in complete and total agreement of whatever she writes?

Congrats to her on her fine reporting on l'affaire Plame. She is an excellent journalist and a valuable voice in the independant media.

However, her comments in response to the criticisms of rawstory and the editorial about atheists did nothing to alleviate the valid concerns that we atheists had. We are not paid infiltrators, or trolls, or even those who "get a small group of pals together to make themselves seem important".

So again, congratulations, lala, for getting the story right, and being recognized for your hard work. But pardon me if I remain one who is not a fan. If that makes me "Raw Story/Larissa detractor", so be it.

Sid

Here's my submission...MIHOP MAN



Years spent indoors, researching internet conspiracy theories, have given MIHOP MAN his pasty pallor and bloodshot eyes, but now, armed with the Sceptre of Truthiness, he is ready to expose the secret New World Order Illuminati Bilderberg Elf Conspiracy that has been behind every significant event of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Sid

"Does the U.S. export oil? Surprisingly, yes - but the amount is trivial, about 20,000 barrels per day vs. our 10,000,000 and more b/d imports. All exported crude goes to Canada, where it is likely refined and sent back as gasoline."

http://www.gravmag.com/oil.html

And if Canada were to do the same thing? Zooop! There goes 18% of the US oil supply.

Sid

Edit: Additionally, a small % of Alaskan production goes to export to South Korea and Japan.

Another Edit: Looks like info in above link is out of date. Here is current crude & products Export info:
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/pet_move...

Crude only:
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/pet_move...

With all the talk and news about Iran and their ability to enrich uranium, I thought it might be useful to give a simplified explanation of what enriched uranium actually is, how it is used, and the differences between uranium enriched for fuel use, and uranium enriched for weapons use.

Uranium, as it occurs in nature, is made up of 3 different isotopes, each with different decay properties. Most (99.3%) natural uranium is U238, an isotope with 92 protons and 146 neutrons. Natural uranium also contains .7% U235, the isotope with 92 protons and 143 neutrons, and trace amounts of U234, the isotope with 92 protons and 142 neutrons.

For nuclear energy and weapons uses, it is the U235 that is the important isotope, because it is fissile. The U238 isotope, with its extra neutrons, tends to reflect neutrons. The U235, if hit by a single neutron, can absorb it then split, releasing energy and 2 or 3 more neutrons. These 2 or 3 neutrons will then crash into other U235 atoms, which split and release more neutrons. This chain reaction, where a single neutron produces energy and more neutrons to create more reactions, is nuclear fission.

Natural uranium, with its low concentration of U235, won't support the fission reaction. There are not enough U235 atoms for neutrons to crash into, and keep the chain going. In order to facilitate that fission chain, the concentration of the U235 isotope is increased. This is the uranium enrichment process. Enriched uranium is simply natural uranium which has been processed to increase the concentration of the U235 isotopes above the .7% concentration that it normally has. Because the U238 isotope is heavier than the U235 isotope (because of those extra neutrons), a gas centrifuge can be used to separate out the isotopes of different weights.

Now, when enriched uranium is needed to fuel a nuclear power reactor, the concentration of the U235 is increased to ~ 3.6%. For weapons grade uranium, natural uranium is highly enriched, so the concentration of U235 is 85%.

Uranium enrichment, even using gas centrifuges, is an energy and time intensive process. The equipment used to enrich NU to 3.6% for fuel use, is the same equipment that can be used to enrich it to 85% for weapons use. All that happens is that the enriched uranium is reprocessed over and over again, in a cascade of centrifuges, continually separating out the U235 from the U238. It is the same process to make nuclear fuel, it just takes a significantly more time, energy and raw materials.

Iran has confirmed they have a working 164 centrifuge cascade, and have enriched uranium. They've also announced that they've got 110 tonnes of Uranium Hexaflouride gas, the feedstock that goes into the gas centrifuges to begin the enrichment process. Iran well and truly does have the capability and the materials needed to produce weapons grade uranium, which could be used in a nuclear weapon. However, with that equipment, it will take 13 years of processing to make enough material for a single bomb.

For Iran to seriously pursue the ability to enrich uranium to weapons grade, they will need a facility or facilities with thousands of cascading centrifuges, requiring huge amounts of electrical power to run. That type of facility, or facilities, would be exceedingly hard to build, power and run in secret.

What is not being spelled out in news reports of Iranian uranium (say that 5 times fast!) is the level of enrichment and the amount of enriched material that is being produced. Those are the key questions to ask. Without those details, reports such as this one Iran Could Produce Nuclear Bomb in 16 Days, U.S. Says are meaningless, and should be shown for what they are, scaremongering hype.

Sid