More than half the nations in the world back Iran's nuclear program....

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News story you can find just about anywhere (this a link to the Google version of the AP, everyone else pretty much transcribes them anyway): Nonaligned countries back Iran's nuclear program

Now this is a pretty complicated one for me. Let me say right here and now that I do not support applied nuclear science of any kind. It falls into my "Toying with the Earth" category. If we don't really know what we're doing and it is potentially dangerous or harmful, and at the same time unnecessary, we simply should not do it. My favorite example from my life is my conversion to vegetarianism. One day, as a 17-year-old, I was walking past the incredibly well-stocked refrigerator in my parent's home and felt what could at best be called a craving. I never knew hunger, at all, as a child. So...as I did in those days, I reached into the meat and cheese drawer in the refrigerator for a cold dog, which I had the full intention of shoving into my gullet as-is: no heating, no bun, no mustard...just the cold dog. But then I thought. I thought...I'm not sure if it is right or not to eat this. I thought...I'm not sure about this, but surely it MAY be harmful, after all it was comprised of things that were once living. I didn't eat that "hot" dog, and I never ate meat again. (Short the one time a well-intentioned friend convinced me that some miso soup didn't have fish broth; I knew one second after I tasted it.) And I didn't decide until half a year later that I was correct in my decision. I may have decided otherwise, I may have decided later to go back and eat meat if I thought there was nothing wrong in it, and no harm would have been done (in my mind, at least). The point is that when it comes to science, just as when it comes to any potentially harmful act, the word of the day should be "conservativism." Why not err on the side of less harm, especially when we are discussing things of which we are certain that we do not understand all the possible repercussions, and those repercussions may be devastating?

But, to move on to Iran and it's nuclear energy program in particular, how on Earth can this country continue to demand that every nation not do what it does itself? It is hypocrisy, and it is the exact opposite of freedom and truth. I don't want the leaders and scientists of Iran to blow up the world, but I am far more concerned that those in my own country will. Each group (as defined by the willful participation of the individuals within it), just as each individual, has the right and obligation to make these important decisions for themselves. That is our only hope...diversity of opinion...diversity of thought...and a single-minded determination among all the free individuals of the world to make sure that such diversity flourishes. We should be FREE to argue passionatly with each other about these things, to argue about whether or not nuclear science should be applied in any way or not, not just vacuum up the same bullshit line by the AP every day. For example, why did every news story I see on this say, "more than 100 nations"? It's a hundred twenty nations, guys, and that is more than half the nations in the world (at least according to the UN--we all know there are far more nations in the world than that).

To freedom!