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January 7, 2026 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 07 January 2026

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General Debate

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NeverMindTheBollocks

It’s all about the bike.

Cyclists want to build trails on Conservation land, and they don’t seem to care about the impact on a) the natural world; and b) other users including trampers, walkers and climbers.

It’s not just a track here and a track there, either. As a snapshot: “In a report in July, the Department of Conservation said its backlog of concession applications for cycling had been cut from 1300 to 550”.

To this reader, their slogan appears to be ‘Take only photographs, leave only a bloody great scar on the environment’.

http://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/583355/new-cycle-trail-builds-hit-a-brick-wall-but-riders-optimistic-that-will-change-in-2026
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January 7, 2026 8:12am
- pdm
  
  Todays cyclists as an overall unit contain some very selfish people.
  
  When I was a regular pushbiker all I wanted was a road to ride on and for people to look before they opened their car doors if I was coming up behind them after they parked.
  
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  January 7, 2026 1:16pm
  - NZer In Exile
    
    Cyclists and SUV/Double-cab-ute drivers definitely the biggest selfish and dangerous tossers on the road. Cyclists mainly endanger themselves but put drivers at risk of being drawn through the legal wringer if they hit one of these entitled cyclists riding in the commonly observed suicidal manner. Not to mention the even worse delusional clowns who put their kids on the back of the bike with them and drive on busy roads with the said lethal (and often distracted) tossers in their bloated, overweight narcissistic wank wagons).
    
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    January 7, 2026 5:38pm
- CJames
  
  Those trails are often that way of being big monstrosities because the consent process is being ruled by council people with their own agendas. Take the recent track just opened north of Horopito. It went way over budget for three reasons, none involving DoC or bikers. The local council, the project managers, were incompetent. The regional council planners demanded every bit of water, no matter how small or insignificant, had to be bridged. Culverts were unacceptable. NZR jealously guarded anything happening in the rail corridor. All this for a track mainly through scrub regenerating on old farmland.
  I think they need a concession for every parcel of land the track is on, not the track as one. That explains the numbers. Find out how many concessions were needed for the bike trail from Blenheim to Kaikoura. Needed one for every encroachment to the rail corridor not just rail crossing points – about 200 I was told.
  Every region of NZ tells a similar story of bureaucrats stopping the process. There are a number of officials who don’t want anything built so they bog it down in red tape. One who recently left DoC was like that. They want a Rolls Royce track installed when riders would be happy for something like a foot track.
  One only has to go on them to see that they are multi-use. Tracks like Timber Trail, Bridge to Nowhere or Old Ghost Road have big numbers of trampers. They would not exist if it were not for the bikers initiating them.
  
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  January 7, 2026 1:21pm
Scott

I used to really like Tucker Carlson and I thought he was battling with Fox executives and owners because he wanted to get the truth out and the Fox hierarchy was preventing that.
However it seems the Fox hierarchy was keeping Tucker on a reasonably straight path. Tucker is now independent and can fully speak his mind. And what a mind it is.

On October 29th during his show he said that the USA will bring about regime change in Venezuela with the goal of bringing gay marriage to Venezuela. No one will say it out loud –

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/tucker-mocked-left-claiming-trump-211707270.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAA21LpJdWVwhhl5A4vgb20G_AxBL8JG6qr77_IV1L3zKzHBuEq5HCDXnmcQ5VEk_9XYtV0XRurEKAiPMYJXgwJ-1YmM6ywIbhjw_8ISf7xzrscx4L9xI2s-uT11fdKMGtHCN9PRiFYuIZB1yhoUwwhbYf6sWaFdbnwgh1VTqAD7f

So now we know. The toppling of Maduro. It’s not about oil. It’s not about drugs. It’s not about terrorism. It’s not about illegal immigration. It’s not about any of those things.
It’s about bringing gay marriage to Venezuela. Now you know people. 🤔
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January 7, 2026 8:12am
- Northshoredoc
  
  Hard to know whether these pundits are merely playing to their audience or are actually just batshit crazy.
  
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  January 7, 2026 12:12pm
  - RoboRob
    
    I think Tucker is the former. I dont thik he is crazy BUT he and Candace Owens know that outrageous claims get clicks and clicks are money. Sadly we see more and more of these talking heads getting more extreme.
    
    * Not a Tucker / Owens viewer.
    
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    January 7, 2026 1:13pm
    - NothingLeft
      
      When he’s claiming to have been attacked by a demon in his bed I think you can definitely put him in the woo-woo basket. A pity, he was a useful voice on many issues.
      
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      January 7, 2026 1:41pm
      - losingtheplot
        
        I think it starts as an act for the clicks, but over time they get more and more outrageous as they work out this makes more $$$. At some point they get consumed by the madness and then it’s all over rover.
        
        It’s very Shakespearian 🙂 Hamlet, anyone?
        
        Not funny for the families of the people who get consumed by the algorithms and the crap Carlson, Owens, and others like them are generating.
        
        I have less sympathy for the people who can’t see through them. Darwin in action.
        
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        January 7, 2026 4:37pm
    - sungsamning
      
      I used to listen to both. Now, I don’t. I can’t see that changing any time soon.
      
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      January 7, 2026 7:37pm
- Ra Henare
  
  Yea gods, how Naive can people be to rattle on about a hit job on social media and
  a) believe it
  b) spread it blindly.
  
  To save the tiny minds here. I watched the video.
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Pc4xNqa9NM
  
  The item re Gay marriage was a throwaway line lasting all of 10 seconds in a 1 hour 27 minute podcast. Including input from an ex military guy??
  
  Skip to 6 minutes 50 seconds to watch for yourself the snippet from an overall summary monologue.
  
  So sorry Scott and all those jumping on the wagon.
  You have been suckered by yahoo news. ( A left Centre organisation) and the journo.
  https://muckrack.com/alex-griffing/articles
  
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  January 7, 2026 6:05pm
  - Scott
    
    Ra – thanks for your comments. Tucker does say what the reporting claimed about gay marriage. Was it, as you say, a throw away line? Or was it outrage at a conservative country being possibly attacked by the USA? Tucker does seem exercised about the conservative nature of Venezuela and talks about that with some passion.
    
    So I would say the jury is still out. It may be a throw away line? Or it may be testing the waters for another Tucker conspiracy? Time will tell if tucker repeats the claim? 🤔
    
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    January 8, 2026 7:36am
Cassandra

An article in the Guardian asks “If Trump can invade Venezuela, why can’t Putin invade Ukraine? Or Xi Jinping seize Taiwan?”.

That the author and a prestigious publication (albeit far left) cannot see the difference is perplexing. Venezuelans are celebrating the American actions. Ukrainians and Taiwanese are not so much in favour of Russia or the PRC.
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January 7, 2026 8:20am
- Nikola Donatello
  
  Indeed. Look at Burma. The world would have been a better place if its military government had been removed 50 years ago by force, ie invasion. It was a country of great potential, ruined by tyrants.
  
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  January 7, 2026 8:30am
  - MCōs
    
    Invasion by whom?
    
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    January 7, 2026 8:53am
    - Mike
      
      British, Chinese, French, Thais, Japanese. All had a shot didn’t they?
      Sometime these natives just need to decide which imperial power will make the best decisions for them. Only advanced countries can afford to be independent.
      
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      January 7, 2026 11:03am
    - Nikola Donatello
      
      The UN if it were effective.
      
      or ASEAN.
      
      If it is good enough for Venezuela it is good enough for Burma. It has been run by evil people since 1962. They have inflicted death and suffering and the world and the region have done nothing.
      
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      January 7, 2026 3:25pm
- mandk
  
  Ah, yes, The Guardian, go-to journal of the downtrodden masses of Hampstead, Islington and Putney. Teachers, civil servants, and creatives. How they toil!
  
  Meanwhile, the real workers, the factory hands, the lorry drivers and the scaffolders, they read The Sun. They just want to read the football reports and enjoy the pictures of party girls. What do they know, they just keep the country running.
  
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  January 7, 2026 8:33am
- Nigel Kearney
  
  It will be an improvement if the regime changes. When the problem is a one-off evil dictator (e.g. Serbia or Iraq), removing that person is always going to improve the situation. But the problem in Venezuela is a communist regime doing what those regimes always do. Maduro was not worse than Chavez, and I am skeptical that his successor will be an improvement. Maduro did not personally steal the previous election. His party did that. The next task is to ensure they can’t do it again.
  
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  January 7, 2026 9:02am
- Hard Cheese
  
  I take it then that you think Trump has no business annexing Greenland? The vast majority of Greenlanders are not in favour of occupation by the US.
  
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  January 7, 2026 9:15am
  - surfing
    
    I’d support going to war against the US if they take Greenland.
    
    It could be the US against the rest of the world if they try to take over Greenland. As with Ukraine, we shouldn’t accept bullies.
    
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    January 7, 2026 1:03pm
    - Hard Cheese
      
      Denmark don’t need to put a boot on the ground in Greenland to cripple the US and the US military. Trump and Hesgeth are stupid enough to try it, and I’ll laugh if they do.
      
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      January 7, 2026 2:59pm
    - Nikola Donatello
      
      You would “support” it? Would that include the New Zealand armed forces with you joining as a recruit? Or do you mean support from your couch?
      
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      January 7, 2026 3:27pm
      - losingtheplot
        
        I don’t think anyone is going to go to war if USA grab Greenland.
        
        But there will be consequences. That will be the end of Taiwan. The end of NATO. The end of any pretence that International law has teeth. Who’s going to stop China taking the whole of the South China Sea?
        
        Maybe taking Greenland might not be worth it after all.
        
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        January 7, 2026 4:47pm
      - surfing
        
        Yes I would.
        
        As would other nations…
        https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15440471/Starmer-Macron-Trump-Greenland-Euro-leaders-statement.html
        
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        January 7, 2026 6:20pm
    - Christopher Thomson
      
      I’m going to take a moment to search for your posts that support the entire world attacking Russia for their invasion of Ukraine/Georgia/Chechnya, to name a few modern ones.
      
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      January 7, 2026 5:12pm
  - Fender
    
    Citation needed or its just your opinion
    
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    January 7, 2026 3:37pm
- NothingLeft
  
  Because they are democracies, and their populations get a choice in electing and removing their leaders if they do a bad job.
  
  A possible fix for the problem of despotism would be if OECD just ran a decentralised system for removal of leaders of non-democratic regimes. Put bitcoin bounties on them and if that doesnt work then lob a few tomahawks at them. Make it no longer attractive to be a despot. The west is clearly capable of killing tyrants and it’s a lot cheaper than invading a country.
  
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  January 7, 2026 9:30am
  - Wayne1749
    
    You are blinded by the ‘two party, or multi party’ system.
    
    Yes in the West you can change the ruling party. You can’t change the SYSTEM.
    
    Other countries that are not ‘western’ style democracies, can be just as democratic in a true sense, if not more so, in that the governments work for the benefit of the people.
    
    Something Western elites have long since stopped doing – but rather put the interests of billionaires and corporations ahead of the ordinary people.
    
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    January 7, 2026 7:01pm
- Blog-aholic
  
  Hasn’t Putin already done that and more?
  
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  January 7, 2026 9:32am
- surfing
  
  https://www.the-express.com/news/world-news/195217/civil-war-fears-grow-heavily
  
  You probably should have said, ‘some are celebrating’.
  
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  January 7, 2026 9:35am
- Southern Raider
  
  The true test to apply in any situation is who is supporting the action vs protesting against it
  
  Watch any news report about Venezuela and almost unanimously the supporters of America’s actions are Venezuelans themselves, whereas all the protesters are radical left western liberals who just swapped their Palestinian flags for communist Maduro ones.
  
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  January 7, 2026 9:48am
  - Wandering Star
    
    “The true test to apply in any situation is who is supporting the action vs protesting against it.”
    
    Shouldn’t the true test of anything be just that, the truth, preferably arrived at by a sober assessment of reality? No doubt many Venezuelans support it, but no doubt many don’t, particularly those who understand that Venezuela is self-evidently not sovereign if external actors get to decide who governs.
    
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    January 7, 2026 3:36pm
  - KH
    
    I don’t believe under all the media blitz we know the truth of what Venezuelan’s think about it.
    MSM and all that tat, etc.
    
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    January 7, 2026 6:00pm
- Warren Murray
  
  Admittedly the details aren’t identical, but Vietnam did Cambodia a favour when it invaded and removed Pol Pott from power.
  
  Then there’s the time (1979) when Tanzania removed Idi Amin from power in Uganda.
  
  I read Robert Patman’s opinion piece the other day. He wrote about the importance of ‘rules based order’; implicitly stating that the world totters on the precipice of chaos when super powers act unilaterally. It’s a nice concept, but tends to breakdown when dictators, like Maduro and Pol Pot, hijack elections (i.e a rules-based system) to seize or retain power. Evil people prosper and act with impunity when they are actually enabled by a ‘rules based order’ that shields them from those who can intervene.
  
  Now, it can be argued the two examples cited above didn’t end “happily ever after” but at the time the status quo was intolerable.
  
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  January 7, 2026 11:06am
  - Wayne1749
    
    The ‘rules based order’ relates to how sovereign states deal with one another.
    
    Maduro was not threatening any other country, and was and is no threat to the US.
    
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    January 7, 2026 7:03pm
- nathie
  
  An article in the Guardian asks “If Trump can invade Venezuela, why can’t Putin invade Ukraine? Or Xi Jinping seize Taiwan?”.
  
  The differences are, Russia and Ukraine have been “joined together” (as well as independent of each other) over the centuries. So for better or worse there is, as they say, some “history”.
  
  China has been wanting to seize Taiwan since the Communist revolution back in the late 1940’s overthrew the Govt which fled to Taiwan (Formosa). So there is again, as they say, some “history”. And let’s not forget the current CCP regime is calling for “reunification” (by force) within the next couple of years and is constantly practicing blockading Tawain – why are the left silent on this?
  
  Current US/Venezuela events are not quite the same as those above (and yes I acknowledge that there are questions over the legitimacy) … but surely the MSM have the smarts to figure out these intricacies for their own credibility?
  
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  January 7, 2026 11:17am
  - R
    
    From observation over the last two decades, I would question whether the MSM have any ‘smarts’, particularly in NZ. We know that they have no credibility.
    
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    January 7, 2026 1:41pm
- Wandering Star
  
  “Venezuelans are celebrating the American actions. Ukrainians and Taiwanese are not so much in favour of Russia or the PRC.”
  
  No, you don’t know the certitude of either of these claims. What we do know is that there is footage and reports of some Venezuelans purportedly celebrating, while you nor I have no idea to what extent Taiwanese or Ukrainians favour China or Russia respectively. In both cases you are assuming without any real evidence. In fact, I’d imagine that a lot of Ukrainians of Russian ethnic extraction in the east were very pleased to see the Russians arrive in 2022 after years of lethal attacks from the Ukrainian government.
  
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  January 7, 2026 11:31am
  - NZer In Exile
    
    Venezuela’s GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power parity (PPP) was last recorded at approximately $17,131.39 in 2014. It is projected to reach around $17,474.00 by the end of 2026 according to current estimates.
    
    Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves. It should be as rich as Norway or there abouts.
    
    As of 2025, Norway’s GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power parity (PPP) is approximately Int$ 106,694.
    
    Poverty kills and pollutes.
    
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    January 7, 2026 5:54pm
- BananaLlama
  
  Would you welcome an invader if everyone was cheering in the streets? Don’t ever forget how they cheered when Saddam was removed until they wanted the occupier gone.
  
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  January 7, 2026 11:44am
- Wayne1749
  
  Who says Venezuelans are ‘celebrating the American actions’. Of course SOME are – exiles tend to be less favourable to their home regimes. Even consertive estimates admit that Maduro would have enjoyed 30% support within Venezuela, politically. The percentage of people opposing US intervention would probably be much higher than that.
  
  Are you saying that if the US deems any political leader to be unpopular in their own country, they can just go in and kidnap him or her? What if Trump’s popularity continues to decline, and he even went for a third term
  
  What the fuck about the so-called ‘rules based order’.
  
  On Ukraine – the parts of Ukraine the Russians want are decidedly pro-Russia. Why can the Russified parts of Ukraine not join with Russia? On Taiwan, both sides consider themselves part of China – the PRC on the one hand and the ROC on the other. So Taiwan is simply a civil war matter between different Chinese factions.
  
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  January 7, 2026 6:52pm
Cassandra

A comment yesterday compared the Greens advocating the eradication of Israel with ACT’s euthanasia policy ie occasionally we have to swallow a dead rat. Euthanasia is a personal choice. Nobody will be forced to do it. “The river to the sea” OTOH is pretty much compulsory and will include mass murder. I don’t see the parallel.
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January 7, 2026 8:25am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  Euthanasia is thin end of the wedge stuff, Cas.
  
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  January 7, 2026 8:29am
  - the deity formerly known as nigel6888
    
    Indeed. Look at the MAID data coming out of Canada. 16000 people euthanized last year. Bet they didn’t want to be any bother?
    
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    January 7, 2026 12:21pm
- Nigel Kearney
  
  I don’t see the parallel either. But there are numerous examples of elderly people being pressured to make ‘choices’ that are bad for them but financially benefit their children. When those end up in court, often the transactions are ruled invalid due to ‘undue influence’. The same is happening with euthanasia but nobody knows because the only people with evidence are dead.
  
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  January 7, 2026 8:52am
  - Cassandra
    
    That’s a good argument against euthanasia. But on balance it seems to me that the benefits outweigh that pov. I concede it’s a difficult matter. The safeguards must be strict.
    
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    January 7, 2026 9:06am
    - Nukuleka
      
      State- sanctioned murder. Abortion and euthanasia.
      
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      January 7, 2026 9:21am
      - KKNZ2025
        
        If men could get pregnant abortion rights would never be questioned.
        
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        January 7, 2026 9:42am
      - Yvette
        
        Nukuleka, surely there is a difference between the two – euthanasia is supposedly where the person dying has made that choice; in abortion there is no such informed choice
        
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        January 7, 2026 9:45am
      - Notsofast
        
        Abortion is not murder. We know because there is a debate about abortion.
        There is no debate about murder.
        Euthenasia is a different matter again, more akin to capital punishment, where the time place and method are explained in advance to the victim.
        There is an obvious difference, but the visceral disgust felt at the notion of either, is felt by many.
        
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        January 7, 2026 11:02am
      - Wandering Star
        
        Murder is a legal category, whereas willfully ending a life is not. There may be debate as to whether abortion is murder, but it is quite self-evident that abortion is willfully ending a life, which even the proponents have to admit is the entire point of the exercise. Much of the “debate” is pro-abortionists trying to justify themselves to themselves.
        
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        January 7, 2026 11:36am
      - Notsofast
        
        There is debate about abortion, no debate about murder.
        Therefore one thing is not the same as the other, as you claim they are.
        This says nothing about my view of abortion, but I am in favour of women making the choice themselves in most circumstances.
        
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        January 7, 2026 12:31pm
      - kiwi_chileno
        
        Exactly. Javier Milei and Johannes Kaiser, leader of Chile’s libertarian party, 4th highest polling candidate in the first round of Presidential elections, oppose euthanasia and abortion. So does Chile’s incoming conservative President José Antonio Kast. Chile’s outgoing socialist President is trying to rush through legislation for euthanasia and voluntary abortion before he leaves office. Kaiser called President Boric Herod for wanting to kill babies and said “the only thing that concerns him [Boric] is being able to kill more people or that more people can be killed, either through abortion or through euthanasia….Euthanasia is that someone actively kills you. That is, it legalises homicide when there is consent.”
        
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        January 7, 2026 5:00pm
  - Hollyfield
    
    I am speaking only to the issue of undue influence in this comment. I agree this is a potential concern.
    A friend’s aunt elected for euthanasia last year, after a long and painful illness. It was terminal and she was struggling more and more to just exist. By the end she could no longer eat and breathing was a struggle. The doctor meet with her privately several times over the course of about 6 months to confirm this was definitely what she wanted to do. On the day the doctor made all the family leave the room and he met with the woman again for half an hour. Only when he was satisfied did he let the family in and then they proceeded. No one knows what was said in that meeting but presumably he was making sure this is what she definitely wanted to do and it was her decision alone. Not fail safe, but if this process is followed rigorously and the person is questioned properly it should eliminate almost all the risk.
    
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    January 7, 2026 10:03am
    - slijmbal
      
      Lived in Holland for a while and even learnt the language. My Dutch wife keeps her NL passport as she wants the option of euthenasia should it come to that.
      
      The Dutch have quite a rigorous regime around euthenasia. From memory the majority of applications are rejected or withdrawn by the applicant and of those that are approved a minority are taken up. Even so, a substantial proportion of deaths are now euthanised – something like 5%. There have been several convictions of medical professionals for breaking the rules and various studies have confirmed a very low rate of pressured euthenasia (the Dutch are pretty stubborn). The incidence of screwed up suicide attempts eg using paracetamol leading to an excruciating death have dropped to practically nothing.
      
      The problem is that any such system will have failures and will be viewed by those opposing euthanasia as proof it’s the ‘devil’s work’. With a well constructed system like the Dutch the slippery slope argument has been shown to be incorrect. If anything, their system has tightened up in the last 20 years. The Belgian approach is an example of a system that is IMO too loose and open to abuse.
      
      There have been many pontifications around the Dutch system by those opposing euthanasia. I followed several of the quoted examples to the original Dutch written information and inaviarably they were (deliberately IMO) incorrectly interpreted to support the opposer’s views.
      
      Having watched several people rather close to me die badly I realised palliative care fails much more frequently than represented by those opposing euthanasia.
      
      Would be nice if there was a more nuanced discussion around euthanasia and palliative care rising above the “Euthansia evil! No euthanasia good!” level.
      
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      January 7, 2026 12:18pm
    - rouppe
      
      The doctor meet with her privately several times over the course of about 6 months to confirm this was definitely what she wanted to do.
      
      One condition of euthanasia is expected life expectancy of 6 months or less.
      
      So questions for me are:
      1. Why did it take so long to do it
      2. Who gave the 6 month expectancy diagnosis and if it’s the same doctor, are they ignoring that requirement
      
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      January 7, 2026 2:18pm
      - Hollyfield
        
        When I said about 6 months I was not being exact. I draw your attention to the word “about” in “about 6 months”. Maybe it was 5 months, maybe it was 4. She had been ill for several years, and her decision was not made in a matter of days and she had lots of opportunity to change her mind. Maybe she had even decided 2 years out and it was only after the terminal diagnosis of less than 6 months that she proceeded. I don’t know. The point is, she had many meetings with the doctor without family being present so her wishes could be ascertained.
        
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        January 7, 2026 5:32pm
- Dudley Quaffquaff
  
  Way to miss the point. The issue was not over whether euthanasia is parallel to the eradication of Israel. It was over, first, whether it is fair to assume that if some people in a party take an unacceptable stance on issue A, then anybody who supports that party because of their policy on completely unrelated issue B is equally responsible for those unacceptable views on A.
  
  No, it isn’t.
  
  And even if it were, it’s still not legitimate to mount a savage and personal attack in a public forum on a well-meaning young person who is not a professional politician, who has a great deal to cope with on top of all the other pressures that all young people today face, and who hasn’t yet been able fully to sort out the conflicts, contradictions and complexities that we all face in life.
  
  That’s not legitimate. It’s shameful; and personally I think the mods ought to have stopped you in your tracks from the start
  
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  January 7, 2026 9:57am
  - Cassandra
    
    She’s 28, Dudley. She knows what it all means. You are naïve.
    
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    January 7, 2026 2:48pm
- RoboRob
  
  That was my post.
  
  I think you misunderstand the point I was making. You were saying that ALL Green supporters support the removal of the state of Israel (at a minimum).
  
  I said people often support parties that have some views they dont agree with. I gave my support for Act, although I somewhat disagree with their euthenasia policy as an example.
  
  The point is that not all Green party supporters hate Jews. Some really care about capital gains taxes and are willing to overlook the Greens Jew policy to get their capital gains tax.
  
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  January 7, 2026 10:18am
  - leoj
    
    Well said Robo.
    As the Rolling Stones sang: “You can’t always get what you want.”
    
    Greg Gutfeld also explains it brilliantly:
    You don’t stop going to a restaurant just because there is one particular thing on the menu that you detest.
    
    Sometimes, you have to hold your nose.
    
    Ricky Gervais also has a brilliant take:
    Guy walking in the town square sees a poster advertising guitar lessons for $20 but the guy screams: “Bus I don’t want f*#king guitar lessons!”
    
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    January 7, 2026 11:46am
  - Wandering Star
    
    Can you please provide a link to “the Greens’ Jew policy”?
    
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    January 7, 2026 11:46am
    - RoboRob
      
      Talk to Cassandra, she was the one equating ALL Green supporters as Jew haters.
      
      I think it is fair to say that ‘from the river to the see’ has a meaning and Chloe, the Green leader, knows full well what it means.
      
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      January 7, 2026 1:18pm
      - Wandering Star
        
        First, I believe Cassandra is a bloke. Second, it is one thing to advocate that Israel (i.e. the Jewish state in the Levant declared in 1948) should cease to exist (and thus, “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” etc.), while it’s another thing entirely to say that, by implication, Israel ceasing to exist entails the genocide of Jews. For a start, most of the world’s Jews don’t even live in Israel. This is like saying that if a political entity like the European Union ceased to exist, this would entail the genocide of Europeans.
        
        So this spurious formula is utter hysterical nonsense, and is only of rhetorical use. People who make this claim are either dishonest or incapable of rational thought.
        
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        January 7, 2026 1:37pm
      - Cassandra
        
        Star: what part of “the Jews living (in Israel)” do you not understand? Ready, fire, aim?
        
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        January 7, 2026 3:25pm
  - Cassandra
    
    I understood what you were saying. My point is that some issues are so grave that you cannot support the party. This is one of them.
    
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    January 7, 2026 12:28pm
    - RoboRob
      
      Agreed. I couldn’t support the Greens.
      
      My issue was that you claimed ALL Green supporters to be Jew haters. I am 100% sure that there are plenty that aren’t 🙂 There are plenty of uninformed Green voters that think they are an environmental party. See the colour green and vote based on that.
      
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      January 7, 2026 1:20pm
      - Wandering Star
        
        “My issue was that you claimed ALL Green supporters to be Jew haters.”
        
        I think it’s probable that none of the Greens are “Jew haters.” Standing up for the rights of “minority brown people” is one of the pillars of the Green Party (how this is an environmental issue, is another matter), so it is perfectly consistent for them to champion the Palestinians.
        
        In other words, it’s not “Jew hate” motivating them, its “brown people love.” if anything. I have no doubt that if Whites were doing what the Jews in Israel are doing, the hard left would still back the Palestinians. This cover- all attribution of “Jew hatred” for anyone not supporting Israel is to obscure the fact that it is the actions of the Israelis, not their ethnicity, which is the issue.
        
        Of course, people can take different actions by choice, while they cannot change their ethnicity. Accordingly, critiques of Israel can be written off as based on immutable ethnicity, then the Israelis do not have to address the real critique, which is their actions.
        
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        January 7, 2026 1:51pm
      - Cassandra
        
        I don’t think I used the term Jew haters. I did say “by inference”. It is my opinion that Swarbrick is advocating for the eradication of Israel and that will mean immense loss of life on both sides. Voting for her endorses that.
        
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        January 7, 2026 2:46pm
artemisia

Seems like Nick Shirley, citizen journalist, has lit a fuse with his viral Minnesota fraud video. Not the only one either getting airtime now. Latest is Nick Sortor who reported on Hilton Hotels franchisee Minneapolis Hampton Inn. The Inn denied rooms to ICE and other federal agents, HH and the Inn apologised. Mr Sortor checked, whoops, lies, and the Inn has been removed from the HH stable.

The ‘independent journalists’ may be misleading, biased or plain wrong, but it should be a wake up call for the barely trusted MSM. Including in New Zealand.
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January 7, 2026 8:25am
- NothingLeft
  
  This could grow into a big political strike against Dems – who have clearly been colluding to manage a massive govt paid fraudster to political donations scheme in Democrat controlled states and cities across the USA.
  
  What fun it would be to see Rico cases opened up on this – which could spread to a huge number of Democrat appointees; Politicians, Bureaucrats, Police, NGOs and even Judges (recent case of a jury verdict against a fraudster being overturned by the trial judge), on top of the Fraudsters themselves.
  
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  January 7, 2026 9:35am
  - artemisia
    
    The Somali frauds might have just blown up super bigly but in fact have been investigated for years and some prosecuted successfully more recently.
    
    The daycare issue, maybe others, seems to have been funded based on enrolments so maybe a lot of the funding was legit. Unlikely we-the-people will see it like that regardless of state and federal excuses.
    
    It’s not just Minnesota, or Somalis. But it does appear to be lots and lots of billions.
    
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    January 7, 2026 12:37pm
    - cmm
      
      Well, yes, they have been investigate and prosecuted. However such prosecutions have led to outcomes that make a warm wet bus ticket seem harsh and did not stand in the way of them committing further fraud.
      
      Of course Somalis don’t hold the monopoly on fraud – even in Minnesota. However of the 98 charged in one racket, 85 were Somalian (ie.86%). That’s an awfully high batting average given that Somalis are about 100k of Minnesota’s population of about 6 million (ie. 2%).
      
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      January 7, 2026 3:45pm
- Southern Raider
  
  The real concern is the number of elected officials, employees and “journalists” who would have known there was major fraud issues going on for other a decade and not a single one seemed to have attempted to raise a red flag or blow the whistle.
  
  This is democracy sanctioned criminal behaviour condoned and sweep under the carpet by one of the largest political parties in the world.
  
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  January 7, 2026 9:37am
  - artemisia
    
    Looks like California next in the firing line. May mean some firings.
    
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    January 7, 2026 2:17pm
- Exclamation Mark
  
  I would put a lazy $100 towards any aspiring journalist that would undertake a similar investigation of NZ “charities” like the John Tamahere ones.
  
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  January 7, 2026 9:38am
  - David Garrett
    
    “Any aspiring journo WHO would….” Old boy…”that” is for inanimate objects as in “the car that left the road was going too fast”
    
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    January 7, 2026 12:39pm
    - cmm
      
      Given the level of animation in journalists, it is probably fair to treat them as inanimate objects.
      
      As for the car that left the road, you seem to have picked up the NZ journalistic disease of blaming the car – and not the driver – for erratic driving.
      
      I am looking forward to more DG grammar lessons in 2026.
      
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      January 7, 2026 3:33pm
  - Paulus
    
    Looking at the people who reprsent the Charities Commission and their CEO I would ask that the whole thing be reviewed as these feminists would appear to be supporters of thousands of the 27,000 Trusts, very many of which are Maori Trusts for example, with unpronouncible names and so called occupations and tax free exemptions.
    
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    January 7, 2026 2:15pm
  - Burtland
    
    are maori charities actually a thing?
    
    there appears to be no definitive number of maori charities in NZ – it must surely be recorded but well away from the prying eyes of AI.
    
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    January 8, 2026 11:57am
- Mike
  
  Calling oneself an ‘independent journalist’ does not necessarily make one independent or even a journalist.
  
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  January 7, 2026 11:05am
  - Blog-aholic
    
    Being employed as a journalist…does not necessarily make one bi-partisan or even a ‘journalist’.
    
    Trust in all forms of media are predicated by truth, fact and people willing to dig.
    
    The NZMSM have failed truth, facts and digging and that is why less than 1/3 of us even bother with them let alone trust them.
    
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    January 7, 2026 11:49am
  - David Garrett
    
    A rare uptick from me Mike…but I am curious : Have you ever upticked one of mine…EVER?
    
    Didn’t think so
    
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    January 7, 2026 12:54pm
    - muzled
      
      It would be an interesting end of year stat to see who dished out the most downticks.
      
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      January 7, 2026 2:14pm
    - Mike
      
      Yes, I have.
      
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      January 7, 2026 7:18pm
  - NothingLeft
    
    MSM of the 2020’s; Once were Journalists. But now just propagandists for the destructive left.
    
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    January 7, 2026 1:39pm
NeverMindTheBollocks

Ask yourself how much this piece of cycling infrastructure cost you.

Because, you know, this has nothing to do with protecting the road and rail corridor from storm surges and “climate change” (whatever that means, in context).

It’s just a luxury that we can ill afford.

http://www.1news.co.nz/2026/01/06/new-walking-and-cycling-bridge-soars-over-wellington-rail-line/
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January 7, 2026 8:27am
- Burtland
  
  there is another one of these going in in Christchurch – all the result of bad traffic planning putting a pedestrian crossing on a four lane motorway
  
  New cost of project estimated to be between $100m and $150m – project includes overbridge between Collins and Simeon Streets
  
  the overbridge is overkill
  
  https://hail.to/addington-te-kura-taumatua/article/6qjjNW2
  
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  January 8, 2026 12:44pm
Ipanema69

Dear President Trump,

Now that the Delta Force boys have got Maduro is there any chance you could send them down here to get Kim Dotcom?

We dont have any air defence system as Helen scrapped it, so it will be pretty low risk.

Thanking you in advance for your attention to this matter
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January 7, 2026 8:31am
- Yvette
  
  Hi Ipanema69,
  
  The Great Again United States of America obviously have no bigly interest in Kim Dotcom.
  Otherwise you would not be complaining about him still being there.
  
  With kind regards, Donald (signed with a Magic Marker)
  
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  January 7, 2026 11:42am
  - Ipanema69
    
    Dear Pres Trump,
    
    Hey we can throw in a life membership at the Hills Golf Course in Queenstown!
    
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    January 7, 2026 2:03pm
- Cassandra
  
  Waste of time. Leave him be. He’s crook.
  
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  January 7, 2026 12:30pm
  - NothingLeft
    
    yeah, had a very conveniently timed stroke.
    
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    January 7, 2026 1:42pm
- RoboRob
  
  If only the Minister of Justice would see him deported. Our court system is pathetic.
  
  FYI, no I dont are whether he is or isn’t guilty of anything. He is due in court in the USA. We have an extradition treaty and are required to deport. We decided to deport 10+ years ago but DotCom has played the NZ justice system like a fiddle.
  
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  January 7, 2026 1:24pm
  - Ipanema69
    
    RR,
    
    Yes I agree. My understanding is that the criminal matters pertaining to the extradition have been fully litigated. My understanding is that there is effectively a 2nd appeals process that has been started civilly via Judicial Review of the decision by the minister to issue an extradition warrant.
    
    One of the resident legal eagles needs to explain to me why he is still out on bail given that the criminal proceedings have finished and he is liable for extradition.
    
    The “stroke” is very convenient.
    
    On the good news Don responded to my post above and although he did not initially agree I have countered with a lifetime membership of Hills Golf Course!
    
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    January 7, 2026 2:11pm
- Paulus
  
  Understand he is too ill to be allowed medically to fly !
  
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  January 7, 2026 2:17pm
  - RoboRob
    
    Handy that! Put him on a fucking boat and send him the bill.
    
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    January 7, 2026 4:22pm
AitchW

A local reporter in Caracas this morning talking to Andrew Dickens, (I know), filling in for the Hosk this morning.
Militias alongside security forces stopping people and searching their phones for messages of support for Trump’s arrest of Maduro.
Same government, same ministers.
Is Venezuela about to turn to custard for those who cheered the arrest?
Has Trump a sown the wind only to reap a whirlwind? This might turn really bad really fast…
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January 7, 2026 8:46am
- leoj
  
  The US Navy is very handy if things turn to custard.
  
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  January 7, 2026 11:49am
- Wandering Star
  
  The US government can barely run America, while an increasing proportion of Americans see that government as indifferent to, or hostile to, their interests, creating a sense of illegitimacy.
  
  The US apparently effectively but wants to run a destabilized country with vast cultural and geopolitical differences – this a recipe for disaster.
  
  This may conceivably have been possible were the US strong and cohesive as a political entity, but it is in rapid decline as to its international credibility, and in both its absolute and relative power, so I don’t see any of it, including Trump’s posited Greenland delusion, working out well.
  
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  January 7, 2026 12:11pm
Albie

Art, re trusted MSM, The Ferald lead story online this morning was about the Sunnybrae dairy robbery. It opened by stating the dairy was in West Auckland. Sunnybrae is a suburb on the North Shore .God they’re useless.
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January 7, 2026 8:51am
- greybeard
  
  The Sunnybrae Superette is in Sunnyvale, West Auckland.
  It does not refer to a suburb called Sunnybrae.
  So they are not so useless.
  As an aside, my late mother’s family farmed a property in Aranga called “Sunnybrae” and that was from late 19th Century.
  
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  January 7, 2026 11:56am
  - Albie
    
    I stand corrected Sir! Thank you for pointing this out.
    
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    January 7, 2026 12:08pm
  - MCōs
    
    We live in Mangere Bridge, which is in South Auckland or Manukau City before Act came up with the super city concept.
    I wasn’t aware until recently just how spread out Auckland now is. Maybe two hours top to bottom. That’s Timaru to Christchurch.
    West Auckland alone is about thirty distinct suburbs.
    My daughter lives in Onehunga, which was a borough with its own mayor until 1989. It used to be an important port. Now it isn’t. Back in the good old days before a bridge or any development it was possible to walk over the inlet at low tide.
    
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    January 7, 2026 3:20pm
NothingLeft

Iranian regime has been overthrown in Western Iranian city of Abdanan:
https://x.com/visionergeo/status/2008597382787731898

Wishing the long-suffering Persians luck in getting rid of the evil mullahs and revolutionary guard
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January 7, 2026 9:42am
- Philview
  
  I asked Ai why the western media appears to be ignoring the revolt in Iran. Ai said it was because they don’t want to have the appearance of taking an anti Islamic position. Interesting!
  
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  January 7, 2026 7:30pm
Southern Raider

Should the Govt step in an take over Manage My Health?

I’m generally against Govt inference in private businesses, but in this situation we have a clearly incompetent company who has somehow become custodians for 400,000 confidential health member records.

Anyone in cyber will say the response is an absolute debacle, that health information is the worst case for a privacy breach and it will most likely come out that the attack vector was through a fundamental design flaw in the backend system.
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January 7, 2026 9:43am
sungsamning

What is going on in Caracas? Is it a coup? Has a civil war broken out? Not quite.
https://pjmedia.com/sarah-anderson/2026/01/06/something-kind-of-funny-happened-in-caracas-n4947956
Something Kind of Funny Happened in Caracas.
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January 7, 2026 9:46am
sungsamning

The revoloution isn’t being televised. Its being streamed. Losing the capital isn’t a good look for the Mullahs. Everything is on fire. And there aren’t enough firemen [IRGC] Can the army save the day for the Mullahs? Will Hamas, and Hezbollah have to start a Gofundme? Will the price of oil trend downward?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_sndH3m4s0
Tehran Falls Into People’s Control – IRGC Pushed Out.
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January 7, 2026 9:46am
- MCōs
  
  This will come to nothing if whoever is leading the protests can’t fill the void with a viable alternative
  
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  January 7, 2026 2:02pm
peterwn

See:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/news/farmhouse-lodge-owners-fume-at-six-hour-council-raid-treated-like-a-terrorist/QD6JZ5PWOJFRPGSPDOWI6XO73Q/

This seems to me to be a terrible abuse of power against innocent people with little ability to fight back. The council officials who perpetrated this all have secure jobs, nice houses etc and could not care less about less privileged people. The Council appeared to have a genuine gripe about the running of the place and the owners/ operators needed to have been called to account. However the council staff had no gripe with the residents and therefore should have treated them with due dignity and respect, and helped them through a stressful situation instead of temporarily forcing them out.
Another point of concern. The Council obviously did not tell the whole truth when making the sworn statement when seeking the warrant. The Council should have informed the judge who signed the warrant that it was going to have an impact on innocent people and should have advised the judge how it was going to handle that situation. If I was a ratepayer in that area I would be lobbying councillors to sack or take other disciplinary action against the CEO.
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January 7, 2026 10:06am
- Quail
  
  If that report is true it is an absolute disgrace..
  Councils have been giving themselves more and more powers.
  In this they have been recently given a doubling of infringement fines for these matters.
  In the past such an operation would have had to have Police present , as Council officers did not have the authority to enter private property, and due notification was a requirement
  Right or wrong due process should have been followed.
  Bullying of anyone is not acceptable in NZ
  
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  January 7, 2026 10:58am
- pdm
  
  As a Hastings ratepayer I have no confidence in either the new Mayor or the current CEO.
  
  At the moment I am waiting for the response to an OIA I sent in re The NZ Flag desecration at the Art Gallery.
  
  OIA sent 15 December but, I am not expecting an answer until the end of January given Christmas intervention.
  
  If it was me I would have wanted it off my desk and would have had it out in a couple of days – it was not complicated.
  
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  January 7, 2026 11:05am
  - RoboRob
    
    My understanding is that it is common / standard practice, to wait as long as possible to reply to an OIA. Normally the statutory limit.
    
    I think the concept is to discourage people making OIAs and to conceal when the council really doesn’t want to reply. Where the actual OIA could be publicly embarrasing, dragging it out to the last minute does reduce media coverage.
    
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    January 7, 2026 11:22am
  - leoj
    
    It seems the Hastings CC is a law unto themselves, a trait of leftists who prefer to ignore election results.
    
    Suggestion: Form a group of ratepayers (1000 or more) and then tell the council they get no more rates. Money rules and when it stops the council will get the message.
    
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    January 7, 2026 11:53am
    - pdm
      
      Hastings DC has 2 or 3 good councillors led by new Councillor Steve Gibson (he who brought the walk on the NZ Flag fiasco into prominence) but, most are lefties.
      
      Including one who was on the Greens list (mid 20’s) last General Election and is a newly elected Councillor.
      
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      January 7, 2026 1:33pm
- All_on_Red
  
  I have seen that property.
  It is a complete shithole. I have seen better kennels for dogs.
  Unfortunately the people who live there have little choice. They are, literally, the dregs of society.
  Regardless of various ‘rights’ I can see why the Council is concerned.
  If it burned down and people died then the Council would have liability if it had approved its Licence.
  
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  January 7, 2026 1:50pm
  - peterwn
    
    I knew a 6th year medical student who slummed it there for several weeks when doing a ‘run’ at Hawkes Bay hospital. He wanted to minimize his student loan.
    
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    January 7, 2026 3:40pm
- rouppe
  
  A spokeswoman said they had executed a search warrant at the property under the Resource Management Act and the Search and Surveillance Act, investigating suspected building and activity-related offences.
  
  The matters dealt with under the Search and Surveillance Act are pretty serious. They’d better have found the evidence they presented in the warrant or if it were me I’d be pretty pissed off.
  
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  January 7, 2026 1:54pm
David Garrett

So now Trump is musing about invading Greenland. Perhaps the Trumpists here could explain why that is a rational proposal – and more importantly, why such an invasion would be morally right.

Let me guess the answers: “That that’s just Trump sounding off; he isn’t serious”; or “Trump has some grand plan in which invading a country which has a legitimate pro-western government is justified”

I actually can’t think of any more “explanations”. I await the responses with great interest.
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January 7, 2026 11:12am
- kowtow
  
  If he does, it’s cos he’s a megalomaniac seeking to cement his place in American history as one of , if not , the greatest President , in his own mind that is.
  
  All contingent on that ‘if” .
  
  Whichever way you cut it , it’s a worry.
  
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  January 7, 2026 11:17am
  - David Garrett
    
    Kow: He’s already said, a number of times, that is the greatest president of all time…and everything he does is rated 10/10
    
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    January 7, 2026 1:08pm
- RoboRob
  
  Not a Trumpist.
  
  Trump has been talking about Greenland for some time. It is militarily important to the US. It has a tiny population and Trump thought he could ‘buy it’ in the same way as the US acquired Alaska. Unfortunately the Dutch and/or Greenlanders weren’t keen on selling.
  
  Trump is signalling he is still very keen. I suspect the US will eventually get some sort of control of Greenland. Even if that is simply allowing US military bases.
  
  Whilst those with TDS have always sold this story as ‘Trump wants to invade Greenland’, thats just stupid.
  
  Unfortunately Trumps tarrifs have led many other nations to take a less then friendly stance towards the US. I suspect that without his aggressive stance they could easily have come to some arrangement.
  
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  January 7, 2026 11:29am
  - Cassandra
    
    Danes.
    
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    January 7, 2026 12:32pm
    - kowtow
      
      The thing is there’s plenty of predecent for the growth of the US by various means of acquisition.This is not at all exceptional , indeed , it’s almost the norm .
      
      Including in the past Danish territory .
      
      The US Virgin Islands were a Danish colonial possesion ’till bought in WW1.
      
      That’s not to say Trump is right about how he’s treating close allies , like Canada and Denmark.He isn’t and it is a worry.
      
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      January 7, 2026 12:47pm
      - David Garrett
        
        Kow: Yes…except he’s no longer talking about buying Greenland…the latest presser from the blonde bimbo talks about “a number of options, including military force”…against a NATO ally FFS…any such action would destroy that long standing alliance
        
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        January 7, 2026 1:03pm
      - Cassandra
        
        “Don’t take him literally but do take him seriously”.
        
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        January 7, 2026 2:54pm
      - David Garrett
        
        Cass: Well yes…but should there really be a clown in the most Important political office in the world?
        
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        January 7, 2026 4:36pm
  - Taieri
    
    Even if that is simply allowing US military bases
    ————-
    
    Pituffik (formerly Thule Air Base) Space Base has been operating in Greenland since 1943.
    
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    January 7, 2026 12:55pm
  - SoloView
    
    @ RoboRob
    
    The US already has a military base in Greenland.
    
    In March 2025 the Danish Foreign Minister, Lars Rasmussen, said on X re Trump and Vance – “This is not how you speak to your close allies,” though he suggested Denmark and Greenland would be “very much open to” the U.S. increasing its military presence in Greenland. “
    
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    January 7, 2026 12:55pm
  - surfing
    
    I would support the whole planet going to war against the US if they tried to take over greenland.
    
    You can’t let bullies bully .
    
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    January 7, 2026 1:05pm
    - imalwaysright
      
      You first….
      
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      January 7, 2026 4:05pm
  - MCōs
    
    “I suspect the US will eventually get some sort of control of Greenland. Even if that is simply allowing US military bases.”
    Similar to Germany, Japan, Australia and numerous other countries who probably don’t realize they are partially controlled by America and therefore increasingly by President Trump.
    
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    January 7, 2026 1:50pm
  - Paulus
    
    Why will the Danes not ask the people of Greenland ?
    
    7 4
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    January 7, 2026 2:21pm
    - MCōs
      
      From what I’ve read a poll of the locals indicates they’d just as sooner stick with the status quo.
      For all our concerns I don’t think too many Kiwis would see much benefit in becoming the 51st state of America if offered the chance
      
      3 3
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      January 7, 2026 5:52pm
  - CrazyIvan
    
    Thing is the US does not need to own Greenland to have military bases there. They had over a dozen during the Cold War and there are two US bases currently operating there. The others could be reactivated with a bit of work. Denmark is a NATO member and NATO can collaborate on security matters.
    
    Its a blatant grab for resources, nothing to do with military security.
    
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    January 7, 2026 3:26pm
    - David Garrett
      
      Crazy: 100% (as the yoof now say when they agree with something)
      
      3 1
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      January 7, 2026 7:42pm
- Yvette
  
  Dear Dave,
  
  Invading Greenland is a rational proposal because it is close enough to Russia than if we put a bloody bigly nuke opposite Iceland and fix it to blow if there is a first strike against Washington, all hell will automatically, when the wind blows, slowly rain down on Putin. And meanwhile we will take over the buffer zone of Canada.
  
  With kind regards, Donald (again signed with a Magic Marker)
  
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  January 7, 2026 11:54am
  - Christopher Thomson
    
    Ignoring your puerile reference to the magic marker it’s nice that you do acknowledge that he is the one signing the documents.
    
    6 2
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    January 7, 2026 5:30pm
    - Mike
      
      You didn’t ignore the puerile reference though; you added one of your own.
      But feel free to lay out your rationale for Trump and his henchmen threatening Greenland and Denmark with military action
      
      1 6
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      January 7, 2026 6:37pm
      - Christopher Thomson
        
        I would suggest you go back through every comment I have made ever and see if there is a single one where I openly support or even imply that ‘Trump and his henchmen’ should threaten military action.
        
        Then, when you find nothing come back and apologize.
        
        1 0
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        January 8, 2026 1:31am
- leoj
  
  Geographical strategy to put Russia on notice about expanding their reach.
  
  8 4
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  January 7, 2026 11:55am
  - Wandering Star
    
    Really, it’s the US taking territory and expanding its reach, on a pretext of preventing Russia taking territory and expanding its reach. I’m sure you’ll appreciate the irony, if not the blatant hypocrisy.
    
    In short, now and for the last 30 years, the US actually does what it claims Russia wants to do.
    
    5 7
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    January 7, 2026 12:59pm
- mogg
  
  In order to secure US energy needs into the future Trump has removed Maduro from Venezuela. In order to divert attention from this controversial move he is giving the chattering class an alternative talking point, so they can be outraged and get emotional about something else.
  
  8 3
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  January 7, 2026 12:23pm
  - kowtow
    
    Seizing Maduro was a brilliant stroke .
    However as many have said it’s the follow up that really matters , can they carry it off …….
    
    10 2
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    January 7, 2026 12:50pm
- Graeme Hall
  
  Only a hint. Have a look at a globe of the Earth and see how close China & Russia are to Greenland, then how close Greenland is to North America & Europe.
  
  9 3
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  January 7, 2026 12:28pm
  - kowtow
    
    There’s no doubt that great geostrategical issues are at play here.
    
    7 3
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    January 7, 2026 12:52pm
  - Wandering Star
    
    Taking Greenland would merely be a continuation of the US’s self-evidently aggressive posture towards Russia which has been policy for 20 or 30 years.
    
    2 13
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    January 7, 2026 1:03pm
  - David Garrett
    
    Graeme: So what? Geopolitical significance isn’t any kind of reason for annexing a friendly country…and a member of NATO to boot
    
    10 1
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    January 7, 2026 4:40pm
    - BananaLlama
      
      I think it is crazy that they allow any American bases at all after being threatened with annexation of territory. They must think Trump is a one term Mad King and hope to deal with what comes after but what’s to stop America from electing another?
      
      2 1
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      January 7, 2026 5:43pm
  - rangitoto
    
    It’s purely a resource grab to enrich Trump and his wealthy supporters.
    
    0 3
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    January 7, 2026 5:55pm
- NothingLeft
  
  He doesn’t have to invade. Just offer all the few tens of thousand Greenlanders a couple of $million each and option of US citizenship if they become a US protectorate. Cheap at the price.
  
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  January 7, 2026 1:45pm
kiwi_chileno

Chile’s Ambassador to NZ Manahi Pakarati, a DEI appointment (a Pascuense, indigenous Rapa Nui), has been removed. She called for self-determination and self-government for Isla de Pascua / Easter Island in a social media post and in an unauthorised interview with RNZ . The Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman denounced Pakarati: “she forgets that she is a representative of the State of Chile and cannot express personal and ideological opinions that threaten Chile’s indivisible national sovereignty….she is pushing for separatism within our unitary state.”

https://www.ex-ante.cl/pese-a-su-grave-falta-gobierno-remueve-a-pakarati-de-nueva-zelandia-y-no-la-destituye-del-servicio-exterior/

https://en.mercopress.com/2025/12/29/chilean-ambassador-to-new-zealand-under-fire-after-rapa-nui-post

Pakarati also supported the 2022 radical, woke constitutional text drafted by millennial activists. Meant to replace Pinochet’s Constitution, it was Chile’s version of He Puapua. Fifty-six of the 388 articles dealt with indigenous rights. Chile would become a plurinational state. Eleven indigenous ‘nations’ – Rapa Nui, Mapuche, Quechua, etc – would be recognised and granted effective autonomy, eg, parallel indigenous legal systems (bi-juralism). There would also be reserved indigenous seats in Congress and other elected bodies, plus indigenous people must be consulted in matters affecting their rights.

Nearly ⅔’s of the electorate voted against the text. In the Mapuche-majority region, rejection was ¾’s. Chileans understood that indigenous privilege was incompatible with equality before the law and that plurinationalism destroys the unity and concept of the Chilean nation.
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January 7, 2026 12:04pm
- Paulus
  
  Who de f. is Chile’s Ambassador to NZ Manahi Pakarati wherever that may be – is it anywhere near New Zealand Aotearoa itself ?
  
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  January 7, 2026 2:25pm
  - SoloView
    
    @ Paulus
    Manahi Pakarati is the ex/current Chile Ambassador to NZ.
    
    5 0
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    January 7, 2026 2:53pm
    - Paulus
      
      Thank you, I did not realise it was a pers0n’s name.
      I thought it may have been a place.
      
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      January 8, 2026 9:30am
  - kiwi_chileno
    
    That’s her name. Identifies as indigenous Rapa Nui / Easter Islander (Chilean term is Pascuense). She likes wearing feather head-dresses. RNZ contributed to her downfall when they tagged her as Ambassador for Chile and Rapa Nui in the September interview. The RNZ idiots may have done that themselves or Pakarati insisted upon that title.
    
    4 1
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    January 7, 2026 4:14pm
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      She likes wearing feather head-dresses.
      
      Well, they probably won’t contain one feather of an indigenous Easter Island Bird…
      
      The Polynesian colonisers of Easter Island rendered all the terrestrial birds extinct and latterly, the Peruvian/Easter Islanders all but wiped out the native sea-birds.
      
      https://www.researchgate.net/publication/286141213_The_native_and_exotic_avifauna_of_Easter_Island
      
      3 1
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      January 7, 2026 9:23pm
  - MCōs
    
    Mrs Manani Pakarati is/was the Chilean Ambassador to New Zealand (NZ)
    
    4 0
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    January 7, 2026 4:52pm
- sungsamning
  
  They’re well shot of her then. Chile dodged a bullet at election time.
  
  3 2
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  January 7, 2026 7:58pm
AndyW

I’ve just been reading about the 120kg drug bust at Tauranga’s port. Once again gang members (this time, mongrel mob) are involved. Can we, as a society, for once and for all, confirm that gang members and gangs are nothing but vile, feral scum..and to think Labour gave them money for drug rehab…the stupid, deluded feckwits.
29 2
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January 7, 2026 1:28pm
- nigel2010
  
  this wouldn’t be the same Mongrel Mob that the past Labour government gave $2.4m to, to run a anti drug program with no kpi and no follow up on successes, if any successes
  
  15 1
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  January 7, 2026 2:47pm
- cmm
  
  “… the stupid, deluded feckwits”
  
  Stop blaming politicians.
  
  The politicians are not the cause. They are the symptom.
  
  The real cause are the stupid deluded feckwit voters.
  
  In a democtratic system, politicians just respond to what gets them votes. The time to yell at the politicians is when they don’t deliver what they said. So far that’s what National are doing – lots of “tough on crime” tub thumping and very little in results.
  
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  January 7, 2026 3:27pm
  - rangitoto
    
    120kg drug bust is a result is it not?
    
    7 0
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    January 7, 2026 5:57pm
- Paulus
  
  Buy the sound of it they were all as thick as thick Kauri planks anyway as when buying the gear the shop guys effectively laughed at them as they had no idea what they were doing.
  The shop rang the Police.
  But they are Maori Mongrel Mob (one a 501) members we understand so not really thick are they ?
  
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  January 8, 2026 9:35am
greybeard

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/360921555/brendon-mccullum-be-given-ultimatum-about-england-team-culture-after-australias-ashes-dominance
I love Test cricket and have been watching a lot of the Ashes games. The actual cricket is great but the characters are what makes the game and so far two have stood out for me: Ben Stokes is a great player but boy does he play up for the cameras. And McCullum should grow up a little and stop wearing a cap on backwards like some 12-year old – it is a bit sad.
15 2
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January 7, 2026 1:57pm
- MCōs
  
  In my opinion the worst at showboating now that Warner has retired is Steve Smith
  The Aussie fast bowlers have toned down since the days of Mitchell Johnson who still gobs off from his couch in Perth
  I like the guys who let the bat or ball play to the crowd like Williamson or Santner with an exception made for Glenn Phillips, yet another immigrant in the Blackcaps!
  Btw
  If Mark Chapman ever plays a test he’ll only be the second ethnic Chinese to play a test match
  The first one played for the West Indies almost a hundred years ago. He was a left arm spinner after whom the Chinaman delivery was named
  
  5 1
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  January 7, 2026 2:31pm
Yvette

This morning, all posts referring to the Manage My Health hack have been removed from an account purporting to be used by the hacker.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/583383/manage-my-health-hackers-removes-information-about-data-online

So, which one of these two possibilities apply, if either –
• the platform is not co-operating with the police
• the platform indeed cannot ID their users, so any Terms of Use are meaningless

And for those who favour irony, the supposed platform promises …
“Xxxxxxxx” keeps your messages safe from hacker attacks.
3 2
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January 7, 2026 2:35pm

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