Monday, April 28, 2003

The "Fairy Godmother Era" is over! Matthew Simmons writes: Energy prices need to be high enough to maintain our current supply chain and build new energy factories. Prices need to be high enough so the burgeoning populations within virtually every OPEC country begin to create a middle -class from the core populations in all those now poor countries. If this middle-class develops and they begin buying what U.S. consumers take for granted, this could be a boon to our economy similar to when the Marshall Plan set out guidelines to rebuild Europe – and this created the biggest boom to our economy that lasted 50 years. Low energy prices seem like a beautiful gift to our economy. But the apparent gift is a cruel hoax if low prices cannot create sustainable energy. Energy prices that are too low are as dangerous to the economy as drugs are to the body – another consumption item which apparently makes people feel good while they are being used. It is time for Americans to grow up about the importance of clean and reliable energy and the cost that someone needs to pay to keep this economic miracle alive. The "Fairy Godmother Era" of energy is over. The sooner we wake up to this fact, the better we will all be. (04/28/03) Life, Chemistry and Tunity Dirk Laureyssens writes: Life is the combination of two basic types of energies. These two basic energies are combined and intertwinned on several levels, and are constantly interacting. ... Now what is life?  Conditions for Life is when in our Td universe sub-tubes and/or micro-tubes (also from dimensions) meet each other in a very specific way. Two micro-tubes come from opposite directions to each other and have a close-encounter on a 'cross-point' (f.e.. distance 10-29 cm). This may produce or (1) a frontal collision leading to two pumping micro-tube spirals joined (fixed) temporally to each other in a double helix, or (2) a close-encounter creating a self-powering substance of elements from that tube-zone (e.g. two submarines creating a water vortex). The conditions of the tube-zone will determinate if, how and when life-basics and building-blocs are available. Our human body is thus built from billions of very small sub-tubes coming from several dimensions joined in a temporary synergy ... and all those billions tiny sub-tubes have the basic layers and are today in direct contact with the basic Universal source. (04/27/03) Winning Peace FLASH ANIMATION -- BigPictureSmallWorld™’s mission is to turn information overload into sensible knowledge that leads to effective action. ... The world is at war— and it is not between any “axis of evil” and the good guys. Everyone is in this war, whether they like it or not. (04/28/03) What is the Integral Institute? The Integral Institute is dedicated to the proposition that partial and piecemeal approaches to complex problems are ineffective.  Whether addressing individual and personal issues of meaning and transformation, or increasingly complex social problems such as war, hunger, disease, over-population, housing, ecology, and education, partial and fragmented approaches need to be replaced by solutions that are more comprehensive, systematic, encompassing—and integral. Accordingly, there are four main goals for the Institute: (1)  Integrate the largest amount of research from the largest number of disciplines—including the natural sciences (physics, chemistry, biology, neurology, ecology), art, ethics, religion, psychology, politics, business, sociology, and spirituality. (2)  Develop practical products and services from this research—which can be used by individuals in their own development, or by groups, businesses, national and international organizations. (3)  Apply this integrated knowledge and method of problem solving to critical and urgent issues—especially the serious political, health, educational, business, and environmental problems facing humanity. This integral approach to problem solving is employed by the Institute’s own members; by forming alliances with other organizations; and by training organizational leaders, managers, and change agents in the Integral Approach. (4)  Create the world’s first Integral Learning Community—at first online (through the Multiplex), and increasingly in national and international communities of Integral Practice. (04/28/03) A Door Closes, A Window Opens New York Times: National -- Worn down by job searches that have stretched on for months, demoralized by disappointing offers or outright rejections, some unemployed people have simply stopped the search. As the nation enters a third year of difficult economic times, these unemployed — from factory workers to investment bankers — have dropped out of the labor force and entered the invisible ranks of people not counted in the unemployment rate. Some are going back to school or getting new job training. Others have chosen to stay home with young children or aging parents and to rely on their spouse's salary, at least for now. Still others are plainly waiting: living on their government benefits and hoping that the economy will get better in a while. After working 25 years in the heat of the factory line at a steel plant here, Bill Jacobs accepted his layoff calmly last year. He thought he could find some other job working with his hands, or go back to the line once business picked up. But eight months passed, and nothing came. Not long ago, he signed up for nursing school. ... Mr. Jacobs, who is 50 and raising four children on his own, said he had "absolutely never" planned to change careers. But he heard about the possibility of a government grant to pay for his schooling and decided he would prefer to spend the next two years tucked safely inside a classroom rather than continue to fight for a job in an economy he describes as "heading nowhere." (04/28/03) Natural Gas Supply Low Houston Chronicle -- The amount of gas stored in the United States is at a record-low 623 billion cubic feet, following a colder-than-normal winter, and production is behind demand. "Sometime between now and the winter you're going to see a big pop in gas prices," said Steven Farris, CEO of Apache, a Houston-based explorer and producer of oil and gas. "We don't have enough natural gas to meet demand." Production fell by about 2.6 percent in 2002 and is projected to recoup only part of that decline this year as demand gains almost 3 percent, according to the Energy Department. Storage facilities need to be filled at a record pace to reach normal levels by winter, when demand peaks, the agency said. Natural gas heats about half of U.S. homes and generates 17 percent of the nation's power. Electricity prices rallied as gas prices climbed earlier this year. Some makers of fertilizer and chemicals, for which natural gas can be the biggest raw material cost, cut production earlier this year because they couldn't recover the higher expense. (04/28/03) 5:54:26 AM

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