Posts by Danielle

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  • Speaker: The system's pretty good, the…,

    Not sure why the Remuera nonagenarian had to be a spinster, but that's a quibble.

    Because if the little old lady didn't get married or have children, she's *worth less*. We all know this! (Meh.)

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report

  • Speaker: The system's pretty good, the…,

    If only we had some sort of Health Credit Trading Scheme.

    "20 laps of the Olympic-length pool gives you one credit: a subsidised nurse appointment for your cervical smear, to be used within the next six months."

    I think primary care and preventative care are great things, of course, but I get a little dubious about how far the preventative aspect will eventually go. That Victorian idea of the 'deserving poor' seems to have been shifted sideways in the health system, and now people are supposed to be 'deserving of care' (or not, if they watched too much telly and smoked Holidays). People are just as precious to their own friends and family whether they 'look after themselves' or not.

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report

  • Public Address Word of the Year 2009,

    I think every time I hear the word 'stakeholders', it takes a week off my life.

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report

  • Speaker: The system's pretty good, the…,

    We need a system that impartially draws the line where public health treatment ceases because it is too expensive to keep a person alive for too short a time.

    Oh my god. It's a Death Panel (TM)!

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report

  • OnPoint: Taskforce 2025: A Space Odyssey,

    But there's no question a widespread disdain for businesspeople (as evidenced by some of the comments in this thread) creates a disincentive for some people to try harder.

    OK, a) I don't think there is a widespread disdain for businesspeople, just asshole ones; and b) even if your assertion is true, why is it our responsibility as a nation to tend their fragile self-esteem? No one gives me a ticker-tape parade for doing my job, and somehow I manage to struggle on regardless. The motivation is in the job itself (sometimes) and the eventual financial reward (always), not how many people slap me on the back for it.

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report

  • OnPoint: Taskforce 2025: A Space Odyssey,

    we don’t do enough to encourage or celebrate business success

    Aren't we one of the easiest countries, regulations-wise, to do business in in the whole wide wacky world?

    are openly hostile to people with wealth

    I don't agree, since a bunch of people seem to have swallowed a whole lot of Business Round Table Kool-Aid in NZ, but if there is hostility, that could be because:

    we work longer hours than people in most other countries and are poorly paid by comparison.

    You dig?

    ETA: Danyl speaks truth below me, too.

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report

  • Hard News: Let's lynch the liberals!,

    Peter, your posts are like the script to a horror movie.

    I know! I feel like he's missed his true calling, which is writing for apocalyptic blockbusters directed by, say, Michael Bay or James Cameron.

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report

  • OnPoint: Taskforce 2025: A Space Odyssey,

    all the handwringing about how unambitious our entrepreneurs are, all wanting to retire to their baches and go fishing

    Oh YES! I heard something to this effect on NatRad the other day and was very weirded out. 'Wait: there are people who think this is terrible, somehow? I think it's fantastic!'

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report

  • OnPoint: Taskforce 2025: A Space Odyssey,

    Am I the only person wondering how and why both countries survey fruit juice consumption?

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report

  • Busytown: As it happens,

    (I would, however, do whatever it took to smuggle the phrase “axle rose” into the headline.)

    And since you're their mother, I'm thinking that's just begging for a follow-up 'Sweet Child O' Mine' joke, buried somewhere in a following paragraph.

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report

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