In the News, June 3rd, 2008

Senator Edward M. Kennedy is recovering at Duke University Medical Center. On Monday he underwent risky surgery that experts said was designed to reduce his brain tumor and give chemotherapy and radiation treatments a chance to work.
The senator is expected to stay at the hospital for about a week and then return home to Massachusetts for further treatment.

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Chinese police dragged away more than 100 parents Tuesday while they were protesting the deaths of their children in poorly constructed schools that collapsed in last month's earthquake.
The parents, many holding pictures of their dead children, were pulled down the street away from a courthouse in Dujiangyan, a resort city northwest of the Sichuan provincial capital of Chengdu.

AP Photo:

"Why?" some of them yelled. "Tell us something," they said as black-suited police wearing riot helmets yanked at them.
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A spokesman for Kelsey Grammer says the "Frasier" star is recovering in a Hawaii hospital after a mild heart attack this weekend.
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Tatum O'Neal has told the New York Post, in an exclusive phone interview. a that she was distraught over the loss of her dog when she went looking to buy drugs from a Manhattan street dealer last weekend.

She spoke to the Post via telephone. She entered no plea after being arraigned on a charge of criminal possession of a controlled substance.

Excerpts from the conversation;
I'm still sober!" she announced "Just when I was about to change that and wreck my life, the cops came and saved me!"

"I was saved by the bell, by the guys in the Seventh Precinct."

"There's no excuse for what I did," Tatum told me.

"I lost my Scottish terrier, Lena," three weeks ago. "That seemed to set me off."

"I couldn't get out of it. I was going to my psychiatrist. I was doing everything I could do. I have the disease of alcoholism. It's lifelong. I treat it every day by going to my 12-step program."

But the loss of her 16-year-old pooch was too much. "It triggered that my mother passed away [from addiction] in '98. My father [actor Ryan O'Neal] and I are estranged."

Biodiesel Fuel

As part of my series on alternative fuels, I will focus on biodiesel today.

Biodiesel is a renewable alternative fuel produced from a wide range of vegetable oils and animal fats. Pure biodiesel or biodiesel blended with petroleum diesel can be used to fuel diesel vehicles, providing energy security and emissions and safety benefits. Biodiesel is nontoxic and biodegradable. Biodiesel has physical properties similar to those of petroleum diesel. Like petroleum diesel, biodiesel is used to fuel compression-ignition (diesel) engines. Low-level blends of biodiesel with petroleum diesel also provide benefits.


The interest in biodiesel as an alternative transportation fuel stems mainly from its renewable, domestic production; its safe, clean-burning properties; and its compatibility with existing diesel engines.

B20

Twenty percent biodiesel and 80% petroleum diesel—B20—is the most common biodiesel blend in the United States. Using B20 provides substantial benefits but avoids many of the cold-weather performance and material compatibility concerns associated with B100.

B20 can be used in nearly all diesel equipment and is compatible with most storage and distribution equipment. B20 and lower-level blends generally do not require engine modifications.

B100
B100 or other high-level biodiesel blends can be used in some engines built since 1994 with biodiesel-compatible material for parts such as hoses and gaskets. However, as biodiesel blend levels increase significantly beyond B20, a number of concerns come into play. Users must be aware of lower energy content per gallon and potential issues with impact on engine warranties, low-temperature gelling, solvency/cleaning effect if regular diesel was previously used, and microbial contamination.B100 use could also increase nitrogen oxides emissions, although it greatly reduces other toxic emissions.

The U.S. biodiesel industry is small but growing rapidly. Production tripled from 2004 to 2005 and again from 2005 to 2006. Much of the original biodiesel production capacity comes from companies already making products from vegetable oil or animal fat in the detergent industry among others. The soy industry has been the driving force behind biodiesel commercialization because of excess production capacity, product surpluses, and declining prices

Biodiesel is a domestically produced, clean-burning, renewable substitute for petroleum diesel. Using biodiesel as a vehicle fuel increases energy security, improves public health and the environment, and provides safety benefits.

The United States imports more than 60% of its petroleum, two-thirds of which is used to fuel vehicles in the form of gasoline and diesel. The demand for petroleum imports is increasing. With much of the worldwide petroleum reserves located in politically volatile countries, the United States is vulnerable to supply disruptions.

Using biodiesel reduces greenhouse gas emissions because carbon dioxide released from biodiesel combustion is offset by the carbon dioxide sequestered while growing the soybeans or other feedstock. B100 use reduces carbon dioxide emissions by more than 75% compared with petroleum diesel. Using B20 reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 15%.

US department of energy

Museum opens at Woodstock concert site

In the News, June 2nd, 2008

Sen. Edward Kennedy announced today he will undergo surgery to treat a malignant brain tumor. "This morning, I will be undergoing surgery with Dr. Allan Friedman at Duke University Medical Center," the senator said in a statement. Aides said Kennedy's surgery would begin around 9 a.m. at Duke University Medical Center.

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American's Cutting Back in Driving Has Paid OFF!

Oil dropped below $127 a barrel on worries that soaring prices have eaten away at demand. A couple of weeks ago oil hit a high of $135.09 a barrel. Data from the U.S. Energy Department and Federal Highway Administration and several surveys in recent days suggest American consumers are driving less.

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Tatum O'Neal is in trouble again.
Police say Academy Award-winning actress Tatum O'Neal has been arrested after buying crack cocaine near her home in Manhattan.

AP Photo:

Police say the 44-year-old actress was seen making the illicit purchase at about 7:30 p.m. Sunday. She is charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance. O'Neal, daughter of actor Ryan O'Neal, was the youngest person to win an Oscar for her role in 1973's "Paper Moon."
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A Spanish twin, separated from her family for 28 years, is suing the Canary Islands for a mix-up at the maternity hospital which led to her being taken home by the wrong mother, according to media reports. The woman discovered she had an identical twin when she was mistaken for someone else in a shop in 2001. The two sisters , who were not named, found they were born in the same hospital in 1973 around the same time and a DNA test subsequently showed they were identical twins.

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Yves Saint Laurent, fashion institution in himself, died Sunday at his Paris home after a yearlong battle with brain cancer, He was 71.