Chamblee54

SB 31 passed in the House of Representatives 107-66. PG’s representative, Jill Chambers, voted no.
The bill is presumably on the way to the Governor’s office. It would allow the Georgia Power Company ( and other providers) to charge customers for Nuclear Power Plants while they were under construction. It was fiercely opposed by Peach Pundit and other bloggers.
There is some losing side grumbling. The fact is, Peach Pundit sent emails to it’s readers alerting them to this bill. The reputation of Peach Pundit was put on the line regarding this bill.
PG is on the Monday Morning Quarterback patrol. He notes that the well financed interests who supported this bill have been busy for a while. Peach Pundit sent out the first email eight days ago. It may have been too late to change the course by that time.
The passage of this bill will make it easier to build nuclear power plants in Georgia. The role of government will be increased, with the need to secure nuclear fuel, and watch over the enviornment. Vast amounts of capital will be invested. Solar power is once again ignored.
The growth of the Atlanta area is counted on to make this pay off. If a drought turns Atlanta into a ghost town, this power will not be needed. There is still no provision to provide other sources of water for the Atlanta area.
Nuclear Power=Big Government

PG checked his inbox, and there was another email from Peach Pundit about SB31. This is the bill that would allow Georgia Power to charge customers for a Nuclear Power plant while it is under construction. The email says many of the same things as this post.
Dear Peach Pundit Reader,
A state representative just called me and said, “We’re under enormous pressure to get this bill through. Leadership and the Georgia Power guys were taken by surprise by y’alls opposition and are now pushing hard.”
They are feeling the pressure. Go work the phones. Tell your state representative to oppose S.B. 31.
Be careful when you hit that link. There is an ad for some Ann Coulter product, and her face is at eye level.
My, my, my. So the power company is hiring lobbyists to pressure the legislature into giving them money to pay for their new toy. PG has mixed feelings about this. The bottom line is that Nuclear Power=Big Government and needs to be stifled. This law would at least force the financing of this mess into the open.
On the other hand, Georgia Power is going to do what it wants to do. We might save a few bucks if we force them to do the financing, like Peach Pundit wants. On issues like this, PG has mixed feelings, and says let the legislature decide.
The nukes are going to be an expansion at Plant Vogtle. This is in Burke County, near Augusta. The Chattahoochee River Watershed will not be affected.
There is one other post at Peach Pundit that is amusing. He notes the lack of attention that SB31 has gotten in the corporate media. Maybe he doesn’t listen to the radio. They have lots of commercials from Georgia Power, and many of these commercials are rather insulting to the listener. These commercials are designed to buy protection from investigation from the corporate media. These media mongers know that if they present an unfavorable comment about SB31, then Georgia Power will buy advertising time somewhere else.

Who is PG?
PG is a Zorlack. This tribe of morphodidic questagonals migrated to earth from the native planet of Thrunombulax. The time of this migration is not certain, as Zorlactites do not recognize earth based systems of measuring time.
The migration from Thrunombulax to Earth was an event of great trauma. There was an ecological catastrophe on Thrunombulax, similar to a nuclear war on Earth. The families that got out were privileged, and expect to be treated as though they were privileged characters. This is why they are PC…privileged characters.
Zorlacks have been the object of prejudice in every solar system and asteroid belt they have inhabited. On earth, the prejudice is fairly mild. Earth creatures are infamous in the universe for their hatred of each other. Zorlacks can fit in here without causing too much of a stir.
On Thrunombulax, there is no distinction between G-d and Man. The two are seen as part of the same continuum. The Zorlacks are amused by the belief systems that make this distinction. Some Earth people like to think that their religious ideas are universal. This is a source of derision in galaxies and black holes alike.
PG and the author of Chamblee54 are not certain how they met. The author suspects that he may indeed be a Zorlack, but the idea is too awful to contemplate. His friends are used to his ranting, and just accept it as the way he is.
The human race could learn much from the Zorlacks. The mere fact of their transportation from a planet forty four light years away, to land on the green Earth, is a source of wonder. Green is similar to a Zorlack color that is identified with untreated waste. Thrunombulax is a color and texture close to the Sun. The Zorlacks that tried to land on the Sun got a rude surprise.

LostMissing is a public art project. The conduit is Mattilda, who is not a waltzing kangaroo. This is part 12.
One day we have a friendship of 16 years a relationship a commitment a dream a hug a conversation, and the next day it’s gone. Your commitment, your dream, your hug your conversation.
Or maybe it’s not gone; you just won’t call me back. I want to call you, but I’m not sure whether I want to talk to you. I want to call you, just so you’ll say: I don’t want to talk to you. And then I can say: how dare you talk to me like that?
Maybe one of the things that scared you was that I said you were the most important person in my life, not just that I was still angry for those five years when you lied about everything but because I told you what you meant to me. Probably what I meant to you too and maybe that made it scarier. I still wake up and think of things to say when I finally see you, I want you to know how I’m feeling or at least the anger part. Probably you know the rest.
I wonder if I’ve let go too easily, moved all my sadness and overwhelm into this project which actually gives me hope, this project of writing to you but not to you, writing to the world and with the world and in the world and all over the world. Maybe that’s what it means for me not to give up. It’s like all of these gestures can hold me in the way that you won’t. But I keep thinking about you.
I wonder what you’re thinking now. I wonder what you would think if you read this, if that would change what you’re thinking now. I wonder if this change would make a difference, a difference in the way you’re thinking. I wonder if you care.
I know you care about what you’re thinking. I wonder if you care too much about what you’re thinking, and not enough about — okay, I might as well just say it: I wonder if you’re thinking about me. If I want you to think about me. What I want you to think about me.
What you want. It always comes back there. I wonder how to get away, to get away from what you want. Maybe we need a confrontation. A confrontation you don’t want. Maybe I’ll call you right now, I’ll call you right now and see what you’re thinking.

It turns out the liberal breed test is a function of a political humor website. There is a companion test to see what type of conservative you are. It uses the same questions as the liberal test. The multiple choice answers are different.
Yes, there is a book, ” How to win a fight with a liberal”. .
The bumper sticker answers are less imaginative.
Which bumper sticker would you most likely put on your car? 1. In Case of Rapture, This Car Will Be Unmanned 2. If You’re Gonna Burn Our Flag, Wrap Yourself in It First 3. Work Harder, Millions on Welfare Depend on You 4. Another Former Fetus for Life 5. Ted Kennedy’s Car Has Killed More People than My Gun 6. No Oil for Pacifists
PG chose number 3. There are corporate bigshots getting millions in welfare, while PG looks for a job.
Six more questions, and it is time for an answer.
You are a Free Marketeer, also known as a fiscal conservative. You believe in free-market capitalism, tax cuts, and protecting your hard-earned cash from pick-pocketing liberal socialists.

The word liberal is a bit shaky. It is used as an insult by radio whiners. Very few people use it as a symbol of pride.
Online quizzes have a credibility gap. The ability to interpret your personality based on multiple choice answers is suspect.
When PG saw the badge at transgriot, inviting you to see what kind of liberal you are, he took the bait. There is a certain synchronicity and simultaneity here.
The test is sponsored by a site called fight conservatives. They promote a book about winning fights with conservatives. A fight with a conservative is like a war in southeast asia….the minute you get involved, you lose. It is like arguing with an idiot…he will drag you down to his level, and beat you with experience.
The first question is a clue that this test is just a bit fishy.
1. Which bumper sticker would you most likely put on your car? 1. I’m Already Against the Next War 2. Nice Hummer—Sorry About Your Penis 3. America: One Nation Under Surveillance 4. Of Course It Hurts, You’re Getting Screwed by an Elephant 5. Evolution Is Just a Theory . . . Kind of Like Gravity 6. May the Fetus You Save Be Gay
PG is at a loss on this. He hasn’t had a bumper sticker since “Don’t blame me, I voted for McGovern”. Anything that gets attention from the police is not good. One day later, he cannot remember which one he chose.
In an impressive display of capitalism, the bumper stickers used in the question are available for sale.
The rest of the test is just as goofy. Finally, PG got to the end, and found out what kind of liberal he is.
You are a Reality-Based Intellectualist, also known as the liberal elite. You are a proud member of what’s known as the reality-based community, where science, reason, and non-Jesus-based thought reign supreme.

As the corporate news mongers dutifully reported, the Attorney General, Eric Holder, made a speech this week. Transgriot has the transcript. If you read it, you probably have too much free time.
Mr. Holder knows how to work the media machine. The money quote… Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been … essentially a nation of cowards…. is in the second paragraph. No point in making the reporters miss a deadline to get the juicy goods.
PG does not deny for a minute that there are racial problems in America. He does tend to see things from a white point of view. When it is us against them, you need to remember which one you are.
It is often said that white people and black people need to talk to each other more. This ignores the increasing number of mixed race people, hispanics, and other groups of peoples that live between Canada and Mexico. The mixed race couples, and resulting children, are going to be a larger factor as the years wind along, and do not fall neatly into the categories of black and white.
White people and black people need to talk to each other more. PG has two more comments on this, and he will let the readers go. Short attention span is reality. The key word here is talk. This is not the same as yell. Many people seem to think that the louder they talk, the more truth their words have. This is seldom the case. When you talk to each other, it is very helpful to show respect for the other person. YOU DON’T HAVE TO SHOUT!!!
The other comment also centers on the word talk. White people and black people DO NOT need to talk to each other more. They need to LISTEN more.

One thing about the internet in the link. Double click on a link, and you are there.
If you want to show someone where you got your information, it is very, very easy to insert a link. This also allows your reader to find out more about the subject, or maybe check out the context of some comments that you quoted.
This is one way where online discourse is different from other media. On TV, you only see what the editor wants you to see, and have to take their word. In print media, the same is true, except in academic journals where footnotes are used.
If you submit a paper in school, you best show where you got your information. Plagiarism is serious business.
You would think that using links to show your information would be universal. It is so easy, and gives what you say credibility. An exception to this might be when someone says something questionable. If you ask for a link, you can expect to be insulted. This would indicate that the statement in question is not accurate.
The internet is in a wild west phase. You can say almost anything you like, and hope that people believe you. It is in your best interest to help them by showing where you got your information.

There is a lovely blog called TomDispatch. The following post  is based on a feature at this blog. In the introduction to this feature, new readers for TomDispatch were solicited. PG thinks this is a very good idea.
Many parts of the earth are in a drought. The recent fires in Australia were in a region afflicted by drought, and higher than normal temperatures.
This reporter is not a scientist, and does not know much about climate change. The subject is controversial. Whether or not the CO2 levels in the atmosphere result in droughts is anyone’s guess.
There is a local angle to this. Atlanta is 300 miles inland , and 1000 feet above sea level. Before the mid 19th century, no one would build a city here. The water supply is the Chattahoochee River, which is just an overgrown trout stream.
We have known for years that we do not have a sufficient water supply to support the growth here. Growth is an important industry. Atlanta almost ran out of water in 2006. The development has not stopped. The powers that be have not provided alternative water supplies.
The legislature is discussing ways to help Georgia Power build a nuclear power plant. Nukes use a LOT of water.
One dry summer, and Atlanta could become a ghost town. From the look of the world around us, this is more and more likely. It might not happen this year.

PG sometimes comments at a facility called Peach Pundit. To gain this privilege, he had to register, and give an email address. Today, PP used that address to denounce a bill before the General Assembly. The message about the proposed legislation is included in this post. The bill in question is SB31. It would allow the Georgia Power Company to charge consumers for a nuclear power plant while the plant is under construction.
Where to begin
Nuclear Power uses a great deal of water. We can borrow money. The Federal Reserve can print money. We can…and probably will…steal money. But you can only do the first two with water. Before PG issues his two cents ( adjusted for inflation) on this matter, he needs to know which watershed this proposed nuke is going to get water from. If it is the Chattahoochee, forget it. Maybe we need to put the water up in advance, and finance the plant the way we do everything else.
The second comment is that nuclear power=big government. The vast amounts of capital, the need for regulation, and the nature of the fuel demand a prominent  role for big government. So called small government conservatives should know this.
The third comment is that maybe this is a return to fiscal sanity. A major reason for the financial meltdown we are having is an abundance of debt. Maybe if the power plant was paid for at the time it is being built, this will be less of a problem. Perhaps the bill could be amended to provide for state oversight over the construction process. As if that would help. Or, Georgia Power could just borrow more money to pay for the overruns.
The fourth comment regards the large dollar figures being tossed around here. PG remembers something a teacher told him. “The best way to win an argument is to use statistics, and the best way to get statistics is to make them up.”

There is a lady in England named Jade Goody. She is a star. She is going to get married on Sunday, and then she will die. The entire spectacle will be on television.
Miss Goody became famous as the participant in a reality tv show. She caused an international incident with comments about Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty.
This is a story for the modern age. The growth of entertainment styles has been explosive. The growth of substance has fallen behind.
Like television, the internet has a great disbalance between style and substance. Here is an example:
George Bataille wrote about the role of death in religion, and in particular the function of sacrifice. He argued that a spectacular death, like a sacrifice – one that is staged, ritualized, publicly performed – works paradoxically. It actually leaves the spectators with a sense of immortality: they watch someone or something else die, and because they do not die too, are left with a sense of immunity. Psychologically, sacrifice allows the spectator to flirt with the fantasy that they may not die. Religious sacrifices are death-defying. ‘Oh death, where is thy sting?’
The spectacular element will determine the nature of her death. Like Diana’s, Goody’s ‘sacrifice’ will not be a rational affair, a moment when we all coolly ponder our mortality, as we might be able to do after someone we know and love dies with us in private. Rather, it will be a media event, and that will make it a religious event; it will come to us as a simulacrum of death. And then, even as the newspapers are thrown out and the TV turned off, we will return to life. I can’t help but think that Goody’s death will be in vain.
HT to JoemyG-d. PG misses a lot by not watching TV or being British.

Avitable is in action again. He wrote a post, expressing 28 strong opinions. The idea is that anyone who reads it will be offended. This is a good goal. People need more offense in their lives. The best defense is a good offense. And it gives PG a no brainer post.
1- Whatever kinky scene Chris Brown and Rhiannon get into is nobody’s business. And why would a young man want to beat up a Fleetwood Mac song?…
2- Conservatives say they want a smaller government. They also want to have 150k troops in a war eight time zones away….
3- If you want an insult about liberals ( just to be fair) look somewhere else. It should not take long to find….
4- People who flash their headlights at you because you are not driving fast enough should go to reeducation camp…
5- Using the name of a body part as an insult is really dumb….
6- College is a waste of time and money for many people. The only problem is, you don’t know this until after the party is over…
7- We need to have a college that our football team can be proud of….
8- Miss Teen Age South Carolina gave the correct answer….
9- The Rocky Horror Show was a documentary….
10- Insulting people about religion is too easy to be any fun…
11- Whether you wish in one hand or *download* in the other, you should wash your hands…
12- No matter how passionately you believe something, somebody, somewhere, does not want to hear you talk about it…
13- No matter how pretty a woman is, somebody, somewhere, is tired of her….
14- Fair is a baseball hit between first base and third base….
15- You don’t have to have an opinion about everything. Nor is anyone else required to listen….
16- It is insulting to mama dogs to compare them to unpleasant human females…
17- Disco music is groovy…
18- Ministers should do more than lay people…