Entry: My $0.02 About Oil

Note: This is an opinion piece. Given the vast numbers of supporters on either side of this argument with equally vast amounts of "supporting data", I'm going to abstain from including graphs, spreadsheets, and statistics. Only my opinion.

I was reading yet another Facebook post today from someone who posted an article that criticized the current administration for killing a measure that would allow the building of a 1,700-mile pipeline from Alberta, Canada straight to Texas.

"Building the pipeline would bring over 700,000 barrels of oil per day and directly create 20,000 truly shovel-ready jobs. The Canadian Energy Research Institute estimates that current pipeline operations and the addition of the Keystone XL pipeline would create 179,000 American jobs by 2035."

The article in and of itself is not what caught my attention. Obama this. Obama that. Blame Obama. If you haven't figured it out already, the media likes tension. The media is like those countless forms of bacteria that lives in your intestines. You know it's there but your awareness of its presence and its ability to affect how your brain works are completely ignored. But it IS there and it DOES help you make dietary decisions based on what you THINK you are actually craving. It's a classic cycle. But, at this point, it's rather expected. I mean...it's the media! Ever since the news became a commodity, there's barely a single source out there that can be trusted for a detached, dispassionate delivery. What caught my eye (although to no surprise) was the tone of the comments that followed the post.

The comments were what you would expect from the 50% of the population that doesn't want Obama in office. At best, he's simply ineffective. At worst, his refusal to allow the pipeline constitutes a gross dereliction of his duty to provide for his constituents.

My opinion is this.....

WHO CARES!!!

One thing that impressed me about Europe (at least the parts that I saw) was how intimately it embraces renewable energy. A classic example that I give is how, no matter how "podunk" of a town it was that we drove through, there were solar panels EVERYWHERE. Some houses had roofs that were completely constructed from them. It's debatable whether or not wind mills, hydroelectric dams, solar panels, etc are the ultimate answer, but they're a pretty darn good start!!

Now, to the point. I don't like oil. Or, more accurately, I don't like petroleum and I certainly don't like economies that are based on it. My simple reasons:

1. There IS only a finite supply. People...believe it or not, this planet is going to have a serious crowding problem soon. And by "soon", I mean potentially in MY generation (and that makes the selfish hairs on the back of my neck stand on end). That means that the population will continue to grow. Greater population equals greater consumption. Period. If you turn the TV off, close the Fox News window on your computer, and actually pay attention to oil companies and their strategies, you'll notice that the oil business ain't as easy as it once was. Companies are having to dig in more places and more dangerously than they ever have before to keep up with current demand. You may think that OPEC and other like organizations are domineering and manipulative with the market, but I PROMISE you that you have no idea just how many strings they're pulling and how they vector every economy on this planet in the direction that they want it to go.
2. Petroleum promotes a producer/consumer mentality that is very unhealthy, in my opinion. Like any other market, it is based on "who has the oil" and "who needs the oil". And, I'll spare you the diatribe, but this is where politics comes in. Oil is a political tool. As long as someone else has something THAT important that we absolutely NEED, then governments will always do what needs to be done to protect and compartmentalize those producers, turn a blind eye when necessary to whatever wrongs those producers do, and, if necessary, instigate war under some other pretext in order to protect the flow. (And no..that was not a stab at Bush Jr. Crack the spine on your Encyclopedia Britanica and learn about the relationship between resources and conflict.)
3. Petroleum is...well...what's a good word...oh yeah...BAD!!! Basically, the whole process is set up to take millions-of-years-old goo from the ground and transform it into something that can conveniently reside in the same atmosphere that we breathe from. I won't bother getting into the whole Ozone thing. Too hot a topic (pun intended). Personally, the idea of getting cooked by the sun always appealed to me, anyway.

But yet, with all of this, people STILL point fingers at this country's executive whenever any measure isn't taken to secure the future's oil supply. I think it hilarious that your mobile phone, your TV, your computer, hell...just about EVERYTHING electronic will be antiquated and understandably discarded within a few years time BUT...the internal combustion engine...now THAT is a thing of beauty that would just be a shame to get rid of. True...it's a couple hundred years old, but talking with my buddies just wouldn't be the same unless I could discuss my fuel-injected, precision-timed, liquid-cooled, 59-liter, 5,000 horse-power, baby-eating HEMI engine. I mean...really? "So...yeah...you wouldn't believe the torque I get from my 40-AMP electric Duracell power plant. It's truly righteous!". You're right. That didn't sound the same. Best stick with the gas engine. It sounds and feels better.

Read my lips. OIL IS HEROIN.

See this picture? This is the world. It is an old woman shooting up whenever it gets the chance. She's been doing it for as long as anyone can remember and she just doesn't wanna quit. Drug dealers have to make a living too, right? In our case, the drug dealers constitute the wealthiest powers in the world and whisper in all of the right ears in order to usurp even the best political intentions. They will sell their drug until every last drop is sold. Not "gone"...but "sold".

(By the way...this picture is actually an ad for a rehab center. Kudos for the profoundness of the imagery. I hope that they are able to help a lot of people.)

We aren't interested in getting away from the heroin. We're ONLY interested in securing our supply...and, by God, it'd better be CHEAP! It's a constitutional right! It says so in the...well...whatever amendment it is...I forget. But it's there!

In the end, what it comes down to is that this country hasn't even TRIED to get away from oil. The media doesn't help. Renewable energy sounds like more trouble than it's worth. No need to talk about the automotive lobby and so on. It's been talked to death and is pretty much understood. Energy companies...auto companies...hell, even governments...they all pay lip service by publishing how many millions of dollars they throw into research each year for our "eventual migration away from fossil fuels". Geezus...really?

If we put HALF the effort into getting away from disgusting fossil fuels as we did getting to the moon, we'd be there by now. But no. We simply don't want to. We're happy coughing every day and living under the heals of the world's oil-producing nations.

So, again, we haven't even tried. And no, (insert president's name here). I don't blame you.

P.S. And just so you know, I was RAISED on oil. Oil birthed me, oil nurtured me, oil put me through college. I was born into an Aramco family and I'd be lying through my teeth if I said that that company...the largest petroleum producing company in the world...didn't give me a lot. But, in the grand expanse that is my opinion, it changes little.

Entry: Last Flight of the Avenger

Tags: Nostalgia, Childhood

I spent Thanksgiving over on the left coast with my father and some extended family. Good times, as always. I was fortunate enough to get one last ride in "the boat" before it was put up for sale on CraigsList.

You'll have to understand a little about its history before you can understand this craft's significance to me. This boat (or an identical twin) has been a part of the family longer than I have. I have very fond memories as a youngster zipping across the Persian Gulf while sitting on the bow with my legs hanging off. The railing made a very convenient seat.

Water sports were a bit different in the 70s and 80s (from my limited perspective) given that the beasts of burden that roamed the surface of the water seemed a lot more "robust" (for a total lack of a better word) than their counterparts of today. Today it seems to be all about the kinds of exotic composites comprising the hull and the number of ubiquitous computer processors scattered about the craft maintaining perfect precision between the engine and the control surfaces.

This particular craft is a vestige from a time when the goal was simple and the designs purposed towards simply having fun and not necessarily having to wonder how one was going to pay for it. (Have you SEEN how much boats cost today???). Streamlined hull....check. Engine....check. Rudder....check. Go!

I'm told by my mother that during our years in Saudi, my little kiddie seat would nestle neatly and nicely below the center console. There was enough space for two people at the helm and plenty of leg room to go around. It's a shame that I have absolutely no memories of that at all.

The design of the boat was such that a family of three could sleep comfortably in the bow. I'm not just saying that as a bullet point, either. We actually used to. The drill was simple...drive out from Abqaiq the night before, throw a sheet out across the bow, get some serious Zs, and then hit the water as the sun was just coming up off the horizon. I wish I could remember how to spell the name of the beach that we would park out at because I'm not going to look the fool by trying to guess. Me and Arabic...not so good together. :)

But, I digress. Dad afforded me one last jog around Whiskeytown Lake a few days ago. Although 25 years off the assembly line, the boat still shone like a dancer in her prime. I'll never, as long as I live, forget the moment that we cleared the no-wake buoy. My dad gingerly says..."Well...let's see if she'll go". Three seconds later, we're at mach 2 and my hair's on fire.

Love ya, dad.

Entry: More pictures from Lake Murray

These were taken from the Lake Murray trip (previously posted here). It's nice to have someone ELSE taking pictures so that I can actually prove that I was in the water with everyone else. :)

Just me. Ho hum.

Just me again...re-seating my mask.

Group shot!

So, the group I was with were a bunch of commercial divers in training. It's common for them to deploy into the water from some relatively extreme heights. So, I figured I'd try the 15-foot (roughly) giant stride. The picture is actually higher than it looks.

]

Me. Bottom right.

Me...back left.

Diving off the the "No Diving" sign from top of the pontoon.

Entry: So, I received this email today ...

So, I received this email today. It was your standard chain letter delivered in the usual format (in other words, absolutely pregnant with greater-than signs on the left denoting every dirty little e-mail account this thing had touched before arriving in my inbox).

The topic was Thomas Jefferson. The letter starts out by describing Jefferson's intellectual maturation, mentions his broad career, and then ends with a series of choice quotes.

It is rare that I propagate chain mail like this but I happen to like this one. And no...I have not diligently checked on the accuracy of the content so I could simply be helping some fool spread nonsense and not even know it.

Resume of Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson was a very remarkable man who started learning very early in life and never stopped.

• At 5, began studying under his cousins tutor.
• At 9, studied Latin, Greek and French.
• At 14, studied classical literature and additional languages.
• At 16, entered the College of William and Mary.
• At 19, studied Law for 5 years starting under George Wythe.
• At 23, started his own law practice.
• At 25, was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses.
• At 31, wrote the widely circulated "Summary View of the Rights of British America" and retired from his law practice.
• At 32, was a Delegate to the Second Continental Congress.
• At 33, wrote the Declaration of Independence ...
• At 33, took three years to revise Virginias legal code and wrote a Public Education bill and a statute for Religious Freedom.
• At 36, was elected the second Governor of Virginia succeeding Patrick Henry.
• At 40, served in Congress for two years.
• At 41, was the American minister to France and negotiated commercial treaties with European nations along with Ben Franklin and John Adams.
• At 46, served as the first Secretary of State under George Washington.
• At 53, served as Vice President and was elected president of the American Philosophical Society.
• At 55, drafted the Kentucky Resolutions and became the active head of Republican Party.
• At 57, was elected the third president of the United States.
• At 60, obtained the Louisiana Purchase doubling the nation's size.
• At 61, was elected to a second term as President.
• At 65, retired to Monticello.
• At 80, helped President Monroe shape the Monroe Doctrine.
• At 81, almost single-handedly created the University of Virginia and served as its first president.
• At 83, died on the 50th anniversary of the Signing of the Declaration of Independence along with John Adams

Thomas Jefferson knew because he himself studied the previous failed attempts at government. He understood actual history, the nature of God, his laws and the nature of man. That happens to be way more than what most understand today. Jefferson really knew his stuff. A voice from the past to lead us in the future:

John F. Kennedy held a dinner in the white House for a group of the brightest minds in the nation at that time. He made this statement: "This is perhaps the assembly of the most intelligence ever to gather at one time in the White House with the exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone."

"When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe." ~Thomas Jefferson

"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not." ~Thomas Jefferson

"It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world." ~Thomas Jefferson

"I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them." ~Thomas Jefferson

"My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government." ~Thomas Jefferson

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." ~Thomas Jefferson

"The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government." ~Thomas Jefferson

"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." ~Thomas Jefferson

"To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical." ~Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson said in 1802:

"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property - until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered."

Entry: My (partial) Sunday On the Water

More pictures of diving. Again, though, no cool underwater pictures. I don't seem to like diving in places where you can actually see anything. Today's dive was in Lake Murray just outside of Columbia, SC. I was fortunate to be able to go out with some students from the International Diving Institute. There are no shots of me here as I was the one with the camera all day.

Things I learned today:

• Wipe off camera lens after having it in the water. Subsequent surface shots come out kinda blurry if you don't. (Common sense? Yes, I think so!)
• How not to remove a fin from one's foot while still in the water.
• How to turn a dive reel into a giant floating spaghetti monster at 65 feet.

The happy couple relaxing in the back.

Kim looking all authoritative.

A gentleman whose name I can't recall. I thus dub him "BillysDad". Anyway, I snapped this shot of BillysDad at the helm.

This is BillysDad actually posing. Seriously...I'm not kidding.

Jus' hang'n.

Yes. Out double-decker pontoon boat came complete with water slide. What better accessory for a boat dive is there?

Mike hanging out on top.

I feel like total arse for not remember this guy's name. He's the guy who loaned me his spare fins after I lost one of mine. Total life-saver.

Billy and Trace looking for the marker buoy that marks the submerged bridge. BTW, it was never found. <:(

Random islands.

Another random island.

The ladies hanging out in the back.

A shot of my obnoxiously yellow fin in the water. This is to give an idea regarding visibility. Then again, it doesn't help that this picture was taken while I was in the shadow of the boat.

Divers in.

No idea who's in this shot.

Another boat shot.

And another.

Dive 1 complete. Time for surface interval.

Kim, regaling us with stories of past diving glories whilst imparting wisdom from immeasurable experience.

Mike: "Where are the pole dancers?"

"Yes, Mr. camera man? Can I help you?"

Actually not what it looks like, hilariously enough.

"I'm just gonna sit here on my slide and...not slide. By the way, where's the fried chicken?"

"Cap'n Morgan, sir."

In the water again.

Waiting for stragglers.

Shot of the bottom at 20 feet.

Shot of my dive buddy at 20 feet. The murk is actually do to silting, not the water being that nasty.

Ok. Time for some history. Something you should know about Lake Murray and the role it played in the Doolittle Raid.

Remnants of spent munitions found on the bottom. Stood next to air tank for scale.

Her: "Hey, honey. How was your day?"

Him: "Great. Found a WWII bomb in the lake."

Another picture of the bomb.

A portion of a detonator that I found.

Organizing everything after returning from the dives.

Entry: A Saturday on the water

Spent Saturday on the Water with the folks from Charleston SCUBA. Learned a lot of lessons from the last experience. I have come to find that Dimenhydrinate (Triptone, Dramamine, etc) is my drug of choice for motion sickness. Meclizine (Bonine, Dramamine-Non-Drowsy, etc) obviously didn't do it for me last time.

The water was exceptionally murky that day so I don't really have any underwater pictures to share. Be prepared to be underwhelmed with my selection. ;)

Steve, one of our dive masters. Yes, we had two that day.

A random shot of the Sullivan's Island light house over Dave's head. He ended up being my dive buddy for this excursion.

Random shot of Sally, Phil, and a couple others.

If you zoom in, you can see the Morris Island light house in the background over the jetties.

Another shot of the jetties. (Exciting, eh?)

Sullivan's Island light house again.

A view of Charleston as we leave.

This is the most uncomfortable sleeping pose I have ever seen. it apparently worked for David, though.

Looking for the wreck.

A shot of my fin (with the red filter on the camera) to give you an idea of how murky it was that day.