What's New Friday September 8, 2006

WHAT’S NEW   Robert L. Park   Friday, 8 Sep 06   Washington, DC

1. MINORITY REPORT: CIA HELD DETAINEES IN SECRET FOREIGN PRISONS.  I 
thought for a minute I was watching Tom Cruise, Chief of the Pre-Crime 
Division in Spielberg’s dark futuristic thriller.  No such luck; it was 
Commander-in-Chief George Bush: “Were it not for this program, our 
intelligence community believes that al Qaeda and its allies would have 
succeeded in launching another attack against the American homeland.  By 
giving us information about terrorist plans we could not get anywhere else, 
this program has saved innocent lives.”  Either that or they made it up.  
The phrase “saved innocent lives” was used 11 times in the speech delivered 
before families of terror attack victims.  “The United States does not 
torture,” Mr. Bush explained.  “It’s against our laws, and it’s against our 
values.... However, if prisoners stopped talking, the CIA used a set of 
alternative procedures.”  How’s this for an “alternative procedure”: inform 
prisoners of the charges, treat them humanely, try them openly to expose 
their crimes to the entire world.  This is America.

2. TELEPHONE TELEPATHY: IT’S TOO MUCH TO BE A MERE COINCIDENCE.  Even as 
President Bush this week called on Congress to give him “additional 
authority” for the “warrantless eavesdropping program,” Rupert Sheldrake, 
who is funded by a grant administered by Trinity College of Cambridge 
University, was explaining to the British Association for the Advancement 
of Science that we can already do it telepathically.  Sheldrake claims that 
when the phone rings we know who is calling.  Perhaps he could get in touch 
with President Bush, with or without the phone.  Sheldrake is 
the “scientist” who claims pets are telepathically in touch with their 
owners.  He was followed by a psychiatrist who thinks near-death 
experiences are evidence of an afterlife.  I seem to be getting telepathic 
messages from Congress that there is no way they can deal with Bush’s 
requests before the election, however, I haven’t a clue as to why BAAS 
chose to showcase this session. 

3. ETHANOL: LOOKING FOR A GREEN ENERGY SOLUTION?  GET OVER IT. There is 
something very appealing about a green solution to the energy problem.  
Sorry.  Franco Battaglia, chemical physicist at the U. of Modena, Italy, 
calculated that if all of Italy was devoted to growing corn it could only 
supply half of their fuel needs.  It also takes oil to pump oil, but Kevin 
Delin points out that the energy balance for oil production is 10-to-1 
(down from 100-to-1 and declining).  That an argument is even taking place 
over whether EB is positive or negative means it would be a major life 
style adjustment at best.  Ethanol from sugar cane made Brazil an energy 
exporter, as Cesar Cusatis, a physicist at Universidade Federal de Parana, 
observes.  But he concedes that byproducts including alkanes are a serious 
problem, even with the Amazon River to use as a sewer.  Worse, sugar cane 
is grown with cheap hand labor, condemning much of the population to 
serfdom.

THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND.
Opinions are the author's and not necessarily shared by the
University of Maryland, but they should be.
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