Now, further consideration of "dangerous foreign policy"...
I've said it here before and I'll probably say it again. I've heard multiple parties talk about Ron Paul and his "dangerous foreign policy" and I often disagree. I find it slightly disturbing that many of the current breed of Republicans either forget or are willing to look past a couple of things that happened during the Reagan era. The "State Sponsors of Terrorism" list began in December of 1979. Iraq was one of the inaugural states on that list. Several years later, Iraq was removed to make it eligible for US military technology. The same "devil in charge" when the list began was still in charge. The only difference? Iraq was in the midst of a war with those wascally Iwanians. OK, so we armed one dangerous party that presumably hadn't changed its MO very much. Cut to the mid-80s. I won't rehash the gory details. I'll just say two words and give a brief synopsis. First, the two words: Iran-Contra
Synopsis: Boland amendment said that we couldn't make funds for the Contras. Iran went on the "State Sponsors of Terrorism" list in 1984. Someone in the Reagan administration (presumably Bill Casey, then head of the CIA) comes up with the bright idea of sending arms to Iran via an intermediary and using the proceeds of the sales to fund the Contras. Ironically, the intermediary was Israel.
Personally, I find it more dangerous (to our national interest and frankly, that of Israel) that we armed two of the most dangerous countries in that region of the world just because both were problematic but killing each other and that one of the parties involved is still a serious problem for the region and the world and, if all the hype is to be believed, on the verge of attaining nuclear weapons.
On a tangent, but still applicable, there was much fear of what would happen back in the mid-90s when India and Pakistan proved they were nuclear states. We're still here...
Now a little about government spending...
One, if not more, of our local media outlets ran the story a couple of days ago about a recent study that claims to show that smoking marijuana is not as bad for your lungs as smoking cigarettes. That got me wondering how much taxpayer money was used. Details?
Another interesting .gov website I found while running through various information outlets. http://www.usaspending.gov/ Note: Not currently loading as of 2119 1/14/12
NRC items for Browns Ferry 1/7 - 1/14/12
- ML11363A057 - LER 11-003-01 for Browns Ferry, Unit 1, Regarding Loss of Safety Function (SDC) Resulting from Emergency Diesel Generator Output Breaker Trip.
- ML12009A148 - IR 05000259-11-501, 05000260-11-501 and 05000296-11-501, on 12/05/2011 - 12/09/2011, for Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Units 1, 2, and 3, Exercise and Baseline Inspection.
- ML11171A209 - Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Units 1, 2, and 3 Revision to Response to NRC Request for Additional Information Regarding Extending Completion Times for Technical Specification 3.8.1, TS-468.
Reminder for anyone who might be interested, the NRC is having a public meeting at Browns Ferry on 1/26/12.
see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!
