Debra

I love this song. This Achordants performance of it was amazing. I hadn't heard it since the concert, but am glad to see that it has made it's way to youtube. I wish they had the whole thing on video since there was a lot of hilarious improve at the end, but they only got the first 3:20 at least. There isn't a lot going on visually from this camera angle, but do try to listen in.

Wikipedia

Wikipedia is fundraising. I know we all benefit from it so much, so please join in and make a little donation if possible.

Mr Peppers

What an athlete:

Gay Marriage Debate

Jon Stewart makes several good points in his talk with Mike Huckabee:

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Mike Huckabee Pt. 2

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

Post #100

A little celebratory dance for post #100. It took a lot longer to get here than I expected.

Most Dominant Center Ever

Shaq is probably the funniest center ever.

Coffee

Christoph Niemann has an interesting post about his relationship with coffee:

Parachute Use

Here is a sarcastic little article that one of my classmates pointed out from the British Medical Journal analyzing the benefits of parachute use if you fall out of a plane. The idea is to make fun of some of the criticism of using observational data to make medical decisions. Here is a little clip from the conclusion of the abstract:

As with many interventions intended to prevent ill health, the effectiveness of parachutes has not been subjected to rigorous evaluation by using randomised controlled trials. Advocates of evidence based medicine have criticised the adoption of interventions evaluated by using only observational data. We think that everyone might benefit if the most radical protagonists of evidence based medicine organised and participated in a double blind, randomised, placebo controlled, crossover trial of the parachute.

Kenny George

UNC-Chapel Hill played UNC-Asheville yesterday. The Tar Heels won, frankly by a bit too much. I felt pretty bad for UNC-A. 116-48? That's too brutal. I didn't see the game at all, but maybe we could have allowed them to score a little more? Put in the bench earlier?

And I also learned yesterday that UNC-A's Kenny George, their 7'7'' center (7'9" in shoes), had part of his right foot amputated due to a MRSA infection back in October. He was apparently pretty sick and was going to be in the hospital for another month. That's very sad. I wish him well. Here is a youtube clip of him playing (you can figure out which player he is).



He also had a good write-up in the NY Times last year. No company makes shoes in his size, so in high school Shaq sent him a bunch of his size 22s and they were reshaped into size 25s so George could wear them. Wow.

Obama's Weekly Address

Obama will have weekly radio addresses, which apparently, will also appear on Youtube. Here is the first one. I'm glad he's doing it, but frankly, it's not all that impressive. I want him talk regularly, but also to show us charts, explain situations, and tell us what he's going to do. I also think he should address the nation from television each week in addition to Youtube because most Americans, particularly those who voted against him, watch television way more than Youtube. I think that if he went on television once a week, it would help Americans get to know him. FoxNews is always talking about how "we don't know the real Obama, I'm so scared" yada yada yada. Well, if he's on TV every week, I think that'd help convince some remaining skeptics.

I don't just want him to talk to America when we're in crisis, I want him to talk regularly, explaining health care, social security, Iraq, and any other major policy issues. I know what the government is doing to make America a better place. I want examples. How is he making the government more efficient? How is he cracking down on corruption? I want a report every week on how things are going.

I know that governments, as well as everybody, has a tendency to evaluate themselves with bias. That's inevitable, but I want more communication between government and people. The news organizations will criticize and look for bias and report what they can find, so I don't think these government reports will come without critique.

Anyway, I'm being very demanding. But I'd really like to know what's going on.

UNC vs Kentucky

UNC lead by double figures four minutes into the game and never looked back. Unfortunately, they didn't really look forward either. After the 10 minute mark, both teams played sloppily, and basically to a draw, but UNC was already up by about 20 at that point. I felt that the UNC energy level sharply declined once a comfortable lead was established, and then they played down to the level of their opponent. I think that a lot of this may have to do with Tyler Hansbrough missing. He is so intense that I just can't see UNC slacking off like that with him on the floor. I'm not saying that UNC should have tried to pummel Kentucky, but they should have tried to play a clean, well-executed game. The incredible hussle and pizzazz of the first 10 minutes was amazing. Even Wayne Ellington was playing passionate defense and had a steal. Then it all sorta fizzled out.

By the way, Will Graves and Ed Davis were great. Deon Thompson had a great first half. I hope Tyler Zeller recovers quickly.

Obama's First Foreign Policy Decision

During his acceptance speech, Obama said he was finally going to get his daughters a puppy. Since one daughter has allergies, they need a hypoallergenic dog. Peru has stepped up and offered the Obamas their own national breed of dog, the Peruvian Hairless Dog, a favorite of the Incas. They have already given it to the US Embassy in Lima.

Now Obama has a choice: accept the dog and win millions of hearts in Peru, or find a way of saing "thanks, but no thanks."

Awkward...

Photo from NY Times

Labels and Politics

From Laugh Lines:

How bad must the G.O.P. feel right about now? It portrayed Obama as a socialist, a communist, a Muslin, and a friend of terrorists, and the majority of American voters said, “Y’know, we’re O.K. with that, as long as he’s not a Republican.” – Jerry Smith

Maher v Huckabee

Mike Huckabee had Bill Maher on his show recently to discuss Maher's film Religulous. It's a lively discussion.

Obama, Japan

The town of Obama, Japan, goes nuts celebrating its namesake's victory in the 2008 election. Tourism in the town is up 20% since the town linked itself to the candidate.

People all over the world are happy about the election result. Here is a related story about the reactions from all over the world:

Mr. Obama “brings the narrative that everyone wants to return to — that America is the land of extraordinary opportunity and possibility, where miracles happen.”

Myron Rolle

Here is an inspiring story about Myron Rolle, a defensive back for Florida State who is pre-med and competing for a Rhodes Scholarship. He is considered one of the best players on the Florida State team. He finished his undergraduate degree in two and a half years and is currently doing graduate work in public administration while continuing football. Wow.

A look at Mike Huckabee

I think I'm going to start making some predictions here on my blog. This is highly dangerous since it's sure to make me look like an idiot, but I do that anyway, so I might as well forge ahead. I'll tag all of my prediction posts "prediction" so that in the future it'll be easy to look back and see how wrong I am.

So let's get started. Mike Huckabee is my pick for the 2012 Republican candidate. This video is a little biased in its sample selection, but overall, he seems to be a decent person. He thinks a lot of things that I disagree with, but he thinks for himself and comes to his own conclusions, which is something I admire, and frankly, is pretty uncommon. He's very charismatic. He has a heart. He'll stay in the public eye with his television program on FoxNews. And I think he'll end up running again and being the 2012 Republican nominee for president.

Now whoever made this video has put in some side commentary between clips, so just ignore those and focus mostly on what Huckabee says.

I should also add that in making this prediction, I really have no idea what I'm talking about. There are certainly other governors and politicians who will run who I haven't even heard of, and someone could quickly rise and surprise everyone (like Obama did between 2004-2008). But even a broken clock is right twice a day, so I'll let these predictions stand. And while I'm at it, I should add that I think Bobby Jindal, the current governor of Lousisiana, will also run.

Post-Election Free time

This is exactly how I feel post-election:

I guess I still check fivethirtyeight.com anyway, just in case.

I love you, America

I remember how I believed the country would right itself during the 2004 election. That election left me stunned. I began to worry that there was so much corruption abounding that Democrats might not experience a fair election ever again. I simply couldn't believe they had lost. I figured that somehow, someway, the election must have been stolen. I didn't want to believe Americans could be capable of such an eggregious election decision. I was completely embarrassed.

Following the mid-term 2006 elections, I was actually shocked that the Democrats won seats. I know, that result was projected, but still, I figured that there would be chicanery and at best, they would make no progress. I began to realize that perhaps the electoral system wasn't completely rigged after all. This result gave me some hope about 2008. Maybe some Americans were waking up.

And now, my hope has been pretty durn-tootin' well restored. I know that Obama only won by a few percentage points as far as the popular vote is concerned. Really, the overall number of people voting differently from the 2004 election is pretty small, but just enough to make a huge difference. I know there is still a lot to be done, and I'll blog about that later, but I was getting a little teary eyed watching the acceptance speech. Beautiful.

And Heel yea! NC is blue!

Dollar vs Euro

Back on April 22, 2008, 1 Euro was worth $1.60, a new high. As recently as July 22, 2008, 1 Euro was worth $1.59. And then began a quick decline in the Euro's value compared to the dollar. As the US financial crisis has worsened, the dollar has climbed against the Euro. As of October 28, 2008, 1 Euro is now worth only $1.26. Wow. That is a 21% decrease in value from July to October, a three month period. Currencies just completely baffle me. See more at the Google Finance page.

Elections - maybe not on Tuesday

Why do we vote on Tuesday? It made sense back in 1845. But since then, it has become a hassle (at least in states that don't have early voting). According to the article, 25% of Americans who don't vote report that it is because they were too busy or had a conflicting schedule. There is now legislation to move election day to the weekend to make it more convenient.

Endorsements

I've been thinking about what the most devastating endorsements would be. My dad told me about a recent Will Ferrell skit where he is dressed as George Bush endorsing John McCain, and the McCain character is trying as hard as he can to escape. If Republicans really want to win the election, they should have had George W. Bush endorse Obama.

Nicholas Kristof points out a recent "endorsement" of John McCain by an Al Qaeda-affiliated website.

A look at "political analysts"

Jon Stewart takes a look-see:

"Liberals hate real Americans"

Here are the most interesting paragraphs from a Gail Collins piece in the NY Times:

Opening for a McCain rally in North Carolina last weekend, Representative Robin Hayes said he wanted “to keep the crowd as respectful as possible.”

In order to pursue that goal as efficiently as possible, Hayes then announced that “liberals hate real Americans that work and accomplish and achieve and believe in God.” This was an especially unfortunate turn of phrase given the fact that he had begun his remarks by saying he wanted to “make sure we don’t say something stupid.”

All this was a direct outgrowth of Sarah Palin’s own comments in North Carolina, in which she praised the “pro-America” areas of the country. But Hayes had clearly been absent for the day in scurrilous campaign school when they explain that you aren’t supposed to specifically name the anti-American parts.

Meanwhile, over on MSNBC, Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota was launching into the Obama/terrorist spin when she suggested that the news media should investigate “the views of the people in Congress and find out: Are they pro-America or anti-America.” So far, the only person who’s felt the impact of her call to reinvent McCarthyism for a post-Communist planet has been her opponent, a hitherto totally ignored Democrat named Elwyn Tinklenberg, who was stunned to discover in the following days that he had received close to $1 million in donations.

Making Babies in NC

Here are some interesting stats from the North Carolina State Center for Health Statistics on births in NC in 2007.

Youngest Mother	10
Oldest Mother	53
Youngest Father	14
Oldest Father	76
Sets of Twins	2,135
Sets of Triplets	63
Sets of Quadruplets	5
Sets of Quintuplets	0
Most Births Occurred on	Sept 14	487
Fewest Births Occurred on	Dec 25	208
Day of Week Most Births Occurred	Friday	21,207
Largest Live Birth	14 lbs. 0 ozs.
Total Births	130,886

Curious that the fewest number of births occured on Christmas Day.

McCain Rallies:

Some quotes from a NY Times article:

When a man told him he was “scared” of an Obama presidency, Mr. McCain replied, “I want to be president of the United States and obviously I do not want Senator Obama to be, but I have to tell you — I have to tell you — he is a decent person and a person that you do not have to be scared of as president of the United States.” The crowd booed loudly at Mr. McCain’s response.

Later, a woman stood up at the meeting, held at Lakeville South High School in a far suburb of Minneapolis, and told Mr. McCain that she could not trust Mr. Obama because he was an “Arab.”

Mr. McCain replied: “No, ma’am, he’s a decent family man, a citizen, who I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues. And that’s what this campaign is all about.” (He did not correct her false depiction of Mr. Obama.) At that, the crowd applauded.

...

Crowds in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania have repeatedly booed Mr. Obama and yelled “off with his head,” and at a rally in Florida where Ms. Palin appeared without Mr. McCain, The Washington Post reported that a man yelled out “kill him.” At the same rally, a racial insult was hurled at an African-American television cameraman.

...

At one point, after a voter told him he wanted to see a “real fight” at the debate and the crowd responded with a roar, Mr. McCain replied, “We want to fight, and I will fight, but we will be respectful.”

Then he added, “I admire Senator Obama and his accomplishments, I will respect him.” The crowd interrupted Mr. McCain to boo, but he kept talking. “I want everyone to be respectful and let’s make sure we are, because that’s the way politics — —”

At that point, Mr. McCain was drowned out by applause.

It appears that McCain is putting some effort into explaining to his supporters that Obama is a respectable person, which I appreciate. His television ads don't seem to do that though. Frank Rich writes that things have gotten way out of hand.

Heart Risks

A little post from the Wall Street Journal comparing McCain's and Obama's risk of a cardiac event in the next 10 years. This particular post says it is the risk of "death or heart attack":

McCain: 

17% - if he is taking blood pressure medications for kidney stones and not blood pressure, as his doctors claim.

22% - if he is taking blood pressure medications for blood pressure problems.

Obama:

1% - if he is not smoking, as he claims.

3% - if he is sneaking cigarettes.

So, as you can see, there is a big difference in health risk. Age is largely the reason for the huge difference. I have seen a couple other numbers thrown around, which don't appear on a well-known journal, but I'll note one anyway.

According to a Dr. McDougall, McCain's heart risk is 27% (apparently assumes diuretics are for blood pressure), and Obamas remains 1% and 3%. McDougall also says that "Over the next 4 years a man of 72 years has a probability of dying of 16% and over 8 years, 38%.  At age 47 a man has a 2% probability of dying of within 4 years, and 5% within 8 years." I haven't verified these calculations, nor can I vouch for the veracity of the website, but common sense says that a 72 year old with various health problems is at much greater risk of dying or further health problems than a healthy 47 year old.

All that said, for what it's worth, McCain's doctor says that he is in "excellent health." From what I can tell (which is admitedly limited), he is holding up well during the brutal campaign season, which I imagine would be difficult for anybody.

Neutrophil Attack!

Check out this cool video of a neutrophil chasing down and phagocytosing a bacterium. This is another video we watched in class. It looks like an old computer game, or maybe a cellular-level COPS televison episode:

The Inner Life of a Cell

Really cool video. Wish I had my very excited professor narrating for you, but at least you've got an entertaining soundtrack:

The Great Schlep

A video on why you should tell your Jewish grandparents living in Florida to vote for Obama.

Good Morning America "Balances" UNC

The ABC show "Good Morning America" visited Chapel Hill on Saturday, September 20. Students supporting Obama showed up in big numbers, but ABC removed about 20 in the front and replaced them with McCain supporters.

Lipstick on a Pig

Stephen Colbert cuts through the truthiness:

Obesity Epidemic

Our carbohydrate metabolism professor presented us with this data from the CDC on the rise of obesity in the United States. Notice that in the mid-1980s, there aren't even data for obesity. My how things have changed. Staggering.

I recommend just using the CDC site to get a better view of the data. I tried fooling around to make Clipmarks do a decent slideshow for probably an hour, but basically the program is huge hassle and I need to stop wasting my time with it. And it stopped at 2004 instead of going all the way to 2007. 

Michael Dukakis Says Something Funny

"I owe the American people an apology. If I had beaten the old man, you'd have never heard of the kid."

- Michael Dukakis, 1988 Democratic Party presidential candidate

Republicans Storm Back in Polls

I remember checking this 2008 Election simulator a couple months ago, and Obama was winning 90+% of the simulations, and I believe as high as 98%. Wow, have times changed. VPs were chosen, conventions were had, and generally, the attacks have gotten more and more slimy. On the Republican side, it looks like something is working. Now Obama is now winning 61% of simulations. Many states that were considered toss ups, like NC, are now "leaning Republican." There are still nearly two months before the election, but Democrats are already panicking. Fundraising is coming up short, while Republicans are going strong.

Anyhow, here is an interesting youtube video looking at John McCain's recent ads:

Oh the Hypocrisy

Jon Stewart Lays Down Some Truth

The Real America

Here is a little excerpt from Paul Krugman's recent blog post during a visit to the Emergency Room:

But here’s the thing — what strikes me here (as it does whenever I spend some time in a workplace) is how much the real America resembles the idealized multiracial, multicultural casting you see on TV. The staff here includes whites, blacks, Asians, Hispancis, a young Muslim woman in a headscarf, all mingling and working together cheerfully.

I wanted to highlight this paragraph because I have often felt the same way. Our medical school class is pretty diverse, and even the faculty is as well. I'm sure there are still plenty of tensions and I think that there is still a lot of self-segregation when people are left to their own devices, but nonetheless, a lot of progress has been made.

DNC Acceptance Speech

I just watched Obama's 2008 presidential nomination acceptance speech. I thought it was decent, but frankly, it paled in comparison to his 2004 convention speech. The 2004 speech was about the American dream; how people can be accepted and thrive in the US, and how that opportunity is unique, and how that opportunity is a source of pride for our nation. Basically, the speech focused on positives of America and it's potential. Barack talked about the unity of all Americans; we're all in this together. It's impressive to watch how the crowd grows more and more excited as they hear the speech. I remember reading an article about it a day later proclaiming "A Star Is Born," talking about how Obama made an incredible impression. I watched the speech and was impressed with how well he captured the moment. Re-watching the speech now, I found it fascinating to see that he talks about hope, a word which has become synonymous with his campaign this year.

The 2008 speech, however, didn't quite stir me. Sure, I liked the platform planks, his plans for energy independence, getting out of Iraq responsibly, offering college education to those who serve their communities, and many more. I liked that he did mention the American dream. But I suppose that what turned me off were all of the negative comments about McCain and Bush. I think that the hope and positive message in the 2004 speech were what made it so special. I found the shots at McCain to be unnecessary and out of place. A lot of them were from old information, like bring up his economic advisor's "nation of whiners" comment. That was from months ago. If people are undecided or voted for Bush or McCain at some point in the past, but are curious and happen to be tuning into the DNC, they're probably going to be turned off to hear the candidate bashing the other candidate. I think that there is plenty of room for criticizing other candidates, but doing it while the national spotlight is on you isn't really the best timing. I think it'd be fine if Obama created a youtube channel and posted videos of John McCain contradicting himself, saying stupid comments, and generally making himself look bad. Or if he put such ads on television for voters to see. I think that's a better place to criticize someone. But if the country is tuning in for a convention, and times are bad, I think they're going to want hope and encouragement more than seeing the blame game old cracks on Bush. Some people don't appreciate it when you say mean things, but I think appreciates inspiration. Anyway, I'm mostly rambling at this point and I only heard his speech live, so I should think a little more before I write anything else.

Here is the 2004 speech in case you haven't seen it in a while:

Part 1:


Part 2:

Live Explosive Removed From Soldier's Body

Here is an inspiring video they showed us in school about a soldier in Afghanistan who was impaled with a live RPG. He was airlifted out and operated on to remove the live explosive from his body. Wow.

How The Democrats Can Blow It....in Six Easy Steps

A nice little piece from Michael Moore:

For years now, nearly every poll has shown that the American people are right in sync with the platform of the Democratic Party. They are pro-environment, pro-women's rights and pro-choice. They don't like war. They want the minimum wage raised, and they want a single-payer universal health-care system. The American public agrees with the Republican Party on only one major issue: They support the death penalty.

via Crooks and Liars and Rolling Stone

Holy Ghost

From xkcd

Energy Policy

Crooks and Liars had an interesting post about the Republican response to Obama's energy policy.

A Comparison of Bush and Obama

As Obama spoke to over 100,000 cheering people recently in Berlin, I couldn't help remember what happened when President Bush spoke in Germany. A couple days before I arrived in Germany in 2005, Bush had visited. Though I didn't hear much about it in the US, once I got to Germany, I heard that thousands of people showed up to protest his official visit. I have a feeling that these protests were only minimally covered in the American media as I spent some time searching and had a difficult time finding an article about it in English. As reported in the German magazine Spiegel, about 12,000 people protested to show their displeasure with the American president. Turns out that Germans have built a tradition of protesting Bush on every visit he made over the last six years (article in English), until his visit this past June, when the Germans gave up. American foreign relations has come a long way in the last few months.

Education in America

I just wanted to direct you to a good piece by David Brooks in the NY Times about the slide of education in America over the last 40 years. He terms it "The Biggest Issue." Let's hope he really considers it the biggest issue when he votes this November:

If you look at Barack Obama’s education proposals — especially his emphasis on early childhood — you see that they flow naturally and persuasively from this research [on the importance of early childhood education]... McCain’s policies seem largely oblivious to these findings. There’s some vague talk about school choice, but Republicans are inept when talking about human capital policies.

Nozzle Rage

A little video about gasoline:


via: Essays and Effluvia

New Yorker and Obama

Lost in all of the hoopla surrounding this week's controversial New Yorker cover is the fact that the article inside about Obama is quite interesting. The sprawling article discussing Obama's entrance into and ascension in Chicago politics, which is a topic I've heard little about. It hasn't always been easy for the golden boy, and he even lost a congressional race. But, as far as I can tell, he has seemed to be pretty ideologically consistent throughout. I'd recommend reading the physical magazine rather than the piece online just so that you don't have to stare into a computer screen for too long.

Picken' Green Energy

Looks like oilman and corporate raider T. Boone Pickens is doing something good and honest at age 80. His efforts to invest in green energy are impressive and I hope he has enough sway to pull some other oilmen and energy lobbyists in with him. I'm rather impressed that someone who funded the Swiftboating of John Kerry is going green; quite a turn around, and let's hope that he can keep it real.

Marilyn Einstein

Check out this cool effect: if you look at the picture from up close, it's Einstein. If you back up 15 feet, it's Marilyn Monroe. Crazy. How does someone go about inventing this or get the idea for this? Why does it work? It's fun to back up and watch Einstein's moustache disappear into Marilyn's mouth.


via Random Cool Stuff

Jesse Jackson and Obama

Oh news anchors:

via: NY Times humor

Warning: yet another Obama post

I found this article by Bob Herbert to be pretty representative of a lot of the concerns I've had (along with many others) about Obama lately. As Herbert sums it up, "the Iowa caucuses seem a very long time ago."

How Wine is Marketed/Purchased

A little anecdote followed by a link to the article:
The story is told of a sales call that Ernest Gallo made to a New York customer in the dark days of the depression. He offered sample glasses of two red wines - one costing five cents per bottle and the other ten cents. The buyer tasted both and pronounced, “I’ll take the ten-cent one.” The wine in the two glasses was exactly the same. Clearly, the customer wanted to buy an identity - the image of someone who wouldn’t drink that five-cent rotgut- even if he couldn’t actually taste the difference.

They always buy the ten cent wine, Ernest Gallo said.

Article can be found here.

Ira Glass on Hard Work

via 43 Folders

I feel the same way about this blog and other projects of mine. I know that the quality isn't great, but I feel it's a sort of working space to develop certain skills.

Bush Surveying Damage

From the Onion

John McCain is Computer Illiterate

Frankly, I would have a hard time believing this, but it's in the tape:


I'm worried about potentially electing a president who seems to not even use a computer, much less know how one works.

Credit Report Companies

Terry Gross talks with Elizabeth Warren in a very eye-opening chat about the dirty credit-rating industry. Turns out that you might have a terrible credit report because these companies make mistakes all the time, and there are few mechanisms in place to prevent errors, or even easily correct errors. About 1/4 of reports have serious mistakes that hurt someone's credit rating. I highly recommend this episode of Fresh Air.

I love the subway too

Post on little boys who love the subway. Very cute.

"The Shack"

Here is a look at Shaquille O'Neal back in 1991, when he was called "The Shack" and playing for the LSU Tigers.

Barack on Ethanol again

In the recent issue of Rolling Stone, there is an interview with Barack Obama. The interviewer, Rolling Stone editor-in-chief Jann S. Werner, asks about Obama's position on ethanol.

RS: You've been a big supporter of ethanol. But studies show it doesn't do anything to reduce global warming, it's actually a less efficient was to produce energy than gasoline, and it's contributing to growing food shortages worldwide. Are you going to continue to back it?
BO: Corn-based ethanol I see as a transitional technology. We've got to invest in alternative fuels.
RS: This one is ranked pretty bad.
BO: I understand, which is why we're going to have a transition from corn-based ethanol to cellulosic ethanol, not using food crops as the source of energy.
RS: So you foresee this coming to an end.
BO: What I foresee is us transitioning into other ways of developing these energy sources. The fact that we had corn-based ethanol, and that industry has matured, provides us with distribution networks and infrastructure that can ultimately be used for other ethanol sources.

What to make of all of this? First of all, I had to look up "cellulosic ethanol," which is, according to wikipedia, a "biofuel produced from wood, grasses, or the non-edible parts of plants." Here is some more of what wikipedia has to say about cellulosic ethanol:

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.

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.[37] 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. [38]

I left the citation notation in so that you could get an idea of how much of that might actually be legit. Cellulosic ethanol actually looks decent so far. Wikipedia goes on to discuss how lots of paper, cardboard, and packaging which is sent to landfills could instead be harvested for its cellulose and turned into ethanol. This development could reduce waste sent to landfills, also a big plus. Wikipedia notes that it is estimated that cellulosic ethanol would cost about $1.90-2.25 per gallon; however, I'm not sure how many miles per gallon vehicles would achieve with that fuel.

Overall, this cellulosic ethanol is looking pretty good: reasonable to create, relatively inexpensive, and possibly reducing landfill waste. So the next important part of the equation is the green house gas effect. Here's what Wikipedia has to say:

In comparison to gasoline, ethanol burns cleaner with a greater efficiency, thus putting less carbon dioxide and overall pollution in the air. Additionally, only low levels of smog are produced from combustion.[51] According to the U.S. Department of Energy, ethanol from cellulose reduces green house gas emission by 90 percent, when compared to gasoline and in comparison to corn-based ethanol which decreases emissions by 10 to 20 percent.[47]

Not too shabby. Now maybe that page in Wikipedia was written by conniving cellulosic ethanol lobbyists, but I suspect that most of that information is accurate. It appears that Barack Obama is on the right track with cellulosic ethanol, and that he is isn't really pushing corn-based ethanol after all. However, there seems to be a lot of confusion on that point among the public and media.

As a side note, I just wanted to point out that George W. Bush actually advocated the use of cellulosic ethanol a few years ago in his State of the Union address in 2006:
"We must also change how we power our automobiles... We'll also fund additional research in cutting-edge methods of producing ethanol, not just from corn, but from wood chips and stalks, or switch grass. Our goal is to make this new kind of ethanol practical and competitive within six years."

At the time, I had never heard of switchgrass and had no idea what he was talking about. I'm not sure what has actually become of these promises. Apparently the US government has begun funding cellulosic ethanol production projects, but I have doubts that it is on track to reach goals by 2012.

Taking on the Telecoms

The city of Wilson, NC is taking on the telecoms, installing it's own fiber optic cables to offer it's citizens broadband. While you don't have to read the whole article, it's worth at least scanning. I hope this idea spreads to other municipalities.

Say it ain't so, Barack

Muslim voters feel snubbed by Obama
My impression from this article is that many Muslims want to support Obama, but he or his campaign is declining their help out of fear of being associated with Islam. The article points out that he has done a few nice things and made some apologies, but I expect better out of Obama. He is supposed to be a leader, not a panderer. Lots of Americans are wrongly suspicious of anything or anyone connect to Islam. We need a real leader to step up and work to end this prejudice rather than shy away. When his website says that his being called a Muslim is a smear, that wording in itself is offensive to Muslims. If he is campaigning on unity, he needs to walk the walk.

Kudos to Jon Stewart for making fun of Obama for his recent fumblings, like his new campaign logo and the public campaign finance rejection.


It's good to see Stewart is still trying to be a straight shooter. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what's wrong with publicly financed campaigns, and I wish Obama would explain himself a little better on that issue. Had he said this and explained himself from the get-go rather than changing his mind after having a record fund-raising campaign in the primaries, it wouldn't be an issue. All of the clips of Democrats defending Obama's decision also fail to give explanation of why he declined public finance or explain how his decision is "reforming" public finance.

After a little research, perhaps this is why Obama has turned down public funding, although I still wish he would clarify it a bit more:
"Mr Obama's clear financial advantage over Mr McCain is offset in part by the resources of the Republican National Committee, which has far more money in the bank than the Democratic National Committee. Both national parties can spend money on behalf of the presidential candidates outside of public funding laws."

And lastly, for this post anyway, I'm a little bit concerned about Obama's close ties to ethanol, as written about in the NY Times. This may be an issue to follow more closely in the future as I'm not sure Obama has actually done anything wrong so far, though he appears to support corn-based ethanol as an alternative fuel. I'm not entirely familiar with the economics and science behind this issue, but it seems to me that corn-based ethanol is not particularly efficient and may have played a role in the global rise in food prices this past year. Paul Krugman has written about the problems with corn-based ethanol. Sugarcane-based ethanol seems to be much more efficient, but currently all sugarcane ethanol imports are tariffed to protect American corn ethanol. McCain has the exact opposite stance on corn-based ethanol and wants to lift the tariffs on sugarcane ethanol. Although I'm still trying to make sense of all of this, I think that McCain may have a good point.

Unemployment

"Senate Republicans blocked a bill that would extend unemployment benefits to all Americans for three months. One can only hope they’ll regret this decision after November." – Will Durst

from: http://laughlines.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/19/15-lobster-tails-in-his-pants/

"Straight Talk Express"

Obama and Foreign Affairs

From Thomas Friedman:
It would not be an exaggeration to say that the Democrats’ nomination of Obama as their candidate for president has done more to improve America’s image abroad — an image dented by the Iraq war, President Bush’s invocation of a post-9/11 “crusade,” Abu Ghraib, Guantánamo Bay and the xenophobic opposition to Dubai Ports World managing U.S. harbors — than the entire Bush public diplomacy effort for seven years.

I realize that that is just his opinion, but I tend to think it is accurate. I would modify it by adding that I think that Hillary Clinton's campaign has also helped generate tons of interest too, and to have Hillary and Obama going punch-for-punch for the nomination has just been a perfect storm. I have spent time in Latin America and Asia during this election cycle, and I could not have possibly foreseen the incredible foreign interest in the American primaries. Usually Americans don't even pay attention to their own primaries, and only half of them even bother to vote in their own elections. But this year, not only do Americans care, people all over the world care. Doctors in Nicaragua were telling me about how they just had to check the television to see who won Texas and Ohio before they went to bed. When Obama won the North Carolina primary, that was front-page news in Japan's leading national newspapers, like the Yomiuri Shimbun. Even middle-school kids at my girlfriend's school follow the campaign, though many seem to think that the election is between Clinton and Obama and may not even realize that McCain is also running. The basic point is that this election, particularly the Democratic primaries, has generated astounding interest in US politics, and based on my conversations with folks abroad, I think it has greatly helped the image of the US.

And from Friedman once more:
Yes, all of this Obama-mania is excessive and will inevitably be punctured should he win the presidency and start making tough calls or big mistakes. For now, though, what it reveals is how much many foreigners, after all the acrimony of the Bush years, still hunger for the “idea of America” — this open, optimistic, and, indeed, revolutionary, place so radically different from their own societies.
...
I have no idea whether Obama will win in November. Whether he does or doesn’t, though, the mere fact of his nomination has done something very important. We’ve surprised ourselves and surprised the world and, in so doing, reminded everyone that we are still a country of new beginnings.

Debt Culture

David Brooks had a very informative piece about the growing debt culture in America, from lottery tickets to credit cards. I'm very glad to see someone addressing the issue that so many Americans are falling into greater and greater debt. There are serious consequences. I first learned about debt from playing SimCity2000 as a kid and going way into debt and being kicked out of my mayor's office (aka losing the game). After that, I almost never took out a loan in that game ever again, and frankly, I've been very cautious about loans ever since. Brooks makes several good points about how our government has facilitated this transfer to debt culture, and some of the causes. Here is one excerpt:
Second, the transformation has led to a stark financial polarization. On the one hand, there is what the report calls the investor class. It has tax-deferred savings plans, as well as an army of financial advisers. On the other hand, there is the lottery class, people with little access to 401(k)’s or financial planning but plenty of access to payday lenders, credit cards and lottery agents.

Democratic Nomination

Now that Barack Obama has clinched the nomination, I have a few closing thoughts and comments on the Democratic race. One, I am glad that Hillary Clinton stuck in the race till the end. I wasn't particularly happy with the way she carried herself at points (good article on her candidacy), like claiming she had won the popular vote when Obama wasn't even on the Michigan ballot. But, I'm glad that every state, and even territories that can't vote for president, actually got to vote and have it matter.

I like the fact that the primaries are spaced out and it allows a lot of time for candidates to campaign in each state, and not just the swing states. A lot of people got to see candidates and go to rallies who would have otherwise never had the chance, and I think that this greater level of involvement in government is a huge plus. However, I hate the fact that some states always have their primaries first, and they have a greater weight in determining the winner. I think a lottery system would be a major help in democratizing the process.

I thought that Gail Collins made some very nice points about Hillary Clinton's candidacy in her recent op-ed piece. In particular, I liked this section:
So many battles against prejudice are won when people get used to seeing women and minorities in roles that only white men had held before. By the end of those 54 primaries and caucuses, Hillary had made a woman running for president seem normal.

I believe that the next woman who runs for president will have a much easier path thanks to Clinton. She did put up with a lot of unnecessary crap from the media. I couldn't believe how many professionals made pantsuits jokes. I don't think I heard any jokes about how the male candidates dressed or looked. But she kept going. The next woman to run will have a clearer idea of what to expect and how to overcome obstacles.

People begged Clinton to drop out. I would have appreciated it if she were more modest about her chances of winning once it was pretty clear that she was likely to lose. The degree in which she believes in herself is admirable, although it perhaps borders on delusional. But I do appreciate her sticking in the race and giving every primary and caucus a meaning when so many others wanted her to quit, which would have been the less democratic option.

I don't think that she was the best candidate for president, but I think that it was very important for her to run and establish the normalcy of women going toe-to-toe with male candidates for the presidency. Hopefully it will soon be normal to have female presidents too.

Blockbuster

The Blockbuster Living History Museum:

Historic ‘Blockbuster’ Store Offers Glimpse Of How Movies Were Rented In The Past
Thanks to Laugh Lines.

Numnah

http://view.break.com/512138

Early Look at 2008 Election Possibilities

Here are two electoral maps, one of McCain vs Clinton, and another of McCain vs Obama, from a nifty website called 270toWin.

It's interesting to see which states come into play based on who the Democratic opponenent is. For instance, with Obama as the nominee, Texas is currently considered (by these analysts anyway) a possible swing state. I don't think there is really any decent chance that Texas could go Democratic in this election, but there is still a lot of time before the election. As things currently stand in these maps, in a Clinton-McCain match-up, Clinton would be leading 239-168 with 131 swing votes still out there. In an Obama-McCain matchup, Obama would be leading 208-151 with 179 swing votes up for grabs. To win the presidency, a candidate must win 270 electoral votes.

This may all sound very nice and dandy for the Democrats, but they don't have 270 yet, and those swing votes are going to be very hard to get. I'm happy to see that North Carolina is considered a swing state either way. Hopefully we'll get some more campaign action this fall.

Car Dealer has Free Handgun Promotion

In response to Barack Obama's "BitterGate" comments, a car dealer in Missouri is offering a free handgun with the purchase of a car. Since the promotion began, sales have quadrupled. Wow. This saddens me.

WWF

clipped from brad.tumblr.com

Rob Riggle in Berkeley

I haven't been able to watch much Daily Show given my traveling, but I just watched a series of old clips on The Daily Show website. This one in particular caught my eye because it is critical of liberals. I never knew that Rob Riggle was in the Marines. I've enjoyed his work in the past, but knowing he is a veteran probably increases the value I place on his reporting for the war-related pieces that he often does.

Tom Waits Interview

I was just recently reading this great Tom Waits interview. Here is an excerpt:

Q: Can you tell me an odd thing that happened in an odd place? Any thoughts?
A: A Japanese freighter had been torpedoed during WWII and it’s at the bottom of Tokyo Harbor with a large hole in her hull. A team of engineers was called together to solve the problem of raising the wounded vessel to the surface. One of the engineers tackling this puzzle said he remembered seeing a Donald Duck cartoon when he was a boy where there was a boat at the bottom of the ocean with a hole in its hull, and they injected it with ping-pong balls and it floated up. The skeptical group laughed but one of the experts was willing to give it a try. Of course, where in the world would you find twenty million ping-pong balls but in Tokyo? It turned out to be the perfect solution. The balls were injected into the hull and it floated to the surface, the engineer was altered. Moral- solutions to problems are always found at an entirely different level; also, believe in yourself in the face of impossible odds.

Things Younger Than John McCain

This is a humorous blog, but I think that it makes a good point about his age.

Mass Transit in the US!

Recently mass transit has been getting some attention in the car-dependent USA thanks to the spiraling gas prices. In North Carolina, the Amtrak line has had a 20% increase in passengers compared to the same time last year. Thanks to Sam for showing me that article.

Another similar article that caught my eye was linked to from Paul Krugman's blog. The article notes that mass transit use is up 10-15% in cities in the West and South were driving culture is the strongest and mass transit options are more limited. I consider the increase in mass transit usage to be very good news. I hope we start investing in more mass transit options.

Dumb as We Wanna Be

Here's a link to a good article by Thomas Friedman of the NY Times about our energy policy:
"The McCain-Clinton gas holiday proposal is a perfect example of what energy expert Peter Schwartz of Global Business Network describes as the true American energy policy today: 'Maximize demand, minimize supply and buy the rest from the people who hate us the most.'"

Let's hope we come to our senses soon.

Baracky

So I'm a little late getting to this one, but it's humorous:

Newsweek

I was looking over the April 21st Newsweek this afternoon, and ran across an article on Obama titled "A Man at Home in the World." It had a picture of him at a rally in Kenya, and other picture of him on a poster in the city of Obama, Japan. I thought that this would be a wonderful article on how Obama is the most globalized candidate, the choice of the world, if they could vote. Wow was I mistaken.

After glancing at the exciting pictures, I began to read the pull out quotes and captions, which are larger and more obvious to readers than the article itself. Let's look at them and see what we can deduce about the article:

"Obama says he knows the globe better than his rivals. Does he know it too well?"
My thoughts: Of course "knowing the globe" too well is a serious problem that is going to hurt his candidacy and would devastate his presidency. It's not like we live in a globalized society where knowing other countries and cultures is important. Just kidding.

"Hearts and Minds: Obama, in Nairobi on a 2006 trip, says he knows intuitively about how others see America"
My thoughts: If someone claimed to "intuitively" know how others see America, that would sound arrogant. Too bad there are no such quotes or even references from Obama along those lines in the entire article.

"He played hide-and-seek in the local mosque, dueled with bamboo sticks, learned dirty words in Indonesian."
My thoughts:This pull out quote isn't even too bad, although it does just happen to reinforce the false notion that he is Muslim, which is one of the reasons many Americans refuse to vote for him.

"The more Obama-mania sweeps the world, the more suspicious his background becomes to some."
My thoughts: Who thinks it's suspicious? Obviously, they've neglected to mention that the "some" who are suspicious are largely non-educated Americans who still think he is a Muslim, and that all Muslims are suspicious.

"Too popular? A poster in the town of Obama, Japan"
My thoughts: Yes, being too popular in the world is a serious problem. As it is, America and its president are way too popular and this has forced us to build way to many alliances with countries all over the world, so much so that we can barely keep up with all of the countries that want to be our friends. Just kidding.

And that is every single pull-out quote and caption in the article. The article was about as fairly balanced as well. I guess what is frustrating me is that the media appear to be doing the same thing to Obama that they did to Kerry. They took a clearly superior candidate and tried to suggest that his strengths are weaknesses. For instance, John Kerry's patriotism and heroism in the Vietnam War was turned into anti-Americanism and lies about his combat service. I see the same thing happening here with Obama's global and multicultural experiences. I would consider trying to find the article online and linking to it so that you could read it with disgust too, but I don't want you to accidentally click on an advertising link and give them money.

Obama and the Media

I tried to post this yesterday, but Clipmarks seems to be acting up.

clipped from editorialcartoonists.com

Jeremiah Wright

I stole this video from my dad's blog because it's revealing of whom Jeremiah Wright is and also of what the media is doing.

Nothing but Net

I prefer to rave about the under-credited or unexpected guys who do well. I don't often rave about Tyler Hansbrough because everyone else does, and it's obvious that he's a huge part of our success. However, after his unexpected barrage of swished jumpers against Louisville, I need to make an exception.

Here is a quote from Basketball Prospectus' John Gasaway on Hansbrough's performance:
Hansbrough's fusillade of 17-foot jumpers, launched from the seams of the Louisville zone, represents an ominous development for North Carolina's next opponent (potentially, their next two opponents). If Hansbrough can make jump shots, it's unclear what, exactly, an opposing defense is supposed to do.

That line gets me quite excited, though I don't want to get too overconfident just yet. I can't wait for the day when people are saying "Yeah, Hansbrough, he and Wayne Ellington and Stephen Curry, those guys are the best pure shooters in college basketball."

I love this game

From Adam Lucas's piece on UNC's visit to San Antonio:

Now, being part of that thing called Carolina Basketball means understanding where you fit among those who came before you. In the summer, former players return for pickup games. The trash talk flows, but there is only one ultimate final word.

"The guys who come back from that '05 team, if you say anything to them, they just point at their title banner," Wayne Ellington said. "There's nothing you can say to that. That's why you come to North Carolina, to win championships."

And let's hope we do just that. The stage is now set: all #1 seeds that spent most of the tournament crushing opponents. High stakes and great teams. I feel like this year's #1 seeds are substantially better than last year's. This year, the #1s have only 9 losses combined., compared to 18 combined losses among the #1 seeds last year before the tournament began. Whichever team can survive this Final Four certainly deserves the title.

El Gran Baile

That's how you say "The Big Dance" in Spanish, in case you were wondering. Exciting times this March. UNC has just earned a Final Four birth, along with UCLA. Personally, I'm hoping that fellow #1 seeds Kansas and Memphis also make it to San Antonio for what would be one of the most hyped Final Fours ever. Never before have all four #1 seeds made it. I want to be playing the best of the best. I want double and triple overtime games. I want it to be considered the best tournament of all time. And I want UNC to win. Let's hope for the best.

So that's why everyone hates taxes

I remember growing up and hearing adults complain about taxes. A lot. One of my first "favorite songs" was Taxman by the Beatles, but mostly because it had a rocking guitar, not really because of the content. I thought adults thought it was cool to hate paying taxes and I thought that it was because they felt like their money was being stolen from them.

However, I did met one adult who genuinely thought tax-paying was good. She was a Mexican immigrant who I taught in an ESL class at El Centro Latino in Carrboro. The ESL teacher said something like "What's something that people don't like? Paying taxes. Let's go around the room and everyone explain why you don't like paying taxes."

The first lady to be called on said, "Well, I thought paying taxes was good. It pays for roads and schools." I guess when you come from a place with lousy roads and limited public education, you appreciate what American taxes pay for much more than an American who takes it all for granted.

I really liked her attitude and since then have always felt pretty similar about paying taxes. Basically, they pay for lots of things help us all the time, like garbage collection and police protection. I felt that paying my taxes was patriotic and I feel like I owe the government a lot of money for creating a country where I'm blessed with incredible opportunities and safety, even though I certainly don't agree with a lot of ways the government spends the money.

Yesterday, I was doing my taxes for the first time. Previously, my parents had an accountant that took care of it, so i just signed on the bottom line and that took care of my contribution. Now my dad is making me do my own taxes, and my initial cheerfulness toward my patriotic duty quickly turned into frustration and anger.

The source of my anger is not the amount I'm paying or the fact that I'm paying it, but rather the ridiculous tax forms that we are required to fill out. There is so much financial jargon that I don't know and I have to look up terms like earned vs. unearned income, tax credit, itemized deductions, and many others. I know that part of this is just growing pains since this is my first time filing, but it's such a pain in the neck I can't stand it. There are so many wordy questions like "If you are a dependent older than 65 or blind, check box A, if you're a dependent younger than 65 or not blind, check box B." I realize there is some value to this, but it feels like I'm taking a standardized test. I spent several hours just trying to figure out what I'm supposed to do and what I do and don't qualify for. I have a college degree and I can't understand what they're talking about half of the time. The whole experience left me pissed off for the rest of the day. And this was just doing the state taxes. I haven't even started the federal taxes. (turns out I'm doing them in the wrong order, too; some of the state forms request info off of the federal forms...augh). I now completely understand why some people despise taxes so much, especially if they couple this frustration with a sense of entitlement to all of the money they made.

However, there was one silver lining. My favorite part of the NC tax form is where they ask you if you'd like to put $3 of your taxes into public campaign finance. Of similar significance, but of less interest to me, they also ask if you'd like to assign $3 of your taxes to the Republican or Democratic party. The basic concept here is ground-breaking: allowing the tax-payer to choose where his or her tax dollars are going.

Imagine if you could have some direct say in how the government spends your money. If you think we need to improve health and education, you designate your taxes to be spent accordingly. If you think the war in Iraq is a bad idea, you can reassign your defense tax money from being spent on weapons and instead have it go toward veteran services. If you think the transportation department isn't meeting your needs, don't support them with your tax dollars.

If you turn doing taxes into a game of SimCity, everyone would be begging for tax season. Okay, that's an exaggeration, but I would love to be able to put certain designations on my money to make sure it is used in ways that I approve of. This would encourage me to pay more attention to the government and it's role in my life, and also to recognize what the government does for me. This would be one step closer to government by the people. If I could choose how my money was being spent without worrying that it might go to causes I disagree with, I would be much happier to give it away.

Now some of you (all two of you who read this blog) are thinking "What, you just spent the first half of this complaining about the excessive bureaucracy of tax code, and now you're in favor of putting in more options?!"

Now hear me out. All I want (so far) is something like a pie chart, divided into different funding categories, like education, transportation, defense, healthcare, etc. If desired, tax payers have the option of selecting what percent of our money goes into each category. For tax-payers with specific interests, they can then subspecify funding from within these categories. For example, if you decide to give your tax money to transportation, you can specify highway buget, mass transit, green initiatives, etc. Tax payers who don't specify or subspecify will have their money used as needed to fill holes in the budget. However, I think most people would be interested in specifying how they want their money spent; I think it's part of our capitalist upbringing in America.

Obviously, this is a first draft idea for me, though I wouldn't be surprised if it has been tried before on some smaller scales. There would also have to be limits, obviously, on how much of their tax money people can assign. You can't have everyone going off on some trendy spending idea while some basic service is being starved. You could at least test out this idea one year with a trial run without actually following the tax payer specifications just to see how people actually want their money spent and compare that to the real budget. There are still a lot of details to be worked out, but the mere concept gets me excited. Magically, from this one idea, I have gone from having a bad day to a good day.