Open mike 21/01/2023

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, January 21st, 2023 - 69 comments
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69 comments on “Open mike 21/01/2023 ”

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  1. Jenny are we there yet 1
    21 January 2023 at 7:48 am

    Will they listen now?

    Starry, starry night
    Paint your palette blue and gray
    Look out on a summer's day
    With eyes that know the darkness in my soul…

    ….Now, I understand what you tried to say to me
    And how you suffered for your sanity
    And how you tried to set them free
    They would not listen, they did not know how
    Perhaps they'll listen now

  3. Patricia Bremner 3
    21 January 2023 at 10:10 am

    He is a vicious idiot Jenny.

    • Jenny are we there yet 3.1
      22 January 2023 at 4:04 am

      It seems vicious idiots love each other

      Patriarch Kirill,

      “We pray that the Lord admonish those madmen and help them to understand that any desire to destroy Russia will mean the end of the world.”

      Yevgeny Satanovsky, President of the Institute of the Middle East.

      “First of all, our main enemy is certainly the United States. What does the U.S. react to? They react to two things: the threat of physical annihilation….

      ….Not one pundit in the studio argued against Satanovsky’s macabre proposal. Drobnitsky had only one exception: “In our country, we embraced one American we wouldn’t want to kill: that would be Tucker Carlson.”

      Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/Getty

      Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/Getty

      “Russia’s top propagandists, from former President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev to state TV host Vladimir Solovyov, have been spreading the same not-so subtle nuclear threat far and wide”

      https://news.yahoo.com/putin-henchmen-threaten-tens-thousands-035652530.html

      Apparently, the only one to be spared this threatened holocaust is Tucker Carlson.
      Maybe like a cockroach, Tucker Carlson will be able to crawl out from under the rubble.

  4. adam 4
    21 January 2023 at 12:11 pm

    It's old, but a timely reminder that freedom of the press is important.

  5. tsmithfield 5
    21 January 2023 at 12:19 pm

    My DW and I just had a meeting with a guy from Harrisons Solar. I said it would be good for the government to start subsidising solar rather than building more dams etc.

    He made an interesting comment. He said it would be better for the government to subsidise batteries. Because that would avoid the load problems power generators have to manage with large numbers feeding power back into the grid.

    Food for thought.

    • bwaghorn 5.1
      21 January 2023 at 12:38 pm

      The only type of battery this country should go near is the Onslow one, plus find a suitable site up north.

    • Jilly Bee 5.2
      21 January 2023 at 2:01 pm

      Indeed food for thought TSM – we have 10 solar panels on our roof plus one large hot water panel which was already in place when we purchased this property. It all helps with the power bill, especially during the spring, summer and autumn seasons. We even manage to export some power back to the grid during the winter months despite the pathetic buy back price. We thought long and hard about a battery to compliment the panels, but as the initial cost of the panels and installation depleted our savings somewhat, we didn't purchase one, simply because of the cost of them (this was 7 years ago). We may well get one if the price keeps reducing.

      • gsays 5.2.1
        21 January 2023 at 5:27 pm

        FWIW, I have lived off grid sonce 2003. Bradfords reforms were the impetus and we were relocating our house.

        If you are grid-tied the newish technology Lithium batteries are the way to go. They are at their best when they have a grid back-up/trickle charge.

        Partially in response to tsmithfield above, there needs to be some reform around ownership/kaupapa of the power companies too.

        • weka 5.2.1.1
          21 January 2023 at 8:44 pm

          the problem with lithium batteries is no-one knows how to dispose of them yet at end of life. As always, it's not technology that should be leading but system change. In this case, cradle to grave thinking in design right from the get go.

          Power generation should be nationalised and/or power companies forced to deal fairly in Just Transition terms with buying from grid tied solar households. I'm not convinced it's possible to transition to post-carbon with for profit power generation/retail irrespective of the tecnology.

    • Graeme 5.3
      21 January 2023 at 5:13 pm

      The home battery and Onslow do different things. The home battery reduces and spreads load on the local grid in short time scales (days). Onslow works at a larger and / or longer scale, buffering wind and large scale solar when there's no wind or sun, and providing backup for dry years.

      The biggest advantage / feature in Onslow is that it will completely upend the current electricity market by putting control of the peak electricity price with the State.

      Ideally Onslow would be run in conjunction with the Clutha hydro system (Clyde and Roxburgh, with Hawea controlled storage), it would also have to be State controlled, that much power over the market would be untenable. So if it happens the first move would be to nationalise Contact, ie Government stands in the market for 100% of Contact or does a deal for the Clutha schemes. The remaining gen-tailers would be reduced to price takers rather than price fixers. Hence National hate the idea with a vengeance.

      We still don't know if it's possible to build the thing, and at what price. Those investigations were supposed to be complete last year but have been delayed. Then there's investigations into how it's going to work in the market.

      It's a very interesting proposal and I hope Labour gets another term (or two) to bring it to fruition, along with a vey different electricity supply market / industry.

      There's other utility / grid scale storage options coming through as well. This popped up the other day, iron / air batteries that work at a grid scale and lower cost than lithium

  6. Adrian 6
    21 January 2023 at 1:04 pm

    For every house with full solar and unconnected to the grid in areas where they could be it means that the distribution price for every other user goes up as distribution is by far the biggest cost component of electricity supply. Why? Maintenance is hugely expensive as is capital cost and then every storm, earthquake, flood or other natural disaster is very costly for the lines companies. Don’t start on that old myth of if everyone had their own solar then there would be no distribution cost. That bullshit lasts until the first cold overcast winter.

    • Maurice 6.1
      21 January 2023 at 1:29 pm

      Not being connected does not mean not being charged.

      Numerous Rural water schemes have charges if the line goes past the property even if not connected. Big business will still need the supply net and it has to be paid for so what is the betting a similar "not connected – but it goes past so you could be" charge?

    • gsays 6.2
      21 January 2023 at 5:40 pm

      "For every house with full solar and unconnected to the grid in areas where they could be it means that the distribution price for every other user goes up as distribution is by far the biggest cost component of electricity supply"

      I must admit to being 'that' guy.

      TBF, I do live rurally and am independent in respects to water. Also looking to get indepent for the small amount of gas we use.

      Part of Bradfords reforms that made me shift, was how the Lines Companies are not obliged to do a repair to the infrastructure of it isn't in their interests. Highly unlikely where I live TBF, but they were setting the rules to the market and I was responding to them.wink

      Full disclosure, I do operate more from the heart reather than the head and it hasn't been a cheap excercise…

  7. Adrian 7
    21 January 2023 at 1:10 pm

    Onslow is a huge basin at quite a reasonable height in what is hopefully a quietish earthquake zone. The NI does not have anywhere large enough to do the job.

    • Maurice 7.1
      21 January 2023 at 1:35 pm

      The Waikato hydro power stations are fed from Lake Taupō so could that be recharged by pumping some of the Waikato discharge back up to it?

      • lprent 7.1.1
        21 January 2023 at 5:14 pm

        I don’t know where any of the waikato dams are next to each other.

        A hydro battery is almost always pumped a short distance from a lower dam to a higher dam. You typically need to pump from still water so you don’t try to raise sediment. You only pump a short distance to reduce the amount of power required to pump it. Otherwise you pump power into fiction on pipe walls.

        Dams require some pretty stringent anchor positions, locations tthat are suitable for two largish dams next to each other are rare.

  8. SPC 8
    21 January 2023 at 1:17 pm

    Has Wayne Smith contacted David Rennie about his old job yet? Has Farrah Palmer, Ruahei Demant …

  9. roblogic 9
    21 January 2023 at 2:03 pm

    "Worst PM ever" is trending.. I foolishly clicked it.. was relieved to see Aussies mentioning ScoMo and Kiwis nominating this tinpot dictator

    https://twitter.com/m5gnolia/status/1616080119025790983?s=20

    • Peter 9.2
      21 January 2023 at 4:37 pm

      My feeling is that some of those disparaging of Jacinda Ardern and calling her a dictator and divisive would be fans of Muldoon.

      He was a bully who attracted bullies. Ardern said we need to wear masks, they cried, bitched and grizzled. If Muldoon had said wear masks they would has praised his decisiveness and been his mask police.

      • Graeme 9.2.1
        21 January 2023 at 5:23 pm

        Muldoon was just as restrictive on our mobility with Carless Days and 80 kmh speed limit.

        Can just imagine his Covid response. Total border closure, internal as well, from day one, rationing, with assigned shopping times at supermarkets and any other way he could control peoples lives. All enforced by police and military. He'd have been right in his element.

        • gsays 9.2.1.1
          21 January 2023 at 7:14 pm

          For all that, he would not have had Ampol bully him into allowing Marsden Point to close.

          He wouldn't have allowed it to be privatised in the first place.

          • tWiggle 9.2.1.1.1
            21 January 2023 at 8:09 pm

            Not so sure that Muldoon had clean hands. Quite a few of his mates had close association with his Think Big projects.

          • Graeme 9.2.1.1.2
            21 January 2023 at 8:22 pm

            So he would have buckled to Ampol's bullying and subsidised them to keep it open? Although as tWiggle says below, he looked after his mates.

            Oil companies were closing refineries all over the world, especially in Australia. Rationale for keeping a tiny orphan like Marsden Pt going was pretty thin, until everything goes to shit 12 months later, maybe

      • tWiggle 9.2.2
        22 January 2023 at 12:34 am

        No loitering round Paliament grounds under Muldoon either. Police with batons would have been in licketty smart. I wondered at the time if Jacinda Ardern's softly-softly approach over the anti-vax protesters at Parliament was influenced by her father's experience on the Red Squad anti-protest policing unit during the 1981 Springbok tour.

  10. weka 10
    21 January 2023 at 2:32 pm

    I can't believe that liberals can't see what is happening. No, it's not an outlier. It's mainstream and common. Lesbians no longer have female only spaces (in Australia is now breaches Human Rights policy to run lesbian, female only events), they get banned from dating apps if they say female only.

    They get told if they don't want dick that they are transphobic. There's almost no difference between that and homophobic straight blokes telling lesbians they just need a good root to come right.

    When this pressure is applied to young women, it's basically conversion therapy. There are teens girls who are lesbian, who transition to being a trans man because being female is so goddamn awful socially, then later regret this and detransition only now they have no breasts, maybe no uterus, but have life long health issues associate with hormones and surgery including chronic pain and dysfunction.

    Stonewall UK, one of the most influential gender identity lobby groups, is sending trans identified men who look like men into schools to do education work and in this case the dude is telling kids he is a lesbian. Fuck everyone who support this.

    This tweet is one of many I see in my twitter feed like this every week. Because I pay attention, listen to lesbians and detrans people and make sure I know what is going on.

    https://twitter.com/c_kennaugh/status/1616590576157163521

    • weka 10.1
      21 January 2023 at 2:34 pm

      tbf, I haven't confirmed the veracity of the second tweet, but it is entirely consistent with everything else I see happening in the UK that has been verified.

      • Visubversa 10.1.1
        21 January 2023 at 4:36 pm

        The bearded bloke is called Alex Drummond. 50 something, no hormones, no surgery. Identifies as a woman and as a lesbian. Google "Alex Drummond Stonewall" to get the info.

        Stonewall sends Alex around British schools talking about diversity and inclusion, and saying that this is what a lesbian looks like. When lesbians say "no" , Stonewall calls us sexual racists.

        • weka 10.1.1.1
          21 January 2023 at 4:42 pm

          Thanks for confirmation.

          I now about Drummond but didn't realise he was telling school kids he's a lesbian. What ages is that do you know?

    • Sabine 10.2
      21 January 2023 at 3:25 pm

      Ditto for the gay men that are called transphobic for not wanting to engage with a vagina having 'man'.

      Ditto for the heterosexual female who would not want to larp lesbian with their now trans identifying male partner, ditto for the heterosexual male who does not want to larp gay couple.

      This whole thing of male being women and females being men is just so fucked up. Yet, all the Parties support it. Go figure and never mind the broken and castrated and desexed bodies of those that learned the hard way they were not trans just non conform to sexist stereotypes.

      Kindness…..for whom?

      • Visubversa 10.2.1
        21 January 2023 at 4:41 pm

        Yes, gay men are as interested in "mangina" (yes, that is a word), as I am in "ladydick" or worse still "girldick". However, the homophobic ideology of gender identity denies the very existence of same sex attraction.

      • Drowsy M. Kram 10.2.2
        21 January 2023 at 6:00 pm

        https://teara.govt.nz/en/gender-diversity/page-1

        This whole thing of male being women and females being men is just so fucked up.

        Why do some young people have such a "fucked up" sense of self? Baffling.

        A gender imbalance emerges among trans teens seeking treatment
        [18 November 2022]

        Why this "fucked up" urge/choice to be trans? So difficult to empathise with those who make this bad choice. Should it even be a choice? With appropriate (non-surgical) therapy/counselling/support, many could overcome their illness(es) and (potentially) go on to lead happy, fulfilling and, importantly, normal lives that wouldn't confuse or threaten anyone anymore than ‘normal’ people do already.

        “I decided that I didn’t want to be a woman before I had ever even experienced being a woman,” said Mosley, who is now studying psychology at a community college in Michigan. “Now I feel like I will never entirely know.”
        …
        Mosley said she wishes her doctors had focused more on her mental health instead of endorsing her desire to change her body. “I just took the cure that was handed to me,” she said, “and I ruined my life.”

        Life may seem miserable, and that will change. Cultivate resilience and be patient if you can – Georgina Beyer waited until she was 27.

        Georgina Beyer: From prostitution to Parliament [2008]
        GB: Be who you are. Don't live a lie. Maintain your self-respect in the face of adversity and realize that you are not alone. Seek help when needed and know that all people have a right to be positive contributors to society; to strive to fulfill our potential; and be treated with respect and dignity.

        • Sabine 10.2.2.1
          21 January 2023 at 7:18 pm

          Because even Georgina Beyer in the end was always a male. And no amount of lying will make that go away. And for what its worth, Self ID has very little to do with Transidentified people, no matter where they stand under the Queer/Trans Umbrella.

          Self ID gives you the right to go into any female space by simply stating that you are a woman. Say that to the receptionist and she will let you into the female swimming hour at the CHCH pools, into the changing rooms/shower facilities of any gym, and of course lets you lift weights in the female olympic category where you then get to pretend that a 43 year old male on a daily dose of estrogen with a bunged shoulder is a women who competing against 20 year old girls has no supposed advantage. But then, stunning and brave indeed.

          So there is a world of difference between Georgina Beyer who did what was good and right for them and the current Queer Ideology that wants to make you believe that your sex was assigned by some unknown deity and that you can 'change' that sex.

          I sometimes wonder what Georgina would say to the current mess of males are women when males say they are women.

          • Drowsy M. Kram 10.2.2.1.1
            21 January 2023 at 9:43 pm

            What does transgender mean?
            The ways that transgender people are talked about in popular culture, academia and science are constantly changing, particularly as individuals’ awareness, knowledge and openness about transgender people and their experiences grow.

            Because even Georgina Beyer in the end was always a male.

            Indeed, like all transwomen she was/is male, and has chosen to identify as a woman, that apparently being her true 'sense of self' and so the identity she is comfortable with. Whether this means GB and/or her sense of self is "fucked up", or “stunning and brave“, is not for me to say.

            Although they have always been a very small minority, trans people do seem more numerous that they once were. Perhaps they are only more visible, but either way it would be helpful (imho) to understand why a few teens seem fixated on adopting a trans ID, even to the point of surgery. Consensus expert opinion on various matters trans is a work in progress.

            As you say, the whole thing is "just so fucked up" – why do they do it?
            Why is it apparently so difficult for these teens to simply choose a conforming identity – some flavour of acceptable 'normal'?

            I sometimes wonder what Georgina would say to the current mess of males are women when males say they are women.

            Perhaps all sides can take what they need from words spoken 15-years ago.

            GB: Be who you are. Don't live a lie. Maintain your self-respect in the face of adversity and realize that you are not alone. Seek help when needed and know that all people have a right to be positive contributors to society; to strive to fulfill our potential; and be treated with respect and dignity.

            • Sabine 10.2.2.1.1.1
              23 January 2023 at 3:38 pm

              and no matter how you choose to live, where and with whom, you will not change your sex. You will be male or female. And as a female i would thus like to not see males in female changing rooms, female prison cells, female hospital wards, female sports, female awards and so on.

              And i would like for teachers to not socially transition kids that aren't theirs. And i would like for government to not force medical transition as the only healthcare available to kids who questions sex stereo types that they may or may not want to live under.

              And i would like for doctors to not castrate and de-sex kids before puberty via chemicals and then via surgery finish the job a few years later. Cause non of that is reversible.

              All these males are just that males. Georgina Beyer was nothing more then a male who cut their dick of and wore garments typically associated with females. That was that. And that was all. I can she /her them all day long, but it changes nothing on the fact that Georgina is not a woman, but identifies AS a woman. Georgina is male.

              And males thanks to self id do not have to do what Georgina Beyer did in order to become 'woman' – as in human male with a fetish. You can be a woman. You literally just have to state so, and any female will have to be kind to you poor little thing who can't live unless you get to be were literally no one wants you to be. In the Ladies. Go figure. Brave and stunning!!!!!

              • Drowsy M. Kram …
                23 January 2023 at 7:13 pm

                Consistent with, and following on from my comment @10.2.2.1.1:

                I believe that transpeople should be able to adopt a (non-conforming) gender identity that differs from their sex at birth – insisting otherwise seems (to me) punitive and ultimately self-defeating.

                I'm opposed to irreversible gender-reassignment therapies for sexually immature people, unless consensus medical opinion indicates a high risk of severe/irreversible self-harm.

                I believe that people have the right not to feel threatened, marginalised or otherwise put at risk by the behaviour of a minority of the tiny minority that constitutes the trans community.

                That community does, however, have a right to exist – it cannot and should not be unmade. People who decide to leave the trans community should be able to do so on the same basis that they joined – voluntarily.

                But then, stunning and brave indeed. @10.2.2.1

                Go figure. Brave and stunning!!!!! @10.2.2.1.1.1

                https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/stunning_and_brave#Usage_notes

                • Sabine …
                  24 January 2023 at 11:07 am

                  That is right.

                  Stunning and brave they are the most marginalised community ever, the ones that have government, police, academia and health do their bidding at the expense of women – human females of all ages and children in general.

                  https://twitter.com/womenreadwomen/status/1583356013016907776

                  So stunning. So brave. And for what its worth, i don't actually consider males who colonise female spaces, and who want to define what 'woman' and 'womanhood' as either brave or stunning. I consider them predatory, fetishistic, rapey and very emotionally and mentally abusive. And i would assume that in about 5 – 10 years time we will have a thousands of young people with no sexual organs, no sexual function, no reproductive organs, low bone density, all sorts of other health problem, mental health problems and a lot of people will say, but They CHOOSE Iit so ultimately they are responsible. Yes….totally.

                  Just as the surgeon Marcy Bowers that finished the castration process on Jazz Jennings did. You know the boy that got transed into a girl cause he liked his sisters bathing suit and his mum could not bare the idea that they may not be a proper boy and a cousin was a gender therapist and the rest is history faithfully documented on the Learning Channel making millions of dollars. The castration of boys is now entertainment.!!! So progressive.

                  Chemically castrated at 10 – surgically castrated at 17, and now at 21 one on his fourth revision surgery, obese, huge health issues and all he got for his trouble was the Eunuch Gender. Asexual, no sexual functions, no reproductive rights, nothing. Struggling to find a place in the world that fits him, struggling to tell his family that he struggles.

                  Just a poor castrated child that never stood a chance as no one dared to call the parents abusive, no one dared to call TLC who made millions of this poor childs abuse abusive and no one still dares to call Marcy Bowers a transwoman himself abusive for doing the job they does. And Marcy Bowers knows the damage they do.

                  Bowers also said that the surgery they opt for can leave people sexually dysfunctional – something she said was not discussed enough.

                  'The idea all sounded good in the very beginning,' she said.

                  Bowers and Anderson were both interviewed for the Substack newsletter run by Bari Weiss (above)

                  Bowers and Anderson were both interviewed for the Substack newsletter run by Bari Weiss (above)

                  'Believe me, we're doing some magnificent surgeries on these kids, and they're so determined, and I'm so proud of so many of them and their parents. They've been great.

                  'But honestly, I can't sit here and tell you that they have better — or even as good — results. They're not as functional. I worry about their reproductive rights later. I worry about their sexual health later and ability to find intimacy.'

                  Anderson said she feared many young people would regret their decisions.

                  'It is my considered opinion that due to some of the – let's see, how to say it? what word to choose? – due to some of the, I'll call it just 'sloppy,' sloppy healthcare work, that we're going to have more young adults who will regret having gone through this process,' she told the site.

                  'And that is going to earn me a lot of criticism from some colleagues, but given what I see – and I'm sorry, but it's my actual experience as a psychologist treating gender variant youth – I'm worried that decisions will be made that will later be regretted by those making them.'

                  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10058951/Leading-transgender-medics-warn-children-given-gender-reassignment-surgery.html
                  and the interveiw on Bari Weiss substack
                  https://www.thefp.com/p/top-trans-doctors-blow-the-whistle

                  We can be kind to transpeople and we can be kind to women. We can have rights specifically for transpeople, and we can have rights for women. We can not however demand that women pretend that males can be women, and then let these males terrorize any woman – human females of all ages if they state that they are uncomfortable with males in their changing rooms, public showers, female swimming hours/sports/awards/competitions/olympic games, female prison cells, female senior housing, female hospital wards and so on and so forth.

                  As of now we rather call women – human females of all ages – bodies who bleed, bodies who have vaginas, bodies who give birth / are birth giving enabled, cervix havers, uterus havers, menopausers, menstruators, birth givers, afab, just to satisfy the needs of males who are not well in their own bodies and the women – human females will just have to suck it real hard and swallow, lest someone calls them Terfs and wishes violence upon them.

                  • Drowsy M. Kram …
                    24 January 2023 at 1:30 pm

                    But then, stunning and brave indeed. @10.2.2.1

                    Go figure. Brave and stunning!!!!! @10.2.2.1.1.1

                    Stunning and brave they are the most marginalised community ever…
                    …
                    So stunning. So brave. @11:07 am

                    https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/stunning_and_brave#Usage_notes

                    No-one has to like transpeople, as a group or as individuals – indeed, that would be pretty difficult if one focused solely on the images and impressions of 'transpeople' presented in The Standard. But they are here, and I'd guess not too many of them are truly awful.

                    It would be interesting to see where this issue (the "fucked up" transgender 'problem') will be in 80 years time, and if any satisfactory global final solution can be found, but we'll be long gone by then.

                    I do worry about the future of my (now distant) transgender niblings. They are brave (imho), and (subjectively) not particularly stunning.

          • Molly 10.2.2.1.2
            22 January 2023 at 1:02 pm

            Georgina Beyer gives an indication in this episode of Alice Sneddens's Bad News: Terfs.

            (For which taxpayers contributed approx $48k for 12 mins.)

            https://youtu.be/kQ37Nn5q8ec

  11. Sabine 11
    21 January 2023 at 3:53 pm

    sexism, the real kind.

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/20/violence-against-women-terrorism-police-met-rapists-murderers?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

    The whole barrel is rotten. Perhaps it began with a few bad apples long ago, and of course some good ones will remain even now, but the rot in the Metropolitan force has spread.

    You read of David Carrick, the officer who kept his uniform, his badge and, for many years, his gun even as he pursued a parallel career as a prolific sex offender, and of course you are sickened by the evil he has done: dozens of rapes and sexual offences against 12 women, over two decades, including imprisoning one of his victims, naked and terrified, in a tiny cupboard under the stairs. But an equal horror comes when you learn that the police had been warned eight times about Carrick’s behaviour – eight – but did nothing. In fairness, that’s not quite right; they did do something. They promoted him in 2009 to an elite armed unit.

    We felt it when another serving Met officer, Wayne Couzens, raped and murdered Sarah Everard in 2021. We felt it when, that same year, Met officers were jailed for circulating photographs of the bodies of two murdered sisters – “dead birds”, they called them – for the titillation of their colleagues. And we felt it a year ago when we learned of the group at Charing Cross police station in London who traded WhatsApp messages casually joking about rape and speaking of women in terms so filled with hate the word “misogyny” scarcely does it justice.

    snip

    So what can be done?

    snip

    As a first step there needs to be a Macpherson-style investigation of misogyny in the Met.

    snip

    It’s an extreme solution, but the problem is extreme. The Metropolitan police fails the two tests that count. It cannot demonstrate efficiency – see last September’s damning report by the police inspectorate, finding that the Met is failing when it comes to investigating crime and protecting the vulnerable – and it has lost legitimacy.

    snip

    But the grimmer truth is that this malady goes far beyond the police. There were 70,000 rapes recorded last year in England and Wales alone – 1,350 a week – and those are just the ones that were reported, estimated as a mere quarter or fifth of all the rapes that happen. Of those recorded, just 1.3% resulted in a suspect being charged. Obviously only a fraction of those ended in a conviction. When fewer than one in a hundred rapists ever face any consequences, it’s time for a society to be honest with itself – and admit that it has, in effect, decriminalised rape. Worse, says Smith, it is creating serial rapists: a man does it once, gets away with it, and realises he can do it again. And again.

    There are remedies, starting with a system that investigates the suspect instead of the victim rather than the other way around, as things work, perversely, at the moment. But the first step will be a recognition that a society where a woman is killed by a man every three days – more if you count the women whose suffering of domestic abuse leads to suicide – is confronting an emergency as lethal as any terror threat. Yes, we should tear down and replace the Met and shake up every other decayed force in the land. But this rot goes deeper than the police. It lies within.

    women – human females of all ages, are they even human?

  12. tWiggle 12
    21 January 2023 at 5:12 pm

    I'm pretty sure it's not just old-fuddy-duddy bias on my part, but NZ Policing culture has improved greatly in the past decades. UK policing is having its own Louise Nicholls moment, where the longterm rancid internal culture can no longer be hidden. It will take time to change, as it has here.

    A low-state government after the next NZ election will no doubt cut police staffing back again, to our detriment, despite the law 'n order hoo-haa being stirred up by right leaning politicos and press. NACT will focus on pushing more people into privatised prisons by increasing sentences and offences. They may even push for politicisation of the police, by introducing elections for Police Commisioners, as in the UK. Don't forget that Luxon rushed over to the UK to have a strategy confab with the Tories soon after getting his spot. Yay, more importation of UK and US 'failed state' libertarian moves for us if the election goes the NACT's way.

    • Sabine 12.1
      21 January 2023 at 5:36 pm

      A young rapist got 9 month home D for 4 rapes a few month ago. He will out of home d in about 4 – 5 month.

      Yeah, we here in Aotearoa totally have that under control, and that young bloke will have learned his lesson and never rape again, cause staying at home for 9 month at mum'n'pops, watching telly eating popcorn and masturbating to some shitty porn is exactly the punishment a serial rapist should get.

      • tWiggle 12.1.1
        21 January 2023 at 7:44 pm

        That is not a policing issue, that is a youth justice/courts/sentencing issue. The police in this case clearly took him to prosecution in a timely manner. I imagine his family rustled up a fancy lawyer who made all the right noises. I personally thought it was light for such a nasty set of actions, but generally I trust that the NZ judiciary system tries its best.

        Despite the current government's woeful tendency to give in under public pressure to media-pushed causes, here the judiciary is acting independently, as it should. The place for judicial reform is not in the social media arena, but in thoughtful legislative and judiciary review. Otherwise, you're asking for cases to be tried and sentenced in the court of public opinion, an opinion often manipulated by those with hidden agendas.

        Part of the cacophony of anti-vax anti-government noise comes from external actors who want to break down trust in state procedures, and to destabilise nations. I don't believe I'm being paranoid about this. The day after the invasion of Ukraine, I saw NZ anti-vax social media pages come out with pro-Russia content. Less than 24 hours after, while the Parliament protest was still under way. Almost identical content over several sites. Certainly not independently derived opinion from the posters. Anti-vax, anti-government conspiracies and pro-Russia position spread by the same sources worries me.

        I'm more cautious now about government and state-process issues that blow up through social media and are picked up by the press. Especially when NZ scores high on social freedoms and government transparency. Change in our law and its implementation needs to follow proper process, not just be driven by outrage-of-the-day. Good cheese and good government both take time.

        • Sabine 12.1.1.1
          23 January 2023 at 3:40 pm

          The police literally makes the case for the court. If the police does not make a case it does not go to court. So yeah, it is a policing issue, firstly and then the justice system is equally useless, in the meantime people get raped.

    • tWiggle 12.2
      22 January 2023 at 12:19 am

      https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/91052680/10-years-on-police-rape-survivor-louise-nicholas-welcomes-final-commission-of-inquiry-report-response

      Wasn't just my feeling that things had improved after Louise Nicholls' horrendous complaints of police corruption were finally dealt with.

  13. Muttonbird 13
    21 January 2023 at 7:52 pm

    Incredible.

    The anti-woke and slightly heavily racist Dr. Caftan, after years of shredding Jacinda Ardern for being too right wing but also too left wing has cut and pasted today a thought piece on Chippy, quoting hard right wing dabblers, Luke Mouthpiss and Matty Hooters.

    Everyone says Hipkins will be a better PM than the best thing to happen to NZ politics in three generations.

    The author of this crappy article is, as by nature, at sixes and sevens throughout. Still, it appears he's pumping the new PM to be the final solution to the Ardern problem which will no doubt have misogynist white boomers clinking crystal.

    As if out of the Transvaal, this sick puppet actually said, “woman of colour” because he couldn’t bring himself to say Māori or Polynesian. Red flag right there.

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/bryce-edwards-prime-minister-chris-hipkins-resets-labour-to-the-right/G3I23PBIO5H4JIN6ZFJNUA3PYE/

    • Anker 13.1
      22 January 2023 at 10:27 am

      it shows how much attention is payed to policing others language by the woke. “Person of colour” is the preferred term in UK and America (a ridiculous term in my opinion)

      but here “women of colour” is wrong speak

      thats identify politics for you.

      • Muttonbird 13.1.1
        22 January 2023 at 12:46 pm

        Well, you have admitted it is a ridiculous term.

        • Sabine 13.1.1.1
          23 January 2023 at 3:42 pm

          as is person with uterus. or person with vagina. or pregnant people.

          Any time we can not name something/someone properly for fear of offending someone who may or may not be that person, or of color, we just show how odious and idiotic is.

          And yet, we do it. Lest we not be 'inclusive'.

  15. Muttonbird 15
    21 January 2023 at 10:02 pm

    I got into a bad situation at a usually protected unnamed beach north of Auckland. It was during the strong easterlies around New Year,

    Watched some young people swim 50-60m to a pontoon in a heavy swell and thought I'd like to do that. The lad and I started out but two thirds of the way there I realised I was not comfortable. I know this beach and have swum to that pontoon dozens of times. But that day was different.

    When you get into that situation all energy is devoted to trying to get to a point of safety and to keep breathing. The more exhausted you get the harder it is to not take on seawater. The need to keep going forward to safety does not sit well with keeping your head above water.

    There are people all around me including my own boy but it becomes terrifying and I am only 10m away from the pontoon. I look out for my child in this heaving water thinking they are in trouble too. Dreadful situation.

    We reach the pontoon and I lie down, shocked. The short trip out was into the wind and swell. I assured myself the return would be easier.

    It wasn't. The same exhaustion crushed me 20 meters from shore but it was a steep beach and still I couldn't touch the sand. One gulp of water and I am done. Constantly looking out for the precious kid.

    Near disaster but two things could have avoided it. One, don't feel like you have to swim because it's your only chance this summer. Two, study hard people's condition after they do the swim you want to do. In hindsight I could see they found it very hard and I should have recognised that.

    The difference between life and death in NZ coastal waters is only minutes into a bad decision.

    Stay safe.

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300789577/spate-of-auckland-tragedies-two-people-dead-at-piha-beach

    • Shanreagh 15.1
      22 January 2023 at 11:04 am

      Bless you MB. I for one am glad you are still here.

      I had a similar experience years ago….floating on my back and drifting out beyond the waves on a beach I (thought) I knew well. Next thing I knew two life guards are beside me. I look to shore, I am miles away, caught by a rip. So I set off closer in to shore with them and very glad too.

      My take away was that even on days when the waves are tiny, going out beyond them is always a risk. That floating and drifting is not an experience for beach swimming, we must keep ourselves aware and safe and observant at all times.

      • Muttonbird 15.1.1
        22 January 2023 at 7:46 pm

        Thanks, Shanreagh.

        It felt like a very personal story to post on this site, but also very important because it's a real experience. Several people have had similar experiences in the water since, and are now dead.

        Easily the closest I have been to drowning and it all happened within the space of 15 mins in a normally sheltered bay only 50m offshore.

  16. RP Mcmurphy 16
    21 January 2023 at 10:26 pm

    God bless Jacinda for her compassion and her service.

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  • I'd like to share what I did this weekend

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  • For the children – Why mere sentiment can be a misleading force in our lives, and lead to unex...

    National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Order image, ...
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    6 days ago
  • A friend in uncertain times

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  • The Chaotic World of Male Diet Influencers

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  • It's Starting To Look A Lot Like… Y2K

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  • Bernard’s Saturday Soliloquy for the week to July 20

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  • Pharmac Director, Climate Change Commissioner, Health NZ Directors – The latest to quit this m...

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  • Flooding Housing Policy

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  • A Voyage Among the Vandals: Accepted (Again!)

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  • The Kākā's Chorus for Friday, July 19

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  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Friday, July 19

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  • Weekly Roundup 19-July-2024

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  • Weekly Climate Wrap: A market-led plan for failure

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  • Tobacco First

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  • Trump’s Adopted Son.

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  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Friday, July 19

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    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago

  • Joint statement from the Prime Ministers of Canada, Australia and New Zealand

    Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue.  We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
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  • AG reminds institutions of legal obligations

    Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    21 hours ago
  • More young people learning about digital safety

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views.  “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
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    21 hours ago
  • Speech to the Conference for General Practice 2024

    Tēnā tātou katoa,  Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    23 hours ago
  • Employers and payroll providers ready for tax changes

    New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts.  “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
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    1 day ago
  • Experimental vineyard futureproofs wine industry

    An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
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    1 day ago
  • Funding confirmed for regions affected by North Island Weather Events

    The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
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    1 day ago
  • Indonesian Foreign Minister to visit

    Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced.   “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
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  • Strengthening partnership with Ngāti Maniapoto

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  • Transport Minister thanks outgoing CAA Chair

    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
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  • Test for Customary Marine Title being restored

    The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says.  “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
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  • Opposition united in bad faith over ECE sector review

    Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet.  “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
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  • Kiwis having their say on first regulatory review

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  • Government upgrading Lower North Island commuter rail

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    2 days ago
  • Government moves to ensure flood protection for Wairoa

    Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
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    3 days ago
  • PM speech to Parliament – Royal Commission of Inquiry’s Report into Abuse in Care

    Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care.  At the heart of this report are the ...
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  • Government acknowledges torture at Lake Alice

    For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
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  • Government acknowledges courageous abuse survivors

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  • Half a million people use tax calculator

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  • Paid Parental Leave improvements pass first reading

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  • Rebuilding the economy through better regulation

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    3 days ago
  • ‘Open banking’ and ‘open electricity’ on the way

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  • Charity lotteries to be permitted to operate online

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  • Accelerating Northland Expressway

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    4 days ago
  • Sir Don to travel to Viet Nam as special envoy

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    4 days ago
  • Grant Illingworth KC appointed as transitional Commissioner to Royal Commission

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    4 days ago
  • NZ to advance relationships with ASEAN partners

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    4 days ago
  • Backing mental health services on the West Coast

    Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
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    4 days ago
  • NZ support for sustainable Pacific fisheries

    New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
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    4 days ago
  • Students’ needs at centre of new charter school adjustments

    Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
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    4 days ago
  • Commissioner replaces Health NZ Board

    In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today.  “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
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    5 days ago
  • Minister to speak at Australian Space Forum

    Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum.  While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation.  “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
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    5 days ago
  • Climate Change Minister to attend climate action meeting in China

    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan.  “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
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    5 days ago
  • Oceans and Fisheries Minister to Solomons

    Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
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    7 days ago
  • Government launches Military Style Academy Pilot

    The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
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    7 days ago
  • Nine priority bridge replacements to get underway

    The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
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    1 week ago
  • Update on global IT outage

    Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
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    1 week ago
  • New Zealand, Japan renew Pacific partnership

    New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.    “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says.    “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
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    1 week ago
  • New infrastructure energises BOP forestry towns

    New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
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  • 'Pacific Futures'

    President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests.    Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone.    Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
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    1 week ago

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