Time to Declare War: On Nuclear Energy?

A blinding flash of light....

With a background in chemistry, I have never believed that using radioactive, unstable dangerous materials for  production of electricity  was  a good idea.  Recent nuclear events in Japan, the worst nuclear development since Chernobyl,  once again confirm  that nuclear energy is one of the world's most dangerous applications of scientific knowledge,  and perhaps one of  the worst applications of modern technology.   In the extreme, in total failure, nuclear energy is  ultimately a one-way ticket to the termination of humanity.
It is bad enough that the globe can be destroyed many times over with existing stockpiles of nuclear weapons fitfully declared "necessary for defense and  M.A.D." ; the insanity and sublime reality of mutual assured destruction;   --- but are nuclear reactors  really necessary for the production of electricity? No.
Are there other viable options?  Yes.  Wind and solar energy already supply most of the electrical power used in Germany.  If Germany can do it, why can't we? 
Can any power utility "authority"  operating nuclear generating stations ever offer even the slightest guarantee that  a nuclear reactor will not eventually fail, spewing radiation  in to the environment for thousands of miles, contaminating food, water, and land?   NO.
Has the nuclear industry made sound decisions in the past?   No. 
The Pickering nuclear reactor in Pickering, Ontario is built close to, or upon a known geological fault line and has suffered "minor leaks".   Only a couple of days ago, an earthquake was recorded  between Montreal and Ottawa.  Should our readers be foolish enough to believe a serious earthquake cannot, at some point in the future, ravage the Pickering reactor? 
Hearings in Ontario are  scheduled and taking place decide to build more reactors at Darlington.   
Has Ontario learned nothing from the Japanese disaster? Food and water is already contaminated for 60 or 80 kilometers from the Fukushima disaster, and it is nowhere NEAR under control. Hundreds of miles of the Ukraine was contaminated by Chernobyl--and will be for centuries.
With wind technology, solar energy,  and natural gas generating stations possible,  the use of dangerous nuclear reactors is simply inexcusable, reckless,  and cannot be justified. Safety of nuclear reactors cannot be guaranteed by any "nuclear authority" regardless how "reassuring" they may be.  There is no safe way to dispose of radioactive waste, which remains  dangerous for many centuries.
Imagine a similar nuclear disaster in  Southern Ontario. Ten million people.  Out-of-control reactors.    Do not allow any person to tell you that a catastrophe can not happen, because  clearly, they can.  If it can happen in Japan, it can happen in Ontario.   Accidents are bound to occur. Equipment will fail,  leaks will occur,  and radioactive material WILL be released to the environment.  The nuclear industry has already proven that accidents and defects and "events" can happen.   Why take such foolish chances with the lives of millions of people ?  Why spend MORE  billions on defective, dangerous  technology?

It is not too late to stop North America's  nuclear madness.  Let us now do the RIGHT thing for the environment.   Say NO to Nuclear reactors,  say NO to expansion of Darlington, and say NO to the greedy politicians, the nuclear power authority, and the  nuclear industry that has only one thing in mind-- profit.

It is time to declare war on Nuclear energy. 

EXILE: Is the Revival of an old punishment a Solution to Home-Grown Terrorists?

There is a growing problem the west must face, and soon.
Civilized western countries are sadly discovering“home-grown” terrorists within their borders, radicalized  individuals holding  passports and legal citizenship by being born or naturalized in Canada, the United States, France, Germany or England.
 Some individuals have already been found guilty of  planning terrorist attacks on their respective countries  in spite of the fact they should clearly pledge allegiance  instead of training and planning treasonous, death-dealing  terrorist attacks upon the innocent within their borders.

The Asian Times Online, based in Hong Kong,  citing Taliban sources, has recently reported that as many as a dozen Canadians were being trained “for jihad” in Pakistan by al Quaida.   These recalcitrant individuals  were reportedly being specially trained for attacks within large cities in Canada. (1)
“The Canadian RCMP and their security and intelligence partners” are reportedly investigating the information. The report adds that other westerners from the U.S, Britain, and Germany area also being trained for jihad in North Waziristan, Pakistan, which borders on Afghanistan.  The Canadians reportedly joined Jihad al-Islami, an Egyptian terrorist organization.

Canada is not alone with this problem.  As many as 30 or 40 “hardcore terrorists” from Germany are known to be in the same area of Pakistan.  “A spokeswoman for Germany's Federal Criminal Police office said in October there was "concrete evidence" that 70 German citizens had undergone terror training in Pakistan’s lawless border region and that about a third of the militants had returned to Germany.”(1)

Returned to Germany?  The question must be posed, “Why were they allowed to return to Germany?”    Will the radicalized, terrorist-minded Canadians now also  be allowed to innocently “return” to Canada to carry out their terrorist attacks any time they wish ?
Let us give our heads a shake.  The western world needs to remove the blinders it is now wearing. The concept of treason comes to mind.

Treason  has been known to be punishable by death in times past. The death sentence was usually carried out by “hanging by the neck until dead”. It sounds kind of barbaric, but do fanatic  suicide bombers that kill or maim thousands of people annually care if their own terrorist activities are “barbaric”?  No.
 Regardless, in civilized countries, the concept of  “an eye for an eye” and a death sentence inflicted is considered to be  repulsive to the majority of peace-loving people.  That was not always so. .
I remain unconvinced that modern society retains the stomach for applying the death sentence even to radicalized  individuals who, only a few years ago, might have been quickly hung for treason or murder,  and a few centuries prior to that, may have been disemboweled,  drawn and quartered with their remains “spread to the corners of the kingdom”,  their heads left to dry on tall pike-poles as a deterrent to any new  would-be perpetrators. Some found “less guilty” may have been  chained in dungeons until they became repentant skeletons.
So be it. Times have changed.  What can be done now?

 I fail to see how any civilized society should be required to feed and care for  such evil individuals,  maintained in a nice federal penitentiary, a dark dungeon or otherwise, with  a nice  warm bed, television,  good books,  education, rehabilitation,  and entertainment provided to them even for a day, much less for a lifetime of luxury and enough time to foment other evil, destructive plans.
Modern times demand different solutions.
 Back in the “good old days” as punishment for any number of crimes, such recalcitrant, evil or misguided individuals might also have been exiled,   banned permanently from a village or city, or in the extreme, shipped off to live elsewhere offshore  quite uncomfortably,   never to be allowed to return to their  homes  under any circumstance.  The basic concept was to ship convicted individuals to live where they can ultimately  harm no one but themselves. Great Britain shipped thousands of convicts and criminals to Australia.

Is it time for civilized nations to begin using the same  legal process once more?  Let us evaluate whether complete removal of these individuals from our  society and country will act as a deterrent.  Most Canadians  believe that living in Canada is a privilege, not a God-given right and it involves responsibilities, demands loyalty rather than deception, and most certainly should not permit  treason, terrorist activities, and murderous acts.
“ Sir, do you wish to be a fanatic?  You have been trained for terrorist Jihadist attacks upon Canadians?  You are hereby deemed to have willfully abused and discarded your rights and privileges as a Canadian.  As of today, you  are no longer a Canadian citizen..... Hereafter, within a period of 24 hours,  you shall be shipped off to live elsewhere, in a third-world hole of your choice, and you shall remain there for the rest of your natural life. Do not try to return to Canada under the penalty of death. ...... “ Bye-bye”....   “Next case!”  

Perhaps we really  should revive the concept of permanent exile.    It just might be worth a try.
(1)  http://ca.news.yahoo.com/rcmp-probe-report-saying-canadians-training-al-qaida-20110114-194834-598.html