RaceCafe..#1...Tipsters Thread.... Share Your Fancies For Fun...Lets See Who The Best Tipsters Here Are.
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Jacinda Ardern

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1 hour ago, Uriah Heap said:

Yeah... keep this up triple alliance. :rcf-clown: There's a bigger picture here and your churlish chipping of the PM, while she's promoting NZ on the big stage, shows just how dim you are. Even Simon Bridges and rdytdy have gone quiet for a few days.

 

Promoting NZ on the big stage ??! Give me a break. Apart from fronting up to the UN with Fish Boy and sprog in tow, we have watched her here in the US on programmes today and the main topic has been how difficult it is to travel so far with a baby....two female interviewers fawning over motherhood and all its problems...safe to say if she was a male they wouldn't have wasted their precious time.....:rolleyes:

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2 hours ago, Uriah Heap said:

Yeah... keep this up triple alliance. :rcf-clown: There's a bigger picture here and your churlish chipping of the PM, while she's promoting NZ on the big stage, shows just how dim you are. Even Simon Bridges and rdytdy have gone quiet for a few days.

 

Big picture , yea rite , did you see the pics of cindy , fishman and the offspring taken at the UN , these are the first pics of the political prop , here in NZ the speaker in parliament has threated the media with this , 

Speaker of the House Trevor Mallard has issued a warning to journalists around filming or photographing baby Neve Te Aroha Ardern Gayford at Parliament.

He personally visited the press gallery to reiterate that he would be enforcing photography and filming rules strictly - threatening to revoke press gallery accreditations if reporters breach the rules.

Mr Mallard said as part of his policy to make Parliament as family friendly as possible, media will be banned from filming or photographing baby Neve, Mr Gayford or any of their extended family without express permission.

If you want proof the little one is being used for political purposes that proof is currently at the UN .

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Cindy caught out telling porkies. Told Parliament that she had only ever received one txt from Handley and she did not reply. Turns out she had quite a little conversation by txt with Handley--like Curran, on old mate, but not a flatmate. Very gregarious are our comrades.

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Why business confidence has fallen

by Christie 
 

Jacinda-Ardern-Winston-Peters-Newshub-11

Paul Glass has written an interesting piece in a newspaper about how falling business confidence is nothing to do with business hating Labour and all to do with their policies so far which have been, to say the least, a little unpredictable. quote:

New Zealand business confidence has fallen to levels last seen during the Global Financial Crisis.

While the magnitude of the decline is hard to explain, as economic conditions are clearly far better than during the GFC period, the direction is far easier to understand.

Some commentators have blamed the decline on businesses not getting the Government they expected or wanted.

I think that is far too simplistic and what we are seeing is that businesses are growing increasingly concerned about the coalition Government’s lack of clear strategy and poor execution of policy. We are clearly experiencing management by an unwieldy committee.

New Zealand has been blessed for much of the last two decades, under both Clark and Key, for having political leaders who were more pragmatic and less ideologically driven than the current lot. Remembering that financial resources are scarce and that expenditure needs to be prioritised, let’s look at coalition execution around a number of policies.

Policy: Free tertiary education

Cost: $1.5 billion over 3 years

Execution:

Who knew that this was one of the most pressing issues facing New Zealand but the Coalition government clearly decided it was and announced $1.5b of funding straight after the election. end quote.

A policy that pays student fees to all students, regardless of need, has the sniff of a bribe about it. It was an attempt to match Helen Clark’s interest-free student loans, but at least there were conditions around that. This is just an expensive free for all.

Policy: Support for overseas embassies and the Pacific

Cost: $1b over 4 years

Execution:
Clearly a sop to Winston Peters, it was unusual to see this expenditure prioritised above much-needed pay increases for teachers, nurses, and police. End quote.

 

Yes, and the cost of this would have cleared most of the wage demands from teachers and nurses. While this may be an attempt to keep China out of our backyard, nothing we could ever do will match China in the chequebook stakes. quote:

Policy: Labour market reform

Cost: Unknown, but will be substantial to business and employment

Execution:
Simply dreadful. Andrew Little is a cloth-cap unionist who is still fighting a war that ended decades ago. end quote

Yes, and while most employers are struggling to hire skilled staff, businesses will be concerned that these reforms will take us all back to the 1970s and clearly, there will be little or no consultation involved. quote.

Policy: KiwiBuild

Cost: $2b and rising

Execution:

There is no doubt that we have a housing crisis with affordability being the key issue. Government policies relating to restricting sales to non-residents, extending the bright-line test to 5 years and removing the tax deductibility of negative gearing are all sensible and long overdue.

The lottery system of KiwiBuild, however, is one of the more poorly thought out policies in recent times. Those who win the ballot will be able to sell their property after three years and keep the taxpayer subsidised profits. end quote.

Kiwibuild is a farce. A classic case of promising something you never expect to have to execute, Twyford is delivering bitter disappointment all around. 18 houses completed in 1 year. Madness. quote:

Policy: Water quality

Cost: Nothing much to date

Execution:

Water quality was one of the biggest issues going into the last election with saturation media coverage. Remember the issues around Canterbury’s rivers and the impact of dairying? Since then the media have moved on and so has the Coalition. end quote.

Yes. How come this most burning issue has now disappeared? I guess there are more pressing things such as allowing MPs to have nannies travel with them. quote:

Policy: Immigration

Cost: Unknown

Execution:

Poor. After promising large reductions in the number of net immigrants (relative to our population, New Zealand has the highest level of net immigration in the western world) in order to let our infrastructure catch up with our population growth, the Coalition has been at sea on this issue with no clear policy framework. en

At sea? We still took in 74,000 immigrants in the last 12 months, in spite of the fact that both Labour and NZ First campaigned on reduced immigration (and people voted for it). Add to that the refugee quota being increased, and our immigration policy is shambolic. quote:

Policy: Provincial Growth Fund (PGF)

Cost: $3b

Execution:

The PGF smacks of third world politics. Yes the regions definitely need support but a poorly defined slush fund that exists to fund pet political projects probably close to the next election is a recipe for disaster.

Policy: Support for overseas embassies and the Pacific

Cost:$1b over 4 years

Execution:
Clearly a sop to Winston Peters, it was unusual to see this expenditure prioritised above much-needed pay increases for teachers, nurses, and police. End quote.

Ouch. I cannot argue with any of that. The Shane Jones 2020 election fund. quote:

Policy: Ban of oil and gas exploration

Cost: Billions to New Zealand in the long term

Execution:
It is clear that climate change is one of the biggest issues facing the world and we strongly support sensible steps for New Zealand to take a lead in this area. This policy however, which was announced without any consultation, will have almost no positive global environmental benefit as New Zealand will now have to import the oil and gas it 

needs. This was a clear case of poorly thought out “virtue signalling”. It gave all types of long term infrastructure business a real shock and raised the risk premium on New Zealand. end quote.

Calling it for what it is. Virtue signalling that will cost our economy for decades – and also just so the Princess could jaunt around Europe looking like a climate change activist.

ote:

Policy: Tax Working Group

Cost: Unknown as yet

Execution:
It is high time that a thorough review of our tax system was conducted and Michael Cullen has assembled a competent team. Our economy has long had far too much focus on investment in unproductive housing speculation at the expense of other areas. The TWG has created uncertainty while it goes through its deliberations but this is unavoidable. end quote.

There is nothing to suggest that the TWG is doing a ‘thorough review’ of our tax system. It seems to me that the mandate is quite clear – introduce a capital gains tax of some sort. That was all it was ever about after Labour was forced, once again, to ditch its CGT policy at election time because it was political suicide.

Let’s hope CGT will still be political suicide in 2020. It is time that the government stopped pretending that there is no problem, and it is just that business hates Labour governments. Business hates uncertainty and with its raft of policies so far, uncertainty is the only thing that this government has delivered.

 

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Ardern told us that she will run an open and transparent government  :rcf-laughing-2:  We know they can't organize a piss up at a Labour summer camp and nine months down the track we know that they couldn't organize a root in a brothel with a fistful of $100.00 notes. 

It just keeps getting murkier and murkier:.

 

Robertson forced to correct answer in Parliament over Handley emails

 

Finance Minister Grant Robertson has been forced to correct an answer he gave Parliament last week after advice from his colleague Clare Curran led him to not fully disclose her email exchanges with entrepreneur Derek Handley.

After requests from National's Nick Smith last week and a direction from Speaker Trevor Mallard to bring Curran's email exchanges with Handley to the debating chamber, Robertson last Wednesday outlined the dates and content of each email between Curran and Handley during the recruitment process for the Government's chief technology role.

But a release today from Handley of all communications between him and Curran, and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, showed that three emails were missing from the list Robertson read out last week.

Today Robertson said that in an answer to an oral question on September 19, he inadvertently left out three emails between Curran and Handley.

"I was unaware at the time of giving the answer that there were two further emails on 11 August from Clare Curran in response to Mr Handley's original email and an email from Mr Handley on the 13th of August to begin the process for setting up a phone call.

"I apologise to the House for that," Robertson said.

A spokesman for Robertson said he had been acting on the advice of the former minister when he gave his original answer in Parliament.

Curran said the error occurred when she showed Robertson the emails last week.

"The extent of the thread on one email exchange wasn't apparent until I forwarded the email to him a day later in accordance with my commitment to make the emails available through the OIA with appropriate redactions," she told the Herald.

The three emails in question are responses from Curran to Handley in response to his email of August 11 with questions and thoughts on the CTO role.

Among the queries Handley has are potential conflicts of interest.

In the one of the newly released emails, Curran replies: "Good thoughts. I think the [redacted] one is a biggie. Will talk through that with a few people. The other potential conflicts don't leap out at me though Cabinet Office will have a view."

The email goes on to discuss announcing his appointment and resourcing, before suggesting times they should talk.

Handley then sends another email asking about timing for their talk.

In a statement, Smith called the situation a "fiasco".

"Ministers are just compounding the mess over the CTO role with error upon error. Grant Robertson had to admit with a personal explanation to the House this afternoon that despite weeks of questions and a specific instruction from the Speaker that the Government last week failed to disclose all of the relevant emails from former Minister Clare Curran," said Smith, National's State Service spokesman.

"This came on top of the Prime Minister claiming she's only had one text from Mr Handley that she did not respond to. Mr Handley's disclosures today show both ministers were being economical with the truth at best.

"It was also a mistake for Megan Woods to not have personally communicated with Derek Handley when she cancelled his job on 14th September without warning, particularly when ministers had engaged in dozens of communications with him up until that date," Smith said.

He also took issue with Woods' error this morning when she said there was a confidentiality agreement as part of Handley's settlement.

Woods said later that she had received incorrect information from officials and there was no confidentiality agreement associated with Handley's settlement.

 

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More info emerges about Meka the Muss

by CS
 
meka-the-muss.jpg?w=619&ssl=1

Digital image credit: Luke

Amy Adams used parliamentary privilege to make further allegations about Meka the Muss: Quote:

Further allegations of assault have been flung at Labour’s Meka Whaitiri during a parliamentary debate.

National’s Amy Adams said the Government hadn’t been straight with the public about the alleged incident involving her press secretary.

“The public of New Zealand deserves to know if we have a member laying hands on a staff member to the extent that they end up with bruising …you do not go around laying hands on people to the extent that it leaves bruising,” Adams said.

 

Adams used parliamentary privilege – a legal immunity – to level the allegations.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern fired Whaitiri last week, after seeing a Department of Internal Affairs report into an incident in Gisborne in August.

Neither party have confirmed what happened, but allegations of shoving have circulated.

Ardern said a cut-down version of the investigation would be released. End quote.

I think Ardern means whitewash.

But seriously bruises? On a staff member? I suppose phone books are hard to come by these days. Quote:

Speaker Trevor Mallard granted an urgent parliamentary debate into Whaitiri’s removal on Tuesday afternoon, shortly after Whaitiri’s return.

Adams said that would be “sanitised” and the Government hadn’t been upfront about what happened. She also questioned why Whaitiri was fit to remain as an MP.

“We have heard no apology to the staff member … it’s all been about what’s fair to Meka Whaitiri. What about that staff member who we now know has been left bruised?”

The Selwyn MP said it made Labour’s commitments to openness and transparency an “utter joke.” “This is one of the least transparent Government’s New Zealand has ever seen.”

She added: “We are seeing dodging, weaving, ducking.” End quote.

The hits keep on coming, all while the princess is virtue-signalling her way around the UN. She thinks she’s clever but other people around the world just think she is a silly, Kardashian-style little girl.

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51 minutes ago, crustyngrizzly said:

The sad thing about this is that the Maori caucus have come out in support of Whaitiri despite not having read the report.

Says plenty.

Outrageous isn't it Crusty. Very poor decision making from the Maori caucus.

The other interesting thing here is the Labour party and their Union backers would be the first to talk about bad employers etc etc and pursue legal action if an employer had assaulted a staff member.

But when they are the "employer" (and remember Cindy is the biggest employer in the country according to her own PR) - not a whisper. And no apology anywhere publicly to the employee (or the others this MP has gone through and spat out)

Non transparent and hypocritical...

 

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I don't doubt there will be "koha" offered to the offended-against in the best traditions of secret negotiation and settlement. Even though I despised the notion of a Party defined by race, there was always something pretty decent about Tariana and Pita which seemed to transcend their Party.

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Pimping the baby at the UN

by Deb 
 
credit-card-630.png?w=630&ssl=1

Photoshopped image credit: Technomage

Jacinda has been flashing plastic in New York.  Not shopping as you might expect in the big apple, though lord knows, she needs new shoes.  She’s still wearing the same ankle strappers that she trotted out at APEC in Vietnam.

I’m talking about the Deflect card – the little gem she whips out when she wants to get everyone’s attention.  I’m talking about little 3-month-old Neve.

This from the GuardianQuote:

New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern has made history as the first female world leader to attend the United Nations general assembly meeting with her newborn baby in tow.

Ardern appeared with her infant daughter at the UN on Monday evening, and played with her before giving a speech at the Nelson Mandela peace summit. While she spoke, Ardern’s partner Clarke Gayford held the three-month-old baby on his lap.  End of quote.

When announcing her pregnancy, Ms Ardern informed us that the baby’s father would pick up the burden of childcare, and he would be a stay at home DadQuote:

“This year we’ll join the many parents who wear two hats. I’ll be PM & a mum while Clarke will be ‘first man of fishing’ & stay at home dad.”  End of quote.

Clarke, the stay at home dad, except he doesn’t stay at home.

The baby is being breastfed, so fair enough that the baby would travel with her to New York.  But really, to take the baby into a UN meeting?  Clarke had Neve on his knee during Ms Ardern’s speech.

Tell me, what purpose did that serve other than attention seeking?

You may remember back in August this year, Speaker of the House Trevor Mallard warned journalists not to film or photograph baby Neve at Parliament.  The baby is entitled to privacy, she has no say in the role her mother plays as prime minister.

Yet when it suits, you know, for ‘first time in history’ occasions, the baby is very much on display.  Photographs, videos, beamed around the world to promote the Prime Minister.

Then there was this tweet from Clarke Gayford this morning:  Quote:

Because everyone on twitter’s been asking to see Neve’s UN id, staff here whipped one up.  I wish I could have captured the startled look on a Japanese delegation inside UN yesterday who walked into a meeting room in the middle of a nappy change.  Great yarn for her 21st.  End of quote.

baby-Neve-UN.jpg?resize=630%2C693&ssl=1

Great yarn?  What an absolute tool.  The guy has no clue.  The Japanese delegation were probably thinking what the hell kind of hillbilly would change a babies nappy in a meeting room.

There are just some places where you shouldn’t take the baby. The UN General Assembly is one of them.

Stop pimping the baby and stay back at the apartment. It’s disgraceful that a 3 month old is being used like this.

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Audrey Young stops gargling the Koolaid and gives Ardern a kicking

by CS
 

Jacinda.jpg?w=620&ssl=1

For a long time media have willingly gargled the Koolaid with Jacinda Ardern, They’ve acted as her cheerleader and that has resurfaced this week with her cavorting all over New York.

Audrey gets beyond the stupid headlines about the cringeworthy Clarke Gayford and Neve photo-fest and actually starts drilling into the lack of substance of Jacinda Ardern: Quote:

It is becoming a habit – for the second time in three weeks, National leader Simon Bridges has accused Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of misleading the public.   

 

This time she has also been accused of misleading Parliament as well as the public and Bridges has demanded she correct her statements.

Ardern put up a strenuous defence on both counts that there was no need for corrections.

In both cases she was technically correct that she did not tell a lie but in both cases she omitted information that gave an impression that turned out to be wrong. It is becoming a habit.  End quote.

No she wasn’t technically correct, she said she never engaged and she clearly did. Lying by omission is still lying.Quote:

The recent allegation is that she gave Parliament the impression she had received only one text from erstwhile Chief Technology Officer [CTO] Derek Handley, when in truth, thanks to Handley’s own disclosures, she had received seven.  End quote.

And an email she claimed was unsolicited but actually wasn’t. Quote:

Simon Bridges in the House: Has she had any conversations, emails or text with Derek Handley since she’s been Prime Minister?

Jacinda Ardern: My best recollection is that I received, some months ago, a text from Mr Handley mentioning the Chief Technology Officer role, which I do not recall directly engaging with, as that would not have been appropriate.  End quote.

It wasn’t a single text, it was seven. Quote:

Jacinda Ardern also gave Handley her private email address when he said he wanted to send her his “start thoughts” on the “CTO thing” back in April.  End quote.

So she did engage on the CTO question. He asked for her email to send her his thoughts. She gave him the email and he sent one. It wasn’t unsolicited. Quote:

He did not actually email his thoughts to Ardern until June 7 which is when he also revealed he had applied for the CTO job. And as she has told Parliament, she did not respond to the email – not even by emoji – even though he told her he wanted to help her whether or not he got the CTO job.

It was hardly a craven bid to be selected. In a somewhat Zen reference, Handley said “Whatever happens will be the right thing.”

Ardern has also given the impression in Parliament that Handley was a passing acquaintance when in reality she had texted him to say it was great news he was returning to New Zealand (he had decided to do so before applying for the CTO job) and said: “Let’s catch up when you’re back for good perhaps? In the meantime I’ll talk to the team about how we can make use of you and your kind offer [to help and support her in any way possible].”

And he texted her “how’s mumhood?”  End quote.

All rather familiar for a passing acquaintance, don’t you think? Quote:

The other recent occasion Ardern was accused of being misleading was on September 7 when she was asked by Newstalk ZB host Chris Lynch whether she was considering firing Curran.

Ardern said no – yet she had privately accepted Curran’s resignation the night before and it was announced later that day.  End quote.

But, Jacinda never lies. She’s told us so.Quote:

The Curran saga has graduated from a saga in August to a fully blown fiasco a month later.

Handley realised that references to him during the fiasco were leading people to think the worst and it was reflecting badly on him.

His full disclosures of the texts and emails with Curran and Ardern exonerate him. They do not reflect badly on him and he thoroughly deserved the apology delivered to him today by Digital Services Minister Megan Woods.  End quote.

Typical arrogance from Labour and a willingness to throw supporters under the bus.Quote:

Until now, the fiasco, mainly over an undisclosed meeting, had reflected badly on Curran but the contagion has spread to Ardern and made the Government look amateurish.

Grant Robertson had to correct an answer in the House today he gave last week on Clare Curran’s emails to Handley and Woods had to retract a suggestion that the severance contract with Handley may have been subject to a confidentiality clause.

Acting Prime Minister Winston Peters swore blind Ardern was blameless of anything and everything.

True, she will not have to correct any answers she has given to Parliament.

But that is almost irrelevant because even if she did, it would not undo the damage she has done to herself. End quote.

I’ve been hearing from back channels that Ardern’s arrogance and conceit has grown immeasurably. It will prove her downfall. She thinks she is untouchable. But one day there will be a scandal that she simply can’t handle and then she is toast.

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Snapped again , ''Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced an investigation into how a report which details the incident between Meka Whaitiri and a staffer was leaked to media .

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced an investigation into how a report which details the incident between Meka Whaitiri and a staffer was leaked to media. 

More worried about the leak than the violence . how two faced can she be .  ''the staff member saw bruising on her arm and photos were taken.''' lets hope the pics are for sale .

 

 

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On 9/26/2018 at 7:47 PM, rdytdy said:

Pimping the baby at the UN

by Deb 
 
credit-card-630.png?w=630&ssl=1

 

 

... What a Hero`s we have in the mist . Picking on are defenceless child and how LOW will these Nats supporters stoop to attack a mother and her child.... Is this the reason why National lost the election , by kicking families out onto the streets , victimising helpless , vulnerable children ... Get a life you EGG `s

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27 minutes ago, jack said:

it ... What a Hero`s we have in the mist . Picking on are defenceless child and how LOW will these Nats supporters stoop to attack a mother and her child.... Is this the reason why National lost the election , by kicking families out onto the streets , victimising helpless , vulnerable children ... Get a life you EGG `s

No Jack , think about it , it's the parents who are using their child for political gain , remember Trevor Mallard banning photos of cindy and baby but there she is holding up her defenceless child to the world audience , no desire for privacy over there , just  look at me , look at me  , that's the unfortunate reality .

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Cindy says

by Suze 
 
83870e9a-cb56-11e7-9743-ef57fdb29dbc_128

PM Jacinda Ardern and President Donald Trump

Our media are all over Cindy in New York this week for the United Nations General Assembly. Cindy’s aversion to Donald Trump is well known in gumboot land and must be warmly welcomed by the American media who generally don’t like him either.

Of course, Cindy is the international poster girl for women who can have it all and do it all, albeit not as well as some of us would like. Until little Neve grows a voice, we won’t know how she rates her mum’s performance. We can only hope, for Neve’s sake, that Cindy successfully manages that aspect of her life.

Cindy uses the terms nationalist and isolationist to describe Trump’s America to our lazy media, who swallow it hook, line and sinker. She says she doesn’t like Trump’s discarding rules-based systems, particularly the United Nations. Quote.

Ms Ardern said she will discuss the need for international rules while she’s in New York, which is a thinly veiled crack at the US President and his flouting of systems like the UN.

But speaking to media in New York on Monday, Ms Ardern declined to take aim at Mr Trump directly, saying there’s “not just one country challenging the rules-based system”. End of quote.

Cindy won’t subscribe to Trump’s war on drugs.  She would not allow New Zealand to support Trump’s war on drugs because she believes a health-based approach is the answer to drug problems. 130 other countries signed up, but Cindy knows better.

Cindy picks and chooses her rules.  Apparently rules don’t work, which is why we are rehousing crystal meth producers and users back into their very expensively repaired state houses made unlivable in the first place by their vile drug practices. Cindy says they will never again be evicted. I say this could be very expensive for the taxpayer.

Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would be delighted if Trump actually was an isolationist because it would end his most recent nightmare. Does anyone actually believe Trump was shirking when he warned Iran to stop producing nuclear weapons? I say a shirker would step away from that little problem. How would Cindy deal with the Aya’s wayward behaviour? Perhaps a sit down with a cup of tea and a chat about the health issues around weapons-grade uranium enrichment?

Can anyone explain how Trump withdrawing American contributions to United Nations funding used to buy weapons for Hamas terrorists, or building a wall to keep illegals out to reduce crime in the United States is Trump shirking his international and national responsibilities?

Just because a few blinkered dickheads in New Zealand don’t give Trump credit, doesn’t mean he is wrong. Trump, many of us in gumboot land salute you!

Cindy better not get into a pissing match with the Don because he will outplay, outlast and outperform her on every level. She is so cocooned in her superior cotton wool bubble of celebrity television appearances and Neve and nanny-boyfriend photo-shoots that she is oblivious to the real world.

Cindy addressed an international meeting of climate change enthusiasts in New York, saying that climate change is her generation’s nuclear-free moment. And here we were thinking that addressing child poverty was her nuclear moment because that’s what she’s told us, since forever. What comes out of her mouth is completely fluid, and depends on who’s listening at the time.

However, her first address on American soil was, predictably, about child poverty.  Cindy said: Quote

Her government’s plans to lift children in New Zealand out of poverty and to assist low and middle income families.” End of quote.

So now she is thinking very hard about how to ping the wealthier residents of gumboot land for the money needed to shore up the less heeled.  Well, we all saw that coming.

Cindy needed a case study for her climate change audience but couldn’t find one in gumboot land, so she made herself the champion for our Pacific neighbours.

She told a gullible New York audience that our Pacific cousins face saltwater contamination of their aquifers, destroying taro crops.  This is old news.  Tuvalu’s 5mm per annum increase in sea level is recorded as far back as 1993.  Arguably, the devastatingly common cyclones that blow saltwater inland have been around forever.  Strange that there is no science on the record about the subject, but then climate change is a religious belief, not a science, so that’s okay.

Cindy also decided to address the future of the United Nations when she spoke at the Nelson Mandela Centre on the future of the United Nations, saying: Quote.

When we see a worsening security situation, we act. For too long, the United Nations and the international community have waited to react. Instead, we must be proactive and place greater focus on conflict prevention.

We must get better at identifying high risk situations and warning signs, before the conflict starts. We must not be silent in the face of intolerance, hate and discrimination. We must speak for those who do not have a voice. We must pursue equal rights for all.” End of quote.

Never mind that the United Nations has been strangely impotent over its entire life, Cindy believes things are about to change.  Who fed her these ridiculous lines? Who is going to change anything at the United Nations and how does she think things are going to improve?

Never mind that Donald Trump is the only international leader to date with the gumption to take on North Korea and now Iran, and yet Cindy is scathing of him.  She is pitting herself against one of the strongest men on the international stage today with nothing more than mere words.  We haven’t seen any actions from her to back up any of her promises.

Never mind that Cindy and her baby entourage are making fools of themselves in front of the entire world in New York, we can count ourselves fortunate that most people are simply too polite to say so.

Way to go New Zealand.

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Barely know each other or good friends?

by SB 
 

eight_col_Handley-Ardern.jpg?resize=630%

Judge for yourself.

 

Here are some of the communications between the prime minister and Derek Hanley.

Screen-Shot-2018-09-27-at-1.15.38-PM.pngScreen-Shot-2018-09-27-at-1.16.01-PM.pngScreen-Shot-2018-09-27-at-1.02.22-PM.png

Any truth in the talk about Handley being a mate of Clarke Gayford and him supposedly involved somewhere in all this. Is his phone subject to the OIA?

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ACC adds to motorists’ woes

by Christie 
 

petrol-pump.jpeg?resize=630%2C353&ssl=1

Newshub reports that, on top of increasing fuel prices, due to both increased levies and global price increases, ACC has decided to increase its levies, in particular by adding to the cost of fuel. quote:

The Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) has proposed higher levies for motorists in New Zealand, which could see petrol prices increase by almost 2 cents a litre.

The proposal includes an increase of 1.9 cents per litre for petrol, which is part of an overall 12 percent increase in the average motor vehicle levy (including petrol and registration). end quote

12 per cent. On top of everything else. Unbelievable. quote.

It comes as New Zealanders prepare for the petrol tax to increase by 3.5 cents per litre on Sunday. Prices have reached a new high of $2.40 per litre in some areas of New Zealand, according to PriceWatch, and many Kiwis are struggling to cope.  end quote.

 

Fuel prices are increasing at the moment due to both levies imposed by the government and the higher price of Brent crude. This is just another body blow to motorists and most of us are motorists.

Remember how, a few months ago, I predicted $2.50 a litre? Even I didn’t think it would happen this fast. quote.

ACC Board Chair Dame Paula Rebstock says the proposed levy increases would substitute the growing number of claims for injuries in New Zealand which have increased by 6.4 percent, with “more people than ever needing our support”.

Alongside increases to motor vehicle levies, the ACC has proposed decreasing the average levy for employers from $0.72 to $0.67 – a 6.9 percent decrease. But earners’ levy on income would be increased 2.5 percent from $1.21 to $1.24.

New Zealand has experienced a period of economic growth over the last few years, Dame Rebstock says, which has influenced people to expose themselves to “greater risk”. This has resulted in increasing medical costs and “increases in weekly compensation claims.”

Other factors that have influenced the proposal are “increased costs for care and support workers resulting from the pay equity settlement agree by Government,” says Dame Rebstock, as well as the “introduction of free doctor visits for under-14s”.

Despite the cost pressures, Dame Rebstock said the ACC’s investment in injury prevention and internal changes have had a “positive impact”. She said the past two years have seen higher investment returns than forecast.

“This is helping us to manage increasing costs, and, with the exception of the motor vehicle account which is slightly higher than anticipated, we have kept levies from increasing as much as we thought in 2016,” she says. end quote.

Funny, isn’t it. Get a socialist government and every government department or SOE piles on the increases like they are going out of fashion. With almost full employment, ACC has never had so much money, and by their own admission, their investments are doing well. (You can thank Donald Trump for that.) But off they go, charging like wounded bulls, just because they can. And they know this government will be sympathetic, unlike the last one that forced ACC to reduce its levies.

There is just no end to the woes with this government. All this will mean is more pay demands and more strikes. Those that have settled for pay agreements are now going to see them whittled away by the dramatic increase in living costs because fuel price increases affect everything.

We shouldn’t be surprised though. This is what always happens with socialist governments. They punish their own voters most because they know that their faithful voters will never go anywhere else. With rents rising astronomically and now the price of everything else set to increase sharply, times are going to be very tough in New Zealand. And no amount of fairy dust is ever going to fix it.

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25 minutes ago, rdytdy said:

ACC adds to motorists’ woes

by Christie 
 

 

Newshub reports that, on top of increasing fuel prices, due to both increased levies and global price increases, ACC has decided to increase its levies, in particular by adding to the cost of fuel. quote:

The Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) has proposed higher levies for motorists in New Zealand, which could see petrol prices increase by almost 2 cents a litre.

The proposal includes an increase of 1.9 cents per litre for petrol, which is part of an overall 12 percent increase in the average motor vehicle levy (including petrol and registration). end quote

12 per cent. On top of everything else. Unbelievable. quote.

It comes as New Zealanders prepare for the petrol tax to increase by 3.5 cents per litre on Sunday. Prices have reached a new high of $2.40 per litre in some areas of New Zealand, according to PriceWatch, and many Kiwis are struggling to cope.  end quote.

 

Fuel prices are increasing at the moment due to both levies imposed by the government and the higher price of Brent crude. This is just another body blow to motorists and most of us are motorists.

Remember how, a few months ago, I predicted $2.50 a litre? Even I didn’t think it would happen this fast. quote.

ACC Board Chair Dame Paula Rebstock says the proposed levy increases would substitute the growing number of claims for injuries in New Zealand which have increased by 6.4 percent, with “more people than ever needing our support”.

Alongside increases to motor vehicle levies, the ACC has proposed decreasing the average levy for employers from $0.72 to $0.67 – a 6.9 percent decrease. But earners’ levy on income would be increased 2.5 percent from $1.21 to $1.24.

New Zealand has experienced a period of economic growth over the last few years, Dame Rebstock says, which has influenced people to expose themselves to “greater risk”. This has resulted in increasing medical costs and “increases in weekly compensation claims.”

Other factors that have influenced the proposal are “increased costs for care and support workers resulting from the pay equity settlement agree by Government,” says Dame Rebstock, as well as the “introduction of free doctor visits for under-14s”.

Despite the cost pressures, Dame Rebstock said the ACC’s investment in injury prevention and internal changes have had a “positive impact”. She said the past two years have seen higher investment returns than forecast.

“This is helping us to manage increasing costs, and, with the exception of the motor vehicle account which is slightly higher than anticipated, we have kept levies from increasing as much as we thought in 2016,” she says. end quote.

Funny, isn’t it. Get a socialist government and every government department or SOE piles on the increases like they are going out of fashion. With almost full employment, ACC has never had so much money, and by their own admission, their investments are doing well. (You can thank Donald Trump for that.) But off they go, charging like wounded bulls, just because they can. And they know this government will be sympathetic, unlike the last one that forced ACC to reduce its levies.

There is just no end to the woes with this government. All this will mean is more pay demands and more strikes. Those that have settled for pay agreements are now going to see them whittled away by the dramatic increase in living costs because fuel price increases affect everything.

We shouldn’t be surprised though. This is what always happens with socialist governments. They punish their own voters most because they know that their faithful voters will never go anywhere else. With rents rising astronomically and now the price of everything else set to increase sharply, times are going to be very tough in New Zealand. And no amount of fairy dust is ever going to fix it.

Brent oil today $82.72 and climbing , that's up around $5 a barrel in a couple of weeks but that's not the real problem , the problem is our $ is buying around .66c US down from a norm of .72/75c over the last few years , when all of this governments tax increases are fully implemented $3 is now areal possibility ,  hardly helping the economy or the less well off is it .

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The MSM sugar coated coverage of Cindy's speech at the UN:

Screen-Shot-2018-09-28-at-7.48.12-PM.pngScreen-Shot-2018-09-28-at-7.48.28-PM.pngScreen-Shot-2018-09-28-at-7.48.56-PM.pngScreen-Shot-2018-09-28-at-7.49.30-PM.pngScreen-Shot-2018-09-28-at-7.49.10-PM.png

Mainstream media have rolled out the hyperbole to describe Ardern’s speech and reception at the UN.

However, the photos tell a different story to the media narrative.

Picture we are shown shown:

image.png?resize=630%2C348&ssl=1

The reality:

image-1.png?resize=630%2C350&ssl=1

Thumbnail

Thumbnail

 

jacinda-animation.gif?resize=630%2C478&s

Note the numbers between Cindy's audience and Trump's.

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Oops they did it again…National pulls Carpool Karaoke rip-off promo amid copyright fears

Move over James Corden and Adele, there are some new carpool karaoke divas on the scene in the form of National leader Simon Bridges and MP Chris Bishop - but the promotional stunt may land them in legal strife.

Dashcam footage of the National Party colleagues driving to Parliament was uploaded to Simon Bridges' Facebook page on Wednesday, and it provides a brief insight into the musical tastes of the pair.

But, the video intended to showcase more of the personal side of the senior National MPs may land their Party in copyright hot water, as a string of famous tunes are played through the stereo of Bishop's fully electric Nissan LEAF.

Within the three minute clip, songs from music industry heavyweights Elton John, Pearl Jam and Franz Ferdinand are played.

 

When contacted by the Herald today, National's chief press secretary Michael Fox said they had now taken down the video as a "precaution".

"Our view is the songs were covered under the fair use and incidental use provisions in the Copyright Act because the music was being played in the background and only for the purposes of review," Fox said.

But Copyright lawyer Kevin Glover said there was no such thing as a "fair use" defence in New Zealand and the more appropriate defences would be "incidental copying" or "fair dealing".

Glover said the music - chosen by Bridges - appeared to have been deliberately included in the recording so would not meet the standard for "incidental copying".

Glover said the "fair dealing" defence could apply, as it allowed exceptions for those who were offering a critique or review of music, so as to allow short excerpts and commentary about the music.

"The risk on this is, I suppose, they are not talking about the merits of the music but their memories," Glover said.

Baldwin's copyright lawyer Paul Johns agreed any copyright defence based on "incidental use" was flimsy.

"In my view if you're playing a song, even if it's at a background level but you're doing so deliberately, then there's a pretty good argument that's going to be an infringement, because it's not incidental to have the sounds there on purpose, that's the opposite of incidental, that's deliberate," Johns said.

"I don't think that posting video for obviously political purposes, trying to make themselves more relatable perhaps - they're not reviewing or criticising, they are trying to improve their public image.

"They could argue it, but I don't think they would be able to win on that one.

"The other aspect of this is, because it's political a lot of musical artists don't like their work to be used for political purposes, no matter where you sit on the political spectrum, and that was an element in the Eminem case."

In October 2017, the National Party was found guilty of breaching copyright by using Eminem's track Lose Yourself for a 2014 election ad and ordered to pay $600,000.

The High Court awarded Eight Mile Style, the publisher of the hit song, damages, plus interest from June 28, 2014.

 

Bridges' and Bishop's carpool playlist

In the latest incident, the three minute video begins with Bridges announcing "we're in the Chris-mobile mate" which Bishop assures in true Blues Brothers fashion has "quite good pickup".

The first song Bishop has playing on his stereo is Franz Ferdinand's Take Me Out, and it instantly triggers a memory from Bridges' wild days at Oxford University where he completed a Bachelor of Civil Law in the early 2000s.

"Franz Ferdinand, now this takes me back to Oxford University 2004," Bridges says.

"I lived next to all these crazy guys. The guy on one of my sides, he just played this non-stop 24/7 and it annoyed me.

"I used to have to bang on his door to tell him to turn it down about 3am. But now today, funnily enough it gives me good memories. Good times, simpler times, in life."

For Bishop to the tune was a fixture of his youth.

"See I remember it, that was my first year at uni, 2003, 2004," Bishop says.

Bridges interjects: "You're younger than you look.

"I am younger than I look," Bishop laughs.

"I remember it, first year uni, this was the song you would go out dancing and stuff, or the clubs and stuff. It was big. Can you play it on the drums?"

Bridges can, and demonstrates.

Also on the playlist is Blue Eyes by Elton John, which Bridges "has always loved' but Bishop doesn't even know.

:ph34r:

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12133635

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