Guest - AIDS and responsibility

My wife Gini wrote this post. Last night I watched PBS Frontline program about the AIDS pandemic. It was an interesting history lesson covering the last 25 years from when patients were first observed in hospitals with the very devastating, wasting illness. AIDS turned young men into emaciated old men within months. The history was interesting; the bias was very clear after a short period of viewing this program. Never once did PBS indicate that some of the people who got sick with AIDS had a choice in their risky behavior. For example in San Francisco once Director of Public Health Melvyn Silverman had all 14 Bath Houses closed, - before a judge ordered them reopened with monitors - did it never occur to any of these men to just stay at home and not go some place where the possibility of contracting a serious, deadly illness was so high? What about the IV drug users? Did it never occur to some of these people that with the rampant spread of HIV/AIDS that maybe giving up, shooting up was a great idea? The facts are clear that man is a free agent and can CHOOSE a healthy lifestyle that will keep him free from these deadly diseases. Or is he? Michael Fumento's fascinating book The Myth of Heterosexual AIDS shows even more clearly how partisan politics has taken this tragedy and distorted people's thinking about AIDS. I highly recommend we arm ourselves with the truth about this disease. Truth is to set us free, so we can live to have compassion and minister on those sick with AIDS. These people should not be shunned at all, but need our care, our prayers.

Albert Gore's Junk Science

Albert Gore, Jr., ex-Vice President of the United States has a campaign to save the Earth from you and me. His new movie is based on - - - Predictions 100 years in the future by the same scientists who cannot predict the weather tomorrow. According to the Washington Post, TCSDaily is "the online clearinghouse for anti-global-warming punditry." Dr. Roy Spencer has questions for AlGore, I mean, Albert Gore, Jr. For example:

1) Why did you make it look like hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, floods, droughts, and ice calving off of glaciers and falling into the ocean, are only recent phenomena associated with global warming? You surely know that hurricane experts have been warning congress for many years that the natural cycle in hurricanes would return some day, and that our built-up coastlines were ripe for a disaster (like Katrina, which you highlighted in the movie)...

and

2) Why did you make it sound like all scientists agree that climate change is manmade and not natural? You mentioned a recent literature review study that supposedly found no peer-reviewed articles that attributed climate change to natural causes (a non-repeatable study which has since been refuted....I have a number of such articles in my office!)

See also: Dr. Roy Balling's "An Inconvenient Truth Indeed." Junk Science.com is counting the days since Albert Gore, Jr. offered to facilitate a debate between the environmental scientists who support versus question the conclusions of hunman-caused global warming. 4 months, 3 weeks, 4 days and counting. See The Real Inconvenient Truth there. He has some excellent graphics.

Memorial Day

Today we remember the men (far fewer women; it's history) who risked their lives and gave them in war to protect our nation. The National Anthem Project is promoting knowing our national anthem - the Star Spangled Banner. They have a traveling road show. It's not just a display, it's active participation, sponsored by The National Association for Music Education. This weekend at Seattle's Northwest Folk Life Festival the National Anthem Project has risers set up and microphones for performaers. So everyone is invited - to sing the Star Spangled Banner a capella! Of course they provide the words. It sure is a nice change from Seattle's leftist politics. We paid a short visit to the "display" and saw two performances: a 50-ish woman who sang pretty well, but was making up the words. She was quickly rescued by a Project person providing a word sheet. Then two Seattle boys, ages 6 and 7, sang it pretty well. One carried the load; they started too high - it has a very wide range - but he managed to carry it through, clear up to high C or whatever. It was great to see people involved. Note that the flag image is Jeeps! Jeep is a National Anthem sponsor. Sorry I couldn't find a larger image.

So what if Tucker Carlson is discouraged?

Tucker Carlson's autopsy for the Republican Party in Cato's Letter - evidently not online - has provable errors in it. As concerned as we are for the Republican Party, Tucker Carlson can't make his case when he starts from false understanding. First, Tucker bases his argument on a foolish assertion:

"How did this administration ... get to be, in fact, an administration that is in almost every single way as liberal as Bill Clinton's administration?"

Oh, he said "almost" to weasel out of his false statement. What "facts" show President Bush to be as liberal as Clinton? Appointing Supreme Court Justices who do not come from the ACLU? Wrong, Tucker. Tax cuts on capital formation that have spurred the economy to sustained growth? Wrong. Allowing faith-based organizations to provide social services? That's Bush, not Clinton. The list is long. Al Qaeda attacked the United States multiple time on Clinton's watch - 1993 World Trade Center, two African embassies bombed simultaneously, the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, the USS Cole in Yemen. Bill Clinton did not respond, except to bomb an aspirin factory when his affair with Monica Lewinsky was getting too much press. President Bush responded. No, he is not like Clinton "in almost every single way." Second, Tucker is smarter than we are. He knows that the Republicans don't believe in what they are doing. His superior sensitivity is not worth exploring. But he finds that Democratic staffers.... never mind. Third, he didn't know that the 1994 Contract with American was serious. Once again he is smarter than us: "... most smart people dismissed it out of hand as a marketing ploy aimed at dumb people, which is not far off." He was so skeptical that he couldn't see what was happening. In the Contract with American Newt Gingrich and the 1994 candidates for Congress promised what the Republicans would do. And they kept their promises. It helped them get elected. But it also did another important thing - to set their agenda. Once elected they didn't spend a year stumbling around. They had their program clearly defined and they did it. I am impressed by politicians who tell you what they are going to do, then do it. I am generally impressed by Cato Institute's publications other than this. This one is rescued by a profile of Andrew Coulson who left Microsoft to help get action on public K-12 education.

Royal Congress - William Jefferson, Democrat

US House of Representatives Speaker Dennis Hastert asserts that Congressmen are royalty. Hastert is interfering in the criminal investigation of William Jefferson, Democrat of Louisiana. Jefferson's home and office were searched based on a search warrant from a judge. This wasn't the FBI "run wild." There was a warrant. But Hastert says the search should not have been conducted. Congressmen have some protection we don't have. But it is narrow, says Akhir Amar at Slate. The founders did not provide protection for criminals, as Article I, section 6 of the US Constitution say:

Senators and Representatives … shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.

I am as bothered by Hastert's protecting criminal Congressmen as I am by Jefferson's crime. And there is no way I could find to leave a message for distinguished leader Hastert. Only people with zip codes in his district can communicate with his royal highness Hastert. Update. Congress Is Not Above the Law -- Wall Street Journal

There was price gouging because I say so - Cantwell

Our Senator Maria Cantwell has had the price of gasoline in a full-court press - trying to limit exploration, limit drilling, transportation ... everything. By the laws of economics her combination will raise the price of gasoline at the pump. But she has a plan to make that illegal. Cantwell continued her pressure on gasoline prices this week by a misleading study and misstating what it found. Cantwell released a press release May 22 saying that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) had found price gouging. But the Seattle Times points out that the bill calling for the study defined price gouging as

"any finding that the average price of gasoline available for sale to the public in September, 2005, or thereafter in a market area located in an area designated as a State or National disaster area because of Hurricane Katrina, ... exceeded the average price of such gasoline in that area for the month of August, 2005."

That is a transparent attempt for a self-fulfilling prophecy. Many things can cause the average price to be higher. The Federal Trade Commission's report released on May 22 did not find evidence of price manipulation:

... the Commission found: No evidence to suggest that refiners manipulated prices through any means, including running their refineries below full productive capacity to restrict supply, altering their refinery output to produce less gasoline, or diverting gasoline from markets in the United States to less lucrative foreign markets. The evidence indicated that these firms produced as much gasoline as they economically could, using computer models to determine their most profitable slate of products.

The FTC did find that there are market forces that a distinguished US senator cannot change. When there is an increase in demand it causes the price to rise. When no new refineries are built for decades the supply is limited which also causes prices to rise. (Refineries have succeeded in increasing the output of the existing refineries.) What if Cantwell dictates lower prices? Look at the failed experiment in Hawaii; they tried to set maximum gas prices starting last year. The experiment didn't work. The state's Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism reported that it cost consumers as much as $54.9 million in 5 months. So Legislature gave it up this month almost unanimously. If Senator Cantwell tries the same thing she must expect to get the same result - higher prices for the consumers. The Seattle Times says it well in its headline:

Cantwell should check her oil shtick

Cross posted at Sound Politics

Taxbreaks for illegals, not for you

Our compassionate US Senators are going to forgive illegal immigrants for income tax payments they illegally avoided. But they won't forgive you or me. Read that again. Tax breaks for illegals, not for you or me. Thanks Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa for highlighting this cruel trick:

2. Taxes -- Under the bill, illegal aliens get an option to only have to pay three of their last five years in back taxes. Law-abiding American citizens do not have the option to pay some of their taxes. The bill would treat lawbreakers better than the American people. The bill also makes the IRS prove that illegal aliens have paid their back taxes. It will be impossible for the IRS to truly enforce this because they cannot audit every single person in this country.

Earth to DC: Treat citizens better than illegals, not worse!! Via Tom Bevan at Real Clear Politics.com.

Venture Capital for 3d World Microfinance

A Seattle nonprofit is aiding 3d world development by arranging and financing micro loans. Micro loans are small loans - no more than $500 - for the express purpose of financing small family businesses. Mike Murray, ex-Microsoft, started Unitus a few years ago to provide micro loans financed by donations. He professionalized by hiring Geoff Davis to be the CEO. But they realized that they could never scale up adequately with funding from donors. So they decided to get investors to put their money up. As the Seattle Times reports:

Mike Murray, a former Microsoft executive, founded Unitus in 2000 with the aim of improving the industry. In microfinancing's 30-year history, loans have been distributed to 20 percent, or 100 million, of the 500 million people in the world who could benefit from the loans. "In business, after 30 years, if you have only reached 20 percent market share, you aren't successful," Murray said. "That's not good enough. It works well, but the industry hasn't grown."

Venture capitalist Chris Brookfield joined them this month. Wow. What a career move. They have already raised $8.5 million, aiming much higher. They expect to earn a good return for the investors. PROFIT. The Sea Times just couldn't say it.

Good News - Peace and Growth

Michael Barone At US News.com looks at the evidence. The sum of the economies of the world is growing with little inflation. Growth is good in the US, China, India. Europe is slower, since they chose their welfare bureaucracy over economic opportunity. And there is less, not more, war. The Human Security Centre at the University of British Columbia:

announces the launch of the 2005 Human Security Report: War and Peace in the 21st Century. Funded by five governments, published by Oxford University Press, and three years in the making, the Report tracks and analyses trends in political violence around the world. Its findings are sharply at odds with conventional wisdom. It shows that most forms of political violence have declined significantly since the end of the Cold War––and finds that the best explanation for this decline is the huge upsurge of conflict prevention, resolution and peacebuilding activities that were spearheaded by the United Nations in the aftermath of the Cold War.

I will learn more about this report and the institute that produced it.

Da Vinci Code Opportunity

The book and movie "The Da Vinci Code" are fraudulent: they claim to be factual, but are filled with inaccuracies. So many inaccuracies that the author cannot claim they are mistakes. John Bell says:

Fundamentally the book creates a story using a false history as its backdrop. Its like writing a story about the second world war, but not only having Hitler win, but doing it in such a way to make you feel tricked by anyone who would tell you otherwise. The book attacks both the Deity of Jesus and the canon of Scripture. In my research on this, I get the impression that it's the historians rather than the Christians who are most unhappy with the book - perhaps Christians are used to having their faith attacked and are ready for this sort of thing - Historians are not.

And he goes on to refute the falsely claimed items in detail. Mark D Roberts has written two good resources. First, a shorter, but still thorough, FAQ. And a very thorough 30-part "The Da Vinci Code Opportunity." Jim Pinkerton at TCS thinks that Christianity will come out ahead, because Brown has so offended us that many people are defending the truth of Christianity. And they are doing so in positive ways, not by striking back in anger. Pinkerton says that we have created "their own counter culture."

I will bet that "The Code Controversy" is going to be remembered as a turning point in popular-religious culture. Christians flocked to see "The Passion of the Christ," which changed Hollywood, but then, two years later, they flocked to react to "Code"; they have created their own counter-culture, which will bear faith-fruit long after this particular movie is reduced to third-tier DVD-dom.

Kudlow sees hope on inflation

I listen to Larry Kudlow. Listen? Well... I am as close to a non-TV viewer as you will find; I go weeks without turning it on. I read what he says and I listen! He sees signs that inflation will not be a problem. US investment is strong... He thinks the US dollar is at the bottom of its run and it is a good time to buy it. Now the Fed has something to say about where the dollar goes. How many politicians have hurt us by trying to drop the dollar so our exports are cheaper to the buyers? But he says the data say the Fed is not dropping the dollar. Larry, I am listening. Real Clear Politics:

From this, I take away the thought that the Treasury may not really be trying to manipulate the dollar lower. Using a thirty nation index for the dollar, there really is not much decline at all following a massive run-up during 1991-2002. Given the U.S. investment boom, as illustrated by yesterday's strong industrial production numbers, I would be a dollar buyer, not a seller.

Now inflation... Our renewed lower taxes... Here's a thought for you inflationists out there: The business and investment boom sparked by lower tax rates three years ago will, over time, burn off any excess monetary calories. Lower tax rates are always associated with lower inflation. Lower tax rates raise the demand for money. What will Bernanke do at the Fed?

Ben Bernanke needs to do two things right now to calm inflation worries. It's real simple: First, get back on message by repeating his earlier mantra of the need for a numerical inflation target. This would reestablish the price rule. Second, the Fed should keep raising their target rate in quarter point intervals, until the breakeven inflation TIPS spread drops down about 25 or 30 more basis points. Fed policies have slowed the monetary base. Keep up this campaign.

I hope Bernanke will.

Mexico's Dead Capital

Mexico is rich in natural resources and has bright, enterprising people. Why is its second largest source of income remittences from Mexicans living in the United States? Paul Driessen at Tech Central Station - TCSDaily.com writes:

Spanish colonists arrived first in the Americas, installing their seigneurial (feudal) system in lands claimed for king and church. The state gained title to all mineral rights, upper classes acquired vast land holdings, and often corrupt bureaucrats regulated markets and businesses. The vast majority of families worked the land or did menial labor, with few opportunities to own property, become educated or improve their social status. By the time the English began establishing colonies, their system of laws, democratic government, property rights, free enterprise and individual rights had evolved far beyond feudal concepts. Even poor entrepreneurs could and did acquire property, patent inventions, mine gold and silver, and build businesses, factories and industries. When wars and treaties added Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and California to the expanding nation, those new states exchanged Spanish feudalism for the dynamic American system. But even today in Mexico, key industries remain nationalized, and wealth is concentrated in the hands of elites. Prevalent ideologies view wealth as "a zero-sum game," in which what one person acquires can come only by taking money or property from someone else. These doctrines help foment class conflict, demand "more equitable" distribution of wealth, and condemn globalization and foreign investment, rather than seeing them as agents of improved opportunity, health and environmental quality.

The "reconquistas" claim that California, Arizona, NM and Texas were stolen from Mexico, which made Mexico impoverished. The opposite is true. If California had remained in Spanish hands San Diego and Silicon Valley would be dusty outposts, due to Mexico's feudal economic system.

Low-tax states are growing

States that have made supply-side tax cuts are growing the fastest. The Wall Street Journal reports:

Now new data is out and it shows that the states that embraced supply-side tax cuts are not only financially more sound and enjoy stronger economies, but they are draining residents away from the states that opted for high taxes. The Pacific Research Institute has crunched the tax numbers in all 50 states and published the "U.S. Economic Freedom Index" ranking all states according to how friendly or unfriendly their policies were toward free enterprise and consumer choice in 2004--the most recent year that comparative data is available for each state. It's clear that the economic policies of 2004 determined where each state fell in the rankings, and shaped 2005 economic performance.

Businesses look for a business-friendly place to locate.

They evaluate local universities, transportation networks, labor skills, market size and even the weather. They also assess the policy climate. Economic freedom--a favorable state tax, regulatory, and legal climate--attracts entrepreneurs and capital, thereby increasing jobs and wages. In 2005, per capita personal income grew 31% faster in the 15 most economically free states than it did in the 15 states at the bottom of the list. And employment growth was a staggering 216% higher in the most free states. It hasn't been a "jobless recovery" in states that have adopted pro-growth tax and regulatory policies. ... In 2005, the 15 states with the most economic freedom saw their general fund tax revenues grow at a rate more than 6% higher than the 15 least free states, despite their lower effective tax rate. Instead of blowing a hole in state budgets, lower tax rates rewarded productivity and risk-taking and allowed the economy to grow. As the economy expanded it also generated more revenue for the state Treasury as capital and people flowed in. Census data shows an astounding 245% difference in net state-to-state migration rates in 2005 between the freest states (net inflow) and least-free states (net outflow). "Live Free or Move" is fast becoming the national motto.

Read the "U.S. Economic Freedom Index" yourself.

Danger of Inflation

Have you noticed that gold is selling for $700? Something has happened. And the US dollar is down against most currencies. Our daughter went to college in Canada starting four years ago when the Canadian dollar was worth about 70 cents US. We were in Langley, BC two weeks ago for graduation and the C$ was worth 90.5 cents. That's a increase of 30%. Steve Forbes says inflation is not things getting more expensive, but the currency losing value. That sure seems to be what we are seeing. Forbes writes in Forbes Magazine:

"There is no subtler, no surer means of overturning the existing basis of society than to debauch the currency. The process engages all the hidden forces of economic law on the side of destruction, and does it in a manner which not one man in a million is able to diagnose."--John Maynard Keynes, The Economic Consequences of the Peace (1919) Inflation is back again, an incredible development considering the hard experiences we and the rest of the world had with this debilitating disease from the late 1960s through the early 1980s. Inflationary symptoms are already rampant in the commodities market. Gold, oil, copper and other items are approaching or exceeding rates of price increase not seen for a quarter of a century. In the months ahead inflation will spread through the rest of the economy here and overseas. Keynes was right. ... For 4,000 years gold has been the best barometer of inflation, the Polaris of stable money. In the late 1960s it jumped after decades of stability, and inflation soon followed. The same phenomenon repeated itself in the early 1970s, when gold soared, and again when it roared ahead in the late 1970s. Each rise was followed by a disastrous round of generally rising prices and ever higher interest rates--and each ended in a recession. Today the price of what Keynes called the barbarous relic is the highest it's been since 1980, up 150% from its 2001 lows. During bubbles and preinflationary run-ups in gold prices, policymakers always assure us that things are "different" this time. Federal Reserve officials today tell us that there is far less of a link between commodities and inflation. Gold is going up because the emerging middle classes in India and China love to buy jewelry. Oil is high because of uncertainty over Iran, disrupted supplies from Nigeria and Venezuela, crazy U.S. regulations prohibiting exploration and production in most of the Outer Continental Shelf and parts of Alaska, and expanding energy appetites in fast-growing India and China. All of this is true. But make no mistake: At least $20 of the price of a barrel of oil today is pure inflation and inflation-induced speculation.

But something can be done. US policy by the Federal Reserve Bank can stop this.

The Federal Reserve is debasing the dollar, and, in lockstep, the European Central Bank (other-otc: CHPA.PK - news - people ) and the Bank of Japan are doing the same to the euro and the yen, respectively. The Fed could break this fever easily by soaking up excess liquidity until the gold price falls below $400 an ounce. (The ten-year average is around $350.) Sadly, the Fed's new boss, Ben Bernanke, fully disdains gold as a useful monetary tool, sharing John Maynard Keynes' prejudice against the yellow metal. Like most of his economist peers Bernanke thinks that the traditional gold standard, which governed monetary policy in Great Britain and eventually elsewhere from the early 1700s to the 1930s, caused or at least deepened the Great Depression

Those of us who suffered through Jimmy Carter's run-away inflation know how it destroys confidence in our economy to see the value of our work shrinking. And it leads to strange decision making, such as making a purchase before you need to because if you wait the price will go up. People even bought early when they weren't sure what they needed, because the price was going up. One of Ronald Reagan's great legacies was chasing inflation away with President Jimmy. Let's not bring it back. Read Forbes' whole commentary.

Russia's population crisis - too few children

Vladimir Putin has a population crisis on his hands. The population of Russia is declining by about 700,000 per year. This endangers their economic growth and even their security. The Scotsman reports

Mr Putin said: "We are talking about the preservation of our people. We must resurrect our time-honoured traditions of treating the family, home and hearth with special care." Some families found having even one child a financial struggle, he said, and changes were needed before they would risk a second or third.

Putin is doing something to encourage more children. What to us seems insignificant, but to the Russians is huge:

Mr Putin proposed more than doubling monthly payouts to families for their first baby to 1,500 roubles (£30) - over half the average wage. If they have a second then that child, under Mr Putin's proposals, will merit £60 a month. The state will pay women who give up work to have a child 40 per cent of what they earned before.

France also has financial incentives for children. Not for the first, but for larger families. Also Australia, Italy, Poland, Japan and Singapore. New York Times. Tip to my friend Jim Miller on Politics. www.seanet.com/~jimxc/Politics/May2006_2.html

Price cap fails in Hawaii

The law makers in Hawaii defied the laws of economics and lost. They decided to stop the oil companies from making too much profit on gasoline by capping the wholesale price last year. Why did they think they could rewrite the law of Supply and Demand? They caused a disruption in the supply that resulted in gasoline costing more, not less!! The Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism monitored the price of gasoline every week since the cap started in September, 2005. It made a report to the legislature (pdf) that found:

The analysis reveals that the gasoline price cap cost consumers as much as $54.9 million between September 1, through January 2006. (sic)

With their failure to control the price obvious, the Legislature passed a bill that ends the price caps immediately. The Seattle Times carries the Associated Press story.

Energy from Wind - Bush is pushing it

The earth is bombarded by energy from the Sun continuously. We just have to convert a tiny portion of it to forms we can use. I favor efforts to do this by multiple means. Wind-driven turbines is one of those ways. The environmentalists always tell us that we can reduce our use of coal and Middle-East oil by solar, wind and other renewable energy sources. So why do the environmentalists fight every practical proposal? Now it's Massachusetts against green energy and George Bush in favor. Reuters reports:

The Bush administration has weighed in against a plan advancing in the U.S. Congress that would empower the Massachusetts governor to block the nation's first offshore wind farm from being built in Nantucket Sound. David Garman, UnderSecretary of Energy, said provisions in the $8.7 billion Coast Guard reauthorization bill that would empower Governor Mitt Romney to block the $900 million project are "unwise" because the New England region needs new energy supplies. A House-Senate bargaining committee last month included a provision in the funding bill that would allow Romney to block a plan by Cape Wind Associates LLC to put 130 giant wind turbines near the tony resort islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. Romney, a Republican, is an outspoken opponent of the project, as is U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy, a Democrat, and many wealthy residents who own coastal property and belong to exclusive yacht clubs in the area. Backers say the project could generate enough electricity for most of Cape Cod and nearby islands. Garman said blocking the wind farm would have a "chilling impact" on the administration's goal of expanding renewable energy sources like wind and solar.

The greenies in New England should cut off electric power to their homes. They oppose every form of energy, even the green forms that they tell everyone else to use. OK. No power. They chose it.

The National Day of Prayer Today

Join in wherever you are to pray for blessing for our nation and the world. Billy Graham in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer The National Day of Prayer web site isn't working this morning. The Presidential Prayer Team - Pray for our current president.

Biodiesel Cheaper than Oil-based

I didn't expect it so soon. Biodiesel has become cheaper than regular diesel in Oregon. Statesman Journal (AP):

While soaring fuel costs are the bane of most businesses, Oregon makers of biodiesel are celebrating. Their product now is cheaper than the stuff that comes out of the ground. "We're selling our biodiesel for less than petroleum diesel out of the rack," said Tyson Keever of SeQuential Biofuels, the state's largest biodiesel producer. "Our phone is ringing off the hook as the (oil) price goes up," he told Portland's Daily Journal of Commerce newspaper. Biodiesel sold for 20 to 30 cents a gallon more than regular diesel as recently as March. It is made from vegetable oil, including used oil from fast-food restaurants. The blend B99, of 99 percent biodiesel with 1 percent diesel fuel, was $2.77 a gallon, two cents cheaper than regular low-sulfur diesel, Monday at Carson Oil in Portland. Demand for the renewable fuel in the state has risen with oil prices, which many expect to keep climbing.

Reconquista

Reconquista. That's what they - not all of them - are saying they want. They want to suppress successful California as part of failed Mexico. These photos are from Montebello High School in Whittier, California on March 29. They made a loud statement by flying the flag of Mexico above that of the US. And the US flag is upside down! Michelle Malkin reported on this on March 29, 2006.

Largest US Oil Field Found

Geologist Larry Cathles of Cornell University says that huge amounts of hydrocarbons are rising in the rock beneath the Gulf of Mexico. GeoTimes carried his report in 2003:

Cathles and his team estimate that in a study area of about 9,600 square miles off the coast of Louisiana, source rocks a dozen kilometers down have generated as much as 184 billion tons of oil and gas — about 1,000 billion barrels of oil and gas equivalent. "That's 30 percent more than we humans have consumed over the entire petroleum era," Cathles says. "And that's just this one little postage stamp area; if this is going on worldwide, then there's a lot of hydrocarbons venting out."

The science:

Below the Gulf of Mexico, hydrocarbons flow upward through an intricate network of conduits and reservoirs. They start in thin layers of source rock and, from there, buoyantly rise to the surface. On their way up, the hydrocarbons collect in little rivulets, and create temporary pockets like rain filling a pond. Eventually most escape to the ocean. And, this is all happening now, not millions and millions of years ago, says Larry Cathles, a chemical geologist at Cornell University. "We're dealing with this giant flow-through system where the hydrocarbons are generating now, moving through the overlying strata now, building the reservoirs now and spilling out into the ocean now," Cathles says.

And New Tech Spy also reports:

Scientists from the University of Cornell (sic) have discovered a massive amount of Oil off the coast of Louisiana.The find is some 60 billion barrels or 3 Times more than current US recoverable Oil of 20 Billion barrels, and would bring US total reserves to 80 billion barrels which is on par with Venezuela. In comparison to other finds around the world, this is twice the size of all Oil ever found in the North Sea and 6 times larger than the estimates of the Alaskan ANWR oil deposits.

My understanding is that the earth is bombarded with energy every day from the Sun. It's just a matter of figuring out how to convert it to a form we can use. When oil was first found seeping out of the earth in Pennsylvania it was only a pollutant. It didn't become a resource until creative people discovered how to refine it for burning for lighting and other uses. Here we have found energy in a little different form in a place where we can use it. I admit that I am unfamiliar with these sources.