#Matthew L Wald

[muppet-facts]

Muppet Fact #864

In the 1980 presidential election, people cast write-in votes for both Miss Piggy and Kermit.

Source:

"Cizanckas Fund ... The Write-in Votes." Matthew L. Wald. Connecticut Journal. December 7, 1980. Section C, page 3.

[chequerootlurks]

Let’s talk a bit of serious stuff, and events that contribute to the negative view of the nuclear industry.

No, not Fukushima, Chernobyl, or Three Mile Island, or even Chalk River.

Nope.

Today, I’m going to point out something close to home. The decommissioned ZION STATION, in Zion IL.

I’ve never been to the La Crosse site, but I’ve been the Zion site a few times since 2006. It’s north of Chicago. My work there is not particularly interesting, and not worth discussing.

Today there’s really nothing significant left but the on-site spent fuel dry storage casks.

Zion Nuclear Plant was plagued with trouble, the trickle-down effect of poor top leadership, essentially absent middle management, and the employees’ disregard for upper management… and each other.

''In the 1980's, on a few occasions, operators locked new shift technical advisers into tall'' gym lockers during late-night shifts, the report said, in an apparent hazing incident.

The city of Zion today is an economic wasteland. When the nuclear site closed, the village lost over 1mil USD in annual taxes… and raised citizen taxes to compensate. It now has some of the highest property and business taxes in IL… resulting in many foreclosed and abandoned homes. Those were scooped up at auction by out-of-area buyers who turned them into poorly maintained, low-income rental properties.

Below this link, I’ll include an article about the poor work culture at Zion Station from 1997.

The link is relevant to events happening this year.

______

Scathing Report Is Issued on Illinois Nuclear Utility — By Matthew L. Wald Nov. 27, 1997

Nuclear experts from utilities around the country have issued a stinging assessment of Commonwealth Edison's nuclear program, directing their most pointed criticism at the utility's Zion plant near Chicago.

In a report on the company, the nation's largest private operator of reactors, the experts said the plant's operations showed serious weaknesses in safety management and a ''complete lack of progress'' in addressing its problems.

In an evaluation far tougher than those usually delivered by Government regulators, the private experts said the utility had ''never had a culture that is conducive to a well-run nuclear program, and its nuclear program has never run well.'' And the report says some employees may not be doing their best because they sense that the company will soon close some reactors for financial reasons.

The report recounts an incident in February in which a reactor operator inserted control rods into the reactor farther than he intended to. Then the operator immediately began to withdraw the rods, to increase power in the reactor, a step that is normally taken only after intensive planning and with careful supervision. There were nearly 40 people in the control room but for almost two minutes, the report said, the operator continued with the unapproved procedure and no one stopped him.

Although there have been no serious nuclear accidents at the plant, the report described the fuel-rod incident as ''one of the most troublesome events in the industry for the past decade.''

Managers, the report said, spend so much time in meetings that workers seldom see them in the plant, and in some instances employees ''were even unable to identify their manager.'' And engineers and operators at Zion have little respect for superiors, including shift technical advisers, who were added to control room rosters after the Three Mile Island accident, the report suggested.

''In the 1980's, on a few occasions, operators locked new shift technical advisers into tall'' gym lockers during late-night shifts, the report said, in an apparent hazing incident.

Commonwealth Edison executives said they had hired a new chief of nuclear operations and were gathering employees at all six plants, with 12 reactors, to describe the experts' assessment in an effort to foster improvements.

The review was conducted by the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations, which was established by the industry after the 1979 nuclear accident at Three Mile Island to help avoid future embarrassing problems. It identifies utilities that are run poorly and might have an accident. The original assessment was given to Commonwealth Edison's board of directors in September, and an edited version, with names and other information removed, was turned over to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The commission, which is based Rockville, Md., released it late Tuesday.

Shirley Ann Jackson, the chairwoman of the commission, said in an interview this morning that the company was ''in a deep hole,'' with four of its reactors shut and more in danger of shutdown.

The commission has a ''Watch List'' for troubled nuclear reactor plants. Its plants have been on and off the list for years. Nationwide there are 13 reactors on that list, of which 6 belong to Commonwealth Edison. The commission's basic concern about the plants is the quality of management.

In January, the commission sent the company an unprecedented letter, demanding that it submit an explanation of how it could operate all six sites and still make improvements in all of them. The commission has sent letters to utilities before demanding such information about a single reactor, but never about every reactor a utility operates.

Commission officials said they evaluate performance, not management, as the private institute does, but that they believed their assessment had been borne out by the institute's report.

At Zion, 40 miles north of Chicago on the shores of Lake Michigan, Zion 1 began commercial operation in 1973; unit 2 followed the next year.

Commonwealth Edison said recently that it would not replace the steam generators in the plants when they wore out, meaning that a shutdown is seven years away at most and possibly sooner. The decision was based on cost, and not demands of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Commonwealth Edison, a subsidiary of the Unicom Corporation, serves 3.4 million customers in Illinois, in an area with a population of about 8 million people.

At the beginning of November, the company hired Oliver D. Kingsley Jr., who had been senior vice president of the Tennessee Valley Authority, to be the president of its newly formed Nuclear Generation Group. The company's chairman and chief executive, James J. O'Connor, has announced that he will retire soon because of an illness in the family.

In a telephone interview, Michael J. Wallace, senior vice president of the nuclear generation group at Commonwealth Edison, said. ''We are taking the time and providing the resources, the people and the dollars, to assure we are improving the equipment, doing the overhauls and addressing human performance issues so the plants can be operated safely and reliably. We treat the situation at Zion very seriously.''

But Dr. Jackson, of the commission, said the company would be evaluated as a whole. The reactors have ''a linked fate,'' she said.

Com Ed cannot restart Zion without permission from the commission, and Mr. Wallace said the company would not ask until ''we can have absolute confidence'' that the reactor is ready.

The company's two LaSalle reactors, near Ottawa, Ill., also cannot be restarted without from permission the commission, and those four, plus the two Dresden reactors, near Morris, Ill., are on the commission's ''Watch List'' of troubled plants.

The report said the best of Commonwealth Edison's reactors was only near the median among all American plants. Zion appears to have the most serious problems, though, including union protest actions in the control room. For example, control room operators are supposed to wear uniform shirts so that they can be quickly identified as being in charge, among other reasons. But on July 23 and 24, operators there on two consecutive shifts refused orders to wear the shirts; the institute's report said they were protesting treatment of other workers who had been transferred to new assignments.

The report said that a company-wide contract with the union, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, had recently been negotiated, but that issues still remained in the nuclear division.

Dr. Jackson said Commonwealth Edison had ''made some improvements in some areas in some of the plants, but they still have a problem.'' She said she was waiting for results. ''Performance is as performance does,'' she said.

Dr. Jackson also said the commission had asked its staff to be especially sensitive to changes in the utility business that would affect safety. The staff is developing ''indicators'' of when a utility may be scrimping on safety because of competitive pressures, as the electricity business is deregulated, she said.

Scathing Report Is Issued on Illinois Nuclear Utility — By Matthew L. Wald Nov. 27, 1997

_____

Recent further reading about Zion Station

[appsimpleapk]

The Ultimate Guide To WhatsApp MA

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[stephscivilrightsblog]

Violence Vs. Non-Violence in the Civil Rights Era

Warning: There may be some sensitive material.

There were many groups that existed and were created in the Civil Rights Era. Some of them believed in violence, others self-defense (violence if necessary), and most were non-violent. My goal is to examine the groups and deem them right or wrong based on a traditional sociological scale. Most people have a learned instinct of what is right and what is wrong, but some people don’t have that same scale as most. For example, the Ku Klux Klan which I will be speaking of below created children’s chapters, they may or may not have participated in the violence, but it was a good way for families to pass on their beliefs and alter what otherwise would most likely have been the same developed sense of right or wrong. 

The Ku Klux Klan has existed long before the Civil Rights Era, being founded on December 24, 1865 by Confederate Veterans in Pullaski, Tennessee, shortly after the end of the Civil War. For a while the public didn’t realize the use of violence the Klan has become known for. The KKK has a history of beating, burning, and lynching African Americans because they disapproved of a world in which African Americans were free and had the same rights as whites. 

The KKK was revived during the Civil Rights Era by Edward L. McDaniel who lived in Natchez, Mississippi. His chapter of the Klan eventually became known as the White Knights of the KKK  and were involved in at least 10 murders. One of these murders too place on June 16, 1964 where 3 Civil Rights workers were killed in Philadelphia, Mississippi. Their names are James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner and they worked for CORE (see below). After being released from jail for a speeding ticket, the Klan followed the three men onto the highway where Klansman James Jordan shot Chaney and Wayne Roberts shot the other two. They then put the bodies in the vehicle they recognized as belonging to CORE and drove it to a farm where they buried the bodies. 

Note: The KKK is still in existence today, but violence against African Americans has become highly scrutinized and people are more likely to be prosecuted and sentenced today. 

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was known to be a non-violent Civil Rights organization that was created to defend African Americans from injustice and aid in gaining equal rights for them. Founders include W.E.B Dubois, Ida B. Wells, Mary White Ovington, William English Walling, Lillian Wald, Archibald Grimke, Henry Moskowits, Oswald Garrison Willard, and more.

The incident that resulted in their founding was the on-going violence against African Americans and the Springfield Race Riot of 1908 in which a mob attacked African Americans resulting in many deaths which included lynching. After its founding the NAACP won many major legal victories in the 50′s and 60′s. The most-known case would be that of the 154 Brown v. Board which took place in Topeka, Kansas. Thurgood Marshall worked with a group of NAACP attorneys to win the case. 

Note: The NAACP is still in existence today.

Core is another non-violent Civil Rights group that was founded in Chicago, Illinois in 1942 by James Farmer, George Houser, Bayard Rustin, and Bernice Fisher. They were known to work with other Civil Rights groups for the freedom rides, which were organized in the effort to desegregate public facilities, starting with bus terminals. They also fought for the right to register for voting and were apart of the March on Washington in 1963. Their efforts were often met with violence and arrests.

It was in 1962 when CORE continued participating in the Freedom Rides which were met with violence. They were traveling on the interstate through Anniston, Alabama and a mob met them with firebombs and fists. The activists were beaten and some even died as they attempted to escape. This didn’t stop CORE from participating in efforts to gain their civil rights who co-sponsored the March on Washington.

The White Citizens’ Council was founded on July 11th, 1954 as a result of the Brown V. Board Decision to end segregation of schools. This day became known as “Black Monday” to Southern whites. Targets included those participating in the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The first meeting of the Citizens’ Council was two months after the Brown V. Board case ended. They were known to have a system which would track both blacks and whites. Those who tried to help register black voters, or black voters themselves would be targeted: they would lose everything, including their lives. They were active within the Mississippi Delta where Emmett Till was beaten beyond recognition and heavily disfigured then dumped in a body of water. Today the WCC is known as the Council of Conservative Citizens.

The Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee was definitely anti-violence: Its in the name! This organization was founded in April of 1960 (my mother was born in December - wild!) at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina by Ella Baker, Diane Nash, Julian Bond, Bernard LaFayette, and Charles Sherrod. They were most known for their participation in the Freedom Rides and Sit-Ins at lunch counters. Many members died during the Freedom Rides because the police were told not to protect the African American participants. The Black Panthers were founded on October 15, 1966 in Oakland, California by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale after the assassination of Malcolm X and the wrongful shooting of Matthew Johnson, and unarmed black teenager, who was killed by San Francisco police. They believed in Self-Defense or violence if necessary and were known to wear leather jackets and black berets which is depicted in the photo above. They believed in embracing your African roots by dressing as one would in Africa and doing your hair like one would in Africa. 

It was on April 6, 1968 that the Black Panthers had an altercation with the Oakland police after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4th, just two days earlier. While the Panthers stated that they believed in self-defense, this term typically applies to situations where someone defends themselves after being attacked. What happened on April 6th, by this definition cannot be classed as self-defense because the Panther’s were the ones who bombarded the police, which resulted in a 90-minute long shootout and the death of Bobby Hutton, one of their members. He was just 17 years old at the time. Eventually it came to an end when the police used tear gas on the Panthers’. Two police officers and two civilians were injured. 

Note: The Black Panther Party became inactive in 1982.

The Southern Christian Leadership Conference was founded on January 10, 1957 in Atlanta, Georgia by Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph Abernathy, Bayard Rustin, Fred Shuttlesworth, and Joseph Lowery. This organization was non-violent, which is to be expected because of the non-violent stance MLK Jr. himself held in his work toward gaining civil rights. The SCLC mostly worked in the South to perform leadership training programs, citizen education projects, and voter registration drives. Their efforts in this and their participation in the March on Washington during the early 1960′s eventually led to the passing of the Civil Rights Act (1964) and the Voting Rights Act (1965). 

On February 18, 1965 an Alabama Civil Rights activist was beaten and shot by an Alabama State Trooper while he was participating in a peaceful march trying to gain the right to vote. The victims name was Jimmie Lee Jackson and the officers name, James Bonard Fowler. Jackson would die 7 days later on February 26, 1965. His death resulted in the organizing of the Selma to Montgomery marches by the SCLC Director of Direct Action, James Bevel. There were a total of 3 marches, one on March 7 the day that became known as “Bloody Sunday” where 600 marchers peacefully protesting had tear gas thrown at them and were beaten with billy clubs, another on March 9 in response to the death of Jackson and one MLK Jr. himself organized, then another from March 21st to March 25th. 

By looking at the history through an objective lens and stating the facts for everyone to see its obvious where each organization stands on a scale of right or wrong. It’s clear that the KKK was a group that encouraged and performed violence against those of a different race as did the White Citizens’ Council. The Black Panther Party based on their claim of a self-defense stance would ordinarily go in the middle of the scale, but because they didn’t always act out of self-defense as shown above this makes them a group that isn’t necessarily trustworthy which could be part of the reason they are no longer active. Groups such as SNCC, SCLC, CORE, and the NAACP who are non-violent tended to make the most progress in gaining their civil rights and are more likely to exist still today.

Disclaimer: I own none of the images.

Sources:

1.  Seltzer, Rick, and Grace M. Lopes. “The Ku Klux Klan: Reasons for Support or Opposition Among White Respondents.” Journal of Black Studies, vol. 17, no. 1, 1986, pp. 91–109. JSTOR, https://www-jstor-org.proxyse.uits.iu.edu/stable/pdf/2784043.pdf?ab_segments=0%252Fbasic_expensive%252Fcontrol&refreqid=excelsior%3A82c874052f38d91359ec94903d1f9304

This article gives a brief history on the creation of the Ku Klux Klan and discusses research on racism and authoritarianism. The authors of the article created a survey for people to take so they could determine the extent of support for the KKK or the extent to which people don’t support the radical group.

2. “KKK Founded.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 4 Mar. 2010, https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/kkk-founded

This article gives a more detailed history of the Ku Klux Klan including when they were founded and by who. It also explained why the KKK was formed and the views they held of pro-violence. The Klan’s formation led to many deaths of African American men, women, and children through burning, lynching, beating and even bombing. The Klan had many reprisals despite the Supreme Court declaring the Ku Klux Act unconstitutional. This is a useful source because it clearly displays the information needed to provide to readers and aids in furthering the conclusion that the Klan was clearly wrong.

3. History.com Editors. “NAACP.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 29 Oct. 2009, https://www.history.com/topics/civil-rights-movement/naacp

This article gives a detailed history surrounding the founding of the NAACP and its goals. The NAACP was an organization created to further the Civil Rights Movement and defend African Americans against the injustices brought on by white society and government officials. Their most-known case is Brown V. Board which some white people didn’t approve of and protested against, often using violence as a tool.

4. History.com Editors. “CORE.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 27 Oct. 2009, https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/congress-of-racial-equality

This article gives a detailed history surrounding the founding of CORE and their goals in aiding the Civil Rights Movement and the peaceful protests they participated in which resulted in violence. It goes on to give more information surrounding what they do, however I didn’t use this as a main source of information.

5. History.com Editors. “SNCC.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 12 Nov. 2009, https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/sncc

This article gives a detailed history surrounding the founding of SNCC. They were a non-violent group of young African Americans so they could have a voice in the Civil Rights Movement. Like the other articles from history.com I did not use this as my main source of information, just a few snippets.

6. “White Citizens’ Councils (WCC).” The Martin Luther King Jr., Research and Education Institute, 5 June 2018, https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/white-citizens-councils-wcc

This website gives a biography on the WCC starting with the Brown V. Board decision. I used this to find an example of casualties at the hands of WCC members. In this case, it was Medgar Evers, local chairman of the NAACP.

7. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Southern Christian Leadership Conference.” Encyclopaedia Britannica, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., 12 Feb. 2019, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Southern-Christian-Leadership-Conference

This website provides background information regarding the SCLC and its founding. Like the other groups it played a critical role in the Civil Rights Movement through carefully coordinated non-violent teaching opportunities and at times protest rallies such as the March on Washington.

8. American Public Media. “American RadioWorks – State of Siege: Mississippi Whites and the Civil Rights Movement.” APM Reports – Investigations and Documentaries from American Public Media, http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/mississippi/e1.html

This article details the White Knights of the KKK in Mississippi and the amount of violence they were responsible for throughout the 1960’s, led by Edward L. McDaniel. There is an insight given as to what it was like for African Americans living in Mississippi and the danger they were in at the hands of the local chapter of the Klan.

9. “Murder in Mississippi.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/freedomsummer-murder/

This article discusses the deaths of three CORE members traveling through Mississippi: Andrew Goodman, James Earl Chaney, and Michael Henry Schwerner. After being jailed and forced to pay a fine for a speeding ticket, they were followed by the KKK and brutally murdered.

10. Niekerken, Bill Van. “The Death of a Black Panther: 50 Years after Bobby Hutton’s Killing.” SFChronicle.com, San Francisco Chronicle, 24 Apr. 2018, https://www.sfchronicle.com/thetake/article/The-death-of-a-Black-Panther-50-years-after-12855923.php

This article is about the death of 17-year-old Bobby Hutton during a physical ambush from the Black Panther Party to the Oakland police. This set out to prove that despite the BPP’s claim of self-defense they are inclined to instigate violence, thus tarnishing their reputation far more than the media could have.

11. “1965 Selma to Montgomery March Fast Facts.” CNN, Cable News Network, 27 Feb. 2019, https://www.cnn.com/2013/09/15/us/1965-selma-to-montgomery-march-fast-facts/index.html

This describes briefly the 1965 Selma to Montgomery March in bullet points. It provides the three dates of the March that I was unable to find elsewhere and even provides a video of the March where you can clearly see protestors surrounded by tear gas.

[mikeo56]

In the search for new and carbon-neutral energy sources nuclear power is once again considered an option. [1,2] Currently, 16% of world electricity is generated by nuclear reactors using the Uranium fuel cycle. [3] However, concerns over world Uranium supplies has led to a revival in research on the Thorium fuel cycle. The IAEA predicts problems with meeting Uranium demand as early as 2025. [4] Thorium is four times more abundant than Uranium and can therefore help prolong the lifespan of nuclear power significantly. The possibility of a Thorium nuclear power plant has been known since the 1940s, but the technology was never commercialized. This may have been due to the technical challenges of a Thorium fuel cycle combined with Uranium being more abundant than expected. [3] The difficulty in making nuclear weapons utilizing a Thorium fuel cycle may also have contributed to the lack of interest during the cold war. [5] Today, the inherent proliferation resistance of a Thorium fuel cycle is considered a great advantage. Additionally, it is possible to utilize a mixed fuel of Thorium and weaponized Plutonium to reduce current nuclear arsenals. [6]

Basics of Thorium

Thorium exists in nature in the form of the 232Th isotope, which is a so-called fertile isotope. A fertile isotope can be converted to fissile material - 232Th is transmuted to fissile 233U by one neutron absorption and two beta decays. In a traditional nuclear reactor, controlled nuclear fission cannot begin with fertile material alone, fissile material must therefore be supplemented to achieve a Thorium fuel cycle. The fissile material can be 235U, 239Pu or 233U produced by exposing 232Th to a neutron source. It has been proposed to use weaponized Plutonium in Thorium reactors, thus consuming Plutonium and fulfilling nuclear disarmament treaties while generating electricity. Generation of 233U is currently being pursued in India's three stage nuclear power program. India has vast Thorium reserves but small and low-grade Uranium supplies, so in order to achieve self-sufficiency of nuclear fuel a working Thorium fuel cycle is required. [3,7] A technically elegant alternative to traditional nuclear reactors running at criticality is to use an accelerator driven nuclear reactor, where fast neutrons are supplied by bombarding a lead alloy with highly energetic protons. The neutrons can then hit a sub-critical nuclear reactor, causing fission. [3,6,7] The accelerator driven nuclear reactor has superior waste characteristics to traditional reactors and has no chance of meltdown, but the large investment cost of the accelerator may prevent it from ever being built.

Proliferation Resistance

The fissile 233U can potentially be used to create a nuclear weapon. However, in a Thorium fuel cycle, some 232U is produced from 233U, 232Th and 233Pa. 232U decays to elements such as 212Bi and 208Tl that are high energy gamma emitters with short half-lives. These gamma-rays are easily detected and also necessitate remote handling of the fissile material. [3] 235U and 239Pu do not have these problems and are therefore the isotopes of choice for nuclear weapons. Another barrier to creating a 232U-based nuclear weapon is that there is no prior experience. The process would therefore require tests, illegal by the testing moratorium currently in place and also easy to detect. The use of a Thorium fuel cycle can thereby improve control over nuclear proliferation and increase the barrier to creating nuclear weapons in nations that wish to use nuclear power.

Nuclear Waste From a Thorium Fuel Cycle

The Thorium fuel cycle produces less long-lived nuclear waste than the Uranium fuel cycle. Long-lived nuclear waste from Uranium fueled reactors consists mainly of the so-called minor actinides, which include Neptunium, Americium, Curium and Californium [3]. These isotopes are generated through absorption of thermal neutrons in the reactor core. The fissile material in a Thorium core, 233U, has a higher fission to capture ratio than both Uranium and Plutonium and does therefore not generate as many minor actinides. The main waste concern of a Thorium fuel cycle is 231Pa which is produced when 233Th absorbs one neutron and emits two neutrons, a (n,2n) reaction. Fortunately, the rate of (n,2n) reactions is very low in thermal neutron reactors, thus giving the Thorium fuel cycle very favorable waste characteristics [8].

Reprocessing of Fuel

The penetrating gamma radiation present in spent Thorium fuel necessitates automated, remote reprocessing of the fuel. The technology for reprocessing and refabricating Thorium fuel is still largely experimental and has never been done on a large scale. The equivalent process for the Uranium fuel cycle is well known and has been in use for decades. Additionally, Thorium fuels require a one year cooldown period before reprocessing due to the presence of the highly radioactive 234Pa (~74 days half-life) in spent fuel. [3] Reprocessing of Thorium fuel will therefore cost substantially more than Uranium fuel reprocessing.

Conclusion

The Thorium fuel cycle has the potential to bring the world cleaner and more sustainable nuclear energy, but there remain significant technical and economic barrier to widespread use.   Currently, the only country with a large scale research program on Thorium nuclear power is India. In the rest of the world, the fate of Thorium nuclear reactors depends on whether the Thorium will ever become economically viable compared to Uranium, while solar power may be sailing up as the energy source of the future.

© Nils Johan Engelsen.  The author grants permission to copy, distribute and display this work in unaltered form, with attribution to the author, for noncommercial purposes only.  All other rights, including commercial rights, are reserved to the author.

References

[1] Matthew L. Wald, "U.S. Supports New Nuclear Reactors in Georgia ," New York Times, 16 Feb 10.

[2] Judy Dempsey, "Germany Extends Nuclear Plants' Life," New York Times, 6 Sep 10.

[3] "Thorium Fuel Cycle - Potential Benefits and Challenges," International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA-TECDOC-1450, May 2005.

[4] A. Jameson, "Uranium Shortage Poses Threat," The Times of London, 15 Aug 05.

[5] D. Clark, "Thorium Nuclear Power," The Guardian, 13 Jul 09.

[6] T. Dean, "New Age Nuclear," Cosmos Magazine, April 2006.

[7] L. Pham, "Considering an Alternative Fuel for Nuclear Energy," New York Times, 19 Oct 09.

[8] R. Brissot et al., "Nuclear Energy With (Almost) No Radioactive Waste?," July 2001.

[5] J. S. Friedman, "More Power to Thorium?", Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 53, No. 5, 19 (1997).

[eddycurrents]

For the week of 1 April 2019

Quick Bits:

Amazing Spider-Man #18.HU is Gibbon’s tale from Nick Spencer, Ken Lashley, Erick Arciniega, and Joe Caramagna. It’s a gut punch, a kick in the teeth, a few tosses against a tree, and then an attempt to turn you into a porcupine via arrows. While it does do a good job of telling Gibbon’s tale and attempting to make you care about him, it’s not a pleasant comic. It’s kicking the crap out of a z-list character to make you feel “the stakes” and this is really starting to feel cheap. Maiming and killing characters to up the gravity of a story, especially ones we’ve not see for some time, it’s not fun. It’s not shocking. And I’m tired of it. Which is somewhat sad, because this is some of the best art I’ve seen from Ken Lashley for a while. He seems to be channelling bits of Jack Kirby and Keith Giffen into his normal style and it looks really damn good.

| Published by Marvel

Amber Blake #1 is another partnership with Glénat in France, this one a fairly moody crime story from Jade Lagardère, Butch Guice, Christa Miesner, and Robbie Robbins. It’s a fairly dark beginning, delving into sexual assault and human trafficking, but interesting. The art from Guice is incredible.

| Published by IDW

Avengers: No Road Home #8 breaks out some art from Carlo Barberi as we head towards the home stretch of this series. Very nice character moments for Hawkeye, Hercules, and Conan this issue, though the build up of seemingly insurmountable odds from Nyx is adding some incredible tension.

| Published by Marvel

Bronze Age Boogie #1 launches Ahoy’s second wave of series and it’s awesome. The lead story is a bizarre mix of Doom Patrol-esque superheroes, Planet of the Apes alternate realities, and a teenager from nearly 4000 years ago fighting in a world of wizards and zombies. It’s glorious madness from Stuart Moore, Alberto Ponticelli, Giulia Brusco, and Rob Steen with so many ideas you can barely keep up. Rounding out this issue is the usual prose pieces and a wonderful back-up comic of Major Ursa, an astronaut bear, from Tyrone Finch, Mauricet, Lee Loughridge, and Steen that elevates the entire package even further.

| Published by Ahoy

Champions #4 unleashes Kaldera on the team looking to get revenge on Sam, while Miles and Kamala have a confrontation about what happened in Dubai. Lots of wonderful emotion in this one, beautifully depicted by Steven Cummings and Marcio Menyz. Also, Kaldera wanting to eat everyone is just weird.

| Published by Marvel

Conan the Barbarian #5 is another great issue from Jason Aaron, Mahmud Asrar, Matthew Wilson, and Travis Lanham. This one taps into Conan’s life as a thief and a pirate while unleashing eldritch horrors from stealing the wrong idol. Great tentacle beasts and a wonderful feeling of dread throughout the story as Conan fights to survive adrift at sea.

| Published by Marvel

Dead Kings #4 gives us some more dark humour as Maria and Sasha get closer to launching the rescue attempt on the prison, while Gena plans a little revolt of his own. Great artwork from Matthew Dow Smith and Lauren Affe.

| Published by AfterShock

Deathstroke #42 continues the “Terminus Agenda” crossover with Teen Titans as Slade looses the bonds of his prison in Robin’s underground supervillain jail, then hangs about and seemingly attempts to needle Damian as their attempt to take down another villain goes awry. This story is odd, but entertaining. Christopher Priest, Carlo Pagulayan, Jason Paz, Norm Rapmund, Jeromy Cox, and Willie Schubert are doing something interesting here.

| Published by DC Comics

Die #5 gives us the conclusion to the first arc and it’s pretty dark. Kieron Gillen, Stephanie Hans, and Clayton Cowles make us question here whether or not our heroes actually are “good” as they systematically start to take apart some of Sol’s toys in order to try to get home. Also, there are some horrifying hints at worse things waiting.

| Published by Image

Giant Days #49 sees Esther go back home for Easter break to try to write her dissertation. And fight a vampire with the 11-year old sister of one of her friends. Wonderful bit of how time changes you from John Allison, Max Sarin, Whitney Cogar, and Jim Campbell.

| Published by Boom Entertainment / BOOM! Box

The Girl in the Bay #3 chronicles a bit of Hugh’s side of the story to his monstrous clay-like hallucination buddy, as Kathy continues to try to make sense of her double existence and the older version of her’s death. There’s definitely something else at play here as JM DeMatteis, Corin Howell, James Devlin, and Clem Robins keep building this mystery.

| Published by Dark Horse / Berger Books

The Green Lantern #6 is relatively muted compared to previous issues, but still has an incredible impact as Hal goes through seemingly the last of the Blackstars’ tests and is granted an audience with Mu, from Grant Morrison, Liam Sharp, Steve Oliff, and Steve Wands. Mu here definitely seems to be insane, which is chilling for someone trying to control everything. There are some very interesting twists throughout, including another form of sacrifice from Hal, leading him to a strange place and a very old character who should give a hint as to where they are now.

| Published by DC Comics

Immortal Hulk #16 is another incredible issue from Al Ewing, Joe Bennett, Ruy José, Paul Mounts, and Cory Petit. This team really seems to be able to do no wrong and each subsequent issue is another masterpiece in horror, weaving together an impressive amount of Hulk history in a compelling and enticing way. Along with a very interesting development for Betty.

| Published by Marvel

Impossible Incorporated #5 concludes what has been an excellent all-ages series from JM DeMatteis, Max Cavallaro, and Gabrielle Gomez. This final issue leans heavy into quantum reality and divinity experiencing itself through permutation and self-reflection.

| Published by IDW

Justice League #21 is another interesting chapter in “The Sixth Dimension” from Scott Snyder, Jorge Jimenez, Alejandro Sánchez, and Tom Napolitano. This issue it become explicitly clear as to how it progresses the broader arc started in Metal as the stakes seem to be raised again. Stunning art from Jimenez and Sánchez.

| Published by DC Comics

Lodger #4 gets a little messy as the Laphams deliver the penultimate chapter of this series, inching closer to Ricky’s final confrontation with Dante. The disparate threads of the past, present, and Dante’s travelogues converge to a very strange perfect storm.

| Published by IDW / Black Crown

Marvel Team-Up #1 is an entertaining debut from Eve L. Ewing, Joey Vasquez, Felipe Sobreiro, and Clayton Cowles. This first issue teams up Spider-Man and Ms. Marvel presenting both sides to their day as they attend a speech from a noted ESU alumnus who has created a mind transfer device. Those things always go well. There’s some interesting contrast between wanting to be young again and wanting to be older faster.

| Published by Marvel

Oberon #3 continues to twist the tale as Oberon is confounded a bit by what Bonnie isn’t, from Ryan Parrott, Miloš Slavković, and Charles Pritchett. It seems as though nothing is as it seems in this story which leads to some intriguing surprises.

| Published by AfterShock

The Punisher #10 has some great incidental humour as Frank continues to cut a swath across a country of villains in “War in Bagalia”. Very entertaining work again from Matthew Rosenberg, Szymon Kudranski, Antonio Fabela, and Cory Petit.

| Published by Marvel

Red Sonja #3 is another excellent part of the story from Mark Russell, Mirko Colak, Bob Q, Dearbhla Kelly, and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou. This one hits hard on the value of mercenaries and what actually breeds loyalty.

| Published by Dynamite

Self/Made #5 takes off in yet another direction as Amala tracks down a scientist who has been searching for proof that ours is not the top level reality and is actually another simulation. It’s truly amazing as to how Mathew Groom, Eduardo Ferigato, Marcelo Costa, Mariana Calil, and Troy Peteri keep turning this story on a dime, with new revelations and new changes each issue without any of it feeling like a trick and delivering an engrossing narrative each time.

| Published by Image

Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider #7 focuses on some of the odd jobs that Gwen is getting through her website, pushes forward the problems she’s having with her headaches, and complicates her personal life a bit more. Seanan McGuire is very nicely developing Gwen’s character and relationships, all with some beautiful artwork from Takeshi Miyazawa and Ian Herring.

| Published by Marvel

Summit #14 concludes this arc with Val and co. attempting to rescue Fiona and JB from Agent Wald’s clutches. The team-up with Noble and further development of Jamila helps re-emphasize the broader shared universe of Catalyst Prime. Also, how far all of the astronauts involved in the Event have come. Gorgeous artwork from Marika Cresta and Bryan Valenza.

| Published by Lion Forge / Catalyst

War of the Realms #1 begins the culmination of almost seven years worth of storytelling as Malekith’s forces finally invade Earth. This is epic. Jason Aaron, Russel Dauterman, Matthew Wilson, and Joe Sabino deliver on the massive promise of this story with a brilliant, beautiful, and surprising opening chapter that levels a huge threat at the world.

| Published by Marvel

Young Justice #4 goes into some of the politics and problems that Amethyst was having on Gemworld prior to the disparate youth of Young Justice arriving to the realm. Some nice character moments here from Brian Michael Bendis and really wonderful art from Patrick Gleason, John Timms, Alejandro Sánchez, and Alex Sinclair.

| Published by DC Comics / Wonder Comics

Other Highlights: Betty & Veronica #4, Black Hammer ‘45 #2, Captain America #9, Curse Words: Spring Has Sprung Special, The Dreaming #8, Eclipse #14, Female Furies #3, Gasolina #17, Ghostbusters 35th Anniversary Special, GI Joe: A Real American Hero #260, Giantkillers, Hack/Slash vs. Chaos #4, Jim Henson’s The Storyteller: Sirens #1, Lightstep #5, Magic: The Gathering - Chandra #2, Marvel Action: Black Panther #1, Mirror #10, Now #6, Night Moves #4, Paper Girls #27, Redlands #12, Section Zero #1, Six Million Dollar Man #2, Solo: A Star Wars Story #7, Star Wars #64, Vindication #3, The Witcher: Of Flesh & Flame #4, Ye

Recommended Collections: Animosity - Volume 4: Walled City, Paper Girls Deluxe Edition Hardcover - Volume 2, Stray Bullets: Sunshine & Roses - Volume 4, Transformers: Unicron, Unstoppable Wasp: GIRL Power, Witchblade - Volume 2

d. emerson eddy is one crow short a murder.

[thefreshcollectionheart-blog]

,H W 8

1). (a).  Umbrella  or according to the TRIZ  table:

Umbrella

#20 Use of energy by stationary

#33 ease of operation

#16 durability of non-moving object

#12 shape

#1 weight of moving object

The solution is spring loaded /color #18 illumination intensity, #12 shape, # 32 ease of manufacturing .  

Belt

#14 strength

#16 durability of non-moving object

#32 ease of manufacturer

solution all was blank

Engine

#18 Mechanical vibration

#19 Periodic action

#28:  Mechanics substitution

# 1: Segmentation

B).  Unmanned vehicles 

I found this article on possibilities:     Universities Offer Degrees in Unmanned Aircraft Systems - The New York Times                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Just Don’t Call It a Drone

A hobby that was love by a man named Charles A. Taylor, in this article is said to have loved radio-controlled model airplanes.  He thought that this would provide a potentially job in the new industry drones.(Matthew L. Wald).                                                                                                                                                              Mary A. Wallace expected to end up in management at an airport or airline but switched majors to remotely piloted planes because, incongruously, there would be less travel. Thomas Boutain wanted to start a company serving farmers around the Minnesota town where he grew up, mapping moisture, growth, pests and other conditions in their fields, from the air.All three were among the first to choose the University of North Dakota’s new major in unmanned aircraft systems.(M. W).

Several Colleges have joined in and now offer aviation degrees in unmanned aerial systems, some like the University of North Dakota have added Majors .  It has 120 students in the field.  Kansas State University Salina graduated its first Bachelor of Science Student in unmanned aircraft systems.  The biggest use of drones are the military.  This also brings on regulations.

2).  More on the Unmanned Car

Unmanned in Demand: Computer Considerations for Unmanned Vehicles      

Size: In-vehicle computers must be compact, but still very capable, as platforms grow in functionality but shrink in size. Weight: Every ounce matters on unmanned vehicles, as it can affect range and fuel economy; strong, lightweight materials like carbon fiber are a popular option for unmanned computer and electronics chassis. Power and thermal: The use of powerful processors – CPUs, GPUs, and GPGPUs – in compact computer systems demands sophisticated power and thermal management, including the selection of components that neither consume a lot of power, nor produce a lot of waste heat. Cost: Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components enable unmanned vehicle designs to take advantage of the latest technology advances while also saving money and avoiding obsolescence issues. Rugged: Unmanned vehicle computers need to work reliably and to withstand harsh environments, elements, and conditions – such as shock and vibration, temperature extremes, dust/dirt/sand, and rain/snow/humidity. ( https://www.crystalrugged.com/unmanned-demand-computer-considerations-unmanned-vehicles/). 

 The unmanned vehicle business will bring in more technical jobs to the industry They are becoming more prevalent in a wide variety of markets.  Markets such as aerospace, agriculture, cinematography, construction, energy, government and defense,mapping and survey, maritime,oil and gas, public safety, retail and logistics, transportation, and wireless.  At the Automated Vehicles Symposium, a spotlight will be cast on the complex technology and policy issues of safe, automated mobility.  

3).  My Book title; “ I Live in the future & here’s how it works “    I can truly say, you cannot judge a book by its cover nor title.  Things I have read about in this book is amazing when talking about the beginning of all this innovation into new technology.  

     (Chapter 1). Title is Bunnies, markets, and the bottom line.  “porn leads the way’  (pg. 19).  The author Nick says that everyday there are about thirty thousand or more customers, Americans actually who use their phones or tablet or personal computer  to type in the word sex, in a search engine, hit enter (p.19).  

Nick chose to do research on the porn industry because it has been in busines of make money for decades now.  He just wanted to see what the driving force that was causing the porn industry to manage to stay a couple of steps ahead of the crowd when it comes to new technology.  It is one industry that has continued to look for and use new approaches to keep and gain new customers.  .The particular customers of the porn industry have said to have moved from the well lit- arcades, darkened movie theater some have resorted to the privacy of their  T.V. sets.   

Nick had a plan to go to California, home of the film Industry yes and most of the Porn Business.  The porn industry has really survived because of the film or talent because of movie   One may give credit to the VHS tapes.  In other states one can get a charge for anything illegal, , and can be charged with pimping.  (pg. 21).  

Into the dawn of adult content,in any business, one must always provide catering to consumers’ specific preferences, it helps fight the wave of free or stolen material online.(p.g. 35).  It is said that the plaque that is causing angst and frustration in the news and mainstream entertainment business.  Digital shoplifting has dated back to adult content.  Although some sites have tried to shut down the tube sites, like You-porn,, Red Tube, and Xtube.  Just as ABC< CBS< and Viacom must confront having their content posted by views., on You tube and other online video outlets. much more to come!!!!