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January 22, 2026 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 22 January 2026

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NeverMindTheBollocks

This guy is a big unit!

23 stone, 6 ft 7 and could do the 100m in 11 sec (maybe not now)

To be seen in olive green & old gold in a year or two.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/rugby-union/articles/c3ve1nx26l3o
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January 22, 2026 8:21am
- Gulag1917
  
  The bigger they are the harder they fall.
  
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  January 22, 2026 7:18pm
BarryB

This DAVOS thing is interesting. At this shindig are the world leaders who have screwed us over with COVID and have been ruining the world economy with stupid ideas about what to do about climate change – ie: increase every cost they can think of and proclaime ‘Net Zero’ by some impossible date, etc, etc.
And thye all say that Trump is a bad person and he must be resisted.
Im starting to think that maybe Trump is on the right track if he can piss off that bunch of lying pricks.
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January 22, 2026 8:23am
- kowtow
  
  ‘maybe Trump is on the right track’
  
  There is literally a new world order . The alleged liberal rules based order the lefty luvvies go on about never actually existed and to the extent it did , it also depended on US military /industrial might.
  
  With the rise of China and the de industrialisation of Europe and north America that rules based order is gone.
  
  Trump is the only major western leader who recognises that .
  
  Calling him demented , childish , insulting him etc is counter productive and plays into the hands of our enemies .
  
  He is many many things , but on the majors he is right.
  
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  January 22, 2026 9:28am
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    Francis Fukuyama – eat your heart out!
    
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    January 22, 2026 12:41pm
  - mogg
    
    Trump from Davos speaking to EU, “Europe is unrecognisable you have ruined your countries”.
    Socialism has ruined Europe they are dependent on US in just about everything.
    Sir Starmer plans to build Social housing estates just for new arrival refugees, which the local tax payers won’t be able to access, even though many have been on housing waiting lists for 10 years in some cases.
    
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    January 22, 2026 2:48pm
    - Gulag1917
      
      I still recognise Europe.
      
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      January 22, 2026 7:19pm
- G152
  
  Trump is one of those ‘lying pricks’
  Been so all his life and his current waffle hasn’t changed… his position has
  
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  January 22, 2026 9:32am
  - kowtow
    
    Talking of lying pricks ,how many “u turns” has Starmer been credited with .
    
    And he and his lot and the last lot of liars have been so bad they’ve basically given birth to a whole new political movement .
    
    Huzzah!
    
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    January 22, 2026 11:55am
    - mogg
      
      Yes 13 U turns in less than 2 years, and it looks like becoming 14 soon.
      
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      January 22, 2026 4:47pm
- Northshoredoc
  
  Which world leaders at Davos screwed us over with COVID and climate change?
  
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  January 22, 2026 9:52am
- Bullion
  
  Trump can bury his head into the sand re climate change, but its being priced into insurance – and in the market for insurance a company could just not price in climate change and undercut the market.
  
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  January 22, 2026 10:00am
  - pdm
    
    Why not.
    
    Insurance is based on risk.
    
    Therefore why couldn’t an insurance company accept that Climate Change is nature doing what it has always done and price its cover at lower levels than the rest of the market.
    
    Risk and reward.
    
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    January 22, 2026 11:47am
    - Bullion
      
      Which no insurance company is doing, because they know the increasing risk of climate change.
      
      Not addressing that risk (mitigation/adaptation or reducing its severity/speed of change) is something that we have to address.
      
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      January 22, 2026 12:50pm
      - ISeeRed
        
        No, they know they can justify eye-watering premiums and make more money by blaming climate change.
        
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        January 22, 2026 1:34pm
      - Bullion
        
        But, if another insurance company doesn’t think there is risk from climate change – they could just undercut the competition and make a lot of money.
        
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        January 22, 2026 2:26pm
  - NZer In Exile
    
    Trump listens to people like Happer and Lindzen. Trump has his head screwed on in that regard. The “science deniers” are the alarmists.
    
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    January 22, 2026 9:15pm
- Simon
  
  Yep the Wellington Clown Show going about how bad Trump. No self awareness at all. Just look at that parade of bozos in Wellington.
  
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  January 22, 2026 10:42am
- Vory v zakone
  
  Globalism just died in Davos. The global elite just heard the obituary — live.
  
  https://x.com/i/status/2013915195584782695
  
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  January 22, 2026 1:08pm
  - Don Beckett
    
    How right is that man. Bravo.
    
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    January 22, 2026 1:24pm
  - Ra Henare
    
    Yep, a Trump Cabinet member. Make of that what you will.
    
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    January 22, 2026 6:03pm
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    Did he get out alive?
    
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    January 22, 2026 7:03pm
- Nikola Donatello
  
  What did the Davos folk do on COVID that was so bad?
  
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  January 22, 2026 1:28pm
  - Vory v zakone
    
    (According to RFK Jr)…
    
    Glenn Beck asked him where he stands on the WEF… and he went straight for the jugular:
    
    “It’s a billionaire club that funnels wealth upward and pushes totalitarian control.”
    
    “They jet into Davos, then lecture world leaders on how to run the rest of us.”
    
    “And during COVID? $4 TRILLION was transferred upward while they destroyed small businesses.”
    
    Here’s what the media will NEVER highlight:
    
    RFK Jr. is flat-out saying Big Tech + Big Government + the WEF worked together – to censor dissent, crush small businesses, and strip away constitutional rights… all while the global elite got richer.
    
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    January 22, 2026 4:20pm
- Paulus
  
  What and spoil an annual Concert in Davos who love the spenders every year, not forgetting the taxpaid for social sides and comfort for accompanying staff.
  
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  January 22, 2026 2:42pm
  - Ra Henare
    
    Every WEF in Davos, I ask myself. Why choose a small town in the Swiss Alps with no local airport?
    for the 3,000 attendes, Plus Media, support staff etc etc.
    
    Who is getting the back handers from this arrangement???? since 1971.
    Would it be, one time University Professor Klaus Schwab by any chance?? (Nett worth $50-150 mill USD)
    
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    January 22, 2026 6:14pm
cmm

“Tie yourselves to your tamariki”

Why not focus on clear communications?

There really is no place for this woke shit during an emergency.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360926209/northland-expecting-heavy-downfall-locals-deal-sundays-flood-waters
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January 22, 2026 8:25am
- Unity
  
  I totally agree. I don’t know what they are referring to all the time. It should either be English or the other – not both. There are place names that I don’t know where they are and words I don’t know what they mean etc etc. I could go on and on but I’m totally fed up. If I was younger I would seriously consider leaving this basket of a country.
  
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  January 22, 2026 8:34am
  - cmm
    
    Nope, just in English.
    
    Imagine some poor German tourist trying to make sense of that. What does tamariki mean to a German tourist?
    
    Tie yourself to the furniture?
    Tie yourself to your cellphone?
    …
    
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    January 22, 2026 9:48am
  - BananaLlama
    
    Actually agree, they should be focused on communicating dangers to the public and not indulging in their Manglish.
    
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    January 22, 2026 11:17am
    - Nikola Donatello
      
      Even this article about “whanau’ being rescued from a rooftop.
      
      https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360928152/watch-extraordinary-footage-shows-whanau-roof-floodwaters-surround-east-coast-home
      
      If you were visiting New Zealand, you would have no idea.
      
      The thing is visitors to New Zealand who have English as their first of second language will expect an ‘English language’ news site.
      
      For example The Straits Times, is an excellent english language newspaper in Singapore.
      
      https://www.straitstimes.com/global
      
      Guess what? It does not drop in Mandarin or Cantonese or Malay phrases. Because Mandarin, Cantonese, and Malay speakers have their separate newspapers and news sites.
      
      It is beyond frustrating. The practice of New Zealand journalists is idiotic but it is getting worse not better.
      
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      January 22, 2026 1:34pm
      - ISeeRed
        
        It’s especially cringe when you hear white-skinned people lapse into Maori. Do the youngsters still say “try hard”?
        
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        January 22, 2026 1:37pm
- igm
  
  Time this rubbish was dissed once and for all. What really infuriates is the inclusion of accents on their stoneage drivel.
  
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  January 22, 2026 8:56am
  - cmm
    
    The written form of the “Maori language” was most likely developed by Western linguists (same as what happened for African languages).
    
    It is quite likely they used some accents etc to help express the sounds they encountered that did not have direct Western equivalents. Those might have been dropped with time and then picked up again by the people trying to look cool.
    
    Interestingly, there are no accents used in modern Zulu and Xhosa etc.
    
    Clicks are written c, x and q. Then a few letter groups using h as a softener (eg. hl which is a similar usage to the way h is used after p in Maori eg. phirihimana).
    
    Accents are used in Khoekhoe and similar KhoiSan languages (eg. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khoisan_languages#Khoisan_language_variation), but those are sounds way further from Western sounds than Maori has.
    
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    January 22, 2026 1:49pm
- graham
  
  Same sort of thing on 1 News (yeah, I know). Reporting on dangerous or emergency situations where property or life could be at danger, and they talk about looking after your whanau and tamariki, what’s the latest from around the motu, places providing kai … the list goes on.
  
  I would have thought that our supposedly flagship news service would prioritise clear and unambiguous communication above all other considerations – especially considering that we have many immigrants for whom English is their second language. Apparently I’m mistaken, and 1 News is more concerned with virtue signalling than with communicating the latest news regarding emergency situations clearly – aka doing their job.
  
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  January 22, 2026 8:57am
  - muzled
    
    Motu = a river that flows out of the eastern Bay of Plenty.
    
    At least that’s what I think of when I here Motu.
    
    (and surfing the motu rivermouth, meant to be an amazing wave when it breaks once every 9 blue moons)
    
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    January 22, 2026 12:46pm
    - kowtow
      
      ‘Motu’ . Political new speak used during the un necessary , draconian lock downs , particularly by far left admirers of the authoritarian Ardern.
      
      Still used by apparatchiks , especially in health bureaucracy.
      
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      January 22, 2026 2:21pm
    - igm
      
      Who really cares about this rubbish?
      Taxpayers have more concerns than this irrelevant stoneage crap.
      
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      January 22, 2026 4:17pm
- Simon
  
  In the olden days in Samoa when a cyclone was approaching they used to tie the children to coconut trees.
  
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  January 22, 2026 10:47am
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    Hopefully only after the coconut harvest
    
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    January 22, 2026 12:43pm
    - Sacha
      
      @ Unity: I was reading about the flooding this morning, and suddenly realised that I didn’t know where they were talking about. So I ignored the reports – they didn’t have any significance to me.
      Then this afternoon I messaged a friend on FB, who replied telling me that because of the flooding the family would be busy for a while sorting the property out, and it was then that I realised that I had actually read about it earlier, but the name had been changed.
      Not my country –
      
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      January 22, 2026 6:05pm
  - David Garrett
    
    Simon: Quite right – and not just in Samoa.
    
    I experienced one pretty serious cyclone in Tonga – a cat three or four perhaps – I can’t remember; it was a long time ago.
    
    Numerous houses with roofs ripped off or worse; not a single coconut tree blown over. Dunno how they do it, because they have very shallow rooting systems.
    
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    January 22, 2026 12:45pm
    - muzled
      
      I imagine it’s the amount they can flex and bend in the wind?
      
      Each time that tree sways it must take a massive load off the root system.
      
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      January 22, 2026 12:50pm
    - cmm
      
      DG: Don’t they often lose their leaves though?
      A coconut tree stem doesn’t catch much wind.
      
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      January 22, 2026 2:35pm
- Paulus
  
  What the hell is this pace called tamariki ?
  More mumbo jumbo again.
  
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  January 22, 2026 2:43pm
- NZer In Exile
  
  There are a bunch of woke activists in the public service who think THEY are above the democratically elected government and think THEY actually run the country. This will not change until they are held to account and fired/prosecuted for insubordination and sedition.
  
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  January 22, 2026 9:20pm
Scott

Since the Democrats imported a 100k Muslim Somalian voters to Minnesota they have been able to gain power in that state and essentially do what they like. And what they like is to vote Democrat and persecute Christians.

So it comes as no surprise that Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has let Don Lemon know they won’t be charging anybody after Don and others stormed a church last week.

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2026/01/into-the-fray.php

Ellison is a former Nation of Islam leader and has discovered a freedom of speech right to storm churches.

However he reportedly thought differently when a mosque was involved:

“ABOUT FACE:
Minnesota AG Keith Ellison has called for the use of the FACE Act to prosecute protests at mosques, according to @FreeBeacon review”
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January 22, 2026 8:29am
- imalwaysright
  
  I wonder if the Lemon will be invading a Mosque next…?
  
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  January 22, 2026 9:19am
- Philview
  
  I saw footage the other day of a riot and Ice agents being pelted with fireworks.
  
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  January 22, 2026 11:17am
NeverMindTheBollocks

Food racism is now a thing. Who knew.

Tell you what: when you’re a visitor in a country, perhaps you should embrace the whole experience.

Just saying.

http://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy7mey54npgo
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January 22, 2026 8:30am
- slightlyrighty
  
  Nothing wrong with a good curry. The Cultural Melting pot creates vibrant experiences…including smells, it seems.
  
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  January 22, 2026 10:17am
- Taieri
  
  What? No durian salad anymore?
  
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  January 22, 2026 10:51am
- David Garrett
  
  Prakash and Bhattacheryya claim their ordeal began in September 2023 [emphasis added]
  
  For those wondering what the “ordeal” was, but have better things to do with 10 minutes reading time, it was being told “the food you are microwaving has a very strong smell, and such foods are not supposed to be heated in the microwave”
  
  The world – particularly the US – has gone stark staring mad.
  
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  January 22, 2026 10:56am
  - Albie
    
    My mate rented the apartment above his commercial unit to an Indian manager. I went in a couple of times to give him a hand with small maintenance jobs. The place reeked. When the lease was up the whole apartment including the drapes had to be commercially cleaned to get the smell out.
    
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    January 22, 2026 11:04am
    - graham
      
      Friends of mine ran a motel for some years. They had a blanket ban on cooking curries in the rooms for this very reason.
      
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      January 22, 2026 11:28am
    - MCōs
      
      I’ve seen plenty of houses in Bangkok with two kitchens. An internal one for cooking boring European style food and an external one for cooking Thai food with all sorts of interesting sauces, garlic, chili and other spices
      
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      January 22, 2026 4:01pm
Simon Arnold

New Zealand’s Energy substack is an excellent read, and currently is on to Part 2 Natural Gas in a 4 part stocktake of our energy situation. https://newzealandenergy.substack.com/p/new-zealands-2026-energy-stock-take-f99

Long and short is Larry advances the view that we are heading for a sharp decline in NG and all that entails.
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January 22, 2026 8:34am
- cmm
  
  NG is far more than just energy. Gas is also a feedstock for various chemical processes required for industry and agriculture.
  
  By flailing ourself with greenness we are choosing to be poor.
  
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  January 22, 2026 8:39am
  - Raphael
    
    But I thought it was an inspired “Captain’s Call” that would make everything perfect regardless of how many jobs it wipes out or industries it affects?
    
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    January 22, 2026 10:11am
    - cmm
      
      Sweetie probably doesn’t understand that the glitter she is so fold of is made from plastic that is made from oil and gas.
      
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      January 22, 2026 10:33am
      - R
        
        Cmm, you are talking ‘real science’ there, something outside the comprehension of Marxist Socialists.
        
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        January 22, 2026 10:40am
      - AitchW
        
        I thought it came from flatulent unicorns?
        
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        January 22, 2026 12:43pm
    - R
      
      The Captain ran out of fuel in the tank! But all will improve and energy will be in abundance once Chippie is back at the Tiller. Just read, or listen to, the MSM
      
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      January 22, 2026 10:38am
      - imalwaysright
        
        ‘Out of fuel’ , ‘cancer scare’ , or ‘i could use my talents better elsewhere’ .
        
        She’s got a reason for every occasion…
        
        The real reason was enough of the public realised that she is evil and had conned them, and she had to get out of Dodge soonest.
        
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        January 22, 2026 2:26pm
    - David Garrett
      
      Raphael: An image I will never forget is the Princess ostentatiously BBQ’ing sausages at Waitangi Day one day during her reign of terror.
      
      I’m sure it never once occurred to her that she was cooking on a GAS barbecue – and where that gas came from. It the fullness of time, that gas will be from Australia.
      
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      January 22, 2026 11:13am
- Master Mariner
  
  In addition , One of the biggest loses that is not mentioned is Skilled Labour.
  It literally takes Decades to be a highly trained worker .
  You can not gain this exposure to the Oil and Gas Industry by doing a online Poly tech course in Under Water Basket Weaving//
  All skilled personnel have mostly departed to greener pastures.
  There has been No Strategic thinking whatsoever.
  You reap what you sow.
  Thanks for the link, But in all honesty there is very little in the article that is not Common Knowledge in the Industry in NZ.
  Unfortunately every one has been Blindsided by Net Zero and Climate change who should of been shouting from the roof tops.
  Unfortunately the best thing in my mind for the under educated and Unicorn varieties is to halt ALL Hydrocarbon products for a week and then let reality set in.
  No power, Food, Fuel, ATM’s etc.
  
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  January 22, 2026 9:53am
  - David Garrett
    
    MM: Yes indeed. I wonder when the gummint will announce that there has been zero interest in apply for new oil and gas prospecting permits since they made them available again?
    
    I wont repeat all I have said on that subject again, but suffice it to say that one of our major advantages – against our many disadvantages for oil explorers – was political stability.
    
    Once that’s gone, it’s gone forever. And Petrocorp 2.0 is not an option; Hipkins has made it clear he would just shut it down and sell whatever plant it had acquired at fire sale prices.
    
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    January 22, 2026 11:17am
    - Ghost
      
      https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/584263/first-offshore-oil-and-gas-exploration-permit-since-ban-under-official-consideration
      
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      January 22, 2026 11:29am
    - Sideoiler
      
      …..I wont repeat all I have said on that subject again,…..
      
      A tautology surely!
      regards, a fellow pedant.
      
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      January 22, 2026 12:35pm
- NZer In Exile
  
  Nat Gas ban and all the associated fallout from it is a primary reason why JA should have to hand back her damehood.
  
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  January 22, 2026 9:24pm
Northshoredoc

Excellent speech by Canada’s Carney at Davos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btqHDhO4h10

‘Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said the “old order is not coming back” and urged fellow middle powers to come together in a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
“Middle powers must act together because if we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu,” Carney said on Tuesday, adding that he believed powerful nations were using economic coercion to get what they want.
He also affirmed Canada’s support for Greenland, Denmark and the Nato alliance, drawing applause.
Carney did not mention Donald Trump by name, but some of his remarks seemed aimed at the US president, who is threatening to tariff European allies and the UK unless Greenland is surrendered to the US.’

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cly3d28p4p8o
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January 22, 2026 8:37am
- Ross Bayer
  
  Hi Doc not everyone is a fan of the Canadian PM who is a Globalist as this podcaster explains. Mr Carney has recently signed up to a strategic partnership with PRC which I find interesting
  https://www.junonews.com/p/how-well-do-we-know-mark-carney
  
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  January 22, 2026 9:09am
  - Vory v zakone
    
    Yep Ross and as pointed out earlier, ‘Globalism just died in Davos.’ Carney is toast. (Along with his fellow corrupt globalist elites)
    
    ##thebestisyettocome
    
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    January 22, 2026 1:41pm
- Scott
  
  Well apparently Trump has had a very productive meeting with the Secretary General of Nato and they have agreed to the framework of a deal with respect to Greenland and indeed the entire Arctic region –
  
  https://www.instagram.com/p/DTyNd_FDgOd/
  
  As I predicted, it’s the art of the deal, which Trump has been practicing for 50 years.
  
  Thank you for your attention to this matter. 😎
  
  [Mod – fixed]
  
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  January 22, 2026 9:20am
  - Northshoredoc
    
    Hi Scott
    
    You might want to avoid cut and paste from instagram as it links directly to your personal account.
    
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    January 22, 2026 11:34am
  - Hard Cheese
    
    LOL. Trump got SFA. He walked back a military takeover and he didn’t get his bottom line of owning Greenland. He was given an off-ramp of some nebulous “framework” and was forced to take it. TACO
    
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    January 22, 2026 12:19pm
    - Don Beckett
      
      Another one who doesn’t/won’t understand Trump.
      
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      January 22, 2026 1:36pm
      - MCōs
        
        And you do?
        
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        January 22, 2026 4:03pm
      - Don Beckett
        
        Yes, because I listen to those who know him better.
        
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        January 22, 2026 4:14pm
  - Philview
    
    This latest announcement implies there is another side to the Greenland story that we haven’t been told about. Why is the Secretary General of NATO negotiating with the US Government on Greenland.
    
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    January 22, 2026 12:29pm
- kowtow
  
  Carney et al .
  
  Always quite a few steps behind .
  
  He’s another one chosing to strengthen the enemy , while weakening self.
  Starmer ; Chagos / embassy , yet another.
  
  These people are appeasers .
  
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  January 22, 2026 9:46am
  - Don Beckett
    
    …….and betrayers of their people, & getting cosy with China.
    
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    January 22, 2026 12:12pm
    - Hard Cheese
      
      Why wouldn’t they get cosier with China? The US is no longer a reliable partner, in fact, has threatened to invade them and make them the 51st state. Europe is going the same way, for the same reasons. What else did you think was going to happen?
      
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      January 22, 2026 12:23pm
      - kowtow
        
        And China is ?
        
        See the hostage post on kb today .
        
        Australia and Canada have had a long history of their citizens being taken hostage there too .
        
        And yet they all go arse licking.Carney bigly.
        
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        January 22, 2026 1:20pm
    - Taieri
      
      getting cosy with China
      ———
      
      We are very cosy with China. It’s our largest trade partner. Should we stop our exports there?
      
      8 3
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      January 22, 2026 12:31pm
      - Don Beckett
        
        Maybe economically, but are we cosy politically?
        
        6 5
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        January 22, 2026 1:37pm
      - MCōs
        
        The two are necessarily intertwined, Mister Don
        That’s the basis of the leverage all these aggressive strongmen & would be strongmen, including Trump, apply to the smaller countries.
        You want to trade with us, you want us to protect you?
        Fine
        We want this or that off you and this is what happens if you don’t agree.
        Been that way since time began.
        
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        January 22, 2026 4:25pm
- MCōs
  
  I see Trump has now backed off acquiring Greenland, or Iceland as he repeatedly called it in his confusing Davos ramble.
  Maybe tomorrow it’ll be back on the cards again.
  
  17 14
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  January 22, 2026 10:14am
  - slightlyrighty
    
    Saner heads seem to be prevailing at Davos….
    
    5 4
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    January 22, 2026 10:18am
  - MCōs
    
    Some people disagree with my remark
    What exactly do you have a problem with?
    
    9 9
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    January 22, 2026 10:51am
    - SoloView
      
      How could you call anything Donald says a “confusing ramble” //
      
      5 7
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      January 22, 2026 11:04am
      - virtualmark
        
        You mean the Donald that confused Iceland for Greenland, Nikki Haley for Nancy Pelosi, E Jean Carroll for Marla Maples, Joe Biden for Obama … etc etc
        
        The Donald whose doctors keep putting him through the Montreal Cognitive Assessment … which is used to track the progress of dementia.
        
        Tell you what … here’s the video of Trump’s press conference from two days ago. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDBVfBGJPzg. See how far you can get through this before you wince at the confusing ramble.
        
        3 3
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        January 22, 2026 5:33pm
    - Don Beckett
      
      Trump hasn’t backed down – he has achieved what he set out to do.
      
      11 8
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      January 22, 2026 12:13pm
      - Taieri
        
        he has achieved what he set out to do
        —————-
        
        Pissed off even more people?
        
        8 6
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        January 22, 2026 12:32pm
      - Hard Cheese
        
        Yes he has. He said he was going to own Greenland one way or another because it was critical for national security. He doesn’t own Greenland. He was given an off-ramp “agreement” to save him embarrassment and he took it
        
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        January 22, 2026 12:33pm
  - David Garrett
    
    MCos: No, he was going to annex Iceland as well…and Alberta.
    
    As you say, who knows what country the deranged fool will target next week? Certainly an interesting time to be an observer of politics!
    
    10 9
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    January 22, 2026 11:18am
    - AitchW
      
      I do wonder if he might cast an eye over Antarctica.
      
      8 0
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      January 22, 2026 12:41pm
    - NZer In Exile
      
      DG, got a link proving he said he would “annex” Iceland and/or Alberta?
      
      1 0
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      January 22, 2026 9:26pm
  - Hard Cheese
    
    He kept confusing Greenland with Iceland, what an idiot. Apparently it’s so important for US national security, but he doesn’t remember the name of it. Wheel him back to the twilight home for seniors, Biden has nothing on him.
    
    6 11
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    January 22, 2026 12:29pm
    - cmm
      
      They’re surely both equally important.
      
      USA potentially has some issues with mobility in the oceans:
      * The Suez is easily blocked by either sinking a ship in it or via the Houthis bottling up the Red Sea.
      * Panama Canal is easily blocked by sinking a single ship.
      * The Cape sea route is under BRICS control.
      * The Drake Passage is under control of Chile (BRICS-aligned) and is a terrible passage anyway.
      
      Thus it is important to secure northern routes for the future.
      
      6 3
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      January 22, 2026 3:59pm
      - Mike
        
        What makes you think Iceland and Denmark (with their allies) are unable to defend their territory?
        
        3 3
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        January 22, 2026 4:06pm
    - Ra Henare
      
      It has been said many times by people who know about such things (not me)
      that an unpreditable negotiator(ie Trump) generally achieves their desired outcomes more often than the “”regular”” negotiator. Due to irrational demands/stances.
      
      5 1
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      January 22, 2026 6:29pm
- Mike
  
  The contrast between the speeches of Carney and Trump could not show a clearer distinction between sense and insensibility.
  
  10 12
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  January 22, 2026 10:36am
  - Graeme Hall
    
    Difference is when Carney talks, no matter how coherent, nobody listens. When Trump talks no matter how incoherent, everybody takes note and his predictions have an uncanny effect of being correct – like Europe would need to boost its military spending & stop relying on Russia for oil and the USA to protect them from Russia.
    
    20 11
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    January 22, 2026 11:19am
    - Don Beckett
      
      As my American friend said, “You should not take Trump literally, but you should take him seriously.”
      
      21 7
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      January 22, 2026 12:15pm
- Cassandra
  
  Canada which has consistently bludged off the US. Good soldiers but underfunded by about 500%.
  
  15 11
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  January 22, 2026 10:44am
  - Taieri
    
    Canada which has consistently bludged off the US.
    ———–
    
    Just like every other country in the known universe. Poor US, being taken for the ride by everyone…
    
    17 4
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    January 22, 2026 10:48am
- Simon
  
  Changing world. Trump gave a long interview yesterday about Greenland. He is very clear thinking but he is tried.
  
  Smug will not cut if anymore in this changing world. The clowns in Wellington have gone all quiet about China / Russia partnership. Losers.
  
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  January 22, 2026 10:52am
RoboRob

Yesterday slightlyrighty and I debated whether Trump would invate Greenland. That discussion hasn’t aged well….. for slightly 🙂

Trump rules out Greenland military action as stock market roars back to life – but president demands ‘immediate negotiation’ as he rips Europe

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15484873/donald-trump-greenland-davos-force.html

Not so say I told you so but…..
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January 22, 2026 8:47am
- Mike
  
  It’s not so much a question of ‘will Trump send troops to conquer the territory of a loyal ally’ as the insanity of the idea being mouthed at all.
  When Trumpistas praise this as a negotiating tactic, do they mean others should copy it? Should NZ threaten military force if the Cook Islands don’t cut ties with China? Should I tell the local dairy owner that he might be the victim of an armed robbery if he doesn’t discount his cigarettes for me?
  
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  January 22, 2026 12:29pm
  - Don Beckett
    
    I thought you didn’t smoke .
    
    7 5
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    January 22, 2026 1:39pm
  - RoboRob
    
    No one, at least here, is saying that Trumps negotiation strategy around Greenland is the best option.
    
    With regards to others using the same strategy, well in every negotiation the parties involved use a strategy based on their strength and ‘options’. Obviously the US has a lot more ability to force others to its will then NZ.
    
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    January 22, 2026 3:03pm
  - NZer In Exile
    
    Mike there are two big powers. NZ isn’t one of them. It’s a tiny mess (with some nice scenery) at the arse end of the world.
    
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    January 22, 2026 9:30pm
Handyman

There is a is a fundamental difference between National’s and Labour’s planning for the election.
National will be researching policy settings to free up and create opportunities for all, while knowing outcomes will vary widely among individuals. The general approach is a rising economic tide lifts all boats.

Labour will be making a list of all the various voting blocks (based on identities) and what they need to be paid to vote Labour. Their election pledges will be a long list of taxpayer payments to this group and that group. The money will come from “the rich” who need to pay their “fair share”. They will also be looking for a Kiwibuild- style policy ie a promise too good to be true.
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January 22, 2026 8:50am
- pdm
  
  National MP’s will also be looking for ACT to get a good share of the vote so they have some worthwhile legislation to put through and then claim credit for under the new Coalition agreement.
  
  Otherwise it will just be more of the same from a bland unimaginative, don’t `rock the boat’ National.
  
  Only ACT will make the boat better or make it go faster.
  
  8 5
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  January 22, 2026 11:56am
  - AitchW
    
    Imagine if National supporters in safe National seats gave their party vote to ACT. The potential overhang could be huge!
    No need for Peters, a National/ACT coalition could pass some seriously good legislation without needing to rub Peters’ tummy every 5 minutes…..
    
    9 2
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    January 22, 2026 12:40pm
    - RoboRob
      
      You assume National would want to go into coalition only with ACT. I think they much prefer to have a three way split. It gives them an out when they dont want to do something they promised.
      
      7 1
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      January 22, 2026 1:25pm
      - AitchW
        
        Who wants to coalesce with Peters if they don’t have to?
        Nrional and ACT have a lot in common.
        Peters is untrustworthy.
        A National ACT government would advance our economy greatly without the deadweight that is NZF.
        
        4 2
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        January 22, 2026 4:10pm
    - G the giant from Dunedin
      
      Behahaha, yeah right
      
      2 1
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      January 22, 2026 3:18pm
  - R
    
    ACT has very little to offer the country, other than as a election vehicle for people, who don’t want to have to acknowledge publicly that they actually support the NATIONAL PARTY principles.
    ACT has no depth, nor breadth of POLICIES.
    
    5 17
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    January 22, 2026 12:42pm
    - Don Beckett
      
      Except that a number of policies enacted by this govt. have been ACT policies.
      
      9 4
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      January 22, 2026 1:40pm
      - Ghost
        
        a tiny number
        
        the government has passed 117 acts of legislation
        
        feel free to add any more you find that were act policies
        
        The Ministry for Regulation
        
        90-Day Trials – also national policy
        
        Three Strikes Law – also national policy
        
        Charter Schools
        
        Gun Law Reform – also national policy
        
        5 1
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        January 22, 2026 2:17pm
      - G the giant from Dunedin
        
        And go and have a closer look, many were Nat polices as well, NZF the same, Luxons very first mention of a policy in early 2022 was we will be bring oil and gas back, now whose policy was that, who thinks that policy was theirs? All three parties will be claiming that
        
        3 1
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        January 22, 2026 3:21pm
    - Yabster
      
      you seem to be getting your parties mixed up – its spelt LIEMORE not ACT…
      
      0 9
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      January 22, 2026 1:59pm
      - G the giant from Dunedin
        
        LIEBOUR
        
        3 2
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        January 22, 2026 3:23pm
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    Going by the TPU Curia poll, Act will be lucky to make parliament if they don’t watch it
    
    2 5
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    January 22, 2026 3:18pm
    - Notsofast
      
      Epsom is gifted to Act
      
      1 0
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      January 22, 2026 8:31pm
sirknz

I’m sure that this guy will sort himself out this time.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/crime/judge-calls-repeat-offender-daniel-barlow-an-absolute-menace-to-community/ZGJVFRR7QVAVDBIWQNRF67M2L4/

It’s only 158 prior convictions…
14 1
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January 22, 2026 8:54am
- David Garrett
  
  Jesus H: several years in the pokey would be the only thing that might prompt that boy to behave like a civilized human.
  
  As it happens, I just had an interesting conversation at the laundrette with a young fellow who it turned out had just come out of prison. I commented on the neatly folding of his clothes, and guessed he’d been in the army.
  
  Cue a Billy T James laugh and “No bro’ just got out of jail yesterday!” Turned out he has done 10 months in remand – which itself is just outrageous – on a not guilty plea of threatening to kill. He told me the circumstances of the offending – which I won’t waste time repeating.
  
  After being found guilty, he got 18 months jail, which because of time served, meant he walked from the court a free man.
  
  I asked him if the ten months – his second prison spell he said – had taught him anything. He said “You get to do a lot of thinking in your cell bro,,,and I done a lot of it. Fuckin stupid of me, shouldn’t of done it, but that’s it – no more jail for me”
  
  He said he was a roofer, and his boss had kept his job open for him, which in these times of relatively high employment means he must be a pretty good roofer. I wished him all the very best.
  
  18 1
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  January 22, 2026 11:37am
- imalwaysright
  
  Article :
  “Judge Tony Snell said while sentencing Barlow in the Nelson District Court this week for his latest bout of offending, including offensive use of a telephone, that his criminal history showed he was an “absolute menace” in the community, and had been for many years.”
  
  158 prior convictions.
  Allowing for a second chance before labelling this criminal a recidivist offender, why does it take 156 convictions before a judge decides he’s a menace?
  
  If the judges had imposed harsher sentences for his second and subsequent crimes he would not have had the opportunity to do so many crimes.
  
  There is also the fact that he was caught 158 times…how many times did he escape being caught?
  
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  January 22, 2026 2:54pm
greybeard

https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360927759/who-labours-soon-be-new-list-mp-georgie-dansey

This person is a perfect fit for the Labour Party: has become a lesbian, occasionally performs as a drag king named Peter Pansy, identifies as maori, used to be a Green, worked for a union, was a teacher, claims to be an “activist”: what’s not to like ?
44 4
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January 22, 2026 9:06am
- R
  
  What’s not to like…? The thought that through the manipulation of voters minds by the MSM, people of this ‘ilk’ could be mismanaging the country again NEXT YEAR!
  
  12 1
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  January 22, 2026 9:12am
  - Dudley Quaffquaff
    
    Which of the characteristics identified, specifically, makes this person unfit for government?
    
    2 8
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    January 22, 2026 12:08pm
    - imalwaysright
      
      Since all of the stated characteristics are inherent in the psyche of Dansey then it would be wrong to designate them as either benign or malignant.
      
      However, the fact that they all are present in the same person would suggest that person is in need of help rather than a place in Parliament
      
      5 1
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      January 22, 2026 3:08pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Hard to believe that she wasn’t gifted the leadership of the party.
  
  40 1
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  January 22, 2026 9:13am
  - Blog-aholic
    
    Intersectionalism is a form of mental illness that propogates itself similarly to schitzophrenic psychosis in that both are a break from reality with symptoms like hallucinations and delusions like fixed false beliefs.
    Sadly today NZ has ALOT of politicians that perform like this.
    
    13 3
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    January 22, 2026 10:44am
  - AitchW
    
    Early days yet Maggy…
    
    7 2
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    January 22, 2026 12:19pm
- Hugh Jarse
  
  One rung on the woke victimhood totem pole missing as far as I can tell, no physical disability mentioned.
  
  15 1
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  January 22, 2026 9:14am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  Just the inability to appeal to enough locals to win an electorate seat.
  
  She seems to have succumbed to late onset lesbianism and recently discovered Maoriness also.
  
  Coincidence? I don’t think so.
  
  18 3
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  January 22, 2026 9:21am
  - David Garrett
    
    Nevermind: “Late onset lesbianism”…I love it!
    
    And Yep, a lot of it about.
    
    18 3
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    January 22, 2026 11:41am
    - imalwaysright
      
      She’s a giver upper…
      
      4 2
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      January 22, 2026 3:10pm
- Swifty
  
  I saw that.
  
  It just reinforces how weird and insular the NZ Labour Party has become.
  
  Queer, teacher, unionist. Yep that sums up Labour’s talent pool these days. Oh and one who loves using the state fist to change society to her vision – note her comments on using state power to force New Zealander’s compliance with pay equity.
  
  19 2
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  January 22, 2026 9:38am
  - rouppe
    
    While decrying another leader’s use of state power to force compliance with immigration law.
    
    5 1
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    January 22, 2026 12:29pm
- NothingLeft
  
  yes definitely captures the core of what it is to be an average labour voter. Intersectional victimology bingo winner.
  
  14 2
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  January 22, 2026 9:58am
- sungsamning
  
  I think if Mum was still alive; she’d stay home on election day after reading that.
  
  13 2
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  January 22, 2026 10:00am
- MCōs
  
  Manna from heaven for righteous, cranky old conservatives who like to be outraged
  
  7 27
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  January 22, 2026 10:27am
  - Mike
    
    I’m triggered, so I expect all the Kiwiblog snowflakes will be.
    
    7 13
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    January 22, 2026 10:37am
    - G the giant from Dunedin
      
      You see Dansey as a loser too?
      
      4 1
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      January 22, 2026 3:29pm
  - graham
    
    I don’t see any outrage in the comments above (two apart from yours, as of 10:46), or indeed anything that might make someone think “well that was written by a righteous, cranky old conservative”.
    
    Or are you talking about yourself?
    
    10 3
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    January 22, 2026 10:46am
  - Swifty
    
    I went to the garden centre the other day.
    
    My car has got a rattle.
    
    Pork chops tonight I think.
    
    Bugger it, I’m going to go to the garden centre again.
    
    7 0
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    January 22, 2026 11:57am
  - Yabster
    
    as opposed to very old lefty wokesters…
    
    4 3
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    January 22, 2026 12:29pm
  - NZer In Exile
    
    Better to be ruled by cranky old conservatives than dotty old lefties.
    
    0 0
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    January 22, 2026 9:32pm
- Kaiser Wilhelm
  
  Of course. FFS, they failed in every electorate they’ve stood in, flip-flopped across parties, and now sail into parliament on the list. God MMP sucks.
  
  7 1
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  January 22, 2026 1:36pm
  - MCōs
    
    Flip flopping between parties describes any number of Act list MPs over the years plus of course Winston and Shane Jones.
    
    2 1
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    January 22, 2026 4:40pm
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  She is an out and out unionist
  
  4 1
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  January 22, 2026 3:24pm
Swifty

Maybe the Mangere College Board and Principal, who have been very loud of late telling anyone who will listen that they will continue to give effect to the Treaty, should have stuck to their knitting.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/auckland/intervention-at-aucklands-mangere-college-govt-appoints-overseer-to-school-board-over-low-attendance-academic-results/premium/S2DQGHVXEFCHLNXIZV2C3W3KXU/

I wonder if this will give any Mangere parents any pause for thought?

Probably not.

The Board:

https://www.mangere.school.nz/school-board
18 1
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January 22, 2026 9:30am
- Graeme Hall
  
  The Board has failure written all over it. Poor kids, their future is being directed by these losers.
  
  14 1
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  January 22, 2026 11:24am
- Boy Geoff
  
  Does the school need to be decolonized?
  
  13 2
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  January 22, 2026 11:55am
- artemisia
  
  That’s a very aspirational Board. Have they figured out yet that a Board travelling hopefully but never arriving might be something to do with them?
  
  9 1
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  January 22, 2026 12:13pm
Sir Cullen's Sidekick

Lacklusture Luxon has announced the end date of his coalition rule as November 7th. Chippie is now busy allocating cabinet positions to the commies and the separatists. The question is not about Labour’s win, but by what margin.
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January 22, 2026 9:36am
- David Garrett
  
  Sir Cullen: Sadly I think you may well be right…and it’s too late to replace dishcloth Luxon now.
  
  7 10
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  January 22, 2026 11:42am
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  Do the second poll since the new year have the coalition comfortably in front, funny, no leaked Talbot poll since early November
  
  4 1
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  January 22, 2026 3:32pm
Positan

Does anyone know when McCarten’s union’s charges against MUMA’s CEO and Willie Jackson will be heard?

The mainstream media seem terrified of even mentioning it – let alone speculating as to its substance or outcome?
20 1
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January 22, 2026 9:40am
- Mike
  
  Heard by whom?
  
  6 3
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  January 22, 2026 11:58am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    Complaint has been made to
    The speaker, that will have to be addressed, and will the MUMA money have to be investigating as Jackson forces his vile on tax payers money
    
    2 3
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    January 22, 2026 3:33pm
    - Ghost
      
      No. The letter from Matt did not progress as it was not a parliamentary matter, nothing the speaker or privileges committee could address
      
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      January 22, 2026 3:51pm
Positan

s anyone know when McCarten’s union’s charges against MUMA’s CEO and Willie Jackson will be heard?Doe

The mainstream media seem terrified of even mentioning it – let alone speculating as to its substance or outcome?
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January 22, 2026 9:40am
Gussy Fink-Nottle

Trump MO 101:
Request the unreasonable
Unsettle the counterpart
Walk back the opening position
Move to agreement

Is there anyone still confused about any of this?
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January 22, 2026 9:48am
- David Garrett
  
  Gussy: Yes, Me. The man is deranged as our host opined the other day.
  
  10 11
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  January 22, 2026 11:43am
- Homeworker
  
  After dominating the world politically, economically and socially for the last 14 or so years I can’t believe that our so called leaders haven’t worked this out yet.
  
  3 5
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  January 22, 2026 11:47am
- Hard Cheese
  
  You seem to be under the illusion that the “Unsettle the counterpart” step is free from economic consequences
  
  6 4
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  January 22, 2026 12:41pm
  - Gussy Fink-Nottle
    
    I didn’t state, or imply that “Unsettle the counterpart” would be free from any consequences.
    
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    January 22, 2026 4:08pm
- kowtow
  
  During his WH anniversary speech there was a little titbit that I think was very revealing.
  
  He said , in effect of Macron and Starmer . I get on well with them . To my face they’re really friendly . At a distance not so much . Particularly Macron.
  
  He’s no fool and certainly not deranged.
  
  Anyway , he sees them all for the hypocrites they are . Arse liking one moment , sneering the next .
  
  As to NATO and so much else . The US does all the heavy lifting . He who pays the piper calls the tune.
  
  It is that simple.
  
  16 5
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  January 22, 2026 1:12pm
  - kowtow
    
    Doh . Licking .
    
    3 3
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    January 22, 2026 2:32pm
  - mogg
    
    Spot on.
    
    4 4
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    January 22, 2026 3:02pm
  - imalwaysright
    
    Macron, et al, long for the good ‘ol days when they looked on in mock sympathy as Sleepy Joe talked to a pot plant.
    
    4 3
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    January 22, 2026 3:16pm
    - kowtow
      
      Another titbit.
      
      The other day , a military type wrote in the Daily Telegraph ; after close NATO ally Pres Eisenhower shafted UK and France ( and Israel) over Suez , the French decided that they needed to be strong enough to do shit independently of USA ( I think Macron is still an heir to that type of deluded , deranged thinking) while the UK decided they could never do any military adventurism in future without the Americans .( and thus became weaker , more dependent)
      
      Also just goes to show that there’s nothing new with all this “progressive” , lefty pearl clutching over US foreign policy.
      
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      January 22, 2026 4:05pm
      - Mike
        
        That well-known ‘lefty’ Charles de Gaulle and that other ‘lefty’ Harold Macmillan?
        
        2 2
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        January 22, 2026 8:13pm
  - Taieri
    
    The US does all the heavy lifting
    ———–
    
    And who is financing this heavy lifting?
    
    Or, let’s rephrase it…who holds a several trillion $ of the US debt?
    (Ans: The sponging Europe)
    
    2 2
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    January 22, 2026 3:55pm
sungsamning

President Trump made a speech in Davos. There will be no attack on Greenland. Climate Change stuff is a goner. No surprise. Myriad subjects were covered. Many of the Great and the Good were unamused.

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2026/01/21/president-trump-delivers-highly-anticipated-speech-at-davos-assembly-830am-et-livestreams/

President Trump Delivers Highly Anticipated Speech at Davos Assembly
12 8
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January 22, 2026 10:01am
- Sparrow
  
  What I found insulting was Trumps remarks about Denmark in WW2. He obviously is no student of history. The Danes had a neutrality agreement with Germany which Germany ignored. The Danes have a proud history of resisting the Germans from the Kings daily horse ride to encourage hope to their protection of the Jews. When the Germans later introduced the expulsion of the Jews the local population managed to get many Jews to neutral Sweden. The Danes had been prewarned of this impending action by a German official.
  
  12 5
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  January 22, 2026 12:38pm
  - Yabster
    
    Why would you find something said about the Danes insulting? Are you Danish? By the way I had a listen what was the insult? 6 hours is a fact.
    
    3 9
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    January 22, 2026 2:08pm
    - Sparrow
      
      No I am not Danish but have huge respect how the Danes resisted. Trumps remark was uncalled for it was derogatory inferring the Danes has just given up and that the USA had saved them. Two points firstly don’t forget the great USA never declared war on Germany(Hitlers huge mistake) and did not get its military involved for nearly two years yes the UK and its Allies could not have gone on the offensive without massive USA material help. As far as the Danes are concerned the Germans walked into a neutral country(remind you of someone) what were they to do against the German war machine. Look at their record after occupation. Trump should have been thanking them for their protection of the jews. If you think his comment was OK so be it. I disagree.
      
      4 1
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      January 22, 2026 4:19pm
  - Mike
    
    the Danes also rallied to fight for ‘Merica after 9/11, 40-odd killed in Afghanistan in the NATO campaign, highest per capita losses after the US.
    
    7 5
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    January 22, 2026 2:25pm
    - imalwaysright
      
      I thought the Danes were smart. Why would they send soldiers to Afghanistan in response to 911…?
      
      2 7
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      January 22, 2026 3:19pm
      - Mike
        
        Because that’s where the US asked NATO countries to go and fight the Saudi terrorists.
        
        2 2
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        January 22, 2026 3:56pm
      - Don Beckett
        
        NATO – read what Mike said.
        
        3 0
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        January 22, 2026 4:22pm
      - imalwaysright
        
        My point was that Afganistan had nothing to do with 911 and the smart Danes would have questioned it.
        Too subtle maybe.
        
        2 5
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        January 22, 2026 5:37pm
- Philview
  
  I just listened to Niall Ferguson and he reckons while everyone has been talking about Greenland, Trump and the US have been up to something else. Ferguson reckons it could be the case that Iran is about to be smashed and the US didn’t want noise distracting what is being put in place there.
  
  6 6
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  January 22, 2026 12:55pm
  - kowtow
    
    Yep .Watch for when that aircraft carrier group arrives .
    
    2 3
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    January 22, 2026 2:34pm
    - imalwaysright
      
      Didn’t the last long range bombers depart from Mississippi?
      They may not need a carrier.
      
      2 3
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      January 22, 2026 3:22pm
- mogg
  
  Trump is the master of the universe, a few words from him and NATO jumps, EU jumps, financial markets jump (DOW up more than 600 points)
  Starmer comes crawling, Rutte is jubilant.
  
  5 4
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  January 22, 2026 2:59pm
- Taieri
  
  There will be no attack on Greenland
  ————
  
  That’s this morning. Who knows what the evening will bring?
  The Great Leader could change His mind.
  
  2 2
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  January 22, 2026 3:57pm
sungsamning

Israel has recognized Somaliland. Ethiopia is quite pleased privately. The country is a functioning state. The African Union dislikes the idea of breakaway states. Somalia is not amused. It is relatively close to Iran, and Yemen. Flight times are considerably shortened.
https://www.dw.com/en/israels-somaliland-recognition-strategic-ripples-in-africa/a-75590942

Israel’s Somaliland recognition: Strategic ripples in Africa.
8 2
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January 22, 2026 10:01am
- cmm
  
  Israel has been supplying security services in that region for a long time – including providing training for anti-terrorist forces etc. This support is likely a bit of mutual back scratching.
  
  What is quite funny is seeing how many people are completely confused by this and don’t understand the difference between Somalia and Somaliland (especially in the light of the current Somali fraud wave in Minnesota).
  
  But USAians have typically been rather geographically challenged…
  
  11 3
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  January 22, 2026 11:32am
  - sungsamning
    
    Yea, I guessed it wasn’t a recent thing. I’ve seen a couple of interesting YT videos on the difference between the two countries.
    
    2 2
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    January 22, 2026 2:36pm
NeverMindTheBollocks

I see it’s kowtow to Ratana time again. Nothing against the guy or his religion (note how the media avoid calling it a sect), but politicians travelling to a pa between Bulls and Wanganui for a birthday party is just bizarre in this day and age. I mean, Bishop Brian doesn’t get politicians of all stripes turning up to his annual bash.
16 2
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January 22, 2026 10:16am
- AitchW
  
  According to Grok and Google, Rātana has around 44k members, Destiny has about 2k.
  Rātana has a century old association with the Labour Party and prior to MMP helped Labour win most, if not all, of the Maori seats.
  I guess Labour keeps going there to maintain that relationship. I’m still not entirely sure why National turns up in numbers. And why the Green and ACT party go is a mystery. They won’t win any votes there.
  
  4 2
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  January 22, 2026 3:52pm
Jack5

Ian Taylor — “Sir Ian Taylor” at the Stuff web site — attacks regulation fast-tracking the big gold mine in Otago.

He favours instead “renewable energy, electrification, advanced manufacturing.”

😮 Taylor left out AI and sports video enhancement.

With gold around $NZ8000 an ounce there’s no way extracting it successfully is outranked by solar panels, and the nebulous “electrification and advanced manufacturing.”

Promoting Taylor’s views is another sign the subsidised news media, alongside State-owned TVNZ and RNZ, are going to kick hell out of Centre-Right parties in the run-up to the election this year.

The Coalition should have kept Melissa Lee in the media portfolio.
21 3
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January 22, 2026 10:28am
- Yabster
  
  there’s alot of Silver in solar panels- Ian thinks that silver is pooped out of unicorn’s butts…
  
  7 2
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  January 22, 2026 12:34pm
- Mike
  
  What percentage of Stuff’s costs are taxpayers subsidizing?
  
  6 8
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  January 22, 2026 12:37pm
  - NZer In Exile
    
    Lift finger and find out. Report back with findings.
    
    0 1
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    January 22, 2026 9:37pm
- Colville
  
  I loved his attempt at maths.
  
  20 tonnes of rock for one teaspoon of gold…. (2 grams)
  
  No that would be around 1/30th of a teaspoon.
  
  But in short. A project like a gold mine is exactly what should be assessed by an expert panel without the NIMBY inputs.
  
  3 1
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  January 22, 2026 2:15pm
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    Gold nuggets have been found sitting on the ground in that area, there is huge gold in that area, Bendigo Stn has found nuggets on the land, this mine they keep saying at Bendigo is actually on Ardgour Stn next door in the Bendigo area
    
    2 1
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    January 22, 2026 3:37pm
  - NothingLeft
    
    A teaspoon is 5mL, so closer to 95g of gold
    
    2 0
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    January 22, 2026 3:57pm
- sungsamning
  
  They should shut down RNZ, and TVNZ ‘news, and current affairs’.
  
  7 2
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  January 22, 2026 2:34pm
  - imalwaysright
    
    The Boards of each should be prosecuted by the Commerce Commission for selling a product using false pretences.
    
    4 2
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    January 22, 2026 5:40pm
Simon

NZ universities steadily falling in world rankings. Lol. While the cretins running these failing universities make eye watering salaries. National plans to sell university places to the third world as “export earnings”. All part of an immigration racket.
13 6
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January 22, 2026 10:58am
- Colville
  
  Nephew is off to Brissy to finish his Masters. Massey is a dumbed down , brown focused shit hole he says.
  
  8 3
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  January 22, 2026 2:18pm
  - Mike
    
    He’d better be careful, there are brown people in Brisbane as well.
    
    5 2
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    January 22, 2026 3:58pm
    - Jethrod
      
      And your point is?
      
      1 2
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      January 22, 2026 7:22pm
  - cmm
    
    What subject matter?
    
    These days it is worth exploring doing Masters part time remotely.
    
    I was looking at doing an MSc but can’t find any NZ universities that teach the stuff I am interested in. I ended up flagging a degree and just doing the Masters coursework online.
    
    3 0
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    January 22, 2026 4:16pm
    - Don Beckett
      
      Yes, some Abos, and quite a few sensible Maoris.
      
      2 2
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      January 22, 2026 7:53pm
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  That’s rubbish, university’s have been able to educate foreigners all my life anyway, yes as expected this is only because Nats according to you as expected
  
  2 1
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  January 22, 2026 3:40pm
- cmm
  
  A lot depends on what subjects you want to study.
  
  There are various university rankings and some of the methods used to score them are ridiculous.
  
  For example have a look here: https://www.topuniversities.com/world-university-rankings/methodology
  
  University ranking depends on stuff like having a commitment to sustainability.
  
  Research citations are a biggie. That really only matters in research-oriented universities and research-oriented subjects.
  
  4 0
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  January 22, 2026 4:13pm
cmm

The current hoo haa over the dummy bomb in Wellington airport is a classic example about confusing information available at the time with information after the fact.

“Wellington Airport and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said the object never posed a risk”

That is not the point. That opinion is based on an after the fact assessment.

If, at the time, they knew it was a dummy bomb, then fine. They made the right decision.

However if, at the time, they were unsure then they should have likely treated it as a live bomb.

What matters is the assessment made according to the information available at the time – not how things turned out.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/wellington/minister-orders-civil-aviation-authority-review-wellington-bomb-scare-after-claims-of-mishandling/ECKOQ7WEHZBGDNNBOE4UOJWS5Y/
9 1
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January 22, 2026 11:13am
- Hugh Jarse
  
  I think if they called NZDF in, at that point they were at least concerned with what the item was or at least that they didn’t know what they were dealing with. That the minister is asking CAA to review its own actions in managing this incident and subsequent review of those actions is somewhat concerning.
  
  3 0
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  January 22, 2026 2:18pm
surfing

Kiwiblogger said about yesterdays rainfall…

“No there is nothing like this forecast. Yes there may be localised flooding, but this is nonsense journalism”

I don’t know, I think the reporting was pretty accurate. I think yesterdays rain was the most since I moved here some 20 years ago.
8 3
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January 22, 2026 11:15am
- Sparrow
  
  I agree. Living in Northland was keeping my eye on the weather. The Herald had a very good live reporting on the weather was being updated frequently. Job well done.
  
  6 1
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  January 22, 2026 12:23pm
Swifty

Some grim images coming out of the East Coast:

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/584692/warzone-east-coast-flooding-damage-comes-to-light
7 0
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January 22, 2026 12:04pm
- kowtow
  
  Looks like slash problems , again.
  
  7 0
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  January 22, 2026 1:17pm
  - Mike
    
    Unfortunate timing for the forestry companies currently moaning that being forced to operate sustainably would spell economic catastrophe for the region.
    
    6 6
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    January 22, 2026 2:19pm
    - greybeard
      
      And the logging companies want the problems to be solved by taxpayer money. Time for some really tough talking by the govt I think. Stopping any more planting should be the first step.
      
      6 0
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      January 22, 2026 4:57pm
      - PeterTrentham
        
        Let it burn.
        
        2 0
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        January 22, 2026 8:11pm
- cmm
  
  I really don’t know why they use descriptions of “like a war zone” or “sounded like a bomb going off” and such.
  
  These descriptions are pointless.
  
  Well over 90% of NZers have not been to a war zone or heard a bomb going off.
  
  5 2
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  January 22, 2026 4:35pm
Yvette

The annual Rātana celebrations which traditionally mark the start of the political year are getting underway [today]

If the New Zealand Government is secular, why is there such vast cultural misappropriation of Ratana, especially when similar cultural colonisation is called out emphatically; and before anyone throws Christmas and Easter into comments, note that they are at the hands of commercialisation which itself has colonised those two events.
10 2
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January 22, 2026 12:09pm
- AitchW
  
  I’ve never understood the obsession with Ratana. Why politicians of all stripes insist on attending each year makes no sense. Perhaps someone wiser and more knowledgeable can enlighten me.
  
  12 2
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  January 22, 2026 12:36pm
  - sungsamning
    
    Vote buying, and a horror of being called ‘raycist’ if they don’t.
    
    7 2
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    January 22, 2026 2:31pm
- Mike
  
  A secular government can recognize the cultural sognificance of religious occasions. Most normal people, are capable of listening to a prayer (whether from a Ratana minister, Brian Tamaki, an imam, or the Pope) respectfully, for example.
  
  4 15
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  January 22, 2026 12:44pm
  - Yvette
    
    Because there seems to be no real reported interaction with Ratana, it appears to be cultural appropriation to turn a religious anniversary into a political platform.
    It could just be a little more tidy if it was plainer what is happening, especially as there is usually a hue and cry, and calls for de-colonization, but not in this instance.
    
    5 0
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    January 22, 2026 3:52pm
  - greybeard
    
    Rubbish.
    “The Rātana Movement
    Founder: T.W. Rātana (1873–1939), a farmer who experienced prophetic visions in 1918, leading him to preach unity, faith healing, and a distinct Māori Christianity.”
    So this “movement” started in 1918 ! Hardly related to the much-vaunted maori “perfect lifestyle” and mystical connection to the earth, sky and sea before the Europeans arrived. Ratana probably made a lot of money out of it. If our governments pander to it they are mugs.
    
    5 3
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    January 22, 2026 5:03pm
    - Mike
      
      You think Ratana is less of a religious movement than, say, Destiny Church?
      
      3 4
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      January 22, 2026 5:40pm
      - Jethrod
        
        So what is your opinion, instead of asking the questions all the time, give an actual statement of thought!
        
        4 1
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        January 22, 2026 7:25pm
Don Beckett

Mark Rutte is one of the few guys in Europe who understands Trump:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qndX8bgcHCc
5 5
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January 22, 2026 12:48pm
NK

“The doubling of the gold price over the last 18 ‍months means foreign central banks now hold more in gold – at around $4 trillion – than in U.S. ‌Treasuries at $3.9 ‌trillion, for the first time since 1996.
The current questions affecting the dollar also include U.S. debt and its sustainability, as well as the pressure being put on the head of the Federal Reserve and the independence of top institutions more broadly.”

From Morgan Stanley today.

Why does the RBNZ hold zero gold? The $USD is knackered, finished as the world’s default currency backing.
3 11
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January 22, 2026 3:06pm
- RoboRob
  
  Why do you keep posting this and never reply to questions. Why do you think the RBNZ should hold gold? For what purpose would they do so?
  
  The Polish, which you raised yesterday, bought gold. They are doing so as a ‘store of value’, they have funds which if left in USD could devalue. Unlike Poland, we dont have funds. We would be borrowing to buy gold.
  
  6 0
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  January 22, 2026 4:27pm
- Jack5
  
  Apart from war and emergencies, a national gold reserve is collateral for borrowing more money and a booster for the national currency.
  
  A high currency rate doesn’t help an export dependent, current-account deficit-running country like NZ.
  
  Perhaps, get rich then hold gold; rather than hold gold then get rich.
  
  Finding and developing oil and gas reserves rather than hoarding gold is a better way forward for NZ.
  
  Consider oil-rich, prudent Norway, ninth richest country in the world by GDP, but holds no gold reserves.
  
  5 0
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  January 22, 2026 5:11pm
  - PeterTrentham
    
    Oil is black gold. Since I dont have an oil well O have 20oz gold, 19oz brought in 2025.
    
    2 0
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    January 22, 2026 8:10pm
greybeard

https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360927521/maybe-luxon-can-just-say-dog-ate-our-economy
This is a lot of maori-orientated, leftwing anti-Luxon anti-National lot of SHIT.
Epitomises “Stuff” perfectly.
The left would appear to be really worried about the next G.E.
10 3
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January 22, 2026 5:24pm
- kowtow
  
  Why bother.
  
  Don’t click on . They’ll eventially get the message if enough people give ’em the foxtrot oscar.
  
  7 3
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  January 22, 2026 5:55pm
Swifty

My god – the plundering of Minnesota taxpayers:

https://x.com/krobbinsmn/status/2014087485089853527?s=46

I wonder how much is going on here, enabled by slack public sector controls?
4 1
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January 22, 2026 7:44pm
- Ghost
  
  Well, she sure came off as a bit of a tool. Her boss is a big tool
  
  0 0
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  January 22, 2026 8:45pm

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