My children have developed an obsession with a water-park. That wouldn't be so unusual if it weren't for the fact that my "children" are of the four-legged feline persuasion, and therefore, traditionally at least, are not supposed to like water. Of course the "water park" they are obsessed with is also a little unusual, it is the twin sinks in our master bedroom ensuite bathroom. They cannot get enough of the "fresh flowing" water coming from the tap. They lap it up voraciously, in shifts, the stand agog and amazed as they are absolutely obsessed with watching the water go down the drain. No, not the swirling vortex effect (aka the Coriolis effect, even though it is not actually Coriolis effect) though that may help attract their attention. No, it is simply that the water disappears never to be seen again as far as they are concerned. Water disappearing down the drainpipe is a truly magical human trick that continues to fascinate them endlessly.

For some reason, former Secretary of State, Colin Powell's appearance on television this morning brought this to mind again for me. The connection in my mind seems to be that even though Secretary Powell is no longer a member of the administration, he continues to judiciously tap-dance around translating "sectarian violence" in Iraq into his own invention, the magical and mysterious phenomenon of "communitarian violence" in Iraq. Having coined this term himself (as far as I know) he thus avoids the ordinary English language term he has already admitted applies, which is "civil war". It would, no doubt, be considered impolite hammering home by repeatedly bashing the Bush administration over the head with that more common expression, but it is beginning to look like nothing short of that will get the point through those thick skulls. Vice President Cheney called Donald Rumsfeld the best Secretary of Defense the country has ever had, during Rumsfeld's retirement ceremony. And in another feat of tap dancing worthy of Fred Astaire, Secretary Powell avoided Rumsfeld bashing too, by pointing out that numerous Secretaries of Defense have been outstanding including Casper Weinberger and Mr. Cheney, himself. I am not sure whether I should be admiring Mr. Secretary's diplomatic mode of speaking, having been chosen for the Secretary of State position because he is consummately diplomatic in his framing of an issue, or if I should simply be annoyed that now that he is distanced from the fray, he still cannot bring himself to use plain language to call the beast by name.

Last week's column pointed out that "pyrolysis" is just another name for "thermal depolymerization". One of the implications of this dual name is that the basic thermal depolymerization process supposedly patented by Changing World Technologies is, in fact, a pretty generalized category of processes that could involve other methodologies. Clearly, however, the direct liquid to liquid as the phase of input and output are concerned is an advantage, but let's not put too narrow a definition on that, because at 800 degrees Fahrenheit certainly no much of any of the substances would still be a liquid at atmospheric pressure. It is only that the pressure is held at very high levels that this isn't simply another "gasification" technique.