Fresh Air into Gasoline?

Published October 19, 2012 | By Iowadawg

Exclusive: Pioneering scientists turn fresh air into petrol in massive boost in fight against energy crisis

Is scientific breakthrough a milestone on the road to clean energy?

A small British company has produced the first “petrol from air” using a revolutionary technology that promises to solve the energy crisis as well as helping to curb global warming by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Air Fuel Synthesis in Stockton-on-Tees has produced five litres of petrol since August when it switched on a small refinery that manufactures gasoline from carbon dioxide and water vapour.

The company hopes that within two years it will build a larger, commercial-scale plant capable of producing a ton of petrol a day. It also plans to produce green aviation fuel to make airline travel more carbon-neutral.

Tim Fox, head of energy and the environment at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in London, said: “It sounds too good to be true, but it is true. They are doing it and I’ve been up there myself and seen it. The innovation is that they have made it happen as a process. It’s a small pilot plant capturing air and extracting CO2 from it based on well known principles. It uses well-known and well-established components but what is exciting is that they have put the whole thing together and shown that it can work.”

Although the process is still in the early developmental stages and needs to take electricity from the national grid to work, the company believes it will eventually be possible to use power from renewable sources such as wind farms or tidal barrages.

“We’ve taken carbon dioxide from air and hydrogen from water and turned these elements into petrol,” said Peter Harrison, the company’s chief executive, who revealed the breakthrough at a conference at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in London.

A recent survey finds iPads are more desirable than happiness this Christmas.

Consumers are expected to spend more on gifts this Christmas, especially on electronics, gadgets, and other techno goodies. According to a new study by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), overall consumer spending is expected to increase 11% this year, with spending on consumer electronics expected to account for nearly a third of all gift spending.

According to the organization’s 19th Annual CE Holiday Purchase Patterns Study, consumers are planning to spend $842 to spend on gifts this holilday season—that’s up 9% from last year. Of this amount, shoppers are planning to spend $252 on electronics, which is slightly up from last year’s $246. In fact, three-in-four gift-giving adults plan to purchase consumer electronics as gifts this year.

Part of the upsurge this year is likely due to continued (if not lugubrious) improvement in the economy as well as consumer demand for the bevy of new digital doohickeys such as smartphones (iPhone 5, Galaxy S3), tablets (iPad mini, Galaxy 7, Kindle Fire HD), and video games.

“Consumers are feeling more confident in the overall direction of the economy this holiday season compared to last year and, as a result, will spend more on gifts, including electronics,” said Shawn DuBravac, CEA’s chief economist and senior director of research. “CE continues to play a leading role in holiday shopping and this year is no exception, as consumers will dedicate a large portion of their overall gift budget towards electronics, specifically mobile connected devices.”

Aside from hardware gadgets, other electronics accessories such as headphones, carrying cases, and memory cards will likely be popular gifts this year. More than three-fourths (77%) of US adults are planning to give a gift card as a present this year. One in four consumers (26%) will give a gift card for digital music purchases, 20% for electronic book purchases, 16% for app purchases, and 15% for online gaming purchases. Are premium headphones worth the extra Benjamins?

According to the survey, when asked what they would like for a gift this holiday season, adults respondents chose “tablet computers” and “money” over “peace/happiness.” The Christmas wish list survey was rounded-out by “smartphone” and “laptop computer.”

Read it all HERE.

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Published on Oct 19, 2012

Actress Stacey Dash voiced her support of Gov. Mitt Romney, and became the victim of horrible hate speech. Which leads AlfonZo to talk about his recent public debate on affirmative action. Does affirmative action and quota systems still make sense in America? Find out.

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via BF:

From the Obama campaign:

Romnesia [Rom-nee-zhuh] Noun – a condition affecting Mitt Romney, who has shifted his positions from “severely conservative” to “severely kidding” – conveniently forgetting the conservative promises he’s made over the past six years that he’s been running for president.

But now that we’re 18 days out from the election, Mr. “Severely Conservative” wants you to think he was “severely kidding” about everything he’s said over the last year. He told folks he was “the ideal candidate” for the Tea Party, now suddenly he’s saying, “what, who, me?” He’s forgetting what his own positions are, and he’s betting that you will too.

I mean he’s changing up so much – backtracking and sidestepping. We’ve gotta name this condition that he’s going through.. I think it’s called “Romnesia.” That’s what it’s called. I think that’s what he’s going through.

Now, I’m not a medical doctor but I do want to go over some of the symptoms with you because I want to make sure nobody else catches it.

If you say you’re for equal pay for equal work, but you keep refusing to say whether or not you’d sign a bill that protects equal pay for equal work – you might have Romnesia.

If you say women should have access to contraceptive care, but you support legislation that would let your employer deny you contraceptive care – you might have a case of Romnesia.

If you say you’ll protect a woman’s right to choose, but you stand up at a primary debate and said that you’d be “delighted” to sign a law outlawing that right to choose in all cases – man, you’ve definitely got Romnesia.

Now, this extends to other issues. If you say earlier in the year I’m going to give a tax cut to the top 1 percent and then in a debate you say, I don’t know anything about giving tax cuts to rich folks – you need to get a thermometer, take your temperature, because you’ve probably got Romnesia.

If you say that you’re a champion of the coal industry when while you were Governor you stood in front of a coal plant and said, this plant will kill you – that’s some Romnesia.

So – I think you’re beginning to be able to identify these symptoms. And if you come down with a case of Romnesia, and you can’t seem to remember the policies that are still on your website, or the promises you’ve made over the six years you’ve been running for President, here’s the good news: Obamacare covers pre-existing conditions.

We can fix you up. We’ve got a cure. We can make you well, Virginia. This is a curable disease.

Women, men, all of you. These are family issues. These are economic issues. I want my daughters to have the same opportunities as anybody’s sons. I believe America does better, the economy grows more, we create more when everybody participates, when everyone’s getting a fair shot, everybody’s getting a fair shake, everybody’s playing by the same rules, everybody’s doing their fair share. That’s why I’m asking you for another term as President of the United States. I need you to help me finish the job.

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pbsthisdayinhistory:
October 19, 1781: British Army Surrenders at the Battle of Yorktown

On this day in 1781, the joint forces of the American Continental and French troops defeated the British at the Battle of Yorktown in Yorktown, Virginia.

The surrender of the British Army by Lieutenant General Lord Cornwallis marked a key victory for the Continental Army, led by General George Washington.

The Battle of Yorktown was the last major land battle of the American Revolutionary War in within the American colonies. Peace negotiations began in 1782, and the Treaty of Paris, which recognized the United States as a free and independent nation, was signed the following year.

Check out this Liberty! The American Revolution “Yorktown Is Won!” mock newspaper article to experience first-hand the excitement and uncertainty of the American Revolution as it happened.

Photo: Library of Congress

(ps..part of my wife’s family history. A Catholic priest from Ireland came to America to join in the revolution, our side. He was the found of the Ryan clan here in Iowa)

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Why gun sales are booming

Fears of crime, a potential crackdown on gun owners, a social collapse and even zombies have Americans loading up as never before. Here’s why gun sales — and gun stocks — have taken off.

The Obama effect?

Americans have always loved their guns. And that love seems to have grown in recent years, as the number of legally owned guns has risen along with the percentage of households that hold them.

There are many reasons that our unique love affair with guns is growing stronger. One widely held belief is that President Barack Obama’s election — and potential re-election — spurred fears that he will crack down on gun ownership, something he hasn’t done thus far.

They Didn’t Riot Over This Video

After nearly a month of cringing and getting lost in its people’s own contradictions, the Obama administration is finally clinging to an elliptical mention by the president of “acts of terror” that he claims won’t deter us from doing whatever we are supposed to do in the Mideast. What was it we were supposed to be doing over there?

Oh, supporting democracy, of course. But democracy in a country where “freedom-fighters” roar into town shooting their rifles in the air is going to be hard to achieve. All those celebratory bullets have a nasty way of coming down again. And they can hit local voters as they are lining up to cast their ballots.

Consider the ever-so-discreet caption for a photo of one of our purple-fingered frenzied friends. Against a lurid background of the U.S. Consulate in flames in Benghazi, we see a trim young man in jeans and tee-shirt. He’s holding his rifle menacingly. And Reuters labels him a “protester.” Indeed. He was surely protesting something.

It must have been that nasty U.S.-made video that few even here have seen. As if reading from scripted talking points, speakers from the U.S. Embassy in Cairo to the podium of the U.N. General Assembly, from the side of Amb. Stevens’s casket to the White House Press Room, have been blaming that “offensive” video for the riots, the torchings, the embassy takeovers, and, finally, for the murder of Amb. Stevens and his three American colleagues.

It was an offensive video. But it’s interesting to consider the video the street protestors didn’t riot over. More than a year ago, the Israeli satirical group Latma produced this video.

The Israelis lampoon the mullahs of Tehran and the flaccid response of this administration to the existential threat of Iran becoming a nuclear power. There were no recorded riots anywhere in what President Obama obligingly calls “the Muslim world” over this Israeli video.

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Romney’s roast at the Al Smith Dinner was hilarious, this was inspired by my favorite line. See the video of his and Obama’s (also good, but not nearly as good as Romney’s) roast here.