I liked what Rod Marinelli said in his Monday News conference. Coach Marinelli had just led the Lions to an 0-16 record, the worst in NFL history. Yet he fought of the label of the "worst" team. Football coaches aren't the best politicians in the world. They aren't always articulate or eloquent. Sometimes we need someone like Cyrano to speak the words that need to be spoken.
I came across these words once offered by Theodore Roosevelt that made me think of Rod Marinelli. I thought it was very fitting.
> It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.<
What a great commentary! I think that's what Rod Marinelli was trying to tell us last Monday... and I admire him. I don't think we've heard the end of Coach Marinelli.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Palestinian rocket kills 2 Gaza girls. Nobody cares
GAZA (Reuters) – A rocket apparently fired by Palestinians on Friday struck a house in the Gaza Strip, killing two Palestinian sisters aged five and 13, Palestinian medics said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081226/wl_nm/us_palestinians_israel_rocket
As you can see from the link, Reuters ran a very brief story about this. Naturally, the story got little play in the mainstream media. How typical!
Please keep this incident in mind over the next weeks. If Israel sends its armed forces into Gaza to end the indiscriminate shelling of its civilian centers, you're likely to hear every imaginable "human interest story" of "Palestinian suffering" described in elaborate detail.
This story stands out as typical of what we see when Arabs kill Arabs.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081226/wl_nm/us_palestinians_israel_rocket
As you can see from the link, Reuters ran a very brief story about this. Naturally, the story got little play in the mainstream media. How typical!
Please keep this incident in mind over the next weeks. If Israel sends its armed forces into Gaza to end the indiscriminate shelling of its civilian centers, you're likely to hear every imaginable "human interest story" of "Palestinian suffering" described in elaborate detail.
This story stands out as typical of what we see when Arabs kill Arabs.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Grain isn't a limited resource
Grain isn't a limited resource. We can grow tons more. Right now, the government pays farmers NOT to plant crops. But wait! There's more!
Most corn grown in America is feed grain for cattle. In the ethanol distilling process, only the starch is used. All the protein fiber and oil is left over for use as cattle feed.
But wait! There's more! There's no need to limit ethanol production to corn. There are other sources of ethanol including sugar cane (Brazil is running their cars on sugar-cane based ethanol) and other sugar-bearing crops. Plus, there's cellulosic ethanol, the next coming technology.
But wait! There's more! There's no need to limit our automotive fuels to ethanol. We can run our cars on METHANOL which can be made from darn near anything including coal, waste wood, waste paper, and even garbage.
Diesel powered vehicles can be run from dimethyl ether, another alcohol derivative.
In the third world where economies are agrarian in nature, growing plants for automotive fuel holds the potential for economic growth that these countries so desperately need. Why let the poor countries get raped by OPEC when we can have THEM make our automotive fuels.
Yet if you read my post, you'll note that we don't have to do anything to MAKE ethanol. We merely have to make our vehicles CAPABLE of running on alcohol fuels. By doing that, we can place a cap on the price of petroleum that will limit OPEC's ability to control prices.
We can't lose if we have motor vehicles capable of running on biofuels. The possibilities are endless. We can even derive bio-fuels from algae fed from CO2 emissions from power plants that we are currently throwing away. Even the tree-huggers will like that one!
Most corn grown in America is feed grain for cattle. In the ethanol distilling process, only the starch is used. All the protein fiber and oil is left over for use as cattle feed.
But wait! There's more! There's no need to limit ethanol production to corn. There are other sources of ethanol including sugar cane (Brazil is running their cars on sugar-cane based ethanol) and other sugar-bearing crops. Plus, there's cellulosic ethanol, the next coming technology.
But wait! There's more! There's no need to limit our automotive fuels to ethanol. We can run our cars on METHANOL which can be made from darn near anything including coal, waste wood, waste paper, and even garbage.
Diesel powered vehicles can be run from dimethyl ether, another alcohol derivative.
In the third world where economies are agrarian in nature, growing plants for automotive fuel holds the potential for economic growth that these countries so desperately need. Why let the poor countries get raped by OPEC when we can have THEM make our automotive fuels.
Yet if you read my post, you'll note that we don't have to do anything to MAKE ethanol. We merely have to make our vehicles CAPABLE of running on alcohol fuels. By doing that, we can place a cap on the price of petroleum that will limit OPEC's ability to control prices.
We can't lose if we have motor vehicles capable of running on biofuels. The possibilities are endless. We can even derive bio-fuels from algae fed from CO2 emissions from power plants that we are currently throwing away. Even the tree-huggers will like that one!
Flex Fuel Vehicle Mandate is a MUST
With petroleum and gasoline prices falling, there is still plenty of room for ethanol in America's future for transportation fuels. Naturally, ethanol is losing its competitive edge as the price of petroleum falls with the world economy slipping into a major recession.
But all is not lost. You see, NOW is the time to bring about a federal mandate for flex fuel vehicles.
We don't need to make any more ethanol (especially corn-based ethanol) than we are not to finally put a cap on the price of petroleum. A mandate that all cars sold in America be flex fueled (Any mix of gasoline, ethanol and/or methanol) would forever place a ceiling on how much OPEC can charge for petroleum.
Right now, the equivalent price of a gallon of gasoline in the form of ethanol is about $2.25/gallon. That was VERY competitive with last Summer's gasoline prices that exceeded $4.00/gallon. However today, this is not competitive with gasoline selling for well under $2.00/gallon.
However, if every car sold in America could run on any combination of gasoline, ethanol and/or methanol, the prices of these alternative fuels made-in-America will forever be a cap on the price of gasoline and petroleum.
That is why it is imperative that the United States pass a flex fuel vehicle mandate as soon as possible.
But all is not lost. You see, NOW is the time to bring about a federal mandate for flex fuel vehicles.
We don't need to make any more ethanol (especially corn-based ethanol) than we are not to finally put a cap on the price of petroleum. A mandate that all cars sold in America be flex fueled (Any mix of gasoline, ethanol and/or methanol) would forever place a ceiling on how much OPEC can charge for petroleum.
Right now, the equivalent price of a gallon of gasoline in the form of ethanol is about $2.25/gallon. That was VERY competitive with last Summer's gasoline prices that exceeded $4.00/gallon. However today, this is not competitive with gasoline selling for well under $2.00/gallon.
However, if every car sold in America could run on any combination of gasoline, ethanol and/or methanol, the prices of these alternative fuels made-in-America will forever be a cap on the price of gasoline and petroleum.
That is why it is imperative that the United States pass a flex fuel vehicle mandate as soon as possible.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Where have I heard this before?
Hillary Clinton has now left a vacancy in the U.S. Senate as she fills her appointment to be Secretary of State. The Governor of New York must now select a replacement and Caroline Kennedy has offered to fill the vacancy.
Remember when George Bush ran for President? Remember the commentary?
Remember when George Bush ran for President? Remember the commentary?
- Rich kid short-listed for effortless political success.
- Political family stretching back several generations.
- Daddy was President. etc etc.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Algea Power
Algae holds a lot of potential as a biofuel. As petroleum prices tumble making ethanol less competitive for the present, algae holds a double potential because it can be used to reduce carbon emissions from conventional power plants. While I'm not a fan of the proponents of global warming, there is no good reason to throw away perfectly good CO2 when it can be used to make transportation fuels.
Isaac Berzin has a prototype system in place at MIT's power plant. He's not alone.
http://www.israel21c.org/bin/en.jsp?enZone=Profiles&enDisplay=view&enPage=BlankPage&enDispWhat=object&enDispWho=Articles^l2141
Here's anothe researcher:
Algae hold the potential to far out-produce corn as a source of biofuel.
Isaac Berzin has a prototype system in place at MIT's power plant. He's not alone.
http://www.israel21c.org/bin/en.jsp?enZone=Profiles&enDisplay=view&enPage=BlankPage&enDispWhat=object&enDispWho=Articles^l2141
Here's anothe researcher:
Algae hold the potential to far out-produce corn as a source of biofuel.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Why Now?
Why did the Feds arrest Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich NOW?
Gov. B was going to fall. It was just a matter of time. Everybody knew it!
The question is the TIMING. Why now?
Well... it seems that the very NEXT scheduled interview for the vacated U.S. Senate seat was none other than Jessie Jackson Jr. Jr. has kept his nose clean in Chicago politics for 12 years as a Congressman; an admirable record, I might add.
With the Feds wiretapping Gov. B's solicitations for money in exchange for the appointment, Jessie Jr. would have become dirtied up in the affair.
Who knows! Maybe Jessie might even break and offer to pay up with the tape recorder on.
With a new boss coming to Washington D.C. any Chicago-based FBI agent knows he must prevent this; especially if he/she thinks Jessie Jr. is the new President's favorite to fill his old job. That is why the FBI acted yesterday.
This is my personal speculation based on what I currently know about the story. Other facts may come to light demonstrating that this speculation is unwarranted.
***** UPDATE *****
According to My Way News, AP reports that Rep. Jessie Jackson Jr. interviewed for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Barack O'Bama on Monday, December 8, 2008. The FBI filed their affidavit on Sunday December 7, 2008, a day before the interview.
An examination of the FBI's affidavit does not indicate a warrant to bug Gov. Blagojevich's Governor's office. Therefore , because the FBI struck early Tuesday morning (December 9, 2008) to arrest Blagojevich, it is unlikely that they picked up any recorded conversations indicating a payoff was discussed between the two. Whatever was talked about was not likely recorded by law enforcement. Testimony in Blagojevich's trial may reveal heresay evidence embarassing to Rep. Jackson, but it is unlikely it would convict him.
The FBI affidavit seems to protect Jr. Moreover, even though the FBI arrested Blagojevich after he interviewed Jr. for the job, the speed in which they moved and the timing is still highly suspect. They may have moved to prevent Jr. from further discussing the U.S. Senate appointment over those Blagojevich phone lines which the FBI had tapped or offices which they had bugged.
A copy of the affidavit showing the date it was filed can be found here:
http://urbanstar.com/blagojevich.pdf
The AP story on Rep. Jackson's denial of wrongdoing is located here:
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20081211/D9506OK80.html
The question remains as to whether Jessie Jackson Jr. had any conversations with Gov. B about the appointment that was recorded by FBI wiretaps and/or bugs. If so, the FBI hasn't indicated that yet. Jessie Jackson Jr. claims he's not the target of any investigation or charged with any misconduct. The Federal prosecutors office refused to confirm or deny that statement. Perhaps they are leaving the door open for evidence that may come to light later either through wiretap transcripts or testimony in Rod Blagojevich's trial.
Gov. B was going to fall. It was just a matter of time. Everybody knew it!
The question is the TIMING. Why now?
Well... it seems that the very NEXT scheduled interview for the vacated U.S. Senate seat was none other than Jessie Jackson Jr. Jr. has kept his nose clean in Chicago politics for 12 years as a Congressman; an admirable record, I might add.
With the Feds wiretapping Gov. B's solicitations for money in exchange for the appointment, Jessie Jr. would have become dirtied up in the affair.
Who knows! Maybe Jessie might even break and offer to pay up with the tape recorder on.
With a new boss coming to Washington D.C. any Chicago-based FBI agent knows he must prevent this; especially if he/she thinks Jessie Jr. is the new President's favorite to fill his old job. That is why the FBI acted yesterday.
This is my personal speculation based on what I currently know about the story. Other facts may come to light demonstrating that this speculation is unwarranted.
***** UPDATE *****
According to My Way News, AP reports that Rep. Jessie Jackson Jr. interviewed for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Barack O'Bama on Monday, December 8, 2008. The FBI filed their affidavit on Sunday December 7, 2008, a day before the interview.
An examination of the FBI's affidavit does not indicate a warrant to bug Gov. Blagojevich's Governor's office. Therefore , because the FBI struck early Tuesday morning (December 9, 2008) to arrest Blagojevich, it is unlikely that they picked up any recorded conversations indicating a payoff was discussed between the two. Whatever was talked about was not likely recorded by law enforcement. Testimony in Blagojevich's trial may reveal heresay evidence embarassing to Rep. Jackson, but it is unlikely it would convict him.
The FBI affidavit seems to protect Jr. Moreover, even though the FBI arrested Blagojevich after he interviewed Jr. for the job, the speed in which they moved and the timing is still highly suspect. They may have moved to prevent Jr. from further discussing the U.S. Senate appointment over those Blagojevich phone lines which the FBI had tapped or offices which they had bugged.
A copy of the affidavit showing the date it was filed can be found here:
http://urbanstar.com/blagojevich.pdf
The AP story on Rep. Jackson's denial of wrongdoing is located here:
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20081211/D9506OK80.html
The question remains as to whether Jessie Jackson Jr. had any conversations with Gov. B about the appointment that was recorded by FBI wiretaps and/or bugs. If so, the FBI hasn't indicated that yet. Jessie Jackson Jr. claims he's not the target of any investigation or charged with any misconduct. The Federal prosecutors office refused to confirm or deny that statement. Perhaps they are leaving the door open for evidence that may come to light later either through wiretap transcripts or testimony in Rod Blagojevich's trial.
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
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