Last weekend Laura went to see the new Tim Burton/Johnny Depp movie. She had been very anxious to see it, and she seems to have really enjoyed it. I am looking forward to seeing it one of these days myself. But today I heard about a movie I really want to see as soon as it comes out. I just listened to Scott Simon’s interview with Werner Herzog about his latest film Grizzly Man. He talks about how he found the story of Timothy Treadwell, the, uh, bear lover, who got eaten by grizzly bears in Alaska in October 2003. What a character and what a story! A new-age great-white-hunter who wants to hug the bears instead of shooting them. Yeah – until one of the bears hugged him back!

Treadwell’s story is a tragic, sad story. He was probably well-intentioned and he seems to have really loved these bears. But he had no sense and no respect for these dangerous animals. He also did set a bad example for other nature-lovers. One thing is clear: he is a fascinating character. No surprise that Herzog jumped on this project – a real-life Fitzcarraldo in Alaska with bears. I can’t wait to see this film when it comes out in mid-August.

This is how his supporters see Treadwell’s legacy:

In an interview with David Letterman, you saw a quick wit, returning each Letterman volley with panache, sparkle and a hint of an Australian accent. In a filmed scene of Timothy singing to a mother bear, flat on her back, with two cubs nursing on top of her, you imagined for a moment that she too enjoyed the song of gentleness. And you had no doubt that you were hearing a “bear whisperer.”
In Honor of Timothy Treadwell, Louisa Willcox, Grizzly People

Oh man – yeah, except that the “bear whisperer” did get eaten by a bear!

More on Treadwell:
Grizzly People – Treadwell’s non-profit organization
Newspaper story about Timothy Treadwell’s and Amie Huguenard’s deaths(pop-ups)
Story in Montana paper about the movie
Some of Treadwell’s grizzly pictures
More grizzly photos
[update: Information about Katmai National Park (NPS)]

There is a big debate raging over whether biofuels (biodiesel, ethanol) are sustainable. A paper published earlier this year by David Pimentel and Ted Patzek has the biofuels proponents on the defensive about the sustainability of the two most widely used types of biofuels in the US: corn-based ethanol and soy-based biodiesel (methylesther).

Ethanol production in the UnitedStates does not benefit the nation’s energy security, its agriculture, the economy, or the environment. Also,ethical questions are raised by diverting land and precious food into fuel and actually adding a net amount of pollution to the environment.
“Ethanol Production Using Corn, Switchgrass, and Wood; Biodiesel Production Using Soybean and Sunflower” David Pimentel and Tad W. Patzek, 2005

Of course, the National Corn Growers Association is a big fan of ethanol. And the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) – formerly known as the Soydiesel Board – vigorously rebukes (PDF) the Patzek/Pimentel study.

There are clearly some important scientific questions about this study, like the steam energy and electricity inputs, whether to include the food of the workers as an energy input, and the huge amount of lime they figure is needed to raise the crops. But the biggest problem, I see, is using corn and soy as the benchmark for biofuels production, as neither is a great feedstock for fuel. Even looking at the most favourable numbers, the 1:3 energy ratio for soy-biodiesel from a 1998 DoA/DoE study (PDF), that is still not good enough to fuel the world.

My big problem with the Patzek/Pimentel paper is that it tries to establish a benchmark using a poor-performance scenario. It’s like judging a city by visiting its worst neighborhood. And then journalists turn this study into headlines like this:
“Study says ethanol not worth the energy”
“Academic Study Discredits Ethanol, Biodiesel”
These headlines make blanket statements about renewable fuels, while the study only looked at particularly poorly designed production processes for specific types of fuels. Sort of like documenting the poor performance of an airplane made of lead and then concluding airplanes cannot work.

We need studies that help us figure out how we can make biofuels work, and soon. The Pimentel/Patzek paper did not get us any closer to a solution. In order for this country to “survive” Peak Oil, we need a massive investment in research on how to grow feedstock for biofuels that can get us up to 1:10 energy ratio, while minimizing land use and the environmental footprint. No, it does not look like soy or corn are the solution, but they are a stepping-stone. Solar and wind energy are not THE SOLUTION either. Solar-powered cars are a long way away, let alone solar tractor-trailers or lorries. Biofuels are a necessary part of the solution for sustainable, cleaner energy, just as solar, wind, and maybe even hydrogen. A truly relevant research question is not if biofuels are sustainable, it is how can we produce them sustainably.

My photo album for our Iceland vacation is finally ready. It took a while to get it ready, but I had a lot of pictures to sort through; almost 700 from our 5 days in Iceland! I ended up using 220 images for the website. I took all the images with my Canon D350 (Digital Rebel) with the kit lens – which worked great.

I am still adding comments and descriptions to the images, and I am also adding wikipedia references to many of the pages, so people who want to find out more about the Alþingi or Vatnajökull can do so easily. Browse on over and take a look. Let me know how you like the site.

Peak Oil can come – my bike and I are ready! Earlier this year, the freehub on my bike broke and I just was too damn lazy to replace it. In June, I got a nice new wheel from the bike shop (Sunrim AT18 with a Shimano Deore freehub). Yesterday, finally, I decided to fix the bike. Laura took the kids to see the new Tim Burton film, and I had over two hours of peace to install the new wheel. It turned out that the rim was about 3 mm off center, and I had to sit down and tighten the spokes on the right a turn and a half to get the wheel rim centered properly.
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Like everyone else, I am shocked and saddened by the attacks on innocent civilians in Sharm al-Sheikh. Our thoughts are with the victims and their families, and with all affected by these cruel, barbaric acts of terrorism.

Interesting project by the the American Progress Action Fund and the Genocide Intervention Fund to raise awareness about the genocide in Darfur: use Journalism-School science for an activist campaign called Be A Witness. Using quantitative content analyses of the major U.S. television networks, they compared news coverage of the genocide in Darfur with other, popular but, uhm, pointless news stories, like the Jackson trial and Tom Cruise’s opinions about stuff.

A quantitative monitoring of all news segments aired in the month of June 2005 on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FoxNews, and MSNBC shows that coverage of the genocide in Sudan was overwhelmed by stories of far less consequence including the “runaway bride,” the Michael Jackson trial, and Tom Cruise’s new movie and relationship with actress Katie Holmes.* During a month when new fighting and aerial attacks erupted in Sudan, Americans learned almost nothing about these developments from major television news media.
Overview of Research and Methodology

Not sure how they are going to deal with yesterday’s news from Sudan. The gist of the news coverage of Rice’s visit seems to have been: “OHMYGOD! Rice’s staff and western journalists get roughed up in Sudan! ………. Oh, yeah – uh – and there’s, like, genocide and stuff going on in Sudan.”
Here is how I personally hold these turkeys accountable: I don’t watch the stupid networks. Haven’t had television access at my house for ten years.

Today is Nelson Mandela’s 87th birthday. Happy birthday, Madiba!

“I saw that everybody looked so terrible, just like they came from hell,” she said. “No one was talking. No one was screaming.”
Hiroshima Survivor Recalls Devastation The Washington Post, July 16, 2005 (quoting Hiroshima survivor Shigeko Sasamori, 73)

60 years ago today, the first nuclear explosion began the age of the atom bomb. On August 6 and August 9 that same year, 100,000 people died in the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

One of the vocal allies of children in armed conflicts around the world is the Office of the UN Under-Secretary-General and Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict. The Under-Secretary-General Olara A. Otunnu is a tireless advocate for helping children around the world who are victimized by armed conflict.

The website for his office published many reports to the UN Security Council, Human Rights Commission etc. One document in which Otunnu describes the situation of the children in Northern Uganda, I was not able to find on the UN website. I find this statement particularly poignant, so I am posting it here. I received the text of this statement from George Piwang-Jalobo, who received it from Otunnu’s office.

—————————————————————————————————————
AND WHAT SHALL I TELL THE CHILDREN OF NORTHERN UGANDA?

This human rights catastrophe has been going on now, non-stop, for over fifteen years, under cover of a war with no end in sight. It is now abundantly clear that there is no desire or interest to end that war. Because it is a war that serves a purpose: the war has become a cynical pretext for the systematic destruction of a people, of an entire society, the vast majority of whom are innocent children and women. The war also is being used as a political alibi to avoid addressing key questions facing a country in deep malaise; moreover it has become a lucrative source of ‘magendo’ (ill-gotten revenue) for those presiding over it.

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Massacre of school children and adults in northern Kenya:

Hundreds of armed men surrounded a primary school and nearby houses and opened fire as children were making their way to school early on Tuesday.

Security forces say 56 people – including 22 children – died in the revenge attack by raiders feuding over water and pastures.
Hunt for child killers in Kenya BBC News, 14 July, 2005

Iraqi suicide bomber blows up children who were gathered to get some candy from US soldiers:

“There were some American troops blocking the highway when a US Humvee came near a gathering of children,” said Karim Shukir, 42. “US soldiers began to hand them candies. Then suddenly, a speeding car with the bomber showed up and struck both the Humvee and the children.”
32 Children Die in Baghdad Blast, Arab News, 14, July, 2005

A so-called father using his 19-month-old as a shield in a police shootout:

Pena, 34, was holding his daughter Suzy when he opened fire on police last Sunday, unleashing 40 shots in three separate exchanges. He and his daughter died in a hail of gunfire after he confronted police in an alley behind his apartment.
Coroner: Toddler killed by LAPD bullet, CNN Int., July 14, 2005.

How do I explain these things to my children? How do I explain why they are inheriting such a messed up world?

Last week I met with George Piwang-Jalobo, who is an energetic campaigner for a resolution to the conflict in Northern Uganda. He is the founder and director of the Center of Conflict Management and Peace at Gulu University in Uganda. He is also a scholar at the Divinity School at Duke University, here in Durham.

George told me about the 19-year-old conflict in Acholiland (N. Uganda) and the devastation this war has wreaked upon his country. 1.6 million people live in squalid conditions in camps for internally displaced people (IDP). The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) has fought a cruel war in Acholiland, raiding villages to abduct children in order to turn them into child soldiers. These children, some as young as seven years old, are forced to fight government troops and conduct raids on Acholi villages to swell the ranks of the LRA.

Carol Bellamy, the former ED of UNICEF travelled to Acholiland last year and wrote an article for the International Herald-Tribune about what she saw:

I have seen many disturbing things during my time with UNICEF. But few are as shocking as the sight of the “night commuters” in northern Uganda. They are the 44,000 rural children who, fearing abduction by the Lord’s Resistance Army, leave their villages every day to seek refuge in town before nightfall.
The world may be awakening to the emergency in Sudan but it has all but forgotten the tragedy of neighboring Uganda, where in the past two years some 12,000 boys and girls have been abducted by the LRA. Unlike any other, it is a war on children.
Uganda’s Night Walkers, Carol Bellamy, UNICEF.

As if this war on the children by the LRA was not bad enough, inside the IDP camps the children are not safe either. Last month, UNICEF highlighted a study that found that sexual abuse of children is a huge problem in Pabbo IDP Camp:

A new study on sexual and gender-based violence has identified rape, the sexual abuse of children and physical assault as being among the most common forms of sexual violence inside the Pabbo internally displaced persons camp in Gulu District, the largest and one of the oldest such settlements in northern Uganda’s conflict-affected districts.
Study highlights rape in Northern Uganda’s largest IDP camp, UNESCO News Note.

I doubt that media spectacles like Live8 or debt relief are going to change the situation for these children. As long as the US provides military aid to the Ugandan government to fight the LRA, which has been classified as a terrorist organization by the US State Department, the Ugandan government has little incentive to end this conflict peacefully.

What can help the children of Northern Uganda is international attention to their plight. The world needs to care what happens to Acholiland, so as to pressure the Ugandan government to find ways to make peace with the LRA, end this conflict, disarm and re-integrate the child-soldiers. Care and peace are the only hope for these children.

Kenyan journalist John Kamau, of the Sunday Standard newspaper, chronicles his G8-summit experiences on the BBC website. In an entry from Wednesday, he comments on the lack of journalists from Africa at a summit that supposedly intends to “solve” problems in Africa.

It is a sad state of affairs that we cannot find concrete analysis from African media on what is happening here simply because it seems few efforts were made to invite them.
G8 summit diary 1330BST, 06 JULY 2005.

Even when it concerns the “future of their continent,” Africans primarily get their news and information filtered via the Euro-American info monopoly of Reuters, AP, BBC, AFP, CNN, etc. In addition, the rest of the world is apparently not all that interested in what Africans have to say about decisions made at the G8 summit.

Relief from this indifference toward Africans would be much more helpful in the fight against poverty in Africa, than so-called debt-relief or the $50 Bn in aid the were able to agree on. But I doubt that these pale, powerful men have any real interest in Africa, beyond distracting from some of their foreign policy disasters.

I know that Londoners are a resilient bunch and won’t be intimidated by these act of violence against civilians. But I do want to express my sorrow and solidarity with all Londoners.

Over at Back to Iraq, Chris Albritton has posted a translation of a message that was supposedly generated by the perpetrators of these acts of terrorism. (See also the BBC’s translation.)

Everybody is talking about Africa, these days. Often not because they really care about Africa, but because it’s good business to talk about Africa. Does Bob Geldoff care about Africa? I think the number of African artists allowed to share the limelight with Madonna and Pink Floyd answers that question (none). How can you pretend to want to help Africans and not give them a voice?

Poverty is a complex problem and cannot simply be “solved” by a massive marketing blitz like Live8. The idea that the rulers of the 8 richest nations could simply “solve” the poverty problem by forgiving all debt to African nations is presumptuous. And to enroll the world’s pop aristocracy in the effort makes the spectacle spectacularly absurd. When was the last time any of these “artists” toured in any part of Africa (with the possible exception of South Africa)? When was the last time any of them invited an African artist to accompany them on stage?

Africa’s problems are not going to be solved by these people. Only Africans will solve the problems of Africa. But only Africans with a voice will be able to solve Africa’s problems. That is the kind of aid we can provide to Africans: reach out and help them speak out. Yet, some Africans are quite outspoken. Last night I read an interview with Kenyan economics expert James Shikwati in Der Spiegel, where he forcefully argues against aid.

If the industrial nations really want to help the Africans, they should finally terminate this awful aid. The countries that have collected the most development aid are also the ones that are in the worst shape. Despite the billions that have poured in to Africa, the continent remains poor.
James Shikwati, interview in Der Spiegel.

MMK at African Bullets & Honey has made some equally forceful and provocative arguments critical of Live8:

They will be marching to display the rude health of their souls and to confirm their power and magnanimity over the huddled, miserable wretches of Africa. The monies that they give, no doubt in the billions of dollars, will be used to maintain and extend a vast system of spiritual and material privilege. Every dollar shall confirm their superiority and the inverse inferiority of the African.
Live8 and Those Who Would Steal African Humanity

So on the one hand you have the glitterati pulling up in stretch-Hummer-limos at mega-spectacles, clinking their champagne glasses to toast their own generosity and good will, while images of starving Africans flash across huge display screens and television sets around the world. On the other hand some African economists and bloggers demand “stop all aid now” because the aid money is actually robbing Africa’s soul and wealth.

The poverty problem is too complex, and the African continent is too diverse to argue either “Pro-Aid” or “Con-Aid.” What Africa needs is for the rest of the world to care what happens in Africa. Debt relief, by itself, is going to accomplish nothing. We have to stop fuelling the wars in Africa with military “aid” and we have to exert pressure on African warmongers to make peace. The G8 cannot simply “will poverty away” but if the international community is determined to spread peace in Africa, I think poverty can be dramatically reduced.

Not that I think that this is realistic. Too many greedy (white) hands profit from conflict, strife and outright war in Africa. Too many powerful hands have a vested interest in maintaining poverty in Africa. These hands profit from cheap labor to extract raw materials from Africa’s rich soil. And they will continue to make sure Africa stays in its place, by supporting greedy dictators and fueling conflicts. Because Africa’s poverty is good for business.

The “Unity Parade” is one the highlights of the Eno Festival.

The 26th Festival for the Eno is one of the biggest community events here in Durham. The festival lasted for three days, Saturday thru Monday and it was, as always, great family fun. This year, the 4th of July weekend (US Independence Day) was a bit less sweltering hot than the last couple of years, and the turnout seems to have been very good.

The festival is a real treat of local color, lots of North Carolina homegrown artistic talent, on and off stage, lots of grassroots activism and entrepreneurship. The purpose of the festival is to raise funds for the Eno River Association, which buys up land along the banks of the Eno for preservation, creating a buffer that protects this pretty river against encroaching development.

Saturday, I volunteered at the info booth of Piedmont Biofuels and was very busy most of the day. Yesterday, Laura and I took the kids to the festival to enjoy it as a family. We just hung out all day, jammed to the music, splashed in the river, perused the crafts booths. We had a grand old time. I think that over the last 10 years we have missed the Eno Festival only once or twice.

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The first day of the Festival for the Eno here in Durham was fun and seemed like a great success. The festival was packed and gaggles of children were frolicking in the cool waters of the river. Throngs of people were checking out the crafts stands and info booths around the five stages in the West Point on the Eno park.

I spent most of the day, from 10 to 4, working at the info booth of Piedmont Biofuels, promoting the use of biodiesel and renewable fuels in general. We were very busy all day, answering many questions from “what’s biodiesel?” to “what do you do with the glycerol?” We signed up many people for our email lists and many people took brochures and wrote down website addresses for more reading up on biofuels. It was really awesome to see all this interest and discussion about energy independence, total economic cost of petroleum versus biofuels, public health and policy issues and so forth.

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Laura just called and pointed me to a story on biodiesel on NPR’s Morning Edition:

Mike Pelly, owner of Olympia Green Fuels, uses bio-diesel fuel to power his two cars. He makes the mixture from used vegetable oil discarded by Chinese restaurants and fast-food joints. Pelly tells Steve Inskeep how it works. NPR : Driving a ‘Green’ Vehicle

Our local “paper of record,” the News & Observer, published a brief item about our biodiesel pump. (2nd item on the page)

Interesting post on a Biodiesel-hydrogen-powered hummer Limo in New Mexico (and other renewable energy experiments).

BTW – talking about renewable energy … Iceland uses its abundant geothermal energy to produce electricity and heat.

America’s addiction to oil is one of her most serious problems. It is a burden on the economy because it drains trillions of dollars from this country every year. And it is the Achilles’ Heel of the economy because oil is getting more and more expensive, and eventually we will run out of oil. At that point, the US economy will collapse if it has to go “cold turkey” on petroleum.

To spread this message several organizations got together and launched a campaign to invite Americans to sign a Declaration of Independence from Oil. I, for one, am happy to sign the declaration. My car runs on veggies :)

Go ahead and sign the declaration to send a message to Cheney and Ford.

So I guess I survived the first day back at work after our awesome, two-week vacation in Iceland and Germany. We are still processing the sights, sounds and cultural impressions. Iceland struck us as a very cool and quietly very powerful place. Huge geological forces are at work here, glaciers and volcanoes shape this island. Everywhere you see hissing steam vents, boiling mud holes, groaning icebergs, vast lava deserts and massive waterfalls in lush valleys. The Icelanders are a quiet, self-reliant people whose culture was shaped by toughing it out on this remote, inhospitable rock in the Atlantic.

For five days we explored Reykjavik (the capital) and the southern coast of Iceland. We had great weather – lots of sunshine and temperatures in the upper 50s (15 degrees C). Even the most popular tourist attractions outside Reykjavik were not particularly crowded, maybe a dozen cars and a couple of tour buses at the most. And at some of the waterfalls and famous black sand beaches we saw hardly more than a handful other tourists. And this was the peak of the season!

After five days in Iceland, we continued to Frankfurt and spent 9 days cruising south-west Germany to visit friends and family. It was quite hot in Germany, and after Iceland, Germany seemed twice as crowded and hectic. We did a bit of sightseeing, too. and visited the Freiburg cathedral, the ducal palace and gardens in Ludwigsburg and the Heidelberg castle. Pretty standard tourist fare, but pretty interesting, nevertheless. And after the $10-beers and hot dogs in Iceland we did enjoy relatively inexpensive and tasty food in Germany.

The children certainly deserve mention as seasoned travellers who weathered jet lag, long drives, unusual foods and a rather exhausting pace with bravado and style. They seemed to enjoy every new little adventure, and they brought fresh curiosity to every new place we explored.

Now it’s back to the grindstone and work, work, work …. as soon as I have the time, I’ll set up a nice photo album for the trip.

Wow – back in silly-visation after 5 days in Iceland! What a gorgeous, wild raw place! Pictures to follow. After that, Germany seems twice as hectic and crowded. But the weather is great and the beer is a LOT better and more affordable than in Iceland.