Sen. Barack Obama and his surrogates continued to criticize Charles R. Black Jr., a top adviser to Sen. John McCain, on Tuesday for saying a terrorist attack before the November election would help the presumptive Republican nominee.

This kind of tells us how some in that circle of influence think.

Makes us wonder about 9/11.

Maybe if we get the current line of thinking replaced with new line thinking nobody will want to attack us.

This is is your brand new weekly Open Thread.

Enjoy.

Another slow week here at IB. Talk amongst yourselves...

Here is that Trance Orb inducing ALtered States on You Tube. Some people can't stop watching it... till they get hungry of course.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGWjrup-5KU

Or ■ my name

46 posts last week, Irv, and
you know what this means so,
talk about your expectations.

Are you secretly snickering?
Are you waiting to be missed?
Are you now, or have you ever
been in such a position as 2?

An amazing character
Spinsters keen orbit
Wizard amongst men

Born twice for good measure
He stood at the narrow gate

Barring all holds
I slipped through

Who said otherwise?
Speak out for tolerance soon
Unity done washed

Richard
I watched some of your videos.
You are getting warmer.
There is a time of pushing and a time of letting go. The magic happens in the release.

A painter knows when a painting is done.

A good public speaker can feel his audience and knows just when to be quite.

The pause in music is often the most important component.

be more awake when dreaming and more dreaming when awake

everything is everything

and everything is already one

AND IT'S NO BIG DEAL

cyclical life is a choice
time is a choice
reality is a choice
illusion is a choice
truth is a choice

peace comes from peace

Are you finding marbles?

derek

Just pookin' around.

I love the orb. At times I could see a spiral galaxy.
Probably a map to my home.

Yo, it's nice to put a face to your magical words. I'm assuming that was you in the videos. I was pretty close in my imagined vision of your appearance.

derek

The reason it is so quiet on IB this week is because everyone is sick to death of hearing about the bleedin election.

Combine this with the fact that G W Bush is on his way out and it looks like Obama is on his way in there is nobody really in office to complain about at the moment.

But just hang in there; real soon you can go right back to moaning again.

LOL

Simon xx

Hey Derek, I guess then you know where this is all going?

For now check this out, it isn't magic it is science. Things really can float in the air.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7w3jPQV71DM

Sometimes we must wait for the alignment of the Universal Forces to provide for the perfect timing.

Did you all know know Orb is Bro spelled backwards?

This poem-post dedicated to Baby D:

"BABY STARLING" by Steve Toth

Baby starling I see
no hope for you to have worked
your way inside the porch
from your nest jammed into the eaves
but here you are anyway
frightened wild thing
connecting to your survival instincts by
evacuating your bowels on the table

As I approach the door gently
you panic & start thrashing
trying to force your way
through the glass that has no give
but as I’m getting the door open
you switch your point of attack
to the window with its glass
just as hard as the door’s

How many times can you
evacuate your bowels
& still have something left?
More panic & thrashing but finally
as I get the window open
you make good your escape through the door
& with a couple of wing flaps
vanish in your own direction

(Jun 18, 2008)

The destruction of the world as we know it has been set in motion. A world built on fictions.

The question is will the participants be able to embrace the truth fast enough to accommodate.

An important talk on Climate Change by James E. Hansen is here:
NYT Dot Earth'
Are Big Oil and Big Coal Climate Criminals?
http://tinyurl.com/4lvx8c

He outlines the problems and the consequences fairly well.
He addresses the problem of political paralysis to move on the issue in Washington.

"Special interests have blocked transition to our renewable energy future. Instead of moving heavily into renewable energies, fossil companies choose to spread doubt about global warming, as tobacco companies discredited the smoking-cancer link. Methods are sophisticated, including funding to help shape school textbook discussions of global warming."

And,as I have pointed out here before:

"CEOs of fossil energy companies know what they are doing and are aware of long-term consequences of continued business as usual. In my opinion, these CEOs should be tried for high crimes against humanity and nature."

And what is Our Savior, the Hope for Change Candidate planning to do about it, if elected? Sigh...don't get your hope up too high:

ScienceBlogs: The Scientific Activist
Obama's Support of Corn Ethanol Unlikely to Change
http://tinyurl.com/3v23ky

Support of corn ethanol is a politically savvy move for Obama: it brings Big Ag on board to his campaign (who will benefit greatly from corn subsidies) and he can get the high PR of standing up for Heartland Family Farmers (a constituency that has traditionally voted Republican, but has become disillusioned under W's reign). Small farmers won't see much benefit actually, but it sure plays well politically. Cool.

But will it help slow carbon emissions worldwide? Probably not. Science Blogger Nick Anthis helps explain why:

"The production of ethanol from corn is not an energy-efficient process, and it's unlikely that using ethanol fuel produced from corn will result in significantly lower carbon dioxide emissions. On top of that, diverting resources into corn ethanol production drives up food prices and could very well exacerbate world hunger. Therefore, by subsidizing corn ethanol, the government is not only not directly addressing global warming (and instead diverting resources away from more viable solutions) but also contributing to a variety of emerging problems. The only people likely to benefit from such subsidies are large agricultural corporations."

Yes it will be a change to go from Big Oil to Big Ag fore dependence on fuel. But is it a change we should hope for?

Yes if you want Obama elected. No if you want to actually have effective action against climate change supported by the next President.

“Fabulous flying
The Maglev actually does not touch the tracks when traveling. Its superconductors let the trains float above the rails. The Siemens-Alstrom train levitate 1cm (0,39 in) above the track. Japan's shinkansen runs 10 cm (3,9 in) above the tracks. The shinkansen uses wheels to reach 100 km/h (62 mph) before it levitates. At speed, supercold liquefied helium minimized energy loss in the magnetic field. The European model uses regular magnets, but enables immediate flight.”

Did you know everything is everything and peace comes from peace?
Do you also know that SB (Service Bulletin) can be spelled backwards?

15. Posted by yogi-one:

"And what is Our Savior, the Hope for Change Candidate planning to do about it, if elected? Sigh...don't get your hope up too high:"

"Yes it will be a change to go from Big Oil to Big Ag fore dependence on fuel. But is it a change we should hope for?

Yes if you want Obama elected. No if you want to actually have effective action against climate change supported by the next President."

Thanks for your CONCERN.

I for one am shocked that Obama has not been living in a Himalayan monastery all this time.

I'm so bitterly disappointed.

***

As regards to the substantive criticism by the Science blogger Nick Anthis, ""The production of ethanol from corn is not an energy-efficient process, and it's unlikely that using ethanol fuel produced from corn will result in significantly lower carbon dioxide emissions. On top of that, diverting resources into corn ethanol production drives up food prices and could very well exacerbate world hunger. Therefore, by subsidizing corn ethanol, the government is not only not directly addressing global warming (and instead diverting resources away from more viable solutions) but also contributing to a variety of emerging problems. The only people likely to benefit from such subsidies are large agricultural corporations."

This is a well known fact. No one disagrees with it.

But, Corn was NECESSARY on the way to Algae.

"In any case, algae biodiesel would not displace land currently used for food production and new algaculture jobs could be created."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodiesel

The financing of large ethanol refineries would not have come about without an immediately available feedstock, and, thankfully, Corn was at hand. Now, with that capacity online, new, non-food sources of ethanol can be developed, such as Algae. Its a "chicken-or-the-egg" dilemma. To jumpstart a renewable biofuels industry in the United States, it had to begin with Corn. It really doesn't matter how "bad" Corn is for biofuels, as its just a very temporary, intermediate step to the permanent, sustainable solutions.

Algal biofuel systems have now been demonstrated which can produce up to 200,000 gallons of biofuel per acre per year, on desert land (containing no soil Carbon) unable to grow food, with no tractors or heavy equipment, no fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides, and powered entirely by solar energy. Algae systems produce Ethanol, Biodiesel, and Protein Meal simultaneously - from the same organisms - with no feedstock other than air, sunshine, and seawater. Not "Food vs. Fuel", but "Food FROM Fuel". Compared to the 300 to 600 gallons/acre/year from Soybeans and Corn, with all of their attendant problems, this is a transformational development.

But, we never could have gotten to 'feedstock-free' ("freedstock") Algal biofuels without a well capitalized, proven biofuels industry initially established with Corn Ethanol. It may be sad for the Corn farmers that Corn will be obsolete as an energy crop, but that doesnt matter. The ethanol refineries that Corn built will keep chugging away, producig fuel without the Corn. The only difference is that when powered by Algae, they will consume no fossil energy, and all of the CO2 emissions from fermentation will be recycled by the Algae into fuel.

Biofuels are still the 100% solution to energy and the environment; we've just had to learn how to do it without using feedstocks, such as food. So it took five years, so what? The hundreds of ethanol facilities now in use and unde construction provide the infrastructure for the next generation of freedstock biofuels, which are highly Carbon Negative, producible in vastly greater quantities, turn desert sand into fertile soil, and give off food as a free byproduct.

Its Amazing...

Ref. #15

Ever since Barack Obama sewed up the Democratic nomination, it has been both frustrating and interesting to see the way the news media has proceeded to chip away at his reputation as a reformer and as a new face in Washington. Some of these issues give me reason to pause, but most I shrug off as part and parcel of any politician running for high elective office.

I can understand why few people are willing to go into the meat grinder of politics. Those who run for elective office can never do much right but are capable of doing practically everything wrong. Political culture thrives on scandal and negative reinforcement, appealing to the part of us biologically programmed to recoil in disgust at the sinister side of human behavior. Every press expose seems to be designed specifically to induce outrage and rise everyone's blood pressure.

The role of lobbyists and money interests in politics is so deeply embedded in the framework that I would frankly be made uncomfortable if any candidate renounced them altogether. I'm not sure how any politician could escape their taint completely. The latest New York Times article that ties Obama to the ethanol industry is one such example.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/23/us/politics/23ethanol.html

And it seems to have got our Yogi-one all excited to make let his sarcasm steam out regarding Obama, Saviour, Hope & Change.

While I agree that increased ethanol production is no panacea, it does provide a cottage industry and creates jobs. In this day and age, where many traditionally sound jobs in industry have been uprooted to other areas of the world where they are more cost-efficient, ethanol appears to be an effective way to boost employment, or at minimum reduce the unemployment created by the growing recession. It's certainly not a flawless attempt to reduce this country's dependence on foreign oil, but the underlying intentions are good.

Eliminating the graft and corruption that goes along with any industry is easy said, hard to accomplish in reality. And underneath this recent ethanol flap is the peculiarly American deficiency of failing to understand that instant gratification is a product of good luck, obscene wealth, and material excess. It is not a God-given right or entitlement.

Many of us good-government liberals insist that the natural role of regulation and oversight ought to be to aim to eliminate these kind of offenses. In theory, that is how government ought to function, but when compromise, power, and profit meet, the net result is usually far less noble. Reform ought to be a constant process, since for every layer of oversight and regulation we provide, those whose inner motive is purely profit and material gain will push the envelope and attempt to exploit existing loopholes, create new ones, and in the process dare gatekeepers to catch them.

So reform isn't a destination, it's a journey. Furthermore, it's a journey that requires our participation and our attention, else it be rendered worthless.

Hey Richard
It's going where it's always been going. In circles, perfect little circles. But we are also traveling in a straight line as well. Leaving behind a spiral in our wake.
We are nothing more than a fireworks display that happened to create it's own way of experiencing it's self. Pretty cool but only a flash. The less we try to understand the longer we enjoy our flash.

Yo Mr. Wondering or Miss. or Mrs. or whatever
I'm full of more than BS but I do have plenty of that too. Just being apart of the fascinating experience of this mysterious and magical life we seem to have been blessed with, holmes.

Aren't you have fun too?

derek the dooldeman

oh, what does everything come from smarty pants?

Funny that you mentione circles and wake. I was watching rain sprinkling on a crystal clear lake, calm no wind. I was watching the ripples on the lake from the drops and the interferance patterns. I shifted my vision to see only the interference. A supporitng insight came.

I am beginning a new meme injection using the You Tube platform using the Exponential Communications System trick. {Click my name}

Did you see congress is going after the gamblers?

A mYsterious fORCE IS @ WORK

Has one ever been to the Brain Portal?

Click my name

Now that we have so many gray matter processors networked we can execute the code to reprogram reality. with a Memetic Engineering task force [Click my name].

Idea replication systems.

Does it seem quiet or is it just me?

#13 Unlucky for some!

I find that about Steve, too, as you will probably have noted, Irv ;))

Re. 15 by yogi-one

Instant troll give away:

"And what is Our Savior, the Hope for Change Candidate planning to do about it, if elected?"

Savior? It doesn't get any more obvious for a troll.

Yo Chris, he's laying it on thicker than Sean Hannity.

(And Hannity is pretty damn thick)

Where have I heard this before...

"The heavens shall open up... celestial choirs will sing....!"

Whatever.

Corn-based ethanol is something that is popular. WE have to change people's mindsets on that. The ethanol route is addled with potholes one way or another. Cane can't be grown in the united states except in a few places, and the corn-basket states would grow bankrupt in no time.

Obama talked a lot about solar, wind and geothermal energy rather than corn yesterday in Nevada. He came out staunchly against nuclear-power yesterday unless there is a safe secure foolproof waste disposal/elimination method.

I'm very concerned Yogi-one,

that you're so pissed.

Who's McCain?

It must be nice to have the luxury of being an ideological purist.

I have a friend who drew a halo on the wall in the bathroom so he could see a saint whenever he looked in the mirror (he tended to spend a lot of time doing that).

Hi mini, I am opposed to corn based ethanol.

I agree with you about that. I just don't see the point in feeding a troll.

Happy to hear he's talking about renewable sources and back tracking on nuclear. That's all excellent stuff! I'll have to see if I can find that speech, you have a link?

WHAT can a demon do for a quantum computer? It can slyly trap and cool atoms so that their properties can be measured.

Now a team has brought such a creature to life - using lasers. The demon in question is based on the one in a thought experiment devised by the Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell in 1871. He imagined a creature capable of seeing individual atoms in a container of gas that had a central barrier with a tiny trapdoor. Maxwell's demon could sort the atoms according to their energy by opening or shutting the trapdoor to incoming atoms, depending on their speed. The demon appears to bring order to chaos without expending energy, violating the second law of thermodynamics.

Daniel Steck at the University of Oregon and colleagues have recreated Maxwell's demon using a pair of parallel lasers that act as the trapdoor. The team confined rubidium ... violating the second law of thermodynamics?

Click my name.

Seriously, yogi-one needs to defend the post or this is nothing but concern troll time. I understand people have been deeply dissatisfied with Obama and FISA (so am I) but this is getting really stupid now.

"That's not change you can believe in." Says John McCain!

(in his infamous lime-green jello speech on the day Obama won the nomination.)

I'm so sick of the play on "change" and using it as an insult when Obama can't instantly change the whole world for the better quick enough for all the purity and concern trolls.

"The team confined rubidium ... violating the second law of thermodynamics?" asks Richard Thomas.

My friend, The "Second Law of Thermodynamics" is not a 'Law' in the traditional sense. It is purely a statement on probability. In a closed system Entropy always increases over time(or disorder increases.)

(And we talk about net result of order or entropy level. Not he exceptions. For ex, Humans are more complex and of high order (low entropy) than the molecules from which we are made of, or from the life forms from which we evolved. This doesn't violated the Second Law as some creationists and Intelligent Design proponents claim.)

But still, the Second Law can can be theoretically and practically be violated.

An egg breaks but we never see a broken egg coalesces together, although nothing in the Laws of Physcis deny that. The probability is very less, but is NOT impossible.

A a lake 'can' freeze in a 100 degree FH Summer, violating the second law, but it the probability is almost zero that it never happens in a billion years of Earth.

yes, under controlled experimental conditions at micro scales, the second law can be violated and this 'can' be observed. This is no big surprise for theoretical physicists, really.

Chris, here you go

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtYAPkOKEP4

Seriously though, we need to educate people/the entire country on corn-based ethanol though.
In this clip he tells that the oil companies have to pay a fine if they don't drill for oil in the places that have already been leased out. This was his anti-offshore drilling argument. Absolutely brilliant trap IMO.

Indeed Preity, The Second Law is not a law in the traditional sense of physics, like say the Universal Law of Gravity.

It basically says that if you tear a 500 page book into sperate pages and throw them up high in the air, and when you pile the pages back blindly, the chance of getting the book in exact order is almost impossible. (I mean you can try that for billions of current age of the universe but still it would be highly impossible.)

In a closed system, there are so many more ways to get disorder than order. That's what the second "law" effectively says.

***********

Re. Richard Thomas:

As preity pointed out about the "net" results, "Real-life versions of Maxwellian demons occur, but all such "real demons" have their entropy-lowering effects duly balanced by increase of entropy elsewhere."(Wiki)

As per Daniel Steck, "the Single-atom traps used by particle physicists allow an experimenter to control the state of individual quanta in a way similar to Maxwell's demon." (Wiki)

Experimental work based on Maxwell's Demon

In the 1 February 2007 issue of Nature, David Leigh, a professor at the University of Edinburgh, announced the creation of a nano-device based on this thought experiment. This device is able to drive a chemical system out of equilibrium, but it must be powered by an external source (light in this case) and therefore does not violate thermodynamics.

Previously, other researchers created a ring-shaped molecule which could be placed on an axle connecting two sites (called A and B). Particles from either site would bump into the ring and move it from end to end. If a large collection of these devices were placed in a system, half of the devices had the ring at site A and half at B at any given moment in time.

Leigh made a minor change to the axle so that if a light is shone on the device, the center of the axle will thicken, thus restricting the motion of the ring. It only keeps the ring from moving, however, if it is at site A. Over time, therefore, the rings will be bumped from site B to site A and get stuck there, creating an imbalance in the system. In his experiments, Leigh was able to take a pot of "billions of these devices" from 50:50 equilibrium to a 70:30 imbalance within a few minutes.

Nature: A Demon of a Device
http://www.nature.com/news/2007/070129/full/070129-10.html

Richard
Try to visualize the pattern of our wake.

Exponential growth. Think of a gyro scope. It has one reality while sitting on a table and quite another when it is wound up and let go.

I do not know where we are going or where this all leads. I do know the potential and where we can go. But it is not my choice alone. We are and always have been a universal democracy. There is a fair balance to that.

While we spin around ourself and our star and the center of the galaxy, we also travel through space, I'm assuming in a straight line. This is also an example of our individual lives as well.

cyclical and linear

Jesus asked, how can bitter and sweet water come from the same well.

silly humans
center of the universe
oh how your beauty grows
your star is dwarfed
and planets obscured
by your egos radiant glow

we look through our lenses and telescopes
all pointing in your direction
we know from this safe and vicarious place
we are spared from your infection

Alien poetry, still rough but I know they're working on it.

derek

"In this clip he tells that the oil companies have to pay a fine if they don't drill for oil in the places that have already been leased out. This was his anti-offshore drilling argument. Absolutely brilliant trap IMO." mini

The 'popular' off-shore drilling argument can be defeated with this. The oil companies are hoarding oil by not even testing the grounds that have been leased for them. He called their bluff yesterday knowing that they would rather pay a fine than spend a lot more money and personnel on drilling oil in the leased lands.

Thanks mini - no sound at work

But I've bookmarked it for tonight!

- it sounds like this speech will warm my heart. :)

I heard a little about his fine for not using oil leases. I'm honestly not sure what to think about it yet, but I'm certainly intrigued.

OK, I Give, Now I Will Vote for McCain. I mean he is such a better choice!

He's got the better energy plan:

Drill, drill, drill!

*

Cellulosic ethanol

Google it.

Oh, well here's a link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellulosic_ethanol

"Construction of pilot scale lignocellulosic ethanol plants requires considerable financial support through grants and subsidies. On 28 February 2007, the U.S. Dept. of Energy announced $385 million in grant funding to six cellulosic ethanol plants. This grant funding accounts for 40% of the investment costs. The remaining 60% comes from the promoters of those facilities. Hence, a total of $1 billion will be invested for approximately 140 million gallon capacity. This translates into $7/annual gallon production capacity in capital investment costs for pilot plants (this would work out to $.35/gal over the 20-year life of a facility); future capital costs are expected to be lower. Corn to ethanol plants cost roughly $1–3/annual gallon capacity, though the cost of the corn itself is considerably greater than for switchgrass or waste biomass.

The quest for alternative sources of energy has provided many ways to produce electricity, such as wind farms, hydropower, or solar cells. However, about 20% of total energy consumption is dedicated to transportation (i.e., cars, planes, lorries/trucks, etc.) and currently requires energy-dense liquid fuels such as gasoline, diesel fuel, or kerosene. These fuels are all obtained by refining petroleum. This dependency on oil has two major drawbacks: burning fossil fuels such as oil may contribute to global warming; and for net-consuming countries like the United States, importing oil creates a dependency on oil-producing countries.

As of 2007, ethanol is produced mostly from sugars or starches, obtained from fruits and grains. In contrast, cellulosic ethanol is obtained from cellulose, the main component of wood, straw and much of the structure of plants. Since cellulose cannot be digested by humans, the production of cellulose does not compete with the production of food, other than conversion of land from food production to cellulose production (which has recently started to become an issue, due to rising wheat prices.) The price per ton of the raw material is thus much cheaper than grains or fruits. Moreover, since cellulose is the main component of plants, the whole plant can be harvested. This results in much better yields per acre — up to 10 tons, instead of 4 or 5 tons for the best crops of grain.[citation needed]

The raw material is plentiful. Cellulose is present in every plant, in the form of straw, grass, and wood. Most of these "bio-mass" products are currently discarded. It is estimated that 323 million tons of cellulose containing raw materials that could be used to create ethanol are thrown away each year. This includes 36.8 million dry tons of urban wood wastes, 90.5 million dry tons of primary mill residues, 45 million dry tons of forest residues, and 150.7 million dry tons of corn stover & wheat straw. Transforming them into ethanol using efficient and cost effective hemi(cellulase) enzymes or other processes might provide as much as 30% of the current fuel consumption in the United States — and probably similar figures in other oil-importing regions like China or Europe.[citation needed]

Moreover, even land marginal for agriculture could be planted with cellulose-producing crops like switchgrass, resulting in enough production to substitute for all the current oil imports into the United States.

Paper, cardboard, and packaging comprise a substantial part of the solid waste sent to landfills in the United States each day, 41.26% of all organic municipal solid waste (MSW) according to California Integrated Waste Management Board's city profiles. These city profiles account for accumulation of 612.3 tons daily per landfill where an average population density of 2,413 per square mile persists. Organic waste consists of 0.4% Manures, 1.6% Gypsum Board, 4.2% Glossy Paper, 4.2% Paper Ledger, 9.2% Wood, 10.5% Envelopes, 11.9% Newsprint, 12.3% Grass & Leaves, 30.0% Food Scrap, 34.0% Office Paper, 35.2% Corrugated Cardboard, and 46.4% Agricultural Composites, makes up 71.51% of land fill. All these except Gypsum Board contain cellulose which is transformable into cellulosic ethanol because they are the leading cause of methane plumes. Methane, a greenhouse gas, is 21 times more potent than carbon-dioxide.

Reduction of the disposal of solid waste through cellulosic ethanol conversion would reduce solid waste disposal costs by local and state governments. It is estimated that each person in the US throws away 4.4 lb (2.0 kg) of trash each day, of which 37% contains waste paper which is largely cellulose. That computes to 244 thousand tons per day of discarded waste paper that contains cellulose.[40] The raw material to produce cellulosic ethanol is not only free, it has a negative cost — i.e., ethanol producers can get paid to take it away.

The environmental company Wise Landfill Recycling Mining expects to start generating cellulosic ethanol product from trash early 2008. Their method also boasts of being not merely carbon neutral, but oil independent.

In June 2006, a U.S. Senate hearing was told that the current cost of producing cellulosic ethanol is US $2.25 per US gallon (US $0.59/litre). This is primarily due to the current poor conversion efficiency.[citation needed] At that price it would cost about $120 to substitute a barrel of oil (42 gallons), taking into account the lower energy content of ethanol. However, the Department of Energy is optimistic and has requested a doubling of research funding. The same Senate hearing was told that the research target was to reduce the cost of production to US $1.07 per US gallon (US $0.28/litre) by 2012. "The production of cellulosic ethanol represents not only a step toward true energy diversity for the country, but a very cost-effective alternative to fossil fuels. It is advanced weaponry in the war on oil,” said Vinod Khosla, managing partner of Khosla Ventures, who recently told a Reuters Global Biofuels Summit that he could see cellulosic fuel prices sinking to $1 per gallon within ten years.

University of Massachusetts at Amherst researchers have developed a streamlined technique which uses "catalytic fast pyrolysis" (heating to 400–600 °C followed by rapid cooling) and zeolite as a catalyst to produce cellulosic ethanol in about 60 seconds. They estimate improvements in the process should be able to generate ethanol at the equivalent of $1–$1.70/gal of gasoline. As of April 2008, the process has only been developed to work at laboratory scales."

"Cellulosic ethanol (also called ceetol) is a biofuel produced from wood, grasses, or the non-edible parts of plants"

Economic arguments on ethanol, revisited. Okay, currently U.S. farmers are affected disproportionately by higher gasoline and diesel prices: not just to run tractors, but because many of the materials farmers use like nitrogen is petroleum-derived. Now, farmers cannot just pass these costs along to consumers directly because they produce fungible commodities in a very fluid international market. Essentially, what ethanol subsidies are doing is allowing farmers to make a profit at a time when they otherwise wouldn't, because of these higher energy prices. This keeps more farmers growing, and encourages the ones growing already to grow more.

Essentially, in arguing for Congress to suppress ethanol-based demand for corn by stripping these subsidies, these newly reborn free marketeers would create circumstances under which many U.S. farmers could not afford to stay in business because they would face costs in the conduct of their business greater than they could recoup.

What do you think happens to the stability of world food supplies then?

It is a difficult fact for many Intentbloggers to accept, but farmers are engaged in a profit making endeavor. If the government makes it so that they can't make money doing it, then they don't have to.

Moreover, let's not hear the requisite "but it all goes to big agribusiness" canard. Not all of it does. My uncle--my father's brother--grows corn behind his house to supplement a meager pension. And his son, my cousin, grows corn part-time to basically keep the trappings of a middle class life in a time of stagnant wages. So don't talk about ethanol subsidies as if this is merely a matter of sticking it good to Archer Daniels Midland(ADM). It's not.

There are those of us who see Obama's position on ethanol as correct, pure and simple.

PS: If ethanol from corn keeps more farmers on the land for a time, that's a good thing.

Longer term, I would hope for a more rational agricultural economy. Intuitively, with the global food situation what it is, it is unreasonable that farmers can't make a living.

Reform of farm economics, like reform of the food distribution system, the sources and uses of energy, and many other urgently needed changes, can only happen in the context of overall economic reforms.

All of this is needed for global sustainability, but it has to be done somewhat methodically. Sudden, out-of-context moves (like abruptly shutting off ethanol subsidies without providing some other means for farmers to keep farming) will have precisely the wrong effect.

Britain faces calls for UFO inquiry
Wednesday, 25 June 2008 18:12
The British ministry of defence today faced calls to launch an official inquiry into a series of UFO sightings, including one filmed by a soldier on night patrol.

UFO experts believe the incidents, which happened in south Wales earlier this month, are 'particularly significant' because they included observations made by the crew of a police helicopter and military personnel.

The ministry confirmed today that it had been handed footage captured on a mobile phone by a corporal on guard duty at Tern Hill barracks, near Market Drayton, Shropshire, on 7 June.

AdvertisementCorporal Mark Proctor told The Sun newspaper that he witnessed a 'fleet' of objects zig-zagging across the sky at about 11pm.

The 38-year-old soldier, a member of the 1st Battalion Irish Regiment, said: 'I was on duty in the guard room when the other boys outside began shouting.

'I went out to see what the commotion was about and could see 13 craft in the skies. They were like rotating cubes with multiple colours.'

Former UFO expert at the British ministry of defence Nick Pope said that an inquiry to establish what had been seen by the witnesses was vital.

Mr Pope said: 'Something quite extraordinary does seem to be going on in British air space at the moment.

'There has got to be an official inquiry into all this and we need a senior air force officer to take personal charge and oversee the inquiry.'

Radar tapes, as well as footage of the incidents, should be examined as part of the investigation, said Mr Pope, who added: 'It's indisputable that something was seen - the very fact that it was seen by military personnel over a military base makes it a national security incident.'

A British army spokesman declined to comment in detail on the sightings at Tern Hill.

'The ministry examines reports solely to establish whether UK airspace may have been compromised by hostile or unauthorised military activity,' the spokesman said.

'Unless there is evidence of a potential threat, there is no attempt to identify the nature of each sighting reported.'

Yo, if there are aliens among us then they have been here for a long time. It would be quite the investment to get here.

We may not be able to SEE them any more than an ant can SEE us.

Even if they're poetry sucks.

Wait a minute, Did you say cubes. That would be the Borg my friend. They want to assimilate us into some sort of a collective. Sound familiar?

Deepak and all these people talking about a collective consciousness and that we are all one, spooky.

Yo, I want the nifty eye piece that Captain Picard had. With the cool green laser.

I wonder if Obama has ties with the aliens? He sure rose to power awfully quick.

Well I guess we'll see.

derek

excluding this post, hello to the five regulars...keith, richard, doodleboy, ed, y-one, & simon...and u all know who the other ^%** is...eeeuuuuhhhhh!

Hey Richard
Sorry if I got a little too playful.

Yo, there is something happening in our life right now that is so subtly powerful and so tied to exponential growth. Most mainstream belief systems are not set up to keep pace with it.
Science is doing it's best to keep up, while religion is getting left in the dust. Spirituality is also working hard to keep up.
How can even reason deal with exponential growth? It doesn't make sense to begin with. The idea that what we learned yesterday could already be out of date today. What we learned a minute ago, until what we are learning is instantly obsolete from moment to moment. Where does it stop?

How long will it take for such a dynamic to take place?

Will we reach a point where learning is obsolete. Where experience and being are not questioned.

Can we break from the cycles and live in a new moment every moment?

But then again the universe may have a trick up it's sleeve that will keep this pesky problem from getting out of hand.

derek

Yo Derek,
little quote from the 1600s:
"If you dissemble sometimes your knowledge of that you are thought to know, you shall be thought, another time, to know that you know not."

Francis Bacon.

Timeless, of course ;)

Hi again, Derek, (talking among ourselves ;) I was going to put a question to IB concerning exponential growth but decided I might be a bit hard-pushed for definition.

Hey, so now you've touched on it, I'll share your row-boat if you don't mind, and pose the question here in this lesser sea of sea-sickness. Pass the Quells, please.

"We all tend to think for ourselves, autonomously. Does that relative crystallisation stand in the way of group exponential growth?"

We'll use it as an anchor if it sinks, lol.

Display by reaching
All the same directions point
Ferris wheels delight

A lunchtime churning
To show up this retch again
A round of sarnies

````
Lead sinkers released
Corks bob to the top
No decision necessary

Hi Ed

You know; I am sure, there are many fragile psyches within the group that come unhinged without constant doses of hope and assurance they are right. So, taking in such traumatic information that this may not be true and transmuting it into life-affirming action may turn out to be the most advanced and meaningful spiritual practice of our time.

Have a great afternoon my dear.

Love
Bonnie

"Let me cut to the chase: If you want anything big to happen after January, you need to give President Barack Obama a big progressive majority. Period.

We need a more progressive Senate to fight for a better America. With your help, we can elect some more great progressives and take another jump forward to a government in DC that works for all of us.

Click on the button below to contribute to some great Democrats and work for a government in DC that reflects our values.

In my lifetime, there's only been one moment of truly progressive legislating - and it came in the 1960's. We've had great Democratic Presidents before and after those years - so why didn't we have comparable burst of major, dramatic legislative progress?

It's no secret - it's because it takes a President with big majorities in the Congress. Especially in the Senate where the truth is it takes 60 votes to do anything controversial. And it will take more progressive Democrats to fix the result of years of Republican assaults on our fundamental freedoms, our environment, and our workers.

In June of 2006, Russ Feingold and I stood up and demanded we set a deadline to get our combat troops home from Iraq. Yesterday, on FISA Russ and I stood together with Chris Dodd and voted against rubberstamping George Bush's abuse of the Constitution and retroactive immunity for the big telecom companies. Both times, we got around a dozen Senators to stand with us.

But in 2006, you spoke up during the election, helped us elect more progressive Democrats who agreed with us, and by the beginning of 2007, the Democratic caucus was united around a deadline for Iraq.

You'll watch that happen again and again after January if we elect more progressive Democrats who can help change Washington. As you know, I didn't get good grades in math, but I know how to count: we need more progressive Democrats and fewer Republicans.

Follow this link to help us get more progressive Democrats that will get us to 60 seats in the Senate and clear the Roadblock Republicans once and for all:

http://www.actblue.com/page/progressivesenate

Here are four Democrats we absolutely need to win to make that happen:

In Minnesota, running to win Paul Wellstone's seat, is a great progressive Democrat: Al Franken . Al's been a fighter for progressive causes for years and he'll be a Wellstone progressive in the Senate.

In my neighboring state of New Hampshire, former Governor Jeanne Shaheen lost a very close race in 2002 to John Sununu, a race marred by illegal voter suppression tactics by the state GOP. Some people have served time for that crime, and now it's time for us to put things to rights and elect Jeanne to the Senate to really represent the views and values of New Hampshire. We'll get universal health care for all kids when Jeanne comes to Washington.

In Alaska, Anchorage mayor Mark Begich is running against Ted Stevens, and the polls show Mark's got a fantastic shot at taking this seat. Mark's an exciting candidate, and he's been speaking out strongly in his campaign for the Constitution and our liberties.

And in Oregon, Speaker Jeff Merkley has a great progressive record, and he's running in a state that we kept blue in 2004. The GOP will do all they can to keep the whiff of George W. Bush out of Oregon this year, and we need to give Jeff the resources he needs to talk with Oregonians about why it'll take a Democratic Senator to clean up the mess eight years of Bush-Cheney have created for this state.

So please follow this link and contribute to these candidates right now:

http://www.actblue.com/page/progressivesenate

From gas prices to Iraq to universal health care and our economy, we have our work cut out for us. We can't afford to see a once in a lifetime moment of progressive legislating under President Obama lost to more delays and obstructions from the Roadblock Republicans.:" Quotation.

Hey Ed
I am a wild card indeed. I don't think we are in any danger of the few people who read my comments are going to put any weight in what I say.

I do get mischievous at times but that is my nature as it is for now.

Just playin' the Pook if may, dear Mr. Froud. I hope you don't mind.

But while we are in the boat rowing away, I will have to say that things are going faster and faster. While we gently row down the stream I think there are rapids ahead. I hope our boat will hold together but if not I hope we both can swim. I think Richard has the best boat, speaking only from intuition of coarse, not from learned knowledge.

I hope this doesn't clear things up but if it does I have a few more tricks up my own sleeve.

derek

Hey Diab, you got one finalist right.

It would have been great if my buddy and his Swiss team had gotten a little farther, but if one likes the beautiful game for its artistry, winning is not all-important. I don’t think any soccer coach ever said “winning is not everything, it is the only thing”, although some must think so.

When the Latins take possession of the ball with one touch, or pass it to the next guy with the same touch, that’s when the purists gets their kicks. The Germans are admired for their strength and will to win, less for their artistry. It will be an interesting game on Sunday. Germany against Spain in a final, finally! Wow. Viva España.

On the IB front, you, Diablo, still seem to be obsessed with the “multiples”. You feel it strange they all appear at the same time. But couldn’t we say the same about you, or Derek, or Ed and a few others. Mr Welsh and his club are here so often that there is a good chance they are here when anybody else posts a comment. That includes you. Does that make you Mr Welsh?

You, and the IB administration, seem to want me out of here, so I promise Mallika not to post between July 1st and September 1st and maybe not come back at all. Now, Mr Welsh may use this to further confuse you, Diablo, and disappear also or come up with other disguises. There is only one thing sure about this; it won’t be Skep even if it says Skep.

There is a reason I had to use different IDs and I may explain this before July 1st. My comments are direct and could offend many here, including Deepak, but I try hard not to get personal. I have called people gullible (naive and easily deceived or tricked) or ignorant (lacking information or knowledge) but never morons.

Many people here believe belief is a virtue and if you believe strongly enough it can become the truth. There is of course no evidence for this at all and that begs the big question:

Why do some people need evidence and critical thinking as a basis for the application of logical thought, while others are able to believe the strangest things without evidence?

Goodbye to That, too.

nice try Peks!

Welcome back, Bonnie!

.

Fishing fragile boobs
Catching flat landers for fun
Jerks hook nervous quirks

Worms are free to go
Hither fish lost on the road
Good tads have their poles

Mudslides down freeways
River folk generate quick
Bloomers ever loud

Big Mo showed me up
Dirty Miss sheds over roof
High waters fashion

"Why do some people need evidence and critical thinking as a basis for the application of logical thought, while others are able to believe the strangest things without evidence?"

How mischievous of that universe/God/human nature/nature/whatever to make us all different.

derek

pekS/BlogScanner/JustWondering/WorldGame: not sure what prompted your self-imposed exile, but I for one am not wishing you'd go away. I do wish, though, that you would share other facets of yourself than just the faith-vs-reason track you seem to stay on. I just noticed something (may be obvious to the old-timers here). Here are all the questions you have asked in your most recent blogposts (my websearch skills aren't the best, so I may not have got them all):
- Why do some people need evidence and critical thinking as a basis for the application of logical thought, while others are able to believe the strangest things without evidence?
- How can anyone disagree with your observation, Gotham, and the message attached to it?
- We all know that in the end we have to talk to each other, but if Democrats don’t talk to Democrats, what chance do we have?
- Should we laugh or cry?

Seems to me they're all rhetorical, and match with an old remark by our pal Skinny (or Steve, I forget who) that you "have all the answers". I’d like to know what you think of that. Regardless, I personally think that's nowhere near a good reason to get you banned from here; maybe there's something else I missed.

Also - *twinkle in eye* - whatever happened to the silverware deformation exercise?

Hello Keith. Thanks!
Glad to see you didn't get washed away.

Bonnie

I will be back

...riding a tsunami

Nest of tadpoles
An array of points perceived
Hard hold on the potential

Tsunami Of Silence

I was no-where near dry land
not in Chennai, Nanjing or Halawa Valley
when the last Tsnuami hit,
the Great Wall Of Silence,
larger than what I ever
had imagined of silence
as it were,
higher than all the sun-baked walls of Jericho
come crushing down
crashing in,
it tore my clothes to shreds and I was bare-faced
in all my unspoken lies,
undressed in any familiar
characters of which I most often do relate
oh, the trickster had laid hidden
like tender babies in Anne Geddes calendar hands,
I was dumb in an instant,
giftless of poetic or Socratic words,
Neruda was a drowning bird
and Cassals lost without his silver-mounted Mother-Of-Pearl Eye bow,
I ran hither and yon gathering my broken pail
I was Chiyono
looking for some balm or glue to put the light back in,
somewhere
to run to or from
to return this emptiness
that soaked through and through,
it clung to me
and it clings to me still
and I wear this new skin
and no-thing can I find in my new wet wilderness,
as if some impermanent yet eminent
final act of contrition,
I cough up more light
and wait for another drowning
watching with a newly found serene calmness
this volitional act of my surrender:
I dance with a bold blue-hued Shiva
into another golden-girded dawn
and the dawn always brings light to the
silent lotus essence
of a God-devouring night.

by Ana
Jan 2007

Ref #62

It is good to know that there is at least one poster here who does not think I am the other guy!

I personally don’t have any answers, and science does not have all the answers, but it does get us to the truth, or the closest approximation of the truth. Also, unfortunately, science may have had something to do with your son, but when they find, and they will, a cure for autism, there is a good chance it will be through the same science that fortunately cured the world of smallpox with immunizations.

That’s a far cry from pretending to know the unknowable!

You are one great guy, sWORDSMAN, otherwise you could not have written this:

“ One could just as well make the case, though, that I'm the lucky one to have him be my cute doorway into a whole new understanding of the world. So let's just chalk it up to leela/maya/that's-just-the-way-it-is, and look forward to the next moment as it unfolds”.

I may post something in regard to the silverware deformation exercise before July 1st, which will be, as always, removed in a hurry.

Parents magazine advisor Dr. Ari Brown recently poo-pooed allegations that vaccines like the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) cause autism. Here's why:

"Q. Does mercury in vaccines cause autism?
A. Thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative, is the main ingredient that gets blamed for autism, but it was removed from vaccines in 2001 and autism rates have continued to rise. Some flu shots still contain thimerosal preservatives, but you can ask your doctor for a thimerosal-free version. The truth is that a baby typically is exposed to 25 times more mercury by breastfeeding for six months -- which the AAP strongly recommends -- than by getting a flu shot. There is five times more mercury in a single tuna sandwich. Methyl mercury, found in fish, takes almost two months to break down and leave the body. Thimerosal, which is ethyl mercury, is rapidly eliminated -- within a week.

Q. Hasn't the MMR vaccine been linked to autism?
A. The MMR vaccine made news in 1998 when a research group claimed, after studying eight autistic patients, that the combination vaccine might cause autism. But in 2004, 10 of the 13 researchers withdrew their claims, and extensive research since then has also refuted this theory. Perhaps the most compelling argument against it is that doctors in Japan stopped using the combination MMR vaccine back in 1993 and started using separate measles, mumps, and rubella shots -- and autism rates there are still climbing."

http://www.parents.com/baby/health/vaccinations/autism-link/

Brown admitted there was a case, in which a patient was awarded a monetary settlement for getting "autism-like symptoms" after immunizations. But this patient appeared to already have a disease, making her more susceptible to the added stress of vaccinations.

What do you think, Intentbloggers? Do Brown's responses give you some peace of mind regarding the use of vaccines for your babies?

As Brown pointed out, as many as 14 million infections and 33,000 deaths have been avoided due to vaccines. So I, personally, am a fan.

I have a feeling that when scientists finally figure out what accounts for the worldwide rise in autism, it's going to be something that we can't even imagine right now. Some big surprise. It's possibly some combo of two or three things (environmental, genetic, chemical), making the hunt even more difficult.

I guess I think this way because a lot of smart and highly trained people are working on this problem, but we can't figure it out.

So there you are, Derek, bracing yourself for river white water whilst I'm all at sea, spewing up indigestibles.... I swallowed a row-boat.

Heath will like this article.

Andrew Miller talks to Joseph O'Neill, who has written one of the most acclaimed novels of recent months(or perhpas years):

'Cricket is my athletic mother tongue'

Joseph O'Neill's cricket-themed novel 'Netherland' has fetched him comparisons to Fitzgerald and Naipaul

Andrew Miller

June 27, 2008

[...]

...A new novel has just emerged that is taking the American literary scene by storm. The New York Times has described it as "the wittiest, angriest, most exacting and most desolate work of fiction we've yet had about life in New York and London after the World Trade Center fell," while the legendary James Wood, arguably the most influential critic of them all, has hailed the work as a post-colonial masterpiece, and happily bracketed the author alongside such luminaries as VS Naipaul, F Scott Fitzgerald and Salman Rushdie. High praise indeed. And cricket, remarkably, is right at the novel's core.

[...]

Read the full artcile:

http://ind.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/current/story/358238.html

***

O'Neill: 'Cricket is a metaphor for the boundaries of American perception. It's an invisible thing that they cannot see or understand'

Link to New York Times' Dwight Garner's review of 'Netherland' referred in the #71

The Ashes
www.nytimes.com/2008/05/18/books/review/Garner-t.html

Garner writes..."On a micro level, it’s about a couple and their young son living in Lower Manhattan when the planes hit, and about the event’s rippling emotional aftermath in their lives. On a macro level, it’s about nearly everything: family, politics, identity. I devoured it in three thirsty gulps, gulps that satisfied a craving I didn’t know I had."

***

Link to the 'legendary' James Wood referred in the Cricinfo article:

Beyond a Boundary
In a masterly new novel, two émigrés find a home in post-9/11 New York.

http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2008/05/26/080526crbo_books_wood

Wood writes..."In Joseph O’Neill’s “Netherland,” cricket is at once an immigrant’s imagined community, an emblem of foreignness, and, most poignantly, a dream of America."

All at Sea with a Tsunami, by the way, Irv. I mean with. Yo, Ana.

Freyja: there are many angles to the vaccines-vs-autism issue, so I wouldn't be quick to come to a conclusion. First of all, it's misleading to make it a vaccines-vs-autism debate in the first place. Most of these parents merely want rationalization of the vaccine schedule, and some accomodation for that subset of kids that has a genetic predisposition that makes them vulnerable to the toxins/antigens that vaccines introduce into the body. There are many individual vaccines that are hard to defend, especially chickenpox, and the Hep B vaccine that is given to newborns on their first day outside the womb(!! yes, Hep B, the disease that's spread by sharing infected needles or unsafe sex with infected partners).

And as for Dr Brown's minimization of the case where the government admitted culpability, I'll just let that issue play out. You'll doubtless be reading soon about the cases that followed it and are being heard in vaccine court right now.

For a balanced view of vaccinations, by a generally respected physician, try this book:
"What your Doctor may not tell you about Children's Vaccinations", by Dr. Stephanie Cave.

http://www.amazon.com/What-Doctor-About-Childrens-Vaccinations/dp/0446677078

Global exhaustion
Good news has left the building
Feelings crumble quest

The Old Golden Rule
Leftist plot meddling drama
Reframe advantage

Not to be undone
Cook up or shut up for less
See the riverbend

Here is a challenge.

Name one ethical statement made, or one ethical action performed, by a believer that could not have been uttered or done by a nonbeliever.

Also, can any reader of this column think of a wicked statement made, or an evil action performed, precisely because of religious faith?

The second question is easy to answer, 911 comes to mind rather quickly? And we all know how violent Jews and Christians were in the past and can still be today.

The first – it has been asked for some time -- awaits a convincing reply. By what right, then, do the faithful and the pretenders assume this irritating mantle of righteousness? They have as much to apologize for as to explain.

Paraphrased from a Christopher Hitchens thought.

"mind creates the abyss, the heart crosses it."

'I Am That'

mini, re #69: actually, I think it won't be anything out of the blue. I think it will be merely a result of fallible humans and human tendencies combining in a spectacularly unfortunate way. Think mistakes (both understandable and inexcusable kinds), the urge to cover one's rear end afterwards, the profit motive, our incomplete understanding of the human body, healthcare's focus on covering up symptoms instead of resolving causes, the environmental ramifications of our current way of life, etc.

I am a handful of wet twigs

Scott Tiger's poetic prose:

For a while you'll see me in the tip of that wave, me that little foam, a handful of twigs dancing, you'll know me for that little tongue that the mighty ocean stretches (often timidly sometimes as roaring leviathans assaulting the shores), tasting a few shells on the the warm sand (and refreshing it), rolling little stones and playing with them, polishing pieces of glass for the pleasure of the sun, (who sends enjoyment of greens and blues into them), for a time you'll think, this is an individual person doing so and so; but i don't know how long i will hold that shape, eventually i have to recede, eventually i am called back to the blissful, silent belly of all lives, the dense and mighty steadiness of all matter that never knew any lives, the joy-of-no-need.

Who's Scott?

The Mystery of Scott/Tiger in Oracle...

If you are a software/database guy you must have wondered about the username/password scott/tiger in Oracle...

Oracle guru Tony Jambu published this great Oracle history on the origin of Scott / Tiger:

"In the online Select Star mailing list, the question was asked-Why was Scott’s password ‘tiger’? Nearly every response got it right.

It was Scott’s pet cat called ‘tiger’.

And, who was Scott? His first name was Scott but Bruce. Bruce Scott was employee number #4 at the then Software Development Laboratories that eventually became Oracle. He co-authored and co-architected Oracle V1, V2 & V3.

For those that do not know, Bruce Scott went on to co-found Gupta Technology (now Centura Software) with Umang Gupta in 1984.Where is he today? He’s the CEO and founder Pointbase, Inc."

Ah,Ah

Ah, ah cries the crow arching toward the heavy sky over the marina.
Lands on the crown of the palm tree.

Ah, ah slaps the urgent cove of ocean swimming through the slips.
We carry canoes to the edge of the salt.

Ah, ah groans the crew with the weight, the winds cutting skin.
We calm our seats. Pelicans perch in the draft for fish.

Ah, ah beats our lungs and we are racing into the waves.
Though there are worlds below us and above us, we are straight ahead.

Ah, ah tattoos the engines of your plane against the sky---away from these waters.
Each paddle stroke follows the curve from reach to loss.

Ah, ah calls the sun from a fishing boat with a pale yellow sail. We fly by on our return, over the net of eternity thrown out for stars.

Ah, ah scrapes the hull of my soul. Ah, ah.

...From "How we became Human", Joy Harjo

Here I are Ed, now embracing the white water and heading to sea. A few tumbles here a few tumbles there, I lost boat a long while back. I'm glad you found my little row boat. I'll need it to drift around the ocean.
I love the sun rays in the water.

derek

hey there mate!
Derek,any need for oars for that row boat of yours?
just drifting warm on sunshine today?
that's a nice way to spend a lovely summer afternoon

love,
~ Kate

Ref #74 sWORDSsman

"For a balanced view of vaccinations, by a generally respected physician, try this book:
"What your Doctor may not tell you about Children's Vaccinations", by Dr. Stephanie Cave."

Well, Stephanie Cave published her book in 2002, testified during the 2001 autism-vaccination death case, but so did the Geiers and a bunch of other people who really have little expertise in this debate. Her name is listed here:

http://neurodiversity.com/weblog/article/128/

Her book is not one to read. Some suggested books:

Unstrange Minds by RR Grinker
Not Even Wrong by Paul Collins
No Time for Jello by Berneen Bratt
Vaccine by Arthur Allen
Vaccinated by Paul Offit
Anthropologist on Mars by Oliver Sacks

And a couple of very good fiction books:

Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon (mom of autistic son)
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon (former teacher of autistic children)

You would be better off reading the CDC Pink Book on vaccines, and learning how to find original research on the PubMed Index.

But, I did some of the work for you, here is a list of papers and resources (URLs truncated to avoid the spam filter, so just cut and paste):

"Impact of Specific Medical Interventions on Reducing the Prevalence of Mental Retardation ".... archpedi.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/160/3/302

"Economic Evaluation of the 7-Vaccine Routine Childhood Immunization Schedule in the United States, 2001"
archpedi.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/159/12/1136

"Health Consequences of Religious and Philosophical Exemptions From Immunization Laws "
jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/282/1/47

"Nonmedical Exemptions to School Immunization Requirements "
ama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/296/14/1757?

"Acute measles mortality in the United States, 1987-2002."
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15106092?

"Pediatric hospital admissions for measles. Lessons from the 1990 epidemic." pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=8855680

There is also a more complete list (several pages worth, there is a link on the bottom of each page for papers between 1999 and 2003) here:
immunize.org/journalarticles/conc_aut.asp
immunize.org/journalarticles/conc_thim.asp

Ref #74 sWORDSsman

"And as for Dr Brown's minimization of the case where the government admitted culpability, I'll just let that issue play out. You'll doubtless be reading soon about the cases that followed it and are being heard in vaccine court right now."

One is the Autism Ominibus case from June 2007. The first day's testimony for the Autism Omnibus has been posted here:

United States Court of Federal Claims -- Office of Special Masters
ftp://autism.uscfc.uscourts.gov/autism/index.html

and Autism Diva has a take:
http://autismdiva.blogspot.com/2007/06/cedillo-v-hss-vaccine-hearing.html

I haven't had a chance to peruse the PDF file of the testimony, but what the Diva reports is plenty damning. Dr. H. Vasken Aposhian's testimony is pretty lame. On the other hand, the emotionalism in this trial still worries me, as does the uncritical press coverage concentrating on the plaintiffs' "feelings" and only mentioning in a single sentence or two, down near the end of the article or report, that--oh, by the way--there is no science to support a link between vaccines and autism and the scientific consensus is that there is no link.

As bad is Dr. Arthur Krigsman, a Wakefield accolyte who also thinks that the MMR vaccine causes autism and "autistic enterocolitis." The Diva nails it:

"Today they have Dr. Krigsman on the stand. He says that Michelle Cedillo got damaged intestines from measles in the MMR vaccines, apparently. He spent a long time describing how he knew that her intestines are damaged (she has ulcers and nodular hyperplasia, inflammatory bowel disease, maybe Crohn's disease). He said when he put her on some prescription drugs to suppress her immune system, she stopped suffering from apparent bowel pain, diarrhea and that her arthritis got better. But if Michelle Cedillo has live measles virus in her gut that are causing the lymphoid hyperplasia, wouldn't it be a really bad idea to suppress her immune system with powerful immune suppressants? Didn't she get the measles in her intestines because the thimerosal in her other vaccination suppressed her immune system?

Does that make sense at all? "

Nope. Immune suppression is usually reserved for diseases with an autoimmune component, like inflammatory bowel diseases. But then no one ever said that the antivax contingent cared much for keeping their own stories straight. Any story will do, as long as it blames vaccines for autism.

Freyja: wow, that's a lot of info; thanks for the links. Homework for me during my vacation next week.

I'm curious to know your perspective on this matter, since you seem fairly interested/invested in the matter. Are you a physician or other healthcare professional, educated layman, related to someone affected by autism, etc?

Let me add, I wouldn't worry about the Special Masters basing their decisions on sympathy. They can be sympathetic and still find it against the claimants. They do it all the time.

Here's a good example -- the Grace case, in which the DTap was claimed to have caused "infantile spasms," a disorder featuring severe developmental delay and seizures.

www.uscfc.uscourts.gov/Opinions/Specmast/Hastings/HASTINGS.GRACE113006.pdf

The mom and grandma in Grace testified that Grace had been a perfectly normal kid until a couple of days after her DTaP vaccination, when she became almost completely nonresponsive. Special Master George Hastings compared what the family members said to the contemporaneous medical records and concluded that the testimony was inaccurate. He didn't believe it. He didn't call them liars, though, but graciously said that "it seems understandable that loving family members, desperate to pinpoint a cause for an awful disorder, may in such circumstances be greatly susceptible to exaggeration or to confusing the timing of events."

Special Master Hastings found against the claimants in Grace, but he was also sympathetic.

"The record of this case demonstrates plainly that Grace {redacted} and her family have been through a tragic and painful ordeal. The entire family is certainly deserving of great sympathy.

Congress, however, designed the Program to compensate only the families of individuals whose injuries or deaths can be linked causally, either by a Table Injury presumption or causation-in-fact evidence, to a listed vaccination. In this case, as described above, no such link has been
demonstrated. Accordingly, I conclude that the petitioner in this case is not entitled to a Program award."

________________________

Joey Nilson's case was even more difficult emotionally. The day after he received his DTP, OPV, and MMR vaccinations, Joey collapsed while at the playground with his grandma. He suffered encephalopathy leading to his death a few days later. The claim was that one of these vaccinations, or the combination of them, caused his encephalopathy and death.

www.uscfc.uscourts.gov/Unpublished%20Decisions/Sweeney.Nilson.pdf

The expert witness on behalf of the Nilsons was Stephanie Cave.

"Dr. Cave's clinical experience and focus on heavy metals, asthma, allergies, and vaccines led her to conclude that the vaccines administered to Joey on October 11, 1996, caused his encephalopathy and death. ... Dr. Cave explained that Joey was an immunocompromised, sickly child with a history of asthma who was on steroids much of the time. ... Despite that history, 'He was given very toxic vaccines. He was given ethylmercury and aluminum and viruses. And the very next day, within 24 hours, without any signs of asthma as he's had many times in the past, the child collapsed.'" Dr. Cave also thought it was significant that Joey received the whole-cell DPT vaccine because it has "10 times the safe level of ethylmercury, which can affect the neurological system and the immune system. It also had aluminum, which is a very toxic metal."

Special Master Sweeney concluded that Dr. Cave's opinion that these "toxic vaccines" caused Joey's death was scientifically unsupported. Instead, the evidence proved that Joey's death was caused by his chronic asthmatic bronchitis, a factor separate from the vaccines. About Dr. Cave, the Special Master said:

"Expert testimony must be "supported by appropriate validation." Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 590 (1993). Dr. Cave's expert testimony lacks
appropriate validation and thus falls into the realm of speculation and conjecture. Thus, petitioner's theory of causation rests on "personal opinion, not science." See Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 43 F.3d 1311, 1319 (9th Cir. 1995) (on remand from the U.S. Supreme Court). Regardless of how genuinely a theory is believed by an expert, the passion with which it is believed is no substitute for scientific support. In the absence of reliable medical evidence to advance a theory, petitioner cannot establish a claim by a preponderance of the evidence."

_________________________

It is true that serious injuries and death can occur from vaccines -- that's the reason why the vaccine program exists. I think that many of the cases filed under the vaccine program involve circumstances that are very difficult for the claimants. It doesn't seem to me, though, that the Special Masters overlook the scientific evidence (or lack thereof) in making their decisions.

_______________________

Ref. 87

In the Autism Omnibus 2007 case the emotional opening argument by petitioner's counsel wasn't for the benefit of the Special Masters. It was for the press. It was for the future jury pool for the case that will be filed against the pharmaceutical companies regardless of the outcome of this special proceeding.

By the way, did you know that, in a vaccine program proceeding, the petitioner's lawyers can get paid by the government even if they lose, as long as there was a reasonable basis for the claim? For example, in the Iannuzzi case,

www.uscfc.uscourts.gov/Opinions/Specmast/Hastings/HASTINGS.IANNUZZI032007.pdf

...the law firm of Conway, Homer, and Chin-Caplan -- the same attorneys who represent the Cedillos -- got an award of over $350,000.00 in fees after the Special Master denied compensation to their client on the basis that she failed to demonstrate that her child's autism was actually caused by a vaccination.

I suppose the reason for that is to encourage lawyers to take vaccine cases for people who can't afford their fee, thereby increasing vaccine claimants' access to the courts.

Ahoy there dear Kate
I think Ed kept the oars as toothpicks. So drifting along the surface and gazing into the rays as the disappear in the depths will do for now. Maybe some swimming later, I brought my fins.

peace and love

derek

Re. 88

I've got a few friends (five to be exact) who have studied clinical child developmental psychology, received their degrees and now work with autistic children. We've discussed the vaccine issue. And I personally know a few autistic parents who share similar views, and a few who don't.

(An interesting point to note -- not that it applies directly to autism cases across the world -- is that till the 1960 or even till 70s and 80s, in India, there were virtually zero clinical depression cases -- many researchers postulated that clinical depression(a well known illness in the west) doesn't exist in India; several ascribed it to the deep spiritual culture of the land, as against the stress in western world, or genetic factors or something -- but studies later found that depression cases were at par with the rest of the world only that they were rarely diagnosed ...due to the nature of Indian languages and their vocabulary, which limited the patient from expressing himself with the proper tools to give away symptoms of depression in his/her social circle and in standard tests. I believe the autism rates in India are low compared to the world rates, due to similar cultural and health care factors.)

Now if I were to belong to 'Age of Autism', 'Indigo Moms' or 'Turn Vaccines Green' etc crowd my perspectives would be completely different.

What's needed is better treatment of those with autism, as my friends in their very noble field have shown, that it just takes work and time.

it's a clear, blue sunny day at the beach! out in the distance the white top of the rolling waves seem small but grow larger as they wash ashore!

out in the warm waters are a few tethered rowboats, bobbing about aimlessly as the waves come in.

there's a brave, intoxicated man wandering out in the waters, frolicking....from the vantage point of the shoreline, he seems to be imitating dolphins, oblivious to the outside world at large!

just then... a female jumped into the waters and swam up to him... he seemed totally mesmerized and confused, but amorous and hopeful... they introduced themselvess...then locked in warm embrace...as they offered their real identities...what?

the man's name is revealed as doodleboy and the woman's kate! damn!

sWORDSman, thank you.
__________

Ref. 86 first URL...

http://neurodiversity.com

You will also find lots of resources on that website, since the owner is a super librarian!

Derek and sWORDSMAN, please try to understand the following:

An anecdote is not the same as data, and a coincidence is not the same as causation. The scientific method is not just one possible way of stating an opinion, but rather the best and most reliable method we have found, in hundreds of years of trying, for explaining how the world works. It is the method for arriving at the truth, or its closest approximation.

That is the honest and uncompromising desire any curious mind has, a desire to find out how the world works, starting by finding out what is true.

the tree does not know
how many read his words that
take root in our hearts

Freyja: all the info and background is much appreciated. It's always refreshing (to me) to encounter a person who can hold & defend a position strongly yet recognize the validity of others' perspectives.

WorldGame: I have no problems with you believing that the scientific method is the most superior one for investigation. I myself have a masters degree in engineering, use rigorous evidence-based methods daily to earn my living, and am usually accused by family and friends of being too logical or not emotional enough. I used to be very disdainful of people and methods that didn't rely on hard evidence, and have damaged many relationships when in that mode. But now, with more years (and less hair), I am learning that life is happening while I argue about what's Right. As Derek has pointed out, such arguments have gone on for centuries and millenia, and the world is no closer to agreement now. In fact, the righteousness around the issues obscures the more immediate need of the hour, which is understanding, and connection, and love. You have asked before - isn't finding the truth important ? I would say it isn't as important as loving your fellow man and treating him (and his views) with respect. Which is not the same as saying "let's agree to disagree", if it's merely a cover-up for saying "I think you're Wrong, and I don't want to work on understanding your viewpoint any more".

You posted that Hitchens point about righteous people of faith. Well, righteousness isn't the province of religion; it can be found in all fields involving humans, like science. And disdain and scorn are the first steps down the same slippery slope that leads to killing your enemies and bombing whole countries.

Welcome insiders brain machines
I hope you took time to relax and deeply meditate with birds and songs

Everybody is in
Mi-close the 5-doors
Take a big and slow breath

Are you ready for a shower?
The saucers are running
Let's the cells-brain being changed-crystal

Let it go, in the flow
Now throw me your garbages
Let it go in the round round...

Freyja: if you haven't checked it out yet, you and your friends in child developmental psychology may be interested in the Son-Rise Program:
www.autismtreatmentcenter.org

Ruth: not sure if I mentioned this to you earlier, but the autistic kid that was the subject of the original Son-Rise Program, is now the CEO of the Kaufmans' Option Institute. He (and the Institute) are doing some webinars these days that are fabulous. I especially liked the one on "Strength Without Anger":

http://www.option.org/video/index.php?video=Webinar20080507a.flv

The fish doesn't know
How many of us miss the waters
of life forgotten

In what is no doubt yet another amazing coincidence to those who don't accept evolutionary biology -- or those who argue about "missing links," to cast doubts and support mainstream Intelligent Design, or some version of it -- a fish with four, well formed leg-like paddles turns up in the fossil record:

"The aquatic creature, which lived during the late Devonian period about 365 million years ago, represented an evolutionary midpoint between Tiktaalik, one of the earliest fish to clamber onto land, and primitive four-legged land animals, or tetrapods."

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/06/080625-tetrapods.html

And would you believe the new critter, Ventastega curonica, was found at exactly the right time in paleohistory, and with the exact suite of anatomical characteristics to make it cleverly appear like a snapshot of major evolution in action literally cast in stone? I wonder, what the hell do these damn evil evoluushunists know about so-called "walking" fish anyway ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0puoduvfBxA

"Ignorance is no longer an excuse."

We are having some problems right now
Please take back your sit
Inside evening fresh air and stars
Please relax

We are crossing some turbulence
Please people keep your mind sharp
Sit inside the actual-present scenery

Yes, they are coming as usual
Shakers of bi-duality
Don't react on this flight or for sure we will crash
Keep constancy
In a few minute it will be over
Avoid to think about THAT...