Because when the Global Governance folk roll into town you have to lock up your daughters, stop issuing parking tickets (they won't pay 'em anyway) and create an entirely new layer of quasi-government to 'interface' and 'negotiate' with them. Ultimately this leads to some time-wasting end that will benefit them more than it does you, *if* you are convinced what you're doing is sound.

The way we have operated nuclear plants in the US is sound. The safety record shows it, and the gigawatt-years of reliable power underscore that success. I believe that as a layman who has researched the topic I am more objective saying this than even the most experienced plant operator... because I am looking from a grand perspective of history, while their own safety culture imposes a certain vulnerability on them, it discourages them from making self-serving statements, even if true. A humility that keeps them from standing up to say "Enough is enough!"

Nuclear energy, as we have done it, has proven to be the most promising and most sustainable --- to use the proper definition of the word --- way to ensure the continuance of modern life.

But there will always be those who try to convince you that another layer of governance is good for you. So when Switzerland proposes that "making the principle of "avoiding off-site contamination" legally binding in the Convention would be a vital step towards improved global nuclear safety. ..." the rational human response is What the fuck.

As in... what the fuck, do these people believe off-site contamination is like a drunk running a stop sign? That keeping Earth safe from contamination is for lack of some simple rule?

As in... what the fuck does 'legally binding' mean in this context? Again, a governance organization arrogantly asserts that there is some evil malfeasance let loose in a lawless world, for lack of something that would be 'legally binding'. Here they come to save the day. What form would a legally binding punishment be, if a signatory is unfortunate to suffer a disaster that spreads a discernible count of radiation across the border? A preemptive strike? Sanctions? Regime change? I'm sure all of this will be discussed at the next meeting.

Don't get me wrong. The IAEA has done some excellent work. Not all international conventions are trite and insulting. To render assistance in a disaster, responsibly notify one's neighbors, agree on safe handling practices, and even address liability in our litigious world, are worth things to agree on.

They want to give this nebulous diplomatic instrument teeth with the stroke of the pen. It has not earned them. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has teeth. It has earned them. It is also a very specific and useful framework tailored to our task at hand.

Now if the Swiss had said, "Be sure you have some form of containment at all" (Chernobyl) or "don't put all your generators in the basement" (Fukushima), you could sink your teeth into that. Such may be the way "things are done". But I would propose that for the most part in real life, things are done by rules of common sense anyway. Has anyone ever asked a plant operator if safety interferes with their bottom line?

Sorry to vent so, thanks for your comment. Also thanks to mdsolar for bringing to our attention evidence that nuclear energy is in a total shambles and the US is once again disappointing the world by acting in its own self-interest.

The Convention on Nuclear Safety (CNS) is a treaty-ish pile of broad and anti-specific foofy diplo-language. Its purpose is not to share or agree on a single iota of practical knowledge, though over time a tiny bit might creep into it. It exists to permit and encourage the ratification of itself by as many parties as possible, and in this, it is like those "bad luck if you do not forward me" chain letters.

The Swiss proposal said in effect, stop all the music and implement every feature ever conceived to make new plant designs safer, to every existing plant. Somehow. Even if it is redundant and absurd. The whole kitchen sink. They cannot be bothered with specifics, that is not the game being played. Signing on to every broad recommendation would be a direct insult to our own NRC, which does not dabble in such diplomatic newspeak, preferring to assess actual risk, look at each site, mandate practical and specific engineering guidelines, evaluate what has been done.

See INFCIRC/449 and Add.2 and Add.3 and Add.4 and Swiss Amendment.

This stuff was written by people from another planet. It was probably leaked from Planet X which is orbiting with the Earth directly behind the Sun. Planet X is just like ours only its United Nations truly runs everything. That is why they send UFOs to abduct an engineer every now and then, to keep their shit from falling apart. Then we send one of our own (out of Hangar 19) to bring 'em back. Maybe we got the wrong one back, one of their 'senior diplomats' instead.

In it you will find some vague things that sound like good ideas. You're supposed to imagine that this is a world where people do not apply common sense unless they are acting directly on the recommendations of a multi-national NGO.

The compromise statement now says basically, "New nuclear power plants should be designed and constructed with the objective of preventing accidents, and minimizing off-site contamination in case of accidents. Reasonably achievable safety improvements identified at existing plants during... safety assessments should be oriented to these objectives and be implemented in a timely manner."

Engineers should not be afraid to stand up and express their anger when they are insulted. This is an insult. We lose an essential part of our human self-respect and tenacity when insults like this go unanswered. Governance of the world should not be bestowed upon folks who cannot be bothered to delve into detail. Regardless, some people will be comforted by the mere presence of the CNS, they're the people who distrust corporations and their own government, to find solace in the flowery language of international diplomacy even though there is little substance in it.

Basically, this organization-thing was spawned in 1994 and went to sleep. Fukushima woke it up, and they've been running in little circles ever since to come up with a timely response. The response has finally arrived and is on the table in early 2015. This is the kind of time frame you can expect if you pursue world governance.

Meanwhile, the United States Nuclear Power industry and its associated regulatory body NRC hit the ground running in 2011, assessing the disaster and lessons learned from Fukushima. If you are expecting me to elaborate on them and think there is something to be learned from every earthly experience you will be disappointed.

We learned NOTHING from Fukushima.
Because there was nothing to learn.
It was a STUPID FAIL that had nothing to do with nuclear energy.
Batteries worked, generators did not.
We know better. We do not build that way.
Because we are not stupid.

___
"Oh dear! We're late!" Down the nuclear rabbit hole.

What I'm hoping for is some form of pulse-charging track built into roadways, so that electric vehicles could maintain charge while traveling and even arrive at their destinations with a surplus of energy.

But when it comes to practical transportation liquid fuel reigns supreme today. Ammonia has been proposed as an alternative for vehicle fuel, though it has its problems, such as being only half the energy density of gasoline. And it would be stinky and hazardous in a new way. But it does provide liquid fuel while taking carbon out of the equation altogether. Elemental hydrogen is really dangerous but some form of solid encapsulation to ensure its slow release would help.

Barring some Jetsons miracle invention, I think the eventual winner for cars and airplanes as oil and gas runs out might be the very same gasoline and jet fuel. All you would need is an economical and massive source of heat or neutrons to separate hydrogen from water, to be bound with carbon to make our own 'fossil' fuel, as nature does. If you sequester that carbon from CO2 in the atmosphere you at least achieve break-even what it burns.

But that sequestration process to extract carbon from the thin atmospheric ~0.04% carbon dioxide would itself be a massive endeavor requiring additional energy. Would you run this Dr. Seuss Carbon-Gallomper with its giant sucking mechanical lungs for an hour to get a lump of carbon... or when no one is looking, feed trees and grass into it and get a dozen lumps a minute? Or sneak into a coal mine for a hundred? In the end the best way is to electrify transportation to the greatest extent possible, and pursue a sequestration strategy that operates independently of the fuel producers --- making use of plants and farmed algae as well as direct feats of applied chemical engineering.

Some calculations showing actual energy/thermal output of some ~2.5Gwt for a year from tonne of Thorium. This is an amazing, unprecedented amount of carbon-neutral energy for a fuel source that is present on every continent, and can be mined with a very small footprint.

We deserve the chance to discover what we could accomplish with such a win-win energy source. So many environmental 'solutions' come down to (you first) conservation or outright malicious sabotage of modern lifestyle. I want no fewer options for my own children than I have, and a whole lot more.

Got to go work on the blueprints for the Dr. Seuss Carbon-Gallomper. Because there really ought to be such a thing.

___
"Oh dear! We're late!" Down the nuclear rabbit hole we go.

It has the ability to bribe congress, or throw enough lawyers at the problem, to bend the rules no matter what previous legislation or case law says

This is merely one symptom of the bigger problem of our growing plutocracy. The rich get richer by using their size and power to tilt the laws and rulings their way in order to grow even richer such that they can use their size and power to tilt the laws and rulings their way in order to grow even richer such that they can use their size and power to tilt the laws and rulings their way in order to grow even richer such that they can use their size and power to tilt the laws and rulings their way in order to grow even richer such that they can use their size and power to tilt the laws and rulings their way in order to grow even richer such that ... you get the idea.

Yes, it is a slippery slope. Inequality has sky-rocketed since about 1980 and the rich are tilting campaign laws and killing unions so that they can do more damage.

That's all you need. If you want a better quality image than a cheap USB webcam, use the Raspberry Pi camera, but a $5 USB cam works just fine if you don't need a high frame rate -- and if you're just pointing the thing at a menu, you only need one frame a day ;). The software is FOSS, and works just fine on the r-pi. I use such a setup to monitor my 3D printer from elsewhere in the house. If you need fine-grained control over who connects, well the Raspberry's running linux, so go nuts.

Although that seems ridiculous overkill for a relatively static menu.

This is because the NFL is not an ordinary business. It is a cartel of independent teams. Such cartels, for example OPEC, are illigal in the US since 1890 but is allowed through special acts of congress. This allows it to set rules for all teams, set TV contracts, and set pay scales without any competition.

This leads to the ability to generate profits only available to socialist organizations. For instance, excessively high payment from TV networks require excessively high fees to cable providers which are paid by all cable subscribers, even if they never watch the channel. The cartel is also able to leverage national monies to convince localities to force taxpayer to fund stadiums, even if those that are never going to use the stadiums. These monies then go into individual pockets as profits.

I have heard people saying the same about music halls, but there is certainly no national cartel of music lovers that bribe local officials, that transfers the risk of the building from a for profit organization the taxpayer.

There are other costs to society. Because the rules are set, public tax dollars can be used to train kids for the NFL through public school funds. Because salaries are set, the players, though well paid, do not have the ability to truly negotiate a contract. Recall that tech firms have gotten in trouble for this, even though the employees were generally well paid.

And of course there is a fundamental loss to a society that depends on the free market that kids are taught about fair play and rules within a socialist construct where there is in fact a rule book and powerful referees. While this is useful for a 10 year old, it is disastrous when an adult goes into a work place believing her or his life is really going to be controlled by a rule book. It kills innovation and creativity. At leas in baseball you can steal a base. The immaturity of football can be characterized by the fact that everyone got their panties in bunch over deflate gate. In the real free market world that would just be considered a necessary cost of doing business.

Which is to say that the NFL basically lives within it's own bubble. It has the ability to bribe congress, or throw enough lawyers at the problem, to bend the rules no matter what previous legislation or case law says.

And I don't think the NFL is a natural cartel, like the electric company. I think real competition, not the fake thing taught to kids by the NFL structure and games, is good. I don't think sports fans are nearly as dumb as the average sports cartel thinks they are. The current structure is merely a way to maximize profit at taxpayer expense, and to create a world where fundamental rights are infringed for the sake of the bottom line or a corporation.

That is like saying we'll never get beyond the nuclear bronze age (thermal spectrum). We already have, fast breeders can output enriched product even from low-yield inputs like depleted uranium, though the reactor is expensive and dangerous and fun to operate, like a fine sports car.

But the GP poster was obviously referring not to depleted uranium, but spent irradiated fuel stockpiled from conventional reactors which contains significant amounts of unburned fissile. You probably knew that but forgot to point it out. Glad to be of assistance. Aside from re-enrichment, fuel-diverse Thorium breeders or even burners could use fission reactor waste 'as-is'.

Short answer: Shoddy thinking, broken promises and irrational fear.

Longer answer: a brief history of nuclear fear in the United States

___
Please see Thorium Remix and my own letters on energy,
To The Honorable James M. Inhofe, United States Senate
To whom it may concern, Halliburton Corporate
Also of interest, Faulkner [2005]: Electric Pipelines for North American Power Grid Efficiency Security

Aside from a timeless Summer, there is also the every-day time. You're not going to achieve the proper effect unless, during the evening time when they are supposed to be doing homework, you are nearby and are also reading a book.

Abridged history of the Great Distraction.

1. parents reading or knitting, kids have nothing but homework in front of them (until it is done)
2. family gathers around the radio, kids manage to multitask just enough to complete homework
3. early television, all watch a favorite TV show then it is turned off, followed by silent book and homework time
[... several years omitted ...]
10. Television in every room blaring age-targeted drivel. Parents drooling in front of television glancing at Facebook shouting something about homework. Kids in another room with TV, radio and cell phone beeping constant SMS messages from local friends, rolling chats and web pages with countless worldwide near-acquaintances recommending youtube videos, endless Buzzfeed and Tweety scrolls.

The Distraction Ends.

"We were all excited when the package arrived. Daddy opened it slowly as we put down our screens and watched. 'It was recommended by someone on Facebook... I don't remember friending him, but he saw me post about the problems we've been having with sleep and schoolwork... said this is the first step towards a solution.' It was a large heavy metal box with a single red button. We looked at it for a moment and as I reached for the button Daddy grabbed my arm and said 'hold on...' and rooted through the wrapping but all he found was a small sheet of paper written in some strange script. Chinese, Korean, Tagalog...? 'Well, that doesn't help.' so with a shrug he nodded and let me press the button. There was a loud hum, the lights dimmed and went out and the little screens in our hands threw sparks with a loud Snap!. We shrieked, then a silence set in. We could hear the neighbors talking and shouting, doors down the block opening. Mom stepped toward the front door carefully, feeling for it in the dark. As she opened it and stepped outside I remember clearly her shape superimposed on the night sky."

"Then she said softly, 'Look... at all those stars!'."

We lost our memories.
Now we need to make new ones.

Bulbous-eyed fellow, throat sac a-billow,
sweet voice melodic as the pip-squeaks
of sneakers at an NBA playoff,
what is your secret, your purpose?
I am unable to fathom you by light
scattered as if by Cupid's arrows
that never found the mark.

By photonic lance I have found thee
as in the manner of mine own kind, ever
tossing a mess of things at other things
to see what bounces back.
I am surrounded by light.
Why am I blind??

But perhaps this tuned möbius laser
will do the trick.

By use of this special lens...
we see that the frog is quite handsome...!
Plaid waistcoat and chain fob
handkerchief at the ready, Oxfords and scarf,
setting aside a walking stick of oak,
with a doff of his derby, he stoops and squats
to fertilize a clutch of eggs left by his beloved,
in gentle seminal rain.
All in all, a most proper gentleman.

Now I will set my möbius laser skyward
to illuminate Mars! Where it will resolve the illusion
of dry valleys and magnificent desolation
into a cheerful reality of watery canals,
tall spires of intelligent, unknown purpose,
and one can even see the ripples
spreading outward from the poles and oars
of longboats and trailing garlands of flowers.

I was blind,
but now I see.

Not in this universe

Perhaps they mixed up in-coming mail with the outgoing mail. Sounds like angry customers.

God, this is such obnoxious bullshit.

I buy Apple products because they work better than other products I could be paying for. I did a CS degree. I've been making console video games for almost fifteen years. I've run my own mail server, installed Slackware and free BSD on cobbled together beige boxes.

I buy macs because I was sick of coming home from work and doing more work. I wanted to sit in front of my computer and have it do things, not endlessly tinker with it. I've gotten over the need to configure every last widget. It's just not anything I'm interested in anymore. Don't tell me I'm doing it because I'm thinking of my computer or phone as 'jewellery'. I'm the same way with my bicycles. I want my time with my bike to be about riding, not wrenching.

And having run lots of things over the years, the system that has the least work for the most utility has remained Apple for me. Maybe you've got different needs. I have friends that literally can't do the thing they need on an iPhone, so they buy a different phone.

Is there status hunting in the phone market? Definitely. Is it the main driver of people to iPhones? I don't think so. Do you have counter evidence? If you do, put up or shut up. Stop being so patronising.

Parallel universes are just slices of the "real" universe offset in different timelike directions from the slice we experience. I.e, think of time as N dimensional where N > 1, if time were 3 dimensional we could call the timelike dimensions t, t', and t". Our perception is limited to t (plus x, y and z). Moving in the t' or t" axes, we get to parallel worlds (also known as travel "crosstime" in many sci-fi stories). QM effects can propagate crosstime, but we can only observe one slice of that.

There's no actual "split" when a wave collapses, the parallel world(s) was (were) always there, it (they) just hadn't differentiated yet. (There's also no preferred t-like axis -- an observer travelling along t' (with fixed x,y,z) will see a progression of changes just as one at the same (x,y,z) would see travelling along t or t" -- but they'd be different changes.)

Niven had the right idea with his "All the Myriad Ways", the TV series "Sliders" was close too. The idea that there's only one (or at most a handful of) parallel world(s), like ST's mirror universe, is just silly.

And yes, I'm making this shit up (although not entirely). It's part of the background to my paratime stories.

Hell, I'm still waiting for David Gerrold to release the next in his "War Against the Chtorr" series. The volumes are almost as thick as Martin's, and I don't think he's released one this century. (And I still haven't read the final volume in Tubb's "Dumarest" series, which DelRey dropped with like two volumes left to go. It's now available on ebook, some thirty years later.)

That said, as a writer myself I understand some of the problems in writing a series (one where there's an overarching storyline and character development, rather than just a series of episodes with the same characters and setting.) But yes, in beginning a series you're making a promise to the reader, and the more readers you have, you start to lose the excuses that the publisher dropped the series or that you couldn't quit your day job to write full time.