Speaking for me, myself, and I… the three of us all vote for nuclear power. LOTS of nuclear power!

As to the risks… according to “our” cost/benefit analysis they’re easily within the acceptable range.

(*WINK*)

BILL

Thanks for providing your blog address.

In case you have any interest, my blog can be found at usalyright.blogspot.com

“The “scientists” are figureheads and fundraisers.”

No scientists, no science! No science, no science technicians! (*GRIN*)

“…(vewy vewy pwestigious)…”

(*WINK*) Thank you… thank you… thank you!!! Too many people who blog have no frigg’n sense of humor whatsoever. Anytime you can make someone smile it’s a victory of all of mankind!

Hey… thanks for responding and sharing a bit of your background. I look forward to chatting with you in the future.

BILL

You seem awfully sure that we will never have a dysfunctional ecomony nor corrupt oversight in USA. Maybe you could explain why you are so sure? I’m not.

I’m not talking about abstract nuclear power. I’m talking about the responses of the scientific community to the question whether or not WE should BUILD more nukes. Right now, only two big events are generally known–Chernobyl and Three-Mile Island. What if there were five, including three recent ones, including one caused by terror? Sure, there’d probably still be more support for nukes among scientists than among the public, but it wouldn’t be no seventy percent nohow.

And while I am not a scientist, I earned my living for some years making bioreagents (antibodies) FOR scientists, including some of the best in the world. My work has generated several PhDs, just not one for me. I have done technician-level work in more different fields of science than most people could name. (Technicians are the real scientists. They do the experiments. The “scientists” are figureheads and fundraisers. There are exceptions–PhD-level people who do experiments–but not very many. Grad students put dummy-controls on their instruments and label them “Supervisor Only”.) I have written a successful grant proposal for NIH training money (vewy vewy pwestigious) for an MD/PhD combined degree (writing it was easier than doing it….). Now I do scientific tutoring and writing. So I am a member of the magical community although no longer practicing magic my own self.

(*HANDSHAKE*)

BILL

………..I wonder about your value judgement system sometimes……..New ageism is of zero importance as a factor in Democratic politics……..You might as well say 30% of democrats approve of Rogers and Hammerstein musicals…..it wouldn’t mean they were a factor in Democratic politics……Whereas religiosity is a major factor in Republican politics…..neither apparently do you regard drug taking as a moral failing……I find this imaginary identification of democrats even more odd in the light of the fact that Republican president Reagan and his wife used to consult astrologers…..perhaps you believe Obama gets the ju ju man in once a week

That’s not something that Dems can be proud of. Though it’s not as bad as having 60% of Repubs who believe in creationism.”

Well, first off, fortunately, while mysticism infiltrates pop culture and the like, I’ve never heard of someone claiming it as a basis for selecting national political candidates, or for justifying a major policy initiative. I will gladly respond with a resounding guffaw if anyone does, the same way I mock people using Christianity as a justification for a legislative initiative or a ballot box decision.

Second, I see astrology and reincarnation as two very separate things. No, I don’t believe in either one, and yes, I’m very glad that in contrast with creationism, nobody is arguing they should be taught in our public schools.

But belief in astrology is even more ignorant than creationism, if that’s possible. While belief in reincarnation is on a plain with belief in heaven and hell, or in God him/her/itself.

Anyway Bill, my comments were teasing as you say but I stand by the underlying point. I’m sure we’ll pick this up later on other threads. For the record on bailouts, I think you have to bailout under certain conditions but there have to be consequences. I don’t think we’ve seen enough consequences.

But that Opinion Dynamics poll showed that some one-third of self-described Democrats believe in astrology and reincarnation, indicating a strong bias toward Eastern mysticism. I lived through the 1960s, when Eastern mysticism and African mysticism was becoming popular among the young counterculture and black rebels. Evidently, 40 years later, they never outgrew it.

That’s not something that Dems can be proud of. Though it’s not as bad as having 60% of Repubs who believe in creationism.

“ottovbvs: That poll I cited indicates something that I’ve seen with my own eyes: Leftists are particularly sympathetic to all manner of “New Age” nonsense,”

…….There’s evidence fringe rightists are sympathetic to Nazism…..Pat Buchanan frequently expresses quasi Nazi beliefs….I do not extrapolate from this that all conservatives are therefore Nazis I like steak but the suggestion that Vegetarianism is an exclusively left wing belief is even more fatuous…….Hitler was one…I believe Mort Zuckerman is one too…….