An Ol' Broad's Ramblings
Archive for 10 November 2008
May We NOT R.I.P.
I wasn’t going to do any posting other than about our trip, but this was just too good to pass up, because it’s just so dadburn true! (silent E has been doing all the other posting, in case you were wondering where the posts were coming from, and even if you weren’t.)
Swiped from American and Proud.
Neighborhood Nuclear Superiority
I could have my share paid off in under 9 months at the current rate I’m charged by WE Energies.
Mini nuclear plants to power 20,000 homes
Nuclear power plants smaller than a garden shed and able to power 20,000 homes will be on sale within five years, say scientists at Los Alamos, the US government laboratory which developed the first atomic bomb.
The miniature reactors will be factory-sealed, contain no weapons-grade material, have no moving parts and will be nearly impossible to steal because they will be encased in concrete and buried underground.
The US government has licensed the technology to Hyperion, a New Mexico-based company which said last week that it has taken its first firm orders and plans to start mass production within five years. ‘Our goal is to generate electricity for 10 cents a watt anywhere in the world,’ said John Deal, chief executive of Hyperion. ‘They will cost approximately $25m [£13m] each. For a community with 10,000 households, that is a very affordable $2,500 per home.’
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The reactors, only a few metres in diameter, will be delivered on the back of a lorry to be buried underground. They must be refuelled every 7 to 10 years. Because the reactor is based on a 50-year-old design that has proved safe for students to use, few countries are expected to object to plants on their territory. An application to build the plants will be submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission next year.
‘You could never have a Chernobyl-type event – there are no moving parts,’ said Deal. ‘You would need nation-state resources in order to enrich our uranium. Temperature-wise it’s too hot to handle. It would be like stealing a barbecue with your bare hands.’
Of the few countries that will be expected to object, you count on one of those being the U.S.
Obama, the democrats in congress, and the environmental wackos will see to that.
H/T: Weber
Verse of the Day
Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Brought to by the Bible and Mrs. Silent.
Playing Tourist On Day 5 – MOVED!
We are no longer in Jerusalem. I would post pictures, but it’s now too dark to go out and take any.
I would say we “hopped” on a plane this morning, but one thing you don’t do in Israel is hop on a plane! I will NEVER complain about going through security in the states again. Although, truth be told, the Israelis are a LOT more efficient! We only go through one security check point, the Israelis have 3! We only had to go through 2 of them, although, I’m not sure why. However, my first name did get them some pause, and I got asked a lot of questions I had never had never been asked before….like what does your name mean, what is it’s origins, do you belong to any sect, are you a member of…. Stuff like that. I was named after my mom, who was Lebanese. I didn’t mind answering the questions because I understand the need for the security.
Our flight was suppose to leave at 11:00am. It left 20 minutes late. Not bad, eh? Yeah, I was impressed too. LOL Unlike our flight over, there weren’t too many Orthodox Jews on our flight, with one exception, the lady sitting next to me. She quietly prayed before the flight took off, during take off, and again upon landing. As a matter of fact, I was doing a bit of praying myself, since the plane was doing some shaking and noise making that set me a bit on edge. 
At one point, she dropped her Prayer book, but when I attempted to pick it up for her, she was adamant about picking it up herself. I’m wondering if, perhaps, me not being Orthodox, or even Jewish, had anything to do with her refusal of help?
45 minutes later, we landed in Elat. It was an 8 minute drive to the hotel, not too far from the Red Sea, but dang! It was HOT!
This is a really terrific place, other than the fact I had to battle to get connected. Turned out they had to reboot the whole hotel. Dang, I just love causing problems. Heh. And ya know what??? They have Fox News! 
It is rather odd to watch the morning bunch in the afternoon, but we’re talking about an 8 hour time difference. It’s also rather amusing to watch Russian television with Hebrew subtitles. Since this seems to be a big destination for Russians these days with their new found wealth, I guess it’s only natural to have a Russian idjit channel.
Tomorrow is going to be a really big day trip, and I will be posting some pictures. This afternoon is R & R time….although, it’s not really afternoon anymore since the sun has gone down. 
