Saturday, July 28, 2007

And they bicker among one another....

111 And they say: None entereth paradise unless he be a Jew or a Christian. These are their own desires. Say: Bring your proof (of what ye state) if ye are truthful.

112 Nay, but whosoever surrendereth his purpose to Allah while doing good, his reward is with his Lord; and there shall no fear come upon them neither shall they grieve.

113 And the Jews say the Christians follow nothing (true), and the Christians say the Jews follow nothing (true); yet both are readers of the Scripture. Even thus speak those who know not. Allah will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection concerning that wherein they differ.

(The Qur'an (Pickthall tr), Sura 2 - The Cow)




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Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Fossil Fuel Independence? I think not...

Twenty-eight years ago I returned home from a one year tour of active service on mainland Japan to spend thirty days leave before I was to report to my next duty station. Life circumstances brought me into close proximity to a man who I knew as a prolific gambler and sewing machine salesman/repair man. During my entire visit at home I heard this man talking about an engine that he had invented that "ran on air"... Compressed air, to be more specific.

Regardless of the details of the motor, I found it extremely difficult to buy into the notion that it was even remotely possible to power a motor that could power a drive train or a generator with the air that we breath. Or that a gambling sewing machine salesman could develop such a device.
On the last night of my leave from active duty, I was sitting in the Eagles Club in a college town in Arkansas listening to this man try to "sell" stock in the development and production of this motor. Frankly, I thought it was a con. And when the mark, or potential investor, left the table I told the sewing machine man that I just didn’t believe it.

He told me that the prototype was near by and he would show it to me. So, when the bar closed (had to close the bar! That’s what Marines and Gamblers did in those days.), we went to his shop and there in the middle of the shop floor sat a motor. On the wall all the way around the shop was models of the motor sliced in different angles to offer different views of the inner workings of the motor.

He started the motor up for me and I watched it run for over five minutes. In spite of my skepticism, I was now a believer. I will not go into the details of how the machine worked here. My only point is that IT WORKED! Imagine, an engine that requires nothing more than the air we breath to create power to do with as we may!

My friend tried for years to get his creation patented and every time he did, the big power and fuel companies blocked him. He eventually gave up and sold his creation to Exxon for little more than his expenses.
Fast forward thirty years. Now, they are developing "hybrid" vehicles that despite their apparent "greeness" are still dependent on fossil fuel and emitting green house gasses.

So, anyone who says that our government is "trying" to create better fuel economy and more environmentally friendly sources of transportation and power are simply lying. Nuclear, solar, wind, ... Not a single other energy source is as economic nor as clean as this motor. Yet, it is still not in development as an energy alternative.

Why? Because it is a one time, long term sale which requires little service...NO ONE CAN MAKE ANY MONEY ON IT! They can’t even think up a service, like telephone and cable, to continue to charge its users absorbent fees. You buy the motor, it runs for free just like we breath.
This war on terror is all about the oil, no matter what anyone says! And any effort by anyone to move away from oil and fossil fuels is blocked by the ones who benefit from all of the economically and environmentally costly power sources.

I have lived with this knowledge since 1979. Is it really any wonder that I am angry?

Now, who exactly has the money and is trying so hard to protect it? Well, I’ll connect capitalism and Christianity later. I’m mad and tired right now.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Cigarrest

Just a word to the wise from experience...
DO NOT ORDER THE CIGARREST PRODUCT!
The television commercial indicates that they will send you a "FREE TRIAL" if you only pay shipping. It includes "herbal, all natural" stop smoking placebo’s, vitamins, and even "minty" gum. They advertise that if you are not satisfied within thirty days that you need only call to cancel and all future shipments will be canceled.
What they do not explain is that they send in the initial shipment a 90 day supply for which, regardless of your cancel order, they will bill you nearly $70 per month for the next two months. And if you complain, they will not reimburse you.
I don’t suppose I need to tell anyone that if you are already living on a budget, an unauthorized deduction of $70 from ones account can easily cause an overdraft, for which your bank will also charge you an absorbent fee which sends you even further into arrears.
I don’t believe that the Cigarrest Company acts in good faith and I believe that their commercial is intentionally misleading.
High priced "patch" therapy, which is available in every community anywhere, are more effective, not to mention HONEST.
But if you really want to quit smoking, just lay the damned things down and quit. It’s hard, but people do it every day! You can, too.

International Fellowship of Christians and Jews

I saw a commercial the other day that simply floored me. It was so repugnant that I simply had to call and ask them to send me their information so I could read it for myself, just to know that it was true, that they were for real.
It was a commercial for the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews and they wanted ME to send THEM money! The money is supposedly used to build bomb shelters for Israelis.
Here's an idea! Quit lobbing bombs at your neighbors and perhaps they will quit lobbing them at you! Quit CLAIMING the land "in the name of God" and treating those that you are displacing like shit.
And what REALLY irks me is that they are claiming that this organization is working toward peace... by building bomb shelters (if that is what they are doing with the money). And by the way, China displaced the Tibetans over half a century ago. Is anyone doing anything about that?
Well, we are making it easier for them to export their goods, like poison food, to unsuspecting consumers around the world.

Friendly Fire

Friendly Fire
It is proper to question our leadership... even patriotic! How many lives have been saved in battle by having select officers fall by friendly fire? It has been considered heretical and unpatriotic, and perhaps even more importantly, unsupportive of the troops to question the wisdom of the actions of our national and military leaders. Therefore, it is absolutely patriotic to speak out when a leader is clearly in the wrong.

It is proper to question our leadership... even patriotic! How many lives have been saved in battle by having select officers fall by friendly fire? And just think how many of THEM really needed killing! But instead of weeding out bad leaders, the Pentagon has been engaged in trying to make a hero out of a football player who was just doing his job and paid the ultimate price. Yet no one could bring themselves to question the wisdom of ever being there in the first place.

Therefore, it is absolutely patriotic to speak out when a leader is clearly in the wrong. Other leaders have been killed for less than the atrocities of the oil war!