Gas Price Failures

How timely to talk about gas prices, the ones at the pump! Current soaring pump pain is caused by:

• Geopolitical unrest in Iran and the Strait of Hormuz
• Threat of open hostilities between Iran and Israel
• Open hostilities in Syria; civil war raging
• Libyan oil fields remain in disarray from their recent civil war
• Egyptian civil leadership unrest roils regional oil prices
• American political campaigns needle price stability 

Probably most people would agree with the above list. Too bad, because the real cause of high gas prices is the failure of American energy policy to address alternate energy sources over the past 40 years. This is an issue that has defied both political parties and just about every sitting president during this era. 

Congress of course has been a royal pain in the ass on this issue. They have refused stalwartly to do anything productive because:

A.  It would negatively affect their voting block;

B.  It would alter employment patterns in his/her district;

C.  Their union support would be hurt;

D.  Their  campaign contributions would be less reliable;

          E.  All of the above;

F.  Some of the above, or

G.  Hell, take your pick or combination!

Whatever the choice, it is self-serving and non-productive. Worse: it is self defeating for the nation’s good. Our good.

How short sighted is the American public going to be? Everyone seems to have an opinion. Trouble is they don’t all vote. Mainly because they are uninformed, lazy or simply don’t care. That is tragedy enough.  But the real tragedy is when our enormous open system claims to be devoted to serving the public good and fails to do so. 

I repeat: Fails To Do So! 

Do I sound angry? Frustrated? Well I am. Are you, too?  If yes, what are you going to do about it? If not, why are you not purely bedeviled by this lack of action for over two generations?

Look, energy is one of the building blocks of life. Simple direct statement. Very true. So why hasn’t definitive work been done on this building block? Why can’t we break free of the special interests and finally get something done?  It isn’t because it is complicated.  It isn’t because we don’t know what to do. It isn’t because we lack the know-how or science to address the issues. And it isn’t because we don’t have the money. 

Here are some basics:

1. Chemical engineering discoveries can solve energy problems in these ways
1. Hybrid fuels for higher mileage, performance
2. Elimination of oil stock fuels; replace with new fuel stocks
3. Greater productivity from existing oil stock
2. Physics has the following alternatives for us to explore and utilize
1. New forms of energy completely separate from petroleum
2. Reduce and replace oil as a primary energy source
3. Expand and improve alternative energies for efficiencies
3. Biopyhsical engineering provides the following futures
1. New fuel stocks which replace and reduce petroleum use
2. Renewable energy sources that are cost effective and clean
3. Replacement energy sources free up oil for gasoline production
4. Technological breakthroughs provide these elements
1. Nano-technology reduces energy use per appliance, end user
2. Portability of end user products; solar charging energy cells
3. Lower cost of hydrogen power cells; adaptability of use
5. Geopolitical rewards are plentiful
1. We are self sufficient in energy supplies
2. We reduce Mideast tensions due to petroleum supplies and markets
3. We reduce international competition for energy supplies
6. Energy economics rewards are plentiful
1. America has an exportable energy technology to sell globally
2. Higher efficiencies
3. Lower customer costs
4. Portability of energy; avoidance of infrastructure investments
5. Elimination of costs of waste
7. Environmental rewards are plentiful
1. Cleaner air
2. Cleaner water
3. Cleaner soil

So what’s stopping us? Politics? Power? Pettiness? (Bad 3 P’s)

If we follow our own lead we will develop profitability, portability, and performance. Three ‘P’s’ that have more lasting power than the bad three ‘P’s’.

The current White House has struggled to bring this message to the American people. But the people are not listening. And Congress likes it that way. It means more power to them. It means more politics to us. And it continues the reign of pettiness in our history.   

Had enough? Lets empower our researchers (universities and corporate labs) and elect leaders who will seek long term solutions to our national needs. Elections are coming up; primaries soon; fall elections in November. The power is with the citizenry. Will it realize this in time to do something about it? The politicians won’t. We can. Will you?

March 15, 2012

Whose Football?

A lone American soldier walks off base in Afghanistan and shoots more than 17 people; kills 9 kids and 7 adults; in at least 3 homes. Sixteen dead. Tragic. 

Soldier in custody. Investigations are underway. We don’t know much about him but he trained at and was based out of Fort Lewis, Washington; father of at least two children. 

Now the real complexity begins.  Why did this event happen? Who specifically was involved? What safeguards keep this from happening more often? What can be done with the soldier. Is he guilty in the legal sense? Or did he snap psychologically and then do the deed? Even when we know all that, what do we do with him? And what do we learn about these matters so we can avoid them in the future? 

On the international diplomacy front, what do we do about Afghanistan? We say we are sorry. We follow through with the personnel issues and investigation. We maybe make reparations. But we do not admit national guilt over the actions of one person acting on his own. The Taliban does not own this issue. Neither does the US. The entire Afghan population does. 

Our military mission in Afghanistan is complete. International NATO forces have assumed command of the theater of war while the international community decides if the theater is needed in the first place. Osama Bin Laden was found, captured and killed. So were many of his henchmen. His saga, our 9/11 tragedy and the huge aftermath of all of that, has gone on now for 11 years. It is time to put a halt to it.

The Taliban has controlled Afghanistan for generations. The people have been unable to control their own destiny without popinjay tyrants and despots rising, ruling and despoiling the country. That is their issue, not America’s. Peace in the world demands that something be done about it, but our platform of ‘success’ there does not provide a launch pad for the task of stabilizing Afghanistan. Karzai is on his own; his team apparently is as cruel and greedy as their predecessors. Perhaps nicer; but just as destructive in the long run.  

What American diplomacy and foreign aid has provided for new stability has been bombed and erased. People have been annihilated even as we have trained them to police their own nation, teach their own children, and serve the needs of the people more professionally. Nearly every thing we have put in place has been destroyed. This is ultimately the choice of the Afghanis. It is their country, not ours. 

It is time for US troops to be removed from that nation. The international community joined us in fighting terrorism; it is their fight now, not America’s alone. We have done yeoman service, spent $3 trillion dollars over the past 11 years in Iraq and Afghanistan, and lost over 6000 lives of our fighting force; on top of that well over 30,000 wounded, severely wounded, military personnel have borne the weight of the war and will until the end of their lives.  

It is time to stop our engagement with Afghanistan. Say we are sorry for that which we could not control, but wish them well in handling their own destiny. They are welcome for our efforts. And. Oh yes, control your opium fields or we will incinerate them repeatedly. That’s to safeguard future generations of global youth from heroin addiction. 

The Taliban will seek revenge. Funny. The only people who brought revenge to them was the US Military. The revenge game goes on and on, just like a kid arguing over the rules of the pick up football game when he owns the ball. So much of international relations seem to fall to this lowest common denominator. 

Surely we can do better? Walk away from the fight with our heads held high. We have given full measure to the good fight. The original mission is complete. Turn away toward other challenges that beckon our attention. 

Pity about the Afghanis. Hundreds of years and no resolution. It is their culture. It is their religious fractiousness. Many foreign powers have entered their land to help them bring order. All have failed. All. Perhaps that is their destiny until they decide otherwise? 

Whose football is it? Not ours.

March 14, 2010

A Few Items to Think On

For starters: 

• Beware the whispered message. It might not mean what you think it does. And that may be just the point.

It’s much easier for me to ignore whispered asides these days; I can’t hear as well as I once did, and I’m never sure I heard the message clearly in the first place. So the inevitable ‘huh?’ spoils the intent of the whisper! Over time I learned to fake it! Trouble is, I never knew if I was supposed to know or act in a certain way thereafter. I wasn’t perplexed by this, but one wonders about the others who were! 

Uneasy, maybe; perplexed no. I try to avoid these situations entirely now. Life is about learning and adapting; not working at understanding casual subtleties. 

• The weather. I want to talk about the weather. And no this is not an indication I have run out of topics!  Shame on you!!

This winter has been much warmer than normal; precipitation has been somewhat usual but more in rain than snow. Our snow total so far this season is half our usual – 16 inches rather than 34. But rain has been frequent through the months. Gray and cloudy weather has accompanied the winter months; this cloud cover has kept ground temperatures warmer than normal. But warm sunny days have been a welcome surprise. Usually winter sun means bitter cold; not this year. It is a blessing. 

We count blessings these days. Another day without snow or bitter cold is a good thing. It is easier to live with. One may trip in the sunshine, but never slip and fall. That is a blessing. And of course, the car works better on dry pavement. So many things to be thankful for. Warm weather is nice. Not too hot, you understand. Not too cold. Just right. Like the three bears and the porridge bowls. Just right.

• Used to drive a lot consulting with Midwestern clients. Four to 7 hour drives to the client, then a day or two working with them, then the return drive. Lots of road time. Lots of winter weather survived. Slick roads and poor visibility. But no down times in motels due to weather. Not once in 40 years. Slower travel seems worse than it actually was. Creeping along a stretch of highway rarely added more than an hour to the overall trip. Seemed longer than that, but………

Now I miss the road time; not the weather challenge, but the road time. Sitting behind the wheel of the car for the better part of a day gave me time to ponder; analyze; solve problems. Listened to a lot of music en route; some talk shows, but stopped doing that when NPR lost a lot of funding from Congress and dropped Quirks and Quarks. One of the most evocative radio programs ever.  Science and math made exciting. Actually made sense. Just imagine it! 

The music. A lot of classical; some opera with the time and solitude to actually pay attention to it. I still don’t know how people get the impact of opera in group settings; too many distractions in a crowd. But then, I never understood why youth go to concerts, stand through the entire things, wave their arms and bodies constantly, and sing, yell and shout throughout the concert! How do they hear the music? And what of the lyrics? It’s been a puzzle to me for many years. 

PBS runs their special concerts throughout the year, usually at pledge time. They focus on music that were or echo ‘great performances.’ What I’ve come to notice is that the music is slower, more melodic, more emotional; lyrics are understandable. They state complete sentences and connect the dots of the piece so well. Recently they ran a concertized version of Phantom of the Opera. I was swept up in the emotional content shared by performer, music and voices; an upward soaring of drama that sucked me along in its vortex. Exciting. Enthralling. Totally embracing. Wow!

In the car I played many CDs of Broadway shows: Phantom was one; Les Miserables was another. Both of these in particular transported me to special places in the mind. Such emotional content and pleasure. The highway miles melted away but so did my tensions and stress of a busy life. 

• At times like those, I often wonder if people understand how important art is to our lives? Art is not an escape as much as it is a flight to a different scheme of thinking and perceiving the world. In this special ‘place’ we are free to think and relate, innovate and invent. Moods are uplifted along with aspirations. Our willingness to achieve is unleashed. It is a very good thing.

Mixing life with art enhances both. We ignore this element with great peril to our quality of life. Support the arts. Insist school curricula include art. Equip our youth with the tools to imagine and celebrate. May their journey time be fruitful and anticipated!

March 13, 2012

Fresh Views

The winds of recent days finally broke free the wood screen separating our patio with the neighbor’s. The HOA was notified and maintenance staff removed the screen to rebuild it and design a more lasting installation of the replacement.

It is not the temporary loss of the screen that is today’s topic. It is rather the changed view out the window. You see, I moved my laptop computer to the dinette right next to the sliding glass doors leading to the patio. As I write I look up and out at the great outdoors. Onto the patio and the grill, the flower pots and patio furniture. And the bushes and trees, and squirrels, chipmunks and birds. The lawn. The landscape that changes only with the seasons.

In one fell swoop (literally!), the ‘landscape’ changed, the screen is gone, and suddenly I can see more yard, other buildings, a streetscape, more skyline. The comings and going of dawns and sunsets; reflections of light on clear skies and cloud covers; the shifting of textures associated with the movements of sunlight. Interesting and refreshing. Good for thought. Pondering. Wondering.

So my landscape has changed for a while. Ideas have fuller range. I can see farther so my words can travel further. All because the ‘landscape’ or hardscape has changed a little.

Try noticing where people sit routinely during their day. They see the world from that perspective on a regular basis. So do you. For a change move to their seat before they arrive! Sit in their spot. Look at what they see each day. Think how this forms their perspective, or might. Think also on the same for you and your usual seat.

What does this say about our human nature? About our thinking process. The influences on our thinking? Maybe a lot or maybe very little. But influence is probable. To what effect is not measurable. But it is still a part of who and what we are isn’t it? Interesting to think about. At least for awhile.

Use that idea, though. It is the kernel of something larger. A seed for understanding another person and her/his mindset. The first bolt or structural beam of a bridge? A connection to another point of view? We can hope.

Yes, I’m interested in building bridges these days. What you know and feel about the world is important to you. What Joe or Mary feel about the same thing is important to them. And what I know and feel about those topics is important to me. But if we are each howling in the wind, no one hears; no one listens; no one can make out what we are each saying. Or intending. Or are.

We will lose – continue to lose, actually – the core of the conversation, the needed interchange among us. We need to share life. We need to do so interactively and inventively. It challenges the brain. It aerates the synapses of the neurological core of our minds. We need the stimulus. Not the animus. 

Rubbing competing ideas with one another is work but it has rewards. We both better understand something. We each bring something to that table, that meeting of the minds. And it is work that needs doing. Not easy or comfortable. But challenging and in the end exhilarating.

Bridges to somewhere. To Understanding.

If we don’t ‘get’ someone’s point of view, perhaps we have allowed the impasse of disagreement to travel too far? If so, stop and back up. Find that point where we once were in agreement on a related issue. Think how that issue relates to the current impasse. How did we get so far apart on this one? Perhaps there are intermediate steps we should find and revisit and get comfortable with between us. Then move forward? Is this extending the bridge?

This is tedious work to do. We build little permanence alone. It takes more than one person to construct something of value and long life. Better that we have more supporters than less. And we need to begin this work now, each day. Adding to yesterday’s accomplishment and agreement. Doing this together, intentionally. So we can enjoy the accomplishment together! We can see what we have built.

The problems we face together have been building a long time. They need attention from all of us working toward solutions that are possible and matter in the long run of time.  

I know we can do this. But when will we be ready to? How many tomorrows must be wasted before we get down to business?

March 12, 2012

Language and Future

Words. Choice of words. Phrasing those words. Stating an idea. Allowing the idea to expand, reach out. To say something that is important. To say something unsaid before? Searching for something. Peering out from a safe point to one less certain? What is it?

Maybe the future? If we let it, perhaps a leap into the future? But we hold back. We don’t know that terrain; less comfortable of it. Nervous and twitchy. Standoffish. But it beckons, for some reason it pulls at us. What is it saying to us? Why are we interested?

Maybe to see the future? To get a glimpse of something new or strange? The carnival sideshow attraction?

Or maybe this is normal. Routine. We look forward to the new, the untried, the possible. Don’t know what it will mean yet; just that potential exists. Maybe useless; maybe not. What can I make of it?

Perhaps it is not safe to look upon it? Might it be of harm? Should we take caution? Build walls of protection. Already I’m feeling negative, down, snuffled out of reach. Shut off or shut down. Protected yet also inert, disenfranchised. Disconnected.

The struggle between possible and impossible; or the tension between the new and the old. Something to build or something to protect? And why protect it? What interest is served? Who? How? Why? 

One position on, the other off. Plus and minus. Equilibrium? Balance? Or stasis?

Sleeping. Fear of change. Hypersleep. Balance so true that nothing changes. Fixed in place.

There are those in our world who fear change. There are those who feed on change, want it, yearn for it, seek it tirelessly. They innovate. They invent. For what purpose only they know at first; later others will find purpose and put it to use. Yet the fruitful are those who bring us change or the need of change, or the hope that change will happen.

Those who fear change will hold us back. They will act as ‘governors’ of our rate of change. They will caution us to be cautious so as not to break the irreplaceable, or lose the gem. Or give up our principles, our morals, or core values.

There is a service in the fearful crowd. They help us think upon what we are doing. What we are attempting to change. And the purposes that change will serve. They keep us from getting lost in our journey to the future.

Yet there are limits. The seekers need some limits. The protectors need limits as well. Else neither will have usefulness. Perfect equilibrium is stasis. Checkmate. Zero. Nada.

I seek the future because it is there we can experience the hope of finding the new, the better, and the solutions to those problems we have brought with us on this journey. I prefer to think expansively. It is freedom to me.

I respect the protectors. But somewhere, sometime, we all must ask: “What are we protecting? Are we sure it is worth what we think it is?”

The yin and yang of history. What is right and what is wrong. Who are you and who am I? What should we do, and why not? Is ‘liberal’ seeking? Is ‘conservative’ protector? Is ‘centrist’ a better place?

Is this political always? Or pragmatic?

Questions to ponder. There is a dark side here; but where? And what is the danger? To do too much or not enough? Ponder.

March 11, 2012

On a Roll

Yesterday’s posting talked about the ‘mind’s eye.’ Interesting concept. Useful tool for penetrating deeper thought. The uncovering. The peeling back of layers of onion skin that surrounds our core. Is this psychology mumbo jumbo? Maybe. But that is not my background nor my language or vocabulary. Instead it is the dialect of discovering. 

Interesting word – discovering – a gerund defining an act, a noun not a verb.  

The word to me means removing the covering or cloud over something; a partially hidden object is brought into the light; object or idea or concept, whatever it is that needs illumination to be seen and understood. Discovering is an unfolding, an act of trust and faith that what is being uncovered is important, of value. For now and the future. 

Opening. Up. To. Life. Baring self to new meaning. Letting fresh air in. Possibilities birth. Expand. Support fresh thoughts. More possibilities. The future grows. It comes to focus. It breathes on its own. We are part of the witness; part of the emerging new age. Whatever it is. A new coming. Cutting edge. 

Is this what scientists experience? Is this what musicians feel? Artists, too? Of all kinds? 

The academician researches what is and the past that led to it. But also the mindset of people of history who dealt with these concepts when they were fresh. What does the academician experience? Like the scientist, does he/she experience the rush of discovery? The adrenalin bump of fresh sight? Understanding something of primal moment?  

There are those who live for this excitement. To others they appear drone-like, robotically pursuing a method that seems so dusty, so routine, so boring. But not they; a throb of anticipation keeps burring from below, driving them on to something seminal. One of a kind. A new base of understanding something long thought dead or settled. 

An opening to the past. But is it?  

I think there is another way of seeing that: an openness to possibility. Past and present. And suddenly future! Think about that for a few moments. Let it sink in. 

We think we understand the past. But wait! Research it. Try to discover what the people of the past were struggling with; they needed to understand what was happening to them at the time. It was new to them; the future in a sense. We research history to better understand what has occurred, what was the foundation or underpinning of what we take as historical fact. But digging usually expands our understanding over time. 

Same with our present. What does it mean. What tentacles reach into the past. What portents seek future ports of understanding? Snatches of meaning? Alone or in concert to mean yet more? 

The challenge of understanding anything is being open to many possibilities, all at once. Not shutting down avenues of examination. Thinking about it. Being aware and receptive to more information, more data, more possibility. 

Why is this a bug with me today? Because I see three groups of people in the American culture. First are those who are in the present. They participate in the now. Follow their instincts and enjoy life. They work, love, live, have children, expand their families and neighborhoods. They eat, sleep, drink and are happy. They may appreciate the past and anticipate the future. But they are most likely not engaged in either in any major degree; just the present. 

Second, those who worship the past. They venerate what came before and value it. They protect its memory, its presence in our lives. They hope that nothing dilutes the value of the past or makes it irrelevant. Value the past; it is your birthright, your inherited estate of mankind! 

Third, the futurists. To them all past and present is prologue to what is yet to come. They don’t worship the past except as data base for understanding our present and future. They see life as possibility. They view challenges and problems as bagatelles to be fretted over and solved, like the daily puzzle or crossword. But they labor on to discover the future. The holy quest. What will be? What can we do to make it happen?

So these are the three groups in focus for today. Truth is each has an inherent value; to itself and to the other two. None should be enemy to the others. All are partners needed in each others functioning. Living in the present makes life worth living. Valuing the past enlightens our understanding of today, and makes possible the future. Engaging the future tells us our life is not over, but has miles to go! We have possibility to work with, to solve current problems with, to enlighten our lives more, to build kinder futures for new generations to enjoy and prosper in.  

Society benefits from all three groups. None need be suspicious of the other. Share the kindness; share the trust; embrace difference. Now we are armed to journey forward together. 

Are you journey ready?

March 10, 2012

From the Dark

Each of us lives life from a place just behind the forehead, above the eyes, a little in the center, but below the hairline. A dot maybe? A central core nonetheless. Well, at least that’s where my ‘dot’ is; perhaps yours is located somewhere else. For simplicity, let’s just say it’s our mind’s eye.

It is through this ‘eye’ we view the world; make sense of it. Ponder data related or not; testing what connects to what, and so on until our world view takes shape. In bits and pieces. Sometimes with a sudden thwack! And our view shifts by a small leap. Moments encountered throughout life altering how we see and understand the world around us. The mind’s eye is always open, always receiving. The mind may not be fully alert but the eye is. Taking in. Processing. Tickling settled ideas. Moving conclusions a bit. Tuning the view. Tuning the sense of it. 

Relationships with other people are important in developing a world view. As we acquire meaningful relationships during the first 30 years of our life (school chums, neighbor kids, family members, love interests, spouses, our own children, work colleagues, friends) we gain strong personal insights to the workings of human nature. As we move our focus to career matters our understanding of human dynamics broadens. Competitive forces become more apparent, and even marketplace issues develop. Survival, caveat emptor, who gets the promotion, did I sell the house for a fair price, or was I taken advantage of? – these are the practical matters that alter our world view. Cynicism may take root. Disappointment, too; maybe even bitterness.  

Whatever instigated the shift of temper it has incubated a negative to our personal relationship matrix, that base through which we contemplate interpersonal values and assessments. Some people we are careful around. For others we develop a dread. Still others we avoid completely. Some we tolerate, always seeking the spark we hope to see and experience from our relationship; something worthy lurks within that person, and we hope to experience the gem eventually. 

Whatever! I know you get it. We see others through this imaginary eye. But we also see ourselves. Clear or fuzzy, dim or illuminated fully, our self image peeks out at us from under cover. We slowly build a self view. Always building. Testing. Shifting. The world not as stage, but prism. A view port.  

World view versus self view. Critically balanced at times while horribly askew at others. Through this process over many years we do the work of life day by day, week by week, year by year. We call on ourselves to live up to expectations perceived from our contextual universe. We act on the hopes and dreams of others. We dare to dream our own dreams and act on them as well. Sometimes we are singular of purpose; other times we are scattered widely by the diverse demands working on us, imposing on us.  

Dark moods accompany some of this work. They are necessary. They aid our thinking process. They make us dive deep to consider what we want to avoid. Those are often the painful cores that dwell deep below the surface of our consciousness, awareness. But these also contain nuggets of meaning we need to deal with.  

Are they too difficult to ponder? Are they clustered in a knot that defies sorting out? 

If so, perhaps there is a need to unravel the knot. What does it contain that is of value? What hidden gem is cradled there? How do you get to it? Shine a light on it? How? 

I use a few techniques.  One is poetry; free verse. Don’t worry about the rhyme; or meter. Just pull out phrases and let logic connect them. They will you know; you must have faith in that. Meaning will emerge from the phrases. Spitting them out in bits and pieces is part of the unraveling of the knot. 

Another method is associative phrases or sentences. Begin with a basic statement, nothing complicated. This leads to another related statement; write it down. Keep the train of thought going, sort of like a singular brainstorming session. You are bouncing ideas off of yourself. Let the ideas flow. Keep writing! 

You may find conflicting or variant threads develop in that exercise. If so, break the session into two parts, or three. Pursue each separately. Eventually some conclusions emerge. Some so obvious you will laugh out loud at yourself! But some will not be obvious. Those you will stare at for a long while and save for later development. They are the gems you are looking for. 

A third process is writing short essays on singular topics. Take them one at a time. Jot down your thoughts on them. File them away somewhere. (Love the computer! Such a lot of memory and no paper files!) 

As time goes by you will find articulation easier on a broad array of subjects. You can begin to write more intentionally, clearly, purposefully. But also honestly. Your job is not to snow another person; or yourself. Your job is to understand your ‘within’ and bring it into the world. You might find sharing these essays with a few of your trusting friends helpful. You form a sense of audience that keeps you honest. Keeps you on target. Helps you maintain a balanced logic. 

You will make mistakes. It’s normal. Uncovering the inner self is a mystery brought to life. The mystery may survive. It may prosper. Yet again it may get bruised and bashed and whittled into a different shape. Such is the process of living. Fully. With the mind’s eye open. 

March 9, 2012