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Hello everybody.. looks like a tsunami has struck this blog and no one is doing anything about it… let’s coordinate some relief operations

It occurred to me this morning as i was resting in my armchair, drinking my milo ice, practicing my chinese class and minding my own business that the worst scenario that could happen to an innocent man like me is a nuclear radioactive pollution coming from a country that i never visited or had anything to do with at all (except maybe that i have a toshiba laptop like many others, and like many others also i do use Casio scientific calculators and throughout my life i’ve been consuming a whole lot of Sony products, starting from the early transistor radio to the late Playstation two (might not be the latest after all :D ), and yeah who has never enjoyed the comfort of Toyota, Honda, Mitsubishi, Nissan and so on and so forth not forgetting the tsunami wave of animated cartoons and computer games that have been flooding the world since late 1990s coming from that country and that had a profound impact on how we live our lives and how we spend our time), so having nothing to do with this country, i realized that the worst thing that could happen is that I Moktar Bebaha could indeed get a skin cancer due to an uncontrolled radiation leak in what appears to be a new nuclear catastrophe in Japan in the aftermath of the earthquake that struck its shores. Thus, i couldn’t help but think that this whole nightmare indeed could have been avoided, had the Japanese opted for a safer and more Eco-friendly source of energy. I would’ve been sitting now in my armchair, drinking my milo ice, practicing my chinese class and minding my own business, and there wouldn’t be any risk of catching skin cancer, at least not from a radiation leak in japan or anywhere else in the world every time an earthquake rocks the earth’s crust.


But then after i thought about it again, would i really have been owning a cheap Toshiba, consuming affordable japanese products such as Canon and Casio. would that overall economic growth, the Japanese miracle that rendered almost every industrial product affordable to us, would it have been possible without the continuous supply of energy from the nuclear power industry in Japan and everywhere else? the same applies to china, though in a smaller extent. Nuclear Power supplies 15% of the world’s electricity consumption, that’s HUGE. Japan owes much of its economic&social development as well as its stability and durability to its nuclear technology; for a country that has no natural resources, nuclear power is unlikely to be put on the table for discussion, it’s more of a matter of national security. Also, further developing nuclear energy and investing in research in fundamental sciences and sub-particle physics seems to be one of the promising ways to solve the energy crisis facing the world. so should we give it up?

THBT Japan should be banned from using nuclear Power

or THBT any country in a seismic active region or faces frequent Natural disasters should be prohibited from using nuclear energy.

Could also be: THW Ban the use of Nuclear power. And so on….

leave your comments and thoughts on these motions or any similar ones in the comment section below

Salam and Hi,

Dear readers,

It has been awhile since the last post at Open Debate. Comments keep coming although it was obvious that this blog need a new post. Thank you for your support to this blog.

To keep the spirit of Open Debate alive, this blog will be transformed into UTP English Debate Team Official Blog. Don’t get me wrong, the aspiration f this blog’s creation is still intact – but given new breath.

In debate, we always discuss politics, social, and economical issues. This blog will be used to post up those issues firstly for UTP debaters to discuss and build up case for their trainings. Secondly, you readers out there can also contribute to the interpretation and argumentation of these issues; broadening analysis and justification.

Therefore, I hope that everyone will keep the spirit of Open Debate (which is to debate openly matters of the world) alive.

Until then, bye!

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Map of countries designated by the United States as major non-NATO allies
Major non-NATO ally (MNNA) is a designation given by the United States government to exceptionally close allies who have close strategic working relationships with US armed forces but are not members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. While the MNNA status does not automatically include a mutual defense pact with the United States, it does confer a variety of military and financial advantages that otherwise are not obtainable by non-NATO countries.
Contents
[hide]
•    1 History
•    2 Benefits
•    3 List of MNNAs
o    3.1 Initial MNNAs
o    3.2 Subsequent MNNAs
o    3.3 Recent MNNAs
•    4 See also
•    5 References

[edit] History
MNNA status was first created in 1989 when section 2350a, otherwise known as the Nunn Amendment, was added to Title 10 (Armed Forces) of the United States Code by Congress.[1] It stipulated that cooperative research and development agreements could be enacted with non-NATO allies by the Secretary of Defense with the concurrence of the Secretary of State. Initial MNNAs were Australia, Egypt, Israel, Japan, and South Korea.
In 1996 major non-NATO allies received additional military and financial benefits when section 2321k was added to Title 22 (Foreign Relations) of the U.S. Code (also known as section 517 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961), which added MNNAs to many of the same exemptions from the Arms Export Control Act that were enjoyed by NATO members. It also authorized the President to designate a nation as an MNNA thirty days after notifying Congress.[2] When enacted, the statute designated Australia, Egypt, Israel, Japan, Jordan, New Zealand, and South Korea as major non-NATO allies.
Main article: New Zealand–United States relations
U.S.-New Zealand strategic and military cooperation had suffered a setback after the breakdown of the ANZUS alliance in 1984 because of the Nuclear Ship issue. The designation of New Zealand as an MNNA has increased the collaboration between the two.
[edit] Benefits
Nations named as major non-NATO allies are eligible for the following benefits:
•    entry into cooperative research and development projects with the Department of Defense (DoD) on a shared-cost basis
•    participation in certain counter-terrorism initiatives
•    purchase of depleted uranium anti-tank rounds
•    priority delivery of military surplus (ranging from rations to ships)
•    possession of War Reserve Stocks of DoD-owned equipment that are kept outside of American military bases
•    loans of equipment and materials for cooperative research and development projects and evaluations
•    permission to use American financing for the purchase or lease of certain defense equipment
•    reciprocal training
•    expedited export processing of space technology
•    permission for the country’s corporations to bid on certain DoD contracts for the repair and maintenance of military equipment outside the United States
[edit] List of MNNAs
The following countries have been designated as major non-NATO allies of the United States (in order of their appointment):
[edit] Initial MNNAs
Named by George H. W. Bush administration
•     Australia (1989)
•     Egypt (1989)
•     Israel (1989)
•     Japan (1989)
•     South Korea (1989)
[edit] Subsequent MNNAs
Named by Bill Clinton administration
•     Jordan (1996)
•     New Zealand (1997)
•     Argentina (1998) [3]
[edit] Recent MNNAs
Named by George W. Bush administration
•     Bahrain (2002)
•     Philippines (2003)
•     Thailand (2003)
•     Kuwait (2004)
•     Morocco (2004)
•     Pakistan (2004)

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