Posts by JohnAmiria

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  • Up Front: A Short Word Before We Begin,

    Sorry pedants, the correct answer is ...

    Now I've got that running through my head... does it have words? The theme to Bonanza does.


    No it doesn't, but feel free to sing anyway ...

    hither and yon • Since Aug 2008 • 215 posts Report

  • Up Front: A Short Word Before We Begin,

    I am not Keith.

    You say that now, but what did Nimoy follow up his I Am Not Spock book with?

    hither and yon • Since Aug 2008 • 215 posts Report

  • Speaker: It’s Beijing, but not as…,

    or Mao. I also made that point earlier too.

    hither and yon • Since Aug 2008 • 215 posts Report

  • Hard News: Just marketing to the base,

    otoh, housecleaners are frequently in demand in hi-income households. and perhaps nannying.

    It's ironic that one possible outcome of this policy will be that low income beneficiaries will be utilised to allow high income parents (presumably the mother) time away from their kids to go shopping, sip lattes, or volunteer at Hospice. But the reality is that the last people high income earners want left alone in their house is a low income beneficiary who really doesn't want to be there anyway and will probably just case the joint for their thieving P-smoking boyfriend ...

    hither and yon • Since Aug 2008 • 215 posts Report

  • Hard News: Just marketing to the base,

    there are lots of part-time jobs in the service industry but the usual hours (in my experience) are 6-10pm fri/sat nights. and maybe sunday lunchtimes.

    Yes, which is why I like the policy in theory only. I'm presuming National are only forcing DPB beneficiaries to work/train 15 hours a week within that 9am-3pm window (effectively 9.30-2.30 if you allow time to drop off and pick up the kid/s) which opens up a can of worms. Do you lose your DPB if the only available part time work clashes with that window? Because I'd imagine it's only pubs and cafes that need people for 3 hours around lunchtime. Or telemarketers, possibly. And how will that affect existing staff? Will they be 'rostered off' at lunchtime and forced to work a split morning/evening shift because the lunchtime/afternoon shift has been filled with DPB beneficiaries?

    As I said, it won't work in practice.

    hither and yon • Since Aug 2008 • 215 posts Report

  • Hard News: Just marketing to the base,

    Yes, as Judith Collins pointed out, the number on the sickness benefit is the highest it's every been, but so is the population -- and that population is, demographically, only going to become more infirm over the next few years.

    Are you seriously suggesting that it is our aging population that is to blame for our rising rate of sickness beneficiaries?

    DPB mothers/fathers *are already working*. They're raising children.

    Nonsense, everybody knows that after the age of six they practically raise themselves. What with the Internet and all.

    National's says that this policy will only take effect once the youngest child is six ie at school from 9am-3pm. Are you seriously suggesting DPB parents spend those 6 hours a day washing ironing, cleaning the house, doing the shopping, etc? That's 30 hours a week.

    Having said that, although I like the idea in theory I know that in practice it will be completely unworkable. There simply aren't enough part time jobs out there for parents whose kids are at school. I would anticipate a proliferation in 15 Hour Weekly Training Courses as the only nett outcome with this policy.

    hither and yon • Since Aug 2008 • 215 posts Report

  • Speaker: It’s Beijing, but not as…,

    Activists and dissidents aside (and these people are widely viewed as pointless troublemakers) for most people making a decent living trumps all political concerns.

    Yes, that's the general viewpoint expressed by my Chinese friends. As I noted earlier (on this thread or one of the others) China is an 8,000+ year old civilisation and the current Communist system has only ruled China for less than a 100 years. Prior to that it was Emperors and fuedal Warlords. Most Chinese take the longer view (which is why family is so important to them) and believe that Communism will pass too.

    hither and yon • Since Aug 2008 • 215 posts Report

  • Hard News: A few days away,

    unintentional symbolism in the children carrying the Chinese flag towards the flagpole, then having it taken off them by some rather precise soldiers who took it the rest of the way...

    Oh Julie, did you not see the happy smiling children willingly handing over the flag to the glorious Red Army ...?

    hither and yon • Since Aug 2008 • 215 posts Report

  • Island Life: Let’s learn English, with…,

    What if he just remembered his comments, and repeated them later?

    Then English could say "That's not what I said at all. You are either confused, a liar, or twisting my words". At which point you pull out the tape and say "Gotcha!"

    hither and yon • Since Aug 2008 • 215 posts Report

  • Island Life: Let’s learn English, with…,

    That would have been Paul Hobbs you saw last Thursday.

    Yeah, but to be fair how's a guy meant to focus when it's "tits-out-on-telly" almost non-stop for 20 minutes?

    hither and yon • Since Aug 2008 • 215 posts Report

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