h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

From the story:

"Last week Boeing fired its finance chief, Michael Sears, for allegedly violating company recruitment policy and seeking to hire the former procurement official.

Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said this move prompted him to order the freeze."

And you think this qualifies as another lame news story??? How dire would it have to be before you'd take it seriously?

Excuse folks...check your news
WMD discovered Iraq?

Sky...that's your internal stuff.
I was talking new orders for USAF refuellers.
sorry

Thanks, Empty Sky - that's very interesting! Business ethics indeed...

OK, I'll bite despite a policy of not answering you, Oetzi. When, where, how why and what was discovered? (If anything.)

"When, where, how why and what was discovered? (If anything.)"

I'm wondering that too. I've seen nothing in the news.

Could be spurious...wait 4 hrs

What do you mean woman...not answering?

Think we were hoaxed by an ACDC 60Hz lemonsucker.

Hmm... better than an electric donkey bottom biter. More efficient, anyway.

With gas prices going up, the new electric-gasoline hybrids are looking more and more attractive. It's only a small step to making them able to burn ethanol instead of gasoline - and with the incredible gas mileage of a hybrid, the price per gallon isn't as important.

This site doesn't have much, but it's cool that it's out there - lots of people are actually talking about this now, instead of just the hippies.

http://www.ethanolacrossamerica.net/index.html

just to stick my oar in once again on the great pick up truck debate the reason the Ford F 150 is such a big seller is not because there are thousands of people buying it to haul wood or animals to market, not is it because thousands of people are buy a huge truck as penis subsititute - those wankers buy Ranger Rovers, Jeep Cherokees and other overpriced SUVs. the F 150 is a huge seller as a commercial vehicle, governments buy fleets of them for road work, landscaping etc. etc. It is a standard blue collar jobmobile.

That explains the sales fiqures. Thanks rev.
Overhere in the UK it is a premium 4x4 SUV/business benefit.

ford's econoline van is much the same story. Not too many people drive'em to work, but an awful lot of people drive them at work. Most common delivery vehicle.

I never thought I'd be coming to the defense of the American automobile industry, but I've got to throw my hat in with the rev. F-150's, when they are bought by private citizens (i.e., not for business or government use) are rarely bought by those urban/suburbanites that don't need them.
I grew up in a rural area of America and my family has always owned a pick-up truck because, well, we needed one - for moving lawn mowers, taking garbage to the dump (no pick-up outside of heavy residential areas), hauling firewood, and the inevitable lumber-run.
And a vast majority of America is still rural (although those areas rarely make the nightly news). I live a mere 20 miles outside of D.C., and I only have to drive five minutes to find several farms and an orchard or three.
If you want to direct your ire at Americans and their useless big automobiles, I'd suggest the Hummer. Before I moved to D.C., I had never seen one without Property of the U.S. Army stamped on the side. Now I can't leave my apartment without seeing half a dozen. These things make SUVs look like tricycles. They do nothing that an SUV doesn't. Their only purpose is to be a massive, gas-guzzling status symbol. And for some reason, people love to paint them bright-yellow. For that alone, Hummer owners should be flogged.

Must say I see your point RS and agree with it.

I agree. There's nothing more useless than a Hummer. Unless it's a Cadillac or Lexus SUV - that's the height of ostentatious consumerism.

Ethanol as a fuel is a hoax. If you look at the entire process, it's not really any cleaner than regular gas. It's a sop (pork) for american corn farmers. I don't think we should waste time on it...the money would be better spent on finding renewable sources of electricty for H2 generation.

dave

I'm not sure I know what you mean by 'hoax.' Have you been listening to Rush Limbaugh again?

If you take an ordinary car that's designed to run on gasoline and fill it full of ethanol, of course it won't run right. It'll run too hot, corrosion will set in, carbon deposits will clog the hoses and eventually the car will croak. I'm talking about taking the already-existing gasoline/electric engine and retooling it to run on ethanol. It's possible to buy a generator that runs on alcohol right now - why not put that generator in in our cars?

Ethanol isn't without its problems: "Scientists agree that E10 results in lower emissions of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and some carcinogens, such as benzene, but causes increased emissions of other carcinogens, such as aldehydes, and greater emissions of oxides of nitrogen. " But with a gasoline/electric hybrid, one gallon of gas can power a car up to fifty miles... Ethanol burns hotter and cleaner - I think we can safely assume it will be more efficient than gasoline, and with a little engineering, can power a car even further on a gallon. This means less ethanol burned for every mile driven.

> the money would be better spent on finding renewable sources of electricty for H2 generation.

Where exactly are we going to find these renewable sources of electricity? A hydrogen cell has to be charged by some sort of generator. It's either that or nuclear power, which isn't such a bad idea... except that most people are scared to have a radioactive rod of plutonium in their cars. And plutonium's not exactly cheap.

If you're talking about catering to the Hummer 2 generation, don't make me laugh. They deserve to choke on their hydrocarbon fumes!

I think Dave was referring to the toxins, carcinogens, and other pollutants that result from the process of producing ethanol from corn. I'm sure I've read a news story on it . . . give me a minute while I try to find a link.

I can't find exactly what I'm looking for, but here's this column:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/031128.html