An issue which is considered political suicide and that no politician dares touch is nuclear energy. Most of the countries in Europe rely on nuclear energy more than any other form of energy. In the United States only 20% of our energy is from nuclear energy and that is only from plants that were built before Three Mile Island. France on the other hand has 70% of its energy derived from nuclear energy. If the French can do it, why can’t the United States with its superior technology and engineering build safe and efficient power plants? This is an issue that is not even being talked about or considered and I believe it should be. In this day and age, we should look for ways to become more independent and self-reliant, not follow policy that makes us dependant and weak. I know there are many who disagree with this idea, but why not at least consider it and debate it?

I have been for the past few weeks convinced Rick would squeak out a close victory, but this new poll has me reconsidering. H/T: PoliticsPA

Bob Casey Jr - 49%
Rick Santorum - 35%
Source: Quinnipiac Poll

State Treasurer Robert Casey, Jr., has a 49 – 35 percent lead over incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum in the 2006 Senate race, according to a Quinnipiac poll released today.

This compares to a 46 – 41 percent Casey lead in a February 16 poll by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN uh-pe-ack) University.

Pennsylvania voters give Sen. Santorum a 48 – 35 percent approval rating, down from 52 – 31 percent Feb. 16 and comparable to his all-time low of 47 – 30 percent.

Voters reject 55 – 37 percent President George W. Bush’s plan to privatize Social Security and 38 percent say they are less likely to vote for Santorum because of his support for Bush’s proposal. Another 15 percent say they are more likely to vote for Santorum and 43 percent say his Social Security position does not make a difference.

Only 14 percent of Pennsylvania voters are more likely to vote for Santorum because of his highly visible role in the Terri Schiavo case, with 34 percent who say they are less likely and 47 percent who say it does not make a difference.

“The numbers show clearly that Sen. Santorum has lost ground in his re-election bid over the last two months. The Senator has come under strong criticism for his outspoken involvement in the Schiavo case and his campaigning for President Bush’s unpopular Social Security proposal,” said Clay F. Richards, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

For those who don’t know, the Taiping Rebellion took place in China in from the 1850s to the mid 1860s and was instigated by a certain Hong Xiuquan who believed that he was Christ’s brother who had come to free China from the foreign Qing Dynasty. It was one of the bloodiest affairs in human history; the conservative death toll is around 20 million killed and the more liberal death toll estimates 40 million killed.

The reason I mention this, is that an interesting thing appears to be happening in China. A new psuedo-Christian cult, called Eastern Lightning is spreading rapidly through the rural areas based on the belief that a Chinese woman named Deng is the new Christ and that the end of the world is coming. They use extreme techniques, including blackmail and violence to convert people.

Cults have a tendency to get out of hand over here, see the Yellow Turban Rebellion and the Boxer Rebellion, both of which heavily relied upon mysticism to motivate their followers.

I realize this is off-topic, but I have become fascinated by this groups parallels with past cult inspired uprisings and wonder if Chinese history isn’t repeating itself as it is wont to do.

Hat-tip: Simon World

Eat up! Before they change their minds again.

General Motors takes a hit, a big one. They have only themselves to blame, if you believe Forbes and the concept that a corporation is responsible for its own bone-headed decisions.

Well, it doesn’t take long does it? The bigots on the left are coming out of the woodwork in force. Jim Geraghty has an example over at TKS. It is just shocking, shocking that this new pope is . . . is . . . Catholic! And even worse, he appears to actually believe in all this Christian nonsense!

For those of you who are Catholic, you know what I am talking about. While being Catholic no longer carries the stigma it did 50 years ago, I still meet many people who look at me funny when I tell them I attend Mass. For some people it’s okay that I am a Roman Catholic, just so long as it’s a quasi-ethnic title at not a [shudder] belief.