OnPoint by Keith Ng

Read Post

OnPoint: How it would work

59 Responses

First ←Older Page 1 2 3 Newer→ Last

  • Tze Ming Mok,

    Paul Holmes: "So, Senator Clinton, when you're not getting mani-pedis with Chelsea, do you read women's magazines?"

    SarfBank, Lunnin' • Since Nov 2006 • 154 posts Report Reply

  • Rich Lock,

    We lefties always think when we expose a bigot that we have won the argument. We fail to notice that opinions like Ms Lee's are heard everyday on talkback radio and are held by many ordinary people.

    Tend to agree.

    There's a poll on 'Stuff' at the moment - 'what do you think of Lee's comments?' or something along those lines.

    Rssults when I looked were very roughly as follows (with lots of paraphrasing added by me):

    1/3 were pretty horrified.

    1/3 were 'yeah, she shouldn't have said it, but it was just a spur-of-the-moment blurt, so I'm not that bothered.'

    1/3 were what I can only characterise as supportive.

    Now, given the likely self-selecting sample and therefore validity, it doesn't really mean that much, but it does tend to support your point.

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report Reply

  • Angus Robertson,

    We lefties always think when we expose a bigot that we have won the argument.

    Why should the NZ left think that? To benefit would require some point of difference.

    This exposure of Melissa Lee took maybe two weeks of a campaign and is being chortled over by the left as a defining gotcha moment. Unfortunately the same left spent the last 3 years in very close proximity to Peter Brown and Winston Peters unable to identify any bigotry expressed to be of a similar gotcha quality.

    We fail to notice that opinions like Ms Lee's are heard everyday on talkback radio and are held by many ordinary people.

    Not surprising, the NZ left is incapable of noticing similar opinions when cultivated by their own Minister of Foreign Affairs.

    Auckland • Since May 2007 • 984 posts Report Reply

  • Keith Ng,

    Oh noes! They're all headed for Devonport.

    Not quite. See Douglas Adams' Standard Model Intrepretation of Ring Route Dynamics:

    "He had extracted himself from the Cambridge one-way system by the usual method, which involved going round and round it faster and faster until he achieved a sort of escape velocity and flew off at a tangent in a random direction."

    But since the energy potential for the Western Ring Route is so much larger, by my calculations, you may emerge inside the LHC. Or somewhere in northern Chile. Meh. That's quantum physics for you.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 543 posts Report Reply

  • Gareth Ward,

    If I can drive past Mt Albert and come out in Switzerland or Chile then I think the benefits of this road have been grossly undersold.

    Auckland, NZ • Since Mar 2007 • 1727 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    We lefties always think when we expose a bigot that we have won the argument. We fail to notice that opinions like Ms Lee's are heard everyday on talkback radio and are held by many ordinary people.

    Totally. Being an overt racist is seen as courageous plain talking from those who complain that not being rude and ignorant is just"pc". Although there's proably a decent overlap with those who would never vote for a woman or one of "them asians".

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Keith Ng,

    Personal experience has shown that motorways are excellent enablers of crime. They are particularly handy, for example, if you wish to evade police cars by driving against the flow of traffic at high speeds in a stolen vehicle.

    Not with the congestion projected by 2015... maybe if you were on a motorcycle. Or a monster truck.

    (I should probably point out that I mean in Grand Theft Auto, right?)

    If you want to drive against the flow of traffic at (well, moderate) speeds, you don't need a motorway. You just need a firetruck. Or a tank. That works well too.

    Mmmm. I think that just pushed me over the edge into getting GTA IV.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 543 posts Report Reply

  • Angus Robertson,

    If I can drive past Mt Albert and come out in Switzerland or Chile then I think the benefits of this road have been grossly undersold.

    This would explain why the tunnel option costs so much.

    Auckland • Since May 2007 • 984 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    Not surprising, the NZ left is incapable of noticing similar opinions when cultivated by their own Minister of Foreign Affairs.

    We've had our own Minister of Foreign Affairs? I guess Helen Clark was left when she did it for a few months. Nothing else in the past 20 years.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    This would explain why the tunnel option costs so much.

    Actually I would have thought cut and cover would be more expensive.

    I mean crossing the Pacific floor and then covering it up? That's going to take some work.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel,

    the usual method, which involved going round and round it faster and faster until he achieved a sort of escape velocity and flew off at a tangent in a random direction

    So quantum physics has dispensed with the "turning into pools of delicious melted butter" centrifugal outcome - damn - hold the popcorn!

    It's a motorway. There is nothing we can do. This motorway has ruined everything."

    If the alleged criminals can't find their way in...
    spare a thought for the people who can't find their way out !

    J.G Ballard (RIP) covered this well in Concrete Island

    and his last work Kingdom Come a warning to us all
    - Don't drive into the Mall Strom

    perhaps a remake is up for grabs Lord of the Flyovers

    yrs
    Admiral Crichton

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • Gareth Ward,

    I also wonder if Lee has informed NZTA that their motorway explicitly designed to speed driving times between South Auckland and the North-West is in fact going to do specifically the opposite? That's gotta hurt the cost/benefit.

    Auckland, NZ • Since Mar 2007 • 1727 posts Report Reply

  • Angus Robertson,

    Actually I would have thought cut and cover would be more expensive.

    And a tunnel would shorten commutes considerably, do it right and we might be able to arrive before we depart - relativistically.

    Auckland • Since May 2007 • 984 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel,

    we might be able to arrive before we depart - relativistically.

    or even allow the highly strung to arrive beside themselves
    thread theory even arriving in a universe where commonsense prevails

    meanwhile I'm down the end of the garden
    and away with the theories

    yrs
    Maxwell Silverhammer

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • Sam F,

    I mean crossing the Pacific floor and then covering it up? That's going to take some work.

    Totally worth it to save Mount Albert from Pharaoh and his horsemen though.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1611 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    So... Michelle Malkin is Asian? Otherwise you've all officially confused the fuck out of me.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Angus Robertson,

    ...a universe where commonsense prevails

    Fantasist.

    Auckland • Since May 2007 • 984 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Parks,

    Well, she's a US citizen, but according to Wikipedia she has Filipino parents. Of Asian decent, then?

    Wellington • Since May 2007 • 1165 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Parks,

    ... or were you thinking of someone else?

    Wellington • Since May 2007 • 1165 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    ... or were you thinking of someone else?

    Having (very) occasionally read her columns, I had formed the mental image of a *very* white person. Then again, nobody's whiter than Francis Fukuyama, but at least he has the decency to bear a surname that allows me to tick the appropriate ethnic box.

    (And then what? Yeah, I know, nothing. But to the extent that I'm struck by this, it has to do with how incredibly xenophobic Malkin is. For a first generation non actually xeno-person, that is genuinely quite impressive.)

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic,

    Francis Fukuyama used to be a key player of the neo-con movement - particularly the infamous Project For A New American Century - but mid-way thru Dubya's term, he very publicly disowned himself from it, to the point where he endorsed Obama for President. He's since formed a rival group called American Interest.

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    but mid-way thru Dubya's term, he very publicly disowned himself from it

    That I believe is more appropriately called "abandoning ship". The whole thing was hilarious, in fact, as his criticism of Bush amounted to him saying "He did exactly what my friends and I urged him to do, and look at the consequences! That man must be stopped!" It really was quite priceless.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • WH,

    I think a lot of Aucklanders would accept that South Auckland has its share of problems. But Melissa's comments hint at unattractively old school, is-what-it-is, us and them attitude to social development. You need to build a big wall, see.

    Not cool for a Mt Albert candidate, I would have thought. I delivered flyers for Helen before I fled the country in search of a better life. Tze Ming and I are practically neighbours.

    Since Nov 2006 • 797 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic,

    I think a lot of Aucklanders would accept that South Auckland has its share of problems. But Melissa's comments hint at unattractively old school, is-what-it-is, us and them attitude to social development. You need to build a big wall, see.

    Welcome to Checkpoint Taare.

    You are leaving the Asian Sector.
    Koe puta atu te kauhanga Ahia.
    您正在离开波利尼西亚部门。
    तुम एशियाई क्षेत्र निकल रहे हैं.
    당신은 폴리네 시안 섹터를 떠나고있다.

    (sorry, the Maori one will be mangled, and no translations avl for Samoan, can anyone help here?)

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report Reply

  • Jackie Clark,

    Well, Melissa Lee caused some merriment in Mangere this past couple of days. And some ire, also. The merriment was mostly about me living over "this side" and the ire was about, well, her hapless generalisations. Mostly though, the people who talked to me about it were well pleased she'd shot herself in the foot. Melissa will have learned a saluatory lesson by the end of all this, I am sure.

    Mt Eden, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 3136 posts Report Reply

First ←Older Page 1 2 3 Newer→ Last

Post your response…

Please sign in using your Public Address credentials…

Login

You may also create an account or retrieve your password.