By now most of you will be aware of the devastating quake in NZ... 65 fatalities so far. http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4688231/65-dead-in-devastating-Christchurch-quake Just hoping all the NZer's here on BT are alright, and their families and friends are safe.. From NZ I think there's myself, cronicash, and cuzza in the North Island so we're all safe, just wondering if there's any other kiwis here, and hoping all is well! Kiwi roll call? My thoughts are with the people down in Christchurch and anyone in NZ or worldwide with family in the area.
My wifes family are mostly in Christchurch i got such a fright when she shouted me through in a panic at 3am when she switched on the news and seen this. Luckily they've all been accounted for and spoken too, quite a few were in the cbd. Unfortunately her mums house is pretty messed up its just on the other side of the hills from the epicentre. I know its just stuff but its hard to loose 30 years of stuff.
Have mates in Chch(I'm in Welly) but yeah, they are all fine luckily It's a shame to see the media getting everything mixed up overseas. Saying no one has been killed and using videos of the original quake in September. And some are saying it's a new quake(it's not, it's an aftershock, which they expected to happen, but just not so shallow) I'll be possibly travelling down there soon if they need IT Help Thoughts are with them all!
Anyone with spare time in Wellington, this was posted on Geekzone: to help update http://eq.org.nz/ email eqnzfeb@gmail.com Basically adding new hazards, services, help onto the website and fielding the multitudes of SMS/Twitts coming through onto the site
Our thoughts are with everyone affected, including the families of those who unfortunately lost their lifes in this tragedy.
Just goes to show that it ain't just the poor/developing world that is vulnerable to mother nature. Even a most scale 6 earthquake can be devastating if it is right on your doorstep and near the surface. It was quite incredible how much damage it has done to a modern, affluent (read: well maintained) city. One TV studio was abandoned by rescuers (with 100+ people trapped inside, albeit almost certainly dead by now) because they estimate damage at 90%.
The TV studio (Canterbury TV) was very badly damaged. 3 women were on the 5th floor when the quake hit, they walked out onto street level after the building collapsed. Death toll sits at 113, with 220+ people missing, of which quite a large portion are believed to be dead. Our worst natural disaster was the 1931 Napier Quake, which took 265 lives, worst disaster in NZ history was the Mt Erebus Air NZ crash (DC10 crashed on a sightseeing tour of Antartica) which took 267 lives. Unfortunately this looks to eclipse those. Hearts and thoughts goes out to the persons lost and their families.
Evidently Chinese people are worth more than others in the region: So the Chinese are playing like I do in Total War, once you think you're getting powerful, start making unreasonable and unjust demands and see whether people submit to them. If they don't, you're not yet the region's master, if people submit, then everyone in the area is your bitch. In effect, they're trying to exert their dominance. If it fails they learn, if it succeeds then they gain power. I hope the New Zealanders find the balls to tell China where to bog off to. IMO actions like this only reinforce the fact that the PRC can not be treated as a benign entity. I'm in no way making statements about 1.3 billion people, but the state rulers are imo a malignancy that needs to be countered. edit: It is quite cute though, how the NZ government ministers seem to be responding to this as if the Chinese would have any belief in it being a reasonable or realistic demand. They're actually responding saying that it's possible other families could have lost only children, and hence it wouldn't be fair, as opposed to pointing out the sort of disgusting attempted extortion this is.
Didn't the NZ government refuse entry to an Israeli search & rescue team because they were only interested in searching for Israeli nationals - and not anyone else? Wellington born & bred myself with friends in Christchurch, all safe but badly damaged houses. To any Kiwi's in Christchurch, or with friends & family there - kia kaha!
Couple of misleading things there - it was a private team, not a national offer. If it had been one sent by the Israeli Government, it would most likely have been accepted. As it was a private team sent by the families of a group of missing teenagers, it lacked UN accreditation and therefore wasn't accepted. It's a shame, but the NZ Government says it has enough people on the ground anyway and I can certainly believe that. So, no, they weren't an "Israeli search and rescue team", they were a private rescue team, and they weren't only interested in searching for Israeli nationals and not anyone else, they were hired to find a group of families' sons. Israeli search and rescue teams always seem to be shadowed by pretty horrible accusations, huh?
No worries, and sorry for the aggrieved tone - reading that Haiti article really makes me want to throw punches
No worries, I didn't notice any "tone" mate. I haven't read it yet, supposed to be working but I'll have a look later.