Blatant Reality

Oh how that seems so long ago when Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert tried his hand at campaigning for President (even though it was only in South Carolina). What an amusing campaign that was ultimately cut short by the Democrat Party not allowing him on the South Carolina Primary Ballot. However, during the brief time he was considered a candidate, some polling was done to see just how he compared to the other Democrat candidates. The results of these polls are the very reason why I am even bringing up this topic and it seems that, at least in South Carolina, Stephen Colbert was basically tied with Obama’s VP pick Joe Biden.

He is in a statistical dead heat with Sen. Joe Biden — 2.7 percent for Biden versus 2.3 percent for Colbert, a virtual tie in a poll with a five percent margin of error.

 

Among Republicans, however, he is dead last — behind not only the front runners like Rudy Giuliani and former Gov. Mitt Romney, but also marginal candidates like Reps. Tom Tancredo and Ron Paul.

Now, this doesn’t mean anything but it nevertheless is funny to put some perspective into the whole “Biden as VP” deal.

Yep, that’s right, researchers at the University of Georgia in Athens are looking into ways to convert trees into fuel. Why do they want to do this? Well, it seems that Georgia has a lot of trees.

Much of the UGA research aims to find ways to convert trees into fuel, however. With 24 million acres of trees in Georgia, more than any other states other than Alaska and Oregon, Georgia one day could become a major supplier of fuel for the nation’s cars and trucks, Adolphson said.

Now, since I am a conservative and thus I am supposed to be the big bad enemy of the environment, it would seem appropriate for me to not give a care about the trees. However, that’s not the case. One of the things that I enjoy when I visit Georgia is the fact that they have an abundance of trees. Atlanta has to be one of the greenest cities for its size which is due to the fact that builders seem to not clear cut a house lot but instead build around the preexisting trees.

Now if the researchers find a way to convert trees into fuel, will Georgia become a barren wasteland? Of course not, but just as in the case of getting ethanol from crops like corn, it gives an incentive for people to cut down trees. Could it potentially give people more incentives to care for the trees that they have because they will look at the trees on their land as assets? Possibly, but this will most likely not be the case for poorer nations where the clear cutting of forests is already prevalent.

I’m personally all for alternative energy as long as it is economically feasible (aka no massive subsidies) and doesn’t rely on using more agricultural land. At this point, the only biofuel that I am really excited about is Algae. It grows all year round, doesn’t need any freshwater, doesn’t take up agricultural land, and has the potential for enormous oil outputs. This, in my mind, should be our number one priority for research in the biofuel field.

And a final thought, what environmentalist will ever sign off on an alternative fuel that actually cuts down trees? Honestly, if they ever do that I will know for certain that they have completely lost their minds

Finally got a wireless router for my apartment so now I can start posting from my computer instead of my faithful Samsung Blackjack II. Get ready for more analysis about one of my favorite subjects, Algae biofuel, along with other environmental orientated subjects (Global Warming and the like).

Well the Internet man came today and installed our modem but we won’t have a wireless router until tomorrow. That means thats I won’t be posting from my computer until then. All I can say is thank goodness for internet on the cell phone.

You know when I said that algae biofuel commercialization was still years away? Well it seems that things happen much faster than expectations. The Renewable Energy Group has announced that it has a process that makes algae based fuel commercialization feasible. Unbelievable.
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Well, right now I am living in a new apartment which currently doesn’t have any internet access. That is why I haven’t posted anything the past couple of days. Hopefully I will have Internet access by Friday but untl then, I will be doing random updates from my phone.
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I also don’t have TV so if anyone wants t leave me Olympic updates in the comment section I would be greatly appreciative.

Support for algae based biofuel is growing and from some very unlikely sources. Now, Iowa senator Tom Harkin is throwing his support behind algae biofuel. Though th senator states heis a big proponent of ethanol, he sees algae as the next phase.
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Well I ended up watching the forum and the Olympics and I got to see Phelps make history (eight gold medals in one olympics is no small thing). While Phelps was impressive in the pool, McCain sure impressed me at the forum.
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To put this into perspective, after hearing rumors that McCain may choose a pro-choice running mate, I was to the point of not voting for any presidential candidate. This forum sure gave him some brownie points.
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The main thing he impressed me with is that he answered the questions head on and didn’t do the typical political doubletalk. Most questions he would answer in a single sentence or with a simple yes or no.
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These answers are what people really want. They want an answer that they can peg the candidates true beliefs on. With answers like these the talking heads really can’t spin their meaning. Obama keeps whining about people taking his comments out of context but when you never succinctly answer anything, you leave the media to decipher what you truly meant.
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Another thing that got McCain some more points in my book is that his short answers allowed Pastor Warren to ask more questions. I don’t know about you but I appreciate it when politicians keep their remarks short so more topics/issues can be covered. Sure Obama is a great speaker but last nights forum showed him more as a long winded person who dances around the question or plain gives convoluted answers.
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Anyways, those are just some of my thoughts. Feel free to leave comments below.

As I stated in my previous post, Obama and McCain will be attending a forum at Rick Warren’s church. Recently, Obama has been getting some heat about his “Born Alive” vote in the Illinois. This got me curious about what his stance on the abortion. The funny thing is, he doesn’t even take a stance on it on his website (unless I totally missed it).
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Now this isn’t a major issue in this election but it is one of those issues that every candidate has an obligation to state their views.
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This brings us to the forum. Because of his lack of stated position on this issue and the recent developments, Warren better ask a question concerning this. Something as simple as asking, “Where do you, Barack Obama, stand on the issue of abortion?”
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I will lose a lot of respect for Warren if he completely skips over this issue.

From the way things are shaping up, this whole Rick Warren Forum between Obama and McCain will be a little less than unbiased…

Anyways, its going to be on tonight at 8pm ET on CNN and the other news channels. I’m still debating on whether to watch this or some random Olympic sport.