CCWS - For Will Power, It's Vegas Baby!

Will Power leads a group of cars through an elevation change before entering the front straightaway. Image Credit: Jalopnik's Las Vegas local, Curtis Walker


CCWS - For Will Power, It’s Vegas Baby!

Will Power - Team Australia edges out series rookie Dutchman, Robert Doornbos - Minardi Team USA (yes, that Formula One team) to grab the pole and line up next to former series champion, Paul Tracy - Forsythe Championship Racing.

So tomorrow, the inaugural Vegas Grand Prix takes off and will be broadcast Apr 08, 3:30 pm ET on NBC TV. Both Will Power and Paul Tracy start the race with one point apiece toward the series championship for 2007.

The race will be run in a newly developed area near the downtown Fremont Street area (to the west and slightly south) on a temporary street circuit ala the Long Beach Grand Prix, which is set to be run the very next weekend.

Inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix Race Course - Image Credit: Las Vegas Grand Prix


Along the temporary race circuit are new buildings that are part of the revitalization of the civic center part of town. The new World Market Center is at its center and it sponsors semiannual furniture trade shows attended by more than 100,000 national and international furniture buyers and representatives each year. The trade show complex will ultimately open year-round, but for now acts as a great photographic backdrop for the race going into turn one.

The temporary circuit also features a bump that gets the cars airborne.

Taking A Flyer - Bruno Junqueira #19 Sonny's Bar-B-Q Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone. Image Credit: Jalopnik's Las Vegas local, Curtis Walker


Driver quotes after the days qualifying from Champ Car World Series -

Will Power #5 Aussie Vineyards Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone -"I think it's going to be important for everybody to get through the first corner and go racing. I think this is the start of a new era for Champ Car. You've got a bunch of new young drivers that are in the series, obviously showing that they're quick. It's not the scenario that everybody thought it was going to be where everybody was saying in the off-season, Sebastien is going to run away with everything. He's starting near the back. It's going to be quite an interesting race. on the red Bridgestone tires, at the end I think the track also gripped up. But our car worked really well on them. I mean, we struggled yesterday with just niggling problems with the car. Not to do with the handling or anything. We were quick yesterday. We just didn't get a fair go. We worked on it, worked on the setup all the way up until qualifying today. Pretty much nailed it at the end, got a good run in traffic. Yeah, we did a mega lap. But it all started in the off-season. I think Craig and Derrick Walker from the end of last year till now; they've been working really hard. They really want to win a championship and I want to help them do that."


Paul Tracy #3 INDECK Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone - "It was a little tougher for us today. Obviously we made some changes from yesterday. But it just seemed like my car suited going over that big jump in the chicane. We just never really got a chance to capitalize on the tires. We seemed to either catch a red at the end of the first set of tires, then the second set of tires I had some traffic with Pagenaud, which didn't help. That kind of just killed our qualifying effort. I think we didn't have anything for what the time that Will did. I think we could have made a better showing. Really the opportunity didn't come up. We're happy to be on the front row."


Robert Doornbos #14 Muermans/Jumbo Supermarkten/Media Mall Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone - "First of all, it's great to be in the Champ Car World Series. It's obviously a new category for me and also for my team, Paul with this Minardi outfit. We started the weekend not very competitive. I've been sitting down with my engineer, which is going really well, our relationship. Basically he turned the car to my liking. We improved every session. It's a great feeling to race between the streets of Vegas. I always enjoy driving open street circuits. We only have one really in Europe, which is Monaco, only once a year. I'll be more lucky this season, I think. Yeah, it went really well. Just in the end we pushed hard. The red tires were a new thing for me. I had no chance to try them in winter testing because obviously they were not there. So the first outing wasn't great. Then the second run on the red tires, we made some adjustments to the car and it was a lot better. So, yeah, up in third place. It's good to be here, especially because it's the first weekend. Hopefully I'll be here tomorrow as well."


Alex Tagliani #8 Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone - "I am quite happy overall. I am just so thankful for the opportunity that Paul (Gentilozzi) and Dan (Pettit) have given me. I feel good about the RSPORTS team, and I think we are on the road to success this season. I feel that I am a good support for Justin (Wilson) and I feel that I have learned a lot from him and the team already. This is only the second time that we (both teams) are working together at a race track, so we still have a lot of catching up to do. But I think that we already have some great chemistry and that we are learning a lot from each other. I get along so well with my engineer Chris Lerch, and overall this whole deal is just a fantastic opportunity. Today's qualifying session went fairly well. I am happy with the #8 LXN2/RSPORTS car, and it is great to be starting in the top five for the first race of this season. The goal is to get lots of points, and obviously finish the race. But what is important is that we are running up front and I feel that we will be able to stay strong tomorrow during the race. I feel that we are in a good position with where we want the car to be, but we will work on making some more improvements tonight in hopes of being even quicker tomorrow."

Bruno Junqueira #19 Sonny's Bar-B-Q Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone - "I was very happy with a sixth place qualifying run. We made some changes from yesterday and I think we could have gone a little faster. We didn't have an opportunity yesterday to run on the red Bridgestone tires. It is a good place to start tomorrow."

Mario Dominguez #7 Telmex/Cabi Developers Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone - "Well it was a good day overall, we definitely improved quote a bit from yesterday. The Forsythe Team has done a great job, we've been making a lot of changes and the car has just gotten better and better. Qualifying was a little disappointing because I know we could've been much faster but I caught traffic, the cars in front of me kept slowing down and that prevented me from posting a quicker time. But the good thing is that we know we have a really fast car and we should be able to move up through the grid tomorrow. It's going to be a really exciting race, it's just great to be back in a race car I can't wait for the green flag tomorrow!"



Justin Wilson #9 CDW Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone - "We just weren't quick enough today. The #9 CDW/RSPORTS car felt OK, but obviously the speed just wasn't there. It's disappointing, because we were up there yesterday, but today it slipped away. We need to look at the data to understand how to improve the car and hopefully we'll be more competitive tomorrow."

Graham Rahal #2 Medi Zone Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone - "It's been a tough day for the Medi Zone team. I hooked it on the last curb at the end of the chicane and damaged the car so we had to get the backup car out for qualifying. The car was equally prepared. The guys did a great job getting it ready especially since it's never turned a wheel. Qualifying was pretty good but we just can't seem to get that last little bit; we need to find it. I know I'm giving my 100 percent so we need to figure out what it is. It's going to be a tough race. It's really hot out here. I think a lot of guys will fall out of the saddle. For me it will be a learning experience to go out there and figure out what I have to do. It's tough for me to tell if we have a good race setup having not run in a race"

Dan Clarke #4 Ticketmaster/Synapse Power/The Australian Pink Floyd Show Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone - "Last season I had my first third-place podium finish from a 13th place start, so I'm going for the double and aiming to finish on the podium again tomorrow from my 12th place grid slot. As I've already proved, it's certainly possible, so although I'd prefer to start higher up the grid and it's not going to be easy, it's not impossible. This year's field is very tough, so I reckon it'll be very exciting racing, and I know we have the pace for the race, so we'll be expecting to battle hard and bring home points from Vegas."
Katherine Legge #11 Dale Coyne Racing Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone - "I felt I could have gone about a second faster on the red Bridgestone tires. I have to improve a little more on my corners. I was very pleased with the results today, but I know I can improve on today's performance."

Sebastien Bourdais #1 McDonalds Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone - "I screwed up and brushed the wall on the outside of Turn 9. The McDonald's car had too much understeer and I just forced the thing. The car stepped out a little bit on exit and I was already too close to the wall and hit the rear a little bit. It wasn't that bad a hit but it bent the toe link and broke the rim. To aggravate things we had the clutch creeping so I couldn't' get into neutral, couldn't back up, couldn't anything so we were stuck in fourth gear in front of tires and they wouldn't push me back or do anything so I was stuck there until they moved me out of the way. We have 60 seconds of push to pass which isn't a lot here. We are going to have to be pretty darn good to get it (win) done but we'll see. It's a new track so we don't quite know if it's possible to pass or not. I think Turn 1 seems to be pretty difficult because everyone starts braking in the middle of the track so maybe Turn 4 might be the best option. We'll have to try and pull it off. We've done it before but it was a different thing; we don't have the car we knew. It's not the best way to start the season for sure."
[Reference Here]

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... notes from The EDJE

The British Military - Stiff Upperlip To Jell-O Backbone

Image Credit and Video Link: NBC News

The British Military - Stiff Upperlip To Jell-O Backbone

After watching the U.K. Sailor news conference on TV this morning, I'm left with a tremendous feeling of speechlessness.

What I observed was, at best, a civilian response to a military situation and the world is upside down. As the graphic from NBC News asks - "Where's The Honor?"

I understand the reality of the impression that "fighting back was not an option" but I really do not understand moving beyond Name, Rank, and Serial Number in an act-of-war military scenario.

Come on, just look at these British Military people in Iranian suits ... disgusting!

British sailors and marines waited at the airport in Tehran Thursday before boarding a commercial flight to London. Image Credit: Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

I just can't imagine being photographed this happy under these "captive" military conditions.

This from the MSNBC Website -

MSNBC News Services
Updated: 12 minutes ago

ROYAL MARINE BASE CHIVENOR, England - The 15 British sailors seized by Iran were kept blindfolded, bound and in isolation by their Iranian captors who threatened them with seven years in jail, they told a news conference Friday.

"From the outset, it was very apparent that fighting back was not an option," Capt. Chris Air said of their capture in the northern Gulf on March 23. Air said they were in Iraqi waters when seized by the Iranians.

"They rammed our boats, and trained their heavy machine guns, RPGs, and weapons on us. Another six boats were closing in on us. We realized our efforts to reason with these people were not making any headway, nor were we able to calm some of the individuals," Air said
Reference Here>>

"Nor were we able to calm some of the individuals" - Disgusting.

Again, this sounds like the recounting of an incident amongst civilians ... not a recounting of an incident involving one military hijacking another.

The British Military's only thought provided throughout the interview this morning was -- what do we do to get back home.

In this picture issued by Britain's Ministry of Defence, Royal Marine Captain Chris Air, left, leads 15 British service personnel release by Iran, across the tarmac at London's Heathrow Airport, Thursday April 5, 2007, from the British Airways aircraft which flew them from Tehran. The 15 British sailors and marines returned home after 13 days in captivity. Man in military uniform seen second from left, was part of the party who meet the 15 service personnel on their arrival. Image Credit: AP Photo/Angie Pearce

Well, they achieved their goal of coming home ... with little honor. As a former member of the U.S. Navy, I am ashamed at the level of representation to the country of England that these military personnel showed under fire.

And I am not the only one who shares this POV, this from Col. Jack Jacobs, Military analyst - MSNBC

British sailors’ conduct was a disgrace
Where is honor? Iran hostages’ handshakes, apologies are ‘reprehensible’
COMMENTARY - By Jack Jacobs - Military analyst – MSNBC - Updated: 1 hour, 32 minutes ago

The capture, internment and repatriation of the British sailors and marines can only be described as a shoddy spectacle. From start to finish, the Brits heaped nothing but ignominy on themselves, and one can recall few instances in recent memory in which a group of uniformed service members acted with less professionalism and more dishonor.

From the start, things were destined to end badly. Although the inevitable investigation by the Ministry of Defence will determine the sequence of events that led to the capture, it seems that the boarding party was not following generally accepted practices for such an operation.
Reference Here>>

Col. Jacobs goes on to quote philosopher John Stuart Mill who wrote extensively about theories of liberty. On the duty of the military to any country, Mr. Mill wrote:

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse.

The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."

With that, Col. Jack Jacobs concluded his thoughts and comments about the recent acts of the British Military in Iran ... and so do we, at MAXINE!

Video Link Here

The Mobile Web Becomes Right Sized

Inn at Craig Farm's phone site - Image Credit: Patrick Conlon

The Mobile Web Becomes Right Sized

As the mobility age becomes more of age, it was only a matter of time that the visual side, the display side of the web, started to deliver content for the small format screens like the ones found in ones pocket.

The cellphone world is beginning to catch on to the fact that pushing buttons to communicate (texting) is tedious at best, so now it is rapidly becoming automated with camera imagers and codes … but where does that take one?

Generally, to a website that is tailored to a computer screen. Scrolling and adjusting the format just sends one back to pushing buttons and tapping screens. Visually, the process is still a nightmare at best. Text is okay but graphics are all over the map.

The match-up between the site and the screen is just around the corner.

Company efforts are dedicating themselves to mobile sized web development for mobile phone users. At MAXINE, with nearly 75% of cellphones in the field having web access capability, we say it’s about time that the mobile web becomes right sized.

This from The Wall Street Journal Online –

Mini Web Sites Target Users of Mobile Phones
New Kits Give Firms A Cellular Presence; Boon for Concertgoers?
By AMOL SHARMA - April 5, 2007 - WSJOnline

Johannes Tromp says the Web site for his South Carolina bed-and-breakfast generates good business. But last fall, he found a way to reach even more potential customers: He made a version of the site for cellphones.

Mr. Tromp signed up for a mobile Web address with the newly available suffix "dot-mobi" and used a self-starter kit from a company called Roundpoint Ltd. to build www.kilburnie.mobi, the mobile site for his Inn at Craig Farm. He says he's gotten a surprisingly good response, with 30 to 40 new calls per month from interested travelers who heard of his inn by accessing the cellphone site.

"For people to find me, I have to make myself available any way I can," says Mr. Tromp, a Dutch native who was general manager of the Windows on the World restaurant in the World Trade Center before moving south for a career in hospitality.

As technology allows consumers to access the Internet with their cellphones, many big companies have launched mobile versions of their Web sites, including big media brands like MTV and ESPN and news sites like USA Today and The Weather Channel. But such projects can be costly and complex and until recently have been out of reach of small businesses.

Now new low-cost tools and services are making it easier to jump onto the mobile Web. Internet registrars such as GoDaddy.com Inc. and Network Solutions, who have helped millions of small businesses set up traditional dot-com sites, are now also beginning to roll out all-inclusive packages that help companies register and build mobile Web sites. And mobile-content specialists like the United Kingdom's Bango Ltd. have their own mobile kits that help companies get a basic Web presence on cellphones.

One way to promote a musician - Image Credit: Fli Digital

The wireless Internet is just beginning to take shape. Most consumers aren't nearly as comfortable with mobile Web surfing as they are with trolling the Web on PCs. Entering URLs can be difficult on many cellphones, and there's a limited amount of content that is well-formatted for a small screen. Cellphone networks are getting faster but still lag behind landlines significantly in broadband speeds.
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Many small companies are planning to build mobile Web sites. Thousands are using dot-mobi domain names, which are administered by mTLD Ltd., whose backers include cellphone companies such as Nokia Corp. and Vodafone Group PLC as well as Internet service providers like those of Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. The company, which gets a cut of registration fees, hopes that dot-mobi will become the de facto domain for mobile sites, much like dot-com is for the regular Internet.

Dublin-based mTLD says a separate mobile-specific domain is the only way to assure users that the site they will visit will be designed appropriately for a phone, with minimal graphics and verbiage and a format fit for a tiny screen. It has issued guidelines on how to develop appropriate mobile sites, and plans to charge content developers $250 to $300 to certify that they can build sites within dot-mobi standards.
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Dot-mobi isn't the only alternative. Sites that end in dot-com or dot-net can also be designed so they show mobile-specific content when consumers access them through a mobile device. In fact, that is how most major media brands and other companies have built cellphone sites to date.

Internet registrars, who have made a living on small businesses and already offer a variety of tools to help them build basic Web sites, are taking advantage of the new opportunity in mobile.

For example, Harry Boadwee used GoDaddy to set up www.travelosa.mobi, a mobile Web site that provides information for travelers such as flight cancellations, weather and car-rental information. Registering the domain for a year cost him $12 . GoDaddy also provided Mr. Boadwee with site-development tools offered through a partnership with mTLD. Mr. Boadwee developed the site himself using those tools.

Network Solutions, which hosts the Web sites of 3.5 million small businesses, plans to begin selling dot-mobi addresses soon, along with a suite of tools with templates to build simple mobile Web sites. The company already has a tool that lets businesses automatically convert their existing Web sites into mobile versions -- stripping out unneeded verbiage and graphics -- but company executives say they encourage companies to build a mobile site from scratch.

In March, Bango rolled out Bango2Go, which offers small businesses hosting and mobile Web development as well as software that lets companies track who is visiting their site and bill customers for purchases. Bango's introductory package is $1,000, plus ongoing maintenance fees that will usually be a few hundred dollars. For bigger companies who want a more elaborate site with more content, the Bango fee is about $5,000.

Bango has already helped huge brands like News Corp. and World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. build their mobile Web portals, but its new product is aimed at smaller players such as Basin Street Records, a small independent music label in New Orleans.

The label's founder, Mark Samuels, is using Bango and Web-site designer Fli Digital Inc. of Hauppauge, N.Y., to develop cellphone Web sites for the nine artists he works with, beginning with jazz trumpeter Kermit Ruffins, whose new mobile Web page is ruffins.wap.com. Mr. Samuels says mobile sites will give concertgoers the ability to download ringtones or album art or even sign up for newsletters. All a fan needs is access to the mobile Web.
Reference Here>>

(ht: Symblogogy)

Alien Labor Gains Net Hollywood Math

"Sour Grapes" - Grape fields, full of ripe grapes, ready to be picked in the South of the Big Valley (Arvin, CA). Image Credit: Edmund Jenks, Copyright-2005

Alien Labor Gains Net Hollywood Math

We often hear how producers of a successful Hollywood movie, you know, one that had very strong attendance figures (box office) is never is able to turn a profit.

Many joke that what is actually happening is “Hollywood Math” (while others call it creative accounting) where profits are sucked up and losses are recorded so that the production company does not have to pay out on contract deals that were based upon a percentage of profits.

Many argue that the influx of low-skilled alien labor helps our country in that it keeps us competitive in the world economy.

A real study of the gains netted through low-skilled labor contributions develops a different picture, so states a report from The Heritage Foundation.

When one begins to look at the actual cost to the social infrastructure - taking into account the outflow of money from the tax monies collected to these same low-skilled alien workers, one finds that alien labor is a losing proposition.

The joking reality of Hollywood Math has found a home (in reverse) with the logic and policies used by our elected officials. Our country pays out three times as much in Government supports and welfare programs than it collects in taxes derived from the gainful employment of low-skilled alien labor.

Alien labor is not a good deal for America. It just doesn’t add up to good “Box Office”.

Excerpts from The Washington Times -

Low-skilled aliens exact a burden
By S.A. Miller, with contributions from Stephen Dinan - THE WASHINGTON TIMES - April 5, 2007

Immigration reforms that increase the number of low-skilled workers entering the United States threaten to impose a high cost on taxpayers, says a study being released today.

The Heritage Foundation report calculates that for every $1 unskilled workers pay in taxes they receive about $3 in government benefits, including Medicaid, food stamps, public housing and other welfare programs.

It should serve as a warning to President Bush and lawmakers proposing to give illegal aliens a so-called path to citizenship or what critics call amnesty, said Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, which handles immigration bills.
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The report on low-skilled workers, who are defined as those without a high school diploma, did not focus on immigrants, but its authors say 25 percent of legal immigrants and 50 percent of illegal aliens fall into the category. About 9 percent of native-born Americans lack a high school diploma.

Using data from 2004, the report shows the average household headed by a low-skilled worker paid $9,689 in taxes but received $32,138 in benefits a year. The more than $22,000 difference is the "tax burden" which rises to $1.1 million over the worker's lifetime.

Mr. Bush has called for legalizing the estimated 12 million to 20 million illegal aliens in the United States, and for a new program to allow more foreign workers in the future.
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"The Heritage Foundation report proves what we already know, that illegal immigration is a drain to the American people," the California Republican [Rep. Brian P. Bilbray, chairman of the Immigration Reform Caucus] said. "At more than $22,000 a year, it's like having the American taxpayers buy everyone who doesn't have a high school diploma a brand new Ford Mustang convertible."
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In 2004, according to the Heritage Foundation report, the country had 17.7 million low-skilled households that together cost taxpayers $397 billion that year. Those households, without an influx of new unskilled workers, will cost at least $3.9 trillion over the next 10 years.

The Heritage Foundation plans to release a separate analysis focused solely on low-skilled immigrant households in the next few weeks.
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Brazil On Collision Course: Ethanol & Environment

Deforestation in Brazil: This image of the southern Amazon uses satellite data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Terra satellite collected in 2000 and 2001 to classify the terrain into three separate land surface categories: forest (red), herbaceous (non-woody) vegetation like grasses (green), and bare ground (blue). The Amazon’s numerous rivers appear white. Image Credit: Mongabay.com

Brazil On Collision Course: Ethanol & Environment

Ethanol production, "the renewable fuel resource", requires fiber (lots of fibre) and water (lots of water) to become the bio-replacement fuel of the future. If Brazil has its way, it plans to expand its capacity to produce Ethanol by 12 times over the next eighteen years and eclipse all other nations ability to supply the world demand for energy based on something other than petroleum.

This expansion is expected to place additional stresses on the ecosystems that surround the populated portions of Brazil. The decades old practice of slash & burn clear-cutting of the forests may now come full circle to slash & convert putting any vegetation on the production line for Ethanol.

Wither the land is cleared for sugarcane or just being cleared for the fibre due to advances in technology to convert more types of fibre ... rain forests are at a greater risk over the next 20 years.

Excerpts from Tierramérica via Inter Press Service News Agency -

Brazil Aims to Dominate World Ethanol Market
Mario Osava - Tierramérica network (Tierramérica is a specialised news service produced by IPS with the backing of the United Nations Development Programme and the United Nations Environment Programme.)

RIO DE JANEIRO, Mar 31 (Tierramérica) - Brazil is working towards producing enough ethanol to substitute 10 percent of the gasoline consumed worldwide within 18 years. That would mean increasing its current production of 17.3 billion litres a year by a factor of 12, without sacrificing forests, protected areas or food cultivation.

The government called on a group of experts to study the possibilities and impacts of a sharp increase in fuel alcohol production from sugarcane.

The group led by the Interdisciplinary Group for Energy Planning of Campinas University, and coordinated by physicist Rogério Cerqueira Leite, concluded that Brazil could produce 205 billion litres of ethanol by 2025. A comparable volume will be produced by the rest of the world, predict experts.
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Increased ethanol production is essential. The experts' report says there will be a 40-percent hike in output per hectare of sugarcane through a new technology based on hydrolysis. The United States and Brazil agreed to cooperate in developing this approach during the Mar. 8-9 visit by President George W. Bush in Sao Paulo.

Potentially, hydrolysis, which can take advantage of any cellulose material, could double productivity, but the goal was set at 40 percent based on known technologies and because part of the sugarcane waste (pulp and straw) is used in generating electricity, not ethanol, explained Carlos Rossell, a researcher with the group.

Rainforest cleared for maize - Location: Puerto Maldanado - Image Credit: Mongabay.com

This technology involves some complicated challenges, such as breaking down very tough plant structures, which will require a great deal of effort to make it viable on an industrial scale, Rossell told Tierramérica.

U.S. and European scientists are farther along in this research and benefit from much bigger investments, but Brazil has the advantage of the immediate availability of the sugarcane, ready to be processed. The others will have to go into the fields to bring in the stalks and other bio-material, mostly from maize, with additional costs, he said.

For the same reason, the expertise that can come from the United States, whose ethanol production is based on corn, doesn't resolve the Brazilian problem. The raw materials are different, the researcher said.
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For now, the United States produces a little more ethanol than Brazil does, but production costs are 40 percent higher, according to industry leaders in Brazil. The U.S. tariff barrier of 54 cents on the dollar per gallon (3.8 litres) did not prevent the northern giant from importing 1.6 billion litres of Brazilian fuel alcohol last year, when increased demand drove up maize prices.

In addition to destabilising the international market, increasing maize prices and soybean prices (the former's replacement for animal feed), U.S. ethanol is hardly environmentally efficient.

Each unit of energy used in U.S. ethanol production generates just 1.3 to 1.8 units of renewable energy, while sugarcane reaches a minimum of 8.3 units. As such, U.S.-produced ethanol does little to curb emissions that cause climate change, which, along with high-priced petroleum are the main reasons biofuels are being promoted.

In Brazil, ethanol also faces limitations. Peasant farmer movements and many social activists condemn the growth of agro-energy that hurts food production. Environmentalists fear further expansion of the farm frontier into Amazon forests, especially as land prices increase.

Fuel alcohol production has "negative environmental, social and economic impacts for the communities," it generates few jobs, and "consumes a lot of natural resources -- each litre of ethanol requires 30 litres of water," criticises Temístocles Marcelos, environmental policy director at the labour union CUT.

Virtually all forest clearing, by small farmer and plantation owner alike, is done by fire. Though these fires are intended to burn only limited areas, they frequently escape agricultural plots and pastures and char pristine rainforest. Image Credit: Mongabay.com
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The experts' study, however, points to the creation of five million new jobs if the ambitious production plan is implemented.
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In Sao Paulo state, home to more than half of Brazil's ethanol production, 60 percent of the sugarcane fields are burned in order to facilitate cutting, polluting the air and causing a number of illnesses. The sugarcane industrialists are also accused of subjecting their workers to unhealthy and exhausting work conditions, which, according to reports, have also led to death.
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The burns are also legal, and are to be abolished by 2020, he said. The solution would be accelerated if cellulose ethanol production were further advanced, because it uses sugarcane leaves.

Furthermore, ethanol benefits all of humanity by reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Its incorporation into Brazil's national energy matrix and its international marketing -- which should be unrelated to that of petroleum -- "depends only on political will," said Ribeiro.
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Freedom Day Spirit Is An Everyday Event

ART FOR FREEDOM: Artists from around southern California collaborated on a mural during The Freedom Day, One Voice, One Act to End Slavery gathering at Vanguard University in Costa Mesa Sunday. The 8 ft. by 32 ft. mural will be auctioned off with proceeds going towards battling slavery issues. Image Credit: JEBB HARRIS, THE REGISTER

Freedom Day Spirit Is An Everyday Event

Last Sunday (March 25th) was the first of a worldwide recognition event, Freedom Day, to bring attention to the persistent and vexing problem of Humans capturing and selling Humans into efforts that include labor, sex, and even war.

200 years ago on March 25th, the politicians’ of Great Britain, led through the Christian principle based efforts of William Wilberforce, voted to abolish its effort to support and participation in the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. The major efforts that led to this historic moment in time were dramatically portrayed in the recent film release – Amazing Grace.

The modern day efforts of slavery - Human Trafficking – need to stop and the only way to start the effort to reduce and bring an end to this business enterprise (one that generates more dollars and cents than Microsoft Corporation) is through awareness. One day a year is a start, but the spirit of Freedom Day needs to become an everyday event for this practice to end.

In Southern California, Freedom Day was a success.

HELPING HANDS: Mike Hartnov crochets a garment as his group Krochet Kids International demonstrated their project at the Sunday gathering. The nonprofit was founded by a group of young men who crochet and will be going to Uganda in May to teach women to crochet caps and other items which will be imported here for sale. Image Credit: JEBB HARRIS, THE REGISTER

This from the Orange County Register -

Program seeks help in fighting human trafficking
Freedom Day gathered supporters for modern-day abolitionist movement.
By SUSHMA SUBRAMANIAN - The Orange County Register - Sunday, March 25, 2007

COSTA MESA - One of the highest-profile human trafficking cases in Orange County would have never been discovered if it weren't for a neighbor.

A woman in Irvine called authorities when she noticed that a young girl who lived next door never went to school.

The neighbors, former Irvine couple Abdelnasser Eid Youssef Ibrahim and Amal Ahmed Ewis-abd Motelib, admitted in June to forcing a 10-year-old Egyptian girl to work as their domestic servant.

Westminster police Lt. Derek Marsh, a co-director on the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force, told that story to about 40 people during a workshop at Vanguard University in Costa Mesa Sunday, part of Freedom Day, organized by nonprofits to educate residents about human trafficking.

"I don't see human trafficking driving down the street in a patrol car," Marsh said. "It's not one of those things that are public to check on."

He encouraged audience members to help fight human trafficking by looking for clues in their neighborhoods – people who seem like fish out of water for reasons that might include living with many other people who don't seem to be related or because they get bused to work.

More than 1,000 people attended Sunday's event, which included workshops on different aspects of human trafficking, films, lectures, art booths and music supporting modern-day abolitionist movements.

"When drugs are trafficked, they can be sold just once," presenter Tobi Aclaro said.

"A person can be sold over and over again."

WELCOMING FREEDOM DAY: To kick off the Freedom Day event, organizers asked the more than 1000 people in attendance to put a hand on one another's shoulder and look at them for 30 seconds in silence. The gesture, meant to welcome the dignity and humanity of others, was the starting point for activities to promote awareness of modern day slavery. Image Credit: JEBB HARRIS, THE REGISTER

At the event's opening, people were asked to touch someone standing next to them on the shoulder and to look that person in the face for 30 seconds, an exercise encouraging people to see humanity in others.

"Imagine the change we would welcome if we began to see the worth and dignity of every human being," said Ruthi Hoffman-Hanchett, one of the event organizers.

Nonprofit groups sold bags, hats and jewelry that would benefit human trafficking victims.

Workshop topics included human trafficking related to global poverty, migrant laborers and child pornography.

According to the U.S. Department of State, approximately 600,000 to 800,000 victims are trafficked across international borders worldwide each year. About 14,500 to 17,500 of those victims are brought each year into the United States for forced labor or commercial sex.

"Before today, I didn't even know that this existed," said Tim Zarza, 27, who lives in San Diego. "It's become an industry and it's some people's way of living. And it's terrible."

A Burmese woman who was sold into prostitution in Thailand by her mother when she was 12 told her story. She escaped with the help of missionaries and now is married with two children.

"I have encountered so many problems in my life," said Moon, who gave only her first name. "I'm so thankful for what God has done for me."
Reference Here>>

The Real Survivor Fiji - Legitimate Corruption vs. Illegal Government

Interim talk...Mahendra Patel, Kamlesh Arya & Interim Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama after the budget. Image Credit: Fiji Times

The Real Survivor Fiji - Legitimate Corruption vs. Illegal Government

As time carries on, questions about the legitimacy of a "takeover" Government to rule, as cream rises to the top of a container of milk, begin to come into focus.

A news item about reports that there have been over 400 complaints registered with a newly formed operating unit of the interim Government has one asking the obvious question, once the alleged corruption case has been investigated by a takeover government, which is more corrupt ... the reported corruption or the methods and legitimacy used by the investigating entity?

Two news items - first report from the Fiji Times -

400 corruption cases alleged
REIJELI KIKAU - Tuesday, March 27, 2007

THE interim government's new anti-corruption unit has been receiving complaints at the rate of more than 130 a month.

So far the unit, formed in early January, has 400 cases on its books.

Unit head, Senior Superintendent of Police Nasir Ali, said it was overwhelming to see common people coming up with reports of all sorts and all forms of corruption, some backed with documentation.

SP Ali said cases alleging corrupt practises of past governments were also included.

"These are complaints of corruption of all sorts, from the government to whatever you can name and imagine," he said.

SP Ali said the team of investigators, including police and military personnel and the Attorney-General's office, would work out a priority list of cases to be investigated.

"We have started on complaints that have been supported with documents because it was easier for us but the rest we have to investigate and substantiate the allegations," he said.
----
People making complaints had to make a statement or provide investigators with a letter or documents outlining the alleged corruption. "It becomes easier if evidence is provided,'' he said.

Yesterday 25 officers from the unit, including police, military officers and Attorney-General's office staff, completed a two-day training course on how to investigate corruption cases.

SP Ali said the officers started the training on Friday and for the first time this had involved staff from the Attorney-General's office.

He said there would be a series of similar seminars for other officers involved in the probes.
Reference Here>>

And this obvious reaction reported from Radio New Zealand International -

Fiji NGO says government anti-corruption unit has no legitimacy
Posted at 07:01 on 27 March, 2007 UTC

Fiji’s anti-corruption unit says it is working out priorities in dealing with the 400 complaints it already has on its books.

The interim Attorney General, Aiyaz Sayed-Khayum, says the response has been overwhelming.

But the whole basis of the unit is being questioned.

A spokesperson for the Fiji Women’s Rights Centre, Virisila Buadromo, says her organisation still believes the interim regime is illegal, therefore any body set up under this government also lacks legitimacy:

“The mechanisims created to set it up were illegal and the people don’t fully understand that and it seem like should the current regime be taken to court and then it found to be illegal or the coup that they put in place is illegal then all the institutions and decisions that they made then become null and void.”
Reference Here>>

In the meantime, SENIOR officials of the interim Government met with executives of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat yesterday to discuss the setting-up of a joint working committee to help Fiji back to democratic rule.

How well does one think this will go? What is the motivation of the current interim Government of Fiji to go back to democratic rule when there are so many cases of corruption to investigate?

Freedom Day - 24-7PRAYER Joins Stop The Traffik

Image Credit: Ville Miettinen

Freedom Day - 24-7PRAYER Joins Stop The Traffik - To honor and recognize the 200th anniversary of the "Abolition of the Transatlantic Slave Trade Act", a significant moment in the fight to end the evils of the transatlantic slave trade.

Freedom Day is 25 March 2007. The abolitionists of the 18th and 19th centuries generated a mass movement who campaigned for an end to slavery. In 2007, campaigners want to do the same-to inform people about the evil of Human Trafficking and to call for change that will prevent the sale of people, prosecute the traffickers and protect the victims.

Freedom Day is planning to be a key moment for STOP THE TRAFFIK and now 24-7PRAYER, the campaigning global coalition involving clubs, schools, faith groups, businesses and charities from around the world.

Freedom Day is a day to join in a prayer vigil. The plan is to organize one in every single county, constituency and city in the land, to 'give thanks' for William Wilberforce and all that God did 200 years ago, a prayer vigil to 'intercede' for specific situations and for a measurable positive change toward the reduction in the enterprise of Human Trafficking.

This from STOP THE TRAFFIK organizing partner 24-7PRAYER -

As you read this, a child somewhere is being bought and sold like a lump of meat and we know that God hears their cries and that He is calling us to take action.

24-7 Prayer has committed to support the STOP THE TRAFFIK campaign by holding a prayer vigil on the night of Saturday 24th March 2007 to pave the way for the celebration of Freedom Day on Sunday 25th. The 24-7 Prayer UK team is leading this prayer initiative, but people trafficking is a global issue and so we feel it is essential to get the support from the worldwide community.

With just days to go we need you to take action now. Go ahead and spread the word: book a venue for the vigil and look to mobilise local youth groups, churches, colleges and schools. You might like to run an entire week of non-stop prayer in the build up to Freedom Day?

We've been busy developing specific resources to help with the vigil, which can be downloaded from the website, but for the time being here are some answers to your initial questions:

Q. What is a Vigil?
A. A vigil is a period of wakefulness for a particular cause, generally conducted on the eve of a holy day.

Q. What is the aim of this particular Vigil?
A. We want to see the world alive and awake with prayer all night on 24th March 2007. Across the nation we will take time to 'lament' - to hear the cries that God hears 24/7, the cries of those in slavery.

Q. What's the format of the vigil?
A. You can either organize a 24 hour prayer vigil, or a night of prayer or just a straightforward evening prayer meeting on 24th March.

Q. What's the focus of the vigil?
A. Three P's: Prayer, Profile and Preparation.

Pray! We will take time to 'give thanks' for William Wilberforce and all that God did 200 years ago. We will take time to 'intercede' for specific situations and for measurable change. Wilberforce understood and demonstrated that the power-house of all lasting change is not politics but prayer. "Of all things," he said, "guard against neglecting God in the secret place of prayer."

Profile! We will seek to build awareness of the issues surrounding human trafficking in our localities through the STOP THE TRAFFIK Campaign.

Prepare! As well as praying about and profiling the issues, we see the vigil as a preparation for Freedom Day - March 25th 2007.

There are already vigils planned from Belfast to Ibiza (see vigil map), from small groups of friends meeting in their front room, to weeks of 24-7 prayer at Boiler Rooms. It does not matter how you want to do it, but God is calling us to pray! So visit the website, see where others are praying and register your own vigil.

“He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captive and release from darkness for the prisoners”. Isaiah 61.

To receive further updates, information and prayer requests over the coming months about supporting STOP THE TRAFFIK through prayer please email us.

Here are a few facts that you might find useful as you begin to get people aware of this issue, you can get loads more resources from the STOP THE TRAFFIK website:

At least 12.3 million people are victims of forced labour worldwide. Of these 2.4 million are as a result of human trafficking. [Source: International Labour Organisation, 2005]

600-800,000 people are trafficked across international borders each year. That means that for almost every minute of every day a person is enslaved somewhere in the world.

Approximately 80 per cent are women and girls. Up to 50% are minors. [US Department of State, 2005]

An estimated 1.2 million children are trafficked each year. [UNICEF, January 2003]

Once you’ve decided what you’re going to do on Freedom Day it would be great if you could let the Stop The Traffik office know by emailing info@stopthetraffik.org.

Be sure to visit the new 24-7 Prayer/Stop The Traffik website for support and resources on setting up a vigil to pray in your community for an end to people trafficking.
Reference Here>>

"Wherever two or more are gathered in MY name" - proceed to intercede on behalf of those who do not have their freedom at the hands of others who do.

Time Out ... It's Sushi In The Japanese Tradition

Time Out ... It's Sushi In The Japanese Tradition

Sushi culture is somewhat mysterious and the etiquette complex. Here is a YouTube video by the Japan Culture Lab that is an informative and entertaining way to understand how to eat and enjoy sushi the Japanese way.

Ever wonder why some Japanese feet smell like vinegar? Find out here.
ht: Pink Tenacle

Give Dumb A Chance - It's Fun

DUMB

How do Anti-War protestors support the troops? By burning them in effigy, of course.

& DUMBERER

This display just boggles the mind for sheer stupidity, but then, consider the source - Portland's leftist moonbat community, of course.

This proves that you can never underestimate the left's ability to accidentally parody themselves.

Can you imagine, the placing of a Muslim symbol on a Christian cross together ... this will probably get a fatwa of death issued on the protester - from Iran.

To be really insulting and clueless, these moonbats should have placed the Crescent on Star Of David grave markers.

Do you think that they have found out about what they have done?

Too priceless.

Image Credits: Rachael Palinkas' Photos – Peace Rally - originally posted March 18, 2007
Content & comments stolen "liberally" from Confederate Yankee & Little Green Footballs.
ht: Pajama's Media

The Real Survivor Fiji - Human Writes Blogesphere

"Oppressive Presence" - Image Credit: Reuters

The Real Survivor Fiji - Human Writes Blogesphere

Through the month of February, the new unelected and military Government of Fiji clamped down on the freedom of the press to report what it felt were rights abuses and opinions about the legality of the December Coup action taken on behalf of Commodore Frank Bainimarama.

At the beginning of May, the Military began to try and squash the voices that began to pop-up on the World Wide Web with some initial success.

The web, however, can not be silenced short of unplugging the islands nation from the rest of the world.

Of course, with the way that Commodore Frank seems to be running the nations economy into the ground, and declaring that elections to re-establish democracy will not be able to be held until the year 2010, and let us not forget the increased human rights abuses that naturally happen through the process of an illegal military takeover of a "rule of law" based democratic nation - Frank is well on his way to accomplishing this, the unplugging of Fiji from the rest of the world, on his own.

This report from AAP via The New Zealand Herald -

Fijian activists turn to blogs to protest coup
By Xavier La Canna - 5:50PM Tuesday March 20, 2007

The names of the weblogs seem benign - White Rose, Hearts and Minds, Good Men (and Women) Doing Something, Intelligentsiya, Discombobulated Bubu.

But these blogs, and others like them, have been sprouting up in Fiji to protest last year's military coup and alleged human rights abuses that have raised serious concerns in Australia, New Zealand and the US.

Probably the best known is Intelligentsiya, the work of mainstream journalists who say the military regime is stifling their efforts to conventionally report what is happening in their country.

It was launched on January 26, about five weeks after the coup, and vowed to highlight a rash of abuses blamed on the military.

"We felt that a site like Intelligentsiya was all the more important to document and discuss the army's ever-growing human rights abuses - most notably the silencing of dissenting opinion by detention and intimidation," the first posting on the site said.
"These abuses are carried out by the armed forces in the name of 'national security'."

But Intelligentsiya has angered the interim military government, which has branded it a bogus platform for unverified reports of alleged abuses.

And earlier this month, military spokesman Neumi Leweni said efforts were underway to establish exactly who was producing material for the site.

Leweni's warning coincided with another to all journalists in Fiji that the military would haul them in for questioning if they were deemed to have filed "irresponsible" reports.

Since then, one of Intelligentsiya's authors has been questioned, but the site's reports continue to be filed. Supporters can even buy t-shirts carrying the blog's address and the slogan: "We will not be silent".

Good Men (and Women) Doing Something takes it name from the Edmund Burk saying that "all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing".

"If enough of us start saying the same thing ... that the coup is wrong and that we want and need to have the rule of law in place, and if we all stand together and make this statement, Bainimarama and his illegal government will have to listen," the site says.

The authors of the sites sound brave, but at least one - titled Ms Vakaivosavosa's Blog - has opted not to continue.

"At this time in Fiji, the climate is not right to continue blogging and I want no-one harmed on account of this blog," the final posting on the site said.

"I have received no communication from anyone to stop blogging or to delete the blog - the decision is mine alone."

Intelligentsiya authors also had to retract a story they posted recently about a man they claimed had been beaten to death by soldiers.

The backdown was used by the government as evidence the site could not be trusted.

The military spokesman Leweni recently said the interim government did not impede the media.

"We haven't really interfered with the media. All we have done with the media is getting them to report the truth," he said.

"We actually raised issues with some of them on articles they have published that were totally untrue."

The managing director of Communications Fiji Ltd, William Parkinson, whose company runs the Fiji Village website, said he closed down a popular forum recently after a visit from the deputy commander of Fiji's military, Captain Esala Teleni.

Parkinson later denied the military had pressured him to do so, and that the forum was closed because people posted personal and racial slurs.

In the past month, the general manager of the Fiji Daily Post and the news director of Fiji Television were detained separately over reports the military objected to.

Coup leader Frank Bainimarama, who has appointed himself interim prime minister, has put the entire media industry on notice that his regime won't tolerate reporting deemed to be mischievous.

"We take people up and find out why they are coming up with these stories, which are false," he said earlier this month.
Reference Here>>