Extra-Ranty Bonus News

It's St. Patrick's Day. I'm not Irish (but I drink at their pubs) but I am wearing a green shirt. This is partly because I had two and only two clean shirts to choose from this morning and the other one was brown. Brown! You see my situation here.

But you don't care about that, so here's some news links with comments.

PRINCE ALBERT IS OKAY WITH IT Asurvey suggests Prince Albert residents don't mind having a nuke plant in their backyard. (Leader-Post). Well, fine, they have a right to their opinion. But I feel obligated to point out the following problems nuclear energy has, if my understanding is correct :

1.) it's not "green" because significant emissions are produced in the mining and transporting of uranium, plus, the primary need for this plant unless I am sorely mistaken is to power tarsands extraction which is extremely, ultra, mega not-green 2.) nuclear plants are famous for multimillion dollar cost overruns; this is not cheap energy 3.) there isn't a satisfactory way to dispose of nuclear waste 4.) (most important in my view) the money invested in this expensive, outdated, dead-end and outdated technology could and should be invested in sustainable energy research (solar, wind, geothermal, and weird, cool new things we haven't thought of yet) that will bring us through this century and into the next 5.) from bombs to bullets uranium has a tendency to end up weaponized and the planet doesn't need any more of that bullshit 6.) uranium is a non-renewable resource, do we really want to pour more money into yet another short-term solution to our planet's power needs (correct answer: no) 7.) nuclear plants have the potential for cataclysmic mishaps (see: Chernobyl), and more informed critics than moi say their capacity for (and history of) casual environmental destruction form leaks is horrifying.

(pauses to inhale)

So basically: nuclear is not green, it's not a long-term solution to anything, it's a waste of money, it's potentially dangerous, it's a step backwards instead of forwards and it's possibly extremely evil militarily.

But I imagine a nuclear plant would be good for P.A.'s economy short-term. And Bruce Power might make a couple of bucks too.

I wonder how violently my P.A.-living hippy friend's head is exploding today. My guess is an 8.4 on the head-exploding scale. Fortunately she has kittens to hug.

NO CAMERAS! NO JOUNALISTS! After I typed this up I realized Paul had already written about it but too bad, I want to squawk on the topic. So: George W. Bush! He should be arrested as a war criminal (yes, you can quote me on that in perpetuity). Instead, he's making a pile of cash as a lecturer. But the most annoying part of his speaking engagement today at Calgary's Chamber Of Commerce is the fact that journalists won't be let in. Although in fairness, if I recall correctly there weren't any press passes for Bill Clinton's visit to Regina. Or Al Gore's. (Someone please correct me if I'm wrong). So maybe this attitude towards the media is less reflective of Bush being a dick than it is of all ex-presidents being dicks. (Calgary Herald)

MAYBE THE RULES WILL APPLY TO CEOS, AFTER ALL (HE SAID HOPEFULLY BUT SKEPTICALLY) Well, Obama sounds like he means business when he says he wants AIG executives' bonuses cancelled. (Toronto Star)

CONDOMS GIVE YOU AIDS! After I typed this up I realized Paul had already written about it but too bad, I want to squawk on the topic. So: why do people turn away from religion? Does their sinful lust for the forbidden pleasures of an immoral lifestyle drive them from the Lord? Well sure if you're lucky I guess. But it's also because of asinine comments like the one reported on here. As long as religious leaders like the Pope say things that are not only demonstrably untrue but can also directly contribute to people contracting HIV, their privaleged positions as moral authorities will be challenged by actual experts. um, and bloggers. Grr! (Telgraph)

SPEAKING OF RELIGION... Here, courtesy of YouTube and copyright violation, is a Veggie Tales video about the origin of St. Patrick's Day.