There’s nothing new about this. Reuters was accused of bias against Israel in 2006 when a doctored photo of the capital city of Lebanon was released by the wire service (bottom photo). The photo, submitted by Lebanese freelance photographer Adnan Hajj, shows (badly) cloned smoke and buildings and a darkened skyline onto the original (top photo).
The originalThe one released by Reuters.
The NZ Herald‘s notorious far left David Fisher did the same to anti-Jacinda government activist Chantelle Baker back in April this year, see this post.
Elon Musk bought Twitter (now “X”) and promised free speech would soon be allowed back on the platform. We held out hope he would deliver. Our hopes were dashed.
Elon ‘talked the talk’ and claimed he was a ‘free speech absolutist, but we quickly realized he’s all talk. He did not ‘walk the walk’ and kowtowed to his advertisers and governments around the world.
Appointed X CEO by Musk, Linda Yaccarino now manages the day-to-day operations of X. She recently shed some light on the shadow banning operation at Twitter…er, X.
“If you’re going to post something that is lawful but it’s awful, you get labeled,” Yaccarino said. “You get de-amplified, which means it cannot be shared, and it is certainly demonetized.”
So much for freedom of speech on X. We’re concerned that such censorship will worsen as the 2024 election approaches. Will they ban memes next? Musk refused to reinstate our original @grrrgraphics account (it had a large audience). Will they soon ban our new X account, @grrrgraphics2 ? (Please follow us if you are on X)
We thought you needed to know what is happening down in Wellington today. Jordan recently e-mailed to let you know that Kieran McAnulty was attempting to pass legislation to lower the voting age from 18 to 16 years old for local elections. The Electoral (Lowering Voting Age for Local Elections and Polls) Legislation Bill was given only a few seconds of time for the title to be read out in Parliament and tabled.
The Bill establishes a new category of electors, named ‘youth electors’, and makes way for 16-year-olds and 17-year-olds to be registered on a youth electoral roll to vote in council elections. But where is the media’s coverage of this?
At a minimum, such an important constitutional issue should be the subject of a referendum. The bad news is the Bill looks set to pass its first reading tomorrow.
Given the number of responses we received following our recent email on this subject, we know our supporters we be equally concerned about this.
If we do not make New Zealanders aware of what the Government is, yet again, trying to slip under the radar, this Bill will pass through remaining stages after the next election. Concerningly, post-election hype will likely mean that attention will shift away from this issue, making it easier for its advocates to quietly usher these changes through without fanfare nor scrutiny.
As proud promoters of democratic accountability, our position is not whether the lowering of the voting age is right or wrong, but rather that it represents such a significant change to our long-held democratic framework that it should be decided by the people – not politicians. We know our members hold very strong views on this and, at the very least, should be able to participate in a full and frank debate on the matter followed by a referendum. The significance of such a change cannot be underestimated.
Enter your humble Taxpayers’ Union.
Yesterday we placed a full-page advertisement in the Wellington Post bringing the matter of Mr McAnulty’s attempt to pass legislation to ‘lower the voting age’ to the wider public’s attention.
Whether you agree with Mr McAnulty or not, we say that the voting age is one of the most fundamental decisions in a democratic society. Any changes should be decided through a referendum not sneaked through unnoticed or under urgency.
Without a written constitution there is little New Zealanders can do except to push back on this kind of slippery constitutional change by ensuring that this type of underhand activity is called out.
To coincide with the First Reading of the Electoral (Lowering Voting Age for Local Elections and Polls) Legislation Bill, we have managed to secure a last-minute deal for a nationwide advert in the New Zealand Herald.
We believe that the New Zealand public will be hopping mad when they find out what Labour is trying to do now. Our polling indicates that New Zealanders overwhelmingly want to retain the status quo, that is, leave the voting age alone. It is not as if the country has a shortage of pressing matters that need urgent attention! Even Labour’s own voter base hates the idea of reducing the voting age – that’s why we need to spread the word.Labour knows the public would never support this, that’s why they are trying to sneak this through by stealth.
Not only has he been a selfless campaigner for racial equality in NZ, he has had to endure an extraordinary amount of abuse and assaults from vile Leftists who don’t believe in racial equality, but instead in superior rights and privileges for those who have a certain ancestry.
This story on KC News, although tongue in cheek, raised the thought — if you bought a ticket in this logically absurd get-rich-quick-for-someone-and-for-nearly-everybody-a-few-dollars-poorer scheme, and suddenly the Lotto people told you that your bank balance now had a 37 in front of it, what would you do with it?
Obviously, that sort of dosh is enough to retire comfortably on and that is what you would do, unless your job was A) one that you really enjoy, and B) suddenly quitting would be letting people down that you don’t want to.
Buy a McMansion? For me, yep, although the next question would be where? There actually aren’t that many around in NZ and the majority are in Auckland where the rich executives and lawyers live. I’d be looking instead at Beverly Hills in L.A. where property value for money is as bad as it gets and people are plastic, but the climate is great.
This above example currently on the market, built in 2018, looks good: 6 Bedrooms, 9000 sq ft [836 sq. metres] floor area, 9 Bathrooms and .652 acres [2639 sq metres] lot size — but with an asking price of $US 20 million. Hmm. At the present exchange rate, it would use up $34 of that $37 mil. Maybe Sydney would be better. Regardless, you’d want your own home gym as jogging or cycling the streets is not the done thing in those neighbourhoods.
A new motor? Of course, but probably not a Roller, it’d be too obvious that you’ve joined the 1 percenters club (in fact in NZ probably the top 0.1 percenters club), so maybe a Ferrari or Maserati. A flash boat? Not for me, a regular lavish charter yacht cruise as desired would be better. For getting around from country to country like Bill and Klaus, a private jet is not a good use of money; first class travel on a plebeian jumbo jet would be OK.
What about the rest of the ‘mahney’ — well, leaving it in the bank means it gets whittled away because of inflation, but a business is not something you’d want to buy if you want a relaxed life, it creates opportunities but also a whole lot of stresses and anxieties that are best avoided. I know. Nor do you want to have to constantly check publicly traded share prices, too much a cause of manic depression.
A life of leisure is the thing! ‘Mahney’ doesn’t buy happiness, but it sure makes life comfortable.
Finally, the good charities shouldn’t be omitted from consideration.
Maori elite need to realise the best chance of progress for Maori is living as one people. Their penchant for riling up the populous with vitriol does nothing but cause division and malice.
Why on earth does the National leader, Christopher Luxon, bother to go to Ngaruawahia? Is it a case of if you don’t go you’re insulting your supposed hosts, and if you do go it’s their chance to insult you?
Regardless, it serves no useful purpose. ACT and NZ First had the good sense to stay away. A better idea would be to scrap the Maori seats because they serve no useful purpose.
It is now 2023 and the time is well past when the priority should be to ensure we are all one people living under the same laws. National has to stop pandering to one small sector of Maoridom. There are no votes in it for them. The elite know their best chance of screwing the rest of us is to stick with Labour. The last six years and particularly the last three since Winston left, are proof of that. The Labour Maori caucus has virtually run the show to the detriment of our country.
The leaders were told by Che Wilson, the former president of the Maori Party, not to treat Maori as a political football. Che seems oblivious to the fact that under this Labour administration they’ve got more points on the board than anyone else. He said to the leaders it was not in their political manifesto to belittle Maori in their own whenua. Whenua refers to people who are connected physically and spiritually to the land. It could be argued that it is the Maori elite who are belittling their own.
Kingitanga spokesperson Rahui Papa said that Maori had “stood up” for the country with activities “carried out by Maori for the benefit of the nation”, such as vaccination drives during Covid-19 and marae sheltering displaced people during extreme weather events. All very laudable, but there were many others contributing in various ways. Why do the Maori elite put themselves up as special people doing special things? It suggests perhaps an inferiority complex.
Papa says that whatever the outcome of this year’s election, he wants a commitment for kawanatanga (government) and rangatiratanga (Maori leadership) to work together. Let’s not fool ourselves, that is code for ‘give us what we want’. He said, “Either work with us or get out of the way.” Thanks for the choice. If the government gets out of the way, which it should, where’s the money Papa will obviously be looking for going to come from? I doubt his intention is for Maori to use their own.
Here’s the reality: it’s give me the money, then get out of the way.
Labour have been told by Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson to up their game. That’s a bit rich coming from one of the government’s worst-performing ministers. Even more interesting was the Labour minister who provided the reply: none other than the chair of the Maori Caucus, Willie Jackson, the ringmaster of the current circus. His reply was along the lines of ‘we’ll talk to them later: we’re focusing on looking after ourselves’. I think he was trying to hoodwink us into thinking the ‘ourselves’ was the Labour Party, rather than the Maori elite.
The Maori King, Kingi Tuheitia Potatau Te Wherowhero, the country’s most celebrated truck driver, said it’s time for Maori to lead the change needed for the future prosperity of Aotearoa. In his annual kororeihana (coronation) address at Turangawaewae Marae, the Maori King implored the country to allow iwi Maori to take charge. Is he serious? That would cause more damage than Seymour blowing up the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs.
The king said he had visited Starship Hospital and noticed that most of the tamariki were of his ethnicity and things needed to change. Certainly their diet does. Moreover, he’s had the change, in the form of the Maori Health Authority. It’s been there for a year, achieved nothing, and deserves the same fate as Pacific Island Affairs. A change of government will see a more peaceful end to its unwanted existence.
The king went further and said that Maori will only see the change we need when there is unity in the Beehive. Maori MPs must be the change Aotearoa needs. Does he really think the country wants, or would put up with, Willie Jackson as the Queen Bee? In conclusion Kingi Tuheitia offered Te Kingitanga as a korowai for iwi, hapu and tangata Tiriti that “protects us all and gives room for our rangatahi to grow and our kaumatua to be safe”. Whatever that means. “That’s the Aotearoa we need.”
I don’t think so. We need one country, New Zealand, one people, and one law for all. Reading between the lines, that is not what the speakers at the coronation have in mind, unless they are ruling the roost. That, of course, is not acceptable to the majority and National need to be cognisant of that fact and give Maori no more than equal rights.
To top it all off Rawiri Waititi, co-leader of the Maori Party, has called for diplomatic status for the king so he has the same rights as King Charles. He wants him to receive “the keys to the country”. So what would follow on from that? The taxpayer would be up for hundreds of millions of dollars to fund the king, his lifestyle, and probably hundreds of hangers-on.Prime Minister Hipkins has been silly enough to seek advice on the matter. I have a very uncomfortable feeling Luxon would do the same. This is a nonsense the country neither needs, nor wants nor can afford. The Maori elite need to realise their best chance of progress for their race is us all living as one people. Their penchant for riling up the populace with constant vitriol does nothing except cause division and malice.
Debbie Ngawera-Packer wonders why so many of her election hoardings are being damaged. She is her own worst enemy, but try telling her that. If she and her fellow elites think they’re right and the rest of us are wrong, let’s have a referendum on it as Australia is doing. They won’t, because they know the result would not be to their liking.
From America; we’ve put NZ equivalents in brackets
Why is it that when archaeologists find human remains, they always determine that they are either male or female and none of the other hundreds of genders?
• How is it that the government can’t control gasoline prices … but the weather is something they claim they can fix? • We’re churning out a generation of poorly educated people with no skill, no ambition, no guidance, and no realistic expectations of what it means to go to work.—Mike Rowe • If kids knew what they wanted to be at age eight, the world would be filled with cowboys and princesses. I wanted to be a pirate. Thank goodness nobody took me seriously and scheduled me for eye removal and peg leg surgery. —Bill Maher • Why are we told to lower Air Conditioning usage on hot days to prevent overwhelming the electric grid while simultaneously being told to trade in our gasoline cars for electric vehicles? • Why is canceling student debt a good idea? Does it make sense to reward people who do not honor their financial commitment by taxing the people who do? • Does it make sense to cut off oil from an ally and buy it from an enemy who calls for your death? • Are we living in a time where intelligent people are silenced so that stupid people won’t be offended? • Is this a great description of America [NZ]: Andy [Jacinda] has left town and Barney [Chippy] is in charge? [the US reference is to the Andy Griffith Show] • Why is talking sexually in the workplace considered sexual harassment to adults … but talking about sexuality to children K-3 [year 3] at school considered education? • Who else had a ‘Ministry of Truth”… Hitler + Goebbels … Stalin • I saw a movie where only the police and military had guns; it was called Schindler’s List. • If your electric car runs out of power on the Interstate [motorway], do you walk to a charging station to get a bucket of electricity? • Why are we running out of money for Social Security and Medicare [NZ Super] and not for welfare, illegals, and free college? • I just got a full tank of gasoline for $22. Granted, it was for my lawn mower, but I’m trying to stay positive. • If an 18-year-old isn’t mature enough to own a firearm, then maybe five-year-olds aren’t mature enough to change their gender • Sign in Texas: DON’T VOTE FOR WHAT YOU FLED! [there should be one at all Oz airports] • Nobody called it “Toxic Masculinity” when we were saving the world. • Mice die in mouse traps because they do not understand why the cheese is free. Just like socialism. • The most powerful governments on earth can’t stop a virus from spreading … but they say they can change the earth’s temperature if you pay more taxes.
• Want to stop drunk drivers from killing sober drivers? Ban sober drivers from driving: that’s how gun control and Covid lockdowns work.
• If you don’t want to stand for the national anthem, perhaps you should give your legs to a veteran who lost his. That way a real man can stand in your place. • If socialism is so good and capitalism is so bad … then why aren’t the caravans heading to Venezuela? History is not there for us to like or dislike. It is there for us to learn from. And if it offends you, even better … because then you are less likely to repeat it. It is not anyone’s to erase … it belongs to all of us.
