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December 23, 2024 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 23 December 2024

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greybeard

https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360532238/cook-islands-plan-break-new-zealand

“The Cook Islands are looking to make a break from New Zealand by introducing a separate passport and citizenship.”

— and —

“However, if any plans were to be adopted, the New Zealand Government has suggested the Cook Islands would have to become fully independent from New Zealand.”

This is worrying: has China been making economic overtures to the Cook Islands Govt. behind NZ’s back ?
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December 23, 2024 8:04am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  Mark Brown is dreaming. No Cook Islander will want to give up the right to live in NZ – especially the majority of Cook Islanders who currently live in NZ.
  
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  December 23, 2024 8:07am
- cmm
  
  Great!
  Get the Cook Islands out of our wallets.
  
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  December 23, 2024 8:26am
  - David Garrett
    
    Cmm: I agree. I have long thought it totally unfair that while Cook Islanders have automatic right of residence in NZ, the reverse does not apply, which means retirees from NZ can’t spend their winters in the Cooks. If they think they can go it alone we shouldn’t object.
    
    I’m prepared to bet that if the choice is the status quo or full independence the choice won’t be the second one.
    
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    December 23, 2024 8:36am
    - cmm
      
      DG: I won’t take that bet.
      The Cooks know they are on a good wicket. Maybe they are just fishing for a bit more.
      
      This asymmetric thing is severely broken. As you say, NZ citizens (of all stripes) should be able to live/retire in Cook Islands too.
      
      Unfortunately NZ is full of these asymmetries – especially with Maori.
      
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      December 23, 2024 8:46am
      - David Garrett
        
        Cmm: the health system in the Cooks is pretty basic – no open heart surgery, no cancer treatment, no advanced diagnostic equipment. Cook Islanders- especially older ones – would be mad to remove themselves from access to all that stuff. And despite what the racists among us might think, Islanders aren’t stupid.
        
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        December 23, 2024 9:10am
      - Colville
        
        The fact that 15, 000 live on the islands and 80,000 live here says it all really!
        
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        December 23, 2024 11:04am
      - peterwn
        
        David Garrett – there used to be cancer treatment in the Cook Islands. Milan Brych set up shop there and offered treatments after the NZ authorities put the blowtorch on him. When Dr Tom Davis (medical degree from Otago) became Cooks PM he saw to it that Milan stopped practicing and kicked him out of the country.
        
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        December 23, 2024 2:30pm
      - Ian Boag
        
        @peterwn
        
        It was a bit of a stretch to call Milan Brych a “cancer doctor”. He was into laetrile and stuff and got deregistered in NZ. I am told there is a cemetery someplace in Raro filled with his failures. To be fair, I guess it’s worth noting that he was a last resort anyway.
        
        It’s all there – Googe “Milan Brych” – there’s a wikipedia article and a whole lot of other links.
        
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        December 23, 2024 3:04pm
  - sungsamning
    
    Exactly what I thought.
    
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    December 23, 2024 8:42am
- MCōs
  
  “The Cook Islands are looking to make a break from New Zealand”
  No they’re not. A referendum would need to be held first regardless of what the PM might want.
  The Cooks have been included within the boundaries of the Colony of New Zealand by Order in Council since 1901 and their Head of State is the King of NZ.
  When the British Nationality and New Zealand Citizenship Act 1948 came into effect on 1 January 1949, Cook Islanders who were British subjects automatically gained New Zealand citizenship.
  That’s how it remains
  That’s colonization for you, I suppose. You don’t cherry pick the bits you like.
  
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  December 23, 2024 2:53pm
Simon

Economics is about confidence. Luxon been in for 1 year and the govt is still a mess. Nothing is getting better. What is the clown show going to do next the people ask.

NZ’s debt fueled economy relies upon borrowing. People will borrow at higher interest rates if they think they can do better than the rate they are paying. But not with this clown show.

Luxon govt the message is: We are shit and the mess is far beyond us but lets get the interest rates so low that being so shit wont matter.

Problems are: Maori special treatment, low wage mass immigration, DEI govt departments, on going crime, failing basic govt services in education & health, insane house prices, massive over regulation, high costs of useless govt via taxation / rates. Confidence.

Luxon doesnt have a grip. Everyone can see it.
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December 23, 2024 8:04am
- Grunter
  
  Yep, plus his delusional Global Boiling view….”Go read a book!”
  
  NZ Farmers still threatened by a methane tax in 2030. Who in their right mind would invest in NZ agriculture?
  
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  December 23, 2024 10:19am
  - imalwaysright
    
    Who would invest in any NZ business.
    High taxation
    Small market
    Low quality entitled labour supply
    High minimum wage
    Uneducated school leavers
    Unemployables
    High cost of living
    Energy insecurity
    Social instability
    Crime
    Corrupt judiciary
    Corrupt public service
    Corrupt local government
    Maori activist blackmail
    RMA
    Political instability
    Treaty of waitangi
    Emmigration
    Immigration
    Legal system infected by undefinable maori words and concepts
    Australia
    
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    December 23, 2024 10:46am
    - lifesgood
      
      None of which is Luxon’s fault.
      
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      December 23, 2024 12:03pm
      - Michael Sommerville
        
        No, but his opportunity to fix.
        
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        December 23, 2024 12:38pm
artemisia

Herald today (paywalled) – Making electricity from garbage: We are wasting our waste, when it could be powering our economy

Usually known as recycling.

An opinion piece by Dr John Peebles that reports on a range of global solutions to using waste, and not all are incineration. His summary –

To meet the waste challenge head-on, a task of several decades, we should organise at a national level and be led by waste-dedicated expert business minds. New Zealand is still blinking in the headlights of China refusing in 2017 to be the world’s dump.

Our economy runs on natural capital, and this multi-year waste mission demands nothing less than a revolution. We must bring together muscular principles, coordinated focus, bold innovation, phased progress and multi-layered solutions to haul in our waste.

New Zealand has a couple of potential projects in the wings – Kaipara and Waimate, The latter is in the Fast Track list, NIMBY’s have been highly vocal.
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December 23, 2024 8:04am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  “Muscular principles” – WTF does that mean!
  
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  December 23, 2024 8:09am
  - Colville
    
    Where those principles have enough strength to squeeze your bollocks hard enough to make your eyes water so much that you don’t notice them stealing your wallet!
    
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    December 23, 2024 11:07am
  - OlderChas
    
    Maybe sick of “robust principles”?
    
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    December 23, 2024 12:46pm
- CJames
  
  There was a proposal to turn Meremere into a refuse incineration/ power generation centre for the big 3 cities. A kilogram of plastic has same energy value as kilogram of coal. It was killed by the Greens. They wanted landfills instead so everyone would recycle. Another one of their failures they need to be held to account for.
  
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  December 23, 2024 8:26am
  - Tomtoddy
    
    Correct CJ. Many greens are idiots with little or no accurate scientific knowledge. They killed Meremere out of ignorance and misguided fanaticism.
    
    Just up the road is a growing mountain of waste – over 500 feet high – not far from the Waikato river. It is an abomination and a waste of resource. Europe, with its ridiculously high environmental standards, has over 400 waste to electricity plants. Some even handle sewerage. No smell, no toxins, no pollution, all major metals recovered through hi tech. We are so collectively dumb sometimes.
    
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    December 23, 2024 8:45am
    - pdm
      
      `Many greens are idiots’.
      
      A contender for quote of the year.
      
      Are entries closed yet?
      
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      December 23, 2024 9:27am
      - kowtow
        
        Many?
        
        How about ‘all’.
        
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        December 23, 2024 9:30am
      - Colville
        
        I don’t know if Greens are idiots but I do know they can’t do maths!
        
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        December 23, 2024 11:09am
      - Handyman
        
        You are what you eat. That is why so many greens are nutters.
        
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        December 23, 2024 12:40pm
    - mogg
      
      Majority of Greens are communists, the rest are useful idiots.
      
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      December 23, 2024 2:34pm
      - NZer In Exile
        
        Mostly young and immature. The rest highly driven by emotion and desperately hanging onto the “cool tribe” affiliations of their youth.
        
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        December 24, 2024 3:32pm
    - freemark
      
      I was involved in a fledgling Waste to Energy Project around 2007/8. Our first plant was to be in Egypt, we semi-setup in Dubai. Tbe UAE Sovereign Wealth Fund had $1Billion ready to invest, then GFC happened & we got shut down. The technology was brilliant, the idea being that we would build & run it, it would pay for itself & then we’d hand it back to local authorities (50 years). Damn shame in many ways it didn’t get off the ground, and a personal & financial disaster for Freemark. Oh well.
      
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      December 23, 2024 4:21pm
    - AitchW
      
      Sadly many “greens” are idealistic teens and students with no real life experience and little knowledge of what they espouse. They follow slavishly and uncritically the edicts from Chloe et al (especially now that Ardern has flown the coop).
      
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      December 23, 2024 5:19pm
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    A new power station close to the Auckland consumers, who power it through their stream of plastic rubbish. Sounds too true to be good, according to the Greens.
    
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    December 23, 2024 8:50am
  - MCōs
    
    That was 24yrs ago and here’s an article about the abandonment of the project which involved burning rubbish to create electricity.
    Hardly surprisingly the locals weren’t too keen on the idea and who can blame them. They’d be on a hiding to nothing having something like that in the neighbourhood
    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/plan-junked-for-power-plant-fired-by-rubbish/6JJFFIZ36CACCLOVSIXYUI5FCM/
    
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    December 23, 2024 10:08am
    - MCōs
      
      A waste to electricity plant is now planned for Kaipara. A common denominator in both these ventures is Craig Jepson, Mayor of Kaipara and previously spokesperson for Olivine NZ
      Once again the locals aren’t too keen, but now they’re up against big government
      https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/ldr/511344/a-730m-kaipara-waste-to-energy-plant-for-auckland-s-rubbish-moves-closer
      
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      December 23, 2024 10:26am
      - Tomtoddy
        
        I have visited a waste/rubbish incinerator producing electricity in Frankfurt with residences just 70 metres away and no problems.
        
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        December 23, 2024 11:04am
    - CJames
      
      How many of those “locals” lived in the Meremere village where they could buy (or rent) houses cheaply because the station staff left them long before the station closed? And how many were Remuera doctors’ wives who didn’t want to be confronted by their waste when they drove down SH1? Like the RMA objectors, most of them aren’t locals but just the rent a mob who are anti-development.
      
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      December 23, 2024 12:18pm
  - Burtland
    
    recycling worked so well …
    we shipped it to unscrupulous third world countries who tipped it in the ocean
    now theyre all worried about ocean plastic waste and micro plastics
    
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    December 23, 2024 10:49am
  - Tom Hunter
    
    Now in a new Wrapping has a link to a great video (7m) by John Stossel where he interviews one John Tierney to catchup 30 years on from Tierney’s great 1996 article, whose title I shamelessly reused a couple of years ago, Recycling is Garbage.
    Key points:
    – Only 5% of plastic is recycled
    
    – A lot of it is burned in things like cement factories (one was in Poland after some Brits used RFID devices to track their recycled waste).
    
    – The next thousand years of US trash could be dumped in landfills occupying 1/10 of 1% of US land, and of course the land can be re-used by dumping several feet of soil over the completed and sealed landfill.
    
    – Nobody has learned from any of this, are astounded when told the facts, but keep right on doing it thanks to 60 years of brainwashing since they were kids.
    
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    December 23, 2024 11:26am
    - CJames
      
      Isn’t the highest peak on the Eastern seaboard of the US supposed to be the New York landfill? I believe they still dump rubbish at sea from barges as well.
      
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      December 23, 2024 12:20pm
    - Ra Henare
      
      haha. Years ago, I owned a Commercial Garbage business in NZ.
      
      Georgie Pie restaurants contracted us to put a garbage compactor behind the restaurant.
      
      The restaurant proudly promoted recycling and had separate containers inside the restaurant.
      
      Yep, all ended up in the garbage compactor.
      
      When I tried to sell them another compactor for recycling, they said no. “”It was too expensive”” and so they would continue with the one unit.
      
      Early 1990s when the recycle thing was gaining momentum.
      
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      December 23, 2024 2:12pm
- cmm
  
  There is actually some sense to burying plastics in a well mapped landfill to be considered a resource to be mined in the future (50 years or so).
  
  There is also sense to burning it for energy in the here and now.
  
  But the worst possible option is what we do – either bury it in a general landfill to be contaminated by everything else – or “recycle” it by sending it overseas.
  
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  December 23, 2024 8:49am
- SometimesRight
  
  Eugene Sage rejected a proposal I made to convert the Huntly Power Station to Waste-to-Energy – once the present generators are shut down. It makes way more sense than Waimate – it’s in the golden triangle where the largest sources of waste and demand for electricity are, most cities could rail waste directly to the plant, and the infrastructure is in place to support conversion. Waimate is a stupid place for WTE. Eugene rejected my proposal, saying it’d be better if people just stopped producing waste.
  
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  December 23, 2024 7:08pm
Cassandra

Z, the fuel company, has announced that it will hold a Maori prayer each morning and has changed the name of one of its petrol station in New Plymouth from Z Courtney Street (where it is) to Z Huatoki, a name based on the titoki tree which grows nearby, chosen by the local sub-tribe. While most people won’t notice – what difference does it make? – it does seem a strange decision. Karakia for Christian staff? Hindu? Moslem? Atheist? Busy? Ampol, Z’s owner, might ask a question or two.
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December 23, 2024 8:08am
- Blog-aholic
  
  Signally their virtue, nothing more or less.
  
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  December 23, 2024 8:19am
- Inandout
  
  Cass, they can pray until the cows come home but at home I use the local supermarket pump and on a trip BP because of the coffee and voucher discount. I can’t recall the last time I used Z and after this idiocy will studiously avoid them.
  
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  December 23, 2024 8:21am
  - SoloView
    
    @ Inandout
    
    If your local supermarket is Pak N Sav or New World
    you are buying Z petrol….
    
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    December 23, 2024 2:29pm
- Cantabrian
  
  It’s worse than that. According to RNZ two others have been renamed – onen New Plymouth and another in Hamilton. The report says they have been increasing the use of maori:
  
  We’ve been adding bilingual language inside the sites but we have equally taken the time to make sure that we’re getting the right dialects as the regions as we go through it.
  
  “Part of the project this year was to sort of understand the process that we go through in terms of engagement with mana whenua and how they want things to happen and occur, and how we can come together to make that really a great outcome for local communities we operate in.”
  Once more we find a small group of people with a splash of non-european blood being allowed to dictate how the greater majority are to live.
  I hope Z finds that customers stay away from the renamed outlets.
  
  The country really is being taken over.
  
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  December 23, 2024 8:29am
  - PurplePen
    
    Like the jaguar, Z is another species on the verge of extinction.
    
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    December 23, 2024 3:12pm
- keepcalmcarryon
  
  It’s woke washing. Everything in the shop is labeled in Maori. It’s all so we realise what great progressive moral people they are and nobody think about the fact they are in the business of selling fossil fuels and making carbon emissions, the ultimate sin.
  I choose to fill up at more honest petrol stations.
  
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  December 23, 2024 8:32am
- kowtow
  
  Spread the word.
  
  Motorists should vote with their wallets ,if they care enough.
  The virtue signallers will learn very quickly , but need to be taught the lesson.
  
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  December 23, 2024 8:50am
- RoboRob
  
  Lol Z is a few years late to the woke party. Have they not learned the lessons, get woke go broke. Perhaps they think they can ‘woke’ their way out of a steady decline in fuel sales?
  
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  December 23, 2024 8:51am
- Suze Wainwright
  
  If Z’s Conscious Leadership (management) were truly contemporary, they would be demanding that their equity advocates (staff) sing Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind”, and provide a Green Goddess Smoothie (1 cup spinach, ½ avocado, 1 banana (or substitute with mango if allergic), 1 tablespoon chia seeds, 1 cup almond or oat milk) for them every morning.
  
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  December 23, 2024 8:56am
  - Hometruth
    
    I have been a Z customer for years. No longer.
    
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    December 23, 2024 12:25pm
- pdm
  
  What happens if someone cuts the tree down.
  
  I hope Caltex (owned by Z) are not into that crap. The one I use in Hastings is Indian owned, Hindu I think but, maybe Gujarati.
  
  Not a Maori face or a white face on the staff in the last 5 years at least,
  
  Nice people, service is good and price is usually the best in Hastings – often beating Gull and Waitomo.
  
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  December 23, 2024 9:33am
  - Inandout
    
    Maori translation for ram raid is ‘poho hipi’, and drive off is ‘kua weto’. Perhaps a prayer will prevent such events.
    
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    December 23, 2024 12:15pm
- Paulus
  
  In todays Herald is an important article from a Professor at Auckland Maori University.
  Dr Maia Hetaraka: ‘Cultural competence’ should evolve into genuine cultural understanding.
  What she is saying in the book she has written for all Educationalists is that Education should follow Maori kitanga, and then everythibg will follow and be allright.
  How many Departments will use taxpayers money to buy this book.
  After all it must be right.
  
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  December 23, 2024 10:32am
  - kowtow
    
    The really sad thing about these maori ( and other ) academics is they have really missed the point .
    
    The point is getting children back into class and given a first class education.
    
    Everything else comes way down the list .
    
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    December 23, 2024 12:48pm
    - PurplePen
      
      Yes. If they’re not attending classes, they’re not going to be learning the Maori stuff.
      
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      December 23, 2024 3:18pm
  - Surely Knott
    
    What the Herald neglects to tell you is she has already received $1.2 million from Health NZ in September. Million!!! For Maori Health Research.
    
    Her and researcher Melinda Webber who are both in the Department of Education and social work “will explore the transformative power of community-led hauora wānanga.”
    
    “The study of te kauae runga involves immersion in learning at a higher, more spiritual realm. It will examine the effects that these cultural practices have on a person’s identity, sense of connectedness, and overall wellbeing. ”
    
    “Webber says there’s a need for this research because much of the work done in health and education systems is predicated on Western knowledge.”
    
    And just after the funding is received the book and media rounds and attacks on the government start. And you have to pay $50 bucks for the book as well.
    
    “The overall objective is applying these insights in education and health settings, equipping teachers, nurses, counsellors, and school-based health workers with refined pedagogies to improve mental health education for Māori in schools and universities.”
    
    How does this research given to two academics need $1.5 million dollars. The Health research council should have to print the full proposal and show how many people and who is being employed and for how long and what the outputs are.
    
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    December 23, 2024 7:36pm
- Burtland
  
  The Warehouse is the same … they brownwash their products
  
  kids chinese helicopters are waka topatopa
  
  they must have a brownwashing dept – abiding by the treaty
  
  https://www.thewarehouse.co.nz/p/play-studio-die-cast-pull-back-helicopter-with-light-and-sound-assorted/R2899227.html
  https://www.thewarehouse.co.nz/p/play-studio-farm-tractor-with-trailer-1%3A32-assorted/R2217345.html
  https://www.thewarehouse.co.nz/p/play-studio-monster-truck-with-lights-sounds/R2822082.html
  
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  December 23, 2024 11:05am
  - fightingtemeraire
    
    In PNG Mixmaster bilong Jesus Krist!!!
    
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    December 23, 2024 11:20am
    - Paulus
      
      Which Bank TV advert is Merry Christmas in, of course, Maori.
      Will remember to go elsewhere if required, but my present Westpac is similar in advertising.
      Both run by very highly paid women of course.
      Where else can we go without this try education ?
      
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      December 23, 2024 2:05pm
    - Sideoiler
      
      Hissing Steam chicken was a name used while working at Porgera
      
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      December 24, 2024 9:59am
  - PurplePen
    
    What do they call prophylactics then
    
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    December 23, 2024 3:19pm
- Nobby2
  
  They have now lost my whole family’s business for good. This is the biggest example of wokeness / political correctness for some time. Just get on with selling fuel.
  
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  December 23, 2024 11:56am
  - OlderChas
    
    Yep – haven’t used Z for quite some time. Would interesting to get an honest answer (if that’s possible?) to the question: How much of every dollar (over)charged by Z is spent in this wokeness and Maorification?
    
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    December 23, 2024 12:54pm
  - sungsamning
    
    Mine too. I prefer Challenge, or NPD.
    
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    December 23, 2024 5:29pm
Grunter

I’m often criticised on Kiwi Blog for my anti-war stances. Fair enough, everyone has a view, but I do think I’m often mis-understood.

This article (link below) closely explains my position. It is Murray Rothbard’s thinking on International affairs, and war. Rothbard of course is a classical Libertarian, closely followed by Argentina’s Milei.

The main proposition is that wars are created and fought by Government elites who then use their citizens as cannon fodder. Populations are deceived and controlled by propaganda.

If you want an alternate view on war, have a read. You may not agree, but IMO, it helps explain why humans regularly go to war.

https://mises.org/mises-wire/rothbards-theory-international-relations-and-statefb69bb184c-230085840
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December 23, 2024 8:10am
- Don Beckett
  
  In general terms I agree. However, the exception IMO is the war that Israel is being forced to conduct against those extremist Muslim countries that hate them & wish to wipe them from the face of the earth.
  
  “If Hamas, Hezbolla – all Iran’s pawns – were to give up their arms and desire to eliminate Israel tomorow, there would be peace. If Israel were to give up their arms tomorrow, they would cease to exist.”
  
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  December 23, 2024 11:04am
  - Ra Henare
    
    He started it/she started it springs to mind.
    
    Hamas started the latest round on October 7th,
    Israel started it in and before 1967 by illegally annexing and occupying territory that didn’t belong to them.
    
    And so the debate goes on. Like two bickering kids in the playground. He said/she said.
    
    Israel did NOT need to do mass bombings in Gaza. That was an elitist decision (Netanyahu).
    
    The US and Allies didn’t bomb the shit out of Baghdad (Gaza like). They sent in highly trained soldiers(special forces?) to kick in doors and arrest/eliminate the bad guys.
    
    Plenty of online narrative about this strategy and personal experiences.
    
    I support Rothbards thinking
    
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    December 23, 2024 2:33pm
    - NZer In Exile
      
      “Israel started it in and before 1967 by illegally annexing and occupying territory that didn’t belong to them.”
      
      Ah, no they didn’t. Israel was attacked by numerous Muslim nations simultaneously. Israel as a result created a strategic buffer zone to protect itself from further attacks.
      
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      December 24, 2024 3:38pm
  - Handyman
    
    Quite right. The Israeli response should be proportionate.
    The Hamas charter and its sole reason for being is the complete destruction of Israel and killing of all Jews.
    The proportionate response is therefore the utter destruction of Hamas and the killing of all its fighters.
    
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    December 23, 2024 6:15pm
- All_on_Red
  
  [ Mod – stick with the arguments. Forget the personal slagoffs. Hate to see a holiday in your future ]
  
  Maybe Iran could hook you up to a Generator- lol
  ‘Government offices in Iran are closed or operating at reduced hours. Schools and colleges have moved to online only. Highways and shopping malls have descended into darkness, and industrial plants have been denied power, bringing manufacturing to a near halt.
  Although Iran has one of the biggest supplies of natural gas and crude oil in the world, it is in a full-blown energy crisis that can be attributed to years of sanctions, mismanagement, aging infrastructure, wasteful consumption — and targeted attacks by Israel.
  “We are facing very dire imbalances in gas, electricity, energy, water, money and environment,” said President Masoud Pezeshkian in a live televised address to the nation this month. “All of them are at a level that could turn into a crisis.”
  https://archive.is/IhaQP#selection-4681.0-4689.242
  This is how Regimes change. Hope so.
  
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  December 23, 2024 12:16pm
  - Grunter
    
    [ Mod – lose the personal stuff ]
    
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    December 23, 2024 12:49pm
    - All_on_Red
      
      [ Mod – mindless personal abuse ]
      LOL
      
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      December 23, 2024 2:43pm
  - Ra Henare
    
    All On,
    Love it when you buy in to the spin put out by
    The New York Times. ie your article is a NY times article.
    
    Once a proud newspaper, now a great source of US propaganda.
    
    [ Mod – needless personal abuse ]
    
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    December 23, 2024 2:42pm
peterwn

Tony Gibson former Ports of Auckland CEO was convicted of a H&S offence following the death of a worker and as far as I know has yet to be sentenced and could face a 5 to 6 figure fine. He may appeal the conviction. If the concept of corporate manslaughter was around (which unions and others are pressing for) he would probably be facing jail time.
It is concerning that he has been appointed a director of Marsden Maritime Holdings Ltd (the Northland port company listed on NZX and in which Northland Regional Council holds 53.6% of the shares). The NZ Shareholders Association was very critical and voted its proxies from members against his appointment (NZSA members individually need to specifically appoint NZSA as a proxy but can give NZSA general and indefinite proxy authority). Ports of Auckland (Tony’s former employer) voted its 19.9% holding in the Northland port company against his appointment. It begs the question that given his background (NZSA listed a whole litany of shortcomings concerning him) the Northand Regional Council supported him. I suspect if the Council members were properly informed and considered the interests of their ratepayers properly they would have rejected the appointment. But the old boy (and girl network) seems to have prevailed on this occasion.
Sorry – no cites since some material is confidential to NZSA members, and I cannot determine if a hew sources are in the public domain.
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December 23, 2024 8:17am
Tomtoddy

Here is a tough question for you. Bluebridge ferries who ply Cook Strait. Do they operate that business just for fun? Just to keep a bunch of people in work? Just to provide an alternative to the Interislander service? Before you think I have lost my marbles have you wondered why the Govt is sweating big time about spending several billions on new ferries when Bluebridge is running profitably already and offering a perfectly good quality service?

Bluebridge was launched by trucking company, Otorohanga Transport under Jim Barker. Started from scratch, runs at a sound profit and was sold to Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners a few years ago for $500 million. They do something slightly better than half the business across that treacherous bit of sea. Why are we tax payers wanting to compete with one of the leading infrastructure businesses in the world? Sell the Interislander to the highest bidder. Get out of business and concentrate on running a decent health service, for starters.

Would it create a monopoly? Possibly for a period but if Morgan Stanley thinks it’s a good idea for the half the business available there will be someone else who agrees and wants a slice of the action.
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December 23, 2024 8:17am
- Tomtoddy
  
  P.S. Bluebridge are usually lower cost than the Interislander, too.
  
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  December 23, 2024 8:33am
  - Taieri
    
    It seems to be.
    Comparing the lowest walk on return passenger fares on the same day and same time (random date) in January 25 the difference is $45 in favour of Bluebridge. This corresponds to almost 25% price difference.
    
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    December 23, 2024 8:46am
  - PurplePen
    
    And they have cabins if you want to escape having to sit next to the public.
    
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    December 23, 2024 3:23pm
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  I suspect Morgan Stanley’s business plan is to sell up as soon as there’s a gap in the market. Like KiwiRail, their ferries are old and will need replacing in a few years. There’s no chance they’ll be fronting up for new ships. So, Bluebridge‘s business model in the medium term must have a few question marks.
  
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  December 23, 2024 8:34am
- peterwn
  
  There would be too much public pressure against the Government getting out of the ferry business. Interesting that Donald Trump is threatening to invade Panama and bring the Panama Canal back under USA control because he considers charges are too high. The Panama Canal charges are quite commercial taking into account alternative options customers have – round the Horn or via the Suez Canal. I did not know Donald Trump was a closet Democrat.
  If the now cancelled ferries were such a good deal then why did not Robbo immediately sign off the $1B+ funding request before the 2023 election. He was probably starting to realise that the project was a turkey then.
  
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  December 23, 2024 8:41am
  - Cassandra
    
    The Panama Canal area is dominated by Chinese companies – ports and servicing – and the US built it at a cost today of 12 billion. The Zone used to be US territory, all gifted to Panama by Jimmy Carter. “A huge mistake “ says The Donald. Panama would be well advised to restructure its prices.
    
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    December 23, 2024 9:02am
    - David Garrett
      
      Cass: Have you been through the canal? Truly one of the marvels of the modern world IMO
      
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      December 23, 2024 9:17am
      - pdm
        
        When my father emigrated from The Isle Of Lewis, Scotland to New Zealand he came through the Panama Canal not long after it opened.
        
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        December 23, 2024 9:37am
      - fightingtemeraire
        
        Only the old one. When you consider it opened in 1914 and when superseded by the new part could still take something like 80% of the world’s shipping.
        
        Been through the old part 17 times, Suez 5 times. Last transits in 1979.
        
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        December 23, 2024 11:24am
      - Cassandra
        
        Through the Panama in 1962. Amazing experience. In the MV Rangitata, returning to NZ via Pitcairn – another amazing experience
        
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        December 23, 2024 11:41am
      - rockape
        
        The Chinese are building a canal through Nicaragua ,it is 172 miles long , will be wider and deeper. I think the Panama canals days are numbered.
        
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        December 23, 2024 11:52am
      - CJames
        
        Rockape – are they actually building it? I thought the deal had fallen through because they realised things weren’t what they seem.
        
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        December 23, 2024 12:23pm
      - rockape
        
        To CJ reported your comment by accident, sorry. Not sure if it has been cancelled. It was cancelled in May 2024 but this article https://en.mercopress.com/2024/11/19/ortega-discloses-blueprints-for-projected-nicaragua-canal suggests its back on and that work has started.
        
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        December 23, 2024 3:08pm
      - CJames
        
        rockape { don’t take being reported personally. I am sure that thy have many cases of fat fingers. I try to write comments that don’t infring the rules – makes moderators jobs easier.
        The new canal proposal is an unpopular president floundering. The new proposal was 445km long and still needs lots of locks. They have also invited Russia to build it. Yeah right.
        https://www.intellinews.com/nicaragua-unveils-new-canal-route-in-bid-to-rival-panama-354300/
        https://eadaily.com/en/news/2024/12/15/nicaragua-invited-russia-to-build-an-alternative-canal-to-panama
        
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        December 23, 2024 7:27pm
      - Jack5
        
        The problem’s triggered by the Canal Authority’s new system from January 1. It allows bidding for “slots” in canal queues.
        
        CMA CGM, a 620-ship line, is raising its charges on cargo going through the canal by $US150 per container. MSC’s introducing a canal surcharge of $US40 per container.
        
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        December 23, 2024 8:56pm
    - rockape
      
      Who would buy it when it’s running out of what drives it, water! Due to deforestation the water into the Gatun Lake is failing , without that the Canalis sunk, or should I say, dried up.
      There also looks like there will be another canal built and that will be competition it has never had. A shame, I took my yacht through the canal in 1999 on route to NZ.
      
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      December 23, 2024 11:47am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    Robertson was trying to wipe money of the budget, there were hold ups caused by him, level headed voters understand what is happening.
    
    Article on stuff today with an economist saying he thinks ferries might cost 1.5 billion, no bloody mention of why he thinks that, or what he sees. But now we find out Labours ferries were possibly going to cost $4billion, then 1.5 billion is a huge saving
    
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    December 23, 2024 9:03am
  - Paulus
    
    I do not care whom owns and runs the Cook Strait Ferries as long as they ferry goods and passengers as the weather permits.
    
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    December 23, 2024 10:36am
  - Ra Henare
    
    In case you hadnt noticed. Trump is currently in full-blown bluster and threats mode.
    
    It will all be a bit different after 20th January when the real deals are being put together.
    
    His current blather is the opening of negotiations, Trump style.
    
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    December 23, 2024 2:54pm
    - G the giant from Dunedin
      
      Good, and much of what he is saying is getting through, both ways are seeing a changing mind set, Mexico is also starting to do their bit on the border, with a part time president then the world has been bastardised
      
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      December 23, 2024 7:53pm
- cmm
  
  The government should not play in industries where there are viable commercial offerings. These include transport (bus services, ferries, rail,,,), state farms, telecoms, power, post and banking and such.
  
  Why? When government services are all subsidized by the taxpayer and thus operate risk free. They operate at a distinct competitive advantage to commercial entities and thus suppress commercial businesses.
  
  As a result we end up with government monopolies that prevent innovation in the public sector.
  
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  December 23, 2024 8:41am
  - artemisia
    
    There are also ‘charities’ that compete with the private sector for contracts and services.
    
    Competition – not really when one proposal has a major undercutting advantage.
    
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    December 23, 2024 8:46am
    - cmm
      
      Competing for government contracts and services – a playing field skewed by Maori interests etc.
      
      How many of those would survive in the real world? I doubt many would – and they prevent alternatives from emerging.
      
      Even St John Ambulance (sorry, Hato Hone) could likely operate better as a private service.
      
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      December 23, 2024 8:55am
      - MCōs
        
        If the ambulance service was privately run would that mean the patient would need to rally enough to pay before the ambulance was dispatched?
        
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        December 23, 2024 9:28am
      - MCōs
        
        Hello
        CMM Removals
        Press 1 for home removals
        2 for Ambulance
        Please have your credit card ready
        
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        December 23, 2024 9:34am
      - Paulus
        
        Until St John Ambulance, derived from St John of Jerusalem, before known Maori, gets rid of its new name, we will then return our donations that we have done for years.
        So they expect that Taxpayers will increase their subsidies, by remaining Maori.
        Great People though, as we know well.
        
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        December 23, 2024 10:42am
      - Pope Punctilious II
        
        What is your evidence that St. Johns would operate better as a private service? What do you do if you’re too poor to pay for the ambulance? We need to stop funding the counterproductive woke crap, but essential services like ambulances should be state-funded.
        
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        December 23, 2024 11:42am
      - All_on_Red
        
        The Ambulance service is privately run.
        St John is not a Govt entity. It’s a Charitable organisation with Contracts to MOH, ACC and Health Boards who pay them 90% of its funding.
        Also if you call an Ambulance to your home, you will be charged…
        Iirc its about $80.
        Edit- its $98. $800 if you’re a tourist!
        https://www.stjohn.org.nz/what-we-do/st-john-ambulance-services/pay-an-invoice/
        
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        December 23, 2024 11:43am
      - cmm
        
        MCos: You seem to fall under the misapprehension that all kindness and sharing has to be done through the state.
        
        There are thousands of years of charities and alms to prove you wrong. However socialist governments hate competition and undermine these.
        
        There are many ways to run ambulance services that can serve everyone. For example:
        1) People who can pay, pay. An ambulance trip within a city takes an hour and uses 3 people with specialised equipment – $400 max.
        2) Through insurance-like subscriptions.
        3) Through payment plans where people pay back over many months.
        4) Charitable donations/funding that does not involve the state.
        
        Once you involve the state and taxpayer money then things get out of hand.
        
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        December 23, 2024 12:59pm
      - cmm
        
        All_on_Red: Any organisation that is funded to provide services via government entities is not really a private entity any more. It is just a government entity that is outsourced.
        
        Another example of this is a charter school. It is not really a private entity.
        
        A real private entity would operate under free market principles with a willing buyer-willing seller model. The state would not be involved.
        
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        December 23, 2024 1:02pm
      - All_on_Red
        
        Fair point CMM
        But it’s still privately run and if it was run by the Govt what’s the bet the costs would skyrocket
        
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        December 23, 2024 1:49pm
    - Ruahine
      
      KiwiRail is indeed a Charity.
      
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      December 23, 2024 9:02am
      - pdm
        
        More a very deep BLACK HOLE I think Ruahine.
        
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        December 23, 2024 10:19am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    The government should also not build other people’s houses
    
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    December 23, 2024 9:05am
  - JackRabbit
    
    CMM, you should have stopped at: “The government should not play in industries.”
    
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    December 23, 2024 9:32am
  - Ra Henare
    
    Cmm
    
    Maybe add schools and hospitals to your list??
    Commercial offerings in both sectors.
    
    The government should not play in industries where there are viable commercial offerings. These include transport (bus services, ferries, rail,,,), state farms, telecoms, power, post and banking and such.
    
    Only slightly tongue in cheek.
    
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    December 23, 2024 2:56pm
- MCōs
  
  Bluebridge does not offer a perfectly good quality service. They’re just another ferry service prone to breakdowns
  I would have thought the main problem with 100% privatization of the Cook Strait ferry service is it could become a monopoly that is too essential to fail
  https://www.odt.co.nz/star-news/star-national/cook-strait-ferry-towed-wellington-after-losing-power
  
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  December 23, 2024 9:11am
  - Tomtoddy
    
    Fair enough MCos. It was a poor choice of words. “Adequate” may have been better.
    
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    December 23, 2024 9:32am
  - JackRabbit
    
    Competition will always find a way to provide good service. But who in their right mind would set up an Interislander service in competition to a govt subsidised one?
    
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    December 23, 2024 9:35am
    - Pope Punctilious II
      
      “Competition will always find a way to provide a good service”.
      
      That’s a statement of ideological dogma, not a demonstrable fact.
      
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      December 23, 2024 11:44am
      - JackRabbit
        
        Think about what you have said next time you eat bread, fill your car with petrol, use your mobile phone, start your computer, post a comment on Kiwiblog, buy your wife a present…
        
        All of the thousands of things – services, products, etc that you make use of and enjoy on a daily basis, were made possible and affordable by competition.
        
        Providing a “good” a service, that is better in delivery, cost, affordability, functionality, etc, is a side effect of competition.
        
        Your statement is lacking intelligence and from a principle basis, is bordering on a comparison of the TPM utterings that colonisation has “done nuffing for Maori”. Without colonisation (and resultant competition) Maori were not expected to even invent the wheel for a few thousand years.
        
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        December 23, 2024 12:19pm
      - Pope Punctilious II
        
        Replying to JackRabbit, seeing there’s no reply option under your last comment.
        
        What you read isn’t what I wrote. Of course competition is often a very good thing that improves the quality of goods and services. Customers would probably get a better deal if AirNZ faced some real competition on most routes. And maybe we wouldn’t be paying so much for groceries if there were more supermarket players here in NZ.
        
        But why is electricity so expensive in NZ when we’re so rich in hydro resources, and when there are so many competing providers? Why isn’t competition finding a way to provide a good service in this case? Can you enlighten me?
        
        There are several bus companies providing services between cities in NZ. Are any of them any good?
        
        There must be hundreds of restaurants and cafes in the city where I live – there’s no shortage of competition. Yet most of them serve awful food, the reasons being (1) most people who work in the kitchen neither know nor care what they’re doing, being hired hands who aren’t much invested in the success of the business; (2) food just isn’t very important in Kiwi culture. If you want good food you need to find a small family-run restaurant, owned by people from other cultures that take food more seriously (usually Asians). That’s not about competition – it’s about culture.
        
        Competition is usually valuable, but it doesn’t ALWAYS find a way to provide a good service.
        
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        December 23, 2024 2:51pm
      - JackRabbit
        
        Pope
        
        (A) The power companies are not operating in a free competitive market.
        [1] Look up their ownership.
        [2] Look up all the regulations preventing power being generated.
        [3] The govt, and now Iwi control ownership and access to rivers. You can own property spanning a river or stream, but you can’t use said river or stream to generate power. Resources are controlled.
        
        Electricity is expensive precisely because it is not a competitive market and the resources are controlled.
        
        (B) Bus companies also operate in a non competitive market. Rules and regulations prevent competition. Excessive fuel tax, union rules, Green twerps banging on about climate change…
        
        (C) Restaurants: Minimum wage laws, good people leaving NZ because of the vaccines, red tape and regulations, eye watering rates increases, limited parking caused by cycle lanes… The list goes on.
        
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        December 23, 2024 5:52pm
  - cmm
    
    The problem with the state taking over is that it does become a monopoly with an unfair advantage that reduces incentives for other operators to enter the fray.
    
    Why do we have such poor public transport options in NZ? Because they must compete with taxpayer and ratepayer subsidised competition.
    
    Look at buses in Christchurch. Off peak bus services cost well over $50 per ride to provide, but passengers pay $1 or so.
    
    Imagine an entrepreneur came up with a $10 option. They cannot compete with the subsidised bus services – even though the true cost is way lower ($10 vs $50 per ride).
    Therefore they don’t even start the business…
    
    The same issue is at play wherever the government enters the market when it really does not need to.
    
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    December 23, 2024 1:09pm
- fightingtemeraire
  
  He started with the 2nd hand Straitsman that used to do the Melb/Tas run and she was used basically as a cattle ferry across the Cook Strait with some roll on roll off cargo. That was in the early 90’s, 30 years ago.
  
  They have operated several ferries and gone from strength to strength.
  
  Want to stuff something up??? Get a Govt to run it.
  
  If the ferries do not need rail lines then you can operate by buying and chartering good 2nd hand tonnage.
  
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  December 23, 2024 9:21am
- rouppe
  
  Because it is in the national interest to ensure that goods and people can get between the two islands.
  
  If the only operator was private, and let’s say Morgan Stanley have a failure elsewhere in their global operations, they could just as easily exit this pipsqueak (for them) operation as Warner Brothers exited the television operation. That would leave the country at significant risk as food, fuel, and heavy goods are then stranded on one island or the other.
  
  In that situation it would be untenable for the government of the day to do nothing, and it would take at least months and even then still be very expensive to provision at short notice.
  
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  December 23, 2024 10:06am
  - Tomtoddy
    
    You appear to misunderstand the way markets work. If Morgan Stanley decide to exit they will exact a price from someone willing to enter the market. It maybe more or a great deal less than they paid for it – who knows – but if there is revenue available someone will always be willing to risk capital to secure that cashflow.
    
    Here is a question for you. Why are unions more active in state owned businesses than private enterprise? Because the owners are politicians who fret about their image and re-election. Now figure out one of the main problems with the Interislanders.
    
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    December 23, 2024 11:15am
    - rouppe
      
      No one stepped up to buy TV3, so your argument has fallen at the first hurdle.
      
      There are many circumstances where no one will want to step in, cost of entry being one. One ship in dry dock for maintenance, another gets driven onto a rock, MS just goes bugger it, sells the last one to Fiji and walks away.
      
      Sure maybe someone will enter, but in the intervening months, or even years, our supply chain is stuffed.
      
      Both your and my scenarios are possible. Just depends on the conditions at the time.
      
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      December 23, 2024 12:37pm
      - JackRabbit
        
        No one stepped up to buy TV3, so your argument has fallen at the first hurdle.
        
        Your assumption is that TV3 was a lean mean productive machine with no inefficiencies, and it was what people wanted, with a media type that is cost effective.
        
        [1] There is such a thing as fit for purpose.
        
        [2] And in an open market. The presence of state broadcasters destroys the concept of the free market.
        
        [3] TVNZ is bloated and cannot turn a profit.
        
        [4] Broadcasting content is heavily controlled.
        
        [5] Streaming from a website is a competitive solution to broadcast.
        
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        December 23, 2024 3:03pm
- Aquarius
  
  4 off the 5 ferries that’s ply the Cook Strait are Ro-Ro, and 1 (arguably the least reliable) is rail enabled.
  Question; are the ferries a logical extension of State Highway 1 ?
  Or are they part of the Rail Network, as Winston and his mate Greg Miller want us to believe ?
  
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  December 23, 2024 10:52am
cas

An amusing Christmas read is Jeremy Clarkson’s latest Diddly Squat – Home to Roost.

He bemoans the farming police, can’t stand eco evangelists ( my term) and says almost every government in the civilised world seems determined to ethnically cleanse farmers from the countryside. And what’s the point of keeping the global temperature down if there’s nothing to eat.

Not a hard read and entertaining.
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December 23, 2024 8:22am
- imalwaysright
  
  Enviro mentalists
  
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  December 23, 2024 1:42pm
Scooter

I think this long-winded and at times incomprehensible story on RNZ about Z changing their station names to Maori, shows how far beyond NZ is of coming back to some form of sanity. The most basic question is why you would need to know the name of a Z petrol station in English let alone in Maori. Imagine the cost of all this marketing, Z must be rolling in it.

Also ironic that they say “It’s always a good opportunity for hapū to try and get those names, you know, renaming before the colonial names, taking things back to language and culture.”. Yeah funny how colonial times brought oil to NZ, but that doesn’t fit with the narrative.

Then there’s this blurb.
“After 12 months of whakawhanaungatanga (relationship building), the company was guided by Te Hā o te Whenua o Kirikiriroa on changing the name of Z Dinsdale to Z Tuhikaramea.”. Seriously who can even pronounce whakawhanaungatanga, maybe the 12 months was spent on practising?

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/537428/z-energy-renames-stations-with-correct-kupu
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December 23, 2024 8:25am
- fightingtemeraire
  
  The reason it is Z T in dinsdale is because it is on the corner of T Road.
  
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  December 23, 2024 11:27am
- keepcalmcarryon
  
  It’s all bullshit and mirrors.
  Their other advertising is all about kiwis drinking coffee.
  On no account does anyone ever mention z’s primary existence being for the sale of petrol and diesel.
  
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  December 23, 2024 2:47pm
Steve Otto N Shore

NZCPR. Dr Muriel Newman.
”
This year the NZCPR’s Treaty book campaign achieved its goal of delivering over a million copies of the explanation of the original meaning of the Maori version of the Treaty of Waitangi written by one of New Zealand’s greatest Maori leaders into Kiwi homes. Sir Apirana Ngata wrote his brilliant explanation in 1922 – long before the separatists began reinterpreting and weaponizing the Treaty. He clearly pointed out that Maori ceded sovereignty to the Crown, and there was no Treaty partnership.”
“By making the booklet available for the cost of printing and postage, we are continuing to distribute thousands more copies all around New Zealand. And in response to the gushing news story that a heavily biased re-interpretation of the Treaty has been delivered to all High Schools in New Zealand, in the new year – if we gain sufficient support to continue our work – we will send each school Sir Apirana’s book in order to counter the propaganda and set the record straight.”
The book is available by making a donation to NZCPR. Donation $20 and they will send you ten copies (if you want 10)
https://www.nzcpr.com/treaty-book-project/

https://www.nzcpr.com/merry-christmas-and-happy-new-year-3/
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December 23, 2024 8:32am
- MCōs
  
  Here’s an article by Carwyn Jones you might like to read
  https://thespinoff.co.nz/atea/05-02-2024/according-to-apirana-ngata-maori-ceded-sovereignty-by-signing-te-tiriti-is-he-right?utm_source=spinoff-share-button&utm_medium=spinoff-web-mobile
  
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  December 23, 2024 9:52am
  - Steve Otto N Shore
    
    $20 to NZCPR and you can have the book to read. That is a dam good deal.
    
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    December 23, 2024 11:49am
  - All_on_Red
    
    Nice revisionism by the Waitangi Tribunal, MCos- who would say that of course, given their massive vested interests
    But no doubt it fools the low IQ morons who marched on the Hikoi
    Those people were suckers
    
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    December 23, 2024 1:51pm
    - Steve Otto N Shore
      
      Those ‘suckers’ have no idea that the Waitangi Tribunal was set up to use exactly them, for moral boost! It was 1975 so most were not even born. They just believe the brainwashing – 50 years of brainwashing.
      
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      December 23, 2024 3:12pm
    - PurplePen
      
      I don’t doubt sovereignty was ceded. What I can’t find is the progression from section 71 of the 1852 NZ Constitution Act to tribes no longer dealing with themselves and each other in their own land or property. Section 71 was a temporary work-around much like the Maori seats in parliament as section 71 starts with “And Whereas it may be expedient…”.
      
      Section 71: And Whereas it may be expedient that the laws, customs, and usages of the aboriginal or native inhabitants of New Zealand, so far as they are not repugnant to the general principles of humanity, should for the present be maintained for the government of themselves, in all their relations to and dealings with each other, and that particular districts should be set apart within which such laws, customs, or usages should be so observed:
      
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      December 23, 2024 3:45pm
  - JackRabbit
    
    Since the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, 180+ years ago, both colonists and Maori understood Maori ceded sovereignty, and have acted accordingly.
    
    Until recently when non law abiding activists saw that defying and re-writing the treaty, was a new cash cow, where in they are now “owed the spoils and control over said spoils” that colonialism has produced.
    
    If New Zealand was still in the same state as it was 180+ years ago, the activists would not be claiming it was co-governance. It is only because NZ has been developed and what they sold is now worth a lot more. And they want a chunk of that wealth, rather than getting off their fat lazy arses and producing wealth for themselves, as their fellow Maori and non-Maori have done.
    
    Maori that have produced wealth through honest means without handouts or govt tit sucking contracts, want no part of the activists agendas.
    
    Can you point to one (1) wealthy Maori who go that that wealth by producing it honestly, that is lining up chanting Maori never ceded sovereignty?
    
    It could be compared to after 50 years of marriage and you running a very successful business, your wife deciding she didn’t agree to marry you, by reinterpreting your marriage vows, so you now owe her for 50 years of sex as a lady of the night at the current market rate. Which will mean she gets everything and you get nothing.
    
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    December 23, 2024 3:23pm
    - PurplePen
      
      Ian Taylor, self-made wealthy part-Maori, sort of suggests Maori ceded sovereignty. In this Stuff opinion piece from him he says with their being “500 chiefs, would they have willingly ceded sovereignty”. I would answer yes as they were scared of other nations taking over NZ and scared Maori were going to wipe themselves out and were scared of the lawlessness amongst themselves and amongst the settlers. And it doesn’t matter if they did it willingly or not, Taylor still suggests they did.
      
      I nearly forgot the link
      
      https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360489590/sir-ian-taylor-why-i-think-its-time-debate-about-treaty
      
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      December 23, 2024 3:56pm
      - Taieri
        
        The Article 3 says it all:
        
        “Article the third
        
        In consideration thereof Her Majesty the Queen of England extends to the Natives of New Zealand Her royal protection and imparts to them all the Rights and Privileges of British Subjects.”
        
        You can’t be a British SUBJECT and retain sovereignty!
        
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        December 23, 2024 6:45pm
      - Steve Otto N Shore
        
        Taieri,
        
        That is so hard to understand:
        ” British SUBJECT and retain sovereignty”
        //
        
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        December 23, 2024 7:11pm
    - Steve Otto N Shore
      
      JackR,
      As Julian Batchelor says on that website I used to repeatedly repeat – “It is buyer’s remorse.”
      My small property on the Shore costed about $40K. Now I pay Rates on some $1.3M.
      Do I hear from the group housing subdivision developers about I did not pay enough and they want more??
      So here we have the Waitangi Tribunal trying, and doing this – for 50 years!!!
      It will never stop.
      
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      December 23, 2024 7:02pm
  - Dave
    
    The linked Spinoff post quite reasonably demands that the ToW be understood in its historical context, and concludes from historical study that the “legal, historical and constitutional research we have access to today all point to the fact that the rangatira did not give up the authority of their own communities.”
    
    However, applying that conclusion 180 years later is a political matter rather than a historical matter raising questions such as “What sort of society do all of us want now?” and ‘What are the likely consequences of this particular, Treaty-based vision for NZ?”
    
    More specifically, we would need to sort out who is a rangitira, what authority rangitira would have and to whom they would be accountable, what their community is, how these sovereign groups would be financed.
    
    What I can’t see in this interpretation of the ToW is any justification for coequal governance or imposition of Matauranga Maori and Te Ao Maori on non-Maori.
    
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    December 23, 2024 7:39pm
sungsamning

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/12/breaking-republicans-win-minnesota-house-majority-after-judge/
Republicans Win Minnesota House Majority After Judge Rules Democrat State Representative-Elect is Not Eligible For Office.

Republicans won the Minnesota House after a judge ruled that Democrat state representative-elect Curtis Johnson “did not meet the residency requirements and is not eligible to serve as the representative for Minnesota House District 40B.”

“Curtis Johnson is enjoined from taking the oath of office and from acting as a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives for House District 40B,” the judge wrote.

The judge’s decision comes as the Minnesota House of Representatives is tied at 67-67.

Johnson’s Republican opponent, Paul Wikstrum, filed a lawsuit arguing Johnson did not meet the residency requirements.
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December 23, 2024 8:40am
- MCōs
  
  Not quite as simple as that article would have you believe.
  https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/minnesota-house-seat-dfl-curtis-johnson-residency-requirement-court-ruling/#
  
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  December 23, 2024 12:41pm
  - sungsamning
    
    It seldom is. Looks like the local GOP need buy in from the other party to pass bills.
    
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    December 23, 2024 5:19pm
sungsamning

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IR8FoMplAek
A New Era for Ethiopia and Somalia?

For decades, Ethiopia and Somalia have been entangled in conflict and tense relations, from the Ogaden War of the 1970s to territorial disputes involving Somaliland. Yet, a recent breakthrough signals hope for a new chapter. Following Turkish mediation led by President Erdoğan, Ethiopia and Somalia have agreed to start technical talks, aiming to resolve their dispute over Ethiopia’s sea access while respecting Somalia’s sovereignty. This agreement could transform the Horn of Africa, fostering cooperation in trade, security, and regional stability. But what does this mean for Somaliland and the global powers backing this deal? Join us to explore the implications of this historic moment.
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December 23, 2024 8:41am
- MCōs
  
  New era same as the old era for the rank and file
  
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  December 23, 2024 1:53pm
- Paulus
  
  Is there not oil there, and other minerals, that is why the Chinese are there in a big way I understand.
  
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  December 23, 2024 2:12pm
  - sungsamning
    
    Probably some minerals. Also a port, and a potential customer base.
    
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    December 23, 2024 5:16pm
NeverMindTheBollocks

There is something very odd about the Magdeburg murderer. Why would someone with his profile attack a Christmas parade?

“The suspect has been identified in local media reports as Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, the BBC understands.He is a 50-year-old Saudi-born psychiatrist who lives in Bernburg, around 40km (25 miles) south of Magdeburg….

Al-Abdulmohsen arrived in Germany in 2006 and in 2016 was recognised as a refugee.
The suspect ran a website that aimed to help other former Muslims flee persecution in their Gulf homelands, and was interviewed about it by the BBC in 2019….
On social media, he is an outspoken critic of Islam, and has promoted conspiracy theories regarding an alleged plot by German authorities to Islamicise Europe.
He also expressed sympathy on social media for Germany’s far-right political party, Alternative for Germany (AfD), re-tweeting posts from the party’s leader and a far-right activist”.

http://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy09y32rlnxo
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December 23, 2024 8:46am
- imalwaysright
  
  “On social media, he is an outspoken critic of Islam,..”
  
  They expect us to believe that his way of expressing his dislike of islam is to try to murder as many Christians as possible.
  
  They should repatriate him to Saudi Arabia.
  No need to land the plane, let gravity do the work.
  
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  December 23, 2024 11:05am
- Tom Hunter
  
  The MSM have jumped all over that because they’re gagging not to call him an Islamicist, but this Iranian woman points out the facts about him:
  
  Despite claims made by the German press, Taleb Al Abdulmohsen is not an ex-Muslim atheist, nor is he a fan of the AfD or Elon Musk. While he may have spread this misinformation himself, it aligns with the practice of Taqqiye, an Islamic doctrine that permits lying and deception to advance Islamic objectives.
  
  In reality, he is a radical Shia Muslim, as evidenced by his name and numerous tweets and chat leaks circulating on Arabic-speaking platforms like X. Disturbingly, his plans to carry out mass killings of Germans were brought to the attention of German authorities by a Saudi woman. Tragically, the police ignored her warnings.
  
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  December 23, 2024 11:45am
  - Don Beckett
    
    Mmm….I wonder who it was that pointed this fact out yesterday ? Maybe moi ?
    
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    December 23, 2024 12:27pm
  - Scott
    
    Thanks for that Tom (and Don). One wonders how long we in the West can delude ourselves by bringing in people from Islamic countries whose very religion teaches them to hate us and wish to do us harm?
    
    Like that’s a special level of hatred to plough into people at a Christmas market killing and maiming many people including a 9 year old.
    
    Can’t we say enough already?
    
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    December 23, 2024 1:11pm
    - PurplePen
      
      In amongst MSM reports they said he was anti Islam but that he disliked even more the way the German authorities had or are treating Saudi Arabians. Go figure.
      
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      December 23, 2024 4:00pm
    - PurplePen
      
      I’ll also say, if I took all the hateful text from religious texts and put them in a book without reference to their source, does anyone think it would be allowed on public library shelves, even banned by the Censor. Yet these religious texts, such as the Bible, Koran etc are freely available from any library. Why is it religions can get away with this but any secular belief can’t.
      
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      December 23, 2024 4:04pm
- MCōs
  
  As soon as I read the Doctor was apparently not everyone’s idea of a stock standard Saudi Arabian I knew there’d be people doing verbal somersaults to prove he was indeed a Muslim terrorist, no two ways about it.
  
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  December 23, 2024 2:05pm
Terry Dalee

“An expert is disgusted after a dead, pregnant shark was butchered and finned on a central Auckland beach, saying sharks deserve respect and the finning encourages harmful practices.”

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/pregnant-shark-finned-and-disemboweled-at-onehunga-bay-reserve/3TD6HQZMAJC53AOO6QYH2SFL3I/

I don’t see the issue with this. The people were eating the equivalent of road kill. They didn’t kill the shark, it was already dead.

Do possums deserve the same respect?
Fking snowflakes… Next the “expert” will want to hold a Karakia…
Would said expert be “disgusted” if it were a bunch of Maori doing it?
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December 23, 2024 8:52am
- kowtow
  
  I’m amazed at the traction that the so called animal lovers get particularly from the media .
  Guaranteed coverage when dumbo the whales end up on beaches and all the self congratulatory “savers” suit up and so earnestly turn out to sacrifice their time and energy etc etc
  
  But when someone is concerned about the slaughter of human babies and actually has the guts to stand up and be counted , well they’re treated at the polite end , like cookey types and at the state end like criminals .Much to the approval of te legacy media and all the Oh So With It types .
  
  Funny old world.
  
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  December 23, 2024 1:08pm
- imalwaysright
  
  Remember the dead turtle DOC got hold of years ago.
  They had a burial ceremony and flew office staff from Wellington to attend it.
  Buried it on top of a hill and put up a headstone!
  Wankers.
  
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  December 23, 2024 1:50pm
Swifty

I’m trying to picture what I would think of Scottish extremists who wanted to take over the Scottish education system and saturate and indoctrinate all students, natives or imports, in all things Gaelic – their supposed values, supposed culture and attitudes, caber tossing and highland dancing, songs and stories, and the Scottish Gaelic language – and of course to fill them with hatred of outsiders and especially the English for historical misdeeds, real or imagined.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/kahu/dr-maia-hetarakas-book-calls-for-maori-focused-education-reform/2PBWI3OORRHYFIXLA6Q4PN3WMA/

And all the while putting up Scottish history and culture as full of wisdom, wonderfulness and completely absent of misdeed, violence or limitation or failure.

I’d call them mad and in it for themselves and not for students.

And I’d add, whether people like it or not, whether people choose to see it or not, the Waipareira experience has permanently damaged ‘by Maori, for Maori’ initiatives in New Zealand.

It’s now abundantly clear that ‘kaupapa’ and ‘tikanga’ are used as smokescreens, as cover, for all sorts of corrupt practices, financial chicanery and unjust enrichment of elites – as well as the u lawful diversion of public money for private political benefit.

My answer is no.

No, no, no.
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December 23, 2024 9:15am
- imalwaysright
  
  One of the best things that happened to Scotland and Ireland was to learn the English language.
  
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  December 23, 2024 11:08am
  - Swifty
    
    Quite right. Without it they would have been denied participation in and the benefits of the Industrial Revolution – and from which they derived huge gains as a society.
    
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    December 23, 2024 11:22am
    - Paulus
      
      But if we all become proficient in Maori we can have the new Maori Industrial Revolution via Tikanga.
      Isn’t that what they want ?
      
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      December 23, 2024 2:14pm
    - MCōs
      
      The initial Industrial Revolution went from 1760 to 1840.
      The Irish potato famine started around 1840 and completely fucked up Ireland so no the Industrial Revolution did nothing for the country
      I don’t know how much English was spoken as a first language in the country at the time. On the west coast where my family came from — not much.
      My great grandfather certainly couldn’t write his name in English. He signed documents with an X
      
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      December 23, 2024 2:29pm
      - Swifty
        
        Yes, fair point, I had (only) the Scots firmly in mind when I wrote my reply to iamalwaysright.
        
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        December 23, 2024 3:19pm
      - Jack5
        
        From Swifty’s 9.15 post …
        
        Scotland has three languages, English, “Scots” (or “Scots English”), and Gaelic.
        
        “Scots,” now regarded by most linguists as a language rather than an English dialect, is spoken by far more Scottish people than Gaelic is.
        
        It and the dialect of English spoken by Geordies in England’s north-east were less influenced by Norman French than standard Old English was.
        
        Dutch or German people may tell you of old Germanic words that survive in “Scots” and north-eastern English but not standard English: words such as “kirk” for “church”.
        
        Gaelic was a Celtic language introduced to Scotland by the Irish, who influenced mainly south-western Scotland. Picts are believed to have spoken another version of Celtic, from the same language family as Welsh.
        
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        December 23, 2024 4:56pm
      - kowtow
        
        National schools were established in Ireland in 1831.
        
        The Industrial Revolution did benefit Ireland .Particularly but not uniquely the NE . Peasants flooded cities and towns for jobs .( as they did on the mainland)
        
        The effects of the famine were not felt uniformly across the country and the east and east of the north largely escaped its ravages .
        
        Some scholars will actually say the famine did the place a favour as it was overcrowded and unproductive . Post famine land reforms turned out much of the old English absentee landowning class and helped to create a new Irish middle class land owning class .
        
        As Ireland was an integral part of the UK from the early 1800’s millions could migrate to industrial jobs in England and Scotland and indeed to occupations throughout the far flung Empire ,where the sons and daughters of Ireland played a leading role.
        
        Governor Hobson anybody?
        
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        December 23, 2024 5:29pm
      - Taieri
        
        My great grandfather certainly couldn’t write his name in English. He signed documents with an X
        ————-
        
        Did they use a different alphabet in Gaelic?
        
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        December 23, 2024 6:48pm
- rouppe
  
  When I read that I saw lots of word salad but nothing substantive about what it means in practice.
  
  I would like one example in each of science, maths and biology (the best chance) of the Maori way of knowing adding to the store of knowledge of the students.
  
  Not interested in the sky father or the earth mother, not interested in waiata over a river. I’m interested in hard knowledge that improves the understanding of the subject.
  
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  December 23, 2024 12:52pm
  - PurplePen
    
    Is assuming the sky is father and the earth mother at all sexist or even genderist? Quelle horreux!
    
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    December 23, 2024 4:08pm
    - Taieri
      
      the sky is father and the earth mother at all sexist or even genderist?
      ————
      
      It is. The Newspeak calls them “the sky Parent 1” and “the earth Parent 2”.
      
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      December 23, 2024 6:50pm
kevn

BY… Because we care.
https://nzdsos.com/2024/12/17/dr-william-bays-victory-in-queensland-court/
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December 23, 2024 9:39am
- RichardX
  
  Why would BY care about this?
  
  The “victory” was due to the Medical Board of Australia not providing a fair process, not because Dr Bays was correct.
  
  Justice Bradley said he was not entering the debate about COVID-19 vaccines.
  “The court is concerned only with whether the decision or the conduct (of the medical board) was free from an error,” Justice Bradley stated.
  
  https://au.news.yahoo.com/anti-vaccine-doctor-wins-bid-075537150.html
  
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  December 23, 2024 10:11am
BananaLlama

Luigi Mangione, self-styled revolutionary of the proletariat, born into wealth, never wanted for anything and given the best left wing education money can buy.
Shot dead CEO Brian Thomson only to be turned in by a fast-food worker at Mc Donalds for ten thousand dollars.
Turns out that the working class don’t claim him.
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December 23, 2024 9:56am
- BananaLlama
  
  Two angry downticks, i would bet that fast worker voted for Donald J Trump as well.
  
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  December 23, 2024 11:05am
  - RichardX
    
    “Two angry downticks”
    
    How did you determine the emotion of the downticks?
    
    Is it some sort of special skill or projection or just making shit up?
    
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    December 23, 2024 12:14pm
    - BananaLlama
      
      What a very unfortunate name.
      
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      December 23, 2024 5:35pm
  - Handyman
    
    So the fast food worker is obviously and all round guy with a good moral compass.
    
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    December 23, 2024 10:45pm
- imalwaysright
  
  Apparently he was a good all round achiever until he went off the radar for about 3 months prior to the murder.
  Maybe the trial will enlighten.
  
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  December 23, 2024 11:11am
Steve Otto N Shore

Elon Musk Celebrates After Big Govt’s Latest Spending Scheme Crashes and Burns!
Becoming as unpredictable as Trump and the Dems hate it!

https://patriotpowerednetwork.com/elon-musk-celebrates-after-big-govts-latest-spending-scheme-crashes-and-burns/
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December 23, 2024 10:00am
Steve Otto N Shore

NRA Sees Hope for Pro-Gun Policies with Trump Potential Second Term.
This time Trump knows what he is doing. He knows how to fight the RINOs.
He knows who he can put in the right places. Different ball game now.
Watch the economy boom. Watch the Public Sector get torn to shreds by Musk and Ramaswamy.

https://patriotpowerednetwork.com/nra-sees-hope-for-pro-gun-policies-with-trump-potential-second-term/
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December 23, 2024 10:04am
Steve Otto N Shore

Trump Urges GOP Senators to Reject Biden Nominees, Focus on Conservative Agenda. He is also telling the GOP Senators to tow the line.
A Govt that works for the people, not the bureaucrats.
“The fight against a “Trump Proofed” Washington is on, and it promises to be as entertaining as it is consequential.”

https://americanvoterpolls.com/trump-urges-gop-senators-to-reject-biden-nominees-focus-on-conservative-agenda/?
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December 23, 2024 10:16am
Steve Otto N Shore

Here is a good website to explore:

https://www.nuclearforaustralia.com/the_facts

Eg, you will get more radiation from a banana than living next to a Nuclear Power Plant.
Nuclear waste is not green goo – it is described in here.
The smoke emitted is not smoke, it is steam from cooling.
Nuclear Power does not mean Nuclear weapons.

It is quite crazy how the Greens have brainwashed the gullible.
Fill you boots, I find it interesting. The young guy behind this push is Will Shackel.
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December 23, 2024 10:34am
- imalwaysright
  
  Good points about nuclear and the disinformation about it.
  The more I learn about geothermal the more sense it makes.
  Plus, we would not have to depend on suppliers of nuclear fuel.
  
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  December 23, 2024 2:39pm
  - Steve Otto N Shore
    
    Australia is loaded with uranium, and they don’t have nuclear power. Crazy.
    They do have one reactor in Sydney somewhere. Experimental I believe.
    I hope Australia does not miss the bus on this or NZ will not get nuclear power for 100 years.
    
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    December 23, 2024 3:30pm
    - Ian Boag
      
      So Steve.
      
      Currently a “small” nuke is about 1000MW. Total NZ demand is about 5000 MW. So when it got built there would be a surplus for quite a while where we were effectively paying for the extra capacity but not using it. And on the “single point of failure” thing, if it went offline for some reason we would have biiiig problems.
      
      I know – SMR’s are the solution to this. Someone is going to have some on line sometime in the next 10 years. Long enough that we can believe they are up to it, so 10 years after that we might get one or two.
      
      I won’t bother you with the waste issue because you obviously think it isn’t. Or the decomissioning thing after 40 years of service where we have to get into the mechanics of dismantling a pile of radioactive steel and concrete and finding someplace to put it. Cans to be kicked down the road. We can disagree on these things ….
      
      Nuclear power is a 20th century solution to 21st century issues.
      
      OTOH over 50% of the nukes presently under construction are in China.
      
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      December 23, 2024 3:52pm
      - Taieri
        
        Nuclear power is a 20th century solution to 21st century issues
        ———-
        
        So, what alternative do you propose?
        
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        December 23, 2024 6:51pm
      - marcw
        
        In August I wrote “Where in the world does an SMR exist? They are at least 5 -10 years away, so about 20 years in NZ.”
        Three downticks, and CJames helpfully (not) informed us that “All the nuclear submarines and the US aircraft carriers are SMRs”.
        
        I agree with you, commercial SMRs are 10 – 20 years away in NZ. If successful, they will revolutionise our power generation profile.
        
        https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/08/general_debate_24_august_2024.html/comment-page-1#comment-3608836
        
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        December 23, 2024 7:01pm
      - Steve Otto N Shore
        
        Half right and half wrong.
        Word salad Ian. Yes there.
        Good diversion Ian. is waste, yes. It is NOT green goo
        
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        December 23, 2024 7:18pm
Steve Otto N Shore

EU better be careful. Take American oil and gas or there will be tariffs.
Different ball game now. 2016 was a learning curve. 2020 was the swamp taking power at all costs.

https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/other/they-better-be-careful-trump-repeats-tariff-threats-on-eu/ar-AA1wkjH6?
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December 23, 2024 10:48am
- MCōs
  
  Is America going to invade the EU before or after Canada, Panama and Greenland?
  
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  December 23, 2024 4:44pm
Pineapple Lumps

Nuclear as a solution to carbon?

In response to climate activism and zero-carbon lunacy we often hear the suggestion that we should utilise more Nuclear power. My personal stance to zero-carbon is that the world will heat and cool and there is little we can do but adapt to the environment. Fretting about global boiling, extreme weather events, the end of civilisation etc does little good and contrarily it becomes the source for many evils to be done.

Nuclear energy appears a saviour for those wedded or kowtowing to decarbonisation. It produces vast amounts of energy, while contributing no additional carbon or greenhouse gases. But there is a catch. Nuclear waste is generated and long lifespan radioactive components require storage for mind boggling lengths of time.

From the world nuclear association website, https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-cycle/nuclear-waste/storage-and-disposal-of-radioactive-waste

“Suggestions for long-term above ground storage broadly fall into two categories:

Conventional stores of the type currently used for interim storage, which would require replacement and repackaging of waste every 200 years or so.

Permanent stores that would be expected to remain intact for tens of thousands of years. These structures are often referred to as ‘Monolith’ stores or ‘Mausoleums’.”

So next time you propose decarbonisation through the use of nuclear power, just think what could possibly go wrong with storing hazardous waste over these time periods? Nuclear power is created for the immediate benefit of users but kicks the can down the road for many many future generations. We are better off not buying into zero-carbon lunacy but rather being agile and adaptable to the changes that will happen in our world.
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December 23, 2024 11:00am
- Steve Otto N Shore
  
  Very little nuclear waste is generated. Have a look at the link I left.
  The waste is not hundreds of 200L drums of green goo. That is just the loopy Greens fucking with people’s heads.
  
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  December 23, 2024 11:53am
- rouppe
  
  I’ve wondered why we don’t shoot it off into space at a star (not our sun) or a black hole.
  
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  December 23, 2024 12:42pm
  - [email protected]
    
    “With a complete combustion or fission , approx. 8 kWh of heat can be generated from 1 kg of coal, approx. 12 kWh from 1 kg of mineral oil and around 24,000,000 kWh from 1 kg of uranium-235”.
    
    The cost to shoot one kg into space is approximately $2200.
    
    Seems like a cheap option if the spent nuclear fuel could be shot into space safely.
    
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    December 23, 2024 1:53pm
  - artemisia
    
    Ask Elon or Rocket Lab for a solution. Must be money in it.
    
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    December 23, 2024 2:48pm
  - Steve Otto N Shore
    
    What is wrong with the sun? The sun is a nuclear reactor – a rather large one.
    
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    December 23, 2024 3:32pm
  - david
    
    What would be wrong with shooting it into the sun?
    
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    December 23, 2024 4:16pm
    - Steve Otto N Shore
      
      NIMBY – not our nuclear reactor – one in 20K light years away
      
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      December 23, 2024 7:20pm
- NothingLeft
  
  1/ use oil drilling tech to bore a 0.5-1m diameter hole a few km deep in the abyssal plane of the ocean several km deep somewhere remote from any populations with no tectonic activity.
  
  2/ stuff it full of waste and seal top with a few 100m of concrete.
  
  There is zero chance of any release of waste for 10s to 100’s of millions of years, with no water flowing through strata, impermeable geology and hole cap and pressures high enough and temperature low enough to hold any gaseous fission products in permanent liquid form – it will be impossible to even find without an accurate map.
  
  The cost of doing this is minor compared to current storage systems.
  
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  December 23, 2024 4:27pm
  - Taieri
    
    use oil drilling tech to bore a 0.5-1m diameter hole a few km deep
    ————
    
    The cost would be prohibitive.
    
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    December 23, 2024 6:53pm
  - Handyman
    
    We already have thousands of holes drilled by oil drilling technology. After the oil runs dry, just use those.
    
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    December 23, 2024 10:04pm
Pope Punctilious II

Sabine Hossenfelder does some excellent science communication work. Here she is putting the boot into “scientific consensus”. I wonder if she’ll dare to broach the topic of “indigenous ways of knowing”.
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December 23, 2024 12:00pm
- cmm
  
  The “indigenous way of knowing” is no different from the “country knowledge” of yore – when people observed things and did certain things without clear understanding why.
  
  Quite a few of the early scientists in Britain were clerics and school teachers sent out into small country towns. They often encountered this knowledge and then embedded it in a scientific framework to make it science. They were the scientists because they were the only people who could read, write and do the mathematics.
  
  Science is more than just knowledge. It is the systematic measurement, documentation and understanding that turns it into science.
  
  By definition a culture that has no written language and no mathematics is incapable of science.
  
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  December 23, 2024 1:16pm
Ra Henare

Credit where credit is due.

Good news from department of Immigration (after my rant about their systems previously).>

Visitor Visa application
2022 Process time 5 days(including a weekend-Visa arrived monday)

2024 Process time 7 days (including a weekend)
Visa arrived Monday.

The Immigration website blathers on about allowing 4? weeks processing time for a Visitor Visa.

Leads me to the conclusion that staff work weekends.

Well done.
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December 23, 2024 3:02pm
Jack5

Britain now has 85 sharia courts in a growing parallel justice system.

Muslims from Europe and North America, as well as from the UK, are using the courts.

It authorises a parallel marriage system, with a choice of one to four wives. The marriages the sharia courts certify aren’t noted in the standard UK legal system.

More than a hundred thousand Islamic marriages have been
conducted in the UK sharia courts.
A four and a half-minute video put up this week:

https://youtu.be/4pJ-6bQHtsA?
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December 23, 2024 4:30pm
- Inandout
  
  Jack, is this to allow old men to marry 9 yr olds or do they have to follow UK marriage ages?
  
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  December 23, 2024 8:48pm
MCōs

This is interesting
A Texas congresswoman who is retiring shortly has been ‘missing’ since the middle of the year and was found by a local reporter living in a home for the bewildered
https://x.com/robbymontoya/status/1871039884129128604?s=46&t=XZLqGbhN-xeYzprhTaktsg
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December 23, 2024 5:02pm
greybeard

I am watching the NZ vs Australia womens’ cricket :
it is like watching a female version of men vs boys.
Australia is in a different league, and their spin bowler, Allana King, is a better bowler than any Black Caps spinners !
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December 23, 2024 5:37pm
- MCōs
  
  There’s no doubt the Australian team is currently far better than the Kiwi women, but your comment about King is laughable
  
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  December 23, 2024 6:29pm
greybeard

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360532930/failed-smuggling-230000-cigarettes-led-police-seizing-25-million
Based in Napier and Gisborne: well whoop-de-doo, what a surprise.
Are the maori gangs REALLY more clever than the NZ police ?
Or are they being ignored by the authorities for some reason ?
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December 23, 2024 6:57pm
- AitchW
  
  Or perhaps they’re so prolific in their offending that the cops only intercept some of their shenanigans.
  
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  December 23, 2024 8:25pm
Jack5

A banner carried by Far Right demonstrators in Magdeburg reads “Remigration”. They want refugees and immigrants to Germany to go home.

The banner is at a demonstration in the city after the death of five and injury of 200 when an ethnic Saudi Arabian drove a car into a market.

The Right Wing demonstrators’ slogan is in English.

According to Google Translate, the German word for “remigrate” is “rückwanderung”, with “rück” meaning “back”. This also explains “rucksack” for “backpack”.

Magdeburg, with an urban population of about 290,000 was an industrial centre of East Germany before reunification with West Germany.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/first-grief-then-more-political-tone-site-germany-christmas-market-attack-2024-12-21/

AND:

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/suspect-german-christmas-market-attack-held-murder-charges-after-night-grief-2024-12-22/
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December 23, 2024 8:04pm

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