MadRegale

“In the case of BPA, the market for hard-plastic baby and sport bottles collapsed suddenly this spring because of a hard-hitting campaign against the chemical by activist groups, concerned scientists, politicians, and trial lawyers. They spread fears about BPA that eventually convinced nervous retailers to turn away from children’s products containing the chemical. As an expert in crisis PR noted, wryly, “Wal-Mart is the new FDA.”

How Wal-Mart Became the New FDA

“If you open a citizen reporter account, you will be able to enjoy full control over your articles. After submitting your registration details with OhmyNews for confirmation by our staff, you will find your very own reporter’s desk where you can keep track of readers’ reactions in real time. This includes the number of people who’ve read your stories and their comments, and the amount of money you earned.
OhmyNews International editors will read through your submitted stories, fact-checking them and editing for style, making them more polished for your readers. Your story didn’t make it to the main page? Don’t worry. it will remain in the database and viewable to all as a ‘Saengnamu’ article.”

OhmyNews International

I’m going to be watching OhmyNews for citizen reportage on the Olympics.

“One such terminal is the Lomita Rail Terminal in Carson, Calif., owned by U.S. Development Corporation. Inaugurated in August 2003, Lomita is a huge facility capable of unloading 95- car ethanol unit trains in 24 hours. It is connected by pipeline to a blending facility that is part of a nearby Shell Oil receiving station for petroleum tankers, and is capable of meeting the ethanol demand for the entire Los Angeles Basin. Other terminals have been built in Albany, N.Y., Chicago and other major transportation hubs.”

http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/rbs/pub/sep06/keep.htm

“Dry-cleaning businesses are the latest victims of record oil prices, going out of business at the fastest rate since the 1960s. From the dramatic increase in the cost of the chemical solvents, to the running costs of the dry-cleaning machines and steam presses, to the plastic coat hangers and suit covers, everything has become much more expensive. It seems dry-cleaners, many of which are family owned, will face their most severe test in history this year.”

Business, Power and Deals – Executive Suite blog – NYTimes.com

I need to put togehter a list of oil-linked smaller industries. Probably a gold mine of stories in there.

“Convinced that qualified listeners would agree when singing is beautiful, Robison directed a social-science experiment in 1993 that recorded a group of classically trained baritones and a group of female pop-belt singers. A panel of internationally noted voice teachers and voice scientists and a control panel of classical-voice connoisseurs then reviewed the recordings, scoring each singer’s vocal beauty. The 13 judges were in substantial agreement on the singers’ relative beauty rankings. Returning to the recorded samples, Robison and research colleague Barry U. Bounous, ‘85, also a BYU voice instructor, were then able to confirm the qualities beautiful voices have in common—continuing presence and evenness of vibrato, balance of both bright and dark resonances, and cleanness (singing that has no out-of-tune overtones).”

The Science of Singing

“Classically trained sopranos also make use of a technique called “resonance tuning” to intensify the vibrations of the vocal folds and increase the power of the voice. The vocal tract—the “pipe” between the voice box and the mouth—has a series of resonance frequencies: R1, R2, R3, et cetera. Harmonics that fall at or near these resonance frequencies are most efficiently radiated as sound.”

Why can an opera singer be heard over the much louder orchestra?: Scientific American

“Still, the world’s largest phosphate mine is at Bou Kra, in the Western Sahara. It is connected to the port of El-Aai’n by a 150-kilometre long conveyor belt, the world’s longest. And the world relies on what passes down that conveyor belt to feed itself.”

New Scientist Environment Blog: Fred’s Footprint: Treasure in the desert

150 kilometer long conveyor belt? The Oil Drum wonders if it’s a terrorist target. Why not make it into a tourist site? Roadtripping college juniors would surely detour through the Western Sahara to see the *world’s longest conveyor belt*. Come to think of it, so would I.