The Ethanol Lie

Lets all face it, sooner or later, we will have a gas crisis. Prices will be so high that hardly anyone will be able to afford it, and those that can will suck it up in a cutthroat nature. There will be such a scarcity on gasoline that we as a human race will have no other option than to turn to other resources. Prices are already hitting 4 dollars all over the US and rising quick. Already, we have started to lean towards Ethanol. This "miracle" gas alternative is basically grain alcohol. It is a compound structure that has been around for hundreds of years and is primarily used for other things. However, with gas shortage in the 70's Ethanol found a calling in many places to be used instead of gas. Whether we like it or not, the government already has the wheels rolling on the ethanol truck for when there is simply not enough gas to go around. While millions believe that this is quick scientific solution to the current and rising gas problem, we must first look at it from both sides. According to Fabio Feldman, a leading Brazilian environmentalist, some of the ethanol plantations are the size of small European states. This leads to the take over of important ecosystems and other important natural things. Also, in order to harvest the cane, you must burn it, which in turn leads to massive amount of pollution and smog. This is something that people might not take to seriously at first, but imagine the devastating effects if we actually depended on Ethanol. The consequences could potentially be so bad that they it could actually be worse than gas on the environment. Brazil is only the fourth largest producer due to deforestation which is a terrible thing. Burning down forest in order to create Ethanol is not the solution. We must not create a problem when trying to solve another one. Furthermore, such some statistics regarding Ethanol are so ridiculous that they almost make us thing why we are considering it in the first place. It is said that the amount of ethanol needed to fill a 4x4 truck is equivalent to feed a person for a full year! how could we even think the same about ethanol after hearing something like that? Bottom line is folks that we a society in the US are far too dependant on gas. Without gas, nothing will run. Nothing will be shipped and no one will be able to drive fly or boat anywhere. Our whole economy runs of gasoline. If superman has his kryptonite, then the United States has its gasoline. That is a sure fire was our economy could crumble and to be quite blatant, its just scary. We must, yes must, search for other resources as someday the worlds supply of gasoline will be gone. Sure, we might be okay, and a few generation from now might be okay also. But what about after them? The answer is not ethanol. According to a recent study, there isn't even enough land in the United States to produce enough ethanol available for each driver in the US to only travel 50 miles a year. 50 miles a year! Most people do somewhere in near that in a day! Clearly, this is not the solution. So, we must look elsewhere. Solar energy is the only answer, and furthermore, solar energy does not run out. Sure someday it will, but not for millions of years. To do this, we must focus our efforts internally. Certainly, a war overseas is the last thing we need when facing a gas crisis. We must look domestically as we suffer much bolder issues in our own country, such as this gas crisis, than anywhere abroad. We can play this silly game that has cost us thousands of lives, or we can think intuitively. Basically, it starts from the top. Putting someone in place of president Bush next fall who is more concerned about the well being of the nation rather than his reputation will be far more beneficial to us. 

Ortiz jersey burried at Yankees stadium, then unearthed

Until recently, the Red Sox were plagued with the idea of the curse of Babe Ruth. Well, now came the time for the Yankees to have their turn, the curse of David Ortiz. Early last Sunday, a plot was foiled by construction workers that entailed a Ortiz jersey in the cement set there by another worker in order to bring a curse upon the Yankees. At first, Yankee officials decided to leave the jersey where it was, thinking that it might be a prank or even if true, then it was not big deal. However, they decided to punish the sox rooting working who tried to plant a curse upon the Yankees. Frank Gramarossa, a project executive with Turner Construction, stated that they "had anonymous people tell us where it was, and were were able to find it." Although it seems like a practical joke in many regards, the Bronx district attorney is still not sure if there are to be criminal charges pressed yet or not. As a Red Sox fan myself, I found this act to be quite comical and actually a good thing. Having learned about this act makes me believe that the era of the Red Sox is upon us, and the time for the Yankees dynasty is over. Unfortunately, the jersey was dug up, but I do not think that will sway the course for the future. They did say however that the shirt was to auctioned off to benefit the Jimmy Fund, which is something that should be done, and the shirt will probably sell for a lot of money considering the circumstances. Boston fans alike are clearly saddened by this event, as it would be quite the ruse to pull a prank like this one off, especially in the heart of a brand new Yankees stadium set to be in place for years to come. However, as I stated before, the Red Sox have been on a path to success lately and i hardly doubt any failed attempt like this one with skew it anytime soon. Babe Ruth must be rolling over in his grave over this one.  

Bush to speak on progress in Iraq, expected to call for a "freeze" in troop withdrawals

President Bush is set to speak later in the day with regards to the current situation in Iraq. According to White House Officials, he is set to give "his decisions and recommendations" regrading the middle east. It is expected that he will call for a pause in troop withdrawal, after firm suggestion by high ranking ground forces. Before the House of Armed Services Committee on Wednesday, Gen Petraeus claimed that by putting a halt on troop withdrawals, we would allow ourselves to have a period of "reassessment" in Iraq. Although Bush may call for this, Gen Patraeus stated that it is highly unlikely that he will call for more troops in Iraq even if the situation worsened. Petraeus told the house that a plan was in place to withdraw someone around 20,000 troops by July, but after that, he called for a 45 day neutral period of reassessment. He also said that the progress of Iraqi forces themselves was very mixed, stating that with the recent failed attempt by Iraqi forces to overtake militants in Basra, we can see that there is still a lot of work to do. Ike Skeleton, who is the top democrat on the committee, claims the US forces are far too overstretched. He pointed to the threat that the next attack on the US might come from Afghanistan, and that our forces and interests should be more focused towards that situation. He also criticized the Iraqi forces for lack of funding on their own behalf. He asked why there so was little funding for their efforts while they were profiting off oil revenue. My opinion on the matter, while it counts for nothing, is quite strong. Why are we wasting, yes wasting trillions of dollars over seas on a war that is going nowhere? Aside from getting too far into that, we can all almost agree that it is time too pull troops out, and at a rapid pace. Young kids my age are going over there and being killed by IED's and other unecessary things they cant even see. We are at a point in time where we have been speinding millions in setting up the infilstructure of Iraq and trainging its military to handle there own issues. It is now time to pass the torch. We much pull out and let Iraq fend for themselves. While it does sound slightly harsh, we are loosing millions of dollars and thousands of lives over this war. As a nation, our economy is in a recession due our over seas funding, and millions of people are loosing jobs and home. The dollar is down compared to the world market and it is time we pull out and focus on our own country. We need to get all the troops out of Iraq and back home where they are safe. Once we stop funding this stupid war, our economy will be back to normal and we will be at rest as far as war times. Agreed, we must focus our efforts to fend off terrorism in this country, but Iraq is not the place. Even if an argument was made that Iraq harbored terrorists, US forces clearly have torn the country to pieces as far as searching for them, and brought down the regime. If you ask me, it is time to move on. It was pointed out that a credible threat has surfaced that the nest attack might come out of Afghanistan. Well, if this is the case, then lets focus our efforts there, and not Iraq. Hardly enough funding goes into making our country safer, and too much money goes into this foolish war. We have had nothing but sorrow come from this and the day it is over will be a good day for this country as a whole. We are fighting terrorism and not the country of Iraq. Al queda attacked the US...lets go after them...

2004 ALCS, Boston vs. New York

For those of you who happened to miss it, the 2004 ALCS was perhaps one of the most exciting series Major League Baseball has ever seen. In the 2004 American League Championship Series, the biggest rivalry in not just baseball, but any sport, squared off to play out 7 nail biting games that kept fans on the edge of their seats until the last out was called by the umpire. The Boston Red Sox met the New York Yankees to decide who was to be crowned the Champion of the American League, and most likely win out the world series. These two teams have what most sports fans and critics consider to be the biggest and most intense rivalry in any professional sport. Starting on October 12, 2004, the Red Sox pulled off one of the most astonishing comebacks in sports history. They were down three games to none in a seven game series. So, obviously, the team who wins four games first takes the series. No problem for the big bag Yankees to pull this one off, right? To quote Bob Ryan, a writer for the Boston Globe, "they are down, 3-0, after last night's 19-8 rout, and, in this sport, that is an official death sentence. Soon it will be over, and we will spend another dreary winter lamenting this and lamenting that." Wrong Bobby. In game 4, after being down by one run in the bottom of the ninth, the Bo Sox managed to pull off a win, and send it over the New York City for 3 more games. There, they managed to win out the other three games to be crowned the American League Champions. From there, the Red Sox went on to win the World Series and break the "curse" of Babe Ruth. In 2007 they also won the World Series and started making a different name for themselves. Now there is a new image of the Red Sox, a winning image.