Corn ethanol = Boondoggle

If you want to know why our ethanol production is a mess and there is little hope of getting better in the near term, blame corn. Here is why. (free subscription required*)

A fascinating article on how corn ethanol in this country is a horrendous idea because it does little good for the environment and can have a dramatic effect on our economy unless we move to a different source. As odd as it seemed at the time, President Bush was actually correct in his 2006 State of the Union address -- switch grass may just be our solution in this country. As an added bonus is that the cultivating of high-diversity indigenous prairie plant mixtures may keep away GM plant designers and hopefully ag subsidies (there isn't a prairie grass lobby yet, is there?), not to mention the itty-bitty carbon footprint that would be left.

We need to let the sun set on our singular dependence on corn for everything we need. It just isn't up to some of the tasks we try to force it to do no matter how much we manipulate it or the enzymes used to convert it into other substances. The renewable energy source we keep looking for has been here since the native Americans roamed the prairies. No foreign plants, genetic modifications, pesticides, or subsides needed.


*The Post really needs to catch up to what is going on in web news.

The bulldozers await

It's strange when you see things you vividly remember from your youth primed for destruction. I know exactly where the Perikomen Bridge Hotel is located having seen it from every seat of my parents' cars as we passed it for many various and asundry reasons, though mostly soccer games and camping come to mind. The description of the intersection does not do it justice, it is so horrifically bad that it is beyond anything that letters can describe. The area itself is not aesthetically pleasing as more having lost it's charm with constant modern additions, including the recent cookie cutter box strip mall put in just around the corner to further scar the landscape. The towns roads did not make the conversion from horse-based transportation to automobiles very well either. Tight quick turns, a narrow bridge, and narrower roads, and, of course, the Perkiomen Creek made for some tight grips on the steering wheel.

We are still living the sins of urban renewal and what we are left with are some of these century old structures deteriorate in locations that are not conducive to modern roadside businesses. Saving these structures comes down to a a choice between expensive preservation and potential money to be made on the land. I generally think things are more complicated than they first appear, but in cases with our collective physical history decisions are easy. The objects remain or the disappear into stories told over pictures. I am aware that not everything can be saved, nor should it. There is always a business component and historical societies are not wealthy enough to occupy every historic structure worth saving. In the case of the Perkiomen Bridge Hotel, I really hope they save it because I have a personal attachment to seeing that structure at that insane corner. A corner, which makes getting to the property so difficult and frustrating that I don't see any great advantage to the location for any business.

For me it is not just a part of history, it is a part of my history that I hope remains real. The hotel, which for generations has been the landmark for that hard left turn off Main to wind along the Perkiomen creek into the wilderness of Montgomery County will be gone forever. It is one of the historic landmarks that deserves to be saved. It certainly deserves better than being replaced by a nondescript box store surrounded by an endless parking lot, which is what I am sure some developers have already decided on.


(picture from the Philadelphia Inquirer)

Reds not scared

The Communist Party USA donated a huge collection of papers, photographs, and memorabilia to NYU. I hope that some of the documents prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the Red Scare and McCarthyism were truly witch hunts that permanently damaged the lives of American citizens. We also have to be prepared that the documents will prove the opposite: That Moscow was actively attempting to infiltrate and influence the United States people and government through the CPUSA. Openness here will salve old wounds and bring closure to those who are still with us or whose families still endure painful memories. I reflect upon the quote at the top of my blog and hope that history will once again show us that we need only to look at our past for guidance in our choices about which roads to take and which to never tread down again.

An amen from the historian's gallery

A day late, but not a dollar short -- unless you are President Bush. I have researched at the Archives II and it is a crime that so few people can actually use it now. The difference is night and day since they changed to remaining open late for two nights and one Saturday a month. The staff looks more stressed every time I go back. Now go and read what a real historian thinks.

NYT

A new Bush slogan:
Making Americans even dumber about their own history one day at a time.

Looks like one got away

Not sure how Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (R-1st-Md) survived the Zombie attack when they feasted on Republican brains and left scientifically blind humans behind, but he did.

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) wasn't so lucky. More on how ridiculous his statement is soon.

Quick Shout Out

My older brother is bumming around Southeast Asia checking out how the Domino effect worked out for them over there. His travel log is here (link also under "Peeps"), and if you want to see a picture of me when I was a baby take a look at his "About" page. That is me in the highchair in the background. Behold my splendid eating habits.

What you will find here

Well let's see what this will look like for now. I currently live inside the beltway, so politics is going to be found here potentially quite often. I will probably point out things that I find interesting rather than go into too much analysis. (There are too many learned people on the web who I could only bask in their shadow (see links on the right). And I am not talking to you Tim Russert or the rest of the Washington Press corps. You need to start doing your job like Dana Priest.) Sports will also be found here. I am a passionate Philadelphia sports fans -- love us or hate us, but we care deeply about our sports. Science will also find a place here because of my passion for exploring the intersection of science and society. As for personal stuff, it might come in time, but not to start. I will get around to explaining the title in due time. So away we go with sports today...

Philly already has a complex about being an overlooked major city because of its proximity to the Big Apple, couple that with the fact that the last championship in the city was 1983 -- the quickly forgotten Sixers -- and we are really chomping at the bit these days. Yes, we have been in championship series and games in all of the sports since then, but sadly no parades down Broad. The thing you have to realize about Philly fans is that if you are a blood and guts player, they will love you forever. If you look like you are taking a play off or are aloof, it is going to be a long year for you -- and that goes for you Santa. We boo because we care not because we are mean. Suck it up or get out like Billy Wagner did. Baby.

If this were a normal year, the posts would be chalk full of Flyers posts as the prepare for the playoffs. Opps, they laid a huge egg this year and now occupy the basement of the league. It is a weak draft this year, so looks like they will be adding a player we will hopefully see in 3 years. The Phils are in spring training and I don't pay attention to them until they fly north. The Sixers will be good in a few years, I not a huge basketball fan (a post on why basketball players have no guts soon). That leaves the Birds, which don't start playing until September. They draft in late in the first round again this year, and they rarely make a draft day move, so I don't really care about the draft. And Andy Reid family problems are his family's and they will not be fodder here.

And in the beginning

The quote under the heading is from a mentor of mine, John A. Andrew III. He was an outstanding human being and American History professor at Franklin & Marshall college. Unfortunately for me -- and the rest of the world -- his life was cut short by a massive heart attack in the late fall of 2000. I have finally gotten around to reading his final book: The Power to Destroy: The Political Uses of the IRS from Kennedy to Nixon. The quote in its entirety is: "We should not be constrained by the past, but we can learn from it. The challenge for historians is to uncover it."