Hi guys; really sorry to be gone so long; coping with illness (mostly Spice), extreme winter (we hit -35°F; -19°C last night), and business time requirements.
And my constant problem of wanting to write a blog post- and realizing I won't be able to say what I want to short of 2,000 words or so...
Just found a nice short one.
As we rejoice here in the USA in the apparent return of non-delusional government; and even signs of rational behavior- (no, I don't believe Obama has everything figured out yet- but it's an improvement, yes?) - I was overjoyed to see this sign of rational decision making today, from the UK, via the AP newsfeed.
Essentially- some retired generals in the UK have formally suggested that they should just plain scrap their nuclear weapons programs; as unnecessary.
Now there is a bit of news to do a real, serious, happy-dance over.
No kidding! Wow. Signs of intelligent life, after all.
Gotta go get some firewood. You go do YOUR happy-dance!
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16 comments:
Happy-
Happy-
Joy-
Joy!
Repeat!
(Virtual Happy Dance)
I am also doing my happy dance because it is -6 and my husband is home, so he will go out and get the firewood.
For once, a logical idea. And I think they should do the same with the NASA space program, space station,etc. What do they really plan on doing with any of that knowledge? At this point i think they have to realize that humans actually living in space just isn't gonna happen. Enough already.
I have to chime in with a "me too" -- most of the space program is an incredible waste of money. What if we had instead spent that much money on figuring out how to live sustainably on our own planet?
It was -26F here last night :-) -- hope that's the coldest we see this year.
That is good news!
Here in my province a nuclear power company has scrapped plans to build a nuclear power plant near a lake and by a fault line - that is good news too! (The bad news is they're still looking for another site that will be easier to sell as 'safe' to the public)
Hope you and yours get over the illnesses soon. I've got a nasty cold that's been lingering for nearly a month now - no fun!
And here I was bitching this morning because it was in the 30s.
I think what they are saying is that Britain can rely on the US to maintain a nuclear force and that Britain should shift their budget to conventional weapons. Not exactly disarmament.
My personal opinion is that a lot of us are alive to dance due to the fact that US nuclear weapons prevented WWIII in the 1960's and WWIV in the late 1980's.
And yes it is cold in Missouri too, but my wood is cut and stacked on the porch.
Glad you're alive and almost well and working on warm.
Have to agree with tickmeister about Britian. The US Missile Defense Shield is designed for that purpose.
Scary if you ask me.
OH, and thanks to Spice for the Yak Trax story. Hubby bought me a pair -- definitely great on the ice. Thanks again.
I went out and watched the space station go over this evening -- twice. Put your location in and
check it here: http://www.n2yo.com/
or here: http://heavens-above.com/PassSummary.aspx?satid=25544
I agree with Kim Stanley Robinson, who says we maybe have about fifty years to get on a sustainable basis with a surplus, solve the big problems, and get ourselves access to the rest of the Solar System, or we'll have burned up the necessary resources and forever lose the chance. It's a one-time opportunity while fuel and metal are still cheap, to reach out to where fuel and metal are always cheap. Those are the two best investments we can make while we still have most of nature's riches at hand -- put the planet on a sustainable path (he calls it 'permuculture' -- endless permutation, longterm culture) and reach ourselves out of the cradle and grow up.
Good video here, an hour long, mostly about climate change, well worth it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-jz86gMiHw
He has a wonderful bit in there about the half million years during which the hominid brain 'blew up like a balloon' getting enormous, yet all the technology stayed the same -- the same basic hand axe, good for everything. They are everywhere people lived, for five hundred thousand years, unchanging. What were we doing while our brains went from monkey-sized to current human sized?
Watching fire. Seeing by moonlight. Telling stories. Singing. Hunting (and being hunted) ... the list goes on.
Living outdoors.
Watch it, it's great.
I always thought nuclear was just silly. What use is a deterrent if you can't use it and not create a waste. We were just as much in fear of the Americans as we were of the Russians - more if anything because they had so many more stupid weapons. I think that's why we are so very anti nuclear round here.
viv in nz
ps. I agree with Kim Stanley Robinson on that one. Space is fine by me - especially if it siphons off a hunk of the war machine.
Good news indeed- I am just afraid of what other weapons super powers have?
I remember way back last year when my cousin read on Obama's website that he wanted to discontinue the nuclear weapons programs. My cousin Emailed me, "Your candidate is NUTZ!! We (the good guys) NEED nukes to ward off the bad guys!" I could only think, "WE'RE the GOOD guys?" It's all relative. As Ron Paul noted here, this year's bad guys were last year's good guys and vice-versa.
Sorry to hear y'all have been under the weather.
Having been to space camp with my son when he was a child, I disagree with those of you who would prefer to not explore space. I think we need (as a species) the limitlessness that thoughts of space exploration offer as challenges to us. Doesn't mean that we have to go out there and toss our garbage all over the solar system, or establish bases from which to launch destruction. JMAO; YMMV.
While I might think a world without nuclear weapons might be a good thing, I'd personally prefer that we (the US and the UK) hold onto ours a little longer - until this global crisis ends. Things are unraveling around the world, and I feel that too many other cheeky governments and assorted whackos would be encouraged by our perceived weakness.
Ha! -19C, eh? We're at -30C right now in Toronto... it freezes your soul :) Good to hear about the Brits making some responsible decisions (I have a British passport, so in this case, I'll let myself feel proud).
If we need Nuk's to keep the peace why are our countries (I'm in the UK)involved in two major wars?
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