OnPoint by Keith Ng

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OnPoint: Gotcha?

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  • Don Christie,

    Now that's what I call a chandelier. Awesomeness. As I said elsewhere, definitely on my to do before I die (or CK bumps me off) list.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1645 posts Report Reply

  • Keith Ng,

    I doubt it. Slater is, as reported in the SST, on income protection insurance, so I doubt he wants them to know that he has a company. Meanwhile, breaking the Companies Act might be trivial, but could be much more serious for a commercial lawyer.

    It may be entirely coincidental that Cactus Kate left two days after I emailed her about this, but changing the copyright notice to pretend that they're not linked to the Belize entity? That's fleeing the scene.

    As I mentioned before, what we don't know is who else is involved with Gotcha. Sure, WhaleOil's identity doesn't need protecting, but if there were others involved...

    And as I said, this is kinda where the trail ends. Unless insurance folks/companies office/IRD gets involved. And since there's no money in it, I can't see the latter two doing much.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 543 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Campbell,

    heh - I tried to persuade Russel a few years back - he was in the US for Foo camp - and I was going to the playa on the tail end of a trip paid for by a client - it's a tough thing to do though - you need real infrastructure - enough food, water, shelter and alcohol/whatever for a week - there's nothing to buy there but ice - you want to be comfortable in 40C days and sometimes close to 0C nights otherwise you will have no fun - so go with some friends preferably at least some people who've been before

    And of course you have to bring lots of cheap beer for fizzball

    It's late here - time for me to sleep - 'nite

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 2623 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Ta for burningman link. Heard an advert for a NewZild zone right away. Sounded like that "beached as" clip but involving 42 Below.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Joshua Drummond,

    Slater is, as reported in the SST, on income protection insurance, so I doubt he wants them to know that he has a company

    This is why I don't get Slater's constant bitching in blog form about dole-bludgers and the like. But I'm obviously not the first to make this observation, and I guess it's a hole with no bottom.

    Since Nov 2006 • 119 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Williams,

    What Craig and Ben said. The three names mentioned in relation to the site are three people I'd happily continue to ignore. Not that I don't appreciate Keith's forensic work, I do. The pathology of wingnuts is interesting.

    Sydney • Since Nov 2006 • 2273 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Litterick,

    Curiouser and curiouser: the Brian Spondre post of 30th August, to which Cactus Kate linked in her apology, has been removed. All that remains is Spondre's last comment:

    Russsell – can we shake hands and start again ? I am not hung up about Public Address. I apologize for my flippant remark about left wing intellectuals over at Lance Wiggs that has got us off on the wrong foot.

    I still think that Lance made some excellent points about the complexity of your site.

    What did I miss, and what did Kate mean about Spondre liking to watch? And isn't the third 's' in Mr Brown's name a little excessive?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1000 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Litterick,

    It rather looks as if Mr Spondre has left the building.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1000 posts Report Reply

  • Danyl Mclauchlan,

    I flatter myself that I have a pretty good idea of how Cactus and Slater think and I'm guessing they registered in Belize for much the same reason that Calvin and Hobbes send each other messages in secret code, and that she left Gotcha because it's a pretty awful site and her readers were unhappy.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 927 posts Report Reply

  • ScottY,

    I pedicted on my blog this morning that Gotcha would be shortlived. But wow, what a collapse! I guess poor Slater's left to turn the lights out.

    So that's at least two blogs that fellow Spondre has been booted from/departed in the last month.

    West • Since Feb 2009 • 794 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    There's nothing more gripping that following the adventures of Whale Oil and all the... I mean, you know... oh, sorry, I kind of drifted off there. What was I saying?

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    What Craig and Ben said. The three names mentioned in relation to the site are three people I'd happily continue to ignore.

    And from the moment I first heard about Gotcha!, I was rather sceptical about Slater's ability to play well with others -- which is kind of essential if you're going to be involved in any kind of group blog or shared site.

    So that's at least two blogs that fellow Spondre has been booted from/departed in the last month.

    But to be fair, I was invited to join No Minister a long time ago and I declined because I just knew that sooner rather than later I'd post something that would end up in more drama than I could be bothered with. The thing about blog biffo is that it's like family feuds over Christmas dinner -- the entertainment value is generally in direct inverse proportion to the vehemence involved. And nobody remembers what Cousin Edna did in 1956 to earn the undying hatred of Aunt Betty...

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Cactus Kate,

    Finally entry through the front.

    Right, everyone's an expert in this.

    Keith you really are a numb nuts and Russell should demote you to last on his list of blogs. You have relaunched my blog to perfection. You should have taken my advice to combine sex and travel the other day for your own sake.

    Whatever the cost of the NZ company it is not cheaper to purchase for me than one in Belize. You think I negotiate retail for anything offshore? Where does the $400 come from? So cut the silly comments about NZ being cheaper than elsewhere. It is not. I have explained why this company was set up at length to you. I am sorry that I did not give you the answers that you wanted - that this is some kind of evil conspiracy to (newnewnewnew) protect Cameron from the 12,000 people who have apparently launched defamation actions against him.

    I am not NZ tax resident. If I was to set up a NZ company, I would be a non-resident if I was named director or shareholder which complicates matters as you have to have natural person directors.

    Gotcha Publishing Limited has not earned one cent of income. Except for Belize there is no reporting obligation anywhere with respect to this company, especially NZ. Gotcha Publishing Limited has never owned property or traded in NZ. Fullstop.

    Next point - the site was never registered by authorised officers of the company Gotcha Publishing Limited, and no I am not one and nor is Cameron Slater. Therefore Gotcha Publishing Limited does not own the site and has absolutely nothing to do with the site. From what I can see Keith Ng Limited could own the site if someone stuck the details up with freeparking. Such is the silliness of the registration system on domains. I think I have raised these concerns before with respect to the internet. You can fake details in registration. The details were not fake. They were just incorrect. As was the reference on the Gotcha site. As I have explained. If you hit this link you will now see the correct details.

    http://whois.domaintools.com/gotcha.co.nz

    I do not own the Gotcha domain name. I have never owned Gotcha Publishing Limited. Gotcha Publishing Limited has never owned the Gotcha domain name. I did not register the details for Gotcha's domain name.

    But Keith, I work in the offshore industry. Yes. I own offshore companies. I am personal director of many offshore companies. I am trustee of offshore trusts. This is not illegal. I am a tax resident of Hong Kong and a NZ passport holder. Hong Kong does not tax (like NZ does) on worldwide income so I can own as many offshore companies as I like as long as income is generated outside of HK and I never have to return a cent in HK or the offshore jurisdictions. The moment I left NZ I no longer was NZ tax resident and have no reporting obligation to NZ unless I do business there.

    Even if I was NZ tax resident this would not be illegal or even remotely suspicious provided the correct disclosures are made and income returned. The IRD collect these documents, not prying twits like yourself.

    You will have to do better because all you have achieved here is show that you are utterly incompetent in your research attempting I assume to smear Cameron with silliness.

    Now how are those Hager emails coming along?

    Hong Kong • Since Dec 2006 • 9 posts Report Reply

  • sagenz,

    Soooo russell/Keith

    Are you going to answer the legitimate questions that CK raises about your obvious complicated big corporate structure or are you simply going to go the Winston Peters route of ignoring the questions at hand and fantasising at will.

    After all the questions Keith and Cactus raise are obviously of such momentous public interest.

    Disclose now! Is Keith in the pay of BIG media??? Does Russell really hide his affairs behind [gasp] a trust??? Did Cactus really not pay retail for an offshore company because she has a brain???

    The public has a right to know!!!!!

    or not, GTFOI

    uk • Since Nov 2006 • 128 posts Report Reply

  • John Farrell,

    Wow. Will whaleoil be next?

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 499 posts Report Reply

  • ScottY,

    Kate's public explanation for using Belize instead of NZ still doesn't make much sense from a legal point of view, but then I'm not fully aware of her financial affairs, and frankly they're of no interest to me, other than as entertainment. The fact that she's reacted so rabidly suggests she's a sensitive soul.

    But I've enjoyed the exchanges. Why Kate didn't say "mind your own f**ing business" from the very start I still don't know. If she'd done that the issue would have died and this would have been a very short (and less entertainng) thread.

    The first rule when anyone asks you about your financial affairs (unless you're a politician or public figure): tell them to piss off.

    West • Since Feb 2009 • 794 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    BTW this is probably a slightly better link: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/burningman-live - best time to look is NZ mornings for playa daylight

    It looks like the outskirts of Kabul.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    The first rule when anyone asks you about your financial affairs (unless you're a politician or public figure): tell them to piss off.

    Or you're a blogger prone to accusing your political and personal enemies of various forms of heinous skull-duggery and douche-bagosity? Personally, I'm still not giving a shit about Mr. Slater's affairs but it's an endless source of amusement how often those who dish the bitch and demand transparency and accountability at the top of their voices, can't take it back.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Are you going to answer the legitimate questions that CK raises about your obvious complicated big corporate structure or are you simply going to go the Winston Peters route of ignoring the questions at hand and fantasising at will.

    Fucking hell. I think this all rather demonstrates that the best interaction with these people is none at all.

    FWIW, I was amused by the adolescent sense of drama that would lead anyone to register their company in Belize via an anonymising agent. I took that to be Keith's reaction in the first place.

    The apparent hasty removal of a reference to the company in the site's copyright notice rather added to the amusement.

    But as for some of the rest of it ... WTF?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Some people take this power of the pen thing, far to literally.

    I was tempted to ask when its a good time to piss Kate off, but do I have the time or the insurance to withstand the inevitable? Not really.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Eddie Clark,

    Why stop at Belize? Why not found a Randian utopia in the mid-atlantic and register your company there? Then no lefties or poor people could question you again. Nothing could go wrong with that.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 273 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic,

    Craig R:

    but it's an endless source of amusement how often those who dish the bitch and demand transparency and accountability at the top of their voices, can't take it back.

    Do as CK & WO say, not as they do.

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic,

    Ed C:

    Why stop at Belize? Why not found a Randian utopia in the mid-atlantic and register your company there? Then no lefties or poor people could question you again. Nothing could go wrong with that.

    And nothing can go wrong in Somalia either.

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    Wow. Will whaleoil be next?

    If only, when he arrives, we could get some Days of Our Lives villain music to automatically play. When will he stage his own death for publicity?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Tessa Houghton,

    you are awesome. that is all.

    Wellington • Since Aug 2009 • 18 posts Report Reply

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