Decius wrote:
] It does imply that we have a lot more oil
] then we think we do, but how much is totally unclear, as the
] actual theory is unproven. In order to measure the size of
] something you must first establish that it exists.

[ This is the crux of it. Even if you accept that there are billions of barrels of oil somewhere underneath the levels we know about, it's going to take a serious capital investment to find, assess, and develop those resources. I think it's a good idea to spend some dollars investigating the theory, especially if it leads to mechanisms that allow you to identify existing fields that are likely to refill themselves at some point soon (i.e. from a bigger pocket underneath it).

In the meantime, as Decius says, the resource is still limited on timescales we care about. It's not effectively renewable, so yes, we could put off the impending lack of oil, maybe for a hundred years or more, so lets look into it, but I think it's still imperative to spend the majority of our resources in this area on finding and building an energy infrastructure that's actually renewable.

This article tripped a wire in my increasingly disorganized brain about an article i read a few years back in Wired which i thought was an interview w/ Dr. Gold (who's cited here)... sure enough, a few tries at wired's Lycos powered search engine yeilded this story from about 4 years ago : http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/8.07/gold.html?pg=1&topic=&topic_set=

-k]

WorldNetDaily: Sustainable oil?

] Business is booming in the mining zone that supplied
] uranium for the atomic bombs unleashed on Hiroshima and
] Nagasaki despite a decree by Congo's president banning
] all mining activity here.
]
] President Joseph Kabila ordered the zone closed three
] months ago amid growing concerns that unregulated nuclear
] materials could get into the hands of so-called rogue
] nations or terrorist groups. Yet 1,000 miles away from
] the capital, Kinshasa, thousands of diggers are still
] hacking away at a dark cavity of open earth in this
] southeastern village, filling thousands of burlap sacks a
] day with black soil rich in cobalt, copper and
] radioactive uranium.

[ It's not clear how much uranium is being dug up or shipped, but there's clearly some kinda shenanigans going on. My question is, how many other such mines are there? Where else can you get some uranium that maybe we don't even know about? -k]

ABCNEWS.com : AP: Miners Drawn to Illegal Congo Uranium

[ Just wanted to take a minute to give a shout-out to Marie for completing her Qualifying exams today!

We all know you kicked they ass!

When does the drinking start? ;) -k]

] The project will use the latest technology, including
] biometrics, to identify people coming into the United
] States. The contract was awarded to Accenture, formerly
] Andersen Consulting, over two competing contractors,
] Lockheed Martin and Computer Sciences. Several industry
] executives and analysts said that the award surprised
] them and that Accenture had widely been considered the
] outside candidate.

I have to say I have some sympathy with the outrage here. They award this huge homeland security contract with significant civil liberties implications to a company that was at the heart of the Enron scandal and is based out of the Caribbean for tax reasons. This is too important to trust to a company with such a culture of shadyness.

[ Did you expect anything else from our current group in charge? Nepotism, baby. Being at the heart of the Enron thing was probably a plus. -k]

Virtual Security Fence?

[ Sounds like a cool project, if those unknowns get answered... -k]

The Red-Dead Conveyance Project

Go to this website and click on Rendezvous. I dunno if its worth 15 Euros because its only 9 minutes long, but its fucking awesome.

This guy mounts a camera to the hood of his ferrari and then drives full on through the streets of Paris in the early morning. Bloody lucky he didn't kill someone. If the intense driving doesn't amaze you the sites of the city will. Check it out. There are some previews on the website.

[ Yeah, I spec'd this on a DivX one of my boys had a while back, and now the new roommate has a DVD copy. It's rad. A million times better than the cheap imitation they did with the Z last year. -k]

Rendezvous by Claude LeLouch

] Via Unqualified Offerings we have this letter to the
] editor written in 2000 in response to the "pro-family"
] haters.
]
] Letter to the Editor
] by Sharon Underwood, Sunday, April 30, 2000
] from the Valley News (White River Junction, VT/Hanover,
] NH)
]
] As the mother of a gay son, I've seen firsthand how cruel
] and misguided people can be.

[ One of the best letters i've seen... well said. -k]

Eschaton

The heart of his argument is that Americans fundamentally misunderstand what is unusual about their communications media, and why.

[ Interesting looking book... -k]

The Creation of the Media (Review)

] Alarmed by his company's escalating health insurance
] costs and a frightening scarcity of remedies, Ford Motor
] Co. Chief Executive William C. Ford Jr. declared in
] December that the nation needs an entirely new health
] care system.
]
]
] Then he tapped Ford's vice chairman to craft a proposal
] to develop one.

[ There's a few interesting tidbits in this article, but the excerpt above truly struck me. This is Ford motor company devoting resources to crafting a new health care system for the country. If the politicians can't do it, industry will, I guess.

On a related issue, the president's much ballyhooed prescription drug card isn't being adopted very widely, as seniors are either confused by them or unwilling to risk having to pay more than they do now by getting the drugs from canada. If those cards flop, it's going to be a fairly major liability for Bush over the next few months. -k]

The generation storm begins to brew...

From the mini-review in Rhapsody:

Was it Jem's firsthand knowledge of the music business that made her pay attention to so many details in her music?

"Finally Woken" delights with well-crafted songs dressed up in gentle trip-hop beats and subtle-but-potent pop hooks. "Wish I," "Just a Ride" and "They" are a few highlights on this creative masterpiece.

[ Presumably not modeled after the 80's cartoon of the same name...

Actually, reminds me at times of a slightly dub influenced Emiliana Torrini and other times of a slightly more upbeat Dido. -k]

Jem - Finally Woken