That is exactly why I didn't vote Conservative. I was expecting things to be worse, but not Thatcher-worse! Basically, as far as I understand, David Cameron wants the UK to be free-from-debt. No matter what it takes. The sad thing is that the people who voted Conservative were mostly middle and upper class anyway, so they won't give a shit. Worse still for me, they're actually considering the re-introduction of tuition fees in Scotland, meaning that we'll basically have nothing over the rest of the world. All hail the right wing
What is going on in the UK, Aerif? I thought the world had moved on from short-sighted neo-liberalism? And the VAT is going to be 20%!? Our GST (the equivalent) is currently at 12.5%, but the conservative government is boosting it to 15%. Those taxes are the worst for poor people. Man, I knew it would be bad, but I didn't think it'd be that bad.
New Caledonia is a French colony. Or ex-colony... I'm actually not sure now that I think about it. Nouvelle Caledonie. But yeah, my Dad's from Dunedin/Otago. He's also Scottish, as in, a bunch of your neighbours got on a boat and sailed here and became half of me haha. Funny that. Largest Chirstian denomination in the South Island is Presbyterianism, following the Scottish settlers. The Catholic Irish came to Wellington, and the Methodists and Anglicans to the north. A lot of places are named after British colonial possessions as well. Several suburbs of Wellington, such as Khandallah, and the nice region up north called Coromandel -- both named after places in India. Oh, and then I suppose Wellington -- after the Duke of Wellington.
When you said New Caledonia, I immediately googled it. I've never heard of it before and ended up on Google Maps... Why is everything in Australasia named after Scottish things? Hamilton... Perth... Invercargill... New Caledonia... Napier... Dunedin... Oban... Ben Lomond... Brisbane... Stirling... Cars in general just annoy me. Everything about driving is just so damn expensive, lessons, tests, insurance, actual cars, petrol. Why on earth does anyone bother? They're terrible for the enviroment as well, I'm guessing by 2030 most of today's cars will be banned.
"Whenever I go to Spain..." statements like that make me so jealous of people who don't thousands of kilometres away from large landmasses Though I suppose I cooould pop over to Fiji, or New Caledonia I'm hoping to go to Melbourne this summer, and probably Sydney too. It will be awesome, not least because it will be the first time I'd have left the country. Yeah sunburn's the worst. Last year I was walking around town, and could literally feel my skin burning. So I went and caught a movie haha. It was good; air-conditioned with ice cream, a surprisingly good choice in the middle of summer. And whoever thought tanning beds were a good idea is a right munter. I mean, you're paying for something that you could get for free, while being outside and doing something constructive. Like my neighbour, who will get all kitted-up in Lycra and go for a big walk, only to come home and drive to the shops, to church, to work, wherever. She would both save time and look less like a piece of liquorice if she did normal things while walking. And don't get me started on people who drive to the gym to use a treadmill.
Goodness gracious I hate sunburn. If ever the sun shines in Scotland the end result is sunburn. Whenever I go to Spain I have to wear the highest-factor suntan lotion that I can find, since my shoulders have become permamently scarred from an unfortunate peeling incident. Sleeveless t-shirts are just impossible for me to wear. Skin cancer is surprisingly common in the UK as well, since tanning beds were so popular at one point (the law has changed now though), and people were really retarded about their use. Sure, lying in a small-enclosed space whilst ultra-violet light is blasted at you might darken your skin, but how on earth can it be worth it. You ****ing retards!
I hate privately-owned beaches. It should just be straight-up illegal to own a beach. I mean, no one gets any use out of it if one person uses it privately and excludes everybody else. Fortunately, there are very few private beaches in NZ. In fact, I can only think of one. But yeah, beaches are all well and good, if it weren't for that hole in the ozone -.- Fortunately, it's shrinking with the ban of CFCs, but it's incredibly thin over NZ in the summer, and we have the highest rate of skin cancer in the world. If you ever do come here with your Scottish skin, make sure you were a crap load of sunscreen.
We don't often get 'bitey' rain, but quite often it rains non-stop for several days. There's also often strong winds that render umbrellas or even hooded coats useless. At least you have beaches . Our beaches tend to be smaller than a privately owned segment of a beach!
Australia is, but NZ is mild the whole year, with little seasonal variation, due to it being so thin that we really have no in-land. The only place that would come close is Queenstown in the Southern Alps. 30C+ in summer, easily sub-0 in Winter. Global warming being responsible to some measure wouldn't surprise me, I mean, it's gotta show up eventually, and it's not like Copenhagen actually achieved anything. Hah, you have no idea. Scotland IS lucky on the weather front (that's a pun!); it may be cold, but do you get incessant 'bitey' rain that travels horizontally and negates any advantages conferred by an umbrella?
That's astounding! I always thought that New Zealand and Australia were hot throughout the year. Scotland being at 22C is also abnormal, but this year has been one freak season after another, 18cm of snow in the winter and 22C in the summer. Maybe it's global warming? Also I think you must be the first person to EVER say that Scotland was lucky on the weather front .
It was kind of unseasonably warm yesterday, so that may be unrepresentative. Basically, the hint of frost is on the morning air, but I haven't seen one yet. The first reports of road closures (snow) are beginning to trickle in from the South Island. Typical daily range for me at the moment is 3C in the morning, maybe getting to 11C or 12C by mid-afternoon. 22C? Man, you Scots have it lucky. Honestly, Wellington's fortunate to have 20C in summer, and there's always a cold wind to ruin it, especially when your skin's wet (i.e., a the beach). Plus it's also a mild mind-**** that I'm sitting by a heater at 2.15am.
I know it's winter there just now but it would be interesting to see whether it's still hotter in New Zealand during the winter than it is in Scotland during the summer. So what was (yesterdays/todays) temperature? It's currently a sunbathe-suitable 22C here!
Gordon was willing to do exactly that, Nick wasn't. Every time I think of the right-side I just go straight to American medical system. I guess I don't really have another point of reference.
I would've liked to have seen Gordan Brown step down (if that's considered necessary) and the LibDems form a coalition with Labour. I remember Clegg's reasoning for not doing that as being something along the lines of 'more people voted for the Conservatives than for Labour'. I really don't think he understood the whole three-party/king-maker situation very well. The political Right scares me. It really does.
I don't think there's been a coalition here since the second world war or something. I think the most recent coalition only lasted a few months before there was a second election that year. The LibDems claim to be centre-left but, well... I can't really be too sure exactly HOW left they are now. Conservatives are notoriously right-winged for the UK (other than the British Nationalist Party - who want to deport all non-whites). I think that the LibDems must be selling out if they're siding with the Conservatives. But yeah, Labour is also considered to be centre-left, which confuses things since there could've easily been a LibDem/Labour/Scottish National Party coalition, seeing as they're obviously going to have similar interests at heart. I think Nick Clegg just hates Gordon Brown.
