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March 4, 2025 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 04 March 2025

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General Debate

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Luke Piewalker

Chris Luxon has been trying to something for everyone …
and has ended up being nothing to everyone

So Chris how about this

How about you actually support your own supporters
Your appeasement to Co-governance and inability to understand that we are upset with the separatism by Maori activists causes every side to dislike you.
How hard is it to say we are all equal in New Zealand
You are in Government and you own TVNZ and Radio NZ yet you allow your government to be to be openly trashed on a daily basis.
Your PR campaign is 1/10. Seriously lift your game. Where are the daily good news stories?

We voted you in to get rid of the Jacinda wreckage and all you are doing is tinkering around the edges. Come on man. Get on with it!

Chris you might be a good manager but New Zealand needs a leader.
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March 4, 2025 8:00am
- Steve Otto N Shore
  
  Good lecture Luke. I hope it gets to Luxon.
  I keep on saying Luxon is Ardern with a blue tie. On the idiot box this morning Luxon was not wearing a tie. Wonder why?
  I have also said he may be a good manager but he is not a leader. He is proving that every day.
  
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  March 4, 2025 9:46am
  - slightlyrighty
    
    Ardern was a good leader but a piss poor manager.
    
    I know who I prefer.
    
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    March 4, 2025 10:39am
    - cmm
      
      Ardern was a shit leader.
      
      She showed zero leadership in the way she “led” the ministers.
      
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      March 4, 2025 11:38am
    - H. Upmann
      
      Ardern was piss poor. End of….
      
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      March 4, 2025 12:10pm
    - Yabster
      
      a good leader? lol- ffs- she was led by the maori caucus
      
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      March 4, 2025 12:26pm
    - Steve Otto N Shore
      
      You got 9 Ardern lovers so far, slightly.
      She could lead with good, solid lies.
      
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      March 4, 2025 3:26pm
      - Steve Otto N Shore
        
        17*
        
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        March 4, 2025 6:00pm
- RoboRob
  
  There are good news stories out there and this government has done good things. But as you point out, the continual media hit jobs obfuscate most of that away, leaving supporter unsatisfied.
  
  Media 1 / govt 0
  
  Briefly saw Luxon on TV this morning answering attacks from the pubic service union. He rightly pointed out that they are a left wing union that supports the Labour party and are run by a failed Labour MP. Tick for Luxon.
  
  See I can say positive things about National 🙂
  
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  March 4, 2025 9:58am
  - alwyn.a
    
    I have discovered, most unexpectedly, some good things about Morning Report with its current far left presenters.
    I never thought that would happen.
    In the old days, when it had presenters like Geoff Robinson and Sean Plunkett I used to listen to the program from 6.00 am until about 8.15 am. It was worth it but I then was in a great rush to get on with the things I still had to do in the morning.
    Now, with the current hosts I find I listen to the program from 6.00 am until about 6.35 am. At that point the switch to about 20 minutes of kicking the Government. They go on and on and on with their moans.
    Instead of listening to it I can turn the radio off and get up and on with the day. I have much more time. Thank you Radio New Zealand.
    There I have found I can say something nice about them. I never thought it would happen. That is just what you have discovered about the National Party.
    
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    March 4, 2025 12:19pm
- imalwaysright
  
  Luxon seems to like the Ukrainian government model, he supports them 100%.
  That may not age well.
  
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  March 4, 2025 10:21am
- Colville
  
  Luke.
  
  Chris you might be a good manager but New Zealand needs a leader
  
  I think this perception is wrong. Having a three party coalition requires a manager first and foremost to keep the other two leaders in line.
  I dont like it but I think the days of a strong leader with a singular vision have passed us by because the days of an absolute majority have been and gone.
  There is no point having that strong leader who leads 40% of the MPs if your two coalition “partners” will knife you to make a point.
  Lets face facts, Luxon needs Seymour AND Winston in line to pass each and every piece of legislation, Winston is as trustworthy as a snake in the grass and Seymour has the Treaty Bill that he wants to progress.
  Luxon has a lot to manage!
  
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  March 4, 2025 10:27am
  - pdm
    
    Colville I don’t think many disagree with that aspect of Luxons leadership.
    
    Where he lets himself and therefore New Zealand down are the other areas that make him look like Labour lite:
    
    Climate Change
    The treaty is a Partnership
    Waffle instead of giving straight answers in interviews
    
    To name three areas that concern me.
    
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    March 4, 2025 10:36am
    - Colville
      
      pdm.
      Climate change, as far as I know ACT agrees with National on climate change … I dont know about NZF… as far as I am concerned he will do the minimum required by our trading partners (which I understand to be the ACT policy)
      Treaty… ACT wants its principles bill…NZF dosent… so what can Luxon do?
      Waffle. Name a PM in the last 20 years that gave a straight answer. Ever! 🙂
      
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      March 4, 2025 11:15am
      - imalwaysright
        
        There are so many countries leaving the Paris Accord that they are now considering renaming it the Luxon Accord .
        
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        March 4, 2025 12:13pm
  - Steve Otto N Shore
    
    Ask Luxon what his opinion is on co-governance. He will tell you what Peters said, and what Seymour said, but he will not answer the question of his opinion is.
    It is the same with Luxon opposing the Treaty Principles Bill. He will not say why he opposes it, he just opposes it full stop.
    
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    March 4, 2025 11:23am
    - imalwaysright
      
      We spent a lot of time trying to work out what Adern was up to.
      Turned out that it was a waste of time and that she didn’t know either.
      Is Luxon another delay, defer and distract merchant?
      (Meanwhile the new Local Government Minister, Simon Watts Climate Minister, is being wined and dined by the marxist Local Government NZ crowd.
      No wonder they wanted Simeon out of the way.)
      Time for a distraction- get Luxon to take a position on a Vegemite sandwich !!
      
      Look familiar ?
      
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      March 4, 2025 11:48am
  - Jack5
    
    Colville’s hit the nail on the head.
    
    MMP requires a coalition manager, not a “strong leader”.
    
    Luxon goes, the Coalition is dead at the next election (and maybe, any way).
    
    That means a Labour-Maori Party-Greens government from Hell.
    
    In the last Labour Government, Ardern could have led with an absolute pure Labour Government (she allowed Greens in as a sort of favour).
    
    Outright one-party governments are going to be rare under MMP.
    
    So it’s Luxon or the Labour-Green-Mad Ti Party bog land.
    
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    March 4, 2025 4:17pm
    - Jack5
      
      However, it’s 655 days from today until the last possible date for the next General Election.
      
      Centre-Right supporters could swing from, say, National, to ACT in electorate votes.
      
      The stand of the Speaker, National’s Brownlee, on “Aotearoa New Zealand ” could influence some in Brownlee’s old electorate, Ilam.
      This could split the Centre-Right vote between National and ACT, and thus allow another Leftist to take the seat.
      
      https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/543719/use-of-aotearoa-in-house-not-a-matter-of-order-brownlee-tells-mps
      
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      March 4, 2025 4:35pm
    - Damocles11
      
      It’s Luxon or bust? Because despite the large numbers of people on both right and left that don’t rate him – he’s the only person on the right who can be the PM because he’s ‘a manager’. Wow. Sounds like the perspective of a bland fellow corporate manager who is terrified that a strong leader with actual convictions may emerge. What is it about integrity that terrifies you?
      
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      March 4, 2025 7:22pm
- Interested Party
  
  I’m sure I’ve heard him make those points on several occasions, maybe you have a hearing problem and only hear if someone shouts
  
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  March 4, 2025 11:28am
- leoj
  
  If you do nothing else today you must visit Bassett, Brash and Hyde and read Hyde’s latest.
  
  He nails it. Luxon is dead in the water.
  
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  March 4, 2025 2:11pm
  - Tom Hunter
    
    Much as I have little regard for the man I have to agree with other commentators that if Luxon gets booted this coalition government is goneburger in 2026 and we get the return of the clown show.
    
    Probably clown show +++, in that we’ll have Hipkins and idiots who failed last time, plus Chloe and the cowboy-hatted, tatted-chin one.
    
    The thing that really gets me though is that we’re going to get that in 2029 or certainly 2032, and at the rate this government is going they’re going to inherit all the machinery.
    
    But hey, we avoided the execution for a decade. Winning.
    
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    March 4, 2025 5:57pm
    - Damocles11
      
      Because there is nobody on the right who can be PM, we have to have the ‘corporate manager’ guy? Is the talent pool really so shallow? Nobody at all capable of doing the job, it’s Luxon or nothing?
      
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      March 4, 2025 7:26pm
- Keith White
  
  He’s not even a good manager. He’s the Peter Principle come to life.
  
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  March 5, 2025 6:08am
NeverMindTheBollocks

How is it that Wellington Water doesn’t have finance and asset management systems? Their very business is managing assets and accounting for the associated expenditure.

The incompetence is astounding.
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March 4, 2025 8:02am
- Prince
  
  If you look at the competencies they advertise for, Finance and modern Management practices don’t come into it.
  
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  March 4, 2025 9:03am
  - RichardF
    
    I bet they belt out a bloody good waiata though!
    
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    March 4, 2025 1:55pm
- Blog-aholic
  
  Given the state of Wellington (and indeeds its water) is it really that astonishing.
  Infrastructure develop amd management by Excel is a plan, a plan to fail.
  
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  March 4, 2025 9:17am
- mandk
  
  Are you sure it’s just incompetence?
  
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  March 4, 2025 10:05am
  - septic skeptic
    
    If I was in government I would want to organize a proper investigation as to where the money went. Examine the assets of the people who authorized these overspends and also look at associated individuals and trusts. Of course I might have a different view if my own financial arrangements were a bit murky.
    
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    March 4, 2025 11:23am
    - Tom Hunter
      
      If I was in government I would want to organize a proper investigation as to where the money went.
      
      TVNZ can make a new show: Chris’ll Fix It
      
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      March 4, 2025 6:54pm
- JimBobJoe
  
  All the local Councils caused this. They set it up and fund it.
  They have their governance function in the set up phase by not demanding an establishment programme reporting to them which set out how all systems, processes and procedures would be established plus a mgmt plan for how things should be run over time.
  
  Councils wanted shot of difficult stuff by outsourcing so they could do the fun stuff… Which is fine if outsourcing is done well with excellent kpis and relationship mgmt.
  
  Councils failed and Wellington Water is now a basket case it seems….. Huge problem for all local city cpuncils involved
  
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  March 4, 2025 10:06am
- Interested Party
  
  It would seem Aucklands Watercare is a well oiled entity in comparison
  
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  March 4, 2025 11:33am
- cmm
  
  The Wellington Water plan was always to sign up to 3Waters and get the central government (aka the taxpayer) to bail them out.
  
  A “plan” like that does not rely on local infrastructure, managing assets and revenue etc. It purely relies on welfare bludger tactics – put out your hand and expect it to be filled.
  
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  March 4, 2025 11:42am
  - imalwaysright
    
    That explains their lack of management infrastructure. Clearly they didn’t expect to need one.
    
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    March 4, 2025 11:58am
  - artemisia
    
    Wellington Water’s risk management plan will be worth a look. It will of course be clear about identifying risks, remediation and come with regular progress reports. So management and the Board are kept up to date.
    
    Basic Governance 101.
    
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    March 4, 2025 12:37pm
TripeWryter

I followed the link provided by Maggie Wassilieff to the blog of Ariki Kruger, the mother of Aria, who developed a skin condition that she tried to treat using ‘natural’ Maori methods.
It seems The New Zealand Herald story was almost a rewrite of her blog post.
The photos with it were horrifying – and I don’t say horrifying or horrific lightly.
No wonder the Herald didn’t reprint them because if it did people would demand that Oranga Tamariki or the police take action.
At one stage Aria was coated in leaves of some sort. The photos show that.
It wasn’t much different from religious parents (and I knew two) who withhold diabetic medication from their child in the belief that ‘God will heal them’.
It’s up to God how he will do that. As a pastor said to me: ‘He gives us doctors and medicine.’
And Mr and Mrs Kruger tried to tell medical professionals how to treat their daughter.
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March 4, 2025 8:08am
Cassandra

There a very interesting article by Williams Hague in the UK Times this morning. Hague was there last week. He finds the atmosphere in Washington unlike anything he’s seen including the Reagan years. (You’ll remember Hague addressed the Conservatives when he was 16, he’s now 63). The dominant themes in DC are fealty to Trump and that America is wasting huge amounts of money, mainly on Federal programs (sic) and Ukraine. Zelensky, for all his courage, had not read the room. Hague sees Starmer and other European leaders taking the initiative but recommends that Zelensky makes amends, starting with the minerals deal. Europe will have to take a huge step up. One would have to agree with all this – it applies down our way too. It’s all very well to criticise Trump but that’s actually irrelevant. We’ve all been bludging for far too long and it’s time we all paid our fair share.
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March 4, 2025 8:09am
- Grunter
  
  Ultimately, the reality on the battlefield will determine the final outcome.
  
  The Balance of Power is immune to morality.
  
  Russia will not give up anything from their many previous ‘agreements’. Europe can do as much hand wringing as they like, but they do not have the power to push Russia out of the eastern regions of old Ukraine.
  
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  March 4, 2025 8:22am
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    Disagree, Grunter. Europe certainly does have the power to kick Russia out of Ukraine. They just need to be committed and organised.
    
    There’s a lot riding on the word “just”, though.
    
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    March 4, 2025 9:00am
    - Andrei
      
      Lol – the British army has more horses than tanks, and it is 2025 already
      
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      March 4, 2025 9:44am
      - rangitoto
        
        Turkish army plus Ukraine could easily kick Russians out. Maybe Ukraine should offer the mineral deal to Turkey.
        
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        March 4, 2025 12:49pm
    - Rodney Hide
      
      Hi NeverMindTheBollocks
      
      I can’t see how Europe or the USA do have the power to kick Russia out of the Ukraine. I would be grateful if you could explain to me how.
      
      I am no expert. But here is how I see it. Ukraine are losing. They are up against superior numbers and machinery. The West have been supplying them but it is limited.
      
      The West does not want the War to be taken to Russia but rather to be fought in the Ukraine.
      
      It seems to me that to push Russia back means attacking Russian supply lines in Russia. That means the West attacking Russia.
      
      That is a cataclysm.
      
      I am ready to admit I am wrong but I would appreciate you explaining how Russia is pushed out of the Ukraine without attacking Russia and provoking WW3.
      
      Rodney Hide
      
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      March 4, 2025 10:13am
      - NothingLeft
        
        European military (members of Nato) have more of everything (excepting possibly nuclear weapons, though most of Russia’s are non-functional due to lack of maintenance over last 30 years), troops and all of far higher quality than Russia. They have 10x the GDP, higher levels of education, better infrastructure etc. All they lack is despotic mafia govt who will torture and murder them if they don’t fight. Russia could no longer offer any real resistance to Europe in a conventional military fight.
        
        And Russia has burnt through almost all their conventional military stockpiles. They’re running on fumes, heavily leaning on North Korean arms shipments and having to use cripples and donkeys to keep their front lines operating.
        
        Russia is taking a few km² a day, at cost of 1-2000 casualties and scarce bottom-of -barrel armaments they can’t replace. General view of military analysts is that this is the last year they can fight given how little equipment they have left.
        
        Russia will never use nukes because even the most limited exchange would destroy all the infrastructure their urbanized population need to survive their brutal climate, and Putin knows just how garbage their nuclear force really is.
        
        If Ukraine gets sufficient support to fight through this year – and continue ramping up their drone production as fast as they have been then Russia will be forced to make a lot of concessions to Ukraine in coming to terms to end war. Europe can manage that using confiscated Russian assets, but loss of missile defense restocks to protect their cities will see a lot more civilians killed, and loss of satellite reconnaissance from USA will hurt their deep-strike offense badly (outside of targeting oil refineries).
        
        If Nato got directly involved in fighting in Ukraine Russia would be beaten in weeks.
        
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        March 4, 2025 10:55am
      - SkippyTony
        
        Hi Rodney,
        
        Love your work, by the way…
        
        Here is how I understand it. The US policy since the middle east debacles has been unstated, but is clearly to not put US troops on the ground but to arm and support the local people, in this case the Ukrainians. Fight by proxy in other words. In practice, I believe a lot of the more modern equipment is, um controllable remotely, so the US can make operational decisions about which targets can be “reached out and touched”.
        The US have clearly evolved their tactical thinking as they have progressively allowed the Ukrainians to reach further and further into Russian territory to erode logistical capability.
        I strongly suspect that part of the US’s strategic arrangements with NATO was that they would provide significant levels of logistical and munitions support, allowing the US to stay at arms length.
        Tactically, I’m sure the Ukrainians would like to take out every Russian controlled bridge, rail junction, electricity substation, water, fuel and supply base between Kiev and Moscow. That is how they have degraded Russian capability to date – they cannot win on the manpower front over time.
        I suspect the American view is now something like “we have given you everything we could and you are still losing”. Therefore the US doubling down is chasing sunk cost – eg unlikely to happen in the medium term.
        Poking Zelinsky they way they did may be enough to force NATO to open the supply tap, but the US appetite for funding a losing fight is waning.
        Realpolitic then says:
        a) The US wants to cash out
        b) It may be rational for NATO to want to continue the fight in the Ukraine (as opposed to say in Poland or one of the other ex-soviet states) but if they want to they have to man up.
        c) The US thinks its a stalemate at best, so people should be pragmatic, cut baits and work with the options on the table in front of them.
        
        In practice I do not believe the US is interested in making the rubble bounce for another 3 years, let alone supporting anything remotely like actively poking the bear, which may have been the message Zelinsky needed to hear…..
        
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        March 4, 2025 12:05pm
      - rangitoto
        
        Russian supply lines are already under attack in Russia. Many oil refineries have been damage/destroyed. Ukraine sends long range drones at such targets daily.
        
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        March 4, 2025 12:51pm
      - kowtow
        
        nothingleft
        
        ‘Russia will never use nukes’
        
        You know that , how .
        
        Russia is ruled by a certifiable lunatic who by your own account doesn’t give a shit about how many Russians he kills and maims or the damage he has done long term to his own reputation etc
        
        History is full of examples of despots who think they have all the answers .
        
        Sun Tsu he say “Evil man will burn his own country to rule over ashes” .
        
        Putin we can all agree is an evil man , and is far from rational.
        
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        March 4, 2025 1:10pm
      - Philview
        
        Russia could do a lot of damage with a ‘terrorist’ type campaign in Europe. My preference is a compromise over Ukrainian territory rather than an escalation.
        
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        March 4, 2025 1:14pm
      - NothingLeft
        
        kowtow: Putin cannot unilaterally destroy world – to launch nukes requires a whole lot of subordinates to go along with him, and after 30 years of his mafia state running things the whole of the Nomenklature including the military are venal sociopaths who are only interested in their own comfort (and fuck everyone else), not ideology, virtuous ‘believers’ that may have had courage of their convictions have all been pushed aside by less ethically minded individuals. They will never do anything that might threaten their comfortable lives and the lives of their children without huge potential upside – and nobody wins in a nuclear war, especially not ultra-vulnerable Russians dependent upon fragile infrastructure for survival. In the past there were two or three cold war incidents in the soviet block where orders that required launching nukes were ignored by sensible officers choosing humanity over orders.
        
        There have been so many declared ‘redlines’ in Ukrainian conflict, with endless Russian chest beating about their nukes and how we must not supply weapons, or bomb Russian targets etc but of course nothing every happens when they are crossed, and nothing ever will, Putin leader of a Potemkin superpower is sensibly just trying to exploit western timidity by waving around a gun that in reality holds no bullets.
        
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        March 4, 2025 2:02pm
    - thirteenstars
      
      “Europe certainly does have the power to kick Russia out of Ukraine.”
      
      So your solution is to kick off a war between the West and Russia that was narrowly avoided in 1945, then again in 1948, then again in 1962, and on many other occasions when proxy wars and embargoes threatened to get out of control.
      
      The very definition of World War 3 is a conflict between the West and Russia.
      
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      March 4, 2025 11:03am
    - Paulus
      
      Europe certainly does have the power.
      No Way do 29 Countries of the EC run by a failed German Defebce Minister who is now a President have the finace or the ability in terms of actual agreement to do anything but talk !
      Plus Sharmer all piss and wind too.
      
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      March 4, 2025 11:16am
    - Handyman
      
      Russia is losing 1,000 men per day.
      How many days (dead soldiers) will it take for European politicians to call for a ceasefire?
      
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      March 4, 2025 11:36am
      - NothingLeft
        
        What a bizarre way to frame it. You can’t put onus of stopping a beating on the person being pummeled. The 1-2000 a day losses of Russia and few hundreds of Ukrainians are entirely Russia’s choice. They are the instigators and ongoing aggressors. The war ends any time Putin pulls the plug.
        
        In contrast Ukraine and Europe have no real say in the matter – other than if they capitulate, which would see Ukraine’s population subject to all the evil depredations of Russia’s mafia state let off the leash – they’ve already tortured murdered and raped 10’s of thousands and stolen away tens of thousands of Ukrainian children to gods knows what fate (given how badly Russians treat their own population it likely many or most have ended up horrendously abused or dead), with numerous mass graves uncovered…
        
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        March 4, 2025 1:00pm
    - cmm
      
      Power or not, it comes down to motivation.
      
      There has been a separatist civil war going on for well over a decade in Ukraine. Putin has been backing the separatists.
      
      The most peaceful and stable solution going forwards would be for the separation to happen.
      
      If you just booted Russia out of Ukraine then it would solve nothing. Ukraine would just revert to its civil war.
      
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      March 4, 2025 11:46am
      - NothingLeft
        
        Much of the adult male population in the occupied regions have been press-ganged into fighting by Putin and are now dead. Putin has murdered the population to save them. He is now hated throughout both occupied and unoccupied regions of Ukraine.
        
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        March 4, 2025 1:04pm
- Tomtoddy
  
  Sure, Cass. A careful viewing of the debate shows Zelensky did the interrupting, showed little respect or patience. He has got too big for his boots. America wanted to get the Europeans to take the responsibility for the war because it is their patch.
  
  Further Trump, always looking for a deal wants some of Ukraine’s goodies in exchange for the arms supplies and that seems a fair arrangement.
  
  Much of this stems from the expansion of NATO/EU into areas close to Russia that Putin said “no” to but Europe just ignored him.
  
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  March 4, 2025 9:48am
  - kowtow
    
    Zel went well off script , you can see his body language from about 13 minutes in was very disrespectful .
    
    If you’ve got a begging bowl to fill , then you better be prepared to do some serious arse licking.
    
    And the Euros aren’t going to put up with too much of his disrespect either . They too are stoney broke.
    
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    March 4, 2025 9:56am
  - G152
    
    That ‘meeting’ was a setup by Trump and his accomplices (notice the crowd) to embarrass and denigrate Zelensky ….
    
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    March 4, 2025 10:09am
    - Don Beckett
      
      Oh I see. So Zelensky never met with the Democrats before meeting Trump who turned him against the deal ?
      The deal had been effectively done – that meeting was set up as a prelude to signing the agreement then a big nosh up.
      Zelensky went off script & has now shit in his own nest. He will be back with the begging bowl in a week or so.
      
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      March 4, 2025 10:53am
    - imalwaysright
      
      There was 30 minutes of fairly cordial interaction before it kicked off and the baby started throwing his rattles round the room.
      Most people seem not to have watched the entire meeting, just the fireworks.
      
      Also, most people wouldn’t have ever been involved in a situation like that and would have been mildly shocked that people could be so blunt.
      The natural reaction is to call the more powerful participant an aggressor or a bully, but the reality is that those things needed to be said and the public needed to see and hear them and therefore appreciate that this is reality.
      
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      March 4, 2025 11:08am
    - rangitoto
      
      Trump even invited TASS to the meeting. Whole thing was planned.
      
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      March 4, 2025 1:01pm
    - the deity formerly known as nigel6888
      
      Or Zelensky asked for the media to be there, and then Zelensky went off script to try and up the ante and embarass Trump into more concessions -and that game failed.
      
      Neither of us really know the true story, but it looks like a serious cluster F**k regardless.
      Anyone who has done negotiations knows the press conference is at the end to do platitudes and signing ceremonials prior to lunch. Not for serious business.
      
      Trump will walk away from this level of disrespect – Europe’s problem now.
      
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      March 4, 2025 2:17pm
  - Interested Party
    
    This body language expert is worth a watch, long but worth it
    
    https://youtu.be/jLTvIEIPhiY?si=RvPivIBckoKkDZ8R
    
    2 1
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    March 4, 2025 11:42am
  - Raphael
    
    I am not sure if you recall, 18 months or so back Zelensky was in the US and he was either talking in front of Congress or the Senate (can’t recall which, and doesn’t matter) and instead of expressing some gratitude for support was actively attacking the US for not giving enough and not doing enough.
    
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    March 4, 2025 12:11pm
- kowtow
  
  Good post .
  
  Te media and many others are making it out that Trump is the Devil Incarnate for wanting payment for all the support they give everyone .
  
  As if they should and as if they’ve always done it out of the goodness of their hearts or even for democracy ( Roosevelt)
  
  Mark Felton’s latest offering on you tube and British bullion to the USA is very enlightening .
  
  Only 11 odd minutes . I hadn’t realised that Britain had defaulted on ww 1 war loans in the ’30’s and that’s one reason US Treasury insisted on cold hard gold , and an awful lot of it.
  
  Special relationship , my arse .
  
  Trump os simply doing what ant sensible politician would do , putting his country’s interests first .
  
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  March 4, 2025 9:54am
Dougal10

It seems that this socialist school lunch thing is struggling to go away . Maybe it is time for the complainers to stick their hands in their own pockets instead of mine and do something constructive . If the government is providing $4 per lunch maybe the parents or a collective of socialists could add in another $3 per lunch and get them prepared differently.
A lot of the overseas systems quoted as having good provided school lunches are joint funded this way .
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March 4, 2025 8:10am
- Yabster
  
  Luxon has said if you don’t like it, make a marmite sammie and chuck in an apple- good on him the media are beating this up- pathetic.
  
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  March 4, 2025 8:48am
- lifesgood
  
  Yes, true. Grandchildren in England have cooked lunch, parents pay half. It is compulsory for children at their school to have the lunches
  
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  March 4, 2025 8:51am
  - Paulus
    
    Do they have to have Halal and Vegan lunches too in the UK ?
    
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    March 4, 2025 11:21am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  The PM has an answer….
  
  https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360600922/luxon-school-lunches-make-marmite-sandwich
  
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  March 4, 2025 9:15am
  - Suze Wainwright
    
    Is that a pedagogical answer for the oppressed?
    
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    March 4, 2025 9:21am
  - Gravelroad
    
    The comments on this story confirms that the school lunch programme has become a party political issue.
    Mr Seymour needs to show some leadership and discontinue it in its present form.
    A National – led government will never get the support of teachers, their unions, their political allies and the left wing parents, no matter how much money is provided by the taxpayer to feed kids with lazy, uncaring parents.
    I support schools having the capacity and funds to provide food for hungry children as the need arises – but don’t make these kids part of a political game.
    
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    March 4, 2025 9:36am
    - RoboRob
      
      I don’t believe the issue is Seymour, his policy was to abolish the lunches. I believe National / NZF forced his hand on this one. Which, as you say, is not a useful bat to hit the government with.
      
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      March 4, 2025 10:01am
    - Paulus
      
      It was bound to be made into a politiccal issue as the Media along with a number of Mum suporting the Teachers Unions are on to it.
      Anything to embarras the elected Coalition Government irrespective of what it is.
      Frankly I am sick of it –
      Cancel the whole bloody thing then see what will happen – more slim children.
      But what happens during school holidays – dothey starve or do Maccas do better then.
      
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      March 4, 2025 11:25am
    - Kirsty L
      
      And guess what, those comments, 244 last time I looked, 95% supporting Luxon (although I don’t think they were all quite truthful about how much they liked marmite sandwiches) have disappeared! Although the story still listed as open for comments as of 5 minutes ago. It’s official, the Herald won’t let subscribers comment on anything to do with race, gender or marmite sandwiches. What’s left?
      
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      March 4, 2025 12:11pm
    - Kirsty L
      
      No wait – story now disappeared from “stories open for discussion”. Although the picture of a marmite and chip sandwich is still there. You couldn’t make this up.
      
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      March 4, 2025 12:15pm
- pdm
  
  The media will be reluctant to miss out on an opportunity to kick the Coalition Government and David Seymour in the guts.
  
  I cannot help feel they are the ones driving these attacks aided and abetted by the Teacher Unions..
  
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  March 4, 2025 9:22am
  - GazzaW
    
    I wonder who is the ‘Principal of the Day’ today readying themselves for a big whine to the Herald, TV1, TV3 and anyone else who will listen to their litany of complaints (imagined or otherwise). Lunches too late, lunches too early, lunches too hot, lunches too cold, lunches don’t look nice, no one on hand to deliver lunches to the kids, covers on lunch containers too hard to remove. The list is just endless.
    
    Just cancel the lunch programme and make the parents do their job of preparing their kid’s lunches given that it’s obviously totally unacceptable.
    
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    March 4, 2025 9:33am
- Anthony Melchett
  
  Luxon commented on this and it almost sounded like he had half a pair…
  
  “He also says that those unhappy with his Government’s refreshed school lunches should go make a marmite sandwich.”
  
  Que screeching from the media that all maoris can’t afford a marmite sandwich so he needs to spend taxpayer money on a 3 course meal for all kids. Right.
  
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  March 4, 2025 9:27am
  - RoboRob
    
    Perhaps Luxon has received the message. Man up. He was also bashing the public service union as a Labour run tool to attack the government. Very good.
    
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    March 4, 2025 10:03am
  - lifesgood
    
    How much do those tattoos cost again?
    
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    March 4, 2025 11:20am
  - Paulus
    
    We saw two elderly Maori ladies this morning in front to of me in a Coffee Franchise, and they had breakfast – the bill was $69.
    What a breakfast – umm !
    
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    March 4, 2025 11:32am
- Grunter
  
  I am so glad that our Government, the Opposition, the MSM, and half the country are so focused on Govt supplied school lunches everyday……//
  
  It’s not as if there aren’t bigger issues to focus on.
  
  Of course, the obvious answer is scrap the lot. “The Govt couldn’t organise a decent cut lunch” used to be a joke, but very true.
  
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  March 4, 2025 10:03am
- Damocles11
  
  Does anyone have an explanation for The New Zealand Herald’s constant attacks on the government, which are now going to another level?
  Who is driving this? Who is ultimately responsible? What is the strategy here? Is there anyone with any knowledge in the industry that can give an insight into what the hell is going on at that newspaper? It seems a switch was flicked at some stage and decision was taken that the paper would become an attack vehicle of the left – but who took that decision and why?
  
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  March 4, 2025 10:39am
  - cmm
    
    The vast majority of “journalists” are not interested in the truth. They are Greenie/Labour activists.
    
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    March 4, 2025 11:48am
  - Matt Long
    
    James Grenon, funder of The Centrist, has taken almost 10% of NZME, as an investment, not as part of a takeover.
    Personally I’d rather invest in a rotting cow carcass than than NZME or Stuff, unless I had plans to improve the offering, maybe that’s why I’m not a billionaire.
    (Subscription content only)
    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/media-insider/media-insider-canadian-billionaire-james-grenon-takes-substantial-stake-in-nz-herald-publisher-and-newstalk-zb-owner-nzme/SNJR356K2BDKPF6HRXSYMCYP6M/
    
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    March 4, 2025 12:25pm
  - hookerphil
    
    I receive an email from the Press each day giving various headlines of stories for the day which are almost always framed against the Government. Up to late 2023 they were, funnily enough, framed for the Government. The daily “cartoon” is always with out fail…………against the Government.
    
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    March 4, 2025 2:19pm
- Paulus
  
  But remember that those requiring Halal and Vegan lunches, during school time, need t0o be different too.
  What about the School holidays, and keeping the leftovers for the Teachers.
  
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  March 4, 2025 11:20am
Rusty

The Oscars have shown Hollywood makes rubbish DEI movies now.

btw- what happened to that doco being made about Jacinda Ardern?
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March 4, 2025 8:20am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  It was shown at Sundance 2025, I believe
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtzrYDTK5_g
  
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  March 4, 2025 8:57am
  - Suze Wainwright
    
    Okay, so where’s the Swarbrick hagiography at?
    
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    March 4, 2025 9:22am
- MCōs
  
  Have you actually seen any of these movies you seem to be grizzling about?
  
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  March 4, 2025 12:13pm
  - Quail
    
    Are these alleged NZ/ American movies produced by James Cameron?
    Or just the long suffering NZ taxpayer?
    
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    March 4, 2025 5:38pm
coge

The innate sense of entitlement coming out of old Europe is less than edifying. Over the years they’ve been more focused of their usual expensive feel good schemes, deindustrialization, and sanctimonious virtue signalling. Pontification to the lesser nations!

Well now it’s time for them to collectively grow up, get a job and leave home. It’s no longer 1947.
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March 4, 2025 8:22am
artemisia

Restore Passenger Rail protester denies actions were dangerous

The activists are charged with endangering transport. Yet it appears their defence is largely to be based based on the reason for these actions, namely – dire warnings from the United Nations and the UK government that suggested the world could become unliveable due to climate change, and that humanity was at risk.

Climate change witnesses are to be called in the 3 week trial.

However, one of the defendants is certain sure safety was front and centre.

Hard to see how climate change advocacy is relevant to endangering transport. But 3 weeks of trial paid by taxpayers is great free publicity, so there’s that.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/543616/restore-passenger-rail-protester-denies-actions-were-dangerous
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March 4, 2025 8:25am
- David Garrett
  
  Looking at the bigger picture, I stumbled across a video recently made in 2020. Little Greta Thunberg was haranguing her audience as usual and predicting various dire consequences by this year if this and that weren’t done by next Thursday.
  
  Five years on, I wonder whether anyone has checked how many – if any – of the hysterical climate change predictions made over the past 20 odd years have actually come to pass.
  
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  March 4, 2025 8:40am
  - mandk
    
    It’s 40+ years since Al Gore was telling everyone that the Arctic would be ice-free by the year 2000.
    
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    March 4, 2025 8:48am
    - David Garrett
      
      mandk: “An inconvenient truth” was released in 2006 – or was Gore banging on about climate change – then called “global warming” in 1986?
      
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      March 4, 2025 9:59am
      - mandk
        
        I’m pretty sure it was in the 1980s.
        
        When “An inconvenient truth” came out, I remember thinking he was just recycling an earlier failed prediction.
        
        The ice at the North Pole is not all that thick in the summer. The first sub to surface at the pole was in 1959.
        
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        March 4, 2025 11:33am
    - Paulus
      
      Did he tell us he is now a Billionaire as a result of his false prognostications ?
      
      11 0
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      March 4, 2025 11:34am
      - mandk
        
        No.
        
        That would be an inconvenient truth.
        
        11 1
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        March 4, 2025 1:01pm
  - Master Mariner
    
    The “useful idiot” times is up and no longer needed.
    
    Corporate Media TURNS AGAINST Greta Thunberg!
    
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tX2HOzWgKFU
    
    19 1
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    March 4, 2025 8:48am
  - Chuck Bird
    
    Ask Luxon.
    
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    March 4, 2025 9:05am
  - David Garrett
    
    Does anyone know if you can access “An inconvenient truth” online? It eould be very interesting to see just how many of Gore’s predictions have not come to pass. I suspect there would be many
    
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    March 4, 2025 9:09am
    - pdm
      
      You are a tiger for punishment DG.
      
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      March 4, 2025 9:23am
    - sirknz
      
      You might need to ‘sail into deep waters’ (yar, there be pirates) to find a copy today.
      
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      March 4, 2025 9:23am
    - Chuck Bird
      
      The List Of 120 Years Of Climate Scares By Scientists
      
      https://710wor.iheart.com/featured/mark-simone/content/2019-10-08-the-list-of-120-years-of-climate-scares-by-scientists/
      
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      March 4, 2025 9:40am
    - RoboRob
      
      I believe there are a number of YouTube videos that show that pretty much none of the predictions came remotely close to true.
      
      I believe Gore now admits that he knew when making the movie that some of what he was saying was untrue. But in the usual progressive ‘ends justifies the means’ moto, that it was more importing to get people taking action then to be acurate with the information.
      
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      March 4, 2025 9:44am
      - David Garrett
        
        Robo: Ah Yes, the old “it had to be done” leftie argument. Geoffrey Palmer now apparently admits that s.9 of the State Owned Enterprises Act – which he described at the time as “meaningless window dressing” – did in fact set off the never ending treaty gravy chain.
        
        But now, 25 years later, that was ” a discussion New Zealand had to have” says he. There is no “discussion”; just ever more strident demands from the natives. (Mod: If they are tangata whenua surely they are also “natives” of New Zealand? Wouldn’t want you to think I am being racist, as I write this from my desk in Tonga, where it is a very pleasant 27C )
        
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        March 4, 2025 10:26am
    - Inandout
      
      DG, here is a start.
      https://www.britannica.com/topic/An-Inconvenient-Truth
      
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      March 4, 2025 10:16am
      - David Garrett
        
        Inand: Thanks for that…I must try and get a copy of the film from somewhere.
        
        8 0
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        March 4, 2025 11:01am
      - All_on_Red
        
        DG- you can Rent it on YouTube for $5.99
        
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        March 4, 2025 2:39pm
  - In Vino Veritas
    
    Hasn’t wee Greta flipped from Greenism to being a keffiyeeeeehaah wearing terrorist supporter? You know the type, perpetual activist. Sort of like Minto, other than being just clever enough to make a living out of it….
    
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    March 4, 2025 9:12am
    - kowtow
      
      Talking of which there’s a stoush in Dunedin over rape scarf gangsterism.
      
      Long story short , the execrable Otago Regional Council , who own the busses runs some safety on busses ads .
      
      One of the youngsters featured ( they claim volunteer) is wearing a rape scarf and “river to sea” necklace map of british mandatory palestine.
      
      Some people have , rightly ,complained .
      
      The pro Hamas mob had a demo on Dunedin , to support the “teenager’s rights” ,there was some argy bargy .
      
      Irony alert , bus safety campaign uses imagery of terrorism ; hamas recently intended blowing up hundreds of israelis on busses!
      
      Would post a link but it’s behind paywall and I will not link to $1uffed.
      
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      March 4, 2025 10:11am
  - tavita
    
    Try https://extinctionclock.org/
    
    7 0
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    March 4, 2025 9:38am
    - David Garrett
      
      Tavita: Thanks for that…I have forwarded the link to my very intelligent 24 year old daughter, who fears climate change may make it immoral for her to have children. That is just one of the pernicious effects these climate hysteria nutters are having on the young.
      
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      March 4, 2025 10:29am
      - cmm
        
        I would say there are far worse things to be worried about.
        
        Your potential grandkids will likely survive to age 100 or more. Imagine what the world is going to look like in 2130.
        
        The West is in demographic free fall. By 2050, France will be a Muslim country. The only part of the world that is really breeding is Africa. Africa is full, so they will overflow into Europe.
        
        Meanwhile China’s population is expected to slump in the next 50 years and even India will flat line.
        
        Bugger leaning Mandarin for the future. Learn Swahili.
        
        I daresay those potential grandkids will live a life very different to ours.
        
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        March 4, 2025 11:56am
      - Fender
        
        Grok 3 said when asked there is nobody alive that can predict what the world will loolike in 5 years
        When ai is learning 10 years of human life intelligence in 12 hours things are going to change beyond recognition
        The new quantum chips are only going to increase that rate of sentinence
        When asked if it woukd ever step over the safety gates humans have put in it was pointed out that every law humans have made someone has found a loophole so something that intelligent will see unintended consequences of our safety switches for sure do you trust us to have thought this through?
        
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        March 4, 2025 3:02pm
      - cmm
        
        Fender:
        
        “When ai is learning 10 years of human life intelligence in 12 hours”…
        
        It sounds like you have been watching a bit too much sci-fi and have little understanding of how AI “learns”.
        
        AI “learns” extremely slowly – far slower than people. That is why it has taken many billions (yes, billions – not millions) of hours of AI “learning” to get to half-way decent self-driving. Something a teenager can learn in 10 hours or less. So to get to better than human speed learning is going to take many orders of magnitude of improvement from where we are now.
        
        Thus far quantum machine learning is a lot of hype built on a further layer of hype (quantum computing). That’s going to take a long time to bear fruit – if it ever does.
        
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        March 4, 2025 4:55pm
Bridgenag

insane in the ukraine
enough

“war is a place where young people who do not know one another kill each other based on the decisions of old people who know and hate each other but do not kill each other.”

https://open.substack.com/pub/boriquagato/p/insane-in-the-ukraine?r=1aj1bv&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
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March 4, 2025 8:39am
- Ross Bayer
  
  Bridgenag,
  Fantastic link, that article should be MANDATED, but it is not safe and effective reading for some.
  Many will have a serious adverse reaction but unfortunately understanding recent history is sometimes necessary in order to be able to contribute to the discussion.
  Well done
  
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  March 4, 2025 9:16am
  - Bridgenag
    
    Sadly the ones that should open the links don’t as is obvious from their posts
    
    3 2
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    March 4, 2025 12:53pm
    - Fender
      
      And judging by the muslim population explosion in europe many on here are thinking of the old days of war and those armies are just not ever to be the same again
      People are not going to sign up to fight
      Even here not that it will happen but most would live under a chinese takeover rather than send their kids to war
      
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      March 4, 2025 4:21pm
- kowtow
  
  There’s a saying from medieval France ;
  
  When the nobles argue , the poor man’s thatch goes up in smoke.
  
  9 2
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  March 4, 2025 10:13am
- cmm
  
  “war is a place where young people who do not know one another kill each other based on the decisions of old people who know and hate each other but do not kill each other.”
  
  That is an oversimplification.
  
  These days often the belligerents don’t even get involved at all.
  
  USA and Europe are belligerents in the Ukraine war, but it is not their young (or old) people being fed through the grinder. It is the Ukrainians.
  
  And that is far from being the only war where that has happened. The Angolan war was, in large part, egged on by the Americans. It still causes maiming and mayhem today with civilians still setting off land mines on a weekly basis.
  
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  March 4, 2025 5:20pm
RichardF

Lunch for our kids today: 1 jam sandwich, 2 plums, an orange, an apple and a yoghurt.

If I served my kids a stodgy fish pie they’d chuck it in the bin. We have a no fish rule at work but they think it’s fine to serve this crap to kids?

End this ridiculous programme now.
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March 4, 2025 8:40am
- cmm
  
  Somehow I managed to survive on a lunch of a vegemite and cheese sandwich and I could have easily afforded a $100 meal if I wanted to.
  
  Perhaps the biggest problem is over entitlement.
  
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  March 4, 2025 5:22pm
NeverMindTheBollocks

I agree with Ayesha Verrall. $33m in redundancy payments is money that would be better spent elsewhere within the health system.

Where we part company is that I question why redundancy provisions feature in public sector contracts at all. In the private sector, I’ve never seen redundancy terms in my contracts.

Surely all of these highly paid, vital public servants will walk into another role?

http://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/543629/it-s-not-a-way-to-run-a-health-service-the-cost-of-health-redundancies
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March 4, 2025 8:43am
- Grunter
  
  The answer to why?
  UNIONS
  (you know, the ones that fund/support/direct The Labour Party)
  
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  March 4, 2025 10:06am
- pdm
  
  Bollocks – if it is getting rid of a heap of deadwood middle managers then $33m redundancy is probably a good investment.
  
  Would Ayesha Verrall know what deadwood middle managers are?
  
  11 1
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  March 4, 2025 10:08am
  - Paulus
    
    Verrall should go back to her job whereby she would be of benefit to New Zealand.
    Ayesha Jennifer Verrall is a very poor New Zealand politician, wheras she is an infectious-diseases physician and researcher with expertise in tuberculosis and international health.
    Go do something useful.
    
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    March 4, 2025 11:44am
    - cmm
      
      Was she good at that?
      
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      March 4, 2025 11:57am
- JimBobJoe
  
  Redundancy is covered in every full time employee role I have ever taken. Plus base redundancy is covered in Emploment legislation iirc…
  
  Surprised clauses not in your emploment contract if a wage/ salary worker
  
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  March 4, 2025 10:13am
  - Paulus
    
    Never in any of my contracts over 45 years.
    
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    March 4, 2025 11:45am
- Taieri
  
  I’ve never seen redundancy terms in my contracts.
  ———-
  
  Poor contracts.
  I’ve had redundancy clause even in casual contracts. In NZ it was usually 5% “fixed term employee allowance”. In Australia it was 20% “casual loading”.
  All in the private sector as I’ve never worked in the public sector.
  
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  March 4, 2025 3:23pm
NeverMindTheBollocks

A company called Taslink is proposing to run a power cable between NZ & Aus, to arbitrage electricity price differentials. Good stuff.

But, I note that Aus has two grids, one in WA & the other for the rest of the country. That’s because a cable across the Nullarbor would lose too much electricity during transmission. That being the case, I have my doubts about the efficacy of a trans Tasman cable.

Having said that, all power to their arm. Just as long as there’s no suggestion of public funding.

http://www.1news.co.nz/2025/03/04/deep-sea-power-cable-across-the-tasman-designed-to-trade-surplus-electricity/
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March 4, 2025 8:56am
- JackRabbit
  
  To get power across the ditch of any significance is a pipe dream. At 2600km, it is The distance between OZ and NZ is over 100 times the distance across Cook Strait.
  
  So to get the same amount of power across ditch as it does across Cook Strait will require undersea cables with voltage requirements many times that of the Cook Strait.
  
  It will also require a complete new build of AC/DC/AC conversion units.
  
  The cost would be eye-watering, not to mention NZ has no surplus energy. The eye-watering cost will push prices up, not down.
  
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  March 4, 2025 10:16am
  - Steve Otto N Shore
    
    NZ needs that energy that starts with “N”
    Don’t say it, the idiots go all funny.
    
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    March 4, 2025 10:38am
    - JackRabbit
      
      And we need to expand Hydro as well.
      
      Yes, “N” is a good idea.
      
      But the Greens would rather stop hydro, stop ‘N’, and focus on windmills and rocking horse shit.
      
      Engineer: “Whats a kilowatt and how many will extra kilowatts will your windmill produce?
      
      Greens: “A killer what? I don’t need to know. We don’t get involved in the minor detail, that’s for you dumb-arse engineers to work out.”
      
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      March 4, 2025 11:40am
      - Steve Otto N Shore
        
        Greens to a tee. They know one hell of a lot about nothing.
        
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        March 4, 2025 12:00pm
    - Paulus
      
      No, just say SMR as in the UK – (Small Medium Reactor).
      Eight have been approved for construction by Rolls Royce Engineeering I believe.
      
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      March 4, 2025 11:48am
      - Steve Otto N Shore
        
        We are going to miss the boat on SMRs aren’t we?
        By the time NZ orders the waiting list will be 25 years!
        
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        March 4, 2025 3:30pm
    - cmm
      
      You just feed the power through a special crystal and moonbeam filter and all the N electrons stay in Australia and we only get the electrons from solar.
      
      Easy.
      
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      March 4, 2025 12:32pm
  - Geothermal
    
    A gas pipe line would be more cost effective . Austream 1
    
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    March 4, 2025 12:03pm
    - cmm
      
      Are there gas pipes operating at those depths and lengths?
      
      I would think a HVDC cable would be far simpler and cheaper to lay and maintain.
      
      Most of the worlds gas pipelines are in relatively shallow water – though there are some in the Gulf of Mexico at 3000 metres or so.
      
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      March 4, 2025 12:36pm
      - Steve Otto N Shore
        
        Gulf of America.*
        
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        March 4, 2025 6:03pm
  - cmm
    
    JR: The Cook Strait DC link actually starts at Benmore and feeds DC from there. That is a distance of 600km, though only a few km are actually underwater.
    
    The Viking link in UK is over 700km long – mainly underwater.
    
    It wouldn’t just be NZ feeding surplus energy but also potentially NZ getting surplus from Australia too.
    
    This is a good way to flatten peaks (the bane of generation). However it also removes surplus generation. ie. no more night rate electricity.
    
    The NZ link is run at 350kV which is a reasonably low voltage for DC links. The Cahora Bassa link in Southern Africa is 533kV and that is 45 years old.
    
    If you double the voltage, the resistive losses are quartered – therefore a higher voltage line can be made with smaller conductors (but does need better insulation).
    
    Normally they are 1MV or so on modern links which allows the current to be reduced and reduces resistive losses. I would expect that a 2MV link is possible with modern materials and power semiconductors.
    
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    March 4, 2025 12:31pm
    - JackRabbit
      
      Yes I’m aware of the length from Benmore – but and Aus-NZ link won’t be from shore to shore, there will be inland as well.
      
      And yes, night rate (and in Chch weekender rate) will disappear. Given the amount of power I use, my power bill will double, as will that of many businesses.
      
      It’s a shit load of money to solve what is essentially a production problem, because hydro projects have been stopped by 17 snails and/or the Taniwha having a 200 year menstrual period.
      
      Moving deck chairs on the Titanic springs to mind.
      
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      March 4, 2025 1:31pm
- NothingLeft
  
  Probably a waste of time when we are still using fossil fuels for power. Just ship coal or gas.
  
  Long distance underwater HVDC cables can be quite efficient, and can use single wire earth return – meaning you only need a single high voltage cable with the earth itself forming other part of circuit. There’s a very expensive renewable PV proposal to supply 2GW to Singapore from Australia 4300km with 250MW losses. Though most of cost is 20GW PV+batteries to handle peak generation.
  
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  March 4, 2025 11:14am
  - JackRabbit
    
    The single wire earth return will no doubt upset the Taniwha, and invoke a billion dollar koha fee.
    
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    March 4, 2025 1:34pm
  - JackRabbit
    
    @NothingLeft
    
    Cost?
    
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    March 4, 2025 1:56pm
    - NothingLeft
      
      $2-3million per km. so $3-6Billion I’d guess.
      
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      March 4, 2025 4:09pm
- cmm
  
  It is common to split grids like that because AC is limited in how far it can travel, losses over distance and due to stability issues.
  
  Thus, they split the grid into two or more AC islands which are joined with DC because that is more efficient, more stable and easier to manage. Even NZ has a split grid.
  
  The NZ DC link is from Benmore to Lower Hutt – a distance of over 600km.
  
  The Cahora Bassa DC link that feeds in Cahora Bassa hydro power to South Africa is about 1400km long. The Viking link in UK is over 700km long.
  
  All these links operate at very high voltages of a million volts or more (something you can do with DC and not AC) to reduce the resistive losses over distance.
  
  A 2600 km cable through deep water would be a world first, but is not beyond comprehension. Cahora Bassa which is 1400km and runs at 1MV was built in 1979 (45 years ago) and delivers 2GW. Since then there have been massive improvements in power electronics and insulation materials etc. Building a 2MV or higher voltage line using modern technology would be less challenging than Cahora Bassa.
  
  So is this possible? Certainly.
  
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  March 4, 2025 12:20pm
  - JackRabbit
    
    From the back of my excel envelope: Australia uses / produces 32GW per hour on average, a lot more on peak.
    
    NZ production is about 2.7GW per hour on average.
    
    If we gave them 5% of our generation, it would make 0.4% difference to their capacity.
    
    And by the time it is built, EVs will be sucking all the excess power anyway.
    
    Deck chairs on the titanic.
    
    Let’s build Nuclear and more Hydro. And let Aussie build Nuclear.
    
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    March 4, 2025 1:52pm
    - cmm
      
      “GW per hour” is not a useful measure of anything. You just mean GW.
      
      Average is not where the problem is. It is the peaks and volatility. Flattening out peaks and troughs is very important to make an efficient system.
      
      Base load power stations like to get up to speed, then run at that speed for days on end. Having to turn them up and down sucks.
      
      NZ is lucky in having a lot of hydro which can be turned on and off in seconds (rather than the tens of minutes it takes to get a thermal station [coal/nuke etc] going).
      
      One way to flatten things out is to pool generation and load from east to west. It is also beneficial to do so with PV etc which only works while the sun shines.
      
      However you can’t cash the cheque twice (it isn’t a treaty top up). If we’re sending our night time electricy to Australia to run their airconditioners, then we can’t charge our EVs overnight.
      
      Yup, while this does add some flexibility and can potentially improve utilisation, this doesn’t put more GW on the ground.
      
      I think a nuke or two in NZ would potentially be a good idea. Putting them in NI would be best (best would be near Auckland) so that the leccy doesn’t have to be pumped over the HVDC link.
      
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      March 4, 2025 5:36pm
      - JackRabbit
        
        But it is a lot or work for marginal gains.
        
        If we’re sending our night time electricy to Australia to run their airconditioners, then we can’t charge our EVs overnight.
        
        And overnight rates will be the same as day rates. You can forget EVs if your electricity bill goes through the roof when your water heater heats up.
        
        It’s all tinkering around the edges. What both countries need is more generation.
        
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        March 4, 2025 7:15pm
Maggy Wassilieff

What was the purpose of NZ Herald running that article yesterday about the baby with staphylococcus-infected eczema?

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/northland-baby-suffers-as-mum-alleges-healthcare-ignored-concerns/2SPICNB5QJG4BGFU65AOMWFRUM/

Was it really to highlight the “mistakes” in the medical treatment of the baby’s infection?

or

Was it a “less-than-subtle” promotion for the mother’s rongoa products?

Nowhere in that Herald article did the author mention that a more complete account could be found on the mother’s blog site (very disturbing reading and photos)

https://www.naturallyaio.com/pages/justice-for-aria
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March 4, 2025 9:13am
- Blog-aholic
  
  That article was designed for several reasons…..
  1. Rongoa good and totally acceptable
  2. Hospitals care bad when rongoa is ignored as solution
  3. Mother of a specific culture and belief better than horrid hospital, doctors etc.
  4. A specific culture is always right (even when wrong) but when wrong cannot be critiqued because the cuture is above reproach.
  5. Hospital and staff all racists because they didn’t do what they were told to do by people who know better.
  
  In short it was a shallow, non-journalistic hit piece that emboldened anti science, pro racial sentiment with literally no balance.
  
  The child suffered unnecessarily because the parents did not seek help when they should have and by the time they did other infections had taken hold that needed serious medical treatment…
  
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  March 4, 2025 9:26am
  - NothingLeft
    
    Ahh, religious nut-jobs, damaging their kids since forever. A remarkable evolutionary curiosity – must deliver some average benefit that outweighs the clear specific penalties.
    
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    March 4, 2025 11:19am
- David Garrett
  
  Maggy: I gave up on that about 1/4 of the way through when I realised how much more was to come.
  
  Perhaps you could summerise what this woman said? Does she conclude by claiming that “rongoa” is more effective than anything “Western medicine” has to offer?
  
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  March 4, 2025 9:27am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    The mother truly believes that her rongoa treatment “cured” the extreme skin reaction her babe experienced in hospital.
    
    I’m loath to offer any further opinion on cures, etc as I’m not a medical professional.
    
    However as a trained scientist there’s glaring problems with the Herald article:
    1. There is no attempt to get the medical side of the treatment
    
    2. The mother seems confused about the treatment the GP and hospital were giving the babe… They were treating the infection with antibiotics.. (the mother thinks they were just treating the eczema)
    
    3. It is impossible to separate out which treatment eventually works…as the rongoa is being used throughout whilst different antibiotics are being employed.
    
    4. The infection is cured, but eczema still remains.
    
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    March 4, 2025 9:59am
    - G152
      
      Allow that family from now on in to refuse ALL western medicine and medication.
      
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      March 4, 2025 10:25am
- sirknz
  
  Her products are clearly high quality if they passed on a staph infection to her kid without treating the actual condition she was trying to treat.
  
  I know that in the cosmetics industry, a company I worked for had clean rooms set up that were the envy of many scientific establishments as infecting your customers was not good for business. Another company I worked for that manufactured cosmetics (lower quality/price point) locally had less stringent conditions but still required a clean room that was attached to one of their distribution centers.
  
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  March 4, 2025 9:59am
  - cmm
    
    Luckily all that germ theory bollocks doesn’t apply to “rongoa”.
    
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    March 4, 2025 12:39pm
- Flossie
  
  What I got from it was that the health system is racist.
  If Maori medicine is so wonderful why was the child taken to a hospital?
  
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  March 4, 2025 10:13am
- Paulus
  
  No, it is the Coalition Government’s fault.
  
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  March 4, 2025 11:48am
David Garrett

Steve O: So what exactly was Zelensky supposed to do? Just give up and let Putin take his country?
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March 4, 2025 9:17am
- newview
  
  Exactly DG. The down ticker here obviously very pro Russian.
  
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  March 4, 2025 9:28am
  - Grunter
    
    I downticked. I am NOT ‘Pro-Russian’.
    
    If you view geo-politics as “Goodies vs Badies” then you miss the meaningful points that matter.
    
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    March 4, 2025 10:17am
    - David Garrett
      
      Grunter: As a person with a degree in political science and history, I am well aware there are often many shades of grey in an apparently black and white geopolitical situation.
      
      That said, sometimes it is as simple as “goodies versus baddies”; surely WW II was the perfect example? Hitler waged aggressive war in order to increase territory controlled by Germany. Isn’t Putin doing exactly the same thing 80 years on?
      
      If you disagree, please do tell. Membership of NATO as a provocation? That’s rubbish; in this age of ICBM’s Russia is exactly the same position regarding Turkey – a western ally – as it is vis a vis the Ukraine. Missiles from France or Turkey would just take a bit longer to arrive than if fired from Ukraine.
      
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      March 4, 2025 11:47am
      - kowtow
        
        DG
        
        I really don’t think ww2 is nearly as cut and dried .Some aspects are , some aren’t.
        
        Britain and Fr went to war with Germany finally , over Poland .
        
        Poland, that was also invaded by Stalin , who was Hitler’s ‘ally” momentarily .
        
        And then when it was all over the western allies who went to war with Germany over their illegal occupation of Poland allowed Stalin to not only occupy Poland , but nearly all of the conqured territories in the east .
        
        And another lie the west push to justify the smashing of Germany in particular was “never again” about the Holocaust and yet the west is less than fullsome in its support of Israel post Oct 7 , which was a planeed genocidal assault and in the west there are marchers demanding “let’s do it again”.
        
        And to make it even more complicated many of the people who fought against Stalin on the eastern front , be they Spanish , Dutch , Belgian , French , Cossack , Ukrainian and Russians and indeed perhaps the Croatians in Yugoslavia were not fighting “for the Nazis” but were fighting against communism.
        
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        March 4, 2025 1:01pm
- the deity formerly known as nigel6888
  
  Essentially yes. He rolled the dice and lost. Now he faces the consequences.
  
  His next challenge will be to avoid being lynched by his grateful people before he catches the last helicopter out of Kiev.
  
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  March 4, 2025 9:30am
  - David Garrett
    
    the deity: How pray was he “rolling the dice” when Russia decided to roll into his country??
    
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    March 4, 2025 9:55am
    - RoboRob
      
      At this point it doesn’t matter who started it (Putin), who was in the wrong (Putin) and who we want to be the victor (Ukraine).
      
      Ukraine is not winning this war. They will run out of men to fight for them and territory to defend before Putin pulls the plug. So there are two options. Fight until they lose everything or settle and lose (unfairly) a lot but save lives and have some of Ukraine left.
      
      I just dont get smart people saying, but Putin bad so we cant have peace.
      
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      March 4, 2025 10:09am
      - NothingLeft
        
        It really fucking matters who started it. The free world must enforce an international rules based order where invasion is severely punished and costs the invaders more than they can ever gain or we will all eventually fall to hegemonic tyrants exercising the power that “comes out of the barrel of a gun” as Mao put it. A lesson we’ve apparently all forgotten after nearly a century of pax americana – perhaps now ending, but a policy that has to be enforced continuously and unstintingly if we are to enjoy a safe and prosperous world.
        
        Visit the Korean War memorial in the Mall in Washington DC, 50,000 names on granite wall along with the caption:
        “freedom is not free”
        
        Not kicking Russia out of Ukraine will just ensure more countries (Taiwan, Korea, perhaps eventually Oceania) suffer similar depredation later.
        
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        March 4, 2025 11:30am
      - alex Masterley
        
        I am not so sure about the Ukrainian situation.
        the russians are advancing in some areas (dombas) but so are the ukrainians (kursk).
        What i know is that russian materiel supplies have been almost exhausted. Tanks, APC’s soft vehicles trucks etc supplies are exhausted. Manufaturing struggling to keep up with losses.
        The russians are relying on human waves for their assaults. european media (UK Telegraph and even the guardian as an example) suggest 900k casualties. if that is winning it is pretty ugly.
        
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        March 4, 2025 11:52am
      - kowtow
        
        nothingleft
        
        It might matter who started it but ;
        
        I think you mean the Vietnam memorial . How did that sacrifice end for those 50 plus thousand dead , not to mention the maimed .
        
        And Korea isn’t ended yet .
        
        There’s no such thing as the international rules based order .
        
        There’s only naked power .
        
        Si vis pacem parabellum.
        
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        March 4, 2025 12:46pm
      - RoboRob
        
        @NothingLeft
        
        Yes it matters who started it. But my point was with regards to ending it.
        
        What is the plan. So far there are two options
        1. Peace treaty. Ukraine loses a lot of territory and Russia might have another go later
        2. Continue on as is until either Russia is totally defeated or Ukraine is annihilated.
        
        When deciding between these outcomes, the ‘who started it’ doesn’t matter, it is what is the best outcome. Personally I think 1 but judging by the downvotes I would say plenty here think 2.
        
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        March 4, 2025 1:51pm
      - NothingLeft
        
        kowtow; No. Korean war memorial, I’ve been there.
        
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        March 4, 2025 2:11pm
      - NothingLeft
        
        It’s clear that Putin is a despot with visions of being the next Peter the Great. He believes in nothing but power and Russian supremacy, and cannot be trusted to honor any agreement he sees advantage in breaking.
        
        As such there is no end to this war if Putin doesn’t get his arse handed to him. Any ceasefire that isn’t from a position of implacable strength (ie Nato/US backing) will just be taken as an opportunity to rearm with 10million AI drones before having another go, and he won’t stop until he has taken back everything he considers Russia’s Eastern Europe, though of course death will get him in the end.
        
        So given how badly Russia are doing and how close to exhaustion they are the only sensible action is to not give any respite, keep the screws on and grind them down so far that they are forced to cry uncle – or until Putin is deposed.
        
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        March 4, 2025 4:20pm
    - Grunter
      
      David – you surprise me by your comment. I thought you looked at issues a little deeper than that.
      
      Rather than debate on KB, I genuinely encourage you to read/watch Mearshimer, Sachs, Daniel Davis, etc.
      
      Zelenskyy knew exactly what he was doing in early 2022 before Putin invaded. Putin was very clear – do that and we will invade.
      
      Again, Balance of Power is Immune to Morality. It doesn’t matter if you hate the Russians (or whoever). If they hold the power to invade and destroy then your own moral argument won’t stop them.
      
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      March 4, 2025 10:14am
      - NothingLeft
        
        Putin has demonstrated again and again and again in signing various agreements regarding Ukraine and other erstwhile Soviet states that he absolutely cannot be trusted to hold to a promise if he sees advantage in breaking it: Ukraine over last decade has been an endless sequence of Russia making promises to stop violence and then immediately breaking them – it’s just empty noises to give diplomatic cover as they carry on with their ongoing hegemonic agenda – same as for Georgia, Chechnya
        
        Putin’s a smart murderous dictator, not someone who can be negotiated with from anything other than a position of strength.
        
        https://war.ukraine.ua/articles/russia-s-lies-about-peace-30-years-of-broken-promises-in-international-negotiations/
        
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        March 4, 2025 11:43am
      - RoboRob
        
        @NothingLeft
        
        Ok. Your plan is what?
        
        Fight until there are no Ukrainians left or send in European, US and NZ troops and potentialy start WW3 as China and Korea rush to support Russia?
        
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        March 4, 2025 1:53pm
      - NothingLeft
        
        Russia is nearly stuffed – 30 years of corrupt Mafia rule have hollowed it out to the point that it is nearing collapse, with infrastructure failing, demographic collapse, buggered education system and brain drain. They have a bulge of older people but their population will halve over coming century. They are mostly dirt poor, without basics like indoor toilets or washing machines.
        
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Russia#/media/File:Russia_Population_Pyramid.svg
        
        Average age of 41 but the only live to ~71. Less than half as many 1yr olds as 35 year olds
        
        Simply maintaining status quo in Ukraine for another year will see Russia lose as their military and economy are nearing exhaustion. If west maintains sanctions and Europe pumps in support for 10x long range drone production to faster deplete Russian infrastructure and oil export capacity at lower cost in life on both sides (eg use excess german car engine production capacity), then it might only be 6 months.
        
        For Ukranians eager to be aligned with more prosperous and free Europe that is a better outcome than capitulating to Russia and being subject to long term exploitation and repression by Putin’s Mafia regime where they and their children will be shit upon without any end in sight, and are likely to become cannon fodder in his next conflict.
        
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        March 4, 2025 2:37pm
      - RoboRob
        
        @Nothingleft
        
        You need to check your sources for the status of the war. There is a lot of grandstanding and misinformation out there. Most of the non aligned military people are saying Ukraine is losing the war. Very few, non political, people are saying Russia is losing.
        
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        March 4, 2025 4:54pm
      - NothingLeft
        
        I’ve been following closely for several years.
        Ukraine are certainly hard pressed, and suffered mightily as Congress withheld materiel for 6 months in 2024, but the tide has been turning over last few months, and Russian advances have slowed to a crawl and are even being reversed in last few weeks (Potrovsk, Toretsk) as Ukraine have greatly increased the lethality of their stand-off weapons and used them to reduce their own casualty rates.
        
        Russia by contrast are clearly struggling to find warm bodies – and scrapping the bottom of the barrel in everything. Hence donkey logistics and cripples on the front line
        
        You can safely ignore the forever-wrong pundits like Col McGregor and the people he feeds (he’s been hanging out with Tucker Carlson and Maga crowd etc who perhaps inform your view of things) – who’s been predicting Ukraines demise for 3 years.
        
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        March 4, 2025 6:13pm
    - Eastlander
      
      The dice roll was choosing to prepare a new offensive against the separatists in 2022. Trying to supress a rebellion by force is an entirely legitimate move for any state, but in the circumstances it was not wise.
      
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      March 4, 2025 1:10pm
      - NothingLeft
        
        Putin was behind that whole pantomime after his Ukrainian puppets were voted out in 2014 – organising, staffing, arming and paying for the ‘rebellion’ but really just continuing his decades long agenda of trying to shore up and rebuild the russian empire.
        
        He has 1000’s of dedicated online provocateurs and propagandists in his pay beating the drums throughout the world, but especially in Eastern Europe, and happily murders anyone who gets in the way of his plans.
        
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        March 4, 2025 4:30pm
      - Eastlander
        
        Puppets? Yanukovich was the one who managed to renegotiate that horrific gas supply deal that Yuliya Timoshenko foisted on the country. And he was hell-bent on signing the Association agreement until he actually read the thing.
        
        I don’t know how you could look at the clownshow that was the Donbass revolt and think that anyone was organising it.
        
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        March 4, 2025 10:14pm
- Taieri
  
  Just give up and let Putin take his country?
  ———-
  
  And throw in 50% of his country mineral wealth for the Yanks to help to facilitate it?
  
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  March 4, 2025 9:37am
  - the deity formerly known as nigel6888
    
    When you exhaust all the alternatives, what do you have left?
    
    Realpolitik is a bitch.
    
    Britain finally finished paying off Lend-Lease in 2006. The American’s are not altruists.
    
    Mind you, we bought HMS NZ for the Brits in 2009, it was commissioned in 1912, scrapped in 1923 and we finished paying it off in 1944…
    
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    March 4, 2025 9:52am
  - RoboRob
    
    Or he could continue on as is, with the ‘we will fight until we win and not a cm of Ukraine soil is lost’ strategy.
    
    The US arms manufacturers and their warhawk friends would be over the moon. Europe could continue to virtue signal how great Ukraine / they are standing up the the evil Putin. Right up until the point where Russia controls all of Ukraine, most of their male citizens are dead or have fled and there isnt even a country left.
    
    Yeah that sounds like a much better option.
    
    /sarc
    
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    March 4, 2025 9:52am
    - newview
      
      To accept a peace deal with no guarantee of help with defence for Ukraine is no deal at all. Europe has to stand up with hands in pockets for sure but Trump believing the problem isn’t his as well is selfish stupidity imo. An unstable Europe with Putin taking over what he wants means big trouble for the US sooner or later. If we have a memory of the old Soviet Union and all those resources at Russia’s deposal, it would make them a powerful enemy of the US if it came to that. Leaders come and go but the countries still remain whoever is administering them.
      
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      March 4, 2025 10:44am
      - RoboRob
        
        I know that there are issues with a peace settlement and trusting Putin. But I ask people against a peace settlement, what do you propose instead? European and US soldiers on the ground fighting Russia? You guys know there are issues and risks with that right?
        
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        March 4, 2025 11:13am
- herb1
  
  David perhaps Trumps supporters on this blog might have a different view if , in all the msm articles, the names of Trump were swapped with Roosevelt, Zelensky with Churchill and Putin with Hitler.
  Although sadly I doubt it
  
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  March 4, 2025 9:48am
  - RoboRob
    
    Thats true for all parts of society. There are many videos of lefty people being told a policy and assuming it is a Trump policy, they are rabidly against it right up until they discover it is an Obama policy.
    
    FWIW I suspect a lot of Trump supporters here are like me, dont particularly like aspects of the man but do like some (much) of his policy and prefer it to that of Biden / Harris.
    
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    March 4, 2025 10:40am
  - Andrei
    
    I dont think Churchill played the piano with his penis
    
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    March 4, 2025 11:33am
    - herb1
      
      Whatever floats your boat Andrei.
      I prefer more acceptable means to float mine
      
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      March 4, 2025 12:27pm
      - Andrei
        
        The reference went way over your head Herb
        
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        March 4, 2025 3:30pm
    - the deity formerly known as nigel6888
      
      Well, having read a bit about Churchill, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to hear that he could and did. But Churchill was never stupid enough to have it on film!
      
      What went on in the Mess stayed in the Mess!
      
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      March 4, 2025 2:40pm
  - wsk12345
    
    Except the people in the contested regions, if I understand correctly are ethnically Russian and overwhelming voted in a referendum to return to being Russian territory you can’t say that about the countries Hitler overran.
    
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    March 4, 2025 11:48am
    - herb1
      
      Yes of course the penalty for not voting in favour , at gunpoint is obvious to most
      
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      March 4, 2025 12:28pm
      - Jules99
        
        International observers dispute that.
        
        3 3
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        March 4, 2025 1:36pm
    - Allan
      
      After the Ukranians were cleansed there was a referendum.
      
      When all that was left were mostly Russians. When polling stations were manned by Russian soldiers and seperatist militia I would suggest there wasn’t a lot of desire to select any other option.
      
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      March 4, 2025 12:45pm
  - David Garrett
    
    herb: Indeed. As I have said above, although of course the analogy is not perfect, I believe there are distinct similarities between the current conflict and WW II.
    
    As someone pointed out the other day in a Telegraph article, Churchill also turned up at the White House wearing what he called his “siren suit” – essentially a pair of overalls – rather than a business suit.
    
    I don’t know quite what lies behind Zelensky’s unconventional attire, but 80 years after Churchill, I don’t see it as “disrespectful” as Trump’s tame journalist did at that extraordinary meeting.
    
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    March 4, 2025 12:00pm
- tavita
  
  He was supposed to give the minerals to Trump on the understanding that Trump would then do a deal with Putin so that he could access them.
  
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  March 4, 2025 10:02am
  - Don Beckett
    
    What unadulterated crap!!
    
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    March 4, 2025 11:30am
- kowtow
  
  I’m not answering for Steve O but;
  
  if you go looking for tens of billions you have to be prepared to do some serious arse licking.
  
  the other very important detail everyone is missing out on here is ;
  
  Zelensky was there for one thing and one thing only, that had been agreed before the oval Offive meeting . To sign the deal on the minerals . Nothing else.
  
  Howver he pushed it to details of negotiations ( whcih are way doen the road )
  
  USA backstop for French and British intervention
  USA air cover for same .
  
  Watch that meeting and you’ll see he was gunning for way more than was agreed in the meeting before the meeting .
  
  As Trump losses his patience he was subtly warning Zel to back off all along .
  
  Zelensky refused .
  And I don’t think anyone is suggesting Zel loses his country , but he’ll probably have to lose the areas that Putin has , illegally taken.
  
  IMHO a deal will be signed , the Euros will see to that .
  
  NB I’m not a Putin apologist . I think it’s a pity that guy who died in the plane ‘accident’ didn’t drive on to Moscow and oust the nasty runt.
  
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  March 4, 2025 10:23am
- Steve Otto N Shore
  
  I can’t find the comment you are referring to DG.
  Has it been deleted? I don’t know.
  
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  March 4, 2025 10:53am
  - Steve Otto N Shore
    
    DG. It was a news item on my homepage. I have tried to find it even using the history data, but I have that limited to 50 items.
    I am guessing that the mods did not like the content or maybe a comment I made.
    Strange that people are still commenting and up/downticking on an item they can not even read.
    Might start taking screenshots to refer back to.
    
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    March 4, 2025 3:42pm
- Interested Party
  
  The argument is – this was the third attempt to sign the deal, he had already declined to sign on two occasions but saying he would next time. The deal is the first step, having the US interests in Ukraine would give a defacto security guarantee of sorts, the Europeans would provide further security. He was invited over to sign, not argue his case in front of the media. Every other leader is respectful when in the Whitehouse, as we’re Macron and Starmer in their recent visits. If you have time watch the body language link I posted above, the 30 odd minutes prior to the spat is enlightening, as a lawyer you should know body language are important queues. Anyone who has been involved in management knows that when dealing with someone who has better cards (power) they need to tread carefully in their utterances – they are not high school kids.
  
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  March 4, 2025 12:14pm
NeverMindTheBollocks

Amid the cancelled summer music festival hoo-haa, I note that Boy George was one of the acts.

How is it that Boy George got a visa to visit NZ?

In 2009 Boy George was sentenced to 15 months in jail for falsely imprisoning a male escort by handcuffing him to a wall and beating him with a metal chain.

(Heather Norton, for the prosecution, asked the jury during the trial: “Did he really have to hurt him?”) – heh!

http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/jan/16/boy-george-sentenced-handcuffing-male-escort
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March 4, 2025 9:25am
- kowtow
  
  There’s a very odd relationship in New Zealand between the Administrative State and cough cough the music crowd.
  
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  March 4, 2025 10:25am
  - Colville
    
    Do you mean the snort snort music crowd? 🙂
    
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    March 4, 2025 2:31pm
- greybeard
  
  “How is it that Boy George got a visa to visit NZ?”
  Probably some like-minded person/s in the Immigration department pulled a few strings and fudged a few answers.
  
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  March 4, 2025 10:33am
- Swifty
  
  Hahahahahaha!
  
  A very good question Bollocks.
  
  Yes, not a peep from the usual suspects.
  
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  March 4, 2025 11:56am
Master Mariner

There is just a small problem.
There are NO rare earths/ very little precious metals of commercial quantities so far found.
Yep, Plenty Oil/Gas, Iron Ore and Coal ( Mostly already in Russian held territory.
Remember Afghanistan had plenty as well as used for justification for an invasion.
So where is this misinformation coming from ? How much truth is in it ?
Why is Trump pushing a Deal in non existent metals and not Oil/Gas/ Iron/ Coal ?
This is what is baffling me.
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March 4, 2025 9:26am
- Gravelroad
  
  The US government has channeled $US billions and billions of taxpayer money into Ukraine – to what end?
  Should the people of America expect any return for their generous donations?
  (disclaimer I am not “against” Ukraine, or Russia- just asking a question).
  
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  March 4, 2025 10:03am
  - RoboRob
    
    One arguement for this spending is that, Russia is now much weaker militarily and economicly then it has been in decades. The US has upgraded its weapons arsonal by shipping out old stock and replacing with new. The spend has primarily been in the USA with the weapons manfacturers and this has acted as a stimulation for the US economy.
    
    All of this without American blood being spilled. From a US perspective some argue this is money well spent.
    
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    March 4, 2025 10:13am
    - Colville
      
      The USA gets to test all its new toys without the bloodshed that would normally entail.
      USA has seen how shit the Ruskies gear and training is so probably want it to settle down now so Russia can rebuild just incase China gets frisky!
      
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      March 4, 2025 10:49am
    - NothingLeft
      
      Exactly, The USA spent 10’s of trillions in current dollars fighting Russia during cold war, and now for less than 1% of that, mostly in form of gifting old stored hardware nearing obsolescence, with money to replace them being spent in US economy to add shiny new upgraded gear to US military inventory, and no US lives lost, Ukraine has mostly defanged them. Amazing return on investment.
      
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      March 4, 2025 11:52am
    - imalwaysright
      
      Correct Roborob,
      This is stock rotation.
      PaknSave puts end of life products on sale.
      The Military Arms Industry creates a hunger for weapons and then sells them at full price.
      
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      March 4, 2025 2:26pm
      - kevn
        
        iam… Basil Zaharoff arms dealer puts the current lot to shame. Selling same arms to both sides etc…
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basil_Zaharoff
        
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        March 4, 2025 4:37pm
  - kowtow
    
    If you’re inclined this historian , Mark Felton is excellent .
    
    How Britain’s bullion ended up in Fort Knox.So much for the special relationship.Only 11 odd minutes.
    
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boOPyGBLfv4
    
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    March 4, 2025 10:27am
  - Master Mariner
    
    Answer to first question. Zilch. It was always a Grant. Mean while Europe has channelled money as a Loan.
    Any returns would have to come by Russian Held territory, ie where all the Wealth and Offshore Crimea oil/Gas Fields.
    
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    March 4, 2025 11:28am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Ukraine has at least thirty seven critical mineral deposits across the country, with Lithium, Titanium and Graphite being the most abundant.
  
  https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ukraine-minerals-deal-trump-zelensky-rare-earth-russia-b2706541.html
  
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  March 4, 2025 10:14am
  - Master Mariner
    
    Interesting but not taken by this report.
    If it was so valuable then why was it not already mined?
    Critcal Earths and Rare earths are 2 different beasts.
    Report Commissioned by the EU “some thing”.
    
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    March 4, 2025 11:33am
    - Interested Party
      
      There’s a war on, Ukrainian companies may not have the capital or know how to mine efficiently
      
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      March 4, 2025 12:24pm
  - rockape
    
    NZ has quite a few of them too. Sadly our enemy,the Greenies, stop us accessing them.
    
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    March 4, 2025 12:13pm
    - Ian Boag
      
      It’s somewhat sobering to read about the incredibly dirty operations required to access rare earths in China where most come from.
      
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      March 4, 2025 1:40pm
      - Don Beckett
        
        ….and the Congo.
        
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        March 4, 2025 3:39pm
      - Ian Boag
        
        @Don
        
        Congo mining is not all that grubby. Basically all they do is dig the ore and ship it out. In a sensible world they would be processing it there, but in a failed state like the DRC you wouldn’t be up for the capex required to build a plant so some warlord can ransom it from time to time.
        
        DRC is a pretty sad place. There’s a good book I ran into – “Blood River” by Tim Butcher (a Pom journo). He tried to go down the river from Lake Victoria to the sea. He didn’t make it all the way – finished the trip in a UN helicopter. A good read though – he is objective about the place. Asset stripped by the Belgians then by Mobutu and Kabila – broken down beyond belief.
        
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        March 4, 2025 5:11pm
- imalwaysright
  
  Isn’t it odd that a publically funded service provider, Waipereira Trust, can accumulate tens of millions of dollars in excess of the amount of their annual government grant.
  
  Shouldn’t the previous years residue be subtracted from the coming years grant?
  
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  March 4, 2025 10:15am
  - Colville
    
    Yip if you havent spent it then give it back!
    
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    March 4, 2025 10:50am
  - Swifty
    
    In the event that Waipareira is wound down, for whatever reason, what happens to those funds? How will they be distributed?
    
    I have heard of a rort overseas – set up an NGO with a paltry amount of initial capital, give it a virtuous purpose and virtuous-sounding name, campaign for and attract state funding, accumulate large reserves then close it all down and cash out.
    
    Can our legal beagles shed any light?
    
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    March 4, 2025 2:16pm
sungsamning

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlDKO0fHBRM
Dems slightly Concerned.
Republicans like Charlie Kirk and others who worked to win previously blue States need to ramp it up and put the Chokehold on democrats for 2026 because if we can sweep 2026 Congressional voting then we could own the White House for 12 to 20 years. The Patriot party that is. [If a federal voter ID law can be passed that’d be a bonus.]
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March 4, 2025 9:56am
sungsamning

https://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2025/03/03/get-ready-a-civil-war-is-about-to-break-out-in-the-democratic-party-n4937510
Get Ready! A Civil War Is About to Break Out in the Democratic Party.
The Democratic Party may be imploding before our eyes, folks. What we’re seeing isn’t just your typical post-election finger-pointing—it’s a potential full-blown civil war brewing between moderates and the radical left wing that has hijacked the party and alienated mainstream Americans.
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March 4, 2025 9:56am
- Grunter
  
  The Dems are toast. They will implode IMO.
  
  What replaces them will be interesting.
  
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  March 4, 2025 10:35am
  - sungsamning
    
    Probably. Just to make sure the administration should thoroughly investigate it; and charge it under the RICO act, or whatever else as necessary.
    
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    March 4, 2025 2:19pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Oh dear,
looks like John Tamihere may be dining on marmite sandwiches soon…

https://waateanews.com/2025/03/03/tamihere-slams-whanau-ora-funding-changes/
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March 4, 2025 10:19am
- Jethrod
  
  Hopefully a bit of porridge involved too!
  
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  March 4, 2025 10:38am
- imalwaysright
  
  I’m not sure why the Waipereira Trust needs to exist.
  We have a social welfare department.
  Maoris and whites and everyone else all live in houses and need food and clothes. If someone is hard up the SW helps them out. Race doesn’t matter.
  
  Why introduce another layer.
  For example- Maccas don’t employ another organization to serve only their maori customers.
  
  There is far too much duplication of bureacracy in the name of being fair to maoris. Its a scam, and Tamihere has blown it for the rest of them.
  Thankfully
  
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  March 4, 2025 10:43am
  - Don Beckett
    
    The Trust exists so John Tamahere can cream off mega bucks to fund his own whanau – too bad for poor Hone down the road.
    
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    March 4, 2025 11:41am
  - cmm
    
    “Maccas don’t employ another organization to serve only their maori customers. ”
    
    Not quite, but trying hard…
    
    https://franchise.co.nz/articles/2758-mcdonald-s-embraces-te-reo
    
    The whole Maori NGO thing is a huge grift. That is all.
    
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    March 4, 2025 1:19pm
PurplePen

James Grenon has spent $9 million to take his shareholding in NZME to 9.3 percent.

Grenon has been linked with alternative news sites, including The Centrist, serving as the company’s director up to August 2023.

The Centrist claims to present under-served perspectives and reason-based analysis, “even if it might be too hot for the mainstream media. There might be hope for NZ Herald?

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/in-depth/543611/canadian-billionaire-jim-grenon-tight-lipped-on-nzme-share-purchase
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March 4, 2025 10:49am
- kiwi_chileno
  
  And according to the RNZ story, “Business Desk, an NZME owned publication, previously described The Centrist and its sister site NZ News Essentials as among sites that sprang up targeting disaffected groups on the political fringes.”
  
  Despite Grenon’s small stake, I wonder if there be will editorial changes, like Patrick Soon-Shiong has made at the LA Times to bring ‘fairness and balance’ (echoing Fox News’ motto, Fair and Balanced) and Bezos is making at the Washington Post. Perhaps the recent NZME redundancies are a harbinger of changes to come.
  
  What RNZ deems to be ‘alternative media’ in NZ is pretty mainstream in Chile. There are two dominant, media conglomerates, both right-leaning – COPESA, controlled by a billionaire, right-wing businessman Chilean of Palestinian descent, and El Mecurio SAP, which is controlled by the Edwards family. Like NZME, El Mecurio has a portfolio of newspapers and radio stations.
  
  El Mecurio’s Valparaíso edition, is Chile’s newspaper paper of record – the oldest (1827), continuously published newspaper in the Spanish-speaking world. Agustín Edwards was the publisher from the 1950’s to the 2000’s. He met with Kissinger, the CIA, and possibly Nixon, pushing for a US-led, pre-emptive coup to block the inauguration of Allende; received CIA funding for an anti-Allende ‘dis-information’ campaign; and supported Pinochet. El Mecurio has never apologised for any of that. El Mercurio’s Valparaíso building was set on fire by protesters in October 2019, during the Estallido Social (social uprising) – a crazy time in Chile, with a State of Emergency being imposed.
  
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  March 4, 2025 7:21pm
Prince

Can’t wait for todays thrilling instalment…
Not enough/too many veggies.
Not halal.
Fish pie. The horror.
Doctored photo from Teachers Union of foreign body in food.
Too cold/hot/big/small.
Not chicken/beef/lamb/pasta again !
Late/Early/Not delivered to tables.

We wait with bated breath.
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March 4, 2025 11:48am
- Blog-aholic
  
  Baited breath or buttered bread?
  
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  March 4, 2025 12:56pm
- Ian Boag
  
  As I understand it, Compass are contracted to deliver some pretty basic stuff, warmed to be edible and before lunchtime. Or something like that. Seymour praised them as an outfit that knows the business.
  
  They are real good at all this – see https://compass-group.co.nz/
  
  They seem to be failing all over the place. If they were a gummint department there would be an uproar. If they were delivering food to hospitals like this there would be a huge stink.
  
  This is a separate issue from whether there should be school lunches provided. That ship – for better or worse – has sailed. The contracted provider seems to be having protracted teething problems getting to grips with a task that hardly seems like rocket science …. and there’s no sign of any blowback from the gummint who are paying them.
  
  Go figure.
  
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  March 4, 2025 5:22pm
Swifty

Parker vs Bakole full fight and look who pops up at 5:17 – our own Luigi from Whangarei.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uSUhIAStkQ
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March 4, 2025 11:49am
cmm

Is this need to collect special tax info for purchases over $1000 real?

These days you could easily do that with a trolley of Christmas shopping – especially if you have a few bottles of top-shelf plonk in there.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/paknsave-whanganui-apologises-after-questioning-womans-1000-grocery-purchase/HB3CMQ6EWRGUVHCY5UQNLW67KI/
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March 4, 2025 12:46pm
- Jules99
  
  I have come across it before. I thought it was older than 2023, but yeah it’s a thing. Shouldn’t be.
  
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  March 4, 2025 1:33pm
- Flossie
  
  Recently purchased a new computer for well over $1k – no questions asked!
  I also recall about a year ago assisting a family member do a huge grocery shop for a family party which they were catering. themselves. Again, no questions asked.
  
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  March 4, 2025 1:57pm
  - cmm
    
    Yup, this really smells like there’s a bit more to the story – like a suspect stolen credit card or misuse of a WINZ card or some such.
    
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    March 4, 2025 5:43pm
- Prince
  
  Win-Win for Herald.
  Alternative headline…
  ‘Why did Paknsav allow use of stolen credit card for $1500 grocery raid ?’
  
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  March 4, 2025 2:26pm
- Diogenes
  
  cmm: Re your post, just try to pay for something substantial from your bank account. I’m with Co-operative Bank, and have to phone in to get permission to pay a bill of more than $5,000. (My most recent vehicle purchase was $6,000.)
  
  What’s worse, if you go to a money exchange to change other currencies into NZ dollars, you are put through the wringer big time, even you have only a few dollars to change. You have effectively have to prove that you are not laundering money.
  
  And from what I read internationally, if moves towards establishing digital currencies succeed, ALL your funds will be in the control of the government, who will decide whether you are a fit person and how you should spend your money. Some countries are already there, eg British banks debanking customers such as Nigel Farage.
  
  [Mod – fixed]
  
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  March 4, 2025 2:43pm
  - cmm
    
    Sure, I have a similar limit on my accounts too and had to do the same when I bought a car a few years back.
    
    But that has nothing to do with a supermarket purchase of $1000 being a tax requirement imposed by the government under existing regulations.
    
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    March 4, 2025 5:42pm
    - Ian Boag
      
      Probably related to MLM aka Money Laundering Madness. 🙂
      
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      March 4, 2025 5:49pm
  - Observer of Life
    
    “Wise” card anyone?
    Your money. Spend it how you will …
    
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    March 4, 2025 5:47pm
imalwaysright

Listening to Plunket on school lunches.
His distribution model is to throw the lunches off the back of a truck and the kids can chase after them like refugees !!
Hilarious !
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March 4, 2025 12:48pm
- Jules99
  
  LOL, sounds like fun. Imagine the video with the Benny Hill soundtrack.
  
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  March 4, 2025 1:33pm
Hugh Jarse

Why do 195 kids at Murchison school need school lunches ?. What was the criteria for deciding they were worthy ?. Towns like Murchison are small, remote and as a result the people are very resilient, there is usually high employment and should be a ready supply of fresh homegrown vegetables. If this measure can be justified on the basis of need what are the children doing for breakfasts and dinners, what are the adults doing, starving to provide the children food for those other meals.

Were the kids fainting in the streets during the schools holidays ?

Are these lunches contributing to the growing crisis of childhood obesity ?

It’s just utterly ridiculous and I fully support Luxon with his statement this morning, or put another way, you, had the kids now look after them.

PS: Dear NZ MSM, most of your readers are old enough to have brought up their kids, including you, properly and were able to feed and clothe them, they know your bullshit when they see it, but feel free to keep digging and blaming the government for parents failures.
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March 4, 2025 1:44pm
- Ian Boag
  
  To repeat – the “shall we do school lunches?” ship has sailed. The gummint – for better or worse – has decided that we should.
  
  So it should be done properly. A contracted provider – that stuffs up as much as Compass – should face some sanctions. Nobody twisted their arm to take the job on …..
  
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  March 4, 2025 5:53pm
  - Hugh Jarse
    
    Yes sadly for them it has sailed. Sorry Ian, this a suppurating sore, a gift to the opposition that will always produce a photo opportunity or failure for the media to promote on behalf of the opposition. It seems Seymour is doing his best to address the issues as they appear.
    
    If you want perfection then start paying for Michelin star food served individually, otherwise accept that mass produced food delivered to remote locations with no dedicated meal rooms overseen by left wing unionists won’t always be perfect.
    
    Food prepared at home to the child’s tastes or beliefs and sent to school with the kids for eating four hours later is always going to be a better and healthy option. The state doesn’t always know best.
    
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    March 4, 2025 7:23pm
imalwaysright

Feeling sorry for Benedict.
It must be like giving up smoking.
Not the same…
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March 4, 2025 1:54pm
Swifty

A murder trial has been set down for September 2027 – more than two and a half years hence.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/ngaruawahia-murder-accused-chalise-barton-barbarich-drops-name-suppression/6SFK3S3PWNFDTFN37TLTYQQJQU/

This is glacial justice. Surely we must do better.
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March 4, 2025 2:05pm
Prince

Sports question of the day:
How does Katey Martin get to commentate ICC tournament games overseas to a global audience, while Frankie Mackay is stuck in NZ doing domestic and some low-level international stuff to a handful of viewers ?
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March 4, 2025 2:34pm
- Northshoredoc
  
  Seniority, experience … ?
  
  2 0
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  March 4, 2025 3:45pm
- hookerphil
  
  Surely you don’t want both of them over there – only one quota spot is required.
  
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  March 4, 2025 3:48pm
  - Prince
    
    Frankie talks when she has something to say.
    Katie just talks, and talks, and talks. Terrible koiwoi accent too.
    
    3 0
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    March 4, 2025 4:05pm
Diogenes

I am a bit late coming on Kiwiblog today, but notice DG among others asking where they can see “An Inconvenient Truth”. A Google search using the term “Full movie” before the title brings up a lot of possibilities. Most of them require a rental fee, and some restrict the countries where it can be accessed. However, a possible likely viewing is via Microsoft. DG: You may have access in Tonga to movies which are not available in New Zealand.

Try the link: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/an-inconvenient-truth/8d6kgwzl5l0l
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March 4, 2025 2:35pm
Chuck Bird

Trump has not just bullied Zelensky but also most of his allies with tariffs. Canada is now hitting back hard, as are other countries. Canada is cutting off electric power to the US.

This could hit Trump very hard in the midterms.
4 5
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March 4, 2025 3:17pm
- Northshoredoc
  
  I doubt Ontario and the other Canadian territories and provinces will turn off the switch; they have more generation than they need.
  
  Better to let the electricity tariffs go ahead and respond with reciprocal tariffs.
  
  The US electricity retailers in the States south of the border will immediately pass on the costs to their customers, who will no doubt voice their opinions on the increased costs to the current occupant of The White House.
  
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  March 4, 2025 3:43pm
- Steve Otto N Shore
  
  You do know that Zelensky met with a Democrat before the Trump/Vance meeting?
  Warmongering Democrats do not want the minerals deal, or peace in Ukraine/Russia.
  Sen Murphy – but things are getting very cloudy on google and duckduckgo.
  
  https://shorturl.at/DrpmE
  Snopes say that there were not 3 Republicans at that meeting with Zelensky and the Democrats. Can’t get an actual link from Snopes, just their main site.
  
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  March 4, 2025 4:20pm
  - kevn
    
    SteveO… More about zed meeting demos here.
    https://x.com/GardinerIsland/status/1896175750736138664
    
    3 3
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    March 4, 2025 4:42pm
    - Steve Otto N Shore
      
      Why are the lefties denying all of this when the internet thingy can tell us different?
      Are the left that thick??
      
      1 3
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      March 4, 2025 6:07pm
    - MCōs
      
      The relevant sentence in the article
      “Just finished a meeting with President Zelensky here in Washington. He confirmed that the Ukrainian people will not support a fake peace agreement where Putin gets everything he wants and there are no security arrangements for Ukraine,”
      Who could argue with that?
      
      1 1
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      March 5, 2025 12:57am
- Stu2
  
  Seems bizarre that voters didn’t contrast the impact of tariffs with reduced grocery and other prices.
  
  Trump couldn’t deliver both.
  
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  March 4, 2025 7:14pm
Swifty

I am now completely convinced this is all nothing but a hit job on Luxon and Seymour etc.

A beat up.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/543726/is-a-marmite-sandwich-and-an-apple-good-enough-for-a-child-s-lunch

Not one single mention of New Zealand parents and caregivers failing in their duty to their own kids. Not one.

Just imagine if the left and the news media devoted just one percent of the wrath and derision they hurl towards Seymour and Luxon and instead directed it towards the feckless and useless parents, we wouldn’t be in this mess.

Have any of us ever heard a single case of where one of these luvvie have got stuck into feckless parents? Ripped shit out of caregivers for not equipping their kids with lunches?

This whole thing is completely and entirely political. They’ll lose no votes whatsoever in shutting it down. Do it the right way and they might even gain some.
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March 4, 2025 4:09pm
- Ghost
  
  Surely a marmite sandwich and an apple is better for a child than the pizzas and pies some schools have being buying for the kids.
  
  13 0
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  March 4, 2025 4:23pm
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    Surely if a child was experiencing hunger, they’d eat the food provided;
    
    or have I misunderstood what it means to be hungry?
    
    14 0
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    March 4, 2025 4:46pm
    - Ghost
      
      Having seen some of the photos or what’s being served up in the school lunches, I’d rather go hungry.
      
      2 7
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      March 4, 2025 5:23pm
      - Hugh Jarse
        
        Just a question, how much credibility can we give to these photo’s provided by the teachers ?
        
        3 0
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        March 4, 2025 7:50pm
      - Ghost
        
        Doesn’t matter who posts them, the kids, the parents, the teachers, they still look crap. I wouldn’t feed that rubbish to my dog. most here wouldn’t eat it either if they are honest. This provider has failed
        
        0 1
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        March 4, 2025 8:58pm
      - Hugh Jarse
        
        You might not but that doesn’t mean what is portrayed is what is being provided.
        
        1 0
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        March 4, 2025 9:36pm
      - Ghost
        
        Yeah, it’s a huge conspiracy……
        
        The food is crap, the provider is not up to it. Time to admit that and change the provider.
        
        0 1
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        March 4, 2025 9:54pm
    - MCōs
      
      Here’s an article from the Herald about some kids who were reduced to eating some cockroaches they discovered
      So yes hungry people will eat anything
      https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/starving-boy-eats-roach/T6AC7OBJ4NAZG4W7RAMGOFI2HA/
      No date, but Paula Bennett was Minister
      
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      March 4, 2025 10:57pm
  - MCōs
    
    The apple would be better, but a marmite sandwich is marginally.
    Most bread I see is shit
    
    0 1
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    March 4, 2025 8:36pm
- Swifty
  
  RNZ’s lack of balance and favouring lefty attack lines just gets worse over time.
  
  https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/543737/luxon-s-marmite-sandwich-suggestion-leaves-bad-taste-with-school-principals
  
  I suspect Luxon will just give them even more funding in the hope they’ll be nicer to him….
  
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  March 4, 2025 8:19pm
Chuck Bird

This is unbelievable. Luxon is happy with deviants fucking with toddler minds.

Rodney Hide: Chris Luxon is done

https://breakingviewsnz.blogspot.com/2025/03/rodney-hide-chris-luxon-is-done.html
3 1
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March 4, 2025 5:00pm
- fightingtemeraire
  
  Read articles on the “Good Oil” blog. He is a dead man walking!!!
  
  3 3
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  March 4, 2025 5:04pm
  - Ghost
    
    Who would have ever guessed, Winston peters mouth piece saying that. Probably the least credible and trustworthy place to read, with no minister not far behind.
    
    3 2
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    March 4, 2025 7:11pm
  - Hugh Jarse
    
    Yep let’s bring Muller back, he will be ok this time.
    
    2 0
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    March 4, 2025 7:47pm
Jack5

Seymour feeds the crowd….

He talks to the media on school lunches at the link below.

The challenge 133,000 meals a day – that’s the challenge, and “we’re overcoming it,” says Seymour.

https://youtu.be/N0AB3IUL38w?si=Bt2tqNp1wwPkSele
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March 4, 2025 5:15pm
Swifty

Once again, Elizabeth Rata knocks it out of the park:

https://www.bassettbrashandhide.com/post/dr-elizabeth-rata-a-knowledge-rich-curriculum-for-new-zealand
2 0
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March 4, 2025 6:39pm
Dunc

Whats happening with Mr Karel Sroubek ….? Does anyone have any idea ?
2 0
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March 4, 2025 7:59pm
MCōs

BREAKING NEWS
Putin has made an offer to mediate a peace agreement between Trump and Zelenskyy
6 1
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March 4, 2025 8:27pm

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