Something to Know - 24 August

1.   As the Rim Fire rages into Yosemite, and concerns for water and power issues for the San Francisco Bay Area emerge, we have to wonder if the rests of the world is also going all to hell.   Here is an article about the continuing civil strife in the Middle East.   We now know that national borders are meaningless.  The anger and hatred of tribes, ethnicity, and differences in religious beliefs (in particular) is sweeping through like an uncontrolled fire.  Too bad we think we might be able to fix the problem - we probably cannot on our own:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/24/world/middleeast/lebanon-bomb-attacks.html?emc=eta1&_r=0&pagewanted=print

2.  Re-thinking nuclear power, because it is cleaner than fossil fuels, I think is a mistake.  Yes, it is cleaner on the front end, in the generation, however, it is horribly dirty in the long run.  The only way that I can even think of going along with the idea is that private enterprise cannot be allowed to produce the power.   As has been demonstrated, there are too many instances where the past failures of nuclear generation have been shown to be mostly caused by decisions made out of cost considerations as a result of making a profit.  That is not to say that government run nuclear plants are any better, but what we know now, and what we need to follow through with is costly, particularly in what is done in handling spent radioactive fuel.   We need to concentrate on wind and solar and other sustainable and renewable forms, and work to remove or lessen the carbon foot print that we are currently leaving:

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/23/the-new-nuclear-craze/?emc=eta1&pagewanted=print 

3.  This Gail Collins column reminds me of the time back in 1987 when we moved to Georgia to keep our jobs we had with the airline industry.   Several California transplants arrived in Peachtree City, and after all the unpacking and setting up house chores were getting done with, the ladies from Western Airlines-now Delta went to the department stores, and started signing up for the store credit/charge cards.   They could not do it by themselves, since ONLY the men were allowed to open up the accounts for their spouse.  Shucky-Darn, welcome to the South.  As time went on, that antebellum policy went by the wayside:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/24/opinion/collins-where-credit-is-due.html?emc=eta1 

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Juan

 
If God had intended us to fly he would have made it easier to get to the airport 

-- Jonathan Winters