5/25/2004 07:01:00 AM|W|P|projectpeace|W|P|"[Driving] over the cliff" Salon, Tuesday, May 25, 2004 Observations made in "Marching over the cliff" are accurate and insightful. Particularly astute was Mr. AbuKhalil's comment that "Bush's rhetoric...assumes that Arabs and Muslims can easily be manipulated by empty words about "freedom." Will Iraqis really care that Bush has now decided to demolish the Abu Ghraib prison?" No, ofcourse not, but that won't change 'the bottom line.' The "economics of punishment" dictate what happens in Iraq. It is even more profitable to build prisons in Iraq than it is to build them in the U.S. Think "cost overruns." Just look at how much profit has been made building prisons in the United States. The absurdities of the Bush regime have been so obvious and extreme that people seem to have lost sight of the true motivation behind America's corporate outlaw regime. Empty rhetoric fuels the Bush machine, but it doesn't steer it. The shameless, unapologetic lust for money at the highest levels of human governance is what is taking our country off the cliff. This is a clear-cut case of "You f**ked-up, you trusted me," and Bush is making the most of it as long as the suckers are willing to let him get away with the loot. "No honor without impeachment. No justice without prosecution." Paul von Hartmann Project P.E.A.C.E. Planet Ecology Advancing Conscious Economics |W|P|108549378036173236|W|P||W|P|projectpeace@gmail.com5/06/2004 11:07:00 AM|W|P|projectpeace|W|P|The letter that follows is in response to ""Abuse"? How about torture" The Bush administration has created a gulag that stretches from Afghanistan to Iraq, from Guantanamo to secret CIA prisons around the world. By Sidney Blumenthal http://www.salon.com/opinion/blumenthal/2004/05/06/torture/ May 6, 2004   "It was "unacceptable" and "un-American," but was it torture? "My impression is that what has been charged thus far is abuse, which I believe technically is different from torture," Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said on Tuesday. "I don't know if it is correct to say what you just said, that torture has taken place, or that there's been a conviction for torture. And therefore I'm not going to address the torture word."" So begins Mr. Blumenthal's fine piece of writing. What follows is my letter to Salon: "All Wars Are Torture" by Paul von Hartmann While you are at it, why not expose the mass torture of peaceful civilians, by the Drug Enforcement Administration? What exactly is the difference between taking a safe and effective herbal therapeutic away from people in pain, and inflicting agony and humiliation on someone who is otherwise well? As a person who has used 'marijuana' therapeutically to control muscle spasms and neuralgia (in my head, neck, shoulders, arms and back), resulting from a hang-glider crash that broke my neck, I can assure you that there is no difference at all. The "war on drugs" is as immoral and unnecessary a war as the war in Iraq, with even more victims and casualties. In the U.S., on average one police officer a month is killed enforcing drug laws that have no effect, except to enrich the black market, and make drugs more attractive to rebellious youth. In Colombia, Peru and other countries (including our own), poisonous chemicals are sprayed to eradicate so-called "drug crops"; displacing entire populations, sickening children, women and men, killing crops, ruining ecosystems, spreading biological weapons of mass destruction, obviating food security, violating national and individual sovereignty, causing justifiable anger and moral outrage. An election year is the only time it is possible to demand accountability for the insane prohibitionist policies of our government. Bush, Ashcroft, Cheney, and the others corporate pirates of treasonous ilk must be impeached and criminally prosecuted for crimes against humanity and subversion of the U.S. Constitution, if America is ever to regain the true honor and dignity that people have died to defend. It is horrific to think that denial in this country is so impacted that the atrocities in Iraq are a surprise to anyone. "War is Hell" and torture has always been a part of that vicious decent into the abyss of human depravity, proudly celebrated by our "War President." for peace, Paul von Hartmann Project P.E.A.C.E. Planet Ecology Advancing Conscious Economics http://formalcomplaint.blogspot.com/ |W|P|108386739168940582|W|P||W|P|projectpeace@gmail.com5/04/2004 11:50:00 AM|W|P|projectpeace|W|P|The following is from the website for D1, a biodiesel development company See http://www.d1plc.com/d1usa/index.asp?id=17&page=Mission%20Statement http://www.d1plc.com/d1usa/ MISSION STATEMENT Biodiesel will lead a transformation of The US diesel market over the next five years; replacing 20% of US petroleum based diesel usage with branded Biodiesel. The introduction of Clean Air Acts in several major US cities has resulted in Government policy to introduce a % blend of Biodiesel to all public services and municipalities. Based on the domestic demand, the US is positioned to take a global lead in the development and supply of sustainable, environmentally friendly fuels. D1 USA is positioned to introduce D1 technology on a regional basis throughout the US for the refining of various feedstocks’s either imported or produced domestically. Biodiesel - USA Marketplace Demand · 76,000,000,000 gallons of diesel fuel used in the USA per year. · 80-20 blend yields a 15,200,000,000 gallon marketplace for Biodiesel creating a demand for over 5,000 modular Biodiesel units in the United States or 1,000 large refineries.|W|P|108369684063305951|W|P||W|P|projectpeace@gmail.com5/04/2004 11:13:00 AM|W|P|projectpeace|W|P|The following information points to the obvious importance of seed oil as a factor in the world economic equation. That soya beans and other oleaginous seed crops are currently being used in preference to Cannabis is a poor choice, considering the relative sustainability, additional uses and agricultural characteristics of all possible crops. Obviously, if prohibition of Cannabis was not a factor, inducing scarcity and impeding development of research and development of the Cannabis industry, the competitive dynamics of the free agricultural economy would be allowed to operate, favoring the considerable advantages of Cannabis over more expensive, unsustainable, and inferior competitors. As development of alternative fuels increasingly favors biodeisel, pyrolytic charcoal and ethanol made from cellulose, the importance of Cannabis as an organic feedstock for production of non-polluting energy is becoming more pronounced. --PvH "The World Market of the oilseeds" World production of oil seeds more than doubled between 1973 and 2000/2001 Oleaginous seeds estimated at 307 million tons in 2000/2001 Vs. 128 million tons in 1973-74 in the space of 27 years it grew by 240% In 2000/01 soya was first place with 171 million tons (56%) Colza(37,6 million tons), cotton, (33.2 million tons), sunflower (23.4 million tons), groundnut (22.9 million tons) U.S.Production The United States is by far the largest oleaginous seed producer, of which nearly 90 % are soya. With a production of 85 million tons, they ensure nearly 30 % of the world production all confused seeds, and 44 % of production of soya beans. European Union with a production of 14,7 million tons in 2000/01 arrive only in sixth position behind The USA, China, Brazil, Argentina and India. |W|P|108369441597115097|W|P||W|P|projectpeace@gmail.com5/04/2004 10:54:00 AM|W|P|projectpeace|W|P|The following is taken from "Physic Nut," by Joachim Heller. IPGRI, 1996. Heller, Joachim. 1996. Physic nut. Jatropha curcas L. Promoting the conservation and use of underutilized and neglected crops. 1. Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research, Gatersleben/International Plant Genetic Resources Institute/Rome. ISBN 92-9043-278-0 "As early as 1911, Rudolf Diesel, who invented the diesel engine, made the following statement in a letter: “It is generally forgotten, that vegetable and animal oils can be used directly in diesel engines. A small diesel engine ran…with peanut oil during the world exhibition of Paris 1900, and which worked so exceptionally well, that the change of fuel was realized by only a few visitors” (Kiefer 1986). In experiments carried out until 1950, vegetable oils were used without problem in common engines with prechamber injection. Henning and Kone reported activities involving the use of physic nut oil in engines in Segou, Mali during World War II. Since the oil crisis of the 1970s and recognition of the limitations of world oil resources, this technology has received special attention. Most of the research was carried out in temperate regions with the aim of making available to farmers possibilities for diversifying in view of the increasing subsidy-driven surpluses in traditional commodities. Another argument for the cultivation of oil crops for energy purposes is the increasing global warming/greenhouse effect. When these fuels are burned, the atmosphere is not polluted by Carbon dioxide, since this has already been assimilated during the growth of the crops. The CO2 balance, therefore, remains equable.” A wide array of technical options is available for using vegetable oil in diesel engines. The filtered oil can be use directly in many suitable engines (Deutz, Hatz, IFA, Elsbett, DMS, Farymann, and Lister-type(India)). These include, apart from prechamber injection, direct-injection engines which can be used in a stationary way to drive mills and generators or in vehicles. All the engines were tested in long-term experiments with different vegetable oils…” “Transesterfied oil can be used in any diesel engine. This process is normally carried out in centralized plants since the small-scale economy of transesterification has not been determined. During the process, methanol, a highly flammable and toxic chemical has to be used. This requires explosion-proof mixing equipment which might not always be available in certain developing countries. An Austrian-funded project in Nicaragua is constructing a plant that aims to produce 1600 t of methyl esters annually at a cost of US$0.74 per gallon. G.F. van Grieken assessed the energy efficiency of EMAT (Ester Metilico de Ester et de Tempate) process is high, with an energy input:output ratio of 1:5.2.” A recent development is the “Schur Diesel” where vegetable oil (80%), petrol (14%), alcohol (6%) and a certain amount of an unknown component are mixed. This fuel can be used in all Diesel engines (Lutz 1992; Anon. 1993). However, owing to the unavailability of petrol and alcohol in rural areas of developing countries, this process might not yet be applicable for such areas. In general, it would appear that the technological basis presents no problems and has been resolved. Economic analyses have been demonstrated that physic nut fuel can compete with [petroleum] Diesel fuel in villages in Mali (Demant and Gajo 1992; Henning and von Mitzlaff 1995). Limitations of the crop The only real limitation of this crop is that the seeds are toxic and the press cake cannot be used as a fodder. The press cake can only be used, therefore, as organic manure. The low yields revealed in several projects may have been caused by the fact that unadapted provenances had been used. If investigation of its genetic diversity and its yield potential had been covered by adequate scientific research, this problem could have been overcome. |W|P|108369339770376559|W|P||W|P|projectpeace@gmail.com5/04/2004 10:37:00 AM|W|P|projectpeace|W|P|From Salon Technology Letters from Salon's readers, responding to Katharine Mieszkowski's "Just Say No, to Hydrogen." (The article can be found at: http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2004/04/29/hydrogen_no/index.html Letters in response to the article can be found at http://www.salon.com/tech/letters/2004/05/04/hydrogen/ May 4, 2004 The following is a letter that I feel deserves particular attention, so I am reproducing it here for people to consider: Dear Editors Joseph Romm makes some excellent points about why hydrogen is not the environmental panacea that its boosters portray. However, his presentation of the alternatives is similarly shortsighted.   Hybrid-electric gasoline vehicles are certainly efficient, but efficiency alone is not sufficient to address the myriad problems caused by the petroleum economy. While Mr. Romm mentions ethanol, he completely ignores what is perhaps the most promising biofuel on the market today -- biodiesel. Biodiesel is produced from vegetable oil in a simple process. It can even be made from used fryer oil recovered from restaurant grease dumpsters. Using ethanol in gasoline engines requires modifications, but biodiesel can be used in diesel engines with no modifications, in any blend with petrodiesel. Modern diesel passenger cars, which are currently very popular in Europe, match or surpass the performance of their gasoline equivalents in terms of efficiency, acceleration, noise, and emissions. A diesel Volkswagen Passat can be expected to get 40-50 mpg on the highway. Diesel vehicles available in Europe can get up to 100 mpg. These are not hybrids, and therefore avoid the serious battery disposal problems that hybrids pose at the end of their life. Moreover, biodiesel can be used in any diesel engine -- from a big rig to a garden tractor. Using biodiesel in these vehicles is proven to slash emissions in nearly every category. Because the fuel is made from crops, no carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere, and there is no need to secure petroleum supplies in hostile lands. Biodiesel is currently used by the federal government in the national parks, by the city of Berkeley, Calif., in all its vehicles, and by a large number of individuals all around the country. This fuel has grown so popular in the San Francisco Bay Area that the market for used diesel vehicles has become highly competitive. Unlike hydrogen or gasoline-electric cars, biodiesel has the potential to be a truly sustainable, domestically produced transportation fuel solution that requires minimal investment in infrastructure or vehicles. It is available today in most urban and many rural areas. For these reasons, I was very surprised that biodiesel was not even mentioned in this article. -- Carl Lenox |W|P|108369260207459090|W|P||W|P|projectpeace@gmail.com