LIFE IS A CABARET WHILE "ROME" IS BURNING

I belong to several internet discussion forums, all at the edge of reality (although many of the participants no doubt of the opinion that theirs is the only sensible pathway for humanity), and a relatively new one posed the question, "Is a $100 hair cut as valuable as a $100 vacuum cleaner?" I felt compelled to respond thusly:

Mental calisthenics supposedly prevent Alzheimer's, and these mind games can be challenging and entertaining. But, in the spirit of Tom, Peak Oil and Global Warming are around the corner, so shouldn't we be focusing on useful solutions? Okay, it's too late, but giving up cannot be an option.

China's renewable energy electrical capacity will be double that of the U.S. at the end of the year (courtesy of Ray). POTUS #43 was a retrogression and POTUS #44 has gotten nowhere on climate change and seems to be focusing on all the wrong sustainable pathways. Governments are broken, and people like you should be orchestrating the virtual revolution.

Sorry, but I have now published more than 70 articles in The Huffington Post and I have no clue on how to galvanize progress. Even the comments to my postings are circular and tangential. Can any of you suggest how best to proceed?

Then I felt a bit contrite about being such a curmudgeon, but there was one response which largely reflected my general viewpoint on the subject. He went further to lament that the 15-35 age group in particular seemed to live the life of Cabaret. Remember that movie with Liza Minelli? So I responded:

Thanks for your reasonable thoughts. I agree with you in general, but can't sit back and watch the equivalent of Rome burn with our society (led by that next generation) fiddling away their future when real changes have to occur now. Does anyone have a hint of a progressive and proactive world wide web solution (demonstrations, such as that for climate change in DC this coming Sunday, are so last generation)?

It kind of started with Gen X (born 1961-1981), where the males, for the first time in the history of our country, made less than their fathers. Now Gen Y (born 1982-2000) on the front page of the Honolulu Advertiser, is appearing to be totally losing it:

- 60% cashed out their 401(k) retirement plans,

- 42% don't pay their bills on time,

- 37% are underemployed,

and more.

Well, the originator of the haircut and vacuum cleaner question then responded, saying that what he was really trying to do was have the forum move outside the box to provide novel solutions which can, in fact, be applied to real world problems. Actually, makes a lot of sense, for my attempts at stimulating the masses through the Huffington Post and my daily blog seem not to be working at all. Let's see if I can use this lesson in combination with the WWW to be a tad more effective in the future.

In any case, we need a monumental wake up call! Any other good ideas out there?

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The Dow Jones Industrials jumped 70 to 11,204, while world markets were up, except for most of the West Pacific. Gold surged $16/toz to $1156 and crude oil rose to $85/barrel.

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PLANET EARTH AND DOGS

A few tidbits of interest today:

1. Last month was the warmest March on record. Earlier this winter, Senator James Inhofe built an igloo near his office. Try convincing him that global warming is real.

2. More renewable energy power generation capacity is currently under construction in China today than coal powerplants (96,000 MW versus 80,000 MW). Further, 26% of their electrical supply will be renewable by the end of this year. The United States will roughly be half that percentage.

3. Today is the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. President Barack Obama announced that progress is being made toward passing comprehensive energy and climate legislation. View his speech, but I don't think anything significant will be enacted until tens of millions perish one hot summer. Glancing at the April 22 date in history, this might well have been the most important event ever.

4. The Food and Drug Administration today warned NOT to give any bones to your dog.

5. Romulus and Remus in 753 almost founded Rome today...it was really yesterday, April 21.

6. Apropos of my HuffPo yesterday on the Hawaii and Iceland volcanoes, USAToday reports that volcano tourism is hot. As officials did for the swine flu and airport security, was there an overreaction to closing down air flights? The airlines alone lost more than $2 billion, plus add all the other losses, including lost time, spoiled exports, etc.

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The Dow Jones Industrials edged up 9 to 11,134, while world markets were mostly down. The Japan Nikkei slipped below 11,000 yesterday and is now at 10,908. Gold fell $6/toz to $1140 and crude oil is just below $84/barrel.

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A tropical cyclone popped up between Indonesia and Australia. Now at 50 MPH, it is expected to move west and weaken.

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THE HUFFINGTON POST

Let me bring you up to date on my Huffington Post doings. Technorati rates that blog site as #1. White House.gov is #47 and Grist is #100.

My most recent posting yesterday compared Kilauea with Eyjafjallajokull, and some of the worse case scenarios mentioned thankfully will probably not materialize, as all signs show a diminution of volcanic activity in Iceland. You can now only barely see the ash plume:

From the Associated Press:

AP [April 20] For all the worldwide chaos that Iceland's volcano has already created, it may just be the opening act. Scientists fear tremors at the Eyjafjallajokull volcano could trigger an even more dangerous eruption at the nearby Katla volcano — creating a worst-case scenario for the airline industry and travelers around the globe.

A Katla eruption would be 10 times stronger and shoot higher and larger plumes of ash into the air than its smaller neighbor, which has already brought European air travel to a standstill for five days and promises severe travel delays for days more. The two volcanos are side by side in southern Iceland, about 12 miles (20 kilometers) apart and thought to be connected by a network of magma channels.

Katla, however, is buried under ice 550 yards (500 meters) thick — the massive Myrdalsjokull glacier, one of Iceland's largest. That means it has more than twice the amount of ice that the current eruption has burned through — threatening a new and possibly longer aviation standstill across Europe. Katla showed no signs of activity Tuesday, according to scientists who monitor it with seismic sensors, but they were still wary.

Pall Einarsson, professor of geophysics at the Institute of Earth Sciences at the University of Iceland, said one volcanic eruption sometimes causes a nearby volcano to explode, and Katla and Eyjafjallajokull have been active in tandem in the past. In fact, the last three times that Eyjafjallajokull erupted, Katla did as well. Katla also typically awakens every 80 years or so, and having last exploded in 1918 is now slightly overdue.

Last week my posting was entitled, The Index of Life, and most of the comments focused on energy. You can click on my other 70 or so articles:

• Evolution, Devolution, and Revolution
• One Global Government
• Hawaii Tsunami?
• The Sustainable Expo for 2020
• Just Another Day in My Life
• Progress in Southeast Asia
• The Wonder of South Korea
• There is Something About Thorium
• How To Roast A Turkey
• How Serious Is Our National Debt?
• Biofuels from Microalgae (Part 1)
• World 2.0
• The Future of Sustainable Aviation
• Gratitude...Not Grief
• Are We Getting Too Old?
• The Carbon Dioxide Credit Program
• A Simple Solution for Crime: Background
• A Pandemic Worse than the Swine Flu
• My Year With The Huffington Post
• A Solution for the American Auto Industry
• Extraterrestrial Intelligence?
• The USA: A Good World Citizen?
• Evolution, Global Warming, Doomsday and the Afterlife
• The 10% Solution
• Blue Revolution
• Will Oil Prices Remain Low for Two Years?
• America, Don't Copy...Build Something Better!
• Renewable Electricity is Our Only Viable Option
• Cheaper Oil Will Improve the Economy, but...
• Where is Wind Energy Today?
• Do It Now
• Trillions and Quadrillions
• The Sun will Continue to Shine...
• Simple Solutions for 2009
• Black Friday
• My Holiday Message
• A Solution for Barack
• Is There An Option More Promising Than The Plug-In Electric Vehicle?
• A Gift to Planet Earth and Humanity
• The Ultimate Ocean Ranch
• Simple Solutions for Our Biofuel Problem
• The Dawn of the Blue Revolution
• The Coming of OTEC
• Wall-E, Eve and Barack
• Buy American, Again
• The Venus Syndrome Revisited
• Billions and Trillions Revisited
• Barack Obama is Gray
• The Bailout Bill Passes Congress, President Signs the Legislation, and the World Is Saved. Not.
• Simple Solution for Our Fiscal Mess
• Whoops, We Might Be On the Verge Of Economic Calamity
• Global Warming and the Afterlife
• Why Do We Spend So Much On National Security?
• Billions and Trillions
• The Free Green Energy Age (Part 5)
• The Free and Clean Hydrogen Age (Part 3)
• We Need A Declaration Of Energy Independence
• What About Free Hydrogen? (Part 2)
• What About Free Hydrogen? (Part 1)
• Geoengineering of Climate Change
• Simple Solutions to Energy and Global Warming
• Why Do Republicans Like Fossil Fuels and Not Care That Much for the Environment?
• Piffle Squared
• What Is The Best Biofuel?
• Ethanol Vs. Methanol
• The Venus Syndrome (Part Two)
• The Venus Syndrome (Part One)
• Preaching To The Choir
• Why Is There No National Energy Policy?
• Well, Barack, We have a Problem...

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The Dow Jones Industrials edged up 8 to 11,125, with European markets down and those of the Pacific up. Gold is up $5/toz to $1147 and crude oil is just under $84/barrel, which is $2/gallon.

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Just another day at the beach. My lunch today at Magic Island was interrupted by three weddings:

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