Thursday, March 24, 2011

Finally

My tsunami of a cold has abated, leaving me still with a rattling cough and sneezy (plus a few cold sores 'cos I am so lucky), but there's a definite feeling of not-being-sick. Maybe it's just having my temperature settle for a happy medium.

Outdoors, not so much; there was a short, nasty little front blowing through overnight and in its wake, the warm breezes and sunshine of the last two days has yielded to unseasonable coolth (36! F!) and overcast. Still, no snow, so I'll count it a win.

Elsewhere in the world, Germany is prepared to give up nukes (at least for power generation); or so they say. Not every member of Ms. Merkel's government agrees with the plan. Driven by fear of earthquakes followed by tsunamis, lingering Cold War nightmares or simple, cynical political maneuvering? Who cares; let 'em freeze in the dark. Or buy power from China, who I'm sure will be happy to burn more coal for the Common Good.* The Russians are already in that game, which is fine as long as the countries concerned are being BFF. Oh, and as long as the wind is blowing the other way. Don't mind the ashes!
___________________________________
* Yes, I'm aware this is impractical at best. Maybe the Vaterland could just buy coal from them instead? I'm sure the citizenry won't mind the black rains, as long as they're not radioactive. Umm, "...ounce for ounce, coal ash released from a power plant delivers more radiation than nuclear waste shielded via water or dry cask storage." Oops! Should we tell 'em?

13 comments:

Tango Juliet said...

Good news for you anyway! :)

Stranger said...

Good news, indeed. You probably remember the amino acid lysine helps clear up cold sores in a hurry. But a reminder never hurts.

Stranger

Anonymous said...

I'm glad you feel better, if not good (yet!).

Jim

North said...

Very good to hear that you are feeling better, Roberta. I'm impressed and appreciative that you would blog even when under the weather. Thanks for that!

John A said...

Relieved to hear you are recovering, hope it does not take much longer.

Germany is probably hust playing "feel-good" politics. Or the anti-nuke crowd is in [hopefully temporary] ascendancy.

Closer, Cuomo wants to shut down the India Point plant (he has been wanting to do so for years) because it is now known to be on two fault lines. Now, that is of some concern, but while he is at it why is he not calling for the evacuation of New York City? The island of Manhattan is basically a huge boulder sitting directly over a known fault line, after all, with far more disastrous consequences probable from a quake.

perlhaqr said...

Oops! Should we tell 'em?

Yes, and then sit back and laugh while the freeze in the dark.

perlhaqr said...

John A: The island of Manhattan is basically a huge boulder sitting directly over a known fault line, after all, with far more disastrous consequences probable from a quake.

What, that it'd get the Hudson River all dirty if it fell in?

Joanna said...

There is a kind of snow-type precipitation, actually; it's just not accumulating. It was, however, all over my windshield this morning.

Chuck Pergiel said...

German coal mining.

Robin said...

Well, that plan should help keep the Germans out of the world conquest game for another century. Gee, they used to be an industrialized nation ...

Bubblehead Les. said...

I believe that a couple of years ago, Czar Putin decided to prove he was a Man's Man, and called Europe's Bluff when he decided to double the price of Natural Gas in the middle of one the coldest Winters on record, and the EU refused to pay his Shakedown. So he shut off the Pipeline to the West. 35,000+ DEAD people later, (mostly the Poor and the Elderly), the EU said "You Win" and gave him the cash. I think Merkel led the butt kissing on that one, and she's still wearing Russian Brown Lipstick to this day. You can take the girl out of East Germany, but....

Keads said...

Glad you are feeling better!

Anonymous said...

I would quantitatively suggest "watt for watt" rather than "ounce for ounce" but I agree with the sentiment