Au revoir

to the two little pissers yesterday.

Early afternoon a family from Natuashish rode over to pick up the male.

Newly named Nanook left after the family warmed up and had some tea. It was quite cold out there, -35 chill and the two to two and half hour trip should be a good bonding experience for Nanook and his new owner. Both are snuggled down inside that red blanket.

Later the female was picked up; she had not been named until her nine year old owner decides on one.

Siutik was a little down but I am sure she will appreciate having more time for herself.

Yesterday the internet was as slow as half a wet foggy day in St.John’s. It is back up to normal this morning

Gooey sticky yummy chicken n ribs.

I played the role of sous chef for last night’s meal. Head chef supplied the ingredients and directions, slow cook ribs for about 8 hours n chicken for about 4 hours.

Then head chef arrived and did the final touches of finishing sauce and the broiling and making very nice coleslaw. .

Damn fine ribs n chicken to be sure. Oh, I did the fries and mushrooms.

Nice half day yesterday then the wind picked up making wind chills down near -30. -36 chill this morning but clear.

The energizer bunny keeps going and going.

Nice day looming again, the wind has kept things frosty but nothing one cant handle if one is inclined.

Can’t go without mentioning, the total lack of public discourse, within Nunatsiavut on the pending Nutrition North program. CKOK did the interview with the Nunatsiavut representative on NN but that was just a non informative spiel on behalf of INAC and Nutrition North I am afraid.

It seems Nunatsiavut Government have two people on the Nutrition North issue, one on the panel of advisors to NN and the other the Director of Community Services for the Dept of health of NG whose role with the NN program I am not familiar with.

Neither live in Nunatsiavut nor have I heard any public announcement of them visiting the area to either disseminate or garner information. Nor have we heard a peep out of any elected officials with NG.

Meanwhile further north the discourse goes on like the energizer bunny on steroids.

Later:

would be remiss if I did not mention that BigLand had better quality fresh vegetables than Northern this week, not a bad selection too for winter.

I was listening in to VOCM talk back with Randy Simms a bit this morning. Not sure why but lots of people calling in complaining about the rising price of food. God forbid that the poor people down there are paying 9 dollars for 6 chicken breasts, or 3 dollars for a loaf of bread. Bloody hell the cheapest bread up here is 4.99, and that is for stuff that looks and taste like cardboard.

With the lack of snow, very cold then milder temperatures ice coring is becoming an issue around town and in the country.
This series just shows a small portion of the coring, one on the lower trail to Trouser Lake and the other at the confluence of a town road and the road to Trouser Lake.

There is a more serious situation in the not so new subdivision where the road is blocking the natural flow of a brook that flows there, drainage under the road is obviously inadequate and the ice is flowing lot frozen larva all over the place.

Blow is an e mail from our MP in Hottawa received yesterday:

I would like to thank you again for having taken part in my survey on the Muskrat Falls project.

As someone who has an interest in this important issue, you may be also interested in participating in tonight’s “Virtual Town Hall” which I am holding across Labrador. This is a large teleconference, similar in format to an open-line radio program. You can just listen, or you can come on the line with your own comments or questions. There will also be a touch-tone survey.

This Virtual Town Hall takes place tonight, Wednesday February 23^rd, from 7:30 to 9:00 p.m. (8:00 to 9:30 in southern Labrador communities which follow Newfoundland time.)

I was busy and did not take part but according to CBC HV-GB up to 2200 people did take the time to participate.

No prizes as to what the majority of the participants think of the Muskrat Falls deal the province is trying to foster on the citizens of Labrador.

I have not heard or read the latest accusations made by the Former minister for health of Nunatsiavut Government; they must be inflammatory for NG to respond so quickly. NG is notorious for taking their sweet time in addressing any issues publicly, not this time.

Attempting to read between the lines of the press release; It seems that no paper trail exists so all boils down to a he said he said. Not a very smart way to administer a government.

While stating that Russell was lacking in his ministerial duties leading to the dismissal the press release then states; “Russell was very outspoken towards the executive on the way they conducted their business and of the civil service”. This is precisely what Russell alleges he was dismissed for and NG denied it.

The press release then states; “I think it is also important to note that the Nunatsiavut Government is a consensus government – a non-partisan system of governing that is more in keeping with the way that aboriginal peoples have traditionally made decisions. In other words, there is no official opposition party. Unanimous agreement is not necessary for decisions to be made, but rather a majority vote of acceptance. Mr. Russell has refused to accept this system of governing and has, instead, consistently opposed many of the decisions of the Executive Council.

One thing bothering me here, how can traditional values be adhered to if you have a bevy of non aboriginal advisers sitting at back of you making sure your decisions are based on the white system of governance that NG is operated under.

Another bothersome statement is: Unanimous agreement is not necessary in a consensus government, true depending on how one interprets consensus government. Some say all have to be in agreement and others say there can be disagreement but should work towards consensus.

Under drawbacks of consensus we have; consensus may effectively give a small self-interested minority group veto power over decisions, this is particularly relevant to how NG operates IMO.

Russell seems to be ridiculed for doing what the press release states he is allowed to do.

All very confusing to say the least.

There is a lot not being addressed, maybe an open line call in show on CKOK would help sort out the mess, but don’t hold your breath.

No matter what you call them or how you eat them this scone recipe is the best I have come up with to date. Yummy, crunchy and buttery.

On a less tasty note. Chicken may be going up and we should be on alert to unsavory practices.

Yet more reportage on the Nutrition North program for the north.

Either they don’t have a lot of crime and escapes from custody up there or media people think that healthy food at reasonable prices is of an interest to their audience.

Any way Minister Duncan must have received and earful for his last statement because now he is promising consultations by INAC and NN people. Thought that would have happened sooner but having experience with INAC folk it comes as no surprise.

The way this is shaping up it is not looking like we in Nunatsiavut will see any positive changes with the new program. I was hopping to access retailers in Goose Bay, but judging by comments in these stories from the north the PAPER work required for such a small market may deter any participation from those retailers.

I patently wait for some information from people who are being paid to supply such information but it is looking more and more like I may have to go and garner the information myself, again.

So my shopping experience for a new TV turned out to be a pleasant one.

Sears delivered it to the outlet store in Goose Bay ahead of schedule. My little expediter picked it up yesterday morning and delivered it to Air Lab before lunch and I had it hooked up and warming up by 4 PM. All round a pleasant shipping experience. Normally I would not have chosen Sears but the other cheaper online stores had shipping cost of 350 bucks and Sears had a deal of fewer than 10 bucks to Goose Bay so they got the nod.

40 inch Sony, and the TV is not crooked, my camera was.

The Nutrition North [NN] program gets closer to replacing the food mail program. April 1 is the day; media in the far north continues to cover this important issue. Media in Labrador do not put much importance in the health of Inuit. CBC H-V G-B is short staffed and too busy, The Labradorian does not seem to put much emphasis on coastal issues either, only CKOK [listen to audio] has being following the issue, and so they should.

Judging by the articles in Northern media and letters to the editor one gets the sense that the North West Company [NWC] is not very popular up there. Judging by comments made by the Minister responsible for the program he does not have much of a handle on what is going on either.

There seems much confusion with managers of the stores and top officials with NWC as to what is actually going on with subsidies in the interim between the old program and the new program. I thought it was cut and dried, the old program would continue, albeit with reduced eligible products, until the new program kicks in on April 1.

I do not know if the same confusion is happening in Labrador as I have heard nothing from retailers or consumers or the media on the topic.

What is clear is the new program seems to be a work in progress with promised changes to be put in play IF there is enough feed back from eligible suppliers, retailers and consumers.

Some country food is eligible under the new program, but before people in Labrador get overly excited just read the hoop’s that have to be jumped through before that can happen.

Northern Country Food Processors/Distributors: Federally-regulated country food processors/distributors and/or approved-for-export, commercial plants located in the North that supply eligible items to eligible communities, that possess a Business Number issued by the Canada Revenue Agency, that meet the Program's selection criteria, as set out by the Department, and that agree to the terms and conditions of the arrangements to be made with INAC for the transfer of funds (the subsidy).

The only eligible business that I am aware of for possible participation has closed its doors due to new provincial hunting regulation. Can that be changed? Who knows?

So much work still to be done and I wonder who will be watching and making sure that the Labrador portion of the program runs the way it is supposed to.

Had a guest for Friday nights supper who had requested caribou meat cakes.
Along with those I did some souvlaki made with pork loin.
Some vegetables, spicy rice and a salad with white wine to wash it all down, followed by a blue berry cobbler was all to much for the guest who left for home with a sizable doggy bag.

I thought I would try something different with the meat cakes as they tend to dry out if cooked too long. I finished them off in about a cup of caribou bullion, hence the steam in the right photograph.

Nice bit of snow yesterday, just a couple of inches but it has not blown away or melted, should help a little in getting around on ski doo.

Took a stroll up to Trouser lake yesterday afternoon.
The upper new road allows for some nice views but I still prefer the old lower trail for a scenic walk. It is till being used by some so will give it a shot this weekend.

Good bit of traffic going both ways, the good part it the wideness allowing for machines and walkers ample room plus and the lack of moguls that were part and parcel of the old trail.


Only wildlife seen was the consummate show off. It was her first lengthy foray since giving birth and she reveled in it.


On the way home and broaching the hill to be met with the town bathed in sunshine, quite the sight no matter how many time you see it.

For the curious.

Selection of vegetables bought yesterday at Northern. Bigland had a good selection too but of late I find the Northern shipments just a little fresher, plus the 'shopping experience' is a tad more pleasant.
Being winter the tomatoes are wanting, then they usually are in the north.

So it's Greek salad tonight [had some feta cheese come in with friend], along with souvlaki and caribou meat cakes.

Ian from hopedale sent up a piece of fresh deer meat, had traditional deer meat fried in pork fat last evening, thought Fran was never going to stop eating.

Nice warm spell [up to -6 yesterday] but still no snow, only 22 cm on the ground and non of that is on the roads for sure.

More on the former NG minister of health and social development: A more in depth interview with Mr. Russell is here on CKOK.

Russell sure does polarize the Coastal and Lake Melville membership of NG, in this interview he portrays himself as some sort of Mahatma Gandhi something he is not even close to being.

I do not like Russell as a person, never have, but he is willing to [or was before and after being in the NG cabinet] to speak to issues and challenge policy and set ways of doing things.

Many of the issues he raised in this interview are long standing problems that plague NG and need addressing; unfortunately people who do challenge are promptly shuffled aside or ignored. Since the formation of NG a large middle class has formed within the NG civil service, many know the on going problems and issues but won’t bring them into a public forum for various reasons.

While this middle class is being feted there is another class of people outside the employ of NG who are for all intents and purposes being ignored. Russell mentions some of these in the interview.

Language [Inuttut] is also being almost pushed aside, Torngnasok Cultural Center does not have a regular director and there are no plans to hire one.

But Russell shots himself in the foot big time with other claims of being the sole force behind almost every program that his department is involved in. There is lots of evidence that Russell did not respond to many e mails and phone calls directed to him [he is not alone there] and many folk say that he was not in his office as often as he should have been [not alone there either].

So there may have been due cause to move Russell out of the cabinet, at the same time there is a reasonable amount of evidence to say it was political.

The president of NG does not/has not done a reasonable job to date in explaining the reasons satisfactorily. The publicly unspoken animosity between coastal Nunatsiavutmut and NG beneficiaries within Lake Melville is being used by a clique within NG administration to maintain their grip on power IMO and Russell looks to be using that animosity to pursue his agenda, whatever that is..

The overriding problem with NG is that a small clique of civil servants and advisers make most of the decisions [Russell is correct on this point]. Many top positions of late have been filled by Appointment after [allegedly] no suitable applications were received to ads for these positions. The appointees may be qualified for the positions but the way they received these appointments should raise red flags. No Inuit have been appointed to any of these positions which has lead to a lot of discontent and resentment towards management of NG.

NG has been formed for five years; that five years along with the previous ten to fifteen years could have been used to train and ready Inuit for top positions that require special skill sets and education.

This was not done and only now is there some talk of training people to do these jobs. Suggestions of parallel roles working with experienced people in say the Director of Torngnasok position, plus other positions.

It is only talk, and I fear there will be some opposition from some within NG.

Sadly there are well educated and well trained Inuit who have the skills needed but they are either not willing to return to Nunatsiavut or are not sought out because they speak truth to power.

What is needed is strong leadership with support of several other members to take on these challenges. Until that happens then things will role along in chaos and disorder. NG has to get over this fear of openness and be willing to take some constructive criticisms and answer these criticisms in an adult and open manner.

Some may ask why am I doing this shit? Answer is no one else is doing it publicly and I wish someone would. .

This was in the comment box this morning, hope the media received it as well.

Anonymous said...

Ottawa, Ontario - Feb. 16, 2011 - Please be advised that the Honourable John Duncan, Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians will be available to answer questions during a phone-in Media Availability on the transition from the current Food Mail Program to the April 2011 launch of Nutrition North Canada.


When:
Thursday, February 17, 2011
11:30 a.m. ET

Where:
Media can participate by phone:
Dial-in number: 1-877-413-4803


For more information, please contact

INAC Media Relations Line
819-953-1160

You're the media. OK should attend too! (-OBT)

Update on different subject:

Here is a pod cast of interview with the President and also the former Minister of Health of Nunatsiavut.

I don't know who is telling the truth [if articulation counts there is no contest] but I do think that the former minister is closer to the truth than the president. I say this from experience and from observing the behavior of NG and the former LIA over many years.

I would add that if NG does not have any warnings to the former minister in writing then they are in big doo doo. You have to follow due proccess, and one of the rules of a democracy is due diligence and openness and accountability, sadly lacking within NG.

While on the subject of bat poo; Fran and I came across these bats while walking through the gardens back in July last year. I did not believe the signs warning of bats, [flying foxes] but lo and behold they were there, quite amazing in the middle of a city that size.

For the homesick.

Great day yesterday, sunny and up to -15, perfect and great for taking some photos.










As you can see there is no snow on the ice which is both good and bad.

The dump truck picking up the garbage is sure an unusual sight in February, usually its the ski doo and large komatik.

The right collage, middle top picture, shows the infamous gas station pumps.

I had three cracked eggs I had to use up last evening. The cracked eggs were the result of buying a dozen eggs at a reduced price from Northern, silly me did not check before buying, then Northern made checking difficult as the eggs were saran wrapped.

No biggy, but what to do with the eggs? How about making some hollandaise sauce thinks I. Never attempted making it before and after looking at the recipe I had no great urge to start now.

Then I came across a less complicated and time consuming recipe using just one saucepan, I hate these recipes calling for double boilers and drizzle slowly or there will be disasters.

Any way the sauce came out Ok, even Fran liked it. Surprisingly it accompanied the poached smoke char and cod and scrunchins quite well.

Temperatures are on the rise next several days, only 40% chance of flurries, I cant not wonder what we will be in fore when we do get a snow storm.

The group who headed north early last week arrived back Monday bereft of caribou but with partridge and fish.

Going was hard with the lack of snow, even if caribou where in the area it would have been difficult to track them. Some wolves were around but this does not necessarily mean caribou are around. or they were around and the wolves took care of them.

Update and breaking:

CBC Peter Cowan is Twittering that;

Nunatsiavut president has booted Keith Russell out of cabinet for not fulfilling his duties. No details yet.

Wonder if any other members are shaking in their boots, still the ones who get booted off cabinet still receive very hansom salaries and benefits, makes you want to puke.

Upertydate: On Another minister of NG biting the dust.

As requested.

Photos of undisclosed establishments in undisclosed location taken surreptitiously.

They were taken late last week after the food mail shipment arrived, the rest of the cloak and dagger may or may not be warranted but I took no chances.

To explain; a few weeks ago a fellow traveler was in one of the local stores taking pictures, a middle management type approach fellow traveler and admonished fellow traveler for taking pictures and said it was no allowed.

I scooped to this deviousness to accommodate a request from a reader in the south, no animosity is intended.

As a matter of fact I thing the pictures are quite flattering, the shelves are well stocked and they are only part of each store, many more shelves and coolers and freezer of goods of all sorts from food to kitchenware to hardware and clothing.

Of course the prices may not be agreeable to everyone on every item, that is why if at all possible, and you plan ahead, it is cheaper to shop on line or by phone.

On the weather front it is still on the cold side. Without the wind it is agreeable but this time of year the wind never gives much respite. Forecast is calling for rising temps after tomorrow, alas no snow of consiquence.

Happy Valentines day all.

Now if that smile does not melt the most hardened heart I don't know what would.











Photo of Carter by Krista Killi.

Had to show

this photo of GGrandson Terrence in goal. Love the high tech protection.
Photo by Book.

We are into the 19th day of this cool spell. I don't and I think most don't mind the -20ish temperatures but we have not had a day [in those 19] above -25 wind chill, most days are in the -39 range, that gets to the bones.

The house is handling the extreme quite well. The new ceiling seems to be retaining heat better, not like some of the newer homes up in the exposed areas of the new subdivision. Lots of complaints from up that way about draft and hard to maintain heat in homes.

Then there are the ones who do not have any electricity, or snowmobiles to go get wood, or money to buy much wood, not sure how they get through weather like this.

The community of Hopedale seems to be more progressive when it comes to the elderly
and low income people.
They using money from a trust fund [from Voisey's Bay royalties that all communities access] and are paying several people to harvest firewood, plus those without wood stoves get some oil for the furnace.


And I just had to show this one of Terrence ready for the outback, note the line ready to string the crocs mouth.

Photo by Book.

The new provincial minister of environment is doing a bang up job as spokesperson for the private sector, in this case Vale.

When the tailings leak at Voisey’s Bay mine was first reported Mr. Wiseman stated that it was the company, Vale, that had the responsibility for clean up and monitoring. Now Wiseman is out front and center acting as what seems to me a private mouth piece.

He sure has that special gift needed to be a PR person for the private sector.

Saying the leak is not substantial belies the facts that the minister himself has spoken to, if in fact they are the true facts.

The figures given out by the company and repeated by the minister are: 600 cubic meters of tailing leaked onto the camp pond.

600 cubic meters equals 600, 000 liters, not an unsubstantial amount.

Then in a lengthy interview with CKOK [audio clip included] yesterday Wiseman first stated 600 cubic meters then later in the interview he stated either 15 or 16 thousand square meters, that equals 1.6 hectares. Not an unsubstantial area.

The leak was not discovered for 12 hours according the Wiseman, but this is not a big problem he says, two automated safety checks failed and he defended the company policy of a visual check every 12 hours.

Wiseman also defended the location of the tailings line in relation to the camp pond stating that; all environmental standards where adhered to back in the day [paraphrased]. Which is sort of like saying that maybe the location of the line in relation to the water supply would not meet today’s standards. Plus this is not the first problem with the tailings line.

All in all a good smoke and mirrors job to date, if this happened out on the Island you could be assured of the MSM being all over this story with relentless vigor. CKOK with its limited means and limited access has done a good job to date.

Another bothering thing about Wisemans interview; he stated that the clean up should not take long and to make sure all contaminates are taken up they will go down beyond the contaminated area just to make sure.

How does one clean up an area of contaminated frozen water with large pieces of construction equipment without disrupting the potable water beneath one wonders? And how do these large pieces of equipment reach out several hundred meters from shore to grab and differentiate contaminated from non contaminated ice. It would make an interesting video.

Updated: Things are not going too smoothly for the Nutrition North program in the fare north.

On that note I wonder when we will hear anything from the two NG representatives handling the NN program, who by the by do not live in the area.

Red alert- baby in de house. Siutik took close interest when fussy noises emanated from Carter on his visit the other day. Carter calmed down after being walked and fed, and walked.








Here are just five steps of the many in the dressing process for babies up this way. Whether walking on on ski doo or going from house to vehical it is bloody cold out there.


The forecast has it down in the -30 range with lots of orange balls for the next little while, hope the winds stay down like yesterday to make it bearable. Sure seems like it is payback time for all that warm weather we had in the fall and early winter.

Labradorite

crystals can be seen if you enlarge and look had at the first photo. I was out scouting for a water hole, this one is not as it's usual place [in the stream flow], the cold temps and lack of snow has moved the water flow beneath the ice and the actual flow and bubbling was going up hill at the hole.






While there I took some shots of the ice sans lack of snow. Those mountains are over 5 kilometers away so the 600 mm lens brings em up close.

The shadows in the last picture are from 1400 ft mountains to the right.

I hear some people are heading north today to look for caribou. It's only about 80 clicks as the crow flies but I wish the good speed and good luck with the hunt.

Chow down, diners, drive-ins and dives has nothing on us.

Nice slow cooked pork ribs gravy and vegetables after a lazy day.

The pups had to be content with moistened dry dog food.











Carter and mom pleasantly surprised everybody with an unannounced arrival, here till Friday.

Interesting watching all the political unrest around the world particularly in the middle east. I check out Michael Harris at times and am never disappointed by his astuteness and journalistic skills.

Then there are all the severe weather patterns to watch, we are very lucky [to date] that we just have very cold [now] weather and very little snow [unusual]to content with.
This article could be a dire [though maybe too late]warning depending on your point of view.

Fran,who is the antithesis of a computer nerd, has been a thinking that she may need an iPad, go figure eh?

While the matriarch of the house was out I enticed the remaining three pups into the kitchen for a photo shoot. Even though the little pissers scramble to get in every time I open the back door they were very hesitant when invited in, as is usual with pups but it is funny watching em check and sniff.

The smaller reddish female still has a temper when picked up, though she is starting to get used to it after me giving her some extra care and a talking to. It is amazing how those little tails make such a racket when brushing any hard object, they go all out all the time.

In short order they started to become ‘more comfortable’ with the surroundings so it was time to say arrivederci.

Many moons ago I became a fan of CFLs [compact fluorescent lamps] buying several while on holiday in the south.

Those lamps lasted for years so the purchase prise was returned and I felt good playing my little part in protecting the environment.

Fast forward to today and things are not looking so rosy in the EP front vis a vis CFLs. For one the modern lamps that are available here do not last anywhere near the length of time advertised. And they are not cheap either, anywhere from 5 to 9 dollars or so [though I will have to do a check on that].

And what piss’s me off more is the half dozen CFLs that NL hydro distributed to any household who wanted them lasted no time at all. Some of those are in the box pictured.

So here I have 11 spent CFLs, and not having a safe way to dispose of them. With Fran doing a cleaning out project I thought it time to do some investigating on how to safely dispose of CFL’s. Plus there were several others that either broke or were inadvertently thrown away

No easy task in a northern remote community in the most environmentally unfriendly province in the country, a country who is behind the 8 ball in most things environmental.

TBC.

Continuing right along;

So I sent an inquiring e mail to NL Hydro and received an automated reply telling me some one will get back to me inside 5 business days with a response.

I then phone the council office and the was told that the people there would get back to me, which one did but then had to speak to the other person and then would get back to me.

They didn’t but I phoned back and spoke to the person concerned but there was no knowledge that end of how to handle CFLs both new and burnt out.

It was mentioned that any CFLs that council had installed were taken out as one caught on fire, this happened to be one of the free lamps from Hydro.

I sense the attitude at council is along the lines of the three wise monkeys, and who can blame them when there is no leadership coming down from the province and no bottom up kafuffle.

Not being deterred I then did a search of the provincial dept of environment web site and took a punt on one of the contact names.

Lo and behold I had a reply within hours; I luck out with the right person. Included was information I had already research [but they did not know that] plus some discouraging news such as “The Department does not have specific legislation for CFL bulbs” and “But the disposal of waste dangerous goods/hazardous waste (mercury) is mentioned in our Environmental Protection Act. The Federal Government (Environment Canada) is in the process of developing legislation for the management of mercury in bulbs. This will deal with collection/transportation/disposal and recycling of Mercury from these bulbs” and “There is a wealth of information out there with regards to the management of this type of waste. This waste should be management appropriately as a HW so to prevent impacts to the environment/health” and “This waste can be collected at a Household Hazardous Waste Day ( contact MMSB for the next date) .The nearest area may be Happy Valley GB” and “In the near future various stores may be participating in a take back program for this type of waste. You could check with your municipal government and see if they are aware of any programs”.

All very good information but not much use to anyone in the province with used CFLs with nothing in place is it to handle, store dispose or recycle is it? And who in their right mind is going to pay over 800 bucks to fly to Goose bay to recycle a few CFLs ?

Which reminds me about the big brouhaha about recycling batteries from some years back: While talking to council I asked “do they still take spent batteries”. I was told they have not for some time and anyway all they did was take the collected batteries to the dump and bury them in a designated spot.

This sort of worries me somewhat as our dump or waste disposal sight is at the food of shear cliffs at a narrow point of land sloping down to the water of a small bay. Leaching of all these and other contaminants has to be a problem.

Bottom line is that mercury, as well as CFLs in general are recognized as a health issue but again the three monkey syndrome plays a big role by all levels of government.

Perhaps I could contact the NG as they just passed Environmental protection legislation. Then again one can only hit ones head up against so many brick walls at one time.