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TALLRITE BLOG
You can write to me at blog2-at-tallrite-dot-com |
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| June 2006 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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ISSUE #127 - 18th June 2006 [200+400 = 600]
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Nuclear Power
- What's Not to Like? Depending on your source, there are between 31 (The Economist and the CIA) and 44 (“Reaching Critical Will”, a women's anti-nuclear group) states with nuclear energy reactors. Countries which do not use nuclear technology to generate electric power tend to fall into four categories.
Yet in Ireland, and I suspect in many other Western countries in a similar situation, many people get a fit of the vapours at the very mention of the world nuclear. Such people seamlessly, fearfully and stridently conflate
as if all were one and the same. Politicians jump to
embrace the
popular sentiment, prompting leaders such as Ireland's Bertie Ahern to say
he opposes nuclear energy for
“political reasons”.
Whatever that phrase means, it certainly has nothing to do with weighting
risks, costs and benefits in an informed manner.
Discussion in Ireland mainly revolves around three issues: Sellafield, Chernobyl and waste disposal.
Sellafield.
This is the name of Britain's nuclear reprocessing plant which is located on the west
coast opposite Northern Ireland. Many people in Ireland are convinced
that it pollutes the shared Irish Sea with nuclear waste, and is moreover a standing
invitation to suicide bombers, causing radioactive fallout to blow all over
Ireland (though this would be against prevailing winds). This is all
rubbish, but it did not prevent the Government, in a panic, distributing
anti-fallout
Though Sellafield was originally built, in 1950, to produce weapons-grade plutonium, and was later adapted to become the world's first nuclear-powered electricity generator station, it ceased these activities in 1973 and 2003 respectively. Today, its role is confined to reprocessing nuclear waste. It also degrades weapons-grade plutonium, making much of the waste reusable while vitrifying high-level radioactive waste into inert glass. In other words, Sellafield is making the world less nuclear-dangerous, not more, which you'd think environmentalists would welcome. Ireland has, however, long campaigned for the closure of Sellafield, through British and EU courts and otherwise, though never with a constructive proposal for alternative disposal of the waste and plutonium. The nearest alternate plant, were Sellafield to shut up shop, is Cap La Hague in France, which itself is less than 300 km from Ireland, so it would hardly ameliorate anything. Chernobyl is the second big bugbear. The 1986 explosion was undoubtedly a terrifying and terrible event, the world's worst nuclear accident. It killed some 47 people immediately and an unknown (and disputed) number since, perhaps 4,000; whilst its foul nuclear cloud spread across Europe and beyond. It is therefore entirely understandable that people should ask whether it could happen again. But the answer is no, because nuclear technology has advanced hugely since - and largely because of - Chernobyl. Failures provide irrefutable evidence of what not to do next time, and, learning from Chernobyl, Russia now leads the world in nuclear research and use. Pioneered by Russia, modern, so-called third-generation nuclear plants have, using the essentially simple pressurised water reactor concept illustrated below, corrected most of the problems of the past, with fail-safe operation and greater efficiency. With its older reactors reaching the end of their lives, France, for economic reasons, is opting for the EPR (European Pressurised Reactor), which is a variant of the same technology. The UK is likely to follow suit when it decides to replace its own venerable reactors. However debate is raging furiously over the whole nuclear energy issue - unlike in Ireland where sadly such debate is virtually taboo. As well as being better, safer and cheaper to run, today's third generation plants have also got smaller: three or four Russian-factory made 100 megawatt reactors would fit comfortably into a house-size underground silo, each providing electricity for 110,000 homes. This alone makes it a very difficult target for terrorists. However, the future is with FBRs - Fast Breeder Reactors. Since the 1950s, rudimentary FBRs have been built by America, Britain, France, the USSR and others, but they have not been much more than costly experiments. The essence of FBR technology is the nirvana of breeding fuel by producing more fissile material than is consumed, however the trick is to do so economically. Solving this conundrum will constitute the fourth generation of nuclear reactors. The main fuel input for an FBR is an 80/20 mixture of the dioxides of uranium and plutonium, of which the latter can come from dismantled weapons, again helping with decommissioning. The breeding means extreme efficiency in terms of energy extraction, and that such plants will hardly require refuelling. The countries most active in the development of fourth generationi FBRs are China, Russia, Japan and India. India is also investigating the use of thorium as a fuel as it is more plentiful than uranium. Then there is disposal of radioactive waste. This is, in fact, yesterday's problem, inasmuch as the waste all comes from yesterday's reactors. Modern and future reactors don't produce significant amounts of waste because they simply reprocess their own waste and re-use a lot of it. Moreover, they also reprocess and re-use the waste generated by the older technologies. This virtuous circle will reach its zenith once the fourth generation FBRs come on line in the next 20 years or so. To summarise, the benign effects of the technology of modern, third-generation and upcoming fourth-generation nuclear reactors are much misunderstood by the wider public.
Oh, and not to forget. The greenhouse gas emissions of a nuclear plant are ... zero. Many environmentalists find this a most uncomfortable fact, yet cannot deny it. So, nuclear power? What's not to like? Ireland and other energy-starved countries need to get on the nuclear-powered bandwagon fast. But first they must embark on a huge population-education campaign that could last years. There is probably no part of modern life that is less well understood and arouses more suspicion than modern nuclear technology as applied to peaceful ends. Yet it is the only solution to the world's long-term energy needs, not just Ireland's. As I've argued previously, oil will last forever, but only at an ever-increasing price which - coupled with ever-improving technology - can only improve the economics of nuclear energy. Those countries which learn the technology first and fastest will benefit the most.
It used to be that civilised people didn't demand the death of those who irritated them. You would argue with your adversary instead, heap insults on his head, and if you were really upset you might thump him on the jaw. But kill him? Demand that someone else kill him? I don't think so. But it might be slowly creeping back into fashion, probably thanks to all those “Death to the infidels”, “Death to the Great Satan”, “Death to the cartoonists” clips we've been seeing on our TV screens these past few years. You can see that such images might impinge on the imaginations of impressionable youngsters, and next thing they're screaming “Death to the geography teacher” or “Death to my temporary supervisor at McDonalds”. Yet that's why we have adults as our leaders and politicians, to help temper the wild impulses of the young, and to channel that energy into peaceful means of resolving conflict. Except it's not entirely working out that way. It is some senior Western politicians who seem to be succumbing to the “Death to the guy that really irritates me” bug. Youngsters have been pretty mature and temperate by comparison.
Whilst it should no longer surprise us that IslamoNazis want to behead the prime minister of Canada (any infidel will do), it's a sorry day when political leaders and public figures recommend murder as an appropriate way of solving mundane irritations.
But no, the mugger ended up running away in pain, clutching a hand to his bleeding nose. Jake, you see, is a karate brown belt, who had no intention of handing over his precious phone. So, when threatened, he drew on his karate training by sidestepping the thug's punch and delivering one of his own. It broke his assailant's nose with a loud crack, made his eyes water and dampened his enthusiasm.
Thanks to Jake, there is one mugger out there who will think very carefully before he next tries to menace someone. In his own small way, Jake exhibited the same fortitude as Todd Beamer and his fellow passengers who refused to accept the hijacking of United Airlines Flight 93 on Nine-Eleven, and instead said “Let's Roll”. Jake Oliver, with his own “Let's Roll” moment, should be an inspiration to us all.
The Sunday Times recently claimed that the world's funniest joke, as determined by Hertfordshire University in 2002, was authored by Spike Milligan. But a version of it in appeared in The Goon Show, an iconic radio show back in the 1950s, in which Spike was one of the four stars. But here's another thing. If you google “world's best jokes”, you'll find it top of the rankings, courtesy of this very website. Now how did that happen? I have no idea! If you haven't heard the joke, it's a good one.
Week 127's Letter to the Press My production rate is slipping. Only one letter this week, and it has not been published; at least not yet.
Quote: “Now we have the upper hand ... We believe that this is the beginning of the end of al-Qaeda in Iraq ... They did not anticipate how powerful the Iraqi security forces are and how the government is on the attack now.” Mowaffaq al-Rubaie, Iraq's national
security adviser, in upbeat mood, Quote: “The decisions you and your cabinet make will be determinate as to whether or not a country succeeds that can govern itself, sustain itself and defend itself. I'm impressed by the cabinet that you've assembled. You've assembled people from all parts of your country, representing the different religions, and the different histories and traditions. And yet the cabinet here represents the entire Iraqi people, and I appreciate your commitment to representing the people of Iraq.”
President Bush, speaking eye-to-eye in Baghdad Quote: “Some have said ‘no’ and some have said ‘yes’ and this is the reason we are not going to find a solution at this summit.” Danish prime minister Anders Fogh
Rasmussen, Quote: “If England and Spain get to the World Cup final, who are we going to support?” Sinn Féin's Martin
McGuinness addressing (ungrammatically) Quote: “Anyone can get old; all you have to do is to live long enough” Queen Elizabeth II quotes Groucho Marx
Quote: “She is very thin. I leaned forward to kiss Victoria, but there is so little of her I almost missed.” David Cameron lampoons, ungraciously, his
hostess, Victoria Posh Spice Beckham,
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ISSUE #126 - 11th June 2006 [217]
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The violent death of the Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al-Qaeda's chief representative in Iraq, prime fomenter of the insurgency and a man of outrageous brutality and inhumanity - all in the name of a depraved Islam - is wonderful news. The best thing to have emerged from Iraq since last January when an astonishing twelve million of its brave men and women voted unequivocally for democracy and against the insurgency. He was truly the Beast of Iraq, though this is to give beasts a bad name. Iraq's new Prime Minister, Nuri al-Maliki, announced the success to a news conference on 8th June.
The Beast, together with Sheikh Abdel Rahman, his key
lieutenant and spiritual advisor, were killed
No-one knows how many people he has caused the death of and has personally murdered (such as the beheaded Nick Berg - left - and Ken Bigley). But by most estimates they number in the tens of thousands. The elimination of the Beast is a huge step forward in a war renowned for its many “failures”, yet equally infamous for the blind eye turned to its manifold successes. For who would ever call it “a war to proud of”? Well, actually, Professor Victor Davis Hansen would, because he compares Iraq
This is the only comparison with any intrinsic merit because it looks at real alternatives rather than hypothetical wish-lists. So the Beast is gone. Good riddance. I hope someone is already enjoying the $25m bounty. His liquidation is another stunning achievement for the Iraqi people, the Iraqi armed forces, the electorally legitimate Iraqi government, and the Coalition helping them to build a new, democratic society. Let us rejoice.
Ireland's Constitutional Child Rape Ireland has been in turmoil in the past month after the Supreme Court declared (on 23rd May) that a child statutory rape law that has been in force since 1935 is unconstitutional. Under this law, an adult was automatically guilty of rape if he/she had sex with a child who was under the age of fifteen. Claiming that you thought the ten-year-old was in fact eighteen because she had make-up, high heels, a short skirt, a spliff and bottle of Breezer, and anyway she assented, was no defence and off to jail you went. Sex with a minor remains an offence, but the Supreme Court now says that the Constitution guarantees your right to argue that you made an “honest mistake” over her age. As a result of the ruling, at least one convicted child rapist (he was 38, she was 12) was immediately released from jail and others lined up to claim similar freedom. There was uproar, and the government rushed through new legislation, in 36 hours, to keep these repulsive individuals under lock and key, whilst honouring the constitution. The upshot is that since the accused is now permitted to claim ignorance of the victim's age, the child is likely to have to testify in court. This can lead to the unsavoury vista of an already traumatised minor being cross-examined by an arrogant hostile barrister about her dress, behaviour, drinking, smoking, drugs etc on the night in question. Little noticed is that this new constitutional loophole also opens up escape routes for other miscreants.
The same excuse will apply for any other offences which depend for a conviction solely on a quantitative measurement, such as age, alcohol, speed, value. The new legislation has approached the problem the wrong way round. If the 1935 law on statutory rape is unconstitutional, yet has served the State satisfactorily for such a long period of time, the answer is not to change the law to align with the constitution, but the other way round. Altering the constitution to accommodate the 1935 law would of course require a referendum, normally a high-risk affair. But can you imagine anyone daring to publicly oppose an amendment which reinstates as an incontestable crime the statutory rape of a minor? In fact, the current government, rightly under opprobrium for failing to see the child-rape débâcle coming, could in the end do very nicely out of a referendum, especially with a general election due in 2007. For once, it can
The opposition will have no option but to support it regardless. This is surely too juicy an opportunity to miss for Bertie Ahern the Taoiseach (prime minister), whom his former mentor the crook Charlie Haughey once described as “the most ruthless, the most devious, the most cunning of them all”. Insofar as a nonentity minister has already suggested such a referendum, and this has been immediately rejected by the government, you can say that a devious cunning process is already underway. Time alone will tell, however. The main thing is to protect the children from adult predators.
Bill Mann has written a great Motley Fool article about about which foreign markets to select as havens for your previous investments. Your instinct might be to go to countries with plenty of intrinsic wealth based on abundant natural good resources, but you'd probably be wrong because you'd end up in places like Nigeria, Brazil, Russia. In any crisis, remember that in any less-than-free society you, as a foreign investor (ie a blood-sucking barbarian looter of national treasure), will be the very last person to be given any consideration. It is much wiser therefore to go for countries that have good governance (such as Finland, Bermuda, Singapore) where the rule of law will deliver relatively stable currencies and give you a fighting chance of fair treatment and protection. Of course the underlying feature of good-investment countries is a free society, from which multiple other virtues flow. Other examples ...
Australia and Norway are two of the very few countries with both great resources and good governance, yet interestingly the tiny resourceless tigers of Hong Kong and Singapore are of comparable wealth (over $30,000 GDP per person). That's because the world's real wealth-creating resource is not oil, fertile soil, abundant minerals, fecund seas. It is the liberated human brain.
Isle of
Man TT - Because It's There? Three men killed, two in critical condition and at least another nine hospitalised with injuries, after a number of incidents during the week. Baghdad? East Timor? Gaza Strip? Nope. Just this year's typical Isle of Man TT week. The unfortunate dead are sidecar racer Tony Smith with his passenger Barry Pepperrell, and Japanese motorcyclist Jun Maeda. I know the IOM TT has a long tradition, is very popular, and brings a lot of tourist revenue to the island, but I find it incredible that this sort of carnage can continue to exist at a time when other forms of motorsport are going to enormous lengths to avoid such consequences. Take Formula 1 for instance. Despite the implementation of measures designed to reduce speed, and implicitly improve safety, designers are remaining one step ahead, and it is estimated that cornering speeds at Silverstone, where the British GP is to be held next Sunday, will be up to 12 mph faster than last year's cars could achieve. Although it may appear ironic that one of the drivers, Montoya, has raised concerns about this, he's not saying that they shouldn't go that fast - he's accepting the higher speeds as part of the development of the sport, but asking that improvements be made to the run-off areas to minimise the hazard of spinning out. Fellow driver and current world champion Fernando Alonso has also put it into perspective by saying, “Then, of course, it is a question of fun. It is always a nice feeling to be attacking high-speed corners and be right on the limit.” I guess it's just not realistic to expect the Isle of Man's long street circuit to have an F1 track's standard of safety at all points, but how much longer will the annual human toll be tolerated? On the other hand, there seems to be an endless stream of riders who are prepared to take part, knowing that their chances of being killed or seriously injured are many times higher than the F1 drivers - and they're not getting paid a fortune to do it! I see uncanny parallels between this and the annual lemming-like trek to the summit of Mount Everest where at least eleven people have died this season alone, whilst trying to fulfil lifetime ambitions on commercially organised climbs. The running average for fatalities is around 4.4%, ie 44 dead for every thousand times the summit is successfully ascended. Everest and the IoM TT - “because they are there”?
Scots Flaunt their Inferiority Complex at the World Cup Most people with an inferiority complex try to hide it. I mean, if you broadcast to people that you think you're worth less than everyone else, people will end up agreeing with you even if they didn't think so to start with. It takes a particularly perverse mentality, therefore, to go out of your way to make sure everyone knows how ridiculous your behaviour is, how large the chip on your shoulder, how inferior your status (in your own view). Yet the World Cup has had precisely this effect on the Scottish nation, at least on any of its members who choose to open their mouths on the subject. It is of course the perennial English Problem that's to blame. In this case, it is that England is in the World Cup and Scotland isn't. They're both members of a major political and monarchical union that has been running successfully for several centuries. The Scots gain disproportionately from this, not only in the number of Scots who hold key industrial and political positions in England or their over-representation in parliament, but in the subvention of £1,034 that the English taxpayer is forced to hand over every year to every Scottish man, woman and child - for absolutely nothing in return, and certainly no thanks. It would, nevertheless, be logical to assume that in the World Cup, Scotland would support its number one partner England, just as England would support Scotland were tables reversed. But no.
The result of all this childishness is bemusement and amusement on the part of the English fans who, frankly, couldn't care less whether the Scotties support England or not. But there is only one way that the Scots can go in anyone's estimation - and that is down. The way they are flaunting their inferiority complex over the world cup is becoming an embarrassing, self-fulfilling prophecy. + + + + + Meanwhile, for ABEs and non-ABEs alike, press the logo-button below to get a table with all the latest scores, which I'll keep updated in real time as the World Cup 2006 drama unfolds. It's also available in the sidebar at the top right of the page.
I sourced the original spreadsheet here.
Week 126's Letters to the Press Six letters since the last issue. One published [P!] during June, but May was a (rare) month where the papers were entirely free of my wretched letters.
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iodine tablets to everyone in the country four years ago, and
which we've all lost by now. 
Jake
Oliver from Bristol was twelve years old, with a baby face, a new mobile
phone and great (if not immediately apparent) attitude. An easy target
for a 95-kilo foul-mouthed mugger in a balaclava. 
in
an awesomely surgical American airstrike on 7th June, appropriately just after
the 21st
century's only day of the
