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I like the integral fast reactor idea best, since the amount of high level radioactive waste is recycled and used as fuel. But there is still another innovative meltdown-proof design that is worth looking into.

In Galena Alaska there is proposed a reactor with a sub-critical cylinder of fuel, with a neutron-reflective sleeve that slides along it as the fuel is spent. Only the part of the fuel encased in the sleeve reacts, and if it is not moved periodically the reaction will cease. If it gets too hot and the sleeve melts, the reaction will cease.

interesting.

I know that nuke plants aren't maintenance free. I felt that was a given ;). But I felt that I needed to mention that solar plants still require maintenance.

The previously features christmas tree sized low maintenance reactor
Well, the nuclear portion is maintenance free, at least.

My estimate of costs came from comparing the build costs for an australian mirror plant with the south african pebble bed. And I assumed linear, as in it takes x plants at y dollars each to reach the USA's annual production.
PBMR: $100 million per 110 MegaWatt "Module" (.9mil per MW)
Solar 1:$2.1 Million for 180 Kilowatts (11mil per MW for an admittably small plant)
Solar 2:$3 Million per Megawatt?

Well, it's not exactly "order of magnitude", but a factor of three is still quite a difference.

Irregularities does not have the same connotation as differences. Yet their "irregularities" is merely the difference in fit between what their model predicts and what they measured. Sure, you might call this an irregularity if you are fitting multiple data sets to a model and one of the sets doesn't fit. In this case, they have one model and one data set.

"Compared to counties with paper ballots, counties with electronic voting machines were significantly more likely to show increases for President Bush between 2000 and 2004. This effect cannot be explained by differences between counties in income, number of voters, change in voter turnout, or size of the Hispanic/Latino population."

* The effect cannot be explained within the framework of their model.

They state that their analysis takes account of:
- number of voters
- median income
- Hispanic population
- change in voter turnout between 2000 and 2004
- support for President Bush in 2000 election
- support for Dole in 1996 election

The counties with evote are the three largest counties. One should be careful in weighting the significance of the variables and data points. These three counties significantly skew the chosen fit.The change in turnout, past Bush support, and Dole support are not really relevent when comparing different demographics (three most populus counties with others).
The Hispanic vote is basically 'in the noise' outside of these three counties and there was a major shift in Hispanic vote between the Dole-Bush contest and the Kerry-Bush contest.
A little research will show that the shift in Hispanic vote was very significant in the 2004 election. Here is one of many sources. Google will find many more.

Interesting that the FA focuses on supplying nuclear power to other countries. IIRC from a posting to the China article yesterday, the US currently obtains 50% of our electricity generation from burning coal. How about hooking up a few of these bad boys here first?

1. consistent with archaeological evidence. Nothing in the Bible has ever been disproven based on ancient findings by any reputable scientific investigation.

Are you saying that any research that contradicts what the Bible says is not "reputable"?

Ahm, Pi? (aka 3.14...)

Gali-#en-leo? Copernicus?!?!?!

How about doctrine changes over the ages, including recient history (I could go on, though one example is enough to refute your dogmatic statement and I've given severial.

(No, I'm not going to dig up Bible references. If you've studied one or a few of the books and translations called "The Bible", you *should* know and also know how to prove me wrong. If not...well...what can I say?)

A book can be inspiring. It can even guide you. I'm concerned when it can't be questioned w/o someone insisting that it has no faults.

After all, do you think that the world rests on the back of a great turtle? Do you find it convincing that others do?

For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies: "

"FDR did it during WWII,"

This action has been blasted time and time again by Supreme Court justices, Presidents, and others. The Civil Liberties Act of 1988 gave a Presidential apology to all those affected and went so far as to provide reparations. From this site:

"Civil Liberties Act of 1988, signed by President Reagan and passed by Congress, provides for a Presidential apology and appropriates $1.25 billion for reparations of $20,000 to most internees, evacuees, and others of Japanese ancestry who lost liberty or property because of discriminatory wartime actions by the government. Civil Liberties Public Education Fund created to help teach the public about the internment period."

The Executive Order authorizing the internment camps was rescinded by President Ford in 1976 with Proclamation 4417, ti

There were all these out of work techies in the US going to work for al Qaeda terrorist cells after 9/11 because they were pissed off that the government expanded the H-1B visas by 40% in the middle of a tech downturn despite the fact that over 80% of the US public opposed expansion of the H-1B program. George Bush Jr. figures out most of the trecherous techies are aging boomer males who, having paid huge amounts in taxes over the years, are now being punished by the welfare bureaucrats. Their crime: Applying for welfare while white and male. Thinking fast, POTUS gets his boys in Congress to do an end-around: A crypto-welfare program for the angry white male techies, giving them what they've always wanted since they saw Sputnik fly overhead as children: "Jobs" working with space stuff. Since the time horizon isn't until they retire 20 years from now, no one will be able to hold them to account for the failure to accomplish any of the promised objectives of the program. There is ample precedent for this sort of scam so little risk discount need be applied to the investment. The program may cost tens of billions -- even a hundred billion over those decades, but compared to the damage those bitter old white guys could do, savvy Bush has economically side-stepped a disaster!

There were all these out of work techies in the US going to work for al Qaeda terrorist cells after 9/11 because they were pissed off that the government expanded the H-1B visas by 40% in the middle of a tech downturn despite the fact that over 80% of the US public opposed expansion of the H-1B program. George Bush Jr. figures out most of the trecherous techies are aging boomer males who, having paid huge amounts in taxes over the years, are now being punished by the welfare bureaucrats. Their crime: Applying for welfare while white and male. Thinking fast, POTUS gets his boys in Congress to do an end-around: A crypto-welfare program for the angry white male techies, giving them what they've always wanted since they saw Sputnik fly overhead as children: "Jobs" working with space stuff. Since the time horizon isn't until they retire 20 years from now, no one will be able to hold them to account for the failure to accomplish any of the promised objectives of the program. There is ample precedent for this sort of scam so little risk discount need be applied to the investment. The program may cost tens of billions -- even a hundred billion over those decades, but compared to the damage those bitter old white guys could do, savvy Bush has economically side-stepped a disaster!

The biggest mystery is the obscurity of the story until now. "It looks to me as if the whole U.S. press missed the story," says Joe Barr, a technology journalist who frequently writes for IDG's LinuxWorld.

So let me get this straight. Two weeks after Sept. 11 and in the middle of the anthrax attacksthe U.S. press missed a story about $400,000 fine issued (IN FRANCE) against Microsoft (with $40 Billion on hand) for putting unauthorized code in an obscure software package that it no longer owns (Avid). No shit. Really! They must be biased!

Never forget that:

• Over 80% of the American public opposed expansion of the H1-B program [ucdavis.edu].
• The H1-B program was expanded by 40% last year, in the middle of a tech recession [imdiversity.com].

Everyone and their brother has free speech as an issue.

What "geeks" need right now is to know how to make a point about the fact that:

• Over 80% of the American public opposed expansion of the H1-B program.
• The H1-B program was expanded by 40% last year, in the middle of a tech recession.

The unpopular expansion of the H1-B program has caused massive dislocation in the tech industry with little popular debate.

Over 80% of the American public opposed expansion of the H1-B program. Still, the program was expanded last year, in the middle of a tech recession. White House sources available to this correspondent indicate that there is starting to be considerable dissent among personnel in the Bush administration on whether the expansion of the H1-B program should be continued. Bush has been a strong supporter of the H1-B program(McCain and Gore also supported the H1-B program- Leiberman was unusual in that he was one of four senators that abstained from or opposed the major Senate vote around H1-B expansion).

The Associated Press reports that "U.S. companies and other groups applied for 342,035 H-1B work visas in 2001, up 14 percent from 2000, before the economy tumbled.", "The number accepted also rose by 40 percent..." and "About half ... are for computer related jobs." The article cites research by UC Davis Professor Norman Matloff saying that "wages of computer programmers and engineers working in the U.S. on the visas are 15 percent to 33 percent lower than those of U.S. citizens".

Mark Shevitz of VisaNow is quoted as saying, "I think it surprised everyone. All that you hear about in the media is these huge layoffs and the tech industry is just shedding workers."

Finally, the article reports "Bay Area companies Oracle, Cisco Systems, Intel and Sun Microsystems were among the top users of the program in 2000, as were universities such as Harvard and Yale. The INS did not have numbers available on how many applications the companies filed last year amid layoffs.

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BTW: It is illegal to use the H-1B program to lower wages from the rates prevailing in the absence of the program.

Here's information posted by an anti-H-!B activist at another site:

Additional information provided by an h1b activist (although I encourage people to avoid political action, there are far more effective things they can do with technology to deconstruct the edifice that did this to us because it is, after all, in existence because of technologists -- the real ones, not the Wired magazine ones):

80% of the US public opposed H1-B expansion. Part of what makes the bill increasing H1-B Visas so unusual is that it was so unpopular and was passed with very, very little debate.

Zazona is the most comprehensive site on the H1-B issue. Corrective legislation is now in a US congressional Committee. The philosophy of HR 3222 has been supported by a diverse group that includes Buchanan Supporters, Nader Supporters, and the National Urban League. HR 3222 is a compromise-it roles the level of new H1-B Visas back to 1998 levels and puts in place an unemployment adjustment mechanism.

H1-B Visa expansion was advocated by the ITAA. Organized opposition to H1-B includes:the AEA and the Programmers Guild.

You can Look at H1-B applications by company,state,city. You can write your Congressional representatives if you have a problem with the current H1-B situation. You can also write your state representatives. The only aspect of the H1-B issue that is in state jurisdiction is use of H1-B labor at state institutions. However, state representatives are influential in their parties-if your state representative writes a letter to congress it could mean a lot.