Nuclear Power

We spend a lot of time on Lake Erie, in areas where Davis-Besse nuclear power plant is always looming on the horizon. It becomes just another part of the landscape out there. Over the past few weeks, I have made many trips to Lakeside-Marblehead, looking for Haven, and so took State Route 2 right alongside it. It's captivating up close like that, especially on a cooler day when the steam plume is very large.

(I've considered pulling over for photos of the towers themselves, or the "Don't you dare pull in here, we mean it!" signs next to the driveways, but who knows how tight security is. I'm sure "but I only wanted it for my blog!" gets a nod and a smile from whoever stops to ask what the hell you think you're doing.)

I do think in a lot of ways we've become fairly complacent about these plants in our midst. After all, they did catch the near-disastrous rusting-out mishap by a few inches of steel, before anything really really bad actually happened. (Ok only by maybe a week or so and then only by luck, but it's the thought that counts, right?)

Heard About the Near-Accident at the Ohio Nuclear Plant? I'm Not Surprised By Victor Gilinsky Sunday, April 28 , 2002 washingtonpost.com

And this week's minor little leak probably won't effect groundwater! Davis-Besse Radioactive Leak is Fixed (Hmmm, no mention of its effect of Lake Erie water seeing how the plant is right on the shoreline and all that.)

Either way, I'm still not 100% opposed to nuclear power. There's trade-offs with everything, and short of eliminating 9/10ths of the human population, and going back to fire, odds are we're going to have to do some things that have risk.

What I am opposed to is John McCain's energy policy of "clean coal" and building 45 new nuclear power plants. Now does anything scream "I'm stuck in the last century and that's OK!" more than that? Uh, John, I know in the 70s the general rule was "wind and solar will never work!!!" but you might be surprised to find out how much the technology has changed. Yeah OK, we're nowhere near ending our reliance on fossil fuels, but how about we work towards that goal, rather than away from it?

I could never get it anyhow. I remember the 70s. I remember my parents trading their big ol' Pontiac for a freaking Chevy Citation, and then trying to cram 4 teenaged kids in it. (OK so the plus side of that is then we had an excuse to avoid family outings.) I remember when MPG standards mattered and houses were built more energy efficient as well. So what has happened in the intervening years, besides well, nothing? We've known all along oil, foreign or domestic, is a FINITE RESCOURCE, correct? How come we never seem to have any concern or sense of responsibility for the world we will leave future generations? I'm the poster child for poor planning, but civilization as we know it doesn't exactly hinge upon me.

So, John, I respect that you stayed tough on not drilling the Alaskan Wildlife Refuge, although picking Little Miss Drill and Kill pretty much countered that bit of appeal. I'm not opposed to "clean coal," whether it will ever exist in those exact terms or not. Since we use coal and most likely will continue to use coal, I agree, let's put science to work minimizing the harm that's done. When it comes to nuclear power, how about you tell us all exactly where you plan on putting those 45 plants, OK? Now, before the election, so we can see how quickly voters in those areas race to the polls to vote against you.

As the anti-Obama camp becomes more shrill and angry, they miss facts about their candidate like this one. Yeah Ok I'm stupid or misguided or blindly following a messiah, whatever. I've also waited a long long time for a candidate who is moving ahead, with his eyes on the future, rather than dragging his feet in the dirt, pulling all of us backwards into a past that didn't work all that well the first time.

UK releases files on UFOs

I'm not sure where exactly I stand on this topic. The secrecy has always struck me as strange. What reasons are there for not giving us the complete story? It also seems likely there is life elsewhere, and also likely more advanced civilizations may have conquered the dimension of time, to come check us out. On the other hand, I can't help but think that now that almost everyone out there is carrying around a camera or a phone with a camera, why have the sightings pretty much stopped? Then again, since so many of these encounters have us trying to shoot "them" down, maybe they stopped bothering to come back.

National Archives
Files Released on UFO Sitings
Files released on UFO sightings
Secret files on UFO sightings have been made available for the first time by the Ministry of Defence.

The documents, which can be downloaded from the National Archives website, cover the period from 1978 to 1987.

They include accounts of strange lights in the sky and unexplained objects being spotted by the public, armed forces and police officers.

One man explained in great detail his "physical and psychic contact" with green aliens since he was a child.

The writer said that one of them, called Algar, was killed in 1981 by another race of beings as he was about to make contact with the UK government.

The letter's author said he visited their bases in the Wirral and Cheshire, while his wife reported seeing a UFO shot down over Wallasey on Merseyside.

The eight released files are part of almost 200 files set to be made available over the next four years.

These documents will be available to download for free for the first month.

A spokesman for the National Archives said they were now becoming available after several requests made under the Freedom of Information Act, and also because of a "proactive move by the Ministry of Defence for an open and transparent government".

Much of the previously classified paperwork is made up of correspondence from the public sent to government officials, such as the MoD and then-prime minister Margaret Thatcher.


You can go. You are too old and too infirm for our purpose
Reported alien comment to pensioner


Another document reveals the experiences of a 78-year-old man who alleged that he met an alien beside Basingstoke Canal in Aldershot, Hampshire in 1983.
He said he went on board the craft, giving a detailed explanation of it, before being quizzed by the aliens about his age.

He was then told: "You can go. You are too old and too infirm for our purpose."

'Britain's Roswell'

Another letter, from the director of a group called the Wigan Ariel Phenomena Investigation Team, asks the MoD if it had a code of practice for dealing with an alien invasion.

A further document reveals how, on 21 February 1982, a group of customers and staff at a Tunbridge Wells pub reported an unknown object with green and red flashing lights - seen heading in the direction of Gatwick airport.

There are some reports from more official sources. The United States Air Force filed a report about two USAF policemen who saw "unusual lights outside the back gate at RAF Woodbridge" in Suffolk in December 1980.


Let me assure this House that Her Majesty's government has never been approached by people from outer space
Government briefing to House of Lords

This relates to the well-known incident of an alleged alien encounter at Rendlesham Forest, dubbed "Britain's Roswell" after the supposed contact made with aliens at Roswell in the United States.

Several drawings are visible in the files from those keen to demonstrate what they had seen.

One such sketch was made by Metropolitan Police officers, who were called out to a house in Stanmore in the London Borough of Harrow on 26 April, 1984.

Three officers spent an hour observing the object in the sky, which "moved erratically from side to side, up and down and to and fro, not venturing far from the original position".

One of the Pcs, who saw the object through binoculars, described it as "circular in the middle with what appeared to be a dome on top and underneath" with different coloured lights.

Common explanations

Visitors to the National Archives site will also find a videocast from Nick Pope, a British UFO specialist.

Mr Pope picked out one incident where a UFO was spotted over central London.


"This is a very interesting illustration that, actually, UFOs are seen in built-up areas. People have this idea they're seen in desolate, rural places.

"There's a sighting actually on Waterloo bridge, when a number of witnesses actually stopped to look at this UFO that was seen over the Thames."

Mr Pope said the most common explanation for UFOs were aircraft lights, bright stars and planets, satellites, meteors, or airships.

A detailed briefing is available within the files, which was prepared by the MoD for Lord Strabolgi, then government chief whip, for a debate on UFOs in the House of Lords in January 1979.

The briefing said that "there is nothing to indicate that UFOlogy is anything but claptrap" and that the idea of an "inter-governmental conspiracy of silence" was "the most astonishing and the most flattering claim of all".


Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.

Newsnight's report on UFO sightings - and crop circles The briefing goes on to say: "Let me assure this House that Her Majesty's government has never been approached by people from outer space."

Also available on the website is a podcast from Dr David Clarke, an expert in UFO history, discussing the files.

Dr Clarke, who is a lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University, told the BBC's Radio 4 Today programme that conspiracy theories about aliens are "very difficult to disprove".

He said: "I doubt the disclosure of these files will convince those who believe there is an official cover-up.

"Inevitably, some have already dismissed this release as a whitewash. For them the 'truth' still remains out there, hidden no doubt in more above top secret files hidden somewhere else."

Recruiting Republicans

Much to my chagrin, my 20 year old didn't vote in the primary. A little thing like an ice storm kept her from making the drive back here from where she goes to school (25 minutes away.) I kept telling her to change her address but she wants to vote here.

Anyhow, as a result she's undeclared/independent. (In Ohio you declare a party to vote in a primary. I've skipped doing so a few times, usually when I'm annoyed with the Dems. It does seem to increase the amount of election mail I got on both sides.) As a result of that, I've had the misfortune of seeing a whole lot of McCain propaganda show up in my mailbox. ALL of it has been attacks on Obama, nothing at all explaining the benefits of voting for a McCain/Palin ticket. I told her she was getting a lot of R mail. Her response was "well that isn't happening." Everything that's shown up here has been walked directly from the mailbox to the trash.

So, just now a car pulled into my driveway and 2 nice young men in their early 20s came to my door, holding clipboards. I actually assumed they were Jehovah's Witnesses. They haven't been around since they asked my (then) husband if he'd read the Bible and he asked them if they'd read a physics textbook. But no! They asked for Sarah. I explained she's in Bowling Green, and they said they were with the Lucas County Republican Party. I laughed and assured them she is NOT a Republican. I admire their willingness to get out and work for their party but one thing I am proud of is raising liberals. I indoctrinate them young and often. Haha

Joe the Plumber

All I can think throughout this whole surreal Joe the Plumber routine is that Andy Warhol was an absolute genius. And Joe's 15 minutes should be about up.
Here's what was on my igoogle screen just now. I literally laughed out loud.

Tax Advice for ‘Joe the Plumber’
New York Times - all 2865 related »

You'd almost feel sorry for the guy, having his dirty laundry hung out like this, over nothing more than being home when a certain presidential candidate turned off for a walk down his block. Still he's been playing it. He's answered every call and showed up for every interview. No one in this day and age should be surprised at how little privacy any of us have.

I was skeptical about the story to begin with. A 34 year old man living with his dad in a modest Holland neighborhood is going to buy the plumbing business where he works? I don't believe there was anything sinister about his statement. In his mind it was a hypothetical, a little white lie that wouldn't have left his street if it weren't for Obama's "share the wealth" reply. He's a typical "Joe Six Pack" spouting off the party lines, unable to actually see the "tax increase for big business" doesn't apply to him and never will.

McCain can't win for losing though. His poster child is a tax cheat, a liar, and isn't even a plumber at all.

the funny thing about A.C.O.R.N.

...is I actually worked for them when I lived in Denver, 1982-83. Their "help wanted" ad was worded to appeal to "change the world!" liberals like me, so off I went. As it turned out, what they needed were canvassers, people to go door to door to get signatures on something or another but mostly to garner donations. That's one life experience that was certainly interesting but I never wanted to do again.

I can't remember how long I lasted, I want to say around 6 months, through fall and winter. I remember Christmastime, seeing everyone's trees and decorations. It doesn't matter how insincere you are, everyone beams if you compliment them on their lovely tree. It's really a bizarre thing to do, knocking on people's doors each evening, standing around in their living rooms while they get their checkbooks. Those were certainly slightly more innocent times. Can you imagine sending 20-something women out alone at night now, without even a cell phone?

Our workday started around 2, when we'd meet at the office. From there, we'd carpool out to whatever neighborhood we were working in, and find a place to have a late lunch. I ended up dining at a whole range of "all you can eat" buffets I might have otherwise missed. As I recall, our "hit the streets" workday started at 4 or 5, and lasted until 9 or so? Then back to the office to count our take, and compare notes from the day.

I'm not sure how I lasted even as long as I did, but it was mostly the people I worked with. We had fun: at diners, on the streets, at parties, at bars on payday. The office was across the street from Just Another Bar. We called it Just About A Bar, and many a night was spent there shooting pool. I want to say they also had shuffleboard but maybe I've meshed my dive bar memories into one generic tavern. One night I snuck off with my cute-boy-crush, Donny, to have a quiet beer on our own. We chose The New Yorker on Colfax because of its classy flashing neon martini glass and only later found out it was one of the main "pimp and hooker" bars in that area. One of the worst cheap drinking experiences I've had was one Saturday afternoon at Rick and Liz's when we tossed all our money together for a gallon of vodka and mixed it with generic powdered lemonade mix. Conversely the only time I was ever even near the Brown Hotel was when one girl's mom came to town and took us to lunch. She was a state senator somewhere, I think Maine, so what was her 19 year old daughter doing on the other side of the country, tromping door to door?

Towards the end we started taking my car out to the "turf," which became my downfall. Wayne and I would race through our streets as fast as possible, make quota, then head for a bar. When you get to the point you can't face one more door slammed in your face, you're done. It's just a matter of which day you actually walk back and say no more. I have no idea what happened to anyone. I can't remember enough full names to even stalk them via google. When I think back to people in my past, I mostly just hope that some of them remained liberals.

We were fairly removed from the "community organizer" aspect of the organization there. We had a couple of COs, but we didn't see much of them. Rumor was they were paid next to nothing at all. They were involved in fighting utility rate increases, and when we'd canvas in lower income neighborhoods we'd get a lot more support and hear stories about work that had been done to help people organize block watches or get people involved in other ways. As far as I know, Denver wasn't involved in the squatting campaigns at that time. Still, say what you want, there's a certain logic in allowing people who have no homes to live in those that are abandoned anyhow. Remember this was the early 80s, not especially good economic times. I can't help but wonder if we'll see that again sometime soon, middle class people left on the streets by the next Great Depression moving into suburban homes sitting empty because of foreclosure?

ACORN's apparently claimed the people acquiring fraudulent voter registrations weren't paid by the piece? I have no idea how things are done now but I know back then we weren't paid by donation but we did have to make a quota each night. It wasn't an unreasonable amount, and given how many people will just toss money out the door if you knock and give a speech, most nights we all managed to make it. Still if that's still the case, you can bet there were some people sitting in bars, filling out a stack of paperwork to turn in at the end of the day. I don't believe the issues with voter registrations will effect this election all that much one way or another. I suppose it will give some conservatives a scab to pick or a reason to cry in their beers over the next 4 years, when Obama wins this election by a landslide, and they hope to find an excuse.

One good thing about Palin

...is she's a never-ending source of laughs. This one had me in tears.

That One!

You gotta love how fast this stuff shows up.

That One!

Yes, John, we can see how much you dislike Obama. I can certainly understand how frustrating it is to believe someone is completely wrong for the country when the majority of others see it differently. I've felt that way during the last 2 elections. Still, shoving your wife over to shake hands so you don't have to comes across petulant and childish.

There's any number of points from last night's debate that stood out. If I had the chance to ask one little tiny question though, what I really want to know is when you said we can't afford to have "on the job training" when it comes to national security, did you forget who you picked for VP?

this whole William Ayers thing

I've seen all of Palin's latest "campaign tactics" from any number of Chicken Little hate and fear mongers who have been screaming "terrorist connections!!" "hates America!!" to anyone who would listen for months. I'm sure they're beside themselves with joy that their cause has been given a "legitimate" voice.

Too bad for them that anyone who is taking a critical look at the facts can see what's going on here. Take Bill Ayers, for example. Perhaps there's been minimal association between him and Obama, from being from the same place more than anything else. Ayers made a campaign contribution too!!! Ooooooohh!! Beyond that, though, so what?! Ayers is a respected education professor. He has never been convicted of any crime. OK, so he's made some not-so-nice statements about a time when a whole lot of not-so-nice things were going on. Where's all the FREEDOM OF SPEECH rhetoric the conservatives throw out when you dare to question, say Ann Coulter's death to all liberal spiels? Yeah so he's unrepentant, and accordingly, Obama's a terrorist!? What?! It would be laughable if they weren't serious. When has any other candidate for any other office been made to be responsible for every single thing uttered by every single person they've associated with at all?

And McCain/Palin (and their rabid supporters) apparently can't figure out why this isn't working to win votes. Every single time they take some tiny bit of information and blow it completely out of proportion, while leaping up and down and pointing and spitting in hysteria, all they do is prove they have nothing legitimate against Obama. Obama needs to respond as minimally as possible and then let it go. He does his campaign no favors by getting down in the mud with these pigs, wearing lipstick or not.

Defenders of Wildlife takes on Palin

In case you've missed it:

"Aerial killing of wolves may not be your standard national election issue, but it is one that helps illuminate an important part of Sarah Palin's character," said President of Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund Rodger Schlickeisen. "We believe voters deserve to know about her support for this brutal practice, and we are confident the issue can move votes as we head into the home stretch of this campaign."




Alaska's aerial wolf killing program allows private citizens with licenses to fly in private planes and shoot wolves from the air or chase them to exhaustion before landing and shooting them point blank. The gunners then keep the pelts which they're allowed to sell for profit. The program also targets grizzly and black bears. The ad highlights Palin's shocking proposal of a $150 bounty to be given to aerial hunters in exchange for each severed left foreleg of a killed wolf.

"When John McCain picked the notoriously anti-environmental Sarah Palin as his running mate, he abdicated his once-admirable - if erratic - support for pro-environmental policies and settled once and for all the question of which ticket should be trusted with the care of our natural resources," concluded Schlickeisen

"Scientists and wildlife experts have consistently condemned Governor Palin's aerial wolf killing program, yet she continues to ignore sound science and promote the program," continued Schlickeisen. "Her biased approach is unnervingly familiar and is the last thing we need after eight years of President Bush's ideologically-driven approach to the stewardship of our air, land, water and wildlife, an approach that not only ignored government scientists' findings but often altered them in the public record. Palin seems quite at home with that approach."