although i know a little of the science here, i don't really know the economics of the corn vs. sugarcane debate.

i understand that the net yield of energy from corn isn't that much, because it takes so much energy. i'm assuming a large part of this is involved not only in distillation and fermentation, but also in the energy required to convert cornstarch to sugar, the one step that is circumvented using cane sugar. also, there might be more yield from cane sugar, i'm not really sure.

so, is the energy that we use to physically transport ethanol from brazil small enough that it is offset by the energy gained from using a "higher-energy" source of sugar?

is there any advantage to importing the cane sugar (or some other intermediate processing step) and processing it ethanol here (better technology?)?

if there is a shift to using brazilian biofuels, that will have a much larger impact than the fuel market. if you ask any englishman living in the united states, they can attest to the fact that cane sugar imports are highly taxed to drive food processors to use high-fructose corn syrup (sorry cadbury lovers). if we were to begin importing brazilian sugar or ethanol produced from brazilian sugar, it might lead to a severe reduction of corn sugar usage in the whole of the u.s. food industry as well, making corn virtually worthless. i don't think the cargill's will let that happen.

all the latest microbiological outbreaks have come from american-grown produce http://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/

also, my guess is that if it were so easy to contaminate the food supply in a meaningful way the terrorists would have done already.

unless you count pigs as terrorists.

"Imagine what a national crisis it would be if men mutilated themselves in the same numbers women did ... if they lost sexual sensitivity and function at the same rate, women would be horrified that they could hate themselves so much, ignore our pleas to accept themselves, and destroy/reduce the sexual feeling in search of (supposed) greater sexual appeal."

isn't that exactly what male circumcision is?

except, men don't have a decision in the matter.

i don't agree that labial reduction is a beneficial surgery any more than male circumcision, but don't act like this is another body issue problem men don't have to contend with.

talk about breast implants, talk about weight double standards, whatever you want, but in this case i think that the downtrodden men really have you beat.

they're letting Bush I make the appointments...

i think Senator Obama may have coined a new term for the protective vests that republican politicians wear in the green zone - flack jacket.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/flack

seems appropriate to me.

joe's an independent.

i know you're new to the war room, but we're used to a little more substance than this. i'm no thompson (or republican for that matter) sympathizer, but was there really a point to this?

the whole post comes off like bad observational comedy - "why do people drive in the parkway, and park in the driveway - i wanna know!"

isn't the post just a tad hypocritical? like everyone's making such a huge issue out of this - and isn't that stupid? but i'm gonna go ahead an make an issue out of it anyway.

missing, and that is a stanford marching band member getting roughed up. had i known this was going to happen, i would have bought the band tickets to the game.

do you think it's possible that with all his fundraising skill, ron paul could pull a lieberman and run as an independent in the general?

maybe a perot-style spoiler for the repubs?

is bill richardson making a bet with chris cillizza?

have you ever been to silicon valley? i live here, and i'm not suprised at all that obama did poorly here, given his poor showing with hispanics and asains...

i'm saving my tax refund for a down payment on a house i'll be able to afford when the housing bubble stops bursting.

if this program was 60% effective, doesn't that mean that 40% of the tax cut went into gas company pockets? that's acceptable?

am i crazy, or isn't the price of oil set globally?

would this relatively small bump in oil supply have a significant effect on oil prices?

did anyone catch the "if anything, 'islamic terrorism' is an insult to the terrorists" comment (i paraphrased)? i am trying to imagine a way that he could have meant that that isn't insulting to muslims.

help me out!

the job market we currently live with, which has become increasingly volatile only fosters this kind of behavior. in a climate where you might be forced to move in one year or three, who wants to invest $2k in a beast of an oak bookcase you'll just have to haul from Ohio to Denver, carry up 3 flights of stairs and that will gouge your floors? when people have the job security that would justify keeping a book case for longer than a year, they might have a reason to invest in quality.

the manufacturing companies putting the squeeze on labor are not only improving their bottom line by exploiting their employees, but by creating a more transient work force, they are widening their cusomer base.

couldn't it just be the laws we write favor business?

i think the most unfortunate part of this whole incident is that the policeman's name was jim crowley. i'm sure when gates heard his name he was like "oh, of course, that's just great"