The Last Ephor

Top Ten tech . To me bendable concrete is the most amazing one. Blame Cows Before Cars For Greenhouse Gases FAO estimated that livestock are responsible for 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, a bigger share than that of transport. It accounts for nine percent of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions, most of it due to expansion of pastures and arable land for feed crops. It generates even bigger shares of emissions of other gases with greater potential to warm the atmosphere: as much as 37 percent of anthropogenic methane, mostly from enteric fermentation by ruminants, and 65 percent of anthropogenic nitrous oxide, mostly from manure. Tony Snow apologizes . Good for you Sir. Judge Upholds Detainee Law In an important victory for the Bush administration, a Clinton appointee to the federal bench upheld the new detainee law that bars Guantanamo prisoners from using American civil courts to challenge their detention. The same judge, James Robertson, first ruled against the Bush ...

This article has some interesting points about weight and efficiency for automobiles. Read the whole thing.

Whoa. Seriously. This kid is talented

Yesterday, I wrote about the comment by the King Abdullah regarding the Middle East and its impending explosion. I was dismissed it out of hand and at the same time was struck by such frank honesty regarding the instability of the region. It's not that Abdullah doesn't know, it's that he doesn't acknowledge it as it may be construed as his own position being untenable. Varifrank connects the dots here. (I tried to leave a comment to the effect that he's either a genius or a madman but that was flagged and denied for comment.) What did Cheney say? Why did he have to deliver the message in person? Is this related to the slush fund issue going on in Britian? This could get interesting. I have to say the idea of Saudi moving in to Iraq makes me very nervous.

Um, "waiting to"? "Our Arab region is besieged by a number of dangers, as if it was a powder keg waiting for a spark to explode," he told the rulers of the oil-rich monarchies gathered in Riyadh for a two-day meeting to the backdrop of mounting sectarian violence in neighboring Iraq. Saudi Arabia hasn't exactly been helpful in the region. Neither have any other nations. Oman, Bahrain and the UAE seem to keep to themselves but everybody else has been less than helpful (Syria, I'm looking at you. You too, Iran.) The Palestinian problem is one that is exacerbated by their "brother Muslims" refusing them to become nationals of other nations. They're treated worse than Mexicans are here. The Saudis stoke the fires to distract people from their own misdeeds and hypocrisy. I'm with this guy.

Iranian students chant "Death to the Dictator" at the president (theirs, not ours). The worst colleges in America. Presented without comment because you have to read it to believe it. Left-handers 'think' more quickly . Well, yes. Everyone knows this. The fast transfer of information in the brain makes left-handers more efficient when dealing with multiple stimuli. Experts said left-handers tended to use both sides of the brain more easily. All this and we're still modest about it. The resident at another blog who I'll not name gets very hostile to the notion of God and religion. Sobran talks about it here . Others have commented that the hostility stems from insecurity in ones beliefs. True believers (of whatever stripe) are usually the unflappable types. Illegal muslim immigrant seeks hazmat driving license but has no interest in learning the finer points of handling a big rig. Where have I seen this before? Coolest expanding circular table ever. ...

His year end roundup column is up. Some excerpts: Two U.S. explorers went to the North Pole to study how global warming threatens polar bears. They had planned to go last year, but were forced to delay Project Thin Ice because of unusually heavy snow and ice. The "emerging hurricane problem," which, after Katrina, The New York Times identified as a consequence of global warming, did not emerge. The unusually tranquil Atlantic hurricane season was explained as a consequence of ... global warming affecting the Pacific. Great moments in government: The Florida woman who wounded with a shotgun the alligator that entered her house and attacked her golden retriever was given a warning citation for hunting without a permit. Read the whole thing.

1 in 32 adults in the US is in prison. That is not a sustainable number. The stigma with being a convicted felon follows you for life. You are radioactive as far as employers are concerned. Your credit rating is shot and that's just the good part. A great many of these people are felons for the possession, transport and sale of illegal drugs. Many of those same people are non-violent users. They get wrapped up as part of a drug bust and people with petty criminal records (shoplifting, auto theft) are nailed by the three strikes rule which sends you down for a long time. Look at this picture: Does this make any sense whatsoever to you? I found that picture here . The post goes on to detail the perfidity and abuse heaped upon the citizens of North Carolina in the name of drug prevention. Some of you reading this are likely shaking your head saying that the people who's homes were raided were probably guilty. Not so. Living in a poor neighborhood, or even a drug infes...