Egede is a pioneer and exactly the kind of man Greenland's government, which has launched an ambitious program to develop agriculture on the island, likes to see working the land. Sheep and reindeer farmers have already been grazing their herds in southern Greenland for many years. As part of the new program, cattle will be added to the mix on the island's rocky meadows, part of a new dairy industry officials envision for Greenland. One day in the near future, the island's farmers could even be growing broccoli and Chinese cabbage.

There are many reasons for this agricultural boom, the most important being a rise in temperature. For most people on earth, global warming still consists of little more than computer models and a number that seems neither concrete nor threatening: an increase of about 4.5°C (8.1°F) in the average temperature worldwide by the year 2100. But what this will mean for Greenland is already becoming apparent today. In Qaqortoq, for example, the average temperature increased from 0.63°C to 1.93°C in the last 30 years. This, in turn, has added two weeks to the growing season, which now amounts to 120 days. With up to 20 hours of daylight in the summer, those two weeks make a huge difference. [More]

How tough must your life be if you get excited about the chance to grow broccoli?

• The fuel economy of the Tahoe dropped 27 percent when running on E85 compared with gasoline, from an already low 14 mpg overall to 10 mpg (rounded to the nearest mpg). This is the lowest fuel mileage we’ve gotten from any vehicle in recent years.

• The FFV surge is being motivated by generous fuel-economy credits that auto-makers get for every FFV they build, even if it never runs on E85. This allows them to pump out more gas-guzzling large SUVs and pickups, which is resulting in the consumption of many times more gallons of gasoline than E85 now replaces.

Bag-lady syndrome plagues, puzzles and, in more extreme cases, paralyzes women who want to get a better grip on their financial lives, according to Olivia Mellan, the author of “The Advisor's Guide to Money Psychology” and a Washington, D.C., therapist who specializes in money psychology. Lily Tomlin, Gloria Steinem, Shirley MacLaine and Katie Couric all admit to having a bag lady in their anxiety closet.

Creating LNG involves cooling normal natural gas to 260 degrees below zero Fahrenheit, sending it around the world in superinsulated ships and then re-gasifying it at its destination.

"It's one of the biggest investment trends in the world," said David Talbot, with the energy research firm John H. Herald. "That's what's happening. We're going increasingly from crude oil to natural gas."

Reading to your child can be one of life's sweetest pleasures. You're spending focused time together and teaching a habit that can open countless doors throughout his or her life.

But an 8-month-old will appreciate books and reading differently from the way a 4-year-olds or an 8-year-old will. Read on for tips on what to expect and how to make reading an experience of happiness and growth for every age.

John,

If any of your blog readers want to see an "onion cam" have them call up www.sandpiperfarms.com and choose the activeX format. Then to control the camera, click on the camera icon and username "guest" and password "guest".

Carrot harvest next.

...Pat

I believe that the world faces today an unprecedented global environmental crisis, and I see the usefulness of historical examples of the pitfalls of environmental destruction. So it was with some unease that I concluded that Rapa Nui does not provide such a model. But as a scientist I cannot ignore the problems with the accepted narrative of the island's prehistory. Mistakes or exaggerations in arguments for protecting the environment only lead to oversimplified answers and hurt the cause of environmentalism. We will end up wondering why our simple answers were not enough to make a difference in confronting today's problems.

Ecosystems are complex, and there is an urgent need to understand them better. Certainly the role of rats on Rapa Nui shows the potentially devastating, and often unexpected, impact of invasive species. I hope that we will continue to explore what happened on Rapa Nui, and to learn whatever other lessons this remote outpost has to teach us.

Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke cautioned lawmakers yesterday to avoid the temptation to impose protectionist trade policies as the United States grapples with fierce competition from globalization. [More]

Guys: A word of advice. Marry pretty women or ugly ones. Short ones or tall ones. Blondes or brunettes. Just, whatever you do, don't marry a woman with a career.

Why? Because if many social scientists are to be believed, you run a higher risk of having a rocky marriage. While everyone knows that marriage can be stressful, recent studies have found professional women are more likely to get divorced, more likely to cheat, less likely to have children, and, if they do have kids, they are more likely to be unhappy about it. A recent study in Social Forces, a research journal, found that women--even those with a "feminist" outlook--are happier when their husband is the primary breadwinner.

The attached photo makes is look like we are growing fenceposts in southern
Illinois.



(If you think we still dig holes to set post check this out -

The real story is we are growing burley tobacco in new areas. Last year the
government ended the great depression supply control program. Most growers
quit because the price fell, but many farmers are makeing more money than
ever.



There is a good political and economic statement in here somewhere if you
know how to say it right.

Additional money that actual producers made from the cartel was mostly paid
in rents to grandchildren of depression era farmers (often the grandchildren
are completly removed from the old farm). Real farmers could not take
advantage of economies of scale (thoes are being developed). Also it
appears that the corp was not grown in areas that are best suited to grow
tobacco. Tobacco production became an extremely inbreed business. U.S.
burley is of premium quality with worldwide demand. We could be exporting
instead of importing if it was not for supply controls.

The program ended with a buyout, which is quotaholders get paid so much a
year for so many years. If corn and soybean programs end I hope there will
be a buyout instead of a sudden end of the money when many people bought
land counting of government money to make the payments.

Several program crop farmers in souther Illinois (and a few other places)
are experimenting with tobacco patches. Even though I don't smoke and
encourage others not to, I find the tobacco crop interesting and thought you
might too if you know about it.

J.R. Hubele

Researchers have established that very attractive people are 36 per cent more likely to have daughters than sons and that the world's females are becoming better-looking than men as a result. [More]

Warnings that "huge numbers of blonde, blue-eyed children" will be born as a result of the number of couples using sperm imported from Denmark have prompted the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority to review the shortage of British donors.

While rice thrives in standing water, like all crops it will die if completely submerged for more than a few days. The development and cultivation of the new varieties is expected to increase food security for 70 million of the world's poorest people, and may reduce yield losses from weeds in areas like the United States where rice is seeded in flooded fields. Results of this study will appear in the Aug. 10 issue of the journal Nature. [More]

Each time George picked up a new Etch-A-Sketch, his talent grew by leaps and bounds. So much so, that the Etch-A-Sketch company sent out a representative to George's home to check and see if George was actually the one creating these works of art - He was, and the Etch-A-Sketch company has been providing George with free Etch-A-Sketches ever since. That sure helps out a 10 year old's wallet!!

The Fietscafe

is a mobile pub, for groups up to 17 people per bike, who can transport themselves by moving the pedals.

Not all guests do have to cycle; the Fietscafe^® is provided with 10 freewheels, so you can change seats from time to time.

You need a sober driver and of course, the best bartender looks after the beer and drinks.

U.S. Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Michigan, said the plot "eliminates the days of carry-on baggage," according to The Associated Press.

Nancy McKinley of the International Airline Passengers Association said the new rules are going to be a "huge adjustment," especially for business travelers.

"The challenge is going to be with the airlines on all the luggage [that] is checked and can it actually get to the destination in a reasonable amount of time once you get there -- how long do you have to wait for it and all of that," she said. (Watch how airports are getting bags through screening and to planes -- 1:47) [More]

Merrill Lynch economist David Rosenberg has examined the spending and consuming habits of his colleagues and clients on Wall Street and has created his own "Wall Street core inflation index," which tracks the rise in prices of the necessities of yuppie life: "jewelry, spas, lawn care, health care, sporting goods, housekeeping services, tuition, airlines, hotels, salons, legal/financial services, and dry cleaning." His conclusion: The price of spoiling yourself rotten is rising rapidly. "The Wall Street core CPI is running at 4%, nearly double what it is for Main Street," he wrote in a report on July 28.

In other words, forget about the heat and the Frappuccinos. Sales at Starbucks and its sister high-end retailers may be faltering because the cost of living well is rising more rapidly than the overall cost of living. [More]

"Due to the nature of the threat revealed by this investigation, we are prohibiting any liquids, including beverages, hair gels, and lotions from being carried on the airplane," a DHS statement said.

Increased security means airline passengers around the country should show up at least two hours early for all flights, an official with the Transportation Security Administration told CNN. (Watch tips on how to get through security faster -- 1:45)

British and U.S. security agencies quickly moved to impose strict limits on carry-on items in the wake of Thursday's arrests, causing extended delays at airport security checkpoints. (Full story)

The British Airports Authority said no hand luggage would be allowed onto planes leaving British airports until further notice.

British Airways canceled all short haul flights in or out of Heathrow Airport for Thursday, and delays were stacking flights up at airports across Europe.

Have you heard the news? Scientists have found a planet that can support life. Its atmosphere is too hot for year-round habitation, its gases impede breathing, and surface conditions are sometimes fatal. But by constructing a network of sealed facilities, tunnels, and vehicles, humans could survive on this planet for decades and perhaps even centuries.

The planet is called Earth.

If you've seen this planet lately, you know what's going on: temperature records shattering, scores of Americans dead. By summer's end, the toll will be in the hundreds. It's not as bad as 2003, when a heat wave killed 30,000 people in Europe. But according to global-warming forecasts, within 40 years, every other summer will be like that one.

With 12 days of blistering temperatures over 105 degrees in the Central Valley, dairy cattle -- the state's largest agricultural sector -- may have been rocked the hardest. Exact figures are being tabulated, but dairy farmers have suffered an estimated loss of more than $1 billion, says Michael Marsh, chief executive officer of the Modesto-based trade organization Western United Dairymen.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has requested federal disaster assistance for the state's $5.2 billion milk industry.

For consumers, it's unclear whether higher prices for milk and other dairy products will result, Marsh says, because there's no direct correlation between what a farmer gets paid and what consumers pay. [More]

WiMax could benefit consumers by providing a low-cost alternative to the high-speed Internet access being offered by the cable and telecom operators that dominate the market in a duopoly. Upstarts could use WiMax to break cheaply into incumbents' markets, offering lower prices and higher speeds. [More]

Note that this should not be taken to mean that users 50 km (31 miles) away without line of sight will have connectivity. Practical limits from real world tests seem to be around 3-5 miles (5-8 km). The technology has been claimed to provide shared data rates up to 70 Mbit/s, which, according to WiMAX proponents, is enough bandwidth to simultaneously support more than 60 businesses with T1-type connectivity and well over a thousand homes at 1Mbit/s DSL-level connectivity. Real world tests, however, show practical maximum data rates between 500kbit/s and 2 Mbit/s, depending on conditions at a given site.^[2]

It is also anticipated that WiMAX will allow inter-penetration for broadband service provision of VoIP, video, and Internet access—simultaneously. Most cable and traditional telephone companies are closely examining or actively trial-testing the potential of WiMAX for "last mile" connectivity. This should result in better price-points for both home and business customers as competition results from the elimination of the "captive" customer bases both telephone and cable networks traditionally enjoyed. Even in areas without preexisting physical cable or telephone networks, WiMAX could allow access between anyone within range of each other. Home units the size of a paperback book that provide both phone and network connection points are already available and easy to install.[More great background info]

A unifying theme of Graham's new thinking is humility. He is sure and certain of his faith in Jesus as the way to salvation. When asked whether he believes heaven will be closed to good Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus or secular people, though, Graham says: "Those are decisions only the Lord will make. It would be foolish for me to speculate on who will be there and who won't ... I don't want to speculate about all that. I believe the love of God is absolute. He said he gave his son for the whole world, and I think he loves everybody regardless of what label they have." Such an ecumenical spirit may upset some Christian hard-liners, but in Graham's view, only God knows who is going to be saved: "As an evangelist for more than six decades, Mr. Graham has faithfully proclaimed the Bible's Gospel message that Jesus is the only way to Heaven," says Graham spokesman A. Larry Ross. "However, salvation is the work of Almighty God, and only he knows what is in each human heart."

Amen

1. Deny
2. Deny
3. Float some possible explanations
4. Deny

In first world countries the average caloric cost for food production, taking into account all the energy needed to produce everything required to produce the food and get it to market, is 12 calories in for every calorie out. Cuba no longer had that much energy available to dedicate to agriculture and was forced to find “new” ways of growing the food they desperately needed. In doing so they reversed the caloric equation and got 12 calories out for each calorie put in.

How did they do this you might ask? Well I didn’t put new in quotations marks above for nothing. Mostly they went back to older, organic, sustainable methods of farming with some new twists. Methods the campesinos had used for centuries.

• Plowing fields with oxen instead of tractors. Added benefit, oxen don’t compact the sopil the way multi-ton tractors do which leads to better soil preservation and higher yields due to better aeration.
• forgoing monoculture and growing a wide variety of crops on each farm, and rotating those crops.
• Using natural biological pest controls. Bugs that eat bugs and chemical extracts from plants like garlic and tobacco for spraying. Plants, such as sunflowers, that attract beneficial insects, and others, such as marigiolds, that repel insects.
• composting all organic material and returning the compost to the land to build up soil
• growing plants that are native to the climate and getting the farmers involved in selecting the best seeds and trading them amongst themselves.
• privatizing, in the form of employee owned co-operatives, farms and allowing the employees to sell the produce that exceeds their government imposed quotas (yes capitalism is rearing its head in Cuba)
• Bringing agriculture into the cities by converting vacant lots and other open spaces into urban gardens

That’s what I can remember from the documentary. Peak oil is either upon us or soon will be. Global agriculture in developed countries will take a big hit in the near future. The ability to affordably grow and transport food will be severely impaired, economies will completely collapse and chaos will reign. Millions will die of starvation if no alternative sources of food appear. This is not in the far future it is in the easly forseeable future, a matter of two or three decades. Global warming will add to this problem. [More]

Cuba's precarious economic position is complicated by the high price it must pay for foreign financing. The Cuban Government defaulted on most of its international debt in 1986 and does not have access to credit from international financial institutions like the World Bank, which means Havana must rely heavily on short-term loans to finance imports, chiefly food and fuel. Because of its poor credit rating, an $11 billion hard currency debt, and the risks associated with Cuban investment, interest rates have reportedly been as high as 22%. [More]

The biggest challenge ahead for U.S. sugar growers will be dealing with Tier-2 sugar from Mexico and when the duty ends on Jan. 1, 2008. U.S. farm policy tools to control supply are dwarfed by the events ahead when Mexico has duty-free access to the U.S. sugar market. [My emphasis]

Many analysts believe Toyota will pass G.M. this year as the world’s biggest auto company, given an aggressive expansion plan that comes as G.M. is losing market share in the United States. Toyota is scouting sights for another assembly plant and a new engine plant, and will open a truck factory in San Antonio this fall.

On Friday, Toyota said it was on track to meet its forecast of selling 8.45 million vehicles in its current fiscal year, which ends March 31.

G.M. has not released a sales forecast, but it sold just over 9.1 million vehicles last year.

Aside from its symbolic value, the U.S. agricultural trade balance is not by itself a measure of export competitiveness, or import dependence. The U.S. remains a highly competitive exporter of grains, oilseeds, red meats, poultry, and cotton. But the U.S. also imports large quantities of grain products, vegetable oils, beef, pork, and cattle. U.S. farmers and food manufacturers do not and cannot produce all or enough of the foods that Americans desire, especially tropical crops. Today, trade is simply a means of providing for needs and wants that are not satisfied domestically or are more cheaply produced elsewhere. [More]

Wikipedia remains a lumpy work in progress. The entries can read as though they had been written by a seventh grader: clarity and concision are lacking; the facts may be sturdy, but the connective tissue is either anemic or absent; and citation is hit or miss. Wattenberg and Viégas, of I.B.M., note that the vast majority of Wikipedia edits consist of deletions and additions rather than of attempts to reorder paragraphs or to shape an entry as a whole, and they believe that Wikipedia’s twenty-five-line editing window deserves some of the blame. It is difficult to craft an article in its entirety when reading it piecemeal, and, given Wikipedians’ obsession with racking up edits, simple fixes often take priority over more complex edits. Wattenberg and Viégas have also identified a “first-mover advantage”: the initial contributor to an article often sets the tone, and that person is rarely a Macaulay or a Johnson. The over-all effect is jittery, the textual equivalent of a film shot with a handheld camera.

What can be said for an encyclopedia that is sometimes right, sometimes wrong, and sometimes illiterate? When I showed the Harvard philosopher Hilary Putnam his entry, he was surprised to find it as good as the one in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. He was flabbergasted when he learned how Wikipedia worked. “Obviously, this was the work of experts,” he said. In the nineteen-sixties, William F. Buckley, Jr., said that he would sooner “live in a society governed by the first two thousand names in the Boston telephone directory than in a society governed by the two thousand faculty members of Harvard University.” On Wikipedia, he might finally have his wish. How was his page? Essentially on target, he said. All the same, Buckley added, he would prefer that those anonymous two thousand souls govern, and leave the encyclopedia writing to the experts.

How we get a sensible, balanced but effective framework to tackle climate change after the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012 should be an American priority. America wants a low-carbon economy; it is investing heavily in clean technology; it needs China and India to grow substantially. The world is ready for a new start here. Lead it. The same is true for the WTO talks, now precariously in the balance; or for Africa, whose poverty is shameful. If we are championing the cause of development in Africa, it is right in itself but it is also sending the message of moral purpose, that reinforces our value system as credible in all other aspects of policy.

At a time when our competitors, particularly the Europeans, are spending billions of dollars in subsidies and market promotion for their agricultural products, it would be unilateral disarmament to cut our funding for similar programs.

One such brew is Evolution Amber Ale, from the Wasatch Brewery in Park City, Utah. As state legislators pushed to add "intelligent design" to the public school science curriculum, Wasatch owner Greg Schirf responded by renaming his award-winning "Unofficial" Amber Ale, reports Amanda Chesworth in the Skeptical Inquirer (March/April 2006). Launched last November, the ale's new label sports a "Darwin Approved" stamp with the tagline "created in 27 days, not 7." A poster for the beer bills it as "a most intelligently designed ale."

This is not Schirf's first time brewing up controversy. Earlier, he gained international attention when he tweaked Utah's Mormon population with another Wasatch line dubbed Polygamy Porter. "Why have just one?" the label asks.

A Greenland brewery has something no other beermaker in the world has tabs on -- ale brewed on water at least 2,000 years old, melted from the giant Arctic island's vast and pure ice cap.

And there is plenty of it.

The first 66,000 liters (17,200 gallons) of a dark and a pale ale have just come out of Greenland Brewhouse, the first-ever Inuit microbrewery in Narsaq, a hamlet in southern Greenland.

Drinking, too, has changed. Once a means of social lubrication, it has acquired a darker, more desperate nature. Campuses nationwide are reporting record increases in binge drinking over the past decade, with students often stuporous in class, if they get there at all. Psychologist Paul E. Joffe, chair of the suicide prevention team at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, contends that at bottom binge-drinking is a quest for authenticity and intensity of experience. It gives young people something all their own to talk about, and sharing stories about the path to passing out is a primary purpose. It's an inverted world in which drinking to oblivion is the way to feel connected and alive.

"There is a ritual every university administrator has come to fear," reports John Portmann, professor of religious studies at the University of Virginia. "Every fall, parents drop off their well-groomed freshmen and within two or three days many have consumed a dangerous amount of alcohol and placed themselves in harm's way. These kids have been controlled for so long, they just go crazy."

Heavy drinking has also become the quickest and easiest way to gain acceptance, says psychologist Bernardo J. Carducci, professor at Indiana University Southeast and founder of its Shyness Research Institute. "Much of collegiate social activity is centered on alcohol consumption because it's an anxiety reducer and demands no social skills," he says. "Plus it provides an instant identity; it lets people know that you are willing to belong."