Ethanol: Dumbest Idea Ever

Well I see that riots are breaking out, governments are collapsing, and poor people are starving around the world, all because American environmentalists thought it would be a great idea to put our food into cars instead of in our mouths. All for a negligible, at best, reduction in carbon emissions. Thank you, Congress, thank you.

I agree that it is a literally revolting situation.

But was it "American environmentalists"- who don't have much Congressional clout these days- or American agricultural and energy industry lobbysits who brought Congress along on this one?

Many of we "environmentalists" have long held that using agricultural lands to produce motor fuel was a terrible waste of a resource vital to human survival.

Ziggy, Randall,

Plenty of blame to go around. I think it was a combination of forces driven by the desire to be free from foreign oil (a good desire, to be sure) so strong that practical considerations were tossed out the window.

Do you guys know anything about butanol? I heard someone on the radio chatting about it and it sounded more promising.

Michael,

I agree that there is plenty of blame to go around. However, I disagree that the driving force was a desire to be energy independent. No, it was what it almost always is.....greed and the desire to hold on to a position of power.

Can't it be both (the positive desire of some to be free from oil and the negative desire of others to make big dollars despite the consequences)?

Randall wrote:Well I see that riots are breaking out, governments are collapsing, and poor people are starving around the world, all because American environmentalists thought it would be a great idea to put our food into cars instead of in our mouths. All for a negligible, at best, reduction in carbon emissions. Thank you, Congress, thank you.

You are absolutely right, Randall, ....... absolutely right.

The American environmentalists created the Global Warming hysteria within the populace ........ and the politicians and other parasites seen the "opportunity" to enrich themselves without regard to any consequences for their actions.

The US populace "sucked for it", ........ now they will have to swallow it.

What was oil yeterday, ............ $114 per barrel.

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I think the folks who continue to bring us the misguided farm bills have to share some of the blame.

"politicians and other parasites" pretty much included all of them.

And the public will appauld and cheer their actions ........ because they truly believe said actions will save thar arses from the "heat" of global warming.

Geeeze, just like "No Smoking" signs have saved their arses from a terrible death due to lung cancer.

Jim, did you see/read that they found the cause of Type 2 Diabetes?

And it wasn't what everyone, ...... and I mean EVERYONE, ...... thought it was for all these years.

And "the cure" for it is so f'ing simple ........ it will blow yer mind.

Ya wanna know what "the cure" is?

There are two (2) procedures, either one will "cure it".

#1 - surgically remove the first 12" of small intestines connected to the stomach.

#2 - insert a 12" tube into the small intestines where it connects to the stomach so that food will pass through without being absorbed.

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Bush is supposed to make an announcement today regarding his global warming initiative. If he surrenders to cap-and-trade proposals he could very well throw the country into recession. I may join shermangeneral in calling for immediate impeachment.

I haven't had a cigarette in over six weeks. I'm wondering when do I start scolding smokers?

Surely you aren't suggesting that diabetics are eating themselves to death?

SheikBen wrote:Can't it be both (the positive desire of some to be free from oil and the negative desire of others to make big dollars despite the consequences)?

I suppose there may have been some who were foolish enough to think corn would solve our energy problems. However, I maintain greed and power were the motivating factors of those who brought this insanity upon us because that is what controls our government.

ohio county wrote:I think the folks who continue to bring us the misguided farm bills have to share some of the blame.

Manipulation of the markets.....you bet. Still, market manipulation ties into the greed/power thing too.

ohio county wrote:

Surely you aren't suggesting that diabetics are eating themselves to death?

In essence, yes.

I just caught part of it on Fox News, ..... on Monday I believe.

Here, I just Googled this and exerted the following:

ScienceDaily (Mar. 6, 2008) — Growing evidence shows that surgery may effectively cure Type 2 diabetes — an approach that not only may change the way the disease is treated, but that introduces a new way of thinking about diabetes.
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Dr. Rubino's prior research has shown that the primary mechanisms by which gastrointestinal bypass procedures control diabetes specifically rely on the bypass of the upper small intestine — the duodenum and jejunum. This is a key finding that may point to the origins of diabetes.

"When we bypass the duodenum and jejunum, we are bypassing what may be the source of the problem," says Dr. Rubino, who is heading up NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell's Diabetes Surgery Center.

In fact, it has become increasingly evident that the gastrointestinal tract plays an important role in energy regulation, and that many gut hormones are involved in the regulation of sugar metabolism. "It should not surprise anyone that surgically altering the bowel's anatomy affects the mechanisms that regulate blood sugar levels, eventually influencing diabetes," Dr. Rubino says.
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How exactly the upper intestine is dysfunctional remains to be seen. Dr. Rubino proposes an original explanation known in the scientific community as the "anti-incretin theory."

Incretins are gastrointestinal hormones, produced in response to the transit of nutrients, that boost insulin production. Because an excess of insulin can determine hypoglycemia (extremely low levels of blood sugar) — a life-threatening condition — Dr. Rubino speculates that the body has a counter-regulatory mechanism (or "anti-incretin" mechanism), activated by the same passage of nutrients through the upper intestine. The latter mechanism would act to decrease both the secretion and the action of insulin.

"In healthy patients, a correct balance between incretin and anti-incretin factors maintains normal excursions of sugar levels in the bloodstream," he explains. "In some individuals, the duodenum and jejunum may be producing too much of this anti-incretin, thereby reducing insulin secretion and blocking the action of insulin, ultimately resulting in Type 2 diabetes."

Indeed, in Type 2 diabetes, cells are resistant to the action of insulin ("insulin resistance"), while the pancreas is unable to produce enough insulin to overcome the resistance.

After gastrointestinal bypass procedures, the exclusion of the upper small intestine from the transit of nutrients may offset the abnormal production of anti-incretin, thereby resulting in remission of diabetes.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080305113659.htm