meehawl

[Brazil] already churns out what many consider to be the world’s cheapest and most efficient mass-produced biofuel … In the United States, a 54 cent-per-gallon tax blocks most Brazilian ethanol from reaching U.S. consumers. Similar tariffs also block access to Europe, China and other major energy markets … the United States continues to block Brazilian ethanol while boosting production of ethanol made from corn, which produces much less ethanol per acre than sugar does, cuts into food supplies and does little to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions … an acre of sugar cane in Brazil produces about 800 gallons of ethanol, while an acre of corn produces 328 gallons … corn also must be converted into sugar before it can be turned into ethanol … sugar-cane ethanol produces 8 units of energy for every 1 unit of fossil fuels invested in its production, while the ratio for corn ethanol is 1.3 to 1.

Tags: corn, corporate welfare, ethanol by mike
No Comments »

“I can confirm that we conducted a strike in Sadr City this morning,” a US military spokesman told AFP. “The targets were known criminal elements. Battle damage assessment is currently ongoing.” However, witnesses and an AFP reporter at the scene said the main Al-Sadr hospital had been badly damaged and a fleet of ambulances were destroyed.

Tags: Baghdad, Iraq by mike
No Comments »

“Why are we talking about this in the White House?” John Ashcroft nervously asked his fellow members of the National Security Council’s Principals Committee. (The Principals were Vice President Dick Cheney, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell, CIA Director George Tenet and Attorney General Ashcroft.) “History will not judge this kindly,” Ashcroft predicted. “This” is torture.

Tags: Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, George Bush, George Tenet, John Ashcroft, torture by mike
No Comments »