Nuclear is too energy intensive to build and run.
Everything else pollutes.
Much better, Geothermal, Tidal, Solar and Wind power. All free and all renewable.
Plus of course, all the hot air from pollies.
Jerry,
Palestinians are sick of living in refugee camps to which they were interred after 1948. Remember that Fatah had its beginnings in the Palestine Liberation Army, the ruthless terror organisation of the 1970’s, lead by Yasser Aarafat. The PLO/Fatah sought to make peace and right up to the present day are negotiating with an unyielding neighbour. Yasser Aarafat, once seen as the Osama Bin Laden of his day, will receive the accolades he deserves for his peace initiatives.
In the Gaza, we once had both Fatah and Hamas political organisations. In the last election, Hamas mounted a strong anti-Jewish campaign that Fatah was too slow in securing peace and that violence was the only means of securing a Palestinian homeland. The voters were swayed (whether by choice or by force) to overwhelmingly elect Hamas. Shortly after, Hamas set about destroying the moderate Fatah party, by killing off any dissent. Hamas rule with an iron fist, subduing the population, much as a fundamentalist organisation would. The prime minister of 'Palestine'(West Bank), has guaranteed that securing a homeland from Israel would guarantee the support of 57 Arab countries for a Jewish state. However, enduring peace is not the Jewish answer, as Israel hardliners want to maintain the status quo, with guaranteed American support.
I have seen statistics that the average Israeli wants peace with Palestine, however, any incumbent Israeli government requires the approximate 25% support of the fundamentalist Jewish population. If you think that Iran and the Taliban are fundamentalists, then these Jewish people could teach them a lesson.I have considered installing a deep water well geothermal heat pump here at home. Our temps drop below 0 C for extended periods from Dec-Feb and a wind generator would work well on my property as I have an almost constant north-westerly breeze. Of course as you mentioned, I am only within 100 miles or so of Washington DC and the thermal updrafts from the city could be causing the wind.
Jerry, relax, that order is not what you think it is. There;'s nothing in it that simply hands money to terrorists so they can come to America
Here’s the scenario over there;
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The most recent war left lots of Gazans homeless and jobless. Plus there are already, and have been for years–thousands of palestinians in refugee camps.
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Hamas is helping those people, which is why it gets votes. Hamas is providing shelter and jobs. And all the while saying “america is your enemy.”
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If the US offers help to refugees in Gaza, in counteracts some of what Hamas does. If we extend aid to a man in need, we undermine Hamas. Doesn’t that seem better than doing nothing?
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The people in refugee camps would like homes and jobs in the middle east, their homeland. If this money assists in that process–which is what it’s supposed to do–it’s also a good thing
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Gazans who want to apply for refugee status have to be reviewed by the state department and granted refugee status. We do offer some degree of shelter to political refugees and always have–for example, people who defected from the Soviet Union. The bill gives the State department more money to do the job.
Not all Muslims are fundamentalists, not all fundamentalists are terrorists. It’s not a crime to be a muslim fundamentalist any more than it’s a crime to be a Christian fundamentalist. But there is nothing in that order that suggests large numers of Gazans will be granted free and unfettered access to the US. There’s no coverage of it, because it’s routne–we almost always provide aid in refugess situations. It’s good morality and good politics.
Regarding the Cole terrorist, the guy HAS NOT been released and charges are still expected to be filed. This link explains it:
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/02/president-oba-2.html
Obama actually met with the families of the Cole victims to explain that the man is not being released and that charges are expected to be filed under a different judicial authority
here’s another link
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/07/us/politics/07gitmo.html?scp=1&sq=&st=nyt
"WASHINGTON — President Obama on Friday sought to assure family members of Americans who were killed in the Sept. 11 attacks and the bombing of the destroyer Cole that the terrorism suspects would be prosecuted and brought “to a swift and certain justice.”
In an hourlong emotional session at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to the White House, Mr. Obama met with about 40 relatives of terrorism victims.
He explained his rationale for ordering the detention center at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, to be closed within a year, and to halt a process that was moving toward military trials of some terrorism suspects.
But he pledged that the terrorism cases would be reviewed and handled through the courts."
An irony of the recent commuter aircrash was that a female victim of the crash, was the head of a group supporting rights for victims of 911. Her husband was one of the victims of 911. Ironic that a plane brought about both her death and that of her husband.
Mike:
First, thanks for the detailed reply and explanation.
Taking everything you wrote as accurate, why the lack of information or reporting? Why can’t I, an interested citizen, find what the money will actually be used for? And I guess that begs the question how did you come by the scenario you wrote? It certainly hasn’t been in any of the mainstream media or searchable databases.
As I pointed out above, even the earmark crap that seems to accompany every Senate and Congressional bill these days has some sort of explanation in either the title or the language, but not this. True that the earmarks don’t say “This is to build an overpass on the Interstate so my financial contributor’s isolated swampland property will be worth 1000 times what it is now,” but we can usually find out something about it.
In this case, the conservative ‘news groups’ are publishing their usual over the top venom, while the mainstream media says nothing. Is $20.3 million and a few thousand new Muslim immigrants not news, or is The One’s political machine so adept that this stuff can be hidden?
I guess the simple question is exactly what will be done with the money?
Secondarily, our so-called security agencies have a poor track record when it comes to keeping people who would do us harm out of the country. How will bringing thousands(?) of people who’s religion demands my death into my neighborhood be in my best interest? How about looking at this as being in BHO’s best interests? Where does that leave us?
As to the USS Cole terrorist, the attack was in late 2000, and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri has been in custody since 2006. That makes me wonder what BHO thinks is “. . . swift and certain justice.” Perhaps that will occur when BHO is able to find a liberal judge who will let this murderer go free like the Yemani government did with the rest of the Muslim murderers?
Mike, you sign: “skeptical but resigned” Sign me “Just Skeptical.”
Happy RRing,
Jerry
Jerry if you look at the executive order it sends money to other agencies which are charged with spending it. It’s actually pretty routine. There are a lot of administrative costs in a refugee situation–you’ve got to figure out who the people are, where they came from, where they might plausibly go, where are their other family members, etc. You’ve got to feed them, provide water, some electricity, clothes. Some of that might be being handled by the Red Cross (or the Red Crescent), some of it by the governments of other countries. Some of it is handled by non governmental organizations (NGOs). The bill authorizes money to pay the expenses of some of those organizations. I think the lack of reporting is because it’s pretty routine. I have friends who work for the State department, so I have some idea how this is supposed to work.
Just to clarify the scale here, there are more than a million Palestinians in refugee camps in the Middle East. They were kicked off their land by the establishment of Israel in 1948 and by subsequent Israeli expansion. Neighboring Arab countries have been less than welcoming. The camps are major breeding grounds for political radicalism, as you might imagine
If we don’t step in, Hamas does, and strengthens its political hand in Gaza. The exec order doesn’t say anything about coming to the US, but I don’t doubt that there would be some who would apply for refugee status in the US. Their cases would be reviewed by INS and by State. It’s possible they would do a bad job. But would it be preferable to tell a guy who has lost everything, and who is not sympathetic to Hamas and wants to start a new life in the US “No, you’re an Arab, you’re never welcome in America?” That will only send him back to Hamas. Both choices, you could argue, entail some risks.
I have a lot of Muslim students–a lot. They’re pretty much like the other students–some are partying in DC discos, some are religiously conservative, most are in the middle somewhere. Some of my best students have been women who wear the headscarf. They want what everyone else wants, a chance to get ahead and prosper and make a decent life for themselves, while staying true to their traditions. They remind me of my parents’ generation of Catholics, who were raised in separate schools but who were joining the mainstream of American life.
Regarding the Cole terrorist, why would Obama want leniency for the guy? What could possibly be the motive? Obama is reacting to the fact that Bush held the guy for years and was unable to bring a case to trial. That’s not justice, it’s just detention, and it’s not Obama’s fault. If the guy’s guilty, try him and fry him. If he’s not guilty, then let him go. Obama has no control over what judge the case gets assigned to, but he can move the case from the limbo Bush had it in, where we arrest the guy and hold him but no trial ever takes place. I heard an interview with the Captain of the Cole, and he seemed very pleased with Obama’s explanation
Mike, maybe we could shoot the Cole terrorist while he was trying to escape…
Yep, this proves Obama is soft on terrorism…George did similar but I did not hear any complaints then as I do now. One example of many releases gone wrong under the previous administration…
“The militant, Said Ali al-Shihri, is suspected of involvement in a deadly bombing of the United States Embassy in Yemen’s capital, Sana, in September. He was released to Saudi Arabia in 2007 and passed through a Saudi rehabilitation program for former jihadists before resurfacing with Al Qaeda in Yemen.”
Gitmo is a mess, I think we all can agree with that.