"In the time of Henry Luce, information wasn't dispersed as quickly. Now, everyone has turned into a news reporter," said Harold Vogel, president of Vogel Capital Management in New York.

[This is two posts posing as one. The first is an unfortunate update on the travails of pigoline's inventor. The second is a message to the blogging community: No matter how much you type, you are not journalists if you do not make phone calls.]

Vogel's comment to the Washington Post is incorrect. Very few people have turned into news reporters. Take the case of Dean Gokel.

I reported in October that Gokel, the former NASCAR fuel guru, had invented a proprietary technology that converts hog or poultry waste into 110 octane gasoline. I could not personally confirm the technology--I did not witness it--but I did speak with a number of people who saw Gokel demonstrate the project, including an EPA scientist and a chemist from a leading environmental group.

"Pigoline" has taken off since then, but not in any way that Gokel might have hoped....

Several weeks after the Philoneist story, his lab exploded, leaving the trailer that housed it, well, just look at the picture. Gokel had just shown the technology to a representative of Big Dutchman, the top poultry-farm equipment maker.

After the demonstration, Gokel, the B.D. rep and a couple of others were standing several hundred yards away from the trailer, talking, when for unknown reasons, it blew. Gokel hadn't meant to invent a way to make rocket fuel, but ended up doing so. Opinions vary on what might have caused the blast but the few who saw it describe it identically:

The waste-to-gas generator dropped through the floor of the trailer, blowing it to the smithereens pictured above. The energy then launched the entire biostill unit nearly straight up into the air, at about an 86 or 87 degree angle. That's nearly straight up. So you would expect the 150-pound unit to land close to where it took off. Uh-uh. It went so high that it landed 80 yards away. Someone out there is welcome to work out the high-school physics math to determine the peak height.

When the apparatus landed, so too did Gokel's ambitions to scale up his lab, at least for the forseeable future. In early January, he declared personal bankruptcy, possibly unable to keep his house, let alone re-build the lab.

The technology has impressed the people I talked to who have seen it. Here is an e-mail Dean claims to have received from the Big Dutchman contact:

"I am enthusiastic that you - with your method - are in the position to transform hog manure into bio diesel and other carbohydrate compounds. Your reactor and your technique is great and almost too good to be true. Also the insignificant amount of energy involved for production of the fuel was impressive.

"There is a very important question we have: how many percent of the hog manure (pure hog manure as it get out of the house) can be transformed into bio diesel or into other products of the list of the easy-to-make-possibilities?

"This is a decisive question as I have found out that there is a chemist in Germany who has developed a method with which however only 10 % of the quantity applied can be utilized.

"After our visit, [Name Withheld 1] told me one more time that thanks to your method you can transform approx. 94 % of the hog manure applied into carbohydrate compounds...

"Have I understood you right that this transformation process needs an amount of energy involved of about 17 USD/1,000 gal?

"In case I have understood everything right, I do see lots of chances in the agricultural field thanks to the possibilities Big Dutchman has worldwide."

First, Gokel needs investors to build his lab back, and is not finding generous support from interested contact. Here's what Gokel told me:

"There are people who are actively trying to keep Big D[utchman] and others from moving forward with me. The list of people trying to stop me is far longer than the list who is helping... The delays that have been forced on me, by actual threats and threats of law suits have had their desired results. On January 9, 2007, I filed bankruptcy liquidating all my personal and corporate assets. Believe it or not people are FIGHTING for possession of MY brain, through forced asset sale ([Name Withheld 1] wants a judge to order me to release my secrets to him).

"I have not written down what makes my system work, no notes, no design stuff. [Name Withheld 1] is actually trying to Sue many companies to pirate my technology from me. He has sent threats of litigation to Ohio Fresh Eggs, [three names withheld] and myself, along with two other firms, if we attempt to even have a discussion about my technology. Friday, [Name Withheld 1] met with [us]. [N.W.] threatened separate suits, he also threatened me NOT take any job, he would stop any attempt. I stated that was extortion and he could not deny me my right to become gainfully employed... [N.W. 1] has already sent Me a demand to GIVE him my technology. He has shown his attorney a false document with my name forged on it. Get this: he is trying to convince ALL that I just GAVE MY technology to him FOR FREE. Guess I was being a real saint!...

"Then they demand to know all my secrets. Then they do anything to acquire it. [Name Withheld 2] was seen leaving the reactor trailer seconds before it blew up. [Name Withheld 1] has threatened my life, my family and has sent "legal threat" letters to many. BOTH men have and will continue to try to take over my brain, even though they both will not BUY the technology.

"I have come to the conclusion that NO NEW ENERGY source will be allowed to become "real". Too much is lost in pet projects, too much is lost in current industry... At this point I am sure that somebody will have me killed if I push Waste Elimination Biostill program any further. The intimidation did not work, financial collapse did not work, physical threats did not work, spys following my wife and child did not work, threats of legal action did not work, THEY ONLY HAVE ONE MORE CHOICE, to kill me. That threat has been made..."

So, Gokel believes people are trying to kill him so that he'll give them his technology. I spoke with Name Withheld #2, who corroborated the details of the explosion.

What about the bloggers?

After the October Philoneist piece ran, many sites picked up the story, several commenting on Dean's invention and its potential. Some of the posts were positive, some were negative. Gokel says that none of the bloggers he contacted messaged him or called him. That wasn't surprising to me, because I do not think bloggers are journalists. This two-part saga on Philoneist I will admit as half-journalism. I'm corroborrating information independently, but not pursuing the story. (I'm writing a book for goodness sakes.)

It might be surprising to bloggers to know that journalism is basically the practice of calling people and asking them questions. Dean has provided me his phone numbers, 919-957-9785 or 919-604-3433. Bloggers who would like to become journalists might, as a first step, call him and talk to him. Step two is calling as many other people as possible to determine if Dean is correct, or what the story is exactly. Once you have talked to 20 people, you should have enough to understand what the story is, if there is any. Go to it, blogger-journalists!