Cyclewatch

33 comments on “Cyclewatch ”

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1. cocamc 1

   9 April 2009 at 9:04 am

   Lift NZ into top half of OECD

   Time taken : 9 years and counting

   Result : Failed
   • r0b 1.1

     9 April 2009 at 9:28 am

     There’s a difference between something that you aim for, and something that you promise to deliver.

     Do you think National is aiming to lift us into the top half of the OECD? If not, why the hell not?

     National promised to deliver tax cuts North of $50. How do you think that’s going to work out for them?
     • cocamc 1.1.1

       9 April 2009 at 9:30 am

       It was tongue in cheek response to the cycleway. I am sure National wants to lift NZ out of the bottom half of OECD. Problem is we have a recession to move through first. Labour had 9 years of good times and still couldn’t do it
       • r0b 1.1.1.1

         9 April 2009 at 9:49 am

         It was tongue in cheek response to the cycleway

         I know, but its apples and oranges, the cycle way was a concrete policy, a response to the economic crisis, or so we were told. Aiming for the top half of the OECD was an “aspirational goal” not a concrete policy.

         I am sure National wants to lift NZ out of the bottom half of OECD.

         I’m sure they do too – let’s see how they do.

         Problem is we have a recession to move through first. Labour had 9 years of good times and still couldn’t do it

         The ranking is a relative, not an absolute position (hint – not every country can be in the top half). All countries have the recession, just as all countries had the relative good times that preceded it. Labour moved the country forward, other countries moved forward too, so our relative position didn’t change much. Once again – let’s see how National does shall we? Their total lack of response to the current crisis does not exactly fill one with confidence…
       • Pascal's bookie 1.1.1.2

         9 April 2009 at 9:54 am

         Given that it’s a fairly arbitrary sort of stat, and a comparitive one anyhoo, recession or not shouldn’t make any diff. Could make it easier in fact. Balloons that blew up bigger, pop louder, I find.

         Seems like we had a fair share of comments here about how eastern europe was going to overtake us, so in love were they with douglas policy. Very popular he is, in estonia, I’ve been told. Romania too. Probably Iceland also.

         pop went the weasel though. Don’t hear about eastern europe so much, of late, from them what used to lecture here.
2. roger nome 2

   9 April 2009 at 9:37 am

   cocamc – no, it was just stupid and witless. Deal with it.

   Blip – you watched futurama last night didn’t you?
   • BLiP 2.1

     9 April 2009 at 10:00 am

     I do usually but not last night – too busy catching up on the painting I should have done over the summer. I admit quite happily to stealing good lines from what ever source I can find but what are you referring to, if you don’t mind me asking. You’ve got me curious.
     • roger nome 2.1.1

       9 April 2009 at 10:10 am

       Well – bender fell in love with the sentient-ship/computer, and serenaded it with the song from Space Odyssey that you use above. Brilliant parody as usual.
       • BLiP 2.1.1.1

         9 April 2009 at 10:29 am

         Grumpy blog nanny’s gone and deleted it!
         • roger nome 2.1.1.1.1

           9 April 2009 at 10:38 am

           Yeah – i see dad’s MIA again as well. oh well.
3. BLiP 3

   9 April 2009 at 10:03 am

   There’s no atheists in a fox hole. 😉
   • Felix 3.1

     9 April 2009 at 11:45 am

     There are also no holes in an atheist fox. Make of that what you will.
     • ak 3.1.1

       9 April 2009 at 12:10 pm

       (…but if an atheist fox has no holes nor a box, what’s to be done with those randy fox cocks? Are we now to assume, in line with your views, that all foxes, in future, will sit upon pews?)
4. Tane 4

   9 April 2009 at 10:06 am

   I’ve deleted the above debate because it was a) in danger of getting us in trouble with people’s webmarshal systems and b) it was getting nasty.

   Keep in clean people.
   • BLiP 4.1

     9 April 2009 at 10:08 am

     Message received and understood.
   • roger nome 4.2

     9 April 2009 at 10:13 am

     Damn it – i missed that.
     • dad4justice 4.2.1

       9 April 2009 at 10:46 am

       It was a clean miss.
5. ripp0 5

   9 April 2009 at 10:07 am

   a good giggle guys..! that open-mouthed boyish bill a total turn up..

   but hey, WTH welded that bike frame together.. for double steerage.. heads side-by-side.. legs behind each other.. and biull, in fact, the runner.
6. BLiP 6

   9 April 2009 at 10:10 am

   Tane – you’ve missed the one in relation to Cheese re Chest Player – delete this too if you like
   • Tane 6.1

     9 April 2009 at 10:24 am

     cheers
7. MikeG 7

   9 April 2009 at 10:18 am

   ‘Mr Key announced the Prime Ministerial summit on employment in February would be a “do-fest” not a “talk-fest”.’ – 14 Jan 09

   They talked about a 9-day fortnight and a cycleway. What have they done….

   By the time they do anything the world will be out of recession.
8. MikeE 8

   9 April 2009 at 10:26 am

   From Liberty Scott:

   Kiwirail

   Time: 9.5 months
   Jobs created: 0
   Additional freight and passengers carried: 0
   Cost thus far: $1.07 billion (purchase plus capital injection)
   Wealth created from purchase: -$242 million (Treasury rightdown in November, to be conservative.)
   Money saved on road maintenance minus road user charges revenue lost: 0
   Enrichment of foreign investors from the New Zealand taxpayers’ pockets: $206 million (difference in what Toll paid and what Dr Cullen paid using your money to buy the same thing).
   • Chris G 8.1

     9 April 2009 at 12:13 pm

     hahahahaha what a hopeless example to bring up MikeE and Liberty Scott.

     Clearly Liberty Scott has a poor grasp of history regarding the railways.

     Need he be reminded WHY we bought back the railway?

     To continue the sale of state assets Jim Bolger sold off NZ Rail in 1993 to the Greedy Fay & Richwhite among others who owned TranzRail. They systematically let it run in to an absolute shit heap that it needed to be bailed out by the government in 2002 or else the trains would have stopped running! Then after more shit heap operation by ANOTHER greedy company – Toll – The government finally bought it back.

     Heres the legacy of private control for the railways:

     – Insider/dubious trading More than once!
     – Lack of investment and maintenance
     – 2 private ownerships that simply milked the rail as a cash cow without any regard for it being a service.
     – 3 time winner of the Roger award for Worst Transnational Corporation Operating in New Zealand and first inductee in to its ‘Hall of Shame’
     – Bailout by the ‘big bad government’

     Then just for a laugh we chucked the very man who SOLD it in the first place back in charge of the now State owned KiwiRail!

     = ~15 year experiment with privatisation FAIL

     But I mean, hats off to you… really nice example.
     • BLiP 8.1.1

       9 April 2009 at 2:50 pm

       You’ve overlooked the disgusting attitude to safety by the private owners – at least two deaths of workers I know about, hundreds of major accidents, and countless general “lost time” injuries – never mind, I suppose they’ve got ACC to mop up – oh, hang on – we own ACC!!
       • Chris G 8.1.1.1

         9 April 2009 at 11:58 pm

         Yeah I didnt wanna keep on ranting but that was part of the reason they won the Roger Award so many times.

         to Quote the judges statement for its ‘victory’ in 2002:

         “This company has taken a major community asset and run it into the ground over a period of 10 years.  The effects are not only to be worn by the community as a whole in terms of needing to fund an upgrade because of poor maintenance of the infrastructure but the appalling safety record of the company leaves one aghast”

         Congratulations Fay & Richwhite. Enjoy your houses in the south of France.
9. BeShakey 9

   9 April 2009 at 11:56 am

   Liberty Scott’s contribution doesn’t make sense.

   a) It doesn’t consider the counterfactual
   b) It was part of an economic plan for Labour, that National doesn’t subscribe to. Given their lack of support it isn’t surprising that it hasn’t achieved as much as it might.
   c) The fact that there was a firesale (under National), shouldn’t be a reflection on the purchase price.
   d) Is the suggestion that because (according to him) Labour had a bad economic plan National shouldn’t be held to account for their awful economic management?
10. BLiP 10

    9 April 2009 at 12:32 pm

    Hahahaha – alas, my comment is the debris left behind after Tane set off his Nanny Bomb and cleaned the channel up – still its good to have a chuckle and youse never let me down.
11. roger nome 11

    9 April 2009 at 2:10 pm

    grr
12. roger nome 12

    9 April 2009 at 2:11 pm

    ak – can you set that to a beat and rap it please? I want a video of it too please.
13. John Dalley 13

    9 April 2009 at 4:13 pm

    While i think the expansion of the cycleway are a good idea in general, the the idea floated by the dopey John Key as some sort of saviour of the country is just so gay.
14. Ed 14

    9 April 2009 at 5:12 pm

    The cost thus far is surely quite a number of National’s favourite policy analysts, plus lost opportunities for a lot of time spent on this distraction from lack of progress anywhere else. Bureaucracy is the winner, taxpayers the loser.
15. aj 15

    9 April 2009 at 7:49 pm

    Jobs lost ?
16. theaveragekeywi 16

    9 April 2009 at 11:26 pm

    It was clearly just headline grabbing stuff, it was hardly an initiative but a simple story for the jounos to follow. As Key and his mates toned it down, the jounos lost interest (and the Nats continued rate favorably in the polls) and here we are with what we have today. Nothing and no-one holding Key to account.

    So cheers to the Standard for keeping us updated.

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