land lubbers:

Even though human life has always been faced with danger, the earth itself is an incredible home of natural comforts and beauty. We are, in fact, mortals, but our time here could be one of mostly joy and peace, while acknowledging that essential fact of eventual physical decay and death.

Instead we have a brave new world of science and technology, promising so much but giving much less. Much less, how stupid do you have to be?

Here is the analogy I have come up with: Imagine a great and vast ocean with a land lubbing (earth centered) coastal humanity, yet humanity possessing a need for fish. Many small boats are thus employed, a great diversity in their design, but with one essential feature, a smallness and the requirement made, by that smallness, to stay nearer to the shore. This works well. occasional tragedies do occur, but even in tragedy, the nearness to shore saves many, they simply swim back to land.

One day however a HUGE ship is built, VERY IMPRESSIVE. It is called the USS Modern Science and Technology. Everyone is forced onto the ship. It catches great numbers of fish and can go much much farther from shore. Because it is so great, it is loaded with guns and the orders given are to shoot and destroy any one still attempting to utilize the smaller less efficient, boats. With great guns and the ardent desire of those onboard to folow orders, soon all the old boats are sunk and remaining survivors of the old small boats, are 'rescued' and brought to 'safety' on the big ship. One day however, an unanticipated storm, BIGGER than enyone in science ever imagined strikes while the ship is as it is accustomed to being, far far out to sea. It sinks and no one can swim to shore. Most can't even swim two feet for they have never learnt to swim, so great and so wondrous was the glory of the USS Modern Science and Technology.

Submitted on Monday, Mar 14, 2011 at 10:44:18 AM

diablo canyon: interestingly enough, "diablo canyon" refers to the devil. not only in the canyon, but in the details. pesky details. pg&e relocated the plant when the first hole started spewing morlocks.

Submitted on Monday, Mar 14, 2011 at 1:16:14 PM

Good one!:

And, at the end of the day there seems few world problems that could not be helped by a few billion less people creating them. Practically speaking, with all the wonderful advances....the most practical application might just be spending more on worldwide education. The first thing that happens when a woman is educated is she sees the possibility of becoming something other than a baby machine. Which is likely why Government (corporations) and The Church is agin it. The benefit of education starts kicking in immediately and holds through a lifetime, it is a serious flaw that most folks ignore it as a solution.

Veteran '66-68

Submitted on Monday, Mar 14, 2011 at 4:41:07 PM

Devoid of Facts: Fact, not one person has died from radiation poisoning in Japan, not did anyone die from Three Mile Island, either.

Submitted on Monday, Mar 14, 2011 at 6:05:00 PM

Has the Japanese Government over reacted then?: If the radiation is not that dangerous and no one will seemingly die from it (as per your 3-mile island reference), why should the japanese goverment (who are pro-nuclear) and who have allegedly covered up past nuclear plant mishaps insist that 70,000 be evacuated from within 12 miles of the plant and have 140,000 people within 19 miles of the plant to stay inside, close all windows and make their homes airtight.

Submitted on Tuesday, Mar 15, 2011 at 9:43:30 AM

A Cheap Safe Alternative to Uranium Fueled Nuclear Plants: A revolutionary energy breakthrough has happened.

Submitted on Monday, Mar 14, 2011 at 6:30:35 PM

Retraction:

I want to retract yesterday's comment defending nuclear power. I forgot about how long "spent" fuel rods remain hazardous and how crooked contractors can be when big bucks are on(or under) the table. Dain bramage is my only excuse.

I will let stand my comments about the seriously toxic output of petroleum powered plants and add that it has recently occured to me, after several decades of input and a couple more of subconscious analysis, that all unnatural energy production, in fact all activity in the pursuit of, and technology used to provide for freedom from the effort required to exist in natural harmonius state with our partners on this planet is counterintuitive and will carry long term consequences of a lethal nature.

Not only have we turned night into day and overridden all natural rhythms of human existence we have done the same to too many other species of plants and animals on this presently not so merry-go-round, some to the point of extinction. It would have been bad enough had we done so just because we were too irresponsible to curtail population growth and had to impose our childish will in order to support our runaway population.

That it was done more to provide wealth for the most childish bullies among us takes the offense from an aggravated misdemeanor to a first degree, quite heinous felony and I think I hear the train bringing the circuit court to town right now.

I hope those greedy, self-serving bastards retained a HELL of a lawyer 'cause "here come da judge."

Submitted on Tuesday, Mar 15, 2011 at 1:42:34 AM

We don't need nuclear power.: Pres. Obama: We don't need nuclear power. We have all the energy we need available in two months. Industrial hemp is the renewable that can meet the world's energy needs and, simultaneously, cleanse the atmosphere. It is, or has been, depending on the state, illegal, because Hearst Paper Corporation's forests couldn't compete with hemp paper. Hemp matures in two months and will produce three crops a year in every state in the U.S. It has provided 85 percent of human needs and still can. It powered Henry Ford's cars, sheathed his cars with hemp plastic so tough that pounding it with a 13-lb. sledge produced no dents. It gave him , heating oil, kerosene, a protein stock food. The Brits are making hemp bricks. Its seeds have 9 times the protein of any other known food. Using something as dangerous as nuclear power is ridiculous when Industrial Hemp energy is available. Our salvation is under your feet.

Submitted on Tuesday, Mar 15, 2011 at 1:56:33 AM

It's a good thing Canada doesn't have reactors in BC but:

It's a good thing Canada doesn't have reactors in BC

but it could be a mess in BC pronto.

CBC News reports:

The devastation in Japan from Thursday's earthquake is raising questions about the damage Vancouver might sustain in a similar event.

B.C. has no nuclear reactors, but there are vulnerable industrial sites, especially along Burrard Inlet, where a chlorine plant in North Vancouver and the Chevron refinery and storage tanks in Burnaby pose real hazards after an earthquake or large tsunami. Earlier this month, a leak at the chlorine plant owned by Canexus Chlorine Canada LP sent four workers to hospital.

The plant has been red-flagged as a potential earthquake hazard, because any leak of chlorine gas could cut off North Vancouver evacuation routes.

The biggest danger comes not from a massive offshore subduction quake such as Japan's and the resulting tsunami, but from more common smaller quakes, according to Simon Fraser University geologist John Clague.

Submitted on Tuesday, Mar 15, 2011 at 6:45:05 AM

window of what?: This is an incredibly important story and I'm sending it around to friends. I'm just not quite ready for the "window of opportunity" so high up in the story where we're all braced for the fallout.

Submitted on Tuesday, Mar 15, 2011 at 2:22:55 PM