In a previous post answering 1 of 2 letter writers to the Spokesman-Review's Roundtable; one of the writers of note had attacked a previous writer over the oil issue. On CNN today, it was noted that the biggest and worst reasons for why gasoline and oil prices have risen so drastically has been no less than Wall Street investors. The CNN journalist and reporting team were informed that we happened to have a plentiful supply of oil for now. But the speculation that has driven up oil prices is based on the assumption that imports of foreign oil could be cut off with the likelihood of another war. Indeed, in the one writer's opinion, war is what we need to actually get at all that foreign oil and then "prices would drop." What the author of the letter seems not to have realized is that it is the market that is driving the high cost of gas at the pump. So, is Wall Street the first place we start dropping the bombs? He was a little too willing to drop them on oil producing states such as Iran. And Wall Street operates on the assumption that it will happen and thus, oil now pushing at $100.00 per bbl. Onward...
The History Channel can sometimes be good entertainment for what I call its more Hallowe'en components. It was running certain shows back to back such as, "Mega Disasters," "The Last Days" and "Global Warning." I did not watch that show instead switching channels and then going out to feed my dogs. Now I am blogging. One thing of significance that was mentioned on "The Last Days," one of the scientists featured did declare we already have the technology on the shelf to protect ourselves. However, one of the technologies not mentioned and was advertised heavily for a while in the last few months was reclaiming fresh water from the ocean.
The technology for water reclamation or desalinization is actually a technology that has been around since I was a kid in school. And one little heard of. Now here is the thought: if glaciers melt completely off the poles and green land, the argument is that it could increase water levels by 30 or more feet. At the same time, we are "assured drought" because the mountains become bare of snow and ice packs themselves. So the question I have is this, we have available sources of water, we have desalinization capabilities, we certainly (who could build railroads and a coast to coast interstate) could surely ship through pump and pipe desalinated water anywhere it was needed. We could indeed implement such technologies world wide. What Gore (who was featured in "The Last Days) and the scientists did not make assumptions on, that people with a willingness to survive and the ingenuity to figure out solutions to a definite problem might just remember an old adage: necessity is the mother of all inventions.
So, I'll make this assumption, that the energy companies could invest in the sort of new technology such as I mentioned above. Something that would refine the current desalinization technology to mass produce huge volumes of water for country wide use. Governments on the federal and state level could indeed invest in pump and pipe systems that would connect state to state desalinated water delivered directly from the ocean and to farms, cities and towns where water would be vastly needed. Why not?
For that answer is a very old story that my late father told me. A pious priest who spoke about hell so fervently during his lifetime and of the rewards of heaven that when he finally lay on his deathbed he asked a visiting angel to take him on a trip to hell, so that he could see for himself what he preached against.
Hell was described as a very long building. In this building was a very long table. Along each side of the table were all of the sinners. In front of each sinner was a bowl of good soup. But each sinner was given a spoon with a handle so long that he could not dip the spoon into the soup and feed himself or herself. The cries of the starving were terrible.
Heaven was also described as a very long building. In this building was a very long table. Along each side of the table were all of the saints. In front of each saint was a bowl of good soup. But each saint had also been given a spoon with a handle so long that the saint could not have hoped to dip the spoon into the soup in order to feed himself or herself. But when the angel took the pious priest into this very long building, the priest did not hear the terrible cries of the starving, instead he witnessed with astonishment... that the saints were using the spoons to dip into each other's soup bowl and feed those who sat directly in front of them.
This History Channel can give us visions of hell, and perhaps with good reason.
The tools are there, the free will to use them are there, the need for self preservation would make the first two assumptions a high priority. But do we as corporations, governments and people build toward heaven or wring our hands on the way to hell? The choice is ours.
The History Channel can sometimes be good entertainment for what I call its more Hallowe'en components. It was running certain shows back to back such as, "Mega Disasters," "The Last Days" and "Global Warning." I did not watch that show instead switching channels and then going out to feed my dogs. Now I am blogging. One thing of significance that was mentioned on "The Last Days," one of the scientists featured did declare we already have the technology on the shelf to protect ourselves. However, one of the technologies not mentioned and was advertised heavily for a while in the last few months was reclaiming fresh water from the ocean.
The technology for water reclamation or desalinization is actually a technology that has been around since I was a kid in school. And one little heard of. Now here is the thought: if glaciers melt completely off the poles and green land, the argument is that it could increase water levels by 30 or more feet. At the same time, we are "assured drought" because the mountains become bare of snow and ice packs themselves. So the question I have is this, we have available sources of water, we have desalinization capabilities, we certainly (who could build railroads and a coast to coast interstate) could surely ship through pump and pipe desalinated water anywhere it was needed. We could indeed implement such technologies world wide. What Gore (who was featured in "The Last Days) and the scientists did not make assumptions on, that people with a willingness to survive and the ingenuity to figure out solutions to a definite problem might just remember an old adage: necessity is the mother of all inventions.
So, I'll make this assumption, that the energy companies could invest in the sort of new technology such as I mentioned above. Something that would refine the current desalinization technology to mass produce huge volumes of water for country wide use. Governments on the federal and state level could indeed invest in pump and pipe systems that would connect state to state desalinated water delivered directly from the ocean and to farms, cities and towns where water would be vastly needed. Why not?
For that answer is a very old story that my late father told me. A pious priest who spoke about hell so fervently during his lifetime and of the rewards of heaven that when he finally lay on his deathbed he asked a visiting angel to take him on a trip to hell, so that he could see for himself what he preached against.
Hell was described as a very long building. In this building was a very long table. Along each side of the table were all of the sinners. In front of each sinner was a bowl of good soup. But each sinner was given a spoon with a handle so long that he could not dip the spoon into the soup and feed himself or herself. The cries of the starving were terrible.
Heaven was also described as a very long building. In this building was a very long table. Along each side of the table were all of the saints. In front of each saint was a bowl of good soup. But each saint had also been given a spoon with a handle so long that the saint could not have hoped to dip the spoon into the soup in order to feed himself or herself. But when the angel took the pious priest into this very long building, the priest did not hear the terrible cries of the starving, instead he witnessed with astonishment... that the saints were using the spoons to dip into each other's soup bowl and feed those who sat directly in front of them.
This History Channel can give us visions of hell, and perhaps with good reason.
The tools are there, the free will to use them are there, the need for self preservation would make the first two assumptions a high priority. But do we as corporations, governments and people build toward heaven or wring our hands on the way to hell? The choice is ours.
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