"Nuclear Power after Fukushima"

Title of an article in this week's Economist magazine. Now why would I bother to read such an article? They don't know what's going to happen, and I know they don't know. Nobody knows.
We still don't know how bad Fukushima is. So far there is horrendous property damage. Five out of six reactors on the site are damaged and/or wrecked permanently. A few workers have been exposed to maybe twice the safe yearly dosage (17 REM)for nuclear workers. Radio activity outside the plant fence is worrisome but not bad enough to warrant abandoning the land long term. But the accident is still not under control. If a reactor pressure vessel ruptures the radio activity release will poison a big swath of Japan for decades. That hasn't happened yet, but nobody will rule that out as long as the reactor cooling systems are down. The ultimate outcome, either merely horrendous property damage or a second Chernobyl, will make a big difference in what happens next.
We will have a contest between the anti nuke greenies and the consumers who want a lower electric bill. The greenies will talk about accidents that will cause all your children to be born with two heads. And glow in the dark.
The consumer side is less organized. It isn't clear right now that nuclear power is all that cheap, although rising fuel prices may turn that around. In the US, nuclear plants need US government guarantees on their mortgages, the private capital market considers them risky investments, and won't lend without Uncle Sam's guarantee. That suggests that a $6 billion-and-change nuclear plant may never earn enough money to pay off its mortgage.
The utilities got cold feet about nuclear power 30 years ago after Seabrook and Three Mile Island. So they are standing on the sidelines, they don't have a dog in the fight.
The global warming greenies ought to back nuclear power, 'cause it doesn't emit any CO2. But they probably won't.

With the battle ground and the contestants so murky, any kind of prediction is untrustworthy.

I didn't know NH was in this bad a shape

Here is a listing of degree of funding of public pension plans. NH is near the bottom. Degree of funding is a measure of how much money is in the pension fund compared to the money owed to pensioners. When the pension fund runs dry, the retirees scream and cry for us taxpayers to put more money in the fund so that they get their retirement checks on time. And in full.
Looking at where we are, those pension talks going in in Concord need to be driven to a successful conclusion. We taxpayers ought to insist on a few things.
1. No checks for anyone under the age of 65. It's fine to retire early, but don't expect us taxpayers to fund you. You don't get checks until you reach 65.
2. No spiking. Pension is based upon base pay only. Overtime, sickpay, accrued vacation and other pay does not count. In many states, and perhaps in NH, pension is based on total pay in the last year before retirement. Employees cash in all their accrued vacation time, unpaid sick pay, and work a lot of overtime. This can boost their pensions by up to 50%.
3. Nobody gets a pension larger than 50% of their regular base pay.
4. You gotta work 20 years or more to be eligible for a state pension.
5. No double dipping. If you are eligible for a pension from one state agency, and go to work for another state agency, you don't get two pensions.

Pop Corn

They don't make cornball movies the way they used to. The Long Ships, 1964, with Richard Widmark, Sidney Poitier, and several other actors I'd never heard of, is "based" upon a historical novel of the same name by Frans Gunnar Bengtson. The book is a decent historical novel which I read in high school. I still have a copy. "Based" is pretty loose, the only thing the movie takes from the book is the title, a couple of character names and the setting. How they ever got real Hollywood name actors like Widmark and Poitier to act in it I'll never know.
It does have some amusing scenes. Banquet in a Viking hall turns into a food fight and then they run out of ale. Escaping from a Moorish prison, the Vikings blunder into the Caliph's harem, which is well stocked with shapely girls in scanty costumes. An orgy ensues. The Caliph executes those who irritate him by sliding them down the bannister of a flight of stairs. Only the bannister is a giant sword blade that cuts deep.
They did try. It looks like they built a full size Viking longship for the numerous sea scenes. There is nice photography of the ship at sea, against a dramatic setting sun. The ship looks good except when being rowed. For some reason the oar motions don't look right, the rowers don't take a long enough stroke, and the water doesn't swirl around the oar blades the way it ought to. I think they pulled the ship along with a concealed rope and the actors just dipped the oars in and out of the water.
I never knew the movie existed until I ran across it on NetFlix. Knowing the name, I had to rent it. They just don't make movies like that anymore.

Old Woodworking Machines (OWWM)

For home projects, wood working, toy making, remodeling, cabinet making, you can't beat power tools. The home shop oughta have a table saw, a jointer, a drill press, a bench grinder, a band saw, and a lathe.
Bought new, these goodies are EXPENSIVE. Say $500 a tool, which is beyond the reach of many of us. But used, these tools are available for $50 to $100 each, which is much closer to realistic.
Where to find used power tools? Well Craigslist is a good starting place. Yard sales, estate sales and auctions are some others. Look for the older models made from solid cast iron. Craftsman, Delta, De Walt, Darra James, and Rockwell are good names. Avoid the newer tools that are sheet metal stampings and plastic.
A cast iron machine will last forever. Cast iron doesn't bend, (it may break, but it won't bend) so the machine stays accurate. The only wear items are the ball or roller bearings. Bearings are packed with grease at the factory and only last for 20 years or so. Then the grease disappears and the bearing needs replacement. New bearings are $5-$10 apiece. Call Lynn at Accurate Bearing and you will have replacements in the mail within a couple of working days.
Some things to watch out for. Used battery powered tools probably are not worth it. When put up for sale the batteries are usually shot. Replacement batteries will cost as much as a brand new tool with batteries included. Tools that have been left out in the weather are probably shot. If the tables have deep rust marks, and the electrical stuff looks water logged, it's best to move on.
Power tools cut faster and smoother and more square than hand tools. With a table saw you can knock out a decent kitchen cabinet in a couple of evenings. With just hand tools it can take for ever.
So watch your Craigslist and pick up some bargains.

Bus crash in Littleton NH.

This made Fox news. A tour bus went off the highway (I93) and flipped over last night. My nephew-in-law on the Littleton life squad got called out to assist. What Fox and the other news organizations did not mention was the atrocious weather at the time. I had wind gusts to 30-40 mph, and heavy wind blown snow at my place, only a few miles away. Weather was certainly a factor, if not the primary cause of the accident.
Fortunately no one was killed. Injured were treated at Littleton Regional Hospital. Passengers were Koreans traveling from Canada to New Jersey. The only bilingual person was a 12 year old passenger who rose to the occasion, but there were a few moments of confusion at the hospital attempting to talk with the Korean speaking victims.
Activists are using this accident to call for a massive regulation of the bus industry, mandatory seatbelts, crash worthy passenger windows and reinforced roofs on buses. They link this accident with a pair of bus crashes around NYC. Given the weather, I don't see much of a connection.

Give me cost-no-object fuel

Mercedes Benz is belly aching that their fanciest new engine technology won't work on US standard gasoline.
Ah well. If I use pure unobtainium for fuel I can get amazing performance. Too bad my local Citgo station doesn't care it.
You wanna sell cars, make 'em so they run on real gasoline, the kind you can pump down at Bob's Citgo.

Bargain Basement Missile $600,000 Tomahawk

Price is down according to Fox News. Used to be Tomahawk missiles (essentially a small jet plane with couple thousand mile range and 1 ton payload) cost $1,000,000 a shot. At the new reduced pricing, those 110 Tomahawks launched on Libya last night will only cost $66 million to replace. At the old price, it would have been $110 million.
I do hope $66 million dollars worth of missiles was able to do $66 million dollars worth of damage to Quadaffi's armed forces.