text:
Sarah Jones Can't Wait
A woman on a mission to marry activism and art
by Jennifer Block
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If you had told Sarah Jones five years ago that her one-woman show Surface Transit would attract a fan pool so diverse that Mira Sorvino, Gil Scott-Heron, and Paul Simon would seek her out, she would have scoffed. "I thought I was going to be a lawyer," she admits. But now, the 26-year-old poet/actor/playwright can't deny her rare success as a progressive artist in our "predominantly white, patriarchal, corporate, capitalist culture." Since the edgy and political Surface Transit hit the stage in 1998, selling out left and rightand winning the Best One-Person Show at HBO's Aspen Comedy Arts Festivalthe press has had only good things to say about Jones.
So many doors have opened that she is getting dizzy. She scored a role in Spike Lee's latest film, Bamboozled, and headlined at performance artist Danny Hoch's NYC Hip-Hop Theatre Festival, but the project she found most satisfying and inspiring to date is: Women Can't Wait!, a play she wrote and performed for the international women's rights group Equality Now. Part of a campaign to end discriminatory laws against women, the experience was, in Jones's words, "an artist's dream," a dream no doubt enhanced by the hundreds of fans who wrapped an entire city block one Friday night to see the shownot the typical TGIF unwind.
Jones may admit to feeling more fulfilled while performing Women Can't Wait!, but Surface Transit is just as provocative. Her intent is to promote tolerance, to push people to see their own biases. "I'm mainly inspired by the way we've been 'hoodwinked and bamboozled,' as Malcolm X would sayas a society and, frankly, globallyby the images out there, the stereotypes, the ridiculous notions of who's who."
Her characters in Surface Transit range from a Jewish grandmother to a black rapper in a 12-step program for rhyme addiction to a homophobic Italian cop suspended from active duty. Some of them seem over the top, at the extremes of prejudice, but Jones says that most people prefer not to see reality.
"I've had people take offense at some stuff I'm doing, but it's more useful for me to put out there what I know to be true even if it's what people don't want to talk about."She has an uncanny ability to step into someone else's shoes, such as a southern white supremacist. "I'll put myself inside their heads and say, 'I'm going to trace back. I'm a white supremacist who would do horrible things to Sarah Jones in an alley, but once upon a time I was a kid in a bassinet.' What happens to you as a child is so integrated into who you are for the rest of your life that you have to do painstaking work to keep learning, keep incorporating the reality that you know is yours, instead of what somebody else passed on to you. You have to relearn who you are as a human being."
This desire to "push" people stems from her own struggles with racial identity: her mother is European and Caribbean, and her father is African American. "The struggle that's going to take the longest is learning to be confident about my beauty outside of Western constructs of what's beautiful. I'm going to have hair that is this texture until the day I dieit's a little funny and fuzzy and soft, and I like it. I have to accept that lots of black men with hair just like this-because of the way racism is structured and intraracial racism works-won't find me attractive. That's a hard thing to deal with, but that's part of my reality, and it's up to me to process itand not my hair."
Her parents' divorce forced Jones to leave Bryn Mawr college and return to New York City. "I was aimless, wandering through my days, attending hip-hop parties. I found myself singing along to lyrics that I had no business singing. Me, the 'Bryn Martyr,' standing there going on about bitches and ho's being shit. I found myself doing that and said, 'Wait a minute.'"
That's when she began soaking it all in-talking to people on the street and frequenting poetry slams.
"I was writing in my journal the kind of where-am-I-who-am-I-where-on-earth-am-I-going-do-I-have-any-gas? poems-the really bad ones." But they weren't that bad. Jones turned those poems into rich and passionate verse embraced by the notoriously choosy New York poetry scene (she won the 1997 Nuyorican Grand Slam championship). The poems ultimately became Surface Transit.
Performing Women Can't Wait! has strengthened her connection to women's struggles around the world, yet Jones hesitates when asked if she calls herself a feminist. "That's a good question," she says. "I don't know if I do. I call myself a womanist. No, that's not true. I'm a feminist and a womanist."
She frowns at those who defend the push-up bra as empowering and was similarly offended when a club introduced her as New York's "spoken-word vixen." "We are a long way from a dominant feminist consciousness among women," she says. "You could more easily get women to pool their efforts under the banner of thinner thighs, at this moment in time, I believe, than you could under equal rights and equal opportunity.
"How will her experience with Equality Now affect her work? "I sure can't do anything that's not worthwhile anymore. If I do, it hurts. Because I know what it's like to do something that feels like it needs to be done. I almost feel like I've redefined art for myself."
There is a learning process that is painful for me sometimes," she continues. "I feel kinda like I'm at one level on the ladder looking up and trying to throw certain voices or certain experiences that are underrepresented into the fray, and I'm going to take a lot of flack for it, and that's alright. And if I decide that I'm done taking flack for it, or that I've changed my mind, or that I've evolved into a new place in my thinking, then I'll write something new or change the play. But right now, it is energizing. Even the painful stuff is energizing. It's all growth."
Jennifer Block is assistant editor at Ms.
Check out www.sarahjones.cc for dates and locations of Surface Transit, which will be on the road this fall in Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Miami, among other cities.


text:
Contract Law For DummiesBy: Scott J. Burnham (author)Paperback
Up to 2 WeeksUsually despatched within 2 weeks
DescriptionTake the mumbo jumbo out of contract law and ace your contracts course Contract law deals with the promises and agreements that law will enforce. Understanding contract law is vital for all aspiring lawyers and paralegals, and contracts courses are foundational courses within all law schools. Contract Law For Dummies tracks to a typical contracts course and assists you in understanding the foundational legal rules controlling voluntary agreements people enter into while conducting their personal and business affairs. Suitable as a supplement to introductory and advanced courses in contract law, Contract Law For Dummies gives you plain-English explanations of confusing terminology and aids in the reading and analysis of cases and statutes. Contract Law For Dummies gives you coverage of everything you need to know to score your highest in a typical contracts course. You'll get coverage of contract formation; contract defenses; contract theory and legality; agreement, consideration, restitution, and promissory estoppel; fraud and remedies; performance and breach; electronic contracts and signatures; and much more. * Tracks to a typical contracts course * Plain-English explanations demystify intimidating information * Clear, practical information helps you interpret and understand cases and statutes If you're enrolled in a contracts course or work in a profession that requires you to be up-to-speed on the subject, Contract Law For Dummies has you covered.
About AuthorScott J. Burnham is the Curley Professor of Commercial Law at Gonzaga University School of Law. For 30 years he has taught Contracts at law schools internationally and throughout the U.S. He is also a prolific writer on legal topics and a consultant on contract drafting for numerous businesses.
ContentsIntroduction 1 Part I: Introducing Contract Law and Contract Formation 7 Chapter 1: Getting the Lowdown on Contract Law 9 Chapter 2: Let's Make a Deal: Offer and Acceptance 23 Chapter 3: Sealing the Deal: The Doctrine of Consideration 45 Chapter 4: Noting Exceptions: Promises Enforceable without a Contract 63 Part II: Determining Whether a Contract Is Void, Voidable, or Unenforceable 77 Chapter 5: Introducing Contract Defenses 79 Chapter 6: Considering Whether an Agreement Is Unenforceable Due to Illegality or Unfairness 89 Chapter 7: Evaluating the Parties' Ability to Make the Contract 105 Chapter 8: Assessing the Enforceability of Oral Agreements 119 Part III: Analyzing Contract Terms and Their Meaning 135 Chapter 9: Evaluating Unwritten Terms with the Parol Evidence Rule 137 Chapter 10: Finding Unwritten Terms That Complete the Contract 151 Chapter 11: Interpreting Contracts 169 Part IV: Performing the Contract or Breaching It 183 Chapter 12: Evaluating Whether Contract Modifi cations Are Enforceable 185 Chapter 13: Deciding Whether Unforeseen Events Excuse Performance 201 Chapter 14: Checking for Conditional Language 213 Chapter 15: Breaching the Contract by Anticipatory Repudiation 235 Part V: Exploring Remedies for Breach of Contract 247 Chapter 16: Examining How Courts Handle Breach of Contract 249 Chapter 17: Exploring Remedies in Article 2 of the UCC 267 Chapter 18: Checking for Additional Remedies 285 Part VI: Bringing Third Parties into the Picture 303 Chapter 19: Deciding Whether a Third Party Can Enforce or Interfere with a Contract 305 Chapter 20: Acknowledging the Rights and Duties of Third Parties 315 Part VII: The Part of Tens 325 Chapter 21: Ten Questions to Ask When Analyzing a Contracts Problem 327 Chapter 22: Ten Notable People (And Philosophies) in Contract Law 337 Appendix: Glossary 341 Index 345
Product Details
- publication date: 16/12/2011
- Format: Paperback
- Number Of Pages: 384
- weight: 668
Delivery Information
- Saver Delivery: Yes
- 1st Class Delivery: Yes
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Great experience to follow. Elia has spoken to Ottawa students from the top of Mt. Everest and our school followed him live on one of his later climbs.
So if you say that you care less about whether kids are academically gifted and more about whether they sit with the lonely kid in the cafeteria, then be the teacher who welcomes the newbie to the staff room - the supply teacher, the itinerant, the new custodian, the secretary who is just here for a day, the high school, college or university student on placement. As Gandhi said, "Be the change you want to see in the world."
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Great post - kindness should always come first, it defines a school.
Looking for the best educators on twitter to follow? Here is our list of the best, brightest & most innovative & expert educators on twitter!
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The Resource for Education Technology Leaders focusing on K-12 educators. Site contains a Software Reviews Database, articles from Technology & Learning Magazine, articles from Educators in Educators' eZine, Event and Contest listings, Reader suggested Web sites, and weekly news updates on education technology leaders." />
For the first time in four years, I am without a makerspace. My new school's library is beautiful and huge and has a school culture that is just ripe for making. Even though it was tempting, I decided not to change it up and create a makerspace over the summer. I want to be sure that the library program, including a new makerspace, is responsive to the needs of the school and its culture. Therefore, I plan on spending at least the first-semester making plans for how this space will work. It will likely be very different from my previous space, but I'm excited to see what forms.
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I am about to run a few presentations next week. Thanks to this post I now have a much better start!
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Comments on good article on Ontario's Math curriculum - still ways to go before the curriculum improves.
Motivate students to revise their writing through self-publishing fiction, creating podcasts and YouTube videos, writing blogs, corresponding with others, and anything else for an authentic audience.
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Fabienne Pereira's comment, August 1, 2017 11:06 AM
Bonjour j'ai un témoignage d'un homme nommé Mr Robert CARROUGEAU a faire,Mr CARROUGEAU m'a accordé un prêt sans problème. Au début je pensais qu'il était comme les autres faux prêteurs mais cet homme est exceptionnel, honnête et sérieux. Avec lui j'ai eu mon prêt de 60.000€ en moins de 72 heures après ma demande. Alors veuillez prendre contact avec lui si vous avez besoin d'un prêt auprès d'une personne honnête et sérieux voici son mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
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Cellulosic ethanol
From BioenergyWiki
Bioenergy > Technologies > Biochemical technologies > Cellulosic ethanol
|The BioenergyWiki is no longer being actively updated.
Cellulose (C6H10O5)n is a complex carbohydrate (a long-chain polymeric polysaccharide of beta-glucose) that forms the main constituent of the cell wall in most plants. It is the most abundant form of living terrestrial biomass. Cellulosic biomass has three primary components: cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. Lignin and cellulose, considered together, are termed lignocellulose, which (as wood) is argued to be one of the most common biopolymers on Earth. While most animals, including humans can not digest cellulose, some, particularly ruminants (such as cows) and termites, can digest cellulose with the help of symbiotic micro-organisms.
Cellulosic ethanol
While ethanol production from sugars and starches has been done for thousands of years, the technology to produce ethanol from cellulose is relatively modern and is not yet fully commercialized.
- The conversion process uses enzymes, like cellulase, to break cellulose down to sugars. It is also possible to produce biofuels from cellulosic feedstocks through gasification and biomass-to-liquids technologies.1
- The high cost of these enzymes is one of the main limitations on the commercialization of cellulosic ethanol. (Citation needed)
- Cellulosic ethanol has many advantages however:
- The use of waste biomass, such as forestry wastes, or by-products of the paper industry, allows for ethanol production without increasing agricultural production.1
- Cellulosic biomass from fast-growing perennial energy crops, such as short rotation woody crops and tall grass crops, can be grown on a much wider range of soil types, where the extensive root systems that remain in place with these crops help prevent erosion, and increase carbon storage in soil.1
- Energy crops can often be grown on poorer soils.1
- However, high biomass yields will only be achieved on good soils with sufficient water supply.1
- Cellulosic biomass can be easier to store for long periods of time.1
- Compared to conventional crops, where only small portion of the plant can be used for biofuel production, perennial energy crops can supply much more biomass per hectare of land, since nearly the entire plant can be used as feedstock.1
- 26-27 January 2011, Gothenburg, Sweden: Chalmers Energy Conference. (Themes: bio-alcohols, biobutanol, biogas, biomass, cellulosic)
- 20-22 February 2011, Phoenix, Arizona, USA: National Ethanol Conference: Building Bridges to a More Sustainable Future. (Themes: biomass, cellulosic, ethanol, sustainability)
- 14-17 March 2011, Des Moines, Iowa, USA: 2011 Ethanol Short Course. (Themes: cellulosic, ethanol, fermentation, water)
- 6-7 June 2011, São Paulo, Brazil: Ethanol Summit 2011. (Themes: cellulosic ethanol, food vs. fuel, land use changes, markets, sustainability)
- 27-30 June 2011, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA: International Fuel Ethanol Workshop & Expo . (Themes: cellulosic, ethanol, technology)
- 28-29 September 2011, Copenhagen, Denmark: Lignofuels 2011 (Themes: biobutanol, biomass, cellulosic ethanol, lignofuels, wood)
- 3-5 August 2010, Tifton, Georgia, USA: Southeast Bionenergy Conference. (Themes: aviation, biomass pellets, cellulosic ethanol, ethanol, second generation biofuels, waste)
- 9-10 November 2010, San Francisco, California, USA: Advanced Biofuels Markets. (Themes: advanced biofuels, algae, bio-butanol, cellulosic ethanol, drop-in fuels, feedstocks, markets, solar liquid fuels)
- 15-18 November 2010, Washington, D.C., USA: Cellulosic Biofuels Summit 2010. (Themes: cellulosic ethanol, cellulosic feedstocks, markets)
- 29 November-1 December 2010, Gatineau, Quebec, Canada: 7th Annual Canadian Renewable Fuels Summit. (Themes: biodiesel, cellulosic ethanol, ethanol, grains)
- 1-2 Decempber 2010, Madrid, Spain: Lignofuels 2010. (Themes: biobutanol, cellulosic, ethanol)
See the archive of past Cellulosic ethanol-related events.
See books, reports, scientific papers, position papers and websites for additional useful resources.
- Global: Status of Next Generation Biofuels Facilities - 26-page September 2009 report (cost: $1,595.00) issued by Hart Energy's Global Biofuels Center.
- From the description: "Next generation biofuels have received tremendous fanfare...as a crucial part of the next steps toward energy security, reducing dependence on petroleum products and environmental well-being....Be it cellulosic ethanol, renewable diesel, biomass-to-liquids (BTL) or Fischer Tropsch liquids, made from feedstocks such as agricultural/forest/municipal solid wastes, grasses, woods, waste paper and algae, next generation biofuels are still largely under R&D."[1]
- Climate change and health costs of air emissions from biofuels and gasoline by Jason Hill, et al. December 2008. The report analyzes the environmental impacts of energy use on society. It also discusses the benefits, including health costs and GHG reduction, of shifting from gasoline to cellulosic ethanol production.
- Grass biofuels 'cut CO2 by 94%', 8 January 2008, by BBC News: A new report by US researchers has found that fast-growing "switchgrass-derived ethanol produced 540% more energy than was required to manufacture the fuel" and "delivers vast savings of carbon dioxide emissions compared with petrol." The paper, "Net energy of cellulosic ethanol from switchgrass (PDF file)" in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, analyzed all of the energy input factors, including "nitrogen fertiliser, herbicides, diesel and seed production."
- Induction of the celC operon of Clostridium thermocellum by laminaribiose by Michael Newcomb, Chun-Yu Chen, and J. H. David Wu; PNAS, 5 January 2007.
- Cellulosic Ethanol - Biofuel Beyond Corn by Nathan S. Mosier; Department of Agriculture and Biological Engineering, Purdue University, December 2006.
- Making Cellulosic Ethanol Happen: Good and Not So Good Public Policy (pdf) by David Morris; Institute for Local Self-Reliance, January 2007.
- Breaking the Biological Barriers to Cellulosic Ethanol: A Joint Research Agenda - A Research Roadmap Resulting from the Biomass to Biofuels Workshop, December 7–9, 2005, Rockville, Maryland; USDOE.
- Biomass as feestock for a Bioenergy and Bioproducts Industry: The Technical Feasibility of a Billion-Ton Annual Supply - A joint study by USDA and USDOE, April 2005.
- Carbon-Negative Biofuels from Low-Input High-Diversity Grassland Biomass (subscription required) by David Tilman, Jason Hill, and Clarence Lehman; Science Vol. 314. no. 5805, pp. 1598-1600, 8 December 2006.
- Ethanol from Cellulose: A General Review (PDF) by P.C. Badger; reprinted from: Trends in new crops and new uses, J. Janick and A. Whipkey (eds.). ASHS Press, Alexandria, VA, 2002.
- Land Matters – Sizing up the bioenergy potential of marginal lands, 5 March 2012 by Greg Breining: "During 2007-8, world food prices exploded…. Many analysts later pinned most of the blame on commodities speculation, oil prices, and weather—not biofuels production. But the food-versus-fuel debate had begun."
- "Today, looking beyond corn for ethanol toward the possibility of producing cellulosic and other new biofuels on a meaningful commercial scale, researchers and policymakers are asking: How can we raise new non-food feedstocks without displacing food crops?"
- "Such concerns have driven the search for abandoned land. J. Elliott Campbell, assistant professor of engineering at the University of California, Merced and colleagues from Stanford University consulted historical land-use data dating to 1700, satellite land-cover imagery, and global ecosystem modeling to identify lands worldwide that had once been farmed but now lay idle."
- "Campbell's and Cai's assessments identify lands suitable for biofuel crops. That's not to say they are economically viable. The actual acreage used for biofuel feedstocks will depend on land ownership, transportation costs, markets, prices of other crops, [etc.]…" [2]
- The Cellulosic Ethanol Debacle, 14 December 2011 by Wall Street Journal: "To launch this biofuel industry, the feds under Mr. Bush and President Obama have pumped at least $1.5 billion of grants and loan subsidies to fledgling producers. Mr. Bush signed an energy bill in 2007 that established a tax credit of $1.01 per gallon produced."
- "Most important, the Nancy Pelosi Congress passed and Mr. Bush signed a law imposing mandates on oil companies to blend cellulosic fuel into conventional gasoline."
- "Last year the Environmental Protection Agency, which has the authority to revise the mandates, quietly reduced the 2011 requirement by 243.4 million gallons to a mere 6.6 million."
- "One reason the mandates can't be met is the half-dozen or so companies that received the first round of subsidies to produce cellulosic fuel never got off the ground."
- "Because there was no cellulosic fuel available, oil companies have had to purchase 'waiver credits'—for failing to comply with a mandate to buy a product that doesn't exist."
- "To recap: Congress subsidized a product that didn't exist, mandated its purchase though it still didn't exist, is punishing oil companies for not buying the product that doesn't exist, and is now doubling down on the subsidies in the hope that someday it might exist."[3]
- RFS: It's Not Perfect, But It's Working, 11 October 2011 by Biofuels Digest: "The Renewable Fuel Standard is the key foundation policy supporting the commercial development of advanced biofuels."
- "It is not working as fast as some would like, but given the current economic situation it is indeed working."
- "Nevertheless, there is some impatience and disappointment that cellulosic biofuel production has not grown fast enough to meet the aggressive RFS goals. A new report from the National Academies on the RFS is stoking this sentiment."
- "The National Academies report takes a good hard look at the challenges facing the cellulosic biofuel industry – primarily, the growing and harvesting of sufficient biomass resources and the formation of capital to construct new biorefineries."
- "The large volume of the advanced biofuels mandate of the RFS permits a number of technologies, feedstocks and strategies to compete for market space, depending on their ability to achieve cost competitiveness and meet end-user needs."
- "We need to follow a parallel path of commercialization and continued research so we can improve technology and the cost structure as we move forward with building modern biorefineries and creating a new biobased economy."[4]
- Cellulosic Ethanol Production Far Behind Renewable Fuel Standard, 11 October 2011 by Environment News Service: "The United States is not likely to reach cellulosic ethanol production mandates spelled out in the federal Renewable Fuel Standard by 2022 unless 'innovative technologies are developed or policies change,' says a new congressionally-requested report from the National Research Council."
- "Cellulosic ethanol is a biofuel produced from wood, grasses, or the non-edible parts of plants, such as corncobs or citrus peels."
- "In 2005, Congress enacted the Renewable Fuel Standard as part of the Energy Policy Act and amended it in the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act."
- "While production of ethanol and biodiesel already exceed the mandate, no commercial cellulosic biofuels plants exist and technologies are at demonstration scale."
- "But this year cellulosic biofuel output is likely to be 6.6 million gallons, far below the RFS target for 2011 of 250 million gallons, the report points out."
- "Renewable fuels advocates criticized the NRC committee for is narrow focus and said a broader view of the entire industry is required to accurately evaluate the likelihood of cellulosic biofuel to meet the mandated requirements."[5]
- Ethanol fuel use goal likely a bust, science panel says, 4 October 2011 by USA Today: "The federal requirement for consuming 36 billion gallons of ethanol and other so-called biofuels annually by 2022 probably won't be met, and it might not reach its goal of cutting greenhouse gases even it were met, according to a report requested by Congress and published Tuesday by the National Academy of Sciences."
- "Meeting the standard 'would likely increase federal budget outlays as well as have mixed economic and environmental effects,' according to a summary."
- "The report notes that the way biofuels (mainly ethanol) are produced, and changes in how land is used to meet the Renewable Fuel Standard, will determine whether greenhouse gases (GHG) increase or decrease."
- "The portion of the requirements dictating the use of 15 billion gallons of fuel mainly from corn ethanol certainly will be met, he says: 'We're at 14 billion today,' and plenty of ethanol plants are in operation. But meeting the requirements for cellulosic biofuels is uncertain, the report says."[6]
- Senators Reach Deal on Ethanol Subsidy Repeal, Urge Swift Congressional Action for Maximum Benefit, 7 July 2011 by The New York Times: "Bipartisan Senate negotiators today reached a deal to save $1.3 billion through an early repeal of two major ethanol tax benefits, setting what could prove a precedent for more energy-sector tax changes as part of a sprawling deal to raise the nation's debt limit."
- "The agreement released by Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), John Thune (R-S.D.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) would end the ethanol blenders' tax credit and the tariff on imported biofuels this month, routing most of the proceeds to deficit reduction while extending tax breaks for infrastructure as well as cellulosic and smaller producers."
- "But without a House-side buy-in to the deal, its prospects of becoming law -- either as part of a larger measure to raise the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling or as a stand-alone bill -- are slim."
- "Klobuchar said today that she saw the ethanol accord as a template for a similar tax-benefit compromise with oil and gas companies."
- "Ethanol interest groups largely hailed the terms of the Senate agreement, which would extend the tax credit for cellulosic production through 2015 with an expansion for algae-based fuels, extend tax incentives for infrastructure through 2014 and extend benefits for smaller ethanol producers through 2012."[7]
- U.S. Backs Project to Produce Fuel From Corn Waste, 6 July 2011 by The New York Times: "The Energy Department plans to provide a $105 million loan guarantee for the expansion of an ethanol factory in Emmetsburg, Iowa, that intends to make motor fuel from corncobs, leaves and husks."
- "Experts say that the new factory, being built by POET, a major producer of ethanol derived from corn kernels, could be the first commercial-scale plant to make ethanol from a nonfood, or cellulosic, plant source."
- "Commercial production of ethanol from waste products like husks is the holy grail of the ethanol industry, and other companies have stumbled in their quest to achieve that goal."
- "If celluosic ethanol could be produced in an economical fashion, it would vastly increase the American potential to make motor vehicle fuel and reduce use of fossil fuels. It could reduce the use of corn in the manufacture of ethanol as a motor fuel, which is criticized for reducing food supplies for people and animals."[8]
- Franken, Klobuchar propose end to ethanol subsidies, 5 May 2011 by MPR News: "Minnesota's two U.S. senators, along with lawmakers from other corn-growing states, have introduced a bill that would gradually end tax subsidies for ethanol producers."
- "Under the proposal, the tax credit for the corn-based fuel would drop from 45 cents a gallon today to 15 cents a gallon by 2013. After that, the size of the credit would be linked to the price of oil."
- "The bill would maintain support for cellulosic ethanol to promote a transition to those fuels, which don't use corn as a feedstock."
- "The bill comes as deficit hawks have zeroed in on tax breaks for ethanol as a sign of special interest influence over the federal tax code."
- "Minnesota produced about 1.1 billion gallons of ethanol least year, about 8 percent of all production in the U.S."[9]
- Washington Start-Up Promises Cheaper, More Efficient Biofuel Generation, 22 April 2011 by Triple Pundit: "One start-up in Washington state promises that it can develop biodiesel cost effectively with a wide range of feedstocks: everything from wood chips to waste from the pulp and paper industry."
- "The company uses two fuel processing techniques that can convert wood and other plant-based materials into biodiesel: one is specifically from the pulp and paper industry, the other similar to petroleum refining."
- "Instead of using enzymes or microbes, the process involves acid hydrolysis, almost identical to a process that the pulp and paper industry uses."
- "According to Mercurius, a biorefinery using its technology could produce biodiesel at US$0.90 a gallon; that is almost two-thirds less than the cost to make a gallon of cellulosic ethanol, which currently runs about US$2.40 a gallon."[10]
- IEA: Biofuels could supply 27 per cent of transport fuel by 2050, 21 April 2011 by Business Green: "Up to $13tn (£8tr) of investment is required to ensure that sustainable biofuels make up more than a quarter of all transport fuel by 2050, according to a new report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) which argues that emerging biofuel technologies could deliver deep cuts in carbon emissions and improvements in energy security."
- "The Biofuels for Transport report says that most biofuel technologies could cost the same, or even less, than fossil fuels."
- "Around three billion tonnes of biomass, along with a further billion tonnes of biomass residues and wastes, and supplementary production from around 100 million hectares of land, would be needed each year to meet the 2050 targets set out in the report."
- "The IEA expects the majority of new biofuels to come from second-generation technologies, such as cellulosic ethanol, which is derived from wood, straw and other waste materials, and can be be produced without eating into agricultural land."[11]
- Read the full IEA Technology Roadmap: Biofuels for Transport Report (PDF).
- Shell Shifts Biofuel Technology Focus to Brazil Sugar-Cane Waste, 8 April 2011 by Bloomberg.com: "Shell, Iogen Corp. and Codexis Inc. (CDXS) have been researching enzymes to produce cellulosic ethanol from wheat stalks and sugar-cane bagasse, a sugar industry waste product."
- "The Anglo- Dutch company has set up a $12 billion venture with Cosan SA Industria & Comercio to produce and market traditional sugar- cane ethanol in Brazil, where it's used to fuel cars."
- "The Hague-based Shell, Europe's largest oil company by market value, expects the share of renewable energy in transport fuels worldwide to double over the next 10 years."
- "Shell and Cosan, which controls the world's largest sugar- cane processor, last year agreed to combine ethanol-making and fuel distribution assets in Brazil. Shell agreed to contribute about $1.6 billion of cash and assets including 2,740 service stations, while Cosan put up 23 cane-crushing mills, 1,730 gas stations and other assets."
- "The cellulosic ethanol technology will let Shell and Cosan further grow fuel output in Brazil. The partners need to scale the process to a pilot project from a demonstration plant to see if it works and that may take as long as five years. If successful, industrial-scale production may start by the end of the decade, according to Shell."[12]
- Obama Calls for Increased Natural Gas, Biofuel to Reduce Foreign Oil Dependence, 31 March 2011 by Environmental Leader: "President Barack Obama yesterday announced a plan to cut U.S. oil imports by a third by 2025."
- "He also voiced support for increasing production of biofuels, and promised the creation of at least four large-scale refineries to produce cellulosic ethanol or advanced biofuels within the next two years."
- "Many aspects of the plan were not new, the Washington Post noted."[13]
- Overfertilizing corn undermines ethanol, 25 February 2011 by Rice University News and Media Relations: "Rice University scientists and their colleagues have found that liberal use of nitrogen fertilizer to maximize grain yields from corn crops results in only marginally more usable cellulose from leaves and stems. And when the grain is used for food and the cellulose is processed for biofuel, pumping up the rate of nitrogen fertilization actually makes it more difficult to extract ethanol from corn leaves and stems."
- "This happens because surplus nitrogen fertilizer speeds up the biochemical pathway that produces lignin, a molecule that must be removed before cellulosic ethanol can be produced from corn stems and leaves."
- "Lignin breaks down slowly via bacterial enzymes, and it is expensive to remove by chemical or mechanical processes that create a bottleneck in cellulosic ethanol production."
- "'What we want is a low lignin-to-cellulose ratio,' said co-author Bill Hockaday, a former Rice postdoctoral researcher and now an assistant professor at Baylor University."
- "Reducing fertilizer to the bare-bones minimum serves that purpose."[14]
- The Corn Ultimatum: How long can Americans keep burning one sixth the world's corn supply in our cars?, 24 February 2011 by Climate Progress: "In a world of blatantly increasing food insecurity — driven by population, dietary trends, rising oil prices, and growing climate instability — America's policy of burning one third of our corn crop in our engines (soon to be 37% or more) is becoming increasingly untenable, if not unconscionable."
- "Reuters has a good article which notes, 'U.S. ethanol production this year will consume 15 percent of the world's corn supply, up from 10 percent in 2008.'"
- "The only reason environmentalists and clean energy advocates even tolerated energy deals with corn ethanol mandates is the hope that jumpstarting the infrastructure for corn ethanol would pave the way for next-generation cellulosic ethanol."[15]
- A billion tons of biomass a viable goal, but at high price, new research shows, 16 February 2011 by Physorg.com: "A team of researchers led by Madhu Khanna, a professor of agricultural and consumer economics at Illinois, shows that between 600 and 900 million metric tons of biomass could be produced in 2030 at a price of $140 per metric ton (in 2007 dollars) while still meeting demand for food with current assumptions about yields, production costs and land availability."
- "According to the study, not only would this require producing about a billion tons of biomass every year in the U.S., it would also mean using a part of the available land currently enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program for energy crop production, which could significantly increase biomass production and keep biomass costs low."
- "The study also contends that the economic viability of cellulosic biofuels depends on significant policy support in the form of the biofuel mandate and incentives for agricultural producers for harvesting, storing and delivering biomass as well as switching land from conventional crops to perennial grasses."[16]
- Plant closure bursts Ga.'s biomass bubble, 15 February 2011 by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "The premise, and the promise, were brilliant in their simplicity: Turn tree waste into fuel, help break the Middle Eastern choke hold on America's economy and bring hundreds of jobs to rural Georgia."
- "What wasn't there to like?"
- "Plenty, starting with the closing last month of the Range Fuels cellulosic ethanol factory that promised to help make Georgia a national leader in alternative energy production. Then there's the money — more than $162 million in local, state and federal grants, loans and other subsidies committed to the venture."
- "Over the last six years, Georgia has successfully wooed a variety of companies specializing in biomass — cellulosic ethanol, corn ethanol, biodiesel, wood pellet, wood-to-electricity — with the goal of becoming a renewable energy leader. Many of the companies, though, are no longer in business."[17]
- High Per-Acre Productivity of Giant King Grass Promises 40% Reduction in Biofuel Feedstock Costs, 14 February 2011 by PR Newswire: "Test data shows that VIASPACE's proprietary Giant King Grass has essentially the same properties as corn stover and wheat straw, which are current leading candidate feedstocks for making not only cellulosic biofuels but also a wide range of biochemicals."
- "VIASPACE Chief Executive Dr. Carl Kukkonen commented: 'These initial results show that a ton of Giant King Grass can yield as much bio ethanol as a ton of corn stover. This validates Giant King Grass, a nonfood dedicated energy crop, as a competitive feedstock for producing cellulosic biofuels.'"
- "'Most importantly, an acre of Giant King Grass yields up to 10 times greater tonnage than an acre of corn stover, which is the stalk and leaves leftover from harvesting an acre of corn,' Kukkonen continued, 'With our high yield, we believe that Giant King Grass can reduce biofuel feedstock costs by up to 40%, even when compared to projected prices for corn straw as agricultural waste.'"[18]
- The Range Fuels Fiasco, 10 February 2011 by The Wall Street Journal: "As taxpayer tragedies go, Broomfield, Colorado-based Range Fuels has all the plot elements—splashy headlines, subsidies and opportunistic venture capitalists."
- "Vinod Khosla founded Range Fuels and in March 2007 it received a $76 million grant from the Department of Energy— one of six cellulosic projects the Bush Administration selected for $385 million in grants. Range said it would build the nation's first commercial cellulosic plant, near Soperton, Georgia, using wood chips to produce 20 million gallons a year in 2008, with a goal of 100 million gallons."
- "By spring 2008, Range had also attracted $130 million of private funding, the largest venture investment in the nation in the first quarter of that year."
- "In early 2010, the EPA said Range would finally produce some fuel in 2010—but only four million gallons, not 100 million, and of methanol, not cellulosic ethanol."
- "So taxpayers have committed $162 million (along with at least that much in private financing) to produce four million gallons of a biofuel that others have been making in quantity for decades."[19]
- Investing in the Future: USDA and DOE Back Biorefinery Development, 2 February 2011 by Biotech-Now.org: "The Agriculture Department has awarded $405 million in loan guarantees to cellulosic biofuel developers."
- "The guarantees, which will help advanced biofuel companies secure the private equity needed to build commercial facilities, were made under the Biorefinery Assistance Program."
- "At the same time, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced the offer of a $241 million conditional loan guarantee to Diamond Green Diesel, the proposed joint venture between Valero Energy and Darling International."
- In addition to the USDA loan guarantees, the department's Advanced Biofuels Payment Program also announced funding for biofuel producers in 33 states. Plus, the Rural Energy for America Program released $1.6 million in grant money for 68 feasibility studies."[20]
- Is Biomass Clean or Dirty Energy? We Won't Know for 3 Years, 13 January 2011 by Solve Climate News: "The Obama administration put off for another three years a decision on whether to regulate planet-warming gases from biomass power."
- "The delay leaves wide open a question central to the industry's future: Should turning tree parts into electricity qualify as clean renewable power in the eyes of government regulators, or should biomass emissions be regarded as a source of greenhouse gas pollution?"
- "Biomass includes plant waste, wood chips, organic debris and whole trees, and industry representatives say burning it is "carbon neutral." They argue that new growth absorbs CO2 and cancels out emissions spewed into the atmosphere from burning the wood."
- "Conservationists dispute that claim with a very different understanding of what constitutes the natural carbon cycle. Rotting biomass enriches soils, which capture and sequester some of the carbon of the once-living plant tissue. They argue that biomass combustion produces more CO2 than burning fossil fuels — by how much varies depending on the type of materials and how they are transported."
- "EPA said it would bring the best science to bear on the issues over the next three years. By July 2014, it will decide how to treat biomass under its "tailoring" rule, which determines which polluters are required to account for their emissions under the Clean Air Act."[21]
- Biofuels of No Benefit to Military -- RAND, 26 January 2011 by ClimateWire/New York Times: "A new analysis presented to Congress yesterday paints a stark picture for the Defense Department's current efforts to secure renewable fuels."
- "Fuels made from plant waste or algae will not be achievable in large or cheap enough quantities to make sense for military applications in the next decade, concluded the report penned by the RAND Corporation."
- "The Navy, which has been on the front lines of biofuel research, blasted the findings."[22]
- Download a summary of the report, Alternative Fuels for Military Applications (PDF file)
- Genetic map for switchgrass published, aids in study of biofuel, August 25 2010 by Andrea Johnson: "As farmers wait to produce new alternative energy crops, some USDA Agri-cultural Research Service (ARS) scientists are uncovering the secrets of switchgrass which, they say, holds so much potential as an alternative energy source."
- "The USDA ARS Switchgrass team has found that switchgrass produces five times the cellulosic ethanol needed to cover the energy needs required to grow it and make it into fuel."
- "It is also a perennial that reduces weed pressure and holds soils in place - preventing wind and rain erosion. It sequesters carbon long term, and it can be fed to cattle."
- "One of the challenges with switchgrass is the need for fertilizer and water - just like corn - to produce maximum yields. Because it's a perennial, it is challenging to get into the tall grass to apply fertilizer. The more switchgrass is harvested, the more water and fertilizer it needs to continue to thrive."
- "Scientists hope to modify the cell wall composition of switchgrass to improve its properties for co-firing in a power plant. They also hope to use biotechnology to increase its digestibility and access to enzymes that would produce fermentable sugars for ethanol production."[23]
- Range Fuels Finally Gets its Cellulosic Plant Running, 18 August 2010 by Renewable Energy World: "After a two year delay, Range Fuels is producing methanol fuel from its commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol facility in Georgia."
- "The delay is not out of the ordinary for cellulosic ethanol producers. Because of the technical and financial problems companies have been facing, the Environmental Protection Agency scaled back its 2010 mandate for cellulosic fuels from 100 million gallons to 6.5 million gallons."
- "Range Fuels has gotten over $100 million from high profile investors over the last few years. The company is producing fuels from woody biomass and grasses by turning the feedstock into a syngas. With its proprietary catalyst, Range produces a variety of alcohols that can be processed into fuels like ethanol and methanol."[24]
- New CBO Report Examines Biofuels Tax Incentives, 16 July 2010 by Mackinnon Lawrence: "CBO releases report this week assessing biofuel incentives. Study finds that biofuel subsidies, costs associated with reducing petroleum use and GHG emissions vary by fuel."
- "First, after making adjustments for the different energy contents of the various biofuels and the petroleum fuel used to produce them, the report finds that producers of ethanol made from corn receive 73 cents to provide an amount of biofuel with the energy equivalent to that in one gallon of gasoline. On a similar basis, producers of cellulosic ethanol receive $1.62, and producers of biodiesel receive $1.08."
- "Second, the report finds reducing petroleum use costs taxpayers anywhere from $1.78 – 3.00 per one gallon of gasoline, again, depending on the type of fuel."
- "Third, the costs to taxpayers of reducing greenhouse gas emissions varies from $275 per metric ton of CO2e for cellulosic, $300 per metric ton for CO2e for biodiesel, and about $750 per metric ton of CO2e for ethanol . NOTE: the CBO estimates do not reflect any emissions associated with land use change (direct or indirect)."
- "Domestic Fuel reports this week that the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) asserts the report provides no comparison to other technologies or types of biofuels against the destruction that goes hand in hand with fossil fuel production."[25]
- Read the full report here: Using Biofuel Tax Credits to Achieve Energy and Environmental Policy Goals (PDF)
- Next-Generation Biofuels: Near-Term Challenges and Implications for Agriculture, June 2010 by William Coyle: "Next-generation biofuel companies are using a variety of strategies to overcome high initial capital costs, limited access to low-cost biomass, and other hurdles to remain financially viable during pre-commercial development."
- "Achieving the U.S. goal to triple biofuel use by 2022 will depend on rapid expansion in cellulosic biofuels, and U.S. agriculture, as a leading source of the Nation's biomass, will play a significant role in this expansion."
- "There are more than 30 U.S. companies developing biochemical, thermochemical, and other approaches to produce next-generation fuels. Most of these firms are currently engaged in small-scale production, experimenting with a variety of feedstocks. Most are also focusing on cellulosic ethanol, a fuel identical to corn ethanol—now commonly used as a gasoline additive. Because ethanol provides only two-thirds of the energy of gasoline and faces blending and transportation constraints, some companies are developing products like green gasoline, green diesel, and biobutanol, which are closer substitutes for fossil fuels."
- "If next-generation biofuels are to play a key role in America's energy future, a number of challenges must be overcome, foremost of which are reducing costs."[26]
- Read the Full report here: Next-Generation Biofuels: Near-Term Challenges and Implications for Agriculture
- New Federal Policies Needed to Jump-Start Clean Advanced Biofuels Industry, 14 June 2010 by The Union of Concerned Scientists: "The federal government needs to adopt a suite of new policies to spur production in the stalled advanced biofuels industry, according to a report, The Billion Gallon Challenge, released today by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).
- "Advanced cellulosic biofuels – made from grasses, woodchips, wastes and other non-food sources – release dramatically less pollution than gasoline or corn ethanol. Reforming production tax credits for biofuels and providing new loan guarantees, investment tax credits and other financial incentives would spark investment in cellulosic biofuels, cut oil consumption, reduce global warming pollution, and ultimately save taxpayers money, the report found."
- "Currently, cellulosic biofuels are falling far short of the mandated levels. In 2010, the standard requires fuel suppliers, largely oil companies, to purchase 100 million gallons of cellulosic biofuel, but the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had to lower this target to just 6.5 million gallons due to a lack of supply."[27]
- ZeaChem Celebrates Groundbreaking Of Biorefinery In Boardman, Oregon, 2 June 2010 by ZeaChem: "ZeaChem Inc., a developer of biorefineries for the conversion of renewable biomass into sustainable fuels and chemicals, held a groundbreaking ceremony today for its 250,000 gallon-per-year biorefinery in Boardman, Oregon."
- "The plant will initially use ZeaChem's core technology... to produce ethyl acetate, a salable chemical intermediate and precursor to cellulosic ethanol."
- "Using an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the company will add the cellulosic ethanol production capability to come online in 2011."
- "ZeaChem has a contract with GreenWood Resources (GWR), a Portland-based timberland investment manager, to obtain sustainable hybrid poplar tree feedstock from the nearby farms held under GreenWood Tree Farm Fund, LP. Because the technology is feedstock agnostic, ZeaChem will also process trials of herbaceous crops, agricultural residuals and other renewable biomass resources."[28]
- DOE, USDA Announce Funding for Biomass Research and Development Initiative, 6 May 2010, press release by the Department of Energy: "The U.S. Departments of Energy (DOE) and Agriculture (USDA) today jointly announced up to $33 million in funding for research and development of technologies and processes to produce biofuels, bioenergy and high-value biobased products, subject to annual appropriations."
- "DOE also released today a new video which showcases how cellulosic biofuel technologies can help decrease U.S. dependence on foreign oil, spur growth in the domestic biofuels industry, and provide new revenue opportunities to farmers in many rural areas of the country."
- "The video, shot at a harvesting equipment demonstration in Emmetsburg, Iowa, highlights a new way of producing ethanol from the cellulose fibers in corn cobs, not from the corn kernels. The technology generates a new opportunity for farmers to harvest and sell the cobs that they'd normally leave in the field."[29]
- Canadian government orders biofuels study, April 2010 by Holly Jessen, Ethanol Producers Magazine:"Environment Canada solicited companies to complete an assessment of the ecological footprint of biofuel production facilities in Canada."
- "The Canadian government is following through with its commitment to establish regulations for renewable fuels in the fuel supply... 'The strategy requires 5 percent renewable content of gasoline by 2010,' the spokesperson said. 'Canada also intends to implement a requirement for 2 percent renewable content in diesel fuel and heating oil by 2011, or earlier, subject to technical feasibility.'"
- "Not long after Environment Canada called for companies to submit proposals for the study, the Canadian government passed out funding to 16 clean technology companies. Sustainable Development Technology Canada announced $58 million in funding, $13 million of which was earmarked for proposed cellulosic ethanol plant projects. "[30]
- POET announces plans for 3.5 billion gallons of cellulosic ethanol in 2022, 21 April 2010 by POET: "POET, the largest producer of ethanol in the world, has made enough progress on technology and feedstock development to break ground on its first plant in Emmetsburg, Iowa later this year"
- "'By 2022, POET plans to be responsible for 3.5 billion gallons of cellulosic ethanol production by adding the technology to our existing facilities, licensing our technology to other producers and finally, transferring our technology to other forms of biomass such as wheat straw, switchgrass and municipal waste,' Broin said. That volume would represent over 20 percent of the cellulosic ethanol mandated in the Renewable Fuel Standard."[31]
- Bill To Extend Ethanol Tax Credit Reignites Fuel vs. Food Debate, 25 March 2010 by SustainableBusiness.com: "A bill introduced in the US House last week would extend ethanol tax credits for another five years, to 2015. This tax credit is set to expire on December 31, 2010."
- "The Renewable Fuels Reinvestment Act (RFRA), introduced by Congressman Earl Pomeroy (D-ND) and and John Shimkus (R-IL), has reignited the fuel versus food debate and intensified scrutiny on the EPA's regulations on the environmental impact of corn-based ethanol."
- "The bill would extend the $0.45 Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC), commonly called the blenders' credit, and a secondary tariff on imported ethanol from countries like Brazil. It would also extend the Small Producers Tax Credit and the Cellulosic Ethanol Production Tax Credit to January 1, 2016."[32]
- USDA Announces a Guaranteed Loan to a Biorefinery to Produce Renewable Energy, 3 March 2010 by the USDA newsroom: "The U.S. Department of Agriculture today announced that Range Fuels, Inc., a Colorado based firm with a planned biorefinery located near Soperton, Ga., is the recipient of a loan guaranteed by USDA Rural Development to make cellulosic biofuel from wood chips."
See the archive of past Cellulosic ethanol-related news
1Biofuels for Transportation (draft) (2006, Worldwatch Institute), p.10-12. Used with permission.
|Cellulosic ethanol
Cellulosic feedstocks: Bamboo | Mesquite | Rice | Switchgrass
|Bioethanol - Corn ethanol
Ethanol producers by country | Ethanol feedstocks: Cellulosic ethanol (Microbe research) | Ethanol policies: Ethanol subsidies (VEETC)
What is bioenergy? | Benefits/Risks | Who is doing what?


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COLDWATER � Branch County received "a clean opinion" from auditors Abraham & Gaffney CPA for the 2012 fiscal/calendar year, but Commission Chairman Don Vrablic had an issue with one of three funds reported with deficits.
The fund balance increased by eight percent because the county made a one-time transfer of $625,000 from delinquent tax funds, and because it also did not make a county contribution to the employees retirement fund.
Auditor Aaron Stevens explained that under new auditing standards "management is responsible for the financial statements and the auditors are responsible for the opinions of the financial statements" that money reported is properly accounted for.
The 911 Central Dispatch fund ended last year in deficit after special expenditures, but since then posted a fund balance of more than $593,000, according to county administrator Budd Norman.
Norman said a deficit of $18,206 in the Probate Court Child Care fund would be handled internally.
The major deficit was in an account paid to the Michigan Department of Human Services (DHS) for foster child care and related services.
That deficit totaled $105,390 as of Dec. 31, 2012. Vrablic pointed out the county put in an additional in excess $130,000 out of other funding because the $369,141 in costs was more than appropriated.
With the county paying out $263,608, Vrablic said there is supposed to be 50 percent paid back by DHS.
"There�s got to be an issue somewhere," he said.�"That number does not add up."
Stevens told the commission, "If there is a receivable missing, it�s not recorded" in the county books.
The auditor focused on the fund balance or reserve levels in the 2012 books. For the General Fund�� the operational fund�� the�total increased to $2.601 million. But he said some of the money is committed to specific expenditures and not generally available, so in reality there is only $1.412 million�in the general fund balance.
This is 11.9 percent of the county general expenditures, while Abraham & Gaffney recommends between 17 and 20 percent reserves "because of uncertainties."
Commissioner Dale Swift questioned why the percentage did not include all of�the fund balance, like the auditors for the last three years had done?
Norman said the auditors for 2011 reported a 15-percent fund balance, but if they had excluded encumbered funds it was only 8 percent.
Stevens answered, "If it is reserved you can�t spend it" in emergencies. This is the first time in three years Abraham & Gaffney conducted the county audit.
Total general fund revenues were $10,940,967, an increase of about one percent or $156,000. Total expenditures were $10,674,283, an 11-percent decrease from the prior year "because you did not make the pension contribution."
When the John Hancock Company, which administers most county pension funds, requested 105 percent of the actuarial estimates needed to bring the county pension fund to a level to make it solvent and pay administrative costs, the commission withheld all the 2012 payments.
It has asked MERS (Michigan Municipal Employees Retirement System) what it would charge to administer county retirement and what would be required to fund current and future retirements under the fixed benefit program.
To do this, MERS required a majority of county-covered employees to agree to let them review their accounts so MERS can do its own actuarial projections using those employee John Hancock contributions. It would then tell Branch County what it would need to contribute. The commission hopes this would be substantially lower than John Hancock.
MERS will not have those figures until early fall at the soonest. It is now waiting for information from former employees who deferred their retirement, but a large majority of current employees in the program agreed to the review.
While waiting, the county is paying those employees who retired last year and those who retire this year from county funds until the system can be "trued up" when a final decision is made on continuing with John Hancock or going to MERS.
The approximately two-thirds of county employees in the pension plan pay 3 percent of the first $4,800 in gross wages and 5 percent of the remaining amount yearly. That was $1,024,875 last year or 4.6 percent of the covered payroll.
The uniformed deputies and corrections officers of the Branch County Sheriff's Office (BCSO) converted to MERS in 2004 and pay 2.5 percent of gross wages under their contract.
Bev Gerhart, whose has a law enforcement and accounting background, asked the commission "how much in the hole" Branch County was in the pension fund since John Hancock reported a deficit in 2011. She also asked out of what funds last year�s retirees were being paid.
Chairman Vrablic told her, "The answers are there but we are not going to spend 20 minutes explaining it right now. We�ll put it on our agenda for the next meeting."
Gerhart had been critical and questioned the commission last year during budget discussion which cut $1 million from the sheriff�s operation.
The auditors accepted the independent audits for Community Health Center of Branch County�and the Branch County Road Commission.
The auditor will appear at the regular county meeting next Tuesday.
County audit comes with questions


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January 09, 2018
Boxing Promoter Andrew Sobko, with Natex Boxing Promotions, has announced that Boxing Night, 6 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 13, needed a larger house so they've moved it from Melrose Park to the Midwest Conference Center, 401 W. Lake Street, Northlake. With as many as eight professional fights, they'll also be shown live on Comcast.
"We needed a bigger house," said Sobko. "And this is a much nicer venue."
He added that, for those who miss boxing night in Chicago, these aren't just want fights – they're good fights. "Our philosophy is 'Work hard, have fun, make history,' and we're planning to make some history."
The slate of fighters for the upcoming Boxing Night include:
In a middleweight bout, Dmytro Mytrofanov will face off against Marcus Willis. Mytrofanov is a bronze medal winner in the 2011 European Championships, held the Ukrainian National Title in 2008 and 2012 and fought in the 2016 Olympics. Willis, from Fort Myers, FL, has 17 victories, including 4 KOs, and 4 losses.
Giovanni Mioletti, an up-and-coming Chicago boxer is scheduled to face lightweight southpaw Tyronne Harris from Lansing, MI, in an eight-round bout. Harris has won 26 of 37 fights, 16 by knockout.
Ricardo Chavez vs. will fight four rounds in the cruiserweight against Thad Berkhousen, a resident of Saint Johns, MI. Berkhousen has 10 fights with four victories, one by KO.
Rustam Tulaganov, from Oxnard, CA, will fight Martez McGregor in the light heavyweight bout. McGregor is from Maywood, IL, and has four wins to one loss.
Shady Gamhour, a middleweight from Pensacola, FL, has five wins (4 by knockout) and no losses. He'll face Jauvan Andre John, from Brooklyn, NY, in a four-round fight. John is a 25-year-old boxer who was fought five bouts, winning two.
Antonio Gates is a super lightweight from Chicago who will make his debut in four rounds against Kevin Dwayne Shacks of Haslett, MI. This will be Shacks' sixth fight. He has two victories so far.
Special guest at the event is cruiserweight boxer Roy Jones, Jr. He has 74 professional bouts, winning 65 (47 by knockout) and is ranked No 6 in the USA. Jones has won, and successfully defended, the IBF World Super Middleweight Title. He also won WBC, IBF, IBO and WBA World Light Heavyweight titles.
Sobko said the final slate of boxers is not set yet but that this already promises to be a night that serious boxing fans will appreciate as much as casual followers of the sport.
Tickets are available for Boxing Night at (fights are subject to change).
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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Roburt Sallie had the game of his life with 35 points, and second-seeded Memphis beat Cal State-Northridge 81-70 Thursday to avoid what would have been 1 of the biggest upsets in NCAA tournament history.
Sallie, who was averaging barely 4 points for the Tigers (32-3), sank 10 of 15 3-pointers, a first-round tournament record.
The Matadors (17-14), 19-point underdogs who overcame a sequence of tragedy and off-the-court problems just to reach the tourney, took advantage of miserable shooting by most of the other Tigers and led by six points with 10:08 to play.
But a few minutes later, Antonio Anderson led the Tigers on a 9-0 run and last year's NCAA national runners-up finally took control.
Since the NCAA went to a 64-team format in 1985, only four No. 2 seeds have lost to a No. 15 in the first round.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Looks like "advancements" in corporate Spyware, from your friends at Raytheon.
Good news? It's pricy and, of course, doesn't replace or really augment firewall systems (and large customers may require multiple licenses at $65k a pop plus $13k/yr maintenance).For workers goofing off on the job - or worse - the software is downright scary. Loaded onto a laptop, it runs undetected. Twenty five algorithms map out how a network is being used - from keeping tabs on intellectual property down to every e-mail, every Web site visited and the location and make of computers logged on remotely. The software translates huge amounts of data into simple illustrations to help network administrators spot trouble.


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Traumatic action
The cartridges of traumatic action 12-gauge (with rubber bullets or buckshot)
All-Russian competition «100 best goods of Russia»
The competition «100 best goods of Russia» holds interregional public organization «Academy of quality problems». With the support of the Federal Agency for technical regulation and Metrology Administration of the regional center of standardization, Metrology and certification of Public organizations.
JSC «Krasnozavodsk Chemical Factory» by participating in the contest in 2015 was declared the winner and awarded diplomas of the Winner in the nomination «Industrial goods for population» and «Winner» in the nomination «production of industrial-technical purpose».
Guided by quality as the most important criterion for evaluating manufactured products, we provide the profit to the factory, employment and remuneration to employees for work. Policy quality is the cornerstone of the overall strategy of JSC «Krasnozavodsk Chemical Factory», aimed at satisfaction of customer requirements, and also to produce products in accordance with the state quality standards.


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Facebook Patents Foursquare?
from the ah,-modern-competition dept
The patent filing appears to predate most of the competitors in the space, so it's not like those competitors directly represent prior art. However, Dodgeball, the company that Google acquired (and basically killed) whose founders went on to start FourSquare definitely predates this patent. Even so, there are lots of companies exploring various location-based offerings for many years. The problem wasn't that it needed some big "invention" over how to create a location-based social network. The problem was that the technology hadn't caught up yet: i.e., there weren't that many smartphones with GPS. Once that happened, it was natural to build more location-based services. So it seems particularly silly to patent something that was naturally going to come about once GPS in phones became more common... but that's how the patent system works.
To be fair, to date, Facebook hasn't been known for asserting its patents against other companies (trademarks are another story). But, it's still pretty ridiculous. After all, as it stands right now, there's healthy competition in this particular market, and it's causing all of the players (and some new ones) to keep on innovating and trying to offer better service. If Facebook actually asserted its patent here, it would do the opposite -- and that seems like a clear situation of hindering progress, rather than enabling it.


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Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Everyone wants what I don't have....
Maybe it's just me but there's a lot of chatter about the whole framebuilding question: Keep it a hobby or go pro ? I cannot offer advice on this, only personal experience. As a 22 year full-timer and former hobbyist, I have delved pretty deeply into both worlds and can't really say what is a better place to be-it really depends on your circumstances.
Back in 1978 I was a really lonely neurotic bike mechanic with nothing to occupy my time except any and all things bike. I had moved to a new town, knew practically no one and was not really good at making new friends. To add to that, I was pretty depressed and virtually excommunicated from nearly all of my family back home. I guess I chose bikes instead of drugs......or both, kind of-with the bikes being much more influential in the end. I became a hobby builder out of a drive to know all I could about bikes, right down to the way they were brazed together. I had no idea what the future held and really didn't care...it was all about the moment.
Now it is 2010 and I have been at this full time since 1988 and this week is all about fixing broken team bikes. I don't care what anyone says about building simple welded race bikes being the easy way out. Building fancy lugged frames for people who will worship and pamper their shiny expensive rigs is not easy but I don't see it as any more challenging than what i do. I build really light bikes for people that want to win races. These bikes can and do break.....not generally in a catastrophic way but more of a fatigue crack situation. I have four of them to resurrect this week , two more than I had all of last year. Backing up what I build and fixing it in a timely fashion- fixing it in most cases for no charge is what I would call, not taking the easy way out. The fleet has to remain functional and for better or worse, I'm the one who has to step up-these frames don't get sent back to Taiwan, they come to my shop.
While some folks might think I'm completely out of my mind for choosing this part of the framebuilding profession, I offer this thought : Lots of people want to do what I do- or at least what they think I do but most of them will not get the chance. They will try to create some sort of livelyhood out of bike building and realize that they cannot survive financially for one reason or another. They will have to remain hobbyists......not as bad as it sounds, but still short of some of these folks framebuilding goals they had set for themselves. The fact that I have remained viable for so many years is a testiment to something.....I'm not completely sure what but I'll have to say that a bit of personal sacrifice is needed.
One person who emailed me a number of months ago was wanting to accumulate the skills and tools to build a frame or two. This person scoured the forums and really sought out much advice from a lot of builders active on these forums. His conclusion was that a lot of these builders were unhelpful , pompus , coddled and really propped up by a huge fan-base and really weren't that great at all. He scrapped his plans entirely , disgusted and for the most part,quite bitter. I'm not in complete disagreement with him about some of what he said but the guys who actually make a living building frames are few, dedicated and willing to go to the shop on a Sunday and fix something for someone who was nice enough to buy a frame from them. This is my world-I don't need or want a hug for my sacrifice -I'm happy to be viable at this questionable trade and hope to continue as long as I can. My customers will make that decision for me but if I treat them right , I'll be able to influence that decision a little.
2 comments:
"fix something for someone who was nice enough to buy a frame from them"ReplyDelete
You summed up quite a bit about the free market and customer service here. Thumbs up!
- Bohemian BicyclesOctober 16, 2010 at 3:17 PM
''His conclusion was that a lot of these builders were unhelpful , pompus , coddled and really propped up by a huge fan-base and really weren't that great at all. He scrapped his plans entirely , disgusted and for the most part,quite bitter.''ReplyDelete
I know of whom you speak and he is referring at least partly to me (the unhelpful, pompous guy and whatever else)
You are right on, this whole gig takes a big commitment of time, effort and perseverance and I wasn't been an ass I was giving tough feedback (which he requested). You can tell when someone wants to be an armchair quarterback learn to make bikes from a book/net kind of guy and he was it. If people have what it takes, The lack of a $500.00 used TIG welder and one detractor dick head like me is not going to stop them.


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Pozzi Takes Charge Of Melges 32 Key West Fleet
23 January 2013
It was yet another beautiful day on the water for the Melges 32 fleet participating at Premiere Racing's Quantum Key West 2013. More breeze gave way to three races leaving Andrea Pozzi on Bombarda sitting atop the podium in first place overall. Pozzi is ahead by one, but chased by Vincenzo Onorato's Mascalzone Latino in second and Keisuke Suzuki's Swing in third - both holding 23 points each.
The first race of the day marked great success for Onorato as he powered up, took an early lead and extended for the win. Overnight leader Lanfranco Cirillo on Fantastica on the other hand suffered a severe set back being called OCS on the start, resulting in his worst score yet. Richard Gorranson's Inga from Sweden and Deneen Demourkas on Groovederci battled throughout. Demourkas ultimately got the upperhand grabbing a nice second place finish.
With an all-clear start in Race Two, Pozzi had the speed he needed in order to take the bullet over Onorato in second with Cirillo getting back in the groove to take third.
Relatively brand new Melges 32 owner Gorranson found himself at the forefront of attention when he put his Inga From Sweden ahead in Race Three of the day. Suzuki had a fantastic final race placing second while Alex Jackson'sLeenabarca finished third.
Wednesday will feature more racing. With a sixth race in the fleet's near future, discards will go into effect and surely, there will be more surprising and perhaps shocking tweaks to the scoreboard.
The Melges 32 Class will be in Key West providing periodic updates on racing. Look forward to race reports and photos each evening. Bookmark melges32.com and stay in constant touch online at the Official Facebook Page of the International Melges 32 Class Association.
TOP FIVE RESULTS (After Five Races - PRELIMINARY)
1.) Andrea Pozzi/Lorenzo Bressani, Bombarda; 1-8-6-1-6 = 22
2.) Vincenzo Onorato/Gabriele Benussi, Mascalzone Latino; 6-10-1-2-4 = 23
3.) Keisuke Suzuki/Chris Nicolson, Swing; 5-4-8-4-2 = 23
4.) Lanfranco Cirillo/Michele Paoletti, Fantastica; 4-1-11-3-7 = 26
5.) Alex Jackson/Paul Goodison, Leenabarca; 11-2-4-7-3 = 27
View Full Results
View Full Photo Gallery - JOY


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