March 30, 2005

Nuclear Power as a Way to Defund the Jihad and Insure America’s Energy Independence

Peter W. Huber and Mark P. Mills have a comprehensive discussion of America’s energy usage. They state that nuclear power is safe:

And uranium’s combination of power and super-density makes the fuel less of a terror risk, not more, at least from an engineering standpoint. It’s easy to “overbuild” the protective walls and containment systems of nuclear facilities, since—like the pyramids—the payload they’re built to shield is so small. Protecting skyscrapers is hard; no builder can afford to erect a hundred times more wall than usable space. Guaranteeing the integrity of a jumbo jet’s fuel tanks is impossible; the tanks have to fly. Shielding a nuclear plant’s tiny payload is easy—just erect more steel, pour more concrete, and build tougher perimeters.

In fact, it’s a safety challenge that we have already met. Today’s plants split atoms behind super-thick layers of steel and concrete; future plants would boast thicker protection still. All the numbers, and the strong consensus in the technical community, reinforce the projections made two decades ago: it is extremely unlikely that there will ever be a serious release of nuclear materials from a U.S. reactor.

And they point out the need the U.S. has to be energy-independent:

It must surely be clear by now, too, that the political costs of depending so heavily on oil from the Middle East are just too great. We need to find a way to stop funneling $25 billion a year (or so) of our energy dollars into churning cauldrons of hate and violence. By sharply curtailing our dependence on Middle Eastern oil, we would greatly expand the range of feasible political and military options in dealing with the countries that breed the terrorists.

The best thing we can do to decrease the Middle East’s hold on us is to turn off the spigot ourselves. For economic, ecological, and geopolitical reasons, U.S. policymakers ought to promote electrification on the demand side, and nuclear fuel on the supply side, wherever they reasonably can.

Counter-Jihad Sprouts in Spain

The Washington Times reports on a counter-jihad by the Islamic Council of Spain:

The Spanish commission’s fatwa, or condemnation, follows other signs of the kind of public theological debate rarely seen in the Muslim world, openly challenging the dominance of Saudi Arabia’s wealthy Wahhabi fanatics.

One Islamic scholar even calls it a sign of “a counter-jihad.”

In a recent interview with the Qatari daily newspaper Al-Raya, for example, Abd Al-Hamid Al-Ansari, the former dean of Shariah and law at the University of Qatar, urged his fellow Muslims to purge their heritage of fanaticism and adopt “new civilized humane thought.”

NEWSMAX has a report on America’s first counterintelligence strategy, which has just been approved by GWB.

One counterintelligence official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said a key element of the strategy is “creative counterintelligence.”

The official said that means maintaining such a strong system that enemies don’t know if people who approach them with intelligence — like FBI spy Robert Hanssen — are truly disaffected government employees or double agents. Hanssen gave secrets to the Soviets for over 21 years

Virginia Governor Signs Bill Denying Illegal Aliens Public Benefits:

Virginia Gov. Mark Warner yesterday signed into law a measure that denies illegal aliens public benefits, including access to Medicaid, welfare and local health care services.

“I have signed this legislation into law but will ask the Latino Advisory Commission to study and monitor the legislation to ensure that it is fairly implemented and does not impose undue costs on local governments,” said Mr. Warner, a Democrat who is in his last year in office.

It’s cool that Gov. Warner is a Democrat.

It’s amazing that we actually have to have a law that says people entering this country illegally don’t get to profit at taxpayer expense. I’d like to see similar legislation passed in more states.

Gallup Poll Shows Americans are Receptive to Social Security Debate

Gary J. Andres cites a Gallup Poll and says the Social Security debate is picking up steam:

A recent Gallup Poll supports this view. In February, Americans were asked, “What do you think is the most important problem facing the country today?” Interestingly, Social Security now tops the list of domestic priorities — an extraordinary change from just a few months ago when Social Security barely registered. Now nearly 13 percent of respondents said Social Security was “the most important problem,” topping education, health insurance and the economy. Only a defense/foreign policy response “issues on the war in Iraq” (16 percent) ranked higher.

The U.S. Economy is Going Strong

Economy Strong, Solid at End of ‘04

WASHINGTON – The economy — supported by solid business and consumer spending — grew in the closing three months of 2004 at an annual rate of 3.8 percent. It’s expected to perform even better in the opening quarter of this year.

...The fourth quarter’s economic performance was admirable, analysts said. “The economy is not sprinting but it is jogging along nicely,” said Ken Mayland, president of ClearView Economics.

It’s pretty much definitely the future at this point.

Oppression of Christians in the Mid-East

The Spectator has a report (registration required) saying that Christians in Iraq are suffering from oppression for their religion.

At a church in Basra I visited a month after the war ended, the women complained of attacks against them for not wearing the Islamic veil. I saw many Christian-owned shops that had been firebombed, with many of the owners killed for exercising their legal right to sell alcohol. Two years and many church attacks later, Iraq may still be occupied by Christian foreign powers, but the Islamist plan to ethnically cleanse Iraq of its nearly 2,000-year-old Assyrian and Armenian Christian communities is reaching fruition.

...Across the Islamic world, Christians are systematically discriminated against and persecuted. Saudi Arabia — the global fountain of religious bigotry — bans churches, public Christian worship, the Bible and the sale of Christmas cards, and stops non-Muslims from entering Mecca. Christians are regularly imprisoned and tortured on trumped-up charges of drinking, blaspheming or Bible-bashing, as some British citizens have found. Just last month, furthermore, Saudi Arabia announced that only Muslims can become citizens.

The Copts of Egypt make up half the Christians in the Middle East, the cradle of Christianity. They inhabited the land before the Islamic conquest, and still make up a fifth of the population. By law they are banned from being president of the Islamic Republic of Egypt or attending Al Azhar University, and severely restricted from joining the police and army. By practice they are banned from holding any high political or commercial position. Under the 19th-century Hamayouni decrees, Copts must get permission from the president to build or repair churches — but he usually refuses. Mosques face no such controls.