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.

....I'm only counting the ones with missiles pointed at us. Is this really such a big deal for you?

We should trade with countries that share our values of freedom of speech, generally democratic values and don't have nuclear missiles pointed at us. The free trade agreement with China was a strategic mistake.

Here is a list of countries that have nuclear weapons and have launched satellites. #1) Russia #2) China #3) North Korea Kwangmyongsong-4 or KMS-4 is an earth observation satellite launched by North Korea on 7 February 2016. On February 7, 2016, roughly a month after an alleged hydrogen bomb test, North Korea claimed to have put a satellite into orbit around the Earth. North Korea will have more than 100 nukes by the end of 2020 And someone recently helped them miniaturize their nuke design so they could fit on the tip of a missile better. In addition, the unreliable liquid-fuel rockets they use to launch (and we use to laugh at) suddenly were replaced by much more reliable solid-fuel rockets, again with someones clandestine help. It isn't 2015 any longer. We should not be complacent in thinking we can just shoot these things down. Even with the most favorable conditions, we test our anti-ballistic missile systems with, the success-rate is depressingly low. These tests don't even take into account that counter-measures as simple as a mylar balloon - the kind you could buy for a kids birthday party - could fool the radar systems trying to track such missiles. And in a real attack, the first nuke likely will be an airburst designed to blind our radar and surveillance systems. Google "EMP" to understand what that means. It would take some luck, but North Korea could with an EMP first strike follow up the launch with something that could hit Seattle or San Francisco or Los Angles. (The rockets don't need to be that accurate to do an EMP attack or hit a city)

Perhaps this is the sign that we shouldn't be trading freely with China. Just saying. This is wrong. We buy much from them than they buy from us. The Communist Party of China needs us to keep its citizens employed and passive. We have done this at the expense of our own industrial-base and citizens that could be working in those factories.

This climate model is rather disturbing and suggests we could be closer to a runaway feedback loop than previously thought. https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/02/striking-study-finds-a-climate-tipping-point-in-clouds/ The TL;DR; is if CO2 levels get above 1400 ppm (which is more than 100 years away if we do nothing), the already assumed 4-degree Celsius increase could add another 8-degrees. For the Fahrenheit to Celcius conversion that is a 50-degree Farenhite increase. This is a pretty good video describing the last time the Globe Warmed. We are increasing CO2 levels faster now then this timeframe.

We should link trade talks with China to North Korea de-nuclearization. This is an existential threat to the US and we need to treat it that way. China is the key to bring down the Kim Dynasty, his train is traveling through China, after all, to get to the latest talks. If China wants to continue trade with the US, bring down North Korea. If they don't just increase tariffs on imports from China until they decide to help, and we can help other countries in the Pacific Rim (that don't support North Korea) grow their economies.

Indeed, Let's see who gets the last laugh. CNBC: Tesla shares soar on surprise third-quarter profit that beats Wall Street expectations https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/24/tesla-earnings-q3-2018.html Whenever you run into a whiny critic. Online or in life, always remember this. We need more people that live by these words in the world right now. Elon Musk is one of those few. I'm planning on going down to SoCal sometime in the next few months to watch a SpaceX launch and see a rocket guide itself back to the launch pad stick a perfect landing after falling back to Earth. His critics -lacking any real accomplishments of their own- can go jump off a bridge without a BASE rig.

I honestly believe that China is the true player in this. We need to enact the tariffs against China, and state simply we will not trade with China as long as they support North Korea having nuclear weapons. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/north-korea-summit-crumbled-after-china-lined-against-it-n877341 China was starting to impose more sanctions in N. Korea which force them to the table, but after the 2nd meeting between Xi and Kim it seems those sanctions started to crumble.

Two cortisone injections both related to swimming. They've (mostly) worked for me, but in addition I also need to correct muscle imbalances. I've found that when things are out of balance from swimming, rock climbing is a good antidote, to strengthen the muscles not used in swimming.

It is, if it's not jam packed with tourists, that is. True, but those dates are right before the big tourist crush, plus the waterfalls will be roaring. NOW is the time to go to Yosemite. The waterfalls are going strong, and the kids are not yet out of school. If you are good at back country camping I can give some suggestions for Yosemite trails in the wilderness.