AlanS

People should be reading Volume 1 of the report which talks about Russia hacking into our voter registration databases and vote-counting systems. That is the real threat to our democracy and our political class (Democrats and Republicans) are to focused on bickering with each other, they miss the real threat to the system. So few people get it, that it is frustrating to read these threads. One thing never discussed is the help Trump got went all the back into the Republican primary when Russian agents were hacking into Marco Rubio's mail server. We need to watch very carefully to see if this happens in the Democratic primary, that is where interference in the election has the most leverage. (Fewer voters spread over more candidates.)

Here is an interview with Craig Mazin who is the writer and executive producer. It is very clear that he is for nuclear power. What he is against is living in a system where the people in power are lying all the time. I could almost quote the entire article but will limit it to quotes below. May 2, 2019 interview with writer and executive director of Chernobyl mini-series. He is for nuclear power. What he is against is a society that doesn't value truth. And he is aware that he does change events some to make it an easier story to tell, but he will have a podcast available after each episode to describe what he changed from the real events and why.

The tariffs we apply to a country should be tied directly to that country's freedom house index. If a country wants to trade with us, and our allies they need to improve their freedom house index. See the map associated with this article. https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-media/freedom-media-2019

Yes, I was disappointed with how they edited the 8-minute version of the podcast. They were creatively editing the ending to sell us on a conclusion that isn't supported in the longer version of the podcast.

8 Minute Planet Money podcast is the first link. The second link is the more accurate 22-minute version which is worth listening to the end. Counterfeiting in China. This is what U.S. businesses are up against in China, but the 8-minute version skips some important details, that are at the end of the 22-minute version. https://www.npr.org/2019/03/20/705252675/how-a-small-indiana-company-fought-back-against-chinese-counterfeiters In this version of the podcast, NPR cut out the ending, which as a discussion that China will only go after counterfeiters in non-strategic industries. In this case a small glue manufacturer. If this business were in a strategic industry like semiconductors, this would not have been the end result This is the 22-minute version. Skip to the last three minutes and contrast is with the shorter version. Different ending. https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2019/03/15/702643451/episode-900-the-stolen-company

Article: North Korean Sept. 2017 test was an order of magnitude (10x) stronger than the previous 5 tests. See link for details. https://gizmodo.com/north-korea-s-2017-nuclear-test-estimated-to-be-16-time-1835235895 This is a quote from the article. The sudden increase in capability was likely due to help from outside the NK getting high precision machinery into the country. What is also very disturbing is that picture in the article. Instead of being a single ball or cylinder more common of the older and less efficient nuclear weapon designs, that is a peanut shape similar to the US W88 design, where a Uranium-235 stage acts as a spark-plug igniting Plutonium-239 pit surrounding a tritium and deuterium core for a more efficient hydrogen bomb. Instead of a nuclear bomb weighing several tons, it could now be less than 1,000 lbs which would make it easier to deliver on a rocket. The previous estimate was they had enough material for 60 bombs but was of the less efficient design. You take the same amount of nuclear material and it could double the number of more powerful and deliverable nuclear bombs they have. North Korea could have more nuclear weapons than England or France by 2024. The other area they have been working on is solid stage rockets to replace the liquid-fueled rockets. This means they could be hidden and launched more easily. None of these advances are possible without high-tech milling equipment, and the chemical getting into North Korea through its border with China.

I'm fully behind solar panels on every roof and batteries packs in every house, but it only works when the sun is up. Closing down our nuclear power plants will add 4 billion metric tons of extra CO2 emissions. Twenty percent of our electricity in the United States comes from nuclear power. If we are going to be serious of curbing CO2 emissions we need to invest more in nuclear power. It would also assist in electrifying our transportation system since most people charge electric cars at night when we are using primarily base power which is either coal or nuclear power. It also keeps us from importing oil from (and thus economically supporting) Saudi Arabia and Russia.

What's your point? How about reading the post Read this before posting or reading here! See the quote. 1. No personal attacks. ... Personal attacks are any variation on the theme of "you're an idiot." For a discussion of what constitutes a personal attack, see here.

I don't think we will see any fusion power plants in the next 50 years, and maybe never. If you want to cut greenhouse gasses in a meaningful way, it is better to focus on the next generation nuclear fission reactors for base-load power, and solar and wind with batteries for peak load. Then phase out coal, and natural gas power plant.

Wow, what a great contribution this fantastic forum. No wonder nobody posts here. It's people like you.

Or I thought most of the readers here were: 1) Informed enough to know that France, England, Isreal, India, and Pakistan also have nuclear weapons and 2) Smart enough to know it doesn't make a difference to this topic if they are not aimed at us. (unlike the 3 mentioned) and 3) Mature enough to make some relevant points instead of just tilting towards personal attacks like "Stop weaseling".

Please bookmark my post and look at it again in 4 years. I'm telling the truth.

Just to be clear I blame Trump too. They play to his psychological profile as a narcissist to buy more time to quietly improve their capabilities. We are in denial.

BS. What is the point to include France or Britain in that list? Do think they will ever point nuclear weapons at us? Really? You're just making a childish rhetorical point, that doesn't add anything substantial. Get it?

Your information is old. North Korea hasn't been doing public tests or launches recently but they've been working just as hard as before in building more nuclear bombs and improving their designs. And they have been getting help which will increase their capabilities fast. They just haven't shown these capabilities publicly yet. The chemicals to process plutonium, the milling machines needed to make compact nuclear bombs and solid rocket boosters are not things that North Korea can produce domestically. During this hiatus, they have been importing these things quietly with external help. This is such an important issue that we need to link trade talks with China to help from them bring down the Kim Dynasty in North Korea.