<div>Actually, the idea of large scale high tech use of animals to solve food and/or energy crises is seriously proposed by futurists. The excellent Swedish environmental documentary "The Planet," which outlines at one point four possible futures for humanity (Star Trek, Mad Max, Ecotopia, and Big Government), presents the idea of "pig skyscrapers" (a "Star Trek" high tech solution) that would produce large amounts of food and energy (pig manure), built on the entrance to the harbor in Amsterdam. They show animation of tall skyscrapers housing pigs as this plan is discussed by a futurist.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>This environmental documentary is one of the best (if not the best) I have seen. Many of the worlds leading environmentalists, researchers and scientists are interviewed. I like it better than Gore's "Inconvenient Truth," the Leonardo DiCaprio narrated "11th Hour," and CNN's "Planet In Peril" series. YouTube presents some excerpts (URL lower down), but I'm not sure the entire documentary is offered. There is another source offered below that might provide downloads of the entire documentary. LinkTV ran "The Planet" numerous times. I attempted to purchase a hard copy, but I have not found a source on DVD, VHS, Blu-ray or...</div>
<div> </div>
<div><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Planet">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Planet</a></div>
<div> </div>
<div>The TV adaptation consists of four episodes of 50-60 minutes:</div>
<ul>
<li>Part 1: The Earth System
<li>Part 2: Nature's Resources
<li>Part 3: Humankind and Nature
<li>Part 4: Choices and Consequences </li></li></li></li></ul>
<div>--------------</div>
<div>This URL below offers downloads (which I did not even bother to try with dial-up) of "The Planet." It appears there are different versions of the documentary:</div>
<div> </div>
<div><a href="http://svt.se/svt/jsp/Crosslink.jsp?d=59430&lid=puff_941543&lpos=lasMer">http://svt.se/svt/jsp/Crosslink.jsp?d=59430&lid=puff_941543&lpos=lasMer</a></div>
<div>---------------</div>
<div> </div>
<div>YouTube excerpts of "The Planet:"</div>
<div> </div>
<div><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6d15msvjbk">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6d15msvjbk</a></div>
<div>---------------</div>
<div>Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett<br><br> </div>
<div><span class="gmail_quote">On 12/27/08, <b class="gmail_sendername">Robert Dickow</b> <<a href="mailto:dickow@turbonet.com">dickow@turbonet.com</a>> wrote:</span>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid">Wow, this temp data was pretty detailed. My question is, is this a good time<br>to buy some nice holiday beach-front properties on the shores of Baffin<br>
Island?<br><br>Anyway, I think I have a possible solution to the energy crisis, and I'm<br>looking for venture capital:<br><br>Gerbils.<br><br>Yes, you read that right. Gerbils. Ever notice how they spend a lot of time<br>
running at top speed in those little wire wheels? So, why not hook them up<br>to turbines and generate some electricity? Yes, there are advantages as well<br>as technical problems, which I'll address here:<br><br>Advantages:<br>
<br>(1) Cheap, quiet, renewable and secure power source. They breed like<br>mad, so when one gets exhausted, just throw it away.<br>(2) Secure. Their aggressive biting tendencies will discourage terrorist<br>threats against our vulnerable national resources.<br>
(3) Low pollution. They mostly only produce little teeny poops that can<br>be composted and sold. I'm not even sure if they ever pee.<br>(4) Low fuel requirements. No coal needed!! For fuel they only require<br>
inexpensive seeds, roots, and berries, and things along that line.<br>(5) They are really cute, and so the power plants could also attract the<br>tourist trade, generating further income.<br><br>Disadvantages:<br><br>
(1). They only spin for a couple of minutes at a time:<br> This issue implies the need for huge numbers of gerbils.<br>Large power plants with several million gerbils may be required. However,<br>after selectively breeding, we can develop a line of gerbils that are<br>
bigger, more powerful power workers. We can develop a line of gerbils with<br>chronic ADHD, for example, maximizing power generation.<br><br>As you can see, the advantages far outway (sic) the disadvantages. I'm<br>surprised no one else has thought of this. Anyway, I'm inviting potential<br>
investors to get in touch. There are more good things in store for the<br>future; I'm developing an idea to use beavers to work in the timber<br>industry, which will be a boon to Idaho's economy, so stay tuned.<br>
<br>Bob Dickow, troublemaker<br><br>Happy Holidays!<br><br>2008 temperature summaries and spin<br>Filed under:<br>. Instrumental Record<br>. Climate Science<br>- gavin @ 1:56 PM<br>The great thing about complex data is that one can basically come up with<br>
any number of headlines describing it - all of which can be literally true -<br>but that give very different impressions. Thus we are sure <snip><br><br>=======================================================<br>List services made available by First Step Internet,<br>
serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.<br> <a href="http://www.fsr.net">http://www.fsr.net</a><br> mailto:<a href="mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com">Vision2020@moscow.com</a><br>=======================================================<br>
</blockquote></div><br>