Facts, opinions and brainwashing

I recently had a response to one of my political emails from one of the more liberal members of my extended family. Their words are brief—a typical liberal sound byte—aimed at just a few words, “America’s enemies” and “brainwashed,” among the several paragraphs of thoughtful commentary. I will list the resulting exchange in oldest first order.

*****************************************
Hi all:

I’ll bet you don’t know I’m a member of moveon.org. Well, why not? That way I can know what America’s enemies are saying and planning. It also tells me what line the news media and liberal Democrat politicians are going to use before they use it. Recently I received an email right up my alley since it talks about oil, drilling and alternative energy. I can’t believe people actually believe this stuff. Here’s the email along with my commentary in italics.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear MoveOn member,

Last month, conservatives led by Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh sent over a million messages to Congress calling for offshore oil drilling. Then John McCain joined the push for drilling. Now he's running ads saying Obama's responsible for high gas prices, because Obama's energy plan focuses on alternative energy not drilling.

That’s mostly true except for the twist at the end. Obama’s energy plan focuses on preventing as much drilling, pumping, refining and delivery of domestic petroleum and petroleum products as possible in order to force us into alternative energy regardless of the cost to Americans and to our economy. His plan just incidently includes unspecified alternative energy, but mostly calls for cut backs in energy use—conservation he calls it. McCain's plan provides for price relief at the pump while encouraging the private sector to develop practical and cost effective alternative energy. This is a positive, creative approach compared with Obama's regressive one.

It's a scam. Offshore drilling won't save any money at the pumps for years (although it will boost oil company profits). But some senior Democrats are showing signs of caving under all this pressure and polls show McCain's attacks may be hurting Obama.

The scam is Obama’s and moveon.org’s foolish statements like that one. The mere threat of offshore drilling after Bush signed the executive order resulted in a rapid drop in world petroleum prices to around $120 a barrel and a corresponding drop in gas prices at the pump of more than thirty cents a gallon in just a few weeks. That reality sure puts the lie to their words. Americans are still able to read the prices at their local filling stations and actually know this is happening.

Here's the truth: Right now, progressives are losing this argument. (Naturally! Because it’s false!) We all need to fight back. If we don't, we could end up losing the election AND the fight for clean energy. Substitute the word “expensive” for their “clean” and their statement is true.

We've got a simple, powerful new ad that tells the truth about the Republicans' drilling scam. Will you check it out, and chip in $25 to help get it on the air right away?

Go ahead and watch the ad. Then take a look at the gas prices at your local gas station and see if they’re telling the truth. No amount of lies can change an every-day reality we can all see.

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3996&id=13372-9724911-hmXEUhx&t=4 Mostly this web site is a plea for money. Not much real information.

McCain is so focused on drilling because he knows people are anxious enough about energy costs to make this the issue of the 2008 elections. When you're worried about how you're going to afford the drive to work, or how you're going to get your kids to school, and you have no other short-term options you'll be open to anything that might help. McCain is preying on that anxiety by offering offshore drilling as a quick fix. That last sentence should read, “McCain is answering that anxiety by offering offshore drilling as a shot in the arm to ease our pain at the pump while encouraging alternative energy research and development for the long range. It’s certainly no quick fix.”

Offshore drilling won't fix gas prices or our dependence on foreign oil. There simply isn't enough oil offshore or in the Arctic, and it will take up to a decade to get what little is there. Even then, we would only save 3 or 4 cents a gallon! That’s a pathetically untrue statement when we can all see that just the threat of renewed off shore drilling by American oil companies has already resulted in a 30 cents per gallon savings. Who are they trying to fool? I know that few Americans understand commodity futures markets, but those moveon.org geniuses certainly should. That price drop was fully predictable in the futures world where oil prices and thus gasoline are determined. They just can’t be so stupid they don’t understand that.

Offshore drilling is a gimmick but it will be the gimmick that works for John McCain if we don't push back now. Our new ad has a regular-looking guy telling the truth straight into the camera. Isn't that the best thing for people to hear right now? That “regular looking” guy has to be kidding! Maybe he just has been cooped up so long with his moveon buddies he hasn’t seen what’s already happening to gas prices at the pump.

If you can, contribute to help get the ad up in more cities so more people see McCain's drilling gimmick for what it is:

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3996&id=13372-9724911-hmXEUhx&t=5

The only gimmick I see is that foolish little charade on Youtube. I suppose there are some who are so brainwashed with the left’s propaganda they believe it lock, stock, and barrel in spite of all the actual realities to the contrary.

Thank you for all you do.

Noah, Ilyse, Laura, Andrea and the rest of the team

Sources:

"Will More Drilling Mean Cheaper Gas?", Time Magazine, June 18, 2008

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3834&id=13372-9724911-hmXEUhx&t=6

No wonder their information is so far from the facts, look at their sources. Liberal leftist propaganda magazines like Time are not about to publish anything but pro Obama and anti oil articles. And their other source, themselves, how arrogant can you get? You can’t use your own words to prove your own words. But of course, how else could moveon.org confirm anything they say?

Ho

*********************************
One liberal reply:

How can you claim to be a fair, objective commentator when you use such phrases as "America's enemies?" I'm pretty convinced by your tirades - convinced that you are the one who is brainwashed (your label for anyone who doesn't agree w you).

*********************************
My response:

Did I ever say I was a fair, objective commentator? In all honesty I don’t believe there is a single “fair, objective” commentator in the world in spite of those who claim to be. We all have our opinions and prejudices and particularly so as relates to the political arena. Politics is a completely emotional purview with less rationality than anything except possibly religion. Nothing makes the blood boil more than an opposing political or religious opinion. The driving force in both is almost pure peer pressure, a very powerful influence. Birds of a feather. . . .

America’s enemies: I should have elaborated on that phrase you objected to. I see America as an entrpreneurial, capitalist, free market nation. I believe that is what made us the large nation with the broadest spread of wealth for the widest range of common people. Poor in America generally have far more than in most other nations of the world. There probably are a few small nations with a more equal distribution of wealth, but I don’t know for certain which ones, maybe Switzerland? I believe having the power, control, and driving force of our economy in the hands of literally thousands of corporations, cooperatives and individuals as being infinitely superior to a single corporate entity, government. As I understand the politics of the left, liberals etc, they consider just the opposite to be the superior system and despise capitalism, free enterprise, and even the word, profits. Therefore, I consider those individuals and organizations who propose European style atheistic socialism as the style of government for America as America’s enemies. Certainly they are in opposition to the America I see.

I believe American capitalism with all its obvious faults far superior to socialism (see the latest two articles in http://hojo2rants.blogspot.com/ for more of my opinions on this. The current economic blossoming of Ireland, China, India, and other similar nations is a direct result of free enterprise capitalism exploding when the chains of socialistic governments are removed. If that doesn’t make socialism the enemy of capitalism it certainly places them in opposition to each other. I realize that it is not a completely black and white issue and there are many variations in the application of laws and rules in the nations mentioned, but there is no question about free enterprise capitalism beating the pants off of socialism in virtually every respect. Maybe what we really have is a battle between big, expensive, bureaucratic, all intrusive, and all powerful government with liberal socialists in control of everything (your side) versus a much smaller monitoring and law making and enforcing government that guides and helps entrpreneurial entities of all sizes achieve success, wealth, and yes, profits, (my side).

Oh yes, read the comments on the June 28th article in hojo2rants for an example of a more typical, earthy liberal response. There is not a single rational comment in that entire response.

I also believe strongly in our Constitution and Republic. I believe our Constitution and its Bill of Rights to be a fabulous protection of individuals from an intrusive and controlling government as the founders intended it to be. I certainly would not want any kind of theocratic government and that includes atheocratic. See my blogs, http://hjchurchandstate.blogspot.com/ and http://hjatheocracy.blogspot.com/ for more on this. I know you and many on the left disagree with my opinions expressed in these blogs, but reading it might just do you good—at least cause you to think outside your normal box.

Ah, brainwashed, a much abused catchall phrase for lumping all who disagree with one’s belief systems. Later on in this BLOG I’ll give you some examples of how I have been “brainwashed” into my "tirades." Still, I should know better than to use such an overused and misunderstood phrase. Just one question: what do you call it when one is brainwashed with actual facts?

I belong to an active discussion group who meets in St Augustine every Monday at one in the afternoon to discuss virtually anything from global warming to city government to the price of fuel. The “Socrates discussion group” includes a wide variety of seniors with diverse backgrounds and opinions. From far-left atheists to far-right Christian fundamentalists, this group is an amazing collection of great minds that somehow manage to have civil discussions on the most sensitive of subjects. Two members in particular have become really good friends in spite of our opinion differences. Bob is a far right wing Roman Catholic and Abe is a far left atheist. I find myself in opposition to some of the statements of each in about equal measure. I tend to have friendlier arguments with Abe than with Bob. Believe it or not I have become the defacto arbiter of the group, often refereeing passionate arguments and getting us back to the point of the discussion. I sorely miss those wonderful gatherings of such diverse minds when I’m not in St Augustine.

The fact is, I love diverse opinions and the deep thinking they bring about. I listen, make my own points and learn many new viewpoints. Maybe I am being “brainwashed” by all these diverse opinions. Abe paid me what I consider a fine compliment at our last meeting when he expressed how he enjoyed our discussions. He said, “Howard, you are the only person I consider a conservative with whom I can have rational discussions. I’ll miss your comments while you’re away.” That from one who is at least as far left politically as most of the Grimm clan.

I have never let differences of opinion get in the way of the love and respect I have for family and friends and especially the entire Grimm clan. I have had several meaningful (mostly friendly) exchanges with you and a few other Grimms over the years. Incidently, I find it far easier to make a point with my brother-in-law than with my sister. I think she still reverts back to those heated dinner table discussions from the late 30s and early 40s where we were always at each other’s throats and neither would give an inch. We argued constantly, but our deep love for each other was never in question.

I’m always pleased to word joust with you. Unlike some who take issue and simply curse at me and my opinions without saying anything of consequence, your replies are usually intelligent opinions. I really appreciate that. Of course, there’s not much rebuttal in your latest terse response, but you didn’t use pointless vulgarities and that’s a plus. About the "brainwashing." Au contrair, mon cheri! To me being brainwashed is believing in and espousing things in direct contradiction of the facts even when the facts, not opinions, are simple, obvious and provable.

Current example: Obama promises that if elected he plans to more than double the capital gains tax. Sounds great, doesn't it. Soak the rich. Get more tax income. The historic facts show just the opposite. Without exception, every time the capital gains tax has been raised, revenue from this tax has gone down. Every time the capital gains tax has been lowered, revenue from this tax has gone up. There are lots of valid reasons for this phenomenon but basically investment money goes where it earns the best return. Capital gains taxes directly affect income on investment money (capital). You wouldn't pay fifty bucks for an item if you could get the same thing elsewhere for twenty bucks, would you? In a world economy, the really big money (like the bankrolls of the oil sheiks) goes where it earns the best return. Doubling the capital gains tax in effect doubles the cost of investment in America and will drive billions in capital out of the US and into places like Ireland, China, India and other nations without such punitive taxes. Those billions will no longer be available for American business expansion—read that as good jobs and economic success, prosperity. So, go ahead, soak the rich with increases in capital gains and other taxes, and watch our economy take a real nosedive while unemployment skyrockets. It will be the American worker who will get punished. The wealthy individuals and businesses will merely move their capital to places other than America where they receive a better net return.

Just like the threat of American oil companies being permitted to drill on the continental shelf offshore has had a major affect on the price of petroleum fuel, the mere threat of massive tax increases is already driving capital out of the US. You idiots! WE NO LONGER DRIVE THE WORLD’S ECONOMY! WE’RE NOW JUST ANOTHER COG IN THE GEARS!

Some years back when Boeing was laying off thousands and Seattle was taking a serious economic nosedive there was a sign erected on one of the main roads out of town. The sign read, “Would the last person to leave Seattle please turn off the lights?” Well, let me assure you that if Obama is elected with a liberal majority in both houses of Congress, and if he implements the programs he is promising, all you hard-working Americans can kiss prosperity and the good life goodbye as investment capital and expansion will flee our shores far faster than manufacturing jobs did forty years ago. The resulting crash will make the early thirties look like the good years. The new sign on the New Jersey Turnpike will read, “Will the last person to leave the US please turn off the lights?” I ask all you class hatred types, what are you going to do when there are no companies left to hate—or to work for? How will you get health care then?

Sure, lots of what I said in the preceding three paragraphs represents my opinions, particularly the projections of disaster. Unfortunately there are substantial historic facts to back those opinions. I’d like to hear some really rational rebuttal. How about explaining to me how and why Obama's planned tax increases will not result in what I said it would. How it won't deprive the poorest Americans of their jobs while the wealthy move their money making investments overseas. And don't tell me it's illegal. Just consider the oil sheiks, George Soros and Marc Rich. Also, explain why petroleum prices dropped so precipitously after the Bush announcement. I wonder, do liberals ever offer factual, rational arguments to anything?

Brainwashing: I did mention earlier I would say more about that, so here it is, at least an example of how I have been “brainwashed.”

Moveon.org wrote: “It's a scam. Offshore drilling won't save any money at the pumps for years (although it will boost oil company profits).”

BRAINWASH #1: And those profits will benefit American workers with jobs, American stockholders with income, American investment with a good return and yes, even pay more taxes to the American government. Not to mention that it would mean less money for oil sheiks to ship their Lambhorginis by air all the way to England for a proper oil change. Wouldn’t that be a shame. Apparently moveon.org is against new jobs, new investment opportunities, and new prosperity for Americans. (The last sentence was an opinion, not necessarily a fact).

BRAINWASH #2: Monday, July 14, 2008 - George Bush signed an executive order lifting the ban on offshore drilling. See: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,381761,00.html
for details of the order.

BRAINWASH #3: The mere threat of offshore drilling after Bush signed the executive order resulted in a rapid drop in world petroleum prices to around $120 a barrel and a corresponding drop in gas prices at the pump of more than thirty cents a gallon in just two weeks. That reality certainly puts the lie to their words.

BRAINWASH #4: Americans are still able to read the prices at their local filling stations and actually know this is happening.

Moveon.org wrote: Offshore drilling won't fix gas prices or our dependence on foreign oil. There simply isn't enough oil offshore or in the Arctic, and it will take up to a decade to get what little is there. Even then, we would only save 3 or 4 cents a gallon!

BRAINWASH #5: That is a pathetically untrue statement. The amount of recoverable petroleum in offshore deposits and the time required to drill for it is merely an educated guess of known fields. Many times actual drilling finds much more (and sometimes less) than predicted. There is also the probability of finding new, undiscovered fields. We can all see that just the threat of renewed offshore drilling by American oil companies has already resulted in a 30 cents per gallon savings. (see BW #3) Who are they trying to fool? I know that few Americans understand commodity futures markets, but those moveon.org geniuses certainly should. That price drop was fully predictable in the futures world where oil prices and thus gasoline prices are determined. They just can’t be so stupid they don’t understand that. Maybe it’s just, “Don’t bother me with the facts, my mind’s made up.”

It is impossible for liberal media and politicians to tell the truth

Liberals probably won’t want to read this because these indisputable facts indicate some basic truths that don’t agree with their la la land agenda of non ideas. But, hey! Mr. and Ms. Liberal, you can’t counter the truth by ignoring it.

Liberal politicians and the liberal media are flat-out lying to the public about the effects of taxes and how their tax policy differs from the conservatives. Here are some facts right out of the US Government. After Bill Clinton increased income taxes in 2002, the wealthiest half of taxpayers, the top fifty percent, paid 84% of the income taxes. That meant the bottom half, those with lower incomes paid 16%, right? Liberals and the media kept saying Bush’s tax cuts were “Tax cuts for the wealthy.” Since the Bush tax cuts took effect, guess what! The wealthiest 50% have paid 86% of the income taxes meaning the lower earners, the bottom 50% paid only 14%. And those percentages were of a much larger federal revenue because lowering taxes gave business the incentive to invest in expansion and create jobs. That sure puts the lie to the liberal's mantra, "Tax cuts for the wealthy." According to my math that meant the wealthiest taxpayers had an increase in taxes of 2% while the poorer tax payers paid 2% less. That sure doesn’t sound like “Tax cuts for the wealthy” to me.

The truth is—and you will never hear this from Democrats or the main stream media—lowering taxes and especially capital gains taxes, always generates more jobs, lowers taxes more on the poor than on the wealthy, and increases tax revenue totals. Raising taxes always does the opposite. It makes me wonder, did any liberal ever take basic math in grade school? Does any liberal understand that10 % of $100,000 is a lot more than 20% of $20,000? Does any liberal understand that doubling the capital gains tax will stop a lot of business expansion, cost many jobs, and send more business offshore resulting in major damage to our economy? If the idiot you are trying to put in the Whitehouse gets what he promises, the Jimmy Carter years will look like a bonanza. Of course, who ever accused a liberal of rational thinking or action.

There’s another proposal being pushed in Washington that scares me. It’s called, “The Fairness Doctrine.” Sounds really nice, doesn’t it? Good old fairness. It’s actually a free speech suppression doctrine right out of NAZI Germany in the 1930s. It is designed to silence talk radio, the single strongest voice of dissent against an oppressive and dictatorial American government. Hey you idiot voters! If you don’t like talk radio, TURN IT OFF! No one is forcing you to listen. Of course the left would like to muzzle talk radio. They want to turn it off for everyone permanently since it tells the truth about them. The next thing these NAZI liberals will be doing is burning all the books that disagree with their agenda.

There was an interesting broad spectrum survey of more than a thousand Americans taken about a year ago and one of the questions was something like, “What percentage of Americans do you think are having a hard time financially, are worse off than they were six years previously?” This cross spectrum of Americans answered on average 47%. Remember that number. Another question asked in the survey was are you personally better off, about the same, or worse off than you were six years ago? 55% said they were better off, 30% said they were about the same, and 15% said they were worse off. Think about that! Their perception was that 47% of others were worse off while the reality was only 15% considered themselves worse off. The other interesting question was about job security. The survey showed a whopping 67% thought the average worker was afraid they were going to lose their jobs while only 8% of those questioned thought they were in danger of losing theirs. That is amazing. I think it really demonstrates how the doom and gloom media distorts reality in the minds of the average American. Of course, that’s how they make their money.

People want to hear and see about murders, accidents, disasters, famine, pestilence and all other kinds of human and creature misery. Did you ever see one of those ads soliciting donations to charity showing happy, healthy, well clothed children? Of course not. There might be millions of those, but photographers seek out the sick, starving, disease ridden, dying, little ones to try to get your sympathies and open your wallets. Misery like sex, sells. It’s the stock-in-trade of Hollywood and the entire entertainment world including the news media and the ad writers. That’s in spite of the fact that it portrays a grossly distorted view of virtually everything. Throw in a whole lot class envy and hatred for business and those who provide the vast majority of jobs and you have a real case of making the worst out of a good situation.

I see many of these distortions every day. One murder in a city of millions. What about the 999,999 who made it through the day without getting murdered? Five and a half percent unemployment. That means that 94.5 out of every 100 people that could work actually have a job. Sounds like 94.5% employment to me. With all the media hype about recession and supposed bad economic times it’s a wonder the economy continues to grow. We’ve yet to have a quarter of negative economic growth in spite of all the doom, gloom, and constant recession talk in the media. Looks to me like those imbeciles actually want a recession. At least they are doing a powerful job of selling the idea to the unsuspecting public. I wonder why they didn’t do this when things really were worse during the Clinton years and certainly during the Carter fiasco. Hmmmmm!

And oh yea! Attention all you anti-war people. Did you know there is a war going on right here in America that is rapidly overtaking Iraq and Afghanistan in violence and death? Why aren't you up in arms and protesting this war? Do you even know the war I'm speaking of? Add up the killings and mayhem along our southern border with that in most American cities and you'll find a death toll that is higher than that in both Middle Eatsern wars together, and that toll is rising. Yes, it's a drug war, not a war on drugs. The drug cartels virtually own our neighbor to the south. At least they are able to operate in relative impunity and have complete control of many areas along our border. I'm sure they are waiting impatiently for the opening of the border for Mexican truckers so they can move their operations north into the US. Take a look at one of their drug banks in Mexico. It's shown in my earlier rant of January 14 2008. Scroll down to the rant on that date and see the photos.

I wonder what will happen if the liberals and their champion of unidentified change do end up controlling our government. Well, I can tell you one thing. It will no longer be our government. It will quickly become their government. Government of the people, by the elite, and for the elite. That will give us a real recession or depression which they will promptly blame on the Republicans and George Bush just like every other calamity they have engineered. I have found there was one president who, during his administration, drew more blatant hatred and animosity even than George Bush. So George, don’t sweat the idiots that spew hate at you. You are definitely in pretty great company. The president I mentioned who was hated even more than GW? Abraham Lincoln.

Some disturbing observations

Here are a few facts and opinions I have collected from many sources. Quite a few were gleaned during my research for my book, A Convenient Solution, on the future of fuels and energy in the US. Please note that my comments about the negative press given business, profits, capitalism and especially “Big” oil by no means indicate these are all pure, honest and blameless. It’s just that their negative aspects are grossly distorted while their positive are completely ignored. It’s one hell of a lot easier and popular for those with limited knowledge of business and industry to condemn and vilify than to take the time to learn and understand the truth. Those who would destroy us know and use this to incite hatred among the masses for those institutions that have been instrumental in creating the greatness that has been America, including the highest standard of living and the broadest distribution of wealth among its people of any nation.

Consider these facts:

1. One of the biggest problems among America’s “poor” is obesity.

2. Millions of people from all over the world are trying to come here.

3. With the exception of the oil-rich dictatorships, the cost of motor fuels to the consumer in the US is lower than in any other country, even if you remove the taxes.

4. We still have the best health-care in the world and the most productive pharmaceutical industries.

5. Home ownership is much higher here than anywhere else in the world.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

These are just a few of the many positive observations. But now read about a few troubling observations and realities. Keep in mind my comments in the opening paragraph.

The success of Al Gore’s book, movie and his receiving the Nobel prize.

The complete, unquestioning stance of the media about global warming, its cause, and the extreme danger it poses for humanity. The unwavering political correctness of human caused global warming and the suppression of any doubts, negative information, or commentary regarding global warming.

21,000 scientists have signed a petition saying human caused global warming is bunk. One of these, the President of the Czech Republic, offered to debate global warming with Al Gore. The Pied Piper of the global warming crowd refused as he has refused to debate any other of these scientists.

Virtual any dissent from the holy tenet of global warming is greeted with ridicule and disdain by the politically correct. Rarely is supporting evidence provided.

Global warming even accepting it as true and under its worst possible reality, is not nearly as dangerous or threatening a menace as several other problems we are virtually ignoring. The rising cost of energy, the associated transfer of trillions of dollars from our economy to those of nations, mostly Islamic and socialist dictatorships that urge our destruction, and the active prevention of our use of all but a tiny portion of possible new and available energy and fuel sources are all far more immediate and dangerous facts than global warming at its worst.

The introduction of the cap and trade bill in Congress, a bill that promises huge, unprecedented increases in fuel costs, taxes, and debt in our country.

The idiocy that is our handling of our borders and the invasion of millions of illegal aliens from all over the world. This includes the invasion of criminals and the many murders and other crimes now committed by illegals especially along the border. The facts, deliberately hidden by the media and government officials, about the war going on near our border with Mexico and even inside our country that has now become far deadlier than the war in Iraq.

The prohibition of our drilling for oil in Anwar, along our coasts and virtually every domestic source of crude.

The complete silence of the media about the huge oil field in North Dakota, a field that has as much as 400 billion gallons of recoverable sweet crude. That’s enough to supply all of our domestic need for at least the next fifty years. Drilling is now underway, but it will be several years before the field can produce significant amounts of crude. I would not at all be surprised to see efforts mounted to block drilling in this area as well.

The completely unfounded and distorted accusations and threats made by liberal politicians against our oil companies and the constant reporting of this in the media.

The continuing harangue against American oil companies as the main cause fuel prices are so high by liberals and the media. This in spite of the fact that government takes a minimum of twelve times as much money from fuel prices as do the oil companies.

The blocking of construction of any new refineries for 32 years.

The blocking of construction of any Nuclear power plants for the last thirty years.

The ongoing prohibitions against needed coal-fired power plants.

The efforts being made to shut down some major hydroelectric plants and remove their dams and water impoundments.

The constant hate filled harangues against “Big” business, capitalism, entrepreneurship, and free enterprise by liberals and the media. This includes the successful convolution of the word, “profit” as an evil thing. This is sophisticated use of class or economic envy to incite anger against those very institutions that built the nation and economy that has provided the highest standard of living for the most people the world has ever known. Hell! The biggest problem our poorest people face is obesity.

Taxes - Is it conceivable that the ordinary citizens of this country hold so much class hatred for the wealthy that they will sacrifice their own well-being in order to inflict a little financial punishment on the “wealthy?” Do those same citizens realize the dirty little fact that they are paying about 25% in hidden federal taxes for every dollar they spend from the very first dollar they earn? Do they realize those hidden taxes amount to more than the total of all income taxes? Do they realize the wealthy do not have to pay that much on a large portion of their income. Do they realize that every dollar paid by corporations is one less dollar those corporations have available to invest in expansion and new jobs? Do they realize how wantonly their elected represented spend their tax dollars on getting themselves reelected using earmarks and pork barrel projects? Do they wonder how much of that money finds its way into the politician’s pockets by devious, untraceable routes? Do they remember how a thousand dollars magically grew into a hundred thousand dollars in cattle futures? Do they ever wonder who the lobbyists and contractors are that benefit from those give aways? Do they ever wonder how many of them are related to the one who instigated the project? Just ask Harry Reid.

The people of Ireland finally realized the folly of massive taxes and controls on business and reversed their tax policy, controls on and attitude toward business. In less than thirty years they have gone from virtually a third world country where no foreign capital and little of their own was available to the single most dynamic national economy in Europe with thousands of major investors pouring money into the fastest growing business-driven economy, maybe in the entire world. The Irish finally got it!. Their low taxes and business friendly environment has moved them from dirt streets, outside plumbing and horse drawn carriages in just thirty years to manicured concrete city streets and neighborhoods, modern bathrooms, more jobs than the populace can fill, and a shortage of BMWs and Porsches. I’ve been there and I’ve seen it.

The rise to Presidential candidate of a virtually unknown man with few significant accomplishments other than compelling oratory.

The most significant call of Obama’s oratory is change with absolutely no words about what that change might be. The hints he’s made about what he will do if elected do not bode well for our economic survival as a nation.

The only significant proposals hinted at by Obama are deliberate defeat and withdrawal from Iraq, the cancellation of the Bush tax cuts and the imposition of massive new additional taxes.

The newly revealed hate filled racist rants of The Reverend Right and Father Michael Pflager. Add to these, the long standing hate rhetoric from their close friend Louis Farakahn.

The ridiculous false positive comments of Nancy Pelosi regarding Iran’s President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s actions in Iraq.

The constant efforts of the left to bring about our defeat in Iraq.

The efforts of our media to describe our troops in Iraq in the worst possible light while describing the Islamic terrorists as insurrectionists or even freedom fighters.

The constant implication that our forces in Iraq are torturing Iraqis in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

The complete absence of any media reports about the overwhelming support and appreciation our forces are receiving from ordinary citizens in Iraq. Contrast this with the frequent portrayals of the terrorists hate for Americans as being that of the majority of Iraqis.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There are many more observations from all over the world, but those listed are enough to make one wonder. It would be impossible for anyone to devise a better, more effective, or more complete plan for the destruction of America than the efforts covered in this list. I cannot believe this is not being done by plan. There is just too much that does not make sense for it not to be deliberate and directed. I believe there are many individuals in politics, in the media, in the entertainment world and in other venues that are actively promoting the complete destruction of our economy and nation. I cannot conceive of at least some of the liberal Democrats in Congress, in the states, and in the judiciary not being fully aware that their actions as noted in the above observations are going to destroy us. I also cannot conceive of the main stream media being duped by these people. They can’t be that stupid. They have to be involved. I am sure there are a large number of well meaning Americans that are aiding and abetting this cabal unwittingly.

I wish to cite one simple political example. Every member of our Congress has to know the following facts: A reduction in taxes has almost always resulted in increased federal revenue. Movement in the capital gains tax rate has always resulted in associated counter movement in total tax revenue. When the rate is raised, tax revenue goes down. When the rate is reduced, tax revenue goes up. In spite of this fact having been proven time and time again, Liberals are now promising huge tax increases. Those people just can’t possibly be that stupid so the only rational conclusion is that they are making every deliberate effort to destroy our economy. The only rational explanation for that is that they either plan to build a socialist state on the ashes of the old US or that they want to force us into some sort of new world socialist state. I cannot conceive of another option except possibly the efforts of Islam to destroy us. I see China as an unlikely instigator since we have become their cash cow, at least for the present.

There are similar situations related to virtually all of the listed observations. For instance, global warming has become a cash cow for many people and organizations worldwide. (There are at least a hundred websites asking for donations to support their talking about global warming.) It has become a multi billion dollar part of the economy. Proponents have just proposed one of the most costly bills which will be a drag on our economy and will generate a huge bureaucracy whose cost and controls will have an even larger cost effect on our economy. Add all these costs to the obvious drain from purchase of foreign oil and it is plain to see that our economy is under major if not deadly attack. And it is backed, supported and even driven by the radical socialists and Marxists that have taken control of the Democrat party and most of the media.

Intoxicated by incited class envy and the opportunity to “get” those hated “business” wealthy, bosses, and imagined “masters,” the sheep in the Democrat fold and other misguided members of the voting public are about to blindly “cut off their noses to spite their face. By the time they realize their error it will be too late.

A few thoughts for early June

A hodge-podge of ideas, thoughts, and observations:

Using insects as a source of oil and protein, a huge untapped renewable source, possibly far more oil than all the petroleum we have ever had.

Dubai is investing in power systems for electric vehicles and complete electric vehicles and PHEVs.
http://www.electricdrive.org/ It looks like they are planning for when their oil runs out.

Great Late news: The US Geological survey has just announced a huge new field of sweet (low sulfur) crude has just been surveyed in North Dakota. The Bakken Formation is larger even than the Saudi Arabian field and could be twice its size making it the largest oil field ever discovered. It has been known since 1951. The USGS did an initial study back in 1999 that estimated 400 billion recoverable barrels were present but with prices bottoming out at $10 a barrel back then the report was dismissed because of the higher cost of horizontal drilling techniques that would be needed, estimated at $20-$40 a barrel. With oil above $100 a barrel, this field can now be processed economically. It could supply all the crude America will need for as long as 70 years.

Before you start dancing in the streets, let’s see how quickly the environmentalists can get Congress to outlaw drilling there. Of course, the price of fuel posted on so many street corners, infuriated motorists and truckers could mount such a force that those environmental special interests in Washington might not be able to have their way. With the current flavor of the election rhetoric against “Big oil,” the new federal government could see this as an opportunity to advance socialism and put the government into the oil business to mine and distribute this oil. Considering the gross inefficiency of government in any endeavor that will probably double the end cost of that crude to refiners. I wonder who the government will hire to drill for the oil and operate the business end? China perhaps?

This brings me to another proposal for oil. Let’s charge a 30% tax on all oil imports and exports with a minimum of $50 a barrel while leaving domestic oil that stays in the country tax free. We should do everything in our power to keep that money out of the hands of the politicians or bureaucrats. It should be placed in a fund in a bank and distributed in total to companies who produce useable, non fossil fuel at the rate of $.75 per gallon produced. As the volume of non fossil fuels increases past the point where the payout from the fund is greater than the input, reduce the payout to the point where input equals output. Make this adjustment on a monthly basis. This will stimulate the domestic oil industry, discourage oil imports and exports and stimulate a domestic alternative fuel industry. Nobody gets a payoff. No earmarks are used. There are no pork barrel projects involved keeping political hands out of the cookie jar. I know no legislator would propose such legislation. They would fear the fury of their lobbyists and that would injure their cash cows.
How about converting all that fat from liposuction to fuel? Centia is a new process that converts animal fats to useable fuels.

China is drilling in our backyard while we look to increase our energy costs by imposing a cap and trade system. The rest of the world must be laughing at the stupidity of the Lieberman-Warner cap and trade bill which will probably add as much as $1.50 to the price of a gallon of fuel and make many things and especially fuel so expensive we have to curtail its use or stop using it all together (unless we are very wealthy or are members of the bureaucracy or hold political office.

While we debate this ridiculous and expensive (to Mr Average American) cap and trade bill, slant drilling is enabling China and India to drill for oil that lies under our Continental shelf immediately off the Florida coast. If you want to blame anyone, blame the liberal environmentalists who have effectively driven the price of fuel through the roof by preventing American oil companies from drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and most other places with proven oil deposits. They want us all to be riding bicycles or walking to satisfy their warped sense of necessity. Of course the politicians will still be motoring and jetting around using fuel they don’t have to pay for just as they do now. All of that expensive fuel will be paid for by your money.

Think about American oil companies being forbidden to drill for proven oil deposits around Florida to protect shoreline ecosystems. Sounds great, doesn’t it, protecting the environment. Now that we are not drilling in these fields, the world’s largest oil company, PetroChina in cooperation with Cuba is now drilling not far from Key West where American companies are forbidden to drill. Using slant drilling, they can take the oil from underneath us and, yet, we're not doing a damn thing about it. Ask any liberal what they plan to do about that. I pray none of their undersea wells blows. (as they have in a few other areas) If they do have a blowout, the Florida keys and Everglades will be irreparably damaged. PetroChina has none of the environmental controls on drilling and drilling techniques required of American oil companies. So much for our politicians protecting the environment along our shores. As far as “big oil” is concerned, last year, PetroChina overtook Exxon as the world's largest publicly traded oil company. There goes all that potential profit and billions in taxes from our shores to China. The Chinese are laughing at our stupidity all the way to their banks. Real smart move, that. An enemy bent on destroying our economy could hardly have accomplished more.

Father Michael Pfleger received $225,000 in grants to his church from a Barack Obama earmark. This is the priest who said, “America is the greatest sin against God.” and “racism is as natural as the air we breathe.” Make no mistake this is all extreme racism being used to stir up blacks against white America.

This Catholic priest and the Reverend Right have made many remarks that have opened my eyes to the hatred for America being preached in some black churches. I have heard Farakahn and didn’t realize how many followers of this man’s hate campaign there were in the black community. This hatred is so much like the hatred being taught in Muslim madrassa schools. It makes me wonder if we haven’t pushed ourselves into a very dangerous corner from which there may be no escape. I can only imagine the violent anger that will come from the inflamed black community should Hillary manage somehow to wrest the nomination from Barack at the convention. If not, there is then the general election. No matter what he says or does, McCain will be painted as a rabid racist by blacks and most of the extreme left. Any charge he levels against Barack will be called racist no matter how accurate or unrelated to race. I wonder what kind of sermons will be preached at Trinity during the campaign. I believe this will be one of the most hate filled elections America has ever seen. I have no doubt that any close finish with the decision unclear will result in a violent reaction should McCain win. I think it quite possible that it will trigger home grown terrorism and black vs white violence. If it happens you can thank those so called holy men who are inflaming their congregations precisely as the mullahs have inflamed their followers. What these so called men of God say is certainly the opposite of all Christian principals of any Christian church I have known of previously.

Interesting information on Barack Obama’s background.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/13390609/campaign_08_the_radical_roots_of_barack_obama/3

Father Michael Pfleger quote, “Hillary thinks, ‘I'm white! I'm entitled!’” I agree she thinks she’s entitled, but it has nothing at all to do with her race. Of course, the father and apparently the ministers at Trinity United Church have to know their words will probably lead to violence in the streets. Their goal appears to be the complete destruction of the nation Father Pfleger describes with the words, “America is the greatest sin against God.” Either he firmly believes that and is acting on it, or is deliberately lying to promote his own agenda. In either case he is wrong

Barack Obama said Saturday he has resigned his 20-year membership in the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago "with some sadness" in the aftermath of inflammatory remarks by his longtime pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and more recent fiery remarks at the church by a visiting priest. As far as I am concerned, this changes nothing. He has demonstrated who he is by how he has lived, how he voted, who his friends are, who his associates are, and what he has accomplished.

I am pleasantly surprised at the number of blacks I hear who describe Barack Obama as a black revolutionary and will refuse to vote for him. These are thoughtful individuals like Gale from Kentucky who said this primary battle alone has inflamed racial tensions and set back the existing black progress into main stream America at least twenty years. She says if Obama is the Democrat candidate, all this has made her to decide to vote for a Republican for the first time in her life. She also described the activist ministers as black racists.

“Recognizing the Race hustlers: There is a class of colored people who make a business of keeping the troubles, the wrongs and the hardships of the negro race before the public. Having learned that they are able make a living out of their troubles, they have grown into the settled habit of advertising their wrongs - partly because they want sympathy and partly because it pays. Some of these people do not want the Negro to lose his grievances, because they do not want to lose their jobs.” Booker T. Washington, 1911.

Nancy Pelosi announced that it wasn’t the surge that brought about the recent successes in Iraq. It was due to Iran’s President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s help the Iranians have given us in Iraq. Can you believe any American could make such a statement? I find it amazing and reprehensible that a member of our Congress would make such a clearly untrue statement and praise the man and nation that is supplying the terrorists with weapons and men who are daily killing Americans. Her blatant lies make those of our former Philanderer in chief almost palatable. Now it looks as though the latest efforts of our combined military forces, the surge, is having great results, and that Iraqi forces are taking over more of the burden of protecting Iraq and routing terrorists. Nancy and friends will do whatever they can to discredit or distort these facts about our nation’s efforts. A victory for Iraq and expulsion of foreign terrorists is happening. For the first time ever, combined forces have retaken the port of Basra and driven the militias out of Sadr City. An Amarican/Iraqi success and complete victory would be a disaster for these leftists, and now it looks to be possible if we can finish before the left can snatch defeat out of the clutches of certain victory.

Oh yes, did you know that Barack Obama voted against a Senate resolution calling the Iraq Revolutionary Guard an Iranian creation? This in spite of the fact that they are mostly Iranians and carry arms made in or obtained from Iran and are proven to be trained and directed by the Iranian military.

I wonder if Ms. Pelosi heard her friend Mahmoud say there are no homosexuals in Iran? That’s true, and the reason is they are hanged. You don’t have to wonder, it is done publicly and the Iranians including Nancy’s friend Mahmoud brag about it.

I love Governor Schweitzer of Montana who said, “we're not going to lose our gun rights in Montana. You can bet on that, but I can assure you of this: Montana will continue to take the lead to make America energy independent. We're not going to allow dictators to push us around anymore. We have an infinite supply of energy in this country. We just have a finite supply of resolve to get it right. We're already giving $2 a gallon to dictators who are trying to destroy our way of life. Look, I support the concerns that people of the world have with carbon dioxide but we have the technology right now to produce all of our energy domestically, to drive all of your cars, run of all trains and plains, light all of your light bulbs without importing oil from them and we can sequester our CO2. Right here in Montana.” And he’s a Democrat.

21,000 scientists have signed a petition saying human caused global warming is bunk. One of these, the President of the Czech Republic, offered to debate global warming with Al Gore. The Pied Piper of the global warming crowd refused as he has refused to debate any other of these scientists. I wonder why?

Oh yes, when we were in Glacier bay in Alaska a few weeks ago I learned that most of the glaciers that are flowing into Glacier Bay have stopped receding and are now advancing. To my knowledge, no one in the main stream media has ever reported that fact. I also learned that in 1767 the entire bay was filled with a glacier being fed by the dozen or so that remained. Most of the recession of that glacier happened between 1767 and 1850 after which it slowed and finally the feeder glaciers, all that were left, stopped around 1990 and have since been advancing. I also learned that the local natives, the Chiklit people, once lived far up in Galcier Bay. Their legends say they were driven south out of their land by a rapidly advancing glacier that advanced, "as fast as a running dog." It advanced so fast they were unable to take many of their belongings and had to abandon them and run for their lives. There are no historical records, but this probably happened When the glacier receded, they visited their former lands and found them scoured clean and not a place they could live. This probably corresponded with the time of the “little ice age” which wiped out the Norse settlement on Greenland after five hundred years of farming and raising cattle successfully during the medieval warm period. During this little ice age there was much starvation and crop failures in Europe. This also brought about the historically recorded migration of many Norse as well as Normans to the shores of the Mediterranean.

In Glacier Bay, several Park Rangers came aboard the ship to explain the glaciers for us. I met and talked with one of these Ranger, a young woman, who invited us to ask questions. I asked her why the glaciers had been advancing for almost twenty years in the face of global warming. Her reply was very interesting. She said that even though the terminus of most of the glaciers were advancing they were still shrinking by getting thinner. When I pointed out that according to recent measurements, all of the midpoints of the advancing glaciers were at least thirty to forty feet higher than they were in 1990, she didn’t have an answer. That certainly doesn’t indicate they are getting thinner. I don’t think she knew that. Then when I commented about the black cover of the American Glacier and that the black cover must accelerate melting she said it didn’t and that it was so thick it acted as an insulator. When I said that was contrary to the very well established heat transfer effect of black body radiation and pointed out that the darker sections had quite obviously melted more than the lighter, she again had no answer. Then she said that’s what they taught her in her training. I said that no matter what she had been taught, the laws of physics and energy transfer are constant and immutable. I smiled, apologized for making her uncomfortable and suggested that I might not be the only on these visiting cruise ships who knew what I knew. I also suggested that she confirm what I said with her superiors.

Human caused global warming menace is a convenient myth that serves the agenda of those who hate America, hate capitalism, hate everyone who has more than they and like Howard Dean, "Hate Republicans, hate conservatives and hate Rush Limbaugh." Even accepting that global warming is as supposed and at its worst, it does not pose nearly the danger as do numerous other menaces we rarely even talk about. The destruction of tropical and temperate rain forest, overgrazing of pastures, salination of crop lands, shortage of fresh water, all of these pose much more serious clear and present danger than global warming at its worst. Of course, the threat of Islamic terrorism and imposition of Sharia law is a much bigger menace to the world than any of the others. Unfortunately, these are not politically correct, nor do they provide grist for the mills of those who would crush America as does global warming. The Lilliputians in Congress would rather joust at windmills, fill their pockets, revel in their power, and curse the things that made America great.

Quite frequently I have heard liberal friends and family members say they never listen to talk radio because its all extreme right wing lies and propaganda. Lately I have begun asking them if they had ever heard any of the conservatives on talk radio. What amazed me was that all but one of them told me they had never listened to talk radio and wouldn’t ever even consider doing so. I asked them how they could pronounce judgement on those they had never heard. The answers were quite revealing. The most frequent response was that their words were all lies and hate rhetoric. When I asked them if they ever heard the words and tone of the rants of Ted Kennedy, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Howard Dean and the like, they usually replied saying something like they’re just politicians, that’s what they do. That was a revelation to me. These liberals firmly believed that members of their own party spoke lies and hate rhetoric—that all politicians do. They also accused the media of being biased toward the right. That makes me howl with laughter and helps me to understand why factual arguments have no affect on the sheep in the liberal fold. Suffice to say that time and time again analysis of the big three in TV has shown they all repeat negatives about Republicans many times more than similar negatives about Democrats and frequently ignore serious Democrat misconduct entirely. In interviews, they will repeatedly ask soft ball questions of Democrats while hurling high fast curved balls at Republicans. This is not just my opinion but has been confirmed by several media watch dog groups. The difference between the main stream, left wing media including the New York Times and conservative talk radio is that talk radio hosts loudly proclaim their bias while the main stream, or “drive by” media as Rush calls them, claim objectivity when they are at least as much in the liberal camp as talk radio is in the conservative one.

Oh yes, liberals have even become so brazen as to speak openly about using the so called, “Fairness Doctrine” to destroy talk radio and so silence most of the few voices of dissent. One of the major steps in developing a socialist dictatorship is to silence dissent. Hitler did it, Stalin did it, in fact all Communists nations did it as soon as they came to power. Venezuela’s fat little dictator did it just recently. This brings to mind an old saying I really think is so on the monet, “Judge them by what they do and with whom they associate.”

Liberals have long and often compared Nixon to Hitler, Reagan to Hitler and Bush to Hitler. Now they have decided it is wrong to make comparisons to Hitler to one leader: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. That makes you wonder why, doesn’t it? Speaking of Hitler, I remember listening to some of his speeches when I was in school. One didn’t need to understand German to feel the hate in the character and delivery of his words, the non verbal message. Communication experts say that a major part of all verbal communication is non-verbal. To me, Hitler’s speeches and those of Ahmadinejad sound the same. Both are in a language unknown to me yet the non verbal message is exactly the same, hate and anger. I hear precisely the same non verbal message of hate in recent rants from many on the left including Howard Dean, Ted Kennedy, Hillary Clinton, Sylvia Mckinney and the latest from the reverend Jeremiah Right and father Michael Pfleger. It is clear to me these are all similar communications of hatred intended to arouse and inflame to action. That action being precisely the same as the words the instigators of lynch mobs use to incite those mobs to perform their lawless violence. These are certainly not the speeches of those who would like a reasonable discussion to resolve a conflict. These are the speeches of those who want violent action of retribution for grievances often blown far out of proportion, that are imagined, or that serve the purposes of the speaker.

It seems to me that liberal democrats with the aid of the media and supporters like George Soros hate capitalism and are planning to turn America into a secular socialist state. The old axiom “government of the people, by the people and for the people” will be changed to “government of the people by the government and for the government.” Using class hatred and wealth envy to incite anger and even violence against the people who provide the jobs, create the wealth, and guide and generate the thousands of independent corporations and individual entrepreneurs that put most Americans to work. While China and other socialist nations are moving into capitalism and growing their economies at fantastic rates because of it, our country is poised to descend into the socialist misery pit. It will probably take a decade or two, but we are headed to becoming like the China of thirty years ago where one ponderous, inefficient monopoly operated everything “collectively.” We are headed into the socialist gray morass where everyone is equal in poverty. Except, of course, as the pig said, “Some of us are more equal than others.” It will be the sad end to an experiment in democracy which created the most free nation and the widest distribution of wealth among its citizens, of any nation, ever. Or maybe we’ll become a state like our neighbor to the south, Mexico where there is no middle class only the very wealthy and the dirt poor, ruled by a government riddled with corruption and inefficiency. I wonder where our poor will be able to emigrate?

LIBERAL DEMOCRAT COWS are all multi-colored. Most are multi-racial, multi-cultural, multi lingual, and/or multi-national. 10% are homosexual, won’t have calves and so never give milk. 25% are too busy going to peace rallies to have calves or give milk. 35% are on strike and refuse to give milk - The 2% Hollywood cows won’t have calves because they’re afraid it will ruin their career if they produce milk - 38% are feminist activists who hate bulls - 72% believe all Republicans are white bulls. The 25% who do have calves and produce milk place most of it in their family coffers and share very little with the less fortunate cows. All believe the government should guarantee them free barns, free hay and free veterinary services.

CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICAN COWS are many-colored, like bulls and believe having calves and producing milk is their main purpose in life - 85% organize into cooperative dairies and create dairy conglomerates - their cooperatives produce a milk surplus which they keep for a “rainy day” - soon 10% of the cows control 95% of the milk - they resent being forced to provide increasing amounts of their milk to non-producing cows - 72% believe all Democrats are anti-bull cows who are doing to them what the bulls usually do but without the benefits - 90% believe Democrat cows should start having calves and producing milk - 38% believe all forests should be cut down and converted to pastures - 2% control the cooperatives and are buying up all pastures to provide for themselves.

CENTRIST COWS are all pale greyish brown, don’t know if they like bulls or not, and are neutral about having calves and producing milk - they are distressed by the huge dairy conglomerates, but won’t do anything about them - they think all liberal Democrat and conservative Republican cows are, “out to get them” - 34% put off having calves until it’s too late because they just, “can’t make up their minds” - those that do have calves haven’t a clue what to do with the milk they produce, but know they won’t put it in the hands of the cooperatives - 97% will firmly position themselves straddling every fence with their mooer on one side and their udder on the other, “Mooudders?” - nearly all have not the slightest idea of whether they are coming or going.

Another reason for the high cost of oil

This is a perfect example of how governments, and in particular, socialist governments, can and do destroy the viability of any wealth creating endeavor.

Look at what is really happening to oil production in nearly all of the oil producing nations and consider why the price of crude is going to continue to go through the roof. It’s a pattern that is being repeated in virtually every oil rich nation in the world. Consider the basics of oil exploration and extraction.

Exploration and discovery - It is getting more and more expensive to find new fields of oil as all the easy ones have already been discovered. Most oil fields will produce for only ten to fifteen years after which the cost of extraction increases the cost of that oil to more than the price at which it can be sold. If it costs $125.00 a barrel to extract and the going price is $115.00 a barrel, the field is shut down. Hundreds if not thousands of oil fields have already gone this way worldwide. (Of course, some of them that shut down when oil was $20.00 a barrel are being reopened like the huge fields in West Texas.) Oil exploration companies know this and are constantly searching for new fields. This costs a great deal of money, with greater and greater risk of failure. Oil exploration equipment wears out and costs a great deal to replace. These costs must come out of the profits from oil production starting with the first barrel of oil.

Extraction and transport - As oil is extracted, fields slowly give out and the cost of pumping including equipment maintenance and replacement goes up as the flow rate goes down. These costs too must be provided for out of the profits of the companies that extract and transport the petroleum.

Refining and distribution - Converting crude oil into saleable gasoline and fuel oil components is another infrastructure intensive activity necessary to turn petroleum into the end products that finally generate the money to pay for all that exploration, extraction, transport, refining and distribution. No one actually makes a dime until that fuel is finally sold to the end user. During the process from the ground to the user’s tank, around a third of the petroleum is used or lost. At every level in the process a portion of the profit must be set aside to cover not only the direct costs of the three (or six) activities, but also the maintenance and replacement of all parts of the required infrastructure from seismographs and drill heads to tankers, pipelines, delivery trucks and fuel pumps. Lose any part of the whole and the system breaks down.

Unfortunately, nearly every oil exporting nation in the world is treating their petroleum as a money tree, skimming profits for the benefit of those in power and neglecting to invest profits to feed the petroleum goose that’s laying the egg of black gold. Here’s a quote from a Newsweek article by David G. Victor on April 17, 2008 about Mexico's oil company, Pemex.

“Pemex generates two fifth's of the Mexican government's income and is a lucrative employer, but it is ailing from neglect. For years the government has milked Pemex of cash without giving it the wherewithal to invest in and develop new sources of oil. When President Felipe Calderon proposed last week to reform Pemex and encourage more private investment in oil exploration and refining, his leftist opponents shut down the country's legislature in protest. Pemex, they claimed, is a cherished national treasure that must not be pushed into private hands."

Those lefties just can’t stand to see private enterprise succeed in providing good jobs, putting people to work and taking them off of government dependency, can they?

"Mexico is hardly the only country that treats its state oil companies as ATMs for governments, unions, cronies and others who siphon the rich benefits for themselves. A large fraction of the world's oil patch is struggling with the problem that bedevils Calderon: how to make state-owned oil companies (which control about three quarters of the world's oil reserves) more effective at finding and producing oil. Venezuela's oil output is flagging. Russia's state-owned gas company, Gazprom, is on the edge of a steep decline in production. And in different ways many of the world's state-owned oil companies are struggling to keep pace with rising demand. Simply privatizing them is politically difficult, and thus most of the world's oil-rich governments are struggling to find ways to make state enterprises perform better.

“Even among state oil companies, Pemex's performance is notably poor. Used as a cash cow for the government, Pemex has never been able to keep enough of its profits to invest in exploration and better technology, the lifeblood of the best oil companies. Until a few years ago, Pemex invested essentially nothing in looking for new oil fields. It relied, instead, on the aging Cantarell field, which was discovered in the 1970s not by Pemex but by fisherman who were angry that the seeping oil was fouling their nets and assumed that Pemex was to blame. Pemex brought the massive field online with relatively simple technology. A scheme in the late 1990s extended the life of the field, but that effort has run out of steam. On the back of Cantarell's decline, total output from Pemex is sliding; some even worry that Mexico could become a net importer of oil in the next decade or two. They're probably wrong, but even the idea makes people nervous.”

Mexico is but one example of how government run industries can become so riddled with corruption. Mexico's Constitution requires that its hydrocarbons be owned by the people. This translates to their being controlled by corrupt politicians who have no incentive to make the operation generate a return on investment or even become self sustaining. The end goal of virtually all politicians seems to be to take as much money as possible from wherever it can be taken by whatever means necessary to further their political careers.

Quoting David G. Victor once more, “Part of the problem is that risk taking, which is essential to success in oil, is strongly discouraged. My colleagues at Stanford, in a study released last week, have shown that a system of tough laws that control procurement make managers wary of projects that could fail. Although such laws are designed to help stamp out corruption, a noble goal, they are administered by parts of the Mexican government that know little about the risky nature of the oil business.”

Government politicians, socialist leaders and dictators, despots of all kinds who run governments, and the vast majority of their subjects haven’t a clue how to manage any kind of business profitably. They understand virtually none of the risks of business and the risky nature of the oil business in particular. When it comes to choosing between investing profits in their enterprise to cover risks and for benefits that may come in the future or promoting their own fortunes by sticking the cash into the public’s pockets for candy and toys, you know what they’ll choose. Politicians will use it to buy votes or favor. Socialist leaders will use it to satisfy the masses. Dictators will use it to control their subjects. Despots of all kinds will use it for personal aggrandizement. Virtually all government members will use it primarily to strengthen their hold on power. The concept of investing profits back into the enterprise to cover risks or for deferred gain later is as alien to them as would be little green men from Krypton. No one from the left has the slightest clue how to run and sustain an enterprise. All they really know how to do is destroy those who do. There must be an axiom here somewhere.

Look at what the left has done to our American oil industry. First of all, they have made the entire industry the focus of constant class warfare with their hate campaigns. Next, they have prohibited exploration in virtually all of the promising areas in and around the nation. They have even prevented exploration in the Gulf of Mexico while giving the green light to our good friends in China to do so together with our other good friends in Cuba. That’s really a smart move that is certain to benefit the environment in the Gulf and keep oil spills from soiling our coasts. If the Chuck Schumers in our Congress have their way, the “obscene billions in profits” of our oil companies (actually a relatively small return on investment in the long run) will become obscene taxes in the hands of Senator Schumer and friends. Then they will have even more money to use in pork barrel projects and earmarks designed solely to buy votes to insure their reelection.

Teddy Kennedy’s “big dig” in Boston is the champion so far. The Big Dig was a project to take a pre-existing 3.5-mile (5.6 km) interstate highway and relocate it underground. It ended up costing $14.6 billion, or over $4 billion per mile. It did absolutely nothing of what it was touted to do, but it did buy Teddy and his boys a lot of votes and other more direct benefits at the expense of federal tax payers. Any private citizen who had any part in such a monstrous boondoggle would have been vilified in the press, denounced by politicians, tried in the courts and probably have ended up in jail. But because he’s liberal Democrat Teddy Kennedy he still sits in the Senate and curses others who are rank amateurs at misappropriation of public funds. And he will continue to be a champion of pork barrel projects and earmarks because he can get away with it. I guess the moral I was looking for is, Steal from a few, even a few thousand people and you will go to prison. Steal from the public treasury and if you support liberal causes, they will make you a saint. Hate campaigns and stealing public money must not bother the public much. In fact it seems to help politicians gain office. Maybe that's why there are more indicted and convicted criminals sitting in Congress than in nearly any other public group of similar size.

Thanks to the use by the left of class envy in fomenting hatred for virtually all successful businesses and industries, their friends in the media make billions by beating up on “greedy capitalists” and turning “profits” into a dirty word. They seem bent on doing to American industry what the Mexicans have done to Pemex, what Chavez is doing to the Venezuelan oil industry, and what the Russians are doing to theirs. That’s certainly strangling the goose that’s laying the golden eggs all because it's infinitely easier to destroy than to build. It amazes me that so many people will actually cut their own throats to spite those who have achieved more than they just because it’s easy. The joy that small children seem to express by destroying sand castles and other things built painstakingly by careful hands seems natural and we usually laugh at such antics. Sadly, unscrupulous leaders whip this tendency into a political force for destruction when those children become adults without the wherewithal to build and create for themselves.

Violence is the province of those who lack: the patience to build and create, the will to control their envy, the intellect to understand the real world and the love to control their hatred. It takes skill, caring, determination, intelligence, and time to learn how to build and create anything of value. None of these are required to destroy that which we cannot equal. A classic example is the soldier who slaughtered Archimedes simply because he couldn’t understand what the symbols drawn in the sand by Archimedes represented. Other examples include Czech Jan Hus (burned at the stake), the thousands killed by the Inquisition, the imprisonment of Gallileo and others like him, the demolition of ancient Buddhist statues by the Taliban, even the current flush of terrorism. All of these represent the temporary triumph of intolerance and ignorance over reason, usually through force of violence.

Lemons and Lemonade

I have read Michelle Obama’s Princeton theses in light of the controversy it interjected into the campaign and the attention all kinds of media have given it. Considering its source, I see nothing radical, dangerous, or even very controversial in it. I see it as a very normal expression of a young, intelligent black woman in the America of 1985. I think there is a way for the average American to understand it in the broad American culture rather than in the black culture segment within that broader culture from whence it originated. Merely replace each word white in the thesis with the word, American or even, non black wherever it refers to race and it becomes much more understandable.

America has assimilated many different ethnic and racial subgroups over the years. Many of these had to fight their way through prejudice and bigotry to become truly integrated into the American melting-pot. Yet even many of these still maintain at least part of their heritage and their culture. Many live in neighborhoods or even cities where they are with mostly others of their own ethnic background, often bound by language which tends to isolate them. In these circumstances, natural as they are, it becomes easy and convenient to blame those outsiders for many of the individual’s and the group’s problems. Successful members of these groups may even use the overcoming of these often imagined problems as their means to success. Unfortunately it is far easier to succumb to the temptation to blame others other than engage in the hard work of overcoming these problems in a positive manner.

There are many groups who have actually done this in America. Nationalities like the Irish, Italians, Germans and other Europeans faced with terrible discrimination and bigotry at first, then overcame it and became integrated into America, at least mostly. Of course, these were all white or Caucasian people and thus more easily integrated. I think you would find that those immigrants who came to our shores in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries did not see it as very easy. Look at the non Caucasian immigrants from China, Korea, Viet Nam, Cambodia, The Phillippines and elsewhere on the Pacific rim. Still in the process of integration, many of these people became highly educated and successful, some say driven by cultures that prize education, family continuity and self reliance. Few of these people used discrimination as an excuse for poor performance.

The latest cultural, ethnic invasion of America by Latinos may be creating another group to use the excuse of being denied advantages by those in the majority. This is an easy trap for those who lack the will to succeed on their own to fall into. Blaming the powerful in any venue, social, economic, ethnic, racial, and/or political, as the reason for one’s failure absolves a person from any fault. The blame game has been taken to the heights of excusing one’s own failure. Whether it’s big business, big government, the boss, the wealthy, or even Whitey, it’s the same lame and actually damaging effect. It actually keeps many so-called disadvantaged people from solving their own problems. After all, Since I am not the cause of my problems, I cannot do anything about them. As long as a person can blame those other than themselves, they have an excuse for failure in virtually any endeavor.

Misdirected and often unscrupulous leaders of these groups gather support by keeping their constituents downtrodden and so beholden to them. By virtually screaming discrimination or conspiracy and anti establishment rhetoric at every opportunity, these hate mongers and rabble rousers promote themselves and seek to control their followers. They do this by blaming the group they call oppressors, of an evil conspiracy against the helpless victims in their supporting groups. Then they call these imagined oppressors every evil name in the book as if most of their efforts were directed specifically to oppress them. This of course is right out of the NAZI play book.

All actions of these leaders, no matter how evil or outlandish is condoned or excused with, it wasn’t their fault, or look where they came from. While the best known of these leaders are currently from the Black community, there are a number in the Latino community who seem to be growing in power and influence. Currently, the reverend Wright has gained the spotlight because of these actions, but he is merely one of a large group of destroyers who spout hate to rally their supporters. These are small people who take advantage of the ignorance and frustration of those they seek to lead in promoting their own agenda of hate. The lynch mob is their most prominent accomplishment. The really sad thing is that these leaders not only do great damage to those they purport to be aiding, but they help advance the efforts of their counterparts in the other groups. White supremacists, for instance, gain much credence from those leaders in minority groups who speak out with inciting, hateful charges against whites. Were it not for these minority leaders, white supremacists would have no more power than a distasteful joke.

Frequently, when members, even famous and admired members, of these disadvantaged minorities try to help their fellows by pointing out that they have the power to overcome being at a disadvantage. That by self reliance, hard work and positive effort on their part they can pull themselves up economically and socially. Even when they offer encouragement by example, effort, or pointing out that positive effort is more likely to get positive results than negative effort, they risk being condemned by many in their community to whom being a victim is their greatest asset. I illustrate with one example where all I need do is mention the name of one who is greatly admired by virtually all Americans, Bill Cosby. The response to his words of encouraging advice to his fellows was to be called by many an Uncle Tom. That was pathetic. Like the name calling done in third grade playgrounds it was childish and unworthy. His response to this attack was an indication of his greatness and humanity.

In his book, The True Believer, Eric Hoffer describes men who think so little of themselves they can only gain self-esteem by abandoning self to a cause. These true believers, as he calls them, will do anything, including committing suicide, for their cause. Following their leaders who enslave them to serve the leader’s own and often undefined purpose, these are not men of free will, but true slaves of those who manipulate them. Such is the enemy free men now face.

Man has a natural instinct for enslavement. All great and small movements utilize this pack animal instinct to control masses of people as tools of opportunistic leaders. Humanitarian civilization tends to counter this instinct while mobs, movements, charismatic leaders, and fundamentalists tend to nurture and expand it.

The real power in mobs, movements, fundamentalism, and other uses of instincts to control lies in a very simple, irrefutable fact—that it is infinitely easier to damage or destroy to change things than to build or create. Only the most rudimentary skills were used by a few men to bring down the World Trade Center in just a few minutes. Contrast this with the immense effort required to design and build those same structures. In the same vein, it is far easier to make angry criticisms of ideas that differ from your own than to listen to those ideas and then make calculated judgments. Closed minds can be true agents of evil.

Of those controllable by such leaders, Eric Hoffer wrote, “People unfit for freedom—who cannot do much with it—are hungry for power. The desire for freedom is an attribute of a have type of self. It says: leave me alone and I shall grow, learn, and realize my capacities. The desire for power is basically an attribute of a have not type of self.”

What is needed is for these kinds of men in any group or society to be treated for what they are, immature annoyances to society serving their own egos for their own selfish purposes. There are many of these types of leaders. Most common today are those leading the inner city gangs in the drug culture and living off of the misery of others. These are the little Napoleons with maybe a few dozen soldiers who create and destroy victims and whose lives are almost always short and violent. The romantic picture of these contemporary pirates as portrayed by our entertainment world is a far cry from the sordid realities of their lives and those of the victims of their actions. In truth these are the marauding packs of humans like feral dogs, bent on destruction and death. Why? Simply because it is far easier than being civilized. Civilization requires hard work and respect for others. Gang life disdains both as does the life of any who are slaves to the command of others rather than free men.

Benjamin Franklin said, “Those who desire to give up freedom in order to gain security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.”

James Allen said, “Before complaining that you are a slave to another, be sure that you are not a slave to self. Look within;...You will find there, perchance, slavish thoughts, slavish desires, and in your daily life and conduct slavish habits. Conquer these; cease to be a slave to self, and no man will have the power to enslave you.”

What all of this says is that many people, placed at a disadvantage by any circumstance, will blame something outside of self and so be defeated from the outset. Those who realize it is up to them and so work to overcome their disadvantage often reach heights of success in spite of overwhelming handicaps. Joni Erickson Tada is one great example. Paralyzed by a diving accident at seventeen, her life was virtually over. Joni refused to be defeated and with herculean effort refocused her life and became an inspiration to thousands of handicapped people all over the world. Her books are now sold all over the world and her positive contribution to humanity is priceless.

I am reminded of an old saying I really like and try to act on. If life hands you a lemon, make lemonade. I firmly believe life has handed a lemon to many out there, but most just decry about and fight the lemon while a few add their own form of sugar, ice and water creating a delightful beverage. The individual has the power to chose between bitterness and joy.

America Needs a Mission for Energy Independence

(Excerpt from the book, A Convenient Solution)

That mission is to discover, develop and implement practical ways to save us—the United States and the world—from the ravages of the fossil fuel dragon. We should do our utmost to make everyone aware of available options for safe, affordable energy generation and use. We should also try to motivate everyone to demand we adopt these options.

We need to develop realistic solutions to the energy crisis from among the multitude of products and systems that are in use, under development, or even latent ideas in the minds of America’s creative genius. We must collect and examine descriptions of fuels and energy systems—past, present, and future—and of many possible and practical ways to replace fossil fuels with renewable fuels or energy systems. All of the new systems could replace fossil fuels as the prime energy source for our nation and even the world. In the process this could lead to a carbon dioxide neutral energy system, one that adds no new CO2 to our atmosphere. The options needed are real and practical alternatives to fossil fuels that will replace the use of petroleum and coal-based fuels with renewable, non polluting fuels and in the process:

1. build an American energy system that will stop the hemorrhaging of billions of U.S. dollars, mostly to despotic nations that preach our destruction:

2. build an American energy industry that boosts our economy and provides good jobs for many Americans:

3. stop the growth of atmospheric carbon dioxide and that possible link to global warming: and

4. accomplish most of this within just the next ten years.

There are many energy systems, sources, and conversions that comprise our total energy system. The requirements of the components of such a workable system should be judged by the following criteria:

● They should be relatively inexpensive to utilize.

● They should be developed using environmentally sound, sensitive principals

● They should be far easier, simpler and less expensive to implement than the hydrogen fuel cell system.

● They should be adaptable to our existing infrastructure with minor changes.

● They should use raw materials we already have or that can be developed here, locally.

● They should be applicable to existing vehicles with relatively minor upgrading.

● They should be useable with existing IC (Internal Combustion) engines of all types.

● They should be developed using existing, evolving technology able to be essentially complete within ten years.

● They should create a system that is a net zero contributor of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.

● They should use an evolutionary as opposed to revolutionary change—a good start to becoming constantly improving, adapting systems driving numerous growing and improving technologies.

● They should be developed by America-based industry with the many resulting substantial benefits to our nation—social, political, and economic.

While the main thrust of such systems will be to provide new, better, less expensive and less environmentally intrusive systems for energy and transportation, there are many benefits other than just getting away from fossil fuels. These include direct positive effects on four of the first seven of the top twenty-two “most serious concerns of the American public” as shown in a public survey conducted by MIT and cited below.

No. 1 Terrorism—cut off the billions in oil money now going to so many despotic regimes and into funding of terrorism, chiefly to Islamic fundamentalist terrorists who plan our destruction.

No. 3 The Economy—a greatly expanded American energy industry would be an enormous boon to our economy if it only shut off the hemorrhaging of money for oil.

No. 4 Employment—thousands of high-paying new jobs would be created right here.

No. 7 Federal budget deficits—profits from new and expanded industries would pour billions into the federal treasury; money now going out overseas.

No. 13 The environment—may be far down the list of public concerns, but net carbon dioxide emissions would be greatly reduced if not eliminated. That can’t be anything but good.

Even with these substantial benefits bundled into grand plans there are significant forces to be dealt with. Forces that can make a new idea work or relegate it to the ash can of history. There are real difficulties and obstacles to overcome in order for any new system to become a reality no matter how positive and/or effective that system might be. Indeed, the battle to get the most beneficial systems noticed and made a reality may require more effort than the implementation of the idea or system itself. The process, once begun, may take completely unexpected twists and turns in moving, sometimes forward and sometimes back, but always in the ultimate direction of successful implementation.

Our space program and its “put a man on the moon” goal followed just such a wandering path en route to its success. We can expect no less from our efforts to find a new fuel/energy system which certainly has a more powerful practical and obviously profitable goal. Clearly, President Kennedy’s commitment to put a man on the moon in ten years and the follow-up on that commitment was a major force in making it happen. Media hype and glamorization help garner public support and enthusiasm. That was a government program operated by a government agency which was implemented mostly by private contractors according to government bid specifications. It was a process oriented solution with a single defined goal.

What we need now is leadership courageous enough to boldly state a goal such as eliminate the use of fossil fuels in ten years and then work ceaselessly toward achieving that goal. Leadership that will initiate a system oriented, broad spectrum approach to solving our growing energy crisis. This is an even greater challenge than putting a man on the moon, a serious challenge that could be instrumental in securing our very survival. We need this ten-year goal declaration to be well stated and backed by leadership with vision and the dedication to follow through. The commitment would be to develop new energy systems that will provide American-made renewable fuels or other portable energy systems and will add no more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere and do it within the next ten years. This is a much broader multiple goal than putting a man on the moon. Indeed it has many branching and interconnected avenues which could lead to a successful solution. I believe the key to final success will be found in the development of several areas of research rather than a single one. The best combination of energy sources, means of obtaining that energy, means of moving the energy from source to use point, and finally the systems of using that energy. There may be a variety of equally effective systems fitting differing needs. The result could end up a variation on the current theme where we use several types of systems in different configurations .

The attention given to new energy and fuel systems will undoubtedly involve effort into other seemingly unconnected areas. We are still deriving long-term benefits from technology developed for our space program. It would certainly be the same for any fuel/energy program. It is amazing to discover that so many of our serious problems are interrelated and how finding one solution often leads to another almost totally unrelated solution and so to the demand for another workable system.

Existing systems

Presently there are at least seven petroleum-based and mined fuels used in a variety of engines and boilers. These are in addition to coal used mostly in power plants. Use of all of these fossil fuels add carbon dioxide to our atmosphere. There are at least six non fossil-based fuels currently being used or being considered for use. Most are manufactured from plant materials and add no-net carbon dioxide to the atmosphere in use. Some do add carbon dioxide in their process of manufacture. There are a few non fossil solid fuels, mostly used for heating and cooking. There is a wide variety of harvesting and manufacturing processes used to obtain or make these fuels. Some of these manufacturing processes require more energy input than the resulting fuel can produce.

There is also the special case of nuclear fuels that use radioactivity to generate heat to boil liquids that drive turbine generators. Since these do not use combustion, they do not release carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.

The only reason we need fuel is to provide heat energy which we then convert to electricity or mechanical power. There are at least five combustion-based systems in use. The internal combustion piston engine is the most common and the most developed. Turbine engines make up the rest of the internal combustion types. Other sources of power include: piston steam engines, turbine steam engines, several types of nuclear reactors, fuel cells, and batteries. All of these power sources turn energy derived from chemical reactions or nuclear fission into electricity or mechanical energy which then powers vehicles, tools, and factories.

There are at least six types of batteries in use, some of which are very new and just beyond the development stage. These new technologies will come of age when continuing development of improved technologies lower their costs and improve their safety and efficiency.

Electric motors of many types and sizes, long important in stationary applications and semi-portable tools are growing in use in vehicles. The fastest growing application of new battery technologies is now battery-powered, cord-free tools and electronic equipment. Application of these new batteries to hybrids, plug-in electric vehicles (PHEVs), and even pure electric vehicles (EVs), is just in the beginning stages.

In the power plant segment of our energy system there are at least eight very different sources of energy we use to drive the generators that produce our electricity. Each has its own positives and negatives and all can pose serious environmental problems.

I have described all of these parts of our energy system to illustrate how complex it is. Making any major change would be a difficult and arduous task. Even deciding which changes to make—what system to develop—will be difficult. The answer could lie in a very successful technique used mostly in America for a long time, individual entrepreneurship in a relatively unfettered capitalist business environment.

The challenge ahead

There are literally thousands of individuals using their genius to develop new energy technologies motivated by the promise of rewards for themselves and for their organizations. We are not alone in free entrepreneurship. The powers that control China have suddenly realized its value and are now encouraging it. This has created one of the biggest economic turnarounds in the history of nations. Other nations have seen the light for some time and their economies are booming. Even India, the other Asian giant, is beginning to loosen the socialist government reins that have held their economy in check for so long. The phenomenal growth of the Irish economy is another example. Internet access to the rest of the world and primarily the free world has been a factor in these changes. Even some governments that once controlled virtually every aspect of their people’s lives are now recognizing the value of free entrepreneurship, and even capitalism. Profit is no longer a dirty word in many of these nations. Tom Friedman details these changes in his recent book, The World is Flat 2.0.

Ireland is a prime example of what can happen when government frees businesses and entrepreneurs from oppressive controls and taxes. After years of wallowing in poverty in a country where government controls and high taxes on business stifled progress and discouraged investment of both time and money, the Irish took a dramatic new course. Government interference and controls of business were largely abolished. Complex reporting that bogged down management was mostly thrown out. Corporate taxes once among the highest in the world were reduced or eliminated. Government changed from being the enemy of business to being a strong supporter. The results speak for themselves.

Ireland is now one of the most vibrant economies in Europe. Business is booming like never before. There are now many high paying jobs and investment capital is flowing freely into a nation that once couldn’t coax any investors. In the last twenty years more then 1,000 foreign companies have moved to or opened operations in Ireland. Local firms have also flourished and greatly expanded with worldwide impact. Employment has grown so much that Ireland now imports thousands of workers just to keep their industries running. All of this success is because of the new positive attitude of the government of Ireland to the development of business. This radical new attitude has brought on the availability of world class support services including banking, trade finance, transport systems and advanced telecommunications.

Historians like Tom Garvin are having trouble keeping score. "I have to make a mental effort to remember the Dublin of the 1950s, which was in many ways a Third World city," recalls Garvin. "Horses, no motorcars, children in bare feet, dirt everywhere, people living in slums, no television, no bathrooms - a really impoverished European country that didn't seem to be going anywhere." The picture today is almost unbelievably different: hopeful, optimistic, enthusiastic, almost ecstatic. This amazing economic outcome resulted from government working with business rather than against it and removing oppressive tax burdens rather than imposing them. What also helped was a pro-business attitude of people and even the media rather than the class hatred and anti business attitude we see so prevalent in our own country today.

The concerted effort to solve our energy problems if augmented by this kind of positive attitude and action by everyone here at home would certainly stimulate the economic growth that has sustained our economy at such high levels for so long. If our efforts at solving our energy crisis are driven by hope for substantial economic rewards we will surely succeed and hugely so. If on the other hand, those anti-business voices of doom and gloom succeed and control our government with the new oppressive regulations and taxes they have promised, our economy could will surely go into reverse and much more quickly than even the present slow down has indicated. The fall of the dollar we are currently experiencing will accelerate. Those entrepreneurs who might have solved our energy crisis will do so in Ireland, or China, or India as our stifled economy sinks into depression and our energy needs go unsolved.

How we approach and deal with this serious problem and the attitude we take toward those who have the power to solve it will ultimately decide which technologies prosper and which fall by the wayside. The steadily rising costs of petroleum fuels has made alternative systems practical that were far too expensive when oil was five dollars a barrel. One possible stumbling block to these changes could result from an effort by OPEC to increase the supply of oil and thus reduce the price. Eventually dwindling supplies of petroleum would wipe this out as a practical tactic.

There are many serious and demonstrable problems solving the energy crisis will effect right now. The biggest is the outflow of billions of dollars for oil to nations that preach our destruction. The boost to our economy alone would create a bonanza in this country like we have never before seen. New jobs, new technologies, new industries, and new entrepreneurs would flourish. Even without new taxes (what a dream that is) government revenue would soar from the increased economic activity. The demise of the oil industry would certainly be replaced by the new energy industries. Actually, those oil companies that got aboard these new technologies rather than opposing them, could use their present wealth to invest in them and grow rather than fade away.

Whether or not human contribution of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere creates global warming is actually only remotely connected to our energy related problems. If these new energy systems eliminate the wholesale use of fossil fuels, so much the better. Even if it has a negligible effect on global warming, it can do no harm to maintain the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere near to where it has been for a very long time. That would also satisfy the demands of the global warming proponents and opponents and redirect their energies elsewhere to other far more dangerous challenges facing humanity. Concrete benefits to the rest of the world with the exception of the oil-rich nations would also be substantial.

Some predictions:

After studying energy systems of so many kinds I am convinced that the future will see the greatest growth in energy generated in the form of electricity, distributed and used by a wide variety of systems. I see rapid growth in electric generating capacity primarily in nuclear, but with geothermal a close second and possibly eventually leading. I see a decline in coal fired power plants unless we find a practical technology to gather and sequester carbon dioxide, a very difficult and expensive challenge. I see wind and direct solar generation as always being too expensive and remaining minor players in contribution to the grid. Their use in small, local applications where connection to the electric grid is expensive and to home heating and providing hot water will probably be a substantial benefit and addition to the energy mix. Hydropower will not grow much as environmental concerns will make it increasingly expensive. One interesting possibility now being studied is the conversion of ocean wave action to electrical energy. Thus far, costs and practicality seem reasonable and downsides appear to be virtually nonexistent.

Vehicles will become more electric and less fuel powered as battery technology continues to improve and rapid charging systems are developed. There will always be hybrids, mostly electric vehicles with onboard charging capability, because charging capabilities may be unavailable in some places. Of course there could also be additional growth in micro turbine generators which are already being used for both remote and emergency power applications. Variety will be great at least as technologies progress and new ones come along.

There are several effective new fuel and energy systems to replace the existing system based on coal and petroleum with one that does not use fossil fuels. The benefits of such systems are many, varied, and have far-reaching positive attributes. These include immeasurable economic and political benefits for the citizens of any state or country that adopts them and environmental benefits for the entire world.

There are many innovative new products and technologies that could help us move to a new energy system with a low, or possibly zero-net carbon dioxide environmental impact. Many of these are already available and on the market. Others are soon to come. All that is needed is acceptance by the buying public and the associated development of better technologies and manufacturing capabilities. Some effective PR would provide a big boost.

Two possible direct replacements for gasoline are butanol (butyl alcohol) and 2,5-dimethylfuran (DMF). Both have been available for a long time primarily as solvents and paint thinners. Both can be used in current gasoline engines with little or no modifications. Their high cost relative to gasoline is now changing as gasoline prices rise. New manufacturing techniques have already lowered the production costs of these new fuels to competitive levels. These also have the possibility of being made out of waste plant materials by active biota. Several new techniques have already shown some success. All that is needed is further research and development of processes that can be scaled up to meet the kind of quantities required for a gasoline replacement.

One caveat regarding alternative fuels is already creating serious problems that can only grow worse. Enough corn, wheat and soy beans are being diverted from food to energy use (as ethanol and biodiesel) to bring about some major increases in the costs of these grains. Most have hit all time highs on the grain markets and no sign of a relaxation of this upward trend has yet appeared. Farmers everywhere are thrilled with this new bonanza. Increases in prices for all baked goods, meats, eggs and milk—anything that uses or requires grains—are already quite noticeable in stores.

Another concern that has quite a different but equally negative effect is the growing of palms for palm oil to be used as biodiesel fuel. Much tropical rain forest is being cut, burned and cleared to grow palms for the highly profitable oil they produce. Destruction of rain forest with its huge capacity to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere could more than counter any gain in the carbon dioxide balance from use of biodiesel from palm oil. I’m certain there are other problems with conversion to renewable fuels from crops.

There are many other ways to produce biodiesel that could become practical were we to pursue them aggressively. One that is well documented is the use of Algae fed nutrients from waste water or other biological waste materiels to produce useable oils. View the Internet site http://www.unh.edu/p2/biodiesel/article_alge.html. for more information on this example of just one possible process. Many of these new technologies would bear fruit if more research were provided. This would accomplish two needed goals. One would be to produce biodiesel without interfering with food crops. The second is make profitable use of waste materials that now cost money for their disposal.

Using food crops to make biofuels has already caused disruption to the food supply which is only going to grow worse. Because of this, I favor emphasis on new fuels made from non-food chain raw materials along with new battery technologies, electric vehicles and a great expansion of geothermal power generation to cover the increased energy demand. These are some of the only readily acceptable and practical options that can lead us away from dependence on fossil fuels without a major disruption of our food supply or serious damage to our environment. I see no practical development of cost-effective fuel-cell powered vehicles, hydrogen or otherwise, without a major breakthrough in technology. Although such a breakthrough is always possible, there seems to be no hint of any in the foreseeable future.

There are powerful and deeply entrenched economic and political forces all over the world that actively oppose any system to replace fossil fuels. This is because it would challenge their power and control over energy. I trust our nation will overcome this opposition and lead the world by becoming the first to adopt such a system. If we don’t, I’m certain China, India and several other countries will jump at the chance to be first with new energy technology and its associated benefits.