
  At a core principle level, viruses, and for that matter bacteriophages, act 95% like self organising nanobot technology and only 5% like a naturally occurring organism or entity. They are a life force in their own right.
  
  From a principle point of view, flu or Covid-19 vaccines can no more prevent a virus than a vaccine could prevent animals or human getting parasites or worms. Which is why cluster deaths in old age homes kill those who have had flu shots as readily as those who haven’t, and that pattern is well established.
  
  Like worms and parasites, only regular dosing can keep them under control. Regular cleansing of parasites tends to reduce flu infections, and often reduces or negates common allergies.
  
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  August 25, 2020 9:21am
  - Ed Snack
    
    Wrong, vaccines can be very effective against viruses, but it does depend on the virus, some are very good at evading immune defences; like the Influenza and Rhinovirus families.
    
    BCV’s are NOT hyper variable viruses and new “versions” emerge relatively slowly. There is a significant change in the primary virus RNA in the most current prevalent version compared to the original, so G614 has largely replaced D614. This G variant seems to be more infectious, but less deadly, and could be one reason that cases are still increasing but Hospitalization and deaths are decreasing.
    
    The change is a single point mutation, and is typically accompanied by three other individual changes, one of which is in a non-coding position so probably structurally related.
    
    See Cell magazine: Tracking Changes in SARS-CoV-2 Spike: Evidence that D614G Increases Infectivity of the COVID-19 Virus
    
    This may have impacts for vaccine production as the change is in the spike protein that is the almost universal target for vaccines, but that remains to be seen. The new variant will be the main one met during vaccine trials for efficacy so that will be tested.
    
    I do think that a vaccine will be developed, and that ultimately the vaccine will be good for a number of years protection (not be like the Flu vaccine with annual changes); but I also think that a suitable vaccine will not be available in NZ anyway until sometime in 2021, with some chance that it might come by year end if trials go exceptionally well.
    
    Just FWIW.
    
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    August 25, 2020 10:16am
greenfinger

The whole country should be on the street protesting like our lives And livelihoods matter! Auckland and the rest of the country should be on level 1 today! She says she has this? So why are we still on level 3 and level 2 then? Elimination, team of five million, we have got this, be kind, these childish political spin for 2-year olds at home might work. The rest of the world will have herd immunity and NZ is covid-free. What then? Keep our border closed…forever? Smiles don’t pay my bills.
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August 25, 2020 8:52am
- fernglas
  
  Organise the protest, gf. I’ll come along.
  
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  August 25, 2020 10:46am
- Scooter
  
  I wish people would grow a backbone and protest the lockdown, that would surely put NZ on the world stage.
  
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  August 25, 2020 6:46pm
Maggie Pie

Tumai has been following me on Twitter for a year or so now. She looks quite nice. Although probably not someone I’d invite to join us at a girls lunch 😀

https://twitter.com/TumaiTawhiti/status/1297855065504415745
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August 25, 2020 8:55am
- Tall Man
  
  This is the bit I like
  
  https://twitter.com/TheOrwellianNZ/status/1297762804603056128/photo/1
  
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  August 25, 2020 9:22am
  - Maggie Pie
    
    LOL!!!
    
    12 4
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    August 25, 2020 9:40am
- Spring Bank Westie
  
  Interesting reply to this tweet regarding the virus being borne by water particles.
  On this basis should Cindy be banning vaping?
  I’ve often wondered how much Covid could be carried in the enormous bubblegum smelling clouds these vape posers walk around in on Lambton Quay when I’m out at lunchtime.
  
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  August 25, 2020 11:16am
- Garbageman
  
  so no one is going to mention the billboard with the dead possum cable tied around Ardern’s face ?
  
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  August 25, 2020 1:08pm
KevO'Brien

Welcome to the new IRD, hopeless bullies (COL mode?)

Clients are wrongly getting continuing threatening letters about PAYE that IRD has failed to properly account for, and labelled headed as threats!

What is going on? Payments are made regularly on the 5th and 20th as required. They show up in totals on the IRD site, so they are acknowledged. The threatening letters give no detail to reconcile and also state more will be due next month.

It appears like there is an independent section dealing with reconciliations and it’s way behind and threatens.
The latest episode has increased the threat level and it says to ignore the letter if it has been paid in the last two weeks.

This is causing severe distress to my clients.
Has Twyford taken over systems development and testing?
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August 25, 2020 8:55am
- Tauhei Notts
  
  Big employers pay on the 5th and the 20th.
  Small employers pay on the 20th.
  My mate, who has one employee and that is part timer, was told that his employee schedule for the 31st July pay period was due by 17th July, and as it was filed late!!! no penalty will be charged in this instance.
  An income tax system requires the taxpayers to have a degree of respect for the system. The above anecdote, and if you have a spare four hours I will tell you more, does nothing to instill that modicum of respect.
  
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  August 25, 2020 9:30am
  - KevO'Brien
    
    I once was an IRD staffer–we would never have tolerated that degree of public confrontation. One Commissioner was removed because when IRD annoys the public the Govt gets it too.
    
    My client has been told to pay 5th and 20th and is following instructions.
    
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    August 25, 2020 10:45am
- Paulus
  
  IRD has a new lady Chief Executive so should be able to screw dosh from anybody !
  
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  August 25, 2020 1:30pm
Gravelroad

Friend is looking for a new outfit to wear to an upcoming wedding.
Went into to shops in our smallish town to buy.
One shop is shutting down.
Another two have only limited stock.
All said reason was that they can’t get stock from China.
Correct?
Is China not still producing bulk clothing in huge factories and exporting it to the masses?
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August 25, 2020 9:04am
- Tall Man
  
  Just like we were “late and soft” we are at the back of the queue for deliveries.
  
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  August 25, 2020 9:47am
chukar

What is happening to real inflation?
According to my grocery bill there is substantial increase this year.
How do you all feel?
Appreciate this is not scientific but the story is it is not happening.

Perhaps stagflation?
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August 25, 2020 9:05am
- DeepBlue
  
  I’m looking at downgrading from Tasty cheese to Colby… or will probably go without.
  
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  August 25, 2020 11:16am
- Nickc2
  
  Couldn’t agree more. Buy hey, who really cares because whenever people put their hand up, they get showered with Labour Party Confetti (taxpayer’s money).
  Of note, the MSM are not currently reporting inflation. Why would that be? Have they been directed not to or have they worked it out for themselves that if they do, no more taxpayer funded bribes for the MSM.
  
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  August 25, 2020 12:35pm
fernglas

There is a car-sized asteroid hurtling towards Earth, but we needn’t panic because there is less than a 1% chance of it hitting us. But wait; that’s about the same chance as dying of Covid-19. Shut the country immediately!!!
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August 25, 2020 9:08am
- wimpston peeeders
  
  the big one is scheduled for 2029 with a 2-3% chance of impact.
  I guess politicians are saving that one for after theyve milked covid for all its worth.
  
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  August 25, 2020 10:23am
- Surely Knott
  
  Germany is doing a study with 1500 volunteers between 18-50 attending a large concert with a third not wear masks or social distancing to see how it spreads. Are Germany extremely reckless endangering the lives of these people in the name of science. Can you imagine an experiment willing exposing a large group of people to hepatitis, HIV, SARS1, cancer causing agents or the black death. Or is it just that their next to no chance that people between 18-50 will have any serious side effects.
  
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  August 25, 2020 10:45am
  - Ed Snack
    
    The fatality rate for those under 50 or so with COVID is very very low. Some people in that age group have died, but bugger all in terms of the numbers who have caught the virus.
    
    Much less lethal than the Flu for those people. But for elderly with co-morbidities, it has a rather high fatality rate, up to 80% in some groups.
    
    And as noted above, the current dominant strain does appear to cause a less serious illness, albeit at the cost of increased spreadibility. That, BTW, is actually the common trend in viruses, because they spread best if the patient is not too ill to move around, viruses tend to evolve towards lower lethality and higher spreadibility.
    
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    August 25, 2020 6:51pm
- Spring Bank Westie
  
  Could be worse, there’s a 5% chance the Greens will get back in.
  
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  August 25, 2020 11:19am
WaynelSexton

NBC/WSJ poll

Whites with college degrees
58 – Biden
35 – Trump

Whites without college degrees
27 – Biden
59 – Trump

This closely approximates my projected vote shares, which forecasts Trump winning by an electoral college landslide. Trump will win the biggest margin amongst white working class since Harry Truman in 1948. (Not coincidentally, the worst ever polling in any campaign was 1948).

https://mobile.twitter.com/Barnes_Law/status/1297619580420943872
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August 25, 2020 9:13am
- SB2
  
  “Whites without college degrees” ??
  
  Now what percentage of the electorate would they represent?
  
  Truman 1948 ? comparing a nugget of gold with a lump of coal. The GOP ran a very negative campaign with policies that would hurt blue-collar workers and the poor
  
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  August 25, 2020 10:31am
  - Dougal10
    
    Do you not understand the electoral college system.
    
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    August 25, 2020 11:01am
    - Captain Mainwaring
      
      There are very few things that Stephie understands. Having to take his pants off before taking a shit is probably about all.
      
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      August 25, 2020 12:17pm
  - WaynelSexton
    
    Only 21 percent of non-Hispanic Whites possess at least a bachelor’s degree.
    In other words, the white vote presently looks like this.
    54 – Trump
    36 – Biden
    which is why the media is presenting it in such a convoluted and meaningless form. Of course, most of the missing 10 percent will go to Trump as well, so he can expect to take about two-thirds of the white vote, which is still more than enough to generate a massive Trumpslide given the concentration of the not-white vote.
    
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    August 25, 2020 11:03am
    - Batman
      
      Wayne this is absolute nonsense.
      
      You can’t just pick the number you like the most and say that’s what will happen.
      
      While about 70% of the US is Caucasian, that doesn’t factor in a litany of other factors, besides the obvious ones like existing party affiliations and independents. Trump is trailing by ten points overall and by the same margin with independents.
      
      Moreover, he’s trailing in key swing states and only holding onto Texas by 2-3 points currently.
      
      Now, polls are a snapshot in time, a time which has already passed so their usefulness is limited.
      
      Basically, if you’re betting on white people rescuing Trump, you’re in for a huge disappointment. They’re spread out across the states in such a way that they only have clout in a few states which are red anyway.
      
      And let’s not even get into the topic of only counting white folks votes…. That’s fraught with danger.
      
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      August 25, 2020 1:48pm
      - Batman
        
        Ok it seems one poll has Biden ahead, which doesn’t make it a done deal of course but does mean there’s a trend of Texas tightening up
        
        https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/513437-new-texas-poll-showing-biden-with-1-point-lead
        
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        August 25, 2020 2:57pm
  - Classic Liberal
    
    Left wing governments no longer represent hard working people who run a small-medium local business or work in one.
    
    They dole out money to non working people who have become jobless due to giant corporations.
    
    I want a government that understands that local business builds communities and creates jobs.
    
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    August 25, 2020 11:46am
Prince

In the early days of John Key, Steven Braunias used to write articles about John Key’s brain floating above him, weightless…
“At the end of the day I unscrew my head from my shoulders and it floats up, up, up to the ceiling, as weightless as a balloon.”
I couldn’t help reflecting on that, watching the Great Communicator at the Podium yesterday. The mouth opened, a waterfall of carefully crafted, poorly pronounced words and phrases tumbled out, but this listener’s mind was captured by the sparkly earrings. The earrings bounced around the bobbing head, distracting, mesmerising.
As usual the speech was designed to bore the listener to submission. The earrings were so distinctive, the patterns as they caught the spotlights. I drifted back to the 1960’s…

Words are flowing out
Like endless rain into a paper cup
They slither while they pass
They slip away across the universe

Pools of sorrow, waves of joy
Are drifting through my opened mind
Possessing and caressing me
Images of broken light
Which dance before me like a million eyes
They call me on and on across the universe
Thoughts meander like a restless wind inside a letter box
They tumble blindly as they make their way across the universe

Nothing’s gonna change my world
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August 25, 2020 9:23am
Blackface Twin Reverb

Too Funny, in 2016:
1/ Richard Spencer is a White Nationalist (AKA, a Nazi).
2/ Richard Spencer endorsed Trump.
3/ Therefore Trump is a Nazi.

In 2020:
1/Richard Spencer is still a White Nationalist (AKA, a Nazi).
2/ Richard Spencer endorses Biden/Harris.
3/ Therefore, Biden/ Harris…..
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August 25, 2020 9:23am
- Critical Thinker
  
  The Democratic Party defended slavery, started the Civil War, founded the KKK, and fought against every major civil rights act in U.S. history.
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_a7dQXilCo
  
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  August 25, 2020 10:03am
  - virtualmark
    
    And then Nixon implemented his Southern Strategy in the 1960s and all that Confederate nonsense switched over the the Republicans.
    
    Do keep up.
    
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    August 25, 2020 4:13pm
    - Ed Snack
      
      I see, so that’s why in the 1970’s Wallace ran as a Republican, and Senator Byrd represented the GOP into the 2000’s.
      
      I do have that right don’t I ?
      
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      August 25, 2020 6:55pm
- virtualmark
  
  Therefore Biden/Harris refused his endorsement and called him “morally repugnant”.
  
  Conservative values.
  
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  August 25, 2020 4:16pm
  - Batman
    
    Trump is pathologically incapable of refusing a nice word from anyone.
    
    Just look at his embrace of QAnon. He heard they think he’s a god so he couldn’t possibly call them deranged nutters (which they observably are).
    
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    August 25, 2020 4:21pm
    - virtualmark
      
      Very weirdly … QAnon makes a big thing about how they need to fight this network of elitist child sex traffickers. It’s Pizzagate 2.0. And supposedly Trump is their hero, fighting this good fight.
      
      Meanwhile the NXIVM sex cult have been actively supporting Trump, who was a good friend of Jeffrey Epstein, and who recently wished Ghislaine Maxwell well as she faces charges of … sex trafficking.
      
      Consistency doesn’t matter in the GOP any more. Or morals. It’s all about the feelz, hating the media, and making libs cry.
      
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      August 25, 2020 5:06pm
      - Batman
        
        Well to be fair to the Q followes, they haven’t let the 100% failure rate of Q stop them from blindly believing it.
        
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        August 25, 2020 5:48pm
      - Ed Snack
        
        NXIVM are all Democrats ! Senator Gillibrand’s father was involved, and the group admitted making large and illegal donations to the 2016 Clinton campaign in the trial of the founder Keith Raniere.
        
        Just like Bill Clinton was Epstein’s favourite guest on his island (29 visits I think we’ve heard about), and Harvey Weinstein a Democrat stalwart supporter and fundraiser.
        
        Funny thing after forcing myself to watch some of both the Democrat and Republican conventions, it seemed to me that the obvious difference (apart from the appallingly poor production values of the Dem’s virtual convention) was that the overall tone was that the Democrat speakers hated America, and the Republicans loved it. Hatred and lies, that’s all the Democrats stand for these days.
        
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        August 25, 2020 7:04pm
  - Ed Snack
    
    Just window dressing, Spencer is right, Biden far more closely represents the sort of people that Spencer associates with than Trump.
    
    Joe’s been a racist for the 50 odd years he’s been in national politics in the USA, but that’s just Joe, nothing to see here, move along.
    
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    August 25, 2020 6:57pm
Lance

How about you actually try a little less personal insults and a little more talking to the facts or policies?
Because you seem to be acceding that Jerry would make Kelvin look like fool in a fair debate
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August 25, 2020 9:30am
- Tall Man
  
  kelvin makes kelvin look like a fool.
  
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  August 25, 2020 10:20am
oldpark

David Seymours’ comments yesterday after hearing the speech from “Control Freak Ardern” yesterday.
He said he had an immediate flashback to his first day at Kindergarten . So say most of us .WTH.
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August 25, 2020 9:32am
niggly

I’m confused by the spin of the government.

I thought Aucklanders were prevented from leaving Auckland (and others from entering Auckland – unless they are deemed essential workers or truck drivers etc)?

If so, how come “Spindy” was saying yesterday that the reason for keeping the likes of the South Island at level 2 (rather than dropping down to level 1 due to not having any covid cases) was because (she said using words to the following effect) “Aucklanders travel all around NZ” (hence could inadvertently pass on covid).

Say what! I thought Auckland was “isolated”?

So are they or aren’t they? Can Spindy give us a clear answer please? Or is that too much to ask!
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August 25, 2020 9:37am
- sooty
  
  Why is the south island at level 2?
  Getting ready for a infux of Aucklanders, monday!
  
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  August 25, 2020 10:21am
  - Inandout
    
    The flights Auckland to Queenstown are booked out in anticipation of the level2.
    
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    August 25, 2020 11:17am
  - Ruawai
    
    My sons Auckland school have been banned from a sports tournament starting on Monday in Palmerston North as they don’t want Aucklander’s coming to it. Is this citiest? The rest of NZ will treat us as if we have the plague.
    
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    August 25, 2020 12:30pm
    - sooty
      
      But on monday you Aucklanders are allowed out!
      
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      August 25, 2020 1:28pm
- Sigmund Freud
  
  Far, far too much to ask!
  
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  August 25, 2020 10:31am
SB2

Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Meet Professor Richard Epstein the covid contrarian who has the ear of the whitehouse with his crank opinions on covid 19,

https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/the-contrarian-coronavirus-theory-that-informed-the-trump-administration
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August 25, 2020 10:03am
- Captain Mainwaring
  
  Meet Professor SB2 the deluded Marxist who has the ear of nobody with his crank opinions on everything.
  
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  August 25, 2020 10:15am
  - SB2
    
    Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
    Captain Mainwaring, “crank opinions” like treating Covid 19 by drinking bleach?
    
    LOL
    
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    August 25, 2020 10:29am
    - KevO'Brien
      
      When was the last time you did that? Are all tghe rest of Cabinet on it too?
      
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      August 25, 2020 10:47am
    - Blackface Twin Reverb
      
      Captain Mainwaring, “crank opinions” like treating Covid 19 by drinking bleach?
      
      Proof positive that the left can’t meme
      
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      August 25, 2020 11:55am
    - RJ
      
      Only one who ever mentions drinking bleach is you, you have zero credibility as a troll so safe to say no one will ever follow your advise.
      
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      August 25, 2020 12:14pm
      - sooty
        
        Wish he would take his own advice!
        
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        August 25, 2020 1:26pm
      - virtualmark
        
        Quite right RJ. Even idiots know that Trump suggested *injecting* the bleach.
        
        ‘Cos that’s way more stable genius-y.
        
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        August 25, 2020 4:11pm
      - RJ
        
        No, what trump did was have a conversation with the medical expert beside the stage asking her questions, to which she replied. He never suggested it, he asked a question about injecting disinfectants and was told no. You’d have to be stupid to take that as anymore than that, but I understand some trolls are stupid enough
        
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        August 25, 2020 4:38pm
      - Batman
        
        It wasn’t her, it was the male official next to her.
        
        The fact he asked it at all tells us he’s a moron.
        
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        August 25, 2020 5:52pm
      - virtualmark
        
        RJ, mate you’re just shovelling shit here.
        
        Whatever way you would like to spin it Trump was genuinely pondering whether you could use disinfectant and/or powerful UV light *internally* to fight Covid-19.
        
        I can remember watching it as it happened. He was serious. He looked out on drugs. You could see a little part of Dr Birx die on camera as she realised she’d sold her reputation to Trump and this is what he really was.
        
        ETTD. Everything Trump touches dies.
        
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        August 25, 2020 6:57pm
Captain Mainwaring

Indianapolis 500. Dixon controlled the race from start to finish and it’s now clear that Sato might not have had enough fuel to get to the end. Dixon saved fuel by drafting him and would have blasted past with two or three laps to go. But guess what happened? Sato’s teammate Pigot had an ‘unfortunate’ crash four laps from the end thus causing the race to be ended under yellow so nobody ran out of fuel.
Am I the only one who’s a bit suspicious?
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August 25, 2020 10:05am
- ex-golfer
  
  I think that’s a long bow to draw.
  Good conspiracy theory though – Pigot must have over-estimated the team requirement given the severity of the crash and the potential to die for the cause!
  
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  August 25, 2020 10:59am
  - Tony Stuart
    
    Quite so; those shots from the wall-mounted camera of Pigot’s car hitting the tyres at speed were pretty damning. No driver would EVER risk a crash like that, especially in a single seater, to execute team orders.
    
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    August 25, 2020 12:03pm
    - Captain Mainwaring
      
      He hit the tyres after ricocheting off the wall. Probably meant to just graze it to bring out the yellow but very difficult to judge at that speed.
      4 laps from the finish – too much of a coincidence.
      
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      August 25, 2020 12:22pm
      - Batman
        
        Yeah but incredibly easy to make a mistake after 500 miles at that speed too.
        
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        August 25, 2020 3:00pm
Ruawai

Logistically all the people in the quarantine with positive Covid either from the border or the community could be in there for up to 6 weeks depending how long it takes them to recover. This will mean a long time away from home. I think most people think this will be 14 days isolation but many will take much longer to recover and therefore be in quarantine for a long time period and cost to the Government.
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August 25, 2020 10:08am
- MCos
  
  If people are crook they’re crook. Doesn’t matter what the cause.
  Some people take months to recover from a dose of covid-19, in which case you’d think they’d be hospitalized & in our society there is no charge to the patient.
  I’m guessing the entire Jet Park Hotel complex has been booked out into the distant future so it might as well be utilized to quarantine infected people.
  
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  August 25, 2020 12:35pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Cost to us, not the Govt. The Govt has no money except your money
  
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  August 25, 2020 3:41pm
greenfinger

We can have the virus for weeks but it is still of to move down levels. So, now we are not going for elimination anymore? Hard lock down not required? So why did we do 6 weeks in Mar and April on level 4 and 3? Is she not worried about pissin her “Ardern“ fans off? How is this not the slightest bit political. Same league as Donald Trump. Joke of a leader!!
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August 25, 2020 10:24am
- wimpston peeeders
  
  comparing cindy to trump is kinda insulting to trump dont ya think?
  
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  August 25, 2020 1:27pm
  - greenfinger
    
    You are right.
    
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    August 25, 2020 3:31pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  I suggest you watch Trump’s RNC speech. Jaspinda is not in the same class and nowhere near it. Trump speaks to the World, Jaspinda speaks to primary school kids
  
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  August 25, 2020 3:43pm
  - virtualmark
    
    That’s because Jacinda doesn’t snort any where near as much Adderall as Trump does.
    
    Then again, she doesn’t need an adult diaper like Trump does either …
    
    What? Didn’t you know your super man hero is an incontinent drug addict?
    
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    August 25, 2020 4:06pm
    - Don Beckett
      
      Probably the most stupid comment about Trump we have ever seen.
      Surely you know that, because his older brother was alcoholic & died of it at a young age, Trump doesn’t have anything to do with drugs. Alcohol is repugnant to him, along with any other drug.
      
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      August 25, 2020 5:03pm
      - virtualmark
        
        Yep, both his brothers died of alcoholism. And Trump doesn’t touch alcohol.
        
        Instead he’s a drug addict. Has been for years. Primarily cocaine and crushed Adderall.
        
        BTW, so is Don Jr (hell, just watch his speech today at the RNC Convention).
        
        People close to Trump have been saying this for years, in defiance of NDAs, and Trump hasn’t sued them. And they have photos.
        
        BTW, Ivanka calls Melania “the junkie wife”. Wonder why she uses the word junkie?
        
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        August 25, 2020 5:18pm
      - mikenmildagain
        
        Although Tom Arnold claimed he had seen Trump snorting crunched-up Adderall, I’m not sure that I believe it.
        If Trump were using amphetamines regularly, he would probably demonstrate improved cognitive function.
        “Person, man, woman, camera, TV”
        
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        August 25, 2020 5:41pm
      - virtualmark
        
        Mike,
        
        https://twitter.com/CaslerNoel
        
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        August 25, 2020 6:59pm
SB2

Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
An issue that merits our considered attention,

“Sixteen – but not sweet enough to vote”

At 16 years old, you can get your driver’s licence, own a gun, fly a plane, have sex, and get a job – but you can’t vote. Not yet, anyway.

But a group of teenagers who want the voting age to be lowered to include 16 and 17 year-olds is looking to turn that around.

Yesterday the Make it 16 organisation made its arguments in the High Court in Wellington. And while it’s very unlikely a decision will be made in time for this year’s October election, the group’s request follows in the footsteps of several other democratic countries around the world….

https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/the-detail/story/2018760522/sixteen-but-not-sweet-enough-to-vote
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August 25, 2020 10:28am
- KevO'Brien
  
  No 16 year old is experienced enough to vote.
  No under 40 vote is likewise qualified to be a MP.
  
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  August 25, 2020 10:49am
- Captain Mainwaring
  
  So if 16 year olds get to vote (bloody stupid idea) SB2 will be in good company and we’ll have a Marxist Government forever.
  
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  August 25, 2020 10:52am
- Inandout
  
  SB2, 18 seems to be the vastly popular age.
  https://blog.batchgeo.com/voting-age-around-the-world/
  
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  August 25, 2020 11:21am
- Melbury
  
  Note how the RNZ article gives a considered discussion of the issue, asking what should be the minimum voting age, how should it be decided, and looking at the pros and cons of each option.
  NOT.
  
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  August 25, 2020 11:46am
- Ruahine
  
  Another stupid cause for all the people with idle minds that seem to be forever floundering around to have relevance and feed the what about me mentality.
  
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  August 25, 2020 12:55pm
  - Nickc2
    
    I believe if you’re old enough to go to war, you are old enough to vote. That goes for conscious objectors as well. All research done so far indicates 18 in NZ.
    
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    August 25, 2020 2:19pm
- wimpston peeeders
  
  raise age of sex, drinking, driving, firearms, voting to 21.
  
  easiest way to stop the complaints and solve a few problems at the same time
  
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  August 25, 2020 1:29pm
ex-golfer

Will Greta and her band of merry student climate changers be calling for a ban on single-use disposable face masks?
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August 25, 2020 10:55am
Bobba Fret

Whats the bet this guy gets off with no fine and no jail time.
Prepare the wet bus ticket.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/122540327/coronavirus-man-denies-absconding-from-managed-isolation-to-go-to-supermarket
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August 25, 2020 12:02pm
- godruelf
  
  I would say there is a reasonable chance of him getting off due to an inadequency in the law or prosecution process.
  
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  August 25, 2020 12:19pm
- reubee
  
  I’ll bet against that. A quick Google search suggests that it might not be his first time before a judge, (depends how common that name is)
  
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  August 25, 2020 12:36pm
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    He’s the correct age now (32) of the Nelson man with same name who was convicted a couple of years ago for exploiting Indian Nationals working in his Pizza Franchise.
    
    However Singh is one of the most common surnames in NZ and Davinder is a fairly common Indian name.
    
    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/406281/top-baby-surname-reflects-new-zealand-s-changing-demographics#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20Department%20of,of%20Wilson%2C%20Williams%20and%20Brown.
    
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    August 25, 2020 2:33pm
- The Housekeeper
  
  Davinder Singh will probably be ok. Luckily, he doesn’t share the same physical attributes as this idiot
  
  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8651383/New-Zealand-man-hugged-quarantining-friend-JAILED-six-weeks-breaking-coronavirus-rules.html
  
  There are quite a few border incursions that we know of but is this deserving of a jail sentence? Was it the worst breach so far? What made it more punishable than others who were let off?
  
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  August 25, 2020 12:46pm
GazzaW

I just spotted on my FlightRadar an unmarked A320 Airbus land at Auckland direct from Perth.

Another planeload of 501s courtesy of Peter Dutton?
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August 25, 2020 12:08pm
- Captain Mainwaring
  
  Didn’t think an A320 could fly that far unless it was empty.
  
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  August 25, 2020 3:56pm
  - GazzaW
    
    Neither did I but there were probably only 30 or so on board, minimal crew and very limited baggage. With a load of 120 passengers their range is about 3700 miles and Perth to Auckland is a distance of 3300 miles.
    
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    August 25, 2020 4:33pm
The Housekeeper

Living under this COL govt is a lot like living with a partner with Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Anyone who has experienced this will easily recognise the symptoms but here’s the most obvious;

– The rules keep changing for no good reason and because of this you are constantly walking on eggshells, trying to second guess what the new rules might be. Any future planning becomes guesswork.

– If you dare to disagree with them, no matter how convincing your argument or how reliable your evidence, they will never admit they are wrong.

– They hate apologising and only do so if it makes them look good to others, but no matter what, they never actually mean it. They are superior beings so have no need to apologise.

– If you try to expose their lies, they will run you down to their flying monkeys and smear you until you seem like the crazy one.

– Their needs and decisions are paramount and any concessions made to you must be beneficial to them.

– Only their own children are important. All other children are invisible or an annoyance.

– If you have plans, expect to cancel them. All your attention must be given to them. Any freedom you enjoy will be at their behest, as and when it suits them.

– They may wish to achieve many tasks daily. Of those, they will choose the most prestigious task for themselves and you will be assigned the rest. If they do not achieve their task it will be your fault for not helping them. You must, of course, with no excuses, achieve all your assigned tasks brilliantly or risk punishment.

– All your personal achievements would have been impossible without their expert help and advice. You are so lucky to have them.

– You will pay for everything, especially your very expensive birthday dinner that they have told everyone they are surprising you with. When their friends ask how it went, they won’t tell them they “forgot” their credit card and you had to pay, again. No matter, they won’t feel guilty, it is your privilege to provide their life’s comforts.

– When you first meet, they bombard you with love and kindness but eventually they tire of that and their mask starts slipping. You’re puzzled that anyone can go from so hot to so cold so quickly. Sooner or later it dawns on you that they have an agenda which isn’t love.

– They go through a lot of friends and burn a lot of bridges because eventually everyone sees them for what they are. Unfortunately, due to their expert mendacity, this can take a while.

– When they threaten or hurt you, you make excuses for them because, by now, you believe them when they tell you that they are your saviour and without them you’re nothing.

– Despite all this and the very loud peals of cognitive dissonance, all the lovebombing, gaslighting, undermining, fake love and bullying you have been primed with, you are rendered deaf to sense and against all logic, still believe that this is the ONE, when in reality they are your worst nightmare.

Wake up NZ, COL is not your friend, they’re your abuser.

https://psychcentral.com/disorders/narcissistic-personality-disorder/
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August 25, 2020 12:11pm
- Classic Liberal
  
  Very true, well observed.
  
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  August 25, 2020 2:12pm
- Komata
  
  THC@1211
  
  Although you mentioned the CoL in general, you also appear to be describing Dear Leader with some degree of accuracy…
  
  (Just saying).
  
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  August 25, 2020 3:26pm
godruelf

Informative interview on Magic Talk with the deputy PM this morning. Couple of points I picked up.
First the Befuddled one must have been nodded off at Cabinet yesterday as he wasn’t aware that the Level 2 rules on gathering size are different in Auckland to other parts of the country.
Secondly I would suggest anyone wanting a police response should say the perps were NOT wearing masks as Winnie assured us that if any calls came in about failure to wear masks would have the Police and Army “round in 5 seconds flat”
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August 25, 2020 12:15pm
surfing

Kim Jong-un, wonder if the big guy is on his last legs?

He hasn’t really been seen in close-ups or much at all since the rumours of his previous demise .

CIA didn’t get him but the BMI did! To reuse an old joke.
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August 25, 2020 12:19pm
- Inandout
  
  surfing, escapees from North Korea have said Kim has about 10 stand ins.
  
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  August 25, 2020 5:54pm
fernglas

We’ve changed our drinking game here. Instead of having a wine every time Jacinda says “team of 5 million” we have to scull a beer every time she says “of course” We have a keg ready for 1pm..
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August 25, 2020 12:29pm
I remember when

Love those Labour election signs. They just say so much without any need for words.
Just Jacinda out in front with the local candidate sort of hiding behind her. Does anything say, we are dependent on one person, in the way their election hoardings do?
Must make the local candidate feel really proud to be supporting the Jacinda Party.
All they need now is a candidate who’s name, either christian or surname will do, is – will covinda be close enough?
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August 25, 2020 12:48pm
- SB2
  
  Our local one looks very smart but I must say the National one looks a tad dull!
  
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  August 25, 2020 2:23pm
kowtow

Interesting from RNZ . A Brit journo describing LA has basically become a third world shit hole. People leaving. Someone shit in her friends garden and it’s basically Trumps’ fault. These “journos” just don’t get it , are they really that thick?

‘The City of Dreams has become the city of nightmares according to British journalist and long-time Los Angeles resident, Caroline Graham.

Graham has lived in LA since the early 1990s and says LA is becoming increasingly dangerous and there are no signs of things getting any better.’

https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/sunday/audio/2018760720/los-angeles-has-turned-into-a-city-of-nightmares
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August 25, 2020 12:58pm
Maggie Pie

One of the girls at Tennis asked me if this is something I’d do ?

I said, “Probably, but only if i had a couple of Moscow Mules in me first” 😀

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGA-UiYU-OU
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August 25, 2020 1:01pm
- Tall Man
  
  Rather it than cindy.
  
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  August 25, 2020 1:31pm
waripori

7 new cases today. It has been more or less that all the time and indications from on high they expect the tail of the cluster to be long. That is another way of saying the virus is circulating in Auckland and will for a while. How then can Auckland go to level 2 on Monday and Aucklanders move freely around the country given everything that was said last time about elimination. Surely Auckland should be 14 days without new cases before any relaxation if there is to be any consistency.

Not saying that is what I think should happen. Just that once again the Government is making no sense. They have just realised keeping Auckland locked down is too expensive and will cost them the election but they must also realise having the whole country at level 2 will just about guarantee cases nationwide.
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August 25, 2020 1:18pm
- kowtow
  
  It makes sense in the context not of their alleged health approach , but of a political approach , there’s an election looming, a Covid Election.
  
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  August 25, 2020 3:06pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Yep,
  The CoL’s lockdown rules are ever changeable…
  
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  August 25, 2020 4:04pm
  - sooty
    
    Yep, which ever way the wind is blowing!
    
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    August 25, 2020 8:13pm
- eview
  
  It’s essentially a lose-lose situation for the government. They probably know that in order to eliminate the virus this time round, 4 – 8 weeks of strict lockdown in Auckland is required. But if they announced that straight away, there would be tons of outrage and backlash, and they would be pressured to switch to a suppression strategy.
  
  I’m pretty sure that if they relax restrictions in Auckland as planned, then we will see a spike in cases in a week or so. All it takes is a few pre-symptomatic, symptomatic or asymptomatic people to visit a couple of high traffic areas. The outbreak is not likely to be contained or controlled unless lockdown is implemented again… but even then, with compliance rates being as they are, it might not even be very effective and just lead to the virus spreading at a slower rate across the community.
  
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  August 25, 2020 5:47pm
WaynelSexton

100+ people with the sniffles, 0 dead.
Why they locked down in the first place makes no sense.
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August 25, 2020 3:18pm
- Batman
  
  Have you not watched or read any of the stories about those who have had it?
  
  It is not the sniffles.
  
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  August 25, 2020 4:09pm
  - RJ
    
    Lung damage, heart damage, some left with psychological issues. The list is long. Really surprised with the attitude in NZ that we haven’t had it bad here
    
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    August 25, 2020 4:32pm
    - mikenmildagain
      
      Well, one shouldn’t consider attitudes on Kiwiblog as representative of the sentient NZ population as a whole.
      
      5 16
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      August 25, 2020 4:52pm
    - Don Beckett
      
      Maybe, but the vast majority get over it – just like a bad ‘flu. Many don’t even have any symptoms.
      
      The most over-rated and politicised virus in history.
      
      12 7
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      August 25, 2020 5:11pm
      - virtualmark
        
        Maybe … but there’s 175,000 people in the US alone who might disagree with you.
        
        Realistically, if we let it go completely through NZ we’d be looking at at least 10,000 deaths (based on the Sweden experience). Sure, maybe not many teens, maybe lots of older retired people. But which 10,000 do you want to nominate? Got any older relations you’d be prepared to sacrifice for the greater economic good? Personally, I like my parents and I’d like them to be around for a bit longer yet.
        
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        August 25, 2020 5:23pm
      - Inandout
        
        Don in the US the virus has the opportunity to feed on enormously overweight people with the attendant diabetes.
        
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        August 25, 2020 5:59pm
      - Tall Man
        
        “we’d be looking at at least 10,000 deaths (based on the Sweden experience)”
        
        Absolute rubbish, and I use that word as it seems that’s what you scaremongers have been drinking.
        
        We are not Sweden, not even a close demographic.
        
        1300 cases of infection, 17 people died with covid, not from. Current outbreak, 130 people infected but how many thousand have been exposed considering 2 women managed to interact with over 300 in 2 days.
        
        Do you honestly believe we would not have multiple media exposures if there were young or non at risk people becoming seriously ill with this covind con. If you then you are naive beyond belief.
        
        Everything you guys spout is little more than third hand urban legend.
        
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        August 25, 2020 7:40pm
  - waripori
    
    But it isn’t ebola either. It looks as though the Government have come to the conclusion we are going to have to learn to live with it. Just not saying that this side of the election.
    
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    August 25, 2020 5:17pm
    - Batman
      
      Yeah but it’s nasty enough to warrant protection of the public and vulnerable age groups like the elderly and the baby boom group.
      
      If we did have an Ebola outbreak, level four would look light handed. It would probably be full indoors lock-in.
      
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      August 25, 2020 5:46pm
      - WaynelSexton
        
        Baby boomers are the worse generation ever. Their parents generation risked their lives at the prime of their lives to give their boomer children a better life.
        Boomers won’t even risk an at worse 15% chance of death for someone over 60. Would rather their children lose their jobs and leave massive amounts of government debt for their grandchildren to pay off.
        
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        August 25, 2020 6:10pm
      - Ed Snack
        
        Ebola just doesn’t spread that easily if people observe some pretty basic hygiene standards. Ebola did get to the USA a few years back, and spread nowhere.
        
        Ebola spreads through blood and other bodily secretions, it isn’t aerosol spread (unless by some chance an infected persons blood is aerosolised). So it will never spread like measles or flu or COVID-19. It can spread though where people handle infected people in less than sanitary conditions.
        
        I understand the concerns, but Ebola would be a lot easier to stop than this current virus as long as it was recognised rapidly and those handling cases had proper PPE.
        
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        August 25, 2020 7:18pm
Maggy Wassilieff

David Seymour calculates the chance of finding a contact from QR tracing

They say they’ve improved contact tracing. A million people scanning a QR code everyday—well, that is one-fifth of the team of 5 million. I’m doing it five or six times a day on average, so I suspect you’ve got four percent of New Zealanders doing it five times a day—a million scans. Four percent of people using it, if you square it, gives you a 0.2 percent chance of actually making a contact. That’s the mathematical reality, and that’s with people finally starting to use the Government’s contact tracing app.

https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/hansard-debates/rhr/combined/HansDeb_20200825_20200825_04
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August 25, 2020 4:33pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Looks like Winston may have thwarted another handout to Media companies.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/424399/media-funding-proposal-never-made-it-to-cabinet-minister-faafoi
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August 25, 2020 5:15pm
- lifesgood
  
  Good job.
  
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  August 25, 2020 5:22pm
lifesgood

Can someone enlighten me, please? Is Auckland definitely going to level 2 on Monday? Everyone I know is talking like that’s the fact but I thought the level we are at was only going to be reconsidered. I would be delighted if we did go to level 2 on Monday but can’t find any announcement that says we will.
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August 25, 2020 5:21pm
- Batman
  
  It’ll be decided on Friday most likely. Or Saturday at the latest.
  
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  August 25, 2020 5:44pm
  - Tall Man
    
    Just making sure everyoine knows the PSA and cindy are in control….
    
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    August 25, 2020 7:28pm
- Inandout
  
  lifes, watch for the Friday edition of the Cindy & Ash Show.
  
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  August 25, 2020 6:02pm
- MCos
  
  If there is no significant change in the cluster’s growth and trajectory, from 11:59pm on Sunday 30 August 2020 the Auckland region will move down to Alert Level 2 with some additional restrictions on gathering sizes.
  https://covid19.govt.nz/updates-and-resources/latest-updates/new-zealand-will-remain-at-the-existing-alert-levels-until-sunday/
  
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  August 25, 2020 7:35pm
eview

In Question Time, Dr Shane Reti asked an interesting question to Megan Woods:
Was there an increasing trend in positive coronavirus tests in waste water, leading up to the start of the current outbreak?

She hesitates before answering, looks very uncomfortable, stammers, and talks slowly at the start. Those are classic signs of someone who is about to be deceptive. She denies having any knowledge about it, and then deflects and talks about the Jet Park hotel. Here is her response:

Not that I am aware of. As I said, one of the most important things from why we instituted it at the Jet Park Hotel is actually around method development, because this is a place that is quite unique in New Zealand, in that we know there is coronavirus there; obviously, that we didn’t have the ability to do any sensitivity testing in other parts of New Zealand while we were coronavirus free. So it was really important that we were using our quarantine facility waste-water to do this; that it has been reasonably consistent results from the Jet Park Hotel is because we consistently move COVID-positive patients there.

It’s strange… One would expect that there would be regular testing of waste water being carried out across Auckland, and reports made about it too.

Link to the video: https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/hansard-debates/rhr/document/HansS_20200825_051120000/tab/video
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August 25, 2020 5:27pm
- mikenmildagain
  
  Interesting. Not sure I buy your conspiratorial take on Woods’s reply, but I would like to know if wastewater analysis is being used and what it shows. It has been used to estimate use of illicit drugs, etc.
  
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  August 25, 2020 6:23pm
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    If you’d bothered to watch/read the link given, you’d know that Oral Q. 8 was specifically referring to testing for the presence of Covid-19 virus.
    
    https://www.esr.cri.nz/home/about-esr/media-releases/esr-receives-1-6m-for-research-into-covid-19-in-wastewater/
    
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    August 25, 2020 8:33pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Good.. I was wondering if I was the only one who had picked out that something odd was going on with the replies to Dr Reti.
  
  Before Woods answered that question she had blamed an “administrative error” on providing inaccurate information to an earlier written question about waste water testing.
  
  Dr Shane Reti: How does she reconcile that answer with written questions received last week saying that weekly testing at Jet Park had been negative?
  
  Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: My understanding is that there has been a correction to the written question from the Minister of Health that was put through today, that the question did say that it had been daily, since the beginning of July, at Jet Park, returning negative results—that has been corrected to say “usually return positive results as expected”. This was put down to an administrative error.
  
  So the complete OPPOSITE from the original answer.
  
  Caught out, I’d say, rather than an administrative error.
  
  It will be interesting to discover where and when all the positive tests in Auckland’s waste water were first detected.
  
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  August 25, 2020 6:42pm
- RJ
  
  Now if Reti hadn’t of asked these questions would the part time health minister of corrected that answer. It sounds like ass covering.
  
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  August 25, 2020 7:11pm
Fletch

Wow. A businessman, and Cuban immigrant nails it in a speech at the RNC. As he says, Trump may not be politically correct but he loves America. Biden is only concerned with power… He says, having fled Cuba, “we have seen ideas like this before. And I am here to tell you, we cannot let them take over our country”. That the Democrat promises sound like those of Castro. He sees “shadows he thought he had outrun”. ?

“If I gave away everything that I have today, it would not equal one percent of what I was given when I came to this country..”

https://www.facebook.com/BlazeMedia/videos/342060077155882/
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August 25, 2020 5:39pm
- Batman
  
  Hahaha damn Fletch, you eat this stuff up. You love the fear porn my friend ?
  
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  August 25, 2020 5:41pm
  - mikenmildagain
    
    Yes, the Democrats are both owned by Wall Street bankers and determined to make the US a communist state…
    
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    August 25, 2020 5:45pm
    - Batman
      
      Wild!
      
      4 12
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      August 25, 2020 5:51pm
    - virtualmark
      
      Mike, in the space of 15 minutes today the RNC Convention was told that Biden & Harris want to incarcerate everyone, and then that they want to let everyone out of prison.
      
      Whiplash.
      
      Trump’s entire campaign is made up of (a) stoking white grievance and (b) scaring the f&$k out of white people. That’s all he’s got.
      
      Trump 2016: Things are bad, vote for me so I can fix them.
      Trump 2020: Things are even worse, vote for me or else things will get even worser!
      
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      August 25, 2020 7:04pm
  - Fletch
    
    Better than Biden’s speech. By far. Because it is the truth. The Dems don’t care about America. They only want power. As this guy says, he’s heard it all before coming from the lips of Castro. The same false promises. Socialism looks the same wherever it is practiced.
    
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    August 25, 2020 5:49pm
    - Batman
      
      I honestly worry about your faculties.
      
      Biden looked and sounded like a human, the Trump crew sound like deranged cultists (because they are).
      
      They’re not even promising socialism, it’s not even as socialist as our widely accepted public health and student funding programmes hahaha
      
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      August 25, 2020 5:51pm
      - Steve Otto(North Shore)
        
        Must have watched something different from what I did Batman. Haley did well
        
        11 4
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        August 25, 2020 6:10pm
      - mikenmildagain
        
        I gather Trump is planning to speak on all four nights of the convention. His exit on the first night was to the Village People’s YMCA:
        
        They have everything for you men to enjoy
        You can hang out with all the boys
        
        It’s fun to stay at the YMCA
        
        I can’t to wait to see what theme music introduces or follows his next appearance. More Village People: Macho Macho Man? In the Navy as a salute to the troops?
        
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        August 25, 2020 6:10pm
      - Ed Snack
        
        Biden not only plagiarised a Canadian politician’s speech, it was also a near exact repeat of one he gave in 2008, all but word for word the same. Platitudes, and expressed in very short sentences so Joe wouldn’t lose the thread. No doubt carefully arranged and pre-recorded as well so it was edited to remove his mistakes.
        
        Pre recorded, yes it was, you can tell because there are a couple of continuity errors you can see for yourself. Joes has, then doesn’t have a lapel pin, and his watch also disappears. Classic stuff, and you think he sounds “human” !
        
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        August 25, 2020 7:24pm
      - virtualmark
        
        Steve,
        
        Haley and Pompeo are jostling with each other to see who inherits the post-Trump GOP.
        
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        August 25, 2020 7:33pm
    - virtualmark
      
      Fletch,
      
      Trump only cares about his own narcissism, and staying out of prison.
      
      He will partner with whatever paranoids, kooks, know-nothings and bigots are necessary to stay President in order to have the DoJ shield him from indictments.
      
      … [Deleted – Mod. Knock off the personal abuse.]
      
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      August 25, 2020 7:06pm
  - Tall Man
    
    You’re the one that talks of “granny killing by covid” Batman so I think you are a little more into it than most of us.
    
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    August 25, 2020 7:25pm
Maggie Pie

I’ve just popped out of the TV lounge to check on the Lemon Meringue Pie.
My partner was hoping to see if that Tarrant blew up.
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August 25, 2020 6:12pm
slightlyrighty

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/wellington/122562719/large-fire-engulfs-heritagelisted-building-in-wellington-cbd?cid=app-android

Good.
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August 25, 2020 7:57pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Last week Ardern brought in Heather Simpson and Brian Roche to oversee Covid-19 testing .

Today she tells parliament that terms of reference are still being drafted for the oversight group.

Hon Judith Collins: Did the Prime Minister just say that the terms of reference are still being drafted?

Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: They have not been released yet, but will be shortly. As I’ve said, though, we already have the plan that they are implementing.
https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/hansard-debates/rhr/combined/HansDeb_20200825_20200825_08

How public-spirited.. to take on a job before you’ve seen your terms of reference and $$$$$$$remuneration$$$$$$$$$.
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August 25, 2020 8:16pm
- RJ
  
  Perhaps they will be released with the resurgence plan. Or maybe New Zealand will be the first country to put a man on mars. I’m going with Mars as the better option of actually happening
  
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  August 25, 2020 8:34pm
  - Nickc2
    
    A classic case of nepotism and corruption employing people and deciding what to do with them afterwards.
    
    1 1
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    August 26, 2020 1:05am
- Nickc2
  
  I can see H1s dictates all over this!!!
  
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  August 26, 2020 12:39am
RJ

Two interesting studies

Live coronavirus found on meat, seafood weeks later, researchers say
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August 25, 2020 8:33pm
Maggy Wassilieff

This is a worry, folks…

A Government Department cutting staff just before an election

Internal Affairs cutting 58 jobs in Wellington
http://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=130505
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August 25, 2020 8:41pm
- Tall Man
  
  Obviously those who couldn’t “buy into” the plan …….
  
  More to come in other departments I think.
  
  Treasury for a start, leaks you know. Sorry, hacks 😉
  
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  August 25, 2020 9:07pm
Ian Hawthorn

Apparently thousands of people arriving in the country have not been tested by day 3. Why the hell are they not tested as they pass through the border. Line up – show us your passport – stand still while we stick this thing up your nose – all done and dusted right then and there.
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August 26, 2020 3:40am

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