Laying both Evil and Love on the table...

Laying Both Evil and Love on the Table…

We let a lot slide past us. It seems that we can’t focus on the insipid side of life for very long. The gloomy parts make us too uncomfortable. It is a survival technique we have developed while throwing rotten bones out of our cave, running with firebrands as an entire herd galloped to their death over a cliff, or cutting down the last tree in the little vale we have made home for one last cooking fire. It is the justification for what we do, or don’t do, that I will discuss here.

In order to keep our sanity in a frightening and irrational world, we have learned to keep our perspectives a bit out of reach, a bit out of focus, so that responsibility doesn’t choke us into doing something rash, or rational, like caring enough to take a stand. Taking a stand today as it was in those days, can be very dangerous. Laughter was created as a pressure valve for what we could not control, and sometimes used in place of action. Tears helped too, for what out of control horror we experienced. Can you imagine what life must have been like before we incorporated moral value into our social consciousness? What makes us civil, is the attempt at managing the balance of right and wrong, and it goes back all the way to the Garden of Eden...

We all know that in just one generation our world is closing in upon itself. It is shrinking, as everything we do is becoming more and more significant. Pollution is taking its toll on all life forms, with hourly extinctions, and human overpopulation eats up resources far faster then they are being replenished. It seems that we barely care for tomorrow, as little or nothing is put back to stabilize it for the future. Few get involved, seek to make a positive contribution, or even attempt to understand the repercussions of our actions. We can manage to enjoy a glass of wine, watch a movie, hug our children, and not get caught up, for the same general reasons our ancestors did. It seems simple to most: Why should we when someone else will carry the load? It is just too much trouble to get involved, and we don’t want to stir up a bunch of problems, I might be labeled as some extremist liberal do-gooder. We will do anything to justify our noninvolvement. Eat, drink, and be merry, while right outside our realm of existence there may be horrors too vivid to focus on, like finding out that we have seven times more radiation in our atmosphere then before we started testing…

It would only take about a hundred nuclear bombs to destroy the earth entirely, but we have tens of thousands of warheads poised. We have the know-how to feed every person on earth, but there are estimates that a million people a year die of starvation, and more then a billion are grossly undernourished. Here in America, cancers grow along with our new sedentary life style, and with synthetically processed low quality foods we are becoming a nation of fat and physically lazy people. Compare you’re eighth grade class pictures with your child’s eighth grade class picture, and you will see what I mean.

In underdeveloped third world countries people are dying from disease easily cured for a generation here in North America, like the parasites of roundworm, hookworm, and whipworm. Leprosy and tuberculosis, yellow fever, polio, and measles go unvaccinated and even more simply cured diseases like whooping cough, diphtheria, and tetanus kills millions upon millions of children every year. I hear some say this is a form of birth control. If you do, shame on you.

Here, more children are born out of wedlock then ever before in recorded history, and the breakdown of the family unit is causing many of our social ills. Violent crime, and the use of drugs and addictions in its many forms are symptoms of an ailing society. Irresponsibility for our actions in a nation where freedom is understood to mean socialism, or the fair balance of production distribution by a welfare system that gives peanuts in exchange for pride, for three generations.

Here, our classrooms tend to isolate our children from the real world. They are given little or no responsibilities, and few see themselves in relation to what is out there. Incompetence is expected because most teachers have their hands tied. The system has no clue what demands this “New World” will place on their wards. Those teachers who do are trapped in an outdated bureaucracy, and both low recompense and blatant lack of insight squelch the motivation for change. Classes, like world history, economics, algebra, and English literature, are taught to be separate from each other, and its overall significance and effect to their lives overlooked. Consequence and motivation should be taught first, not in hindsight! The same points are instructed over and over again for twelve years, or more, because it’s intangible irrelevance to the student’s life just doesn’t fuse!

In our society, more often then not, it is whom you know and not what you know that gets you ahead. Betrayal of a spouse is common place, and divorce is easy. Those who have been convicted of murder, rape, child molestation, and any number of hanus crimes can become a millionaire in the confines of prison by having their thoughts published by a ghostwriter.

Abortion, even partial birth abortion, is practiced as an easy out, thwarting responsibility. According to Spencer Johnson M.D., more then one hundred million lawsuits are filed each year. Even when the individual is in the wrong, some get very rich. Like parasites, they take from the ethical economic potency that makes this country strong. Values that have held our society together, was once the backbone of out nation. They were developed, tried and true over generations, but are now discarded as frivolous and outdated; replaced by new age ethnic and skin-headed violent meaninglessness. When one tears down establishment as subjective and relative, life becomes worthless in the process. For a few dollars, a credit card, a handful of pills, or just a pair of tennis shoes, a person’s entire life can be forfeited to a drug addict.

There is a paradoxical commitment, a freedom if you will, that can triumph over these walls we hide behind. We feel safe, but just the opposite is true. They lock us in, and we are slaves to a world moving fast and without foundation. It can free us, and the answer is indeed so beautifully unpretentious, so overstated, that we tend to reduce its importance. It is called, in a nutshell, pure and simple …love. It unlocks the gate, and frees the spirit. With love in your hearts, a whole new insight presents itself. Suddenly, those you once perceived as enemies, are tolerated and understood, and you are free of the hate-full clutches that held your heart in check, and tainted and controlled your feelings. With love, what you have lost will be built again…

My answers are not yours. Not entirely. Each life has a reality all its own, and answers developed by experiences special to that life alone. However, one thing is universal. One point unifies us all into the single common ground that is humanity. Love. Embrace it. You will be untiring, directed, and its volition will promote you and guide you along the way as nothing else will. It is the one true purpose, and is the best reason for being…

Love is unselfish, constant, and delights us with something nothing else can …joy. It will fill us with hope, and a newfound strength that can not be broken. With love in our hearts, for ourselves, and the world, we have wings that will take us higher and farther then we ever thought possible, and the problems that once plagued us no longer have meaning. Our spirits will grow in the bounty of its light, and peace will fill us with the knowledge of its goodness. We will see the ties that bind us to this beautiful earth, and we will become one with it. With love, this powerful insight will catapult you forward without fear, and obstacles will part for you to pass, because you will know where you are going.

Alternatives, and the growing energy demand...

Alternatives, and the growing energy demand…
2008

Agricultural lobbyists have been working overtime giving away yellow t-shirts. They want to take a part of the action from the oil and gas industry, with guarantees to make us more independent of imports. In their corner is a product called Ethanol, made from good old USA corn. Sure enough, Ethanol is a promising contender to other alternative energy sources, including Methanol, Compressed Natural Gas, Biodiesel, and Hydrogen fuel cells. Ethanol was probably in the mind of President Bush when he spoke of alternative fuels in his address last February, and though it looks to be at the head of the class, there is still a lot to consider, especially over the long term.

One amazing statistic is that one acre of corn can produce about 300 US gallons of ethanol annually. America uses 200 billion gallons of a wide assortment of petroleum products every year, a staggering amount. To compensate, American farmers would have to dedicate 71 percent of our nation’s farm land for the growing of corn. This makes it clear that corn-ethanol will not kick fossil fuels out of the ball park any time soon, but it’s a start. To make a real dent, all alternative fuels will have to be considered.

Ethanol is grain alcohol, or ethyl alcohol. Just like hooch, almost all ethanol is made from grain. Corn is just one alternative, as anything of a cellulous base could be used including rice that is utilized to make Sake, or sugar cane for the making of rum. We have a grand supply of both here in Louisiana. We should be going after a bit of that action, and here’s why. According to this month’s Popular Mechanics, The Renewable Fuels Association is stating that the 95 existing ethanol refineries have produced more than 4.3 billion gallons of ethanol in 2005, and there is proposed an additional 40 more refineries stepping up to the plate. In the next 18 months it is projected that they will produce 6.3 billion gallons, a mere three percent of our total US consumption. Room for growth? You bet, but let’s take a bit of a look at the contenders.

Methanol is methyl alcohol, or wood alcohol. At this time almost all Methanol is a byproduct of Natural Gas, but it can be produced from a wide variety of sources from coal or biogas that is fermented organic matter. Even sewage and various manures can be used. It is an expensive distillation process at this time, and using methanol from Natural Gas still increases CO2, the main component to the greenhouse effect, and global warming. Interestingly, there may be use yet for the plants here in the south that are causing havoc on indigenous ecosystems, like the various South American water plants choking our waterways, and that Chinese vine strangling our Mississippi forests. Perhaps this would be a good potential for them.

Natural Gas can be used in some forms of internal combustion engines, as compressed natural gas, or CNG. Natural gas is a petroleum product extracted underground by drilling. The methane part is the majority of the distillate pie, with butane and propane taking up the rest. Distillation is necessary to rid the gas of contaminates. The Honda Civic GX is the only car in America that can use CNG. Honda states the exhaust is cleaner than air from some heavily polluted areas. Makes you think.

As close as I am to the oil industry, I can’t tell if the price of oil is based on supply and demand, or coercion. There is no doubt that growing world needs like China moving from a bicycle society to a moped society, taps into this finite resource. Demand for natural gas is growing primarily from its use in generating electricity. Oilmen agree that domestic natural gas will not keep up with demand, and the US needs to have access to the worlds abundant supplies, imported in the form of LNG, or Liquefied Natural Gas. Converted to a liquid state by cooling, natural gas is greatly reduced in volume, making it very economical to ship.

When I first got in the business 27 years ago, we flared nearly all natural gas, and saw Mexico light up the gulf from the first pictures taken in space. That’s all about to change. A new terminal in Cheniere, Louisiana, will be on line soon called Liquefied Natural Gas, LNG is the ticker symbol. They will be able to accept natural gas that has been chilled to a liquid and bring it back to its natural state for transport in pipelines.

Biodiesel is actually diesel made from oils other than petroleum. Extraction comes mostly from sources like vegetable oil, or even chicken fat. This would be an excellent way to recycle our old fry oils which costs a lot to dispose of. The first display of what diesel could do was at the 1900 Paris World Exposition where Rudolf Diesel ran an engine on refined peanut oil. Processing is called transesterification where contaminants such as glycerin are extracted.

Diesel engines don’t use a spark plug for ignition. High compression in the cylinder raises the temperature high enough for ignition, which makes it more efficient and tolerant of various sources of fuel. Biodiesel and Petrodiesel have virtually the same BTU burn, between 120,000 and 130,000. Unfortuanately, at this time the process to make Biodiesel is about a dollar more than Petro. Give it some time. Either the cost of gas will rise, or Biodiesel will fall. The future will someday merge.

A most exciting alternative is Hydrogen. When finally we develop hydrogen fuel cells and an internal combustion engine to go with it, we will at last be able to make a dent in fossil fuel dependence. Skies will turn blue, our cheeks rosy, and our 120 years of lead poisoning will be a bad dream explained in history books.

Extracting hydrogen is as easy as running a current through water, but not yet cost effective. Oxygen is a byproduct too, and we can always find a use for that! But let’s not put the cart before the horse, as experts say it may be 15 or more years before an efficient hydrogen fuel cell will be completed, and car companies are working on an engine. Note* I remember reading about oil companies, or the government, buying newly invented fuel cells forty years ago, and though I wouldn’t doubt it a bit, it has never been proven. Fact is, hydrogen would be the ultimate fuel source where one could use his garden hose, or even his old cup of coffee to fill his tank, and it would last for months. Emissions would be oxygen and water. Wow!

These alternatives have a long road ahead going toe to toe with Petroleum. As demand goes up and sources go down, new varieties will have to be found. It is exciting times, and we will soon see some wonderful breakthroughs that hold the promise for changing our lives, and the world, in a positive way. One thing is certain; it will be a complicated state of affairs with failure and success at every turn. Alternative fuels will chip away at Petroleum for a hundred or more years, and probably never completely replace it, but the quality of our children’s lives will improve in ways we can’t yet fathom, at least that is the game plan. It has always been this way; our imagination is the only thing holding us back.

High Crude Oil Prices: quick reference summation
1) Restricted and competitive world supplies.
a) Political instability in oil rich nations like Nigeria and Venezuela.
b) OPEC’s valve is wide open. Saudi now producing 50/50 oil/saltwater. No longer has control over world supply.
c) Low European inventories and escalating prices.
2) Strong global demand like China and India.
3) High transportation rates across the board, both internationally and domestically.
4) Record refinery production but constrained capacity growth by both government restrictions and hurricane damage.
5) Political, like “Not in my backyard,” attitudes from states like Florida and California.
6) Low reported rate of return for refineries.
7) Strong demand growth. (Supply not keeping up with demand.)
a) Growing US economy.
b) Large car growth.
8) Environmental: New government mandated specifications.
9) Government specifications on fuel.

Big Brother in 2007

Big Brother in 2007

I remember when the book 1984 was required reading in High School. At university it was discussed and mentioned many times to make a point: that the masses can be controlled both physically and mentally.

The kids in my neighborhood haven’t even heard of it, and that concerns me. Who is big brother, how can you recognize him, and why has he been forgotten?

Know first off that mind control exists, and in the sixties and seventies this consideration seemed very important, especially after what we saw in Nazi Germany. “Big Brother” was real…

It is a given that television, and the media at large, promotes agendas, their specific agendas, with money as the primary guiding force. There are enough people around to support the most graphic violence, and the most sadistic of sex. Why it is so difficult to counter? It sells.

So twisted are mainstream thoughts that kids might be allowed to watch a woman shot in her breasts, but not be allowed to watch her have sex.

Movies like “Sin City,” “Kill Bill,” and the new blockbuster hit “300” is a testament to a new kind of ultra violence, so well orquestrated and received. Based in reality? Surely, someone must have ridden a rhinoceros into battle at least once?

No, they are hits because they are entertaining to the masses. They enlist that perverse violent/sexual nature found deep in man. It is the reason “The American Way” was left out of Superman, it just didn’t promote well overseas. They gave up America for the almighty buck!

Black men drinking in wild-west bars, straddling cowgirls in blue jeans, quick draw Sherriff’s, and “Sundance” heroes, have nothing to do with reality, or history, but promotion of an idea. Big Brother is good with ideas, and though they may seem both imaginative and original, their primary use is to sell, an action figure, a t-shirt, an idea.

Big Brother blinds us from remembering where we came from, with uncertainty of what we are becoming. Metro-sexual men with no clear rite of passage grapple with the ambiguity of who they are, and women, once strong and amoral, submit to the allure of a Big Brother pitch without questioning why. Both find the other confusing and adversarial, and the reason 50 percent of marriages hit a wall.

It isn’t in vogue to mention that only Love can see us through. If our motives aren’t inspired by Love, they just aren’t very worthy. Oh Brother, what a concept!