At the risk of sounding like a free market wanker, capitalist markets will find a way to subvert regulatory reform. Now that they've had practise undoing reforms put in place during the first great depression, they'll just get 'er done faster this time. We need revolution not regulation. I don't mean Tea Party style guns a-blazing revolution, just a complete rationally based restructuring of our economy. Worker owned cooperatives might be a compromise economic structure that will satisfy both Marxists and capitalists. If not that, than something else. Using your nuclear analogy, we don't need an improvement to fission plants, we need fusion, because, to paraphrase Murphy, if shit can go wrong, it will.

Ever since the Fukushima incidents, I have been wondering if steam powered coolant pumps are ever used for backup? It seems like the simplicity and ruggedness of steam power would make it much better than electrically powered pumps. An overheating reactor could power them directly.

Also, it seems like maybe the nuclear industry could win public confidence by releasing open source plant simulation software that would allow people look for problems in the safety systems in various disaster scenarios.

In capitalist America, the corporations railroad you!

Thanks for the blue balls

When you can just make the helium-3 on Earth.

It's not just about trust. It's a failure of critical and rational thinking, and people opting for news sources that'll tell them what they want to hear.

TED Talk:Eli Pariser: Beware online "filter bubbles" Points out that search algorithms tend to help to feed us what we want to hear. My take on it,is that it leads to a sort of feedback loop that breeds extremism and delusion.

Do you at least get paid for being a Koch sucker or are you just in it for the humiliation and smegma?

Shouldn't it be America's Third Reich? http://american3p.org/american-voice/a3p-state-chair-gets-last-word-on-discrimination-in-pa/#idc-container

People need to wake up to the reality that most Democrats, almost all Republicans, almost all Tea Baggers and almost all Libertarians who stand any chance of being elected are really members of the same party. They work for the corporations and the elites to suck every one else dry. The differences between them are just theater to distract us from the reality that we do not live in a democracy and they are screwing over us and the rest of the world. It is high time to get serious about organizing against them and taking control.

http://gdblather.blogspot.com/2010/05/us-debt-and-us-presidents.html

Sometimes I think that you have to be stupid and inconsiderate to want an SUV and that is why they are generally driven with such stupidity and inconsideration. Other times I wonder if maybe sitting so high above the road ensconced in steel has psychological effects that makes average people act like jerks.

I almost always walk which gives me free time to observe driving habits. I have lost count several times, but roughly speaking, SUV drivers endanger my life about 20:4 over cars. They are typically the drivers who enter the crosswalk while I'm crossing, gun their engines to try to hurry me along, swerve onto the shoulders when there is no sidewalk, burn rubber to hurry around a round-about so they can barrel down on me, and etc. The problem cars are generally cheap sports cars driven by students yakking on cellphones.

I think those with a score of 8.5 or better at Transparency International should temporarily get the power to re-organize the UN to make it better. Until the UN is fixed, I can't agree with allowing it to set Internet law since it basically means the corrupt majority of countries would end free speech. I really like the idea of an international government, so long as it protects human rights.

Full disclosure: My country, the USA, scores 7.1, so it wouldn't get the temporary power.

If only we could quoth the Burkster...

• All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing
• All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing
• All that is necessary for evil to triumph is that good men do nothing
• All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for a few good men to do nothing
• All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for a few good men to do nothing
• All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for some good men to do nothing
• All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for all good men to do nothing
• All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for enough good men to do nothing
• All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that enough good men do nothing
• All that is essential for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing
• All that is needed for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing
• All that is needed for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing
• All that is needed for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing
• All that is needed for evil to triumph is that good men do nothing
• All that is needed for the triumph of evil is for enough good men to do nothing
• All that is needed for the forces of evil to triumph is for enough good men to do nothing
• All that is required for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing
• All that is required for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing
• All that is required for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing
• All that is required for evil to triumph is that good men do nothing
• The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing
• The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing
• The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing
• The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing
• The only thing required for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing
• The only thing needed for evil to triumph is that good men do nothing
• The only thing needed for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing
• The only thing that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing
• The only thing that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing
• All that it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing
• All it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing
• All that’s necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing
• All that’s needed for the forces of evil to triumph is for enough good men to do nothing
• All that’s needed for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing
• All that is necessary for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing
• For evil to prosper all it needs is for good people to do nothing
• All that is necessary for the forces of evil to win in the world is for enough good men to do nothing
• All that’s necessary for the forces of evil to win in the world is for enough good men to do nothing
• All that is required for evil to triumph is for good [wo]men to do nothing
• The only thing needed for evil to triumph is for enough good men [and women] to do nothing
• The only thing required for evil to triumph is for good men (and women!) to do nothing
• All that is necessary for evil to triumph is that good men (and women) do nothing
• All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men (and women) do nothing
• For evil to triumph it is necessary only that good men [and women] do nothing
• All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men and women to do nothing
• All that it takes for the triumph of evil is that good men and women do nothing
• The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men and women to do nothing
• All it takes for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing
• All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing
• All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good people do nothing
• All that needs to be done for evil to prevail is that good men do nothing
• The only thing that has to happen in this world for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing
• All that is necessary for evil to triumph in the world is for enough good men and women to do nothing
• Evil thrives when good men do nothing
• For evil to triumph good men need do nothing
• For evil to triumph good men have to do nothing
• The best way for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing
• The surest way to assure the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing
• Evil will triumph so long as good men do nothing
• It is necessary only for good men to say nothing for evil to triumph
• It is necessary only for the good man to do nothing for evil to triumph
• For evil to triumph it is necessary for good men to do nothing
• For evil to triumph it is sufficient for good men to do nothing
• All it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to stand by and do nothing
• All that is necessary for the forces of evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing
• All that is required for evil to triumph over good is for good men to do nothing
• Evil can triumph only if good men do nothing
• The only thing evil men need to triumph is for good men to do nothing
• The only thing for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing
• The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for enough good men to do nothing
• The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men stand by and do nothing
• The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil was for good men to do nothing
• The only way for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing
• Evil prevails when good men do nothing

Don't cower, it's unseemly.

It seems to me that's exactly what the US has been up to. I don't think those 800+ military bases around the world are landing strips for Santa and his 8 tiny reindeer. I don't believe it is because all of those other countries are too stupid to defend themselves. It is so we can exert control.

Doubtlessly some might argue that we have every right to exert such intimidating force on our neighbors. I say, try to remember what being an American was supposed to be about. What would you say of the bully on the playground who dominates and forces his will upon everyone else through slander, intimidation and violence. I hate those fuckers. Yet, that is what my country has become.

Please read this. That is what we are doing to ourselves and the rest of the world. We are the guards.