Recent posts

#81

Off the Record / Re: TV/Movies Megathread

Last post by HVC - April 23, 2024, 04:14:40 PM

The King of Queens?

Fits as being a lower class family comedy.  Hardly any cultural impact though IMHO.

It's having a meme revival.

#82

Off the Record / Re: Indian Elections 2024

Last post by Barrister - April 23, 2024, 03:58:42 PM

I get that am I'm suggesting they're lying.  That at least in part the reason they feel animosity towards Islam is because it was the religion of the conqueror.  The religion of the tax collector, of the judge, of the punisher.  that if, as in Indonesia, a couple Gulf merchants had shown up and told them about this great religion that helps you stop drinking so much, they would not feel the same animosity.

So I really tend to dislike the casual use of the word "lying".

In order to lie, you have to know what you're saying is false, and yet say it anyways.  If you believe in something false and say it, you're not lying.  An ardent flat earther is not lying when he/she says the world is flat - they are just badly mistaken.

So sure - in some alternate history, maybe the relationship between hindus and muslims would be completely different.  But as they say - if grandma had wheels, she'd be a wagon.

The BJP views islam as the religion of foreign invaders.  Whether they're right to or not doesn't really matter.

#83

Off the Record / Re: Brexit and the waning days...

Last post by HVC - April 23, 2024, 03:55:04 PM

Never got the obsession with sick time. Either you get one person perhaps slacking, or you chance getting more people in the office sick. Second outcome seems worse to me. And besides, if someone is slacking then chances they're doing more wrong than just calling in sick and are underperforming so you fire them... we'll, from a NA perspective I guess, don't know how easy it is to fire someone over yonder.

Very difficult to fire people in most jobs. And that would be an immediate unfair dismissal claim at the tribunal.

Make it easier to fire people, problem solved!

Kidding... mostly some of the worse employees I've had the privilege of working with were union employees. They knew it was hard to impossible to get rid of them. I hated working with the union in disciplinary actions. Some I ended up getting rid of (well, the call to fire was their managers but somehow I had to deal with the union ) when they fuck up bad enough.

#84

Off the Record / Re: Indian Elections 2024

Last post by Admiral Yi - April 23, 2024, 03:52:52 PM

Again, so I'm hardly a BJP apologist nor member.

As I understand it (and I can be wrong) though if you're a hindu nationalist you only care about India.  Islam (and to a much lesser extent Christianity) were brought in by outside invaders.  Sikhism, Buddhism, and Jainism are native Indian religions, not brought by outside invaders.  What happened in other countries is immaterial.

(No idea what they think of Zoroastrians who arrived as refugees, but given the incredibly tiny numbers it hardly matters)

Oh - I came across the term they use - "Dharmic religions".  Which basically just means what I said - religions that originate in India, and are hinuism, buddhism, sikhism and jainism.  The fact that buddhism is probably more popular outside of India than inside of it again just doesn't factor in to it.


Edit: pretty sketchy stuff (Quora) suggests that Zoroastrians are actually on pretty good terms with the BJP due to mutual antipathy with muslims.  Sigh.

I get that am I'm suggesting they're lying.  That at least in part the reason they feel animosity towards Islam is because it was the religion of the conqueror.  The religion of the tax collector, of the judge, of the punisher.  that if, as in Indonesia, a couple Gulf merchants had shown up and told them about this great religion that helps you stop drinking so much, they would not feel the same animosity.

#85

Off the Record / Re: Indian Elections 2024

Last post by Barrister - April 23, 2024, 03:32:11 PM

Yi's point is that the set [foreign faiths] and [the faith of the invader] are not a perfect one to one. [Foreign faiths that came here peacefully] are still [foreign faiths], but not [the faith of the invader].

Yi gave examples of foreign faiths that arrived peacefully - Islam in Indonesia, Buddhism in China, Japan, and Korea.

Again, so I'm hardly a BJP apologist nor member.

As I understand it (and I can be wrong) though if you're a hindu nationalist you only care about India.  Islam (and to a much lesser extent Christianity) were brought in by outside invaders.  Sikhism, Buddhism, and Jainism are native Indian religions, not brought by outside invaders.  What happened in other countries is immaterial.

(No idea what they think of Zoroastrians who arrived as refugees, but given the incredibly tiny numbers it hardly matters)

Oh - I came across the term they use - "Dharmic religions".  Which basically just means what I said - religions that originate in India, and are hinuism, buddhism, sikhism and jainism.  The fact that buddhism is probably more popular outside of India than inside of it again just doesn't factor in to it.


Edit: pretty sketchy stuff (Quora) suggests that Zoroastrians are actually on pretty good terms with the BJP due to mutual antipathy with muslims.  Sigh.

#86

Off the Record / Re: Indian Elections 2024

Last post by Jacob - April 23, 2024, 03:21:20 PM

Yi's point is that the set [foreign faiths] and [the faith of the invader] are not a perfect one to one. [Foreign faiths that came here peacefully] are still [foreign faiths], but not [the faith of the invader].

Yi gave examples of foreign faiths that arrived peacefully - Islam in Indonesia, Buddhism in China, Japan, and Korea.

#87

Off the Record / Re: Indian Elections 2024

Last post by Admiral Yi - April 23, 2024, 03:00:31 PM

So?

So it's not the same thing.

#88

Off the Record / Re: Brexit and the waning days...

Last post by Barrister - April 23, 2024, 02:55:57 PM

Having said that my experience of GPs would not be that they are advocates rather than gatekeepers And a GP's receptionist is the fiercest gatekeeper of them all.

So again all Canadian experience.  YMMV.

Yes, doctors are quite strict about getting access to the doctor.  But once you get in to see them they're paid the same whether it's 2 minutes or 20 minutes.  So whatever gets you out of there quicker is what they'll often go with.  If you're asking for a sick note, the quickest response is to write a sick note - it would take much more time to investigate, ask a bunch of questions, and challenge whether you're really sick.

But yes that doesn't mean your GP is going to go to bat and make a bunch of phone calls or whatever on your behalf.

(My wife works as a medical assistant for three doctors - one GP, one surgeon (who has to do surgical consults), and I forget what the third one does.  They're lovely people, but you can definitely see the failings in the system from her stories)

#89

Off the Record / Re: Brexit and the waning days...

Last post by Sheilbh - April 23, 2024, 02:49:52 PM

If you have some form of income protection insurance (typically a standard benefit in white collar jobs - and more like European style welfare systems) then you will get asked by the insurer.

I've never had to get a sicknote for work from a GP. I did have an extended period off work due to an injury once and I was set up with a call from my company's appointed third party medical assessor. They ran through the inury and were actually far stricter than I was intending to be. It was a physical injury but I could dial in and WFH but they were quite strict on amount of time off then coming back for a period of weeks at no more than 4 hours a day etc.

Having said that my experience of GPs would not be that they are advocates rather than gatekeepers And a GP's receptionist is the fiercest gatekeeper of them all.

Although, as I say, I think the objection I'd have to Sunak's point isn't the sicknote (altough under Labour these were re-branded as "fit notes" which doesn't appear to have stuck ) but the measures that seem aimed at trying to force people receiving disabiliity benefit back into work (not by offering treatment, but brow-beating and benefits sanctions).

Never got the obsession with sick time. Either you get one person perhaps slacking, or you chance getting more people in the office sick. Second outcome seems worse to me. And besides, if someone is slacking then chances they're doing more wrong than just calling in sick and are underperforming so you fire them... we'll, from a NA perspective I guess, don't know how easy it is to fire someone over yonder.

Very difficult to fire people in most jobs. And that would be an immediate unfair dismissal claim at the tribunal.

#90

Off the Record / Re: Brexit and the waning days...

Last post by Barrister - April 23, 2024, 02:45:24 PM

Never got the obsession with sick time. Either you get one person perhaps slacking, or you chance getting more people in the office sick. Second outcome seems worse to me. And besides, if someone is slacking then chances they're doing more wrong than just calling in sick and are underperforming so you fire them... we'll, from a NA perspective I guess, don't know how easy it is to fire someone over yonder.

So I'm Canadian (shocking news!), and not living in an "at will" US state.

But something I've seen several times is someone goes on sick leave, perhaps several times.  Employer waits until that person comes back to work.  Employer then fires the employee "without cause" - which means they aren't trying to justify the firing as warranted.  As such the employee gets full notice period pay.  Employee however then can't complain they were fired because they were sick - because the employer admitted they didn't have grounds for a "with cause" termination.

["with cause" = "we caught you stealing - get out immediately, no severance" vs "without cause" = "it's just not working out, here's your severance.  No we don't want to say why it isn't working out"]