and pride
29,957,928,790
That's how many grains of rice have been donated to the United Nations World Food Programme over at Freerice since it's beginning in October of 2007... click on the logo and go add some, m'kay?  Today should be wordless, but... We are looking for alternate fuels to end our dependance on fossil fuels... So what do we focus on? Food. People are starving all over the world... families in our countries have a hard time sending their kids off to school with a full stomach and instead of feeding them, we feed our cars. *sigh* My ten year old book-monster wonders if this is wise... I honestly don't know what to answer. Looks like I have some research to do. I love you all more than my luggage! Hugs, smooches and gropes! Labels: free rice, what are we doing |
Luggage Packed By Anndi 6:21 AM
Comments on "29,957,928,790"
-
Sparky Duck said ... (7:17 AM) :
-
Liz Hill said ... (7:56 AM) :
-
Anndi said ... (9:40 AM) :
-
Acrimony said ... (9:55 AM) :
-
Jay said ... (10:01 AM) :
-
Anndi said ... (10:16 AM) :
-
Anndi said ... (10:17 AM) :
-
Vinny "Bond" Marini said ... (10:25 AM) :
-
Romeo Morningwood said ... (11:00 AM) :
-
Desert Songbird said ... (12:26 PM) :
-
Anndi said ... (12:36 PM) :
-
Anndi said ... (12:44 PM) :
-
Doc said ... (12:58 PM) :
-
Anndi said ... (1:06 PM) :
-
Lu' said ... (1:16 PM) :
-
mauniejames3 said ... (1:55 PM) :
-
Anndi said ... (2:07 PM) :
-
Lu' said ... (2:28 PM) :
-
R.E.H. said ... (2:49 PM) :
-
Anndi said ... (2:49 PM) :
-
Anndi said ... (2:52 PM) :
-
Dianne said ... (2:52 PM) :
-
Doc said ... (3:34 PM) :
-
Anndi said ... (3:42 PM) :
-
Travis Cody said ... (9:31 PM) :
-
Slyde said ... (10:47 PM) :
-
none said ... (11:50 PM) :
-
Anonymous said ... (1:23 AM) :
-
Chris said ... (3:53 PM) :
post a commentUse sugar pretty lady, cane sugar
Your chicklet is wise.
Sparky: I like this idea in that, we aren't using a food source like corn or wheat.... What concerns me about that one is, we lose valuable soils for food production when we plant sugar cane. Or we run the risk of invading wild habitats and the deforestation of the Amazon. Plus, the fertilizers used aren't enviro friendly and the sillage that can be produced pollutes local rivers.
I'm scaring myself now :(
Turnbaby: Yes, she is. She's been learning about energy in school and the budding scientist and possibly future chemist in her is asking tough questions. She's too smart for my own good.
Short answer: No, it's not wise.
Biofuels, like ethanol, are worse for then environment than regular boring gasoline. It creates twice as much greenhouse gas, only becomes carbon neutral after 167 years, and is nearly 3x more expensive than gasoline per unit of energy that it delivers. Frankly that's not only it but I won't keep ranting in your comments section. ;)
It really should be back to the drawing board with regards to alternatives to petroleum fuels and more food in people's stomachs. But it won't be and the fact that this is a horrific alternative to gasoline only makes it a bigger slap in the face to the world's hungry.
Ethanol is possibly the biggest fraud ever pushed on people. And we're all so desperate to break our dependence on foreign oil that we buy into it without knowing all the facts.
Talisman: I was hoping you'd chime in on this one... thanks.
People are being bamboozled into thinking these are acceptable alternative energies.
Everytime someone sends me one of those: "lookie, we can make hydrogen from water to fuel our cars!! isn't that cool!!" videos I cringe...
Water and food are not what we should be using to fuel our cars.
We need a technology that is water-efficient, doesn't yank the food off of our plates and doesn't make our greenhouse gas emissions worse. But all we're interested in at the moment is geopolitical bullshit and $$$.
Jay: You're brilliant babe... so when are we getting married?
Well Talisman and Jay stole my thunder. Willie Nelson is pushing biofuel all over the south and the impact on the environment is horrid. The story recently of the man that came up with a way to generate power from sea water...THAT is a technology we need to investigate.
Ethanol is a scam and a lame duck.
Let's face it the Governments want CONSUMERS and those who cannot afford to engage in 'the game' are a millstone around their necks...deadweight.
The sooner that the Governments can devise a way to sterilise and arrest the growth of the underclass the faster they can reach their goal of taxing Utopic Suburbanite Worker Drones.
'The Establishment' is going to sell Oil until the very last drop is gone...and the 80 years of supply that remains in the ground will sell for Trillions of dollars.
We need cars that run on Methanic Cow Farts...better yet, Bullshit.
You daughter is scary smart, Ann.
Bond: Bond: I think my 10 year old had already done that! LOL !
Her point wasn't even related to what it does to the environment, but how it impacts the "global village".
One of the things I'm so proud of in her thought process is that she's a big picture thinker! Even if it was "decent" to the environment.. what "artificial food" are we going to have to come up with to replace the food we can't grow to eat because we need to drive somewhere...
I've had the hydrogen discussion with a lot of folks I work with as we use salt water everyday and produce hydrogen in our process (via electrolysis). The gentleman you are referring to uses radio frequencies to free up the hydrogen, basically, his invention is like a microwave.
The goal would be to find a renewable source of energy that would allow us to produce it cost effectively, without adding to our gas emissions. Herein lies the rub.
We'll have to overcome the problems that hydrogen storage present.
We do have to go back to the drawing board as Talisman said... not sure Mr Kanzius' discovery will be "the one" though. Other than Rustum Roy, I haven't seen another corroborating study.
Donn: Oil is indeed big business... people go to war over it.
Songbird: I know... she's smarter than I am already. Hopefully she'll use her smarts for good.
I am paraprazing this from Harry Chapin:
School Principal: "Kids last week for our Thanksgiving food drive we set a record. We collected enough canned goods to feed 110 familys for Thanksgiving. It was great. So what are we going to do? We are going to cancel our regular classes and instead discuss this topic. What those familys are going to eat next week?"
Doc: Good point!
The World Food Program helps hungry people to become self-reliant so that they escape hunger for good. Wherever possible, the World Food Program buys food locally to support local farmers and the local economy.
This comment has been removed by the author.
Okay anndi...now you have really frightend me...I had all this stuff rolling around my wee brain...but I didn't want to think about it too much...now you have forced me to..
Maunie: I'm sorry. I know what you mean.
It is a crying shame that any person in the United States of America goes hungry! It is a shame they go hungry any where but really, what is the excuse for it HERE.
I don't know... I think whatever resources we choose to run our cars and power our electricity - sooner or later those resources will be depleted.
We should focus on something which we could produce faster than it is being used up... good luck with that ;)
Lu': There is no valid excuse.
r.e.h: We have to challenge ourselves to do better. The "problem" with a truly renewable energy source is no one will ever have anyone by the short and curlies... How does supply and demand work with a system like that?
chicklet is a smart one :)
I get so confused with all the conflicting information and all the spinning and posturing. It's exhausting to get through the day trying to be a good citizen of the world. Feels like pushing a giant Hummer up a hill of mud - which by the way is what all Hummer owners should have to do to get insurance.
I am with NuLuLuNu on this one... No reason. NONE that anyone in the USA should go to bed hungry... And I will include Canada in that too... There is enough food just a "distribution" problem.
Dianne: LOL at the Hummer insurance thing! I agree with you about sifting through all the information and misinformation out there.
Doc: I can't look at any child, no matter where they were born and think it's ok that there is no food in his or her stomach.
Wow. Great discussion you got going on here. I don't have anything to add that hasn't been said...
...except to add my congratulations and admiration for raising such a smart kid.
dont even get me started on this damn gas situation we have gotten ourselves into.. it just gets me furious....
I'm so down on us burning food in our cars in the form of biofuel
It is ridiculous and wasteful.
We used to give away millions of tons of food now we burn it for some false economic voodoo.
Our situations will only get worse and really ...who can we blame. I wish I was smart enough to fix all of our problems. I also wish you had the answer for your clever kid.
Hugs,
Lesley
Yo! My name is Chris and I'm reaching out to world-conscious blogs. I noticed that you blogged about free rice, and I'm working with a small startup called Avanoo that is developing a similar concept. By going to our site (avanoo.com) and putting one of many badges on your blog, every time someone clicks that badge, a dollar is donated by a corporate sponsor to the non-profit!
We're still in beta, but we wanted to spread the word as much as possible. If you can help us show others how, together, bloggers and web users can raise funds and awareness for good causes by using our collective power, I'd really appreciate it. Maybe you'll even blog about us!
Thanks for your time,
Chris
--
Chris Paik
Outreach Coordinator
Avanoo, Inc.
chris@avanoo.com