It was with some dismay this morning that I learned Faith Fippinger faces a gaol term because of her decision to be part of the human shield in Iraq. BBC News, Fear as human shield face jail, reports that, simply by travelling to the country and spending money there, Ms Fippinger is liable for prosecution for breaking the embargo on Iraq.
Not content with the adverse attention the US continues to attract as a result of its Iraq venture, the Government has declared that it fully intends to proceed with her prosecution. In a statement to the BBC it said that "to express one's freedom of speech is a right but breaking the law of the United States is not a privilege". Breaking international law, on the other hand, would appear perfectly acceptable behaviour.
Interesting piece in the Economist this week entitled, All change, on what the Brazilians are doing with ethanol.
A long time user of ethanol as fuel for motor vehicles (albeit rather uneconomically), engineers have now come up with an innovative new system that gives a consumer a choice as to which type of fuel to put in their car. According the article. Petrol burns best with an air-to-fuel ratio of around 14:1. This means that, for every kilogram of fuel burnt, all of the oxygen in 14 kilograms of air will be consumed. Ethanol, though, requires an air- to-fuel ratio of 9:1. Delphi's technology works by “sniffing” the amount of oxygen in a car's exhaust. If too much or too little of the gas is sensed, it indicates that the fuel is burning in a less-than-optimal way, and thus that the air-to-fuel ratio is wrong. A signal is then sent to the engine to tweak the ratio appropriately. This system also makes adjustments to compensate for the outside temperature. Optimal burning requires more fuel in the mixture when the temperature is lower. Sniffing the exhaust means that this happens automatically.' Sugar 1-0 Oil, I say.
From watching TV and catching up with a few rellies, it is is evident that even the most pastey-faced of Brits looks bronzed and healthy after the warmest summer in years. Indeed, it has been hard to avoid the hot sun in Europe, and this has not been without its cost.
A report released by the Earth Policy Institute last week, Record temperatures shrinking world grain harvest, states that the searing heat has caused considerable damage to European grain crops. In the Ukraine, for example, the heat caused wheat production to fall from 21 million tons last year to 5 million tons this year. A leading exporter last year, the Ukraine is now importing wheat as bread prices threaten to spiral out of control.