There is no such thing as safe nuclear energy.

What is safe about nuclear waste?

I realize that currently the policy for the United States is to use the toxic nuclear waste to fashion penetrators for bombs, missiles and bullets and then lob them at countries like Afghanistan and Iraq thereby turning whole countries into nuclear waste dumps. How’s that for a great idea? These nuclear weapons have been given the deceptive name of depleted uranium munitions to make them seem safe. They are not.

Solar and wind energy are our best hopes, if the nuclear waste being used as weapons doesn’t slowly kill us all first.

“its” not “it’s”

Winterchestnut—you are wrong grasshopper: 
“Its” is a mere possessive.
It is a contraction of “it” and “is” you seek.

it’s = it is
its = possessive

Right, and the usage of this survey, they should have used the possessive “its.”

“Do you think the benefits of nuclear energy can outweight it is risk” is how this survey reads, and it makes no sense.

It’s wrong, it’s distracting.

It is wrong, it is distracting.

nuclear energy would cost lives and for what to run our cars with come on that a waste of our time walk.

I would rather we use nuclear energy (as does France) rather than give $$$ and therefore modern weapons/technology to the barbarians in the Middle East. It’s safer in the long run.

barbarians in the Middle East

What about the barbarians in the West?

Are western barbarians the only ones allowed to have weapons technology?

Barbarians are everywhere, Wolf.

David - While the barbarian that runs Iran (and those who run other Middle Eastern countries) might seem to some to be no worse than the “barbarian’ that runs the US (and those who run Europe, as well), i think there are important differences. Both cultural and individual.

Either way, perhaps we can agree that giving modern technology to the Middle Eastern states is very probably a bad idea? Do we really want them to have the military capabilities that the US (or France or England or etc) have? Can they - and their methods of governing - really be trusted with such technology? In fact, is it even moral of us (the West)  to introduce our technology into these places? Even if they have something we want (hey, to be fair we traded firewater for “Indian” land and goods and look how well that worked ot for everyone!)?

Stated metaphorically: While i am a bit uneasy that 25 year olds can possess guns, i would be extremely uneasy if 8 year olds could. Furthermore, i would think anyone who would actually give the 8 year old a gun is not acting with a lot of foresight.

Either way, perhaps we can agree that giving modern technology to the Middle Eastern states is very probably a bad idea?

No, we do not agree.

Do we really want them to have the military capabilities that the US (or France or England or etc) have?

Yes. I think it is only fair.

Can they - and their methods of governing - really be trusted with such technology?

Yes. As trusted as anyone else.

In fact, is it even moral of us (the West) to introduce our technology into these places?

It is not our technology. It belongs to anyone who can figure it out and make it their own.
Moral?? You must be joking.

Even if they have something we want (hey, to be fair we traded firewater for ‘Indian’ land and goods and look how well that worked ot for everyone!)?

Another sick joke. You are hilarious, Wolf.

... and with respect, as much as I can muster, Wolf ;

Your metaphor sucks and blows.

David - i have to say your response really surprised me. I guess we just see this very very differently.

I see it through the eyes of one human being looking at another human being. As equals.

It would seem you see it as one superior human being looking at an inferior human being. As unequal.

What other collectivist, culturally superior and racist views do you have, Wolf?

I am seriously interested in knowing and hopefully understanding.

I already know that you think people of Middle Eastern descent are barbarians.
Worthy of slaughter then I guess?

What other groups of people do you feel have their intellectual ideas and moral character formed by the race/country/culture they were born into?

David - Good to ask questions, it can correct a wide variety of misunderstandings.

I do think that much of Middle Eastern culture is inferior in many ways to Western culture. Not allowing women to drive (Saudi), believing that strapping on suicide vests to kill innocents (misguided Islam) is a good thing, dictators running countries with no checks and balances (Middle East in general), etc etc. This is NOT to say that the people are inferior or even substantially different from us - only in a different and inferior culture. One might wonder if immigrants tend to migrate there or other places and wonder why this might be.

Giving modern technology (as opposed to allowing them to develop it on their own) is and has been very destructive. Saddam gassing his own people - with Western technology - comes immediately to mind.

Barbarians are not “Worthy of slaughter”. If possible, they should be helped and if not, left alone. My weak support of the war was in order to remove Saddam. While he was in power, Iraq seemed to be hopeless. Perhaps our “help” did not entirely fix things (to say the least), but history will decide whether it was a turning point for better or worse.

So to paraphrase one of your comments in a way that i believe:  “It would seem you see it as one human being looking from a superior culture at another human being in an inferior culture. The cultures are inferior, even though the human beings are not.”

But if you think my views on the Middle East are racist/elitist/whatever, then imagine how i feel about countries that still allow slavery or do genital mutilation of their girls! That is to say, while the Middle East is firmly stuck in the middle ages, much of Africa is stuck further back in time/culture.

One point of clarification - you use the phrase: “Middle Eastern descent” when i might use the phrase “Middle Eastern culture”.

Now let me ask you a question: do you believe (as i was taught long ago in anthropology, but which i quickly rejected) that all cultures are equal?

Hi Wolf,

Thanks for the clarifications. And I feel that you are quite right in your judgement of some aspects of other cultures as you mentioned. The key word being some .

There are plenty of aspects of Western culture that I view as worthy of condemnation. But I dont’ believe that the people that practice them are inferior, merely different.

Statements like you made when you said rather than give $$$ and therefore modern weapons/technology to the barbarians in the Middle East are blanket and collectivist statements, even racist and supremacist, that do not help the situation.

I think it is important to see equals and not rivals.
To make friends and not enemies.

As for your question, do you believe that all cultures are equal?

The short answer is YES.

All cultures are equal.
Equally capable of slavery, ugliness, falsehood and hate.
Equally capable of freedom, beauty, truth and love.

Hopefully more of the latter, come what may.

Yeahhhh, so… NUCLEAR ENERGY… that was the topic right?  Heh, heh ;) 

The Bush administration was so willing to invest billions of dollars into a theororetical scientific program run by Lucent (using the old Bell Labs name to gain credibility) to create smaller than microscopic things that might, some day, make rope stronger… AND YET WON’T INVEST A FEW BILLION IN HELPING SCIENTISTS DEVELOPE BETTER, CLEANER, ENERGY SOURCES.  Gee, what’s wrong with that picture?

Looks like the Iranian president likes my analogy. He thinks of himself/his country as a 4 year old, which seems about right (one might add petulant). But he is dead wrong about one thing - we are NOT trying to get him to “give up gold for chocolate”. Rather we want him to give up (dangerous) guns for chocolate. If he was more mature, he would do so gladly!  :)

Looks like the Iranian president likes my analogy.

When did Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad say that?

You flatter yourself, Wolf. If Mr. Ahmadinejad read your analogy he would probably be as sickened as I was.

I have some chocolate for the USA if they will give up their dangerous guns. Come on, it’s yummy. Don’t you want to be mature and eat your chocolate too.

One of the greatest things going for GWB is that he supposedly talks ENGLISH.

So we can see and hear him talking utter rubbish, and we know, without the smallest shadow of a doubt that he is a twerp, an ignoramus, a fool.

The iranian guy has to be translated for us, and now we know that the first translations were totally off-beam, WRONG .

Those are still being promulgated by the propagandists and the foolish.

NUKE ENERGY IS good for the nuke energy companies.

No-one else.

we can do better than that shit.

“NUKE ENERGY IS good for the nuke energy companies.

No-one else.

we can do better than that shit.”

Uh, yeah, like how?  Solar, geothermal, wind etc. is never going to be able to supply more than a small fraction of our needs.  All things considered nuclear is much cleaner and safer than coal or oil (nuclear reactors actually put less radiation into the atmosphere coal fired plants).  Or are you just for returning to the middle ages?

Actually not,  Monsieur Chopper, I’m quite happy NOT being in the middle ages, and have no intention of going back there. !

IF you think for a moment ? How often do you take your car for less than 10 miles ?
How much does it weigh ?

Is it REALLY one of your big needs in life to take around a minimum of ONE TON of car to go buy a paper or something ?

.