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March 27, 2025 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 27 March 2025

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General Debate

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Scott

I watched the cricket last night and I was really annoyed. Not by the cricket but by the wokeness of TVNZs coverage of the cricket. And more specifically by the scoreboard which was a banner along the bottom of the screen. It read:
5th T20I, Wellington
WHANGANUI A TARA

Maybe it’s just me but the fact is that Maori built no cities, had no metal tools or nails and built no settlements larger than a village of grass huts. Wellington was named after the Duke of Wellington and is entirely a creation of western civilisation beginning with settlers from Great Britain in 1839.

I don’t want the name of every town or city changed to a Maori name. And I’m disappointed that our state broadcaster is perpetuating this cultural madness.

Update – And it gets worse! After an hour or so our state broadcasters began advertising the next Black Caps game, a one day international at McLean Park, AHURIRI. Who the heck ever calls Napier, Ahuriri? 🤔
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March 27, 2025 8:01am
- Apteryx
  
  As I understand it, some of the tax money being spent on promoting the Maori language goes to support TV coverage of the cricket. As I cricket fan I partly approve.
  
  The quid pro quo, of course, is the random promotion of Maori words. City names. Wha for four. Anyone with the remotest interest in or knowledge of Maori knows the word for four. But ‘wikiti’? Really? Taxpayers’ money spent to promote that?
  
  This has to be the least effective advertising spending ever. But then it’s not about protecting or promoting the language, but is really a form of cultural dick-swinging.
  
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  March 27, 2025 9:30am
  - kowtow
    
    ‘some of the tax money being spent on promoting the Maori language goes to support TV coverage of the cricket’
    
    I don’t approve .
    
    It’s just another tricky , underhand , sneaky way for the regime to promote it’s own agenda and to treat us like idiots while using our own money to do it .
    
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    March 27, 2025 10:35am
- newview
  
  I agree Scott. Couldn’t believe what I was looking at. Woke BS.
  
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  March 27, 2025 9:42am
  - JerJer
    
    I was pleasantly surprised landing in New Zealand a few days back on Air New Zealand that the stewardess came into the intercom when we landed and simply said “Good evening Ladies and gentleman and welcome to Christhchurch”, with no irrelevant Māori before or afterward. It was quite a shock.
    
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    March 27, 2025 7:11pm
- nigel2010
  
  i wonder if the woefully small crowd is a result of the wokeness on display, yes i know this was a weekday game but only having a handful of people there to watch it live i’d almost an embarrassment
  
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  March 27, 2025 10:24am
- leoj
  
  New Zealand Cricket allowed this to happen.
  
  It’s the most colonial of sports yet maori have to stick their big mits all over it.
  
  NZC should have said NO but like all organizations, they are too scared to be labelled “racist”.
  
  The same happened at Ellerslie and the NZB Kiwi race. Maori took over but woke NZTR and Ellerslie got shellacked by iwi.
  
  The maori wave is quite okay with maori activist Luxon and the Nats.
  
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  March 27, 2025 10:37am
- Tom Hunter
  
  They’ll only do what you ask if you and many others stop watching.
  
  Admittedly they’re so far gone that I doubt even poor ratings would dissuade them.
  
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  March 27, 2025 11:00am
  - Mike
    
    I agree with Tom. New Zealand upset by ports broadcasting using te reo or referencing Maoritanga should stop watching. Or complain about in in blog comments.
    
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    March 27, 2025 11:09am
    - Jack5
      
      Mike/Milky’s … ports broadcasting using te reo …
      
      🚢Where did that come from?
      
      Milky, are you talking about Maritime NZ’s radio service on Channel 16?
      
      Are you talking about Maori language in contrast to “Maritime English,” a.k.a. SMCP (Standard Maritime Communication Phrases)?
      
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      March 27, 2025 2:09pm
- Ghost
  
  Who the heck ever calls Napier, Ahuriri?
  
  Well, McLean Park does
  
  https://www.mcleanpark.co.nz/
  
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  March 27, 2025 11:29am
- zulumonster
  
  I was at the game and on the big screens they were alternating Maori and English for things like OUT and CAUGHT – there was only one Maori word that I could easily translate and remember – WICKITI !
  It was pretty cringeworthy.
  
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  March 27, 2025 1:37pm
- NoFax
  
  Isn’t Ahuriri a suburb in Napier? More towards the Port than McLean Park.
  
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  March 27, 2025 1:49pm
  - pdm
    
    Very true.
    
    It is the original Port Area around the Iron Pot as far as I am aware.
    
    I have live in Hawkes Bay most of my 78yrs 11months 8days.
    
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    March 27, 2025 5:28pm
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  Cricket is a pakeha taonga. Hands off!
  
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  March 27, 2025 6:43pm
NeverMindTheBollocks

Contenders for both bravery and Darwin Awards.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/world-news/360630197/palestinians-protest-hamas-rare-public-show-dissent-gaza
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March 27, 2025 8:02am
- redeye
  
  Stuff are obviously using a different counting method for this protest. The say hundreds but I have seen the same size crowds referred to as tens of thousands by that paper.
  
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  March 27, 2025 9:31am
artemisia

More legislation is ‘deserved’ because some folk find it too difficult to read current food labels.

Clear vegan and vegetarian food labelling should be put into legislation so consumers can be confident that what they are buying really meets their dietary requirements, say NZ’s vegetarian and vegan societies…. The Vegan Society said consumers deserved to know what they were buying without having to resort to reading every item on the ingredients label.

There’s a simple answer, no new laws needed. Don’t want to read a label? Don’t buy food with a label. There’s a whole supermarket aisle right there. EZ.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/547582/vegetarian-and-vegan-labelling-would-eliminate-ambiguity-advocates
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March 27, 2025 8:10am
- pdm
  
  arty – what they want is utter bullshit.
  
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  March 27, 2025 8:19am
  - artemisia
    
    Would bullshit count as plant based?
    
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    March 27, 2025 8:22am
    - 7kiwi11
      
      No it will invariably contain the animals dead cells and metabolic waste products
      
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      March 27, 2025 9:12am
      - Don Beckett
        
        Well the bullshit would make it green, so there’s one qualifier. 🙂
        
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        March 27, 2025 1:48pm
    - Matt Long
      
      That’s hard to say, faeces and fermented foods contain a lot of bacteria that are definitely not vegan.
      But vegans aren’t known for rational thought so who knows.
      
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      March 27, 2025 9:44am
      - David Garrett
        
        Matt: I would go further and say vegans are incapable of rational thought. Ask one why we have canine teeth and watch them have a fit of apoplexy. It’s true – I’ve tried it!
        
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        March 27, 2025 9:53am
  - David Garrett
    
    Pdm: That’s because “being vegan” is a form of mental illness…vegetarianism, not so much
    
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    March 27, 2025 8:27am
- Blog-aholic
  
  Watch out for when they change their constitution to be more TOW centric…..
  
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  March 27, 2025 8:35am
- David Garrett
  
  Art: thanks for that link. I note that honey is also a no-no for these nuts…presumably because the bees – which are insects not animals – are being exploited by apiarists
  
  What a sad life it must be to be a vegan, constantly on the look out for “animal by products” in everything they buy in a jar or a can.
  
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  March 27, 2025 8:36am
  - kowtow
    
    “Animal by product”
    
    Without market gardeners intervening in nature these “vegans” wouldn’t have the luxury of being able to proclaim their vegainsim.
    
    Or indeed evil transportation systems bringing them their food to their inner city shops .
    
    Or whether they’d ever even considered the amount of added nutrients etc pumped through plastic irrigation systems inside the glass and plastic houses needed to grow such “natural” produce .
    
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    March 27, 2025 8:48am
    - Dougal10
      
      Do they want veggies to have a blood and bone fertiliser label and what if someone used that awful urea fertiliser on the food , in reality veganism is a cherry picking mental illness if they don’t grow all their own food and keep their own seeds.
      
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      March 27, 2025 10:45am
      - kowtow
        
        Hippies piss on their lemons , cos fertiliser .
        
        Animal by product !
        
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        March 27, 2025 12:38pm
  - G152
    
    If they really believed their nonsense we would have a spate of funerals and then glorious silence
    
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    March 27, 2025 8:53am
  - Steve Otto N Shore
    
    As you say DG, mental illness.
    Why do they put themselves through this? Nobody give a shit about their stupid beliefs.
    
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    March 27, 2025 8:56am
    - David Garrett
      
      Steve: I’m sure you know the old joke: How do you tell if a woman is vegan?
      Answer: You don’t need to know – she will tell you.
      
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      March 27, 2025 9:07am
    - 7kiwi11
      
      If there is money to be taken from them, then business’ will care
      
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      March 27, 2025 9:13am
  - cmm
    
    Insects are animals. They are not mammals but they are animals.
    
    To take it to the extreme, most fruit require insects to pollinate them and thus even apples are “animal byproducts”.
    
    You’d be left eating wheat and sugar cane and not much else.
    
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    March 27, 2025 9:41am
    - David Garrett
      
      Cmm: I stand corrected
      
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      March 27, 2025 10:06am
    - kowtow
      
      Those lovely apples are probably all product of grafting. Even lab work . Nothing natural but major animal intervention there , by Jove!
      
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      March 27, 2025 10:38am
    - PurplePen
      
      Not even that. When wheat is harvested all manner of insects and rodents get caught up in the harvester and are killed.
      
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      March 27, 2025 11:11am
      - kowtow
        
        They should be forced to have cameras on them.
        
        Save the biosphere !
        
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        March 27, 2025 2:09pm
  - rangitoto
    
    Insects are animals according to their classification:
    
    Domain: Eukaryota
    Kingdom: Animalia
    Phylum: Arthropoda
    Clade: Pancrustacea
    Subphylum: Hexapoda
    Class: Insecta
    
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    March 27, 2025 11:10am
  - AitchW
    
    Honey, avocados, tomatoes, anything pollinated by bees from wooden hives.
    It’s no wonder vegans almost always are pale, thin and undernourished looking. They can’t eat anything.
    
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    March 27, 2025 11:41am
    - Jethrod
      
      But what makes them winney and whingey tho?
      
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      March 27, 2025 12:25pm
      - NeverMindTheBollocks
        
        Same
        
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        March 27, 2025 6:45pm
    - kowtow
      
      And angry.
      
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      March 27, 2025 12:39pm
  - John Loveridge
    
    They’ll wear “vegan leather” though, which is basically polyurethane. Completely nuts.
    
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    March 27, 2025 2:02pm
  - JerJer
    
    ….and avocado and nuts too, particularly almonds. Many bees die during that type of food production. Nasty stuff. But the vegans all seem to like these foods.
    
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    March 27, 2025 7:14pm
- Steve Otto N Shore
  
  “difficult to read”
  Did they not go to school? Were teachers not good enough to teach them?
  Something went wrong. I can read labels.
  
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  March 27, 2025 9:08am
  - sirknz
    
    Getting older and their close in eyesight is going.
    
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    March 27, 2025 1:05pm
- cmm
  
  “dietary requirements” Nope, a dietary want.
  
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  March 27, 2025 9:34am
- wsk12345
  
  To be fair, nobody over 50 can read most labels now the type is that small. Even with glasses I have to resort to a photo to magnify any labels.
  
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  March 27, 2025 9:47am
- alloytoo
  
  I have some sympathy here:
  
  Something like:
  
  “Warning: Fake Meat Product. does not contain genuine animal protein.”
  
  Likewise with Milk.
  
  Vegans can be assured that with this label their mental health needs will be met.
  
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  March 27, 2025 11:44am
- Inandout
  
  Little wonder vegans look gaunt, or pasty. The brain requires certain vitamins not seen in that list.
  
  ‘A vegan diet consists entirely of plant-based foods, including fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, and seeds, while excluding all animal products such as meat, dairy, and eggs. People choose this diet for various reasons, including health benefits, ethical concerns about animal welfare, and environmental considerations’.
  
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  March 27, 2025 12:54pm
- Colville
  
  What they are asking for is marketing.
  
  If food company thinks it will increase sales by clear labeling of its food “THIS IS PURE CARDBOARD VEAGAN SHIT” then it will do so… and vegans will be able to buy it knowing exactly what it is.
  
  But I suspect sales would drop for products labeled like that 🙂
  
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  March 27, 2025 1:38pm
- Handyman
  
  Beware the scam.
  Vegan labels will require being certified by some organisation such as the vegan society.
  
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  March 27, 2025 6:03pm
artemisia

Catastrophic result of this government’s sanctions – Beneficiaries on money cards may not be able to pay rent

If rent is not paid, tenancies will be terminated. Fortunately there is a simple way to avoid sanctions. Their mission should they choose to accept it ….

Sanctions are imposed on beneficiaries who fail to comply with Ministry of Social Development (MSD) requirements, like making a jobseeker profile and attending compulsory work seminars.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/556301/beneficiaries-on-money-cards-may-not-be-able-to-pay-rent
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March 27, 2025 8:12am
- Gravelroad
  
  From the article;
  “She is on the medical Jobseeker allowance with depression and PTSD after a traumatic family event”
  Plenty of people have sad and bad things happen in their lives, but they can still get a job and work at it.
  This person just does not want to work for a living.
  She is happy sponging off others who pay taxes so she can stay home and feeling entitled and special.
  End of.
  
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  March 27, 2025 9:10am
  - David Garrett
    
    Gravel: As I have said before more than once, I get furious when I read about some person having PTSD after ONE “traumatic family event” – said trauma usually never identified. A row at a funeral perhaps? Just about anything seems to quality as “trauma” these days.
    
    The Bomber Boys Of WW II suffered truly traumatic events, often one after another: seeing a mate’s head blown off, or another mate’s remains being hosed out of the rear turret.
    
    The poor buggers just kept on climbing into their machines night after night. No diagnosis of PTSD for them.
    
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    March 27, 2025 9:35am
    - Gravelroad
      
      My grandmother lost two sons in WW2- one flying in the Battle of Britain and the other driving an ammunition truck at the battle of El Alamein, Egypt.
      Ran over a land mine.
      She was a very brave and resilient woman.
      She worked as a dressmaker until retirement to earn money for the family.
      She liked going to the races as a day out and biking to her regular card evenings. Never had a car. Never had a hand-out.
      She had a friend’s young sons,who were at boarding school, round to her place on many Sundays and always made a sponge cake with pink icing -which they still remember.
      She died aged 94.
      
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      March 27, 2025 9:53am
      - David Garrett
        
        Gravel: You were privileged knowing such a remarkable woman.
        Sadly many women of the WW II generation never got over the loss of sons and lovers. They were damaged for life – and they would never dream of claiming they suffered from some “syndrome” – but sadly they probably were.
        
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        March 27, 2025 10:10am
      - Faroffsound
        
        Downticked in error.
        
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        March 27, 2025 4:17pm
    - Master Mariner
      
      Thats is the Crux of that Great Book Catch 22.
      
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      March 27, 2025 10:33am
- rouppe
  
  Crikey, Sara* is very unlucky for a 30-something year old.
  
  “I was on the housing wait list for a good long time and I never got anything … the housing lady straight up told me ‘you don’t have no kids, you’re not sick or disabled physically in any way, you’re not going to get a house.”
  
  So she’s saying that msd is asserting she’s fit and healthy.
  
  After rent and ongoing debt payments includingto MSD
  
  So she’s skipped rent, and other debt she’s acquired with third parties. Hmmm.
  
  She is on the medical Jobseeker allowance with depression and PTSD after a traumatic family event.
  
  Well you can’t be on that (higher) benefit without medical documentation.
  
  She’s since suffered nerve damage.
  
  How did that happen?
  
  She normally would take the bus, or walk, but a recent injury…
  
  Another one?
  
  Hugely unlucky…
  
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  March 27, 2025 9:13am
  - Ghost
    
    Her story doesn’t add up
    
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    March 27, 2025 12:07pm
- PurplePen
  
  How did we or any nation get to a point with a welfare system that so many need assistance. I looked it up and “Over 630,000 New Zealanders receive some form of welfare payment over a year (excluding superannuation)”. It sure as heck provides a living also for those that administer it.
  
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  March 27, 2025 11:16am
  - bennerg
    
    Purplepen, superannuation is not welfare, it is a payment received, on agreement, for paying taxes during your working life.
    
    Those paying taxes now should see that any of that that goes to superannuation payments is just in return for access to and use of all the infrastructure paid for by the taxes paid by the current superannuants during their working lifetime.
    
    Welfare on the other hand is meant to help those who cannot help themselves, whether that be temporary or permanent, and is a factor of a civilised and humane society.
    
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    March 27, 2025 12:39pm
    - Ian Boag
      
      superannuation is not welfare
      
      Funded by today’s taxpayers and paid to today’s beneficiaries. That’s sort of how benefits work. Unlike all the other benefits this one is not means/income tested.
      
      Basically you need to be 65 with a pulse and have lived here 20 years. No requirement that you ever paid any tax.
      
      And if we start jacking up the age then present taxpayers are funding a benefit they won’t get. Doesn’t feel right to call it “inter-generational theft” I suppose ..
      
      At some stage the ballooning costs of the pension will have to be addressed somehow. With any luck we can blow smoke at the issue until most of us have croaked.
      
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      March 27, 2025 6:18pm
      - NeverMindTheBollocks
        
        Good old Ian, still pushing that barrow. Friend, you’ll get few buyers around here.
        
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        March 27, 2025 6:48pm
      - Ian Boag
        
        @NMTB
        
        you’ll get few buyers around here
        
        and of course none with their name attached …. not willing to be publicly associated with your views 🙂
        
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        March 27, 2025 7:40pm
    - PurplePen
      
      I agree. I just copied quote from the source which totalled the number on welfare. Yes .. super was a social conteact the govt made decades ago. you work and pay tax all your life and we’ll pay you a super in retirement. But I will say it needs to be adjusted as life is not what it was when it was devised.
      
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      March 27, 2025 6:51pm
  - Allan
    
    How many workers does it take to support just one entitled beneficiary?
    
    Looking at the emigration figures how much longer until the ponzi scheme collapses?
    
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    March 27, 2025 1:15pm
  - Faroffsound
    
    Believe it or not some families are heading for their third generation on welfare.
    
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    March 27, 2025 4:21pm
    - Swifty
      
      Fifth and sixth – especially where women are having children in their teens, generation after generation.
      
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      March 27, 2025 6:53pm
- sirknz
  
  I have a niece who is currently pregnant (high risk) who is on a job seekers benefit. She is able to meet all the requirements of the benefit to avoid sanctions. It equates to a few hours out of her week from what I can gather.
  
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  March 27, 2025 1:07pm
pdm

Day trip Hastings to Taupo today to visit sister in law.

Looks a bit murky in Hastings so hope it is better at the Taupo end.
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March 27, 2025 8:21am
- Ra Henare
  
  For breakfast, I had bacon and eggs with warehouse baked beans.
  
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  March 27, 2025 8:27am
  - mandk
    
    Yes, but how did you cook the eggs?
    
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    March 27, 2025 9:36am
  - Mike
    
    I had muesli with peaches and blueberries.
    
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    March 27, 2025 9:49am
    - Matt Long
      
      A vegan breakfast, that’s noble fare.
      
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      March 27, 2025 10:08am
      - David Garrett
        
        Matt: Yes! I can easily imagine Mike (he gets very sensitive if you call him Mikey) as a dour depressed looking vegan, poring over the labels of the tins at his local Pak n Save looking for the dreaded “animal by products “
        
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        March 27, 2025 10:14am
      - AitchW
        
        Not sure that peaches are vegan. They’re pollinated by oppressed honey bees doncha know?
        
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        March 27, 2025 11:43am
    - Cassandra
      
      Of course you would. Then some yoga. After the yoghurt.
      
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      March 27, 2025 10:11am
      - Mike
        
        Now it’s time for a cup of herbal tea before meditation.
        
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        March 27, 2025 10:18am
  - Inandout
    
    Ra, I have tried a variety of baked beans, Heinz/ Woolies/NW/ house brands etc and none compare with Watties. The texture and flavour has not changed at all.
    
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    March 27, 2025 1:08pm
    - Graeme Hall
      
      Watties has too much sugar for some tastes. Woolworths baked beans have less.
      
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      March 27, 2025 2:07pm
    - Ra Henare
      
      Great that you have found something that suits your taste buds. I apply a cost benefit ration myself. So taste is not the only factor.
      
      PS. I understand from a previous factory manager that ALL the beans for Heinz and Watties(owned by Heinz) come from the same crops in Canada.
      
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      March 27, 2025 3:52pm
  - Ra Henare
    
    My comment was tongue in cheek to illustrate how inane some comments are on the current KB.
    
    Didnt realise I was starting a cooking post.
    
    I fry the eggs on a nonstick frypan. No oil required. I have 3 eggs as they are a very healthy dietary item.
    https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10304460/
    
    Ref Table 2
    
    The Smoked streaky bacon joins the eggs, as I have a large pan.
    The bacon has no additional preservatives or additives other than the brine it is cured in.
    I do not use bacon from mass production lines.
    The bacon is not cooked to crispy status. ie American style.
    
    In another pan I pan fry thinly sliced potatoes in Virgin Olive oil. Cooked at a temperature just short of oil smoking with minimum amounts of oil.
    
    PS. This has been my daily breakfast for at least the last 12 years.
    My checkups show minimal cholesterol and no sign of heart disease, my body weight and waist measurement are similar to when I was 21.
    
    I can still wear a tailormade shirt from 1969. Eighty next year and will continue my breakfasts. Sometimes with mushrooms, tomatoes and occasional sausage.
    
    PPS. Its a balmy warm 25c this morning in the Kingdom of Wonder (Siem Reap) where people couldn’t give a shit about what Trump(who is he) is doing or the possibility of WW3. Living a good family oriented life is top of their agenda.
    
    Message ends. Lets get back to real discussions like Trump, local meaningless politics and the crap thrown up each day by MSM.
    
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    March 27, 2025 1:44pm
    - Taieri
      
      The bacon has no additional preservatives or additives other than the brine it is cured in
      ———
      
      The brine consists of Prague powder 1, salt and sugar (optional). No other ingredients are needed to make bacon.
      Dry cure is better than brine.
      
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      March 27, 2025 2:48pm
      - Ra Henare
        
        Lookup yellow salt.
        Which is what my butcher uses to cure bacon.
        Not Prague powder.
        
        Thanks for adding your OPINION.
        I presume you are a qualified food nutritionist.
        Dry cured bacon tastes like crap IMHO.
        
        Usually I get rants about how bad eggs are or how bad bacon is etc etc.
        
        I forgot to add to my post above, I have 120 grams of Bacon in my breakfast. ($16.60 NZD/KG)
        
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        March 27, 2025 3:35pm
      - Taieri
        
        Lookup yellow salt.
        Which is what my butcher uses to cure bacon.
        Not Prague powder.
        ———–
        
        The reason for use of Prague powder is that it prevents growth of bacteria which causes botulism. It also gives bacon its red colour. Your butcher DOES use Prague powder for curing otherwise he wouldn’t be able to sell his products.
        
        I presume you are a qualified food nutritionist
        ———–
        
        I have been making bacon, hams, sausages and salamis for many years for my own use. Most of my smallgoods don’t need refrigeration and will keep good for months at the room temperature.
        
        Dry cured bacon tastes like crap IMHO
        ————
        
        You haven’t tasted a properly made dry cured and smoked bacon then.
        
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        March 27, 2025 4:05pm
      - Ra Henare
        
        I can assure you that my Butcher DOES NOT use Prague powder.
        
        They sell very well in their marketplace.
        It is a family owned business, and they freeze their product and sell 5,000 KGS a month to some of the top hotels/restaurants in CAMBODIA, including the likes of the Marriott chain.
        
        Oh god, not another, you haven’t tasted real xxx. Until you taste what I think is good.
        
        Its your opinion, that’s all.
        
        Enjoy your home made small goods, you are obviously passionate about it.
        
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        March 27, 2025 11:27pm
- David Garrett
  
  Pdm: another pleasant morning here in the Kingdom…will get hotter later
  
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  March 27, 2025 8:29am
- pdm
  
  Nice day in Taupo.
  
  Very nice lunch at a place away from the lake front near where the old bus station used to be.
  
  Sister in law in good health apart from some memory lapses which are allowed at age 85 or thereabouts.
  
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  March 27, 2025 5:34pm
Yvette

Treaty, Newsroom –
Roimata Smail simplifies Article Three of the Treaty to, “The Queen will give Māori the same protection as British citizens.” Yet Māori, courtesy Article Two, “will keep total authority over their land, resources and way of life.” (her bolding). “If they want to sell land, they promise to only sell land to the Queen.” If this interpretation is correct it means, nevertheless, that Māori were accepting the European way of doing business. There was no such thing as monetary purchase and selling of land in the old Māori world and, therefore, via te Tiriti they were accepting the capitalist system. Evidence of what capitalism meant would have been clear to the numerous Ngāpuhi rangatira who had visited New South Wales and even the UK.
https://newsroom.co.nz/2025/03/27/book-of-the-week-treaty-over-simplified/

“… it means, nevertheless, that Māori were accepting the European way of doing business” – or does it not matter in what way the business was conducted, as long as the English – not the French – acquired any non-Maori owned land?

Smail, two paragraphs earlier states: “Each iwi had its rohe (territory) and exerted control over it, or fought over it. Tikanga varied from region to region” – that surely describes what “the European way [tikanga] of doing business to acquire rohe (the whole of New Zealand, less Maori owned land)” and also ensured “exerting control over it”, without at that point, spilling so much tribal blood on the whenua?

And as surely as I read Smail’s Newsroom article in the way that matches my thinking, that is on a smaller scale than Smail interpreting facts to bend historic things into thinks.
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March 27, 2025 8:22am
NeverMindTheBollocks

Shell Lane (The Terrace) bike rack report:

At 8.25am, just the two bikes today. Disappointing; given the emergency cancellation of all MetLink services you’d have thought that flocks of cyclists would be descending on town.

A cool, calm, dry morning in the Capital, ideal for cycling.
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March 27, 2025 8:25am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  To be fair, a larger instance of this same rack is on Grey St (just off Lambton Quay); it is just about full of bikes.
  
  My point about the Shell Lane bike rack usage is that it should never have been built there; and clearly no market analysis or due diligence was applied when the build was approved. It’s a case in point that Wellington Council waste ratepayers money, and I would like to see the decision maker held to account for that decision.
  
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  March 27, 2025 10:33am
Tomtoddy

I am aware of the circumstances, in detail, of a beneficiary receiving very generous help from the taxpayers of NZ. He is currently in Australia for two weeks holiday paid from a lump sum he received for some mistake made earlier in his benefit calculations.

He lives in a very comfortable flat, has a big wide screen tv that is on all day. Recently received help with new furniture. He lives well eating lamb twice a week, fancy salads and expensive desserts.

Has tried working several times and is absolutely capable of holding quite good jobs but has not lasted more than 10 days on any one of them. Seems he no longer has to even try and work. He has no health issues.

He recently helped a deceased relative to get from Dunedin to Auckland for a marae based funeral and four relatives to attend from various places all paid for by the state. The food for the funeral was sumptuous, again at no cost to family.

Maybe a Trump/Musk clean out is needed here.
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March 27, 2025 8:42am
- artemisia
  
  Random observation. There are estimates that the black / grey economy in New Zealand exceeds $3billion a year.
  
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  March 27, 2025 8:47am
  - David Garrett
    
    Art: I dont think benefit exploitation is part of the “black/grey economy ” – that economy covers drug sellers and those working for cash. Beneficiaries working for cash while also receiving a benefit would be included I guess.
    
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    March 27, 2025 8:59am
- Grunter
  
  “Maybe a Trump/Musk clean out is needed here.”
  
  Nah – we need a proper cleanout. Trump deficits are still increasing despite all the Musk noise.
  
  What NZ needs is a Melei chainsaw. We won’t get it, of course. The Lefties and the Nat numpties would collectively wet their pants if we had a Melei chainsaw.
  
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  March 27, 2025 8:49am
  - RoboRob
    
    ‘Trump deficits are still increasing despite all the Musk noise’
    
    The US system is ‘funny’. While Musk might be cutting Billions in waste and general expenses that will make no difference to govt debt. That is becuase Congress allocates money to the government. Until they reduce the allocation of funds (to meet the new reduced costs), nothing changes financially.
    
    I assume the excess money if being reallocated by Trump to other things. However thay may be illegal as there is debate that money appropriated by congress for something (say international assistance) must be fully spent on the specified item. The supreme court may need to finally rule on this.
    
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    March 27, 2025 9:33am
    - NothingLeft
      
      The measure that matters is if debt to GDP ratio rises. Possible that Trump will see GDP growth sufficient to stop debt growth (though not likely); there has been a lot of announcements of new manufacturing being set up in US.
      
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      March 27, 2025 4:07pm
- David Garrett
  
  Tom: A perfect example of what dependence on the state ultimately leads to – or more accurately, can lead to.
  A friend of mine – now dead – was on the sausage roll for 40 years. I met him when i was first a student. He was one of those guys who could do anything: he was very smart, good at sports, and a lady killer.
  He literally saw the dole as “his pay”, as in “I need to collect my pay sometime today”. To him, a lifetime on the dole was a perfectly acceptable lifestyle choice. And the state allowed it.
  
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  March 27, 2025 8:51am
  - Cassandra
    
    The instigator of the welfare state, the sainted M J Savage, and his amazing sidekick Fraser would be appalled at this. How NZ has degraded.
    
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    March 27, 2025 8:58am
    - David Garrett
      
      Cass: Yes indeed. One of those two- Fraser I think – was particularly scathing of “shirkers”. I would guess the majority of those on the dole now would fit that label.
      
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      March 27, 2025 9:02am
      - Mike
        
        I would guess the majority of those on the dole are looking for work.
        
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        March 27, 2025 9:52am
      - David Garrett
        
        I suggest you go out to Helensville on “dole day” Mike. Of course you won’t, but I’ll tell you what you will find: numerous fit looking men covered in expensive tatts, smoking fags which now cost $45 a pack, sitting around drinking coffee at $6 a cup.
        
        How did i know they were on the dole? I asked them. Something I’m sure you would never dare do.
        
        Now back to ur sole downticking with you.
        
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        March 27, 2025 10:03am
      - Cassandra
        
        Mike: “guess” being the operative word. Too much muesli.
        
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        March 27, 2025 10:14am
      - Mike
        
        Cassandra
        Just matching Garrett’s guess with one equally misinformed.
        
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        March 27, 2025 10:20am
      - David Garrett
        
        Mike: Except my guess – and to be fair it can only be that – is informed by what i have seen on “dole day” in Helensville. What’s your guess informed by?
        
        You’ve missed a few comments BTW…make sure you go back and downtick them too.
        
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        March 27, 2025 10:33am
      - Cassandra
        
        Mike: if you think that NZ doesn’t have a welfare problem – too many people who should be contributing but instead are bludging – then you should get out more. Complex causes – education system failing to ensure that its products can read and write being one of them – but nevertheless it’s a massive problem.
        
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        March 27, 2025 11:11am
      - David Garrett
        
        Cass: I used to have a bit of fun with the unemployed in Helensville in the summer. I would go up to a table of fit looking tattooed young men and loudly say” I have good news for you guys! An agricultural contractor in Kaukapakapa needs young men like you to help with hay making!”
        
        They would all squirm in their seats, some mumbling sotto voce insults and comments ending in “off”. None of them claimed to already have a job.
        
        I tired of the game when I could lip read them saying “He comes that mad old [banned noun]”. I never once had one call my bluff and ask for the contact details of said agricultural contractor.
        
        I should mention for those urban types unfamiliar with the country that haymaking is one of the most physical jobs I have done – right up there with rough-necking on a drilling rig.
        
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        March 27, 2025 11:47am
      - AitchW
        
        Mike the average time on Jobseeker is over 2 years. Given that those genuinely seeking work will usually get it quite quickly, there must be plenty who aren’t seriously looking.
        Maybe the new traffic light system will improve things.
        
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        March 27, 2025 11:49am
      - NothingLeft
        
        Suggestion; phone app that monitors and requires outdoor walking every hour between 8am and 5pm (confirmed using GPS log + photo of face half way through) in order to receive dole.
        
        Start it out with 100m walk, increase it every week to say 1 km max for long-termers. Cheap to monitor, bet it would halve long term unemployed very quickly.
        
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        March 27, 2025 4:20pm
      - John Loveridge
        
        I suggest you’re wrong, Mike. Many are looking for ways to stay on the dole, rather than get off it.
        
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        March 27, 2025 6:32pm
kowtow

Can you believe it , the Herald’s Jeremy Wilkinson , Open Justice reporter ( paid for by us , partly at least) has run another story on their shouty lawyer.

Yesterday’s pointless story has succeeded in getting another “active activist” , this time a climate nutter to come forward to report he was shouted at him.

This was also mentioned on their radio news last night.

Where the hell is the news value in this .

It amounts to harassment .
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March 27, 2025 8:56am
- Phronesis
  
  The point is to discourage any other white middle class males from saying what they think. He’s being made an example of as a warning to all.
  
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  March 27, 2025 11:47am
Master Mariner

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZ-0hLSnOSU
IS COVID Still Lurking in New Zealand?

“These results emphasize the dangers of mass vaccinating entire populations with experimental “vaccines” that lack safety data.

However, the biggest concern is the long-term impact on public health caused by the “vaccines.”

Experts are now warning that serious adverse events will remain a major risk among the Covid-vaccined for many years to come.”

https://slaynews.com/news/new-zealand-adverse-events-skyrocket-among-mrna-vaxxed/
https://ourarchive.otago.ac.nz/esploro/outputs/doctoral/The-profile-of-adverse-events-following/9926719960701891

So who in the Media is going to report this ? What is Bloomfields and Hipkins response ? No point burying your head in the sand, It is not going away.
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March 27, 2025 8:56am
- cmm
  
  Well the COVID fear is still lurking. They’re still offering boosters.
  
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  March 27, 2025 10:02am
  - Master Mariner
    
    Yep, That report with all the Data has been “Embargoed” .
    Open and transparent, Yeah right.
    
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    March 27, 2025 10:37am
- imalwaysright
  
  MM
  Since the covid jab didn’t provide immunity nor prevent transmission, it is reasonable to assume that our tolerance of covid is due to herd immunity. (Interfered with by having lockdowns and excessive sterilisation)
  
  By sheer fact of our existence it could also be assumed that humans, and probably every other organism on the planet, have relied on herd immunity from the moment of our creations.
  
  The authorities blame “long covid” for the side effects of their trial drug, but they give no evidence of how they eliminated the drug itself from blame.
  
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  March 27, 2025 10:43am
- Inandout
  
  MM, the many people who dodged the covid vaccine through the ‘exemption clause’ will not be particularly concerned about after effects. As there is no sure way of identifying these exempted ones we can only speculate. I would strongly suspect Ardern took advantage of the dodge and probably others in Parliament. My doctor at the time was suspicious but his lips were sealed on exemptions.
  
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  March 27, 2025 1:21pm
pb

How can I vote for this guy:

Speaking to the ODT, Dr Hamlin said he took particular issue with the religious aspect of the karakia in question.

‘‘There are a number of people who have religious beliefs around the universities and it doesn’t really matter what kind of religious beliefs, you could be Christian or Muslim or Hindu.

‘‘But to be required to chant in a meeting and offer your prayers to Rongo, the supreme sacredness in heaven above, for guidance in that meeting is not only inappropriate, I believe it’s also a breach of the Human Rights Act.’’
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March 27, 2025 8:59am
- Yvette
  
  please check your source
  “rongo” may not be a deity at all
  
  Tuia ki te here tangata (Unite as one)
  Ka rongo te po (Listen to the night)
  Ka rongo te ao (Listen to the world of light)
  Haumi e, hui e, taiki e (And now we can come together).
  
  rongo – give one’s attention to a sound.
  “evidently he was not listening”
  Synonyms: hear pay attention be attentive attend concentrate on concentrate on hearing give ear to lend an ear to hang on someone’s words keep one’s ears open prick up one’s ears informal: be all ears pin back one’s ears get a load of tune in literary:hark hearken
  
  you may be worshipping a vocabulary mistake …
  – but it may still be some breach of the Human Rights Act even as a typo
  
  similarly: “It took Moses forty years to find the only place in the Middle East with no oil under it”– Golda Meir
  
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  March 27, 2025 10:05am
  - Don Beckett
    
    ‘Whakarongo mai’ = listen to me.
    
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    March 27, 2025 5:03pm
- cmm
  
  I fully understand why religious people would object, but this goes far beyond religion.
  
  Far more serious, IMHO, is that it puts down all rational thought and decision making (based on Western values and thought processes) and replaces them with Maori mumbo-jumbo.
  
  Without a written language and a basic mathematical system a culture cannot develop proper administration, trade, engineering or such. Without proper administration you cannot have any real government structures.
  
  Maori customs and practices have absolutely no place in the public service. They undermine effective administration.
  
  It is not at all surprising that “Maori businesses” end up being cesspools of corruption, nepotism and mis-management.
  
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  March 27, 2025 10:09am
- PurplePen
  
  Pro vice chancellor commerce Prof Maree Thyne defends the use of karakia, saying they increased the cultural competency of staff … through practising karakia and waiata is one such way of equipping our people.
  
  There are so many things wrong with the professor’s assertion. Cultural competency is being competent in things such as cross-cultural communication. In what university meeting would there ever be difficulties with cross-cultural communication. Are the attendees so different culturally that they can’t communicate with each other? In the 21st century with people so widely travelled, cross-cultural communication is widespread and common. Or do those at Otago suffer from closed minds. Presumably karakia practice assists with Maori culture. What about the 100’s of other cultures in Otago. And in any case, how much karakia practice, if any at all, is needed before you are culturally competent.
  
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  March 27, 2025 11:43am
  - JackRabbit
    
    …cultural competency of staff…
    What about the 100’s of other cultures in Otago?
    
    What course would Robertson insist you take to be competent with his culture?
    
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    March 27, 2025 12:52pm
Tomtoddy

New state-funded, climate change research reveals that wearing rubber or plastic soled shoe may lead to burnt feet. With ground temperatures rising at unprecedented levels shoes are wearing out more quickly and a spate of foot burning will follow.

Scientists claim that 2030 will be a tipping point for rubber and plastic soles leading to catastrophic foot burns.

Low income people are much more likely to be affected as they rarely have leather soled shoes. Māori and Pacifica who are more likely to be bare footed are in grave danger. Te Pati Māori are calling for urgent state intervention.

A new grievance group that has emerged – Save our Soles – is demanding the Government ban rubber soles and subsidise leather soles.
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March 27, 2025 8:59am
- David Garrett
  
  Tom: This is indeed alarming. But what are the poor vegans going to do? They could not possibly countenance the use of leather for shoes soles. Clogs perhaps?
  
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  March 27, 2025 9:04am
  - Matt Long
    
    Think of the trees David Garrett, for heavens sake who will stand up for the trees?
    
    8 2
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    March 27, 2025 9:50am
    - Keith White
      
      Ents. Ents will do that. So it is said…
      
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      March 27, 2025 11:28am
      - David Garrett
        
        Ents??
        
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        March 27, 2025 11:49am
      - graham
        
        David Garrett: Ents are tree-like creatures from J.R.R. Tolkien’s book “The Lord of the Rings”. Tree-herders, to be precise.
        
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        March 27, 2025 12:16pm
      - Matt Long
        
        Tolkien’s middle earth DG
        
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        March 27, 2025 12:28pm
  - Scooter
    
    Or the climate change zealots, they wouldn’t want shoes made from synthetic rubber which is made from petroleum and natural gas. Maybe the natural stuff is better but then will they pay top dollar for their ugly footwear?
    
    Natural Rubber:
    Source:
    Natural rubber is extracted from the milky sap, or latex, of certain trees and plants, most notably the Hevea brasiliensis tree, also known as the rubber tree.
    Process:
    The latex is collected by making incisions in the bark of the tree and collecting the fluid, a process called “tapping”.
    
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    March 27, 2025 10:26am
- cmm
  
  Bring back asbestos.
  
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  March 27, 2025 9:56am
- PurplePen
  
  This must be a joke. If it’s true, the sad part is the scientists involved. What intelligent person could actually think it a worthy piece of research, could even think it was an insurmountable problem if it ever was a problem, and could rob funding for this.
  
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  March 27, 2025 11:54am
Tom Hunter

Avoid Ireland:

Teacher Enoch Burke respectfully refused to use invented pronouns for a student who claimed to be transgender. Since he was teaching at a Christian school, the young Irishman believed that his Christian belief that there are only two sexes would be respected. He was wrong.
…
Burke explained that on payday, he received no salary and his bank account was raided. As he makes €750 weekly, and has to put aside a little at a time, the loss of his life savings — €40,000 — is indeed a significant blow.

Nineteen Eighty Four really is here.
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March 27, 2025 9:15am
- Mike
  
  It would be nice to source this remarkable claim to something other than this person’s claim on X.
  
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  March 27, 2025 9:56am
  - Ghost
    
    A better read than what Tom has written
    
    https://www.reuters.com/fact-check/irish-teacher-enoch-burke-facing-salary-loss-over-court-fines-not-students-2025-03-14/
    
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    March 27, 2025 10:54am
    - kowtow
      
      Better read than ghost’s
      
      https://thecatholicherald.com/the-truth-about-the-enoch-burke-case/
      
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      March 27, 2025 11:41am
- cmm
  
  “Burke explained that on payday, he received no salary and his bank account was raided.”
  
  Perhaps Ireland has very screwed banking, but I doubt an enployer – even a Christian school with the power of prayer behind them – can raid an employee’s bank account.
  
  Smells like bullshit.
  
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  March 27, 2025 9:59am
  - Matt Long
    
    The Irish government took his money, like the Canadians froze the truckers bank accounts and anyone who donated to them.
    
    8 5
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    March 27, 2025 10:16am
    - Groggy
      
      Just proving that some morons will believe any old crap posted on X. Good of the Irish Government to take the time to setup an illegal raid on someone’s bank account. Because they are just waiting for one teacher who wouldn’t use pronouns so they could take their life savings.
      
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      March 27, 2025 10:40am
      - Matt Long
        
        See comments below, I’m not sure which you are saying didn’t happen, the raiding of his bank account or the freezing of the Canadian truckers’ accounts.
        
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        March 27, 2025 12:33pm
      - kowtow
        
        Ireland is tetering on the brink of failed state status. largely due to corruption of and within state organs.
        
        It has a huge problem with organised and very violent drug gangs . That grew out of its amiguity towards Republican gangsterism.The gangs have connections with the terrorist organisations that also hold the country in the grip of fear of violence .
        Both these sets of criminals have connections to “mainstream” politics and police .
        
        The prisons are bursting at the seams and early release is a constant measure to manage the unmanageable.
        
        But yes when a solitary fundamentalist Christian stands up for his beliefs , he can and will be arrested , locked up and then totally stripped of his assets .
        
        So yes you’re right .
        
        ‘Because they are just waiting for one teacher who wouldn’t use pronouns so they could take their life savings.’
        
        That’s what they’ve done.
        
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        March 27, 2025 2:07pm
  - imalwaysright
    
    Cmm,
    No, I’ve been following this for a while. 18 months.
    Its worth looking up the history of it. Its a disgusting display of the state, judiciary , and clergy either abusing their power or, in the case of the clergy, their abandonment of someone upholding what they taught him.
    Enoch won’t give up and he won’t accept Trumps offer of asylum for religious persecution.
    
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    March 27, 2025 10:53am
  - Swifty
    
    It’s true.
    
    The courts have raided his bank account to pay the large fines bill he has amassed in recent years.
    
    Last time I checked he owes about 80 thousand pounds/Euro.
    
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    March 27, 2025 11:01am
- kowtow
  
  Enoch Burke’s crime was to stand up to the gender lunacy sweeping the west .
  
  This bank action was by the Irish govt ( Attorney General) which has applied and got a court order to seize his banking assets as he owes fines in the order of Euro 79100 for contempt of court orders.
  
  This case heard before Mr Justice David Nolan .
  
  Burke has spent quite a bit of time behind bars for his stand .
  
  all easily searched on the web .
  
  As a matter of interest ,now that Conor McGregor has announced plans to run for president in their upcoming election , and had the temerity to upstage the Irish PM in the WH a file for prosecution is being prepared for their Director of Public Prosecutions to consider .
  
  All this while the govt itself is acting unconstitutionally in order to estbalish a working majority in the lower chamber .
  
  And remember all this legal shenanigans from a state which has in the past steadfastly refused to extradite terrorists to the UK .
  
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  March 27, 2025 11:09am
- imalwaysright
  
  Michael Laws has been discussing the police asking the public, through their website, to report anything they consider hateful.
  We may soon see a person such as Enoch here.
  Closest so far, if state, police and judicial actions are an indication, is Brian Tamaki.
  
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  March 27, 2025 12:50pm
Scooter

Michael Laws rips into Sir Ashley Bloomfield after his interview with Paddy Gower. He listened to it twice because he couldn’t believe what he was hearing and summarises what Ashley said.

1. He was most proud of making big decisions with little information.
(Basically admits not knowing what he was doing)

2. To do differently…He would now keep a diary, because it’s all a bit of a blur now. (What so he can write his memoirs later on?)

3. What did he get wrong…people’s tolerances waned and he could have listened more and explained more.

4. What he would change…He would have looked after his staff more. (Not NZers, those he shut out of the country, who missed being with sick dying relatives etc).

This person was in charge of public health response for the entire country.

I looked for the interview but couldn’t find it or maybe paywalled or maybe they realised how bad it was and quickly pulled it.
https://theplatform.kiwi/podcasts/episode/michael-laws-ashley-bloomfields-interview-is-an-insult-to-new-zealanders
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March 27, 2025 9:27am
- Mark Hanley
  
  Why is Bloomfield sticking his head above the parapet?
  
  Is Bloomfield worried the looming covid inquiry will necessitate damage control?
  
  I hope so.
  
  If people aren’t held to account…. you can count on a repeat!
  
  14 1
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  March 27, 2025 10:57am
  - Colville
    
    He is looking for a money trough.
    
    7 0
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    March 27, 2025 1:43pm
  - pdm
    
    `Why is Bloomfield sticking his head above the parapet?’
    
    Well no one expects Ardern, Hipkins or Robertson to have the guts to.
    
    They have never taken responsibility for any of their stuff ups and are never likely to.
    
    That leaves Sir Ashley as the convenient scapegoat!!!
    
    3 0
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    March 27, 2025 5:45pm
- imalwaysright
  
  Scooter,
  I wonder what he will call his autobiography ?
  
  Die Hard?
  
  Die Another Day?
  
  Bloomfield’s List? ( a nod to the lucky 11,000 public servants he gave exemptions to.)
  or maybe, hopefully:
  
  The Bloomfield Redemption (without the redemption)
  
  9 1
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  March 27, 2025 11:05am
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    My favourite autobiography title that was not used:
    
    Only the good – (Wales rugby prop) Dai Young
    
    1 0
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    March 27, 2025 7:02pm
- NoFax
  
  For some, the COVID response was the time of their lives. They had a great time and loved it. They felt important, and “low status” individuals such as Ashley and the Pink Haired lady could tell “high status” individuals what to do. So, it is not a surprise that there are some who, even today, cannot or will not admit that the right course of action was no State intervention at all. No lockdowns, no mask mandates, no “vaccine” mandate, no social distancing and no “podium of truth”.
  
  7 1
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  March 27, 2025 2:08pm
cmm

Apparently there is a growing GST tax burden. Terrible.

It swims with its evil twin: PAYE.

This is what killed that super-duper best Maori business that made school lunches. They could not pay GST and PAYE and crashed and burned.

Of course that is entire bullshit. Any business owner should immediately ring-fence any GST, provisional tax, company tax and PAYE into a separate account. They are not the business’ money. Never dip into them for operating money.

Put it into a high yield savings account where it will attract a small amount of interest.

No, it is not a cost of living issue. It is just very poor business management.

That the award winning top Maori businesswoman of the year couldn’t keep her hands out of the cookie jar is an unfortunate indictment and just shows that fiscal responsibility is not one of the criteria used to measure companies for such awards.

There’s over $4bn of outstanding GST – enough to build a hospital or float a couple ships.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/360627258/gst-debt-creating-zombie-companies-tax-expert-says
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March 27, 2025 9:53am
- greybeard
  
  That article states:
  
  “Businesses collect GST on their sales and then send it to Inland Revenue when they file their GST returns.”
  
  That surely must be wrong: businesses collect GST on their sales, and record GST on the purchases, and the difference is sent to IRD ( or offset against the businesses’ GST if a credit ).
  
  10 0
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  March 27, 2025 10:44am
  - John Loveridge
    
    Correct.
    
    0 0
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    March 27, 2025 7:01pm
- MCōs
  
  “Any business owner should immediately ring-fence any GST, provisional tax, company tax and PAYE into a separate account.”
  In a perfect world
  
  1 0
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  March 27, 2025 5:12pm
David Garrett

There’s one sad little man downticking every post…I wonder who he could be?
15 4
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March 27, 2025 9:58am
- cmm
  
  Imagine that you feel that is your mission in life.
  
  13 3
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  March 27, 2025 10:01am
  - cmm
    
    I’d (inaudible) myself.
    
    10 3
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    March 27, 2025 10:12am
    - Cassandra
      
      Top comment, cmm.
      
      9 3
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      March 27, 2025 10:17am
  - peterwn
    
    just like the poor guy in Bavaria with the most fruitless job – fitting blinkers to BMW’s on the production line.
    
    5 0
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    March 27, 2025 1:27pm
- R
  
  The DUTY TROLL in the basement of FRASER HOUSE
  
  7 0
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  March 27, 2025 3:47pm
  - Don Beckett
    
    Could it be a coincidence that Mike is back? 😆
    
    7 0
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    March 27, 2025 5:16pm
RichardF

Green MP and anarchist Tabatha Paul doubles down on her Police comments. If she digs any deeper she’ll end up in Shanghai!
I came across a great post on Facebook from a small business owner who invited her to present her views to the local small business association. She suggested she’ll get a different reaction than she gets from the ultra left activists she usually associates with.

People like Paul, the MP for Tijuana and Mr Ferris are an embarrassment to middle nz. It’s incredible these people are paid by the public to spout their anti-establishment views. They’re hypocrites. They want to tear the system down while getting a handsome salary from the people and system they despise.
25 1
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March 27, 2025 10:08am
- Diogenes
  
  Hate to be nitpicky, Richard, but if you dig deep from New Zealand (ie, to the other side of the world), you’ll end somewhere in the middle of Spain, bypassing Shanghai by quite a margin. But then, the Greens lost the ability to hit the mark a long time ago.
  
  5 0
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  March 27, 2025 11:03am
  - Cassandra
    
    Portugal is our antipode.
    
    3 0
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    March 27, 2025 12:35pm
    - Taieri
      
      Spain, not Portugal.
      
      3 0
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      March 27, 2025 4:08pm
      - Jethrod
        
        The antipode of Wellington is Alaejos, Spain
        But if you start moving about, obviously it changes.
        
        0 0
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        March 27, 2025 5:19pm
      - Matt Long
        
        It depends on which part of New Zealand you post from, mine is
        Antipodes Location Tetouan Province, Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima, Morocco
        
        1 0
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        March 27, 2025 5:43pm
      - Mike
        
        https://images.app.goo.gl/8MLe6TdFNYVN47ah8
        
        1 0
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        March 27, 2025 6:34pm
      - NeverMindTheBollocks
        
        Wellington = Barcelona, give or take.
        
        0 0
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        March 27, 2025 7:04pm
  - kowtow
    
    Seriously nitpicky , if you’re going straight through you’d need to be wearing some fire retarding gear !
    
    4 2
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    March 27, 2025 12:48pm
- Bobba Fret
  
  Even the NZ Herald are now dis-crediting her. She cannot verify that a person is in jail for shop lifting a $12 item! She was just told that.
  And even Chippy thinks she is stupid!
  But I’m sure he would still like the Greens in a coalition of crazies and lazies.
  
  4 0
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  March 27, 2025 4:26pm
- pdm
  
  RichardF – for the little that it is worth it is Tamatha Paul.
  
  1 1
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  March 27, 2025 5:49pm
cmm

No doubt there will be many very entitled people complaining about the shoddy service they’re getting with trains being late.

I have an idea for you: Stop expecting the taxpayer to subsidize your tickets. Pay full prices.

Train and other public transport are subsidised by between 80 and 95% depending on routes. If you’re only paying 10% of the cost then stop bitching.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360630272/mass-signal-failure-halts-wellington-train-lines
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March 27, 2025 10:17am
- mandk
  
  Especially at peak times, people riding buses and trains are also subsidising you by staying off the roads and enabling you to drive with less congestion. Saves you time and vehicle operating costs.
  
  4 0
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  March 27, 2025 11:05am
- imalwaysright
  
  Cmm
  Yes, the customer may be paying only 10%, but the organisation is financially topped up by the taxpayer .
  That’s 100% funding.
  That means there is enough money to provide the transport.
  Does the fact that the passengers pay only one tenth of the cost make shoddy service acceptable?
  The staff aren’t volunteers, they are paid for their work and the equipment is paid for, is it acceptable that they have the excuse that their customer is getting a good deal therefore not near enough is good enough?
  
  5 1
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  March 27, 2025 12:21pm
- NoFax
  
  Can we also get drivers to pay the full costs of roads as well?
  
  2 1
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  March 27, 2025 2:12pm
  - R
    
    NoFax,….. do you mean the Bus drivers!
    
    0 2
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    March 27, 2025 3:50pm
Matt Long

London does allow non islamists to March at present.
https://x.com/RadioGenoa/status/1904888437875835081
6 6
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March 27, 2025 10:17am
- Jethrod
  
  What was the point of that gathering of half-naked trans people waving blue fans?
  
  5 4
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  March 27, 2025 10:48am
  - Ghost
    
    Well a quick image search would tell you this is from the 2023 IGLA LGBTQ+ aquatics championships teams marching in the pride parade.
    
    3 3
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    March 27, 2025 11:13am
Chuck Bird

Winston and presumably Luxon support a two-state solution for Gaza. How can that work? They have almost had a two-state situation since 2005. The only thing was that Israel would not allow them weapons. If Gaza was to be a totally separate state, they could bring in weapons by sea or by air. That does not make sense to me.

Winston Peters On US Trade Relations, Israel-Palestine & The War On Woke

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJer1aZqLDY
8 4
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March 27, 2025 10:55am
- Cassandra
  
  Chuck: best that NZ publicly support the two state BS. It isn’t going to happen in the foreseeable but it’s the comfortable position for us. Nothing NZ can do. Hamas wants the Jews to leave, preferably in a box, the settlers want Samaria. Not easy to resolve. Forgeddaboutit.
  
  6 1
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  March 27, 2025 11:17am
  - RoboRob
    
    100%
    Everyone in the world is backing a ‘two state solution’, when you see this just read ‘status quo’ becuase they all know thats not possible but hey it sounds good.
    
    6 0
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    March 27, 2025 11:31am
Jack5

It’s a pity when our courts suppress the names of people convicted of cruelty to animals.

Why protect these offenders from scorn?

In this case, the offender is banned from owning a pet for five years. Should be a life-time ban.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/rotorua-daily-post/news/spca-prosecutes-rotorua-man-for-severe-dog-abuse-sentenced-to-community-service/BIRXZQN4JNHAXMRI4KFI2QGQPY/
11 0
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March 27, 2025 11:16am
- Bobba Fret
  
  Yes, name and shame him.
  
  4 0
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  March 27, 2025 4:23pm
the deity formerly known as nigel6888

Been following the F1 fiasco.

Lawson probably is a bit of a dick, but really Red Bull, amateur hour.

If I was the sponsor, I’d be wanting a word with the team leaders about their management skills and behaviour.

Red Bull is supposed to be a relaxed, cool brand, that loves high octane excitement.

The geriatrics running their FI team seem to have imbibed too much of the sponsors product, and are at the fidgety angry stage.

Lawson is what, their 7th attempt to promote a second driver. They ignored their own training programme.

They have failed to build a team, they run the place through fear, threats and media leaks.

Hell, Red Bull, product that embodies fear, threats and where your boss will talk to the media about your failings rather than coach you to succeed. Must be the new modern management practice?
12 0
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March 27, 2025 11:42am
- imalwaysright
  
  Apparently Honda wanted the Japanese driver to drive in the Japanese GP and upped their offer to Red Bull by $10 M, to about $30M, just for the publicity opportunity.
  Lawson is in the same boat as other very good drivers who find Verstappen’s car settings hard to control. He will probably be a great driver in a suitable car.
  
  7 1
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  March 27, 2025 12:27pm
- 70andstilllearning
  
  “But if Tsunoda fails, with all the money Honda have put in behind him to get him into that position, who is to say that they won’t pick Liam up again because there are almost no other drivers that can do that job.”
  https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/sport/556312/liam-lawson-being-made-a-scapegoat-f1-expert-says
  
  ‘fiasco’ hardly describes it. Wouldn’t be surprised if Tsunoda ‘totals’ the car if he gets the seat. From all accounts the car’s a real handful having been designed pretty much wholy around Verstappen’s ‘driving’ style and it seems Lawson is the closest they’ve got style wise to him.
  
  9 0
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  March 27, 2025 12:44pm
- MCōs
  
  I see Bangkok is going to have a F1 street circuit race in 2028.
  I wonder if the streets will be closed to regular traffic? Probably, but the King might decide his motorcade takes precedence.
  
  5 0
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  March 27, 2025 5:07pm
  - Jethrod
    
    And the final race of the day will be the Tuktuk sprint
    
    1 0
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    March 27, 2025 5:22pm
AitchW

Our Wildfire chili from Mitre10 appears to have self identified as a capsicum. No heat at all in the fruit.
Where will it end?
I love fresh chilies in moderation, but I’m not going to pay $2 each for them at Woolies!
We have plenty of frozen ones from last year, but fresh is soo much better.
I blame the Greens.
5 0
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March 27, 2025 12:52pm
- sirknz
  
  They would screech about patriarchal induced climate change and too many police on the streets.
  
  4 0
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  March 27, 2025 3:15pm
Swifty

The PSA’s Fleur Fitzsimons has no credibility.

I don’t even know why RNZ bothers asking for her opinion (well I do actually….)

Her interests are not New Zealanders’ interests – in fact they are almost always diametrically opposed.

She wants more state, more public servants, at literally any cost, and more union members paying more in fees. She also has her own political aspirations to nurture and feed through constant media attention.

Unless Fleur Fitzsimons can show us direct causal links between staff numbers and this hacking event (and I bet she can’t and won’t) we should consign her reckons, and her credibility, to the rubbish bin.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/556355/data-breach-malicious-actor-downloaded-private-information-about-health-nz-staff
7 1
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March 27, 2025 3:11pm
sirknz

Time capsule found at palriament during renovations.

Editorial cartoon in the newspaper that was in it features the Labour Caucus as ‘Egyptian Mummies’.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360630349/unexpected-time-capsule-leads-parliamentary-team-bomb-checks-historic-photos

Is there nobody over the age of 30 working there?
5 1
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March 27, 2025 3:19pm
Swifty

How dare the Herald question Tamatha Paul’s lived experience!

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/green-party-mp-tamatha-paul-cant-back-up-claim-person-jailed-for-12-theft/ORAG4A6XIRCTPNMZURBWBM24NQ/

//
9 1
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March 27, 2025 3:38pm
- Blog-aholic
  
  News just in, prison inmates claim that all of them are innocent.
  
  10 1
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  March 27, 2025 3:54pm
- Ghost
  
  Shes been telling lies
  
  https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360630857/downtown-community-ministry-says-it-never-formally-complained-green-mp-about-beat-police
  
  8 1
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  March 27, 2025 3:56pm
  - Mike
    
    Quite a carefully worded statement from DCM.
    
    2 0
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    March 27, 2025 6:30pm
Bobba Fret

Tamatha Paul – Even the NZ Herald are now dis-crediting her. She cannot verify that a person is in jail for shop lifting a $12 item! She was just told that.
And even Chippy thinks she is stupid!
But I’m sure he would still like the Greens in a coalition of crazies and lazies.
4 0
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March 27, 2025 4:34pm

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