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Poll

Votes: 8

Underworld

Author:

Orinoco

Topic:

Diaries

Posted:

Jul 28, 2002

Comments:

Like most Americans this morning, I woke up red-eyed, pawing drunkenly around the sheets and pizza crusts for the television remote control in a rush to flick on Facts News and learn the fate of the Pennsylvania miners.

Imagine my unbridled joy when I learned they were all alive and unhurt. Be honest: hands up everyone who thought they were goners.

Thankful and relieved for the families of these nine plucky Pennsylvanian proletariats, I proceeded with my morning ablutions (shower, shave, snip the nose and ear hair, saline gargle, the thing with the ice cube) and readied myself for the long deathride into work. But instead of listening to the Darcy and Pig Morning Talk on the radio, I chose this as a silent time to reflect on how fortunate I am to not have to rely for a living wage on crawling around on my hands and knees in damp holes in the ground with nothing but a flashlight wired to my head to differentiate me from a (giant) naked mole rat.

Is it time for us to ban these dangerous subsurface mines altogether and go the strip mine route instead? Is the "environment" really so important?

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	My Mexican Vacation.
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	The Environment (none / 0) (#1)
	by dmg on Sun Jul 28th, 2002 at 07:37:49 AM PST

	Has been changed by man since time immemorial. Australia was ravaged by giant forest fires deliberately started by Aboriginals. The entire south east of England used to be an enormous oak forest, it is now prarie and suburban housing. Coupled with mans efforts, nature too takes its toll. Africa used to be abundant with lush greenery even in the Sahara area, and the periodic volcanic eruptions and meteorite strikes have played havoc with the temperature of this planet. The "Environment" is tough, it can take whatever punishment we dish out. Anyone who says otherwise is trying to sell you something. time to give a Newtonian demonstration - of a bullet, its mass and its acceleration. -- MC Hawking

	I agree (none / 0) (#2)
	by Anonymous Reader on Sun Jul 28th, 2002 at 01:17:52 PM PST

	Ask the people who survived a earth quake, they'll say earth can wipe us off like a shit staind.

	Really? (none / 0) (#3)
	by RobotSlave on Sun Jul 28th, 2002 at 02:22:43 PM PST

	I've lived through two strong earthquakes and countless lesser ones, and though fairly exciting, they don't seem to be all that big a deal. Am I missing something? © 2002, RobotSlave. You may not reproduce this material, in whole or in part, without written permission of the owner.

	Really. (5.00 / 1) (#5)
	by The Mad Scientist on Tue Jul 30th, 2002 at 11:08:34 AM PST

	I've lived through two strong earthquakes and countless lesser ones, and though fairly exciting, they don't seem to be all that big a deal. Am I missing something? No, you're wrong. You lived through two weak earthquakes and countless of very weak ones.

	I know you are, but what am I? (none / 0) (#7)
	by RobotSlave on Tue Jul 30th, 2002 at 02:34:00 PM PST

	© 2002, RobotSlave. You may not reproduce this material, in whole or in part, without written permission of the owner.

	Ummm... (none / 0) (#8)
	by The Mad Scientist on Tue Jul 30th, 2002 at 03:20:35 PM PST

	...what you wanted to say?

	Is it time to do this thing? (none / 0) (#9)
	by RobotSlave on Wed Jul 31st, 2002 at 02:27:06 AM PST

	You probably still are wondering why some peoples have to you given the evil looks when you upon some times are using the public transportation? Unless, of course, you have forgotten this thing entirely? © 2002, RobotSlave. You may not reproduce this material, in whole or in part, without written permission of the owner.

	Well... (none / 0) (#10)
	by The Mad Scientist on Wed Jul 31st, 2002 at 03:07:00 AM PST

	...I am not wondering. I just consider them hypocrites. I will bet my shoes that if any of the evil-lookers would be on the other end of the phone, with a computer problem, they would be damn very happy I am willing to help regardless that I am in the public transportation at the moment, instead of letting them wait often up to over a hour until I'll finish the travel. After all, it is exactly what the mobile phones were developed for. Anything wrong with that, 'Slave? What I wonder about now is what it has in common with small earthquakes, though.

	Hand over the shoes. (none / 0) (#13)
	by RobotSlave on Wed Jul 31st, 2002 at 03:51:19 PM PST

	You've been busted. © 2002, RobotSlave. You may not reproduce this material, in whole or in part, without written permission of the owner.

	Earthquakes aren't dangerous... (5.00 / 1) (#6)
	by jvance on Tue Jul 30th, 2002 at 11:22:15 AM PST

	It's the tons of debris falling from flimsy man-made structures that are dangerous. Let's talk about tsunamis instead. -- Adequacy has turned into a cesspool consisting of ... blubbering, superstitious fools arguing with smug, pseudointellectual assholes. -AR

	very sensible (none / 0) (#4)
	by foon on Sun Jul 28th, 2002 at 05:15:40 PM PST

	Indeed, strip-mining offers many advantages. But this decision should not be based on "safety". If subsurface mining is the most profitable mechanism for mineral extraction, we should not let concerns of safety get in the way of allowing the mine operators to make the best business decision. Anyone who chooses to work in a mine should be aware of the risks involved, and if they believe that it is not in their interest, in a capitalist society they are free to make the choice to do something else. The kind of regulations you are talking about would simply eliminate a choice which many mine owners, and workers, benefit from right now, despite some unfortunate accients.

	even more sensible (none / 0) (#12)
	by john smith on Wed Jul 31st, 2002 at 09:19:50 AM PST

	I agree completely with you, Mr, but can not avoid to mention that you forgot about those little birds imprisoned in ridiculously small cages miners carry with them for the purpose of detecting poisoning gases. If the bird dies suddenly they know they have to choose among leave the place, put the oxygen mask on or following the bird to wherever its little soul went. Do the little birds have the choice to be there or not? I don't think so. So, sub-surface mining is evil, at least from some little birds' point of view. Your move.

	what 'thing with the ice cube'? (none / 0) (#11)
	by Mr Somebody on Wed Jul 31st, 2002 at 06:34:32 AM PST

	this is a morning ritual I've not heard of before. Do you drop it down your shorts to wake you up? On the mining front, good work by the rescuers indeed. I'm quite surprised a mature capitalist economy like the USA has any mines left. the UK only has 15, & 6 of those are threatenned with closure.

	Lots of good news in PA (none / 0) (#14)
	by madtimebat on Thu Aug 1st, 2002 at 03:48:13 AM PST

	Hey, the little girl who was kidnapped in Philly was able to escape basically unharmed. The miners were all rescued and basically healthy. Even on one of our sadest day (September 11) no one was hurt on the ground when the heroic passangers retook control of the plane. So my question is why do you want to destroy our coal mining industry? For the most part, it isn't economic to strip mine in PA. The layer of coal is too narrow, and too far down. And often there is valuable land above the coal. Besides, plenty of miners die every year in strip mining. Simple fact is, it is better to know you are unground, then to suddenly discover you are underground.

	Sir, (none / 0) (#15)
	by Martino Cortez PhD on Sun Aug 4th, 2002 at 09:49:43 PM PST

	Your poll is not complete without the "drinking aged wine and reading the Wall Street Journal". Our mines in central south america are all being converted to strip mining. We have found that it is far more cost effective to burn the surrounding area, dump the "top soil" into the river, and mine directly from the bedrock. Thanks to lax pollution law we are able to use machines with no catalyic converters, and drain and cool our oil in nearby streams and rivers. -- Dr Martino Cortez, PhD CEO - Martin-Cortez Financial Corporation Copyright © 2002, Martino Cortez.

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