Clapboard Creek

Out on the boat last week, I ventured just a touch off my normal beaten track and found myself in Clapboard Creek, as see at left courtesy of Google Maps.  I don’t know why I’d never ventured off the St. Johns river into this very attractive tributary, but now that I have, I’ll be sure to go back.

Normally when making the trip from Jacksonville Marina to downtown, I’ll use what’s called the Dames Point Cut.  As you can see in the screen grab at right, again from Google Maps, it makes the southern boundary of Blount Island, and trims probably a mile or so from the trip.  It also keeps probably 95% of the pleasure boating traffic away from some of the larger shipping terminals, including the Marine Corps’, on Blount Island.  That’s fine with me.  Big ships make me nervous in close quarters with my little 20 foot boat.  So I’d never taken that northerly branch of what is actually the St. Johns River to see what was there.  After ducking under the bridge at Heckscher Drive, which a boat much bigger than mine would not be able to negotiate, I started motoring slowly up Clapboard Creek.

What I found I’d have to say surprised me in it’s lack of development.  It is as pristine a brackish marsh as you’d be likely to find so close to that kind of industrial development.

Looking to the northeast as I came into the creek, you could almost imagine it largely unchanged since native Americans canoed and fished here, or the Huguenots explored from nearby Fort Caroline.  (Yes, I know, the current site of Fort Caroline is only a best guess … but work with me here)  The low marshland simply gave way to a distant tree line, with not a structure to be seen.  Just the occasional heron or pelican.  The low grass islands looked as if they were treading water just to be able to stay afloat, but as Jimmy Buffett wrote “The Low Country sinks, she cannot swim”, and I’m sure they succumb to very high tides.

And yet, that low grass island can provide some surprisingly sheltered water, thought I’m sure this little patch of relative calm on a breezy day was only inches deep on a falling tide.  If you’ll look at the satellite image above, I’d motored all the way to where the creek makes a sharp turn to the northwest before turning around.  As I made my way back toward the Heckscher Drive bridge, my eye, and camera lens, were drawn to this unbroken strait between the two low islands.  I’m sure if I’d have had a lure or some stinky shrimp to toss up in that gap, I might have found a founder or red fish or whiting or something … but all I was taking that day was pictures.

Back out in the St. Johns  River, it was a bit like a boat graveyard behind Blount Island.  Several moldering sailboats like this one riding at anchor, but seeming almost like they were being held on the bottom against the wind, one long-unused working boat, her paint peeling and rust streaks running down her sides.  And in the middle of it all, a new, well-kept shrimp trawler was making her way up the St. Johns River behind Blount  Island, hoping to scoop up enough shrimp in her nets to pay for the fuel it took to get there. 

As usual, you can see all my photos from that day on Flickr.

It’s an amazing place, the St. Johns River.  From the tiniest kayaks and canoes to some of the largest cruise ships and car freighters, we all share the same water.  Some try to eke out a living, some do very well.  Others of us just enjoy the ever-changing mosaic of boats, people, birds, fish, industrial development and unspoiled beauty.  I hope I never get to the point that I’m so blasé that I don’t take the time to notice.  I believe that’s when my time spent on the water will start to be deducted from my time on this planet.  And with only 50 trips around the sun under my feet, I’m not ready for that yet.

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Ride Your Bike to Work Day

And I didn’t.  But bear with me.  I have a good reason.  Actually two or three.

Regular readers of this blog (both of you) know I really enjoy bicycling.  I have a nice bike and it’s how I get most of my exercise.  Here we see my bike on a back road in Indiana last summer.  I strapped it to the back of the car and hauled it up there with me when I had to go for the wrongful death mediation.  I like my bike.

Now, it’s about 10 miles from my house to work, so riding to work and back would be a good 20 mile day.  And that’s not outside the realm of doable for me.  I often ride 20 miles without stopping to work an 8 hour day in the middle.  So the distance is not an issue.

The principal reason I don’t ride it to work … it this.

The Matthews Bridge. I go across this bridge twice a day almost every work day.  And this picture is pretty representative of the traffic that’s often on the bridge.  When it’s not at a dead standstill, the cars are racing over this narrow span at 45-60 miles per hour.  No shoulder, no bike lane, nothing but a short metal guard rail to prevent me from being hurled over the side at the top of the span 110 feet to the river.

No Thanks.

And there’s no way to get from my house to my office without going across a bridge.  It simply can’t be done.  This is the closest of them, and when you’re biking to work, that’s pretty important.

Now I suppose I could ride to Regency mall and catch the bus there.  Most of the Metro buses in this city have a bike rack on the front for just such a purpose.  That’d be fine, but it brings me to reason 2.

After a 10 mile ride, I need a shower.  I don’t think I’m going to do it in a shirt and tie.

Reason 3? Time.  Honestly, it probably wouldn’t take too much more time most days to ride than it does to drive … if I could blast through the stoplights.  On Atlantic Boulevard, that’d be pretty dangerous.  There IS bike lane along a lot of the road, but when it gets into town, west of 9A, it gets pretty narrow.  And then again, the cars are blasting along.  Probably not a good environment to ride.  Meanwhile, I’d have to ride to the bus stop, wait for the but, take the bus in the same traffic as all the stopped cars to the main bus terminal on Union street, then ride back a mile or so to work.  I’m not sure I have that kind of commuting time every day.  Not to mention, then I’d have to get myself put together to work.

So there it is.  Good for the League of American Bicyclists for promoting a healthy and green alternative to commuting. If I lived in town, I’d ride my bike to work pretty regularly, I think.  If it was a couple of miles from my San Marco house to the station, boo-yah.  I’m all about it.  But for all the things I love about living at the beach, unfortunately, biking to work is just not practical.  So, I guess I’m stuck with my convertible.

Darn

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An Air Talent’s Biggest Nightmare

After  Sue Simmons dropped an “F” bomb during a live news promo … thinking it was taped … I’ve been thinking about how careful one has to be when one is on television, or on the radio, for that matter.

Now, I never thought I’d be on television.  Really.  I was perfectly happy on the radio, and didn’t aspire to being on TV, even though my mother always said I should.  I think she thought that’s where the money was, but then I found my way into public broadcasting, and, well, I think you know what’s going on there.

Anyway, I had one such gaffe, which was live … not recorded. It was a radio gaffe, but the same lessons apply. 

Working at WBIW back in the day, I was deep into recording my days worth of commercials following my show.  I worked morning drive, so this would have been late morning.  I was pretty tired.  The FM station was fairly new, and for some reason which I don’t recall, the air signal from the production studio had been routed to the FM transmitter.  And not re-routed before I went in to do my spots.

You can imagine what’s coming.  I was working on a JC Penny spot … which was a donut.  For those of you not in the business, it’s a sung jingle with a 40 second hole in the middle for local copy.  They always gave me at least 45 seconds of copy to squash into that 40 second hole, and I’d learned to talk fast. 

But wait, there’s more.  The spots were always for a weekly sale.  “Originally $9.99-$11.99 now $7.99-$9.99″.  That kind of thing.  And this was before the days of digital.  Everything was done to tape.

Well, I was having a bad day.  I couldn’t get it all in the donut, and I’d tried a dozen or more times.  I finally let go with a string of expletives that would have made a sailor blush … everything BUT an “F” bomb.

It all went out over the air.  The counter pounding, the swearing, everything.  Over the top of the music.

Amazingly, I didn’t get fired, or even reprimanded.  Pretty much everyone’s done it.

I’ve known newscasters that didn’t like to pronounce “Norfolk” correctly, because the natives say “Nah-fuk”.  And there’s the classic scene in “Anchorman” where Ron Jeremy’s producer changes his copy and he tells San Diego to “Go Fuck Yourself”.  It’s hysterical.

The lesson it taught me was never assume a microphone isn’t live.  Never.  From Reagan’s “the bombing begins in 5 minutes” to my tirade in the production studio … if there’s a microphone, and/or a camera, and a transmitter, it can make it to air.

So I laughed out loud when this landed in my mailbox today. 

CAUTION!!  Salty language alert.

 

 

Some were live, some were not.  All are pretty darn funny.

Enjoy

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Glad I Don’t Have Their Fuel Bill

As gasoline approaches $4 per gallon for regular … and is beyond that at the marina, I find myself more and more thankful for the “Average MPG” gauge in my car.

My car averages 25 or so miles per gallon around town, and does 29-30 on the highway … depending on how much of a hurry I’m in to get where I’m going.  I know that’s not nearly the 48-50 MPG my friend David gets with his glorified golf cart Prius, but it’s respectable for a V6.  Still, as I said, it depends on how I drive.

And that’s why I love the Average MPG display.  I’ve found that if I can not jump away from stoplights and just drive like a sane person … I average 1-2 miles per gallon more, on average, for every tank of gas.  At 4 bucks a gallon, that’s a pretty significant savings.  In fact, now the mis-timing of the lights on Atlantic Boulevard are more than just an annoyance.  I can see what it’s costing me as I have to stop and start for every damn light on the road (as was the case this morning) even when I’m driving like a sane person.  Hopefully they’ll get that rectified soon.  It’s not always that way.

I have found, too, that on the freeway, the sweet spot is about 60-65 miles per hour.  That’s too slow for most people on I-95, but I start to see an erosion of my fuel economy as I push up around 70.  Over that, and I’m definitely losing money.  At that point, it all depends on where I need to be and how much time I want to waste on the road.  My time is valuable, too.

So what brought this to mind today?  Driving in this morning in the SUV/Pickup canyons that is Atlantic Boulevard at rush hour, there was this moron in a full-size pickup … like a Toyota Tundra or Nissan Whatever their big truck is called or an F150 super duty king cab stretch, 4X4 wax wagon … and he was driving it like it was a go-cart.

But this guy was jackrabbiting away from the lights, blasting in an out of lanes, finding the one with a tiny bit of room and accelerating to be right on the bumper of the car ahead of him, I think on the phone all the while.  Look, dude, I’m sorry that you’re late to work, but trying to intimidate the rest of us with your monster truck says way more about you than it does about any of the rest of us.  Those are the guys I’m certainly very happy to have in front of me rather than on my bumper.  I don’t have enough hair to pull.

And the sad thing is, I see it all the time.  It wasn’t an isolated incident.  So often it’s a damn big truck, but there are plenty of idiots in everything from go-loud rice burners to big American sedans and everything in between that just haven’t quite figured out that if you’ll not go as fast as you can go all the time you’ll spend less money on gas and we’ll all get where we’re going a little safer … and on time.

I hope when monster truck guy’s monster truck glugs down 40 or so gallons of gas at $3.80/gallon, he feels it.  I know I feel it when it’s $50.00 to fill up my little Toyota.

But even worse is getting fuel at the marina dock.  The last I bought was $4.00/gallon, and I know next time it’s going to be 30 or 40 cents more.  The boat holds 80 gallons, and I don’t know if she’ll ever see a full tank again.  When I see the floating condos and massive cruisers and displacement hulls pushing tons of water as they plow up and down the intercoastal waterway and St. Johns River … my first thought is always “damn, that’s a big wake … I’d better slow down”.  My second thought is “I’m glad I don’t have their fuel bill”.

What’s the answer?  If I knew, I’d be an advisor to somebody running for President.  Some think it’s all conservation, but apparently $4.00 gas isn’t enough to get the monster truck guys to slow down.  Some say it’s windfall profits taxes on oil companies.  But those don’t have a great history of getting people to drive less or cutting the price of gasoline.  Some say “Drill in ANWAR”, which is becoming a political third rail.  I’d hope technology has come far enough to be able to do that and explore offshore more safely, but I don’t know that for sure.  What I am pretty sure of is that, as oil continues to go through the roof, we’re probably going to have to do all those things, as well as getting together some kind of “Manhattan Project” for what ever comes next … because the cheap oil train is pretty well grinding to a halt, and we’ve got nothing up our collective sleeves as a planet to make it any better.

Non Sequitur Alert!! Oh, and if you know about the green dust cap in the picture, you know.  It’s completely unrelated to oil.

Yeah … you know, don’t you.

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Aliens, Marsh Birds, and Hot Peppers

Well, this is a relief.  AP moved this item today, which I found on MSNBC.

Vatican: It’s OK to believe in aliens

The chief astronomer says those beliefs don’t contradict faith in God.

So there it is.  Finally, an acknowledgement that among the (with apologies to Carl Sagen) billions and billions of stars in the universe … it’s OK to think we’re not the only intelligent species.  Of course, there are those who would say WE’RE not an intelligent species, but that’s another post.

I can’t imagine that the same conditions that allowed life to develop here didn’t, or don’t, exist elsewhere.  All you have to do is look up at the night sky and I don’t know how you could come to any other conclusion.  It seems just random chance would make that more than likely.  Nice to see the Vatican catching up with common sense.

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Meanwhile, we had visitors at the marina this weekend.  Actually, we have visitors every weekend, but these were particularly photogenic.

A boat had come back and the fishermen were cleaning out their coolers.  This blue heron and a great egret (below) were waiting patiently for a handout, and not paying much attention to a photographer.  That allowed me to get some spectacular close ups.

Everything, of course, is posted up on Flickr.  I highly recommend both of these photos in their “Original Size”.  Just find them in the set and click on “All Sizes”.

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And finally, I made a warm tomato relish to go on our steaks tonight that was too hot for Andie to eat, but I loved.  I put hers on the side.  The only reason I mention it is because I didn’t think the peppers I was using were that hot, and I’ve finally gotten the capsaicin off my hands.  I didn’t think to wear gloves as I chopped up the poblano and Hungarian Wax peppers for the salsa. It was a really flavorful dish, and really easy.

1/2 cup diced tomatoes.

2T chopped Poblano Peppers.

2T chopped Hungarian Wax Peppers.

1T diced garlic.

1T olive oil.

2T heavy cream. (Optional)

A generous pinch of kosher salt.

Combine all the ingredients except the cream in a skillet over medium heat.  Saute, stirring to combine and allow to heat through.  Allow any liquid in the skillet to reduce by at least half.  Add the cream if desired to cut the heat a bit if desired, and reduce again.  Spread over the steak and enjoy.

The tomatoes add a real sweetness, particularly as they cook, and the peppers give it nice heat without burning your mouth. 

Tomorrow’s over the hump day, and then it’d downhill all the way to the weekend.

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Stealth Boat Update

I wrote a while back that there was a really cool boat at the marina, but I was without the Mighty Nikon and only had my phone cam to take her picture.  Little did I think that she’d still be there two weeks later, but sure enough, when I went to go play Saturday, there she was.  And this time, I was prepared.

It looks like a cross between a jet and a truck … floating on the water.  I shot these as I idled away from the launching dock, but the boat is right out there for all to see.  Of course, they don’t let you go inside, and I’m sure after two weeks tied up at Jacksonville Marina, they’re used to gawkers and paparazzi.

There are two water jets in the stern, much like a jetski on steroids.  I’m guessing that means there are two engines.  I’m sure her top speed is classified.  It always if for Navy vessels. 

I don’t find this one anywhere online.  I don’t know if that means is something new, or I’m just not looking in the right place. 

But it is cool looking.  I never know if I can approach the guys that are attached to a boat like this and ask them some questions.  The journalist in me shouldn’t be concerned about such things, but I didn’t go ask.  I was way more interested in getting my boat in the water and getting some pictures.  But I’m really glad to have these higher-res captures of this unique vessel.

I captured a lot of images of boats last Saturday.  Over the next few days, we’ll go from this ultra-modern and sophisticated stealth technology to the most basic precept of getting from one place to another across the water.  I hope you’ll come along for the ride.

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Penman Square Market and Cafe

Last night, we finally took the opportunity to visit the Penman Square Market and  Cafe, which is Chef Craig Dion’s new project in Jacksonville Beach.  And even though Craig was babysitting last night, Matt and Dale took good care of us.

Matt was one of the waiters over at the old 6 Burner location.  He always took really good care of us there.  Dennis was the other waiter we saw often at 6 Burner … but he unfortunately passed away not too long ago.  We’d seen him at Sequinos one night, and the next time we went in, about 6 months later, they said he’d passed. 

In any event, much of the food at Penman Square is pre-made and in the cases … though there was a dinner special up on the board which I cold never resist over at the old restaurant.  A Pittsburgh style prime rib with Maytag Bleu Cheese.   It’s seared in a cast iron skillet and then covered in this outstanding bleu cheese that is just dripping over the sides of the steak … to die for.  And it was served with a twice baked potato and a roasted corn and green bean dish that complimented it perfectly.

Dale worked for Craig as a sous chef at 6 Burner, and stepped in as chef when Craig was not around … which was rarely.  Last night, he was fully in charge of our dinner, as Craig, as I said, was babysitting. 

So three of the four of us (David Gano and Tom Wilson joined us) had the prime rib.  David had the turkey meatloaf, all of us had the beans and roasted corn.  David passed on the potato.  Everybody had a warm spinach salad, which was a good as it had been over in Atlantic Beach.  Everything was very well done, but we’d expect nothing less.  Dessert was a nice slice of 3 layer chocolate cake.

The space its self is small.  A former cleaner where nothing was done on the premises, there’s a drive-through window for the coffee business, and there was plenty of room for the uber-stove which I greatly covet. 

It has a grill, 6 burners, a griddle, and a salamander broiler all in the same unit.  It’s too big for one picture.  The cases are full of items like apple stuffed pork roast, seared ahi tuna, turkey meatloaf, and smoked salmon.  The other case has the veggies and salads, pastas and potatoes.  All for dining in, or  you can take it home and warm it up yourself. 

There are only about 6 tables in the place.  4 four tops, and a couple of twos. 

Meanwhile, there’s no beer or wine license, but you can bring your own.  And conveniently, there’s a liquor store at the end of the strip mall.  Matt had to go borrow some wine glasses from a place down the way, and had to go to the same restaurant to open the bottle for us.  But since we were the only ones sitting down to eat, it was not really a big deal.

This is not a traditional style restaurant.  They turn the “Open” sign off at 8:00.  But we’re really glad Craig is back in the game.  The best news was when the bill came, it was about half what we used to pay at 6 Burner.   And I paid less for the bottle down the way than two glasses would cost pretty much anywhere.  So really good, and fun, and intimate, and inexpensive. 

The rest of the evening’s pictures are up on Flickr.  Though my battery gave out about the time the food came.

Oh yes, we’ll be back.  Besides, I’ve been in there twice now, and Craig hasn’t been there yet.  That alone is worth the price of admission …

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Party Quirks II

 (I actually had this finished last night to post and keep the string alive … but WordPress was having technical issues, and I was unable to get it to upload.  I don’t count that as missing a day.  Meh.)

I finally got it done.  The company I ordered the boat graphics from was pretty great.  I placed the order on Tuesday, and by Friday, I had the lettering.  It shipped literally the same day.  I’ll go find the card and post an update with the link to the site.

Getting the name on the boat could not have been easier.  OK … it could have been, if the wind hadn’t been blowing 20 knots.  But I watched the online video, and it was as easy in real life as it looked on the vid.

I ordered the lettering 24 inches long … which is 1/10 the length of the boat.  It was a guess, but for a boat this size, it really works well.  Sometimes, I think, the graphics overwhelm the boat they’re on, but this, for me at least, just works.  It’s there, it’s visible, but it doesn’t draw your eye away from the lines of the boat, which is classic.

First, I treated the hull with some alcohol just to get any dirt and wax off the gelcoat.  That’s important to help the lettering stick to the hull.

Then, place the sheet and tape it in place.  Peel back half, cut away the backing, and stick it down using the enclosed tool.

Then fold back the second half and peel off the backing … sticking the lettering down with the squeegee tool as you go.

It honestly took about 10 minutes per side, and looks really professional, IMHO. 

I remember the old boat graphics I’d always gotten for the sailboats I’d owned.  The went on like decals from the old ship and airplane models I used to build.  You had to soak them in water and slide them off the backing onto the hull … smoothing as you went.  It was always just an ordeal to get it done, and make it look like anything.  Not to mention it had a bad habit of not sticking very well.

I think these letters are on to stay.

After installing the lettering, I had them drop the boat in the water, and I went to take some pictures.  I poked up a little creek just off the river that I’d never explored before, and shot dozens of pictures, as I always do.  They’re uploading now to Flickr … so I’ll link them up later.

I took pictures at dinner tonight at Penman Market, which is Craig Dion’s new place.  Those aren’t even uploading yet.

The weather is supposed to be crappy tomorrow, so I’m glad I got the boat off the rack today.  Being on the water always makes me feel better, and I didn’t feel bad going in.  And now … after almost 6 years, she finally has a name.  The only thing missing was the cheap bubbly to smash on her bow … and I wouldn’t have wanted to chip the gelcoat anyway.

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Friday Night

And nothing much is going on.  I haven’t been out to take any pictures in a couple of weeks.   Work’s been pretty, well, worky, and so here I am with not a lot to say.

My boat graphics came today, so I’ll be at the marina tomorrow finalizing that project.  They look really nice, and I think it’s going to look great on the boat.  As I’ve said before, it’s high time the boat had a name. 

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Somebody finally salvaged this boat.  I was crossing the Atlantic Boulevard bridge the other day, and looked over as I pretty much always do.  It was gone.  That, or somebody came and took the mast off her.  But I’ve got a feeling she finally got pulled off the mud.  I shudder to think what condition she was in when they finally pulled her out … but the good news is, fiberglass is just plastic, really.  It’s cleanable.  Of course, if there were any cushions or anything else fabric on the boat, it’ll just need to be replaced.  It might be that she’ll just be hauled off to a salvage yard somewhere.  That’d be pretty sad, but I can certainly see it happening.

This one is still there, however.  Anchored up in the little creek, waiting for someone to come claim her.

The wind today was out of the west, blowing hard.  The boats still anchored in that creek were all facing into the wind, and several were dangerously close to winding up in the mud like the one just salvaged. 

It seems like an ever-changing landscape of abandoned or derelict  along the ICW.  From all the construction that’s gone on, there were a few construction barges that had been left aground.  Some are tied up at docks, some riding at anchor for what ever reason.  I’d speculate that it’s mostly because the owners can’t or don’t want to pay a marina for storage.  The downside to that is, sometimes the boats don’t stay where they’re put … so they wind up in the mud, and you haven’t saved a nickel.  Kinda makes it sound like the slip fee is worth it.

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So, I guess with that, I’ll call it a night.  I hope to have the graphics in place tomorrow, and I’ll have the camera along so it can go in the record tomorrow.

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Oh Really …

I was looking at some websites today when I came across this …

Warning: The Content in this Article May be Inaccurate

Readers have reported that this story contains information that may not be accurate.

Oh Really.  Ya Think?

Now, regardless of what I was researching, and it’s a subject of some controversy that engenders strong feelings on both sides … this looks like one of the most obvious statements of all time.

This happened to be on a site that has information the contradicts the “consensus” that humans are the cause of global warming.  In fact, it’s skeptical about global warming at all.  And, there is a body of science that indicates that we’re in for a period of a cooling climate.  Not junk science, but peer-reviewed, published science.  Rather than provide a bunch of links here … just google “Global Cooling” or “Pacific Decadal Oscillation”.  No matter what we humans can do, the planet warms and cools on a pretty regular basis.  How much we may or may not be contributing is, at least in my mind, still open to debate.

But I digress.

No lesser philosopher than Lucy VanPelt once said “if you cant’ be right, be wrong at the top of your voice”.  One thing about this whole Internets and “Web 2.0″ thing is that it’s open to everyone.  And there is no shortage of strong opinions … and misinformation.  And there’s nothing to stop “Readers” from “Reporting” that a “story … MAY not be accurate”.  Some of these people see that as their JOB!  The strident naysayers from both side of any argument LOOK for these kinds of websites and “report that the story contains information that may not be accurate”.  And say it over and over and over and over and over and as stridently as they can.  It doesn’t matter if the story is accurate or not, or if their information is accurate or not, just that they have the opportunity to say so. 

I know there are a lot of people out there who think that global warming is a done deal.  But right now, it appears the planet hasn’t warmed over the past 5 years … in fact, it may have cooled a few tenths of a degree.  Now some are saying that’s the harbinger of a planetary cool-off leading to an ice age.  Others say it’s just a speed bump in the coming cataclysm that will have us all underwater from rising sea levels in about 20 minutes.  But all that’s been determined is that the planet has been warming and cooling all by its self for millions of years, and will continue to do so for millions more.

The state where I grew up has alternately been covered by shallow, tropical seas and apparently been geographically in the southern hemisphere (which caused the limestone deposits that made my family so much money) to 2/3rds covered by glaciers which stopped about Martinsville … and scraped the northern portion of the state pretty flat.  Economists now say that the drive for ethanol derived from corn, which was once used as food, is a good part of what is driving up food prices right now … not to mention the amount of fossil fuels it requires to grow all that extra corn, and fertilize it.  And, ethanol apparently contributes just as much to the greenhouse gasses that are supposedly causing all this global warming.  Not to mention it’s a very water-intensive process.  It’s just as sure that billions of dollars are being spent on finding ways to “stop global warming”, and that the people receiving that money want to keep that tap open, as do the people getting ethanol subsidies.  That’s the skeptical, jaded journalist in me.

Should we be doing what we can to conserve energy and keep pollution to a minimum?  Of course we should.  Nobody disputes that.  I certainly want to have clean air to breathe and clean water to drink.  But don’t  tell me science is settled when any amateur with an Internet connection and rudimentary typing skills can find plenty of reputable debate. 

And please, don’t insult my intelligence and tell me that “readers have reported that this story contains information that may not be accurate”.  That tells me nothing.  I’m sure other readers have reported that the information in the story is gospel.  And that needs to be in the disclaimer as well.  For that statement … here’s an Albie.

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