Borges

If you watched the Olympics, you probably noticed that General Motors launched a major advertising campaign, touting the fact that 1.5 million GM vehicles are able to run on E85, made from corn. If you're new to the alternative fuel concept, perhaps you were left wondering exactly what E85 is.

The term E85 is derived from the blend of two different fuels, comprised of 85% ethanol (where the term E85 comes from) and 15% petroleum. E85 is able to be used by vehicles that are known as flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs). So what's the big deal, and why is GM willing to spending many millions of dollars to let people know their vehicles will run on E85?

Ethanol is an exciting concept, since it can be made from virtually any type of starchy plant, including sugar cane, wheat, canola, or milo. However, most American ethanol is produced from corn, which is grown in huge abundance in the Midwest. It could represent a perfect union between farmers and consumers, since it will give farmers a steady, reliable outlet for their corn and it will provide motorists with a cleaner, less expensive fuel that doesn't rely on foreign suppliers.

But that's just the beginning. E85 also helps reduce a vehicle's exhaust and greenhouse gas emissions, since it has a higher oxygen content. That means it's burned more completely than conventional gas, making it more environmentally friendly than petroleum-based fuels. In fact, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) statistics suggest that E85 produces some 40% less carbon monoxide and 15% less production of other pollutants that contribute to smog.

Those figures should be enough to get people excited about E85's prospects. It's also promising that a huge automaker like GM has chosen to spend large amounts of its advertising dollars to bring the concept of green vehicles and fuel into the mainstream consciousness, and they're to be commended. It represents a major first step toward freeing America from dependence upon foreign oil, as well as lowering greenhouse pollutants and providing American farmers with a new, profitable, stable avenue for selling their crops. It seems to be a winning proposition for everyone involved.

Not surprisingly, E85 is most readily available in the Upper Midwest, where the majority of the corn to make it is grown. Some 400 of the 600 locations nationally are located in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin, and South Dakota.

Copyright 2006 Jeanette J. Fisher

Jeanette Fisher, author of interior design and real estate books helps home owners makeover their homes with "green design." For more home environmental issue articles, visit Environmental Psychology

Having bad breath is a difficult thing to deal with. Not only does it cause us to be worried about offending someone and keeps us secluded, but when it does become necessary for us to enter into a social situation it could keep others from being too close to us. So what is someone to do about bad breath and what are some cures for bad breath that you can try at home?

The first cure is really one that is governed by common sense. Many cases of bad breath are caused by poor oral hygiene. If you are not brushing and flossing several times a day then bacteria can build in the mouth and cause the odor of bad breath. If you notice a buildup on your tongue then you should be brushing, or scraping it on a regular basis. Just make sure that you have a separate brush for your tongue so that you are not spreading that bacteria all over your teeth. There are also plenty of portable oral hygiene systems that you can use when you are away from home. These help you to keep your mouth fresh when you eat out and when you have long periods where your mouth is permitted to grown new bacteria.

Sometimes bad breath is not caused by your mouth at all, and no breath mint or amount of brushing will cover it up. This is generally caused by a sinus infection that will emit an odor out of your nostrils. This odor is different from bad breath but can be equally as offensive. Treating this is much different than treating an oral problem, but there are natural methods for treating this as well.

If you are tired of treating the bad breath symptoms without curing the disease then visit us online for our special report on natural bad breath relief. You can click on our website at http://www.nice-breath.info/

Download the special bad breath report now for relief from halitosis using common household ingredients.

Are you a Potato Head still waiting for you ears, eyes and mouth? Are you "unnetted?" Do you have no voice in the process of Glboalization and Free Trade in the Flat World? Tune in ABC, CNN, MSNBC or FOX and they will plug in your eyes, ears and mouth for you. Liberals turn to the left and chant all the political correct nonsensical phrases they give you. Conservatives turn to the right and follow the man who says Jesus is his favorite philosopher as he charges up a hill in bloody pre-emptive wars from his safe place in Washington DC.

All should read The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman from the New York Times. It is really about President Clinton and President Bush walking hand in hand, down the global economic path together.

Stay away from The Confessions of an Economic Hit Man book by John Perkins, Amy Goodman from Democracy Now Org and Seymour Hersh from the New Yorker. They will just confuse you. Do not read any of the many books about Globalization by Manuel Castell or The Trap by Sir James Goldsmith.

It may be time to curse the darkness rather than just light one little candle. Token charitable causes where only one in thousands get help hide deep economic wounds. The Free Enterprise system is supposed to make it easier for all to be good. It obviously has failed its mission. We live off the suffering of the wage slaves of the world.

As the saying in the old movie Cool Hand Luke goes - what we got here it the failure to communicate even in our global instant connected world with text messages and all. It seems we talk and write more than ever but something is missing. Could it be the pursuit of perfection has been flushed down the toilet? Have we compromised because we say perfection is only a word in the dictionary with a definition that can not apply to human beings. Yet, the word is there and it haunts us as we live and breathe in the confines of bodies that are decaying with each tick of the clock. All we want is to feel all together in one place at the same time but find these can be only rare moments in time as we fade away into eternity.

In the work world, we are told it is a good thing trying to match our ultimate end of what is right and what is wrong, but we also told we have to be realistic how we do it in the real world. Pragmatism becomes the rule. Utility is its tool. In the Globalist Free Traders world, the Bible phrase reverses itself. It says, do unto others before they do it to you. We see power politics marry economics consummating greed. The homeless lay on downtown streets and are ignored. The sun burns down on them in the summer and the cold winds of winter, freezes them, but it does not matter for their souls have been burned out or frozen solid already by a society that scurries by being too busy with the real world of things. Quote the statistics they give you to tell yourself the homeless and underclass do not exist in our good economy. However, things like Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans exposes a Silent Depression residing in our land. Many say it is their fault they ended up the way they did.

It is not only workers on wages or without any wages who are suffering. Reportedly, 47 percent of all small business persons have maxed out their credit cards to keep their business afloat. They fall into a trap of usury interest rates over 18 percent and as high as 34 percent like everyone who uses their credit lines to back up their lost of jobs etc., there is no come back after this happens.

They should have been plugged into ABC, NBC, CNN and Fox News. After all there are good men like Cavuto on Fox who shows us things like the stock market being the soul of a good society where everyone can transform paper into profit by using the least among us to do the "dirty" work. People like Thomas Friedman of the New York Times writes a book called the Flat World and speaks at Harvard. People like a President of a Jesuit University say Amen and more workers are handcuffed in the world with the key thrown away. Bishops in Central and South America are martyred because they speak and act for the underclass. One of the first saints canonized by Pope Benedict was Father Alberto Hurtado who acted and spoke for the underclass in the 1940s and 1950s. Today Populism is rapidly coming our way from South America.

People like John Perkins do come forward and write a different kind of book called The Confessions of an Economic Hit Man that tells all about the bad things really going on in the global economic arena and but he is silenced by the main media channels. The academic community ignores him too.

President Bush says there are jobs in the USA that Americans will not do. This has happened after the U.S. sent more than 4000 factories to Mexico. It is obvious there are jobs in Mexico that Mexican workers will not take. Many of these factories are now moving to China where are willing to work for less. It is an endless stream of movement because millions are competing for the same jobs. Free Trade is about moving production from place to place based on the cheapest labor markets of the world. The main commodities are human beings put on a world trading block to compete with one another down to the levels of wage slave and even child labor.

The facts of life include the following:
In 1774, 1 percent owned 15 percent of the wealth. By 1973, 1 percent owned 32.6 percent of the wealth and by 1989, 1 percent owned 40 percent of the wealth. What is it today? ( Search on Silent Depression Economic Inequality for more data )
At age 65: 45 percent are dependent on relatives. 30 percent are dependent on charity. 23 percent are still working and only 2 percent are self sustaining. A note in our church bulletin reads - Success is reaching Social Security age without having to declare bankruptcy. We know now that about 38 percent over the age of 45 did file for bankruptcy from 1992 to 2002.
85 percent over 65 do not even have $250.00
About 28 percent of all workers make less that $7.90 per hour
The lowest 20 percent bracket are paying state and local taxes at about twice the rate of the top 1 percent. 70 percent of all workers pay more in payroll taxes than in income taxes. A person making only about $10,000 a years pays about 12 percent of their total gross income in payroll, state and local taxes. That is more than a $1,000 a year on just $10,000 in income.
About 70% of all workers make less money in real dollars than comparable workers did 20 years ago.
The poor are getting poorer and the Middle Class is fading away.
For more information See If this is a good economy, I would hate to see a bad one at Tapsearch Com Tapart News. The facts were updated from 1998 and most of the data remains the same today.

There was a time in Rome when it was better to be a slave than a Free-Man. The slaves had a roof over their heads and were allowed to get married in order to raise more slaves. The Free-Man had to hide and had very few opportunities make a living. History seems to be repeating itself now with a working poor class growing in the USA and impoverished and wage slave class growing outside the USA. The World Bank and other lenders capture victims with usury interest rates.

A statistical prosperity is still being proclaimed even though 39 percent of all over 45 have declared bankruptcy from 1992 to 2002. Finally only about 38 percent of all workers in the USA, qualify for unemployment insurance which indicates there is a vast pool of workers missing in action from any kind of real reporting. It also proves the unemployment rate is fabricated and it certainly can not be compared with any unemployment rate reported in the past.

Who says we have to compete like this in a global economic arena?

See Tapart News and Art that Talks at http://tapsearch.com/tapartnews and http://tapsearch.com/flatworld Search under tapart news, tapsearch, Ray Tapajna, Tapajna Clinton for more information or search under any of the key words and phrases of above. Google seems to have shorten many lists, so search on Yahoo and Gigablast search engines too for a deeper penetration of references and topics.

I recently made a trip from Buffalo to Toronto to attend a convention. I made it a goal to spend as little as possible on this trip. However, I still wanted to have a great time. There are several ways to cut travel costs. Some main costs that need to be cut are lodging, car rental and transportation, food and beverage, currency exchange, entertainment, and cigarettes and alcohol.

I wanted to stay close to the convention center as possible. The hotels in that area run between $150-300 per night. I could not justify spending that much since I did not plan on being there that much with the exception to sleep. Also, when you stay at a hotel you have costs such as tips to bell boys, cleaning staff etc. I stayed at a hostel close to the convention center for around $29. A hostel is a dormitory. Everyone was friendly at the hostel. Also, I had an opportunity to meet new people. The bathroom was a shared bathroom but very clean. It was a good experience and saved me some travel expenses.

I could have driven to Toronto from Buffalo. However, there would be gas expenses, tolls, and parking fees. Parking is expensive in Toronto. Also, the streets in Toronto are congested with pedestrians, cars, bikes, and street cars.. I decided to take the Greyhound to Toronto for $32. Since I was close to the center of downtown, I was able to walk. Also, I saved money by not taking a taxi from the bus station. However, if you are going to walk from the bus station to the hostel you should bring luggage with a should strap and wheels. I could have taken the street car or subway around Toronto during my stay. However, I need the exercise and walked everywhere. You should make sure you have comfortable shoes if you plan on walking. The sidewalks and streets are suitable for walking,

Food costs can be expensive when you are traveling. It can be costly to go to restaurants. I ate at the convention one day. I brought power bars with me for snacks. I took advantage of the free pancake breakfast in the morning at the hostel. I could have purchased food at the grocery store across the street. The hostel had a kitchen that I could have used.. I ate mostly from the street vendors. There food was cheap, good and it was convenient.. If you wanted dessert for a low cost, there were Mr. Softy ice cream trucks all over the place. In order to save on beverages, I carried a collapsible bottle. I simply filled this up with tap water when I was thirsty.

When you travel to a foreign country, there is always a foreign currency issue. There is always a foreign currency conversion cost. I wanted to minimize this cost. I lost a penny by going to the hostel I stayed at for the currency in conversion instead of the bank but it was more convenient.. I did not convert that much there . I used a credit card to make my purchases whenever I had the opportunity. I called the credit card companies before I left to ask them about their currency conversion policies. The best one I could find was a currency with a 2% conversion cost. However, this was much more affordable then going to the Toronto and Buffalo banks for the exchange.

For entertainment I went to Eaton Centre, the Hockey Hall of Fame and China town. It does not cost anything to walk around Eaton Centre or China town. Also, you can eat at a discount in China town. The Hockey Hall of fame was relatively inexpensive. I spent about 6 hours there and I had my picture taken with The Stanley Cup.

You do not want to smoke or drink alcohol when you go to Toronto. It was $5.50 for a draft pint of beer at the hostel bar. I was told that is the normal bar price by a Toronto resident. I heard that cigarettes go for around $12 per pack. I do not know what the duty is on tobacco and alcohol. But you may want to consider bringing them with you on your trip to Canada.

I spent 3 days in Toronto. I had a great time and did not go broke doing so. Just because you travel on a budget does not mean that you can not have fun! I look forward to going back to Toronto for the film festival.

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