What does ice cream and natural gas have in common?

Believe it or not a small bean.


Which is used in this

and this

likely picked by her and thousand of people like her

The guar bean grown in the northern India state of Rajasthan is now a key element in the chemical cocktail used to frack wells, the technology that has prompted the oil and gas boom sweeping across North America and is set to spur a worldwide boost in oil and gas recovery. Read the rest at Oil Price.com

The good news for the farmer (hopefully and not all the middlemen) is the price of the guar bean has gone up, $4 to $30 per Kilo, expect your Ice cream habit to cost more soon!

Afghanistan: the march of folly

An Indian view on the current course of NATO. Interesting read I agree with some of it, but not all.

In their anxiety to end the war in Afghanistan, London and Washington seem poised to compound their earlier follies, and make way for the induction of the Taliban in Kabul.

The United States is in the process of committing a historical blunder with grave consequences for not only Afghanistan but also the regions surrounding it. President Barack Obama's decision to begin withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan in 2011 is understandable: the long and costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have taxed the patience of the Americans, and the President himself must start planning his campaign for the second term. But it is the manner of the planned exit and its consequences that cause worry.

More here

via http://unambig.com/