Wednesday, April 30, 2008

WHATS A GRANDMOTHER

In the words of third graders.

“ A grandmother is a lady who has no children of her own. She likes other people’s little girls and boys. A grandfather is a man grandmother. He goes for walks with boys, and they talk about fishing and stuff like that.”

“Grandmother don’t’ have to do anything except to be there. They’re so old that they shouldn’t play hard or run. It is enough if they drive us to the market where the pretend house is and have lots of dimes ready. Or if they take us for walks, they should slow down past things like pretty leaves and caterpillars. They should never say, ‘hurry up.’”

“Usually grandmothers are fat but not too fat to tie your shoes. They wear glasses and funny underwear. They can take their teeth and gums off.”

“Grandmothers don’t have to be smart, only answers questions like, ‘Why isn’t God married?’ and ‘How come dogs chase cats?’”

“Grandmothers don’t talk baby talk like visitors do because it is hard to understand. When they read to us they don’t skip or mind if it is the same story over again.”

“Everybody should try to have a grandmother, especially if they don’t have television, because they are the only grownups who have time.”

QUALITY TIME

When Joey was 5 years old, his kindergarten teacher told the class to draw a picture of something that they love. Joey drew a picture of his family, and then he took his red crayon and drew a big circle around the stick figures on his paper. Joey wanted to write a word on top of the circle, so he got up from his chair and approached the teacher’s desk.

“Teacher,” he asked, “how do you spell----?”

But before he could finish his question, the teacher told him to go back to his seat and not interrupt the class again. Joey folded the paper and stuck it in his pocket.

When Joey got home from school that day, he remembered his drawing and dug it out of his pocket. He smoothed it out on the kitchen table, got a pencil from his backpack, and looked at the big red circle. Joey’s mother was busy cooking supper, but Joey wanted to finish the picture before he showed to her.

“Mom, how do you spell----?”
“Joey, can’t you see I am busy right now? Why don’t you go outside and play? And don’t slam the door,” she told him.

Joey folded the drawing and stuck it back in his pocket. Later that evening Joey dug the picture out from his pocket again. He looked at the big red circle and then ran into the kitchen to get a pencil. He wanted to finish the drawing before he showed it to his father. Joey smoothed out all the wrinkles and laid the picture on the floor near his dad’s big recliner.

“Daddy, how do you spell----?”
“Joey I’m reading the paper right now, and I don’t want to be bothered. Why don’t you go outside and play? And don’t slam the door.”

Joey folded the drawing and put it in his pocket. His mom found the drawing the next morning while she was doing the laundry. She threw it in the trash without ever opening it, along with a small rock, a piece of string, and two marbles Joey had found while he was outside playing.

When Joey was twenty-eight years old, his daughter Annie drew a picture. It was a picture of their family. Joey laughed when five-year-old Annie pointed to a squiggle stick figure and said, “That’s you daddy!”

Annie laughed too. Joey looked at the big rd circle his daughter had drawn around the stick figures and began to slowly trace the circle with his finger.

“I’ll be right back,” Annie said as she jumped off her father’s lap. When she came back she had a pencil clutched in her small hand. Her father moved the drawing aside to make room on his lap for his small daughter.

Annie positioned the pencil point near the top of the big red circle. “Daddy, how do you spell LOVE?” she asked.

Joey gathered the child in his arms and guided her small hand as he helped her form the letters.

“Love is spelled T-I-M-E,” he told her.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

THE CAREGIVER STORY

I am a caregiver. My forty-year-old husband, David, has a little known genetic disease called Huntington’s disease. He can do almost nothing for himself.

I can tell you that caregivers experience a wide range of emotions, depending on the largely upon the person whom we are caring. Lately, I have to admit; I’ve been feeling there’s really no reward for what I am doing.

David has difficulty feeding for himself, and swallowing is accomplished only with great deal of effort. One day, with more food landing on his shirt than in his mouth, David and I were going through the usual “ change the shirt” game.

“David lift up your arms,” I pleaded. And then, “if you do, we can go and have ice cream.”

David’s garbled speech made his response to my urging impossible to comprehend. I did figure out, however, that he had no intention of lifting his arms or cooperating as I changed his shirt.

I felt myself tense up, and I sighed in frustration. I didn’t need this today. Try as I would, I simply couldn’t understand what he was saying. And we weren’t moving any near our goal-getting him into a clean shirt.

‘David,” I finally said, “my job is to feed you, make sure you take your medications, and help your doctors and nurses. Your job is to help me help you. You need to lift your arms, please.”

With an endearing smile so like that of the man I had married before the ravages of Huntington’s disease took him away, David said, “No. My job is to say ‘I love you’ in as clear voice as possible.”

Care giving is not something I would ever choose to do. Imagine most people would not choose what is usually an almost thankless job-especially without pay. Still, there are rewards. Remembering David’s smile and his comment about his “job” is a nice memory I can pull out on days when things get really tough. We all have our Jobs, and David’s job is to say, “I love you.”

David, I love you too.

THE CAREGIVER STORY

I am a caregiver. My forty-year-old husband, David, has a little known genetic disease called Huntington’s disease. He can do almost nothing for himself.

I can tell you that caregivers experience a wide range of emotions, depending on the largely upon the person whom we are caring. Lately, I have to admit; I’ve been feeling there’s really no reward for what I am doing.
David has difficulty feeding for himself, and swallowing is accomplished only with great deal of effort. One day, with more food landing on his shirt than in his mouth, David and I were going through the usual “ change the shirt” game.
“David lift up your arms,” I pleaded. And then, “if you do, we can go and have ice cream.”

David’s garbled speech made his response to my urging impossible to comprehend. I did figure out, however, that he had no intention of lifting his arms or cooperating as I changed his shirt.

I felt myself tense up, and I sighed in frustration. I didn’t need this today. Try as I would, I simply couldn’t understand what he was saying. And we weren’t moving any near our goal-getting him into a clean shirt.

‘David,” I finally said, “my job is to feed you, make sure you take your medications, and help your doctors and nurses. Your job is to help me help you. You need to lift your arms, please.”

With an endearing smile so like that of the man I had married before the ravages of Huntington’s disease took him away, David said, “No. My job is to say ‘I love you’ in as clear voice as possible.”

Care giving is not something I would ever choose to do. Imagine most people would not choose what is usually an almost thankless job-especially without pay. Still, there are rewards. Remembering David’s smile and his comment about his “job” is a nice memory I can pull out on days when things get really tough. We all have our Jobs, and David’s job is to say, “I love you.”

David, I love you too.

ETHANOL - FUEL OF THE FUTURE

Ethanol, also known as ethyl alcohol, drinking alcohol or grain alcohol, is a flammable, colorless chemical compound, and is best known as the alcohol found in thermometers and alcoholic beverages. In common usage, it is often referred to simply as alcohol. It is a straight-chain alcohol and its molecular formula is variously represented as EtOH, CH3CH2OH, C2H5OH or as its empirical formula C2H6O (which it shares with dimethyl ether).

After the use of fire, fermentation of sugar into ethanol is perhaps the earliest organic reaction known to humanity, and the intoxicating effects of ethanol consumption have been known since ancient times. In modern times ethanol intended for industrial use has also been produced from byproducts of petroleum refining.

Ethanol has widespread use as a solvent for substances intended for human contact or consumption, including scents, flavorings, colourings, and medicines. In chemistry it is both an essential solvent and a feedstock for the synthesis of other products. Ethanol has a long history as a fuel, including as a fuel for internal combustion engines.
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Ethanol has been used by humans since prehistory as the intoxicating ingredient in alcoholic beverages. Dried residues on 9000-year-old pottery found in China imply the use of alcoholic beverages even among Neolithic people. Its isolation as a relatively pure compound was first achieved by Muslim chemists who developed the art of distillation during the Abbasid caliphate, the most notable of whom were Jabir ibn Hayyan (Geber), Al-Kindi (Alkindus) and al-Razi (Rhazes). The writings attributed to Jabir ibn Hayyan (721-815) mention the flammable vapors of boiled wine. Al-Kindi (801-873) unambiguously described the distillation of wine. Absolute ethanol was obtained in 1796 by Johann Tobias Lowitz, by filtering distilled ethanol through charcoal.

Antoine Lavoisier described ethanol as a compound of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, and in 1808, Nicolas-Théodore de Saussure determined ethanol's chemical formula. Fifty years later Archibald Scott Couper published a structural formula for ethanol, which places ethanol among the first of chemical compounds to have its chemical structures determined.

Ethanol was first prepared synthetically in 1826, through the independent efforts of Henry Hennel in Great Britain and S.G. Sérullas in France. Michael Faraday prepared ethanol by the acid-catalyzed hydration of ethylene in 1828, in a process similar to that used for industrial ethanol synthesis today.

Ethanol served as lamp fuel in the United States as early as 1840, although taxes levied during the Civil War on industrial alcohol rendered the practice uneconomical. The tax was not repealed until 1906, and from 1908 Ford Model T automobiles could be adapted to run on ethanol. With the advent of Prohibition in 1920 though, sellers of ethanol fuel were accused of being allies of moonshiners, and ethanol fuel once again faded from the public eye. The recent rise in oil prices has spurred renewed interest.

Political support has also increased recently for more ethanol based products. During the 2007-2008 period, ethanol based fuel gained popularity with many elected officials, regardless of party affiliation.

The properties of ethanol stem primarily from the presence of its hydroxyl group and the shortness of its carbon chain. Ethanol's hydroxyl group is able to participate in hydrogen bonding, rendering it more viscous and less volatile than less polar organic compounds of similar molecular weight. Ethanol, like most short-chain alcohols, is flammable, colorless, has a strong odor, and is volatile.

Ethanol is slightly more refractive than water with a refractive index of 1.36242 (at ?=589.3 nm and 18.35 °C).

Ethanol is a versatile solvent, miscible in all proportions with water and many organic solvents, including acetic acid, acetone, benzene, carbon tetrachloride, chloroform, diethyl ether, ethylene glycol, glycerol, nitromethane, pyridine, and toluene. It is also miscible with light aliphatic hydrocarbons such as pentane and hexane, as well as aliphatic chlorides such as trichloroethane and tetrachloroethylene. Ethanol's miscibility with water is in contrast to longer chain alcohols (five or more carbons), whose water solubility decreases rapidly as the number of carbons increases.

Hydrogen bonding causes pure ethanol to be hygroscopic to the extent that it readily absorbs water from the air. The polar nature of the hydroxyl group causes ethanol to dissolve many ionic compounds, notably sodium and potassium hydroxides, magnesium chloride, calcium chloride, ammonium chloride, ammonium bromide, and sodium bromide. Sodium and potassium chlorides are slightly soluble in ethanol. Because the ethanol molecule also has a nonpolar end, it also dissolves nonpolar substances, including most essential oils, as well as numerous flavoring, coloring, and medicinal agents.

Several unusual phenomena are associated with mixtures of ethanol and water. Ethanol-water mixtures have less volume than their individual components. A mixture of equal volumes ethanol and water has only 95.6% of the volume of equal parts ethanol and water, unmixed (at 15.56 °C). The addition of even a few percent of ethanol to water sharply reduces the surface tension of water. This property partially explains the tears of wine phenomenon. When wine is swirled in a glass, ethanol evaporates quickly from the thin film of wine on the wall of the glass. As its ethanol content decreases, its surface tension increases, and the thin film beads up and runs down the glass in channels rather than as a smooth sheet.

Ethanol and mixtures with water greater than about 50% ethanol are flammable and easily ignited. This principle was used for the alcoholic proof, which initially consisted on adding gunpowder to a given liquor: if the mixture ignited, it was considered to be "100 proof". Ethanol-water solutions below 50% ethanol by volume may also be flammable if the solution is vaporized by heating (as in some cooking methods that call for wine to be added to a hot pan, causing it to flash boil into a vapor, which is then ignited to "burn off" excessive alcohol).

Ethanol for use as industrial feedstock is most often made from petrochemical feed stocks, typically by the acid-catalyzed hydration of ethylene, represented by the chemical equation

C2H4(g) + H2O(g) ? CH3CH2OH(l)

The catalyst is most commonly phosphoric acid, adsorbed onto a porous support such as diatomaceous earth or charcoal. This catalyst was first used for large-scale ethanol production by the Shell Oil Company in 1947. The reaction is carried out at with an excess of high pressure steam at 300 °C.

In an older process, first practiced on the industrial scale in 1930 by Union Carbide, but now almost entirely obsolete, ethylene was hydrated indirectly by reacting it with concentrated sulfuric acid to produce ethyl sulfate, which was then hydrolyzed to yield ethanol and regenerate the sulfuric acid:

C2H4 + H2SO4 ? CH3CH2SO4H

CH3CH2SO4H + H2O ? CH3CH2OH + H2SO4

Ethanol for use in alcoholic beverages, and the vast majority of ethanol for use as fuel, is produced by fermentation. When certain species of yeast, most importantly, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, metabolize sugar in the absence of oxygen, they produce ethanol and carbon dioxide. The chemical equation below summarizes the conversion:

C6H12O6 ? 2 CH3CH2OH + 2 CO2

The process of culturing yeast under conditions to produce alcohol is called fermentation. Ethanol's toxicity to yeast limits the ethanol concentration obtainable by brewing. The most ethanol-tolerant strains of yeast can survive up to approximately 15% ethanol by volume.

The fermentation process must exclude oxygen. If oxygen is present, yeast undergo aerobic respiration which produces carbon dioxide and water rather than ethanol.

In order to produce ethanol from starchy materials such as cereal grains, the starch must first be converted into sugars. In brewing beer, this has traditionally been accomplished by allowing the grain to germinate, or malt, which produces the enzyme, amylase. When the malted grain is mashed, the amylase converts the remaining starches into sugars. For fuel ethanol, the hydrolysis of starch into glucose can be accomplished more rapidly by treatment with dilute sulfuric acid, fungally produced amylase, or some combination of the two.

Sugars for ethanol fermentation can be obtained from cellulose. Until recently, however, the cost of the cellulase enzymes capable of hydrolyzing cellulose has been prohibitive. The Canadian firm Iogen brought the first cellulose-based ethanol plant on-stream in 2004. Its primary consumer so far has been the Canadian government, which, along with the United States Department of Energy, has invested heavily in the commercialization of cellulosic ethanol. Deployment of this technology could turn a number of cellulose-containing agricultural byproducts, such as corncobs, straw, and sawdust, into renewable energy resources. Other enzyme companies are developing genetically engineered fungi that produce large volumes of cellulase, xylanase and hemicellulase enzymes. These would convert agricultural residues such as corn stover, wheat straw and sugar cane bagasse and energy crops such as switchgrass into fermentable sugars.

Cellulose-bearing materials typically also contain other polysaccharides, including hemicellulose. When hydrolyzed, hemicellulose decomposes into mostly five-carbon sugars such as xylose. S. cerevisiae, the yeast most commonly used for ethanol production, cannot metabolize xylose. Other yeasts and bacteria are under investigation to ferment xylose and other pentoses into ethanol.

On January 14, 2008, General Motors announced a partnership with Coskata, Inc. The goal is to produce cellulosic ethanol cheaply, with an eventual goal of $1 per gallon for the fuel. The partnership plans to begin producing the fuel in large quantity by the end of 2008. By 2011 a full-scale plant will come on line, capable of producing 50 to 100 million gallons of ethanol a year.

The anaerobic bacterium Clostridium ljungdahlii, recently discovered in commercial chicken wastes, can produce ethanol from single-carbon sources including synthesis gas, a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen that can be generated from the partial combustion of either fossil fuels or biomass. Use of these bacteria to produce ethanol from synthesis gas has progressed to the pilot plant stage at the BRI Energy facility in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Another prospective technology is the closed-loop ethanol plant. Ethanol produced from corn has a number of critics who suggest that it is primarily just recycled fossil fuels because of the energy required to grow the grain and convert it into ethanol. However, the closed-loop ethanol plant attempts to address this criticism. In a closed-loop plant, the energy for the distillation comes from fermented manure, produced from cattle that have been fed the by-products from the distillation. The leftover manure is then used to fertilize the soil used to grow the grain. Such a process is expected to have a much lower fossil fuel requirement.

Though in an early stage of research, there is some development of alternative production methods that use feed stocks such as municipal waste or recycled products, rice hulls, sugarcane bagasse, small diameter trees, wood chips, and switchgrass.

Breweries and biofuel plants employ two methods for measuring ethanol concentration. Infrared ethanol sensors measure the vibrational frequency of dissolved ethanol using the CH band at 2900 cm-1. This method uses a relatively inexpensive solid state sensor that compares the CH band with a reference band to calculate the ethanol content. The calculation makes use of the Beer-Lambert law. Alternatively, by measuring the density of the starting material and the density of the product, using a hydrometer, the change in specific gravity during fermentation indicates the alcohol content. This inexpensive and indirect method has a long history in the beer brewing industry.

Ethylene hydration or brewing produces an ethanol-water mixture. For most industrial and fuel uses, the ethanol must be purified. Fractional distillation can concentrate ethanol to 95.6% by weight (89.5 mole%). This mixture is an azeotrope with a boiling point of 78.1 °C, and cannot be further purified by distillation.

In one common industrial method to obtain absolute alcohol, a small quantity of benzene is added to rectified spirit and the mixture is then distilled. Absolute alcohol is obtained in the third fraction, which distills over at 78.3 °C (351.4 K). Because a small amount of the benzene used remains in the solution, absolute alcohol produced by this method is not suitable for consumption, as benzene is carcinogenic.

There is also an absolute alcohol production process by desiccation using glycerol. Alcohol produced by this method is known as spectroscopic alcohol — so called because the absence of benzene makes it suitable as a solvent in spectroscopy.

Other methods for obtaining absolute ethanol include desiccation using adsorbents such as starch or zeolites, which adsorb water preferentially, as well as azeotropic distillation and extractive distillation.

Pure ethanol and alcoholic beverages are heavily taxed. Ethanol has many applications that do not involve human consumption. To relieve the tax burden on these applications, most jurisdictions waive the tax when agents have been added to the ethanol to render it unfit for human consumption. These include bittering agents such as denatonium benzoate, as well as toxins such as methanol, naphtha, and pyridine.[

Absolute or anhydrous alcohol generally refers to purified ethanol, containing no more than one percent water. Absolute alcohol not intended for human consumption often contains trace amounts of toxic benzene (used to remove water by azeotropic distillation). Generally this kind of ethanol is used as solvents for lab and industrial settings where water will disrupt a desired reaction.

Pure ethanol is classed as 200 proof in the USA, equivalent to 175 degrees proof in the UK system.

The largest single use of ethanol is as a motor fuel and fuel additive. The largest national fuel ethanol industries exist in Brazil (gasoline sold in Brazil contains at least 20% ethanol and anhydrous ethanol is also used as fuel).

Henry Ford designed the first mass-produced automobile, the famed Model T Ford, to run on pure anhydrous (ethanol) alcohol -- he said it was "the fuel of the future". Today, however, 100% pure ethanol is not approved as a motor vehicle fuel in the US, even though compared to gasoline, ethanol cuts poisonous gas emissions (carbon monoxide, nitrous oxides, sulfur dioxide) and produces fewer greenhouse gases that cause global climate change. Added to gasoline, ethanol also reduces ground-level ozone formation by lowering volatile organic compound and hydrocarbon emissions, decreasing carcinogenic benzene, and butadiene, emissions, and particulate matter emissions from gasoline combustion. Since 90% of US crude oil reserves have been consumed, the US must import crude oil to meet energy demand. Substituting ethanol for gasoline would substantially reduce the foreign trade deficit, which is aggravated by crude oil and gasoline imports.

Today, almost half of Brazilian cars are able to use 100% ethanol as fuel, which includes ethanol-only engines and flex-fuel engines. Flex-fuel engines in Brazil are able to work with all ethanol, all gasoline, or any mixture of both. In the US flex-fuel vehicles can run on 0% to 85% ethanol (15% gasoline) since higher ethanol blends are not yet allowed. Brazil supports this population of ethanol-burning automobiles with large national infrastructure that produces ethanol from domestically grown sugar cane. Sugar cane not only has a greater concentration of sucrose than corn (by about 30%), but is also much easier to extract. The bagasse generated by the process is not wasted, but is utilized in power plants as a surprisingly efficient fuel to produce electricity.

World production of ethanol in 2006 was 51 billion liters, (13.5 billion gallons), with 69% of the world supply coming from Brazil and the United States.

The United States fuel ethanol industry is based largely on maize. According to the Renewable Fuels Association, as of October 30, 2007, 131 grain ethanol bio-refineries in the United States have the capacity to produce 7.0 billion gallons of ethanol per year. An additional 72 construction projects underway (in the U.S.) can add 6.4 billion gallons of new capacity in the next 18 months. Over time, it is believed that a material portion of the ~150 billion gallon per year market for gasoline will begin to be replaced with fuel ethanol.

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 requires that 4 billion gallons of "renewable fuel" be used in 2006 and this requirement will grow to a yearly production of 7.5 billion gallons by 2012.

In the United States, ethanol is most commonly blended with gasoline as a 10% ethanol blend nicknamed "gasohol". This blend is widely sold throughout the U.S. Midwest, and in cities required by the 1990 Clean Air Act to oxygenate their gasoline during the winter.

It is disputed whether ethanol as an automotive fuel results in a net energy gain or loss. As reported in "The Energy Balance of Corn Ethanol: an Update, the energy returned on energy invested (EROEI) for ethanol made from corn in the U.S. is 1.34 (it yields 34% more energy than it takes to produce it). Input energy includes natural gas based fertilizers, farm equipment, transformation from corn or other materials, and transportation. However, other researchers report that the production of ethanol consumes more energy than it yields. Recent research suggests that cellulosic crops such as switchgrass provide a much better net energy production, producing over five times as much energy as the total used to produce the crop and convert it to fuel. If this research is confirmed, cellulosic crops will most likely displace corn as the main fuel crop for producing bioethanol.

Environmentalists, livestock farmers, and opponents of subsidies say that increased ethanol production won't meet energy goals and may damage the environment, while at the same time causing worldwide food prices to soar. Some of the controversial subsidies in the past have included more than $10 billion to Archer-Daniels-Midland since 1980. Critics also speculate that as ethanol is more widely used, changing irrigation practices could greatly increase pressure on water resources. In October 2007, 28 environmental groups decried the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS), a legislative effort intended to increase ethanol production, and said that the measure will "lead to substantial environmental damage and a system of biofuels production that will not benefit family farmers...will not promote sustainable agriculture and will not mitigate global climate change." Recent articles have also blamed subsidized ethanol production for the nearly 200% increase in milk prices since 2004, although that is disputed by some.

Oil has historically had a much higher EROEI than agriculturally produced ethanol, according to some. However, oil must be refined into gasoline before it can be used for automobile fuel. Refining, as well as exploration and drilling, consumes energy. The difference between the energy in the fuel (output energy) and the energy needed to produce it (input energy) is often expressed as a percent of the input energy and called net energy gain (or loss). Several studies released in 2002 estimated that the net energy gain for corn ethanol is between 21 and 34 percent. In comparison, gasoline production yields a net energy loss of between 19 and 20 percent. The net energy loss for MTBE is about 33 percent. When added to gasoline ethanol can replace MBTE as an anti-knock agent without poisoning drinking water as MBTE does. Further agricultural practices and ethanol production improvements could lead to an increase in ethanol net energy gain in the future. Consuming known oil reserves is increasing oil exploration and drilling energy consumption which is reducing oil EROEI (and energy balance) further.

Opponents claim that ethanol production does not result in a net energy gain or that the consequences of large scale ethanol production to the food industry and environment offset any potential gains from ethanol. It has been estimated that "if every bushel of U.S. corn, wheat, rice and soybean were used to produce ethanol, it would only cover about 4% of U.S. energy needs on a net basis." Many of the issues raised could likely be fixed by techniques now in development that produce ethanol from agricultural waste such as paper waste, switch grass, and other materials.

Proponents cite the potential gains to the US economy both from domestic fuel production and increased demand for corn. Optimistic calculations project that the United States is capable of producing enough ethanol to completely replace gasoline consumption.

In the United States, preferential regulatory and tax treatment of ethanol automotive fuels introduces complexities beyond its energy economics alone. North American automakers have in 2006 and 2007 promoted a blend of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline, marketed as E85, and their flex-fuel vehicles, e.g. GM's "Live Green, Go Yellow" campaign. The apparent motivation is the nature of U.S. Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, which give an effective 54% fuel efficiency bonus to vehicles capable of running on 85% alcohol blends over vehicles not adapted to run on 85% alcohol blends. In addition to this auto manufacturer-driven impetus for 85% alcohol blends, the United States Environmental Protection Agency had authority to mandate that minimum proportions of oxygenates be added to automotive gasoline on regional and seasonal bases from 1992 until 2006 in an attempt to reduce air pollution, in particular ground-level ozone and smog. In the United States, incidents of methyl tert(iary)-butyl ether (MTBE) groundwater contamination have been recorded in the majority of the 50 states, and the State of California's ban on the use of MTBE as a gasoline additive has further driven the more widespread use of ethanol as the most common fuel oxygenate.

A February 7, 2008 Associated Press article stated, "The widespread use of ethanol from corn could result in nearly twice the greenhouse gas emissions as the gasoline it would replace because of expected land-use changes, researchers concluded Thursday. The study challenges the rush to biofuels as a response to global warming."

A February 7, 2008 Renewable Fuels Association news release quoted RFA President Bob Dinneen, saying, "Understanding the land use changes occurring around the globe is important to developing strategies to combat the advance of climate change. However, like previous studies, those published in Science today fail to put the issue in context. Assigning the blame for rainforest deforestation and grassland conversion to agriculture production solely to the renewable fuels industry ignores key factors that play a greater role. The continued growth of the global population, surging global demand for food from expanding middle classes in China and India, and continued expansion of development and urban sprawl are all factors contributing to the increased demand for arable acres. In addition, without biofuels and some increase in fuel economy, more and more petroleum will be required to meet the increasingly ravenous demand for liquid fuels around the world. As the ‘easy’ sources of oil decline, development of exotic resources, like tar sands in Canada, are being pursued. Tar sands, by comparison, release some 300 percent more greenhouse gas emissions than traditional petroleum recovery. It is very questionable that biofuels are the silver bullet to the energy or environmental challenges our planet faces. According to the Renewable Fuels Association, by adopting the use of biofuels today and encouraging the development of next generation technologies for the future, the road can be paved for the future fuels and technologies to come; the alternative is to continue to exploit increasingly costlier fossil fuels for which the environmental price tag will be great" according to the Renewable Fuels Association.

Ethanol was commonly used as fuel in early bipropellant rocket vehicles, in conjunction with an oxidizer such as liquid oxygen. The German V-2 rocket of World War II, credited with beginning the space age, used ethanol, mixed with water to reduce the combustion chamber temperature. The V-2's design team helped develop U.S. rockets following World War II, including the ethanol-fueled Redstone rocket, which launched the first U.S. satellite. Alcohols fell into general disuse as more efficient rocket fuels were developed.

Ethanol is the principal psychoactive constituent in alcoholic beverages, with depressant effects to the central nervous system. It has a complex mode of action and affects multiple systems in the brain, most notably ethanol acts as an agonist to the GABA receptors. Similar psychoactives include those which also interact with GABA receptors, such as gamma-hydroxybutyric acid.

Alcoholic beverages vary considerably in their ethanol content and in the foodstuffs from which they are produced. Most alcoholic beverages can be broadly classified as fermented beverages, beverages made by the action of yeast on sugary foodstuffs, or as distilled beverages, beverages whose preparation involves concentrating the ethanol in fermented beverages by distillation. The ethanol content of a beverage is usually measured in terms of the volume fraction of ethanol in the beverage, expressed either as a percentage or in alcoholic proof units.

Fermented beverages can be broadly classified by the foodstuff from which they are fermented. Beers are made from cereal grains or other starchy materials, wines and ciders from fruit juices, and meads from honey. Cultures around the world have made fermented beverages from numerous other foodstuffs, and local and national names for various fermented beverages abound.

Distilled beverages are made by distilling fermented beverages. Broad categories of distilled beverages include whiskeys, distilled from fermented cereal grains; brandies, distilled from fermented fruit juices, and rum, distilled from fermented molasses or sugarcane juice. Vodka and similar neutral grain spirits can be distilled from any fermented material (grain or potatoes are most common); these spirits are so thoroughly distilled that no tastes from the particular starting material remain. Numerous other spirits and liqueurs are prepared by infusing flavors from fruits, herbs, and spices into distilled spirits. A traditional example is gin, which is created by infusing juniper berries into a neutral grain alcohol.

In a few beverages, ethanol is concentrated by means other than distillation. Applejack is traditionally made by freeze distillation, by which water is frozen out of fermented apple cider, leaving a more ethanol-rich liquid behind. Eisbier (more commonly, eisbock) is also freeze-distilled, with beer as the base beverage. Fortified wines are prepared by adding brandy or some other distilled spirit to partially-fermented wine. This kills the yeast and conserves some of the sugar in grape juice; such beverages are not only more ethanol-rich, but are often sweeter than other wines.

Alcoholic beverages are sometimes used in cooking, not only for their inherent flavors, but also because the alcohol dissolves hydrophobic flavor compounds which water cannot.

SKIN CANCER

Skin cancer is one of the most horrible diseases that could happen to anyone. As far as in modern medical knowledge has identify the major causes of skin cancer which consist of some risky activities. Many people seem to be more concern about how to protect and stay away from the disease. However, it is likely that apart from the person who may have genetic disease of skin cancer, the disease happen more to the one who work or live in the environment that has greater chance of skin cancer. According to this reasons for the once who living or working in such the environment have to be very careful and aware of these threads and also to find the way of effective protections. You may find the following details useful in terms of the identification of major cause of skin cancer, and to consider whether you are the one who are in such environment and in order to prepare in case you found that you are in early stage of the disease.

We will have a look at the first condition that usually (and most of the time) is the major cause of skin cancer, the sunlight. According to the fact that sunlight extremely has benefit to human's health and the human body can not work functionally without sunlight. This is because the sunlight has Ultra Violet Radiations, which is really necessary to human body to generate important glucose and haemoglobin. However, in the same time, the ultraviolet radiation is also the major cause of skin cancer if there are exceed in the amount that the person take it. For example, considering the person who has to work in the condition such as golf caddy, these people is obviously have to face with very strong sunlight all the time. Some people in this job category may try to protect themselves by wearing cloth that prevent the skin to have direct contact with the sunlight, but in fact, the ultraviolet radiation still radiate to the skin even though it is not a direct contact. The only one way of protection is to wear thick cloth to prevent radiation or using anti-UV lotion apply on the skin.

When talk about the radiation, the other condition that may risk of skin cancer and quickly come into my mind is for the person who work in a hospital, in the x-ray room. Yes, it is one of the most risk condition for skin cancer. As same as the radiation of the UV sunlight, x-ray contain some radioactive substances that impact to the human skin and cause cancer if the person has direct contact too often.

Other condition that may risk of skin cancer, apart from those two major factors is to have direct contact with some kind of chemical substances such as hydrocarbons and arsenic. We can see these days as many kind of what we use in everyday life contains these kind of chemicals. In some case, for many women who have to use excessive cosmetic on daily basis could also risk to have skin cancer.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

DOG DOCTOR

When I arrived last Saturday from my field work in the province, I immediately noticed my dog was sick. When I fed him in the evening, he didn't ate any of it. My dog is just a common mongrel but I love my dog so much. Every time I arrive home my dog always makes an effort on greeting me welcome. Because my dog is sick I prepared a medicine for him. With the assistance of my mother, we were able to make my dog drink the medicine. I still have to observe the drug reaction on my dog. I am preparing another set for my dog to take.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

SUDDEN CHANGE OF PLANS

Later tonight, my brother told me that their plans of moving to Pagadian City will be temporarily suspended. This is because his wife will be promoted to another position, higher from her previews post. She will be assigned as branch marketing head of Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation in their upcoming branch that will be located inside New City Commercial Center Mall. My brother already turned down the offer of PS Bank to be their senior marketing head in Pagadian City. With this reason they will be staying here longer in Davao City, the land of promise. At the moment my brother is my teacher for my informal driving lesson using the car that my other brother gave to my mother, a Honda City 2003 edition.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

MOVING TO A NEW CITY

My brother and his wife are planning to move to another city. This plan was conceptualized after the death of my brother's father-in-law last March. The reason for their moving is that the family of my brother's wife has a family business in that city. They are moving to Pagadian City maybe by next year. The plan of moving to another city is quite difficult because the family business that awaits there is not a solely owned. My brother's wife has 3 other siblings, all in their mature age, that rely on the proceeds of that business for their livelihood. According to my brother, only his wife has the know how to handle the operation of the business. Handling a business that is owned by 4 people is very hard because of the authority on who is incharge, especially in the financials. I guess I just have to wait and see what happens next.

SMALL TOWN LIVING

I was born in the big city. The sounds of the motorized vehicles are music to my ears. It is just common to see cars colliding to each other and road accidents, siren sounding almost 24 hours a day. Part of my job is go to other cities and provinces to conduct my field work. I have been doing this for the past 6 years already. Every time I go on field work, excites me because I get to experience the small town living.
Living in a small town is different compared to the city life, where everything is in chase with time. People are always in a hurry to their work or to their offices. Sometime I consider my field work as my only way to relax because life living in a small town is relaxing and time, as if, moves slow. People are cheerful enough to greet you good morning and say hello as they pass you by. In the town where I am in right now, they don't use cars and buses for transportation. The main transportation here is cycle rickshaw. Life here is indeed different from the life I had in the city. When my productive years will be over, I would definitely live in a small town such as this where I am right now. Life is simple and easy.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

COMPUTERS AND MORE

The 50 plus crowd within the United States didn't grow up using computers at school or within the work environment because in our early years the desktop computer and laptops didn't in all actuality exist within the consumer marketplace. We have cell phones now that are smaller than the size of a cinder block and computers no longer require more square footage than a five room home. Yes, time has progressed and I'm proud to say the fifty plus crowd my children seem to think are 10 days older than dirt; managed to adapt to the modern day technical advances as well.

Computer use by our aging population revealed in 2004 that 46% of those aged between 59 to 68 now use and enjoy Internet access at home. Just over 76% of those within the ages of 50 and 58 use computers as a direct result of computers being a common place necessity and requirement to function or perform our jobs within the modern day work environment. However, it must be noted using a work computer and having to keep it optimized and safeguarded is usually the task of the resident wiz kid or a dedicated technical type (IT) staff. So what happens when the home PC slows, crashes or is somehow compromised?

As I see there are a number of emergence repair tactics that can be implemented. First and foremost is the panic call to our children to come over and troubleshoot the situation. After all, they have been using computers since first grade and that pretty much makes them an expert right? Once you discover their ability to social network and post videos on Utube doesn't speed up the computer the second option is; to research and find registry repair, spyware, adware and about 100 other software solutions that have incremental probabilities of resolution. Last but not least the computer can be drug into a service facility or a technician home visit can be scheduled that will ultimately cost as much as a 2d mortgage home loan. Well, none of that has any source of good old fashioned stubbornness and common sense. As I also see it ' there is always a solution in the face of any and all problems.

I remember that conversation at the plant where something sounding a lot like a termination threat motivated me to actually start touching a computer keyboard way back when. I still remember a series of training classes that I attended that were moderated by a technician that today wouldn't be allowed to have friends in his car let alone use a cell phone while operating a motor vehicle. Seems to me he still had spit behind his ears. But, putting all that behind, he did a really great job of teaching all of us how to get around those old computer operating systems proficiently. We were ready to tackle Donkey Kong, Pong and any Atari game in existence buried in the home closet. That being a monumental achievement I like many others actually bought a home computer. I used it a lot and as all things being put into use, the computer slowed to a crawl.

I'm lucky because somewhere in the process of aging I found time to attend a technical trade institute where despite the fact my classmates thought I was a professor; I along side of them learned to build a computer from the ground up. Some of the residual training included troubleshooting the system and a resulting ability to keep it and my personal and financial information safeguarded from intruders that come in the form of hackers, worms, Trojans, viruses, adware, etc., etc. I learned to do a mass of little things to keep it (the computer) optimized as well and these series of events; are things we all need to learn to do.

Most people are clueless when it comes to debugging, defragging, defusing this that or whatever it takes to keep the home computer operating efficiently. But, the simple fact of the matter is the tiny little things necessary to keep the home computer optimized isn't difficult at all. I'm not into a lot of physical activity anymore as age made me realize; the only thing that doesn't hurt in the morning when I get out of bed is the eyelids. I don't jog any longer and as far as I'm concerned; that animal the wife drug home 180 years ago - can give itself a walk.

I'm more into keeping the mind fit and dedicate myself into contemplating important things such as how many fish I'm going to drag home from the lake, if the dog is going to find its way home, how many Emails I'll be sending or receiving and most importantly; why it is the TV volume is set at 24 and somehow comes on in the morning set somewhere around 38 or higher. I still don't know who formats TV movies to specifically fit my television set and why anyone would want to take a prescription drug after listening to all the accompanying warnings the commercials render.

As you have guessed I'm not into massive physical activity and as such will not be taking the time to come over to your house to show you how to optimize your home computer. The tech boys at work are out bar hopping looking for their future wife and I know by now, your home computer is getting slower than a piss ant missing 3 or 4 legs down it's right side. (I'm not an anthropologist). Anyway in between Emails, articles, electronic newspapers somewhere in the midst of my avid Internet surfing (which sounds physical) I actually discovered the solution to your home computer woes. I discovered (as you have) you didn't need to buy all that fix-it software above and beyond the antivirus stuff. All you need is a series of home videos that take you by the hand and teach you how to expertly optimize that little computer operating system with an hours worth of effort. Your computer will be up and running as if it was just plugged in today!

Monday, April 14, 2008

DRIVING TIPS

Driving can be very exciting and fun especially when you are a new driver. Driving means authority because you are in control of the wheel of direction. The automobile goes where you want it to go. But before you drive be responsible in checking the basic things before you start that engine.
1. Fuel. Your car cannot go distance without fuel. Before you drive make sure that there is fuel in your vehicle.
2. Brakes. Brakes are very important in every vehicle especially in motion. Brake fluid must be present in your vehicle. Negligence of not putting brake fluid results to road accidents and death.
3. Engine Oil. A well oiled engine is a good engine. That is the basic rule. An engine's performance is always associated with the engine oil that is used on it. There are so many brands of engine oils in the market today. If you don't have any idea on the brand of engine oil that you will be using, it would be better to ask for an assistance from your friendly mechanic.
4. Battery. Usually a car battery would last for 2 years depending on the usage of the vehicle. Make sure that when you start that engine it would start immediately. Avoid battery drain it results no power in your car.
5. Wheels. Check always the wheels making sure that it is inflated with the right amount of air inside. The spare tire of your vehicle must be check from time to time.
6. Lights. Vehicle lights must be check often. Making sure that the circuits and wires are connected. Driving at night is difficult without lights.
7. Radiator. Make sure that the radiator has water in it. Overheating is the result when your radiator has no water to cool it. Make sure that the radiator can hold water. Check for leaks of the side and other parts of the radiator area. Radiator coolants are suggested to maintain that cool radiator.
Be a responsible driver.