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Making moonshine from marijuana: Vermont state House approves hemp cultivation for...
In Vermont, the state House has approved a measure that would permit the cultivation of hemp in the state, subject to federal approval. The federal Drug Enforcement Administration regards hemp and marijuana as the same plant, although bill supporters say that the active element in marijuana can be reduced nearly to zero in industrial hemp.
Hemp can be used as an ethanol feedstock, raising the possibility that, in the future, biofuels could be made from dope using a fermentation process also used to make moonshine whiskey.
North Dakota has a similar law on the books, but farmers are not permitted by the DEA to cultivate hemp.
The state of Vermont has been working hard on taking a leading role in biofuels development. The Vermont Economic Progress Council awarded $1.7 million in job creation incentives to Mascoma to induce the company to relocate to the state. The introduction of hemp would certainly raise awareness of Vermont within the biofuels industry, although not perhaps a positive awareness in all corners.
Among the known feedstocks for ethanol, hemp is easily the most controversial because of the psychotropic properties of THC, a chemical found in all plants of the hemp (cannabis) family. Critics of DEA policy, which forbids the cultivation of hemp, point out that THC concentrations in industrial hemp are not sufficient for drug use.
Hemp is used throughout the world for paper, health foods, and rope, among other products. It is a fast growing plant, grows naturally in many parts of the US with no fertilizer or water inputs, and has a good energy returned on energy invested (EROEI) ratio.
In the United States, feral hemp, or “ditchweed”, continues to grow in at least 21 states where the DEA has eradication programs in place. The feral hemp is descended from plantings that date to the World War II “Hemp for Victory” program, when a shortage of raw materials led to a relaxation in the prohibition against hemp cultivation.
Henry Ford, in 1941, built a car out of 70 percent hemp fiber and powered it on hemp ethanol. Here is a YouTube video of the car in action.
hemp car
Above: Henry Ford’s 1941 Hemp Car, which was constructed from hemp fiber and ran on hemp ethanol.
In the US, ethanol must be “de-natured”, or mixed with a small amount of gasoline, to make it undrinkable. In its pure form, ethanol is 200 proof alcohol and is also popularly known as “moonshine”, especially in regions such as Appalachia where it continues to be made by home brewers.
“Moonshiners” would often put their own product into their cars to make them run faster, one of the earliest known usages of ethanol as an automotive fuel. The sport of stock car racing evolved from races between “moonshiners”, which perhaps explains why the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) has been more reluctant to embrace ethanol as a racing fuel. The Indy Racing League runs its cars on E100.
A modern-day Hemp Car toured the United States between July 4 and October 2, 2001, racking up 10,000 miles of travel in the process, and promoting the use of industrial hemp. The Mercedez Benz vehicle used hemp-based biodiesel as a fuel.
hemp car 2001
Above: The 2001 Hemp Car, which traveled 10,000 miles in 2001 across the United States promoting the use of industrial hemp. In Vermont, the state House has approved a measure that would permit the cultivation of hemp in the state, subject to federal approval... more -
US missile alert crew falls asleep on the job
It was 9.30 in the evening. The crew of three air force members decided to rest a little and within 15 minutes they were fast asleep. They awoke several hours later.
The only problem was that the room in which they were snoozing was the missile alert facility at Minot air force base in North Dakota. Directly beneath them was the underground control centre containing the keys that can launch ballistic missiles, and in their care were metal boxes containing the secret codes that allow the nuclear button to be pressed.
The incident is the latest in a series of foul-ups and poor ratings that is fast turning the Minot air base into the Mr Bean of the air force. Last summer a B-52 bomber was loaded with six air-launched nuclear missiles and flown, unbeknownst to its pilots or crew, across America.
Two months ago the Minot-based 5th Bomb Wing was given a routine inspection by Pentagon investigators and warded an "unacceptable" grade for its procedures in securing nuclear weapons.
The fresh embarrassment dates from July 12 when the three crew members of the 91st Missile Wing allowed themselves to nap while in possession of the classified launch codes. An investigation by their wing that involved officials from the National Security Agency and US Strategic Command found that there had been no threat to the security of the weapons.
The codes that they were guarding had recently been changed, as is periodically the case, and were therefore redundant. The three men were also behind locked doors and no-one else gained entry.
But the assurances will not lessen the sense of disarray within the air force. Last month the defence secretary Robert Gates fired the leadership of the air force following a string of nuclear mishaps, the most serious of which was the inadvertent sale of fusing devices for nuclear missiles to Taiwan. It was 9.30 in the evening. The crew of three air force members decided to rest a little and within 15 minutes they were fast asleep. ... more -
Whole town forgot to vote
The little U.S. community of Barnes County, North Dakota forgot to show up and vote in its mayoral election on June 10th, including its candidates.
According to the current Mayor, usually a half a dozen out of the total population of 11 show up to vote in the elections. But this time no one showed up to vote. "Everybody has got a job and they're busy," said the current Mayor.
Luckily most of the candidates were running unopposed, or it could have caused quite a mess in Barnes County, North Dakota. The little U.S. community of Barnes County, North Dakota forgot to show up and vote in its mayoral election on June 10th, including it... more -
"Boomtown: America's Biggest Inland Oil Discovery In 50 Years"
"What happens when an oil field as big as any in the Middle East is discovered in the desolate border towns of Montana and North Dakota?"
By Zach Dundas// GOOD Magazine
Photo by Brian Paumier
The story started out in a Montana newspaper, then grew into a minor legend: An unnamed rancher out in the state’s far east, a sparsely populated town along the North Dakota border, received his first royalty check for crude oil pumped out of his pastureland. Oil is the big news in this area, which the locals call MonDak; on both sides of the border, new wells can mean life-changing money for the families who own some of the toughest, driest farm and ranch land in the country.
So the story goes that the farmer opened the envelope and looked at the check, the first quarterly installment. He read the amount, read it a second time, then he sent the check back. He must have thought the damn fools had put the decimal point in the wrong place—$1.1 million, an unfathomable fortune, just couldn’t be right.
The tale circulated this fall in and around Sidney, a town of 5,000 people that anchors a huge swath of eastern Montana’s gold and slate-gray hills. Sidney is not part of the Montana where movie stars buy trophy ranches: temperatures swing from minus 40 degrees in the winter to 110 in the summer, and no one would confuse recreation with the battle to squeeze a living out of the land.
The town also happens to sit at the epicenter of the biggest inland oil discovery in the United States in 50 years. Two miles below the surface lies a stratum of oil known as the Bakken formation, holding an epic haul of crude—some surveys suggest up to 200 billion barrels, a near-Saudi-sized reserve. And since the end of 2000, when new drilling technology and rising prices combined to unleash the find, Montana and North Dakota have become the underground rock stars of American oil, among the few states recording production increases. With oil prices soaring above $100 a barrel, it’s like giant vaults of cash opened beneath the MonDak soil...
Full story at link.
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GOOD Magazine
This work licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ "What happens when an oil field as big as any in the Middle East is discovered in the desolate border towns of Montana and North ... more -
My school sucks more than yours does.
In an interesting turn, a recent issue of the North Dakota State University paper "The Spectrum" has disappeared from shelves across the campus. And although the school publishes many more than are ever taken from the shelves, this issue disappeared: overnight.
To be certain it was the same issue that had an article on the recent "Obama Skit" that made reasonable and decent people around the world stand up collectively and shout WTF.
But there was another and more subversive part of this paper. "The Spectrum" published the wages of each and every employee of the university. This was cannon fodder for those seeking to shed some light on wage discrepancies of the categorically sexist institution. Myself and office mates shuddered and gaped at the difference between our male and female tenure track profs. We also shuddered at the cost of our coaches.
But apparently someone else did more than shudder. In the middle of the night, the powers that be engaged in an act of collective censorship.
Awwwww....but Chet, this is only speculative conspiracy theory.
No. The students here rarely read what they are assigned (I know, I teach them), and it is even rarer for them to seek out some good old timey publications. And especially when there exists one copy per 1.5 students (and that doesn't include the ones who would have failed/dropped by this time of the year)
This has not been a banner year for NDSU. Only last November The Chronicle of higher Education printed "At North Dakota State, Women Are Few and Far Between" By Robin Wilson; last week was the infamous Obama skit http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/03/28/national/main... and finally the campus paper with both the Obama Skit story and salaries disappear.
This is my university.
There are many like it, but this one is mine.
This university is a good old boys network.
There will never be any effective change.
F*ck NDSU and f*ck the good old boys who run her.
FYI, female instructors make WAY less than their male counterparts (I'd give you a percentage, but the newspaper disappeared).
Department heads make upwards of 4 times the Tenure track Profs are paid.
I make 0$ a year and teach 12 credits (6 per semester).
I am so fired. In an interesting turn, a recent issue of the North Dakota State University paper "The Spectrum" has disappeared from shelve... more -
KKKorner
This is a bar in my hometown, Williston ND. When I was a young sprout of 18 and still thrilled to be on a bike, we passed this bar and were welcomed with the sounds of beer bottles flying through the air and breaking around us. We decided to taunt the nice old racist pigs, but they got on their hogs and we got out of there.
Recently I have told people about this bar and they do not believe it. So, now it is on the web and, we all know, that noone can fake shit on the net. But this is not fake, this is real.
I asked my father about it, and it went something like this.
So what's the story with that bar? Bunch of sheet wearing drinkers?
You are way off base. It was founded by two guys named Krabbenhoff and Kroen(something). It is completely benign and you're reading too far into nothing.
But there are three Ks.
So?
That's the KKK.
No it's just two guys.
No. KKK is the Ku Klux Klan.
No, it's just two guys; they were nice guys too.
It's a racist symbol.
No, it's just two guys.
That's about it. I wanted to share this photo of a real bar and a script of my real conversation. I want people to know that institutionalized and formalized racism is still a problem. The glass ceiling has not been broken. This is a bar in my hometown, Williston ND. When I was a young sprout of 18 and still thrilled to be on a bike, we passed this bar and... more -
This Land
Lakota Indian Nation secede from the United States by declaring themselves as a sovereign nation on December 20, 2007, and may pose as our own "Gaza/West Bank" issue with threats of liens against property ownership within the declared territories of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, and Montana.
Although it may be argued that those said properties are illegal in the first place, those homesteaders may have to give up their own generational settlements. If we, as Americans, support their declaration and aid in a peaceful process of helping transition their newly declared sovereignty, we can set an example as to how we participate in foreign relations by first fixing our own mistakes here at home.
Furthermore, it will be interesting to follow their own policies with Relations, Environment, and Trade. This is truly exciting and deserve further thought and discussion amongst all Americans and international communities in solidarity alike. Lakota Indian Nation secede from the United States by declaring themselves as a sovereign nation on December 20, 2007, and may pose as... more -
Lakota Nation Repudiates Treaty, Secedes From US
This is like a dream for the state's rights folks, isn't it? Obviously, states can't do this, because they were not created by treaty, but self-determination is the bedrock upon which state's rights are built, right?
Quote:
The move to form an independent nation will focus on property rights in a five-state area where the treaties in question were drawn up. The states include South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming and Montana ? areas that the group say have been illegally homesteaded for years despite knowledge of Lakota as the historic owners.
If the U.S. government does not immediately enter into diplomatic negotiations, the group said in a news release, liens will be filed on real-estate transactions across the region -- an action it says could cloud title issues over thousands of square miles of land and property.
The Federalist in me thinks that the Indian Wars just started up again. This is like a dream for the state's rights folks, isn't it? Obviously, states can't do this, because they were not cre... more -
Jesus Camp
This is one of the most disturbing things I've seen in a long time. Apparently the full documentary is almost unwatchable for people with brains in their head. For those of you who do not have children, or nieces and nephews, this might not affect you like it did me. But the absolute certain brainwashing of these kids makes me sick. This country's obsession, or the world's for that matter, with Jesus and religion borders on insanity. A moral belief system is something every human can have...yes, even without religion backing it. And those of us (myself atheist) that use that belief system to live our lives virtuously, without inflicting hatred, fear, and intolerance to control others, are the true spiritual souls. If you are so scared and small of mind that you feel there is need to inflict this overwhelming, emotional, psychopathic camp on your children, pack your shit up and leave, because you're heading for a dismal end. This is one of the most disturbing things I've seen in a long time. Apparently the full documentary is almost unwatchable for pe... more
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Dinosaur "Mummy" Discovered
Several years ago, paleontology graduate student Tyler Lyson, then a teenager, found an incredibly well-preserved duck-billed dinosaur on his North Dakota property. Now, a team of researchers, including Lyson, have announced details of the discovery and excavation. Amazingly, the hadrosaur, roughly 35 feet long and weighing 35 tons, was naturally "mummified." Mineralization left much of its soft tissue, bones, tendons, ligaments, and skin intact. Seen here, a bit of its scaly skin. The scientists have named the 67 million-year-old creature Dakota. Several years ago, paleontology graduate student Tyler Lyson, then a teenager, found an incredibly well-preserved duck-billed dinosaur... more
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Scientists Get Rare Look at Dinosaur Soft Tissue
A high school student hunting fossils in the badlands of his native North Dakota discovered an extremely rare mummified dinosaur that includes not just bones but also seldom seen fossilized soft tissue such as skin and muscles, scientists will announce today.
The 25-foot-long hadrosaur found by Tyler Lyson in an ancient river flood plain in the dinosaur-rich Hell Creek Formation is apparently the most complete and best preserved of the half-dozen mummified dinosaurs unearthed since early in the last century, they said.
Much scientific investigation remains to be done, and no peer-reviewed studies of it have yet been published, but the discovery appears to be yielding tantalizing new clues about the size, body mechanics and appearance of the reptilian beasts that ruled the Earth millions of years ago, said paleontologists studying the specimen.
"He looks like a blow-up dinosaur in some parts," said Phillip Manning, a paleontologist at the University of Manchester in England who is leading the inquiry. "When you actually look at the detail of the skin, the scales themselves are three dimensional. . . . The arm is breathtaking. It's a three-dimensional arm, you can shake the dinosaur by the hand. It just defies logic that such a remarkable specimen could preserve."
Although it is described as "mummified," the 65 million-year-old duckbilled dinosaur that scientists have named Dakota bears no similarity to the leather-skinned human mummies retrieved from ancient tombs in Egypt. Time long ago transformed Dakota's soft tissue into mineralized rock, preserving it for the ages. A high school student hunting fossils in the badlands of his native North Dakota discovered an extremely rare mummified dinosaur that ... more -
Ozzy's trouble up north
Great idea I think, even though its kinda out of the cartoons.
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Woman Has Back Yard Full of Snapping Turtles
This just in from the North Dakota Game and Fish Department: snapping turtles are not very much fun to play with.
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