Sunday’s soapbox is yours to use as you will – within the bounds of decency and absence of defamation. You’re welcome to look back or forward, discuss issues of the moment, to pontificate, ponder or point us to something of interest, to educate, elucidate or entertain, amuse, bemuse or simply muse, but not abuse.
Like the life cycle of the butterfly, from the shattered cocoon of a once great place, a new and vibrant city can arise. It will be a city and region inhabited by a resilient people and built on the foundations of a strong community. – Governor-General Sir Jerry Mateparae, in his address to the Canterbury Earthquake memorial service in Hagley Park.
Homepaddock 
The Botany Cabinet Club.
Is it a cabinet in which botanical specimens are kept or a club with which to kill said specimens?
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parasite
[par-uh-sahyt]
1. an organism that lives on or in an organism of another species, known as the host, from the body of which it obtains nutriment.
2. a person who receives support, advantage, or the like, from another or others without giving any useful or proper return, as one who lives on the hospitality of others.
3. a generally undesirable living organism that exists by stealing resources from another living organism.
Synonyms
bloodsucker, freeloader, free rider, hanger-on, moocher, leech, sponge, sponger .
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Donghua Liu?
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Have National’s front-line cuts to biosecurity caused the fruit fly scare?
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More on pests: the reduction in screening certainly looks like the cause.
“We’ve had four finds in our traps over three years. In the previous 14 years when we had the 100 percent screening in place, we didn’t find any.”
“Sure that’s going to cost some money, but we also have to look at every time we’re responding here is between $1 million to $1.5 million for the response that we’re putting in place.”
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“The Education Minister has announced that a troubled Northland charter school has been issued with a performance notice, but she needs to take responsibility for the dire situation, says NZEI President Louise Green.
The Trust running Te Pumanawa o te Wairua School is now required to take immediate action to address areas of serious concern at the school.
However, Ms Green said it was Minister Hekia Parata’s refusal to listen to ministry advice that meant the school opened in the first place, even though it was obviously ill-equipped to do so.”
Charter schools – not a good track record so far.
http://saveourschoolsnz.com/2015/02/20/minister-needs-to-take-responsibility-for-whangaruru-disaster-nzei/
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You’ve gotta give Pete George credit for this:
“Pete George (24,090 comments) says:
February 22nd, 2015 at 8:21 am
Jami-Lee Ross has an odd explanation for returning a donation.
He said the Liu donation was given to be used in the local Botany campaign, but was not spent as a $24,000 donation from the National Party covered his expenses.
“So when the [donation and expense] returns were being put together after the election, it was decided the $25,000 should be returned to the donor because it was not used.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11405494
This sounds very strange. Why would a party give a donation to an MP for electorate campaign expenses if sufficient funds were available?
How many electorates did National give $24,000 to?
How common is it for parties to return donations? A year after receiving the donation?
Jami-Lee Ross is not sounding credible at all on this. His claims don’t appear to make any sense.”
Kiwiblog
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How about these revelations in the now-surfacing Liu case!
“And you want to know the really funny thing? There is no evidence of a donation to Labour or of Labour breaking any rules to help Liu. But there is now pristine evidence of National receiving a donation from Liu and of subsequent action taken by a National Minister to help Liu in a police prosecution that resulted in this Minister being sacked.
New Zealand you got played.”
The Standard
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It’s raining in the Waikato. Such a relief, we get an Autumn this year.
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“Then late last week in Parliament we had Hekia Parata, under questioning from Green MP Catharine Delahunty, finally admit that not a single child who would qualify for ORRS funding (special targeted funding for children with special needs) is enrolled in any of the nine charter schools so far established.
New Zealand charter schools are repeating the pattern set by the same privatised schools overseas. Cream off the kids you want and leave the most difficult kids for the public schools. Then crow about your success as you slag off the public schools to which you have discarded kids with behaviour issues and/or those of lower academic ability.”
– See more at: http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2015/02/22/charter-schools-scandal-no-special-needs-children-enrolled/?utm_content=bufferf7a81&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer#sthash.vOpnp9Ka.dpuf
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That little dog is soooo cute…like a wind-up toy!
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Is that dog missing teeth?
Looks like it to me!
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Is Andrei alluding to someone? Is that a chihuahua?
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I believe so, Mr E. It also has an extremely loose tongue!
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“Is Andrei alluding to someone?”
Crazy
Yapping
Not teeth
Loose tongue
If Andrei is alluding to someone, ask yourself, “who could that be?”
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I’ve been described as a dog-with-a-bone, so it’s definitely not me.
That person was stating, metaphorically of course, that I behave normally. Dog with bone is normal. If it has teeth.
That dog in the video is cute but definitely not behaving normally.
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Wildwan – it was a huge downpour yesterday afternoon. I had possibly the wettest mountain bike ride ever at Craters of the Moon with some of the tracks looking more like streams.
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Cute, eh! Well, whoever it is must be feeling kinda chuffed at being Tracey’s fave.
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While everyone is distracted by banal beltway scandals………
http://home.nzcity.co.nz/news/article.aspx?id=202392&fm=newsarticle+-+Living+%26+Travel%2Cnrhl
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Parliament won’t decide, Cabinet will?
Surprised, Andrei?
Undemocratic, dictatorial behaviour by a Government that is not answerable to its people, that represents, not New Zealanders but “other agencies” altogether.
Yet you support them in their other activities.
I’m astonished.
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“This government are US puppets, of course they will send our people to risk their lives to clean up the US’s mess (once again). When is this nation going to stop being a vassal state of the US/UK and start thinking for itself.” Sable – The Standard
Do you agree with Sable, Andrei?
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