@Lookout I had to grocery shop this morning, saw a small crowd shopping at a few booths set up on the courthouse lawn for the once a month Town Square event. Geegaws, tee shirts, honey, wind chimes, holiday decorations, etc...In other words, junk except for the pure honey. The event is a draw for out of towners mostly. It is of little socializing value. You are lucky.
I bought 6 grocery items, 2 on sale. Beef is sky high while beef cattle prices are at historic lows. The middleman rules. My impulse buy was a camo shirt for JtC. The grocery store always has 1 small carousel of clothes. Hey, it is Christmas, after all! He is sensitive to cold due to the chemo.
While we might save money on the drive, the arrival to the grocery store is pure sticker shock. People on fixed or low income resort to the cheapest junk food on the shelves. It breaks my heart to see what is in their shopping carts.
I watched a buck and two does grazing last evening. They hung around for several hours. We don't have turkeys in East Texas. We have to go to The Hill Country to get our wild turkey fix.
Well, get that mowing over and done until spring, dear friend! Sounds like you are having a well-deserved pleasant weekend!

Have not started any of the Epstein Files. One of the talking heads said, at best they will confirm what we already know. I'm sure TPTB will not allow his Mossad and CIA links to be revealed, and my understanding is they are heavily redacted with many files NOT released.

It was a chilly stroll through trade day this AM. Saw and visited with several friends. One of my old friends said when he moved away, "I don't what to live where trade day is the social event of the week." Fortunately, I do.

Gas is down to $2.50, but groceries are going up. I guess finances are a balancing act...especially as the dollar loses value.

Been seeing lots of deer and turkey. They are gathered up this time of year. I need to get the big field mowed before turkeys start nesting.

Well, thanks for the OT, and have a great weekend!

@ n/t

@soryang How many ways can this plutonium giveaway go wrong? Does ANYONE trust all these really good folks running big corporations, mostly tax free, to do the right and honorable and responsible thing?
There is a core of willfully deaf, dumb, and blind MAGAS that still haven't figured out Trump was put where he is to do exactly what he is told.
Well, thanks for bringing us this super cheery news! Lol!
Enjoy your weekend, dear friend!

Thanks for today's odds n ends! I hope all are doing well.

I was looking around for stories concerning the nuclear weapons posture of our allies, and came across this surprise related to the US nuclear industry, safety, proliferation, etc. Doesn't seem to have gotten much publicity.

Roll up, roll up for your free plutonium

The White House has announced that it will begin revealing its lucky free plutonium recipients on December 31 based on applications received by the US Department of Energy by November 21, according to Reuters. The news agency put the plutonium surplus amount at 19.7 metric tons, although the Trump administration has suggested it has 25 tons to spare.

That amount, according to a letter sent to the Trump administration by one senator — Ed Markey — and two representatives— Don Beyer, John Garamendi — all Democrats — is enough for at least 2,000 nuclear bombs.

Dishing out plutonium “to private industry for commercial energy use,” the trio wrote in their September 10 letter, “goes against long-standing, bipartisan US nuclear security policy. It raises serious weapons proliferation concerns, makes little economic sense, and may adversely affect the nation’s defense posture.”

Markey wrote to Trump again on September 23, specifically enquiring whether it was more than just a peculiar coincidence that Wright’s former company, Oklo, would be the beneficiary of the plutonium handout.

Plutonium Giveaway; Another Rash Step on Nuclear Energy

Excess Plutonium

From 1945 to 1989, the United States produced roughly 100 tons of plutonium for use in weapons. After the Cold War, it declared over half of this plutonium to be excess, no longer needed for national defense. Protecting these large stockpiles of weapon-usable material from theft and sabotage is a significant burden. The initial plan was to use it to fuel reactors and turn it into spent fuel. This was meant to be a once-through disposal process with the policy against civilian reprocessing. However, escalating costs and delays led the Department of Energy to abandon its plan to recycle excess plutonium in favor of a simpler plan to dilute and bury it at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico. President Trump’s Executive Order reversed that decision.

What’s happening now?

The rapid growth of power-hungry data centers and growing worldwide demand for low-carbon electricity to mitigate climate change have fueled growing interest in nuclear power. A surge in funding for studies of new reactor designs has spawned a wide array of startups pushing proposals for small modular reactors, transportable reactors, and some for “advanced” closed fuel cycles that use plutonium-based fuels. However, most of these concepts remain technically unproven, and they are all far from proving they can be cost-competitive in an electricity market driven by low-cost wind, solar, and natural gas.