This map — source — shows that known faults exist around Waikanae and despite all the studies, there is simply no way of knowing when a big quake could occur.   The Wellington Region Emergency Management Office-organised meeting’s principal message was that getting to know what people and material resources are near where you are is key preparedness.  In fact, it is an integral part of the Neighbourhood Watch principle (see earlier).

by Sue Lusk

This was a REALLY valuable discussion, hosted in lovely Michelle’s warm and comfortable Community Emergency Hub because the Beach hall was unavailable — thank you Michelle, you were a star and demonstrated the quick thinking and cooperation that will be required of all of us in an emergency!

Scott from Wellington Region Emergency Management Office made a very challenging presentation dealing with the change in thinking about the concept of “Civil Defence” after the earthquakes of the past few years:

It is dramatically clear that responses have to be community-based. We are told to be prepared to be self-sufficient for up to three days, but we also need to commit to getting to know our neighbours and identifying “community assets” that may be vital in an emergency. These community assets may be as simple as knowing that your neighbour is a nurse or the chap over the road has a chainsaw; the important thing is to build up a Neighbourhood Support Network where you can all help each other.

Scott mentioned two communities in Japan’s Kobe earthquake who survived that earthquake very differently — one community had worked together to improve the health of their river and wetlands in the previous year and had built up a huge sense of community and a broad base of assets (tools, skills, people skills) — their community lost only 10% of its homes to fire, where a very similar community close by lost 90% because they had not built up those connections.

Scott was really excited by the engagement of the Te Horo Community and the Paekakariki Community for this concept. The challenge is for us in Waikanae and Paraparaumu to do the same. Start by getting to know your neighbours. Don’t think, “oh, somebody else will have started that…” 🙂

(And don’t do what I do, and keep dipping into your Emergency Supplies till they are all gone before you go shopping again!)

www.getprepared.org.nz

Info about the photo on his website page here

This runs to 1st October and has local whaling artifacts plus a history of whaling.

At the Kapiti Coast Museum, Elizabeth Street, Waikanae: Fridays 1-4 pm, Saturdays and Sundays 2-4 pm .

Niki Caro, born 1967 in Wellington, achieved fame with her 2002 movie Whale Rider and has since continued her reputation overseas for being a good director.  The Zookeeper’s Wife currently showing at the Shoreline is an adaption of the non-fiction book of the same title from 2007 which made the NY Times best-seller list.

It deals with a couple, Antonina Zabinski and her husband Jan, who ran a zoo in Warsaw, Poland. During WWII the city suffered devastation by its Nazi occupiers and its Jewish population, which in 1939 represented about 30% of the total, were mostly victims of the Holocaust.  Initially, they were confined to a small part of the city surrounded by a wall; in 1943 the ghetto was liquidated, but not before the Jews put up a fight.  As a result it was completely destroyed by the Nazis.  Following a general uprising, the whole city experienced the same a year later.  After WWII, the old town was rebuilt as it had been, but most of the city was rebuilt in Stalinist-brutalist style.

Although the zoo was near the targets of bombardment in September 1939 and many animals were killed, the Nazi zoologist Lutz Heck saw a use for it in his experiments to re-breed extinct animals; while the couple saw an accompanying new pig farm to feed German troops as a good cover to rescue some 300 Jews from the Ghetto. It’s probably not too much of a spoiler to say that all the central characters survived the war, including all but 2 of the Jews.

“Based on a true story” inevitably means, however, that some things didn’t happen as shown and the official Polish site culture.pl analyses that here.

Recommended.

A article on the Whale Oil blog from August 2015:

“With three officers from Auckland Council CCO [Council Controlled Organisation] – Auckland Transport – now set to go on trial for bribery it is a convenient opportunity to raise the issue of corruption in local authorities.

“Most ordinary citizens have no idea that corruption is rife. But there are varying types of corrupt behaviour and unless one is familiar with the law they can be overlooked.

“Two of the most common forms of corruption occur so often you think it’s normal.

“These two particular forms of corruption do not result in personal gain – such as back pocketing cash. But they do result in breaking the law, and they happen daily.

“Both are the abuse of authority – or the position of authority.”

Read the rest

Published on Dec 17, 2015 Professor Ivar Giaever, the 1973 Nobel Prizewinner for Physics trashes the global warming/climate change/extreme weather pseudoscientific clap-trap and tells Obama he is “Dead Wrong”. This was the 2012 meeting of Nobel Laureates. The 2015 speech by Prof Giaever is [above]

via From a Nobel Laureate in Physics: “Global Warming is Pseudoscience” — Rangitikei Enviromental Health Watch

If temporary: a pic by Michelle Henderson from about number 127 looking south — what happens every time there is a downpour apparently.  In last year’s election pamphlet we said that sorting the stormwater drainage was an essential infrastructure project; but clearly the council thinks otherwise.

From the look of it, this is about what happens after a bad one, rather than surviving the earthquake itself.

But only by 50 metres.  It accompanies planned safety improvements at this intersection (see earlier).  Detailed Report

“The housing crisis is really concerning. This is no longer something that is happening elsewhere,” says the Labour Party candidate for the Otaki seat, Rob McCann

It is occurring right here in Kapiti and Horowhenua, says Mr McCann, and that’s why Labour has called a public meeting on the issue with himself and the Party’s Housing Spokesperson Phil Twyford:

~ Thursday 15th June, 7pm at Waikanae Baptist Church, 286 Te Moana Road, Waikanae

You probably think, as do we, that he’s getting his wish for lots more houses in Waikanae with the Maypole company and Waikanae North developments.  As observed in a previous post, the council wants lots more Ratepayers, too.

We think Mr McCann’s leader has already stated the best answer to the problem: reduce substantially the number of immigrants. And if they want to really tackle the problem of foreign investors driving prices up there are direct ways to severely restrict that, too.

But if you want to question these policies, the easiest way is to show up at the meeting.