Food for Fuel

Castro has spoken out out on US plans for using biofuel.

Though there’s not much meat in the article, I find myself in general agreement with his complaint. We do, indeed, face a multifaceted energy crisis. Some of the paths traveled to this crisis were not very well thought out. For example, we decided to use natural gas to generate a portion of our electricity. This was to green-up our generation system. This resulted in using as much natural gas for generation as people use for heating and, thus, undue hardships in paying for the heat.

Now we are thinking about using food as a fuel source. Castro’s right, diverting food to fuel can only result in not having it available for those in need. In addition, there is considerable scientific skepticism about the overall efficiency of biofuels. This emphasizes the point that we must have a well thought out program to improve our energy supply system from both the standpoints of efficiency and environmental protection.

Technorati Tags:biofuel, Castro, energy generation, energy

Libby

I became interested in the Libby trial about the time the case was given to the jury. I started reading previously published articles as the days in deliberation grew. The thing that began to dawn on me is that these high profile prosecutions often seem to create crimes rather than getting to the bottom of their original objectives.

President Clinton was taken to task about lying, so was the case with Martha Stewart and now the same with Libby. The Clinton case was, of course, the most notable because of the excessive time, extraordinary cost and the involvement of a sitting president. I get the sense that the prosecutors grow to think of themselves as more important than the tasks they were given. In all of these cases, the original charges disappeared and were replaced by a crime created during the investigation.

Jury interviews I’ve seen and read about following trials have been somewhat disturbing. From their own admissions, it would seem that the juries tend to go somewhat beyond the evidence when they deliberate. The first press conference following the Libby verdict was no different. Denis Collins referred to:

“…the defense "badgering" Judy Miller may have hurt them as some jurors developed "sympathy" for her. Even though she admitted having a "bad memory," the fact that she had notes counted a lot in her favor, he said. Despite the badgering, some jurors thought Miller was "nice."

He also made reference to the sympathy that the jury had for Libby and that they felt that he was a “fall guy” and so on.

It would seem to me that our justice system may no work very well during these high profile cases. It may be advisable to seek immunity from prosecution of lying before ever offering any information to investigators.

Technorati Tags:Libby, Martha Stewart, high profile prosecution, Clinton