Train to Nowhere

Rest easy folks the Federal Government has everything under control with the problem of handling nuclear waste.  "The U.S. government is looking for trains to haul radioactive waste from nuclear power plants to disposal sites. Too bad those trains have nowhere to go."

No I'm not making this up. Read the story for yourself in this New York Times piece Feds Want Nuclear Waste Train, but Nowhere to Go

P.S. Cap tip to friend Keith for bringing my attention to the NYTimes article in the first place.

Gave it all, Still not enough

Michael Sam cut from Ram squad

Quote from Rams coach Jeff Fisher about Michael Sam,  “And I don’t say that very often. Mike came in here and did everything we asked him to do.”

Well, there you go. Sometimes you do everything you are asked to do and it isn't enough.  I know nothing about football, coaching or playing, but I bet from what I've seen from Michael Sam, he would have done the Rams proud.

Above Ground Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel Gets An OK

Sometimes it's a child's game and other times it's a deadly serious game.

"As the country struggles to find a place to bury spent nuclear fuel, theNuclear Regulatory Commission has decided that nuclear waste from power plants can be stored above ground in containers that can be maintained and guarded indefinitely."

Full story here.

Television

I think you could nickname me Mike Teavee and you wouldn't be far from the truth. But recently I have been getting an uneasy feeling about this television addiction I have.

While there is some good stuff on the street there is some really bad stuff being dealt out.  The kind of stuff that can really mess with your mind. It can get deep down in your psyche and do strange stuff to your thinking process.

INFOTAINMENT / Nightly News:  I had all but given that up, all networks really. Too much drama and too few facts.  Well that was until Ferguson, MO became the news hot spot. Ferguson is a city just a few miles from me and I was curious as to what was going on. As the Michael Brown story went from days into weeks, I found myself still glued to CNN, MSNBC and even FOX News as well as our local affiliates.

Until I found myself retching into old airline barf-bags I had laying around the house.  Fact: Michael Brown was an 18 year old, recent high school graduate, bound for Vatterott College. But the media depending on its own particular bias would describe Michael Brown as a teenager or even a child. Rarely referred to as a young man.

He actually was a young man. At eighteen he is old enough to vote, serve in the military and for most things is considered an adult. He was his mother's child, but not a child in the general sense, he was an adult.

The college he was headed to wasn't an Ivy League school or a local university, Vatterott is a trade school, or as they say in their brochures a "career training institute" and that is fine.  I believe in trade schools and I think we need more of them. But the media playing the 'college bound' card was a little off putting if you know of Vatterott College.

These little nuances though shouldn't drive the story away from the truth. A young eighteen year old unarmed black man was shot dead by a local Ferguson police officer. By any stretch of the imagination it was an over reaction by the police and possibly a real crime.

But the media, and shame on them, were more intent in getting viewers and ratings then they were at getting to the truth. And sadly I took the bait that they dangled.  It wasn't until the National Guard was pulled out and the riot brigades took to the side streets and police officers with drawn and pointed weapons ceased to display their weapons so boldly did I finally retreat to other television stations and shows.

SOFT PORN SITES / Almost any television series:  Labeling television series sex as soft porn is really being generous. About the only thing missing is the sight of actually penetration and it doesn't take that active of an imagination to complete the picture.

I am not a prude, far from it, but even I question if we need this so very graphic sex in our family rooms. I know there are parental controls but honestly it is everywhere except for maybe PBS's Children Network and some cooking shows.

These are just a couple of examples of why I think I would be better off if I didn't have television at all. And I especially feel like this on Fridays. Why? Because Friday is the day the book reviews come out in my online Los Angeles Times and New York Times and Washington Post newspapers.

Each week I excitedly scan down the list of new books being reviewed and then return to several to read the in-depth review being presented. And lately more often than not I end up clicking on my Amazon account and ordering a new book.

I think I could retreat into the world of literature and be quite content. I can get my news in print and online and it seems less jaded there. I mean newspapers have more than just the one breaking-news story to sell. And if a writer wants to garner your attention and emotions they seem to attack it on a much higher level then the approach taken by television 'journalists'.

I don't know maybe I really can cut the cord, I'm not sure. But I bet I would be a lot better off if I did.

Lost in America II

People who know me, also know I love Frank Bruni, writer for the New York Times.  Mostly I agree with him but even when I don't I "listen" to what he writes. He makes perfect sense.  I was going to excerpt his recent opinion piece but changed my mind and decided you deserve each and every word he wrote.

Something is going on in America today and it scares the bejeezes out of me. "Can't" has to be the ugliest word in the English language. Damn it we can do better then this, I know we can.  

I give you Frank Bruni ~ Lost in America  Click it and weep as I did, when you remember the time when America was really a great country.

We can do it people but the playbook doesn't begin with "Can't"...

Keep Writing

Keep Writing

My dashing prince mounted his white steed and rode off into the sunset.

A gentle breeze blew his final words back to me…

‘Keep writing’ he whispered above the fray that had been surrounding them both,

 ‘Keep writing’….

She waved her hand in a goodbye and turned. Her shoulders back and chin up.

Still clutching her pen in her palm…

‘I will’ she whispered to no one really,

‘I will’….

What's up?

Well let's see......

Ameren Profit's jump 57%


and

Tritium and Cobalt-60 higher than those found in drinking water

Gosh, and both of those events happening at the Callaway Nuclear Power Plant.

Wow!