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May 5, 2025 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 05 May 2025

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General Debate

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Scott

Good morning everyone. Here are the latest Trump approval numbers from Rasmussen:

Trump Daily Job Approval – Full Week, Likely Voters

All: 50%
Men: 55%
Women: 45%
18-39: 50%
40-64: 52%
65+: 46%
White: 49%
Black: 39%
Hispanic: 62%

Notice that Trump is doing well among Hispanics. He is doing well among Blacks, for a Republican president. Identity politics is dead, Trump is improving his numbers in every demographic.

The reason is, he’s doing what he said he’d do. Just a small example, the Trump DOJ is investigating Minnesota for discriminating in favour of minorities which is clearly unconstitutional.
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2025/05/doj-investigates-mary-moriarty.php
Trump has a great team on board and is doing everything a centre right person could possibly want. Yes he does troll, picture of him as the Pope is an example. But so the heck what?

He’s releasing American energy, out of net zero, down with DEI, no more trans business, shut the border, deporting illegals, make America great again.

It’s awesome! And when there is a peace deal with Ukraine, and the minerals deal has been signed, I will expect a full throated apology from all of those who post here denigrating Trump.
Best president in our lifetime. No question about it. 😎
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May 5, 2025 8:02am
- Frank the tank
  
  All will depend on the size, timing and nature of his tax cuts
  
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  May 5, 2025 8:30am
  - Paulus
    
    Sound like Albo before the election, but he will be dog tucker very quickly because the general public want what he promised Now, Now, Now.
    
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    May 5, 2025 3:06pm
- David Garrett
  
  Yes he does troll, picture of him as the Pope is an example. But so the heck what?
  
  So you’d be happy then if he dressed up as a fairy for a meeting with some foreign leader? What if he decided he’d be more comfortable in a dress?
  
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  May 5, 2025 8:32am
  - JackRabbit
    
    Yes he does troll, picture of him as the Pope is an example.
    
    Despite that, neither the Pope, nor Donald trump have ever given themselves God like status by declaring that they are the “Sole Source of Truth”.
    
    I’ll take Trump as a Pope any day over Ardern as the Devil Incarnate.
    
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    May 5, 2025 8:38am
    - David Garrett
      
      Jack: Fair comment I guess…that has to one of Arderns bigger fuck ups
      
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      May 5, 2025 8:54am
      - JackRabbit
        
        Being a megalomaniac is not a fuck up. It’s a character flaw.
        
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        May 5, 2025 9:03am
      - RoboRob
        
        Nah, that would be stuff like
        
        * Captains call on banning next oil and gas exploration.
        
        * Printing a billion dollars and borrowing much more money for covid then required and using it as a slush fund.
        
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        May 5, 2025 9:09am
      - kowtow
        
        RR
        
        The funny thing is so many “world leaders” in the last 20 odd years have committed themselves ( and sadly their economies) to the literally craziest of policies ie net zero , inflationary money printing , open borders .
        
        And yet they are considered by the Great and the Good as the sane ones ,while the ones who stand against are tarred and feathered as far right or insane .
        
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        May 5, 2025 9:24am
      - JackRabbit
        
        @RoboRob
        
        Printing a billion dollars and borrowing much more money for covid then required and using it as a slush fund.
        
        You are more than two zeros short there.
        
        Printed and borrowed 100 Billion, and another 100 Billion in future debt.
        
        A billion is nothing. Robertson borrowed 19 Billion in late 2019 after learning of the “upcoming” Covid plandemic, and that was gone before Covid actually took hold.
        
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        May 5, 2025 9:26am
      - imalwaysright
        
        Robo
        
        Good point about the Labour political slush fund, maybe the Waipereira situation is the Labour payoff to the Maori activist MPs and their cohort to provide a slush fund for the Maori Party.
        
        Maybe that’s why its taking so long to investigate them… all trails lead back to ardern?
        
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        May 5, 2025 9:32am
      - David Garrett
        
        Jack: As im sure you know, I am a very fair .minded man. Also as you know, I had a bit to do with Ardern back in the day.
        
        She was pleasant enough in person, but clearly not very bright. I think it entirely likely that she simply did not understand that saying “if you didn’t hear it here it isn’t true” is the kind of thing a dictator in a totalitarian regime might say.
        
        She would have been bewildered by the adverse reaction I suspect.
        
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        May 5, 2025 9:42am
      - mogg
        
        She also had big ambitions about being the soul source of truth on a global scale, when she gave her big speech at the UN about policing the internet for false information and fake news. That might sound like a joke but she was quite serious at the time.
        
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        May 5, 2025 10:31am
      - Colville
        
        mogg.
        
        I think you give her way too much credit.
        
        She was just mouthing words written by others who were adeptly pulling her strings.
        
        If she were this evil, driven genius then she would not have so spectacularly failed to deliver on all her key policy planks.
        
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        May 5, 2025 10:53am
      - Sir Cullen's Sidekick
        
        DG – Have you already forgotten that you are alive today only because Queen Cindy saved you from Covid?
        
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        May 5, 2025 11:51am
      - kiwimike
        
        Character flaw, like creating a 2 tier society, keeping people out of work and the country…
        defacto sacking people.
        
        oops that’s what National is continuing with their version of Maori Apartheid ….. Co-Governance
        
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        May 5, 2025 9:05pm
    - Vinicius
      
      Comparing Trump to Ardern is setting the bar exceedingly low. Does that make Trump also a D- politician?
      
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      May 5, 2025 12:36pm
  - Paulus
    
    Great that some World Leaders have a great sense of Humour too !
    Eh – Luxon get real.
    
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    May 5, 2025 8:40am
  - Ghost
    
    If you want to shake your head David go to YouTube, look for Trump ms13. His staff wrote ms13 on a photo to show what they thought a person’s tattoos meant. Trump thought the added ms13 was the tattoo and argued with a reporter the guy has ms13 tattooed on his hand
    
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    May 5, 2025 8:45am
    - David Garrett
      
      Ghost: Please save me the trouble and tell me what ms13 means
      
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      May 5, 2025 8:56am
      - G the giant from Dunedin
        
        It’s a Mexican gang
        
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        May 5, 2025 8:59am
      - cmm
        
        DG: It would have been far easier, and more informative, to just type MS13 into Google.
        
        “Mara Salvatrucha, commonly known as MS-13, is an international criminal gang that originated in Los Angeles, California, in the 1980”
        
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        May 5, 2025 9:04am
    - rangitoto
      
      A reporter explained to Trump that it was a photoshop job but Trump was insisting that it was real. He has no idea about tech stuff.
      
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      May 5, 2025 10:51am
    - Tom Hunter
      
      Interesting, a DEA agent with 20 years experience was asked about this in Congress the other by Senator Graham, and the agent said that in his experience such tattoos only ever mean the MS13 gang.
      
      BTW, the thug’s wife now has a GoFundMe page showing them together – with heart emojis over his knuckles.
      
      I see that the ABC “journalist” interviewing Trump claimed the pictures were photoshopped, but obviously the Senator, DEA agent and the thug’s wife don’t think that, so now the MSM is moving on to “His staff wrote ms13 on a photo”.
      
      Bought to you by the same people of “Russia Collusion” and “Very Fine People” fame. It’s amazing that anybody still believes them.
      
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      May 5, 2025 12:08pm
      - Ghost
        
        Ummm, yes the words ms13 were added to the photo, they were not part of the tattoo. Donald got confused and thought the words ms13 were part of the tattoo.
        
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        May 5, 2025 12:13pm
      - rouppe
        
        Yes they were added, to show what the symbols bloody well mean.
        
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        May 5, 2025 12:31pm
      - Ghost
        
        And trump actually thought that what the Whitehouse had added to the photo was part of the tattoo. He didn’t understand it had been added
        
        Trump told Moran that Abrego Garcia’s hand says MS13, which Moran said was disputed and that some had said the tattoos were “interpreted that way.” Trump said, “Don’t do that — M, S, one, three — it says M, S, one, three.” Moran countered, “That was Photoshopped.”
        
        Moran tried to move on, but Trump continued. “Terry, do you want me to show you the picture?” Trump said. “He had ‘M,’ ‘S’ as clear as you can be. Not ‘interpreted.’”
        
        After Moran again tried to shift to a question about Ukraine, Trump said that Abrego Garcia has “got ‘MS-13’ on his knuckles.”
        
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        May 5, 2025 12:36pm
      - Hard Cheese
        
        Note the photo Senator Graham shows the DEA agent doesn’t have “MS-13” written above the tattooed symbols, so the DEA agent is talking about the symbols and Trump is clearly talking about the letters. But you knew that, didn’t you?
        
        Anyway, the point is moot. Even if the guy had “I love Hitler” tattooed across his forehead he’s still entitled to due process before deportation, which he didn’t get.
        
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        May 5, 2025 3:00pm
  - rouppe
    
    He wasn’t meeting a foreign leader
    
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    May 5, 2025 9:03am
  - Scott
    
    David Garrett – that’s not likely to happen.
    But I’m glad that you are here. You’re a guy that is totally missing the moment. Here’s a president that is doing everything a centre right person like you could possibly want. But all you do is moan about him. Because he’s not doing things in the style that you would like? Because he’s a brash American?
    
    Who cares about that!? His policies are fantastic. 😎
    
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    May 5, 2025 10:47am
    - Jethrod
      
      Come on David, you know you want to downticket!
      
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      May 5, 2025 11:06am
    - RoboRob
      
      I think that’s unfair on DG and other right wing posters who are not fans of Trump. I am a ‘fan’ of much of Trumps policy (primarily excluding the tariffs and the terrible instability caused by the poor rollout of them) however …
      
      1. I don’t think he is right wing at all. The majority of his policy is popularist common sense (no men in women’s bathrooms, people illegally entering the country should be deported, America isn’t the world police force and other countries should pay their way). All of this stuff is common sense and nothing to do with right / left. In fact most of it was policy for all US presidents until the last 10 years.
      
      2. Protectionist policies are generally a thing for left wing politicians. Trump was also a big spender in his first term and he is pro abortion etc, both more associated with the Dems then the Reps. Yes know he has doge now.
      
      So in summary, I don’t think of him as ‘a president that is doing everything a centre right person like you could possibly want’. Sure hes doing some great stuff and remarkably rapidly BUT just because he ‘codes’ right doesn’t mean you have to love everything he does.
      
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      May 5, 2025 11:27am
    - Vidar
      
      [Mod – debate the topic and leave the personal rubbish out of it]
      
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      May 5, 2025 12:10pm
    - Michael Johnston
      
      Scott, since when has the ‘centre right’ been in favour of trade tariffs? (Hint: Never, they’re a dumb idea that harms everyone’s prosperity. )
      
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      May 5, 2025 12:29pm
      - Don Beckett
        
        Yes, but what is NEVER reported are some of the countries that have prohibitive tariffs on the USA – even the countries that are complaining the loudest. It is another negotiating strategy, which – sure, he did in in a very excessive manner – but even now things are slowly coming back to equilibrium.
        
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        May 5, 2025 1:56pm
  - RightNow
    
    Maybe he’ll do Muhammad next, I’m all for that!
    
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    May 5, 2025 11:43am
  - Vidar
    
    Posting an AI meme isn’t exactly on par with rocking a frock to meet a foreign leader. Weird flex for an analogy, champ.
    
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    May 5, 2025 12:12pm
  - Jake Dee
    
    That’s a pretty weak analogy David.
    You are comparing Team trump re-posting an fake image of Trump doing something bizarre to Trump himself actually doing something even more bizarre.
    In modern politics, especially Trumpian politics, the ability to seen the difference between images and realities or between actual events and pseudo-events is absolutely essential.
    And what if Trump did dress as a woman during an import state event? Is that wrong or right?
    That would depend entirely on the specific context.
    The Chief executive can break protocol, deceive, use hyperbole and yes, even straight up lie if that is what is needed.
    In fact the political theorist (and literal Nazi) Carl Schmitt said that is exactly what makes them the chief executive. The Sovereign is the power that can decide the exception. And no he wasn’t wrong and Schmitt being a literal Nazi doesn’t make that any less true.
    
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    May 5, 2025 5:11pm
- kowtow
  
  Contrary to the TDS headlines , a number of positive stories over the weekend .
  
  US factory orders up , employment up and British tourists numbers up , bigly.
  
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  May 5, 2025 8:33am
- alloytoo
  
  Trump has confirmed he won’t be seeking a 3rd term in ’28.
  
  His Papal duties won’t allow it.
  
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  May 5, 2025 8:34am
  - Don Beckett
    
    That’s almost as good as Trump’s photoshop which achieved it’s purpose – baiting the media & the Left – great troll. 😆
    
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    May 5, 2025 11:17am
  - Scott
    
    alloytoo – that’s comment of the week. LOL. 😂
    
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    May 5, 2025 1:19pm
- Gravelroad
  
  But, but Trump says he is the Pope.
  And social media assure us that he is responsible for the election results in Canada and Australia.
  And what about that guy who was wrongly deported – shocking!
  My TDS relatives can see nothing to recommend Mr Trump at all and would claim that the figures you present above, Scott, are made up and wrong.
  
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  May 5, 2025 8:40am
  - rangitoto
    
    Latest from the Vatican
    
    https://x.com/GhostCypher04/status/1918508914536030654
    
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    May 5, 2025 10:55am
    - Don Beckett
      
      The Babylon Bee did something similar 🙂
      
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      May 5, 2025 11:18am
- Philview
  
  Someone pointed out yesterday he has yet to troll Islam in a similar way and there would be very unpleasant global consequences if he did.
  
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  May 5, 2025 10:44am
- Notsofast
  
  Just checked no mention on KB yet that Trump has signed an executive order desubsidising NPR.
  Rather disgraceful considering the reporters were finely balanced 87 registered democrats and one republican until they fired the republican.
  The CEO is the woman who destroyed Wikipedia as a credible source.
  People who have been falsely savaged are quite unable to correct their entries.
  
  Katherine Maher.
  
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  May 5, 2025 11:35am
  - Master Mariner
    
    And PBS.
    
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    May 5, 2025 11:54am
    - Notsofast
      
      Yes
      
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      May 5, 2025 8:04pm
- Hard Cheese
  
  @Scott
  
  Care to comment on these poll numbers then?
  
  Trump receives his best marks on border security, as a 55% majority approves. That’s the only issue where his ratings are in positive territory. On immigration, a record high of 47% approve of Trump (48% disapprove), while a new low of 38% approve on the economy (56% disapprove). His worst ratings are on inflation (33% approve, 59% disapprove), followed by tariffs (33%-58%), foreign policy (40%-54%), taxes (38%-53%), and guns (41%-44%).
  
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  May 5, 2025 1:09pm
  - Scott
    
    Hard cheese – those numbers will improve as the economy gets better. Lots of deals being made, investment in plant and people in the USA, billions of dollars plus oil and gas ramped up. The economy last time was great then ruined by covid. This term even better.
    
    Best president ever! 😎
    
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    May 5, 2025 1:23pm
    - Hard Cheese
      
      What if his poll numbers continue to get worse? How bad do they have to get before you publicly admit that that Trump is a bumbling idiot who has no idea what he’s doing?
      
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      May 5, 2025 3:12pm
      - Scott
        
        Hard cheese – what if the economy improves and starts to boom like it did in Trump’s first term and there is a peace deal with Ukraine and Russia? When will you admit that you are wrong and the man’s a genius? 🤔
        
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        May 5, 2025 5:13pm
    - Northshoredoc
      
      I’m guessing you’re around my age Scott.
      
      What makes you say he is the best present even in our life time?
      
      Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, George Bush, Clinton, GW Bush, Obama, Trump, Biden.
      
      I don’t have him anywhere near the top half of that list.
      
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      May 5, 2025 3:34pm
      - Scott
        
        Trump is transformational. And let’s not mention Biden. He was never the president.
        At least we all know who the president is? 😎
        
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        May 5, 2025 5:15pm
      - Northshoredoc
        
        Plenty of Presidents on that list were transformational.
        
        I would rate Biden well down towards the bottom of the list of presidents I cited.
        
        I still fail to see why you rate him the best president ever let alone in the top half of the presidents since WW2.
        
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        May 5, 2025 8:18pm
  - Mike
    
    Summary: his ratings overall are so far down the toilet that his fans celebrate the one poll that shows him at 50% approval.
    
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    May 5, 2025 1:26pm
kiwikidsnz

Apparently people find it hard to buy houses

Typical wedding $87,000, wedding planner says
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/559889/typical-wedding-87-000-wedding-planner-says

Last time I was married (~30 years ago) it cost $1000, including lunch (yum cha) & drinks for ~24 people. Honeymoon was a work trip to Sydney with wife on airpoints.
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May 5, 2025 8:04am
- sirknz
  
  The advice I’ve given to young ‘uns wanting to get married is to make the wedding as small as possible. Invite as few people as you think you can get away with and spend the money on the honeymoon. I think The Wife and I got married for less than $1000 10ish years ago and then spent ~$20ish K on the honeymoon.
  
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  May 5, 2025 8:41am
  - cmm
    
    Why do people think they should go on $20k honeymoons?
    
    Your dime, your choice, but that’s a lot of money to blow. Rather spend the $20k paying off debt or saving for a house/nest egg.
    
    Our honeymoon was camping for 3 nights in the Drakensberg. I even got to take my flyrod along.
    
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    May 5, 2025 9:13am
    - sirknz
      
      Already had the house.
      
      We had our original plans (Vegas, Miami, Mexico) which were stymied by an employment status issue (my job was part of a restructure announced the day before we were due to pay the deposit) so when the situation resolved itself, we had the funds available and did all the touristy things we could with our back up plan.
      
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      May 5, 2025 9:28am
    - Colville
      
      One of my daughters and Hubby is on honeymoon currently in Bali for a month. $20K HM budget after doing an epic wedding for 55 guests for $15K.
      
      Why wouldnt you take the chance to have a good blowout before getting back to the serious grind of life at work?
      
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      May 5, 2025 10:09am
      - cmm
        
        ‘Why wouldnt you take the chance to have a good blowout before getting back to the serious grind of life at work?”
        
        Of course everyone has different circumstances, but most newly weds are short cash. $20k is at least a year’s worth of savings for most people and I would not encourage people to basically double your student debt for a short expensive holiday.
        
        Cheap holidays are just as good.
        
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        May 5, 2025 2:10pm
  - Flossie
    
    The advice I give to those planning to get married is simply to make sure your future spouse is the right choice.
    
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    May 5, 2025 9:25am
    - David Garrett
      
      Flossie: That is simply impossible to know. A guy I knew once had been living with his intended wife for several years before they married. He said the sex was perfectly OK.
      
      The morning after the wedding she informed him that there would be more sex, ever. They went to counseling etc. to no avail. Eventually the marriage was anulled for non consumation.
      
      That’s an extreme case, but there are many examples of people quickly finding the person they married was not who they thought they were marrying.
      
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      May 5, 2025 9:56am
      - Flossie
        
        Don’t I know it!! My first foray into matrimony was a complete disaster. One can only hope others do a little more in-depth study of their intended than I did.
        
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        May 5, 2025 10:18am
      - NeverMindTheBollocks
        
        Freudian slip there, David
        
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        May 5, 2025 10:21am
    - JJ56
      
      I seem to recall Mr Punch’s advice to young people about to get married was pretty straightforward.
      
      “Don’t”
      
      https://wordhistories.net/2019/11/05/punchs-advice-dont/
      
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      May 5, 2025 10:51am
    - rangitoto
      
      Was it Socrates who said something like “By all means marry. If your wife is good you will have a happy life. If not, you will become a philosopher.”
      
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      May 5, 2025 10:58am
- cmm
  
  The small print is always that they find it difficult to buy the house of their dreams as well as live up a Tiktok lifestyle.
  
  Still, I doubt that $87k is what the typical wedding costs. That is maybe the typical wedding that this wedding planner sets up. I expect most weddings do not involve a wedding planner at all.
  
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  May 5, 2025 8:43am
  - Bobba Fret
    
    Agree, part of the problem is they want as least two lounges and three bathrooms.
    
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    May 5, 2025 9:11am
    - cmm
      
      I was looking at what a typical new-build house was in USA in the 1950s.
      
      700-800 sq ft (70 to 80 sq metres) was considered comfortable for a family of 6.
      
      Now the average USA house is over 3x the size with 3.1 inhabitants. On top of that it is far more fancy.
      
      And people then wonder why their housing costs go up.
      
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      May 5, 2025 9:51am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  $130 catering bill … admittedly nearly 50 years ago.
  
  Wedding dress had been worn a couple of times.
  $3.30 rings made by hubby from a $10 bar of silver.
  
  We invited no-one but the 2 witnesses and informed our parents and friends that they could turn up for a feed and drinks at our flat.
  
  Only complaint was from my father who told me I’d purchased the wrong type of whisky for him.
  (No complaints from the vodka drinkers)
  
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  May 5, 2025 9:03am
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    And the wrongly spelt name on the ring, of course.
    
    KB could have had two Maggies. Perish the thought!
    
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    May 5, 2025 10:23am
- Scott
  
  The advice I give people being married today is go to church then the pastor will give you a good deal on church hire and his celebrant fee. Also think simple for food. One of the best weddings I attended they hired some BBQs, got good steaks, people brought salads, people made desserts, someone local did the cake. It can all be done at a very reasonable cost and don’t bankrupt yourselves over it.
  
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  May 5, 2025 1:27pm
- Jake Dee
  
  this is just dumb.
  Even if everything that wedding planner says is true, that’s just typical for the weddings THEY plan.
  How many weddings, even those with big receptions are planned by the couple themselves or Mum, Dad and Auntie Nora?
  
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  May 5, 2025 5:25pm
Souvlaki

I have just endured another terminally boring interview of Luxon by Mike Hosking. He may as well be interviewing Arden again imo.
I would LOVE him to tackle Luxon and National on the all the valid issues in this opinion piece on ” half truths’. I imagine ACT will capitalise +++ next year in the election campaign& NZ First too!
https://breakingviewsnz.blogspot.com/2025/05/john-porter-half-truth-is-whole-lie.html?m=1
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May 5, 2025 8:06am
- Frank the tank
  
  Sadly following the Australian and Canadian elections National will love further to the center-left. Get used to Labour with more efficient public sector management.
  
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  May 5, 2025 8:21am
  - Rusty
    
    @Frank
    
    National are a left-centre -right govt!
    
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    May 5, 2025 9:23am
- pdm
  
  Souv. Luxon’s view on New Zealand is blinkered and John Porter highlights his shortcomings in the excellent piece you link to,
  
  In summary – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is not governing for all New Zealanders.
  
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  May 5, 2025 8:22am
  - Simon
    
    No one likes National they get the votes out of necessity. Some people actually like Labo Greens ( sadly). And others like ACT NZ F.
    
    But no one likes National. Even their own party leaders treat the actual Nat party like a Uber. A means to get from point A to B.
    
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    May 5, 2025 9:07am
- Pope Punctilious II
  
  Yet ACT remains stuck below 10% in the polls. But I agree with the author that letting tikanga into parliament is not a good idea. Not least because of the signal it sends to TMP – next time they want to make demands, all that’s needed is another haka.
  
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  May 5, 2025 8:29am
  - RoboRob
    
    I think ACT has a stigma associated with it. It seems that the vast majority of non political voters think of ACT as a party of weirdo, hardline, rightwing extremists.
    
    In some ways ACT has done this to itself by having leaders that have put themselves ‘out there’ in dancing with the stars or sauna interviews.
    
    This is not helped at all with decades of masssively left leaning media portraying National as uncaring evil bastards and anyone right of them as some sort of hitler.
    
    I dont know how ACT gets around this. Seymour has a chance to improve the situation as deputy PM but with the hostile media it is still likely he will only get negative coverage.
    
    Without this stigma I think ACT would be challenging an uninspiring / bland National party.
    
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    May 5, 2025 10:58am
    - Mike
      
      the vast majority of non political voters think of ACT as a party of weirdo, hardline, rightwing extremists
      
      The wisdom of crowds?
      
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      May 5, 2025 1:30pm
- RockyJ
  
  Luxon is a marketing guy. He knows there are no votes to gain by being hard line like Seymour or Peters. He can afford to lose votes to Act and NZ First. He wants to attract Labour votes. That is why he is Labour lite.
  
  The problem is the kiwi electorate. There are too many people in NZ who think the government is there to fix all our problems and who not believe Maori activists are working to install a tribal autocracy.
  
  Luxon treads a fine line of appeasement. His main goal is to keep the ghastly Labour/Green/Maori party axis out of power.
  
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  May 5, 2025 8:30am
  - Cassandra
    
    I think you’re right, Rocky. The problem is that Luxon does not have the cunning to do the job needed. For example, his inability to even pretend to give a straight answer – he waffles. He is obviously capable but just doesn’t have the agility of a good politician.
    
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    May 5, 2025 9:15am
  - imalwaysright
    
    “Luxon is a marketing guy.”
    
    If he were, he would work out the size of the market, and what they wanted, and then try to enable supply.
    At the moment, mid term, he is running a monopoly and will treat the market as he and his handlers see fit.
    Unfortunately.
    
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    May 5, 2025 9:45am
  - cmm
    
    Sure, but what’s the point of getting into power if you do nothing with it?
    
    All he’s doing is basically acting as caretaker until Labour organise themselves and get into power again.
    
    There are 40,000 people a year leaving NZ because they are not getting the message that NZ is where they should make a future.
    
    Dithering and doing nothing while the geese that lay the golden eggs fly west is not at all useful.
    
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    May 5, 2025 9:57am
    - Ian Boag
      
      40,000 people a year leaving NZ
      
      Keep it up and funding the pension will become a (even bigger) problem.
      
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      May 5, 2025 2:42pm
- NK
  
  I too heard the piece. Luxon absolutely encapsulated what a lot us know, indeed he admitted it: He’s a CEO and he’s managing things really well!
  
  This reinforces everything I know about today’s National Party: They just manage government better than Labour. That is true. They do. But this country needs radical change, economically and socially and you won’t get that by managing the status quo better than your opponent.
  
  Hosking asked him about David Seymour’s idea of reducing the number of ministries. Luxon replies by saying he doesn’t agree and he’s more focused on getting better output from what we currently have! Classic.
  
  Of course, you can do both, reduce the number and get better output from the reduced number, but Luxon clearly believes there’s nothing wrong with the size of government, as long as he manages the behemoth better.
  
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  May 5, 2025 8:38am
  - Paulus
    
    But in New Zealand we are not aware of not having a blatently Political Prime Minister, probably never had one before, and simultaneously leading for the first time under the iniquitous MMP and a difficult Coalition selection.
    Imagine Labour, Greens and Maori as a Coalition.
    Blood frightening.
    
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    May 5, 2025 8:46am
  - RichardF
    
    There’s plenty of examples of countries of similar size to NZ having fewer ministries and MP’s than us. I guess those countries (Norway, Singapore etc) don’t have to deal with ‘the treaty’ which probably accounts for a third of our beauracracy.
    
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    May 5, 2025 8:49am
    - Im Right
      
      Agree Richard….the maori party, and to some extent the greens, complain and complain about racism in Govt, it would perhaps show them up a tad (ok that’s doubtful) if a full list of maori centric govt funded depts/quangos were shown, and the $$$amt shown and totaled.
      I know the non maori NZ public would have eyebrows raised, as usual I suspect the maori party/greens would complain it’s not enough, BUT it would certainly show everyone in NZ how much is actually being poured into ‘helping’ maori.
      Frankly in my opinion: even if the amount was tripled, the stats would still be awful for maori, it’s just the mindset and maori way…bad life choices, and the white fulluhs to blame.
      (Because before Capt Cook arrived NZ was a peaceful idyll and everyone was at peace with everyone else *cough..cough*
      
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      May 5, 2025 9:44am
    - Pope Punctilious II
      
      The treaty doesn’t explain why we “need” a Ministry for Women, a Ministry for Ethnic Communities, Ministry for Pacific Peoples, a Ministry for Youth Affairs, a Ministry for the South Island.
      
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      May 5, 2025 1:27pm
    - Paulus
      
      Both named Norway and Singapore are two of the richest countries in the world, so unless we dig like Norway and its oil revenues, we will continue to sink into ignomy and false Maoridom.
      
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      May 5, 2025 3:16pm
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    You can thank MMP for that, they must straddle the centre or lose
    
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    May 5, 2025 9:02am
    - Colville
      
      Yip.
      
      A few things to remember:
      
      New Zealand is a Socialist country.
      New Zealanders want free stuff.
      New Zealanders earn SFA so there is no tax to spend so we dont get nice things.
      
      No wonder Luxon is a lefty…otherwise he would never get elected!!
      
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      May 5, 2025 10:15am
      - Pope Punctilious II
        
        If NZ is an inherently Socialist country, why is the top income tax rate one of the lowest in the OECD? https://tradingeconomics.com/country-list/personal-income-tax-rate
        And why don’t we have a CGT?
        
        NZ’s problem isn’t simply an excess of socialism per se, it’s an excess of DUMB socialism. Some socialist policies are pro-social, in that (if managed well) they bring an overall benefit to society. Examples include ACC (which spares us the horrors of American-style litigation), and subsidized dentistry for under 18’s (yes, I know some parents are too clueless to take advantage of this policy).
        
        On the other hand, DUMB socialism subsidizes anti-social behaviour that imposes net costs on society. Examples include the unrestricted DPB, which encourages solo motherhood and irresponsible parenting (cap it at one child per woman). Another example is course paying the dole to able-bodied individuals who make no serious effort to find work (encouraging dependency and idleness). Of course some people are practically unemployable, but that certainly doesn’t apply to everyone who’s currently on a benefit.
        
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        May 5, 2025 1:06pm
      - cmm
        
        Pope. Yes, NZ is socialist, but so are many countries that many would say are not.
        
        For example USA has social security security (very similar to our Super) with very similar conditions. They don’t have state run medical care for all though.
        
        But being socialist is not just about how much tax you pay. It is far more about the mindset of the people.
        
        In NZ, people are far more reliant on the state and expect the state to solve problems for them.
        
        Take for example the KB article from earlier today where DPF says that National is now empowering parents by giving them more information. The whole article is about what the state can do for parents. Parents are not expected to show any gumption and do things for themselves.
        In this case, the state has always made the information available, but it took a small amount of effort to access it. Now people are being spoon fed.
        
        That is what we have in NZ – a bunch of people who like to be spoon fed.
        
        When I came to NZ in 1992, there was some pride in the “Number 8 wire” self-image of NZers being able to sort out problems themselves. Now we all go stand in a line at MSD to fill out form number 8 and wait for the government to sort out problems for us.
        
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        May 5, 2025 2:23pm
    - R
      
      The intention of the introduction of MMP by its promoters was to facilitate the conversion of the country to Marxist government
      
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      May 5, 2025 10:24am
    - NK
      
      By straddling the centre, New Zealand loses.
      
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      May 5, 2025 12:32pm
  - Quail
    
    “Better output” usually means more activity and spending.
    OK if allied to a reduction in the size of Government and its spending so more efficiency actually benefits voters.
    So what is Luxon going to do ? Spend more or allow the taxpayer to spend more of their own money?
    
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    May 5, 2025 9:12am
    - G152
      
      Cut the numbers of ‘civil’ servants back to what it was in 1980.
      Give the surplus hand pieces and chain saws to train on so they can be gainfully employed
      
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      May 5, 2025 9:46am
- I remember when
  
  How much will the introduction of tikanga Maori in Parliament cost in terms of both money and time?
  
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  May 5, 2025 9:33am
  - RoboRob
    
    And why do we need to do such a thing? If Luxon is agianst Seymours proposed reduction in the number of ministries becuase ‘what we have is working’, then why would he push to introduce ‘tikanga Maori’? Is parliament not working and will the introduction of ‘tikanga Maori’ fix the issues?
    
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    May 5, 2025 10:38am
  - imalwaysright
    
    “How much will the introduction of tikanga Maori in Parliament cost in terms of both money and time?”
    
    About a country’s worth.
    
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    May 5, 2025 10:43am
  - Burtland
    
    whats tikanga about a young maori womans haka in parliament
    – maori didnt have a parliament, women didnt do haka and maori is part-maori
    
    so what exactly is tikanga ? its fake like aotearoa and Palmers partnership, part-maori being maori and claims of indigenous – all just marxist narrative control using a chameleon native language
    
    NZ is lost
    
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    May 5, 2025 11:36am
    - Mike
      
      Was it your expertise in tikanga that led you to claim that women didn’t do haka?
      
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      May 5, 2025 1:35pm
Frank the tank

With all the globalist pontificating regarding Trump and the Canadian/Australian elections how do they explain (largely silent) the local council elections in the UK?
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May 5, 2025 8:13am
- Northshoredoc
  
  Surely that’s more to do with the fact that a large part of the UK is sick and tired of the twin shambles that are Labour and The Conservative Party.
  
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  May 5, 2025 8:28am
- MCōs
  
  Most NZers aren’t interested in our local government elections let alone some increasingly irrelevant country over there.
  
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  May 5, 2025 9:09am
  - Simon
    
    The point was about narrative.
    
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    May 5, 2025 9:12am
  - Im Right
    
    It’s true McCos, look at Wellington!
    Shockingly low voter turnout for local council/mayoral elections, except the professional protestor students who get out and vote en mass (for the greens mainly).
    Then the good, non voting, tax payers have another 3 years or so to complain about how useless the council/mayor is.
    Rinse and repeat….rinse and repeat.
    
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    May 5, 2025 9:49am
- mogg
  
  The UK local elections are proof that people will only take so much of the Left Wing nonsense, Farage and Reform have taken more than forty percent of the vote in Labour heartlands, the Tories are now irrelevant. Opinion polling has vastly underestimated the Reform position.
  
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  May 5, 2025 10:46am
Cassandra

This extract has been distributed by Bryce Edward’s of the Integrity Institute: “Kia ora, I’m Jasper from the International Socialists. I’d like to talk about what ANZAC Day currently serves as: A day for our colonial state to hide its atrocities in emotional propaganda and outright lies. Uniformed soldiers attend – their top brass – cops, and government officials. It is used by the government to wash their own war crimes in Malaya, Korea, Vietnam, and Afghanistan.”

I doubt that International Socialists numbers more than a few dozen Wellingtonians but the fact that there are any leaves me gobsmacked.
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May 5, 2025 8:20am
- Cassandra
  
  After listing all the deployments by the NZ Army from Malaya on as war crimes the speaker concludes: “I think we should oppose ANZAC next year more directly, and start organising three to six months in advance. We see Israeli leftist anti-Zionists organise against far worse, yet we are told to fear being improper, making a scene, and ruining peoples’ rituals. Reject ANZAC Day.”
  
  This event was organised with support from Poneke Anti-Fascist Coalition, Peace Action Wellington, Justice for Palestine, Falastin Tea Collective, Alternative Jewish Voices, Students for Justice in Palestine and Just Defence
  
  When I feel strong enough I’ll Google Falastin Tea Collective.
  
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  May 5, 2025 8:28am
  - JackRabbit
    
    This event was organised with support from Poneke Anti-Fascist Coalition, Peace Action Wellington, Justice for Palestine, Falastin Tea Collective, Alternative Jewish Voices, Students for Justice in Palestine and Just Defence.
    
    So NZ Socialist Action then.
    
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    May 5, 2025 8:39am
    - David Garrett
      
      What might the Falastin tea collective be?
      
      8 2
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      May 5, 2025 9:01am
      - JackRabbit
        
        Queers / Unions / Socialist Action for Palestine. Follow the money.
        
        Just another octopus tentacle ‘front’ with the same objectives of destroying democracy anywhere in the world.
        
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        May 5, 2025 9:15am
      - cmm
        
        DG: type it into Google and you will see they’re a pro-Palestinian operation:
        
        “Flag waving for Palestine – Hosted by the Falastin Tea …”
        
        ” They meet in support of Palestine. They can be found in large centres or small towns ”
        
        “We come together to bring awareness to the numerous healthcare workers tortured and killed in Gaza, and demand the release of those illegally detained….”
        
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        May 5, 2025 9:16am
      - Cassandra
        
        Apparently a group of pro Hamas weirdos who meet once a week somewhere in Wellington to chant about the river and the sea.
        
        15 2
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        May 5, 2025 9:18am
    - Colville
      
      JackRabbit.
      
      That list of wankers make me want to go take a sign to a counter protest.
      
      My sign would be stapled to a pick axe handle ( just in case) 🙂
      
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      May 5, 2025 10:18am
      - JackRabbit
        
        All political Lemmings, rushing to the cliff of despair, self denial, and irrelevancy.
        
        Turkeys demonstrating for Christmas dinner.
        
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        May 5, 2025 6:06pm
  - Jake Dee
    
    Well I did check out the Falastin Tea Collective and it’s even dumber than I expected.
    I thought it could be some sort of gender queer organic tea growing co-op, but I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up. Growing, processing and selling tea is actual work.
    This is an Instagram and FB based group that DRINKS tea and occasional does daring guerilla raids to put stickers on Israeli hummus in supermarkets.
    They are so concerned about the tens of thousands of dead and starving in Gaza that they are willing to drink a cup of tea and mildly inconvenience shoppers about it.
    I have less respect for these guys than for those wacky leftist groups of the 60-70s like The Weathermen Underground or The Symbionese Liberation Army.
    At least the Weathermen set off some bombs (although only ever killed themselves) and the Symbionese actually got into gun fights with cops (although they never hit a single one)
    These guys lose even at being losers.
    
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    May 5, 2025 5:45pm
- Frank the tank
  
  Wasn’t a certain somebody it’s president a few years back?
  
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  May 5, 2025 8:28am
- Northshoredoc
  
  Nutters. all societies have them.
  
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  May 5, 2025 8:28am
- cmm
  
  I have/had the dubious pleasure of knowing some people involved in this. They were (and maybe still are) heavily into the idea that Venezuela was on the right track but the Yankie Colonial Capitalists were undermining them to discredit Communism.
  
  One of them was investigating emigrating to Venezuela, but she ended up topping herself instead.
  
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  May 5, 2025 8:38am
- Simon
  
  T of W outlawed many war crimes for example cannibalism, taking of slaves and mass killing of non combatants.
  
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  May 5, 2025 9:14am
- Gussy Fink-Nottle
  
  ‘International Socialists’
  The only significant difference between the Fascists and Communists was the ‘inter’.
  Another form of colonialism.
  They are what they despise.
  
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  May 5, 2025 9:28am
- G152
  
  Bet they keep their yaps shut at the dawn parade
  
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  May 5, 2025 9:47am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  I don’t have a problem with this. We live in a democracy.
  
  Of course, Jasper and his friends are few in number, ignorant of history and foolish in the extreme. However, they are entitled to express their opinion.
  
  The only pity is that there are no comedians in NZ worthy of the name. The opportunity for parody is enormous.
  
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  May 5, 2025 12:13pm
I remember when

Even the Press are dining out on the fact that Journalism was the favourite for the Kentucky Derby.
However, once again it wasn’t up to the task.
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May 5, 2025 8:28am
- Tauhei Notts
  
  But the Maori Party bet on Sovereignty and that makes them winners.
  When it comes to reporting on the lack of accountability amongst the Maori leaders, journalism comes second to Sovereignty.
  
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  May 5, 2025 9:05am
- David Garrett
  
  I remember: favourites rarely win…which is why the TAB makes millions!!
  
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  May 5, 2025 9:06am
  - Ian Boag
    
    TAB don’t care which nag wins – they pay out a fixed % of the amount wagered.
    
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    May 5, 2025 2:48pm
    - Mike
      
      Not so for fixed-odds betting.
      
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      May 5, 2025 3:15pm
artemisia

Northland’s meth crisis: ‘There’s no magic wand for any of this’ Not just Northland of course. But interesting that pretty much all those interviewed in the item ask for a lot more money. Well that’s a black hole right there.

Te Hau Ora o Ngāpuhi as kaiarataki, or navigator, Scott said there were many reasons behind the drug’s prevalence. Maybe, but there’s an obvious common element – dealers who will protect and grow their lucrative income stream by any means possible. They are not ghosts. And the level of meth use, not just in Northland, means there is a lot of money sloshing around in communities.

Meanwhile, Northland MP Grant McCallum says “But ultimately – and this applies to any community, we’re not picking on Kaikohe here, it’s just the first cab off the rank – the community has to own this problem. If they don’t want drugs in their community, they need to make it clear they don’t want it in their community. And they need to push back and feed information through to the police when they find people dealing.”

That doesn’t need to be ‘ultimately’. That can be today. Round up dealers, lock the door, take their ill gotten gains. Suddenly there’s a whole lot more money in the community to help their own. If the community doesn’t dob in dealers, does that mean they are all good with what’s happening?

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/559898/northland-s-meth-crisis-there-s-no-magic-wand-for-any-of-this
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May 5, 2025 8:30am
- Gravelroad
  
  “the community needs to own this problem”.
  Not going to happen.
  The state has passed laws that make illegal drug dealing and use a criminal offence. Correct?
  If the meth addiction rates are as bad as is claimed then it is up to the state to ensure that the laws around dealing are actioned – no exceptions, no excuses.
  Individuals “in the community” have no show of impacting millionaire gangs and dealers and somehow challenging their illegal businesses.
  That is what the police are for, isn’t it?
  
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  May 5, 2025 8:56am
  - artemisia
    
    Think the idea is to dob in dealers. Crime Stoppers for example. Report who, what and where … There’s a lot of sparsely populated areas in New Zealand, with well hidden locations. But if the police know where to go, and when ….
    
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    May 5, 2025 9:19am
    - cmm
      
      OK, who is going to dob in their dealer?
      Who is going to risk having their tyres slashed by irate meth users when they lose their dealer?
      
      6 1
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      May 5, 2025 9:45am
      - Colville
        
        Tyres slashed? they will have their houses burnt down while they sleep in them.
        The Headhunters or Mongols who are who are wholesaling the product wont stand for that shit at all.
        
        Māori are no more going to dob in meth dealers than they dob in the whanau who killed their precious mokopuna.
        
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        May 5, 2025 10:22am
  - wisteria
    
    The people to go after are the purchasers of the drug not the sellers. If there are no people wanting to purchase then the drug dealers will go bust.
    
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    May 5, 2025 9:20am
    - Colville
      
      Meth addicts no more want to purchase than you want to breathe.
      
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      May 5, 2025 11:02am
  - Simon
    
    “the state to ensure that the laws around dealing are actioned – no exceptions, no excuses”
    
    Lol. Going on for decades. Who benefits from these waste lands up and down the country? That’s why it will never change.
    
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    May 5, 2025 9:20am
  - rouppe
    
    Individuals, sure. But many individuals together can do proper good.
    
    The Marae is a good place to start. Have the Marae act to protect (as they like to say) “our people” by being clear and public that they don’t want drug dealing, production, growing, distribution in their (as they like to say) rohe. Failure to change means being either dobbed in or dealt to privately.
    
    Get several adjacent marae to do the same.
    
    The biggest problem is the ability of police to raid. They need cause, and evidence, not just a pointing finger. To get that evidence they need surveillance. Again hard to do in remote communities, since everyone knows when something new is going on.
    
    Hence the marae needs to be taking some responsibility
    
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    May 5, 2025 9:23am
    - Colville
      
      Get several adjacent marae to do the same.
      
      LOL. You dont understand Māori at all do you!!
      
      3 3
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      May 5, 2025 11:04am
      - rouppe
        
        One of two things will happen. Either they will, and demonstrate they are a united people, or as you are possibly alluding to they won’t, because they aren’t and never have been united and everything will descend into squabbles.
        
        Either way, the country learns something about this problem
        
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        May 5, 2025 12:35pm
    - Paulus
      
      Never, it is not Tikanga to take responsibility !
      
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      May 5, 2025 3:22pm
  - Keith White
    
    Letters of Marque & Reprisal to be issued by the Supreme Court.
    
    Why not? Nothing else has worked.
    
    The Mythical Warriors can rise to their claimed heritage. Or not.
    
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    May 5, 2025 9:47am
- Simon
  
  Dripping wet hot garbage National will be desperate to hand out millions to these Iwi rackets.
  
  National party: Look! look at us we care, we care. We are so not racist. Oh Kia aria everyone!!
  
  SUV dealerships will do very nicely
  
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  May 5, 2025 9:18am
  - artemisia
    
    Last December 2 rehab centers busted bigly. Not the only ones. Wonder if taxpayer funded. (Not really wondering.) Hopefully rehab centers results and financials are now being tightly monitored.
    
    https://www.police.govt.nz/news/release/police-bust-drug-rehab-centres-firearms-seized
    
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    May 5, 2025 11:54am
    - Keith White
      
      “Police located an AK-47 semi-automatic rifle.
      
      “We have also found a lever actioned rifle, pistol with a silencer attached, numerous assorted ammunitions, an estimated 2kg of crystal methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia, cash, and other items.
      
      Fake news. Ardern and Coster took all the bad firearms from all the bad people.
      
      And ‘lever actioned’. The assaultative horror thereof!
      
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      May 5, 2025 5:28pm
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  As always, they do it to themselves. Only they themselves can undo it, and what needs to be done does not require public funding.
  
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  May 5, 2025 12:18pm
Swifty

Watch Singaporean PM Lawrence Wong give a pivotal address to citizens about his government’s no-tolerance position on identity politics and the encroachment of religion into politics by off-shore and internal parties:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=c628UgLVXBc

What a breath of fresh air.

I wish we had the balls and belief in ourselves to do similar in the West.
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May 5, 2025 8:34am
- PurplePen
  
  Brilliant speech. Mixing religion with politics and identity politics itself is unacceptable and only divides us.
  
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  May 5, 2025 9:59am
- Jake Dee
  
  It is a very good speech.
  The particular trigger here was Islamists but he said he would apply the same rules for Christians, Hindus or Buddhists and I’m sure he would.
  I’d be very interested to see if those here who think these ideas should also apply to Zionist groups, or if they are an exception to the rule and deserve a free pass.
  Foreign religious and racial groups interfering in domestic politics to advance their own agenda?
  If the suit fits, wear it.
  
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  May 5, 2025 6:12pm
  - Culture War Criminal
    
    Yes indeed. You get someone like Ben Shapiro apparently unironically calling out “the left” for their obsession with identity and the alleged evils of collective identity politics, all the while being a Jewish Zionist and Orthodox Jew, the very epitome of expressions of group identity.
    
    Along the same lines you have staunch supporters of Israel commenting here on Kiwiblog also telling us how destructive and toxic identity politics is, while at the same time advocating for a homeland for the Jewish collective, apparently at any cost and under any pretext.
    
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    May 5, 2025 6:41pm
- Culture War Criminal
  
  Identity politics isn’t going anywhere, because all politics is essentially identity politics. Inherent in the idea of politics is the notion of “us” and “them” (however categorised). The day we are all alike in every way is when identity politics is over (that is, never).
  
  A lot of (particularly White) people have their heads in the sand. The reality is we live in a multicultural world with all sorts of interest groups competing against one another. If you deny this reality, you are toast.
  
  In fact, the condition for having multiculturalism foisted on us in the first place is propagating a belief that identity and identity politics are aberrations and something that can be expunged, when in fact they are the norm.
  
  The idea is for the group(s) that have been browbeaten into not expressing their identity (i.e. straight White people, particularly straight White males) to acknowledge they have common traits and common interests, and to start advocating for them.
  
  You’d have to be an idiot to think that identity politics is, or ever can be, over.
  
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  May 5, 2025 6:27pm
Yvette

John Porter’s article Breaking Views
Of particular concern currently regarding Chris Luxon’s/National’s advancement of all things Maori, is the recent announcement by Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka, of a new committee to work on formally integrating tikanga Māori into Parliament.

… while people are distracted in trying to apply, and others trying to excerpt tikanga from the legal system

A substantial issue and a matter of great consequence such as this would not be just the product of Minister Potaka’s enterprise. It would be a proposal fully supported by the Prime Minister.

… perhaps says more about Luxon’s attitude the the Treaty Principles Bill, than Luxon himself said.

Is Luxon’s control over the National caucus so powerful that no caucus member is prepared to confront Luxon’s failure to read the room, his failure to listen and engage with the concerns of his party’s electors?
Or is it simply the status, perquisites and remuneration the role delivers that holds a greater attraction than actually providing support for democracy and its adherents?

That is what they were elected to do wasn’t it?
Can we ever trust the National Party again?
John F Kennedy, in 1962, could have been talking to Chris Luxon when stating, “For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.”

How long before National MPs realise that unless they speak up, one man speaks for all of them, and for National, 49 representatives in the 54th New Zealand Parliament becomes one representative – and that representative seems often to only represent his own beliefs.

And not always even his own beliefs, having explained himself as ‘Christian’, but allowing the Maori Ao (Maori religious world view) to percolate throughout the public service – so that some teachers are apparently using lunar charts in planning teaching their classes, or how health staff approach work.

So downtick away, but some of you say why you are doing so.
____________
quotes – https://breakingviewsnz.blogspot.com/2025/05/john-porter-half-truth-is-whole-lie.html?m=1
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May 5, 2025 8:44am
- pdm
  
  Yvette more and more questions are being raised about Potaka’s agenda.
  
  I covered them over at no Minister last week including a very good appraisal by Fiona MacKenzie which I first saw at the Bassett Brash and Hyde blog:
  https://nominister.wordpress.com/2025/05/03/fiona-mackenzie-confirms-what-i-said-about-pm-luxon-and-particularly-about-tama-potaka/
  and this:
  https://nominister.wordpress.com/2025/05/01/is-tama-potaka-a-wolf-in-national-party-clothing/
  
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  May 5, 2025 8:56am
  - Ghost
    
    He was not a member of the maori party. I suspect this came from a misunderstanding of him being part of Mōkai Pātea
    
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    May 5, 2025 9:16am
    - Keith White
      
      “If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then…” etc., so forth.
      
      13 3
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      May 5, 2025 9:48am
      - Ghost
        
        If it’s not true, it’s not true. Strange how people will push a lie when it suits them and the demand truth when it suits them
        
        7 4
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        May 5, 2025 10:19am
    - pdm
      
      Fiona MacKenzie seems very certain that he held Maori Party membership.
      
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      May 5, 2025 9:51am
      - Souvlaki
        
        She does…..but putting that to one side, it’s academic in a way…..”by their actions ye shall know them”…..arguably Potoka acts more in the ACTUAL interest of TPM than he does the rest of the electorate put together ! 🙁
        
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        May 5, 2025 10:00am
      - Ghost
        
        He hasn’t. She’s either miss understood or made it up
        
        Take a minute and think have you ever heard the Māori party throw that back at him in the house, no. Is there any articles on the internet apart from hers that mentions it, no. She’s the only one. Even the sources she lists at the bottom do not make any such claim.
        
        She has either got her wires crossed or she is lying intentionally.
        
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        May 5, 2025 10:08am
      - pdm
        
        `arguably Potoka acts more in the ACTUAL interest of TPM than he does the rest of the electorate put together ! ‘
        
        Sure seems to be the case.
        
        Ghost – probably a misunderstanding or misinterpretation then. It is hard to see any benefit to her in lying about something like that.
        
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        May 5, 2025 10:20am
      - imalwaysright
        
        Ghost
        
        “…have you ever heard the Māori party throw that back at him in the house, no.”
        
        Its looking like Potaka is more effective at achieving Maori Party aims than they themselves are.
        Maybe the Maori party are the parliamentary circus clown show distraction for the Potaka/Luxon sleight of hand shell game of “find the democracy”.
        
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        May 5, 2025 10:21am
      - Yvette
        
        Tama Potaka has never been a member of the Māori Party. Prior to entering politics, he held senior roles in iwi organizations and the public sector, but his political career has been solely with the National Party.
        
        But imalwaysright: “Its looking like Potaka is more effective at achieving Maori Party aims than they themselves are” may be right (in a rather Left sort of way)
        
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        May 5, 2025 1:13pm
Maggy Wassilieff

This Secondary Teacher at a low decile school understands why structured literacy, explicit and guided teaching, and clear sequences for each year level are needed in our schools.

https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/05-05-2025/the-new-english-curriculum-is-not-the-real-enemy?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

Yes, it may be hard work for a teacher to actually teach, as opposed to being a “facilitator” in a self-teaching inquiry-based classroom.
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May 5, 2025 8:45am
- Simon
  
  Can’t teach in low decile schools because it’s all a welfare issue. This is garbage for spin-off leftie readership to think it all matters and how well informed and caring they about reading a teacher at the “coal face.”
  
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  May 5, 2025 9:24am
- Notsofast
  
  Best article from Spinoff yet.
  They are getting the message even before RNZ et al.
  Does not stop them posting by flagrant liars who I won’t name.
  
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  May 5, 2025 11:30am
  - Pope Punctilious II
    
    If that’s their best article, I’d hate to see their worst. Banging on relentlessly about “inequity and discrimination” against Maori and PIs in the education system, without a shred of hard evidence.
    
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    May 5, 2025 4:27pm
- Paulus
  
  She will be thrown out of the Union for thinking that way !
  
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  May 5, 2025 3:24pm
I remember when

Looking at the Canadian and Australian elections – is there anything more often mentioned or less clearly defined than the “Trump factor?”
8 5
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May 5, 2025 8:49am
- Simon
  
  For boomers maybe
  
  3 4
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  May 5, 2025 9:24am
- Eastlander
  
  Trump is what journalists are interested in and want to talk about.
  
  5 2
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  May 5, 2025 11:43am
  - Jethrod
    
    Journalists just carry on writing what they’ve heard, don’t need to do research as someone else has done it. Original thought is so, so not needed, in their eyes. The problem is the person sitting at the top desk in the newsroom, surrounded by full ashtrays and half filled glasses of cheap booze; shouting “where’s that article on Luxon, Trump ( take your pick)” They used to be called sub-editors or something like that.
    The Herald puts out to subscribers their top 10 stories of the day, about 2100 each night, sorted by Murray Kirkness, Editor in Chief. Always, but always has the anti-right stories of the day.
    Kirkness has probably been gone for 3 hours and some funky puts it out , after coaching by the boss
    
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    May 5, 2025 1:24pm
Handyman

From the Herald..
“The number of high-achieving teens who go overseas after finishing school has reached an all time high – but it is not clear why”.

Really? It is not clear why?

Reason 1 – NZ universities have lost focus on education and are becoming woke internment camps.

Reason 2 – Bright kids see that a NZ uni degree is getting valued less and less internationally. In the future it could be embarrassing to have a degree from Auckland University/Wananga.

Reason 3 – They want their studies to be all in English.
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May 5, 2025 8:52am
- Simon
  
  It’s because NZ doesn’t have much of future. It’s over. Steadily decline into a LatAm style basket case. Just look at the Wellington Clown Show. Everyone can see it.
  
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  May 5, 2025 9:27am
- Bridgenag
  
  Do they pay back the fees?
  
  3 2
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  May 5, 2025 2:12pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Surprise, surprise..

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/more-high-achieving-teens-heading-overseas-after-finishing-school/SPZ4YEQVQNF2FNSJMYFSQE5Q5A/

The report said it was not clear why students were choosing to study at foreign tertiary institutions.

Perhaps it is because NZ tertiary institutes are not offering high quality qualifications and are not offering open entry to desired courses.
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May 5, 2025 8:53am
- pdm
  
  Maggy I noticed it said students after finishing school are heading overseas to University – or words to that effect.
  
  Maybe these students are dodging the Maorification and compulsory Treaty Courses now demanded by Auckland University and probably other NZ Universities too.
  
  The unnecessary costs for an unnecessary course being a significant reason too.
  
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  May 5, 2025 9:18am
  - cmm
    
    Direct cost will be much higher going to an overseas university.
    
    Still, most of the cost of going to university is hidden – the lost opportunity of having gone to work instead.
    
    If you work as a road labourer in NZ you will earn around $35/hr average or around $70k a year. Losing that is a lot more than the cost of university classes etc.
    
    So if you’re going to lose the earnings then it is worth spending a bit more on the classes to get your money’s worth.
    
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    May 5, 2025 9:37am
- cmm
  
  Technical courses in particular are getting more and more specialised as technology continues to expand. There is an expanding amount of detail and less and less people interested in it. You thus need a large population to find enough people to fill a class.
  
  NZ is a small place and we can only really cover a few of the basics. If you want to, say, get into computer architecture or robotics then there are very limited choices and need to look overseas – especially at any postgrad level.
  
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  May 5, 2025 9:32am
  - imalwaysright
    
    You would be a handy chap to have at the government Cabinet meetings.
    
    6 2
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    May 5, 2025 10:28am
    - cmm
      
      I think they are rather more interested in addressing fake problems than real problems.
      
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      May 5, 2025 2:28pm
      - imalwaysright
        
        Yep
        
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        May 5, 2025 4:49pm
- BananaLlama
  
  Makes sense if you are just going to leave the country after you complete your studies anyway.
  
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  May 5, 2025 9:38am
- Ian
  
  Or perhaps there’s a compulsory course you don’t have to do at overseas tertiary institutes.
  
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  May 5, 2025 10:44am
- Pope Punctilious II
  
  I wonder if any journalists will ask Dawn Freshwater (VC of Auckland Uni) why she thinks the best students are heading overseas.
  
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  May 5, 2025 1:11pm
sirknz

I’m just amazed that the Horrid didn’t headline this one as ‘Selfish National MP blocks traffic’.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/national-mp-tom-rutherford-praised-for-helping-distressed-man-on-busy-tauranga-highway/HXOT3QPRGZA5BMYZIONUBFQ6UQ/
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May 5, 2025 8:55am
mandk

More government waste.

On 9 May, Stats NZ are releasing data on the LGBT+ population in Aotearoa in the year ending June 2023.

But wait, there’s more!

On 13 May, they are releasing data on the Rainbow/LGBTIQ+ population from the 2023 Census.

Why does anyone need to know?
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May 5, 2025 8:56am
- Notsofast
  
  The t is important to track the growing cult and child indoctrination.
  
  7 3
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  May 5, 2025 11:29am
- sirknz
  
  Because a month isn’t long enough to provide them the adoration they desire.
  
  Nor is it enough that every TV show requires some form of over representation.
  
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  May 5, 2025 11:52am
- jacthecat
  
  Stats clearly works at breakneck speed.
  
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  May 5, 2025 1:11pm
Yvette

Ngā Ara Whakatupuranga – New Frontiers
Strengthening Māori leadership in the Public Service
> For information about Ngā Ara Whakatupuranga download the brochure here.

Ngā Ara Whakatupuranga brochure 2023.pdf
☞Ngā Ara Whakatupuranga aims to support Māori service people to transition to a career in the public service, seeking to make this a viable career path for Māori leaders leaving the Defence Force.
The programme consists of three main phases, application and selection, induction and regional placement with Te Puni Kōkiri, and then placement at another public service agency.

☞ The aim of that pilot was to:
• develop a programme that will assist Māori staff to transition from the Defence Force to the public service to strengthen their Māori capability and
• provide a rewarding second career path for participants.
The Pilot was a success.
https://www.tpk.govt.nz/en/a-matou-whakaarotau/equitable-effective-government-performance/nga-ara-whakatupuranga-new-frontiers

The Ardern / Hipkins media did not tell us much about this Fifth Column initiative.
I guess now this has been discontinued because they need all the defence staff we can get
It is cancelled – isn’t it?
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May 5, 2025 9:05am
Colville

NZ Unis have been slipping down the rankings for years. The compulsory Brown Wonderfulness course would have been final nail in the coffin.
22 3
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May 5, 2025 9:07am
- Jethrod
  
  I hope you meant brown as a small letter not a capital.
  
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  May 5, 2025 1:33pm
BeaB

For some reason RNZ sent Corin Dann to report on the Australian election and tell us nothing we don’t already know. His expert opinion is that somehow it was all linked to Trump. However it’s hard to take him seriously when he tells us this morning he is still ‘trying to get his head round’ the Australian preferential voting. Really? Millions of Australians manage just fine. Surely a pundit of Corin’s undoubted calibre could have done a bit of swot before he went so he understood at least the basics of their system.
27 1
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May 5, 2025 9:08am
- PurplePen
  
  Meant in the kindest intention … Give yourself a better start to each day and stop listening to morning report.
  
  15 2
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  May 5, 2025 10:08am
- Burtland
  
  Corin and Guyons brains got turned to mush by the woke mind virus long ago – theyre still struggling with “whats a woman”
  Theyve been replaced by brainiac’s such as Ferguson and Forbes
  
  5 2
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  May 5, 2025 12:19pm
- imalwaysright
  
  I remember an ex political reporter, called Duncan Garner, on tv3 AM show at election time say “What’s gerrymandering ?”
  Sadly, he was serious.
  
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  May 5, 2025 12:34pm
kowtow

I was very unimpressed with the msm headlines over their “people’s pope” etc

I suspect much of their faux admiration was due to his occasional comments about inclusiveness ( whatever that is) his embrace of climate claptrap and his virulently anti Israel stance .

All things the Luvvies promote .

But it didn’t take long .

Now that we’ve had a “decent” interval , the truth of his not dealing with perverts and pedos properly is getting some attention.And rightly too.
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May 5, 2025 9:16am
- Don Beckett
  
  Correct. Pope Francis did a good number of good & worthwhile things – but he also professed & taught things against Scripture, and the Traditions & formal teachings of the Church, which have lead to confusion, loss of congregations, and even heresy. One of the first things he said at a world youth day a month or so after his elevation to pope, “Make a mess” – and he was sure true to his word.
  May God have mercy on his soul.
  
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  May 5, 2025 11:50am
  - Don Beckett
    
    Looks like 4 people think I’m wrong. Maybe they are better & more knowledgeable Catholics than I am. 🙂
    
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    May 5, 2025 5:25pm
JackRabbit

The report said it was not clear why students were choosing to study at foreign tertiary institutions.

The report writers probably also don’t know why rats would choose to leave what they imagine is a sinking socialist ship, and where activist version of the Treaty and Aotearoa is being shoved down their education throat.
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May 5, 2025 9:21am
john1234

Trump can’t help himself from mercilessly trolling the haters – posting images of himself as the Pope and now as a Jedi. The haters can’t help themselves from swallowing the bait.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world-news/360676759/trumps-bizarre-star-wars-post-and-big-thing-it-gets-wrong
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May 5, 2025 9:45am
- Don Beckett
  
  Yes, he does a great job, doesn’t he. 😆
  
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  May 5, 2025 11:52am
- Burtland
  
  “Happy May the 4th to all, including the Radical Left Lunatics who are fighting so hard to to bring Sith Lords, Murderers, Drug Lords, Dangerous Prisoners, & well known MS-13 Gang Members, back into our Galaxy. You’re not the Rebellion—you’re the Empire.
  
  May the 4th be with you.”
  
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  May 5, 2025 12:26pm
rouppe

Hayden Wilde injured in a bike crash.

Broken 4 ribs, scapular broken, injured lungs.

Assuming the Herald is right that the lung damage is from a collapsed lung, that’s a long road back.

I had a motorbike crash in 2016, similar injuries. Several months of having to “huff” several times a day to eject blood from the lung and spit it into a bowl. With broken ribs. Probably lucky that permanent fibrosis in the lower lobe is relatively minor.
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May 5, 2025 9:48am
- David Garrett
  
  rouppe: I feel for you mate. I broke three ribs a couple of months ago, and the pain was much worse than anything I had ever suffered. The slightest movement had be sqealing. My doc told me that only childbirth involved more pain. Thank God we are men!
  
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  May 5, 2025 10:42am
  - David Garrett
    
    Jesus…sorry for the typos….not used to commenting using my phone.
    
    7 0
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    May 5, 2025 11:37am
  - mogg
    
    Kidney stones are no laughing matter.
    
    4 0
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    May 5, 2025 11:50am
    - rouppe
      
      I’ve had a gallstone too lol. That was a couple years ago…
      
      At least I could have the gall bladder removed.
      
      Have your kidney stones been dealt with?
      
      4 0
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      May 5, 2025 12:39pm
      - mogg
        
        Yes that was years ago, I was eating too much calcium, I will remember that pain until my dying day.
        
        3 0
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        May 5, 2025 4:13pm
    - imalwaysright
      
      ‘7 Days’ is no laughing matter.
      
      Watched it last week, what a strange group of people purporting to be comedians.
      However, they seem to find each other as hilarious…
      
      6 1
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      May 5, 2025 12:43pm
  - rouppe
    
    That’s what sevredol is for… Still got a box of that in the cupboard for the zombie apocalypse
    
    2 2
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    May 5, 2025 12:42pm
All_on_Red

It gets warm and it gets cold
‘A groundbreaking study published in Science China Earth Sciences has unveiled a stunning reversal in the fortunes of the Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS), which gained mass at an unprecedented rate between 2021 and 2023. This marks the first significant ice growth in decades, challenging the prevailing narrative of relentless ice loss and highlighting the complex interplay of natural variability and climate dynamics. Using data from NASA’s GRACE and GRACE-FO satellite gravimetry missions, the findings offer a nuanced perspective on Antarctica’s role in global sea level changes and raise critical questions about the drivers of ice sheet behavior.’
‘…the recent ice growth has had a “negative contribution, offsetting global mean sea level rise at a rate of -0.30 ± 0.21 mm/yr” from 2021-2023, effectively slowing the rise of global sea levels.

The turnaround is particularly pronounced in East Antarctica, where four critical glacier basins—Totten, Moscow, Denman, and Vincennes Bay—reversed their mass loss trends. ‘
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2025/05/03/antarcticas-ice-sheet-stages-a-remarkable-comeback/

Still warming in West Antarctica but given there are lots of active undersea Volcanoes there, perhaps that might have something to do with that.
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May 5, 2025 10:37am
- Master Mariner
  
  AoR,
  Nope it’s time to focus on the Arctic and dwindling Ice retreat as summer is around the corner.
  
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  May 5, 2025 12:07pm
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  Now, that is awkward.
  
  4 2
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  May 5, 2025 12:24pm
- Mike
  
  Watts has cherry picked a bit of that. From the abstract:
  
  The results indicate that the AIS contribution to GMSL (global mean sea level) rise peaked at 5.99±0.43 mm in February 2020, followed by a mass gain period lasting over three years, ultimately resulting in a total GMSL contribution of 5.10±0.52 mm by the end of 2023. Moreover, the AIS experienced substantial mass loss during the 2011–2020 period
  
  Moreover:
  
  Notably, the Vincennes Bay and Denman glacier basins transitioned from mass balance and accumulation to intense mass loss, respectively. An in-depth investigation reveals that the increased ice discharge and decreased SMB (surface mass balance) contribute 27.47% and 72.53%, respectively, to the intensified mass loss of the four glacier basins. Overall, the study presents the mass change characteristics of the AIS over the past 22 years, highlights the instability of four important glacier basins in the EAIS, and provides valuable scientific insights for related polar research.
  
  https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11430-024-1517-1
  
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  May 5, 2025 1:51pm
  - Pope Punctilious II
    
    [Mod – debate the topics]
    
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    May 5, 2025 5:42pm
greybeard

https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/360676968/wellington-airports-lord-rings-eagles-are-out-here
Rumour has it that they will be replaced by a pair of bicycles.
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May 5, 2025 11:04am
- PurplePen
  
  No. They’ve maori-a-fied. From their website below. It will be a taniwha in bird form passing through a portal.
  
  “The new brand reflects the airport’s connection to the whenua (land), outlining the local pūrākau (story) of how one of Wellington’s original taniwha, Whātaitai, ascended in bird form (Te Manu Muramura) to pass through Rangitatau, a portal to the universe and beyond.
  
  The story tells how our airport is Rangitatau, a transformational gateway: our portal to the universe.”
  
  7 4
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  May 5, 2025 11:31am
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    I’m not sure that I want to fly to the Universe and beyond courtesy Wellington Airport
    
    6 1
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    May 5, 2025 12:26pm
    - PurplePen
      
      More chance of doing that from Mahia peninsula.
      
      5 2
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      May 5, 2025 1:19pm
  - RoboRob
    
    FFS only in Wellington.
    
    3 1
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    May 5, 2025 3:43pm
Ghost

President Donald Trump says he is directing his government to reopen and expand Alcatraz, the former prison on a California island.

Article

Not sure it’s needed. There are a number of prisons that are far worse than Alcatraz.
1 6
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May 5, 2025 11:36am
- Frank the tank
  
  Once saw a documentary indicating that the SF harbour wasn’t conducive to Great Whites and it was a myth that sharks were in the harbour. The very next year a 4m Great White grabbed a a sea lion in front on the pier on Alcatraz.
  
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  May 5, 2025 12:38pm
- Mike
  
  More performative bullshit. I see he’s gone back to talking about seizing Greenland.
  
  2 7
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  May 5, 2025 1:53pm
- Northshoredoc
  
  Idiocy, he must be bored again.
  
  The cost of renovating Alcatraz would be enormous; far better to house inmates in existing prisons or build new facilities somewhere cheap, like Alaska.
  
  1 2
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  May 5, 2025 8:26pm
I remember when

Rather than the “Trump effect”, have the Canadian and Australia results been about Trudeau and Dutton?
Also, in Albanese case being about him leaning towards Labour lite.
5 4
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May 5, 2025 12:03pm
- RoboRob
  
  Luxon and Albanese are mates. That says a lot about National.
  
  3 5
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  May 5, 2025 3:42pm
Master Mariner

Why did this not make the news ?
2 countries this week for the first time had met Nett Zero.
Zero emissions
Zero power.
Surely it should of been front and center of any news report and held up as a beacon of light //
12 4
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May 5, 2025 12:04pm
- RichardF
  
  Coverage of international events is poor in NZ and they are so left they’re barely standing up. The sports section has been hollowed out too.
  
  Thankfully Pressreader gives you access to hundreds of global publications, just link up your library card for free access and curate your own library of newspapers and magazines.
  
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  May 5, 2025 9:55pm
NeverMindTheBollocks

Poor old Fleur Fitzsimmons just doesn’t understand it. Why is Health NZ laying off its fraud investigators when each one recovers $430k pa?

By her logic, we should hire another 10,000. We might even clear the national debt.

http://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/559917/public-service-association-calls-for-investigation-into-cuts-to-te-whatu-ora-anti-fraud-roles
5 2
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May 5, 2025 12:42pm
- peterwn
  
  Probably 20% of the investigators rake in 80% of the money. So the Government still gets 80% of the money even if 80% of the investigators are fired.
  
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  May 5, 2025 9:53pm
Chuck Bird

And our government thinks Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal. Not paywalled.

‘Imminent terror attack’ on UK soil foiled

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/imminent-terror-attack-on-uk-soil-foiled/5BLB3DENGZGZ3FCLHAEKD4SSEY/
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May 5, 2025 1:51pm
- Mike
  
  So? He is a war criminal. If he’s not, perhaps he should go to the Hague to be declared innocent.
  
  3 12
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  May 5, 2025 1:54pm
  - RoboRob
    
    Innocent until proven guilty Mike 🙂
    
    You dont voluntarily go to court to prove your innocence, the authorities take you to court to prove your guilt.
    
    Just because some arse clowns having a talk fest decide to label someone as something it doesn’t make it true.
    
    7 2
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    May 5, 2025 3:40pm
    - Jake Dee
      
      LEGALLY innocent until proven guilty Rob.
      Big difference.
      Is OJ Simpson a murderer?
      No.
      Did he brutally stab and slash two unarmed people to death in a fit of jealous rage?
      Yes.
      
      4 2
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      May 5, 2025 6:21pm
- Ghost
  
  No, our government has never said he is a war criminal. As signatures to the Rome Statute we are obligated to carry out ICC arrest warrants.
  
  5 2
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  May 5, 2025 1:59pm
  - Chuck Bird
    
    We should pull out of the ICC as well as Paris.
    
    7 4
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    May 5, 2025 2:12pm
    - Mike
      
      Although there are deficiencies in the administration of the game, it’s in our interests to remain a member of the International Cricket Council
      
      7 5
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      May 5, 2025 2:31pm
      - Libertarians are right
        
        Not if they’re sending out arrest warrants. What kind of authoritarian sporting body are they?
        
        4 2
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        May 5, 2025 3:04pm
      - Ghost
        
        It’s the only way to get people to go watch the games, so boring they have to pack the stadiums with criminals.
        
        4 0
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        May 5, 2025 3:08pm
    - Ghost
      
      Won’t happen until the EU pulls out. You can thank Ardern for making our Paris commitments part of our free trade agreement with the EU
      
      4 1
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      May 5, 2025 2:51pm
      - RoboRob
        
        Yup, worst government in NZ history!
        
        Ironic they are still competitive with National. Says a lot about National and the NZ public.
        
        6 0
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        May 5, 2025 3:37pm
- Jake Dee
  
  You really need to learn how to read these articles more critically Chuck.
  The only thing I am reasonably confident of is that Five men, including four Iranian nationals, were arrested in England.
  Who they are, what they were doing and why they were arrested is a matter of pure speculation.
  “…the Daily Telegraph understands.” Why does The Daily Telegraph understand this? What is the basis for their understanding and why can’t it be shared with the wider public?
  “Speculation mounted on Sunday night…”
  Who is speculating and what, again, is the basis for this speculation?
  The internal security forces of any nation have important jobs to do and ONE of their jobs is to ensure they maintain the narrative that they are all earning their pay.
  If the truth supports that narrative, excellent let’s use than. If not something else will have to be used.
  Unsupported speculation is useless for public security but excellent for politics.
  
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  May 5, 2025 6:32pm
Jack5

Trump’s put a tariff of 100 per cent on movies made overseas.

How will this affect Wellywood and Auckland’s film industry?

Trump says overseas “incentives” (subsidies) are killing the American film industry.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/04/trump-tariffs-foreign-movies
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May 5, 2025 2:39pm
- Mike
  
  The American public should expect to pay a premium for watching foreign-made movies. Cinemas are unlikely to adopt a differential pricing: all movie tickets will be more expensive. Also, how does he plan to tariff foreign-made movies shown on US streaming services?
  
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  May 5, 2025 2:51pm
- Ghost
  
  This will damage the US movie/television industry
  
  5 3
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  May 5, 2025 2:52pm
- cmm
  
  Like many of the tariffs this will have little impact on customer costs.
  
  When you buy a Lululemon T shirt in USA (US$58 on their website), that T-shirt maybe cost them $4 to import and the rest of the “value” is added in USA. So when you add 100% tariffs, it is to the $4. If that extra $4 is passed on to the customer then the price increases to $62. That’s a 7% increase. Woopie do!
  
  Following the same logic, a tariff to movies made overseas will not drive up ticket prices significantly.
  
  Yes, tariffs should not be viewed in isolation. Subsidies are part of the same tilting of the playing field. That is not only true for the movie industry, but also for agriculture and also for other pork-barrelled industries such as military/aerospace.
  
  Are these subsidies killing the US film industry? Nope, I call bullshit. I think the US film industry is killing itself though making shit DEI movies that nobody wants to watch.
  
  Personally I think it is nonsense that we subsidise the movie industries. They’ve had hand outs for decades not. By now they should be able to stand on their own two feet and start turning a profit (and contributing back to the tax pool).
  
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  May 5, 2025 3:24pm
  - RoboRob
    
    Agree. For clothing and Apple (for example) I would even expect the the tariffs add so little to the cost that they can be absorbed in the outrageous profit margins. Take Nike, $10 cost shoes selling to $250, they could easily absorb to extra $10.
    
    Also agree re subsidies etc. The EU in particular are a bunch of total aresholes. As I have mentioned before there are no / low tariffs on NZ milk powder but they do have a maximum quota that is damned close to zero. Then theres the EU paying massive subsidies to produce goods that would be totally uncompetitive. When the EU bitch about Trumps tariffs and sight their onw low tariff rates, thats all smoke and mirrors.
    
    If Trumps goal is reducing tariffs / subsidies / trade restrictions so that the US / EU and others are free traders, great. If the plan ends up as EU and USA being giant tariff fortresses, the world (and they) will be worse off in the long run.
    
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    May 5, 2025 3:35pm
- RoboRob
  
  Hate his tariffs BUT this one sorta has some logic. Seeing as the movie companies are mostly American owned and chosing to make them in AU, NZ etc becuase its cheaper then hollywood, adding the tariff might actually encourage then to shift back to the US.
  
  Of course this highlights one of the reasons tariffs are bad in the first place. IF movie companies do move back to the US, does this policy encourage them to be more competitave? No. It does encourage other non US players to enter the space and make cheaper movies elsewhere and sell them to the rest of the world. Probably it would be possible to make the movies so much cheaper you could sell them into the US at a huge discount.
  
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  May 5, 2025 3:25pm
Mike

Interviewer: “Your secretary of state says everyone who’s here, citizens and noncitizens, deserve due process… Do you agree?”
President: “I don’t know… I’m not, I’m not a lawyer. I don’t know.”
Very. Stable. Genius.
6 7
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May 5, 2025 2:48pm
- RoboRob
  
  ‘.. deserve due process’ is an opinion not a fact. Does the law say non citizens must get full due process? I dont know, I’m not a lawyer either! Probably needs to go to the Supreme court.
  
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  May 5, 2025 3:27pm
  - Mike
    
    It’s a constitutional guarantee.
    
    No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law
    
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution
    
    5 5
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    May 5, 2025 3:40pm
    - RoboRob
      
      Nope. You need to go to lawyers for a legal opinion on that. It depends at least on the definition of a ‘person’. Since illegals count as ‘aliens’ it is quite possible that ‘person’ only relates to an American citizen. You prove my point though, which is while Trump may have been evading the question is answer is likely the correct one and not stupid.
      
      2 7
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      May 5, 2025 4:46pm
      - Ghost
        
        Mike is right
        
        https://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/immigration/255281-yes-illegal-aliens-have-constitutional-rights/
        
        https://emplawfirm.com/what-rights-do-undocumented-immigrants-have-in-the-us/
        
        4 6
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        May 5, 2025 4:58pm
    - Don Beckett
      
      “…. except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of war OR PUBLIC DANGER. ”
      Looks like you overlooked those 3 words.
      
      1 6
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      May 5, 2025 5:34pm
      - fernglas
        
        You need to read it a bit more carefully. Those words only apply to members of the military.
        
        6 0
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        May 5, 2025 5:56pm
- Hard Cheese
  
  He doesn’t even know what the Declaration of Independence is about, he thinks it’s a “declaration of unity and love and respect”. Describing Trump as a simpleton is giving him far too much credit.
  
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  May 5, 2025 6:19pm
Chuck Bird

How many here agree with the NZF Bill?

A new poll has found majority support for a Member’s Bill

https://familyfirst.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Sex-Definition-Poll-Results-May-2025.pdf
4 4
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May 5, 2025 3:38pm
- mandk
  
  What surprises me is that a much larger proportion of women than men oppose the Bill, even though women (and their daughters & granddaughters) have more to lose by biological males invading their spaces.
  
  Less surprising is that support is sharply divided along Right/Left lines, with supporters of parties of the left opposing.
  
  3 2
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  May 5, 2025 4:29pm
- greybeard
  
  The “Probed Party Vote” figures are no surprise: they encapsulate the NZ political and social scene perfectly.
  
  3 3
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  May 5, 2025 4:34pm

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