The post about ethanol being made mostly from pork was supposed to be a joke, but one part-owner of an ethanol plant wrote in quite seriously to protest that no animals were hurt in ethanol production. Several others, with less material interest in the question, emailed to say that they thought I was factually wrong.
Yes indeed, ethanol is made from corn, not from pigs.
But the ethanol industry, hopelessly uneconomic and environtmentally detrimental, has no raison d’etre except as a means of funelling taxpayer dollars into the pockets of farmers and processors. It is sustained politically by the belief of people in Iowa and elsewhere in the cornbelt that it produces jobs in their states.
That is the classic definition of “pork-barrel politics,” or “pork” for short. And in my book it’s not kosher.
Well, what are you snickering at? I suppose you never told a joke that fell completely flat?