This just arrived in my inbox, and seems like a worthwhile cause to support...

A nuclear disaster ten times as big as Chernobyl is threatening to devastate Japan, but the government is not responding. Now, only urgent international intervention can stop catastrophe.

Right now, a pool of explosive nuclear waste sits in the crumbling Fukushima no. 4 reactor. Experts say it is only a matter of time before it leaks or another earthquake causes a radioactive fire that would force the evacuation of up to 35 million people! Japan’s government has refused to act, not wanting to cause panic. But the UN can intervene, and now dozens of Japanese experts and ten of thousands of citizens are calling for urgent action.

A meltdown in Japan would have devastating effects across the world -- sending radiation into the skies across Asia and North America. Let's call on Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to address this emergency immediately. Click below to sign the petition and forward this to everyone -- it’ll be delivered straight to the UN when we reach 500,000 signatures:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/stop_japans_nuclear_meltdown_global_a/?vl

The Fukushima nuclear waste sits in an open air pool with no containment structure surrounding it -- a common safety measure in other countries. It must be constantly cooled in order to avoid a spontaneous fire and any increase in temperature causes further degradation in the pool's walls. Experts say the waste must be moved to a modern and safe facility, a process which will likely take Japan, on its own, over two years to complete.

Still TEPCO, Japan's embattled nuclear energy giant, insists everything is fine and won't even allow international assessment. This, despite the fact that TEPCO was caught lying about the safety of Fukushima reactors before last year's disaster.

This would seem to be indicative of a deeply immoral attitude of authorities in New York towards peaceful protesters.

And why is mainstream media not yelling this from the rooftops?

Further to recent comments in tatjna's journal about medical costs, and what the TPPA negotiations are threatening to do to Pharmac in New Zealand, I'd just like to record my experince last Monday evening...

About 10pm Istarted to feel rather weary and overdue for bed, particularly as my shoulders began to ache rathr uncomfortably, so I duly retired. Once n bed Igot nicely settled and begn to shake uncontrollably like I was out in a snow storm with not enough cothes, even though I felt warm. Rapid cnsultation with $wife and notnotabouthim ensued, followed by a call to emergency for an ambulance. Duly a couple of young (to me anyway) paramedics turned up and proceeded to quickly diagnose hat I wasn't having a heart attack or any other direly urgent condition, but nonetheless I should be taken to the local Emergency Department. Blood samples were taken and various medications were applied during the transfer. At the ED more blood samples and tests, a couple of Xrays and a CAT scan later the conclusion was reached that I had suffered an infection on my upper lungs, and I was sent home with a prescription for a course of antibiotics.

So the cost to me for all that? $3.00 (for the medicine).

And the US wants to impose it's medical system on us, and our government is bending over and asking "how far?". The billboards get it right - Yeah Right!

Some of you out there may have noticed that a little city about 300km south of me got all shook up about lunchtime today (1251NZDT Feb 22).

I was on my feet when the tremor went through our town so I didn't feel it although several folk in the office did.

I have a son living & studying in Christchurch, who has come through unscathed, and seemingly unperturbed, but as his sister writes here he's a pretty laid back sort of guy and doubtless will be out there helping out in whatever way he can, as he did in September.

The official stats on the event can be found here.

Check out the link below and join me in signing:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/wikileaks_petition/96.php

I agree with Avaaz that the campaign against WikiLeaks is an attack on the freedom of the press, particularly given that no apparent action is being taken against the respectable newspapers that are publishing the leaked documents in conjunction with WikiLeaks.

It's time to remind these governments where their power comes from - it's not the power brokers behind the scenes, it's us, the voters.

On this day, way back in the dim ancient past (aka 1968), $WIFE & I stood before a bunch of our friends and committed to a life together.

Despite a few hiccups along the way, we're still an item, even if it does make our kids some of the few whose birth parents are still together...

Saw this in our local paper on Friday.

Seems a fairly impressive achievement to me...

This and this give me cause to wonder why it is that here in New Zealand alleged miscreants in two key sectors of the justice system are given a "get out of jail free" card that is denied to the rest of our society.

By this I mean that the following seems unjust to me...

If I, as an employee, engage (or are alleged to have engaged) in misconduct or criminal activities against my employer, or society in general, I will be pursued with the full force of the law until proven innocent or convicted (as appropriate) regardless of my employment status. In short quitting my job is no protection from investigation and legal action against me.

However, the case linked to above, and others recently involving police officers, seem to indicate that in our society, those charged with administering justice have any pending action against them dropped if they resign their position. In the case of the Judge, he gets a payout of somewhere north of $800,000.

Now I'm not saying the judge has done wrong (that hasn't been proved), but to me the fact that he wants to escape the process seems to imply that there is something there that he wants to hide, and we'll never know what it is. It has been suggested that he simply didn't want to go through the long and involved legal process to prove his innocence, and with $800k in his pocket he can probably retire and never work again quite comfortably - I know I could!.

But to precede his resignation with strenuous attempts to stop the process against him, leads me (and I suspect, others) to suspect that he has something he desperately wants to hide.

The same suspicions apply to various cops (including the recent Deputy Commander) who were accused of wrongdoings of various types and elected to retire rather than face the music.

Is this a case of those in the Justice System giving themselves a benefit that is denied to other citizens?

My little princess has created herself a blog entitled DelusionalGirl with the subtitle "Watch as an over-developed sense of self-importance wars with an understanding of my insignificance."



It is well written and humorous about her life as a stay-at-home mother of 6 kids, if I may say so myself.

Go have a browse, and a giggle!

Came across this which included some photos I thought some of my friends (RL & Cyber) may enjoy...

I just attempted to send this message to the Israeli Prime Minister via the official Israeli Government website, and got a 404 response in reply...

The message I wish to add my voice to the widespread condemnation of your military action regrading the flotilla of aid ships in the Mediterranean Sea this Monday. Has your government ever considered the possibility that your actions regarding the Gaza Strip (& the West bank) only serve to inflame the situation rather than contain or resolve it? was input on this page. The 404 was received on clicking the "send" button - FAIL!

So I go to their web "contact us" page and attempt to tell their IT guys about the problem. Click the "send" button and get back a page saying "an error has occurred, please tell us about it so we can fix it", so I figure what the heck, fill out a brief summary including pointing back here and click "send" again to get back a page saying in English and Hebrew E-Gov's security systems have detected suspicious activity and can not display the requested page and A support team is available at : 02-6664646 or noc@tehila.gov.il. WTF? aka FAIL²!!

As Anzac Day (April 25th for you foreigners) rolls around, my mind wanders back to a play I saw in Adelaide around about the time I married $WIFE. The play was written by Alan Seymour in 1958 and first produced in 1960 (when I was at Norwood High), so I must have seen a later production, possibly as part of the Adelaide Festival of Arts (which initially refused to put the play on) and certainly at the Adelaide University Theatre (where I first met $Wife in 1964). Here is an article on the play from the Sydney Morning Herald which includes some background.

My most detailed memory of he play is Alf declaiming to his son Hughie that the importance of Anzac Day to him was that it was The One Day of the Year when he Was.Some.Body, for the rest of the year he was a nobody fulfilling some menial function as a lift (=elevator in .us) attendant.

My own father was briefly involved in WWII in France before being invalided back home just before his unit went into action and was wiped out. Dad then spent the rest of the war working for the War Ministry in the Northern Territory where he met and married my mother and begat me. He never spoke much about the war, but the odd time he got yarny it appeared he was involved in some way in the tar-sealing of the Alice Springs to Tennant Creek (Darwin?) highway as part of the war effort. He also was responsible for commandeering various bits of equipment to aid the shipping of stuff around.

[/reminiscing]

Tripped over this, posted by my nephew in Oslo...

I'm not normally a fan of either Pal Holmes or Telecom, but this piece in the NZ Herald caught my eye...

I hooted at the second to last paragraph!

I see from here and here that one Neil Gaiman will be in my neck of the woods next month.

Perhaps I can get my copy of The Graveyard Book autographed by a real author...

/me dashes out to buy tickets...

With three days to go, the crucial Copenhagen summit looks as if it may be failing.

Tomorrow, the world’s leaders arrive for an unprecedented 60 hours of direct negotiations. Experts agree that without a tidal wave of public pressure for a deal, the summit will not stop catastrophic global warming of 2 degrees.

Please consider signing the petition for a real deal in Copenhagen -- the campaign already has a staggering 11 million supporters - let’s make it the largest petition in history in the next 72 hours! Every single name is actually being read out at the summit -- sign on at the link below and forward this email to everyone!

Sign here

An Avaaz team is meeting daily with negotiators inside the summit who will organise a spectacular petition delivery to world leaders as they arrive, building a giant wall of boxes of names and reading out the names of every person who signs. With the largest petition in history, leaders will have no doubt that the whole world is watching.

Millions watched the Avaaz vigil inside the summit on TV last weekend, where Archbishop Desmond Tutu told hundreds of delegates and assembled children:

“We marched in Berlin, and the wall fell.
”We marched for South Africa, and apartheid fell.
“We marched at Copenhagen -- and we WILL get a Real Deal.”

Copenhagen is seeking the biggest mandate in history to stop the greatest threat humanity has ever faced. History will be made in the next few days. How will our children remember this moment? Let’s tell them we did all we could.

With hope,

Ricken, Alice, Ben, Paul, Luis, Iain, Veronique, Graziela, Pascal, Paula, Benjamin, Raj, Raluca, Taren, David, Josh and the whole Avaaz team.

The last of the offspring has now formally left the nest, so now I'm changing my name...

so we will be formally known as Darby & Joan from now on...

Entirely coincidentally, our wedding anniversary is at the end of the month.

I have finally succumbed to the Facebook Plague and acquired myself an account, which I will be sharing with $WIFE. I have put out a bunch of Friend Requests, and I guess I will accept them as well from those who may wish to Friend me...

Tats has already spotted me, she must be online in Africa...

This intrigued me - a view of a single molecule...

There’s been a bit of Rocking and Rolling down south recently...

The GNS scientist on Morning Report this morning likened the initial shake to the one that levelled the Hawkes Bay in 1931.

Not for nothing am I living in The Shaky Isles...