I want to mention a few things today. First, the Stock Market fluctuations. Today, so far, things are up a bit, but, mostly we have seen a horrible downslide, despite the fact that our leaders tell us the economy is fine. For starters, the economy is not fine. It is sluggish at best. That aside, we are told that uncertainty in China and the sharp decline in oil prices are responsible. As far as China goes, we really have no idea what is going on. Western press correspondents walk on thin ice there. One wrong word and they are subject to censure, arrest, and/or deportation. All reports seem to show considerable unrest in Western China among their sizable Moslem population and it is almost certain that they cannot feed their own population. They do import a tremendous amount of food. Since they have been called a great threat, I am not sure why their failing economy should hurt us. We have other nations we can trade with. China has lent us a bunch of money but, so what? If we tighten our shipments of food, they will have deep troubles. You cannot eat food. So, I do not understand why their economic decline troubles our investors.
Sliding oil prices help the average working man. Gas is now fairly cheap and the less money you put in your car, the more you have to spend. Yet, this troubles investors. Why? Stop and think. The Middle Class, the source, for years, of much of our Nations strength, has been largely wiped out as more and more wealth is in the hands of fewer and fewer people. The poorer we are, the easier we are to control. If we start having a few extra dollars, we might start to be a force in the nation again and the Powers That Be do not want this. A strong Middle Class is their worse nightmare. Does that make sense? Not a bit, but we are dealing with a group of people who have an irrational, no, an insane lust for power. Thus, when things get better for the Average American, such as happens when gas gets cheaper, they panic. We are seeing proof that the interests of Big Business and Big Money are diametrically opposed to the interests of Americans.
In a related story, folks in Iowa are in a snit because the subsidies paid to corn growers are being threatened. Of course, nothing on two or four legs eats this corn, It is converted into ethanol and added to gas. Now, ethanol does not appreciably reduce carbon emissions, and with gas prices low, it is not needed to stretch supplies. It makes sense in a place like Brazil, where they can grow massive amounts of sugar cane and use the scraps left after the sugar is extracted to make the ethanol. Brazil makes the stuff for almost nothing, as a by-product of a cash crop. Here, we have to grow a special crop and a lot of it. This takes up a whole lot of land that could be used for other crops and we see high grocery costs. Ethanol sells for so little that we have to subsidize farmers or they would lose money on the deal. The only legitimate way to use all that corn is to call ethanol what it is, moonshine, and sell it in liquor stores. So, to sum up, we are paying farmers a bunch of money to grow an unneeded crop to make an unneeded product, and they are upset because we seem to be wising up to the deal. This is similar to paying a subsidy to tobacco farmers to grow a product that we then try desperately to get people to quit using. Is it any wonder the Nation is in such bad shape?
Last, let me mention the latest Campaign debacle. I thought Trump had reached a new low when he appeared at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University trying to win over evangelicals. The preposterous image of the Donald trying ineptly to quote scripture was one of the funniest things I have seen in years, but, that aside, what was the point? When will we quit pandering to this group? Evangelical Christians are a small, and ever-shrinking, minority in this Nation. Then, to make things worse, Trump dragged Sarah Palin away from the frozen North Land and back to the spotlight, giving her a chance to once again bray like a jackass and ramble incoherently. Is Trump that desperate? I guess so, because he is hinting that she will have a place in his administration.
I, in the sick, twisted corners of my mind, was sort of hoping that we would, one day, have a Palin-Clinton race for the White House. The thought of those two, screeching at each other like wounded Banshees during a debate would have been worth seeing. Ah well, it looks like we will have to settle for Clinton-Trump. God help us all.
Showing posts with label oil. Show all posts
Showing posts with label oil. Show all posts
Thursday, January 21, 2016
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
American Energy Needs and Climate Change
Our President seems to have decided that the possible, future problem of climate change is more important than the immanent danger of terrorism. So be it. The man is decidedly bullheaded and will not be swayed from his chosen course.
The rest of us have the need for energy and there is no reason to deny that or to do without. Climate change is real and always has been. The climate this morning is different from last night and will change again tonight. On a long term scale, we simply don't know. We only have details for recent history and only vague ideas from distant history. When it comes to ancient times, it seems that we have gone through many cycles. Why? No one knows. There are theories aplenty, but they are just that theories, and are only good until the next one comes along. Even those doing the theorizing have reached no agreement, not even tentatively.
In the meantime, politically and economically, we have to tread softly, lest we offend some of the countries that are pumping the stuff like water(which, by the way, will soon be a real problem. More on that in a future post). We do not need their oil. We have vast reservoirs of oil and even larger ones of natural gas. We still have mountains of coal. Lands stripped of coal have been successfully reclaimed and we know how to pump and transport petroleum safely. If you stop and think, all of the horrific oil well accidents and tanker crashes have involved equipment operated by non-Americans. We are very, very good at what we do, so. until we get a few kinks worked out in alternative sources, get the mines and pumps working.
I really do not believe that what we burn affects the climate that much and here is why. Cows, in herds, emit, by their flatulence, a whole lot of a major greenhouse gas, methane. Now, long ago, there were herds of dinosaurs. Just imagine the amount of gas emitted by dinosaur farts. And yet, the Earth is still here and still bursting with life.
Still, no one really wants the air filled with smog, so we need to use other sources. Sun, wind, geothermal all are effective in some areas to some degree. Maybe that can be improved and we should work on that. Hydrogen has been mentioned as a possibility but it is very volatile. We would need to figure out how to tone that down a bit. Some places are using garbage to use as fuel. Rotting organic matter emits methane which can be captured and used. All of these methods should be streamlined and improved. They can help.
The real key is nuclear. Nuclear power is clean, relatively cheap, and, with proper plant maintenance, safe. The only problem is disposal of the spent, but still highly radioactive fuel rods, and critics are correct when they say that burying them in caves and abandoned mines is unacceptable. But, there is a solution. Physicists report that those rods can be recycled, the physics to do that works out nicely. All they need to do is sit down with engineers and a fair amount of money and work out the details.
In other words, instead of running around the world, trying to promote draconian environmental laws, our President could be doing something useful. Instead of crippling a shaky economy and putting more of a strain on the American middle class (what little bit is left of it) he could be convening conferences with leading scientists, engineers and businessmen and trying to find a workable solution.
As far as the climate goes, just remember this; if a herd of farting stegosaurs could not wipe out life, it is unlikely that your KIA will.
The rest of us have the need for energy and there is no reason to deny that or to do without. Climate change is real and always has been. The climate this morning is different from last night and will change again tonight. On a long term scale, we simply don't know. We only have details for recent history and only vague ideas from distant history. When it comes to ancient times, it seems that we have gone through many cycles. Why? No one knows. There are theories aplenty, but they are just that theories, and are only good until the next one comes along. Even those doing the theorizing have reached no agreement, not even tentatively.
In the meantime, politically and economically, we have to tread softly, lest we offend some of the countries that are pumping the stuff like water(which, by the way, will soon be a real problem. More on that in a future post). We do not need their oil. We have vast reservoirs of oil and even larger ones of natural gas. We still have mountains of coal. Lands stripped of coal have been successfully reclaimed and we know how to pump and transport petroleum safely. If you stop and think, all of the horrific oil well accidents and tanker crashes have involved equipment operated by non-Americans. We are very, very good at what we do, so. until we get a few kinks worked out in alternative sources, get the mines and pumps working.
I really do not believe that what we burn affects the climate that much and here is why. Cows, in herds, emit, by their flatulence, a whole lot of a major greenhouse gas, methane. Now, long ago, there were herds of dinosaurs. Just imagine the amount of gas emitted by dinosaur farts. And yet, the Earth is still here and still bursting with life.
Still, no one really wants the air filled with smog, so we need to use other sources. Sun, wind, geothermal all are effective in some areas to some degree. Maybe that can be improved and we should work on that. Hydrogen has been mentioned as a possibility but it is very volatile. We would need to figure out how to tone that down a bit. Some places are using garbage to use as fuel. Rotting organic matter emits methane which can be captured and used. All of these methods should be streamlined and improved. They can help.
The real key is nuclear. Nuclear power is clean, relatively cheap, and, with proper plant maintenance, safe. The only problem is disposal of the spent, but still highly radioactive fuel rods, and critics are correct when they say that burying them in caves and abandoned mines is unacceptable. But, there is a solution. Physicists report that those rods can be recycled, the physics to do that works out nicely. All they need to do is sit down with engineers and a fair amount of money and work out the details.
In other words, instead of running around the world, trying to promote draconian environmental laws, our President could be doing something useful. Instead of crippling a shaky economy and putting more of a strain on the American middle class (what little bit is left of it) he could be convening conferences with leading scientists, engineers and businessmen and trying to find a workable solution.
As far as the climate goes, just remember this; if a herd of farting stegosaurs could not wipe out life, it is unlikely that your KIA will.
Sunday, November 15, 2015
Is Paris Burning? and is America Next
Is Paris burning is the question Hitler asked after the Nazi invasion of France and the question is now relevant again. For the first time since WW2, the borders of France were closed and the country is all but under military rule. This is perfectly understandable in the wake of the most recent nightmare of terror.
I was going to write about business in America, but that can wait. Americans need to come to grips with the world's reality. To do that we need to understand history.
The world has been a bloody mess since, well, the beginning of the human race. Wars of conquest have been the rule since a few men decided that they should take charge of the tribes they lived in. Why? Power, something far more addictive than heroin. Why should that be? I am sure Freudians would search personal histories for clues, while Jungians would cite over identification with archetypes. Hindus would say that some people get stuck in a lower chakra and Eric von Danikkan would blame Ancient Aliens. David Ickes and his ilk would say that power mad rulers carry alien blood and are really Reptilian Shape-shifters. Staunch Christians would blame the Prince of Darkness and tell tales of Satanic rites. Personally, I do believe dark spirits are influencing the power mad, but we, for now at least, stay on the Earth and in the four dimensions of space and time.
For this discussion we will stick to the Middle East. Long ago, city states formed and quickly began to fight over territory, eventually evolving into Empires. Sumerians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Egyptians, Hittites, all rose and fell. What is seldom mentioned is the continuing quarrelling among the smaller tribes. The large Empires cared little about internal fighting as long as they got their taxes. All of these smaller groups fought frequently, among them the Hebrews, Edomites, Moabites, Canaanites. All of the battles covered in the Bible were simply minor spats among neighboring tribes.
This idiotic fighting was not just restricted to the Levant. All through an area stretching from Mediterranean to Kashmir and north to Southern Russia. Greece, Persia and Rome conquered the whole mess and imposed a very uneasy peace. However, no empire lasts and after the slow fall of Rome, Islam took control. As to be expected, all sides in this never ending tribal conflict jockeyed for position, factions rose and fell, and eventually, as we entered the modern era, the Ottoman Empire took over the region. Yes, I know this is a very simple view of a massively complex history, but I do not intend to spend the rest of my life on this, and to be honest, this sketchy background is enough to set the stage for more modern developments.
Oil has been the king of commodities for well over a century and for some reason, millions of years ago, many dinosaurs very courteously decided to die in the Middle East and leave an ocean of oil under the sand. The British quite kindly offered to start removing it and in the ancient land of Persia, started drilling. A few years later, WW1 broke out and here is where things started getting weird.
Germany was kicking English rear end and England wanted the US to bail them out, however, President Wilson had twice promised to keep us out. The German House of Rothschild Bank contacted a British leader and said, hey, we know a close advisor of Wilson who will change his mind if you English will promise to create a Jewish state in Palestine. Thus was born the Balfour resolution.
After the war, which the US did enter and win, the world descended into the Great Depression and the resolution was put on hold. Germany found out what Rothschild had pulled and, understandably upset, started restricting Jewish financial activity. Jews responded by instigating a world wide boycott of German products, which was very effective and hurt the already crippled German economy. This fed the fire that was being set by one of histories true madmen, Adolf Hitler, who played the German people like a fine violin and WW2 and the Holocaust followed.
Oddly enough, during WW2, a group of Muslims, the Muslim Brotherhood, fell in love with der Fuhrer, and the first of the radical Islamic groups was born.
There you have a basic and overly simple view of what started our current wave of madness, In the next installment, we will look at the rise of extremism and the role the US played in all of this. We are certainly not blameless.
I was going to write about business in America, but that can wait. Americans need to come to grips with the world's reality. To do that we need to understand history.
The world has been a bloody mess since, well, the beginning of the human race. Wars of conquest have been the rule since a few men decided that they should take charge of the tribes they lived in. Why? Power, something far more addictive than heroin. Why should that be? I am sure Freudians would search personal histories for clues, while Jungians would cite over identification with archetypes. Hindus would say that some people get stuck in a lower chakra and Eric von Danikkan would blame Ancient Aliens. David Ickes and his ilk would say that power mad rulers carry alien blood and are really Reptilian Shape-shifters. Staunch Christians would blame the Prince of Darkness and tell tales of Satanic rites. Personally, I do believe dark spirits are influencing the power mad, but we, for now at least, stay on the Earth and in the four dimensions of space and time.
For this discussion we will stick to the Middle East. Long ago, city states formed and quickly began to fight over territory, eventually evolving into Empires. Sumerians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Egyptians, Hittites, all rose and fell. What is seldom mentioned is the continuing quarrelling among the smaller tribes. The large Empires cared little about internal fighting as long as they got their taxes. All of these smaller groups fought frequently, among them the Hebrews, Edomites, Moabites, Canaanites. All of the battles covered in the Bible were simply minor spats among neighboring tribes.
This idiotic fighting was not just restricted to the Levant. All through an area stretching from Mediterranean to Kashmir and north to Southern Russia. Greece, Persia and Rome conquered the whole mess and imposed a very uneasy peace. However, no empire lasts and after the slow fall of Rome, Islam took control. As to be expected, all sides in this never ending tribal conflict jockeyed for position, factions rose and fell, and eventually, as we entered the modern era, the Ottoman Empire took over the region. Yes, I know this is a very simple view of a massively complex history, but I do not intend to spend the rest of my life on this, and to be honest, this sketchy background is enough to set the stage for more modern developments.
Oil has been the king of commodities for well over a century and for some reason, millions of years ago, many dinosaurs very courteously decided to die in the Middle East and leave an ocean of oil under the sand. The British quite kindly offered to start removing it and in the ancient land of Persia, started drilling. A few years later, WW1 broke out and here is where things started getting weird.
Germany was kicking English rear end and England wanted the US to bail them out, however, President Wilson had twice promised to keep us out. The German House of Rothschild Bank contacted a British leader and said, hey, we know a close advisor of Wilson who will change his mind if you English will promise to create a Jewish state in Palestine. Thus was born the Balfour resolution.
After the war, which the US did enter and win, the world descended into the Great Depression and the resolution was put on hold. Germany found out what Rothschild had pulled and, understandably upset, started restricting Jewish financial activity. Jews responded by instigating a world wide boycott of German products, which was very effective and hurt the already crippled German economy. This fed the fire that was being set by one of histories true madmen, Adolf Hitler, who played the German people like a fine violin and WW2 and the Holocaust followed.
Oddly enough, during WW2, a group of Muslims, the Muslim Brotherhood, fell in love with der Fuhrer, and the first of the radical Islamic groups was born.
There you have a basic and overly simple view of what started our current wave of madness, In the next installment, we will look at the rise of extremism and the role the US played in all of this. We are certainly not blameless.
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