Posts by JohnAmiria
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Just watched the Obama clip via HuffPo and found it quite moving. Especially when he spoke about his Mom (US sp. deliberate) getting him up at 4.30am to do his homework. And his Dad not being there.
Also on HuffPo is this piece about Senator Elizabeth Dole running an attack ad calling her Dem opponent "Godless". It's worth a look, and even includes the video.
FWIW - Democrat Kay Hagan is an active member of her church and used to teach Sunday School. Which, if you believe Obama is a Muslim, proves she's godless.
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I'd have a hard time getting too worried about a 20 year old transaction by a 26 year old John Key in any case. Even if completely true, it would be right up there with Benson-Pope's tennis ball.....so old and moldy (and the alleged perp now much older and hopefully wiser) that it's irrelevant.
Agreed ... kindof. I was actually still aggrieved about what BP did even if it only came out many years later, because that kind of behaviour is intolerable. It's not OK. Ever.
As for Key - he forgot the precise date he left a job 20 years ago? Sheesh. I've forgotten women I dated 20 years ago. (And vice versa, no doubt).The signatures, extraordinarily similar to Mr Key's, were of another Elders dealer, Maxwell Nichols.
Aha! So Key was forging Nichols' signature was he? The plot thickens.
National Radio
I could only listen to 30 minutes of yesterdays interview with Key. I found Catherine Whassername very combative and wondering if she'd give the same treatment to Clarke.
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I'm loving the merry dance that the Maori Party are doing. Leading might be a better word, since they are indeed in charge. Does anyone seriously think they won't go with Labour? Sure, (it is said) that Tariana has never forgiven Helen for making her duck down and hide in the back seat of the ministerial car after the last election, but they will be the kingmakers this election and they know it.
Labour will entrench the Maori seats (Rodney would too, it seems) and quite possibly make one of them Maori Affairs Minister (and why not, if they clean bowl the Maori seats?) which wouldn't be a bad thing.
I just hope they (the Labour led coalition) don't mess with the GST thing.
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But it all sounds hoaxy.
**__Sounds?__** It IS a hoax and has already been treated as such by the US media, who have kindly not made a big issue of it because the woman is clearly mad. Possibly pushed to the brink by the thought of McCain losing.
"If only I could ignite a race war ..." -
well, watch this instead Joanna [off topic]
Joe "I don't wanna pay taxes" Plumber admits he and parents were on welfare...
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I'm not so sure; that would require a management culture interested in investment rather than asset-stripping, and willing to sacrifice short-term gains for longer-term returns.
Yup. Most of my arguments are predated on a rosey view of 'what could be'. Unfortunately reality often proves to be the opposite.
FWIW - I don't believe in a free unregulated market because it just encourages 'rape' and pillage. I'm also old enough to remember the bad old days when the Govt owned Rail, NZ Post (Telecom), and MOW and nothing got done (it was the Unions fault, right?).
Try selling back to 40% after that
Yes, it'll be interesting to see what the Govt do with our 78% shareholding in Air NZ. If the govt tries selling that down the price will plummet (even more).
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John, to be fair I don't think Key was talking about divesting - and I heard him say something about letting the fund Guardians decide how long to take to reach that 40% target - which makes a mockery of any short term benefits.
Are you sure Kyle? A few pages back I was pretty much told that Key was storming the building, selling the international shares at today's rock-bottom prices, and redirecting 40% of the fund to be spent on NZ shares, including all the dodgy ones, thereby sorting out his super-rich fat cat mates. Or am I just projecting?
But seriously, isn't it weird that 'we' are arguing over whether the State (through it's Super Fund) should be buying into the NZ sharemarket when it's the Nats who are saying 'Yea' and Labour saying 'Nay'??
Why haven't the people said "enough!" and stuck the lot of them in jail?
There's a lot of ppl pinning those hopes on an Obama Administration. But they will be disappointed because 'in the interests of national unity' he will do no such thing. Which is a shame because only then would America have had any chance of waking up. But perhaps I'm overly pessimistic. Maybe 'voting for the N***a' is a positive sign. Seriously.
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I'm stunned that Obama is ahead in the polls. I am trying not to become complacent. It could still all go horribly wrong! Wrong I say!
Rush Limbaugh claims it's all part of his cunning plan. Whether he actually believes it ('Obama is up in the Polls because my listeners are lying to the pollsters to confound them') or is just saying it to keep hope alive I'm not sure.
Actually, check that. I don't think anyone believes it, except the imbecilic fringe.What to do?
Just wait. The answers are all here, someone will be along shortly.
: )
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It's kind of weird to think that the NZ Super Fund has enough money to buy the entire New Zealand sharemarket. That just highlights how small we are. "We're a tiny market that matters not a damn on the world stage." is what I said earlier so we agree on that.
As I've also said, National are silly if they think the fund should divest itself of international shares now in order to have a 40% NZ shareholding. I've really been arguing my own version - that directing 40% of new contributions into the NZ market for the next few years would not be a bad thing. I myself have been able to buy a few undervalued share this past fortnight.
But anyhoo .... "The Cullen Fund isn't there to prop up our economy" Yes, but imagine what could have been. Imagine if the Super Fund owned Telecom, Rail, BNZ, Air NZ, V/42 Below, NavMan, and Watties. We might have decent broadband, electric trains, kiwibank, an airline that serviced all parts of NZ, an international beverage brand, and crops grown in NZ again.
Why is it that when our businesses reach a certain size they get sold off? What's holding us back? Often the answer is that our businesses are undercapitalised, that our infrastructure is under capitalised. Well, we've got a few lean years ahead of us then if we're waiting for the international markets to come knocking.
Unless Warren Buffet thinks "What? You mean I can buy two islands for the price of one?"
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John, the 40% has been reported as of the total fund, not of only new investment.
Well that's silly. My portfolio is down 25% but I'm not 'divesting'. You hang on to what you've got - unless they're dogs and /or you need the money.
John, you don't invest in the stock market "for the short term". At the least you look medium-term (which economists call a period somewhere between three and seven years), and the commonly-accepted view is that shares are a long-term investment.
Thanks for explaining it Mathew. How long till you retire BTW?
To suggest that National would get the Cullen Fund into the NZX "for the short term", especially for such enormous values, is either naive on your part, or accurate and thus so incredibly disturbing that...
As I said, who else is going to buy into our sharemarket a.k.a. back NZ business? The NZX is likely to remain stagnant for some time, one possible outcome being that the Aussies will come over and buy us up cheap, as is their habit.
...that no National MP should be permitted to even be issued a credit card due to their total absence of financial competence.
Yes yes - National bad, Labour good. I get it.