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April 21, 2024 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 21 April 2024

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General Debate

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mikenmildagain

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Happy Grounation Day!
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April 21, 2024 8:00am
- Cassandra
  
  For the uninitiated this day commemorates Haile Selassie’s visit to Jamaica in 1966. Big day for pot. I imagine BP and MM will do something special, like trashing Whakatane.
  
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  April 21, 2024 8:10am
- kevn
  
  https://www.zerohedge.com/political/house-passes-95-billion-aid-package-ukraine-israel-and-taiwan-not-us-border
  
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  April 21, 2024 8:43am
  - mikenmildagain
    
    What’s Zero Hedge’s take on Pastafarians?
    
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    April 21, 2024 9:00am
    - Suze Wainwright
      
      You need to lively up yourself mike
      
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      April 21, 2024 9:04am
      - Swifty
        
        ‘Cause Suze said so.
        
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        April 21, 2024 10:08am
peterwn

See:
https://www.1news.co.nz/2024/04/17/error-regretted-as-american-express-cancels-nz-cards/

Some people will be leaving home without their American Express cards soon.
Company has given two weeks notice of cancelling some customers’ cards which it said were issued in error because the customers did not meet the appropriate criteria. Although they have offered to refund fees and compensate it is still a kick in the guts for the customers’ self esteem and two weeks notice is insufficient to apply for new cards. Amex has conceded that there were no way issues in the way customers used the cards or made timely payments.
Amex said it has ‘self-reported’ the matter to the authorities. It strongly appears that Amex has thrown these customers to the wolves in order to try and appease the regulators and minimise any forthcoming penalties. It seems to me that the regulators should impose harsher penalties because Amex systems were faulty and then trying to save their hides by treating customers shabbily.
Fortunately there are other credit card options so why have American Express (apart from the feel good). Also their merchant fees are higher – in fairness to shopkeepers etc just use another card that has lower merchant fees.
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April 21, 2024 8:17am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  Yes, it’s puzzling AMEX continues – or at least, continues while charging higher fees than Visa. You’d think it would have gone out of business in the ‘90s.
  
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  April 21, 2024 9:10am
  - peterwn
    
    Unlike the banks Amex markets its cards aggressively with mailouts and telephone campaigns to suburbs with higher than average income, high house values etc. Could be they have had to tone down their marketing in more recent times to keep on the right side of regulators. They market the card as an ‘exclusive’ product to appeal to the status conscious and then marketed even more exclusive versions – gold, platinum, etc.
    
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    April 21, 2024 12:14pm
- rouppe
  
  Don’t start me on merchant fees. Change was made (I believe) that stopped the extra charge for contactless card use, but I still see little signs saying a surcharge applies, and the rate can be anywhere between 1% and 3%. It’s a bloody rort.
  
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  April 21, 2024 9:18am
  - Charmaine Hawke
    
    Amex charges 3% to any merchant who takes the card, some of us have to pass it on as our margins can’t absorb this.
    
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    April 21, 2024 10:04am
    - peterwn
      
      Passing on the charges used to breach the card company – merchant contracts until regulatory authorities intervened.
      
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      April 21, 2024 12:16pm
  - Grumpy Silver Top
    
    The variation in the surcharge is because banks charge vendors different rates depending on their turnover. Small business are in a cleft stick because few people use cash or debit cards these days and so they have to cater for credit cards. Yet another cost that small businesses can ill afford.
    
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    April 21, 2024 12:11pm
- rouppe
  
  On your other matter of regulator penalties, I used to work for a bank, on a Middleware team (writes the apis for client applications to call back end systems).
  
  The lending application (which also dealt with cards, as they are a debt product) was undergoing some change and we wrote some apis for them.
  
  Some months after implementation HP (which managed our printing) called the boss and said “print volumes are way down, what’s up?”
  Turns out that there a wee flag in the api that determines whether the welcome pack is printed for inclusion. This pack has all the terms and conditions, including interest rate, penalties etc. You want it on for new customers, off for replacement cards.
  
  It wasn’t being triggered for new customers, hence the volume change. Thus, strictly speaking, the customer wasn’t properly informed that they would be charged interest, monthly fees etc.
  The bank refunded every affected customer all the monthly card charges, and interest paid, legitimate or not, and self reported. Not one customer was disadvantaged. The bank was penalized to the tune of $7M.
  
  So Amex can go get stuffed.
  
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  April 21, 2024 9:26am
  - peterwn
    
    So Amex should receive a high end penalty to match up the alleged high end nature of the card. Perhaps $14M or $21M.
    
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    April 21, 2024 12:19pm
- Flossie
  
  Why would anybody even want one with many other (and cheaper) options? I too wonder how they are still in business.
  
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  April 21, 2024 12:16pm
  - peterwn
    
    Vanity.
    
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    April 21, 2024 12:20pm
    - Paul
      
      $69 spend=1 airpoint. Good enough reason? I pay my Rent and OPEX with it.
      
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      April 21, 2024 2:58pm
  - Deadly pony
    
    I think I recall reading in moneyhub that Amex has a generous reward structure, including cash back
    
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    April 21, 2024 12:39pm
- NZer In Exile
  
  After flagging them as junk-credit customers then selling all their personal info to data brokers?
  
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  April 21, 2024 4:36pm
- the deity formerly known as nigel6888
  
  Literally don’t know anyone stupid enough to have an Amex card. They were a status symbol to my dads generation, but have been runover by better products.
  
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  April 21, 2024 7:21pm
Chuck Bird

Jack Tame is interviewing Israel’s Ambassador to New Zealand this morning. If you look at the Q + A Facebook page you will see the Jew haters are out in force and calling him Jack Shame for allowing the Ambassador a chance to tell his side of the story.
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April 21, 2024 8:18am
- kowtow
  
  I won’t be watching .Can’t stand Lame.
  No doubt he’ll be going hard for a “gotcha” or two.
  
  The Lefty Luvvie that he is.
  
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  April 21, 2024 8:35am
- Tony Stuart
  
  I think we should reserve our judgment for now Chuck, until we see if Tame does in deed give the Ambassador “a chance to tell his side of the story”. It’s just as likely that Tame will be an attack dog for the pro-Palestine lobby and hector, interrupt and talk over the top of the Ambassador.
  
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  April 21, 2024 8:43am
  - Chuck Bird
    
    That is why I will watching and I will comment more on the Q + A Facebook. I already have. I asked why Muslim majority countries do not want Palestinians.
    
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    April 21, 2024 8:51am
    - mandk
      
      Equally, why don’t the Arab middle eastern countries support Iran?
      
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      April 21, 2024 8:57am
      - Che Guava
        
        They do support Iran (at least, the ones who haven’t yet been invaded and subjugated by the Judeo-Americans or else paid off with “foreign aid” by the US taxpayer).
        
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        April 21, 2024 10:28am
      - mikenmildagain
        
        Persians are not Arabs.
        
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        April 21, 2024 10:37am
      - Don Beckett
        
        Bcause Iranians are not Arabs – they are Persians.
        
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        April 21, 2024 10:37am
      - mandk
        
        @ mma and Don
        
        But they are Moslem, and they don’t support their Iranian Moslem “brothers”.
        
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        April 21, 2024 1:51pm
      - Che Guava
        
        “Persians are not Arabs.”
        
        While I’ve already established that Arabs do support Iran (unless they’ve been brought to heel by the Judeo-Americans), I wouldn’t have thought that Iranians being Persians would preclude Arabs supporting them.
        
        The commonality binding the Arabs and Persians is Islam, which actually represents more of a substantive commonality than any existing between the Jews in Israel and their Western sponsors, where their is neither ethnic nor religious commonality.
        
        So one may reasonably ask, why does the European/Christian West so heavily support the Jewish/Judaic Israel, when they have so little common interest? Undue and excessive political influence seems to be the only explanation.
        
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        April 21, 2024 1:54pm
      - rockape
        
        Many who live in Iran would be Christian given the choice.
        
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        April 21, 2024 4:01pm
      - Matt Long
        
        Che has “already established.”
        Far more Muslims have been killed by other Muslims in sectarian violence than have been killed by Jews, and I suspect by any other group including communists.
        The animosity between Sunnis and Shiite started almost immediately after the peadophile died.
        
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        April 21, 2024 5:23pm
    - pdm
      
      Thanks for taking one for the team Chuck.
      
      I refuse to watch Tame or listen to him on radio.
      
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      April 21, 2024 8:58am
      - Chuck Bird
        
        I am very glad I watched it. The Israeli Ambassador did not let Tame talk over him.
        
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        April 21, 2024 10:04am
    - mikenmildagain
      
      Why don’t Christian majority countries take in all Christian refugees?
      
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      April 21, 2024 8:58am
      - softail 1450
        
        MNM ,because their quotas are full of non Christians chosen by groups like the UN..
        
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        April 21, 2024 9:03am
      - NeverMindTheBollocks
        
        Because there aren’t any Christian countries left in the Middle East or North Africa?
        
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        April 21, 2024 9:11am
      - Cassandra
        
        Because they take in all sorts without discrimination, an error – they should concentrate on their own culture. My own preference is for Filipinos, they benefit NZ enormously.
        
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        April 21, 2024 9:21am
      - Rusty
        
        @miken… In the UK it has been discovered a number of Muslim refugees are calling themselves Christians to gain entry.
        
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        April 21, 2024 9:26am
      - Chuck Bird
        
        How many Christian majority countries are there besides the US?
        
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        April 21, 2024 10:05am
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        There’s at least 100 countries with a majority Christian population
        
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_by_country
        
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        April 21, 2024 11:11am
      - MCōs
        
        The refugees that come to NZ, what few there are, are referred to New Zealand by UNHCR according to prescribed resettlement guideline, but ultimately they are given the nod by NZ immigration
        Refer here for more details
        https://www.immigration.govt.nz/about-us/what-we-do/our-strategies-and-projects/supporting-refugees-and-asylum-seekers/refugee-and-protection-unit/new-zealand-refugee-quota-programme
        
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        April 21, 2024 11:55am
      - NZer In Exile
        
        Because a vocal minority of lefties are attracted to the least compatible refugees for some deranged reason?
        
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        April 21, 2024 4:39pm
    - imalwaysright
      
      Could also ask why no one wants the Israelis .
      
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      April 21, 2024 9:00am
      - Che Guava
        
        Ouch! Game set and match. Check mate, etc.
        
        A: “Jews need Israel because everyone hates them!”
        
        B: “But you claim that everyone hates the Palestinians, so surely they need their own country too!?”
        
        A: “Jew-hater!”
        
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        April 21, 2024 10:17am
      - Paulus
        
        Is it because the Israelis do not want to leave perhaps ?
        
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        April 21, 2024 10:38am
      - NZer In Exile
        
        Not even true. Israelis are accepted everywhere (except Muslim countries/zones and neighbourhoods dominated by juvenile extreme lefties) and they overwhelmingly peacefully blend in and fit in fine.
        
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        April 21, 2024 4:42pm
    - Ra Henare
      
      Of course the simple answer Chuck is…why should they..??
      
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      April 21, 2024 12:47pm
      - AitchW
        
        I agree. Not sure that there is any reason why a liberal democracy like Israel would create any refugees.
        A lot of the refugees who come here have travelled from Muslim countries through any number of supposedly friendly Muslim countries, choosing instead to settle in a nominally Christian country with a very generous social welfare system.
        
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        April 21, 2024 5:28pm
    - Paul
      
      1.3–2.1 million Arab population of Iran.
      
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      April 21, 2024 3:02pm
  - imalwaysright
    
    Jack will obediently read out the questions supplied by the ambassador and sit quietly while he answers.
    Same as his so called interview with Hellen Clark last week.
    Same with the Chinese ambassador a few months ago.
    
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    April 21, 2024 9:10am
    - imalwaysright
      
      I was wrong on this one. Good interview from Tame.
      
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      April 21, 2024 9:59am
    - Che Guava
      
      Hasn’t this guy been expelled yet? How many war crimes does Israel need to commit and how much does Israel’s international reputation need to plummet before we have the balls to do something about it, even if only symbolically?
      
      After all, there was some consideration of expelling the Russian ambassador a couple of years ago, yet Russia have been far more restrained and killed far fewer people, despite having been in Ukraine for 4 or 5 times as long as the Jewish invasion of Gaza.
      
      https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/472706/petition-to-expel-russian-ambassador-delivered-to-parliament
      
      We claim to value and uphold the “rules-based international order” but, just a couple of weeks ago, the Israelis committed a war crime (adding to an already long list) by attacking an Iranian diplomatic site (illegal) in a second nation, Syria.
      
      Think of the implications: if the New Zealand government can’t or won’t condemn this attack, then there’d be nothing they could say if the Israelis decided to attack the Iranian embassy in Wellington, for instance. What would be the difference?
      
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      April 21, 2024 10:57am
  - the deity formerly known as nigel6888
    
    Don’t, know, didn’t watch, won’t waste time on the sniveling little turd. Clearly the next John Campbell….
    
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    April 21, 2024 7:22pm
- softail 1450
  
  Chuck Bird ,The state of western media is a joke ,this morning I looked at a couple of the channels I subscribe to and have always found to be a accurate even days and weeks after their predictions.
  One had a headline “ Iranian fighter jets flee in terror of Israel’s onslaught” the other “ Iran and Hezbollah have the IDF running scared” . Wow what to believe 👍👎..
  
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  April 21, 2024 9:00am
  - miltonF
    
    Yes, the MSM have been lying about the Israel/Gaza conflict the entire time. It seems from my point of view, that the MSM’s goal is to rark-up and inflame both sides of the conflict towards escalation.
    
    Remember where it all started? “40 decapitated babies”. This was later revealed to be propaganda. Only one baby was killed during the events of Oct 7th and it was not decapitated. Yet many people on this site and others, who would normally be cynical of the MSM, lapped up the propaganda without question.
    
    We need to stop being so tribal, and question everything.
    
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    April 21, 2024 1:39pm
    - miltonF
      
      lol. Any downtickers are welcome to explain how I am wrong, and why you trust the MSM.
      
      Can anyone show me ANY evidence that a single infant was beheaded during the attacks of Oct 7th? I bet you can’t. Even the IDF say they cannot confirm this.
      
      [Mod – this blog won’t be approving links like that so don’t bother asking]
      
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      April 21, 2024 3:28pm
      - imalwaysright
        
        Milton
        the downtickers will be anonymous and silent.
        There are pearls to be clutched and things such as the truth seem to get in the way. NZ seems to be the last bastion of Israeli support. I’m sure Israel will return the sentiment!
        
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        April 21, 2024 4:56pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  The Ambassador seems very calm. Not really allowing Tame to walk all over him.
  
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  April 21, 2024 9:24am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Tame at 9.38 is looking very confused. Waving his arms about a lot.
    
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    April 21, 2024 9:38am
    - MCōs
      
      I watch the last few minutes
      The ambassador looked as though he was running down the clock
      Jack Tame asked him about settlers taking over land in the West Bank and I, for one, learned nothing from his reply.
      There was some criticism of NZ for separating the military wing of Hamas from the rest of the organization, as far as I could tell.
      The history of that area of the world is so complex it would take an extremely knowledgeable outsider to trip up a career diplomat
      
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      April 21, 2024 12:30pm
      - imalwaysright
        
        Tame asked him, if his loved one was being used as a human shield by a Hamas terrorist, would he agree with killing his loved one to get to the terrorist.
        
        He said yes.
        
        I don’t believe him that he would, notwithstanding he is ok with other peoples loved ones being killed, but what it did reveal is the extreme level of what he is willing to say to justify the actions of his government .
        
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        April 21, 2024 12:44pm
  - Chuck Bird
    
    Did you hear the Ambassador mention bestiality was committed on 7 October?
    
    He could have mentioned that the Perfect Man committed bestiality with his dead aunt.
    
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    April 21, 2024 1:44pm
Bridgenag

No Go Zones
Conspiracy Theory Fact or Fiction?

“No-go zones, as the term is most commonly used today, are areas within cities where it is unsafe to enter if one is not Muslim. Within these areas, the authorities have lost control. Police, emergency services, and other non-residents are either barred from entering or consider it unsafe and won’t enter. In Europe and UK, such areas are spreading rapidly due to massive immigration campaigns.”

https://open.substack.com/pub/rwmalonemd/p/no-go-zones?r=1aj1bv&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
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April 21, 2024 8:22am
- kowtow
  
  Sounds like ‘colonisation’.
  
  I wonder why Greens and their voters support this type of colonisation but not the others.
  
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  April 21, 2024 8:33am
  - Notsofast
    
    Yes.
    Why do Greens love misogynist cults like Islam?
    Because their enemy’s enemy is their friend.
    Chloe and Marama might prefer to live in Afghanistan as students.
    
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    April 21, 2024 9:17am
    - Che Guava
      
      It’s a logical fallacy to say that, because X has opinion A and opinion B, their opinion on C is wrong.
      
      I’m not sure how you’d arrive at this conclusion, other than by you having a different opinion to X regarding C, and your citing X’s opinions on A and B as evidence for why X is wrong on C and you are right. That’s irrational.
      
      Does the fact that the Greens tend to be pro-gay rights yet also support Islam in general in any way make Israel’s actions in Gaza something the Greens (or anyone else) shouldn’t criticise and reject? That’s just obfuscating Israel’s actions, which are completely independent of Islamic attitudes towards gays.
      
      Instead of bringing in A and B to deliberately muddy the waters, let’s just debate the merits or demerits of C.
      
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      April 21, 2024 11:11am
      - Notsofast
        
        In theory all issues are independent.
        
        However, the three cults inevitably bracket themselves.
        Maorification, fake language, fake science and dilute heritage.
        Islam.
        Transgenderism.
        
        They are all disasters carting the world backwards at a hell of a rate.
        
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        April 21, 2024 11:43am
      - Gussy Fink-Nottle
        
        It is a perfectly valid question and has nothing directly to do with Israel/Gaza.
        
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        April 21, 2024 12:05pm
      - rockape
        
        Why not let’s debate wether Hamas is an evil bloodthirsty bunch who need putting down.
        
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        April 21, 2024 4:06pm
      - NZer In Exile
        
        For an alleged “Catholic” Guava you certainly do a lot of defending Islam and Iran.
        
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        April 21, 2024 4:45pm
      - Che Guava
        
        “For an alleged “Catholic” Guava you certainly do a lot of defending Islam and Iran.”
        
        Lol. You’re guilty of exactly the same logical fallacy I am pointing out: how does it follow from being a Catholic that I should denounce either or both Iran and Islam (and presumably get behind the Jews instead)?
        
        The issue is whether the Israelis’ policies are right or wrong, and clearly they are wrong. That’s not a theological issue.
        
        But if we are talking theology, while the Jews and the Muslims are both wrong, the Muslims are more correct than the Jews are.
        
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        April 21, 2024 7:24pm
    - NZer In Exile
      
      Probably the most likely explanation is they believe the spin that Muslims as a rule are oppressed and the west oppresses them. Most of their crap can be traced back to the Oppressor/Oppressed world view.
      
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      April 21, 2024 4:48pm
- mikenmildagain
  
  Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
  Fiction.
  
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  April 21, 2024 8:44am
  - In Vino Veritas
    
    Not entirely mike. For example, there are arrondissements and departments in Paris where the Police will go, but only in large numbers and wearing body armour (and they rarely come out unscathed). Emergency services, fire, ambulance etc, will not go near them unless escorted by Police. The politicians describe the areas as sensible (sensitive) or défavorisé (disadvantaged).
    
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    April 21, 2024 9:19am
    - imalwaysright
      
      Worse in Marseilles, worse in Malmo.
      
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      April 21, 2024 10:09am
      - NZer In Exile
        
        Don’t mention the no go zones.
        
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        April 21, 2024 4:49pm
- fightingtemeraire
  
  The head of French Intelligence has been warning about this for years.
  
  Let us see what happens en Paris for Les Olympiques.
  
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  April 21, 2024 10:15am
Chuck Bird

The Agenda – Face to Face: Bjorn Lomborg

https://newseu.cgtn.com/news/2024-03-23/The-Agenda-Face-to-Face-Bjorn-Lomborg-1sbfcX72tu8/p.html?mc_cid=fdf414d51f&mc_eid=da3eadba9b
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April 21, 2024 8:25am
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Many Americans believe this—like all the other cases—is a poorly veiled attempt by Democrats to derail Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign.
Now the Judge’s daughter is in om the act, making a bundle and fundraising a bundle.
The Judge won’t recuse himself – why? He wants his hit “gotcha” fame.
How can he be impartial?

Many Americans believe this—like all the other cases—is a poorly veiled attempt by Democrats to derail Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign.
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April 21, 2024 8:35am
- mikenmildagain
  
  Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
  Why would any judge recuse when the most blatant conflicts of interest by supreme court justice ignored?
  
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  April 21, 2024 8:47am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    I’m not biting Mike. Go annoy someone else.
    
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    April 21, 2024 9:30am
  - rouppe
    
    “blatant conflicts of interest by supreme court justice[s]” have occurred regardless of the Supreme Court being majority Democrat or majority Republican. That statement is (not surprisingly) a distraction
    
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    April 21, 2024 9:33am
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      ‘Diversion,’ he is good at it, just like Ardern was.
      
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      April 21, 2024 9:53am
    - mikenmildagain
      
      I feel very sorry for US voters, who are mostly forced to cast their votes for a bad choice or a worse choice.
      
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      April 21, 2024 10:41am
      - imalwaysright
        
        Its ironic that some who rightfully criticise the media for their propaganda are also willing to accept, as truth, the same medias propaganda about Trump.
        
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        April 21, 2024 1:24pm
      - AitchW
        
        I find myself agreeing with you for once Mike. As South Park said a couple of elections back Americans get to choose between a giant douche and a turd sandwich. You can decide which is which.
        
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        April 21, 2024 5:33pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  I seem to have forgotten to include the link. My mistake.
  
  https://pjnewsletter.com/bombshell-rocks-trump-ny/?
  
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  April 21, 2024 9:29am
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Democrats in office are revealing how desperate they are to stop former President Donald Trump from winning in November. When Trump was in office, and when he sought re-election, Democrats fabricated some stellar whoppers to undermine him with voters.
Pelosi babbling about Trump demanding Europe pay more in aid to Ukraine.
Nancy Pelosi claimed that Donald Trump is “palsy-walsy” with Vladimir Putin. Trump is a threat to democracy.

https://pjnewsletter.com/pelosi-trump-nancy-claim/?
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April 21, 2024 8:41am
- Philview
  
  I read an article by Nail Ferguson last night. He reckons China is about to blockade Taiwan rather than invade. We will see if that happens but he is speculating that Biden will drop the ball with disastrous consequences for America’s standing in the world.
  
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  April 21, 2024 9:24am
  - Colville
    
    It would be interesting to see how China blockades Taiwan when a USA flagged boat steams up with Virginia Class sub wandering along behind it….
    
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    April 21, 2024 11:19am
    - imalwaysright
      
      Subs precede ships
      
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      April 21, 2024 5:00pm
  - MCōs
    
    Naill Ferguson has expressed plenty of speculations in the past with mixed results
    
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    April 21, 2024 1:00pm
  - Jake Dee
    
    link please
    
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    April 21, 2024 3:29pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Who is responsible for this fiasco?

https://www.bassettbrashandhide.com/post/robert-macculloch-have-308-people-in-the-education-ministry-s-curriculum-development-team-spent-ove
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April 21, 2024 8:44am
- Tony Stuart
  
  Wasn’t Rose Hipkins, mother of the then-Education Minister, a lead part of the curriculum development team?
  
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  April 21, 2024 8:56am
  - mikenmildagain
    
    Tell me more.
    
    2 28
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    April 21, 2024 9:12am
    - graham
      
      Certainly. Here’s your starter for 10: https://www.nzcer.org.nz/system/files/Weaving%20a%20coherent%20curriculum_0.pdf
      
      Then you may wish to read:
      
      https://commonroomnz.com/rose-hipkins-and-the-refreshed-science-curriculum/
      
      Or:
      
      https://www.nzcer.org.nz/research/rosemary-rose-hipkins-mnzm
      
      “Rosemary (Rose) began her working life as a science and biology teacher, followed by several years working in teacher education. Rose joined NZCER in 2001 and over the last 20+ years she has led, and supported, a wide range of research projects. Most of her work has broadly related to curriculum and/or assessment innovation in New Zealand.
      
      Currently Rose is working on several projects supporting the review of the NCEA (New Zealand Certificate of Educational Achievement).”
      
      And there are various other resources, such as https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Rosemary-Hipkins
      
      Let us know if you need more …
      
      29 2
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      April 21, 2024 9:32am
      - mikenmildagain
        
        Thanks. It seems she is an expert on curriculum development. What was Tony Stuart’s problem with her?
        
        1 27
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        April 21, 2024 10:44am
      - graham
        
        Where did Tony Stuart say he had a problem with her?
        
        He merely pointed out she was (a) a lead part of the curriculum development teams, and (b) mother of the then-Education Minister.
        
        He can’t be held responsible for whatever you may choose to read into that.
        
        13 1
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        April 21, 2024 11:00am
      - CJames
        
        Milky
        As everyone in the coalface of the education system seems to agree that the proposed curriculum is a lot worse that the current bad one, exactly what is her expertise in?
        
        13 2
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        April 21, 2024 11:05am
      - mikenmildagain
        
        graham
        I don’t imagine Tony intended to compliment either mother or son. But only Tony could enlighten us as to which Hipkins he intended to smear, or whether he had some other intention.
        
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        April 21, 2024 12:19pm
      - Notsofast
        
        Here is a brief review of the article by a retired philosopher with multiple books published,
        
        “postmodern rubbish of the worst sort. They confuse ‘we create the schemes for understanding the real with ‘we create the real’. It’s like saying there isn’t a railway between Auckland and Wellington unless someone creates a map showing such a railway.”
        
        The carnage mother and son have caused will take generations to mend, and Stanford is woefully inadequate.
        
        4 2
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        April 21, 2024 2:05pm
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    Why, yes, yes she was.
    
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    April 21, 2024 9:12am
  - wairarapapaul
    
    https://www.nzcer.org.nz/research/rosemary-rose-hipkins-mnzm
    
    So that explains how the education system has been hijacked.
    
    23 1
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    April 21, 2024 9:26am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Hipkins was doing what mummy told him to do. He is not bright enough to go hard out all by himself.
    
    27 4
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    April 21, 2024 9:45am
    - MCōs
      
      Kinda like you and Trump
      
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      April 21, 2024 1:02pm
      - Steve Otto(North Shore)
        
        Come see me Nov 6th NZ time.
        
        3 2
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        April 21, 2024 1:45pm
    - NZer In Exile
      
      Has well functioning synapses but has a head chock full of Marxist/woke programming it would appear.
      
      2 1
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      April 21, 2024 4:55pm
  - Burtland
    
    Rose Hipkins is the chief researcher at NZCER – they have 50 staff and the usual neomarxist agenda – they should be defunded
    
    https://www.nzcer.org.nz/about-nzcer
    
    NZCER’s Tumuaki | Director/Chief Executive is Graeme Cosslett.
    
    Under his leadership, NZCER is working to achieve its purpose by focusing on four strategic priorities that underpin our 5-year plan to 2025:
    
    Decolonising education
    Upholding mana Māori, whakamana Māori
    Improving equity for ākonga and equity in education
    Influencing the future of education
    
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    April 21, 2024 11:25am
    - Grumpy Silver Top
      
      I wish there was a definitive recognised definition for colonisation. Colonisation is the simple act of colonising a country and taking control, all well and good (or not!). The term now seems to mean the very worst that colonists did to their new subjects – world-wide, ie taking away the local culture, subjugating the natives, making their lives and misery and lying (always!) about what went on. In other words objectivity is not an option. The benefits that the colonisers brought to New Zealand’s earlier immigrants (who didn’t even have group name for our islands) of better health outcomes, the opportunity to move into a safer (no more tribal warring) more outward looking society and gain new technologies such as the wheel and written language is ignored in the quest for more and more of the public purse.
      
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      April 21, 2024 12:28pm
      - imalwaysright
        
        Correct.
        At the very least the colonisers should be remembered and shown some courtesy. A thankyou may be too much to ask for but the least to be expected.
        
        3 1
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        April 21, 2024 5:05pm
- Suze Wainwright
  
  Te Tiriti advice?
  
  Diversity/Inclusivity expert consultancy?
  
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  April 21, 2024 9:02am
- Taieri
  
  Who is responsible for this fiasco?
  ————-
  
  Ultimately…the relevant minister.
  
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  April 21, 2024 10:11am
- NothingLeft
  
  NZ’s central Minstry of Education headcount is around 4200 (not talking about school staff) the same as whole US Department of Education
  
  They are almost entirely useless. Outsource curriculum, tighten the admin and get rid of everyone else
  
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  April 21, 2024 3:58pm
Yvette

Ministerial fiat?

Anne Salmond: My open submission on this radical, flawed fast-track bill
Comment: This is the submission made by former New Zealander of the Year Dame Anne Salmond to a select comittee examining the Fast-Track Approvals Bill, which gives ministers wide new powers over major projects and the environment
https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/04/20/anne-salmond-my-open-submission-on-this-radical-flawed-fast-track-bill/

Some excerpts –

The fast-track bill also excludes citizens from having any say about what happens in their own communities, in favour of ministerial fiat. In its provisions, three ministers get to decide on projects that go on the ‘fast track’ for decision-making, and which projects are finally approved.

In addition, these ministers get to choose the members of the advisory group and the convenor of the expert panels, who must consult them about appointees to the panels. Their powers are almost untrammelled, while the members of affected communities are excluded.

Even before the deadline for submissions to the select committee has expired, the ministers have appointed an advisory group, and invited projects to be submitted to the fast-track process. They are behaving as if the select committee process has already been decided, and public concerns about this draft legislation have been dismissed in advance. That is an insult to tens of thousands of New Zealanders who are writing submissions opposing this bill, and to the select committee process as well.

Is Anne Salmond spreading mis-information?
Or is she right?
And if the above “ministerial fiat” is correct – that “three ministers get to decide on projects that go on the ‘fast track’ for decision-making, and which projects are finally approved” – would such a ‘fiat’ be a little more undemocratic than co-governance by Maori?
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April 21, 2024 8:50am
- James Stephenson
  
  Ministerial Fiats instead of Beemers is an interesting cost-save but I’d worry about maintenance 😀
  
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  April 21, 2024 10:12am
  - Albie
    
    Nothing wrong with Fiats James! To extinguish the passenger airbag light on my wife’s 500 only cost $2700+gst. Bargain if you ask me.
    
    4 0
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    April 21, 2024 12:43pm
    - NZer In Exile
      
      I’ve heard the transmissions on them often go bung (ditto french cars).
      
      1 0
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      April 21, 2024 4:56pm
- Taieri
  
  Anne Salmond is a concerned citizen. Her views are of no greater or lesser importance than the views of any other concerned citizen. Why should it be in the news?
  
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  April 21, 2024 10:13am
  - pdm
    
    Taieri she is also part of the Green machine.
    
    7 2
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    April 21, 2024 12:03pm
    - Taieri
      
      That’s not the reason to pay any attention to her utterances.
      
      7 1
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      April 21, 2024 12:12pm
  - the deity formerly known as nigel6888
    
    Indeed, she has no particular knowledge or expertise in what she claims to be an authority on…
    
    2 0
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    April 21, 2024 7:30pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Biden wants the border open for many reasons. One would be migrants take American jobs for lower pay and they don’t pay Tax. In the long run this will mean Trump will find it hard to lower unemployment and the economy suffers.
Nasty Democrats!

https://pjnewsletter.com/top-expert-condemns-bidens/?
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April 21, 2024 8:53am
- In Vino Veritas
  
  Former Minister of Education, Chris Hipkins?
  
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  April 21, 2024 8:54am
- Inandout
  
  SO, I don’t think Joe is capable of realising that Dem run cities are virtually dying before our eyes, this situation mainly attributable to illegals sucking huge amounts of city funds and services. Whoever is running the WH must have a long term plan for the destruction of NY, Chicago, San Fran, Oakland and LA.
  
  10 2
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  April 21, 2024 9:07am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    It is the Biden admin, and of course Obama pulling the strings.
    
    That is also why the Dems want big Mike to run, so muslim Barry can keep on destroying America
    
    8 4
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    April 21, 2024 10:05am
    - Che Guava
      
      Yes, I agree Steve. Muslims are vastly overrepresented in US politics and within the US elite in general, despite being less than 2% of the population. I mean, you can’t swing a cat without hitting a Muslim when in the halls of power. Americans should be concerned that Muslims seem to have so much say in domestic and foreign policies, and that what could loosely be called Muslim values have largely replaced most Christian ones in the public mind in such a short space of time.
      
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      April 21, 2024 11:55am
      - mikenmildagain
        
        https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Fatwa_envy
        
        2 4
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        April 21, 2024 12:22pm
      - Ra Henare
        
        think you should have put a /sarc note there Che. 🙂
        
        Or Maybe suggest you replace Muslims with…shock horror…Jews.
        
        3 2
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        April 21, 2024 1:00pm
      - Che Guava
        
        Hmm. Interesting alternative thesis, Ra. I’ll look into it and report back. But if my research ends up confirming your suggestion, I suspect it wouldn’t be as popular as my existing thesis about Muslim influence seems to be, at least at the time of writing.
        
        3 3
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        April 21, 2024 2:03pm
      - Ra Henare
        
        https://www.jta.org/2021/01/20/politics/all-the-jews-joe-biden-has-tapped-for-top-roles-in-his-administration
        
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        April 21, 2024 9:59pm
  - AitchW
    
    A lot like Wellington. Rainbow crossings and unused cycle lanes over leaky pipes.
    
    7 1
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    April 21, 2024 10:43am
- mikenmildagain
  
  Does Trump or any of his ‘businesses’ hire undocumented workers?
  
  5 18
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  April 21, 2024 9:13am
  - MCōs
    
    Yes he did in the past
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/donald-trumps-demand-for-a-border-wall-shut-down-the-government-at-the-same-time-his-company-was-firing-undocumented-workers/2019/01/26/8cf75d66-20c5-11e9-8e21-59a09ff1e2a1_story.html
    
    6 3
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    April 21, 2024 9:19am
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      Key word – “firing.” Not hiring.
      
      Trump employs thousands, he can not vet every one of them. That is what you have managers.
      
      16 5
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      April 21, 2024 9:32am
  - Ghost
    
    https://www.newsweek.com/trump-undocumented-immigrants-tower-demolish-724845
    
    2 1
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    April 21, 2024 9:36am
- MCōs
  
  I remember when there was an Ebola outbreak in west Africa and there was huge controversy in America about whether the democrats were doing enough to protect the borders from returning nurses who had worked in the area. All two or three of them
  As soon as the midterm elections were held interest dropped away overnight
  
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  April 21, 2024 9:31am
kowtow

I see the int’l msm talking of the world’s largest election .India.

I thought the Left wanted everyone to “decolonise” and go back to the way we were before the evil honkey came on the scene.
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April 21, 2024 8:56am
- mikenmildagain
  
  TVNZ is covering it well.
  
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  April 21, 2024 10:45am
  - NZer In Exile
    
    They hate Modi because he apparently doesn’t want an India controlled or unduly influenced by Islam. That’s why.
    
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    April 21, 2024 5:00pm
MCōs

The Highlanders must be pleased they’re not the worst South Island rugby (one hesitates to say ‘Super’) team this year
17 1
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April 21, 2024 9:14am
- Colville
  
  So from number 1 to number 12 in a year…only change is the coach…
  
  Why did we have to wait so long for Razor to be All Blacks coach??
  
  5 2
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  April 21, 2024 11:21am
  - mikenmildagain
    
    To give Canterburians another grudge?
    
    1 4
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    April 21, 2024 12:23pm
  - MCōs
    
    Only change apart from losing a shit load of ABs
    
    3 1
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    April 21, 2024 1:12pm
Tauhei Notts

Several days ago some people commented on NZ’s woeful defence spending.
It’s not a matter of how much you spend but how wisely the money is spent.
The New York Times reports that some $500 Russian drones have destroyed five USD10mil tanks.
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April 21, 2024 9:17am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  I thought that was a typo, but no. $500 Russian Drones are a real thing and they do destroy tanks.
  It caught my attention because I have a MavicPro that cost ne the guts of %2500.
  
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  April 21, 2024 10:16am
  - Colville
    
    some crazy shit going on … geeks are the new warrior class.
    
    A couple of weeks back Ukrainians stole a plane in Russia packed it with explosives and drone tech and crashed it into a refinery. Half a Bil$ damage for expenditure of SFA.
    
    Its unclear if a pilot took off and bailed out…or it was remote take off as well…
    
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    April 21, 2024 11:25am
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      Even my small MavicPro has to be registered with the FAA when I took it to Hawaii and Alaska. It folds up smaller than say a drink bottle. Goes in carry-on just like a camera. Bloody clever. Turn it on in Alaska and it instantly give me an Alaskan map. It is now 8 years old.
      The modern ones that are weapons must be super intelligent to do what they do to those tanks. Technology is increasing very fast.
      
      6 1
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      April 21, 2024 12:55pm
  - NZer In Exile
    
    These would be the Iranian “moped” drones I presume. Ukrainians say they sound like lawnmowers or mopeds.
    
    2 0
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    April 21, 2024 5:02pm
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      Yep, mine does. Sounds like a quiet two stroke – less than a line trimmer.
      
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      April 21, 2024 6:06pm
Yvette

Just out of interest –
Government releases list of organisations shoulder-tapped for fast-track consents
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2024/04/government-releases-list-of-organisations-shoulder-tapped-for-fast-track-consents.html

Chat open AI –
The list you provided originally contains 164 entities.
The list I assembled, of entities with Māori names, contains 93 entries.

I wonder, “Have Greenpeace noted this?”

____________

And still stirring –

Brian Tamaki’s intention to bill Government for Destiny Church’s good work
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has responded to Brian Tamaki amid the bishop’s stoush with the Government as it considers the tax-exempt status of churches.
Taking aim at Prime Minister Christopher Luxon last week, Tamaki said: “You’ve got to wonder where his head space is, because a lot of churches pick up the mess that dysfunctional Governments leave in society.”
Willis, asked about Tamaki’s comments on AM, responded: “[That] doesn’t sound very Christian.”

If Tamaki is doing the Lord’s Work, why does he not Biblically bill the Client?

This is another reason why David Seymour’s proposed bill – re-stating Government’s right to govern, property rights and citizen individual voting and responsibilities rights – should include that the Government of New Zealand is secular. So Christians may do their own thing (or with others who choose) and believers in te Ao o Māori (Māori religious worldview) may do the same, without their input in providing general public water services no more exclusively than other groups in society.
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April 21, 2024 9:40am
- Benedict Yu
  
  See my comment below.
  
  Government agencies are requiring employees to be committed to “Te ao Maori”. The government can stop this now. Just tell the Public service Commissioner to stop it.
  
  25 3
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  April 21, 2024 10:55am
  - mikenmildagain
    
    Spoiler alert: the government won’t stop it.
    
    6 16
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    April 21, 2024 11:19am
    - Benedict Yu
      
      Oh well we can just continue down the road to shitholistan ☹️.
      
      23 2
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      April 21, 2024 12:03pm
      - mikenmildagain
        
        You can always leave.
        
        4 26
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        April 21, 2024 12:24pm
      - Gussy Fink-Nottle
        
        Where all our Air Traffic Controllers are compelled to commit to Te ao Maori.
        And please stick around BY.
        ‘You can always leave’ isn’t an argument, it’s an admission.
        
        10 3
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        April 21, 2024 1:14pm
      - NZer In Exile
        
        You and your ilk can always leave Milky. Please feel free to do so.
        
        6 1
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        April 21, 2024 5:08pm
- NoFax
  
  So your world view gets promoted and prioritise over all other works views. But you probably think you are neutral. Maybe have a rethink on that.
  
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  April 21, 2024 1:55pm
Benedict Yu

Just another example of government agencies demanding knowledge of all things Maori in candidates for jobs

This person responds to requests for information from independent inquiries. For example the COVID Royal Commission. It should be straight forward. But this is what you need.

“Have an understanding of, and be committed to, the principles of te Tiriti o Waitangi

Have an understanding of, and experience with, te Ao Māori and tikanga”

https://www.seek.co.nz/job/75113881?ref=recom-standalone&token=1~40b79e6b-07b5-40b3-a0e3-a27b331403f2

The second one, in particular, will exclude the very vast majority of otherwise competent candidates.

Since the change of government, my sense is that government agencies are doubling down on this stuff. I just don’t understand why ministers don’t say “STOP”. Maybe they are busy and don’t know.
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April 21, 2024 10:48am
- Benedict Yu
  
  Just an addendum.
  
  For most public sector jobs, agencies are requiring expertise in “Mātauranga Māori”. So what is it, literally?
  
  “Mātauranga Māori is about a Māori way of being and engaging in the world – in its simplest form, it uses kawa (cultural practices) and tikanga (cultural principles) to critique, examine, analyse and understand the world…”
  
  https://subjectguides.ara.ac.nz/TeAoMaori/Matauranga
  
  How would it ever be possible for me to claim competency in such “cultural principles”? It would be absurd for me to claim that I could ever be competent.
  
  I don’t know whether Ministerial staffers read kiwiblog. But if you do, for God’s sake bring this to the attention of Ministers.
  
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  April 21, 2024 11:01am
  - mikenmildagain
    
    Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
    You could learn enough tikanga to handle yourself at a hui on a marae. I have faith in you.
    
    3 33
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    April 21, 2024 11:21am
    - Flossie
      
      And why should we when the leaders of TPM blatantly disregard many long established customs in our parliament? Two wrongs don’t make a right for sure, but a bit of mutual respect wouldn’t go amiss.
      
      13 2
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      April 21, 2024 12:24pm
      - kowtow
        
        If our immigration settings don’t change then the Wongs will make it right.
        That might be a good thing .
        
        6 1
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        April 21, 2024 1:07pm
    - Nukuleka
      
      Oh if that were all it was Milkey! Don’t dissemble.
      
      9 2
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      April 21, 2024 12:27pm
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      Yeah, but…
      Whose tikanga?
      
      https://e-tangata.co.nz/reflections/confused-about-tikanga-join-the-club/
      
      8 1
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      April 21, 2024 1:05pm
    - NZer In Exile
      
      If you grovel hard enough Milky the racist ferals won’t hurt you?
      
      3 1
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      April 21, 2024 5:10pm
    - AitchW
      
      I have no formal education in tikanga. However I’d hope that if I showed respect at a hui on a marae, you know good old fashioned manners, I’d be able to get through. Of course I’m male so I’m allowed to speak on a marae. It’s a great shame that in the 21st century my wife wouldn’t be extended the same opportunity.
      
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      April 21, 2024 5:53pm
  - Yvette
    
    Benedict, in the Justice job such knowledge may obviously be relevant –
    
    Senior Advisor, Inquiries Response Team
    The Team currently manages the Ministry’s response to four Inquiries:
    • The Waitangi Tribunal’s Te Rau o te Tika: The Justice System Inquiry,
    • The Waitangi Tribunal’s Constitutional, Self-Government and Electoral System Inquiry,
    • The Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, and
    • The Government Inquiry Into the Response to the North Island Severe Weather Events.
    
    Te Rau o te Tika: the Justice System Inquiry (Wai 3060)
    
    A test would be to ask if an Islamic person could work in this position, without there being a conflict of interest in believing none are greater than Allah – can you still understand the issues involved and apply common sense
    
    But in other public service occupations where agencies are requiring expertise in “Mātauranga Māori” and it is not specifically an obvious worker attribute, it is discriminatory under the Bill of Rights, where you may not be discriminated against by reason of religious views you hold, or in these cases, don’t hold.
    That is what Minister’s should note.
    
    14 2
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    April 21, 2024 11:34am
  - mandk
    
    Matauranga Maori is on a par with the folk wisdom that the early European settlers brought with them; useful in a good few situations, but nowhere as good as science.
    
    9 0
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    April 21, 2024 1:58pm
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      Matauranga Maori is iwi-specific and according to some folk should only be practised by Maori.
      
      Mātauranga Māori belongs to iwi and should remain under Māori control.
      
      https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/2545-matauranga-maori-and-science
      
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      April 21, 2024 2:46pm
      - Benedict Yu
        
        Exactly my point Maggy. Learning how to acquit oneself on a marae is quite different to being asked to demonstrate expertise in Mātauranga Māori in a professional capacity.
        
        Either they are just ticking boxes or excluding many otherwise competent people from applying for these roles.
        
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        April 21, 2024 3:35pm
  - miltonF
    
    “Mātauranga Māori is about a Māori way of being and engaging in the world”
    
    Indeed. Much like how Islam is about a Muslim way of being and engaging in the world.
    
    The cultural Marxism is well advanced and has birthed a new religion, known as “Mātauranga”
    
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    April 21, 2024 3:52pm
- 70andstilllearning
  
  * Have an understanding of the Waitangi Tribunal’s processes, particularly in relation to Kaupapa Inquiries, and other Inquiries’ processes
  
  This “job” could well be totally irrelevant shortly if Shane gets his way 🙂
  
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  April 21, 2024 11:18am
- BananaLlama
  
  From what i understand the coalition is going to legislate to make English an official language of New Zealand which will cause great asspains for leftoids trying to discriminate against Native English speakers.
  
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  April 21, 2024 12:41pm
bennerg

Some “Sunday Homework” for the folks. I learned a new word today, the “Cloward–Piven strategy”, a term that is defined here in Wikipedia (FWIW)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloward%E2%80%93Piven_strategy

The Cloward–Piven strategy is a political strategy outlined in 1966 by American sociologists and political activists Richard Cloward and Frances Fox Piven. The strategy aims to utilize “militant anti poverty groups” to facilitate a “political crisis” by overloading the welfare system via an increase in welfare claims, forcing the creation of a system of guaranteed minimum income and “redistributing income through the federal government”

So what I thought when I read about this, which incidentally was in the context of politics in the USA, was how this could be being used in New Zealand. (Whether it is also being used in that mythical land Aotearoa I do not know. /sarc).

Essentially it’s a method to speed up the fall of capitalism and our government systems, by systematically overwhelming said systems with a flood of impossible demands, which pushes a society into crisis and then collapse, in order to bring down the current systems, and replace with .. .. socialism.

Now that is not conjecture, it’s all out there in plain sight, but as it is clouded in various levels of misinformation, we perhaps may not recognise it until it is too late.

So what is happening to cause such a collapse? Here’s my view, and glad to hear more that others can add to it.

(i) A non-Pandemic, where literally billions of dollars were spent on a virus with a Case Fatality Rate in the same order of magnitude as a regular seasonal flu (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_human_disease_case_fatality_rates)

(ii) A Health System dominated by a “for profit” based pharmacological orientation, that does not encourage low cost solutions (read ivermectin etc ) as opposed to those currently under patent protection which are highly priced, hence overwhelming our health budget.

(iii) An ethnically based social trend that is set up to divide, and thus require huge amounts of money to be diverted to replicated services and IMHO imagined benefits.

(iv) An emphasis on imagined “hate crimes” rather then real crimes (as we all know them) and a judiciary that seems so out of touch with the expectations of society, where consequences such as jail time for violent criminals are “reduced” under schemes I find abhorrent, to home detention, where the criminals can sit at home, watching Netflix, and p**n, or simply cut off their bracelet and go AWOL with impunity, again costing society to catch them again.

(v) A focus on a very small minority who are confused as to their sexuality. The confusion between a biological reality – as JK Rowling points out:

I believe a woman is a human being who belongs to the sex class that produces large gametes. It’s irrelevant whether or not her gametes have ever been fertilised, whether or not she’s carried a baby to term, irrelevant if she was born with a rare difference of sexual development that makes neither of the above possible, or if she’s aged beyond being able to produce viable eggs. She is a woman and just as much a woman as the others.

I get those who are attracted to their own sex, but biology is biology, every cell is defined male or female, and attempts to hack a body to look like the opposite gender is worthy of the “Mengele Award”.

(vi) Increasing dependence on “welfare”. It seems that the tax system is set up to take with one hand and give with the other. “Working for families” has replaced previous systems of taxation where a married person just had a lesser tax rate. And a confusion about those in retirement that they are “on welfare”. They are NOT! They are on a government pension, a return for paying taxes in the past. And a reminder to younger members of society, their use of all the facilities provided by previous generations – roads, hospitals, schools etc, is “paid for” by this pension. Embrace it and love them for it!

(vii) Massive spending on non-productive matters. In particular the contentious issue of what is now termed “Climate Change”. Such a ridiculous term as the climate, like weather, is always changing. But we now know that it stemmed from the original “theory” of “Anthropogenic Climate Change”, which got morphed when the measurements showed the world was not warming in the way predicted by the models. But it has become entrenched in such a way, you can now use it as a measure of who is fooling us all. When only one side of the discussion is provided, you know you are being misled.

(viii) The focus in education on matters that do not contribute to excellence in our students. The focus on participation instead of performance, consequently dumbing down our students, and removing the passion for succeeding. Just look at a school “Student Report” today, compared to past years, and you see the art of obsfucation to it’s highest degree. They look more like “brochures” with language that most of us cannot understand.

(ix) We are also seeing it in transport, with, for example, the drive to make us all ride bicycles instead of cars. Obviously tied to the radical views on climate change, it is also costing our councils and regional authorities huge amounts, and interfering with commerce, all to prevent this mythical disaster that we kept getting thrust on us. Sea levels are not rising – we can see that, and the stupid ideas that Pacific Islands were sinking was outed by an Auckand University study some years ago – but ignored by the media. The ocean’s base level cannot rise (permanently) in one part of the world and not another.

(x) Finally the costs being imposed on us by financing a media to push all the bull**t on us, demanded by the government. eg. Stuff News refusing to publish anything that counters the “climate lie”. At last we see that NewsHub has been “fired”. Not by Warner, but by us the people, because we did not watch their c**p in enough numbers, and so advertisers would not spend their money there. Stuff have stepped up to be a convenient patsy for Warner, as it will only soften the blow that will hit I’m sure in 6-12 months time, maybe at Christmas, where Warner will be forced to announce that the StuffNews (or whatever they call their version of the 6pm News) has not brought in the anticipated viewers, and so they are cancelling the contract. I’m pretty sure Warner will have an out clause in there somewhere. By that time it will be a non issue.

There are so many areas where we see that our government systems are being overloaded. Some outside, some inside, so staff cuts in the public service are a major priority, and returnig the responsibility for decision making back to us the people, to the regions, to the localities affected. We need to abandon the supercilious “nanny state” mentality that has overtaken us and become the norm.

The challenge is who is going to have the cahunas to abandon this current state of affairs? It will take someone not caught up in the entanglement of global politics I’m sure. Someone who is not subservient to the unelected WHO or the non governmental WEF. Or whatever association it is that seems to coordinate global governance behind the scenes, disenfranchising us the voters.

The trick is in finding that person, or those people, who have the clarity of vision and the ability to communicate it. To cut through the morass of deceptions that pervade our news and information sources. And of course the bravery to stand up to the purveyers of all that claptrap.

https://twitter.com/iluminatibot/status/1781301691524014288
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April 21, 2024 10:52am
- Tom Hunter
  
  I learned a new word today, the “Cloward–Piven strategy”…
  
  It’s been around since the late 1960’s: The Cloward–Piven strategy is winning in the USA:
  
  It was in one of the last of the ten episodes that I first saw Frances Fox Piven as part of the crowd – and my, what a nasty looking woman she was, with a pinched, angry face that spoke of how much she hated Freidman.
  
  Of course the big flaw that I saw in this strategy was the question-begging – that what would arise from such an engineered collapse would be their beloved Socialism with equal distribution of wealth and income and all the rest of the Communist wet dream. It seemed to me just as likely or even more likely, to be National Socialism, which I don’t think they’d like.
  
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  April 21, 2024 3:53pm
  - mikenmildagain
    
    Gosh, Tom, I’m impressed that you ploughed through that tl;dr and were able to pretend it was comprehensible.
    
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    April 22, 2024 6:55am
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Stop Co-Governance. Julian Batchelor.

“Luxon is protecting and furthering Maorification and co-governance. He always has and always will.”
Becoming more useless by the day. A manager, but not a leader.
He could have done a video call to Peters and Seymour, but nope, he used the media. That way there is no debate!
Claiming Has Become An Integral Part Of The Maori Way Of Life. That is why the Waitangi Tribunal must go. Full of con men.

https://stopcogovernance.kiwi/blog/luxon-caves-in-again/
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April 21, 2024 11:43am
- MCōs
  
  How do you know he hasn’t been on the phone to those blokes, or more appropriately vice versa?
  The pm and deputy may have been out of the country. Doesn’t mean junior, who I see snuggling up to Greg Murphy at Taupo, has a free hand in the toybox
  
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  April 21, 2024 1:22pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Prison Shark Tank.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckQsmr8V4Ho
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April 21, 2024 11:50am
Benedict Yu

For those who actually know something about rugby, is this debacle because the Crusaders lost their star coach to the All Blacks, or is there more to it?

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/350247594/super-rugby-pacific-rock-bottom-slump-woeful-crusaders
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April 21, 2024 12:09pm
- greybeard
  
  I see it as being a combination of injuries, retirements, new team members, new coach (under pressure ).
  What did people expect, a permanently brilliant team under permanently brilliant management ?
  
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  April 21, 2024 12:17pm
  - MCōs
    
    If you’re a one eyed Cantabrian, yes.
    If you’re from anywhere north of Cook Strait or south of somewhere vaguely around Ashburton, no.
    My sister, who was a teacher in Waimate reckoned around there it was about 50/50 with the Highlanders
    
    Up the Wahs
    
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    April 21, 2024 1:34pm
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      I think Benedict was talking about Rugby Union – not stock car footy.
      
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      April 21, 2024 3:44pm
- Grumpy Silver Top
  
  Compare with the Blues, who are doing really well this season with a settled team, a coach who seems to admire his players as much as they admire his coaching, making for a productive environment. The Crusaders are having to rebuild, the team, the team environment/culture. Won’t take them long.
  
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  April 21, 2024 12:40pm
  - MCōs
    
    The Blues are doing very well this year and thus far the Warriors are middle of the pack, but the latter gets the crowds!
    
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    April 21, 2024 1:48pm
Handyman

Trump’s response is obvious. Just quote Ronald Reagan.

“That is correct. Back in 1980, I was a Democrat”.
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April 21, 2024 12:14pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Good news, the money was approved.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcJIYgkkoYc
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April 21, 2024 1:10pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Well for Joe it’s about 1186 days of Build Back Better.
Nothing is Built.
Nothing is Back.
Nothing is Better.

Sounds like NZ
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April 21, 2024 2:46pm
cmm

South African university UNISA has awarded a honourary doctorate to a woman making Ndebele geometric designs, calling these “mathematical indigenous knowledge”.

I suppose it is no more stupid than awarding Cindy one, but please – calling Ndebele geometric designs “mathematical knowledge” is complete bullshit.

https://www.unisa.ac.za/sites/corporate/default/News-&-Media/Articles/Unisa-honours-global-icon-Dr-Esther-Mahlangu-for-her-mathematical-indigenous-knowledge
6 3
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April 21, 2024 4:16pm
Ghost

What is the current count for Clinton associates that have ummm, died

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton suggested on a podcast Friday that her old rival, former President Trump, would be happy to “kill his opposition” if he’s re-elected president.

Article
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April 21, 2024 4:55pm
- NZer In Exile
  
  Pure unadulterated projection.
  
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  April 21, 2024 5:11pm
- mikenmildagain
  
  Ah, Killary and the Clinton Death list.
  https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/clinton-body-bags/
  President Trump will get on to it early next year, right after sorting out Ben Ghazi and the Buttery Males. Oh, and Butt Hunter, of course.
  
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  April 21, 2024 8:51pm
Tauhei Notts

I monitor the odds on Betfair.
I notice that the odds for Trump and Biden have narrowed over the past 68 days from $2.20 and $3.60 to……$2.28 and $2.34.
I think the betting markets are suggesting that Sleepy Joe is waking up.
To me, that is a big worry.
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April 21, 2024 5:16pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Sleepy Joe is not awake. The admin and Obama are awake – so is Killary.
  
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  April 21, 2024 6:16pm
Swifty

Derek and Clive offer the UK Conservative Party some helpful advice:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GyN76YugQyc
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April 21, 2024 6:24pm
Piniwi

Had to lol at the puff piece about lunches in school where they had two overweight PI’s taking a shot at David Seymore for wanting to cut the waste. This issue has cooled a little and this sort of material will help slip off the radar. They might even help their life outcomes if they showed a little more restraint and even drop a dress size.
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April 21, 2024 10:21pm

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