Thursday, April 21, 2011

"I want you to get mad!"

The psyche of the modern man is, in the opinion of many, fractured and distorted. The traditional peoples would say that we are disconnected from our souls. We are too much in search for the next Big Mac rather than the next Big Idea. Although we are facing grave global problems in the economy, resources and the environment, we talk about it as if we were discussing it hypothetically. Our leaders talk about economic meltdown like they were discussing the traffic getting into work. The emotions don't fit the discourse. Emotions are meant to move us. They are the motivation to action. It stands to reason, that if we don't emote in a manner to match our words, our words shall remain words and appropriate actions will not flow from our words. What did Howard Beale in the movie Network say... "I want you to get mad!"

Here is Gerald Celente matching his emotions to his words. He's mad as hell because he sees us all heading towards World War III and we're letting our leaders take us there unchallenged. Our hearts need to catch up with our heads.

Sobering viewing. Celente at his best.

Friday, April 15, 2011

Global Warming vs Peak Oil

We recently held a state election in New South Wales. The Labor government, which had been in power for 16 years, was thrown out of office with such vigor it was embarassing. They went from 50 seats down to 20. In a case of absolute stupidity, Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced federal Labor's plan for a carbon tax just weeks before the state election. Of course, she denies that she handed Premier Kristina Keneally a poisoned chalice, but you really have to ask how dopy can you be.

The climate change debate is a misnomer. There has never been a real or genuine debate about this issue. The politicians have only listened to the advocates and dismissed the agnostics as “deniers” and “extremists”. This is why I can't understand why they are trying to sell us on such a disputable issue as carbon, at the expense of a far more serious and less disputable threat to the world.

PEAK OIL

When we fill up the tank, do we expect to drive on forever and not have to stop to fill up again? Of course not. When we get past the half full mark we travel on regardless knowing we will have to refill in the not too distant future. What if, having reached the half full mark, we start picking up more and more hitch hikers with their luggage. Soon the car is fully loaded. Do we look at the fuel gauge the same way? No. We start watching it closely because we know the extra load will cause increased fuel consumption. The needle starts diving and we're looking for the petrol station so we don't end up stranded in the middle of nowhere. The global gas tank is no different. Many experts believe we have passed the half way point of crude oil supply, generally referred to as “peak oil”. The grave concern is the world keeps picking up more and more hitch hikers and world consumption is exploding as nations like China and India want to start driving around in gas guzzlers like the first world does.

Daily oil production is approximately 70 million barrels a day and is barely meeting the world demand. The warning signs are everywhere. Exhausted and abandoned oil fields all over the planet. Food prices globally are increasing due in part to rising oil costs. Our food supply chain is directly reliant on oil. This is creating unrest all over the world as food costs consume an ever increasing proportion of a worker’s wages. Petrol at the pump just keeps going up. The US is complaining because they are paying $4US/gallon. In Australia we are paying close to $6/gallon ($1.50 AU/litre). All the low hanging fruit has been picked so the oil companies are going deeper and deeper to get lesser quality crude. The recent Deepwater Horizon oil disaster occurred to a rig that was reaching record depths, nearly 20,000ft. That’s pretty desperate. It might be a lot easier to just topple regimes around the world and take it.

Chris Martenson has produced a video series called “Crash Course”. He explains why the next 20 years are not going to be like the last 20 years. He identifies the coming energy, economic and environmental crises and teaches survival strategies. Whilst the politicians are fighting the wrong battle and failing to prepare for the real looming crisis, you can take responsibility for your own family.

Here is the full Chris Martenson Crash Course



Jump straight to the Peak Oil episode

And whilst your Christian faith might be relying on being raptured out of this mess, can you be sure this is the End Times? Some German Christians thought the end times had arrived with the Nazis. They weren't raptured out of that! The last time the world faced oblivion God's solution was to give Noah a heads-up. It was Noah's act of faith & obedience to take God at his word and physically prepare for the coming flood.

Now you can watch End of Suburbia to get you in the mood. This is a documentary showing how the peak oil crisis might play out in next few years and is uncomfortable to watch but makes the case for immediate action very clear.