Interesting time: "The Big Lie" meets "Stoopid" and "hilarity" and death ensues...

[PCIntern]

It's the Millennial version of The immovable object is struck by the irresistible force.

So for decades, those in the nuclear industry have been preaching the safety, the ecology, the cleanliness, the versatility, the efficiency, and the anti-reliance-upon-Arab-oil Gospel all over the radio, TeeVee, motion pictures, billboards, magazines, political talk shows, and other forms of media. We all knew it was BS, but then again, we're pretty bright, and even if someone who was pretty bright was pro-nuke, they would have to always admit that the company hired first-class individuals and had first-class safeguards in effect, because if it Effed-up, it was BIG TROUBLE...BIG! I'll use an analogy related to...dentistry!

Many years ago, there was a dental impression material called Reversible Hydrocolloid. It's a form of what your dentist takes those yucky impression when (s)he fills your mouth with those big metal trays for retainers or night guards, or whatever, and it's called IRREVERSIBLE HYDROCOLLOID. Now this is not a particularly accurate material for crowns or bridges or some partial or full dentures, so there are other materials available which are much more accurate - and expensive. Up to $12 an impression, whereas one of those IRREVERSIBLE inaccurate hydrocolloids might run 50 cents (as opposed to the rapper "50 cent" - but I digress.) However, Reversible Hydrocolloid is also pretty inexpensive, BUT...and it's a big BUT: it requires three heating/tempering tanks, special water-cooled trays wherein water may be shot thru the tray via a hose to cool the hot impression material (hey,, doesn't this sound timely and familiar!) and requires a preset sequence of events which are not complicated per se, but essential to getting a good impression of the teeth/dental arch. It involves all kinds of timing and tubes and thermometers and huge amounts of material going into the patient's mouth. Now the expensive material, while expensive, involved taking two tubes of material, and mixing proportional amounts together with a spatula and taking the impression - no sweat. Now the Reversible had some advantages like that you didn't have to dry out the teeth, etc. BUT...ajnd here's the second big BUT...the way they marketed this was by saying, and this is no lie...here...wait for it.......

"It's easier to use than conventional impression materials"


It was a giant frigging lie, but for YEARS they got away with it...because no dentist worth his or her salt would stand up at a meeting and say, "You're full of it!" We all just sat there, quietly smiling to ourselves, but never protesting, so others would try it and spend a small fortune on the setup. So it worked...for a while.

But one day, it came to pass that a different system was available and all these people rushed to the new system which worked great (putty and wash) and in fact was easy. The hydrocolloid people shrank to a very small minority and at least on the East Coast, I haven't run into a dentist who used it for years. Business was not good and although they're still in business their product is considered 'fringe' by most dentists whom I know.

Now the nuclear industry has been using the equivalent (il)logic to sell their product for decades and we shall see just how stupid people are following the aftermath of this nightmare. Will they change to other methods, or will they insist that their little cult of danger is the only way out of dependenceonAraboil. Only time will tell.

[monmouth]

1. I remember your first example....GAG! Great post, thanks..n/t

[PCIntern]

2. You're welcome...

Guinness Book of Records for fastest sinking post, however...