Bio
Skinny, androgynous techno-nerd Weaknesses include a love of microbrewed beer and a preference for cars… more »
2:46 PM
Orv commented on Causing a Stink.
I like @27. It could even be a revenue center -- I'm sure there are weirdos out there who will pay good money to see hobos taking a leak.
2:30 PM
Orv commented on Pandora’s Promise: A Documentary That May Change Your Opinion of Nuclear Power.
I didn't used to be pro-nuclear, but I am now. Partly it's because I'm better informed, and partly I see it as the only solution to global warming that's achievable in the short term -- and we don't have time to wait for the long term. At the current rate of CO2 emissions, we're poised for an increase in global temps of as much as 10F, which is incompatible with civilization as we know it.
Think that one over a bit, because it's important. We have VERY little time left to act.
I'm willing to accept a very small risk of a short-term local catastrophe (affecting perhaps a 40 km radius, at most -- the Chernobyl exclusion zone is 30 km) in exchange for the near-certainty of a world-wide long-term catastrophe. This is about our survival as a species. Any loss of arable land due to nuclear contamination is going to be chicken feed compared to the new deserts that will appear in the next hundred years if we keep burning fossil fuels at the current rate.
Think that one over a bit, because it's important. We have VERY little time left to act.
I'm willing to accept a very small risk of a short-term local catastrophe (affecting perhaps a 40 km radius, at most -- the Chernobyl exclusion zone is 30 km) in exchange for the near-certainty of a world-wide long-term catastrophe. This is about our survival as a species. Any loss of arable land due to nuclear contamination is going to be chicken feed compared to the new deserts that will appear in the next hundred years if we keep burning fossil fuels at the current rate.
2:25 PM
Orv commented on Pandora’s Promise: A Documentary That May Change Your Opinion of Nuclear Power.
@19: You call TMI a "disaster," but no one was killed or sickened by it. In fact it was completely contained. How many people are killed by fossil fuel smog every year?
Nuclear power is relatively safe, but people still fear it because accidents are both unusual and highly localized. They don't see the risks of other technologies because they're spread out. It's like how people fear air travel more than travel by car, in spite of car travel being orders of magnitude more dangerous.
@29: Most of the reactors at Hanford were for plutonium production, not power, and nearly all the liquid waste there is from reprocessing to extract plutonium. In fact the site was a net *consumer* of power, and was a big reason why hydropower was added to the Grand Coulee dam. The reactors at Hanford bear very little resemblance to anything built in the last 30 years. I'd encourage you to take the B Reactor Tour some time; it's pretty amazing stuff.
@33: The only accident that's affected a significant area of arable land was Chernobyl, and it was caused entirely by the lax safety standards and utter lack of oversight that characterized the Soviet Union in the late 90s. Chernobyl's design didn't even have a full containment building, a feature that's required on every modern reactor. Your argument is like saying we should all stop flying because a poorly-designed plane crashed once.
@35: Please cite one story that indicates radioactive debris from Fukishima has reached the US. Most of the radioactivity released was in the form of elements with half-lives shorter than the time that has already passed.
Secondly, you seem to have some strange ideas about cooling towers. Many fossil-fuel plants feature cooling towers, and not all nuclear plants have them. Nearly all power plants work by boiling water to create steam, to run turbines. A cooling tower exists simply to cool down the hot, condensed steam before the water is either recirculated or released into a lake or river. Note that modern nuclear plants are *closed loop* and none of the water that's released has actually passed through the core. The cooling tower is actually an environmental concession -- it avoids raising the temperature of nearby bodies of water, which can affect marine life. A cooling tower contains nothing but water and releases nothing but steam.
More...
Nuclear power is relatively safe, but people still fear it because accidents are both unusual and highly localized. They don't see the risks of other technologies because they're spread out. It's like how people fear air travel more than travel by car, in spite of car travel being orders of magnitude more dangerous.
@29: Most of the reactors at Hanford were for plutonium production, not power, and nearly all the liquid waste there is from reprocessing to extract plutonium. In fact the site was a net *consumer* of power, and was a big reason why hydropower was added to the Grand Coulee dam. The reactors at Hanford bear very little resemblance to anything built in the last 30 years. I'd encourage you to take the B Reactor Tour some time; it's pretty amazing stuff.
@33: The only accident that's affected a significant area of arable land was Chernobyl, and it was caused entirely by the lax safety standards and utter lack of oversight that characterized the Soviet Union in the late 90s. Chernobyl's design didn't even have a full containment building, a feature that's required on every modern reactor. Your argument is like saying we should all stop flying because a poorly-designed plane crashed once.
@35: Please cite one story that indicates radioactive debris from Fukishima has reached the US. Most of the radioactivity released was in the form of elements with half-lives shorter than the time that has already passed.
Secondly, you seem to have some strange ideas about cooling towers. Many fossil-fuel plants feature cooling towers, and not all nuclear plants have them. Nearly all power plants work by boiling water to create steam, to run turbines. A cooling tower exists simply to cool down the hot, condensed steam before the water is either recirculated or released into a lake or river. Note that modern nuclear plants are *closed loop* and none of the water that's released has actually passed through the core. The cooling tower is actually an environmental concession -- it avoids raising the temperature of nearby bodies of water, which can affect marine life. A cooling tower contains nothing but water and releases nothing but steam.
1:47 PM
Orv commented on The Monday Morning News.
@17: Exactly why I hope he succeeds, but I doubt he will. If "In God We Trust" is legal, surely a few pagan symbols are too. Either that or we'll be forced to acknowledge that our idea of "freedom of religion" is a double-standard, with some religions being more free than others.
1:39 PM
Orv commented on What You're Not Wearing: Vito's Edition!!.
I'd wear more suits if they didn't make me look like a rectangle. Squared-off is not a stylish look on a tall, skinny guy.
8:22 PM yesterday
Orv commented on When Domestic Violence Becomes a Mass Shooting.
Step 1: Men, over the course of centuries, create a culture where their dominance is assumed, and where women are treated as delicate, emotional, manipulative, untrustworthy, and in need of protection from men.
Step 2: Men are shocked, SHOCKED to find that they are assumed to be the aggressors when violence involving "the weaker sex" occurs.
Step 2: Men are shocked, SHOCKED to find that they are assumed to be the aggressors when violence involving "the weaker sex" occurs.
7:02 PM yesterday
Orv commented on The Sunday Morning News.
@18: How much longer before we finish paying for the Kingdome?
May 24
Orv commented on No Wonder So Many Drivers Resent Seeing Their Tax Dollars Spent to Subsidize Transit.
@25: I would have just told her it wasn't the buses, it was the semis. ;)
May 17
Orv commented on Seattle's Invisible 28-Lane Freeway.
@18: At $3/zone it'd be cheaper for me to drive in and pay to park than to ride the bus. Not much of a bargain.
The MVET doesn't scare me much because my car is a $2000 beater. I can handle $30/year. Frankly that's pocket change compared to the operating costs of a car; I pay more than that per MONTH in insurance premiums.
The MVET doesn't scare me much because my car is a $2000 beater. I can handle $30/year. Frankly that's pocket change compared to the operating costs of a car; I pay more than that per MONTH in insurance premiums.
May 17
Orv commented on What Kind of Cars Do I Like?.
Pretty much everyone I know who avoided learning how to drive as a kid ended up eventually doing it as an adult, once their friends got tired of always having to take them places.
The Stranger
RSSSeattle Art & Performance Quarterly
A complete guide to Seattle's current art, film, dance, and theater season.
Facebook
Twitter
