Comments for Penguin unearthed http://penguinunearthed.wordpress.com A southern hemisphere mother writes about the world Sat, 05 Jul 2008 18:20:38 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=MU Comment on The last person in the blogosphere to do this meme by blue milk http://penguinunearthed.wordpress.com/2008/06/15/the-last-person-in-the-blogosphere-to-do-this-meme/#comment-19327 blue milk Sat, 05 Jul 2008 06:27:43 +0000 http://penguinunearthed.wordpress.com/?p=387#comment-19327 I just loved the title of your post. I just loved the title of your post.

]]> Comment on The last person in the blogosphere to do this meme by Deborah http://penguinunearthed.wordpress.com/2008/06/15/the-last-person-in-the-blogosphere-to-do-this-meme/#comment-19302 Deborah Fri, 20 Jun 2008 14:35:27 +0000 http://penguinunearthed.wordpress.com/?p=387#comment-19302 Former / current jobs - gymnastics coach and actuary. This suggests that you can do at least two things I can't - touch your toes and maths. (And actually, if pushed, I really can do a bit of basic maths.) It's a little worrying to think that we have Palmerston North in common. Not many people admit to Palmerston North. Former / current jobs - gymnastics coach and actuary. This suggests that you can do at least two things I can’t - touch your toes and maths. (And actually, if pushed, I really can do a bit of basic maths.)

It’s a little worrying to think that we have Palmerston North in common. Not many people admit to Palmerston North.

]]> Comment on The last person in the blogosphere to do this meme by landismom http://penguinunearthed.wordpress.com/2008/06/15/the-last-person-in-the-blogosphere-to-do-this-meme/#comment-19288 landismom Sun, 15 Jun 2008 23:21:36 +0000 http://penguinunearthed.wordpress.com/?p=387#comment-19288 Hmm...I don't think I had realized that you've lived in the US. So there you go--I learned something from this meme, even if it's played out. Hmm…I don’t think I had realized that you’ve lived in the US. So there you go–I learned something from this meme, even if it’s played out.

]]> Comment on Family History by Donald Beag http://penguinunearthed.wordpress.com/2008/06/08/family-history/#comment-19282 Donald Beag Sat, 14 Jun 2008 11:00:06 +0000 http://penguinunearthed.wordpress.com/?p=385#comment-19282 Coming out of a different part of the woodwork, it is difficult to fit the square peg of a twentyfirst century imagination into the well rounded universe at the beginning of the twentieth. First, a correction; possibly minor; the gentleman was 24 when WWI broke out. I am not sure how influential a 'white feather' would have been. Many of that generation would have subscribed to the sentence, if perhaps not as eloquently:- "I think that, as life is action and passion, it is required of a man that he should share the passion and action of his time at peril of being judged not to have lived." When another of our kin struggled with an urge to join the United Nations force in Korea, his reaction was understanding. "I would be involved in some job on the farm and my mind would keep going round a circle and coming back to being involved." On another occasion he remarked that after he did get involved, someone came to recruit in the district and was told that there was nobody of military age left to recruit. This was not quite true. There were two people I heard of who went on farming throughout the war. There could be some sting in the white feather after all. One of those two had been quoted extensively at the onset, listing neighbours who ought to be enlisting. Being named certainly could push to involvement. And later to sardonic amusement. There are factors I cannot evaluate. He had been a territorial NCO before the war. He could, in the absence of family resistance, have gone earlier. He arrived in the strife about the same time as Gordon Coates, who had to work hard to get leave from parliament to join up. There is another quotation to which I am sure he would have subscribed, and again one that he may never have heard. He certainly felt the sentiment, and did his best to join what was considered an elite band who had fought in two world wars:- "We have shared the incommunicable experience of war. . . we have felt, we still feel the passion of life to its top. In our youths, our hearts were touched with fire." Coming out of a different part of the woodwork, it is difficult to fit the square peg of a twentyfirst century imagination into the well rounded universe at the beginning of the twentieth. First, a correction; possibly minor; the gentleman was 24 when WWI broke out.
I am not sure how influential a ‘white feather’ would have been. Many of that generation would have subscribed to the sentence, if perhaps not as eloquently:-
“I think that, as life is action and passion, it is required of a man that he should share the passion and action of his time at peril of being judged not to have lived.”
When another of our kin struggled with an urge to join the United Nations force in Korea, his reaction was understanding. “I would be involved in some job on the farm and my mind would keep going round a circle and coming back to being involved.”
On another occasion he remarked that after he did get involved, someone came to recruit in the district and was told that there was nobody of military age left to recruit. This was not quite true. There were two people I heard of who went on farming throughout the war.
There could be some sting in the white feather after all. One of those two had been quoted extensively at the onset, listing neighbours who ought to be enlisting. Being named certainly could push to involvement. And later to sardonic amusement.
There are factors I cannot evaluate. He had been a territorial NCO before the war. He could, in the absence of family resistance, have gone earlier. He arrived in the strife about the same time as Gordon Coates, who had to work hard to get leave from parliament to join up.
There is another quotation to which I am sure he would have subscribed, and again one that he may never have heard. He certainly felt the sentiment, and did his best to join what was considered an elite band who had fought in two world wars:-
“We have shared the incommunicable experience of war. . . we have felt, we still feel the passion of life to its top. In our youths, our hearts were touched with fire.”

]]> Comment on Family History by Donald Beag http://penguinunearthed.wordpress.com/2008/06/08/family-history/#comment-19281 Donald Beag Sat, 14 Jun 2008 09:46:36 +0000 http://penguinunearthed.wordpress.com/?p=385#comment-19281 Think I may have to emerge from the woodwork and chime in. My vocabulary may be more sedate. I would be inclined to classify one of the aunts as flighty rather than 'mad-cap'. I also have doubts about the timetable. The flighty aunt may well have been the instigator. I think she was in her twenties, but I am not sure which end of them, probably the high end. She might have dragged the anchor, well into her thirties and who was a "Sister", as in cool figure in white, along for company. Mythology says that the flighty one had a particular marriage in mind. The subject of her intentions, it emerged,was apparently not free to become her object at that time, and may not have been when she started planning. She certainly spent some time in the teaching profession in Canada, including to classes where she had to have a nodding acquaintance with French. I am not sure when the third aunt became involved. They all became well acquainted with the Nova Scotian part of the family. Many years later I was asked by a cousin from that end if I happened to be connected with these three ladies she remembered. I am not sure how much commentary I made of my arithmetic from her memory. Certainly all three of the 'mad-caps' were back on their home turf in a photo taken a month or two before I was born. Reconstructing, the first two were about to return. They were in a taxi which got into a traffic accident. The Sister was pinned underneath for some time, during which her handbag was stolen by a passerby We heard that story for quite a number of years, with national stereotyping, until a similar event got a lot of attention only a few miles away. Sister had a badly broken leg. I like the idea of a motor bike, but only as one of the other parties to the accident. I also like the idea of missing a plane, as one would now. I think it would have been a train and connection to a seaport. The third sister was certainly involved in subsequent nursing - or convalescence. She may have arrived just for that purpose. I think her marriage had come apart at that stage, but details of that sort were usually missing in discussion, even at a later stage, when I was present. I think I did hear that blame for the accident was apportioned, and helped with finance, but I have no idea how comparatively expensive it was then to spend time in a hospital in the USA. I think that part of the saga starts in Buffalo, NY, and I have no idea for how long or why the family members were there at the time Think I may have to emerge from the woodwork and chime in. My vocabulary may be more sedate. I would be inclined to classify one of the aunts as flighty rather than ‘mad-cap’. I also have doubts about the timetable. The flighty aunt may well have been the instigator. I think she was in her twenties, but I am not sure which end of them, probably the high end. She might have dragged the anchor, well into her thirties and who was a “Sister”, as in cool figure in white, along for company. Mythology says that the flighty one had a particular marriage in mind. The subject of her intentions, it emerged,was apparently not free to become her object at that time, and may not have been when she started planning. She certainly spent some time in the teaching profession in Canada, including to classes where she had to have a nodding acquaintance with French.
I am not sure when the third aunt became involved. They all became well acquainted with the Nova Scotian part of the family. Many years later I was asked by a cousin from that end if I happened to be connected with these three ladies she remembered.
I am not sure how much commentary I made of my arithmetic from her memory. Certainly all three of the ‘mad-caps’ were back on their home turf in a photo taken a month or two before I was born.
Reconstructing, the first two were about to return. They were in a taxi which got into a traffic accident. The Sister was pinned underneath for some time, during which her handbag was stolen by a passerby We heard that story for quite a number of years, with national stereotyping, until a similar event got a lot of attention only a few miles away. Sister had a badly broken leg. I like the idea of a motor bike, but only as one of the other parties to the accident. I also like the idea of missing a plane, as one would now. I think it would have been a train and connection to a seaport. The third sister was certainly involved in subsequent nursing - or convalescence. She may have arrived just for that purpose. I think her marriage had come apart at that stage, but details of that sort were usually missing in discussion, even at a later stage, when I was present.
I think I did hear that blame for the accident was apportioned, and helped with finance, but I have no idea how comparatively expensive it was then to spend time in a hospital in the USA. I think that part of the saga starts in Buffalo, NY, and I have no idea for how long or why the family members were there at the time

]]> Comment on Populist economics by graemebird http://penguinunearthed.wordpress.com/2008/04/06/populist-economics/#comment-19268 graemebird Mon, 09 Jun 2008 20:01:51 +0000 http://penguinunearthed.wordpress.com/?p=373#comment-19268 We don't want to reduce spending in the economy. And if we did we'd want to reduce government spending. Certainly not by tax increases which would be immensely wasteful and destructive. The populist economics has it right and Glenn Stevens has lost the plot. The money supply has been collapsing since December and the collapse continued in April. I'm not complaining about his handling of things prior to December but now he's lost the plot. The economists look at the wrong metrics. GDP doesn't include GROSS INVESTMENT and so is totally inadequate for quarter-to-quarter comparisons. There can be little doubt that business-to-business spending is collapsing. We don’t want to reduce spending in the economy. And if we did we’d want to reduce government spending. Certainly not by tax increases which would be immensely wasteful and destructive. The populist economics has it right and Glenn Stevens has lost the plot. The money supply has been collapsing since December and the collapse continued in April. I’m not complaining about his handling of things prior to December but now he’s lost the plot.

The economists look at the wrong metrics. GDP doesn’t include GROSS INVESTMENT and so is totally inadequate for quarter-to-quarter comparisons. There can be little doubt that business-to-business spending is collapsing.

]]> Comment on Paid Maternity Leave by penguinunearthed http://penguinunearthed.wordpress.com/2008/05/25/paid-maternity-leave/#comment-19263 penguinunearthed Sun, 08 Jun 2008 13:02:02 +0000 http://penguinunearthed.wordpress.com/?p=384#comment-19263 Deborah, Mr Penguin has always been a prodigy... There is a recent submission to the productivity commission (after I wrote this post): http://www.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/80994/sub138.pdf which I haven't fully read yet, but which suggests that overall attachment to the workforce isn't increased that much by paid leave, and that, as you suggest, women given more money will spend it by working a bit less at first - "Our assessment is that the introduction of statutory paid parental leave of around 14 weeks at the minimum wage, with consequent reduction in government payments (maternity payment), is unlikely to generate significant behavioural changes, unless significant workplace cultural change is generated. This assessment is based upon job protection being provided by unpaid maternity leave and the maternity payment being quite significant." So really, its workplaces that have to change - true, but harder to make happen. Deborah, Mr Penguin has always been a prodigy…

There is a recent submission to the productivity commission (after I wrote this post):

http://www.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/80994/sub138.pdf

which I haven’t fully read yet, but which suggests that overall attachment to the workforce isn’t increased that much by paid leave, and that, as you suggest, women given more money will spend it by working a bit less at first -

“Our assessment is that the introduction of statutory paid parental leave of around 14 weeks at the minimum wage, with consequent reduction in government payments (maternity payment), is unlikely to generate significant
behavioural changes, unless significant workplace cultural change is generated. This assessment is based upon job protection being provided by unpaid maternity leave and the maternity payment being quite significant.”

So really, its workplaces that have to change - true, but harder to make happen.

]]> Comment on Paid Maternity Leave by The Inaugural Down Under Feminists Carnival at Hoyden About Town http://penguinunearthed.wordpress.com/2008/05/25/paid-maternity-leave/#comment-19261 The Inaugural Down Under Feminists Carnival at Hoyden About Town Thu, 05 Jun 2008 21:28:43 +0000 http://penguinunearthed.wordpress.com/?p=384#comment-19261 [...] extending paid maternity leave to include some government contributions. Penguin Unearthed also has “Paid Maternity Leave” on her mind: If maternity/paternity leave should be an employment right, economic and behavioural [...] [...] extending paid maternity leave to include some government contributions. Penguin Unearthed also has “Paid Maternity Leave” on her mind: If maternity/paternity leave should be an employment right, economic and behavioural [...]

]]> Comment on Paid Maternity Leave by Deborah http://penguinunearthed.wordpress.com/2008/05/25/paid-maternity-leave/#comment-19247 Deborah Wed, 28 May 2008 11:37:45 +0000 http://penguinunearthed.wordpress.com/?p=384#comment-19247 <blockquote>Just about when he turned 1, Mr Penguin got offered the choice of a glamorous (read lots of travel) job</blockquote> Mr Penguin was offered a job when he was just one! Impressive!!! Anecdotally (as in, I know I have read about this somewhere but I haven't been able to track it down on Google yet), when NZ introduced family income top ups about three years ago, women's workforce participation rates decreased, not because they stopped working altogether, but because they decreased the number of hours they were working. There was in <i>increase</i> in part time workers. So what the income top ups (known as Working for Families) did was give parents the freedom to choose to spend more time with their children. My former employer offered a bonus to employees who came back to work after maternity leave. It was in the order of thousands of dollars, but not tens of thousands. It was enough to encourage a number of women to come back to work, although most chose to come back part time (where possible), which is consistent with your claim about that little bit extra being <i>enough</i> to make a difference, even if economists don't see it that way.

Just about when he turned 1, Mr Penguin got offered the choice of a glamorous (read lots of travel) job

Mr Penguin was offered a job when he was just one! Impressive!!!

Anecdotally (as in, I know I have read about this somewhere but I haven’t been able to track it down on Google yet), when NZ introduced family income top ups about three years ago, women’s workforce participation rates decreased, not because they stopped working altogether, but because they decreased the number of hours they were working. There was in increase in part time workers. So what the income top ups (known as Working for Families) did was give parents the freedom to choose to spend more time with their children.

My former employer offered a bonus to employees who came back to work after maternity leave. It was in the order of thousands of dollars, but not tens of thousands. It was enough to encourage a number of women to come back to work, although most chose to come back part time (where possible), which is consistent with your claim about that little bit extra being enough to make a difference, even if economists don’t see it that way.

]]> Comment on Paid Maternity Leave by penguinunearthed http://penguinunearthed.wordpress.com/2008/05/25/paid-maternity-leave/#comment-19246 penguinunearthed Tue, 27 May 2008 21:48:32 +0000 http://penguinunearthed.wordpress.com/?p=384#comment-19246 An Australian tradition enshrined in law. If you have been in your job for more than 10 years, you get an extra 10 weeks leave entitlement, and then accrue an extra 1 week per year of service thereafter. I'm not sure what the current legal status is, but I think it's a requirement, like 4 weeks of annual leave. I've never managed to stay in a job long enough to get it. An Australian tradition enshrined in law. If you have been in your job for more than 10 years, you get an extra 10 weeks leave entitlement, and then accrue an extra 1 week per year of service thereafter. I’m not sure what the current legal status is, but I think it’s a requirement, like 4 weeks of annual leave. I’ve never managed to stay in a job long enough to get it.

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