The True Nature of World Oil Supplies

You've heard the expression repeated endlessly, "Drill, baby drill". Dr. Levy thinks if gasoline prices are this high a year from now it will insure that President Obama won't be reelected. According to Dr. Levy it's President Obama's halting of oil drilling in this country that is responsible for today's high gasoline prices. Nothing could be further from the truth. More of the tea party set have virtually no background in world economics today. The truth of the matter is that the United States hit "peak oil" in 1970 and US production today is only half of what it was in 1970. The US uses 25% of the world's oil supply with only 5% of the world's population. The US actually produces 8% of the world's supply of oil, but that in fact we only have two percent of the known world's reserves. The rest of the world is fairing only a little better. World production hit "peak oil" in 2006, which was five years ago. With world demand in places like India and China going exponentially up, I think you can begin to see the problem we are facing. Even if the undeveloped oil should go on line immediately, exprets project even then that we are close to peak oil there, too. Only when you go to more exotic means of obtaining oil from rock and sand, is there even a glimmer of hope, and not a lot at that. That "oil guy" yesterday was delivering about the same speech as he delivered five months ago. He hauled out all these charts showing things like each and every new discovery world wide, and as you see the discoveries are becomming smaller all the time. It's nutty to say that if we drilled Alaska oil that we would add significantly to our supplies. The plain and simple fact of it is that oil companies aren't drilling because the oil is just too expensive to reach. And this is not going to change. Thom Hartman has said that the Koch Brothers or something once cornered 85% of the market on the world's oil supply but then they shorted it. What this would mean is that I pay top dollar for their oil, with the privvelege of selling it back to them at a forth percent discount when the price goes down. I don't know anyone who would take that deal. While it's true that oil prices of crude may drop significantly in the next year or so as this economy has a relapse, the sad truth is that ANY time this economy gets going again high gasoline prices will swat the economy back down. You can't win. Unfortunately our alternative energy research is about as enimically funded as our current Space program. The government can't afford to spend that kind of money now, so we better hope that there is some rich person who is. Things like people seeking alternate forms of transportation including bullet trains or bicycles, or getting a job closser to where they live, or else using a hybred car, which uses less oil- - -these forces will tend to keep gasoline prices from rising too high. In short, the overall energy situation looks grim.

President Obama could be in real trouble with the Jewish lobby if he doesn't reverse his position on Israel giving back all their land over the past 44 years. I doubt this concept of such abject accomodation to what are basically terrorists will set well with the American people. Anti Islamic fever has been at a peak these past few years. Islamo-phobia is pervaisive in society. He will also find himself in big trouble if he expects any of his Health Care plans will be funded by this congress, and maybe the next one. The American people have made their position loud and clear on this Health Care issue. While they don't like paying high insurance rates, they would rather do this than have "government rationed health care", which is what they perceive we will have. If the President wants to make himself useful, why not advocate for this one percent stock transaction tax that people are pushing for. I know others want it fixed at only a quarter percent, but I say one percent will be four times as effective at curbing speculation, as well as raise four times the revenues. They abolished the quarter percent transaction tax in the Johnson administration because they claim they had a surplus of money.

In one or more Star Trek episodes they predicted that Public Commercial Television as we know it would not last much beyond the 20th Century. We are seeing indications of the growth of "narrow-casting" but so far the four networks as we know them appear alive and well. They say that today's teenagers watch very little regular TV. After all these video games are so engrossing they are like TV dramas unto themselves. Obviously the availability of Movies on DVD is impacting people's choice for an evening's entertainment in a big way. I'd like to know how many people actually watch all 150 stations on their cable TV menu.

Many have likened reincarnation is lighting one candle with another and then blowing out the first candle, and then asking the pilgrim "What has been transferred"? If you actually want an answer to that question I'll give you one. Heat energy. That's all. The physical property of the flame comes from the material from the second candle, and not from the first. In point of fact the second candle could have gotten that heat source from any number of places. I got to thinking about this and the whole bit about Jesus saying he brings "eternal life" and all. The thought hit "If God really gave these people something Eternal and lasting, they wouldn't keep coming back again and again to seek more of it, as though they had never gotten it". Of course reincarnation is something we normally don't believe in here in "the west" because it somehow seems a little creepy. Some like Mr. Richi from Cypress argue that any after life consciousness is impossible because our brain cells no longer function (as Stephen Hawking says) and therefore any life beyond this one can't exist. But for people who wake up in a different life- - it will seem very real to them, even if their memory of past lives is a total blank. We still don't know what "consciousness" is. We don't know whether or not it's just cell chemistry and neurons. Sometimes stating the obvious seems redundant. Unlike your Hindu guru, you don't have an endless supply of Time. While time is as of nothing to God, it is valuable to you, and if God doesn't know that reality YOU live under, one must question whether God is actually all knowing. If I had to summarize what "Being brought to NOW means" I'd say it means coming to a state where your priorities in life have become crystal clear to you, and nothing is going to deter you from your set course. (Selah)