Tuesday, August 21, 2007

The Colossus of St. Cloud?

Standing astride I-94, with a bicycle clenched in each raised fist, the Colossus of St. Cloud roars:

Local DFL leaders are still drinking the ethanol.

Calling today’s investment in ethanol production “feedstock,” U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson believes the nation can reach energy independence in 10 to 15 years.

“The bottom-line goal is for us to get off foreign oil,” Peterson, DFL-7th District, said Friday at an energy conference at Bemidji State University.

He was joined by U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar, DFL-8th District, who said in his remarks that moving more Americans to public transit — or bicycling — can negate the need to import millions of barrels of foreign oil.

(Yes, I know, I laughed at the bicycle reference too!)

Spotty, maybe if the perfesser got off his lard arse once in a while, he would know that Minneapolis is second only to Portland, Oregon in bicycle commuters:

According to U.S. Census Bureau statistics released this month on the 50 cities with the most workers, Minneapolis has the second highest percentage of people who bike to work. The bureau said 2.4 percent of Minneapolis’ 189,294 workers (16 and older) pedal to their jobs, which is second only to Portland, Ore. and several times higher than the national average of 0.4 percent.

Grasshopper, I think that is the first link you have ever brought in. Congratulations! But that was not a very charitable thing to say about the professor. We expect a little more decorum around here.

Sorry, Spotty.

We need not speak of it again. It is true that bicycles do play an increasingly important role in commuting transportation.

The gravamen of the professor's post is that ethanol and biodiesel fuel production has decreased the need for government price supports for small-grain agriculture, but that we won't see the savings in tax cuts. Of course not professor, we have things like this to pay for:

Military personnel watch as the Sea-Based X-Band Radar sails into Pearl Harbor, Hawaii , aboard the MV Blue Marlin, Monday, Jan. 9, 2006. The 280-foot tall Sea-Based X-band Radar is so powerful it can identify baseball-sized objects from thousands of miles away. (AP Photo/Ronen Zilberman)

According to Time Magazine:

Since President Ronald Reagan initiated his Star Wars program, about $100 billion has been spent on U.S. missile defense.

If this thing works, we'll be able to tell when Kim Jong-il unzips his fly! No word yet on whether it can find cracks in interstate bridges.

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