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blather

37 comments · +1,188 / −259 · rank #1074 of 40,276

Oh for gods sake can we please stop this guilt tripping.We buy and sell from China and a whole bunch of other countries who have appalling human rights records.But because this country sells fertilizer to farmers, who are the current target of the Social Justice Warriors, we focus on them.Stop it, just stop it now. You are embarrassing yourselves.

+55−6

People stereotype ALL races as a group, not just Chinese.Chinese are perceived as rich because there seems to be a disproportionate number that are.You cant get too hung up on it though. Some idiots will treat you that way, but most kiwis wont.My wife is Asian (but not chinese) and we have a lot of fun with it.Whenever we used to go to open homes, we would joke to ourselves that we were going to get a great price because all the other buyers wouldnt bother bidding because they knew they couldnt outbid the Asian buyer.

+64−17

To be clear here, forcing someone to bake a cake which goes against their religious beliefs is no less discriminatory than that person refusing to bake it.In any such situation where two peoples beliefs are diametrically opposed, there is always going to be one who will be a loser.Who gets to decide?

+60−17

Firstly, good luck with learning any new language. It is always a challenge.Secondly, Maori is a functionally pointless language with its only real purpose being that it allows Maori to maintain ties with their history.I have no problem whatsoever in anyone learning Maori, provided it is not done in school time or at the expense of the tax payer. Our education system struggles enough to sufficiently teach our children English, Maths and Science and (as far as I know) makes no effort to teach financial literacy.In fact, many of the fluffier subjects should be put on the back burner until we can meet the childrens needs in these areas.

+56−18

The only appropriate outcome here is for the council to pay for an independent third party to lodge the new applications on behalf of the owners and to pay compensation for the delays caused.Should the applications be subsequently rejected, then the council should offer handsome compensation.Finally, sack the imbeciles that approved these consents and continue upwards in the organisation sacking their managers and their managers managers until you get all the way to the top.

+32−3

Im big on personal responsibility.But at the same time we need to recognise that a large portion of the population is financially illiterate and we should not allow them to be marks for the unscrupulous among us.Labour are genuinely awful, but finally it looks like they might have got one right. Fingers crossed.

+24−4

The Williams sisters have always behaved like entitled, spoilt brats and this is just a continuation of that practice.It is a terrible shame because it ruins their legacy, particularly Serena who is an incredible force on the tennis court.They should take their cue from Pete Sampras rather than John McEnroe when it comes to sportsmanship.I fell terribly sorry for Osaka who had her most glorious sporting moment ruined by a petulant outburst from someone who cant accept that she lost because she was simply not good enough on the day.

+20−0

Maori have every right to speak their language just as any immigrant has the right to preserve their language. However that does not place a responsibility on the education system to teach it.If Maori cannot preserve their own language, then the language should most assuredly die.It is not a.dead.language yet, just functionally pointless.

+16−2

There is blame to be had on both sides here.Firstly, Google are behaving really shoddiliy by not signaling price increases with greater notice and increasing prices so dramatically. I hope their market share plummets due to thia.However, risk management is ICT 101 and some basic research and negotiation would have prevented this from happening. Am I surprised at metlinks ineptitude? Nope!

+8−2

Its because they have a reputation for being sanctimonious about their choice of diet.Some of them behave like religious zealots.Look, I get it that you dont want to eat food from animals and thats fine by me. But as soon as you get all preachy to me about how your dietary choices are so good or mine are so and, then you can just bog off.

+4−2

My wife is an Asian immigrant and she agrees that immigrants need to fit in with NZ culture. It doesnt mean throwing away all of your native culture but it does mean disposing of those aspects that clash with the NZ way of life.An old saying rings 1 which is FIFO (Fit In Or Fly Off)

+1−0

So what? Its called priorities.Keep the whole house at 20 degrees year round or go on a family vacation. Betcha Mr Squeezed Middle Income takes the family away at Xmas or Easter and also betcha he isnt willing to give that up for a warmer house.

+4−3

This is complete dribble. The Australian economy is in dire straits and there is not the same supply side shortage as in NZ.If we have another GFC, then maybe this too will come to pass. Otherwise the NZ market will do what it has always done which is to dip by a handful of percent and then track sideways for a few years or so.

+15−15

So lets be clear here. NOBODY is being forced to rent one of the beds in this apartment.They are offering these beds for rent and they will either get takers or not. That is how the world works.I imagine that there will be some people who think that $125/week for a place to live in central Auckland a good deal and if they do, then thats fine.I just love how Stuff can manage to whine about landlords offering properties like as if they are roaming the streets, taking tenants captive and forcing them to live in them.

+1−1

If it takes 24 years to achieve payback on these systems, then they are not financially viable and should receive no subsidy whatsoever.Furthermore, what if the system malfunctions?The panels typically have a 25 year warranty but the electronics do not.This could push payback out to 30 years at which point the panels have already been out of warranty for 5 years.

+8−18