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January 16, 2026 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 16 January 2026

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General Debate

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Cassandra

We don’t hear much about Bosnia lately or indeed about any of the many parts of the former Yugoslavia but there is trouble brewing. It’s never really gone away.

It’s 30 years since the Dayton Accords which ended a war which killed 100.000 people and displaced 2 million more. If you ever wanted proof that multiculturalism doesn’t work or that birds of a feather stick together Bosnia is it.

There are three main communities in Bosnia: Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs. Everything there is divided or duplicated along those lines. There are three Presidents, for example, and 13 education ministries. Antagonism between the communities is rife.

It does remind me of He Puapua.

And today is also the anniversary of the Biafra war which ended in 1970 with 2 million dead. Fought entirely because one tribe felt it was not getting a fair deal. When ne side claims more (or all) and another get a raw deal there is always trouble.

Multiculturalism doesn’t work – there’s got to be a central, unifying culture. The irritating haka is not a solution.
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January 16, 2026 8:01am
- Simon
  
  lol. Then stop voting National
  
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  January 16, 2026 8:03am
  - Colville
    
    A Hipkins supporter Simon?
    
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    January 16, 2026 9:38am
    - OlderChas
      
      I always wonder if Simon used to write for the Herald.
      
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      January 16, 2026 1:39pm
      - Fender
        
        Harsh, he does make an undeniable fact that repeated years of national have got us into this mess and are hardly inspiring any about uturns
        Just being better than labour is not an answer is it?
        If the whole country doesn’t vote as a sign of contempt then what, perhaps someone will have enough confidence to stand and try to give us another option
        Nature hates a vacuum
        
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        January 16, 2026 5:07pm
  - Cassandra
    
    And right on cue the taxpayer owned TV company has an article lamenting the reduction in Maori privelege as an attack on Maori. Maoris want things nobody else gets eg their own seats on councils and in parliament, plus a whole lot of money eg their own health system. The Treaty of Waitangi was largely about land and food. Let’s leave it at that. In fact, even better, let’s leave it.
    
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    January 16, 2026 9:41am
    - pdm
      
      Not to mention the newly opened Wellington Library focusing on Maoritanga so it says after dumping hundreds of thousand of other books.
      
      Would the books dumped be NZ History Books that don’t fit the Maori agenda it is now so obviously promoting.
      
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      January 16, 2026 9:52am
      - Ghost
        
        no. as stated in the media the books destroyed were from their international collection.
        
        The books are international, mostly non-fiction and cover a range of topics like were bibliography, religion, philosophy and computer science.
        
        article
        
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        January 16, 2026 9:57am
      - kowtow
        
        ‘Wellington Library focusing on Maoritanga’
        
        Because libraries were central to pre European society in these islands.
        
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        January 16, 2026 10:58am
    - Chuck Bird
      
      “Maoris want things nobody else gets eg their own seats on councils and in parliament, plus a whole lot of money eg their own health system.”
      
      Do you not mean some Maori?
      
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      January 16, 2026 9:53am
      - Cassandra
        
        Majority want it. So I’m happy to amend my comment by adding “Far too many” if that’ll keep you happy.
        
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        January 16, 2026 10:02am
      - Chuck Bird
        
        Source please.
        
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        January 16, 2026 10:32am
      - G the giant from Dunedin
        
        Māori health system gone, and referendum on Maori seats at council done.
        
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        January 16, 2026 11:35am
      - Cassandra
        
        Chuck: that’s a good question. There’s never been a referendum on the Maori seats. Successive governments have maintained that their retention is a matter for Maori (IMO it is not) but that’s never been tested. So it remains a matter of opinion. Do you disagree? Do you have a source?
        
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        January 16, 2026 11:45am
      - Chuck Bird
        
        It is hard to say how many Maori are in NZ. I have not heard of any survey. The majority of Maori I know do not want all the things you have mentioned aside from the haka at the appropriate time.
        
        Mind you, the Maori I know are successful. Most vote right.
        
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        January 16, 2026 12:02pm
      - Ghost
        
        Do majority want it? Likewise with Chuck, no Maori I know do. I’m reminded of the protest marches against Seymour bills, a lot of non Maori out supporting them. Be interesting to know with these topics how many actually have more non Maori pushing them than Maori supporting it.
        
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        January 16, 2026 12:26pm
      - kowtow
        
        cass
        I love the argument that retention of M seats is for M themselves to decide .
        
        On that basis then I want a vote as a net taxpayer on the future of taxes , and that vote must exclude all non net tax payers.
        
        Or only rate payers allowed to vote in local govt elections .
        
        Or only livestock farmers allowed to vote on live animal exports .
        
        Or only racing dog ownwers allowed to vote on banning dog races .
        
        Etc
        
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        January 16, 2026 12:49pm
      - leoj
        
        Attn: G
        
        Maori seats still in existance despite Key and National promising to eliminate them.
        
        All the Nats have proven is that they’re weak, woke and that Luxon is a maori sympathiser, too scared to say “boo” to maori.
        
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        January 16, 2026 5:41pm
    - Paulus
      
      Wasn’t te intention of the Waitangi Tribunal a Branch of the Treaty, who appear to be believe that they represent the Treaty in its and their interpretion entirely whereas is only makes recommendations but we now know that is final as far as they are concerned.
      Scrap the blood thing as it has no place in New Zealand.
      
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      January 16, 2026 1:15pm
  - Don Beckett
    
    Ah yes, the Biafran war, where the population were starved into submission.
    There was a joke going round at the time:
    
    “Did you hear about the Biafran who fell into shark infested waters ?”
    “No”.
    “He ate five before they could drag him out.” 😆
    
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    January 16, 2026 10:48am
    - Mike
      
      Now tell us a joke about a Christian girl kidnapped in northern Nigeria.
      
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      January 16, 2026 12:20pm
      - Don Beckett
        
        Haven’t heard one Mike – have you?
        Did I say someone was captured ? [Mod – deleted]
        
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        January 16, 2026 1:01pm
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    Oh ffs, what bloody next
    
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    January 16, 2026 11:34am
- kowtow
  
  Recently the media were trying to push a story that wealthy western Europeans were travelling there during the war to shoot civilians , paid “safari” type thing. Sick concept.
  I’d say that was fake news .Surely.
  
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  January 16, 2026 8:13am
- Chuck Bird
  
  With the upticks, it looks like there will be racial disharmony for some time, and it is certainly not all the fault of Maori.
  
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  January 16, 2026 8:30am
  - Quail
    
    CB,
    Largely caused by the lack of equality in NZ law.
    The inequality that ACT tried to remedy.
    This is not the fault of the individual Maori , the responsibility lies squarely with NZ lawmakers.
    Lawmakers/ politicians who are still sustaining large corporates ,with only a small minority of indigenous influence, but are using Maori Culture as a reason to access taxpayer funding and privilege!
    Corporates that need public scrutiny.
    
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    January 16, 2026 10:02am
    - R
      
      ‘small minority of indigenous…’ Very strongly supported, and encouraged, by Labour, Greens and MSM.
      
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      January 16, 2026 10:24am
    - Chuck Bird
      
      Thanks. I am voting for David Seymour, a Maori.
      
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      January 16, 2026 10:59am
      - Poppax8
        
        I am voting for David Seymour too – but not because he is Maori!
        
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        January 16, 2026 12:47pm
      - Chuck Bird
        
        I voting for Seymour because he supports our farmers and he is not a climate change alarmist.
        
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        January 16, 2026 1:46pm
- Wayne L Sexton
  
  The Indian population has been doubling about every 12 years since the 1987 Immigration Act from 12,000 to 300,000+ today. With the FTA being signed the next 12 year doubling is basically baked in.
  So don’t be surprised when a push for more Hindu representation in government, schools, and everyday life becomes to get as bad as the Maori culture
  
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  January 16, 2026 8:59am
  - Prince
    
    No, Indian immigrants are quite happy to lead their own lives. They don’t expect anything of the Government.
    
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    January 16, 2026 10:47am
    - AndyW
      
      Yeah, meh, as long as we leave them alone to diddle the tax system, and pay $4 an hour to indentured Indians, then they’re happy to be left alone.
      
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      January 16, 2026 11:47am
    - Jack5
      
      Indian immigrants are like the rest of us: good and not so good:
      
      https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360923880/millions-owed-and-assets-sold-christchurch-restaurateurs-actions-under-scrutiny
      
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      January 16, 2026 12:32pm
    - Wayne L Sexton
      
      They are 5% of the population right now and almost irrelevant, by 2048 they will be 13% of the population and growing.
      The more they grow the more they don’t have to live among the average New Zealander.
      To the think they won’t want to have their values, culture and beliefs represented in society is highly unlikely.
      
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      January 16, 2026 12:33pm
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    There is no pathway to citizenship in the agreement, they already have their pathway thanks to Helen Clark making it easier
    
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    January 16, 2026 11:37am
  - ISeeRed
    
    This is our future:
    
    https://youtube.com/shorts/8qJzivuFLog?si=_baaqTMjK1SLm9wx
    
    Indians hiring and prioritising other Indians.
    
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    January 16, 2026 1:42pm
    - Fender
      
      My Local Harvey Normans is I suspect following this trend
      They are nice all well dressed and behaved citizens, no complaints at all but it does make you think that their local HR person has to be supportive and is obviously Indian
      
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      January 16, 2026 5:18pm
- R
  
  A good summary of International history events.
  The last paragraph is very pertinent; and should be seriously reflected upon by NZ voters before election day later this year
  
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  January 16, 2026 9:16am
- Gary Benner
  
  Cassandra,
  
  “Multiculturalism doesn’t work – there’s got to be a central, unifying culture”
  
  I quote agree – Japan would not be Japanese if they ended up a minority, not Indonesia, Thailand, Tahiti … etc.
  
  Most countries with a strong culture retain that by ensuring the control of the country. When I worked in Malaysia. all the government jobs, or all the jobs working with government were for Malays. The Chinese, often with more technical skills, were given functional jobs. They all knew this, and it worked.
  
  What I see happening in New Zealand is an assertion to make the dominant culture in New Zealand Maori. From the required daily karakia in a government department, to emails received from any government department ending in Te Reo.
  
  The problem is that in making such a change, you don’t get to choose which parts you take, and the very reason for the British being invited by Maori elders in the 1830’s was that the culture here at that time was not good.
  
  So trying to restore the old tribal based systems (we already have this coming back with Iwi and Maori based businesses controlled by “elders” or chiefs and their families) is taking us back to “the bad old days“.
  
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  January 16, 2026 10:21am
  - R
    
    ‘very reason for the British ‘….The Maori elders of 1840 recognized the virtues of a Angli Saxon life style and governance, as they realised that their race was doomed. 1840,s Maori were much wiser, and culturally savvy than today’s academic Maori leadership.
    
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    January 16, 2026 10:34am
    - Paulus
      
      Did they not soon learn the English Language ?
      
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      January 16, 2026 1:19pm
    - Cantabrian
      
      I understand that the radical changes in the status of Maori introduced in 1974 were due to concern by (some) Maori politicians about their declining numbers. Remember that up until 1974 a Maori was either full blood or half blood. It is only since those changes that anyone with just a smidgen of Maori blood can be classed as a native. Of course the result has been an explosion of those calling themselves ‘Maori’ but who are in reality much more Caucasian than Maori.
      
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      January 16, 2026 2:08pm
- Paulus
  
  And it was said that in the Biafran War that the winners went to Sandhurst, and the losers to London School of Economics.
  
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  January 16, 2026 10:24am
- pb
  
  Outside the US sphere of influence. No CIAMOSSAD teams stirring up war. They have accepted they will never bring down Russia, without destroying themselves. Multiculturalism is a dry fire waiting for the falseflag experts. Left alone, it can work.
  
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  January 16, 2026 10:29am
- gravedodger
  
  Five downticks????
  
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  January 16, 2026 11:38am
- imalwaysright
  
  The term Maori has become a political descriptor rather than a racial one.
  
  The Maori people have been assimilated and it is irreversible, therefore the only way to assert the illusion of historical rights is to establish the illusion of being Maori as a race rather than as a political activist organisation.
  
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  January 16, 2026 12:32pm
  - Paulus
    
    Biggest Maori problem is found in the participants of all things Maori by what I will call Sickly White Middle Class Liberals – mainly middle age women
    
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    January 16, 2026 1:22pm
Scott

Nick Shirley is still doing great work exposing fraud in Minnesota:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTgjjt2EYUU/?igsh=dTBpeWdnaW1namc1

He visits two Somalian transportation companies. Both companies have received millions of dollars from the state govt to run transportation companies. Nick visits and finds no transport, no vehicles. Just a money wire transfer business on one site and a liquor store on another.

The Somalians haven’t even tried to hide it. It’s fraud and the state of Minnesota under Governor Tim Walz has not even done the most cursory checks to determine whether millions of dollars of tax payer funds have been spent properly?

The Democrats have allowed thousands of Somalians to come to Minnesota, paid them millions of dollars for fraudulent activities and reaped the benefit of a crucial voting bloc that has allowed them to establish permanent Democrat rule.

And it took a 23 year old with a cellphone camera to expose this. None of the mainstream media would touch the story? 🤔
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January 16, 2026 8:01am
- Local Miller
  
  He was obviously there outside their normal business hours. They only do business between 11:00 PM and 5:00 AM Saturday and Sunday don’t you know. //s
  
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  January 16, 2026 9:57am
  - RoboRob
    
    Tim Walz will immediately launch an investigation into Nick Shirley! That certainly seems to be the left wing medias focus.
    
    Walz must be loving the ICE killing and following events. It certainly distracts left wingers from his massive failures.
    
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    January 16, 2026 10:01am
    - gravedodger
      
      Tampon Tim Walz is all washed up, as effective now as the last clothes Reacher tossed after buying new ones to wear.
      
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      January 16, 2026 11:40am
  - Scott
    
    Thanks for the heads up local 😏
    Apparently the scale of the fraud is massive. The transportation companies are 90% Somalian owned and are receiving state funds at the rate of $8m a day! This is according to Nick Shirley and his local Minnesota friend who has been researching this fraud for years.
    
    https://youtu.be/zF2a3aTfA9w?si=AuyZCTU-Dew-NqFb
    
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    January 16, 2026 10:08am
BarryB

I saw a book for sale in a bookshop – it was called “Im surrounded by idiots”
From mid Dec through to mid Jan Ive mostly been away from the internet, but Ive been reading the blog every day.
I can now see what politicians have to contend with. On almost every subject there is the full range of views from far one side to far the other side and everything in the middle. This especially apparent with anything to do with Trump. The further extreme the more certain the commenter is.

However the really interesting thing are the down tickers. They would make a brilliant subject for a psychology PhD thesis. And I would be surprised if in fact there wasn’t something like that going on. A study of the searches they do and the pages they visit and the things they say would throw some light on the strange life they are involved in. I have a vision of the typical down ticker something like a loner sitting in a dark room but its almost certainly wrong – but it would be bloody interesting to see what makes them tick.
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January 16, 2026 8:03am
- Gary Benner
  
  BarryB, further the comment re downtickers, there was, some time ago, just one who seemed to derive delight in going through and downticking every post. A sad an irritating individual. But the number has grown, and also now a bunch of commentators / posters who’s presence on the site seems for all intents and purposes, to promote left wing ideology viewpoints.
  
  If I had my tin foil hat on I would not put it past some left wing “NGO” funding some of this. I have also seen it on FB Groups and other forums.
  
  My science hat reminds me of Newton’s Laws of Motion, where the first law states: “ an object stays at rest or in uniform motion unless a force changes it“. So what has changed to bring these people on to this and other forums? What is the force or influence that is behind this?
  
  Chance I think not.
  
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  January 16, 2026 10:03am
  - Ghost
    
    perhaps if you want a hive mind blog where no one has differing views you would be better off on a leftie blog. one of the strong points of this blog is the amount of differing views from all sides of the political fence.
    
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    January 16, 2026 10:05am
    - RoboRob
      
      I dont think thats the issue. Certain lefty posters make good, reasoned points some times. Ian Boag and Mike come to mind. Sure not every post, but certainly some. There are others (Simon) who just post different variations of the same thing (National are the worst our country is doomed). Not really a useful contribution 🙂
      
      p.s. Ghost, I for one appreciate your fact based replies and links. It takes opinion out of the debate. Certainly the other day when I complained about the slow process re LNG tankers, you set me right. I had not idea that things were in motion. Appreciated.
      
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      January 16, 2026 10:12am
    - Gary Benner
      
      Ghost, it is not the different opinions that are the issue, it is the mindless parroting of left wing ideology, devoid of critical thinking that degrades the quality of the blog.
      
      For me I love intelligent debate, but not with an unarmed opponent.
      
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      January 16, 2026 10:27am
      - kowtow
        
        Indeed and some of it is simply mindless trolling , done with a view , not for genuine discussion , but sheer annoyance.
        
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        January 16, 2026 10:34am
      - Ghost
        
        As opposed to the mindless parroting of the right that also occurs here? Both sides do it, just ignore it. Any conversation or post on trump is typical a must avoid, it’s just tribal masturbation
        
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        January 16, 2026 10:35am
      - R
        
        Mindless parroting is a consequence of an education system, since Tomorrow’s Schools; that taught what to think, not how to research and then think
        
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        January 16, 2026 10:43am
      - Ra Henare
        
        Gary, the same applies to those parroting right-wing ideology.
        If only we had a way of filtering out extremists at either end of the political spectrum.
        
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        January 16, 2026 11:28am
    - artemisia
      
      Differing views is definitely a good thing. However, as a long time reader here, there does seem to be an increase in trolling. Like one brief snark as a response that does not advance the discussion one little bit. Can be from any POV.
      
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      January 16, 2026 11:24am
    - gravedodger
      
      So how many downtickers actually have a counter view worth printing?
      
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      January 16, 2026 11:41am
      - RoboRob
        
        Not many, otherwise they would respond rather then just downticking.
        
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        January 16, 2026 1:40pm
  - grumpy
    
    Maybe they are getting bored at The Standard leftie echo chamber?
    
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    January 16, 2026 11:19am
- RoboRob
  
  Certainly any discussion that mentions Trump results in certain people for and against anything that is said or done. Any post I make with a criticism of Trump results in 4-10 downticks, regardless of whether the bulk of the post is positive. The same is true for comments around the National party.
  
  The opposite is certainly true too. No matter what the actual facts are certain people can only see the worst if Trump is involved.
  
  Oh and yeah, the Jews control everthing. jewish space lasers for the win.
  
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  January 16, 2026 10:08am
- pb
  
  That post deserves a downtick
  
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  January 16, 2026 10:30am
- Gravelroad
  
  Is it time to suggest to our host here that maybe ticks, up or down, have had their day?
  Outgrown their usefulness?
  Commenters who regularly get down ticked often don’t bother to come back to contribute their views.
  As have said before (based on quite a few years experience) -this is my take on the reasons for downticks:
  1. Some genuinely disagree the content of the comment. They downtick rather than offer a written response because it is easier.
  2. Some will routinely downtick an individual commenter, no matter what they say, because they just don’t like them. Possibly based on perceived political preferences.
  3. Some years ago, one of the regulars on here disclosed that he/she/they downticked every comment made by some contributors so that they had a record of reading them. Not sure about that one!
  
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  January 16, 2026 10:37am
  - Don Beckett
    
    Disagree. I will downtick a comment if I disagree with what is stated. It doesn’t have to be a deep philosophical difference, just holding another view.
    If I do have a strong opinion that needs to be stated I do so – but how can that be made compulsory?
    Or do you just want to “shut down”? I didn’t think you are a Lefty.
    
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    January 16, 2026 10:59am
  - Mike
    
    Yeah I almost always tick every comment I read (mainly downticks) so that if I scroll through later the new comments stand out.
    
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    January 16, 2026 12:29pm
  - Fender
    
    Agreed and suggested as much before xmas
    Get rid of ticks , totally unnecessary
    
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    January 16, 2026 5:27pm
  - Ghost
    
    Is it time that people just don’t pay attention to the ticks instead of demanding DPF changes his website to suit their desires. We are all guests on his blog, he shouldn’t have to change anything to appease a few guests
    
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    January 16, 2026 6:24pm
Simon

Feral welfare class getting out of hand. Takes decades to create this large feral sub culture which thrives in the welfare state. Thanks to National, they are the product of demented National party policies.
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January 16, 2026 8:03am
- Cassandra
  
  Not entirely National’s fault, Simon.
  
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  January 16, 2026 9:24am
  - R
    
    National has had nothing to do with creating a ferral subculture. The aline in the past, and now in coalition has expended a lot of effort trying to counter the consequences of the growth of this subculture.
    
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    January 16, 2026 10:49am
    - grumpy
      
      Not enough….
      
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      January 16, 2026 11:20am
      - R
        
        Grumpy, I imagine that during this election year, you will be spending a lot of energy promoting the election of a competent Nationsl and ACT coalition.!
        
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        January 16, 2026 12:05pm
    - Paulus
      
      Feral subculture came principally from our low standard education system.
      Sadly called the standard of Teachers whom we used to admire.
      
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      January 16, 2026 1:25pm
    - Fender
      
      Except national have ruled more of the last 20 years so how do you explain that
      
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      January 16, 2026 5:28pm
      - R
        
        Entrenched Marxist ideology in the education skills training institutions.
        
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        January 16, 2026 7:42pm
      - Ghost
        
        Helen Clark formed her government in 1999, since then labour have been in government 15 years, national 11 years. In the last 20 years, national have been in government 28 months longer than labour. When you get down to it, not much is it
        
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        January 16, 2026 7:50pm
  - R
    
    Not Nationals fault at all.
    
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    January 16, 2026 11:46am
- ISeeRed
  
  The Uniparty, not National. Most parties big and small support an extensive welfare state.
  
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  January 16, 2026 1:57pm
  - kowtow
    
    I reckon for different reasons though.
    
    Labour do it cos “hate the rich” , systemic something , Marxist dialectic , utopianism retc
    
    Nats do it to avoid being called heartless or nasty , to win the dumbo constituency , same as they’ve adopted climate catastrophe . They really don’t believe it , but think they can’t afford to fight it.
    
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    January 16, 2026 2:30pm
NeverMindTheBollocks

Four astronauts prematurely return to Earth because one of them is unwell. One of them is female, but they won’t say which of them is unwell.

You just know that it’s the female, and for why? Because if it was one of the men, NASA would tell you.

http://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c205r8n0276o
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January 16, 2026 8:04am
- Ghost
  
  you just know that do you? Perhaps you should wait for facts to come out
  
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  January 16, 2026 9:34am
  - pb
    
    The last one was a Russian with prostrate issues he hid.
    
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    January 16, 2026 10:31am
    - septic skeptic
      
      Prostrate issues, sleeping sickness?
      
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      January 16, 2026 11:43am
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    But Ghost – they’ve said they’re not going to tell us. So, we can only speculate.
    
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    January 16, 2026 2:03pm
- R
  
  MAYBE…!
  
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  January 16, 2026 10:50am
- nz_aj
  
  Appendicitis, pregnancy and depressurization incident are all rumoured.
  
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  January 16, 2026 3:51pm
NeverMindTheBollocks

A brave decision by David Kirk.

My preference is Joe Schmidt.
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January 16, 2026 8:05am
- grumpy
  
  Yep, take us down to the same path he has taken Australia
  
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  January 16, 2026 11:21am
- AndyW
  
  Scott Robertson should never have been the coach – a picture of him, on game day, in a suit and Adidas sneakers (!!) was all the evidence we needed to know he was not capable of taking the job seriously.
  
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  January 16, 2026 11:49am
cas

Interesting to read that Kiri Allen has a book coming out in Julyish called Survival and Disruption. Given she has already talked frequently to media and women’s magazines, I wonder what there is left to tell. Her truth on her arrest is likely to be rather different from that of the police.
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January 16, 2026 8:10am
- Lummox
  
  It will also be interesting to see if she mentions her encore crash in Cable Bay, Far North, and her rapid disappearance from the scene.
  
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  January 16, 2026 9:27am
Im Right

I agree Cassandra, but I will add that over the last few years, last 5-6 definitely, maori have portrayed ‘maoriness’ to a level of religion and worship.
I bear no Ill will to anyone who wishes to practice their maori beliefs or learn the language, but it’s getting to the stage that we see in Islamist fundamentalists with Islam, maori are inventing history to embellish their place in the world before the white man saved them from self genocide.
Eg- stating they discovered Antarctica, have traveled the globe in their small boats, were here thousands of years ago…left and came back 800 yrs ago blah blah blah
they never mention the slaves/cannibalism/slaughter of women and children of other tribes etc etc
It sets a precedent in that if anyone questions their ‘history’ they are racist white supremacists, started a few years ago and is gathering momentum even now!
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January 16, 2026 8:13am
- Paulus
  
  Has it be confirmed that the Maori canoes are made from wood not found in such as the Cook Islands from where it is said the came to Niu Tirena !
  
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  January 16, 2026 10:27am
- R
  
  This Maori superiority and rights nonsense, began back in the late 1970’s. Promoted by the so called intelligentsia of our University Social Sciences calling?
  
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  January 16, 2026 10:55am
- Ra Henare
  
  Im, Can I suggest a small correction.
  
  maori have portrayed ‘maoriness’ to a level of religion and worship.
  
  Some Maori elites and activists have portrayed….
  It certainly is NOT all Maori.
  
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  January 16, 2026 11:33am
- Wayne L Sexton
  
  The problem will always exist unless Maori embrace Christianity, instead of Te Ao Maori. They are fundamentally different ways of seeing the world.
  Christianty believes in linear time, Past, Present, Future.
  Te Ao Maori believes time is a connected spiral where the past is in front of you as a visible guide.
  Christianty believes in a clockwork universe and reductionism ( isolating, atoms, cells) to see how the clock works.
  Te Ao Maori believes in Holism, literally the opposite meaning you can’t even isolate a river from a mountain
  
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  January 16, 2026 11:40am
Albie

Yesterday Simon raised the subject of NZ being cooked, and I responded by saying we are still a peaceful country by world standards.
Well today I opened The Herald online today and the top story was about a savage attack by a gang of 35 youths on 2 young train travellers Oct last year at Morningside station.
Alarmingly when AT was asked for records on assaults on public transport, they responded with this;

“ AT data revealed hundreds of people have reported violent incidents on services between November 2023 and November 2025.
On bus and ferry services alone, there were 256 records of abuse, 209 of assault and
286 of injury.”
This doesn’t include trains alarmingly.
Simon, your comments yesterday have merit sad to say.
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January 16, 2026 8:19am
- sirknz
  
  “Why don’t more people use public transport?”
  
  Because we have a much lower risk of being assaulted in a private vehicle than we do on public transport.
  
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  January 16, 2026 10:20am
- NothingLeft
  
  If you want regular public assaults on public transport to stop or reduce, particularly those by not- mental teens who know they will never be punished in any meaningful way, then you need to stop the police prosecuting members of the public that step forward to physically chastise the miscreants, the (better behaved and generally safer) norm that existed a couple of generations ago. It takes a village to raise a child.
  
  But police reserve their greatest prosecutorial vigor for the pursuit of those that stray onto their ‘turf’
  
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  January 16, 2026 1:47pm
- ISeeRed
  
  It’s what Simon rightly calls the “feral class” but wrongly blames only National for.
  
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  January 16, 2026 2:02pm
Cassandra

Don Brash says that the RB Governor was totally right to sign the letter. WP says that she should stick in her lane ie keep out of it. I agree with WP, the issue is not in NZ’s interests. Mice should let the elephants argue.
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January 16, 2026 8:26am
- imalwaysright
  
  You would think that Mrs Breman would be aware of the concept of perception.
  By signing that letter she has given the perception that she is representing NZ.
  
  We have enough financial problems, we don’t need undue negative attention from such a powerful ally.
  
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  January 16, 2026 8:49am
  - MCōs
    
    “By signing that letter she has given the perception that she is representing NZ.”
    Here is the statement
    https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/2026/html/ecb.pr260113~ec4630b9fa.en.html
    It’s clear she signed it in her capacity as Governor of Reserve Bank of New Zealand not PM or Governor General or Foreign Minister
    Btw
    The Governor of the Reserve Bank is appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Finance Minister who has been silent thus far, in public anyway
    
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    January 16, 2026 10:19am
    - imalwaysright
      
      Perception
      
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      January 16, 2026 10:35am
      - Paulus
        
        Media and Peters’s perception.
        
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        January 16, 2026 1:28pm
    - waripori
      
      If most Central bank governors signed the letter and ours did not that would imply Breman is not independent and taking instructions from the Government. Quickest way to trash our currency and increase borrowing costs. It would also signal NZ support for Trump and be an incursion into US politics. I still wonder if by Breman signing the letter and Winston telling her off we are not cunningly trying to have it both ways.
      
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      January 16, 2026 10:40am
      - Cassandra
        
        13 RB governors signed. In The Times list NZ is not even mentioned. The problem is getting involved right after a Justice investigation was started. Keep out of it.
        
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        January 16, 2026 11:54am
      - Kevin
        
        An interesting take on it. But if your conclusion is anywhere close to the mark, why would a gang of so called ‘independent’ Governors come to the same side of an arguable question.
        That’s evidence of bias in itself, and not ‘independence’.
        
        This RBNZ Governor is a European. Dont ask a Bosnian to be a disinterested Plato’s Guardian when a Serbian is on the other side.
        
        There is a low intensity war going on, the sides are not what is advertised.
        
        NZ is not ‘European’, at the risk of being repetitive. If this is not understood, NZ will lose.
        
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        January 16, 2026 12:32pm
    - rouppe
      
      Governor of Reserve Bank of New Zealand is a pretty strong signal that she is a senior member of the New Zealand governance regime.
      
      She should know – we all do – that Trump takes things at face value, and he will interpret that as coming “from New Zealand”. Combine with the statement that a 25% tariff awaits anyone trading with Iran, and any hope we had of keeping under that radar has gone.
      
      So if we get lumped with a 25% tariff, you can look to Ms Breman to answer why.
      
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      January 16, 2026 11:03am
- keepcalmcarryon
  
  Winston Peters ownership by commercial fishing is not in New Zealand’s interests.
  
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  January 16, 2026 8:54am
  - Cassandra
    
    On topic?
    
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    January 16, 2026 9:26am
- Jack5
  
  WP? Who is WP?
  
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  January 16, 2026 8:55am
  - ISeeRed
    
    Winnie the Pooh OBVIOUSLY.
    
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    January 16, 2026 2:06pm
- RoboRob
  
  Agree, she shouldn’t have commented. But its not the end of the world, no one is going to care what the RBNZ thinks, she was a minnow on th long list of other countries RBs.
  
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  January 16, 2026 10:16am
  - Cassandra
    
    Trump will care.
    
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    January 16, 2026 11:55am
    - RichardX
      
      Yes….you should forgo your principles when dealing with Trump.//
      
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      January 16, 2026 4:11pm
- Quail
  
  Cassandra,
  Dr Brash is absolutely correct,International currency exchange rates are the ( vital )business of all central banks!
  As I posted yesterday!
  
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  January 16, 2026 10:23am
  - Cassandra
    
    Brash and you are totally wrong. This isn’t about RB independence. Mice and elephants.
    
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    January 16, 2026 11:56am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    Brash said she did it globally that meant it was fine, but not if she did it on her own, she should have shut her mouth, she is a foreigner in this country, she does not speak for NZ.
    
    We have to remember, Peter’s is the foreign minister.
    
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    January 16, 2026 12:24pm
- Paulus
  
  Typical Winston that any Lady of Seniority in New Zealand would be disliked – he is no woman with brains fancier !
  They just show him up.
  
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  January 16, 2026 10:30am
  - imalwaysright
    
    Why is her gender relevant?
    
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    January 16, 2026 11:47am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    No, as he said stay in your lane
    
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    January 16, 2026 12:25pm
  - RichardX
    
    Is Paulus implying he shares some traits with WP?
    
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    January 16, 2026 4:10pm
- grumpy
  
  She is a member of the travelling Central Bank Carpetbaggers Club and is already looking for her next gig.
  Her signature was on a very political anti Trump letter mentioning Jerome Powell by name.
  Can she do it – yes she can.
  Was it wise – no.
  She has demonstrated a disqualifying lack of judgement and should be fired.
  
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  January 16, 2026 11:25am
  - All_on_Red
    
    Absolutely correct. By signing it with the others she has indicated she is anything but ‘Independant’.
    She should have stayed out of it.
    Also its pretty clear they were unaware that Powell lied when he said he had been indicted.
    Her lack of knowledge of the detail and lack of curiosity to get to the bottom of the matter is also disappointing, and damning.
    
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    January 16, 2026 11:44am
kowtow

The ODT reports a 50 year old man in Dunedin has been convicted of spitting in the face of a 19 yo nursing student on her way to work .He claimed he did it as he thought she was filming him.

No link as behind a paywall.

Pleaded guilty to assault. 75 hrs community service and $150 reparation to victim.Wet bus ticket ( as usual)

The newspaper report does not tell us his occupation or if he had a record .
First up ,very poor reporting for not giving us the basics , as they’d once have done but ;

come on NZ what have we come to , men spitting at women and the media spend hours on a footie coach’s demise but not our social degradation!
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January 16, 2026 8:29am
- RoboRob
  
  Generally the details are left out on purpose.
  
  I always assume when they dont provide details of the person involved that they are gang members / affiliates. If they provide limited details often the person is Maori.
  
  You almost need a decoder to determine the real story. For example
  
  ‘Man dies tuesday morning, police not investigating’ = Man commited suicide
  
  ‘Man known to police stabs woman in supermarket’ = Gang member
  
  ‘Scuffle broke out in Palmy between two groups, weapons recoverred’ = gang fight
  
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  January 16, 2026 10:21am
- sirknz
  
  Occupation and record are probably not mentioned because of privacy concerns or some other BS.
  
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  January 16, 2026 10:23am
  - kowtow
    
    No, just lazy reporting.
    
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    January 16, 2026 12:05pm
    - NothingLeft
      
      more likely left-wing-propaganda-agenda motivated than just plain lazy.
      
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      January 16, 2026 1:58pm
Unity

I often ask myself why on earth people can’t just settle down and live a good life without all of this devastating aggro. Why can’t they live in peace and harmony? I mean to say, I’m settled down living a decent life. I’m not constantly fighting people. If we all made an effort to do our bit, help others, or accept help from others if we are lacking in something life would be so much better for everyone. Obviously I’m looking at life through rose tinted glasses, but I just can’t understand why people have to be so brutal and unaccepting of others. There has to be a way around things. If one culture moves to a country of a different culture, they need to adapt to that country’s way of doing things or go back to the culture they left. Whatever, people need to start getting on with others and stop all of this brutal fighting. It achieves nothing and actually makes things worse.
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January 16, 2026 8:31am
- Yvette
  
  Unity, you are talking of times as presumably they were pre-Babel.
  This is why, despite the support it gets here for anti-covid sentiment, Destiny Church, steeped in the Old Testament as it is, but continuing the division of Babel, is on the wrong side of its own confessed version of history. Babel receives very little attention – Gaza to Ukraine, Maori tribalism to Trump.
  
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  January 16, 2026 9:59am
- sirknz
  
  Because people from some parts of the world have very different values to people from other parts of the world. Sometimes the values are compatible, sometimes they are not.
  
  Some take the idea of wanting to live a peaceful life as a sign of weakness.
  
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  January 16, 2026 10:26am
  - R
    
    Or an ‘easy touch’. Lowlife!
    
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    January 16, 2026 12:08pm
- kowtow
  
  ‘Obviously I’m looking at life through rose tinted glasses.’
  
  I don’t think you are .
  
  There was a time when the vast majority of society ( I’m talking the Anglo sphere ) really did strive to live a quiet , decent , unassuming lifestyle with a view to doing the right thing , kids educated socially mobile into a better position than the parent .
  respect for self , others .
  live and let live
  Govt was there to create the conditions for the above .Didn’t get overly involved in family , relationships , business etc
  
  And there was relatively little crime . Not perfect by any means .Note the word ‘relatively’ ( for the hard of hearing here)
  
  It can be done .With a little decency and respect . But it takes an effort .
  
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  January 16, 2026 10:44am
  - artemisia
    
    A lot happened behind closed doors. Trust me on this. Still happens of course but it was much more the norm back in the day. Particularly before the DPB when there was pretty much just the Deserted Wives benefit.
    
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    January 16, 2026 11:37am
    - kowtow
      
      I don’t doubt that alot happened behind closed doors ( and still does) and I’m not in any way justifying bad behaviour .
      
      As to the “norm” I’ve been around a while and don’t agree .
      
      Sadly though family violence etc is literally as old as the bible . Thus the Genesis story of Cain and Abel .And therein part of the aanswer.
      
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      January 16, 2026 12:03pm
  - Ra Henare
    
    Let me help you out.
    
    There was a time…
    1945-1964, when soldiers(used to discipline and structure) Returned in hordes, many of them taking up teaching jobs.
    About then most teaching jobs were young women with no real life experience and ability to ensure discipline.
    
    The nail in the coffin (IMHO) was Sue Bradfords no slap legislation 2007.
    
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    January 16, 2026 11:42am
    - MCōs
      
      My father was a returned serviceman after many years or army discipline plus several years of POW discipline. Mum was a farmer in England and when we were kids kept us all in order, including Dad who was a pretty affable sort of bloke
      Not long before he died he said to one of my sisters that they used to spoil us kids and loved every minute of it.
      
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      January 16, 2026 5:02pm
    - R
      
      Ra, can only give you one uptick unfortunately. The other miscreants of ill disciple responsibility are mallard and palmer
      
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      January 16, 2026 5:38pm
  - Paulus
    
    Do you as we do the followin where all New Zealanders joined in NZ Telethon was a massive, iconic 24-hour live TV fundraising event in New Zealand, running periodically from 1975 to 2009, featuring local and international stars, silly stunts, and massive community participation to raise millions for charities like St John Ambulance and disability groups, becoming a beloved cultural phenomenon that united the nation for a good causeand vied internationally for our country day of fun.
    
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    January 16, 2026 1:35pm
artemisia

61 shops announce closures in 10 days: Will liquidation numbers get worse before they improve?

General opinion in the article is yes, it will get worse.

Carolyn Young, chief executive of Retail NZ, said … “Two national businesses, 61 stores across the two businesses, have announced liquidations or closures in the first 10 days of the year

So two decent sized businesses, chains really, close down as could not attract enough customers to pay their costs. Obvious really, and the right thing to do. Good for more successful businesses that will pick up some of the custom. As no doubt will online suppliers here and overseas.

The article also mentions the IRD tax debt (to taxpayers) to be collected remains around the $9 billion dollar mark.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/584172/61-shops-announce-closures-in-10-days-will-liquidation-numbers-get-worse-before-they-improve
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January 16, 2026 8:56am
- Jack5
  
  If the IRD published lists of severely late taxpayers that would be service to the rest of the business community.
  
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  January 16, 2026 9:08am
  - greybeard
    
    https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360923880/millions-owed-and-assets-sold-christchurch-restaurateurs-actions-under-scrutiny
    Here is the latest in a long line: anyone surprised ?
    He owes IRD $1m: how can they (IRD) allow it to get to that stage ?
    
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    January 16, 2026 9:25am
    - Ra Henare
      
      How much of that $1 mill is IRD penalties?
      
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      January 16, 2026 11:43am
      - greybeard
        
        What does it matter ? To get to a million dollars owed to IRD the base debt must be large , and the timeframe longterm. The debt as at April 2025 was $800k, it is now $1m.
        
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        January 16, 2026 2:03pm
  - pdm
    
    The Mercantile Gazette and the Truth are long gone Jack5.
    
    Privacy rules these days – especially for criminals, pervs, philanderers, people who don’t pay their dues, etc, etc etc.
    
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    January 16, 2026 10:00am
    - kowtow
      
      That puts me in mind of a recent , as always excellent Karl du Fresne post , fromhis blog on his reporting days .Here’s an excerp but the whole thing is great reading.
      
      “There’s also an important public interest element here. The reporting of criminal cases serves two purposes. One is that it serves the public good by alerting communities to the bad people in their midst. The other is that the fear of having their name in the paper can serve as a deterrent to criminals, especially in smaller communities where everyone knows everyone. But newsrooms have been so hollowed out that most of the time the court press bench is empty. New Zealand is hardly unique in this regard. The British journalist Nick Davies memorably wrote a few years ago that you were more likely to see a zebra in an English court than a reporter.”
      
      https://karldufresne.blogspot.com/2025/11/booze-smoke-psychopaths-and-sexual.html
      
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      January 16, 2026 11:09am
- Tauhei Notts
  
  The RNZ item mentioned that businesses had provisional tax to pay on 15th January.
  Why would a business facing insolvency have provisional tax to pay at 15th January? GST debt I understand, but provisional tax. That has my head in a spin.
  
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  January 16, 2026 9:34am
- RoboRob
  
  EB games is part of a chain that (used to) sell video games, a dying business model, much like video stores. It’s closure is unsurprising although they did have a good try at rebranding to selling merch. It’s closure says nothing about the NZ economy. A very stupid article.
  
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  January 16, 2026 10:26am
  - Ghost
    
    I’m surprised it took this long. I haven’t seen anyone in their shop down here when going by. Vast majority just buy the digital version if they buy
    
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    January 16, 2026 11:26am
    - RoboRob
      
      Yup my boys, and I occasionally, always buy online (using Steam). For Christmas steam gift cards arrive for the kids and Steam then kindly runs their Christmas sale where people can get up to 80% off. These are real sales, not Briscoes.
      
      So much cheaper and so much more convenient then buying instore. The obvious sign, to any not in the game market is that PCs / laptops don’t tend to come with CD Roms to actually load physical games anymore.
      
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      January 16, 2026 11:41am
- pb
  
  Small banks, and wise old small bank managers, do not get to assess the veracity of business loans any more. A pimply central young gun whom worships the eternal truth of diversity and his Globalist bossmans flash car, control such decisions. Do not weep for bad ideas. Sound an army reveille for their courage, and wish them better advice next time.
  
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  January 16, 2026 10:38am
CJames

Isn’t there supposed to be still large numbers of zombie companies that we saved by covid payments but haven’t got round to closing down? The ones that owe much of the money to IRD. I see vehicles around with company logos on the side that I know aren’t doing business.
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January 16, 2026 9:01am
Ruahine

Is this a case of a couple of mates swapping job stories.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/public-service-boss-spotted-at-coffee-meeting-with-andrew-coster/BT3AHPCY3NDIBI7FGMILEH4WIM/
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January 16, 2026 9:03am
- imalwaysright
  
  It appears that the conclusions of the IPCA report on the McSkimming case has been used as sufficient reason to not investigate/charge the other top police employees involved.
  
  I thought that suspected criminal activity was dealt with by a) a complaint. b) a police investigation. c) charges laid, or not, and d) prosecution.
  
  Since when does the opinion of the IPCA override the due process?
  
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  January 16, 2026 9:38am
Jack5

The madness continues …

Wandsworth borough council in London is encouraging employeesto add general neutral pronouns such as “ze/zir/zem” to email signatures and their social media profiles, reports the Telegraph.

In an internal memo, the council argues d that “people from the non-binary and transgender communities” need to be “more seen and recognised”.

Opposition has come from women’s rights groups, who say the move could be “a discriminatory act against those who do not subscribe to this ideology”.
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January 16, 2026 9:06am
- Notsofast
  
  Men badly disguised as women have done immeasurable harm to communities in a swathe of different ways that are completely obscured by the indoctrinated media and politicians.
  Study the work of Sex Matters and Reduxx and a broad range of other necessary organisations to understand this, jobs lost, study options eliminated. It has far greater effect than one autogynephile in the female space or sport.
  And autogynephiles need sterilized kids for authentication.
  Thank you for your attention to this matter all politicians but NZ First.
  
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  January 16, 2026 10:19am
- pb
  
  Too close to the heart of the Rothschild woke dark star empire.
  
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  January 16, 2026 10:39am
- kowtow
  
  Labour, Green , Your Party , Lib Dem council?
  
  Reform will be delighted . A political earthquake is on the way.
  
  Anyone see the story about political prisoner Lucy Connolly being warned again about a X thing that was obviously a joke , as she’s on probation.How do the forces of law and order there have the time and resources to police jokes , but not the border and broader real crime.
  
  https://www.thesun.ie/news/16389350/lucy-connolly-warning-x-post-trump-starmer/
  
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  January 16, 2026 10:50am
  - imalwaysright
    
    Allowing illegal rapists, thieves and murderers to breach the border is UK government policy.
    
    Criticising it isn’t….
    
    8 2
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    January 16, 2026 11:58am
Rusty

Was it player power that had Razor Robertson dumped as AB coach?
7 3
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January 16, 2026 9:18am
- Cassandra
  
  No. Kirk did it.
  
  8 2
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  January 16, 2026 9:29am
  - Jack5
    
    Sack Ardie Savea, too, says Mark Watson:
    
    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/rugbyleague/sack-ardie-savea-outspoken-pundit-calls-for-all-blacks-star-to-follow-scott-robertson-out-the-door-after-blackmailing-nz-rugby/ar-AA1UihrN
    
    4 3
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    January 16, 2026 10:20am
    - MCōs
      
      Of course Watson would say that
      
      5 4
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      January 16, 2026 12:35pm
- pdm
  
  Looks like it Rusty.
  
  Sadly Ardie Savea may have been leading the charge.
  
  4 4
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  January 16, 2026 10:03am
  - Prince
    
    Is that the Ardie Savea who ditched the Canes and joined Manu Pacifica for more money, driving the latter club to near bankruptcy ?
    Then takes off to Japan for more money.
    Now want an extension in Japan, or….more money to come back.
    
    Ah yeah, that Ardie Savea.
    
    9 4
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    January 16, 2026 10:58am
    - MCōs
      
      Never heard of anyone change jobs for more money?
      A bloke like him could have his career cut short in the blink of an eye so he has to maximize his income while he can.
      The other day we pulled into a Chemist Warehouse and there’s a giant picture of Lisa Carrington, our greatest Olympian in a sports bra scratching out a few bob advertising that place along with Portia Woodman and Mr & Mrs Carter
      The bills don’t stop after their careers end
      
      4 3
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      January 16, 2026 12:59pm
      - Prince
        
        Of course – but it’s the ‘desire to connect with my heritage’ nonsense that gets me.
        Just be honest.
        
        2 2
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        January 16, 2026 5:07pm
    - RichardX
      
      Prince
      
      ….Ah yeah, that Ardie Savea.
      
      January 16, 2026 10:58am
      
      If Ardie was a professional engineer or architect would you want to restrict his ability to get a new job somewhere else that paid him more, or are you happy with your special pleading fallacy?
      
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      January 16, 2026 4:06pm
      - Prince
        
        I don’t want to restrict anyone. But if an architect changed firms for more money – no problem. Just don’t bleat on about reconnecting to your culture.
        
        1 2
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        January 16, 2026 5:09pm
      - RichardX
        
        Shame you neglected to mention culture in your original post and made it all about the money.
        
        1 0
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        January 16, 2026 6:05pm
- Paulus
  
  But is was the clamering of the Sports Media who got him the Job in the first place.
  
  7 4
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  January 16, 2026 10:33am
- Burtland
  
  seems like a mishandled internal review has blown up in Kirks face
  – good luck balancing the partisan rugby crowd out
  
  5 3
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  January 16, 2026 10:46am
- Philview
  
  What has surprised me about his tenure is that he has often looked a bit uncomfortable talking to the media. I never noticed this when he was coaching the Crusaders. Perhaps the greater scrutiny wasn’t to his liking.
  
  3 1
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  January 16, 2026 11:17am
- Clyde
  
  I see that RNZ on line are leading with a story by a couple of academic types that the big issue with the All Blacks is that they are coached by whiteys. They argue that the majority of the players are into collective things and teekungah or something like that so the coaches need to understand Te Ao or reo or other things like that. Yes, the majority of the teams are Polynesian because contact is what they are good at. Don’t see too many on the cycling tracks or in the pool or rowing……. But the answer according to the academics is for the All Blacks is to have the whole kit and kaboodle being all black.
  
  9 2
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  January 16, 2026 1:02pm
- jacthecat
  
  Similar situation to the netball coaching saga … player power. Maybe Robertson’s problem was that there are not many very good rugby players in NZ any more. Beauden Barrett has had to keep going well past use-by because the selectors cannot find anyone to take over from him. And Scott Barrett, when not injured, is one of the most mediocre locks for many years, let alone uninspiring as a captain.
  
  3 3
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  January 16, 2026 1:07pm
- Burtland
  
  “The New Zealand Rugby Players’ Association has publicly called for governance reform, including a stronger understanding of tikanga, te ao Māori and Māori-Pasifika relationships at leadership and decision-making levels.”
  
  the beginning of the end is in sight folks – the DEI mind virus, planted by grant robertson, has infected the NZRU.
  
  https://theconversation.com/after-scott-robertson-the-all-blacks-face-a-deeper-question-than-who-coaches-next-273582
  
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  January 16, 2026 1:17pm
sungsamning

According to Brazilian President Lula; those who are skeptical of Climate Change are ‘denialists’ and are spreading ‘disinformation’ . The UN and WEF are not amused.
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/22155/un-censor-climate-agenda-criticism
UN to Censor All Criticism of the Climate Agenda as Whistleblower Exposes it as a Total Scam.
6 2
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January 16, 2026 9:40am
sungsamning

SCOTUS has issued an emergency ruling. Federal Judges can’t issue nationwide injunctions.
So, now there is one government. Not hundreds of them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKJNFO6v67k
BREAKING Supreme Court Emergency Ruling Most Americans Don’t Know About
11 3
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January 16, 2026 9:40am
MCōs

This article has a video of a second gantry launcher collapse of a motorway under construction in Thailand. Both by the same contractor.
https://www.constructionbriefing.com/news/video-second-deadly-launcher-collapse-in-thailand-involves-same-company/8111651.article?zephr_sso_ott=q0vuXk
The road below is one of the main highways south out of Bangkok and is often congested hence the new elevated motorway
When we were over there a year ago there was another collapse while we were due to pass that way.
We came back a different way and there was an earthquake. A multi storey building collapsed alongside the motorway a couple of hours previously
5 1
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January 16, 2026 9:44am
- MCōs
  
  Same contractor involved in all three projects Italian-Thai Development
  
  1 1
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  January 16, 2026 9:52am
- imalwaysright
  
  Heroic efforts by the locals to rescue the passengers.
  
  6 0
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  January 16, 2026 10:50am
greybeard

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360925350/car-parking-fees-and-public-transport-fares-auckland-set-rise

In the interests of fairness and balance I think Auckland Transport should publish their staff details showing staff numbers, current salaries and proposed salary increases for the next year.
14 1
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January 16, 2026 10:38am
- Tauhei Notts
  
  The statistic I want to see is the number of buses that travel with five or fewer passengers in them.
  
  3 1
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  January 16, 2026 6:28pm
Paulus

Woweee !!!
Congratulation to the NZME baby the BOP Times for today publishing a full half page, Comment article by Michael Barnett on Business Confidence on its main page.
Then opposite another full half page from Michael Barnett on Businesss Confidence and guess what ?
They are identical and the same word for word same with slightly changed Header.
What idiots, but that is normal in the New Zealand media.
Should I get half the price back, from my wife’s crossword paper, as this is a stupid duplication and nobody spotted it, not even the printers
Dumb and Dumber the lot of them.
10 2
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January 16, 2026 10:43am
waripori

If most Central bank governors signed the letter and ours did not that would imply Breman is not independent and taking instructions from the Government. Quickest way to trash our currency and increase borrowing costs. It would also signal NZ support for Trump and be an incursion into US politics. I still wonder if by Breman signing the letter and Winston telling her off we are not cunningly trying to have it both ways.
5 11
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January 16, 2026 10:45am
- All_on_Red
  
  You have a strange way of looking at things
  By signing the letter- which was a swipe at Trump- she did interfere in US Politics and showed she was a lackey of her fellow WEF stooges..
  She could have proved she was ‘Independent’ by doing NOTHING and staying out of it.
  Just dumb.
  
  12 6
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  January 16, 2026 11:59am
- Cassandra
  
  Nonsense. NZ signature only significant to Trump, therefore keep out of it.
  
  4 6
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  January 16, 2026 12:00pm
I remember when

TV One last night reported on the death of hundreds of (tuna) eels in a Wairoa stream.
The reason/reasons are still to be established, with the Regional Council having taken samples for analysis.
One of these in the item stated –
“It’s like finding out your best friend has died; like going to a funeral or the death of a family member.”

No, it is simply an unfortunate event with environment consequences that may have been preventable.
18 1
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January 16, 2026 11:20am
- Don Beckett
  
  They called the dead eels, “our sacred taonga”.
  What a load of rubbish.
  
  16 2
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  January 16, 2026 1:12pm
- imalwaysright
  
  Saw that.
  No one thought to track upstream to see if there had been an accident. Maybe someone went off the road.
  
  4 1
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  January 16, 2026 3:12pm
I remember when

Just occasionally, one of the hidden reasons for Maori not learning their language gets mentioned by Maori affected.
It is the pressure placed on them by members of their own iwi and hapu.
Whanau who question their worth as a Maori and dispute their right to learn to speak ‘Maori’ (to be heard.)
Seems to be most frequently between those brought up on the marae and those who have moved away.
Peer pressure!
7 1
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January 16, 2026 11:59am
- Fender
  
  Perhaps this job is not for them, I don’t know but I suspect it’s not aimed at me that’s for sure
  
  https://www.seek.co.nz/job/89631458?token=1%7E65e04c04-da9a-4c54-a907-8c4f496d4e50&tracking=PAC-JobRecs-anz-2
  
  1 0
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  January 16, 2026 5:44pm
G the giant from Dunedin

Morgan poll out, yet another poll with coalition ahead. 50.5-46.5
5 1
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January 16, 2026 12:30pm
Scooter

Simple question a doctor can’t seem to answer. Can men get pregnant?

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3Dpp3JklZxsn8&ved=2ahUKEwjNvNCx4I6SAxUC_7sIHcC7MPgQz40FegQIFRAJ&sqi=2&usg=AOvVaw1n8ZQ8F2xE3JNw7pZIb1qd

(tense exchange unfolded during a Congressional hearing when Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) pressed a board-certified OB/GYN with a simple but controversial question: can men get pregnant? Dr. Nisha Verma, a medical school professor representing Physicians for Reproductive Health, declined to give a direct yes-or-no answer, saying the question was political and ignored complexity.
7 2
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January 16, 2026 1:02pm
Chuck Bird

I have read that one of the reasons Trump wants Greenland is for an early warning in case Russia sends ICBMs at the USA. That is just stupid. The US could take out a few at best. In a couple of hours, 5 billion people would die.
1 6
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January 16, 2026 1:51pm
- virtualmark
  
  Yes that would be a stupid reason … because the US already has a military base in Greenland with a ballistic missile early warning radar.
  
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pituffik_Space_Base
  
  10 2
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  January 16, 2026 1:56pm
  - Mike
    
    Stupid person has stupid idea that appeals to stupid people.
    
    2 3
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    January 16, 2026 3:13pm
- imalwaysright
  
  On a people per square km basis, the population of Greenland would be the equivalent of the South Island having less than 4000 inhabitants.
  That’s a big waste of land and valuable resources on so few people.
  
  1 4
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  January 16, 2026 3:21pm
  - Mike
    
    The Chatham Islands give NZ control of vast resources, but are sparsely populated too.
    
    3 2
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    January 16, 2026 5:14pm
  - virtualmark
    
    On a people per square km basis Australia would be the equivalent of China having less than 35 million people.
    
    That’s a big waste of land and valuable resources. And maybe China needs to own Australia in order to defend itself.
    
    So based on your logic China should take over Australia.
    
    3 1
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    January 16, 2026 5:24pm
    - imalwaysright
      
      20 odd million isn’t 50 thousand.
      
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      January 16, 2026 9:43pm
  - Ghost
    
    80% of Greenland is covered in an ice sheet. Perhaps instead of thinking their land is wasted you could let them actually decide what is best for them.
    
    1 1
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    January 16, 2026 9:59pm
    - imalwaysright
      
      I’ll consider it, but I’m not promising anything…
      
      0 0
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      January 17, 2026 8:34am
- rangitoto
  
  The only reason is that it’s Trump’s orders from Putin. It will cause the dissolution of NATO
  
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  January 16, 2026 4:01pm
Jack5

Didgereedoodle …

How to challenge swathes of people with one video series.

About 180,000 people are following an Australian Aboriginal series across Meta channels, including Facebook and Instagram.

The Guardian reports a legal and indigenous expert as saying its images and content are “remarkable” in their realism. The AI-created narrator’s likened to a mixture of Steve Irwin and David Attenborough.

It’s also being labelled “AI and blackface,” reports the newspaper. (Blackface: a non-Black person portraying a Black person, or creating a Black or Indigenous caricature online.)

It’s the product of a South African in New Zealand.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/jan/15/aboriginal-steve-irwin-ai-character-created-new-zealand
1 0
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January 16, 2026 3:53pm
Yvette

Health Care: Mr. Trump released his health care plan on Thursday, but it amounted to a few paragraphs on a webpage that was short on specifics and left much up to Congress.

For this President Trump is to be awarded the Piece Prize.
2 2
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January 16, 2026 4:41pm

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