Posts by Sacha
-
I was trying to avoid this one, but for completeness it's cheerful intellectual time.
For the most part, they have been stoic and resilient with a kind of war-time chipperness prevailing. The Battle of Portaloo, however, has been a pitched one. It has been raging over the airwaves with people from some of the poorer suburbs feeling that they have been forgotten and claiming that other, richer, suburbs are being privileged in the distribution of rare resources.
In this they've been gee-ed along by local MP Lianne Dalziel whose emotions got the better of her this week when she launched a political attack on John Key and Bob Parker for failing her constituents.
There was even anarchic talk of liberating portaloos where it was perceived there was an oversupply and redistributing them to where the need was seen to be greatest - a kind of khazi communism.
Some seemed to believe they were the only ones who had been affected by the disaster. One man rang me outraged that the EQC hadn't got back to him with a time and date to inspect his ravaged home - he'd rung them twice, he exclaimed in indignation.
The self-centredness is probably a coping mechanism.
-
Hard News: What Now?, in reply to Kumara Republic,
On the contrary, Keown's either showing the courage of his convictions or he knows his ward agree with him. Neither hypocritical positions in themselves.
-
Catching up on some audio from RNZ's Checkpoint.
Thursday: CD head John Hamilton defending portaloo allocation (stream, 3 mins) - but without offering any evidence in support of his belief that things have been handled just fine.
Friday: Key's visit to Bexley (stream, 3 mins) including locals making their case, and reporter being told to take portaloo distribution matters up with Civil Defense. One local says many houses are empty so the loos might be in the right places where residents still are.
-
Hard News: What Now?, in reply to Matthew Poole,
Shirley-Papanui is "eastern suburbs" and he's demonstrating that he's completely out of touch with his constituents?
That ward seems to sit right next to or even overlap some of the worst-hit areas (ward maps). Locals can no doubt clarify. I didn't even realise he was a councillor though the name seemed familiar.
-
Hard News: What Now?, in reply to Christopher Dempsey,
Cheryl Bernstein's wonderfully written post
Beautiful - highly recommended reading; a long meditation on the value of history and strange places
-
Life inside the cordon goes on for some residents. Despite what the story says, I heard today via a journalist mate that there could be a couple of hundred folk still there, some living in backyard tents (presumably not openly).
Newman's house fared better, and despite the damage she and her husband are among the few residents who have chosen to stay within the cordon despite the war-zone like conditions. Their movements are carefully policed and they're not allowed outside after 6.30pm.
They can't drive in or out of the cordoned area and if she leaves on foot she has to have two forms of ID and prove her home is structurally OK to live in before she's allowed back.
They have no phone or running water, and only intermittent power. At night she sleeps on a mattress under the dining table, too distressed to sleep in the open.
Nearly all their neighbours have fled, creating an eerie silence punctuated only by the sound of choppers overhead and heavy machinery moving through the rubble.
-
Muse: Shelf Life: The Dying Elephant in…, in reply to Islander,
The difference between her & Stephanie Myers is that she is self-publishing & distributing by & large.
That's the point that interests me. Do wish I could have found the link for that earlier story I mentioned by an author about his experience of transition to the new model.
Some genres will be better suited, I agree. As William Gibson says, the future is here; it's just not evenly distributed yet.
-
Chch councillor Sue Wells tweets (note 'Modem' meant to be Mcdem - Ministry of Civil Defense and Emergency Management):
Modem know haven't been able to get 100% right in distribution of Loos. Let us know if we have it wrong. #eqnz
Just noticed Aaron Keown is a councillor for the Shirley-Papanui ward. Hope local voters with power back on are noting his recent attitude.
-
Hard News: What Now?, in reply to Matthew Poole,
he damned well ought to know the difference between USAR rescue and CD welfare
He'd delegate that to geniuses like Gerry. And would otherwise be hearing only from those near the top of the pecking order. Not that I'm ruling out incompetence or spin.
-
Hard News: What Now?, in reply to Matthew Poole,
Snap
And more from same Herald story about the suddenly in-focus eastern response.
Disaster officials were yesterday told their focus must shift to the people in the suburbs, not the buildings in the city centre.
...
Most of the response has been run by National Civil Defence controller John Hamilton. He will go to the eastern suburbs for the first time today to see the damage first-hand.
...
Hamilton said: "We grossly under-appreciated the scale of the damage in suburban areas. The scale of the operation is so big it is a challenge to provide these services for so many people."
If the folk at the top have been totally focused on the cbd USAR work, that might explain how Key conflates the two functions (given that we know he has seen little on the ground). That's being generous.