Oil http://www.newsflavor.com/tags/Oil New posts about Oil We Need to Get Off of Oil http://www.newsflavor.com/Opinions/We-Need-to-Get-Off-of-Oil.375199 I have a saying. Yes I will take credit for it because I haven't heard anyone else use it, so if you have heard this before, please let me know so I can give credit to where credit is due. I'd hate to be labeled a Joe Biden, er um, I mean a plagiarizer. That saying is, just because a crack addict can make their own crack does not make them any less of a crack addict.

There is not question that the United States of America is addicted to oil. Our cars use it; our planes, our homes, and our plastics are just a few examples as to how oil has seeped its way into every facet of our daily lives.

Politicians on one side of the argument say “drill here drill now”, while others say, “drill baby drill”. Sure drilling here at home will remove our need of foreign oil, but the addiction to oil itself still remains.

Like my saying above, just because we can produce our own oil here at home does not make us any less dependent on it. So instead of sending some of our money over seas to OPEC, we send it to a bunch of billionaires here at home and turn them into trillionaires. If that makes you feel more comfortable then so be it, but the fact remains we need to get off of oil.

The free markets and our own freedoms give every America the possibility of accomplishing this feat. For instance you can obtain a free federal permit allowing you to make your own ethanol, which is the source of fuel many believe is the future to powering our vehicles. Ethanol is nothing more than alcohol produced from a variety of sources. It is done so by basically boiling what is called a mash and then the steam from that boiling mash is cooled so the steam is turned into alcohol. The downfall of this is it takes a lot of energy to produce that mash, therefore leaving many to wonder is it worth doing.

I say it is. Going back to why I think the free markets and freedoms of America will produce the solution is for this simple reason, when so many people are trying different ways to produce a product you will invariably get lots of ideas which in turn will be the one solution we are looking for.

We have seen it with so many inventions, from the light bulb to the telephone to even the home computer and the way we listen to music. It will be no different with ethanol either.

The work performed on producing ethanol has lead the industry to realize that the left over mash once it has been done boiling to extract the ethanol can then be fed back to the livestock. Many people believed that producing ethanol would leave a deficiency in live stock food, but the opposite is true. In fact live stock now have an even better source of food since a lot of the sugars have been removed.

Also another bi-product of ethanol production is carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide is captured and then resold to make dry ice and carbonate beverages. These are just two examples of the solutions that have come from continuous experiments with ethanol. We must continue with the process if we ever want to get off of oil. The price we will pay later for not getting off of oil far outweighs it the cost it takes today to produce it.

]]> Tue, 02 Dec 2008 03:12:55 PST The Unbelievable World of Controversy http://www.newsflavor.com/Satire/The-Unbelievable-World-of-Controversy.364713 Getting the Promotion You Deserve

The top ten tips for doing a great job and getting the promotion you deserve.

Is this the typical behavior of the CEO of the company you work for? Mastering the art described in this video is the number 1 prerequisite for obtaining an MBA and subsequently running a company to perfection.

Helping the Poor Guy on the Street

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Will you give the guy in the street money if he is predicting the future? Well governments around the world is giving the guy in Wall street money for predicting the future!

Teaching our Kids about Money

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Hey guys, have a look at everything you can do with one dollar. Kid asks question:  What is that part called savings?

Answer: That is the part of your money you give to the government so we can have banks.

Taking out a Loan

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I would like to take out a loan to pay for my child's education. This is really all we can give you at the moment due to the financial difficulty the world is currently in. What about the part that is behind your back? That part is for the private chartered jet for the CEOs of the Motor companies to fly to Washington so they can beg congress for more money.

Taking out a Mortgage

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Honey, do you really think we can afford this? The monthly payment is $50 000 a month. I'm sure the bank will give us a mortgage, I just got a raise to $50 000 a year.

Ready to Buy a New Car

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Americans are just embracing the thought of driving a more economical car. That is probably why the American Car market is collapsing creating an opportunity for the lesser evil; fighting the big fight against global warming and climate change.

The Economic Turmoil

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We are really at the bottom. We can't go any lower.

The "Post-Racial Era"

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Racial issues are a thing of the past, just look America has a black president now.

Where is Africa?

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Africa is a place to get oil, gold, diamonds and uranium.

Pirates are Only in the Movies

Captain Jack Sparrow earns $150Million high jacking oil tankers off the Somalian coast.

This is the beginning of an article I really despised writing.

]]> Wed, 26 Nov 2008 04:36:15 PST Offshore Drilling: Alternative Energy Source? http://www.newsflavor.com/World/USA-&-Canada/Offshore-Drilling-Alternative-Energy-Source.363505 Oil companies currently want offshore drilling bans lifted on coasts and construction of many new rigs; they say it will solve energy problems and help reduce the cost of oil.

In congress, some of the senators are declaring it is time for offshore drilling. Many feel it will help break our dependency on foreign oil. They also feel that by buying foreign oil, it is giving money to countries that possible promote terrorism.

Last month, prices soared for gas. The US spends 2 billion dollars on oil every day and ¾ of a trillion dollars per year. Prices at the pumps went over 4 dollars in some areas of the country.

In the House of Representatives, the majority vote of 307-58 voted to lift the ban on drilling in the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean. It now goes through the Senate where it is projected to pass also. President Bush has threatened to veto the bill.

]]> Tue, 25 Nov 2008 09:08:35 PST The Ghost of Lenin Returns One http://www.newsflavor.com/Politics/International-Relations/The-Ghost-of-Lenin-Returns-1.363489 If you are one of the many people who have relegated Russia to anything less than a major threat, you have a rude awakening coming: Russia may be in position to become a greater danger to us than it was as the Soviet Union.

Russian military technology, while still lagging greatly behind the worlds lone superpower, is still very advanced and something that China, the worlds most populous country, greatly covets. Over the last eight-years, while we've been increasing the area we expect our military to cover, the Russian's have taken a page out of the American playbook, and have been building a huge military and economic alliance with some of the largest, hungriest nations on earth.

Outgoing President Vladimir Putin has been aiming at an alliance that would counter U.S. supremacy, and would dwarf the NATO alliance, his targets are China, Brazil, India, and South Africa, and don't discount Iran who receives a lot of support from China and Russia. This alliance would control most of the worlds resources, and three-quarters of the worlds population, and Putin knows that Russia's part in the alliance would be indispensable because of her technology and one of the worlds largest oil reserves.

Recent Iranian, Chinese, and Russian harassment of our armed forces is not accidental, and should open our eyes to what is coming. China has been expanding their offensive weapons as fast as possible in areas that could only be used against one power with great effect- us! These areas include missiles designed to destroy satellites, and computer warfare technology that will take advantage of the World Wide Web.

Their strategy will be one of containment, as we reach a point where we will not be able to cover all of our interests, our allies will be forced into a submissive state, made easier due to the fact that American forces have been providing their security for years, and many of our strongest allies, Japan, Germany, and France, have very small defense forces because of our protection. Currently, Germany and parts of Europe already depend on the Russian oil pipelines, and will reach a point when Chinese goods and Russian oil are more important then American security, especially if that security requires them to get drawn into a war with this new Super Bloc.

You will hear many Americans in the coming years who will be almost giddy at this, feeling that our country has finally got what was coming to it, these people have forgotten what this nation has done for the world, and for them, they don't realize how blessed they are just to be born here. If you are one of them, here are some things to remember:

America entering World War Two not only saved Europe and the world from German concentration camps, but also prevented the possibility of the Soviet Union controlling all of Europe, those of you who remember that we were allied with the Soviets should also remember that it was an alliance of circumstance, and that the rape of eastern Europe under the Soviet yoke was as bad as anything the Nazis would have done, need an example?

After the fall of the Czar, the people of the Ukraine felt that at last they would have an opportunity at having their own country free of foreign rule, but to their chagrin Lenin's Soviet Union took it upon themselves to appropriate all of the lands that had been part of Czarist Russia, and the fertile Ukraine was on the list, and after four years of war they became part of the Soviet Union in 1921. In 1929 Soviet leader Josef Stalin, in an attempt to subdue growing resentment over Soviet rule, had 5,000 high profile Ukrainians shot or imprisoned without trial, much like the nationwide officer purge he directed. But this wasn't the end of Stalin's purge, he sent groups of undesirables to Siberia, and then turned all of the privately owned farms that made up the Ukraine into a collective farm owned by the state, where the once private farmers were now slaves working for the Soviet state and kept working in factory like farms at the point of a gun. The spirit of the people of Ukraine was yet unbroken, and in 1932 a plan was set into motion that would finally break them, Stalin had started increasing the grain quotas and was sending most of it into foreign markets to generate the funds he needed for his vastly expanding military complex, when the Ukrainians, verging on the point of starvation complained, Stalin sent in over one-hundred-thousand soldiers to purge the Ukraine of any Soviet opposition, the borders were closed creating an inescapable prison, and soldiers went house to house stripping them of all the food they had stored claiming it as property of the Soviet state. When they had finished, over seven-million Ukrainians perished, children and the elderly died first, while Soviet grain stockpiles almost overflowed as they awaited transportation to the rest of the country behind barbed wire and protected by soldiers, even the cattle was fed as some Ukrainians went insane from hunger and some cases of cannibalism have been recorded where adults ate their own children. This was Soviet Communism, and what would have met the rest of Europe without American security.

If you are one of those who are not concerned with the great freedom that exists in the world, and you don't care about the millions who have not perished in the wars that had been a matter of course in Europe before America stepped onto the world stage, remember that the next war will not be one that we choose, to borrow an analogy, there are two drivers involved in a head on collision, and generally one, not both of the drivers is at fault. An America that lets the rest of the world fall to the powers of evil will be isolated, and the resources that we depend upon for security and prosperity will he choked off like the grain Ukrainian farmers produced with their own hands. We've already thrown ourselves upon the altar of world trade, and depend more and more on foreign sources for even our most essential needs, some of which we may not be able to recover. Anyone who thinks that the world's powers have all grown up and that we will never see a major power act aggressively to subjugate another civilized nation hasn't learned from history, doesn't understand man, and is oblivious to the largest world military buildup of all time that is taking place. This may all seem like doom and gloom, but there is still a bright side, we are currently the most powerful and free people ever to walk the face of the earth, and the time has not yet passed where we can secure our freedom and prosperity for our generations and the good of mankind, and some of these solutions will be touched on in part II of this article. Thank you all for your time and patience and God Bless America!

]]> Tue, 25 Nov 2008 09:04:59 PST Strategic Energy Initiative http://www.newsflavor.com/World/Europe/Strategic-Energy-Initiative.360891 We arrogantly declared victory in a global conflict that had not ended, and proceeded to act as if the world was our responsibility- No I'm not talking about the day that George W. Bush declared the war in Iraq to be won, I'm talking about the colossal mistake the West made when they failed to drive the stake into the heart of the monstrous Soviet Union.
The rattling of sabers we have witnessed over the course of the last couple years is just the beginning, many analysts shrugged it off to nothing more than Putin's nostalgic need to feel important, but in reality we have been tested continuously by an intelligent foe bent on our demise and the resurrection of the iron curtain.
With that in mind America cannot look at this threat as the same one we faced before. Putin, who has been replaced by his handpicked president, is not Gorbachev, but the leader of a ruthless group who have censored the countries free press, and controlled the outcome of the last election, and so we must proceed with caution when confronting this ex-KGB director and his cohorts.
Russia's control over almost half of the fossil fuel being delivered to Europe is what is filling the countries coffers with money and the countries leadership with bravado. Since 2006 Russia has raised prices at times as much as quadruple on her neighbors, cut back supply when political arm twisting was needed, threatened to cut off supply of several neighbors, and in recent days reduced the oil to the Czech Republic without warning the day they signed a strategic missile defense agreement with the United States.
In other strategic moves, Russia has been attempting to take control of the oil and gas flow coming out of former Soviet member countries that deliver oil and gas to Europe by dissuading them from the American led efforts to build pipelines bypassing Russia and Iran. Recently they offered to buy all the reserves being held by Azerbaijan at market price, a direct attempt to corner the Central Asian market to solidify Russia's ability to turn on and off the heat in Europe at will.
There will come a time in the near future when America will have to rely on the support of her allies to preserve the freedom and prosperity we enjoy in this country, and so we need to come to the assistance of our allies, before the control Russia is exerting over European action is complete.
We ‘won' the first round of the cold war by allowing Russia's own weakness to destroy her from the inside. The Soviet Union embraced an ideology that limited the potential of the citizens and was so rigid as to make national unity across cultural lines impossible, and so the Great Power collapsed when it was unable to keep up with the American optimism that culminated in Reagan's vision of an America free from the ominous promise of mutually assured destruction.
This program called the Strategic Defense Initiative pushed the Soviet Union to the brink, the choice was either war, or the withdrawal from attempted world domination. Fortunately for the world, they chose the latter course.
America once again needs to embrace the peculiar optimism that exemplifies her best and brightest, and forge ahead for our countries sake as well as the worlds. Both Europe and America are being threatened by socialist forces that are controlling our energy supply, in Europe a resurgent socialist Russia, and in the United States, our own socialist politicians who have allowed our country to be dependent on foreign sources of oil by not allowing the production of new refineries or allowing our companies to drill on American land- Our country once led the world in production and drilling and we are now behind even Norway, when we still have vast untapped reserves.
The time has come to supplement SDI with SEI. A program called Strategic Energy Initiative, which would have the sole stated purpose of complete energy independence for America and her allies. We've spent billions on defense of our country with missile defense and terrorism; we need to spend billions on energy independence, which unlike the other programs will also boost the economy in the long run.
First we need to show our friends and the fence sitters that we are completely committed, only with strong resolve can we hope to encourage our allies to take the leap of faith that would require them to sever ties with the Russian umbilical cord. America would have to expand production of fossil fuels to a point that they have never been at, supplying our needs as well as those of Europe at better than competitive prices. This strategy cannot last forever and would need to be the first phase of many. The next step would be restructuring the American power grid to relieve us of our reliance on oil for most of our domestic consumption. Nuclear plants will need to be built, and we need to spend billions more on alternative energy sources that we can export to Europe.
Also the modernizing of the grid structure itself is necessary, we are at serious risk as we speak of small attacks being able to hamstring us by knocking out significant amounts of our power supply network.
Just the threat of this program would bring world prices down so that the perceived need for such a program would be lessened, but we cannot let that deter us, because we have already seen that at a moments notice, our enemies are more than willing to cut the life support.
Every day that goes by without action we are allowing our freedom and security to become more threatened. Pray for our future, write your congressman, and inform your friends.

]]> Mon, 24 Nov 2008 01:40:06 PST Drilling in Alaska http://www.newsflavor.com/World/USA-&-Canada/Drilling-in-Alaska.335485 The drilling in Alaska has always been a debated issue. The Artic National Wildlife Refuge is said to contain a large supply of oil, and because of this, drilling for oil there has been a debated issue since World War II. This battle between rival parties has been going on since the 39th president, Jimmy Carter. With that being said, the drilling for oil in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge should be stopped and the idea to even consider it should be abolished.

The oil supply in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is not worth the potential environmental damage. The refuge houses a great deal of wildlife. It supports more varieties of plants and animals than any other protected area in the Artic circle. Without a doubt, the drilling will affect many areas important to wildlife. Just think, if an oil spill occurs, it can poison and kill many ecosystems. Such oil spills will also be very difficult to clean up due to the coldwater and broken ice conditions.

The Artic National Wildlife Refuge is North America's largest oil field and is estimated to have at least 4.3 billion (and possibly as much as 11.8 billion) barrels of oil. The United States consumes about 20 million barrels of oil daily and 7 billion barrels of oil yearly. If the United States needs the oil for its daily needs, then it should simply cut down on its oil usage and start focusing more on protecting the environment.

The Bush Administration has always supported the drilling in Alaska in its goal of developing more domestic energy production. Many different organizations have banded together to stop the oil drilling including theSierra Club, the Environmental News Network, the National Resource Defense Council, and the Save the ANWR (Artic National Wildlife Refuge) group. Luckily, as of today, efforts to allow drilling have been stopped, but the debate continues.

]]> Sun, 09 Nov 2008 06:31:27 PST Is America in Iraq for Oil? http://www.newsflavor.com/Opinions/Is-America-in-Iraq-for-Oil.297937  The anti-American propaganda machine including liberals have claimed that America invaded Iraq for oil. The common saying among leftists is "No blood for oil." 

Just one problem. America is not after Iraq's oil. If America was after more oil, why not invade Mexico, which is below the US? 

Magdi Khalil, an Egyptian-American Coptic commentator, said this on Al Jazeera TV when debunking anti-American propaganda:

That's all nonsense. That deceiving propaganda is all around you - oil and all that... Do you know how much was spent on Iraq? Even if America were to take Iraq's oil for the next 200 years, it would not compensate for what it has spent on Iraq.

Magdi Khalil is right. A lot of the big deficit comes from America spending in Iraq. The oil in Iraq is not worth the amount America is spending in this war.

This article isn't defending the decision to invade Iraq or all of America's actions in Iraq.

America rather than impose puppet dictatorships in Iraq, like Britain and France did in the Middle East during the age of European imperialism, is setting up a democracy in Iraq.

The new Iraqi government was elected by the Iraqi people. 

The argument that America is in Iraq to steal Iraqi oil has no evidence behind it, and in fact, contradicted.

]]> Wed, 15 Oct 2008 06:31:22 PST Philippines Extracts First Oil Off Palawan Island http://www.newsflavor.com/World/Asia/Philippines-Extracts-First-Oil-Off-Palawan-Island.293267 THE Philippines extracted Thursday its first crude oil off the Galoc oilfields in Palawan island, the Arroyo government announced.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita told reporters in Malacañang that this milestone signifies the Philippines' first step towards energy self-sufficiency.

"Light medium crude oil with a potential high yield of light ends such as gasoline" was extracted 60 kilometers northwest off Palawan island at 10:45 a.m., Ermita said, adding that the oil will be called "Palawan Light."

"The fresh extracts were put on on board a Philippine vessel en route to our local refineries at 11:20 a.m.," he added.

The Galoc oilfields are expected to supply at least 6 percent of the Philippines’ daily requirement of 300,000 barrels of crude oil.

"We embrace this significant development as this will help immensely help in our pursuit to be energy self-sufficient," Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes said.

The successful oil extraction was made a day after stormy weather disrupted site operations and even prompted operators to send in a new support vessel suited for rough seas.

The Galoc site has a reservoir located 2,200 meters below the sea floor. It is expected to yield 17,000 to 20,000 barrels of oil per day in the next three months.

The Galoc oilfields were discovered in 1981, but site developments were done only in 2005 when Galoc Production Company WLL farmed in to the area. Its partners include Otto Energy, Philodrill Corp. and Nido Petroleum Ltd.

Estimates made in 2006 showed that Galoc has reserves of about 10 million to 20 million barrels of oil.

Ermita said the government is planning further studies and exploration of the site which could result in additional yields.

"The President is optimistic that this new development will positively impact on the administration's efforts to reduce the country's annual oil importation of $6 billion, and, in turn, also contain the increasing cost of food and other commodities," Ermita said.

]]> Sat, 11 Oct 2008 15:01:16 PST Why the Bailout Won't Work http://www.newsflavor.com/Opinions/Why-the-Bailout-Wont-Work.279973 The House of Representatives voted against a measure on Monday to bailout the mess created by the mismanagement of funds in the financial sector by some guys in suits who for some reason aren’t really getting very much heat for it.

Ok, you fucked everything up for everyone. Here’s $700 billion.

Makes me want to go out & fuck something up.

Could we at least force them to put away their luxury SUV’s & drive used Pintos or force them to marry their mistresses or something ??

Anyhow, eventually the Politicos will approve some kind of package. Which will be like placing a band aid on a gun shot wound. That wound being greed itself which is 100% legal under Capitalism & has been bleeding the souls of the little people since the dawn of this experiment we call America. The only problem with that band aid we call a bailout package is that it isn’t going to fix anything.

Here’s why :

The financial crisis we are in was predicted a long time ago. By a bunch of smart guys no one listens to bcuz for one, they’re smarter than everyone else & no one likes a know-it-all & two, no one liked what they had to say. Who wants to hear that the party is over ??

These very men whose job it is to compile & analyze the data have been saying for years that America was doomed for failure, a disaster waiting to happen. That’s bcuz this country was predicated upon a lie. That lie was that there would always be an unlimited supply of cheap oil.

Back in the 40’s & 50’s when Americans left the cities to move into the suburbs & railroads were destroyed by the car manufacturers in favor of 3 lane highways (which we somehow ended up paying for as taxpayers - thanks GM !) a disastrous chain of events was set in place that we are finally seeing play out on the national stage.

You see when America moved out into the suburbs they gave away their only shot at a sustainable way of life & a future for their children. The energy required to sustain a country at that level of waste & foolhardiness where we were commuting 20 -50 miles each way to get to work was simply beyond the means of the world’s supply of oil & the planet in general.

If we had worked harder on improving living conditions for ourselves in the city when we wanted to move to the suburbs to get away from it all ( & there were capitalist wolves only too happy to oblige us) we could have averted this disaster or at least postponed it long enough to find a solution. But as it is we are coming off of oil hard & fast & the withdrawals as we can see, aren’t going to be pretty.

For one, there’ll be soaring food costs & the leisure & entertainment sector of the economy taking a nose dive on par with Tom Cruise’s career trajectory bcuz people aren’t going to be spending their dead presidents on extras as they won’t have any extra cuz it will all be going into the gas tank & to the power bill. No more dinner & a movie & certainly no more vacations (bye bye Las Vegas).

Even if we switch over to Solar & Wind power immediately (which isn’t going to happen) we still don’t have the capacity to power all the cars & all the homes we have built at their present level of consumption not to mention all the homes we are set to build due to our growing population & their power & transportation needs.

The housing mortgage crisis in case you were wondering is just a distraction to draw attention away from the real cause of this mess & that is: Illegal Immigrants. ( Oops, sorry .. I‘ve gotta stop watching Lou Dobbs. ) No the real cause is our reliance on oil & our unsustainable way of living. It had to end sometime & that time is .. well, 15 minutes ago.

Even if the entire state of Kansas decides to take one for the team & move to Bulgaria where they got like 15 camels for every camel & we throw in Rhode Island for good measure houses in suburbia will still end up sitting cold, dark & vacant. And our landfills will still contain more than a few SUV’s. Yet no one seems to want to be the one to say that the American way of life is an unsustainable one & that Americans need to move back into the cities, stop driving small-apartments-on-wheels & simply stop consuming all this useless stuff.

A man by the name of Dr. M. King Hubbard predicted that U.S. oil would peak in the 70’s & it did. Of course he was a laughing stock until then even though he was the preeminent expert in his field when he made the prediction in 1956. Well, he also predicted Global oil would peak in the 1990’s. The gas crisis which drove up prices & drove down demand in the 1970’s may have delayed that imminent reality but look, here we are.

It is obvious that if we had remained on the train & in the city & not converted to the ultra inefficient automobile & moved to the ‘Burbs that we’d be facing an entirely different scenario. A passenger train uses far less fuel per passenger, requires far fewer government subsidies, causes fewer deaths & also pollutes less than a comparable amount of automobiles. And moving someone 5-10 miles instead of 20-50 would’ve also helped.

Based on these numbers if we hadn’t adopted the automobile in the first place we wouldn’t be facing this crisis.

Which may end up saving us in the end.

One of the most overlooked upsides to this energy crisis is it is forcing us to rethink our way of life & that is having a positive effect. Pollution, obesity, accident fatalities & healthcare costs are all down since we are all driving less. Not to mention our being forced to walk, carpool & use more mass transit will only increase our familiarity with our neighbors & thereby increase our sense of community which is what we’ll need to find solutions for the coming crisis.

Ordinary Americans are going to have to take matters into their own hands & learn to rely on one another whether that means combining households/incomes once blackouts increase or establishing a community task force to find sustainable ways to supply electricity to their homes once we go completely off-grid or simply pitching in to start their own community bus system to get around.

Gone are the days of peering over our neatly manicured hedges or over the steering wheels of our SUV’s to gaze upon neighbors we call strangers. This energy crisis is going to force us to get to know one another. To meet as equals who are no longer divided along tax brackets & levels of affluence. But who are going to need each other if we are going to survive & even thrive in this the New America.

This is the End of the World as we know it. Goodbye 4-lane highways & suburban sprawl. Goodbye pollution, separatism & isolation.

Hello brand new world.

]]> Wed, 01 Oct 2008 22:14:16 PST Is America an Empire? http://www.newsflavor.com/Politics/International-Relations/Is-America-an-Empire.253119 Britian was called the world greatest empire, the had troops everywhere protecting their interests, waged war on any threats, and was a large consumer of resources .  Let's look at America, we have troops in many places protecting our interests (oil in the middle east), we wage war on threats (Saddam Hussein) all though that is understandable, and we are the single largest consumer of resources.  I think its clear the similarities Britain and America have but are we effectively and empire?

First the Resources.  We aren't stopping at anything to provide power, no matter what it fuels.  Britain got what it needed no matter what, they didn't even stop when they saw that still buying resources from Colonists was fueling a rebelion.  Same with America, if we could just stop buying oil from the middle east we could cut off a big flow of money to terrorists but our oil is far to precious to do that.  Also not as much a problem for the British but we are destroying our planet with our consumption of resources and we continue, just to power our precious nation, giving not a thought to the rest of the world.

Although it is understandable and has been done thorugh history, we continue to wage war on threats.  It is not that big of a deal because it needed to be done but as soon as we see a threat and they dont cooperate we send out troops.  Britain did the same thing like in America and India and Africa, that was too keep territory.  America does it for self protection, which although it is a good reason, is a indication to bigger similarity.  Everybody hates us.  With a few exceptions, Britain and Ameica are widely hated because of how we are handling things.  This wouldn't be as big of a deal if Britain had been a democracy, but it was an empire, so we are obviously doing something the same.

The Last and biggest reason is that America has troops spread over the world protecting out interests.  In the middle east is the largest concentration of troops, and this is all about oil.  If we let terrorist go freely, they will either attack our supplies of oil or somehow shut it off and if that happens it's the end of the world, at least thats what are actions say we think.  Britain had troops in Africa, India and America all to protect their interests like territory, saltpeter and more territory.

If you look at the similarities it's pretty ahrd to deny that America isn't an Empire.  Even if you can deny it you can't say we're not headed in that direction.

]]> Sun, 14 Sep 2008 08:42:49 PST