Posts by Matthew Poole
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Hard News: Neither fish nor fowl, in reply to BenWilson,
Also, I speculate, it’s quite rare to find an uncontrolled intersection of this kind.
Nowhere near as rare as you'd suspect. Top of Mortimer Pass in Newmarket springs immediately to mind. It's fairly common for onramps, come to think of it, though as the motorways get upgraded there's a lot of signalisation happening.
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Hard News: Neither fish nor fowl, in reply to BenWilson,
Knowledge of that detail of law is trumped in the safety stakes by the far more general rule that one should drive to avoid accidents.
Of course, but if that rule actually mattered terribly much we wouldn’t have dozens of people dying every year in intersection crashes.
If the person turning left onto the ramp didn’t know the rule but approached slightly fast on the assumption that they were allowed to use both lanes it’s entirely conceivable that a person legitimately turning right who did know the rule might end up arguing with the left-turner’s driver’s door. Those kinds of crashes happen all the time through simple failure to give way on single-lane roads.
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Hard News: Key Questions, in reply to Stewart,
But he will lead us into war against N Korea?
Could that “story” have been beaten up any further? My opinion of Key is hardly any secret, but I just cannot read his reported words and muster outrage. It’s not even really speaking out of turn, given that the US is openly considering conflict as a possibility and spent over $5m on flying two B2s down to send a message. Key saying that – if the very worst happens and a series of extreme events cascade into war – NZ will examine its position, is, IMO, pretty measured. I saw Bomber’s tirade on FB and thought Key had said something that was actually stupid and outrageous, and then went and read what he’d said and realised that Bomber was just being Bomber.
ETA: I also want to know the precise wording of the question that lead to his comment. What he said looks very much like it was fomented.
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Hard News: Key Questions, in reply to Luke Williamson,
it is clear that his values are warped or he wouldn’t be the man he is today”
A wonderful comment on Your Views yesterday summed it up pretty well. Supposedly from Key’s trader days, it was said of him "Great radar, poor compass."
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Hard News: Neither fish nor fowl, in reply to Bart Janssen,
I know exactly what you mean.
It's a great example of why I think there should be, at minimum, mandatory "must pass" road rules testing every time you have to renew your licence. This is a situation where not knowing the law actually could result in a serious collision.
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Hard News: Neither fish nor fowl, in reply to BenWilson,
There is no compulsion whatsoever when turning to choose the closest lane.
I suggest you familiarise yourself with the Road Code's opinion on the matter. It doesn't support your assertion.
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Hard News: Key Questions, in reply to ChrisW,
Shearer and Labour are not the entirety of the Opposition, but still, he/they should take an opportunity sooner rather than later to have another go at front-footing the New York bank account matter, if not to be hobbled forever.
Indeed. And even though they're not the entirety of the Opposition, my caveat about being future ministers applies just as much to the Greens. A Privileges Committee complaint against the PM is pretty much the nuclear option, and this is really not the kind of issue where it's worth pursuing. They could try a complaint to the Speaker for misleading the House, but I can't see Carter supporting such an action.
Ultimately this is not a hugely significant matter. Yes Key gave a less-than-frank answer. Yes he probably knew he was lying when he gave it. But the action was still one that had to be backstopped by the SSC before it really got anywhere. It's not like he lied about knowing Fletcher after emailing him a contract for the role without any kind of vetting.
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Hard News: Key Questions, in reply to ChrisW,
Why is there still soft-pedalling this by the Opposition?
Because in the absence of a smoking gun that Key lied and knew it, they don't want to open that can of worms for future sessions. Members of the present Opposition will be ministers in a future government, and they want to avoid giving National the precedent of questionable complaints to the Privileges Committee over errors of memory. It's bad enough that National has Shearer's non-declaration of a sizeable offshore bank account (which he knew he had, since he declared it for tax), without taking the PM to the Privileges Committee on less than a concrete case of misleading the House.
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Hard News: Key Questions, in reply to Chris Waugh,
it seems to me that fascism is on the rise in Europe again
Is it what. Hungary is no longer a democracy, declares the New Statesman, and it's hard to argue with the conclusion based on the evidence.
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Hard News: Key Questions, in reply to Paul Brislen,
I find it instructive that 59% of respondent NBR online subscribers – who ought, broadly speaking, to be sympathetic towards Key – don’t believe he genuinely forgot about the phone call.