Posts by Joe Wylie
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Speaker: Sharks Dine Out on…, in reply to Islander,
. . . maybe SI local bodies getting together and organising something in that direction too?
Given its godawful track record on these matters, it'd be a bit of a stretch to expect the Parkerstani faction to hop on board.
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Hard News: Angry and thrilled about Arie, in reply to merc,
Everyone has a right to a defense no?
Only those who we can safely patronise? In Arie Smith-Voorkamp's case this can sometimes seem uncomfortably close to being the flipside of his scapegoating as someone who can be safely bullied.
Meanwhile we continue to jail low IQ people. While we've gone some way to restoring the civil rights of the intellectually disabled we don't offer them commensurate protection. As the constant crop of dumb crim stories demonstrates, stupid remains a pretty safe pejorative. As ongoing failures in the crime academy that is the prison system, many intellectually disabled people aren't very nice to know.
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Speaker: Sharks Dine Out on…, in reply to Simon Lyall,
Perhaps landlords in Christchurch are a nasty bunch but this is probably overstating it a little.
Like all generalisations it's a bit of an overstatement. I know of someone who's had to relocate recently thanks to quake damage, and their new landlady's a real angel. For people in Mike Coleman's position though, being beholden to any landlord represents the loss of the security that they've striven to achieve and insured in good faith to retain.
Unfortunately Gerry Brownlee and Roger Sutton don't address any of Mike's concerns in today's CERA media briefing. Brownlee has mercifully dropped the residual swagger he displayed at the time of his appointment as Earthquake Recovery Minister, though lesser figures haven't been above a bit of pointscoring.
CERA chief Roger Sutton is offering the My Housing Options Expo at the end of the month. I imagine that those who are still coming to grips with the realisation that their full home replacement policy has vanished into a convenient loophole will be a tad underwhelmed at the prospect of further discussing their situation with industry reps in an expo venue.
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Speaker: Sharks Dine Out on…, in reply to Sacha,
Perhaps the Aussies weren't quite so desperate for big daddy's approval.
The advantages of a bit more critical mass, and ongoing risk assessment based on different conditions?
It's a horrible state of affairs Mike, and there's little comfort to be drawn from knowing that a significant number of those currently in the orange and white zones will eventually find themselves in a situation much like yours.
Since the announcement of the "package" Brownlee has shown a maddening tendency to traipse behind events. It's insulting to people in your situation to be invited to present your ideas for a rebuilt Christchurch when your life is unravelling. There's a nasty feeling that if something doesn't happen soon CERA may prove a poisoned chalice for Roger Sutton.
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The comparison with the Newcastle quake is interesting, as it's a similar-sized city to Christchurch. Unlike Christchurch there was one large quake, followed by a single aftershock. Perhaps the most significant difference, from an insurance point of view, is that no real requirement for earthquake resistance has since been incorporated into local building codes, and none of the damaged areas have been declared off-limits for rebuilding.
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Hard News: A nation bullied, in reply to Ian Dalziel,
how are Kingdom Holdings - 7%- (which is basically Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal of the Saudi Royal Family - check out what he owns or has shares in...) taking this particular clusterf*ck?
He already appears to have survived a fatwa.
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Hard News: Meanwhile in Epsom ..., in reply to DexterX,
Hagar is in part responsible for Key rising.
Like, Hagar the Terminally Unfunny?
Thought it was only junior actoids that persisted in that infantile confusion, deliberate or otherwise. -
Hard News: Meanwhile in Epsom ..., in reply to Che Tibby,
you'll also need wereweta. even the small ones have a pretty nasty bite.
Once Were Wetas?
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With the fuss over a couple of lighbulbs there don't appear to have been any developments over this vanishing act. Interesting that the demolition company's glib disclaimer that an item of that size and value could have been inadvertently dumped goes unchallenged. It looked pretty hard to miss back in February.
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Hard News: Angry and thrilled about Arie, in reply to Rich of Observationz,
Like the Australian bushfires (where there was a massive flurry of media/police arson accusations, but only one person ever charged) . . .
I recall a teenager being charged, and I believe found guilty, of deliberately lighting fires at Marsfield in Sydney's west during the 1994 fires. While it was a scary time for city dwellers, with Sydney briefly all but cut off, there was nothing like the kind of attempt to publicly pillory the offender that we've seen in Arie's case.