Myth or Truth!

Kia Ora,

Been a few days as having been involved in a few debates on Facebook & jumped a ride back out to help Bernie in his realiable jeep.

The debates have essentially been around what is a persons truth & what should be said at this time.

The first has been a debate over Ken Ring & his predictions of possible earthquakes based mainly on astrology. Having read quite a bit of his information & watched the pattern of shakes since there is definitely something in it. As he says himself it is not precise & if geologists would combine their knowledge of pressure build up with that astrologers it would help towards an accurate method of prediction.

But each to their own, just for me it feels right as based on thousands of years of observations therefore despite claims to the contrary the method is scientific because at its base level science is all about observations.

Then there has been TVNZ & their lack of real investigation before putting items on TV News.

First there was the person who claimed to have run out of the Christchurch Cathedral & the doors jamming behind them. He could of run out but there is evidence that the doors were never jammed.

When I posted what we got up to the day of the earthquake Neil Smith posted a comment with a link. I had trouble with the link & initially all I got was the filming in the open door of the Cathedral as the quake struck. It ended with the camera on the ground & dust everywhere. Having gone back to try to watch it in full for me anyway it now starts at the camera on the ground showing feet going past so that must of been people getting out.

But the extended footage at different times(its not continious) shows the door of the Cathedral remains open right until the police were telling people to move to Hagley park. In fact the first time I saw the doors shut was when I got home after helping the police on the cordon & turned on the TV.

So that casts questions over his account.

But then next night after ringing them to question his statement TVNZ have basically called me a liar by saying security cameras saw no one in the Cathedral. The cameras would of seen nothing as the dust was so thick inside & out that when we first went in stopped at the door as I said in original post & yelled for people to come to me as couldn't see in apart from hole in roof.

Other parts I didn't put in original post was I know for sure the Israeli woman came in with me & we got about ten people moving out. I was aware of a third person coming in a bit with us & now think that was the Israeli male who was a paramedic.

When the Cathedral staff member had re entered as the people we got moving left the Israeli woman said she thought there were people under some rubble by the tower as she could hear someone. Initially tried to pass the information at the police Kiosk then a quick look at injured(all had head injuries) seeing no police went to where I could see a jacket. Bumped into St John making way in & directed them to casualities(even then there were so many people just standing around in a daze & they were having to push through).

Found a police officer by the banks unfortunately with no radio as had been on another task. When we headed back found a police officer from Kiosk trying to help get woman down from window.

Myself & the Israeli paramedic tried to help with the woman stuck upstairs but the police didn't want help It was then I went looking for something else to do & noticed people posing by damaged parts of Cathedral for photos.

This all happened very quickly.

It was whilst posting myself near the entrance to keep people away that I saw the Israeli woman re enter the Cathedral several times including once with hard hat on & very angry. At the time we thought the cries she could hear were those of the the woman in upper window. The insurance person who came with ladder to rescue the woman in window later stepped into the open door of the Cathedral twice but maintained he could not hear anyone.

During that time keeping people away spoke to two staff members from the Cathedral. The one who has come in as we were clearing people out & another younger male who came out through doors later. It was him that pointed out that not only did people need to be kept away from Cathedral entrance but side was on a lean as well. More people posing for photos.

As you can see the initial post was long enough without adding in all those bits. Those that know me will tell you one of my traits is I don't lie but are brutually honest often to my own detriment so I don't take kindly to TVNZ basically calling me a liar as it did happen the way I describe.

Where we heros?

I don't think so just did what so many people did that day & had to do whilst so many others froze or went into denial.

The Israelis with what they have experienced in their country(same would be said of many including Palestinians) like myself with military training & time spent in Iraq just were able to mentally handle it better than most New Zealanders & react.

The other thing I noticed on finally returning home was footage of what appeared to be the Israeli paramedic been led away by police. With the Israeli background they just wanted to get in & help which saves lives. A war zone can be like an earthquake zone as you don't know when the next one is coming just like the big one that has just hit as I type. It was a very good wee shake. One of only three to knock things over in my place.

Another issue where the myth is seperated from the truth is the issue of portaloos here in Christchurch. Going out again with the intrepid Bernie we were joined by a friend of his with cameras. Alex was not happy with the response overall just like many haven't been & made the point that his area had had water back on within 12 hours but has a lot of portaloos in the area which really they don't need.

Having said this, when going to get some needed supplies we noticed a lot of portaloos in an area including businesses where water was known to be back on & flushing of toilets were allowed in a limited manner. The only people near one portaloo where those in a cemetry. We also noticed in parts that Portaloos were often on the sides of what apppeared to be empty business sections whilst the other side of the road with all the residential properties had nothing for Kilometres.

Where in the areas that due to their location you know are going to be without for months they were only just starting to get one or two dotted about. This is the sort of knowledge that should be allowing the city to cope better by re allocating resources as needed.

Chemical toilets are been handed out. I have one for security tasks & have had it about two years. But straight away people have noticed the ones coming in only have a small hole & any movements have to be poked down with a stick.

Then there is the Myth the Prime Minister is promoting. Can't see him staying too long in badly hit areas as when someone pointed out it was probably his Iroquois flying slowly overhead some made motions of shooting it down they were so upset with the poor response.

People don't think I should be hitting these areas that are not working on here but it is a way to get the frustration out. It is either that or get angry like many others are.

Whilst those that appear to be in charge are telling themselves myths, the truth is things are not as good as they are saying.

It doesn't help when the Minister in charge & the Mayor are contradicitng each other over the demolition of Historic buildings. Personally I think many of them should of been dozed after the first big shake but as the mayor found once the emergency regulations are removed there is a lot of feeling in retaining the old buildings.

One has been demolished, with comments from the Mayor it was illegal demolition. A relation trying to make their way home on the 22nd February said was leaning & a police officer was trying to keep people from going in the left turning lane as it looked like the building was going to collapse. I see the demolition company says it was told to do it by the council. So the left hand does not Knowing what the right hand is doing.

Then it is announced that there will be a plan to get people into their businesses or cars, first in 48 hours then in 24 hours & when nothing is forthcoming the site with information crahses from people trying to find out. When they announce that plan it is totally contradictory to that originally announced with green & red zones where you still can't get in whilst you know other businesses are getting their vehicles out of the same building.

People can say we need to look forward or things are not happening the way I & others are seeing it. With more quite good shakes like the one about 20 minutes ago we need to get our responses in order. We need to have this overall picture better sorted. Many of those trying to do a good job are not gaining the local information of where best to deploy the resources which is causing some who have come to help just going home.

I know on several occassions when Bernie has supplied some local information we have gained it has been a surprise. Others are just collecting goods donated but not getting out & finding out what is needed in their own community. Instead expecting people to come to them when they have no idea they have these resources.

Many times people are doing well but they are only seeing what is in front of them or not seeing the bigger picture.

Today is an example. It was mentioned on TV about a week ago that the river needed to be looked at. As of yesterday the lower Avon was still full of liquifaction & right now it is pissing down with rain(which probably caused the slipping of plates causing the most recent shocks) so with water still on roads in lower areas this rain & partially blocked rivers there is likely to be flooding to add to the worries. Most of the water we came across in the lower areas contained sewerage so potentially more health issues.

We are still doing things in the same narrow minded slow response developed by bureaucrats. For those of us who worked in Iraq in 2004-2006 you saw the US military working in this fashion in response to suicide bombers to start with & by the time I left their response had speed up so to keep things moving. Instead of lock down for sometimes days(the Iraqis noticed it too & remarked on it compared to the British reaction) it changed to secure that section & cleared within hours.

As I often say we are a fourth world country. Third world trying to pretend we are first world. The response to this is like a third world country at the decision making end.

A lot of the good work going on is been provided by individuals & businesses at no charge(not to mention the emergency services, military & rescue teams) but there are some sitting back to profit from it. All the good work though is not been complimented by good leadership despite what we see on TV. It was a complaint Alex made that nothing seems to get done until it is set up for soundbites.

To top it off some international media are reporting as an aside that the IMF(International Monetary Fund) is due in New Zealand next week to downgrade New Zealands Credit rating. If that happens any currency borrowed to fund the rebuild will be more expensive therefore it will flow onto those at the bottom in particular.

Actions & decisions have to be made quicker. That is the reality not the myth others are living with. Information needs to be gained at a local level not because it ticks some box.

The Christchurch 'Press' are now reporting the same reactions I have on this blog. It is all about getting to know the community.

It needs to be better or people are going to die from disease. Others from lessons we don't seem to be learning.

http://www.foxhoundsecurity.co.nz