SAFE CITY - Yeah Right!

Safe City Officers will begin patrolling Christchurch's central city streets from next Monday (20 October).

Up to 12 officers, working in pairs, will walk the central city streets from 9pm to 5.30am on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights helping to raise residents and visitors perception of safety in the central city after dark.

Last year's Quality of Life in 12 of New Zealand's Cities report found Christchurch had the lowest percentage of residents who felt safe in their city centre after dark which Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker says was unacceptable.

"Perceptions of safety take the longest to change but the Council is committed to making Christchurch the safest Image by publik16 via Flickrcity in New Zealand and will look to introduce whatever is necessary to make our city safer for both residents and visitors.

"Statistics show in cities where Safe City Officer programmes operate the perception of safety after dark is 76 per cent higher."

Mr Parker says with the Safe City Officers and 25 additional crime prevention cameras, which will be operational in the city before Christmas, Council is looking for a significant improvement in the public's perception of safety in the city.

The Safe City Officers will focus on being highly visible in public areas already identified as high-risk for criminal offending and anti-social behaviour. Their prime roles will be to provide people with information and assistance; deter crime and anti-social behaviour through their visibility; collaborate and provide information to the police, Council and other agencies; and help identify hazards and other issues to help create a safe, vibrant night-time environment.

by Ewan-M via Flickr(Actually Bob, this is about Alcohol... and a ratepayer funded grift based on systemically flawed drug policy that only serves to pretend to fix the real problem. It will satisfy 'the public' who have been unjustly deluded into supporting more cameras and those for whom getting ugly on youth is an aging pastime. If we really fixed what is broken we wouldn't need to sanitise the sale of alcohol. /Blair)

The Safe City Officer programme will be operated by a local security company during the first six months while Council scopes the long-term operating requirements of the programme.
Mr Parker says the safe city officers will be easily identified in their uniform and yellow and black high-visibility jacket.

"It is great to have this new safety initiative operating in the week the city will be hosting 500 delegates from 28 countries at the 17th International Safe Communities Conference."

HOWEVER Consider what "working together to make a difference" really looks like....

In an August 2007 letter to the Denver City Council, Seattle [Christchurch's Sister City]councilmen Nick Licata and Tom Rasmussen referred to their city’s "cannabis" ordinance as “safe, effective, and inexpensive.” They also noted that, “In the three years since [the measure] was adopted, Seattle has experienced a significant decline in the number of marijuana arrests and prosecutions undertaken.” In fact, Seattle handled just 125 marijuana possession cases in 2006, compared to approximately 1,400 in Denver, despite it having a smaller population.

Fortunately for Denver citizens, however, there is an intervention – and a very public discussion – underway. As a result of the successful initiative in 2007, Mayor John Hickenlooper appointed a Marijuana Policy Review Panel, which is officially charged with implementing the “lowest priority” ordinance to the greatest extent possible.

The panel includes representatives of the police department and city attorney’s office, two marijuana policy reform advocates, three defense attorneys, a drug and alcohol abuse prevention counselor, and a domestic violence prevention advocate. The Denver District Attorney’s office was also supposed to be represented, but it refused to participate – a perfect example of the stubbornness and ignorance that lies at the heart of marijuana prohibition.

Image by mastermaq

We'll Bugger Me! Seattle SAFER than Christchurch, WHO's deciding......?

See how ALL the participants in the Safer Christchurch initiative (notable for its exclusion of pro-reform policy stakeholders, contrary to Ottawa Charter Principles) avoid discussion from any quarter - NZ Police, Civic Leaders, Politicians etc. refuse to meet Harm Reductionists such as Judge Paradis etc. yet mutually laud the efforts of compatriot prohibitionists... Yuk, it makes me sick reading this...

Consultation on Urban Design/Sustainability

A National Policy on Urban Design?

Image via WikipediaThe Ministry for the Environment (MfE) is currently seeking submissions on the development of a National Policy Statement (NPS) on Urban Design. Urban design is about the design of the buildings, places, spaces and networks that make up towns and cities, and the ways people use them. The Ministry is asking whether an NPS on Urban Design should be developed, and if so what issues of national significance it should address, and in what order. Submissions close on 30 September 2008. They go to greg.vossler@mfe.govt.nz, or to the Ministry for the Environment, PO Box 10362, Wellington 6143. A background paper is at http://www.mfe.

Building Sustainable Communities: Have Your Say

Discussion paper called "Building sustainable urban communities – designing a place-based approach to sustainable urban development in NZ" has been published by The Department of Internal Affairs.

Image via WikipediaSustainable urban development is about improving the social, economic, environmental and cultural quality of life in a city without leaving a burden on future generations. According to the NZ Urban Design Protocol, sustainable towns and cities are liveable, environmentally responsible and competitive, thriving, creative and innovative. They also offer opportunities for all, and have a distinctive identity, a shared vision and good governance.

By world standards, NZ is a highly urbanised nation, with 72% of the population living in the 16 main urban areas - around 33% of the population live in the Auckland urban region alone - and another Image via Wikipedia14% live in smaller towns. The way NZ's towns and cities have developed is the result of both deliberate planning and the choices and decisions made by investors, property developers and home buyers. The location and type of housing available has a big influence on economic performance, social cohesion, and the ability of a large number of NZers to lead sustainable, productive and enjoyable lives. The quality and location of retail and commercial buildings, of our community services and amenities like schools and recreational facilities also matter, because people need to be able to get between home, work, shops, offices, schools, parks and playgrounds relatively easily.

NZ is increasingly seeing significant economic, social, environmental and cultural changes in its urban areas. It is also dealing with issues such as affordable housing, increased fuel prices, congestion, pollution, social disadvantage, climate change, population growth, rapid technological change and changing demographics.

The discussion paper outlines a possible approach to sustainable urban development with a view to encouraging the development of sustainable urban areas that contain a number of housing choices.

Submissions close on 28 November 2008. They go to sudu@dia.govt.nz or Sustainable Urban Development Unit, DIA, PO Box 805, Wellington 6011. The discussion paper is at

http://www.dia.govt.nz/diawebsite.nsf/wpg_URL/Resourcematerial-Building-Sustainable-Urban-Communities-Index?OpenDocument .

Copies are also in public libraries and the offices of local authorities, or you can email

sudu@dia.govt.nz or tel freephone 0800 824 824 for one
--
Blair Anderson ‹(•¿•)›

Spokesperson on Climate Change, Environment and Associate 'Shadow' Law And Order.
#6 'on the list' http://www.republicans.org.nz/

Social Ecologist 'at large'
http://mildgreens.blogspot.com/
http://blairformayor.blogspot.com/
http://blair4mayor.com/
http://efsdp.org/

ph (643) 389 4065 cell 027 265 7219

THE SHIFT [Movie]

DVThrombosis and PM10

Image via Wikipedia

Air pollution produced by the burning of fossil fuels can drastically increase people's risk of developing potentially fatal blood clots, according to a study conducted by researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health and published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

"We have known for some time that air pollution has been associated with increased risk of heart attack and stroke," said Beverley Hunt, medical director of the nonprofit organization Lifeblood. "This study shows for the very first time that air pollution also increases the risk of clots in the veins and tells us why."

In a condition known as deep vein thrombosis (DVT), blood clots form in the legs. In certain cases, these clots have been known to become dislodged and then travel to the lungs, where they can fatally block
the flow of blood. The risk of DVT is known to increase with long periods of immobility, such as on long-haul flights or from spending long hours at a desk without getting up.

Researchers compared levels of particulate air pollution around the dwelling places of 870 DVT patients and 1,210 people without the condition, all in the Lombardy region of Italy. They found that for every 10 microgram per square meter increase in particulate concentration, a person's risk of DVT increased by 70 percent.

Image via WikipediaThe particulate matter in the study, only about one 40th the width of a human hair, is produced by the burning of fossil fuels, including in vehicle engines and power plants.

"Given the magnitude of the effects, our findings introduce a novel and common risk factor into the development of DVT," lead researcher Andrea Baccarelli said. "And, at the same time, they give further substance to the call for tighter standards and continued efforts aimed at reducing the impact of urban air pollutants on human health."

Sources for this story include: news.bbc.co.uk, http://www.washingtonpost.com/.

--
Blair Anderson ‹(•¿•)›

Social Ecologist 'at large'
http://mildgreens.blogspot.com
http://blairformayor.blogspot.com
http://blair4mayor.com
http://efsdp.org

ph (643) 389 4065 cell 027 265 7219

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Meltdown in the Arctic is speeding up

Scientists warn that the North Pole could be free of ice in just five years' time instead of 60

• Robin McKie, science editor
• The Observer,
• Sunday August 10 2008
• Article history

Ice at the North Pole melted at an unprecedented rate last week, with leading scientists warning that the Arctic could be ice-free in summer by 2013.

Satellite images show that ice caps started to disintegrate dramatically several days ago as storms over Alaska's Beaufort Sea began sucking streams of warm air into the Arctic.

As a result, scientists say that the disappearance of sea ice at the North Pole could exceed last year's record loss. More than a million square kilometres melted over the summer of 2007 as global warming tightened its grip on the Arctic. But such destruction could now be matched, or even topped, this year.

'It is a neck-and-neck race between 2007 and this year over the issue of ice loss,' said Mark Serreze, of the US National Snow and Ice Data Centre in Boulder, Colorado. 'We thought Arctic ice cover might recover after last year's unprecedented melting - and indeed the picture didn't look too bad last month. Cover was significantly below normal, but at least it was up on last year.

'But the Beaufort Sea storms triggered steep ice losses and it now looks as if it will be a very close call indeed whether 2007 or 2008 is the worst year on record for ice cover over the Arctic. We will only find out when the cover reaches its minimum in mid-September.'

This startling loss of Arctic sea ice has major meteorological, environmental and ecological implications. The region acts like a giant refrigerator that has a strong effect on the northern hemisphere's meteorology. Without its cooling influence, weather patterns will be badly disrupted, including storms set to sweep over Britain.

At the same time, creatures such as polar bears and seals - which use sea ice for hunting and resting - face major threats. Similarly, coastlines will no longer be insulated by ice from wave damage and will suffer erosion, as is already happening in Alaska.

Other environmental changes are likely to follow. Without sea ice to bolster them, land ice - including glaciers - could topple into the ocean and raise global sea levels, threatening many low-lying areas, including Bangladesh and scores of Pacific islands. In addition, the disappearance of reflective ice over the Arctic means that solar radiation would no longer be bounced back into space, thus heating the planet even further.

On top of these issues, there are fears that water released by the melting caps will disrupt the Gulf Stream, while an ice-free Arctic in summer offers new opportunities for oil and gas drilling there - and for political disputes over territorial rights.

What really unsettles scientists, however, is their inability to forecast precisely what is happening in the Arctic, the part of the world most vulnerable to the effects of global warming. 'When we did the first climate change computer models, we thought the Arctic's summer ice cover would last until around 2070,' said Professor Peter Wadhams of Cambridge University. 'It is now clear we did not understand how thin the ice cap had already become - for Arctic ice cover has since been disappearing at ever increasing rates. Every few years we have to revise our estimates downwards. Now the most detailed computer models suggest the Arctic's summer ice is going to last for only a few more years - and given what we have seen happen last week, I think they are probably correct.'

The most important of these computer studies of ice cover was carried out a few months ago by Professor Wieslaw Maslowski of the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. Using US navy supercomputers, his team produced a forecast which indicated that by 2013 there will be no ice in the Arctic - other than a few outcrops on islands near Greenland and Canada - between mid-July and mid-September.

'It does not really matter whether 2007 or 2008 is the worst year on record for Arctic ice,' Maslowski said. 'The crucial point is that ice is clearly not building up enough over winter to restore cover and that when you combine current estimates of ice thickness with the extent of the ice cap, you get a very clear indication that the Arctic is going to be ice-free in summer in five years. And when that happens, there will be consequences.'

This point was backed by Serreze. 'The trouble is that sea ice is now disappearing from the Arctic faster than our ability to develop new computer models and to understand what is happening there. We always knew it would be the first region on Earth to feel the impact of climate change, but not at anything like this speed. What is happening now indicates that global warming is occurring far earlier than any of us expected.'

Meltdown in the Arctic is speeding up ?  The question that needs to be deliberated on is 'what consequence will stem from the subsequent and undoubted albedo effect' ???

Blair Anderson ‹(•¿•)›
ph (643) 389 4065 cell 027 265 7219

Richard Stallman comes to Town

Image via Wikipedia

Kim Hill listeners on Canterbury Public Issues Forum (CPIF) may have heard yesterday's Richard Stallman interview:

http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday

http://podcast.radionz.co.nz/sat/sat-20080809-0845-Richard_Stallman_Freedom.ogg

Computer users who value telecommunications independence know who this gentleman is, through his historic achievement - the GNU/Linux operating system - aided and abetted by a cast of thousands of computer programmers around the world. This real-time, borderless, perhaps futurist online community offers one of the best examples available as to what "sustainability" actually is, keeping alive as it does the sharing principle without which computing could never have developed. The message, networks, and interoperability are important - fundamental even - to human survival in the face of emerging global crisis.

Other examples of the level of influence held by the international innovation stable out of which GNU/Linux comes, are: the Internet itself; Wikipedia (based on GNU copyleft licensing); Mozilla Firefox web browser (free software); Google search engine (GNU/Linux-based); and OnlineGroups.Net <http://onlinegroups.net/> (the E-Democracy.Org <http://e-democracy.org/> platform). So, it is with great and sincere appreciation that this card-carrying netizen can announce the Christchurch speaking details for Richard M Stallman ('RMS'), thanks to the University of Canterbury's Computer Science & Software Engineering <http://www.cosc.canterbury.ac.nz/> department, and their Free Culture Club <http://www.cosc.canterbury.ac.nz/freeculture/>.

Date: Saturday 16 August
Time: 2:00-4:30pm
Place: Lecture Theatre Arts 1 - A1, east of James Hight Library -
University of Canterbury
Topic: Computers, GNU and Free Culture.

A1 has capacity for 320 persons, and expect it to be packed

hat tip: Rik Tindall

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Full-body Armour for Police?

Police consider full-body armour as assaults increase
(or Iraqi style militarised Police for warrant serving?)

10:00AM Monday July 28, 2008 NZH - Police culture

Increasing violence against police could result in officers being kitted out in full-body armour. Police headquarters has confirmed it is considering full-body protection for frontline staff, as the number of assaults on officers continues to rise.

They have yet to determine exactly what sort of armour would be used but The Dominion Post reported that the possibilities ranged from extra protection for arms and legs to an all-over suit - similar in appearance to that in the film Robocop.

The number of assaults against police increased to 2248 last year, the equivalent of one in four officers being assaulted. In 2006, there were 2123 assaults on police. Of the 2007 incidents, 88 involved a weapon, including a gun or knife. Police began a $10.4 million programme last year, to provide stab-proof vests to every frontline officer. There were delays because of size and heat problems. Police said discussions about new armour were at an early stage. Any upgraded protection would be reserved for police called to deal with disorder incidents. The Police Association said it had not heard of the proposal.

- NZPA

recommended reading:
Civilian Forces Acquiring Army-Style Look, Approach

POLICE DEVELOP 'MILITARY MIND SET' / by Diane Cecilia Weber

Needless to say, the madness around meth is driving this shite.
/Blair