Safe nuclear passes first hurdle!

For a long time nuclear energy has had a bad wrap. This is not surprising given the wide coverage received by disasters such as Chernobyl and Fukushima, their association with nuclear weapons and the problems with the disposal of long-lived radioactive waste. So despite their outstanding 'green' credentials, nuclear is the only scale-able base-load power source that has zero emissions, you will not find nuclear an acceptable renewables option in any Western environmental group handbook. Yet that may change.

As reported recently in Word Nuclear News (Integrated Molten Salt Reactor passes pre-licensing milestone);

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) has completed the first phase of a vendor design review of Terrestrial Energy Inc's Integrated Molten Salt Reactor (IMSR). The design is the first advanced reactor to complete the first phase of the CNSC's regulatory pre-licensing review.

The integrated molten salt reactor (IMSR) design promises unprecedented safety, with a fail-safe auto shut off mechanism protection against any unforeseen events. The molten salt reactor design design was conceived in the 1960's but was discarded in favor of the light water reactors in common use today. Why? The LWR breeder reactors produce plutonium for nuclear weapons! But all that is another story.

Addressing safety concerns removes one of the main arguments against the use of nuclear energy.  By switching to Thorium as the reactor fuel (see What the Heck is Thorium, Thorium nuclear update, Thorium nuclear experiments in Europe) the remaining concerns re nuclear proliferation and, nuclear waste can also be addressed.

Thorium nuclear is one to watch in the future!

Don't be evil!

In the latest fight against Google's social engineering practices Prager U is suing Google.  For some time Google has been effectively 'censoring' videos posted by Prager U by giving them a 'restricted' classification. To any unbiased observer the restricted videos do not in themselves justify such a restriction. ( see Prager University (PragerU) Takes Legal Action Against Google and YouTube for Discrimination.)

They include titles such as; -

Why America Must Lead
Why Did America Fight the Korean War?
The World's Most Persecuted Minority: Christians
Why America's Military Must Be Strong
Are the Police Racist?
Gender Identity: Why All the Confusion 
Did Bush Lie About Iraq?
What's Wrong with E-Cigarettes?
Why Isn't Communism as Hated as Nazism?
The Least Diverse Place in America
Ami Horowitz - What's Wrong with Socialism?

YouTube's (Google's) classifies videos as Age Restricted if they contain; -

• Vulgar language
• Violence and disturbing imagery
• Nudity and sexually sggestive content
• Portrayal of harmful or dangerous activities

Go ahead, follow the links and spend the few minutes watching some. Do you think they are vulgar? Do they contain violence or disturbing imagery? As there any sexual and suggestive content? Or do they portray harmful or dangerous activities? No, no , no and no!

So why is this happening? Google seems to be trying to limit Prager U's influence as it provides a different world view. A recent Prager video by ex Google employee James Damore provides an insight into Google's monochromatic mind-set.

Prager U needs our support!

Right minded individuals, not matter their views on the many topics covered, should be troubled by this contemptible abuse of power by one of the world's largest and most influential companies.

Google today serves as the single most significant global conduit to information. With such power comes great responsibility.  With the motto "Don't be evil" , Google started life with relatively low aspirations and has failed to meet them.

The litigation has a long way to go and given Google's deep pockets it is stacked against Prager U. So we must all support Prager in its fight.

The simplest way is to provide widespread exposure. To use social media to call Google out for such an abuse of power and remind Google of its own motto; - "Google, don't be evil!"

The enemy of my enemy

"So two months after his 32nd birthday, the Crown Prince (Mohammad bin Salman) has established himself as a despot, albeit one hailed by the West as an enlightened visionary. He has tightened a military alliance with Israel, all but declared war on Iran and prepared Lebanon as the first scene of this war — with Hezbollah as the first target."

In the final words of his essay "Saudi Arabia has united with Israel against Iran – and a desert storm is brewing" John Bradley of The Spectator summarizes the most recent, but potent, moves by the many protagonists of the Middle East.

The everchanging landscape of allegiances has once again yielded strange bedfellows. The enmity between the Saudi and Iranian factions is greater than that with Israel, or so it seems, for now. But who can tell? A single bullet could change the course of this story.

Well worth a full read. 

Why no one trusts the media

Once respected as the final bastion of a free society, our media has fallen far. It is hard to find any, ANY, media outlet that always takes the ethical high road on journalism. Our ABC, the Murdoch Press, Sky News, our Free to Air television stations, all present facts intermixed with the political biases of the outlet. This makes it impossible for a viewer/listener to glean the un-tainted 'facts' of a story.

While it is sometimes difficult for even the most ethical journalists to filter their own prejudices, this is not the cause of the bias. Journalists today insert their opinions intentionally to try to sway their readership to their views. Journalism has evolved into advocacy.

A recent Prager video titled "Why no one trusts Main Stream Media" presented by Sheryl Atkinsson covers the problem admirably. Well worth the few minutes.

The consequences for our society are dire. A free society require a vibrant free press. The media's role is to gather and report facts without fear or favour, without bias and free of personal opinion. While there is room for personal opinion and debate, it must be clearly delineated from the factual foundations. This allows the audience to critically review the information presented and form their own views. It generates a 'marketplace of ideas' allowing the survival of the fittest.

Alas it seems our media has caught the twitter/facebook disease whereby like minded audiences listen to like-minded journalists entrenching the same ideas in an endless loop. Advocates of an idea become so entrenched they cannot even consider an alternative view and will even resort to violence to prevent it being presented.

In 1839 Edward Bulwer-Lytton noted "The Pen is mightier than the sword" recognizing that the written word had more power than direct violence. How ironic that in today's world those who wield the pen have created a society that is willing to use the "sword" to control the "pen".