R-Squared Energy Blog: How Much Natural Gas to Replace Gasoline?

R-Squared Energy Blog: How Much Natural Gas to Replace Gasoline?

Friday, June 19, 2009

How Much Natural Gas to Replace Gasoline?

I Took This Picture of a CNG Bus on a Recent Trip to D.C.

You may have seen the news this week that a report by the Potential Gas Committee says natural gas reserves in 2008 rose to 2,074 trillion cubic feet. The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal (via Rigzone) both had stories on it, and T. Boone Pickens issued a press release. First, from the New York Times (and this is a really good article):

Estimate Places Natural Gas Reserves 35% Higher

Thanks to new drilling technologies that are unlocking substantial amounts of natural gas from shale rocks, the nation’s estimated gas reserves have surged by 35 percent, according to a study due for release on Thursday.

Estimated natural gas reserves rose to 2,074 trillion cubic feet in 2008, from 1,532 trillion cubic feet in 2006, when the last report was issued. This includes the proven reserves compiled by the Energy Department of 237 trillion cubic feet, as well as the sum of the nation’s probable, possible and speculative reserves.

The new estimates show “an exceptionally strong and optimistic gas supply picture for the nation,” according to a summary of the report, which is issued every two years by a group of academics and industry experts that is supported by the Colorado School of Mines.

The Wall Street Journal wrote:

US Has Almost 100-Year Supply of Natural Gas

The amount of natural gas available for production in the United States has soared 58% in the past four years, driven by a drilling boom and the discovery of huge new gas fields in Texas, Louisiana and Pennsylvania, a new study says.

...the Potential Gas Committee's study was prepared by industry geologists who analyzed individual gas fields using seismic imagery and production data provided by gas producers. The surge in gas resources is the result of a five-year-long drilling boom spurred by high natural-gas prices, easy credit and new technologies that allowed companies to produce gas from a dense kind of rock known as shale. The first big shale formation to be discovered, the Barnett Shale near Fort Worth, Texas, is now the country's top-producing gas field, and companies have made other huge discoveries in Arkansas, Louisiana and Pennsylvania. Together, the shale fields account for roughly a third of U.S. gas resources, according to the Potential Gas Committee.

Pickens had this to say:

T. Boone Pickens Statement on Surge in Estimated Natural Gas Reserves

Today’s report substantiates what I’ve been saying for years: there’s plenty of natural gas in the U.S. I launched the Pickens Plan a year ago to help reduce our dangerous dependence on foreign oil, and using our abundant supply of natural gas as a transition fuel for fleet vehicles and heavy-duty trucks is a key element of that plan. On the same day this report is going out, diesel prices are again on the rise, squeezing the trucking industry. Now more than ever we need to take action to enact energy reform that will immediately reduce oil imports.

The 2,074 trillion cubic feet of domestic natural gas reserves cited in the study is the equivalent of nearly 350 billion barrels of oil, about the same as Saudi Arabia’s oil reserves.

A number of people have rightly pointed out that a 100-year implies usage at current rates. But it got me to thinking about how much natural gas it would take to displace all U.S. gasoline consumption. So in the spirit of my previous essay Replacing Gasoline with Solar Power, I will do the same calculation for replacing gasoline with natural gas. The big difference between this calculation and the earlier one is that solar power still has some technical issues to resolve (e.g., storage) and electric vehicles are not yet ready for prime time. On the other hand we are perfectly capable, today, of displacing large numbers of gasoline-fueled vehicles with natural gas.

How Much Do We Need?

The U.S. currently consumes 390 million gallons of gasoline per day. (Source: EIA). A gallon of gasoline contains about 115,000 BTUs. (Source: EPA). The energy content of this much gasoline is equivalent to 45 trillion BTUs per day. The energy content of natural gas is about 1,000 BTUs per standard cubic foot (scf). Therefore, to replace all gasoline consumption would require 45 billion scf per day, or 16.4 trillion scf per year. Current U.S. natural gas consumption is 23 trillion scf per year (Source: EIA). Therefore, replacing all gasoline consumption with natural gas would require a total usage of 39.4 trillion scf per year, an increase in natural gas consumption of 71% over present usage.

Assuming for the sake of argument that the 2,074 trillion standard cubic feet cited in the study is accurate, that the "probable, possible and speculative reserves" eventually equate to actual reserves, and that the gas is economically recoverable, that is enough gas for 53 years of combined current natural gas consumption and gasoline consumption. If you assume that only the proven plus probable reserves are eventually recovered, the amount drops to about 1/3rd of the 2,074 trillion scf estimate, still enough to satisfy current natural gas consumption and replace all gasoline consumption for almost 20 years.

We can also calculate in terms of oil imports. Right now the U.S. imports about 13 million barrels per day of all petroleum products. A barrel of oil contains around 5.8 million BTUs, but oil only makes up 10 million of the 13 million barrel per day figure. Other imports include things like gasoline (4.8 million BTUs/bbl) and ethanol (3.2 million BTUs/bbl). Scanning the list of imports, I probably won't be too far off the mark to presume that the average BTU value of those 13 million bpd of imports is about 5.4 million BTUs/bbl. On an annual basis, this amounts to 25.6 trillion scf, an increase over current natural gas usage of 111%. Going back to the 2,074 trillion scf from the study, this would be enough to displace imports of all petroleum products (again, at current usage rates and not factoring in declining U.S. oil production) for 43 years.

What's the Cost?

Natural gas is presently trading at about $4 per million (MM) BTU (although December 2009 is trading at almost $6). Oil is presently trading at $71/bbl, which equates to $12.24/MMBTU. Gasoline is presently trading at over $17/MMBTU. Thus, natural gas is a bargain relative to oil or gasoline. Incidentally, I just checked on seasoned wood and wood pellets, and they range from $8-$12/MMBTUs. So it is cheaper to heat your house with gas than with wood. I am not sure I would have guessed that.

While natural gas is a bargain relative to gasoline, converting a gasoline-powered vehicle to natural gas isn't cheap. According to this source, it can cost $12,500 to $22,500 to convert a gasoline-powered car to natural gas. Honda makes a compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicle, but according to this review in Car and Driver the premium over the gasoline version is $8780. A person would need to drive an awful lot to justify that premium. However, that's what fleets do. They drive a lot. The large price differential explains why fleets would be interested in running their vehicles on natural gas.

Conclusions

So, the good news is that the United States could be energy independent if the newly released natural gas reserve numbers are remotely accurate. It also appears that we have enough natural gas available that civilization isn't going to end any time soon due to lack of energy supplies. There are three caveats. First, energy independence via natural gas would require us to spend significantly more for personal automotive transportation. Second, "possible" reserves may never materialize. Finally, a large chunk of the calculated reserves are based on shale gas, and that requires gas to be in the $6-$8/million BTU range to be economical. Still, it is a bargain compared to gasoline, and it explains why fleets are more receptive to conversion to natural gas than the general public is likely to be for their personal vehicles.

CHARMING, JUST CHARMING

CHARMING, JUST CHARMING: "If you are bothered by occasional or frequent constipation:
look in the mirror and repeat the following phrase three times in succession when symptoms occur:

My financial and personal well being are totally in the hands of :
Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Tim Geithner, Rahm Emmanual, Barney Frank , Chris Dodd, and Al Gore'

If that doesn't scare the shit out of you, you are destined to be backed up for the rest of your life.

There is no need to thank me for this advice, I'm just doing a public service."

Mostly Cajun, All American and Opinionated � Spoilt

Mostly Cajun, All American and Opinionated � Spoilt: "buy a Kindle"

Home On the Range: Bacon Cheddar Quiche

Home On the Range: Bacon Cheddar Quiche: "Bacon Cheddar Quiche:

One pie crust. Either a store bought if you must, or make one ahead and freeze. Cooking times are using a shell fresh from the freezer,

Fry up 3/4 pound of bacon. OK. Fry up a whole pound. Eat three pieces. Give one to the dog and put the rest in the shell. Whisk 3 extra large eggs in a bowl, add one cup of half and half, one cup shredded sharp cheddar, a dash of dried onion and 1/4 teaspoon of Penzey's Northwoods Seasoning (a mix of salt, pepper, rosemary, chipotle, garlic, paprika and thyme) or the equivalent measurement of salt and pepper and a dash of herb of your choice. Bake at 400 for 35-40 minutes. If your oven cooks hot, put a little strip of foil around the crust edges during the last 15 minutes of cooking so they don't burn.

http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/shophome.html.
Posted by Brigid at 12:11 PM"

Amazing Facts: They Said What!!

They Said What!!

"Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons."
Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949

"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.
"Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943

"But what is it good for? "
Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM,
1968, commenting on the microchip.

"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."
Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp. 1977

"This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as
a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us."
Western Union internal memo, 1876

"The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value.
Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?"
David Sarnoff's associates in response to his urgings for
investment in the radio -1920s.

"Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?"
--H.M. Warner, Warner Brothers, 1927.

"I'm just glad it'll be Clark Gable who's falling on his face
and not Gary Cooper." --Gary Cooper on his decision
not to take the leading role in Gone With The Wind.

"We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out."
Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962.

"Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible.
"Lord Kelvin, president, Royal Society, 1895.

"Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to try and find oil?
You're crazy." --Drillers who Edwin L. Drake tried to enlist to
his project to drill for oil in 1859.

"Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau."
--Irving Fisher, Professor of Economics, Yale University, 1929.

"Everything that can be invented has been invented.
"Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, U.S. Office of Patents, 1899.Amazing Facts: They Said What!!

Scout's eye helped Bryant focus on title drive - NBA - Yahoo! Sports

Scout's eye helped Bryant focus on title drive - NBA - Yahoo! Sports: "Scout’s eye helped Bryant focus on"

Breathing: Three Exercises - Dr. Weil

Breathing: Three Exercises - Dr. Weil: "The Art and Science of Breathing

Three Breathing Exercises"

The Art and Science of Breathing

Three Breathing Exercises

"Practicing regular, mindful breathing can be calming and energizing and can even help with stress-related health problems ranging from panic attacks to digestive disorders."
Andrew Weil, M.D.

Since breathing is something we can control and regulate, it is a useful tool for achieving a relaxed and clear state of mind. I recommend three breathing exercises to help relax and reduce stress: The Stimulating Breath, The 4-7-8 Breathing Exercise (also called the Relaxing Breath), and Breath Counting. Try each and see how they affect your stress and anxiety levels.

Exercise 1:

advertisement

The Stimulating Breath (also called the Bellows Breath)
The Stimulating Breath is adapted from a yogic breathing technique. Its aim is to raise vital energy and increase alertness.

• Inhale and exhale rapidly through your nose, keeping your mouth closed but relaxed. Your breaths in and out should be equal in duration, but as short as possible. This is a noisy breathing exercise.
• Try for three in-and-out breath cycles per second. This produces a quick movement of the diaphragm, suggesting a bellows. Breathe normally after each cycle.
• Do not do for more than 15 seconds on your first try. Each time you practice the Stimulating Breath, you can increase your time by five seconds or so, until you reach a full minute.

If done properly, you may feel invigorated, comparable to the heightened awareness you feel after a good workout. You should feel the effort at the back of the neck, the diaphragm, the chest and the abdomen. Try this breathing exercise the next time you need an energy boost and feel yourself reaching for a cup of coffee.

Exercise 2:
The 4-7-8 (or Relaxing Breath) Exercise
This exercise is utterly simple, takes almost no time, requires no equipment and can be done anywhere. Although you can do the exercise in any position, sit with your back straight while learning the exercise. Place the tip of your tongue against the ridge of tissue just behind your upper front teeth, and keep it there through the entire exercise. You will be exhaling through your mouth around your tongue; try pursing your lips slightly if this seems awkward.

• Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound.
• Close your mouth and inhale quietly through your nose to a mental count of four.
• Hold your breath for a count of seven.
• Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound to a count of eight.
• This is one breath. Now inhale again and repeat the cycle three more times for a total of four breaths.

Note that you always inhale quietly through your nose and exhale audibly through your mouth. The tip of your tongue stays in position the whole time. Exhalation takes twice as long as inhalation. The absolute time you spend on each phase is not important; the ratio of 4:7:8 is important. If you have trouble holding your breath, speed the exercise up but keep to the ratio of 4:7:8 for the three phases. With practice you can slow it all down and get used to inhaling and exhaling more and more deeply.

This exercise is a natural tranquilizer for the nervous system. Unlike tranquilizing drugs, which are often effective when you first take them but then lose their power over time, this exercise is subtle when you first try it but gains in power with repetition and practice. Do it at least twice a day. You cannot do it too frequently. Do not do more than four breaths at one time for the first month of practice. Later, if you wish, you can extend it to eight breaths. If you feel a little lightheaded when you first breathe this way, do not be concerned; it will pass.

Once you develop this technique by practicing it every day, it will be a very useful tool that you will always have with you. Use it whenever anything upsetting happens - before you react. Use it whenever you are aware of internal tension. Use it to help you fall asleep. This exercise cannot be recommended too highly. Everyone can benefit from it.

Exercise 3:
Breath Counting
If you want to get a feel for this challenging work, try your hand at breath counting, a deceptively simple technique much used in Zen practice.

Sit in a comfortable position with the spine straight and head inclined slightly forward. Gently close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. Then let the breath come naturally without trying to influence it. Ideally it will be quiet and slow, but depth and rhythm may vary.

• To begin the exercise, count "one" to yourself as you exhale.
• The next time you exhale, count "two," and so on up to "five."
• Then begin a new cycle, counting "one" on the next exhalation.

Never count higher than "five," and count only when you exhale. You will know your attention has wandered when you find yourself up to "eight," "12," even "19."

Try to do 10 minutes of this form of meditation.

Home On the Range

Home On the Range

Riding Lawnmower. Pretty funny!!!

Why PE10?

Why PE10?
Def of PE10

dshort.com: Is the Stock Market Cheap?

dshort.com: Is the Stock Market Cheap?

PE 10 info

Blogger: Conversion Diary - Post a Comment

Blogger: Conversion Diary - Post a Comment: "'Wherever the Catholic sun doth shine,
There’s always laughter and good red wine.
At least I’ve always found it so.
Benedicamus Domino!'"

The Blind Squirrel: Baked apples on the grill

The Blind Squirrel: Baked apples on the grill

Recipes!! Looks good.

Liberty Reborn � Abusing Our Children With Our Own Bitter Pills

Liberty Reborn � Abusing Our Children With Our Own Bitter Pills

Little Johnny wakes up, the same as he does every morning, to find his father sitting at his bedside. As he wipes his tired eyes his father smiles happily. “Good morning son,” he says.

“Good morning father,” little Johnny answers.

“Are you ready for your pill?” His father holds out capsule for him to take as well as a glass of water.

“Father,” little Johnny speaks up, “I was thinking last night.”

“Oh?” his father responds. “That’s always a good thing son. Now, take your pill.”

“But that’s just it father. I have been thinking about these pills that you have been having me take each morning.”

His father frowns. “Son, it is best if you really don’t think about it much.”

“But father, what I don’t understand is why I am taking this pill every morning. I don’t feel sick and the doctor said just last week that I’m healthy. Plus that pill is so bitter and it seems to get bigger every day. It hurts my stomach. Why must I take it?”

“Oh son, the pill is not for your health – it is for mine. I’m very sick. I have a very bad addiction.”

Even Johnny realizes the strangeness of this response. “Then shouldn’t you be taking it father?”

Johnny’s father laughed. “Oh no son. This pill is too bitter and too big for me to swallow. If I were to take it I would not be able to stomach it and would suffer great pain.”

“But father, that is exactly how the pill makes me feel and you ask me to take it. If the pill is for your health, shouldn’t you be the one taking it?” little Johnny asked again. “Me taking the pill for you is not going to make you better.”

“Son,” his father said leaning in close to him to add emphasis to his forthcoming words, “please don’t make me force you to take this bitter pill. You don’t want me to force you to take it do you?”

“But father –“

“No buts son. I’m going to count to three. One. Two. Thr – “ Before the final part of the word three could pass his lips little Johnny reached out and took the pill, hurled it into his mouth and downed it down with water which only slightly lessened the discomfort. “Good boy.”

Now, would we as a society put up with this kind of action from any parent towards their children? Would we let any parent get away with forcing their child to take their own medicine because they simply did not want to take it? Well we do. Every day we do.

Because this is exactly the way the parents and grandparents of this country are treating their children and grandchildren as well as their children and their children’s children by living high on the hog, racking up enormous governmental debts they have no intention of repaying and then forcing their posterity to bear the punishment of having to swallow the bitter pill they themselves have concocted because of their own addictions. All because they do not want to take that damnable pill themselves.

Every time you, as a parent, draw a dime from a federal or state government program paid for by the taxes of your children or that increases the debt load of our country your children will have to bear and pay back so that you can have some benefit today I dare say that you are doing just this. You are abusing not just your children but all children of this country. And that is about as sick as it gets.

It is time Americans take their own pills instead of forcing them down the throats of their children. Stop whining about how bitter the pill is and take it. Stop being such cowards and grow up.

CHARMING, JUST CHARMING: Sunday Morning Coming Down

CHARMING, JUST CHARMING: Sunday Morning Coming Down

Today I am still proud that I was born an American. But for the first time I am ashamed of the majority of my fellow Americans....those who have decided that free bread and circuses are more important to them than the fiscal health and the security of their country. I am ashamed of a news media who sets idle as the Federal government takes over major corporations and dictates to the financial world on how they will be able to transact business. I am ashamed that I was 'bamboozled' by the republican party several years ago...they solicited my support with the promise that they were the party for smaller government and fiscal responsibility...and I was fool enough to believe them. Their behavior...and mine for supporting them...was shameful.

10 Craziest Products Inspired by Bacon - Oddee.com (bacon-inspired products)

10 Craziest Products Inspired by Bacon - Oddee.com (bacon-inspired products)

BlueRidgeForum � Is Barack Obama a “Red Diaper Baby”?

BlueRidgeForum � Is Barack Obama a “Red Diaper Baby”?

That’s Why � Already Not Yet

That’s Why � Already Not Yet

“Over half a century ago, while I was still a child, I recall hearing a number of older people offer the following explanation for the great disasters that had befallen Russia: ‘Men have forgotten God; that’s why all this has happened.’

Since then I have spent well-nigh fifty years working on the history of our revolution; in the process I have read hundreds of books, collected hundreds of personal testimonies and have already contributed eight volumes of my own toward the effort of clearing away the rubble left by that upheaval. But if I were asked today to formulate as concisely as possible the main cause of the ruinous revolution that swallowed up some sixty million of our people, I could not put it more accurately than to repeat: ‘Men have forgotten God; that’s why all this has happened.’”

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, 1983

Chicago Boyz � Blog Archive � What, Eight Years Wasn’t Long Enough?

Chicago Boyz � Blog Archive � What, Eight Years Wasn’t Long Enough?

Okay, the leftmost half of the Democrats, including Obama, Pelosi et al, have continuously claimed for 8 years that detaining illegal combatants at Gitmo was obviously illegal under U.S. law, immoral and counterproductive. Usually, when someone makes such a sweeping claim, it means that they have throughly thought out the problem and have a detailed alternative to offer. Given that Democrats have had 8 years to think about the problem, why didn’t Obama and Congressional Democrats have a plan to handle Gitmo and its detainees ready to implement on Day 1 of his administration?

Why are they still dithering to the point of refusing to allocate funds to close Gitmo? [h/t Instapundit] How dumb are they?

After all, it’s not like they’ve proposed a plan and then the Republicans, using their dominance of the three branches of government, shot it down. No, they haven’t even made a single, concrete, detailed proposal, and the Republicans don’t have the power to stop squat. If Democrats actually had a workable idea, they could have launched it four months ago.

It’s almost as if they’ve suddenly discovered that the problem of dealing with illegal combatants is a complex problem rife with dangers and tradeoffs that presents no clear, optimal solution. Too bad somebody hasn’t tried to tell them how difficult a legal, practical and moral problem these people pose for us. Oh, wait, somebody did.

It’s almost as if they always knew that Bush had to make serious tradeoffs but chose to create a simplistic narrative just for the sake of political marketing. It looks like they spent all their time reflexively criticizing Bush and zero time actually thinking about the challenges he faced.

It’s almost like they never really gave a damn.

Something... and Half of Something: Some required reading...

Something... and Half of Something: Some required reading...
om Time To Behead The Concubines by J.J. Jackson:

Right now in America we have the Republican Party as it sadly exists; a chattering mass of concubines who have come to believe that they are favorites of some higher authority and they will have no harm ever come to them. The problem is that we, the people, who are the real authority behind the Party are not at all amused. We have given them power. We have given them arms. We have even given them orders. But still they sit there and giggle at us as though those orders are not at all important.

We tell them to lower taxes and they giggle. We tell them to reduce the size of government and they giggle some more. We tell them to stand up for innocent human life no matter the age and they laugh out loud. We tell them to return to within the boundaries set up for them by the Constitution and they flip us the bird while mocking us openly. So the answer is obvious to anyone that has ever read Sun Tzu. The axe needs to be sharpened. The heads of the lead concubines must be lowered onto the chopping block. And these fools need to be released from their duties and obligations. It is time to behead those giddy concubines who are in charge and who are not willing to carry out the clear orders given to them.

Yes, it would appear that perhaps we should look to Sun Tzu for a solution, keeping in mind that there are many ways to skin a cat behead a concubine, after all, there is an election coming up. Nothing says term limit better than a lost primary.

And as for senate hopeful from the great state of Florida, Charlie Crist? No way. No way Charlie. We have enough RINOs, we don't need another. I'd rather see that seat go to a flat out democrat then see you sit there and sit with the opposition. Better the devil we know then to watch you stick a knife in our backs. I have deeply regretted voting for you for governor, and I won't repeat that mistake by voting for you for senator.

Vinegar and Honey: No Such Thing As A Free Lunch

Vinegar and Honey: No Such Thing As A Free Lunch: "The government keeps pushing us toward Communism/Socialism and keeps spreading the free corn out in the form of programs such as supplemental income, tax credit for unearned income, tobacco subsidies, dairy subsidies, payments not to plant crops(CRP), welfare, medicine, drugs, free medical, etc., while we continually lose our freedoms - just a little at a time."

A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take away everything you have.

~Thomas Jefferson

Grouchy Old Cripple: Marines

Grouchy Old Cripple: Marines: "Marine Corps Bumper Stickers:"

"Martyrs or Marines -- Who Do you Think Will Get The Virgins?"

"U.S. Marines -- Travel Agents To Allah"

"When In Doubt, Empty The Magazine"

"The Marine Corps -- When It Absolutely, Positively Has To Be Destroyed Overnight"

"Death Smiles At Everyone -- Marines Smile Back"

"What Do You Feel When You Kill A Terrorist? ... A Reassuring Recoil"

"Marines -- Providing Enemies of America an Opportunity To Die For their Country Since 1775"

"My Marine Can Pick Off Your Honor Student at a Click and a Half"

"Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Anyone Who Threatens It"

"Happiness Is A Belt-Fed Weapon"

"It's God's Job to Forgive Bin Laden -- It's Our Job To Arrange The Meeting"

"Artillery Brings Dignity to What Would Otherwise Be Just A Brawl"

"One Shot, Twelve Kills -- Marine Artillery"

"My kid fought in Iraq so yours can party in college"

"Machine Gunners -- Accuracy by Volume"

"Guns Don't Kill People -- I Kill People"

"Except For Ending Slavery, Fascism, Nazism, and Communism, WAR has Never Solved Anything."

Zero Hedge: The Dow's Weight In Gold

Zero Hedge: The Dow's Weight In Gold: "The chart below represents the relationship of the Dow Jones to an ounce of gold. Things to note...very long uptrend broken (white line), very long support/resistance line broken (light blue), well below average since 1979 lows (green line), we are at a 30% retracement from most recent low (cyan text) which compares well with all previous major retracements in this down-cycle... a fat juicy extrapolated target seems to be waiting for the DOW below 5000 and Gold over $1000?"

SEE CHARTS

intermaweb.net � Blog Archive � World Record #4: Peristaltic Action

intermaweb.net � Blog Archive � World Record #4: Peristaltic Action

23' turd

The Green Dragon Room: GEITHNER'S 'DIRTY LIKE SECRET'

The Green Dragon Room: GEITHNER'S 'DIRTY LIKE SECRET'
J P Morgan is largest holder of Toxic Derivatives

A Joint Venture Is the New Hip Thing - WSJ.com

A Joint Venture Is the New Hip Thing - WSJ.com

Hip repair replacement

Power Line - Real religion

Power Line - Real religion: "Real religion"

Today comes word that Mary Ann Glendon is turning down the prestigous Laetare Medal that was to be awarded to her at Notre Dame's commencement this year. Glendon is the Learned Hand Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and former United States Ambassador to the Holy See. Explaining her decision Glendon stated:

When you informed me in December 2008 that I had been selected to receive Notre Dame's Laetare Medal, I was profoundly moved. I treasure the memory of receiving an honorary degree from Notre Dame in 1996, and I have always felt honored that the commencement speech I gave that year was included in the anthology of Notre Dame's most memorable commencement speeches. So I immediately began working on an acceptance speech that I hoped would be worthy of the occasion, of the honor of the medal, and of your students and faculty. etc

VDH's Private Papers::Crazy Times - Crazier Ones to Follow

VDH's Private Papers::Crazy Times - Crazier Ones to Follow: "Crazy Times — Crazier Ones to Follow"

Printer Friendly April 27, 2009 Crazy Times — Crazier Ones to Follow by Victor Davis Hanson Tribune Media Services We are in a weird age. Do the smart thing, we were told, and invest in a 401(k) retirement account. Buy into the American dream and own your own home. But lately it seems that those who put their money in low-earning passbook savings accounts or rented rather than buying may have been better off. Indeed, almost all the old familiar benchmarks of modern American life seem to be going by the wayside. The blue-chip corporations that were long the brand names of world manufacturing and finance — American International Group, Bank of America, Bear Stearns, Chrysler, Citigroup, General Motors and Lehman Brothers — are either gone or teetering on insolvency. The old-guard newspaper industry is fading — the Tribune Company is in bankruptcy court, Hearst at one point threatened to shut down the San Francisco Chronicle, the Rocky Mountain News is already gone. The stock price of The New York Times is worth about the same as its Sunday paper. Washington is more confusing. Bill Clinton balanced his last budgets but raised taxes. George Bush increased deficits but cut taxes. But now taxes, spending and deficits soar all at once. We are lectured that prior reckless federal spending and borrowing got us into this mess — but now are told that even more federal spending and borrowing will get us out of it. We've seen housing sales slump when home prices were high but interest rates low. Or when prices were low but interest high. Or when prices and interest were alike high. But we never have seen a bad housing market in which both home prices and mortgage interest rates were low. Nonsense is passed off as wisdom. Those who caused the financial meltdown walked away with millions in bonuses while taxpayers covered the debts they ran up. The big-spending government claims it may cut our annual $1.7 trillion deficit in half by 2012 — but only after piling up trillions more in national debt. In our Orwellian world, borrowing to spend what we don't have has been renamed "stimulus." Those who pay no federal income taxes — almost half of Americans — can somehow be promised an income tax "cut." In the new borrowing of trillions of dollars here and trillions there, billions of dollars now sounds like pocket change. When Americans turn to their political parties for answers, they are even more confused. Populist Democrats such as Sen. Chris Dodd and President Barack Obama took more AIG campaign cash than did pro-business Republicans. And the list of big-tax liberals who cheated or avoided taxes they want to raise on others is astounding — Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who oversees the Internal Revenue Service; failed Obama Cabinet nominee Tom Daschle; and Rep. Charles Rangel, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. Yet conservative Republicans during the Bush administration ran up the debt and increased federal spending far more than did liberals under Bill Clinton. A Republican president has not balanced a budget since Dwight Eisenhower did it over a half-century ago. Abroad, we thought piracy ended with the age of sail — only to learn that the world's 21st century navies either will not or cannot sink a few brigands in speedboats. Meanwhile, a U.N. conference against racism showcased Iranian president — and Holocaust-denier — Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spouting anti-Semitic hatred. The old "bad" unilateral war in Iraq is now quiet; the once "good" multilateral effort in Afghanistan is not. We are warned that we must be careful not to explicitly associate the radical Islam that fueled the Sept. 11 attacks with terrorism; yet, we are advised that we should worry about returning American veterans as potential terrorists. When our president references the 19th and 20th centuries, he apologizes for American sins but stays silent about the United States defeating Nazis, fascists, Japanese militarists and Soviet communists. The world hears contrition about Americans dropping the bomb to end World War II but never remorse from those responsible for Darfur, Grozny or Tibet. There have been a few crazy years like 2009 in American history — 1860, 1929, 1941 and 1968. And given what followed all of them, it might be wise to prepare for even crazier times for us ahead.

On the Patio

On the Patio:
A Toast
"'There are good ships,
and there are wood ships,
The ships that sail the sea.
But the best ships, are friendships,
And may they always be.'"

True Tales of Canadian Health Care

True Tales of Canadian Health Care

Reformed Voices: 7 Reasons Not To Ask Jesus Into Your Heart

Reformed Voices: 7 Reasons Not To Ask Jesus Into Your Heart

The American Spectator : Obama's Torture Policy for the Unborn

The American Spectator : Obama's Torture Policy for the Unborn

Obama's Torture Policy for the Unborn

By George Neumayr on 4.23.09 @ 6:07AM

If achieving world peace required torturing a single baby, asks a character in Fyodor Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, would it be worth it?

"Imagine that you are creating a fabric of human destiny with the object of making men happy in the end, giving them peace and rest at last, but that it was essential and inevitable to torture to death only one tiny creature -- that baby beating its breast with its fist, for instance -- and to found that edifice on its unavenged tears, would you consent to be the architect on those conditions? Tell me, and tell the truth."

The liberalism that Barack Obama seeks to complete answers Dostoyevsky's question with an emphatic yes. What is Obama's abortion-on-demand-forever policy but the building of a modern American way of life upon the graves of tortured babies? And not just the unavenged tears of one baby but millions of them.

This week, however, Obama did avenge the tears of terrorists. World peace, he said, isn't worth theirs. He lectured the CIA that "What makes the United States special and what makes you special is precisely the fact that we are willing to uphold our values and ideals even when it's hard."

Obama's prim pontifications about America's "values and ideals" inspired Chris Matthews and Jack Cafferty, among other deep and careful thinkers, to mull over the question: If torturing terrorists works -- as the Obama administration had to admit grudgingly this week -- is it okay? No, of course not, the chattering class proudly concluded.

One wonders why. What do they care? Having already accepted abortion and euthanasia -- which are nothing more than the expedient killing of the unborn and the elderly -- why should the expedient torture of terrorists, a lesser evil, trouble them? Oh, that's right: the terrorists are guilty and the guilty under the ministrations of modern liberalism never suffer. Pain in modern life is for the innocent.

Terrorists, we're told by pro-abortion liberals, suffer excruciating pain while the ejected unborn and euthanized elderly feel nothing. And even if the latter do suffer pain, say these liberals, that pain is worth it. After all, abortion and euthanasia sustain a pleasant and peaceful lifestyle for the strong. Let the dead bury the dead. Or, as the Supreme Court has said, imagine the disruption to America's way of life if stare decisis in the case of Roe v. Wade disappeared and women couldn't plan their careers and futures without the expectation of legal abortion for years to come.

Obama's liberalism is not an opponent of human rights abuses but an embodiment of them. The CIA restricts itself to methods far less ruthless than those permitted by the platform of the Democratic Party. When will Obama bring his own platform into line with the Geneva Accords?

It is a little late in the day for Obama to worry about America's moral reputation. Resisting evil even "when it is hard" hasn't interested liberalism for at least four decades. It rests on an ideology of expedient evil and crass utilitarianism.

With St. Paul, Western civilization, before modern liberalism ransacked it, said: "One may not do evil so that good may result from it." But then modern liberalism came along and reversed the formulation and now insists in the case of everything from therapeutic cloning to killing unborn children to dehydrating the elderly that one should do evil so that good may come from it.

Obama only now rediscovers the Christian ethic for terrorists, even as he weaves the "fabric of human destiny" with the tissue of tortured children.

Gun Control History Lesson � GOLDBLOOM’S PADDED CELL

Gun Control History Lesson � GOLDBLOOM’S PADDED CELL

In 1929, the Soviet Union established gun control. From 1929 to 1953, about 20 million dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

In 1911, Turkey established gun control. From 1915 to 1917, 1.5 million Armenians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Germany established gun control in 1938 and from 1939 to 1945, a total of 13 million Jews and others who were unable to defend themselves were rounded up and exterminated.

China established gun control in 1935. From 1948 to 1952, 20 million political dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Guatemala established gun control in 1964. From 1964 to 1981, 100,000 Mayan Indians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Uganda established gun control in 1970. From 1971 to 1979, 300,000 Christians unable to defend themselves es, were rounded up and
exterminated.

Cambodia established gun control in 1956. From 1975 to 1977, one million ‘educated ‘ people, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Defenseless people rounded up and exterminated in the 20th Century
because of gun control: 56 million.

It has now been 12 months since gun owners in Australia were forced by new law to surrender 640,381 personal firearms to be destroyed by their own government, a program costing Australia taxpayers more than $500 million dollars. The first year results are now in:
Australia-wide, homicides are up 3.2 percent.
Australia-wide, assaults are up 8.6 percent.
Australia-wide, armed robberies are up 44 percent. (yes, 44 percent)
In the state of Victoria alone, homicides with firearms are now up 300 percent. Note that while the law-abiding citizens turned them in, the
criminals did not, and criminals still possess their guns. It will never happen here? I bet the Aussies said that too!
While figures over the previous 25 years showed a steady decrease in armed robbery with firearms, this has changed drastically upward in the past 12 months, since criminals now are guaranteed that their
prey is unarmed. There has also been a dramatic increase in break-
ins and assaults of the ELDERLY. Australian politicians are at a loss to explain how public safety has decreased, after such monumental effort and expense was expended in successfully ridding Australian society of guns.

The Australian experience and the other historical facts above prove it.
You won’t see this data on the US evening news, or hear politicians disseminating this information. Guns in the hands of honest citizens save lives and property and, yes, gun - control laws adversely affect
only the law-abiding citizens. Take note my fellow Americans, before it’s too late!

The next time someone talks in favor of gun control, please remind him of this history lesson.

With Guns………..We Are ‘Citizens’, without Them……..We Are
‘Subjects’.

During W.W.II the Japanese decided not to invade America because they knew most Americans were ARMED! Note: Admiral Yamamoto
who crafted the attack on Pearl Harbor had attended Harvard from
1919-1921 & was Naval Attaché to the U. S. 1925-28. Most of our Navy was destroyed at Pearl Harbor & our Army had been deprived of funding & was ill prepared to defend the country. It was reported that when asked why Japan did not follow up the Pearl Harbor attack with an invasion of the U . S. Mainland, his reply was that he had lived in the U.S. & knew that almost all households had guns.

If you value your freedom Please spread this anti-gun control message to all your friends! The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing!

Vinegar and Honey: Alabama Herbalist

Vinegar and Honey: Alabama Herbalist

Key witness in passport fraud case of Clinton, McCain, and Barack Obama fatally shot � Count Us Out

Key witness in passport fraud case of Clinton, McCain, and Barack Obama fatally shot � Count Us Out

A key witness in a federal probe into passport information stolen from the State Department was fatally shot in front of a District church, the Metropolitan Police Department said yesterday.

Lt. Quarles Harris Jr., 24, who had been cooperating with a federal investigators, was found late Thursday night slumped dead inside a car, in front of the Judah House Praise Baptist Church in Northeast, said Cmdr. Michael Anzallo, head of the department’s Criminal Investigations Division.

Cmdr. Anzallo said a police officer was patrolling the neighborhood when gunshots were heard, then Lt. Harris was found dead inside the vehicle, which investigators would describe only as a blue car.

Emergency medics pronounced him dead at the scene.

City police said they do not know whether his death was a direct result of his cooperation with federal investigators.

“We don’t have any information right now that connects his murder to that case,” Cmdr. Anzallo said.

Police say a “shot spotter” device helped an officer locate Lt. Harris.

A State Department spokeswoman yesterday declined to comment, saying the investigation into the passport fraud is ongoing.

The Washington Times reported April 5 that contractors for the State Department had improperly accessed passport information for presidential candidates Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama and John McCain, which resulted in a series of firings that reached into the agency’s top ranks.

One agency employee, who was not identified in documents filed in U.S. District Court, was implicated in a credit-card fraud scheme after Lt. Harris told federal authorities he obtained “passport information from a co-conspirator who works for the U.S. Department of State.”

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/apr/19/key-witness-in-passport-fraud-case-fatally-shot/

April 19, 2009 -

The Obama Deception Complete Movie (2009) English - Степашка

The Obama Deception Complete Movie (2009) English - Степашка: "The Obama Deception Part 1 through 12".

!!!!!

Brutally Honest: "extremism in the defense of liberalism is no vice"

Brutally Honest: "extremism in the defense of liberalism is no vice"

"extremism in the defense of liberalism is no vice"

George Neumayr:

Modern liberals measure "progress" not by the unfolding fulfillment of the natural moral law but by its elimination. Consequently, most of what is labeled "progress" is basically just regress, a return, under a glossier guise, to the practices of antiquity and pre-Christian paganism.

Pagans stuck the inconvenient elderly on snow drifts; moderns dehydrate them to death in hospitals. Pagans left unwanted babies to die on hilltops; moderns bury them in bins behind Planned Parenthood clinics. Pagans attended orgies, moderns attend "gay weddings."

In its deepening moral squalor, in its raw defiance of reality as God made it, the Brave New World is as barbaric as the old one. That Hillary Clinton and other architects of the Brave New World are now forced to grapple clumsily with piracy is somehow fitting. Their "new world order" is intrinsically disordered, a reckless ideological experiment that explodes in recurring currents of chaos, discontent, and lawlessness. Why not piracy too?

The recent gusher of globalist babble at the G-20 summit is exposed by the rise of piracy as a total sham. And the rise of piracy is one more proof of Dambisa Moyo's thesis in Dead Aid -- that ceaseless Western government-to-government handouts to Africa, which are just a new version of white colonialism, have frozen the continent in a helpless and horrid past. After a trillion dollars over sixty years, the only vivid display of entrepreneurial activity in Africa today is…piracy.

National Review noted this week that Bono's organization, One, is organizing a campaign of attacks against Moyo's book. Perhaps Bono can add pirates to his to-do list or maybe co-host a few Park Avenue parties for them with Al Sharpton.

But having already accepted de facto piracy by African governments -- most aid, Moyo observes, evaporates in corruption -- the engineers of the new world order aren't likely to win the "war on piracy" or even fight it.

...

In the giddy days of the campaign, one cheerleading journalist for the San Francisco Chronicle, Mark Morford, speculated that Obama might be a "Lightworker" for the globe -- "that rare kind of attuned being who has the ability to lead us not merely to new foreign policies or health care plans or whatnot, but who can actually help usher in a new way of being on the planet…"

This "new way of being on the planet" looks awfully familiar, a return to history's most dismal, farcical, and evil chapters with tyranny, decadence, and false religion. This week the new way of being on the planet resembled the 18th century -- pirates abroad, tax-revolting tea parties at home, and a president, acting like a king, who collected excessive taxes and hatched extreme plans (such as forcing doctors and nurses to perform abortions against their consciences) while his aides sputtered about "extremists."

George Washington was an extremist in George III's eyes, and maybe even a disgruntled military veteran too. But under the madness of King Obama, extremism in the defense of liberalism is no vice and the citizenry's attempt to moderate it no virtue.

Neumayr's playing hammer here, nailing modern liberalism with effect. God bless him.

Do your part to counter the barbarism of today's leftist mind and pass this one on.

GraphOilogy: “We had everything but money,” A Suggested Guidebook for the “Greater Depression”

GraphOilogy: “We had everything but money,” A Suggested Guidebook for the “Greater Depression”: "“We had everything but money” is a collection of first person accounts of the Great Depression in the United States. Although, it appears to be out of print, it is widely available online. I recommend it as a very good guidebook for our present circumstances, what many are calling the “Greater Depression.”"

Figures on government spending and debt - Yahoo! Finance

Figures on government spending and debt - Yahoo! Finance

Figures on government spending and debt

• Friday April 17, 2009, 7:45 pm EDT

• Print

WASHINGTON (AP) --

Total public debt subject to limit April 16      11,125,587
Statutory debt limit         12,104,000
Total public debt outstanding April 16       11,183,899
Operating balance April 16    257,351
Interest fiscal year 2009 thru February   148,762
Interest same period 2008    198,518
Deficit fiscal year 2009 thru February   764,525
Deficit same period 2008    264,541
Receipts fiscal year 2009 thru February   860,877
Receipts same period 2008    967,153
Outlays fiscal year 2009 thru February        1,625,402
Outlays same period 2008         1,231,694
Gold assets in March      11,041

The Cost of Global Warming: A Story in Pictures � The Foundry

The Cost of Global Warming: A Story in Pictures � The Foundry: "human-global-warming"

And what should be the final nail in the coffin: All this economic pain is for very little, if any, environmental gain. Analysis by the Environmental Protection Agency concludes that if the U.S. reduces CO2 emissions 60 percent by 2050, it will reduce global temperature by 0.1 to 0.2 degree Centigrade by 2095. A multi–lateral approach wouldn’t fare much better. Why? Well, there’s a lot of reasons. After all, the science behind global warming is anything but conclusive, but one reason could be how small man’s contribution to carbon dioxide emissions is.

• Author: Nick Loris
• Interact: Sphere
• Share This

The Difference Between Winning and Success - Lunch w/ TED - the evangelical outpost

The Difference Between Winning and Success - Lunch w/ TED - the evangelical outpost

http://www.evangelicaloutpost.com/archives/2009/04/the-difference.html

Coach John Wooden

Vinegar and Honey: Seasons Of Life

Vinegar and Honey: Seasons Of Life

Seasons Of Life

There was an Indian Chief who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn not to judge things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away.

The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in summer, and the youngest son in the fall. When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe what they had seen.

The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted.The second son said no it was covered with green buds and full of promise. The third son disagreed; he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen. The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfillment.

The man then explained to his sons that each of them had reported correctly, because they had each seen but one season in the tree's life. He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season,and that the essence of who they are and the pleasure, joy, and love that come from that life can only be measured at the end,when all the seasons are passed.

If you give up when it's winter, you will miss the promise of your spring, the beauty of your summer, the fulfillment of your fall.

Moral: Don't let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest. Don't judge life by one difficult season. Persevere through the difficult seasons and better ones are sure to come.

"To everything there is a season,a time for every purpose under the sun."

Ecclesiastes 3:1 KJV

Curmudgeonly & Skeptical�

Curmudgeonly & Skeptical�

IRS, Fed Reserve, gold, taxes

Reformed Voices: Learn the 10 Commandments

Reformed Voices: Learn the 10 Commandments

Learn the 10 Commandments

Is it possible to learn the 10 Commandments and be able to recall them in any order in under 12 minutes? You may be surprised.

part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A64HS79546o

part 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1NS0EPXkss

Spiritual Juxtapostioning - Part Two | Verum Serum

Spiritual Juxtapostioning - Part Two | Verum Serum

Spiritual Juxtapostioning - Part Two

Scott on April 7, 2009

To me, one of the most striking juxtapositions in the Christian faith is the contrast between Light and Darkness.

Isaiah 9:2 - The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined.

John 1:5 - The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

Not that the contrast of Light and Darkness is of such a complex nature that it takes theologians and philosophers to make the comparison. On the contrary, it is one of the most fundamental and obvious contrasts in the natural world. But in the spiritual and metaphysical economy of things, Light and Darkness take on monumental and eternal significance.

Non-Christian have at times objected to the idea that they are walking in darkness. They frequently equate darkness with evil, so when they hear someone claiming that they are living/walking in darkness, they take offense. However, the intent of using the term darkness is not to equate it with evil, but to instead equate it with a lack of awareness and/or understanding,

In other words, if someone was born in a cave in complete darkness and this person lived their entire life in that darkness, they would have no idea what darkness was because living in the dark cave, they would have never seen the thing called light. Thus they would have nothing with which to compare their darkness. No amount of explaining what darkness is would make a difference until someone showed them light. It is only in the presence of light that darkness is revealed and understood.

Plato’s Allegory of the Cave brings these ideas into play in some respects, adding the nuance of shadows as well. However, I like a different story involving darkness, light, and people in a cave:

-

THE CAVE PEOPLE (Adapted from a story by Max Lucado)

LONG AGO, or maybe not so long ago, there was a tribe who lived in a dark, cold cavern. The cave dwellers would huddle together and cry against the chill. Loud and long they wailed. It was all they did because it was all they knew to do. The sounds in the cave were mournful but the people didn’t know it, for they had never known the joy of life.

But then, one day, they heard a different voice rise above their pitiful wailing. “I have heard your cries,” it announced, the words echoing through the cave. “I have felt your chill and seen your darkness. I have come to help.”

The cave people grew quiet. They had never heard this voice. The message of hope sounded strange to their ears.

“How can we know you have come to help?” asked one of the tribe.

Out from the shadows stepped a figure they had never seen before. “Trust me,” he answered. “I have what you need.”

The cave people peered through the darkness at the stranger. He was stacking something, then stooping and stacking more.

“What are you doing?” one cried, nervous. The stranger didn’t answer.

“What are you making?” one shouted even louder. Still no response.

“Tell us!” demanded a third.

The visitor stood and spoke in the direction of the voices. “I have what you need.” With that he turned to the pile at his feet and lit it. Wood ignited, flames erupted, and light filled the cavern.

The cave people turned away in fear. “Put it out!” they cried. “It hurts to see it.”

“Light always hurts before it helps,” he answered. “Step closer. The pain will soon pass.”

“Not I,” declared a voice.

“Nor I,” agreed a second.

“Only a fool would risk exposing his eyes to such light,” declared a third.

The stranger stood next to the fire. “Would you prefer the darkness? Would you prefer the cold? Don’t rely on your fears. Look to the light and take a step of faith.”

For a long time no one spoke. The people hovered in groups covering their eyes. The stranger stood next to the fire. “It’s warm here. Come, join me.” he invited.

“He’s right,” one from behind him announced. “It is warmer.”

The stranger turned and saw a figure slowly stepping toward the fire. “I can open my eyes now,” she proclaimed. “I can see.”

“Come closer,” invited the fire builder.

She did. She stepped into the ring of light. “It’s so warm!” She extended her hands and sighed as her chill began to pass.

“Come, everyone! Feel the warmth,” she invited.

“Silence, woman!” cried one of the cave dwellers. “Dare you lead us into your folly? Leave us and take your light with you.”

She turned to the stranger. “Why won’t they come?”

‘They choose the chill, for though it’s cold, it’s what they know. They’d rather be cold than have to change.” The stranger looked sad.

“And they would rather live in the dark?” she asked in disbelief.

“Yes, they would rather live in the dark,” said the stranger.

The now-warm woman stood silent, looking first into the darkness and then at the man in the light.

“Will you leave the fire?” he asked.

She paused, and then answered, “I cannot. I cannot bear the cold.” Then she spoke again. “But nor can I bear the thought of my people in darkness.”

“You don’t have to,” he responded, reaching into the fire and removing a stick. “Carry this to your people. Tell them the light is here, and the light is warm. Tell them the light is for all who desire it.”

And so she took the small flame and stepped into the shadows.

-

Two Easters ago, I worked with my good friend (who was also the worship pastor of the church we were attending at the time) to put together an Easter service that would provide, not just the traditional Easter story (which is perfect all on its own), but that would also provide some additional opportunities and some other forms to convey the truths of Easter to the unchurched. I knew this Max Lucado story and had always felt that it needed a little more fleshing out, thus I adapted it and tweaked it a bit into the form that you see above. I am not sure if Lucado wrote it with Plato’s Cave Allegory in mind or if it was just coincidence. What I find fascinating is that Plato, almost 2500 years ago, seized upon the ideas of darkness, light and shadow and saw within them analogies to life and human existence.

For those times in my life when darkness has arrived in some form and has dimmed my view of my faith and has obstructed my view of Christ, it is only the undimmed and unwavering light of Truth and Grace that clears away the darkness and the shadows that accompany it. Sometimes I am unaware of the darkness. It comes gradually, like the loss of light with the setting sun. Then I am immersed in my own unique brand of dark, shaded by pride or anger or arrogance or judgmentalism.

Until…BAM! The Light breaks through the darkness and reveals the room of shadows in which I had been living. And then I am again reminded of the quote from John Newton that I mentioned in Part I:

My memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things: That I am a great sinner and that Christ is a great Saviour.

What is Birkat Hachamah? - Birkat Hachamah

What is Birkat Hachamah? - Birkat Hachamah

What is Birkat Hachamah? An Overview of this Rare Blessing

G‑d made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night . . . And it was evening and it was morning, a fourth day.—Genesis 1:16, 19 One who sees the sun at its turning point should say, "Blessed is He who reenacts the works of Creation." And when is this? Abaya said: every 28th year.—Talmud, Tractate Berachot 59b Every 28 years the sun returns to the same position, at the same time of the week, that it occupied at the time of its creation—at the beginning of the fourth day of creation. A special blessing – called Birkat Hachamah, "the sun blessing" – is recited to mark this event. Due to the rarity of this event, this blessing is customarily recited amid large public gatherings of men, women and children. This year, we will perform this special mitzvah on the morning of April 8This year, 5769, we will perform this special mitzvah on the morning of April 8 (the morning before Passover). The blessing is traditionally preceded and followed by a short selection of Psalms and prayers. The existence of nearly all life on Earth is fueled by light from the sun. Every morning without fail, the sun rises in the east and bathes us with its sustaining rays, causing flora to grow and, through the process of photosynthesis, providing oxygen for all fauna. Some may call this phenomenon nature. We will gather on April 8th and declare otherwise: "Blessed are You, Lord our G‑d, King of the universe, who reenacts the works of creation."

Rally: Too Flashy For Our Liking | The Big Picture

Rally: Too Flashy For Our Liking | The Big Picture

David Rosenberg, the soon-to-be former Economist for Merrill Lynch, had a very prescient commentary last week about the 25% four week rally on Friday:

As for this 25% rally in three weeks – the consensus has swung to the view that this is a real inflection point. One warning. We saw this happen in late 2001 and early 2002 too … big, big rally; early cyclicals flew; the markets thought we were in for a V-shaped recovery … it was longer away than many at the time believed and many were burnt as a result. And keep in mind that the ‘second derivative’ on growth began to improve in the fourth quarter of 2001, and the S&P 500 still did not bottom for another year.

Currently, the equity market is priced for $70 on earnings on a going-forward basis, or a 75% rebound. And with retailing stocks up 30%, leisure/accommodation up 35%, and the homebuilders up 40%, the market is priced, amazingly, for a revival that is led by the consumer! (in fact, the only S&P sector that is now trading at P/E multiples that are at post-2001 highs is the consumer cyclical group). If we see that in the next year, we will be the first to hang up our Hewlett Packards. Being up 25% in a year and staying bearish … well, shame.

Achieving that in less than a month – come on. Too flashy for our liking.

In fact, let’s learn from history. The only times we have ever seen the stock market surge close to this much in such a short time frame were:

* December 1929
* June 1931
* August 1932
* May 1933
* July 1938
* September 1982

Only in September 1982 and in May 1933 was the equity market embarking on a new bull phase. But guess what? By the time the S&P 500 surged 25%, it had already crossed above its 200-day moving average. So call us when the S&P 500 crosses the 1,000 mark – another 20% to go. That is how deeply entrenched this particular bear market has been – that even after this massive rally, the onus is still on the bulls! Consider as well that on 4 of the 6 occasions that the equity market staged such a huge rally over such a short time period, it relapsed. So we are going to wait this out, acknowledging that we could be late to the party. We still feel the downside risks are too high to be involved.

Ashes Ashes All Fall Down: We're Coming Home!

Ashes Ashes All Fall Down: We're Coming Home!

We're Coming Home!

Many years ago, when I was teaching history at a high school in Texas, one of my students was diagnosed with cancer. A rare cancer. She underwent aggressive treatment in Texas, and then in California. And about 6 months after her initial diagnosis we all received an email from her dad that started with the following words: "We're coming home!" While the email appeared optimistic and excited on the surface, I knew that my student was coming home to die. The cancer was not in remission. All treatment options had been exhausted. Within two months she would be gone.

Today I look at America and those words, "we're coming home!", rattle around in my weary brain. The markets are up, 72,000 people attended the national collegiate basketball semi-final in Detroit this past weekend (20,000 more than had ever attended in the past), many restaurants in my community are up 20% in sales from this time last year. And yet even a cursory glance at the underlying economic numbers makes one wince with pain: U6 unemployment at 16+% and growing by close to a MILLION individuals per month, Consumer Debt still tipping the scales at over 15% of GDP, a crashing import-export economy, government-sponsored (and taxplayer funded) bailouts and rescues for criminal banking and financial sector CEO's, etc.

We're coming home! When fifteen year old Clara came home---full of smiles and hugs and love---she did so knowing that the end was near. She was determined to make the very best of her final days, surrounded by family and friends. Her parents knew that their daughter would soon die, and as devout believers in a Christian God, they gained strength from the knowledge that their precious child would soon be in "a better place". But despite their faith, Clara's parents were destroyed. For them, he death of their only daughter would kill them as well. And in many respects, they too came home to die.

I believe that the American people are beginning to understand that the future is bleak. So many jobs destroyed, so little savings, no safety nets, no honest government to care for them, no access to health care, no hope for the future. And millions upon millions of Americans are, in a final gasp and haze of debt spending, maxing out all of their remaining credit cards, and going to basketball games and dining out and seeing the world! One last hurrah before they too reach the end.

We're coming home.

Curmudgeonly & Skeptical�

Curmudgeonly & Skeptical�: "Family of Irving 'Bud' Feldkamp,
Dies in Montana Plane Crash
Owner of the Nation's Largest Privately Owned Abortion Chain,"

The Oil Drum | The Next Five Years: Peak Lite and the Current Oil Picture

The Oil Drum | The Next Five Years: Peak Lite and the Current Oil Picture: "Conclusions

While the oil industry is historically cyclical"

Conclusions

While the oil industry is historically cyclical, I believe we are approaching the point at which the industry will no longer be able to build out enough new projects to stay ahead of demand. This could manifest itself as peak oil, in which case the rate of depletion permanently overtakes the rate at which new production comes online. Or it could first manifest as peak lite, in which case new production still stays somewhat ahead of depletion, but can't keep up with new demand. In either of these situations, I think the historical cyclicality of the oil industry will disappear. In early 2008 I thought we had reached that point, but it appears that we had at least one more cycle ahead.

While it is too early to tell with a high level of confidence just where we are on the depletion curve, the summer of 2008 provided of taste of life in an oil-constrained world. The current level of underinvestment and the prospect of higher taxes are setting up another situation in which spare capacity erodes, leading to higher oil prices and greater volatility. Add to this the prospect of a global oil production peak, and I have trouble seeing a case where oil prices will remain stable in the coming years.

As an investor, I use blue chip oil stocks as a defensive measure against much higher prices. I am not one who subscribes to the idea that oil companies are going to be put out of business by running out of oil, or by ethanol, algal biodiesel, or any other combination of alternative fuel technologies. In fact, I strongly believe that if an alternative technology begins to look attractive enough, oil companies have deep enough pockets to shift their business in that direction. But I think that's unlikely to happen any time soon.

As a consumer, it would probably pay to evaluate just how much higher prices might impact your budget - and then take action. Can you sustain oil prices that return to $150/bbl or more? Even if you can, do you want that uncertainty hanging over your budget? If not, then it would be prudent to take steps to minimize the personal impact of high oil prices. Steps to consider include utilizing more fuel efficient transportation, public transportation, ride-sharing, and if possible locating closer to your place of employment.

Plan ahead and don't get caught off-guard like so many did last summer. It is only a matter of time before history repeats itself. Here's hoping our political leaders make policy decisions that won't worsen the impact.

Chicago Boyz � Blog Archive � Environmentalism and Reality

Chicago Boyz � Blog Archive � Environmentalism and Reality:
Pittsburg
"sol vason Says:
March 25th, 2009 at 6:19 am

When I moved to pittsburgh, pa in 1970 the polution index ranged from a low of 100 to a high of 300. Environmentalists took no pride in these numbers. The closed down the steel mills and all the other smokestack businesses. Drove them overseas to India and China, I suppose. By 1980 our air was clean and there weas massive unemployment. Many Pittsburgers left town. During that time I could hire PhDs for $7.00/hour. People with 30 years on-the-job experience for $6.00.

Soon other industries left town. Pittsburgh used to be the #3 city in the US in terms of corporate headquarters. Today it is not in the top 300. Even the Mellons and Heinzs sold out and left town.

But now Pittsburgh has clean air. And because so many people have left, very high property taxes. And laws that keeep new imndustries out. Today our graduates all leave town to find new jobs. Except the dumb ones.

Obama says he is going to pass laws to eliminate the cycle of boom and bust. Because no one can gaurantee permanent boom this means we will have permanet bust."

Chicago Boyz � Blog Archive � Environmentalism and Reality

Chicago Boyz � Blog Archive � Environmentalism and Reality

From time to time if I am stuck conversing with a die-hard environmentalist, I will ask them what they think the WORST thing that has happened with regards to the environment is, in their opinion. I usually don’t listen to their reply to closely and then tell them what they OUGHT to be saying

The Fall of Communism and End of Socialism

Under Communism prior to Deng Xiaoping, mainland China was a starving wasteland with few consumer goods, frequent famines, and millions living in caves (no joke). After Deng unleashed his reforms in the countryside, which migrated to the cities, the Chinese government removed the boot of this failed dogma and unleashed a nation of hard charging entrepreneurs and traders. For years the overseas Chinese were some of the most successful business people in Asia - now they were free to raise the standards of living of their own people.

Power plants were built - millions of homes didn’t even have heat - and the country roared to life. New cities were built, highways, ports and railways crossed the country, and now China is the manufacturer for a huge variety of what you have in your house today.

And what did the Chinese consumer want? They wanted what YOU have - a car (bicycles went by the wayside as soon as they had the money), a nice flat, overseas travel, air conditioning and heat in the winter, electricity to power their myriad consumer devices and appliances, and food of all types (especially meat products). An explosion of manufacturing and consumption erupted throughout the country which hasn’t abated (may be slowing a bit now due to the recession).

While Chinese Communism was abandoning Marxist economic principles (but keeping the dictatorship of the state, a core theme), India was abandoning its inward-focused socialism. In the 80’s India began some tentative reforms which also brought the economy to life, as Indians’ overseas were also known as prosperous businesspeople, like the overseas Chinese. Like the Chinese - the Indians wanted what Western consumers had - cosmetics, cars, clothes, air conditioning, power for appliances, more types of food, and all the rest. While their economy was still tied to a democracy (and thus couldn’t run over the rights of everyone in pursuit of development) they focused more on services and managed an incredible run of growth which led to Mumbai being one of the most expensive cities in the entire world to live in.

Don’t forget Brazil - Brazil also moved away from many socialist principles and the economy started to grow to keep up with its burgeoning population, who also want many of the comforts that we take for granted in the West.

China, India and Brazil represent a giant mass of humanity, the most populous countries in their respective continents, all of whom featured BILLIONS of consumers “voting with their feet” (through their actions, since they didn’t really leave) and showing that what they wanted wasn’t a simple, spartan zero-footprint life but in fact the cars, power, air conditioning, and higher end food (meats and not simple grains) that are bemoaned in the West.

IF ONLY - I tell the environmentalist - that you would have allied yourself with Socialism and Communism, two ideologies that made some of the most ambitious and entrepreneurial people in the world poor and impoverished - you would have been able to keep those countries “down”, with few cars (except for the elite) and a tiny infrastructure which is tied to limited consumption.

I remember when East Germany fell - and saw a brief interview with an East German intellectual - saying that he wished for a “third way”, other than the capitalism of the West when the wall fell - but that never happened.

Another opportunity lost for the environmentalist… after all barbed wire, guard towers, and shoot-to-kill orders are a small price to pay for the absence of cars and carbon, right?

A completely bankrupt ideology, which has been blasted to oblivion in the developed world. Their moment, like that of the East German intellectual - never comes when people are given a chance to live their lives fully.

2009 March 25 � Count Us Out

2009 March 25 � Count Us Out

Obama's Selective Service Certification

Brutally Honest: What is that?

Brutally Honest: What is that?

a sparrow

Conversion Diary: Could I have stopped the war? - The diary of a former atheist

Conversion Diary: Could I have stopped the war? - The diary of a former atheist:
"'If you are what you should be,
you will set your whole world on fire.'
~ St. Catherine of Siena"


Dedication for Seven Storey Mountain
"I seek to speak to you, in some way, as your own self. Who can tell what this may mean? I myself do not know, but if you listen, things will be said that are perhaps not written in this book. And this will be due not to me but to the One who lives and speaks in both."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A couple weeks ago I was reading Seven Storey Mountain and came across a passage where Thomas Merton talks about the beginning of World War II, and says in passing:

If I had accepted the gift of sanctity that had been put in my hands when I stood by the [baptismal] font in November 1938, what might have happened in the world?

In the context of that section of the book, it's clear that he was basically asking, Could I have stopped the war? At first I hardly noticed it, thinking of it as a poetic hyperbole to drive home the point that we should all try to be holy. A few pages later, however, that sentence still nagged at me. I went back and re-read it, as well as the paragraph that followed:

People have no idea what one saint can do: for sanctity is stronger than the whole of hell. The saints are full of Christ in the plenitude of His Kingly and Divine power: and they are conscious of it, and give themselves to Him, that He may exercise His power through their smallest and seemingly most insignificant acts, for the salvation of the world.

Those thoughts have continued to nag at me over the past couple of weeks. When I see distressing stories on the news or think of the issues that most disturb me, an inconvenient thought keeps popping into mind: Could I have stopped this?

What I mean, of course, is not that there's any chance I could have done much at all through my own efforts; it's a shorthand way of saying, "If I had really died to myself, if I had fully stepped out of the way to let God's love and strength flow through me like a firehose instead of the feeble drip that the world sees now, what could he have done through me?"

Though it seems unlikely that God would use me to effect worldwide change on a major issue, it's certainly not impossible. Also, as Amy points out so well, one thing that is certain is that people who truly surrender their lives to God will have a huge impact on the world in some way or another, even if nobody ever knows their names.

Later in the book Merton describes a Russian Catholic woman who moved into the slums of Harlem to help the people there. After observing the amazing things that God had done through her, he writes:

It is a tremendous thing, the economy of the Holy Ghost! When the Spirit of God finds a soul in which He can work, He uses that soul for any number of purposes: opens out before its eyes a hundred new directions, multiplying its works and its opportunities for the apostolate almost beyond belief and certainly far beyond the ordinary strength of a human being.

So could I have prevented any of those horrible things I hear about on the news each night had I been a saint? The weight of my sins starts to feel awfully heavy when I realize that the answer is, "Maybe."