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Tuesday, October 12
Converting Manure Into Crude Oil
by
Linda Thieman
on Tue 12 Oct 2004 05:22 PM CDT
 Converting Manure Into Crude Oil
ThePigSite.com
Tired of politics? Let's talk pig poo.
American
industrial agriculture is executed on an enormous scale. To look at
just one slice: More than 100 million head of hogs and pigs are
slaughtered in the United States every year. That's one hog for every
household in America.
...Swine manure, once considered a valuable natural fertilizer, has now become an expensive burden on the pork industry.
This
doesn't have to be the case. Manure can be converted to energy through
biological and chemical processes. The tremendous amount of swine
manure produced each year can be an alternative, renewable energy
source that can supplement the ever-dwindling reserve of fossil fuels.
One
exciting new technology for turning waste to fuel is thermochemical
conversion. Thermochemical conversion, or TCC, is a chemical process
that reforms organic matter in a heated enclosure, usually in an
environment with little or no oxygen.
(Click here to read the rest of the article.)
Also
from ThePigSite.com, the lovely and helpful treatise entitled
"Practices to Reduce Amonia," compiled by Wendy Powers of Iowa State
University. Click here to read the article.
Working for a Pittance
by
Linda Thieman
on Tue 12 Oct 2004 01:04 PM CDT
 Working for a Pittance
by Bob Herbert, New York Times
Coming this week are the results of a new study that shows - here at home -
how tough a time American families are having in their never-ending
struggle to put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads. The
White House, as deep in denial about the economy as it is about Iraq,
insists that things are fine - despite the embarrassing fact that Bush
is on track to become the first pResident since Herbert Hoover to
preside over a net loss of jobs during his four years in office.
The
study, jointly sponsored by the Annie E. Casey, Ford and Rockefeller
Foundations, will show that 9.2 million working families in the United
States - one out of every four - earn wages that are so low they are
barely able to survive financially.
"Our
data is very solid and shows that this is a much bigger problem than
most people imagine," said Brandon Roberts, one of the authors of the
report, which is to be formally released on Tuesday. The report found
that there are 20 million children in these low-income working families.
...The
median income for a family of four in the U.S. is $62,732. According to
the study, a family of four earning less than $36,784 is considered
low-income. A family of four earning less than $18,392 is considered
poor.
(Click here to read the complete article.) Free registration required.
Kerry, Edwards in Des Moines Thursday
by
Linda Thieman
on Tue 12 Oct 2004 11:08 AM CDT
 KERRY, EDWARDS IN DES MOINES THURSDAY
Iowa for Kerry-Edwards
Please
join us in welcoming John Kerry, John Edwards, Teresa Heinz Kerry, and
Elizabeth Edwards to Des Moines on Thursday, October 14. This is an
exciting opportunity to show your support for the Kerry-Edwards vision
of a stronger America. The rally will also feature the music of county
singer Hal Ketchum and an appearance from actor Josh Hartnett.
Make sure to bring your friends, family, and neighbors to see the next president and vice president of the United States.
Tickets are required for this event. To print your complimentary ticket(s) or to volunteer at the rally, please click here:
http://www.johnkerry.com/desmoines
WHEN: Thursday, October 14
Gates open at 6:00 p.m.
WHERE: Agricultural Building on the Fairgrounds
East 30th Street and University Avenue
Des Moines, IA
DETAILS: Due to security, please do not bring any
umbrellas, bags, or signs. Please limit personal items as well. This
event will take place RAIN or SHINE.
Free
parking will be available in the North Lot of the Fair Grounds, off of
East University. Parking will be limited, so please try to carpool. For
a map of the Iowa State Fairgrounds, click here:
http://www.iowastatefair.org/virtmap.html
For help with directions, click here and scroll to down to Question 10:
http://www.iowastatefair.org/faqs.html
As we enter the homestretch of this campaign, your support is needed
now more than ever. John Kerry and John Edwards have a plan to make
America stronger at home and respected in the world. Join us at the
rally, and show that you want to put our country back on the right
path. John Kerry and John Edwards will show you that hope is on the way.
http://www.johnkerry.com/desmoines
Thanks for standing with us,
Iowa for Kerry-Edwards
Looks Like Kerry Will Win: Here's Why
by
Linda Thieman
on Tue 12 Oct 2004 04:47 AM CDT
Looks Like Kerry Will Win: Here's Why
Here are a couple of interesting
points I ran across recently. Each man argues, for his own
reasons, why he thinks Kerry will win.
Referendum on the Incumbent, Part 1
From veteran political journalist, and Ole Miss associate professor Curtis Wilkie, we hear the first theory.
Wilkie serves as Kelly Gene Cook Sr. chair for the journalism
department. Wilkie has covered the past eight presidential elections,
with the 2004 election being the first he will not cover in over 30
years.
Wilkie compared this year’s election with the election of 1980 when
President Jimmy Carter was soundly defeated by Ronald Reagan, in what
Wilkie viewed as a “referendum on the incumbent.”
According to Wilkie, there are many parallels connecting the two
elections, such as a deficient economy and a volatile global situation.
He also said that in the 1980 election the initial polls were very
close, much like they are now. He said that when it came down to the
actual voting, the American people could not vote for a president that
had so many misses.
Among the problems listed by Wilkie are the deteriorating situation in
Iraq, the loss of American jobs, Bush’s miscues involving the
environment and the national deficit brought on by Bush’s tax cuts.
(Source)
Referendum on the Incumbent, Part 2, or How To REALLY Interpret The Polls
Leading Pollster Guy Molyneux Explains Why the Media Is Overestimating Bush's Lead
Guy Molyneux is a highly respected analyst and pollster who serves as a
Senior Vice President and Partner of Peter Hart Research Associates. In
an article now available on the American Prospect's website
he presents an extremely important analysis of why the media is
overestimating Bush's lead and underestimating how close the race
actually is. Excerpts follow.
"Media analysis [of the 2004 election] is marred by a failure to take
account of a phenomenon well-known to all political pollsters, the
“incumbent 50-percent rule.”
Almost all poll reporting focuses on the “spread,” that is, the
difference in the percentage supporting Bush and John Kerry....
However, in incumbent elections, the incumbent’s percentage of the vote
is a far better indicator of the state of the race than the spread. In
fact, the percentage of the vote an incumbent president receives in
surveys is an extraordinarily accurate predictor of the percentage he
will receive on election day - even though the survey results also
include a pool of undecided voters.
[The reason is that] elections are fundamentally a referendum on the
incumbent. The first step in voters’ decision-making process is to
answer the question “does he deserve re-[s]election?” Undecided voters
have basically answered that question in the negative, and their
undecided status reflects the fact that they don’t know enough about
the challenger (yet) to feel comfortable stating a public preference.
Think of it this way: The percentage that Bush receives in polls
represents his ceiling of support; he may get a little less, but won’t
get more. In contrast, Kerry’s percentage represents his floor, and he
will almost certainly do better on election day.
(Source: Emerging Democratic Majority)
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