| The Other Women to Watch
Grain prices have reached record highs and oil prices are flirting with $100 a barrel. At first blush, this could seem daunting, but Ms. Woertz sees opportunity. The high oil prices mean the world is more conscious about energy security, Ms. Woertz says. That translates into greater demand for corn-based ethanol and soy-based biodiesel -- both key products that ADM makes. And while the higher grain prices have cut into biofuel's profitability, it has prompted farmers to plant more acreage, which means more grain to handle and ship across the Corn Belt and overseas. But with more mouths to feed as the population grows, there are growing worries about the long-term sustainability of farming for fuel instead of food. Ms. Woertz envisions expanding ADM's biofuels production beyond corn and beans.
Don't drink if you want to be merry
As Dolan Cummings argued in a recent essay, when smokers say they welcome the ban on public smoking because it will help them quit, they 'express a peculiar sort of resolution: one which they claim to be incapable of exercising without external compulsion. By banning smoking in pubs, we collectively save ourselves from temptation.' (5) An Australian business venture provides a startling illustration of this increasing rejection of personal responsibility. In 2004, Virgin Mobile responded to an apparent Aussie epidemic of embarrassing drunken calls to exes and colleagues. Their service allowed customers, before drinking, to dial '333' followed by the number they wanted to avoid 'drunk dialling'. For 25 cents, attempts to phone blacklisted numbers initiate a message: 'This call cannot be connected; this is for your own good.' Psychologist John McIlroy believed 'it could come in handy for Americans who know themselves well enough to not have self-control over their impulses' (6).
WEB EXTRA: Entire text of Gov. Ted Strickland's State of the State ...
Speaker Husted, President Harris, Leader Beatty and Leader Miller, Lt. Governor Fisher, statewide elected officials, members of the Cabinet, members of the General Assembly and the Supreme Court, distinguished guests, First Lady Frances Strickland, and my fellow Ohioans. Last month, Ohio soldiers answered the call of duty in the largest single deployment of the Ohio National Guard since World War II. .
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