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I HIGHLY recommend that you read this article. It is a perspective of the history of middle eastern oil that few of my generation know. The problem with how the average American sees our role in the world is that we tend to get hung up on catchphrases -- "My country, right or wrong," or the more infamous "America, love it or leave it." These phrases are problematical, simply because each ends all logical reassessment of how we are seen in the world.
Both ignore the fact that we are led by elected officials, all of which, at least so far, are humans; and, as we know, humans are capable of failure. Therefore a far better slogan for America might be, "America - we don't make many mistakes, but we correct the ones we do."
The twin problems with that statement are that it's not always true and that it's too long for a bumper sticker.
Meanwhile, the rest of the world bases our country's image on their history with us. But, because we have such a mythic view of our own history, we are continuously stunned and shocked when other countries fall out of our orbit or attack us directly. And nowhere is our misunderstanding of past events greater than in the Middle East.
Click the logo above to read the rest of the article.
Timing really is everything, isn't it? Had the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded, sunk to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico and started leaking some 5,000 barrels of oil per day 20 months ago, the McCain/Palin political catchphrase, "Drill, Baby, Drill!" would've been just ruined.
Back during the presidential campaign, just months after gasoline had hit $4 a gallon nationwide, the battle cry in one party's platform was that America could become completely energy independent - if we would just allow more drilling for crude oil on lands controlled by our country. That demonstrated a spectacular ignorance of how the oil industry actually works.
It was bad enough that two individuals running for the highest offices in the land either didn't know how oil exploration and production actually worked, or were simply saying that because it was popular with the crowds. Fortunately, cooler (or more knowledgeable) heads pointed out that anyone who wanted to drill new platforms in the Gulf of Mexico immediately would have to have been on a waiting list for a drill ship for at least four years. And they'd still have to wait some more, while the final oil platform was constructed and put in place.
That reality doesn't seem to have trickled down, but it's why oil companies think in terms of decades for future oil production. The public, not knowing how long new production takes, just wants the price of gasoline to go down tomorrow. For politicians it's simply pandering, energizing everybody you can to go out and vote for you. In the long run, of course, "Drill, Baby, Drill!" was no more inane than their opponent's mantra, "Change you can believe in!"
Because the U.S. imports half the oil we use, becoming energy independent would mean we'd have to double our domestic oil production. Even if we could do that, it would just be kicking the can down the road. Because we couldn't keep finding enough new fields to offset depleting our oil reserves that fast.
Energy independence is a pipedream, but it reliably gets the crowds at political rallies fired up.
Click the image to read the full column.
One carbon trade case was reported during Dan Rather’s news broadcast on HDNet. Years ago China moved to build a huge hydroelectric dam to generate electricity. Good move, since 80 percent of China’s electricity today comes from highly polluting coal; but more important, the business plan showed that once it was operational, this costly new dam would be profitable. And, since hydroelectricity creates virtually no greenhouse gases, that dam was eligible to sell carbon credits on the open market.
One of Germany’s major utility companies, RWE, purchased those carbon credits from China so they could construct new, low-cost lignite coal power generation plants. Lignite coal is the worst carbon fuel, creating maximum pollutants.
China would have built its dam regardless of carbon markets, but now will get an extra $5 million a year in profits because they did. Over in Europe, Germany will be putting out more noxious emissions than ever because RWE is building lignite coal power generators – because they could afford to pay for those carbon credits from China.
So: Millions of dollars will change hands, but the net result is that the world will have more emissions, not less. How dumb is that?
Click the picture to read the article.
Thanks To Keith at BagOfNothing
Most people that read this blog know that I sold cars for a few years. The owner of our dealership was a Godly man who never asked his employees to be dishonest or take advantage of a customer. My experience did not match the stereotypes about car dealers and car salespeople. For the most part everyone I dealt with was someone I trusted.
This weekend Ed Wallace wrote a column titled 'In Praise of Car Salespeople'. I thought it was a well written article that I would share here.
Selling cars is not an easy job. It never has been. The great outdoors is where the cars are parked, so a salesperson’s workplace is out in the rain, snow and ice or in the broiling sun and/or wind. More than half of all potential clients come in skeptical, distrusting most in the automotive industry. And this is not because their last vehicle purchase was a bad experience, but because it’s been drummed into the public’s heads that dealers inevitably plot to extract all of a customer’s money in exchange for a new set of wheels. (Fact: The few dealerships known for brutal sales practices are the exception, not the rule.)
Click the picture above to read the full article.
This is an excerpt from an important article that you should read.
I don’t mean to slight Michael Jackson’s once-formidable talent, nor do I dismiss his troubled personal life. But have we become so frivolous as a nation that any entertainer’s tragic and untimely death warranted more news coverage — day after day after day — than the real issues that will confront each of us now and in the all-too-near future? Apparently so. Most of us know more about the last two days of Jackson’s life than we know about the negotiations in which Washington forced GM and Chrysler into bankruptcy. You certainly know more about Jackson’s death that the names on the list of the 25 individuals who destroyed the world’s financial system. Of course, none of the 25 has died; they still work at the same jobs.
Read The Ed Wallace Column Here
