Saturday, July 19, 2008

Final post

To my small group of readers, this will be my final post on this blog. I may start a new one at some point, but right now I just don't have time to keep up with it. Thank you all for reading and (hopefully) laughing at my cynicism about the world. Let me know what you think and if I decide to start a new blog I'll be happy to email you the name...

Saturday, July 12, 2008

I rant a lot about journalism. So many articles in many newspapers in this country are just one step up (if that) from tabloid journalism. This problem becomes even more obvious when you notice that a major bank fails in this country - IndyMac was taken over by Federal regulators on 7/11/2008 - and the major newspaper here barely mentions it. The same day the major newswires are producing a number of articles on the problems with Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac - more fallout from the real estate bubble - and this only gets a short article in the local paper.


I begin to suspect that the problem here is one of misunderstanding who makes up your core audience. The population of the metro area here has grown by about 1 million people in the last 30 years. That kind of increase brings in a larger pool of educated people, yet the local paper seems to continue to aim it's coverage at the least educated; in effect they "dumb down" the news. Case in point is the lack of coverage on the IndyMac debacle. Not front page news but buried in the business section after 7/12. Can't let people know what's going on when it's far more important that they know about the new Batman movie or the that the local gymnast broke her leg and can't go the the Olympics. Don't do any real research or find an actual news story because that might require work.


I guess I shouldn't be surprised, after all some of the local reporters don't do their own research anyway, they just call the library. Then they have the nerve to complain that the library only directed them to sources and didn't just give them the answer. It makes me wonder if "journalists" in this town are just a bunch of 8th grade drop outs who still think that a "homework help" line will do the homework for them so they don't have to bother.

Update on the Tequila is the new wine

I ran across an article from AP yesterday saying that bourbon was gaining popularity worldwide. So I guess that means that Bourbon is the new Tequila which was the new wine which was probably the new beer right????

Friday, July 11, 2008

Interesting story about creating petroleum products from agricultural waste - http://www.hcnonline.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19786825&BRD=1574&PAG=461&dept_id=639295&rfi=6



The story claims that the inventor is able to take regular farm waste - cracked soy beans, cotton, etc. - and turn it into crude oil. The most interesting part is that the oil then burns at 100% efficiency - i.e. there are no discernible waste products after burning.

Now I'll be the first to admit that I'm a bit skeptical about a number of things. If this oil can truly burn at 100% efficiency, I will have to revise my view of chemical reactions or retake some science courses. I can admit that my science background is a bit dated. I haven't taken any kind of chemistry class since my first year of college 17 years ago. I do have a more recent background in physics - 4 hours short of a minor - but again I haven't studied that in 6 years. I mention this because I recall vaguely that nothing burns at 100% efficiency - there is always something lost to waste and heat even if it's a very small amount.

That said, I find this inventor's experiment intriguing. What it appears he has done is speed up the process of decomposition for specific forms of organic material. Crude oil as pumped from the ground is generally made up of organic material that has decomposed. Wikipedia's article gives a good basic synopsis - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleum

So if what this inventor has done can be independently repeated, we could have a partial solution to our current energy woes. However, I think this leads to an additional problem - we haven't weaned our dependency on oil. What good will it do if suddenly we're using all this "farm waste" to create fuel? Will we suddenly be facing a shortage of food as farmers grow "waste crops" to produce petroleum? What kinds of new pollution will result as a part of the refining process to create this petroleum and what new by-products will start to appear?

The other think I'm pondering is this: Could this experiment not be a modern day successor to the early 1900s "automobiles that run on water" demonstration - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water-fuelled_car and http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/gadgets/car-runs-on-water-inventor-to-be-kidnapped-by-exxon-177716.php

The reason I wonder is that I live by one simple rule: If it's too good to be true it probably isn't.

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Living in the past

Random thought about Fourth of July in this country. While I think it's a great time to get together with family and celebrate, I get really sick and tired of the people who feel they need to set off firecrackers, fireworks, etc. hour after hour into the night. I come from a state which has banned almost all handheld fireworks - bottle rockets, and any others which can fly - due to the increased chance of injuries. They also enforce the law and I've seen many people get cited for having illegal fireworks which were then confiscated.



Then I moved to Florida and I feel like I stepped into the 10 year time warp. I came to a state that still allowed drive up windows on liquor stores, had radio stations that played '80s music like it was still 1985 - the same 10 songs on the play list, play 2 songs, 18 commercials, 5 minutes of inane DJ chatter, a few more commercials, 3 songs, etc. In addition, they had the same STUPID morning shows which had the "Thursday Morning" psychic, and that kind of drivel -and Florida allows an obscene number of different fireworks packages to be purchased regardless even when the state is having a huge drought. Totally bizarre. Plus, the majority of jobs in this state seemed to be service oriented -restaurants, gas stations, clothing and other mall stores - or tourism related. There was no apparent "big business" in Florida. Skip ahead a few years and .... it still seems like nothing has changed.

The drive-up windows at some liquor stores such as ABC Fine Wines and Spirits, have closed down, but that wouldn't have happened if not for a newspaper article pointing out how much drive up alcoholic beverage sales contribute to drunk driving. Closing the windows was a huge improvement considering how ABC allegedly used to hand out a cup with ice and a swizzle stick in it to anyone asking at the counter or through the drive up. They had stopped the cup of ice policy by the time I worked there in 2002 - not that the same people didn't CONSTANTLY ask for it and whine when we wouldn't provide it -, but the drive up windows (in Tallahassee) didn't close until at least 2003, right around the time for Florida A&M's homecoming game as I recall.

My point being this state is backward in a great many ways. Those of us that have moved here from elsewhere in the US, probably came for the weather, I know I did. In my case, I also came to attend one of the top Master's programs in my field. I love the weather here - including the occasional hurricane - and want to be in Florida. Unfortunately, unless some things change, such as moving the economy away from tourism, I won't be able to stay. There just aren't enough jobs for those of us who got our Master's degree and expect to be paid as such in this state, and I find that unfortunate.