General Debate 16 May 2022

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Tony Stuart

We can’t let incompetence or corruption interfere with democracy in this country.

I have no problems with someone making a documentary about Chloe Swarbrick or any other politician, but I’m damned if my tax dollar is going to pay for it.

There is time to put the brakes on this appalling misuse of your money, but only if you are prepared to resist.

https://theplatform.kiwi/opinions/political-puff-pieces-funded-by-your-tax-dollar

Sean Plunket speaks for a whole lot of New Zealanders. If this documentary has merit, let the producers find private funding.
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December 16, 2021 1:29pm
- Hebe123
  
  Well just try and stop the waste then Sean. How?
  
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  May 16, 2022 1:44pm
- coge
  
  The film makers can go to the bank for finance. Like everyone else!
  
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  May 16, 2022 2:42pm
- Suze Wainwright
  
  It’s all good; NZ on Air says people complaining about this are just spreading misinformation…
  
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  May 16, 2022 8:18pm
mikenmildagain

Happy Saint Brendan’s Day!
Brendan was an Irish monk in the fifth century best know as Saint Brendan the Navigator for his mythical voyages in the Atlantic. Romantic conceit has led some to conjecture that the legend about him describes an actual voyage to North America.
Anyway, we can invoke magic spells for his protection at sea, as he is a patron saint for boatmen, divers, mariners, sailors, travellers, whales, and portaging canoes.
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May 16, 2022 8:04am
- rouppe
  
  Why would you need protection at sea if you are portaging a canoe?
  
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  May 16, 2022 8:07am
  - mikenmildagain
    
    Just an extra superpower for the demi-god to wield, I guess.
    
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    May 16, 2022 8:59am
    - alloytoo
      
      Demi-god?
      
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      May 16, 2022 9:15am
      - mikenmildagain
        
        Well, he’s clearly more than mortal, but not quite up there with the archangels, etc. Demi-god seems an appropriate term for his place in the pantheon, in the sense of acquiring divine status after death.
        
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        May 16, 2022 10:37am
  - Master Mariner
    
    If correct, I believe it was a Coracle, Round boat built at of wood?
    All seafarers are superstitious at some point and adds to the charm of a life at sea.
    Thanks for sharing MM.
    
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    May 16, 2022 10:34am
    - mikenmildagain
      
      Tim Severin researched traditional boat building in (including Welsh coracles). His boat was an Irish curragh, more conventionally shaped, about 30 ft with a crew of four.
      
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      May 16, 2022 11:58am
      - Don Beckett
        
        Coracles were used by the Welsh, not the Irish. In those times, many Irish monks journeyed by sea to Europe as missionaries, as the chaos there with the collapse of the Roman Empire, the Church was left as the only organisation to attempt to keep the barbarians at bay, and also help convert those barbarians – which they in large part succeeded in.
        So a journey such as undertaken by St. Brendan & companions is a historic certainty – what is uncertain is whether or not he reached North America; but it is certain that the Vikings reached there a couple of centuries later. The weather was much warmer then – y’know, climate change.
        
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        May 16, 2022 12:40pm
  - Jim
    
    The UN/IPCC shilled politicians would easily justify government spending on keeping portaging canoeists “safe”due to Climate Change (rising sea levels). Shaw would fly business with a delegation to attend an international convention on the subject, if it were to be created.
    
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    May 16, 2022 11:41am
- Simon
  
  Warmer climate allowed many Europeans to travel to North America centuries before Columbus. Travel over hundreds of years waxed and wanted according to climate. Travel went the other way as well. Eskimos made it to Scotland a few hundred year ago.
  
  Climate change is naturally occurring and cyclical.
  
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  May 16, 2022 8:22am
  - mikenmildagain
    
    Apart from the Viking voyages, there is no good evidence of pre-Columbian travel across the Atlantic.
    It’s one of those fascinating possibilities, but it remains just that, unproven speculation.
    
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    May 16, 2022 9:03am
    - Simon
      
      Basque fishing expeditions to Vinland pre-Columbus. Many other examples.
      
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      May 16, 2022 9:24am
      - Master Mariner
        
        Yes the mighty Basque fisherman, One thing about them that sticks in my mind is the saying ” Keep away from the 100 Fatham Line” in the Sea of Bisque”
        And for a very good reason unknown to them at the time.
        100 Fatham line ( 200m “generally ” marks the edge of the continental Shelf. And because of that increases the wave height dramatically.
        A lot of knowledge from the likes of Basque Fisherman has generally been lost over time except for the above.
        
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        May 16, 2022 10:39am
      - mikenmildagain
        
        Nothing proven. There is a veritable host of other theories:
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-Columbian_transoceanic_contact_theories
        
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        May 16, 2022 10:44am
      - Alwynn
        
        @MM
        I guess that would be the Basque equivalent of Matauranga? Would we be allowed to teach it in the school Science curriculum?
        
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        May 16, 2022 12:10pm
    - In Vino Veritas
      
      Maybe not so mike, evidence coming from Kankakee sand islands in the US overturns the belief that settlement came from a land|ice bridge from Asia. Clovis arrowheads, the oldest man made items found in the Americas, match exactly the same arrowheads found in Europe and made at the same time.
      
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      May 16, 2022 9:55am
      - mikenmildagain
        
        Interesting, but far from proven.
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solutrean_hypothesis
        
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        May 16, 2022 10:40am
    - In Vino Veritas
      
      Look up Dr R Janke, Valparaiso University mike. And I did say “maybe”. And you should also say “maybe” to the Bering ice bridge theory as well. So where?
      
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      May 16, 2022 12:45pm
- Nickc2
  
  You neglected to include the English Cricket Team Mike.
  
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  May 16, 2022 8:28am
  - mikenmildagain
    
    I don’t think cricket was played in the fifth century any more than there was transatlantic travel.
    
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    May 16, 2022 9:00am
    - Nickc2
      
      Haven’t you heard of adopted Saints?
      
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      May 16, 2022 9:09am
      - mikenmildagain
        
        Well, we had Graham Henry adopted as the ‘Great redeemer’ in Wales.
        
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        May 16, 2022 9:57am
      - Nickc2
        
        mikenmildagain @ 9:57AM
        Lots of fools have adopted Saint Cindy and I’m still perplexed as to why.
        
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        May 16, 2022 10:16am
    - david
      
      Hasn’t stopped our early immigrants being allocated chunks of the radio frequency spectrum. I suppose twitter was big down in the pa.
      
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      May 16, 2022 10:19am
- Tarquin North
  
  Apparently he discovered America by sailing there in a leather boat. That’s nothing, the Maoris discovered Antarctica by paddling there in a canoe.
  
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  May 16, 2022 8:43am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    And if you believe that, I have a catalogue of bridges for sale//
    
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    May 16, 2022 9:58am
    - Bloody Dago
      
      Most NZ’ers are sure the pre 1840 locals are telling fibs, then to establish any credibility around this bit of wackademia crap, put up the evidence this actually happened or shut up. They should be sent a large invoice from the New Zealand taxpayer for taking the piss and entertaining the thought that an open canoe could get through the roaring 40’s. Similar but even stronger conditions that occur at more southerly latitudes are called the Furious Fifties and the Shrieking or Screaming Sixties. Just stop the lying you fucking idiots your credibility is sinking like a barometer in a 50 knot storm. Read Shackleton’s book and one can understand what it takes to survive below 50′ south
      
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      May 16, 2022 10:59pm
  - Trev
    
    Well one once saw an ice berg drifting well north!
    
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    May 16, 2022 11:35am
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      True, Kevin Black did that on Hauraki – April fool prank. He got a lot
      
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      May 16, 2022 3:01pm
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      Or a bunch of floating pumice (e.g. following Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai eruption 1100AD; or Underwater Healy Volcano – 1280-1350 – Loisel’s Pumice)
      
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      May 16, 2022 3:06pm
  - G152
    
    Right and I have this ice breaking whaka
    
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    May 16, 2022 2:36pm
- ClanMcleod
  
  What are your trustworthy sources with evidence that prove his voyages were “mythical”? Just asking, there’s been so much “fact checking” around covid over the last 2 years that turned out to be complete and utter bollocks. It’s got so bad I can’t trust anything in print these days.
  Sources please. Otherwise your post is consigned to the same bin as the daily Herald garbage.
  
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  May 16, 2022 8:50am
  - kowtow
    
    I don’t engage the troll .
    
    But unlike similar claims about journeys by certain folk to Antarctica the Brendan voyage was proved possible by Tim Severin.
    
    ‘He believed his recreation of the voyage helped to identify the bases for many of the legendary elements of the St Brendan story: the Island of Sheep, the Paradise of Birds, Crystal Towers, mountains that hurled rocks at voyagers, and the Promised Land.’
    
    https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/tim-severin-writer-and-explorer-best-known-for-the-brendan-voyage-1.4448332
    
    “Mythical”, my arse.
    
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    May 16, 2022 8:57am
    - mikenmildagain
      
      Proved possible is not the same as proving that a legend is partly, let alone entirely, based on fact.
      Thor Heyerdahl’s voyages did not ‘prove’ that Polynesia was settled from South America, or that Egyptians crossed the Atlantic to build the Mesoamerican pyramids: they only proved that such voyages might have been possible.
      Likewise with Tim Severin’s voyages recreating the legends of Saint Brendan, Sinbad, Jason and Ulysses. Showing something is possible does not prove it happened, no matter how romantic the feat.
      
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      May 16, 2022 9:43am
    - FE3O4
      
      Severin also wrote about the Sinbad Voyage that went from Oman to China. The boat was built in Sur, stiched together, as in the old days.
      
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      May 16, 2022 10:15am
    - ClanMcleod
      
      I was briefly bored, apologies for providing oxygen to them.
      
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      May 16, 2022 11:04am
  - mikenmildagain
    
    Sources? For a fairy tale?
    Very well, the Navigatio Sancti Brendani Abbatis (Voyage of Saint Brendan the Abbot) was first recorded in around the tenth century. It cannot be considered a reliable record of events four to five hundred years before, particularly for the fantastical and very clearly mythical and religious elements.
    It has, however, formed the basis for entertaining speculation about whether Irish monks could have crossed the Atlantic, and returned, in the early middle ages. The adventurer Tim Severin famously recreated the voyage in the 1970s, but that is no more proof that Thor Heyerdahl’s trip proved any of his archaeological theories.
    It’s not my fault that your critical faculties are not up to distinguishing between legend and facts.
    
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    May 16, 2022 9:13am
    - plc
      
      Yet we are meant to believe Maui fished up the North Island (Maori Science)
      
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      May 16, 2022 9:48am
    - ClanMcleod
      
      So that’s your “fact check”. No evidence, just that “it couldn’t have happened because” – because what? Yet we have actual proof that someone did the same trip which should at least indicate that it was possible?
      
      As expected, about as reliable as Reuters “fact check”.
      Over and out. Have a great day.
      
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      May 16, 2022 11:09am
      - mikenmildagain
        
        Your comprehension skills appear to be sadly lacking. My original comment referred to St Brendan’s:
        ‘mythical voyages in the Atlantic. Romantic conceit has led some to conjecture that the legend about him describes an actual voyage to North America.’
        It’s no wonder you are confused about things on the internet.
        
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        May 16, 2022 11:54am
      - Peter S
        
        @mma,
        
        I recently read the book recording the voyage by Severin. It not only gives plenty of practical reasoning why the voyage was possible, but excellent reasons why it is very plausible too.
        There is a great breakdown of how the fantastical elements could be easily explained by actual (but what would have been unfamiliar) things along the way such as icebergs and volcanos. The order they occurred in the legend ìs uncannily close to the order they occur on a westward journey.
        I first read the Viking Vinland sagas at primary school, when they were still considered myth.
        To me, even at that age the order and geography made them feel plausible (as has Bern proved).
        As Severin notes, the sagas record that at most places the monks appeared to have preceeded them.
        
        My personal rating is a probable.
        
        BTW apologies, I accidentally reported your last post when trying to reply.
        
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        May 16, 2022 5:46pm
      - mikenmildagain
        
        Fair enough, Peter. I read a long National Geographic article on the voyage in the 1970s, and was similarly impressed. But plausibility and proof are two very different things.
        There was a long history of people attempting to present artifacts, etc, of proof of Viking exploration in North America. But nothing remotely provable until the excavation of L’Anse aux Meadows in 1960.
        
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        May 16, 2022 6:24pm
      - Peter S
        
        True Mike, but the case of the Vikings reinforces my point. Especially as their accounts contain clues that support the Brendan voyage story.
        
        Just as with the Viking sagas and many other voyages, the fantastic tales, pooh pooh’d for so long, are increasingly being shown to have an underlying basis of fact. Embellished to be sure, but with the key component proving factual bring the start and destinations.
        Even Jason and the Argonauts looks increasingly plauusible.
        
        To me, you appear to have falken into the motivated reasoning trap based on religious (antithapthy based) motivations.
        
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        May 16, 2022 8:44pm
- UrbanNeocolonialist
  
  When vikings discovered iceland, they also discovered an order of Irish monks living there (since 7th century). Trufax. Irish also got to Faroe islands in the 6th century.
  
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  May 16, 2022 9:06am
  - mikenmildagain
    
    Yes, although America is still a long, long way from Iceland.
    
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    May 16, 2022 9:37am
    - Peter S
      
      The sea crossings between Iceland and Greenland and North America mainland are not the longest legs of the journey.
      Much of the distance is coastal. The warmer conditions at the time would have made it easier than what the 1970’s trip overcame.
      
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      May 16, 2022 9:42pm
- FE3O4
  
  St, Brendans College – My alma mater
  
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  May 16, 2022 10:18am
CJames

Yet another case where OT have taken children out of a safe foster care environment and put them into whanau care for cultural reasons. And the staff hid critical info from the court because if that had come out, the change would not have been approved.
https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/national/state-sent-uplift-kids-to-where-sex-harm-man-lives/ar-AAXiUEf?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=1517e3b136594377849d9749d7163dc7
How how did OT react? It wanted the articles on it supressed.
Sooner or later, one of these children will be killed. Then who will be responsible? I bet it won’t be the senior OT staff or the Ministers who were responsible for the policy that will appear before the courts.
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May 16, 2022 8:04am
- alex Masterley
  
  It is the same case as the “Callinicos” case discussed recently.
  
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  May 16, 2022 8:24am
  - R
    
    Yes, it appears to be the same case. But I was under the impression that the Court had allowed the child to remain with her Pakeha caregivers. Maybe they threw in the towel after all of the legal wrangling. Who could blame them.
    
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    May 16, 2022 8:36am
    - CJames
      
      No R – this is a different case. So Callinicos was not just an aberration but typical OT behaviour. And there is no sign they have mended their ways.
      
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      May 16, 2022 10:35am
      - zulumonster
        
        Certainly looks like the same case to me after reading the link.
        You have to wonder how the pakeha family feel after this additional revelation.
        OT is probably a harbinger of things to come with the rejigged Health system, 3 Waters et al.
        
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        May 16, 2022 11:03am
      - CJames
        
        In the Callinicos case, the reverse uplift just was for one girl. AFAIK, the outcome of that case was the girl went back to her foster parents with the relatives of the girl allowed cultural visits.
        
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        May 16, 2022 11:41am
      - CJames
        
        In Karl du Fresne’s latest post on the issue from today, he doesn’t mention the unsuitable family, just the judicial interference and the toothless Law Society. I am certain if the Newshub and Fresne case was the same. Karl would have ripped into OT
        http://karldufresne.blogspot.com/2022/05/the-callinicos-fire-is-still-smouldering.html
        Karl’s case was reported by the Dom Post’s Marty Sharp. Today’s case is Newshub and Melanie Reid.
        
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        May 16, 2022 11:51am
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        It is the same case…
        2 children were removed from a Maori mother(Who had 4 kids and a baby and had had the girl removed from her care on a number of occasions)
        The girl was placed with a caring pakeha family.
        The boy was placed elsewhere.
        The baby was placed with a family in Wellington and after some time period OT decided to send the girl to the Wellington family.
        
        …..then the story gets complicated…as OT brings the Girl’s iwi into the action….
        
        https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300366864/oranga-tamariki-wants-girl-removed-from-couple-after-three-years-because-it-says-her-cultural-needs-are-unmet
        
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        May 16, 2022 7:47pm
- All_on_Red
  
  Its also another example where OT staff have lied (deceit by omission) to the Court.
  Why aren’t these people being punished?
  Why haven’t they been fired?
  Their actions have direct and serious consequences for the children they are supposed to protect
  
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  May 16, 2022 8:25am
  - Ehlana
    
    Isn’t there some sort of offense that covers lying to a Court – like contempt or something? Though I guess the judge has to know about it.
    
    Perhaps the Minister responsible would like to explain to Parliament why it is okay for public servants to behave like this?
    
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    May 16, 2022 8:50am
    - Loddenthinks
      
      Come on, we all know it’s OK when the left do it!
      
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      May 16, 2022 10:39am
    - rouppe
      
      There is perjury, but that doesn’t cover omission, only misrepresentation. Also, while the prosecution in a court case is required to supply the defence with all relevant information in their possession, regardless of whether it helps or detracts from their case, no such requirement is made of the defence.
      
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      May 16, 2022 10:50am
      - Ehlana
        
        I would think that if a government department is seeking an (often ex parte) order from the Court, there would be a very high standard of provision of information expected. Their role is surely closer to that of the prosecutor than the defence.
        
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        May 16, 2022 12:29pm
- cjn
  
  It seems to me that OT can’t win. They are criticised for taking a baby from a druggie mother when the grandmother has promised to look after the infant. They are criticised for taking a child from an abusive environment and giving it to willing white parents. Then they are criticised for leaving the child with the incompetent incapable mother. I think withholding information from the judge is wrong although one would like to full story of why that was done but the onus should be on the legal system and the blindfold in a case such as this is not helpful.
  
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  May 16, 2022 11:31am
  - Michael Johnston
    
    I don’t rate the competence of OT too highly – they’re a government agency after all – but you have a point. The problem is that there’s no good answer to the question of what the state should do about abused and neglected children. The state has a history of being a terrible guardian of children itself. Even at its most benign, have a bureaucracy as a caregiver is hardly ideal for a child. But some parents are obviously much worse. State care is sometimes a necessary evil, but it remains an evil.
    
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    May 16, 2022 12:55pm
Benedict Yu

Happy Emissions Reduction Day 🙁

Quick Poll. If all public transport was “free” would you use it more often?
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May 16, 2022 8:06am
- Opie
  
  No
  
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  May 16, 2022 8:07am
- rouppe
  
  Maybe, bearing in mind I have little need for transportation to and from work. Might jump on for the 1km to work.
  
  But not for shopping or errands. Take too long
  
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  May 16, 2022 8:10am
- graham
  
  Ah, let me think long and hard about that … no.
  
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  May 16, 2022 8:11am
- Tricati
  
  No
  
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  May 16, 2022 8:13am
- Mike H S
  
  In answer to your Q. No. I have often looked for the possibility but it just doesn’t work for me. Time taken, not going to my required destination.
  
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  May 16, 2022 8:16am
- mandk
  
  It depends on the mode.
  
  If I could hop on a free flight to most places in NZ from Wellington, I would.
  
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  May 16, 2022 8:22am
- JimBobJoe
  
  NO. Point A to point B travel doesn’t fit public transport routes and the times are not peoples schedule.
  
  Socialists hate cars because they equal freedom and they equal opportunity.
  
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  May 16, 2022 8:22am
- pdm
  
  No.
  
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  May 16, 2022 8:23am
- nathie
  
  Hope the Opposition denounce Labour as being out of touch with the priorities and increased living costs of everyday NZ’ers and highlight that everything Labour intends to do will be negated within days by the other big emitting countries (and as you say BY we already have an ETS which also negates everything Labour is planning to impose on Kiwi’s)!
  
  Fail, fail, fail, fail Labour!
  
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  May 16, 2022 8:24am
- Sideoiler
  
  No.
  
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  May 16, 2022 8:26am
- Weetbix3ways
  
  None where I live presently anyway.
  And in the few times in the past when I have used it, it has been unreliable or left me stranded.
  
  Heavy use of public transport in NZ is about as likely as net-zero.
  
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  May 16, 2022 8:26am
- dave_c_
  
  No.
  
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  May 16, 2022 8:26am
- kiwikidsnz
  
  I have a relative who’s a Wgtn bus driver. I asked if bus patronage had gone up since the half price fares. Definitely not.
  
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  May 16, 2022 8:27am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    Robbo has got a relative who is a big burly bus driver in Wellington. I wonder what relation that is again 👍🏻😃
    
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    May 16, 2022 10:49am
- Debsta
  
  Nope
  
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  May 16, 2022 8:27am
- Magnus Forteman
  
  Hmm, I’d make the kids take public transport more often instead of ferrying them around myself.
  On the other hand, I’m pretty sure I’m alergic to public transport and can’t rely on them to get me anywhere I need to go.
  If you’d include Cook Straight ferries perhaps?
  
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  May 16, 2022 8:29am
- cmm
  
  The fundamental basis of charity is that you should only take it if you really need it. The same goes for subsidies. They should both be reserved for those in real need.
  
  If people who don’t need the subsidies take public transport then they should pay the full price. If so, it would be cheaper to take a taxi. In many cases it would even be cheaper to hire a helicopter.
  
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  May 16, 2022 8:29am
- R
  
  There is no such thing as a free lunch. Free public transport will mean taxpayers are paying through the nose elsewhere, or not getting a service that they were previously receiving.
  
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  May 16, 2022 8:38am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    That’s right, and it will be a congestion charge, but the congestion charge will not help if public transport is not regular, IE a train running the same route every 5 mins, not gunna work
    
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    May 16, 2022 10:51am
- skyblue
  
  No
  
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  May 16, 2022 8:47am
- ClanMcleod
  
  Possibly. If I needed to get to the airport from the CBD or a hospital appointment. But that would mean I might use it 6 times a year. Might. It would have to be reliable, clean and safe.
  I always used the tube in London for trips to the city (from Wembley area) but anywhere else, no.
  
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  May 16, 2022 8:54am
- ClanMcleod
  
  Possibly. If I needed to get to the airport from the CBD or a hospital appointment. But that would mean I might use it 6 times a year. Might. It would have to be reliable, clean and safe.
  I always used the tube in London for trips to the city (from Wembley area) but anywhere else, no.
  
  To qualify, when I did have to get to the North Shore from Greenlane Clinic I tried to do it by bus. An absolutely hopeless task that took hours with long waits in miserable weather and total confusion.
  
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  May 16, 2022 8:58am
- Jim
  
  Sorry Benedict, I downticked as a simplified reply to say no.
  
  No, it simply doesn’t go where (or when) I would need the travel.
  
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  May 16, 2022 9:01am
- backster
  
  The intent is to condition the masses to accept a form of peasantry whereby they own nothing but are happy to be controlled by an elite politburo. Similar to that achieved by paying $billions to maori elite to lead their proletariat to resentful division.
  
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  May 16, 2022 9:09am
- All_on_Red
  
  No.
  I use the Ferry 3+ times a week and occasionally will take the train from Britomart to Newmarket.
  But otherwise Public Transport wont get me where I want to be in short enough time and without inconvenience.
  So cost isn’t really a factor.
  
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  May 16, 2022 9:14am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    That route is not too bad, but it’s not far, snd the train does run regularly, that’s the secret, regularly
    
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    May 16, 2022 10:52am
- alloytoo
  
  No.
  
  Even free, it has no value for me.
  
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  May 16, 2022 9:18am
- Keith White
  
  Nothing is free. Anything that does not cost you, someone else has had money taken off them to pay for.
  
  Productive people get extorted so politicians can buy votes from the bureaucrats they pay and the lazy ferals they subsidize and retain power.
  
  The truly unfortunate who cannot care for themselves and who are entirely appropriate targets for assistance, are usually also abused by the ferals and the bureaucrats alike.
  
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  May 16, 2022 9:34am
- edhunter
  
  Short answer No.
  Long answer, here in SEQ public transport to games at Suncorp and Cbus stadiums is free and I’ve used both in the past but now only use the train to Cbus, much more convenient to use own car to Brisbane.
  
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  May 16, 2022 9:35am
- Zero Kindness
  
  No, especially if masks are required as I will no longer wear one anywhere.
  
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  May 16, 2022 9:41am
  - Mummy
    
    I’ve just started commuting again for a few months, an hour on the train each way on the Kapiti line. I don’t wear a mask for any part of my journey. No one says a thing. And speaking of cost, I use my Gold card in the morning (9am train) and get half price coming home (about $5). Long may it last. But I only use public transport because it suits me. Not because I want to save the planet.
    
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    May 16, 2022 11:34am
- alex Masterley
  
  no.
  
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  May 16, 2022 9:45am
- In Vino Veritas
  
  No Ben, public transport is for the great unwashed……
  
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  May 16, 2022 9:57am
- Ehlana
  
  Not at the moment – they still have mask mandates. And not if it doesn’t go where I want to, when I want to in a timeframe acceptable to me.
  
  Generally, people overuse that which they underpay for. So charging the cost of supplying directly to the user (like Auckland water charges) gives an incentive for efficient use. The difficulty for roads has always been how to calculate, allocate and collect the costs. Computers may help solve that technical problem, but not the political one – that people who are used to not paying directly the cost of their own use don’t want to start doing so.
  
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  May 16, 2022 9:57am
  - Taieri
    
    So charging the cost of supplying directly to the user (like Auckland water charges) gives an incentive for efficient use.
    ————-
    
    Not always. Scheduled public transport runs regardless of the patronage. It makes sense to reduce fares if it results in reducing road congestion.
    
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    May 16, 2022 1:24pm
- MCōs
  
  I was in Denver for a week in the late eighties attending a course at a polytechnic
  I was staying downtown and had to use public transport to get where I was going each day. There was barely anyone on the buses.
  Down the middle of the main street of Denver was, and still is, a free bus. Big doors, few seats and stopping at each intersection. It was chokka.
  It was convenient and because there was no messing round collecting fares, quick.
  
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  May 16, 2022 10:06am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Why? I am now retired, with a Gold Card. I have used it 3 times in the last 4 years. The buses just don’t go to the places I go.
  
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  May 16, 2022 10:08am
- Thought Criminal
  
  Yes.
  
  But I wfh so it still wouldn’t be a lot.
  
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  May 16, 2022 10:09am
- Local Miller
  
  It’s really convenient for me to use a bus to get to and from work, about 25 minutes each way, maybe 10 minutes waiting each time depending on how accurately I time leaving home or the office. This is except the odd times a bus just doesn’t show up. By car this would be an hour trip because of congestion on the road to the motorway, where the bus uses the T3 lane.
  But that is the limit of my normal public transport use, and I’d use a car pool or ride share if there was one. I did this before and it was great, but people move and it’s no longer available.
  The only other time I’d use public transport is if it were really to my advantage, like an outing to Waiheke Island, or as my wife and I have done once or twice, take a ferry or bus to town and back to go window shopping and out for lunch, knowing we’ll just put our feet up on the ferry or bus.
  
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  May 16, 2022 10:17am
- Loddenthinks
  
  It’s impossible for me to use it “more often” since I don’t use it at all, and am highly unlikely to.
  
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  May 16, 2022 10:40am
- Biscuit
  
  Benedict, I’m an ‘oldie’ and already get free (off peak) bus/train travel should I need it.
  
  What I like doing is leaving here, walking along the main road (with adjacent bus and train lines) for a few miles, 5 or 6, stopping if and when I feel tired or am in danger of getting wet and then hopping onto what bus or train is available to get home again.
  
  Rarely more than dozen folk on either the bus or the train carriage…
  
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  May 16, 2022 10:47am
- coge
  
  No. Too many head cases. And besides, public transport is for other people!
  
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  May 16, 2022 10:52am
- Ruawai
  
  Nope!
  
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  May 16, 2022 11:48am
- Than
  
  No. But I am fortunate enough to be in an economic position where PT fares are not significant for me.
  
  While I was back in NZ last year I used the Christchurch bus system extensively. Weekly fares were capped at $26.50, which you basically reach going to work and back five days a week (10 x $2.60 fare if you’re using a Metrocard). Given current petrol prices and the distance I traveled (roughly 6km from my hotel in Riccarton to my workplace) the cost to drive myself wouldn’t have been too different.
  
  The big difference would have been the travel time and convenience. Taking the bus was 40-50 minutes, versus 15-20 by car, and I would have been able to set my own schedule.
  
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  May 16, 2022 12:08pm
- Squeek
  
  No – simply because it doesn’t go where I usually go.
  
  But a lot of people probably would.
  
  They key points however are a) that there is no free lunch, and b) that there needs to be at least a small barrier to entry or you end up with ridiculous results. Eg people demanding the public transport be extended to their area. And it would have been judged as very successful based on the number of extra people using the free service, with no regard for the cost of providing it.
  
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  May 16, 2022 1:32pm
- Hebe123
  
  No never
  
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  May 16, 2022 1:52pm
Opie

Heart problems caused by the virus or the vaccine? Or the virus if you have had the vaccine?

If only you could trust someone to actually investigate this…

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2022/05/cardiologists-warn-they-re-seeing-increase-in-heart-problems-in-people-catching-covid-19.html
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May 16, 2022 8:08am
- ClanMcleod
  
  You cannot trust anything in our media nor anything from Medsafe or the MoH. They have lied repeatedly from the beginning of the covid circus. It’s now a confirmed fact that Medsafe approved the “vaccine” using data supplied by Pfizer which was pure lies. They approved it for use on pregnant women when there was zero data available and in fact, there was data now revealed in the Pfizer data since they were compelled to release it that shows they knew it was dangerous. We still have months to go before all of that data will be released.
  Medsafe did NO testing. It is malfeasance by those responsible. To accept the data from a company with a long record of lies, deceit and fraud is negligence and best and may possibly be corruption. It certainly isn’t a simple mistake.
  
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  May 16, 2022 9:03am
  - Weetbix3ways
    
    I’d be surprised if ANY health authority in ANY country did any testing of their own. It’s just a rubber-stamping exercise. But Pfizer wouldn’t lie about their own product, right?
    They’ve never been caught doing such things before, right?
    Right…?
    
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    May 16, 2022 11:01am
  - Ross Campbell
    
    Well since we basically can’t trust anything we are told from official sources about Covid it just shows how lucky we are in NZ is to have this website and its legion of experts with all their links to alternative news sites and a plethora of stupid conspiracy theories to fill the information void.
    A group of twits were even prepared to squat at Parliament to help peddle this nonsense so let’s all collectively hope that the governments mental health reforms are successful as it is obvious they are desperately needed.
    
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    May 16, 2022 11:10am
    - Rodion Raskolnikov
      
      Ad hominem and argument from authority. Invalid. What is your argument, please?
      
      16 3
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      May 16, 2022 11:55am
      - ClanMcleod
        
        Not a chance of a reply.
        
        I’ve been trying to get the “experts”, the media and politicians to give me written examples of this “misinformation” they keep warning us about. I’ve sent dozens of emails over the last year to multiple sources. I have very politely asked them all to give me clear examples of this “misinformation” so I am aware of it and can deal with it accordingly. To date, not a single response.
        It’s bizarre, the only conclusion possible is that the “misinformation” charge is a distraction to avoid actually engaging in a debate they know they will never win. Oh well.
        
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        May 16, 2022 12:27pm
    - glowworm
      
      I don’t think anyone here claims to be an expert? But there are some good arguments made here. Also, interesting links to both official and non official information and articles. These can, and do, raise questions in those of us who choose to think for ourselves.
      
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      May 16, 2022 12:28pm
      - Ross Campbell
        
        “Those of us who choose to think for ourselves”
        Sorry you are kidding yourself.
        The average poster on here is just playing follow the leader and going with the majority opinion because they are too afraid to get hit with a barrage of downticks if they buck the crowd.
        Completely factual statements which go against the grain will be downticked to oblivion and complete lies which go with the grain will be comment of the day.
        This blog is for entertainment purposes only, it’s days of being a rational source of information ended years ago when Covid and Trump appeared.
        
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        May 16, 2022 1:10pm
      - Don Beckett
        
        I feel sorry for you, Ross. Open debate is the norm here – just because many of us have the same view, doesn’t mean we are “playing follow the leader”. We do actually form our own informed opinions – not stuck obediently following the govt. line.
        But you are welcome to your opinion.
        
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        May 16, 2022 1:44pm
      - glowworm
        
        Well Ross, apparently your the one!
        
        You know what is factual and what is not factual! We no longer need open debate or discussion, in fact, we can just all be informed by you. Awesome 👍
        
        Twits like me are kidding ourselves if we think that we can actually think for ourselves! How quaint.
        
        Back off to my cave for a while to catch some more moths…
        
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        May 16, 2022 9:38pm
    - Opie
      
      Ross, go put your mask back on and have a cup of tea.
      
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      May 16, 2022 7:22pm
  - Rodion Raskolnikov
    
    There was never any talk of heart issues due to Covid in the year prior to the vaccine, even though there had been (allegedly) millions of cases worldwide. It is logical to suggest that Covid-related heart issues would have been used and promoted widely both to encourage more vaccination and/or to help justify all of the Covid circus. This wasn’t the case. There is a correlation between mass vaccination and the significant increase of instances of heart-issues, particularly among young vaccine recipients.
    
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    May 16, 2022 11:29am
  - mawm
    
    Clan – Medsafe has one job – to protect New Zealanders from harm. They have failed!
    
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    May 16, 2022 12:52pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Covid Vaccine is a Govt control tool. It actually is not a vaccine, it is experimental medication. I had two, just to be able to go certain places. With all of the problems some have had, I will not be takin the booster. Think about it – you get two vaxes and a booster and you still get Covid. It is NOT a vaccine.
  
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  May 16, 2022 10:16am
  - Debsta
    
    Same here Steve
    
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    May 16, 2022 11:18am
- kevn
  
  @Opie… So, considering maybe 90% took the jab, how many unjabbed folk had the unexpected heart problems after covid?
  http://www.vernoncoleman.org
  
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  May 16, 2022 10:23am
  - Rodion Raskolnikov
    
    Exactly. If unvaccinated people who have contracted Covid don’t have heart issues, or to a far smaller degree than the vaccinated, then we can confidently infer that the heart issues are vaccine-related.
    
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    May 16, 2022 11:32am
  - Opie
    
    Thanks kevn, some good stuff there.
    
    That’s all I want to know. Relevant truthful numbers like that to prove or disprove.
    
    If there is nothing to hide, surely they could release this or are they just incompetent?
    
    I don’t have the answers but I do know these are questions that need to be asked.
    
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    May 16, 2022 7:42pm
Maggie Pie

Not sure what’s going on….but when I retweeted this earlier my partner reckons he couldn’t open it.

https://twitter.com/qcodedark/status/1525759659209990144

Be interested to hear if any of the group have the same prob?
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May 16, 2022 8:17am
- dave_c_
  
  No problem accessing this – brilliant, I could not have worded it any better.
  
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  May 16, 2022 8:30am
- ClanMcleod
  
  Yes, I can see it. The journalist who presented that concise and accurate information deserves a Pulitzer.
  
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  May 16, 2022 9:07am
- Bridgenag
  
  I have the phenomena of ticks I have done here disappearing when I look at the twitter post. Good posts though
  
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  May 16, 2022 9:11am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Works for me. Twitter are known for shadow banning the truth though.
  I’ll dump it on FB for the fact checkers.
  
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  May 16, 2022 10:22am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Still there at 3.06. Maybe the easy triggered ones are not on deck today?
    
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    May 16, 2022 3:06pm
- Mummy
  
  Yep got it. Message says Twitter is shadow banning this tweet. If you can see this, you are one of the few.
  
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  May 16, 2022 11:37am
G152

Every-one ready for the Thursday Thievery????
What more can they take from us
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May 16, 2022 8:23am
- Ehlana
  
  Glad you asked G152. It seems you still have something left. That situation will be corrected shortly. Stand by for an announcement.
  
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  May 16, 2022 8:53am
- mawm
  
  Wealth and freedom.
  
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  May 16, 2022 12:56pm
cmm

South African power utility Eskom must be getting training from Cindy’s Spinmeisters.

They’re copping a lot of flak over load shedding – where power is turned off on a rolling blackout basis when they can’t generate enough.

But that does not mean you’re getting power outside your load shedding slot.

You might also be the victim of “load reduction”. That’s when the local infrastructure (eg. transformers and grid) cannot supply the demand.

Of course the difference is pretty academic to the people not getting power.

They also have a concept called a “virtual power station”. Sounds pretty clever. So what’s that? It is when high use customers (eg industry) are asked to turn off their load. Because they turn it off “voluntarily”, it comes up on the other side of the ledger and they count it as generation!

Again, power not being delivered, but not showing up as load shedding.

All these semantic hoops exist to bring down the reported load shedding numbers. Even with these devices they are on track for the worst load shedding ever – already outstripping the whole of 2019.

So hug your lightbulb.
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May 16, 2022 8:24am
- Colville
  
  Why would a high use customer volunteer to reduce usage?
  
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  May 16, 2022 9:06am
  - cmm
    
    They get better pricing using real time pricing (RTP). It basically takes spot pricing all the way to the power consumer.
    
    It’s the same in NZ. Large customers (eg. dairy farms) can buy power at different times of day and get better prices.
    
    Of course you can’t always turn off load, but you can with some things. For example hot water. Heat the water when the power is cheap, then use it when you need.
    
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    May 16, 2022 12:15pm
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    Demand reduction is actually a smart idea. Large users that have low cost power due to bulk buying can, in times of peak pricing, sell it back into the market. It frees up power for those who want it, the large user makes money & the Greens will be pleased that the next power station does not need to be fired up. The losers are the power companies that would otherwise sell power at the high price.
    
    It’s the market at work, people.
    
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    May 16, 2022 8:51pm
- alloytoo
  
  And Eskom used to have excess capacity to sell.
  
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  May 16, 2022 9:21am
  - Keith White
    
    When I was assigned in SA for a while, I thought I remember reading that Eskom used to (be able to) supply some electricity to Zimbabwe, as well as inside SA?
    
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    May 16, 2022 10:00am
    - cmm
      
      They still do supply some electricity to Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, though they also buy electricity from Mozambique’s Cahora Bassa hydro power (the only hydro of any consequence in Southern Africa).
      
      Funny thing: when Apartheid South Africa was unfriended in the 1980s they didn’t get power from Cahora Bassa, but they were still supplying power to these places.
      
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      May 16, 2022 12:18pm
- Raphael
  
  Not to mention they now want to charge you for any solar power you generate as they realised the more people have solar, the less money Eskom gets.
  
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  May 16, 2022 10:19am
  - cmm
    
    Charging for PV is not really an unfair thing to do because people are still buying peak load electricity from the grid.
    
    The grid and generation have to be built to manage peak loads – not average loads. If people are only buying power at peak times that adds massive strains to the system.
    
    There are basically two classes of electricity: base load and peaking.
    Base load is cheaper to generate – fire up the generator and let it run. A bit like driving on the freeway.
    
    Peak load is incredibly expensive to generate. It’s like driving in stop start traffic.
    
    People who generate PV for themselves during the day are, effectively, only buying the more expensive peaking power so they should pay a premium to make it “fair”.
    
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    May 16, 2022 12:24pm
    - info@cruzpro.com
      
      True that PV owners still use power when the sun is not shining and power companies have to make provisions for peak-power,
      
      But PV power generated during off-peak times reduces the load and that means a saving of hydro. The lakes stay a bit more full. That has to be a plus. Would the grid be better off if there was zero PV power? I doubt it.
      
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      May 16, 2022 8:53pm
Stellaboxer

Reading this article I was struck by how similar Trudeaus Canada and Arderns New Zealand are. The fact that they are both WEF darlings ( WEF boasting recently that 60% of the present Canadian cabinet are WEF prodigies) may be an explanation I don’t know but the deification and patronising of native peoples is identical! The two leaders decent into authoritarian behaviour around Covid is also strikingly similar.https://quillette.com/2022/05/12/canadas-racial-balkanization/
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May 16, 2022 8:32am
- Master Mariner
  
  Yep, All singing from the same Hymm sheet. Throw in most of Europe as well except Eastern European Leaders.
  No wonder President Xi opens the assembly of the Nutters Club.
  
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  May 16, 2022 10:49am
  - Stellaboxer
    
    Yes I certainly believe Macron is one of the darlings
    
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    May 16, 2022 2:52pm
kowtow

At the height of the regime panic inducing fear mongering mis/dis information spreading propaganda campaign they came up with “It’s a tricky bat bug that seeks out the unvaccinaded”

So how come it sought out the vaxxed to the max PM , who is now so sick she can’t do zoom?
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May 16, 2022 8:37am
- ClanMcleod
  
  Brenda’s hiding for a week. Bojo did the same thing last year. I had a buddy get the bot a week ago. He had no problem at all playing golf 5 days in a row, other than a snotty nose and mild fever which made putting a pain in the ass. He smashed through it in about 3 days. I put it down to the exercise, fresh air and occasional shot of whisky we shared.
  If he had stayed in bed to “fix” it as recommended he would have been out of action for a week.
  
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  May 16, 2022 9:13am
  - In Vino Veritas
    
    Clan, both wife and I got it, and neither of us suffered unduly. Both a little snotty. I had a couple of days where I was pretty tired, plus a night where I woke with a sore throat and headache. A mild head cold at worst. That was it. And this was straight after we’d completed a Great Walk. However, we do know others who have been flattened. Fevers, hacking cough, sore throat, blinding headaches, so knackered they can barely move. I reckon it’s luck of the draw.
    
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    May 16, 2022 10:02am
    - ClanMcleod
      
      IVV – much like seasonal flu?! Or as many women call it, “man flu”. Yes, I think it depends a lot on the variation you get (of flu/covid/whatever) and your actual state of health. Like cold sores, people tend to get them when their general health is run down.
      Glad yours wasn’t too bad.
      
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      May 16, 2022 10:59am
      - In Vino Veritas
        
        No, was a doddle Clan. But I have had proper flu, and ended up eating carpet and being taken to hospital in an ambo with a temp over 40. That was no fucking bueno I can tell you.
        
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        May 16, 2022 12:50pm
- Frank the tank
  
  “So how come it sought out the vaxxed to the max PM , who is now so sick she can’t do zoom?”
  
  Proof there is a God?
  
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  May 16, 2022 9:16am
  - Keith White
    
    …and that She has a sense of humour…
    
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    May 16, 2022 9:51am
    - G the giant from Dunedin
      
      She has a sense of humour uf she thinks we don’t see her as part time, she has attended parliament twice in the last 6 weeks
      
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      May 16, 2022 11:09am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    [breach of commenting guidelines, deleted – Mod]
    
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    May 16, 2022 11:08am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Covid is a tool that is used for many things. Control, restrictions, authority, dominance, behaviour, and of course AVOIDENCE.
  
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  May 16, 2022 10:35am
Maggie Pie

TRENDING

Not only does this ‘Lefty-Fuktard’ have no sense of humor…..he also wants to rewrite history 🙁

https://twitter.com/ClintVSmith/status/1525922367389589504
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May 16, 2022 8:39am
- Yvette
  
  Tuku Morgan (Waikato Tainui), is a member of the Three Waters working group who in March dismissed claims that Māori would own the country’s water infrastructure under the reforms. “There is a view being promoted by some of the councillors around the country that this is a Māori grab for power, that we are interested in owning these water assets,” he told 1News. “It’s absolute nonsense. We have always said, that we’re not interested in owning the water assets. What we’re interested in is the proprietor rights over water, and that is a discussion to be had with the Crown, not with councils.”  https://www.1news.co.nz/2022/04/29/iwi-involvement-aims-to-further-safeguard-water-assets-robertson/
  
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  May 16, 2022 8:47am
  - kiwikidsnz
    
    Because if they own it they’re responsible for funding it whereas proprietary rights will allow them to charge everyone else for the assets capital & infrastructure maintenance while they clip the ticket (like a Crown mineral right).
    
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    May 16, 2022 9:09am
    - Hard Cheese
      
      In that case I’m sure they’ll be only too happy to accept responsibility for compensating people for stormwater damage, flooding, and rising sea levels?
      
      No, you say?
      
      Just wait until there’s an extra line item on your electricity bill for use of Maori water to generate hydroelectric power. Or a levy on every grocery item that contains local water or uses local water in its production.
      
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      May 16, 2022 11:43am
  - Local Miller
    
    Funny thing that, “proprietor rights” or “Proprietary rights” is a legal term with a very specific meaning:
    “Proprietary rights, also termed property rights, are the rights that accompany legal ownership of tangible or intangible property; rights over or in respect of property”
    
    Looks to me like they want to own the $#!t.
    
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    May 16, 2022 10:54am
    - NeverMindTheBollocks
      
      Do you think they’ll go so far as to claim the clouds? Rain, hail or snow? Evaporation?
      
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      May 16, 2022 8:55pm
- In Vino Veritas
  
  Clint is a cock Maggie. One of the new age woke nut jobs that will be wondering what happened when all this woke crap finally gets kicked for touch (which it will). Everyone, literally EVERYONE, will look at him, point and laugh.
  
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  May 16, 2022 10:05am
- Thought Criminal
  
  Adding an unelected layer of government will make water cheaper 😂😂😂 bless.
  
  Do the left really believe this nonsense?
  
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  May 16, 2022 10:15am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Some on the left think it is Gospel!
    Same people will vote in socialism
    
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    May 16, 2022 10:39am
- Opie
  
  He is a racist dickhead. Gloating about blocking anyone who disagrees with him as well.
  
  Yes… being pro Maori is racist. I know this because if you are pro any other race you are one.
  
  Great cartoon that has triggered him. Might have to start reading that paper.
  
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  May 16, 2022 10:22am
- surfing
  
  Maori are twisting words to deny ownership because it is not a good look to steal water rights so blatantly.
  
  Maori get the rights to clip the ticket without putting in effort or taking on risk, far superior to ownership.
  
  Non-maori are not at all fooled.
  
  I only hope that every household water bill will have an invoice line, that says ‘Iwi Levy’, and a summary that shows the total amount of money that Iwi have extorted from the people of New Zealand.
  
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  May 16, 2022 12:47pm
  - Nickc2
    
    Don’t give into them in the first place. They have no Colour-of-Right whatsoever to NZs water and associated infrastructure. What they’re doing is out-and-out theft pure and simple. The Maori Caucus can apply all the lipstick they like to this Pig of their own deceit but it is what it is, theft.
    I reckon that at some time in the near future, this Govt will cede to their demands in order to gain votes.
    I’m picking it will be a Labour party ploy to gain Maori Party support at the next election.
    
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    May 16, 2022 1:53pm
Cassandra

I see that National will change the title of the Maori Health Authority to the Maori Health Directorate. At last, bold action on racism from the National Party.
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May 16, 2022 8:46am
- krazykiwi
  
  Really? Their duplicity is nauseating.
  
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  May 16, 2022 9:09am
- Souvlaki
  
  Pfffft…..as if a name change means ANYTHING !
  Surely you’re taking the piss ! ..(on reflection…given their incisiveness to date…it’s probably true!)
  
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  May 16, 2022 9:41am
  - Cassandra
    
    Souvlaki: as you have probably twigged, sarc. Bold action might be just a little more than a name change and “folding it into” the main health department. I’d have in mind something like not having any race-based anything. I do favour needs-based.
    
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    May 16, 2022 11:11am
- Thought Criminal
  
  Vote National, get Labour policies.
  
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  May 16, 2022 10:19am
  - Colville
    
    Vote National and you won’t get Green policies.
    
    That is a VERY important distinction.
    
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    May 16, 2022 1:14pm
    - krazykiwi
      
      Because Green policy is bad for New Zealand, and Labour policy isn’t?
      
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      May 16, 2022 1:24pm
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  But that Māori directorate will be under the one health umbrella, not a seperate entity
  
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  May 16, 2022 11:11am
Tomtoddy

Petrol back up over $3.00 down my road in Auckland. Where are you Cindy? Can you take some more tax off?
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May 16, 2022 8:50am
- Captain Mainwaring
  
  Taking more tax off fuel will not arrest Labour’s accelerating meltdown in the polls.
  Only 16 months to go folks.
  
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  May 16, 2022 9:10am
  - MCōs
    
    Change of government won’t bring the price of petrol down.
    
    13 5
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    May 16, 2022 10:13am
    - Matt Long
      
      Actually it most likely will, the latest price rises are from the lower dollar.
      Having someone partway competent in charge will make the dollar stronger.
      
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      May 16, 2022 10:58am
    - G the giant from Dunedin
      
      It might if we stop the oil and gas ban
      
      12 1
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      May 16, 2022 11:12am
    - Paulus
      
      It is not the price of Petrol it is the exhorbitant taxes on it !
      
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      May 16, 2022 1:35pm
- Andrei
  
  Well what do you expect when the loons in charge of the Western world who do not know the things that distinguish women from men, think that cow farts melt the North Pole and any that productive enterprise is bad – decide to create a proxy war with the worlds biggest exporter of energy in the immediate aftermath of decimating their own economies with a phantom pandemic.
  
  And you silly serfs continue to tug your forelocks for these morons
  
  As they say people get the Government they deserve
  
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  May 16, 2022 9:13am
  - Ehlana
    
    Decide to create? You mean, when Russia invaded Ukraine and the Europeans decided not to stand by and do nothing?
    
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    May 16, 2022 10:40am
    - Nukuleka
      
      NATO and the meddling USA created the inevitable response from Russia. And they continue to push us closer and closer to WW3.
      
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      May 16, 2022 10:51am
      - Ross Campbell
        
        Keep repeating those lies as you have a sympathetic audience here to give you some upticks while out in the real world people are disgusted by the savagery and brutality being dished out on the Ukrainian population by a failed ex superpower led by a neurotic old fool who thinks he is going to recreate the glory days of empire which in reality never existed but are just a figment of his diseased mind.
        
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        May 16, 2022 11:26am
      - stiff cheese
        
        I agree with you Nukuleka:
        
        As I recall, there was a sort of Gentleman’s Agreement when the Soviet Union broke up, that the West wouldn’t try to exploit the situation militarily — well that turned out to be B.S.
        
        There have been lots of bad faith actors on the western side e.g. the late Madeleine Allbright. When she died the media noted her role in the expansion of NATO.
        
        For years, the Russians signalled clearly to the Americans that Ukraine joining NATO was a RED LINE they would not accept. (see current CIA Director’s book “The Back Channel”).
        Nevertheless, Ukraine was given the status “NATO Enhanced Opportunities Partner” — like training wheels until Full Membership is awarded — and in December last year, Blinken signed a Charter with Ukraine — all about planned military cooperation, and full of hostile rhetoric against Russia.
        
        So not a mystery that things have come to a head in Ukraine — I presume NATO’s bigwigs knew it would happen, and decided it would be worth it for reasons known to themselves … though that remains to be seen.
        
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        May 16, 2022 1:14pm
  - mawm
    
    Andrei – You might be interested in reading an essay on a global cleaving following comments by the Finnish PM and their decision to join NATO.
    
    https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2022/05/15/sunday-talks-finland-president-sauli-niinisto-indicates-a-global-cleaving-behind-decision-to-join-nato/
    
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    May 16, 2022 1:12pm
- Jim
  
  Yep the miserly $0.25 has since paled in significance after only one month. Ohh forgot: Putin, Covid, Climate Cow Farts, UTE drivers etc.
  Can’t be anything to do with domestic Government fiscal incompetence, and some dude called Hunter “something” being a financial beneficiary of the Ukrainian Gas Industry, and propagating a corrupt elite agenda.
  
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  May 16, 2022 9:15am
- MCōs
  
  Why don’t you write to the oil companies and demand they stop profiteering
  
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  May 16, 2022 10:12am
- westernScientist
  
  Thats what a strengthening USD and a weakening NZD will do….
  
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  May 16, 2022 10:35am
Frank the tank

There is a new trick in town. After ram raids there is the walk into a supermarket and not pay for your goods trick. Apparently both Countdown and New World just let it happen and all staff have been told to let them go.

Want another reason for the cost of your groceries going up well like our business you have to factor theft into it.

And do you think police are going to go after Brown people that steal off the supermarkets. Not a chance in hell.

Fuck…….this…….government.
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May 16, 2022 8:59am
- MCōs
  
  “There is a new trick in town . . . . . there is the walk into a supermarket and not pay for your goods trick.”
  
  You’ll be shocked to hear people were shoplifting before cars were invented.
  
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  May 16, 2022 10:19am
  - Ehlana
    
    Turns out supermarkets as we know them only date back to about 1915. Before that you gave the clerk a list and they got your goods for you. Of course, you had to go from store to store – butcher, grocer, greengrocer, baker. But many would then deliver, possibly by bicycle, your purchased goods.
    
    And if you were caught shoplifting, I believe there were stocks you could be locked in, or the shopkeeper/ police officer/ parent (any or all of the above) would give you a clip around the ears. kick up the backside, or sound thrashing.
    
    It’s just so much easier if you can make a one-stop shop, grab what you want and know no-one will interfere.
    
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    May 16, 2022 10:49am
    - Pavel
      
      Prior to then if you were caught stealing they would deport you to Australia. If only that option was still avaliable.
      
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      May 16, 2022 1:26pm
- Harry Knuts
  
  shop lifting has always been around. The change is the thieves are violent more so therefore shop workers won’t touch them as they don’t get paid enough to be a hero.
  
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  May 16, 2022 10:29am
- westernScientist
  
  na thats last year, this is what the hip kinds are doing now days:
  https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/wellington/300576011/thieves-use-digger-to-smash-into-lower-hutt-service-station
  
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  May 16, 2022 10:34am
Maggie Pie

Bloody Hell!
2020 it was Toilet Paper.
2022 and now it’s Cooking Oil.
I want chips.
20 4
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May 16, 2022 9:06am
- skyblue
  
  Gib board is the new toilet paper.
  
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  May 16, 2022 9:08am
  - rjay
    
    That must hurt!
    
    21 0
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    May 16, 2022 9:58am
    - skyblue
      
      The cardboard is a bit rough I admit.
      
      12 0
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      May 16, 2022 10:37am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Yep. The unit over the back from me is at a standstill. Roof is done, internal framing done, then nothing for 2 wees now.
    
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    May 16, 2022 10:54am
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      *weeks ffs
      
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      May 16, 2022 12:49pm
- Frank the tank
  
  Pretty soon it will be petrol Mags and then rolling black outs Mags.
  
  Winter is Coming and Te Reo Luxon is no Jon Snow.
  
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  May 16, 2022 9:15am
  - Keith White
    
    You’ll have to pry my blacked-out V8’s mag wheels from my cold, dead hands… oh, wait. Dayum Frank, you had me worried there for a minute…
    
    14 0
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    May 16, 2022 9:53am
- Harry Knuts
  
  just use all that butter you’ve stock piled in ya freezer!
  
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  May 16, 2022 11:07am
krazykiwi

Brilliant new CAPTCHA : Select all Images with Finnish Snipers 🙂
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May 16, 2022 9:08am
- Master Mariner
  
  The best sniper in the World was Finnish with over 500 Kills and open sights.
  Not too mention their Army of 200,000 . I can see why Russia is concerned.
  Also they make Bloody good Guns, Namely Sako Rifle. I used to have them and Brno ( Czech) but now use Mauser M12 for hunting purposes.
  [Sentence deleted, we’re doing you a favour – Mod]
  
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  May 16, 2022 10:58am
  - Colville
    
    All of the snowy countries make good guns.
    When your dinner relies on you hitting something you tend to demand quality.
    
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    May 16, 2022 1:21pm
  - krazykiwi
    
    The sniper’s name was Simo Hayha, aka “The White Death”.
    
    Also, it was only 20’ish years ago the Finns revoked a law that required all Finnish homes to have either a Puukko (large knife) or firearm (can’t recall which) at the ready in case of invasion by the Russians.
    
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    May 16, 2022 1:29pm
Frank the tank

https://www.foxnews.com/us/middle-schoolers-sexual-harassment-gender-pronouns

Coming to an Intermediate School near you when Our Glorious Leader’s hate speech legislation is passed.
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May 16, 2022 9:14am
- MCōs
  
  Wisconsin is nowhere near New Zealand.
  
  4 4
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  May 16, 2022 2:22pm
  - Frank the tank
    
    Really? I didn’t know. Did you know the sky was Blue cosy?
    
    5 1
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    May 16, 2022 3:21pm
    - RdM
      
      Do you know why the sky is blue?
      The Maori science version, if there is one?
      The Pakeha science version, even if it might be wrong?
      
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      May 17, 2022 1:11am
kowtow

Hosk had some wallah on this morning representing dairy , I think , but listening to him talking that we needed to get off fossil fuels ( long term ) and get into electrification made me think of the great Winston Churchill and the analogy to feeding the alligator in the hope it will eat you last .

And to double down on WW 2 . First they came for the fossil fuel emitors , well dairy guy , you are well and truly in their sights .

As are all of us .

Time for all sectors under assault by the farleft climate loons , and yes that includes the so called moderates who think ETS is a good idea, to unite and push back against all so called climate mitigation , get back to real science and real world priorities like crime , education,productivity and the cost of living .And not far left cant.
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May 16, 2022 9:21am
- All_on_Red
  
  Its also a waste of time and we will hurt ourselves for no real point at all.
  https://wattsupwiththat.com/2022/05/12/net-zero-india-plans-to-double-coal-use-by-2040/
  1.2 Billion tonnes per annum over the next two years! Up from 777m tonnes.
  
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  May 16, 2022 9:56am
NeverMindTheBollocks

The health employees going on strike today due to low wages. In part this is due to the increase in the minimum wage, meaning the differential between their salary & the minimum wage is very small.

In the old days, this was called ‘relativities’.

Labour is relearning the lessons of the past.
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May 16, 2022 9:29am
- Libertarians are right
  
  Ahh yes. The old, “we used to earn more than them now we’re on the same – give us more”, then, “we used to earn the same as them, now we’re on less – give us more”, then “we used to earn more than them now we’re on the same – give us more” circle jerk. Truly unethical so of course it’s a favorite tool of the Unions.
  
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  May 16, 2022 9:50am
  - Matt Long
    
    I sypathise with them, they’re treated poorly by their drunk and drugged customers, their cost of living has gone up probably 15% in the last year, the Government is randomly throwing billions around with no plan or regard to consequences.
    Why wouldn’t they feel agrieved?
    Only I bet they voted Labour in 2017 and 2020, let’s see if they can grasp consequential thinking in 2023.
    
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    May 16, 2022 11:16am
    - Matt Long
      
      https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/climate-change-plan-high-emitting-vehicles-to-be-banned-electric-vehicle-scheme-under-45-billion-plan/7Y63XNCUS4PZ3OOF5NDJUN5HMU/
      Half a billion dollars on EV virtue signaling, healthcare workers nada.
      
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      May 16, 2022 1:00pm
    - Paulus
      
      No Strikes on my Watch !
      Who said that ?
      
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      May 16, 2022 1:51pm
- Ehlana
  
  I heard yesterday that minimum pay increases have wiped out the first two steps on their pay scale. Seem to recall people trying to explain this effect to Labour at the time.
  
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  May 16, 2022 12:04pm
Cassandra

Racist political party refuses to take part in election because of racism. I’m sure there’s a translation of this somewhere but so far it has eluded me. The KKK is widely mocked. Is that the sort of racism that MP Waititi is complaining about?
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May 16, 2022 9:34am
Nickc2

Unfortunately, School Teachers have returned our kids to us as like thinkers to this person wrt that scam known as Climate Change. I reckon it’ll take at least another one or two generations to realise it as the greatest scam on mankind in recent times.
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May 16, 2022 9:36am
- All_on_Red
  
  Not just School kids.
  A quick survey of our “Bright Young People” in our Office shows that none of them knew what percentage CO2 is in our atmosphere.
  Or any other basic Climate facts.
  But fair enough. At their age there were many other things which had my attention.
  
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  May 16, 2022 10:00am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Co2 percentage varies, depending on how many cows are farting
    
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    May 16, 2022 11:03am
    - RdM
      
      And on the times of day and in seasons that trees breathe.
      There are maps of this.
      Northern and Southern Hemisphere.
      
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      May 17, 2022 1:14am
  - oldfella
    
    Red: as I mentioned yesterday on GD, TV3’s Mike McRoberts has not only drunk the climate change Coolaid, but his channel went out of the way to avoid covering his actions.
    So take anything from TV3 on climate change with a high degree of scepticism. They are severely compromised.
    https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/climate-news/125078983/mike-mcroberts-on-going-vegan-and-following-his-daughter-to-the-protest-front-lines
    
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    May 16, 2022 11:10am
    - All_on_Red
      
      Thanks- but I don’t watch Television, least of all TV3.
      McRoberts is hardly a ‘thought leader’ either.
      Just another pretentious talking head who thinks his opinion matters- lol
      
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      May 16, 2022 12:11pm
  - coge
    
    The human body is 18% carbon. Decarbonize that!
    
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    May 16, 2022 2:47pm
kowtow

Willis , just now on ZB “National agrees we need to address climate change and we have int’l obligations ”

Bugger int’l obligations . The obligation is to the New Zealand voter , to our productivity , standard of living etc

This is why the International Globaleratti had to get rid of Mr Trump.

He was not interested in international feel good , that all these others have signed up to.

He was interested in America and the standard of living of the avergae American , that’s what national , sovereign politicians need to support , their own voters.
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May 16, 2022 9:40am
- Littletramp
  
  Here is a link to an excellent short & concise explanation of the “Climate Change” phenom. Also covers the current conflict in Europe, which the article proposes is much the same issue.
  https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2022/05/15/sunday-talks-finland-president-sauli-niinisto-indicates-a-global-cleaving-behind-decision-to-join-nato/
  
  We (NZ) have obviously climbed onto the “Green Energy” team, lead by the WEF, IMF,WTO etc lead by the multinational corporations and all that entails.
  Don’t look for any relief from the National party after the next election.
  
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  May 16, 2022 10:36am
Maggie Pie

FFS….Faanana hasn’t even been elected yet!
Already he’s talking about flushing Remuera Ratepayers dollars down the proverbial toilet 🙁

https://twitter.com/efesocollins/status/1525711522894589952
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May 16, 2022 9:42am
- Nickc2
  
  Unfortunately, he has the Labour Party and everyone else in Akld wanting free stuff behind him.
  
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  May 16, 2022 9:46am
  - graham
    
    Not so sure, looking at the somewhat scathing replies.
    
    (And anyone who fails this badly at basic grammar – “Youth event all wrapped up fir the evening …” – won’t be getting my vote).
    
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    May 16, 2022 10:20am
    - kevn
      
      @graham… Wandering about at night with a useless mask on is more of an issue than spelling/proofing.
      
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      May 16, 2022 11:00am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    He said he voted against the stupid Auckland fuel tax
    
    10 1
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    May 16, 2022 11:16am
    - Nickc2
      
      Maybe, but you know what lying bastards these Labour people are eh?
      
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      May 16, 2022 11:57am
- Thought Criminal
  
  I wonder where the money will come from for free and more frequent?
  
  I wonder how many buses he’ll catch after he has secured the half a million dollar a year Auckland mayor job.
  
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  May 16, 2022 10:25am
- Opie
  
  Should someone that can’t spell or proof read really be in line to be mayor?
  
  Pretty low standards…
  
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  May 16, 2022 10:31am
- Harry Knuts
  
  one responded with “mask one and outside” and no one else around… all kinds of nonsensical that tweet
  
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  May 16, 2022 10:33am
curry4me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2o_3d-TqyFM

Will China DOMINATE the Pacific.

China is working hard to dominate the Pacific, and the US is playing catchup after years of ignoring the region. In this episode of China Unscripted, we talk about how China lures countries with fantastical promises of development deals, what leaders are mostly likely to be coopted by China, and why China’s measurement of success isn’t necessarily good for the people. Joining us in this episode of China Unscripted is Celsus Talifilu, political advisor to the premier of Malaita Province, Daniel Suidani. Malaita is the most populous province of the Solomon Islands. [15:33]
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May 16, 2022 9:44am
curry4me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GgAhAskzP0

Kirk Hope (Business NZ) chats with Sean Plunket.

Sean Plunket spoke with Kirk Hope about a variety of economic and business topics including discussing Sean’s earlier conversation with Sir Ian Taylor. [From a NZ media outfit that didn’t sell out to Stalinda.15:45]
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May 16, 2022 9:44am
ClanMcleod

Eugyppius who posted (and still posts) some of the most lucid, coherent and accurate analysis during the covid circus has turned their skills to the situation in Ukraine. As I expected, they do as thorough and measured a job here also.

“I’m not saying that war isn’t violent, or that civilian casualties don’t matter. I’m saying that you can’t understand what is happening in this war as a mere series of atrocities, and I’m also saying that press narratives of Russian war crimes are a monumental hypocrisy. They proceed from the American empire, which since World War II has demonstrated ruthless, near-total indifference to the civilian victims of their air campaigns. What’s happening in the Ukraine is nothing compared to the brutal shock and awe tactics that killed hundreds of thousands of ordinary people in Iraq.”

This part is an excellent summary of how anyone daring to hold an opposing view is attacked (including here on Kiwiblog) without any attempt at saying why. Very reminiscent of similar attacks on those opposing the covid narrative, particularly in the early days.

“The politics of this war are the most bizarre thing I have ever seen. It is very strange indeed to be called a right-wing extremist in Germany for having pro-Russian sympathies. It is even stranger, for someone who is periodically accused of being a Nazi – despite totally disavowing National Socialism – to read editorials in mainstream newspapers insisting that the Azov battalion are not actually Neo-Nazis, even though this is what they claim to be.”

https://www.eugyppius.com/p/ukraine-and-western-geopolitical?s=r

Worth reading the whole piece. If you need to subscribe I would, it’s worth it to counter the utter crap we’re subjected to in the major western media outlets, particularly in NZ. His/her (no I’m not playing the pronouns game, I don’t know who this person is) analysis is always measured and never hysterical, unlike the dross we are subjected to by the likes of The Guardian, NYT, WAPO etc. The main outlets in the west, and NZ media is the crap at the bottom of the cess pit.
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May 16, 2022 9:50am
- ClanMcleod
  
  lol – same response as when I posted early on about the “vaccines” and stated they were neither safe nor effective and that masks and lockdowns don’t work. The same number of down votes, probably from the same people. Oh well.
  
  To quote Jack Nicholson.
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMzd40i8TfA
  
  How did the covid posts work out?
  
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  May 16, 2022 11:24am
- Ross Campbell
  
  “If you need to subscribe I would”.
  Be my guest as this type of garbage is right up your alley.
  As they say a fool and his money are easily parted.
  
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  May 16, 2022 11:34am
  - ClanMcleod
    
    Which part of the posts on substack by Eugyppius are garbage and why? Either regarding covid or Ukraine, or any of the other multitude of topics covered? I appreciate and enjoy constructive and rational analysis and debate. Cheers.
    
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    May 16, 2022 12:12pm
    - Bridgenag
      
      Do you think Ross is a new MM?
      
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      May 16, 2022 1:29pm
kevn

@clan… http://www.moonofalabama.org is interesting as well.
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May 16, 2022 10:26am
- ClanMcleod
  
  MoA – always a great source of decent analysis. Cheers for the link.
  
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  May 16, 2022 11:25am
skyblue

What time is the climate speech?
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May 16, 2022 10:28am
vand

Ahh yes. The old, “we used to earn more than them now we’re on the same – give us more”, then, “we used to earn the same as them, now we’re on less – give us more”, then “we used to earn more than them now we’re on the same – give us more” circle jerk. Truly unethical so of course it’s a favorite tool of the Unions.”

It’s happening in the trades mate- to retain employees –
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May 16, 2022 10:30am
- ClanMcleod
  
  Wasn’t there a time when the police, nurses and teachers used to be paid around the same as MPs?
  Nothing to see here, they have the Independent Remuneration Authority to keep it all fair……//
  
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  May 16, 2022 11:27am
Maggie Pie

And looks like Israel’s IPCA might be receiving a few complaints….

https://twitter.com/Rushdibbc/status/1525114366403743744
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May 16, 2022 10:35am
- ClanMcleod
  
  That is disturbing, but to say so publicly is perceived in many quarters as “anti semitic”. Just like “anti vaxxer”. We are truly living in Orwellian times.
  
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  May 16, 2022 11:30am
  - Loddenthinks
    
    What’s disturbing is the cherry-picking of a small part of a much larger and way more complex issue. The funeral organisers had agreed with the Israeli authorities what was going to happen, and then did the opposite. Dozens of rioters throwing stones and other objects at the police, then hiding under the coffin (yes, watch the video from Israeli Police further in the thread).
    
    Question everything you see, and everything you read. Is Israel perfect? By no means. Is there a propaganda war being waged? Abso-fricken-lutely.
    
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    May 16, 2022 11:52am
    - ClanMcleod
      
      I know. Everything we see, hear and read in all forms of media need to be questioned. I’ll revisit the thread and check it out. I don’t have a position on Israel/Palestine, I don’t live there so don’t know enough about it. But if it is Palestinian propaganda then it’s no different to Ukrainian propaganda regarding apparent Russian atrocities. I found the video of someone carrying a coffin being beaten disturbing. IF there is a logical and sane reason for it that can be clearly seen in the Israeli footage then it will obviously alter my opinion. Something everyone should do but most seem to struggle with the concept. I guess that’s part of being human.
      
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      May 16, 2022 12:18pm
    - Local Miller
      
      can you post a link to the full video please, I can’t find it on the Tweet thread possibly because someone blocked it.
      
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      May 16, 2022 1:59pm
      - Loddenthinks
        
        Try this: https://twitter.com/israelpolice/status/1525141705200132096
        
        It’s the one from Israeli Police, not sure if that’s what you’re meaning.
        
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        May 16, 2022 3:30pm
- Cassandra
  
  The PLO use funerals to carry out illegal acts eg stone throwing, and then complain about the police? What double standards are OK then?
  
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  May 16, 2022 12:30pm
Swifty

Wellington faces massive social, crime, housing and infrastructure failures and this is what their councillors are bickering and posturing about:

https://i.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/wellington/128648310/palestinian-commemoration-ruled-out-after-wellington-mayor-pulls-pin

Useless.
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May 16, 2022 10:48am
Sparrow

I wonder what the true cost is of subsidizing public transport? I live in a rural area and travel frequently to Auckland by car horror horror. If I was to take public transport. It would take me 30 mins to Wellsford to catch a bus to Warkworth then another bus to Siverdale then another bus to Auckland. Have no idea how long this would take.
I pass the Wellsford to Warkworth bus frequently its empty !!! Why should the majority of kiwis subsidize the inner suburbs of our major cities where only the rich can afford.
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May 16, 2022 11:24am
Swifty

I was wondering over the weekend whether there is any one person in the NZ Labour Party who could briefly describe every Ministry, CE, SOE and other wholly government funded and controlled bodies; their purpose, budget and results.

Or, has everything become just so vast and sprawling such a task has become impossible – and that we now need teams of people just to keep track of it all.

Additionally, can we be assured of no duplication or no working at cross-purposes?

I bet we can’t.
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May 16, 2022 11:25am
- mikenmildagain
  
  The government consists of about 40 departments (including ministries & non-departmental agencies), about 60 crown entities (authorities, boards, etc), 20 district health boards, about 200 crown companies and subsidiaries, 16 polytechs, 8 universities, about 2,400 school boards of trustees, 12 SOEs, and a fair few other boards, councils and trusts.
  
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  May 16, 2022 12:16pm
  - Cassandra
    
    Far too many. ACT has a good plan………………
    
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    May 16, 2022 12:27pm
  - Swifty
    
    Thanks Mike.
    
    Leaving aside the educational and health organisations, the question still stands.
    
    I wonder if there’s any one person who can describe what each of the 40 depts, 60 crown entities, 200 crown companies and 12 SOEs do – and, hand-on-heart, say that there is no duplication and no working at cross purposes.
    
    I say there won’t be and they can’t.
    
    A monster has been created.
    
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    May 16, 2022 1:02pm
- MCōs
  
  I used to work for a bloke for awhile.
  Just him and me.
  Some days he’d say ‘What the fuck have you been doing all day, MCos?”
  
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  May 16, 2022 12:25pm
Maggie Pie

Given Faanana’s stance on ‘gay marriage’, I can’t see him getting too many votes out of Ponsonby or certain areas on the North Shore.

He believes “marriage should be between a Man and a Woman”. And calls gay marriage…. “a step too far”

https://youtu.be/hwwW3wMvTLg

(@3m 20s)
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May 16, 2022 11:58am
- Harry Knuts
  
  more related his culture and religion, not too happy about the ole gays are the heavily religious people. this guys won’t make mayor – way too labour for everyone’s taste now.
  
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  May 16, 2022 12:14pm
- Frank the tank
  
  Lol. Reminds me of a joke that the Shore only had males that were gay or South African and you don’t have an accent…….
  
  The Fes’ won’t get much North of the Bridge however the right needs to get behind a centre-right candidate PRONTO.
  
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  May 16, 2022 1:39pm
Ehlana

Also heard yesterday – a school teacher complaining of inadequate resources. Seems the problem is that schools only have so much funding each, which means if too many staff take sick leave (cost to school of reliever), funding is no longer available for professional development. Teacher felt government should increase resources to cover both.

I wondered if anyone had ever explained that in the private sector people only buy from you if they want to (no compulsory attendance at your store), you can only charge what they can afford and that, if an employee is sick, the business must cover both the employee sick leave and the cost of the temp replacement, if required. So yes, firms often can’t afford all the professional development their staff might like.
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May 16, 2022 12:16pm
- bjools
  
  Maybe they should take another look at bulk funding?
  
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  May 16, 2022 12:39pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  I would have expected to schools to only hire trained professionals.
  
  And what is stopping each teacher from keeping up-to-date/trained now? They all seem to be allocated loads of time off from class-room teaching each day.
  
  https://www.education.govt.nz/school/people-and-employment/pay-leave-and-personal-development/non-teaching-time-for-teachers/
  
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  May 16, 2022 3:49pm
  - mikenmildagain
    
    Your faith in the Ministry of Education’s policy guidance is quite touching.
    
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    May 16, 2022 5:08pm
PhilP

A question…..Does anyone know what salary Simon Bridges will be on once he takes over from Michael Barnett at the Auckland Chamber of Commerce?
I couldn’t find anything by Googling.
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May 16, 2022 12:17pm
- BeaB
  
  Why would it be our business?
  
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  May 16, 2022 1:26pm
- Cassandra
  
  Not enough, whatever it is.
  
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  May 16, 2022 1:27pm
- Maggie Pie
  
  Google does show Michael Barnett’s salary as $660,000.
  
  Expect it would be in the same ballpark?
  
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  May 16, 2022 1:39pm
- Swifty
  
  Contrast that against another party leader – back at the comforting bosom of the public sector:
  
  https://e-tangata.co.nz/korero/metiria-turei-and-her-new-world/
  
  I see also that Turei makes no distinction between Maori and Pacific people as far as how they should be treated in the education system. Interesting. I wonder how she arrived at that conclusion. If some/many Welsh or German immigrants were at the bottom of some social indicators would she argue for their inclusion too? Or is her thinking reserved for people with brown skin only.
  
  That’s a but racist isn’t it?
  
  She’s got one thing right though:
  
  “Asian students will also feel the impacts of structural racism, under-representation and exclusion, even as Tangata Tiriti.”
  
  Yep, positive discrimination/affirmative action in NZ educational establishments favouring Maori and Pacific students, that Turei clearly supports, will actively and automatically cause harm to Asian students by denying them places and resources they would otherwise have received if everything was merit-based.
  
  Asian people are some of the most harmed and disadvantaged by similar policies in the States and have been for decades.
  
  It’s odd, I never picked Turei as such a racist – in that she would support moves to combat supposed-racism with even more racism.
  
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  May 16, 2022 2:14pm
westernScientist

What is a “national kerbside food recycling system”?

Isnt that either compost or sewage, depending on how you look at it.
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May 16, 2022 12:34pm
surfing

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/climate-change-plan-high-emitting-vehicles-to-be-banned-electric-vehicle-scheme-under-45-billion-plan/7Y63XNCUS4PZ3OOF5NDJUN5HMU/

Why bother punishing ourselves unnecessarily? Labour will stuff this up because they presume people are equal.

While I believe CO2 causes warming, the alarmist view of the world ending is quite wrong.

Warming occurs slowly enough for us to adjust. Life on earth has thrived with no icecaps. Ice ages are far worse for life. Who wants to live on snowball earth?
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May 16, 2022 12:35pm
- Local Miller
  
  You are correct, CO2 causes warming, but do you know the rate of warming?
  
  The graph of temperature increase vs CO2 levels is logarithmic, that is it flattens off becoming more horizontal as CO2 increases. The basic formula is a doubling of CO2 concentration causes a 1 degree C increase in temperature.
  
  Now, based on the NOAA Global Monitoring Lab data (https://gml.noaa.gov/ccgg/trends/) there was ~315ppm CO2 in the atmosphere in 1960 (approximations, but these are close enough). In 2020 this had risen to ~415ppm. but to get a single degree increase we would need this to reach 630ppm, something we are not going to see at the current rate for another 120 years. (Based on 60 years to get a 100ppm increase, and the graph is close to linear but not quite.)
  The kicker is that to get another degree on top of that, you don’t get it at 945ppm, you get it at 1260ppm (double the 630ppm, remember 1 degree for each doubling). At the current rate this would be about 260 years away.
  So from now roughly 380 years to get to 2 degrees above the 1960 temperature, not the fear mongering 1.5 degrees by the end of the centaury.
  Even if you go to pre industrial levels of 278ppm, the first 1 degree is only reached at 556ppm and the second at 1112ppm, still close to 380 years from now.
  The so called climate emergency is a lie that has been foisted on us because of climate models that are not based on science but on political pressure.
  
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  May 16, 2022 2:32pm
LB

Nice to know the govt backs this lovely community organisation and it’s doorknocking campaigns
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/300588786/tauranga-murder-mongrel-mob-entered-family-home-in-violent-invasion
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May 16, 2022 12:39pm
- Cassandra
  
  Another example of racism in Tauranga.
  
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  May 16, 2022 1:26pm
Niz

I just saw this in a Newshub article about our upcoming climate change idiocy…
“EVs charging at home, during off-peak hours”
As far as I know, I dont currently get charged a different rate at peak times (I’m in Auckland).
Does this mean my meter will be getting changed?
Will EVs charging points be metered separately?
I also see there will be no ICE buses added to the fleet by 2025 I suppose that means EV bus manufacturers profits will be good, because they won’t be competing with ‘proper’ buses. Oh, how dar can a bus go on a charge? Can they go inter-city?
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May 16, 2022 12:48pm
- SoloView
  
  @ Niz
  If you don’t know the power plan you are using – may pay to look at https://www.powerswitch.org.nz/
  
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  May 16, 2022 3:07pm
- info@cruzpro.com
  
  Hi Niz,
  
  There are electric companies that provide lower rates during off-peak hours.
  
  Our night rate from 11:00 pm To 7:00 am is $0.12 per KwHr vs about $0.32 per KwHr during the day.
  
  It requires that you get a separate meter installed and the cost may vary. Worth looking I to [into].
  
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  May 16, 2022 7:35pm
surfing

“Shaw said empowering Māori to lead responses to climate change and upholding Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles were one of the key focuses in the plan. This included developing a specific Māori Climate Strategy and Action Plan.”

This is He Puapua…. maori are being given money (likely millions) to develop their own climate action plan. They won’t have to do any work though, just get the maori affairs department to scribble out a 1 page summary copied from google search.
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May 16, 2022 12:50pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Hope this works.
This time last year, Liz Wheeler rearing Arden a new one on gun control.
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?ref=saved&v=353054445563192
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May 16, 2022 12:52pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Geez my typos! tearing ffs
  
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  May 16, 2022 3:18pm
  - Captain Mainwaring
    
    Not hard to proofread before you press send.
    
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    May 16, 2022 8:39pm
TS Child

10,000 Allied Health Workers on strike today. You’d think that would warrant a significant headline… They work jolly hard for comparatively little pay. We really know how to show our Front line Workers they are appreciated.. Let’s hope we all remember that the next time we need them.
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May 16, 2022 12:55pm
- Inandout
  
  TS, the health system is such a shambles already. Doesn’t AHW include surgeons and hospital specialists?
  
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  May 16, 2022 1:54pm
  - TS Child
    
    Agree the system is a shambles. Allied health is physics, pharmacists, occupational therapists, social workers – the people who sort out the complexities of many admissions. An elderly diabetic patient who is struggling at home, for example, will see all of them, possibly daily, until they are discharged. Allied Health make an enormous difference to people’s lives. The government has spent billions on I’m not sure what exactly, but not on health workers. During a pandemic.
    
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    May 16, 2022 4:48pm
- Local Miller
  
  We had dinner last night with my daughter and her flat mate, a 4th year physio student doing her placement year. She was telling us they can’t send patients to the hospital emergency wards because they are being told “we are to busy” and they can’t take on any new patients. Her words “if we take your physio patients, other patients are going to die”.
  This is what happens every time Liebour are in power. Wake up NZ, when are you going to learn not to vote for these useless school room politicians?
  
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  May 16, 2022 2:40pm
ClanMcleod

An interesting post in the Daily Sceptic.

“In April 2020, the New York Times published the Red Dawn emails – email threads that included many high-ranking officials in the United States, including Anthony Fauci and CDC Director Robert Redfield. They showed what officials and researchers were sharing with one another about the developing situation from late January.

Jeffrey A. Tucker at the Brownstone Institute has republished the emails for those who missed them or had forgotten about them. This is from his introduction.

The gigantic mess called lockdown began with an email thread called Red Dawn in early 2020, based on the old movie about a Russian invasion of the U.S. The idea was that the virus was the invader. The public health lockdowners and fanatics on the list who urged the overthrow of American life as we knew it imagined themselves to be the saviours.”

Very interesting reading.
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May 16, 2022 12:56pm
Alan Wilkinson

Emissions Reduction plan – every item makes the country poorer.
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May 16, 2022 1:05pm
- kowtow
  
  I simply don’t see how they can blather on about Maoris and “equity” when they want to try and cool the planet down.
  
  Which of course is not wot this is about .
  
  It’s about destroying the productive economy and stripping money away from workers to the bennies and consultancy class .
  
  Oh and look wot Vaxspenda said:
  
  “We’ve all seen the recent reports on sea level rise and its impact right here in New Zealand. We cannot leave the issue of climate change until it’s too late to fix,”
  
  Almost confirming my belief that the tv news has been buttering us up these recent few weeks for this nuclear moment.
  
  Also explains why tv3 were running stories about maraes being flooded etc
  
  ” Māori have long been recognised as among the most vulnerable groups to climate-change impacts due to their “significant reliance on the environment as a cultural, social and economic resource”.
  
  This regime and the Media Pardy have right royally stitched the whole thing up between them.
  
  What will the Opposition do ?
  
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  May 16, 2022 1:55pm
  - Niz
    
    Opposition? There is no real political opposition to the climate change idiocy.
    
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    May 16, 2022 3:38pm
Bridgenag

This is one to pass on to everyone you know

https://www.thedailyexaminer.co.nz/all-in-the-mahuta-family/
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May 16, 2022 1:09pm
lemuzz

Robberson knows that with all the “goodies” he has promised which will kick in next term and further out will be a hurdle around the next government’s neck to enact. He must see that with Labour’s support dropping as it has in the polls and National and Act likely to be next Government means that they, National / Act will have to either rescind these policies and face anger from Green’s and others or go along with them and face anger from National /Act supporters and face the anger from their voters and so will only be a one term government anyway. It is a win win situation for Labour after only one election loss for Labour next term
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May 16, 2022 1:09pm
- Cassandra
  
  Facing anger from the Greens is a disadvantage? I would have thought that it’d be a badge of honour. National must cancel all of Labour’s handouts to its mates. Starting with the media and closely followed by sacking 3,000 government employees. For starters. Then on Day 2……………….
  
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  May 16, 2022 1:25pm
- Alan Wilkinson
  
  Global warming is just another opportunity for the Left to throw other people’s money at something.
  
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  May 16, 2022 1:55pm
Maggie Pie

According to Google, when Maori arrived on these shores from Hawaiki….. they massacred, ate, and nearly wiped-out the Moriori people.

So how come we never see a billboard calling for THEM to go back to Honolulu?

https://twitter.com/uriohau/status/1525624632841506816
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May 16, 2022 1:10pm
- Frank the tank
  
  Nah they originally came from Taiwan of all places based off historical language analysis. Then spread south island hoping the whole way.
  
  Used to wind up the poly boys in the warehouse that they were Asian.
  
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  May 16, 2022 3:26pm
Hugh Jarse

As my old mum would say – “I just listened to that little Jimmy Shaw, used to live at number 42 up the road, funny wee chap, said he is going to stop bad weather everywhere in the world by doing tricks with his magic tax machine. Said he was going to take some of my pension too so I don’t waste it on stuff he doesn’t like – Bless”
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May 16, 2022 1:16pm
fightingtemeraire

James Shaw’s idea to get the people at the lower end driving EVs has one major problem.

How to get them here.

Shipping Companies and Insurance Underwriters are refusing to carry or insure them.

Mitsui had US$500 million claim a few months back caused by a battery fire on the Felicity Ace.
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May 16, 2022 1:33pm
- westernScientist
  
  its got a few more problems that that….
  
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  May 16, 2022 1:58pm
  - fightingtemeraire
    
    I Know but there is a major problem getting them here!!!
    
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    May 16, 2022 4:00pm
- Benedict Yu
  
  Will be interesting to see the details. If people can’t afford a $60,000 EV, they probably can’t afford a $50,000 EV.
  
  It is also a scheme vulnerable to gaming. High income couple has low income university student:
  
  Couple gives $500 to student to buy clunker.
  
  Student exchanges clunker for the $10,000 subsidy.
  
  Parents gift $50,000 to student.
  
  Student buys brand new EV.
  
  Student sells EV to parents for $1.
  
  There are probably more sophisticated ways to make that work but you get the picture. It will be gamed by people who were going to buy an EV anyway.
  
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  May 16, 2022 2:22pm
  - Niz
    
    Some people on low incomes may even be careful with the little money they have. They might be able to muster up $50-60k, but if they had any brains they wouldn’t waste it on an a new EV car. Maybe they figure they need to save it for the next time the government does it’s best to entirely screw the economy, that sort of thing.
    
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    May 16, 2022 3:48pm
  - westernScientist
    
    I recon it will be subsidies to drive the price of 2nd hand nissan leafs up. Tax payer hands out 10k for some perfectly good but beaten up 1992 corolla, on the condition that they buy a 15k 2012 leaf. Only problem is they were sh*t to start with and are now warn out as well.
    
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    May 16, 2022 4:07pm
  - UrbanNeocolonialist
    
    So obviously they will write a law preventing or clawing back subsidy if sold on too quickly. But I bet they won’t figure out any way to limit who drives said EV every day – keep ownership in poor person’s name for some consideration from middle class person who loans them the money and takes full possession after required minimum ownership period.
    
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    May 16, 2022 5:11pm
    - Niz
      
      I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that they’ll eventually make it illegal to sell an old ICE vehicle.
      Therefore can’t buy one to trade in for an EV.
      
      4 0
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      May 16, 2022 6:17pm
- Inandout
  
  fight. John Codogan had a fun time in Canberra trying to recharge his EV. Some chargers were dead, some half worked and some worked intermittently.
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LX2et7lzJTQ
  
  11 1
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  May 16, 2022 3:01pm
Ross Campbell

Thanks for displaying your ignorance for all to see.
Hawaiki is a mythical Maori place, it has nothing to do with Hawaii.
6 20
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May 16, 2022 1:47pm
- Alan Wilkinson
  
  Hard to go past Rarotonga as the source.
  
  11 0
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  May 16, 2022 2:10pm
- mikenmildagain
  
  Maggie Pie is a great one for recycling old theories and myths,
  
  7 12
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  May 16, 2022 2:29pm
  - skyblue
    
    Maori are the master and commander of peddling bs.
    
    11 0
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    May 16, 2022 2:34pm
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    MYTHS!!!!
    
    They are not myths, they are codified forms of indigenous knowledge.
    
    https://eos.org/features/the-rivers-lizard-tail-braiding-indigenous-knowledges-with-geomorphology
    
    15 2
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    May 16, 2022 4:05pm
krazykiwi

This is welcome: Fund bosses should stay out of politics and focus on profits

Finance giants should never have allowed themselves to become so tied to politically correct movements in the first place

The chairman won’t have to preface his remarks with a few minutes of droning on about how committed the company is to combating climate change. The annual report won’t need page after page of expensively produced guff about promoting diversity. And the website can be spared endless lists of social goals that the business has promoted over the last year. Over the last week, it has become increasingly clear that the world’s major money managers are starting to scale back on political activism.

BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, has just announced that it won’t expect the companies it invests in to meet so many environmental goals. Sweden’s SEB said recently it would lift its blanket ban on defence companies. And Barclays has said – shock horror – that it is willing to back oil and gas exploration once again. One by one, major asset managers are revisiting their fashionable pursuit of ESG and climate change.
:::
It is the largest asset manager to change tack, but far from the only one. Sweden’s SEB said in March that it was lifting its blanket ban on investing in defence stocks of any kind, another fashionable cause among the ESG crowd.

And Barclays has defied the protests of green activists, saying it is willing to invest in new oil and gas projects once again. One by one, the major investors are toning down political activism and, behind the scenes, many more will be following that lead, even if they prefer not to attract placards and rotten eggs at the next AGM by saying so publicly
18 2
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May 16, 2022 1:57pm
Hebe123

So my partner was employed to do a job that involves entering a NZDF base. He contracts to the construction co who has the job. Turned up today for first day to be told he may not enter the base without a vax pass….

I had heard that NZDF had doubled down on vaxxes for staff despite the mandate being found in court to be illegal – but this is just unbelievable.

Oh and he was brought in to complete a job that is way over budget and time with only 20% of the work complete….good luck to them finding someone else who can do that and willing to work hours from a major city.
21 2
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May 16, 2022 2:02pm
- cmm
  
  It’s probably down to the New Wokeness in the NZDF.
  
  You can no longer depend on military personnel to be fit, healthy individuals. Due to diversity they’re probably stuffed to the gunwales with weak, vulnerable people that need protecting.
  
  Either that or they’re just a captive bunch of people for the authorities to power-trip on.
  
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  May 16, 2022 2:27pm
  - kowtow
    
    Talking of woke military .
    
    For ever the King’s / Emperor’s personal troops were the biggest meanest bastards in the army , they had to be , they protected the boss .
    
    Honour guards would be made up of these big spick and span , best equipped and most intimidating soldiers , in order to both impress and let other visiting heads of state , watch out this is what we’ve got .
    
    In NZ today , anyone notice how “diverse” and slovenly our G ‘s of H are . Usually with a tiny woman in the centre of the front rank .
    
    Our message is ” We’re so woke “.
    
    11 2
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    May 16, 2022 4:50pm
Maggie Pie

My partner’s starting to think these ‘Ram-Raiders’ are just taking the piss.
12 3
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May 16, 2022 2:15pm
- Captain Mainwaring
  
  Any ‘Ram-Raider’ not driving a Ram truck is just pretending.
  
  8 1
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  May 16, 2022 2:19pm
- Tauhei Notts
  
  No, Maggie. They take the smokes as well.
  
  15 1
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  May 16, 2022 2:40pm
- Harry Knuts
  
  it is taking the piss… pure sport. Their adventures upload to the likes of snapchat – share with their mates – so the next lot of mates try and out do each other. The fact they might get a few iphones or a couple of packs of ciggies out of it is just a bonus. And their big win of course is getting away with it if they are lucky enough. I feel a name & Shame of every kid caught should be marched openly in court – no name suppression. Might make them think twice about doing this again.
  
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  May 16, 2022 2:47pm
Tauhei Notts

A busy old man this morning. I visited a car dealer, the green grocer, haberdasher, cobbler, butcher, library, Warehouse, dairy, grog shop, Post Shop, pharmacy and supermarket.
The only place that insisted upon me wearing a mask was the supermarket. It got me thinking that the Commerce Commission’s thoughts about supermarkets and their gouging has had them resort to unpleasant behaviour that only a franchised oligopolistic outfit could do.
25 3
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May 16, 2022 2:46pm
Maggie Pie

CCP determined to prevent…. ‘Brain-Drain’ 😎

https://twitter.com/jenniferatntd/status/1526006250697543681
8 3
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May 16, 2022 2:50pm
- Frank the tank
  
  Don’t give our mob any ideas Mags.
  
  7 0
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  May 16, 2022 3:27pm
- UrbanNeocolonialist
  
  China has recently enacted some new laws to restrict people leaving unnecessarily to limit importation of covid cases. But maybe they are really worried about brain drain – because even for older or Chinese only speakers there are a lot of attractive destinations world wide where they can escape an increasingly repressive govt to live and work in Chinese speaking communities. NZ in particular, but many other countries as well.
  
  Chinese population growth has been lied about for a generation by provincial govt in China, and is estimated to be more than 130 million lower than official figures, with all of that deficit being in younger age groups – provinces exaggerated numbers by 20-50% to get more money for education and cover for various official lies. As a result their working age population has likely already peaked, and there are likely 2x as many 50 year olds as 5 years olds. And with an incredibly destructive 10-15% excess males in younger age groups (we should welcome them to the west!!). The seeds of their economic decline were thus planted long before they have attained anywhere near western standard of living. But what will the PRC govt do as wheels start to fall off?
  https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/china-2020-census-inflates-population-figures-downplays-demographic-challenge-by-yi-fuxian-2021-08
  
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  May 16, 2022 5:41pm
Sparrow

Not sure how this goes with climate change. Headline in Stuff. Pork Taranaki talking about cruise ships. Love it. Obviously no more profth readers.
12 0
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May 16, 2022 3:12pm
greybeard

As I have observed before on this blogsite: Christchurch is foggy, flattened and feral.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/128654416/new-christchurch-bridge-vandalised-by-morons-within-days-of-opening
12 1
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May 16, 2022 3:30pm
- cmm
  
  The amount of artistic cultural enhancement, aka tagging, in Chch has really gone through the roof in the last few months.
  
  As with ram raiding and car break-ins, there has been an emboldening amongst the criminal scum.
  
  Perhaps they’re not stupid and realise they need to get all their offending in before Cindy gets the boot in 2023.
  
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  May 16, 2022 3:45pm
- Maggie Pie
  
  My partner was saying about 10 years ago, a guy by the name of Bruce Emery, pretty much managed to put a stop to about 90% of tagging in Auckland.
  He remembers when it happened, there were thousands of calls on social media to give him a medal.
  
  16 5
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  May 16, 2022 4:02pm
rockape

I am convinced the current Government don’t have policies, they have ideas. A policy needs to have been thoroughly thought through and this rubbish today certainly hasn’t been. It’s not the first time either,Kiwibuild was the start and they had 8 years to sort that one. It looks like they will shuffle towards the next election leaving a trail of failures because they simply were too lazy or too dumb to think things through. A less talented bunch of clowns I have yet to see. At least the Keystone Cops were trying to look stupid .
22 1
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May 16, 2022 4:00pm
Nookin

Not many Kiwis come second in a tournament on the European tour. I would have thought that such an achievement would have been a cause for congratulation and celebration rather than repeated negativity.
I have not read the report on the cycling. If there is concern about the pressure to win and negativity for anything below first place then maybe the powers that be should be looking at the news media.
https://www.msn.com/en-nz/sports/other/fox-fades-late-to-finish-second-after-blowing-three-shot-lead-in-belgium/ar-AAXj16D?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=U531&cvid=dce3e655837544e6a3e9a6713c65df22
10 1
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May 16, 2022 4:22pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Before you 9 to 5’s go to catch the train/bus or limo’s.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HR9JPFDkbHA
4 5
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May 16, 2022 4:26pm
Maggie Pie

NEWS flash….

My partner called into the Chinese Takeaway on his way home to get some S/S Wontons. He was saying he overheard the girl on the counter telling a customer….. that President Xi had been rushed to hospital with deadly brain aneurysm 🙁
11 4
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May 16, 2022 4:45pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  It’s true! It’s all over that internet thingy – the www dot thing
  
  7 1
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  May 16, 2022 5:38pm
- UrbanNeocolonialist
  
  If true then ding dong! the Stalin venerating c**t is dead(or at least removed from power?)! Hallelujah.
  
  7 1
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  May 16, 2022 5:44pm
- fightingtemeraire
  
  Reported in UK papers he had an aneurism and wanted it treated with traditional Chinese medicine,
  
  7 1
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  May 16, 2022 6:50pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Seems the Hindustan News reported something like this 5 days ago
  
  https://hindustannewshub.com/world-news/chinese-president-xi-jinping-is-battling-cerebral-aneurysm-what-is-this-dangerous-disease/
  
  Perhaps someone is making up stories…
  
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  May 16, 2022 6:54pm
Observer of Life

I was in a mini van from airport to my car last night. 12 in van including driver. Conversation got around to mask wearing here vs Oz etc. I was the only one unmasked. Lots of very unhappy people sick of mask wearing and funnily enough, moaning about Cindy and her useless government. (Only one person sat quiet – assuming didn’t agree). I did suggest that “…masking wearing will come to an end if we ALL stopped wearing them. We have the power”. The conversation went quiet. Most vocal started moaning again about wearing a mask. I again suggested she just take it off… she thought about it, said “alright I will” and removed it. Progress, one person at a time.
There were 2 young nurses amongst us. They’ve had a gutsful and seriously thinking about moving to Oz next year. Can’t blame them. God I hate this government.
19 1
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May 16, 2022 5:44pm
Maggie Pie

God I hate losers!
In the kitchen preparing Peking Duck for dinner….(entree of Wontons), and watched some f-wit on ‘The Chase’ go for -1000 rather than the 72k on offer!

He’s only there once in his sad life….sooo pleased to see him get knocked out.
10 2
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May 16, 2022 6:21pm
Flossie

Obviously the government’s phrase du jour is “Gas Guzzlers”.
10 0
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May 16, 2022 6:24pm
- ByGolly
  
  Oh joy, makes a change from “shovel ready”
  
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  May 16, 2022 7:44pm
bjools

considering
1. I travel up to 400Km in a trip,
2. often towing as much as 1000Kg
3. travel about 35-40000Km per yr.
It is cheeper and more effective for me use the 3.6l V6 that have than any ev.
Also considering the purchase price of any ev that could do this.
This one measure of “scrap and replace” would bankrupt me and I suggest, many others.
15 1
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May 16, 2022 6:34pm
- UrbanNeocolonialist
  
  Long range version of soon to be released Ford F150 Lightning has 530km range, 1 tonne in the bed and can tow a 5 tonne load. Towing a 1-2 tonne trailer generally increases fuel consumption 20-30% so would probably only have 300-350km range with a trailer.
  
  The long range version of the Tesla Cyber truck is supposed to do 800km, and tow up to 6 tonnes so perhaps that would be viable as a tow vehicle for you.
  
  Either of these options will probably cost $120-150k. A second hand diesel SUV is waaaay cheaper to own and operate.
  
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  May 16, 2022 8:34pm
  - bjools
    
    Either of these options will probably cost $120-150k.
    Are you kidding
    A V8 petrol F150 can cost that
    The EV versions will be double that.
    
    1 0
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    May 17, 2022 9:02am

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