Thinking about the Unthinkable

Rant Begins

I am going to write some things that may surprise some people, and horrify others.
Quite honestly I hear and read things some people say and just think to myself "How much time have you spent really thinking about that?" So without further ado.

1) I am Pro Nuclear.
Welcome to the 21st century kiddies, It's time to get over our aversion to Mr Atom. Nuclear power got a (deservedly) negative reputation in the 70s, But this isn't the 70s, it's the new millennium now. Nuclear power may be "bad" but so are coal/gas powered conventional power stations. Chernobyl and Three Mile Island were all examples of reactors designed in the fifties! Imagine claiming all cars were dangerous because the ones built in the fifties didn't have air bags or even seatbelts. Have a look at a modern low temperature French style reactor. They run at a sane temperature, using a water / steam turbine (No dangerous Lithium). Their fuel is contained in stainless steel pellets, and the handling precautions in case of accidents are that of people in a simple Noddy suit with a shovel, there is that little radiation concentration. The spent pellets are less radioactive than the yellowcake they were made with, so handling is simple. Dump it in a mineshaft. The rate of breakdown contributes less to background radiation than Radon gas does.
Don't think that your nice coal powered power station is cleaner by the way. Have a look at coal tar residue sometime. Also have a look at the amounts of radiation that gets leached into the atmosphere via C⁽¹⁴⁾0₂, a natural version of carbon dioxide that is radioactive due to the carbon atom being C¹⁴ not C¹².
And Solar? Heh. Current generation Solar Cells cost more energy to produce than they'll ever generate in their lifetime.
Wind? Wind is good. Sure it kills birds, but so do windows.

I think what we should be looking at is a multivaried solution. Wind, Wave and Tidal where possible. Ocean Thermal where we can. Next Gen Solar on the roof of every building. (The Next Gen stuff should be energy positive. Ie: it generates far more energy than it takes to manufacture) Nuclear to take up the slack.

We should also look at conserving energy where possible. Not through any need to be "green" but merely because it makes economic sense. Things that make economic sense get done.

2) I am Pro War.
Not that I like wars, but I think a good, hard, short war can save lives and relieve suffering. Take Iraq. The people there are overjoyed to have the Yoke of the Tyrant removed. Our biggest regret should be that we didn't do it the first time round. The problem is what I like to call the Mussolini factor. Threat of war without war is no threat at all. If, during the late 1930s, force had been used to halt Hitler or Mussolini at ANY STAGE up to the point of the invasion of Poland, world war two would have been much shorter and sharper. Instead, England and France kept using "We'll wage war!" as a hollow threat. Hitler and Mussolini started out timidly enough and moved on to bigger and more grandiose things until war became inevitable. If you use war as a threat, you better be damn well ready to carry it out! If not, just don't use it as a threat. Playing international policeman is only useful if you can police what you claim. The UN looks more and more like a new League of Nations after the Iraq War because it was unable to act decisively over this issue.

If someone pushes you, you either push back, find someone to push back for you or expect to be pushed for the rest of your life. It aint pretty, but it sure is hard to avoid.

Before you decide I am actually a Fascist Bullyboy in disguise, who has killed and disposed of the real Cheshire, be aware that I still lean strongly to the left on ALMOST all issues. But before I declare my opinion on ANY issue I try and think it through. I try and find out more. Don't let George Bush Sr OR Jr think for you. But don't let Michael Moore think for you either. Read what both have to say, strain it all through that wonderful cognitive neural net called your brain, do some research and THEN you can claim (with confidence and understanding) that George Bush Jr is the candidate that won because he was the one with the most lizard in his veins.

Rant ends