That's a lot of venom you have there. You do realise that your own government censors your internet access as well, right?

Voting for politicians is the problem, not the solution. Voting is handing ALL power we are nominally given to a corrupt political system which will only work in favour of big business. People who think a single politician can make any change to the system are unfortunately deluded. That's not to say that voting itself is bad. But we should vote for POLICIES, not POLITICIANS. If we can organise nightly votes for teen signing idols, for fuck's sake, we can have nightly votes on issues of actual importance.

Flamebait or serious? Oh I think you mean 'economic' damage, not 'ecomony' damage. Illiterate idiot.

I get approx 48 mpg ( 5 l/100km for us metric minded ). That's AVERAGE, meaning averaging the way that I drive. I make an effort to not burn fuel excessively. That doesn't mean I impede other traffic or don't travel over hills. I just look ahead, and stop accelerating when things are obviously going to slow down for me soon. And yes, it makes some drivers FURIOUS that I'm not accelerating at their chosen rate - fuck them. For people who think they can buy a hybrid, and then continue their old insane driving methods ( how do most people get a license, seriously ), and achieve the manufacturer's claimed economy ... SURPRISE ... you have to actually MEAN IT when you buy a hybrid. Drive with intelligence. Take joy in pissing off the SUV and V8 owners - seriously - they deserve the extra blood pressure they're delivering themselves. Tread lightly.

The link between the almighty free market and therefore all that is good, and the closed systems pushed by our corporate slave owners is more than a little strenuous. But let's run with it and see. OK so in the free market, corporations do whatever the fuck they want, backed by the legal system and hired thugs, and the rest of us fucking comply. That seems to me to be the very situation this article complains about, not the solution to it. OK so how about a valid alternative to this dictatorship of capital ... what would a collectively owned and planned solution look like in this context ( stay with me, Yanks, I know you're not so hot on context ). Well ... I think it would look like open source software ... which IS a solution to what this article complains about. Hmmmm ... I don't see a problem here, other than people getting all muddled in the afterglow of their pro-free-market wank session.

Radioactive waste produced in nuclear power plants is only the tip of the iceburg. There is an equal amount of radioactive waste produced in the mining and enrichment steps, and this waste is not contained at all. It usually seeps into rivers and groundwater supplies, or blows away on the wind. Also there is a HUGE amount of CO2 produced in mining and enrichment. The only people seriously pushing nuclear power are the mining industry. All others who are pushing it are brainwashed by the "it's scientific so it must be good for us" argument that seems to have been lapped up by a majority of Yanks these days. It figures. What really stinks though, is that the very people screaming for the right to build more nuclear power plants in their own country ( but not in their own backyard, mind you ) are in the next sentence suggesting that Iran needs "regime change" because they also are investing in nuclear technology ( stupidly, I might add ... but my point remains ).

Ill-rational? Oh dear. Leave science ( and written communication ) to those capable of said tasks. There is nothing irrational about being against the most dangerous, polluting and expensive method of boiling water ever conceived.

Less polluting than WHAT exactly? Actually it's the MOST polluting, as well as most expensive way of boiling water that we know of. You need to read up on radioactivity.

Being an Aussie, I was happy to see the recent story on Qantas. But the forums posts were full of Yanks screaming 'OFF TOPIC!' because it wasn't a tech story. Well this isn't a tech story either. But the loud-mouthed Yanks have disappeared. Obnoxious one, where art thou?

What a stupid conclusion! It makes me sick to see all the free-market apologists chuckling and slapping each others' backs over this. Firstly, in response to the idea that the govt shouldn't be doing this ... in fact this story demonstrates that ONLY the government should be doing this; as it's too risky a business proposition for private enterprise. Governments don't HAVE to make money on these ventures. The articles says this has cost the city more than $500,000. So fucking what! That's NOTHING for even a small town. It's 10 people's yearly wages ... or in the US it's probably more like 50 people's wages :) These 50 people otherwise wouldn't have had a job, and it's well known that the US has the WORST social security and healthcare in the developed world. In reality, this is $500,000 worth of research and development that otherwise wouldn't have happened. If this was a private company doing the research, it would be either bought up by BP and shelved, or just lost. But being a government body, the knowledge gained is far more likely to make it's way into the common domain. I am waiting for the day the US does default on it's debts ... we'll see how many free market fanbois there are left after the shit hits the fan. Can't believe the 1st round of the GFC didn't make you wake the fuck up.