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Kil
Evil Skeptic
USA
13477 Posts |
 Posted - 03/17/2011 : 17:55:11 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by bngbuck
Dude....
| If anyone has any ideas on how to change minds enough that they won't elect oil company politicians, let's hear them. |
How about a heavy enough tax on oil companies to compel them to raise gasoline prices enormously. This will screw up, to some extent, the market speculation that is the current villian driving up gas prices (I think). When Rodney Redneck sees gasoline prices so out of sight that he can't tool around much in his 50K pickup truck, he will get pissed at the oil companies and stop voting their paid representatives into Congress.
Granted this takes a real Democratic Congress, a second term for Obama (or a real liberal replacement; not likely!) It also probably requires some kind of political obfuscation of the nature of the tax on Big Oil so that it isn't clear to Retarded Ralph in Red Land that the tax is the Government messing with the oil companies; rather it is clear that Big Oil is just getting obscenely fatter, as usual!
And a hell of a lot of clever advertising on the part of the DNC to hit all the Neanderthal Neds and Nellies right in their fat guts!
I contribute heavily to many liberal causes, and I sure would go balls to the wall to help get a program like this going!
Don't misunderstand, I'm no Bill Gates. Dammit!
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The problem with high gas prices is its real effect is mostly regressive. The redneck might be inconvenienced and start hollering, but what about all of us who are slipping out (or have already slipped out) of the middle class? That would just burdon me further and might even be the straw. Unless there is some kind of compensation for those of us who actually need our vehicles for work (and no, I don't mean just getting to work) I would oppose making gas prices higher just to make it inconvenient to use. As it is, I'm doing a kitchen now that's 50 miles away. I'm driving a hundred miles a day because at this point, a job is a job and I'm in no position to be picky. It cost me 60 bucks today at the pump and I didn't even fill it up!!! |
Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.
Why not question something for a change?
Genetic Literacy Project |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
Posted - 03/17/2011 : 18:02:52 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Dude
... ok, ok, it could kill some bats, but I'm pretty sure we can find a way to keep bats clear of wind turbines. |
I've heard that the vertical-axis turbines kill fewer birds than the normal horizontal-axis turbines, but I haven't followed up on that.| If you add in the pace at which solar panel efficiency is increasing, I'm with you on the idea that we don't "need" any nuclear reactors. |
And yet just tonight, on "liberal" NPR, I listened to a guy state outright that nukes must be a part of our energy plans for the foreseeable future (perhaps because of the insurmountable political problems faced by WWS). And I don't think he was talking about building new fourth-generation plants, but only about keeping the ones currently in operation running.| If anyone has any ideas on how to change minds enough that they won't elect oil company politicians, lets hear them. |
Well, the upside is that WWS plants are being built, they're just not getting the same subsidies as the fossil fuel industry does and so we'll never make the 2030 or 2050 target dates. Eventually, WWS will out-compete coal without help, just because the ubiquity of the technologies (and utter lack of fuel costs, imported or domestic) will make it cheaper. GE certainly isn't going out of business even today, building gazillions of wind turbines, so it's clear that there's already a customer base. I just want public money used to ensure that the customer base expands as rapidly as possible.
(By the way, the office in which I work is about 40 miles from a nuclear plant, well within the 50-mile evacuation zone the NRC would set up in the case of a Fukushima-level disaster, so I have a vested interest in seeing the plant shut down. And since I've got empathy for everyone else who might find themselves in the same situation, I have a desire to see them all shut down. The odds of such an accident happening at any of our 104 nuke plants might be extremely small, but a non-zero risk is too much for me when weighed against all other factors, including how much extra I'd be willing to pay for WWS power. I'd much prefer to pay a little more periodically than to see my paycheck drop to zero for weeks or months.) |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9688 Posts |
Posted - 03/18/2011 : 12:23:43 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by HalfMooner
Mab, I'm aware of the extreme unlikelihood of large amounts of fallout hitting the Philippines, even with a Chernobyl-sized disaster in Japan. Chernobyl-style disasters are thus far a set of one. |
I'm sorry, Halfmooner, for managing to not address your question in my entire post.
About a year ago I saw a documentary of Chernobyl, and specifically research done in the area. One of the more remarkable conclusions (can't say for certain how it has been received in the scientific community) made by one of the researchers was that anti-oxidants gave statistically significant protection against genetic damage caused by exposure to the elevated radiation of the are.
The researcher compared two species of birds (one migrating and the other not) and even though the migrating birds had less continuous exposure to the area's radiation, it suffered more genetic damage from radiation that the one that lived in the area. He came to the conclusion that with similar diets, the migrating bird measured lower levels of anti-oxidants as a result of the migration. The connection apparently that ionizing radiation creates free radicals, which can damage DNA.
Conclusion: Load up with uncontaminated food-stuffs that contain lots of anti-oxidants. |
Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3
"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse
Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder. |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 03/19/2011 : 06:48:41 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Dr. Mabuse
Originally posted by HalfMooner
Mab, I'm aware of the extreme unlikelihood of large amounts of fallout hitting the Philippines, even with a Chernobyl-sized disaster in Japan. Chernobyl-style disasters are thus far a set of one. |
I'm sorry, Halfmooner, for managing to not address your question in my entire post.
About a year ago I saw a documentary of Chernobyl, and specifically research done in the area. One of the more remarkable conclusions (can't say for certain how it has been received in the scientific community) made by one of the researchers was that anti-oxidants gave statistically significant protection against genetic damage caused by exposure to the elevated radiation of the are.
The researcher compared two species of birds (one migrating and the other not) and even though the migrating birds had less continuous exposure to the area's radiation, it suffered more genetic damage from radiation that the one that lived in the area. He came to the conclusion that with similar diets, the migrating bird measured lower levels of anti-oxidants as a result of the migration. The connection apparently that ionizing radiation creates free radicals, which can damage DNA.
Conclusion: Load up with uncontaminated food-stuffs that contain lots of anti-oxidants.
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Thanks, that's a really good idea I'd not considered. Antioxidants have been so over-hyped with quackish/unverified health claims that it's easy to forget they really do have benefits. Combating free radicals caused by radiation is one of those real ones. |
“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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sailingsoul
SFN Addict
2830 Posts |
Posted - 03/19/2011 : 15:28:36 [Permalink]
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Reported by the New York Times, Japan is now finding radioactive produce harvested as far away as 90 miles.
I say no matter how safe supporters claim that reactors in use now are or new designs are, they are not worth the possible risk we are seeing now but I know I could be wrong. I expect the powers that be will start telling us how at "these levels", without giving numbers, there is no "real" health risks but I know, they could be wrong because it is in their best intere$t to lie. SS |
There are only two types of religious people, the deceivers and the deceived. SS |
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9688 Posts |
Posted - 03/20/2011 : 03:50:51 [Permalink]
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If the radioactive levels in the milk makes a year-consumption of it equal a CAT-scan, then I see no reason why I couldn't drink it. If they pool that milk with uncontaminated milk, they could dilute the radioactivity to below the safety limit without having to destroy any of it.
It's not like the arbitrarily set safety-limit is a magical point where below means you'll live happily ever after and above means you'll loose your hair and die a horrible death.
There's no practical difference between being 2% below the limit, or 2% above the limit.
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Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3
"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse
Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder. |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
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alienist
Skeptic Friend
USA
210 Posts |
Posted - 03/20/2011 : 06:49:50 [Permalink]
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Seriously, zombie attacks are nothing to laugh about
Mmmmm..... brains |
The only normal people are the ones you don't know very well! - Joe Ancis |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 03/21/2011 : 03:48:58 [Permalink]
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It was a while getting here, but we all knew that sooner or later some prominent preacher or other would make the following claim: The disastrous trifecta in Japan is a sign that Jesus is on his way back! Yay!
It has long been a mystery to me that virtually all of the harbingers of the Second Coming involve destruction, death and disaster. There are never any sorts of good signs heralding this event; only unspeakable ones. Ever notice that? Well, Franklin Graham can partially clear that up for us.
Jesus is coming: Evangelical thinks Japan quake is a sign of the ‘second coming’
Posted on 03.20.11
By Kase Wickman
Categories: Featured, World
It’s time for a change of lyrics in that kids’ praise song, “J is for Jesus.” According to Rev. Franklin Graham, J is not only for Jesus, it’s for Japan as well.
The evangelical, son of Rev. Billy Graham and president and CEO of Christian charity Samaritan’s Purse, appeared on Newsmax.tv to talk about his charity, how charming he thinks Glenn Beck is (very), and that the Bible tells us natural disasters are heavenly signs.
“I believe that there is an evil form, there is a devil, and that day, the devil was trying to use the winds and the waves to kill Jesus Christ,” Graham said. “Every time there’s a storm in life, I don’t think it’s always God behind it.”
“All of us need to be prepared to stand before almighty God,” he said
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With a video featuring quite an attractive blond.
I guess that beneficial stuff just doesn't pack the biblical punch necessary to catch the attention of the rabble. A bumper grain harvest and the invention of clean, low-cost power can't hold a candle against, say, a large meteor strike in a populated area (that hasn't happened yet but some knowledgeable folks say we're past-due for one). So, now that the ice is broken, we can probably expect many more voices to join Franklin's choir, if they haven't already.
Say, speaking of Franklin Graham, whatever became of his plans to evangelize the Iraqis at the beginning of Bush's Folly? I recall something of a to-do over it, then nothing. Dunno if any Bibles got handed out.....
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
Posted - 03/21/2011 : 07:51:59 [Permalink]
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So radioactive Iodine has been detected in Tokyo, both as fallout and in the drinking water, but at levels less than 1% of what it would take for the government to issue restrictions to movement or drinking.
This page has an abundance of data. |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
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Kil
Evil Skeptic
USA
13477 Posts |
 Posted - 03/21/2011 : 23:01:31 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Dave W.
Liz is home.
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Cool beans!!! |
Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.
Why not question something for a change?
Genetic Literacy Project |
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bngbuck
SFN Addict
USA
2437 Posts |
Posted - 03/22/2011 : 09:47:19 [Permalink]
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Dave......
Dave, we haven't exactly been tight buddies in this weird little world of yours and Kil's, but believe me, that is about the best news that I have ever read on SFN.
I have been extremely grateful that neither I nor anyone I know happened to be in Japan when this tragedy struck. I have been there several times, most recently just four years ago. So I have been sensitive to the situation there. I don't know Liz, but I know of her via your posts, and I genuinely feel relief that she is home and safe! |
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Dude
SFN Die Hard
USA
6891 Posts |
Posted - 03/22/2011 : 10:13:14 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Dave W.
Liz is home.
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Good! Now she safe and sound, she has a story for the grandkids!
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Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.
-- Thomas Jefferson
"god :: the last refuge of a man with no answers and no argument." - G. Carlin
Hope, n.
The handmaiden of desperation; the opiate of despair; the illegible signpost on the road to perdition. ~~ da filth |
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H. Humbert
SFN Die Hard
USA
4574 Posts |
Posted - 03/22/2011 : 10:43:32 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Dave W.
Liz is home.
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Excellent news! Worry is a burdensome thing.
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"A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true." --Demosthenes
"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool." --Richard P. Feynman
"Face facts with dignity." --found inside a fortune cookie |
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Japan
