Women’s Football WorldCup, that is … The German women beat Norway 3:0 and will play against the winner of tomorrow’s game Brazil-USA on Sunday. Sadly, I was not able to see the game, as it started at 8:00 in the Morning here, and I have to be at work, and I have no cable TV [...]

Today, Governor Mike Easley signed bill S1272 into law. That bill exempts homebrew biodiesel from the NC road tax. The 30-cents-a-gallon cost reduction is certainly welcome. But, as Lyle recently commented, the bigger picture is really huge, because it allows the homebrewers and SVO-ers to get out of the “closet” as the State DOR does [...]

On this day in 1893 Rudolf Diesel’s engine ran for the first time, and it ran on peanut oil. So today we celebrate “Internationals Biodiesel Day” and raise our glasses to the genius of using fuel that grows back! Praise the Lard!

The North Carolina General Assembly has adjourned for this session, and last Thursday the legislators passed S1272: Motor Fuels Tax Exemption for Biodiesel, which removes the requirement to pay road tax on homebrew biodiesel. That’s awesome – a great incentive for homebrewers. Also, legislators changed the tax law to remove the $2000 bond for fuel [...]

We did it! Two weeks ago we closed on our new house, moved our stuff to the new house and then spent about a week cleaning and fixing up our old place to get it ready to sell it. Today we fiished up, and our agent will list it tomorrow. The new place is just [...]

Ablodé to our Togolese friends! Even though this is still more a rallying cry than a victory chant. Forty eight years ago Togo became an independent nation, relived from the yoke of French colonialism, only to become, after a few years, the playground of one of Africa’s original dictators, Etienne Gnassingé Eyadema. Ablodé – freedom [...]

Congratulations to the German Team Handball Men’s Team! Today they defeated Poland in the final 29:24 (17:13) and won the Worldcup for Germany in Germany! This is rather amazing – expectations were not very high before the tournament, but the German team really came together and played some amazing handball. And after the football Worldcup [...]

Last year had a couple of surprises for us, although most of these have yet to be completely realized: we found a new house, but we have yet to move there; we began planning our trip to Togo (and Ghana) for the upcoming July; and the Democrats won back the U.S. Congress. One of the [...]

Frohe Weihnachten and happy Winter Solstice. This is is the best part about Christmas: it’s the afternoon of December 24 and the stores close. Finally! The insanity of the annual shopping season is over. There is one good step toward peace on earth: the malls and shopping centers close for a day-and-a-half. In a good [...]

Happy Global Orgasm for Peace Day! What a wacky idea … The Global Orgasm for Peace certainly has the same winking cleverness, but it also invites us to consider the power of collective thought. Does what we think really effect anything? The project’s Web site points to the work of another group, the Global Consciousness [...]

Happy Hannukkah! Frohes Lichterfest! Get your dreidels out and fry some latkes: Today at sundown Jews began to celebrate the eight days of Hannukkah. The holiday was called Hanukkah meaning “dedication” because it marks the re-dedication of the Temple after its desecration under Antiochus IV. Spiritually, Hanukkah commemorates the Miracle of the Oil. According to [...]

The Democrats are celebrating a pretty significant victory. Personally I like the sound of Republican heads popping whenever someone says “House Speaker Pelosi” … try it: House Speaker Pelosi … pop pop pop House Speaker Pelosi … pop pop pop House Speaker Pelosi … pop pop pop House Speaker Pelosi … pop pop pop House [...]

Ramadan is ending and the Muslim world is getting ready for Eid al-Fitr – perhaps the most cheerful Muslim holiday. I have great memories of celebrating Eid with friends in Morocco in 1990. I had been biking around the country for most of Ramadan, and got back to Fès just in time for Eid. I [...]

Liebes Deutschland РIch hoffe Du hattest einen sch̦nen Tag der Deutschen Einheit! On October 3, 1990, the states of the former German Democratic Republic (East Germany) adopted the constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and thusly Germany was reunited after 41 years, and the GDR ceased to exist. That day was [...]

Praise the Lard and celebrate the “Good Juice” today! It’s International Biodiesel Day – celebrate VEGPOWER! Transesterification of a vegetable oil was conducted as early as 1853, by scientists E. Duffy and J. Patrick, many years before the first diesel engine became functional. Rudolf Diesel’s prime model, a single 10 ft (3 m) iron cylinder [...]

According to the Global Crafts website, Volkswagen of America has backed off: Volkswagen of America have sent a letter of apology and revoked the Cease & Desist notice. Thank you for your support, I know many of you emailed Volkswagen on our behalf. They have also offered to work with us towards a license which [...]

Wal Mart is throwing the towel in Germany! Looks like they’ll sell their 85 German stores at a loss of $1Billion to Germany’s largest retailer Metro. I despise Wal Mart, and I find an odd sense of satisfaction in the news that German stubborn attitudes brought Wal Mart, the death star of retail, to its [...]

Ghana beat USA and qualifies for the next round! Only to meet Brazil … oh well …

Happy solstice to all you Wiccans!

Many years ago, I spent several intense, fun summers in Morocco. Besides biking through the Atlas and hanging out at various beaches, I spent weeks roaming the Médina of Fès with my Fassi friends Mammoun and Mohammed. Samir at A View from Fès posted some great accounts – and wonderful pictures by Suzanna Clarke – [...]