The news of unity, though expected from the center-left of the political spectrum, came from the center-right. The two main opposition parties on the right, the Motherland Party (ANAVATAN) and the True Path Party (DYP), are set to form an alliance against the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) before the coming national elections. A proposal presented by the ANAVATAN for unity in the center-right has received a warm response, but not an affirmative one yet, from the DYP; but senior analysts in Ankara believe that this time around, the talk over alliance or unity is more than just words and the efforts will bear a concrete result.
The proposal forwarded by ANAVATAN on April 10 aims to merge the two parties under one roof, with ANAVATAN leader Erkan Mumcu consenting to step down as leader. The new party that will rise out of the ashes of the two will be called the 'Democrat Party,' according to the proposal.
Both ANAVATAN and the DYP were influential parties throughout much of the 1980s and 1990s, but failed to pass the 10 percent election threshold in the Nov. 3, 2002 national elections. The likelihood of failing to pass the 10 percent threshold in the coming elections pushed the two parties to seek a closer collaboration. Both parties believe the merger will allow them to win at least 250 deputies in the elections, with Aðar becoming the next prime minister. Analysts in Ankara believe the merger could create a serious synergy against the ruling party, since they both compete for the conservative sections of the society.
Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai tops a fresh hit list of 300 opposition and civic activists drawn up by state security commanders for arrest and torture in a drive to weaken the opposition ahead of next years election. The list, whose disclosure comes as President Robert Mugabe on Wednesday vowed to intensify a brutal crackdown against the opposition, was drawn up by the Joint Operations Command (JOC) at a meeting on the 5th of April in Harare. The JOC, a committee of securocrats upon whom analysts say Mugabe has increasingly relied in recent years, comprises senior commanders of the army, air force, police, prison service and the spy Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO).
The list, a copy of which was shown to ZimOnline, says police sent to break up opposition rallies and protests should aim to shoot the 10 leading figures on the hit list. But it does not specifically say whether the police should shoot to kill or merely to inflict injury.
Those in the top 10 of the hit list in their order include Tsvangirai, spokesman of his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party Nelson Chamisa, Bulawayo-based Roman Catholic Archbishop Pius Ncube, Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions secretary general Wellington Chibhebhe and Tsvangirais deputy Thokozani Khuphe. Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe Raymond Majongwe, women activists Grace Kwinjeh and Jenni Williams and St Mary's legislator Job Sikhala are also in the top 10.
Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena dismissed the existence of a hit list, saying the law enforcement agency only arrested people suspected of committing crime and who would have to be taken to court. State Security Minister Didymus Mutasa denied security agencies were targeting opposition activists for arrest, accusing MDC activists of lying at every point that they were being victimised by state agents.
Mugabe on Wednesday told supporters at Independence Day celebrations in Harare that his government would never hesitate to deal firmly with those elements who are bent on fomenting anarchy, a reference to the MDC which he accuses of trying to topple his government on behalf of Zimbabwe's former colonial master, Britain. The MDC, which says Mugabe and his ruling ZANU PF party cheated it of victory in successive elections since 2000, denies being a puppet of Britain or masterminding bomb attacks on police stations. The MDC says the bomb attacks were the work of government agents out to justify a crackdown aimed at annihilating the opposition party ahead of elections next year.
The British press tries to get its mind around our strange American ways...
THE VIRGINIA TECH MASSACRE
GUN-loving Americans were asking last night: "Why didn't somebody shoot back."
Right-wing commentators appeared more baffled that gunman Cho Seung-Hui wasn't "taken out earlier" than anything else.
But then in Virginia, where 33 were left dead in the massacre, the only restriction on owning a gun is that you can't buy more than 12 a year. Over 30,000 people die from gunshots in America each year and there are more guns in private hands than in any other country.
But the gun lobby makes sure that the second amendment of the constitution, enshrining the right of every citizen to carry arms, is upheld. Legislation to stop people buying automatic assault rifles was allowed to lapse by George Bush's government. And British experts doubt anything will change in the light of the latest tragedy. Is the author stupid, or just ignorant? Or is he a liar?
Ian Ralston, of the American studies centre at Liverpool John Moores University, said: "Everyone I've spoken to says 'Why don't they do something?' I can't see it happening."
Dr Stephen Mills, lecturer in American studies at Keele University, Staffs, said: "Most of this is a state matter and you don't get elected by being opposed to the death penalty or in favour of gun control - that is political reality. I doubt there will be anything done."
Even Tony Blair refused to be drawn yesterday on whether the latest shooting showed the need for gun control laws in the US. Asked if he believed they should follow Britain's example in the wake of the Dunblane school massacre, he said it would be "completely inappropriate" for him to comment.
Smart man. Very smart man...
Posted by: Dave D. ||
04/19/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
you don't get elected by being opposed to the death penalty or in favour of gun control - that is political reality. I doubt there will be anything done
#5
I've decided on a new name for people who desire gun control.
Unindicted co-murderers.
By their efforts and actions in disarming people, they have directly allowed people such as this wackjob on VT campus to murder people. Therefore, they are partly responsible.
#9
The real question here is what were authorities doing in the two hours between shootings. Mr. Cho had plenty of time to shoot videos, send them off to NBC, and then walk across campus to shoot 30 more people.
In fact, I think the only thing that stopped Cho was running out of ammo.
I personally don't own a gun, but if I were attending Virginia Tech I would certainly consider it. I am not aware that the school or law enforcement authorities actually protected or saved a single person.
#10
When you're raised in a victim culture, you don't take advantage of the time between reloads to attack the ambush.
Where was the nanny state to protect them?
Issuing declarations that carrying a state licensed weapon for self-defense would get you thrown out of the college is a start. This is along the lines of telling people to shut up and get in the box cars quietly.
#13
Because, you moronic simpleton, VT was a "gun free" zone!
As I pointed out a couple days back, just one, JUST ONE armed and law abiding citizen with a gun in Norris Hall could have dropped this lunatic in his tracks before he had a chance to kill anyone!
WHEN IS THIS COUNTRY GOING TO LEARN THAT AN ARMED POPULATION IS A POLITE POPULATION? People decry America's so-called "gun culture" when, in half the rest of the world, AK47s are common enough you can't hardly walk down the street without stumbling over one.
It is past time to obey the law in this regard IMO. If a law is patently stupid and protects only the criminal then it is a criminal law and there is absolutely zero reason to obey that law when it places you or other law abiding citizens at risk of murder by criminals and lunatics!!!
I used to pack. I quit doing it many years ago for vague reasons. I swear this now - I'm arming myself with a concealed weapon asap and the laws of the locality, state, and country be damned where they overrule this! I will NOT stand idly by and be a victim or allow others to become victims if I have a chance to do anything about it by going "well heeled".
Venezuela's government will require workers to spend four hours a week in "socialist formation" classes, and is mandating employers form "Bolivarian Work Councils" to run courses on the job, El Universal reported, citing Labor and Social Security Minister Jose Ramon Rivero.
The classes will first be held only in public sector jobs, beginning with a pilot program at the nation's Labor Ministry, and will later spread to private businesses, after President Hugo Chavez decrees a law outlining re-education guidelines and rules, the newspaper said.
Topics to be addressed in the four-hour classes include Venezuelan history and "basic tools for analyzing reality, the environment, the role of the state and socialist scheme," to speed the transition from capitalism to socialism, Rivero said, according to the newspaper.
Chavez has asked that socialist education, the so-called "Third Motor" of his Bolivarian revolution, be carried out beyond schools, in factories, workshops, offices and fields, the newspaper reported.
#8
Nah, the recalcitrant ones will have to be sent to special camps where they can concetrate on being good socialists. They could be called, oh, I don't know, maybe concentration camps or something.
#10
Yeah, if anybody hasn't been paying attention up to now, that's the official "line between authoritarianism and totalitarianism" that Hugo just goose-stepped over.
Full-on Cultural Revolution claptrap. Wonderful.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
04/19/2007 16:06 Comments ||
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#11
'We do the concentrating, they do the camping'
#12
Maybe we need four hours of capitalist training every week for capitalist societies, too. Then again, maybe not because capitalism makes sense and we don't need support groups.
This seems like a precursor to the village meetings some communist societies have to keep the population under control. They meet every morning to discuss anything or anyone unusual they have seen in the last 24 hours. The police act on the input. Very effective means of keeping the population on the straight and narrow red path. They probably give a nickel as a reward to anyone who comes up with something interesting.
An Australian scientist called Wednesday for an end to the age-old tradition of cremation, saying the practice contributed to global warming. Professor Roger Short said people could instead choose to help the environment after death by being buried in a cardboard box under a tree. Where's my bat...
The decomposing bodies would provide the tree with nutrients, and the tree would convert carbon dioxide into life-giving oxygen for decades, he said. "The important thing is, what a shame to be cremated when you go up in a big bubble of carbon dioxide," Short told AFP. "Why waste all that carbon dioxide on your death?" I'll forgo the obvious comment, here...
Short said the cremation of the average male in Australia, during which the body is heated to 850 degrees Celsius (1,562 degrees Fahrenheit) for 90 minutes, produced more than 50 kilograms (110 pounds) of carbon dioxide. And that doesn't include the carbon cost of fuel, or the cost of the emissions released during the production and burning of the wooden casket.
Short, a reproductive biologist at the University of Melbourne, said the contribution of cremation to harmful greenhouse gases was small, and he did not wish to prevent people from choosing how their body was disposed of according to their religion. But to bury the hatchet with environmentalists, he suggested it would not be a bad idea to bequeath one's body as food for a forest.
"You can actually do, after your death, an enormous amount of good for the planet," he said. "The more forests you plant, the better." Unbelievable...
Posted by: Dave D. ||
04/19/2007 00:00 ||
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"You can actually do, after your death, an enormous amount of good for the planet," he said. "The more forests you plant, the better."
I hate to bring it to him, but the state after death is hardly conductive to planting forests. He may have watched one zombie movie too many.
#2
I wonder if any study has been done on the best combination of insects to decompose a recently deceased human body. Most likely it would involve fly maggots plus a combination of different beetles to "lick the platter clean", leaving only clean bones.
#4
I imagine the forensic pathologists already know from empirical evidence, Anonymoose. There was a special on such things, I think on PBS, recently. Lots of time lapse photography of Nature disposing of corpses at crime scenes. It was called something like "Animal Crime Witnesses." I was really interested in the concept, until they showed the lockstep sequential activity of the different species of maggots, by which the pathologists can establish the date of death. Ugh!
#6
No, Raj. You have to stop farting, since farts contain methane, which is a worse global warming gas than CO2. In fact, it is almost as bad as dihydrogen monoxide vapor. (For the chemically challenged, dihydrogen monoxide is water.)
#7
Green burial is a growing movement. I was gong to be cremated, but I find green burial preferable because it will probably be cheaper and will certainly be less wasteful. The world does not seem to be much the worse off because most animal life is left to decompose naturally. I doubt my mouldering naturally will hurt the world either.
Posted by: Mike ||
04/19/2007 11:57 Comments ||
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#10
Thou shalt have no other gods but the environment, huh?
Posted by: Mark E. ||
04/19/2007 12:26 Comments ||
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#11
I think my Grandmother was n to something many years ago when she told Mom and Dad to just toss her body in the swamp behind our house. She wanted to save $$, but we didn't do it; i think it had to do with the prevailing winds and our open windows. or something.
On a somewhat serious note, i believe it is the University of Tennesee (one of those southern states)that has a forensic curriculum that has an extensive outdoor labratory of corpses in various stages of decomposition. they stuff the stiffs inside old cars and under cardboard and leave out in the open and the student plot the process. one of their biggest problems early on was figuring out how to keep the wild boars away from the lab projects. took rebar and heavy fencing to create an open air tent for the dearly departed.
By CONSTANT BRAND
Associated Made-up person Press Writer
LUXEMBOURG (AP) - European Union nations agreed Thursday on new rules to combat racism and hate crimes across the 27-nation bloc, including setting jail sentences against those who deny or trivialize the Holocaust.
A compromise deal on the rules was reached by EU justice and interior ministers after nearly six years of negotiations, officials said.
The proposed rules, which still have to be vetted by national parliaments, calls for EU governments to impose up to three-year prison sentences for those convicted of denying genocide such as the mass killing of Jews during World War II and the massacre in Rwanda in the 1990s.
Getting a deal has been difficult amid vastly different legal and cultural traditions on how they combat racism and notably on whether all EU nations should impose criminal penalties against those denying the Holocaust or other genocides.
In a declaration, EU justice and interior ministers said the rules would aim to make a crime "incitement to hatred and violence and publicly condoning, denying or grossly trivializing crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes."
An effort by Baltic nations demanding major Stalinist atrocities should be included in the EU law was rejected, however.
German Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries, whose country holds the EU presidency, said a compromise had been reached on the basis that the EU would organize a public debate on the issue of genocide and other hate crimes currently not included in the draft rules on combating Racism and Xenophobia. And Islamophobia, of course, like the UN did.
The genocide of Jews is the only genocide referred to within the new rules, which still needs the backing of national parliaments and the European Parliament, officials said.
EU Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Franco Frattini called the deal "a major achievement" however the compromise reached led to a drastic watering down of the original proposal drafted in 2001, to get agreement.
Diplomats said the EU-wide rules, which set only minimum standards on fighting Racism and Xenophobia, would only cover genocides recognized under statutes of the International Criminal Court.
Previous efforts to get a deal ended in failure. Several countries, including Britain, Italy and Denmark, were reluctant to sign up to the measures because they feared EU-wide laws could overstep the right to expression protected under their countries' laws.
The latest plan, however, was watered down, offering numerous opt-outs of certain aspects of the EU-wide rules.
The proposal calls on EU nations to punish those who publicly incite violence or hatred based on a person or group's race, color, religion, descent or ethnic origin.
More contentious aspects of the draft rules require member states to criminalize those "publicly condoning, denying or grossly trivializing ... crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes," as listed and defined by the International Criminal Court.
However, member states may opt out of the requirement to criminalize those who deny the Holocaust or other genocide if such rules do not exist under their national laws, according to the EU proposals.
Opt-outs also are foreseen for racist remarks based on religious grounds and on Nazi symbols, like the swastika.
Many EU nations already ban denials of the Holocaust, including Germany, France, (this is actually a communist party-inspired law here, which is nice, since commies are very good at human rights and all)
Spain, Austria and Belgium.
TRENTON, N.J. -- Last year, New Jersey law officers ticketed 271,182 people for not wearing seat belts. This year, one seat-belt violator stands out: Gov. Jon S. Corzine, who was critically injured in an automobile accident last week.
David Wald, spokesman for state Attorney General Stuart Rabner, wouldn't say why state police assigned to protect the governor didn't insist Corzine obey the seat belt law.
"As always, we urge all drivers and passengers to wear seat belts," Wald said.
"Especially the little people"...
Posted by: Dave D. ||
04/19/2007 00:00 ||
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Frustration Over Corzine Not Buckling Up
No anger here. Just a stolid and resolute hope that Corzine suffers every bit of pain his idiotic actions deserve.
#2
Permit me to invite all opposition to the following notion:
Corzine's driver should face charges of abetting the reckless and irresponsible conduct of his Governship.
By making the actions of those who turn a blind eye to the misconduct of their higher-ups into a crime, maybe then they will begin to reconsider their refusal to act.
Corzine's driver should have refused to start his vehicle's engine if all passengers aboard did not secure themselves.
#3
I disagree, Zenster. Why should a driver have to tell the GOVERNOR what to do? I'm sorry that the gov was hurt, I wish him the best in his recovery, but the governor was responsible for his choice not to wear a seat-belt.
While I think the driver should have refused to drive 91 mph, one should not have to tell a governor to buckle up.
First, The driver works for the governor. Subordinates who don't act subordinate get fired or pushed aside in any organization. Further, Corzine is no Mr. Nice Guy and is not the least bit interested in what a driver has to say. (In fact, blame being shifted downhill is proof of where power lies and how it reacts to challenge.)
Second, Mr. Corzine is responsible for his own actions. Period.
#7
Dr. Steve made a comment in another thread a few months ago about doctors "temporizing" their care in the case of a VIP bigshot because no one wants to be the one who tells the bigshot the bad news. The same phenomenon is at work here. If the VIP isn't following safety rules, and he's one who likes to throw his weight around, few underlings would be forceful enough to push the issue--and fewer still would do it and get to keep their jobs.
Posted by: Mike ||
04/19/2007 15:24 Comments ||
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#8
Evolution in action, man. What the hell do I care?
#10
As I recall, the driver was a state trooper himself, who not only allowed his passenger to ride without belting himself in but also was flying down the road at 91mph.
Further proof that the laws are for "the little people."
Posted by: Dar ||
04/19/2007 16:28 Comments ||
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#11
Ah C'mon now , everybody KNOWS the cops don't bother with themselves keeping the laws, that's for the folks they RULE OVER.
Can't recall when I've last seen a trooper traveling anywhere near the speed limit. (Any speed limit) City cops or Sheriff's either.
Have you?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/19/2007 20:02 Comments ||
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Frustration Over Corzine Not Buckling Up
Tough Titties, Ima Billionaire, ex-Senator, Gub'nor and Bon Vivant and i'll drive anyway I want peasants!!
ISLAMABAD: Stretching its reservations on imports from India to multinational companies, Pakistan is understood to have informed mobile handset maker Nokia not to sell phones made in India in the Islamic nation.
The reservations of Pakistan in receiving such mobile phones apparently were conveyed to Nokia through authorised cell phone distributors, who have asked the company not to ship Indian made handsets into Pakistan on the ground that consumers may not like it.
The company, which has a facility near Chennai in south India, has accepted the distributors' plea.
Nokia India started exporting mobile handsets from its plant at Sriperumbudur, 50 km west of Chennai, from the middle of last year. Due to the availability of cheaper raw material in India, there is a possibility that the Indian-made mobile phones may be slightly cheaper compared to cell phones produced by the company in Germany, Hungary and China.
Director United Mobile Ejaz Hassan said on Wednesday that Nokia had asked the Pakistani distributors over the possibility of making shipments from India two months back.
"The three to four authorised distributors of Nokia in Pakistan have offered their regrets to Nokia as they think that consumers will give a cold response to the Indian product," he said, adding that the company has accepted the request.
The government had not allowed the entry of Indian made mobile phone sets in Pakistan and it may not allow the same in future, the newspaper said as Pakistan traded with India through a positive and negative list. And the mobile phones are currently on the negative list.
Posted by: John Frum ||
04/19/2007 15:20 ||
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One of the first products from Indian mass manufacturing and Pakistan freaks out. Severe blow to their dignity and honor I suppose.
What will they do when the SEZs come on line, when this comes on line?
India's $50bn corridor of opportunity
MUMBAI - The Indian government has confirmed a deal for a US$50 billion industrial corridor, to be built along the lines of the successful Tokyo-Osaka industrial belt in Japan. To be established with Japan's participation, the industrial corridor will be situated beside the proposed Mumbai-Delhi dedicated rail freight corridor.
India's Commerce Ministry expects the Mumbai-Delhi industrial corridor to deliver, within five years of its completion, a 15%
increase in employment, a 28% increase in industrial output and a 38% increase in exports.
The corridor is based on the Tokyo-Osaka industrial corridor, which has been operating successfully for 30 years and which is said to have contributed two-thirds of Japan's gross domestic product.
The Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor will cover an area housing 180 million people. To put the size of the project in perspective, India's entire foreign direct investment (FDI) in the current fiscal year is expected to be about $25 billion, according to Indian Commerce Minister Kamal Nath.
Japan agreed to partner the corridor project during Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Tokyo last December. Besides the gift of a grant, Japan will also invest heavily in the project.
Posted by: John Frum ||
04/19/2007 18:11 Comments ||
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PESHAWAR: A jirga fined a class six student Rs 30,000 and made him wear a garland of shoes in Darmangi village, five kilometres from here, for writing a love letter to a local madrassa girl. Gulab Noor, son of Afghan national Zalmay, allegedly wrote a letter to a girl student of Madrassa Rahmania. A jirga held on Sunday fined the boy Rs 30,000 and forced him to wear a garland of shoes around his neck, a witness to the jirga proceedings, asking not to be named, told Daily Times on Wednesday. Darmangi Welfare and Development Organisation (DWDO) President Roshan Khan said that local elders took the decision keeping in mind local customs and traditions. Khan said the police were not informed about the issue and that the boy was punished because we wanted to teach a lesson to others.
Britain could face food shortages within 25 years as a result of growing demand for biofuels and a rising world population, a leading adviser to industry and the Government said yesterday.
Competition for land between fuel and food crops, expanding populations in developing countries, and climate change were all going to put pressure on world food supplies, said Prof Bill McKelvey, chief executive of the Scottish Agriculture College in Edinburgh.
He said: "We are becoming less self-sufficient in food. I don't believe that if we look 50 years ahead we will be in a food-secure situation. It's possible in the next 25 to 50 years that there will be food shortages in the UK."
Ah, the Law of Unintended Consequences...
Posted by: Dave D. ||
04/19/2007 00:00 ||
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Gloom, doom...
Yes, I agree, with the damage that our edukayshun is doing to our kids, the normal human resourcefullness and ability to overcome adversity may be in a short supply in 2 decades.
#5
The GW hysteria may well trigger a truly global food crisis. Food stocks have been declining for a number of years and now demand for biofuels is eating into them. We are only one bad harvest away from real shortages.
#7
I said this from the get-go - and it won't take 25 years, either.
As Ice said, there's already a shortage of corn in some places (due, not doubt, to the corn growers getting better prices from biofuels companys than from food companies).
So, the way the GW idiots are going to "save" Earth's climate (which they actually have NO control over) is to (1) stop the climate from getting any warmer and in fact try to make it cooler, thereby shortening the growing season in marginal areas and reducing the amount of food that CAN be grown (never mind objecting to the modern growing methods that allow more food to be produced from less land than, say, 50 years ago), and (2) using a lot of the food that IS grown for vehicle fuel rather than for food itself.
Not that that matters to the environazis; just about everything they espouse makes them feel good about themselves while damaging, further impoverising, or downright killing non-white foreigners.
And somehow, if when mass starvation comes about, it will all be America's fault.
Phuque the lot of them.
Pfui.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/19/2007 14:02 Comments ||
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#8
I read this week that a lot of the biotech companies are now redirecting their energies to the development of enzymes that will convert biomass into fuel, thus saving the edible components of the plant for food. It would not surprise me if they can pull this off.
The part of the whole GW debate that is really idiotic is the status quo mentality with respect to technology development. I am an optomist on this score. I think there will be breakthroughs that will address the energy issue in the next 50 years. And if this breakthrough bankrupts those turds in the ME, then that is a huuuuuuuge bonus.
Switching from gasoline to ethanol -- touted as a green alternative at the pump -- may create dirtier air, causing slightly more smog-related deaths, a new study says.
Nearly 200 more people would die yearly from respiratory problems if all vehicles in the United States ran on a mostly ethanol fuel blend by 2020, the research concludes. Of course, the study author acknowledges that such a quick and monumental shift to plant-based fuels is next to impossible.
Each year, about 4,700 people, according to the study's author, die from respiratory problems from ozone, the unseen component of smog along with small particles. Ethanol would raise ozone levels, particularly in certain regions of the country, including the Northeast and Los Angeles.
I can just see it: "Iowa Corn Kills Massive Numbers of Californians Annually: Experts"
Posted by: Dave D. ||
04/19/2007 00:00 ||
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You know, one sometimes wonders how far we may be if the grants were used for something constructive.
#4
Jacobson's conclusion "is a provocative concept that is not workable," said Hwang, an engineer who used to work for California's state pollution control agency. "There's nothing in here that means we should throw away ethanol."
#12
Don't know about smog, but it sure can create a fog.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
04/19/2007 15:34 Comments ||
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#13
As more corn is diverted to ethanol production, meat prices will rise! The energy conversion for corn to ethanol is about 1.7 to 1. What about all the fallow sugarcane fields throughout the South and Hawaii. Sugarcane's energy conversion is 10 to 1. Brazil figured that out.
#14
Sugarcane is better as we won't have to hear the speaches about "people dying from hunger so Americans can drive" garbage you just know people are drafting up as we speak.
The price of rum will rise but we can deal with that.
#15
A while ago some of us in the OC noodled out a napkin estimate of what it would take to replace gasoline with ethanol. Huge amounts of land, we did not get into the water requirements, but the payback sucks. It will not make it.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/19/2007 18:19 Comments ||
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Well, it was a tad more than a "napkin estimate"; here's what I wrote in the O Club back then:
OK, let's drag out the ol' calculator and run some numbers, here...
According to Wikipedia, there's about 140,000,000 cars in the U.S. these days.
Assume each one of those cars gets driven 12,000 miles per year, on average, for a total of 1.68 trillion miles travelled.
According to WantToKnow.info, these cars get an average of 20.8 miles per gallon of gasoline, giving us a total annual gasoline consumption of 80.8 billion gallons per year.
Let's assume 1 gallon of ethanol is the equivalent, energy-wise, of 1 gallon of gasoline. I don't know whether it is or not, but let's assume so.
So we'll need roughly 80 billion gallons of ethanol per year to fuel America's automobiles.
Now, if what we're after is to actually save the 80 billion gallons of gasoline we're replacing with ethanol (not much point otherwise, is there?), we need to consider the energy efficiency of the process of growing corn and converting it to ethanol, so we end up producing, in addition to those 80 billion gallons, enough ethanol to fuel the whole corn-growing and ethanol-producing enterprise.
According to this USDA study, ethanol production "yields nearly 25 percent more energy than is used in growing the corn, harvesting it, and distilling it into ethanol."
So for every 25 units of ethanol we take out of the whole corn-growing, ethanol-fermenting enterprise for use as motor fuel, the enterprise must produce 125 units of ethanol-- 25 for our use and 100 units to keep itself going. Thus to produce 80 billion gallons of ethanol for automobile fuel per year, the system will have to produce a grand total of 400 billion gallons per year.
How much corn will this take? According to these 1996 USDA figures a bushel of corn produced, back then, 2.5 gallons of ethanol. Let's assume some improvement in the past decade, and call it 3 gallons of ethanol per bushel of corn.
OK, so we're going to have to come up with about 133 billion bushels of corn per year for this enterprise. How much land will that take?
According to the National Corn Growers Association, yields of 300 bushels per acre are possible. However, a sustained rate of 120-140 bushels per acre is more typical on prime farmland (it was about 100 per acre a decade ago). But all the prime corn-growing land is already in use growing corn, so the land we're going to have available for producing this 133 billion bushels of corn per year for ethanol is going to have much lower yield.
So let's say we can get an average of about 70 bushels an acre out of whatever land we're going to be able to come up with. 133 billion bushels of corn divided by 70 bushels per acre gives us 1.9 billion acres we'll need.
There are 640 acres in a square mile, so 1.9 billion acres is about 3 million square miles-- the equivalent of a square chunk of real estate 1,700 miles on a side-- every square inch of which is devoted to growing corn.
So much for fueling all the cars in America with ethanol.
UPDATE: I ran the ethanol numbers again using a WHOLE bunch of absurdly optimistic assumptions, and still didn't get results that really made my grapefruit squirt: with corn yield increased to 100 bushels/acre (nearly prime farmland), and ethanol yield from the corn doubled (don't ask me how) to 5 gallons per bushel, and assuming the entire corn growing/ethanol processing operation requires absolutely NO energy (or the energy for it is somehow magically free), and increasing average fuel economy of the entire U.S. automobile fleet to 30 mpg, and limiting every vehicle to only 5,000 miles per year, AND PROHIBITING ALL DEMOCRATS FROM DRIVING (something probably worthwhile in its own right), you still need to come up with some 52,000 square miles of prime corn-growing land (about equivalent to the state of Iowa) and the water to grow the corn, to run all cars on ethanol. Case closed, as far as I'm concerned...
Posted by: Dave D. ||
04/19/2007 20:31 Comments ||
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#17
Never, ever allow an engineer to run some numbers. It is the death of all pleasant and easy assumptions, however seductive the irrefutably rigorous logic will be. :-)
#18
You're such an optimist Dave. Here are a few more realistic numbers:
140 B gals gasoline (2005) = 210 B gals ethanol
43 B gals diesel = 70 B gals ethanol
25 B gals aviation fuel = 40 B gals ethanol
= 320 B gals ethanol equivalent
In addition, it takes 1 unit of energy to produce 1.3 units (US DOE) of ethanol energy (planting, fertilizer, pesticides, harvesting, transportation, distillation). So to get 1 unit of ethanol energy into your tank, you have to produce 4 units (3 is plowed back into ethanol production, currently the input energy is nat. gas and petroleum).
So the 210 B billion gallons ethanol just to replace the 140 B gals gasoline really becomes 840 B gallons. At 2,7 gals/bushel and 150 bushels/acre gives 2.1 B acres or 3.2 M sq. miles. The entire US land area is 3.5 M sq.
Food based ethanol is only a tiny fraction of the transportation energy solution. The immediately available sources than can produce a significant non-oil proportion of our transportation energy are coal-liquids conversion and electric cars since half the US energy production is electric power vs 25% for petroleum. In the medium term, cellulostic or algal plants to produce ethanol, biodiesel and process gas for F-T synthesis. In the long term, thermal hydrogen production via nuclear plants. Liquid petroleum and F-T fuel use will be reserved for specialized uses like aviation. I think solar and wind will be too expensive to produce hydrogen compared to nuke plants.
Posted by: ed ||
04/19/2007 23:12 Comments ||
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#19
PS. Long term, hydrogen will be a fraction of transportation energy used primarily by large, high use, long haul transportation. Personal vehicles will be electric based.
Posted by: ed ||
04/19/2007 23:26 Comments ||
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Democratic presidential contenders are scrambling for support in what's being dubbed the Al Sharpton primary. The civil rights leader livened up the 2004 Democratic primary with his pompadour hairdo and sharp, witty oratory. This election, the high-profile Sharpton, fresh from the fight over Don Imus' derogatory remarks, is attracting all the party's major candidates this week for his annual National Action Network convention.
The solid attendancestarting with John Edwards on Wednesday and continuing with Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama later this weekreflects Sharpton's prominence in the party, concern that he might run again and the Democrats' effort to appeal to the base, particularly black voters.
No wonder the event was being called the Sharpton primary. "I think some people really believe that we have put these things behind us; that the civil rights movement took care of all that and everyone is on a level playing field now," Edwards said in prepared remarks in which he talked about bigotry, intolerance and the Imus controversy.
...on the other hand, charlatans make money hand over fist pretending the battle wasn't won. More at link...
Posted by: Dave D. ||
04/19/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
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#1
The MAN isn't holding blacks down any longer, mindlessly following race hustlers like Sharpton and idolizing gangbanger culture is.
#2
From the talk radio I have been listening to, from internet comments, it doesn't seem to me that blacks feel that Sharpton represents the black community. So why would Hillary and the other democrats bow down to him? Sharpton represents a force that I just don't understand. Is it money? Is it fear? How is it that a cheap hustler has so much power?
#5
"So why would Hillary and the other democrats bow down to him?"
It is their best interest to have one person to kowtow to; that way they can prove their racial bona fides with only a few ass kissing sessions, versus having to actually do something more than talk, which might make someone uncomfortable.
Posted by: Mark E. ||
04/19/2007 13:27 Comments ||
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#6
mindlessly following race hustlers like Sharpton and idolizing gangbanger culture is.
Give the man a Kewpie doll!
While Sharpton may represent some absurd sort of focal point for race relations, any obeisance shown him marks that person for the worst sort of fool. However slick and media savvy he may be, Sharpton is nothing but a street thug and media whore hustler. His continuing prominence is a blemish upon the entire black American community.
#7
The corrupt democrat party relies on several groups of less than honorable repute in order to get a plurality of votes. To that end, they dare not shun or insult any one of their dependent groups. Black Americans are the ultimate bottom feeders. They take a declining neighborhood and bring it on down to their comfort level. They make perfect democrats, dependent people who willingly follow the hustlers for little or no return. Sharpton is a consumate race hustler. If he could write, he would write the book.
The democrats need only complain about the lack of afordable housing or trash in the streets or lack of jobs to score with the bottom feeders.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
By CONSTANT BRAND
ISLAMABAD: Stretching its reservations on imports from India to multinational companies, Pakistan is understood to have informed mobile handset maker Nokia not to sell phones made in India in the Islamic nation.
