Italian nuclear renaissance gathers pace

[wtmusic]

"Italy's revival of its nuclear power industry has moved a step further with the creation of a government department devoted to nuclear energy, renewables and energy efficiency.

Following a reorganisation of the Ministry of Economic Development, led by Claudio Scajola, the new Division for Nuclear Energy, Renewables and Energy Efficiency has been established. The division will be headed by Rosaria Fausta Romano, formerly the director of the Energy and Mineral Resources Division of the Minister of Economic Development since December 2006. Romano was also a member of the task force formed to advise the government on the recent Russian gas crisis.

Meanwhile, Scajola recently declared in a letter printed in the national newspaper Il Giornale that Italy is proceeding quickly with its aim to start construction of a new nuclear power plant before the end of the current legislature in 2013. He said a new plant was needed in order to reduce the country's energy dependency."

http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/newsarticle.aspx?id=24639

[Idealism]

1. Odd how Italy's right-wing government doesn't receive condemnation for this

When Iran's government does the same thing, and are met with U.N. sanctions.

[Eryemil]

2. Wait, that's a serious question? This is IRAN we're talking about here.

A veritable piece of hell on Earth run and inhabited by insane people on par with more or less the rest of the region.

I'd feel more comfortable if they were sanctioned down to Bronze-age technology.

[Idealism]

3. I wonder if you will feel that way in June

When the people vote Mahmoud Ahmadinejad out of power.

[Eryemil]

5. And replace him with another lunatic just like him

[Idealism]

6. You mean this "lunatic?"

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/09/world/middleeast/09iran.html?_r=2&ref=middleeast

TEHRAN — Ending months of speculation, former President Mohammad Khatami, who favored détente with the West and more social and political freedom in Iran, said Sunday that he would run in presidential elections in June.




Khatami is the brightest hope Iran has to achieve normalized relations with the U.N., EU, and US.

He is NOT a "lunatic"

[wtmusic]

4. Iraq was sanctioned down to Bronze-age healthcare in the 1990s

and it resulted in the deaths of half a million children. Sanctions affect a lot more than the numbskulls on top.

If you believe the rest of Iran is inhabited by insane people you need to wipe the spittle off your keyboard and stop listening to Rush.

[Eryemil]

7. The last time I saw Ahmadinejad had what, 70% approval rating?

And as a side-note on a subject of particular personal interest, guess what the punishment for homosexuality is this lovely country you mention?

[wtmusic]

8. With a 50% margin of error you would be close

"The upshot is that while Americans are focused on who will replace Bush in the 2008 race, Iran’s next presidential election in 2009 is equally up in the air. And Ahmadinejad, whose approval ratings dipped to near-Bush levels at 35 percent late last year (according to Iranian state TV), is facing a tough re-election fight by most accounts. In Tehran, some people I talked in the last few days think that the hostile U.S.-Iran relationship has little chance of being resolved until both men are gone from power. And that’s no joke."

http://sweetness-light.com/archive/newsweek-bush-just-like-ahmadinejad

[Eryemil]

10. Fair enough, my figures are way out of date

Still doesn't change the fact that whoever replaces him won't be any different in certain key aspects.
It would do little to address the fact that this is a religious fundamentalist nation of the worst kind.
The least amount of power they have the better.

It is bad enough that they have the influence they have as key members of OPEC.
I rather prefer them defanged and neutered.

I'd personally trust Italy more if they said they weren't looking to create nuclear weapons. Hell, I'd trust them more even if they said they actually WANTED nukes.

[Idealism]

9. Mahmoud is very unpopular due to a number of factors

High unemployment, high inflation, worsening economic sanctions for the governments foreign policy (that isn't even set by the President), and the most important reason: oil prices have tanked. Iran's economy and economic plans focus on oil prices being around $90 dollars a barrel. Iran has paid into an Oil Stabilization Fund for just such a global commodity price drop, but it can't sustain the country for long.

[Nihil]

11. Lovely

People get away with hateful racist posts simply because they
choose a pink triangle as an avatar?

:puke:

[Eryemil]

12. ...

Race is an arbitrary concept based on physical characteristics and racism is the belief that these characteristics actually have an impact on a person's character.

I will not defend myself and shout from the rooftops about how much of a racist I am not. But I WILL say this: You lessen the impact of the word when you stupidly use it as a weapon.

I would like to know which part of my post you find racist however. Is it this:
"A veritable piece of hell on Earth run and inhabited by insane people on par with more or less the rest of the region."

I think you might have confused my hatred for most incarnations of Islam as racism. It's alright, common mistake.
Have no doubts however that I meant every word of that sentence.
Almost the entirety of the Middle East is nothing more than a parade of backward nations, each more repressive and horrible than the next. It is also, partly, because of the fact that I sport this this pink triangle that this is so apparent to me.

And it is also because I live in a free, secular nation that I can use this symbol with pride. Without fear of torture, incarceration or death.


By the way, I find it amusing that you are so quick to scream racism while saying things like:
"People get away with hateful racist posts simply because they
choose a pink triangle as an avatar?"
...and find no apparent irony in the situation.

[Nihil]

13. Yep, you're a racist ignorant bigot - and apparently proud of it.

>> This is IRAN we're talking about here.
>> A veritable piece of hell on Earth run and inhabited by insane people
>> on par with more or less the rest of the region.

Substitute other country names for "IRAN" and you will understand how
racist you are being. Or maybe you are too blind with anger to realise.

> I think you might have confused my hatred for most incarnations
> of Islam as racism.

You did not mention Islam in your original vitriolic bilge so there was
no confusion on my part. However, your "explanation" shows that yes, you
are exceptionally bigoted with regard to the religion as well as the country.

> Have no doubts however that I meant every word of that sentence.
> Almost the entirety of the Middle East is nothing more than a parade
> of backward nations, each more repressive and horrible than the next.

And now you confirm your wide brush approach to people who you neither
attempt to understand nor acknowledge have any positive values at all.
That is why you are seen as a racist bigot. FWIW, I'd also wonder why
you included "almost" when you are using such a scattergun approach to
geography & ethnicity.

> I live in a free, secular nation

Which one is that then? Your answer may be enlightening but I suspect
that it will simply reflect your ignorance.

> By the way, I find it amusing that you are so quick to scream
> racism while saying things like: "People get away with hateful
> racist posts simply because they choose a pink triangle as an
> avatar?" ...and find no apparent irony in the situation.

Because there is none. Or are you confusing your use of a particular
avatar whilst posting offensive comments as somehow being associated
with the meaning of that symbol? i.e., are you trying to hide behind
the avatar whilst still trying to wriggle out of your previous posts?

[Eryemil]

14. ...

"You did not mention Islam in your original vitriolic bilge so there was
no confusion on my part. However, your "explanation" shows that yes, you
are exceptionally bigoted with regard to the religion as well as the country."

So what? A country is nothing more than a piece of land, the only things that sets it apart from others are the people within it.
As to religion; I think religion in general is at best a mental illness and at worst a plague upon the human race.
And guess what? Religion is a glorified belief, not an intrinsic, innate thing. No idea, concept or belief is above criticism.


I did not not specify any reason whatsoever in my first post and was not asked to elaborate until now.
It was YOU that assumed I was being racist.

I did however write the following:

"Still doesn't change the fact that whoever replaces him won't be any different in certain key aspects.
It would do little to address the fact that this is a religious fundamentalist nation of the worst kind.
The least amount of power they have the better.

It is bad enough that they have the influence they have as key members of OPEC.
I rather prefer them defanged and neutered.

I'd personally trust Italy more if they said they weren't looking to create nuclear weapons. Hell, I'd trust them more even if they said they actually WANTED nukes."

Which more or less says why I believe that keeping Iran from attaining nuclear power should be vehement opposed by the West. (Which by the way, is the topic of this thread)


"Substitute other country names for "IRAN" and you will understand how
racist you are being. Or maybe you are too blind with anger to realise."

Illogical bullshit. Very few countries have such draconian laws/belief systems.
And how exactly is this racism?


For the record, I live in Vancouver. Not by birth but by choice.

[Eryemil]

15. Iranian gay couple granted asylum in Canada

http://www.365gay.com/news/iranian-gay-couple-granted-asylum-in-canada/

By the way. THIS is what it means to live in a free, secular nation.