” By the time you replaced 10% of petroleum, all our agricultural land would be devoted to soybeans and other oil crops.”

Perhaps, it depends greatly on the crops being chosen for biofuel. Corn and Soybean are not the top producers (Corn not by a long shot).

Surely unit number 50 million of a hybrid battery will cost less to produce, on a per-watt-hour basis, than unit number 100 thousand of an equivalent system. From a pure manufacturing standpoint, processes will be improved, automation will be taken to higher levels, purchasing of components will be done more ruthlessly, and tooling and startup costs will be allocated over a larger base. This is before even considering improvements in the device itself.

Try the laws of thermodynamics as a limiting factor. We would all like to believe that there is some magic technology that would allow us to double or triple fuel economy. Sorry to day that is a fantasy.

dclydew: Biodiesel is a good way to use waste oil and fat, but it’s hopeless as a replacement for oil imports. By the time you replaced 10% of petroleum, all our agricultural land would be devoted to soybeans and other oil crops.

A broader point is that an emerging technology, like hybrids, shouldn’t be looked at only as a snapshot in time. Unless these things are unlike just about every other product ever manufactured, they will be subject to a learning curve: with every increase in volume, ways will be found to improve the technology and to reduce the manufacturing cost. Whatever the motivations of the buyers of todays “Pious” and equivalents, they are helping to move the technology further out on the learning curve.

Even more efficient since we can run biodeisel through them. In fact, we can run biodeisel distilled from used vegetable oil in most of the existing deisel engines. Less expensive than petrol based fuel, no pollutants (that have been found at this point) and very good mileage (hey, its deisel).

But then, the Liberals probably wouldn’t feel as smug riding around in a 1992 Volvo Wagon that had an exhaust that smelled faintly of french fries… and the Conservatives wouldn’t want to run the Oil industry out of business.

But, by God we can all FEEL good about arguing over it.

As for the hunda and the continued mess in that part of the world:

I say “Go For It”, to everyone. By Gods after this many decades, if you still can’t get along then someone needs to dominate the others. I’m in favor of the “Let them fight it out” scenario. We don’t condemn either side and allow them to ravage each other for awhile. Eventually someone will give in, or everyone will die… but thats probably the end result anyway.

Gee, but which side would our media root for? The bad guys…or…umm…the other bad guys? Well, whoever it is – it’s sure to be all America’s fault in the end. At least that has a certain comfortable monotony about it.

To use a famous Hollywood phrase (from a time when Hollywood had giants)…what a bunch of maroons.

The hudna should not be allowed to be presented as any form of moderation. In it’s stripped down form it was this. Go back to the 67 borders, the wet dream of every left wing peacenik, and we will delay taking the rest of Israel and driving the Jews into the sea. wait, I apologize, that was too harsh. Jews could stay if they agreed to the dhimmi laws and agreed to live under sharia law. Yes, you can stay, wear yellow Star of David markers, walk in the gutter when Muslims pass, live in ghetto’s, lose your right to testify against Muslims if you are the only witness to a crime committed against your family by a Muslim, and allow yourself and your community to be attacked if a Danish newspaper prints cartoons that offend Muhammed. Such a deal! How could any Jew refuse such a kind and generous offer.

The hudna was just a smokescreen, anyway. Islamic Jihad had been launching (or attempting to launch) attacks since it was declared, in a typical Palestinian “triaagulation:” two parties act reasonable in public (and in English), while the third blows up kids getting some falafel in the middle of Tel Aviv.

The Palestinians made their choice in their elections, and they voted for war. Let Israel complete its barrier, let the US and EU keep cutting off the money from Hamas, and let the Palestinians stew in their own pot.

A pox on them.

The most refreshing aspect of Hamas is that they don’t play the doublespeak game of peace in English, war in Arabic.Or at least not as often Fatah would say, “oh, this is terrible, bad, bad, and then have their “military wing” plot and take credit for the attacks. It would be as if President Bush tried to seperate himself from our “military wing” and claim that he had nothing to do with our Armed Forces. The press allowed this open lie to be spread and I am glad it is over. Not because I am not weaping for the victims. But because we need to wake up and realize that the only difference between Hamas and Fatah was clarity and honesty. Hamas is bent on the destruction of Israel and they say so and they act on it. Fatah was just keeping the destruction option rhetorically quiet while funding the martyrs brigades and claiming they detested their actions.” This is terrible. Now here is the money and the weapons, do it again.”