14 March 2011

Earthquake & Tsunami: What You Can Do

While the story continues to unfold in Japan there is something to remember: the humanitarian efforts are underway. At last count, resources from all over the planet are on their way to help on all aspects of recovery in the wake of last Friday's Tsunami and Earthquake. Working together, the world can help Japan get out from under the rubble and rebuild. That means all of us have to lend a hand or two to make it happen. How does one do this and WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Right now you can:
• Donate Money to the RED CROSS at http://redcross.org and click on the DONATE FUNDS button.

• Donate your unique service or skill to the RED CROSS at http://redcross.org and click on the VOLUNTEER YOUR TIME link.

• Give Blood. Donate your blood and help save lives at http://redcross.org and click on the GIVE BLOOD link.

• Get TRAINED. Get training and become certified in CPR and/or FIRST AID http://redcross.org and click on the TAKE A CLASS link.

Do this, the sooner the better. Please don't wait until it is too late.


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08 March 2011

Going Up and Up, Where and When it falls no one knows!

Ocean Star Drilling Rig
I am more than certain that no one that I know has been living under a rock or with their head in the sand for the past several weeks. You have seen that the price of gasoline (and oil) has been skyrocketing higher, faster, and further than anything we have seen in the recent past. When will enough be enough? When will we put our foot down and say, "That's it!" It might not be so easy to bring this to a grinding halt.

Of course, a real life human drama is unfolding and the uncertainty of that human drama is what cannot be contained. Thus, inevitably, there are people and/or groups of people or organizations that are taking advantage of the uncertainty and that is what needs to be reigned in. Unfortunately, the chief culprits are the media and their reporting on what is going on. This past weekend I saw a news report that was far from fair as the reporter made certain that an oil port was highly referenced in the news story. Then the focus of the follow-on discussions with alleged “experts” becomes that of what to do about rising oil prices and what must be done now to drive down the prices.

This type of “news” reporting then causes the listeners/viewers to start worrying which creates fear and in the immortal words of Star War’s Jedi Master Yoda “Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.”

In all actuality, if right now the fighting was to stop and all would be good in the world the price of oil would climb before falling back to the prices we had before the Middle East’s Jasmine Revolution started. Why would it continue to climb?

The reason it would continue to climb is that it takes time to get the oil out of the ground and pouring into our gas tanks. Until the supply lines are fully restored the price is expected to climb. So while we all wish we could scream, at the top of our lungs, “I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!” in this case it will be counter-productive. No matter how loud we yell we’ll still be in the same place where we started off.

If this won’t help, then what?

At this time, there is no surefire remedy to the economic impact of a full tank of gas. However, there are some things you can do now to lighten that load. Begin small and a little will certainly go a long way:

• Buy a Fuel Efficient Car (most of us can’t do this at the drop of a hat, if you can then more power to you)

• Start a carpool and share in the misery. Seriously, it helps to minimize the hit to the pocket book when five people share the cost of a tank of gas.

• Minimize the trips to the grocery store or the local mega-lo-mart.

• If there is something you really need and a store is within a two mile walking distance, walk or ride a bike.

• Keep your tires inflated to the recommended

• Keep your vehicle tuned up

• Clean your car (a clean car means a lighter car and that means less stress to move the car)

• Start a garden (and eat what you grow)

One last thing to remember: When the crisis is over (they always end) please continue doing what you do now to save fuel because the next crisis is one bad dictator away (and there is always another crisis on the horizon).


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image courtesy: eschipul at http://www.flickr.com/photos/eschipul/4577660624/ used by Creative Commons licensing (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/)