Posts by Roger
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Well done Emma!!
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Hard News: The Waterview Bore, in reply to Joshua Arbury,
The Avondale-Southdown railway line may actually be needed ... It'd be a pretty cheap extension to the rail network post CRL that could generate significant rail patronage.
Actually no, the section of the designation climbing up from Onehuna is way too steep for normal trains (although electric can manage a steeper track than diesel). The normal maximum is about 1:50.
This would mean a very deep cutting (too deep for the width of the designation) or a tunnel through very hard basalt. It is too deep for a cutting and too shallow for a bored tunnel, so you would be stuck with cut-and-cover construction in a right of way too narrow to give access without purchase and demolition of residential properties along the route.
The uneconomic nature of this line is one of the few things from the 1955 transport plan that still holds true.
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Hard News: The Waterview Bore, in reply to Matthew Poole,
When the motorway network was originally sketched out in the 1950s it was accompanied by huge expansion of the tram network.
Actually Matthew it didn't. I have a copy of the 1955 Master Transport Plan for Metropolitan Auckland and while it has pictures of trams in it, it makes almost no mention of them at all; and certainly none whatsoever in the recommendations. It does mention busses, and recommends that all of the motorways be built with drop off and pick up terminals on separate lanes at high use destination and origin areas (no bus lanes though).
In general it looks at road traffic that includes busses and trams, and rail traffic. It ironically misses the point that at that time busses and trams carry 50-60% of all passenger trips, yet only use 7% of the road space... so why would you need so much more road space?
On rail it states that the ring route to connect the CBD to the Northwestern line should be delayed until Auckland's population reaches between 700,000 and 1,100,000 people!
The Waterview Tunnel is, at least, following roughly along a line from the 1950s plan.
Again no, the 1955 plan has no route between the Mangere Bridge (where the motorway was to end) and Morningside. This came latter.
Overall even by 1955 the Transport planners were addicted to an orgy of road building without much consideration of anything else.
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Up Front: The Up-Front Guides: The…, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
So a representative of immigrants who fights on their behalf against discrimination and bigotry, supports discrimination and bigotry. This is just sad and depressing.
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We know that prostitution reform and civil unions brought us the retribution of the Christchurch earthquake... and now Tongariro erupts. We need to stop this blasphemy right now
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Hard News: Drunk Town, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
There's nothing more destructive to the rule of law than those laws not being enforced.
I could not agree with this more! My personal view is all laws where there is not a clear committment to enforcement should be removed from the statute book.
Ruining people’s livelihoods is a horrible thing to do, and has to be bound up with legal safeguards..
If you don't like the rules, don't play.
And hallelujah to this to! Lets have clear rules and then enforce them strictly and consistently.
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I do get really tired of this; "We have a problem, pass another law" knee-jerk reaction that seems to becoming a New Zealand cultural response when we already have far too many laws.
I was a strong supporter of dropping the drinking age as it was a law that was mostly honoured in the breach, bring the system into disrepute. Foolishly I assumed that the deal was that we would drop the age two years to reflect the ages of people actually in the bars, and then enforce it. Nothing like that happened of course and the default drinking age dropped from 18 or so where it was down to 16 or younger.
We do not need new laws, split age systems or a newer higher drinking age, we just need to actually enforce what we have. As a bar owner in the US said to me when I questioned being carded at age 40+... "If I am found with just one under age drinker in the bar that is my license gone, so no proof of age - no entry and that means everyone".
Then we just need to deal with the adults supplying drink to the kids. We really have an issue when schools wont let parents take their own children from a school ball to an after-ball because they can't trust the parents not facilitate them to get pissed.
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Up Front: Towards a Sex-Positive Utopia, in reply to Lilith __,
And in other news, look forward to the sex-bot utopia!!!!
Or Cherry 2000?
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Up Front: Towards a Sex-Positive Utopia, in reply to Bart Janssen,
I think the "CEOs are closet masochists" theme comes from the strong desire that most folks have to see their CEO whipped and humiliated. That might have led to some more frequent portrayal of that stereotype in the media.
Or maybe they just want to restore some balance in their lives?
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Up Front: Towards a Sex-Positive Utopia, in reply to Emma Hart,
Not saying I agree, but isn't that routinely trotted out to explain masochistic CEOs/politicians?
Yes it is. Also, I hear poor people are lazy.
A bit harsh, I think, Emma. It does take a certain personality type to put yourself out there to become a politician, and it is not to big a stretch to suspect that this 'type' might align to other proclivities? A basis for some research perhaps?