Posts by ChrisW
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Good try, but slam-dunked - I declare Joshua the winner.
And with the 'savings' surely there'll be plenty left for ongoing maintenamce, renewal and investment in the Whangarei and Gisborne railways as well.
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Jim Quinn (KR CEO) won't mothball any more lines at this juncture. He'd rather rehabilitate them
Yes KiwiRail is trying on the Gisborne Napier line at this juncture - tunnel floors recently lowered to allow Hi-Cube containers to be carried and so forth. But unless the policy frame is broadened, the constraints of that narrow policy will apply cumulative pressure on KiwiRail, while Joyce spends up on the Puhoi-Wellsford holiday highway ...
NZTA spokesman - "It was not appropriate for the NZTA to speak on government policy in this area, so she [Jenny Chetwynd, regional director] declined to come." It would have been interesting to ask her about the policy process and decision-making in the medium-longterm national and regional interests within that Policy, but not to be.
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“A Billion here, 2 Billion there, and pretty soon you’re starting to talk real money.”
By way of contrast, the 214 km Gisborne - Napier railway is at threat of closure for its inability to generate net revenue sufficient to cover the annual line maintenance and renewal cost of $2 million.
There was an interesting symposium on the subject organised by TransitionTowns in Gisborne this morning. The policy context is set by Steven Joyce's “challenging goal” in 21 Apr10 speech that
KiwiRail Group become, within ten years, a sustainable freight-based business that is able to fund its ongoing operating and capital expenditure from customer-generated revenue.
Without being politically pointed about it, Dr Murray King (‘President, Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport’) made the significant point in discussion that this may well allow Government to leave the decision on mothballing = closure of the line to be made by KiwiRail on their own assessment of the short-medium term prospects of its profitability to them, without regard to the many wider interests, such as impact on road users including the literal impacts of death and injuries, which are routinely taken account of in the benefit-cost assessment of other transport options.
This political sensitivity is perhaps why there was a no show from the regional director of the NZTA, who had been scheduled to speak as well, but pulled out at the last minute for fear of being expected to discuss Government policy in the area. Snort.
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Fortunately Kevin Hague, Lynne Pillay and David Parker, and I/S all have their bullshit detectors set to 'High'.
And yet again papers like the Herald are only too happy to repeat the press releases
Surely any clapped out third-rate bullshit detector set to 'Low' would have detected this bullshit?
So what can it mean when it goes undetected or unresponded to by the fourth estate?
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I don’t have a guest list for my grandfather’s christening, but perhaps a couple of his older mates were there?
Sigh - perhaps a couple of his grandfather's older mates - but I guess that was obvious. Outrageous Fortune was about to start and I had to eff OF in a hurry.
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Not (meaning to appear to be) pushing a barrow on these things. Perhaps this might have been a case for "Just sayin' "? Is that the rule/guideline? Mostly just musing on myself.
I recognise the D for Disorder is meaningful and adds value to the term. It's an interesting word, covers multi-dimensional spectrums of possibilities in itself. I'm a bit disordered myself, my house and home patch of land shows it well.
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Another AQ score of 35 here. Been aware of my many differences from norms and expectations all along, but two years ago following links from PAS to Humans to was it the same test in different format? resulting in same score, and discussion with one confidante in particular, made it seem pretty clear I'm well within the ASD range. And it seems helpful to appreciate the degree of commonality as well as differences that identification brings, and build awareness from there.
Perhaps as apparent on this thread, there is now a preference to drop the D for disorder? Fair enough, but TLAs (three-letter acronyms) work best.
So with such prevalence revealed on this thread, is it not obvious PAS is People (with, of, on the) Autism Spectrum?
And no one has mentioned Peter Ashby and his lack of empathy as per the recent fracas on other thread? I missed that in real time but it makes sad reading now. Surely a worthy member of the PAS community in two or three senses, who might have been tolerated when not appreciated?
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Joining late after much interesting catch-up reading – I’ve been off-line in Auckland of all places, seeing My Mum and other good things.
She shows every sign of reaching 90 in 2 months, to be followed a few weeks later by the 90th anniversary of the death of her father. I took her to the Auckland War Memorial Museum to see her father’s name chiselled in marble on the walls of the strangely beautiful World War I Sanctuary upstairs – and she really did struggle up all those stairs determinedly, though to be honest she welcomed the lift back down.
Her father’s name is slightly out of sequence at the end of a long column of names among the many thousands, as recognition of his 1920 death as war-related came a little later. It must be rare now for NZers to see their father’s name on a World War I memorial to the dead, for the majority who went to war were single or married without children (that’s why those memorials are mostly to uncles, great-uncles ...), and surviving children of the exceptions must be few and very old now, mid-90s and more. And few war-dead fathered children after they came home!
So my Mum – she’s special too. More than two decades of volunteer work, after teaching new entrants and raising four sons before that, and a tough start in life. For her mother too, it was a hard row to hoe for working class solo mothers in the 1920s.
Now, picking up on Dyan Campbell’s on page 4 -
My Grandfather (on my Dad's side) was both my oldest grandparent and the only grandparent alive when I was born,. He was born in 1876 - or 1878. … I bet I'm the only person here whose grandfather's christening was attended by people born in the 1700s.
Indeed the 1700s are a long time ago. My other grandfather was much older. I remember him just, and he too was with certainty born in 1876. I can’t quite meet the challenge on his christening though – I can be confident his grandfather was there, as he lived on another 10 years in the same Leicestershire village but he narrowly misses the jackpot being born in 1800. I don’t have a guest list for my grandfather’s christening, but perhaps a couple of his older mates were there?
So back to my maternal grandfather – it would be surprising if there were anyone here whose grandfather died before 1920?
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Te Atatatu Peninsular
Russell, as a resident I feel an obligation to correct you. It's Te Atatu Peninsula.
Or Te Atatu North, though some of the posher residents would have you up for that.Peninsular and Orient
Steered Hoipolloi to an
Extra RMeeting by occident
we find reorientation
out westTe Atatatu
Extra thanks for this –
The sound of the future
as weighty vehicles stutter
across the cattle-stop judder bars
of shopping mall carparks,
fossil fuel to burn
to power the window displays,
user pays,
the world is saved. -
Not sure whether I should care about TVNZ News one way or another, it doesn’t affect me personally. I was watching in December 2001, when they quoted (with a totally straight face) a Pentagon spokesperson on behalf of the US hailing the installation of the Karzai administration in Afghanistan as the first peaceful change of government there for over 20 years. This after 2 months of intensive aerial bombardment and thousands of troops fighting on the ground to displace the Taliban from Kabul and Kandahar.
It was a Sunday. I thought maybe TVNZ had only a skeleton staff on, that is only empty skulls were on the job that day. Maybe there was a subtle wink in the delivery that I missed. But on the Monday, the same line was presented as objective fact, no need to attribute it to a source. Never been back.