Let the Unrest begin!

Kia Ora,

As the financial crisis lurches from one issue to another each government is taking a different approach.

In Europe it is more austerity measures which over the issue of raising the retirement age in France has resulted in civil unrest.

Whilst in the US people have realized that when banks have given them a mortgage, they have then put the mortgages together in things such as CDO's & sold the mortgage's. But the banks have still expected people to pay them. So now people are not paying their mortgages & are staying in their properties as the people they are paying do not own the debt. Others have also realized that under the US constitution tax is illegal so more are refusing to pay tax(no wonder New Zealand governments refuse to put in place a constitution).

These different types of unrest are putting police & security in interesting situations.

What about New Zealand?

Well the usual New Zealand reaction to any issue is just don't do or say anything & hope it will sort itself out. Or as an Australian said "Apathy!"

But that maybe changing as the anger is building over the aftermath of the Christchurch earthquake due to the lack of communication & action by bureaucrats.

In the Christchurch "Press" yesterday they reprinted part of the report prepared by an environmental engineering & consultancy company for the Earthquake Commission. Problem these days with the internet in particular much of the report is wrong when compared to information already in the public domain.
Civil Disturbance Operations
Under the executive summary is the conclusion that this was a once in 500 year event so not likely to happen again in a buildings lifetime.

Incorrect. Everybody knows that the real big quake is over due from the Alpine Fault line. Not to mention the quake this last Tuesday although lower on scale than original was shallow & came from a different direction. Had energy travelled in same line as original quake it is likely many properties could of fallen over.

It says the building code is designed to stop buildings falling over. That is for the initial shake. All properties have to be reviewed to see how they will stand up to another big shake. I knew some large commercial buildings have had that.
Law and Order: Street Crime, Civil Unrest, and the Crisis of Liberalism in the 1960s (Columbia Studies in Contemporary American History)
The under the title "the Quake" it identifies what is now known at the Greendale fault as primary site of main quake. That 7.1 has now been shown to be most likely wrong as primary quake, as intial 7.1 is thought to have come from a blind fault at right angles to Greendale & that itself was triggered by a 5.1 on the Hororata fault as far as they can tell. They all happened so close together but figners are definitely pointed at blind fault not Greendale.
On the Duty of Civil Disobedience
Under Assessment it says engineers undertook rapid assessment & maps were produced showing areas of liquifaction. But when I look at map on the next page I have seen it before or one very close to it.

That is the map shown to you when you first join Civil defence showing you the areas of likely liquifaction in the event of a major earthquake. I saw that Map in 1999!

It also names suburbs badly hit but I know of many in other suburbs such as Bishopdale who are still waiting to hear from anyone about an assessment living in houses which from their description no body should be living in.
Historical Dictionary of the Dirty Wars (Historical Dictionaries of War, Revolution, and Civil Unrest)
Then we have the message from the Minister from government in charge of the recovery. Feel sorry for him as his messages are simple but the bureaucrats have made a mess of it.

He says though he is concerned by the number who have not yet lodged claims.

Two issues there is people are waiting for quakes to subside or just thinking there are people worse off than me.

The other issue is the amount of people who have been lost in the system because they are not speaking up for themselves. When they do check there is no record of their claim at all. Typical bureaucratic SNAFU(Situation Normal All F....d Up).

He also states that all claims must be in by December the 4th 2010.

Incorrect that is first I have heard of that date. What was said when it was extended from a month to three months it was to be time from when damaged occurred.

A so called expert was on a few days later saying almost all damage occurred during initial quake.

That is also incorrect as the most visible damage occurred then, but buildings such as where I am have suffered most damage only in the last four weeks. Talking to many people that has been their experience also.
Civil Unrest in the 1960s: Riots and Their Aftermath (Perspectives on)
So we have building here in Canterbury the focal point for any unrest as anger rises over conflicting messages, information & excuses to not do anything in a typical bureaucratic manner.

That means for security & police we have to deal with more upset people, more cirme as the normal patterns start to break down.

As the financial crisis moves into its next phase which will be far worse, small upsets will become major issues. It is always the small things that set things off.
Historical Dictionary of Arms Control and Disarmament (Historical Dictionaries of War, Revolution, and Civil Unrest)
Compare what happens in the west to one incident in Iraq.

Prior to hand over to the interim Iraqi government one ministry was told it would be the first one where Iraqis took control.

An official was asked to come back with plan for how surveying, letting of tenders & building could be carried out. One week(yes one week) later as I understood it, they returned to say all had been done & building was underway, they just needed the money to pay for the services.

That is what people want. Officials who make decisions & get things moving. The only thing that went wrong was the US officials told them they could not let the contracts as those had already been given to US companies. In that moment the US officials lost the hearts & minds.

As one US engineering Colonel said to us it was easy to stop the insurgency. Let Iraqis have the contracts & get people working. When they are working & looking after their families & quick decisive decisions are been made, then people are not interested in causing trouble.
Historical Dictionary of the Zulu Wars (Historical Dictionaries of War, Revolution, and Civil Unrest)
The New Zealand government needs to take note. Quick decisive decisions, people working & looking after their families & actually getting information out to the people that is not contradictary & not an excuse to not do anything.

Security & policing are hard enough especially with drunken idiots, without adding to the issues people have to deal with from bureaucratic corruption.

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