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In the photos posted on the 21, 22, & 23 Nov you can see the risks involved. A man would need to be on a good wage & solid tucker to take on this sort of work.
Two random observations….
MSM, that paragon of news, is featuring a contest between David Carter and David Cunliffe for leadership of the Labour party – has the correct pixes on line…..but David Carter, who rivals JK as Parliament’s wealthiest man? Dumb!
Then there is that silly Penny Black (aka Bright) acting as a spokesdumb on TV 1 this am for the hippies in Auckland’s Aotea Square.
It will be interesting to see who crawls out of the woodwork to support a merger between ACT & Crazy Craig. Expect a metamorphosis into a fully optioned fundamentalist Christian party ready to take on the forces of Satan by 2014.
Agree. Fresh from ‘winning’ a staggering 0.3% of the vote in Epsom (and vandalising competitor candidate billboards), Penny has now rushed off to support the smelly hippies and placard wavers at BOC (Body Odour Central).
If Len Brown had any guts at all, he would just kick these morons off ratepayer owned land. Courtesy of a high pressure fire hose. And soap.
But the truth is, Brown is a total eunuch. He actually still meets with these misfits once a week….. Pfffttt…
Is there any truth in the rumour that protesters at the Occupy site in Aotea Square are complaining of police brutality and heavy tactics being used in order for them to disperse.
Police are believed to be using boxes of soap and job adverts.
Elaycee…
Yep. And your observations about Brown raise other questions.
Anyone care to guess the chances of his rail loop going ahead?
My bet would be 0% .
As a rural resident (some 600kms distant from Auckland) I say more than enough money has gone into central AUCKLAND Transport. Money (rates) where mouth is Lenny!
And those silly folk who call themselves planners want to erect a concrete wall around Auckland (Another Berlin wall????), but make no provision for employment sustained by real business. Of course all those Auckland planning and council folks could become Terrace and Lambton Quay ‘crats and be just as useless as they are.
But in a similar vein, I heard Bernadine O-K on NewstalkZB this morning say that they should just wait for dole payment day and whilst they’re all away from Aotea Square, they should just take their tents down and put up a fence.
Its a good idea. Because Len spends all day wondering where he can find someone silly enough to stump up for his train set.
Craig did exceedingly well and demonstrated that there is a very clear market for conservative voters. however his policies are exceedingly aspirational rather than practical. He needs to do some growing up politically before he’ll make any serious headway.
and he spent about 6800 times as much money, so no. Really? how much money did UF spend – from both donations and the taxpayer? People seem to resent the fact that Craig has money to spend and is happy to, let me ask; if JK said “hey, I got $50M sitting in the bank, lets fund our campaign out of that rather than the taxpayer” do you think people would see that as a good thing or bad?
Herald Headline – “18 per cent of Maori now live overseas”
Bet they are all doing better too! Living life, getting shit done. Not being told all their problems are cause the white man is evil. No special privileges “you’re not as smart as white people so you dont need to do as well in exams” etc etc etc
Basically, not living under rules set out by do gooder morons who end up keeping maori down. Or their own people raping the tax payer on the gravy train while telling them they are shit
I don’t know why the Occupy folks continue to insist they represent the 99%.
They don’t. I would have thought that was patently obvious to everyone by now, including them. The 99% are people like you and me, who get out and get on with life; who do a decent day’s work for a (hopefully) decent day’s pay; and who don’t expect to get everything handed to us on a plate.
If the Occupy movement want to continue protesting, fine, go for it. But don’t let them claim they represent the 99%, or even the majority. I suspect the majority want Aotea Square back to it’s pre-Occupy condition, thank you very much. So go and protest somewhere else.
ciaron – ALCP votes were proportionally about the same in 2008, they tradionally are well supported. All small parties got squeezed in Dunedin North due to strong National and Green support, and very poor voter turnout.
And no sour grapes, I’m happy how things are going. I was realistic about chances, and have follow up plans that I’m now working on with a number of local candidates (and MPs).
Julian from ALCP is doing journalism and gave me my first interview here. Abe, who stood in for him in several candidate meetings, gave me a Radio 1 interview. We should be working together on projects here ongoing.
I remember a comment a while back stating that the mixed ownership model involves selling approximately 2% of state assets but I can’t find any information on that in google. Can anyone help me out?
Just heard something rather incredible on NatRadio. Seems a couple of journalists have won the right in the US supreme court to release details of a hitherto secret loan made toward the end of the Bush administration by the Federal Reserve to the major US banks. Even Congress didn’t know about it. How big was the loan? $7 Trillion, at 0.1% interest.
I was at the recording of Back Benches for the Hutt South debate when the smelly Occupy people turned up and started chanting (poorly rehearsed I may add) slogans and such like. They basically ruined the atmosphere and considering they represent “the 99%” a lot of people swore at them and wanted them to leave
Thing is that although the power companies represent a very small part of the government’s assets they are revenue producers in contrast to most of what will remain.
There seems to be confusion over National’s coalition options. National have 60 seats and need 61 for a majority (total 121).
As I understand it the speaker’s vote counts for National so currently they have three coalition/majority options:
- with Maori Party
- with Banks/Act
- with Dunne/United Future
If National drop to 59 seats after specials this changes to:
- with Maori Party
- with Banks/Act + Dunne/United Future
That may or may not change the coalition negotiations.
You’d think they’d have learnt by now Manolo. Let Australia be the influencers, they’re doing a great job of crippling their economy as a token gesture.
Seems NZ is front and centre in Climategate 2 as well:
Thanks Nasska. Yep, I understand the differing revenue streams but just need some actual facts to rebut people making comments like “New Zealand for sale”. Although such people generally don’t deal in facts.
Adze, you heard correct, the USA Fed lent US$7.7 trillon in off-book secret loans to private banks at 0-0.15% from June 2008 to Dec 2010, over $1 trillion on the 5/12/2008 alone. Included among the banks were all four Australasian banks. However the loans were short term to help banks with liquidity and prevent total banking system collapse, most have been repaid. However the huge problem is the moral hazard: no other businesses got these short term loans to help them; it was done in secret – by both the Fed, Govt and banks; the absolute hypocrisy of the banks then not lending to/bankrupting many businesses and individuals with short term liquidity problems while they themselves were secretly being propped up; and the huge risk dumped on the US taxpayer and the interest on that money forgone while the banks creamed it.
This wasn’t free market capitalism, it was corporate fascism there’s no other name for it, privatizing the gains and socializing the losses on a massive scale. We (and others around the world) should be thanking the US taxpayer (unknowingly) saving our arses, again.
There is talk that the Fed is going to back stop the major European countries, as Germany to holding up the massive liquidity required to stop a depression in the Euro area. American banks are obviously exposed so the Fed will step in if Germany says no to the ECB printing money. This will be a massive move and would say volatility would be spectacular.
“In an impassioned address to the court, occupier Penny Bright then questioned why Mr Burns, a Crown solicitor, was being used to represent the council – at the expense of ratepayers – when it could have used its own lawyers.
‘We are part of a global, unprecedented protest and we are using a public place for a public protest in the public interest.’”
I am astounded and delighted at the results in the Hutt Valley; it shows that only the dreary state housing areas supported Labour but everywhere else a huge swing to National.
Pleasantly surprised at the results in Miramar/Strathmore – National winning for the first time in ages; Seatoun very strong once again.
Overall this shows that Labour has very little support in Wellington now; a few incumbent MPs re-elected with a strong personal vote has muddied the waters, but I would be very worried if I was the Labour party as virtually every middle class suburb voted National and strongly so.
That 13 year old and her three mates should count themselves lucky someones father didn’t get to them first and decide to take his chances with a jury of his peers.
“Their election result was a triumph. They won a higher percentage of the vote and expanded their parliamentary representation with talented new members. They are the first minor party under MMP to win more than 10 per cent of the vote and in doing so have staked out what looks like a secure patch in the political landscape”
Other minor Parties to get 10% are NZ First (1996 and 2002) and The Alliance (1996). You could add Labour (2011) and National (2002) as well if you were really mean.
Mighty River Power chairwoman Joan Withers says the state-owned enterprise is well equipped to deal with a likely partial float of its shares but there is still a lot of water to go under the bridge.
…
Waikato Tainui chairman Tukoroirangi Morgan has reportedly said the tribe would be keen to invest in Mighty River and had an agreement which gave it first right of refusal over the Huntly power station.
Waikato Tainui regard the Waikato river as their ancestral river and most of Mighty River’s electricity generation comes from the eight dams and nine stations along the Waikato.
Why the Maori Party can work with National
Your move, Winston
Psychopathic Pathology
The brains of psychopaths have a different structure than healthy brains, perhaps explaining their antisocial and impulsive behaviors.
This is an indication that this is a condition with a substantial genetic contribution, which would be consistent with other behavioural traits of this sort also arising from significant abnormalities in brain structure, such as paedophilia. It also explains why psychopathology is so resistant to treatment
How very interesting! Especially since a Swiss university discovered that Forex traders and their ilk were actually more destructive and reckless than “psychopaths” and considering the fact that today NZ got his first foreign dick shoved up their ass I think they might very well be right.
psycopathy is an interesting subject.
Dr R Hare, who coined the term estimates that 1 in 200 is a psycopath to some degree.
Not all psycopaths are criminals. They don’t all turn to crime.
Some may be very successful and ruthless buisnespeople a classic for eg Robert Maxwell.
Some are successful polititians, and they are found in all fields of endevour.
Some, due to their fearless personalities have been war heros, some are test pilots, motor racing stars etc
They are studied in prisons though because that is where high concentrations of them are found.
i think it is generally accepted that psycopathy cannot be treated.
Elements within the New Zealand psyciatric community believe that they can treat
paedophilia and claim very high rates of success rates with prisoners at Rolleston.
Sadly these psychiatrists are bullshit artists however.
The success rates they claim of preventing recidivism never mention over what period.
i could invent a programme that might have incredible results over the first 14 days after release from prison.
The Forest & Bird suggestion that the Government was discussing mining on ‘the first day they were back in office’, is palpably incorrect for one main reason – they are not back in office until coalition deals have been completed / special votes have been counted / the matter of the writs has been addressed. But you keep on with the bollocks and the spin if it makes you feel better….
But now that you’ve raised it, I trust that the new Government brings the matter of mining opportunities to the fore and that they start digging at the first opportunity.
The country needs the cash and we should not ignore the great opportunities available via the extraction and sale of products such as coal, gold etc.
He said to me . … . I don’t know why you wear a bra; you’ve got nothing to put in it.
I said to him …. . . You wear pants don’t you?
He said to me … . ………. Shall we try swapping positions tonight?
I said .. That’s a good idea – you stand by the stove & sink while I sit on the sofa and fart
He said to me. … What have you been doing with all the grocery money I gave you?
I said to him . ….. Turn sideways and look in the mirror!
He said to me. ….. Why don’t women blink during foreplay?
I said to him … . They don’t have time.
He said to me. . How many men does it take to change a roll of toilet paper?
I said to him .. .. I don’t know; it has never happened.
He said to me. . Why is it difficult to find men who are sensitive, caring and Good- looking?
I said to him . . . They already have boyfriends.
He said..What do you call a woman who knows where her husband is every night?
I said. . …….. A widow.
He said to me…. Why are married women heavier than single women?
I said to him .. . .. Single women come home, see what’s in the fridge and go to bed.
Married women come home, see what’s in bed and go to the fridge.
This is a story about a couple who had been happily married for years. The only friction in their marriage was the husband’s habit of farting loudly every morning when he awoke. The noise would wake his wife and the smell would make her eyes water and make her gasp for air.
Every morning she would plead with him to stop ripping them off because it was making her sick. He told her he couldn’t stop it and that it was perfectly natural. She told him to see a doctor; she was concerned that one day he would blow his guts out.
The years when by and he continued to rip them out!
Then one Christmas morning as she was preparing the turkey for dinner and he was upstairs sound asleep, she looked at the bowl where she had put the turkey innards and neck, gizzard, liver and all the spare parts and a malicious thought came to her. She took the bowl and went upstairs where her husband was sound asleep and, gently pulling back the bed covers, she pulled back the elastic waistband of his underpants and emptied the bowl of turkey guts in. Some time later she heard her husband wake and let rip the usual trouser trumpet which was followed by a blood curdling scream and the sound of frantic footsteps as he ran into the bathroom. The wife could hardly control herself as she rolled on the floor laughing, tears in her eyes! After years of torture she reckoned she had got him back pretty good. About twenty minutes later, her husband came downstairs in his bloodstained underpants with a look of horror on his face. She bit her lip as she asked him what was the matter.
He said, “Honey, were right. All these years you have warned me and I didn’t listen to you.”
“What do you mean?” asked his wife.
“Well, you always told me that one day I would end up farting my guts out, and today it finally happened. But by the grace of God, some Vaseline, and these two fingers, I think I got most of them back in.”
Wham bam, second dick up the Kiwi ass. Derivatives trade in New Zealand, get ready to bend over for the next having to pay for the gambles the banksters are going to make. ROFL!
Key is clearly on a roll as he lists the options New Zealand could explore if it decided to abandon outdated ideology and take a more pragmatic approach to growing the economy.
The former investment banker knows what he is talking about.
As head of global foreign exchange for investment giant Merrill Lynch he shifted a considerable amount of his business to Ireland in the mid-1990s to take advantage of a 10 per cent tax rate for foreign investors.
The investment was a runaway success.
“We transferred across the aircraft leasing business, the complex interest rates derivatives business, the entire back office for global foreign exchange and a huge chunk of private clients’ business,” says Key.
travellerev, you clearly don’t understand anything about the Irish model so I suggest you don’t talk about it anymore. The Celtic Tiger strategy has zero repeat zero to do with Ireland’s problems today, which was caused by monetary strategy, upon which The Celtic Tiger strategy is completely fucking silent since it has nothing whatsoever to do with it.
Lots of people think it does, but they’re completely mental travellerev and if you even look as if you put yourself in their camp on any blog even a children’s one, you’ll be laughed at during playtime, so I’d watch it were I you, unless you want to be completely humiliated.
I’ve been puzzling over the TV3 skits which seem to be portraying John Key with a speech impediment during election night. Saw another since then. Anyone help me to understand what this is all about?
An easily understandable explanation of derivative markets.
Heidi is the proprietor of a bar in Detroit . She realizes that virtually all of her customers are unemployed alcoholics and, as such, can no longer afford to patronize her bar.
To solve this problem, she comes up with a new marketing plan that allows her customers to drink now, but pay later. She keeps track of the drinks consumed in a ledger (thereby granting the customers loans).
Word gets around about Heidi’s “drink now, pay later” marketing strategy and, as a result, increasing numbers of customers flood into Heidi’s bar. Soon she has the largest sales volume for any bar in Detroit.
By providing her customers freedom from immediate payment demands, Heidi gets no resistance when, at regular intervals, she substantially increases her prices for wine and beer, the most consumed beverages. Consequently, Heidi’s gross sales volume increases massively.
A young and dynamic Vice President at the local bank recognizes that these customer debts constitute valuable future assets, and increases Heidi’s borrowing limit. He sees no reason for any undue concern, since he has the debts of the unemployed alcoholics as collateral.
At the bank’s corporate headquarters, expert traders transform these customer loans into DRINKBONDS, ALKIBONDS and PUKEBONDS. These securities are then bundled and traded on international security markets.
Naive investors don’t really understand that the securities being sold to them as AAA secured bonds are really the debts of unemployed alcoholics. Nevertheless, the bond prices continuously climb, and the securities soon become the hottest-selling items for some of the nation’s leading brokerage houses.
One day, even though the bond prices are still climbing, a risk manager at the original local bank decides that the time has come to demand payment on the debts incurred by the drinkers at Heidi’s bar. He so informs Heidi. Heidi then demands payment from her alcoholic patrons. But being unemployed alcoholics, they cannot pay back their drinking debts. Since Heidi cannot fulfill her loan obligations, she is forced into bankruptcy. The bar closes and her eleven employees lose their jobs.
Overnight, DRINKBONDS, ALKIBONDS and PUKEBONDS drop in price by 90%. The collapsed bond asset value destroys the bank’s liquidity and prevents it from issuing new loans, thus freezing credit and economic activity in the community.
Suppliers of Heidi’s bar had granted her generous payment extensions and had invested their firms’ pension funds in the various BOND securities. They find they are now faced with not only having to write off her bad debt but also with losing over 90% of the presumed value of the bonds. Her wine supplier claims bankruptcy, closing the doors on a family business that had endured for three generations. Her beer supplier is taken over by a competitor, who immediately closes the local plant and lays off 150 workers.
Fortunately though, the bank, the brokerage houses, and their respective executives are saved and bailed out by a multi-billion dollar, no-strings attached cash infusion from their cronies in the Federal Government. The funds required for this bailout are obtained by new taxes levied on employed, middle-class, non-drinkers who have never been in Heidi’s bar.
Many informed people already knew this happened if not the precise figures. But how come one has to pry such disclosures from the Fed? Anyone would think it wasn’t working in the best interests of the US taxpayer, almost like a privately owned for-profit enterprise would, were it one.
Not so many years ago we thought of the President of the USA as the most powerful person in the world. I’m starting to now wonder if it was ever so & more to the point just how many people from the world’s financial system sit above him controlling the strings.
Iraq was only ever possibly about two things. Oil and/or Bush Junior’s desire for utu on Saddam Hussein’s attempt to squash daddy in Kuwait in 1993.
November 29th, 2011 at 8:03 am
Wow, Danyl is in a judgemental mood this morning…
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 8:18 am
Some great photos of the salvors removing containers from the’Rena”. http://www.cargolaw.com/2011nightmare_mv_rena.html#Nov-23
In the photos posted on the 21, 22, & 23 Nov you can see the risks involved. A man would need to be on a good wage & solid tucker to take on this sort of work.
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 8:21 am
Bet they’re on more than $15/hr.
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 8:25 am
Two random observations….
MSM, that paragon of news, is featuring a contest between David Carter and David Cunliffe for leadership of the Labour party – has the correct pixes on line…..but David Carter, who rivals JK as Parliament’s wealthiest man? Dumb!
Then there is that silly Penny Black (aka Bright) acting as a spokesdumb on TV 1 this am for the hippies in Auckland’s Aotea Square.
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 8:33 am
Why isn’t she in jail?
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 8:37 am
Key’s man Banks wants to drop the ACT facade and side with the Crazy Craig fuckwits, wonderful
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 8:39 am
Murray (8,644) Says:
November 29th, 2011 at 8:33 am
Why isn’t she in jail?
I agree.
That would be a far better deterrent for potential miscreants than any “Three Strikes” nonsense.
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 8:43 am
Banks has already rebranded Act as CCCP – Cascading Cock-and-bull Cliché Party
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 8:47 am
Colin Craig has already sewn up that soviet surplus moniker Pete.
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 8:50 am
PG
It will be interesting to see who crawls out of the woodwork to support a merger between ACT & Crazy Craig. Expect a metamorphosis into a fully optioned fundamentalist Christian party ready to take on the forces of Satan by 2014.
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 8:50 am
“Why isn’t she in jail?”
Agree. Fresh from ‘winning’ a staggering 0.3% of the vote in Epsom (and vandalising competitor candidate billboards), Penny has now rushed off to support the smelly hippies and placard wavers at BOC (Body Odour Central).
If Len Brown had any guts at all, he would just kick these morons off ratepayer owned land. Courtesy of a high pressure fire hose. And soap.
But the truth is, Brown is a total eunuch. He actually still meets with these misfits once a week….. Pfffttt…
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 8:56 am
Gorgeous restoration of the world’s sexiest car ever:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/motoring/6039364/E-Types-restoration-a-worldwide-winner
Don’t know why they don’t bring them back into production.
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 8:59 am
Elaycee
Is there any truth in the rumour that protesters at the Occupy site in Aotea Square are complaining of police brutality and heavy tactics being used in order for them to disperse.
Police are believed to be using boxes of soap and job adverts.
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 9:04 am
Pete; are you a bit sore that Colin got about 68 times as many votes as you did?
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 9:09 am
Elaycee…
Vote:Yep. And your observations about Brown raise other questions.
Anyone care to guess the chances of his rail loop going ahead?
My bet would be 0% .
As a rural resident (some 600kms distant from Auckland) I say more than enough money has gone into central AUCKLAND Transport. Money (rates) where mouth is Lenny!
And those silly folk who call themselves planners want to erect a concrete wall around Auckland (Another Berlin wall????), but make no provision for employment sustained by real business. Of course all those Auckland planning and council folks could become Terrace and Lambton Quay ‘crats and be just as useless as they are.
November 29th, 2011 at 9:10 am
ciaron – I think his expectations were 680 times higher, and he spent about 6800 times as much money, so no.
I set a realistic target and am achieving it, Craig thinks he can buy his way to political heaven.
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 9:11 am
Unkind nasska. Most unkind. 8)
But in a similar vein, I heard Bernadine O-K on NewstalkZB this morning say that they should just wait for dole payment day and whilst they’re all away from Aotea Square, they should just take their tents down and put up a fence.
Its a good idea. Because Len spends all day wondering where he can find someone silly enough to stump up for his train set.
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 9:12 am
Craig did exceedingly well and demonstrated that there is a very clear market for conservative voters. however his policies are exceedingly aspirational rather than practical. He needs to do some growing up politically before he’ll make any serious headway.
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 9:13 am
Sounds like sour grapes to me Pete… Still you can’t be too happy about going down 2-1 with the ALCP candidate?
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 9:21 am
Good morning dear Kiwibloggers<
Here's my two cents on why people are confused about the nature of our National debt:
http://aotearoaawiderperspective.wordpress.com/2011/11/29/italian-job-stealing-2451-8-tons-of-gold-with-style/
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 9:22 am
and he spent about 6800 times as much money, so no. Really? how much money did UF spend – from both donations and the taxpayer? People seem to resent the fact that Craig has money to spend and is happy to, let me ask; if JK said “hey, I got $50M sitting in the bank, lets fund our campaign out of that rather than the taxpayer” do you think people would see that as a good thing or bad?
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 9:28 am
Herald Headline – “18 per cent of Maori now live overseas”
Bet they are all doing better too! Living life, getting shit done. Not being told all their problems are cause the white man is evil. No special privileges “you’re not as smart as white people so you dont need to do as well in exams” etc etc etc
Basically, not living under rules set out by do gooder morons who end up keeping maori down. Or their own people raping the tax payer on the gravy train while telling them they are shit
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 9:32 am
@Scott Chris re the E Type…1st time ever I can agree with you on something. Bloody lovely piece of sculpture.
I would like to see the conservatives settle and establish themselves in good order.
NZ needs this type of alternative party.
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 9:33 am
I don’t know why the Occupy folks continue to insist they represent the 99%.
They don’t. I would have thought that was patently obvious to everyone by now, including them. The 99% are people like you and me, who get out and get on with life; who do a decent day’s work for a (hopefully) decent day’s pay; and who don’t expect to get everything handed to us on a plate.
If the Occupy movement want to continue protesting, fine, go for it. But don’t let them claim they represent the 99%, or even the majority. I suspect the majority want Aotea Square back to it’s pre-Occupy condition, thank you very much. So go and protest somewhere else.
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 9:45 am
ciaron – ALCP votes were proportionally about the same in 2008, they tradionally are well supported. All small parties got squeezed in Dunedin North due to strong National and Green support, and very poor voter turnout.
And no sour grapes, I’m happy how things are going. I was realistic about chances, and have follow up plans that I’m now working on with a number of local candidates (and MPs).
Julian from ALCP is doing journalism and gave me my first interview here. Abe, who stood in for him in several candidate meetings, gave me a Radio 1 interview. We should be working together on projects here ongoing.
The election was just a step along the way.
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 9:56 am
I remember a comment a while back stating that the mixed ownership model involves selling approximately 2% of state assets but I can’t find any information on that in google. Can anyone help me out?
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 10:13 am
Just heard something rather incredible on NatRadio. Seems a couple of journalists have won the right in the US supreme court to release details of a hitherto secret loan made toward the end of the Bush administration by the Federal Reserve to the major US banks. Even Congress didn’t know about it. How big was the loan? $7 Trillion, at 0.1% interest.
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 10:19 am
I was at the recording of Back Benches for the Hutt South debate when the smelly Occupy people turned up and started chanting (poorly rehearsed I may add) slogans and such like. They basically ruined the atmosphere and considering they represent “the 99%” a lot of people swore at them and wanted them to leave
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 10:37 am
Zapper
You could be referring to a comment ’103PapPap’ made at 11.54am on this thread: http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2011/11/talking_of_lies_how_about_those_on_asset_sales.html
Thing is that although the power companies represent a very small part of the government’s assets they are revenue producers in contrast to most of what will remain.
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 10:55 am
There seems to be confusion over National’s coalition options. National have 60 seats and need 61 for a majority (total 121).
As I understand it the speaker’s vote counts for National so currently they have three coalition/majority options:
- with Maori Party
- with Banks/Act
- with Dunne/United Future
If National drop to 59 seats after specials this changes to:
- with Maori Party
- with Banks/Act + Dunne/United Future
That may or may not change the coalition negotiations.
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 11:46 am
The warmists never stop: http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/nz-can-influence-global-climate-talks-scientist-4578151
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 11:52 am
You’d think they’d have learnt by now Manolo. Let Australia be the influencers, they’re doing a great job of crippling their economy as a token gesture.
Seems NZ is front and centre in Climategate 2 as well:
http://newzealandclimatechange.wordpress.com/2011/11/27/climategate-2-and-corruption-of-peer-review/
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 11:52 am
Thanks Nasska. Yep, I understand the differing revenue streams but just need some actual facts to rebut people making comments like “New Zealand for sale”. Although such people generally don’t deal in facts.
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 12:33 pm
Adze, you heard correct, the USA Fed lent US$7.7 trillon in off-book secret loans to private banks at 0-0.15% from June 2008 to Dec 2010, over $1 trillion on the 5/12/2008 alone. Included among the banks were all four Australasian banks. However the loans were short term to help banks with liquidity and prevent total banking system collapse, most have been repaid. However the huge problem is the moral hazard: no other businesses got these short term loans to help them; it was done in secret – by both the Fed, Govt and banks; the absolute hypocrisy of the banks then not lending to/bankrupting many businesses and individuals with short term liquidity problems while they themselves were secretly being propped up; and the huge risk dumped on the US taxpayer and the interest on that money forgone while the banks creamed it.
This wasn’t free market capitalism, it was corporate fascism there’s no other name for it, privatizing the gains and socializing the losses on a massive scale. We (and others around the world) should be thanking the US taxpayer (unknowingly) saving our arses, again.
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 1:20 pm
Rugby star on assault charge , given name suppression.
When questioned by journalists, he said…
“You’ve got a better chance of getting a [winning] Lotto ticket bro. Cheers bro”
Isn’t this violating name suppression by narrowing the list of suspects? I’m assuming the guy is maori now.
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 1:29 pm
There is talk that the Fed is going to back stop the major European countries, as Germany to holding up the massive liquidity required to stop a depression in the Euro area. American banks are obviously exposed so the Fed will step in if Germany says no to the ECB printing money. This will be a massive move and would say volatility would be spectacular.
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 3:09 pm
Fresh from her underwhelming victory in the polls, Penny now turns her formidable talents back to the Occupy protest.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10769643
“Occupy protesters fight council in court”
“In an impassioned address to the court, occupier Penny Bright then questioned why Mr Burns, a Crown solicitor, was being used to represent the council – at the expense of ratepayers – when it could have used its own lawyers.
‘We are part of a global, unprecedented protest and we are using a public place for a public protest in the public interest.’”
I’m so glad to know she’s doing this for me.
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 3:12 pm
Phil Goff and Annette King have announced their intention to resign as leader and deputy leader of the Labour Party in a fortnight.
(according to Trev Alert)
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 3:18 pm
@graham: Yup, Penny must still be coming back down from scaling the lofty heights of attaining 0.3% of the vote in Epsom. What a spanking!
If this trend continues, (after Botany in 2008, the Howick Ward by-election and now this election), she will be at zero votes in next to no time. 8)
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 3:38 pm
graham – I’m so glad to know she’s doing this for me.
Elaycee – Rest assured, she doesn’t ‘represent’ me either.
Penny is doing this for herself – egoic operating sytem – it’s what she does
Vote:All else is collateral benefit/damage/chaos as it falls
November 29th, 2011 at 4:12 pm
i’m in to buy some state assets — firstly, I’ll buy enough genesis shares such that the dividend yield will equal my annual electricity bill.
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 4:15 pm
OH GOOD GOD Elaycee no one needs the mental picture of penny beign spanked thank you.
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 4:19 pm
Murray
Pass the mind bleach!
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 4:26 pm
I’m still throwing up here.
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 4:28 pm
This map is quite interesting http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/politics/election-2011/6053854/How-did-your-neighbourhood-vote
I am astounded and delighted at the results in the Hutt Valley; it shows that only the dreary state housing areas supported Labour but everywhere else a huge swing to National.
Pleasantly surprised at the results in Miramar/Strathmore – National winning for the first time in ages; Seatoun very strong once again.
Overall this shows that Labour has very little support in Wellington now; a few incumbent MPs re-elected with a strong personal vote has muddied the waters, but I would be very worried if I was the Labour party as virtually every middle class suburb voted National and strongly so.
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 4:30 pm
Schoolgirl bully smashes up 13 year old girl.
13 year old girl must now find another school, and her mother is being prosecuted for protecting her .
What is wrong in this world?
PC f***w*ts have turned justice upside down.
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 4:32 pm
What a list wreck?
That 13 year old and her three mates should count themselves lucky someones father didn’t get to them first and decide to take his chances with a jury of his peers.
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 4:38 pm
@Murray / nasska:
On reflection, the comment “What a spanking” was not the best choice of words when I referred to Penny.
Mea Culpa.
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 4:50 pm
The Editorial in today’s Press shows that hiring some fact checkers might not go amiss. http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/opinion/editorials/6051184/Editorial-Minor-but-vital
About the Greens they state
“Their election result was a triumph. They won a higher percentage of the vote and expanded their parliamentary representation with talented new members. They are the first minor party under MMP to win more than 10 per cent of the vote and in doing so have staked out what looks like a secure patch in the political landscape”
Other minor Parties to get 10% are NZ First (1996 and 2002) and The Alliance (1996). You could add Labour (2011) and National (2002) as well if you were really mean.
I know it is hard to find these things (it took me nearly 30 second) as they hide the results on http://www.electionresults.org.nz
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 4:52 pm
Mighty River Power chairwoman Joan Withers says the state-owned enterprise is well equipped to deal with a likely partial float of its shares but there is still a lot of water to go under the bridge.
…
Waikato Tainui chairman Tukoroirangi Morgan has reportedly said the tribe would be keen to invest in Mighty River and had an agreement which gave it first right of refusal over the Huntly power station.
Waikato Tainui regard the Waikato river as their ancestral river and most of Mighty River’s electricity generation comes from the eight dams and nine stations along the Waikato.
Why the Maori Party can work with National
Vote:Your move, Winston
November 29th, 2011 at 5:14 pm
Interesting article in The Scientist this morning
http://the-scientist.com/2011/11/28/psychopathic-pathology/
Psychopathic Pathology
The brains of psychopaths have a different structure than healthy brains, perhaps explaining their antisocial and impulsive behaviors.
This is an indication that this is a condition with a substantial genetic contribution, which would be consistent with other behavioural traits of this sort also arising from significant abnormalities in brain structure, such as paedophilia. It also explains why psychopathology is so resistant to treatment
Regards
Vote:Peter J
Webmaster for http://www.sensiblesentencing.org.nz
November 29th, 2011 at 6:33 pm
Laworder
How very interesting! Especially since a Swiss university discovered that Forex traders and their ilk were actually more destructive and reckless than “psychopaths” and considering the fact that today NZ got his first foreign dick shoved up their ass I think they might very well be right.
Swiss university: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/09/27/7993962-traders-more-reckless-than-psychopaths-study-shows
First foreign dick: http://www.forestandbird.org.nz/what-we-do/publications/media-release/government-ramps-mining-agenda-on-first-day-back-in-office
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 6:41 pm
Cookoo, cookoo.
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 6:54 pm
There are hints that paedophilia may have a genetic component too.
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 6:58 pm
laworder
psycopathy is an interesting subject.
Dr R Hare, who coined the term estimates that 1 in 200 is a psycopath to some degree.
Not all psycopaths are criminals. They don’t all turn to crime.
Some may be very successful and ruthless buisnespeople a classic for eg Robert Maxwell.
Some are successful polititians, and they are found in all fields of endevour.
Some, due to their fearless personalities have been war heros, some are test pilots, motor racing stars etc
They are studied in prisons though because that is where high concentrations of them are found.
i think it is generally accepted that psycopathy cannot be treated.
Elements within the New Zealand psyciatric community believe that they can treat
paedophilia and claim very high rates of success rates with prisoners at Rolleston.
Sadly these psychiatrists are bullshit artists however.
The success rates they claim of preventing recidivism never mention over what period.
Vote:i could invent a programme that might have incredible results over the first 14 days after release from prison.
November 29th, 2011 at 7:03 pm
@trivialrev – ‘how very interesting..’
Bwahahahaaaaaaaaa
The Forest & Bird suggestion that the Government was discussing mining on ‘the first day they were back in office’, is palpably incorrect for one main reason – they are not back in office until coalition deals have been completed / special votes have been counted / the matter of the writs has been addressed. But you keep on with the bollocks and the spin if it makes you feel better….
But now that you’ve raised it, I trust that the new Government brings the matter of mining opportunities to the fore and that they start digging at the first opportunity.
The country needs the cash and we should not ignore the great opportunities available via the extraction and sale of products such as coal, gold etc.
Dig, baby, dig!
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 7:04 pm
Sheepaphilia must be genetic too. My Father and his Father and my Fathers Father all liked sheep.
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 7:08 pm
He Said To Me!
He said to me . … . I don’t know why you wear a bra; you’ve got nothing to put in it.
I said to him …. . . You wear pants don’t you?
He said to me … . ………. Shall we try swapping positions tonight?
I said .. That’s a good idea – you stand by the stove & sink while I sit on the sofa and fart
He said to me. … What have you been doing with all the grocery money I gave you?
I said to him . ….. Turn sideways and look in the mirror!
He said to me. ….. Why don’t women blink during foreplay?
I said to him … . They don’t have time.
He said to me. . How many men does it take to change a roll of toilet paper?
I said to him .. .. I don’t know; it has never happened.
He said to me. . Why is it difficult to find men who are sensitive, caring and Good- looking?
I said to him . . . They already have boyfriends.
He said..What do you call a woman who knows where her husband is every night?
I said. . …….. A widow.
He said to me…. Why are married women heavier than single women?
Vote:I said to him .. . .. Single women come home, see what’s in the fridge and go to bed.
Married women come home, see what’s in bed and go to the fridge.
November 29th, 2011 at 7:19 pm
S O M E T I M E S
Sometimes…
when you cry….
no one sees your tears.
Sometimes….
when you are in pain.
no one sees your hurt.
Sometimes.
when you are worried..
no one sees your stress
Sometimes..
when you are happy..
no one sees your smile ….
-
-
-
-
But FART !! just ONE friggin’ time….
And everybody knows!!
Gotcha!! You thought this was going to be one of those heart-touching stories!
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 7:30 pm
This is a story about a couple who had been happily married for years. The only friction in their marriage was the husband’s habit of farting loudly every morning when he awoke. The noise would wake his wife and the smell would make her eyes water and make her gasp for air.
Every morning she would plead with him to stop ripping them off because it was making her sick. He told her he couldn’t stop it and that it was perfectly natural. She told him to see a doctor; she was concerned that one day he would blow his guts out.
The years when by and he continued to rip them out!
Then one Christmas morning as she was preparing the turkey for dinner and he was upstairs sound asleep, she looked at the bowl where she had put the turkey innards and neck, gizzard, liver and all the spare parts and a malicious thought came to her. She took the bowl and went upstairs where her husband was sound asleep and, gently pulling back the bed covers, she pulled back the elastic waistband of his underpants and emptied the bowl of turkey guts in. Some time later she heard her husband wake and let rip the usual trouser trumpet which was followed by a blood curdling scream and the sound of frantic footsteps as he ran into the bathroom. The wife could hardly control herself as she rolled on the floor laughing, tears in her eyes! After years of torture she reckoned she had got him back pretty good. About twenty minutes later, her husband came downstairs in his bloodstained underpants with a look of horror on his face. She bit her lip as she asked him what was the matter.
He said, “Honey, were right. All these years you have warned me and I didn’t listen to you.”
Vote:“What do you mean?” asked his wife.
“Well, you always told me that one day I would end up farting my guts out, and today it finally happened. But by the grace of God, some Vaseline, and these two fingers, I think I got most of them back in.”
November 29th, 2011 at 7:44 pm
Speaking of psychopaths:
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/article/1091678–weeding-out-corporate-psychopaths
+ this is cool
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newsvideo/weirdnewsvideo/8918538/Daredevil-Jetman-soars-over-Alps-in-latest-stunt.html
+ why didn’t Greece do this?
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/ambroseevans-pritchard/100013462/iceland-wins-in-the-end/
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 8:32 pm
Wham bam, second dick up the Kiwi ass. Derivatives trade in New Zealand, get ready to bend over for the next having to pay for the gambles the banksters are going to make. ROFL!
Iceland,Ireland Greece and Italy anyone? http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10769517
Fran Sullivan July 20 2005
Key is clearly on a roll as he lists the options New Zealand could explore if it decided to abandon outdated ideology and take a more pragmatic approach to growing the economy.
The former investment banker knows what he is talking about.
As head of global foreign exchange for investment giant Merrill Lynch he shifted a considerable amount of his business to Ireland in the mid-1990s to take advantage of a 10 per cent tax rate for foreign investors.
The investment was a runaway success.
“We transferred across the aircraft leasing business, the complex interest rates derivatives business, the entire back office for global foreign exchange and a huge chunk of private clients’ business,” says Key.
That was then and now the Irish are paying for MR. Key’s Irrational exuberance. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irrational_exuberance
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 8:54 pm
This is pretty serious:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/8919960/Pakistan-permanently-closes-borders-to-Nato-after-air-strike.html
travellerev, you clearly don’t understand anything about the Irish model so I suggest you don’t talk about it anymore. The Celtic Tiger strategy has zero repeat zero to do with Ireland’s problems today, which was caused by monetary strategy, upon which The Celtic Tiger strategy is completely fucking silent since it has nothing whatsoever to do with it.
Lots of people think it does, but they’re completely mental travellerev and if you even look as if you put yourself in their camp on any blog even a children’s one, you’ll be laughed at during playtime, so I’d watch it were I you, unless you want to be completely humiliated.
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 9:00 pm
I’ve been puzzling over the TV3 skits which seem to be portraying John Key with a speech impediment during election night. Saw another since then. Anyone help me to understand what this is all about?
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 9:00 pm
An easily understandable explanation of derivative markets.
Heidi is the proprietor of a bar in Detroit . She realizes that virtually all of her customers are unemployed alcoholics and, as such, can no longer afford to patronize her bar.
To solve this problem, she comes up with a new marketing plan that allows her customers to drink now, but pay later. She keeps track of the drinks consumed in a ledger (thereby granting the customers loans).
Word gets around about Heidi’s “drink now, pay later” marketing strategy and, as a result, increasing numbers of customers flood into Heidi’s bar. Soon she has the largest sales volume for any bar in Detroit.
By providing her customers freedom from immediate payment demands, Heidi gets no resistance when, at regular intervals, she substantially increases her prices for wine and beer, the most consumed beverages. Consequently, Heidi’s gross sales volume increases massively.
A young and dynamic Vice President at the local bank recognizes that these customer debts constitute valuable future assets, and increases Heidi’s borrowing limit. He sees no reason for any undue concern, since he has the debts of the unemployed alcoholics as collateral.
At the bank’s corporate headquarters, expert traders transform these customer loans into DRINKBONDS, ALKIBONDS and PUKEBONDS. These securities are then bundled and traded on international security markets.
Naive investors don’t really understand that the securities being sold to them as AAA secured bonds are really the debts of unemployed alcoholics. Nevertheless, the bond prices continuously climb, and the securities soon become the hottest-selling items for some of the nation’s leading brokerage houses.
One day, even though the bond prices are still climbing, a risk manager at the original local bank decides that the time has come to demand payment on the debts incurred by the drinkers at Heidi’s bar. He so informs Heidi. Heidi then demands payment from her alcoholic patrons. But being unemployed alcoholics, they cannot pay back their drinking debts. Since Heidi cannot fulfill her loan obligations, she is forced into bankruptcy. The bar closes and her eleven employees lose their jobs.
Overnight, DRINKBONDS, ALKIBONDS and PUKEBONDS drop in price by 90%. The collapsed bond asset value destroys the bank’s liquidity and prevents it from issuing new loans, thus freezing credit and economic activity in the community.
Suppliers of Heidi’s bar had granted her generous payment extensions and had invested their firms’ pension funds in the various BOND securities. They find they are now faced with not only having to write off her bad debt but also with losing over 90% of the presumed value of the bonds. Her wine supplier claims bankruptcy, closing the doors on a family business that had endured for three generations. Her beer supplier is taken over by a competitor, who immediately closes the local plant and lays off 150 workers.
Fortunately though, the bank, the brokerage houses, and their respective executives are saved and bailed out by a multi-billion dollar, no-strings attached cash infusion from their cronies in the Federal Government. The funds required for this bailout are obtained by new taxes levied on employed, middle-class, non-drinkers who have never been in Heidi’s bar.
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 9:40 pm
nasska, excellent.
This story was on CheckPoint tonight – broke on Bloomberg.
The Fed didn’t tell anyone which banks were in trouble so deep they required a combined $1.2 trillion on Dec. 5, 2008, their single neediest day.
Which they then lent out and earned $13,000,000 off of.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-28/secret-fed-loans-undisclosed-to-congress-gave-banks-13-billion-in-income.html
Many informed people already knew this happened if not the precise figures. But how come one has to pry such disclosures from the Fed? Anyone would think it wasn’t working in the best interests of the US taxpayer, almost like a privately owned for-profit enterprise would, were it one.
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 9:45 pm
How’s this.
Iraq now gets to pay Shell for using its own oil.
Nah, it was never about oil. It was about the war on tewwor.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/nov/27/shell-fuel-iraqi-power-stations
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 10:15 pm
reid
Not so many years ago we thought of the President of the USA as the most powerful person in the world. I’m starting to now wonder if it was ever so & more to the point just how many people from the world’s financial system sit above him controlling the strings.
Iraq was only ever possibly about two things. Oil and/or Bush Junior’s desire for utu on Saddam Hussein’s attempt to squash daddy in Kuwait in 1993.
Vote:November 29th, 2011 at 10:28 pm
And a useful way to get Muslims really fucked off with Christians.
Vote: