The Morning Blog

Mike Bait: Well Bro, you were curious about how a meltdown works and why they can't just shut the bastard down. Here ya go. Hope that helps.

At this point the Japanese are pretty much throwing whatever they can at the problem. In addition to sea water being pumped in, they've attempted to drop water on it from a helicopter (much in the same way, one would try to put out a forest fire). That was put off because a cloud of radioactive steam would have endangered the crew. Police are expected at this point to try to use water cannons, typically used for riot control, in an effort to cool things down. Everyone within 18 miles of the plant has been warned to stay indoors less they endanger themselves and as winds begin to blow radiation to Tokyo, both France and Australia have urged their nationals to leave the country.

The skeleton crew that has remained at the plant to try to control this menace is simply heroic. I hope their efforts don't prove sisyphean.

So is Qaddafi crazy or crazy like a fox? Having read the analysis in this article, I lean towards conventional nut job. Well, conventional nut job with a personal air force at any rate:

When he speaks of "my country," he means it literally. Qaddafi is Libya and a Libya without him at the helm is unimaginable to him. In an article in the Economist magazine from February 2011, he is quoted as having declared that "I was the one who created Libya, and I will be the one to destroy it." The West should take this statement very seriously. Qaddafi is indeed prepared to go down in flames, and the question is how many of his supporters are prepared to fight to "the last drop of blood."

Between Libya and Japan, another crisis has been largely ignored. Not insignificantly, the Ivory Coast has neither oil nor transistors to offer (granted, it's also unlikely that they'll ever pump radiation all over Asia). Bear in mind though, a civil war there will seriously disrupt invaluable coffee and chocolate production...

Dogs of war.

Pivoting off of that, Mark Bittman questions why we treat animals meant for food differently than animals meant to be pets. He uses a bit of a straw man, specifically an ASPCA investigation into a young person that killed a hamster and the industrial standards of treating pigs or chickens. I'm not going to delve into hamsters but I will say that where dogs are concerned, they just don't deserve equivalency with chickens or even pigs. Dogs have evolved as our special companion animals. And frankly, we have evolved as theirs. The cross species relationship between man and dog is a very, very special evolutionary one. This is not to say that there aren't serious moral problems with the industrial processing of other animals. It's merely to note that there's a very good reason why we treat our dogs better than our pigs.

A dull story about the boring guy next door. What could be less interesting than the suburbs?

Theresa Bait: Yay Auburn...National championship...blah, blah, blah... ahem.

Some presidential predictions that have nothing to do with 2012.

And a presidential prediction that certainly has everything to do with 2012: Probably not going to happen.

I'm sure you've been lying awake at night worrying yourself sick about debit card swipe fees. Here's an article breaking down the proposed legislation. Not surprisingly, I think that the companies handling the transactions should be able to set whatever fees they want. That said, I certainly think that retailers should be able to go with whatever network offers the lowest prices. Clearly, the high prices of fees are why many retailers either don't accept cards (and lose the associated business), or insist that they can only be used with a minimum purchase. That said, accepting card fees is just one of the costs of doing business. I'm also quite certain that whatever network manages to offer the lowest rates will certainly win out simply as a result of scale. Even if it's just $0.07 a transaction, we're still talking what...millions, billions of transactions a day?

Kacee Bait: Amongst other lunacies (and some ideas that I don't disagree with at all), running rampant throughout the state legislatures, Wyoming has taken the bold step to ban sharia law, thus thwarting the dastardly designs of the 200 odd Muslims living in the state.

At least it's better than Kansas, Baby.

Meh... Call me when they put it in a DeLorean.

The Consumerists Worst Company in America 2011 starts with the first suck-off between United and Delta. I still maintain that Verizon will manage to take home the Golden Turd this year.

Something Julian Assange did not want leaked...

More Mike Bait: Well, I am in the market for a car. Sorry, but this might be cooler than your van.

Berlusconi defends paying for 13 "carefree, elegant dinners" by which he means "sex acts with a minor". Sometimes, it can be difficult to translate from the Italian.

Well, in fairness to the Chinese, they all do look alike.

Dad Bait: Thoughts? The Hippocratic oath vs. the reality of medical costs.

Song for the Day: Looks like rain. Let's listen to what's going on at SxSW.