Letters to the Editor
Published Letters: 58 Editor's Choice: 5
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In Which Mr. Leonard Asks Entirely the Wrong Question
[Read the article: Food versus fools]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It's like saying "Which makes more sense to make shoes out of, ribeye or sirloin?" You could conceivably dry and process both in such a way that they could be turned into footwear. But they're expensive and don't make much sense. The correct answer would be "Leather. It's better suited, and it's a byproduct, so it's cheaper."
The same is true of biofuels. The only reason we're even thinking of turning food into fuel is that the corn lobby and to a lesser degree the sugar lobby are powerful and want both trotters in the Federal trough. They barely break even in energy budget. And when you factor in the petroleum-intensive way they are grown it may not even do that.
The best answers we have so far are cellulose and algae.
When you use different microbes to turn cellulose into ethanol you get about 16 times as much energy back as you put in. You can use waste products like corn silage, lawn clippings and sawdust. Garbage becomes fuel.
For diesel the only thing worth considering right now are lipid-rich algae. They are close to 50% oil by weight. Most of the rest is glycerol which can be used as feedstock or fertilizer. They regenerate quickly. They can be produced in the South 10 months out of the year.
Pilot commercial plants for both have just opened or are about to open. So forget the corn and sugar BS. Even the Administration is quietly admitting it's a fraud. Go with something that makes real sense. And please, do a little research before you write articles like this.
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And just because I'm a radical pinko leftie hippy...
[Read the article: Food versus fools]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The DIY quadruple threat here is hemp. Yes, industrial no-THC industrial hemp. Here's how it works for the small farmer:
1) Harvest and sell the fiber
2) Press the seeds for their oil
3) Turn the seeds into ethanol
4) Feed the dry-distilled grain to livestock
The stuff grows like, well, a weed. It requires little or no fertilization, pesticides of herbicides. You can get anything from paper and cloth to chipboard and rope from the fiber. The oil is very high quality and extremely versatile. The seed is an excellent high-protein feed which also allows us to stick it to the corn lobby for once.
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You say cow feed, he says plowed weed
[Read the article: Food versus fools]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Fungal, sometimes it's used. Sometimes it isn't. An awful lot is burned or plowed back in. Besides, you're missing the point here by focusing on just one word out of the letter. There is a nearly infinite variety of cellulose byproducts produced in this country. Most of them are treated as waste. Silage is only one of them. In any case, it's still a hell of a lot cheaper per calorie - calorie of ethanol or calorie of milk - than the corn seeds that are the main product.
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Costumes are traditional
[Read the article: Meatheads]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]In this case "costume" doesn't necessarily mean something you wear. People have tried to make good impressions on first dates since Ooka and Thag first shared a banana and watched the sunset together. This involves a myriad of things from clothing and grooming to boning up on things the date is interested in and pretending to laugh at his or her jokes.
What one eats is another opportunity for non-verbal communication. Asking if the coffee is certified fair trade and the veggies are locally grown sends a different set of messages than ordering butter on the steak or choosing ice cream-based drinks over bourbon-and-branch. Men and women both do this. Women tend to be more nuanced and better at it or at least devote more of their headspace to the endeavor.
So is there a fad for eating red meat because it transmits a large semiotic lump that will lead to a second date? Maybe. If there is it's not surprising. If there isn't, just wait a little bit. Sooner or later every step gets tried in the mating dance.
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Good
[Read the article: Scromping after 60]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]There's always a ewww factor when people mention sex and old people where "old" is anyone who is significantly senior to the listener. We all secretly believe that we were immaculately conceived and that our generation was the first to tame the Beast With Two Backs. Of course that's rubbish. We are sexual creatures from early on right up to the end and always have been. It is only now that we have admitted that sexuality is more than just a prelude to reproduction that it can be rationally addressed.
The population in the entire developed world is aging as lower birthrates and longer lives lead to a more even demographic pyramid as compared to the wide-based one of the developing nations and earlier generations. The health and quality of life concerns of the elderly will naturally be more prominent and demand increased attention. Technology and behavior will accommodate the new demand allowing people to be happier in their later years.
And that, as Martha Stewart might say, is a Good Thing.
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I'd have to say differently
[Read the article: I let my friends stay with me and now they're evicting me!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]He really needs to talk to a lawyer. Not you. Not your friend, but a lawyer with experience in his jurisdiction. No matter what he believes they are not his friends. They are his enemies who are trying to throw him out of the place he was living in first.
Is the lease in his name? Are there contracts? What is signed? Whose name is on the checks that go to the landlord? What does landlord-tenant law say in the State he lives in? If he can legally throw them out more power to him. Yes, it will be tough on the baby, but if they found one sucker before they can find another one or do something honest for a change. If not, then no matter if money is "tight". He can cause them enough grief to force them to cover his expenses.
They betrayed someone who did them good. Screw 'em.
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There's always Momma
[Read the article: Keeping up with GOP flip-floppers]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]aka Stephanie "Tappy McWidestance" Miller. Funny. Doesn't take herself too seriously. Goes head to head with the Right wing talking heads.