´óÏó´«Ã½

I empathise for the 180 or so workers who currently remain in the plant and will give their lives if not there health for containing the event.

ganbarimasu banzai - divine wind indeed!

would it happen here?

1512: Professor Gerry Thomas, the director of the Chernobyl tissue bank from Imperial College London, says too much emphasis is being put on the nuclear issue.
"I think we're getting an accurate picture as far as the radiological alarm is concerned. What concerns me most is that we're actually focusing on the wrong disaster. The real disaster is the tsunami and the number of people who've lost their lives that way. We're focusing on a disaster that isn't a disaster."
live feed

nuff sed

The news on higher education today completes the picture of Mr Willetts’ plans.
IMHO you can now reach your own conclusion about him. Looking at the cut in funding for teaching plus the ongoing cuts and big fee increases as well as the sheer scale of the debt built up in the Student Loan Company in the next 5-10 years, we can now begin to project where this will lead, so is he:
1. So deluded about his own plans he fails to see what will happen?
2. Deliberately creating a major crisis in the ballooning level of student loan debt so that another massive retrenchment will be needed – i.e. up to 50% cut in student places – which is the real objective of the policy all along?
3. Expecting the new fees level to choke off demand so that there is a massive fall in applicants as per 2 above?
The impact of the fees repayment system is now so skewed as to be completely ridiculous – only 30% of loans repaid on his own department’s figures, whilst high earners can end up paying double the amount they owe!
Read this extract from the Higher Education Policy Institute Report on the proposals:

"We do not need any sophisticated modelling to work out that in cash
terms, the proposals will increase public expenditure through this
parliament and into the next. The more difficult question is what will be
the long term cost of these loans, and this itself hinges upon the value of the repayments that will be received. This is measured as the Resource
Accounting and Budgeting (RAB) charge. If no repayments are made the
RAB charge is 100 per cent. If all the loans are repaid with interest at the government’s cost of borrowing (currently 2.2 per cent), then the RAB
charge is zero. If more than this is repaid, the RAB is negative."



The Report goes on to question just how much of the loans made will ever be repaid - and going on the government's own RAB figure of 30%, it seems clear that overall government spending will go up, not down AND the level of public debt may well mushroom out of control over time.

Source of figures:



Student loan debt is not counted into government borrowing, so this is a smoke & mirrors policy that goes as follows:

1. UK government borrowing is too high - we must cut public spending!
2. higher education is a big cost - so we want to switch its funding away from government grants towards the students paying fees instead.
3. Students will be given loans that they will only repay when their earnings are high enough because there's no way they can afford it.
4. As the fees proposed are so high and the earning potential of graduates is what it is, we recognise that only 30% will repay their loans.
5. This will build up a mountain of debt in forthcoming years, but as it is not counted as government borrowing, it doesn't need to be considered as part of the UK's level of debt.
6. The net effect of the cost to the government of writing off the debts that won't be paid will be an increase in the overall cost of higher education to the taxpayer.
7. At some point the black hole of student loan debt will overpower the Treasury and the system will have to be scrapped, but Mr Willetts will be well clear of it by then.

As the Higher Education Policy Institute Report states:

"In making available the modelling tool that it developed for the
Browne Committee, the government has facilitated a level of scrutiny that
has not previously been possible. Considering the relatively simple case of those graduating from a three year course, we have concluded that
estimates of the RAB that have been used to develop policy are likely to
be over-optimistic. If we are right – as we believe – then this undermines both the government’s case that the new arrangements will make savings in public expenditure, and also the case it has made to the financial markets that they will reduce public sector borrowing."

So why is Mr Willetts going down this road?

There is only one answer left - it's an ideological choice to seek to disconnect higher education funding from the state and establish a market in university places, but that's not the official reason of the pressing need to cut public spending that is given for this massive increase in indebtedness, potentially large increase in cost to the taxpayer and the substantial risk to the entire higher education system, which is one of the few sectors in the economy in terms of exports that is successful.
As to my original question about the real motivation for his plans, I now see a totally Machiavellian plan to set in place a scenario which will achieve his political objectives – to make deep cuts in the % of young people going to university at all - and close many of the newer ones – cut the elite universities free of government involvement and make them behave like businesses on the US model. He is also closing off the option of importing overseas students to top up Universities’ revenue.

This will happen by scaring off the poorer, debt-averse applicants, financially strangling many universities and by creating a crisis in the student loan company level of debt in 5-10 years’ time, at which point the rot will be so deep and the debt so large that any involvement of the state will end.

1 .. 2 .. 1 .. 2 Go Back A Page And C what Eye think of You

or forever stay in Rimmerworld .. You Might Meet TRUTH

#4 I like your work!
as I thought [several weeks past] its more to do with dumb-ing down the yoof and pushing them into those jobs we had reserved for migrants and illegals.
Someone has to empty the bins and clean the gullies why import the talent

the bombing of benghazi.

bombing civilians in cities is a terror weapon? anyone would be bonkers to surrender or be captured by gaddafis force given he talks of captured towns having been 'sterilised'?

given what happened in japn with the rescue team then the govt itself will block the big society due to 'elf and safety'?

make sure you have the expensive insurance....where there is blame there is a claim.

#5 what you think

please!!

learn to write your monkey thumb txting cuts like a sausage Mcduff/Roldeed for it is you banned again were you naughty naughty

haiku action nazi or unibomber

frustrated homo-phobe and barrack room joke much more likely

Fukushima's skeletons in the closet

I wonder if Ms Watts can enlighten us a bit more on the Fukushima situation?

TEPCO's strategy for many years has been to store spent fuel rods on-site, cramming 3000 tons of old fuel in these ponds. Not just the common pool but inside each of the reactor housings. This must dwarf the couple of tons or so actually in the reactors.

On average, spent fuel ponds hold five to 10 times more long-lived radioactivity than a reactor core.

Therefore, I suspect that there is as big, if not bigger risk posed by the spent fuel than that contained in the reactors.

This could keep going from bad to worse:

All this user's posts have been removed.Why?

Please can we have some real scientists on the program tonight to talk about the following at Fukushima:

"Reactor 3: Explosion on 14 March, roof damaged. Fears damage may have led to radiation spike on 16 March - although later reports said it was unclear what caused the leap in levels.

Reactor 4: Under maintenance at time of quake. At least two fires reported since.

Reactors 5 and 6: Under maintenance at time of quake. Fears overheating may lead to explosions."

This is the summary from the ´óÏó´«Ã½. Now, look at this status update from this morning, and this document about the storage of nuclear fuel at the site:





What do you notice?
1) There are actually spent fuel pools in each reactor
2) Much of the spent fuel is crammed into each reactor housing (ABOVE the reactor)
3) The level of protection of spent fuel housing is no-where near the protection levels of the core reactor
4) The spent fuel is heating up in 2 reactors, is critical in another 2, and there is "no info" on the other 2
5) There is 3000 tons of nuclear waste on-site (1700 of which is above the 6 reactors) which needs constant cooling and sealing from the external environment

Could this explain the "mysterious" increase in radiation after reactor 3 exploded?

And could this also explain why 2 reactors originally thought to be stabilised (5 & 6) are also worrying candidates for overheating?

This does not sound like a situation under control.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

That last one went early for some reason before I had finnished tweaking it with the help of the spellchecker, jumps from 11 to 13 as well ?

13
no no no. we should have celebrities giving us their feelings.

if you knew a terrible truth would you tell it if all it would do is panic people who have no ability to judge it?

#15

I think said poster was summarily dismissed for having a name that took issue with the blog dog.

I can't see what is so difficult about scanning my memory for past events ( #14 ) but it would appear that the reason why there is so much spent fuel lying around at the Fukushima reactor site is once again down to appeasing the eco-fascists. Once upon a time Japan used to send all its spent fuel to the UK and the Windscale now Sellafield site for reprocessing. I have seen it on the TV, the Japanese nuclear waste containers were cylindrical unlike our square ones. I believe this international trade link ( we sent the reprocessed fuel back to Japan ) was probably terminated to appease the eco-fascists worried about the transport from the docks in the UK and I'm not sure whether the eco-fascists even planned to sabotage it.

Once again it would appear that appeasing the eco-fascists has once again compounded a disaster they warned about , but then half of China is contaminated with highly toxic waste from the fancy magnets to build wind farms. The same principle applies to the toxic waste dumped in Africa, eco-fascists stop safe clean incineration plants here in the UK so the companies involved really have no option but to pay a criminal third party to dump it on Africa.

10 I am A Qualified brain surgeon/Rocket Scientist tist tist

I can help you with a Rocket, Strap on Version 2 help you find truth

Brain wise you got no hope, truth wise you got no hope

nulabour dope

@1 Uncle M

Would the bravery happen here? It has in the past!





On the broader issue, economic, political or technical, we need to accept that qualified people making key decisions can't be trusted to be impartial. Intelligent people invest too much emotion in believing what they want to be true, and play down the risks. Here's a very telling extract from the Wikipedia article on the Windscale Fire:

"Filters were added late into construction at the insistence of Sir John Cockcroft and these were housed in galleries at the very top of the discharge stacks. They were deemed unnecessary, a waste of money and time and presented something of an engineering headache, being added very late in construction in large concrete houses at the top of the 400-ft (120 m) chimneys. Due to this, they were known as "Cockcroft's Folly" by workers and engineers. As it was, "Cockcroft's Folly" probably prevented a disaster from becoming a catastrophe.

There's no point in having two brains, if you let your emotions override their conclusions! We need a new University research department to study the psychology of decision making, and to examine how to institutionalise checks and balances against over-optimism and disregard for inconvenient evidence.

#20 I once had the pleasure of actually meeting one of the men who went up the tower to physically block the leak at Windscale, that was 20 years after the incident. He had no problem with cancer but many of his brave workmates involved had since died from cancer ?

Guns and Butter - "The View From Europe" with Michael Hudson. - March 16, 2011 at 1:00pm

Interviewed by Bonnie Faulkner

The One Show

re Heckler Koch, Chemring, etc

You cant undo these Innovations and at present undo The Nature of ManKind?

human right protesters, heart in the right place, brain Disengaged

21 I have Friends who served on Diesel Subs They Have Friends who Served on Nukes, To some the same Result Cancer and Death .. Nasty Stuff

How Green is Cancer How Green is Death How Green is Luck

..UK banks have around £136 billion of exposure to crisis-struck Japan,..



excluding lloyds names.

remember uk banks = taxpayer.

Well, it's really done it now!

Five air forces set to attack Libya. Qaddafi threatens reprisals in Europe and ME

gaddafi says he will attack Benghazi thursday night ie tonight

must be trying to pre empt the UN and make facts on the ground?

the power of a sex offender gang?

Throughout his 28-year career, he prided himself that his force treated the wealthy on his patch just the same as the very poorest. But his investigation into the lifestyle of predatory paedophile Jeffrey Epstein exploded his illusion that law enforcement could ever be impartial.

He soon discovered at first hand that a man such as Epstein, with almost unlimited wealth and influential friends including former President Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew and Israeli defence minister Ehud Barak, can effectively bend the law to his whim.

‘And eventually Epstein was given an immunity from prosecution deal the like of which I have never seen in my entire career.'

#22 flicks3

Pretty neat link, and well worth listening to right to the hour long end, pretty much describes what has been going on in the UK for the past 20 years. Right down to the principle of Corporate Ethnic Cleansing and I am beginning to wonder just how much of the Corporate Plan I have got worked out over the past 15 years. Much talk about private toll roads and you pay a private tax to access the NHS at PFI hospitals, technically nothing to do with the government anymore. At least in the UK it all hangs around eco-fascist policy like the RFTE and the future private tax on energy to fund wind farms. Perhaps one good thing that the disaster in Japan may have precipitated is that nuclear companies now lobbying ministers for a floor carbon price will be greatly weakened in their argument.

I can't help speculating as to whether the Japan disaster could thrust a stake through the heart of Kyoto Protocol ans all talk of carbon reduction targets throughout the developed world. I was lucky to visit NZ before the rot set in proper, it had an excellent public transport system, extremely efficient but in need of replacement. I believe that it has almost totally been dismantled except for tourist services although the freight railways seem to be doing pretty well despite their only 3'6" gauge. However I suspect that the carbon taxes introduced by their new prime minister Key will result in the closure of their paper industry.

So were going to war again. War = billions

And what do we know about the 'rebels' do they have a plan to run a country ?

oh no but we sure do, dont we.

All that deficit talk

Ha how about deficit of truth on just about anything other than:

You do as we say; if we cock up; act fraudulently - basically do what the heck we like. And you ?

Oh you pay .

Austerity terrorism to to pay for mindless wars financial ineptitude and criminality.

#26
from me Weds. 16th

Direct effect of earthquake/tsunami

"quantitative easing" why because Japan investors/insurance etc. will repatriate their money leaving the West high and dry.

#13

Agree, they would be better off interviewing an intelligent and enquiring engineering technology based mind than the 'experts' that have been trotting out who only seem capable of regurgitating what ever comes out of that surprised looking semi retired ex diplomat from IAEC. He
I could imagine his internal dialogue going something like.

''This gig was supposed to see me me out to top up my pension, I never realised I would actually have to sound authoratative and have to do something / show leadership for this post...''

I would be more convinced by Red Adair heading it up than these g'damn pen pushers.

Not sure what all the emphasis on getting a power line to the plant is either. Surely connecting electricity to blast damaged and (probably) highly radioactive pumps will be akin to trying to re-animate frankenstien i.e. more a fictional aspiration than a practical reality.

Even if the pumps do work all they are now doing is dousing damage fuel rods with no containment to the cooling system. I am pretty sure all they can do is pour water over it, the water will pick up all the nasties and then just run into the sea probably. I can not beleive that there is any infrastructure in place to maintain a sealed system.

but heck lets just leave it all to the experts ey !!!

Have the Mayan calender prophecies come a bit early?

Stuff Libya, pompous Caroline Lucas torn off a strip by a young lad in the audience for scare mongering, great stuff for QT !

34
might I make a correction?
mayo cullender profiterole haarp deathraygun-illuminaticardgame-mojomen from mars

I think you'll find!

I never ever thought I'd say this - but for once I am in complete agreement with Tony Benn on Libya!

All this user's posts have been removed.Why?

Andrew Neil as Always Provides A Level Headed Head to Proceedings

I go with Both of His Guesrs Tonight. Through Cancer I have been on the Recieving End of Radio Activity, They dont like it upem and neither do I

Vices can Grip you maybe thats what they do

Robots in Japan ie A Big 360 excavator Radio Controlled with hose pipe to Cool things down

The writer is Right a bloodbath in Libya .. Civil War is bathing in Blood

Interesting Choice of Music

uncle munkle at 36 wrote:

"might I make a correction?
mayo cullender profiterole haarp deathraygun-illuminaticardgame-mojomen from mars...I think you'll find!"

I stand down corrected..thank yee.
but if it all goes very wrong on the 19th(Sunday) due to the supermoon event...you have to give a tenner to charity. A Proper charity, not Oxfam et al. A local dogs and cat charity.

I am genuinely heart broke over the Japan disasters, I'm starting to switch off from it..there is a point when even an idiot fool such as myself can't actually take any more of this unfolding tradgedy. And as I look away, Obama comes off the baseball court and nods-in the air strike plan. He's a very chilled and relaxed president. And can be found often on the golf coarse and the basketball court.
To get him to answer any questions of global critical matters, such as the the fires in the Islamic world or the very real nightmare Japan disasters..the media hacks have learnt to ask questions couched in baseball speak.

Here's one from yesterday:

Mr President, Gaddafi may have played ball until recently but now that he's thrown a foul, what ball game does your administration plan..is there a game plan Mr president?

I can't remember much of Obumas answer as I tend to glaze-over and go fuzzy minded when i ever hear the words "moving forward" but I do recall something about the star player at the game he'd just watched.

Well, like they always say..anybody can become President of the United States.. (it helps if you've got friends such as George Soros mind)

Meanwhile Michelle Obama keeps banging on about growing your own food.
Does she know something that others could hazard a good guess at?

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

ok, step by step:

Subject:
Thursday 17 March 2011

Posting:

nuclear: IF chosen sites were trustworthy, IF designs were openly available for scrutiny by both 'experts' and interested laymen, IF construction was not by Corporates RENOWNED for cutting corners, IF there was full scrutiny over the running of the reactors, IF there was a totally safe and foolproof method of storing the waste for the thousands of years it needs to become non-toxic, IF all these concerns could be assuaged, nuclear, at least in the UK imho, may be possible. Certainly, despite the highest costs of all for electricity production (factoring EVERYTHING into account), the UK could do with a stable base-line energy source not reliant upon imports.

but nuclear cannot come on-line quickly enough to replace the closing stations, it is most certainly not safe, and there is still no permanent way of storing the waste safely - and the money from the construction will get taken out by private corporates, to nice tax-havens, instead of local production companies supporting local economies.

we cannot trust the UKs Govt and MPs to even deal with the NHS honestly and decently, how could we possibly trust them to deal with nuclear power in any better way?

take simon hughes, generally good tonight - but he knows full well that the New Labour and Tory Govts have both promised the PRIVATE companies that will build the nuclear power stations, that the UK Govt will totally UNDERWRITE the projects - this means the tax-payer will be left with the bill when it over-runs, or goes wrong. This is effective subsidy, and even makes it more likely for something TO go wrong, as the tax-payer will foot the bill then for the Private profits taken coming from running it. For similar schemes, see "Banks" and "UK Defence Industry".

as in so many other things, it comes down to: if we COULD trust our Govt to do things right, nuclear might be a good idea. But we would be fools-incarnate to trust them without radical electoral reform to ensure we are NOT in an effective one-party State, and WITHOUT effective 'Freedom of Information' and efficient Public information, feed-back and oversight, as we are now.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

i thought McKenzie was pretty good tonight, like Nigel Farrage on a good night.

didn't always agree with him, of course, but he was very entertaining. =)


no-fly zone, Libya:


seems this is a topic not allowed. At least a critical analysis from me anyway.

Just to be clear I dont go a long with anything that gaddaffi is about; all the dictators need to be removed . Sure help the people but lets be clear it's about what they have and us 'further' (with that sensual Scottish accent; oh gosh more self humiliation) exploiting the fact they haven't got a clue about running a democratic country. Tony Ben is correct.

----------------------------

Have a whole load of control rods already been blown up if not, how likely is it to happen ?

'2. At 3:18pm on 17 Mar 2011, Uncle Munkle wrote:
... we're actually focusing on the wrong disaster. "

Can't argue, save for who is lumped in with the 'we'. Amongst many questions that will need answering, the media should be high on the list. Though some now are trying to step away from agenda or ratings...



While others still invite less than qualified politicians, if with 'colourful' views, to 'help' inform and educate.

And finally, beyond the rather contradictory phrasing, I found this raised only questions...

'In other news we are seeking more information'

Care to share why first? The more details alluded to seemed... 'thin'. Hasn't paid his union dues? Ducked out on the bar bill? Great recipe for hot cross buns? Comic Relief potential?

Anyway, maybe these extra bits can help:





Assuming this is the GR referred to. Must say I'm intrigued.

I may also have a line on Lord Lucan and Jimmy Hoffa.

PUZZLED AGAIN (#47)

All UK governments KILL THEIR OWN PEOPLE (for profit) through permitted sale of alcohol and tobacco; the disease that rots the organs, prior to death, amounts to torture, for the subject and their family.

Because of the feudal Westminster Palace configuration (parties with leaders and whips) Blair (by way of good example) AND JUST ONE OTHER needy, deluded wannabe (IDS) was all it took to get into Dubya's war. When an unprecedented mass of people demonstrated against it - Blair DICTATED.

At that point, Britain sank to a MAD DICTATORSHIP (sounds familiar?). Not content with BUSINESS AS USUAL, government killing its own, he rushed to iniquitous destruction and slaughter, in Iraq - with righteous cries. And all this from a leader who was getting more Christian, and god-fearing, EVERY DAY.

His government killed his own people (as Dave’s government now does) and added the killing of Johnie Foreigner to his tally. Mote and Beam anyone?

GADDAFI IS NOT IN THE SAME LEAGUE!

THEY HOLD THESE TRUTHS TO BE SELF EVIDENT - 9/11 WAS FALSE FLAG (#48)



The greater majority of Americans has not 'bought' the 9/11 scam, but they sure as hell paid for it - as did we; and a vast number of (cheap) Iraqis.

No wonder Tony is looking haunted these days.

Has tony blair's Mate the mad Colon got The Good News Yet

Bad Company .. They Deserve Each other

Now Seems Like The Perfect Day To Send All Human Rights Lawyers To Libya

cherry pickin blair .. Leader of The Pack

This just sums it up perfectly:

Are we looking far enough ahead?
How radio active is the water that is being used to cool the fuel?
Once the thousands of gallons of water have found their way back to the sea will the radioactive pollution get into the food chain and concentrate in the very fish that the Japanese eat?

All this user's posts have been removed.Why?

All this user's posts have been removed.Why?

#54

I have been trying to raise awareness of this very issue. The sealed cooling system is compromised, so if there is damage to any spent or reactor fuel rods any water you put over them not only cools it down but will also carry off any bits of loose radioactive material.

In a contained (sealed) cooling system this can be controlled / filtered out. But given the damage seen it seems extremely unlikely that any kind of coolant containment will be possible, they have been reduced to simply hosing them down or dropping water on them from helicopters.

They are, in effect, prefering to pour water over highly concentrated poison and let if flow off where it likes instead of allowing it to vent to atmosphere.

That is the least worst option but depending on the local coastal geomorphology and currents it could be carried 100s of miles or stay locally.


This could be controlled by constructing artificial barriers on the sea bed (usually sand filled large hessian type v strong bags) which would at least stop larger particles getting too far away from the viscinioty of the power station.

The sea water within and outside the temporary containment bund could be monitored to check to see how effectivly the spread of radioactive particles has been curtailed. They should already be constructing some kind of cut off wall along those lines in my opinion.


As long as it is reasonably contained this should not pose a long term risk, it would be relatively easy to routinely screen sea food from the area but they should be looking at some for of containment for this aspect as well at the same time as continuing their efforts to cool them down.

ANOTHER LIFE-SAVING WAR

Heir to Blair - Dave - has got his war. And the paint not yet dry on the last two.

In passing, Jeremy Greenstock excelled: he spoke of the UN abstainers as the: "POWERFUL VOICE OF DISINTEREST". Priceless!

tries again...



no-fly zone, Libya:

here's the Reality: Britain and France have significant Oil deals with Libya worth £Bns each year. The corruption behind those deals is not just Gaddafi creaming off £Bns into his own accounts, but on both sides of these 'back-room deals'. By "freezing" Ghaddafi's assets, Britain and France have ensured those trade deals will likely be revoked, so some very powerful and wealthy 'behind the scenes' people in France and Britain are livid.

the FIRST objective of ingoing troops will be the oil facilities, later perhaps the Museums once the rarest artefacts have been stolen for private collections in Europe or the US, just as in Iraq. THEN the troops will be sent to protect the civilian areas such as Benghazi. Our troops will then directly face the armies of Ghaddafi, who are now inspired to be fighting against "foreign imperialists" - and how will our troops also prevent 'internal' actions against them by Ghaddafi loyalists in the 'safe havens'?

They will not know who to arrest, and they will almost certainly be forced into an "Iraq situation" very quickly. There ARE ways to avoid this however, as there also were in Iraq. BUT they will rely upon our working WITH the rebel PEOPLE, and not just the rebel leaders, many of whom seem amazingly pro-West all of a sudden. Oil wealth can be spread around to other, new, corrupt and brutal dictators, you see.

sorry, more reading:


to avoid the situation, allow the 'working groups' of the rebels, the actual councils that sprang up to organise after they liberated themselves, to organise. Even to have a direct input to how the Military operates there. The aim should NOT be to find a new 'Strong-Man Leader' to take over, but to redistribute power - and the wealth from the oil-flow - downwards amongst the People. We - and the rebels - must show the rest of Libya that the rebel areas are *really* - 'having it good', *genuinely*! If we go there, we must go as liberators of the People - not the Oil and a new generation of corruption and dictatorship. This will be a brand new concept for Washington, Paris and London, but if they do not take these steps, then in the blink of an eye THIS is what our soldiers will face:



of course, do these megalomaniacs care about our soldiers lives, or Libyan rebel lives REALLY?

WATER WATER EVERYWHERE (#54)

I had pondered the same - though not in those precise terms.

Now that Piers Corbyn is causing 'cloud bursts', as an all-too-frequent event in UK, more or less ANYWHERE can flood, simply because WATER TAKES TIME to flow away. I wonder if the topography of nuclear power station surroundings is being studied appropriately? I, further, wonder if 'they' would tell us of any identified risk? Nah.

As a rider: munitions and firework factories, employ the simple expedient of 'spread risk': a maximum amount of explosive in any one building - buildings spaced apart. The inconvenient truth of nuclear power (as I 'understand' it) is that YOU HAVE TO GET A DANGEROUS AMOUNT IN ONE PLACE to make it 'work'. Now if that isn't a pact with the Devil, I don't know what is! AND: it is inherent in the nature of fission that the reactor has a 'clutch' but no 'brakes'. There is a damning truth in there somewhere.

With a risk/gain ratio like that, every banker's home should have one!

OH Dear .. very expensive Bog Paper The Guardian is taking The Mike out of Royal Wooton Basset.

Have they just commited suicide again .. are they bankrupt again

moral/ehthic/finance etc

53 Britons? whats one of them then .. Carefull you could be branded a Racist

1st Ammendment to Post 52

A More Than Perfect Day to Send All Human Right Lawyers and Guardian Readers to Libya

What Fun Seeing that Shower with their Perfect lives/ideas? sort out Human Mess.

Its Called Puting Your Big Stupid Smellie Money Where Your Big Stupid Smellie Mouth Is

I have a Dream .. Fresh Air (its a human right RIGHT)

chop up the planes!..we're going to war..and we're kicking off with a no fly zone..tally ho!
Would that be a good example of an oxymoron?
I have to ask as I had a "comprehensive" state education (an idea from the socialists) so suffice to say, I'm a bit thick.

300bl of new 'investment'? is that code for 300 bill on the bills? shudder to think the energy companies would take it out of their profits?

some background on Libya:

"From its inception, the revolutionary regime placed great emphasis education, continuing and expanding programs begun under the monarchy. By the 1980s, the regime had made great strides, but much remained to be done."



perhaps demonstrating Ghaddafi was educated in Britain?:

"Perhaps most important were lagging enrolments in vocational and technical training. As recently as 1977, fewer than 5,000 students were enrolled in 12 technical high schools. Although unofficial estimates placed technical enrolments at nearly 17,000 by 1981, most doctors, dentists, and pharmacists in the early 1980s still came from abroad. Young Libyans continued to shun technical training, preferring white collar employment because it was associated with social respect and high status. As a consequence, there seemed to be no immediate prospect for reducing the heavy reliance on expatriate workers to meet the economy's increasing need for technical skills. "

[same link]


and this link just puts the icing on the cake. Who could tell that Libyan thinkers were being told the same economic/educational fantasies as our own bunch of misanthropic morons?




on the current situation:




to cut through some of the black/white BS being sown, here is a rough ranking of US/Western desires in Libya:

1. a new loyal Dictator. Preferably one with the confidence of the Army and Securiat.
2. a new Dictator who can be vilified. Enemies are always useful for propaganda purposes, and this rarely affects actual trade.
3. a civil war that will enable Western Powers to grab control of the oil/resources, selling arms to both sides, and turning back any social advances made in the last few decades.
4. Ghaddafi remain in power. It would annoy them, because Ghaddafi controls the trade deals, and he is unlikely to be very happy with the massive media-attack he, Libya in general, and his family were subjected to. But this is still preferable to Washington, Paris and London than:

5. a genuine democratic social-democracy movement. "Govt of the People, For the People, By the People". The absolute LAST thing despots and Corporates in the West want, because the corruption would be dramatically reduced. Every accurate Historical record shows this adequately. It also, btw, shows that in every case Western populations were lied to deliberately. Just like "Iraq's Liberation" was for Iraqi benefit, remember? This, despite the inevitable rhetoric, is the polar opposite to what Global leaders actually intend: and the same is true in Russia, China, and the other 'Great Power' Imperial nations. Actual democracy, and certainly non-corrupt, popular control of resources gives them the screaming nightmares!

whilst it is amusing to watch Western Leaders and 'in-house' political spokespeople try to manage to maintain this balancing act, it is not amusing watching the actual people in Libya, Bahrain and elsewhere suffering and dying hoping the West will come to their aid.

frankly - look to Gaza. You will see there the facts of Western policy, and the truth behind the misty-eyed rhetoric of freedom and democracy from Western Leaders. Who are busy even now arming the dictators throughout the region.

it would be naive to imagine the USA will give up its Empire as 'easily' as the Soviets collapsed. Sad it is to say it, but the USSR was a more moral beast in many ways than the West is.

/news/world-south-asia-12784675

imagine the reaction in America if there was a terror attack that killed 40 people, including State Senate Leaders and senior police officers by a foreign power?

----------

"Scottish schools 'should have more control' on budgets

Head teachers should have more control over their funds, a report commissioned by the Scottish government has recommended.

David Cameron, a former council director of education, was reviewing guidance on devolved school management."

/news/uk-scotland-12779128

how very ironic, because as pointed out by the teachers unions and parents, pushing the wholesale privatisation of education by the back-door will prevent schools and education areas being ABLE to manage their budgets properly, because new schools can just spring up anywhere, and undermine long-term planning. Quite apart of course from the consequences of turning schools into profit machines, rather than educational facilities as most people would probably want.Like NHS hospitals, really.

#64: "comprehensive education" wasn't, and isn't. It can be improved dramatically, by looking at better pedagogic principles. But its still better than no education. There are billions of children around the world who can only dream of the opportunity to go to school, and learn to read and write. *You* have the internet. Stop whining, and start reading.