Posts by Rich of Observationz
Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First
-
not to iOS users
I'm unclear of the justification in spending taxpayer dollars jumping through the hoops placed to restrict Apple's walled garden.
-
There is an alternative way to deal with this: we live on a couple of underpopulated islands. If we managed to attract enough younger migrants, we could move our demographic profile back to the point we want, where there are enough young working people to produce the goods and services the retired need (which is the core problem, and not fully solved by pension funds, however large).
My pension policy would be to start by moving to open access for under-40's who can find a job. Cut out the red tape and just get people moving here.
-
Hard News: We interrupt this broadcast ..., in reply to Steve Barnes,
+1
-
How about a much more radical scheme. Close down terrestrial and satellite TV and radio and allocate the frequencies for 4G mobile internet, to be provided at a regulated price cheap enough to make 24/7 video streaming affordable.
Have a contestable fund raised by an internet access levy (which for fairness could be applied to other legacy content, like newspapers and CDs) to fund providers of content to this network.
Of course, this would piss off the 95% of the population who aren't ubergeeks and would just like to watch telly. This could be dealt with by holding future elections with an opensource voting system based on linux command lines and OpenSSL.
-
Legal Beagle: Referendum Fact Check 4:…, in reply to steve black,
Nah, a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donkey_vote is when you vote 1,2,3 down the page in order. It favours candidates like Aaron Bhatnagar, unless the order is randomised.
And about 5% of Australian votes get spoiled. It's hard to detect donkey votes by their nature.
-
Cracker: On the trail, pt 1., in reply to Islander,
I travelled across Sussex once in a Robbie R24: the flight was smooth, the trip back in my mate’s Porsche was scary as. I think he’d had it dinned into him that flying small helicopters was a job requiring extreme caution – fast cars, not so much.
Still, not as scary as the North Sea, where you got a half-hour safety briefing (later upgraded to a 2-day course) and an immersion suit before you got on the helo.
-
Legal Beagle: Referendum Fact Check 4:…, in reply to Graeme Edgeler,
I reckon it comes from the UK, where walking 40 miles 'cross 't Pennines in't bare feet in't snow in order to vote might have been a deterrent. For the same reason 96 hour shifts down't pits were not allowed to span polling day.
-
I edited because I realized he isn't running there this time...
-
someone who loses by a few hundred votes in a well-contested electorate battle could ever be considered to be “rejected” by voters
Or (if we are talking sitting MPs) someone who loses by a few thousand votes where the demographic has changed. Or for non-sitting MPs, someone who chooses to run in an opposition safe seat. There is also the case where a politician is such an egregious dick that their party declines to favour them with a winnable list place, but lets them have a crack at an electorate in the hope that the local voters will be mad enough to elect them (Stephen Franks, Bob Clarkson).
There is a simple remedy if you don’t like who a party puts on its list – don’t vote for that party.
-
Legal Beagle: Referendum Fact Check 4:…, in reply to Graeme Edgeler,
I understand with compulsory voting, the Aussies regard anything from a tick instead of a cross to drawings of penii on the ballot paper as an "informal vote"?