Posts by FletcherB
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Legal Beagle: The law to make it easier…, in reply to Ben Austin,
I would love to know how this random topic was picked out of a hat
The selection is genuinely random (I've been lead to believe?)... the main criteria for being pulled out, is to have first been put in...
As was pointed out by an earlier poster... one possible explanation for government party members to put (inconsequential?) bills into the hat for possible drawing, is simply to reduce the mathematical possibility of non-government members bills from being randomly selected...
I mean, if the government really felt it was an important issue that needed imminent addressing... they'd just introduce it to the house the way most other bills are done, right?
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What a great read... thankyou for the insight...
Slightly related... one of the heirlooms I look forward to inheriting in due course is a hand coloured photograph of my deceased grandmother, taken when she was ~16ish... I'm guessing from my (imprecise) knowledge of her age when she passed away, and the fashion on show, it was probably 1920-1935?. It looks just like my mother... Apparently Nan was never impressed with the picture because as pretty and stylish as it is... the dress is painted a soft peach colour... when in fact it was a sky/baby blue :)
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Hard News: DNC 2016: Beyond weird, most…, in reply to Hilary Stace,
Wonderful speech by Michelle Obama. I wish she was standing.
Me too! But hey, if it works for "ex First Lady" Hillary, maybe Michelle will follow at a later date??
I'm not exactly down with political nepotism, or pseudo monarchy, (Bush, Kennedy, etc.) but if the person has talent... I don't see why not...
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Speaker: Confessions of an Uber driver, in reply to BenWilson,
Uber’s response was that they have their own insurance policy to cover any claims that are refused by the other insurance companies
Seeing as Uber will not supply any policy details on this, It means they are not supplying any reasons why it might not apply in any particular instance... I think you need to take them on their word, and then check on their ability or willingness to cover you when the reason you were refused by the other insurance company was a trivial matter like having never taken out a policy or paid any premiums at all... So, Uber would have to cover you because they'd told you they would, no?
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Polity: Global behemoths and tax, in reply to andin,
Just as some people needed a god to be good,
so companies need laws to keep them being upstanding contributing patrons of society.Yes, thats about the size of it... especially when large chunks of the shareholders are other companies or investment schemes... not just "mom+pop" investors who might be convinced that good corporate citizenship was a thing worth having.
“Maximising returns for shareholders”?
Its a shitty argumentI concur completely...
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I do not wish, for one second, to be seen as supporting or applauding multinationals with billions in revenue, not paying their fair share and supporting our governments revenue base, which will help pay for government services and relieve the personal tax burden. on individual citizens...
I will however point out, that said companies, are generally required (by law ?), to maximise returns for shareholders... which obviously, includes not "spending" money that does not need to be spent... thus, it's not just a "moral" matter... they are obliged either by legal requirement or at least perceived duty, to minimise their tax exposure/payments by any LEGAL means possible...
Short version... Big companies will not be shamed into voluntarily coughing up more tax payments... it's the Laws that need to be changed so they don't have a legal way to avoid them...
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Polity: Poll Soup, in reply to Nick Russell,
Bottom line – nobody owns the missing million.
I agree...
And their support is worthless anyway because they don’t vote. .
If they continue to not vote, then sure it's worth nothing... but many suspect it's easier to convert them from not voting to voting, (ie. from not counting to worth something) if you can give them something to vote for... easier than getting previously voted for X to now voting Y...
So you seem to be suggesting non-voters will always remain so? Self fulfilling if you dont even try to appeal to them...
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Polity: Poll Soup, in reply to BenWilson,
I’m curious if you know how many, and how you know. Longitudinal studies aren’t that common. It’s common to say “Labour lost voters to National”, but actually proving this based on opinion polls of total support is not very compelling.
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been polled over the years… +5 at least… (including UMR, Curia, Colmar)
Most of them ask who you voted for at the last election before asking about current topics and intentions… if you say undecided, then most ask which way you are leaning… most ask if you intend to vote at all if an election is imminent…
So while that wont* give multi-election sequential longitudinality (is that a word? :) it will at least cover change from last time…
* I’m assuming that the results are randomised, and so they are only collecting 7% voted Oasis last election but will now vote Blur… as opposed to “survey respondee xy23a5" voted Oasis last election, intends to vote Blur in the coming one, and has previously voted Blur, Blur, Oasis and Maroon5 ?
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I'm pretty sure I made the descent into the crater (and climb back out) on my first or second visit as a teenager, way back in the early '80s before it was suggested to be a bad idea for either cultural respect or geographic conservation reasons...
Does anyone else recall the old mechanical cash register in there? It's long gone now, but stayed for many years to my recall.. presumably thrown from the top as a lark, and not removed for considerable time due to it's weight and the difficulty of the slope? I'm sure I saw it at least ten times, only visiting a few times a year?
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Also, just going back to the original post… I think it’s pretty awesome that a medicine introduced so long ago (ie, Ventolin aerosol inhaler) is still the go-to product as a symptom reliever… when the “preventers” have been 1) ever-changing, and 2) not working as well as expected… is pretty cool.
Thanks, are indeed, owed to it’s invention/inventors.