Pike River Mine.

I have so much difficulty with what has occurred here.

There has been sufficient spake of such contradictory nature that has not been addressed, for example: you cannot enter immediately after an explosion for 'fear of a further one,' when the impression is that pockets of gas are discrete of reservoir, and that oxygen depletion would negate such possibility for a certain time ... perhaps six days in this instance? ... albeit, reports indicated that there was heat, burning, and one would assume that a gas 'build up,' particularly an extremely volatile gas build up, could not possibly occur in the face of an ongoing ignition source.
Why do independent breathing apparatus and clothing not protect the wearers from toxic and volatile gases? ... Oh, they do.

And again, they will not enter. It will again be a CEO/police 'we know better (although we had to wait 6 days for it)' standoff, retrieval overruled.
And an army robot incapable of surviving water??
One cannot help but think that there will be no 'recoveries,' the site will be sealed and closed as 'too dangerous to enter' ... well aside from the retrieval of the army robot of course, which due to its robust construction ....

This all smacks too much of a convenient conclusion.

There are many unanswered questions here ... perhaps the first of such is why a 'west coast policeman,' an almost, perchance 'sent to Coventry' appointment, should be calling the shots?

Why was so much equipment needed to be called in?

Why were rescue teams not put in to action straight away, and why not immediately after the second explosion(?)?

What was with the safety plan within the mine?
Where was OSH in all this?? Obviously this situation smacks of so many 'blind eyes'it would seem they were unlikely to occur without being overridden by greater powers ... why? ... so many casualties.

Where is Jeanette Fitzimonds? Not so naive as to remain hidden.

How much of this has to do with the Greens anti-coal pro-greenery folly and a company's perhaps arrogant belief they can vent volatile gases sufficiently to pursue a viable venture?

Don't they all just run when their ideologies become so exposed concomitant with such sad, tangible consequences.

One would hope the mine will not be sealed such that we will not learn what has actually occurred, however this 'may
play out.'

At the very least, it must become mandatory that the person in charge of any (search and) rescue programme must be someone well versed or expert in the operation/terrain/activity in hand.

Plods may be 'handy,' but they certainly are not a bright broadly experienced bunch, and have at times shown themselves to be so PC/safety constrained as to constitute a significant hazzard, in and of themselves, to the containment and maximal remediation of dangerous situations. It is to be hoped this is not reflected in this situation.

This is a sad, sad occasion, it is to be hoped that there is nothing at all that is orchestrated about it ... but we don't know, do we?

Update: The ventilation shaft has been sealed and the intent is to set up a nitrogen generator to both cool and make a safer environment. Should not this be top fed, i.e. through the ventilation shaft, especially given it is of lesser mass than air and the shaft is inclined, such that air would then be forced away from the reputedly 'hot' face?
One can but fear another 'big bang.'

Yep, Being First is Good!

For whom though??

The "carbon footprint" for New Zealand lamb eaten in Britain has been estimated as equivalent to 1.9kg of carbon dioxide, for each 100gm serving of lamb - 80 percent of that generated by farmers and their livestock on-farm.

The New Zealand study by AgResearch and released today by meat companies, is the first published carbon footprint to cover the entire life cycle from farm, through to cooking and eating the meat, and the disposal of waste and sewage.
& are AgResearch to be lauded, or to be damned?
Are they intellectual sayers or self-righteous savagers of our export markets?
& who pays for such expertise??

When Targeting Policy Becomes Discrimination.

'In a report just tabled in Parliament, Attorney-General Chris Finlayson says the (proposed welfare) reforms breach the Bill of Rights Act on three grounds by discriminating on the basis of sex and family and marital status.

He finds the breaches cannot be justified under the Act.'

Oh dear.
So we really have reached a point where, 'if you say it you can't address it because in identifying those particular aspects, it discriminates (with all those awful connotations) against them,' ... 'and if you can't say it, you can't address it.'

I guess this is symptomatic of our new found accommodating consciousness, of rainbow clubs, and ... of being truly buggered.

Thank you Attorney-General Chris Finlayson for clarifying this matter.

Reducing Disparity.

"The Greens will not support any package that includes cuts to the top levels of income tax or any increase in GST because these changes would exacerbate the differences between the rich and poor in our society."


Again we have fewer demands/expectations placed on those whose ethic, for whatever reason, is not work/achievement based - indeed we have systems arranged such that their life-styles can be maintained ... so they needn't feel bad about it, and the motivations of those who 'try' will be accordingly reduced.

The application of this 'reducing disparity' adage can be seen as having had considerable impact on our overall educational achievement - where an increasingly 'long tail' of non performance has been created, and quite sucessfully,for these 'non performers' do not feel bad about it.

Where Are We Heading Here?

The Greens offer our support for a comprehensive capital gains tax, provided the family home is exempt.

"We offer this support because a capital gains tax is a progressive tax that leads to a better investment balance and broadens the tax base by nearly $4 billion.

"A land tax is not Green Party policy, but we support an open debate on how a comprehensive package, including a land tax, could help us to access the affordable housing we urgently need."

But she warned there could not be a land tax without proper consideration of Maori land issues or land that is "ecologically sensitive".



And ... About 2000 professional and amateur photographers have staged a protest in Trafalgar Square in London against stop and search powers in Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000.

They say police are intimidating people with cameras in their tactics to target possible terrorists.

Last week, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the entire law was illegal because it was indiscriminate, rather than properly targeted.

Now, one would assume that equity would demand in both instances that the intended rules/laws apply to all and in similar extent.