Al Gore is an Idiot!!

Gore Wants US to Abandon Fossil Fuels by 2018

Man made energy crisis

The talk on the news of $4 a gallon gas and record prices for various forms of energy is getting old.

I typically avoid bring politics into my discussions, but when the decisions made by our leaders interfere with my ability to provide for my family it is hard. This energy crisis is a direct result of policies and laws prohibiting private industry from "harvesting" the abundant sources of energy spread out through our country.

Keep in mind that I truly love the country that I live in and I love the natural beauty within its borders. We cannot, however, set ourselves on a path of economic disaster to combat hypothetical environmental effects that have not been proven.

We all need to keep in mind that we live in a global economy and are effected not only by what we do but also the action of others. For example, China is drilling for oil less than 100 miles off the coast of Florida, but our laws prohibit us from doing the same. The United States is in a much better position to minimize any environmental impact caused by the gathering of resources. Laws requiring our power plants, cars, and industry to be "green" will not offset the policies of emerging countries that belch pollutants into the global environment.

Ultimately, the United States government is performing a massive redistribution of wealth by prohibiting the prosperity of our country while others are left to reap the benefits.

All I ask is for each person to evaluate how much they are willing to pay!

I really hate the news media

I can forgive people for unknowingly making the bad decisions. What really anoyes me is when people make bad decisions based on incorrect information fead to them by the news media.

In general most people get the vast majority of their facts about the world around them from the news media in the form of newspapers, TV, and internet. Unfortunatly, the news is not an unbiased view of the events. For example, last nights WCCO news had a story discussing energy depence of the United States and in the following discussion it was stated that the oil reserves in ANWR was only a couple months of the world supply. It is not the fact that this information is completly incorrect that bothers me or even that they never seem to disclose the source of their information. What does bother me is the fact that they are abusing their position to promote some agenda that ultimately must benefit them in the end. There is no such thing as unbiased NEWS. What I see is that the internet might be the last chance at finding out the whole picture and determining the "true" facts about the world around us. Unfortunately, it is up to the individual to search and obtain enough information to formulate a clear picture of the world around us.

ANWR Information
Evioronmentalists Play Slick With Statistics About ANWR Oil Reserves
National Wildlife Refuge: Updated Assessment
USGS Revised ANWR Assement

I highly suggest that you do your own search and formulate your own opinion based on sources that you deam credible. Our last fredom, one that cannot be taken away, is the ability to think for ourselves and use our minds.

Global Warming?

Living in the upper Midwest I would gladly appreciate a little "Global Warming" at this time of the year. As a scientist I don't believe that there is any scientific evidence that the world is heating up. I do, however, think that the political frenzy surrounding the topic may have a dramatic impact on our lives. My goal is not to get involved in a political debate over Global Warming, but rather to point out the impacts of potential laws and regulation might have. For example, on December 18, 2007, President Bush signed the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. Although it is touted as a win for the country in terms of reducing energy costs, it will undoubtedly raise the cost of energy and ultimately lower our standard of living. OK, rant over!

The question I have is who is going to profit from all of this? Follow the money! Leading companies in renewable energy sources will certainly benefit from legislation of this type. I am not doubting the fact that some of these initiative will save us money in the form of using less (gas, electricity, etc), but how much is it going to cost us?

Much of what is in my head at the moment are just ideas, thoughts, I need to take some time and understand a bit more on the "Big Picture"

First Post

Now what!

As I continue on in my life it becomes more evident that those that succeed do so by choice. We all have the power to determine our own direction in life, I just need to determine what that direction is. Maybe, just maybe, I can figure out what I really want to do and where I want to be.

To that end, the main objective of this site is to keep all my career related information organized in one location. That might facilitate the decisions that I need to make.

Anyway, I can write about more later. At this time I need to start creating links to important academic and professional societies.