There was much public hand-wringing in 2011, when the number of welfare recipients passed 2m for the first time since the social-security system started after the war. But across Japan-a country where the shame of being on benefits is especially great-numbers have been rising. The figure is still extraordinarily low compared with other countries-Ono, with a population of 50,000, has a mere 149 recipients. The share of the population on welfare continues to climb. This has benefited the better-off, though not, noticeably, the poor. Thanks to measures taken by Shinzo Abe, the prime minister, the stockmarket is sharply higher, property values are rising and large companies are more optimistic. The crackdown comes just as the economy is picking up. It is also about to pass a law making it harder to claim welfare.
#Onyer bike series#
And in August the central government made the first of a series of cuts to benefits amounting to as much as 10% over three years. But the new law goes down well with taxpayers. The city admits that to its knowledge none of its claimants is guilty of such sprees. Trips to hostess bars are also among the pastimes now forbidden for those on so-called “livelihood assistance”. In April it enacted a law that orders citizens to inform on anyone found squandering welfare money on pachinko. But this small city in south-central Japan wants to take no risks.
The writer knows the art of channel surfing.AMID a din of slot machines and air thick with cigarette smoke, it is hard to believe that the grim-faced punters in the pachinko parlours of Ono are enjoying themselves. Nick Barlow This email address is being protected from spambots. God knows seven seasons is more than enough, but couldn’t Jim get some balls and give up on this already? There’s still time to get on yer bike. Otherwise, this show is just an exercise in showcasing large, aggressive American idiots. The language is so bad they may as well just broadcast a continuous bleep, or cut out the soundtrack altogether and replace it with a nice bit of Mozart. or Michael not doing what he’s supposed to do, his dad getting pissed off, they have a massive shouting match, someone punches a hole through the door, chairs get thrown across the garage, and the man on the bleepy-swearword-button starts to earn his pay.
#Onyer bike tv#
Never on TV or indeed in my life have I seen a ruckus to match the insane rows that these guys have. At some point in the proceedings Paul Sr.’s other son, Michael, was also introduced into the mix, who doesn’t do anything except stand around saying ‘dude that’s awesome’ and getting into big swear-fests with his dad. As it is, over the years it has developed into a ridiculous soap opera/car wreck of a show, culminating, in a later season, with the firing of Paul Jr. If it had remained a show about blokes who like bikes it might have stayed slightly interesting.
The show has always contained two main figures – the owner of the workshop, Paul Sr., and one of his sons, Paul Jr. Specifically, it’s about massive gas-guzzling two-wheeled noise merchants generally ridden by large bearded gentlemen, and the building of them (the bikes, not the beardos).īack in 2003 when the show first aired it was an occasionally amusing and vaguely instructive look into the world of customised motorbikes. While you might be mistaken for thinking it’s a show about a mass murderer or a famous adult-movie star, it is in fact a show all about bikes. This show used to be on Nelonen, Jim’s sugar daddy, and is a great example of a show which should have died a quick and painless death at the end of season one yet has been wheezing and puffing along in a thoroughly geriatric way for far longer than preferable. But, presumably for cost reasons, TV companies can’t afford to always buy new stuff, so in the case of major channels also having some sister ones, the poor cousins, as it were, are often simply given big brother’s hand-me-downs.Ĭase in point is the fifth season of American Chopper now appearing on Jim (Sundays at 11 am and 10 pm). If that’s not progress, I don’t know what is. Some recent series like Grey’s Anatomy have appeared here the same week as they aired in the US. We used to have to wait months if not years to view the ‘latest’ Desperate Housewives now it’s just a matter of weeks. While this still holds true most of the time, with some imports we are comparatively stunningly up-to-date.
Traditionally, Finnish telly has been so backward that the programmes seem to have been copied straight from Soviet-era broadcasting in terms of fashion, content and production values.
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