Wednesday, January 29, 2014

If You Build It: They Will Come?

State of the Union ... Why speak to truth and address real problems facing our nation --like creation of long-term jobs not requiring government subsidies to sustain them, coupled with immediately realizable energy independence via the Keystone XL Pipeline-- when you can perpetuate "a global fantasy worthy of the Middle Ages?"













Once again "climate change" and "green energy" were put forth by the President and his administration as a cornerstone to their approach for 'addressing' --or dodging, as the case may be-- the real problems facing our nation, using a perceived truth to dictate a policy where 'environment' will always trump sound business decisions, even at the expense of the creation of (much needed) real jobs for American citizens.  It seems readily apparent, by both the content as well as the tone of this speech, that it will be business as usual moving forward: Smoke & Mirrors will continue its prevalence throughout the remaining years of this administration's tenure.  Perception has now definitively been established as the 'new truth'?  I hardly think "the debate [w.r.t. "climate change"] is settled", Mr. President.

The bottom line is that the current science IS insufficient to translate our current "alternative" forms of energy into a reliable primary source for immediately realizable --and ready for widespread distribution-- energy for our nation. Yes, we should continue to invest in the science to support the potential for large-scale development of alternative (""green"") energies, but the latter should not, in the interim, preclude our pursuing other forms of immediately realizable energy sources toward the end of achieving "true energy independence" for our nation.

And on another point w.r.t. to jobs creation: If you truly want to make 'doing business in the United States attractive to companies':  then why not make the proposition of doing business in the U.S. attractive to potential companies with the tangible ACTION of approval for the U.S. portion of the Keystone XL Pipeline. The latter would undoubtedly result in a substantial lowering of the costs associated with doing business in our country by making energy/transportation costs lower in our nation. Then again, on the flip-side, if Canada gets tired of being strung along by the United States w.r.t. Keystone Pipeline and grants the contract to China, then China will reap the advantages of doing business with Canada and also the subsequent creation of jobs that will undoubtedly follow.





The movie "Field of Dreams", with Kevin Costner, is running through my mind as I type here ... "If you build it: they will come" ... w.r.t. "manufacturing centers of excellence" mentioned in the State of Union speech. Unfortunately, unlike the movies, in the real-world companies who are successful in business actually connect the dots --manufacturing centers of excellence being only one single dot-- and energy/transportation costs are a BIG part of the dot-connecting calculus when it comes to deciding where these companies will actually decide to do business.

But no worries, right? At the end of the day, who needs jobs, when we can all hold hands and sing "Kumbaya", secure in the delusion that we've actually had a significant or meaningful impact upon the chaotic and dynamic (highly complex and unpredictable! ... long before man's input) entity of our planet's climate system. Granted we are entrusted to be good stewards of this earth, but we also have to live and survive here ourselves within the means technologically available to us in the moment currently unfolding. It's all about balance, working with the scientific data we have regarding climate swings in previous eras --unmassaged-- and then using the technology and resources we have available for large-scale energy today while striving to do better --by means of continued alternative energy research in an effort to make our alternative energies large-scale feasible in our future.

On a philosophical tangent, doesn't real and lasting job creation translate into true independence of the individual and the subsequent potential for upward mobility? And the latter runs counter to the environment conducive for an ideology of underlying control "for the greater good" by means of fostering dependence via imposition and excessive regulation, once again all for the perceived "greater good". I mean education only takes you half of the way: just look at all of the college students graduating these past few years who are unable to secure meaningful jobs in their chosen professions. We can continue the accepted narrative of talking points, fueled by the ever-elusive hope of change, but isn't it funny how we've had five years of this "talk" now with no significantly realizable change (improvement!) in terms of lasting, non-government subsidized jobs? Just because unemployment numbers are magically down, doesn't mean the number of jobs is conversely up ... millions of people have just given up looking for work and are no longer being (truthfully) counted in the unemployment numbers.

I say, enough hope of change! Enough recycled rhetoric: show me the $$MONEY$$ in terms of real and lasting (non shovel-ready, non-government subsidized) jobs. Let's start this "year of action" off by taking the ACTION of giving the Keystone Pipeline a green-light, Mr. President.  Give 'We the People' something we can take to the BANK:  It's time to unleash free-enterprise, starting with the approval of Keystone XL Pipeline which will get this stagnant ball of our economy rolling once again for the middle and low income earners who have yet to benefit from our supposed "economic recovery."


Here are some additional noteworthy points of interest regarding the Keystone XL Pipeline:

"With the Canada-to-Texas Keystone XL pipeline stuck in limbo on the U.S. side, Canada’s Energy Board recently gave a thumbs up to a $6.5 billion pipeline designed to carry 525,000 barrels of oil per day from the oil sands of Alberta to ships on the British Columbia coast. The final destination is most likely Asia. 


The development has the U.S. oil industry attacking the Obama administration over its drawn-out process. 

“It’s taken longer to approve the Keystone XL pipeline than it did to win World War II, longer than it took us to put a man in space, and almost as long as it took to build the Trans-Continental railroad 155 years ago,” said Jack Gerard, president of the American Petroleum Institute.
The U.S. State Department received the Keystone application in September of 2008. The 1,700-mile project is projected to create thousands of jobs and lessen the need for OPEC oil. Even with domestic production booming, the U.S. still imports about half the crude it uses. "  ~Fox News Article By Dan Springer, Published January 15, 2014 on FoxNews.com

5/15/2014 Interesting info regarding "Anarctic Ice Melt", beyond the hype and spin:  http://www.livescience.com/45571-antarctic-melting-myths.html?cmpid=514627_20140514_23897214 ... though I don't find the "97% percent of scientist to be on board with climate change [--due to man's impact]" to be truthful.  Think "scientist" here is being used in the loosest terms for the purposes of supporting a wholly unscientific (not supported by the unmassaged data) propaganda driven agenda of control and profit by a few key (and well-connected) individuals.   Just follow the money to find the real truth.  The almighty dollar ultimately reigns supreme, doesn't it?  The truth will set you FREE ....
5/14/2015 Newsflash ...Growing Anarctic ice posing challenges for countries sending ships into the area