In my last posting I failed completely to mention geothermal energy as an alternate to energy derived from fossil fuels. A report recently released by a group at MIT describes the potential for geothermal that goes well beyond current applications in California and other Western USA areas. There's a lot of heat a few thousand feet below the surface that has the capacity to drive turbine generators much as in the case of any conventional steam driven generation plant in existence today. Obviously, it should be developed to further reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

It's a far cry from energy politics, but the announced euthanization of 2006 Kentucky Derby Champion Barbaro this morning saddened me and I suspect everyone familiar with the story of that gallant animal. Having been educated at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, I developed a liking of thoroughbred horses and racing. On Sundays, we frequently took our little daughter out to Calumet Farm to see the horses. She was particularly attracted to the yearling paddock area where she could reach her little hands between the fence rails and let the young horses nuzzle them. We would also visit the "Million Dollar"barn with its red carpet running between the two rows of stalls containing such winners as Whirlaway. In an adjacent paddock all by himself was the proud sire of all of them, Bull Lea. Indications are that Barbaro
may be buried at Churchill Downs outside Louisville or Kentucky Horse Park in mearby Lexington. Either location would be a fitting memorial to a very gallant animal.

Global warming, or "climate change", is back in the news with a new study showing that man is responsible for most of the warming that has occured in the last century. Some scientists project that much of South Florida will be part of the ocean by as early as 2030 but surely by 2100. By the latter time, they say ocean waters might have risen by 10ft. or more. Add a normal 2-3ft. tide and it's easy to see much of the area will be gone. Assuming the projections to be true, the issue becomes what can we do about it?

Reducing the production of greenhouse gasses will help but it's not likely to eliminate the problem. Greatly elevated seawalls could do a lot to protect the area. It would be a costly solution for sure, but it may be the only solution. I don't think people with high priced condoos and businesses along South Florida's beaches and its many waterways will stand still to see their properties disappear.

Of course the media is having a field day with the warming issue. It fits their doomsday mentality and "blame America" attitude. Where does such thinking come from anyway?
America has done more to benefit the rest of the world than all the other developed countries combined, yet these fools go on blaming us for all of mankind's ills. We rebuilt Western Europe after WWII and helped Japan become one of the most vibrant economies on Earth. Had it not been for the Communists we would have done the same for Russia and China.

Communisim is still a problem in the world and not just in places like China, Southeast Asia, Cuba and parts of South America such as Venezuela. The communist mentality is still present here at home, personified by many in the Hollywood crowd. The Anti-Iraq War gathering in Washington, D.C. being the most recent example. Jane Jihad, formerly Hanoi Jane, was there as were Susan Sarandan, Tim Robbins, Sean Penn and others doing their damnedest to repeat the devastating influence their ilk had in getting us to pull out of Vietnam after we had the military war won. The only worthwhile result of the demonstration last weekend was the fact that so few people showed up for it.

Last night, the President delivered his 2007 State of the Union address before a packed House chamber. He reviewed his administration's accomplishments here at home, announced plans he would be sending to Congress to improve things further in the areas of health, education and the economy. Once again he stressed the importance of victory in Iraq by noting that "regardless of how you voted on the war in Iraq, you didn't vote for failure!" He asked Congress and the nation to give his "surge" plan a chance to work. In all I thought it was a good strong speech and, while it probably won't win over his haters, he let us know he was not going to give up in the Middle East. Bush also laid out plans to reduce dependence on foreign oil by reducing the nation's consumption of gasoline, developing broader use of alternative energy sources including solar, wind, fuel cells and nuclear.

Each alternative to fossil fuels as an energy source has a place in the scheme of things. I know of no one who disputes that, but there is a lot of disagreement over when, where and how. Solar energy makes sense where sunny weather is the dominant condition; wind is similar as in the case of the Swedish island of Oland; the hydrogen fuel cell offers an outstanding propect; and nuclear should be expanded now. However, no combination of these alternatives will totally do away with our need for petroleum at least not until we find substitutes for the many non-fuel products made from petroleum. These include the whole family of plastics that are used in automobiles, packaging, furniture, clothing, pipe, and equipment too numerous to mention; white oils for certain medicines; a myriad of lubricating oils blended to make crankcase oils, transmission fluids, gear oils, hydraulic fluids, transformer oils and turbine oils; automotive and industrial greases; synthetic rubber goods including tires; candles; fertilizers; asphalt paving materials; and many more.

I find it strange that none of the boobirds arrayed against Bush ever mention these critical petroleum products.

It looks like the Democrats in Congress, lacking any real plan of their own for fighting Islamic terrorism and the fighting in Iraq, are going to pontificate until hell freezes over in committee hearings. Last week they had a panel of intelligence experts both civilian and military sitting before them and did little more than bombard them with questions and political b---s--- . They weren't interested in answers. A few days earlier they did the same thing to Condi Rice before her trip to the Middle East. The Democrats would have us believe that they are all experts in military strategy and tactics and that our military leaders are stupid. They're all foreign relations experts as well and Condi Rice is a dummy.

Let's get a few things straight. Our military leaders are people who have worked hard in K-12 to meet the tough entrance requirements of four years in one of the nation's military academies, months of hard study at Command & General Staff School and War Colleges. In the latter institutions they are taught more than military tactics and strategies. Most are also combat veterans. Others may not have gone through the academies but are products of Reserve Officer Training Corps programs at our nation's public colleges and universities who have undergone experience and advanced training similar to those who have graduated from the academies. In general all of these leaders are way ahead of the would-be military strategists in Congress and certainly those in the media who see themselves as knowing more than our leaders.

I've got to hand it to the Democrats, they succeeded in convincing enough people that we were wrong to invade Iraq to get them to vote against Republicans in last November's election. Of course, they did it with the help of a heavily biased news media that never did forgive Bush for beating Gore in 2000 and Kerry in 2004. The Nazis used the same biased media ploy to raise hatred against Jews in Nazi Germany. A biased media is a dangerous and deadly animal.

When I was a youngster we were taught the importance of free speech. We tended to believe what we read in the newspaper and heard over the radio. There seemed to be little if any bias in the reporting of news. Bias didn't begin to show up until after World War II. My first personal experience with biased media occured in Guyana, S.A. in 1974. I was part of a touring team from the oil company I worked for in the Caribbean and Latin America to educate major oil consumers on the crisis created by the 1973 Arab oil embargo and what they could do to reduce their consumption while keeping their economies functioning.

The morning following our late arrival the previous night, we met with the Prime Minister and his cabinet to make our presentation and answer their questions. The media present consisted of the nation's major newspaper and radio personnel. The PM used the meeting to pontificate against " imperialistic oil companies " and cared little that we were there to help locally owned businesses and the people of his country. Needless to say, that afternoon's edition of the puppet newspaper, in banner headlines, reported in detail the PM's words and none of ours. That is the kind of nonsense that continues to this very day, not only in Latin American countries, but through out much of the world. Here at home it differs only in the fact that the government doesn't control the media and the media crucifies non-liberal political leaders with abandon.

Free speech, like all rights guaranteed us under the Constitution in this country, carries with it a responsibility to exercise it with prudence and a basis in fact. not half- truths, ideology or outright lies.

It looks like the Democrats in Congress, lacking any real plan of their own for fighting Islamic terrorism and the fighting in Iraq, are going to pontificate until hell freezes over in committee hearings. Last week they had a panel of intelligence experts both civilian and military sitting before them and did little more than bombard them with questions and political b---s--- . They weren't interested in answers. A few days earlier they did the same thing to Condi Rice before her trip to the Middle East. The Democrats would have us believe that they are all experts in military strategy and tactics and that our military leaders are stupid. They're all foreign relations experts as well and Condi Rice is a dummy.

Let's get a few things straight. Our military leaders are people who have worked hard in K-12 to meet the tough entrance requirements of four years in one of the nation's military academies, or officer candidate school, months of hard study at Command & General Staff School and War Colleges for the best of them. Most are combat veterans. Many others are products of Reserve Officer Training Corps programs at our nation's public colleges and universities who have undergone experience and advanced training similar to those who have graduated from the academies. In general all of these leaders are way ahead of the would-be military strategists in Congress.

Already it seems the Democrat Congressional leadership is trying to ignore the Republicans with a 100-hour plan to push through their agenda with no input from the opposition. What happened to Pelosi's promise that she would work with the opposition ? Looks like the same old Washington 2-step to me and is further evidence that the 110th Congress will join a long list of prior do-nothing sessions.

In the first session of the House the Dems trotted out the start of their 100-hour plan. The morning was spent on an attempt to reinstall the Pay-As-You-Go plan on new spending and the issue of "pork" items that sneak into bills at the last moment before the bills go to the floor for a vote and there is no time for a review to be made of the items by committees responsible for the bills. That's how a "bridge to no where" gets through. I support the effort to do away with this practice because it will reduce waste and ultimately lower taxes.

Mitt Romney seems ready to join the growing list of hopeful candidates for President in 2008. I like the man's style. He did an outstanding job of bringing the Winter Olympics to Salt Lake City a few years back and he has done a more than adequate job as Governor in a heavily liberal Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He faces one hurdle in the eyes of some, and that's his religion which is Mormon. But, in my view it's no different than the issue of John Kennedy's Catholicism in 1960. Voters back then looked beyond JFK's religion and I think they would do the same with Romney. I had the pleasure of meeting Mitt's father, George Romney 40 years ago when he was making a trial run at the job and I suspect Mitt Romney is a lot like his father.

Barack Obama's revelations of his youth and drugs may kill his chances for the 2008 Democrat nomination. I expect there are still many folks out there who are concerned about electing a drug abuser to the U.S. Presidency. Perhaps there weren't enough of them to keep "I-didn't-inhale" Clinton out of the office, but something tells me it could be a lot different this time around.

Light sweet (i.e., low sulfur) crude has dipped below $ 60.00/bbl. fob NY harbour which is good news for the economy if it will only stay down. Unfortunately, it probably won't stay down for long but should last as long as the winter remains mild in the northern USA. It is still no excuse to slow down the search for more oil and alternatives to it and other forms of fossil fuel energy. Speaking of which, how about the report that mankind ranks 9th as a contributor to global warming ?