Looks like its over

Well looks like its over.

The Democrats asked the American people to give them the reigns of government, and it has been granted.

We have our first black president, which is a good thing.

Many battles still yet ahead, but tonight, rest.

Election Day Silliness

We all need a little bit of silliness on election day, here is my contribution:

The Empire Strikes Back Election

This is silly, but it does kinda fit. This election is just like the Empire Strikes Back. Yeah, we were all happy after Reagan blew up the Death Star, but we know they were coming back. They always come back. Those media droids have been scouring the universe for two years looking for our secret rebel base, and we know they found us. Heck, Obama even asked Admiral Ozell, uh Biden, to be his VP. Its only going to be a matter of time before he decides that a "surprise" comment would be "wiser" and Obama will go all Vader on him. Things are probably going to go bad: Iraq could end up in pieces like C3PO, and Rush Limbaugh might have a date with the Fairness Doctrine Carbonite chamber. Yet, there is always next movie, and the hope we are going to have our day again. Just without the Ewoks, please.

And so it begins....

Tomorrow is going to be a big day. I hope McCain can pull it out, if not...

Well, it would be a real bad system of government that can't take a couple years of the other side in power...

Well....

Ugh.

But.

We could pull it off. Vote.

Nota Bene: Nuclear Power

As I said in the immediately proceeding post, nuclear power faces a production choke point with the ultra large forgings required for a single piece reactor pressure vessel. The only company with a facility capable of creating these is Japan Steel Works located on the island of Hokkaido. According to this Bloomberg article, companies are putting down a 100 million dollar down payments for a production slot (one of four per year).

You would think that one of these old steel towns in the US might have a facility that could be converted. After all, it seems that supply is constrained enough that the price will remain high.

If I had a hundred million dollars.....

Some interesting links:
Technical article on Steel Forging techniques
Japan Steel Works fabrication process

Obama Against Coal

Now I'm a nuclear guy myself, mostly because I think that coal would be better used as a liquid fuel. However, with the regulatory and production hurdles of nuclear reactors, as our demand for electricity increases we basically have the option of more gas or coal fired plants.

Now, Joe Biden said a couple months ago that an Obama administration would not support the construction of more coal plants in this country (ht: marks @ RedState).



I believe that this did not go down well with certain states that have a lot of coal production, thus, during the VP debate, Biden had to *ahem* clarify the position.



Now Gateway Pundit has come across a speech where Obama promises (to a San Francisco audience, again!) to "bankrupt coal".



See the entire post:
Gateway Pundit: <em>EXPLOSIVE NEW AUDIO--</em> Obama Promises San Francisco Audience He Will Bankrupt Coal Industry!!