15 Nov 2007
The politics of ethanol outshine its costs

Gotta love this justification for subsidies:

Industry experts dispute those amounts but say such a subsidy is necessary to unhook the US from imported oil. "If you compare the ethanol subsidy with current transportation and oil system subsidies it pales by comparison," says Mr. Koehler.

Basically it boils down to "You're giving cash to these other fellows, and we'd like some, too!". I wish somebody would come up with the brilliant idea of cutting off everybody's subsidies, and letting the market work things out for itself. What a concept! You'd think that these so-called free market types would be all over it, but nope - more subsidies for our industry, please!

The human capacity for hypocrisy knows no bounds.

With gasoline near $3 a gallon, climate concerns rising, and an election season in full swing, politicians are eager to tell constituents that they're doing something to help at the gas pump.

(link) [Christian Science Monitor | Top Stories]

07:20 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

Did NSA Put a Secret Backdoor in New Encryption Standard?

Does the Puzzle Palace think we're all that stupid?

A new federal standard for random-number generators has a suspicious flaw ... and the National Security Agency's fingerprint are all over it.

(link) [Wired Top Stories]

07:13 /Technology | 0 comments | permanent link