The Oil Plundering Act, The Sheehan – Rockwell Affair, and Targeting British Petroleum

“Mom, when did Congress pass the Oil Plundering Act?”

Arthur surprised me while I was busy at the computer with the above question. I paused. I had been wasting a moment reading the posts on the purported affair between Lew Rockwell, and Cindy Sheehan. Libertarianland is a small world where everyone pretty much knows each other.

“What did you say?” I was sure I had misheard him. When I am reading I have been known to ignore earthquakes, even when it isn't gossip about someone I know. I got to know Lew when we were both on Libertarian National Committee in the 80s.

“The Oil Plundering Act. You said that Lloyd's of London had canceled the insurance for every country that had oil under its borders because of the potential liability.”

The memory returns, oozing back into my mind from a great distance.

“Oh yes, I said that – but I was joking. Sort of.”

The conversation in which this snippet was embedded took place recently over a dinner of Enchiladas Rancheras, one of my specialties. Given the interest this administration has exhibited in Venezuela and Mexico, among other nations, fortunate or unfortunate enough to control large reservoirs of oil, the remark had been not completely intended to be funny.

The remark lead to a longer discussion over the same savory dish as to how Lloyd's of London insures against risk. Private investors guarantee the policy, paying off in the event that becomes necessary. You could certainly see how Lloyd's might decide to end coverage in countries which, for this administration, are sitting there like big, succulent chocolates nestled down in their gold box. Certainly the lusting eye of Big Oil is a risk in the world today and it therefore follows that those factors would have to be accounted for by the Lloyd's actuarial specialists.

This lead to a discussion of the specific nations that therefore might be at risk, a respectable total, and the viewing of the website on where known reserves of oil are located.

That lead to a call to a good friend of mine, a petroleum engineer, who told me that the largest reserves of oil on American soil are those in Alaska.

As we know, these are now shut down due to the condition of the oil pipe line. What I did not know was that for at least the last ten years whistle blowers have been telling everyone in Washington and everywhere else they could think of that the noncorroding chemicals that should have been happily flowing through those pipes, preventing the slip last year of 1,000,000 barrels of oil and the close down this year were never used. One could suppose that the thrift of saving on the cost of the noncorrosive additives seemed like a good idea at the time to those in charge of the pipe line. That was, in care you did not know, British Petroleum.

At this point the pipe has corroded to the thickness of 1/100^th of an inch. So maybe it was thrift - but my friend had another explanation.

Back to the insurance issue. BP likely has insurance, probably with Lloyd's of London, that immunized them from loss every day the pipeline is not in operation. So they get paid for ignoring the need to add the noncorrosive chemicals. Perhaps the whistle blowers should have been calling Lloyd's, humm? Perhaps Lloyd's should look at the fine print, hoping that there might be a way out. Perhaps they could consult FEMA.

British Petroleum seems to get some amazing deals from government, especially for a foreign corporation.

British Petroleum, who controls the pipeline in Alaska, was the entity who was to have been given the right to drill for oil in the Alaskan Wildlife Preserve as well. I guess we can hope that this latest fiasco ensures that Congress will see that they are not a good choice. Of course, considering the make up of Congress we can not be sure of that either, can we?

British Petroleum came up just a few moments after these epiphanies when another friend called me and mentioned that they were comparing the solar panels produced by British Petroleum (expensive and inefficient) with another technology (cheap and reliable). Why was I not surprised? After all, for BP to produce an efficient technology would not put money in their pockets.

The whole thing just fit together so perfectly I was amazed.

The Administration allows BP to have a sweetheart deal in Alaska and hands them the right to drill in the Alaskan Wildlife Preserve. BP, showing the same good judgment we have come to expect from all government decides not to use the noncorrosive additives knowing full well they will not lose thereby. Their friends in Washington, look for more oil fields, which will also benefit BP.

I could just see the bulls eyes painted on the world map in the White House. Americans should really make up their minds to target Rove-Bush-Cheney for removal instead. Also, get ready to buy the units that will really minimize the purchase of oil.

My friend is about to start producing units that will eat BP alive. That is a meal America, and the world, needs.

So, after all of those entertaining moments I sat down and wrote this. I told Arthur that Congress did not actually pass a bill called the “Oil Plundering Act.” It just seems like it, given Iraq and the lustful eyes this administration is casting on Syria and Venezuela. But Lloyd's of London should consider canceling those policies or even going into another line of business.

And thanks to Lew and Cindy for light moment. However, we all know that old people don't have sex. What could Melanie Morgan have been thinking?

Saving Our Elderly: Off the Grid NOW

John Cadwalder has a solution that costs little, takes practically no upkeep, and makes America secure. Cadwalder has answers you need to know – for all of us.

Last winter nearly a million and a half homes in California went without electric power for as long as two weeks.

The cost of electricity rose steadily because of the policies adopted by the present administration. Today, the cost of electric power in the United States is tied in to the cost of oil like two Siamese twins joined at the hip and head.

Last month California was hit by a wave of heat that killed the elderly. I In California the total was one hundred and thirty. The mostly elderly died at home, some of them had air conditioners that were kept turned off. The elderly, on fixed incomes, could not afford the cost of the electricity to run their units. These elderly and not so elderly died along with their pets.. It was an ugly way to go.

Bodies were stacked two to the gurney because the hospitals could not handle the numbers of dead.

A few days ago, Americans who finally managed escape from Lebanon are trickling back home. Americans were last out because our embassy there ignored their need while such countries as England, Italy and Japan made free emergency transport available for their citizens. Our country had to be dissuaded from charging Americans fleeing for fear of their lives. This also delivered a very different message than we as American expect to hear from those in government.

Your electric company will be quick to tell you they are not liable, and they will be right. Government allows electric companies quasi-governmental status because it deems their interests as superior to those of the people. Government accepts no liability itself and extends that benefit to its friends.

What you demand from your house cleaner or your contractor you cannot get from those who are assumed to supply the needs that, gone unmet, will kill us. That is fundamentally wrong but at this point in time it is impossible to change.

We have learned that it does not take foreign terrorists to put us at risk, our government has done that themselves. We are vulnerable, and as was the case in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, the real answer is not government, it is facing the problem as they exists and solving them ourselves from within our communities, churches, and civic organizations.

There are many problems but at the top of the list is energy dependence, especially when the lack of affordable energy kills. Those most on the margin are at risk of their very lives.

We need to get serious about getting off the grid and ensure that our energy needs are met not through this system of tenuous and vulnerable cables but through the means now available that both lowers the cost and secures our continued needs over time. The technologies to accomplish this exist today, they are available as well as affordable, thanks to American innovators and inventors.

You will hear those in authority say this cannot be done, but notice whose interests they have been representing over the past months and years. The emergency infrastructure in New York on September 11th, 2001 completely broke down. It was volunteers who brought relief and ensured that what needed to be done was accomplished. As Californians we have seen this over and over as emergencies bring us together to ensure that our families and communities survive.

It is not rocket science, it is simple common sense to use what is available even when those who would profit from the status quo try hard to dissuade us.

The essential solar and cell technologies have come a long way since they were originally produced in 1900. My own family installed a system for heating water in their home in Hollywood in 1901. It worked perfectly. Today, the application of far more advanced technologies has made our present system a dinosaur as outdated as the levees that held the water back from New Orleans, another governmental program that cost lives because of the false sense of security that lulled people into inaction.

We expected solar to become standard in the 70s. We are still waiting – and now the costs are bankrupting ordinary Americans and our elderly are dying.

More than eighty-one of our elderly died just in California. Grandmothers, grandfathers, Uncles, Aunts, people we knew, with whom we worshiped and lived. We can not bring them back but we can make sure it does not happen again.

This is a problem that the powers that be have ignored because it does not augment their income. It is a problem that we need to acknowledge because it can kill us or those we love. Getting off the grid matters, not just to save money, but for that, too. It matters because we need to know we are caring for our own, being responsible, and loving each other as Christ told us to do.

It will not be easy, but it can be done if we face this together and take action. We need to do it now so next summer no one is at risk.

My father was a practical guy. If there was something that needed doing he would dig out the information and get it done. He would listen to people telling him it was impossible very politely. Then he would just do it. We can do that, too. Like I said, this is not rocket science. We all know many people who have installed their own entirely independent energy systems, either spending a lot or nearly nothing. Finding the best technology means being discerning and asking hard questions.

Americans have always been the kind of people who innovate and, when the chips are down, do it for themselves. America was built on that kind of creativity and initiative. We had it once; we still have it.

Many of those technologies we heard about in the 70s did work. They could have been used. Many patents for those technologies were, surprise, bought up and sat on by petroleum companies. That weren't a conspiracy, just market manipulation; easy for those who control the markets and government to carry out. This is an obstacle we can overcome because when you understand how it happens it can be avoided.

In the Spiritual Politician we hear from Americans with answers, from those people who find profit in taking the work of Jesus into the world through invention, business, and social action.

John Cadwalder is a good man who has an answer that solves this problem. John has spent his life studying the work of Tesla and other greats and has found solutions overlooked by industries who focused on selling petroleum products. He wants his technology used first to help the elderly and needy. There are lots of people out there who, like John, want to do the right thing and enact change for all of us. John, unlike other Americans, can tell you how we avoid the pitfalls placed by corporations. This is a program you need to hear.

John Cadwalder will discuss his new technology and why other similar technologies have not been available before now, and how these can save all of us on the Spiritual Politician, Friday, August 11th, at 7pm EDT at BBSradio.com t 7pm EDT at BBSradio.com

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Founder and president of the Arthur C. Pillsbury Foundation

Books by Melinda: Links to Melinda's sites:

How the NeoCons Stole Freedom

Shards of Verse Melinda's Poetry

Seventh Voice

Greed: The NeoConning of America

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