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January 5, 2022 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 05 January 2022

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General Debate

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curry4me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZqMKJuPM5U

China’s Trade war turns into a B-Grade war.

Taiwan has indicated that it will assist Lithuania in shifting its market away from China and expanding its supply chain security with democratic allies. [5:15]
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January 5, 2022 8:02am
- Inandout
  
  curry, I have an impact driver made in Taiwan, must be 45 years old and still works perfectly. I have bought Chinese made garage tools which usually rust away or break where the metal is shitty.
  
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  January 5, 2022 9:37am
  - David George
    
    Taiwan makes very good tools. Their table saw and drill press I own are about forty years old, operate smoothly, quietly and accurately and are highly sought after on the secondhand market. I bought well but my recent Taiwanese saw purchase cost more (on TM) than a new Makita!
    
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    January 5, 2022 10:05am
    - Jack5
      
      Home power tools, yes, but …
      
      Taiwan is the world leader in superconductor chips, the core input of modern manufacturing.
      
      Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company leads in the field, and Taiwan makes more than half the IC’s – chips – that power world devices.
      
      TSMC is building a $US12 billion subsidiary factory in America in present to help cope with the world shortage in chips that is constraining world output of new motor-vehicles, among many other products.
      
      As for B-grade any war between China and Taiwan, I’m not so sure. The web site, Global Fire Power, estimates Taiwan’s comparative military strength as one rank higher than Britain’s.
      
      For example, Taiwan has 288 jet fighters compared with Britain’s 119; and 8,750 armoured vehicles, including 1160 tanks, compared with the UK’s 5,500 armoured vehicles and 109 tanks.
      
      What makes it more threatening are the rumblings that Japan as well as the United States may join a fight against any Chinese invasion of Taiwan.
      
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      January 5, 2022 11:48am
      - mawm
        
        Taiwan is also the leading manufacturer of bicycle frames. They make quality frames as well as entry level frames.
        
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        January 5, 2022 7:10pm
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      I have ring and open end spanners 50 years old. The chrome is wearing off a bit, but under is copper plating – when chrome plating was done properly.
      Not a single one has ever broken, and I use tools hard
      
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      January 5, 2022 2:13pm
      - Steve Otto(North Shore)
        
        Forgot, brand is ETC
        
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        January 5, 2022 2:13pm
  - curry4me
    
    Inandout: Glad your Taiwanese stuff works OK. I make every effort to leave MIC stuff on the shelf. Kitchen consumables can be bought from KOSCO stores. Electric stuff can be bought from Thrift stores, TradeMe, or Face Book. Cash flow to the PRC can be minimised with minimal effort.
    
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    January 5, 2022 1:58pm
curry4me

https://thefederalist.com/2022/01/04/parents-push-indiana-legislature-for-hearing-on-toughest-school-racism-and-pornography-bill/

Parents Push Indiana Legislature For Hearing On Toughest School Racism And Pornography Bill.

Indiana is among the numerous Republican-led states to consider bills this spring legislative session to protect kids in public schools from pornographic, racist, and anti-American materials. Parent activists in the state say they’re concerned the strongest bills on such issues will be kept from public hearings and open votes to protect Republican lawmakers from primaries and angry constituents. In an era in which critical race theory and anti-American curriculum are shifting elections, that could be a fool’s move.
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January 5, 2022 8:03am
RichardX

Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Don Beckett
RchardX
You’ve either got the wrong person, or a faulty memory.
“Casual homophobia” ??? What’s that ?
Even homosexuals/trannies etc. call themselves ‘queer’.
You have a problem, sunshine.

JANUARY 4, 2022 9:07PM

I do have a problem.
I have a problem with bigots who make false claims that someone else had a faulty memory or the wrong person when the bigot posted a racist joke.
I have a problem with bigots who think it is acceptable to refer to queers and trannies.

Using the same logic as your ”Even homosexuals/trannies etc. call themselves ‘queer’.” comment you must believe it is acceptable to call African Americans the “n” word because they call themselves that.

Casual homophobia is similar to casual racism.
It is where you casually toss racist or homophobic epithets around without any regard for your actions. So casually in fact that you appear oblivious to it being a problem.

Let me refresh your memory on your racist attempt at humour.
Have a go at denying it was you or that the attempted humour was racist.

Don Beckett
A Samoan walks into a bar with a gorrilla on his shoulders.
Th barman asks, ” where did you get the gorilla?”
The Samoan replied, “From the jungle.”
The barman said, ” I’m not talking to you !!”

APRIL 17, 2021 7:51PM
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January 5, 2022 8:04am
- bartybart
  
  Oh cheer up and stop being offended at life
  
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  January 5, 2022 9:17am
  - Don Beckett
    
    Oh Richard, you poor fellow – a Samoan told me that joke many years ago in the 1970’s when I lived in Auckland, and had many Islanders working for me. They had a sense of humour then and still do, and didn’t mind a bit of self deprecation.
    Get over yourself & get a life.
    
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    January 5, 2022 10:31am
    - RichardX
      
      Yes…because nothing has changed since the ’70s
      //
      
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      January 5, 2022 10:56am
- Mickey
  
  RichardX, if a certain minority (and I mean minority) of a population wants to call themselves derogatory names then they must suck it up when someone else calls them by the same derogatory (debatable) names they call themselves.
  
  If the shoe fits!
  
  It’s a bit cheap calling oneself stupid but then get upset when someone else calls you stupid, stupid!
  
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  January 5, 2022 9:26am
- alloytoo
  
  I would apply this criteria to the casual heterophobia we encounter everyday with terms like straight, CIS , breeder etc.
  
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  January 5, 2022 9:30am
  - Biscuit
    
    alloytoo, agreed.
    
    One of my mates was ‘gay’ even before the term ‘gay’ became the applicable term.
    
    He knows I have no ‘objections’ – my long-held opinion is that anything goes in the bedroom (or ANY room, come to think of it!) provided that it’s of age, is consensual and, most importantly, doesn’t frighten the horses.
    
    He was v. useful in my Uni days. Would take me to gay bars which knocked spots off the regular bars in that they tended to a) be a lot quieter, b) have way fewer fights and c) offer much better food.
    
    He used to use ‘straight’ as a putdown to the tiresome sods that (still) go ‘Oh, backs to the walls, boys’:
    
    ‘Overweight, underfunded, no dress sense, when did you last shave?, whatever makes you think I’d fancy YOU?’
    
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    January 5, 2022 10:10am
    - alloytoo
      
      Well…I’ve always been underfunded… (and the rest)
      
      Explains why no one’s made a pass.
      
      Though I resolved early on to politely decline.
      
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      January 5, 2022 10:32am
  - ISeeRed
    
    50-year-old gay guy here. I have NEVER heard any gay man refer to straights as “breeders” except in the context of solo mums on the benny or certain Third World cultures that move to the West but keep their bad old reproductive habits.
    
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    January 5, 2022 1:58pm
    - alloytoo
      
      I had heard of the term, but never heard (or seen) it in use.
      
      We are however of a certain age where manners used to count, so perhaps it’s usage is outside our respective spheres?
      
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      January 5, 2022 2:56pm
- Homas
  
  If “homophobia” represents an injustice, then surely logic dictates that a victim of that injustice is a “homo”.
  
  Such nomenclature would certainly circumvent your sensitivity to “queer” etc.
  
  You on board with that Richard?
  
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  January 5, 2022 10:23am
  - plc
    
    I’m sure that RichardX is perfectly ok with the terms “cis” and “breeder” which are both used as derogatory terms for heterosexuals by the homosexual community.
    
    When they do it, they are being proud and assertive.
    
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    January 5, 2022 11:33am
- Nukuleka
  
  Richard X: so it was ok for Jussie Smollett to use the n word in a text but not ok for the white prosecutor in his trial to read out his text containing that word in court!! It is ok for a rapper to use the n word in a song but not ok for me as a white guy to sing the same lyrics? It would be ok for me as a gay man to call myself ‘queer’ but not ok for my straight friends to call me ‘queer’?
  
  Oh dear what a complicated world you must inhabit.
  
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  January 5, 2022 12:00pm
krazykiwi

Novak Djokovic has announced he is to compete for a tenth Australian Open title. He has been granted a medical exemption from being vaccinated against Covid. Lots of haters piling in. Popcorn needed.
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January 5, 2022 8:07am
- John Pakes
  
  Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
  Are you able to state what his medical exemption is based on?
  
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  January 5, 2022 8:12am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    That is confidential information
    https://www.eurosport.com/tennis/australian-open/2022/how-has-novak-djokovic-got-permission-to-play-australian-open-medical-exemption-details-and-timeline_sto8692073/story.shtml
    
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    January 5, 2022 8:19am
  - Nickc2
    
    Oh, how the haters pile on! If his medical situation is such that he’s given a clearance, so-be-it, end of argument, get a life.
    
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    January 5, 2022 8:24am
  - krazykiwi
    
    No.
    
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    January 5, 2022 8:50am
  - Manu-Rau
    
    No, and nor is it any business of your’s or mine.
    
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    January 5, 2022 8:55am
  - Ruahine
    
    Perhaps he is a friend of the Victorian Premier Dan Andrews.
    It works in New Zealand if you have a special friend like the Prime Minister for example.
    
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    January 5, 2022 9:17am
  - Loddenthinks
    
    Are you able to use Google?
    
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    January 5, 2022 9:25am
  - Mickey
    
    John Pakes, that has got FATDWY sunshine!!
    
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    January 5, 2022 9:29am
  - I remember when
    
    Noval Djokovic’s exemption is based on his playing ability.
    
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    January 5, 2022 9:39am
    - Colville
      
      …. based on his ability to sell tickets..
      
      Money talks!
      
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      January 5, 2022 10:11am
  - rouppe
    
    Here’s a guess
    
    Maybe he has argued that since he has contacted and recovered from covid, he is in the same condition as a vaccinated person
    
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    January 5, 2022 10:00am
  - Observer of Life
    
    Not anyone’s business Mr Pakes.
    
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    January 5, 2022 10:03am
  - Sean OConnor
    
    Tennis talent, of course.
    That’s not a bad thing, it’s just confusing who think our elites are honest or consistent.
    
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    January 5, 2022 8:17pm
- Captain Mainwaring
  
  Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
  Now it remains to be seen how many vaccinated players refuse to play against him.
  What an idiotic decision.
  
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  January 5, 2022 8:17am
  - NK
    
    Why? What’s their concern if they’re vaccinated?
    
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    January 5, 2022 8:21am
    - Nickc2
      
      People from other countries are not as scared of Covid as our Govt has made many of us.
      
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      January 5, 2022 8:27am
      - I remember when
        
        Also, we have spent years convincing athletes that they should not inject themselves (or allow themselves to be injected) with drugs.
        Now we are telling them they must be inoculated without them having any say in whether they are.
        Any medical reaction, be it from covid or the vaccination, could have a long term affect on their earning ability and length of career.
        
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        January 5, 2022 9:47am
    - Don Beckett
      
      Well NK, he should be vaccinated to protect the vaccinated from him.//
      It’s all a load of bollocks. Some of the data starting to appear about the vaccines is more than troubling. I’m glad I’m an unclean unvaccinated leper.
      
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      January 5, 2022 8:53am
    - Opie
      
      The thing they took doesnt work, so he has to take it as well to make them feel better.
      
      The irony here is that the players will all be being tested daily and it wont be him that starts the outbreak
      
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      January 5, 2022 8:54am
    - ClanMcleod
      
      There is no concern medically, maybe they are jealous because they didn’t have the stones to take a principled stand themselves? Who would know, but there certainly is no medical issue. Just watch any of the Premier League games over the last month, an awful lot of hugging going on when a goal is scored and at least 20% of Premier League players aren’t jabbed and aren’t punished for that choice. They are pressured, but not coerced.
      
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      January 5, 2022 8:57am
      - NK
        
        Yip, no medical issue. Fellow players could contract the virus from Djokovic, whether they’re vaccinated or not.
        
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        January 5, 2022 9:03am
      - Don Beckett
        
        And it has become alarming at the number of young fit athletes who play major league soccer etc. have suffered cardiac problems, and even died, due to having had the ‘vaccine’ (experimental gene therapy).
        
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        January 5, 2022 11:55am
      - MCōs
        
        Not correct.
        It’s because they have a gps device strapped to their back, spend all their time on Instagram, don’t wrap their cell phone in tin foil and stored in the freezer, use 5G, take steroids, worry too much about above.
        
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        January 5, 2022 6:06pm
      - Don Beckett
        
        You forgot //sarc.
        
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        January 5, 2022 8:16pm
    - Benedict Yu
      
      I know you are being sarcastic. You know the vaccines do not prevent vaccinated people from contracting COVID.
      
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      January 5, 2022 9:06am
      - Mr_Blobby
        
        Isn’t the purpose of a vaccine to protect vaccinated from the unvaccinated.
        
        So why the need for a vaccine passport.
        
        Substitute vaccinated with White and Unvaccinated with Coloured and we can have Whites only shopping, events and dining, no Coloured allowed.
        
        Or did I get that wrong.
        
        Although Omicron did come into the Country with vaccinated passengers, sorry how does that work again.
        
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        January 5, 2022 10:41am
    - Mickey
      
      Yes, if their deodorant does not work then why should he wear deodorant?
      
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      January 5, 2022 9:30am
    - Inandout
      
      NK, exactly, double jabbed and boosted; bullet proof.
      
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      January 5, 2022 9:40am
    - JackRabbit
      
      Exactly. If there is any truth to the Covid/Vaccine narrative, Djokovic is more likely to get infected, and even if only mild will stunt his performance, while the vaccinated will be unaffected and uninfected. So they have a potential tactical advantage, while remaining immune.
      
      I have yet to find any record of a all out war, skirmish or even an all out street fight, where those that had better firepower and defenses refused to fight their opponents, because said opponents had less firepower and poor defenses.
      
      If that were the case, instead of invading other countries, Hitler would have stayed at home knitting tea cosies and eating tofu.
      
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      January 5, 2022 11:00am
  - Hollyfield
    
    I’m no tennis expert, but from what little I have seen of the sport it is easy for the two players to keep socially distanced.
    
    Plus an unvaccinated person will not give anyone covid, purely by their vaccination status. However a sick person might make you sick. He’s likely to have to take a covid test.
    
    Anyone refusing to play will be basing their decision on emotion and cancel culture, rather than logic.
    
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    January 5, 2022 8:32am
  - R
    
    Now it remains to be seen how many vaccinated players refuse to play against him.
    
    Well, you could do a risk assessment, given that he has already had Covid. And of course when he is standing at one end of the court his opponent is standing at the other. Maybe the risk is up there with winning first division Lotto? 🙂
    
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    January 5, 2022 8:58am
    - Don Beckett
      
      Plus powerball.
      
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      January 5, 2022 11:52am
  - Ruahine
    
    There will be someone perhaps.
    If you are a player that is seeded say 64th and you are scheduled to play Djokovic at 2 pm in 40 degrees of heat in Melbourne I would not at all be surprised if someone all of a sudden says Oh Oh Covid,
    I could die yah know.
    
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    January 5, 2022 9:23am
  - Observer of Life
    
    Lol.. Captn. You need to re-read your reply. So the other players will (supposedly) all be vaccinated. So where is the problem when this gene therapy is so incredible!!??
    
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    January 5, 2022 10:05am
  - Ehlana
    
    Aren’t tennis players supposed to be on either side of a net? And don’t they usually play in the open air?
    Very little danger of passing anything transmissible, I would have thought.
    
    Unlike basketball, soccer or rugby, where players are physically close to one another.
    
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    January 5, 2022 10:37am
    - gravedodger
      
      That net would be a mask equivalent surely?
      
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      January 5, 2022 11:34am
      - Steve Otto(North Shore)
        
        Yep, sane as a wire mesh fence to keep out mosquitos //
        
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        January 5, 2022 2:25pm
- pdm
  
  kk – to me the fascinating thing is that they say the reason for him not being vaccinated is existing medical conditions.
  
  With a man as obviously fit as Djokovic is that seems to be stretching things – whatever they say.
  
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  January 5, 2022 8:22am
  - bronny1
    
    He might have an auto immune disease, a really well managed one like say hypothyroidism. It’s a good reason not to have the vax IMO
    
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    January 5, 2022 12:40pm
- R
  
  Djokovic has already had Covid, so the chances of him being reinfected – or infecting others – are slim. Not that the Australian Open officials would admit it.
  
  https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/lasting-immunity-found-after-recovery-covid-19
  
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  January 5, 2022 8:55am
  - Tony Stuart
    
    Plenty of people have contracted Covid more than once.
    
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    January 5, 2022 9:07am
    - Man Among the Ruins
      
      What does that say about the danger posed by Covid then? Few people contracted the Spanish Flu more than once.
      
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      January 5, 2022 11:26am
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      They prob got the vax more than once ….
      
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      January 5, 2022 2:26pm
  - Benedict Yu
    
    That is not helpful. That link you posted is ancient. Many people get covid after being infected. And infection by delta seems to offer no effective protection against omicron infection.
    
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    January 5, 2022 9:11am
    - Weetbix3ways
      
      The CDC has apparently been unable to find any proof of covid re-infection.
      Might just be a regular flu?
      
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      January 5, 2022 10:21am
      - Benedict Yu
        
        No.
        
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        January 5, 2022 10:56am
  - MCōs
    
    Djokovic contracted covid-19 more than 18 months ago when he hosted a tournament that had to be curtailed when multiple personnel became infected due to his cavalier approach.
    Whether or not he still has any protection to subsequent strains I wouldn’t know.
    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-24/novak-djokovic-charity-tennis-tournament-became-coronavirus-mess/12387086
    Personally I have no time for the guy and don’t understand what it is he has up his sleeve that he was allowed to compete in this tournament.
    Either they have rules that everyone must follow or they don’t.
    Medical exemption, my arse.
    
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    January 5, 2022 6:29pm
- slightlyrighty
  
  Old No-vax Djokovic….
  
  Mind you, he may have immunity having had, and recovered from COVID-19 already…
  
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  January 5, 2022 9:07am
  - Benedict Yu
    
    No.
    
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    January 5, 2022 10:57am
    - Bluegrass
      
      “No”, he explained.
      
      Or perhaps you disagree, which is merely your opinion and your right – like everyone else’s.
      
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      January 5, 2022 1:06pm
- Benedict Yu
  
  There is nothing to see here. He has a medical exemption. End of story
  He is not evil. And he is not a hero as someone commented. It is a non story.
  
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  January 5, 2022 9:13am
- Scooter
  
  Good on him, let’s hope his stand will enable more to do the same.
  
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  January 5, 2022 9:19am
- Fletch
  
  Meanwhile, yet another soccer player dies of heart problems – only 25 years old. But nothing to do with the vaccines, right?
  
  https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/17216974/footballer-marcos-menaldo-dead-heart-attack/
  
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  January 5, 2022 10:23am
  - ClanMcleod
    
    It’s climate change Fletch. Amazing how this has been “discovered” since the jab proramme came along!
    
    https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/01/190130075748.htm
    
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    January 5, 2022 10:53am
- Jim
  
  Popcorn ready…..in fact closer to home I wonder where Gov is at for that vaccine mandate for the NZ Police Service?
  
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  January 5, 2022 6:45pm
Scott

To add my two cents worth. Love Novak, he is awesome!
Secondly the covid rules don’t make sense.
Three – it’s good to see somebody standing up to the covid tyranny. Good on him I say. ?
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January 5, 2022 8:09am
NK

The haters are just dumb. He’s a hero in my book.
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January 5, 2022 8:09am
- Benedict Yu
  
  He is not a hero. He has a medical exemption. Read the link Maggy posted.
  
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  January 5, 2022 9:08am
  - Lee C
    
    The new normal – where everyone’s confidential medical status is now supposed to be public property.
    
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    January 5, 2022 9:29am
  - gravedodger
    
    Yes Benedict but to deny the opportunity to make Grand Slam Titles numbers in history in making his stand in protesting the idiocy of so much of the Madness gets him close to special in my book?
    
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    January 5, 2022 11:38am
- rouppe
  
  He has recovered from covid.
  
  Therefore he has antibodies.
  
  Therefore he is “immunised”.
  
  End of.
  
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  January 5, 2022 10:02am
  - Benedict Yu
    
    Where do these myths come from? Prior infection with Delta or being vaccinated provides no effective protection from Omicron infection.
    
    https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/232698/omicron-largely-evades-immunity-from-past/
    
    This has been crystal clear for 6 weeks
    
    This tennis player is just as likely to get Omicron as anyone else.
    
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    January 5, 2022 11:02am
    - NK
      
      So what. The ONLY issue is whether he being vaccinated, for the original strain, Delta, Omicron or the fucking Zeus strain (or whatever the next one is called) is whether his vaccination protects OTHER people. And it’s clear that it doesn’t. If he doesn’t want to protect himself, that’s his decision and his business and none of anyone else’s.
      
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      January 5, 2022 11:48am
      - Benedict Yu
        
        Did you read my comment, or the comment to which I was replying?
        
        There was a claim that prior infection provides immunity against Omicron. I pointed out that was false.
        
        There is no “so what?”.
        
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        January 5, 2022 12:30pm
    - Clownworld
      
      Omicron? A named new perhaps not novel cold virus that is becoming common, a common cold aka becoming endemic. This requires needless pressure , border controls, tests and the 1984 like worldwide response from loving kind people first leaders like Daniels and Ardern.
      
      Perhaps it is time to open it all up, no restrictions and no more trial by media and the mob.
      
      As for tennis may the best exceptional player win.
      
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      January 5, 2022 12:31pm
      - Jim
        
        Hell yes. Isn’t it extraordinary that governments have obsessed solely about vaccines and have not informed their populations in respect of modifiable risk factors (weight loss, regular exercise, cease smoking, healthy diet etc) and any associated incentives (free gym memberships, remove gst from healthy fresh food etc).
        
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        January 5, 2022 6:56pm
    - rouppe
      
      Myth?
      
      The rules surrounding the Australian Open will be about vaccination status. If he can successfully argue that his recovery from covid puts him in the same category as a vaccinated person that’s all that matters to the Open organisers.
      
      His – or any other vaccinated player’s – actual risk of contracting or communicating any covid strain is irrelevant to the criteria to play.
      
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      January 5, 2022 12:51pm
    - ClanMcleod
      
      Benedict – firstly that’s not what the report you referenced says. It says protection has dropped from 85% to 19%. I wouldn’t say it is “no effective protection”.
      Second, it’s from Imperial College London and it quotes Neil Ferguson. His previous record for predicting outcomes is horrendous to say the least.
      Third, the whole article is conjecture. From the first paragraph it speaks in ambiguity – “estimates” – “implies” – “suggests”.
      It’s certainly not “crystal clear” about anything.
      
      Even taking the data at face value, it isn’t obvious that the “tennis player is just as likely to get Omicron as anyone else.”
      
      Re previous infection:
      
      “To put this into context, in the pre-Omicron era, the UK “SIREN” study of COVID infection in healthcare workers estimated that prior infection afforded 85% protection against a second COVID infection over 6 months. The reinfection risk estimated in the current study suggests this protection has fallen to 19% (95%CI: 0-27%) against an Omicron infection.”
      
      Re double vaccinated:
      
      “Depending on the estimates used for vaccine effectiveness against symptomatic infection from the Delta variant, this translates into vaccine effectiveness estimates against symptomatic Omicron infection of between 0% and 20% after two doses, and between 55% and 80% after a booster dose. Similar estimates were obtained using genotype data, albeit with greater uncertainty.”
      
      So if he is unvaccinated he has apparently less chance of getting omicron than someone double jabbed, but more chance of getting omicron than someone who has had a booster.
      As with everything about this circus, nothing is “crystal clear” and never has been. The story changes almost daily.
      
      The referenced report is not peer reviewed.
      
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      January 5, 2022 1:11pm
      - mawm
        
        Make that a recent booster.
        
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        January 5, 2022 7:22pm
dime

goddam its hot.

i cant get my pool under 32 degrees. i set the heat pump to 30.5 but that was turned off days ago.

this reminds me of living in oz.

also, bloody sad the amount of drownings going on. im sure there is the odd bad decision involved but still, not good 🙁

do we know if “kiwiswim” has been announced yet? maybe $200 million for iwi? etc etc
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January 5, 2022 8:11am
- UrbanNeocolonialist
  
  They closed most NZ school pools over last 20 years due to cost of testing and supervision regimes required to meet safety elves requirements.
  
  End result will of course be more people (particularly those from poorer areas whose parents can’t afford lessons) drowning due to poor swimming skills.
  
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  January 5, 2022 9:23am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    And alas, under Code Orange, times and spaces are limited at the public swimming pools and lanes have to be booked.
    
    Yesterday there was quite a chop on at the local beaches and a safe option for parents with youngsters who wanted a dip would have been to divert to the nearby public pool…..but the 50m pool was only open for lane swimmers (16 individuals/hour).
    
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    January 5, 2022 10:52am
  - Benedict Yu
    
    Yes a 4 year old drowned in a public pool in Christchurch just before Christmas. Kids can drown in a flash and usually make no noise to attract attention. ?
    
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    January 5, 2022 11:05am
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      Indeed….
      
      but there were a goodly number of life-savers on duty at the 50m pool yesterday…..looking out for the welfare of me (68yrs old & a few life-saving quals) and my swimming buddy (80yrs old) and a couple of rep. butterfly swimmers.
      
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      January 5, 2022 11:13am
      - Bluegrass
        
        I’m gazing out at the snow falling on the deck here in upstate NY [floodlights on], Maggy.
        
        Puhleeze – enough of this swimming in a pool in hot weather…
        
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        January 5, 2022 1:15pm
    - mawm
      
      Parents surely bear the primary responsibility in keeping a close watch on their child.
      
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      January 5, 2022 7:24pm
- CaptainCompromise
  
  The elephant in the room is the ethnicity of the drownings. Immigrant workers represent more than the entire statistical deviation from previous years deaths. This year many immigrant workers are not returning home, and instead are spending the summer here. Many immigrant workers are not taught at all how to swim (Indians in particular, I had an Indian friend who enlightened me to this) or are used to swimming only in protected coastal waters, not swift rivers. That’s why people are drowning.
  
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  January 5, 2022 10:09am
  - Man Among the Ruins
    
    Why are there effectively never any Black competitive swimmers? Must be because race and distinctions in racial characteristics are just constructs, in the same way that all the top sprinters are Black due to social constructs.
    
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    January 5, 2022 11:33am
    - UrbanNeocolonialist
      
      Most young Africans find it difficult to float in freshwater due to low body fat and high bone density. That makes swimming less fun for them.
      But as with most sports given their higher (for west africans) strength and (for north africans) endurance if they were ever to take it up in large numbers competitively they would almost certainly dominate.
      
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      January 5, 2022 1:35pm
      - Man Among the Ruins
        
        ” … if they were ever to take it up in large numbers competitively they would almost certainly dominate.”
        
        I don’t think that’s the case. You are right about the typical African biology not being suited to swimming, but that is my point: they don’t do well in swimming because their genes don’t allow it, which, along with their dominance in sprinting, is good evidence that races are not simply constructs. I think that Anthony Nesty in 1988 is still the only Black (born in Trinidad and Tobago) Olympic swimming champion.
        
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        January 5, 2022 6:05pm
    - NeverMindTheBollocks
      
      Aha! Anthony Nesty of Suriname won gold in the pool at the 1988 Olympics. I was in Suriname the following year, & the only postcard you could buy was of Anthony.
      
      Having said that, very much the exception.
      
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      January 5, 2022 5:15pm
  - Inandout
    
    CC, that may explain the pictures of bodies floating down the Ganges, not good swimmers.
    
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    January 5, 2022 12:39pm
- Paulus Gnome
  
  The word Kiwiswim was mentioned in cabinet and at that exact moment, the wheels fell off and people started drowning in unprecedented numbers.
  
  Labour, the poo fingered government
  
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  January 5, 2022 10:12am
  - JackRabbit
    
    Perhaps the idea of SinkRowNized was put forward?
    
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    January 5, 2022 11:06am
- Charmaine Hawke
  
  I have seen on a few FB pages I am on speculation some of the drownings are people who “can’t” go to their local pools so are taking the kids to the rivers and beaches instead. These people may have no idea about the dangers of flowing water, not being rude but many who only swim in a pool are clueless.
  
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  January 5, 2022 10:41am
- Mr_Blobby
  
  More people die from drowning than from Covid, maybe we should publish that number to.
  
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  January 5, 2022 10:47am
  - mawm
    
    And who had had their swimming lessons. Maybe they go as far as to vilify those that had not and stop them going to the local library or from buying a coffee.
    
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    January 5, 2022 7:29pm
- bronny1
  
  Talking to a “semi pro” surf life saver yesterday. He quit due to the mandates. Said when he was at the beach the other day he saw that the site was being run by teenage boys….and there was actually a rip had formed between the flags. They hadn’t noticed.
  
  There will be drownings this summer.
  
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  January 5, 2022 12:44pm
  - Jim
    
    I imagine it’s difficult watching the surf whilst constantly updating your Facebook page with cool selfies.
    
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    January 5, 2022 7:08pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  I am late to the party. I guess you are talking spa pool dime. Lots of drownings but even in a swimming pool please put your life vest on and lock the gate //
  Amazing how many in just Auckland can’t swim ffs
  
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  January 5, 2022 2:34pm
  - dime
    
    Nah normal pool mate.
    
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    January 5, 2022 3:47pm
Lee C

Meanwhile in the real world, this kind of shit is beinglargely ignored by all sorts of infuential media types in case it disrupts the cosy covid narrative that the state is moticated by really ‘caring’ about its peoples’ health: https://thebfd.co.nz/2022/01/01/happy-new-year-from-the-nz-police/?
utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=SocialSnap&fbclid=IwAR0EAO2N52p_qMO2Sx7LyH1wV9kWykGifS6X_1dko2JtlNkIdudhOGG0gGU
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January 5, 2022 8:13am
- Souvlaki
  
  Regretably, unless the police justify what appears an overly zealous approach, this has the appearance of a political hit job on an ‘eccentric’ person who, like most of us has no love for Ardern or Labour.
  To save face, the police have to come clean in my opinion .
  
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  January 5, 2022 8:29am
  - I remember when
    
    Who would want to be in the Police HR or PR departments.
    The Police haven’t been this popular since the 1981 Springbok Tour.
    
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    January 5, 2022 8:33am
  - Tauhei Notts
    
    The man whose home was raided is obviously farkt in the head. But that is no excuse. Almost all Green voters are similarly farkt in the head, but our police dare not raid them, and they did I would be the first to object. From my reading of 20th century history this raid has Erich Hoenecker’s prints all over it.
    
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    January 5, 2022 8:41am
    - [email protected]
      
      I’m waiting to hear what the police say. Hopefully they had a good reason to do what they did. If not, we need to worry.
      
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      January 5, 2022 8:49am
    - Lee C
      
      I was just mostly concerned about how it was apparently justified by a tip off from a ‘concerned citizen’.
      
      Hard not to go a bit ‘Godwin’ on it. But I’ll zip it.
      
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      January 5, 2022 9:32am
    - Loddenthinks
      
      Somebody (anybody?) with views different to yours are “farkt in the head” are they? Even those who do nothing more than vote for a party you do not like?
      
      By the way, Hoenecker (sic) has been dead for nearly 30 years – I doubt he was involved.
      
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      January 5, 2022 9:32am
      - I remember when
        
        Oh ye of little faith.
        
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        January 5, 2022 9:54am
    - Lee C
      
      I’ve considered your statemt Tauhei about him being ‘farkt in the head’.
      
      If you read Stuff’s outline of his apparent ‘farktness’ railing against gun buy-back, complaining about Crusader name-change, posting about his concernes about Ardern’s ‘agendas’ – I’d have to conclude that about two thirds of all people who visit this blog are similarly ‘farkt’ in the head.
      
      And you are keen to state you don;t support the police move – but I would aks everyone else here – baed on your comments on occasion her on KB – would the police be entitled to feel jusitifed’ in applying ‘Section 18’ on you?
      
      Being ‘farkt in the head’ (in anyone’s opinion) should not be a precondition for running a coach and horses through a persons right to fair treatment by the legal system.
      
      https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/127426117/police-seize-rifle-500-ammunition-rounds-from-controversial-christchurch-pastor-in-new-years-eve-raid
      
      What’s ‘fucked in the head’ about this is the pretty deafening silence about this from our so-called political reperesentatives and their water-carriers.
      
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      January 5, 2022 9:40am
- Pavel
  
  Stuff reported on it today. Gotta say it probably one of the least bias articles I’ve read on there in a long time. I think Jacinda might need to throw them another 50 odd million.
  https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/127426117/police-seize-rifle-500-ammunition-rounds-from-controversial-christchurch-pastor-in-new-years-eve-raid
  
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  January 5, 2022 8:31am
  - Loddenthinks
    
    Except they focus not on the fact that a citizen with no criminal history had his house broken into, ransacked and items he lawfully owned seized and removed, with damage caused unnecessarily (e.g. they ripped the gin safe from the wall before discovering a key in a drawer and opening it).
    
    Instead the headline and main thrust of the article seems to be that “500 rounds of ammunition were seized” as if he was about to go on a rampage with a single-shot .22 rifle.
    
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    January 5, 2022 9:35am
    - Hard Cheese
      
      Stuff also divulges his private medical record and notes that he is one of the unclean. Quite what his vaccination status has to do with him being a gun owner, other than being another tick box on their “discredit the real target of our story” list, I’m not sure.
      
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      January 5, 2022 1:50pm
  - KevO'Brien
    
    Seems like lawlessness on the Police part.
    Have the Covid anxieties wrecked havoc on them too?
    
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    January 5, 2022 10:29am
    - coge
      
      Probably lack of oxygen.
      
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      January 5, 2022 3:46pm
- Gravelroad
  
  Am genuinely debating with myself about commenting on this – with the NZ Police seemingly under the thumb of political influence and direction if a citizen says the wrong thing.
  But, here goes-
  Mr Bromley has a lot of factors against him in our world here today –
  Looks white, is older man probably “privileged”.
  His partner/wife is a woman.
  Religious in a “wrong” sort of way.
  Is outspoken about our kind government
  Is a gun owner (but with the paperwork)
  Possibly a bit excitable and makes some people feel “unsafe”.
  So I can see why the emboldened and scared might make a complaint against him in the hopes of getting him shut down.
  But his alleged treatment is way over the top.
  Here’s a suggestion for the police- next time there is a big gang funeral or celebration which involves mass attendance elsewhere, how about you raid their fortified HQ’s with no notice to search and seize illegal firearms, drugs and stolen goods/cash.
  Go on, why not?
  
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  January 5, 2022 8:41am
  - Sean OConnor
    
    I’m going further. The media want him or his wife or children murdered. Nothing else explains the doxxing of his location yesterday followed by the broadcasting that he’s gunless and the cops won’t help him today.
    Bromley should buy a crossbow, or have his wife buy a gun, if he’s had the good sense to help her get a license.
    
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    January 5, 2022 8:53am
  - Observer of Life
    
    Gravel: Hear hear…
    
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    January 5, 2022 10:16am
  - mawm
    
    Another side of the story must surely be who doxxed him in? What exactly was the complaint? Is this just a malicious way to get back at a neighbour whom you don’t like? It sounds as if either there was some “influence” or deviousness in getting the police to raid his home rather than a polite knock on the door and a discussion. This also smells of an FBI-like intimidation of an alternative political view. We don’t need that here.
    
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    January 5, 2022 10:20am
  - Mr_Blobby
    
    Not sure if you have been keeping up with current events.
    
    But the Police are no longer the biggest Gang in New Zealand.
    
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    January 5, 2022 11:02am
  - rouppe
    
    This should be a lawyers field day.
    
    They say they used Section 18 after a complaint about his mental state.
    
    S18(2) when talking about “circumstances” says:
    
    he or she, by reason of his or her physical or mental condition (however caused),—
    (i) is incapable of having proper control of the arms; or
    (ii) may kill or cause bodily injury to any person
    
    The .22 was in a locked gun cabinet. So he was handling it properly, and didn’t take it away with him.
    I’d love to see the justification for “May kill or cause bodily injury”.
    
    Trouble is, licence is at the discretion of Police, I don’t think they need any real reason to revoke it so if he takes them to court, he’ll probably lose his licence anyway
    
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    January 5, 2022 12:00pm
    - Bluegrass
      
      Discretionary powers granted under legislation have to be seen to have been reasonably exercised.
      
      And where there has been demonstrable compliance with the legislation [i.e. locked gun cabinets in this instance] then a negative decision would likely be deemed failure to have exercised, or to have been seen as having exercised, those discretionary powers.
      
      Well, that was what I was taught in Law School back when dinosaurs roamed Earth.
      
      Heh. Little did I know…
      
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      January 5, 2022 1:32pm
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      “Trouble is, licence is at the discretion of Police”
      Just like that Aussie bloke?
      
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      January 5, 2022 2:38pm
  - Jim
    
    They (the police) have repeatedly demonstrated on national media that they are intimidated by gangs. They wouldn’t dare reap the whirlwind. Simple.
    
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    January 5, 2022 9:30pm
- mandk
  
  The cops’ action here is especially reprehensible because they entered his home when he was not there, and ransacked it. Undoubtedly he was under surveillance.
  
  The correct thing to do would have been to turn up during the day while he was there to carry out whatever lawful business they had to conduct.
  
  However, they chose to behave like the stasi.
  
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  January 5, 2022 9:05am
  - Tony Stuart
    
    I agree. At the very least, Bromley should have had the opportunity to be present during the Police executing their search warrant.
    
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    January 5, 2022 9:15am
    - Sean OConnor
      
      There’s also a big question about whether the police have an improper relationship with the media. Doxxing story on Dec 31, raid on Jan 1. Coincidence?
      
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      January 5, 2022 9:20am
    - Observer of Life
      
      Tony: Did they have a search warrant? Or was this executed under some new rules we don’t know about? You know.. relating to Covid??
      
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      January 5, 2022 10:17am
      - rouppe
        
        Don’t need a warrant for a S18 search.
        
        https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2012/0024/latest/DLM2136653.html
        
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        January 5, 2022 12:02pm
    - The Housekeeper
      
      The article implies there was no search warrant TS, citing Section 18 of the Search and Surveillance Act. Probably why they waited for an empty house.
      
      It’s fair to imagine that Section 18 would only be invoked if danger to life was imminent and there was no time to gain a warrant. Waiting for a vacant house implies no urgency. Neither do three unanswered, unidentified phone calls. How reliable was their tip off? When did they receive it? Did they even try for a warrant?
      
      Also, it’s unclear from the report if they found the key before or after they forced the gunsafe from the wall. Surely a wanton act, either way, when they could have just waited for him to come home and open it. They surely had him under observation to know he was off to a party and would have seen if he had taken his guns with him. The lawyers must be salivating.
      
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      January 5, 2022 11:10am
  - Lee C
    
    They went when he was out becasue they know he would have video-taped them and posted it.
    
    They are cowards.
    
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    January 5, 2022 9:42am
    - KevO'Brien
      
      Why don’t they do their job when activists turn up to take someones land title?
      
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      January 5, 2022 10:31am
  - coge
    
    Yes, the officers concerned appear quite cowardly. Almost as if their values don’t align with their actions. So prefer to keep themselves hidden.
    
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    January 5, 2022 3:50pm
- Jim
  
  I hope the Police involved were all vaccinated….for their safety of course.
  
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  January 5, 2022 7:15pm
Cassandra

Australian pundit Stephen Looseley: three golden rules – never forget who elected you, never ignore their interests and continue to be shaped by their values. The National Party needs to remember them all. The middle of the road is where you get run over.
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January 5, 2022 8:19am
Lee C

Was Ardern ‘interning’ for Blair while this was going on? https://www.bitchute.com/video/4XNGvBJwr4YJ/
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January 5, 2022 8:20am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  The Brits went into Iraq in 2003.
  
  Ardern went to work in Blair’s Office in 2006, when the Yanks were still donkey deep in Iraq.
  
  Over the years Our Dear PM has downplayed her role in ~~worshipping at~~ working at the war-monger’s inner sanctum.
  https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/96123508/jacinda-ardern-i-didnt-want-to-work-for-tony-blair
  
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  January 5, 2022 8:46am
  - Benedict Yu
    
    Read the article. She never worked for Tony Blair. She was a junior public servant in the Cabinet Office. This is a Civil Service department that employs more than 1,000 Civil Servants. She admits in the interview that she never even met Tony Blair.
    
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    January 5, 2022 9:25am
    - ClanMcleod
      
      Read the article? It’s Stuff!
      I have limited time so won’t read Stuff. Is there a link in there to evidence to support your assertion she never worked for Blair? I’ve read multiple sources stating she was a Senior Policy Analyst, including this one from the lefties at the Daily Blog.
      
      https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2017/08/07/jacinda-washed-her-hands/
      
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      January 5, 2022 9:41am
      - ClanMcleod
        
        Actually interesting reading through that article, It’s 2017, John Minto obviously wasn’t a fan of Ardern and made an astute observation.
        
        Re Ardern dumping Meteria Turei for a minor infringement.
        
        “Jacinda, her face earnest and frowning, said what a tragic set of circumstances it was (Jacinda is second to none when it comes to exuding empathy and angst) ”
        
        Well played sir.
        
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        January 5, 2022 10:00am
      - KevO'Brien
        
        Senior Policy Analyst
        ?? Cinders? Capacity grade II mouse.
        
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        January 5, 2022 10:33am
      - Benedict Yu
        
        A “Senior Policy Analyst” in New Zealand is a junior public servant. In the UK even more junior. Don’t get fooled by the title inflation. At the time in her late 20s, she would have got nowhere near Blair. She was a Civil Servant.
        
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        January 5, 2022 11:09am
    - Lee C
      
      Hard to rationalise this with the ways Labour went out of their way to ‘pad’ her ‘cometh the hour’ CV and credentials prior to her first tenure as PM though.
      
      Cake and eat it time?
      
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      January 5, 2022 9:44am
    - ClanMcleod
      
      According to the esteemed Wikipedia re Ardern.
      
      “Ardern moved to London, England where she became a senior policy adviser in an 80-person policy unit of British prime minister Tony Blair.[27] (She did not meet Blair in London, but later at an event in New Zealand in 2011 she questioned him about the invasion of Iraq.”
      
      I can imagine the conversation.
      
      “Tony, you shouldn’t have invaded Iraq on the basis of a lie, would you like another glass of wine? It’s a lovely merlot from Canterbury. Let me tell you all about my policy to eradicate child poverty and build 100,000 houses.”
      
      She’s a true legend and hero of the oppressed, unless they aren’t jabbed, then the bastards can rot in hell – filthy untermensch.
      
      “Yes, yes, that’s exactly what it is.”
      
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      January 5, 2022 11:04am
      - Benedict Yu
        
        This is my last comment on this. Wikipedia is wrong. The Policy Unit was part of the Cabinet Office. Which employed 1,000 civil servants.
        
        Like in New Zealand, the people who work in Ministers Offices are separate from of the public service.
        
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        January 5, 2022 11:13am
  - Benedict Yu
    
    She never worked in the “inner sanctum”. I don’t know where this comes from. She was one of a thousand public servants in a cubicle working on some obscure issues. Tony Blair would not know she existed and the chances of her ever meeting Tony Blair were exactly zero.
    
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    January 5, 2022 9:28am
    - mikenmildagain
      
      For those who dislike Ardern, this is a “heads I win, tails you lose” proposition.
      If Ardern worked closely with Blair, she is an associate of a war criminal. If she didn’t work closely with Blair, she has been exaggerating her background.
      
      19 10
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      January 5, 2022 9:35am
      - Benedict Yu
        
        To give her credit, she does not exaggerate her background. In the article Maggy posted she says that she worked in the “huge” Cabinet Office and never met Tony Blair.
        
        On
        
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        January 5, 2022 9:44am
      - Lee C
        
        In a nutsehell.
        
        But she certainly enjoyed her day in the sun when she had it with the ‘Jacindamania’ fluffers in the media eh?
        
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        January 5, 2022 9:45am
      - ClanMcleod
        
        I don’t care if she did or didn’t. I do know it was widely stated that she was a “Senior Policy Analyst”. If she’s decided to distance herself from that role for pragmatic political reasons so be it. Others have probably dropped things on and off their CV depending what they were trying to achieve. If she over exaggerated her role at the time then so be it.
        Neither is a “big thing” in the scheme of things. Just another piece to add to the many mounting up that help reveal the real Ardern.
        
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        January 5, 2022 9:51am
      - Nickc2
        
        I’d go with the bit about her background!
        
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        January 5, 2022 11:07am
      - Benedict Yu
        
        Don’t be fooled. A Senior Policy Analyst is a junior public servant. Despite the title. In New Zealand they would rarely meet Ministers. In the UK even less so.
        
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        January 5, 2022 11:15am
      - Bluegrass
        
        Politics aside, re your Ladybird books [seeing as I can’t reply directly to your post – and why is that?] – if they weren’t hagiographic would you still have read them as a child, or would you have lost your interest in history?
        
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        January 5, 2022 1:56pm
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      She wasn’t that junior..
      
      Before entering Parliament Jacinda worked for 2 and a half years for the Better Regulation Executive in UK Cabinet Office. Her role as an Associate Director was to improve the way that local authorities in particular interfaced with business. She was also seconded to the Home Office to assist with a review of Policing in England and Wales.
      
      https://ipanz.org.nz/Event?Action=View&Event_id=524
      
      Unless “Associate Director ” means office dogsbody.
      
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      January 5, 2022 9:45am
      - Benedict Yu
        
        An “Associate Director” is not part of the Senior Civil Service. She would not have got anywhere near Tony Blair, as she as stated.
        
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        January 5, 2022 9:59am
      - NeverMindTheBollocks
        
        “Her role as an Associate Director was to improve the way that local authorities in particular interfaced with business”
        
        Which explains a lot
        
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        January 5, 2022 10:22am
      - KevO'Brien
        
        I find it incredible that executive ability is being attributed to Cinders. Is she another Theranos?
        She’s basically a wannabe celebrity, flighty school girl with child–Does fake well.
        
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        January 5, 2022 10:37am
      - lastmanstanding
        
        All central government and local government give themselves grand titles. The rubbish bin emptier is titled “Director of Office Materials Recycling”.
        
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        January 5, 2022 11:33am
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      Oh Gosh!,
      I’ve really got to stop reading Jacinda’s hagiographies….. Here I was thinking she had worked for Tony Blair.
      
      I wonder where I got such a silly idea…
      
      This desire remained through high school, Waikato University and her Big OE, (working in soup kitchens in New York). Along the way she had worked for the NZ Labour Party, UK’s Prime Minister Tony Blair, and President of the Int. Union of Socialist Youth.
      
      https://whatbooknext.com/taking-the-lead-how-jacinta-wowed-the-world/
      
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      January 5, 2022 10:37am
      - mikenmildagain
        
        Much of my early interest in history was encouraged by reading the old Ladybird books about great lives – Elizabeth I, Marie Curie, etc. Unsurprising to find that the current generation of biographies written for children are just as hagiographic.
        
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        January 5, 2022 10:46am
      - Inandout
        
        Maggy, that is what I love about the internet, much of Jacinda’s past has been erased (PMs can do this) but some things remain annoyingly stuck out there.
        
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        January 5, 2022 10:56am
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        @mma
        
        and I believed in Father Xmas until I discovered that the book he delivered to me for my 5th xmas was the identical one I had found and read at the bottom of mum’s wardrobe.
        
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        January 5, 2022 1:46pm
      - Don Beckett
        
        Oh Maggy – you cheat, you.
        
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        January 5, 2022 6:01pm
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        I didn’t know I was cheating…
        
        I was investigating why a book was in the wardrobe…and then I had to read it, because I’d already read dad’s Best Bets and all my brothers’ comics.
        
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        January 5, 2022 6:18pm
Master Mariner

More Gas carriers diverted from Asia to Europe mid route.
https://gcaptain.com/another-lng-cargo-diverted-from-china-to-europe-mid-voyage/
So how is the ” Go Green ” energy route going in Europe?
As a follow on from Yesterdays GD about supply chains, It is NOT a supply chain issue but rather a meddling from Worlds Governments and a ” Central Planning issue.
So how does it effect NZ? Rest assured no Gas Carriers will be diverted here if the need arises. Just look at the Container vessels
that have chased higher rates due to “meddling” from governments World wide.
Difference for NZ is we are litterally at the “arse end ” of the world” and highly vulnerable not only in Supply chains/Logistics but also energy security.
There has been under investment in Oil and Gas in the last decade and now governments are restricting exports.
https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/China-Slashes-Fuel-Export-Quotas-By-56.html
Look no further than Russia and Europe from an Energy perspective.
Another note from my perspective is that it is does not look any better 2022 .
Happy New Year
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January 5, 2022 8:22am
- Master Mariner
  
  To add further fuel to the fire and what is immediately apparent to all with skin in the game,
  https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/OPEC-Continues-To-Struggle-To-Produce-As-Much-As-Quotas-Allow.html
  
  Just let it sink in , What NZ has done by “banning Oil and Gas”.
  
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  January 5, 2022 8:28am
  - Jack5
    
    Excellent post, Master Mariner.
    
    A cold winter with electricity blackouts (from coal and gas shortage) and petrol rationing will jolt New Zealand out of its Green dreams.
    
    Ardern’s impulsive shutdown of oil and petrol exploration was beyond vandalism.
    
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    January 5, 2022 12:12pm
- Nickc2
  
  Agree 100%. Speaking of Russia, Putin has got Germany exactly where he wants it (circa WWII). Germany has shut down its Nuclear Energy plants and caved to the Green Movement and switched to Russian supplied Gas. Now, Putin is threatening to shut off gas to Germany and other European Nations if NATO becomes involved in the debacle over Ukraine and it just happens to be a very cold and bitter winter in that part of the world.
  Will Biden come to the rescue? Doubt it, he’s deliberately running down his armed forces and sacking those who won’t get Vaccinated against Covid and the US is definitely not capable of fighting on two fronts: Ukraine and Taiwan.
  Getting back to shipping, Aust’s Leader of the Opposition wants to purchase/build Aust Flagged and Manned ships to solve Aust’s import and export woes. However, there are currently too few Ports around Aust to serve the newly created requirement and land transport costs are prohibitive.
  I’m aware Master Mariner was advocating for Aust to become a Hub for Aust/NZ maritime purposes and NZ purchase some ships to service NZ’s Maritime requirements. This would not only make sense but also become very necessary in light of our current and ongoing supply chain dilemma in this area of the world.
  The only concern I have would be Unions and that won’t be easy to resolve given past Maritime Union history in Aust and NZ.
  
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  January 5, 2022 10:35am
  - Bluegrass
    
    The EU has now re-classified gas and nuclear as ‘green’.
    
    Awesome example of Realpolitik. And hypocrisy.
    
    France is very pleased, but Germany is now in what the Brits would call a slightly awkward position.
    
    PS How will NZ Greens deal with this Come to Jesus moment?
    
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    January 5, 2022 2:20pm
    - Nickc2
      
      Chloe Swarbrick will dish out some Marajuna Reefers, they’ll all puff up merrily, sing some Kumbiah numbers and pretend nothing happened.
      
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      January 5, 2022 8:41pm
I remember when

Hyundai Denies it’s Abandoning Combustion Engine Development.
Its a long and winding road.
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January 5, 2022 8:29am
- Gravelroad
  
  @I Remember-
  “It’s a long and winding gravel road”
  Fixed for you?
  No electric car for me.
  
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  January 5, 2022 10:19am
  - Nickc2
    
    We’re effed whichever way we go! No fuel for Internal Combustion Engines (ICE) and no fuel to support Electrical Power Generation (EPG).
    However, we have plenty of Coal (EPG problem solved) and apparently plenty of Oil and Gas (ICE problem solved).
    But, to quote the obvious, we have a Labour Greens Govt hence both problems will remain unresolved in the short to medium term.
    IMO, a change of Govt will hopefully address and resolve both problems asap. If not, we’re effed big-time!
    
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    January 5, 2022 10:55am
Yvette

Prince Andrew
Can a person make a ‘legal’ arrangement, that is still actually ‘legal’ in a country that recognises the UN Declaration of Human Rights and several other citizen rights, but also responsibilities, if that ‘legal’ arrangement defies those rights or responsibilities?

For example, if I murder someone, but pay you half a million dollars, can you lawfully agree to never act in any way, or interact with with any other person – who must also waive their rights and responsibilities so as to never reveal this, without yourself being criminal in any way, denying yourself and others human rights, or responsibilities relating to those citizen rights?

And is there not a clear implication (if implications can ever be clear) of criminal liability in that the ‘legal’ arrangement exists at all, and can Virginia Giuffre produce any document or proof so that a court may examine it and consider dismissing any aspect of a case against Queen Elizabeth’s second son, Andrew?

Or is Prince Andrew, by this ‘settlement’, as innocent as you, Reader (depending on your age and long term alibi), or I, who am certainly old enough but likely haven’t been where Andrew has, that I am aware of.
Perhaps not, and this is just a lead Hank Voight would drop, and tell Hailey to look elsewhere, and “Ask for forgiveness later”
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January 5, 2022 8:30am
- Tony Stuart
  
  Look at it from another angle. Did the agreement between Epstein and the young woman cease to have any effect when one of the parties died?
  
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  January 5, 2022 9:16am
  - Yvette
    
    Tony – morally, I would say it remains in effect, but then is it moral in the first place? – which certainly need not have anything to do with being ‘legal’
    
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    January 5, 2022 9:37am
I remember when

SH57 to go South. One way to get there.
And, north after a long scenic detour.
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January 5, 2022 8:30am
Master Mariner

NZ Seafarers plight in NZ. A very good interview “The Coasters Club”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLZ2xGiW0W4
And how its effecting NZ and Supply Chains.
Well worth a watch.
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January 5, 2022 8:41am
Maggie Pie

TRENDING 🙁

Should our own ‘Department Stores’ be concerned?

The level of backwardness & barbarism is scary. TALIBAN are now beheading Shop Mannequins while saying “Allah Akbar” because they….. ‘offend Islam’

https://twitter.com/natiqmalikzada/status/1478028602813779972
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January 5, 2022 8:46am
- krazykiwi
  
  Religion of pieces.
  
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  January 5, 2022 8:52am
- emmess
  
  This lady should start selling them to the Taliban then
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhJWD2TMiYE
  
  It would be a good business model
  
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  January 5, 2022 9:12am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    NZ has some unwanted dummies ….
    
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    January 5, 2022 2:55pm
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  That’ll learn those cheeky mannequins!
  
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  January 5, 2022 10:23am
- Observer of Life
  
  I find that quite disturbing.
  
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  January 5, 2022 10:33am
  - krazykiwi
    
    Sort of. I’m still apoplectic about ISIS’s destruction of The Tetrapylon, an Ancient Roman structure in Palmyra. So much irreplaceable history destroyed.
    
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    January 5, 2022 6:41pm
Sean OConnor

The mainstream media seem to be determined to get Carl Bromley murdered. While he doesn’t seem like a good man or a good pastor, he’s done nothing that justifies having his family’s location doxxed by Stuff, complete with the colour and other identifyimg details of his little trailer so that would-be stalkers know where to go. Now they’ve taken his gun on obviously false pretences and broadcast that anyone can shoot at him without fear of retaliation from Bromley or the police.
Shameful.
And even more shameful that no one is standing up agsinst it.
Are we all such fools to think this sort of thing will stop with Bromley? Did cancel culture stop with Alex Jones?
I implore DPF/the Nats/ACT etc to stand up against such malevolent behaviour and tell the media to die in a ditch when they try to wield Bromley’s character as justification for their mob murder attempt.
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January 5, 2022 8:50am
- The GreyGhost
  
  That’s Logan Robertson, not Carl Bromley.
  
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  January 5, 2022 9:16am
- Jim
  
  Shameful reporting. I wrongly thought an “anti-government opinion” was both legal and still called ‘the opposition’ in a democracy. What ever happened to the BoRA, was it repealed when the Covid Traffic Wardens were being authorised?
  
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  January 5, 2022 9:08pm
The GreyGhost

This sound like he was targeted because of his political views, and the fact he was anti-vax.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/127426117/police-seize-rifle-500-ammunition-rounds-from-controversial-christchurch-pastor-in-new-years-eve-raid
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January 5, 2022 8:59am
- kevn
  
  @Grey… Go with political views. I’ll bet he has had all the usual jabs, measles, mumps, tetanus, polio etc etc. Not anti jab but anti Pfizer jab.
  
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  January 5, 2022 9:38am
Opie

Nz holiday deaths:
On the roads – 16
Drownings – 26
Covid – 2 and the families involved have asked for no further details to be released.

Why not? What is there to hide? This information is really important to help understand what is happening eg are they 5 year old healthy kids? Or triple vaccinated morbidly obese 60 year olds? Or more gang shootings perhaps?

Regardless, the numbers just dont stack up for this disease to require the shutting down of society, compared to other daily risks we accept.
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January 5, 2022 9:09am
- Tony Stuart
  
  Road death total is now up to 17, with the death of a young woman injured in a crash in Matamata at New Year.
  
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  January 5, 2022 9:11am
  - Loddenthinks
    
    One of the 5 youths that stole a car in Hamilton, ram-raided a vape shop in Matamata and drove at speeds far greater than their ability until inevitably crashing.
    
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    January 5, 2022 9:40am
- Mickey
  
  Opie, you ask too hard questions!
  
  The government of transparency will bin those questions.
  
  Also note that recently NZ has been reporting that people have ‘died with COVID’ no longer ‘from COVID’.
  
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  January 5, 2022 9:36am
  - KevO'Brien
    
    And insurance companies are asking questions too…
    https://www.thecentersquare.com/indiana/indiana-life-insurance-ceo-says-deaths-are-up-40-among-people-ages-18-64/article_71473b12-6b1e-11ec-8641-5b2c06725e2c.html
    
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    January 5, 2022 10:42am
  - Opie
    
    Exactly. Covid is so dangerous it managed to possess a gang member to walk up another gang members driveway and shoot him dead.
    
    No real loss, but I fail to see why that sort of behaviour has so much influence on the rest of us
    
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    January 5, 2022 10:52am
  - ClanMcleod
    
    Mickey, I would wager that is because their jab status doesn’t tell the story it did when not so many people were jabbed. Never let the truth get in the way of a corrupt narrative.
    
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    January 5, 2022 11:09am
- mandk
  
  Agreed.
  
  Since the first covid outbreak in NZ, around 60,000 people have died from various causes.
  
  Why aren’t we alarmed by the 59,950 non-covid deaths?
  
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  January 5, 2022 9:56am
  - Jim
    
    Struggling business owners, and families torn apart should be particularly curious.
    
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    January 5, 2022 9:16pm
- Squeek
  
  I often wonder about the statement that the family have asked that no details be given about the person who died of Covid. Does it mean that someone from the MoH rang the next of kin and said “We can deal with any media enquires and of course we will protect your privacy. Just say yes if you agree.”? And so continues the Government’s control of the situation.
  
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  January 5, 2022 11:06am
ClanMcleod

The latest commentary on Eugyppius is excellent as usual.

“Hundreds of thousands of poorly informed dim people in the middle bureaucracy bought very hard into the propaganda they helped create, and they now believe that vaccines, not recovery, are the only solution to Corona; that SARS-2 is only weakly seasonal if at all and that infection waves are driven entirely by human behaviour; and that fomites are a significant transmission vector and masks will save you. There is no turning off or redirecting or adding nuance to a broadly distributed consensus like this, which just marches on and on, oblivious to everything.”

https://eugyppius.substack.com/p/errors-forced-and-otherwise
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January 5, 2022 9:14am
Tasman devil

Swim New Zealand warned earlier last year that there would be an increase in drownings because Covid lockdowns shut down public swimming pools and therefore swimming lessons.

The Prime Muppet couldn’t give a shit as she has a celebrity wedding to worry over.
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January 5, 2022 9:21am
- ClanMcleod
  
  These are just some of the thousands of deaths that are and will continue happening as direct and indirect results of policy decisions made to “fight this pandemic” that is not and never was a pandemic.
  As was widely predicted, deaths from these insane measures will outstrip any actual covid deaths by a very large measure.
  
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  January 5, 2022 11:12am
  - Loddenthinks
    
    Such as the massive surge in whooping cough and other early childhood diseases caused by kids staying home and not being exposed to dirt, germs, bacteria and so on.
    
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    January 5, 2022 11:22am
alloytoo

Here’s a question.

Over the long weekend my wife sought a Covid testing station, there were none open in our area.

Everyday we seem to get a relatively benign number of covid cases announced over this holiday period.

What is the positive results as a percentage a testing and where is that testing actually taking place?

Are numbers we are seeing are the tip of the iceberg?
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January 5, 2022 9:25am
- Mickey
  
  A reliable source informed me on 2 January that since 6 Dec testing numbers has reduced by 60% .
  
  Do the maths.
  
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  January 5, 2022 9:44am
- Tony Stuart
  
  Testing numbers are significantly down on what they were a couple of weeks prior to Christmas. That’s hardly surprising; if you were feeling a bit crook, would you go and get a test that might see you in solitary confinement over the holiday period?
  
  Watch for rising infection numbers in the next few weeks, and not just confined to Auckland, as people get out and about on holiday.
  
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  January 5, 2022 9:45am
  - Master Mariner
    
    Exactly. Who is going to test and risk self isolation over Xmas and NY ?
    
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    January 5, 2022 9:50am
- Other_Andy
  
  A more important question, who cares?
  50 more people have the sniffles….
  Did you, in the past, also eagerly await the media broadcasting the number of people infected by the flu on a daily basis?
  More than 200,000 New Zealanders catch influenza and at least 500 people die from it, EVERY YEAR!
  Compare to the 50 who died WITH covid in the last 2 years……
  Or weren’t you told by the media to be super scared?
  
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  January 5, 2022 10:04am
  - Loddenthinks
    
    Oh come on, man! Cindy saved 80,000 of us from certain Covid death – her mate Hendy said so! //s
    
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    January 5, 2022 11:25am
- GJM
  
  Easy way to reduce “case numbers” for, lLet’s be honest, a case of the sniffles that you have to test for to know you are sick.
  No-one with any sense get tested on their holidays unless forced to. It does show that it is political, note health related. If it was as deadly as they pretend, Christmas would make no difference to the test and trace system.
  
  What it does mean, is once the Karen’s get tested after the holidays, cases will rise,,if only due to the the 40 cycle PCR test. Just in time for the lockdown after the wedding as rumored.
  
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  January 5, 2022 6:08pm
NeverMindTheBollocks

I’m in one of our holiday towns, & fancied taking a scenic flight in an open cockpit biplane (pilot plus one passenger).

But, masking (under the flying suit & goggles!) & vax pass are mandatory.

It’s unclear how any reasonable risk assessment would come up with these requirements.
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January 5, 2022 9:29am
- mandk
  
  We had some twerp do a covid risk assessment for our workplace.
  
  He looked at 7 risk factors and rated 3 low, 2 medium and 2 high.
  
  Yet his overall assessment of the workplace was that the risk was high to extreme.
  
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  January 5, 2022 10:03am
  - ClanMcleod
    
    That’s the risk assessor doing his own risk assessment that concludes if he rates the risk as high he can’t be blamed later if anyone gets sick or hurt.
    It’s vicious, circular logic.
    
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    January 5, 2022 11:15am
  - Bluegrass
    
    It’s called job security, dude.
    
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    January 5, 2022 2:28pm
- Observer of Life
  
  Went to Hampton Downs the other day. To drive your own car around the race track, you have to have a Covid Passport!! ?
  
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  January 5, 2022 11:08am
  - Opie
    
    Yep. Motorsport nz have repeatedly asked the government to allow access to their tracks (and other events) with proof of a negative test but they are classed as events so papers please.
    
    This no longer has anything to do with health.
    
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    January 5, 2022 2:24pm
Tony Stuart

I was sent this link last night. It’s to an article Dr Siouxsie Wiles wrote on 4 March 2020, around the time that New Zealand had its second positive Covid patient:

OPINION
It is the National Party leader’s job to oppose the government. But as a second case of Covid-19 in New Zealand is confirmed, he should tone down the anecdotal criticisms, and rein in MPs explicitly urging people to panic-buy, writes Siouxsie Wiles, an associate professor in molecular medicine and pathology.

Dear Simon

I do understand that you lead the Opposition. I get that it’s your job to hold the government to account, and that this is an election year. Of course you and your caucus are keen to score points against the government wherever you can. But the reality is, you don’t actually have to oppose everything it does. Sometimes, such as in the case of a public health emergency, it might be worth putting the kneejerk response on hold.

I was really disappointed to hear you get stuck into the official response to the coronavirus outbreak and the testing regime in comments relying on anecdotal feedback.

https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/04-03-2020/some-advice-for-simon-bridges-on-being-responsible-in-a-health-emergency

From memory, by this time National, via Bridges, and Act, via David Seymour, were calling for the New Zealand border to be closed to stop the flow of further Covid cases into New Zealand. That was a perfectly acceptable and responsible thing the the Leader of the Opposition and the Act leader to be doing. Bridges was also calling for greater access to Covid tests, which at that point was limited. He continued to call for a border closure, as this piece from 19 March 2020 shows:

http://www.voxy.co.nz/politics/5/360774

Bridges was later the subject of a disgraceful social media pile-on, and also received death threats. One can only wonder whether opinion pieces from the likes of Dr Wiles played any part in that pile-on, which ultimately cost Bridges the leadership of the National Party, and pretty much cemented Labour’s 2020 election win.

There’s no doubt too that Dr Wiles has received abuse via social media, and that is unacceptable. I do believe it is disingenuous for Dr Wiles to portray herself as some sort of neutral expert, when she had already entered the political debate by criticising Bridges for recommending something which the Labour-led Government subsequently adopted.
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January 5, 2022 9:31am
- Suze Wainwright
  
  Yes, I remember when Wiles commented on yet another area of her extraordinary expertise (I.e., Sociology) last year, she opined about her disappointment with people who ridiculed ‘wokeism.’
  
  Interesting that a number of lefties on social media yesterday were doubling down on Akld Uni’s apparent lack of support for Hendy & Wiles – yet made NO mention of the Prime Minister’s Office’s culpability in adding to these two poor academics’ stress levels…
  
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  January 5, 2022 10:49am
- Yvette
  
  Tony, did this nor also co-incide with –
  “A number of us guys had a meeting with the prime minister and Grant Robertson on the Sunday before lockdown,” said Tindall.
  “Some of us, Sam Morgan and I in particular, realised there was a lot of stuff not getting done. We basically took the bull by the horns along with the guys from Zuru, and used our own money and ordered up a whole heap of PPE gear. There’s actually seven planeloads coming. Two have arrived already.”
  https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2020/04/the_businessmen_who_helped_save_us.html
  
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  January 5, 2022 11:02am
- Lucia Maria
  
  A good reminder that National & ACT panicked first.
  
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  January 5, 2022 6:39pm
Benedict Yu

That will bugger up Huntly..

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Markets/Commodities/Indonesia-s-sudden-coal-export-ban-hits-mining-shares
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January 5, 2022 9:32am
- Master Mariner
  
  Yep reading this too.
  https://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/Coal-Price-Set-To-Surge-As-Major-Producer-Indonesia-Bans-Exports.html
  
  “However, this has also sparked concern about the security of supply, and for Indonesia specifically, it caused lower than usual inventory levels, which was the reason for the proposed ban, as the government worried about the risk of widespread blackouts.”
  
  As posted above , Energy security is gaining traction and more bans are the new norm as are all natural resources as protectionism is on the rise.
  
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  January 5, 2022 9:41am
  - KevO'Brien
    
    More discussion about coal.
    Indonesia’s export ban will only last through January but could slash global seaborne supply by 45%. Indonesia is the largest exporter of coal in the world.
    
    May give Robbo real worries as amateur Min Fin.
    
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    January 5, 2022 10:47am
    - KevO'Brien
      
      Oops, here’s the ref:
      https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/coal-prices-rise-worlds-largest-coal-exporter-bans-exports
      
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      January 5, 2022 10:48am
- Jim
  
  Sounds like the Indonesian government is prioritising its domestic (price capped) market before resuming (high priced) exports. Just a shame NZ doesn’t do the same with our food and dairy industries.
  
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  January 5, 2022 9:44pm
I remember when

Jan Thomas and Dawn Freshwater – is there a pattern here.
Both imported into VC positions.
Degrees in Nursing and Veterinarian science.
Both allowing their belief in Maori/Polynesian matters to colour their role as spokespeople for their University.
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January 5, 2022 9:35am
- mikenmildagain
  
  Vice-chancellors can be funny beasts.
  Remember the recently departed VUW chappie whose big thing was to drop ‘Victoria’ from the university’s name because one of his mates told him ‘Wellington University’ would be more marketable?
  
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  January 5, 2022 10:33am
  - KevO'Brien
    
    I dunno any Wellington Uni. I went to Vic.
    
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    January 5, 2022 10:50am
    - MCōs
      
      I’m surprised
      
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      January 5, 2022 7:52pm
kevn

@BY… Money talks, we will just PAY more.
Because the clown circus isn’t stupid you know.
Just jack up the price this end to cover it.
Sorted. Plebs.
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January 5, 2022 9:35am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Did the dork get asked to show proof of his Vax Cert first?
  
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  January 5, 2022 3:04pm
Master Mariner

Good to see balanced reporting regarding EV’s and in particular Lithium mining .

https://www.interest.co.nz/personal-finance/113910/your-new-government-subsidised-electric-vehicle-may-not-have-life-you-think

“And as you probably know, the New Zealand Government is keen for you to ‘electrify’, especially your transportation. They are handing out subsidies of more than $8000 per car to encourage you to choose a battery-powered EV. That battery will almost certainly be a lithium-ion battery.”

I wonder if the Greens get this very “simple” fact ?
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January 5, 2022 9:45am
- Other_Andy
  
  China controls 85% of the rare earth metal market and is is by far the biggest emitter of CO2.
  Buying electric supports the CCP and increases emissions.
  I wonder if the Greens get these very “simple” facts ?
  
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  January 5, 2022 10:31am
  - Master Mariner
    
    Yep, And throw Myanmar and Afghanistan into the mix.
    I wonder where all the new Ports are for Belt and Road iniative ?
    Not too mention Pipelines and Energy security.
    Before anyone asks about Ports in Afghanistan, Look no further than Pakistan located just outside the straights of Hormuz.
    Really starting to look like the Chinese understand Supply chains.
    If they overtake Chang Kai Cheks old fiefdom then through in Computer chips as well ( Taiwan).
    
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    January 5, 2022 11:29am
- EssenX
  
  I enjoy interest.co.nz. Jenee there has asked some awkward questions of both Ardern and Robertson in recent times. The only blemish I’ve seen there was when David Chaston claimed the USA now had “competent leadership”. Other than that, it’s had some good material.
  
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  January 5, 2022 11:57am
Inandout

A well informed individual welcomes other points of view such as this. Yes Megyn is pretty also.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_Cp9w_d_k4
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January 5, 2022 9:46am
emmess

I find this interesting

I consider Newsweek/MSN to be a leftish source, clearly mainstream media but not one of the more hysterical sources.

Read this opinion piece written from a right-leaning perspective

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/2021-the-year-of-the-ruling-class-crackdown-on-dissent-opinion/ar-AASnBzc

Very positive comment and reactions

Is something changing in parts of the American MSM?
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January 5, 2022 9:48am
- Inandout
  
  emm, the US media is beholden to the establishment, and the latter is getting freaked out by Biden’s appalling ratings. Inflation, shortage of goods, radical school programs and rampant crime feed into the reason Dems are running scared of the mid term result predictions. Their media has not been brazenly purchased like Jacinda has done to ours.
  
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  January 5, 2022 10:40am
  - Bluegrass
    
    Indeed.
    
    The Establishment wants Incitatus to return to his stable.
    
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    January 5, 2022 2:35pm
- Lucia Maria
  
  Wow. This might related the recent Joe Rogan effect of becoming the mainstream, nudging out the legacy corporate media.
  
  It does direct ire towards the “Ruling Class” rather than the Corporate Owners of the media, so maybe this is seen as the safer option.
  
  Interesting shift and so soon!
  
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  January 5, 2022 6:37pm
Maggie Pie

Sounds like that Judge in New York is going to leave Andrew sweating a wee bit longer.
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January 5, 2022 9:52am
- Tony Stuart
  
  I see what you did there 😉
  
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  January 5, 2022 9:58am
  - Maggie Pie
    
    Can’t see it going against Andy tbh….can u Tony?
    A ‘legal agreement’ is just that. You can’t just change your mind later.
    
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    January 5, 2022 10:04am
    - Tony Stuart
      
      As I said above, does the agreement cease to have any legal effect when one of the parties to it is deceased?
      
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      January 5, 2022 10:40am
      - Maggie Pie
        
        Well I’m no a lawyer.
        But imagine if MY ex died suddenly, could his new missus come back on me and say… had they known how much house prices were going to increase in Remuera over the last 13 years, would he have ever agreed to sell his half-share to me for $1.3m?
        
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        January 5, 2022 10:54am
      - Nookin
        
        Tony, I imagine that if the agreement ceased to have effect on Epstein’s demise the other party would have been to court after Epstein’s estate like a rat up a drainpipe.
        So longer as Epstein paid whatever he was required to pay and did whatever he was required to do then the case is all over but only as between Epstein and the plaintiff.
        The issue here is not Epstein’s death but whether other parties can claim the benefit of a contract to which they are not party. I know nothing about US law on this issue. I imagine it would have to be clear cut ie “this payment is in satisfaction of all claims that you may have against me, any employee, colleague, acquaintance etc”.
        I would expect the nature of the claim would have to be specified also.
        If Andrew says that his mate settled any claims the plaintiff might have against him then that would have to be clear from the contract.
        
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        January 5, 2022 11:22am
      - alloytoo
        
        Only if death renders one or parties unable to fulfill their obligations under the agreement.
        
        Where one party has met their obligation (paying a fee) death does not relieve the other party of delivering the goods or services etc specified in the agreement either to the deceased estate or to the heirs to the estate.
        
        I can’t think of any reason where someone has lawfully agreed to confidentiality in respect of a consideration, shouldn’t honour said contract post the death of one or more parties.
        
        It goes without saying that you cannot agree to do something unlawful, and any contract to hide an illegal act would not be a legal contract.
        
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        January 5, 2022 11:47am
      - Tauhei Notts
        
        That is an interesting scenario.
        Imagine if the “new missus” ticked some woke boxes such as race, gender change, pink hair etc;
        “It was unfair for my late husband to only get $1.3mil for half the house that is now worth $4mil . Pay up $700k and we call it quits.”
        Imagine, for a moment, the huge legal fees you could face to oppose such lunacy. It is quite scary, isn’t it.
        
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        January 5, 2022 12:00pm
    - Paulus
      
      In the US I expect you can if enough money is highly involved.
      
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      January 5, 2022 2:09pm
    - KevO'Brien
      
      This peculiar agreement needs interpretation under laws of the jurisdiction stated by the document. If none such other law will need to settle that issue and the rights of the parties living or dead or their representatives to any claims.
      This is all a legal can of worms if one can afford the fees. The rights of claimants to be joined as parties is all arguable.
      
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      January 5, 2022 3:07pm
Fletch

I listened to the news on the radio today, and I see that those in power are still pushing the vaccine booster as being needed to ward off Omicron. This is despite data from Germany, Ontario, Denmark, the UK, Delhi, and Bangladesh all showing that vaccinated people are much more likely to contract Omicron.

https://www.theblaze.com/op-ed/horowitz-6-important-covid-data-points-that-destroy-the-prevailing-narrative
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January 5, 2022 10:35am
- alloytoo
  
  There is an argument that an additional booster could reduce the symptoms of Omicron. There is also substantial evidence to suggest that Omicron is very much less virulent than it’s predecessors (irrespective of vaccine status)
  
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  January 5, 2022 11:50am
  - UrbanNeocolonialist
    
    There are also strong hints that there is some major, perhaps more lethal than than covid pneumonia unknown killer associated with covid or vaccines or the lifestyle/living changes associated with covid. +40% in excess deaths for working age people in Indiana in 2021, and people dying in ICU of covid is a small fraction of that. It seems most likely to be unaccounted for cardiovascular damage from covid or vaccines.
    https://stevekirsch.substack.com/p/unprecedented-deaths-in-indiana-for
    
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    January 5, 2022 1:51pm
- NK
  
  They’re being lobbied by Pfizer to sell this message, a company that turns over > $30 billion per annum.
  
  Is Neale Jones working for Pfizer?
  
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  January 5, 2022 12:14pm
Tasman devil

No sweat.
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January 5, 2022 10:35am
oldfella

I might have missed it, but… has Cindy had her booster yet? She had her two jabs early on in the piece, so would have been eligible for the top-up before Christmas.
So why no story about her getting her booster, leading from the front, encouraging the team?
If the booster is not urgent, why push for the rest of us to get it done ASAP? Protect against Omicron, etc
Can’t wait for some local journo to ask the question. /s
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January 5, 2022 11:01am
Ohm my

I’m on holiday at accomodation with no wifi, so for us it means no Netflix/Plex etc. We are stuck with Freeview and it has been a revelation. The covid vaccination propaganda is relentless. I understand a little better now why some friends and family members are mindless covid vaccine zombies.
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January 5, 2022 11:12am
- Fletch
  
  Yup. Like my folks, who don’t use the internet. It’s all over the news, TV ads, and they get phone texts etc. It’s a huge propaganda push. Some day these people will need to be held accountable for all this.
  
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  January 5, 2022 1:41pm
  - UrbanNeocolonialist
    
    As if. Bureaucrats and politicians are no longer accountable to the public as the media are now owned by them
    
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    January 5, 2022 1:55pm
  - [email protected]
    
    Very funny. I keeps getting text messages with various offers to get vaccinated. A recent one was trying to bribe me with a $50 Pak n Save voucher. How did these people get my phone number and how did they get my confidential health details?
    
    I texted them back with those questions and said they should be ashamed of themselves but no response yet.
    
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    January 5, 2022 6:10pm
    - mawm
      
      I had a. couple of text messages too and then a phone call from the nurse at the GP’s. She came straight out and asked me if I ever intended to get vaccinated. I said no and have had nobody bother me since.
      We all have an NHI and with it a file with all our health information, next of kin, phone numbers and address. There are advantages and disadvantages.
      
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      January 5, 2022 8:51pm
- Inandout
  
  Ohm, even on YouTube the covid message appears before a chosen program. I just go back and forth until the ads cease to appear because I am buggered if I am going to pay for YT ad free. As far as Freeview is concerned I know smart TVs are almost impossible to buy off the floor in shops so there must be lots of internet users. We use Freeview on The Chase, recorded so we can zip through the ads.
  
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  January 5, 2022 2:20pm
  - alloytoo
    
    I report the Covid YT adverts as misleading.
    
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    January 5, 2022 4:56pm
  - GJM
    
    Get one of the YouTube ad blockers for your browser. I haven’t seen a YouTube ad for ages
    
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    January 5, 2022 6:16pm
    - marcw
      
      I can confirm, I have used UBlock Origin in Firefox for over a year, and had no problems with youtube. Before this was installed I had virtually given up on them because of the ad intrusion.
      
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      January 5, 2022 7:13pm
Nickc2

Hey Cindy, you fucked up banning plastic bags. Did you check if there was a market for them? No, of course not.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2JH4xiP71g
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January 5, 2022 11:44am
- Inandout
  
  Nick, we grab lots of supermarket bags in the supermarket vege area for home use. Have you bought an electrical item lately? The packaging is horrendously plastic or polystyrene based. Then there are plastic wraps around all manner of building materials. The plastic bag ban is a sham.
  
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  January 5, 2022 2:25pm
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Electrical plastic packaging stops theft. It also causes a lot of stress
    
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    January 5, 2022 3:15pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Of COURSE she thonght of it, she is a thinker. But then that is pure evil Capitalism, so another Captain’s call. How dare people try and make money out of waste?
  
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  January 5, 2022 3:13pm
NK

The Black Caps have been whopped by Bangladesh in their backyard. Shameful performance.
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January 5, 2022 12:12pm
- greybeard
  
  NZ thought they were going to win with their eyes closed.
  As I said yesterday: Black caps are too uppity.
  
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  January 5, 2022 12:45pm
  - Tauhei Notts
    
    Question:
    Which Canterbury golf course will host the NZ Cricket team on Monday 21st February?
    Why?
    Because after today’s effort The Japies will win in four days or less.
    
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    January 5, 2022 2:13pm
- MCōs
  
  I’m a Blackcaps supporter and always have been through some pretty rough times, and always will be.
  They were clearly below their best in this test, but the Bangladesh team also played much better than expected.
  There’s a selection problem in my opinion. It was obvious that Ravindra is neither a test quality bowler or batter. Southee looked impotent. I’d bring in Michell & maybe Patel.
  
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  January 5, 2022 7:07pm
Maggie Pie

New twitter bestie from Northland asks very pertinent question….

Check out the replies 😀 😀 😀

https://twitter.com/CraigS2021/status/1478161746204381184
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January 5, 2022 12:36pm
- Alan Wilkinson
  
  The petrol pump notice takes some beating.
  
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  January 5, 2022 11:40pm
NK

OK, I also read Maggie’s link. He’s a hero because he has challenged the narrative and won.
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January 5, 2022 12:40pm
Lucia Maria

The left are going mad over Omicron cases in Australia:

Lying ex tobacco lobbyist

Be like Australia they said.

I feel abandoned’: Australians waiting hours to be tested and days for their results blame governments

‘It feels like they’re actively not wanting us to get tested.’

And another tweet from the same guy:

Now I know a bunch of us are looking over at what’s going on in Aussie & thinking wouldn’t it be great for Lyin Luxon to be as brutally exposed & as justifiably hated as Scott Morrison. But look at the price we’d have to pay.
#NationalNotFitToGovern
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January 5, 2022 12:44pm
- NK
  
  They’re not to blame, Lucia. They have been fed this narrative for two years and have fallen for it hook, line and sinker. Trust the politicians, they said. There is only one truth, they said. Trust the science, they said. And most did. It’s understandable. If you go against the narrative you’re hated on, vilified, called names, and shunned, ostracised, censored and censured. So you fall into line, as it’s just easier.
  
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  January 5, 2022 1:01pm
  - mawm
    
    I often wonder what kind of threats have been used for so many heads of state to abandon their principles and electorate. Jacinda, Trudeau, Macron etc I can understand as they are WEF “agents”, but Johnson and Morrison??
    
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    January 5, 2022 8:58pm
Maggie Pie

As the 15th draws inexorably closer, it will be quite interesting to find out WHO within the Ropu-Reipa-o-Aotearoa caucus, never received an invitation.

Hmmm….
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January 5, 2022 1:09pm
- DeepBlue
  
  Forget the 15th, The Herald let slip the wedding was at the end of January. Someone must have been on the invite list. It makes sense, after the kids go back to school, better weather and the booster programme well underway. Photos in the Feb mags for the new polical year.
  
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  January 5, 2022 2:35pm
  - GJM
    
    Means we won’t have a lockdown until after then anyway. Enjoy the break. It is the last,one you will have
    
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    January 5, 2022 6:20pm
Stu2

Just been watching the Deputy Head of NSW Health covering a number of covid issues.

They had 35,000 cases yesterday, and have around 3,000 hospital staff out of action due to being infected or close contacts waiting on negative tests.

Like NZ the vast majority of cases are being looked after in the community. Very high vaxx levels mean not many get sick enough to need hospitalising but it does make me nervous.

We could not deal with a max of 200 delta cases a day perfectly. Some of the people being looked after in the community died due to care stuffups. The system didn’t react when they worsened and needed hospital care. How would community care cope with 2,000 cases a day? Or 4,000?

Numbers like that look entirely possible, this is how daily cases in Victoria have tracked:

29/12/2021 5,100
30/12/2021 5,839
31/12/2021 7,367
1/01/2022 7,098
2/01/2022 8,529
3/01/2022 13,962
4/01/2022 17,636
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January 5, 2022 1:20pm
- Fletch
  
  I posted this yesterday on GD, from an Ozzie on Facebook yesterday about how the media were inflating cases in NSW.
  
  ACTIVE CASES: 225,649
  225,479 (99.9%) in Mild Condition
  170 (0.1%) Serious or Critical
  CLOSED CASES: 274,338
  272,072 (99.2%) Recovered / Discharged
  2,266 (0.8%) Deaths
  
  As has been said many times before – what constitutes a case? A number on a PCR test? Are the positive actually sick at all?
  
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  January 5, 2022 1:49pm
- NK
  
  The number of cases is irrelevant. There are 1,100 (or so) people in hospital. In 2017, in the middle of winter, there were >8,000 in hospital with the flu.
  
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  January 5, 2022 1:51pm
NK

Can someone please help with this question – I have asked around and no one knows the answer.

When you go into an establishment and the staff there ask for your Vax pass, they bring out their phone to scan it. It’s their personal phone. What does the scanning do, and more importantly, where does the result end up?

Does Jane Smith, the waitress working in Excellent Cafe, now have my personal details stored on her phone?
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January 5, 2022 1:54pm
- Inandout
  
  NK, supposedly it isn’t recorded but the day after the pass test became law my cafe girl (15?) looked intently at my paper copy. Yesterday just a cursory glance.
  
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  January 5, 2022 2:08pm
  - kevn
    
    @InOut… I have printed a colour copy of my pass and reduced it to credit card size, so it fits in my wallet pockets. QR code is too small to scan but hasn’t been a problem. They who need to, tell me viewing it is good enough.
    Adds an entertainment factor.
    
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    January 5, 2022 4:42pm
- Phronesis
  
  My informed understanding is that the QR code contains no more information than is visible on the pass itself. The person scanning the pass may be taking a copy of it to sell on the internet though. It was pointed out to me recently by someone I know who was obliged to sight my pass that it wasn’t actually my pass that I was using. It was a family members that I also carry. So I doubt the pass system is achieving anything beyond separating society into the compliant and the non-compliant. Which may well have been the true intention.
  
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  January 5, 2022 2:17pm
- Loddenthinks
  
  I can tell you what we have been told – that is that the Verifier app is able to verify or disprove that your “papers” are all in order, but that it doesn’t retain, store or transmit any identifying details.
  
  The Government has told us this, therefore it must be true and if you disagree you;re an anti-vaxxer conspiracy nutjob, obviously.
  
  No word on what happens when said Jane Smith decides (or is told) to take a screenshot of your details when they appear, as I’ve seen them do.
  
  https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-vaccines/my-covid-record-proof-vaccination-status/nz-pass-verifier
  
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  January 5, 2022 2:19pm
  - NK
    
    Thank you. I don’t read that page – I can’t as it all makes me sick.
    
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    January 5, 2022 2:22pm
  - MCōs
    
    When a pass is scanned the pass holder’s name and date of birth only show briefly. The Verifier App does not store or collect personal information.
    It’s an offense to collect and/or sell the details from the My Vaccine Pass and use for purposes outside the covid-19 response.
    
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    January 5, 2022 5:43pm
    - MCōs
      
      https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-vaccines/my-covid-record-proof-vaccination-status/nz-pass-verifier#privacy
      
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      January 5, 2022 7:49pm
    - Loddenthinks
      
      And if you take a screenshot while they display, you’ve just proven the Verifier propaganda to be wrong.
      
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      January 6, 2022 8:19am
- Russ the Muss
  
  Oh, there’s an idea, I quite like Jane:)
  
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  January 5, 2022 4:51pm
- Nickc2
  
  I would suspect so. If she now has it, who has she shared it with and why? Put your question to Chris Hipkins.
  [email protected]
  
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  January 5, 2022 8:32pm
Fletch

Non-Covid deaths in Indiana are up 40% – an unheard of number. And not just at one insurance company. I wonder what that could be?

The head of Indianapolis-based insurance company OneAmerica said the death rate is up a stunning 40% from pre-pandemic levels among working-age people.

“We are seeing, right now, the highest death rates we have seen in the history of this business – not just at OneAmerica,” the company’s CEO Scott Davison said during an online news conference this week. “The data is consistent across every player in that business.”

OneAmerica is a $100 billion insurance company that has had its headquarters in Indianapolis since 1877. The company has approximately 2,400 employees and sells life insurance, including group life insurance to employers in the state.

Davison said the increase in deaths represents “huge, huge numbers,” and that’s it’s not elderly people who are dying, but “primarily working-age people 18 to 64” who are the employees of companies that have group life insurance plans through OneAmerica.

“And what we saw just in third quarter, we’re seeing it continue into fourth quarter, is that death rates are up 40% over what they were pre-pandemic,” he said.

“Just to give you an idea of how bad that is, a three-sigma or a one-in-200-year catastrophe would be 10% increase over pre-pandemic,” he said. “So 40% is just unheard of.”

Davison was one of several business leaders who spoke during the virtual news conference on Dec. 30 that was organized by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce.

Most of the claims for deaths being filed are not classified as COVID-19 deaths, Davison said.

https://www.thecentersquare.com/indiana/indiana-life-insurance-ceo-says-deaths-are-up-40-among-people-ages-18-64/article_71473b12-6b1e-11ec-8641-5b2c06725e2c.html
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January 5, 2022 2:02pm
- Fight4NZ
  
  Sounded concerning until with a couple of minutes checking I found this is not the full article. In fact it is a suspiciously alarmist edit.
  https://www.heraldbulletin.com/news/coronavirus/chamber-hospitals-beg-hoosiers-to-vaccinate/article_37ce3c8a-6990-11ec-8523-eb2d0c9ab421.html
  
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  January 5, 2022 3:50pm
- Russ the Muss
  
  Interesting eh. I guess that means our life insurance goes up? One thing about actuaries, they know their data, probably better than so called scientists and other experts!
  
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  January 5, 2022 4:54pm
TT500

Due to unforseen circumstances

Mr S Hendy and Ms S Wiles will be unable to
attend a wedding
13 2
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January 5, 2022 2:07pm
- fightingtemeraire
  
  OH diddums!!!!!
  
  4 1
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  January 5, 2022 3:27pm
CAKE FACE1

Is it just me, or does the “Deady Delta” fear mongering now look incredibly stupid?

“Deadly Delta” kicked off when only 20% of “Aotearoans” were vaccinated. The result – virtually nobody died. A few died WITH “Deadly Delta”, but virtually no-one died exclusively FROM “Deadly Delta”, to such an extent, that delta does not seem particularly deadly at all…

Ten percent or approximately half a million adults are still unvaccinated, but “Deadly Delta” doesn’t seem to be seeking them out, killing thousands, as we were warned…

Perhaps “Deadly Delta” was just a nasty flu? And perhaps Omi-con is little more than a bad cold?

When are the government opening the borders?
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January 5, 2022 2:08pm
- greybeard
  
  Mate, good luck with trying to get such logical thoughts anywhere near the great unwashed.
  
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  January 5, 2022 5:45pm
Lucia Maria

Must read: The Mainstream Media Is Losing The Fight Of Its Life…All Thanks To Joe Rogan

… I listened to the Joe Rogan Experience podcast interview of mRNA inventor Dr. Robert Malone, M.D., hours after the doctor was banned from Twitter for having opinions on Covid that stood at odds with the mainstream narrative.
…
Putting aside the obvious irony of Twitter attempting to ban somebody and the person in question going viral as a result, I also thought about how, despite the fact that Malone’s opinions put him at odds with the mainstream media (who would never dare to have him on), Joe Rogan launched him past the usual media suspects and into the real “mainstream”.
…
I think the result of the seismic shift is going to be several-fold, but the most important revelation I’ve come to is that the mainstream media is losing the fight of its life over the Covid narrative.

If there’s one thing we can agree one, it’s that Covid is a tie that binds all 7 billion people on Planet Earth right now: everybody knows about it, everybody is concerned about it and everybody, to some degree, wants to stay informed about it.

In fact, health officials and the media have made it this way.

What they may not have known they were inadvertently doing, however, was opening up communication veins for people with integrity and honesty like Joe Rogan to dose them with a them with a look at reason and honest inquiry. This, in turn, created a benchmark for the world to compare the mainstream media to, revealing them to be the hysterical, sensational maniacs that they’ve become.
…
But what I do want to say is that I’m predicting for 2022 that the media is going to make one of the biggest pivots on any topic it has ever made, on Covid.

If you haven’t listened to the Joe Rogan interview with Robert Malone then I strongly recommend you do so – you can find it on Spotify
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January 5, 2022 2:25pm
- Lucia Maria
  
  And here we go on Stuff: Covid-19: Omicron ‘may be what lifts us out of the pandemic’, according to a Danish official
  
  The Danish study suggests that the Omicron variant of the virus is spreading more rapidly because it is better at evading immunity obtained from vaccines.
  
  Yes, most people testing positive for Omicron in Denmark are 2x or 3x jabbed, making vax passes completely redundant.
  
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  January 5, 2022 2:38pm
  - alloytoo
    
    they were redundant under Delta, when the PM was asked about Israeli breakthrough data she ran away to the loo.
    
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    January 5, 2022 3:11pm
Maggie Pie

A bestie from tennis just txts…..

“Let me know when the Omicron outbreak has become serious enough to stop pommie DJ’s visiting the country.
Until then, I’ll just live a normal life.”
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January 5, 2022 2:27pm
- Maggie Pie
  
  woopsie… ment to add the link she sent.
  
  https://twitter.com/TheConsultant18/status/1478515499818381312
  
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  January 5, 2022 2:54pm
  - [email protected]
    
    “That tweet has been deleted”. I like to make up my own mind on controversial matters and hate sensorship. Maggie can you fill in the blanks please?
    
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    January 5, 2022 5:48pm
    - Maggie Pie
      
      Isn’t it incredible wot’s going on here?
      The days of ‘free-speech’ in this country are well and truly over.
      
      At least ‘The Consultant’ has come back with another tweet….although a different pic this time. The ‘DJ’ is with a Dog rather than Cindy (same nessage tho)
      
      Lets see hoe long this one stays up…..
      
      https://twitter.com/TheConsultant18/status/1478572044870504455
      
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      January 5, 2022 7:29pm
igm

Seems our PM and Kim are on similar pages.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/asia/300490487/north-korean-officials-demand-handwriting-samples-from-residents-after-antikim-jongun-graffiti-found
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January 5, 2022 2:35pm
Truman lodge

Listen people

All you need is to have your 8th booster and then we can get back to doing all the things you love..
14 2
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January 5, 2022 2:56pm
- NK
  
  8? They’re just the entree.
  
  8 1
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  January 5, 2022 3:35pm
Pharmachick

Meet Jonathan Gardner – I’m kind cheating here as he is at Vic, but he was selected as a Foundation Professor of NZ/UK relationships in 2011/2012. He does some very cool stuff in Marine Ecology and Conservation, and has a higher profile outside of NZ than in.

https://www.sas.ac.uk/about-us/news/marine-protection-expert-jonathan-gardner-arrives-london-nz-uk-link-foundation
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January 5, 2022 3:53pm
Maggie Pie

WOW!
Hard to believe THE LONGROOM has been tagged as a…. ‘location of interest’
My partner spends half his life there. Was saying how strict they are on following the rules. No vaxx pass – no entry.
Lucky I talked him into coming to Fleurs house for NYE.
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January 5, 2022 4:03pm
- NK
  
  There is something wrong then. If everyone entering is showing a vax pass, then surely no one entering has Covid (because they’re vaccinated) and more importantly, can’t transmit it to others who were there. Right?
  
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  January 5, 2022 4:13pm
- fightingtemeraire
  
  The Long Room in the parlance I am used to was the Room where ships cargoes were cleared by HM Customs in the old days of Mate’s Receipts and Bills of Lading.
  
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  January 5, 2022 5:02pm
Truman lodge

Pelican club is a location of interest
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January 5, 2022 4:06pm
Local Miller

Picked this up on Facebook – Viewership of the old MSM news sites is in the pits, and the more conservative sites are getting the crowds.
https://www.facebook.com/1422603561339813/posts/3348224152111068/
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January 5, 2022 4:45pm
- Russ the Muss
  
  Joe Rogan is an interesting dude. Bear in mind he supports Bernie Sanders, so hardly a card carrying conservative! But he is loved by many as he gives everyone a crack, is very Human and Genuine…now there could be a lesson there for other shows and media in general, I wonder what it is? Oh thats right, some open honest dialog, horse has bolted on that with the current rabid lefties running Media. The sooner all these networks die the better for everyone!
  
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  January 5, 2022 4:59pm
Reid

https://rumble.com/vrxs6t-mrna-inventor-faces-tough-questions-as-jab-deaths-explode.html
4 2
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January 5, 2022 5:05pm
Julie

I had booked my booster today a while back online and only one place was showing as open. Turned up and the centre was being swamped with walk ins which they had to turn away.
So the government delayed home MIQ to enable people to get the booster but does not ensure they have sufficient centres open to cope?
You would have thought they would learn after two years but apparently not!
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January 5, 2022 5:20pm
- NK
  
  Why are you taking the booster? Are you vulnerable?
  
  Genuine questions.
  
  4 3
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  January 5, 2022 10:23pm
greybeard

https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/127437684/just-be-boring-what-to-do-if-confronted-by-a-sea-lion-this-summer
The odds of anyone being confronted by a sea-lion in NZ must be better than anyone in NZ contracting CV-19.
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January 5, 2022 5:48pm
- KevO'Brien
  
  Excellent video. Doc complaints should have been addressed to the sea-lion–don’t molest humans or they might attempt to defend themselves.
  
  6 3
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  January 5, 2022 6:31pm
UrbanNeocolonialist

A Democratic ballot harvesting operative from Georgia has been located by “True the vote” and has spilled the beans on what he was doing and who he was doing it for, evidence has been handed to State law enforcement in late Nov: https://tennesseestar.com/2022/01/04/georgia-opens-investigation-into-possible-illegal-ballot-harvesting-in-2020-election/

True the vote claims they identified about 200 operatives in Georgia (from cell phone pings) and tracked them through their phone pings and video surveillance of drop boxes depositing mail in votes at 20-40 boxes in dead of night, and the operative claims 5-20 at a time. That is illegal in Georgia, even if the ballots are legit (which can’t be proven at this point). That would amount to many 10’s of 1000’s of illegal votes for Biden in a race where he supposedly won by 10k.

They identified a similar operation in Arizona via cell phones pings, through haven’t located any operatives yet. Arizona margin was similarly small.

That’s two battle ground states where it looks like election was stolen by (a now seemingly identified) DNC linked operation, and if they have done it there then odds on they have done it elsewhere as well.

Expect huge effort by media and other DNC controlled organisations to squash this.
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January 5, 2022 6:36pm

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