Cave Drawing

Spooky ... real spooky.

It has been awhile.

Eating too much kills hundreds of thousands of Americans a year...Smoking kills hundreds of thousands...Drinking too much kills at least tens of thousands...Abortion (sexing too much?) kills a million or so...and Mr Bennett frets about nuclear power and cell phones. Yeah, be careful. And be careful of mocking partial solutions.

Cartooning

Funny.

I guess Andrew thinks multimillion dollar nuclear plants and nuclear safety are issues to small for Andrew. Thinking like that, we should also abandon fixing our pot holes etc.

If God accounts for every sparrow, if small things are not beneath him, then why are they beneath you Mr Lohr?

Tsk tsk

Sexing? Is that an official term for how babies are made?

even in cave days their were lefties who bitched about the use of fire. they sat in the cold and dark and ate their meat cold, while everyone else sat around a warm fire and enjoyed a warm meal. it's old....really, really.... old.

Actually, Seamonkey, the leftist cave people were the ones that wanted to outlaw cannibalism and bestiality. The right wingers were doing it exactly backwards!

There isn't anyone alive to attest to what cavemen did or did not do, and as such, I fail to understand how you could discern who the "lefties" were, that they ate cold meat, and lived in the dark, Mr. Salt Water Monkey Man.

Now, more to the point and applicable to today's 'toon, I'm confused as to what exactly, the TVA is up to. In 1995, I contracted to remove six truck loads of parts out of Bellefonte, relocating them to a scrap dealer in New Orleans, Louisiana. They bought those parts for pennies on the dollar.

$4.3 billion has been spent and lost on that plant since 1974. Now they're proposing to spend another $4-5 billion to finish it? I don't get it. They should have finished building the plant two decades ago. Of course, the standards that will need to be met will be far different than had they finished it in the late 70's, that's for sure.

I'm all for it. Get 'er done. I like my low electricity bills. I want to see some more of them.

We simply must continue the ban on drilling for oil or accessing the billions of gallons in shale. We must avoid any expansion of nuclear. If we assured the safe extraction of oil and the safe operation of nuclear we would decimate the economy of the middle east and reduce our involvement in that area. Our governments would lose the higher tax revenue generated by high gas prices. Heck, we may end the three wars we are in and lose the tax revenue generated by the industrial military complex.

The jobs created by drilling, extracting, processing, transporting and distributing would reduce the number dependent on government. The construction and operation of nuclear facilities may have similar results. Could lose votes, is that what we want?

Increased gas prices are the worst possible tax on the segment of society that can least afford it. Every dollar spent on gas is one less dollar spent increasing demand for other products. The economy is demand driven. No business will expand and hire people if there is not an increased demand for their product or service.

Yep, if we like where the country and our economy is we better keep our zero risk mentality. We can keep borrowing money, if no one will loan to us then we can just keep printing it can't we? No worries, our talk only government will make sure we continue on our current path to economic destruction.

glad to see you back Alprova

so god accounts for every sparrow, moonpie...but not unborn human beings?

Good job Clay. Make sure people stay scared of energy independence. We don't want to disrupt the world economy by strengthening ours.

the U.S. will never be energy independent.The environmentalists even oppose building solar farms and windmill farms because of the huge "footprint" needed to build them big enough to help even a little bit.No type of energy is green enough to satisfy them.What they want is for Americans and the world for that matter to be deprived of any energy except enough to barely scrape by.They are opposed to any energy source that produces an excess of energy.Take for example nuclear energy,it is an almost unending supply of energy but the environmentalists rant and scream about its "potential" harm.They rant about hydroelectric power plants because it changes the natural flow of the water.So what is left?I guess we should turn off all the computers,get rid of all the cars,stop building businesses and return to the barely eking a livelihood from the earth and forget your neighbor because they are trying to feed their own family.There has yet to be an energy source that the implementation of hasn't been opposed by environmentalists for one reason or another.

could someone explain to me what a seadonkey is, it must be a jackass that lives with his head under water

what's your problem, nooga...how have i offended you?

exactly right, tderng..exactly...what is left? what should we do, nothing?

stupid liberal envirowacko government policies, which have denied us energy independence and killed thousands of potential jobs, are the reason we're in the situation we're in. we run scared from nuclear power and get hsyterical over spilled oil....all the lizards, toads and insects the envirowackos want to protect are happy....but our unemployment rate is huge and we're whores to foreign oil. this situation is the perfect example of how "progressive" thought and policy has slowly but surely crippled this country.

tdering,

I think your are unfortunately correct. So, hug a tree, get an old manual push plow and hoe with seeds that will produce reuseable seeds. There will be little need to work and the only risk will be starvation. It is all Henry Ford's and the Wright brothers fault. We can all get a bicycle and deliver mail by horse and buggy. It's the environment not the economy. We must have a zero risk environment so we can live long enough to have several hundred thousand spent extending life a few weeks or months.

Kavorkian just died. He believed people should have the choice of humanely terminating life under specific circumstances. The decision was made with a sound mind with credible witnesses and family. We put him in jail and essentially tortured him. What right does governemt have to require me to endure the pain and suffering of a terminal illness or alzeimers once absence occurs? Government requires people to exhaust all their wealth and then government spends millions sustaining people in terminal situations they would not agree to if given an option.

Santa, no one said abortion wasn't a big topic. I just pointed out that energy and nuclear power are probably worthy of discussion. Narrow minds may not have room for big ideas or topics on which they focus. Life would be dull without diversity.

Obama tells Brazil that we'll help it develop its offshore resources so we can one day import its oil. Obama also plans to lend $2 billion to Brazil's state-run Petrobras with the promise of more to follow. We hear nothing from environmentalist about this. I thought the enviromentalists were concerned about the environment of the entire planet. Could it be they fight off shore drilling in this country because those oil companies are private companies where in Brazil the oil company is a state-run company? I believe it is more about anti capitalism with some of these enviormentalists then the enviroment.

So, I guess by the posts here today that it is absolutely impossible to have a clean environment and reliable energy too.

When it comes to Bellefonte NP Bennett's cartoon is correct.

The original design is stoneage compared to what will be built today.

hambone, said it is absolutely impossible to have a clean environment and reliable energy too.

Look at how the enviromentalist are trying to block clean energy production.

http://dailycaller.com/2011/03/28/are-environmentalists-an-obstacle-to-clean-energy-production/

I just wanted to say...Mr. Salt Water Monkey Man....that is too funny

This could be a great forum for debate, but how does one hope to have a logical, reasonable debate with someone like L4F who infers from this cartoon that Clay Bennett hates electricity? Where is the logic in that?! Regardless of one's stand on nuclear power his cartoon is on the mark. It has little or nothing to do with whether one is for or against NP, as such. Bellafonte is a boondoggle and by today's standards almost prehistoric in concept. What's the point in throwing money into something that's already antiquated?

It's obvious that many of the people posting comments here are ardent Bennett haters and they can't wait to get in their two cents' worth of daily Bennett bashing, no matter how benign or innocuous the subject of his cartoon might be on any given day. Sure, Bennett is liberal/progressive in his views but why can't you haters of all things progressive give it a rest sometimes? Stop frothing at the mouth and stay on topic instead of ranting and raving like paranoid schizophrenics. It seems that you will stretch any issue to ridiculous lengths just to babble on about your Ayn-Randian/don't-tread-on-me/libertarian/teaparty philosophy of "rugged" individualism. For cryin' out loud, just chill out sometimes.

Is the right choice to bring Bellefonte up to today's standards or start over with a totally new site? either will create jobs and increase our energy resources which are both good things. TVA gets a lot of well deserved criticism for being inefficient and wasteful but they are better than any department of the federal government.

rick1, the artcle you refered seems to be "not in my back yard" syndrone by property owners more than environmentists.

As I understand it the new Bellefonte will be a modern design in the existing buildings.

And Rickaroo is 100% correct about those posting here, just stupid rants!

now hambone,don't be so hard yourself!

I agree hambone. Bennett accomplishes his intent which is to generate controversy and discussion. He may even be a staunch conservative, who knows. Regardless he knows how to generate chatter as evidenced by the number of post in response to his 'toon.

An example of "not in my back yard" was the reaction of the Kennedy's and others when a plan was introduced for a wind mill farm off the coast of Martha's Vineyard.

You may want to read the article that was linked in my above post. The article says many of the same groups urging us to think globally about renewable energy are acting locally to stop the very same renewable energy projects that could create jobs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

http://www.cato.org/pubs/regulation/regv12n3/reg12n3-noll.html

The Bama probably can't be beat in 2012 but if he wants to be sure he better get gas prices under $3 and unemployment well under 8% ahead of the election. He doesn't have a good record to run on but neither do the republicans. This will probably be the biggest mud slinging contest in history,

harp, Bama can be beat in 2012 but not by Auburn. They don't have Newton anymore!

A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way.

Mark Twain

Bellefonte has been systematically stripped of all its usable parts in order to keep TVA's other ancient nuclear plants running. Alprova points out that they have sold off its assets for pennies on the dollar because the didn't believe they could economically or safely operate the plant. What has changed? Is it because they already have a license to operate a nuclear plant at the site and don't want to fight another battle over permitting a new site or design? Bennet is right in pointing out that Bellefonte's design is prehistoric in design and operation. Simply reopening the plant may not be the best solution.

How many more Fukushima's will it take? When other forms of power fail they do not leave 100 sq. mile wasteland in their wake. What if it was your home that you could never go back to? We have the technology to build clean sources of energy, solar, wind, geothermal, low-impact hydro. We do not need nuclear. We still have no where to put the waste. It is all being stockpiled on site at the nuclear plants waiting for a disaster. It doesn't have to be a quake or a tornado, it could be something simple as human error.

Important facts about Bellefonte. 1) Final construction is not approved by even the TVA. Yet the TVA is proceeding with spending hundreds of millions of your dollars thus raising your electrical rates for a non-approved project. Regardless if you are for or against nuclear power TVA's faulty management scheme should be very bothersome to all ratepayers. 2)The Bellefonte Nuclear Construction License was cancelled by the TVA, the plant was stripped of its steam generators, sold for $49 million, it recently let a contract replace the same steam generators for near $300 million, are you concerned yet? Is this the management you want running nuclear power plants? 3) The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) reinstated the cancelled nuclear construction contract without one, that right no, singular vote of approval. The vote of the NRC regulators was 1 vote disapproved 3 votes jointly disapproved-approved. Even the senior staff of the NRC disagreed with the reinstatement, so did the chairperson. 4) Trust is critical for those who handle nuclear materials and are nuclear program managers, the trust of current TVA management has been broken. The deceit of TVA management is appalling and dangerous for citizens. 5) TVA has massive debt, $25 billion near the $30 billion Congressional cap. If you are truly a conservative citizen you should be shaking with concern relating to TVA's despicable financial status. This is not including the $23 billion interest on TVA's debt. The TVA can't afford to finish 50% of a nuclear plant much less finish Bellefonte which will require most controls, actuators, valves and other analog equipment be replaced with digital equipment. The end result, 60% of the plant is not complete, the TVA will have to increase rates to afford Bellefonte.

How conservative are the conservatives? Are you truly conservative and believe in the principles of our nation and regulated capitalistic enterprise, or will you continue to deceive yourselves and the Republican Party and continue to support right wing socialist extremism? Socialism-controlling the means of production and distribution-the TVA.

Why is the TVA not a publicly owned regulated utility like Duke Power and others? Too much politics and Washington involvement in the TVA power generation business. TVA is so involved in things other than power generation it is doubtful anyone, including TVA management, understands those activities beyond the federal money supporting them.

"unless you want to live like a caveman, you will support nuclear power."

That statement is just untrue.