Obama supporters black with rage over joke

I see it is not just in New Zealand that we do not have a sense of humour and have our freedom of speech and opinion curtailed by the PC morons amongst us - lucky we have the internet huh?

A Canadian broadcaster has been reprimanded for a comedy sketch saying Barack Obama would be easy to assassinate because the first black American president would stand out against the White House.

The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council issued a public reprimand of Radio-Canada, after the government's regulatory agency asked the private industry council to look into the matter before it begins its own investigation.

Canada's broadcast regulator, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, received 210 complaints about Radio-Canada's controversial "Bye Bye 2008" New Year's Eve sketch. Go here for more

It is hard to see what is so offensive about stating that a man with dark skin stands out against a white background because he does and it is funny in the context of a joke. Do we all have short memories of what the last guy in the White House had to put up with from the very same types of people that would have complained about this joke reference?

So it is OK to pillory a white man but not a black one?

And of course it isnt racist at all to appoint a Latino Woman to the Supreme Court or various other ethnic groups to political positions just because you want your team to look like a rainbow, rather than appointing the best person for the job regardless of skin colour.

Come on, time to grow up and move on. After all there is a black man in the Whitehouse now.

Keep your wallets safe!

c Political Animal 2009

Stockmarket Education: What is a Share?

This little piece originated from a search that found its way to this blog; "What is a share?"

I sort of take this for granted and cant really remember asking this question because I think I already knew what a share was and perhaps that the word was self explanatory of its meaning.

It isn't dumb question though.

Lets see it we can give this question a reasonably intelligent answer because it is important that beginners in the stockmarket know and those that think we know(like yours truly)might find out something we don't.

This is how I would describe a share to a beginner.

Basically when you buy a shares (or stock, security, equity) in a company, in our example a listed company on a stock exchange, your shares get you ownership of a small part of that company and some of the attendant rights of an owner of that company.

Some of these are:

1. A share of profits -through provision of dividends distributed to shareholders.

2. Voting rights on remuneration for management and fees for directors.

3. Votes on selected business associated with areas of the company.


There are also responsibilities.

Some of these are:

1. The company may ask shareholders for additional capital from time to time to help run the business.

2. Keep an eye on the health of the company by reading company reports and third party research written.

The shares in the company that you have part-ownership in have a monetary value and that value can differ from day to day, week to week and year to year and you can add to your ownership or dispense with that ownership at any time but at different values depending on the time you sell-just like any business you might have full ownership over.

Shares are bought and sold using a stockbroker or sharebroker or through issues of company capital through IPOs and various other ways.

What you have if you own shares in a company then are certain rights and responsibilities, much like those that the sole owner of a business but as a part shareholder some of the rights that a majority owner has over the running of a business do not apply to you.

1. You do not have a say in the day to day running of the business.

2. Your vote in any proposition put to shareholders can be voted down if the majority don't fall your way

3. Your shareholding can be sold against your will if there is a takeover or merger that the majority of shareholders vote for, even if you vote not to sell.

Some people don't look at a share as owning a part of a business, just some sort of esoteric measurement of how much a company might be worth on a day to day basis but I and many others do, for that is exactly what a share is.

You are part owner of a business and your shares make you a business owner.


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c Share Investor 2009

"Climate Change" theory hits business bottom line

From the Mainfreight Ltd [MFT.NZ] 2009 FY profit announcement today comes a management commentary piece about Government red tape and its associated cost.

Don Braid usually has a well placed go at Government bureaucracy when it comes to profit season and his target this time is "climate change" and carbon emissions and it is one of the largest pieces of commentary in the profit release on one subject:

Mainfreight has always attempted to reduce the environmental impact of its operations. Our sustainability initiatives have often resulted in reduced costs; so the bottom line and the environment are both winners.

Real or not, climate change is fast becoming a core strategic issue for businesses everywhere. For Mainfreight, it begins with accepting that our business is based on an activity that generates carbon emissions and then taking responsibility to reduce those emissions over time; without negatively impacting on our competitiveness.

Last year we commenced a programme of measuring the carbon emissions in our business in New Zealand with a view to extending this measurement to other countries where we have a presence, and to reducing our emissions per tonne of freight moved. We made this information available to the public through our annual report and other avenues.

This year however, we have been faced with significantly increased costs and bureaucracy from the Government departments which oversee carbon emissions, and while as a business we will continue our programme of measurement and reduction to support our long-held policies of environmental responsibility, we have chosen not to incur the substantial costs involved in the audit and certification processes that are now demanded. We believe that incurring these costs would not provide a measurable benefit and therefore would not be in the best interests of our shareholders.

Don Braid, Mainfreight Managing Director

It is good to see the middle finger being extended to the bureaucracy and cost associated with it but what is clear from Bruce's revelation is that the "climate change" zealots in our midst are costing businesses millions and this will be the same with any other business, be it a logistics company which would be heavily impacted by "climate change" red tape to a business such as Sky City Entertainment [SKC.NZ] while less severely impacted would be impacted nonetheless.

All because of a mythical theory that the planet is warming.

It would be interesting to get comments by management from other CEOs of listed New Zealand companies to see how much it is costing their businesses. I have yet to see such comment from anyone, which is odd considering the substantial tax on company profits.


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c Share Investor 2009

John Key's Socialist streak political weakness

Two stories from this week got me highly annoyed about my decision to vote National in the last election.

One was the provision of money to be used to insulate New Zealand homes and the other the idea from the Prime Minister to ban the over the counter sale of cold remedies that contain Pseudoephedrine.

On first look the idea that the Government pay to insulate New Zealand homes is a good one - warmer homes, less cost for heating healthy occupants and it doesn't cost them the full whack.

But hang on a sec what happened to working hard, saving the dosh and paying for it yourself?

You know, taking responsibility for your own life and keeping yourself warm.

Then the cold remedy thing really gets me steamed because I am a happy user of Pseudoephedrine products-they bloody work for me!  Banning a product that overwhelmingly gives relief for 10s of thousands of users every Winter because morons with a drug habit cant control their base urges makes little sense. These people will get their kicks whether we ban this or that anyway.

Both of these decisions from the Nats reject the proposition that they pushed before the election that individuals need to take responsibility for their actions and their lives and it seems the evil socialist streak that John Key had embedded in him as a child is coming out simply because it is politically advantageous to do so.

This is not what I voted the National Party in for. I want my fellow kiwis who can take responsibility for themselves given the ability to do so. To spoon feed us in the way these two examples above do is simply more of the same stuff we got from the previous lot and it needs to stop.

c Political Animal 2009