Panic At Nabisco

Tuesday, July 15th was forecast to be a wonderful day, and it most certainly was.

We packed up the kids, the towels, the map from Google, and the sunblock; and headed for Horseneck Beach in Westport, MA. With only a stop for jalapeño-covered hot dogs, cold lemonades, and sixty-bucks worth of petrol; we went.

Our Google directions were a bit flawed, but because of my gut-instincts and a wife's trust in them, our trip was nearly seamless.
On the way, we passed the ice cream place that we always hit on the way back from our annual Horseneck-trek.

The forecast called for a kicked-up surf; compliments of hurricane Bertha.  We scoffed at the warnings of rip-currents, and knew we'd be in for a treat with those gi-normous waves for which Horseneck is well-known.

I stayed in the water the longest time - about three hours, with only one bathroom break - and was the only one to get the admonitory whistle from one of the irritated lifeguards after swimming out a bit too far.

The kids enjoyed the water & waves as well, but needed a few lengthy breaks to get warm before getting back in.  Their mother was mostly interested in taking care of our seven-year-old, who was a little intimidated by waves which - from his perspective - probably appeared like the Hawaiian surf would to the rest of us.  But he couldn't resist going in just deep enough to accommodate his smaller stature.

Every summer we have one perfect beach day.  It's always the defining moment of the season for me.  The most precious things in life really are free; provided by God.

Before the day we went to Horseneck, and many days since, we've enjoyed Long Pond in Lakeville.  Despite the irritating cacophony of ski-jet engines and inebriates/"Cro-Mags" screaming moronically, it's a beautiful place.  ...Just hanging out in the water, swimming alongside the ducks, and enjoying the natural splendor of our surroundings...we know we're blessed to be able to enjoy it.

It's funny, because - overall - summer is my least favorite season.  I especially love autumn & winter.  But there is a lot to enjoy in the summer, if you make sure you "carpe diem."

A word of advice; make sure you don't sit in front of your computer too much before the summer vanishes.  I know that many days are filled with oppressive heat & humidity (hence the fact that it's my least favorite season), but warmer weather provides some unique opportunities to connect with nature that winter certainly cannot.  So get outside...today!

Has anyone heard about this guy, Joe Horn from Texas?

Apparently, he was being burglarized, and caught the perps in the act.  He called 911.  While on the phone with the dispatch, he said, "they're gettin' away!"  The dispatch said, "calm down, it's not worth killing someone over."

Despite the warning from the 911 operator, Joe Horn wasn't about to let someone get away with trying to steal his property.  On the 911 recording, he can be heard loading his rifle and firing.

A grand jury in Texas sent a message to future criminals when they cleared Joe Horn of any wrongdoing whatsoever.  If I could, I would seriously move to Texas.  It would sure beat living in limp-wristed Massachusetts, where a 7-year old kid can't even enjoy a summer day without getting shot in the back because of this state's liberal attitude towards crime.

This is a new world, folks.  What does it take?  When do we finally say "enough is enough" and send thugs and criminals the message that we won't live in fear any longer?

Just imagine if we actually dealt with criminals the way they should be dealt with.  We've become so jaded in Massachusetts in our attitudes toward crime that we can't even appreciate the absurdity of just how much crime there is here.  But if we could have the peace of mind to know that our judicial system would actually punish criminals and protect citizens instead of the current reversal of that concept, perhaps crime would actually drop!

Now that I've gotten all of the liberal panty-waists' panties in a bunch, I'm ready for the snarky, elitist, sarcasm.   Let it commence...

World’s First Wave Powered Boat February 28th, 2008 · No Comments

Ken-ichi Horie, a 69 year old Japanese sailor, is planning a solo 4,350 mile trip from Hawaii to Japan using an innovative wave powered boat. If successful, the trip would earn him a Guinness record while simultaneously proving the viability of wave powered propulsion.

His boat, the Suntory Mermaid II, turns wave energy into thrust using two fins mounted beneath the bow. These fins move up and down with the waves and use them to generate “kicks” that propel the boat forward. Another green element of the journey: all of the radios and electrical equipment are solar powered.

The fins will only garner a top speed of 5 knots, so his trip will take about three months.

From the Popular Science article:

This month, 69-year-old Japanese sailor Ken-ichi Horie will attempt to captain the world’s most advanced wave-powered boat 4,350 miles from Hawaii to Japan. If all goes as planned, he’ll set the first Guinness world record for the longest distance traveled by a wave-powered boat and, along the way, show off the greenest nautical propulsion system since the sail.

Nanoparticles could make hydrogen cheaper than gasoline

R. Colin Johnson
Page 1 of 2

EE Times
(02/25/2008 9:21 AM EST)
PORTLAND, Ore. — The hydrogen economy is getting a shot in the arm from a start-up that says its nanoparticle coatings could make hydrogen easy to produce at home from distilled water, and ultimately bring the cost of hydrogen fuel cells in line with that of fossil fuels.

QuantumSphere Inc. says it has perfected the manufacture of highly reactive catalytic nanoparticle coatings that could up the efficiency of electrolysis, the technique that generates hydrogen from water. Moreover, the coatings could also eliminate the need for expensive metals like platinum in hydrogen fuel cells.

Boasting 1,000 times the surface area of traditional materials, the coatings can be used to retrofit existing electrolysers to increase their efficiency to 85 percent--exceeding the Department of Energy's goal for 2010 by 10 percent. The scheme holds the promise of 96 percent efficiency by the time cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells hit automobile showrooms, according to the Santa Ana, Calif., company.

"Instead of switching 170,000 gas stations over to hydrogen, using our electrodes could enable consumers to make their own hydrogen, either in the garage or right on the vehicle," said Kevin Maloney, president, chief executive officer and co-founder of QuantumSphere. "Our nanoparticle-coated electrodes make electrolysers efficient enough to provide hydrogen on demand from a tank of distilled water in your car."

The first commercial product inspired by QuantumSphere's technology will debut later this year: a battery using a cathode coated with the startup's nanoparticles, thereby increasing its energy density 5x over alkaline cells and boosting power by 320 percent. The first commercial nonrechargeable batteries with this increased capacity will be announced by an as-yet-unnamed major U.S. battery maker in the second half of 2008.

QuantumSphere also claims to be able to improve rechargeable nickel-metal-hydride batteries to the point where they perform better than the less environmentally friendly lithium-ion batteries popular today.

QuantumSphere's plan is first to retrofit existing electrolysis equipment with its nanoparticle electrodes to boost efficiency. Next, it intends to partner with original equipment manufacturers to design at-home and on-vehicle electrolysers for making hydrogen from water for fuel cells. Finally, the company wants to work with fuel cell makers to replace their expensive platinum electrodes with inexpensive stainless-steel electrodes coated with nickel-iron nanoparticles.

QuantumSphere's nanoparticles are available in four formulations: nickel cobalt, iron cobalt, nickel iron and silver copper. According to the Freedonia Group Inc. (Cleveland), the nanoparticles can be sold directly into the catalyst metals market, which it predicts will edge up to $4.7 billion this year.

QuantumSphere is also expected to have an impact on the battery market, which Freedonia estimates will grow to more than $5 billion by 2009. Portable fuel cells and direct hydrogen generation are markets that are growing even faster, with fuel cells estimated to top $11 billion by 2013, according to Wintergreen Research Inc. (Lexington, Mass.), and hydrogen generation to exceed $15 billion by 2016, according to Clean Edge Inc. (Portland, Ore.).

QuantumSphere was founded in 2002 with just $100,000 of private funding and still has not taken in any venture capital, although it did have a public funding round last year. The company's founding goal was to create a thimble full of the nanoparticles it invented. But now, just over five years later, it claims to have surpassed its original goal with a manufacturing plant capable of producing tons of nanoparticles per year.

QuantumSphere claims its current manufacturing capacity is enough for both the battery and electrolysis markets. With an eye on future growth, however, the company has partnered with the OM Group Inc. (Cleveland) for mass-producing nanoparticles when QuantumSphere can no longer meet demand.

After perfecting the original invention, for which QuantumSphere was awarded a patent last year, the company hired an engineering team to adapt the nanoparticles for particular applications. Leading that team was director of fuel cell research Kimberly McGrath, a protg of George Olah, the 1994 Nobel Prize winner in chemistry. Olah, inventor of the direct liquid-methanol fuel cell, serves as a scientific adviser to QuantumSphere.

"We have formulated a nanoparticle coating that has a very high surface area, enabling inexpensive coated stainless-steel electrodes to exceed the performance of the expensive platinum electrodes used today," said McGrath. "We start with raw material that covers about the size of a sheet of paper, but after converting into nanoparticles, it covers a soccer field."

The nanoparticles are perfect spheres, consisting of a couple hundred atoms measuring from 16 to 25 nanometers in diameter. They are formed by means of a vacuum-deposition process that uses vapor condensation to produce highly reactive catalytic nanoparticles, for which the engineering team has formulated several end-use applications.

"Our biggest engineering challenge was finding a way to get the nanoparticles to stick to metal electrodes," McGrath said. The company has solved that problem, she said, "enabling existing electrolysis equipment to realize a 30 percent increase in hydrogen output just by retrofitting our coated electrodes."

QuantumSphere projects that the efficiency of electrolysis using its nanoparticle-coated electrodes, now at 85 percent, can be increased to 96 percent by the time hydrogen fuel cell automobiles are in wide use. Adjusting for rising gasoline prices, QuantumSphere projects that performing electrolysis at home to power hydrogen fuel cells will then be less expensive than burning fossil fuels.

The company has also made progress in its quest to eliminate the need for expensive platinum electrodes inside the fuel cell itself, claiming that today it can replace half a fuel cell's platinum with nanoparticle-coated stainless steel. QuantumSphere hopes to demonstrate fuel cells with no platinum at all in the coming years.

Last night at the Planning Board meeting in Plymouth, a guest by the name of Michael Murphy; from Portland, Maine came to speak about the current proposed wave energy projects in Massachusetts and to educate us about the many different kinds of mechanisms to cull the power of the ocean for electricity.

He gave a Power Point presentation which displayed photos and illustrations of myriad devices, and spoke of the pros and cons of each one.  Plus, he told us of some of the "wave farms" already in place in other parts of the world and the huge strides they've been making by actively pursuing alternative forms of energy.

I was across the hall to broadcast the meeting on Plymouth's cable access television (PAC-TV).  But when the opportunity arose, for only the second time in about six or seven years of doing these meetings, I got up to the podium to speak.

As I said when I got up, I spoke with Mr. Murphy before the meeting to let him know that I'd be speaking just after he was done.  He reacted to me as if disarmed; repeatedly asking, "Who are you?"  I got the feeling he suspected that I had some kind of ulterior motive; like I was some kind of corporate tool cloaked in mufti to undermine the whole thing.  I had to laugh a little.  "I'm just a concerned citizen" I affirmed about four or five times.

I didn't know what to expect when I got up to the podium.  I started by relating the meat of what I had to say to the very specific topic at hand; wave energy.  I read a very interesting article from The Oregonian (which I may have copied and pasted here on myfoxboston...can't recall) from January 8.  It expounded further on a massive wave energy project off of the coast of Oregon of which the state just released the first $1million of $4.2 million allocated to the project by the state.  The report gave a very interesting breakdown of how the funds would be utilized.

I seized the opportunity to segue into my own personal alternative energy favorite; hydrogen.  I went on to explain that hydrogen could be produced without the use of fossil fuels (to answer the biggest criticism) using other alternative energies such as wave energy.  BP just invested $2billion towards the construction of a hydrogen plant in Abu Dhabi.  India is looking to hydrogen to fuel their vehicles...China as well.  And what are we doing here in the US-?  ...Looking to cellulosic ethanol.  I pointed out that where the rest of the world is taking very proactive steps towards insuring their economic and environmental futures, we're merely putting band-aids where surgery is required.

I really didn't expect the wonderful reception I got.  I didn't know what to expect, but I spoke with such a passion...my audience was not only listening - they seemed absolutely captivated.

As I said last night, I really wish more average, ordinary citizens would quit buying into the b.s. put out by corporations by Exxon/Mobil.  When you stand to lose billions upon billions of dollars to alternative energy, you will go to unimaginable lengths to preserve your fortunes.  ...And I really wish that more citizens would not only become as informed about the truths of alternative energies, but speak out about them as well...using whatever platforms they can.  Why did it shock Mr. Murphy that I wasn't a lobbyist or with a special-interest group-?  ...Simple; because not enough people in this country are using the powers afforded to them in this democracy of ours.

If only more people would learn some important truths about what is going on....  If only they would acquire some wisdom to better understand their knowledge...  If only they would take both knowledge and wisdom into the voting booths with them...(actually, some knowledge would be a good start).  If only more people would first become thoroughly informed, and then get up and share what they know with a captive audience.  -Last night, that's just what I did.  ...Your turn...

The media is very much a "damned if they do - damned if they don't" entity.

If they do cover the all of the news, they risk getting accused of "hype".  If they don't cover certain stories, everyone is screaming, "What's going on with...?(x, y, & z)".

Take the latest controversies over Tom Brady, for example...

It is relevant to report on the fact that Tom Brady - beloved Patriots quarterback who has taken his team to an undefeated season thus far with only the Superbowl left - was wearing a protective boot of some kind.  It's also relevant to report the fact that he was a no-show at practice, no matter if he was just waiting for the media to leave or what the reason!

But as usual, we have countless, implacable people who can't wait to throw their verbal tomatoes at the media; accusing them of so-called "hype".  Even though if nothing was said about Tom Brady, you can bet this same lynch-mob would be screaming "What the hell is going on?  What's the news on Tom Brady?  Is his foot OK or not?"

I really wish the media would conspire to be mum on a highly sought-after story just once - just to witness the outcry upon such an omission.  The hypocrisy would be undeniable.  The media could then collectively turn around and say, "Well, we didn't want to be guilty of HYPE !"

Is "hype" merely reporting on any controversial story?  Because I thought it was sensationalizing, and "amping-up" a controversial story.  I could have sworn that to have "hype", you had to do more than just report the facts; I thought you had to aggrandize the speculation and worry.  ...Dizzying editing, excitable voices, "swooshes"; unreasonable, wild speculations...all the earmarks of "hype". 

Simply saying "Tom Brady is wearing a protective boot.  Will he be OK for the Superbowl?" is not hype--it's journalism.  When someone is wearing a protective boot, of course it's reasonable to speculate on their well-being!  That does not make it hype!

TMZ hyped the story.  They used dizzying editing, excitable voices, fast camera-zooms...all of that...  Well, duh!  If you watch shows like TMZ and any tabloid-type of news program, hopefully you're smart enough to expect hype.  But don't even count them as "media".  It's not fair to the serious news broadcasts.  You cannot compare the Fox 25 News at 5:00 to TMZ; not fairly anyhow.

I want to know that Tom Brady is ready for the Superbowl.  I want to know the updates.  I want to stay informed and kept abreast of the updates.  Those of you who don't; shut off your TV's and give yourself a rectal exam.  But keep your hype to yourself.

Marine energy: Europe is leading the way

Wave energy sources are not only available in plenty, but are also consistent, predictable and have the highest energy density among all renewable energy sources.

The best resource is found between 40-60 degrees of latitude where the available resource is 30 to 70 kW/m, with peaks of 100 kW/m.

The potential worldwide wave energy contribution to the electricity market is estimated to be of the order of 2,000 TWh/year, about 10 per cent of the world electricity consumption.
The marine energy sector is set to grow faster.

However, as it happened for the wind energy, government support, financial investment and technological advancement are needed to see the marine energy sector reach commercialisation.
 
“Wave energy technology” explains Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Gouri Nambudripad, “is being developed in a number of countries such as Canada, China, Chile, India, Japan, Russia and the US. However, Europe is leading the way in innovative technologies, pilot projects as well as pushing the existing technologies towards commercialisation including countries such as UK, Ireland, Portugal, Norway and Spain. In tidal energy, Canada, Argentina, Western Australia and Korea possess the resources, but here again Europe is a frontrunner, with the UK and France seemingly promising.”

“The UK – having some of the best wave resource in the world - is targeting 40 per cent of its energy from renewables by 2050 of which 20 per cent is to be sourced from wave and tidal energy,” continues Gouri Nambudripad. “The UK is estimated to possess the capacity to generate approximately 87TWh of wave power annually equivalent to 20-25 per cent of current UK demand. Moreover, the UK has committed GBP 25m since 1999 towards the wave and tidal programme.”
 
Wave energy devices can be divided into three main categories: shore-line, near-shore and offshore devices. Shore-line devices are devices on the shore. Near-shore devices are ones that are within 12-25 miles off the shore. Finally, offshore devices are those placed in waters of more than 50 metres in depth and/or more than 25 miles from the shore.

“About 1000 patents for wave energy converters are currently in the market and broadly fall under the above-mentioned categories. With so many technologies around there is no clear consensus on which technology will prevail over the others or which ones will be successful,” concludes Frost & Sullivan Analyst Nambudripad.
 
There are two main research centres in Europe focusing on the development and commercialisation of ocean energy technologies. The first is the European Marine Energy Centre located in Orkney, Scotland. It provides developers with sites to test their prototypes. Government and other public sector organisations have invested around GBP 15 million in the creation of the centre and its two marine laboratories. The other is the Wave Energy Centre in Portugal. It provides strategic and technical support to companies, R&D institutions and public organizations. It also looks for international cooperation helping foreign companies test their devices in Portuguese waters.

The marine energy industry has a long way to go, but ongoing research and government support should lead to improvements making these technologies more economically attractive in the future. Combined with intensifying company activity in this field, Europe is poised to be the place to watch in the marine energy arena of the future.

<a href="http://www.frost.com"target=_blank>Frost & Sullivan</a>

 

BP to Join $2 Billion Abu Dhabi Hydrogen Project (Update1)

By Ayesha Daya

Jan. 16 (Bloomberg) -- BP Plc will begin a study to construct the world's largest hydrogen power plant in the United Arab Emirates capital Abu Dhabi, which would be able to meet 7 percent of the emirate's current power demand.

``We estimate the cost to be $2 billion,'' Steve Geiger, head of special projects at state-owned Abu Dhabi Future Energy Co., said in a telephone interview from Abu Dhabi today. ``A final decision will be made by the end of the year.''

The engineering and design work for the plant is under way and should be completed at the end of 2008, Geiger said.

Abu Dhabi will officially announce BP as its partner next week for the 500-megawatt plant, he said. Abu Dhabi's power demand is expected to double to 16 gigawatts in the next six years, according to Geiger, as the oil-rich emirate uses windfall crude revenue to develop infrastructure and industries.

BP and Rio Tinto Group, the world's third-biggest mining company, last year agreed to examine an A$2 billion ($1.8 billion) power plant in Western Australia that will capture and store carbon from coal and burn hydrogen for power generation. The two partners have set up a Weybridge, England-based joint venture Hydrogen Energy.

The venture ``is already working on projects in America and Australia and continues to look for opportunities elsewhere in the world,'' David Nicholas, a London-based spokesman for BP, said today by phone. He declined to comment on Geiger's comments.

California Project

In the U.S., Hydrogen Energy is working in California to use hydrogen derived from coal or natural gas to generate power and capture carbon for storage to minimize greenhouse gas emissions, Nicholas said. ``There aren't any of these projects in existence yet,'' he said.

Abu Dhabi Future, also know as Masdar, is also developing 500 megawatts of solar power. A 400-megawatt photovoltaic facility is expected to be built by 2010 at cost of $1 billion, Geiger said. Another $500 million will be invested in developing 100 megawatts of thin-film photovoltaic products, which will be ready by 2009.

The company will announce its latest overseas asset, a mid- size solar technology and development company, next week. ``We think we can bring costs down by integrating technology and manufacturing in one location,'' Geiger said. ``We are pushing for scale to make renewables economically feasible.''

Masdar was set up in 2006 and is responsible for developing renewable energy as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' third-largest oil exporter looks to reduce its dependence on conventional hydrocarbons revenue. A zero- emissions city in Abu Dhabi will begin housing 50,000 residents from 2009, Geiger said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ayesha Daya in Dubai adaya1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: January 16, 2008 12:55 EST

I really don't get all excited about this stupid show (American Idol) even though (because of my wife) I never miss it.  Honestly, I'd rather be watching Globe Trekker on PBS; or reading my new book of Emily Dickinson's ethereal, sublime poetry.  If that sounds lame to you, well Emily wrote a little something about you when she said in one of her many works; "Much madness is divinest sense - To a discerning eye - Much sense - the starkest madness..."

But - believe it or not - there's something very profound about American Idol; if you'd just hear me out.

This show has been on for seven seasons.  So, you would think that after seven seasons that everyone involved would fully understand that if you are to avoid mocking only outdone by the majority of the crowd at the tenement of Golgotha on the day Christ was crucified, that you have to be more than able to sing; you actually have to be good...well...most of the time.  But if you are a Sanjaya, you may wind up wishing that you never received one of those highly sought-after "golden tickets", as the mocking on that end becomes much more widespread and memorable.

But clearly, while many American Idol contestants may have 'received the memo' about how it all goes down when you stand in front of the 'Sanhedrin of singers', they're obviously either in some unparalleled denial about their lack of talent, or they are just plain masochistic.

But I can't help but wonder, just how many people (like the clueless contestants of American Idol) are there in the world?  Frankly, the flood of - in essence - retarded people out there never ceases to amaze me.  How on earth does this society even function with so many of these people being a part of it?  You may think that I'm being sardonic, surly, or that I'm trying to be "funny", but actually I'm being quite serious.  Before I started watching American Idol, I never really knew the degree of stupidity of so many, and really...it astonishes me.  Just what in the heck do all of these people do with themselves?  How do they function?  How did they get that way?

I recall one contestant - one of the absolute worst - say (quite sadly) that his father has long told him (quite seriously) that he "hates" him.  This was a very damaged individual.  He carried his baggage around with him, and I felt terrible for the guy.  The editing of the show and the whole vibe set a tone of "ha-ha...look at this loser", but I wasn't laughing.  He sung Bon Jovi's "Livin' On A Prayer" like you would imagine a person who just woke up from a coma after having a lobotomy might.  His countenance was so heavy, and it was absolutely ugly - not funny.

Don't get me wrong, I don't mean to come off like a sanctimonious prig.  I laughed at some of the God-awful singing.  But I wasn't laughing at the person behind the singing - only the hilarious sounds that some of them make.

But so many people just delight in how gauche the majority of American Idol contestants are.  I don't.  When you really think about it, it's no laughing matter.  What we're seeing on this show is a sick society, and I'm not just talking about the symptoms exhibited by so many of the contestants; but those who get their own perverse little self-esteem boost by exalting themselves over the many 'jesters' that go before the triumvirate of Randy, Paula, and Simon.  I think I get my own little De facto self-esteem boost by the realization that I am not on either side.  ...Thank God...

Here's one of many reasons why the future of this country isn't looking so bright (so I don't "gotta wear shades"); while we drag our feet and put forth a bunch of foaming skepticism about alternative energies, in other parts of the world they just go ahead and DO it.  But it looks like we're on a road to nowhere with the moronic claims that celulosic ethanol is the 'great white hope'...  It seems, however, that India isn't inhibited by foolish claims and myths which can ultimately be traced back to Exxon/Mobil:

Eden handed Indian hydrogen dispensing station contract Hythane Company, a subsidiary of Australian firm Eden Energy, has been selected by Indian Oil Corporation to supply and install the first public hydrogen dispensing station in India to fill vehicles running on either hydrogen or hythane.

Hythane Company was awarded the contract - which was signed at Indian Oil's R&D facility at Faridabad, near Delhi, this week - after beating rival bidders from Europe and America.

The $1 million retail fuel outlet will be installed at one of Indian Oil's petrol/natural gas refuelling stations in Delhi.

"This is a hugely significant milestone in Eden's bid for global leadership in hydrogen fuel technology as it means Eden has now been fully accepted by 'India Incorporated' to help drive its hydrogen based cleaner fuel emission objectives," commented Greg Solomon, Eden Energy's executive chairman.

The dispensing station is scheduled to be completed in the third quarter of 2008.

Two other hythane bus demonstration projects are also being undertaken by Eden in Gujarat and Mumbai this year.

http://www.stockhouse.ca/mediascan/news.asp?newsid=999
0047

© Adfero Ltd

Source: Adfero

Oh well, at least this should lighten the global demand for petrol a tiny bit...maybe our gas prices will drop by a half-cent!

As a guy who cannot stand the very duplicitous Hillary Clinton, I feel like I'm going to bed with a masculine woman with "kankles" (and will surely regret it in the morning) by defending her.

But dammit, I've got to take a stand when I see b.s. being slung, and that's exactly what Barack Obama and subsequently John Edwards is guilty of doing with these shameless allegations that Hillary Clinton made an "inappropriate statement" when she said that "it took a president" (to bring the efforts of Dr. Martin Luther King to fruition...or something to that effect).

C'mon folks...we know what she meant, and to even suggest that it was somehow a "racist" or "disrespectful" comment is just foaming at the mouth.  If the shoe were on the other foot, and she was trying to impugn John McCain or Mitt Romney for saying such a thing, you bet I wouldn't be the only republican calling it BLEEP.  Hopefully there are enough republicans out there who can pull the crayons out of their Pampers to have enough gumption to do the same...

These types of cheap shots are nothing but juvenile, and they have no place in politics, or in the realm of supposedly mature adults.  Grow up, guys.

Wave energy group taps state cash Posted by The Oregonian January 08, 2008 14:28PM Categories: Breaking News

Oregon's new wave energy association just received $1 million from the state, the first allotment in a $4.2 million budget approved by the 2007 state Legislature.

The Oregon Wave Energy Trust (with the apt acronym: OWET) will serve as a clearinghouse for wave energy information, assessment and development. The trust includes industry, academic and state agency representatives and is designed to assess the costs and benefits of the emergence of this new form of renewable energy.

"The top priorities are determining potential ecological effects and working with existing ocean users to develop a plan to share the use of the ocean," said Justin Klure, OWET's acting director.

Oregon is considered a hot spot for wave energy development and research. Advocates say wave energy off the Oregon coast is capable of providing 10 percent of the state's electricity needs by 2025.

Some of the association's activities, planned and underway:

•$50,000 to support education and coastal community outreach in programs designed by Oregon Sea Grant and the Oregon Coastal Zone Management Association.

•Matching funds for sponsor of workshop on the ecological effects of wave energy generation at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport.

•$225,000 to conduct a whale migration study through Oregon State University's Marine Mammals Institute.

•Support of new wave energy technologies and applied research activities at Oregon State University.

--Gail Kinsey Hill

TOPEKA, KS, Jan 09, 2008 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) -- BNSF Railway Company and Vehicle Projects LLC today announced they are developing an experimental hydrogen fuel cell switch locomotive. The experimental switch locomotive has the potential to reduce air pollution, is not dependent on oil for fuel, and could serve as a mobile backup power source for military and civilian disaster relief efforts.

The switch locomotive is currently under development and field testing is scheduled to begin later this year.

"At BNSF, we believe that it is good business to minimize our impact on the planet and contribute to the long-term sustainability of the communities we serve," said Craig Hill, vice president, BNSF Mechanical and Value Engineering. "While it's not a proven technology and the project is still in its infancy, we believe investments like the fuel cell switch locomotive are important for the advancement of new technology. BNSF has always been a leader in the protection of our air, land and water and is proud to champion this initiative with the dedication and commitment from partners like Vehicle Projects and support from Senator Sam Brownback."

"As a nation, two widely-accepted issues are global climate change and energy insecurity, which have a common factor -- oil," said Arnold Miller, president, Vehicle Projects LLC. "The world burns millions of barrels of oil for energy, and the waste carbon is then emitted to the atmosphere. Because they don't rely on oil as a fuel source, fuel cells solve these two issues. Along with our principal partners, BNSF and the US Army, we at Vehicle Projects are developing proof-of-concept hydrogen fuel cell vehicles that are leading the way to this new technology."

Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) stated, "I'm pleased to have been working for the past two years to procure funding for the fuel cell locomotive. The progress that BNSF and Vehicle Projects are making in its development is remarkable, and their work is helping to wean America off foreign oil."

About BNSF's Environmental Efforts

BNSF is a leader in environmental stewardship. Rail is the most fuel efficient mode of surface transportation, moving a ton of freight more than 400 miles on a single gallon of diesel fuel. As the rail industry's intermodal leader, each BNSF intermodal train can take more than 300 long-haul trucks off the nation's crowded highways.

About BNSF Railway Company

A subsidiary of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation (NYSE: BNI: 80.06, +2.21, +2.83%), BNSF Railway Company operates one of the largest North American rail networks, with about 32,000 route miles in 28 states and two Canadian provinces. BNSF is among the world's top transporters of intermodal traffic, moves more grain than any other American railroad, carries the components of many of the products we depend on daily, and hauls enough low-sulfur coal to generate about ten percent of the electricity produced in the United States. BNSF is an industry leader in Web-enabling a variety of customer transactions at www.bnsf.com.

About Vehicle Projects

Vehicle Projects LLC (since 1998) serves heavy industry and transport by developing and demonstrating prototype fuel cell vehicles that improve productivity, worker health and safety, environmental quality, or energy efficiency and security. Its core in-house activities are project conception and fundraising, vehicle engineering design, and consortium organization and management.

-From Fox News (Business)

2 January 2008 | 10:22 | Globe and Mail By Doug Saunders

The struggle between East and West is set to envelop the entire region during the coming year

If, in the coming year, you find yourself relaxing on the beach in the Bulgarian resort of Bourgas on Europe's little-noticed east coast, you may soon realize that you are in the centre of one of the world's most lavish and portentous conflicts, one that involves a dozen countries and the nuclear powers of the Cold War and is likely to produce explosions in 2008.
Look up the coast, just to the north, and you will see U.S. bombers and surveillance planes taking off in increasing numbers from Bulgarian and Romanian seaside bases as the U.S. and NATO militaries shift their major installations from Germany to locations along the formerly communist Black Sea coast.
In 2008, a year after the European Union added Bulgaria and Romania, two former Warsaw Pact nations, to its membership, NATO will make its most aggressive bids to win over the rest of the region. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization's annual conference will be held near the sea in Romania, and the most explosive item on the agenda will be the proposed membership of Georgia – a Black Sea country that, if it joins, will expand the territory of this Cold War military alliance to the deep interior of the former Soviet Union.
Moscow is already reacting with anger to the expanding presence of NATO on these shores, which had previously been entirely within Russia's sphere of influence (only Turkey has traditionally been a NATO member). Half a dozen “frozen conflicts” in Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova appear ready to erupt into full-scale secession wars in the coming year; in every case, the militant movements appear to have Russian backing.
For the 100 million people who live around the shores of the Black Sea, 2008 may well feel like a return to the Cold War. This time, though, it's not clear which side any nation, any region or any people are on: Like South America or Southeast Asia during that previous Washington-Moscow standoff, the Black Sea region has become an endlessly contested ground, subject to shifting influences as money and weapons are dumped into unsuspecting populations.
In recent years, that conflict has played itself out most visibly in Ukraine, whose elections have been dramatic showdowns between Russian-supported forces and Western-backed democracy movements. This year ended with pro-Western Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who took office on Dec. 18, accusing Moscow of actively funding the opposition's parties.
The struggle between East and West is about to envelop the entire Black Sea region during the coming year, often with military implications.
The sparring is likely to begin as early as Saturday, when Georgia's five million citizens go to the polls in a presidential election and a referendum on the country's proposed NATO membership. The vote was called after weeks of violent mass demonstrations in November against pro-American president Mikheil Saakashvili. The demonstrations, which Mr. Saakashvili and a number of outside organizations say were backed by Russia, were met with brutal police repression. Georgia, like Ukraine, appears to be divided in half between voters who support the European Union and NATO and those who prefer a return to Moscow's influence.
But there are even deeper divisions in Georgia, and in a number of its Black Sea neighbours. Breakaway regions, which hope to form their own nations – usually because their people are more loyal to Russia – have seen low-level conflicts fraught with occasional bombings and acts of violence for years. In 2008, any one of them could become full-scale war.
Georgia's troubled regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia have become increasingly violent in recent months, their independence movements staging bolder attacks against government facilities. Neighbouring Azerbaijan has had growing frictions in its region of Nagorno-Karabakh. And on the other side of the Black Sea, the Moldovan breakaway region of Transnistria, which is loyal to Russia, has seen increasing tensions.
These landlocked slivers of Black Sea real estate could well become conflict zones this year, for reasons rooted in another landlocked country that lies closer to the Adriatic Sea. In late January or early February, the Serbian province of Kosovo is likely to declare independence, an act that is backed by the European Union and the United States.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that if Serbia, a Slavic-speaking country, loses its disputed Albanian-majority province to Western influences, it will have a hard time guaranteeing the integrity of Georgia and Moldova. Many observers see this as a thinly veiled threat: If Kosovo goes, then so goes Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Nagorno-Karabakh and Transnistria. Some observers already say that arms are flowing into these breakaway regions.
“The chance of some kind of armed flare-up in at least one of those conflict zones in the coming year is disturbingly high,” says Thomas de Waal, an expert on the Caucasus at the Institute for War and Peace Reporting. “The consequences could be catastrophic.”
Why are Brussels, Washington and Moscow devoting so much time, money and armaments to a stretch of shoreline that has previously languished in uneasy obscurity? Some of it has to do with geography: Georgia, Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan sit near the border of Iran, and there is a strong desire to have a Western-loyal buffer of nations and defence installations surrounding this constant site of conflict.
Another reason might become visible if you sit long enough on the beach in Bourgas.
Further out to sea, you might spot Russian ships laying an enormous undersea pipeline, known as South Stream, that will carry billions of cubic metres of natural gas from Russia, across the 900-kilometre width of the Black Sea to Bulgaria, and on to energy-hungry Western Europe.
And just behind you, running up the Bulgarian shore, will be the tail end of South Stream's Western-funded competitor, known as Nabucco, which carries equally enormous amounts of gas from Iran and Central Asia through Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Turkey before it supplies Europe. These pipelines, carrying Europe's Russian fuel supply and its hard-fought Iranian alternative, provide the economic backdrop for this set of emerging conflicts.
Europe is enormously reliant on Russian gas and oil to heat its homes – some countries, such as Germany and Italy, are so completely dependent that they would face an immediate crisis if the pipelines from Russia were curtailed. (This occurred briefly in 2006, during a dispute between Russia and Belarus over pipeline rights, and caused a sizable shock.) As a result, the supplies of petroleum and gas from the Adriatic Sea through Azerbaijan and from Iran are considered vital. (This is an important reason why the EU has been reluctant to participate fully in sanctions against Iran over alleged nuclear weapons activity.)
So much of this dispute – though not all of it, as some would suggest – is rooted in the West's need for energy security. If non-Russian sources of fuel are to be securely provided, then the loyalty of the countries to the east, south and west of the Black Sea is vital. From Moscow's perspective, if its continued dominance is to be maintained (and good prices upheld for its supplies), then pipelines will need to pass through the west, north and east of the Black Sea.
Some countries, notably Bulgaria and Romania, stand to benefit either way: Both Adriatic-Iranian oil pipelines and Russia's new pipes will enter Europe through their impoverished territory.
As you relax on the beige sands of Bourgas – an increasingly popular vacation getaway for both Central Europeans and for Russians – these rising tensions might be visible along the shoreline and across the water. But they're likely to seem especially bizarre when you return to your hotel, which is almost certain to have EU flags flying on its awning – and to be owned by Russian tycoons.
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Portable fuel cell recharging device unveiled - 4th January 2008

Millennium Cell and Horizon Fuel Cell have finished work on a prototype of a portable power generator with a water activated cartridge system for recharging fuel cells.

The HydroPak is the result of a joint development project between the two firms and is intended for use by consumers and professionals for emergency and recreational purposes.

The device will, the companies claim, provide "a high energy alternative to lead acid battery packs and portable generators", with indefinite shelf life that is capable of recharging an average notebook computer eight to ten times.

Further advantages offered by the HydroPak are that it is quieter and lighter than generators, stores more energy than batteries and produces no harmful emissions, according to a release from the companies.

George Gu, Chief Executive Officer of Horizon Fuel Technologies, said: "We are excited about the prospects for the HydroPak line of products, beginning with the commercialization of the first water-activated portable power system in 2008 and followed shortly by others in 2009.

"We believe that these fuel cell power products possess a potent combination of convenience, performance and economics that are unique in the marketplace and will fill a void that exists today."

The HydroPak will be unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) at the Las Vegas Convention Center on January 7th


Source:

Millennium Cell and Horizon Fuel Cell Provide Detailed Plans for HydroPak Portable Power Product, 03/01/08
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