THYME Magazine Special Issue

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume V, Issue V

The Coming Triumph of Ingenuity

If I were a young man in my twenties, I would most surely be headed for North Dakota right now. An energy boom is happening right in the heartland of America that will change the course of our history. Energy Tomorrow says: "Hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” is a proven and well-regulated technology. First used in the 1940s, hydraulic fracturing has unlocked massive new supplies of oil and clean-burning natural gas from dense deposits of shale — supplies that increase our country’s energy security and improve our ability to generate electricity, heat homes and power vehicles for generations to come. Fracking has been used in more than one million U.S. wells, and has safely produced more than seven billion barrels of oil and 600 trillion cubic feet of natural gas." Indeed, this well developed technology [1.] is just now coming into its own in the push to provide safe and reliable domestic enargy production.

This is good news for us, our children and our childrens' children. An energy independent United States will continue to be a great force for good and stability in the world to come. Most of this new energy production, so far, is occurring on private land. The current administration, who's Energy Secretary Steven Chu once said: “Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe.”[2.] is being beaten by American Ingenuity. This is good news for all who want to see American manufacturing and a strong middle class working in the private sector.

Those who would argue that industry, production and cheap reliable transportation are bad for the environment need to look back a bit in history. Here in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains, ready access is what led to preservation. In the late Nineteenth Century, copper mines in the mountains that are now Shenandoah National Park had gone bust. There were a number of copper claims owned by outside interests such as the one near Stoney Man Mountain near what would become Skyland. George Freedman Pollock took that property, partially owned by his father, and created a primitive resort. Eventually Pollock would become one of the major proponents of Shenandoah National Park. [3.]

In contrast, one only needs to travel to Haiti, the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, to see what happens when the basic resources people need are not provided. Satellite images of Haiti show her stripped of trees and eroding, a stark contrast to the neighboring Dominican Republic. Men like Chu need to be careful what they wish for. Environmental Nirvana does NOT follow in the wake of their misguided policies.

Even as the Federal Government steps up regulatory and tax hurdles to business, states and localities are working to make themselves more business friendly. Some businesses are looking for new sites and are cautiously planning to grow in the years ahead. Smart local governments are making it more attractive.

As the President relies heavily on leftist secularist advisers, he may find himself increasingly facing problems that defy statist solutions. Already the problem of unbridled evil has reared its ugly head to spill the blood of innocents. The left can only answer by more regulation. Innovation alone cannot solve the problem. Something more is needed when it comes to matters of the human heart.

Technology can be used for good. It can save lives in the right hands. It can also be used to rid the world of six million Jews, many Jehovah's Witnesses, as well as countless Gypsies, gay people and others deemed 'unworthy' by the National Socialists. [4.] The unwanted unborn child and the inconvenient elderly may be similarly disposed of in clean modern facilities.

Light for 'Morning in America'

History has unfortunately seen periods of great darkness, aided and abetted by technology, innovation, and well-intentioned attempts to improve the human condition. What shall light our way, so that we do not fall victim to a similar fate? Paul, the Apostle, writes in Ephesians 5:8-14:

“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. This is why it is said:

“Wake up, sleeper,
    rise from the dead,
    and Christ will shine on you.”

Most important for our age is that people of Faith take up the charge to speak into the prevailing culture, to restore the great tradition of public service. Perhaps we can find inspiration in the life of William Howland. His amazing story follows, as told by the Reverend Ed Hurd.

The Mayor Who Made a Difference

This is part of the 'Milestone Monday' series.

An Article for the June 1996 Deep Cove Crier
by Reverend Ed Hird, Rector,
St. Simon’s Anglican Church, Used with his permission.

So often, Toronto functions as the city that other Canadians feel the most ambivalent about. The proverbial expression "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" readily comes to my mind as I think of Toronto. And yet ironically, the nickname "Toronto The Good" points to a side of Toronto that has largely been forgotten in the Canadian amnesia about our own heritage and roots. I was talking recently to Phyllis Beck, the Deep Cove Crier Seniors Columnist, about Toronto roots, only to discover that her daughter-in-law, Barbara Hall, is the current Mayor of Toronto. I commented to Phyllis about the recent discovery that my Great-great-grandfather, Thomas Allen, was a senior Alderman in Toronto during a period of 19 years. When I was in Toronto a few months back, getting a first-hand glimpse of the "Toronto Blessing", I kept driving back and forth past Allen Road. My ignorance about this road named after my Torontonian ancestor reminded me afresh of our Canadian forgetfulness about some of our own heros.


William H. Howland

One such hero was Mayor William Howland of Toronto, a public servant who was so dedicated to helping the disadvantaged that he gave away most of his wealth. Son of the Honorable W.P. Howland, the first Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario, William was possessed with a bubbly enthusiasm and phenomenal capacity for hard work. By the age he was 25, William was president, vice-president, or a director of more than a dozen companies in the fields of insurance and finance, electrical services, and paint manufacturing. When he became president of the Queen City Fire Insurance Company in 1871, he was the youngest insurance company president in Canada. As well, Howland was President of three influential organizations: the Toronto Board of Trade, the Dominion Board of Trade, and the Manufacturer’s Association of Ontario. Out of his love for his country, he served as Chairman of the Canada First movement, personally financing its weekly newspaper "The Nation".

At age 32, Howland was led to Christ by his priest, Dr. W.S. Rainsford of St. James Anglican Cathedral. His life-changing experience gave him a new passion for helping the poor. He became involved helping with the Hillcrest Convalescent Hospital, the YMCA, the Haven Home for Unwed Mothers, the Prisoner’s Aid Association, the Central Prison Mission School, and the Toronto General Hospital. Night after night, Howland visited the slums, going from house-to-house, and reaching out to the poor, the sick, and the alcoholic. He also purchased 50 acres to start an Industrial School in order to steer youth away from the life of crime. Other initiatives were his building an alternative school for drop-outs, and a Home for the Aged and Homeless Poor. When he began to teach an interdenominational bible study for 100 young men, his new priest J.P. Lewis objected to Howland’s involvement with non-Anglicans. Out of this rejection, he began the interdenominational Toronto Mission Union, which operated seniors’ homes, convalescent homes, and Toronto’s first-ever home nursing service.

Because of his great compassion for the poor, he was elected as Mayor of Toronto in 1885, with a strong mandate to clean up the city. Howland signaled his arrival in the mayor’s office by installing a twelve-foot banner on the wall, reading, "Except the Lord Build the City, the Watchman Wakes but in Vain". Despite fierce opposition, Howland was so successful, that Toronto became nicknamed "Toronto the Good". As champion of the poor, Howland and his Alliance friend, Rev. John Salmon, would tramp the lanes and alleys, feeding the poor, praying over the sick, and comforting the sad. With a population of just 104,000, Toronto had over 800 licensed and unlicensed saloons. Over half of all criminal offenses recorded in 1885 were related to drunkenness.

Howland is described in Desmond Morton’s book "Mayor Howland: the Citizen’s Candidate" as the first reform mayor in Toronto’s history. Due to bureaucratic corruption, municipal garbage collection was all but non-existent. Even City Hall’s own garbage was rarely picked up. Rotting garbage fouled the alleyways, yards, and streets, giving Toronto a reputation for flies, stench, and disease. With no general sewage system, Toronto lived on the verge of a typhoid epidemic. Children swam in the same Toronto harbour area into which raw sewage was flowing from the ditches. Toronto’s fresh water supply was sucked through leaking and rotting wooden pipes, half buried in the sewage and sludge of the Toronto harbour.

Howland believed that we didn’t usually need more laws; we just needed to enforce the ones that already existed. He shocked the city bureaucrats by enforcing the already existing bylaw which forbid the depositing of garbage within the city limits. After he threatened to send the city commissioner to jail for breaking this bylaw, garbage miraculously began to be collected! Howland also worked hard in the construction of a trunk sewer system, to redirect the sewage away from the Toronto Harbour. He had such a dramatic impact in reducing the crime rate that other mayors began visiting Toronto, hoping to imitate Howland’s miracle.

During his re-election campaign in 1887, all the taxi cabs were paid off by Howland’s opponent so that they would refuse to take Howland’s supporters to the polling stations. Women however (2,000 widows and single women with property) had just been given the vote. So they held up their long Victorian dresses, and trucked through the snow to give Howland the moral reformer a second term. When Howland was re-elected by a landslide, over 3,000 of his supporters at the YMCA hall spontaneously burst into singing "Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow.".

After he unexpectedly stepped down as Mayor after two terms, Howland became the founding President of the Christian Alliance (which later took the name C&MA: Christian and Missionary Alliance). The unique interdenominational nature of the early C&MA allowed Howland to be its president, while still remaining an Anglican. When he died unexpectedly at age 49, his funeral involved Anglican, Alliance, and Presbyterian clergy. With more than a thousand mourners on foot from all social classes, it was the largest funeral procession that had ever been held in Toronto. A poem published in the Toronto Globe said of Howland: "And not Toronto mourns alone; All Canada his fame had heard; His name is dear, a household word, And far and wide, his worth was known". May William H. Howland continue to be a living symbol of the difference that just one Canadian can make.

Reverend Ed Hird, Rector,
St. Simon’s Anglican Church


Toronto in the late Nineteenth Century.

Where Might Ingenuity Take Us?


The Diomede Islands, joined by a future Bering Strait Crossing. The project would be slightly larger than two Chesapeake Bay Bridge/tunnels. [ 5.]

Here is an example of where unleashed ingenuity might take us. A 50 mile crossing of the Bering Strait between the Russian mainland and Alaska, the Project [click to read] would actually consist of three spans. Two 25 mile spans would link the mainland termini with the Diomede islands which would be joined by a shorter span.

Running Against the Last Four Years

Some Thoughts on the Second Presidential Debate


Hill's Auto Parts. Photo by H. Peterson.

Resembling a boxing match, more than a town hall meeting at times, the second Presidential debate was a lively exchange. THYME has these thoughts:

First of all, both men appeared to be running against the actual record of the last four years. Mitt Romney again emphasized his plan for energy independence and tax simplification. The President chimed in with a "Me too" statement, but left himself open to criticism as his administration has actually stifled domestic energy production. Energy Secretary Steven Cho's statement that: “Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe,” though later retracted, is telling, nonetheless. Romney clearly wants to go after proven traditional resources while advancing market-ready renewables. The President's actual record does not support claims to be advancing energy independence. His 90 billion dollar 'investment' in green energy has not produced results.

Exploration for new resources off the coast of Virginia are on hold, blocked by the Administration, as is the full construction of the Keystone Pipeline. Romney correctly asserted that actual energy production gains have occurred on private land, such as in the case of the Bakken formation. Indeed, the Administration has reduced permits while encouraging South and Central American nations to go for resources in the Gulf of Mexico.

Obamacare continues to make employers wary of new hiring, and rather than reduce costs as promised, it adds a new layer of penalties and mandates to an already stressed system. Indeed, the middle-class has suffered most from employer uncertainty, with average net income for those who are still working down. Unemployment stubbornly hovers above eight per-cent, even when you remove from the count those people no longer actively looking for work. Add these individuals and the underemployed and you are looking at a much worse scenario.

The President talked about legislating pay equity for women, but Romney pointed out that more women are simply unemployed. Romney's 'solutionist' discussion of workplace flexibility actually adressed the structural reality of women simply not staying in the workplace long enough to break the 'glass ceiling.'

Romney could have stressed more emphatically that tax reform and simplification, with lower rates, would actually increase revenues (both JFK and Reagan actually did this). Focusing on taxing the rich more will only send them (and their creative investments) offshore.

The answer to the country's economic problems would be to restore healthy growth along with fiscal responsibility. Romney could point to examples from his prior experiences. The President, hoping to sway undecided voters, actually had to argue that in the future he would govern more like Romney.

On foreign policy, the President seemed to want to adopt the policies of George Bush. He "got" Bin-Laden and though moderator Candy Crowley asserted that the President had said Benghazi was an act of terrorism in a Rose Garden speech, she was later forced to retract it. Indeed, the notion that those events were a spontanious riot had been perpetuated by UN Ambassador Susan Rice days after that speech.

THYME's analysis of the debate is thus: The real Mitt Romney showed up again, the President showed up to agressively argue that he wasn't who his record suggests he is. It did make for an interesting conversation.

THYME Magazine

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume IV, Issue XIII

The Ballad Of Jed Clampett

Come and listen to a story about a man named Jed
A poor mountaineer, barely kept his family fed,
Then one day he was shootin' at some food,
And up through the ground came a bubblin' crude.

Oil that is
Black gold
Texas tea.

Well the first thing you know ol Jed's a millionaire,
Kinfolk said "Jed move away from there"
Said "Californy is the place you ought to be"
So they loaded up the truck and moved to Beverly.

Hills, that is.
Swimmin' pools.
Movie stars.

The Truth About Oil

Find it on your own land and it will change your life. The 'other' weekly news magazine this week boldly proclaims: "The Truth About Oil." They acknowledge the fact that new techniques are increasing our recoverable domestic supply but are quick to point out that this will not necessarily bring the price per gallon down. True, the methods are more expensve than drilling a gusher in the good old days, but as technologies come into more widespread use, guess what?, the price goes down. Also, here is the real argument for domestic production: Those are American workers getting the paychecks. Domestic production creates domestic economic development. Money that once went overseas stays right in North Dakota or wherever the production is.

Another reality of domestic production will be price stability, allowing businesses to have more confidence in their projections because energy won't be such a wild variable. Steady costs are so much more of a boon to businesses than costs that fluctuate wildly between unrealistically low and high.

Finally, the whole matter of national security demands that we do the best job of providing for our own needs with our own resources. We need to be able to manage our own destiny apart from the Middle East.

The Second Oil Revolution

Victor Davis Hanson Reports [click to read] on this exciting development.

"Given that North America in general and the United States in particular might soon be completely autonomous in natural gas production and within a decade without much need of imported oil, life as we have known it for nearly the last half-century would change radically." -- Victor Davis Hanson

More Energy, Lower Prices, No U.S. Debt

A Plan to Make America Great Again
By Newt Gingrich


By controlling our own energy production we can ensure better environmental safety. One only needs to look at countries like Haiti to see the folly of thinking restricted commerce will lead to environmental purity.

Two very large numbers are essential in the American public debate today. They are so big that they are almost inconceivable.

The first number is 15.5 trillion. That's a 14 digit number.

$15.5 trillion is the size of the U.S. national debt, more or less the amount the federal government owes individuals, organizations, and governments that have loaned money to it. To put this number in a more human perspective, it's roughly $50,000 for every person in the United States.

$50,000 is more than the U.S. median income, about $44,000. That means if a normal, working American worked an entire year and devoted his or her entire income to nothing other than paying off their share of the national debt, they still wouldn't pay off the full amount.

Today's national debt is so large that it is very difficult to imagine a solution. President Obama has added $4 trillion during his administration alone. That means the Obama administration in three years has added nearly 40 percent to the national debt.

The problem of balancing the budget and reducing the national debt didn't always seem so insurmountable. When I was Speaker, we balanced the budget for four straight years, resulting in real surpluses and paying down the national debt by $400 billion. When I left the speakership in 1999 the entire public debt was scheduled to be paid off by this year, 2012.

The government even began preparing for the possible difficulties this could cause the financial system, since if the U.S. paid off its entire debt there would be no more U.S. Treasury bonds. As NPR said in its story uncovering the secret report last year, the danger has clearly passed. Irresponsible Republican leadership in the early 2000s, when we never passed a single balanced budget, and the Democrats' explosion in spending and the size of government since meant the prospect of paying off the debt disappeared long ago.

Today the obvious means of paying off the national debt are all unpleasant. Both taxes (which take money from Americans directly) and inflation (which take it from us indirectly) would be very painful for the American people, making it less likely that anything will be done about this serious problem.

That's where the second very large number could come in: 1.44 trillion (a 13 digit number).

1.44 trillion is the number of recoverable barrels of oil estimated to be in the United States, waiting to be produced. That's about the amount of oil the entire world has consumed since the first well was drilled before the Civil War. In addition, we have an estimated 2.744 quadrillion (a 15 digit number) cubic feet of natural gas.

Much of these resources are on federal lands, meaning the American people own them.

In a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, Harold Hamm, a major developer of the Bakken formation in North Dakota, said he calculated that “if Washington would allow more drilling permits for oil and natural gas on federal lands and federal waters, "I truly believe the federal government could over time raise $18 trillion in royalties."

That is more than our current national debt, the first number, $15.5 trillion.

This potential for new federal revenue without new taxes opens up a third possibility that is much less painful than taxes and inflation: the government could simply lease the rights to develop the energy resources in various tracts of federal land.

As Mr. Hamm's calculations suggest, we should not underestimate the potential of an American energy program to go a long way toward restoring America's fiscal health. Lease terms for producing oil and gas on federal lands, on-shore or offshore, include an agreement that companies will pay royalty shares on production to the government. For on-shore leases, the rate is one-eighth of production value; offshore, lease terms vary but range between 12 and 20 percent of the value produced.

In 2007, the federal government collected $9.4 billion in revenues on offshore drilling in the OCS. Considering only 2 percent of federal OCS lands are available for production, that would be $470 billion if it earned the same rate off all OCS lands.

Clearly, there is enormous potential revenue for the federal government locked up in lands we are currently doing nothing with, at a time of exploding deficits and fiscal downgrades.

Opening up American energy production would be a boon to cash-strapped state governments, as well. Revenue from on-shore resources is generally split 50/50 between the state and federal government. While revenue sharing with states is not yet standard for offshore drilling on federal lands, the few recent leases that have been permitted have included similar arrangements. In 2006, lease terms gave Gulf states a 37.5 percent share of revenues.

This expanded production of American energy would create millions of jobs and bring down the price of gasoline to $2.50 a gallon or less.

It tells you the scale of our domestic energy resources that revenue from one-eighth their value could eventually pay off our national debt of $50,000 per person. It tells you the extent of the Obama administration's extremism that it won't let us tap them.

Our Freedom Seeking Forefathers Would Agree

Centuries ago our ancestors risked everything to journey to a new land. The promise of freedom was strong and the cost was great but the ability to chart one's destiny led to the founding of our unique nation. Railroads followed canals to provide the ability to move about and unify our nation at the same time. The automobile added new flexibility to the lives of millions. A free people will both create and demand a society with a high level of mobility. This allows competitive markets and healthy free association.

Now we face unique challenges in maintaining our mobility. We've outsourced our energy provision for many years and now the bills are coming in! Oil is high for a number of reasons. The weak dollar puts us at a disadvantage as demand rises in places such as India and China. OPEC seems to know it needs to squeeze what it can out of the market now. Why are oil prices so high? Depending on who you listen to it may be a combination of all of the above, or any one factor in particular.

So it was refreshing to read Kathryn Lopez' Article on Solving the Energy Crisis [click to read]. She points out the need to pursue domestic resources, such as the Bakken and Colorado, while planning new technology to serve us in the 21st Century. We need to make our own energy again and the answer is in a diverse offering of new and already existing technology. Go to a large European or Japanese city and the electricity you use is likely from a nuclear power plant. We have enough experience with this technology to use it safely -- look at our Navy's sub fleet and you'll see a long track record with managing this type of power plant. Add wind, solar and better efficiency in utilization and I'll bet you are already feeling more optomistic.

There is a new engine for large trucks that runs more efficiently and uses natural gas. Of course that is a medium-range solution but that is better than short-sighted 'solutions' like 'tax holiday' and 'even-odd days' [remember gas rationing in the seventies]? A new generation of plug-in hybrids will come into being. E85 will likely be a force, but hopefully quota requirements will be replaced by market driven demand. Simple efficiency with existing technology will be a player as well. I have a little Mazda that can be driven smoothly and get close to 40mpg. No need to rush to replace that! Looking at today's oil-heavy transportation system it makes a lot of sense to diversify our technologies.

In the Nineteenth Century it was actually suggested in all seriousness that the Patent Office be closed since "everything that can be invented already has." That sentiment is less true today than it was when uttered then. Perhaps we will look back on the gas crisis of the beginning of this Century as the beginning of a new era of clean dependable mobility!

A Travel Map for a Brighter Time to Come


Regional Travel Map by Bob Kirchman.

Looking forward to a day when we as a nation produce our own energy [hey, gas stations might even give out free maps again!], I've created this regional travel map. Susan Allen [the Governor's wife] improved the official Virginia map by putting the mountains back on it. I think that was a really cool thing to do.

Until the oil companies grace us with free maps and USA produced fuel again, you can download the Journey Regional Map [click to read] and plan a few road trips.

The U.S. Can Be an Energy Superpower

Tapping Our Resources Wisely for Tomorrow


While Mr. Obama 'tilts at windmills,' it is time to take this message to the voters.

By Mitt Romney, From His Blog [click to read]

The goal of my energy policy is straightforward: guarantee America the most affordable and reliable supply in the world. Ohio is seeing firsthand the potential of this approach in the Marcellus Shale. The natural-gas revolution is creating direct jobs in construction and drilling, and producing a resurgence in American manufacturing. In the next couple of years, billions of dollars will be invested in the state in pursuit of these opportunities.

President Barack Obama has a different goal: higher prices, lower production and a government-led “green” industry. Ohio is seeing the effects of this approach, as well. The average family’s energy bill has jumped by thousands of dollars during his presidency. Gasoline-price increases, alone, have cost the middle class as much as would doubling the income-tax rate.

While the president now professes a combination of innocence and helplessness in the face of rising prices, the truth is that expensive energy was his plan all along. He said his proposals would cause electricity prices to “skyrocket.” He suggested we “bankrupt” the coal industry. His secretary of Energy wanted to “figure out how to boost the price of gasoline.” His secretary of the Interior declared he would oppose drilling even if gasoline reached $10 per gallon.

His administration has focused relentlessly on achieving his goal. His Environmental Protection Agency pushed through the costliest regulations in our history. He rejected the Keystone XL pipeline as “not in the national interest,” telling Canada to send its oil to China instead. He illegally blocked drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, prompting a federal judge to hold his administration in contempt. He has proposed a special energy-tax increase, and has 10 federal agencies focusing their attention on natural gas.

The statistics demonstrate his “success”: He has slashed the rate of federal land leasing by half. Where leases are established, his administration is issuing permits one-third slower than the previous rate. Oil and natural-gas production on federal land is declining.

In place of real energy, Obama has focused on an imaginary world where government-subsidized windmills and solar panels could power the economy. This vision has failed. His promise of 5 million green jobs vanished as fast as the $500 million he gave to his campaign donors at now-bankrupt Solyndra. His goal of 1 million electric cars went up in flames alongside the Chevy Volt batteries that prompted a recall of all 8,000 sold so far.


The Chevy Volt.

The costs of this anti-growth agenda are plain. Our economy just had its worst non-recession year since World War II, and families are feeling the pain directly as gasoline prices surge to record highs.

America is an energy-rich nation, and it is time we stopped living like an energy-poor one. As president, I will unleash American innovation and productivity to make full use of our natural resources.

First, I will pursue dramatic regulatory reform to accelerate the exploration and development of oil and gas, to facilitate construction of vital infrastructure and to preserve and expand crucial electricity capacity. I will streamline permitting processes and create fixed timelines. Businesses can live with “yes” or “no,” but government must stop saying “maybe” or “wait.”

I will modernize our outdated environmental laws to take cost into account, and stop the EPA’s practice of using imaginary benefits to justify onerous burdens. In my administration, coal will not be a four-letter word. Instead, we will applaud the industry’s success in consistently expanding electricity output while reducing pollution. And I will respect states’ proven ability to regulate fracking, rather than sending federal bureaucrats to take control.

Second, I will increase production. This begins with a comprehensive seismic survey both on- and off-shore. President Obama complains that we have only 2 percent of the world’s oil reserves, but in truth we never have fully looked. For instance, some believe that new discoveries in North Dakota alone could double our nation’s proven reserves.

I will permit access to our resources in the Gulf of Mexico, the Outer Continental Shelf, western lands and the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge. I also will partner closely with our neighbors. Canada and Mexico have extraordinary resources of their own that can provide secure, reliable supplies for our economy. This starts with my approval of the Keystone XL pipeline on Day One.

Third, I will invest in new energy technologies. We must not allow President Obama’s irresponsible and unethical funding of companies such as Solyndra to undermine the Department of Energy’s critical mission of basic research. We can position America to lead on energy in the future without picking winners or stifling the energy sources of today.

This pro-jobs, pro-market, pro-American energy policy will bring energy prices down today, secure an affordable supply of energy for tomorrow, send fewer dollars overseas and create millions of jobs. America can be the world’s next energy superpower, if we give ourselves the chance.

Operation Educate for 2012

Helping Obama Feel Your Pain at the Pump...


A reminder of where high gas prices came from...

...By Taking Your Pain to the Polls

Here is a really great idea from Mr. Conservative [click to read]. Frustrated by the rising price of gas, he felt compelled to leave a note on the pump to remind the uninformed where the rising prices were coming from.

If the store can sell you a doughnut or a drink with pump advertising, why not use the space and time to educate. Here is one from The Republican Study Committee [click to read] that I'd like to print as a sticker and leave every time I buy a tank. ht/Redstate

Here's something to think about: Obama's Oil Flimflam [click to read] by Charles Krauthammer details the President's real record. Though he likes to go to a college campus and make speeches about domestic production, his record on the matter speaks for itself:

"President Obama incessantly claims energy open-mindedness, insisting that his policy is "all of the above." Except, of course, for drilling:

*off the Mid-Atlantic coast (as Virginia, for example, wants);

*off the Florida Gulf Coast (instead, the Castro brothers will drill near there);

*in the broader Gulf of Mexico (where drilling in 2012 is expected to drop 30 percent below pre-moratorium forecasts);

*in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (more than half the size of England, the drilling footprint being the size of Dulles International Airport);

*on federal lands in the Rockies (where leases are down 70 percent since Obama took office).

But the event that drove home the extent of Obama's antipathy to nearby, abundant, available oil was his veto of the Keystone pipeline, after the most extensive environmental vetting of any pipeline in U.S. history. It gave the game away because the case for Keystone is so obvious and overwhelming. Vetoing it gratuitously prolongs our dependence on outside powers, kills thousands of shovel-ready jobs, forfeits a major strategic resource to China, damages relations with our closest ally, and sends billions of oil dollars to Hugo Chavez, Vladimir Putin and already obscenely wealthy sheiks." -- Charles Krauthammer

But you say: "aren't we running out of oil anyway?" Read The Peak Oil Myth [click to read] by Bob Lutz in Forbes before jumping to conlusions.


...might help voters with decision 2012.

THYME Magazine

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume III, Issue XXIV

Great Myths of the Obama Recession

The 'other' weekly news magazine finally gets it (sort of). They ask on their cover: "What Recovery?" They're admitting that the much touted 'recovery' just isn't there. What is interesting is that they still don't get a lot of the reasons.

So, here are some myths about the "Recovery" er, a... "Recession," if you will.

Myth #1. FDR Spent Us Out of the Depression. Obama will too.

First of all, I must offer the excellent work of Lawrence Reed:



Great Myths of the Great Depression [Click to Read] by Lawrence W. Reed

"President Herbert Hoover is mistakenly presented in standard history texts as a laissez-faire president, but he signed into law so many costly and foolish bills that one of Franklin Roosevelt’s top aides later said that “practically the whole New Deal was extrapolated from programs that Hoover started.”

"Americans voted for Franlin Roosevelt in 1932, expecting him to adhere to the Democratic Party platform, which called for less government spending and regulation." -- Lawrence W. Reed
The really frightening thing about history is how it repeats itself.

Myth #2. There is Nothing Special About America. We're Toast.



In light of the President's recent assertion that 'America is not a Christian Nation' I would like to offer Alvin Schmidt's book Under the Influence, How Christianity Changed the World. There are many legitimate arguments to be made about how Faith and Government should function together but a look at the principles that our Nation was founded upon will show a clear Judeo-Christian influence.

"If no other consideration had convinced me of the value of the Christian life, the Christlike work which the Church of all denominations in America has done during the last 35 years for the elevation of the black man would have made me a Christian." -- Booker T. Washington in 'Up from Slavery' (1901)

To those who would write off the American experiment at this point in history, I offer the observation that history says much of the intuitiveness and resilience of this unique people.

The REAL American Dream [click to read].

Myth #3. Growing Government will Grow the Economy.

Government, of itself, produces nothing. Every function of government requires the removal of resources from the productive sector of the economy. Certainly the provision of defense and the maintainence of infrastructure are reasonable and proper functions of government and serve the productive sector. Excessive regulatory structure and redistribution only serve to harm it.

The Recovery Myth [click to read].

Myth #4. Private Sector Growth Enriches CEO's and not Us.

Think about who really is invested in these companies. That's YOUR retirement money. Those 'obscene' profits are mostly retun on the investment of people like you.

Where the Jobs Are [click to read].

Myth #5. Barack Obama is a Great Unifier.

Wow, where do I begin? The man who told Eric Cantor to "sit down, shut up, I WON!!!" is hardly the voice of reconciliation he promised to be when elected. Here's a man who WANTS $5.00 a gallon gasoline and has said so. He has resisted America's efforts to produce our own energy. He says: "You can build a coal fired power plant if you want to... but you'll go bankrupt." (due to administration supported policies).

Why it Won't Fly [click to read].

THYME Magazine

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor

Volume III, Issue XIV

An Energy Policy for the 21st Century

The 'other' weekly news magazine has discovered shale fracturing. They admit that the technology could supply our energy needs for a hundred years. They are quick to ask though if it can be done 'safely.'

There is risk in every technology man has ever employed. Innovation has been employed to reduce those risks and mankind has benefited from the advances.

America is at a crossroads. We can allow 'green' technology to push us towards higher unemployment and eventual disaster or we can take a new role in world leadership. We can show the world how to use and manage resources by using and managing our own. There is no one 'magic' solution to our energy needs. Instead, there are many good ways to power our society.

Just because it comes out of the ground does not make a source 'bad.' Just because it has solar panels and batteries does not make it automatically 'good.' Battery arrays are horribly environmentally unfriendly to manufacture.

Efficient technologies using petroleum might be the right solution in many cases. Simply designing cars that last longer would have a very positive environmental inmpact.

Coal Fired Fashion Fantasies

The Gown And the Volt Share this in Common


Coal Fired Fashion! Photo by Laney Riley.

Consumer Reports Tests Coal Powered Car

Most of our electricity is generated by coal fired power plants. That is not news. April's Consumer Reports got its hands on a Chevy Volt. I eagerly opened the magazine to see the bastion of consumer information's opinion of the newest coal fired automobile. To my surprise, there were no big surprises.

The volt is a plug-in hybrid. (Think 'Hack your Prius' technology here). You charge it up by plugging it in to your electric service overnight. The car claims to offer 25 to 50 miles of range on this charge, then a gasoline generator kicks in and extends the range to about 300 miles. Consumer reports has been getting the low end of the electric only range: 23 -28 miles. To be fair, they blame the low distance on the unusually cold winters. They say: "The car's electric range is very susceptible to cold weather, primarily because the heater runs on electricity. We also found that an extended highway cruise shortens the electrical range."

Obviously your driving needs will determine how efficient the Volt is for you.

Mike lives in Fishersville and works in Charlottesville. He has a mountain between him and his place of employment. Most days he'll be lucky to get to Crozet on his electric charge. Then he'll be getting about 30mpg. I'll cruise by him in my 1991 Mazda getting around 38. Since electricity isn't free, I doubt Mike would get any real savings from buying a Volt.

Consumer Report's Volt cost them $48,700. I paid several thousand for the Mazda. Who's ahead, especially when you consider the Volt's heavy government subsidies?

Consumer Reports concludes: "So far, the Volt works as an electric car with a gas backup, but it's not really much of a money saver in many places. Cheaper electricity or more expensive gas could tip the scales in its favor. For now, it seems that owning a Volt is an expensive way to be green." -- a FASHION STATEMENT, perhaps?

THYME Magazine

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume III, Issue XII

A (Very) Brief History of Resilience

Today our hearts go out to the Japanese people as they face a crisis of enormous proportions. History tells us of how the Japanese people have faced massive devastation before and created the 'Japanese Miracle' in the face of it.

It is interesting to note that the one nation on Earth to actually experience nuclear devastation uses nuclear energy to such a great extent that most of its power needs are supplied by reactors.
One must be careful to do honest assessments of the risks and dangers involved without falling prey to those who would exploit disasters to inhibit energy production. We need to improve our methods in deep water oil production and design better backup procedures for cooling nuclear facilities, but that does not mean we cannot use them at all.

In the wake of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the administration shut down ALL production. Governor McDonnell of Virginia speaks directly to such overreaction:

“Virginia’s efforts to become the energy capital of the East Coast include innovative, safe and affordable plans for investment in nuclear energy, coal, offshore exploration for oil and natural gas, and offshore wind energy development. It will only be through a combination of these energy sources that the nation will be able to meet its energy demands and curtail its dependence upon foreign oil. Our plans to develop Virginia’s offshore oil and natural gas supplies have been thwarted by the Obama administration’s failure to include drilling 50 miles off the coast of Virginia in the five-year lease plan. Once again, rising gas prices are hurting families and small businesses due to the shortsightedness of overzealous federal regulators.”

More importantly, the unwillingness of the administration to allow domestic energy production makes for a dangerous situation as America must depend on energy sources in unstable areas of the world and pay premium prices for them... putting our national security at risk.

This is not acceptable.


The Hiroshima Prefecture Hall of Industry was gutted by the nuclear explosion. Photo by Bob Kirchman.


Today a bustling city surrounds Hiroshima's Peace Park. Photo by Bob Kirchman.

Close to the turn of the Century a number of American cities burned to the ground. In 1904 the city of Baltimore burned to the ground. San Francisco's great earthquake and the Chicago fire are more well known, but the fact remains that great disasters have affected much of the world throughout history and America has seen her share too.

Hurricane Katrina is often compared to Camille. In 1969 Hurricane Camille came inland and poured torrents of rain upon Nelson County Virginia. This severe drenching caused entire mountainsides to move and many died in the massive mudslides.

Lovingston, the county seat, was cut off from the outside world by musdslides. VDOT had recently completed a four lane bypass of US 29 around Lovingston which was quickly turned into an airstrip for rescue and relief operations. Today US 29 has been rebuilt and Nelson County is a beautiful place to visit. One can still see the scars in the mountains from the great mudslides though.

After the great fire, Chicago rebuilt herself. The early Twentieth Century saw the 'Cities Beautiful' movement recreate the centers of our great metropolises.

Our prayers are with the Japanese people at this time. We pray for their courage, strength and determination as they write the next chapter in the story of human resilience.

THYME Magazine

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume III, Issue IX

Understanding Pain at the Pump

This week the 'other' weekly news magazine's Asia edition dealt with Moammar Kadafi while the US edition published 'Understanding Pain.' THYME goes where few venture to tread, so we're combining TWO covers of the 'other' news magazine to deal with understanding pain at the pump.

It is no surprise that unrest in Libya has sent gas prices through the roof. What IS surprising is that our nation's leaders continue to ignore the need to produce our own. While our President's party tilts toward windmills, real threats exist in lands we depend on for the free flow of oil at market prices.

Gasoline and other fossil fuels are still relatively abundant and the market is telling us so. Green technology requires massive subsidies to compete. Virginia's Governor wants to drill offshore but the President's moratorium, overturned by a Federal Judge, still stands. Ignoring the rule of law and the will of the people, the President continues to promote experimental and unreliable 'green' solutions. I have a 1991 Mazda that gets close to 40 miles per gallon. It does not require the battery array needed for a Prius or a Volt. It will not require the replacement of said array, which is not all that environmentally friendly to produce. It does not need to be charged on the electrical grid. Cars charged on the grid are in effect 60% coal powered.

Improving the efficiency of simple engines might be the best short-term investment besides domestic energy production. Energy independence should be a priority for security reasons along with economic ones.


A rainy day driving on Interstate 81.

'Upon the Road of Anthracite'

What Happens When You Refuel Your Electric Car


AEolus sails down the Baltimore and Ohio tracks. The B&O experimented with wind power but soon moved on to more dependable steam locomotives. [1.] From the Collections of the B&O Railroad Museum, used with permission.

Cracker Barrel to Offer Electric Car Recharging

Fishersville Mike has This Interesting Piece [click to read] about how the restaurant will begin offering charging stations for electric cars. I did not know that the chain began by selling gas and food. Mike reminds us that they are returning to their roots.

About 56% of our electricity is produced by Burning Coal [click to read]. This means your electric automobile is actually powered by coal! ht/Phil. Throughout history we've always sought clean efficient transportation as is evidenced by the B&O railroad's experimental railcar shown above. The electrified Pennsylvania Railroad removed the combustion from the consumer. The Delaware, Lackawanna & Western (DL&W) Railroad once touted their use of 'clean' anthracite coal:

Says Phoebe Snow
about to go
upon a trip to Buffalo
"My gown stays white
from morn till night
Upon the Road of Anthracite"

Power Line Crossing a Mountain

Capon Springs, West Virginia, along the Red Trail

Judge Suspends Drilling Moratorium

Jindal Applauds, Obama Vows to Appeal


We didn't shut down tanker transport after the Exxon Valdez spill.

Yes, the President still wants to shut down the entire Gulf oil industry, throwing many out of work in the region, citing 'Concern for the Environment.'

"Wait, what? Concern for the environment? When did that happen? Did Obama waive the Jones Act and let those Dutch skimmers come in? Did I miss that?" -- Pat

Also, what does it matter that shutting down the rigs is actually a process that increases the risk of something bad happening? The POTUS is showing his hand here and it's not about saving the planet... it's about control.

And So it Goes in Shreveport [click to read] has more. ht/SWAC Girl

Government Aggravated Tragedy [click to read]. Walter Williams tells it like it is, futher explaining the folly of legislation such as the Jones Act.

Down That Wrong Road Again...

...We've Let Disasters Define Energy Policy Before


Three Mile Island.

Back in the 1970s we were poised to build nuclear power plants enough to meet our energy needs. Unfortunately the accident at Three Mile Island was used by opponants of nuclear power to halt much of that planned capacity. Today we depend on fossil fuels and lay a haze across the Appalachians to meet our electric needs. It didn't have to be so.

In the wake of accidents, safety procedures were improved. Nuclear energy powers much of Europe and Japan without problems.

In Brand New Green [click to read], Peter W. Huber discusses how Environmentalist Stewart Brand has discovered that nuclear energy is really pretty environmentally friendly. Brand says: "The question I ask myself now is: “What took me so long? I could have looked into the realities of nuclear power many years earlier, if I weren’t so lazy.” When he got over his nuclear sloth, here’s what Brand learned. (Most of the words quoted here are Brand’s own, but some are Brand quoting others approvingly.) “Fear of radiation is a far more important health threat than radiation itself.” “Reactor safety is a problem already solved,” and the new reactors are even safer than the old. Waste isn’t a problem; we need the $10 billion Yucca mountain disposal site “about as much as we need a facility for imprisoning dangerous extraterrestrials.” Nuclear power isn’t just the cheapest practical carbon-free option around, but the cheapest, period, when not snarled up in green tape. Scientists “invariably poll high in support of nuclear.” The people so pragmatic that they actually keep the lights lit, he might have added, have polled that way for 40 years, on the strength of reams of data and analyses, as well as the operating experience of our nuclear navy and a wide range of commercial reactors scattered across the planet."

Today the President suspended offshore drilling in a move reminiscent of the nuclear policies of the past decades. The specter of disaster is being used to stifle the legitimate development of energy resources. Indeed, if deepwater wells are more dangerous, then why not allow drilling closer to shore... or from the shore itself. There are ways to exploit our domestic resources safely and it is a matter of national security.

We simply cannot cap off our own resources and put ourselves at the mercy of despots like Hugo Chavez.

We need a president who really is on top of energy policy, not one who says he is but fiddles while Rome burns.

Mr. President, let me help you. Here's what "On Top of It" looks like.

First, get your stinking foot off of BP's neck. It's really not there anyway. No one wants to lose eleven of their best people in a horrible explosion. We have a bad situation but BP is trying to solve the problem. Let's give them some support. Then we can analyze how we'll keep it from happening again.

Second, Governor Jindal asked for permission to build barriers to contain or mitigate the spill. Your correct response would have been: "Governor Jindal, I hope you're already getting your men in place. I'll clear the red tape for you... oh, Governor Jindal, Do you need any Seabee's from Gulfport? Do you need anything from us to do the job?" You know, if you had been a GOVERNOR instead of a 'Community Organizer,' you'd know how to do this.

Third, stop politicizing this disaster. America needs to safely extract energy from the ground. Wind farms just won't meet our needs. You wouldn't stop airplanes from flying because occasionally one crashes? You analyze failures and make things safer. Real leadership is stepping up to the plate and explaining just that.

Update: Augusta Conservative [click to read] brings us This from Reuters [click to read]. The drilling halt may cause more economic damage to the Gulf region than the spill.

North Slope Jobs in Virginia

Way Cleared for Oil Exploration 50 Miles Off Coast


The profile of this dredging rig is far greater than that of any oil rig fifty miles out.

During the campaign, Governor Bob McDonnell pledged to make Virginia the "Energy Capital of the East Coast." Today a major step was taken towards making that goal a reality. President Obama today directed his administration to proceed with oil and natural gas exploration and production off the coast of Virginia, making the Commonwealth the first state on the East Coast to drill offshore and paving the way for thousands of new jobs, billions in investment, and more money for transportation improvements. Watch out for the EPA weighing in on this one though.

North Slope Jobs for Virginia

Energy Independence's Time has Come

Governor-elect Bob McDonnell [click to read] is calling for the development of Virginia's offshore energy resources. SWAC Girl has the details.

“... it is time to develop our offshore energy resources to create new jobs and provide necessary new revenue for schools, roads, public safety and alternative energy research and development in Virginia.” -- Virginia Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell

Sarah Palin on Carbonhagen

Washington Post Editorial Heats Up the Debate


The oil company employee is endangered, the polar bear isn't.

The 'Cap and Tax' Dead End [click to read]. Governor Palin has some straight talk on why we need to kick the whole notion of anthropogenic global warming to the curb. It's an economic disaster in the making!

Now She Takes on 'Carbonhagen' [click to read] in her latest Washington Post editorial.

New York Daily News [click to read] has this to say about the stir.

Governor Palin's remarks are pretty clear. Now contrast them with This Statement [click to read] that Phil found. Gender politics and gobbldygook as part of the climate argument.

A Call to Common Sense

The Wake-Up Call the UN Circus Should Give Us

Three Dangerous Stooges [click to read] By Victor Davis Hanson in Jewish World Review.

We need to become energy independent NOW. Here's one compelling argument for drilling here and cutting off our dependency on energy from despots like Hugo Chavez, Moammar Gadhafi and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Paul's Speech to the President

His Dreams for When He Grows Up...

Paul wants to be an architect.

Here is One Young Man's Plea [click to watch] to the President. I hope that DC Opportunity Scholarships will survive the political process. I hope the private sector where Paul will work survives as well. At our Town Hall Meeting Without Senators I remarked that I couldn't afford employees. As the government creates well-meaning mandates on businesses they increase the cost of compliance and that leads to lost opportunities.

In the past I've had young people work in the studio, helping me build architectural models and various other tasks. One former helper just graduated from architecture school last Spring and is still looking for a position. You can't blame it all on the previous administration either. Freddie Mac faltered under the leadership of Franklin Raines, no Bushie by a long shot. If you hate big CEO salaries you should be outraged that this man took his 90 million as the mortgage industry crashed and burned. Well-intended policies initiated in the late seventies led to the meltdown. Any honest analysis of the problem will show you that there is plenty of blame to go around. Perhaps it is of little use to focus on any individual's contribution and it would do us a lot of good to look the solutions square in the eye.

First of all it is a very bad time to make drastic changes to our healthcare system and energy taxation. It does not create a lot of confidence when politicians attempt to pass thousand page bills that contain the framework for government to take over entire portions of our economy but fail to address simple solutions such as tort reform and increased competition that would directly lead to much of the desired reform.

Cap and trade -- the 'Carbon Tax' will only enrich Goldman Sachs. It will further dull the competitive edge of American industry. That means fewer jobs. We need to become more energy independent. We need to let a variety of technologies come to market -- including nuclear power. We need to be creative. Conservation alone will not take us to where we want to be further into the 21st Century. Efficiency will, diverse sources will, wind alone won't.

Three decades into the Nineteenth Century there came a need to tie the young republic together. The rivers were the first network but they did not reach all the desirable places. Roads were limited and the railroad was to become the unifying infrastructure. The first rail cars were pulled by horses! The rails made it easier to move the cars. The Baltimore and Ohio actually tried wind power but that required a light wicker car for passengers and then, as now, wind is not constantly available. Steam was necessary for the railroads to become competitive.

Today we need to allow energy to remain competitive. We need to reward creative methodologies rather than penalize those that have reached an economy of scale. We need to take steps so that we decide our own future and not have it forced upon us by the Middle East and China.

Only then can we offer our children the full scope of opportunity that we need to.

That's why we're coming to Washington Saturday!