Posts by Eddie Clark
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Kyle - I don't know. My info comes from reading the Canadian press when I lived there and my Canadian boyfriend.
(Meanwhile, really exciting start to the playoffs!)
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Not saying that the Canadian EI model is one we should move to, but its not the horrible awful capitalist nightmare of kicking people out in the streets that some people seem to be suggesting. You pay into EI while you work, and if/when you lose your job, you get paid out at a percentage of your wage, for a period related to the length of your employment. This percentage is a lot higher than the dole that we have here.
The minimum period you have to work before your eligible depends on the province you work in (i.e. the ones heavily reliant on seasonal labour have a lower minimum period). Most people get a job before it runs out, but obviously not everyone does. They then lose the percentage-of-old-income EI payments, and instead go on a subsistence dole like we have here. The advantage is that it means you have something to tide you over short-term unemployment that's close to your old income. The disadvantge, as others have noted, is that the bureaucracy is an added level of complication.
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Luke - wtf does arts funding have to do with Wellington being the capital. Seriously?
And Sacha, its just not the usual metonym here. For years we've talked about "the Beehive" directing things, not Wellington. Just as in the UK they talk about directions from Whitehall, not London.
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Echoing Robyn et al, isn't "Wellington" an exceedingly inappropriate metonym to use for a National government?
For one thing, all the electorate MPs (including for the electorate within which Parliament and most Ministries are located) in Wellington, aside from old Lego Hair, are Labour.
Wouldn't it be more appropriate to say you're transferring wealth to Epsom? The architect of this travesty is from your own back yard.
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The 'Mats said it best
Indeed. Children by the million sing for Alex Chilton.
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BlairMacca - you mean ski cross. Its like roller derby on snow - awesome. But don't take away the curling! I lived in Canada for a year and you get an appreciation for the weird awesomeness of it. Its a very skilful game and, like test cricket, watching it is a fun way to spend a lazy afternoon (shared with a book or some rather boring work you need to do).
And Russell - the appeal of the male curlers isn't at all MILF-y :P. Many of them are under 30, and the canadian and swedish teams in particular totally cute!
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I'm talking speedskating rather than cycling. Crazy builds.
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Another random thought: cyclists and speed skaters tend to look like dinosaurs, with huge legs and rather disporportionately small arms.
Or like someone's cut up pictures of various different people and mixed up the torsos and the lower bodies... waify emo kids above the waist, rugby players below.
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I do wonder if this event, more than any other, could be a venue for athletes from hot-weather countries to break into the Winter Olympics. It goes without saying that you need a great deal of talent to win, but there's also physique. I really do wonder what a well trained Usain Bolt or Michael Johnson equivalent could do on ice.
George, cycling is actually a closer analogue to speed skating than running... just look at the freakish quads on the skaters. And all 3 of the people who've won olympic medal in both summer and winter games did it in cycling and speed skating.
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Although if we stop bitching for 5 seconds, that was a f**king awesome hockey tournament. Just great. Will be hard going back to watching the organised grind that is most NHL matches.
Oh and who knews long-distance x-country skiing was so exciting? Both the womens' 30k and the mens' 50 came down to sprints at the end. Sprinting after skiing for 50 ks??? Ugh.
(Note: I watched all my coverage on Prime, which had 12 hours a day. The only thing missing was a proper evening highlights show, but aside from that there was more FTA coverage than TVNZ has ever had. Certainly more live)