Nation-States as “Business Models”: Ukraine as Another Neoliberal Privatization Exercise
By Dr. T. P. Wilkinson, Global Research, August 31, 2023 https://www.globalresearch.ca/states-business-models-ukraine-another-neo-liberal-privatization-exercise/5830818
Introduction
Perhaps the leading two veteran critics of US policy in Ukraine, Colonel Douglas MacGregor USA and Major Scott Ritter USMC, have said loud and clear that at least from a military standpoint the Ukrainian armed forces have lost the war against Russia.
There have been numerous voices calling for an end to the conflict, not least because the more than USD 46 billion and counting in military aid alone, has yet to produce any of the results announced as aims of what has finally been admitted is a war against Russia.[i]
If Mr Zelenskyy, the president of the Ukraine’s government in Kiev, is to be taken at face value, then the hostilities can only end when Crimea and the Donbass regions are fully under Kiev’s control and Vladimir Putin has been removed from office as president of the Russian Federation. To date no commentator has adequately explained how those war aims are to be attained. This applies especially after the conservatively estimated 400,000 deaths and uncounted casualties in the ranks of Kiev’s forces since the beginning of the Special Military Operation in February 2022.
Before considering the political and economic issues it is important to reiterate a few military facts, especially for those armchair soldiers who derive their military acumen from TV and Hollywood films.
As MacGregor and Ritter, both of whom have intimate practical knowledge of warfare, have said. Armies on the ground need supplies, i.e. food, weapons, ammunition, medical care for wounded, etc.
These supplies have to be delivered from somewhere.
In ancient times, armies could live off the land. Essentially this was through looting and plunder—stealing their food from the local population as they marched. To prevent the local population from becoming the enemy in the rear and avoid early exhaustion of local supply, generals started paying for what was requisitioned.
To prevent this defending forces would often withdraw the civilian population and destroy what could not be taken. In fact this kind of rough warfare against civilians still occurs although it has been forbidden under the Law of Land Warfare.[ii]
Naturally the soldier in the field can no longer make weaponry and even less plundered from the local inhabitants—unless one comes across some tribe the US has armed with Stingers perhaps.
All the weapons the Ukrainian armed forces deploy have to be imported from countries with factory capacity.
As the two officers among others have said, the capacity is unavailable for the Ukraine.
Obviously it would also be unavailable to NATO forces were they able to deploy in Ukraine in any numbers.
It is illusory to believe that a NATO army can do what the Wehrmacht could not some eighty years ago with three million men under arms and the most modern army of its day.
This was so obvious from the beginning that one has to wonder why this war ever started.
Is it possible that wars are started without any intention of winning them?
If winning the war is not the objective, then what is?
The deep roots of the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste fight — and why it continues to this day
Sep 05, 2023, By: Paulina Bucka, https://www.ktnv.com/news/the-deep-roots-of-the-yucca-mountain-nuclear-waste-fight-and-why-it-continues-to-this-day?mibextid=2JQ9oc&fbclid=IwAR2n8wFDd8P4EIq0HqFMPy2ASLEGa_caRDfN8zyxddED3YKpB-bNpPAV8H4
YUCCA MOUNTAIN (KTNV) — For Nevada, it’s the question that doesn’t go away.
The fight to stop Yucca Mountain from becoming a nuclear waste repository has gone on for more than three decades now. Despite an official halt to the project in 2010, that fight continues for Nevada’s Congressional delegation and the Western Shoshone people.
For the Western Shoshone, it’s a cause large than themselves — a calling to preserve their identity for generations to come.
“For the Shoshone people, our identity is the land,” said Ian Zabarte, principal man of the Shoshone Nations. “We developed our language in relation to the land — to be able to talk about it, to be able to share it.”
For decades, those ties have been threatened by the radioactive fallout of nuclear testing.
“You used to be able to drink the water from any of the springs around you,” Zabarte said. “Now, you can’t do that any more because of the pollution.”
One hundred miles northwest of the bright lights of Las Vegas, miles past Mercury, Nevada, sits Yucca Mountain — a 60-million-acre formation made up of mostly fractured volcanic tuffs.
It’s almost home to the Western Shoshone Nation people — a home Zabarte says he hopes to see restored to its most natural form within his lifetime.
Some of the big pollution is radioactive fallout from the nuclear weapons testing,” Zabarte said. “We cannot just pick up and leave in the event of the radiation, the fallout — we lose our identity.”
Zabarte has spent his life on the front lines of the fight to keep nuclear waste out of his ancestral home.
“We would walk all the way across the valley to the main gate at the Nevada Test Site doors and have our protests there,” Zabarte said. “I received a letter in 2001 that said I’m at risk of developing silicosis because of the number of hours I spent underground at Yucca Mountain.”
While the U.S. no longer performs nuclear testing, nuclear advances continue, and questions about what happens to the nation’s nuclear waste remain.
“After testing, Nevada was angry enough about what had happened because of nuclear weapons testing that it said, ‘Never again. We’re not going to be the high-level waste dump for this country,'” said Kevin Kamps, a radioactive waste specialist.
Kamps has walked alongside the Shoshone Nation people for decades in protest of nuclear testing and the proposed repository that would have sat roughly 1,000 feet under Yucca Mountain.
“What happened in our state was Nevada never had consent, and in 1982, when the bill was passed that designated Nevada as the nation’s nuclear storage waste disposal area, that didn’t come with any of our consent,” said Rep. Susie Lee, a Democrat representing Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District.
The late U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid spent his career leading the battle against the project, which began in the 1980s, during President Ronald Reagan’s administration.
President Barack Obama called the Yucca Mountain project “unworkable” in 2010 and made good on his campaign promise to Nevadans to end it and cut funding for the project.
“This was a political cartoon that ran in the Las Vegas Review-Journal back in 2010, and it really celebrated the end of the Yucca Mountain Project, this attempt by the U.S. government to attempt to dump all the country’s high radioactive waste here in Nevada,” Kamps said.
Ten years later, President Donald Trump — a supporter of nuclear energy — initially called for the licensing process of Yucca Mountain to restart. But in 2020, Trump announced that he would reverse his policy and halted his support of the project.
Today, the question still remains: Where should the nation’s nuclear waste be stored? It’s a near-constant fight for members of Nevada’s congressional delegation to this day.
“The fact of the matter is, there are 27 states that have nuclear waste, spent fuel from nuclear reactors, and those states want a solution,” Lee said.
Lee says the bipartisan position from Nevada lawmakers is clear: Nevadans don’t want to see any funding go back into the Yucca Mountain project.
“There will need to be a long-term solution for this,” she said. “I’m working with my counterparts to try and come up with a solution, how we can reprocess that waste, but most importantly, how and where it can be put where there is consent.”
For the Shoshone Nation lineage, the Yucca Mountain fight goes beyond politics. Its members say it’s a race to preserve what’s left of the mountain to leave behind for future generations.
“They say that we are as naive as Native Americans because of our holistic conservation of the land for future generations,” Zabarte said. “They don’t see that as value, that the land is somehow being wasted.
“We’re trying to protect this land so our future generations can live a good quality of life,” he said.
Nuclear Waste Dump Threatens Kichi Sìbì (Ottawa River)
Indigenous Climate Action, August 23
Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) is pushing forward construction of a Near Surface Disposal Facility (NSDF), otherwise known as a nuclear waste dump, less than 1 kilometre away from the Kichi Sìbì (the Ottawa River) without the Free, Prior, and Informed Consent of the Algonquin Nations whose territory they are on.
On June 20, impacted nations spoke out against the project during a news conference where they also made public an Indigenous-led Assessment of the Canadian Nuclear Laboratories Near Surface Disposal Facility And Legacy Contamination Of Algonquin Aki Sibi.
The chiefs made it clear that this project is a direct threat to the rights of Indigenous peoples and the project would pose serious threats to culture, land, water and wildlife. It is important to understand that this is not just a risk to Indigenous communities; it is a risk to everyone who lives along the Ottawa River, including residents in Ottawa who rely on the river for their water and livelihood.
Nuclearization of Indigenous Land
Beginning nearly eighty years ago with the establishment of the Chalk River Laboratories along the Kichi Sìbì, sitting on unceded Algonquin territory, Indigenous nations have been facing the expansion of so-called Canada’s nuclear industry. The Chalk River Laboratories sits across the river from a noted community spiritual site, Oiseau Rock, near the lumbering town of Chalk River.
The Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) is a branch of the federal crown corporation, the Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL). Chalk River Laboratories are owned by CNL, and operated by the Canadian National Energy Alliance, a private-sector holding company—that is not under direct control of the government—overseen by SNC-Lavalin.
“This nuclear site is already leeching radioactive pollution into the Ottawa River in the form of Tritium, which is radioactive hydrogen, and it’s only going to get progressively worse. And there’s no treatment for Tritium. So CNL and CNSC (Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission) will tell you that they are going to build a treatment plant, but you know in our world we know that you never build your treatment plant above where you collect your drinking water—and this is precisely what CNSC is going to do.” — Chief Lance Haymond (Kebaowek First Nation)
While CNSC claims that it had signed an agreement and received consent from the Algonquins of Pikwàkanagàn, in truth, they consulted only one voice of the Algonquin nation, the remaining ten communities oppose the project and have not given their consent.
“The Canadian government has failed its duty to consult with us. We also point out that approving this dump would violate UNDRIP… we do not consent with the construction of the NSDF in our territory. We believe that consultation has been inadequate, and our Indigenous rights are threatened by this proposal.”
— Chief Dylan Whiteduck (Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation)…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. more https://www.indigenousclimateaction.com/entries/nuclear-dump-threatens-kichi-sibi
Eastern European NATO Countries Fear Peace Talks Between Ukraine and Russia
Poland and the Baltic states are worried growing opposition to the proxy war inside the US could lead to negotiations
SCHEERPOST, By Dave DeCamp / Antiwar.com,6 Sept 23
NATO members that border Russia and Belarus are afraid that growing opposition to the proxy war in Ukraine inside the United States will put pressure on the Ukrainians to pursue peace talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, The Hill reported on Tuesday.
While the Biden administration’s stated policy is to back Ukraine for “as long as it takes,” and the majority of Congress still supports the proxy war, there is there is fatigue among Americans. A recent poll from CNN found that 55% of Americans are against Congress authorizing more spending on the conflict.
Former President Trump, the Republican frontrunner for the 2024 election, has claimed he would end the war in Ukraine within “24 hours.” The Biden administration is looking to sign a long-term security deal with Ukraine to tie the hands of a future administration on the issue, but the political climate has some NATO members nervous that peace might be pursued.
The report said that for Poland and the Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, talking with Putin is a “red line.” The four nations want the US and the rest of Ukraine’s Western backers to prepare for a future where the Russian leader is completely isolated……………………….
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has maintained demands for peace talks that are a non-starter for Moscow, including a full Russian withdrawal and Russia ceding Crimea. Zelensky and his government will likely not drop the maximalist demands unless Ukraine loses the support of the US and NATO, which Kyiv has acknowledged is fueling the entire war effort……………………………………………. more https://scheerpost.com/2023/09/06/eastern-european-nato-countries-fear-peace-talks-between-ukraine-and-russia/
Russia warns return of US nuclear weapons to UK would be seen as escalation
Russia would regard any return of US nuclear weapons to bases in Britain as an “escalation and a destabilizing practice,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a briefing on Tuesday.
She also said that such a practice is “openly anti-Russian in nature, as it provides for joint planning and regular training exercises for the prompt delivery of nuclear strikes by members of NATO which is hostile to us against targets in Russia from the territory of non-nuclear European countries.”
“We will continue to demand the return of all American nuclear weapons to US territory, followed by the removal of infrastructure that would allow them to be quickly deployed in Europe,” she added.
Japan announces emergency relief for seafood exporters hit by China’s ban over Fukushima water
Japan announces emergency relief measures for seafood exporters hit by
China’s ban. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced on Monday a
20.7 billion yen ($141 million) emergency fund to help exporters hit by a
ban on Japanese seafood imposed by China in response to the release of
treated radioactive wastewater from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power
plant.
Daily Mail 4th Sept 2023
Globe & Mail 5th Sept 2023
Crew sailing ‘original peace boat’ reflect on mission to promote end of nuclear weapons
the issue boils down to the human heart.
The problem isn’t the nuclear weapons themselves or the countries that have them,” …… “The problem is the way of thinking that it’s okay to annihilate people to accomplish your goals. So, change that, and nuclear weapons can go away on their own.”
The Golden Rule has visited 92 cities across the world through the non-profit Veterans for Peace.
The visiting voyagers said they’re building on the legacy of sailors before them, who sailed the Golden Rule in 1958 from Hawaii towards a nuclear test zone in the Marshall Islands in protest.
By: Tahleel Mohieldin, Sep 05, 2023 https://www.tmj4.com/news/local-news/crew-sailing-original-peace-boat-reflect-on-mission-to-promote-end-of-nuclear-weapons
MILWAUKEE — Slicing through the windy waters of Lake Michigan, and taking up residence on the 65-year-old sailboat known as the Golden Rule, Captain Kiko Johnston-Kitazawa and his crew have plenty to keep them busy Labor Day weekend.
“It’s a very seaworthy vessel,” Johnston-Kitazawa said. “It’s not extremely fast but it can handle rough water and protect the crew.”
As they near the end of a 13-month 11,000-mile journey through the Great Loop, to raise awareness about the dangers of nuclear weapons, it’s more than a love of sailing that unites the crew.
“It’s nice to be able to sail on a boat that has a purpose,” said crew member Tamar Elias. “So much power, so much history.”
The visiting voyagers said they’re building on the legacy of sailors before them, who sailed the Golden Rule in 1958 from Hawaii towards a nuclear test zone in the Marshall Islands in protest.
Elias said though they never made it to the Marshall Islands, because they were arrested, their message got people’s attention and ultimately led to the end of atmospheric testing.
“Now in the last six or seven years there’s been a lot of going backward,” Johnston-Kitazawa said. “I won’t say all but the larger nuclear powers boasting about their capabilities and threatening directly or indirectly, subtly to use them so it’s time again.”
As he sails on what has come to be known as the original peace boat that started a movement Captain Johnston-Kitazawa said he’s come to realize the issue boils down to the human heart.
The problem isn’t the nuclear weapons themselves or the countries that have them,” he explained. “The problem is the way of thinking that it’s okay to annihilate people to accomplish your goals. So, change that, and nuclear weapons can go away on their own.”
The Golden Rule has visited 92 cities across the world through the non-profit Veterans for Peace.
Through Labor Day weekend people in Milwaukee were invited to view the sailboat which temporarily took up residence near Lakeshore State Park.
Guam nuclear energy ban focus of Tuesday hearing
By Joe Taitano II – For Variety, Sep 4, 2023 https://www.mvariety.com/news/regional_world/guam-nuclear-energy-ban-focus-of-tuesday-hearing/article_4a573368-4abf-11ee-aaa0-4335e65acd7f.html
HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — Residents can weigh in Tuesday morning on a proposal to ban nuclear energy from Guam’s shores.
Bill 151-37, sponsored by Sen. Sabina Perez, would ban nuclear reactors, from conventional reactors large enough to provide for the island’s entire energy consumption in one site to microreactors that can provide about as much power as the Dandan Solar Farm in a package that can fit on an airplane.
The hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday at the Guam Congress Building.
Perez said while nuclear power is becoming more popular in response to climate change, her bill intends to protect the community and environment from the inherent dangers of nuclear power.
“The main concerns are the likelihood of radiation exposure in a typhoon and an earthquake-prone region that could exacerbate recovery efforts. Additionally, our community is suffering from increasing rates of cancer compared to the continental U.S., which is experiencing declining rates,” Perez said.
She said adequate storage and disposal of nuclear waste could be a concern, given the limited space and growing population on island.
“As Pacific Islanders who are on the front lines of climate change, our future should not be built on risk but on responsible innovation for a sustainable future,” she said.
The text of the bill also weighs the strategic military importance of the island.
While federal officials planning a 360-degree missile defense system for the island have shot down ideas that nuclear microreactors could be used to power the new systems, both Andersen Air Force Base and Naval Base Guam were identified as candidates for portable nuclear power plants in a study commissioned by the Army in 2018.
The Pentagon last year announced plans to deploy portable nuclear reactors to remote forward operating bases, though Guam hasn’t been officially announced as a candidate site.
The hearing will be livestreamed on GTA Channel 21, Docomo Channel 117 and the Guam Legislature Media YouTube channel.
Nuclear energy touted at West Virginia Chamber forum, but key cost, oversight and waste management questions linger
The Herald Dispatch, By Mike Tony 4 Sept 23
West Virginia political and business leaders made clear during last week’s state Chamber of Commerce annual summit they see a significant role for nuclear power in the state’s energy future.
“It’s a promise for our state,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., said of nuclear energy during a summit speech at The Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs Wednesday.
But recent federal reports have observed key cost, waste management and federal oversight questions linger over unconventional — or “advanced” — nuclear technologies that supporters say would be safer and cheaper than existing nuclear reactors.
……………………………………….. Emil Avram, vice president of business development at Virginia-based Dominion Energy, estimated the nuclear facility Dominion is exploring would require an investment of $3 billion to $5 billion per 300- to 400-megawatt facility — and that the company is planning to build up to 18 of those units over the next 25 years.
“So we also have to find sustainable, I’ll call it balance-sheet solutions for our company as we build out this capital-intensive infrastructure,” Avram said.
……………………………………Small modular reactor technology is not yet market-ready. The Department of Energy has approved cost-share awards to develop small modular reactors that can be operational by the end of the decade.
A Congressional Research Service overview of advanced nuclear reactors published in February noted research on small modular reactors suggesting their small size will keep them from achieving economies of scale.
The overview noted a 2018 study by researchers from Carnegie Mellon and Harvard universities and the University of California, San Diego predicting the cost per unit of power of a small modular reactor would very likely be higher than that of a large reactor, even if the smaller reactors may be cheaper to build.
The unit cost of producing electricity from nuclear energy was slightly more than coal and over double that of solar, geothermal, onshore wind or natural gas in the federal Energy Information Administration’s annually published energy outlook for 2022.
In its overview, the Congressional Research Service, a nonpartisan policy analysis agency within the Library of Congress, quoted a 2023 conclusion from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that there’s a “learning curve for both small modular reactor construction costs and deployment [that] needs to be understood……………………………………………………
The West Virginia Legislature lifted restrictions on nuclear power plant construction early in the 2022 regular legislative session.
The Senate on July 27 included the Capito and Carper-led nuclear measure, the Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy (ADVANCE) Act, in the National Defense Authorization Act that passed through the chamber. The National Defense Authorization Act would approve fiscal year 2024 appropriations and establish policies for Department of Defense programs…………………………………………..
A recent federal government watchdog report found the agency charged with protecting public safety and health regarding nuclear energy has important work to do to prepare for an expected influx of advanced nuclear reactor applications.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has staffing and licensing review issues that could hinder the agency’s oversight and developers’ ability to deploy advanced nuclear reactors, the Government Accountability Office found in its report released in July.
The office found commission officials and most stakeholders it interviewed indicated the commission faces challenges in hiring and retaining staff needed to review advanced reactors.
Existing commission guidance does not clearly advise agency staff on how to establish and manage licensing review schedules for incomplete applications, the Government Accountability Office found.
Without such guidance, the commission’s reviews of advanced reactor applications may not be clear and predictable, the office warned.
Capito and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., the top Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, had asked the office last year to assess the commission’s preparedness to review and approve advanced nuclear reactor applications.
the Congressional Research Service noted some advanced reactor technologies have chemical properties that pose safety concerns, including reactivity, toxicity, or corrosiveness of the primary coolant in the case of sodium, lead and molten salts, respectively.
It’s unclear whether future advanced nuclear reactor technologies would improve on past handling of reprocessing wastes, the Congressional Research Service report observed. The service cited a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report published this year finding that amounts and types of waste that will be generated by advanced reactors are difficult to estimate “at this early stage” of development. https://www.herald-dispatch.com/news/nuclear-energy-touted-at-wv-chamber-forum-but-key-cost-oversight-and-waste-management-questions/article_7941cf2a-19dc-57e7-a44d-30a7672728da.html
Russia linked hackers hit UK Ministry of Defence as security secrets leaked
Russian hackers suspected to have leaked sensitive UK military and defence
material on the dark web including information about nuclear submarine base
and chemical weapons lab. Sensitive military and defence material has been
stolen by suspected Russian hackers and leaked on to the internet.
Thousands of pages of data about the HMNB Clyde nuclear submarine base,
Porton Down chemical weapons lab and a GCHQ listening post are understood
to have been posted on to the dark web after the hack. Information about a
specialist cyber defence site and some of Britain’s high-security prisons
was also stolen in the raid on Zaun, a provider of fences for maximum
security sites.
Daily Mail 4th Sept 2023
Russia linked hackers hit UK Ministry of Defence as security secrets
leaked. Hackers targeted the database of a firm which handles the security
for some of Britain’s most secretive sites – including a nuclear submarine
base and a chemical weapon lab.
Mirror 2nd Sept 2023
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/russia-linked-hackers-hit-uk-30850139
Exhibition for nuclear-free world opens online
Sunday, Sept. 3 https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20230903_05/
An online exhibition promoting a nuclear-free world has opened, set up by a group of survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The Japan Confederation of A-and H-bomb Sufferers Organizations, or Hidankyo, says the threat of nuclear weapons is increasing as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues.
The group’s Assistant Secretary General Hamasumi Jiro said the world must be informed of the consequences of nuclear weapons now more than ever, amid the heightened risk of nuclear weapons being used.
The exhibition, made up of about 50 panels of photos and texts, was set up by the confederation and other non-profit organizations.
It features items displayed in the past by the group at the UN Headquarters and elsewhere. Online visitors can see images of the devastation in Hiroshima and Nagasaki immediately after the bombings.
The site is available in Japanese and English to highlight the efforts of the survivors and others whose aim is to realize a world without nuclear weapons.
Officials say that the English site has been accessed mainly by overseas viewers in the US.
Crowdfunding is helping to manage the site with hopes of soon making it available in the languages of nuclear states Russia and China.
Germany, Italy highlight growing European nuclear divide
By Federica Pascale and Julia Dahm | EURACTIV.com and EURACTIV.it
Germany’s place as the leader of Europe’s anti-nuclear lobby has been further solidified as Chancellor Olaf Sholz doubled down on his view that nuclear has no place in the country’s energy mix, while Italy has vowed to speed up its integration of nuclear energy in a bid to cut costs, save the economy, and power the Green Transition.
Nuclear power is controversial as some countries have embraced it, while others have considered it more of a risk than it is worth. Its inclusion by the European Commission as a green energy source in the Taxonomy Regulation further laid bare divisions across Europe as countries bickered over whether it could truly be considered green and sustainable………………………………………………………..
In an interview with radio station Dlf on Saturday, Scholz stressed using nuclear power in Germany’s energy mix is no longer an option.
“In Germany today, the topic of nuclear power is a dead horse,” the Social Democrat said.
“Whoever would want to build new power plants would take 15 years and would have to spend 15 to 20 billion per unit,” he added.
Scholz’s remarks come after representatives of the FDP, the chancellor’s liberal coalition partner, called to stop the dismantling of reactors that are still usable to reactivate them.
“This is the only way to remain capable of acting in any situation,” Christian Dürr,
https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/germany-italy-highlight-growing-european-nuclear-divide/
Saudi Arabia could build a nuclear bomb, experts say – and the US might help it
Resurgent Saudi Arabia ‘could build nuclear bomb’ and America could
help it. Until the vexed issue of Iran’s plans for a nuclear weapon are
resolved, the potential for proliferation in the Middle East will be a
constant threat.
Some had hoped that Saudi Arabia – or at least its
current malign incarnation – would fade into insignificance as its oil
either ran out or became irrelevant in the greener future. But the fossil
fuel industry is not yet on its last legs. More importantly, it’s made
the Gulf state a mountain of cash. Saudi Arabia hopes its giant trust fund
will exceed $2trn by 2030, which would make it bigger than Norway’s .
iNews 4th Sept 2023
https://inews.co.uk/news/world/resurgent-saudi-arabia-build-nuclear-bomb-america-help-2586059
America is not worried about the huge losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
America is not worried about the huge losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine – Judging Freedom https://rusvesna.su/news/1693656211 4 Sept 23
Washington representatives are absolutely not concerned about the huge losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the economic well-being of US citizens, at the expense of which assistance to Kyiv is paid.
They also don’t really care about the casualties among American soldiers, but they are afraid of internal political pressure, Scott Horton, director of the Libertarian Institute, said in an interview with Judging Freedom.
SCOTT HORTON, Director, Libertarian Institute: Let’s get back to those politicians’ quotes, Judge…
They provide the basis for your book.
SCOTT HORTON: Yes, of course. Listen. I mean that (US Senator Richard – ed.) Blumenthal puts it extremely simply. In other words, Russian soldiers have value. We need to kill them. American soldiers are valuable and we don’t want to lose any of them.
Источник: https://rusvesna.su/news/1693656211
US tax dollars have no value. The fact that you work hard means nothing to a politician. And the lives of Ukrainian soldiers have the same value for American politicians as American taxes, that is, they are worth nothing.
They openly say that they do not take these costs into account. This would be a cost if American soldiers had to die. And that is only because in this case they (representatives of the Washington establishment – ed. note) would face political pressure, and not because they care more about American cannon fodder than Ukrainians.
They are monsters. That’s who runs the American empire. Judge, they are the worst people in the world.
I’m sorry, but I agree with you. I mean, I’m not sorry to say that I agree with you. I’m sorry that this is the state of affairs. But this is the inevitable conclusion that those of us who observe what is happening come to.
Now the United States and not all, but many of its NATO allies are negotiating some kind of agreement with Ukraine that will come into effect in the next presidency, whether it be Joe Biden’s second term or his successor’s first term. Joe Biden, Tony Blinken and Victoria Nuland seek to prevent future presidents from ending the conflict in Ukraine.
SCOTT HORTON: Yes.
I don’t know how long this will last. I don’t know what his (Biden’s – editor’s note) solution is. He obviously wants to be able to refer to some progress that has taken place in the conflict between now and Election Day.
The situation is getting worse and worse, our military is telling us that this cannot continue for long, that (the offensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces – editor’s note) will not last until winter. You heard the words of the President of Hungary. But does Joe Biden really think the American public wants an extension of what’s going on?
SCOTT HORTON: Well, I mean, you have to look at the situation from his point of view. There’s this thing with a funny name, Judge. I’m not sure who its author is. James Buchanan probably coined the term “public choice theory.”
It sounds weird and boring, but it really just boils down to the fact that politicians are people and they take care of themselves. In reality, there are no national interests. They do what is in their own interest, in the interest of their agency or department, and their actions have nothing to do with what is good for the American people as a whole.
So, Judge, losing this pre-election conflict is a bad outcome for Joe Biden. George W. Bush faced a similar situation in 2003 and 2004, where the outrage got worse and worse and worse. So what is he going to do, retreat? No, he needs to redouble his efforts and just make sure that things continue after the election. So the promise that we prevented the worst still stands. And this makes no sense.
I mean, The Wall Street Journal published a huge article about what the 2024 spring offensive would look like. Yes, they are teasing! These are the same people who not so long ago said they were going to win with the 2023 spring offensive that turned into an absolute disaster this summer, and they are going to continue.
Illinois legislators have a lot to learn about nuclear power
Lawmakers in Springfield who are not willing to put much effort into learning fundamental details have no business writing future energy legislation, writes David A. Kraft, director of the Nuclear Energy Information Service.
David A. Kraft, director, Nuclear Energy Information Service, Sept 4, 2023, https://chicago.suntimes.com/2023/9/4/23855690/illinois-legislators-moratorium-nuclear-energy-info-service-small-modular-reactors-pritzker-letters
Rich Miller’s Aug. 25 column about Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s veto of the attempt to repeal the Illinois nuclear construction moratorium provides a valuable picture of the politics behind nuclear legislation (“Pritzker sends mixed messages on moratorium of new Illinois nuclear plants”).
It also demonstrates how important it is for legislators to actually know something about what they’re advocating or voting for. It has been clear throughout all the hearings that Illinois legislators lack the depth of knowledge about proposed nuclear reactors needed before financially binding ratepayers and the Illinois economy to a pro-nuclear future.
Nuclear proponents — particularly sponsoring Sen. Sue Rezin — “hotly dispute,” as Miller wrote, Pritzker’s concerns that drafting (SB 76) that way would “open the door to large-scale nuclear power plants.” The 11th-hour language change advocating “advanced reactors” drove his concern.
However, the governor is 100% correct and nuclear advocates 100% wrong.
A 2023 report by the Congressional Research Service clearly states, “Advanced reactor designs come in a wide range of sizes, from less than 15 MWe to 1,500 MWe or more.” The latter is 400 MWe larger than an Illinois Braidwood reactor.
A simple 30-minute Google search found several other sources report “advanced reactor” sizes ranging from 600 to 1700 MWe.
Legislators not willing to put this much effort into learning such fundamental details have no business writing Illinois’ energy future legislation.
The governor said: “Small Modular Reactors are very beneficial. … They do seem to work very well, and they do seem to be safe, but they’re going to be several years of testing yet ahead.”
Well, no, governor, they do not. Simply because as you also said, they do not yet exist. They are proposed to have safer qualities. But none have been built to demonstrate them yet.
Throughout this process, our organization repeatedly advocated for creating a panel of qualified experts to better research these and other issues. The current level of demonstrated nuclear ignorance validates that suggestion.
1 This Month
23-25 October – on Zoom – World BEYOND War’s annual global conferenc
Shut down the radiation-damaged Heysham nuclear reactors now
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
Say No to NASA’s Reckless Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
Say No to NASA’s Reckless Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
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