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Politics, News & Issues > Food & Agriculture Bio-fuels: Are they worth producing?: 1 of 38
There was an interesting discussion on the Biofuel Group on LinkedIn.com a couple of weeks ago about the efficacy of used coffee grounds as a source for biodiesel. The discussion got started because of the appearance of a news article that claimed that biodiesel could be made from used coffee grounds for $1.00 per gallon. App... More..
Politics, News & Issues > Climate Change Should the world be concerned about Greenland's melting glaciers?: 2 of 29
The melting Greenland Ice sheet has important effects on the global climate for two separate reasons. First the melting ice sheet decreases its size and the amount of light that it reflects back into space. Exposed ground, on the other hand absorbs the light and reflects heat back into the atmosphere. This helps to aggravate ... More..
Health & Fitness > Cold & Flu Is bird flu a real threat to mankind?: 1 of 10
There were a couple of bird flu reports out of China last week that may indicate a problem with the H5N1 strain in that country. The first report on HSDailyWire.com reported 8 instances of human infections with the bird flu but without exposure to any apparently infected birds. The second report on Bloomberg.com subsequently ... More..
Politics, News & Issues > Political & Economic Theory Judging the doctrine of pre-emptive strike: 3 of 28
Pre-emptive strike, or more accurately, pre-emptive war is a commonly recognized tool of international relations. War is a dirty, nasty, and almost always barbaric tool of foreign relations. It is generally accepted that a defensive war, where one has been attacked, is always morally and legally justified. Unfortunately, it a... More..
Politics, News & Issues > War & Peace Should America or other powers charge for liberating the oppressed in other countries?: 1 of 7
Actually we do charge for liberating people, we just don't do it in as open and above board way as sending a bill. American businesses move into the voids left by the inevitable distruction and chaos left after even the most benign regime change. They open up new markets, make new customers, and make lots of money. Even if th... More..
Politics, News & Issues > Energy Issues Is capturing and extracting carbon dioxide the key to solving our energy crisis, as Shell's Danish CEO touts?: 1 of 5
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) has next to nothing to do with an energy crisis. CO2 is the byproduct of much energy production; any energy production that is based on burning organic material produces CO2. Increasing CO2 production means the opposite of an energy crisis, it marks increased energy production.That is not to say that CO2 ... More..
Politics, News & Issues > Energy Issues How is renewable energy used?: 3 of 10
An article on ScienceDaily.com points the way to a non-food source for a new Biodiesel type fuel. A scientist at the University of Georgia, Dr. Tom Adams, is working on a process to convert wood to Biodiesel. The process would convert wood into charcoal and Biodiesel by using an anaerobic heating process called pyrolysis. Eve... More..
Politics, News & Issues > Economic News Should pet food manufacturers be held responsible for contaminated food?: 6 of 14
It would be hard to justify holding the pet food companies responsible for chemical contamination that they did not put into their product. The contamination (Melamine and its adjuncts) is not something that would commonly be found in food products. The standard tests that would have been done on the food additive that was co... More..
Politics, News & Issues > International News Verifying the draft reinstatement rumor: 3 of 7
The problem with trying to revive the draft, the Selective Service Law, is that the movers and shakers in todays political world, people in their 50's and 60's, all grew up in the era of the draft. They remember how many people, mostly poor and under educated, were sent off to the war in Vietnam to fight an unpopular war. In ... More..
Politics, News & Issues > Trash & Recycling Why shoppers should pay for plastic shopping bags: 4 of 9
What is wrong with plastic bags ending up in landfills?1. They are not biodegradable. That is a good thing. That means that the carbon in the bags is effectively sequestered from the environment. Sequestering carbon helps to reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.2. Landfills produce Methane gas, a more potent greenhouse ... More..