The Franco Files

Known for their mistrust of banks, the French are not just stuffing money into mattresses in these anxious days of recession and minuscule interest rates, they are also putting their hard cash into cows.

For Pierre Marguerit, cows make a safe, secure investment, allowing for long-term growth from a renewable resource. Cow contracts are hardly new, but go back to Richard Cœur de Lion (Richard I).  The French word for livestock, “cheptel,” is the root for “capital.”

These are not literally cash cows. However, Mr. Marguerit says his investment in Holsteins will bring a 4 to 5 percent return a year after taxes, based on natural growth, i.e. the sale of their offspring. That compares to the present interest rate of 0.75% on the basic French bank account.

Mr. Marguerit says that last year his business went up by 40 percent, and so far this year, it has practically doubled.  He is the managing director of Élevage et Patrimoine, a cattle investment firm in eastern France, and president of Gestel, which works with farmers and investors.

One day France may be not the only place where you see people driving around with chickens in the back of their vehicles.

Scientists in Delaware, USA, have discovered a remarkable, unexpected and inexpensive way to store hydrogen fuel– using carbonized chicken feather fibres.

The question of storing hydrogen as fuel has traditionally been a enigmatic and expensive dilema. For example, a car with a 75 litre hydrogen storage tank made from carbon nanotubes or metal hydrides– currently two of the best ideas – would add $5.5 million or $30k respectively to the cost of that vehicle.

A storage tank made from carbonized chicken feathers, however, would only increase the cost by a mere $200. The green bio-material would also help to resolve the problem on how to dispose the 2.7 billion kilograms of chicken feathers generated each year by commercial poultry production.

My long standing friend, Richard Avon, has written a post on his blog entitled “How I Tackled Prostate Cancer”.

Richard has bypassed conventional medical treatments for his newly discovered prostate cancer and, having conducted his own research into all the available allopathic options, ventured into the more promising areas of alternative medicine to find answers. It seems he has had considerable success, as you will find when you read his blog.