Posts by Joe Wylie
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Southerly: Tower Insurance Have Some Bad…, in reply to ChrisW,
I see Gerry Brownlee's current "geodata" and the general arse-covering as relating more to the other end of the system, the impacts of those earthquakes on buildings, infrastructure and lives.
Brownlee uses the term 'geodata' with the same vagueness he displayed when referring to estimates of potential mineral wealth in the conservation estate. In the present free market scenario of post-quake 'recovery', governments appear to assume ownership of information on seismic risk, presumably because they pay for it. The argument that taxpayers have a right to information because they funded it has so far been ignored. CERA's extraordinary powers consolidate this situation. Right now, according to those who speak through Brownlee, geodata is crucial to the return - or non-return - of insurers and investors.
Fortunately your long-term optimism seems supported by the fact that we still have commissions of enquiry, and that Kelvin Berryman is free to give interviews. While I don't believe that your connecting Ford and Radley's call for greater openness on the discussion of seismic data with the Ken Ring fringe was intentionally snide, it's hardly justified by even a casual reading of their submission. I'd suggest that trust in the ultimate wisdom of governments isn't a great deal of use without a corresponding trust in the people they represent.
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Southerly: Tower Insurance Have Some Bad…, in reply to ChrisW,
I trust there will be very strong recommendations for increased resourcing for a major upgrade in earthquake risk and hazard assessments throughout NZ, and they will be well received and accepted by Government at all levels . . .
As these kinds of recommendations haven't been welcomed by Government in the past, especially in Canterbury, I assume that your trust is based on something more tangible than, say, Gerry Brownlee's ongoing references to "geodata".
Until we know more about this kind of information, and it's made freely available to those whose lives are sometimes drastically affected by whatever conclusions are drawn from it, we're still dealing with a risk-averse* culture of self-interest and complacency.
Currently CERA are inclined to become more exercised over a contractor entering the CBD exclusion zone with a dog in their vehicle than they are over the plight of a wheelchair-bound 71-year-old woman in Bexley who must take out a mortgage (if she can even get one) after being driven from her freehold home.
*Politespeak for arse-covering.
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OnPoint: Retaking the Net, in reply to andin,
In Nashville The Homeless Guy who blogs from public PCs has already linked to NZ Labour's policy launch on homelessness.
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Occupy Wall St has 250,000+ Likes on Facebook.
Just sayin'. -
Southerly: Tower Insurance Have Some Bad…, in reply to Sacha,
You have to wonder how many people would have made an informed decision to avoid the central city after September if told of the actual risk.
Without an accurate time frame I guess it's a bit academic.
For me the most significant thing about the largely ignored report commissioned by ECAN is that the map it provided of potential quake damage in Christchurch is very close to the current CERA zone map which reflects what really happened. While we can't know when things will occur with any precision, we now have a proven example that vulnerable locations can be predicted. I don't think it's at all alarmist to say that the 181 who perished in the CTV building would probably be with us today if the OPUS report had been heeded. -
The Press’s Paul Gorman reports on Rachel Ford and Ed Radley’s appearance at the Royal Commish:
"New Zealand scientists well knew of Canterbury’s vulnerability and told Government long ago. For years, critical modelling tasks the region required for proper preparation fell through the cracks of multiple agencies with ill-defined responsibilities." -
Up Front: Casual, Shallow and Meaningless, in reply to Yamis,
Were you bullied as a child?
Why? Do I look like a politician?
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Southerly: Tower Insurance Have Some Bad…, in reply to Hebe,
. . . I'd be interested to read comments from someone who can sort the wheat from the chaff.
Amen to that. Many thanks Hebe.
They appear to refer to the same largely ignored risk assessment report prepared by OPUS Consultants for ECAN, mentioned in Joel Cayford's revelatory posting from last July.Interesting use of the term "Geologist grapevine".
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Up Front: Casual, Shallow and Meaningless, in reply to Ian Dalziel,
Yup, "Just a sock" Alf.
The pic's working for me.
(You're not getting that dodgy DNS server thing by any chance? There's been a bit of it about.) -
Or indeed, if they are just a hat
- and we're not talking de Bono here...No sir.
de Bono's work never inspired an entire four sitcom seasons about an entire family who mistook a discarded sock for an alien.