...any mention of research being conducted on shoestring budgets which are seeing bright prospects in the emerging fields of fusion energy technology. It's rather expected since the level of understanding of science these days is mostly confined to reading into official reports and repeating them as if repeating them enough made them somehow more factual in a cascading effect.

I'll stand back now ready for the oft repeated cliche's about fusion being 25 years in the future where it's always been, while we swallow hook line and sinker the alarmist sqawking of Peak Oil and Global Warming...it's not that they aren't legitimate concerns of that there isn't substance to them but they both take a lot of energy; sqawking and swallowing and then regurgitating, while the basic research goes unfunded.

It may be true that some other nation will eat our lunch but it's becoming more likely that we'll have to buy our daily bread from them because we've abdicated the role of leader in research in technological advancement in lieu of being the most fixated on sports and sex scandals in the world...or at least right up there with the Brits, not to mention our perverese kind of pride in knowing we spend the most on our ludicrous media directed election process.

Cheers.

You can't buy this kind of fantastic promotion for any amount of money...and as a single guy with absolutely no hope of meeting women I've never been more encouraged or tantalized as to my prospects of experiencing a meaningful fantasy with my expendable income...it might not be much but it'll be a hell of a lot better spent there than going on a pollution spewing cruise or joining a dating club. Ta ta..Keep up the good investivative journalism. Could you do a good piece on how I can dodge my taxes and import without risk some high grade weed and extacy? Thanks.

I guess you've never been to a Science Fiction convention where the subject is..ahem...Fiction. Nor have you been to a Renaissance Faire where the subject is History...OK, so those are only two examples but I guess I see that if you really just said most boys like most boy things and most girls like most girl things and what we see is actually pretty much how it is..there'd be no columns at all...and I have to admit an almost pervese interest in reading 'em...and they definitely are mostly fiction but we do get a glimpse into your history...fascinating,there.

It's good to keep in mind that all the value of diamonds is based on their percieved value, which it a large degree is due to marketing. While not exactly common as coal, they're not that rare on earth and for all we know there are asteroids in space crammed full of 'em by the ton.

Also, in the future, should technology and energy prices fall (which they could just as so many other once highly priced and scarce commodities have such as pepper, tulips and computers)synthetic diamonds of gem quality will become more common and it will be interestint to see if countries like Botswana will be in position to take the hit and find new ways to stay lucrative either by continueing the tradition of placing unrealistically high value on percieved qualities of natural diamonds or by continued controll of the supply. I'm reminded that the little nation of Lichtenstein has a virtual monopoly on the worldwide manufacture and distribution of very fine dental fixtures (porcelaine caps and implants) which have a surprisingly high profit margin and almost no competition. The diamond industry just stikes me as a metaphore of a very beautiful bubble surrounded by some very sharp thorns. I hope they continue to be good at avoiding what seems like the inevitable.

...simply refuse to do any un-necessary flying. We all know most business flying is not really necessary. Family affairs, vacations...just stop it for a couple of months...you'd see which side of the bread is buttered in no time flat. Oh, and as for TSA comprising the single largest semiskilled segment of the new government working force...probably right on. And do they vote? Maybe we SHOULD reinstate the literacy tests at the pole...or at least some kind of civics comprehension test...anything but professional sports and sex scandals to insure that the voter does more than watch TV News.

Addressing the controversial is a fine thing to do and using extreme examples of postitions on either side of an arguement is OK with me, but I also pay attention to the broader aspects and notice that the article doesn't mention some of the less drastic measures that could be taken in the short term such as the widespread introduction of no-till farming which would vastly increase the amount of carbon sequestered in the topsoil, which is in itself, rapidly being depleted as well, due to the tilling of the soil and other agricultural practices on huge scales around the world. Of course agribusiness which paints itself green these days sees the bottom line and fears it would reduce its profits more than the speculated dangers of CO2 buildup. No-till also reduces methane production AND lessens the need for fossil fuels for everything from fertilizing to..well...tilling itself. I'd say there is a lot to say about the middle path even if it doesn't generate the kind of controversy that draws eyes to the TV and in this case the writer's journalistic piece on the subject. Let's hope that moderating perspective pervail even if there is fame, glory and money in ignoring those voices.