Cactus Kate

Cactus Kate ventured into The Standard where they are wondering how I manage to run New Zealand’s top blog, and go hunting…she comments:

She raises some valid points at the change of stance…most likely because a new person is now running the account for Eddie. Of course there are a few less people now in the research unit so changes had to be made. With Clinton Smith moving to the Greens he had to give up the login credentials for Eddie…he will of course now pop up as another author but will give the game away with a mad tirade about peak oil.

Anyway, back to hunting…cleaned the Beretta…now cleaning the Tikka…time to change weapons.

ᔥ Cactus Kate

Cactus Kate isn’t impressed with the limp dick response of the Financial Markets Authority:

The latest in this regulatory debacle appears to be that charges have been laid, on Friday 30th March, a day before accounting year end against six directors totalling a mere $35 million or $5.8 million each. The closest Sean Hughes and his clowns at the FMA could have got to April Fools Day.

$35 million - less than the alleged $40 million cost of the Hotchin house that has become a symbol of the Hanover case. Hughes believes that this prospectus based civil prosecution is the strongest they have.

Once again I ask – how many of those investors even bothered to read the prospectus? Such is the silliness of charges based on a document that most Mum and Dad investors would not have even opened. For example Richard Long was not named as a promoter which is interesting. More Mum and Dad investors would have put their money in based on his recommendation than the prospectus documents. I would be looking to put each investor, or a random cross section on the stand and ask them precisely why they invested in Hanover and then analyze their knowledge of the actual prospectus they allegedly relied on that resulted in that loss.

April Fools Day fell on a Sunday this year. Therefore denying us this complete fairytale ending. Although not quite, the FMA seem to have confirmed the charges on April Fools Day with Sean Hughes appearing on television prior to midday to swing his now rather shriveled excalibur.

Basically it appears that the FMA civil action hangs on a few misplaced commas and poor grammar in just a few sentences:

But what he has achieved here after talking up a game really is the equivalent of a parking fine. Fraud and jail to begin with, now a technical prospectus civil prosecution.

We also have a regulatory authority that appears on television to announce charges to the public after the past six months getting the public used to the simple fact they could not pin a $500 million criminal fraud on Hanover. The magic number being chucked around with all sorts of dirty allegations about Mark Hotchin and Eric Watson.

Mark Hotchin just one of the six directors, suffered 15 months of asset freeze on what seems to be just the trust’s Paritai Dr property left.

Investigations have been ongoing for three whole years to get us to this point.

There will be no criminal prosecution from the FMA. Hughes made this comment today.

I explained to the public back in December that we did not think that this case merited a criminal prosecution. That was certainly the advice that we received, and were comfortable with that outcome.

If you were a woman in a bar and Sean Hughes picked you up promising this much and on return to his home he whipped this out, you’d laugh, run outside and call for a cab home.

Heh, spanked like only Cactus can spank.

Cactus Kate blogs about Shearer’s latest attempt at looking like everyman…running in a wife beater…something another senior political figure would find appropriate:

Props – 1/5 – running man no props.

Clothes – 4/5 – black is slimming and thank god unlike other Labour and Kermit the Frog MP’s was not wearing the dreaded lycra. Hallelujah for that. Perhaps black socks better?

Chest – 3/5 – needs some gym time to build up some muscle, bandy, skinny and nowhere near sweaty enough for a man on a run.

Audience – 1/5 – how many people actually watch The Nation? I would hazard a guess less than the number that read Whaleoil in a day. Seems a waste of an entire day of footage really.

Sex Symbol Attempt 9/20.

Needs to do better.

Beware, calamity is about to befall us all and not from Global Warming either….

Cactus Kate and Darien Fenton agree on something:

Cactus Kate is a good friend….she was one of the few, very few people who stuck with me through my dark times. Those of your who have suffered or still suffer depression know that one of the things you unerringly do when suffering is burn off friends…you can count the ones remaining on the finger of one hand…Cactus KAte is one of those friends.

I know that she will die in a ditch for me, and she knows that I will die in a ditch for her.

Yesterday Martyn Bradbury used a silly and petulant post of Duncan Garner to get up me.

Cactus Kate is not amused:

Martyn has posted recently many pieces solely about Whaleoil. It has become obsessive because Whaleoil is not even bothering commenting back to this taunting. His last “effort” yesterday about Whaleoil, mental illness and in particular suicide was particularly disgusting. I bet Martyn now tries to say he was only joking. Well fuck you pinhead, it is not funny to talk about suicide about anyone like that. That fight was between Whaleoil and Duncan Garner who said his piece like the hot head he is, I imagine to regret it later because he is an adult earning a six figure income. This was absolutely no business of Martyn’s or anyone else’s but once again Martyn had a spot of Whale envy and had to stoop to getting a “me too” in. So he can cop a serve from me.

Whaleoil has progressed since I have known him to be a picture of health since his dark days of depression of a couple of years ago. He has never ever talked of suicide which is something I have the most respect of him for. And even when he was at his worst, depressed and on crippling zombie like doses of medication prescribed by insane Doctors, barely capable of getting out of bed when his ever supportive wife would ask him to try, he would still hand Martyn his arse in every debate they have ever had.

A depressed and over-medicated Whale still was better than a supposed fully-fit Martyn.

Heh, loving the smackdown, it conitnues and she isn’t pleased that he has used inept slurs against her:

The worst part of Martyn’s performances from my perspective is that he can’t even insult me properly, which is highly disrespectful in itself. He hasn’t got the eloquence or command in his writing that Dim Post possesses to do it well and in a clever way. The only thing that would ever cause me distress would be to accuse me of being a pinko and the Libertarianz have that covered.

Martyn calls me a “failed ACT candidate“. Like it is an insult that I chose not to be on their Party list.

Think about this for a minute folks. Even Dim Post would find this moronic as an insult and mock it mercilessly as an effort.

If this really was a failure and you could choose one thing in the past decade to fail at then failing to stand as an ACT candidate in 2011 would be right up there in things that you should be proud of achieving.

Her final message for Martyn Bradbury:

Martyn, you are a silly, juvenile uncommercial pillock. If you want a reason you don’t have a TV show that rates over a couple of hundred viewers look no further than yourself then look to your competition Pagani, McCarten and Trotter and the respect that others show them on your side and their opponents, my side.

Theirs is a gentlemanly decency, intellect, charm and class that I am afraid you will never possess in your endless quest to be invited into the mainstream media. Sad.

Thank you Cactus.

Cactus Kate takes issue with corporate welfare funding massive capital gains to millionaires:

Good on Sonar6 for growing, having no reported profit and the shareholders flogging it to foreigners for US$14 million.

But two questions:

1. Dividends will now go to offshore owners. Where is the outcry as there is when a farm is sold?

2. Why does a company get $250,000 in taxpayer funds when it is backed by some of the richest people in NZ?

Well three questions

3. The taxpayer puts in $250k and less than nine months later the company is flogged off clearly with the intention of quick gains. Where is the slice of the capital gain pie for the taxpayer with its investment? Clearly not a long term growth strategy.

4. And maybe a fourth, Morgan + quick sale for capital gain. Tax? Of course not. Do as I say not as I do.

Calling bullshit on corporate welfare here again. I can understand why the political left get upset when we have faux entrepreneurs trotting their wares using government handouts.

Take your gains but man up and use your own money.

Yesterday was International Womens Day, apparently. Cactus Kate has written a post about Women and Finances…something she knows a fair bit about. She blogs about the misconception that a good financial plan for women is to find a man:

Westpac has another survey for International Women’s Day (Leighton Smith apparently queued the “yawn” this morning) showing women are inept at financial planning. Many are suggesting a man is not a financial plan. They would be correct and incorrect.

Women often run the household budgets. The problem with this is that women think this is all financial planning is, paying for groceries and kiddies after school activities. They cannot grasp what would happen if the mighty three stumped totara ceased magically dropping $50 notes from his branches into their hands.

Unless you actually earn the money you are spending you cannot grasp quite what discipline is required to earn, accumulate and keep wealth. It isn’t that easy. Neither is growing that money. Handing it over to a financial advisor and crying when it is lost isn’t a plan either. You cannot contract out your own future.

Cactus Kate takes apart any whinging, whining, troughing bludgers who are upset about Air New Zealand’s changes to airpoints. She makes a fine suggestion right at the end:

Air NZ I would hazard a guess is full of business from public sector workers and troughers with infinite amounts of points from flying short haul economy up and down the bus from Auckland to Wellington.

As a taxpayer owned and bailed out airline perhaps they’d be far better off financially to disallow point and status accumulation for all travel paid by the taxpayer. And cancel all public sector Koru membership to clear the lounge out for private sector paying customers.

Until then if you are relying on upgrades from economy from any airline because you fly on them a bit and pay economy fares I have just one word of advice for you.

Try actually paying for business class.

Until then suck it up and sit with the people who aren’t in business class because despite your protestations. You are one of them.

Personally I don’t think they go far enough. I reckon Air New Zealand should just cancel points accumulation for all domestic flights, forthwith. They can safely do this because people like David Farrar are now caught by their own outrage. He has blogged numerous times about never, ever flying Jetstar again.

Personally I will not fly Jetstar in NZ. If a group in Auckland wants to fly me up to speak to them, I now make it a condition that I not be booked on Jetstar.

So his only option is Air New Zealand. If they ditch the points for domestic the problem of these kinds of troughers goes away almost overnight.

I’m with Cactus Kate…if you don’t like economy then pay for business class like a proper customer.

Eye-watering funny:

To: muzzamccully@xtra.co.nz
From: monicalew@gmail.com
Subject: Lost and Found
Date: 18th May 2011

Dearest Murray

It was a pleasure to meet you last night after your date with the heinous Hillary. I am glad you don’t believe a word she says about me. She’s like such a bitch.

Anyway I am sure it was a member of your staff but “someone” left a Gurkha Black Dragon in my hotel room. If you would like to come and get it let me know and I’m available.

Yours
Mon.
—————–
To: monicalew@gmail.com
From: muzzamccully@xtra.co.nz
Subject: Re: Lost and Found
Date: 19th May 2011

Hi Monica

I am told by my staffer that this was indeed a small gift of appreciation for your hospitality last night. He won’t remove the smile on his face which is always a good sign isn’t it?

Keep in touch, this email is best.

Yours sincerely

Murray McCully

National has raised the minimum wage by $0.50.

Why?

This is a gutless decision that is simply pricing more useless twats out of the market. Quite simply there are a lot of people who are barely worth $6.00 per hour and will remain permanently indigent with an artificial floor on their worth to an employer.

Labour of course are aghast that it isn’t enough, but as Cactus Kate pointed out at Red Alert just the other David “Blue Suit” Cunliffe was carping that $20.00 wasn’t enough for an office delivery person, about as unskilled as you can get for a job.

Labour campaigned for $15.00 per hour for the minimum wage, what is the bet that if National had caved and done that they would then be whining for $20.00 per hour.Labour party