Hodge Podge

Well, since my last post, things seem to have gone to hell in a serious way. First Japan, then Libya end up in a bad way, and neither seems likely to come to a satisfactory conclusion any time soon. I keep sitting down and trying to write about one or the other, then realize that it just kicks over this well of uneasiness bordering on misery. There's nothing to be said about either event that hasn't been said better by smarter people already. I'll just post in brief I suppose.

My heart goes out to the people in Japan, and I wish the mainstream media was playing the reactor problems in a way that wouldn't cripple the industry further. On Friday, my Boy Scout troop had a guest lecture from a nuclear engineer about the reactor problems. It was a fascinating presentation, really. It's a far more complicated system than most people imagine. At least the plants are coming back under control

Dad and I did a bit of math with the aid of Wolfram Alpha as to the sheer power of this quake. The most powerful explosive device ever detonated was the 'Tsar Bomba,' a 58 megaton hydrogen bomb. The 9.0 quake is the energy equivalent of 552 Tsar Bombas, at 32 gigatons of tnt. That much energy, placed at that particular location, is essentially as deadly a circumstance as I can imagine, apart from perhaps an asteroid strike in eastern Asia.

The magnetic north pole is heading diligently south, much faster than it normally does. I have to wonder where it's going.

The wobble in Earth's orbit is gone. This may be related to both the above and the quake. This is rather an odd thing to have happen.

Libya. Why on earth is the United States starting actions in Libya? It has nothing we want, and any compelling reason to be there, such as human rights violations, has far worse offenders everywhere. This is probably just going to leave us with another destabilized muslim nation just ripe for a takeover by the Muslim Brotherhood. I don't think Gadaffi is a nice guy by any stretch, but he's not even remotely the worst of them. Him going out just opens the field to some really scary people.

The Arab League needs to learn what a no-fly zone means. They are getting precisely what they asked for.

Obama is getting himself into a world of trouble. Congressional Democrats have started screeching for impeachment over the situation in Libya. While it's one of his lesser constitutional breeches, it is nice to see that it has come back to bite him eventually from his own party. He has utterly failed this country.

The most terrifying thought I've had in a long time is that no one in this country wants him to do what he does. The only people who consistently stand to benefit from his behaviors are Al Qaeda and other anti-American muslim fundamentalists. I don't think he has any real ties to them (read: God almighty I hope he doesn't) but I can't deny that they stand to benefit from what he's done most. His ROE in Iraq and Afghanistan cripple our efforts against those who would do us harm. His domestic policy will drive us into bankruptcy and leave us open to attack. His foreign policy has alienated anyone who might be willing to help us. At this point, all I can say is either this man (or whoever may be controlling him) is the most dangerous idiot ever to live, or he wishes to see this country ruined.

I'm not going to be sleeping well over that one for a while.

If those two people who actually read this care to comment, tell me something good happening in the world? I'm having a hard time finding it at the moment.

Hopefully some lighter material will come up soon. I still have kiwis, so the world can't be all bad.