It isn't Cactus Kate anymore... it's Cactus Jack!

Anybody who knows WWE wrestling will know of the legend that is Cactus Jack, aka Mick Foley. The hardcore legend. The man who has done some damn right brutal smackdowns in the ring and is beloved around the world for his defiance against the big hairy fat beings he faces in the ring.

Our own Cactus Kate has redefined the word Smackdown and poor old Bomber has been rendered knocked out after her latest response to his crybaby antics over at Tumeke.

Round one - Fresh from calling CK a mixture of Michael Laws and Graham Capill (which he later weakly changed to Ghengis Khan) he decides to attack CK over her comments about the "underclass". and CK's apparent dislike of solo mothers. All neatly and selectively cut and pasted comments with all the accuracy and poise that would be found in Harare.

Cactus Jack/Kate strikes back - with confidence crippling punches attacking Bombers references to candidates as kiddy fiddlers (sick) and with fulluncut statements on her personal beliefs about solo mothers and adding to it the Deadbeat Dads that also play a huge part in all this.

Like a puppy that has been kicked about by his awful owner, Bomber needs to be taken away and put somewhere where he won't be hit again and again. It's just (almost) too awful seeing somebody walk into a battle of wits completely unarmed.

And people wondered why Bomber has never run for Parliament.... he simply hasn't got the testicular fortitude to do so.

The Power of Cricket

I see our PM has made a trip to India to help push the free trade agenda between our two nations. I think it is well overdue that India became a strategic partner for New Zealand - with its growing population and consumerist middle and upper classes - we should have thought about pursuing this a long time ago or at least seen it as important as the Chinese free trade agreement we have already signed.

India, the worlds most populous English speaking country and a democracy - is an amazing country. I spent a few months there in 03 and saw much of the country, experiencing culture and enthusiasm from the people there that extinguished any feeling that we are hard done by in NZ. While I was there, there was a massive commotion at the tiny rooms where I saw staying when they found out a Kiwi was staying there. It came about the NZ were touring India in the cricket in a couple months time and the lads had to come talk to me about cricket stats and get in a few overs on the street.

The kids and adults were obsessed with cricket stats and the game. They could rattle off bowling AND batting figures for Sir Richard Hadlee in their sleep. When I asked who they loved the most from NZ it was Stephen Fleming. Of course I didn't notice until they showed me - there were huge Fleming billboards up around the city! Cricket is a religion there - forget NZ with the rugby or England with the Football... this is something far far greater than that, which I experienced almost every day of my stay and saw first hand when I got to see the first test in Ahmedebad as I had to have a 6 man police escort with me every day of the match due to the fans wanting autographs and to shake my hand simply for being a Kiwi sitting on the terraces with the poor and not going into the stands (I was a humble backpacker). It was up there as one of the most amazing experiences of my life and I highly recommend that travelwise, give India a go.

Seeing Key be overwhelmed by fans of Stephen Fleming on his latest visit would hopefully be a sign that he understands the possibilities of a uniquely special agreement between the countries. I hope the free trade agreement pushes through and we can both reap the rewards that we all know free trade delivers.

On your own terms? No you were DUMPED.

I'm breaking my self imposed silence on politics because I have read too much bullshit being spun out of Wellington lately. Journalists are getting lazy and will believe anything these days, but they must be brain-dead if they believe that Heather Roy is quitting politics on her "own terms".

It just doesn't make sense. Not that long ago she was pushing to be leader of ACT.
She ran for Deputy Leader of ACT when she played a pivotal part in removing Rodney Hide and expected to be rewarded as such.

So for her to suddenly state she is leaving on her own terms at the SAME TIME as media reports that the blogger known as Cactus Kate has been approached to add some grit to the party is absolute nonsense. I know CK and she has a very good bullshit detector and Heather knew that if CK got within a hundred mile radius of her that her game was up.

But lets be serious. In politics you are not rewarded for destabilising your party. You cannot drag the party through the mud, feeding ravenous journalists with juicy portions of scandal and then expect to come out of it smelling like roses. I knew that when I was given the opportunity to vote on the ACT list selection that I was going to reward Heather (and others) appropriately for their past deeds and I was not alone.

I believe in karma. And boy does it feel good. Time to take out the trash. Any other MPs that feel like they might want to join Heather should start packing their bags and heading south right now....

Heather Roy - be honest with yourself or at least have the guts to be honest with everybody else.

See also Brunettes post over at Raw Prawn

Keeping Stock correctly posts that they saw this coming a few weeks ago.

And Bomber has given CK a glowing endorsement - that will inspire people to do exactly the opposite and vote for her.

Questions

1. When will the press stop driving around Christchurch East looking for beneficiaries who want to moan about the "government" not doing enough to fix their STATE house?

2. How come we are not hearing from the people of Sumner who have been hit at least as hard as those in the east?

3. Will Cantabs now stop hating everything Auckland given that it will basically be the people of Auckland who will fund their recovery?

4. Do we really need the human rights commission?

5. At what stage will the Labour party admit that they are not even trying to win the election?

6. When they do admit it can we cancel the election and save the money?

7. Enjoying seeing Winston making a fool of himself?

8. When will DPF stop being a mouth piece for the Nat's and go back to being the best political blogger in the country?

9. Has Phool found a job yet?...come to think of it, has D4J?

10. By Election this weekend...does anybody care?

Blonde Festival Photos

Every time I look at my blog stats, it shows a general pattern. I get the most hits and views from people whenever I talk about certain things, for instance the Go Blonde festival in Latvia (that I have attended twice in its 3 year history) is very popular. This year I took a large group with me to attend the festival - which is in aid of raising money for disabled children and to help bring positive tourism to Riga. Already they have raised money to build a special playground for disabled kids and this year it was to build a rehabilitation centre for them. Tourism wise, hotels and hostels around the city were booked heavily - although to be a participant in the parade you needed to arrange this with the organisers, or in my case by invited to join the parade! :) Putting it mildly, I like supporting charities - but this is my favourite one, ha ha!

To appease you all, here are a few photos and links! I have already posted a video of my adventures already and I also appeared on the BBC for this (#5 I think) so a bit of a laugh!







When Reuters picked up my interview, I had to laugh at all the locations it ended up - Poland, The USA and TV3 in NZ... sweet. Second time on TV in NZ this year, and coincidentally both while I was in a costume wig!

See also

Album 1,
Album 2
Album 3

NHS banning "naughty" nurses

What has the world come to?
If I am stuck in a hospital bed surrounded by other unwell and miserable people - feeling none too pleased with myself, the first thing I want to see is a friendly (and attractive) face. If the nurse in question has an extra button undone, then even better.

I have thankfully not been a patient in hospital for a few years now - but I remember nurses and doctors wearing all sorts of clothing - and while some may have been seen as a little revealing - all I cared about was the quality of service, and notthat I may get a look at her upper thigh.

The East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust has now spent considerable time putting together a six page dress code guide for all its employees - time and money that could have been spent on patient care. Not that it matters - as it was the patients who complained! If a patient gets upset because a nurse wasn't able to help them (as shes being forced to change her blouse) then they have themselves (and the PC NHS Trust) to blame and not the poor nurses!

Whale Leaks - Payback is a bitch

I wonder how it feels having material that you wanted kept safe being used against you? Material that should have been kept safe but left sitting on the window ledge for all to have a taste.

Is this the lowest point Labour could possibly be at?

Is this even close to the amount of rapture that will come Labours way after the Brash emails debacle?

I hope it's only the tip of the iceberg.

12 Billion Pounds....

What breaks my heart is knowing that my taxes are being spent on silly buggers and as we all know we are never going to get true value for money for what we contribute in taxes. The big issue for us over here at the moment is the upcoming London Olympics next year. The bill is now set to hit 12 Billion Pounds.

12 Billion Pounds

That's 2 Billion more than it would save the Government to increase the state pension age by one year for everybody and bigger than the entire budget for the Home Office that includes police funding (6.4b) according to the Guardians spending review.

They promised an awful lot to us taxpayers when bidding for this Olympics. Tessa Jowell the Government Minister from Labour and the bidding chiefs all promised the games would cost £2.4b and even then with the pre recession economy we were not too happy with this spending commitment.

It hasn't all been clear sailing either. The Olympic logo looks like Lisa Simpson giving Bart a blowjob. The 2 mascots are pretty awful and not very "public friendly".

The ticketing is something I was worried about and for a good reason - and it has not let me down! The process in order to get a ticket has been very complicated and a disaster for so many. To get a ticket you had to register online and pick the tickets you wanted to go into the ballot for and enter your bank details. Months later money will come out of your account - and you won't know what event you are successful for. Eventually, and I say this vaguely as it hasn't happened yet - you will find out which events you are successful in getting. The problem from all this is that nobody knows who got what and compounding this is the stories that VIP tickets and freebie tickets to corporates and friends of the IOC have been heavily allocated by the thousands taking up many of the best seats in the stadiums.

Contrast this with how foreigners can get hold of tickets - if you were in Germany you can walk into a ticket shop and buy a ticket for any event you want on the spot. Something isn't quite right with this picture. Sure there was a lot of interest in tickets but the idea that this was an Olympics for the people - and especially for us poor mugs who are paying for it - the reality is becoming a nightmare... and I haven't mentioned the tubes yet!

Best to watch it on the telly methinks.

When will the currency madness end?

I am not an economist. Far from it. I am not any sort of economic expert nor profess to be one. What I know is that I work hard, make a decent wage, take regular holidays and have some good savings in the bank. Not too long ago I could have returned to NZ and could have enjoyed an exchange rate of 3 dollars to the pound.

So what has happened? Apart from the Fonterra silly buggers, what has suddenly made the Kiwi dollar worth so much right now? Is this permanent? Will it crash and burn?

Kiwis are now able to fly over and visit Europe and the UK for longer nowadays. I recommend you do it now before it all goes tits up (both here and in NZ) as you'll have a smashing time over this side of the world. Hell, even London is experiencing some sunny days - and it's hard to beat a sunny day in London over an ice cold pint of cider. I read an article telling Kiwis of the value of coming to the UK and had a chuckle at it as it contained a few exaggerations..

- internet in most London internet cafes are £1 p/h (or $2). Some places you can find 3 hours for £2.
- A round of beers in Shepherds Bush is now probably the same in any part of London, a pint is around £3.30-£4.00. When I arrived here I was able to get a pint for under £2. By saying that, it's still far cheaper to drink in London than it is in NZ.
- Show me a flat white for £2 in Soho...not likely.
- Food and clothing is also very cheap here. Europeans, even from the PIGS states are coming here to enjoy the good value found in central London shops, and a supermarket shop in central London is a damn sight cheaper than it is in any supermarket in NZ.

Either way, I don't see any reason why I would transfer my savings and lifestyle to NZ even if the dollar is at an all time high. The cost of living is still mental especially in consideration of the wages being paid out.

I'd appreciate it if anybody can provide a more professional opinion to what the hell is going on and when it will end as it is getting rather silly now. I want the pound to start behaving like the strongest currency on the planet, as it should be!

How I spent my weekend - Latvian Blonde Festival