Comments on: 5 Things I Didn’t Know Last Week

By: SusyQ

SusyQ — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 03:32:49 +0000

4. A major reason that US children who blind or visually-impaired from birth can’t read braille is that they aren’t taught to read braille. Blind children who are taught properly can learn to read braille in kindergarten or first grade just as sighted children can learn to read print at the same age.

Why aren’t they taught braille? A big reason is the expense of braille materials. (In other words, schools attempt to persuade parents to choose a less expensive alternative such as listening or — in the case of children who aren’t completely blind — reading using a CCTV.)

Why are braille materials expensive? The expense is primarily in converting print to braille, not in embossing. It should be possible to develop software to fully automate the conversion process. However the market for such software is too small for any new development to be a commercial success.

By: Dave

Dave — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 22:54:35 +0000

You say “Biodiesel is bad for the environment”, but that type of statement is not sufficiently specific, and fails to promote clear thinking. What you should say is “Biodiesal-related raw materials produced in third-world countries to satisfy an uninformed market demand is harmful to the environment”. (And is therefore inconsistent with the goals of most of the real alternative fuel enthusiast.)

People also say things like “Ethanol is bad, it takes more energy to make than it gives back as a fuel”, and this is also an irresponsible stand to take. While it is certainly the case that our country’s corn-ethanol subsidies are for the most part misconceived, and that existing agri-businesses tend to pursue production in ways that ignore efficiency for the sake of short-term profits, it is those companies and their methods that should be criticized, and not the general idea of trying to create a healthier market for renewable fuels.

By: Dolan Halbrook

Dolan Halbrook — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 16:15:45 +0000

I think it might be better to just specify “biofuels” in general instead of Biodiesel in particular.

By: Gordon Weakliem

Gordon Weakliem — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 15:37:36 +0000

There’s also the point that given modern farming techniques, it takes a great deal of energy to produce crops for biodiesel, so it’s not necessarily especially energy efficient.

I saw your Amazon ads had Robert Sullivan’s “The Meadowlands” - that’s a great and somewhat depressing book. If you haven’t read it, I’m guessing you’d enjoy it.