The angle of vanishing stability

Lovely term from yet another ship's captain, via the bright box in the corner of the room, pertaining to Aotearoa's worse maritime environmental disaster.

'Tis all quite patterned by now me hearty's...

• disaster strikes (earthquake, coal mine explosion, ship wreck)
• locals rally
• leaders (actually managers) freeze, terrified of making bad decision
• Wellington dithers (see above)
• offshore expertise/technology needed, time lag till arrival
• reports surface, speaking of minimal or substandard capacity to respond to said emergency
• taxpayer foots bill

Listen to the Minister of Defence justifying the MoD's decision to delay its own report until it had digested (cribbed?) the UN report into abuses of Afghani prisoner's captured or otherwise handled by NZ SAS. How thin have we cut the State carcass?

This government's credibility ebbs by the day, and when the end comes, it'll be like any capsize: quick and deadly, sucking down all in its orbit. Over the angle of vanishing stability.

Shame.