Posts by Jeremy Andrew
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oh, why do they always have such naff names?
Presumably there's a demographic that all that stuff works on, and we ain't it.
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There is always a vocal and pushy minority who stack the school board in order to get it set up and maintained, and then residual guilt from the former Christians and inertia ensure it's hard to get rid of.
Isn't that a nutshell description of most democratic institutions?
Not that I'm saying you're wrong, when I was on my kids' school's board we fended off requests from several groups to provide religious ed. We found plenty more reasons not to provide it then to let them in, not least because if we let one lot in, we could reasonably be expected to give equal time to any other faith/denomination/sect/cult that felt the urge to pass on their good word. We also felt that there was plenty of religious activity available in the community for any parents who felt the lack of it in their childrens' lives. -
It would make pefect criminal sense to make up some shit, put it in packaging that makes it look like a legal product, and bang - whole new market.
Yes, that makes sense, but including in that shit mdme & speed would be as sensible as the last drug rumour - P laced dope from tinny houses. Surely selling speed and X as legal party pills would mean getting less money than selling them as speed and X.
Cutting illegal substances with BZP to up the profits, that I can believe. -
As we're visibly sliding slowly into the sh*t, we ought to be hunting around pretty franticly for some new hand-holds/leverage to shift the balance back towards exporting.
So whacking a penalty on fixed mortgages to encourage people to leave their mortages floating, so that the Reserve Bank's rate changes will have more traction is one option to consider. Maybe a bit Heath Robinson, but it might work.
Since the majority of commentators, including Mr Cullen, seem to think NZers have too much focus on home ownership at the expense of personal savings and investments, why not reduce or remove the tax on interest earned (earned on money that tax has already been paid on), and slap a capital gains tax on any property other than the primary dwelling? That reduces the level of investment property ownership, probably reducing overinflated house prices, while encouraging savings - giving the banks more to invest - and also encouraging middle NZ to invest in things other than bricks & mortar. Hopefully a fair chunk of that extra investment will go in the direction of NZ businesses, allowing them to expand and export more.
Of course, I never took economics at high school, let alone varsity, so there's probably some gaping holes in there somewhere. -
Heh, Bowie was ok, but the Kermit factor was way too high.
Well, it is a kids movie... still not a patch on The Princess Bride though. Gotta give them credit, taking centuries of european storytelling, blending it up with some MC Escher, 80s synth pop, lashings of ham and a big chunk of Fraggle Rock and getting something that still looks OK today (just OK, timeless it ain't).
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The big problem with proliferating system pop-ups is desensitisation - most users these days just click straight onto the thing most resembling a 'yes' option when something pops up on screen, usually without even reading the message.
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"the alternatives. Imperil Japan, Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Soviet Union or Tiannmen Square China"
Thats all you have, America or those guys,
I'm trying to think of some less loaded examples of functional non-democracies: Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Shanghai China, ?
Or less loaded not-so-functional non-democracies: Nth Korea, Tonga, Nepal,...Anyone?
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But sometimes that just aint enough to keep a man like me interested
They'll be thawing out th' Duke any day now...
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Thanks, Stephen. I stand updated.
At least that's a word I was unlikely to accidently use in polite (or any) company. In fact, until Reece's post, I would have thought it fairly difficult to use accidently at all. -
Hymie? Dear Reece, that is not a nice word.
For real? I thought it was the name of the robot agent on Get Smart...