I live 50 miles from the first nuclear power plant that produced electrical power. It is called EBR-1, Experimental Breeder Reactor 1. It was built in 18 months by a crew of 26, whose pictures are on the wall of the building. It is a National Historic Site. If we were to build the EBR-1 today it would require 1000 people working for 10 years before a single bolt was tightened. Bureacratic incompetence, lawyering, and the general technical stupidity of the American people prevents us from having energy independence. We are like the citizens of Rome, who numbered about a million in the 6th century. When the German barbarians knocked down a few stretches of the aquaducts that carried water to Rome, there was neither the technical ability nor the will to repair the aquaducts. Among the options of nuclear power, our vast reserves of coal, oil shale and tar sands, we have the ability to be energy independent. The huge engineering effort to develop these would create vast numbers of well-paid technical jobs for Americans. Our standard of living would increase, instead of the standard of living of Saudi princes, etc. However, between the Saudi princes and their Texas oligarch allies who essentially own our political class, and the technical idiocy of most Americans we dither. Screw global warming; in the recorded history of mankind there have been many climate shifts. If the world was completely predictable and stable the worst kinds of people would rise to the top, and devote their efforts to screwing the rest of us. A little (or a lot) of instability is good for us.

Too many technically ignorant, but liberally educated Americans have a knee jerk antipathy to nuclear power. A generation or so ago the biggest contributor to the anti-nuclear bunch was the Association of Independent Oil Dealers. Whenever lies are spewed, you can be sure that someones economic ox is being gored. The anit-nuke movement has a few technically astute individuals, who have genuine concerns regarding nuclear power. It's a lot easier to turn Pu into bombs than to enrich U to the levels needed for bombmaking. But that is not a reason to ban nuclear power. It is a reason to have strong security. I doubt if there are more than a very few of those who have strong opinions on global warming or nuclear power who have the faintest idea of how mathematical models are created. The anti-nuke global warming bunch are very similar to the creationists and intelligent design proponents. Lots of bullshit, but no real knowledge.

Get smart on past climate change by reading some of the numerous books on the subject. Human beings have survived and adapted to all kinds of climates. Populations will go up and down; there will be mass migrations. Those with strength and wit, and a lot of luck, will thrive. Darwinian selection will change from its present rewarding of those who thrive in bureaucracies to those who know how to use the tools that nature and ingenuity provide. I only wish I was young enough to be around for the next fifty years. It might not be fun, but it will be interesting.

Pork fat is half oleic acid, a monounsaturated fat that is the main constituent of olive oil. Most of the rest is saturated fat. Saturated fats were given a bad name 50 years ago when big ag was developing a market for hydrogenated corn and soybean oil. They convinced a couple of generations that hydrogenated oils were healthy, even though they were full of trans-fats. So eat all the meat you want, just stay away from the omega-6 fatty acids which will give you cancer, arthritis and heart disease. Liberals are always ready to suffer in the name of some hypothetical long range good, even if it's based on lies and phony research by big corporations. Suffering is what they enjoy the most anyway. I'm glad to read about hard-working people enjoying themselves any way they want.

That quote from List really applies to the US domestic economy too. Those who have made it are busy kicking down the ladder of opportunity for everyone else. They are scared stiff that some bright ambitious, but poor or middle class person, might outcompete their incompetent offspring. Coonections, the "best" schools, etc, are not enough. They also want to protect their fortunes for all time. It won't work, but who wants to go through the trauma of revolution to correct the inequities?

The huge bases that we are building in Iraq will enable us to dominate whatever government they finally install. The Texas oligarchs and their Saudi buddies will have the low cost/high profit oil they want, and the American taxpayer will have payed for it, both in blood and treasure. We will withdraw to the bases, allow the Iraqis to slaughter each other until they resolve their issues, and then we'll make a deal with the victors. Bush may be dumb, but his backers are very smart.