Other places have actually put some work in and produced far more viable efforts - hence the established USA civilian nuclear industry being twenty years behind South Africa,

On what planet are you on? South Africa had a stupid Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) project that was state funded. This project plodded along while huge amounts of taxpayer money were wasted (to be fair, it is better than the outright stealing that the SA government does).

The government eventually pulled the plug this year on that stupid project. This project is soooo similar to other projects that it is sad (Rooivalk, OptimalEnergy Joule).

In fact, both men were Traitors with a capital T. Lee refused Lincoln's offer to command the Union Army and in fact commanded the Army opposing it.

Wasn't Lee loyal to his state? I always thought that the idea of the USA was that it was a Union of independent states. When Virginia seceded, Lee was no longer bounded by the constitution of the USA.

taken up arms against the consititution he was sworn to defend.

Lincoln at that stage was the president who broke the constitution the most. As an example, consider his suspension of habeas corpus spending money without congressional approval, etc...

I am not American, but will comment on a few things.

One says publishers should “describe the effects of increasing government regulation and taxation on economic development and business planning.”

I fail to see anything wrong with that.

References to Ralph Nader and Ross Perot are proposed to be removed,

Both of these characters (while more recent) have actually had very little political impact (less so than Stonewall Jackson). Ralf Nader is a minor political player and Ross Perot a failed presidential candidate (there are plenty of those around, e.g. Kerry, Al Gore, Dan Quale, etc...)

while Stonewall Jackson, the Confederate general, is to be listed as a role model for effective leadership,

Stonewall Jackson was a very famous (and effective) general in the Civil War. Whether you dislike him or not, the fact remains that he was an honourable man and a great leader. The same could be said for Robert E. Lee.

“Country and western music” has been added to the list of cultural movements to be studied.

Country music is much better than the modern clap-trap that people listen to (e.g. Hip-hop, rap, etc). It also had a significant social impact. I fail to see a problem here (although it would be nice if they also learn classical music). inaugural address are to be laid side by side with Abraham Lincoln’s speeches.

What amazes me about Americans is that they like leaders who start wars. Every leader is expected to start at least one good war. Quite a few wars have been popular in the USA and led to increased popularity of the president (e.g. Gulf War, Kosovo War, Clinton’s bombing campaigns). The only reason GWB was unpopular was because he didn’t win his wars.

I doubt that Lincoln would be remembered if he used his skills to avoid a disastrous civil war? Probably not. Thanks to that disastrous war he is a national hero.

“To deny the Judeo-Christian values of our founding fathers is just a lie to our kids,” said Ken Mercer, a San Antonio Republican.

There is little doubt that Christianity had a large influence on the American politics. The founding fathers wanted a country where there is freedom of religion – not freedom from religion (as the far left portrays it).

No, it is not education. Promoting a “naturalistic worldview” is often just a guise for people with an agenda to promote their ideology. Here is a good example where it happened:

> The State recognizes no religion, and supports atheistic propaganda in order to implant a scientific materialistic world outlook in people

That quote was from the constitution of Albania. You probably know what happened there? Oppression, torture and execution of religious people.

My point is that everyone must believe and do with their time as they like. As another example, I personally think that lotteries and gambling is stupid and (statistically) naïve – but do not think that it should be banned or the government should promote propaganda (under the guise of education) to stop it.

The other priority should be a campaign to combat superstition and promote naturalistic views of the world.

Uhm... no. The US government should not be in the business of propaganda (for whatever the reason). The idea is good - but many ideas with good intentions (like this) ends up really bad.

PS, there are a lot of other silliness that people should stop. One example of this is 30+ guys dressed up like nancies in kevlar suits chasing an eggy-ball while 50,000 people have nothing better to do than to watch them chase the eggy ball. WTF?

What happens between a man and his TV is their business.

Land is not a thing which results from the fruit of your labour, it's a communal resource ... the community allows ownership for convenience's sake,

The idea that you only have rights at the whim of the majority is probably one of the most despicable ideas of the left.

I firmly believe that the fruits of a person’s labour belong to that person (and the government can tax it insofar as to provide services).

You can always just move,

“Just moving” has been the excuse of many dictators and tyrannical regimes. Is forced movement due to taxation any less despicable than forced movement due to a police force? Do you really suggest that a 70 year old person should move (with all of their social connections in one place) because an inefficient government wants to make up for its budget shortfall?

The difference is, if you agree with the atheist he'll go away and stop bothering you, the religious guy wants to hold your hand and have a prayer session.

Not in my experience. I was atheist (but decided that they are a bunch of jerks).

Firstly, my atheist friends were more concerned with *my* personal beliefs than my christian friends. When they realized I was an atheist, every conversation turned into a "how bad/stupid Christians are" or an interrogation about *my* personal beliefs.

Why the fuck are atheists so obsessed with other person’s personal beliefs? A good example, one of my atheist friends saw my bible in my room, and I had to please explain why I have a bible (it was a present on my 7th birthday from my now deceased grandfather, with my name and a message written in calligraphic script). Really? How are my personal beliefs relevant to their life?

It seems that Christian, Buddhist, spiritual people can happily co-exist, but not atheists.

Also, there is a huge difference between Christian/hare Krishna evangelism and atheists. I get approached by Christian evangelicals (usually S. Korean which is funny) and they actually seem to care about you and your life. Atheists just think that they are better/smarter than everyone else.

Older residents (and the kids who inherit their homes) get a free ride, because, while the houses they bought for peanuts are now worth millions, they pay hardly any property tax.

A big problem for many retired people is that their pensions is not high enough. That is because of increased productivity, which means that younger people have a higher income. They can therefore not afford property taxes and will lose their homes.

The idea of taxing capital things (such as houses) repeatedly, even though the money that bought it is already taxed is a despicable idea (IMHO). With this you only encourage consumption of consumer products and discourage saving (since the latter gets taxed over and over).

The new atheist zealotry is a lot scarier for me than christian zealotry. I don’t know what exactly makes 20 y/o atheists so angry (must be something in the drink water). But there ideas are extremely frightening.

(They also have the ability to destroy any social site with their verbal diarrhoea I really don’t need to hear how smart atheists are. )

It seems that my Christian friends STFU 99.99% of the time about their religion. But atheists talk 90% of the time about their religion. They repeat everything and every conversation is a repeat of the previous - It sounds like a long play record that got stuck. They also interrogate you to ensure that you are an atheist (and not an agnostic by mistake).

\rant

OR Saddam hired a quack who was assassinated before he was revealed to be a complete phoney.

The guy who was hired helped developed the G-5 and G-6 howitzers, which are the howitzers with the furthest range (thanks to base bleed ammunition).

Sorry you don't like cheaper safer power.

Solar panels are neither cheap nor safe.

Hum, so tritium leaks are what kind of dream?

Well, it sure beats the dumping of toxic Silicon tetrachloride.

That means more opportunity to produce the power where it is used I guess.

Solar power isn't where it is needed when it is needed. I guess you want all metalurgy to be exported to countries with sensible energy policies.

Unfortunately solar power is just an eco-wetdream. Exciting, but still a fantasy.

I don't know if you are joking or if you are serious...

A simple back of the envelope calculation shows that you would need more than 2300 hectares of solar panels to replace just one nuclear power plant.

And since many of these Chinese companies don't care, let's fine China.

USA companies kills a lot more people in foreign countries than Chinese companies. A good example is the Bhopal incident - which was a US company killing Indians.

In many countries some people are not appreciated. This especially happens to minorities in some countries - what usually happens is that they leave.

In many developing countries, the ruling party caters for the lower classes and is completely populist. It absolutely makes sense to leave the country in such circumstances.