The Big Nap...Is Over

GM has announced that they are taking this global warming thing seriously...no really, they're not kidding this time...honest...they TRULY mean it. In fact, they're going so far as to pursue (with a renewed sense of brio) alternative fuel technologies.

That's what they want us to believe.

In fact they are chasing alternative fuels AS A DODGE to keep from making more fuel-efficient vehicles and meeting those stringent 2020 "guidelines" (sound's like some PIRATE CODE to me...LOL!) of 35 MPG...a forty percent increase from today's standards. Sounds like yet another "two-step" to me. They must figure that if they can make an electric vehicle or "hybrid" that gets about the SAME mileage today's cars get...all will be forgiven...and forgotten.

Wellllllll....we could give them the "lucky dog" pass...but we really shouldn't. We SHOULD hold their feet to the coals and DEMAND fuel-efficiency AND alternative sources of fuel. We have the technologies to DO BOTH, and unless we PURSUE BOTH, we'll be up to our eye-teeth in foreign imports that CAN perform in this manner. Then what will happen to all "our" car makers (and their employees)? I'm thinking either OUR auto manufacturers get their act together, or we won't HAVE any automakers that are entirely owned and operated in the USA. We've seen the situation when Ford bought into all those BRITISH companies (selling those companies off now to stay afloat), as well as the Daimler-Chrysler buyout (that is being "unbought" as we speak). Dodge/Chrysler has HAD a tie with Mitsubishi for decades (anyone recall the Dodge STEALTH/ Mitsubishi 2000...same car, different logo). And we know FORD and MAZDA have teamed up for over 10 years (the Ford Probe/Mazda 626 coupe...yep, same car). Hell, even GM and NISSAN have had their hands in each others pockets (don't EVEN want to know how happy that's making those people) for some time as well.

We're already seeing some "biological" fallout from using CORN as an alternative fuel...lack of rain is making corn crops less than "bumper" in nature (for this year), and we STILL have to feed the livestock (oh...and the PEOPLE as well). Rising costs of corn as a result will be impacting on this and many other aspects of our lives. Maybe if we didn't EXPORT all those MILLIONS OF BUSHELS OF CORN (each year) in the FIRST place, we'd have a tick more to go around...'ya think? We're relying a little too much on CORN while other crops can yield like results.

So why doesn't GM get together with this professor at Purdue I spoke about Friday and get on the stick with this WATER-ENGINE patent build it up into prototype form ASAP? Seems U.S. automakers could be sitting on the next best thing since sliced white bread ( but there's that "big oil" camaraderie that would suffer in the process...oh, drat).

Submitted for your approval..an interesting "scenario" for say...the year 2020.

China, second ONLY to the USA in oil CONSUMPTION (and at their present rate of growth will surpass us in a decade or so) requires an ever-growing amount of crude to fuel THEIR vehicles, factories, etc. Now take this nation of IRAN...that just so happens to have some oil to "sell". In comes China, and says "We have some (excess) nuclear material we could let you have for some oil". Now begins a match made in hell (perhaps as far as the 7th layer). Suddenly, we have a MAJOR "situation" on our hands, and America is looking a lot more "vulnerable" than in years past, especially since many nations have a mixed opinion of us already.


IRAN and CHINA...stranger bedfellows one could never imagine. China is not really all that "friendly" with RUSSIA as it is, so China has within it's grasp to become THE superpower with IRAN nicely in it's hip pocket. Iran can soon become THE nation that has OPEC under IT'S thumb (with China standing right behind them). Yeah, it's those damn communists again. And don't think CHINA is not even beyond kissing some ass in VENEZUELA either (Chavez might be joining that club). China does have the sheer capital alone to woo both of these nations' leaders for whatever they (China) want. The only flaw in China's armor would be their increasing "westernization". Their infrastructure can't handle what they already have in population (and they don't give a rat's ass about global warming...sound familiar?), so they "might" need room to expand (shades of Hitler - 1939).

Makes you think about those "estranged cousins" in our global nuclear family of nations in a whole new light.


And all that IRAN (or even China) would have to do is "accidently" detonate some (specified sized) device above America at roughly 400 (or so) miles, and PRESTO....all of our electronics are "crispy critters" thanks to that nice EMP produced by the device. They don't even have to come close to hitting us directly. All the tech we depend on goes AWOL....just like that!

No comms, no vehicles, no TV or radio, no ATMs, no computer systems, and no way to see what in the hell is going on elsewhere on the planet. Our economy soon becomes a shambles, riots and looting become commonplace, loss of innocent life rises to biblical proportions, and America becomes screwed, blued, and tattooed in the blink of an eye...without any DIRECT nuclear confrontation. The stage could be set for a type of "Red Dawn". Such can be said for any other nation as well....instant step back in time. Dig out the oil lamps and keep the shotgun handy.
This is some serious stuff, right?

But this is "ONLY" a fictitious worst-case "scenario"...and can't really happen. (Don't kid yourselves)
Certain parameters are already in place to produce just such a "fictitious" situation. We are only one or two "confrontations" from this happening. Let's face it, the hall's been rented, the band is engaged. All we have to do is pick the "song" we want to dance to.

This isn't fatalism...it's fact. Get used to it.

So when GM comes along with a "solution" to our energy woes....I'm not exactly ready to "sell the farm and move to town"...just yet. The car companies need to do a helluva lot better than tossing some "techno-crumbs" our way to fight over and go "yummy, yummy". IF (big if) ANY automaker can make that GIANT LEAP in technology (like this water-based fuel source from Purdue) to end our dependence on foreign oil, THEN I'll be willing to listen with both ears.

Until that happens, I'm keeping one ear to the ground...just in case.