Posts by Kyle Matthews
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Yes. It's entirely likely of course, that if it was pushed up to the federal level, that no one would have gay marriage anywhere in the States. In the short term that's worse, but I do wonder if the current situation creates 'gay silos' - states or cities which have more liberal laws, and if live outside of them, you're a bit screwed sorry.
I wonder if, in the long term, making it a federal issue will eventually win it country-wide. Or lose it? At least politicans would have to face up to it, and having politicians on both sides of the issue front up and say what they believe... got to be a good thing, unpleasant as it might get.
But for all the talk of equal under the law, citizens of the United States etc, clearly that's not the case. The place you live can mean you're more/less discriminated against under law, and the more such things are left to the states, the more that's going to happen.
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Which would make slightly more sense if my ten-year-old wasn't being sent home with forty-five minutes homework a night.
Yeah. I can't recall having homework very often when I was in primary school, but it seems to be common now. Both schools my son has been to have given it - the first at least, from age 5. Crazy.
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Should schools be open for longer - both daily, and yearly? What would they do during all those extra hours? And how would we stop teachers from revolting?
I'm not sure what the historical reason for having a 9 - 3 (slightly longer for high schools I think) school day. But I'd hope it has something to do with the fact that kids get tired after being in class that long, and keeping them until 5 wouldn't add any 'value' to their school day because they couldn't concentrate at that age.
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on $200k pa you could easily pay off a $350k house, and save a huge sum of money in other investments. something beyond the abilities of the actual average couples income of <$90k.
Or save $50k/year for five years while renting and skip the bank altogether.
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Yeah, sometimes the state rights thing is just a complete dodge on the part of federal politicians - I believe in this, but if I say it I'll be crucified by the electorate - but on other times it's a way to get around the federal government and get some good things happening at least in a few states.
I think it's one of the reasons I don't like a federation not having more control. Being gay/non-white/an immigrant/female can be a completely different experience from one state to the other. Don't get me started on how two crimes in different states can lead to death in one and 20 years in prison in the other.
Feels wrong for these things to be decided by what side of a line you fall on, when you can't even see the line.
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Really interesting comment -- and I wonder if there's any empirical data out there to back up my instinct that the younger you are, the more comfortable you are with the notion of being a long-term renter. Is real estate really the national fetish the media would like us to believe, or is this another case of middle-aged, middle-class baby boomers turning the media into a funhouse mirror?
It'd be interesting to find out. I wouldn't be sure whether it was a change in how people felt about home ownership - having kids later in life, more likely to split with partners, less likely to marry young - or the student loan/debt issue. I suspect a mixture of both.
I know that buying a house wasn't an option for me with child support and a student loan, without outside help. My marginal tax rate made Muldoon's tax system look benign. The banks will ignore the fact that you have $30K in debt, but they can't ignore the fact that the government takes $2-$3K/year off you to pay it back. And rising house prices have lifted it out of the reach of 'blue collar' as well.
I think it's a real shame. Owning your own home is good wealth. It gives you security and ensures that everyone has something. Plus people that own houses make good neighbours and good communities. Anyone that cares enough to mow the lawn on the weekend is going to make a better neighbour than one who doesn't.
I spent three or four weeks in Auckland ........... My only gripe is the serious lack of good playgrounds.
My brief experience with Australia, which only really consisted of Perth, indicated they they really knew how to playground over there. There's a park on the hill there - King's Park I think? - where the playground alone is the size of a couple of rugby fields, fully fenced, umpteen sandpits and swings and slides and a fire engine. You could throw two hundred kids in it and it wouldn't have been full.
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I think, often as not, VP is chosen to 'get' an area of the electoral college vote that the Pres candidate can't get. If the President is from the North East, the VP will be from the south etc.
Skill set seems often to be a secondary (or lower) consideration.
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There's much more at Barstool Sports.
The wedding photo at the bottom is the best. How would you feel if your brother turned up for your wedding photos looking like that? I'm surprised you can't see the slap marks on each cheek.
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Buskers Festival in Chch is very good. I think the whole city is a swamp, but it has a special place in my heart because just occasionally I manage to make it to the festival. It's really world class.
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Maybe we should all help Russell out. He'll (subtle, like) tell us which are the click-through adverts, and we all click once a day.
A cunning plan like that, what could go wrong?