Individual and Community

So in Iowa we have 10% - ‘E10′ - ethanol fuel available at the pumps. It is a mid-grade fuel that costs less than low-grade gasoline.
What is ethanol?

Ethanol is a clean-burning, high-octane fuel that is produced from renewable sources. At its most basic, ethanol is grain alcohol, produced from crops such as corn. Because it is domestically produced, ethanol helps reduce America’s dependence upon foreign sources of energy. source: Ethanol.org

Does ethanol currently require more energy to create than it produces?

The National Corn Growers Association has a site dealing with ethanol energy use. They cite oil industry corruption as one of the reasons for the slow adoption of ethanol use. They also cite 10 studies that show that ethanol has a positive energy balance.

Iowa Corn growers have an informational site that addresses the issues and questions surrounding ethanol. They have a FAQ regarding ethanol use - Common Questions Regarding Ethanol Use

A conscientious exploration of the issue blog-style describes some of the issues involved in the debate.

In a time when people are crying out for energy policy change, ethanol seems a great topic to explore.

Looking for actual photos/ footage of the Iraq war.

Found a Gulf War gallery:
The Unseen Gulf War by Peter Turnley

United States is fighting a war in Iraq, correct?

Why isn’t there any footage of this in the news?

What about on the Internet?

What do you make of this — http://www.uruknet.info/?l=e&p=-6&hd=0&size=1 - Information from Occupied Iraq. Boy they hate Americans.

Here’s one that may very well be produced by the US Military - it’s very interesting.
http://iraqpictures.blogspot.com/

McCarthyism Texas-Style

The Nov/Dec 2005 issue of Academe reports in the article Congressman Investigates Climate Scientists that 3 scientists attribute the rise of greenhouse gases to burning fossil fuels. Michael Mann of UVA, Raymond Bradley of Univ. of Mass- Amherst, and Malcom Hughes of the Univ. of Arizona were the scientists involved. Chair of the House of Rep. Committee on Energy and Commerce launched an investigation into their research. Rep. Joe Barton, chair of the committee, sent letters ordering all research and data analysis programs be turned over to his committee.

Joe Barton - texas corporate stooge whose top 2003/2004 contributor is an oil company - Anadarko Petroleum.

The Energy & Commerce Committee has arguably the broadest non tax-oriented jurisdiction of any congressional committee, with principal House responsibility over matters relating to commerce, public health and marketplace interests. - From Joe’s Own Bio

• Letters Requesting Information Regarding Global Warming Studies at The Committee on Energy and Commerce
• Energy committees letter to Mann demanding research in the name of “open scientific inquiry” (pdf)
• Michael E. Mann, Ph.D’s response to Barton’s demand (pdf )

Tell a Texan that fossil fuels are polluting the environment? Wish Texas would take all of its folk and secede already.

Seriously, Questions

Did the original research appear in a peer reviewed, academic journal?

Is the demanding of research a typical practice of governmental committees, or is this onerous harassment?

Also covered in the Washington Post:

A Bid to Chill Thinking
Behind Joe Barton’s Assault on Climate Scientists

By David Ignatius

Friday, July 22, 2005; Page A23

In today’s partisan political climate, science has inevitably become a political football. But I can’t remember anything quite as nasty — or as politically skewed — as Rep. Joe Barton’s recent attack on scientists whose views on global warming he doesn’t like.

Barton, an 11-term Republican from Texas, is chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and one of the oil lobby’s best friends on Capitol Hill. Late last month he fired off letters to professor Michael Mann of the University of Virginia and two other scientists demanding information about what he claimed were “methodological flaws and data errors” in their studies of global warming.

World’s first working $100 laptop
Tech evangelist Nicholas Negroponte wants to outfit the world’s children to improve education.

http://money.cnn.com/2005/11/16/technology/laptop_fortune/

NEW YORK (FORTUNE) - Nick Negroponte would like to sell you a $100 laptop, especially if you’re head of state in a large developing country.

That’s why he is at the World Summit on the Information Society, the giant UN-sponsored gathering that starts Wednesday in Tunis. Negroponte plans to show for the first time a working prototype of his new device, intended for hundreds of millions of mostly-poor students worldwide. The techies and government ministers in Tunis are his ideal target market.

At the Media Lab at MIT, which Negroponte founded 20 years ago, researchers are working not only on the engineering to make such an inexpensive product possible, but on computer interfaces to enable kids to learn without teachers, and on a curriculum to teach them every sort of subject.

Negroponte’s message has a seductive simplicity. As he puts it in an interview: “One laptop per child: Children are your most precious resource, and they can do a lot of self-learning and peer-to-peer teaching. Bingo. End of story.”

… more from the article

The 5-Year Mission Continues at New Voyages

This group is dedicated to recreating seasons 4 and 5 of the original Star Trek! May they live long and prosper!

Several episodes available legal and free from Torrent Tracker

If every household in the U.S. replaced one light bulb with an ENERGY STAR qualified compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL), it would prevent enough pollution to equal removing one million cars from the road. CFLs provide high-quality light, smart technology, and design, requiring less energy while lasting longer than typical incandescent bulbs.