Anyone else here watch ADDICTED TO OIL on Discovery Channel tonight?

[derby378]

Wow. Thomas Friedman is something else. And so are the guys who are engineering Prius cars to squeeze out 100 miles per gallon. That's right - one hundred. That's really cool.

[lectrobyte]

1. Yes. Amazing that we are not doing more to get off of imported

oil.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

2. It Sounds Like It Was Really Good. I'm Gonna Check The Listings To

see if it is on again soon, so I can Tivo it.

[Deja Q]

3. Wasn't that said to be a hoax?

(I recall an earlier DU post of the same theme)

[Robbien]

4. I started to, but couldn't stand watching Friedman's hypocritical face

Too bad they chose him as the host.

[RoyGBiv]

6. Same here ...

I did watch it and thought it was very good. I had to turn off my brain to the fact Friedman was hosting it, or I wouldn't have been able to make it through.

Why he was chosen, I have no idea.

[Gabi Hayes]

10. Friedman is in this for one thing: self-promotion

I didn't watch for just that reason

you'll enjoy this:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=1245393#top

it includes links to several columns in which a real, actual journalist, Matt Taibbi, eviscerates the hypocritical fabricator

[RoyGBiv]

11. Consider that bookmarked ...

Thanks.

And you're right on target with the self-promotion bit. I don't know if the man is capable of having an original thought. He just steals ideas from others and claims them, usually presenting them poorly.

What I don't really understand is why so many people buy it.

[Gabi Hayes]

16. you got it...make sure you read the Taibbi on Friedman...he's got him

so does this person....cracks me up....I linked to it downthread, but wanted to make sure you see

http://thomasfriedmanisagreatman.blogspot.com/2005_04_01_thomasfriedmanisagreatman_archive.html

make sure you scroll down to the very first post, near the bottom:

Thomas Friedman is not always serious. Many times Thomas Friedman makes me laugh. Like when he reaches orgasm and yells, "Gut check time!"

The first time that happened I said to Thomas Friedman that he yelled so loud it hurt my ears. Thomas Friedman corrected me.

"Bettina, my little struggling democracy," Thomas Friedman said, "it is amusing."

To prove it, Thomas Friedman threw his head back and laughed so loud some plaster feel from the ceiling. So I laughed too. I laughed along with my husband, the great Thomas Friedman.

I like that Thomas Friedman let's me know when something is funny. Thomas Friedman worries that I will embarrass myself if I do not laugh at each of his jokes. When we are alone, Thomas Friedman will tell me, "That is funny. You laugh now."

I will laugh in the polite chuckles he is teaching me.

But when we are in public Thomas Friedman cannot tell me when to laugh at his jokes. "Bettina, my little backward nation," Thomas Friedman says, "if I tell you to laugh, people will think you are stupid."

Thomas Friedman looks out for me. Thomas Friedman came up with a signal where he rubs the bridge of his nose after he finishes speaking to let me know to chuckle.

But one time I cackled and Thomas Friedman told me later that I destroyed the evening for everyone.

[Strelnikov_]

9. Was It Wrong For Me . . .

to hope that when he was hitting the carbon composite with the hammer that it would rebound and hit him in the face?

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

5. Cool. Looks Like It's On Again At 2 A.M.

[LeftCoast]

7. Suprisingly enough, Friedman was actually pretty decent

I watched most of the show. He did a fairly good job. One part I found very interesting was when he discussed all the subsidies oil companies get compared with the subsidies for wind power.

[derby378]

8. Not to mention the tariffs on Brazilian ethanol (sugar-based)

A 100% tariff is a pretty good way to ensure that their ethanol can't compete with inferior corn-based ethanol in the States.

And, once again, NO tariffs on imported oil. Sheesh.

[Strelnikov_]

14. Nothing Wrong With Corn Based Ethanol . .

if a renewable energy source (wind) is used in the processing.

Producing corn ethanol as an Energy Carrier is perfectly viable. Most of the food value remains following processing (more ‘human’ food from wet vs. dry milling, less ‘net’ energy) so the ‘fuel or food’ argument is not an issue. The only question, for me, is where does the energy input for production of the ethanol come from (most of which is consumed in the fuel plant) since corn ethanol is not an energy source. Using natural gas or coal makes no sense from an energy standpoint since liquid fuel can be made from these sources directly with a viable EROEI (5+). Using these sources to produce ethanol is essentially throwing away 4 units of potential liquid fuel energy for every one unit of corn ethanol energy produced.

Why not renewables, such as wind generated electric, as the process energy source? We would then be converting renewable wind energy to a readily storable, energy dense form.

Basically,

1 Unit Corn + 1 Unit Energy -> 0.8 Unit Food (Corn Equivalent) + 1 Unit Energy (liquid fuel)

And as for why so much corn is grown? Storage, yield and adaptability to the major growing region in this country. Sugar cane has to be processed as soon as it is cut, sugar beets similar (unless frozen, as they used to be able to do in the Red River valley), whereas corn can be readily stored for long periods. Humans were growing lots of corn long before ADM and Cargill.

[lindisfarne]

18. The ethanol made from corn is not terribly great in terms of the energy

produced vs. the energy input required. But Al Gore in his interview with Charlie Rose, talks about a newer process used to convert biomass into ethanol which still has a few bugs to work out but scientists are confident they will be and the process will be much more efficient than corn ethanol. Sugar ethanol won't work in the US because we don't have the climate (yet).

[Gabi Hayes]

12. Friedman the hypocrite....what a surprise:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2006/06/07/DI2006060701471.html

Alexandria: Have you seen any of Tom Friedman's articles on GM and their $1.99 gas deal in California and Florida? He's is fairly harsh on GM.

Also, do you think Hybrid technology will make cars like IPods and laptop computers in thta they will be outdated a year after purchase?

Thanks! Big Real Wheels fan!

Warren Brown: I read Tom Friedman's piece. I think it's silly and way off the mark. He chides GM for doing and selling exactly what everyone else is doing and selling -- big trucks and SUVs to a public, for whatever reason, that is still quite willing to buy them. What bugs me about Friedmanesque reasoning is the blatant hypocrisy of his argument. Again, let's take Toyota and Honda: Both are selling as many SUVs as possible. Honda, which was getting clobbered by remaining out of the pickup truck market, finally decided to jump in with the Ridgeline using many of the same marketing approaches and advertising pitches used by GM, Ford, et al.

Questions for Friedman:

How many SUVs does Toyota sell in the United States? What percentage of Toyota's revenue is derived from those sales? Why did Toyota decide to introduce its born-again FJ Cruiser SUV? Could it have anything to do with the success of GM's Hummer H3 sales? What is so wrong with GM offering a gasoline subsidy for trucks for people who want to buy them as opposed to the silly California politicians offering subsidies for gas-electric hybrids, which are less efficient by 30 percent than diesel-electric hybrids, and many of which get less mileage than non-subsidized small economy cars? Baloney!

[Gabi Hayes]

13. I wish I hadn't seen this thread, cause it's getting me going on Friedman:

''As I wait for Thomas Friedman to finish shaving his legs in the shower (he's very excited about a new swimsuit he's purchased -- I'm assuming it's another g-string and wishing he'd take some of that shave time to do something about his hairy back), I'm looking through the paper. I found some news and a TV review. Both worth reading so obviously, I'm not reading "The New York Times." ''

http://thomasfriedmanisagreatman.blogspot.com/2006_05_01_thomasfriedmanisagreatman_archive.html

[Gabi Hayes]

15. funny stuff!

http://thomasfriedmanisagreatman.blogspot.com/2005_04_01_thomasfriedmanisagreatman_archive.html

The Beef Sizzles on the Grill.
That was what I titled Thomas Friedman's column that the paper ran today. I wish they had gone with my title. Thursday, Thomas Friedman was jazzercising and backed into the gas heater. Burned his big old heinie. I was writing the column at the time and after I got done spraying his rump with Bactine, I thought, "The Beef Sizzles on the Grill," that is the title.

So Thomas Friedman greets me Thursday morning waving three bottles of vitamins in front of me. "Do you want these, Bettina?" Of course I did. I could have one bottle before the column, one bottle while I wrote the column and one bottle after.

I wish my body did not crave the vitamin C so much. But it does. Who would have thought that something you have gone your whole life without could become so important once you were introduced to it? I said that Thomas Friedman and he said, "The global econmy! Just as the people living in huts do not know of Old Navy, when it comes to their area, they must have it because the world is flat and . . ."

"Who is writing this column, Thomas Friedman?"

He stopped dicatating and asked me what I needed. I asked for a manual. Finally, he showed up with the New York Times ethics guidelines. So I read that and found out that op-ed writers for the Times could not endorse a candidate. Knowing how wiley Thomas Friedman is, I thought, "There it is! He will endorse Tony Blair and even though his column will be carried overseas, he will not get in trouble because he is the great Thomas Friedman. It is as though he is grabbing the hem of his shorty robe and mooning the world."

I figured Thomas Friedman could identify with Tony Blair for a number of reason, chief among them the fact that both are goofy looking men with strange teeth whose wives are far more interesting than they could ever be.

I actually said that to Thomas Friedman and he laughed, "Oh my little, saucy, tropical Tina Brown, everyone knows who is the Sir Harold Evans in this marriage."

I don't know about that but I do know if they made a moving picture of our lives, I know who would be played by Halle Berry and who would be played by Rick Moranis.

I also figured Thomas Friedman would identify with Tony Blair because they both lack frineds. So when I wrote that the left didn't like Blair and the right didn't either, I was really talking about Thomas Friedman.

When I wrote, "Tony Blair, by contrast, dines alone," I'm really talking about Thomas Friedman, there too. And how did I think up the "dined alone?" Easy, while I was writing, Thomas Friedman was jazzercising to Cher and kept bleating, "Sooner or later, we all sleep alone."

Thomas Friedman strongly identifies with Cher. He feels they are both "dark beauties" who've had a lot to overcome. I don't know about that comparison. For one thing, when Cher wears one of those jaw dropping outfits, she's trying to shock you. Thomas Friedman, on the other hand, truly thinks those polyester suits from Sears, circa the late-seventies, are the height of fashion.

[TreasonousBastard]

17. It was good. Too bad...

the choir here insists on trashing the message because of the messenger.