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Takayama will also be very cold in December. Overnight low is typically below zero, day time high in single digits. GP

I actually prefer to stay in Osaka. Kyoto is good for sightseeing by day, but I think Osaka is a more interesting city at night, and I'd sooner a quick return to my hotel from wherever I am late at night. I have stayed in Kyoto, and been there at night, but I prefer Osaka overall. Cheaper...

I think Okayama is a great base for that area. It also gives access to Shikoku, although I wouldn't bother going there on a first 9-day trip. However, if seeing castles was a high priority, Matsuyama castle is good too and I think can be done as a long day trip from Okayama. Or stay there the...

Get the one-week rail pass, base yourself in just two or three places (less accommodation to book and less travelling with luggage) then day-trip to the sights. Note that rail passes cannot be used on the Nozomi shinkansen. Try to get the Hikari Rail Star, as the Kodama ones stop at lots more...

Another view on language. GP

I have one such account and don't recall any particular issues. Opening any bank account is a PITA though. GP

Do you mean TDs specifically, or cash generally? I'm not sure what percentage is specifically in TDs, without working it out, but excluding our PPOR, I'm pretty much all cash at the moment. GP

My main TDs at the moment are with ING and RaboDirect (both business rather than personal). I just choose the best rate for the period I want from amongst the few banks I can easily do TDs with online (ie. those I've already done the 100 point ID thing with and allow quick online setup without...

Other good earners for the government: - Tobacco - Alcohol - Gambling Other areas with significant social problems and costs: - Tobacco - Alcohol - Gambling What's one more on the list I suppose... GP

Agreed. That's a matter of fact, not opinion. However, that doesn't mean the stated reason for the law is in any way correct or just, or even that the stated reason is in fact the real reason. It's not called politics for nothing. Again, you make the gross assumption that being "well over" the...

Or maybe not. This is admittedly a little old now, but a study around 1990 (PDF) on risk homeostatis concluded that increased fines for exceeding speed limits had no effect on the accident rate, while increased cost of accidents dramatically lowered the rate but had no effect on speed choice. GP

On the gross assumption that they were ever a problem in the first place. Totally irrelevant emotional propaganda. No one likes deaths on the roads or anywhere else, but this sort of rubbish doesn't add anything constructive to the debate. GP

A nice misrepresentation of the real situation: talk specifically about autobahns then give figures for all roads. But then, what would you expect from an organisation with a barrow to push. Also, those figures appear to be from around 2000, when the figures were 11.3 and 9.3 respectively. For...

The rort is about to step up a notch or ten - so much so that Macquarie Bank is getting in on the act. And these will have no warning signs, just Got-You-Sucker! signs after the fact. From an earlier article: If that's the impact of improved driver behaviour, then give me bad drivers any day...

I left home when I was 17 (to go to university). And I was going out with school friends drinking when I was 15 or 16 (never parties at my parents' place though - it would have been wrecked). While I was never a huge drinker, there were a number of occasions that reached the vomiting stage...

An hour is not that much in Sydney. There are people who regularly commute for much longer than that. That's what books, crosswords, and ipods are for... GP

In my opinion, Parramatta is better than Wiley Park or Punchbowl. It's on a better train line, is a major station on that line with fast trains (although that's something of an oxymoron with City Rail), and is a bigger business and shopping area. Parramatta Westfield is huge. For City Rail...

Coastymike, Thanks for that. I have to say though, about the only thing I understood from that article was: All that stuff about converting franking account balances went over my head. That quote above states that shareholders could only get 30% franked dividends after July 2001, so was there...

If a private company has accumulated franking credits at a tax rate of 30% and then wants to issue franked dividends after the company tax rate drops to 28%, can it still frank the dividends at 30% since it has sufficient credits available? If not, how can the shareholder (who controls the...

Just got back from the London trip I mentioned near the start of this thread. I had no problem at all with Air Asia. Seats were fine (although I'm not especially tall or long-legged) and I didn't find anything much different to flying with Jetstar, which I've done a number of times now without...