Posts by stephen walker

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  • Hard News: Mac Ouch,

    to be honest George, i think the main problem is not so much the currency speculators (although they are a problem) but more the Reserve Bank Act and the way it is implemented. it seems to me that if it weren't for this Chicago-boys inspired piece of Thatcherite Rogernomics, the currency speculators would have little incentive to buy and sell NZD and it would return to its former status of sleepy backwater South Pacific currency used for buying lamb and butter...

    anyway, the financial meltdown is sure to get worse, so gadgets and petrol are sure to get more expensive.

    nagano • Since Nov 2006 • 646 posts Report

  • OnPoint: Two wallops of wonk, with a…,

    i agree with Alastair.


    (hi Alastair...enps)

    nagano • Since Nov 2006 • 646 posts Report

  • Up Front: The Holland Diaries, Pt 1,

    acquisition of L2 as an adult is (IMHO) a function of opportunity (environment) and motivation (need/reward).

    also, it doesn't matter how young or old you are when you learn a languge, if you don't use it you will lose it. of that i am reasonably sure.

    on an individual level, i think personality type plays a major role in success or otherwise.

    as for phonology, that really is an interesting one. but i suspect certain people just have much better listening skills than others. i got drilled pretty hard from 13-18 and listening happens to be a learning strength, so i was lucky, i suppose.

    nagano • Since Nov 2006 • 646 posts Report

  • Up Front: Absence of Malice,

    steven,

    from your description, this school seems a bit, um, dysfunctional.
    but even worse, they sound less than calm and reasoned.

    do they have a big sign over the staff room that says:

    "Defensiveness R Us"? ;-)

    but really, this isn't funny when your daughter is under their supervision for a large chunk of her waking hours.

    my only suggestion is that you write a note to the teacher asking (as politely and calmly as possible) what the purpose of getting your daughter to write 20 lines as punishment and what she hopes this will achieve?

    nagano • Since Nov 2006 • 646 posts Report

  • Hard News: The strange story arc,

    no, it's in your sentence.
    it's pitty you don't know the meaning of "or".

    i didn't ask what you meant on anyone "else's behalf".
    it's in your head.

    nagano • Since Nov 2006 • 646 posts Report

  • Hard News: The strange story arc,

    @Mark,

    no need for me to try again, because you obviously have no idea on how to compose a clear sentence.

    i read your strange sentence as a cheap attempt to mock someone's misfortune to be dying of cancer. that's pretty low, in my opinion.

    nagano • Since Nov 2006 • 646 posts Report

  • Hard News: The strange story arc,

    Did I say that? No. No, I didn't. Read what is written, stephen, not what you want me to have written.

    @Mark

    here is what you wrote:

    She lives, she will die. That much is fact. What happens in between or, more importantly, what you know about it is up to her and her publicist.

    please read what you wrote in your third sentence: the main clause of the sentence, i.e. taking out the "or" clause, reads:

    "What happens in between is up to her and her publicist."

    That's what you wrote. i was asking whether that was what you actually were saying because it is such a bizarre thing to say, IMO.

    if that was not what you meant, maybe you could try to write with less ambiguity and more precision, especially when commenting about someone's dying of cancer?

    nagano • Since Nov 2006 • 646 posts Report

  • Hard News: Get yer avatars out,

    @Simon

    you confirm what i suspected. i also suspect that radio becoming even more conservative than 30 years ago (and the rise of music tv channels) has made it even harder to break new acts. if it weren't for the internet, no one would find out about anything new! (only slight exaggeration)

    @Peter

    in the 70s in AKL we listened to Radio Hauraki every day for years. And if that got boring there was always 1ZM as the alternative.

    nagano • Since Nov 2006 • 646 posts Report

  • Hard News: Get yer avatars out,

    Send You

    my personal favourite nz album of all time.

    (P.I.T. Song was No.1 in the bFM alternative top 10 before the album was even released)

    nagano • Since Nov 2006 • 646 posts Report

  • Hard News: The strange story arc,

    I honestly don't think it's callous to say that.

    ok, i can see that you weren't referring to her demise. i misunderstood your initial allusion.

    nagano • Since Nov 2006 • 646 posts Report

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