We all have been reading the back and forth on bio-fuels and how they are and alternatively not affecting food prices and supply. The common advocate argument is simple, corn and wheat cannot possibly be affecting the price the rice so there must be something else to blame. Well the problem is one of interdependencies in the food supply and it something that everyone is missing in the debate. I will walk you through how wheat and corn being turned into fuel actually does raise the price of rice.

The Formula is Simple

The easiest way to show how wheat and corn demands for bio-fuels are responsible for the pressure on rice supply is with some math and a basic understanding of commodities and agriculture. The formula can be described as a simple one of total demand less the availability of wheat of corn. I use this ver ... Read More »

I've just read an article on MSN / Sympatico called "The cheapest way to save the Earth", which actually made sense to me - and it is about lifestyle changes!

Now a caveat: I don't actually agree with it all, but I do agree with the main premise - that going green is not about buying all the latest and greatest eco-alternatives that come along. Something I have been saying for years: you cannot consume your way out of catastrophic man made global warming (if you are so inclined to believe in it) to arrive at a better place.

The point that resonates the most with me, and which I have always consider ... Read More »

I swear this is true, for the last three years I have had a running joke with colleagues and family about investing in what I termed "Beaker Meat", or the cultured muscles of livestock animals grown in a laboratory and sold as a consumable food product. I read about the technology in a magazine, Scientific American I think, on a flight to Europe, I was very intrigued with the science and possible uses for it as a food source, everyone I explained it to seemed to find my notion quite ridiculous and I started a running joke about the virtues of "Beaker Meat" and how this investment was the future of food. Now Andrew Revkin the King of Climate Change at The New York Times, has published this gem of an article, "Can People Have M ... Read More »

I was reading the press about, as well as, the new study itself by Sloan and Wolfendale regarding the theory of cosmic rays and cloud formation in regards to global warming. Apparently their research shows no link between cosmic rays and clouds. This theory was advanced in the book by Svenmark called "The Chilling Stars" and is a theory that has been repeatedly attacked by the AGW and cited by the "deniers". The main point of this paper is summed up in the abstrac ... Read More »

 I just read a news article and saw confirmation on CBC that Al Gore is coming to Montreal, Canada this weekend April 4-6, 2008 to indoctrinate a new legion of climate faithful, some 200 people will join the coveted environmental "World According to Gore" rolls. First Al Gore is not a teacher, he is a preacher, he is training people to give a science based presentation without any real understanding of the science as clearly pointed out by the alarming numbers of errors in his movie, and task them with "finding any available venue" from which to "spread the word". I seem to remember similar organizations based on the teaching of a single point of truth that participated in this sort of indoctrination of the chosen into the ranks of the faithful, then sent them out into the world to convert as many as they could. They gave rise to the almost as ridiculous business of rescuing and deprogramming people at the behest ... Read More »