WIP

Was the big problem fractional reserve banking? Or the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act, which would have kept all of the phony money schemes in the derivatives markets from inflating and then destroying the home mortgage market if it was still in place. Other deregulation bullshit allowed Countrywide and some other mortgagers to create interest-only payment plans, and escalator mortgages, and others I forget at them moment, that never should have been legal in the first place. Funny how many market bubbles and busts there have been since 1980, when the big push to deregulation began...compared to post-war to 1980, when financial markets were more closely constrained from acting recklessly and irrationally. Were you, by any chance one of those who was calling for deregulation of Canadian banking? So that Canadian banks could end up in the same mess as the U.S. banks!

The wrestlers, like Dan Severn and Ken Shamrock, did very well in those early tournaments. Severn won at least one event, and relied strictly on his wrestling to win fights. Shamrock lost the first event to Royce Gracie, but after learning about BJJ he was robbed of a win in a rematch with Gracie, when the 2nd fight was ruled a draw. The biggest problem for the wrestlers is that they are trained to always work from a position of control, and when they lose it, they have to find a way to reverse position to get back on top. Whereas BJJ has developed a lot of techniques to work over an opponent from the bottom position....that was especially true when head butts were still allowed. A BJJ specialist with strong legs can control an opponent easier from the guard than from the top or side control. I don't see it for a number of reasons...a big one would be how the sport was dominated by grapplers in those early years, until 4 oz. gloves, refs standing up the fighters, became the norm. The grappler has to win the fight in the first round, and always faces the hazard that a ref will call for a break right when he's in the middle of trying to execute an arm-lock or choke-hold. I've become a little suspicious about how genuine the UFC is now. Part of the reason is because so many of these English fighters like Bisping and Dan Hardy, were way overhyped and over-rated because Dana White was making a big push to establish the UFC in England, and there wasn't much quality homegrown talent. I had a feeling that Bisping would get rocked as soon as he stepped in against a top ranked opponent....and he didn't disappoint.

I notice that they say these seafarers were also Asiatic. The article doesn't mention it, but there is geologic evidence now that during the Ice Age, the first settlers across the Bering Land Bridge were trapped in southern Alaska because of a wall of ice that blocked the way. So, it's not surprising that early mariners would be the first to arrive in North America. The present genetic mix of Aboriginals in North America indicates that the vast majority are descendent from those who made the land crossing after the glaciers had receded enough to allow a path through the glaciers. If you recall the big flap about Kennewick Man, found in Washington State a few years ago; that skull was older than the tribes who later settled the area, and was also suspected to be part of a group that had been traveling by small boats along the coasts. A lot of white supremacists got themselves worked up to orgasmic levels by the appearance of the skull - which looks somewhat European in appearance. But genetic analysis showed that appearances can be deceiving, and Kennewick Man was also from Asia, but of different origins than the later tribes settling the area. So, the groups that concocted a "Salutrian Theory" of North American conquest have to look elsewhere for evidence that white Europeans were here first, and therefore tear up all of those first nations treaties.

The longer wars drag on, the more war crimes will be committed...it's a simple fact of life that men who are at best, borderline psychopaths, will be the ones who rise to the top in a war zone. My suspicions are that the "super soldiers" who don't get stressed by PTSD would likely be incarcerated in peacetime situations. So, if America has become dependent on continuous, neverending war to appease the makers and suppliers of the weapons of war, stories such as these will keep bubbling up to the surface. Keep in mind that there is a lot of anecdotal evidence from witnesses that most war crimes are successfully covered up and go on without notice. What better place for a serial killer to indulge his fantasies than in Iraq or Afghanistan! Doesn't it say something in the Bible about how easy it is to find fault in the "other side?" Anyway, these wars are happening over there, not Here, so many villagers will pick up a rifle and become unlawful combatants because foreign soldiers have invaded their valleys, so the average villager in Afghanistan has a better case than America & Co. who don't even have a clear objective or an exit strategy telling us when they are getting out. And whatever justifications there were ten years ago about getting Bin Laden and Al Qaeda have vanished, and new excuses have had to be found to keep the wars going. The war in Iraq and 99% of America's foreign policy problmes in the MiddleEast would not even exist if it wasn't for the decision to use gunboat diplomacy to maintain control of the flow of oil from MiddleEastern nations to the West.

It is starting to become apparent now that we have outside analysis, that the TEP and Japanese Government have been lying and misleading the public about the amount of radiation that is being emitted from the damaged nuclear facility: Fukushima radioactive fallout nears Chernobyl levels Japan's damaged nuclear plant in Fukushima has been emitting radioactive iodine and caesium at levels approaching those seen in the aftermath of the Chernobyl accident in 1986. Austrian researchers have used a worldwide network of radiation detectors – designed to spot clandestine nuclear bomb tests – to show that iodine-131 is being released at daily levels 73 per cent of those seen after the 1986 disaster. The daily amount of caesium-137 released from Fukushima Daiichi is around 60 per cent of the amount released from Chernobyl. We are also learning that it is strongly suspected that there has been a core breach at one of the reactors: Dangerous breach suspected at Japan nuke site Other analysts suspect that a breach is possible at two other reactors as well. As mentioned in previous posts, the effects of radiation are cumulative, and the situation at the damaged reactors and spent fuel containment tanks doesn't appear close to being brought under control. The Government has so far, only called for evacuation of a small area outside of the plant: Radiation Spread From Japanese Nuclear Power Plant Continues On the outside, steam continued to rise Friday from several reactor buildings at the Fukushima-1 nuclear facility in northeastern Japan. Inside, work continued to try to bring automated cooling systems back on line that would help prevent an even potentially worse spread of radiation from the severely damaged complex. Japan's government has recommended that people living between 20 and 30 kilometers from the facility leave their homes, but no mandatory evacuation is being issued for that zone. Next question is: have they already waited too long to conduct a wider evacuation away from the danger zone?

And wrestling and BJJ only works in a strictly one on one situation. You don't want to be fighting on the ground with a guy who has friends looking on who might jump in.

I can't agree, especially when the refs are instructed to stand the fighters up if they decide there's not enough action on the ground. That is big disadvantage for someone who's looking for submissions, and a break for those who just want to stall the action till they get a chance to get back to their feet. Some of the wrestlers weren't happy when fingerless gloves became mandatory, since a hand wearing a glove can get trapped. And a lot of BJJ moves use the gee...such as some of the choke holds Royce Gracie used in those early UFC tournaments. In today's fights, submission holds become more difficult after round one when sweat becomes a factor and makes it harder to hold on; so most of the action is ground-and-pound or standup fighting later in the fight. But seriously, it was a glorified barfight! Their punching was entertaining, but 2nd rate boxing. In the leadup to that fight, they were coaches for one of the Ultimate Fighter series. Henderson isn't much of a talker, but it was pretty obvious that he was totally pissed at having to listen to Bisping run off his mouth every day for a month; so, I'd be willing to bet that he wanted to get in the shots regardless of Bisping's condition. If you recall the way Penn was able to stop GSP from taking him down while standing on one foot, there's no way you can diss his athletic ability. And as for conditioning: that was true when Penn was a flabby welterweight with a spare tire around the middle; but when he got his weight down to the lightweight division, it was pretty obvious that he found the motivation somewhere to take the training seriously. The last fight I seen him in was his title defense against Diego Sanchez; and that's one that he would not have been able to win if he wasn't in peak condition. I still think it boils down to the difference in size.

I hope we don't end up with a situation like the U.S., where the election of a half black president has allowed rightwingers to play the white race card in a dangerous way.

You conveniently overlooked the fact that I wasn't talking just about demographics; but what is even more important -- who controls the money -- commerce and industry in the country. I don't have the numbers for my neighbourhood, but it's a safe bet that there are more non-whites than whites where I live. That might be a problem for white nationalists, but the fact that people living in cities have daily contact with many people of other races is a key reason why city-dwellers are more cosmopolitan in their thinking than rural and suburbanites. But that's only because libertarian crapola tries to pretend that we are all individuals, and there is no such thing as group advantages and disadvantages. A group that has been historically marginalized...and may still be today, has a legitimate right to work together for group interests. Now, when it comes to a group which has never functioned as a group, or never needed to in the past, what are the legitimate aims of celebrating this new found white pride? Except as a more respectable veneer for white supremacist groups. Now the question is: would you deny Jews the right to celebrate their common culture and heritage? Since this would for some reason be "unCanadian" of them.

I intend to in a few days when I have more free time. But, this analysis still has a place in a discussion of evil, which is usually void of any empirical evidence about the causes of evil and how to deal with them.

cancelled....pulled up the wrong post.

In today's news: TOKYO, Japan — Fears that radiation had spread beyond the quake-crippled power plant in northeast Japan escalated Wednesday when high levels of iodine were discovered in Tokyo's tap water, rendering it too dangerous for babies to drink. Although technicians claimed some progress in containing a potential nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, 12 days after it was badly damaged by a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami, the success was overshadowed by reports of radioactive iodine at twice the safe limit in water at a treatment plant that services the capital’s 23 wards and Greater Tokyo. Tokyo's Governor Shintara Ishihara said there was no immediate health threat and urged people to "remain calm." But the news, especially that babies under 1 year old shouldn't have tap water, sent mothers scurrying to the store. “All the bottled water in the supermarket was gone immediately,” said Azusa Imamura, in her 50s, after a quick shopping trip in her crowded Tokyo suburb. “Nobody is sure of anything.” _________________________________________________________________________________________________- Meanwhile, the United States became the first country to block produce from Japan since the tsunami struck. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) halted the import of milk, vegetables and fruits, according to Reuters. Imports will be halted from four prefectures in Japan's northeast, which was hit hardest by the disaster. The FDA said the banned foods will be detained at the entry and not sold to the public, AP reported. Other foods from Japan, such as seafood, will continue to be sold but will be screened for radiation. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Meanwhile, at the plant, concerns of nuclear meltdown again ratcheted up when a cloud of black smoke burst forth from the troublesome No. 3 reactor Wednesday afternoon, once again forcing the evacuation of workers. Hidehiko Nishiyama, deputy director-general of the nuclear safety agency, said he didn't know the cause of the smoke. “We did not see fire,” he said. “The smoke is now being subdued. We are not sure of the cause.” An hour later, the smoke had cleared and engineers and technicians were able to resume work restoring power to the plant and trying to cool it down, Nishiyama said, adding that radiation levels had not increased as a result of the incident. Engineers have managed to connect outside power lines to all six reactors, but extensive damage to the plant — much of which is still unknown — means workers have a way to go before they will be able to shut down all reactors. Jun Saito, director-general of economic analysis for the cabinet, estimated recovery from the disaster would take at least three years. He said it was uncertain how much it would cost to repair damages estimated at more than $300 billion. So far more than 9,000 people have been confirmed dead in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami that struck on March 11, 2011. http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/japan/110323/japan-tokyo-water-radiation-nuclear-tsunami ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Since the nuclear lobbyists here are all full of bullshit and bluster about any concerns over radiation or the fact that it is still touch and go at the damaged facility (workers can only work 30 minutes at reactor 2 to receive the maximum allowed annual radiation does for example) are just alarmism, I want to include this analysis by the watchdog group FAIR regarding the New York Times downplaying of radiation risks compared to what real experts have to say about the problem: NYT's Reassuring Radiation Reporting The radioactive plume from Japan wafting from west to east across the U.S. is absolutely nothing to worry about, writes William J. Broad in a New York Times report today ("Radiation Over U.S. Is Harmless, Officials Say," 3/22/11) about the radiation threats posed by the Japanese nuclear plant disaster. Broad writes: Health experts said that the plume's radiation had been diluted enormously in its journey of thousands of miles and that--at least for now, with concentrations so low--its presence will have no health consequences in the United States. In a similar way, faint radiation from the Chernobyl disaster spread around the globe and reached the West Coast in 10 days, its levels detectable but minuscule. There are two things wrong with Broad's report: One, he doesn't quote or even name any health experts in the piece. When he later elaborates on the claim that radiation from Fukushima will have no health consequences in the United States, he cites the Department of Energy--better known for its promotion of nuclear power than for its health expertise. Two, in saying that small amounts of radiation are safe, Broad seems to be embracing the industry-favored threshold model of radiation risks. That view holds that below a certain level of radiation exposure, no health danger is posed. But this is at odds with the National Academy of Sciences and several other science associations that hold there is no such threshold, and that any exposure poses some additional risk of cancer: the greater the exposure, the greater the risk. The linear, no threshold model isn't universally embraced, but is the prevailing view in scientific circles.

They are trying to make the citizenship process more difficult, including violating one of the constitutional amendments that guaranteed citizenship for children born in the U.S. This issue is about the strange dichotomy of wealthier Republicans wanting cheap illegal immigrant labourers to provide services, including working on their farms and sweatshops, but becoming uneasy about their growing presence in the Southwest. Republican anti-immigration policies are a sham, designed to force illegals further underground, where they can be even more exploited and abused by their Republican overlords. And, don't try to hide behind the fact that Obama and the other Democrats don't have the guts to stick their necks out on this issue. Most of the reasons why there was a growth in illegals can be connected to the removal of guest worker programs. Most Mexicans and other Latin Americans are not interested in moving to the U.S.. Thousands, possibly millions of Mexicans were forced off their farms by NAFTA and the flood of cheap agribusiness products across the border. Now, many of them are working as itinerant labourers on these same damn farms. Most, just want to work through the growing season for money, and then go back home for a few months; but the fences and increased border patrols keep them in the U.S., and working for minimum pay in the underground labour market that has become the equivalent of slave labour.

It may be news because it is the typical backdoor attempt of white supremacists to advance their agenda. The KKK and Aryan Nation do this white pride bullshit on a regular basis. An argument is made based on false equivalency that whites need to advance a white agenda....problem being that we live in white-dominated societies already, where whites are the majority, and even more crucial, control a larger share of business and a larger share of the nation's wealth than percentage of the population. So, what white special interests are there, except to marginalize other races? And being in an uncontested majority, whites have never felt any social pressures to organize as a special interest group. The only people who talk about white pride are racists and nazis like the people behind this effort. This guy is identified as former head of the Canadian Nazi Party, so it's a safe bet that his other organization -- British Peoples League, does not include Brits of colour who became citizens.

Isn't this the same problem that happens with judging in boxing? Credit needs to be given to the fighter who is pressing the action and not going for a stalemate....like some title-holders do who know that a decision will never go against them if the fight is close....I'm thinking Vladimir Klitschko for example. But, in the UFC, the obvious skewing of the sport to favour striking (allowing fingerless gloves, and then making them mandatory), and generally favouring top-control gives the advantage to ground-and-pound thugs, and penalizes the BJJ experts. But, I think this is what Dana White has wanted ever since he took over the UFC! He's a former boxer, and wanted more blood and knockouts in the fight action. Originally, the Ultimate Fighting Championship concept started out of an argument over which fighting martial art was superior in a real fight. From the start, ground rules had to be created to lessen the risk of permanent injury or death, so obvious lethal strikes to the eyes, throat, or grabbing the groin were banned. And later, they banned head-butts, strikes to the back of the head, the groin etc.. But from what I've seen in recent years, the UFC is more dangerous now than it was in those early years when the wrestlers and BJJ were dominating the sport. After watching the Dan Henderson/Michael Bisping fight where Bisping was obviously out before hitting the ground, with Henderson pouncing on him to get in a couple of extra shots before the ref could stop the fight, I'm thinking it is just a matter of time before someone dies in the cage. One thing that really is getting me nauseated about UFC and MMA in general, is that a lot of young guys think that this stuff works in a streetfight. Well, for one thing you don't get to go put on your grappling gloves, and if you're stupid enough to get into a fight with a total stranger in an uncontrolled setting, you better be ready to expect head-butts, and shots to the groin, and even the eyes and throat, depending on what the other guy is willing to use in a fight. For all of the reasons you mention, I think a GSP/Silva fight would look something like the GSP/Penn fight a couple of years ago. Penn is a complete fighter, like GSP, but you could see right from the start that the size disadvantage gave him no realistic chance of winning that fight. And, another problem is that both GSP and Silva have reputations for being cautious and playing it safe. They both get alot of jeers for some boring fights where they avoided risks for a safe win.

And I'm supposed to take your bluster that power can be hooked up at all of the reactors and waste containment tanks, and everything will be okay! At this time the latest info indicates that Status of nuclear power plants in Fukushima as of 21:00 March 22 (Estimated by JAIF) at reactor 4 - there is still no power to the building, and the cooling pumps are no operational. The "nuclear samurai" are still trying to spray in sea water through a hole in the side of the outer containment building. Doesn't exactly sound like everything's under control! Reactor 3 core and fuel integrity has been damaged, a situation they picture as critical. The reactor vessel integrity is not known. There have been reports of cracks, from other sources. There is no power to cool the reactor core. Nuclear fuel rods have been exposed, but sea water is being pumped into the core. Water level in the spent fuel pond of Reactor #3 is still low, while being sprayed for long periods with sea water. Reactor 2 core and fuel have been damaged. Damage is suspected to the containment vessel. Despite news reports of electric power arriving at the Reactor #2, even to "a switchboard", there is no power running cooling of the reactor core or the spent fuel ponds, at the time of the latest report. Sea water is being pumped to the core continuously. JAIF says the pressure level of Reactor #2 is "unknown." Pressure in the outer containment vessel is listed as low, and containment venting has been temporarily stopped. Even with power established it's unknown whether the instrumentation, or the cooling pumps will work in this reactor. According to some sources interviewed, it is still possible that turning on the electricity will spark one or more fires, especially now that the entire building has been nearly flooded by salt sea water. And reactor 1 Both the core and the nuclear fuel rods of reactor #1 are listed as damaged. There is no core cooling by the built-in pumps, nor any working electrical power to the building, except to some outer connections. The building was severely damaged by the hydrogen gas explosion. Fuel was exposed, and sea water is still being pumped in to maintain cooling...........but, everything's okay, right? As for the stories about radiation leaks, you nuclear lobbyists aren't being straightforward about this information either, since the dangers will depend on the length of exposure; so, these above normal readings for radioactive iodide and milk and leafy vegetables as far as 60 km away from the plant are going to keep rising until radiation stops leaking from the plant. And I'm still waiting for one of these nuclear experts to explain what happens afterward with all of that seawater being pumped in to cool the reactors....where does that end up?

Here's a familiar story: In a report submitted to Japan's nuclear safety agency on February 28, Japan's largest power utility, Tokyo Electric Power Co, said it had failed to inspect 33 pieces of equipment in the six reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi complex. The equipment missed in scheduled inspections included a motor and a backup power generator for the No. 1 reactor, the firm said in a report available on a company Website. Video: NBC ARCHIVE: April 28, 1986: Chernobyl nuclear disaster The exchange between the utility and safety regulators regarding safety misses at the plant has attracted attention because of its timing, and the equipment involved. The failure of backup power systems is a key element of the current crisis, which has prompted a massive effort to contain radiation from the stricken plant. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42188550/ns/world_news-asiapacific/?GT1=43001 This is something to consider in light of the proposal by OPG in Ontario, to add new reactors to the Darlington Nuclear Station, which is just 70 km or 40 miles east of Toronto. These ticking time bombs are just a matter of when, not if, since murphy's law guarantees that shortcuts and omissions will occur on all of these safety and backup procedures. Darlington Nuclear

What I find most distressing about how this story will be handled, is the fact that they already know that they can keep releasing their minimum risk and danger estimates to the public, and as long as nothing blows up, the major commercial news networks move on to the next story and totally ignore what's going on....which they have already done if you notice how hard it is now that the big international story of the day is the bombing of Libya.

I'm doing my part to the best of my abilities, but you are trying to shift the argument here to get away from the messy problem that all of this abstinence garbage that has accompanied campaigns against legitimate sex education programs and condom and birth control use, has made the problems worse in the nations or the local jurisdictions where abstinence-only has become the law. Moral standards have to be realistic and attainable for the majority of people. In an age when young people are getting married later in life (if at all) insisting on abstinence until marriage is something that few will be able to hold to, and as soon as two horny teenagers with no condoms or birth control information get together, the next thing you know you've got...Bristol Palin and Levi Johnson! And among the estimated less than 10% who claim to have held to their abstinence pledge before marriage, a surprisingly large number are showing up later in divorce court...some psychologists speculate that the years obsessing about sex becomes a letdown when they do finally get married, and it just cannot possibly match their expectations. As the abstinence-only crowd ages, this would be a group worth keeping an eye on; my suspicions are that they will end up less happy and more dysfunctional than the norms. Most Catholics I know don't listen to whatever the priest has to say, which makes a lot of sense...why take sex advice from someone who is supposed to be lifelong celibate? No, this has been an ongoing problem because of the Vatican's insistence on preventing women from having control over when and how many children to have. And, when it leads to starvation because of overpopulation, then their bad advice is a prime source of evil in the world. NO, and the reason is because the anti-smoking campaign was never dominated by religion! It remained a secular and pragmatic cause throughout the 70's to the 90's to reduce the amount of smoking, make it less socially desirable, and keep it away from minors and non-smokers. Funny that women who live in areas where birth control and access to abortion are more freely available, there are fewer abortions, and at earlier stages in pregnancy than in those states that are going back to patriarchal standards.

Yes, I seen enough and don't need to watch 7 youtube clips of her. As soon as she started talking about "microevolution" and macroevolution" to a pre-eminent evolutionary biologist, I knew where this was going. When I used to be a libertarian, I came across these terms on a conservative forum four or five years ago; and they don't really exist as scientific terms. Instead, they were concocted back in the 70's as a fallback position by creationists. Up till about 40 years ago, the creationists used to claim that beneficial mutations were impossible, and therefore they rejected ALL evidence of evolution. When that started getting difficult, they created this micro/macro claptrap to convey that they will accept evolution within species, but deny that it can eventually lead to the development of new species that can no longer interbreed. A real biologist or geneticist could have told this woman long ago that "micro" evolutionary mutations that are favoured by natural selection, can eventually appear to be "macro" evolutionary steps after long periods of time, and the disappearance of some of the intermediary steps along the way....and that's how bacteria get their little flagella motors: NewScientist Evolution myths: The bacterial flagellum is irreducibly complex The sad and shocking aspect of modern life is that with so much information available, there are so many people who are totally ignorant of basic scientific facts such as these, or how large and old the Universe is, the age of Planet Earth also; and what's most disturbing is that when fundamentalists turn hostile against basic science that they see as a threat, they are the kind of pigeons who find it easy to accept pseudoscholars who still deny climate change at everyone's peril.

Seriously! The Government there has been downplaying the risks since problems first began after the tsunami. Past radiation leaks and mishaps have been covered up also, but pro-nuke advocates say we should believe them now. Underlining the dangers, however, smoke rose briefly from two damaged reactors, forcing workers to evacuate for a while. Away from the plant, mounting evidence of radiation in vegetables, water and milk spread jitters among Japanese and abroad despite officials' assurances levels were not dangerous. The operator of the stricken plant, Tokyo Electric Power Company, said a small trace of radiation had been found in the Pacific sea waters nearby, but said levels were very low and posed no immediate danger. "It's a lot more serious than anybody thought in the early days when we thought that this kind of problem can be limited to 20 to 30 kilometers," Peter Cordingley, spokesman for the World Health Organisation's (WHO) regional office, told Reuters. "It's safe to suppose that some contaminated produce got out of the contamination zone." http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/21/us-japan-quake-idUSTRE72A0SS20110321

So, you reject subsidies for solar panels, and want them for industries like oil, gas, coal, and nuclear, which externalize their environmental costs for everyone else to pay for! It's the same problem as with wind energy -- there are powerful lobbies from the big power utility companies and energy producers, who have bought up all of the politicians, and keep billions of dollars worth of tax subsidies and security costs (protecting their oil wells in third world dictatorships and sea lanes for their oil tankers) from interfering with their profit margins. Under this regime of the last several decades, it has been in their financial interests to keep the good times going (good times for them) until the inevitable happens, and their dirty energy sources are no longer cost-effective: Wind power prices drop to coal power levels: Bloomberg The cost of wind power generation has dropped to the point that onshore wind is now competitive with coal-fired electrical power in certain regions, according to a report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance. "The latest edition of our Wind Turbine Price Index shows wind continuing to become a competitive source of large-scale power," Michael Liebreich, chief executive of Bloomberg New Energy Finance, said in a statement. Now, imagine where we would be now if the coal producers had been forced to pay for the external costs of their product - the environmental damage from the start, instead of belching it into the atmosphere, creating acid rain and raising global atmospheric CO2 levels!

Consider all of the billions that have been pumped into the nuclear industry, and what could have been done if the money was spent elsewhere! My suspicions are still that the reason nuclear has been advanced as the only option to fossil fuels (as if mining uranium, building nuclear stations has no carbon footprint) is because it is a power source that can be totally controlled by a monopoly.

And where atheists do congregate, such as atheist and secular humanist associations, many non-joining atheists would probably be turned off by what they would find! At least that was my experience when I followed the new atheist advice to become out and active as an atheist a couple of years ago, when I joined a secular humanist group and an online atheist facebook-type group. The atheists I was meeting were not the kind of people I had much in common with or liked the company of. An article I posted yesterday from Epiphenomena in a meta-analysis of the differences between religious believers in America and Europe. The believers in secular European countries are not as inclined to be conscientious, compassionate and cooperative, possibly because religion is less popular in Europe than in America. The same factors could be at play if and when a study is done of atheists, especially organized atheists, since atheism in America is treated as a major character fault, unlike the European attitude of non-belief. That might explain why a lot of active atheists seem to act like fundamentalists in the way they deal with conflicting beliefs.